DARK MYSTERIES(COMPLETED)

Chapter 21

Daniel leaned forward and rested his hands on the cool tiles of the wall as the water cascaded down his body. He sighed in relief and satisfaction at the moderate temperature of the water. Neither hot or cold. He was currently at home taking his bath as he didn’t think going back to school was necessary. A lot had happened from his time in the hospital to now. Explanation of every details to all that has been happening to his mum wasn’t an easy feat as he received some scolding on why he never told her earlier. Of course he omitted the part of Annabelle’s status to her. And there was Sharon who was kept in the dark about all of these. He sighed again as he soaped his hair and began to hand-scrub it. Sharon was so delicate emotionally and he wondered how she would receive this. Then there was his discussion with the three men……..
                                                              *PREVIOUSLY*
“I suppose I should thank you for what you did back there at the warehouse.” Daniel said as he sat with the three men at a cafeteria. Annabelle made sure to hang around nearby and watch them, just incase they tried anything suspicious to Daniel. Sure, they did a good deed but she wasn’t the trusting type. Especially to strangers.
“ Don’t mention it.” The leader said, taking a sip from his coffee. His aquamarine eyes not leaving Daniel.
“My name is Simon.” He continued and then gestured to the twins.
“ These are my friends,  Tony and Ted.”
Daniel smiled and shook hands with them. “ You aren’t much of talkers, are you?” he asked.
“Quite right.” Tony replied, speaking for the first time. “ Less of talkers, more of observers.”
His brother nodded.
“Your girlfriend has been keeping an eagle eye on us for the past twenty minutes.” Simon smiled nodding towards Annabelle’s direction.
“ It’s all for good intentions.” Daniel replied. Then he paused.
“ Girlfriend?”
The trio chuckled and Daniel raised an eyebrow at them.
“ What?” Tony said “ You aren’t dating?”
Daniel paused and looked at her direction. She smiled softly at him and he blushed and faced the trio catching expectant grins on their faces.
“Well, I can’t really say.” He mumbled.
A disappointed groan waved through the table as the trio became disappointed.
“Oh well, you’ll figure that out later.” Simon shrugged and then his face became serious.  He cleared his throat and Daniel knew this was important.
“Now for the reason for calling you here."  Simon began. “ We want to offer our services to you as your guardians. I can say we have a common enemy. The vampires…” Simon said.
“Wait a minute..” Daniel interrupted narrowing his eyes at him suspiciously. “ As much as I appreciate what you did back there. I don’t really know much about you three except your names and the fact that you, Simon, are not from this country. Right?”
Simon nodded.
“ Actually, we are from south Africa.” He said and the twins nodded in agreement.
“Alright.” Daniel replied. “ How am I sure you guys aren’t vampires too?”
“What?” Simon was caught off guard by that question.
“Trust me.” Daniel mused. “ They come in..surprise packages.”
“Believe me.” Simon laughed. “ We are not vampires.”
Daniel thought for a second, then he reached into his jacket and swiftly pulled out a wooden arrow before lightly slashing Simon’s wrist, drawing blood.
“What the hell!” Simon howled, clutching his wrist.
“What is wrong with you?!” Tony yelled, glaring at Daniel. “Why did you do that?”
“Just wanted to be sure.” Daniel smirked indifferently
“Oh, and you couldn’t find another way to do so?” Simon said, nursing his injured wrist.  “ Or ask me?”
“If I had asked permission to use a sharp object on your skin, would you have granted it?” Daniel raised an eyebrow at him.
Simon sighed and showed his wrist to Daniel. It was still bleeding, but reduced.
“There” He said. “ Satisfied?”
Daniel nodded. “ Now I just want to know how you got to know about the vampires.”
Simon sighed and leaned back in his seat, a thoughtful  expression on his face.
“It goes way back.” Simon said. “ The vampires were vicious and merciless creatures who took joy in the killings of innocent people. Well, I never believed they existed. My people would tell stories about them but I dismissed it as a ridiculous legend and a myth. Until one fateful night, he came.”
“Luke?” Daniel queried.
Simon nodded. “ He arrived with an entire coven. They were so numerous. Before we knew it, they attacked our town and fed on many of our people like livestock. Who could put up a fight against them? A handful of us managed to flee. My father didn’t make it. Only my mum, my grandfather, these guys with me and a few others could escape. We made our way to  a small town in Johannesburg. We settled there and I can tell you it wasn’t easy. As for me and my friends, our intense hatred of the vampires increased daily and we swore to kill any on sight.”
Daniel gulped as his mind shifted to Annabelle.
“We trained day and night. Physical and mental training and we started our own mission around Africa. Killing them without mercy. But it was all a waste. The more we killed, the more Luke created. In case you are wondering, he is the first vampire and also the strongest.”
“ Guess that explains why wooden stakes and bullets don’t affect him.” Daniel scoffed.
Ted spoke up finally. “ They affect him only momentarily. But they don’t kill him as you saw back there.”
“What about sunlight?” Daniel asked
“No.” Ted shook his head.
“Holy water?” Daniel pressed.
The trio laughed loudly and hysterically which signified that Daniel wasn’t even close.
“Then what?!!” Daniel cried out in frustration.
“ He’s virtually invincible?!!”
“No." Simon said. “ We all heard about the X-serum in your blood and we know he is after it. If you put two and two together, you would know that Luke wants it for complete invincibility which proves that he has a weakness. But sadly, Nobody knows what it is.”
Annabelle sighed softly as she eavesdropped on their conversation. Super hearing does come in handy. So far she hadn’t gotten any useful information yet and it was starting to get frustrating.
Her mind quickly went to a friend of hers who was leaving far away  in Ghana. The one who taught her how to control her rage and hunger. If she could remember clearly,  her friend was a historian and researcher.  She had made a lot of study  concerning the supernatural. If only…
She snapped  back to reality as Simon continued.
“But there is another thing I know."  He said as he shook the coffee mug and watched as the hot liquid twirled inside.
“What’s that?"  Daniel’s ears perked curiously.
“The serum in your bloodstream.” Simon looked at him. “ It can be nullified.”
Annabelle’s eyes went wide in disbelief when she heard that. Something was definitely wrong somewhere. How could that be?
“It can’t be.” Daniel was shocked. “ It’s impossible."
“It’s not." Simon said as a light frown appeared on his face. “I think Luke is aware of this, that is another reason he wants you so badly. You are his last hope.  The X-serum is very powerful and if it merges with Luke’s blood, He becomes the most powerful being on this entire earth. But if the X-serum is neutralized before He gets his hand on it. It’s over for him. A certain doctor told me there is a toxin that kills the serum in your  blood. He also warned that there may be……side effects.”
“Side effects?” Daniel tilted his head sideways.
“Yes."  Tony said this time. “We do not know what this toxin is or what this side effect is, but we know you need extra protection because Luke will strike harder this time. The sooner we find out his ultimate weakness, the better.”
“So.” Simon smiled and stretched his hand for a hand shake. “Deal?”
                                                                                 *CURRENTLY*
Daniel sighed as he stepped out of the bathroom. He definitely needed that bath as he felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He toweled himself and was about to use a lotion when a knock was heard on his door.
“ Daniel” It was his mother. “ Someone is here to see you."
“ Who?” He asked as he rubbed lotion over himself.
“It’s a surprise.” She giggled and left the door.
Daniel rolled his eyes and quickly put on some fresh clothes. He jugged down the stairs into the sitting room to find….
“GRANDAD?!!” He cried out in surprise. His grandfather smiled and stood up from the cushion. At 65, he still looked strong and agile. He was tall and had receding hairline. Most of his hair were grey and wrinkles appeared on his face, though not much.
“Don’t just stand there.” He frowned in mock fashion. “Come here and welcome your old man."
Daniel laughed and went to embrace him. His grandfather held him tight and looked at him over.
“My goodness."  He cried out. “ You have become quite the handsome young man. It has been a while. I hope those girls in school are not swarming you.”
“ I was wondering the same thing.” Esther piped from the kitchen.
“MOM!” Daniel cried out, disapprovingly.
His grandfather laughed and soon they sat down for discussion. Ranging from school, to his studies and how often he visited home. Daniel smiled as he enjoyed his company. It had been so long.
“ Oh I almost forgot.” His grandfather said and glanced at Daniel . “ I hope it’s not too late for your birthday present.”
“It’s never too late as long as it’s you, Granddad." Daniel smiled.
His grandfather reached into his pocket and brought out a silver neck chain attached to  a ball. The ball was enclosed as if storing something. There was a design on the ball in the shape of a  ‘W’ on it.
“Wow.” Daniel smiled as he collected the chain from his granddad and examined it. It was beautiful.
“ Thanks, Granddad.”
“ I got it from a shop near my house. I thought it would be perfect for you.” His grandfather smiled gently and gestured for Daniel to put it on. Daniel obliged and his grandfather nodded in approval. “ And from the looks of it,I was right. Happy birthday, Dan. Even though it was yesterday."

If anyone had paid attention to the neck chain around Daniel’s neck. They would have caught the ‘W’ sign on the stone glowing blue.