The Final Destiny: Vesta Mansion Trilogy - Book Three - Fantasy

by P. A. Priddey

  ‘Nothing, just carry on as we have a life sucking parasite to stop.’

  ‘Carrie wants to come with us.’

  ‘And she can, I will never stop her,’ said Alex. He stopped another hour before going home to bed.

  ~~~~

  Carrie didn’t see him leave, but noticed he had gone. She looked around and couldn’t see Aileen, but if she had looked a little harder she would have noticed that Morven, Briana and Orlaith were not there either. Carrie didn’t, and hung her head down low.

  Paige noticed. ‘What’s up, Cas?’

  ‘Nothing, just tired,’ said Carrie, and House took her home. She sat on her bed and fondly touched a crystal ornament, it was the shape of a heart and underneath was etched ‘FOREVER’. Carrie thought Alex would have loved it, but she couldn’t give it him now, and she cried.

  ~~~~

  Carrie is not very happy, said House.

  ‘She can join the club,’ said Alex.

  I did notice.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A Psychic Vampire at Large

  They avoided each other at breakfast, Carrie sat at a nearly full table, and Alex sat next to Adair. They both received raised eyebrows as they did the night before, and Paige especially noticed Carrie’s behaviour.

  Adair stroked his beard. ‘How many are going with us today?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ said Alex. ‘We’ll take a group to go hunting, and anyone who wants to look through the books in the library can come, too.’

  ‘I’ve been thinking about the creature,’ said Joseph, ‘and a psychic vampire keeps coming to mind.’

  James glanced up from his breakfast. ‘What do you know of them?’

  ‘Not a lot really, just that they drain life energy. They don’t bite like a normal vampire, but suck out the energy through your mouth.’

  ‘Would that drain the blood from it?’

  ‘Probably drain all the liquid from the body.’

  ‘Do you know what they look like?’

  Joseph shook his head. ‘No, there is less known about them than anything else we have looked for.’

  Paige coughed. ‘Change the conversation please, the children are here.’

  ‘Sorry,’ said James, and sent her a private message. Did you have a word with Carrie?

  No, not had a chance, have you spoken to Alex?

  Yeah, but he thinks she hates him.

  What? I will talk to her.

  ~~~~

  The group contained twelve, including Rho. They decided to let the elves get over their nights celebration. They appeared at the castle where Victor and Henrik greeted them.

  ‘My lord, it’s good to see you,’ said Victor.

  Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘You saw me last night.’

  ‘Yes, and it was good to see you then. Leif would be here, but found he liked elf ale a little too much.’

  ‘Lucky Leif.’

  Adair stared at him. ‘You drank enough yourself.’

  ‘Yeah, Uncle, but I can’t get drunk anymore.’

  ‘Why is that, my lord?’ Victor asked.

  Alex shrugged. ‘Not altogether sure, it’s like the alcohol dissipates in my body soon as I drink it.’

  Adair raised both eyebrows. ‘That’s incredible if true.’

  Claire shook her head. ‘Why do you drink then?’

  ‘It’s rude to say no,’ said Alex. ‘So, do we have any news?’

  Henrik nodded. ‘One of our units believes they saw it.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘They turned their spotlights on and it flew away.’

  Adair pondered it. ‘Does that mean it did not like the lights or that they surprised it?’

  ‘I believe they surprised it, or there were too many of them, otherwise it’s covering a lot of ground if only travelling at night,’

  ‘That’s where we’ll go,’ said Alex, ‘and for those who are staying here, Joseph has a theory that you might want to look into.’

  They arrived in Germany where the unit had three cars and a truck. There were sixteen soldiers in black uniforms, but no weapons were on show.

  Claire scratched her head. ‘How do you get away with all of this?’

  ‘Get away with what, my lady?’ said Henrik.

  ‘Having your soldiers waltz around in other countries.’

  ‘The Order has a lot of members, and many of these soldiers are German. We may not be the biggest military force, but we are the most cosmopolitan.’

  Alex glanced around and saw a large forest. ‘Who saw the creature?’

  ‘A few of us did, my lord,’ said a soldier. ‘It looked about four feet tall as it floated towards us.’

  ‘It’s not very big then?’

  ‘It didn’t appear to have any legs or arms and was almost invisible. You could just about see its shape, and the only thing which was clear was its face. We put our lights on and it flew off.’

  Henrik patted the soldier on his shoulder. ‘Thank you, Captain Braun.’

  Alex clasped his hands together. ‘Which way did it go, Captain?’

  ‘Through there, my lord, the Black Forest.’

  Alex nodded. ‘We’ll go through and meet you on the other side.’

  They made their way through the forest, which looked bigger than the ones they were used to. He couldn’t see many animals about and it was very quiet.

  Rho stood next to Alex. Something evil came through here.

  Adair stared upwards. ‘Yes, and I don’t think it’s far off.’

  They ran for twenty minutes before Rho saw it high in the trees. It was almost transparent, and it had a face like the soldier described, it had black eyes and a large crooked nose.

  Alex flew up and stood on a thick branch close to it. ‘We’ve been looking for you.’

  The creature hissed, and before Alex could react, the creature did have arms and claws which suddenly appeared, and dug into the top of his shoulders almost pinning his arms. It moved close to Alex’s face, its jaws stretched open, and started sucking his energy away. Lightning from Adair, and bolts from Jodie went through its body. One hit it in the nose and the creature screamed before fleeing, leaving Alex to fall out of the tree.

  Carrie screamed, but House caught him before he landed, she ran to him, but stopped when he stood up and flew after the vampire.

  Adair waved his staff in the air. ‘What is it with him, why can’t he just wait?’

  ‘Because he’s an idiot that’s why,’ said Carrie, as Alex came back with Rho.

  Adair shook his head. ‘You know I have to face your mother every time we go back.’

  Alex shrugged. ‘It has to be stopped.’

  ‘It nearly stopped you.’

  ‘I thought you and Jodie had it under control.’

  ‘And what did you gain from your efforts?’

  ‘We know what it looks like, it can drain your energy very quickly, and Jodie can hurt it,’ said Alex feeling a little light-headed. He flew up into the trees where he could soak up the sun, before flying back down to them.

  ‘You’re injured,’ said Paige, noticing the blood. She ripped open the sleeves of his tunic to show three puncture holes bleeding on the top of both arms.

  ‘It had sharp claws, and you might want to know that a good friend of mine made this top for me.’

  Paige gave him a stern look. ‘Do you have to make a joke about everything?’

  ‘Sometimes it’s all you have.’

  ‘You’ll have to go back and get the wounds sorted.’

  ‘Later, we have to meet up with Henrik first.’

  ‘God you can be stubborn at times.’

  ‘More like all the time,’ said Carrie as she glanced at him. ‘You could have got yourself killed.’

  What would you care if I did? Alex thought. ‘But I didn’t, so let’s carry on, House will slow the bleeding.’

  They met up with Henrik who looked concerned with Alex’s top. ‘My lord, are you OK?’

  ‘I’m fine, just a littl
e tussle with our friend before it escaped,’ said Alex, unfocused by it. ‘Tell your men not to approach, and shoot at its face if they see the thing.’

  ‘Let me tend to your wounds, my lord,’ said a soldier, carrying a medipack.

  ‘I’ll be fine, they will heal,’ said Alex.

  Paige narrowed her eyes. ‘Let him do it.’

  ‘Very well,’ said Alex, and the soldier ripped off his sleeves and started cleansing the deep wounds, Alex never flinched.

  ‘Do you ever feel pain?’ said Henrik, noticing no change in his expression.

  Alex thought about it and glanced over at Carrie. ‘Sometimes.’ He thought about his walking stick, which felt like such a long time ago.

  Paige stared at him. ‘Bad memories?’

  ‘Yeah, some old and some new,’ said Alex. ‘House, when we go back I need to go to my room, as I don’t want the children seeing my top.’

  James laughed. ‘The children or your mother?’

  ‘Both.’

  They arrive back at the mansion and Alex changed his top when Luella stormed into his room.

  ‘What the hell do you think you were playing at?’

  Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘I wasn’t exactly playing, Mother.’

  ‘You take too many risks, why can’t you stand back and think first?’

  ‘I always think first, I’m not a little boy anymore. I do what has to be done.’

  ‘You could be more careful, you didn’t have to go straight for it.’

  Alex sat on his bed. ‘Why not, I felt something when I was on the Dwarf World, and I know I shouldn’t be here.’

  Luella’s eyes grew large. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I should have died a long time ago, and I don’t have that much time left.’

  Luella sat down and embraced him. ‘Don’t you ever say that, it sounds ridiculous.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mother, I’ve said too much.’

  ‘How can you know this?’

  ‘I don’t know anything, it’s just a feeling I keep getting.’

  ‘Well, that feeling is wrong, you were brought to me so I could keep you safe.’

  ‘Maybe you’re right, and maybe it’s about something else,’ said Alex. ‘But for some reason I’ve been more worried and doubting things of late.’

  ‘Maybe all the things you’ve done are catching up on you and you need some rest.’

  ‘That could be it,’ said Alex, ‘so much has happened over a short period of time.’

  ‘I could make you up a tonic,’ said Luella.

  ‘It would be nice if it worked as I can’t even get drunk anymore,’ said Alex, even though he hadn’t tried to get drunk for over a year.

  ‘Yes, I’ve heard you cannot release any stress through drink,’ said Luella, and went to make him a tonic as Paige came in with another outfit.

  Alex accepted it. ‘Where do you keep getting these from?’

  ‘The elves of course.’

  ~~~~

  They decided to go for a run on the night, and Carrie, through sheer determination, matched Paige and Claire for distance.

  Paige walked into Carrie’s room afterwards. ‘What’s going on between you and Alex?’

  Carrie sat down on the edge of her bed. ‘I can honestly say nothing is going on between us.’

  ‘You were all over each other before you went away, and now you’re treating him like crap.’

  ‘Things change.’

  ‘Like this,’ said Paige, picking up the crystal heart. ‘Are you seeing someone?’

  ‘No, of course not, I made it for Alex,’ she said, now sounding sad.

  ‘Why haven’t you given it to him?’

  ‘I can’t do that now.’ She didn’t want to mention Aileen as confirmation was the last thing she wanted.

  ‘Why can’t you?’

  ‘I don’t want this to sound wrong, but I don’t want to be another you.’

  ‘Excuse me,’ said Paige, sounding a little hurt.

  ‘I mean how you two were together. I know he loves me, but it’s the way he loves you.’

  ‘And you want more?’

  ‘Yes, I can’t help it, I love him so much,’ said Carrie, as tears fell down her face.

  Paige sat and put her arm around Carrie. ‘I had an idea, but how long have you felt this way?’

  ‘Since I first saw him, it was instant.’

  ‘All this time and you never said anything.’

  ‘No, I couldn’t, and please don’t say anything to him.’

  ‘I won’t, I promise, but you have to try to be more civil towards him . . . it’s not his fault,’ said Paige. ‘You saw how reckless he was today.’

  ‘You don’t think that was because of me do you?’

  ‘Probably not, but if he’s not focused anything could happen. The problem is Alex believes you hate him, and the way you were with him last night I can see why.’

  ‘I could never hate him . . . I just can’t get close to him.’

  ‘Why can’t you, if you’re in love with him?’

  ‘Will you keep a secret?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘It wasn’t all about being another you,’ said Carrie, as tears fell down her face again. ‘I had a dream. We were together, and I told him how much I loved him. The dream changed, I was standing over his lifeless body, which was twisted and broken.’

  Paige put a hand to her mouth. ‘I’m sure it was just a dream.’

  ‘No, it was a warning, I can never tell him how I feel.’

  Paige didn’t reply, just hugged her friend.

  ~~~~

  The following morning the runners all had the Monster for breakfast.

  Alex sat down at the same table as Carrie, but next to James. ‘I wonder if I have any money left.’

  James picked up his drink. ‘You could always get a loan from the Order.’

  ‘We might be eating a lot more,’ said Jodie, ‘but that’s equalled out by the amount we eat on the Elf World.’

  ‘She has you there, old man,’ said Claire.

  Alex shook his head. ‘Why is it there are people here who are thousands of years old, and I get called old man?’

  ‘It must be the wrinkles,’ said Skye.

  Paige squeezed his cheek. ‘He doesn’t have any.’

  ‘I don’t think he’s worried about the money,’ said Claire, ‘he just doesn’t want to pay us anymore.’

  ‘What?’ said Jodie. ‘With all this running around we do for him, too.’

  Alex picked up a piece of toast. ‘I’ve never had anything to do with the wages, you have to see Blaze about that.’

  ‘You’re still being paid, but I do give those in the kitchen extra,’ said Blaze, and no one complained.

  Jodie looked at Alex. ‘Doesn’t it bother you that we’re getting paid?’

  ‘No, I’m more worried you’ll ask for danger money after all these fights we keep getting into.’

  Claire grinned. ‘Now that’s an idea.’

  ‘But as most of them occurred outside your working hours, we must class them as fun activities,’ said Alex, as his phone rang and he answered it. ‘OK. I’ll be over shortly.’

  James watched him. ‘What was that about?’

  ‘It was Henrik, they found two more bodies, and one was a little different.’

  ‘In what way are they different?’

  Alex shrugged. ‘He didn’t say, so we best go take a look for ourselves.’

  Claire pushed her plate away. ‘You want us to come with you?’

  ‘I’ll be hunting it afterwards.’

  Paige nodded. ‘We best get changed.’

  ~~~~

  They were at the castle not long after breakfast and some of them wished they had left it longer when they saw the bodies. They were a man and a woman, the man was completely emaciated like the others, but the woman only half as bad. There was a look of terror on her face. She had been alive when they found her, but died shortly after.

  Ada
ir stroked his beard. ‘Was the creature disturbed?’

  Henrik shook his head. ‘We don’t think so, there was nothing around for miles.’

  ‘This is very strange then?’

  Korzak stared at the dead woman. ‘Maybe it was full.’

  ‘How do you mean?’ Alex asked the goblin.

  ‘If what he takes from them is food, then maybe he can only take so much until it is full.’

  Adair looked thoughtfully at him. ‘You might be onto something there.’

  ‘And it did have enough of mine yesterday,’ said Alex, which gave him an idea, one he kept to himself as there was no way the others would go for it.

  James turned away from the bodies. ‘We need to stop it before it gets hungry again.’

  ‘We need to find a way to stop it first,’ said Adair.

  Alex rubbed his eyes. ‘Could Millie or Kristina trap it with their shields?’

  ‘Maybe or it might be more energy for it,’ said Joseph.

  I could not do anything, said House, it passed right through my shield.

  Alex glanced up. ‘Does that mean it could get through your shield at home?’

  There is a very strong chance, I need to see it again so I can try to adapt.

  ‘Then it’s on his way to our home, but why unless it was sent?’

  I would say it was sent.

  ‘Do we know where it is now?’ said Alex, feeling somewhat agitated.

  Henrik nodded. ‘We’re still tracking it through Germany.’

  Alex could only think of the children and his friends. ‘We best get going then.’

  Adair folded his arms. ‘And do what?’

  ‘We’ll think of something, we always do.’

  Adair sighed. ‘You’re not going to do something stupid are you?’

  ‘Whatever makes you say that, Uncle?’ said Alex. ‘Well, are we ready to go and kill this vampire then?’

  Adair threw his arms in the air. ‘I guess we have no choice, you’ll only go on your own anyway.’

  ‘That’s the spirit,’ said Alex, happy that he got that one in.

  ~~~~

  House took them to a forest which was just ahead of the unit tracking the vampire, and they walked through at a steady pace.