104. I'm Ready!

The next day. Clarice woke up feeling lethargic. She didn't have a good sleep last night. Everything she saw inside that illegal harvesting facility turned her stomach upside down. The level of cruelty and brutality damaged her soul. She can't forget the lifeless body of that young girl inside the drum. No one should suffer the same fate! No one! Then she remembered the other victims cramped in the room. It must be terrifying to be in their shoes. And the only thing that gives her satisfaction is the golden chance to kill those men. The way she kills them is brutal, but if it is the only way to stop them from killing innocent victims in the future, then they have to die. They are monsters, parasites that need to be completely annihilated from society so that the majority of citizens can live a safe and peaceful life. After everything that happened last night, she finally reached a decision. She is ready to become Demetria's successor in order to regain her freedom and become powerful. If she has power, no one can hurt her again, and she can protect herself and her loved ones. She gets up from bed and enters the bathroom to do her thing. When she emerged from the bathroom door a few moments later, a smiling Demetria was already waiting for her. "Good morning, dear! How was your sleep last night?" Demetria asked. "Horrible!" Clarice replied. Demetria chuckled. "You will get used to it. What I'm trying to say is that what happened last night won't happen every day, so relax. Not every day is dark and unpleasant," she assured her. Clarice massages her grumbling stomach. "I'm starving! I threw up last night after I entered the bathroom," she said. "It's perfectly normal, dear. You will get used to the smell of blood soon," Demetria replied casually. "Let's go downstairs. Breakfast is ready," she added, heading to the door. Clarice followed Demetria outside. They descended the staircase, went to the dining room and ate breakfast consisting of waffles, a sunny side up egg, ham and bacon with hot coffee. After they finished breakfast, they went to the living room. Demetria grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV. "Do you want to watch the news about our escapades last night?" "Yes!" Clarice replied. She was eager to know if the victims had already been rescued and taken to the hospital for a check-up, so they could be reunited with their families. Demetria browsed the news channels and chose footage of the police raid on the illegal harvesting facility. Clarice watches the news attentively. She doesn't care about the men they killed last night. She only cared about the victims and their well-being. After two hours of watching the news, Demetria finally turned off the TV. "Do you have any questions, dear?" she asked. "Who is your contact in the police department? Are you working with them in secret?" Clarice asked curiously. "My contact in the police department is Capt. Martha Huskinson. To her knowledge, I'm a random guy called Black Eagle. That's my alias. I never revealed my identity because I didn't want the world to know about my existence. She promised me in her life that she would protect my secrets. Every time I communicated with her about cases I wanted to contribute help with, I always used a male voice as my disguise," Demetria explained. "Ah, I see... Do you always help her with special cases like last night?" Clarice asked. "Not always, only in extreme cases like terrorism, a bomb threat that threatens the lives of many people in public places such as buildings, schools or hotels. And also cases like last night. I had worked with her before on solving complex human trafficking cases, illegal organ harvest syndicates, kidnappings, tracking down drug lords and other related cases..." Demetria elaborated further. "That's a tough and dangerous activity," Clarice commented in a tensed tone. "Not really. If you had power like mine, you could do anything. Solving hard cases, finding hard-to-find criminals and tracking illegal organizations is easy-peasy if you are as powerful as me. I help the police department once in a while by solving extreme cases to alleviate boredom in my life. What's the use of my power if I can't help other people? Right?" Demetria said. Clarice breathed deeply. "You have a point." "But in your case, you don't have to get involved in solving cases for the police department. It's just my prerogative. There is nothing you need to do at all except guard the vampire beasts imprisoned in the sacred house. That is your main responsibility. But sometimes, when bad things get out of hand, and my heart tells me to do something, I have to act for the greater good, especially if many lives are in danger. Just bear in mind that you can't eradicate all the bad people in this world. When bad people die, another group will follow in their footsteps. It's a never-ending cycle of killing, rinse and repeat, an endless loop we can't escape. That is the way our lives operate on this planet," Demetria stated calmly, her words filled with wisdom. "So you mean, I can still live a normal life with my family and not live a superhero life?" Clarice asked for clarification. "Yes, you can. As I said before, helping others and solving cases, chasing the bad guys and punishing them is not a requirement to be my successor. You only have to kill three vicious people, and you have already done that. The rest is up to you. No one can force you to do anything against your will. That is your privilege as my successor," Demetria replied in a clear manner. "Ah, okay, I got it." Clarice nodded her head in comprehension. "Um, I already killed three bad guys yesterday. What's next?" she eagerly asked, wanting to finish her training so she could finally go home and reunite with her family. Demetria was pleased with her trainee's willingness to become her successor. "I'm glad you have finally embraced your new fate. Let's go back to the sacred mountain because the next step will happen there," she replied. "Are you now going to turn me into a vampire today?" Clarice asked apprehensively. "Can we just skip that part? I don't want to become a vampire!" she protested vehemently. Demetria shook her head. "No. I'm sorry dear, you can't be my successor if you are not a vampire." Clarice sighed heavily. "After turning into a vampire, can I still eat human food?" she asked worriedly. "Yes, of course, eating human food is already embedded in your system. You can still eat human food like me. I don't always eat food every day, only on a few occasions," Demetria replied. Clarice smiled in relief. "That's good to hear! I'm not ready to give up on my cravings for food." Demetria grinned. "Anything else, dear?" "I have one last request. Um, after you turn me into a vampire, I want to drink blood from the blood bank. I don't like going out and hunting for prey to satisfy my blood cravings," Clarice voiced her concern. "Regarding that matter, you have nothing to worry about, dear. You don't need to bite other people's necks. You can drink my blood, the same process as when I drink your blood," Demetria offered. Clarice smiled in relief. "That's good to hear!" Demetria grinned. "So, are you ready now to go back to the sacred mountain? I plan to transform you into a vampire tonight, if that's okay with you," she added. "Tonight is fine. But I want to get some food first from a restaurant in the city, so I no longer have to cook food later. I want to prepare myself mentally and physically for my transformation tonight," Clarice said. "Sure thing, dear. Let's go to the restaurant in two hours. I need to go somewhere first," Demetria said. "While I'm out of the house, you can watch TV and do whatever you want but don't leave the house. Do you understand?" "Yes, I understand," Clarice replied. "Don't ever try to escape! I could find you anywhere," Demetria warned her. "I won't escape because I have already made up my mind to be your successor," Clarice said sincerely. "Good." Demetria smiled, pleased with her answer. "I'm leaving now." She walked to the door and left the room. Clarice went back to the kitchen, tidied the area and returned to the living room to continue watching the carnage last night. After she finished watching the news footage, she checked other news reports from all over the world. There are earthquakes, tsunami alerts, widespread fires, kidnappings, road rage, accidents, rapes, robberies, trade wars and many more. The list goes on and on. Bad news keeps happening every day. She realized that the problems of the world would never end as long as there are bad people ruining other people's lives. Natural calamities keep occurring, adding more suffering to people's lives. She released a deep sigh. She needed to watch something lighthearted, a comedy romance to unwind and relax, distancing herself from stressful situations. She was truly scared of her transformation from wolf to vampire. In order to be free from Demetria's clutches and go home to her family, she needs to be her captor's successor. She has no choice! She scanned the free movies available, found a romantic comedy film and watched it for two hours to entertain herself. Three hours later, Demetria returned to the house. "Are you ready to go to the restaurant, dear?" Demetria asked. "Yes, I'm ready," Clarice answered. "Alright, let's go!" Demetria said. They went to the restaurant, bought delicious ready-to-eat foods and then proceeded to the sacred house on the top of the mountain.