Chapter Sixteen: Raid Vaziri

Three and a half years ago

Mystic Falls, VA

New Year's Day, 12:25am

The photographs of the spell arrived, but the witch didn't. Raid was sitting at the end of Stef's hospital bed, watching her fidget uncomfortably on the opposite side. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, her toes tapping against the bed sheets, trying to distract herself from the hunger. Stef's cell phone had been broken by Phoenix, and Raid's was who-knows-where, probably fell from his pocket in the cellar. He had offered her Adam's cell phone to call anyone that might help her through the transition, but she refused. The two vampires she knew best were Caroline and Gabe, and they were both close with her parents. She hadn't even decided if she was going to tell her parents yet.

Raid remained on Adam's phone, zooming into the photographs, studying the spell that was snapped from an ancient book. He ran a few of the Latin words through an online translator. The spell was described as emundationem peccatorum: the cleansing of sins. Some words appeared repeatedly. Sanguis... Sanguinis... Sanguine... Blood. Mors... Mortem... Mortis... Death. For a so-called purification spell, it didn't seem particularly restorative. Raid copied the incantation down on the back of a nursing chart, sensing the spell wouldn't work quite so successfully being read while scrolling around a phone screen.

A further five minutes passed. Stef's face was now tucked between her knees, her hands covering her head. Where the hell was this damn witch? Raid decided they couldn't wait any longer. He'd have to do the spell himself. Granted, he was inexperienced and had never performed an incantation unrehearsed, but this was for Stef. He wouldn't fuck this up.

"We're doing this now," he decided, Stef raising her head in relief. "Adam, see if you can find a medical trolley outside. Steal a couple of needles or lancets, and some medicine cups." As Adam headed outside to get the required items, Raid took hold of Stef's hand. "Listen, I know the spell only needs a small amount of blood from each of us, but I'm giving you permission to feed on me if you need it, okay?"

Stef shook her head. "I'm not putting either of you at risk, Raid. I won't have more than I need for the spell."

Adam returned quickly, the items in hand. Knowing he was going to be first, he took a lancet and medicine cup for himself, and gave the rest over to Stef while Raid prepared himself to read out the spell. Raid took hold of Stef's hand. He didn't know if this was a requirement, but he felt like it was needed anyway.

"You ready?" he asked her, squeezing her fingers in support.

The moment she nodded, he began, "emundationem peccatorum..."

The chant continued. Raid's voice was steady. This was the part of the incantation that didn't worry him. The translations were about sins, cleansing, transformation, and something about gems or stones, which he really hoped they hadn't needed.

The next part was where he struggled to continue. The next line had clearly been added to the spell much later and it was the following words that concerned him: "vesparum noctis".

Wasps of the night.

Vampires.

He gave a nod for his cousin to start drawing blood, and Adam used the lancet to puncture the skin on each of his fingers, squeezing blood from them into the medicine cup after each prick. When there was finally enough in the cup, he passed it over to Stef to drink as Raid continued the spell.

"...oblatio sanguinis humani..."

Stef gripped onto the bedsheets ferociously, her eyes pinched shut, as she finished the blood. It wasn't enough for her. Raid knew it wasn't going to be enough for her. He tried to speed up the spell. As soon as it was finished, he could feed her his blood. Feed her properly, whatever she needed.

"...sanguine et potentia maleficarum..."

When Stef let out a gasp of strenuous restraint, Adam could finally see her fangs, a sudden jolt of panic overtaking him as he realized this was real.

"...omnes implicati sunt..."

Raid paused, the final warning grabbing him by the throat.

"...omnes... implicati... sunt..." he repeated, the air around him becoming too dry to breathe.

That's when Stef suddenly calmed, her composure regained. While Raid was struggling for air, her breathing became deeper, more controlled. He looked down at his hand in hers. He was panicking, unable to finish the spell, the final words warning them of death. But there was no turning back now. He needed to find his voice. He needed to finish this for her.

"...inpericulo mortis."

There was an instant relief that the spell was over. The ominous feeling within Raid completely disappeared as soon as the final word left his lips. Adam looked completely shocked, but that was expected after his initial scepticism. Stef was eerily calm, her expression vacant, her breathing steady. It was then Raid realized that Stef's breathing pattern was not a result of her becoming relaxed. Her outlook had changed. There was a new determination on her face; the resolve of someone who was now accepting an impending misfortune.

Stef was quiet, her expression distant, as she spoke. "That word means 'death'," she whispered, her eyes finally finding Raid. When his silence confirmed her fear, she gave a sad laugh, shaking her head. "Too much morbid medical talk with Mom, I suppose."

Raid was aware of the risks, but there was no turning back for any of them. Stef was a vampire now. She didn't want to stay this way. She only needed the blood of a witch to complete the spell and then there was a chance for her to undo all of this. He was prepared to give her whatever she needed, yet her sudden shift in demeanour suggested she was reluctant to continue. Without saying a word, Raid pressed on, taking a cup and a lancet from the supplies resting on the bedsheets in front of her. Then she grabbed hold of his wrist before he even registered that she'd moved.

"We're stopping this now," she informed him.

He couldn't let her stop, but at the same time, he couldn't prevent his apprehension from showing. "Stef, there's no need –"

"What was the final line to that spell?" she demanded. "What did it mean?"

Raid sighed. He wasn't going to lie to her. "All involved are at risk of death."

Adam leaned back in his chair, whistling in disbelief. "Way to warn me, cousin."

Raid whipped his head towards him. "You would have done it either way."

Adam briefly considered this. "Inshallah, I need out of a physics test next week. Besides, I'm not afraid of death; I'm not the one who has been acting like a sinaholic."

Raid ignored him and turned back to Stef. "You need to complete this. If this spell can reverse everything –"

"At what cost?" Stef questioned. "You both might die so that I can live?"

There was no point in Adam keeping Cristian's secret any longer, not if Stef was already reluctant to go through with this. So he said, "It's the vampire who turned you who needs to die, not us. That's what Cristian told me. So just tell him the vampire that did this to you, and let him take care of it. After that, it's all over."

Except it wasn't that easy. "I don't know who did this to me," Stef admitted. "What if it was Caroline? I'm not going to let Cristian kill Caroline." Stef's breathing sharpened. This was too much. She was overwhelmed, she couldn't think straight.

Taking her by the shoulders, Raid pulled her focus onto him. "Nobody has to kill anyone, Stef, but give yourself a chance. If you don't complete the ritual, you'll stay a vampire. But if you do complete it and that vampire somehow dies anyway, you've missed out on this chance. You need to take it. You need to take the risk."

Raid was right. She, herself, had nothing to lose from completing the ritual. Adam was already involved, but there was no reason Raid had to be the one to provide her with the blood of a witch. He didn't need to be part of this. "You're right, I need to take the risk," Stef said, nodding. "But you don't."

"What?" Raid sputtered, following her as she stood from the bed. "You're going to find another witch for this? Are you planning on sneaking up on one and feeding on them? Because I know that's not something you would do. You need me, Stef. No other witch is just going to stroll up to you and offer you their blood."

Suddenly the door opened and an inebriated young man with a stoned expression and aroma, swung forward into the room, still leaning on the door handle for support. "Sorry I'm late. Cristian sent me to offer you some witch's blood," he slurred.

Raid instantly recognised him as the dealer from the Back to School Party. Lyle, his name was. He had the same knotted, greasy black hair, doped-up eyes, and uncoordinated movements. Raid wasn't even aware he was a witch. Sure, he acted like he was some kind of wizard in chemistry class, and could pull off some pretty neat sleight-of-hand magic tricks, but there was nothing genuine about him. Even if he did possess any powers, they were probably dulled by all the drugs he pumped into his system. He was certainly not the witch for this job.

Stef decided otherwise. Taking a needle and medicine cup from the bed, she strode right up to Lyle, ushered him inside, then closed the door. "Tell me one thing, Lyle" she said, needing this information before she began. "You gave Cristian a pill at the Back to School Party. What was it?"

"I did?" Lyle looked like he had difficulty remembering what planet he was on, let alone what happened so many weeks ago. Then a rare moment of clarity hit him. "Oh, right! Yeah, he said he needed something to loosen you up, like you were nervous about putting out, or something like that." At Stef's furious expression, Lyle went immediately on the defensive, holding his palms outwards in peace. "Whoa, whoa, don't worry, he's okay now that you're not ready. He says he's going to wife you up someday anyway, and it's pretty cool you let him satisfy his urges with other girls in the meantime."

Stef's jaw clenched. What complete bullshit! She unsheathed the needle, pulled Lyle's hand down in front of her, and dug it sharply into him without warning, scratching it along the skin as he jerked back from the shock, the blood pooling in his hand.

"What the fuck?! You didn't have to do that, I would have done it myself. It's not like I haven't used needles before, fuck!" he complained.

Stef was already draining his blood into the cup. Vampire or not, she was not putting her lips to his disgustingly sweaty skin. She filled the cup with more blood than she managed to get from Adam and put it to her lips and drank.

Suddenly, her eyes widened. This was a very interesting revelation. Drinking his blood was exposing her to a secret; something about Lyle that she was sure others didn't know. Finishing the blood, she licked her lips. She admitted she wanted more, but he wasn't going to be the one she was going to take it from, regardless of how much he deserved it. His blood had left her feeling frustrated yet, peculiarly, she also felt far more enlightened about witches. There was a new confidence growing within her.

"Cristian doesn't know you betrayed him, does he?" she asked smoothly.

Lyle's attention was no longer on his hand. How did she know that? Actually, did it even matter how she knew? Cristian was on his way here to see her. She was going to expose him. "Please," he begged. "Don't say anything to him. He's probably outside right now."

Stef released her hard stare, crunched the medicine cup within her hand, and threw it in the medical waste, along with the needle. "You've given me what I need. You're scum, Lyle, but you don't deserve the punishment Cristian will no doubt inflict on you." She held the door open for him, gesturing him to leave. "Take a back exit out of this hospital and then I recommend moving far away from here. If I ever see you again, I'll tell Cristian everything."

Without a word, Lyle wasted no time leaving as he stumbled out onto the main ward, glanced around for a different exit, and then proceeded quickly in that direction.

"What happened?" Adam asked. "What did you find out about him?"

"Let's just say he had nefarious plans to infiltrate the Coven," she responded, uninterested in going into further detail. Stef sighed, a sign that she was also ready to depart. "The ritual's over. Thank you both for everything you've done for me, but if Cristian is outside then I need to speak to him."

Raid was shocked. "You want to speak to him? Now? After everything he's put you through?"

"I know that this is going to seem ridiculously normal after everything that has happened tonight, but I do still need to break up with him," she explained.

Raid suddenly understood. "Oh, right, of course," he muttered. "In that case, I'll walk with you downstairs, and keep an eye out in case things go badly."

Stef chuckled to herself, shaking her head. "Raid, I'm a vampire now, I think I can handle him." She leaned down to where Adam was sitting, hugging him goodbye, and then she left.

Raid caught up with her as she reached the double doors exiting the ward. "I don't get a hug?"

"What was the point?" she replied. "I knew you were going to follow me anyway."

They stepped out from the ward and headed towards the elevators. One was already open, waiting for them. They went inside and Stef pressed the button to the floor to the main entrance.

After the doors closed, Raid commented, "You look different." It wasn't just her suddenly radiant complexion or the new spark behind her eyes, even her posture was different. It was like this transformation, this immortality, had changed her perception of the world. Time was no longer an issue. Health was no longer an issue. Safety was no longer an issue. All the normal concerns of being a young woman in a man's world were gone.

"I feel different," she confirmed with a slight smile on her lips.

The doors opened and immediately in front of them was Winifred, walking down the hallway towards them. There was no point in running or hiding: she had already spotted them. Instead they stood their ground and met her halfway.

Winifred came to a stop in front of them. She wore a midnight blue Cordoba, casting shadows across her black skin, her features tense. She did not look pleased. "Cristian had no business giving you a spell from my personal grimoire. That spell is as old as myself and I do not share it with others."

This was confusing to Raid, considering Winifred looked to be no older than her late thirties. "Maybe you should take that up with Cristian then," he pointed out.

Winifred pinched Stef around the cheeks, moving her face around, closely studying her. "I can sense the spell has already been used. Such a silly girl." She dropped her grip immediately, as though she didn't want to be contaminated by her. "That spell resulted in the deaths of dozens of witches on the Hanging Fields of North Carolina back in the 16th Century," Winifred said. "So you can see why I might be nervous about it being used."

Stef was confused. If the spell was as old as herself, how was it used in the 16th Century? "What you said doesn't make sense –"

"I was born in 1476, child," Winifred clarified. "I was punished with immortality for providing the spell's talisman that resulted in the witches' deaths. I do not want any further curses upon me. You see to it that does not happen." Winifred started to turn to walk away.

"Wait," Stef said, stopping her. "The spell's talisman? I wasn't aware... I mean, I don't have one."

"If you don't have a talisman... then a talisman will find you," Winifred said, her words sounding like a warning. "Now, Cristian is outside waiting for you." She turned once more, continuing down the hallway, away from them.

As soon as Winifred was out of sight, Raid took Stef by the shoulders, twisting her to face him. "Stef, I don't like this. You don't need to see Cristian now –"

Stef gently removed his hands from her. "I do, Raid. I know I can't make you understand that, but I do."

Raid reluctantly nodded. He didn't like it, but it was her decision. "Promise me you'll be safe," he said.

"I promise," she answered gently. Then, leaving Raid behind, Stef followed in Winifred's footsteps towards the exit to see Cristian.