CHAPTER 87

Tristan and Malia entered their house with heavy expressions on both their faces. The night was full of surprises one after the other that had them thoroughly spent; emotionally and physically.

Seeing how absentminded Malia was, Tristan sighed as carried her to the bathroom where he then proceeded to slowly wash both of their bodies. He took his time in cleaning the dried up blood and little bits of flesh stuck in their fingers and hair. 

Throughout the bath none of them said anything except for Tristan humming a soft tone as he rinsed their bodies under the shower. 

He took her to bed and tucked her in before climbing in and cuddling her, holding her tightly against his chest as he ran his finger through her slightly wet hair. 

"She finally found out, Trist." She blurted out but Tristan just hummed saying he understood. 

"She cares for us, you know?" She added. 

Though he had seen a part of it, her emotions were bouncing up and down the spectrum for him to gain a good reading on them so he paid extra attention to Malia's words.

"She's my best friend, Trist. The first friend I've ever made." As she said that, I could feel the soft smile that was currently adorning her face. 

"You said it yourself. She cares about us. Going as far as wanting for us to still be friends even after she found out about us. Why are you still worried?" I asked, knowing fully well what was currently plaguing her mind. 

"Despite all that was said, she saw us as our true selves, killing and ripping apart people like it's nothing."

"So the problem comes from the fact that she would finally come to her 'senses' and no longer want anything to do with you out of fear or/and disgust?" 

She didn't say anything nor did she need to as I completely understand what she's currently feeling.

"Since there's nothing we can do about it from our end, how about we forget it for now and try to think about it tomorrow, hmm?" 

She sighed and snuggled deeper into my embrace, both of us closing our eyes and letting the night run its natural course. 

.... 

While the vampire and coyote went to sleep, Gerard sat in his study with Chris and Victoria, all of them wearing pensive looks on their faces. 

Chris had filled Victoria in on what had happened so she had a little bit of understanding about the nature of the newest threat they were going up against. 

As expected, Victoria was flabbergasted when Chris described the vampire's abilities and according to Gerard, that wasn't all the vampire could do. 

"I remember you telling me about the different variants of the vampire species and you seem to recognize something about the one we faced for you to be surprised to such an extent." Chris opened up the conversation with the first thing on his curious list about the vampire. 

Gerard sighed wearily and gulped down the drink in his glass and refilled it to drown down its entire content before he cleared his throat. 

"Unlike other species, the vampire species are divided through a very large spectrum that some of these variant species are now classified as their own racial species." He started, gaining the rapt attention of the two other people with him in his study. 

"Draugrs, wendigoes, ghouls, strigois, even zombies; they are all considered offshoots of the vampiric species. According to the lore, all these variant races came forth when the children of the original vampire started copulating with different races. Other than that, there are also some variant vampires that are known by the name of their abilities, for example the shadow walkers. Apart from the basic vampire attributes, the shadow walkers are known for their ability to walk through shadows – disappearing from one point and appearing at another." He paused there to let them digest what he's said so far and judging from their shocked expressions, this was the first time they were hearing something like this. 

To be able to move between shadows? It was such a frightening ability that they had no idea how they wanted to go about with countering it. 

"Even among vampires, the difference between two variants is a very wide one. There are actually some vampires who can't walk around in the day as they'd burst into flames but there are some that have a very high resistance to the sun. There is a reason why they are considered the rulers of the night compared to other night walkers."

"And I'm guessing whatever variant that vampire is not anything that sounds pleasing to the ears, right?" Chris asked rhetorically, already seeing the trend with Gerard's explanations. 

"Is there something special about vampires that control blood?" Victoria asked. 

Gerard grimaced a little but nevertheless answered them. 

"Bloodborns – that is what they are called." Already knowing the next question after that, he continued. "Bloodborns are considered special, almost a myth even, in vampire communities. Faster growth rate compared to other vampires, high resistance to the sun and any ailments, blood control amongst many things."

"Due to nobody having any concrete data on vampires, some of their abilities are unknown but the reason why Bloodborns are considered special even among other vampires is that they are believed to have a way to steal the strength of their fallen prey through the blood. The blood is considered the key to life in most texts, so there might be some truth to it. Who knows?"

"This…"

If they were flabbergasted before, hearing Gerard's words downright frightened them. 

"… Has any of this been proven true in Argent history?" Victoria asked, not feeling exactly happy with what she's just learned. 'As long as they have a weakness, we'll be able to gut them just like those stupid mutts.'

"No." He shook his head but added a layer of advice. "Just because no one has proven the claims true doesn't mean they are not. Every rumor bears a resemblance to the origin story."

The two of them nodded at Gerard's advice-veiled warning but somewhere at the back of their mind they thought that Gerard's last bit about the Bloodborns might be a lie… no they hoped it was a lie. 

"Unfortunately, mistletoe is the only thing we know that can affect them. Fortunately, the applications of mistletoe are quite extensive as long as one is creative enough."

....

The night had been a bust for the Argents and it was something that pissed off Chris to a whole new level. 

Ever since they relocated back to Beacon Hills, they've been running around in circles with anything of substance to show for it. 

First was the Alpha and his vendetta killings. 

Not only did they not catch any of the betas or Derek, Derek somehow managed to kill the Alpha in the midst of all that chaos and the only thing that they had to show for it were body bags of their own men and a tombstone for Kate. 

Then came the kanima that they haven't been able to catch. Even Derek's beta that they managed to catch was lost either due to the interference of the vampire or someone else helped them out. 

It was frankly depressing every time he thought about it that he sometimes wonders if he made the right choice of starting Allison's training earlier than he had intended. 

….. 

The weekend passed and with its passage came life changing decisions and experiences for some people, while for others it was the very same repetitive weekend they've known since forever. 

Unfortunately, the news that the co-captain of the lacrosse team, Jackson Whittemore was found dead due to an in the rave he attended during the weekend. 

The atmosphere of Beacon Hills High was very somber as the death of such a prominent student touched the entire student body in different ways. 

For people like Scott and Stiles, Jackson's death were like a cruel joke that turned out to be true. Not once in their life did they think Jackson would just die like that. 

For Lydia who was his ex-girlfriend, the rumors going around was that she went catatonic upon receiving the news. Evidently his death disturbed her greatly that she was admitted to the hospital where doctors said she's had a series of panic attacks and any more would be dangerous for her mental health. 

Even Coach couldn't find it in himself to joke around like he usually does as he walked with a very solemn face. 

Even Allison was confused and affected when she heard of Jackson's death because he was someone she knew and he also happened to die in the rave where, well where everything happened. 

It added to her resolve to get as many answers as possible as she could from Tristan and Malia.

As for Tristan and Malia, the former who was the one responsible for Jackson's death, the dreary atmosphere of the school didn't affect them one bit as they awkwardly went through their class, which all of them shared, and waited patiently for the bell to ring so they could get the true shocking confrontation out of the way as soon as possible. 

And that was how the three of them found themselves facing each other in the cafeteria as soon as the bell rang. 

.

.

.

=================

Don't forget to vote

Read up to 20 chapters ahead on my patreøn

Patreøn*com/Draul_TheOminous