Benjamin sent the blood tank he retrieved at noon down to the basement and returned to the office with a glass of bright red ‘wine’.
Anthony sat slumped before the desk, his abruptly hunched shoulders were still misaligned, the shirt and coat were stained red by the lacerations on his skin, and his half bruised face turned to face the window.
Benjamin put down the glass containing Zach’s blood and patted Anthony’s uninjured shoulder to comfort him.
“I did nothing wrong!” Anthony suddenly looked up at Benjamin, “He is impulsive, violent…”
Benjamin pressed his finger on Anthony’s lips, “Shhh-”
As mentioned before, a layer of cement cannot block the hearing of a vampire.
Anthony’s eyes exuded indescribable meaning because of emotional confusion. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and drank the liquid in the glass. The wound healed and the bruise disappeared. Then the mayor of Barton left the Grande Funeral Home with torn clothes hanging on his fat body.
In the afternoon, before four o’clock, Lola came.
As a regular guest of the Grande Funeral Home, she is as familiar with this place as her own home. The girl ran into the office hurriedly. The ‘Alice’s other brother’ who is always here, was not here today. The desk seemed to be hit by something, leaning against the wall, and there was a faint burnt smell in the air.
But this was not what Lola cared about. She rushed into the kitchen, looking for Alice, and ran up to the second floor, only to see “the other brother’s girlfriend” looking in the mirror in a daze.
“Where is Alice?” Lola asked this woman who seemed to be thinking something.
Louise came back to her senses and smiled at Lola, “Check if you can find her in Benjamin’s place.”
“Oh, thanks!” Lola thumped downstairs and ran to the warehouse with her canvas shoes.
“Found you!” Lola finally saw Alice in a daze on the second floor of the warehouse.
The banshee withdrew her blank gaze from the window, “Lola, why are you here? Are you not grounded?”
“It’s the volunteer time, so I sneaked out!” Lola explained, with anxiety on her face, “Something bad happened!”
The banshee Alice adjusted her mood, looked at her friend’s face, and confirmed that no ‘bad things’ had happened before she made a curious look and asked: “What happened?”
Lola’s anxiety eased a lot after seeing Alice. The girl’s anxiety doesn’t come from the thing that happened, but the simple eagerness to “tell”.
“Do you remember Teacher Trisha from [Parker Primary School]?” Lola took Louise’s hand and sat on Benjamin’s bed.
“Mhm, I remember, she came to have a meal with us before. Does she like what I make?” Alice was smiling, and chatting with friends always made her happy.
A smile appeared on Lola’s face, “Of course!” But immediately, the girl’s eyes dimmed, “Remember her husband Todd, two weeks ago, we even held a party for him.”
“Mhm.” Alice blinked, “How is he? I remember the last time Mrs. Cuisha said that he is recovering well, and has he been discharged now?”
Lola shook her head. “He’s gone.”
Alice’s eyelashes twitched, and Lola continued to speak in a low voice.
“We were just teaching children to draw, and then Mrs. Trisha was called to the school office. They said that there was a call from the hospital. Then when she came back, her eyes were red…”
Alice put her arms around Lola’s shoulders, and now Lola rarely puts on heavy makeup, so Alice didn’t have to take care of her smudged eyeliner.
“They said that Mr. Todd deteriorated suddenly and they couldn’t save him. but his situation was clearly very stable some time ago…”
Alice patted Lola on the back, not knowing how to comfort her.
Life is always changing. In Barton, such change is only slightly more obvious.
The cemetery in the west of the Grande Funeral Home is mostly used to bury criminals sent from prison and nameless people in the hospital. In the north section, Spell, with the support of her husband, Coord, closed her eyes and recited something silently. A faint light twisted on the ground in front of the short tombstone under her stretched fingers.
Benjamin looked back. Some farmers were far from the north section and scattered among the other three other sections in the cemetery to clear weeds. No one seemed to have noticed what they were doing here.
Spell’s body shook for a while. The continuous spell casting made her very tired. Coord held a wooden jar in his hand and handed it under Spell’s nose. Not knowing what was in it, but Benjamin could smell the pungent fragrance.
“You should take a break.” Benjamin looked at Spell and suggested.
The Inan woman glanced at the werewolf and shook her head, “We don’t know when Papa Midnight will come. I need to hurry up.”
Benjamin watched Spell walk to another tombstone with the help of her husband. There was a person’s name that was engraved on the rugged stones at the corners, nothing more, not even a date. Obviously, this poor quality tombstone was clawed by the werewolf.
The werewolf found that he could not slow down Spell, so he gave up, and asked, “Why don’t you want Papa Midnight to take Ryan away? Do you know something?”
Coord crouched in front of the tombstone and painted some symbols around the tomb using a broken branch in his hand, preparing for the spell. This gap gave Benjamin an opportunity to ask questions.
Spell stretched out her hand to Benjamin, Benjamin handed out the palm, let Spell pull it, and her thin fingers moved up the blood vessels on his wrist. Spell felt for a moment, then glanced at Benjamin, “You only have one-tenth of the Inan’s blood.”
Benjamin doesn’t care about his blood. Like most federal people now, he is the descendant of two races entangled with each other. With such a thin Inan blood, Benjamin can no longer be considered an Inan.
“This means that 90% of your blood is not bred in this continent.” Spell let go of Benjamin’s hand, “So you won’t understand, your ancestors, the ancestors of wolves, why do you think they gave up their human form?”
Benjamin frowned. In fact, his impression of the former Alpha was very vague. But he still knew the history, and was still restrained by the most primitive impulse of the werewolf, “in order to protect this land from being violated.”
Spell nodded, but there was obvious sadness in her eyes. werewolves were no longer a part of the ‘family’ that they used to be, and vampires were no longer the ‘invaders’ like they once were. Everything in the past is entangled and merged in the changes of the times.
“We heard some things from wandering souls, those sad creatures that wander outside the world.” Spell recovered from her sadness and her tone became flat. “Papa Midnight is planning something. He wants to leave the Federation, perhaps crossing the ocean and completely abandoning this continent. He is recruiting the purebred descendants that have his blood flowing inside them to strengthen his power.”
Benjamin thought for a while, “I thought Ryan didn’t have any talent for witchcraft, nor did Revenge.”
Spell glanced at Benjamin, “Like the ancestors of your wolf pack, they have no talents, but they still became the heroes and guardians of the past. Now, Papa Midnight needs attackers. ”
In the afternoon breeze, Spell’s voice lingered in the werewolf’s ears. The full moon was approaching, so the werewolf’s sensitive senses had shown signs of recovery.
Although everyone who knows the true history of Inan will regard the werewolves in the past as heroes who died for their homeland, they all know that it is just a curse. The curse imposed on their own families in the name of ‘righteous goal’.
Now, Papa Midnight has a new ‘righteous goal’, and the protection that they once swore to carry out now becomes ‘the pioneering path that is about to set out’. He needs people who are willing to bear the curse, and he needs soldiers.
Benjamin sent the blood tank he retrieved at noon down to the basement and returned to the office with a glass of bright red ‘wine’.
Anthony sat slumped before the desk, his abruptly hunched shoulders were still misaligned, the shirt and coat were stained red by the lacerations on his skin, and his half bruised face turned to face the window.
Benjamin put down the glass containing Zach’s blood and patted Anthony’s uninjured shoulder to comfort him.
“I did nothing wrong!” Anthony suddenly looked up at Benjamin, “He is impulsive, violent…”
Benjamin pressed his finger on Anthony’s lips, “Shhh-”
As mentioned before, a layer of cement cannot block the hearing of a vampire.
Anthony’s eyes exuded indescribable meaning because of emotional confusion. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and drank the liquid in the glass. The wound healed and the bruise disappeared. Then the mayor of Barton left the Grande Funeral Home with torn clothes hanging on his fat body.
In the afternoon, before four o’clock, Lola came.
As a regular guest of the Grande Funeral Home, she is as familiar with this place as her own home. The girl ran into the office hurriedly. The ‘Alice’s other brother’ who is always here, was not here today. The desk seemed to be hit by something, leaning against the wall, and there was a faint burnt smell in the air.
But this was not what Lola cared about. She rushed into the kitchen, looking for Alice, and ran up to the second floor, only to see “the other brother’s girlfriend” looking in the mirror in a daze.
“Where is Alice?” Lola asked this woman who seemed to be thinking something.
Louise came back to her senses and smiled at Lola, “Check if you can find her in Benjamin’s place.”
“Oh, thanks!” Lola thumped downstairs and ran to the warehouse with her canvas shoes.
“Found you!” Lola finally saw Alice in a daze on the second floor of the warehouse.
The banshee withdrew her blank gaze from the window, “Lola, why are you here? Are you not grounded?”
“It’s the volunteer time, so I sneaked out!” Lola explained, with anxiety on her face, “Something bad happened!”
The banshee Alice adjusted her mood, looked at her friend’s face, and confirmed that no ‘bad things’ had happened before she made a curious look and asked: “What happened?”
Lola’s anxiety eased a lot after seeing Alice. The girl’s anxiety doesn’t come from the thing that happened, but the simple eagerness to “tell”.
“Do you remember Teacher Trisha from [Parker Primary School]?” Lola took Louise’s hand and sat on Benjamin’s bed.
“Mhm, I remember, she came to have a meal with us before. Does she like what I make?” Alice was smiling, and chatting with friends always made her happy.
A smile appeared on Lola’s face, “Of course!” But immediately, the girl’s eyes dimmed, “Remember her husband Todd, two weeks ago, we even held a party for him.”
“Mhm.” Alice blinked, “How is he? I remember the last time Mrs. Cuisha said that he is recovering well, and has he been discharged now?”
Lola shook her head. “He’s gone.”
Alice’s eyelashes twitched, and Lola continued to speak in a low voice.
“We were just teaching children to draw, and then Mrs. Trisha was called to the school office. They said that there was a call from the hospital. Then when she came back, her eyes were red…”
Alice put her arms around Lola’s shoulders, and now Lola rarely puts on heavy makeup, so Alice didn’t have to take care of her smudged eyeliner.
“They said that Mr. Todd deteriorated suddenly and they couldn’t save him. but his situation was clearly very stable some time ago…”
Alice patted Lola on the back, not knowing how to comfort her.
Life is always changing. In Barton, such change is only slightly more obvious.
The cemetery in the west of the Grande Funeral Home is mostly used to bury criminals sent from prison and nameless people in the hospital. In the north section, Spell, with the support of her husband, Coord, closed her eyes and recited something silently. A faint light twisted on the ground in front of the short tombstone under her stretched fingers.
Benjamin looked back. Some farmers were far from the north section and scattered among the other three other sections in the cemetery to clear weeds. No one seemed to have noticed what they were doing here.
Spell’s body shook for a while. The continuous spell casting made her very tired. Coord held a wooden jar in his hand and handed it under Spell’s nose. Not knowing what was in it, but Benjamin could smell the pungent fragrance.
“You should take a break.” Benjamin looked at Spell and suggested.
The Inan woman glanced at the werewolf and shook her head, “We don’t know when Papa Midnight will come. I need to hurry up.”
Benjamin watched Spell walk to another tombstone with the help of her husband. There was a person’s name that was engraved on the rugged stones at the corners, nothing more, not even a date. Obviously, this poor quality tombstone was clawed by the werewolf.
The werewolf found that he could not slow down Spell, so he gave up, and asked, “Why don’t you want Papa Midnight to take Ryan away? Do you know something?”
Coord crouched in front of the tombstone and painted some symbols around the tomb using a broken branch in his hand, preparing for the spell. This gap gave Benjamin an opportunity to ask questions.
Spell stretched out her hand to Benjamin, Benjamin handed out the palm, let Spell pull it, and her thin fingers moved up the blood vessels on his wrist. Spell felt for a moment, then glanced at Benjamin, “You only have one-tenth of the Inan’s blood.”
Benjamin doesn’t care about his blood. Like most federal people now, he is the descendant of two races entangled with each other. With such a thin Inan blood, Benjamin can no longer be considered an Inan.
“This means that 90% of your blood is not bred in this continent.” Spell let go of Benjamin’s hand, “So you won’t understand, your ancestors, the ancestors of wolves, why do you think they gave up their human form?”
Benjamin frowned. In fact, his impression of the former Alpha was very vague. But he still knew the history, and was still restrained by the most primitive impulse of the werewolf, “in order to protect this land from being violated.”
Spell nodded, but there was obvious sadness in her eyes. werewolves were no longer a part of the ‘family’ that they used to be, and vampires were no longer the ‘invaders’ like they once were. Everything in the past is entangled and merged in the changes of the times.
“We heard some things from wandering souls, those sad creatures that wander outside the world.” Spell recovered from her sadness and her tone became flat. “Papa Midnight is planning something. He wants to leave the Federation, perhaps crossing the ocean and completely abandoning this continent. He is recruiting the purebred descendants that have his blood flowing inside them to strengthen his power.”
Benjamin thought for a while, “I thought Ryan didn’t have any talent for witchcraft, nor did Revenge.”
Spell glanced at Benjamin, “Like the ancestors of your wolf pack, they have no talents, but they still became the heroes and guardians of the past. Now, Papa Midnight needs attackers. ”
In the afternoon breeze, Spell’s voice lingered in the werewolf’s ears. The full moon was approaching, so the werewolf’s sensitive senses had shown signs of recovery.
Although everyone who knows the true history of Inan will regard the werewolves in the past as heroes who died for their homeland, they all know that it is just a curse. The curse imposed on their own families in the name of ‘righteous goal’.
Now, Papa Midnight has a new ‘righteous goal’, and the protection that they once swore to carry out now becomes ‘the pioneering path that is about to set out’. He needs people who are willing to bear the curse, and he needs soldiers.
