Birth of Jaiden

by Malone Wright, Jennifer

  The hummers in front of him sped up.

  The calm faded quickly. Something was happening; he could feel it. The clear, star filled sky was lit by an almost full moon and the air coming through the window was brisk. It’s almost too peaceful.

  Due to the hour, their vehicles were the only ones on the road. The hummers ahead kept their pace and the trucks followed close behind. Then, without any warning, the lead hummer carrying Chris, Danielle and Victoria swerved severely to the left.

  “Son of a…” Alex uncharacteristically cursed, then clutched the wheel and watched the second hummer spin out to the right as the first one regained composure. Alex swerved to the left around the now stalled second hummer.

  Chris was suddenly in his head. Someone was in the road. He just appeared out of nowhere. This is bad, I feel it, Alex.

  The trucks behind him were shifting gears and screeching their brakes in attempt to slow down enough to maneuver around the stopped vehicle without tipping over.

  “What’s happening, Alex?”

  He looked over at Isabella. She had woken and was sitting straight up in her seat, looking out the windshield with wide eyes.

  “I don’t know.”

  He thought of Damion, Jeremiah, Stewart and Deanna. Hey, are you guys back on the road, yet?

  Damion answered, Yeah, don’t know what happened.

  Chris says someone was in the road.

  The trucks had stopped screeching their brakes and were again in formation with the hummers.

  Alex heard several loud thumps on the top of his hummer. Isabella screamed and looked up as if she could see through the roof.

  Oh man, here we go.

  He pumped himself up for a fight and focused on the hummer ahead of him where he saw six vampires land on the roof of the vehicle, baring their fangs and rocking the vehicle back and forth.

  Beside him, Isabella screamed so loud she woke Jaiden, who began to scream as well. Their hummer was being rocked from side to side like the one ahead of them.

  “Damn!” Alex forced himself to keep his calm and keep going. He carried what they wanted and he’d be damned if he was just going to let them have her.

  “Isabella, stop!” She shut her mouth quickly. “You’re not helping,” he told her in a calmer voice.

  “Oh my God, Alex, oh my God.”

  They could hear the vampires on top of the car, screeching with glee as they jerked the car back and forth.

  “Don’t worry.” Alex tried to reassure her but just as he was telling her, the truck behind them, which was also covered in vampires, swerved out into the left lane and passed them, pulling swiftly in front of the first hummer. The second truck did the same and pulled in front of them.

  Alex watched as the back of the truck rolled up and revealed the vampire slayers.

  Isabella stopped her rambling and stared. “Wow.”

  This is classic, he thought. The slayers stood at the opening of the truck, held crossbows and wore bandoliers with stakes inserted into them. Weapons were strapped all over their bodies. The one in the center raised his weapon and fired.

  A loud, painful screech could be heard from overhead, accompanied by a body falling over the side and startling Alex when he smacked the window on his way down. The rest of the slayers followed suit and fired their weapons. Maintaining speed, Alex kept driving while the slayers did what they do.

  More stakes were released from their bows as the first body fell to the ground. More screeching and thumps on the vehicle followed. It was one shot, one kill.

  These guys really know what they are doing, Alex thought. Each time a vampire hit the ground, a burst of flame turned them to ash.

  “It looks like the fourth of July,” he told Isabella.

  She gave him a disgusted look.

  “Well, I thought it was funny.” He glanced into the back. Jaiden was still wailing and waving her tiny fists. You’re just going to have to wait, little one.

  To Alex, it looked like for each vampire killed, another one appeared. They just didn’t seem to be lowering in number.

  “Aaaahhhh!” Isabella began screaming again. “Alex. Alex!”

  Alex looked over. A pale face with sunken eyes and an open mouth was staring at them through Isabella’s window. He stood on the running board, clutching the top of the hummer.

  “Damn! Isabella, get in the back with Jaiden!” he hollered at her as he struggled with the wheel. One wrong move and we’re goners.

  “Ok!” she hollered back.

  While she climbed over the seats, Alex saw the vamp flailing his arm out toward the back door.

  “They’re after Jaiden!” he called back to Isabella, and then he moved his attention to the slayers. It was like watching a choreographed musical. They moved beautifully in sync with each other and even though they were without telepathy, they appeared to read each others’ minds.

  Alex heard a loud roar outside the hummer and the back door on the passenger side swung open. Isabella began to scream again.

  “Isabella!” Alex yelled, “Get on top of her.”

  Isabella threw her body face down over Jaiden’s car seat.

  The vampire who had opened the door hung onto the outer edge of the door and tried to climb around and get inside. Suddenly, the force of the wind slammed the door shut.

  A loud screeching penetrated their ears. The vamp’s arm and leg were inside the vehicle while the rest of him was outside of it. Looking back, Alex saw that the vamp had grabbed a huge handful of Isabella’s beautiful blond hair. Before he could rip it out of her head, a woman slayer shot a grappling hook out of a large weapon. Immediately, the vampire’s hand opened wide, releasing Isabella’s hair, and his body was brutally torn from the vehicle.

  Alex risked taking his eyes off the road and glanced back at them. “Are you ok?”

  “I guess.” Isabella was holding her head but she looked more angry than hurt.

  Eyes back on the road, Alex could see the vampire’s body in front of his hummer. It was still attached and bounced grotesquely behind the speeding semi. The body continued bouncing until a stake was shot directly into the vampire’s heart.

  His vision was momentarily obstructed as the body burst into flames and its ashes, very much resembling a snow storm, were blown forcefully into the windshield, and then continued over the top of the vehicle.

  But, there was no break in the attack. Still, more vampires appeared. The top of his hummer sounded like it was pelted by very large hail.

  “Alex, what are we going to do?” Isabella still held herself over Jaiden’s tiny body.

  “Don’t’ worry; we expected something like this.”

  “But, what are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know but I do know what we aren’t going to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Let them get Jaiden.”

  Isabella nodded and continued to hold her position. “I hope you’re right.”

  ***

  Levine restlessly paced the halls of their underground lair. Her husband was beside himself to have that child.

  She rubbed her forehead impatiently and pulled her full length fur coat closer around her body. How could they have let that council member get away? I bound his damn powers. Two steps ahead, they always think they are two steps ahead of us. Well, not this time.

  She paced back and forth for hours, desperately seeking a solution. Anyone who came upon her quickly turned and went the other way.

  That’s it. When the answer came to her, she immediately ceased her pacing and whirled in the direction of the throne room. Upon entering, the startled guards cowered back. She marched up to her throne and flung herself into it.

  “Get out!” she screamed at the guards, who knew she had been upset about something before and didn’t want to chance making her any angrier. Levine could be far more dangerous than her husband and they all knew it.

  They hurried out as quickly as they could.

  Levine sat back in h
er throne and tried to relax. She closed her eyes, grasped the arms of the throne and meditated. She thought of the young council member they had taken, of when she had touched him, connected to him.

  Her entire body began to tingle, like a limb when it falls asleep. When the cold numbness began to replace the tingling, she knew she was ready.

  A deafening ‘crack’ rippled throughout the throne room and Levine saw only black behind her closed eyes.

  When she was finally able to open her eyes, she didn’t see the throne room in which she had sat but found herself in the middle of a moving battle.

  She turned her head to the left and saw a handsome blond man driving. Outside of the vehicle, she saw her soldiers fighting what appeared to be vampire slayers. She gasped involuntarily. They have slayers!

  “Stewart, you ok?” a female voice asked her from behind.

  It was the little red-headed witch. “Uh...yeah, I’m ok.”

  Levine was shocked by her manly voice; she hadn’t thought to be prepared for something as minor as a voice change. When she looked down, she saw her hands were manly too; they were huge! And her…

  “Damion, we have to do something,” the little red-headed witch told the driver.

  Oh, so this is what our dark angel gone good looks like.

  Levine knew she must take the child from them and get back to the lair. She wanted to grin but refrained. Then, we will have both the child and the council member. She wished she was in the car carrying the child; it would make her plan so much easier.

  Then, with a visible jolt, another idea struck her. These are my soldiers.

  “Are you sure you’re ok, man?” Damion was trying to drive while he looked over at her.

  “I told you, I’m fine.”

  “Sorry, you just look so pale, and…weird.”

  The old man leaned toward her. “Do you need to throw up? I know I get the motion sickness sometimes.”

  Why won’t they shut up? “No, I don’t need to throw up; just leave me alone about it.”

  “Stewart, they are just trying to help. Don’t be so rude!” The little redhead just had to have her say.

  She decided it was probably best not to say anything. A series of thumps shook their vehicle harshly and it began to rock back and forth dangerously. She closed her eyes again and concentrated on searching the minds of her army, which surrounded them.

  Vincent, Vincent, its Levine.

  Miss Levine?

  Yes, it’s me. Tell the soldiers to back off.

  But, Miss Levine, Malcolm told us to fight until they were dead and we had the child.

  Call them off, Vincent.

  But, Miss Levine, Malcolm told us...

  She could feel her anger beginning to surface. I will get the child. Now you and your men get the hell out of here! I don’t want to hear it! Vincent, you know who is giving you orders. Now do it!

  Yes, Miss Levine.

  She pictured Vincent telling the soldiers to retreat. She could see their confusion and disappointment that they would not be able to take the famous and well known Great Council who tried to rule the entire earth.

  “Look. Look! They’re leaving.” The redhead pointed out of the window.

  “Whoa,” Jeremiah breathed. “They are.”

  Their hummer had stopped rocking and swerving.

  “What’s going on?” Deanna wondered aloud.

  “I don’t know,” Damion said. “But, it doesn’t seem right.”

  “They’re gone now,” Levine stated with Stewart’s voice. Then, silence suddenly fogged the air inside the vehicle.

  None of them have a clue, Levine smugly thought to herself. This just might work.

  They all watched the truck in front of them. The slayers waited until they were sure it was safe and then shut the backs of the trucks. The caravan drove for a while longer before they exited off into a small town with a truck stop and a hotel.

  Oh yes, you better get your precious vampires inside before they are threatened by the sunlight.

  Once all the vehicles were parked by the hotel, Levine grinned to herself when she saw how many of the occupants jumped out and practically kissed the cement.

  The slayers stayed hidden inside of their trucks. She stayed in the car and watched the council members talking. Then, finally, she saw the baby. There she is, my little princess. A young blond woman who she had never seen before was lifting the baby carrier out of the black hummer.

  One more night of driving with those idiots and she would be there, yet after the short time in confined conditions with them, she wasn’t sure if she could take a whole night. Maybe they will just leave me alone next time.

  “Come on, Stewart.” Damion had opened the back and was lifting bags out of the car. “It’s time to go to our room.”

  Smiling, Levine got out of the hummer. Malcolm will be so happy with me when I bring the baby to him. I just need to wait, have patience and wait until the right moment.

  She joined Damion by the back of the hummer and grabbed some luggage. A quick glance at the trucks told her the slayers intended to sleep in them, if they slept at all. Quickly, she followed everyone as they all separated into various rooms until dusk the next evening.

  28

  “It was so weird. They just flew away,” Damion told Alex and Danielle, who were sitting at a small table in the hotel lounge with him.

  After a day of sleep, Alex felt much better, but knowing there was another night of driving ahead made him weary.

  “I wonder why they left like that, so suddenly,” Danielle said.

  Damion nodded. “And then Stewart started freaking out on us too.”

  “What do you mean by freaking out?” Alex’s curiosity was sparked.

  Damion told them about the gasping and shaking in the hummer. “And then, when everyone was sleeping, he lay there with his eyes closed, but after about twenty minutes they shot open really wide. I went over and looked at him, to see if he was ok, and there was no iris in his eyes, only white. It was really gross.”

  Alex decided to give Stewart the benefit of the doubt that time; he owed him that much. “Maybe the trauma of the attack was too much for him.”

  “Maybe,” Danielle answered. “But, I still think we need to keep a close eye on him.”

  Damion shut his eyes and dramatically placed his fingertips to his forehead. “Ugh, I just can’t get those nasty looking eyeballs out of my mind.”

  Alex threw an amused look at Danielle.

  “I saw that, Alex, don’t knock it because you would be grossed out if you saw it too.”

  “I probably would but maybe that’s just how he sleeps.”

  “I highly doubt that,” Damion said.

  Alex couldn’t help but laugh out loud at how Damion, a dark angel from hell, could be so disgusted by a pair of eyes. “Well, we’re going to be there by morning so you won’t have to deal with it anymore.”

  “Yes, I will; we still have to stay at Corrine’s and get home again.”

  Alex chuckled. “That’s true. And we should go; we’re wasting the night.”

  They met again out at the hummers. The slayers’ trucks were still parked and Alex could see Deanna leaning against one, talking to Michael.

  He could also see Chris standing beside his hummer staring at them.

  Oh great, more drama, he thought.

  Isabella was already in the hummer with Jaiden.

  “Hey, are you two ready?” he asked as he jumped into his seat.

  “I guess,” Isabella answered flatly.

  “Are you ok?”

  “Yeah, just stressed, I think. I knew this was going to be dangerous but I have never, ever been through something like that.”

  Alex sighed. He hated having to be the bad guy, especially with Isabella. “I’m sorry it has to be like this but if you’re going to stay, you’re going to have to get used to it; Jaiden is always going to be in danger.”

  “Yeah, I know that. Just give me a little time to get
used to this, all right.” The defensiveness he had heard when she had spoken about her family resurfaced.

  The caravan pressed on. They needed two pit stops to change and feed Jaiden, which made the night feel quite long, but eventually, a few hours before the sunrise, they reached their destination.

  “How on earth are the trucks going to get up this road?” Isabella asked. She was looking out of the window at the tiny dirt road full of humps and holes.

  “I don’t know but I’m sure they can.”

  Alex slowly followed the other hummers up the winding little road and the trucks, with the tress scraping the tops and sides of them, carefully followed.

  “It’s beautiful here,” Isabella commented.

  Alex nodded. “Yes, it is, and I’m sure it is even more so in the daylight.”

  “Oh, Alex, I guess you really do miss out on a lot.”

  He shrugged. “It’s ok. After this long, I have learned to live with it.”

  He watched her turn away. “Oh look, that must be her house.”

  Alex sighed. It had been years since he had been to see Corrine and the place had not changed at all. The large, two story home was made of logs and sat practically hidden in the pine trees, up against a hillside. The immense lawn and landscaped yard always came as a surprise, considering her house was in the middle of a forest.

  “Yes.” He parked the hummer in the circular drive along with the other vehicles and then quickly got out and stretched. “I’m so glad the driving is over for now.”

  “Me too,” she said, also stretching.

  Alex watched everyone else get out of their vehicles and look around them. The slayers stayed hidden in their trucks, as they had done at the hotel, except for Michael who jumped down from his passenger seat and jogged over to where Deanna stood by her hummer.

  Suddenly, Corrine, with two huge golden retrievers at her feet, came rushing out of her front door. “I’ve been waiting for you guys!” She threw her arms up. “Welcome, everyone!”

  Alex could not believe how lovely she looked. Her hair, which was almost the same color as her dogs, flowed down past her behind and her large green eyes sparkled with happiness. She wore jeans and an old sweatshirt. It was hard to believe he was looking at a lady over a hundred years old.