Chapter 28: Majestic Flames
Elaina scurried away even faster when he started moving towards her until her back hit a tree. Her heart slammed against her ribcage and she quickly drew her legs to her chest when he got closer.
The vampire reached his hand out to her when moving got difficult, "Help... me," he cried out but before his hand could touch her, his body went up in flames.
Elaina watched as the vampire burnt in an odd blue flame. The flames were an electric blue color with a tinge of gold and scarlet at the edges. The flames burned at a high intensity but they didn't burn any of the dried leaves and sticks on the ground, like it came to be, only for him.
She was entranced by the flames, it felt like they were calling her. Majestic flames that burnt at an intensity so high it could reduce anything in its path to ashes but it also felt like it wouldn't hurt her as an exception. Somewhere, Elaina felt like she had seen a color similar to this.
They were the color of her mother's eyes, she realized while staring at the burning vampire. She wanted to check if the flames would burn her so she stretched her leg toward the burning vampire. It was a bad idea, she knew that, but something about the flames drew her in and she couldn't resist the pull.
Her leg hovered in front of the fire and as she suspected, it wasn't hot but warm. It was the perfect temperature between hot and cold. She stretched the tip of her toes to touch the fire and her heart fell out of her chest when the vampire suddenly moved his hand in an attempt to catch her leg.
Elaina quickly drew her leg back barely avoiding his grasp. In an attempt to move to the side to keep further distance between them, her upper body fell. She couldn't get back up because she had no way to push herself up. Her eyes widened when she saw the burning vampire advance toward her like a zombie.
She let out screams muffled by the cloth as she struggled to get away from it. The vampire lunged at her and Elaina shut her eyes tightly in anticipation of his attack.
°°°°
Sebastian sat in a dimly lit office with piles of documents on his table. His eyes scanned the document in his hand and after ensuring that its contents were acceptable, he signed at the bottom. He picked a stamp beside a pile of documents to make his signature official.
The stamp hovered above the paper but before it could make contact with it, he felt the silver chain around his neck move. His eyes narrowed and he dropped the stamp back on its pad.
Nicholas sat on a couch in the office. He was dressed casually in a black v-neck t-shirt and black pants. His brown hair fell on his forehead and he sipped wine from a glass as he watched Sebastian work.
He saw him pause midway and dropped the stamp back on the table. "Is something wrong?" he asked after finishing the wine. He poured himself another glass and dropped the bottle on the glass table beside the couch.
"It's just a hunch," Sebastian answered. His eyes moved to the phone he always kept with him but never used. He picked it up and dialed a number, the only number on the phone. It rang seven times before it showed no response. He dialed the number again but it brought the same result, no response. His eyes narrowed even further.
"Now?" Nicholas asked after his failed calls.
"I have a bad feeling," he answered. He stood and slipped his phone into his pocket.
"Ah, to be tied down by love," Nicholas shook his head and poured himself his last glass of wine.
Sebastian walked to where the king sat. His eyes moved to the empty bottles of alcoholic wine on the table. "That's your second bottle," he commented.
"Worried?" the king asked playfully. He finished the wine in one go and dropped the glass on the table. He stood at the same height as Sebastian and the two men maintained eye contact.
"You don't have to come, Nicholas,"
"It's rare for you to have a bad feeling. I'm sure I'll see something interesting," said Nicholas, his eyes shining in anticipation.
Sebastian sighed in defeat and the two men walked out of the room.
"Is it interesting? Love, I mean," the king asked nonchalantly as they walked through the hallway.
"The only way to get your answer is to experience it yourself, your majesty," came Sebastian's reply
°°°
*2 Hours after the attack* *Around 6 am*
A light gust of wind blew through the quiet streets of a town, picking up small sticks and leaves in its path. The town was quiet, it was the middle of the night but it was eerily quiet for an inhabited town. The absence of lights, eerie silence, and a darkness different from the nights that flowed slowly on the floor made it feel like a ghost town. The door to a house creaked as it opened slightly and a hand fell to the floor.
In the kitchen of a particular home, Mya's body lay unmoving. Her eyes were wide open and her skin was pale. Her fingers twitched then her body went up in flames, an intense blue flame that didn't burn her clothes. The flames disappeared and she rose to her feet.
"Tch," she dusted her clothes in annoyance, "Those lower creatures have been getting ahead of themselves lately," she placed her hand on the side of her neck where the vampire had drank from. A nerve popped on her forehead and she snapped her fingers. She would make him suffer for that.
Come to think of it, Mya replayed her memories. She had heard two gunshots before she lost consciousness. Her eyes widened and she ran out of the kitchen to the abnormally dark sitting room. She could see the darkness in the air coming from a body close to the front door.
Mya rushed to the front of the sitting room. There, she saw Alex's body sprawled on the floor with blood pooled around his head. She bent down in front of him and shook him a little, "Alex," she called but he didn't respond.
With her continuous tapping, his body shook and the bullet suddenly flew out of his head and hit a lightbulb causing it to shatter. The wound in his temple started to heal at a rapid rate and he pushed himself up slowly.
He placed his hand on his throbbing head. That was the first time he had gotten shot by a bullet, a silver one at that, it wasn't a nice feeling. He felt like a pile of garbage. The wound healed completely and all the darkness, both the one in the house and the one that had flowed outside, rushed back to him like a vacuum attracting dirt until it disappeared.
"Are you okay?" he heard his mother ask and he nodded in response. He looked around the house, trying to recollect his memories and when he did, his eyes widened, "Where is Elaina?!"
"She's gone. They most likely took her away,"
Alexander's fist tightened, "I'm sorry, I couldn't protect her," he apologized with his head down.
"Don't say that. You got shot yourself," Mya smiled. She placed her hand on his head, "It wasn't your fault,"
Alexander blamed himself. He ought to have known that something was wrong when his mother's heart rate had fallen. It was his fault for not being attentive but he decided to leave the guilt for later. "What should we do now?" he stood on his feet and asked.
Mya thought about their next course of action in the dire situation they were in. The sun was almost out so they had to act fast. "Let's check for survivors first. We might find hints in the process,"
°°°
Elaina let out screams muffled by the cloth as she struggled to get away from the burning vampire. The vampire lunged at her and she shut her eyes in anticipation. A second passed then two, three, four, five, but the attack didn't come.
She opened one of her eyes to check for the vampire but it had disappeared. She managed to raise her upper body and she saw ashes that lay at her foot. Her heart slammed against her chest and her body trembled. She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves and rapidly beating heart.
"What the hell!" the vampire in charge of tying the slaves up, Theo, yelled. He had seen a flash of light coming from the forest and had come just in time to see his accomplice incinerate to ashes.
His eyes moved to the girl, it couldn't possibly be her. He had seen her scurrying away from the burning vampire and her trembling figure told him she didn't know about either. And even if she did, she was going to be one of their best sellers but it wouldn't hurt to make sure.
"You," he bent to her level, "Did you do something to him?" he asked. His red eyes glowed and Elaina shook her head ferociously, the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
Three more vampires joined him, "What's wrong, Theo?" one of them asked.
"Where's Dio?" asked another.
"He's gone," Theo answered. "He was getting too selfish anyways," he muttered to himself, quickly accepting the situation at hand.
"Survey the area," he ordered two of them and they both took long leaps into the air, disappearing into the trees.
His eyes moved to the girl that lay on the floor. Her hair had dried leaves and sticks stuck in it and her white dress was now dirty. "Tch,"
First Dio, then that little brat, and now this? So many disturbances in one night and they were already running late!
"What do we do about Dio?" the last vampire asked.
"We report him as dead. What else?" he answered. "Take the girl, get her cleaned and changed. We're almost out of time," he ordered.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone