Chapter 167 The Power Of Elders
I do believe that I have just dug my own grave. Now the question begs, do I inform the boys of my intention, or do I go and create complete chaos on my own. I mean, how much mischief can a bunch of Vampires and a Hunter cause, and let us not forget Breyden that, well, the man does find the urge to heal things still.
My mind is made up; I shall not be giving the boys a call. I know what their immediate reaction shall be, and they don’t even know that we seem to have lost Stefan. Stefan that is now causing his own havoc, believing that elders possess powers.
Well, I do believe the boy has his species mistaken, for he is not a Highlander. The most powerful Vampire is me, and he ain’t getting anything if he even gets close enough to kill me. God knows what the child does once he has killed the elder, I do have a fairly good idea, but I shall not mention it aloud.
And while I am thinking this, I watch as Breyden is about to open his mouth, “You shall know better to keep your mouth shut.” I warn him before he utters one word. The man is still yet to learn how to live in the normal world, well, not that we are completely normal.
So as we all, with our new addition, sit around the common room, for I asked them to get out of the damn kitchen, we discuss what our plan shall be.
Roberto, who seems very eager to get out there, is the first to speak, “How many elders do we have here in London?”
“If he has not killed any of them yet, we should have thirteen.”
I hear as the Vampire Hunter chuckle to himself, “What a lucky number while you go out hunting a Vampire.”
Before Cassidy can object, I take the flat of my hand and connect it firmly with the back of his head. His head snaps forward, and I cannot help but burst out in laughter. Then my beloved turns to me, “While you are slapping each other, there might be a Vampire that is dying.”
I refrain from breathing another word in my fun of the pesky little Hunter and continue to set out our plan.
“Well, I am not suggesting that we split up, for some of you might get yourself killed.”
Then Roberto interrupts me, “Do you want to tell me that all these Vampires do not live in the same place.”
“I am afraid Vampires do not have retirement homes. They are merely Vampires that were turned at a far too elderly age.”
“Then,” Roberto continues. “Please tell me that they live close to each other?”
“My dear Roberto, there is no such thing as luck or miracles when it comes to hunting something. Now can we please get going for as my beloved said, someone might be dying.”
This also poses as a problem; when it was just Damien, Cassidy, and me, one vehicle would have sufficed. We shall have to travel in two, for the is no way that you shall even see me dead in one of those mini-bus things.
So it is Damien, Cassidy, Roberto in me in the one vehicle and the rest of the group in the other. Roberto is far too scared to be alone with the Vampire hunter, and there is no way I am leaving my beloved with him too.
Yes, one would have thought that I would have gotten over my jealousy, but I say it keeps our relationship young. Of course, Cassidy disagrees.
The weather has not changed for the better since earlier this evening. The rain is pounding hard down on the roof, and the visibility out the window is not clear at all. I can see as the Vampire Hunter drives as a snail’s space. The man is a hybrid, his eyesight should be fairly good, or perhaps it is just Damien that is a complete speedfreak.
Coming up to the first house, which is fairly small and on the outer limits of the city, Damien, Roberto, and me are the first to exit the vehicle. Nothing seems to be amiss. There is a light on and the blare of some old record. God, I will die if I listen to that, never mind a Vampire killing me.
At first, we knock on the door; after waiting for a minute, Damien knocks again. Then after another minute, Roberto hits it with a rather loud thud. Establishing that nobody is going to open, I slam my shoe straight in the center of the door, and it swings open. With slow but careful steps, we move towards where the music is playing. As we step through the door, I immediately snap my head away.
The poor man has been decapitated.
That leaves us with twelve to go.
If Stefan has founded the eldest one, he must be moving onto the others. After phoning to the Council House to arrange the burial, we make our way back to the car. As we pass the vehicle that the Vampire Hunter and the rest are in, they can see by the horror on our faces that we were too late.
Next, with more haste than before, we race to the home of the next elder that is not too far along down the road. As we get closer, we can see that there are no lights on, and everything seems far too dark. Roberto, not even bothering to knock, busts through the door and go in search of the elder.
Well, the man cannot be sleeping, yet we make the way upstairs, where another gruesome sight awaits us. Stefan has indeed grown strong, or he has just caught the elder off guard. The man is hanging from the roof, dangling by his feet. This confirms my theory; Stefan is drinking the blood of the Vampires that he kills. The boy has gone completely insane.
Then Roberto turns to me, “Do you think there are any elders left?”
“That Roberto is something that I do not wish to think of.”
“Why,” Roberto asks as he taps his finger, “Why don’t we go to the last one on the list instead of the next one.”
“I don’t want to think,” I hesitate for a moment. “But maybe the boy will have the same idea?”
“I think we should at least try.”
With that, we find ourselves rushing to the others side of the city to a more affluent part, these houses should have good security systems, and Stefan shall not be able to get inside that easily.
While the Vampire Hunter and Breyden check the grounds, Robert, Damien, and me slam our way through the back door. As we step into the kitchen, Damien slips and falls smack down on his ass. As he comes back up, he can see that his hands are covered in blood. On the counter next to us, the elder is clearly dead, completely ripped open. If a Vampire could vomit, then I would be doing that very thing.
Roberto looks at me rather baffled, “Has he killed them all?”
Then the thought comes to mind, “The only way he would have found them is in order of their names; that is the way the records are kept.”
“We have three down, so ten left. What is the next name?”
“It is an elderly woman; her name is Claudia.”
I cringe as I think that the poor woman has met her end at the hands of a child. She has been someone that I have always looked up to, and I have gone to her on many occasions for advice. I am thankful that Cassidy and Lilith have not seen any of these killings, for even I shall be scarred from it for some time.
Much to our relief, the rain stops, and it makes traveling at a greater speed far easier. We soon found ourselves in front of Claudia’s house. This time the Vampire Hunter accompanies us while Breyden stays with the girls. Just as Roberto is about to kick the door down, it suddenly opens. But something is wrong.
There in front of us is a woman that is clearly not old, and she definitely is not a Vampire. I look at her rather oddly, “Are you perhaps Claudia?”
“As I said to the previous guy, there is no Claudia here. She moved out years ago, and no I do not know where she lives.”
There is a part of me that cannot help but sighs in relief.
Damien shakes his head, “What now?”
“We move on to the next house.”
The next house is a rather big mansion where a very wealthy Vampire lives. Due to the size of the property, we all get from the vehicles in order to look for Stefan. Everyone pairs off except Cassidy stays with Roberto and me. As we slip through the bushes on our way to the front door, there is a rustle behind us and a familiar voice.
“Well, look whom we have here.”Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.