Chapter 41
The sky looked reddish, covered in cold air that penetrated the skin to the bones; the sounds of screams in every corner of the city were heartbreaking. Every corner of the town or forest in Kiwi country no longer seems to be a place of refuge for clans and humans.
Pools of blood are a daily sight for residents, causing the Rotorua city police to increase security in every corner of the city, especially at night. Everyone is advised not to go out after five in the afternoon and to lock all doors and windows tightly. As a result, residents' activities were slightly paralyzed, especially in cafes and nightclubs. Children cannot play freely as they please like before.
Meanwhile, Matthias continued to drain human blood until it was dry. Not only pure humans but servamps belonging to Blake and Zoe were finished off mercilessly as if their blood would not be able to fill Matthias' greedy stomach. Pure vampires are the same; they party happily, enjoying the peak of power they have been waiting for. Bathed in blood, sucking each other's necks, even playing with the bodies like toys.
On the other hand, Federica opened her eyes to find herself in a sitting position with her legs and arms tied tightly in a cave with minimal lighting. A damp aroma mixed with the distinctive smell of mud wafts through your nose, causing a feeling of nausea in your stomach. The splash of water could be heard not far away, along with the sound of feet being dragged closer to her.
The girl tried to escape with difficulty. Who knows how long she had been unconscious and didn't remember anything that happened. All she remembers is her journey with Liam to look for oak. Suddenly, her body stiffened as the memory of the last night suddenly appeared. It turned out that Liam tried to kill her after saying that the man loved her. Federica's chest immediately ached like someone was trying to rain thousands of arrows on her.
“You finally woke up stranger.” A slightly shrill screeching sound was heard.
Federica turned to see a human figure with bark-like skin about one meter tall, a long nose, and eyes the size of tennis balls. His hair looks more like a bunch of tree roots than a reggae hairstyle. The outline of the human mouth, believed to be Hawthorn, is quite wide, with greenish mucus coming out of the corners of the mouth. Not to mention, its long, radish-like fingers add to the scary impression of the creature that Ethan described as a vicious creature.
In the next second, Federica's eyes lit up brightly; her head felt like a large rock had crushed it. The girl screamed in pain, stomping in her seat like she was going crazy. The hawthorn grew up to splash Federica with water, but instead, she fell to her knees, her body trembling when she saw the different irises in her captive's eyes.
Federica tried to shake her head hard to understand what was happening to her. However, a force from somewhere tried to take control of Federica. She felt her canine teeth baring along with her fingernails. There was a glimpse of thirst for blood in the throat like a human who hadn't had a drink for days.
Hawthorn ran quickly to meet his friends but was stopped when Federica managed to break free and lunge at the dwarf human's slimy body to death. Then Federica fell unconscious, but her soul in the darkness could see a shadow of Matthias Bennett, who was killing her victim with a wide grin.
"Hello, Stella, long time no see..." said Matthias to Federica. “Finally, our bodies are connected...”
Federica widened her eyes, trying to force her brain to wake up, but Matthias burst out laughing.
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Liam screamed in pain when his throat was filled with vervain liquid which immediately burned his body from the inside. After Blake's betrayal, which caused his family to die before his eyes. His cousin broke Liam's neck until he became unconscious. The next day, the man woke up and found himself in the territory of a werewolf who stared at him full of wrath.
There was no chance for Liam to explain the chronology when his body became a joke for the wild wolves. Especially Ethan, who was furious at Liam's lies and pretended to be an ally but stabbed him in the back. He had suspected from the start that Liam was not a trustworthy vampire. But, no one was willing to believe it until they heard the news that the Grim Ripper was successfully resurrected.
“You traitor!” Ethan shouted angrily. “You traitor Turner! We should have never believed you!”
Liam tried to reply to Ethan's words between the limits of his consciousness. The man's body was in disarray. His physical strength may be strong enough to withstand the attacks of the wolves, but not his heart, which has to accept the fact that his family died before his eyes. Once again, Liam screamed as dozens of arrows dipped in vervain were launched by Ethan's brothers.
Her pale body was red, with wounds bakar appeared due to the effects of the liquid. With all his strength, Liam removed the arrows that were stuck in his body one by one. Suddenly someone shot a bow and almost hit Liam's left chest. Gessy appeared from behind the tree, her eyes red with disappointment.
“You should die, Liam!” Gessy cursed emphatically.
His tongue was unable to answer Gessy's words. The vervain had paralyzed half of his limbs. Liam could only reach for Gessy's body as if begging for forgiveness. Gessy pulled out the arrow and then landed a blow on Liam's jaw until blood came out of his nostrils.
Liam, who was no longer able to take a lot of vervain in his body, finally collapsed with black skin. Ethan approached and kicked the defenseless body until it hit the fence of his house. He screamed, regretting to himself why he let Federica go alone with a vampire. Aaron grabbed his nephew, grabbed Ethan and Gessy who both felt betrayed.
“Then what should we do, Uncle? "There's no other way, we're finished," complained Ethan in despair.
“Go meet those Hawthorns and save Federica if they haven't already killed her. Take him any distance, Ethan. Don't let him meet the Grim Ripper," said Aaron, sounding serious. “If the vampire is alive, it is certain that he has psychic contact with a half blood. I'm sure Matthias will try to kill Federica to increase his power.”
Ethan nodded. "Gessy, you can take care of yourself, right?"
"I can, don't doubt me."
“What about the oak, Uncle? Only there we can get the weapons, right?” Ethan asked worriedly.
“I'm sure the dwarf humans wouldn't want to give away their inheritance for free, Ethan. They must have asked for offerings. All we can do is prevent Matthias from meeting Federica during the blood moon.”
"Okay, I'll go," said Ethan then whistled for his brothers. In the next second, they turned into a pack of large, fierce-looking werewolves. Ethan looked down when Aaron reached out to stroke his head and then approached Gessy.
"Take care of yourself, Ethan," Gessy whispered, kissing Ethan's wolf head.
He nodded then ran through the wilderness towards Blue Lake. Occasionally barking and roaring sounds are heard indicating that they must be alert in each territorial area. The voices responded to each other, followed by the appearance of several flocks of birds passing by to watch from the air. Aaron who saw it already guessed that the war in the past would happen and maybe worse.
"Come on, let's take Liam's body inside, Gessy," asked Aaron. “Have you told your clan to hide?”
Gessy nodded."Yes, adults guard the borders, Uncle Aaron. Only a few women take part because most of them protect children. Uncle, can we survive?"
Aaron's lips were sealed and he didn't know what to say. Even if the tree had not been found, it was certain that all clans would be wiped out and the glorious era of vampires would begin again. He believes that a period of slavery like the 19th century will occur if the Grim Ripper is not killed immediately. The old man did not respond to Gessy's question and preferred to tell her that he had hidden his clan with William in an underground house that no one knew about.