NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Once everyone sat down, Sthena leaned his back on the backrest of the couch he sat on and began to speak.

”You must be wondering why I called you all here,” He said and looked from Serena to Perdita and her brother. He went on to say, ”The reason I called you is because of Marco’s health and it is why I have been looking for you Serena.”

Perdita felt her breathing stop as she turned to look at the woman addressed as Serena who had the same eye color as her. She had always thought that green eyes were rare, but today’s encounter changed her opinion when she saw not only one but three people with the same eye color.

Was she a doctor? Perdita questioned herself and immediately turned to look at Sthena instead when Serena’s eyes locked with hers.

”Is she a doctor?” Perdita blurted the question in her mind.

”No,” Sthena replied and Perdita gave him a ’then how is she going to treat him?’ look.

”She is not a doctor, Perdita, but she will help your brother get better,” Sthena said to reassure Perdita but she shook her head negatively.

”I still don’t feel comfortable with her,” Perdita admitted. The unsettling feeling still made her uncomfortable around Serena.

”She is a witch and witches are known to...” Sthena began to explain but was caught off by a surprised shriek from Perdita.

”A witch?!” She gasped and looked all over Serena as if there was something she was searching for. Even Marco was equally surprised. This was the first time they had seen a witch. The only problem here was that this witch did not appear as they were usually described in books and by people who claimed to have seen them.

Witches were known for their cracked black skin, dirty long nails, jagged teeth, slithering tongue, and eyes like slits. But this one was young and beautiful, unlike the description of them.

”Yes, she is a witch,” Sthena further confirmed. ”She is the only one that can help and find out what is wrong with Marco’s body and also trace what you both originally were.”

Now this got Serena’s attention. ”What they originally were? Are they not humans?”

”No,” Sthena turned to Serena as he spoke. ”They were not humans, though we don’t know what their origin is.”

”How do you know they were not originally humans? And by saying were not, does that mean they are something else now?” Serena probed further, curious to know more about the siblings.

Before Sthena could go on to speak, Marco intervened, ”Should we trust her? She looks suspicious to me to let her know about us.”

”If there is someone who could help you get better and also discover who you both were, it can only be Serena,” Sthena answered Marco’s question, which didn’t stop the subtle glare of Marco toward Serena.

Serena barely showed any reaction or took offense by the rude way Marco questioned her and averted her gaze back to Sthena. She questioned, ”What happened to him?”

”To answer your former question, Perdita and Marco are vampires, turned vampires.” The answer from Sthena took Serena by absolute surprise.

”Vampires?” She quizzed with a puzzled look on her face. ”How can they be vampires and still retain their eye color?”

”That is the same question we are asking ourselves. We don’t know why they turned out that way after being turned as vampires.” Sthena told Serena.

He continued to explain, ”A week ago, in the village of Woodbridge when you helped the church conduct the exorcism ritual, they were in the village that time and had inhaled it.”

”They had different reactions to the ritual’s smell. While Perdita almost turned deranged, Marco on the other hand looked as if his body was trying to fight off the smell, and this also can be the reason why their eyes didn’t change to red after being turned.”

”My thought on it might be because, their bodies were also fighting the blood of the vampire who turned them, but couldn’t, which in turn made their eyes stay the same.”

”That’s a big theory,” Serena voiced as she tried to grasp what Sthena was saying. ”You mean, because they were not originally humans, that whatever they were was trying to fight off the vampire’s blood but couldn’t achieve it, and in the end, they ended up having their initial eye color?”

”Yes, that is correct.” Sthena nodded in confirmation.

”And because of what they were before, Marco’s body also tried to fight off the ritual’s smell?” Serena continued to question and saw Sthena nod his head in affirmation.

Serena exhaled and stayed quiet for some seconds while processing everything she was told by Sthena.

”Also, I forgot to mention, Marco was fed with Nightshade which made his body weaker and caused some damage to his body.”

”Nightshade? I thought it doesn’t affect vampires?”

”Yes, it doesn’t affect vampires, but because of the ritual’s smell he inhaled, it weakened his body more than it was after he was fed the nightshade,” Sthena explained and waited for Serena to conclude the matter.

”That is a very dangerous combination I must say. And he was lucky to have survived it. He is strong.” Serena’s eyes landed on Marco’s narrowed black ones.

Perdita hearing that her brother was lucky to have escaped death felt her breath hitch. Her hand placed on her lap nervously shook and she questioned almost in demand, ”What do we do now? How can he be cured?”

”Relax, Perdita. Your brother will be fine.” Serena assured.

Perdita blinked in daze when she heard Serena say her name. She felt as if she had heard that voice saying her name before making her green eyes unfocused.

Sthena noticed the change in Perdita and questioned in concern, ”Are you alright, Perdita? You can go and rest in your room till she finishes. I’ll be here.”

”No,” Perdita shook her head, ”I’ll stay and look after my brother.” She tried to keep her voice steady as the dreadful feeling earlier returned.

”Okay,” Sthena didn’t want to push her knowing how much she cared for her brother. He looked at Serena, ”You can check him now.”

”Hmm,” Serena nodded and shifted in her sitting position. She stretched her left hand toward Marco and said, ”Place your right hand on mine.”

Marco looked at the outstretched hand with narrowed eyes, but because Sthena trusted her that much, he skeptically raised his hand and placed it on Serena’s palm.

Serena used her right hand to place on top of Marco’s hand and a faint blue light emitted from their hands making Serena’s eyes widen a bit before her eyes closed on their own followed by Marco’s own that flickered with three different colors.

The first was the black in his eyes, and then it became red before a very faint green appeared in his pupils before they closed.

This flicker of Marco’s eyes was not noticed by anyone as they were all concentrated on the glowing hands clasped together.

Perdita held an awestruck look on her face, having not experienced or seen something like that before, and this made Sthena smile at her reaction.

The fascination in Perdita’s eyes ended and was disrupted when Serena’s eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of white eyes which were quickly replaced by the green returning to her orbs.

Marco was the next to open his eyes, and the flicker of green that had been in them was now normal as if nothing happened.

Serena had an unreadable expression on her face as she stared at her hands while Perdita held her breath to hear what she was going to say.

”What did you find out, Serena?” Sthena broke the silence and asked the question that had been on the lips of Perdita that had been wanting to fire it at Serena.

Serena looked at Sthena at first as if contemplating how to break the news, and this confirmed to Sthena that she found something more than what he asked her to do.

Serena wetted her lips and began to speak, ”Marco is...”