Marina and Rocco race the children to the basement and lock the doors.
“How do you think they found us?” Mia asks, peeking out through the living room window drapes.
“We may have opened Nora’s mind a little too much,” Robbie answers.
Nora’s stomach turns and her adrenaline goes into overdrive.
“It’s time,” Zen says, smiling as he heads out the door.
The six of them stand awaiting their attackers, which are only a hundred feet away and are closing in fast. Robbie places a shield around the house, and everyone takes their place. Zen and Mia take the back of the house, Mike and Jonny take the front, and Robbie and Nora will meet them head on in the center of the yard.
A light morning fog covers the damp ground and the smell of the moist earth fills the air. Only the sounds of the scattering wildlife and heavy breathing surround them. Nora can feel the strength of their enemy. Her stomach is in knots. After a few more seconds of fresh air, Nora and her family are once again fighting for their lives.
Robbie and Nora take out the Light with ease. Back to back they wait for the shadows to attack.
“Where are they, Robbie?” Nora asks impatiently.
A howling scream rattles their ear drums and sickens Nora with fear. They race toward Mia’s call. As Robbie joins Zen in battle with six Shadow, Nora rushes to her mother’s side. Mia is covered in blood and is barely breathing. Adrenaline heightens Nora’s senses, and she leaps at the Shadow attempting to attack her from behind. Soon her anger is in control of her. She kicks the shadow and it lands in the middle of the back yard. Robbie reassures Nora that Mia will be okay, but even then she cannot control her rage.
Aria is here somewhere, hiding among her beasts. I want her dead! Nora leaps on top of the Shadow, using all of her strength to hold it down.
“I want to see your eyes before I kill you!” Nora growls in a monstrous voice.
Nora, that’s not her! Robbie thinks.
The Shadow twists and sends her flying into a tree. It holds her by her neck. Nora’s blood boils and her heart races. Its red eyes lock on her and it smiles. Nora smiles back and plunges her spike into its eye. She lands on her feet, ready for the next one.
“Where is she, Robbie?”
Then out of nowhere and a slight numbness covers her body. Something is wrong, she thinks. Darkness travels fast throughout Nora’s body, reaching her soul, leaving her cold. The trees howl as a strong wind blows through them. She watches as a group of beasts, like the ones they fought in Washington, waste no time in attacking her. Excitedly, she waits for the first to approach. One-by-one, she takes them out. The sounds of crashing of trees echoes through the field.
Nora’s heart fills with pain as the whistling winds carry soft cries for help from behind her. She races to the house. Robbie grabs her shoulder before she can enter the safety room.
“Nora, wait,” he says.
Tears flood her face as she rips away from his grip.
“No! No!” she repeats, making her way to her children’s safety room.
Jonny sobs kneeling over Rocco and Marina’s bodies. Nora searches the room frantically.
“Where are they?” She yells, running out the door, hoping to catch Aria before she gets too far with the twins.
“Nora!” Robbie calls.
They are gone. No trail or scent, just gone. Nora drops to her knees and pounds the ground until her hands bleed.
“I will kill you Aria! No matter what it takes I will kill you! Do you hear me?” Nora screams.
She feels Robbie’s pain in her chest. His pain along with hers is almost unbearable. She cries out as loud as she can, hoping to release some of the pain that grows tighter in her chest, but each cry only makes her angrier. She jumps to her feet when she hears footsteps in the woods. She’s back.
Robbie joins Nora outside the woods where they wait. Nora leaps toward the sound. She lands on a Szion that hides in the brush behind some dead trees. With her spike drawn and her rage to its maximum, she draws back. Robbie stops her hand just before the spike enters the Szion’s chest.
“It’s not her, Nora!”
Nora stares at the Szion in horror. More than anger or even hate—shame dominates her emotions. She looks into his frightened eyes and cries.
“Trouse? I’m …” she says, backing away from him.
Nora slumps down on a stump, and Robbie holds her as she sobs.
“Please, I …” Trouse explains.
“There is no need for an explanation. Let's go inside,” Robbie says.
Robbie’s touch calms Nora, but he hides his own unhealable distraught state.
Zen has almost completely healed Mia and again she is walking on her own. Jonny sits next to Nora and wraps his arm around her, he holds her until she is finished crying.
Trouse stands at the door, afraid to move.
“Trouse, please, sit,” Zen offers, leading him to the living room.
Robbie, Jonny, and Nora sit on the floor next to the fireplace as Trouse explains his reason for hiding in the woods.
“My name is …”
“Your name is Trouse McLane. We know who you are.” Robbie interrupts. “What I need from you is her location and your son’s name.”
“Of course, my lord. I will lead you to her,” Trouse says, with a bow.
Nora sits in silence with her head on Jonny’s shoulder, staring at the fire. Images of her happy twins bounce around in her head. She hears them cry for her over and over and her heart rips every time she replays their laugh. She cringes. Jonny rubs her shoulders supportively.
“Tell us about the beast that look like humans,” Nora says, never taking her eyes from the dancing flames.
Trouse nods.
“A year ago, Aria injected her blood into humans. Those things need Szion blood to live. Aria lost control of most of them long ago. Many are on their own. They hate to see the eyes of the dying so they take their eyes before killing their victims. They cannot breed. So once, they are gone and Aria is dead—that is it.”
Everyone is silent for a moment.
“She’s made the story books about vampires real, huh?” Nora asks getting to her feet.
“No, they are much worse than the ones in any book,” Trouse replies.
“Your son. Where is he?” Zen asks.
“My son is … they killed him. Dumont killed him,” Trouse says, fighting back his tears.
“I’m sorry,” Zen replies.
“Robbie, our children are not dead, I can feel them. We need to connect with them,” Nora says.
Robbie nods and their eyes lock. They feel the twins close as if they stand right beside them.
“England. The north end of Gwenver Beach,” Trouse says. “Do you know the place?”
Robbie nods.
They stand on damp sand awaiting Trouse’s directions.
“Dumont has an underground hideout in those woods,” he points. “I must go.”
“Don’t go Trouse, she will kill you!” Nora begs.
“Thank you, but I am ready. My family is dead and I’ve now done my part in seeing that Aria pays for what she has done to this world. I know how this ends for me,” he says, leaving no room for argument.
“Robbie, open my bond with her. Bring her to us. We may be able to save Trouse if she comes to us. We can change his future,” Nora says.
The moment Robbie releases the hold on Nora’s mind. Nora smiles. She feels Aria’s anger and fear increase. They head to the woods in search of their twins. Dry leaves crackle under their feet with each step. A strong wind blows dirt and wind into the air, making it hard to see. Their group breaks up, spreading out in twos.
“I can’t sense her anymore, Robbie,” Nora whispers.
“I know. She has blocked us out.”
They stop abruptly, stunned at the devastating site that lies beneath their feet. Trouse’s body lies dead next to a tree. We set out to save him and still he dies. She taunts us. Robbie thinks.
/>
“We need to find the twins,” Nora says, picking up the pace in her step.
After a few feet, a small tornado of dust swirls up from the ground, spinning until it forms an image of their twins. They are locked in a room surrounded with white walls. Nora gasps and gives Robbie a wide smile.
“It’s JR. He knows we’re here,” she says.
“That’s my boy,” Robbie says.
In the distance, within the howling wind they hear Mike yell. The sky becomes dark and a raging storm rattles the forest. By the time Nora and Robbie reach Mike, they are too late. The war has begun. Mia fights off Light while Jonny and Zen fight to keep the Shadow and vampires from ripping Mia apart.
“It was Aria! She killed Mike,” Zen yells, cutting the head from a vampire.
“She’s using her pets to distract us so that she can take us out one at a time,” Robbie says.
“She’s toying with us,” Nora whispers.
Anger creeps out and travels until it replaces every one of Nora’s emotions. As if she opened hell with her bare hands, flames grow in her palms. Her eyes burn with a powerful sensation, giving her power neither she nor Robbie knew she possessed.
“Zen, Jonny get Mia home!” Robbie yells. “I will double the shield once you are in. You will be safe.”
I will not stop until every last thing that wishes my family dead is destroyed. Nora thinks.
Robbie nods.
The moment Zen, Jonny, and Mia disappear, Nora blasts everything in her path. The trees go up in flames, and her anger grows stronger. Bodies drop until only she and Robbie stand, but still she continues to burn the forest. Nora, you have to calm down.
Nora continues blasting the burning forest, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Nora, they are dead, all of them. Look at me,” Robbie says.
She tries to calm down, but her rage is out of her control.
“I can't stop, Robbie.”
Robbie puts out the flames that burn the forest with a wave of his hand.
“Look at me!” he yells
Still, Nora continues looking for danger.
“Please Nora, look at me.”
He grabs her shaking hands and the flames die. One look into his eyes and the anger is gone.
“I can't control it.”
“You can,” he says softly.
They walk around slowly, looking for an entrance to Aria’s underground hideout. Something bright catches Nora’s attention. She lifts a tree branch revealing a metal door.
“A door,” she says.
“No!” Robbie yells.
Aria slams Nora into a tree. As hard as she hit the ground, after bouncing from the tree trunk, she should have been in serious pain, but Nora quickly jumps to her feet. She catches a glimpse of Aria without the blackness that she hides behind. Before Nora can fight it, Aria holds her with her evil gaze. Her red eyes burn through Nora, burning her eyes as if torches were ignited in her head.
“Robbie, get the children!”
Again, Nora’s anger takes control, and she is again thirsty for revenge. Aria’s shadowy figure stands ten feet from Nora. Her hands blaze with fire and she rises from the ground. Nora charges at her and is hit in the chest with a large ball of blackness. She flies through the air hitting every tree that stands in the way. She lands on the cold sand on the beach.
“Look at you. You’re a god? Ha! You’re a joke!” Aria chuckles.
Nora stumbles to her feet. She is hurt, badly hurt, but pretends to be fine and forces a smile on her face.
“Oh, it’s not over!” she says, rising into the air.
Her hands blaze, and the wind around her roars while spinning. Then she feels Robbie at her side. Robbie, please, get the twins and go. Without our full powers, I can’t beat her, but I can stall her long enough for you and the children to get to somewhere safe, now please go. I knew I would die today, and I’m okay with it. She thinks to him.
Robbie looks into her eyes and smiles.
“Then today we all die,” he says.
Their energy locks as one, and light shoots from their bodies. Their power increases and becomes one. Aria shoots fire into the sky as she too rises higher into the air. Robbie touches Nora’s hands removing the flames from them. Above them, the sky is on fire and below them the ocean waters rumble with high waves. Robbie squeezes Nora’s hand gently and the waters of the sea surround them, closing them in a thirty-foot cylinder wall of protection from Aria’s flaming balls of fire.
Aria yells. She strikes their walls repeatedly from every direction. Nora feels a rush of power from Robbie’s hand to hers. With everything they have, they push the sea toward Aria. The water turns, splashes, and crashes in its resting place, where it becomes still as if never disturbed. They look for Aria’s body, but she is nowhere to be found. Robbie and Nora slowly drop to their feet.
For a few seconds, everything is calm, then the calm again brings Aria’s storm. She jumps from out of the sand and charges at them. Small red beams come from Robbie and Nora’s eyes and they stop Aria in her tracks, a few feet away from them. Another gift they didn’t know they had. Nora kicks Aria in the chest as hard as she can, hoping to break as many bones as possible within that one kick. Aria flies a good distance but stops herself from hitting the ground.
“Like you and me, she is working with powers combined with hers. Dumont is helping her,” Robbie says.
Robbie and Nora walk toward Aria. She continually throws fire, which only heats the air. Untouched by Aria’s weak power, Robbie and Nora’s bond grows stronger and so does their connected power.
Looking at her sister face to face, Nora thought when this moment came, she would feel some sort of sympathy for Aria. She thought that she would struggle with killing her only sibling. Nora feels none of the guilt she thought she would, only pure satisfaction that Aria will be no more. Just as the moment comes for Nora to strike, Aria vanishes. They knew where she would go and they waste no time in following.
As they walk through the metal door, Nora’s stomach becomes jumpy. Robbie holds her hand as they walk down the long steep stairs. The further they go, the darker it gets.
“The door, the white door from my dream. Robbie, I can't breathe.”
“Be strong, Nora,” he whispers.
Nora freezes a few feet from the door. Robbie tugs at her hand, making her walk. Screams pierce her eardrums sending Nora to her knees, holding her ears. Robbie runs to the door. He pounds on the door and pushes his shoulders into it, then blasts it with beams of light, but it does not budge.
“Nora, I need your help! You can do this! Get up damn it!” he yells.
Nora slowly stands. Again, her children scream from the other side and she races to the door. Together, she and Robbie burst through the door.
The room is surrounded by white walls and the floor sparkles like one big diamond. After entering the room, Robbie is tossed and hits a wall.
“Stay out of this!” Dumont says.
Although he is not there, his voice echoes loudly. Robbie jumps up and races to Lizzy. Nora, Dumont has done something to this room. I am not at full strength. Whatever he’s done it only effects Szion. Robbie thinks.
JR sits in a corner holding Lizzy in a pool of blood. Nora’s chest tightens with fear. As she looks for Aria in every corner of the large room, she can feel Robbie grab the twins. Nora feels the fear in JR’s heart, and she feels little Lizzy fading fast. Robbie again connects his power with Nora’s.
“Robbie do not under any circumstance leave their side!” Nora says.
Robbie begins to heal Lizzy while Nora roams around. Touching the walls for a secret entrance in and out of the bright room. Nora looks over to her family and tears trickle down her cheek.
“Mommy. I see you, Mommy,” JR says, holding out his hand.
Nora smiles wanting more than anything to take his hand and hold him.
“I love you, Mommy,” he says without words.
Nora’s tears flow, not becau
se of what he says, but because of how he was able to say it. Robbie smiles and kisses JR on the head.
Aria appears.
“Mommy loves you too, baby,” Nora says, never taking her eyes from Aria.
Aria glows as brightly as the floor. The light from the ceiling makes her crystal-like form shine, leaving thousands of colors on the white walls. Nora, be strong. We can do this. Aria is not alone. Dumont controls this battle, Robbie thinks.
As he finishes his last word another burst of power is sent through Nora’s body. She looks down at Robbie with a questioning stare, who is just as surprised as she is. An amazing blast of energy fills her.
“I help Mommy. I help you like Daddy,” JR says.
Nora smiles faintly, not wanting JR to see the pain she is in. She can no longer feel Lizzy’s heartbeat, but JR’s touch running through her body keeps her standing strong, even though all she wanted to do is break down and hold her daughter. Then she remembers Losrath’s words. ‘Your greatest heartbreak has yet to come.’ Those words have stuck with her ever since that day, and until now Nora never knew this was what he meant. Is it not enough, we have lost over half of our family. How can I live knowing my Lizzy will not? She thinks to herself. Blocking Robbie and JR from hearing her heart-breaking thoughts.
“Oh, dear Sister. How does it feel to have someone you cherish ripped from your life? Give up now and I will kill them quickly. You will not win. No. In fact, you will suffer horribly before you die,” Aria says.
Her words hurt way more than Nora thought they would, considering that only feet away, Lizzy barely hangs on to life. She has taken so much from me and I have yet to do anything about it, she thinks.
Do something now, Robbie silently replies.
Nora stretches out her arms and the room shakes. She closes her eyes and embraces her family's power. With her spike in one hand and blue flame in the other, Nora charges at Aria. A sharp pain strikes Nora’s chest as her spike pierces Aria’s heart. Aria’s eyes roll to the back of her head. Nora smiles as she rams the spike in deeper. Nora rips her spike out of Aria and watches her fall to the floor, screaming. Aria’s scream sends fire from her mouth and pain throughout Nora’s body. Nora burns internally as Aria lifts her off the ground. Nora curls into a ball in midair, bracing herself for more pain. She feels Robbie and JR’s power increase as they grow more concerned. Nora screams in agony as Aria hangs on tightly to Nora’s life. Nora slowly fades, but her family fights desperately for her survival. As Aria mentally clings to Nora’s life, bolts of her dying energy strike Nora repeatedly in the face and chest. The pain gets worse by the second, and all Nora can think about is her daughter. She can feel her. Before now Nora was convinced that Lizzy was already dead. She’s alive. I feel her heart beat. This is it, I did it. Aria will be dead and my family can live a happy life. Nora thinks to herself.
Vilmo's Wrath: Deglon Blood Page 16