Demon in Town (Book 2)

Chapter 6

“We’re all working together; that’s the secret.”-Sam Walton.

Chapter 6

-Karen-

Our eyes turned to Victor who was checking out a cupcake in the glass display. It was a cute cupcake with pink frosting. There was a fairy on the top. I don’t know why but Victor was intrigued by it. He kept looking at it for a long time. He rubbed his chin and raised his eyebrow.

“He brings the news of werewolves.” He said. “What’s the news, Crane?”

“They are asking me for cedarwood stakes.” Crane clicked his tongue. “These stakes are being considered over oak wood stakes that were used to hunt vampires last year. The talk has spread that cedar is more effective.”

“What do you think?” I asked.

He looked at me with a smile on his face. I shuddered.

“They are right to a great extent. Cedarwood is collected from the cedar that is an evergreen tree. You know why we use wood stakes to kill the vampires, right?” He shook his head when I didn’t answer him. “You can’t kill an undead being with something that was never alive. And an evergreen tree serves the purpose greatly.”

“How many stakes have they order till now?” Victor diverted his eyes from the cupcake.

“I’ve lost count.” Crane pouted. “But if we look at stats with every werewolf or hunter holding a stake, there will be thousands of them.”

It was Nate who moved ahead with his fists clenched at both sides.

“You’re not going to make them.” He growled. “I’ll kill you if you do.”

“I told them I can’t make them because I don’t have the sufficient supply of the woods.” Crane widened his dark eyes. “They didn’t look a bit surprised by my reply. Maybe they knew I was going to turn down their offer. You know, when the troubles fall upon my own species, I can’t turn my back to them.”

“Then how are they going to get the stakes?” I asked.

“They have more ways to get them made,” Crane replied. “I’m not the only one in this business now. They have experienced hunters who can create their own weapons. I can’t believe I was the only one who did the deed a hundred years ago.”

“Don’t feed yourself the s**t praises.” Victor flashed his fangs. “What else is going on? I know they are planning something big.”

“They have found another weakening factor.” Crane looked disappointed. “They are making injections.”

“Old trick,” Victor murmured. “We’re faster than them. Before they can reach us, we can snap their necks.”

“What are they filling the injections with?” I asked confused.

“They are filling the injections with Tulsi in its liquid form. Tulsi is a sacred plant in India, scientifically known as Ocimum Tenuiflorum and basically known as Holy Basil. It is a highly effective plant that can slow down a vampire and nearly kill him. Even if the liquid touches a vampire’s skin, it will be burnt. So think of what it can do when it reaches the insides of a vampire. It will burn the working parts inside the undead body.” Crane explained like a professor in class. “I don’t know whether they have gotten the required results from whatever they are trying to do but this time they are more prepared than ever before.”

“Sounds fun,” Victor snickered. “Indian vampires should be scared all the time. There is rarely any house without the sacred plant.”

The way he talked, I was sure that he had been to India to check on the vampires living there. He was given the responsibility to get all the vampires reunited and he was currently doing a great job. It was nice to see Victor becoming responsible.

“Doesn’t it hurt the werewolves or the hunters?” I asked Crane. “Nate told me that some hunters are half vampires.”

“No, half vampires cannot be hurt with Holy Basil because they still have the human factor in them.” He replied. “Nor can werewolves be hurt with it. It only works for vampires.”

“Why were the two werewolves here?” Nate asked.

“You people are making me nervous with all the questions.” Crane rubbed the back of his neck. “Give some respect to your elder, who has been doing nothing but providing news to Victor.”

“We are here to take you back to the dimension.” Victor moved swiftly to stand in front of me. “Don’t ask anything back because you have to comply.”

“Bringing the vampire prince along with you, doesn’t scare me.” Crane made a face. “Why should I come to that dimension when I have a family here?”

It turned out that Crane was married to a Russian girl. He had two half-vampire children to take care of in this dimension and he couldn’t leave them behind to come with us. He knew if he would leave them here at the time of the war, the hunters would obviously kill them ruthlessly.

I was thinking all the time that convincing him would be a piece of cake. Definitely, the situation of the risk of leaving his family behind was not a piece of cake.

“You can take them to the dimension with you.” Victor offered. His voice was soft after hearing about his family. I never took Victor for a family guy. “They won’t face any problem there. I can assure you.”

“It’s easy for you to say that, Victor.” Crane hissed. “You don’t know what having a normal family means.”

“Two half-vampires,” Nate chuckled. “You call that normal?”

I was surprised by the sudden outburst. I narrowed my eyes at Nate. He was seriously irritated by something. He didn’t look in a great mood. Maybe he hated whatever was going on. He never had a normal life since he was turned into a vampire. I saw the longing in his green sparkling eyes.

“Whatever you say,” Crane bellowed. “I ain’t going nowhere with you people.”

“See, I only want the safety of the vampires and their families. So many vampires have come along with their families to the supernatural dimension.” Nate exhaled. He looked tired suddenly. “You need to be there or these people won’t let you live. You can’t fight them all alone even if you have the weapons.”

“Nate is right,” I spoke up. Crane’s attention diverted to me. “If you want to keep your family safe and sound, you need to be safe too. If, as you’ve said the hunters and the werewolves are planning a gory attack on your kind, you need to be strong too. That strength may only come when your people are unified.”

I took a long breath as I finished. Three of them were silent. I looked at Victor who was staring at me intently. There was a satisfactory smile on Victor’s face. He mouthed me a ‘good’ after a small nod of his head. I tried not to blush. There was no point in blushing within a group of vampires.

“Crane, we’re here to protect you,” Nate said. “There’s no way we can stop the war. We can only minimize the effect of what it may have upon us. Victor and I are going to be the last one to leave this dimension. We aren’t leaving the dimension until we secure all the vampires.”

Crane looked down at his feet.

My eyebrow creased. The two brothers were planning to be the last people to leave this dimension? When had they decided this? If Nate was the vampire prince, he had to be in that dimension. He couldn’t roam in the world outside like this. My head was starting to hurt. It was a lot to take.

“What’s your decision, Crane?” Victor said after a long time of silence.

“I’ll go to the other dimension.” Crane nodded his head.

Suffice it to say, Victor’s face lit up with a smile when he heard that. It told me that Crane meant a great friend to him. Nate also looked really happy, for his contribution was regarded too. He was a loving vampire and my friend. I knew he was happy because we had just succeeded in saving a family.

“I’ll come to your house to make the portal tomorrow.” Victor patted Crane’s shoulder. “I can’t wait to get you home, elder.”

“You’re never going to change, are you?” Crane smiled.

“Change is what living people look up to.” Victor flashed his sharp fangs. He was a show-off, no matter how good he was. “I’m undead.”

The two of us, Nate and me turned around to leave the shop while Victor and Crane were still talking in low voices. I didn’t try to hear them out or anything. I just wanted to go home. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be home at the time of the war. I was going to miss mom and dad a lot.

“Nate,” Crane called. “You wanted to know why the two werewolves here.”

Nate stopped and so did I.

“They wanted me to search for the missing witch,” Crane said. “They were asking me for your beloved Karen. She’s lucky because they don’t know her name.”

Victor was so fast that my eyes couldn’t catch his movement. He was suddenly near me. His grey eyes looked down at me, concerned. My heart thudded in my chest. They were looking for me and they had already seen me with Nate and Victor.

“Nathan, we have to get her out of here before they call the other werewolves.” He said to Nate. “It will be hard for us to make the portal out there.”

“You can make a portal in my basement.” Crane offered, shrugging. “There’s no need to get out of the shop. Those werewolves might have had certainly smelled her witch blood.”

“Okay,” Victor whispered. “You two, follow me.”

Nate and I followed him to the door that led to the staircase to the basement. We walked down the stairs. Nate held my hand as he was the creature of the night with enhanced eye vision to see in the darkness. Being a witch gave me none of the cool powers. I was so unhappy. God! I was being searched by the hunters and the werewolves.

A small bulb lit up the basement. I could see nothing more than that. Victor halted and we too did the same. I felt uneasy and dizzy. The only support I had was Nate’s hand. I sweating so badly that I wondered if he was disgusted with my sweaty palm. Suddenly, he dropped my hand.

Nate moved in front of me noiselessly and cupped my chin in his hand. He tilted my face up so that I could meet his eyes.

“You don’t have to be scared.” He said softly. “I can hear your heartbeats going crazy. Just try to calm down. You know you are a girl who doesn’t need saving. You’re more powerful than both of us.”

I listened to him, not caring if Victor was staring at us.

“I have a feeling that you’ll be the one saving us.” Nate laughed quietly and I smiled. Most of the guys would say the opposite but he was different. “Just focus on your breathing and calm yourself.”

I didn’t say anything but the world stopped around us. It wasn’t like my witch powers had turned on again. I hadn’t become the lady flash again. It was just that, I couldn’t stop looking into those green pair of eyes. They were the only thing that mattered to me. They held deep secrets, compassion, and love. Was he using compulsion on me? He better not be.

“Are you done with your yoga lessons, lovebirds?” Victor asked and muttered something under his breath.

I smiled and Nate let go of my chin. Victor shifted on his another leg and tried to avoid my gaze when I looked at him with a grin.

“You’re really good at breaking perfect moments, Victor.” I faked a groan. I had no idea why he was uncomfortable but I liked him this way. “Can’t see lovebirds kissing?”

“I would rather stab my eyes out.” He rolled his eyes.

Oh! I would love to see that.

I wanted to answer him back but the portal had already appeared. Without another string of words, Victor gestured us to enter it. Nate and I entered the portal one by one.