Suddenly, she heard loud footsteps coming down the hall, and the grumbling of a man’s voice echoed as he cleared his throat. The footsteps got louder and louder as they came closer to the staircase. Rachel sat there, in horror, waiting for her fate, as the man suddenly came into view.
Out of the shadows, appeared a short, heavy-set bald man, dressed in a black smoking robe. He smelled of dead animals as he stood there sucking the tips of each finger.
Rachel couldn’t imagine what was going to happen to her. She sat there, on the ground looking up, waiting for him to say something.
“You, dear, have started a great war,” the man said.
Rachel looked up at him, speechless.
Clearing her throat, she mumbled, “Who are you and where is Benji?”
“You have no idea the trouble you have caused. Never mind who I am, what matters is who you are, and the fact that you may never see Benji again.”
“I don’t understand,” Rachel murmured. “I have to see him.”
“Well, the Great War has begun and he is off to fight. You never know what could happen now.”
Rachel sank to the ground crying as the man stomped away out of the dark foyer. Realizing this might be the only person who could help her, Rachel yelled out, “Wait! Sir, wait! Who are you? Can you help me?”
He turned and smiled.
“Follow me.”
Chapter Two
Rachel quickly followed the hunched back, short man into a dark library, smelling of old books. The man stopped and the two of them stood there in silence, staring at each other. She watched as the man reached deep into the breast pocket of his smoking robe and pulled out a pack of matches. He walked slowly around the room, lighting the black candles on ever surface. She felt more scared than ever, as she sucked in the dusty, smoky air.
The man turned back to her and motioned to a chair in the corner of the room, “Sit,” he said.
She slowly walked across the wide-plank wood floors that creaked beneath her every step. As she grew closer to the chair she gazed at the various spines of the books that faced her. Vampire, The Lost Century, Fangs, The Chosen Vampires. The titles glared at her and she suddenly grew numb with fear as she sat down in the stiff chair, which looked to her to be made out of animal bones.
As she tried to settle into the chair and get somewhat comfortable she watched as the man started to walk towards her. The silence was unbearable for her and she suddenly felt the need to speak, to say anything to calm her nerves.
“I’m sorry, sir, but could you tell me who you are?”
She waited as he took a few steps closer and pulled up a chair facing hers.
“Yes, dear, my name is Uncle Drew and I am one of your kind. Well, I guess technically I should say, you are one of my kind now.”
Rachel thought for a moment before responding. She didn’t know exactly what he was talking about, but the bullet mark and the vivid dream came flashing back into her mind. She suddenly remembered Benji leaning down towards her neck as her world went dark.
She cleared her throat. “What do you mean by that?”
“Please, call me Uncle Drew,” he insisted. He stopped and looked at her.
“Uncle Drew, I’m lost here, I don’t know how I got here or where I am. Can you please help me?”
She sank down in her chair feeling hopeless.
“Rachel, dear. You are a vampire now. Don’t you remember?”
Rachel began to hang on his ever word.
“Tell me more,” she said in anticipation.
“Don’t you remember the Greslins? The bullet wound? You were about to die and you asked to be turned.” He waited a few moments and then said, “Is this ringing a bell?”
Rachel’s mind began to race with images of Violet, policemen, Hunter, and flying in the sky with Benji. She felt a chill travel down her spine as she rubbed her arms with her hands.
“I have some recollection, but who are the Greslins?” Rachel asked shyly.
“Oh, child, the Greslin Coven is our worst enemy. There have been many wars with them over the course of history, but none as bad as what I feel is about to come.”
Scared, Rachel asked, “What do you mean?”
“You have caused this war, I’m afraid to say, and now, our beloved Benji is caught in the middle of this, fighting for his life to save yours and the rest of our Vladiccus Coven.”
“Vladiccus? I’m not sure exactly who you are talking about.”
Drew’s voice became stern as he said, “Listen up, you are now part of the Vladiccus Coven. That’s what I am, that’s what Benji is and the rest of us around here.
He stopped and looked at Rachel square in the eye. “You have a lot to learn, and to be honest, I just don’t have the time right now.”
Feeling a mix of emotions, she sat there, quiet, and then said, “But, but, when is Benji coming back? I need to know.”
She watched as Uncle Drew got up from his chair and began to walk towards the door.
“Please!” she cried. “Please don’t go.”
He turned around and faced Rachel. “Fine, but I need to make this quick.” He grabbed an old dusty notepad off the shelf, and a quill pen, and threw them across the room. Rachel reached out and grabbed it in mid air, surprised by her quick reflexes.
“Take notes, dear, because I will only say this once.”
He paused.
“Benji is on a mission to repair the damage that you have created. It could be days until he returns. It could be weeks. You are not the same person you once were. You’ve changed. You are still changing. You are now one of us. You think you can go back to normal life as it once was. You think you can go back home. But what you don’t realize is that this is your home. We are now your family,” Uncle Drew said as he took a breath.
“Of course we are not keeping you here. If you want to go back home, if you want to pretend that you can ease back into your normal life, by all means. That is a choice for you to make. If you want to stay here with us, in safety, then you are going to need to learn how to become one of us. You are going to need to learn to harness and understand all of your new skills. Learn what it means to be a vampire.”
“But how do I learn all that?” she asked back in confusion.
“There are others here who can teach you. I don’t have time for that sort of thing. I have a war to wage. In fact, I have already wasted enough time with you already.” He turned and began to storm out the door.
“Wait!” Rachel screamed. “You can’t just leave me like this. I need to know more. I am all alone here. Like, what do I do next? Where do I go now?”