As the captured footage ended, Skylar carefully studied it for a few more times, catching up with Fredric's words toward Monica. However, she couldn't stop herself from feeling warmed up, making her shake her head, amused by the footage.
"Always my protective brother." She amusingly muttered before adding something that caught her interest, "But based on what he said to her, it seems he saw something in Monica's future."
"Did that happen?" Medina curiously wondered, making Skylar nod.
"It does, but it will be a matter of time since rehabilitation takes time." She answered hopefully before asking, "Anything else I need to know?"
"Oh, I almost forgot." She softly chuckled before reporting, "He said, your daughter has a thing for ice creams and mint. Also, fancy his daughter."
"Really?" Amused, Skylar reacted softly.
"Playmate." She added, grinning before showing something else on the work tablet, saying, "And this, he wants you to have it. It's one of the coordinates where he found your prey. But he also added that he was somehow collecting corpses. Why does he do that?"
"Aside from being an obsessed stalker of my mother, he's still a lunatic doctor, perhaps doing some experiments." She answered with a sigh when a possibility crossed her mind.
"Like ghoul?" Medina guessed, making Skylar nod.
"That's something to consider and must be prepared for, but also, he's using them to hide his scent from the likes of us." She answered honestly before grinning darkly, "But the problem is that, we're more than vampires – we're Halflings, meaning we do human things as well, but more clever."
"Truth." Medina agreed, giggling before tuning serious, informing, "By the way, Irina had the same thought after finding out about his background during his days among the vampire nobles."
"Okay…" She nodded but noticed something was off on Medina's stern expression before asking, "And why are you pissed?"
"According to Irina, some vampire fledgling in the council kept flirting with her," Medina answered with a heavy but irritated sigh, making Skylar chuckle. "Not funny, Sky."
"I can tell you're jealous hearing that, but what did you say?" Amused, Skylar teasingly asked, making Medina grin darkly.
"Oh, I told her to deal with it before I kill that bastard once I pick her up." She proudly answered as she heard her possessive warning. She told her woman, Irina.
"Ohhoo, possessive." She teased, making Medina sigh happily.
"Sky, I know we had the mate bond thingy because she's a vampire, but aside from it, I had never felt like this before. Yes, I've been dating and had one-night stand mistakes before, but loving Irina is something I don't want to lose. She's making me feel better; I mean, I have to be better than I used to be, and I have never felt the urge to make someone happy and hurt myself in the process. I just want to see her happy and feel loved." Medina suddenly shared her feelings that she hadn't shared with anyone before, asking, "Is this what you felt around Vincencio when you reconnected? I mean, I know what I said before, but being in the same shoes and feeling it too, it's different. I don't want to fail."
"When you love someone, you would feel that, prioritizing their happiness before yours, it's natural. And to answer your question, yes, I felt the same way. But Medina, nothing is perfect, and failure, mistakes, or whatever it is, will come. But the question is, are you willing to stay and be with her through ups and downs? Will you still choose her?" Skylar sincerely shared her honest thoughts with her best friend before patting her shoulder, encouragingly, "My blood daughter, Irina, is not the kind of vampire who uses humans as a disposable blood bank after getting what she wants from them. You're her lifetime partner, I can see in her eyes and how she treated you."
"Thank you, I feel much better." She released a relieved sigh before adding, "I just need to let someone know about my feelings and perhaps help me decide about something."
"Are you talking about turning?" Skylar guessed, grinning, making Medina nod shyly.
"I'm willing to be like her if she asks," Medina replied, making Skylar hug her.
"My advice for now is to wait until you can't anymore. Talk about it little by little until the right time to change you comes along." She said, grinning happily for them, making Medina giggle.
"I'll keep that in mind." She smiled, sighing in relief.
***
After a make-believe scene at the office, Skylar kept her façade and began biting the tip of her thumb, feeling tense and worried about the status of her daughter as she rode in her car with her secretary. Instead of heading back to their old house, she was off to a certain villa. The villa was a huge private property, dark and having an abandoned-looking haunted house, spreading eeriness, but they entered casually, as if they owned the lot.
"This is new," Joey muttered as he carefully drove the car further inside the lot.
"Why haven't we seen this before?" Medina wondered carefully, shaking the eeriness of the mansion.
"Of course, you wouldn't know, because this house where Silas kept me hidden, healing from almost dying at the Black Tower Prison." Skylar amusingly answered as she shared a part of her past that nobody knows except for the old man, Silas.
As the car parked at the almost rundown garage, Joey was skeptical about opening the main door with a gun ready on his side when the door swung open. He jumped, stepping behind Medina, who glared in disbelief over his reaction.
"What? That's creepy." Joey defended quickly, making Medina sigh and take the lead instead.
"Chicken." Medina teased, rolling her eyes as they entered the house with caution.
"For a man once on the battlefield, you're a chicken," Skylar whispered teasingly, snickering behind them.
"Hey, I'm around the camp, inventing." He whispered back, defending himself.
But the darkness faded when the lights began flickering and a shadow standing by the fireplace took form, making Joey chicken out again. He was holding Medina's arm tightly, but at the same time pushing her as his shield. It annoyed the woman, but the shadow kept approaching them, and the flicking light was not even helping until it stopped in front of them, making Joey scream like a woman in distress.
"STOP SCREAMING IN MY EARS!" Medina shouted, making Skylar laugh behind them before she annoyingly added, saying, "YOU IDIOT!"
"Seriously, that's epic, and Cleo would love to see that." Skylar teased, making the man frown.
"It's not funny, Sky," Joey whined, pouting as well.
"But it is since it is not a ghost or a creepy projector that I place to scare trespassers out of the property. This is Silas." She chuckled but still explained briefly, making the old man show himself fully, amused by Joey's reaction, before Skylar continued, saying, "The old man that I've been talking about."
"I'm testing the lights when you came," Silas said with his raspy voice from an aged man. But when he looked seriously at Skylar, he quickly whispered, saying, "I heard you're plotting something and needed my aid."
"That's why I'm here. I need my old chains, my chair, and torture tools used against me." Skylar bluntly answered, colder with a grimace, making her eyes turn bloody before adding, "And if possible, as well my cell."
"It's prepared per his request," Silas answered, leaving the keys in her hand before adding softly. "Just to disturb the broken wandering souls there."
"That's the thing. I need their souls to end him once and for all." She answered coldly as they went to the basement, where she was hidden to heal. The basement was clean, neat, sanitized, and filled with medical supplies, including an operating table and recovery bed.
"Then use this," Silas said, giving her a triquetra medallion with an eye at the center, which was very familiar to Skylar.
"How did you get this?" She asked despite knowing the answer.
"You already knew the answer to that." He replied, smiling, before patting her shoulder and walking away. "Best of luck, General."
"You'll be rewarded." She said, making the old man chuckle while shaking his head.
"Give it to my grandson. He needed it better than I do." He said before leaving them alone in the house.
"Okay, what's that?" Joey quickly asked while Skylar grabbed some old cloth that had been used to treat her wound and was preserved well.
"He's being informed about this moment." Skylar muttered, collecting the preserved cloths before answering Joey, "It's one of my mother's family heirlooms. It channels the souls, particularly wandering ones."
"And you need it for?" Medina asked.
"I have to call the souls he just killed, and the Black Tower Prison is filled with unclaimed bodies and wandering souls that might have a connection with him." She answered, gathering some chemicals before Joey tucked them away in their bag.
"Do you know how to call the right souls?" Medina asked carefully.
"It runs in our blood." She answered, leading the way out of the house.
"Damn, ever since you're being awakened, you're getting weirder every night," Joey commented teasingly, but grateful.
"Still, you loyally followed me without doubting." She chuckled as they tiptoe deeply into the darkness toward the Black Tower Prison, which was just around three blocks away from the creepy mansion.
"Well, that's the thing we couldn't explain at all. You made us follow you without forcing us to do so, and because of that, we're grateful." He explained briefly, and his honesty warmed Skylar's heart.
"Then, thank you for still believing and staying with me." Skylar sincerely thanked them on behalf of everyone who kept their loyalty with her.
"No problem, let's get it done before they notice our whereabouts," Medina whispered as they got closer to the prison's backyard access.
They carefully waltzed inside without being detected and headed to the isolated area, the torture area. As they entered, they made sure to walk undetected while looking for Skylar's old cell, which was located at the very far end of the torture area. It was very isolated, dark, and colder than she could remember.
"Damn, you survived this cell? It's like you're living in the North Pole or Antarctica." Joey commented as they entered the cell before adding, "It's freezing here."
"It's not that cold…I think…" Skylar answered defensively, making Joey look at her in disbelief. It was truly freezing.
"Says the vampire." Joey refuted, making her glare.
"Sky…did they torture you with clothes on?" Medina asked curiously, catching Skylar's attention, making her stop pulling out the preserved cloths from the bag.
"Nope, half naked." She answered, shrugging her shoulders like it was nothing.
"Damn, that's harsh." Joey groaned, annoyed by what happened to her inside the cell.
"No human can survive two years without a sun or decent food or water to get by in this kind of temperature. You'll freeze to death." Medina said truthfully, pitying Skylar's past in the cell before hugging her apologetically. "Sorry, we're not here to quickly pull you out."
"None taken, but I'm very grateful that you did my request." Skylar responded with a chuckle, hugging her back with assurance before saying with a wink, "And besides, you're right. I died here, and Silas witnessed that I woke up differently and helped me. And to return the favor, I helped him and his grandson."
"So, what's next?" Joey changed the subject before it got too sensitive. They don't need tears at the moment since they have a task to do.
"Let's me channel those souls we needed to speak to." Skylar answered, settling everything she needed around her old chair, with chains and a blood stain, before adding, "We need those souls who knew Rudolf Strange."
Just by saying the name, the cell dropped even colder, and the light from the flashlight began flickering. Joey gasped, holding Medina closer as they began feeling an eerie feeling wrapping around the cell, particularly in front of Skylar. She felt them coming in such a rush just by mentioning the name, as if it were a curse. Without even a chant to call the souls, there was a presence standing by her old chair, filled with hate and rage, and then, its voice spat with venom.
'Who says that lunatic's name?'