The Chapter that explains it all. If you're not ready to know yet, don't read on. There are spoilers.
Chapter 38
When Abe returned to his
house, he opened his hand to reveal the small folded-up piece of paper that Father
John had slipped into his palm. The Father had brushed past him just before
he’d disappeared. Abe sat on his bed in the darkened room, slowly unfolding the
note.
Written inside were the
few words “Meet me at midnight at the church.”
He wasn’t too eager to
visit the church so late. But he had no choice.
Later, when everyone was
asleep, Abe left the house and walked to town. He approached the church and saw
for the first time the utter devastation the last storm had bestowed on the
beautiful building. The once-white church was now darkened to almost black. All of its windows had been
blown out and its roof had caved in. The tall bell tower was no longer visible;
it must be lying somewhere amidst the rubble of the building’s interior.
He didn’t see the priest
anywhere outside, so he walked through doorway or what had been the doorway. He climbed over large
pieces of wood that must have been the front doors.
Inside, nothing remained
standing. Statues lay smashed on the ground. The pews had been crushed flat by the
fallen roof. Even the stained-glass windows had been shattered to pieces. As he
was lamenting over this terrible loss, he heard a shuffling noise behind
him. He turned around to find the Father
walking toward him.
“I don’t have good news for you,” the priest
said.
“Of course,” Abe said.
“I have much to explain.
Please sit down beside me on the one pew that has been left standing.”
They walked down the
center aisle to the small pew at the front right corner of the room. After they
sat down, Father John said, “The Dead had been created by Wolf, not only because of his everlasting need for domination, but because
he wanted to destroy the whole town, including vampires, human vampires, and humans….”
“We already knew that.”
“But what you didn’t know
was that this destruction was an essential component of Wolf’s master plan. The total destruction to
be brought forth by The Dead had been designed to bring man and vampire
together: you and me. Only then would Wolf be able to release his family from
the spell that had trapped them for centuries in the dungeons beneath End House.
My ancestors’ book spoke about a powerful witch, her spell, and even the way to
break the spell.”
“But Wolf was already dead
when End House was destroyed. Who had followed through with his plan?”
“Wait. Let me finish the
story,” the priest said. “Over two hundred years ago, a witch unleashed a spell on Wolf’s family because of their complete debauchery and cruelty against humanity. She trapped them below End House to roam the dark
dungeons for all eternity. That is, until End House was destroyed by us. Our
chanting released the demons from their dark hold and let them loose once more.
They are now free to leave the dungeons to set forth on the world an evil that hasn’t
been seen for over two hundred years.”
“Back to my earlier
question: who followed through with this ingenious plan?” Abe asked.
The Father continued, “Everyone—human
and vampire alike—has wrongly assumed that peace is now attainable: that the
evil demon presence is finally gone from Oasis. But no one has guessed at the
awful truth. Beneath the pretty field of flowers growing on End House property exists an evil so great and powerful that even the elders can’t fight
it on their own.
“And to answer your
question, Wolf is still alive and present in town. He has just taken on a
different form.”
Abe rolled his eyes. “Even
Wolf can’t reincarnate himself.”
“I’m terribly sorry to
prove you wrong. When Wolf was dying in the alligator pool, I witnessed his evil spirit alight from his body and pass over our group. He is now living in one of us,
one of us who had been present at Wolf’s annihilation. Wolf’s body has been
destroyed but the soul of one of our own has been taken over by him. One day
soon, this evil one will finally lead his family out of the dungeons to finish
their mission. They will rise up to destroy mankind on their demented journey
to rule the world.”
Abe put his hands over his
eyes. After a few moments, he looked up at Father John and asked, “What can we
do?”
“First, we must keep a
close eye on the humans in town. Vampires can’t enter another vampire’s body; they can take control
only of a human or a human vampire. So Wolf is residing in one of the human
vampires, or in one of the humans from town. I think it is more likely that one
of the humans has absorbed Wolf’s entity into their own. As soon as we spot unusual
activity in town, we should be ready to enter the dungeons of End House to seek
out and destroy Wolf’s family. I believe you should alert your whole family. I
will inform Hayden and the elders of this new threat. The most important thing
for us to do now is to make sure that we are ready. We have to be prepared for
everything and anything.”
At the front steps of the
church, the vampire leader and the religious leader shook hands and parted ways: each on his own
mission to free Oasis from the deadly grip of the evil demons.
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