As Lauren Xavier closed her eyes and prepared to die, she thought it was her last moment on earth.
She could faintly hear the thunderclaps rumbling from the sky.
The sky began to darken.
It started to rain hard.
She was getting soaked in the rain.
As she felt her soul starting to leave her body, something strange happened.
Her soul couldn't leave her body, and stayed put right there instead.
Her eyes fluttered open.
She could faintly make out the figure of a goblet seeming to call out out to her from the sky.
How am I still alive? She thought to herself.
She tried flexing her fingers, and it seemed that the effects of the poison were gone.
She touched her stomach, and she was surprised to find out that the dagger embedded there had already vanished.
She couldn't believe it at first, then came to accept that she'd been given another shot at life.
Whatever that goblet was, she decided she will not waste her time by staying on as an ordinary vampire.
From now on, she'll get stronger.
Whatever secret it is that you're hiding, Charlotte, I'll get down to the bottom of it.
I'll make sure you'll pay dearly, and suffer for what you did to me and my sister.
She thought to herself.
She sat down on the grassy hillside, beside the dead body of her sister.
She felt conflicted.
She wanted answers on why this happened to her.
And she'll turn the camp of the witches, alongside Charlotte Bancroft, upside down if she needed to.
Her sister was the only family she knew when she grew up.
And now, her sister is dead.
Taken away from her forever through treachery.
And that is the one painful thing she can never forget, and will never forgive.
She looked at her clothes.
She was drenched and soaking wet.
It stuck to her sexy and fair-skinned body.
She wore a crop-top that exposed her sexy body, and above the leg shorts that exposed her flawless legs, with thick and chubby thighs.
At least the bloodstains on her clothes are also gone.
That makes it easier for her to avoid suspicion that she is a vampire.
She knew she needed to give her sister a decent burial.
She felt that she had a lot of work to do, as she couldn't let the business that her sister built from the ground up.
She also has her studies to attend to, as she'll be in college the next school year.
She hoped to enter a prestigious university in North Carolina.
She felt around in her pockets to see if she had her smartphone with her.
"Oh shit. I forgot to bring my smartphone along with me. I remembered just now that I left it at home."
She cursed.
Then she remembered that her sister brought her smartphone along with her earlier.
She hoped it still had a spare percent left.
She rummaged in the pockets of her sister's jeans, and sure enough, found it.
She switched the smartphone on.
Elyse was always the thorough one when she's busy, to the point that she would turn her phone off to avoid distractions when working.
Luckily, the signal is strong in the property that her sister just bought.
Why did her sister buy some land right outside the city for, when it makes more sense to just buy the plot of land in their hometown, where their old house stood, or even buy the entire apartment from the landlady, and make a profit out of it?
She turned on the data of her sister's Nubia Red Magic 7 smartphone, and opened Facebook Messenger.
She decided to call Eloise Archambeau, who's also an elite vampire, and a close friend of Elyse.
"Lauren? Where are you? Why do you have Elyse's smartphone with you? Did something bad happen?"
Eloise said, surprised to see Lauren's face pop up on her screen.
"I'm walking in the property my sister just bought right outside the city. And yes, something bad did happen to Elyse. We were in a rush earlier, so we had to hitch a ride. I need a ride back home. I'm a sitting duck out there in the open space. It's dangerous. There might be someone out there listening in on our conversation for all we know. Please hurry."
Lauren immediately dropped the call afterward, but she kept Elyse's phone open.
After a few minutes of waiting, she saw a car stop on the highway, and a woman get out of the driver's side of the car.
The woman shut the car door, then approached Elyse.
"Thank goodness you're safe, Lauren. What happened to your sister?"
"I'd hate to break it to you, but Elyse is dead. The traitor Charlotte killed her."
Lauren then guided Eloise to where Elyse' dead body lay, with her lifeless eyes staring into the wet and rainy skies.
Eloise bent down over Elyse's dead body, silent tears falling from her eyes, which started to show a deep red color.
Lauren also bent down beside Eloise, giving Eloise a comforting pat on the back.
So even Eloise, who's known as a fierce fighter both in the Vampire Coven meetings and out in the battlefield, has a soft and vulnerable side.
"Be careful, Eloise. Charlotte probably got minions secretly on the prowl here. I know she can also make werewolves appear wherever and whenever she wants. It will; be bad if we get ambushed."
Lauren said soothingly to Eloise.
Lauren helped Eloise dig a temporary grave for Elyse, then they went back to the car.
"What happened, Lauren? What caused Charlotte to do this? From the looks of it, both of you got ambushed in a staged battle. It's a miracle that you, who isn't even an elite vampire, managed to survive"
Eloise asked Lauren as she drove Lauren to her house.
"It's a long story, Eloise. We were about to hitch a ride back home when we got ambushed. Out of nowhere, I felt a dagger coated with coated with a mixture of nightshade extract, "
"Yeah, I kno0w stuff that can poison or kill vampires. The question is what made Charlotte do it? Knowing her, she won't do stuff for no reason at all."
Eloise cut Lauren off mid-sentence and drove straight to the point.
Lauren let out a huge sigh, then looked out the window of the backseat.
"I can tell that something is bothering you, Lauren. What is it?"
"It's all because of something that happened a year ago. I accidentally found out Charlotte is actually working with the witches. For how long, I don't know. If I had to guess, she was doing this the whole time, but she asked the witches not to wear long pointy hats when they visited the Bancroft mansion so she won't get caught. Why she did it, I don't know. What I do know is I need your assistance to deflect attention from her death, and create some controversy to distract Charlotte. And please act like you don't know anything about what happened earlier. I also need a bit of your assistance into getting me back in the Vampire Coven. I'll make arrangements to give my sister a lowkey but respectful burial in the memorial park."
"Is that the only reason why Charlotte had your sister killed? I feel like you're leaving an important detail out, Lauren. Don't keep me in the dark and guessing."
"You really are good at digging up information, Eloise. Right after I found out that Charlotte is working with the witches all along, I immediately recorded those witches talking to Charlotte, and sent the video recording to Elyse. I believe I still have the file stashed in my Mega account. Charlotte's hackers and the witches tried to access my account on Mega but failed. Right after I sent the video to Elyse, Elyse told me to get out of the Bancroft family mansion. She's a stickler for morals and rules. You know it well. She totally distanced herself including me in all this vampire vs werewolf business, and stopped tending to matters related to the Vampire Coven. She turned a deaf ear to Charlotte's pleas. We lived a silent, uneventful life once again, or so I thought. We were totally caught off guard earlier. Anyway, I won't let this matter slide. I'll cause trouble with the witches and with Charlotte if I have to. And to do that, I need your help. "
" And what do I get in return, Lauren?"
"Since my sister is now dead, you can have access to what you always wanted and what my sister didn't want to give to you: the files about Charlotte Bancroft. And you can have my sister's group, the Les D'emons du Tombeau. I will assist you, as long as I get access to the group and do what I ask you to do, no questions asked. "
"Alright, I'll help you. It seems you're not that influential among the vampires, unlike your sister. Even if you have access to information that your sister has access to, that information is next to useless if you don't have the backing of an elite vampire. I like your line of thinking. "
" You got a point right there, Eloise. I didn't know you had a beef with Charlotte, that you want to know about Charlotte's past history. There's not much my sister managed to unearth about Charlotte Bancroft, but I'll send the files to you anyway. I hope it helps with whatever you have planned in mind. "
" You want to know my beef with Charlotte Bancroft? My mother got removed from her elite status by Charlotte Bancroft even if we didn't do anything against her, and was sent to her death at the hands of the werewolves through treachery recently. "
" I take it that you're close to your mother, correct? "
" Yes. Correct. Ever since dad died, my mother stood up and had to be strong for me and my siblings. Since she has a bodyguard around with her and the witches have her back, our best move is to try and expose her in the Vampire Coven. But we need solid proof if we are to try to remove her from her seat in the Vampire Coven. How do you get your sister's group up and running again? "
" Leave it to me. We're already at my house. Can you drop me off, and be on your way? "
" Nope. It's too unsafe for you. You're staying with me for the meantime. I'll send delivery men to pick up what you need and have them transferred to my house for the meantime. Your sister handles everything on her phone, 8correct? Last time I checked her laptop, it's clean. There's no mention of vampires or anything supernatural. "
" It's because she brings her laptop to her restaurant, and she mingles with a lot of humans in her line of work. Thanks for everything you did right now, Eloise. You didn't have to concern yourself with me. "
" Consider it as my way of paying my last acts of respect to your sister. If she were alive, she'd be glad if I did everything to help keep you safe. "
" Thanks, again, Eloise. I don't know how to repay you. "
The rest of the ride back at Eloise's place was silent and uneventful.
They stopped at a nearby night-time cafe.
" Do you need anything to eat and drink, Lauren? "
" I could do with some iced coffee and a chicken alfredo. Takeout. I'm not in the mood to eat inside the cafe right now."
"Sure. Wait in the car while I go buy what you want to eat, and a grab something to eat myself."
Eloise parked the car right outside the late night-cafe, locked the car door, went out, then went inside the late-night cafe.
A few minutes later, Eloise got out of the cafe, carrying the food and drinks she ordered.
The two talked for the rest of the trip until they arrived at Eloise' house.