The rain fell on the savanna, and several animals had scattered as the storm took center stage on the horizon. Tomás used his strength to create some sort of canalization system to divert the water downward and around the cave, preventing it from seeping in.
I held my diary against my chest with one hand and my pencil in the other. Amalia, barefoot, was helping Tomás divert the water downhill, and they managed to dig a hole that followed the path towards the river several kilometers away from where we lived. After several hours of trying to remove the water from the cave, we managed to save our belongings and relocate inside.
"Phew, what a job, Amalia. I might have to study engineering," said Tomás with a smile.
"We have all the time in the world for that, Tomás! We could start with some books," suggested Amalia. Then she said to me, "Let's go shopping, Tomás. Perhaps we need some tools and books to redecorate the place and make it prettier. Would you mind staying for a while Anastasia?"
"No," I replied. "I'll be working on my diary. You two go and have fun."
Amalia nodded and said, "Come on, Tomás, we need to take advantage of the break in the storm."
Both of them dashed away at lightning speed. I sat calmly on one of the chairs we had and lit a candle. Opening my notebook, I began to once again pour my memories onto the paper.
After the disaster in Mexico, the remaining members of the now-extinct Mexican coven and I decided to isolate ourselves in the mountains and delve into the Andes. I continued supervising their hunts and dispersing them in case of disputes over any prey. I avoided touching any humans, despite being tempted many times.
From Gonzalo, I felt that every time I had a slip-up, he was watching me from somewhere I couldn't see. I remembered the circumstances in which I had turned him. There came a point when I could only focus on animals, which often put me in an uncomfortable situation with my two companions.
As we moved further south, already in Peru, we came across an adult vampire who spoke to us about a new coven forming with ambitions to take over the Southern Cone and relocate in the Andes Mountains, between Chile and Argentina.
"Chile. От дідько! Move to live in the same country where my hunter comes from? No way! That would be walking straight into the wolf's den," I thought with a lot of skepticism.
The vampire in question mentioned that the leading couple of what he called the "Andean coven" were former members of a newborn army that fought for someone named Benito.
"That name again. The name alone feels like a curse, a bad omen," I muttered in my thoughts. But my situation was precarious; I had two teenagers in my care who barely knew how to live in this new world, and Gonzalo was hot on my heels.
Upon arriving in Bolivia, where they sought refuge, they heard the story of the two kids and mine about Gonzalo. The couple seemed to have a lot of experience in warfare and were interested in our experiences, so they recruited us and sent informants throughout the country to find out who this Gonzalo was and what weaknesses they could exploit.
"What about your boyfriend?" I asked.
The woman, named Muriel, looked at me while her partner observed a map of what seemed to be northern Chile and discussed certain matters with two other vampires who acted as, what seemed to be, informants. Then she recounted her story to me:
"We were both nomads for a long time, but we were getting tired of that lifestyle. Chile and Argentina are remote countries with vast populations and isolated places where we can hunt. The Andes are the perfect place for our operations and to establish a respected coven." She paused, then added, "We have only one thorn in our side, and that's the little town of Santa Maria, where the vampire you mentioned comes from. We sent a couple of scouts to see the quality of humans living there, they never returned, and their absence made us realize that perhaps one or two vampires are protecting that town. It's inconvenient because they would be rivaling us and ruining my boyfriend's plans." She thought for a moment and then continued, "Quite a strange coincidence, isn't it? Your enemy is coming from the place that has caused us the most trouble."
The man, named Damian, listening to the conversation added, "There are no coincidences; this is a sign. I wouldn't be surprised if even the vampires protecting the place are somehow related to your enemy."
I must say, the occurrence was indeed quite peculiar; my arrival could possibly be very helpful to them now. Through what I could gather about Gonzalo while snooping around his house, I learned something about his family and origins from postcards and letters they had left for him.
I saw maps of many remote towns in the northern area of Chile and Argentina. There were marked points with arrows and areas highlighted in red; they were planning something, or practicing something.
When I left the house, I hadn't realized how abandoned the town was. It was a mirror of what Maria's town had been. Only vampires roamed some streets; otherwise, nothing. Some buildings were burnt, and I couldn't spot any trace of humans.
As I observed the street, a vampire interrupted me, saying, "They attacked the entire town, used newborns to clean the place."
Astounded, I asked, "Why would they do that?"
"I think it's some sort of drill. They are planning how to get rid of the enemy coven protecting the town. They send a group, convert whoever they can, and the rest becomes food. The raids are chaotic; they send the most thirsty ones and let them do as they please. The only instruction is to bite as many as possible, then they get rid of the ones without value."
"Господи! It's horrible!" I thought. "If Maria was already brutal in her war methods, these guys are abhorrent. Maria at least had the decency not to draw attention or use too many newborns."
At that moment, I understood the plans, the arrows, and the red-marked zones through the streets of each town they chose. It made no sense; what they were doing would only attract the attention of the Volturi, and they would go after them. This was something that only Arthur would come up with.
Before leaving, another vampire called me over and, with paper and a pencil, asked me to describe Gonzalo's appearance. I provided detailed descriptions, and he quickly sketched a drawing, then started coloring it at lightning speed; it was incredible.
"Julio is amazing," said Muriel. "He can draw really well, is capable of making faces in minutes, and often hits the nail on the head."
Several days passed, and an informant arrived, the first to manage to escape the town alive in a long time. There were long and intense conversations with the couple, and it seemed they were planning something. Finally, the vampire woman called me, smiling, and said:
"Is Anastasia your name? Look, we have good news. We've located who appears to be your enemy, along with three other vampires," said Muriel.
According to Julio's portraits, it seemed Gonzalo had arrived in Santa Maria, where he would be with three other vampires. Julio placed the portraits of the four vampires in total, including Gonzalo.
The first vampire, who seemed to be the most dangerous, had straight hair and a mane of black hair, a pale complexion with a slightly olive tone very similar to Gonzalo's but with a more handsome face. His eyes were a burgundy red, almost like wine, tall and slender but very athletic, he seems to be wearing a sort of leather biker jacket. According to Julio, he was the fiercest and most lethal of the three.
"He occasionally feeds on human blood and is extremely fast! No one has ever seen someone as fast as him." Julio emphasized.
Looking at the portrait, Muriel added, "This must be the one who has been intercepting most of our explorers."
"What's that vampire's name? Did you find out his name?" Damian demanded.
"Ignacio, they call him Nacho," Julio replied.
The second vampire appeared more robust and a little more handsome than the first. His face was symmetrical and broader than the first. He had perfectly groomed short wavy hair, and his eyes were of a strange golden honey tone.
"He's the tallest of them all and seems to be the strongest; we'll have to subdue him with several. His name is Tomás," Julio added.
The portrait of the third vampire made it obvious she didn't belong to the place; she was a foreigner. She had beautiful African features and wore a long braid down to her waist. She had the exact eye color as the portrait of the guy named Tomás and seemed to exude an aura of tranquility.
"She is the leader!" Damian pointed out with a tone of certainty.
"Their eyes have a very unusual tone," said Muriel.
I thought the same when I saw her eyes and Tomás's. Then Julio took a piece of paper and finally showed the portrait that made my heart skip a beat.
"This is the guy Anastasia speaks of, Gonzalo. If you look closely..." Julio pointed to the portraits of Nacho, Tomás, and Gonzalo. "You'll see certain similar traits among the three. I'm sure they must be family in one way or another; the analysis of their portraits makes it highly probable."
There I saw him, staring straight into my eyes, as if piercing my soul. His hair was completely disheveled, he was dressed in what looked like military attire, and a black tethered hoodie. His eyes were also amber-golden like Tomás's and Amalia's, but they were darker, his expression was stoic, focused but with a melancholic or tired aura, this pointed out he had been really busy with other vampires during these past months.
Damian and Muriel smiled and looked into my eyes. "You have the same eye color as your nemesis."
"It must be because of my diet. I must confess I've stopped feeding on humans for some time now," I shrugged and looked away.
"Don't worry, poor girl. Once we take care of him, you'll be at peace and back to normal; you'll be free again," Muriel said cheerfully.
Damian stared at Gonzalo's portrait, smiled, and said, "We'll finally meet the vampire hunter! I have high hopes, Muriel, high hopes."
After Julio's presentation was finished, the group began making preparations for what would be the invasion of the town of Santa Maria. They hadn't told me the plan, but from what I had seen, I shivered at what they might be planning, but some seemed to be staring at Nacho and Gonzalo's portraits, seemingly worried.