The Blood Contract
Chapter 31: Very, very bad news

Chapter 31: Very, very bad news

Dr. Marlowe arrived at a shabby restaurant tucked away in a secluded part of town. The building looked as though it had seen better days, with peeling paint and a flickering neon sign that barely illuminated the entrance.

As soon as she stepped out of the taxi, she took out her phone and quickly texted a particular number, announcing her arrival.

The cool morning air brushed against her skin, carrying the faint scent of damp pavement and distant traffic. After sending the message, she walked into the restaurant, the bell above the door jingling softly.

The interior was just as unremarkable as the exterior, with worn wooden tables and chairs scattered across the room. She ordered drinks for two and took a seat at a corner table, her eyes scanning the room with a mix of caution and anticipation.

A few minutes later, a young lady walked up to her and sat down on the opposite chair. She was dressed in a black hoodie that concealed most of her face, her movements quick and deliberate, as though she were trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. The hood cast a shadow over her features, but Dr. Marlowe could still see the sharpness in her eyes.

"Good to see you again, Maria," Dr. Marlowe spoke, flashing the girl a warm but guarded smile. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, as though she were afraid of being overheard.

"No time for pleasantries, Marlowe," Maria uttered, her tone brisk and businesslike. She reached for the drink on the table, poured herself a glass, and downed its entire contents in one swift motion. The liquid seemed to steady her, and she leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to a low murmur. "I have very limited time, so let’s get down to business."

"Of course. What do you have for me?" Dr. Marlowe asked, her curiosity piqued. She leaned in closer, her hands clasped tightly on the table, her knuckles whitening slightly from the tension.

Maria nodded, her expression grave. "I found Elias’s location. He is being held at cell number eight in the underground dungeon. I heard he will soon be experimented on, but I don’t know how true or how soon that will be. So, whatever you want to do, do it fast," Maria revealed, her words hanging heavily in the air. The revelation brought a flicker of relief to Dr. Marlowe’s heart.

"Thank you, Maria. I knew I could count on you," Dr. Marlowe expressed her gratitude, her voice tinged with sincerity. Her face softened for a moment, but the gravity of the situation quickly brought her back to focus.

"Don’t mention it," Maria said, waving her hand dismissively. "Now, onto the main reason I’m here. Do you remember the youth and longevity serum that the Council has been trying to perfect all these years?" she asked, her tone growing more serious, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied Dr. Marlowe’s reaction.

Dr. Marlowe nodded her head, her brow furrowing. "I remember it. What’s up with it?" she asked, curiosity flashing in her eyes as she waited for Maria to continue.

"Good news: it’s already perfected, thanks to Serena’s blood. Bad news: Mr. Salvador is back," Maria said, her voice dropping to a near whisper. She glanced at her wristwatch, her fingers tapping nervously against the edge of the table, before looking back at Marlowe, who now looked thoroughly confused.

"Who is Mr. Salvador?" Dr. Marlowe asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Her mind raced, trying to piece together the significance of the name.

"The founder of the Council of Vitae," Maria revealed, her voice low and steady, as though she were delivering a bombshell she knew would shake Dr. Marlowe to her core.

Dr. Marlowe couldn’t hide her confusion. "What are you saying, Maria? The Council of Vitae has been in existence for 300 years now. The founder has been dead for more than 200 years. How can he return? Did he return from the dead?" Her voice trembled slightly, betraying her disbelief.

Maria nodded her head, her expression grim. "It’s hard to believe, I know, but you know that I would not risk everything, including my life, just to come here and tell jokes. Do you remember the story of the scientist who married a witch? The story we all called untrue?"

"I remember the story," Dr. Marlowe answered, her voice barely a whisper. She couldn’t forget it.

It was a story about a scientist who fell in love with a beautiful witch and decided to marry her. She soon became pregnant with their son, but a few months later, she was struck with a strange illness that left her unconscious for days.

Scared for her life, the scientist went on a research spree to find a way to cure his wife’s illness. The cure he finally found involved altering her genes, but he had no money to carry out such a procedure.

So, he approached a popular mafia don to ask for funding, offering protection from the authorities in exchange. He was given the funding, and he cured his wife. A few months later, she gave birth to their son, who ended up having extraordinary abilities. One of those abilities was mind control, which the man and his wife exploited to provide adequate protection to the mafia while he provided them with all the money and resources they needed for their research and the good life.

Word soon spread about the couple’s rise to fame and glory and how they came about it. The revelation stirred up anger and resentment in the hearts of some people, and they began to seek ways to kill the boy.

With his superb mind-reading and mind-controlling abilities, they could not kill him by approaching him directly, so they invented a different way and eventually ended the boy’s life.

This brought profound sadness to the parents, who decided they were going to bring their child back to life and have been doing everything possible to achieve that, even up till this day.

The story had been whispered several times to the ears of the people working for the Council of Vitae, and they were told that was how the organization was formed. But none of them believed it. There were no official records, and it was too absurd to believe, especially when witches were involved.

Recalling the story now, Marlowe didn’t understand why Maria had brought it up. What did it have to do with what they were talking about?

"Well, I’ve done my research, and with my current findings and what I saw with my own eyes, I can beat my chest to tell you that the story is true. There are some missing details and a few false pieces of information in the version we were told, but most of it is true. Mr. Salvador is the founder of the Council of Vitae, and he is still alive. His wife, the witch, is dead. The youth and longevity serum was produced for and tested on him. He’s over 300 years old, but I promise you, as we are speaking, he looks like he is in his early 40s. His wife’s blood was used to produce the first youth and longevity serum that kept him alive up to now. He was already at the brink of death before this new one was perfected," Maria revealed, her voice steady but laced with urgency. She checked her wristwatch again, her fingers drumming impatiently against the table.

Dr. Marlowe was extremely confounded. She looked at the lady in front of her with disbelief written all over her face. Her mind struggled to process the information, her thoughts swirling like a storm.

"That is not the worst news, Dr. Marlowe. I only have a few minutes left, so listen carefully. He has been looking for a way to resurrect his child for years and has not succeeded—until now. I can beat my chest to tell you that they have found a way to bring the child back, and they are currently in a celebratory mood. Lucian and Serena’s child will be an exact replica of the child they are trying to bring back to life—not in terms of looks, but in terms of abilities. And I promise you, Marlowe, this is not good news. That child is bad news—very, very bad news. If that child makes it to this world, we will all be in trouble. So, you have to do everything in your power to stop that from happening."

"How many more minutes do you have left? I have a question—a very important one," Dr. Marlowe asked, shooting Maria a desperate look. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she could feel the weight of the situation pressing down on her.

"Two more minutes. Go on and ask," Maria answered after glancing at her watch, her tone clipped but not unkind.

"Even if I’m able to stop them from having a child, what is the assurance that the council will not decide to go the IVF way or the surrogacy way?" Dr. Marlowe asked, her voice trembling slightly. She felt a knot of anxiety tightening in her stomach, unsure of how to handle the recent information she had just received.

"They are already planning to go that way, but I believe the reason they have not made any move is because of Lucian’s condition. I heard that the curse causes his sperm cells to die immediately after they leave his body and are exposed to air. I also heard something about the child only surviving in the womb of its natural mother because she has something in her body it can survive on. I’m not sure how true this information is, but even if it is, remember they are always looking for ways to succeed at their goal, and things may change at any time. So, this is also a warning for you all to be careful," Maria said, her voice low and urgent. She finally got up from her seat, her movements quick and deliberate.

"Time is up. I’ll find a way to pass along information to you as soon as I get it," she said, her tone final. Without another word, she turned and walked away from the restaurant.

Dr. Marlowe sat in stunned silence, her mind racing as she tried to process everything she had just heard. The weight of the revelations pressed down on her, and she felt a cold dread settle in her chest.

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