Chapter 5:

Rainbow Lunar Halo

Vampire Lanterns


"Luka? Did you sense another werewolf in this world since we came here?" Luka shook his head and turned to Mirko with a questioning face. "Why are you asking me this out of a sudden?"
Luka noticed something reflecting in Mirko's eyes and he followed his gaze into the sky. He understood why Mirko was asking him about that. "Could you do it?" Luka nodded. "I guess we have no other choice."

Mirko looked at Danica and then at Elena inside the car. He started to push her forward away from the vehicle. "We should go back to the cabin and take shelter there." Danica protested. "I can't leave my best friend here alone to die!"
Mirko carresing her shoulder continued to walk with Danica. "She won't be alone... Luka will stay with her and if she agrees, she will survive, but... I will tell you about it at the cabin... Come!"
A last glance at her best friend and she obliged to go with Mirko. Luka waited till he couldn't see them. Elena was barely hanging to life. He leaned in directly into her face to ask her a question. He knew she was losing her senses and was already slowly slipping away into the netherworld.
"Do you want to live?" A small tear escaped from Elena's eyes. Luka warned her. "But for that, you will have to pay a price, you will have to abandon the human life and become something like me. Will that be okay?"
Elena used the last energy she had to nod. Luka smirked and changed into a werewolf. He looked up into the sky through the broken back window to double-check if it still shone. When a rainbow lunar halo appears around the full moon a new werewolf can be "born" from a human if he or she gets bitten.
In Luka's world, it's prohibited to create new werewolves. They are allowed only to reproduce naturally to keep them in check because mixing human blood with a werewolf's input makes them incalculable.
This was the last chance for Elena to survive her gruesome injuries. Saliva dripping from Luka's muzzle, he slowly came closer to her neck. One bite... and she will become a fury monster like him. Elena closed her eyes and gave herself to Luka.
Luka tried to be as gentle as possible to not cause her any more pain. He pressed his fangs into her flesh sinking them deeper by the second. Elena gave out a small cry out of that pain. Luka pulled away from her, transformed into his human self, and began observing Elena. He hoped it wouldn't be too late for her.
Instantly Elena began to heal right in front of him. Luka sighed out of relief. He could smell her human scent changing into a more animalistic kind. He was satisfied and for sure he knew, he could handle her once she changes.


At the cabin, Mirko found and lit some candles. He sat down across from Danica and began to explain what was probably going on with Elena. How Luka is changing her into a werewolf. Danica shocked expressed her concern.
"Don't worry, Luka wouldn't do that without her consent. If she chooses to rather die, then he will just keep her company so she wouldn't be alone in the last minutes." Tears began to flow down Danica's eyes again. That thought of losing her best friend reappeared.
Luka continued. "But if she chose to live instead, we had to clear the premises. A "newborn" werewolf will be wild and very impulsive for the first hours of its new life. We could get killed by her, that's why I had to take you far away. You see, the world I come from highly prohibits this kind of practice for these reasons but here, nobody can stop us. "

Danica understood and hoped Elena would choose life despite becoming a werewolf. Silence suddenly filled the room. Danica stole a glance at the handsome Mirko. He noticed and smiled at her warmly.
Danica blushed and sighed. "If I knew, you two weren't really a danger, everything that happened could have been avoided." A serious expression appeared on Mirko's face. "I must apologize to you. Everything is our fault that you two got involved and injured."
She accepted his apology and reached out putting her hand over his. "I am thankful you stayed and helped us, despite having your own goal. But... why are you following Yan?!" Mirko leaned to the backrest of the chair.
"Since you know about what Luka is... Me and him come from a whole different world, which exists parallel to yours. In reality, Yan's real name is Demyan and he is a Vampire Prince,... well no... he became the King recently.
He was sent here to your world to retrieve something important, which would revive his fiancee and mine and Luka's childhood friend. He had just a short time and we were losing hope since he didn't return after twenty-five minutes.
In this world one year is one minute in ours. So basically he was reborn as a human, but apparently, he lost all his memory... We need to find him and restore his mind to his original."
Danica was amazed by Mirko's story. "What exactly are you searching for???"
Mirko smiled at her. "It's a flower which can attract an important butterfly. If you crush his body and wings over a sick or deceased person, he or she will heal or come back to life, but you are able to do that only in a short time period."
Immediately she asked why they couldn't do that too with Elena. "The butterfly exists only in our realm and the flower somewhere in this world. We wouldn't have enough time or chances to save her that way." Danica slumped in her seat. "Right, I forgot about that..."

A rustling sound outside caught their attention. Luka holding hands with Elena appeared in the moon shine both smiling.