FOREVER IN ABYSS

CHAPTER 27 - HOPING FOR AN ILLUSION

YUYA slashed on a vampire that was aiming for Keito while the younger one was busy with another vampire.

“Thanks.” The younger one exclaimed amidst the attack.

Yuya couldn’t figure out how they were trapped in the midst of vampires. He could only think that they were in a vampires’ nest because of the number of vampires attacking them.

When a patrol of hunters called their attention, they immediately went into action. They came to the aid of the hunters who were trapped in this location.

A vampire jumped beside him. Without further ado, he slashed it with his silver sword.

The smell of blood had lingered in the air. The vampire who tried to attack him fell on the ground and immediately turned into dust.  

Another vampire appeared before him. Yuya squinted at the smell of blood from his mouth. He slashed the vampire in the mouth and let it fall on the ground.

“Ahhh!”

“Chii?!” Yuya ran towards the loud shout. Yuri was sprawled on the ground and before him hover a vampire in a thick black cloak.

“We finally meet, Dreamer.” the vampire hissed in a dark velvety voice.

“No, you are not real. You are supposed to be dead.” Yuri murmured.

A shrill laugh filled the air. “You know better than to believe that, Dreamer?”

Yuya couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled his sword and swung at the vampire but the vampire was really fast. He looked at his direction and flicked away his sword.

Yuya was taken aback with those bloody red eyes with a golden slit. The rest of their co-members came and swung their weapons to the vampire.

The vampire laughed at their effort. He flipped his black cape and was gone.

Yuya went to the aid of Yuri. “Chii~” he called but Yuri seemed to be blood stricken. His eyeballs seemed to be floating in his eyes, as if they couldn’t see anything.

Yuya tapped his cheek.

“What happened to him?” Ryutaro asked and squatted before them.

“Let us bring him to the safe house.” They helped carry Yuri away.

YURI heaved. His breath felt like it was stopped in his throat. He is not real. He is not real. He tried to convince his mind. He is not real. He is not real.

He tried to clear his mind of the image of the vampire lord that he had met only in his dreams.

“Yuri-kun.” A voice called him.

Yuri opened his eyes to find Jhenie staring at him with concerned eyes. He then felt a cold wet cloth in his forehead and saw Hana’s angry gaze at him. She was holding a big bowl of cold water.

Yuri felt his head. Was he sick? He felt hot. “What happened?” he asked.

“What happened to you?” Yuya, who was seated at the side of his bed asked.

The last thing he could remember was seeing Yuya attacked the vampire lord. He felt a tingling headache searing through his head.

“I saw him.” Yuri stated. He tried to pull his body and sit but Yuya and Kota pinned him down.

“Who?”

“The vampire lord.”

“Vampire lord?” Jhenie asked.

“Het Dracul”

Jhenie stared at him. “Het Dracul, a direct descendant of Count Dracula himself?” she looked at him in confusion. “But he was long gone.”

“That is what I thought, too but I saw him in my dreams.” Yuri explained. “But he couldn’t be real. He was vanished by that ritual. I know that for sure.”

“What ritual?” Kota asked.

“The ritual that Sir Vermelli and the knights did.” Yuri answered. “They were able finished him. How could he come back?”

“Is he the vampire that is always in your dream?” Jhenie asked.

Yuri nodded. “I knew it was a premonition somehow but then, when I learned about the vampire lord in the memory of Sir Vermelli, I felt a bit at ease. I never thought that I would really meet him, for real.”

“This ritual that you are talking about, is it in the book?” Satomi asked.

“I guess so…” Yuri answered.

“Did Sir Vermelli showed it to you in his memory?” Satomi asked again.

Chinen looked down. “I-Iie demo…” he started. “After I woke up from the memory, it kept on propping in my dreams. I don’t exactly know what it was but in those dreams, the vampire lord shattered just like a broken glass then turned to ashes.”

The others looked at each other.

“I will try to decipher the codex.” Satomi stated then went out.