"You will buy everything?" The vendor, a man with brown hair, asked. Not for a moment his eyes left the products put on his register.
"Yes, sir." John nodded.
The man, slowly, raised his head. "Boy," He stared at the young man in the eyes. "are you really buying all of this?" He asked again.
Pursing his lips, John held the debit card in the air. "Yes."
"Huff." The vendor, named Michael by the tag in his clothes, snorted. "This sure is a lot of food. You what, throwing a party?" He casually asked, with a bit of curiosity.
"…Sort of." John said, taking a look over the filled supermarket car.
"Damn, good luck with that." He said, fetching the first product. "You have any idea how much all of this will cost?" The man passed the first product, one of the many on the pile put on the register, not to mention the ones still in the shopping cart.
Giving a look over everything he got in the market, and then at the other things he brought before–the girl's new clothes included–making him furrow his brow a little. Jeremy surely didn't say how much it was in there, and I maybe stuffed the cart a little too much. Now I do hope there is enough money in there. John kept his expression neutral despite his thoughts. "More or less."
"This one here seems stuffed." A woman approached the register's end, where the accounted products were put at. She grabbed a bag and opened it, stuffing the products in it. "Hello, Sir." She looked at John.
"Good morning." The boy nodded her way, offering a small smile.
Beep!
Honestly, there wasn't much talk between the young man and the workers as they scanned and put the products back in the cart.
In a few minutes, there came the time for John to pay. And when he hovered the debt card over the card machine and the payment was successful, the boy couldn't help but let out an inner sigh of relief.
"Have a great day, Sir." The woman–probably in her mid 20's–waved towards John.
"You too." He waved back in good nature, pushing the cart past the automatic doors of the market. The young man took a deep breath of fresh-air while heading to the car.
And while John stored everything he had purchased in the car's trunk and back seats, he felt a weak vibration in his right pocket. Retrieving the phone from his pocket, the boy gave a quick look at the screen before bringing it close to his ear.
"Good morning, Dr. Saltzman."
Alaric exhaled. "Good morning, John." He said, sitting by the edge of his bed. "I assume everything ran smoothly, right?"
"No problems at all." John continued to put things in the car.
"Good… that's good." Alaric nodded in relief. Even though Hope relayed words yesterday that the boy had successfully fetched the werewolf and Jeremy, he didn't know if things had run smoothly during the night.
As his sigh of relief escaped and his eyes opened again, Alaric went back to the conversation. "Then I can simply ask you without fear of the worst." He paused. "Mind telling me why you spent six hundred in a supermarket?" Despite his words, the headmaster's tone was calm, no anger in it could be found. However, he sure was curious to know why such an amount being spent appeared on his other phone.
Listening to this, John paused briefly in putting the plastic bags in the car. "Supermarket? What super-"
"I already talked to Jeremy." He interrupted the young man.
Tsk. "Well… Jeremy told me to buy a few things to eat along the way. And… maybe I got carried away a little."
"Maybe?" Though not present, John could imagine Alaric raising an eyebrow.
"In my defense, I didn't have dinner nor breakfast till now. I am hungry. Not to mention, I found a box of a drink I like very much, so I decided to bring it home." John explained, pressing the phone between his shoulder and ear so he could hold said box with both hands. "I would have told you when we arrived. Tell you to put it in my school debt."
The young man's words made Alaric shake his head. "No, forget it. Consider it your payment for the trouble I put you in." He snorted. "Just don't spend much else of it. Though there is still quite a bit, Jeremy needs the money to pass through the month."
"Okay, no problem." John quickly agreed with the older man. "Anything else you want to tell me?"
"For now, no. Just make sure you and the others arrive safely at the school, okay?"
"Okay." John nodded. "Then, I will see you later, Dr. Saltzman." The boy said, preparing to end the call.
"Travel safely, kid." Alaric pulled the phone away from his ear and ended the call first.
When he heard nothing else from the phone, John put it back into his pocket before continuing to prepare everything for the trip.
"Okay, that's it." He said when putting the last bag in the trunk. Putting the supermarket cart away, John opened the car's door and got in, quickly starting the engine while he opened a chocolate bar.
Crunch! "This is the good stuff." John said in a low voice as he left the parking lot and drove in the forest's direction. He still had a supernatural hunter and a young werewolf to get.
[Scene Break]
As John pushed through some of the final branches and passed by a few more trees, he finally arrived back at the clearing. And immediately, he noticed a few things different.
For example, the fact that the girl from earlier was now sitting down nearby one of the trees instead of laying down on the grass and dirt.
She had a shirt covering her body as she did her best to hide everything that could possibly embarrass her if others saw.
When John stepped into the clearing, just as he noticed her, the girl noticed the boy as well, and she slowly turned her head his way, fixing her eyes on him.
Calmly, John raised his hand and waved at her. He changed the direction of his steps and walked in her direction, with his steps taking longer than the normally needed time to cross the distance they usually take.
"Hello." He said, softly and gently. Not daring to make any rushed movements, John raised his other hand slowly, a small shopping bag with a stamp of a clothes store in it. "This… is for you."
"…"
The girl didn't respond and just kept staring at the boy in silence.
Okay… John continued to walk ahead, and gently put down the bag a couple meters of distance from her. "I will leave this here. You probably want to change, right? If you want us to give you some privacy, just tell us, okay?" He said, but without expecting any answer as John immediately started to retreat after putting down the bag.
Keeping his slow and steady movements, the boy turned around and walked away from the girl. Even while he approached Jeremy, he could still feel her eyes on his back.
"Hey. I did everything you asked." John said to the hunter, handing him the keys. "But you must already know that since Dr. Saltzman already talked to you, right."
Jeremy humorously chuckled. "Yeah. He said to me he thought I lost the card on the run or something else, but he called me to make sure before doing anything." There was a big grin on the hunter's face. "Did you really spend more than half a grand on food?"
"Huh…" John nodded. "Thankfully, I resolved everything with him. He told me I could consider it as payment for the task, and that's what I am gonna do." The boy sighed, feeling good that his initial idea that he could put the amount of money he spent in his debt wasn't needed.
"So," John whispered and took a step to the side, aligning his figure between the girl and Jeremy. "when did she wake up?"
"Around fifteen minutes after you left." Jeremy replied. "Didn't say a thing since, besides a few murmurs when she woke up. I explained what happened to her and from what I could tell she listened to everything with a good amount of attention." The hunter slightly moved his head to the side, taking a look at the girl. "Well, at least she responded to you."
Listening to his words, John gave a small step to the side and looked at the line of his shoulder. He observed with sole gentleness when seeing that the girl was now standing on, her legs trembling to keep her up.
She tried to take the bag between her fingers, but it escaped her initially due to her current weakness. The girl attempted again with both hands and succeeded as she brought the bag closer to her.
Her lips trembled for a few moments before she muttered her first words of the day to them. "Cou-could I ha-have some-"
Before she could finish her words, Jeremy pushed John in one direction and walked in the same one. "Sure, take your time. Just remember to talk to us when you finish it." He said, quickly catching up to the young man.
John, who stopped his steps a few meters into the woods, gave Jeremy a narrowing look. "Was that needed?"
"Nah. But thanks to you, I will have to look over what I buy for the rest of the month." Jeremy leaned on a tree and crossed his arms. "I just didn't kick you too because you technically saved my life, so be grateful."
Listening to it, John snorted in mild annoyance. He really is different, isn't he? He thought. "Aren't you afraid of her running away?" The boy asked.
"Not really. If she wanted to run away, she would have already. Getting a set of clothes won't change anything." Jeremy calmly replied. "Now, our only job is to see if she is willing to come with us and attend to her desires to get that."
"Okay."
There was a beat of silence between the two men, quickly broken by the hunter.
"Did you notice anything when going into the city?" Jeremy asked. "Any strange movements that we can connect to what happened today or something related to vampires."
"I didn't notice anything." John shook his head. "But it can be for a bunch of reasons. I was in a part of the city different from the one I got you both yesterday. Who knows if their influence is everywhere in the city or just in that part." The boy shrugged his shoulders before looking up at the sky. "Also, it's broad daylight. Maybe their numbers are diminished during the day? Or do you think all of them might have some item to protect them from the sun?"
Jeremy widened his eyes. "Now that you mention it… Many of them had a daylight ring." Thoughtful, he rubbed his chin weakly. "At least a dozen of them, though their numbers surely increased when the sun set. But the fact that many of them could walk in the day means they must have some magical support."
"Mercenary witches?" John blurted out.
"Mercenary… witches?" Jeremy looked at him.
"Sorry, first thing I thought of. But also, isn't it possible for them to have hired a witch to create rings to protect them from the sun?" John raised a possibility. "It can also be some local witch working with them? Asking for something in return."
Jeremy shook his head. "I doubt any local witches would try to collude with vampires, but the possibility is present, even if remote." He breathed profusely. "It can be some witch they hired. There isn't a lack of those out there, but they are hard to find. They are off the grid, so we can't even speculate. It probably is-" When Jeremy was about to continue his words, he abruptly halted and turned to look at the young man. "Wait, why am I sharing this with you anyway?"
"Cause I saved your ass." John immediately said.
"Sure, but this is adult problem." Jeremy said. "You are a kid. You helped me this time, but it will be better for you if you do not mingle in this anymore." The hunter offered a sympathetic expression. "Leave this problem for me to solve and don't get worried about it, okay? It will be better for everyone."
Well, what a drastic turn on the conversation. "Come on, it's not like we are discussing an invasion against some vampire dens." John said, rolling his eyes at the man's words. "All I'm doing is trying to help you by figuring a few things out."
"Kid, I know how this works." Jeremy said, a bit more serious. "I was about your age when I got into problems because I thought I could help others as well. And even though you are more prepared than I was, it will be better if you stay away from it for now. You also just got into this world, you didn't even have time to adapt to everything. Better evade somethings, you know?"
"Relax, I don't want to get into unnecessary trouble." Yet. John released a sigh. "Just you know that even if we don't talk about it, I will think it over."
"Well, I can't control your thoughts, can I?" Jeremy said. He knew this was the best he could do in relation to the young man over this matter. "Also, try not to spread it over the school. It would be better if the information of a vampire group settling down in Columbia didn't spread."
"I will do my best." John agreed with him, but didn't promise anything.
The boy's words were enough for Jeremy, so the hunter just nodded and accepted them.
"Hm, hello?" Right after both men ended their conversation, they heard a voice calling them. A voice they found familiar by now.
After giving a look at each other, John and Jeremy walked out of the woods back to the clearing. When stepping into it, they immediately noticed the girl now wearing some clothes that almost perfectly fit her sizes.
She held the bag John handed to her and in it was the shirt Jeremy gave her to cover herself earlier.
When about to greet the girl again, John held back his words when noticing she was about to speak as well.
"What happened last night…" She said, "Was it really because I killed someone?" When she muttered these words, her grip tightened.
Both men exchanged a look, with Jeremy nodding at the boy, for him to take the front since he has been the one to have that talk with her earlier.
"Unfortunately, yes." John nodded.
The young woman let the confirmation sink in for a moment. Then, she slowly turned her head to face the hunter. "You said earlier that I am a werewolf. And, well, not hard to think of it when considering…" Her eyes fell on the chains that were now put nearby the tree they used as an anchor to chain her. "And yesterday… those people after me-"
"Vampires." Jeremy corrected her.
"Right, who else would be after a werewolf?" She dryly chuckled, a depreciating one even. "Tsk… That's why they were after me? Because I am a werewolf?" The young woman said, her words based on her fictional knowledge of things.
"Probably… I will have to further investigate everything." Jeremy replied. "But, for now, the priority is another. As I've said and you came to believe, you are a werewolf. And with it, many things change as well."
"For example?" She slowly asked.
"Complicated things. One of them is that right about now, your face is probably being passed around amongst the vampires of the city." Jeremy said, his words earning a fearful look from the girl. "You are right about one thing, Vampires and Werewolves don't mix well. And apparently, this city is now vampire territory. Since I am sure there is not a single werewolf pack or witch coven in the area."
"Then, you are saying…"
Jeremy snorted and nodded. "I fear the city has become a dangerous place for you to live. So, I will be direct. I am part of an organization that tends to the supernatural matters. More specifically, a school for young ones like yourself and this guy here." He jabbed his thumb at John whilst he reached for his back pocket with the other. "We try our best to protect you and guide you through your 'new life'." He handed her a business card.
How did he not lose that on the run? John wondered curiously.
The girl gently took it with her right hand and gave it a thorough look. "Salvatore School, Mystic Falls?" She blurted out the city's name.
"That's where we are situated."
"And where is this?"
"Virginia." John replied.
"Virginia." She muttered it, letting the state's name hang in the air for a while. "I don't know if I can. I have a family here, my grandma…"
"You don't need to worry." Jeremy quickly chimed in again. "If you want, we can talk to her–we can explain everything." He didn't have the usual nonchalance he displayed when with people from the school. When talking to the girl that needed to make a decision, he soothed his voice and talked slowly.
"The decision if you want to come with us or not is yours. But, please remember my words. Columbia is apparently now a city home to vampires. You are not safe here. If you step back there in broad daylight, you will be spotted by them in less than an hour, believe in me." Jeremy added, cautiously warning her of the threat to her life.
The hunter's words got some reaction. Not only from the girl, but from John as well as he listened to the warning as well.
Silently and without attracting their attention, John furrowed his brow in deep thought. Of course. if there are at least a dozen vampires in the city–all working together,–then they must have a network of their own across the city. They may even be searching for her right now. Learning who she is, who her family is, who she-! Half-way through his line of thought, John's brow loosened and his eyes widened at a sudden thought of his.
"Shit…" John blurted out, his words getting both individuals' attention.
"What?" Jeremy asked. "What did you think?"
"If there is the chance of them looking for her, if they learn she has relatives in the city, what places would they go first?"
The words were quickly said, and Jeremy understood them all if his frown meant anything.
"Damn it!" The hunter cursed through his teeth, snapping his head back to the girl. "Who do you live with? Only your grandma? Is she your only relative in the city?!"
Despite her confusion over the barrage of words, the girl nodded–even if stagnantly. "Yes-yes." She answered, the words coming out of her own mouth making her realize something. "No, no, no!"
"I am going ahead, okay? Just to confirm that everything is fine." John said to Jeremy, stepping forward as he closed the distance between him and the girl. "We will help you, okay? I will take you to your grandma. Can you point where she lives?" He delicately grasped her shoulders with both hands.
The young werewolf fastly nodded. At the thought of what could happen to her family, some tears had started to accumulate in the corners of her eyes.
For this young girl, her entrance into the supernatural world was an unfortunate one.
"Then, sorry for my manners." John quickly said before he scooped the girl into his arms, giving her a princess carry. "I am going ahead." He said to Jeremy as his feet already detached from the earth, speeding through the air.
The surprised 'yelp' from the girl didn't echo perfectly as John soared to the sky.
Still on the ground, but on the run to his car, Jeremy shook his head at the situation. "Right when I told him to not delve into this more." He thinned his lips in slight frustration, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it now but hope that things go right.
[Scene Break]
Flying through the sky, over the outskirts of Columbia, where there was more green than gray, John scanned the surroundings in hope of finding the place described by the girl when he set up in flight.
However, it wasn't him who found it first.
Fidgeting a little in the boy's arms, the girl widened her eyes when they set on a house–a cabin to be more exact–positioned right in the entrance to the forest.
"There!" The girl screamed, pointing her finger at it. "That's my grandma's house!"
"Okay." John nodded as he abruptly changed his vector of movement. From flying horizontally, he changed his posture to a perfect straight vertical line with his feet pointed at the ground.
In his descent, he sped up abruptly. He did it expecting the werewolf to sustain the abrupt acceleration and the sudden hit of inertia when he braked when there was more or less a meter of distance between him and the ground.
Thankfully, it seemed the girl took everything without problems as she jumped off the young man's arms when he was just about to land.
She ran towards the house with everything she got, her earlier weakness post-transformation vanishing as she sprinted with a speed unheard among humans.
"Grandma! Grandma!" She screamed with everything she got, leaving dust wherever she stepped.
As for John, he walked slowly, without rush as he approached the house. It permitted him to see with clarity as the knob of the front door turned and the door opened, revealing an old woman in old woman clothes. She had grey hair, wrinkles all over her face and her skin was flaccid.
But most importantly, she held something in both her hands. Its metal barrel reflected the sunlight when she stepped out to the veranda and stood beside her rocking chair.
Is that a fucking shotgun? John thought when seeing the weapon in the old lady's hands.
"Laura dear, what happened?!" She asked. Her voice was rough due to old age, but it still held a strong tone to it. "Is that pipsqueak messing with you?" She pointed her gun at the boy, her finger on the trigger.
"Hey, hey! I did nothing!" John shouted, raising his arms in slight fear when he saw the barrel aimed at him. But then, just as quickly as he moved, a thought crossed his mind.
Why the fuck am I scared of it? Bullets even work on me by now? John thought, most part of his fear going away at it.
The situation escalated so fast that the young man had even forgotten for a moment that a normal weapon didn't threaten his life anymore.
He lowered his hands slowly, an act that would look strange when he had just raised it and no misunderstandings had been cleared yet. Wait a minute. "Sniff…" The boy smelled the air, and this use of his senses was enough for him to look at the woman differently. Just to confirm… John thought, his sight changing as more knowledge was revealed to him.
"Wait, grandma! He didn-"
"You, madam," John interrupted the girl–Laura as he came to learn–and set his eyes on the old woman. "You are a werewolf too, correct?" He cordially asked.
His words were enough for the young woman to halt her steps and look at her grandma with widened eyes. "Grandma…? You are one too?"
The old woman furrowed her brow and her grip on the weapon tightened. "Laura, inside, now!" She ordered. "We'll talk later."
"Unfortuantely, madam, I think that's not possible. And please, don't consider it a threat of my part." John quickly added. "Your granddaughter and you are at risk now."
"Oh…" She murmured. "And what you mean by that, boy?"
"Vampires." John promptly replied, his face impassive. "Your granddaughter, much probably right now, is the target of a vampire group recently settled in Columbia. Chances are that anytime soon, they will find out everything about her, and that includes you." He gestured at her. "That's why we are here. We want to bring you two to safety."
Unbeknownst to the boy, the older woman had already stopped paying great attention to his words when she heard the word 'vampires'.
Her focus wavered so much that her finger almost pulled the trigger while aimed at the boy.
Vampires? Here, in Columbia? She thought quickly, her mind racing with the idea. Her eyes exchanged between the young man and her granddaughter, resting on the latter. And that's when she remembered the words her granddaughter said and realized something.
"Laura…" She muttered. "Did you… did you trigger your curse?"
After a moment of silence, Laura slowly nodded. "I did…" She weakly replied.
"When?"
"Yesterday morning."
"How?" The woman quickly followed with another question.
"While I was running… A man stopped me, he approached me. I didn't notice when he put a knife in my hands." The girl's lips trembled as she recounted the event. "That was when he attacked me. He hit my head and threw me on the ground. He… he…" She held her hands tight and bit her lip in an attempt to retake her composure. "He tried to choke me. I didn't want it, but I…"
No more words were needed for them to understand exactly what happened. And right now, even if she wanted, the girl didn't have the mental strength to recount such an event.
Lowering her weapon, the girl's grandma walked to her granddaughter. She freed one hand and used it to cup her last relative's cheek. "You did the right thing, okay? It's okay, honey. Grandma will help you go through it."
The woman's words were warm, just like her eyes when she looked at the young girl. With care and love, the old woman pulled her granddaughter in an embrace. Not a long one, for she knew there were other matters needed to be attended.
She pulled her look from her grandchild and looked at the young man, narrowing them when her eyes rested on him.
"You… are a human?" She asked, uncertain of the boy's origins.
"Not exactly." John said. He offered a friendly smile in an attempt to better converse with the elderly werewolf. "What I can share with you is that I am a student of the Salvatore School, a school for, well, people like us." He gestured between himself and them.
Seeing that things were calming down, John tried to approach both of them. "We are situated in Mystic Falls."
"How did you learn about my grandchild?"
"I don't know." John shook his head, his words were sincere. "I'm new to the school as well. Been there less than a week. What I know is that yesterday, the school somehow came to learn of Laura-" He looked at the younger woman. "triggering her curse, and designed someone to her location to help her since yesterday was a night of full moon. When said person arrived at the city, he found your granddaughter under pursuit by vampires. Everything I'm telling you, you can confirm with her."
Looking at her granddaughter through the corner of her eyes, the elderly woman saw her nodding, signaling he is telling the truth.
With this, she turned her head back at the boy. "Continue."
"Despite the abilities of the person sent, he still suffered a lot to protect your granddaughter and himself due to his circumstances. So, to ensure everyone's safety, I was sent here to get both of them to a safe location and help her through her first moon." In a very resumed way, John explained the events of the past hours to the elderly woman.
"Things went as smoothly as they could for this last part. And by the end, just a few minutes ago, when we were explaining everything to Laura, we realized you might be in danger as well." John was now just half a dozen steps away from them. "I guess I don't have to share with you the abilities of a vampire and how they could use them to gather knowledge."
"No need." The woman mouthed, still frowning upon the facts said by the boy and with her granddaughter confirming their veracity.
Many things were revealed to her at once. From learning that her last relative–the last person she wished to trigger the curse–was now a werewolf to vampires roaming the city she was too close to consider any geographical safety.
And to worsen it all, said vampires were apparently chasing her granddaughter.
In these last years of her life, the old woman's fear was coming closer. She knew her life wasn't long. It mattered not if her curse granted her super strength, fast speed and enhanced self-healing, by the end of the day she was a mortal.
Her body decayed like normal humans do. She felt the weight of her age upon her bones and flesh. Her transformation yesterday was an example of that.
It was quick, for it had long been since she had suffered more than hundreds of full moons. These days, only a few minutes were needed for her to transform. But different from how it was 20 years ago, it was now extremely painful, almost comparable to her first transformations.
This was a sign of how her body wasn't capable of sustaining her transformation as well as before–a sign of her time nearing.
However, this fear reversed to now fearing she could possibly lose her granddaughter, and to the hands of vampires ever more.
Damned be my future tomb if I allow my granddaughter to fall to the hands of vampires. The woman gritted her teeth when the mere thought of her relative falling in vampire's hands passed through. Then, she looked at the boy. She observed how he calmly waited for her answer and decision on the situation.
"You not scared they might get here at any moment?" She asked the boy. "You don't seem worried about them."
In response to her words, John shrugged. "Madam, might I know your name?"
"Florence."
"I guess I know what you are possibly thinking, Madam Florence. So, I will clarify it to you and avoid possible inconveniences and misunderstandings." John said, calmly. "I am not worried about any vampire in the world, bar half a dozen of them and only for personal reasons. I am fairly sure that if they present themselves to me, be then 10, 20, 50 or even 100, I can deal with them."
"It sounds like empty words to me."
John smiled in amusement. "Well, I would be more than happy to show it to you. Unfortunately, we have no vampire within a kilometer radius." He said. "But even if there was, I am sure that you wouldn't be happy to put your granddaughter at such risk. So, how about you think fast upon that offer?"
His words made sense, and thus they made Florence think upon them. If what he said was true, the logical choice would be to move her granddaughter to this school for the supernatural. However, there was a tiny little problem to all of that.
Florence herself couldn't prove the authenticity of what the boy said and her granddaughter couldn't confirm, making her cynical in accepting it in the end.
That couldn't be avoided. She was someone who has lived for almost a century by now. The things she has experienced through almost seventy years as a werewolf were enough to torment her for life. From losing her husband to a rival pack and a daughter and son-in-law to an accident, she has passed through enough to make her think a dozen times about any decision regarding Laura. And that was exactly what was going through her mind.
We can simply change places. It seems they are chasing Laura for her simply being a werewolf. We can go somewhere else, some other city. Florence looked over her granddaughter. The problem will be finding an empty city. Columbia was good because of it. But if we simply invade another group's territory, things will be troublesome. And now that Columbia has apparently been taken, chances are they may have others in the state in other cities. This conclusion made Florence clench her jaw.
Another state, some small town or… Florence looked over the young man. It does not matter what my choice is, it carries a risk. But possibly running into another group's territory or going to this Salvatore School, the best option is obvious.
"Who runs this school of yours?"
"A human, his name is Alaric Saltzman." John answered after a beat of silence. "Some of the staff are humans as well, but there are witches and werewolves among them as well. For a moment, the young man let his words sink in for the family of two to understand. "The students are more diverse. We have witches, werewolves and vampires as well."
"You teach vampires?" The woman's tone had a bit of hostility now, with her raising her eyebrows at the statement.
"Just like your granddaughter, they are victims of supernatural society. None of them are above the legal age. They are just like us, teenagers and kids that ended up suffering a fate they probably didn't wish for."
"And you keep them controlled?"
"As far as I know, the school feeds all the young vampires through their own means." John replied. "If you are worried, know that hunting to feed themselves is prohibited. And the punishment… is not quite good."
"Is the place secure?"
"More than you can imagine." John nodded. "After all, it's a school for the supernatural. I'm fairly sure that there aren't many safer places in the world than the school at this moment."
"Bold words." Florence commented.
"Just stating facts." The boy shrugged his shoulders. "Now, we spent too long here. I would like to hear your answer as fast as possible. After all, the longer we spend here, the chances of them coming here also increase. So, what will it be?" John asked, crossing his arms. He had the feeling they had already stretched it for too long, and feared the possibility of any vampires approaching.
Despite his earlier words of not fearing any vampires, who knows if they did have methods that could bring harm even to him. So, for the wellness of everyone, he had to rush things a little.
After his question, Florence silently mulled over the idea. Then, she released a sigh of resignation. She had reached a decision.
"We'll pack our things." Florence responded. "Do you have a way to take us to this Mystic Falls? Where is it to begin with?"
"Virginia." John replied as he took out his phone. Thankfully, despite not charging it for almost a day, it still had some battery. "I will tell the person who rescued Laura to come get us. He should be here at any minute, so please hurry."
The woman nodded before turning to her granddaughter. "Come on, honey. We have to prepare." Florence said, guiding Laura into the cabin as they both needed to pack their bags.
Meanwhile, John stood outside. He tried to call Jeremy, and soon he got in contact with him.
"You finally contacted me." Jeremy said as soon as he accepted the boy's call. "What happened?" He asked while keeping his hands on the driving wheel, the phone on the speaker.
"I just had a talk with Laura, the girl you rescued, and her grandma. They are coming with us to Mystic Falls after realizing that it is not secure to remain in the city." John quickly explained everything. "Her grandma, Florence, is also a werewolf. Stubborn bunch but you can see she adores her granddaughter, so it was easy to convince them after telling them the dangers of remaining."
"That's good. You did well over there." Jeremy gave the boy a casual praise. "I'm near to you guys. Should be there in eight to ten minutes."
"How do you know where we are?" John raised his brow.
"You didn't think the track Ric has on my phone works both ways, did you?" Jeremy cheekly said. "I've been following you since I got in the car and put the cellphone to charge." He explained while taking a turn. "I will turn it off now. See you soon."
Before the boy could say anything back, the call ended and John had to pull the phone away from his ear. "No manners at all." He chuckingly said, putting the phone into his side pocket before crossing his arms and standing there.
For now, the boy only had to wait a little more and then he would be back home.
…
Scrr…
"Took you long enough." John said as he observed Jeremy stop before the small house, but not turning it off since they would soon leave.
"I am here, aren't I?" The hunter said as he walked out of the car, moving his eyes from the young man to both women by the entrance steps. "Mrs. Florence, I presume?"
"It seems your partner already mentioned me to you." She responded, walking down the steps.
"Not my partner. Just a student of the school that hopefully we will never need to ask for help again." Jeremy said, walking around the car and approaching the ladies. "Here, permit me to help."
"Thanks."
Taking the woman's luggage, Jeremy put them in different places around the car. Some went above the car, tied to it by a rope the hunter always carried. Others went into the trunk, alongside the absurd amount of food bought by John.
Putting everything into the car and making sure everything was tightly tied didn't take long for the hunter. And since the family of two had already locked the house, now everyone was already comfortable in the car, with Jeremy getting at last.
"Everyone ready?" Jeremy looked around at everyone in the car, and receiving only gestures of approval, he faced back forward. "Then, let us depart. We are now going to Mystic Falls." He said, driving the car away from the small house in the woods.
As they got some distance between them and the house, in the backseats, Laura slowly turned her head. She observed the one and only house she lived in, the first place her mind recognized as a location since she came to understand the world getting far from her.
The laughs of children echoed in her ears as she remembered the small party her parents threw for her 5th birthday. She remembered how her grandma used to hum when knitting a sweater for her winter school trip. Even the voices of her father and mother returned after two years since that accident. It seemed like they were bidding her a temporary farewell.
Even if these sounds were only echoes of her mind, Laura couldn't help but dig her fingers into the leather of the seats in a response to her emotions.
Goodbye… Laura slowly moved her head back, facing the neck of the young man sitting in front of her. I will be back one day. I promise.
————————————————
If you wish to support me, give me your power stones and if you want to read 3 chapters ahead, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n
patreon . com / Endless Phoenix 186 (remove the spaces)