The blinding flash of white light filled the atmosphere around them and for a minute or so, Jackie and Stella were unable to see anything.
As they shielded their eyes against it, Stella suddenly remarked, "Hey… I'm sorry for what had happened in the café… I hope you'll forgive me."
After a few breathless seconds, Jackie laughed shakily and answered, "of course I'll forgive you, I know what you had said was wrong but what I said was not very good either. I hope you will forgive me too also."
Stella smiled right away and hugged Jackie, "Certainly I'll forgive you."
Abruptly, the bright white light was gone and they broke apart; Stella rushed over to Gertrude and Kaitlin, followed by Jackie at a run.
At first glance, Kaitlin was dead with Gertrude sitting by her side, shaking her corpse. But when Stella reached the two of them, she realized that Kaitlin was asleep but starting to wake up. She sighed in relief and embraced Kaitlin tightly.
Jackie smiled and did a happy dance saying in a sing-song voice, "You did it, you did it. We're bad bitches."
Kaitlin smiled, released Stella, and replied, "Obviously I was able to do it, don't forget, I'm royalty."
"Why then, thank you for saving my life, Your Highness." After hearing this, Gertrude answered quickly.
"You're very welcome," acknowledged Kaitlin in a princess manner, then they both fell over laughing
Jackie laughed as well, but then something crossed her mind, "What about Tiffany and the others?"
Stella's smile slipped from her face, "Oh, right…"
"We have to go find them!" exclaimed Gertrude.
"Didn't Tiffany leave the café when you were arguing Stella? I wonder if she's okay," Kaitlin wondered aloud, speaking to Jackie mostly.
Jackie shook her head and muttered, "Where should we go?"
"I'll text them first, then we'll find out," answered Stella. She fished her phone out, turned it on, and began texting.
'Where are u guys?'
'Meet us at the regular beach'
"Done!" exclaimed Stella.
"Okay, let's go to meet them," replied Kaitlin at once, standing up.
They walked to Souldine Beach. Normally, no one would go to that beach as very little amount of fish lived there and it was a very rocky place where ships weren't able to harbor at. The beach was only a few minutes' walk from the school. As they trudged through the mud and dirt, each controlled by their own thoughts, they entered a small forest that they had to past through.
The forest had been a sort of 'safe home' to them when they had to hide out for a little while. Stella had always thought of there to be some sort of magic inside, but that had never been proven, until now. An ebony black crowsoared out of nowhere, to above them. It cawed twice and flew straight down to the four of them.
Kaitlin noticed and yelled, "Duck!" They ducked just in time as the snow white hawk clawed through the sky, nearly missing them by millimeters. As the crow veered left, a sharp turn to come soaring back after them, they ran for it.
Jackie, the fastest out of the four, sprinted out of the woods into a clearing, she saw someone there, facing another direction. She couldn't see who it was, so she stepped forward cautiously, and the person turned around to face her.
Jackie saw with a gasp that the woman had her teeth bared, sharp and a glistening. Her skin was so pale, it was frightening. Jackie realized with a sharp intake of breath that she was a vampire.
She was wearing a black top with dark skinny jeans. Latched onto her neck was a blood red cloak. Frozen on the spot, Jackie heard the others catching up to her; she heard their intake of breath. Jackie was very frightened as were the others, when the vampire advanced towards them.
A loud 'caw' of a bird was heard and the black crow barreled towards them, flying towards the vampire. She held up her hand, lifting her pointer finger slightly, as the crow settled itself on it and turned to glare at Jackie, Stella, Gertrude, and Kaitlin.
"Ahh, looks like there was more of you than I had expected," the vampire caressed her words as if speaking to a baby.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" demanded Stella.
The vampire ignored her question and said, "By the by, you can call me Lilliane."
"Then Lilliane," replied Jackie right away, putting a heavy emphasis on the vampire's name.
"What do you mean? You said that there were 'more than you expected', what does that mean?"
Lilliane shook her head, her lips curving upwards slightly, "You don't know it?"
"Know about what exactly?" Gertrude remarked cautiously, glaring at her.
"Well, I was expecting only three of you, the three royals, but instead, I met 6 of you mermaids… how nice." The vampire replied.
Kaitlin looked around confused, "But there are only four of us here."
Lilliane smiled darkly at Kaitlin and whispered venomously, "I met the other two mermaids a while ago, and a werewolf, your friends."
Realization dawned on their faces, "What did you do to them?" demanded Jackie, stepping forward.
"Nothing, for I was tracking the Evil Enchantress, there was only one royal, the other two are here," as Lilliane spoke, she strode forward gracefully and in no time, she was right in front of them, staring at Kaitlin and Jackie.
"You have to complete a quest, to, shall we say, destroy the Evil Enchantress."
"Why can't someone else complete it?" asked Gertrude, retreating.
"Shut up Gertrude," hissed Stella.
The vampire's smile widened, "Well, because after all, they are royals, and you aren't. Royals have to be killed a certain way in order to die, so… normal mermaids like you, won't live to tell. I wouldn't risk it if I were you, if your royal friends went on the journey, they will still live, but might be injured, not bad enough to die. They have enough powerful magic to heal themselves."
As Lilliane was talking, Jackie whispered to the others, "On the count of three, we cast an invisible charm and portal to the beach to meet the others, got it?"
Stella nodded her head a quarter of an inch so that the vampire wouldn't see. Kaitlin raised her head slightly upwards, indicating she heard and understood what Jackie was planning.
Gertrude wasn't able to move too much because she was standing in the front. She listened to what Lilliane was saying and with a sudden inspiration, she started nodding her head exaggeratedly, then she started saying loudly, "Okay, okay, I get it now, can we just get to it?"
Jackie smiled, Lilliane smiled too, "Well, to complete the task, you must gather the Three Seraphic Paraphernalia's. Each one is from a different time period. One from the past, one from the present, and one from the future. Explaining it will be too difficult, just follow this." She picked up a piece of paper from thin air and threw it into the air, Stella caught it and folded it up neatly.
"It tells you all you need to know, just-"
At that moment, Jackie whispered, "one… two… THREE!"
They each cast their own invisibility spell on themselves, then Jackie pushed both her hands out and drew her right hand back sharply. A purple gas substance sprouted from her palm and formed a circular portal in front of them.
Jackie dived in straight away, followed by Kaitlin and Gertrude.
Stella stayed behind for a second more, "Thanks," she waved the piece of paper that Lilliane had given them.
The last thing she saw was Lilliane's shocked but amused face, before stepping into the bright portal.