by L. A. A. Law
“Alexandra, what are you doing still standing out here, why haven’t you left the food and joined the hunt?” The woman’s voice doesn’t sound angry, just curious.
“I was going to leave it, but then I became afraid. What if they regain consciousness and attack me when I remove their shackles so they can eat?”
Laughter echoes all around me. “They are just children. From what Kristen told me, they aren’t even full vampires. I’m sure with your abilities you could take them out instantly if one of them even moves.
The girl interrupts. “Then David will kill me.”
“Alright, if it makes you feel better, I’ll go in with you and then we can both join the hunt, if you promise to share.” She laughs again.
“I promise”
The door creaks loudly. “See, they haven’t even come out of their stupors yet. Put the food down with the water, while I remove one shackle from each of them and then we’ll go.”
The tray hits the floor and so do the chains. After another moment, the woman’s impatient voice bellows. “Come on, let’s go, I’m starving. We can check on them later and tie up their free hands.” The door slams.
I have connected to Kayla whose fluttering eyes meet Jacob’s, Nicole’s and Nicholas’. Her stomach churns. As the smell of blood overtakes her senses, vomit spews across the room.
“It’s alright Kayla, stop breathing through your nose. Breathe through your mouth.” Nicholas murmurs calmly.
“Kayla take this and take small sips of water, you’ll feel better soon.” Nicole hands her some water.
“What if they poisoned it, should we really drink or eat anything?” Kayla’s voice is fearful.
Jacob takes and examines the bottle. “The caps are sealed. They didn’t poison it. They want us alive. Besides, if they wanted us dead, I don’t think that they would bother with poison. If we don’t keep up our strength we will not be prepared for what might happen later or what we might have to do.”
As she sips slowly, her stomach calms. “Thank you for covering the blood with the dish, it is much better now that I can’t really smell it anymore.” She says quietly.
“I told you not to worry, we will be alright if we just do what we have always been taught and think before we let things get out of control around us. Can anyone loosen their remaining shackle?”
The chains clink and bang against the hard floor before I hear a frustrated humph, which I know is Jacob before Nicholas’ frustrated tone overshadows the others grunts. “It’s no use, as old as they are, I can’t break it.”
“Try to work on the ground connection, maybe we can get that lose.” Jacob replies.
Nicole’s voice sounds extremely frustrated. “It won’t budge and inch, it has probably been wedged in here for centuries, why couldn’t it just be rusted through like some of the other ones.”
“Nicole, it’s alright, we knew it probably wouldn’t work. Don’t waste all your strength on it. Eat and drink something. We just have to be patient and wait for our opportunity.” Jacob replies trying to calm her.
Squeezing Emma’s hand to let her know to send Damian, I hear Kayla’s excited voice. “Uncle Damian your back!”
“He can’t hear you Kayla, remember, he can only appear and give us messages.” I’m stunned that Nicole remembered.
“Your mom is back and can feel and see what you do.” I hear him tell them about the spell to loosen the chains but when they try and fail, we know they have a spell that we are unable to decipher that is blocking our attempt. Squeezing Emma’s had twice, she alerts Damian to go into the alternative speech. “Although I can’t see you, I love you and we want you to know that we know you are being held in a dungeon. We are all looking very hard for you and have brought in some very powerful friends. Keep calm. You are doing such a good job at watching out for each other and thinking before you act. Listen as closely to everything around you as possible and try to remember as much as you can. Try not to reveal that you have powers, we are trying to find some spells that will help you. We are very proud of you for staying calm, we love you and I will try to let you know when your mother is with you.”
Chapter Four - A New Terror Emerges
Faint footsteps echo from down the hall. Squeezing Emma’s hand, Damian disappears as one of the boys whispers “sh.”
The quickening footsteps pass the doorway, as a blood-curdling scream sends adrenaline coursing through Kayla. “Who was that, do you think the person that just passed us was the one who screamed?”
“I don’t think so. The scream came from that window.” All eyes turn to the window as another screams jolts her erratic heart.
“Why are so many people screaming all of a sudden?” Nicholas’ voice is fraught with fear.
Nichole’s strangled voice is barely audible. “You don’t think they could be chasing people, do you?”
Jacob’s response reminds me of Andrew when he is trying to keep me calm, strained but monotone and authoritative. “I don’t think that they are like the vampires we know and love. I think they are the ones we were warned about. We are going to have to be very careful about what we say and do around them, we don’t want to get them upset or give them a reason to go after us. I don’t think that they brought us here for that. I think we are here for a different reason, so let’s not panic, but we really need to be careful and hopefully they can get to us or get something to help us before anything bad happens.”
“I don’t think that we can just hope that they will find us in time, I think that we have to keep our eyes open for an opportunity to get out of here. These guys are dangerous and they seem a little crazy.” Nicholas’ rising voice sends a new wave of panic through Kayla.
“I am not saying that we shouldn’t take an opportunity if we can, but I don’t think that we want to be out there now. If they are doing what we all fear, we don’t want to get mixed up in that. If it were their intention to do that to us right now, they would have released us and we would be running for our lives. All I’m saying is before we even consider doing anything, we should wait until they finish their...business.” As Jacob speaks, I hear traces of Andrew’s voice resonating in his words. His train of thought and diplomacy, especially for his age, stuns me.
I can feel their increased anxiety with each passing scream and echoing footstep thrashing through the deadened brush as I shift between them. Reaching Jacob, he is rigid, and stiff. I can feel him shutting himself down and everything out.
“David told you when you are done with a body to throw it in the pit.” The woman from the car is screaming at someone.
“Stop nagging all the time. I’ll clean up after I am satisfied and there is no one left to hunt. I won’t lose out on a well-deserved meal because I’m too busy cleaning up. We won’t get scavengers this late in the evening so close to the estate.”
“If I were you, I would be more worried about David than scavengers. You know how he is when he thinks that he has someone else and then realizes that they have already been drained. Alexander is still angry that he was only able to find his hand and three fingers.”
“That was over a thousand years ago, his temper has gotten better. Besides, I always fully drain them so that there’s no chance of a mistake.”
“Well it’s your limbs if you are wrong. Good luck, I smell another one.” The screams are now distant.
After a few moments, quickening footsteps are once again approaching and a man’s pleading voice is near the window. “Please spare the lives of my remaining children, let them leave. You must be satisfied by now. We have done nothing to you.”
The children’s pounding hearts in my ears almost drown out the woman’s cold-hearted response. “This is not personal. It was just your time. You have enjoyed our hospitality these many years and served us well, but we are hungry and it was time to clear your house. Thank you for being so plentiful.”
A loud, unearthly roar and the snapping of bones overwhelm Kayla’s senses as she vomits from unadulter
ated fear.
Another woman’s anxious and loud voice screams to the others as her hastening footsteps retreat. “Be careful hunting, the family has been infected by a werewolf. The father just killed Alexandra!”
The roaring continues as Kayla’s eyes dart past the bars, I see the onslaught of night. Nicholas and Nicole’s features are also frightened, but Jacob appears impassive or frozen as Kayla’s vision is clouded by tears. The roars and woman’s screams become fainter.
Nicholas’ anxiety rips through his hurried words. “Jacob we need to get out of here. Could that really be a werewolf?”
“She has to be wrong, I can see the moon and it is not full. I thought that they could only come out on full moons.” From his monotone and detached manner, he is struggling to shut down to keep the others calm.
Kayla’s voice sounds strangled. “Do they really exist?”
“Why can’t they exit, we do.” Nicole replies, the tension in her voice apparent.
“What do we do if it comes down here? From the sounds of what it did to that vampire, we have no way to protect ourselves while chained to the floor!”
I’m torn, I don’t want to leave them, but I have to alert the others. There must to be something that we can tell them, something that the children could do if that thing heads toward the dungeon. Opening my eyes, Emma is next to Andrew and Reginald. Jumping to my feet, the words fly from my mouth. “The vampires are hunting a family and ran into a werewolf! It attacked one of them right outside the dungeon, the kids are terrified!” Andrew places his arms around my shaking and collapsing body. “It was right outside of their window, what if it goes back for them!”
Andrew’s voice breaks. “You need to calm down.” Turning to Emma, “Is there anything that you can walk Mia and Damian through to help the children to protect themselves while Reginald sees if he can find any indication of Jonathan’s energy so that we can find the children?”
A look passes between Reginald, Andrew and Emma as Emma grabs my hand leading me back to the circle with Damian. Joining hands, I hear her instructing Damian in a spell that the children could use to try and hide their scent from the werewolf.
I interject. “Isn’t there a shield that they could use to ward off the werewolf?”
“Mia start to concentrate on the children to get Damian through quickly, I will walk him through this spell first and instruct him how to draw upon the energy around them to repel it. This spell will act similar to electrical jolts and will keep the werewolf away if it breaks through the other spell, but we need to do this quickly and they need to understand that the jolts are a short term solution and must be thrown consistently to keep it away.”
Fighting through the utter fear overwhelming my senses as this new threat unfolds; I finally feel a beating heart. From the rigid muscles locking me stiffly in place, I know I’m with Jacob. The howls are becoming louder, closer. Damian’s quick words are trying to assure the children that we are tracing them as he begins instructing them in Emma’s spell. They quickly chant the words, repeating them like a mantra.
Despite the hurried footsteps around them, Damian remains instructing them regarding the use of the energy around them. I only hope no one hears him. He cannot get caught, if he does, there will be no way of communicating with the children. Hearing the jostling of the handle, I grab Emma’s hand as hard as I can and am relieved as Damian disappears but am unsure if he finished his instructions.
Jacob mutters anxiously. “Whoever, it is, keep chanting the repellant spell quietly, but if they come in and we have to use the other one, let me do it. We don’t want them to know we all have powers. The less they know about us, the better we will be.”
“What makes you think that?” Nicole’s replies quietly.
His response is a mere whisper. “It’s just a strange feeling that keeps coming over me, but I don’t think that they are the threat that we think they are.” I’m shocked that his feeling is similar to Emma’s.
“You do realize that we are locked up and mom and dad can’t find us right?” She retorts harshly.
“I do realize that! I know that I am asking a lot, but something inside me keeps screaming that if we reveal too much we will be facing an even bigger threat, one that mom and dad can’t combat.”
Kayla interrupts. “Jacob, if they know you have powers though, won’t it be dangerous for you and won’t they suspect that we have them too?”
“They can suspect anything that they want, but probably wouldn’t do anything without making sure. I can handle myself so don’t worry about that.”
Despite his young age, Jacob is just like his father, ready to take charge and do all he can to protect those around him. I am so proud of him and very scared for him. The opening door crashes against the wall and the children’s quickened heart beats become sonic booms.
A familiar man’s voice beckons to someone. “Tell David, that the children are still here. Can I release them and make them food for the werewolf, it would be poetic justice, don’t you think, if it destroyed them, besides, they would make four more targets that it could be going after, giving each of us time to gather our weapons.”
Jacob’s exceptional hearing registers the distant response. “Just grab your weapon and put the proper chain around the door to try and stop the werewolf from getting to them, David wants to torture their father first, maybe even have him listen to their screams. Once we catch the wolf, maybe your plan will be David’s implement of torture.”
“Fine!” He retorts disgruntled.
The door slams, chains jostle, and a shot rings through the cavernous dungeon. Did the vampire shoot the werewolf? Contemplating this, I realize I’m not even sure which side I hope is victorious because I do not know which side is more dangerous. Knowing Jacob will not reveal what only he heard, I’m relieved when I hear a distant howl, for the time being, the vampires are preoccupied with the werewolf, hopefully giving us time to trace their captures. When the shots continue to get fainter, I disconnect to the children, hoping that I will be met with good news. We have to find the children before the werewolf dies and they refocus their efforts.
Opening my eyes, the look on Andrew’s face turns my blood cold. I can’t find the strength to get up off of the floor. He rushes to my side.
“Andrew they are going to kill the children and let us hear their screams!” I sob.
He embraces me tighter. “Mia, it won’t come to that, but I need you to stay calm about what I am going to tell you.” He’s straining harder to speak calmly than I have ever seen him.
“You can’t find Jonathan, can you?” My deadened voice whispers through my quieting sobs. I know this and somehow Jacob did too. My body begins shutting down. We are back to ground zero with no hope of finding them.
Reginald joins us. “Mia, Jonathan is not on this plane.”
“He has to be, who else would want to kill our children to torture us? Maybe you just can’t trace him!”
Reginald takes my hands. “Mia, it is not that the trace would act as a locator beacon to hone in on. It was a spell to tell me if he ever entered this plane again so we would be on alert and would then know to activate another spell which would help us if he were to ever get close to you again, but I assure you, that I would have known immediately when he entered this plane and he has not. I even did the location spell to ensure that there was no chance I was wrong.”
“Then who has the children because whoever it is has a definite grudge against Andrew and thought that it would be ironic to let the werewolf kill the children, some sort of poetic type of justice.”
“Did they say anything else that could give us a clue as to where they have the children or why they have a grudge against me?” Andrew rasps.
I repeat everything I heard and tell Andrew about the weapons and my assumption that they must be on some type of compound because the woman was speaking about how this family enjoyed the hospitality of the hunting family and that it was now time to clear their house.
“They must be on an estate.” Reginald jumps up returning to the map.
Andrew helps me to my feet and over to the table.
“What road did you see the car on?” Reginald inquires.
Andrew points to the spot.
Reginald hand glides north over the map. “There are a lot of estates scattered throughout this area. Let the others know that we will divide up the area.” He flips open his computer and types something in.
As it’s computing, he looks up. “Andrew, were you ever in this area and did you ever have encounters with a family of vampires or trouble with werewolves? That might help us narrow down the search even more. From what Mia is saying, it had to be someone that you once came across and has a score to settle. From the sounds of it, they will contact you, but we should try to find the children before that. Once they contact you, it may be rather late in their game.”
“Reginald, are you sure that it is not Jonathan, because truthfully, I have never been in this area. We were traveling when we were fighting, people got hurt and we have killed other vampires and demons, but no place even close to here, nor have we ever fought a family of vampires or a pack of wolves!”
“Andrew, we would be wasting precious time looking for Jonathan. I assure you that at this moment, he is not on this plane, nor has he been since that night. I would have told you, believe me!”
The door opens and Gabriel, Martina, Eva and Jackson rush in. “I hear we have a lead and some places to check out,” Jackson notes walking over to the map.
Looking at Gabriel, I remember how helpful he was in helping me decipher things that I had observed in the past. I grab his hand, leading him over to the couch. “I am ready when you are.” He replies to my unspoken thoughts.
After running through everything that I observed and heard, I feel him rise. Opening my eyes, he’s at the map. “Reginald, it has to be a fairly vast estate. They are very cunning and cold. They are using the people that they house as their food source. The estate is large enough for them to give the families’ time to have large families and spread out enough for the others to be unaware of what is going on, that’s why one of them was sent to get the entire family. It is a family of vampires and from the sounds of it, the way they hunt is brutal and terrifying for their victims. It is sport for them.” His tone is absolutely livid.