A/N: This is it for the week, distinguished gentleman and fair ladies, see you on Monday!
Cause I'm feeling under the weather right now, so I'll take sunday as a day off.
Anyways...
Happy reading!
[Blood Diary Entry]
The two perked up almost immediately.
Rebekah clenched her fists in determination; Mother's eyes glinted with curiosity.
"So how are you planning on doing this?" Mother asked.
I got up from Rebekah's lap; this time, she didn't try to hold me. I moved to the notes and picked them up.
"These are all the ways I remember on how to deal with a ghost or a specter. Granted, these are all from fiction, but they are worth a shot." I said as I eyed the notes once again. "We'll play this by the textbook."
After a long breather, Rebekah glanced at me and spoke up. "What do you need us to do?"
I smiled gently at her before I looked at both of them with a serious look.
"First, we need to buy the stuff I've written in here. It should be easy enough, apart from the salt shotgun shells and silver weaponry, but we'll make do." I looked at Rebekah with a sheepish smile. "I feel bad for saying this, but can you handle that part, Rebekah?"
She laughed out loud but ended up nodding anyway. "You don't need to feel bad about it, Darian. I've got a LOT of money, so if I don't spend it when I need to, it would all be useless."
I smiled and nodded.
"Next, we'll need to do some research." I looked at Mom. "You are basically an expert on it by now, so you'll handle this part."
"What do you need me to do?"
"You will look for any properties or cemeteries close by that stretch of road. While it may fall on its territory, it came from somewhere else." I paused for a second, organizing my words and thoughts. "After that, you'll look for any woman who died a strange, violent, or suspicious death, and it must have been somewhere close to their marriage date, either before or after. Though that is an educated guess, I am fairly certain since the thing was wearing a bridal gown and was holding a bouquet."
"A bride, huh? Poor woman..." Mother had this melancholic look to her.
Rebekah's eyes also dimmed a little.
"It makes sense, but I'll also look into any married women who died a horrible death as well." Mother said, and I nodded at her.
"What about you? You gave us tasks but said nothing about what you're going to do." Rebekah asked, eyeing me suspiciously, like she caught me red-handed.
I chuckled. "I am going to try and come up with a way to fight and kill that thing."
"What about salting and burning the corpse, like you've written on the notes?" Mother asked.
"It could either completely destroy the spirit or just make it so it can't come back again. Somehow, I have this nagging feeling it's the latter, so I need to come up with a way to fight against it."
Rebekah nodded, but then she looked at me curiously. "What was it like?" I tilted my head, indicating I didn't quite understand what she was talking about. "Fighting against it, I mean."
"Ah, well… It was definitely weird. The thing didn't actually attack me in a conventional way," Rebekah's eyes shone in a strange light, "it mostly passed straight through me—a really disgusting feeling, I tell you. When it did, I would feel like I was tired and parts of me would desiccate before regenerating… But when I turned into mist, it couldn't do anything against me."
"I see…" Rebekah fell quiet.
"And after all these preparations are complete? What then?" Mother asked.
"After we have all we need and know all we need to know, Rebekah and I are going to scout ahead." Mother looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and Rebekah stiffened. I glanced at the blonde who was terrified of ghosts and gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll go by day, see if we missed something or if there is more to this ghost than a simple vengeful specter."
"How so?" My mother's curious tone echoed in the luxurious hotel room.
"Well…" I looked at Rebekah again. "Ghosts don't seem to be common stuff around here, judging by our resident Original's reaction." I could see that Rebekah was fighting the urge to flip me off now. "So maybe there is more to it, I don't know, I would rather do this than be unprepared and pay the price for it."
Mother nodded, filled with pride about my decision-making.
"You said you were going to look into a way to fight the damn thing. What do you mean by it?"
"You see, the stuff I asked could be useful in dealing with this thing, but I am not fond of being dependent on any sort of tools. Useful though some of them may be."
Rebekah eyed me curiously. "Why is that?"
"Because of two simple questions… What would happen to me if I somehow didn't have access to these tools at a time of need? Would I be left twiddling my thumbs?" Rebekah and Mom seemed satisfied with my answer. "So, I would rather look into a way of doing things with my own abilities."
"And how are you going to do that?"
"I will improve my way of using blood magic."
"Like what you used to make that vow between us?"
"Something like that, yes. But I'm trying to simplify it, make it faster. In other words, combat suitable."
"Two questions!" Rebekah raised her hand as if she were in a classroom. I found that to be really cute somehow. "What is this blood magic of yours exactly? And how are you going to make it 'combat suitable'?"
I laughed softly, and she frowned, thinking I wasn't taking her seriously. I raised my hands in surrender. After that, she scoffed and raised her chin in a proud manner.
As she waits for my answer, my thoughts drift.
She really is an unfair existence, huh?
I really wish her decision is the one I am hoping for…
While I will not try to manipulate her to come to such a decision, as I really want the best for her. The simple thought of someone else getting close to her triggers some very ugly emotions inside of me.
I find that kind of odd, especially since we have only known each other for a couple of days. But I can't help it; there is this pull she has to her, and that was before the vow.
Now?
Now I really have to fight against myself not to stare at her.
I close my eyes so that neither can see my gaze darken with possessiveness.
After a couple of seconds, I open them again to answer Rebekah's questions.