Ascension (Powered)

by Zachary Stone

  “She will be fine in a few days,” Lizzie said. “You just wait and see.”

  I turned around and saw her blonde hair blowing in the breeze.

  “I hope so,” I said.

  “She will,” Lizzie said.

  “Can I sit with you?” she asked.

  “Okay,” I said.

  I sat in one rocking chair and she sat in another. I looked off into the forest and contemplated the past several days. Then I made a decision.

  “I'm not going to just sit here and be useless,” I said. “If I can't do anything for Cathy, I’m going to spend every moment I can training.”

  “Do you want some company?” she asked.

  “Sure, will you go get Sarah?”

  A few moments later Sarah and Lizzie were in front of me.

  “I don't know about you two, but I want to continue training. Do you two want to learn how to fly?” I asked.

  “You can fly?” Lizzie asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “Meg taught me.”

  “I don't think we’re strong enough,” Sarah said. “I’d heard rumors that my mother could fly, but she’s always refused to tell me one way or the other.”

  “Come with me,” I said.

  We walked into the front yard.

  “I'm not going to ask you to turn into your vampire form. I don't want you to get burned. But look at it this way. If you manage to fly in your human form, just think what you can do in your vampire form,” I said.

  I began to summon the power inside of me. I realized that this was going to be more of a test for myself than them. They were going to learn how to fly, not matter what.

  A white aura started to form around me that was visible even in the daylight. Drawing deeper, I expanded the aura.

  “Take my hand,” I told them. Sarah took my right hand and Lizzie took my left.

  “Power up as high as you can,” I said.

  They began to increase their power levels. I could feel that Sarah was more powerful than Lizzie.

  “Are you ready?” I asked.

  “Ready for what?”

  “Ready to go up,” I said.

  I pulled them upwards into the air. As we flew across the beautiful mountain landscape, I realized that although they were trying to fly, they weren’t able to. They were just not strong enough.

  “This is exhilarating,” Lizzie cried.

  “I'm going to try something,” I said. “I want you two to try and draw from my power.”

  “That's not always easy to do,” Sarah said. “We have to be in tune with each other.”

  “Well,” I said. “You’re my new mother and you are going to be my sister in law. If we’re going to defeat the queen, we need to be in tune with each other.”

  I turned into my vampire form. Yet again, the rays of the sun didn’t burn me.

  “Draw from me,” I said as I shut my eyes and proceeded to extend my aura.

  Rapidly, I started to feel as if strength was being drawn from me. It was taking more effort for me to fly; however, I could feel that Lizzie and Sarah were now propelling themselves.

  “You’re doing it!” I called out.

  I saw a look of excitement on Sarah's face as she realized that she was flying – for the first time in her life. Lizzie looked as if she was in awe of her new ability.

  Over the next ten minutes we soared through the sky, swooped down near the tree line, and even skimmed the surface of a lake. At one point, a bald eagle followed us. The bird looked at us as if it was thinking we weren’t supposed to be up there.

  “In a moment I want you two to try and fly on your own,” I said.

  “I don't think I can do that,” Lizzie said.

  “You can,” I said. “We’re going to land for a moment.”

  We sat down on a mountain peak. The view was spectacular; we could see for miles in every direction.

  “Now, I want you two to draw as much power from me as you can,” I said.

  I looked at their faces as they seemed hesitant to follow my instruction.

  “We have been drawing from you the whole time,” Lizzie said. “I don't want to wear you out.”

  “Don't worry,” I said. “One good meal and I'll be back to normal.”

  “Are you sure?” Sarah asked. “I don't want to hurt you.”

  I squeezed both of their hands. My power was being transferred to them.

  “Keep drawing from me,” I said.

  I could feel that Lizzie was drawing less power than Sarah. That wasn’t a good thing, because she needed it more than her.

  “Keep going!” I shouted.

  I decided to get angry. The emotion seemed to help raise my power level.

  “I'm telling you, keep drawing from me!” I barked.

  As they continued to leech my power, I felt fatigued. They sensed it and stopped.

  “Are you okay?” Lizzie asked.

  “Yes, I'm fine,” I said. “Now, I want to see both of you fly.”

  Both of the women got to their feet, looked up, and then soared upwards.

  I watched for five minutes as they flew in the air. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. I saw Sarah do a loop and Lizzie fly into a cloud. Before long, they were back with me.

  “Thank you so much,” Sarah said. “I’d never dreamed I’d ever be able to do that.”

  “You’re welcome,” I responded.

  “My grandmother tried to teach me how to fly one time, but I wasn’t able to,” Lizzie said. “But somehow, you were able to teach me.”

  Lizzie jumped towards me and embraced me.

  A moment later the three of us started walking back to the house. I was too tired to fly.

  When we arrived, I went straight to Cathy. She was still sleeping. I took her hand and sat with her for a few minutes. I got the idea to try and raise my power level and share it with her.

  I started raising my power level, but then Meg showed up.

  “Don't try it,” she said. “You might wake her up.”

  “What's so bad if it heals her and she wakes up?” I asked.

  “Because it's not good for a vampire to be awakened from hibernation early. The sleep not only repairs the body but also the mind,” she said. “We process lots of information – more than any human. All of our senses are enhanced: we hear more, we see more, we smell more, and we feel more. Our minds need time to sort it all out.”

  “What would happen if I awakened her?” I asked.

  “She may be very confused,” she said.

  I shouldn’t take that risk.

  “I saw that you taught my granddaughter to fly. That’s impressive,” she said.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I wanted to see how far I could push my powers.”

  For the next few days I alternated between training outside with my new family members and sitting with Cathy. I wanted to stay with her constantly, but I knew that I needed to train. I had a queen to kill. Each day, my powers grew and I became stronger. It became easier to fly, easier to move objects with my mind, and I became lightning fast. By the fourth day of Cathy's slumber, I could easily catch Meg when we fought.

  By the end of the fifth day, I became very worried about Cathy; she was still asleep. I decided to put my training aside for a while and rest -- I pulled up a sofa next to hers and lay down beside her.”

  “Why has she not awakened?” I asked the doctor when he came to check on her.

  “I don't know,” he said. “But I have an idea.”

  “What’s your idea?” I asked.

  “I think the witch put some kind of spell on her,” he said. “I think the powder she blew on you two did more than cause pain. I think it may have placed some kind of curse on her.”

  “Then why am I not sick?” I asked.

  “I think your griffin DNA is blocking it,” he said.

  “I think we should do a transfusion. I think my blood may help her,” I said.

  “It might,” he said. “But I’ve never performed a transfusion between
a griffin hybrid and a vampire.”

  “I think we should give it a shot,” I said.

  “I’ll need her mother's consent,” he said. “While I'm gone, go eat something.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  I stayed with Cathy and he walked away. Eventually, I wondered into the kitchen and found a large container of what tasted like the queen's drink. I drank the whole thing and returned to Cathy.

  A few minutes later, the doctor returned with Ruby, Sarah, Meg, and an assortment of other vampires.

  “What's up with the crowd?” I asked.

  “This may go badly,” the doctor said. “She may have a negative reaction to your blood.”

  “Why is that?”

  “You already had Griffin DNA in your genome when you were bitten. The result is that your physiology thrived. However, this will be her first exposure to the Griffin DNA and the hex it contains. I’m not certain how she will respond.”

  “I didn't realize that Griffin DNA had a hex as well,” I said.

  “All the beings created by the extraterrestrials have a spell written into their genome,” he said. “I'm hoping that her vampire nature responds positively to your blood.”

  I looked at Ruby and I could tell that she’d given her consent, but she looked worried.

  “Get started,” I said.

  Ruby came and sat beside me as the doctor set up equipment between Cathy and myself. Eventually, due to the hardness of my skin, I was instructed to make an incision in my arm with my teeth. Once I bit into my arm and broke the skin, the doctor inserted a long needle. My blood ran up through a tube, into a small machine, and then into a tube that was inserted into Cathy's arm. At the end of that tube was another needle.

  “As soon as I turn this knob the transfusion will begin,” the doctor said. “Are all of you ready?”

  “I am,” I said.

  He turned the knob and my blood started flowing into Cathy. I saw Lizzie kneel down beside her sister as the transfusion began.

  “Just relax,” Ruby told me. “I'm right here with you.”

  “I'm with you too,” said Sarah sitting down on the other side of me.

  “I'm keeping the blood flow at a low rate for now,” the doctor said. “I don't want her system to be shocked.”

  We all sat as my blood continued to be transfused into Cathy. I started to feel a little weak, but I didn’t want to let anyone know. If they knew I was beginning to feel light headed, they might stop the transfusion. Cathy needed my blood; she was going to get it.

  Looking at Cathy, I noticed that her breathing had become stronger. It almost seemed as if she was waking up.

  “It's going well so far,” the doctor said. “Her body doesn’t seem to be having a negative reaction to the blood. I'm going to increase the transfusion rate.”

  As more of my blood flowed into Cathy, I started to feel not only lightheaded, but dizzy. I struggled not to show it, but I failed.

  “Are you alright?” asked Sarah.

  “I'm fine,” I mumbled.

  “No you’re not. You don't look good,” she said.

  “Do you want me to stop the infusion?” asked Dr. Mills.

  “No, keep going,” I uttered.

  “How much blood can he give?” Ruby asked the doctor.

  “He can give much more than a human could,” he said. “But I'm cutting it off after one more unit.”

  I felt my body collapse onto Sarah as I lost consciousness.

  Chapter 13

  I awakened to Cathy's face staring at me.

  “Thank God,” she said.

  “What is it?” I asked. I realized I was in another room of the house, lying on a large bed. A blanket was pulled up to my neck, and Cathy was leaning over me.

  “Are you alright, Cathy?” I asked.

  “I'm fine,” she answered. “Your blood broke the curse.”

  “Oh, I'm so glad it worked,” I said, reaching up and pulling her close.

  “It worked and I feel better than ever,” she said.

  She started telling me about how she’d been dreaming about the witch the entire time she’d been sleeping. It had been a curse, and if I hadn’t given her my blood she may have never woken up.

  “So was the witch talking to you?” I asked.

  “Yes, mocking me.”

  “So she’ alive?”

  “Yes.”

  “Dang! I thought we killed her.”

  “We did kill her body,” said Cathy.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don't know how to tell you this, but she now has a new body,” she said. “Her spirit has possessed someone – someone you know.”

  “Who?”

  “Candace.”

  “Oh God . . .” I said.

  “I'm so, so sorry,” Cathy said as she climbed up onto the bed and sat beside me.

  She put her hand on my head and continued.

  “I know you loved her,” she said. “I know how upset you must be.”

  I felt a great sense of remorse. Somehow, I’d gotten Candace involved in the battle with the queen. Now, she was possessed by an evil witch. Although I no longer was in love with her, I felt like I’d betrayed her.

  Tears started to fall down my face as memories of Candace filled my mind. I thought I’d forgotten about her, but the idea of her current condition shook me to my core.

  “It's going to be alright,” Cathy said. “Somehow we’ll rescue her.”

  “How does she even know about her?” I asked.

  “The witch was able to access our memories,” she said.

  I looked at Cathy and I started to cry harder.

  “Eli,” she said, as she snuggled up beside me. “We’ll find her and help her.”

  “You know I love you and not her,” I said. “You’re the only woman for me.”

  “I know,” she said. “I know you’re faithful to me. As long as your heart is mine that’s all that matters.”

  “It is not that I love her. I don't want her. You are all I want. It's just that I cared about her for a long time and the thought of her getting . . . I said.

  “Just be quiet,” she said.

  For the next hour we rested together in silence.

  Eventually, the door opened and Lizzie entered, carrying a large platter of food.

  “You two need to eat,” she said.

  I sat up in bed and Cathy sat beside me. We were both hungry and devoured the platter of eggs, bacon, steak, and ham.

  Before long, Ruby came in with a plate of food.

  “I'm glad you’re feeling better,” Ruby told me. “Thank you so much for what you did for my daughter. I want you to know that you have my absolute and total blessing to marry her, as soon as you possibly can.”

  “Thanks for not threatening him with death, mom,” Cathy said.

  “I'm sorry about that,” Ruby said.

  “It's okay,” I said.

  Cathy and myself continued to eat as additional plates of food were brought to us. We needed the food, because we were both weak.

  “I heard that you taught my sister and Sarah to fly,” Cathy told me.

  “Yes, I did,” I said. “Do you mind?”

  “No,” she said. “It's awesome!”

  “Do you want to learn?” I asked.

  “Absolutely, as soon as we get our strength back,” she said.

  For the next several hours, my new family pampered Cathy and myself. They insisted on continuing to bring us food.

  “So where do you want to get married, after we have killed the queen and rescued Candace?” she asked.

  “I'm not sure,” I said. “Where would you like to get married?”

  “Well, I hope you’re not mad, but I have been married before. I'm divorced now, of course” she said. “You have never had the experience of getting married, so I want you to make all the decisions.”

  “I want you to be involved in it too,” I said. “I want you to be happy.”