I raised my power level and my golden aura expanded.
“I'm sorry about Albert,” I said. “But he was out of control just like the queen was. If he hadn’t summoned the powers of hell and tried to stop us from rescuing a half dozen innocent pregnant teenagers, he’d be alive today.”
The hisses and snarls were growing louder behind Henry; there was going to be trouble.
“I don't care how it happened. My son is gone, and you’re going to pay,” he said.
I pushed harder and raised my power level even higher. Maybe if I showed them how strong I am, they’d back down.
“This is your last chance,” I said. “We’re getting in our car and driving away. If you do anything to stop us, be prepared to join Albert.”
I looked back at Sarah and Cathy.
“Get in the car,” I told them. “Now.”
They carefully got in the car and I turned to join them, but as I did so I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Henry said.
Without a moment of hesitation, I turned around and slashed his face with my claws. Henry tried to claw me back, but I gave him a head butt to the nose which knocked him backwards.
Suddenly, another of the vampires rushed towards me. I focused and slashed his neck. Before he could try to stop the bleeding, I jumped in the air and kicked him in the face sending him onto the hard pavement.
Before I could turn around, I felt a set of claws scratch my face. It was Henry, back on his feet. Then two vampires grabbed hold of me, one on each arm and tried to push me to my knees.
“Get out of here,” I yelled to Cathy and Sarah.
The car didn’t move. Sarah was behind the wheel looking deeply shocked, and Cathy was next to her, crying.
“Go!” I said. “Now!”
Sarah sped off as Henry began to punch and kick me. As soon as the car was out of sight, I elbowed the gut of the vampire to my left and broke loose of the other vampire's grip, and punched him in the jaw.
Henry grabbed my throat; and began to squeeze it with all his might. I looked at his face and peered into the molecules. Using my psychokinetic abilities, I accelerated their motion. In only a couple seconds, the skin of his face started to burn and char.
I focused harder, and his entire body burst into flames causing him to scream and let go of me. I turned around, but to my surprise I saw a man in a robe looking at me. He was chanting and holding up his palm towards me.
Looking carefully at the man, I realized it was Pastor Demetrius from Juanita’s church. I was stunned, but before I could say a word I felt my power level drop. My aura faded out, and I could feel my abilities weaken.
“What are you doing?” I asked, as two vampires grabbed me.
Pastor Demetrius continued to hold out his palm towards me. On it, I could see a glowing symbol, or sigil. It was red and was casting a ray of light in my direction.
I tried to break free from the grip of my captors, but I’d been severely weakened. Although I didn’t like the idea of doing so, I decided to take extreme measures.
As soon as I saw an opening, I bit into the neck of the vampire to my right and ripped out a chunk of flesh. Blood started to spray out of his neck, and as I turned towards the vampire on my other arm he let go of me and jumped backwards.
I then looked at Demetrius; he was continuing to chant and point the sigil at me. Before I could hurl myself in his direction, I felt something hit me in the back of the head. I fell face first to the ground.
Rolling over onto my back, I felt my power level drop further. My claws and my fangs had retracted and I was in my human form.
Looking up through blurred vision I saw Henry – his skin on his face and hands now blackened from burns – standing with a bent metal baseball bat in his hands. As I looked at him sole of his boot crashed into my face. I was knocked out, cold.
Waking up, I could feel a throbbing sensation throughout whole body. I felt like I’d been tossed through a meat grinder. I couldn’t tell what condition I was in because the room was completely dark and my night vision was not kicking in.
I managed to push myself into a sitting position on a the cold hard floor. Reaching out with my hands and trying to feel what was around me, I discovered I was surrounded by vertical metal bars -- I was in a cage.
Shutting my eyes I tried to power up. If only I could make my night vision kick in I could get a look at my surroundings, but all my power was gone.
I sat in the dark cage for what seemed like hours until a door opened unleashing a blinding light. The door quickly closed, and the room became dark again. But I could hear footsteps in the room.
In the midst of the darkness, I began to see a shadowy figure light a number of candles and in the faint light I recognized Demetrius.
I was furious at him. Why would he side with a bunch of vicious vampires to attack me?
“Do you know who I am?” he called out.
“Yes, you’re Pastor Demetrius. Some pastor you are.”
He walked towards the bars of the cage and sat down on a small chair.
“I have never come across a creature like you before,” he said. “I'm told you’re part griffin.”
“What the heck do you care what I am?”
“My order investigates all damned creatures,”
“I'm not damned,”
“Yes, you are,” he said. “Your very soul is hexed with a curse. When I kill you, your soul will burn in hell for all eternity.”
I thought about his words and then asked another question.
“So are you some kind of vampire hunter?”
He laughed.
“I guess you could call me that,” he said. “We prefer to consider ourselves as Knights of the Lord Jehovah.”
I managed to stand up, but I was still weak. Leaning against a wall, I tried to point out an obvious, glaring contradiction.
“If you’re some kind of holy warrior of God, why do you align yourself with foul monsters like Henry and his thugs?” I asked.
He remained silent for a few moments before answering.
“That’s a good question,” he said. “He’s providing me with information I need.”
“About what?”
“The vampire order.”
“What do you want to do? Take out the empress?”
He became quiet again.
“Let’s just say that my order wants to refocus our efforts where they will do the most good.”
“Look, I'm not some kind of monster. I’m actually a Christian. There are bad vampires out there, but there are also a lot of sick humans as well.”
He stood up and looked at me.
“Don't you dare call yourself a Christian,” he shouted. “You may have attended my church or even accepted Christ at some point in your life, but now you’re nothing more than an abomination.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“I know your kind,” he said. “Maybe I don't know a lot about your griffin heritage, but I know about vampires. All of them, at their core, are bloodthirsty beasts. They may pretend to be civilized or even go around doing good deeds, but in their heart they seek violence; they desire to kill.”
“I'm not like that,” I said.
He didn’t answer, so I decided to ask another question.
“How did you weaken me?” I asked. “I feel like all my power is gone.”
He walked up to the bars of the cell and looked at me once again.
“The symbol on my palm is a sigil of heaven that drains your power,” he said. “When I activate it with the power of my soul, the red light makes you no stronger than any of us.”
He held out his palm and the sigil started to glow. I could feel the red light weakening me once again.
“You may accuse me of being a monster,” I said. “But you seem more like a witch than a preacher.”
“What I do is not witchcraft!” he said.
“It seems like witchcraft to me,” I said. “I
've never met a preacher that knew how to cast spells.”
“I learned my skills through intense study of the ancient texts,” he said. “My gifts are from the spirit of God, not Satan.”
He stopped shining the red light at me, and I managed to walk to the bars of the cage.
“How do you know the gifts you have are from the spirit?” I asked. “What if they aren’t from God or the devil?”
“What if there are more powers in this universe than God and the devil?” I added. “Not everything we don't understand is evil.”
“Your new age propaganda won’t work on me,” he said. “There’s one God, and his name is Jesus Christ.”
“I believe that too,” I said. “Jesus Christ is the son of God. However, why do you lump all of us who aren’t human into one group? Isn't that judging us? Doesn't the Bible say something about that?”
“You’re lucky I haven’t killed you yet,” he said. “What you did to rescue the young mothers from the maternity home has kept you alive.”
The door opened again. A vampire walked in carrying a fighting, squirming little girl in his arms.
“Put her in the cage,” Demetrius instructed him.
I wanted to try and escape as soon as the door to the cage was opened, but I knew that I was far too weak. It was taking all my strength to stand; there was no way I could fight.
“Let me go,” the little girl screamed, as the vampire tossed her into the room and slammed the door shut.
The little girl landed on the hard cement and began to cry.
“What kind of sick monster are you?” I said. “Why are you putting a girl in this cage? What did she do?”
The vampire exited the room, but Demetrius remained.
“Although you’re weakened and your strength is diminished, your hunger for protein remains. The sigil does nothing to weaken your desire for flesh,” he said. “You think you’re so high and righteous, let’s see how long you can hold out before you attack the girl.”
I paused and considered his words. An intense feeling of fear made my stomach twist into a knot.
“She’ll be dead in a short time,” he said. “Then you’ll die too.”
Demetrius then walked out of the room.
I looked down at the little girl, and she looked up at me. She was still crying, and I could see a look of fear in her face.
“I’m sorry they threw you in here,” I said. “My name is Eli.”
The little girl scrambled to the corner of the room. She hid her face in the torn, tattered remains of her blue dress. Looking at her, I felt an intense sorrow; no child should be subjected to being put into a dungeon – especially with a vampire like me.
I sat down in the opposite corner of the cage and looked at the young girl. She looked no older than four. Her long, blonde hair was dirty, and I could see bruises on her body. I could also smell the blood coming from the severe scrape on her knee. It was a scent I tried to ignore.
“Please don't be scared of me,” I said. “I'm not going to hurt you. I promise that I won’t. What is your name?”
She simply looked up at me for a brief moment and then curled back up into a ball. I decided not to attempt to communicate with her anymore, at least for the time being. She was terrified, and I didn't want to inadvertently add to her trauma.
Suddenly, I wondered if by some chance I still had my phone. I reached into my pocket, and I pulled it out. However, it was broken and wouldn’t turn on. Reaching in my other pocket, I pulled out my wallet, but there was nothing of any use inside of it.
I sat in the corner of the dank, dark cage for hours. Every so often, I’d feel my power begin to grow slightly. However, Demetrius would enter the room, display the sigil, and the red light would drain me. I’d try to speak to him, but he’d remain silent.
Eventually, the candles burnt out, and the room was totally dark. The little girl in the opposite corner of the room would cry from time to time; her sad voice made me want to weep.
“Sarah and Cathy will come for me,” I told myself, trying to ignore the growing hunger inside of me. “They will be here in no time.”
However, as the hours passed, I began to wonder how long it would take for them to arrive – if they made it safely back to the mansion. My worry was that eventually my hunger would grow, and I’d lose control. To distract myself from that terrifying thought, I tried to think about my captors and how I would attack them when I escaped. I considered every object in the room, and imagined how I could use it as a weapon.
Eventually, the little girl called out to me.
“Are you a bad man,” she asked.
I didn't know what to say.
“I try to be a good man,” I said. “I’m not like the men that put you in here.”
“Are you going to hurt me?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “I’ll never hurt you.”
“I just want my momma,” she said, breaking down in tears. “Can you help me get to my momma?”
I felt a tear roll down my face.
“As soon as we get out of here, I promise that I’ll get you to your mother,” I said. “What is your mother's name?”
“Her name is Melissa Fletcher,” she said. “Her address is 332 Hampton Court, Orlando, Florida.”
I figured they taught her to recite her address and parent's name in school.
“My mother's name is Emily Smith,” I said. “I want to see her too.”
“Is your mom nice?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “She’s very nice. I love her.”
“I wish she was here. I'm so hungry,” she said.
I lifted my head back in disgust. That sorry no good preacher was a monster for torturing and starving the little girl.
“As soon as we get out of here we will go get something to eat,” I said. “I just need you to be brave and strong until then. Can you do that?”
“I'll try,” she said. “But I don't feel good.”
The little girl started to cough.
“Just hang in there,” I said. “We will get out of here.”
“But the bad men out there won't let us go,” she said.
“I have friends who’ll come and get us out of here,” I said. “They’re stronger than the bad men.”
“They are?” she asked, before coughing again.
“Yes, they’re very strong,” I said.
I continued to talk to the girl, but eventually I could feel my stomach growling. Although I didn’t know how long I’d been in the cell, it seemed like at least twelve hours or longer. I decided to stop talking to the girl; I didn’t want the reminder that she was in the cage with me.
When Demetrius came into the room to weaken me once again, I began to speak to him.
“Please bring the girl some food and water,” I said. “If you’re any kind of preacher please don't allow this innocent girl to suffer. Don't you remember Jesus saying that it would be better to have a millstone hung around your neck and be tossed into the depths of the ocean than to harm a child?”
He paused and looked at me before leaving the room. A moment later, he returned with a glass of water and a candy bar for the child. He handed them to the girl through the bars of the cell. The girl quickly started to gulp down the water.
Demetrius left the room.
I could see the little girl was having problems opening the candy bar. She was so weak that tearing open the candy bar was too difficult of a task for her.
“Would you open this for me?” she asked. “We can share.”
I crawled over towards the girl. My stomach growled at the scent of both her and the candy bar.
“Focus,” I thought to myself. “Don't think about the scent.”
I opened the candy bar and gave it to her.
“Do you want some?” she said, breaking off a piece and attempting to hand it to me.
I was not about to take food out of the mouth of the beaten, abused girl.
“No, it's yours,” I said. “I'm fine. Y
ou enjoy it.”
She quickly consumed the entire candy bar.
I retreated back to my corner of the cell. As I curled up and faced the wall, I tried to fill my mind with thoughts of Cathy. In my mind, I imagined sitting with her in the back of Sarah's van. The thought of having my arms wrapped around her comforted me. I shut my eyes and went to sleep.
Golden Hue (Ascension) Page 7