Morbid infiltration

// THIS IS AN OLD CHAPTER. THE NEW CHAPTERS ARE IN VOLUME 2. YOU CAN READ THESE CHAPTERS IF YOU WANT SOME INSIGHT ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER BUT SOME EVENTS CAN BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW CHAPTERS.

Two days after the little visit from our friend with sharp teeth. We take advantage of this beautiful Sunday to search around an address that was written on the back of the match pack.

After some research, we found an old abandoned building in the middle of Los Angeles. It was an old three-story brick building with all the windows and front door blocked by wooden planks.

"No, it can't be here, it's been abandoned for ages." If we were looking for humans, what Samael just said would make sense. But we're looking for vampires.

"We are looking for vampires, an old house whose windows are protected from the sun by wooden planks is ideal."

We walk towards what was the front door. The wooden planks are intact, it is impossible that someone used this entrance.

"There must be another way to get inside." Samael goes around the building to walk along the alley on his left. "In old buildings like this. There were often hatches leading from the street to the cellar to get the coal in more easily. It may still exist."

"Where did you learned this kind of thing?"

"My mother was passionate about American history. There were almost as many history books as there were esoteric books in our house. It was one of the few rare distractions I had, so I did remember a few things. " He walks up to a metal trap door alongside the building. "Look, it's new, there's no sign of rust."

"We have to find a way to get in discreetly, if I were alone, I could turn into a mouse and go in through this ventilation duct. How good are you at transfiguration?"

"I'm pretty bad so I didn't take that class."

"Surely you know something else? Concealment or invisibility spells? Or something useful for the situation?"

"I'm better at useful spells like what you learn in Defense Against the Dark Arts. But other than forcing the door and casting spells on anything that moves, it doesn't get as much benefit."

"Yes, especially if they are more than three, we are screwed. Well since there is no other choice, I will teach you a spell, but you have to swear you will never tell anyone I taught it to you. Come on, we have to find a pet store. "

After passing through the animal store where we acquired several rats, we find ourselves in a quiet corner on the roof of a neighboring building. The night begins to fall, and people gather near the trap door.

"Well, the spell I'm going to show you is something a little bit special. It's not the kind of thing you're going to find in a schoolbook or a bookstore because this magic is very illegal. I'm going to show you how to use necromancy to control and see through the eyes of a dead animal. "

"Isn't that dangerous? Don't I risk staying in the body and becoming some kind of rat-zombies?"

"No, your mind will not be in the rat's body and this is not real necromancy but more like corpse manipulation. You will bond with the rat and send him energy to move and command, and in return, it will send you what its senses pick up. The spell lasts until you run out of energy and then it breaks. So, there is nothing to fear. "

I catch a rat in the cage, the poor animal is so scared he tries to struggle. I quickly break his neck, rendering him inert. I take a small knife out of my pocket and cut its neck to let its blood flow into a small container.

"The first preparations are finished. Now you have to mix your blood with the rat's blood, a few drops will be more than enough." I hand him another knife and see him ready to cut the palm of his hand. "What are you doing, moron?"

"I was going to cut the palm of my hand to get the blood as you told me." I can't stand people who watch too many Hollywood movies anymore. It's pretty darn impressive to see a badass hero open his hand on TV, but in real life, that's a jerk idea. First, our hands are always in contact with lots of filthy objects, which increases the risk of infection. And we've got plenty of nerve endings in our hands. Real practitioners know that it is smarter to slash the forearm. With a little experience, it's easy to make a small cut, and in addition, it heals much faster.

"Don't slash your hand, morons do that. Instead, make a small slash along your forearm, close enough to your elbow. It's more hygienic." He changes the blade position and makes a small cut in the area I showed him before stretching his arm over the bowl. He begins to press on the wound to make a thin stream of blood flow. "Ok, now you're going to repeat after me, and try to focus. This is going to be one of the most complex spells you've ever used. Sanguine animalis, sanguinem hominum, apparet post mortem"

"Sanguine animalis, sanguinem hominum, apparet post mortem" The blood in the bowl starts to boil but very quickly it becomes normal again and nothing happens. "It doesn't work, how do you expect me to learn such a complicated spell in such a short time? It would take weeks of practice to actually cast it."

"Um, I could try to tweak your memory." Samael looks at me completely shocked. "Don't look at me like that, I have never tried something like this before, but I have already changed the memory of several people. It will be the same except that I would put my own memories of when I learned this spell. " He looks at me, absolutely not reassured. "Either way we have no choice. You don't know how to transform and I'm not a specialist either since I can transform into anything without a spell. So, look at me in the eye and try to clear your mind. "

Samael takes a deep breath and raises his head to look at me straight in the eye. I try to penetrate his mind, but it is clouded with the memory of his mother. A tall, jet-black-haired woman wearing a black dress. Samuel is on his knees in front of an upturned cross and he pretends to pray to not upset his mother.

"Concentrate, try to clear your mind."

"It's easier said than done."

The vision fades and I finally enter his mind, the area looks like a huge pile of diverse and varied objects stacked on top of each other. There is everything, children's toys, some of which have almost become transparent, then more recent memories like racing brooms or trophies. I start to search for the place in his mind where he stores the spells. It's kind of weird to move around in a mind, it's more like it's the world moving around me rather than me moving forward. I end up finding a large stack of books, some are history books, some are novels, but there are also spells in the pile. I could dig a bit to see what he knows but that wouldn't be right of me.

I focus on my memories of the Corpse Control spell and pull them out of my head into the shape of a book and place it on the stack. I step out of Samael's mind to see the effect it had on him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I have a really bad headache. I feel like I have swallowed a whole dictionary all at once."

"It's going to pass. You'll just have to take a potion when we get back. Do your memories seem clear to you, can you see what I left in your head?"

"I think I remember something I didn't do. But my hands are so small and I don't use a wand! How old were you when you learned this spell ?!"

"Um, eight years old if I remember correctly." He looks at me completely shocked "Okay let's get going or are going to discuss rags and black magic?"

Samael pulls himself together and points his wand back at the bloodless rat. "Sanguine animalis, sanguinem hominum, apparet post mortem" The mixed blood in the bowl moves slowly towards the rat and enters it through the wound in the neck. When the last drop of blood has entered the rat, Samael sinks into unconsciousness and I catch him before he hits the ground and injures himself. On the other side, the rat has just come alive. He moves quite awkwardly.

"Well, it's not that bad for a first time. Okay, we have to hurry before you run out of energy to hold the spell." I transform into a raven and fly in the direction of the vampire lair.