Zeidan pressed the doorbell twice and the door was opened by the white-haired wife of Dan, Marianne. She was wearing a purple simple long-sleeved cotton dress that reached her knee and had an apron around her waist. 

"Hi, Marianne."

"Hello, Zeidan. Do come in, Dan has been expecting you. And Roderigo." She opened the door wider so he could enter and his nostrils were filled with grilled cheese, maple, bacon, and also french fries.

He nodded and turned into the drawing room where Dan stood holding a glass of scotch and Roderigo was sitting across the room too. They seemed too deep in thought or analysis. After the revelation made by Styx about how Lyne's mother had died, she hadn't been herself. He left her in the suite while she was still asleep to come to Dan's so they can talk about what he heard. 

"Hello, Dan. Is there still room for a third?" He called and the two men chuckled, inviting him in.

"Sure, man." They exchanged handshakes before he sat on an empty chair as well.

"So, I believe you heard about the manager you told me about. The old man is gone, just like that." Dan joked, although his face negated his words.

"What did you find?" Zeidan pushed.

"I looked up the CCTV camera in the drug store which was hard, trust me, but they let me in because they were about to give in and say what they know."

"They did?" Zeidan remembered taking pictures of the Krysts and sending them to the manager of the drug store asking if he had seen something like that. He had promised to call back later in the night but unfortunately, his obituary was announced. 

"Um...apparently, because the owner of the store asked us to come tonight, at the bar down the street. He must be so scared but he still wants to reveal this mysterious person regardless."

"That's progress. We should ask him about the Krysts..."

"Krysts?" Roderigo inquired and they both turned to look at him. "Let me see."

Dan gave him an irritated look as Roderigo stood up and walked up to Zeidan who pulled out his phone and showed him a pair of the black pendant necklace. He nodded affirmatively and went back to his seat.

"I know of one person who can do this."

"Who?" The two men chorused and Roderigo stood up flashing back to those days before the arrest and the execution.

★★★★★★★★★★

"What do you mean by, you want to investigate?" Maya's shrilling voice reached his eardrums and much as he wished he could give up, he just couldn't. The Onyx had been his lifetime work.

"I have to do this, Maya. For goodness's sake. Mi Amor, créeme. Believe me."

"Believe you? We have just begun our lives together and you want to trade it away for a piece of lava mold?"

"It's not a piece of mold!" He yelled, his eyes blaring. "It's my work. My labour which I have worked years to get but it's now in the hands of people who don't even know what it's worth. Does it not bother you?"

"It doesn't bother me as much as you going against the notorious twelve brothers. You know how respective they are and very brutal; except their last brother, of course, but you do know you can't stand against eleven powerful men, don't you? Listen to me," she grabbed his face in her two hands so she could look into his eyes which were filled with pain. However, much as she wished to help, her teenage self was helpless. 

"This isn't right. I hoped to tell your parents, El Salvadoran and Gatrina, about us. I wanted us to get married and have kids together. But with this looming danger ahead of us, we can't. It's not possible. We will all be wiped out by the lava outburst and away from existence but this Onyx is the only answer. It can stop the disaster from happening."

"No disaster can be stopped!"

"You don't believe me?" He dipped his hand into the pocket of his shabby coat and brought out two shiny black jewelry that made her gasp.

"Why did you get this?" She asked and he placed the two gently on her palms, closing the fingers on them. 

"Keep this for me, will you? When I'm back...if...I'm back, we will get married. I'll remember this always and do all I can to stay alive."

"Roderigo." Maya's voice was shaky but he ignored it and turned away, determined to get back what belongs to him and save the underground Vampire from the catastrophe that has been predicted.

He felt them pour a bucket of very cold water on his face and he whimpered, his skin burned from the sting. He had been badly beaten, tied to two poles, and made to face a thousand crowds. He looked around and only one person's face would calm his nerves. The faces he saw with his swollen half-opened eyes were judgy, scornful, and strict including the soldiers. But they didn't bother him. He looked for only one face. 

Roderigo's face fell when he couldn't find her. Then, he heard pounding footsteps walking up to him on the high podium where he would be executed. He looked up slightly, weak, and lips swollen, only to see a large, ugly-faced man with long bushy beards. His eyes looked like they would soon get lost in their sockets and when he got to his front, he shrieked loudly, revealing his scarce teeth-filled fangs. The executor. He sighed as tears rolled down his eyes. 

"It's so sad how you still don't see the need to apologize." He heard a deep voice and he knew it was Santiago's, the first of the brothers who was filled with pride for his looks and wealth. "Just tell it to the world that the Onyx was mine but that you wanted to steal it, and I'll pardon you."

"The pardon isn't yours to give." He tried to talk, his voice shaky not out of fear but weakness. He had been fed with too much scorpion venom that his nails and lips were now purple. "You have no right to claim...wh...what isn't yours. The Onyx...I alone can tell of what it can do b...b...b...because I found it and made it. It will help to destroy this volcano eruption if you allow me. Give m...m...me the Onyx and I can help." Instead, he felt a sharp sting on his chest, and he gasped as he watched the life drain from him. Black smoke emanated from every hold of his body which means his soul will be erased from existence.

"You...you will..." He tried to say. "You will all regret it!" He yelled before fading away.

However, there was light at the end of the tunnel as he felt someone put him back in place. He opened his eyes and gurgled, sucking in a breath and sitting up. How was he still alive? That he could not explain. Unfortunately, it's been four hundred years.

Too late.