I rushed over to the witch. We surrounded her and I could see that she was weakened. Casting the spell to summon the zombies and fighting our group must have put a strain on her.
“Leave her body,” I ordered.
“Why?” she said. “I like this body.”
“It's not yours,” I said.
Cathy came and stood next to me taking my hand.
“Talk to Candace,” she said. “Tell her how much she means to you and urge her to fight the witch.”
“I don't love her anymore,” I said. “I only love you.”
“Look, I know you love me, but you were in love with her for years. She needs to hear how much she meant to you.”
“I won't,” I said. “I’m not going to do that.”
“Then we have to kill her,” she said.
I fell to my knees as I agonized over the choice. I’d forsaken my love for Candace, put it into a locked box, and hid it in the recesses of my mind. Now Cathy wanted me to call up all those emotions again.
“Cathy, if I do this you may not love me anymore,” I said.
“Yes, of course I will,” she replied.
“How can you love me if you hear me profess my love for her?”
“Eli, I know you love me and you’re only doing it to save her life.”
I’d to try and save Candace's life.
“Candace, I know you’re in there,” I said. “You have to fight the witch.”
“I’m so sorry I got you involved in any of this. I’m so sorry. I want you to know that I loved you, that I love you.”
Nothing seemed to change about the witch.
“That’s not going to work,” the witch said. “Just give up. I’m in control of this woman.”
“Candace, I know you never chose to give me a chance. I don't know if you ever loved me. But I loved you so much. I love you so much.”
The witch seemed to take a step back.
“You’re an amazing woman, Candace. You’re beautiful, smart, intelligent, and you won my heart almost immediately after I met you. I couldn’t help myself. I made the decision to love you, and I tried so hard to make it work out for us.”
I looked up and I could see the witch was starting to shake.
“I just wish you’d given me a chance. I loved you so much. I would’ve been a good husband. I would’ve worked so hard to provide for you. Do you realize I would’ve done anything for you?”
The witch continued to shake.
“Grab her,” Cathy said.
Cathy and Sarah grabbed the witch and brought Candace's body to me.
“Take her in your arms,” Cathy urged.
I’d always dreamed of holding Candace, and I finally got the opportunity to do so. My heart was now filling with the love I once had for her.
“Do you realize that I'm engaged to get married?” I told her. “I feel so guilty for it, but I still love you.”
The witch started to convulse.
“I thought that I’d put all my love for you into a box that I would never open again. However, that box is open now and there’s nothing more in the world I want than to be with you. Please fight the witch! You have to fight her!”
Sarah and Cathy sat down next to me and we all increased our power levels. I could feel the spirit of the witch. With my aura I tried to push it out of Candace, but it was still clinging to her.
“Keep fighting, Candace! Love me. For once please love me.”
I was in tears now.
In an instant, I could feel the witch's spirit leave Candace. I saw her look up at me and she smiled.
“I love you, Eli,” she said.
“I love you too,” I said.
I held her in my arms and I stared into her eyes. I realized that I loved her, and I always would love her. But Cathy owned my heart. I would marry Cathy, and I would always be faithful to her.
Then it struck me. Candace recognized me and my love despite the fact I was in my vampire form.
“Let’s move,” Cathy said.
I stood up with Candace, and we proceeded to untie the pregnant girls. We made our way along the tunnel system and to the cave entrance. When we climbed out we discovered that the mist was gone and all the zombies had collapsed lifeless once more. The spell had been broken.
We led the girls to an all-night diner and called the police to come get them. I left Candace with them. She was confused and wanted answers, but I told her that eventually I would explain everything that had happened. Our group then raced back to the join our allies in the attack on the queen’s mansion.
As we passed through the streets of Savannah we saw the lifeless corpses of countless zombies. Thousands of people were out on the streets, baffled about what had just happened. Thankfully, the corpses were now all motionless. The zombie apocalypse had been averted.
By the time we reached the queen's mansion, we could see fighting on a massive scale was taking place on the property. I saw vampires zooming around the yard of the house in a blur. I raced with Cathy to the yard and an enemy vampire came upon me with claws extended. Before he could claw my neck I took my blade, which I’d pulled out of Albert's head before leaving the cave, and stabbed him in the heart. He staggered and collapsed to the ground.
Sarah took her blade and was going to kill him, but I stopped her.
“There’s no need. We have to kill the queen,” I said.
We rushed inside the house and found two vampires in the living room. I raised my power level and rushed on them, clawing at their necks and ripping their flesh. Blood poured from them as they fell to the ground.
As I looked down the hallway that led to the door of the bunker below, I could see multiple vampires were blocking our path. Turning to look behind us we saw more of the queen’s guards coming towards us.
“We don't have time for this,” I said.
Focusing and slowing down time, I rushed forward and I kicked the knee in of the first one, threw the second one through the wall, and broke the nose of the third. I didn’t want to kill them – the queen was our true enemy.
Looking back, I told Sarah and Cathy to hurry up. We continued to move forward as to the door to the bunker. Soon, we were at the large, metal door.
“How are we going to get in?” Cathy asked.
“I'll use the blade,” I said.
Cathy and Sarah began to fight the vampires that attacked from behind us as I took my dagger and cut into the door. Amazingly, the blade was able to cut through the metal like a normal knife would cut through styrofoam. It only took a minute for me to make an opening.
I turned and saw that our allies had entered the house and were fighting the queen's forces.
“Come on,” I called out to Sarah and Cathy. They followed me down the staircase.
The bottom of the staircase opened into a huge bare room. At the far end in her long blue dress and with her red hair flowing like fire stood the queen.
“I wondered how long it would take for you to get here,” she called out. “I see that you have brought my daughter too. But you killed the only daughter I cared about.”
“He didn’t kill her, Mom,” Sarah said, stepping forward. “I did.”
“You?” The queen’s eyes opened wide with horror and disdain. “You killed your own sister, Sarah? “How could you do that to me?”
The enraged queen transformed into her vampire form.
“I hated to do it, Mom, but June had become as crazy as you. Now, we’re going to have to kill you.” Sarah was trembling.
“I don't think so,” she said. “You’re too weak.”
Suddenly, I saw a slash on Sarah's face. She was bleeding.
“You see,” said the queen, still standing on the far side of the room. “I move so fast you can't even see me. How can you hope to kill me?”
The queen looked absolutely evil with her black hair, black eyes, and horrible grin. I knew what I had to do to give us a chance to kill her.
I began to draw upon all the power inside of
me. I wouldn’t only have to slow down time for myself but for everyone in the room.
As I focused, I could tell that time was slowing down. The queen rushed towards Sarah again, but this time I could see her and managed to block her advance with a blow to the head, sending her to the ground.”
“No you don’t!” I said.
“How can you see me?” The queen picked herself of the ground looking confused.
“Because I'm slowing down time,” I said.
“But you’re not powerful enough to do that,” she said.
“Yes, I am.”
Sarah lunged at her mother and started clawing her face. The queen grabbed her by the neck and threw her against a wall. Cathy then rushed the queen and tried to stab her, but the queen kicked her in the face and knocked her against a wall.
“You cannot defeat me,” the queen said.
In a flash, I ran towards the queen and slashed her face with the knife. Blood flowed from the wound. The queen slapped me across the face, knocking me to the ground.
“How dare you? How dare you attack me?”
Sarah stood up and jumped towards her mother. She managed to latch onto her this time and bit into her neck.
“Get off me!” she screamed.
For a moment, Sarah went into a frenzy biting her mother. The queen managed to pull her off and threw her against a wall.
“I wish you’d never been born!” the queen yelled.
With the queen distracted I threw my dagger at the queen’s head, but she spotted it and caught it.
“Pathetic,” she said and slung the dagger at Cathy. It tore through her chest and blood started to pour out of her.
“No!!!” I screamed.
I ran to Cathy and lost my concentration. Time resumed to normal and the queen started to beat on Sarah.
Cathy was hurt badly. Looking at her wound, I could see that the knife had severed her spinal column. There was a gaping hole in her abdomen.
My power then began to surge. I was filled with anger, but even more so, I was filled with love for Cathy.
“Take my strength!” I roared to Cathy. “I need you to live!”
I looked inside of my soul and called forth all the power inside of me. My aura started to surround us, and I could feel that she was absorbing my power.
“Take it,” I told her. “Take it all!”
Inside of me, I felt as if there was a well of power. It was the source that I always drew from I started to draw it out at a frenzied rate and pour it over Cathy. So much power was flowing over me that I could feel my skin tingle. I didn't care if I burned out or killed myself, I was going to try and heal Cathy or give her the power to heal herself.
“Take it!” I screamed. “Take it!”
I saw the queen walk in my direction. I knew that I only had moments before she would attack. So with one last effort, I drew upon all my power.
I started to feel something. It was as if my power was increasing, but I wasn’t doing it. Something was happening to me. My body started to shake and I felt like I did the first time I transformed into a vampire.
The queen stopped. I saw a look of fear in her eyes.
All around me, I could see golden light. Looking at my hands, I could see they were glowing with a golden aura. My skin was no longer white.
I felt my power increase even more, and I decided to channel it all into Cathy. My golden aura flowed over her, and I watched as her wound healed.
Standing up, I could see that the queen was terrified. I ran up to her grabbed her by the neck. She tried to escape, but I was too powerful. I squeezed until the queen was about to pass out.
“No,” I heard Sarah say. She’d been beaten by the queen and had scratches all over her.
“She’s my mother. If she’s going to die it will be by my hand,” she said.
“Alright,” I said.
I let go of the queen and walked over to Cathy. Her wound now healed, she was standing and she wrapped her arms around me as we watched Sarah started to tear into her mother.
“I loved you,” she said. “I loved you and you starved me!”
The queen fought back, but Sarah managed to hold her own. She started to scratch her mom in the face with her claws. A moment later, she sank her teeth into her mother's neck, then quickly let go.
“I won't feed off you,” she said. “Because I'm better than you.”
I walked up to Sarah who was staring at the queen who was now on the ground.
“You don’t need to be the one to kill your mother. If you do it you’ll have to remember it for the rest of your life,” I said.
“Stay out of this, son,” she said.
I backed away.
Out of the blue, the queen leaped at her daughter and knocked her backwards. Sarah stood up and took a knife out of her jacket. She lunged at the queen and sliced her throat. The queen fell to the ground and Sarah jumped on her back, pulled her head up, wrapped her arms around it, and snapped it. Finally, taking the blade in her hand, she cut off her mother’s head.
The queen was dead.
I ran to Sarah and she collapsed into my arms. Walking up the stairs, Cathy carried the queen's severed head. I followed carrying Sarah.
When we reached the front yard, Cathy lifted up the head in the air and shouted out, “The queen is dead.”
Almost immediately the fighting stopped. There were screams and gasps as Cathy continued to hold the head aloft.
“Who killed her?” an enemy vampire asked.
“Sarah did it.” Cathy said. “She’s now the new queen.”
“That has to be approved by the empress,” the vampire said.
“No, she has the right due to her bloodline. The empress cannot deny her this,” Cathy said.
The vampire said nothing in reply.
With Sarah in my arms, all the vampires on both sides began to bow before me holding the new queen. I was amazed at the unity I saw – this wasn’t human conflicts resolved.
The war was over.
Chapter 16
I helped Sarah walk into the house where she sat, exhausted, on a sofa in the living room. She was clearly emotionally affected after having killed her mother. While I tried to comfort her, I noticed that everyone was looking at me.
“What’s happened to you?” Cathy asked.
“What are you talking about?” I responded.
“Your skin is gold colored,” she said.
“Amazing. His griffin DNA has asserted itself more fully,” Ruby said.
I realized that I felt more powerful than ever before. Somehow, the emotions I’d when Cathy was injured triggered the transformation, I surmised.
“Can someone bring me a mirror?” I asked.
Daisy ran and got a mirror and gave it to me; I looked at myself.
Perhaps the most obvious change was that my skin was no longer white, but golden. Also, my eyes were no longer black but were now an amber color along with my hair. I tried to transform to my vampire form, but couldn’t.
“I guess we’re just going to have to call you Goldie,” Cathy said with a laugh.
My heart sank in my chest.
“Please no,” I said.
“Don't worry, Goldie,” she said. “I still love you.”
“At least you didn't grow antennas or anything,” Lizzie said.
We all laughed.
That night there was a meeting of all the vampires in the city. Sarah needed to tell them how she wanted her new kingdom ran and there were many decisions to be made. Cathy and I didn’t attend the meeting, but went back to the all night diner where we had left the pregnant girls and Candace. The police had already gotten them, so we went back to my apartment.
Finally, back in my human form, I opened the door. We walked into my apartment and sat down on my bed.
Cathy was also in her human form. She was so beautiful
“I want you to know that I’m forsaking Candace forever. I only love you,” I said.
“I know,” she
said. “But I also realize that you loved her for a long time. I realize it may take you some time to get over her.”
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