Other Worlds: Vesta Mansion Trilogy - Book Two - Fantasy

by P. A. Priddey

  Alex grinned. ‘Yeah, and I really hope it pissed them off.’

  ‘What was your nightmare about, Jimbo?’ said Claire. ‘And don’t say me.’

  James leaned back on the sofa. ‘No, I crashed the coach, and woke up with no hands just bandaged stumps, it was horrible.’

  ‘I was single, and all my friends had gone,’ said Claire.

  Paige nodded. ‘That’s the same dream I had.’

  ‘I was walking the streets,’ said Carrie.

  Claire raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s shocking.’

  ‘No, not like that,’ said Carrie, going a little red.

  ‘Not to do with your ex?’ said Paige.

  ‘No, I haven’t thought about her in ages. I was walking the streets as I had nowhere to go, no home, no friends, I was so alone.’

  Alex noticed the part of Carrie’s ex being a woman, and his stomach wrenched. It was conformation he did not want to hear.

  ‘We dreamt Papa had left us, and we couldn’t sense him,’ said Shaula, smiling, still with paint all over her face.

  Claire grinned. ‘You didn’t have a nightmare then.’

  ‘Yes, it was horrible,’ said Shaula, with an irritated look on her face, and Claire pulled her onto the sofa.

  Alex tried not to think of Carrie’s former girlfriend. ‘Did anyone dream of monsters?’

  None of them had, they all had nightmares of someone they cared about, or they had lost something.

  ‘Does it mean anything?’ said Joseph.

  Alex pondered it. ‘Well, I’m sure we dreamt of our worst fears, and it seems everyone is more scared of losing their loved ones than monsters.’

  ‘All except James,’ said Claire. ‘He was scared of crashing and losing his hands.’

  James shook his head. ‘The crash was the worst part, I was driving the coach and you were all on it.’

  ‘Did you really think that if I dreamt of monsters it would be a nightmare?’ said Carrie.

  Alex forced a smile. ‘No, you’re probably the only person I know who looks under their bed, or in the closet, hoping to find something.’

  Claire grinned. ‘Not everything that comes out the closet is bad you know.’

  George shook his head. ‘How is it you can all remember, but none of you are upset by it?’

  ‘Maybe it’s to do with that glowing thing Alex does,’ said Paige. ‘We were more angry than sad. I don’t think the witches understood what we feared the most.’

  ‘They probably don’t understand what love means,’ said Daralis.

  Luella nodded. ‘Or they think it’s a weakness.’

  ‘Not here,’ said Alex. ‘Not when Claire thought I had gone’

  Claire raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t remember saying your name.’

  Blaze and Luella took the children upstairs to clean them up when a flat back truck arrived. Alex stepped outside and saw the machines from the arcade. Two men climbed out and unloaded them with a small crane on the back.

  One of the men passed him a slip of paper and pen. ‘Would you like some help getting them inside?’

  ‘No, it’s fine, we’ll manage,’ said Alex, as he signed the delivery note.

  ‘And just how are we going to get that one inside?’ said Paige, pointing at the horse racing machine.

  ‘I’m leaving that to you ladies to sort out, and have you noticed the sun is shining,’ he said, as the truck drove away.

  ‘Yes, it’s lovely, but how are we going to carry it?’ said Paige, as it started to lift off the ground.

  Alex watched it float. ‘Like that.’

  ‘Are you doing it?’

  ‘No, not me,’ said Alex, and indicated at the front doors.

  Kerry stood in deep concentration, the machine moved towards her slowly, but steadily. She walked backwards into the mansion. It followed her, and just managed to fit through the open doors. Alex stepped inside and pointed to where he wanted it to go, in the middle of the hallway behind the stairs.

  ‘Where do you want this one?’ said Emma, as the other machine floated inside.

  ‘Over there next to the other shooting game,’ said Alex.

  Michelle walked outside to a shed she had converted into a tool room. She fetched an extension lead for the horse racing game, and with House’s help they hid the cable underneath the floor.

  Alex turned to Kerry and Emma. ‘That was very controlled.’

  Kerry smiled. ‘Yes, and very heavy.’

  ‘Could you lift much more than that?’

  Emma pursed her lips and looked down. ‘Erm . . . yeah we can.’

  Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘OK, you best tell me what else you’ve lifted.’

  ‘We had the coach off the ground,’ said Emma, quickly, with her arms behind her back as she tried to look all innocent.

  ‘That’s amazing,’ said Alex.

  Kerry looked surprised. ‘You’re not upset with us that we did it to the coach?’

  ‘No, it’s only a coach, and you put it back safely.’

  James frowned. ‘It’s not just any coach, it’s our coach.’

  ‘I’m sure no harm came to it with two very skilled women lifting it together.’

  ‘No, not together,’ said Emma. ‘Kerry lifted it first, and I did it after.’

  ‘That is amazing,’ said James.

  ‘Can’t you do it?’ said Alex.

  James arched an eyebrow. ‘I can lift a ball in the air, but not a bloody coach.’

  Claire leant on the horse racing game. ‘Are we gonna have to play this now?’

  Alex smiled and winked. ‘Not yet, I want to see how long it takes Blaze to notice it.’

  Michelle switched it on. ‘How did the truck get through the gates, when no one was in the office?’

  ‘House probably opened them.’

  ‘He can do that?’ said James, not looking too happy.

  ‘Yes, I’m sure I told you about that.’

  James shook his head. ‘I’m quite sure you didn’t.’

  ‘You never told me either,’ Michelle added.

  Paige smiled. ‘You’ve got to have one secret don’t you.’

  Alex shrugged. ‘They do have a remote, and it’s not my fault if they don’t have enough faith in our friendly guardian.’

  They were on the sofas when Blaze came down and sat where Joseph and Daralis were discussing the language on one of the parchments.

  ‘Shouldn’t they be in some sort of plastic bag to protect them, they look very old?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Joseph, ‘you’re probably right, but we don’t have any.’

  ‘I have some plastic pockets in the office. I’ll get some for you,’ said Blaze, and walked to the office without looking down the hall. When she came out the first thing she saw was the horse racing machine. Blaze stood staring at it, and turned to the others. None of them looked up, as they all appeared busy reading. She put the sleeves on the table and stood in front of Alex with her arms folded.

  He noticed and looked up. ‘Everything OK.’

  Blaze just stared at him.

  Alex kept a straight face. ‘You’re scaring me now.’

  ‘The mini arcade, there’s a new machine which wasn’t there before.’

  ‘Oh, yeah, your machine arrived not long ago.’

  ‘You bought that for me?’

  ‘Yeah, I hope it was OK, as I knew that you liked playing it.’

  ‘Yes, thank you, I love it . . . is it ready to play?’

  ‘Yeah, Michelle has sorted it out.’

  ‘Does any of you sneaky lot want to come and play?’ said Blaze, and five of them joined her.

  Alex sat talking with Luella and Daralis over dinner. They decided to postpone cleaning the forests until they resolved the witch problem. Tia walked up to their table with a tray which had a silver dome-shaped lid, and put it in front of Alex.

  ’What’s this, honey?’

  ‘Auntie Summer made you a pudding,’ she said, smiling.

  ‘A pudding just f
or me?’

  Tia nodded and put her hands behind her back. ‘There’s pudding for everyone, but this one she made special just for you.’

  Alex lifted the lid, looked underneath, and put it back down quickly.

  Tia grinned. ‘Don’t you like it, Uncle Alex?’

  ‘Yeah . . . err . . . It looks lovely.’

  ‘What is it?’ said Luella.

  Everyone stared at him, and he took the lid off to show them his pudding was a hedgehog. It took him a few seconds to realise it was a chocolate cake.

  ‘That’s so life like,’ said Alex, and picked up his spoon.

  Sarin’s eyes grew big. ‘You’re not going to eat that?’

  ‘I’m thinking about it, would you like to eat its head?’

  Sarin screwed up her nose. ‘No, Papa . . . that would be horrid.’

  ‘Yeah, I guess you’re right,’ said Alex, and put his spoon down.

  ‘And what’s wrong with it?’ said Summer, as she came over to the table.

  ‘I’m not going to destroy a work of art like that.’

  ‘Can I have it if you’re not eating it?’ said Sarin.

  Alex looked at her big eyes staring expectantly at him. ‘I guess so, honey.’

  ‘Thanks, Papa,’ she said, and walked off with the tray.

  Alex watched his daughter leave the party room. ‘Did a little girl just con me out of my pudding?’

  Summer nodded. ‘It would appear so, I’ll get you another.’

  Alex and James took a trip to a random forest to see what the ground was like after all the rain, and decided to leave it a couple of days before patrolling again. He was reading when Blaze came out of her room.

  ‘I’m not sure, but I think I just saw a snake demon.’

  ‘Another demon?’ said James.

  Blaze nodded. ‘Yes, big too, its head looked more like a dragon than that of a snake though.’

  Carrie’s eyes grew big. ‘What makes you think it was a demon?’

  ‘Because I asked the ball to locate demons.’

  ‘Oh, yeah, I forgot it looks for what you want.’

  Alex laughed. ‘At least we might be able to follow it, do you know where it was?’

  Blaze nodded. ‘Yes, it was in the forest where you found Gort and Flax.’

  Alex jumped off the sofa. ‘Shit, some of the pixies are there. We better go and see if they’re OK.’

  ‘We best get our weapons,’ said Carrie, and ran to the gym.

  Alex turned to James. ‘How many are ready to come with us?’

  ‘Nearly all of them now.’

  Sixteen of them, including the two wolves, appeared in the same place where they found the pucas.

  Alex walked ahead. ‘Stick close, we don’t know how powerful it is.’

  Carrie walked along with sword in hand. ‘It sucks that we read all those books, and the things we fight are not in them.’

  ‘The troll was in there,’ said James.

  ‘Troll’s were in there, but not the same one we fought.’

  Alex looked up, his eyes searching the trees. ‘I didn’t think you cared what it was we were fighting.’

  ‘I don’t, but there are quite a few in the books I want to have a try at.’

  ‘James, what the hell have you created?’

  ‘Don’t blame me . . . it was you who invited all these crazy ladies to live at the mansion.’

  ‘Stop being mean,’ said Claire. ‘Carrie’s our Vesta vixen.’

  James grinned. ‘I can just imagine someone asking Carrie to go clubbing, and she’d refuse as she prefers to use swords rather than clubs.’

  ‘I’m right here you know,’ Carrie pouted.

  The snake demon has gone, said House.

  ‘That was quick,’ said Alex.

  It just vanished.

  I have its scent, said Rho. We can follow it to where it last was.

  They followed the wolves through the forest a bit more relaxed as the demon had gone.

  There are others here, said House.

  James and Asima drew their swords and went protectively on the outside of the group. They were moving at a decent pace, when something came out of the bushes. Carrie was there first with her sword at its chest, it was a puca.

  ‘Bloody hell, Gort, I could’ve killed you,’ she said, dropping her sword and hugging the stunned looking creature. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Carrie, dear,’ said Alex, shaking his head, ‘that’s not Gort, as he’s at home.’

  She stared at the puca a little embarrassed, and released him. ‘Sorry, I thought you were someone else.’

  ‘You have our friends? I can smell them on you,’ said the puca, with an Irish accent that sounded strange coming from a furry creature. Five more came out of the bushes all armed with weapons, albeit made from things they found on the forest floor.

  Alex couldn’t help but smile. ‘Yes, they’re living with us for a while.’

  The six pucas looked nervous as they saw all the humans. The wolves, as if they could sense their fear, sat by them.

  ‘Why would they leave their forest to live with humans?’ said the puca, looking more at ease with Rho by his side.

  ‘They’re our friends, and it’s too dangerous out here for them at the moment.’

  ‘We have found their blood here,’ said the puca.

  Alex raised a brow. ‘Even after all this time, and the rain we’ve had, you can still find their blood?’

  ‘Yes, it’s very strong to us, and we thought the other thing we sensed had taken them.’

  ‘The snake demon.’

  ‘We don’t know, but something big came through here not long ago.’

  ‘We are tracking it.’

  ‘What about our friends?’

  ‘They’re quite safe now, as Flax had been badly injured protecting the pixies from demons.’

  The pucas glanced around nervously as dark shapes floated around them. ‘There are no pixies anymore.’

  ‘Are you sure about that?’ he said, as four of the shapes landed on his shoulders and turned into pixies.

  The pucas eyes grew big. ‘That’s impossible . . . there were only three of them left.’

  Alex smiled and rubbed his chin. ‘You said there were no more and now you’re telling me there were three.’

  ‘It was a secret, but that doesn’t matter anymore.’

  ‘I’m Alex. I will introduce you to everyone, and take you to see your friends once we find out where the demon went.’

  ‘I am Jarak, and the scent ends just over there.’

  He is right it stops here, said Rho.

  ‘Was it a big snake?’ said one of the pixies.

  ‘You saw it?’ said Alex.

  ‘Yes, it tried to eat us, but we turned into our other form and it went away.’

  ‘Where did it go?’

  ‘Into the ground,’ the pixie said.

  Alex looked confused. ‘You mean a hole in the ground.’

  ‘No, just into the ground.’

  ‘There’s no point trying to follow it now, we best get back and see if Blaze is having better luck.’

  The pixie stood on Alex’s shoulder. ‘Can we come back with you for a few days? Only it doesn’t feel very nice here at the moment.’

  ‘Of course, you’re always welcome at the mansion,’ said Alex, and the vase appeared. ‘Jarak, are you coming with us?’

  ‘You’re asking us to come?’

  ‘Yeah, we cannot force you.’

  ‘Then yes, we need to see if our friends are OK.’

  Carrie picked up the confused looking puca. ‘They’re fine, and very happy.’

  The first thing the pucas noticed when they arrived at the mansion was Gort riding on the motorcycle machine. Flax sat with humans hitting a button really fast, they also recognised two women. Flax looked up and saw them.

  ‘Jarak,’ she said, and ran to him.

  ‘Why are you here, and playing these things?’

  ‘They sa
ved us, this is our home now, and as you can see some of our mothers are here, too.’

  Jarak scratched his head and looked around. ‘It just doesn’t seem right, but the great ladies wouldn’t be here if it was a bad place.’

  ‘Are you sure about that?’ said Luella.

  ‘No, Mother, I’m not sure about anything at the moment.’

  ‘Well just enjoy yourself before you go home.’

  ‘Did you see what happened?’ Alex asked Blaze.

  ‘No, when I got back the image on the ball was too dark to see anything.’

  ‘That’s when it disappeared into the ground.’

  ‘So there’s a chance the image might return if it comes back out?’

  ‘That’s what I’m hoping for.’

  Blaze nodded. ‘I will go and watch it.’

  Alex shook his head. ‘No, put it on so I can watch it, you can carry on with your game.’

  Asima and James joined him and they watched the ball which was black for nearly an hour, until the image changed and went fuzzy.

  ‘Damn.’ Alex groaned.

  ‘What is it?’ said James.

  ‘It must have found its way to the witches.’

  ~~~~

  The wizard sat watching as the serpent slid into the cave from the tunnel.

  ‘Mazzul, you made it,’ said Tagana.

  ‘Yes, the offer was too good to turn down,’ the dragon headed serpent hissed.

  ‘Once we have the other wizard’s power nobody will be able to stop us,’ said Mardella.

  ‘Is he that powerful?’ said Mazzul.

  ‘He did kill our brother and all his demons,’ said Tagana, without any emotion.

  ‘Will any others be joining us?’ said Mazzul.

  ‘There are a few,’ said Mardella, ‘if they come, and we have Moneth the water demon already here.’

  ‘Can you trust him?’

  ‘Can we trust any demon, even you?’ said Tagana. ‘The fact is we need help or the wizard will destroy us.’

  ‘I thought you were protected here.’

  ‘We are, but for how long? He is powerful and will find us soon.’

  ‘What about your own wizard?’

  ‘It’s him who is protecting us, and that’s the extent of his powers now,’ said Tagana, with disgust.