96. The Secret Of The House

A deep frown appeared on Clarice's face. "Huh? What are you talking about? I don't get you," she said, confused. Demetria smiled. "After searching for someone to replace me, I finally found someone who was worthy of my power. I'm now willing to give it to you, but with several conditions..." "Huh?" Clarice's confusion grew deeper, but she was intrigued as well by Demetria's offer. "Tell me, what are the conditions, so I can inherit your power?" she asked. "You must kill three bad people, part of your initiation rite. You must never abandon this place. You will protect it with your life and the most important thing is, you will never release those vampires imprisoned in the forbidden rooms upstairs. Once they wake up, they will unleash hell on earth and life will never be the same for all living things in this world." Demetria ended her lengthy reply. Clarice gasped, stunned. "Dear, there are two types of vampires in this world, good and bad," Demetria added. Clarice's eyes widened in shock. "Tell me more about those vampires hibernating upstairs," she said curiously, her heart pounding in her rib cage. She got a feeling she was about to discover something terrifying today. "They are ancient powerful vampires imprisoned in this sacred place away from civilization because they pose a danger to humankind. They want half of the population of the world to become vampires and the other half as a blood source. They want to dominate the world and turn the majority of human beings into slaves. The good vampires don't want that to happen. The vampire elders unite and lock up the deplorable vampires in the forbidden rooms on the second floor," Demetria explained. Clarice slowly digested Demetria's revelation with absolute fascination. "Please continue..." "For generations, my family inherited the responsibility of guarding those vampires. Since I'm not married and have no heirs to pass on my legacy. I chose you to be my successor, to be the guardian of this house and guard over those vampires hibernating upstairs. You must pass on your responsibility to all your children in the future. Your bloodlines will carry and uphold this important task from generation to generation," Demetria said in a serious tone. "Are you kidding me? Such a huge responsibility!" Clarice blurted in shock and horror. Her jaw dropped to the floor. "Huge responsibility indeed. But think about it, you will gain immense power if you accept my offer," Demetria smiled. "Don't deny it. I know you crave power so much to punish your enemies. Would it be amazing if you could obtain the power to protect yourself and slay all your enemies in one single wave of your hand? Think about the endless possibilities, dear. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain." Clarice breathed deeply. Her heart and mind started a heated debate inside her. Tensed silence enveloped the kitchen. After a few minutes of silence, Clarice finally spoke. "Can I go back to my old life if I accept your offer? Can I be reunited with my family?" "Yes, of course. You can visit them anytime, daily if you want. But you must also remember that once you become the guardian of this house, you can leave daily, visit your family, but you must return here to visit this place every day because once the house feels that no one is guarding it anymore, the wall of this house will start to crack, weakening its structure, and before you know it, the hibernating vampires will escape their coffins and unleash hell on earth. You must return to this place every day so the house will stay intact because of your presence," Demetria said. Clarice frowned. "You mean to say this house is alive?" she asked, astonished. "Yeah, kind of. As the guardian of the house, you will feed the core of this house with your blood once a week. If you fail to feed the core with your blood, this house will start to crumble, and you already know what will happen next," Demetria warned her. "Holy cow!" Clarice blurted, stunned by the revelation. "So you've been feeding the house with your blood all this time?" she asked in a terrified tone. "Yes. It's part of my responsibility. If you accept my offer, I will perform a ritual binding you to the house, and it will acknowledge you as the next guardian," Demetria explained. Clarice was mind-blown by everything she learned today. She had a hard time processing everything. She thought obtaining power was going to be easy. She never knew there was a huge responsibility involved. "How about you blow this house to smithereens so those vampires die? It's no longer necessary to be a prisoner in this house," she suggested. "If I blow up this house, I will also die because I'm its guardian. It's part of the responsibility, you can't avoid it," Demetria replied. "That is terrifying!" Clarice gushed in a frightened tone. "Terrifying indeed, but once you become the guardian of this house, you will get used to the responsibility as the days go by," Demetria assured her. "Um, no one has ever found this place? No one knows about the frightening secret you hide here?" Clarice asked. Demetria shook her head. "No one. Only me and my family. And now you already know this secret as well. That makes you one of us." A shiver ran down Clarice's spine. "I'm not one of your family yet." Demetria smiled. "You will be one of us... one of these days," she said confidently. Clarice bit her lip nervously. "Why has no one discovered this place yet?" she asked. "For your information, dear, if other people look at this mountain they will not see the house. Only the two of us know there is a house at the top of this mountain. In short, this house is invisible, it can't be seen by others. I hope you understand now," Demetria explained. "What if some mountaineers climb this mountain accidentally when I'm out of the house visiting my family? What's going to happen?" Clarice asked. "No need to worry about that. This mountain has a defense mechanism that will stop anyone from reaching the top. This mountain will release a strong rush of winds, poisonous snakes, bats, ants, and bees that will attack climbers. Aside from that, the house will also alert you if an intruder tries to climb the mountain top. The house itself will alert you via telepathy. That's how it works," Demetria explained. Thick silence enveloped the kitchen. Demetria broke the silence, "Do you have more questions, dear?" Clarice cleared the lump in her throat. "Um, regarding blood. Can I buy blood from the blood bank? I don't want to bite people's necks and drink their blood," she asked. "Of course, it's all up to you. If you like to satisfy your thirst with blood taken from the blood bank, no problem. Have it your way," Demetria answered. Clarice was shaking her head, astounded. "My head hurts. Can I go back to my room now? I think I need to rest in my room and process everything before I make a decision," she said. "Of course, you should go to your room now. We will just resume our conversation tomorrow," Demetria said, standing up and leaving the kitchen. Clarice rose to her feet and washed the dirty dishes in the sink. After finishing her chores in the kitchen, she proceeded to her room and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling as confusion continued swirling in her mind, making her anxious. There are a million reasons why she should accept Demetria's offer. One is that she will be able to return home and also gain immense power. However, guarding the vampires on the second floor is scary. What if they wake up one day and gang up on her? She will surely die at their hands. The truth is, she is not that confident enough to accept such a heavy responsibility. She would accept the power with open arms but hesitated to accept the heavy responsibility associated with the power. Everything about this house is fascinating and, at the same time, terrifying, blowing her mind away. The huge responsibility associated with obtaining immense power scared her. She doesn't think she is going to be mentally and physically ready for everything. Ugh, her head hurts from so much thinking! She massaged her temple and took a deep breath, trying to stabilize her chaotic mind. Tomorrow, if Demetria asks her if she is ready to accept the huge responsibility, she will tell her that she still needs a few more days to decide. Honestly, it's difficult to decide right now. Her heart and mind are a big mess. The power she will inherit from Demetria comes at a high price. If she accepts the huge responsibility, her life will never be the same again! ~~~0~~~