Izzy was working on his laptop researching the subject of Drusilla and the soul she contained. Izzy was told that he had to find a solution to make Drusilla become human. He knew there wasn't much time but he needed to figure out how the spell worked.
He flipped the book through the pages trying to get more information about the spells, rituals, and magic. His eyes scanned the pages and he stopped when he saw something unusual. Izzy read through it again to be sure he hadn't misread it. He found what he was looking for in the first paragraph of the book How to Cure Vampirism. The words caught his attention. He was familiar with vampirism. It was an illness and if someone were to cure it they would have to do some rituals, rituals meant to break the connection between humans and vampires.
TK walked into the computer lab where Izzy was still reading a book. "Find anything yet?" he asked.
Izzy looked up from the book as TK sat down across from him on a stool. "Not really, but I found this book about vampirism. It says here that there has to be some ritual to cure vampirism."
"Really? Is there a cure?" asked TK.
"There is, but they won't tell me exactly what kind. That's all we know so far." He showed him the page and TK skimmed over the text to see if he could find anything else about this specific disease.
"What is it like being turned into a vampire?" TK asked after a few minutes.
Izzy thought about it, trying to recall everything he remembered when Drusilla changed Spike.
"Well, at first it hurts a lot," began Izzy. "After being bitten, your body changes quickly. At first, your muscles grow stronger which makes you very hungry. You thirst for blood and crave the sweet taste of human flesh. And your senses are heightened, you can hear a thousand miles away. But your worst pain will be hunger. After a while you don't need food or water anymore, you only need blood."
"And what about Drusilla to become human? She still has a soul, right? I mean we both heard her say she'd never kill any human no matter who they were." TK questioned.
Izzy thought about what he said. He didn't know for certain what Drusilla would ever do once she became human.
"You're right. We just need to figure out how to cure her. Do you want to look up anything else? There might be more information." Izzy handed his computer back to TK.
"Sure, I don't see why not." TK opened the internet browser and started typing. Izzy grabbed another piece of paper and went to work. He had no idea what they should research. It was obvious they couldn't simply talk to the doctors because they wouldn't reveal the reason behind their actions. This meant they needed to investigate.
When TK found the website, he clicked the link for research and the first article popped up immediately. The website described how vampirism works and how to cure it. Most of what they wrote made sense since Izzy learned how vampirism works in school. TK continued to read.
They found the ingredients: one white cross, four white candles, six cloves of garlic, a pentacle, red and white rose petals, spices, herbs, salt, and blood.
"Are you sure it works?" asked Izzy.
"Yeah, it looks legit. What do you think?" he asked.
"Let me take a look." Izzy opened up the recipe book, searched for the correct ingredient, and then looked it up on the screen. He found it and clicked on the recipe.
"That might work, let's print it out, I'll text Cody to pick us up a couple of boxes of supplies." said Izzy.
TK nodded in agreement. The boys went out of the computer lab and went to Starbucks.
MEANWHILE
Motomiya Residence 5:30 PM
Davis was playing Fornite in his bedroom, sitting on the bed while he talking to his friends from his headphone jack as he played.
"I'm going to win for sure! I'm the coolest. You should see me play for real. It's not even close to my normal level…" he said as he looked at the screen and then back at his friends, who were all listening and laughing. They all laughed.
"You got a point there, Davis."
He laughed, 'honestly' because no one would ever admit that they liked to be called by their nickname, especially since they were older now than him. They were all twenty. He was only 19.
His playable character ended up cutting and collecting the woods to take the stairs for the second story. He did this before he got eliminated by BlueBlaze and went back to level 1 where he started again with an additional five levels.
"Dude, I am so jealous of your gaming skills. I don't know how you get those combos down so well." said Niko, another one of his friends from high school.
Davis grinned, "That's because I'm just awesome at everything and I have the coolest friend around!" He exclaimed while pointing at Kaito, "And you, my bro, are pretty darn cool too!"
Kaito chuckled, "Yeah, whatever you say, man." He rolled his eyes as his character died.
"Damn! You killed me!"
"Yeah, well that's why you gotta kill more enemies!" said Niko.
Davis smirked, "Oh, I will. I always do that. My name is Davis. And I'm a fucking genius gamer!"
The boys laughed. Even if Davis could sometimes act a little childish and goofy at times like these, it was hard not to love him. He was really the sweetest guy anyone could ever meet and they all loved him as much as they could.
As the game progressed, Davis was killing every single monster in his party's vicinity. They had to defeat them first or else the boss would respawn soon after being hit once by each attack. He had three other guys in his party who also made it through, but none of them had a higher level than him and they were currently at the top of the dungeon.
Kaito and Niko were both level 10. Their party had already defeated two monsters when they reached level 20 and now it was time to fight the bosses of this dungeon. Kaito was Level 6 while Niko was just above him and still growing.
Davis heard his phone ring, it was Kari calling him, he blushed a little.
"Uh, hang on, I got a call." Davis muted his microphone and answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Davis, whatcha doing? Are you guys playing Fortnite?" she asked.
Davis smiled and said, "Yes. Kaito and Niko are playing for me… But we won't start a fight until after the boss comes online, so I can stay at the top of the dungeon. So, what's up?"
She sighed a little, "Well, uhm, TK's acting strange lately. He rarely to talk me anymore… Or even look at me in the eye. And when he does, he'll turn away quickly and keep walking as soon as he realizes that I'm looking. I think something happened between us."
Davis furrowed his eyebrows together, "TK doesn't like to talk about himself, right? He never shares anything with any of us. He usually gets along great with us all and he tells us a lot about himself during conversations. Maybe he's trying to make a statement to himself that he's better at keeping secrets than he used to be, you know?" said Davis.
"Well, I think he liked Drusilla more than me. That's why he never talked to me after our first kiss. Or, well, more like our second kiss after we had been dating for a year. He was madly in love with her, which didn't happen to me. I guess he felt bad about not telling me." said Kari, sadly.
"Oh, uh, does he really love Drusilla?" Davis asked curiously.
"Of course he does, dummy! Don't you remember? She's basically his whole world now. I thought he liked me, but then it turned out that he did like Drusilla. At least, that's how it seemed." said Kari.
Davis frowned. This wasn't what he wanted to hear right now. "Is Drusilla okay with TK having feelings for someone else? I mean, she already has a boyfriend who lives in San Francisco. And isn't TK supposed to be in a relationship already? I don't understand why he wouldn't tell us that he was seeing someone."
There was silence for a moment and Davis waited patiently for Kari to speak up again. He couldn't help but feel guilty about making her uncomfortable or hurting her feelings. It felt wrong to be making her sad.
"TK told Drusilla that he can make her become human." she replied quietly.
"What? How? There's no way Drusilla can become human! Why does TK like Drusilla so much?" asked Davis, confused.
"Because he's obsessed with Drusilla is his perfect match. I guess he just feels so sorry for Drusilla that he wants to give her more happiness than she deserves." she explained.
"So… TK is using Drusilla for some sick reason?" asked Davis.
Kari sighed, "I honestly don't know. We haven't spoken in a few days, I've tried calling him but he never picks up my calls. All I know is that he loves Drusilla. So, I can understand where he's coming from."
"Did you fight with TK? Is that why he's upset?" asked Davis.
She paused, and then said, "No. Not exactly. I don't know. Maybe it's better if I just let him come to his decision and not force him to share it with you guys."
"But he's our best friend! He cares about us so much!" protested Davis.
"Maybe, but that's all he will ever care about," said Kari.
"Don't say that. He'd never forget us. We are his life, not hers." said Davis.
"Davis…"
"I just…" he stopped himself and took a deep breath, "Sorry."
"No, I shouldn't have brought it up… But please try to understand how things feel with TK. He's been acting weird for weeks. It hasn't even been a week since he met Drusilla." she said.
"But still… It's been a month and a half since he found out that he was in love with Drusilla, which means that he's still not over it. If he still loves Drusilla, shouldn't he want to be able to move past it?" asked Davis.
Kari sighed again, "You don't know how painful that could be for him, Davis. Please just trust that he probably won't tell you what happened anytime soon. He may never tell you. It might be too difficult."
"Well, okay, but I'm still worried about him. He should have come to you, Kari. I don't know how to deal with people who are angry or depressed." he replied.
She said, "Just take it easy, dude. He'll come back to his senses soon enough."
"Alright, bye." He hung up the phone and unmuted his microphone and resumed the game to greet his friends.
"So… have you talked to your girlfriend?" asked Niko, teasingly.
Davis sarcastically laughed, "Ha ha, very funny."
They were almost at the end of the dungeon floor and they were getting ready to face the boss.
"So, uh, what happened back there?" asked Kaito.
"Oh, Kari just told me how things felt with TK before he met Drusilla," said Davis.
Niko raised an eyebrow, curious, "What'd she say?"
He shrugged and said, "Nothing much. Just some stupid stuff about how he's been acting different lately, like avoiding her." said Davis.
"Who's Drusilla? Is she pretty?" asked Kaito.
"Pretty as hell! Look at her! She's gorgeous and cute!" said Davis enthusiastically.
"Really?" asked Niko.
"Yeah, she's a badass vampire!" exclaimed Davis.
"Vampire?!" yelled Niko.
"Uh, it's a myth! It was just a story!" insisted Davis.
Niko rolled his eyes, "Okay, whatever. Tell me more about your girlfriend, Davis. Do you like her?"
"Hell, no! I have a crush on Kari. I like Drusilla as a sister. She is awesome!" he lied easily.
"Dude, you have a crush on Kari? Really? Why do you get a crush on Drusilla and not on a girl that you like?" questioned Niko.
Davis groaned loudly and said, annoyed by their questioning, "For fuck's sake, are you still talking about this?"
Kaito snickered slightly and said, "We just want to know why. Is it because she's beautiful? Is it because she's a sexy vampire?"
"Shut up, shut up, I don't wanna answer any of that shit! God!" said Davis exasperatedly.
"Okay, sorry. We didn't mean to offend you." said Niko.
"You aren't. It's fine." muttered Davis.
The three continued battling the boss until they won the game. They each got two free tokens.
"Whoo! Finally. A win is a win! Thanks for being so cool about this, Davis! You're such a man!" said Kaito.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm tired. Y'all be cool. I'm gonna get dinner." answered Davis.
"See you guys later!" called out Niko.
"See you later!" said Kaito.
"Later," Davis turned off the game, he let out a sigh and stroked his head as he began to think about what had just happened. Kari was right; he really needed to talk to TK again and try to understand what he was going through. As much as Davis hated to admit it, the fact that TK loved someone else made him feel a little bad for the boy.
Meanwhile
Takaishi Residence 6:58 PM
Drusilla tried to call his boyfriend, Leon. But he didn't pick up, and she began pacing the living room as she waited for him to pick up. She had left his message at his voicemail that morning, saying he couldn't be reached at this time and would hopefully get in touch later when he was more aware of what was going on. She'd gone home early from work because she wanted to wait until he got home before confronting him about their situation.
"Hello, it's Leon. Sorry, I'm not taking calls right now, leave a message and I'll get back to you. Thanks." the machine beeped.
"Leon, this is Drusilla. Look, I'm still in Japan, and it's been a month since I've last heard from you or heard from anyone else about where you were. Please call me back when you have any news of your whereabouts or are planning to come back. Love you." she ended the message, turning away with tears running down her face. She hadn't seen much of Leon over the past two months.
She wanted to go back to San Francisco and see if she could find anything out. Leon had seemed like a very good person, and they seemed very happy together, but it felt so wrong. TK always cared about her enough to make sure that everything was taken care of while he was gone. He promised Drusilla to make her human again whenever she needed it. And now he wasn't here yet and she was alone in TK's house, which was far emptier than it usually was. She wished she knew what to do. What did you do when you lost someone and there was nothing you could possibly do about it? She pulled herself together, trying to focus on something other than the fact that she was alone, wondering how Leon was doing.
Her phone rang, and it was Leon.
"Drusilla! Are you okay?" he sounded worried. "I haven't heard from you or read about anything that might help. I hope you're doing alright."
Drusilla sniffled, trying to stop herself from crying. "I... yeah, I'm okay. It's been a month, though, and I don't know..."
Leon sighed. "I know what you mean. Have you thought about getting out of Japan?"
"Yeah, I want to go home and rest," she admitted, "but I still need to finish the mission as soon as possible, even if I have to spend my entire vacation in Japan doing it. I just need something to keep me going. I miss our old apartment, I miss seeing you every day and hearing your voice. We'll figure something out, we always do."
"Don't give up hope yet, Drusilla," Leon said, his voice full of love and concern. "There may be some information in my research that might be helpful. I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."
"Leon?" Drusilla heard the girl from the background say, "Come on, we're going to be late for the date!"
"What? Wait, Leon, who is that?" Drusilla asked, angrily, trying to keep a handle on her emotions.
Leon hesitantly replied, "Uh, no one. Just a friend."
"You lied to me?" Drusilla whispered angrily, hurt, "Are you kidding me?! You can't just cheat on me while I was gone! I need you to tell me why you did it! Why would you keep this kind of thing from me?!"
A girl grabbed a phone from Leon and asked, "Who is this?"
"Who the fuck is this?! What the hell do you think you're doing with my boyfriend?!" Drusilla shouted in fury, tears flowing freely down her face.
"Oh," she laughed sarcastically, "you must be Drusilla! I'm Vanessa. Leon is my fiance, and we've got a date tonight."
"What?!" Drusilla screamed.
"How do you like to stay in Japan? Like you're stuck forever? Or better yet, are you willing to live here forever?" Vanessa asked, grinning evilly.
Drusilla was too furious to speak. Leon grabbed a phone from Vanessa and put a receiver to his ear.
"Leon, how could you? How could you sleep with someone else after all we've been through? I thought we were meant to be together forever!" she cried.
Leon sighed deeply, "Look, I'm sorry, but Vanessa is my fiancée. It's been a month since you were gone. I found Vanessa at the nightclub we used to hang out at and things went from there. I thought I could make it work until you come back. Now I'm engaged to Vanessa. There's nothing between us anymore."
"FUCK YOU!" Drusilla yelled. "You broke my heart, you asshole! AND I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" she hung up and threw the phone across the room. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed loudly, unable to control her emotions anymore. Her body shook with each sob until she collapsed on the couch, screaming incoherently into her pillow.
She calmed down after a moment, grabbed her long, red velvet coat from the coat rack, and wrote down the letter that she needed some time to reflect upon. After writing the letter, she tried to clear her mind by walking outside. It was 7:30 p.m. and dark outside. The city lights were brightly illuminating the night. There was a crispness to the air, and the night sky was full of stars. If only they could help Drusilla understand her feeling at that moment. But they never could, and they never will.
For several minutes, Drusilla stared at the sky and wondered if maybe Leon was right; maybe she was being unfair to him, and maybe Vanessa was telling the truth about their relationship, and that he had moved on by then. Maybe she just needed to move on from that situation.
A van slowly approached behind Drusilla as she walked down the street. She saw it pull up next to her. The door of the van opened, and three vampires grabbed her, and they tried to pull her back into the vehicle. Drusilla struggled, hoping that somehow she could break free. Having freed her leg, she kicked him squarely in the chest, kicking him in the stomach. But she knew it wouldn't matter; the vampires were strong, and they had her completely under their control. She struggled when Darla stepped out of the van, a cold smile on her face. Drusilla watched as Darla took off her sunglasses and looked at her, the moonlight shining brightly off of her pale skin.
"Hello, Drusilla," Darla said with an evil smile, "what a pleasure to run into you again. I'm sure we can talk about anything, can't we?" She grinned.
"No," Drusilla spat back, struggling to escape the vampires' grasp, "let me go!"
Darla shocked her with a taser and made her fall to the ground. Drusilla writhed uncontrollably on the pavement. "Grab her and take her to the van," Darla instructed her minions.
Drusilla was paralyzed and trembling as she lay there. The vampire standing near Drusilla leaned over and picked her up bridal style. She tried to scream as loud as she could, but nothing came out. They carried her roughly to the van, placing her inside of it along with some others. As soon as the door closed, they drove away quickly. Drusilla was abducted.
MEANWHILE
"I'm back!" TK called out as he returned. "I've got good news. Izzy and I found a spell that works perfectly to turn human." He heard no one respond. He set his bag down and looked around the house.
"Drusilla?" he called again, "Drusilla!" No response. Panic grew in his chest. Had something happened? Why did she leave? He glanced at the white paper lying on the countertop. He picked it up and read it.
TK, I need to take a walk to clear my head. Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Drusilla."
"Oh no," murmured TK as he tried to call Drusilla but she did not answer. "Shit! Where is she?" he wondered aloud.
He called her again, but she didn't answer. He searched frantically for any clues in the house, Drusilla must have grabbed her red coat from the coat rack and left the house.
"Fuck! This is bad! She could be anywhere! I have to find her!" he exclaimed in panic. He called his brother, Matt, and told him to come to pick him up and drive him to wherever Drusilla had gone. "Matt," he started, "I need you to come to pick me up. Drusilla's gone. She must be really upset about something or...or she just needs space. Whatever it is, just please come."
"Okay, okay. Calm down. I'll be there as soon as I can," Matt assured him before hanging up the phone. He grabbed his jacket and keys, ready to leave the house.
Malcolm was sitting on the chair, reading a newspaper. Matt was walking to the door when he noticed him. He looked up from the newspaper and asked, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to pick up TK and we'll search for Drusilla. I think she might have run away." Matt said as he pulled on his shoes.
"Oh, you want me to come?" he asked.
"No, I can handle it just fine. I'll be back soon," said Matt before rushing out of the house. Malcolm sat there, hoping that his son would find her alive and unharmed. Matt sped down the road, his foot pressed hard on the gas pedal and road to TK's house.
TK waited for Matt to arrive, worried sick about where Drusilla had gone. He heard a car honk and realized that it was his older brother, arriving early, probably worried about Drusilla, as well. TK rushed down the steps when he saw him pull up outside the house. TK got inside the car, and Matt drove off immediately.