Chapter 283 - Oncoming storm
Conner tried to message and call Melanie, and when she didn't pick up the phone, he became slightly worried about her. Earlier, Mrs. Davis had acted suspicious with her words, not to mention she had picked up his phone. But both Melanie and he had been sending each other texts while immediately erasing the messages. Such that their phones were clean right now.
"I will go to the Davis's house, dad," Conner informed his father.
"Did they forget something?" asked his father.
"No, it's just the movie that Mel and I were planning to watch tomorrow afternoon. I don't know what time we are heading there," explained Conner, and his father gave him a pointed look.
"Be careful of what you say to Mel, Conner," warned his father. "The others weren't pleased that you both spoke about the vampire's existence to your friend."
"That. Yes, dad," Conner nodded, "I will be careful about that this time."
Conner made his way to Melanie's house. On his way, he noticed a car leaving the front of the Davis' house. Walking up to the entrance door, he rang the bell. Mrs. Davis was the one to open the door, with a smile appearing on her lips.
"Good evening, Conner. Are you here for Melanie?" inquired Mrs. Davis.
"Ah, yeah. I wanted to ask her about tomorrow's movie plan," said Conner, and Mrs. Davis slightly frowned.
Conner was hoping for Mrs. Davis to let him in, but the frown on her face only deepened. She said, "Conner, I am sure you do remember that we need to prepare for the attack tomorrow at Veteris. This is no time to be discussing watching movies, when there's so much to do."
Okay, that was not the right approach, thought Conner, for not thinking this through.
"My apologies, Mrs. Davis. It is just that we were looking forward to watching it, and also booked a noon show, so that we aren't late in getting back home," explained Conner before he continued. "It isn't every day you see a vampire turning into a bat," he joked with a smile that only died down on seeing the serious expression on the woman's face.
Mrs. Davis replied, "Melanie has got her periods and she's sleeping in her room now. You must have heard how painful her cramps get."
Conner turned slightly uncomfortable, as he didn't know how to reply. His lips parted, slightly stuttering, he said, "Ah, she should rest then. It would be awful if she didn't."
The woman gave him a nod of approval, and she said, "Maybe you should leave her a few texts or call her once she's awake. She will respond to it."
"I think I will do that. Thank you, Mrs. Davis. I will see you tomorrow," replied Conner, and he stepped away from the front of the door.
Once the door was closed, Mrs. Davis stared at the wooden door. She then turned around to face her husband. He asked her, "Did he suspect anything?"
"No," replied Mrs. Davis.
Outside the house, Conner pulled out his phone and looked around the place, where the streets were empty. He dialled a number, and when the person from the other end picked up the phone, he said,
"It is me. I got back from the hunter's meeting… yeah, my phone died. I didn't know how it got drained that quickly."
Conner heard Julie speak to him. "We were worried that something happened to you. Mel was worried too. Did you speak to her?"
"Not since I got back from the hunter's meeting and it took a while before my phone had a battery," responded Conner, and then he said, "I went to her house and Mrs. Davis told that Mel is resting. She got her, uh, cramps. Periods," he cleared his throat in the end.
"Oh," whispered Julie, "She was fine until an hour ago. She must have gotten it recently."
"There is something I need to inform you, Julie. Trouble is heading towards Veteris," said Conner, and he turned back to make sure no one was standing behind him and listening to his conversation with Julie on the phone. "The hunters found vampires on Veteris property and their next big target is to catch the vampires there."
"What?" Julie's eyebrows furrowed in question. "How did it come to that?"
Conner walked further away from his and the Davis's house, and he said, "The reason why Mel's parents were there was because someone tipped them that there are vampires in Veteris. A while ago, a couple was attacked, and the boy died, while the girl survived. The girl informed the officers that the vampire came from Veteris."
"This doesn't sound good. Luciano did find the ash of the vampires, but they dismissed it to be a case of an unknown vampire. None of the vampires in Veteris have died yet," replied Julie, her lips setting themselves in a thin line.
Julie's eyes met Roman, who stared back at her right now. They were on the restricted side of the forest, as they had been trying to reach him.
Conner then said, "Listen to me carefully…" he explained to Julie what had just happened during the hunter's meeting. "...yes… the two men went to Veteris, and encountered two vampires… No? But they said they killed two vampires, and there were two more."
Julie responded to Conner, "I think it was another pair of vampires. None of the vampires in here have been harmed."
"This is so confusing," murmured Conner, and he ran his hand through his curly brown hair. "You are sure that Melanie was alright earlier, right?"
"Yeah, I heard her parents and her conversation. They seemed tired and didn't mention anything about hunting," replied Julie, "Do you think something happened?"
"No, it was probably nothing. I mean, I will meet her in the morning. Or maybe I will go take a peek into her window and see if she's awake," said Conner, and Julie nodded even though he couldn't see it. "I will keep you posted when we come to attack Veteris."
"Okay. Take care, Conner. I will talk to you tomorrow," said Julie before disconnecting the call.
Julie turned to look at Roman, and he said, "Looks like things are not going to go easy tomorrow. We should inform the others."
"What about Mel?" asked Julie in concern.
Roman slipped his hand into Julie's hand and said, "Don't worry about her. Simon is nearby, he will check on her."
Julie was glad that Simon had best interests in his heart when it came to her best friend.
As they walked back to the center of Veteris, Roman came to assume that Mr. and Mrs. Davis's doubt had increased, and they had probably sent their hunters. But who were the other vampires who were roaming near the university?
Roman's eyebrows furrowed on wondering if it was Joaquin's men.
Julie said, "I think I should go and check the land once again. There should be something I should be able to do." She doubted it was a good idea to take on the hunters with the elders and the other vampires having no ability.
"I will send Cillian and Evans to you, while I go inform the Elders," stated Roman, and Julie gave him a nod.
Once they reached near the edge of the forest, Roman stepped out of the forest to meet with the others, while Julie continued to walk through the forest until she reached the backside of Veteris. She took a stick, and started to draw a circle and the lines inside it. As she continued to work, she heard footsteps approaching towards where she was.
"Did you find a way to unbound the magic and dispel it back to the place where it came from?" questioned Cillian, and next to him walked Mr. Evans.
"No. But I was hoping to do a trial and test methods. We don't have much time and we don't know what weapons the hunters have been gathering," replied Julie, and she asked Cillian, "You have been on the other side. Do you know the symbols of that place? Regular magic doesn't work, so we'll need to use the path of dark magic."
"Will it be safe?" questioned Mr. Evans, turning to look at the senior witch.
"Nothing is ever safe, but then I can feel the dark magic in the air. It has been getting stronger," came the words from Cillian, "But it shouldn't be that harmful for Roman and Julie, as they have the dark magic's essence.."
"So it is safe," murmured Julie, and it wasn't like she was stepping through the forbidden door. She wasn't going to, especially after knowing Roman's actions. The last thing she was going to do was complicate the existing situation.
"Let me help with the markings of the symbol. Let us hope it is right," said Cillian, and he made a round around the inner star's point that touched the outer circle— using the stick to write it down. He said, "I think this should be it."
"Let us do this," said Julie in a decisive tone.
"You might want to step away from this place. The magic from the forbidden door isn't kind to vampires," Cillian warned Mr. Evans, and the counsellor of Veteris offered a bright smile.
"I will be right there in the corner," came the polite words from Mr. Evans, and he walked a few meters away before coming to stand next to a tree.
Julie pulled the vial that had the translucent fluorescent colour smoke in it. It was the souls of the dead that she had collected a few days ago. With the humans gone, this was a good time to let the souls out, as no one would question their screaming or ruckus.
"What do you plan to do with the souls, Julianne?" questioned Mr. Evans to her from where he stood.
Julie made her way to the centre of the circle that she had drawn. She said, "Though these are souls, they still hold the power of light, and not darkness unlike the ones from the door. I am hoping that the dark magic can balance and nullify its effect."
"We should have perhaps got a test subject. A vampire with abilities," pointed Mr. Evans. "We won't know if they are able to make use of it."
"That's fine. I can sense it," answered Cillian. "You can start with the ritual. Don't forget that you need to send the dark magic back into the door. And for that, you will need to open the door," he reminded Julie.
Julie raised her hand towards the sky while she started to mutter the spells she knew. And now that she knew the witch's language, it wasn't hard before the cork of the vial that she held opened itself. Slowly the smoke started to spill on the ground, crawling on the forest ground, and the souls of the deceased started to take forms.
"Well this ought to be interesting," murmured Mr. Evans, his eyes keenly looking around the surroundings.
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