Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  After blowing the dust off, I wandered to a nearby couch and fell on it, not tearing my eyes from the first page. It said that this was the most complete, reliable source of ingested Demons, circa 1708.

  That left over three hundred years unaccounted for. That sucked.

  For the next hour I sat there, alone, for the most part, since Raphael was busy reading his own book, and read page after page. Taiton was there too, but he’d been with me twenty-four/seven for the past few days, so I considered myself alone even when he was with me.

  There was a picture to go with every type of Demon Crixis had supposedly ingested, along with a detailed description of their powers. Hardened skin, venomous bite, increased strength. There were some real weird-looking Demons in here. Crixis must have been ballsy to eat these things.

  I approached the end of the book, and was about to give up all hope, when I stumbled (or flipped) to a picture of a fat, bulgy Demon holding a webbed stick, I knew that this was what I was looking for.

  It was called an Oobakah, but was commonly referred to as a Dreamweaver. These guys were only three feet tall and were thought to be extinct until sometime around the sixth century, when there were rumors of a King who could control his enemies’ dreams. A man whose description was similar to Crixis’s was seen traveling into the kingdom unaccompanied, and before long, the rumors ceased and the King was defeated by the enemy soldiers, whose dreams were once again their own.

  There were a few uncertain entries, and this was one of them.

  It had to be true, though.

  I abruptly closed it, put the book back in its rightful place, and headed down the stairs.

  The moment I set foot on the first floor was the moment it turned into a desert oasis.

  Glancing behind me, I saw no stairs, no Taiton, no anything. I wasn’t in the house at all. I was one hundred percent in the hot desert. Fantastic.

  A large, frivolous tent was the centerpiece of the desert haven. There were tanned, golden armor-wearing soldiers standing guard, sweat dripping down their foreheads and rolling onto their exposed chests.

  I’d seen this before.

  With great caution, my feet took me to the tent’s flap and I deliberately took my time in entering, fearing to see something that I did not want to see. I’d already had too many of those in this tent.

  A woman with pitch black hair and snake-like eyes sat upon a throne, appearing as if she was bored beyond belief. Her ruby red lips curved into a serpent smile when two soldiers came into the tent behind me.

  She tapped her jeweled fingers on the side of her throne, demanding of the two men, “What do you worms want?” Flipping her hair to her other shoulder, a harsh sigh escaped her. “Have you conquered the—”

  The left man glanced at the right one, lowly cutting in, “The village is destroyed, just as you asked.”

  With a Daywalker flash, the woman stood in front of the interrupter. The frightened look in his eyes made me wonder if he literally shook in his boots. A swift hand smacked his face, sending him flying ten foot back. “Do not interrupt.” Her dark eyes turned on the other man. “Now, why are you here?”

  The man bowed his head, saying, “Forgive us, but we left one warrior alive.”

  “What?” The woman’s teeth clenched together, creating a scary sight. “You failed in killing them all? You let one flee?” Crossing her arms, she somehow avoided smudging the paint on them. “Tell me why I shouldn’t tear your heart out.”

  The standing man raised his eyes level with her malevolent glare. “He did not abscond. We captured him and brought him here, to you. He is outside.”

  “And why,” her tone changed to a nicey-nice one, “would I want him?”

  “He—” The man stuttered as she ran her finger along his cheekbone. “—he is different than the others.”

  She dropped her fingers to his chest, whispering, “How so?”

  “His skills as a warrior surpassed some of our own.”

  The woman’s posture became immaculate once more as she commanded, “Bring him in.” Her black eyes watched as the man bowed, helped the other man up and walked out. Seconds later a struggling man was thrown into the tent.

  He was bound by chains across his arms and chest, but that didn’t stop him from thrashing and resisting to the point where the chains rubbed his skin raw. Crixis used his green eyes to stare the woman down.

  Walking around him like she was inspecting a new recruit, she smiled. “You still fight even when you have lost everything?”

  Crixis bared his white teeth, acting like a rabid dog. A rabid dog that had just lost his wife and child. “A true warrior fights until death.”

  “That can be done.” The words slid off her tongue like velvet.

  “You slaughtered my people,” Crixis snarled, “I will not let that go unpunished.”

  “Of course.” The woman halted her circling, standing directly in front of him. She raised a hand to his forehead, moving his dirty black hair out of his face. “What are you?”

  Stumbling back, he evaded her hands. “I am vengeful, ruthless and unforgiving. What are you?” His chest fell with a heavy, anger-filled breath. Despite the circumstances, Crixis looked more serious than I’d ever seen him.

  She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. I watched in horror as her teeth elongated to the point where the tips were on her chin. As her two front teeth sharpened to end up more razor-like than her canines, her eyes closed and her fingernails grew.

  Wait a damn second…fingernails?

  Her bare feet grew in size, and her toenails grew up and out. The normal, human-like ears she used to have? Yeah, they weren’t normal anymore. They were pointed.

  What was happening to her?

  Crixis must have been wondering the same thing, because his face was similar to what I imagined mine was. Shocked, disgusted, and dumbfounded.

  Opening her eyes, she revealed them to be completely blackened as she responded, “Fascinated.” A lion growl flowed from her lungs before she flashed, sinking her teeth into his neck.

  Hearing the sound of her teeth ripping into Crixis’s skin made me want to turn away. This was almost too much. I almost felt bad for him.

  Almost.

  Minutes later, the woman dropped Crixis’s nearly lifeless body on the sand. Blood oozed from the wounds on his neck as she licked her lips, returned to normal, and repeated, “What are you?”

  I didn’t hear the answer.

  I got to know this particular spot on the wall pretty well, since that was what I stared at while I tried to put two and two together.

  I was too lost in thought.

  I was almost entirely sure that was the woman Crixis wanted us to team up and defeat; two: she was, maybe, more evil than Crixis; three: she was unlike any type of Vampire I’d ever seen or been taught of; and four: I was seriously beginning to wonder if Crixis was right and we needed to unite to take her down.

  That was plain old crazy…wasn’t it?

  Mentally debating the pros and cons, I walked to Raphael’s room, where Steven and Max still sat and watched Claire. I wished staring at her would make her get better, because if that were true, then I was pretty sure she’d be up and at ‘em.

  Steven and Max were only a few feet apart, so I stood between them and set one hand on each of their shoulders. “How is she?” I don’t know why I even asked the question, because I already knew the answer.

  Max shook his head, muttering, “Not good.”

  Just what I thought.

  Steven took the time to turn to me and reply, “Her breathing is slowing to the point where we can barely tell she’s alive.” The back of his white head was now facing me. “I’m going to find Crixis and kill him.”

  I squeezed their shoulders one last time before leaving the room and heading back to my own. I had some things to think about, and I needed relative peace and quiet. Also a possible piece of paper that I could physically write down the advantages and disadvantages of working wi
th Crixis.

  So far, I had way more negatives than positives. The only positive I had was that it would (hopefully) save Claire. Crixis was her only chance, and that, I supposed, made it worth it.

  Crap. What was I going to do? Apparently, I was going to talk with Alyssa, since she stood in my room and looked at the picture I had taken from Koath’s house.

  Her soft voice asked, “Is this you?” She pointed to the baby in the picture.

  I nodded.

  Sitting on my bed, Alyssa looked at me squarely. “A lot has happened since we left, for both you and me. Though, mine are a lot less momentous than yours,” her voice became scarcely audible, “so far.”

  So far? I tilted my head, causing some of my unruly hair to fall in my face. “What do you mean?”

  A light smile crossed her lips. “Let’s just say that the next time you see us, everything will be changed. But I didn’t come here to talk about us.” Alyssa began to fiddle with a stitch on my comforter. “I came here to talk about you.”

  “Me?” Creasing my eyebrows, I couldn’t help but recall the Prophet from the other reality I was stuck in for the longest time. She was exactly like Alyssa, only more powerful. I knew it was only a matter of time before Alyssa unlocked her true Witch capacities.

  “Well,” she corrected herself, “you and Gabriel.”

  “Oh-kay,” I made the word a long one, because I honestly had no response to that.

  “You’ve gone through a lot recently, haven’t you?” Her kind, brown eyes bore into me, searching for something. “I just want you to make sure that your emotions don’t affect the decisions you will have to make.”

  “What do you mean?” I couldn’t believe this. Alyssa was lecturing me? Ridiculous.

  “I don’t know why, but I feel like I need to tell you that the easiest decisions are not always the best ones.” There was a short pause. “Sometimes it’s the tough ones that are the best way to go.”

  Awkward me had a moment when I faked an obvious phony laugh and said, “You think I’m going to have to make hard decisions?”

  Alyssa smiled softly. “We all have to make hard decisions.”

  Nibbling the edge of my lip, I sighed because I knew she was right. Hard decisions were a part of life, whether you liked it or not. With my life and occupation, I knew I wasn’t going to like it. “I know. Sometimes I wish that things were normal. Then everything would be all right.”

  “Kass,” Alyssa said, serious, “if things were normal, you wouldn’t be able to separate the ordinary from the extraordinary.”

  “That would be fine with me,” I was quick to say.

  Her black, curly hair flailed around her head when she shook it. “That’s not true.”

  “Alyssa,” I began, knowing exactly where I was taking this talk, “you have no idea what I’ve gone through since you left. Things have gone from bad to worse, and they aren’t looking up for the better. They never will. My life, assuming I survive this, is always going to be filled with pain, solitude and death. I’ll take ordinary over extraordinary any time.”

  “Soon you’ll realize that’s simply not true.” Alyssa brought her hands to her pocket. Suddenly she hugged me, and I just stood there like a lump and took it.

  I was so over all this hugging.

  Chapter Nineteen – Michael

  It took me hours to get here, but I finally had some time alone. My door was locked, and I sat in an armchair with Koath’s laptop. It had taken me some time, five hours to be exact, to find the deleted files and translate them.

  My training had paid off.

  I scrolled to the oldest document and opened it.

  Today was the day. Truthfully, I was a bit scared, but I was calmed almost immediately when we saw them interact. This was the first time they met, and my wife’s instincts were right. Though he is only a small child, perhaps only a few months older than Kassie, it is obvious that he gravitates toward her. The moment we set her down in front of him, we could see his blue eyes light up. He may be too young to be aware of why he is drawn to my daughter, but he is drawn to her nonetheless.

  While I am excited by this development, my love is not. She is worried of what this means. Though the future remains uncertain, as it always does, she fears that our daughter’s life will be full of turmoil and chaos because of her bloodline. I do not necessarily agree with her suspicions, but it is unsettling to think about. I do not wish Kassie to find any amount of harm in her life, but I believe God has a plan for all of us, starting with the two children.

  Fixing my glasses, I sighed. This was…almost exactly what I anticipated I’d find, minus the mentioning of the boy’s name. Anyone would assume it was Gabriel, but I needed to be one hundred and ten percent sure that it was him before doing anything rash.

  I needed to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the other child was Gabriel, so for the next few hours, I went through and read every, single document Koath ever wrote. Not one stated the boy’s name.

  I couldn’t decipher if Koath neglected to say his name purposefully, or if by some chance, it was all accidental. Koath was a smart man, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he avoided the boy’s name entirely, just in case someone ever got a hold of his laptop and went through it.

  My hope was nearly gone, until I found a document, one that I hadn’t read yet, titled Hope? How ironic. I was seconds away from double clicking it when there was a rhythm of knocks on my door.

  Closing the laptop, I hastily searched the room for a safe spot, one where no one would think to look. Too bad I didn’t have any trap doors built in the house. Something like that would have come in handy more times than not around here.

  Figuring I was running out of time, I stashed the laptop under my pillow and sprinted to the door, unlocking it and opening it to see Elizabeth’s puzzled face looking up at me.

  “What were you doing in here, Michael?”

  I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.

  Her serious face broke into a laugh. “I’m only teasing you, dear.”

  Thank God. “Is something wrong?” I almost hit myself over the head after saying that one. Besides having Kass’s dying friend in Raphael’s room, Crixis after Kass, and Elizabeth and Taiton watching our every move, what else could possibly be wrong?

  “Not…exactly,” she was measured in saying. “Kass wants to have a meeting.”

  “A meeting?” I repeated the words as if I didn’t understand their meaning. “What for?”

  “I don’t know. When I asked her, she said to wait and see. Come on.” Her fingers intertwined with mine. “Let’s go downstairs. I’m sure you want to get the bottom of this just like I do.”

  Chapter Twenty – Kass

  I headed to Gabriel’s room to fetch the boy and bring him down for the meeting we needed to have. I never called meetings. It felt weird to call the shots.

  Walking around Taiton’s huge frame, I hit Gabriel’s closed bedroom door once before walking in. Huh…maybe I should have given him more warning. The boy might be doing something he might not want me to see.

  He was a teenage boy, after all.

  Luckily, he was doing nothing of the sort, only flipping through some magazine. My head beckoned for him to follow me as I said, “Come downstairs. There’s something I need to talk to everyone about.”

  He got to his feet, towering over me like the Eiffel Tower. “I’ll go, but I want to know one thing first: do you ever give me false compliments to feed my fragile male ego? If so, I cannot believe you would do something like that to me. If not, what’s wrong with you? You know I’m a man, and therefore I need a false compliment every now and then.”

  My mouth curled into an unbelieving smile. Gabriel was outrageous sometimes, and this was definitely one of those times. “Just go downstairs in the living room,” I told him.

  Ten pairs of eyes watched me, expectedly, and each pair never blinked. At least, I didn’t see them blink. It was as if their open eyes were permanently glued to me, and th
ey couldn’t blink even if they wanted to.

  “Okay.” I rubbed my hands together. “Hi.” Who have thought that I was terrible at public speaking when I was going to propose something insanely unreasonable and stupid?

  Speaking at my father’s funeral? No problem. Compared to this, that was nothing.

  “What is this about?” Max was the first to speak up. “If this isn’t serious, then I’d like to get back to Claire’s side. I’m sure Steven would agree with me.” His beady little eyes glanced to Steven for approval.

  “It’s about Claire,” I said before Steven had the chance to speak his mind. That statement seemed to silence everybody pretty good. “And it’s going to sound a bit out there, and that’s because it is, but I think that it’s our only option—”

  “What are you talking about?” Michael cut in, eyes critical. “We’ve been through the entire library and the Internet multiple times. The unhappy truth is that there’s no cure.”

  Steven glared at Michael using his brown eyes as flying daggers. “If Kass has an idea, I’d be glad to hear it. It’s better than giving up all hope.”

  “Michael knows that,” Liz defended him while placing a hand on his knee. “He’s just trying to get everyone to face the fact—”

  “The fact that Claire’s almost dead?” Max adjusted his bug-eyed glasses. “Yes. I think we all know that by now.” The little red-head certainly had a temper, didn’t he?

  Like a scene from a TV show, the whole room broke out into a verbal war. I stood in shocked awe as Michael and Liz argued with Max and Steven, Gabriel threatened John and Raphael, John and Raphael threatened Gabriel, and Rain and Alyssa supported both Gabriel and John, but ignored Raphael completely.

  Out of the whole room, only Taiton and I were silent.

  After a few minutes of heated debate, Gabriel stood from his position on the couch and said loudly, “For God’s sake, let’s hear Kass out.” The room became deathly quiet. “It’s probably something totally ridiculous, like bartering with Crixis to see if he knows a cure, but still. We should listen to her.” He collapsed back onto the couch, pointed at John, said “I hate you,” looked at Raphael and said “And I despise you.”