After what seemed like an eternity of seconds, she calmed down, raising her face from her cousins shoulder, she saw a black handkerchief dangling infront of her face, she mused her lips and wondered if she was dreaming, 'why would Damien's handkerchief be here' , and just then she raised her face to look up and right infront of her was Damien looking down at her with an unreadable expression on his face, she was taken aback for a moment, before looking around and dawned on her that the sisters weren't the only ones in the room.
"Here?" Damien's deep, resonant voice made her heart flutter uncontrollably as he handed her an handkerchief. She took the handkerchief and began to cleanse her face as she rose from the polished wooden floor.
Meanwhile, Damien approached the only surviving vampire, pinned to the wall by Venessa's compelling energy.
"Provide me with the truth, and you may have a chance at survival. Who ordered the abduction of Lauren?" his voice was firm, unwavering.
"I swear, I don't know! Just a few days ago, I was just a mere human. I got bitten on my way home from school. They threatened to exterminate my entire family if I didn't cooperate. Please, believe me. I had no idea why she was held captive here," the man pleaded, tears streaking down his transformed face.
Damien and the others sensed the sincerity in his voice, he was merely a victim.
They deliberated on their next move.
"What information did you gather during your time here?" Damien inquired once more.
Just as the man was about to respond, he began convulsing violently where he was restrained.
"What's happening to him?" they all asked, their voices echoing concern throughout the space.
"I don't know...this isn't normal," Venessa uttered, her eyes reflecting a hint of apprehension, though she harbored a suspicion about what might occur.
Abruptly, the young man's neck snapped, and his lifeless form collapsed to the floor with a resounding thud.
"Is he dead?" Damien queried.
"Something feels awry," Alanna remarked, attuned to the unsettling shift in energy permeating the room, a dark and foreboding presence hovering in the futuristic space around them.
The Benneth sisters swiftly positioned themselves in front of Lauren, while Marcel stood guard behind her, a picture of unwavering loyalty.
The prone form of the young vampire ascended from the ground, standing before them, his eyes pure as snow, his pallid face riddled with throbbing veins.
"Who are you?" Damien advanced, unperturbed by the supernatural spectacle before him.
"Damien Voltorie, at last, we meet," a voice echoed through the mouth of the young vampire. They instantly recognized the presence of dark sorcery at play.
"Vladimir Nabokov, what is it you want?" Damien inquired, a sly smile gracing his lips, momentarily silencing the voice, clearly taken aback by Damien's familiarity with his true name.
Time seemed to stretch on endlessly as the group stood in tense silence, their eyes trained on the figure before them. With a sudden, bone-chilling sound, the voice reverberated through the air, filling the space with a sense of foreboding. A sinister, malevolent laugh emanated from the shadows, What could possibly be so amusing to the one who stood before them?
"Ah, just as I anticipated," Vladimir declared, a sly chuckle slipping from his lips. His eyes gleamed with a mixture of amusement and something more sinister. "I like you Damien."
"If you refuse to disclose your intentions regarding Lauren, then do not expect me to entertain your presence," Damien retorted sharply, his voice betraying no hint of fear. The air crackled with tension as the group held their breath, waiting for the next move.
"You, my dear Damien, are precisely what I desire... for the time being anyway" Vladimir declared with a disturbingly confident demeanor. His words carried an unsettling weight, sending a chill through the air.
"What do you mean, you want him?" Lauren's voice cut through the tense atmosphere as she stepped forward, flanked by her concerned cousin. The unease in her eyes was impossible to miss, tinged with a hint of desperation.
The vampire boy slowly turned to face her, a devious smile curling at the corners of his lips. "You, in exchange for your father," Vladimir proposed, locking eyes with the shocked Damien, whose expression mirrored the disbelief of everyone present.
"Where is my father?" Damien demanded, his voice strained with barely contained fury as he took a step toward the vampire boy, his fists clenching tightly.
"I hold him captive, and I can set him free upon one condition—your surrender to me," Vladimir stated, his smirk conveying a sense of deceptive charm.
"You are lying!" Lauren interjected, her voice trembling with defiance. Deep down, she couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that the vampire's words held a disturbing truth, though she desperately wished to deny it.
The thought of losing Damien was inconceivable, igniting a selfish, gut-wrenching fear within her. Even so, she silently hoped that Damien would reject the offer, unwilling to entertain the notion of parting ways with him, determined to find another way to rescue his father.
A cruel smirk twisted his lips as he leveled a taunting gaze at the young witch, his voice dripping with sarcasm and malice.
"You know deep down that I'm not lying, much like everyone else gathered here, but I'm curious, is it just a figment of your darkest desires speaking, Lauren the Witch," he taunted.
His words struck a nerve, and Damien could see the turmoil in her eyes, a silent plea for reassurance, a veil of sadness clouding her features. A solitary tear threatened to escape, but Damien knew he couldn't—not shouldn't—console her in that moment.
"Why the concern for your mother's killer?" Vladimir probed, visibly amused by the effect of his question. The room fell into a heavy silence, the sheer weight of his words taking a moment to register.
"What did you say?" Marcel finally managed to utter, his voice registering disbelief and a simmering anger at the callousness of the question.
"Ah, I nearly forgot about the blood rage that controls you," Vladimir sneered, a cold chuckle escaping his lips. Damien remained stoic, his gaze fixed on the vampire boy whose vessel had been usurped by a more powerful, ancient Vampire.
As their attention shifted, Lauren turned to Damien, her eyes brimming with a mix of confusion and concern. "What is a blood rage?" she inquired, her voice carrying a note of trepidation.
"It's a long and complicated tale, Lauren, but suffice it to say, it's one of the most dire afflictions that can befall a vampire," Serafina explained with a somber air.
"And what happens when he's in this blood rage?" Lauren pressed further.
"Well, simply put, if left unchecked, it unleashes absolute havoc upon anything in its path—" Serafina began before being abruptly interrupted.
"Indeed, he rampages, laying waste to all—whether they be innocent humans or feeble vampires," Vladimir interjected, his sly smile betraying the malevolence underlying his words.
The air crackled with tension, each moment pregnant with the weight of revelation and consequence.
Derek's voice cut through the silence
"He wasnt himself when he is in that state, and he doesnt remember at all, none of the things that happened during his blood rage was intentional" his gaze dark and penetrating as he interjected, his words laced with a lethal warning directed at the vampire boy.
Lauren's heart skipped a beat at this revelation, a shiver coursing down her spine. Despite the horror of realizing that he had taken human lives in the throes of his blood rage, a pang of inexplicable sadness tugged at her heart.
"I refuse to believe you. The police reports cited her death as an animal attack," Lauren declared with solemn skepticism. Deep down, she harbored an unsettling fear that her mother's demise bore none of the simplicity suggested by the official reports.
Her own investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding her mother's death had led her into the clutches of the very vampires who now held them captive.
"Up to this moment, I have spoken nothing but the truth. Each one among you recognizes this. Why would I fabricate a tale about your mother, especially when you, yourself, were already delving into the mysteries of her demise? Am I mistaken?" Vladimr inquired, challenging her with a pointed stare.
"There is a method to uncover the truth..." his voice trailed off as he gazed at each of them in turn.
"What method?" Marcel pressed, his voice edged with a mix of trepidation and curiosity.
"Place your thumb into the center of his palms and chant 'ofeliius sanctinum opulus,' and all will be revealed," Vladimir intoned, his words carrying an unsettling weight.
"Do not proceed with this," Alanna interjected. "That chant holds immense power, derived from dark magic."
Lauren hesitated, her gaze traveling from her hands to the vampire before her, a sly smile playing upon his lips.
"This is the sacrifice if you truly desire to uncover the truth about your mother," Vladimir asserted, his eyes locking with hers. In that moment, Damien enveloped her hands in his own, his touch sending a cold shiver through her, a stark contrast to her own warmth.
"Do it. I also want to know," he urged, his voice a steady, reassuring anchor as he held her gaze.