Chapter 33: Responsibilities

Xavier had left his mother so she could speak with Sage, who seemed to have a lot going through her mind. When his mother came out of her room, he was waiting below the stairs to ask about what she had learned.

“Xavier, what Valarie suspected is true: Sage isn’t human; she is supernatural. However, I can’t tell if she is a werewolf or a vampire. We need to know her true identity before we welcome her into the pack. If not, she will have to leave once her sister’s treatment is over.”

“I don’t think she’s a vampire, but if confirming her identity makes everyone feel safe, then we’ll do it,” Xavier replied..

“They were attacked by a vampire; she said she saw the lady who attacked them in school,” Mitchell added. “How could a vampire walk around freely at that school without you and your team noticing?”

“You can’t blame us. Vampires use magic spells to mask their presence. Besides, we should focus on finding the hybrid rather than chasing a lone vampire.”

“The fact that we are searching for the hybrid shouldn’t be an excuse to let the vampires hurt innocent humans,” Mitchell warned her son before walking off.

Xavier sighed; it seemed like more responsibilities were piling up for him and he hadn’t solved any problems yet. Now he had to be accountable for the humans’ safety too.

****

While Sage was safe under the care of the Wolf Creed, Venzy ran tirelessly through the woods in search of the hybrid. She didn’t understand how it was possible for a young girl carrying two other bodies to evade her in such a short time. She had followed every possible trail Sage and her cousins had left. Despite her relentless pursuit, she found no trace of Sage and her cousins. Exhausted and frustrated, she finally halted her search upon encountering a demon.

‘‘Soren will be furious when he learns the hybrid escaped,’ Venzy thought to herself as she ran back to meet with the other vampires. ‘He doesn’t have to know it was the hybrid. Yes, I’ll just say there was a mix-up somewhere.’

Venzy came to a halt when she met with the other vampires in the woods. They were seated on a log of wood in a clear area within the woods. After searching for hours, they had gotten tired and, without any leads, decided to sit and wait for Venzy.

“We should go now. The wood isn’t safe,” Venzy said as she stood in front of the two vampires. They were two young men who looked like rock stars. They had their hair dyed and piercings in odd parts of their bodies.

“Not safe? We can handle anything,” the one who spoke was Blake. His hair was dyed pink and he had a tongue ring at the tip of his tongue that changed the way he spoke. Just like his partner beside him, Blake had dark circles around his eyes made from black eye shadows.

“Yeah, we should keep searching,” Valentine added, slicking back his dark blue hair. Suspicious of Venzy’s intentions. When Venzy said they should leave, what came to his mind was that Venzy might have an idea of where the hybrid was but wanted to take it to Soren alone and receive whatever reward was placed on the hybrid’s head.

Valentine and Blake were partners assigned to look for the hybrid. They were close by when Venzy sent for help. Now they had put in some effort to search for the hybrid, there was no way they would leave without the hybrid. Both Valentine and Blake had thought of all kinds of rewards they could receive from Vampire Lord Soren for being the ones to hand the hybrid over to him.

Before Venzy met up with them, they had made plans to double-cross her and be the ones to deliver the captured hybrid. Leaving the forest now without the hybrid would destroy all their plans.

“Sure, I’d like to see you go one-on-one with a demon,” Venzy said, already walking away from the boys.

“Now hold on!” Blake spoke, making Venzy stop. “What about the hybrid? You don’t plan on leaving her, right?”

“I see why you’re reluctant to leave. Well, there was a mix-up, and none of the girls was the hybrid,” Venzy lied, staring Blake directly in the eye.

Blake knew Venzy was lying. She didn’t say anything about catching up with the girls and confirming if they were the hybrid or not. In his mind, Venzy had caught the hybrid and hidden her.

“Okay, sure,” Blake replied. “You can go without us.”

Venzy, who didn’t really care about the duo, didn’t mind leaving them. After all, they said they could handle anything.

“You’re not letting her go just like that, right?” Valentine asked his partner.

“Of course not. We’ll follow her trail. She’ll lead us to the hybrid and we can take her out there.” Blake and Valentine grinned mischievously, they relished the thought of the honor awaiting them when they handed Soren the hybrid.

****

Below the Siamese Mountain, in the coven, Kashina had started running several tests on the blood Soren was drinking. There was something strange about the object Zayn had given to her. After observing the string-like object, she confirmed it was the second half of a reptile, which was the likely source of Soren’s poisoning. She just didn't know what kind of reptile it was.

She had run several tests using tiny drops of blood and some potions but had found nothing. She was getting frustrated as she didn’t understand why the poison wasn’t reflecting despite all her efforts. She needed to stop for a while and think.

Kashina picked up a vial and filled it with blood; she put on a long brown cloak with a pointy hood and walked out of the coven. She was going out to test the poisoned blood in another way, hopefully she would find some answers.