Chapter Three: Answers
"Are you sure she's going to be okay?" Benny asked Ethan as he looked at the limp form of his grandmother.
Before they had come to his house they had swung by Ethan's place to pick up Benny's grandma, Evelyn. She was still in sort of a sleeping state but her eyes were open, unseeing. Benny had lain her on the couch in the basement where they kept all their magic things.
Now that he saw her again, worry was beginning to creep into his heart. Despite how strict she was she was the only family Benny had. His parents had died in a car accident when he was ten and now it was just him and grandma.
"I'm sure she's going to be fine. She told me she would," Ethan sighed as he flipped through the books filling the long shelves in the basement.
"She told she would be fine when you were in her mind?" Benny asked in disbelief. Ethan didn't answer. He was too busy trying to save Sarah. "Maybe if we fix my grandma first she can help us wake up the vampires."
"Maybe…," Ethan replied, not really listening.
"Great, glad you agree," Benny mumbled and flipped through his grandma's main spell book. "Let's see, Remedy for Boils, Army of Falcons, Fur Solution. Aha! Energy Boost!"
"Benny, help me look," Ethan told his friend. Benny glared at him before he pulled out a cauldron and began mixing ingredients.
"Drift wood, werewolf fur, ghost's breath, sheep's liver," he mumbled as he threw things into the bubbling concoction. Ethan slammed his book in frustration and, for the first time, noticed what Benny was doing.
"What is that?" he asked and sniffed the fumes. "Bleh, smells awful. Are you sure you're doing it right?"
"Yes," Benny grumbled. "I think."
"What is it?" Ethan repeated himself.
"An energy potion for grandma. I figured if she wakes up then she can help us," Benny explained. Ethan rolled his eyes and picked another book to scour.
Benny stirred his mixture three times and hovered his hands over it. "Creare navitas!" The liquid glowed blue for a moment before dimming. Benny giggled in triumph, scooped up some with a cup, and dribble in into his grandma's gapping mouth. Then he stood back and waited.
"I don't think you did it right," Ethan said as he grabbed another book.
"We'll see, we'll see," Benny mumbled back, not giving Ethan the pleasure of seeing the doubt on his face. Minutes passed. Nothing happened. Benny sighed and slumped in a chair.
Suddenly Evelyn jerked. Ethan and Benny both jumped. She jerked again, almost as if she was having a seizure. She jerked one more time then took a deep breath. Her eyes blinked and looked around wildly.
"Benny?" Evelyn gasped when she saw her grandson. He gave her a pathetic little wave.
"Hi grandma," he said in a very high voice.
"What did you do?" she groaned and stood up.
"Nothing!" Benny cried. "I just gave you an energy potion to wake you up." Evelyn looked surprised. Never had her grandson done something so well and thought out.
"Well, good job Benny," she said with a shocked smile. "Did you get everything sorted out with Stern?"
"Almost," Benny confessed nervously. Ethan, however, jumped up, ready for answers.
"Stern tried to absorb the magic from the Lucifractor but he disintegrated and the Lucifractor broke. It sent out a shock wave and all the vampires who were still in town are now unconscious. They look pale and sick, like they're in a coma," Ethan explained hurriedly.
Evelyn blinked, absorbing the information for a moment, before she walked over to her cabinet. She pulled out a needle and a box filled with glass vials. Ethan jumped and his knees shook. He hated needles.
"I think I have an idea of how to heal them," Evelyn told the boys then turned to her grandson. "Benny, can you grab a vial of the healing potion from the fridge." Benny nodded and dashed away. When he returned he had one vial of a green chunky liquid.
"So, grandma, what's the plan?" Benny asked as he sat down.
"Vampires get their energy from blood. But it is my hypothesis that they are all extremely weak and will need extra special blood to give them a jumpstart to regenerate and heal," Evelyn explained.
"Okay, take mine," Ethan said and pulled his sleeve up. But Benny's grandmother shook her head.
"No, Ethan. It has to be blood infused with magic," she told him. Benny frowned.
"Oh no," he said.
"It has to be Benny or I's blood," Evelyn said.
"Oh no," Benny said again.
"How many vampires are unconscious?" she asked Ethan.
"Oh no," Benny groaned and looked to the ceiling, wondering 'why him?'
"Thirteen," he answered.
"I'll need you, Ethan, to take a pint from me," Evelyn continued as if Benny hadn't said anything. He glared at his grandma.
"Uh, no, grandma. You can't do that," Benny said.
"Benny, do not tell me what I can and cannot do," Evelyn responded with a sharp glare. But this time Benny did not back down.
"Take my blood. I've already given it to vampires. Plus, you're old, grandma," Benny offered and pulled up his sleeve. His grandmother's eye hardened a touch before they softened and she smiled.
"You're very generous, Benny. Come, sit down, and I'll draw the blood," she said and Benny sat on a stool in front of a table.
Evelyn held his arm down and inserted the needle. Benny flinched slightly and Ethan looked away, lest he get even woozier. When all was said and done, Evelyn had thirteen vials filled to the brim. She handed them to Ethan.
"Here. Give these to the vampires and they should wake up within the hour," she told him. "Benny, drink the healing potion. It'll help." Benny nodded and chugged the green liquid.
"Thank you so much," Ethan told her. "You're a lifesaver."
"Literally," Benny said and shudder as the potion hit his stomach.
"Go. Save Sarah," Evelyn instructed them. They nodded and raced back to the car, ready to heal the bloodsuckers.
"What?" Erica and Rory yelled, looking at the short vampire in disbelief. Anastasia looked like she had just bitten a lemon.
"I am your great aunt. Both of yours," she told them.
"Does that mean we're related?" Erica demanded, gesturing to her and Rory.
"Yes. You two are siblings, brother and sister," Anastasia said simply.
"What?" they yelled again.
"Perhaps it is best if I start at the beginning," she mused.
"Yeah," Erica gasped. Rory nodded in agreement, his mouth hanging open. He kept looking at Erica with a strange expression on his face.
"Fine," Anastasia sighed and began her story. "When I was a young girl, I was bitten by a vampire. I was taken away and raised in England in a wonderful mansion. After some time I went out to find my family who thought me to be dead. I found my sister and, despite the laws forbidding it, approached her. I told her that I was still very much alive and that I was now a vampire. It took her awhile to accept it but she did. We became very close, as if I had never left, never been bitten.
"Years later, a magician attacked the mansion. I was the one to drain him of his blood and end his mortal life. His son found out what had happened and who had killed his father. The young man then sought out revenge. He could not hurt me, I was too powerful and protected. But he soon found out about my sister. He attacked her in her own home and began a horrible curse. I got there as he was casting it and I, just like his father, drained him dry.
"However, some of the curse was cast. The curse disabled my sister from having more than one child and it would be carried on by her descendants. But the curse would fade within a thousand years, and her descendants would be able to have more than one child. My sister denied my offer of seeing it for herself. She chose to remain mortal.
"I then took it upon myself to watch over her descendants and see that the curse was lifted. I followed every single one, from birth until death, always watching over, always following. I followed when they moved to America. I followed when your great-grandmother moved to Whitechapel and when your mother moved across town."
"Our mother?" Erica interrupted. Rory shushed her, biting his nails in boyish excitement.
"Yes," Anastasia continued. "Her name was Kate York. She had blond hair and brown eyes and was a fool. She was a teenager when she got pregnant with you, Erica. Kate dropped out of high school and moved into a homeless shelter.
"I came to visit her one night and told her who I was. I couldn't stand the thought of my sister's descendant living in a homeless shelter, afraid, with a child on the way. I bought her a house in a nice neighborhood and a car and everything she needed. Kate went out, got a job, had you, Erica, found a husband, had you, Rory, and was on the road to success. The curse had been lifted and I was overjoyed.
"But one day Kate and her husband were driving home one night after a date when they hit an icy patch on the road and crashed. I was not there to prevent it. I feared that all of you had died, that sister's legacy was gone. But then I found her two children who were being babysat at her house. I took her youngest, you, Rory, and I gave to a young couple who couldn't have children. I sent you, Erica to an older couple who never had the time to have children. My hope was that one day you would be ready for the truth.
"And then you became vampires and I realized how very much like your father you are, Rory, and how very much like my sister you are, Erica. I was able to watch you much more easily and that is why I made sure you were safe. I promised my sister I would. And I planned to tell you all this once you were much more mature," Anastasia finished.
Erica and Rory stood in silence for a few moments, afraid to look at each other. Then Rory glanced up at Erica, his sister.
"Guess that's why you were never charmed by me," he said and gave a half laugh. Erica was still reeling.
"No way," she mumbled angrily. "No way, no way, no way."
"I'm surprised you never suspected. I mean, you two look very much alike. Now that you know the truth we must continue. We have to get to the mansion and ensure its safety," Anastasia told them and began to walk away Rory looked at Erica who was currently shaking her head and gagging.
"Are you okay?" Rory asked his sister. Then he shook his head. That word sounded weird attached to Erica. He had liked her for so long but something always held him back. Mostly her. But also the knowledge that it would never work. And here was the reason. Erica was his big sister.
"No!" Erica cried out and gagged again. "My brain keeps dragging up all the memories of you flirting with me! Ew, I let you kiss me!"
"Er, sorry," Rory said, trying to appear apologetic. But, in his defense, he hadn't known that they were related. Plus she was really hot. "I didn't know." Erica rolled her eyes.
"Duh, of course you didn't," she said and began to follow the elder vampire, their great-aunt. "Let's go. We can talk about this later." Rory nodded in agreement and stumbled after her, his sister. Man, that word sounded funny in his head!