Blood Stained Lives (The Blood Stained Saga Book 1)

by Ronald Griffin

  “What are you talking about? There are four of you, and four of them. There are always only four of them.”

  Marida steps forward to give some interesting information.

  “I have searched my family tree, and my twin brother Chase, and I were never related to the original Averett children. There is still a White Wolf, and we have located her in Macon, Georgia.”

  The Shadow Cats phased into their other forms, and slaughtered Gilles with very little effort so Liana claimed the amulet as her own. Placing it around her neck, she looked at Cyrus.

  “If you want this amulet, then you will have your sorcerer create one more Shadow Cat for us. Until we bring the candidate to you, I will keep the amulet with me.”

  Liana and the other Shadow Cats disappeared into the shadows, and made their trip to Macon, Georgia. Just as Cyrus showed up, and found them, he witnessed the White Wolves' victory against them and Chase had claimed the amulet. Cyrus was so close to having what he had been after for so long, only to have it slip his grasp again. That is why he hunted Chase down, and had him murdered, but the amulet was still nowhere to be found. That is when he got the idea of using city officials to gain what he seeks, and the best way to distract the public's focus from his shady dealings was to give them a tragedy: destroying one of their most beloved public places, and landmarks was a good way to do it.

  Cyrus hands out close-up pictures of a woman's hand wearing a ring. The ring has a ruby stone with a black slit, making the ring look like an eye. Everyone looks at the picture, carefully memorizing every detail.

  “There is a ring somewhere, but I do not know where. That is the exact duplicate of this one, and I need it as well. The two rings are the eyes to the amulet, and I need all pieces. I already have one of the rings in my possession,” Cyrus says with a sly smile.

  “We will get right on it. The pictures will be on the news by noon.”

  Aluana just sits in her room twirling the ring that is on her finger round, and round. She looks at the ruby eye on it, and wonders where she got it. Cyrus told her that she had it on her already when he had found her. Tiffany knocks on her door, and Aluana gives a very unpleasant response.

  “Go to hell, you bitch!”

  Tiffany cracks the door open slightly, but before she can open it all the way, a lamp shatters against it. A definite sign that she is not welcome in this room and that Aluana doesn't want to be bothered at all.

  “I am really sorry, Aluana. I didn't have a choice, but to tell Cyrus. He wouldn't stop asking me where you were,” Tiffany said.

  “So why was he under the impression that I killed the guard? I have never even drank a single drop of human blood as far as I can remember. I bet you called him the moment I left, and I also bet you would wipe his ass too, if given half a chance.”

  “Okay, you little hussy, that is too far. I don't care how much Cyrus prizes you I will not tolerate being spoken to like that.”

  All is quiet for a moment until a dresser comes through the door, knocking Tiffany into the wall. She makes a Tiffany shaped hole in the wall, and is stuck. Aluana walks through the doorway, pushes the dresser out of her way, and sees Tiffany stuck in the wall. She reaches down, and picks up the “do not disturb” sign that was hanging on the door that Tiffany obviously did not care to pay any attention to. Then she puts it in her face.

  “You see this? The next time you try to bother me look, and see if this is on my door. You had better pay attention to it. Now call Cyrus like a good girl, and tell him I need a new door.”

  She throws the sign down, and pats Tiffany on the cheek before turning the other direction, and walking down the hallway. Tiffany starts punching the walls to get free from it; then she goes to the phone, and dials a number.

  “Yeah, get me a local contractor that can fix a wall, and door ASAP.”

  “Would you like the bill to go to Cyrus as usual?” the woman on the phone said.

  “No, bill it to me. I will handle this one.”

  Tiffany hangs up, and thinks to herself. Yeah, Cyrus doesn't need to find out about this at all.

  Aluana locks herself in her recording studio that Cyrus had built to try to appease her, and make her less likely to want to leave. She gets out her pen to start writing music, but cannot focus since she is still very furious at Tiffany. Aluana has only stayed as long as she has because she feels she owes a debt to Cyrus who took her in when she had nowhere to go, and no memory of who she was. Is that really worth being stuck inside every day, though?

  A few frustrating minutes pass by, and she finally calms down enough to begin her writing again. Maybe one day she will get lucky, and be able to put her music out there so that someone, anyone, can appreciate what she is capable of. She certainly doesn't get that feeling from anyone around the mansion.

  Hours later, Namon is sitting by Katrina's bed at the Medical Center waiting for her to regain consciousness. The doctors couldn't find anything physically wrong with her, so their only conclusion that they can agree on is that she is just passed out from being overly exhausted or that she could be in a coma. The doctors couldn’t find anything physically wrong with her, and they are hesitant to call her unconsciousness a coma since she has only been at the hospital a few hours. There is nothing to do right now, but wait.

  Nothing eventful has been happening other than some brief excitement when a vending machine released all of its snacks when a hospital visitor tried to get a bag of chips, or cleaning equipment just falling apart, or not working properly. Namon dozes off, and then he hears a quiet, raspy voice call out for water. He looks over, and realizes that Katrina is waking up, opening her eyes slowly. He stands, and hugs her tightly.

  “I thought I lost you,” he says while squeezing her tightly.

  “I'll be okay if you stop trying to choke me. Now stop hugging me, and get me some water.”

  He stops hugging her, and then rushes out to the nurse’s station.

  “She’s awake, and she needs some water!”

  The nurse pages the doctor, and walks with Namon back into the room to check on Katrina.

  “Well now, look who is up?! How are you feeling?” the nurse asks.

  “Thirsty. What do I have to do to get some water?”

  “The doctor is on his way up. Soon as he checks everything out, and gives the okay, we will have someone send up some food, and something to drink for you, okay?” the nurse responds.

  “I guess it will have to be.”

  Soon as the nurse leaves the room, she looks at Namon with fatigue heavy on her face. Weakly, she smiles at him.

  “So when did you become the parent, and start taking care of me?”

  “I had to do something. You walked in, and passed out. What happened to you?” He walks over closer, and whispers to here. “Where did all that blood come from?”

  The doctor taps on the door, and enters.

  “I'll tell you when we get home.”

  The doctor approaches, checks all her vitals, and looks over the chart. “So how are you feeling, Ms. Johnson?”

  “I'm fine, but seriously, I want some water,” she says with a weak smile. “I just feel exhausted from all the long hours dealing with work.”

  The doctor scribbles on his note pad, and nods.

  “Well I don't see anything wrong, so I believe you just passed out from exhaustion. I'm writing you a note for work requesting that you have a few days off to get some rest. Do you need any help with sleep?”

  “No, I don't have a problem sleeping when I get a chance to,” she answers.

  “Okay, well I'll have the nurse write up the discharge paperwork so that you can go home. Then you’re free to go,” the doctor said with a smile.

  He turns around, and leaves the room, and as soon as he leaves, Katrina looks over at Namon.

  “Okay, seriously, if you don't get me some water I will scream.”

  Namon goes to the nurse's station, and asks for a cup, and she gives him one. Once in the room, he gets her s
ome water out of the sink, and hands it to her. He helps her lean up enough so that she can drink it. Once she has had enough, she lies back down, and lets out a deep sigh.

  “Next time something like this happens, take me to the coliseum. The service here sucks,” she says pretending like she’s waiting for her drink in a restaurant rather than a hospital.

  Namon laughs at her, and gives her another hug.

  “Since they are kicking us out of here, you better get me my clothes.”

  He gets up, and gets out the clothes she had on when she was brought in, and takes them to her. She takes them from him, and can obviously tell that he picked the clothes out because they don't match color or texture one bit. She looks over at him with that cocked eyebrow that she is famous for giving him.

  “Boy, we have really got to work on your fashion sense. So, what did you do with the clothes that I did have on?”

  Namon starts rubbing the back of his head nervously.

  “I put them in the washing machine for you,” he stammers.

  She glares at him, knowing that there is something he isn't telling here.

  “Okay, spill it.”

  “I, um, dumped some bleach into the washing machine. Considering the condition they were in, I figured that would be the best thing to do since I had to call the paramedics,” he explains.

  She mulls the thought over for a moment, and she realizes that he is right, and that he did really well.

  “Thank you for taking care of me, son. Now go into the bathroom, please, while I get dressed real quick. You don't need to see all this again.”

  He covers his eyes, and feels his way to the bathroom while she starts laughing at him. Within minutes she is dressed, and the nurse shows up with the wheel chair to wheel her out. Namon comes out of the bedroom, and they are all set to leave.

  Downstairs, the Gremlin is entertaining itself, watching as people try to drink from the water fountain, and they are sprayed with lots of water. It chuckles each time it happens until it notices Namon walking beside Katrina as the nurse pushes her wheelchair. It hurries over, and catches a ride on the wheelchair, and once outside, Namon helps Katrina into the cab. It scurries beneath the cab, and latches onto the exhaust underneath.

  Inside the cab, there is an awkward silence. Namon is worried about Katrina, and wonders what she has not told him, yet. She just stares out of the window, tired, and not sure how many more fights she can handle alone. The battles have become more intense since Cyrus has come to Macon, and the knights from the church are no match for the demons that he has summoned. She knows of someone that can help, and she thinks maybe it is time to finally contact him again. Just in case something happens. The cab driver sways dangerously in, and out of traffic, going way too fast. The Gremlin grips hard to the exhaust pipe to keep from falling off.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Katrina yells at the driver. The car skids to a stop right in front of their apartment complex. The driver reaches back with his hand open, awaiting his payment. Katrina looks at his empty hand, and just slaps it away, obviously frustrated.

  “Oh, hell no! I don't think so, pal. I ain't paying you a damn thing for endangering me, and my son's life, and hello? You picked us up from the hospital, you jackass!”

  “That's not your son, and I don't give a damn where I picked you up at you're going to pay.”

  The Gremlin can hear the driver’s tone, and growls, moving toward the front of the car. Namon opens the car door, and helps Katrina out. The driver gets out, puts his hand on Namon’s shoulder, and spins him around. He looks him dead in the eye, and Namon’s eyes glow white. His body starts getting warm, starts to shake, and his skin turns red. A low guttural growl came from within Namon.

  Scared witless the driver runs to get back into the cab, and drives away. The car doesn't get far, though, before the engine starts to make a knocking sound, and then it dies out. The engine falls out from beneath the car, and the driver gets out, and starts running down the road. The Gremlin chuckles as it hides in the bushes close to the apartment. No one threatens or acts hostile in any way to his family, and gets away with it. He is proud of himself for getting a little bit of payback for them.

  Katrina shakes Namon to get him to snap back to his senses.

  “Get inside now!”

  They quickly get back inside the apartment, and the Gremlin follows behind, careful not to be seen. Katrina shuts, locks the door, and leads him into the living room, and they sit down. A few minutes go by, and Namon calms down after the excitement. His body temperature cools to normal, and he stops shaking.

  “What just happened?” Namon asks.

  “You almost just phased, but I don't understand, and how’s that possible you’re not even eighteen, yet. We need to get you to the church soon, and figure this out.”

  Namon stands, goes into the kitchen to get a soda, and chugs it down fast.

  “I'm okay. We just need to stay at home a few days, and I will stay calm. You need your rest.”

  “I can rest when I'm dead. Nothing is going to happen to you that isn't supposed to, if I can help it. You're my son.”

  “So what is going to happen to me if you die before I am ready to handle things on my own? Do you want me to figure all this out by myself?”

  Those words hit her hard because she remembers what it was like doing all of this alone as well. Chase got to escape this life for years after he went into hiding with Michelle, leaving her alone to fight this fight. Then he died, and the option for having any kind of help vanished with him. Soon she will have help again soon with Namon, and she couldn't leave the burden on Namon's shoulders to carry on alone like she has for so long.

  “Okay, we will wait a few days, but that is it.” He nods in agreement.

  “I guess I owe you an explanation about what happened this morning.”

  She stands as he sits down, and she starts pacing back, and forth, preparing herself for the conversation she is about to have with him. All that has been happening lately has been coming on too hard, and fast.

  “Well as you know, vampires, werewolves, and all sorts of other things do exist. The White Wolves and monster hunters are the only things that keep everyone in the world from finding out that they do exist, and keep the world from falling into darkness. My job is to hunt along with knights formed by the church, so all these nights that I am gone; I am out there fighting demons, vampires, and other monsters. We have been very busy lately because Cyrus Wilmington, the lord of the vampires, is here in Macon. He is searching for something, and we don't know what it is, yet.”

  “So why are you worried about me phasing early, then? Maybe that is why it almost happened. You need help, and you know it.”

  She thinks long and hard for a minute, and decides that he could be right. After all, that was the theory of how Chase became a White Wolf; there were supposed to be four, but Katrina wasn't old enough yet, so Chase phased in her place.

  “We need to teach you the essentials, then. You know most of what you need to know of the history, and we can always go back to that later. Just make sure you keep your mother’s journal no matter what happens. She has detailed notes in there about things that she learned from your father, and the other wolves.”

  “Nothing will happen to it. I promise.”

  He walks over to her, and embraces her in a tight, loving hug. The Gremlin watches the touching moment, and wishes he could be part of it. It fears to because he is the only one of its existence, and does not feel like it will ever be accepted. So it just watches longingly with sad little tears forming in its eyes.

  The hug is now over, and they call Papa John's to order a pizza since the hospital wasn't even considerate enough to feed them before kicking them out. It's not like Katrina doesn't have good insurance.

  Chapter Six

  The following morning, Namon is eating his morning cereal like normal while Katrina watches the morning news. She becomes disturbed by the picture that is shown on the tele
vision.

  “The mayor is offering a reward for any information that leads to the recovery of this missing artifact. For more information, call.”

  Katrina gets up abruptly to get the phone, and dials a number. Namon glances at the TV to see the image that upset her, it is a picture of an amulet that looks like a dragon's face.

  “Yes, sir, I just saw it on the news. You already have it moved? Okay. Do you think we should reclaim the ring as well, just in case? I will take care of it tonight.” She hangs up the phone, and looks toward Namon.

  “Well so much for me taking a few days off! You’re going to have on-the-job training tonight, it looks like.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Well, we finally know what it is that Cyrus is after. That amulet right there has been in the church's possession ever since your father claimed it after their battle with the Shadow Cats. It is the Galamythe amulet, and we are all in deep trouble if Cyrus gets his hands on it. Now that there is a price on it, there is no telling who can be trusted, and who knows how long it will take someone to connect it with the church?”

  “What's the big deal with that thing, anyway?” Namon asks.

  “Well, the last person that had it was Gilles. He used it to bring Galamythe back to this world.”

  Namon's eyes open wide at the thought of a dragon let loose here in Macon. As if things weren't bad enough in this city.

  “So what is it that we are doing tonight then, if the church has relocated the amulet?” he asks.

  A frown forms on her face because she knows that what she is about to tell him is going to be very difficult indeed.

  “We have to go dig up your mother's grave up because she has one of the two rings that un-locks its power. Your father gave it to her as her wedding ring to keep it safe. It was also there in the amulet, and no one knows where the other ring is or what happened to it after the dragon was fought all those years ago.”

  “So Cyrus needs the amulet, and two rings to bring the dragon back?”

  “Well actually, he needs those items, and blood from a descendant of Alexandria to be able to use it.”