The Dark Rising

by Lacey Weatherford

  “We're just happy you're with us again,” Babs said with a warm affectionate smile.

  “Thank you.” He smiled back at her. “I'm glad to be here too,” he added before he glanced over at me.

  “Why don’t you kids go do whatever you were doing,” my dad remarked casually, dismissing us from the conversation. I blushed a bit at the remark, but we both eagerly made our exit.

  We ran up the stairs to my bedroom, hand in hand. As soon as we went through the door Vance kicked it shut behind us while reaching out to grab me to him, molding me against his wonderful frame.

  “So where were we?” he asked, looking down and giving me a seductive smile.

  “On the kitchen floor I believe,” I answered in a tease.

  “And a very nice floor it was,” he said, grinning before leaning in to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling his lips connect with mine, and a knock sounded.

  He let out an exasperated sigh.

  “What now?” he grumbled, resting his forehead against mine for a second before dropping his arms away from me and turning to answer the door. Krista was standing on the other side.

  “Hi,” she said with a smile. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

  “Not at all,” I lied and Vance stepped aside allowing her to enter. “Come in.”

  She moved around the corner to lean up against the wall. “I thought I heard you. I was reading in my room. Did you enjoy your ride?”

  “It was ... enlightening,” Vance replied, turning to give me a wink.

  “Really? How so?”

  “Well, I realized I have some pretty strong feelings for Portia and we had an interesting discussion about them,” he answered honestly.

  “That’s good.” She gave him a smile, watching him while he came to stand next to me, loosely draping his arm about my shoulders.

  She appeared like she was waiting for him to elaborate, but when he didn’t she cleared her throat a bit uncomfortably and glanced down at her bare wrist.

  “Look at the time! It's well after lunch. Have you had anything to eat?” She rubbed at her arm as if to disguise the fact she wasn’t actually wearing a watch.

  “No,” we replied in unison.

  “I’ll go down and make you something,” she said, quickly turning to leave the room.

  Vance stared at me with a moment of regret before he called out after her. “Wait, Mom. Portia and I will come help you.”

  “No! I can take care of it,” she called back over her shoulder. “Don’t trouble yourselves.”

  “It’s no trouble at all, Mom,” he answered. We joined her in the hallway and the three of us went downstairs together.

  We filled Krista in on the ritual taking place tonight and invited her to come with us. She said she would like to participate.

  “Mom? How are feeling about staying here?” Vance asked, changing the subject. “I thought you might like to rent a place of your own somewhere close by.”

  She pondered on this for a moment. “I think I'd like that. Sean and Stacey have been wonderful to take me in, but I don’t want to wear out my welcome.”

  “I bet we could get her a bungalow at the Fountains at Fontane,” I suggested, referring to the resort which Shelly’s family owned. “Maybe we could get us one too,” I added as an afterthought.

  Vance smiled widely at my suggestion. “That does sound good. It would be a temporary place we can stay until we decide what we are going to do with our future,” he said. “And it has privacy,” he added to me through our mental link.

  “I’ll go call Shelly right now,” I replied not wanting to put it off for another minute. “I think she can tell us what we'd need to get booked without raising any questions.”

  “Good idea,” he agreed and I left the room to use the telephone.

  Shelly turned out to be a great help. She was able to get us two bungalows right next to each other. She also said they'd have them ready in the hour. I thanked her and told her we would be up sometime after lunch.

  I told my dad what we were planning and he volunteered to help us drive all of our things up there to get settled in. We hurried and ate, before going back upstairs to pack.

  “I’m excited about having a place to ourselves,” I said, smiling at Vance while I was pulling my clothing out of the closet.

  “Me too,” he answered. “Finally, we'll have a little privacy!” I laughed and we continued to magically pack our belongings into suitcases.

  “I guess we can put some of this stuff in your car,” I suggested to him, referring to the Audi which he had owned since Marsha’s death.

  “Yeah. We might as well take it too. What about the scooter?” he asked with a grin.

  “Too obvious. We can leave it here,” I said, smirking back at him and he laughed at me.

  “So do you want to do anything special for our first night in our own place?”

  I stopped, letting my gaze run over him. “I think the plans we have right now sound perfect to me.”

  He stopped what he was doing and pulled me into his arms, kissing me so passionately I soon forgot all about packing and concentrated only on the heated streaks racing through my body.

  He truly has to be the best kisser in the whole world, I thought to myself while he ravaged my lips.

  “I can’t wait,” he said, lifting his face back from mine, but he kept me wrapped tightly in his embrace.

  “Me either,” I answered before reaching up to place another kiss on his lips and he backed me up until I was pressed to the wall. He moaned into my mouth as he pushed his body up against mine and I felt like I would melt with the contact.

  There was a knock on the door, and this time we both laughed at the intrusion.

  “Hey are you two ready to haul out your things?” my dad’s voice called from the other side.

  “Yes,” I said back to him, releasing Vance so I could reach over and let him in.

  “What do you need me to carry?” Dad asked and I pointed him in the direction of the suitcases.

  “Have you seen Jinx lately?” I asked. “I thought I’d take her up there with us.”

  My dad shook his head. “No. I haven’t seen her since yesterday. You know how she is. Probably off on one of her little cat adventures, or whatever it is that keeps her out for days at a time.”

  “Yeah, she’s definitely a free spirit,” I replied with a smile. “Just give me a call if she shows up and I’ll come get her.”

  We got everything loaded into the car and left. Krista rode with me in the Audi, while Vance drove his motorcycle, and Dad followed us in his car.

  My dad was the one who checked Vance and me in, only under my name. Krista checked herself in while Shelly ushered us the keys to our bungalow so that Vance could get inside without someone recognizing him. I couldn’t imagine anyone staying here would know him, but better to be safe than sorry.

  After everyone was registered, my dad helped Krista and I carry our belongings to our respective bungalows while Vance began to put our things away. I thanked my dad when we were done, and he left.

  I gave Krista the keys to the Audi in case she ever needed to go anywhere, before I turned to head to my new temporary residence. Vance met me at the door with a smile on his face.

  “Welcome home, baby,” he said, and I noticed he had used his pet name for me the second time today.

  I stepped inside and he closed the door behind me. “Are you aware that you're calling me that?” I asked him.

  “Calling you what?” he said, with a confused look, not following my question.

  “Baby.”

  He thought about it for a moment and I figured he was shuffling through some of the memories.

  “That's what I used to call you, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. I wondered if you had picked it out of the memories I'd given you.”

  “No. I don’t think so. It just seemed natural,” he said with a shrug.

  “So maybe you are remembering something,” I sugg
ested.

  “I don’t know. Maybe,” he replied before he suddenly picked me up into his arms and carried me into the bedroom, tossing me on the soft, fluffy bed. “So, I’m thinking we have a little time before we need to go to your Grandma’s.” He smiled suggestively.

  “This is true.” I grinned back at him.

  He crawled onto the bed, stretching himself out next to me. “Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, a familiar light glinting in his eyes. His gaze traveled with longing down the length of my body.

  “Please do,” I replied, feeling a moment of nervous anticipation.

  He sidled up against me and leaned in to kiss me, slipping an arm around my waist, holding me tight as his lips sought out mine. I reached up, grabbing his neck with my hands, pulling him harder to me and instantly the spark between us ignited into a flame again.

  Vance suddenly rolled so he was leaning over the top of me. “You taste so good,” he murmured hotly against my lips.

  “Mmm … so do you, now enough talking,” I replied and I pulled his mouth back to mine, eager to resume the tasting of him, only to be interrupted by a knock on the front door.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed in exasperation, lifting his head in annoyance before climbing off the bed and going into the other room. A deep wave of disappointment washed over me as I got up to follow after him.

  Krista was standing at the door.

  “I’m sorry to bother you again,” she apologized quickly. “Portia, I was wondering if you wanted to run to the grocery store with me to pick up some food and anything else we might need before the ritual this evening. If we wait until later everything will be closed.”

  “Sure.” I smiled warmly at her before turning to look at Vance. “Is that okay with you?” I asked, knowing he would feel completely let down.

  “I’ll be fine,” he replied, going over to flop on the sofa. “I guess I’ll watch some television.” He reached for the remote.

  “Alright,” I said, and I grabbed my purse off of one of the end tables. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

  Chapter 7

  The coven gathered in the ritual room located in my Grandma’s secret basement. We all stood around the table in the center in our hooded robes with our cowls over our heads. In addition to the regular coven members, my mom and Krista were also in attendance, sitting next to each other in the corner.

  The candles had been lit, the circle cast, and Grandma was getting ready to speak the blood spell she’d prepared.

  Vance stood to my left, in between me and Babs. He seemed a little anxious, which I chalked up to nerves. He'd been reintroduced to several people who were technically strangers to him and was now about to receive their memories.

  That should be reason enough for someone to feel out of sorts, I told myself. I needed to quit fretting over his every little thought or expression unless I wanted to drive both me, and him, crazy.

  I absently became aware Grandma had started reciting the spell since she now held a crystal bowl in her hands. When she finished, she placed the dish in front of her and picked up her athame lifting it to lay with the flat side of the tip against her temple.

  “Release my memories,” she whispered, before she removed the knife, pricking her index finger. A drop of blood welled up and she squeezed it into the bowl before she slid it to the right, in front of my dad.

  Vance fidgeted restlessly beside me, and I wondered again why he seemed so nervous.

  My dad proceeded to follow the same procedure before he moved the crystal over toward Babs. She started the process, poking herself with her knife until a large drop of blood fell off her fingertip into the glass bowl.

  Suddenly Vance’s hand shot out, grabbing Babs by the wrist and he pulled it up under his hood.

  Babs let out a sharp pitched scream of pain. “No!”

  I saw a sizable squirt of blood spray from under Vance’s cloak out into the room and it seemed like everything moved in slow motion.

  My dad reached out for Babs and I yanked hard at Vance’s robe, exposing him. My heart sank to my toes at the sight in front of me.

  Vance had bitten two of Babs’s fingers completely off, down past the second knuckles. He quickly placed his mouth over the damaged area, drinking the blood spraying from there, his face like a mask of evil straight out of one of my nightmares. His eyes glowed bright red, his brow had slightly furrowed, and two small bumps resembling horns were on his forehead near his hairline.

  “He's a demon!” Grandma shouted, and she sent a burst of power toward him, attempting to knock him away from Babs, who was still screaming.

  Vance didn’t even flinch when the shock hit, absorbing it with ease while my dad desperately tried to pull Babs from his strong grip.

  I reacted swiftly, jumping onto Vance’s back and began hitting him.

  “Stop it Vance!” I yelled, pounding on him as I tried to bring him back to reality.

  The others in the room were scrambling to get around the table to help, each of them firing an onslaught of magic at Vance. He didn’t even seem to notice their attack.

  I started screaming into his head through our link. “Vance! Let go! Please don’t do this!” I begged. I reached down in front of him trying to pull Babs hand away from his mouth. Still he seemed unfazed.

  “Do something, Portia!” my dad hollered.

  “Like what?” I yelled back.

  “You're the most powerful witch here! Think!” he responded in frustration.

  I did the first natural thing that came to me, even though it chilled me to the bone. I placed my hand against Vance’s back and slammed the biggest, thickest ice shard I could muster through his heart and out the front of his chest on the other side.

  He released Babs almost instantly, jerking with a gurgle and he fell to the floor, taking me with him. The blood pooled quickly around him, but I ignored that, reaching to retrieve the two fingers on the ground.

  I moved over to where my dad was holding a sobbing Babs, his hand over the wound to try and stop the bleeding.

  “Can you fix them?” my grandma asked from over Dad’s shoulder.

  “I'll try,” I said, really wishing all of this magic stuff could've come with a manual of some sort. This trial and error was the pits. “Give me her hand,” I added to my dad.

  I placed the amputated pieces next to the spots where they belonged, and held them there, while I let my healer’s magic flow in a white light from me into her. The tissues around the injuries quickly began to respond, knitting her appendages back together right before our eyes.

  “Thank you,” she moaned, when I finished, sagging in relief against my dad.

  “Get them all out of here,” I said over the top of her to Grandma. “It isn’t safe.”

  “It should be okay now,” Hal spoke up. “He seems pretty dead to me,” he added, nodding his head toward Vance, whose entire blood volume was seeping across the floor.

  “Yeah, well looks can be deceiving,” I replied back to him. “He won’t be dead for long, so if you value your life I suggest you leave.”

  Hal acted like he might want to argue with me for a moment.

  “He received the Awakening!” I shouted at him. “He's immortal! Or did you not understand that part of everything? You need to leave now!”

  Hal swallowed hard. “What about you?” he asked worriedly.

  “I’m the only one here he can’t truly harm.” I felt bad for sounding so gruff. “Thanks for your concern, but please, all of you go now!” I looked around at everyone. “Leave the house and go somewhere Vance wouldn’t hunt for you. I'll do my best to contain him.”

  “She’s right,” my dad said. “Everybody out!” He turned to me. “Be careful, Pumpkin. None of us knows what we're dealing with here.”

  “That's true,” Grandma agreed. “There's never been a demon who has received the Awakening before. His powers will most likely be astronomical.”

  I nodded in understanding. “I know
,” I replied, turning to glance at Vance. “As if his powers weren’t strong enough already.” I ran a hand through my hair before I turned back to them. “Please go. I have no idea how long it will be before he wakes up.”

  “Good luck, honey,” Dad said. He put an arm around Grandma and ushered her out.

  Then I was alone. Alone, with my demon husband that is.

  “What else can possibly go wrong?” I questioned out loud to no one, my mind unable to process everything.

  Numbly, I began picking up the scattered contents around the room, while I waited for Vance to come back to life, trying to figure out where things were going to go from here.

  I wrapped the crystal bowl and the athames in the table cloth, carrying them over to the corner with me, where I slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

  Staring at him, I noticed his eyelids were open a little bit. His irises still held the red filled stain. The skin near his eyes had a reddish/black coloring which gave them a bruised appearance before it lightened as it spread out farther away.

  His veins had turned a blackish gray, tinged with red also. I could see them creeping up from under his collar, around his neck, and up the sides of his jaw towards his temple. One red streak ran from his temples to the outer corner of each eye.

  I glanced over his brow, which was slightly furrowed above the bridge of his nose, and two small bumps, I assumed must be horns, bulged beneath his hairline at the top of his forehead. Horns might have been stretching the term a little bit. They were more like nubs, of what appeared to be, bone and tissue.

  His teeth, well, I had a hard time with those. The edges of every one sharpened into fang-like points, which were still easy to see despite the fact they were covered in Babs’s blood.

  I didn’t know what to do about any of this.

  Vance was feasibly the most powerful person on the planet now. He'd already been a magical prodigy to begin with. Then he had assimilated his father’s powers, along with all of the magic his dad had stolen from other witches and warlocks prior to that. He'd been dangerous then, and that had been before he received the Awakening.

  I remembered back to Scotland, when he had been fighting Douglas for his life. He'd drunk Douglas’s blood. The realization hit me then. I must not have ever truly stopped his demon conversion. I'd only slowed it down.