"What--?!" Ann took a step back in shock, "What are you talking about?!"
"Well," The man shrugged, "I just thought it's a wand you have there in your hand, is it not?"
"Ohh..." Ann looked down at her own hand with a relieved exhale, "Sorry...It's just...from a gift shop..."
"I see." The man nodded with a polite smile, "A very exquisite souvenir, it seems."
"It IS beautiful, isn't it?" Ann mumbled.
All she could think of was how she told Jacob not too long ago about how love doesn't matter, yet she felt so powerless in front of this mysterious man smiling in front of her.
"Please, we need your help." Said the man with not even a shred of hasty in his voice, "Could you call an ambulance? The girl is badly hurt."
"Hmm, yes of course!" Ann pulled out her phone from her jacket and started dialing, only to see the man curve his lips at her.
Damn it!
Now he knew she was lying about the light from her palm because she JUST pulled it out of her pocket!
The chill ran down her spine woke her up from being all smitten.
"Who are you?!" This time it was Ann who asked the same question, and that made the man chuckle as if she only told a joke.
"My name is Edmund Gaumond, please do let the hospital know that when your call goes through." The man answered, "Do you know the name of this girl?"
Ann almost said Lilith's name but she stopped herself in time: "Of course not... I have never met her before."
There was that evil smirk on his face again.
Ann cursed in her mind for her sloppiness. He was just setting traps for her one after another! She just let him know that she knew exactly who the girl was! Damn!
Ann shook her head hard, trying to find herself back: "How could you survive such a crash without a single cut on you?! Tell me who you are!"
Edmund chuckled and that made Ann doubt herself.
"I do believe I just told you my name. Please call the ambulance? There is no time to waste."
Ann didn't want to, but Edmund just stood there, staring at her as if he won't stop until she comply.
So she did.
She couldn't think of an excuse to leave so she dialed, and the call went through fast enough: "Hello?"
"Yes," Ann put her phone to her ear, "Please send an ambulance. There was a car crash here on highway 18, 20 miles or so past the entrance, I think. Please just come from highway 18, you won't miss us. Ohh, this is for Edmund Gaumond."
"Thanks a lot, Miss...?" The man nodded with a satisfied smile.
"Ann. My name is Ann Beryl."
"Pretty name." The man bowed a little, and Ann wanted to groan at the perfect gentleman gesture.
Could it be? That her, the great witch that never cared about any men, just fell for this guy she JUST met?!
Something was wrong!
Danger alarm went off loud in her head as Ann stared at Edmund in disbelief.
"You are not human." Ann mumbled, "Are you?"
"Ouch." Edmund curved his lips in that casual style, "That one hurts."
"What, are, you?!" Ann grabbed her head with her hands, trying to take control of herself with rage burst out of her, "Tell me or you will die!"
Light came out of Ann's palm once again, and this time there was no clumsy excuse for it anymore
"No, I won't." Edmund put away the smile, but he bowed again at Ann: "But no harm to tell you though. I'm a werewolf, down the bloodline of Lord Erebus, I do believe."
"You are an Alpha!" Ann exclaimed, taking a gasp, "And a descendant of the legend no less!"
No wonder she couldn't resist his command!
She felt the domination over her even though she was NOT a member of his pact!
As if Edmund heard her mind, he shook his head a little with that annoying smirk: "Don't be too hard on yourself. Normally, people can't even ask questions when I give a direct command."
"I'm, NOT, normal!" Ann grunted with her teeth clenched.
"Well, this has been fun." Edmund shrugged indifferently to her rage, "But I have to bid you adieu here."
Wait, what?!
"Where are you going?!" Ann burst out as she followed him to Lilith, "Even if you can pull a car out of your sleeve right now, she won't make it to the hospital. You should--"
"You are absolutely right, Miss Beryl." Edmund laughed as he bent down beside Lilith to check her wound, "But who said anything about a car?"
Right at this moment Ann heard a noise from afar and it was approaching them at a horrifying fast speed --
A helicopter!
Before Ann could even turn to look, the metal bird was already hovering over them. Several men jumped down with a pucker stretcher unfolded right after they made it to the ground.
"Mr. Gaumond!" The special-force-like men soon approached them before they bowed towards Edmund.
Edmund waved his hand at them a bit annoyed: "No time to waste. Careful with the moving. I think her head took quite a hit."
"Yes, sir!"
Lilith was put on the stretcher with extra care as Ann stared at this unbelievable scene in front of her eyes with her mouth wide open.
"Buster, did Sarla come?"
"Of course, sir." The man looked like he was almost 6 feet tall, yet he was barely the height of Edmund, "We picked her up as soon as you called."
"Tell her the girl can't die, treat her life as my life." Edmund hinted at Buster as he walked along with Lilith's stretcher.
Buster glanced at Edmund with a weird look and Edmund rose his eyebrow: "Hmm?"
"Yes, sir!" The shred of doubt disappeared from Buster's face right away before he ran towards the helicopter to deliver Edmund's command.
The helicopter rose and flew away even faster than it came, and soon there was only the smoke, the silent forest, and the dark night left, with Ann and the still slightly glowing wand.
"What's going on?!"
Ann wheeled around, only to see Hank staring at her with shock written all over his face.
"High priest!" Ann gasped as she looked down to her own hand, which was what took away Hank's breath. Because in Ann's hand, The Shadow was now glowing. Dimly, but the glow was still there. "How?! I mean... how did it happen?" Hank stammered as he started walking towards Ann. His attention was no longer on the crashing scene. "By the time I got here, she already crashed the car..." Ann started with an improvised lie. There was no one to expose her anyways. "What?! You mean Lilith?" Hank took a gasp as he blinked in confusion, "Where is she?" "She was taken to the hospital." Ann said, "I called the ambulance right away as I got here." "That's good." Hank nodded, still in shock, "So what happened to The Shadow? How was it wakened?!" "I don't know..." Ann handed The Shadow back to Hank, "I was so worried about Lilith when I saw all these, and before I knew, The Shadow was already in my hand with its whole b
"Feeling better?" A deep, rough voice rose beside Lilith, but she couldn't seem to understand it. She felt as if the whole world was twirling around her when she finally managed to move a little, and she could barely feel her own eyelids. "Don't move, you hit your head pretty hard." The man covered his palm softly on Lilith's forehead so she won't rip her wound open. "Who are you..." Lilith opened her mouth but her throat was so dry that even she could barely hear herself. "No rush on talking." The man moistened his finger with water and stroked her lips as soft as possible, "You will feel better after you drink some water." There was little struggle Lilith could put up before her world went dark again. The man pushed the button by the side of the bed: "Nurse, get Dr. Sarla, please." "Yes, Mr. Gaumond." Edmund gazed at Lilith for long before he finally closed his bloodshot eyes. He barely slept in the pa
"What's going on?!" "Shhhhhhh!" "It's boss's first mate! I want to--" "A werewolf only gets ONE mate, stupid! What do you mean by 'first'?!" "Well, I MEAN, he can reject it!" "That would hurt her!" "So?!" "Just shut up! Boss will hear you!" Edmund DID hear them. He wasn't sure whether Lilith could hear them though, or if she cared to-- Cause she was crying, quietly but with tears falling down her cheeks nonstop as if there was a snow mountain inside her head melting. How could one cry so much without drinking water...? Edmund sighed in his mind as he handed over another tissue, seeing the last one was soon soaked wet. Whispers rose like bee buzz right outside of the ward door as if someone stole their queen bee. Edmund frowned at himself when he landed on that metaphor. "So..." Lilith finally managed to slow down her tears a bit, "Are you a doctor?" "Hmm?" Edmund blinked as he tri
"What are you talking about?" Edmund dragged Buster a bit further from the ward door as he hissed under his breath. The last thing he needed right now was for Lilith to think that she was abducted! "Sir, before we stop the investigation on her," Buster started with the safest sentence he could find, "We found out that she's currently living with her friend, Emma." "I know, it was in the report." With a shred of frustration in his voice, Edmund hissed under his breath with his eyes fixed on the ward door. He gave her a command to stay put, yet he was still guarding the room like a little boy hovering over his new toy. "Yes, and by the way, it was also this woman, Emma Brown's car that Miss Hayes was driving when she crashed it." Buster continued hastily, seeing Edmund's impatience growing. "And?" Edmund closed his eyes with a deep frowning, trying to keep his temper in control. "And..." Buster hesitated and that
"I just want to know how you left the ward." Still laughing, Edmund was now again the gentle and warm man Lilith woke up to, "Is that a secret?"His sudden change of attitude made Lilith frown in confusion."Could you please indulge me of this one question?" Edmund bowed at Lilith with much earnest, "You may leave after this."Lilith's face softened at his humble gesture. The stern look was gone, but was replaced by a naughty smile: "Fair enough. No, it's not a secret."To her surprise, Edmund was not annoyed by her rebellion but instead was amused."I thought I told you to stay where you were." His hands in his pocket, Edmund leaned in with a grin."And I should obey your command because...?" Lilith asked with a polite and restrained tone."No reason! Haha..." Edmund burst into laughter again, "I'm sorry, this is just really interesting.""Sure." Lilith frowned at Edmund's sudden laughter: "Well, I'm leaving now. If you can gi
In the end, Jacob went with Ann. "Are you sure you don't want to go attend to your girlfriend?" Ann glanced at Jacob in a casual tone, but her fingers were pure white for gripping tight on the wheel of her roadster out of nervous. She didn't want him to, of course. She needed Lilith away, as far as possible. "I would understand if you go." Ann continued after Jacob answered her with silence, "You know I will. I know how much she means to you." "I called ALL the hospitals in town, and she was nowhere to be found." Jacob let out a heavy sigh, seeing that he cannot avoid this topic. "Aren't you gonna go look for her?" Asked Ann in a small voice, glancing at him cautiously. "And how do you suggest I do that?" Jacob closed his eyes tiredly, "I'm telling you, it's like she vaporized from the face of the earth." Ann remembered the evil grin of that mysterious man, Edmund Gaomond. Even if he was able to save Lilith, Jacob sould have he
"Boss. I got her for you." Buster knocked on the door and got in after he got approval from Edmund. Looking up, the first thing Edmund caught with his eyes was the pout on Lilith's face, but she didn't notice that Edmund put something in his drawer the moment they came in. "I thought we have an agreement." Edmund pushed the file in front of him a bit further away, smirking at Lilith, "I don't remember putting down 'try to escape' as part of your job description, my little maid." "I'm NOT," Lilith threw off Buster's hand on her arm, "trying to escape!" "Then why does my loyal guard has to bring you in like this?" Edmund chuckled as he came out of his desk, "Having fun playing hide and seek?" "And I don't remember losing my total freedom is part of the deal either!" Lilith protested furiously, "I wouldn't have to try to get out if I didn't lose my phone in the crash." Edmund rose his eyebrow and closed his drawer with a natural move as h
"It is wakened..." Archbishop's old and low voice put a shade of awe on the face of everyone in the room. They were all high levels of the coven, all except Jacob, who came at Ann's request. "Hank, they should know." Said the archbishop, closing his eyes tiredly as if falling asleep. "Yes, archbishop." Hand bowed at the old man and turned to the rest, "As you all know, I have taken some glimpse into our fate, doom, awaits us." The whole room listened in silence. "But sometimes, only sometimes, there are visions of a bright future for us, instead of doom." Hank continued, "But ONLY sometimes." Ann had a bad feeling when Hank stressed on that "sometimes" so many times. "But there's something I haven't told you," Hank took a deep breath before he continued, "These visions, they are prophecies of the same time." "What does that mean?" Jacob scanned the room in confusion only to realize that the confusion was not universal.