Chapter 3

KALIM'S POV

The girl I was driving looked very concerned for Henry. It made me wonder who she was to him. Henry's mother had only mentioned that he talked sometimes to the new neighbor. That was how I found her.

"Where do you think he is?" I said accelerating my engine.

"The school." She didn't sound sure but she was the only one I had. The ride was quite rough even for me as I occasionally swerved right and left just to beat time. We reached the school thanks to my dangerous driving and rushed to enter the school before it was locked.

Damn! It was locked shut. I tagged at it just to be sure. The girl was becoming apprehensive as I saw sweat beads form on her forehead.

"Do you have any of his clothing on you?" She asked. This was a funny question but even funny sounded normal at this dire situation. I reached to my backpack and brought out a jockstrap he had forgotten at my place.

"Seriously!" She exclaimed holding it with disgust." where's the guard? Ask him if he perhaps saw Henry."

I didn't need probing to go but something held me back. What did Avery need his jockstrap for? I hid in the shadows and watched her sniff the cloth. Yuck! What was she doing? The girl suddenly sniffed the air like my golden retriever would do. It was unsettling.

"Kalim!" She cried out." I know where Henry is."

I pretended to come running. I also pretended to be out of breath.

"Where?" I asked.

She pointed to the woods near the school. What was Henry doing there and more importantly how did she know?

I was so carried away in my thoughts that I barely noticed when she broke into a run heading for that direction.

"Wait for me," I yelled also running.

Trees branches hit me. I was lashed by large leaves and the mosquito bites were terrible. Why would Henry come to a place like this? Avery kept on sniffing the air as if tracking Henry.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Finding your friend."

"How? Through your nose?"

"I have a cold." She said and she sniffled probably to make it real. I, of course, was not falling for this. I was going to bombard her with questions but I heard something. It was like a cry for help and it sounded a lot like Henry.

HENRY'S POV

I woke up to an enveloping darkness. I was tied up. My head hurt. The painful swelling on my head reminded me of something. I was being kidnapped. My assaulter had placed me tied securely to a tree. He had made a campfire to keep warm and illuminate the area.

"What do you want?" I begged.

A smile formed on the man's lips. It was a sinister im-a-bad-guy smile. It made me wee my pants.

"I don't want you." The man said." I want the pureblood."

"What's a pureblood?"

The man refused to answer me. I only got a long hard stare and it frightened me.

"A vampire." He whispered and began to sharpen his knives.

Was this man joking? Was I with a psychopath? I needed help. I inhaled and screamed for help with all my strength.

The man cackled obviously surprised at my courage. He walked up to me and blew a strangely smelling powder as I slowly began to lose consciousness.

I woke up to see the man slaughtered on the floor in cold blood. Something was different about him though. He was bigger and looked greenish. Was my mind playing tricks on me? I searched around for anything that could shed light on what was happening. Kalim was on the ground next to my abductor. What happened?

AVERY'S POV

What have I done? One night had led to all these. Me killing a troll sent to take me. Beating Kalim to pulp. The whole incident hit me anew.

FLASHBACK

I was alerted my Henry's scream. I used my superior hearing to track him down. In no time, I found him except he wasn't alone. Before I could react to what was happening, the man blew a strange smelling dust to my face. It knocked me and Kalim out immediately. I woke up tied to a tree. The ropes binding me were soaked with vervain. I thought hunters became extinct a century ago.

"Who are you?" I asked. The man raised an eyebrow and replied,

"A troll."

"What do you want?" I spat.

"To sell you to Victor."

Victor had already found where I was. This was unexpected. The man was unruffled by my disturbed countenance as he continued to talk.

"He'll come soon." He said clicking some buttons on his phone. He was calling Victor at least about to.

" Please, don't," I begged. The man ignored me as I watched him pack more of the powder that knocked me out earlier and blew to my face. The whole world began to spin and I felt dizzy. Was this how I would die? Damian would be heartbroken? My father, Those were what crossed my mind before I passed out.

My nightmares, how could I forget them. They made me do the unexpected. Sometimes it came like a panic attack and sometimes it was my fear taking control of my mind.

I woke up shaking. My hands were covered in blood. The sight and the smell of the fluid almost turned me mad. I knew I could not be near Henry. Surprisingly I did not want Kalim's blood.

"Where are you?" A voice said. It was Damian contacting me through the mind link. Even though this was a recipe for disaster, I had to tell him.

"I just killed a troll and almost killed Kalim."

There was a long silence. His mind betrayed him yet again. The presence of the troll scared him. He knew we had been found out yet again.

"I'm coming." He sent an left the mind link. I, on the other hand, had to leave the spot where Henry, the dead troll and Kalim were.

***

The roaring and screeching of a car engine informed me of Damian's presence. He got to the location I was. I expected to blow up but he instead gave me a tight hug. He could be adorable when he wished to be.

" Where are they?" He asked referring to Henry and Kalim.

Kalim had roused and would have definitely run if I did not tie him up.

"You!" He protested in fear. It was like he was seeing a monster." You killed that thing." The gory details flowed into my head like I was watching a movie.

Damian walked up to him and said,

"Don't worry lad, this is a bad dream." He was going to compel him.

"A bad dream?!" Kalim ranted. The compelling must have no effect on him."That girl," he continued pointing an accusing finger to me," killed that man with bare hands. Her eyes were blue and she had fangs. This is fucked up." He continued to shout apprehensive about the realization that vampires were real. Damian tried again with no success.

"Vivian." Damian finally said after a series of failed attempts." he must have consumed vervain. What? This was getting complicated. If we could not compel him, He was a threat and he needed to go.

Henry had been compelled and had been sent home. The only problem we had was Kalim. I thought about how we could determine if he had vervain in his bloodstream. I knew I had to taste his blood.

"Damian, "I said." It could be stress that is disrupting the compelling. Maybe if I tasted his blood."

Damian was at his end. He had no idea what else to do so he gave me permission. Kalim began to jerk violently and tug at the ropes as my fangs extended.

"This will only take a moment," I assured him before I sunk my fangs to his neck. Sweet red liquid oozed out. I tasted the poison. There was none, so I stopped and sealed the bite with my saliva to stop the bite from turning him.

"It's stress." I started to Damian. It was settled. He had to be relaxed.

I walked up to Kalim and bent down to meet his gaze.

"This will all be over but you have to help us. Can you calm down?" I told him and sent him a pleasant smile.

KALIM'S POV

Avery's freak dad tried hypnotizing me again after I had convinced him that I was less tense.

"Forget the experience you just witnessed and walk home with no recollection of seeing me or her." He said.

WTF! It did not work. I still remembered everything but they could not know. They would keep here. So I decided to act. I stood up as calm as I could and began to walk home. When I was far from their sight, I took to my heels. Vampires. I headed for the school's park where I dropped my backpack. I checked my phone and saw I had missed my father's call. He had called thrice and also sent a voicemail instructing me to come home or I would be grounded all my life. I wanted to go home but I also needed a clear mind. Could I live with this? I knew I could because no one would believe me. I would be regarded as a nut case. I had to live with it. I threw my phone into my backpack and doing so, something glowed. It was a red glow and it illuminated the whole of my backpack. I went for the object and brought out a dagger. It looked old and was cold. It hadan inscription on it. Where did I get it from? I remembered visiting Avery. I must have accidentally taken it. Not that I was going to return it anyway. I noticed the gem embedded to the hilt of the dagger glowed when I touched, brighter when it was very close to me. It was almost magical. I examined the strange writings engraved to the sword. For a brief minute, I understood it. It said something about protecting. I read it again but it was just gibberish that I could not understand. It must have been my mind. I threw it back into my backpack and took my leave.

My father looked dejectedly at me.

"You're late."

"Sorry, Dad," I said and looked up to my father. He looked the same except for the strange marking on his forehead. It looked like a burn. It looked like an eye. I must be hallucinating, I thought. I entered the house and it got worse. There were strange symbols engraved everywhere. My dad noticed my strange behavior and asked if anything was wrong. I nodded in response. It was my mind playing tricks on me. It was definitely my mind. I went to my bathroom. I reached for the sink and washed my face with water. It was refreshing. I looked into the steamed mirror clearing the steamed surface with my hands. The sight I saw before me was terrifying. A similar marking was on my forehead.

What is happening? I went to the room and stared at my dressing mirror. It was still there. The dagger in my bag seemed to be alive as it glowed so brightly that it turned my backpack to a lightbulb. I took it out and immediately I touched it, I saw something. It was a sword. Its hilt had an embedded stone that was blue in color. It also had a peculiar marking on it, The symbol of an eye.