Chapter 118 - Take Me!

Graven, Rebecca and the bats were now on the outskirts of South Pond Town.

Graven was about to unleash the deadly flames from his body, but suddenly the bats slowly transformed itself into something...​​

Into three big giant eagles!

And a voice spoke coming from one of them.

"Go ahead... you can kill us anytime...but even if you kill us now more bats will come and kill everyone in this town. All I need is the woman named Laura, she is our Queen, as long she comes with us peacefully, this town will no longer be visited by the likes of us. Give her to us or else we will kill everyone in this town!" the leader of the eagle demanded.

Graven's body was already a ball of fire. He was about to throw a deadly flame at the leader of the eagle but Rebecca stopped him.

"Stop, Graven! They told us that there will be more bats to come if we don't give them Laura. I will go with them!" Rebecca said. She took the hood away from her face and voila! she looks like Laura now.

Graven looked at Rebecca in disbelief. "You don't have to do this! I will annihilate them today!" he said adamantly.

"No!" Rebecca put her body in front of Graven to block his attack. "Listen to me, Graven, this is an opportunity for me to infiltrate their place. Don't worry, I know how to take care of myself," she whispered... trying to convince him.

After sometime Graven understood Rebecca's reasoning. Even if he successfully exterminated the three giant birds today, there is no guarantee that the bats won't return. If the Eagles were telling the truth then the South Pond Town will be visited by a deadly disaster now and then.

"Okay, take care of yourself!" he said, finally listening to her.

"I'll go with them now," Rebecca said and flew towards the leader of the eagle.

"Ride on my back, Queen Laura...we will bring you now to our King!" The leader of the eagle allowed Rebecca to ride on its back.

Rebecca looked at Graven for the last time before the eagles fly away.

Graven followed them in his invisible form wanting to know where they are taking Rebecca.

He didn't fly close to them, he maintained enough distance so that they can't detect his presence.

Suddenly... a thick black cloud appeared between them for a few minutes...separating Graven from the view of the giant eagles...when the clouds disappeared...Rebecca and the eagles were nowhere to be found.

Damn! They detected his presence!

He was hovering in the air for a few minutes wondering who sent those eagles to fetch Laura? Then he remembered that Laura was destined to marry a vampire husband, based on the deal that her father made a long time ago with the vampire couple when she was still a baby.

C-could it be that they finally located Laura in South Pond Town?

They took Rebecca with her...they mistook her for Laura!

If the eagles were sent to bring Laura to their king then Rebecca is in danger if they will discover her true identity.

It's imperative to find out where they take Rebecca so that he can rescue her before they will discover her lies.

But where are they taking her?

He had no idea where!?

The more reason Laura can no longer stay in South Pond Town, she will endanger the whole town with her presence. And most importantly, she is in danger herself.

The longer he thinks about it, the more it's getting obvious that the one who sent the bats and the eagles was Laura's vampire husband to be!

He needs to find a safe hiding place for Laura before the king can discover Rebecca's fake persona!

He raked his hands on his hair in frustration.

In front of him is just space, Rebecca and the giant birds can no longer be found! They disappeared into thin air!

Since it's futile to find them... he might as well go back to the town and made a thorough inspection of the entire area looking for any signs of bats...that if there's still anything left behind... before telling the people that it's already safe to venture outside from their houses.

He zoomed back towards the South Pond Town.

When he arrived at the plaza and hovered all over the town, he can no longer see any signs of bats, they all disappeared!

Great relief washed over him.

He went back to the Mayor's place and found him inside his study room.

The Mayor smiled brightly after seeing him. "Thanks to you and your men, Graven! The bats have finally left our beloved town!" he said.

"We did our best to protect the people, Sir. We are deeply sorry that some casualties died during the bats' invasion in our town," he said apologetically.

"It's okay, casualties can never be avoided. I will help the families bury their loved ones properly and give them financial assistance. What matters most right now is that the bats are all gone and the people can finally return to their normal lives. I hope the bats won't come back any more!" the mayor said. "Can you do something about it?"

Graven nodded his head. "Yes, Sir! I will try to find a way so that they can no longer return here on our town," he said.

"Good! I'm counting on you to keep our beloved South Pond Town safe under your protection," the mayor said.

"My men and I will do our best, Sir!" Graven bit his lip. He is not deserving of the mayor's praise. To restore safety and normalcy in the South Pond Town, Rebecca has to sacrifice herself for the good of all. He hopes she's not harmed by those who abducted her.

"I will give bonus rewards to you and your men for continuously protecting this town from dangers!" the mayor said, feeling grateful.

"Thank you so much, Sir!" Graven said. His mind was not centered on the rewards, his mind was centered on Rebecca and Laura. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now, Sir," he said, asking permission to leave.

"Okay, you may go now..." the mayor replied.

Graven took his leave and disappeared from the study room in seconds.

He appeared inside one of his headquarters - inside the wooden hut located near the border of South Pond Town.

Horace was already waiting for him there. "My Lord! I have seen the bats transforming themselves into giant birds... and Rebecca...or was that Laura riding the birds back?" he asked curiously.

Graven sighed. "That was Rebecca pretending to be Laura. The bats arrived in the town to fetch Laura for their king," he answered.

"Huh? What do you mean, My Lord? The vampire husband that got jilted by Laura was now looking for her?" Horace asked in shock.

"Yeah...they are fetching their Queen Laura and they got the fake one in the person of Rebecca," he said grimly.

"But why did Rebecca did it? Pretending to be Laura?" Horace asked in confusion.

Graven released a deep sigh. "Because the giant birds warned me that if I won't give them Laura, they will keep sending bats in the whole town and kill everyone. As long I will give Laura to them they will no longer send bats to harass the people," he explained.

"Ah...I see...I understand it now. Rebecca did it to prevent the bats from attacking the town again. But what if they will discover that Rebecca is a fake one? What they are going to do with Rebecca? Will they send bats again to terrorize the town?" Horace asked apprehensively.

"That's a big possibility. That's why we need to rescue Rebecca before they will discover her true identity and we need to launch a sudden attack on their hideout so that they can no longer send any bats to South Pond Town. But we need to find their location first. I will ask Laura if she can still remember the name of that place where her father take her when she was still a baby to resurrect her back to life. If we can locate that place, we might be able to find Rebecca there!" Graven said.

"But how can we be sure that they are still residing in that place since it's already more than twenty years ago?" Horace asked.

"Well...there is no guarantee...but that is the only place where we can find a trace of their existence. We have to go there and check out that place," Graven said.

"Okay, sounds plausible enough, better than no leads at all," Horace responded.

"How's everyone? No one died?" Graven asked. He recalled that some of his men that were fighting the bats got bitten in different parts of their bodies.

"Thankfully no one, all they got is a nasty bite from the bats here and there, but they will be back in good shape a few days from now since their wound already got treated by our physician," Horace replied.

"Good," Graven said. "I want you to gather a few of our men and go to the affected villages and bury the dead, they deserved a proper burial," he commanded.

"Yes, My Lord!" Horace said. "I'll take my leave now..."

Graven nods his head.

Horace left the wooden hut to talk to the men outside that were waiting for instruction from him.

Graven was left alone in the wooden hut - thinking and planning about his next move.

He needs to bring Laura back Hallowpass so that their first plan can take place. He needs to get her out of South Pond Town and hide her somewhere in safety. There are several places he can bring her to hide.

First, he needs to talk to her and ask her if she can still remember the name of the village where she was born.

He only needs to know the name and he can easily find it!