Louisa's POV
"What do you mean, Darren?" I was still in the clouds.
"I guess we can let the ghost explain it to us," Darren said.
Then, he suddenly moved towards a huge rock and disappeared behind it.
Then, I heard a man screeching behind the rock.
"Ahhhhh!"
It wasn't Darren's voice.
"Please don't kill me! Please!" the voice exclaimed.
Then, Darren reappeared again, holding a white ghost in his hands.
"That's the ghost!" the salamanders cried out together.
I took up a firing wooden stick and moved it closer to the ghost.
I saw a man, who was about my height, covered underneath a ragged white sheet.
"You're not a ghost! You're a..." I said and pulled off the sheet bluntly.
Then I saw him.
A skinny boy with a round face as pale as a piece of paper.
"Ahhh! Take that torch away from me!" he yelled.
I saw the skin on his porcelain face melting like wax because of the light of the torch.
I moved the torch away.
The wounds on his face immediately healed. It worked like magic.
He quickly took the sheet from my hand and covered himself up again.
"I recognize him. He's the vampire's son." Mr. Salamander said.
"Who are you?! Why are you pretending to be a ghost, hiding in this cave?! What have you done to my friend Mr. Weasel?!" I asked angrily, shooting a string of questions.
"I'm not pretending to be a ghost. I'm a vampire. My name is Will, son of Vincent, the Vampire Count. I can't be exposed to the sun. This cave is relatively safe for me, but occasionally, there're still rays of sunshine. That's why I have to cover myself all the time." he said.
His big round black eyes were glinting behind the sheet.
Then, he saw Mr. Weasel in my arms. His muscles were shrinking.
It felt that he was slowly changing into a skeleton.
"Oh, no. This is bad," the vampire boy said.
Then, his eyes shifted to the golden egg on the floor. He picked up and sighed.
"He wanted to take away my father's possession, now he's cursed, just like all those people who have come to this cave and tried to steal from me. They all slowly lose their muscles and die as a skeleton. I had to pull their bodies out of the cave and dumped them around the village, hoping their families would identify and collect them. But their family didn't even want to get closer to them, because they thought it was a contgious plague. So they just watched them dying in front of their eyes. I intentionally spread out the rumor that there's a ghost in this cave to ward people off the cave. But it didn't work. They kept coming and taking things away from me. So, I had to remove all the valuables to another place. But I guess I had missed this golden egg, which was found by this weasel," the boy said.
"Save him! Or I'll burn you!" I yelled at the boy.
I had never threatened anyone before like this.
I was shocked by my own voice.
"I can't lift the curse. Only my father can pardon him," the boy said.
"Where's your father? Let him save my friend!" I said.
"We're no longer on a speaking term," the boy said in a cold voice.
I moved the torch closer to him and said, "I don't care about your family problems! Save my friend or I'll burn you!"
The boy desperately looked around.
"Don't even think about it, boy," Darren said and snapped a fire on his fingers.
The boy panicked, "You don't understand! My father's mad now! He's out of control! He surely won't come back to this cave, because this is the place where he went crazy. I don't know what was in his twisted mind, but there was definitely no place for me, His one and only son! I saw him once, but he didn't recognize me and wanted to kill me. Do you understand what I'm saying? My own father was trying to kill me! I will never ever see him again!"
Somehow, I managed to identify with the boy.
I myself was once subjected to the same kind of fear. So I really understood what he was talking about.
But I had to save Mr. Weasel.
"Let's get out of here now!" I said to the boy, "Let's go into the forest and look for your father!"
"He's just a weasel. Why do you even care?"
"He's not just a weasel! He's Mr. Weasel! He has a big family who's waiting for his return! He risks his life looking for food for his family. He never finishes his meal because he wants to save and store some for his family. He's got a lovely wife, six adorable children, a dozen cousins, and..." I couldn't finish my sentences and burst into tears.
My friend was literally withering in my arms, but I couldn't do anything about it.
The boy's eyes were flashing with tears as well.
He thought for a brief moment and said, "I agree to go with you into the woods and help you to look for my father. But I can't guarantee that you will find him and I don't know how to persuade him to lift the curse on your friend..."
"Leave that to me! I'll figure it out. Now, let's move," I said and walked out of the cave with Mr. Weasel in my arms.
Darren held the boy's arms and followed me.
The salamanders also followed.
I turned back and said, "You don't have to come with me. It's too dangerous..."
"Vampires don't drink our blood, because they like it warm. You can ride on our back, so we move faster in the woods," Ms. Salamander said.
I frowned and said, "But..."
Mr. Salamande said, "Come on. Don't leave me alone with my sister. Climbed on my back. I'll take you. My sister will take the warlock and the boy. Quickly. We're running out of time."
As we were moving swiftly in the forest, I looked around desperately, looking for a flying angry man with a pair of mad eyes.
It's already getting dark.
The torch in my hands was dying, and so was Mr. Weasel.
Then, I heard the sound of a bird's flapping wings and a brief screeching.
I thought to myself, there's no bird in the forest, so that must be it.
My heart was pounding like crazy.
Then, I saw him.
A giant shadow emerged from the darkness, with a ragged red cape and long wavy hair.
I thought he was coming at me, so I lowered my body to dodge his attack.
However, he didn't even seem to notice my existence.
He flew past me and charged directly at Darren!
"No!!!" I screamed.