Betrayal

~Fender~

A car ran fast through the small road which cut the forest in Moonlight Hills. The scenery which was dominant by maple and pine tree accompanied whoever crossed that lonely road. The road which was accessing the main town to some remote areas in Moonlight Hills was very quiet. Frank sat on the driving seat of his black Porsche, while I sat next to him with a face like a vampire, but even more lifeless. The wind blew my hair and it really annoyed me. Furthermore, it easily got me sick. Frank said that he liked to feel the fresh air among all the trees we passed through.

Several miles more, Fender, I talked to myself. There was no option with me but to bear with what he said. My eyes furrowed when I saw a T-junction which blocked by a portal to the left road. It was written ‘no trespassing’ with a big red letter. The road was leading to the abandoned town beyond the hill. There was a myth that whoever crossed the blocking portal and went to the abandoned town, they never came back alive. What a scary myth!

It was believed to be the land of the death. Some people called it devil’s lair. In actual history I read from a book, that town was called Twilight Town. It was believed that there was a magical practice by some evil witches long ago. They practiced black magic, curse, and evil alchemy. They even sacrificed their children and women for their sacred ritual.

Until, they got a fight from the rebel who thought that what they did was beyond humanity. The rebellion army conquered the town, burned everything, and executed the evil witches. They all left the town behind and never came back, leaving it abandoned. They feared that the curse was still remain in the town so they blocked the road and forbade everyone to get close. That was the story. Despite being only a fairy tale, most people didn’t want to break the rule since the road wasn’t easy to pass through and there were many wild animals lurking in the area.

Frank looked at me for a moment, “Are you okay, Fender?” he asked. I didn’t know whether he was just curious or he just wanted to mock me. He knew exactly that I couldn’t take the wind striking right to my face.

I turned my sight to him, forgetting about how creepy that block road was, and how ignorant he could be, “I’m just wondering about Twilight Town. Sometimes I feel curious about what’s inside there.”

“Nothing,” he answered while still focusing on driving, “It’s better not to think about that cursed town, Fender. And don’t ever think about going there!”

Who said I want to go to that town, I talked to myself.

Ten minutes I waited and it felt like hell, feeling the wind stroke right to my face, finally we got to the Damon’s mansion. It was about 30 minutes driving from the main town of Moonlight Hills. Vampire society tends to have their home a bit far away from others.

I got off from the car and took a very deep breath. The scenery was very beautiful there. There was a park on the east filled with many kinds of flowers. Right behind the mansion, passing through the back gate, there was a small lake. We sometimes fished there or just have a seat and enjoy the beautiful sight with Frank’s family. The forest and bushes with various trees surrounded the mansion, sometimes made it looked a bit eerie, but it was good to see. The sun light on the west at dusk made the scenery more beautiful than ever. This peace and quiet place were worth to be a vacation destination.

Mr. Hummel, the guardian of Damon Family, stared at me with his sharp eyes. I was a bit scared to him. He didn’t like humans so much except the ones who lived in the mansion. He was a common half-blood vampire. He had served Damon Family for a very long time.

“Welcome home, Milord,” he greeted Frank.

“Is my father home, Mr. Hummel?” Frank asked.

Mr. Hummel shook his head, “No, sir,” he answered, “He’s not home yet. I believe he’s still in his office. Your mother told me that she was going to meet your father there 2 hours ago.”

Mr. Damon, Frank’s father, is a fine businessman. I can say that he is successful in his chemical and drugs development. He has his own factory in the west side of Moonlight Hills. No wonder that his only son has a Porsche himself.

“Good,” Frank said, “Could you please tell Hilda to bring us some food and beverage? Mr. Luts seems pale and hungry. We will wait in the library.”

Mr. Hummel bowed down politely, “As you wish, Milord,” he agreed.

Sometimes I feel a bit jealous about Frank’s life. He is a noble half-blood vampire, who’s being respected so much by their own kind. As a vampire, he has abilities we humans don’t have. I often think about how cool to be a vampire. He’s also gorgeous, many girls like him. He’s rich, talented, always looks like 17 years old though he doesn’t really like about that. In my eyes, his life is perfect. I wish I could be like him.

The style of Frank’s house was a mix from modern mansion and 15th century castle, big and old, yet elegant and pretentious. When he opened his big black camphor wood front gate, we could see an elegant Y-model-stairs which led you to the second and third story of the house. On the right sight of that big stairs, there was a living room with an expensive set of coffee table and old-fashioned fireplace. We could see many statues and paintings in this mansion. Such typical of a person who lived from old times!

We went through the stairs, passing the right side to the second story. Not far from the stairs, there was a quite big door with an ancient carving. It was the library. Frank opened the door and we saw an old man sitting in the rocking chair and reading a book near the fireplace.

He looked at us, put off his glasses and threw us a fragile smile, “Welcome home, Gramps,” he greeted Frank.

His name was Blake Damon, the descendant of the boy who adopted by Frank’s father. I didn’t know how old exactly he was, but I figured that he was already 70 years old or more. He was known by other people as Frank’s grandfather. But actually, he was the one who call Frank gramps. Frank didn’t seem bothered about how the old man called him.

“How are you, Blake?” Frank asked politely.

Gramps Blake tried to get off from his rocking chair, and then he put the book he read onto the table near him. “I’m fine, Gramps. Is it Fender who standing next to you?” he asked while wincing at me.

“Yeah, it’s me, Gramps Blake,” I answered.

“Fender, long time no see,” he said, “When the last time you visited this mansion?” he asked me.

I hummed for a while, “Actually…I went here three days ago,” I answered.

He then burst into laughter, “My apology. I grow older than I think,” he said.

A girl in a maid dress came and knocked the door. She brought a tray of food and beverage. Then she got in and put the tray onto the other table. She then asked Frank, “Is there anything else I can do for you, Milord?”

“No thanks, Hilda,” Frank said, “Could you please close the door on your way out?” he asked.

Hilda nodded politely, “Of course, Milord,” she then went out and closed the door.

Hilda was also a common half-blood vampire. Practically, all the workers in this mansion were also vampires. Mr. Damon didn’t want to take the risk by hiring human in this place.

“I’m lucky I got you here now when my father isn’t around, Blake. I want to ask you something, but please don’t ever tell my father about this,” Frank begged, “Do you know what happened to the Dale family 10 years ago?”

Gramps Blake furrowed. He seemed trying hard to remember about what happened about that family Frank mentioned. “Dale? Oh, I remember. Dale family was a member of the founder family, right? They were a pack of werewolves,” he said.

I was astonished when I heard that there was a werewolf family who was a member of founder of this town. Frank never mentioned about that. It seemed that my knowledge about all supernatural being in this town was still far for complete.

“I’ve just known that there were werewolves in Moonlight Hills when you talked to Ino two days ago. And now I’m shocked when you said that one of the members of founder family was a werewolf pack,” I expressed intensely.

Frank sighed. I knew he felt a bit bored to deal with my too-much curiosity, “You can wait for me to explain you later or you can find out by yourself from a book there,” he pointed to the upper side to the south bookshelf. There were many books here so I thought it took hundreds year to finish all the books. Don't really matter for a vampire though. I loved reading but finishing this library was beyond my capability.

I really wanted to the bookshelf pointed by Frank since it was the area I never read before. But I still wanted to hear their conversation first.

Gramps Blake sat again in his rocking chair. It seemed that he couldn’t bear to stand in a long time. “It was the founder family who responsible with the massacre of the werewolves in Moonlight Hills,” he explained. He then hummed, “Actually, I’ve just remembered that your father forbids me to talk about this.”

“Are you sure about this, Blake? They said that the massacre was all the hunters doing, since all the werewolves here were going rampage,” Frank said, “Father knows about it and he never told me,” he seemed a little bit upset.

Gramps Blake nodded slowly, “It was long ago, Gramps. Your father doesn’t want to remember or remind everyone about something doesn’t matter anymore,” he explained.

“Could you please continue the story, Blake?” Frank asked again.

“I didn’t know the detail, since I only bear the name Damon for protecting this family secret. I barely intervened with founder family business,” Gramps said, “But I can tell you one or two things I know about that. It was a betrayal. I don’t know whose family started that thing. They put wolfsbane in the water supply.”

Frank’s eyes bugged out after hearing what Gramps Blake said. He seemed knew about wolfsbane thing that old man mentioned about.

“That was crazy!” Frank yelled, “Wolfsbane is hurting them just like a hawthorn does to us. How could they put wolfsbane to the water supply? I can’t believe that human can do such things.” He looked so emotional and angry as if it was his fellow vampire who had been slaughtered. “My father knew about this, right? Yet he didn’t do anything to prevent the massacre.”

Gramps Blake sighed, he looked like a bit tired and confused seeing Frank in the bad mood like that, “Maybe it’s because you all weren’t here at that time. I believe if your father was here, he would prevent the tragedy. You know that Damon family has the strong impact to the member of the founder,” he tried to make excuses, hoping that Frank would calm down a bit.

Suddenly, Frank heard something. He showed the weird attitude for a moment, seemed like he was listening to something. He then whispered, “It’s my dad. He’s just parked his car in the yard,” and in a sudden, he yelled so loud, “Dad! Come to the library now!” It seemed like he forgot that he didn’t want his father to involve in that matter.

A few seconds later, we all felt the wind blowing fast for a short moment and Mr. Damon had already stood between Frank and Gramps Blake. Mr. Damon is a charismatic but eerie person. He looked like a 37 years old man with a wavy black hair, but I thought that he was more than a thousand years old since his third son was already 500 years old. The last time I had seen him about a week before, he had a thin moustache. But he had shaved it. He was very much like Frank.

“What’s the occasion, Frank?” he asked, his voice was very deep.

“Told me the truth about the Dales and all the werewolves!” Frank said. His eyes stared straight to his own father.

Mr. Damon was a bit astonished when he heard the Dales name from Frank’s mouth. He was quiet for a moment and they stared each other with a sharp look. I and Gramps Blake were following the situation, no sound and no movement. I even held my urge to search the book I was going to look for.

“Why are you silent, Dad? I know you know the truth about the Dales. Don’t blame Blake because I forced him to tell me about everything!” Frank said.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Frank. And what’s with the question about the Dales now? They were long gone,” Mr. Damon asked again.

“The murders…”

But Frank couldn’t finish his words because suddenly Mr. Damon cut him and yelled at him with his scary eyes. “I’ve told you, stay away with this! This is none of your business!”

“I know who was doing it, Dad! It was a werewolf! And I believe that these murders are related to what happened in the past!” Frank yelled back to his father. Mr. Damon winced for a while. He thought something before he spoke, while keep staring at Frank.

“Who told you?” Mr. Damon asked.

“Someone,” Frank said faintly.

“Who is it?” Mr. Damon asked again, with her deeper voice.

Frank was silent for a while. He looked at something else and then he looked back to his father. He kept repeating that several times until finally he spoke after he heard his father cleared his throat. “A hunter,” he said.

“Tell me what the name is, Frank!” Mr. Damon finally yelled and his eyes bugged out. Frank was quiet again. I knew he was scared to mention the name. After waiting and Frank still didn’t speak a word, suddenly Mr. Damon turned to me. I was a bit shocked, and my heart beat was drumming after he looked at me, “I believe you know who the hunter is, Fender,” he said nicely to me.

I was humming, didn’t know what to say. I was more scared than Frank ever felt at that moment. So, I decided to speak, “Ino…Rays,” I answered.

“What?” Mr. Damon shouted, made it felt like my heart was going to jump up to my throat. “What is he doing here in Moonlight Hills? That little bastard!” he whispered.

A wind suddenly blew fast, and Mrs. Damon was there in a blink of my eyes, “I heard someone saying Ino Rays,” she spoke with the low voice and eerie face. It seemed that the name Ino Rays made her upset just like it did to Mr. Damon.

Mr. Damon looked at Frank again, “Stay away from that boy, Frank,” he warned him.

“Listen to your father, Sweetheart. He is a dangerous person. He nearly killed your father,” Mrs. Damon explained.

It was like hearing a thunder in a clear sky, Mrs. Damon’s words made my breath barely stopped. I couldn’t believe what she had just said. I couldn’t imagine what power lied in Ino’s body so that he could nearly kill a pureblood. Is that the power of the four-slayer? Furthermore, Ino is still young. He even isn’t older than me, I talked to myself. I told myself to find out about the hunters and slayers later.

“It was one and a half years ago,” Mr. Damon began his story, “He tried to kill a tainted-blood. That arrogant kid, he has no mercy. I knew that the tainted-blood was hurting someone. But he didn’t kill her. He was just suffering with his urge of blood and took a sip of his victim’s blood. I knew it was wrong. But it couldn’t be helped. He was just a tainted-blood.”

“Then what happened after that?” I asked.

Mr. Damon took a deep breath, “I wanted him to spare his life. But he refused. He said that all bad creatures must be killed, and if I defended that tainted-blood, so I was as bad as him. But I failed to save that tainted-blood, he killed him. I was angry and I underestimated him, then he nearly killed me. My wife begged him and cried. She told him about the hunter’s vow. At first, he didn’t want to hear that. But his witch friend advised him to hear to my wife’s wish. I was lucky he spared our lives. Four-slayer must be feared, especially the one named Ino Rays,” he finished.

I saw the fear in Mr. and Mrs. Damon eyes just like I did on Frank’s when he said Ino’s name.

“Actually…” I hummed for a moment, “I think it’s impossible for us to stay away from Ino, because….” I paused again, “Because he is the student of Moonlight High. There’s a chance that we will meet him every day, maybe just not in a holiday,” I explained.

“Don’t worry, Mom, Dad,” Frank spoke again, “Ino won’t hurt us if we’re good. He promised me. And I promised him not to make any trouble. The real problem now is that werewolf who has killed some people. We must stop it. Maybe it is the remaining Dale family member, and it wants to take revenge to the founder family. I just can’t believe you let thing like that happened, Dad,” Frank said.

“It’s nothing like you can think, Frank,” Mrs. Damon said.

“No, Emilia!” Mr. Damon shouted.

“But he deserves the truth, Bernard!” Mrs. Damon said.

“What truth, Mom?” Frank eagerly asked.

The three of them began to shout each other. Mrs. Damon seemed wanting to say something but Mr. Damon didn’t agree to his wife decision. Frank also wasn’t patient to know what was the truth his mother talking about. I felt that was the scariest situation I’d ever been in this mansion. Seeing three vampires shouted, I was trembled.

“Stop! Stop, you two!” Frank yelled and his parents stopped shouting. They looked each other. “Just tell me the truth!” he said.

Mrs. Damon nodded, “Yes. It’s no use to hide it anymore. It was your father idea to put wolfsbane to the water supply,” she explained.

Quickly, Frank looked at his father with his wincing eyes and astonishing faced, “How could you, Dad? How could you betray our friends?” he asked.

“Just like your mother said, it’s not like what you think of me, Frank!” Mr. Damon eagerly defended himself, “They were not the friends of ours. It was them who betrayed us at the very first time. I just wanted to protect everyone.”

The situation became more interesting then. Gramps Blake said that it was the founder family that betrayed the Dales, but Mr. Damon said the contrary. Mr. Damon might be right since Gramps Blake knowledge was a bit blurring. But I wondered why he hid the truth about the Dales betrayal.

We were caught in the silence for a while, staring each other, waiting for others to show a response. I actually, didn’t want to say anything. I was only the spectators there who curious about what really happened. How could the Dales want to betray the founder family? What triggered them, those were the questions I would like to know the answer. I knew I would know the answer soon.