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Father sighed heavily, then got up from his chair and paced about the room with his hands locked behind him. I gave him a moment or two, because it was obvious that he too was trying to come up with the right words to say something.
“I didn’t want to say anything,” he finally started, turning to me as he spoke, “but I’ve noticed a change in him. The staff noticed the same as well.”
“The staff?” I echoed, worry etched in my voice.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “A few days ago, one of the servant girls spilled some coffee on him while he was here with me, discussing the Moorlands visit. Adrian exploded at the poor girl. He started to shout, to call her all sorts of derogatory names, making the poor girl cry.”
“What?” I gasped, pressing my hand to my lips. This didn’t sound like my husband at all. “That can’t be, Father. Adrian isn’t like that. He has never done anything like that.”
“I was as shocked as you are now, believe me,” he nodded, taking a seat opposite me again, as if he needed to gather his thoughts after this revelation. “So, I know what you mean when you say that he isn’t himself. And I’m afraid such a thing is very easily possible.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding what he was referring to.
“Vampires possess enchanted abilities beyond anything we’ve encountered before,” he told me.
“What sort of abilities, Father?” I leaned forward, my interest piqued, as I looked for clarification on everything.
“I don’t know much on the subject,” he admitted. “Fortunately, I’ve never met a vampire who possessed that ancient knowledge of spells. But Constantine… I fear that his powers grow with each passing day and he is more of a threat to us than any vampire before him has been. I know of one spell, the call of arcane energy, and it speaks of something resembling a changeling from Irish mythology.”
I thought about it for a moment. “You mean baby fairies or elves left in place of a human child or baby, that has been stolen by the fairies or elves themselves?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I mean,” he nodded. “But a slightly different variation. You see, the call of arcane energy takes bad blood, whatever they mean by it, from a vampire, and they create a doppelganger, which they change for the actual person. And the behavior of the real person and the doppelganger are connected. The angrier, the sadder, the more stressed out the real person is, the angrier the doppelganger is as well. Evil feeds off of evil, Lilith.”
“So… you think that this is Adrian’s doppelganger?” I asked, with a silent gasp.
“I don’t know,” he shook his head. “I can’t be sure of that. But I know that there are books in our library which show you how you can tell whether a vampire has been changed into a doppelganger of himself.”
“We have such books?” I asked, lifting my eyebrow.
He smiled. “We have books on many topics, my dear. Luckily for you, you didn’t need to know much of them until now.”
“Where do I look for them?” I asked.
“When you enter the library, the last row to your left,” he explained.
“Mother’s books?” I whispered. That was the only shelf that we were told never to touch or play with, because those books were special. I always thought it was because they were special for Father, and he didn’t want us to ruin them in any way. Now, I knew better. They were special because they dealt with special topics, something that our young minds didn’t need to know about.
“Yes,” he nodded solemnly. “I think it is time you went through them.”
I walked over to my father and gave him a hug that spoke more than words ever could. I had no idea what those books would tell me, but the truth was, I was left with no other option.
The library was, as always, a silent realm of ancient knowledge. I moved reverently among the towering bookshelves, making sure not to disturb the sanctity of the last row. My fingers traced the spines of the countless tomes that held secrets to the vampires’ secret lineage and magic.
As I gazed at Mother’s books, all the memory of her wisdom and guidance flooded back, and I felt a bittersweet pang in my chest. One particular book caught my eye. It was a worn, leather-bound volume that bore the faint traces of my mother’s handwriting. It was a book I had often seen my mother studying late into the night, its pages filled with incantations and references to enchanting vampires.
With even more reverence than before, I pulled the book from the shelf and cradled it in my hands. It felt heavy with the legacy that my mother had left behind, and I couldn’t help but feel a strong connection to the past. It was beckoning to me, opening up its mysterious pages, allowing me to gaze into it, to the generations of women who had come before me and gathered all this ancient knowledge about the supernatural world around us.
I settled into a nearby armchair, the book open before me. My mother’s meticulous notes and annotations filled the margins, offering insights and observations which were both personal and deep at the same time. I almost felt as if my mother’s spirit was guiding me from beyond the grave, urging me to unlock the mystery that had enshrouded my marriage into darkness.
I delved into the text, my eyes absorbing the ancient words and enchantments that had been collected for centuries. I had no idea what to expect, but I could sense that I was on the cusp of uncovering knowledge that would either make or break my marriage and change life as I knew it.
As I combed through the pages, my heart raced with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Was the person in this castle truly the vampire I married, the love of my life, or was he a doppelganger, a changeling, an enchanted vampire that had been sent here on a secret mission?
And then, as if by fate’s design, I found it. A spell that promised to unveil the secrets hidden beneath the facade of those with enchanted abilities was right in front of me. It was a spell of revelation, a key that could potentially unlock the truth about my husband’s true identity.
With the spell’s instructions firmly in my mind, I bolted from the library, my footsteps echoing through the dimly lit hallways of our ancestral castle. I rushed to the kitchen, where I knew I would find the necessary ingredients. Jars of herbs andvials of essential oils were all carefully arranged on the shelves. As for the rare crystals, I would need to go to Mother’s room for that. For now, I was where I needed to be. I grabbed the ingredients I needed, my hands moving with a sense of urgency.
The first component was a rare herb, known only to our family, which would infuse the spell with our unique magic. I carefully measured out the required amount, my hands steady despite the turmoil within. The second ingredient was a vial of moonlit dew. I had no idea such a thing even existed. The book said it needed to be collected during the peak of a full moon, for it was meant to enhance the spell’s potency and reveal even the most concealed enchantments. I looked around the kitchen for it, but it was nowhere to be found.
