Rafael and the group snuck out of his house towards the only graveyard. Rafael walked calmly towards the grave of the late previous Mayor with a smile.
"No." Paisley frowned
"Yes," Tyler said picking up a shovel
The men and Delmira started to dig until they reached the coffin. A picture of the deceased was on the top and Rafael briefly looked at it.
"So when energy is taken from a body, what happens?" Rafael asked
Tyler answered, "Well, I think it will we'll see a body or skeleton. Since energy taking would remove the vitality of the person, so decaying should still occur."
Rafael opened the coffin and frowned, "Well. I don't see a body in here."
The twins were in the living with the father in silence. Alexandra turned her gaze away from Leonard and her brother looked back at him.
"What has been going on these days?" Leonard frowned "The school says that Alexandra barely goes to school and Alexander has started dodging classes too."
"We're learning about Mum," Alexander replied
Leonard replied, "...what?"
"This was her hometown. Can't we learn more about her?" Alexander asked
Leonard felt his son was different as he looked at him. He shook his head.
"Stop it. Your mother would want you to move on...." Leonard began
Alexandra turned to him, "How sure are you?"
Leonard frowned, "She died from a disease. What could I have done? I just want you to grow up-"
"Disease?" the twins repeated
An image of a woman in front of a balcony came into their minds. It felt so real and the emotions of helplessness that came with it. The woman was about to turn around when the memory ended.
"Are you sure?" the twins asked with stern voices
"Please stop. I'm trying so hard to forget-" Leonard went in an agonized tone
"Why do you need to forget her?" Alexander asked
"Why? What disease killed her?" Alexandra asked, "When can you tell us more?"
Leonard sent a slap across his daughter's face and was panting with rage. She looked back at him with a firm gaze.
"Are you guilty? Why react like that?" She smiled
Leonard exploded, "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY? SHE WASN'T NORMAL BUT I LOVED HER? IF ONLY-"
He paused and looked at them with an expression mixed with bitterness, rage, and something else the twins had never seen before.
"Ha. You take after your mother too much." Leonard laughed "Are you interrogating me?"
"....no." Alexander smiled "Have you lied to us?"
"Would I lie?" Leonard smiled
There was a thick tension in the room as everyone smiled at each other. Leonard couldn't see any emotion in his children's eyes and unconsciously shivered.
"Seems I'm cold, I better sleep early today." Leonard smiled and left
He didn't see the twins' eyes burn green, "He lied."
"Seems there's more to Mum's death than we thought." Alexander frowned
Rafael and the others dug up some other graves. Only the late mayor's coffin was empty and Rafael was in deep thought.
*rustle*
Everyone prepared themselves to run or fight. However, a girl emerged from the bushes to their surprise. Tyler and Rafael turned away when and started discussing with each other.
"Heartless." Paisley frowned
Tyler replied, " Your point?"
"Unbelievable" she scoffed "Hi there. Why are you here?"
" Because I'm cursed to die." the girl said trying to hold her tears "I thought I was alone."
"You're cursed?" Tyler repeated, "Prove it."
The child found offense in what Tyler said and showed her palm to them. There was a mark of a stunning dagger and they were in thought.
"My mum said this means I'll die." the girl frowned
Tyler grinned, "There's nothing there."
The girl was shocked and looked at her palm. Indeed, the dagger was gone and tears ran down her eyes. Rafael returned to the empty coffin and was in deep thought.
"Hurry home. Or it will return." Tyler threatened
She ran toward town. Paisley folded her hands and Tyler cackled.
"You understand, what you've done right?" Rafael's voice came from the six feet hole
They asked, "What?"
"That girl was someone's dinner. Naturally, they'll not be so happy," he told them having heard something
"I think they're already here." Paisley frowned
Tyler turned to where she was looking and saw an enormous crow.
"Buy me some time," Rafael yelled
The crow descended with its claws toward them. Tyler looked at them and his eye color changed. The claws hit a dome that appeared and glared into Tyler's orange eyes angrily.
"Disobedient prey!" a voice yelled
Tyler smiled, "Damn crow. Think you climbed the food chain?"
The dome turned into a cone and pushed toward the crow's torso. The crow's wings turned grey and collided with the tip of the cone. Strong gushes of wind and sparks spread around the two, who seemed evenly matched.
BANG
Blue liquid dripped from the crow's nape, it tilted its view and caught sight of Paisley behind. Tyler's cone pushed forward when its concentration faltered. The crow let out a cry and tiny ravens swarmed toward Paisley.
"Any time, Rafe," Tyler yelled
There was no response. Rafael found a hidden compartment on the sides of the coffin with an envelope and the mark of the curse was on it. Something caught his eye and he swallowed as he pulled off the fabric of the lid.
Scratches were everywhere and words in blood: SAVE ME, THERE COMING. Rafael's senses took over his body and jumped upwards as the lid shut itself. Rafael landed on the solid ground above as Delmira pushed the crow.
Delmira bit into its rump and Tyler's cone thrust through its wing. The crow was not amused. It created a shock wave to push everyone away and frowned seeing that Paisley had shot down half its ravens.
Rafael ran forward and a pillar of earth thrust into its breast. He noticed the crow's eyes widen as if shocked before his right hand coated in green armor slit its throat. Rafael stepped back, victorious, as the life drained from the crow before him. The earth shook slightly as it moved and filled up the graves that were dug.
"Let's get out of here." Rafael sighed beginning to walk away with Delmira
Paisley frowned, "He got stronger again."
Tyler remain silent and they followed after him.
"The man in that coffin wasn't the previous mayor." Rafael thought