According to their plan, they drove to the east and after covering 100 miles they finally saw a small shop, it was truly a desolated road, and they wondered how this Bianca hadn't given up on her business yet.
They got out of the car and walked to the cabin only to find it empty.
"Bianca?" Edgar called out, but there was no response.
They were sure she was not there, so they decided to turn back to the car, but then they heard the sound of a hammer striking a nail.
"Ah!" Lisa covered her ears it was very loud.
As much as they both hated that noise they had to follow it, they found their way to the backside of the shop in a little garage.
A girl wearing a loose t-shirt and jeans, a cap covering most of her face also because her head was tilted and her skin covered in dust could be seen through her curly shoulder lengthened red hair messed around her neck and they were telling the stories of unrelenting grimness of the weathers they had seen.
"Are you gonna stand there forever?" Her voice seemed unpalatable or maybe it was the base that was making her sound like that.
She raised her head slightly, and her blue eyes washed off all the glitters and life bounced from their heads to their toes, she moved her lips to shift the side of her lips that squeezed a half-burnt cigarette.
Exhaling a big cloud of smoke she sat her tools on the table nearby and approached them.
"I don't let couples stay! You can go!" She waved her hand and was about to turn away when Lisa caught her attention.
"She doesn't seem well!" She squinched as she got closer.
"She hasn't fed!" She smelled her and held Lisa's hands and smiled "I wish I was brave like you back then!" She was holding Lisa's nails and was twisting them gently just to see better.
"What do you mean?" Lisa asked.
"I mean is that I turned, and unlike you… I gave up to my hunger! Just to be with a man who'd…" She stopped speaking.
She turned away again.
"Ben!" Edgar said, and his speaking Ben's name made her turn back to him.
Her eyes were now sparkling with tears filled in them when she saw Edgar holding the locket.
"Ben sent us! We need your help!" Edgar pleaded.
She took the locket "I won't do a thing for Ben!" She responded rudely while staring Edgar straight into his eyes.
Edgar looked at Lisa with disappointment but before they'd do anything a "But" came in.
"But by the look on her face, I know she wants to find an end to her misery and I'd be more than happy to help her." She added.
Both Edgar's and Lisa's faces lightened up, Edgar wasn't much of a smiler but Lisa was smiling as brightly as she could.
"Only if!" Bianca called "Only if you'd get me something, that interests me!" Her eyes squinched again and she rested her back at the table behind her back while her arms folded.
"What do you want?" Edgar asked.
"As you are going to the Griffinburg, there is a place called Devil's Gate, also known as Stairway to hell.
So... In the heart of the Devil's Gate, there is a statue of a horn, in front of that statue, is a hidden passage to a cellar, once you manage to enter it, you will have to find an instrument I require! Once you find it, you have to bring it to me." She said and turned away.
"What does it look like?" Lisa asked.
Bianca quickly turned around and opened her hand and clasped a silver-plated bracelet on Edgar's wrist.
Edgar held his forearm and moaned with pain as the bracelet sunk into his skin.
Lisa rushed to him and held him "What did you do to him?" She protested.
Dark veins crawled from his wrist to his neck and disappeared, right then he raised his iris illuminated with silver light, and got back to normal. he gnashed his teeth with pain and finally felt better after a few seconds.
"What the hell was that?" Edgar asked as Lisa rubbed his arm to comfort him.
"There are two ways to describe this so-called bracelet, one! It is known as 'Devil's claw' and it is a death sentence, I am the only one who knows how to take it out, you will die the most painful death if you don't get it out before the next full moon! it is to make sure you don't betray me!
Two! When there is a danger around you, your wrist will show a symbol on your hand which will be glowing red along with your eyes and once you are closer to the Instrument I need, your eyes and the symbol will glow silver!" She explained everything.
"That's not fair!" Lisa complained but Edgar held her hand and looked her in her eyes.
"Don't worry, it will take more than a bracelet to put me down!" He whispered.
After the discussion, they had a deal, and she let them rest for long enough to let her prepare fake identifications and documentation.
"Joseph Hale and Ashley Ledger! Cool!" Lisa read the IDs pursing her mouth "Okay so what's next?" She asked.
Edgar carried the bag over his shoulder as they both reached the car, the topmost part of the sun was left in the sky, the redness of the sky was slowly shifting into darkness and the tiny stars were slowly appearing all over the place.
"No wonder she chose to stay here!" Lisa's eyes widened "I can stare at it every day for the rest of my life without getting tired!" She sat in the car.
And they hit the road without any delay knowing there was an army of Lunarian trying to hunt them down.
Bianca had arranged the earliest flight that could take them both to their destination on time, they sat in the plane and flew right away.
Lisa was happy, she wanted to visit Washington DC and most of all, she wanted to travel across the world.
Time passed and they finally reached their destination, they booked a hotel room and decided to spend the night there.
Edgar tried calling Ben but his number was powered off, that's when Lisa turned on the TV "Edgar? You gotta see this!" She made space for him on the couch.
It was news about a mansion that mysteriously exploded and crumbled into ashes and dust "The owner Bernard Tatum has been reported missing" The reporter announced when Edgar rested his back on the backrest of the couch holding his head.
"No, no, no!" He gritted his teeth.
"What are we gonna do now?" Lisa was already feeling down and now she started losing it, dark circles around her eyes were getting bigger and a shortage of breath caught Edgar's attention.
"It's been almost a week since the first and the last time you fed on blood, here, have as much as you want!" He bit his wrist and brought his hand closer to her mouth.
At first, she didn't want to drink and Edgar also realized that his blood was black now, who knew what it could do to her?
"Yeah you are right, it is unsafe for you now!" Edgar was about to take his hand away when she held his writs.
"It didn't harm you did it?" She looked him in his eyes in a way that caused a chill to crawl down his spine.
She closed her eyes sank her teeth in his wrist and when her thirst was satisfied, she opened her eyes and saw Edgar resting his head on the backrest of the couch, his eyes were closed.
He was pale, and it seemed that he had fallen asleep, he was breathing peacefully, Lisa was mesmerized by the sight of his skin returning back to life in front of her eyes, and this was the first time she was truly watching him.
"He is so beautiful!" She thought and Edgar woke up with a gasp, she jerked back and looked away.
"I want to ask you something if you don't mind?" Lisa said.
"Mhmm?" Edgar responded.
"What was it like? In your home? How was your family? Were they nice people?" She asked.
He nodded "I've opened my eyes with servants all around me, and guards too, I wanted my personal space, I never had any privacy.
All my life I was taught not to kill or harm anyone, no one even let me feed on a human all this time, I had siblings, and we used to play, except for my eldest sibling, who didn't like me much.
Other than that, we all were close to each other. I was never allowed to make friends with a human." He shrugged as he kept staring at his nails.
"What about your parents?" She tried to look into his eyes but he was avoiding eye contact.
"I think we should sleep now!" He said, "You can sleep on the bed I will sleep here!" He seemed tired.
"No! You will sleep on the bed!" Lisa blurted.
"You won't be able to sleep on the couch Lisa!" He responded.
"I didn't say I will sleep here!" She mumbled "I have learned to trust you! And besides I feel bad for you!" She stood up and folded her arms, walked to the bed, and slept on the left side of the bed.
Edgar was scared of himself "What if Lunarian somehow made me kill her?" He shook his head to shake all paranoia off his mind.
He went to the bed and laid on it, their faces were against each other and there was a good distance between them, equal to two more people.
She slept right away meanwhile Edgar kept thinking about Ben for hours until he drifted off.
After a few hours he heard Lisa calling out to him, he opened his eyes and saw her sitting beside him "Your phone is ringing!" She said.
Edgar picked up his phone and was more than happy to see this name on the screen, it was Ben.