" Maybe it's true", she said.
"eh, that can never be true, werewolves? Vampires? blood benders? those are lame I've never heard of them before", Collins said.
" anyways, I'll be glad to continue my journey now", she said and stood up immediately, others laughing and complimenting her for the good story even though they did not believe it.
" She's amazing, no wonder everyone liked her story, she's going to tell you and make you believe it's real", Matthew said and they agreed with him.
Elijah on the other hand was disturbed, he looked at Luya and studied him closely then he noticed his legs shaking and a question came to his mind,
' Why did she tell us that particular story this night, there's clear evidence she summarized the story, why? ', he said in his mind and soon he came up with the answer, ' She was stalling time, she was buying us time? '.
He stood up immediately, " let's start going home", he said and began to pack his bag,
" Why? Are we not going to finish this before heading home?",
" let's go home, now", he said and began to walk away. It was so unusual and sudden that they all began to pack and ran after him, Collins carried the remaining smoked meat and a deer while Ben carried the boar. The closer they get to the village the more Elijah can smell the smoke, he had been smelling it but he thought it was from the smoked meat. Out of worry, he hasten his steps.
"Can you slow down? not like you're being pursued", Tim said but he listened to no one. When they got to the cliff of the village, they saw a huge smoke coming out.
" what are they burning?", Collins asked as he chewed on the bone,
" I don't know, what could they be burning to cause that huge smoke?", Ben asked curiously,
"It's more like they are burning a house", Collins said jokingly but that awakened their senses and they all ran down to the village.
" why are you running?", Collins asked as he jogged behind them, too full to run.
The only sound they heard when they arrived was the creaking sound of the burning fire, more than one house was on fire, their facial expression turned to horror, confusion, and fear, they ran to their respective homes when they saw the lifeless bodies in their pool of blood. Collins's meat fell without him realizing it, his mouth hung open and his heart was racing fast.
" Mum! Mum!! Dad!!!", Elijah and Ben ran inside screaming their name but rather for them to be welcomed by the laughter and the open arms of the mother, they were welcomed by her lifeless body in her pool of blood, her arms gone and her body was full of marks like that of claws more like she was devoured by a wild animal. They burst into tears and cried, Ben went to find his father and he came back with his corpse, they felt like their whole world had crumbled, it was the worst time for them.
Soon their friends gathered in front of their house but none of them came back with a live person.
"They are all dead, everyone is dead Benjamin", Matthew cried and he went to hug the crying Ben. They weren't men with the corpses of their parents, they all cried, and they all wailed.
" It's my fault", Luya suddenly said, he couldn't find his sister, he searched everywhere but couldn't find her, " It's my fault",
" no it's not Luya", Benjamin said trying to pull him closer but he shouted instead,
"It's all my fault, we tampered with the barrier", he said.
" What?!", they all exclaimed, looking shocked except Elijah. He remembered what the old woman when she Said,
" Not all gifts would be received".
Benjamin drew Timothy closer and punched him hard in the face, he pounced on him and rain him with punches, but no one stopped him cause they were all furious after Luya told them what happened. Ben stopped beating him when he was bleeding seriously from the mouth and could barely move.
" The old woman", Elijah said gaining their attention, " the old woman knew already",
" what? what did you mean?",
" Not all gifts are meant to be received, she knows they won't be able to receive the meats, she was purposely telling us that story, to buy us time",
" Fuck!".
It dawned on them. The next few hours were of guilt, pain, and sorrow as they took it upon themselves to bury all the villagers. While gathering the corpse with shaky hands and the eyes filled with tears, they came by a person, that's still alive.
He made to attack them as he was too scared but when they calmed him down he recognized them and became happy that he wasn't alone anymore. The only survivor is the bully who always bullies Luya and his sister. Luya quickly grabbed him by the collar,
" where's my sister, where's she?".
He pushed him off and freed himself, "Get away from me freak, she's probably dead and her corpse lying somewhere",
" I can't find her",
" So? Does that mean I kept her inside my pocket", Sutan said angrily.
" did you know if there are other people who are still alive?", Collins asked,
"What happened here exactly?", Matthew asked.
" Will you guys let me breathe", Sutan yelled, " we were attacked by monsters, I've never seen them before, they were...they were horrible, they were brutal...their eyes.. their hands..", he burst into tears, looking so scared, " it was horrible and scary".
" The Vampires", Elijah said, based on the story of the old woman, the monsters are the Vampires.
" Are you saying the old woman's story is real?", Collins asked looking so scared,
" can't you tell?", Elijah said angrily.
" We need to leave. We need to leave they'll be back by sunset", Sutan said looking so terrified.
" We need to bury everyone",
" the whole village, you'll be done by nightfall and by then you'll be killed and who is going to bury you?",
" yes I want to see them, I want to avenge my parent's death", Matthew said in anger,
" I'm staying behind also, I have to find my sis".
And with that, they all agreed to stay behind except Elijah and Sutan. The anger in Elijah and the boiling rage made him make a decision not to stay while the horror and the most terrifying thing that Sutan witnessed made him determined not to stay.
" They will be back, we can't stay", Elijah said,
" we can", Benjamin said,
" We can't, seeing no one is alive not even the king or the guards means we are all in danger, we can't revenge when we're dead, we have to live, we have to live to avenge everyone that was killed brutally, we have to live to avenge my parents, you all have to live, you have to live to find your sister".
His speech cut through their chest and ears, he gave them new determination and motivated them all, even though it was hard to leave the only home they grew to know, even though it was hard to leave back some dead bodies without giving them a proper burial, they had to leave, they have to live. And with that, the seven of them left the village to seek shelter, safety, and power.