Chapter 3

CALLS UNANSWERD

The shapeshifter, Claudia, who stole the ring from Oliver, reported back to the person who had sent her.

“Were you successful?” he asked.

“Yes Omar. “Oliver would never suspect you,” Cluadia said with a smirk.

“Why would he?” “After all, I gave him the ring after taking it from the Vatican,” Omar said.

“I bet they’ll be blaming the vampires because I broke the neck of that man, what’s his name? “ “Welcome!” Claudia said.

Omar’s whispers kept on disturbing Oliver because Omar knew that he would cave in once he couldn’t have enough of them, and he was right. Oliver’s decision to give it to the priest was prompted by Omar, and he knew Oliver would resort to the priest in the end. He just needed a medium to get the priest out of the church, and the death of a loved one was the only option.

By the time Father Michael was done conversing with Mr. Welhourst, it was already getting dark, and he had to be on his way. When he got into his car, Claudia followed him from behind until he reached his house. Before he got down from his car, she entered.

“Hi…bye” Claudia said with a smile and then she broke his neck and got out of his car.

His death meant that Father Micheal would be out of the church for some minutes giving Omar the time to use Claudia’s shape shifting abilities to his advantage.

“So… what are you going to use the ring of the damned to do?” Claudia asked.

“Oliver might be the most powerful creature in this city but as long as I have this ring in my possession, I am everything he is and even more” Omar declared sternly.

“What about me? When are you going to grant me my immortality?” Claudia asked.

“Be patient little one” Omar advised.

Claudia was just 19 years old and she served Omar like a king because he saved her from the vampires. She was a shape shifter, thus, very manipulative.

Oliver and the priest got to his house. Roland walked up to them immediately after hearing Oliver drive in.

“How did it go?” Roland asked impatiently as Oliver headed to the dining room to take a seat.

“He killed a vampire,” Father Michael replied, annoyed.

“Why?” Roland asked.

“To upset them.” Now we have the vampires against Oliver. They’ll do whatever they can to make you pay. “Even if it means upsetting the balance between chaos and order,” Father Michael proclaimed.

“They have the ring! I know they do!” Oliver claimed.

“They don’t! “I told you, but you just had to do what you want!” Father Michael barked in anger.

“Congratulations, Oly, you just started a war,” Roland said in disappointment, then Oliver took a bottle of wine and threw it against the wall.

Ludacris entered a church called Abundant Angels. It was only a few miles away from St. Xavier’s. The pastor there could tell that it wasn’t just a normal human being that walked into his church.

“What do you want?” Pastor Zachariah asked with courage.

“Have a seat, Zack,” Ludacris said, compelling the pastor to do so. He then sat next to him.

“Have you heard of Oliver Stones?” Ludacris asked.

“Who’s asking?” Zachariah asked.

“Tell me the truth to every question I ask… understood?” Ludacris asked compelling the pastor.

“Yes,” the pastor replied.

“What did Mr. Stones do to you in the past?” Ludacris asked.

“He took my wife away.” “I wanted to marry Oliver’s mother, but she chose to marry that bastard,” Zachariah answered scornfully.

“Good. Now, there’s a way to get revenge. I know you’ve wanted that for years. “Am I right?” Ludacris asked.

“Very much,” Zachariah answered.

“Luckily for you, I have just the solution,” Ludacris said with a smirk.

Roland dropped Father Michael off at the church before he headed to the Vatican headquarters. Father Michael entered the church and called for Damian, but he didn’t respond. Damian spent most of his hours in the church, so it was odd not to see him around the church premises.

Father Michael was about to head to the parish house when he noticed blood dripping from the ceilings. He then looked up to receive the shock of his life.

“No, no, no, no,” Father Michael repeated in shock.

“No! No! No!” He was already in tears when he yelled. He had just seen Damian’s dead body hung up on the ceiling. He was covered in his own blood. It was then that it dawned on him that Olive had just started war, which could pause the search for the ring of the damned.

As Roland drove to the Vatican headquarters, he drove past a crowd gathered in an alley. The police were present as well. It was tagged as a crime scene. Roland quickly parked and then came out of his car. He walked up to a random woman and asked what had happened.

“Hey, evening. “What happened here?”

“See for yourself,” the woman replied, devastated. She paved the way for him as he made his way through others. He managed to get to the front of the crime scene. There he saw what he wished he could unsee, even though he had seen worse.

“Bloody hell,” he cursed to himself. There lay five innocent humans stacked upon each other like trash. They had bite marks on their necks. They were all covered in each other’s blood. On the wall was written in their blood—Oliver Stones was here.

“Sorry, sir, but I’m afraid you have to step back a little,” an officer ordered politely.

“No problem, officer,” Ronald said as he stepped out of the crowd and into his car. He then immediately put a call through Oliver.

Oliver was making out with a lady when Ronald’s call came in. She was already undressed and ready for the next step, but Oliver had to pick up the phone.

“Come on, baby, you don’t have to pick up,” she said, biting her lips in a seductive manner. She began dragging him to the bed. Oliver tried to resist the temptation, but he couldn’t.

“I’m sure whatever it is surely can wait,” he said to himself, and then they began kissing until they fell to the bed.

“Goddamnit! “Fucking pick up Oliver!” Roland stressed in anger. He tried again, but still got no response from Oliver. He then decided to call the priest.

The priest was already burying Damian at the back of his house, right after cleaning the church. While he said prayers for Damian on his grave, he received the call from Roland. He was vexed, so he didn’t pick up the call. He just ignored it and continued praying for Damian.

“Damian, my boy, I didn’t drag you into my twisted world because I didn’t want you to get hurt. I didn’t want you to be used as leverage for anything whatsoever. My world is a world filled with things I told you didn’t exist. “If I even tried to convince you about their existence, you would think I was crazy,” Father Michael chuckled.

“Your future was bright.” You were very holy. You prayed, you fasted, and you always joined the sisters in church cleaning. I didn’t deserve you. “I’m very sorry, Damian, and I hope you forgive me,” Father Michael said in tears, then buried his face in his grave.

Ronald was frustrated with everything. He decided to drive down to Oliver’s.