We left Himmelsburg quickly, heading towards Finland. Nacho seemed worried, and I felt that something was very wrong, trying to go as fast as possible, which wasn't a big deal for my cousin.
"Why the rush, cousin? Is something wrong?" he asked with some curiosity.
"I have a really bad feeling; this woman managed to break through my digital scan. She sensed my presence when I observed her and established some kind of psychic bond upon detecting me. On top of that, she threatens me by saying that Anastasia, Tomás, and Amalia are in danger. I don't know what to do, but we have to go," I replied.
"But we'll be going far away. We were supposed to go to the desert, to that cave. What if you go to the desert, and I'll take care of that vampire? You can establish contact with me remotely; you could do one of your mystical calls, I don't know," Nacho tried to deliberate.
"No, no, no. I feel like we should go together. I never trust my intuition, but this time it's different, I can feel it. I have triangulated the location; we need to get there as soon as possible."
Nacho simply agreed, and we traveled. During the journey, we passed through Denmark, Marie's homeland, and opted to swim across the sea. Nacho thought it would be a good idea to swim since the water would always divert our scent, making it harder for the Volturi or the Romanian coven to track us. This time, I had finally made my arsenal waterproof, and I regretted my clumsiness for not thinking of it earlier. Nacho forgot the small detail of his phone, but I imagine he didn't care.
We crossed mountains, highlands, and beautiful meadows through the Scandinavian landscape until we finally reached a humble village in the northern part of the country, and there I could see, towering above, a great and steep mountain that stood imposingly, almost like a great wall, covered at the top by a thick mist that gave it a mystical and eerie air.
"Oh shit! Large and thick, just how I like it!" said Nacho.
I looked at him, unsure if he was making an obscene joke or if it was unintentional. Nacho and his things.
"What? Aren't you excited to climb?" he commented, laughing mischievously.
Under the mountain, there was a supermarket, a children's park, and what seemed to be some kind of school, but upon closer inspection, it was an orphanage. Nacho looked towards a liquor store and said:
The weather in the place was gloomy, cloudy, and there was a lot of fog, which seemed quite favorable since we could go out without our faces shining, so we could stand in the meadow without fear of being discovered.
Nacho observed his hand, relieved that it didn't shine. A little girl approached us with curiosity and said something in Finnish.
"Noita, noita!" (in Finnish)
"Come on, brainiac, translate!" demanded Nacho.
"I'm not a polyglot!" I said. I put on the mask's glasses and activated the system that allowed me to translate. I tried to gesture to the girl to repeat what she was trying to say.
"Are you friends with the witch?" she innocently asked.
I translated to Nacho, and we looked at each other. The little one continued:
"The witch sometimes comes down to visit us, she has pale skin, and she moves like you. But you seem nicer to me. My grandma tells me not to get close to the witch or see her black eyes, but yours are golden..."
I was going to ask the girl more questions, but her mother called her, and she immediately hugged her, giving both me and Nacho a penetrating and hostile look. From there, I noticed, turning around, that people in general didn't seem very happy with our presence; their looks reflected both fear and distrust.
Nacho also seemed to notice, and looking at me, he whispered:
"The people here are intense; this is giving me a bad feeling, cousin. What if they know something about us? Like Mina? I thought the Volturi controlled secrecy very well, but it seems it's not as they say. I think these people had some experience. Also, didn't you mention a blonde friend? I can bet my hand that the blonde is none other than our dear Anastasia."
"Well," I replied and then added, "If that vampire told me to come specifically to talk about Anastasia, calling her my golden princess, she knows something. Surely Anastasia came to consult or ask for help from time to time."
Nacho rubbed his hands together and exclaimed:
"Enough of gossiping, let's climb! Come on, cousin, I'm dying to try this mountain!"
"We have to be cautious. We don't want to be seen or cause an avalanche, or have a big rock roll down and kill someone from the village," I asked and then thought, "Why on earth would they establish a village so close to such a dangerous place?"
We started climbing, rock by rock, trying not to make too many holes with our hands in the solid stone. Nacho seemed to have experience in this because he was doing it very well.
"The last one to climb will have to smell Tomás's underwear!" he laughed as he climbed. I smiled and activated the jet boots, reaching the top first.
"Oh! How dirty and tricky!" Nacho complained upon arrival.
"Alright, Ok. We'll call it a tie then?" I smiled.
"Hmmm..." He just made a face. Then he touched his hands in his pocket and realized:
"Damn! My phone!"
"Make it waterproof next time," I joked.
"It was stolen anyway..." He smiled and tossed the phone into the air, quickly disappearing into the clouds. I simply thought it could hurt someone's head, but I knew Nacho wasn't going to change, so I just sighed.
"Let's see if I hit an airplane!" he laughed as he looked up at the sky.
We looked towards the entrance of the cave. Everything around us was covered in a kind of fog. The cave had very grotesque decorations, and the floor was surrounded by bones, there were piles everywhere.
"The lady has such good taste here," Nacho said ironically as he kicked a skull aside. He had his hands in his pockets, and he looked at the skull with some disgust. He paused and then asked me, "Could you pass me the dagger or the glove, in case things get ugly?"
We both smelled the sweet definitive scent of a vampire; she was inside the place. Nacho was getting uncomfortable and shouted into the cave:
"The plumbing service for the lady has arrived, courtesy of the great Luigi and his companion Mario!"
Nothing. We knew she was there, but she seemed unwilling to come out. We were starting to get impatient until we finally heard the vampire speak from the shadows.
"Welcome, gentlemen. It is an honor to see the very god of silence in person; I have awaited your arrival since the moment I glimpsed your silhouette in my visions."
Nacho and I looked at each other and decided to enter. "Come on, Super Mario, you first," said Nacho.
Even in the darkness, her face could be seen. It was perfectly symmetrical and pale, with refined and elegant proportions, but her straight hair was completely disheveled, and she seemed to be wearing very worn-out clothes, more than mine or Nacho's. Her intense crimson eyes interacted face to face with mine, of an amber tone, and she flashed a beautiful smile with perfect teeth. She was definitely a vampire, not a witch.
Walking almost like a feline on all fours, she lunged at me, stopping inches from my face, almost looking fascinated by my eyes. Then she turned to Nacho, repeating the same pattern, and then recoiled and looked at us seductively, tilting her head to one side.
"Fascinating, I had never seen vampires with that eye color. Now I understand the golden princess's fascination with you; I can sense a hidden power through those eyes, a mind like no other, possessed by no being of this world."
She paused and then turned to Nacho, sitting down.
"And you came accompanied by the great Mercury, the messenger. Fierce hunter, swift as lightning, no vampire can or will ever catch you. Some will try, but you will always be one step ahead."
The vampire raised her finger, pointing into the void, and then at me, before pointing at Nacho.
"Body, mind, and spirit. Three are they, no more, no less, together they are strong and will illuminate the hearts of all who love, but they must be together, always. Body, mind, and soul, the three brothers, born of sun and sand."
We looked at each other, and I immediately thought of Tomás, concluding that this vampire possessed some special, very powerful ability.
"You have already contacted me, and I have come for what you told me. I would like to know what you meant by my friends in Africa, please."
The vampire looked towards the wall, where I saw a peculiar image, of a kind of lamb with horns, accompanied by a crow holding a laurel leaf.
"The kings of the desert have set their sights on the lamb," she said as she caressed the image of the lamb. "The great pharaoh has set his eyes on the lamb and his companions. The pharaoh is a jealous being and does not wish to share his power with anyone."
Then she put her hands on the image of the crow and continued.
"The pharaoh has a magician, a being of great power. You must travel and save the lamb, who is ready for sacrifice in the name of the great pharaoh, but you must do it soon; the desert storms approach the lamb."
Nacho rolled his eyes, but then he began to look around the cave, becoming more and more uncomfortable. I became curious and asked about my personal mission.
"What does my own mission hold for me?"
The vampire seemed to delight in the question and stood up:
"I'm sorry, but you have accepted the will of a power beyond my capabilities. I cannot help you with that unless you give me something in return," she said as she smiled and looked into my eyes, hinting slightly towards the cross.
At that moment, I looked around, I could contemplate the pattern of the skulls, their structure, sizes, shapes, and upon realizing the revelation, a lump formed in my throat. Finally, the vampire said:
"Only a small offering, nothing more. Someone who could accompany me in my melancholic solitude, someone to awaken my longed-for maternal instincts. Bring them to me, and I will tell you how to face your mission successfully."
I swallowed hard. It was horrible; even Nacho was horrified and looked at the woman with disgust. Both of us had committed atrocities, but this was on another level, and I could see how he looked at her with fiery eyes, unable to believe that Anastasia had stooped so low. "Was desperation so great to stoop this low? So terrifying I was?"
The vampire continued waiting for a response. After deliberating on what to do, I told her:
"I cannot give you what you desire; our principles do not allow it. I prefer to trust in my God than to forsake my principles for such an offering."
She finally let out a smile and said:
"Well, my dear ones, it has been an honor for me to see you in person. Forgive me if I offended you; I'm not used to receiving visitors, and my manners can be a bit... eccentric."
Nacho and I looked at each other. I gestured to him with my hand to wait outside.
"Wait for me outside," I murmured to him.
Finally, Nacho left with a serious expression, quite skeptical of what I was about to do, shaking his head.
Both of us could smell the scent of fresh blood emanating from the vampire's rags; it was clear that she had fed recently. She sat down, crossing her legs, and looked at me with her crimson eyes, saying:
"Perhaps you have changed your mind? The fate of all humanity depends on the outcome of your mission."
Finally, I unsheathed the saber, crossed myself, and said:
"Father, forgive me for the sin I am about to commit, if it must be. I will accept the punishment that the act I am forced to do deserves."
I ignited the saber as the vampire smirked sinisterly, illuminated by its reddish glow, until finally putting an end to her reign of terror, executing her with a swift strike, leaving nothing but ashes.
I finally emerged from the cave and took a deep breath. Nacho handed me one of the horrendous decorations from the cave.
"I'm not in the mood for your jokes right now, cousin," I pleaded.
"This is no joke. With this, you'll remember that when the time comes, you'll eventually have to raise the saber. There are people you won't be able to negotiate with, let alone reason with, and there you'll have to be prepared to defend what you believe in and those you love, no matter the cost."
With his words sinking deep within me, we set off for Africa. We were going to see our friends again, and I, above all, would have to see Anastasia once more.