Rafael stood in front of a ruined building. Its roof was broken and one could see inside if he would stand in the air. But no one could stand in mid air, except Rafael.
He could not fly. But he could lean on the tree and stand on the weakest branch as if it weighed nothing. He stared hard at its emptiness. There was no one there.
There was a chance that they knew their hideout was found and abandoned it but Rafael knew from his past experience, witches were quick with their spells and trained in deception. He could not trust them.
So, he jumped inside. He would search the whole building before making a decision. Then he would kill them and throw their bodies outside to show it to Bella.
Bella? He shook his head to get rid of that thought as he walked in. The building was dark and its ceiling was falling with just a bit of force.
When he took a step further, a brick fell from the ceiling and he stared back at it. Jumping on it, looking again as if someone was there and he would find them if he would look enough but no matter how hard he looked, there was no one.
He sighed and jumped on the floor again. He left that broken room and checked other rooms. The first was empty and so was the second but he stopped in the third room and stared at the fireplace. It was not lit. He crouched on the ground and touched it. But he did not find any soot or smoke left behind.
It was clean as if it was not burnt for ages. But still he stood there for a long time. Then, a smirk danced on his lips and he walked towards the door and closed it. Then standing in front of it, He took out a dagger and threw it in the air. Once, twice, and then like he was possessed by a spirit, he kept throwing daggers in the room.
If anyone would see the scene, they would think he was possessed but he knew. Just when he threw the dagger eighty fourth times, a wince sounded in the empty air and blood came out of thin air, followed by a body.
A woman fell on the ground groaning. Her shoulder was stabbed by the dagger. Her eyes were closed and her face was full of pain.
The moment she fell on the ground, the fire in the fireplace returned, many things fell out of thin air and three more persons apparated.
They ran to the girl and held her in their arms.
"Gracia.. Are you okay?" their voices were thick with worry. A man with long silver hair and sharp cheekbones with a long cut on them, glared at Rafael.
"You will pay for it." he threatened as his lips started to move without speaking a word but Rafael knew that witcher was whispering a spell.
Rafael did not wait for the spell to complete. His hands moved faster and a dagger was thrown at him and then at others.
It was farther than they could complete their spell. That was Rafael's power. He was much faster than them. He stared as men and women fell on the ground one by one with shock and pain on their faces.
Rafael slowly moved to them and crouched in front of the first witch she had hit. There were tears in her eyes. Her blood had pooled around her body and she was having trouble breathing.
"That was a great trick. I never knew spells could make things invisible. But you forgot that the building was empty. The room should be cold or you should have left fire visible. I would have believed that you left in a hurry and forgot to put out the fire.
But it was too perfectly cleaned when the room was still warm." he touched the skin of the girl. It was cold and full of the fragrance of the moon flowers.
He stared at her wound for a second before pulling the dagger out.
"Aah." the woman gasped as more blood started to drip from her wound.
"I can save you but.." before he could complete his words, his hand holding the dagger started to burn. He raised a brow and the woman shook her head, another tear falling off her eyes and he turned to find the man.
He was sitting now somehow. Despite the pain, he was able to cast a spell.
"I must say you are much better than others." Rafael admitted with a chuckle. His hands continue to burn. First sleeves then his flesh and slowly his muscles burnt.
The girl was horrified to see his hands but he just smiled at her,
"If you promise to help us, I will spare your life. No, only yours but all of their life. But for that, you have to accept slavery bond with me." the woman trembled and looked at others.
Everyone is struggling like her. Witches did not heal fast like them except the healing spell or a healer witch helping them. It would take days or weeks for their wounds to heal but this vampire would be done with them before that. That was the only reason they were dying while vampires were surviving.
"What do you need me… to do?" her voice came out choking with struggles when Rafael smiled knowingly.
"Anything I want. If I ask you to beg, you will beg. If I ask you to steal, you will steal. If I ask you to kill, you will kill." The woman's eyes widened with mortification but life is a great motivator and he knew she had already accepted the offer though she had not nodded yet.
"I will not kill other witches." one last faint attempt to save her self respect. But it was futile.
"I don't need you for that. Because I personally enjoy killing witches."