CHAPTER 5

I was curious, so I put my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. "Why aren't you attacking me then?" I questioned.

He said this while taking the emerald off the shelf and played it with his hands. "I could ask you the same thing. I sensed something different about you. I knew you were a vampire the second I saw you, but there was some calmness that I felt. It scared me, but at the same time, it intrigued me.”

He smirked and asked, "Sy, short for Lucy?"

I began to rock back and forth on my feet while pretending I had no interes.

He replaced the rock on the shelf and began murmuring something to himself under his breath. Suddenly, a book flew down and landed in his hands. After opening the book, he immediately began reading it.

"1750. It came as quickly as night, and before we knew it, he was dead. We did not know what it was, but rumours say it was called Pearl." He cited a page from the book as evidence. He continued talking before I could get another word.

"1800. As he held his wife in his arms where she bled to death, I knew exactly who this was. I have been tracing it since the case in 1798. It's Pearl. It has to be." Then, all of a sudden, another book landed in Demeter's hands.

"1830. The governor's wife was found dead in her sleeping chambers this morning. The first suspect was the governor, of course, since his wife had been revealed to have been unfaithful to him for years." He began pacing back and forth in anger as he read the passage.

"1831. I studied the body, and I instantly knew who this was. It had to be Pearl again. There has been no pattern in its killings, at least not in the ones I've tracked over the past few years, but I could feel it in my gut. This has to be that monster." Demeter came to a stop and slammed the book shut as he let out a sigh. "1831."

I laughed as I said, "I remember him. That was Jonathan Crawford, right?" Demeter, however, did not appear to find the situation humorous.

"You know, I slept with him once. I would love to see the look on his face as he realized that he slept with the monstrous Pearl," I smirked as I picked up an herb from one of the lower shelves. Vervain, I was utterly aware of what it was.

Demeter's gaze immediately focused on the thing I was holding.

He questioned, with a tone that suggested he was anxious and afraid, "Why aren't you reacting to it?"

What he did not realize was that I was having a reaction. Still, because I had become used to the excruciating sensation of vervain, I chose to ignore that it was causing the skin on my hands to burn.

I gave him a wink and replied, "That's for me to know and for you to never find out." This infuriates him even further since he quickly grabbed another book and began rereading it.

"1775. Kurt Luke, accused of murder, was found dead by the creek. He was ripped to shreds. I've been to many different towns and heard stories about this. People are being murdered without any explanation. There is no evidence to support the case. They call it the Pearl. You never know who the victim is going to be, and you never know how they're going to die. One day, out of the blue, they're dead. Just like that." He slammed the book shut once more and moved up close to me, close enough that I could feel his breath on my expressionless face.

"I've found traces of you throughout history for the past five hundred years. Murder upon murder!" He began to shout in my direction.

I kept my composure and didn't even flinch when he increased the volume of his voice.

I asked him, "I guess you're angry because one of the people I murdered was a family member, correct?" as I was observing his reaction. "Yes," he responded. "It is correct." There was a glimmer of recognition in his eyes that I could make out.

It turned out that hinch was correct. I've been in situations similar to this one quite a few times, so I'm good at recognizing grudge.

"So it was? I knew there was something familiar about you. What was the name of this family member?" I asked with calmness. My lack of interest infuriates him even more.

He took a few deep breaths before continuing, "Diego Corry! Year 2000. You murdered him!"

He growled in my face, "My family, along with many others, have been looking for you for centuries," as he pointed his finger at me.

He screamed, "I will put an end to you and everything you love!" and then began reciting some voodoo over her. It is terrible that he is unaware that none of my loved ones are still alive.

I said, "How about you sit down and listen for a second?"

I seized him by the throat and hurled him across the room, where I slammed him on a shelf. Many jars, each perhaps containing something dangerous, crashed to the ground below and shattered.

I growled at him in a low voice as I choked him, rendering him incapable of uttering any spells. "Listen up, boy!"

"You're right. I'm a monster, and the Pearl mentioned in all those books. Yes, I killed Diego Corry, but there's one small detail every single book has forgotten to mention." I was grinning wickedly. I threw him down on the ground with force.

I could hear him murmuring something to himself under his breath as he said, "I'm an assassin. People hire me when they can't fix their own problems. They hire me because I don't ask questions, and I'm the best at what I do." I could see that he was saying, "I'm an assassin."

I asked him, "What was that?" before tightening my grip on his throat again. After searching his throat, I located the vocal chords I was looking for after feeling around his throat. I put my finger on it, and with steady pressure, I broke it. We won't have to worry about him casting any more spells now.

Once more, I brought him crashing to the ground while he held his breath and looked horrified.

"The truth about your perfect little father, Demeter Corry, Is it true that he was not, in fact, perfect? He messed with forces he wasn't supposed to, and that's why I was hired to kill him."

I could make out the anguish and resistance in Demeter's eyes.

"That's right. Diego Corry dabbled with dark magic, and it got him killed." I replied.

Demeter's eyes became teary. He was aware on some level that I was correct.

He attempted to charge at me, but I was able to throw him against the wall.

"You, Corrys, never seem to give up, do you?" I laughed as I stamped on his leg, breaking his bones.

"Imagine my surprise when I realized who you were. And the relief of realizing I could get rid of you, Corrys, once and for all? It's like finally being able to scratch an annoying itch." I exhaled with happiness.

I could see the astonishment and fear in Demeter's eyes as I said, "You see, I ran into your brother not that long ago, too, and well, he hadn't learned from your father's mistakes."

"He discovered me, and let's just say that little Diego Corry didn't make it back home." I chuckled as Demeter tried to get out of my grasp, only to hear him moan in pain.

I uttered the last sentence in a mocking voice and pouted at him in a way that was meant to be insulting. "You witches always forget that you're all mortal. You don't heal from wounds easily. You are neither unnaturally fast nor strong. You're like any human, except that you can light a fire without a match."

"Just so you know. I actually hate that I have to kill you, to be completely honest. You're a fantastic musician and have good potential to be a great witch." I grasped his face and examined it closely.

"The thing is, normally, I don't kill people that I'm not hired to kill, but then there are people like you, Corrys. The people that can't seem to  understand how things work. Those were my last words before I slammed my fist into his chest while looking him dead in the eyes.

I savored each and every second of watching his life fade away from his eyes. I slammed him on the ground and then severed his skull. You l will eventuzally learn in life that you can never be too sure about anything. I strolled over to my bag and took up my phone.

I called Leon's number, and he answered the phone without showing any sign of surprise, saying simply, "Hello, Miss Nevermore."

"Hello, Leon," I said in response, forcing a bit of comedy into my voice.

"What exactly are you in need of?" He asked.

"I need someone to clean up here because I'm at a witch shop close to District 5. Many spell books here would be beneficial to own. You should move quickly if I were you since anyone could storm this building at any time," I laughed.

"I've emailed you the location," I said with composure, glancing down at my bloodied palm as I spoke. In a cool and collected tone, he said, "I will have someone come over right away."

                           

I told him, "Oh, you would probably like to know that there's a dead witch too," before hanging up the phone.

He is no longer my responsibility at this point.

I walked over to a sink and cleaned my hands off. I changed into new clothes and put my old clothes and phone in a pile. I took a match, lit it on fire, and watched it blaze. I pulled my mask over my mouth so that only my brown hair and mouth were visible. As I turned in a corner, I ran into someone.

Apologizing for his actions, he stated, "Oh, sorry." He remarked, "I've never seen you before."

I knew immediately that he was a vampire, which meant his eyesight was exceptionally good in the dark. My clothes covered most of my recognizable features, so I wasn't worried about him remembering my appearance. He looked at me, obviously suspicious of me. My clothes weren't exactly something that an average person would wear.

He introduced himself to me by saying, "Hello, my name is Smith," while extending his hand for a handshake.