Vampires' Lair

by Connie Ruth VeJar

  Jasmine sat still, shocked by what she had just heard. She was not a witch, let alone the most powerful witch alive. She had no magical abilities.

  After a few minutes of silence, Stormy spoke up. “Listen, I know that this is hard to believe. It was hard for me to believe at first and I am a witch. This is why I invited you to this castle. I hoped that it would help if you were in a magical place maybe then your powers would manifest more quickly. I also wanted you because to meet my friends that are also witches and they have special powers that can assist in bringing forth your powers.”

  Jasmine kept silent for a moment before she finally spoke. “You had asked me if there was anything wrong when you came to my door. I had an experience last night that I cannot rationally explain.”

  Jasmine went on to explain what had happened to her down in the hot springs the previous night.

  “It is starting,” Stormy said with excitement in her voice. “The castle must be somehow drawing your powers out.”

  “It didn't seem like that to me, it was more like an interaction between two forces. Like something was attacking me.”

  “The castle?” Stormy questioned.

  “Possibly,” Jasmine replied.

  “I think it's our next move is to have you meet my fellow witch friends. We can go down and meet up with them after lunch. This will give you time to rest up a little more before meeting them. I will come and get you when it’s time to go.”

  This sounded fine with Jasmine, she walked Stormy to the door, making sure that it was locked after she left.

  Jasmine still didn't believe any of what Stormy had told her. The only thing that she knew was whatever had happened to her was not normal.

  She would meet her friends just to see if they could shed some light on the previous night’s incident.

  Chapter 20

  Stormy had arranged to have everyone meet them in one of the secluded sitting rooms in the castle.

  Walking into the room, Jasmine took in her magnificent surroundings.

  The room had stuffed comfy armchairs lined up around the room’s walls. The chairs had just as comfy ottomans to match. The side tables were just as ornate as the rest of the castle, they were made of cast iron and marble. There was a large circular table in the middle of the room with pillows encircling it instead of chairs. The fireplace was had a roaring fire burning, the crackling fire soothed her nerves. There was a subtle fragrance in the room, Jasmine suspected that it was coming from the fireplace.

  Jasmine sat in one of the chairs closest to the fireplace. Stormy sat on the opposite side. Stormy served her some hot tea while they waited for Stormy's friends.

  Within minutes of their arrival, Stormy's Witch Clan arrived.

  As they walked into the room, one by one Stormy introduced, making sure that she included a little bit of each witch’s special abilities.

  There was Hazel, -Witch of power. She had fiery red hair and eyes for which she must have been named.

  Chloe was the witch of death, long black hair and black eyes to match.

  Aurelia with bleach blonde hair and golden eyes, her specialty was Elementalism. Stormy explained that she works her magic through the elements.

  Then there was, Necromy and her special power was Necromancy, which deals with the spirits and the dead. Her hair was black with white streaks in it, she had crystal blue eyes.

  They all stared at Jasmine as though they hadn't seen another person in their lives. Neither of them seemed to care to have any physical contact with Jasmine.

  After each introduction, one-by-one they went straight and took a seat in one of the empty chairs.

  “Ladies,” Stormy addressed the room, getting everyone's attention. “I know that we have all heard the stories that have been passed down to is concerning the existence of a great being with extraordinary powers. We Fire Angels are believed be have been placed in our midst to protect us from forces that are here to threaten our existence.

  We do not know all the powers that a Fire Angel possess. I am sure that they are many. We never truly knew that Fire Angel's existed. This small group of us are the only ones in this world that know that there is at least one.

  Until now they only existed in our verbal folklore.

  In the stories that were passed down to us through the years. We were told the Fire Angel's powers were so special that none could rival her power.”

  Hazel spoke up. “How do we know that Jasmine Willow is a Fire Angel? We only have your word and as much as I trust in your judgment and I believe in the accuracy of your visions. We still have no other proof that she is who you suspect she is.”

  Jasmine could not sit silent any longer. She stood up and glanced around at all the so-called witches. “I am here at Stormy's request and to appease my own curiosity. I agree with Hazel,” Jasmine nodded in Hazel's direction.

  “I don't believe that I am a witch, let alone this Fire Angel. I don't even believe in witches or vampires. My belief is this is a fictional world that I write about in my books. I have no magical superpowers. I was brought here under the pretense that I would be able to recuperate and get in some writing. I had no idea that I would be placed on a pedestal and made out to be your savior.

  I am not here to try to convince any of you that I am this Fire Angel. To me, you seem to be some sort of psychotic cult and I am your sacrificial lamb.”

  “I know that this is very much unbelievable to you right now," Stormy chimed in. "But we are going to take our time to prove to my theory to you. I also hoped to prove to you that what my visions and my instincts tell me is in fact, true. I have asked all of you here today to do more than just meet Jasmine. I want us to do an experiment. I want for each of us to use our own unique powers to determine if there is anything to my theory. Jasmine, do you mind if we try out this little experiment?”

  Jasmine shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever you think is okay with me,” Jasmine replied."

  “Great!” Stormy exclaimed. “Let's have each of you come up one at a time and let’s see what we can find out.”

  Chapter 21

  “Hazel, why don't we start with you?” Hazel gave Stormy a look that told Stormy that she was none too pleased to be the first in this ridiculous charade.

  Reluctantly, Hazel walked over to Jasmine. Hazel stood directly in front of Jasmine. Hazel placed one of her hands on each of Jasmine's shoulders, closed her eyes and waited. She expected nothing.

  Sure, the ancestral stories were fascinating but, in all honesty, she did not believe that she would ever be in the same century with such a mythical creature as a Fire Angel let alone in the same room with one.

  Hazel's power was unmatched by any known witch alive.

  Her family, what remained, were all powerful witches. Over the years her family members had been destroyed by another powerful clan of witches. This clan was set on ruling over all witches. These witches had paired up with a group of powerful vampires who also sought out power.

  Within seconds of placing her hands-on Jasmine, her hands seemed to be glued to Jasmine. A burning sensation entered her hands and crept up her arms then it spread throughout her body. Hazel's eyes remained closed, but that did not mean that she couldn't see. And what entered her vision was fire! Fire surrounded her. She was thrust into a whirling firestorm. The air around her was scorching hot causing her lungs to burn with each breath of air that she inhaled. The flames burned hotter and hotter until she could not breathe any longer.

  Just as suddenly as this vision had started, it ended. Hazel's body collapsed onto the floor in front of Jasmine. Hazel had been drained of all her strength and laid at Jasmine's feet barely breathing

  Everyone ran over to Hazel. Jasmine bent over to try help, but Stormy yelled out for her not to touch her. “You shouldn't touch her just now. Let’s help her up and to one of the chairs,” Stormy instructed the other witches.

  After a few minutes Hazel started to come around, still weak and a little dazed she looked over at Ja
smine and the realization of what had just happened hit her. She had just had her first encounter with a legendary being that no one in many lifetimes had ever seen. She had escaped from the fiery grips of a real life Fire Angel.

  Aurelia brought Hazel a cup of hot chamomile tea, she held it for her as Hazel took a sip. “Hazel what did you see?” Aurelia whispered.

  Hazel's reply was no more than a whisper. "Fire. I was consumed by fire, Aurelia.” Hazel grabbed Aurelia's arm. “Listen,” she whispered to Aurelia, “the Fire Angel is in our midst and it is Jasmine Willow."

  “Ladies, please let’s let Hazel sit and drink her tea while we continue with our endeavor. Hazel can fill us all in when she regains her strength. Who would like to go next?”

  Aurelia stood up. “I will,” she told Stormy.

  Jasmine would have put a stop to the nonsense that these so-called witches were doing, but she could not deny that she herself was seeing the same fiery whirlpool of flames as she had in the hot springs. She would let them continue with this examination of, for the time being at least.

  When Aurelia stepped in front of Jasmine, she didn’t do anything but close her eyes and waited for what seemed like forever.

  Jasmine looked around at the other women in the room all of them seemed transfixed on her and Aurelia.

  Aurelia started whispering words that Jasmine did not understand, those words were foreign to her. To Jasmine, it sounded like she was chanting.

  Aurelia placed her hands-on Jasmine just as Hazel had.

  Aurelia's eyes shot open and her eyes rolled back into her head, leaving only the whites of her eyes visible. Aurelia was thrust into her own vision.

  Just like with Hazel, the fire engulfed, the flames scorched her flesh. Standing in the middle of the swirling flames stood Jasmine. The flames oozed out from every inch of her. Jasmine was the source of the flames. Jasmine extended her arms in front and spread them open. Flames erupted from Jasmine's chest and went hurling toward Aurelia.

  Stormy watched as Aurelia went into her trance, she had seen her a many time before do the same thing when she sought out information.

  Everything seemed to be normal until Aurelia was suddenly thrown backward crashing into the stone table behind her.

  Stormy looked at Jasmine. Jasmine was now standing, and flames erupted from her. The flames swirled around the room. The flames were swirling so fast that force of the flames started blowing the books all around. The wind that the flames were producing were pulling everything into a cyclonic storm. Stormy mutter a spell the flames and wind immediately came to a halt. Everything that was swirling around fell to the floor. Jasmine fell back into the chair and sat slumped over.

  Aurelia lay in front of the table, stunned by the force of the fire storm. As Necromancy and Chloe ran to Aurelia. Hazel remained seated, she was still too weak to stand.

  Stormy checked on Jasmine. She too was weakened by her encounter with the Aurelia. Otherwise, she was fine.

  After ensuring that Jasmine was ok, Stormy ran to help Necromy with Aurelia. The two witches assisted Aurelia to a nearby chair.

  Besides being bruised and weakened Aurelia seemed to be none to worse for the wear.

  “I think that is enough for today,” Stormy said, as she was assisting with Aurelia.

  “I think that we all can agree that Jasmine Willow is what I have suspected all along. The next step is to start to bring forth her powers.”

  Jasmine aroused when she heard Stormy’s last words.

  “I still don't believe in all this Fire Angel nonsense and I don't know if I want any more of your experiments done on me.

  Furthermore, I don't believe that I have any powers whatsoever.” With those words, Jasmine pulled herself up from the chair and stumbled across the room.

  Slamming the door behind her, as Stormy called out to her not to go.

  I am not going to fall for these tricks that they are playing on me, Jasmine thought to herself as she made her way back to her quarters.

  Chapter 22

  Jasmine didn’t know what Stormy and her so-called experts in this Fire Angel deal were up to, but she didn't want any part of it.

  Jasmine continued to get weaker with each step that she took.

  Stormy must have spiked her tea, she thought to herself. Sure, that must be what made her hallucinate. That would explain why she was seeing the whirling flames.

  Jasmine finally managed to make it back up to her room. Jasmine locked the door behind her, the pulled a chair over and jammed it under the doorknob.

  After what just happened to her, she was not going to trust anyone here again.

  The whole escapade had exhausted Jasmine, she was unable to stay awake, no matter how hard she tried. She could not resist the desire for sleep that her body was succumbing to. Jasmine barely made it to her bed before she succumbed to unconsciousness.

  The howling wind blew strong outside, its whistling was what awakened Jasmine from her sleep. She woke to a dark and cold room. Jasmine glanced around checking the clock in her room for the time. It was well past six in the evening. She had slept for hours. This was another reason to believe that her tea had been tainted by Stormy.

  Jasmine pulled herself from the bed, she seemed to have regained her strength from the long unintended nap.

  Jasmine walked over to the door that opened onto a balcony. The wind continued its whistling around the castle’s walls. She opened the door slightly, she breathed in the cold crisp night air. She could hear a faint howl cutting through the cold wind.

  It was a mournful howl. The howling saddened her. She was overcome by the creature’s sadness. She listened to the sorrowful howl until it faded into the night.

  Jasmine felt the desire to go out into the night and be free just as the howling creature.

  Jasmine dressed in one of the ski suits that she had thankfully brought especially for this trip. She chose the hot pink one with matching boots to go with it.

  At least if I get lost, I won't be hard to miss, Jasmine thought to herself.

  Jasmine headed down the winding staircase. She intended to sneak out the back of the castle, but not knowing the way she decided to venture out the front door.

  Surprisingly, there was no one in sight. They must be all attending another one of those parties just like the previous night. Jasmine did not want to join in on any of their festivities. The only thing that she desired was to be alone and enjoy her walk that cold windy night.

  Jasmine found a stone walkway that headed down the mountainside. She followed the winding path until she came to a ledge that looked over a massive lake. The ledge had a very steep stone pathway that led down to the lake. Jasmine decided to continue.

  Reaching the water’s edge, Jasmine looking out across the icy shoreline she felt at peace, she felt like she was home.

  This was the same type of places that she wrote about. She had not felt like this about any other place.

  With the wind whipping up around her Jasmine decided that she would head back up to the castle before she froze to death.

  Catching a whiff of a scent that took him back many years. He thought that he would never smell the unmistakable scent of such a powerful witch again.

  But his love was long gone from this earth and to his knowledge no descendants of hers remained.