"My daughter is alive?" Pearl mumbled, still in a daze. A happy daze. "And she is or will be attempting to free me from the tomb?"
Alan nodded.
"How do you know this?" she asked again, her expression turning stubborn. "I will not make a decision unless you tell me."
Alan frowned. He remained silent for a moment before he sighed, taking a deep breath.
"Fine," he said. "I will relent just this once and give you an answer. One of the rare times, I would be adjusting from my terms."
"I am a seer," he said, his low voice echoing through the small cave opening.
"A seer?" Pearl whispered, this time in absolute shock.
She had heard of seers, but only as rumors. She had never encountered one or even known about an actual one. And she had never thought she would actually encounter one.
Alan had told a lie, and he had done so after a great deal of thought. He could have tried to explain his knowledge of Pearl and Anna in other ways, but that would have been a temporary fix.
Every time he used his future knowledge, more questions would arise, forcing him to invent new reasons for how he knew things in advance. By using this one lie, he had solved the problem permanently. Every time he faced a question, his status as a seer would explain the situation. And what consequences would it bring for him? He did not care. Maybe it would make his life a bit more interesting and adventurous.
"Yes," Alan nodded. "And when I desired from the depths of my heart for a person, a vampire, I should say, to act as my assistant and steward, I received glimpses of you and your future."
"I also learned about you from the diaries of my ancestors," Alan continued. "In those diaries, you were described as an organized, disciplined, efficient, and meticulous person. A perfect description for my steward."
"And then I thought, why not?" He added. "You would be a great option for me."
Pearl could only nod. Even if all of this sounded almost next to impossible, there was nothing she could do, and she had no better explanation herself.
"But if my daughter is already coming to free me," she said after a few moments of silence, "I do not see a reason to be grateful to you."
"It was only a matter of days before she would have rescued me. You simply intervened and freed me early for your own benefit."
"No reason to be grateful?" Alan asked with a chuckle. "Did I say your daughter was successful in freeing you?"
Pearl's eyes widened as the realization sank in.
"Sorry to disappoint you," he said with a wide smile, "but she was not. In fact, not only did she fail, but both of you ended up killed. Stakes through your hearts."
Alan let out a 'tsk' sound and made a mock motion of holding a stake and thrusting it into a chest. It was another lie.
Anna had actually succeeded in rescuing her mother in the original timeline, but both were killed shortly after. In Alan's mind, the distinction did not really matter.
"So, yes, I did you a favor by rescuing you," he continued. "And if you accept my terms, I am also going to protect you in the upcoming future."
Pearl was still in a daze when Alan spoke further.
"Now that we have reached this point," he said, "I will explain the final term of my offer, and then you can make your decision."
Pearl shook her daze and concentrated back on the man standing in front of her. Alan Alejandro.
"You knew my family. You knew the Alejandro family was a lineage of witches and warlocks," he said, and she nodded in response.
"But," he continued, his voice turning low. "Were you aware that the rest of the witch and warlock community did not truly accept my family as part of their own? In fact, the Alejandro family was hated and loathed by the wider magical community. It was an existence that most witches and warlocks did not like."
Pearl shook her head, looking surprised.
"I was not aware of any such thing," she said. "Regardless, it was difficult to know. The Alejandro family of my time barely practiced magic, and even when they did, they did so in secret. I only learned their identity through certain coincidences and my prior experience dealing with witches."
"This happened because my family practiced a specific brand of magic," Alan continued. "A certain type of spell, a forbidden spell developed by one of my ancestors. It was a spell that was not taken well by the witches."
"What spell?" She asked, her voice weary and hesitant.
"A loyalty spell," Alan remarked calmly.
Pearl's eyes widened in shock.
"A spell which can bind a vampire to their blood and soul to ensure their absolute loyalty," Alan explained in detail.
Even though he had not stated it explicitly, it was clear to Pearl what Alan wanted from her.
"Is this what you want from me?" she asked, her voice trembling. "To be your slave?"
"No," Alan said. "Not a slave. Just a loyal follower."
"You would not be a slave," he explained. "You would only become a slave if I gained absolute control over your heart, mind, and every action."
"With what I am proposing, you will simply become a follower. Your mind and your actions will remain free. Heck, you would not even be forced to follow my commands. All this will do is ensure that you can never harm or betray me in any way."
"No one wants to be stabbed in the back," he said. "It is just a risk averting measure."
"The witches believed that by doing so," Alan explained. "The Alejandro family was breaking some kind of damn natural order by associating themselves with vampires, and thus, we were loathed for it."
Pearl stood there in a state of confusion and a daze. She was standing at a major crossroads in her life, and she had no idea what decision she was going to make.
"Make your choice, Pearl," Alan remarked. "I have had enough patience. I have answered your every question and explained all your doubts."
"But my patience is running thin now. Make your decision. I have already told you the consequences if you do not want to agree to my terms."
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