Just looking at the two brothers, who both appeared to be scared out of their wits made December laugh out loud. The sound of her giggles was contagious and soon everybody in the room was laughing alongside her, oblivious to the fact that Duran wasn't too far away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
After Oliver had been completely filled in on what had been going on back home, the group sat in the apartment questioning December further about her vision, trying to work out exactly when the vampire Duran would appear at the Tofino beach.
"I'm sorry but I just couldn't tell when it was. The light looked exactly the same as it has done for the past hour. It's that mist out there, it makes it difficult to pinpoint. He could be anywhere for all I know. I'm sorry, I just don't know," she said in despair.
"December, have you spoken to Moira since you arrived?" asked Lilly, changing the subject for a moment.
Nodding, December looked upset. "She wasn't very happy, as you can imagine. She was astounded at what happened. She was already in the car driving down... but she has no idea how long it'll take. She didn't even know if the ferry would be running. Oh..." December suddenly remembered that Sammy and Tabitha were also on their way.
"What is it?" asked Carmelo, concerned.
"It's Sammy... I forgot to mention that he decided to fly down after all. Don't worry, though, he said he would try and wait for it to get dark. Tabitha is with him too."
Lilly shook her head in disbelief. "It's because of me isn't it?" she asked.
December looked at her and nodded back, "he said there was no way he was just going to sit at home and do nothing. Tabitha felt the same way."
"That's so typical of her," piped up Zoltan who was shaking his head but smiling. "She hates to miss any excitement."
"Excitement? You call this exciting? There's a mad vampire killer on the loose trying to get my brother. That's hardly exciting," said Ben, raising his voice.
"It's okay Ben, they're here to help... I'd probably be dead by now if it wasn't for them."
"Well, you wouldn't exactly be dead. Well, kind of. You'd be one of them," said December, rolling her eyes towards Carmelo and Ursula.
"That makes me feel so much better," he replied with a sad smile as the two vampires discussed what to do next.
Lilly's cell phone rang, making her jump. It was just Jo keeping them abreast of what was going on back home. The witches were in a circle once again, trying to locate Duran but it wasn't easy without December and Ruby who had joined her daughter on the journey to Tofino.
"Yes, we know about Sammy and Tabitha. They'd told December. Yes, we'll keep you posted. Oliver is okay. We're just figuring out what to do next. Yes, I'll tell him, don't worry. Okay, you too. Bye," she answered with a smile as she blushed.
"Carmelo, Jo says to be careful and... that she loves you."
Carmelo smiled and nodded as Lilly told them about the witches circle.
"... but it's unlikely they'll be able to find him. Their only connection to Duran is gone... December is here and Ruby is in the car with Moira."
"Well, then it's up to us. We must find him and stop him ourselves before he creates any more new-borns or kills again," said Zoltan with clenched fists as he prepared himself for a fight.
"Oh God, I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of The X-Men movie," said Oliver sighing as he slumped back in the only armchair in the room.
Ben laughed, "I know what you mean."
"You ain't seen nothing y..." laughed Lilly, suddenly realising her mistake and blushing. Of course he had. He had seen her morph into a mountain lion, and he'd witnessed Sammy fly off into the night.
Oliver smiled back and turned from her to look at Carmelo as he stood up and went to look out the only window overlooking the huge strip of sand. The sun was setting and the mist still hovered along the shoreline and up towards the driftwood at the top of the beach.
Opening the window, Carmelo took a long hard breath, sniffing at the scents that surrounded them. He turned and looked at Ursula. No words were needed as she rushed over and did the same.
"He's here," she whispered while Carmelo nodded and slowly lowered the glass and turned the lock.
The room went deathly quiet and the humans turned pale.
Picking up the large, heavy suitcase he had carried with ease from home, Carmelo opened it to reveal a host of weapons.
He handed long wooden stakes to Ben and Oliver, "to kill him you must aim perfectly well through the heart. Or you must cut off his head, but I doubt you will be capable of that. If you miss his heart, you will probably only make him angry and that might make him stronger. Duran has been a vampire for hundreds of years... for longer than I have been one. He is probably stronger than I. The only way we can get rid of him is by weakening him first."
"But, how, Carmelo, how do we weaken him?" asked Lilly as she took a small leather pouch he handed to her.
"There are a number of ways but first, Lilly, you must put this around your neck. I cannot touch it, of course," he said as she peered into the pouch and found a silver chain with a locket dangling from it.
"Oh... so the whole silver thing is true then. Does it burn you?" she asked innocently.
Carmelo nodded, "it is one of the few things that will slow us down. He will be unable to get too close to you if you wear it. Here, wear this as well," he said handing her a smaller pouch which revealed a heavy silver ring.
"Wow, that looks ancient," said December as she watched her best friend slide it on to her finger.
Smiling, Carmelo added, "It's as ancient as I am."
Disappearing momentarily into another room, Oliver returned carrying a small book and a necklace, "will these help me?" he asked, blushing, revealing the book to be a bible and the necklace a small crucifix.
"Ah, a holy bible and a cross. Honestly, not really, I'm afraid. This is one myth that is just that. A myth. But if you prefer to use them to pray that we'll get through this, then by all means do," replied Carmelo with a genuine smile of understanding.
Visibly shocked, Lilly had never known Oliver to be particularly religious. Seeing her reaction, he shrugged his shoulders and put the items on the coffee table. Had she made him turn to God? She thought.
"The four of you, we need you to stay here," Carmelo said to Lilly, December, Ben and Oliver. "Lock yourselves inside and keep out of sight. Make no noise. Just wait for us to return."
"But he wants me... surely I should come with you."
"No," said Carmelo, "No, not yet. I need to see what we're up against before we have to resort to putting you in even more danger. Hopefully, we will kill him before it comes to that. Now stay safe," he said as he, Zoltan and Ursula tentatively opened the front door, exited silently and closed it behind them.
"Lock it," whispered Carmelo from the other side.
Lilly did exactly as she was told.
"So now, what do we do?" asked Ben.
"We do exactly what he told us to do. We sit tight and wait for them to come back," answered Lilly as she took a sneaky look out of the window, careful to keep out of sight.
The beach was deserted, yet the mist remained.
"Do you see anything?" asked December quietly, who was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, turning a small wooden stake round and round her fingers.
Shaking her head, Lilly tiptoed to December's side and sat down with her. The two brothers sat at the other side of the room, either side of the front door, gripping the stakes tightly.
"So... a witch, huh?" said Lilly, grinning.
"So... a changeling, huh?" replied December with a smile.
"If only we'd known before, there's so much I wanted to tell you but couldn't."
"Yeah, I know. But I only found out about myself, and my mother... and Ruby, recently. Actually it was on my birthday. Monty told me. He'd known all along. He was there to keep me safe."
"Monty? Your driver?" asked Lilly.
"Yeah. It was a massive shock but I guess you know
about shocks and all that. That must have been scary, finding out you can change into a lion. I mean, a mountain lion, for goodness sake. That's insane," she said as Lilly noticed Oliver listening in on their conversation.
She looked sad and nodded. "Insane. You're right there," she replied as she watched his expression change from grief to sadness, before he looked at her and finally smiled. The kind of smile he used to give her when they were together. She wanted nothing more than to go to him and wrap her arms around him and say that everything was going to be okay.
But a noise outside stopped her thoughts in their tracks.
Ben jumped up and held the stake even tighter in his hands. Oliver followed suit and the girls watched in horror as someone tried to turn the door handle to get in.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and then a loud bang as if someone had been shoved against it.
Lilly gasped and stood up, holding onto December. She went to walk over to the door but Ben shook his head. "Stay there," he mouthed at them.
All went quiet. Eerily quiet.
Lilly visibly jumped when there was another knock at the door, "It's okay, it's me," said Zoltan as Ben unlocked the door and let him in. Zoltan locked it behind him.
"I'm afraid it's worse than we thought. There's more than one. Duran's brought some friends with him. I've just killed one of them but Carmelo's run off after Duran and Ursula is outside guarding the apartment.
"We're going to need some help."
"What can we do?" asked Ben.
Zoltan shook his head, "no, we can't have you involved. They'll rip you apart. We need more... supernatural help," he replied with raised eyebrows.
"Well, that leaves me," offered Lilly.
"And me!" December piped up.
"No, December. I'd rather you stayed here. Maybe you can use your magic from here? Please... Moira would kill me if something happened to you," said Lilly seriously.
"Okay, I guess Sammy and Tabitha are on their way too," said December.
As if on cue, Ursula could be heard talking to someone. Sammy and Tabitha had landed.
Ben unlocked the door and Tabitha rushed in, straight into the arms of her boyfriend.
"Thank God you're okay," she said as the two shared a kiss that was a little too intimate for their friend's comfort.
Ben cleared his throat and the two pulled apart and smiled.
"Ursula has briefed us on what's going on. Lilly, I need you to help me. I need to change and I still haven't mastered it properly yet," she said as she took Lilly's hand.
"Erm, perhaps it would be best if we did this is another room?" she suggested, looking at Oliver.
Oliver looked a little worried but nodded, "I think that's probably a good idea."
Lilly and Tabitha went into the bedroom, followed by December. "I'd like to watch the transformation, if that's okay?" she asked and they nodded, closing the door behind them.
December sat on the bed as the two girls undressed, "we'll ruin our clothes if we keep them on," said Lilly, handing Tabitha a towel before carefully removing the silver necklace and ring.
Each wrapped in towels, Lilly instructed her second cousin to lie on the floor and completely relax, breathing deeply. "Concentrate on your inner feline, think about nothing but the animal that is desperate to get out. Breathe deeply in... and out. Relax."
Soon December began taking over, speaking to the two girls, relaxing them to a point that Tabitha was comfortable enough, subconsciously, to morph into her inner beast. The first few transformations had been quite long and painful and so she was keen to learn how to overcome those horrible sensations as the body morphed from one kind into another.
Soon, Lilly lay on the floor not as a teenage girl but as a mountain lion. Her transformation had taken place calmly and quietly as it usually did. She was used to it. Pain was no longer an issue.
She stayed put, waiting for Tabitha to transform too. She continued to listen to December's natural calming tones.
When nothing happened, December got off of the bed and walked to Tabitha. Crouching down, she lifted her hand and spoke softly to her, "You are ready to make the change easily and painlessly. Transform, Tabitha and become your inner feline. Change painlessly, Tabitha, change."
The short spiky hair on Tabitha's head began to change from grey to bright white and her finger nails began to lengthen. An involuntary howl burst forth from her lips and her back arched as her entire body transformed into a beautiful beast.
December stood and clapped her hands together as two majestic mountain lions stood by her side, one black, one white.
Pushing open the door to the bedroom, she saw Zoltan pacing like an expectant father.
When he saw Tabitha in all her glory, a grin appeared from ear to ear. As she approached him, she let out a low hiss but brushed herself against him as he tenderly stroked her back.
"Wow... that was THE most amazing thing I've ever seen," said December in a daze. "I mean, just look at them. They're beautiful," she added.
Lilly turned to look at Oliver who stood deadly still with a strange expression on his face.
'December, can you hear me?'
"You can communicate with me?" asked December, looking down at her best friend. Lilly nodded and December smiled, "cool!"
'Please tell Oliver and Ben they have nothing to fear.'
Laughing, December repeated the words Lilly had communicated but Oliver remained standing still.
'Perhaps it might help if they touch me?'
"Lilly has asked if you'd like to touch her?"
Ben slowly walked towards her and placed his hand on her head. She purred and he smiled.
"It's okay, Oliver, it's only Lilly. Come over," he said as his brother finally relaxed a little and tiptoed over to her. Gingerly, he stroked the back of her neck and she purred loudly.
"I'm sorry to have to break up this little ménage-à-trois but Carmelo, Ursula and Sammy are out there waiting for us," said Zoltan with a wink.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
As everybody walked out of the apartment, leaving Oliver, Ben and December behind, Lilly was the last to leave. Turning, she said to December, 'please tell Oliver I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry and I hope that he'll forgive me.'
December nodded, "I will. Please be careful, Lilly... oh wait," she suddenly said rushing back into the bedroom and returning carrying something.
She held out her hand and said, "I think this will still fit you. It's quite a long chain," she said as she carefully placed the silver necklace around her neck.
'Thanks, December. You keep the ring on, okay?' she communicated, watching December place the overly large ring on her small finger before she leaned forward and hugged her friend before closing and locking the door behind her.
Outside, darkness had finally descended. Lilly's eyes easily adjusted to the light as she looked around to see Carmelo had returned.
"There's Duran and at least three more. There was another but Zoltan managed to destroy her up on the roof. They're new-borns so they're pretty strong, but they haven't had time to adjust to the change yet so they're unsure of what they're capable of, which gives us the advantage. Duran is keeping his distance for now. He is most likely aware of Lilly's ability because he would have taken note of her scent when he saw her at the coffee shop. So Lilly, you need to be fully aware of what's going on around you. Although vampires tend not to like the flavour of changelings, it will not stop him from trying to transform you in whatever shape or form you are in? Don't let him bite you... but above all, do not swallow any of his blood, okay?"
Lilly nodded in response and sniffed the air, aware of something strange nearby.
Ursula nodded. "Zey're close. Ve need to lure zem away from ze apartment. Come on, let's run up away from ze shore," she said as they all took off in the direction away from the beach.
Although Lilly was terrified, the feeling of running, leading the vampires away from her loved ones was both liberating and thrilling.
<
br /> There was a distinct metallic aroma in the air. It was a scent Lilly had now come to easily recognise. Blood. It was the same smell she'd picked up from Duran in the coffee shop and it wasn't good. It meant there had been yet another kill.
Hearing the gentle whoosh of wings flapping from above, Lilly noticed Sammy was careful to remain as hidden as possible, sometimes flying high up in the clouds and other times, flying as close to them as he could. Sammy gave them another advantage of being able to see exactly what was going on around them. The problem was that the vampires moved with incredible speed.
The group slowed down as Ursula came to a momentary standstill and quickly turned her head from one side to the other.
"Zey're ahead of us... and zey've split up. Zoltan, Tabiza, you come viz me. Carmelo, you take ze ozers viz you."
Nodding, Carmelo began to follow the scent of one of the vampires. Lilly and Sammy followed suit, while the other group continued heading in a westerly direction towards the town.
When they came across a sign for Tofino Botanical Gardens, Lilly looked over at Carmelo who had slowed considerably.
"They're in there... Lilly be careful. If you get any of them, you must try and break their necks and call for me. I will do the rest."
Lilly nodded.
She was frightened, but it was impossible to tell. Her mountain lion facade managed to hide her feelings particularly well. Only Rose would have been able to see what was really going on inside her.
She felt a little sick as she gingerly stepped among the plants that surrounded her. Sammy flew above everything, trying to locate the vampire but the giant leaves and trees concealed his bird's eye view.
The sound of twigs breaking beneath someone, or something's, feet stopped her in her tracks and she sniffed the air around her. The scent of blood filled the air once again. Whoever he was, he was close.
Lilly stealthily climbed up the trunk of a tree that was tilting to one side. Turning her head, she spotted something red glowing behind a massive leaf. Seeing the eyes of her prey, Lilly pounced, but he was watching her and he escaped her clutches, jumping from one tree to another.