[Comprehensive British and American] Family Matters

Jason and Dick knew that the hunt for vampires had officially begun when the entire Salvadoran mansion was filled with the sound of "thump, thud, thud" panicked footsteps.

Not long after the founder's dinner ended, as Emily had warned, the whole town began to make every effort to fight against vampires. The first thing to buy was a large amount of verbena—extracts or plants were fine.All the stocks in Mrs. Pearl's herbal store were wiped out, and the sheriff of the town even kindly asked Mrs. Pearl to help him place a large order from the supplier and send them directly to the town police station.

Originally, she only bought a small amount of goods to reduce her suspicions, but now Pearl can only bite the bullet and agree, enduring the sergeant's lewd eyes, writing the order in front of the other party, and handing it over to the "kind" sheriff to help her take it. post.If it weren't for the smell of verbena on the sheriff's body, making her hypnotism useless, Pearl felt that she would definitely hypnotize that pervert for the rest of her life.

Mystic Falls Town can't stay any longer. If she had to decide, Pearl would have packed up her things and left as early as when the ladies came to the store to inquire about the verbena perfume.Although it doesn't matter if she makes a fuss, the accumulated experience in her life tells her that there is only carelessness in this world, and there is no "too cautious".

But Catherine didn't think so. She fiddled with the Salvador brothers between applause, and even had the idea of ​​transforming them into vampires to stay with her forever.For this rare friend for many years, Pearl postponed the time of leaving the town again and again, but seeing the townspeople getting more and more prepared, gradually other vampires living in seclusion in the town secretly approached her. expressed concern.

But what had Catherine said?Oh, by the way, she was on the arm of Damon Salvador, winking at the love-stricken young man like a little lady in love, and saying nonchalantly, "Take it easy, Pearl. We are the famous ladies in Mystic Falls, and with Emily's help, we are different from other vampires and can move during the day, who would doubt us?"

Pearl shouldn't have expected Catherine to care about the lives of other vampires.She has long recognized that Catherine is a selfish and ruthless woman, and she has mastered the point of taking advantage of women to maximize her benefits. Even without hypnotism, just relying on her outstanding appearance and superb acting skills, The men who have been used by Catherine and abandoned like trash, but still miss her, have seen a lot of pearls.

Damon swore in front of Catherine and Pearl that he would rather die than tell other people in the town the secret that they were vampires. Looking at Catherine, his eyes were full of affection, even though Catherine faced Damon. Pearl gave her a look of showing off her baby, but he pretended not to see it.Seeing this situation in Pearl's eyes, she had no doubt that this young man would also be one of Catherine's playthings, but it was the one with a longer shelf life.

She could almost foresee that if Damon was transformed into a vampire by Catherine, it would not be long before there would be another unlucky person in the world who was suffering from love and could not escape for a hundred years.That being said, Pearl has no intention of heroically saving the poor El Salvador brothers from the fire and water. She has seen too many methods of Catherine in the past few hundred years. The method makes Pearl make up her mind that even if she is not Catherine's friend, she must never be her enemy.

Take her current identity as an example-she claims to be an orphan girl from Atlanta. All her family members were killed in a fire, and she was the only one who survived.A fire did break out in the house of Pierce, a rich man in Atlanta. What Catherine didn't say was that she set the fire that ruined Pierce's house herself, because the family blocked the way intentionally or unintentionally.

Pearl finally took her daughter to live a free life, and she hoped that this freedom could last longer.

Therefore, Pearl chose to accept Catherine's swearing guarantee, believing that as long as this hard-to-serve young lady is satisfied, they can fly away and find a good place with beautiful mountains and rivers to live a stable life for a few years.

This was the biggest mistake she ever made.

***

Jason looked at Catherine Pierce, who was put on a metal mask and dragged out by the servants like a salted fish.The actions of the group of servants were rough, and they didn't have the slightest delicateness to deal with the noble Miss Pierce. They just threw her into the special carriage parked at the door like a commodity.

"No! No! Let her go!" Damon was pressed firmly against the wall by the old Mr. Salvador, but he still stretched out his hand to prevent Catherine from being taken away, "Catherine! Catherine! Let her go!"

"What happened?" Seeing that Damon was about to break free from his father's restraint, Dick rushed forward to block his sight, so that he could not see the appearance of his beloved woman being tied up and taken away like a wild beast, "Salvador Sir, what's the matter?"

Giuseppe Salvatore's face turned green and pale, whether it was from anger or from shame that his son's gaffe was seen by the guests.Damon stared at his father viciously, as if he wanted to kill him countless times with his eyes.

"I'm really sorry for letting you see this... inappropriate side." Gisup took a few deep breaths, and forced a blunt smile, "It's over, I'll just say it, our town was destroyed by the devil ——was invaded by vampires, we caught one just now, and my son was obviously bewitched by the devil's evil methods, so he was talking nonsense."

"I'm not talking nonsense!" Damon retorted sharply, ignoring Gisup's warning eyes. "Catherine didn't confuse me. All my feelings for her are from the bottom of my heart."

"Don't be silly! Your feelings for her are vampire hypnotism, it's not true." Gisep looked at Daemon's expression as if he was facing the end of the world, "When we completely wiped out those group Devil, you'll get rid of her evil spell, and then you'll know how ridiculous what you're saying is."

"She didn't!" Damon gritted his teeth and stared at Gisup. "She never used hypnotism on me. I always knew what she was, but I still love her! For me, this love is true." of!"

Jason and Dick exchanged a look, each thinking they were witnessing a "good doctor Harleen Quinzel turned crazy Harley Quinn" scene.Harleen Quizell believes that there is love between her and the Joker, and is willing to dedicate herself to this great love, making her a frequent visitor to Arkham.Damon Salvador in front of him firmly believes that even if the earth is destroyed, the love between him and Catherine can pass the test of the fire of doomsday, and Jason and Dick have no doubt that Damon will also do it for this great cause. Love to do stupid things that can't be turned back.

Gisep covered Daemon's mouth, and hissed, "If you take these words outside, people who sympathize with vampires will die just like vampires. Are you going to die!"

Damon answered him by waving Gisup's hand away, and spit at Gisup's feet: "In a world without Catherine, I might as well die."

Gisup was so angry that one Buddha was born and the other Buddha was born in heaven. With trembling hands, he clenched the railing to support his body, while Damon rushed out of the house like a whirlwind without looking back, leaving behind Jason and Dick. A group of servants who had been attracted by the commotion stood awkwardly in place.

"Dickie, you..." Before Jason finished speaking, Dick took the initiative to take Jason's words.

"I know, I'll go and watch him." As he said that, Dick ran out of the Salvador house after Damon, leaving Jason taking a deep breath to suppress the urge to swear.

Jason also left the Salvador mansion, but he was chasing Emily instead of Damon—and this was originally the task he planned to send to that silly bird. A witch who knows how to deal with vampires is better than a witch who knows how to deal with vampires The silly blue bird who can't even recite the exorcism spell pokes the vampire with a stake!And this guy actually chose the worst task just like that.

And Dick was probably very happy in his heart, thinking that he had helped a lot.Jason quickly paused the thoughts that were spinning in his head, there was nothing to complain about, it was just a lack of teamwork, anyway, Red Hood didn't plan to team up with Nightwing for a long time, such a small problem is not worth the headache—— Thinking about it again, Jason was really afraid that he would lose control, and he would pull Dick to do TeamBuilding together later to improve tacit understanding.

It is impossible to have a tacit understanding with the big blue bird!It's impossible to do it well in this life!

***

Emily moved forward under the cover of darkness.

Although she has been careful to avoid the main roads, she still encounters teams searching on the trails from time to time.Several times, Emily had to hold her breath and hide herself in the shadows of the sundries or corners of the stables, only to slip past the patrolling team.

Another group of people passed by Emily's hiding place carrying the vampire subdued by the verbena.Thanks to Catherine, she knows all the vampires in the town. Seeing the other party being tied up and wearing a mask, Emily only hopes that the person she is going to meet knows the truth of shooting the first bird. Run out and splash the muddy water.

The team escorting the vampires walked away screaming, Emily took a deep breath, looked at the next corner where she could hide, and was about to run wildly, but when she just took the first step, she bumped straight into another person in the arms.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir!" Emily bowed her head hurriedly, thinking of what excuse she could use to explain that she was alone on a night like today.

"Hi, Emily! What a coincidence!" Hearing the familiar voice, Emily looked up and saw Jason standing in front of her with a surprised expression, "It's a good thing you met me. Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Emily didn't answer, and Jason didn't ask any more questions. He just blocked Emily's way and waited for the other party's answer.

The voices of people could be faintly heard approaching here. It was another group of patrolling men. Emily knew that once she encountered those men, even if she could escape, she would not have time to go to the appointment as planned.Gritting her teeth and heart, Emily grabbed Jason's wrist and motioned him to follow her.

"What are you following me for!" Emily asked in a low voice as she walked, she couldn't believe that the meeting between the two was a pure coincidence, "Did I warn you not to get involved in these things!"

"I remember your warning clearly, but I just can't figure it out, as a witch from the human camp, why didn't you stay in the house like other women and wait for the storm to pass, but instead ran out to hang out? "Jason pointed to the commotion outside. The large forces were moving towards the church in the suburbs, in the opposite direction to Emily. "And it doesn't look like you are going to help fight the evil devil."

"What does this have to do with you? I have already shown that I am not your enemy. Isn't that enough?" Emily looked very anxious, and she was very different from the cautious witch a few days ago.

Jason continued to stare at her without speaking.The meaning behind that expression and movement is obvious: Anyway, I'm not in a hurry, I can spend it slowly with you.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Emily cursed in a low voice, "Why on earth are you so lenient? Most people don't mind other people's shit when they know they're safe !"

Jason didn't intend to let go, and he didn't seem to intend to let Emily continue to carry out her big plan. It seemed that he really wanted to waste time.

Emily muttered, mouth shape looks like: "You asked for it." Immediately afterwards, Jason felt a sharp pain in his head, as if something was split in his head, If it weren't for all the training he had received, Jason would have rolled on the ground with his head in his arms.

This is undoubtedly the masterpiece of the witch in front of her.

Emily also seemed very surprised that Jason didn't immediately knelt down begging for mercy with his head in his hands, screaming in pain. Just as she was hesitating whether to continue the magic, a knife that appeared out of nowhere was already on her neck, interrupting her. It gave her the concentration she needed to cast her spells.She could feel the ancient energy emanating from the knife, which is not something that just anyone can control, and this weird man in front of her can summon such a weapon in the blink of an eye, and use it like a finger .

"Now, we've all seen each other's little tricks." Jason's face was a little pale, but he still maintained his normal way of speaking, which made Emily more sure that the person in front of him was not an ordinary kid from a rich family, "How about How about we speak clearly like civilized people?"

The knife in Jason's hand was very steady.Emily had no doubt that if she said "no," or tried to repeat the trick, the knife would go through her throat before she let Jason die.

She nodded slightly.

The knife on her neck disappeared.

"I'm going to leave with my whole family, but before that, I'm going to buy insurance for myself." Emily raised her chin in the direction of her destination. At the end of the road was Pearl's herbal medicine shop. It was already clear what the insurance she was referring to was.Obviously in supernatural society, such things as favor are very important.

Jason didn't continue to beat around the bush, but straight-forwardly answered an answer that Emily didn't expect: "You're the first person I've met here who knows about magic and supernatural shit, and I happen to have knowledge of it." The question is, who knows if there is such a store in your village."

"What?" Emily obviously didn't expect this series of conflicts to be due to such a simple reason, "It's been a few days since I told you I was a witch? When did you choose now instead of asking?"

"I have to make sure that you are not a witch agent of the vampire." Jason blinked, as if his reasons were reasonable, "According to my observations these days, you are indeed not with them, so of course I Take the time to ask questions.”

"How suspicious are you, sir?" Emily shook her head quickly with a shocked expression on her face, "Forget it, I don't want to know. If you have any questions, just ask, my time is precious."

"Wait until you meet my old man and then tell me that I'm very suspicious. In short, my question is this-is there a magic, or a magical item, that can send people back to the past?" Jason calmly Watching Emily lower her head in thought, she didn't miss any subtle changes in her expression.

"As far as I know...all the magic about time is a failure. This is a concept that goes against nature, and time cannot be repeated." Emily chose her words carefully. When it comes to magic, she Looks like a rigorous and old-fashioned scholar, "You can't force time to obey you, no one can tame time, even if we have a momentary illusion that we are above time, you never know from which tricky angle time will come Teach us a lesson hard."

Emily's pointed words made Jason panic for a while, feeling that the witch seemed to have seen through his origin.He didn't let his emotions show on his face, deliberately ignored the second half of Emily's words, and continued to ask about the topic of vampires: "But aren't vampires also creatures that violate nature?"

"Yes. So I'm just saying that as far as I know, such magic doesn't exist yet. I'm not denying that this kind of magic may be researched in the future, and comparing it with the example of vampires, there must be many people who cast such magic Just like vampires, they can’t touch the sunlight and can’t enter other people’s homes without being invited.” Emily explained temperately.

"Okay." Jason nodded seriously, "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. Can I go now?" Emily didn't hide the sarcasm in her tone.

Facing Emily's eyes that seemed to be spitting out flames, Jason raised a finger: "Wait, one last question, just one——Since Catherine has been captured, don't you happen to be relieved to do it from now on?" A free-spirited witch?"

Emily was stunned for a while, as if she was trying to picture the concept of a "free and unrestrained" witch in her mind, and then she twitched her mouth to reveal a strange expression that was half mocking, half wryly smiling.

"That's on the premise that Catherine didn't expose me as a witch to the founding family meeting of the town." Emily's face quickly darkened, "Bah, that bitch who thinks she's acting secretly, she's a good hitter Abacus, if you want to take El Salvador brothers far away, how can you ensure that old Salvador will not chase her for thousands of miles? Of course, it is to give them another good target to divert their anger, what better target than a witch who serves vampires?"

No wonder Emily ran away from the mansion as soon as Catherine was arrested.Don't run now, when the townspeople get rid of the vampire, they will come to interrogate the witch.Jason looked at Emily with some sympathy, but found that the witch's expression was gradually ferocious, without the bitter face of being framed at all.

"She thought that she could use me completely in this way, and then throw me away? It's a good idea. Why did she think the people in the town would look for vampires to find one? My mother has already prepared a front hand, isn't it because you are unkind and I am unrighteous? Well!"

Jason looked at the witch's snorting and sneering expression, and once again confirmed the truth that women are more ferocious than men in every sense—look at Dear Mom, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Wonder Woman, each of them is He can split a man into seventeen or eighteen ruthless characters in minutes.Even in the supernatural world, the war between witches and female vampires is inextricably fought under the calm water.

"Can I go? Have you finished your last question?" Emily stomped impatiently.Jason frowned, bit his lips, and finally decided to verify a theory, so he took out the energy gun that he had never dared to show in front of the world since he came to this era, quickly adjusted the settings and handed it to Ai Millie.

"Hold it, I temporarily unlocked it, but it can only be used to stun, and the time limit is only half a day from now. After this time limit, the gun will automatically lock, and no one can use it except me." Jason He quickly demonstrated how to fire in front of Emily, "Just use it like a normal gun, good luck."

Emily didn't expect Jason to give her such a big gift at all. After a few seconds of silence, she solemnly took the energy gun with both hands and hid it in her pocket.

"Tell me, are we free?"

Without needing more context, Jason understood what the "freedom" in the witch's mouth was. It was not just the freedom of master and servant, but also the freedom between different races and different genders. one day.

"It's hard to say." Jason had no choice but to tell Emily that the era of equality for all has arrived, but he could at least give this woman some hope, "I can only say that a non-white man can be president, even a woman can be president." could be prime minister."

"Really!" Emily opened her eyes wide and laughed, "Then I have to keep those silly kids alive."

After finishing speaking, the witch ran towards her destination without looking back.

She was still nervous, but Jason felt that Emily's back was straighter no matter how she looked at it.

***

Dick quickly found Damon who didn't know where to go after rushing out of the house.

He looked like a chick who had been abused by urchins in turn, messed up from head to toe, and even staggered a bit.What made Dick feel unbearable the most was Damon's eyes that seemed as if the whole world had lost its luster and his heart was ashamed.

"Uh, are you okay? I'm sorry, this is a bad question, I mean..." Dick and Damon have nothing to do with each other, they only have a simple relationship between the owner and the tenant, and Dick didn't show his concern for a while. "I think your father is just a little too excited, why don't we go to Stefan..."

"Stephan!" Damon raised his head suddenly, and shouted Stefan's name as if soaking every syllable in poison. This was definitely not the reaction Dick imagined, "It must be him! That bastard, I Go kill him! If something happens to Catherine, he won't even think about it!"

"Wait, you have to calm down. What you said just now are emotional speeches, which don't count." It is impossible for Dick to watch Damon do stupid things in front of his eyes. Whether he is a vigilante or a policeman, he He has seen too many people commit unbelievable murders when they are excited. He has no doubt that Damon will kill his brother in this state. "What happened? What does it have to do with Stefan?"

"Ha! I assure you, it has a lot to do with it! He wanted to confess Catherine's identity to his father a long time ago. He foolishly thought that as long as he told his father that there are good vampires in the world, Catherine would be fine. Look at what he has done. What!" At this moment, in Dick's eyes, Damon completely coincided with those passionate murderers who found out that their wives were cheating, so they wanted to kill people with a kitchen knife.

"You can't be sure, this is just your speculation, Damon, please, you have to calm down." Dick took the tone of Nightwing's dissuading these impulsive crimes, "You know Stefan, your brother is a naive and kind man To a young man who can be called a fool, he would never want to hurt Catherine or yours, you know that, right?"

"Intentionally or not, it doesn't matter." Damon said through gritted teeth, "He harmed Catherine, and I will make him pay the price. It's that simple. Get out of the way, this matter has nothing to do with you."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave like this. You're either hurting others or yourself in this way." Dick smiled apologetically, and easily resolved Dimon's several attempts to break through, "Especially your Brother, as a big brother, I can assure you that if you really make your brother 'pay the price', you will regret it."

Damon stared at Dick who refused to give in, and raised a mocking sneer: "You? You come to tell me how to be a good brother? Save yourself, I have heard Jason praise your deeds a lot— —Oh, the golden boy loved by everyone in the family! So perfect that I don’t have time to give my brother a look! Wow, the way you love your brother is so special.”

This is irony.Anyone with a sane mind should understand that this is sarcasm.

But Dick Grayson is not any ordinary person. He is the number one disciple of Batman. He spent his entire teenage years between the bridge of the nose and the front teeth of criminals in the middle of the night. It doesn't mean that his emotions are really healthy, and his detective training allows him to efficiently filter out emotional speech and get straight to the core.

"So, what exactly did Jason and your little party talk about?" Dick's eyes sharpened, giving Damon the illusion of being targeted by a bird of prey, "I know that being a big brother is important to him. It's not good enough, so if you can provide some specific information and let me understand why Jason is dissatisfied with me, it would be great!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Damon felt that he must have been scolding not straightforward enough, "I'm sarcasm at you, do you understand sarcasm? You look like a pervert."

"I'm not a pervert." Dick waved his hand indifferently, "I've seen a lot of perverts, and I've caught a lot of them myself, and I have a small one in my house. Well, let's get to the point, Jason and you What did you say, huh?"

Damon observed Dick's expression and found that the other party was really not acting, but really wanted to ask him about Jason.

Thinking about the way Dick easily intercepted him just now, how he had caught many perverts, and how he had a pervert at home... Damon took a step back trembling.

afraid.