Obliterate

twenty one

"THERE ISN'T MUCH known about Revenants," Finn went on to explain.

Fevered whispers immediately flooded the room. Sophie and Eli shared a look, their eyebrows furrowed. Finn waited a moment, until the whispers died out, and then continued. "Their existence was discovered roughly six hundred years ago, in the outskirts of what is now known as Transylvania. And I believe that they are where the basic vampire stereotypes used by humans actually originate from."

Sophie frowned. Transylvania. That was where the legend of Dracula originated from. From what she could remember of Bram Stoker's book, Dracula was a little bit more sophisticated compared to the crazed creatures she'd encountered from the forest.

However, the creatures did have pasty pale skin, sunken eyes, and outrageously sharp teeth —all of which were stereotypical characteristics of a modern vampire, even in fictional literature.

Her thoughts drifted back to the creatures, the Revenants, in the forest. All she could think about were those clouded eyes, staring straight through her.

"There aren't very many of them in existence," Finn said. "And over time, I have discovered that they are incredibly hard to track. Revenants appear to be mindless killing machines. They hunt and sleep. That's it. I have done my best to observe them from afar. Unfortunately, whenever I get too close to them, they instantly attack. They will attack anything that moves or breathes around them."

Pursing her lips, Sophie glanced at Eli. Her boyfriend stared straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to her gaze, with his eyes focused on Finn. His facial expression was marred with a hearty mixture of worry and stress. She squeezed his hand in her own, trying to give him some semblance of comfort.

Finn paused for a second, as another round of whispers filled the room. His gaze flickered around, focused on a few faces, until his eyes seemed to land directly on Sophie. He smiled slightly and continued, "As you may know, our bodies are maintained by the blood that we drink. It replaces our own, pulsing through our veins, keeping our organs in check. Their bodies appear to work in much the same fashion. The only visible difference is that, unlike us, their bodies were completely dead and decomposing before they were turned. These creatures are literal walking corpses."

Someone raised their hand. Finn hesitated and then nodded toward the individual. "So, like zombie vampires?" the person asked.

A frown pinched at Finn's facial features. Before he could even open his mouth to respond, Aelia stepped forward. She nodded and said, "Essentially, to put it in layman's terms, that would be correct. These creatures are made from the dead."

"There is not a direct way to kill them, either," Finn added. "At least not that I have uncovered so far. The most that I have been able to do is fend them off and distract them with another source of food long enough to ensure my escape."

Aelia crossed her arms over her chest. A heavy sigh pulled at her shoulders. "We will need to proceed carefully with our next course of action. I do not want to lose anymore students to these creatures."

"These creatures do not discriminate when it comes to who they attack and attempt to eat. All supernatural races and humans are potential food to them," Finn said. "They do, however, go for the weakest target. For example, if two animals are spotted in the forest, the slowest and weakest will be killed first."

"All of our students are a priority regarding safety. Some, however, are better equipped to defend themselves if attacked. Human students will now require constant supervision by armed guards that I have hired. If we cannot get these Revenants under control soon, I will be forced to give our human students the choice to be turned into either vampires or werewolves," Aelia stated grimly. "I would never want to force anybody into making that kind of change, but I do feel that it would be much easier for them to protect themselves."

A hand rose. Aelia nodded for the person to speak.

"What about the other students? Our supernatural students? What will be done to protect them?"

Aelia seemed to take a deep breath. "We have always offered courses that help our supernatural students learn more about themselves and how to better utilize the gifts that they've been given, especially when it comes to their own protection. These courses will now be mandatory for all students. As I mentioned before, I have hired a group of armed guards to patrol the grounds. Their purpose is to protect all students, though they will be focused more so on our human students. I believe that, between the efforts provided by our outstanding staff and the added protection provided by these guards, all of our students will be adequately protected. If needed, we will make adjustments in the future."

Another round of whispers floated through the air. Sophie pressed her lips into a firm line and chanced a glance at Eli. He seemed to feel her gaze and looked down at her. "Do you think it will be enough?" she asked him quietly.

"I hope so," he responded in a whisper.

Aelia took a few more minor questions from the crowd. As the discussion continued, Sophie's mind began to drift. Her gaze flickered around the room and then focused on Finn. He stood slightly behind her mother, his arms folded neatly across his chest. His expression was disinterested, almost stoic. She couldn't help but wonder if he knew anything else about the Revenants, anything that he hadn't already shared.

Sophie almost visibly flinched when Finn suddenly looked around the room, his gaze landing on her. She fixated her gaze on her mother and pretended to be incredibly interested as Aelia dismissed the meeting.

Once everyone around them started to move, Eli sighed and squeezed her hand. "Ready to go?"

She nodded. "We need to check with Aubrey. She might have found some more information."

As Eli and Sophie started to walk out of the dining hall, Tabatha approached them. "I feel like there has to be more information about these Revenants out there somewhere," she said. "That Finn guy can't be the only person who knew about them."

"I agree," Eli said. "We are going to check with my sister now. She has been researching as much as she can. She might have some more information about them from other resources. You are more than welcome to come with us."

Tabatha hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip, and glanced at Sophie. "Your sister...as in Aubrey?"

"She's changed a lot since everything happened," Sophie said with a small smile. "Trust me."

"As much as I do trust you, I think I'll sit visit out. We never got along, even before all the madness that happened. I'm not sure that I want to risk it just yet," Tabatha admitted. She grinned and added, "Plus, I really wanted to check out the library. I'm excited to see all the changes that have been made since Aelia took over."

Sophie pursed her lips. She'd been secretly hoping that Tabatha would come along with them, just so they could really talk and catch up with each other. She glanced at Eli.

He met her gaze with a wary smile on his face. "That is a pretty good idea. The library might have some information, especially in the restricted sections."

"Maybe I'll go with you," Sophie suggested, grinning at Tabatha. "It will be much easier to sort through books if we do it together."

Tabatha laughed. "That sounds good to me!"