The Sun had finally set and with it the Plain of Kadama, had decided to become cold, another day had ended, today was full of worrying, panicking and attacks, everyone was tired, both physically and mentally, but Annie, Matt and Maddie were to survive till another day.
"Sapiens, I need another vial" said Curtis as he and Sapiens were still working on making an antidote that they could use.
"I'm on my way, I'm still trying to balance the antidote" said Sapiens as he was adding something orange from a syringe.
It was true that Matt was the cure, his body could handle witches brew, and it would not affect him in away way, but this was different, Curtis and Sapiens had to make the sure that the antidote would not be rejected by the Witches body, and they had to work fast.
Sure the amount of witches brew they were poisoned with was minimal, but the effects were still there, they would just work in a very slow manner, according to Curtis's calculation they had three days before anything lethal would affect the witches poisoned.
But that only meant that each day they spent delaying, the worse it would become, and the worse it became, the more antidote they would need.
"How far have you gone?" asked Curtis as he walked over to where Sapiens was busy.
"The antidote keeps on reacting negatively with the cells" said Sapiens as he looked frustrated, it was essential that the antidote balance with the Witch cells, or it would end up causing a much bigger problem.
"Have you tried reducing the amount of blood in the solution?" asked Curtis as he thought of what to do.
"I have, and when I attempted that, the antidote did not work at all" said Sapiens, he was at a blocked road with no where to go, he had been working on this all afternoon, and it was already nighttime, they had to finish this soon or else they would loose thousands of Witches.
"I see" said Curtis as he thought.
"So we need as much blood as he can in the antidote, while still making it weak enough not to fight the cells" said Curtis
"Well then how do we do that?" asked Sapiens
"In all my years, I have never had to deal with something as significant as this" said Sapiens, he was sure that if his hair wasn't grey already it would have become grey now, with the way he had been stressing himself.
"We need a catalyst then" said Curtis as he looked at Sapiens.
"What type of catalyst?" asked Sapiens.
"The kind that will act as a barrier between the witch cells and the vampire blood" said Curtis
"It must be semi-permeable so it will allow some of the vampire cells and not all to pass through, so that way it creates and maintains a balance" said Curtis
"Of course, how could I forget about that" said Sapiens as he internally scolded himself, he was the professor here, and funnily enough he himself forgot about this important fact.
"But where are we going to find such a catalyst and at this time?" asked Sapiens
"Where do we even begin to search for it?" asked Sapiens.
"Leave it to me" said Curtis as he was deep in thought, and he began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" asked Sapiens
"To get the catalyst" said Curtis as he turned to looked at Sapiens and the walked away.
Sapiens was utterly confused, where in the world was Curtis going to find what they were looking for? and on such short notice too?? and he did not have an idea of what the catalyst was going to be, and yet that book was already going to who knows where?
Meanwhile in Azazel's camp.
The Witches had retired to bed, and only the rogues were left, they stood guard and watched the camp, since they did not sleep at night.
The rogues gathered themselves around a fire, not like they needed it, but it was just an excuse for them to lack off and gossip.
"Boys, what's going on?" came Liam's chill voice.
"Nothing much boss just chilling" replied one Vampire.
"I see" said Liam as one of the vampires handed him a bottle of something as red as blood, he opened it and began to drink it quickly.
"This tastes different, a new brand?" asked Liam as he finished gulping all of his drink.
"Yes boss, the brand of a bird" said a vampire as he burst into laughing, and the others followed in suite.
"Well it's the sacrifice we have to make as long as we are here" said Liam
"Yes boss" said the vampires.
"Where is Billy?" asked Liam as he scouted for his youngest vampire.
"Ahh boss, he volunteered to be on guard duty" answered a vampire.
"I see" said Liam, as he had a bad feeling about this.
...
"Ha, they think that they can control me? I am a vampire, a rogue, I do not answer to anyone but myself, I make my own rules, and no one can tell me otherwise" said Billy as he was walking around in the quiet camp.
"These witches are weak, they are only here for our feeding and nothing more" said Billy with confidence, with no worry of him being caught saying such nonsense in the camp.
"Hmm I'll show them, I'll show them all, especially the boss who has now become weak" said Billy as he laughed to himself.
Suddenly he heard some rustling sounds and the sounds of footsteps accompanied.
Billy walked towards where he had heard the noise, he saw a young witch girl, who was about his age.
Just then his eyes shone with something peculiar, he had an idea, a very bad idea, that would soon be the death of him.
Meanwhile in Azazel's office.
"My Lord, our attack was successful" said Selene with a smile.
"I see" said Azazel as he said nothing more, but looked grim.
"My Lord, I have a suggestion" said Selene as she treaded slightly, she remembered what almost happened last time.
"Go on" said Azazel
"Thank you My Lord" said Selene
"Why don't we strike now when they are weak, and they do not expect it" said Selene still with a smile.
"Patience Selene, Patience, what good will it do breaking them in just one go, little by little, piece by piece" said Azazel as he shone a chilly smile.
"Yes My Lord" said Selene as she looked down, Azazel smiling at her like that was just too much for her to handle.
"If that is all then you may go" said Azazel as he returned to his former state.
"Yes My Lord" said Selene as she bowed her head.
"Goodnight, My Lord" said Selene
"Hmm Goodnight Selene" said Azazel as his mind was now somewhere else.
It was the day after the attack, the camp was more or less still in ruins from the attack before, and Annie, Maddie and Matt were back in the lab of the infirmary.
"I'm sorry my boy, but we will need some more blood" said Sapiens as he got his needle ready to prick into Matt's other upper arm.
"It's okay Grandfather" said Matt and Sapiens smiled at him.
"But Professor Sapiens didn't you take about five bags of blood from Matt yesterday, then how come you need more?" asked Maddie
"Good question Maddie, the reason is that the antidote needs more blood than we anticipated, and we can only take a certain amount of blood from Matt each day so that he can recover" explained Sapiens as he pricked the needle into Matt's arm, and he began to extract the blood.
"Ahh I see" said Maddie.
"Professor Sapiens, how many antidotes have you made?" asked Annie
Well after Curtis mysteriously came back with a catalyst cell last night, they were finally able to make two batches of the antidote, but it was clear that they would need a lot more.
"Well Annie, we have managed to make two batches, and we have already tested them on ten witches, they are already starting to recover" said Sapiens as he removed the needle and used a cotton ball to block where blood was coming out from.
"That's good news" said Annie
"Yes it is" said Sapiens, which reminded him that he needed to ask Curtis where he had gone last night to find that catalyst, sometimes that book was just an enigma.
"What's everyone talking about?" asked Curtis as he entered the room, Speak of the book.
"Ahh Curtis, nothing, we were just talking about the good news, of the antidotes working" said Annie with a smile.
"I see" said Curtis
Everyone was busy talking when someone they did not expect walked into the room, it was Armand!
"Sorry to interrupt" he said as he bowed
"But the Vice Chancellor sent me to call for Annie" said Armand as he raised his head.
"Oh okay then" said Annie.
"Does anyone want to come with me?" asked Annie
"I want to stay here with Matt" said Maddie
"I still have a lot of work to do over here" said Curtis
"Well okay then" said Annie.
"May we proceed now?" asked Armand
"Ahh yes" said Annie
"Follow me" said Armand with a cold look on his face, no one knew what was going through his head.