I think we may have traveled through time. It's like we're suddenly in the 1800's. This town lacks the colors of the rainbow, just pure brown, gray, black and white. It's quite sad. Also, it's pretty damn quiet, other than the sound of machines roaring and steels clinking together. Why? Because there is a freaking blacksmith making a sword. A legitimate sword that Jon Snow would know about.
Like I said, time travel.
Except, instead of the fancy dresses, everyone is wearing tight jeans.
"Did Enoch forget to inform us that his jeep is a time machine or what?" I turned to my silent companion, whose full attention is on the blacksmith, with a small grin on her lips. "Excuse me, " I called for the middle-aged man's attention. "How much for that Jon Snow sword?"
The blonde haired man furrowed his eyebrows. "This is not for sale."
"Oh." Drew's shoulders dropped. "Lame."
Drew and I continued to roam around the small town, which is very much like West Grove, size and style wise. There are not many people outside, either. Just the blacksmith, a few old citizens and children. Nothing much to see. Eventually, we reached the forest of Caelfall, which is right next to an abandoned historical park.
As we passed the creepy park, Drew suddenly stopped to observe the place.
"What?"
She just started to dig around the sand area while I sat at the end of the small red slide, watching her with confusion. Lysander has really rubbed off on her.
About five minutes later, she pulled out something from the sands. A locket. I ran beside Drew to examine it closer.
"A hexagram locket. Nice. Looks like someone grew out of their emo phase and decided to throw away their Hot Topic merch in here." Drew cracked a smile as she scanned the necklace. It is a locket but it has nothing inside. Though, as Drew's right index finger touched the amethyst, purple sparks appeared for a millisecond, and then it was gone. "What the fuck." I did the same thing: held the purple quartz with my right index finger. Nothing happened. I did it with my left index finger, but still nothing.
I narrowed my eyes at the decorations of the locket, and my stomach churned. It's those symbols. It looks like the symbols I found at West Grove, which is associated with witches.
"I don't think this is an ordinary Hot Topic accessory." I showed her the symbols. "These are witch symbols, I'm sure of it. Now the question is, what the fuck happened just now when you touched it? And what was inside?"
Just at that moment, we heard a loud growl coming from the forest.
"Lysander?" Drew gave no hesitation and immediately ran towards the forest. "See, this is how we die. We go straight to the scary noise." I sigh, following the scientist.
***
We made it to the middle of the forest and found no grumpy werewolf or the posh vampire with him. In fact, we saw nothing. I don't even smell their scents, which means they are not anywhere near the forest. That also means the growl we heard came from something else, not our werewolf.
"I have a really bad feeling. We better leave before - "
And suddenly, Drew was no longer walking behind me.
"Drew?" I asked loudly. "If I lose you, your boyfriend is going to behead me and I like to have my brain attached to my spinal cord, you know. Where art thou Drew?"
I used Drew's sweet odor as a tracker. Strangely, the stronger her scent hits me, another scent is also getting stronger. It isn't nightshade, human, vampire or werewolf scent either, but something new. Something that smells disgusting. It's like, the smell of acids from laboratories, but mixed with some other things.
"Drew?"
It's so much harder finding someone who can't make noises.
"If you can hear me, hit something. Make loud noises with your surroundings."
After a few seconds, I heard tapping noises, which were very faint. If it weren't for my super hearing, I would not detect the noise but I did, and I followed it, leading me to a hole in the forest ground. A hole that contains Drew, hitting a rock against the concrete wall.
"Ah, found you!" I grinned. "What are you doing down there?"
She glared at me and crossed her arms.
She is about 20 feet down and there is nothing around her other than a pile of rocks, and ... "Uh... Are those..." I inched my head closer to the ground to get a clearer view of the hole's bottom. "Bones and skins?" If it's only animal parts, I wouldn't freak out too much, but it also included human bones. I took a good sniff and almost vomited. Disgusting. "Did you find the gate to hell or what?"
Because there is nothing that could help Drew climb up, I searched for a rope around me. The closest thing to it are Liana vines, which are basically the Tarzan vines. I pulled one out from the nearest tree and carefully brought it down the hole for Drew. The vine is about 15 feet only, but it'll have to do.
"Okay. This vine is very strong and stable, so just maybe, hang on to it like a monkey and I'll pull it up."
And so, that's exactly what we did. It was like an Indiana Jones moment. Drew held onto the vine, wrapping her arms and legs around it while I used all my strength to pull her up. When she was only five feet away from me, I was about to reach out my hand for her, until I heard growling again. It was more quiet than the first time, but it was so much closer. Also, that disgusting smell is all over the atmosphere.
"Do you hear something?" I looked down at Drew, who got one hand at the edge of the forest ground, trying to pull herself up. "I hear something."
Slowly turning around, I come face to face with a very naked human-like creature. I don't know exactly what it is, but it has a human body with beast-like appearance. Its eyes are completely dark orange, no white or black, and its teeth are sharper than mine. Long, thick black hair up to its shoulders, and sharp nose. There's also the bloody long scars all over its face and chest. It's fucking scary.
I bared my sharp teeth and clenched my fist, attempting to scare it away but it did not even flinch. It focused its eyes on me, crouched and soon I was tackled on the ground with the monster on top of me. Whatever it is, is much stronger than I am, despite having vampire strength. I tried to concentrate and use my power to get in its head and inflict internal pain, but I couldn't - probably because it's trying to bite my face off!
At that moment, a vine was wrapped around its neck and the head was pulled back slightly. As it was struggling to breathe, I took the chance to hit its neck, wriggled underneath it and escaped. I spared Drew a glance as she holds the vine with all her might, before I used my leg to kick the creature down to the hole. And then, we ran. Unfortunately, the creature easily got out of the hole and effortlessly began to chase us.
"Holy shit!" Panicking, I picked up Drew bridal style and sprinted so fast, I could barely see where I was going. I just know that I have to get away from whatever that thing is, because I cannot beat it. It's too strong. A creature stronger than vampires.
***
At some point, after we crossed a river, the creature disappeared.
"What the fuck." I breathed out, leaning my back against a rocky wall. "That was definitely the gates of hell and I'm pretty sure we just got chased by a demon, or a hell hound. A demon hell hound. Where the hell is Castiel when you need him?" Drew looked just as freaked out as I was. "I think it's gone."
Drew and I sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to make sense of what just tried to eat us.
Then, we heard rusting by the bushes nearby and froze.
"This is it. This is how we die."
A figure emerged from the bushes and I closed my eyes as I felt my body lifting from the ground. The thing's got me by my shirt. I waited for the pain, for the sharp teeth to hit me and shred me to pieces, but it never came. I just heard a snort.
I opened one of my eyes and saw a giant.
And then I screamed again.
"Oh, Drew!" I exclaimed. "A giant's got a hold of me, run and save yourself while you can!"
I heard another pair of footsteps arrive.
"Oh, great. You two."
I opened both of my eyes and gave another look at the giant and the one who just spoke. I let out a sigh of relief. It's Idris' vampire friends, Juliet and Bobby, the giant vampire. "Oh, shit. It's just you guys." I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. "Still scary, but you won't eat us, won't you?"
The girl rolled her eyes while the giant finally released me. "What are you doing here, half blood?"
I raised a brow at her nickname. "Half blood? Is that what we're calling me now?" I smirked. "Please, if you're going to do so, don't forget to add Prince. And speaking of, where is Prince Prick?"
"Who?"
"Idris. Did he tell you to come get us because he's probably at your house drinking tea?" He's probably chilling with the other vampires while Drew and I almost get eaten by a creature of hell. I swear, once I see his posh ass, I'm going to kick it.
Bobby shook his head while Juliet gasped. "Are you saying that Idris went to our house?"
"To look for you, yeah."
"Oh no."
"What?" My chest tightened at her frightened expression. "What? Is Idris okay?"
Juliet ran a hand through her long black hair. "There's been a conqueror who has enslaved the humans of this town. Except, unlike before, this conqueror is not human, but a witch. The witch had not only enslaved humans, but my clan as well. At the time it happened, which would be at the beginning of July, Bobby and I were out to get some of the cure that she made." She pointed at Drew. "Ulysses had them and we had to go to California. We just returned to this mess."
"Fuck." So much for getting help. "If your house is full of vampires who works for the witch, that means he's in trouble. Lysander is with Idris." I took a deep breath, feeling my head begin to spin. "We have to save them."
***
"A lone wolf." The witch purred, running his fingers through the black wolf's fur. The werewolf growled. "A wolf survives better with a pack, but you have none." The witch smiled sickeningly. "You must be so angry with the humans. They killed your entire family. All of your kind. You are the only one left. You should be avenging them. That's what a loyal wolf should be doing."
Drew shook her head, gripping on the tree branch angrily.
"And yet, you are not. Instead, you are helping them. A disappointment, really."
We all watched as the witch with blue, elegant, velvet clothing waved his hand and whispered strange words. A purple ball of light traveled from the witch's finger to Lysander's body. I held my breath, afraid of what the witch had done. Drew's body froze along with mine. Lysander's dark wolf form fell to the ground and his eyes shut.
After a second, the purple ball of light grew, taking over the wolf's body. Then, it expanded and glowed so much brighter that we couldn't see what was happening. Still, Drew never looked away. My own eyes went to the vampire standing in the middle of the room, being held by two vampires from Juliet's clan. He too watched with confusion and worry as the witch cast a spell on the wolf.
"What's happening?" Drew cried with concern, wanting so badly to run to her mate. "Lysander..."
The purple light disappears, and there laid Lysander, in human form, on the ground instead of the wolf. Weak, but alive. "Why would Samara curse you to be stuck in your wolf form, when you are your strongest?" The witch shook his head with disapproval. His sadistic face, lavender eyes, makeup covered gray lips and lash line shone with the sunlight as it entered through the house' transparent glass walls.
Juliet, Bobby, Drew and I watched from a tree as the witch turned the wolf back into his anthropomorphic form.
"Now, instead of being stuck in your wolf form where you're stronger, you're stuck in your human form, a weak form." The witch smiled wickedly before turning to the other victim. "Let me make this easy for the both of you." His husky voice echoed loudly. "You work for me. Should you refuse, you will join the humans who did so. In death."
Idris let out a soft laugh. "Kill me? You can certainly try."
I'm going to kill Idris after I save him for being so annoying, even when he's in danger. How could he be so relaxed? I'm freaking out and I'm only watching!
The witch clenched his jaw, stepping closer to Idris. A wooden stake magically appeared in his hand, which he then put against Idris' neck. My breath hitched and my heart increased its pace. I need to do something. Fuck fuck fuck. Focus, Rami.
I concentrated on the witch. Everything blurred except for him. Slowly, my eyes began to feel cold, and before I know it, the witch dropped the wooden stake. He clutched on his head while hissing in pain. Idris' eyes widened as he searched around the house, as if almost knowing that we're here.
"The witch is down. Let's attack." Juliet was the first one to leap from the tree that we were hiding on. She jumped from the tree, onto another, and into the house, kicking the glass walls, allowing herself in. Bobby immediately followed his leader.
I was about to carry Drew with me so we can both go in the house, but as I turned to my side, she was already gone. I searched around me, but she was nowhere to be found. "Damn it."
I copied Juliet's move and jumped from tree to tree, entering through the broken glass wall. Juliet and Bobby were fighting their own clan members while the witch was still unable to move from the pain inside his head. I went straight to Idris, after kicking away the wooden stake dropped on the floor.
"You are so fucking annoying. Why do you like to almost keep dying all the time?"
Idris only smirked. "It's fun."
"Oh my god." I opened my mouth to make another remark but I felt my body lifting from the floor and flying against the room, causing me to hit a corner of a marble desk. Groaning in pain, I saw that the witch had recovered. I attempted to get in his head again but this time, he's put up a shield.
"Now, who would you be?" The witch tilted his head, licking his lips as he stared. "Another vampire! Don't tell me, you're here to talk to me about freeing the humans?" He smiled amusingly. "When will you all learn? Humans are meant to be slaves. The supernatural beings are the better kind. We can't let them keep thinking that they are the superior, that they own the world, when they do not."
"Shut the fuck up."
One hand from the witch wrapped around my throat. Suddenly, I felt water filling up my throat and mouth, preventing me from breathing. Tears fell from my eyes, my heart pounding along with my head. I was drowning. Water is filling up my lungs while the witch keeps his hand on my throat. I couldn't breathe. I was drowning. Water, and more water, continuing to drown me inside, no matter how much I throw out. I feel my body giving out. The last thing my darkened vision saw was puff of gray smoke, and then I was out.