Time till the weekend seemed like an eternity to Lena, but she had to be patient, there was no other way. Patience is always bliss, so much she knew. And on Saturday evening, Bughuul appeared in her house again, as promised. But this time he brought something with him.

"Here, this will help you to rob your victims of all the ability to resist," he explained, putting a small bottle of some strange liquid on the table. The liquid had a suspiciously bright green color, it could be called phosphoric. Lena had never seen anything like that before. It looked like some glow stick liquid, but this was something much more serious than that.

"Oh, so that's how the chosen children drugged their families before killing them," Lena said, studying the peculiar bottle. "And how soon does it work? I mean, how long do you have to wait until the victims are drugged?"

"Yes, exactly," Bughuul replied. "The effect of the drug is fast. Even if you add just several drops, the victim falls unconscious in ten minutes, even less. This is a very strong stuff, keep it in mind. It affects the human organism very fast. The more you add, the faster your victim loses consciousness."

"Okay, good, I'll remember that."

"And here are the stakes and the hammer," he said, putting several metallic stakes and a large hammer on the table near the bottle of drug. "The one you use to drive nails into the wall will not do. You would need a larger and stronger hammer to pierce a human body with a stake."

Lena lifted the hammer to see closer, but it did seem rather heavy. The stakes weren't that light as well.

"Damn, heavy stuff," she said, shaking her head and puffing air out.

"Yes, and for a reason. Remember that this stuff is going to be used on human bodies."

"I know. I just wonder if I'm strong enough to succeed. That will not be easy."

"No worries. Just like with the chosen children, I will control your actions, and you will be as strong as you have never been in your life."

That made sense. Lena could never understand how small children could kill adult people so easily, especially in Stephanie's case. Now this got clear.

"I see," the woman said, putting things down. "So, what else do I need... I think I would need to tie them up with something while they are unconscious, and tape their mouths up. I keep the tape in my cellar, so it will come in handy for sure."

"All right. And don't forget to prepare the camera before killing," Bughuul reminded her, as this was also an important part of the ritual, although Lena still couldn't fully comprehend the point of that. "I will be watching you during your meeting. You won't see me, but just for you to know that I will be there. See you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see you," Lena replied, and the demon vanished. All she had to do now was hide all the things well and wait for tomorrow...

***

The next day was crucial for Lena. Today she had to commit a murder with her own hands. She still doubted whether all would go smoothly, but if Bughuul is near at that moment, there shouldn't be problems. But one thing still occupied her mind. What would deputy say? How would he react when he finds out about all that happened? She was sure that after the murder, Bughuul will take her away to his netherworld, just like he did with all the chosen ones. He had never left anyone in this world, not a single time. And her case would not be exceptional. But, remembering all what deputy did for her, all the help he provided, she felt guilty in front of him. So Lena took a small piece of paper and quickly scribbled something on it, in hope that if deputy tries to look for her, he finds the note she was going to leave for him.

Putting the bottle with the green drug into her jacket pocket, Lena began to prepare the coffee. She has bought the cake on Saturday, so they wouldn't drink empty coffee, and now she took it out of the fridge and put on the table, cutting in into several pieces and not forgetting to arrange the plates on the table. As it was autumn, it got dark pretty early, so she drew the curtains shut in all the house. It was what she always did, as she hated when it was visible from the outside what she was doing inside the house. Thus she provided herself full privacy.

While there was still time till five, she poured some green liquid into each cup, except for her own, and poured some teaspoon of coffee into each, making sure the deadly drug was fully covered by coffee. Then she hid the bottle in one of the cupboards, hiding it well behind many tins and boxes. No one must suspect anything, and as Lena was very good at pretending, all should go as planned.

Lena switched on the kettle to warm the water when suddenly silence was broken by the sound of a doorbell. She rushed to the door to open it, and there they were, standing in the doorway – Helen, Beth, and Lizzie, her ex-course mates and some time ago – the enemies.

"Oh God, Lena! It has been a while! Glad to meet you again!" Beth exclaimed. The other two greeted her the similar way.

"Yeah, long time no see," Lena smiled back, giving each of them a hug. "Glad to see you too. Please, do come in."

All three women walked into the house and hanged their coats in the hallway. Lena invited them into the kitchen, showing a bit of her house on the way.

"You have a nice house," Helen said, peeking into the living room. "And you're lucky to have a place to live in a peaceful area. You know, I used to like noisy places, but now... I guess my taste has undergone a change." She laughed at her last words.

The water had managed to heat up when Lena and her ex-course mates entered the kitchen. While Beth, Lizzie, and Helen sat at the table, Lena poured hot water into all four cups. Her own cup stood separately from the rest, so she didn't accidentally mix up the cups. While mixing the coffee, Lena was afraid that the green liquid would be very much visible, but, lucky for her, it wasn't. It got perfectly blended with coffee, plus it had absolutely no smell and no taste, so no one would even know that there is some drug mixed in their drink.

"Well, girls, here you are," she said, putting a tray with three cups of coffee on the table, adding also sugar and milk separately, in case any of them wanted to add some. Then she took her own cup and joined them at the table.

"Thank you." The three women said it almost in unison, and each took her own cup of deliciously smelling hot drink. "So, Lena, how are you? What do you do for life?" Lizzie asked.

"I work as a manager in a grocery store," Lena replied. "I wouldn't call it fun, as every day it's the same, but the job itself is fine, and the salary is absolutely satisfying. It's enough for me to pay all the bills and just live my life."

"I see. And you're still alone, as I presume?" This question was asked by Helen.

"Yes, I'm single, and I'm absolutely fine with that," Lena told her. "I feel I do not need to have anyone now. At least I'm free and can go wherever and whenever I want and do whatever I want to. So, what about you? How are you three going on with your lives?"

The women continued their talk in a relaxed atmosphere, and nothing foreshadowed any trouble. At least, Lena's visitors were relaxed and peaceful, drinking coffee without hurry. Lena herself also seemed like that, but deep inside she was hiding a grisly secret. They had no idea about what she had prepared for them. And only Lena knew that they were being watched. Bughuul was hiding in the darkness and watching his apprentice's every move. He admired Lena's ability to pretend and behave so like nothing out of ordinary was going on.

Lena's guests finished the coffee, and she was patiently waiting for the drug's effect to begin. Until...

"Damn, I feel kinda strange," Beth said, putting a hand on her forehead.

"Me too," Lizzie added, shaking her head, but it didn't do any good.

"Shit! What's going on?" Helen exclaimed, trying to stand up, but couldn't, as her vision blurred with every second. All three women had their mouths oozing with foam. Lena stood up, watching the scene nervously and patiently waiting until they finally faint. Maybe any of them managed to realize that she drugged them, or maybe not, but Lena didn't care anymore. In the next moment all three of her visitors were lying on the floor unconscious.

"Well, so far, so good," Lena whispered to herself. Now she had to tie them up somehow so they cannot move their hands and legs. She ran upstairs and pulled the "Home movies" box and a hammer with stakes from underneath her bed and carried it all down to the living room. Then she took the sticky tape from the box and began working. The tape was large enough to get their wrists and ankles tied together firmly, and the last step was taping their mouths up. Lena tied their wrists in front, so she could put the bodies on their backs, and then it would be convenient to pierce their hearts with stakes. When she finished with that, she pulled each body into the living room and put them in a row. While she stood up, staring at them, they really looked like vampires to her. And she was now ready to kill those vampires.

Before beginning the ritual, Lena returned to the kitchen once again. First of all, she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and left it on the table. And while searched the cupboard from the drug bottle, she suddenly heard a sound from the living room and saw light flickering. Taking the bottle, she ran back and saw the projector working and Bughuul standing near it. When Lena looked to the screen, she saw a long, creepy corridor in it that seemingly had no end. She already knew that it was the portal to Bughuul's netherworld.

"Good job so far," he said. "Ready for the main part?"

"Yes, I'm ready," Lena replied.

"All right. Now prepare the camera before starting the ritual."

Lena took the camera and turned it on, checking if it worked properly. Then she walked to Helen that was very slowly gaining consciousness, and spoke, not caring if she heard her well or not:

"You humiliated me when we were course mates. Such things can't be easily forgotten. You shouldn't have done that."

Although Helen was barely conscious, she could open her eyes a bit. She could see Lena's face close to hers, and Lena's glance seemed lifeless to her. It looked like Lena was under some hypnosis. Helen realized that Lena drugged them all already before fainting, but she could do nothing about it. And now she was unable to move at all, like if her whole body was paralyzed.

Lena placed the camera on the fireplace, stabilizing it with the items nearby. Then she took the hammer and the first stake and walked to Helen who was the first lying on her way. Placing the sharp end of the stake right above Helen's heart, she hesitated.

"Do it!" the demon's voice rang in her head.

Lena understood that now it was too late to turn back, so she lifted the heavy hammer and delivered the first blow. Helen twitched and wriggled from pain, but couldn't scream with her mouth taped up. As Lena continued driving the stake into her, she realized that she was feeling much stronger than before. She was conscious of everything, but couldn't control her own body, like it obeyed someone else's commands. And she knew, of course, whose commands it obeyed. Bughuul was still standing at the projector and watching her actions. She was now totally under his control, so the demon knew she would not fail.

When Helen was finally dead, Lena left the first stake in her heart and went for the next one. The second victim in the line was Lizzie. The process went easier with her, as she didn't even manage to awake, so Lena doubted that Lizzie even felt anything. And the last to die was Beth who also lay unconscious. Lena repeated the same process with her, and after all three female bodies had stakes in their hearts, she put the hammer aside and stood up. Despite being under Bughuul's control, she still retained her own mind, and Lena felt no remorse whatsoever, mostly thanks to all the experience that the demon made her go through before. The three vampires were dead, and Bughuul's deadly ritual was complete once again. This case was an exception though, as the chosen one was an adult person.

Finishing her bloody doings, the woman walked in front of the camera and put her index finger to her lips, which was also a part of the ritual, the final step. She then turned her head to the demon and made a few steps towards him. Bughuul, in turn, walked to her until both were standing close and facing each other.

"Well done, Lena, my faithful apprentice," he said, caressing her hair and face with his fingertips. "I'm very proud of you." Then he stood beside her on the left and put his arm or her shoulder, thus hugging her. "And now... let's go."

Saying this, the demon slowly led Lena through the portal into his netherworld. It could be seen in the projector's screen how both walked away into the corridor. Only their backs were visible, and only Bughuul knew and saw that the farther they went from the portal, the woman's face was losing the color until it grew deathly pale and became greyish, just like his own face. At the moment she stepped through the portal, she lost her humanity and became a ghost, now a true proxy of an ancient demon. And when they disappeared in the end of the corridor, the projector switched off by itself, closing the portal.

And that was the end.

Lena Firth has left the world of the living.

Forever.