The motion that she was flying through the air was stronger this time, she was being pulled towards a memory that was further in the future. The pain disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Madison’s body was now beginning to feel weak and limp. It took her a lot longer to focus her thoughts on the memory that was being shown to her. A ring of darkness seemed to seep around the corners of the picture, the colours of this image looked dull and dreary compared to the last memory which was so clear and crisp.
Madison tried to focus on the picture but the images seemed to go fuzzy and come in and out of focus. Her eyes were tired and blood shot even though she hadn’t really been using them as the flashbacks were shown to her in her mind. Her throat was sore and dry like she had been screaming at the top of my lungs, but she hardly remember speaking a word. The image began to clear a little and Madison caught a glimpse herself stood in the centre of the road where the Lodge had been. This memory was different than the others, it was on slow rewind. She was pacing backwards to the pavement where she had stumbled out of the invisible doorway of the lodge. Madison heart fluttered and jumped up into her throat as she realised the boy had found what he was looking for. She held her breath as she watched her body stumbled forwards a little from the force of being thrown through the door way. Guilt and dread washed over her as she was almost reduced to tears. She was unintentionally allowing the boy to see where Leon and Fred hid and there was nothing she could do to stop it. All she could do was watch as her small frame stepped up onto the edge of the pavement and freeze. Madison gulped, waiting for what was going to happen next – a burst of bright light, the fog, the large Iron Gate and then The Lodge, but nothing happened. The image was completely frozen as if something had pressed the pause button. The blackness at the edge of the image began to spread inwards, consuming the picture slowly like a rising tide. A wave of panic erupted in her, she was disoriented, unsure of what was going to happen – would the blackness consume her also? She felt a need to see the white fog again and the weathered old wooden Lodge. She wanted to see Leon and Fred again, although she knew this was selfish apart of her didn’t care. She wanted to see the people that she cared about again before she died – to see Brendan again.
The blackness moved quicker, the surrounding fields and road was now covered over with a black veil. Madison dug at her memories, furiously trying to move to a next memory to escape the approaching darkness. Nothing, she wasn’t strong enough to even scratch at the surface of her memories and she had been weakened by the pain the boy had inflicted on her to bring her this far.
The blackness now covered the image of Madison, the gap between the four walls of the image slowly shrunk until there was only blackness – the image had been completely consumed. Madison inhaled quick and deeply as she was overcome with panic. She felt herself being pulled backwards, like the wind catching an imaginary parachute she was wearing. This time there was no pain, just the motion of lightness as she was brought through the darkness in slow motion through a dream. Her heart hammered in her chest as the adrenaline pumped through her veins.
Madison’s eye lids flew open for the first time in what seemed like years as a blurry image of the hooded boy’s torso came into focus. He removed his hand from the top of Madison head and took two steps backwards towards Gabby.
Gabby stared at Madison in confusion, unsure of what had just gone on. Madison couldn’t help but stare at Gabby in amazement and complete disarray, she had experiences something that was completely indescribable and mind blowing.
Her vision was blurry and doubled and the room rocked from side to side, but it kind of felt like she was on some kind of amazing high. If it hadn’t been for the weakness Madison felt, she would have probably convinced herself that she had taken some kind of illegal drug.
During the experience Madison had unconsciously rose to her knees and now she was too weak to stay in this position. Her eyes slammed shut as she collapsed back down onto the hard wooden floor. She was coherent, but she couldn’t open her eyes – her body was completely drained.
“What did you do to her?” Gabby asked curiously, as flicker of shock in her voice.
“Our Master wanted to examine her memories. The memory that our master wanted to see has been removed or is protected” the boy said in the same unnatural husky voice.
“What did you see?” Gabby asked, looking from Madison to the boy.
“The girl stood on the edge of the sidewalk, on a country road. She stumbled off the curb, but the memory does not rewind any further then that!”
“Huh, that’s weird” Gabby said deep in thought.
“Our Master shows great interest in the girl. She shows great strength and potential. He wonders whether he should give her up to you so easily” the boy said smugly.
“What?! Her?” Gabby snapped angrily, jealously rippling her voice.
“Her pain is hypnotizing, he is interested in examining her further” the boy said.
“No! We had a deal…..remember?” Gabby said furiously.
“You did not stick to your side of the deal, it is only natural that we may stray a fraction from ours?” the other boy said, his voice just as husky and unnatural.
“No! She’s mine” Gabby snapped “I will not let you have her”.
“Shame” the boys said together, a slight provoking edge to their words.
Silence fell upon the Vampires as they exchanged frustrated and annoyed looks with each other.
“So where has she been hiding?” Gabby demanded, breaking the silence. She fidgeted on the spot and throwing her hand up onto her hip in frustration.
“We suspects that she’s been in another realm or somewhere outside of earth’s time. Her memories can only be accessed in reverse up a few hours ago and this would suggest that she had been exposed to time manipulation. Time was moving faster where she was hiding, compared to earth time. This is why her memories were in reverse, her body clock had been thrown out by the time difference” he said.
“You’ve got to give it to Brendan, he’s good!” one of the twins muttered, laughing.
Gabby shot him a dirty look; he backed down at once, redirecting his eyes to the floor.
“The element of surprise may not be as easy as we hoped” Gabby said more calmly to the two hooded boys.
They cocked their heads towards her, listening to what she had to say more closely.
“Brendan may have a seer with him” Gabby whispered.
“A seer?” the boys said together, stunned.
“Leon, he was a seer at The Coven for many years, he was the most powerful seer that The Coven had ever come across. They found him in 1693 in the town of Salem posing as a traveler. He had the misfortune of being accused of witchcraft and the town leaders had their suspicions confirmed when Leon saw his own fate. They sentenced him to hang, but he managed to escape them. The coven found him hiding out in a cave just outside of Salem. They granted him refuge and offered a place within the Coven. He is one of the first Seers of his time; he can see the future and as you know, a Seers ‘talents’ can be limitless. And Leon’s powers are limitless! He is great friends with Brendan and Brendan’s father. In 1951, Leon and the few seers left within the coven were killed, or thought to be killed as the case might be. When a seer comes into contact with another seer a connection is formed, this allows them to communicate telepathically. It was said that Leon stumbled across a piece of information that he should really have not heard, as a result the other seers became aware of what Leon’s knew. They were killed along with Leon, or as it appears were not! Fred ran away from the coven shortly after Leon was killed there were rumours, but nothing was ever proven. The coven never found the need to have her killed, I guess they never saw her as much as a threat. New seers joined The Coven they concluded that she was another Vampire that was weakened by her human and the past was simply forgotten, along with Leon. It’s said, when a Seer dies their power is distributed, sent travelling towards the nearest warm blooded human. For
some reason Vampires cannot become Seers, not pure enough I guess?” Gabby said deep in thought.
“A Seer was another term for a physic, but a stronger being. Human, but granted with eternal life, unfortunately, they have the same weaknesses as human. People don’t just become Seers they are chosen, the power that makes you a Seers also chooses whether you are worthy or not, and for most people they are rejected. Seers are rare, only a few hundred now populate earth, many in hiding from Vampire Covens that would abuse their powers” she continued.
“A seer is a no match for us!” the boys said together, their voice intertwining unnaturally becoming one.
“You don’t understand! Leon is not a normal seer! Normal seers are only human with eternal life. Leon has none of those weaknesses! Seers only tend to see events in the future that drastically affect the world, but Leon can see what he choices. In a fight he is always one step ahead, able to see his opponent’s next strike. He practices the black arts and there‘s no telling what kind of power he has! He’s one of the oldest and the rarest of his kind!” Gabby protested.
“Gabby, Leon’s dead! The coven killed him, everyone knows they don’t like people poking around in their business” the twin on the left said, trying to reassure Gabby in her panicked state.
“Then how do you explain Madison’s memories? Leon is the only one with that much power and know-how, to create something like an alternative dimension. You have to use all sorts of black magic to open up portals! And you know as well as I do, that’s what he helped The Coven with. That’s how they hide all their priceless artifacts!” Gabby replied.
“The scroll…” the boys hummed together.
Gabby rolled her eyes in frustration and exhaled loudly.
“The Seer you talk about, is he the key to the scroll?” one of the hooded boys said, raising his head slightly to listen to Gabby.
“I don’t know... Leon helped The Coven move the scroll, but the scroll remains in the possession of The Coven. There were whispers that when Leon moved the scroll he had time to read it and taking into consideration Madison’s memories or lack of them. I would think that pretty much confirms it!” Gabby said firmly.
“Our Master had already come to the same conclusion” the boys said together.
“Well, it’s good that we’re all on the same page then” Gabby said a little sarcastically.
“We must leave now! Brendan is approaching” one of the boys said, his face shadowed by his hood.
“Andy, get Trace. Alex grab Madison, we’re leaving!” Gabby ordered to the twins.
“What about the newborn upstairs?” Andy asked.
Madison opened her eyes for the first time since her experience, she had been conscious all this time but weakened from her ordeal. Hearing Stephanie described as the ‘newborn’ gave Madison the strength she needed to snap out of her weakened state.
Her chests tighten as she held her breath in anticipation for Gabby’s order.
Gabby paused, collecting her thoughts. Everyone watched, awaiting her reply.
“Leave her, we haven’t got time!” she said quickly.
Alex nodded jogging towards the hallway and disappearing around the corner towards the staircase to the VIP lounge.
The two hooded boys stood motionless their heads bowed down towards the floor, Gabby stood next to them studying Madison’s face in disgust.
Madison felt slightly relieved with the Knowledge that Gabby was going to leave Stephanie behind; her only hope was that Brendan would find her and look after her. A flicker of doubt troubled her though, Brendan had mentioned during one of their lengthy conversations about The Coven and Vampires in general, it was forbidden to kill or turn humans into Vampire. Doing so, gave permission to other vampires to capture the Vampire for trial at The Coven and kill the newborn Vampire. But Madison was more concerned that Stephanie was a newborn Vampire, hungry for blood with an easy access to the town of London. If Stephanie were to find her way out and start feeding off the helpless people that roamed the street. The Coven would remove the threat as soon as they were made aware of it. Brendan was unaware that Stephanie was ever coming to London, it was likely that he would arrive at the nightclub and find an unauthorised birth of a newborn Vampire and kill her. Madison now worried what Brendan would do if he was confronted by a newborn Vampire.
She stirred on the floor; heavy footsteps sounded at her side before two strong hands gripped her upper arms and hulled her to her feet.
Madison’s eyes rolled back and her eyelids shut. Her eyes fluttered open and close as they protested against her efforts to force them open.
Andy supported her upright, one hand on her upper arm and his other hand moved down to her waist - balancing her weight.
“Whoa there...” he said, a pleased smile creeping across his face.
Her legs just about held her weight, but she was off balance and her vision still blurry and rocky. She stumbled helpless towards Andy, falling against his cold hard chest.
“Hello there. I think she likes me!” Andy chuckled, jokingly.
“Stop messing around!” Gabby ordered frustration and panic clear in her voice.
Madison pushed herself away from Andy in disgust and almost falling backwards. Andy grabbed her arm, straightening her upright and stopping her from crashing to the floor. He placed his left arm around Madison’s back and rested his hand on her hip -supporting her from toppling forwards. Madison couldn’t help but feel the urge to fight Andy off; she didn’t like him touching her. She felt dizzy and light headed standing upright but found little strength to protest against his grip.
Alex appeared in the doorway of the hall, followed slowly by Trace.
“Let’s go” Gabby ordered walking towards the hallway.
The two boys followed a few paces behind, both walking in the same motionless, identical fashion as they usually did.
Andy stepped forwards pulling Madison alongside him, her feet shuffling and stumbled along the floor.
Chapter Thirteen: The Coven
Madison awoke from the seatbelt pitching her flesh as the car screeched to a halt. The journey from the nightclub to The Coven seemed to past by in a mass of blurriness. She had slipped in and out of conscious through the whole car journey, only remembering flashes of colour and snippets of conversations throughout the whole car ride. Her body using the time to rebuilds its strength. Madison opened her eyes slowly, her vision returning to normal. Her body still weak from the ordeal, but she was more coherent and her thoughts less jumbled.
A feeling of guilt and sorrow clouded her thoughts, Stephanie was gone and the newborn Vampire which had been left in her place had now been abandoned. Even with everything that was happening, Madison felt little fear or worry for herself but her thoughts and concerns were with the friend she had lost and the friends she could still loose.
She wiped the condensation away from the back passenger window and peered out onto the street below.
The black 4x4 had pulled up alongside the sidewalk of a street that Madison had not seen before. It was still dark outside and the street lights lit up the road in an orange glow allowing Madison to see the building they had pulled up next too.
Six large, wide grey concert steps led up to large black, double glass doors of a modern office block. The building wasn’t far off the size of a sky scraper and every window was tinted black. It was one of the tallest, glassed, offices Madison had seen since arriving in London. Brick flower bed with shrubs and small bushes lined either side of the steps which led up to the entrance of the building. From the outside the building looked like a telesales company or something - nothing suspicious about it at all. A building in plain sight with no suspicious surroundings or features would be the last place someone would look if they were trying to locate The Vampire Coven of London. Sometimes the most obvious is the hardest to find.
Andy who sat in the middle of the back seat of the 4x4 gave her a nudge, gesturing for her to pay attention rather than gazing out of the
window.
Alex who sat on his left side stared at her suspiciously as she looked around the car gathering her bearings. Trace sat in the driver’s seat, he unbuckled his seat belt. Gabby sat in the passenger seat, day dreaming out of the window. The two hooded boys (The Black Orchid) were nowhere in sight, Madison hadn’t noticed them hanging behind when they left the nightclub or quietly slipping off unnoticed.
Trace turned off the engine and shifted in his seat to face the twin Vampires who sat in the back next to Madison. Sensing his movement, Gabby also twisted around to face the back seat.
Andy nudged Madison again and gestured for her to get out of the car, she threw him an annoyed look and then reached for the door handle. She opened the door and stumbled out onto the sidewalk. Madison took a few steps forwards until her arm caught on something which prevented her from moving any further. She turned quickly to see Andy clutching her elbow.
“Wait for me” he said softly, slowly releasing his grip.
Alex jumped out of the car behind him, stretching his legs from being cramped up for so long.
Madison was sturdier on her feet now, she felt slightly light headed from stand up quickly, but the majority of her strength had returned.
The wind was ice cold on her face and it quickly woke her up from the fuzzy feeling she felt from just waking up. It made her feel better, more alive. Waves of shivers flowed over her body making her skin tingle and the small hairs on her skin stand on end.
Madison studied the street, looking up and down the quietly, dim, sidewalk. The road was empty. No one roamed the streets like they did in other parts of London and there was a silence which seemed spookily unreal.
She contemplated running for a second, but she knew there was no way she would make it two feet without all four Vampires pouncing on her – it was futile.
Gabby and Trace joined Madison and the twin Vampires on the sidewalk.
They all stood for a moment staring at the large black glass office block. All four Vampires seemed reluctant to enter, realisation that they were betraying their Coven setting in. For the first time since Madison had had a run in with Gabby, she thought she saw sincere fear and guilt in her features. Regret was something Vampires were not used to feeling and it was becoming clear that all four Vampires were beginning to feel this. They looked like naughty school kids coming home to accept their punishment for their crime and of course their punishment would be their lives.
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