Chapter 5

Sophia’s POV

While I was contemplating the prospect of using the spell my mom had given me, I suddenly realized that there might be a way to bring some sort of understanding between both communities and hence bring an end to this conflict that had lasted for eons.

Hence, I asked my mother, “Can I have a copy of the spell, Mom?”

“Of course, my dear, but what do you plan to do?” she asked.

I responded, “It’s kind of complicated, but it might work. It’s also kind of difficult to explain, but I have to leave for now.”

“Make sure you be careful,” my mom said as she waved.

“Sure, Mom,” I replied and ran off.

After this, I went to investigate the cause of the tension between vampires and werewolves. My investigation led me to a forest somewhere around seven miles from my home. I felt a pulling presence as I entered deep into the forest. It felt like I was being drawn to something.

“What could this feeling be?” I said to myself as I headed deeper into the forest. After walking for more than an hour, I arrived at a stream moving right through the forest, and here I felt a quiet yet enveloping surge of energy surrounding me. It felt as though I was being enraptured and almost floating away.

I started feeling my soul leaving my body gradually, and I saw the stars in the night sky drifting closer to me. I looked down and could see myself lying rather blissfully on the forest floor.

“What a beautiful feeling this is,” I whispered to myself.

I drifted happily through the night sky, not minding where this force was taking me, and I continued to enjoy the ride until something strange happened.

“Is that a mountain I see?” I said as I started realizing that I might have drifted too far.

I looked around only to see snowy mountains around me, and only then did I notice that there was a blizzard. I continued drifting until I entered a cavern inside one of the snowy mountains. It was dark and cold inside, and I still kept drifting till I started seeing something like a big hall with a fire in it, and then all of a sudden, I stopped drifting.

I looked around, and surrounding me were seven people dressed in some sort of occultism-looking robes with hoods on.

“Where am I?” I asked, looking around me at all of them. None of them replied.

“Are you the ones who brought me here?” I asked. “Answer me!!!”

After some minutes of silence, one of them looked at the others and said, “I told you this was a bad idea,” to which the other replied, “Learn to be patient.”

“Young child, you have been summoned here by us,” said another one of them.

“You stand before the Council of Deities, child,” said one of them, to which another continued, “We are the creators of all that exists.”

Obviously frightened, I asked with a rather trembling voice, “What do you want from me?”

“We have grown weary from watching this age-old conflict between your kind and the vampires, and we want to put an end to both of your kinds,” said one of them.

I was still trembling right down to my bones. Each of their voices sounded like they were many.

I slowly mustered up some courage and said, “Please, there ought to be another way to end the conflict.” I continued, “Not all of us want war. There are still some of us out there who’ll do anything for peace between our communities. Please cut us some slack,” I said while on my knees.

“That is why you have been summoned here,” said one of them.

Another continued, “Would you like to end this war?”

“Yes, of course. Who wouldn’t want peace?” I replied.

There was silence for a while. I felt anxious, not knowing what was going on. After a while, one of them said, “We’re going to grant you power. Enough power to put an end to this conflict.”

Then another said, “But if you fail to bring peace between both communities, you will all be erased from existence.”

“Stand up,” one of them said to me.

I immediately stood up, still surrounded by them. Suddenly, they began to chant something in Latin, and they all pointed their fingers at me. I could feel something in me that couldn’t be explained in words.

The chanting ended, and I woke up in the forest.

“Was I dreaming?” I said to myself as I woke up.

I stood up from the ground and began to dust my clothes. Just then, some mosquitoes started buzzing around me. I immediately swung my palm in the air to chase them away, and all of a sudden, everything stopped. I could see the mosquitoes in the air frozen. Everything, including the dust I got off my clothes, was frozen in place. I then realized that I had stopped time.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed, “Did I do this?”

I then waved my hand again but in the opposite direction, and everything started moving again. I was so ecstatic that I had forgotten how worried I had been before. I decided to put this new ability to the test.

“Hmmm,” I thought, “if I can stop time, then I should be able to move infinitely fast, at least in theory.”

Then I checked the time on my phone and set a timer to check if my theory would work.

Again I waved my palm to the right, and everything froze again. Then I started running back home. The moment I reached my house and got to my room, I waved my palm to the left, and everything resumed.

I hurried downstairs to check on my dad. When I got downstairs, my dad was watching the news on TV.

“Hi, Dad,” I said as I went to get some milk from the fridge.

“When did you get back?” he asked.

“I’ve been home for a while. I just wanted some alone time,” I said.

“Alright,” he said, “I’m going to bed now.”

“Goodnight, Dad,” I said.

“Goodnight, my dear,” he replied.

I was still not sure what happened to me in the forest, and I was determined to find out. It bothered me that this conflict was still existing and that those strange beings wanted us destroyed, but I was determined to save everyone.

I decided to meet my mother again to ask about the incident and tell her my plans if possible.

And even though I didn’t really know which way to go, I sure as hell knew my destination.