Chapter 69 : Death to Nikolas

Rakiza and Ajella dashed into Theo's cottage. It was late in the afternoon. They need to make quick decisions. Lupe just followed them.
"What are you going to do?" Lupe inquired.
Rakiza was ecstatic about his plan. "As I said, Theo and Nikolas are the ones we will save."
"The "A Tower" is heavily guarded and covered in CCTV cameras," Lupe explained. "We can't get to the top floor without being noticed. There's one more thing. Vampires can detect fresh blood from humans. "
"Oh, Rakiza, is it true?" Chin was terrified. "We have to believe whatever it is," Lupe said. "He had been with the vampire for a long time." Rakiza added. "But, Lupe, we must save Nikolas from the death penalty."
"There's another chance Nikolas won't be killed," Lupe revealed.
"What is it, Lupe?"
"His mother," Lupe said, "We can only hope that a mother's love would triumph over whatever crime Nikolas had committed."
"I don't think so," Rakiza said, dismissing Lupe's ray of hope.
"What are you thinking?" Lupe inquired.
"I saw what kind of woman Tessa Augustus was." Rakiza was cool. "She was in the hall, introducing me to her colleagues. I was treated like a cockfighter about to be slaughtered. And I saw no mercy in her eyes." She looked at Lupe. "But I'd like to hear any other options from the two of you."
"I believe you should devise a strategy to save Sir Nikolas," Lupe said, "and I'll sneak in A Tower and Reign-Bridge Publishing House."
Rakiza was enticed by Lupe's final statement, "Did you say, Reign-Bridge Publishing House?"
"Yes, it was an old publishing house run silently by Sir Nikolas."
"I know that place," Rakiza confirmed. "I was a writer and content creator at that publishing house. I had no idea Augustus owned it as well. "
"They have many businesses that operate during the day and are managed by humans like me," Lupe clarified. "Perhaps I should sneak in there first, before I do in the tower."
"That's a much better idea," Rakiza agreed. "However, Lupe, you should exercise caution."
"Don't worry, I have my own connections with loyal colleagues in Augustus's domain," he smiled. "I'll make it. And for the two of you? Please wait for me in this cottage. But you must conceal your presence here. And you'd better get started on what you're planning to do. And trust no one."
"You'd better be careful with your task, Lupe," Rakiza advised.
"There's something else you should be aware of," Lupe sighed.
"What's the matter, Lupe?" Rakiza inquired.
"I'll try to return during daylight, but if I don't appear in that timeline, something may have happened."
"And if I appear at night, please don't trust me." He hopped in his car and drove away.
Rakiza became agitated as the clock approached dusk.
Chin inquired, nervously. "What's the plan, Rakiza?"
"Erase all our marks in this cottage, and we'll be staying at the green house where the poisonous herbs grow," Rakiza explained. "We need to make a concoction out of the wolfsbane plants. Chin, we have to create our own weapon against the vampire. "
"Yes, Rakiza," Chin said, saluting Rakiza.
"We'll rummage through Theo's cottage for a sprayer." Rakiza rested her hand on Chin's shoulder. "Let's put poison in the tank."
"Have you seen them dead as a result of the wolfsbane?" Chin inquired once more.
"No. But, "Rakiza got excited," the few chances we have against vampires are still chances to paralyze them rather than kill them."
"So, what are we waiting for?" Chin exclaimed.
"Let's rock the cottage," Rakiza said as she entered the cottage next to Chin.
Rakiza's gaze was drawn to the wall where she had left a message for Theo for the first time. New messages appeared beneath her writings.

*"I WILL FOLLOW YOU."
Signed  by Theo*

Rakiza, reading aloud, exclaimed, relieved that she was no longer afraid of Theo. He had obviously escaped from the dungeon. Rakiza was grateful to whoever assisted him. "Theo has escaped, Chin!" she exclaimed, laughing.
"What?" Chin was delighted.
"Yes, we need to find Theo after we make a poisonous spray."
***
It was already getting dark. Theo was still keeping an eye on Rakiza's house across the street. And they noticed that the men in Rakiza's house were still present. Even though some of them had already been inside, they did not bother lighting the house.
From nowhere, Ajella appeared next to Theo. "They won't leave the house, Theo. They're dying to get Rakiza? " Ajella stated.
Theo speculated, "Perhaps Rakiza was already aware of the men in her home."
After a few more minutes of waiting, they noticed a car approaching Rakiza's house and stopping in front of it. And a large man stepped out of the car. He was the vampire's commander.
"That's the troupe leader who caught us on the cabin," Theo retreated a few meters."We need to move back and keep our distance from that vampire," they said quickly, before the vampires could smell them. They could still hear what the vampires were saying.
"They were still looking for Rakiza," Theo explained.
"What are your plans now?" Ajella inquired.
"We'll have to wait until the morning to decide what to do next," Theo sighed. "In the meantime, we must monitor their movements and anticipate their plans."
"So you're going to follow them?" Ajella inquired.
"If that's possible, we'll do it."
"That's too dangerous."
"But Rakiza should be safe," Theo said, with longing in his voice.
***
Rakiza and Chin both searched the green house for any tools that could be used to make an improvised weapon. They were on the lookout for anything that could hold gallons of poisonous spray or liquid laced with wolfsbane poison.
Chin worked tirelessly to create a wolfsbane potion for the vampires. "This is thrilling. I'd like to know how this poison affects the skin of vampires. "
"We need to find a crossbow weapon with spikes dipped in wolfsbane," Rakiza reasoned, referring to the vampire's weapon. "The wolfsbane poison must penetrate their skin and blood."
"But Nikolas was a vampire; are you prepared to kill him?" Chin inquired.
"Every rule has an exception. I can't kill my savior." Rakiza stood up and took out the knapsack pump sprayer. "Look at this."
"Wow," exclaimed Chin. "That container could hold gallons of liquid poison."
"I'm going to use this to spray poisoned water on vampires."

Chin jumped and crawled under the table when she noticed lights from a car's headlights entering the cottage. "Enemies are approaching, Rakiza."
Rakiza stated, "That could be Lupe, who has returned with good news; let's get out of here and approach that newcomer from the dark."
The black car stopped in front of Theo's cottage. Lupe got out of the car.
"What have you got, Lupe?" said Chin.
"Stop right there, Lupe. Rakiza was aiming her knapsack spray at Lupe. "Hands up in the air, Lupe."
Lupe smiled. "You have good memories and are good at following orders."
"You said don't trust anyone at night."
"All right," Lupe said, smiling.
"I'm sorry for this," Rakiza said as she sprayed wolfsbane on Lupe.
Lupe laughed, "Oh, I'm going to take a bath later."
"I'm sorry, Lupe." Rakiza shrugged. "Just checking," Rakiza said. "All right, the bathroom is on the left."
"I saw a towel in that cupboard over there," Chin added.
After a few minutes, Lupe was dressed in his new black suit, his uniform. And they gathered around the table in the cottage, all three of them. A small lampshade stood in the center, next to several poisonous water sprayers.
"Sir Nikolas is scheduled to die the next day," Lupe said sadly.
Rakiza couldn't believe what she had just heard. "No, he can't die," cried Rakiza. "He came to my rescue. He's not going to die. I will not let Nikolas die for saving my life. How did you obtain that information? "
"I told you I had a few loyal Reign-Bridge Publishing connections in and out."
The night shifts were saddened by Nikolas's situation.
"They were all devastated by the elders' decision to punish Nikolas to death for rescuing you, and they're all wishing for you to surrender," Lupe continued.
Rakiza couldn't believe what Lupe was saying, but he was right: she was the only one who could save Nikolas. "We must save him," she said solemnly.
"Just remember, Rakiza, we're not soldiers. We're just normal young students of the arts with no military training. How can we fight vampires? " Chin worriedly replied.
Rakiza stood up and walked back and forth, realizing that they were nothing compared to vampires, and that saving Nikolas would be suicide.
Rakiza grabbed the knapsack sprayer and quickly turned off the lampshade. "If they're vampires, we could put this wolfsbane spray to the test."
Lupe removed his crossbow from his pack. Chin grabbed the two handy sprayers and aimed them at the door.
"If things get worse, run off Chin," Rakiza advised.