No one knew of it at the time, but the Brotherhood of the Wolves took steps to acquire Maria’s blood in case they were to fail at fulfilling the ritual. It all started after offering the bison as sacrifice in the old fortress. That evening, while going with his archeologist alter ego, Daniel arranged a video call with a secret contact.

   “Good evening,” Daniel greeted, as his contact answered the call.

   “Good evening, Daniel,” the contact greeted. “Any progress on the ritual?”

   “It is going well,” said Daniel. “We have just offered the bison as sacrifice. From its size, you may already guess that we will be needing the vampiress’ blood.”

   “I see,” said the contact. “So, what do you wish to discuss?”

   “I need a plan B,” Daniel admitted. “I am attempting to lure the king’s niece to the fortress with her father’s belongings, but I want someone to be on standby to get her blood if we were to fail.”

   “I see,” said the contact. “But, if they were to fail, wouldn’t it lead to the total annihilation of the current members of the brotherhood?”

   “You now see why it is important that you help me with this,” said Daniel. “Even if we were to lure the vampiress, I have to admit, we do not yet know how capable the vampiress is at fighting with her staff.”

   “I understand,” said the contact. “I’ll use my expertise to do what I can. Let me know when you intend to lure the vampiress and, if I can’t reach you, I’ll do my part.”

   “Will do,” said Daniel.

   “Just one more thing,” the contact interrupted from being cut off. “As a leader, you have been able to communicate with the oracle. Why isn’t it able to foretell the best case scenario to fulfill the ritual?”

   “Honestly, your guess is as good as mine,” Daniel admitted. “It hadn’t been wrong before, but let us see.”

As he feared, the contact wasn’t able to get a hold on Daniel the day after Maria and Jonathan encountered the cult. It could only mean that the ritual was incomplete.

   “Looks like I’ll have to step in,” he thought.

   The next day, as preparations for the funeral were ongoing, at the throne room, Maria was introduced to a science staff from the local lab.

   “We’re from the village lab,” said one of the staff members. “Is this the right time?”

   “Of course,” said Maria. “What brings you ladies and gentlemen here today?”

   “We’re from a research department,” said a female staff member. “We were hoping that we could consult research on your blood samples.”

   “Why is that?” asked Maria, feeling rather curious.

   “According to legend, you’re part vampire because of a medicine given to you,” said the first staff member. “We were hoping to learn more about your DNA.”

   With her index finger on her lips, Maria found the proposal fascinating, and asked, “When can we start?”

   By Wednesday afternoon, Maria got back from school, but not without visiting the lab to donate her blood to the research. With a syringe, the lab successfully obtained a vial sample of the princess’ blood, with the promise to share its findings in due time.

   Although most of the staff had good intentions, Daniel’s contact, who originally suggested the research, was in fact one of them. During his night shift, he took the blood sample from storage, and used his syringe to steal a few milliliters for the cult. By waving his hand in a pattern, he opened a portal to the fortress’ hall. He stepped in and moved forward till he was in the presence of King Marcu’s skeleton. Not too surprised, he heard a voice whispering from the shadows.

   “Good evening, young man,” said the voice. “What brings you to my fortress?”

   The contact soon realized that the voice belonged to the vampire king himself.

   “Your Highness, I came to complete your resurrection,” said the contact, presenting the skeleton with Maria’s blood sample.

   “You have done well,” said the voice. “Turn around.”

   The contact did just that, but he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be looking at.

   “You see my emblem on the floor?” the voice asked.

   “I see it,” said the contact.

   “Place the blood sample at the center, and the ritual will be complete,” said the voice.

   And so, the syringe was placed over the symbol.

   Going on a hunch on his mind, the contact asked, “I’ve been meaning to ask, Your Highness, but you were Daniel’s oracle all along, weren’t you?”

   “Indeed,” said the voice. “Falsehood can motivate people more than the truth. There was a chance that Daniel would have disbanded the cult if he knew what he was unleashing.”

   “I see,” said the contact, placing his palm on his chin. “That was why Daniel couldn’t foresee the cult’s failure in the end.”

   “I may have lost my humanity so long ago, but even I can’t see into the future to aid the cult,” the voice admitted.

   Dark clouds burst from underneath the syringe, causing it to vanish. With that, the contact commented, “I guess the ritual is done. I bid you farewell, Your Highness.”

   “Wait,” the voice commanded. “The Brotherhood of the Wolves were unaware of it for centuries, but there is a reward for completing the ritual.”

   “Oh?” the contact exclaimed, piquing his curiosity. “And what is this reward, Your Highness?”

   Without warning, King Marcu’s skeleton grabbed the contact by his throat, with dark clouds bursting forth, and agonizing screams echoing across the hall. When it was over, the contact was reduced to nothingness as the third and final sacrifice, being human flesh, being quite essential for the vampire king to undergo resurrection.