Saxum didn’t even sit when he reached Klementine’s place. Every administrative creature of their community was at the worn-out wooden table. Gerella went to Saxum’s side, whispered about the non-proditors’ presence into his ear and waited.
Saxum’s blue eyes darkened, and he gave a firm nod of acknowledgement before Gerella left his side to take her seat at the only empty chair left next to him. The hard-faced leader with the ability of a fortis began, “Callows. Get to it. How much longer?”
The Callows were lycan triplets - Matthew, Nessa and Ourelia. Gifted and ambitious didn’t even begin to describe these three scientists, who shared a home lab since they were kids. Science fairs and competitions were for losers who wanted to waste time and potential on small-scaled successes tha
Eighteen vigils entered the Forest of Oderem with Duica and Bernadette, and the forest graced their nostrils with the same scent of freshly-baked pastries once more. When they reached the River of Heres, they felt the ground tremoring for a brief moment, which made them pause in their steps as the fish in the water swam away out of fear. When nothing happened for the next few moments, the vigils followed the trail up to the waterfall. Two vigils stayed at that spot while the remaining eighteen crossed the river and started sniffing. Bernadette caught a faint mixed-scent of vampires and lycans, and they headed in that particular direction. After dashing for only a mile, the trail just stopped. “Scent sprays. Damn these proditors,” VIG 009, Dominic cursed.
Greg muttered sarcastically at the sight of Pellethia’s glowing streaks of hair, “Great. Now that we have a live glow stick, we can stay here until nightfall and nothing will happen.” A yellow flower near Greg bloomed instantaneously and sprayed scents of animal dung at him. The duke choked on the pungent smell and moved far away to another plant, only to be sprayed by the same foul odor by another yellow flower. Seeing how Greg was suffering, Christian turned to Xandar and declared with a satisfied grin, “I like it here, cuz.” Xandar himself had to look away from Greg to make sure he didn’t chuckle out loud. At that point, Christian felt something at the sole of his left foot before two green tendrils wrapped his shoe from each side and entwined with one another
Lucianne shifted back to make talking easier. The silhouette next to Pellethia appeared to be someone with a high ponytail and toned arms; the one next to Lucianne looked like a figure that was wearing a cloak; and the last one on the far right had her arms up, probably crossed in front of her chest, and there was something…frilly at her left ear that was visible because her hair was pushed over her right shoulder. Pellethia uttered, “I don’t recognize any of these.” “Neither do I,” Lucianne responded as everyone else crowded around them to take a look. Xandar’s arms slid across Lucianne’s shoulders and abdomen from behind as he looked at the one with a cloak and thought aloud, “That one has to be a witch. C
Like the previous time, Margaret fell to her knees and grunted in anguish. Tate knelt before her and pulled her into his chest, increasing the intensity of the sparks and hoping that it would soothe some of the pain. It did. Margaret felt less uncomfortable the moment the sparks intensified, and she focused on the vision that her wolf was seeing. She and everyone else around her were in a dimly lit space, and there was something…suspicious about the surroundings. Before Margaret could get anymore information, the vision ended. That was it? Her rosewood eyes blinked in disbelief, and her awareness brought her back to the present moment. Everyone formed a circle around her and Tate, giving Margaret enough room to breathe but also allow them a good enough look at her. Tate was stroking her shoulder with his thumb, and his scent comf
Pellethia held the scroll and read aloud, “Only the creatures willing to go through any lengths to protect those who need protection most shall inherit the Forest of Oderem.” At the end of it was a signature that vampires had only ever seen in museums - the signature of Count Dracula. Greg’s eyes went back to the ceiling before the pessimistic part of him spoke, “I wonder how the inhabitants planted it there.” A shade of suspicion entered Pellethia’s eyes of wonder as she turned to Greg and asked, “You really think those who hid here put this there, Your Grace?” His eyes were still stuck on the ceiling when he replied, “I don’t know. I’m not well-versed in…forest magic.”
Greg then joined the others at the partition. He felt the grill with his hand and murmured, “It feels…new.” Tate uttered, “Even where we’re standing feels new compared to the ground inside. Wherever this leads to, this tunnel was a recent plan.” Lucianne went to the far left, and stepped on boulders on the side, supporting herself with the grill as she stepped higher up to look for any strings, ropes or anything that may be triggered if the grill gate was tampered with. Her husband sprinted over with wide eyes, and held her lower back as he frantically whisper-yelled, “Lucy, you could’ve asked me to do that!” “I’m fine, Xandar. I’m just climbing.” She then spoke to the others all at once, “You guys don
Two vigils and one minister were unconscious because they stood too close to one of the lightbulbs in a room when the lightbulbs exploded, and inhaled too much of the scent. Another twenty of them were nearing that stage as well. Pellethia and Octavia were weakened but were the least affected since they were the firsts to be brought out. Just then, the forest exuded a lemony scent, and it appeared to be soothing the stinging sensation, reducing into a prickling one before the discomfort disappeared completely. One by one, the vampires tried to get up on their own with the wolves and lycans by their side to support them should they fall halfway. It was astounding that none of them needed that support when they couldn’t even move less than two minutes before. Still, most of them sat back down because they felt that their insides we
Ivory put on contact lenses and used concealer to hide his scar, and Greg wore shades and a hoodie before the two took a subway to the stop at the Primordial station, which was only a thirty-minute drive from Xandar and Lucianne’s residence.After stepping on the platform and using the loo to kill time while waiting for the crowd to disperse, they entered the elevator that was designed to only go up. The moment Greg slid a plain white card into the slit between the closed doors, the built-in scanner of the doors granted access. The pale yellow lights in the lift turned pale blue, and the lift descended.Once the doors opened, Greg removed the hoodie and adjusted his formal wear that he was wearing underneath, and Ivory rubbed off some of the concealer and proudly put on his eyepatch. The row of cabs were there, and Greg a