The spot where Lipton had buried Maggie burst open, sending mud flying all over like detonated bomb. Maggie emerged with a renewed look on her face, as though she had been fully recharged during the transformation. She looked slightly pale, and the corners of her mouth was hooked with new fangs. Her eyes had a strange greenish gleam to it, giving her an eerie appearance, as opposed to the normal Maggie Lipton was used to seeing.
Maggie scrambled out of the hole, swiveling her head around to scan her surroundings. It was as though she was trying to test out her newfound abilities as a Vamptress.
“Maggie …,” Lipton began, edging closer toward Maggie, but she ignored him as her eyes roamed around randomly.
After a moment of ominous silence, Maggie finally spoke, in a slightly raspy voice. The transformation had somewhat altered the tone of her voice. “I can sense everything around me with much more clarity,” Maggie observed, wandering around the backyard as if everything was new to her. “I can hear the sound of the rustling leaves so crisply that it practically burns into my eardrums.” Maggie flicked her gaze at the leaves dancing in the sudden gale. “I can hear minute animal sounds from miles away. I think I just heard a cat meowing about a few blocks away.” And then, she closed her eyes shut, so silent that it sent unknown shivers down Lipton’s spine. As fast as she’d closed her eyes, she jerked them open in a split second. “And I can hear your heartbeat from here.” She finally gazed deep into Lipton’s eyes, as if she was trying to delve deep into Lipton’s senses. “Oh, and that blood. That pulsing vein of yours … I can hear that pulsing vein, carrying all that juicy blood.” All of a sudden, Maggie’s expression changed. Her features turned dark and cold, and there was a look of thirst on her face. Maggie’s body started to convulse, as if her first instinct was to spring toward Lipton and to drink his blood.
Steeling himself, Lipton leapt toward Maggie and placed a firm grip on her shoulders. “Control yourself, Maggie. You’re not here to drink blood. You’re here to help us find Jesse.”
Maggie snarled at Lipton, looking offended, but a minute later, her features softened, as if she had returned to her senses.
“I-I’m sorry, Lipton,” Maggie apologized, fingering her fangs as though she couldn’t believe that they were there. “It’s just that … I could practically smell your blood from here. And it made me feel … thirsty. But you’re right. I’d better control myself. And seeing that I’ve been successfully turned into a Vamptress, it means that I now have both the abilities of an Enchantress and a vampire. I’d better make full use of my abilities now while I can, even though I don’t think I’d make a full-on powerful Vamptress considering that my powers had been diluted before I was turned and Ken was partially a vampire when he turned me. I think I’d better get to work. Let’s go find Jesse!”
Lipton had never felt happier hearing that. It was as though his life’s mission all along was to find Jesse, and nothing else mattered.
Maggie hurried to the den, and immediately retrieved the Enchanted Bible, flipping to the page about the Tracking Spell.
“I’d need something from Jesse in order to activate the spell,” Maggie said slowly. “It could be anything. The items she uses, her clothes, her perfume, or anything that has touched her intimately …”
Without responding to that, Lipton strode around the house immediately with haste, looking around for any items that could belong to Jesse, even though he knew that the chances of finding her personal belongings in Maggie’s house were very slim.
“Do you have know if Jesse has left any of her personal stuff here in your place?” Lipton demanded with such urgency in his voice it literally caught Maggie’s attention.
Maggie pondered for a while, as if trying to recall if Jesse had left her things there. “I don’t really remember. Anyway, my mind seem to be a little foggy when it comes to remembering things from the past. I guess it has to do with the transformation. It has slightly affected my memory, but I think it will get better in time…”
Lipton’s heart fell like an anchor to the deepest trenches of ocean. Damn. How could Maggie forget such an important detail such as that? Lipton began to realize that he was getting a little paranoid because he knew that without finding any of Jesse’s personal belongings for the spell, they wouldn’t be closer to finding Jesse, and that was what scared him the most.
All of a sudden, something struck across his mind like a bolt of lightning, an epiphany that seemed to offer whatever hope that was left.
“Wait!” Lipton cried. “Did you mention that it could be anything that has touched her … intimately?”
“Yes, I believe I did say that,” Maggie responded. “Why?”
Lipton’s heart pounded as he thought about all the moments of intimacy he'd shared with Jesse in the past. Flying in the sky at night with Jesse on his back as they admired the view below. Spending serene moments together in the forest, and sharing their feelings to one another. And not to mention the loving hugs and kisses they shared. Could all of those be counted as intimacy in Maggie’s book?
Lipton turned to face Maggie, and began to explain to her about his intimate experiences with Jesse. Lipton was glad that Ken looked utterly neutral in all of this, despite the fact that he was technically Jesse’s husband. But Lipton and Ken had sorted that out, so Lipton wasn’t afraid to openly share his feelings about Jesse.
After Maggie had listened to whatever Lipton had said, she nodded her. “It may just work. OK then, I’ll use you as part of the spell. I need you to stand in the centre of the den facing northeast, where the Northern Stars are. The Northern Stars are part of the magical web of the universe, and they are the elements needed to track a lost person. We need to tap onto that while using you as the object linked to the missing person. I’ll cast a spell to set off the magic. We should be able to locate Jesse soon enough if everything works well.”
Lipton settled himself right at the spot Maggie had instructed.
“Are you ready?” Maggie asked in a breathy voice, as if she was going to cast some kind of gargantuan spell. Maggie didn’t like the feeling of being powerless, especially when she was in dire straits. And it was a good thing that being a Vamptress gave her the powers that she needed to cast a spell.
“I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” Lipton responded boldly, ready to ford the raging seas if it meant that would bring Jesse back to him.
Maggie raised her hands, eyes closed, as she began chanting some unfamiliar words.
Lipton could feel a surge of energy swirl around him like invisible fists punching against every part of his body. He knew that the spell was working.
The magical energy which enveloped him was so overwhelming that Lipton felt as though his heart was being ripped apart in two. It made him want to scream, but he resisted against the pain that was rushing through every fiber of his being like tiny daggers. He closed his eyes as tight as he could, hoping that would shut off all the momentary pain that was seizing his body.
His body was racked with ceaseless pain, and for a moment, Lipton wondered if the pain was going to stop, or if the spell was going to work at all. The spell had to work! Maggie was a good Enchantress who knew her magical elements more than any Enchantresses he had ever crossed paths with, except a few exceptionally strong ones whom he’d regretted encountering centuries ago.
Lipton wanted to flick his eyes open to see what was going on, but the pain that was raging within him was so hard to bear that he couldn’t even will his eyes to open. He felt like there were thousands of fists pounding against the insides of his body, causing him to be on the verge of hysteria. He could almost hear sirens ringing in his ears, so high-pitched that they almost ruptured his eardrums.
What in the world was going on? Why was he experiencing all of this unbearable pain? Maggie had never told him that he had to endure this. But even if he had known that, he’d have gone through with it for the sake of Jesse.
After what seemed like an eternity, the throbbing pain started to ebb a
way, and he felt like he could breathe again, his lungs gasping for fresh air as though he had been submerged in water for a long time. The ringing in his ears had stopped, and he couldn’t feel the pain attacking anymore, even though his body was left in an aching state due to the aftermath of the spell. He would recover soon enough, and he wasn’t going to let some bodily pain pull him down.
Lipton was ready to blast a few questions at Maggie, demanding answers. The spell had better worked. He wasn’t going to go through all that pain for nothing.
He jerked his eyes open and whirled around violently to face Maggie.
But Maggie wasn’t there anymore. So was Ken. In fact, both of them were nowhere to be seen.
Lipton gasped in horror when he realized that he wasn’t inside Maggie’s house anymore, but in a foreign place which seemed ominously familiar, so familiar that it sent shivers across Lipton’s spine. Did the spell teleport him off to another foreign place? It seemed to be the case, and no wonder Lipton had endured such bodily aggravation when the spell was at work because he was being teleported to another place!
Lipton’s eyes wandered the sight around him. Walls of white surrounded him like a maze, and another lump went down his throat.
What was he doing here … inside the Maze of Doom?
All of a sudden, extreme pain sliced through him, making him scream like there was not tomorrow. Lipton knew what was coming.
It was Catan. He was manifesting, and Lipton didn’t realize that it would be too soon.
21. Nemesis
Jesse wasn’t sure why she was locked up inside a chamber with cloud-constructed walls all around her. Even though the walls looked like clouds which you could seemingly burst open with your hands, Jesse knew that the walls were strong and sturdy, preventing escape. Jesse had paced back and forth inside the cloud chamber like a caged animal, wondering what was her purpose here. She’d only seen Catan once, but it was because he went over to hand her some food on a tray before he left in a haste, as if he had some urgent matters to attend.
Why was Catan acting so strange? Why did he have to lock her up inside his secret chamber? When Catan had handed Jesse her food just now, Jesse tried to spring an attack on him, but she was so weak and frail that she keeled over the minute Catan shoved her aside.
Jesse knew that she was like a dead duck in Catan’s lair, and that if she didn’t get out of here soon enough, terrible things would happen to her.
Jesse had demanded answers from Catan. She wanted to know why she was holed up like this, but Catan wasn’t going to give her the answers. He didn’t seem intent to talk to her at all.
All of a sudden, the door to her chamber creaked open, and in popped Catan, whose features were so cold and dark that Jesse could feel chills dance down her spine just at the sight of him. Catan was again carrying a tray of food, which contained ribeye steak and a crystal goblet of red liquid, which Jesse assumed was red wine.
What was it with Catan, feeding her like this all the time? Was he trying to force-feed her so she would grow fat and then he’d cook her up? Jesse cringed at the thought of Catan resorting to such barbaric acts. No, he wouldn’t do something like that. Why was he so nice to her, giving her food … but at the same maintaining this cold distance between them?
“Here’s your food,” Catan said drily, setting the tray on the silver stand table at the corner of the chamber.
“Catan!” Jesse cried, unable to contain her emotions any longer. “Why am I here? Why did you have me abducted and sent here? If you really hate me so much, then why don’t you kill me now and get it over with?”
Catan had all his chances to kill her, but yet, he had refrained from doing so. Jesse kept wondering what was Catan’s ulterior motive. It was so unlike him to act like a magnanimous host to her, serving her food just because her stomach grumbled.
When Catan didn’t respond, Jesse stalked over to the corner table and shoved the tray, spilling the contents all over the floor.
“I’m not going to eat this!” Jesse cried. “If I could die, I’d rather die than stay one more minute inside here with you. And for your information, I’m a vampire. I prefer human blood to ribeye steak! I refuse to be treated like this without knowing what your true motive is!”
Catan pinned Jesse with such a hard look that it literally froze Jesse on the spot. After a moment of eerie silence, Catan finally spoke. “You’re an important person, Jesse … don’t you know that? I’m treating you well because you are very, very important to me.” The way Catan said those words sent another fresh wave of chills down Jesse’s spine.
Why was Jesse so important to Catan all of a sudden? Previously, he wouldn’t have second thoughts putting an end to her life if he had the chance, and now, he was treating her like she was some kind of a lost princess?
“What are you up to, Catan?” Jesse demanded, resisting the urge to punch Catan in the face. She knew that inflicting any bodily harm on Catan wouldn’t do her any good as she was currently frail and weak. If Catan wanted to, he could easily crush her like minced powder.
Catan was playing the silent game, keeping tight-lipped about the reason of why he was keeping Jesse locked up in the chamber.
The longer Catan held on to that silence, the more furious Jesse became, as she didn’t like the feeling of being left in the dark. Inadvertently, she sprang toward Catan and began pounding onto his chest with her fists with as much force as she could muster, like a cat trying to claw onto sturdy wood.
Catan continued standing there like a statue, letting Jesse vent her frustration and anger at him. Once he became slightly bored of Jesse’s prolonged outburst, he shoved her aside like some kind of junk, sending her flying into the corner like a piece of crumpled paper.
Jesse groaned in pain as she hit the hard cold surface of the white cloud-coated floor. She didn't think that she had the strength anymore to get back to her feet. She had barely eaten, and she hadn’t have a good sip of human blood for what seemed like ages.
Catan padded slowly over to Jesse with a sinister gait. Jesse cowered in the corner, watching in horror as Catan approached her with unknown intentions. Jesse was a useless and weak vampire now. Without any human blood to give her the energy boost she needed, she was as good as a dead duck.
Catan knelt beside Jesse, his cold-glazed eyes trained on her, as if taunting her. Jesse shut her eyes, refusing to look at Catan, who was playing this so-called game of cat and mouse with her. The more he kept her in suspense, the more she just wanted to shut Catan out. She’d had enough of Catan in her life. She wished that the ground of clouds would burst open and swallow her whole so she never had to see his face again.
Catan finally spoke, his voice so calm that it made him look like a saint, and hearing his voice sickened Jesse to the core. “I did tell you that you were important, right? Yes, Jesse, you are important to me … because you are the only person who can help me defeat my nemesis.”
Jesse was so startled when she heard the last word that she immediately jerked her eyes open. Nemesis? Was Catan telling her that he had an enemy at the moment? Some great enemy whom he was afraid was going to defeat him one way or another? Jesse scoffed inside, unable to believe that there was a nemesis who was as equally as powerful as Catan. Catan was the enemy of the world, and possibly the entire universe, and who else could hold a candle to him? Who could be a greater enemy in the world than Catan?
“Nemesis?” Jesse mouthed the word as though it were diseased. “You have a nemesis?”
“Why shouldn’t I have a nemesis?” Catan shot back, indignant at Jesse’s mocking voice. “After all, I’m the most powerful vampire in the world, and there would be legions of those who would be envious of me, wanting to topple me down. I’m so invincible that until this day, there is nobody who could defeat me. And …” Catan trailed off, and Jesse could see a hint of fear in his eyes, which vanished in a split second as Catan tried to put on a fearless facade.
“Oh, my, God. Are you saying that ther
e is somebody else out there who could be the first in the history of mankind to be able to defeat you?” Jesse perked up for a moment, her eyes lighting up. This had been the best news all day, knowing that there was an enemy out there who could be as equally as powerful as Catan, or more powerful than him. If that enemy could pulverize Catan once and for all, then the world would be safe from Catan, and things would go back the way they were.
Catan turned away from Jesse, his face twisted with extreme fury. He marched over to one of the walls and pounded against it, almost causing the wall to crack. Then, he whirled around and stomped toward Jesse, staring hard at her.
“Wipe that smirk off your face!” Catan demanded, his voice trembling with anger. “Does it make you happy that there is somebody out there who is more powerful than me?”
“Oh, yes,” Jesse admitted bluntly. “As long as he or she defeats you.”
Jesse’s words drew raucous laughter from Catan, and for a moment, Jesse thought that Catan had gone completely insane.
Catan laughed so hard that deep lines showed on his forehead, and it looked as though the veins on his temples were about to burst from the pressure of laughing. Catan quelled his laughter, shaking his head incredulously.
He squatted down to face Jesse, who was still sitting huddled in the corner, her legs pulled up to her chest.
“You have to be the most stupidest vampire I’ve ever met, Jesse,” Catan remarked. “And by the way, it’s a she. It’s a woman. And before you make anymore catty remarks, I just want to let you know that she’s as evil as me, or she could be more evil than me. If for whatever reason she is able to defeat me, then you would suffer her tyranny. I hear that she’s vying to become the Supreme Leader, and when that happens … well … don’t be too happy about it.”
Upon hearing Catan’s words, Jesse took a deep, anxious gulp. What if Catan was right? What if there was another being who was out there, who was as evil as him? Would there be no end to the evils that were trying to take over the world?
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