Chapter 113 - Something hidden - Part 3

Before he had the time to dodge, the two snakes had pierced their fangs deep into Luke's arm with no intention of leaving anytime soon. With a groan, Luke tried to yank the two snakes off his arm but to no avail. The two snakes stayed glued, even coiling their bodies around Luke's arm as they deepened their bites. Blood quickly splattered across the floor, dripping down with each passing minute.

Panicking, I drew my knife from my pocket and stabbed one of the snakes, but it did close to no harm. Their skin was as hard as a rock, and my knife couldn't cut through them. Luke slammed his arm against the floor, attempting to dislodge them, but they persisted.  ​​

"Damn it!!" He cursed, groaning as more blood flowed out of his skin. No matter how hard he hit the snakes, they kept their bites strong and deep in his arm. 

What do I do?! I glanced around, looking for something—anything—that could get the snakes off his arm, but there was nothing better than the knife in my hand. I can't even stab them without risking hurting Luke's arm.

"Violet, take my gun and shoot them!" Luke shouted, still smashing his arm against the floor. 

"What?! No!" I quickly refused, knowing very well that silver bullets could do even more harm to him than those snakes could ever do. "What if I accidentally shoot you?!"

"I'll be fine, so quick!! I can't afford to lose more blood," he said before throwing his gun out of his pocket, causing it to tumble to the ground before my feet. "Aim at their heads," Luke said. 

Though still hesitating, I watched as Luke's complexion slowly faded away at the amount of blood he'd lost and decided to comply. With my trembling hands, I picked up the gun and aimed it towards the snakes. I walked closer and crouched down, putting my gun to the snake's head. 

I used my other hand to support my trembling hand, trying to aim better as I couldn't let the bullet touch Luke. His wounds would be much more severe if I let the bullet touch him. 

"Relax... and shoot," Luke said, and I took a deep breath before counting to three, making sure to aim right at the head before pulling the trigger. 1... 2... 3... "Ugh!"

Along with his groan, the snake I had just shot let out a screech, loosening its bite. The snake got off Luke's arm and left the other one behind, squirming on the floor. It wriggled on the floor for a few moments before turning to ash. 

The other snake noticed the danger he would be in as he watched his friend die from the bullet and swiftly released Luke's arm, slithering away into the darkness. I was going to go after the snake but decided to stay after seeing Luke's state. 

"Are you okay?!" I ripped off his sleeves, seeing the color of his arm gradually return, but the blood continued to ooze out of his skin. His arm was red from the snakes coiling around it, and four little holes were left on it. I wiped the sweat from his face, seeing him still frowning at the pain. 

To add to the wounds from the snakes, the silver bullet must have grazed his skin a little when I shot the snake, not to mention how he was smashing his arm against the floor. We needed to get him treated as soon as possible before anything worse happened. 

"Yes, I'm—fine," he said after a little pause, forcing a smile. "This will heal in no time," was what he said, but there was no hint of his wound healing. Even the redness failed to move away. 

Is it normal for snakebites to be this severe? Though there were only four small holes, the amount of blood he'd lost from them was insane. He'd even made a puddle out of his blood on the floor. 

"We should head back," I said, and he jerked his head towards me, clearly disapproving. "We can come back here any other day, but we need to get you treated as soon as possible. We don't even know if those snakes are venomous or not." 

"They're not," he replied, his veins bulging in his neck as he did so. It was obvious to me that he was enduring pain. "The silver bullet must have scratched my skin a little just now, so it's slowing my healing ability. We should continue what we are here for," he motioned to the dark stairway, smiling. 

"I don't want anything bad to happen to you," I frowned at his refusal. At times like this, I really wish that I was a werewolf and not a witch. That way, I'd be able to heal him the way he could.

"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to me," he ċȧrėssed my cheek, unintentionally smearing his blood on me. "Oops," he chuckled, cleaning the blood off my cheek with his clean sleeve. 

Seeing how he was being persistent about continuing our search, I took my knife and ripped off the hem of my dress, cleaning it before tightening it on Luke's arm. Though he was surprised, he quickly smiled and thanked me. 

"We should make it quick," I grumbled, but offered him my hand. Taking my hand in his, we decided to continue our journey to go deeper underground. I took my lantern that I'd previously let go, at the same time, confirming that there were no other things such as the snakes, before finally proceeding downstairs. 

Because of the prior occurrences, it seemed as if I'd forgotten about the foul scent, which had suddenly resurfaced. It was considerably worse this time. Just what exactly is down there that causes such a foul scent? It was the most revolting smell that I'd ever encountered.

Reaching the last stairway, I realized that it was not only the smell of black magic but also something else. Even Luke smelled it.

"It smells amazing down here," Luke said sarcastically, scrunching his nose due to the smell. It must have been a lot worse for him. 

I held my lantern up close to my face, attempting to make out the ground beneath my feet. Not only was the scent much worse down here, but the room was also much darker. As one lantern was not enough to light the whole room, we searched for another lantern and found one somewhere in the room.

After lighting the other lantern, I could see that the room we were in right now was considerably larger than the one upstairs, but there were fewer things here. One large table, a few jars with unknown contents, a very big cauldron, and a whole bunch of papers. 

I approached the table, curious about the contents of the jars. I raised my lantern and gasped when I saw what was inside. I found eyes, fingers, tongues, ears—everything you'd find in a human body. I wasn't expecting to find anything good, but neither did I anticipate it being this horrible.

Moving on, I found a few bottles filled with black liquid. Snakes were coiling around the body of the bottle. Luke raised his brows when he noticed the bottles, as though recognizing them. 

"I know this one," he said, taking one battle to his hand. "It's the potion the rogues used in the attacks. They used this to enhance their power." 

"So this is where they make the potions," I said, and Luke nodded. Looking around the room, I noticed a box in the corner of the room. "What's that?" Luke took notice of the box and led me there, not leaving me alone even for one second.

Opening the box, a wave of pungent smell immediately hit us. 

"Hearts," Luke trembled at the sight, his grip tightening on my hand. "Hearts of my people." 

"Did they use those hearts to make the potions?" He nodded to my question. So they used someone else's heart to enhance their power. I wonder just how much more disturbing the black witches could be. 

Despite his best efforts to keep his anger inside, I could sense it growing. 

These hearts were supposed to be beating in someone else's body, but now they were all left behind to rot like this. The owner of these hearts could have lived another day if it hadn't been for these horrible potions. They were someone else's father, mother, son, friend—a precious existence to the people who cried for their deaths. But here they lay.

"Come on," I pulled his hand, not wanting him to face the horror any longer. I couldn't imagine what he was going through right now. He'd witnessed so many deaths of his people, and here the cause of their deaths was treated as if it meant nothing. 

"It's not your fault," I ȧssured him, but he couldn't seem to think the same. "Those who were blinded by their greed and malice are to blame. Those people don't seem to understand how precious a person's life is."

He had always blamed himself for the horrible things that had happened when they were, in fact, not his fault. Perhaps, it was inevitable for him, given that it was the burden that he had to bear by being both the Supreme Alpha and the Lord of Wonsvile. The burden would always be there for as long as he held these titles. 

"But we're different," I cupped his cheeks, trying to make him look my way. "We know just how precious a person's life is, so we have to do our best to prevent the same thing from happening again. This is not the time to grieve, not the time to be angry." 

His red eyes finally met mine, the pain palpable in them. 

"We have to save the villagers."