Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I own a laptop to watch Sanders Sides videos on, but that's it.
Logan's POV
After gathering the rest of Anxiety's belongings, we quickly headed back to the motel. We parked and Roman helped Anxiety gather his bags, even though he only had two, while I searched my pockets for the room key. I opened the door and Patton immediately jumped up from his seat at the kitchen table, apparently excited to tell me what he'd found.
"Roman, why don't you show Anxiety to the sofa and get him settled in?" I suggested. Roman nodded and adjusted the strap of Anxiety's black duffle bag on his shoulder before leading him over to the small sofa on the other side of the room. I turned my head to Patton.
"Have you found something?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yes, but it's not good." he whispered gravely. It's so rare to see Patton not smiling, that I was instantly worried.
"What is it?" I asked. He told me about his call with Emile. Apparently, Emile had found an old ritual for summoning a demon called Vine, or Vinea (Author's note: Do you get it? Still, it's a real demon).
"I'm still confused. What do vampires have to do with Vinea?" I asked.
"Emile and I think that this ritual is more than just a summoning ritual. He did some research and we think that this ritual will not only summon Vinea, but it allows them to control him, to an extent." Patton said.
"What do you mean-" I began to ask, when Roman suddenly cut me off.
"Hey Pat! Specs! Are we going to go eat or what?" Roman asked, marching over. I began to protest when Roman cut me off. Again.
"I'm paying." Roman said. I shrugged. How could I resist free food? Besides, going to eat would also serve as a good opportunity to update Roman and Anxiety on Patton's new findings.
(At the diner)
After we were seated and had ordered, Patton retold the story of his phone call with Emile.
"So...what are the vampires trying to do, exactly?" Roman asked.
"We think they're trying to summon and control a demon called Vine, or Vinea." I explained. Anxiety, who had, until now, been sitting in the corner with his ridiculously oversized headphones on, looked up at the mention of Vinea's name. He took off his headphones.
"Did you say Vinea?" he asked.
"Yes. Have you heard of him?" I asked.
"Yeah, he can tell the future, find hidden things, and can sometimes incite storms, right?" Anxiety asked.
"Yes. How did you-?" I asked, surprised.
"I'm a demon hunter. It's kind of my job to know these kinds of things." he said with a smirk. I nodded.
"Anyway, I found the ritual they're trying to do. It's super old and I don't know how or where they found it, but they did. This ritual will apparently allow the vamps to control Vinea...but not really. It'll work at first, but there's a really simple spell that will immediately release Vinea from their control." Patton said.
"But if the spell won't even work, then why are they doing it? To kill Vinea? To trap him under their control long enough for them to send his demon soul to the pit, never to return?" Roman asked. I rolled my eyes at Roman's unnecessary dramatization.
"Maybe. I don't know." I admitted.
"Anxiety? Any ideas?" Patton gently asked the demon hunter. Anxiety sat up.
"What if the ritual wasn't the vamps' idea? What if they're being used?" Anxiety asked. I scratched my head in thought.
"Yes...it's possible they're being used by a lesser demon to summon Vinea. But why would they need so many vampires?" I asked myself.
"Well...Vinea is a tricky demon, right? So what if his demon is using the vamps as a cover so that any hunters would think it's just a regular vamp den?" Anxiety suggested. I nodded, but that didn't seem like a good enough reason.
"Wait! Vinea will need a human host, right? So what if the vamps are being used to find Vinea a host? I mean, who said they have to kill everyone they capture, right?" Patton blurted. Roman went white at the word "kill".
"Roman? Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. He nodded weakly and muttered something about getting some air before shoving Anxiety out of the seat and almost running for the door. Patton began to stand up, but I grabbed his arm.
"What? I need to go make sure he's okay, Lo." Patton said.
"I know just...give him some time. I think he was affected by what you said just now so...just wait." I said, trying to comfort Patton, who was obviously upset by the fact that he hurt Roman.
"Well someone has to go check on him." Patton reminded me.
"I'll go." Anxiety volunteered.
"I'm not sure you're the best person to offer Roman comfort either." I said bluntly.
"Oh yeah, and you're so much more of a better choice." he said sarcastically.
"Just give me a minute." he said, and slid out of the seat. I let him go, not really knowing what else to do.