Revelations

by Butler, Christine M.

  "Caislyn, after all this time searching, you need to be there for Vesta. Don't worry about it." Jaxon closed her eyes one last time and focused on the buzzing, then she was grabbing Seth's hand and pulling him along with her at breakneck speed.

  ~...~

  "I hope I did the right thing." Caislyn muttered.

  "Of course you did the right thing, Cais."

  "What if they need me? What if they don't make it back because I wasn't there?"

  "Don't think like that. I am sure they will be fine. Seth is level headed and I've got first hand knowledge that Jaxon is getting her powers seriously under control."

  Caislyn looked up at Gregore, "what do you mean?"

  "She told me about what has been going on, Cais. She told me everything. And when I was really angry and ready to head out searching for Ash to kill him, she commanded me to stop." Gregore looked lost in thought for a moment, "I've never been so compelled to do something in my life. I wasn't even able to move later, after she told me to sit. Seth had to go get her to remove the command."

  "Oh, I didn't realize she could do that."

  "I don't think she did either until it was done." Gregore draped his arm gently around Caislyn as they walked back to the camp and to the RV that Vesta was being kept in. Caislyn's head was still hung low with the knowledge that she couldn't help Jaxon. After all Jax had done to help Caislyn rescue her own mother, the knowledge that she couldn't return the favor right now was a hard pill to swallow. Gregore squeezed a little tighter and Caislyn looked up at him. "How bad is she getting? I took a break this morning to get a shower and then, well, Jax was having problems." Tears began to slip down her cheeks. "I feel so torn right now." Gregore stopped walking and with that action Caislyn stopped too.

  "Cais," Gregore turned her to face him. He noticed the tears and wiped them away gently before he continued, "If the roles were reversed, Jaxon would have made the same choice. She has Seth there with her. Your mom needs you. Her mom needs her. The two of you aren't always going to be able to be there for each other. Right now, you need to go see if there is anything you can do to help Vesta until we can get those supplies here." He hugged Caislyn close and she allowed her body to melt into him, pulling the comfort she needed in that moment. Gregore kissed the top of her head and relaxed his hold on Caislyn so that his arm was simply draped around her again. "Now, let's go see what we can do for Vesta."

  "Greg," Caislyn started to say as she looked at him apprehensively.

  "Later, Caislyn. Right now, your mom is more important."

  ***

  QUARTERED

  "Jaxon, slow down."

  "You don't understand," Jaxon was in tears, speeding through the forest at a blinding pace. "I can feel her, she's giving up, Seth."

  Seth caught hold of Jaxon's arm before she burst right out of the forest into a clearing the road passed through. He quickly tucked her down behind some bushes as he assessed what was happening in the road. There were three men, dressed in the dingy brown robes the Brotherhood favored. A little ways down the road from them were four horses in the middle of a crossroads. They were all four positioned to go in opposite directions and they were all connected to something in the middle of them. Seth knew immediately what it meant, but Jaxon was still panicking trying to get a glimpse of her mother.

  "Where is she?" Jaxon whispered.

  "Jax," Seth started to say when a horse shifted just far enough to the side that they could see what it was tied to.

  "Oh my God!" Jaxon yelped. She was looking on in horror as her mother was bound between the four horses. Each limb of her body was tied to a different horse and she already seemed to be stretched beyond reason. A tall, skinny, dark man with close cropped hair was down there taunting each of the horses so that they would pull a little harder in one direction or another, eliciting screams of agony from Merriwyn.

  Aside from the man taunting the horses, there was also a balding fat man in the middle of it all with a stick, which he was using to poke and prod Merriwyn. Others were standing around watching in amusement, as if this were just the afternoon entertainment and not a person they were torturing. While Merriwyn's fear and pain were the most dominant emotion Jaxon was picking up on, her empathy also allowed her to feel the buzz of excited energy that was burning through each of the brothers.

  "Tell us witch, where are the others? We know you aren't alone." The man held a pouch of herbs up in front of Merriwyn, "from the looks of it, you needed to restore someone's powers. Perhaps you two shall meet again in the pits of hell." The man tossed the herb pouch to the side. Jaxon looked on as Merriwyn's gaze followed the bag to the edge of the road where it landed. "Perhaps you shall join her sooner rather than later," he said as he whacked her hard across the abdomen with the stick.

  "Yes, yes, I will tell you." Merriwyn coughed after speaking in a voice that was strained from screaming. "They are..." she coughed again.

  Jaxon could sense the eagerness in the man as he got closer. He leaned down close enough to try to hear what Merriwyn was saying, unfortunately for him he was a little too eager and a little too close. Merriwyn bit down hard on the man's ear and spit the chunk back out at him, laughing all the while.

  He backed away quickly, holding his bleeding ear. "You fucking bitch! I will enjoy the show later, but for now, I still get to have my fun!" He took the stick he had been poking Merriwyn with earlier and began beating her, mercilessly, until one of the other brothers came over to stop him.

  "He will not be pleased if you kill her in this manner, brother."

  "I don't really care," spat the man who now had blood running down his robes soaking them in spots.

  "You will when he ties you up and gives you a similar death." That stopped the balding brute from going much further, he kicked dirt from the road up into Merriwyn's face as he walked away from the scene.

  Jaxon's attention shifted momentarily as the three members of the brotherhood who were closest to Seth and herself were arguing over something. Now that Jaxon was trying not to think about what was happening to her mother, she started listening in.

  "She'll talk," the older, completely bald brother was saying. "If we strip her powers..."

  "Oh, yeah, because that worked so well on the last witch," another was saying.

  "Both of you shut up." This man had the strangest, crystalline blue eyes Jaxon had ever seen. She watched as he scanned the forest edge and smiled cruelly. "I don't see any reason to wait longer. Dispatch the horses." Jaxon was still trying to figure out why those eyes reminded her of something when his last words sunk in.

  "No," she whispered as she dug her nails into Seth's arm. "Noooo!" The scream that would have easily been heard was muffled in Seth's hand as a whistle from one of the brothers carried on the wind.

  "Shhh, Jax, there are too many of them, and I'm not so sure they are all as human as they would like to appear."

  "We can't just let her die, not like that."

  It was too late though. Seth turned Jaxon away so she couldn't see her mom being ripped apart by the horses as they were sent flying in four different directions. No manner of looking away stopped her from feeling those fleeting emotions from Merriwyn before it was all over. She crumpled further into Seth's embrace as the pain and horror of the event ripped through her. To make matters worse for Jaxon, intermingled with her mother's fear and pain, was the elation she could feel coming from some of the brothers. She wasn't sure how she would cope with not only feeling her mother's pain, but having to experience someone's joy at the same time. It sent her head spinning momentarily. One of the brothers in particular had enjoyed the show immensely. Jaxon marked his image, the one of the balding man with the stick, and his emotions in her mind as she began plotting her vengeance. When Jax was able to look up the man with the blue eyes was nowhere to be seen and the others were laughing as they set off to round up the horses.

  There wasn't a lot of time for looking though. Seth was tugging at Jaxon, pulling her further back
into the forest. "We can't just leave her there like that." Jaxon was saying as she numbly allowed herself to be pulled along.

  "We'll come back for her, Jax. We have to make sure the Brotherhood are gone, or we at least have backup before we do though. I won't watch you die that way too."

  ***

  FALLING APART

  "I'm going to check on Seth and Jaxon, do you need anything before I go?" Gregore asked as he rubbed Caislyn's back.

  "No," she whispered. Caislyn was still having trouble even speaking to Gregore through the guilt she had about her dream affair with Ash. She knew she would have to talk to him about it sooner or later, but since Seth had brought Jaxon back it had been a near constant vigil either at her friend's side or her mom's. Seth was currently on Jaxon watch. Not that there was much to see. She had spent the past two days curled in a ball, not moving, not eating, just crying for her mother. Caislyn couldn't blame her. She was currently watching over her own mom, hoping that Pavlina would be able to bring her back around. "I can't imagine what it must have been like for Jax, to see that. It's hard enough watching this." She said to the old woman who had been placing an herb poultice under her mother's pillow.

  "Caislyn, we need to talk." Pavlina's old eyes looked tired as she motioned to the other room. Caislyn got up and followed her to the living area. "Without the herbs that Merriwyn went after..." She paused, seeing the realization in Caislyn's eyes. "She's slipping away, and there's not much more I can do for her."

  "I have to go try to find the herbs then." Caislyn started pacing back and forth in the small space she had to work with. "Tell me what I am looking for. I will go."

  Pavlina just shook her head, "it's not that simple, my sweet. The Lady's Bedstraw must be collected on Faeries Night. This night alone imbues the herb with magic, the harvest must occur before the magic dissipates from it or there will be no magical effect. There was a reason Merriwyn waited so long to go collect the supplies she needed. We are trying to give your mother back her magic. It's her magic that will bring back her life. You can't get around that."

  "Okay, so when is the next Faerie Night? I can get some more then."

  Pavlina's grave look told Caislyn what she feared, "not until next year." The old healer watched as Caislyn crumbled under her own weight, sinking to the floor in defeat.

  "What are we supposed to do? I can't sit here and watch my mom wither away."

  "When your friend and her vampire came back he mentioned something about the herb bag being tossed by the side of the road. They couldn't get it because there were too many of those vile creatures hanging around, but perhaps we can send a scout out to see if it is still there, or if it's even safe to go retrieve the bag."

  Caislyn's hopes grew, but she managed to reign everything in for a bit, because this was going to be a long shot. "Seth said he saw where the bag was?"

  "Yes, but I think now may not be the best time to approach either of them about it."

  "No, probably not, but I can't wait and sit by and watch my own mother die too, just to spare their feelings. We've already lost two days, who knows if she even has two more in her."

  Pavlina only nodded, then turned to go back in to tend to Vesta.

  Caislyn walked next door and knocked lightly. "Hey," she whispered as Seth opened the door. Despite his being a vampire, he looked worn out. There were dark rings under his eyes and his face was looking a bit gaunt. "When was the last time you went out for a hunt?"

  "Before the wedding," he answered simply.

  "Oh, Seth, you..."

  "Don't," he interrupted. "I don't need any lectures. I can't leave her like this. She hasn't even moved in two days, Cais. How am I supposed to go out hunting, when she's like this? I'm afraid if I move wrong she is going to snap and be gone."

  Caislyn just nodded her head and then walked into the other room to check on Jaxon. She was lying on the bed in a fetal position staring at the wall, as she had been for days. "Jax, honey, it's Caislyn." Caislyn plopped down on the bed next to Jaxon and started rubbing her back. "I wish you would come try to eat something. Sweetie, Merriwyn would not want to see you doing this to yourself." She sat quietly for a bit, listening and then realized she wasn't hearing Jaxon breath. "You know, even your vampire side will need some sustenance soon. You can't keep tapping into that part of you without consequences." Caislyn pulled the covers up further over her friend's shoulder and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I love you! I wish you would come back to us."

  Caislyn looked up to see a very disappointed and worn looking Seth staring in. He was blocking the door so she had to start her conversation here in front of Jaxon. "Seth we need to talk." He just continued to stand there, still and silent. "My mom is getting worse. She can't wait, and Pavlina said you saw the herb pouch by the side of the road..." Caislyn stopped herself before she mentioned that it was where Merriwyn had been killed. "If I don't get that pouch, my mom will die. There's only one harvest a year for the magical variant of Lady's Bedstraw, and no one else was there to harvest it this year." Again, she kept herself from mentioning Merriwyn. "I have to go see if it's still there."

  "You can't go alone," was all he said.

  "I won't go alone. I will take a scout with me, but we are going to need to know where you last saw it."

  "Not here, Caislyn." Seth turned and walked back into the other room, with Caislyn following close behind.

  "I'm sorry Seth. I'm sorry about what happened to Merriwyn, sorry about what Jax is going through, but I can't sit back and do nothing for my own mom."

  "I know." He said as he found a sheet of paper and a pen. He began drawing a crude map for her to follow. "You are going to want to wait till morning. Your scout will have an easier time of it and besides, you need to pack some supplies just in case. I don't like you going out without a vampire to back you."

  "Well, I have some pretty neat tricks up my sleeve too, you know. I can teleport if I get in trouble."

  Seth almost cracked a smile. "Yes, I am well aware you can teleport. I am also very aware that you and Jax both are still on shaky grounds with your powers when you aren't together."

  "That's not altogether true, we've both grown a lot over the last few months."

  "Yeah, but not enough to keep me from worrying. So, you can pick this map up in the morning, once you've rested and have a capable scout to go with you."

  "Fine." Caislyn turned to leave the RV and head back to the one she was once again sharing with her mom. "If we lose her because of this delay I will hold you accountable though."

  "She will be fine. Vesta is a fighter, Cais. You're a lot like her in that respect." Seth tossed a worried glance back towards the room where Jaxon was sitting catatonic. "I don't know what to do for her to bring her back to me." Seth sat down and leaned over with his head in his hands. "It's killing me to see her like this. I want to help, to be there, but..." he sighed and then all but whispered, "I'm not enough for her."

  "My mom will know what to do for her. We just have to get her better so she can help." Caislyn reached over and patted Seth's back, "I promise we will all get through this. I will see you in the morning, and Seth, she's not going anywhere right now, you need to go get something to eat. You won't be any help to anyone if you don't do it soon." Seth simply nodded as Caislyn left the RV.

  ~...~

  Jaxon managed to keep her body still, in vampire mode as Seth came back in to check on her.

  "Jax, I have to go get something to eat. I'm leaving soup and tea by the side of the bed. Please, try to eat a little while I am out. You need to get something in your system too." Jaxon couldn't feel Seth's emotions. That was a part of herself she had cut off when she tapped into her vampire abilities. She could tell from his strained voice though that Merriwyn's death, and more so her own behavior since, were taking their toll on him. She kept herself still as he got ready, kissed her head, and left. She opened up to the noises of the night and listened until she couldn't hear him any more. Then she climbed out of
her bed, and downed the bowl of soup in one solid motion. She left the tea alone, because she was sure it contained a sedative. She didn't need to be sedated for what she had planned. Jaxon found a piece of paper and scrawled a quick note.

  Caislyn,

  I will not let your mom die a senseless death too, nor will I allow you to put yourself in danger. I will have the herbs you need back here by morning. And thank you, for giving me purpose again.

  Love,

  Jaxon

  She left the note on the bed that she had been occupying and then she took off to go retrieve the pouch of herbs that Casilyn's mom so desperately needed. Her thoughts weren't just on the healing supplies. Jaxon began thinking of her mom again. She had done nothing else these past two days. She thought of her mother, how she had just gotten to know her. Jaxon thought about her heinous death, and then she thought about how to best seek vengeance. The Brotherhood would die. One. By. One. And it was not going to be pretty. They would die for her mother, and for Caislyn's father.

  ~...~

  Caislyn sat up straight and reached for a pencil and her sketch pad automatically, but they weren't there. With all the changing of sleeping arrangements they had been making lately, no one ever thought to make sure she had them beside her bed as she slept. Instead, Caislyn sat there looking as though she were awake and drawing pictures in her covers with her finger. Before long, she was laying back down and off to sleep.

  "Caislyn!" Seth was yelling at her now and shaking her to try to wake her up.

  "What the hell are you doing?" Gregore yelled at him as he came in the room.

  "Waking her up," Seth said, "Jax is in trouble."

  "What do you mean Jaxon is in trouble?"

  Seth threw the note he found in his RV at Gregore. Caislyn finally woke up and was a bit out of it, because the moment she notice it was Seth hovering over her and not Gregore, panic set in. "Mom?" She questioned.

  "No, Jax!" He said and he looked over his shoulder at Gregore, demanding the note back with nothing more than the look in his eyes. Gregore happily obliged and passed it on to Caislyn.