Rebecca approached him, knowing if she could catch the werewolf's scent, then he could smell her coming, too. He had to know she was behind him but, why wasn’t he doing anything?
“It’s too late,” the man said just as he closed the van’s door, securing his bag. The werewolf was a man who looked to be in his forties, with rugged features, and deep black eyes. His hair had begun to turn white before he was turned and a neatly trimmed beard framed his mouth. “It wouldn’t even help if I told you where it is,” he teased with half a smile, “and I won’t.”
“The bomb?” Rebecca asked. She knew what he had referred to and for a moment she felt stupid asking, but she had to be sure. All the time, she had been pointing her weapon straight at his heart.
“Besides,” the werewolf said as he walked to the driver’s side of the white van, “All the witches are dead, anyway. What’s two more?” The man opened the door, preparing to drive away. She couldn't let him.
“Stop!” Rebecca raised her voice as he noticed the man continuing to leave with no regard to her authority. The man stopped, shook his head, and started to get on the van. “I said stop moving!”
That was the last straw. When he didn’t listen, her gun discharged, shooting the werewolf’s leg. Losing his balance, he tumbled to the street. In a second, Rebecca closed the distance between them, forcing the werewolf to his feet by the neck. “Where’s the bomb?”
The man, who couldn't possibly win this battle against her, turned his eyes yellow, his teeth threatened to come out.
“You're going to have to kill me,” he said between chuckles.
“I don’t want to kill you,” Rebecca growled. “Tell me where you put the bomb?”
“It’s all part of the master plan,” he said.
“The bomb!” she demanded. Her gun now aimed at his belly, Rebecca was ready to shoot.
“Do it,” mumbled the werewolf.
“Tell me where the bomb is?”
“The building will fall to the ground in an hour, agent,” the man said through gritted teeth. Rebecca shot him, she didn't see another way. Blood came out of his mouth, but all the man did was keep laughing. “You're... delaying… the inevitable. Kill me now or let me go. No matter what you do, the building will fall.”
Frustrated, she didn’t know what else to do. She was losing her nerve. The hand on his neck pressed harder against the van, distorting the metal behind the werewolf. “Where’s the bomb?” she tried again.
It was futile. The man’s replies were only a mix of laughter and tears as he felt the pain. Behind him, the window broke into a million pieces, shards bouncing by his feet. Still, he didn't seem to care.
“Enough!” Rebecca shouted. Her gun went back to its holster, freeing her right hand to remove the werewolf’s beating heart from his chest. She pulled her arm back and was ready to attack when she smelled human blood behind her. Turning around, she saw Crystal standing a few feet away. She'd been so involved in her interrogation she hadn’t even heard her footsteps when she arrived.
“What are you doing?” the girl asked.
Rebecca let go of the werewolf, not wanting to hurt him with Crystal present. Now released from her hold, the man seemed to care for his life as he sprinted on foot to his freedom.
“I told you to stay in the chair!” Rebecca’s stern voice chastised Crystal after the werewolf was out of sight.
“My Mimi told me to stay close to you. And Dylan,” Crystal explained, her eyes begun to water. “But, Dylan is trapped in the building and you were taking too long and…”
Rebecca’s anger soon melted away. For a moment, she forgot she was a vampire, she forgot she hunted werewolves, and she forgot everything this new life had taught her. At that moment, she became the ballet teacher again, if only for a second.
“I’m sorry,” she opened her arms to invite Crystal into a hug. “Come here.”
The girl ran to her, holding her tight. As they embraced, Rebecca kept going back to everything Crystal had said. Why had Emilia Black chosen Rebecca and Dylan? What had she known about them? Why had they been singled out? It was a nice feeling to be needed, except she wasn't sure how to help. At least she got to feel human again, letting affection in even if it showed weakness. It was this weakness that had allowed the only creature who knew where the bomb was to get away.
As much as Rebecca felt regret in not killing the werewolf, she realized there were more important things that had more value in the world. The little girl in her arms let her see how blind she’d been in leaving behind her human life. It wasn't one or the other, it could be both. Ever since Rebecca’s parents had died she’d felt like the victim; she’d felt like it was everybody else’s job to keep her happy (and how they had failed in doing it). With Crystal, it was her chance to be the hero.
Rebecca thought back to the moment she met Dylan and when she became a vampire; she realized how she'd seen everything with the eyes of a taker and not a giver. Somehow, she'd turned everything to be about her and not about what she could give back. It was time to change that, and it was like someone had put Crystal there to open her eyes.
This little girl had lost her parents, too. She had lost her last living relative just a few hours before. And yet, here she was, being brave and selfless and ready to help. While Rebecca had focused her anger in hurting others, Crys wanted to help others when she didn’t have to. Rebecca admired that.
Right then, she decided she would do it, too. She was a vampire with enough power to make a difference. Until now, she had made the choices that would help her feel better, not be better. She needed to start giving back.
“You don’t have to worry about the bomb,” Crystal said, breaking her moment.
“What do you mean?” Rebecca looked at her confused.
Crystal dried her own tears from her face. “The building will explode, but Dylan won’t die.”
“How do you know?”
“My Mimi said you would tell me what to do when the time came,” the girl said, shrugging. She seemed to be confused herself. “She said you’d know how to help them.”
“And what way is that?” Rebecca was beyond words. “What am I supposed to tell you to do?”
“I-” she paused. “I don’t know. But Mimi is never wrong… or was.”
The ball was now in her court? How could that be? Rebecca knew nothing about witchcraft; she couldn't be qualified to make any decisions on how to use magic. She also knew nothing about Crystal’s abilities and the power she could control. Kneeling in front of the girl, she asked, “Okay, let's think about this. You are a witch, right? Like your Mimi?” Crystal nodded, “And you can use all your powers, right?”
This time, the girl shook her head. “Well, I was a telekinetic,” she explained. “My Mimi gave me the rest of my powers yesterday and tried to explain how to use them, but… but we were running out of time and then she took the magic from all those magic users and died.”
“So she unlocked your magic and gave you everyone else's power. Is that what happened?” Rebecca asked.
“I don’t... I'm not sure. I think so,” Crystal’s eyes threatened to water again.
Rebecca stood up, her hands on the little girl's shoulders; she needed to reassure her everything would be all right even if she didn’t have a clue how to make things right. The building will explode, but Dylan won’t die, Crystal had told her. Should she not worry about it? How could she not? The two most important men in her life were trapped in that building and she wouldn't let them die.
“Well, we have an hour to figure this out,” she exhaled. Taking Crystal’s hand, Rebecca guided her back to the building.
“An hour?” Crystal wondered.
“That’s when that werewolf said the bomb would explode.”
October 20th, 2000
12:52 P.M.
Dylan hung up the phone in Jake’s office after he finished his second conversation with Rebecca. She told him she'd seen a werewolf in the building. And then she said Crys
tal was supposed to save them all somehow because Rebecca would tell her what to do to save them. Whatever that was, she had no idea.
“What did she find?” It was Will who stood next to him when he took the call. He must've heard the conversation, yet he asked the question regardless.
Instead of answering, Dylan turned to look at his cracked phone. At least it wasn’t damaged beyond repair. The calls couldn’t get out of the magical force field, but he could still use it for the basics - like looking at the time.
“It’s almost been half an hour,” he pointed out. “Listen, Will. When Lily shows up, we mustn’t tell her about the girl, all right? I don’t think she knows she exists and I think it’s better we keep it that way.”
At first, Will nodded, although soon he had something to say, “Are we sure, though? Are we sure she doesn’t know?”
“Becca found her after Lily had disappeared from Emilia Black’s place. I don't think she realized they weren't alone.”
One more time, Will looked pensive. “Do you think Victoria knows about her?”
“Let’s find out.”
Jake joined them when they came out of his office; he’d been with the others and was coming over to find out the latest news. At that very moment, the figure of Liliana Porter appeared in front of the crowd. Victoria closed the door to Felicia’s office, protecting the humans inside. Dylan stopped himself from reaching for his gun. Nothing good had come out of threatening her with a weapon.
One thing Dylan was sure of: She was early.
“Greetings,” she said in a superior tone. “I'll make this short. I'm a busy woman and have things to do, places to be.”
One more time, Victoria gave a step forward. The Head Witch held her chin upright trying to show Lily she was still as powerful as she had ever been.
“This is madness, Lily,” Victoria began. “Let the innocent go. They have no quarrel with you.”
Lily’s smile faded from her lips as she turned to look at the crying women and wide-eyed men looking out of the office’s window. “Innocent?” she snarled. “They work with the vampires, how can they be innocent? Day in and day out they aid them in their quest to dominate mankind.”
“Dominate?” That had been Jake, who couldn’t help but scoff at the suggestion. “You’re kidding, right?”
Lily jerked her head in his direction. With a hand motion, she sent Jake flying to the window behind him, cracking the glass with the impact.
Satisfied, she turned her attention back to Victoria. “The location of the vampire agency, Ms. Palmer. Now!”
“Lily-”
With a roll of her eyes, Lily extended her other hand. This time, she summoned Daisy using her telekinetic powers. The old witch was dragged from the conference room and directly to Lily's hand. The deleter could do nothing but let herself be held by the neck by the evil witch. Daisy, in one last attempt to save herself, raised a hand of her own, placing it on top of Lily’s forehead.
“How dare you try to delete my thoughts?” Lily barked, jerking her head back and slapping Daisy’s hand off. “You’ve proved you deserve to die just like all the others!”
“Stop this nonsense, Lily, plea-” the last words coming out of Daisy Hart were cut short by a small grunt. Soon, blood spurted from her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. From under her cloak, Lily had taken out her long knife, burying it in Daisy’s abdomen.
“No!” Victoria cried. The rest of the audience watched frozen in terror.
Once the last deleter stopped moving, Lily let her drop to the floor like a ragged doll. Blood pooled around her, just like it had done for Carolina and Evelyn. The third death in the building was just as horrible as the others.
Using her black cloak, Lily cleaned her blade before returning it where it belonged. No one knew what to expect next. Lily walked around the room, smiling at the horrified crowd, enjoying her triumph. When she found Dylan, she stopped.
“I see you’ve learned your place, agent Torrence,” she said with crimson lips. “Your guns and your abilities have no effect on me. I am, as you have realized, superior to you in every way.”
“I agree,” Dylan said, making her smile falter, “I believe you’ve killed more humans than I’ve killed werewolves at this point. Congratulations.”
After hearing this, Dylan found himself floating on air again, held tight by the telekinetic power coming out of the witch.
“You’re...,” he struggled to speak, “gonna… break my… bones again?”
This made her release him. “No need,” she said off-handedly. “In less than an hour, I'll blow you up to smithereens. Unless,” Lily paused for effect, “Unless you tell me where the vampire agency is.”
Victoria ventured another step in her direction, “Please, Lily, I beg of you. Think about your actions. Stop this-”
“You are next, Ms. Palmer.” The knife was once more in her hand. She held her arm straight at Victoria, pointing the blade at her. “I’ll be back in half an hour for you, and unless you come to your senses - and I hope you do - I will end you.”
“Lily, wait-” pleaded Victoria one last time, but she was already gone.
It took a moment for the crowd to come alive again.
“We’re going to die!” They could hear Denise cry from inside Felicia’s office. At least they didn’t seem to be afraid of the supernatural creatures in the room - there was a bigger threat they recognized. “Won’t no one help us?”
“We're doing everything we can,” Dylan said. “We still have one last trick up our sleeve.” Turning around, he muttered to himself, “I just hope she comes through on time.”
October 20th, 2000
1:05 P.M.
Once upon a time, Victoria Palmer had been the Head Witch ruling over the Twelve American Covens. She had once been a respected member of the United States black ops by her association with the vampire agency. She had made sure the women who were recruited were not a danger to others, that they learned how to control their powers, and that they use them for good. She had also helped them lead normal lives while helping society be safe from supernatural threats, all while helping Lucius and his vampires.
Victoria had lived a productive and selfless life by putting the rest of the world before her personal needs. It had been her dedication to the Twelve Covens that led her to refuse a family. Since she never had children, she didn't have anyone to leave the fruit of her labor to. Her children had been the dozens of witches who’d worked hard to maintain the peace in the world by lending their abilities to the Twelve Covens.
For a long time, leading had been her job, and she’d done what she could to be the best leader she could give her people.
And she had done her job well because for a long time, the Twelve Covens had been at peace, fighting together - united - for a greater good.
In fact, Victoria Palmer never predicted the fall of the Twelve Covens, it wasn't even a possibility in her lifetime. Instead, she had occupied her mind in choosing the next Head Witch, looking for a woman who had every quality that would keep leading the Covens into a safe and prosperous tomorrow. Before everything burned, she'd had a few candidates in mind. For months, she'd been studying her candidates by evaluating their dedication to the Twelve Covens, and their aptitude as leaders. She'd wanted the witch who would replace her to take the witches to a wonderful future.
It saddened her to think one of her candidates had been Liliana Porter. The young empath who always seemed to have a willingness to learn and to help her sisters, who always seemed to put herself before others, who was quiet and strong, and who was loved by the rest. If the Twelve Covens hadn’t fallen, she may have ended choosing Lily to learn what she needed to take on the responsibility of a Head Witch. She could only imagine what a catastrophe that would’ve been. Lily would’ve learned about Emilia Black's existence, she would have learned about the need to find the next nullifier, she would have learned every single secret about the Twelve Covens and everything there was to know about the
Vampire Agency. Had Lily waited a while longer to begin her killing spree, had Victoria chosen her to be her replacement, she would have been introduced to Lucius and would have orchestrated the downfall of them all.
How had she even considered her as a Head Witch? How could she be so blind to her true personality?
If Lily hadn’t shown her true colors, would Victoria have one day seen them? Perhaps if Lily hadn’t taken the initiative, Victoria still would’ve handed her everything she wanted in time. What a fool she was...
Even now, Victoria had a hard time believing Lily could be responsible for all those deaths. She couldn't understand how someone like her could have hidden all that power and all that hatred so well. Lily had fooled everyone. She'd even fooled the most experienced empath in the Twelve Covens… herself.
Now, she sat in the conference room alone… sad and alone. The vampires had moved the three dead witches she had once been assigned to protect on the floor next to her. Their eyes had been closed, and they looked peaceful, almost as if they'd fallen into the deepest slumber. The last three witches she was charged to lead were now dead, which meant she had failed. She had failed them all.
Her dark-skinned face, which always looked smooth and serene at her sixty-five years of age, looked old and tired. Her green eyes had lost their shine and were now red from crying over her fallen daughters.
She didn't deserve to live. She didn't deserve to breathe after what Lily had done right under her nose. All those women with good hearts had been murdered by darkness. When Lily came back, she would beg her to end her life. She would ask Lily to release her from her failure and pain.
The Twelve Covens were no more and the Head Witch had no one left to lead. She no longer had purpose.
The knock on the door made her jump. She hadn't expected it. Victoria didn't turn around, instead, she forced a Yes? Her voice reflected her defeat. The sadness was too much to bear.
The Fall of Witchcraft Page 19