Chapter 87 – Uncle Cain
••• Aleena’s POV •••
“Aleena, today we are going to Zalarus’ tomb,” Dad said as we were eating breakfast.
I looked up from seeing my breakfast.
“One of the witches told me it is getting more difficult to contain him. She said Zalarus’ aura is getting stronger, and it seems like someone deliberately wants him to awaken,” Dad explained grimly.
“Someone wants to awaken him?” I was shocked.
“Yes,” Dad nodded with a gloomy expression.
“But who would want to awaken something dangerous?” I asked.
“Someone who wants to conquer the world?” Colton said while munching his food.
“Is it possible to awaken him?” Kyson asked.
“It is possible. But he would need a vessel,” Dad said.
“A vessel?” I asked. What kind of vessel?
“A body. He needs to occupy someone’s body,” Mom answered.
“But wouldn’t the witches know the person?” I asked in confusion. The witches have been guarding the tomb. If someone deliberately wanted to awaken Zalarus, they should know about it or even be able to stop them, shouldn’t they?
“The witches also need rest and sleep. It takes a lot of energy to seal Zalarus. My best guess is that person takes advantage of the time when the witches are resting,” Dad said.
“There’s no residual evidence of that person?” Kyson asked.
“No. I think one of the witches is helping him,” Dad replied sullenly.
“One of the witches is siding with the traitor?” Again, I was shocked.
“That’s my best guess. Or it would be impossible for the witches not to know,” Dad said, and we all fell silent.Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.
If Zalarus is awakened… I shuddered at the thought. I couldn’t imagine the catastrophe it would bring to the world.
“We’ll go after Colton finishes eating his breakfast,” Dad said, and we all looked at Colton, who still had a mountain of food on his plate.
Feeling all eyes on him, he looked at all of us. “Hey, I need to replenish my energy since I just recovered.”
“Are you sure you will be strong enough to go with us?” Kyson asked, and I was sure he was mocking Colton for his loss when fighting against me yesterday.
Colton rolled his eyes. “Those wounds were nothing.”
“Nothing? They were so nothing that you needed two persons to help you stand straight,” Kyson mocked Colton again.
“Sister, look at your mate. He doesn’t respect his brother-in-law!” Colton complained.
I laughed, “But what Kyson said was true. You couldn’t stand up by yourself yesterday.”
“You are right. My sister is the strongest. I lost to you,” Colton said proudly, and my jaw nearly dropped.
Colton, no doubt, had a sister complex.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full and finish your meal fast, Colton. We have no time to waste,” Dad reprimanded him, but his eyes were tender.
“Alright, Dad,” Colton nodded and proceeded to wolf down his food so fast I was scared he would choke.
“Slow down, Colton,” Mom told him.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t choke,” Colton said and kept wolfing down his food until there was nothing left on his plate.
“Okay, I’m finished. Let’s go!” Colton took a glass of water, downed it, and stood up.
We walked toward the parking lot. We would be taking two cars. Gamma Grey would be driving one car with Kyson and me, while Lucas would be driving the other with Mom, Dad, and Colton.
“Uncle Cain is not going with us?” I was surprised as I didn’t see Uncle Cain even during breakfast.
“No. He told us last night that he had something to do, and we haven’t seen him since then,” Gamma Grey answered as we all got into the car.
“Ohh…” I replied and didn’t think too much of it. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma were usually busy with their own tasks, so I didn’t think there was anything wrong with Uncle Cain’s absence.
“How long will the drive be?” I asked Gamma Grey as he started driving.
“Not long. Around fifteen minutes or so,” he replied.
“Fifteen minutes? Zalarus’ tomb is not in the suburb?” Kyson asked in shock. I was shocked, too. I hadn’t realized that something dangerous was located in the city center.
“‘It’s under one of the parks. We didn’t find out about it until many members started to weaken and die around that park. We then investigated and found his tomb way under the ground. We wanted to move it, but no matter what we did, it wouldn’t budge. Since then, we closed off the park and guarded it heavily,” Gamma Grey explained with a grim expression.
The situation was more dire than I had thought. If Zalarus was awakened… That thought made me shudder again.
Gamma Grey drove toward the park, and silence filled the car. The closer we got to the park, the more uneasy I felt.
I looked outside the window and saw a dark aura ahead of us, and suddenly, a foreboding feeling engulfed me.
“Gamma Grey, drive faster!” I urged him. If I wasn’t wrong, then Zalarus was close to being awakened, or worse, he had already been awakened. That dark force kept on spreading; it even surrounded the car we were in, and I felt suffocated.
“Calm down, Aleena,” I heard Kyson’s voice through the mindlink.
“Look at that dark energy. He must’ve been awakened,” I replied urgently.
“I know, but we have to wait until we reach there to do anything,” he said calmly.
I knew he was trying to calm me down, but it was impossible for me to calm down with the dark force surrounding us.
Gamma Grey didn’t seem to feel it until he parked the car and alighted. “Shit! Is he awakened?” he cursed. “Let’s go!”
I saw Dad, Mom, Colton, and Lucas ahead of us, so we ran to catch up with them.
“Is he awakened?” Gamma Grey asked Dad.
“It seems most likely. I’ve already mindlinked everyone to stay away,” Dad answered grimly as we hastened our steps toward the center of the park.
The park was now totally blanketed by Zalarus’ dark energy; it looked like nighttime instead of daytime.
We arrived at what seemed like a very large monument depicting the Night Shade Pack’s symbol.
Dad quickly pressed one corner of it, and it opened up, showing staircases leading below ground. He led the way downstairs, and we followed him quickly.
The view that greeted us when we arrived at the chamber containing Zalarus’ tomb shocked us all. The witches guarding the tomb had all died, looking skinny, like skins and bones, only as if the essence of their bodies had been sucked out. There were only two figures still standing.
“Cain, what are you doing?” Dad shouted.
“Cain… You promised to let me serve by your side if I helped you,” a witch whom Uncle Cain was now strangling said in a broken voice while she tried to pry Uncle Cain’s hand around her neck.
“I lied,” Uncle Cain said lazily and snapped the witch’s neck the next second. He threw the witch’s body away and turned to face us.
Uncle Cain no longer looked like his gentle self. Instead, he looked sinister with tattoos on his arms and neck. It was not difficult to see that he had become Zalarus’ vessel.
“Cain, how could you do this? How could you betray your pack?!” Dad shouted again.
“Do you think I’m stupid and want to be a Beta all my life? I want to be the strongest; I want to conquer the world. With Zalarus, I’ll be invincible!” he said. Even his voice had changed. It overlapped with a voice dripping with venom.
“You are crazy! Zalarus won’t let you do it! Don’t you know Zalarus will overtake your body and kill you in the process? No one can contain him!” Dad kept shouting, but his words fell on deaf ears.
Uncle Cain laughed sinisterly, and the sound sent goosebumps all over my body.
“But it’s done, Brother. Zalarus and I are one, and we are going to conquer the world… Starting from the Night Shade Pack!” Uncle Cain’s venomous voice sounded.
“What should we do?” I asked no one in particular anxiously. The world would be over if we didn’t kill Uncle Cain and Zalarus.
“We fight. Aleena, you and Mom try to seal him while we distract him,” Dad said in a serious voice.
His words reminded me of the Moon Goddess’s words. Zalarus couldn’t be killed; he could only be sealed.
“But if we sealed him within Uncle Cain’s body, they would truly become one,” I told Dad nervously.
“We have no choice. They have combined themselves, and it’s the only way. Hopefully, once you seal him, his power diminishes, and Cain won’t be able to use it anymore,” Dad said with a terrible expression.
“Okay,” I quickly agreed. It must be hard for him to hurt his brother, whom he loved, but there was no other choice.
“Grey, Colton, Kyson, Lucas… I’ll be needing your help,” Dad said, and they all understood and nodded.
“Aleena, Lily… Both of you must try to protect yourselves. You will be his main target,” Dad told us, and Mom and I nodded.
“Cain, I’ll give you one last chance for the sake of our brotherhood,” Dad tried to persuade Uncle Cain again.
“Look at you trying to be an understanding big brother,” Uncle Cain mocked Dad.
“Then we’ll have no choice but to fight you,” Dad said before he shifted into his wolf form. Dad’s wolf was magnificent. It was all black and huge. His aura changed to be one of an Alpha King. It was even as powerful as a Lycanthrope.
Once Dad shifted, the rest followed. Mom and I shared a look, and we both knew that other than protecting ourselves, we needed to protect Dad, Kyson, Colton, Lucas, and Gamma Grey, too.
Just as they were about to attack, something happened to Uncle Cain. His muscles moved and bulged. It was unsightly. Uncle Cain’s body was like a lump of meat that was blown up like a balloon to the point that it was going to explode.
“Zalarus, what’s the meaning of this?” Uncle Cain yelled.
“Do you think you are worthy to be my vessel? You are too weak to even contain me. I’ll be taking over your body,” Zalarus replied in both his and Uncle Cain’s voice.
“You…” Uncle Cain couldn’t finish his words as his body kept getting bigger and bigger. The last thing we heard was Uncle Cain’s agonizing scream before his body exploded, causing the room to shake badly as if it’d collapse the next second.