DARK MYSTERIES(COMPLETED)

Chapter 56

The werewolf's ears perked slightly as it was alerted by Shiela's movement. She had stood up from the chair now. She walked towards the supernatural duo and snapped her fingers. A rumbling sound was heard below. The werewolf tilted it's head sideways,giving her a questioning stare.
" The barrier is gone. You're free to move now." She nodded.
The werewolf stretched out a paw to feel around. There were no restrictions. True to her word.
It let out a snort of relief and turned back to face her. Her gaze softened at the pleading look in it's blue eyes.
"Don't worry. I didn't forget." She smiled and snapped her fingers again, her eyes glowing yellow.
The werewolf let out a yelp as it's bones began to rearrange. Its fur began to fall off and it's claws retracted. As quickly as it transformed,it reversed. In it's place crouched a shirtless Daniel with a tattered remains of his jeans.
"I could never get used to that." He moaned as he got to his feet.
"Never say never." She joked as she stood beside him.
Daniel was about to reply when he heard voices from afar. He turned to the entrance of the hallway as he recognised the voices. Soon enough,Tomiwa,Jake,Eric and Annabelle made their entrance.
"Just like you to make your entrance after the battle." Shiela shook her head.
"Daniel!!" Before he could move,he was quickly enveloped in a tight hug by Annabelle. He chuckled as she began to plant kisses all over his face.
"Good to see you too,Babe." He grinned.
"What the hell happened here?" Jake questioned, seeing his best friend's state and Luke's barely conscious body nearby.
"I would like to know too."Tomiwa added.  Eric also gave him a sceptical gaze.
" Who is she?" He redirected his attention to Shiela.
"Shiela." She simply smiled at him.
Eric gave Daniel a look.
"It's a long story."Daniel rubbed the back of his head.
" I think I've had enough long story for one day." Tomiwa shook her head.
A harsh cough alerted the group. They stared at Luke who was a groaning mess.
"Luke." Annabelle muttered. Looking at her boyfriend's tattered state and the defeated vampire on the ground,she had a fair guess of what happened. And it looked like Jake and Tomiwa did too.
"How was it possible?" Annabelle raised her eyebrow at Daniel. " It's not the full moon."
"Part of the long story. She made it possible." Daniel sighed,nodding towards Shiela's direction.
Annabelle gazed at her,perplexed. Before she could ask anything further,Luke coughed loudly again.
"All I wanted..." He croaked as his eyes began to dilate. "..was to transform this corrupt world. I wanted a world where everyone was the same.A world devoid of greed,racism and corruption."
"At what cost?" Daniel replied,his voice was a low tone. "Spilling lots of innocent blood? Was it worth it?"
"That's the thing about goals." Luke chuckled weakly. " You have to make sacrifices to achieve them. I'm sorry your father had to be part of this. I wish it was any other person.He was a good man.If I wasn't so bent on my goals,we may have come to a compromise. I was such a fool."
Daniel's gaze softened as he took in Luke's words. Eric sighed as his steely gaze softened a bit. Here was their father's murderer paying the price for his misdeeds. But instead of feel accomplished, he felt....strange?
"I guess fate has a funny way of choosing sides." Luke continued. He tilted his head sideways to smile at Daniel. "And it chose you,Boy.You won the battle. But there is one thing you should know."
"What is that?" Daniel asked.
"You can't win it all." Luke whispered. His voice was losing it's edge as he was succumbing to the reaper's grasp.
"What do you mean,Luke? What are you talking about?" Daniel narrowed his eyes. Something about Luke's words sounded cryptic.
"You will find out soon enough." Luke replied, suddenly shifting his gaze from Daniel to Annabelle and giving her a pitiful smile. She raised her eyebrow in return.What was he talking about?
Those were his last words as he closed his eyes for the final time. Red veins began to appear on his corpse and glowed. Soon enough,light burst out from him in form of an explosion,blinding everyone momentarily.When the light died down,his body was gone and a pile of ash stood in it's place.
"It's over." Daniel sighed as he stared at the blackened human sized spot. "He's gone."
Excited cheers erupted as Jake and Tomiwa embraced. Daniel smiled at their display while Eric rolled his eyes. Shiela however smiled softly.
"Dan." Annabelle's voice sounded behind him. He smiled and turned around.
That smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of shock when he caught sight of her clutching her chest tightly with her left hand. Her face was creased in pain as she suddenly screamed. The rest of the group had their attention to her now. She began to feel light headed and lost her footing,falling backwards.
"Ann!!" Daniel cried out as he caught her before she could hit the ground. The rest of the group rushed towards them.
"What's happening? " Tomiwa squealed in fright. " Annabelle? Annabelle!"
Daniel was speechless as he accessed the condition of his girlfriend. Her eyes were focused on him and she opened her mouth to speak. But words barely came out.
"Ann? Babe, come on. Speak to me." He cupped her cheek and noticed to his dismay that they were cold. A vampire's skin was always cold but this was different. Her temperature was at a subzero level.
"Ann!!" He shrieked. "What the hell is happening?!!"
"I think I know." He glanced towards the direction of Shiela's voice. She had a sorrowful look on her face. The look of one who was going to break a devastating news.
"Luke was the first." Shiela continued "All vampires are from his bloodline. And now he's dead."
"No.." Daniel's eyes widened in shock as he knew what she was trying to imply. Tears began to stream down his face. "God,No. Please,no."
As if to confirm Shiela's theory, red veins began to form on Annabelle's arms and neck. Similar to the one on Luke before his death.
"No! No! Ann,No!" Daniel cried frantically as he caught sight of the veins. " Stay with me,Babe. Please! Please,I beg you!"
Tomiwa had began to weep silently as the sight of Daniel in a crying mess stung her heart. She tilted her head and sobbed in Jake's chest. He wrapped his arm around her,fighting back his own tears.
"Dan." Annabelle finally said.Her voice sounded sad and hoarse. She raised her hand to cup his face.  "I'm so sorry."
And just like that she was gone. Her body glowed and disintegrated into bright red dust,leaving Daniel to grasp hold of nothing.
Daniel was overcome with emotion as he finally let it all out,bursting into tears. Eric sighed and picked his brother up,pulling him in an embrace. Shiela shook her head sadly and walked over to the balcony and stared outside. The whole hall was silent, save for the sounds of sorrow. For no one could come to the fact that Annabelle,the tough but sweet vampire.
Was gone.