The door was closed before he could enter, and he looked to Victor with a severely confused look on his face. The vampire laughed.
“That, my friend, is our secret weapon. Well, one of them, anyway. The other will be a surprise. The man on that table was created by Algernon, and he is immune to magic. Since he’s not technically alive, and it isn’t quite blood flowing through his veins, he’s basically immune to vampires as well. He’s the perfect soldier.”
“That’s both encouraging and terrifying. How do you keep him under control?”
“That’s part of secret number two. You have to wait on that one though.”
Sebastian nodded, not happy with the answer, but not able to do anything about it. Right now, all he could think about was the creature, and what exactly it could do. Later he would question whether the deal with the vampires was really the right choice, of if he was in way over his head. It didn’t really matter now. The deal with the devil was done, and he would reap the rewards good or otherwise.
“Don’t worry, Sebastian. The sneaking around will end very soon, and we will begin our ascent to where we belong, as rulers of this world. The witches will never know what hit them.”
30
Dhane finished packing his clothing in his suitcase and slipped his father’s spell book in. Whether it was to study while he was gone, or simply to keep it safely within his profession, he wasn’t sure. Either way, it was coming with him.
Dropping the suitcase near the door, he was going through one more mental check of the items he was taking with him when there was a knock on the door. On the other side, Lila smiled weakly.
“All ready to go, I see.”
“Yeah, I think I have everything. Listen, are you going to be okay? I know it’s a difficult time for you right now.”
“I’ll be fine. I just have to work through this. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”
He shrugged, knowing there really wasn’t a good answer for her. Of course, there really wasn’t an answer either. If things went well, the trip could take weeks. If it went poorly, Amelia may want to come straight back here and they could return in a couple days or so.
For Lila, no answer was the right one. If Charles could prove he was telling the truth, she knew she could get Dhane to listen, and if he wasn’t, they may need him to fight off the vampires. She had to be strong, and try to keep him from worrying while he was gone. He had enough to deal with.
“Well, be careful while you’re gone. And make sure to stay in touch, I need.., I mean, we need to know how to reach you in case anything happens.”
“Things will be fine, and I’ll be back before you know it. I’ll make sure to call you and give you the number where I’m staying. Don’t hesitate to use it if you need to talk.”
She nodded and walked out the door with him just as Cassandra and Amber approached. Lila excused herself and returned to her own room to cry. She felt all alone as she clutched the cross hanging from her neck so hard it cut into her hand.
“Can anything else happen?”
Cassandra hugged Dhane and smiled at him. Amber shook hands and bowed her head, a warm smile on her face. The sight of them, happy to be together even if it was in secrecy, made him feel warm.
“Dhane, be careful out there. We still don’t know where the vampires went.”
“All good, Cass. If they know what’s good for them, they’re finding a new town to lurk about. You two take care of yourselves, and each other. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Goodbye’s finished, he headed downstairs and through the lobby with his bags. At the front door Terrance was on guard duty, and quickly snatched the larger suitcase from Dhane.
“Let me help you with that.”
“That’s really not necessary.”
“I know, just feel like helping.” Terrance flashed a smile and headed down the front steps next to the mage. Nervously he looked over and opened his mouth, then closed it and continued walking. At the bottom of the steps was the rental car Dhane was using for the trip. The two of them tossed the luggage into the trunk and Terrance tried again to speak his mind.
“Listen, if you need anything... I mean if anything happens and an extra werewolf would help, give me a holler.”
Dhane smiled and held out his hand, which the wolf shook firmly but carefully.
“Thanks Terrance. Take care of yourself.”
He climbed into the car and glanced out the window at the guard returning to his post. It was unclear what Terrance’s intentions were, and that made him nervous. The man seemed nice enough, especially considering their first meeting, but maybe it was all a cover. There wasn’t time to investigate further right now. He could just hope it wouldn’t be something he regretted later.
Amelia was already waiting on the sidewalk with her luggage, and Xander was waiting to see her off, along with Nicole, her short black hair blowing in the soft breeze. A quick loading of the trunk, a few goodbyes, and they were on their way.
The drive was going to be a long one, and he encouraged her to sleep a bit on the way. She didn’t know how to drive, but once the middle of the night came, he may need her to help him stay awake. Soon she was out, and Dhane thought about his final days in Hallow Falls...
It was a quarter past five in the morning when Dhane and Demian checked out of the motel they had been staying in. Since he had the keys to his mother’s house, there was no need to spend the extra money. As they approached the house, Demian began to get skittish, like he was trying to remember something.
“I’ve been here before, I think. Long ago, long ago.”
“Maybe Algernon brought you here?”
He shrugged and they continued, though his nervousness didn’t go away. They stepped inside, and it got worse instead of better. The smell of the place spooked him further as his eyes darted shadow to shadow.
“Demian, relax. There’s nobody here but us. I checked out the basement, and there’s only one window. There’s a blackout curtain, so you’ll be safe there for the day.”
“I will try to calm down, try to.”
Through the basement door they stepped, and down the creaky stairs until they entered the room. The sense of deja vu didn’t go away and instead increased as he began examining a far wall.
“Something familiar here...”
Dhane was worried his companion was losing it completely. Sure, it was possible he had been here before, but why was he acting this way? Most people would explore further with excitement, wondering if some long lost memories might come back.
The vampire seemed to zero in on a set of bricks on the wall and began to fiddle with them, running his fingers between as though he might try to take the wall apart. The sudden sound of rushing air put Dhane’s heart in his throat and the bricks began to separate.
Soon there was a narrow passageway of darkness, and the two men looked at each other with surprise. Quickly digging into his pocket for a lighter, Dhane flicked the flame on and entered the passage, which was about fifteen feet long. It felt a lot longer in the cramped area, but finally he entered a room on the other side. The lighter seemed to have trouble pushing into the darkness, so he tried heading to the center of this new room. There, as expected, was a light bulb and pull chain. With a tug, the lights came on all over the room, and his mouth dropped.
Demian followed the distant light now, through the passage, and into the room. There, he froze with wide eyes at the sight before him. Dhane could only look at him and imagine that this was why the vampire had blocked his memories of this place.
There were medieval torture devices against one wall, a cage in one corner, shackles hanging from the ceiling along another wall, and a vampire feeding table. A drain was installed in each corner area, obviously for excess blood and whatever else. A rack held whips, a couple maces, and several swords and daggers. A set of shelves held basic tools, such as hammers and pliers, which were obviously for unconventional use. The room was a complete nightmare, one which Dem
ian had already experienced.
With a cry, the vampire scrambled back through the passageway, up the stairs, and straight out of the house. He was outside before Dhane could even get through the narrow brick opening. Out on the front porch, Demian was curled into a ball, shivering and mumbling to himself. It was a horrible sight to see, one that the mage would never forget.
“Demian, are you okay? What happened down there?”
“I remember, horrible, horrible. Never make me go in there again, never again.”
There was undeniable terror in his voice, and it made Dhane very sad. Thoughts of what must’ve happened there, things his father must have done, made him feel regret despite the fact he wasn’t even around at the time.
“I’m sorry, Demian. I had no idea that was down there.”
It took a little while for Demian to regain his composure enough to get up off the ground. Time was getting short before sunrise, and Dhane was beginning to worry about what to do. He went back inside the house and up to the second floor. Once he had all the doors closed, it looked like it would stay pretty dark in the hallway.
Downstairs, the vampire was just standing up when he returned, and the sun was only about ten minutes from peeking over the horizon. There was not time for a slow and careful broach to the subject of going back in.
“The sun will be here soon. Obviously the basement is out, but the hallway has a closet that I think we can keep dark enough. We have to go now though.”
Demian shuttered, but then nodded and carefully followed his friend back inside. Into the closet he stepped, lied down, and tried to go to sleep. All he could think of was that basement.
Quickly the mage moved to seal off the closet, stuffing towels at the base of the door, and then taping more of them all around the door’s edges. It wasn’t the ideal location, but it would have to do for now. Once he felt it was safe, Dhane retrieved the journal he found and went out to the porch.
It didn’t take him long to realize that the journal didn’t belong to his mother, but rather his father. The beginning was all about how they met, and how young love blinded them both, but before he hadn’t realized the point of view wasn’t specific. It started as more of a story from a third person, friendly, happy.
After a year, it seems, something changed between them. She had become colder, more forceful towards him and towards everyone. That was the beginning of the darkness that seemed to consume them.
Marissa began doing experiments in her basement, first simply minor ones like blood tests and such. Determined to find the source of power for werewolves and vampires, she went much, much further. Apparently, angry at the close friendship between Algernon and one of the young vampires, she tricked the vampire into her basement, trapped him, and used him as a guinea pig. She even pulled out his vampire fangs with pliers to see if they would grow back. They did.
Eventually, she began to push Algernon for a child. It began with pleas for starting their own family, but after failing to impregnate her, he began to have visions in his sleep about the end of the world on the horizon, and only his child could save everyone. The dreams haunted him, and Marissa pushed him to his breaking point. If a child was necessary, a child would come, even if it would come by raping the witches.
Through a series of coincidences, the opportunities arose for him with various witches in the council. By now, he had already reached the height of his power, and nobody could hold him off. Eventually, three women became pregnant. Marissa was one of them, finally.
She fled and left him alone, nearing madness. The other two women gave birth, and both children had a genetic defect. One died shortly after birth, and he began to panic. Once the other child was confirmed with the disorder, he frantically began his own set of experiments, hoping for a cure to prolong the child’s life. He also proceeded with having more children with witches, desperate and completely psychotic by then.
The journal abruptly ended and Dhane sat in stunned silence for what felt like an eternity. Finally he slapped the book shut and jumped to his feet. He hurled the book off the porch as far as he could, and watched as it skidded into the street.
All this time he had hung his hopes on his mother, that she was the good side within him to counter the bad of Algernon. Instead, she was at least as bad. No, she was worse. She knew what she was doing. His father simply went mad, losing all concept of good and evil.
And then there was the poor young vampire who was tortured relentlessly. Never mentioned by name, probably to protect him from future persecution, Dhane was sure it was Demian none-the-less.
In search of a better future, he found an even worse past. Wondering where he should go from here, he waited silently for the sun to go down, for his friend to wake, and for something to present the path he should follow.
3 1
When the council doors closed, Cassandra noticed more empty seats than she was expecting. Elisabeth and Lila were missing, along with Dhane of course. With a vote due for a new member, they really needed all the members they could round up.
“Has anyone seen Elisabeth today? How about Lila?”
There were no answers to either, other than a couple of head shakes. It was a frustrating start to a series of very important council meetings, as they were just beginning to build their numbers and include people outside their own community. It was supposed to be the first real step towards unity. This was an inauspicious start.
“I’ll go check and see if Lila is in her room.”
Samantha hurried out of the room, and Nicole stepped into the lobby to call Elisabeth. After a few minutes, Nicole returned and shrugged. No answer, which made Cassandra nervous. They waited a while longer for Samantha to return. She finally did, but with a face pale and worried.
“Cassandra, I think you should come. Lila is sick.”
“We’ll cancel today’s meeting.”
The two women hurried to Lila’s room, leaving the others to file out and go about their evenings. In Lila’s room, they came face to face with the barely breathing, extremely pale woman lying on her couch with at six blankets covering her. Even with that, she was still shivering.
“Lila, can you hear me?”
She didn’t respond and the women looked at each other. It was time to get her to the hospital and hope it wasn’t too late.
“Call for an ambulance...”
“I’ll take her.”
Xander stepped into the room and straight over to the ill witch. Picking her up without effort, he carried her out the door and down the hall, through the lobby and out the front door. Terrance knew instantly what was needed when the head werewolf nodded to him.
Within moments, a private car pulled up and Lila was put in the back, with Samantha following close behind. Cassandra got in the driver’s seat and in a flash they were gone.
“Terrance, get someone else to watch the door. I want you to head to the hospital and watch over the witches. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“You got it.”
Quickly Xander headed back to Lila’s room and started looking around. Everything seemed normal in the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom and bathroom. There was nothing out of place and no signs of any visitors. He was wondering if his instincts were wrong. That was uncommon.
“I know you’re here somewhere...”
A scent of blood caught his nose finally, and he followed it to the couch. Searching all around, and inside, he found something wedged between the cushions. Pulling out the silver cross carefully, the smell was undeniable. There was something else on the cross, which he couldn’t place.
“Thought you could hide from me, huh?”
He walked into the kitchen and searched the drawers until he found a plastic bag. Dropping the cross in, he sealed it and shoved it into his pocket. The door was locked and closed firmly before he marched out of the Grand and got in his own car, a black 1969 Dodge Charger. A rubber stain was left out front as he sped off to the hospital.
Once the car was
parked in the lot, he charged inside and continued along until he found Cassandra, Samantha, and Nicole. The increased sense of smell, which the werewolves always tried to downplay, remained an invaluable asset for them.
“Any word on what’s wrong with her?”
“No, they haven’t been able to figure out what she has.”
Cassandra was noticeably worried, and Samantha was even worse, sitting on the couch with her arms wrapped around herself. Nicole was trying to console her, and Xander knew how dire things must be for Lila. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the plastic bag as he stepped closer to the council head.
“Listen, I found something that might be of concern,” he said quietly and held out his hand.
“Where did you find this?”
“It was buried in Lila’s couch. There’s some chemical on it, as well as her blood. Give it to the doctor to be tested.”
She nodded and hurried off to find the doctor. Xander checked on Terrance, who was guarding Lila’s room carefully. Fiercely loyal, he was one of the few wolves Xander could trust with anything. It was funny, because they barely knew each other before Sebastian’s departure.
Back in the waiting room, they all sat for hours. They hoped the substance on the cross would bring answers. It didn’t. The doctor entered the waiting room with the news.
“I’m sorry; we can’t figure out what’s wrong with her. It seems to be some sort of poison, but we can’t narrow it down. As soon as we think we have a bead on it, it’s like the compound changes. At this point, there’s not much we can do, and I can’t even say if it’s fatal or not. I would suggest contacting her family if she has any.”
Once the doctor was gone, Cassandra knew what she had to do. Dhane had to be called and informed of the situation. This was not a call she wanted to make.
Magestorm: The Embracing Page 9