/Back to Lourdes/

- I’m going to miss him so much. - Adeline drawled, pursing her lips.

A week had passed when Eugene again asked Klaus to go to the werewolves on an errand, although Thea and Adeline expected him to stay in Lourdes a little longer, given the recent events that had happened between him and Adeline.

- It bothers me more that the air seems to thicken. Don’t you feel it? Something disturbing seems to be hanging over our heads. – replied Thea, thoughtfully. – Even Eugene is away from home more and more.

- Yes, there is such a feeling. – the friend answered. - What about your training?

- Due to the fact that Eugene does not have time at all right now, she has created a phantom that creates new challenges for me every time. By the way, it would be better to have someone else instead of him, since this phantom is merciless and exhausts me to a semi-fainting state.

- But it’s good for you, isn’t it? - Adeline asked, noticing out of the corner of her eye how Nicole was sneaking up to them.

- Girls. – she squeaked, breaking into a smile.

In recent months, relations with Nicole have improved significantly and Thea herself, or rather her awakening powers, has made a great contribution to this.

Nicole was so impressed by this flow of energy, which Thea skillfully operated with, that she no longer chased the idea of approaching the supreme witch, because it was truly more interesting to watch how can such a simple girl keep so much energy in herself..

Yes, it surprised many how quickly Thea subdued the elements of nature, as if some lever had worked that had previously restrained her, and now the energy seemed to be trying to find a way out of her body as soon as possible.

That was what impressed Nicole the most and her selfish desires to become stronger dug their sharp teeth into the opportunity to find out Thea’s secret.

- But I still don’t have healing magic. It seems to be starting to work out, and at another moment everything breaks off and I can’t finish the job to the end. - Thea sadly replied. – Nice to see you, Nikki.

- You just need to hold tight to the flow of energy that you’re channeling. It makes sense not to be distracted, otherwise you will start wasting your time. We need more real practice. I have an idea, but it can be dangerous.

However, all of Nicole’s ideas were full of adventurism and recklessness.

- Oh, no, Nikki, let’s not do this... the healer barely pulled flesh-eating slugs out of Stephanie last time. - Adeline pleaded.

- Well, who knew that it would be so delicious for them. – she shrugged her shoulders and everyone giggled together, although the situation was not very funny then.

- In general, it doesn’t matter, practice by practice, but still, what is really going on? Everyone seems to be on edge, I heard that outside of Eastheve, complete obscurantism is happening, vampires have become more active. – Adeline exchanged glances with her friends, expecting that someone had at least some information.

- It was high time to wipe them off the face of the earth, it is unclear why the supreme witch is still so lenient towards them. - Nicole snorted.

- What’s wrong with their existence? Thea asked innocently.

- Everything is bad! - Nikki screamed. - They have killed so many of us that you can lose count. Even the supreme witch has repeatedly told young girls to stay away from them, and yet they fall into their nets and disappear afterwards.

- Are they disappearing?

- Yes, they disappear without a trace. This happens with an enviable frequency once every five years. Adeline replied, noticeably frowning, having lost her previously cheerful mood. - But this time it went even further.

- What do you mean? Don’t keep us in suspense, please! - Thea insisted.

- About three months ago, about the time you arrived here, about seventy young witches disappeared at the same time. They were among the best in the school and it was so strange that they couldn’t defend themselves.

- Are they dead?

- No one knows, they just haven’t been seen by anyone else. We ourselves did not know until recently, as it was very carefully hidden from us. But you know, it’s hard enough to silence the disappearance of so many young people. - Nikki replied.

- It’s so awful. But why do you think vampires did it? - Thea asked.

She didn’t want to believe that all these girls were victims of vampires. Just because she had been a part of their society for some time and even without knowing it, they did not harm her, although she was an ordinary defenseless person.

Adeline and Nikki looked at each other, as if mentally discussing among themselves whether it was worth dedicating her to the details, but in the end Adeline said:

- Promise that it won’t go beyond your ears ... - she paused briefly, waiting for Thea to nod approvingly. - They say the vampire king has gone mad and has already taken over two kingdoms. He kills everyone who gets in his way. But the scariest thing about it is that he hates witches, and this is not the first time he has staged genocide among our race.

The mere mention of Raphael made Thea shudder, but not from fear... Her heart ached with worry. No matter how much pain he caused her, she could not forget the few warm moments they shared together, so the news of his madness puzzled her.

Could she be the reason for this? She left without telling him anything, while he asked her to trust him, and she so treacherously betrayed his trust by succumbing to her feelings.

She began to replay in her memory all the moments of that day, wondering if she was to blame for the disappearance of these witches, but each time she was confused by the images of Raphael and Giselle. Every time she couldn’t match his aggression with her leaving, it was too absurd to think like that.

- You mean he’s coming here to kill us all? - her voice trembled slightly, but she tried not to betray her nervous state. It wasn’t the fear of death, but the fear of facing Raphael again, because she wasn’t sure how she would behave after they broke up.

- Judging by the fact that the senior witches have now strengthened their defenses around the perimeter of the country, and a coven of the most powerful witches is being convened, then the probability of this is too high. We have to be ready for anything.

After Nikki left, leaving them alone, Thea couldn’t help but ask the question that was spinning in her head.

- What if it’s my fault?

Her face was full of agony, as if she had already buried these girls with her own hands.

- Don’t be silly. Firstly, there is no body, there is no case, and secondly, you are right that the guilt of vampires has not been proven. I’m not saying that I suddenly began to treat them better, but this has been happening for centuries, judging by the records in ancient books, and there has never been exact evidence pointing to vampires.

- But who besides them could be involved in the disappearance? Werewolves?

- I doubt it. They live too isolated and try not to intersect with other races, only in extreme cases. I don’t know, I’m confused myself, to be honest, I think about it too much. - Adeline replied in a muffled voice, as she herself was experiencing this news hard.

- We need to wait for Klaus, maybe he can somehow clarify the situation?

- It’s unlikely. He has some kind of job with Eugene, he’s like her court dog, does her every errand. It is unlikely that he will give away all their secrets. - Adeline shook her head.

- Then it remains only to find out this personally from Eugene. - Thea said firmly, convinced that by all means she would get clarity from her.

But it turned out to be more difficult to do this than to think, because the mentor did not appear at home for several days and all Thea could do was save her own life from being attacked by a phantom created by Eugene.

As soon as Thea crossed the threshold of Eugene’s mansion, a torrent of wind rushed at her at once, knocking her off her feet and if she did not have time to grab the door jamb, it would threaten her with new injuries and bruises.

Remembering Eugene’s instructions, she gathered all her strength to calm down and whisper the spell of the reverse wind, which dispelled the fast streams of air as if they did not exist. But this was just the beginning of her daily ordeal.

Looking up and assessing the situation in the hall, she noticed a dark figure jumping down from the third floor, the speed of which was beyond her perception. Because of this speed, the figure of a person or creature was blurred and Thea could not focus her gaze in any way, which eventually led to her being thrown violently to the side and hitting her back against a column, causing her to stagger.

Her spine screamed for help at the moment when she heard a ringing crunch and sharp pain in the shoulder blades.

She tried to get up but was attacked again and knocked down. A long bleeding cut appeared on her thigh, but she didn’t have time to pay attention to it, because the silhouette swung at her again and at the moment when his hand was in front of her face, she automatically closed her eyes, but nothing happened.

Time seemed to freeze and everything began to happen in slow motion.

She opened her eyes and noticed a phantom image of a man who stretched out his hand to her in the hope of completing his attack. His eyes were a bright scarlet color, his clenched teeth were decorated with long fangs, and his fingernails were elongated so much that they looked more like blades.

Taking a short breath, she whispered a spell and forcefully pushed the vampire in the stomach, forcing him to fly several tens of meters away. She began to concentrate her magic, forming a cloud of ice crystals around them, which wounded the vampire phantom with every move, but it was not enough to defeat him.

She darted from him from side to side, dodging his attacks and thanked God that she had awakened another ability in herself. Everything happened at the snap of her fingers, so easily and naturally, as if her abilities were just waiting for the moment when the slightest gap would appear to pour out. It was thanks to this ability that she could see his movements slower than they were before.

She darted from him from side to side, dodging his attacks and thanked God that she had awakened another ability in herself. Everything happened at the snap of her fingers, so easily and naturally, as if her abilities were just waiting for the moment when the slightest gap would appear to pour out. It was thanks to this ability that she could see his movements slower than they were before.

As their battle continued, Thea realized that she was starting to get tired and this greatly affected her reaction.

Her body was now covered with bleeding cuts and bruises, but she had no way to stop, otherwise she would die at the hands of this phantom.

Eugene was so ruthless in terms of training – no indulgences.

Thea was distracted again and was forcefully pinned to the floor. Her throat was squeezed by strong hands that she began to choke, greedily grabbing the slightest streams of air. From lack of air, her gaze began to blur to such an extent that she vaguely began to see the opponent’s face and at some point it seemed to her that it was Raphael’s face and his hands that were forcefully strangling her, wanting to take her life.

She understood that the phantom was playing with her imagination, but at that moment she decided that if she found herself in such a situation, she would have to choose whether to live or die.