Esther stands in her washroom, staring at herself in the mirror. Brent had seen her in the hospital. She should have waited some time more. She sighs, placing her hand on her forehead. She should have come up with a reason for being there instead of outright denying it which was stupid. But she couldn’t think of anything else at the moment. It was kinda hard to lie to him. He was too nice to be lied to and she was touched by what he had just said. He must have known that she was lying, but he did not insist on the truth which, honestly, made Esther feel even more uncomfortable about having lied.
She glances at her wristwatch and notices that it’s about to be midnight. She should go outside and join the others for the cake-cutting.
*
Damion was cozying up to Emily in a corner in the sh
One week laterIt was early morning, but Esther had been lying awake for hours. She just could not sleep. The prospect of what was going to happen tonight was weighing on her. She is going to leave for Mia’s before midday. She has to transport the coffin and that might take some time. Mia had sent her the location of the place they would be performing the ritual. It was halfway up the hill at the top of which she had seen the sunset with Brent. Then finally, after all these years, she would see her sister again. The excitement she is feeling is such that it is making her nervous. As much as she wants to see her sister again, she would miss being here. She would miss seeing Brent, being friends with him and the rest of them. She lies there for some more time staring at the ceiling and when the sun is finally up, she gets up and walks into the bathroom to get ready for the day.
Esther is standing in the middle of a clearing with Mia surrounded by trees on all sides. There is a fire blazing between them. Mia is sitting cross-legged and chanting. On her right is a bronze vessel full of Lilia’s blood and on her left is the coffin. Its lid is open and it contains the body of a girl. But her skin has turned gray. She seemed to have desiccated.Esther is standing a little away from the fire, on the other side, with her hands crossed over her chest. Mia had cast an enchantment around all of them and this place. The Junta or anyone else would not be able to trace them, at least not until the ritual is complete. It would take a few hours. Mia had said that it is a complicated procedure. She is now waving one of her hands over the fire and holding the blood vessel with the other. After a few more movements, she gets up and walks to the coffin. She pours carefully measur
Brent had never driven faster in his life. Tyrus and he were at the bottom of the hill within ten minutes and were now climbing and running upwards at top speed. They crept through the trees and thickets swiftly but silently. Soon, they saw a light from a distance and even though Brent could not see the source of it, he had a feeling that they had found the place. They creep slowly towards the source of light and stop behind two giant trees with some space between the branches from where they could look. Brent looks at the scene and sees that Esther is down on the ground and an old witch is chanting something, moving a vessel around and there is also an ornate coffin on her left. Brent’s mind is running at top speed, thinking of ways and ideas to get Esther out of here safely. He knew that if this witch had gone to such lengths to secure Lilia’s blood, she must have made it difficult to reach her as well. Then, he gets an idea and in a ver
Lilia is traveling back home with Damion in his car. They are not talking much. She is still shaken by everything that has happened in the past few hours. The fact that she could have died and Esther would have been the reason behind it. By a stroke of luck, Brent had seen Esther at the hospital, otherwise, no one knows what would have happened. What if it had been too late till the Junta tracked Esther and her witch? There is something more that Brent and Tyrus had not told them on call. They wanted them to come home instead.Lilia wraps her hands around herself and looks out of the window. The fact that she could have died isn’t the only thing that is bothering her. There is something more. Something that had happened between her and Damion just before she started having chest pains. If Esther’s witch had not started the ritual at that exact moment, they would have kissed and Li
Tyrus looks at Adeline and now that color had returned to her face, she looked more similar to Esther in terms of her facial features. Although she has straight black hair which falls beautifully down to her waist and a dusky complexion while Esther is blonde.“How come you were asleep for so long?” he asks her.She doesn’t answer and instead looks over at Esther.“Okay, we will wait for her to wake up,” Brent says and at that moment there is the sound of the front door of the mansion opening. A few seconds later, Damion and Lilia enter the hall.Brent runs over to Lilia and hugs her asking her if she is feeling okay and Damion starts to say, “Where the hell is Est-“ but stops in mid-sentence as his eyes fall on Adeline. “Who are you?”“This is Adeline,” Tyrus says, “Esther’s sister.”“What? How? Didn’t she tell us that her entire family was murdered by Carl? How many lies did she tell exactly?”“Well, we’ll find out when she wakes up,” Brent says pointing at Esther. He escorts Lilia
Esther looks at everyone and sees shock etched on every face.“That means,” says Lilia addressing Adeline, “that you have a birthmark...”“In the shape of a crown on my back, yes,” Adeline finishes her sentence.“But then, why didn’t you tell us about the mark the first day you met us?” asks Damion looking at Esther.“Because I knew nothing about the mark. I thought that Tasian had chosen Adeline and not me because I was already a vampire and he couldn’t use me. Our father had died by that time so he obviously couldn’t use him either.”“How did you become a vampire?” Brent asks her.“I fell in love with a vampire and converted for him,” she smiles at Brent.“What? So where is he now?”“It turned out he didn’t love me that much. I found that out when I converted.”“Did he compel you to change?” asks Brent.“No and yes. He did compel me a lot which I only found out when the memories started coming back once I transformed. I had planned to change for him as a surprise. Otherwise, I’m sur
Tyrus looks at Esther and Adeline sitting there holding hands. He was angry at Esther for putting Lilia’s life online, but now that he is hearing their side of the story, it’s impossible to stay mad.“How did you know that you needed just a few drops to rejuvenate?” He asks Adeline.“I heard the witch when he was performing the ritual. He said something like: would not wake up unless a few drops of the binder’s blood touch her lips.”“And where does this witch Mia come into the picture?” he asks Esther.“She is the daughter of a very learned witch who was my friend. I had gone to her to ask for help, but she had said that she would not be able to do anything without the binder’s blood. When she died, her daughter started helping me instead. I never doubted her because I had known her mother so well and she was such a noble lady. For the past few decades Mia has been advising me on matters related to magic and her advice has always led me to the right thing. So, when she said she neede
Tasha had called Lilia asking where she had gone and Lilia had lied about going out with Brent. She will go back tonight so that she can attend her classes tomorrow.Brent and Lilia go down for breakfast and notice that everyone is already there: Tyrus, Adeline, Esther, and Damion. They are all sitting at the dining table, chatting and eating. Brent and Lilia join them. Lilia keeps glancing at Damion occasionally. He, however, isn’t looking in her direction a lot. Does he feel guilty about what happened yesterday? Or is he mad at her for crossing the line?Brent and Lilia spend the entire morning together thus, she doesn’t get a chance to have a conversation with Damion. She wanted to talk to him alone, but before they left for University. However, she didn’t think that she would be able to do that. The weather is cloudy today and a pleasant breeze is blowing. It looks like it might rain, so after lunch, Damion leaves the house to go for a walk around the town. Sometime later, Esther