Witches & Werewolves: A Sacred Oath

by Bella Raven

  I remember Lucas’s admonition to me to stay away from churches and cemeteries. Hallowed ground. I begin to wonder how much of my vampire powers I will lose here.

  Cerise stands near a grave with fresh dirt. She is flanked by several werewolves in human form. Including Olivia.

  “So glad you could join us,” Cerise says.

  “Where are Noah and Jake?” I ask.

  “They are in a very, very safe place.”

  I see one of the werewolves resting against a shovel with the blade dug into the ground. I listen carefully. The night has an eerie stillness to it. I strain to hear the muffled sounds of Jake and Noah screaming and pounding inside coffins, buried underground.

  “How much time do you think they have in there before they run out of air?” Cerise asks.

  “You said you would let them go,” I say.

  “I did. They are free to go whenever they want,” Cerise says.

  “Dig them up, now!” I say.

  Cerise smiles. “First, you and I have other business to take care of.” Cerise looks to Olivia. “What time is sunrise?”

  “6:21 AM,” Olivia says, looking at her smart phone.

  “What time is it now?” Cerise asks.

  “5:52 AM,” Olivia says.

  “I think it’s going to take you at least a half an hour to dig them out,” Cerise says. “If you get the chance.”

  “Why are you doing this?” I ask.

  “Because you have the ability to lift the curse. And I can’t take a chance on that happening. And nobody here wants to lose their special abilities. Am I right?”

  The night air is suddenly filled with discordant howls. Werewolves across the cemetery sound off in agreement with Cerise. It’s almost deafening. It takes a few moments for the howling to subside.

  “I don’t understand. Only you can destroy the rings,” I say.

  “Or someone in my bloodline,” Cerise says. “I have foreseen it.”

  I squint my eyes and furrow my brow, utterly confused. “But we’re not… related?”

  “My daughter thought she could hide you from me,” Cerise says.

  “Your daughter?” I say.

  “Yes. Let’s say we didn’t always see eye to eye,” Cerise says.

  At this moment, my head is spinning.

  “You’re full of it,” I say.

  “You can deny it all you want, but it doesn’t change the facts,” Cerise says.

  I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. Suddenly, I know what the letter in my keepsake box says. Without having to read it, I know what my mother was apologizing for.

  “How can you do this to your own flesh and blood?” I ask.

  “It’s a matter of practicality really. With each heir, my power diminishes. Siphoning off bits of my strength here and there. Had I known, I never would have had my daughter. They steal more than your beauty, I tell you,” Cerise says. “I warned her not to have any offspring. She defied me.”

  “You’re disgusting,” I say.

  “We all have our priorities in life,” Cerise says. “Right now, my priority is to eliminate you.”

  “I think you are a coward. You have your little pets do your dirty work,” I say.

  The werewolves snarl.

  “Unfortunately, I can’t kill you myself. I would lose all of my power. And we can’t have that, now can we?” Cerise says. “But I can leave you to die in the sunlight. Or suffer the deadly effects of a werewolf bite. Or both.” Cerise smiles.

  The sky is growing lighter. Dawn will break soon.

  “Olivia, prove your loyalty to the pack,” Cerise says. “Bite that vampire.”

  Olivia’s eyes narrow, blazing at me. She flashes her fangs and hisses, then launches toward me. In a flash, she is at my throat, her fangs piercing into my neck. It stings like a thousand wasps. The fiery pain rushes up my neck and down my shoulder to my arm. Searing, scorching heat.

  Suddenly, Olivia is ripped away from me. I see Ethan tackling her to the ground as I collapse. Several werewolves rush in, pulling Ethan and Olivia apart. Hundreds of werewolves circle around, snarling and howling.

  CHAPTER 37

  “I’M SORRY, SWEETIE. Sometimes life just isn’t fair, is it?” Cerise says, huddling over me. “I’m going to leave you to die of natural causes. Enjoy your last sunrise.”

  Cerise stands and commands the werewolves to leave. I watch, helpless, as they drag Ethan away. Within moments, the cemetery is empty. The sun looms just below the horizon, casting a grayish-purple tint across the sky.

  I can still hear Jake and Noah gasping for air, pounding away on the coffins. The venom floods through my veins. Every nerve ending on fire. I gasp for air. My heart feels like it’s going to explode. I feel paralyzed, the venom seizing up my muscles.

  The sky is turning shades of orange and magenta.

  I claw at the ground, pulling my way toward the shovel. If I don’t get up on my feet and start digging, Noah and Jake will die. I keep crawling until I reach the shovel. I grab the gray, wooden handle and pull it close. I muster all of my strength and drive the broad steel blade into the dirt. Then I pull myself up by the handle. I stomp my heal on the blade, driving it into the dirt. I fight through the burning muscle spasms and scoop the dirt aside. I plow the blade back into the ground, shoveling out another heap of dirt. Shovel and scoop. Shovel and scoop. Over and over again.

  A sliver of orange sun crests the horizon. The tops of the trees glisten in the morning light. I dig furiously, summoning all of my vampire strength and speed. Which at this point isn’t much. The mound of dirt piled beside the grave grows taller as I dig deeper. The rays of sunlight drop down from the tops of the trees, falling steadily to the ground. The sun rises higher, warbling over the horizon.

  When the first ray of sunshine hits my skin, it makes the werewolf bite seem like a minor irritation. My skin crackles and blisters, sizzling like bacon. The acrid smell of burnt flesh fills my nose.

  I keep digging. The steel blade of the shovel pings against a metal coffin. I dig harder and faster. My skin searing in the daylight. I can’t keep this up for much longer. Finally, I clear away enough dirt for the coffin to open. The lid swings wide and Jake bursts out gasping for air.

  He takes one look at me and instantly knows my situation. I start digging on the second grave. Jake climbs out of the pit. My body is smoldering, about to burst into flames.

  “I’ll take it from here,” Jake says.

  “No, I can dig faster than you,” I say.

  I shovel a few more scoops of dirt, then collapse. The pain is unbearable. Jake grabs me and places me into the empty coffin and closes the lid. I hear him climb back out of the grave and drive the shovel into the dirt.

  I fade in and out of consciousness, losing track of time. The day passes. Sometime after dark, Jake opens the lid to the coffin and pulls me out.

  “Is Noah safe?” I ask.

  “Noah’s fine. He’s at home.”

  Jake helps me out of the coffin. My skin is blistered and burned. The slightest movement is excruciating. Jake carries me to his car as delicately as he can.

  “Did you know?” I ask.

  “Know what?”

  “That I was adopted.”

  He nods. “Your parents swore me to secrecy. I figured they would tell you when the time was right. Are you upset?”

  “I’ve got a lot of other things to be upset about.”

  “They didn’t want you to feel any different. They didn’t want you to think you were loved any less.”

  “I understand. I think mom wrote me a letter. I haven’t read it though.”

  “I know she wrote you a letter,” Jake says. “She told me about it.”

  “Were you ever going to tell me?”

  “It kind of slipped my mind. I never thought of you as anything less than blood.”

  “Should I tell Noah?”

  “That’s up to you,” Jake says. “At some point, he needs to know.”

  Jake takes
me home and sets me on the couch. My skin is charred and raw, and I’m boiling with fever from the venom. Noah rushes out to see me. His eyes are red and dripping with tears.

  “What happened to you?” Noah asks.

  “I forgot to wear sunscreen,” I say, trying to smile, but it hurts too much.

  “Are you going to die?” Noah asks. I can see the panic in his eyes. It breaks my heart.

  Before I can answer, Jake interrupts. “No. She’s going to be fine.”

  “I got bit,” I say.

  Jake sags, and his face is grim. “Noah, why don’t you go to your room for a minute.”

  “I don’t want to,” Noah says.

  “I ain’t asking,” Jake says.

  “We got kidnapped by werewolves. Buried alive. My sister is a vampire. And you want me to go to my room?” Noah says.

  Jake looks at me and shrugs.

  “How much time?” I ask.

  “Time for what?” Noah asks, sensing the somber mood.

  “24, maybe 48 hours before the venom runs its course,” Jake says.

  “Then what?” Noah asks.

  Jake just frowns.

  Noah’s wide eyes run like faucets. He wraps his arms around me, and I grimace with pain. But I try not to let him know that it hurts.

  “I don’t want you to die,” Noah says.

  “I don’t want to die either,” I say.

  “Nobody’s dead yet. So stop crying,” Jake says. He moves to the kitchen and grabs a class from the cabinet. Jake pulls a buck knife from his pocket, unfolds the blade and carves the tip into his wrist. Ruby red blood flows into the glass until it’s almost full. My eyes snap to the blood. My nose smelling every sweet drop. My pulse rises with anticipation.

  Jake hands me the glass and I guzzle it down. Noah’s wide eyes stare at me. I feel like a monster, instantly ashamed. But the blood brings rejuvenation. My charred and raw flesh heals. Read and black soot covered skin turns porcelain. The once blistering flesh is now smooth and immaculate. All except for the site of the werewolf bite. It’s a hideous and festering sore. Purple and black, spidering out through my veins.

  “We need to talk to Harlan. He might know what to do,” Jake says.

  “They’ve got Ethan. They’ll surely kill him because he helped me,” I say.

  “We all make our own choices,” Jake says.

  “We’ve got to rescue him,” I say.

  “You are in no condition to rescue anyone,” Jake says.

  “I don’t care if it’s the last thing I ever do. I’m going to save him, or die trying,” I say, trying to sit up on the couch.

  “Look at you. You can barely move,” Jake says.

  “I’ll manage,” I say.

  “I vote we kick some werewolf ass,” Noah says.

  CHAPTER 38

  JAKE PULLS UP to a convenience store and throws the car in park.

  “What are we doing here?” I ask.

  “Getting supplies,” he says. Jake hops out of the car and dashes into the store.

  I glance to Noah in the back seat, then I look at the envelope in my lap.

  “What you got there?” Noah asks.

  “Nothing. Just a letter,” I say.

  “From who?”

  “Mom.”

  Noah’s eyes widen. “What’s it say?”

  I hand the envelope to Noah.

  He looks at mom’s handwriting, then back to me. “But it’s addressed to you.”

  “It’s okay. You can read it,” I say.

  Noah tears into the envelope and pulls out the letter. His eyes scan the pages. When he finishes reading, he sits a moment in thought. Then his eyes find mine. “So?”

  “So…”

  “You’ll always be my sister. This doesn’t change anything. But is sure explains a lot,” he says.

  “Like what?”

  “Like why I’m so much smarter than you,” he says, with a grin.

  “Shut up,” I say, giggling.

  Jake returns with a twelve pack of Eisenhut Doppelbock. I clench my jaw, furious. “I thought you quit drinking?”

  He hands me the beer. “This ain’t for me. It’s for you.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I say.

  “Don’t get yourself in a bunch. It’s nonalcoholic,” Jake says. “Start drinking.”

  “I don’t like beer,” I say.

  “Tough,” he says. “Wolfsbane will help slow the progression of the venom.”

  I pop the can and take a few sips. It burns my throat on the way down.

  “It might sting a little cause you got venom in your system,” Jake says. He hands a can to Noah.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “We all could use some protection,” Jake says.

  By the time he finishes his sentence, Noah has popped open the can. He gulps it down in seconds, crinkling the empty can in his hand. Then he roars a thunderous burp. “Let’s party!”

  I shake my head. “This is setting a bad precedent.”

  “Would you rather he get bitten?” Jake asks. “I should have been force feeding this stuff to you two. We might not be in this situation.”

  “Hit me again, barkeep!” Noah shouts.

  Jake shifts the car in gear, and we race to Harlan’s. I am expecting a dumpy little home, but it’s a sprawling estate. We pull up to a call box at the gates of the property. Jake pushes the call button. After a few moments, Harlan’s voice crackles out through the speaker. “What the hell you want?”

  “Harlan, it’s me, JJ,” Jake says.

  “I ain’t got no use for you,” Harlan says.

  “We’ve got a bit of an emergency,” Jake says.

  “Then you should go to the county hospital,” Harlan grumbles.

  “County hospital can’t help us,” Jake says. “We got werewolf trouble.”

  “Ain’t my problem,” Harlan says.

  “It’s my niece, Harlan,” Jake says, pleading. “She’s been bitten.”

  There is a long moment of silence. Then the gate buzzes and opens. We drive up to the massive house. Clean, modern lines. Geometric shapes. Meticulous lighting that accentuates the architecture and landscaping.

  “How does Harlan have a place like this,” I ask.

  Jake’s shrugs.

  Harlan’s waiting for us with the door open, shotgun in hand. He’s wearing a flannel shirt and blue jean overalls. Quite a contrast to the sleek surroundings. Jake helps me inside, and Harlan closes the door behind us as we enter.

  Harlan looks me up and down. His eyes grow wide. “You didn’t tell me she was a damn vampire.”

  “She’s going to die if we don’t do something,” Jake says.

  “Ain’t nothing can be done,” Harlan says.

  “There’s got to be something we can do,” Jake says.

  “Short of breaking the werewolf curse, you’re out of luck,” Harlan says.

  “That’s it,” I say. “We break the curse.”

  Harlan laughs. “Good luck with that. Only someone of Cerise's bloodline can do that.”

  “I know,” I say.

  Harlan stops laughing. He tilts his head like a dog and stares at me. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  “If I destroy the rings, the curse will be lifted,” I say.

  “And everything that stemmed from the curse,” Harlan says, realizing.

  “Without werewolves, there’s no werewolf venom,” I say.

  “Right,” Harlan says, pondering the logic. A big smile curls on his face. “I believe I’m inclined to give you my full support.” Harlan is as giddy as a schoolgirl. “I’ve got something to show you.”

  He leads us down a staircase to an underground bunker. He places his hand on a biometric key pad. A retinal scanner authenticates his identity. A massive steel door unlocks. Air rushes out in a hiss. The heavy door, like a bank vault, swings open.

  Inside is a state-of-the-art survival facility, stockpiled with food, weapons, and ammunition.

  “I’ve been preppi
ng this for years,” Harlan says. “In case of the werewolf apocalypse.”

  Harlan motions for us to enter. “Stainless steel with three feet of concrete, air and water filtration, and it’s own septic system. It’s EMP resistant with a solar grid and diesel generators. You could live down here for twenty years without needing to venture outside.”

  “This is cool,” Noah says.

  “I’ve got fully automatic M4 carbines, tactical shotguns, silver lined fragmentation grenades, rocket propelled grenades, you name it. And a slew of silver tipped ammo and buckshot,” Harlan says. “Hell, I even got remote-controlled drones that will deploy clouds of silver nitrate gas.”

  “Good, we’re going to need all of it,” Jake says.

  Harlan smiles. “So, what’s the plan?”

  “First, we rescue Ethan,” I say.

  “If he’s still alive,” Jake says.

  “He’s alive,” I say, defiantly. “Where would they take him?”

  “Ethan is that boy you were with?” Harlan asks.

  I nod. “Let me guess… he’s a wolf and got himself in a pickle defending you?”

  I nod again.

  Harlan sighs. “The things kids do for love.” He thinks about this a moment. “The wolves have sworn their allegiance to Cerise. She’ll see his actions as a betrayal and want to punish him. Make an example of him.”

  “Then he’s in her dungeon,” I say.

  “She’s got a whole maze of catacombs that run underneath her property. That’s how they move so fast and appear out of nowhere. Reminds me of my days in Vietnam.”

  “So, let me get this straight. You plan to raid Cerise's like a bunch of commandos, rescue Ethan from the dungeon, and steal the rings from around Cerise's neck?” Jake asks, skeptically.

  “Pretty much,” I say.

  “You realize this is pretty much impossible,” Jake says.

  “Nothing is impossible,” Harlan says.

  “You can barely walk,” Jake says to me.

  “They’ll never expect us. Cerise thinks I’m dead,” I say.

  Jake pauses a moment, then shrugs, giving up. “Okay.”

  “I want the grenade launcher,” Noah says.

  “Oh no,” Harlan chuckles. “You are going to pilot the drones remotely from the command center. Just like a video game.”