Chapter 61 : Draining the Blood

When the vampire soldiers pushed Rakiza into the marble hall, she screamed in agony. She couldn't tell which part of her body was hurting.
When she looked up, she realized she was in the center of the hall, surrounded by people in the upper seats. They were all staring at her. Their expressions were filled with glee. Their clothes were quite pricey. The women were tall and dressed in queenly attire. And their gaze was fixed on her.
Their gaze seemed to pierce Rakiza's muscles. And then a woman's voice announced. "She's the cure we've been looking for a long time."
"That's Tessa." Rakiza remembered.
Everyone in the hall was excited as they watched Rakiza. They were all eager to touch her, but they were stopped by the vampire soldiers.
"Just calm down, my dear brothers and sisters. We have to go through the proper process of getting the medicine. And the only one who can do that is our trusted Ardoja. " Tessa added.
Ardoja? Rakiza remembered. She is the... the character in the book that Miss Brinson lent me, the vampire witch in the "Book of Zella."
Tessa went on to make an announcement. "Don't worry, we can all benefit from that cure; we just showed her to you, so you can believe that your help in finding the "cure" was not in vain because she has already been found and her name is Rakiza."
Looking at Rakiza, everyone in the room shouted for joy and applauded. She was like a useless lion in the middle of the laboratory, waiting to be dissected.
Rakiza saw little hope because her savior, Theo, was already in his cold prison beneath the dungeon. Her body trembled with a mixture of emotions; fear, anger, and excitement at the prospect of discovering if she truly was the cure for vampires.
In which case, she becomes a cure for vampirism.
The vampires' fun had already begun after Rakiza was introduced. There were waitresses carrying a tray containing several cups containing a red substance. It was fresh blood.
Dancers were performing. The event represented a successful celebration. They are grateful because they have already seen what they desired. Rakiza was the name.
Tessa stood up and announced again before they could drink the blood from the cup.
"We've been waiting for this moment for over a century, and now it's here. For success, and for our victory to claim the entire world. Let's have a toast. " They dropped a little pear bread in the cup, then lifted their cups and said, "Salute." Tessa raised her cup, and the rest followed.
They drank the blood from the cup and clapped, but what happened next shocked Rakiza: she heard a gong sound, and all the vampires around her turned in one direction.
Rakiza noticed what they were looking at and spotted a tall woman in a black gown. She is wearing a black veil. A black bird was perched on her shoulder. Her eyes were bright red, her brows were thick, and her lips were black. Her gaze was fixed on Rakiza. Rakiza's muscles seemed to twitch at the sight of the witch.
The hall was deafeningly quiet. They seemed to be anticipating what the witch would say. Tessa, however, was the first to speak up.
"I am honored to introduce to you Ardoja, our guest who will be in charge of extracting the medicine from Rakiza." Tessa extended her hand to Ardoja. And everyone rejoiced and applauded.
Prior to speaking, Ardoja approached Rakiza, who was lying on the floor, and signaled to the soldiers to stand by Rakiza. Rakiza was quickly pushed up and forced to face Ardoja.
"The last line of Dali's blood," the witch said quietly, touching Rakiza's cheek with the back of her hand.
Rakiza was taken aback by the witch's cold hand. What shocked her the most was the witch's claim that she was Dali's last bloodline.
"So, you read Zella's book as well?" Rakiza replied.
"I wrote that book, I wrote that journal to tell the story of the bloodstone to the next thousands of generations."
Ardoja's eyes sparkled with delight at the fulfillment of her prophecy that they would hold the cure, and she turned to face the crowd.
"Please allow me to bring that cure to my lab for research purposes." And expect me to obtain the medicine we sought thousands of years ago from her. "
Everyone applauded, and Ardoja motioned for the soldiers to take Rakiza with her. As they left the hall, Rakiza felt the joy of the vampires and the pain of the werewolves, and she cried, remembering Theo.
And as she turned to face the crowd, her gaze met Tessa's, and Rakiza asked herself, "Who are you?"
Tessa gave her a demonic look.
***
The door to Nikolas' chamber opened, and Lupe rushed in, saying, "Your mother, Tessa, returned."
"What do you know about her?" Nikolas inquired.
"Our men had picked up some negative information," Lupe hesitated to reveal.
"Tell me the truth, Lupe."
"Your mother's general was holding Rakiza captive and was concealed."
Nikolas' jaws clenched. "Did they get the room where my mother kept Rakiza?"
"At the old printing house." However, it was heavily guarded, and the night shift workers were given time off. "
"OK, Lupe, thank you." He sighed, "You've fulfilled my request." Sadness reflected in his eyes.
"Do you have anything else for me to do, Sir?" Lupe said, refusing to leave the boss.
"No, as I said, you've already done everything I asked of you," Nikolas said as he faced the glass wall. The city lights can be seen from there.
Lupe had still not left.
Nikolas sighed and turned to face Lupe. "All right," he said, taking an envelope from the table. It's a letter. He then gave it to Lupe. "Deliver it to Rakiza's dorm, and give it to Chin, Rakiza's friend, so it doesn't end up in the wrong hands."
Lupe obeyed his boss and set out, determined to complete his mission.
Nikolas was looking somewhere, trying to figure out what had happened to Rakiza at that moment, when he closed his eyes and whispered, "Rakiza, please stay alive."
***
Rakiza was chained on the table in the dark room that appeared to be a laboratory, lying and waiting to see what the witch would do next. She struggled to loosen the chain, but it was hopeless.
Rakiza just sat back and waited for fate to decide her fate. Ardoja wasn't present. She was the only one in that room. Then she wondered why the witch Ardoja had said she was Dali's last bloodline. She was already aware of Dali and Zella's story. Zella was a vampire who could walk in the sun. Rakiza pondered. "Yes, that's why they're going to take me and Theo is correct. It's possible they'll suck all my blood until I die. They'll drain my blood, but is it true that vampires can be cured by my blood? "
"If that's true, I can also cure my mother with my blood," she exclaimed. She wanted to know if she truly was the cure for vampires.
And she called out to Ardoja. "Hey, Ardoja, where are you? Start taking the medicine that's on my body or in my blood, Ardoja! Take out the bloodstone from me! "
And then she heard footsteps, and she knew she was right: Ardoja had changed into a doctor's uniform.
"Are you ready?" she asked, smiling.
"Yes, I'm fully ready," she said, pausing to ask, "Am I going to die?"
"Maybe."
"All right, start the process," Angela said with a sigh.
"You'll never be afraid to die like Dali," Ardoja said.
"Nothing can stop you from doing this to me, right?"Rakiza asked calmly, her face numb.
"OK, let's start draining her blood," Ardoja said to his assistant.
The assistant approached and began attaching tubes to Rakiza's arm, pricking her with a needle in preparation for blood sucking.
"It's a long process, so just close your eyes," Ardoja comforted. "And dream of yesterday."
In her dream, she was a newborn baby girl. She was crying and wrapped in a diaper. Despite the fact that she was a baby, Rakiza felt like she was the baby crying. Then another dream appeared. A two-year-old girl was running through the woods. An animal was chasing her. A canine No. It was a wolf, of course. She wanted to kill it because it was supposed to feed her, but then a man appeared. The adult male hacked the wolf.
The wolf fled with the wound. She cried a lot, and the man hugged her. The man was crying. His hair was white, but his face was young. And then he said something. "I'm sorry, Rakiza, but I have to hide you; I'll keep you away from me so you can be saved. I'm sorry, daughter."
The child cried and was fine. She trembled with fear that she would be separated from her father, and then a woman appeared. It was Veronica. Veronica picked her up and drove her to her destination. Veronica removed her from the silently crying man.
Rakiza, the baby, cried. The man had walked away.
Then she heard a man's voice and a scream. Rakiza had awoken. "If you take the last drop of her blood, she'll die."
Rakiza became aware that something was approaching. He was dressed in black and fighting with Ardoja.
Rakiza's rescuer had arrived.