Chapter 5

"Harley!!"

"Harith!"

"Where are those two idiots?!" Lolita stomped impatiently.

"The smoke we saw a while back is gone. It's too suspicious," Chang'e said upon scanning the clear sky. The smoke going up before is no longer visible, it was as if it has disappeared out of nowhere.

"Let's go east. That's where they headed," Nana suggested as she leads the way.

"Molina, I summon thee!" she casted a spell and her mystical, blue creature appeared. Its long whiskers touched Nana as its large eyes blinks at her. "Please, protect us, Molina."

The blue creature walked ahead of them for it could sense an enemy and would be able to catch them no matter what.

As they went deeper, they saw fogs around a single particular area. It's strange for fogs to appear in broad daylight and when the sun is illuminates its light at its peak.

"These fogs are strange," Chang'e said. Molina started to sniff something and dared to go into the foggy place but Nana stopped it.

"Harley! Harith!" she shouted at the top of her voice. Letting Molina go by itself may harm all of them. Not knowing their opponent and suddenly barging in is a risky plan.

They were startled when a woman of blond hair and unusually deep red lips appeared before them, coming from the fog. Her hips swayed to the sides, showing off her perfect figure.

"Girls, what brought you here in such a dangerous place?" she asked as she walks towards them while licking her lips.

"Step back, everyone!" Lolita warned as she steps out from the touch of the fogs. Chang'e and Nana did the same while Molina froze in place with its eyes wide open.

"My," the woman said. "Don't be too cautious. I ain't going to eat y'all."

Meanwhile, inside the house, Dearg is entertaining Harley and Harith with their ancient possessions.

"Wow, this is interesting," Harith commented as he ran his finger on an old yet mystical-looking orb. It slowly glows red as his finger retreated.

"Step back!"

The two boys immediately looked across the door where the voice came from. They looked at each other with suspicion and raced towards the exit but before they could hold the doorknob, Dearg appeared before them with a smile on her face.

"It ain't time yet to leave, young boys," she said as she tried to hold Harith but he slapped her hand away amd stepped back.

"Bring Harley and Harith back!" Nana yelled as she snaps her finger, summoning her huge, magical boomerang which is much bigger than her size. Molina ran towards Due as she tried to jump on the girls. Due was transformed into the shape of the blue, magical creature.

"Take this!" Nana yelled and released her boomerang with ease as if its huge size does not matter to her.

"Under the moon's guidance,

Magic orbs, thou shall cleanse the evil!" Chang'e chanted.

Molina disappeared, Nana's boomerang hits Due right on the abdomen, breaking her bones and ribs. They clearly heard the breaking sounds which convinced them that they're winning the fight. Chang'e's magical orbs purified the woman until she couldn't move. Due was lying on the floor, deformed. Her arms, legs and back are all dislocated, making her look like a mannequin trash. Chang'e's magic still lingers around her and slowly, it disappeared.

"Harley and Harith must be under the illusion of these fogs. We must help them out," Lolita stated as she swings her magic hammer around, getting rid of the fogs.

As they pressed deeper, they heard bones cracking which sent shivers down their spine. They slowly looked back and witnessed how Due stood up while her body goes back to its normal form. Her once broken backbone snapped back to its original place like it was just something ordinary. She smiled at them, revealing her sharp, white fangs. Her once black eyes turned red and her blonde hair grew bloody scarlet.

"Give me blood! Youngsters like you should be squeezed out of blood!" she shrieked as she lunges forward but Lolita, despite shaking in fear, stepped forward, having her weight focused on her right foot, and swung her magic hammer at one hundred and eighty degrees from her left towards her right.

"Have a taste of this!" she screamed, her magical hammer grew big enough to hit and throw Due away from them. Lolita's hammer returned to its normal size and she shook her arms for it has been a long time since the last time she had used her magical weapon.

"Harley!" Chang'e yelled, hoping that she is heard by the genius mage.

"We're here! We're stuck with---- A vampire!" Harley yelled, his voice seemed distant and hollow.

"I remember this red-blood sucker! She's a vampire haunting the forest for centuries! Harley! She is the Dearg-Due woman! She's the Dracula of the forest!" Chang'e recalled. "By any means, do you remember how to take her down?!"

"Dearg-Due?!" Harley grunted as he repelled the attack of the vampire woman whose fangs glints under the fire's light.

Harith summoned his special keys and threw them right at the woman.

"Useless!" the woman shrieked in excitement. Her pale skin grew paler, her eyes turned red and her long, blonde hair slowly turned scarlet. Her once slender fingers starts to grow into sharp, and pointy claws.

"Stupefy!" Harley shot at her and she froze in place.

Harith felt relieved when the spell worked but his hair stood at its end when they heard her creepy and shallow laughter.

"That doesn't work either!" Dearg claimed and lunges towards them but Harley managed to cast another spell.

"Sectusempra!"

A powerful lightning emerged from Harley's wand and struck the vampire out from the house. The illusion starts to fade away, revealing the dense forest once more.

"Harley! Harith!" Chang'e yelled as she saw the two guys emerge from the fog.

"Sorry but I haven't figured out yet how to stop that vampire," Harley apologized as they gathered around, supporting each other's back.

"Such little brats," the two women said in chorus. The fog gathered and circled around them and with a snap of a finger, they suddenly merged into one.

"Just as I thought, she is that famous Dracula," Chang'e confirmed.

"She drinks blood, huh," Harith whispered.

"If she's a vampire, we've got to behead her or strike her chest with a stake," Nana said.

"Sounds like a plan," Chang'e agreed.

"Give me some time so I could control the wind, I could behead her," Harley asked.

"How many minutes?" Lolita asked.

"Three would be enough," he replied as he starts to focus on his magic.

"Nana, you guard him while we go on the offense," Harith said as he leads the attack.

"You can't defeat me!" Dearg-due claimed with her hollow voice. She laughed out so loud that it echoed throughout the vicinity, scaring the birds away. "Five little children to drink costs a lifetime! Now, come to mama, my darlings!"

With her magic orbs, Chang'e spreads out her arms and chanted.

"Moon spirit,

Give me thy blessing

And purify the evil!"

Dearg-due simply smiled creepily and and cut through the orbs like they were just popping bubbles. This time, Harith summoned fifty of his enchanted keys and with just one wave of his hand, they all targeted the vampire and pierced through her chest, right where her heart is. Dearg-due opened her eyes wide and she coughed out some pale red blood. She hissed at their direction as a small trail of blood oozes out at the side of her lips.

"She's dying!" Lolita said happily.

"With the wind spirit's provision,

I shall cleanse this world from evil dwellers,

Mighty wind,

Cut through the evil's very being!"

Harley swings his wand across and a fast gust of wind went right towards the vampire and cut her head off.

They waited for a moment, watching the head fall down on the ground. As if time ticks by so slowly, the body of the woman slowly falls behind.

"We did it!" Nana exclaimed with jubilee. "You two are safe!"

She jumped and gave Harley and Harith a tight hug. Chang'e and Lolita walk towards them and acknowledge each other's help. The fogs start to disperse as well.

"I can't believe we almost got tricked," Harith commented.

"I understand why you got under her fingers. She's a stunning beauty!" Lolita stated.

Just as the moment they felt their victory, it was also the moment they felt like darkness is slowly crawling over them.

"My," they heard a familiar voice from behind. "That took time for me to come back. Now, shall we have another play?"

Dearg-due was standing right behind them unscathed. Her eyes are redder than before. And instead of scarlet hair, it grew black as dark as the night. Her sharp and pointy fingernails grew sharper. Her fangs grew even more visible than before. Her pale skin seem to glow beneath her dark clothes.

Harley and Harith stepped forward, motioning the girls to stay behind them.

"Let me kill you!" she screamed as she attacked.