"What?" the two ladies exclaimed in shock.
"That vampire killed her. We could not save her mummy." Pedro cried harder.
Rolandro and Mel transformed back into human and walked closer to them.
Mel embraced his mate and kissed her.
Carmelia stopped hugging her son and stood up to face her husband.
"Rolandro..."
Her mate hugged her tight and planted kisses on her neck, on the spot where he'd marked her.
"Mate, what happened?" she mind linked him.
"A female Omega saved him when he was about to be killed. He ran away at her command and found us. When we got there, neither the vampire nor the poor Omega could be found. And the worse thing was she was taken away by more than one lone vampire. You know what that means. Certain death, Mimi. I feel so guilty for her death. She could have kept herself from our matters, but she was brave. I don't know her name, but when we get back, we'll build her a statue and give her a befitting name." Rolandro replied and sighed.
"That's really brave of her. When her statue's been erected, I'll pay her due honor." she whispered.

"Now we're reunited. Let's get out of here. It's really late." suggested Regina.
"Yeah, right!" said Carmelia as she stopped hugging her mate.
She stooped to carry Pedro on her back.
"Hun, we have to go. Don't worry, you will get to see her statue when we get home, alright?" she whispered.
"Yes, mummy." he sniffed and all five headed for the jeep.
Pedro got in first and brought out two nylons containing the adults' change of clothes and when they were done, they entered the car.
Mel sat in the driver's seat and cleared his throat.
Then he inserted the key into the ignition hole and sped off.

**************
The next morning, Duke kicked open the door and entered.
To his shock, the captive was missing.
"Martelio, Brian, come over here!" he hollered.

"What happened, bro?"
"What's the matter?" the two vampires who'd just arrived asked at the same time.
"Look!" Duke pointed at the neck shackles and chains that were lying on the floor. The prisoner was not in sight.
"How... How did she escape? Didn't we give her the harness solution we got from that witch? That was the only bottle and now she's escaped?" Martelio found it hard to believe, but reality was staring at him in the face.

"Damn it! We just blew up our chance to become vampire kings, all because we were careless. She slipped away right under our nose!" Brian complained, with one of his feet tapping on the floor repeatedly.
"We have to find her and teach her a lesson. She won't have gone far. Let's split up and search the woods for her." Duke suggested with gritted teeth and the other two nodded before they left, closing the door of the sitting room behind them.

3 minutes later, a figure became visible in the room's corner. Lavana panted and knelt on the floor, clutching her chest.
It wasn't easy for her to hold her breath while using the invisibility spell.
But the good part was, those bastards had left the home to look for her. She had to take this chance to escape. She had to get to the sea at all cost for that was her way to escape from them at all.
She activated the invisibility spell again and tip-toed out of the room. She cautiously looked everywhere and walked along the passageway.
She soon arrived in the sitting room. But she had no time to appreciate the 'good' view before her.
They actually left without locking the door and she thanked heavens for helping her.
She opened the door and came out. She then gently closed it back before running into the woods. She didn't know where she was going, but getting out of that area was her priority.
**********

30 minutes later.
The invisibility skill had long expired, but she was faraway though she was lost, but she felt it was better than having to deal with those undead scums.
She sat under an oak tree to rest.
She felt thirsty and hungry. She looked around and found that none of the fruits in this place were edible. Even the leaves of the shrubs 10 feet away were not.
She reclined her head against the tree and hugged her knees, closing her eyes and gulping saliva.
She didn't know when sleep took her away.

>>>>>>>>>>>
A little girl with auburn hair tied in a messy ponytail kept running in the woods, looking behind her often. She suddenly tripped on a log and fell. She rose quickly, not caring about the pain and continued to run.
Soon, loud voices could be heard behind her.

"Stop there, you little bastard!"
"If I catch you, I'm gonna skin you alive!"
There were two middle-aged people- a male and a female, chasing after her.
In response, the little girl increased her pace, causing the pair to curse even more.
She looked behind her again and saw they were closing in on her.
"Oh, no..." she kicked stone and fell to the ground.
Now the pair were standing before her with devilish eyes and scary smirks on their faces.
"Where can you run now, girl?" asked the man as he took out a syringe containing a black fluid.
"You need to sleep and look healthy when presented. Don't make things hard for us anymore." he said with elation.
"No... No... I don't want to go back there. Someone help..." she threw a stone (that she found near her) at the man's forehead and quickly got up to run forward while the woman was distracted with helping her partner in crime.
"Bitch!" the lady cursed and took chase with the man following not long after.
"Help! Someone help me!" the little one cried in despair.

Meanwhile, Lavana opened her eyes abruptly and clutched her chest, gasping for air. She just had a nightmare of being caught by the vampires and being tortured.
She wasn't invisible and she was weak too. If they found her in this state, she was good as dead! No, she had to leave now.
With this resolution, she rose with the aid of the tree and started walking on another path, making sure she wasn't in any open space.

2 minutes later.

She heard a pitiful cry for help and decided to hide first among the high shrubs. Who knew if it was a trick by the vampires to catch her? She had to be cautious!
Half a second later, she found the source of the cry. It was a distressed little girl (with auburn hair wearing a ragged blue gown and bare-footed) running along the path. Lavana saw her legs were injured, but she was still running and anxiously crying for help with all her might.
She could hear some angered voices nearby too.
That meant she was being chased by some people she didn't want to be with!
Why and what did they want from the girl? Either way, she won't let them succeed in their ill plan.

Soon, the man and woman who were chasing after the girl came into view. The man had a cut on his forehead that hadn't properly healed and the woman had some scrapes on her skin.
"Brat, when we get you, you are finished!" the lady spat.
Lavana became more worried. That kiddo was in danger and she had to help out in some way.
She came out of the bush and composed herself. Then she launched an ice chain at the man's feet. The ice chain successfully coiled around the man's feet and she pulled on it, causing him to fall.
He was horror-struck when he saw what was happening. An unknown chilly chain was pulling him backward. Is this not witchcraft?
"Help! Linda, save me!" he cried.
The woman turned around and gasped in shock.
"Jaxon!" she cried and ran after her partner, who was being dragged backward by an ice chain with an unknown source.
Lavana activated the invisibility skill and sent another ice chain to the woman's feet, causing her to fall.
"Ahhh! Help someone. Theres a ghost. Ghost!" the lady cried in terror.
Lavana let go of the ice chain and they vanished. The pair were free now, but the chilliness in their bodies combined with the terror of the unknown made them unable to stand up.
Lavana launched two fire balls at their feet. This gave them the great motivation need to run back where they came from. They had no intention of chasing that little bitch any more. They were sure that the girl they were chasing could be dead. It wasn't worth throwing their life away.
Lavana launched two ice chains at them again. They bound their feet and they fell to the ground amongst thorns. She launched fire at them again after releasing the ice chains.
Seeing this fire coming towards them, they needed no soothsayer to tell them to run as fast as they could. They never knew they could run this fast. If possible, they wished they could borrow 10 pairs of legs more so they could get out of this cursed place in seconds.
The fireball extinguished after going some distance, but they dare not look back.
"Run for your life!" the woman cried in between pants.
"I don't need you to tell me." said the man as he tried to outrun her to no avail.

Lavana sighed as the invisibility skill expired. She became visible again. Her head was spinning and her body felt feverish.
She touched her burning forehead and looked upward. Her legs became wobbly to her terror.
No, she couldn't give up here. Those vampires are coming for her. If they find her... No, they shouldn't get to her. She must leave... leave this place and enter the sea. She can rest assured underwater... No, she can't fall...
She collapsed to the ground, blacked out.

Not far from her, the little girl who was being chased earlier came out from behind a thick, unknown tree. She made sure no one was nearby before heading for the fainted lady.
When she ran past earlier, she fell again after diverting into a small path that led no where.
She thought she was done for but then she heard the evil man's scream and not long after, she heard the woman's scream. THeir screams were of terror.
She became curious and crawled to the back of a tree and used the trunk as support to stand. It was from there she watched everything unfold. How ice chains and fire balls from unknown source scared them away. She began to wonder if she should run away too. It was then that a nude, thin lady could be seen.

For some reason, there was a blur around her private areas. She guessed it was because she was supernatural being. This lady had helped her and fainted as a result. She couldn't leave her there. That was ungratefulness!
So, after making sure that no one was around, she ran up to the lady.
She saw she had many bruises on her skin and her black, messy hair covered her face.
She checked her breathing and felt her forehead.

She looked around and tapped twice on her index finger. A golden ring appeared and flew out of her finger. It elongated into a golden scepter with a red crystal at the tip encircled by green vines.
"Oh crystal witch ancestor, grant me my wish. Give me water." she said in a solemn voice and the levitating scepter glowed.
Three large silver kegs appeared and the scepter transformed into a golden ring back and entered her finger. Then it vanished.
She fell to her knees, covered in sweat and heaved.
Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth and she coughed.
She felt a headache, but it didn't stop her from picking up one of the silver kegs and removing the lip.
She poured some water into it and poured it into Lavana's mouth.

A minute later, Lavana slowly opened her eyes.
She saw a figure looking at her but it was unclear.
She had no strength to rub her eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked in a parched voice.
She knew this wasn't some lone vampire coz this figure didn't smell rotten.
"You are awake, miss. Thanks for saving me." the little girl helped Lavana sit up and made her drink more water from the keg directly. She finished everything and put it down, gasping for air.
"You must be really thirsty." the girl commented.
"Yup. I was. Thank you for the water. It's really refreshing." Lavana gratefully said. She could now see the girl clearly. She was a little beauty!
"It's nothing compared to the help you rendered. If I had been caught by them... I would be dead meat. By the way, I'm Beatrix Atlantes. I'm an apprentice witch." she said.
Lavana recalled that the little girl must have seen her use her powers. So they were both non-humans. They could be friends then and help each other get out of here.
"Oh, a witch! My first time seeing one. I'm Lavana. I'm an Omega." she introduced herself and extended her hands for a handshake and Beatrix shook hands with her.
"I'm glad to meet you." Beatrix said.
"Same here. Who were those people?"
"You mean the scums chasing me?"
Lavana nodded as she opened another keg to drink up the water in it.
"Well, they are child traffickers. I woke up in the boot of a car. My hands were tied but luckily my mouth wasn't taped. I used my witch scepter to free myself and get out of the car, but it somehow alerted them and they started chasing me. I ended up running into the woods, but they still didn't give up chase." Beatrix explained.
Lavana put down the water.
"Couldn't you have used your scepter to escape to a place faraway?" Lavana asked.
"Nope. Witches of high rank can do whatever they want coz they've got much power stored in their bodies. I, on the other hand, am just an apprentice. Every usage of my scepter eats much of my energy."
"So I guess you used your scepter not long ago. Coz these kegs didn't just fall from the sky, did they?"
"You're right."
"Are you hurt?"
"Nope. I've recovered now." Beatrix said with a smile. "I can even use my staff to get some food..."
"No need. Now that I'm no longer thirsty. I have energy to find us some fruits. " Lavana rose.
"We can't stay here for too long. I myself, I'm on the run."
"Huh? Who's chasing you, miss Lavana?"
"Lone vampires." 
"What?" Beatrix quickly rose. She knew what an encounter with vampires meant say less of an unrestrained, high-level lone vampire.
They were really not safe in the woods.
"Miss Lavana, you are right. This place isn't safe and two are better than one." she gingerly said.
"Alright! Let's go. First, we need to find a big water source and no, don't dare think of using your scepter. Not while you are with me." Lavana stretched her body.
She then went on one knee.
"Get on my back. It will be better for both of us."
"Okay!"
Beatrix quickly climbed onto her back and Lavana rose and steadied herself.
Hug my neck." she commanded and the little one obeyed.
"Time to run!" she said and started running in another direction. She picked up her pace soon, to the extent that everything was a blur to Beatrix. She almost went dizzy.
"Just close your eyes and relax," Lavana suggested.
"Alright, miss Lavana," Beatrix whispered and did as she was told. She could only feel the welcoming breeze as Lavana ran.

A/n:
Thanks for reading. Do add to your libraries; more updates are coming soon. And don't forget to leave a sincere review. Don't be shy. This lowly one wants to know your thoughts. Remember, I love you.
Accept my kisses :)