The Vampire Slayer

Chapter 41

Devan and Maeve left the hair salon after a while when the place started to get crowded. Maeve's godfather's words echoed in her mind, and she tried to comprehend what he implied by his statements. As they were walking for a while in total silence, they finally arrived at an apartment with a coastal-like exterior on the outside. She followed him inside the apartment as he opened the door to the first floor and sat down at the nearest chair. The apartment was small yet luxurious and clean. White and beige colors were the themes of the exterior and the interior.
       Maeve sat down near the kitchen island and faced her troubled godfather. He sat on the opposite side of the dining area. He took a deep breath, crossed his arms, not facing her yet, and took his time to start speaking.
       "Your silence is killing me," Maeve said after a while, feeling ready to explode. "I know, I'm sorry. I don't know where to begin. There is so much to discuss." He said and finally faced her. Devan looked miserable and moved uncomfortably.
        "There was a big fight..." He mumbled, and Maeve got irritated. "Just spit it out! Tell me already!" She raised her voice, scaring him. He then shrugged, took a deep breath, and shook his head.
         "Abraham, still alive as we speak, is your twin brother. You were born first, and he after. Yet, you don't know anything of him because of your father and his stupid misogynistic ideas and prophecies. Your father demanded a witch to cast a spell on your mother to forget about that fact. He then sends Abraham away to the Netherlands to be raised and trained and to become the next generation of vampire slayers. Yet, Abraham failed, and that angered your father. He could never allow you to become the next vampire slayer due to the prophecy. So your father demanded another spell on you this time." Devan scratched his head and seemed exhausted.
         Maeve felt a lingering anger rise within her and cautiously restrained all this information.
"The prophecy and the vampire bible indicate that the last vampire slayer would be a woman and that she would cooperate with the enemy - a vampire king. In some scriptures, he's referred to as the black shadow and some as the dark spirit. Nevertheless, this vampire king is presumed to be the cause of why there'll be no other vampire slayer after, well, you." Devan expressed.
        "Instead, your father demanded a new spell on you, preventing you from your born abilities. Kian Van Molony made sure to erase the memory of your mother and that she'd had twins, sent Abraham away as an infant to Europe to be brainwashed, and you to be a typical spoiled girl having no idea of her true nature." Devan said disgusted and sarcastically.
Maeve felt nothing, yet something from within seemed like she already knew this. As if it was clearly in front of her, but she buried it down to the ground and continued with her life. She felt the pieces of the puzzle came finally together. Maeve glanced at her godfather, who seemed not finished yet.
        "After years of suspicion, I realized something was off about your father and began investigating. He found out, and we fought. It happened after your mother's death. I knew, and he knew that a vampire killed your mother. However, your father wanted to investigate for himself, as if he hadn't already retired from vampire slaying." Devan took a deep breath and rubbed his temples.
        "You see, your father was a ruthless slayer. Werewolves, for example, are extinct because of him. But, somehow, your father kept waiting and sending private letters to your brother. Until the homicide happened, he blamed it on your brother. I left because I discovered about your brother and went to the Netherlands to look for him." Devan narrated as Maeve was carefully listening.
       "Did you find my brother?" Maeve asked, almost choking up her words. She felt uncomfortable and saddened at the same time. Never in a million years would she believe that her father planned and orchestrated all of this. She always thought they were a happily traditional family. Firm, ethical, and moral believers full of love. Hearing all this crushed her heart, and she felt utterly betrayed.
        "I promised myself that leaving and disappearing when you needed me the most would be because I would later return with your brother and somehow heal that wound. I was passionately searching for your brother. It took me years until I found him about two years ago." Devan had a glum expression.
        "Well, I was disappointed. Not only was I late, but I realized that I made a huge mistake leaving you in the first place. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't left you when you needed me the most." Her godfather started to cry and surprised Maeve. She'd never seen him cry, only at her mother's funeral. Maeve got up and embraced her godfather tightly.
        Maeve's phone unexpectedly rang as they cried together in each other's embrace. She knew it would be her father and didn't care to answer. A sudden realization hit that after all of this, she had to have a poker face when she returned home, as if nothing happened.
        "Oh, Maeve, your brother is an arrogant cold-hearted prick. He didn't even care about you or your mother. He only cared about your father's approval of becoming the Abraham Van Molony vampire slayer. When I approached him, I cried with joy, yet he hit me in the face for no absolute reason. Cursing at me and calling me names." Devan cried in Maeve's embrace. Maeve leaned backward and faced her godfather.
         "I never hold a grudge for you disappearing. I always thought that was your way of healing after my mother's passing." Maeve reassured him, and he stopped crying. He looked at her and then faced the window. It was slowly beginning to get dark outside. The sunset was already gone, and the street lights outside lit up.
          "You need me, Maeve. You need help and training. Mostly, you need a cleanse from the spell. And I have the cure for that." He said and glanced at her for a second. Then he rushed up, searched behind the sofa, and fished up a brown backpack. He took out a worn-out red book and a thin glass vial with a purple liquid inside it. Surprisingly, he also took out some weapons. In the backpack was a black flintlock with some silver details, a stake with a large cross engraved and the letters V.M., and a large golden cross with a dagger.
         "Those are yours. These are generational weapons used by your ancestors." He said and handed the weapons to Maeve, although she was perplexed. She gazed at the weapons with awe and with a questionable expression.
         "I don't know what to say. I don't know how to use all of this. I also have no clue how to preserve these in hiding from my father's inspecting eyes." She stated anxiously, and her godfather grinned. As he placed all the other stuff on the dining table, he gave her the glass vial with the weird liquid. He nodded and waited for her to drink it. Maeve hesitated, although she trusted her godfather.
        She opened the vial, took a deep breath, and prayed. Maeve drank the vial with trembling hands and shut her eyes. For a couple of seconds, nothing happened. She felt nothing new about herself and her body. She was expecting something to occur. Dissatisfied, she was about to open her eyes when a sudden jolt bolted within her. Her head tilted backward, eyes wide open, she screamed out of pain. Maeve then fell to the ground on her knees and placed her hands on her face. Flashbacks of her life came through her senses, memories, and sudden faces and figures she'd never known appeared. Vampires slaughtered in her flashbacks, men grunting and screaming biblical verses before killing the vampires, everything seemed too much.
         Abruptly, a light from the skies appeared to her senses, and an angel emerged with short brown curly hair and gray eyes. This memory, whoever it was, seemed so vivid, and Maeve was breathing heavily. The angel said: "The last vampire slayer will be the strongest of them all, and it will be a female. I, Michael, will protect her from evil and the darkness. I will guide her and give her strength. I will send her my help, not specifically in my form but in the form of something else."
          Maeve came back to her senses. She fell to the ground in a fetal position and cried. She took deep breaths and couldn't think clearly, although she felt different. Maeve's body was muscly, her consciousness seemed confident, and for the first time, she felt complete.