"What's going on Cais?" Jax finally questioned as they began to round the small mountain of terrain covered garbage.
"I don't know," Caislyn said as perplexed as the other two felt. "I just have this strange feeling and I..." Before she could finish she saw the back side of the mound that they had just walked around and realized there had been a very strong Fey glamor hiding a doorway. The mound, it appears, was not garbage, but a hidden bunker.
"...and you?" Jaxon prompted. Neither she or Seth realized the door was there until Caislyn cracked it open. "What the..." Jaxon looked from Caislyn to Seth and back to the door again. "Where did the door come from? And why is there a door into a trash mound."
"I'll be damned!" Seth said, nearly under his breath.
"Well, duh, you're a vampire - of course you're damned!" Jaxon quipped. "That doesn't explain why there's a door in a trash pile."
The humor was lost on all of them as they heard Gregore calling to Caislyn once more. "I'll be right back," she said as she quickly ran back around the mound, leaving her friends near the door.
"Greg, did you want to insult me some more or what, because this really isn't a good time. Maybe we can set up an appointment sometime next week for you to tell me all the ways I have disappointed you since my parents went missing."
Now it was Gregore's turn to feel the sting of her words. He took a step back and then took a breath and remembered what he came here to do. "Caislyn," he said it so low it was barely audible, as he grabbed hold of her hands with his. "I believe in destiny, Caislyn," Gregore said as he looked her in the eyes, holding her tiny wrists in his own large hands.
"Greg..." she started to say before he cut her off.
"No! You need to listen to me for once." He closed his hands around her wrists tighter than he should have. "I believe we share a destiny, you and I." His eyes dropped a bit. "I saw you in my dreams long before I ever met you in the school yard. I didn't realize it till recently when the dreams started again. Even back then it was the older you I had been seeing, so I never knew. I just always knew you felt right, like a part of myself, a piece I haven't been able to live without this past year." He looked back up into Caislyn's eyes, "If you are in trouble, I will help, like I did with those vamps who chased you out of the New Moon Rave.” He smiled sheepishly after seeing the shocked look on Caislyn's face. “It was the least I could do, so I tripped a couple while your new friend over there took care of the rest. Anyway, my point is, if you need me I am here, and when you want me..." his voice cracked and trailed off momentarily, "I will be who you need while I wait for that." He gave one final squeeze of Caislyn's hands as he stood there waiting for her to respond.
Caislyn had never been caught so completely off guard before. She had to remind herself after a moment to breath. A part of her wanted to forget her quest, to drop everything, and walk into his arms because her wrists ached from the absence of his touch now that he had let go. A loneliness was left to burn in their place. Tears were forming behind her lowered lids because as much as she wanted to give in to the promise of hope she saw in his eyes, she was on a different path, a dangerous one, and she wouldn't bring him into that. It wasn't fair, to either of them. The timing was all wrong and she cursed the gods for that.
When she finally spoke her voice had a harsh thickness to it. All of the pent up emotions threatened to choke her as she spoke the words she wished she didn't have to say. She looked back at her friends who were waiting on her to breach the bunker they had discovered.
"Greg, I..." she stopped as she saw the slump in his shoulders. 'He already knows.' she thought to herself, 'he knew that I would disappoint him.' "I have to go, Greg. I can't do this now and you should go." She turned her back to him, in part to give her strength enough to finish her statement, but also so he would not see the tears that she was no longer able to fight back. "Go, enjoy the party and find someone worthy of you, because I am not that girl." She didn't have to turn back around to know that he was walking away, wounded beyond measure by her words.
Caislyn took the first tentative steps back towards Jax and Seth, wiping at the tears that spilled freely down her cheeks, giving away her feelings. She pulled all her strength to her so that she could hide some of what she was feeling from her friends. She forgot for a moment that Jaxon was an empath and had already felt all of it. As she walked up to her friends, Jaxon placed her arm around her and whispered in her ear, "Caislyn, I'm so sorry, one day things won't be so chaotic." She hugged her closer momentarily and then let go.
Caislyn looked up at both of them, convinced now that she had buried the majority of her emotions for now. Later, when she was alone and not in so much danger, she would allow herself to feel them, but for now she had to shut it all down. She looked up at Seth and asked the only thing she could think to get them back on track, "what is this place?"
Seth was looking at Caislyn who obviously had no clue what they had stumbled upon. "These are the old labs," he said, then he began rambling on about them, "I knew there were some around here, hidden, but I didn't realize that one was this close."
"Okay, my turn to be confused, what are you talking about?" Caislyn looked back at Seth before she stepped over the threshold and into the darkness beyond. Darkness was a problem for her more so than for Seth or Jax, who obviously had better night vision. When she realized she wouldn't be able to get far without more light, she conjured a white flame in her hand to help light the way. The white flame burned very dimly, but no heat was emitted, making it a great flashlight.
"Remember why the OTHS was formed?" Seth walked in behind Caislyn and waited as she conjured her flame.
"Yeah, because non-humans were being tortured by the government to figure out what made them tick." Knowledge of where they were suddenly dawned on Caislyn and her white light nearly flickered out as she lost her concentration. "Oh," was all she managed to say as she turned and explained to Jaxon just what they had stumbled across. "But it was sealed up with Fey magic," she said as she looked to Seth for answers.
"The OTHS's first missions were to find the testing facilities, save those they could, put the others out of their misery, and seal the buildings from humans." He sighed as he continued to walk down along the corridor. "The hope was that most of the results of all that testing would remain hidden too, but we weren't so lucky there. Humans and their technology were way ahead of us on the communication front."
"Holy crap, you mean we are in a lab where they were dissecting non-humans for experiments?" Jaxon looked around, a bit more on edge now that she knew what kind of place they had stumbled into. "Do you really think we should be in here?"
"Something in here is calling to me." Caislyn said as she continued to follow the felling in her gut.
"Like, literally calling to you or are you talking a more figurative type calling, because honestly, I'm not sure which is the most creepy option considering where we are." Jaxon continued to look around in her normal nervous manner.
"I have this feeling in my stomach, almost like I am being pulled or called and I really don't want to refuse." She sighed as she continued walking, "it's actually quite nauseating, but at the same time, I don't think I can afford to not listen to my body."
"Have you ever felt this pull before?" Seth questioned nonchalantly.
Caislyn thought for a moment and a memory came back to her of a time when she was lost in the woods by her family's cottage. She had wandered back there chasing butterflies while her parents were occupied with an elderly woman who had come to visit them. She didn't mean to go as far into the woods as she did, but before she realized what was happening the butterfly flew high above the trees and Caislyn remembered looking around and feeling completely lost and hopeless. It was then that she felt a strange pull in her stomach, she ran in the direction she was compelled to follow and before long she saw her dad standing there. The worry that was momentarily creasing his face eased into a smile as Caislyn ran into his arms. "Daddy, I was lost." She had said to
him.
"I know sweet pea, I helped you find me." Her dad said, "now, no more chasing butterflies into the woods, I might not be around next time to help you back."
"Oh - Dad!" Caislyn shouted, as she picked up her pace and began running toward the compulsion she felt.
"Wait!" Seth shouted at her as he grabbed her arm.
"My dad, he's the only one that has ever caused that feeling before. He found me that way when I was little and lost in the woods."
"He may not be the only one who can do that." Seth said to her sternly. "Maybe you should think about that before you go running off half-cocked and getting us killed along with you."
"I am not trying to die in this dank hole," Jaxon interjected.
"But, what if he needs me. It already feels weaker." Caislyn hung her head and allowed the sorrow of the past year to sink into her bones. Then she shook it away and began to concentrate on the pull again. "I have to find out."
"I agree, but cautiously." Seth allowed Caislyn to continue leading them in the direction she felt pulled to. As they went deeper underground the concrete walls around them were somewhat moist. Even concrete and metal couldn't keep the low water table at bay forever. This area of the country was never meant to have below ground buildings, they just didn't fair well, if they could even be constructed properly to begin with. When they came to a branch in the corridor and had to choose whether to go left or right Caislyn paused and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on what she was feeling instead of what she was seeing. She felt the distinct, though fading tug at her mid section and quickly turned left.
"Damn it, it's fading faster than I can get there." Caislyn was on the verge of panic when the feeling completely subsided from her. She stopped dead in her tracks and without realizing she had even been crying, she wiped the tears that had been streaming down her cheeks in shiny rivulets. Only they betrayed her diminished hope, because the rest of her body was turning and searching, trying to find a cause for the sudden break in feeling.
"Cais?" Jaxon questioned as she stood there watching her friend's internal turmoil spill down her cheeks. "Hey, I know this is hard for you, but I really don't think..."
Before Jax could finish what she was saying Seth bent down and picked something up off the floor. "Odd place for one of these."
Caislyn turned to see what he had picked up. Her eyes flew wide and she snatched it from his hand before even his vampire quick speed could react. "This is my dad's." She turned the earring over and over in her hand and found what she was looking for, the Mac that had been carved into the back. "It really is his."
Seth once again had trouble controlling his surprise as Caislyn announced that the earring she had found belonged to her dad. "Are you certain?"
"Of course I'm certain, I never saw him a day in his life without it." She held it close and felt a feint tug at her midsection. "This is what I have been following. He's not here, but he left this behind for me to find. He had to, because it was charmed to call to me if I came near."
Seth gained control over himself once again and managed to look like his normal aloof self, but while Caislyn had been preoccupied with the earring, Jaxon hadn't missed the look on his face. She was not about to let it go, but this was not the place to start questioning his loyalty again. Instead she took hold of Caislyn's hand and held on tight. "Is there anything else we can find here, or was this it?"
"I think this is it."
"From the looks of the place it was pretty well cleaned out when they finished with it. I haven't seen any sign of recent usage here at all. I think that earring may have been left a while ago." Seth turned to head back out of the bunker. "We should go, someone's bound to know we disturbed the seal on this place and it would most likely be a good idea to be long gone before they get here."
***
Gallery of Dreams
Caislyn took a deep breath as she tried to focus on her research. She had been unable to find anything special about the earring her father had left behind so she instead found a way to fasten it to her necklace until she could figure things out. In lieu of finding information on the earring she dove into trying to locate more information about the prophecy as well as the book that her parents were looking at when they were taken. She knew what book it was since she had drawn it in her sketches. It was obviously missing, as the girls had looked all over the store for it. Caislyn had called around to some of the other high end book dealers her father had worked closely with only to find that the particular book she was looking for was very rare. She actually got several offers for the book, if she were able to track down the copy that her parents had been looking at. With frustration and dead ends mounting again Caislyn decided she could try to find other references to the book and see if she could piece together what her parents had found. Her concentration was waning, however; as Jaxon's chattering, pacing and fidgeting were taking their toll.
"Jaxon," she called to her friend who was several rows over rambling about some clothing sale and her not having the money to go shoe shopping anymore. "Jaxon!" When that didn't work she yelled, “Jax!”
"Huh? Did you call me?" Jax asked as she peeked around the corner of the bookshelves.
Caislyn was sitting on the floor with two books open on her lap and surrounded by four others. "I can't concentrate with you talking about shopping."
"Oh, Sorry. Its just that, with all this stuff going on, I haven't had the time to get proper clothes to fight in. And there's this big sale, but Seth told me to take some time off, so I haven't been able to go get my bonus from Ronald. So, I don't have any money to go shopping. And it just sucks because it’s a really good sale.."
"Jax" Caislyn interrupted. "Go to the gallery. Go get your bonus. Go get some clothes. Get whatever you need, please! All your chattering and pacing is driving me crazy. Apparently you are picking up on my tension and restlessness and its adding to your own. So go, just be careful."
Jaxon smiled. "I really have been cooped up too long, I think. I'm gonna grab my purse and I'll be back later! If you need me, you have my cell number. Don't hesitate to call me okay?"
Just like that Jaxon was out the door and headed down the street. Caislyn breathed deeply again. "Ah, peace and quiet!" Caislyn went back to her research now that she was able to concentrate. There was something to be said for quiet, but when your eyes were tired from hours of looking at page after page, the quiet was not always the best thing. Caislyn's eyelids began to dip as she began nodding off over the books she was researching. Before long her head was on a book and she was out cold.
****
Jaxon walked briskly towards the gallery watching her step on the broken sidewalk. It had been several days since she had been at the gallery and she had missed being there. It seemed like forever since she had been out of the apartment for reasons other than dealing with supernatural creatures or finding Caislyn's parents, so Jaxon was enjoying the fresh air and the afternoon sun. The gallery would provide her a great distraction and possibly take care of some of this restless energy she had.
The front door chimed as she entered and Stacey looked up from behind the front counter. "Jax! Where have you been? Is everything okay? Ronald said that Seth told him that you needed a few days off, but its been like a month since I've seen you!"
Jaxon smiled at her co-worker. Stacey was a tall blond with a smile that lit up a room. Her blue eyes were full of concern at the moment and Jaxon felt the warmth of friendship. "I'm fine Stacey. And it hasn't been a month - its not even been a week! I just needed a few days of rest and relaxation after the last show, ya know? How's everything been here at the gallery?"
Stacey relaxed immediately once she realized Jaxon was okay. "Oh good. I was worried about you! Well, there's a new load of stuff from some estate somewhere that needs to be assessed, priced, and loaded into the system. Ronald has it all stacked up in the back. Good luck finding it though.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “he has no organization skills!" Stacey rolled her eyes as
she went back to her station at the counter and Jaxon headed towards her office.
As Stacey had warned, it had taken Jax several hours to find all the pieces that Ronald had acquired from the estate. He had stacked them where ever he found room. Jaxon took the time to assessed, and value each one. She was only part way through entering the lot into the database when she started having trouble focusing on the computer screen.
"Crap" she said as she looked at her watch and then glanced out the window seeing that darkness had set in. Jaxon thought about the sale she had so obviously missed as well as the dinner that she should have taken a break for and decided it was time to head back to the apartment. “I wonder what Caislyn's up to," she thought aloud as she turned off the computer and gathered her purse to leave.
Stacey had left a couple of hours ago and Jaxon was alone in the gallery. She walked around checking the back door and making sure everything was turned off and closed up for the night. She got a weird tingly feeling as she began locking up her office door. Just then the front door chimes went off, signaling that someone had entered.
****
The door flew open and the winds began whipping through the book store tossing papers and causing the chimes throughout the store to tinkle in their wake. Caislyn stood in the middle of it all hands out to her side, head tilted back in complete reverence for what was happening. She began twirling in circles as she used to do as a girl with the butterflies from the fields around their country cottage. Suddenly, without any other prompting than her thoughts, the butterflies were there, inside the store dancing with her. Caislyn's feet shuffled through puddles of pages that had become dislodged and were blowing across the floor. It was then that she noticed she was barefoot and that the floor of the store had become more like the floor of a forest, green grasses and mosses were being squished between her toes as she continued twirling about with her butterfly friends. The joy of her childhood came rushing back to her as she let herself go and be at peace in the forest that now surrounded her. Laughter broke the spell she was under. She turned to see where it had come from and caught sight of a figure standing behind a tree. The figure was draped in cloaks of earthen colors, but even those cloaks couldn't hide the radiance that was trying to shine from underneath. 'A glowing man' Caislyn thought to herself. Then she thought how she needed to see this person up close and before she could blink he stood before her, that shinning energy waiting to burst forth from his cloaks.
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