DARK MYSTERIES(COMPLETED)

Chapter 25

  “ I still can’t believe I am finally here.” Tomiwa piped happily as she walked hand in hand with Jake.
They were walking behind Daniel and Annabelle who led the quartet along the bushy path.  The ground was quite wet and muddy due to the occurrence of rain, a few minutes prior to their arrival and they could see some birds whistling and tweeting as they flew and perched from tree to tree.  Frogs croaked nearby and there were sounds of crickets chirping. The forest was thick with activities as it was still midday.
“I’ll make sure I get enough pictures before we leave.” She added excitedly.
“ Predictable.” Jake rolled his eyes and she jabbed him lightly in the ribs, sticking her tongue out at him.
“Remind me why your friend stays alone in the middle of the forest again?” Daniel said, momentarily swatting away an irritating insect that buzzed near his ear.
“It’s part of her lifestyle.” Annabelle replied. “ She prefers not to stay around people because.. well you can think of the rest.”
“ But I thought she can control herself.” Daniel pondered, glancing sideways at her.
“She can.” Annabelle replied. “ But remember, no matter how you tame a lion, it will always have it’s predatory instinct. Best not to take risks. On the other hand, she doesn’t feel she is ready to reveal herself to the world.”
Daniel shrugged and said nothing, folding his arms behind his head. His mind became clouded. It had been two weeks since the attack at the party  and things were not getting any better. The death reports that day was nothing to write home about. Sharon was emotionally shaken by the ordeal and was in a bad state of paranioa. He felt helpless as he didn’t even know where to start explaining. And then, there was Eric. How did he become so skilled and how did he know how to take down vampires?. Then his mother came to mind. He didn’t tell her the ordeal at the party. He definitely didn’t want to add more weight on her mind. She had been through enough as at now. Then the trio. Why the hell didn’t they show up when he needed their skills at that party? What was the whole point of following him about if they won’t be useful. He squeezed his fists in annoyance…..
“We’re here.” Annabelle sang, snapping him from his thoughts.
The other three opened their eyes in awe as they gaped in fascination at the house that stood before them. It was a typical bungalow but it looked so sophisticated. Surprisingly, it was unfenced but the area around the house was cleared. The house  was painted white with a wooden door which had a golden knocker on it. It wasn’t  big but it was quite wide.
The door opened and a lady stepped out. She was light in complexion and looked no older than 19. She was quite curvaceous  and wore a white tank top and blue jean shorts that could be described as underwear due to their sheer size.  Her hair was dyed blonde at the right side and flowed freely on her shoulders. Her skin looked radiant and was devoid of blemishes and she wore lip gloss.
Her eyes darted to the group in front of her and a wide smile appeared on her face when she saw Annabelle.
“Annie!” She squealed and  quickly strolled towards the said girl before enveloping her in a tight hug.
“What’s up, girlfriend?Glad you made it” She laughed and then turned to the other three. “Oh,  what's up, y’all? How you doing?”
They waved and mumbled a reply.
“Oh, guys.” Annabelle turned to them and gestured to the lady. “ This is Tisha, my mentor and savior.”
“Oh.” Tisha giggled, waving her off. “ You are flattering me."
“ And Tisha.”  Annabelle gestured to her friends. “These are my friends. Daniel, Jake and Tomiwa.”
Tisha smiled and shook hands with them one by one. However when she reached Tomiwa, her hand lingered in the handshake and she stared at Tomiwa for a while, before a sultry smile appeared on her face. Tomiwa caught the smile and suddenly became uncomfortable.
“Tomiwa, right?” Tisha purred making the other girl shiver. “Such a beautiful name. Tell me something. Are you single?”
That caught the three by surprise and Tomiwa yanked her hand away in fright. Daniel and Jake on the other hand were stunned to the ground. Annabelle on the other hand groaned and facepalmed.
“Seriously?” She cried out to her friend. “ I thought you would have dropped that habit.”
“No.” Tisha replied, her eyes not leaving Tomiwa, making the girl hide behind Jake who was still stunned to silence. “ It’s not so simple.”
“Wait a minute.” Daniel stared at Tisha. “ Are you saying you are.. you are…”
“Not straight?” Tisha completed with a shameless smile. “ Yeah.”
“And Annabelle didn’t mention this to us because….” Daniel frowned at Annabelle, purposely pausing at the last word.
“It skipped my mind."  Annabelle retorted in defence. “ Come on, Dan. It has been 50 years since we last saw each other.”
“I don’t know what to say right now.” Daniel ran his hand through his hair.
“Don’t worry, handsome." Tisha smiled. “If you are wondering if I did anything to Annabelle, I didn’t . She was much too unstable to think straight when we met.”
“Thanks.” Annabelle muttered sarcastically.
“ But after I made her well, trust me, I tried hitting on her but she turned down my advances.  So sad.”Tisha pouted at the last part and Annabelle rolled her eyes.
“ But I never held it against her though. I agreed with her to remain friends and well that’s it. I guess you can’t influence everyone. But your friend over there however….” She paused as she glanced at Tomiwa who was still hiding behind Jake.
“ Is taken.” Jake completed and Tomiwa smiled gratefully at his defence.
“Awww.” Tisha pouted.
“ Too bad. And she has a sexy body." She winked.
Tomiwa twisted her face in disgust.
“Tell me.” Tisha smiled at Jake. “ Have you explored it yet?”
Jake and Tomiwa coughed  and muttered incohensively as blushes appeared on their cheeks.
“I take it as a no.” Tisha shook her head in mock pity.
“Come on.” Annabelle said as she dragged her friend by the arm and entered the house, the rest following behind. “ It’s time for business.”
The inside was well decorated. There were three couches ,a rug on the floor and a huge shelf full of books. There were a lot of doors that led to corridors. There was verandah that showed the view of a stream at the back of the house.
“Make yourself at home.” Tisha said and they all sat down at a couch.
“So.” She smiled placing her hands together. “ What brings you here?”
“ Luke.” Annabelle muttered.
The smile on Tisha’s face disappeared and it was replaced with a serious look. She unclasped her hands and leaned back into the couch, staring into space.
“You want to know if I have any info, right?” She said, still staring into space. Her voice was devoid of emotion.
“Yes.” Annabelle replied. “Look,Tisha. We both know Luke can still be vanquished but the more we delay on getting info, the more dangerous it is. Vampires keep multiplying day by day. The more that are killed, the more he and his son creates.”
“ So, that good for nothing Chris is still alive.” Tisha interrupted with a mocking smile.
“Sadly yes.” Annabelle replied. “ But that is not the point.Luke wants to get his hands on Daniel here and he will stop at no cost. He is aware of the X-serum in Daniel’s blood and…”
“Wait a minute.” Tisha interrupted and stared at Daniel in shock. “ You are the one that poccess the X-serum?”
He nodded.
“Hmmm.Then we have wasted enough time.” Tisha said and then stood up. All eyes followed her as she moved to the shelf and pulled out a small book. It looked very ancient as it was torn at some edges.
“I picked this up during one of my research trips.” She said as she handed the book to Annabelle. “ It has some information on Luke but it doesn’t state his weakness. Although it did leave some clues. Difficult clues.”
Annabelle opened the book. The words were written as if from a feather dipped in ink which signified the age of the book. Annabelle read it out:

  “ Luke, the most powerful vampire to exist.  He is known by many names. The lord of darkness.  The  symbol of abomination. The epitome of destruction. But one thing is very clear, he was never  born  as a vampire. Rather, he was born human. A servant to be precise. The story goes   back when he served at a plantation alongside his friend. The two young men did not like their status and the burden of servitude. As much as they hated their lives, they each had different  views towards their master. While his friend wanted to be among the elites and high class, Luke wanted to rule them. And so when rumors of a warlock spread in the town and came to pass, Luke  and his friend slipped from the plantation and payed a visit to this supernatural being. They came on their knees begging for great power and wanted to be released from their shackles of slavery. Taking pity on the young men, the warlock offered a ritual that would grant the both of them great strength and omnipotent power but at a cost:Their lives. Luke’s friend who valued life backed away and fled but Luke was willing to go ahead. The ritual involved ingesting the blood of a bat and venom from a black mamba. The ritual would have killed anyone, but due to Luke’s determination and the growing darkness in his heart, the ritual was a success. He died and was revived as a new being. Thus, began the birth of the first vampire. Unfortunately, the ritual had a side effect. He had to consume blood to sustain his health as would anyone turned by him. Discovering his new power, he laid waste to his master and massacred a lot of people in his town. The warlock having seen his mistake too late and regretting it, decided to work on how to destroy what he created. But Luke, having anticipated this, stormed his fortress with a few accomplices. Running out of time, the warlock sealed the secret to destroying the first vampire in silver and aquamarine and magically tossed it into a nearby town before he was brutally murdered. Till today, no one knows the location of this powerful secret. I write this as in haste as I have no time left. Luke is coming for me. I can sense it……….”

Annabelle paused as she discovered that the remaining pages were blank. She sighed and closed the book. Everyone became silent, each to his thoughts as they knew another battle had arrived.
A puzzling battle.