I lounged on the leather chair in the study as I waited for Cordelia to arrive. The house had been in a quiet panic as the news of not one but two vampires were in the area and they'd managed to evade us. Osckar advised all none non-patrolling wolves to remain in the pack house or their own homes for their safety. To never walk alone and to always, always be alert for the absence of a scent. 

I on the other hand was now curious about my magical abilities, I'd somehow seen the trail of these creatures and needed to know more. If I could help eliminate another threat to the pack with as little collateral as possible then I'd do it. I was tired of death. It felt like it began to seep into me, become a part of everything around me now. 

The door burst open, and in came Cordelia with her flowing dress, the long sleeves billowed at her sides on a phantom wind. Her hair was slicked back in a bun and the rings on her fingers looked like they each weighed at least a ton. 

"Calla darling," she patted my head as she walked past me and settled on the edge of the wooden table. " I see you're taking the news well." 

I rolled my eyes, "I just need to know for sure what we're dealing with. Osckar and his big mouth might have just lost us some allies. We can't keep shunning every pack we encounter." 

Cordelia tutted, "You're right on both things dear. I've heard his side of things already and filled him in on the information I had." 

She lifted a hand as I began to protest. 

"You were still out running around in the woods," she looked at me pointedly, "He was here learning all he could."

My eyes narrowed, I was not too fond of the implication she was making about me.

"I'll have you know  I found the trail of those vampires. I saw it with my own eyes." 

"You saw it?" she started her eyes turning bright but weary.

I hesitated now. How do I tell her I took off the bracelet she'd given me to suppress my magic and potentially risked the lives of those around me if I couldn't control it? 

"I took the bracelet off," I said, I might as well own it. "I took it off and saw the trail only for a moment." 

Her disapproving look was predictable. 

"The danger you-" 

I cut her off, "Nothing happened and everyone is fine. I'll only do it when you're around to train me. On that note, our training starts tomorrow." 

She looked caught off guard, she hadn't banked on me wanting to learn so quickly. 

Cordelia nodded in agreement, "Fine. As for the vampires, I can fill you in." 

She grabbed a book that was sitting on the table, it looked a lot like the spell books I'd seen scattered around the house. 

"This vampire's symbol that he left behind is something I've seen before. That day when we did our investigations I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Until I saw this again." 

She pointed to a page in the book, I went to her side and looked. Just as we'd seen by the bodies, there was a symbol of teeth etched in red ink at the centre of the page. Whoever had drawn the symbol must have been angry, the teeth marks were dented into the page, like they'd gone over each line repeatedly.  

Underneath the symbol in small scrawling letters were a few words. 

Death Evades Us 

More text followed after that, written much like a diary entry. 

Today marks the fourth anniversary since escaping the Count. I escaped with the help of Edith. We plan on going back, not to grovel and go back into his fold like he thinks we would. No, we're going there to end him. We've figured out what his true weaknesses are, not those fabled stories he had the locals believe and spread. No, he'd kept the secrets close to his heart, even from us. I know now what it is and I vow to destroy him...

Cordelia moved the book away from me before I could read anymore. 

"What is this book?" I asked, my voice thick with emotion. 

"It's a diary," she said as if that would make a difference to my question, "One that belonged to a very old vampire if the dates here are to be believed. It accounts for a man and woman named Eli and Edith." 

I scoffed at the names, was it just pure coincidence that they both started with an E? A diary was always biased, the names in there for all we knew could be fake. 

"Tell me what's in this book." I practically demanded, "What was the weakness of this Count? And what type of person are we up against?" 

Cordelia looked at me, her eyes filled with warmth and something else. An emotion I couldn't quite read. 

"With a spell," she said slowly, her eyes darting around my face as if I'd have a bad reaction. 

"Ok, so what do we need to do for this spell?" I asked, "The quicker we can do this the quicker we can get rid of him and I can live my life in..." 

I paused trying to find the right word, peace wasn't the word I was looking for. It hadn't seemed like a possibility since my parent's murder. Peace I realised was a luxury for the innocent, the undisturbed. I wouldn't be living peacefully anytime soon but I could live a little more stress-free without having to worry about more people dying. 

"A somewhat normal state," I said finishing my sentence with a roll of my eyes. 

Her lips pursed together as my answer told her something she'd been wondering, "We need to trap him. I can do the rest." 

"I suppose trapping him won't be as easy as you're making out?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest. 

Her head shook slowly, " Unfortunately, I can't help you there. Eli didn't have to be sneaky in getting hold of the Count. He knew him, the Count wanted to see Eli's face as he planned to kill him." 

"Of course he did." I went back to my chair and folded myself around it. 

"This spell," She started, "It'll be very similar to the one you encountered, it just needs a sacrifice." 

I sat up then, how could she say that so casually?  Like I'd be ok sending someone to their death. 

"I think we should start your training," she said softly, carrying on like she was speaking about what she'd had for breakfast this morning. 

"Hold on a sec," I held up my hand, "Let's just go back to the sacrifice part. Who or what needs to be sacrificed? And for what reason?"

"According to the book, the Count was created by a witch. It was meant to be a curse, a way of punishing him for his unknown crimes as a human. As we now know, the spell wasn't foolproof, it gave the Count powers and abilities that surpassed humans however, his weaknesses that came with the new body were the punishment." 

I shook my head, "What is it with witches getting involved, the balance that must be kept will always remain unbalanced when witches mess with living creatures. When they decide to play god."

Cordelia didn't say a word about my rant, didn't flinch as I accused a whole race of beings of being monsters. Maybe my summary was right, they did seem to get involved and disrupt the way of things. They meddled and cursed and gifted as they saw fit. I looked down at my hands, remembering the power I'd felt in those woods. If I could protect and avenge those who were wronged wouldn't I do the same? Hadn't I meddled with life and death myself to get what I wanted? 

"Your assessment isn't incorrect, " she said tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "We all use our power, our abilities to do what we think is best. We don't always get it right but the intentions are there." 

"What's the sacrifice?" I asked once again. 

"It's not entirely a sacrifice," Cordelia said carefully, "The vampire must die, but his or her second death is not natural for they should have died only once. Their life is tied to another, a mortal soul given an extended lifetime. We need to find them, and kill them during the ritual." 

The news shattered me more than I'd mentally prepared myself for. Yet another innocent caught up in the mess of supernatural beings. 

"You're telling me an innocent has to die for this tyrant to die?" 

 "The only way for him to be permanently dead is to kill his soul tie." she continued, "I can find them, you'll need to bring the person back here and Osckar or one of you need to decapitate the vampire. Bring his body, all of it and the ritual can begin." 

I ran a hand through my hair and let loose a breath that held all the tension in my body. 

"Where can we find this person?" 

"I've already sent Osckar to find her."