Submitted by Soulless Zombie on Wed, 03/20/2002 - 22:58
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Season One will run from Febuary 6th to June 6th.
Due to a upgrade gone wrong all data was lost an thus all post have had to be re-posted so here they are...
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Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
Black Jem
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2002 4:53 pm
Jem entered Bob’s and walked over to the bar. “Bob, gimme a...” she trailed off at the sight of the empty bar.
“Black Jem, please, I’m kinda busy now.” Bob was rushing around grabbing a few things.
She raised her eyebrow then reached into her pocket, pulling out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. She took a cigarette from the packet and lit it. “What are you doing?”
“N-nothing. Just closing up for tonight.”
“It’s,” she paused “whatever time it is, I don’t own a watch.” She glared at Bob who was still rushing around.
“Why are you here?” he asked. Jem glared again at his question. He pressed on, “Well you don’t usually come here of your own free will. Just when you want-“
“Information,” she finished Bob’s sentence. “That vampire hunter, you know the one.”
He gave out a small snort at this. “You’re still on that quest? Don’t you tend to stop hunting people after they totally kick your ass?”
Jem grabbed his throat, holding him against a wall. “How’d you know?”
“Things get around in here, you should know that.” Her grip became even tighter. “You won’t get any info if you strangle me to death!” he managed to mutter. She gradually loosened her grip then eventually let go. Bob grabbed his neck and breathed heavily.
“It wasn’t the hunter... it was a witch and a...” Jem wouldn’t finish her sentence, a mortal. “Where is she?” she demanded.
“I dunno. I told you I only saw her a few times!” Jem moved her arm up ready to punch Bob right in the face. “She came some days ago. Left with some guy shortly after, nothing more.”
Jem took a note from her pocket and left it on the bar. Bob put it in the register quickly as she left. *Not much, but it’s a lot from her.*
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
Black Jem
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2002 5:04 pm
******Flashback 1864******
Two young women walked down the cobbled London street together, coming home from a party. One of the women wore a beautiful maroon evening gown. Her long brown hair was worn in ringlets that flowed down her back. The other, slightly younger woman wore a dark green dress, her hair plaited and pinned up at the back of her head. The street wasn’t too empty; people and carriages passed them even at this late hour.
The two friends talked as they passed down an alleyway leading to one of their houses. Two lovers followed them. He was tall, dark haired and handsome. She was small and beautiful, blonde hair falling down her shoulders. They wore very rich clothes.
The youngest of the friends, Ebony, reached to ring the bell when they arrived at her door. The house was fairly large for a place in the city. No one answered so she rang again. A dog barked loudly from the inside of the house. She tried the door to see if it was open. It was. She turned to look at her friend, a little embarrassed.
The couple hung back a bit, waiting for their time. The two women stepped inside. The dog barked again and wouldn’t stop. He ran off into the next room. The women followed wondering what was wrong, leaving the door slightly ajar behind them.
In front of Ebony lay the bodies of her family; her mother, father and two younger sisters. The rug was soaked with blood, her family’s blood. The dog whined as he licked her father’s corpse. Gore lay everywhere, over furniture, walls and the floor. They had been brutally killed, their organs pulled out, puncture marks on their necks.
Ebony broke down and wept so much. It drove her to insanity, seeing her dead family. Jemima stood and turned towards the door, ready to shout for the police, although both horrified and scared she was still sane. She bumped into someone as she turned. It was the man who had followed Ebony and her here. She looked up to meet his gaze.
“Angelus!” Jemima was glad to see him. He could help them.
He took her hand pulling her into his arms, “I’ve come to give you what you want, what you yearn...” His voice was intoxicating. His hands caressed her body as he kissed her neck.
“No. Not now. I-I can’t.” She turned to see the death behind her and turned back to face Angelus quickly as she couldn’t face what had happened to her family’s friends. “Help us please!” Her voice was delicate and held the English accent. She was begging. He grinned at her evilly. “Y-you did this?”
“I did this for Ebony and for you, it’s for the best.”
She knew automatically what he meant. Her family too? She was shocked and upset but a part of her couldn’t help to care, she couldn’t resist his charm, like most women who had the fatal experience of meeting him. A tear welled up in the corner of her eye and began to roll down her cheek. Angelus gently wiped it away with his thumb.
“Your mind’s black, Jem. You weren’t made for this world. You were meant for the other, the world of darkness.”
“Why do you call me that?” Her easy escape from emotions.
He didn’t answer, only put his finger gently to her lips to silence her. “This is what you want. The number of times you’ve returned to me since our first meeting, I can give you want you want now, both of you.” He glanced to Ebony who was now going totally mad.
“Angelus,” Darla stepped into the room. Angelus turned to face his lover, one of his lovers. “Are you planning on getting out of here any time soon?” she asked bluntly.
“I’ve just got to...” he lingered at the end of the sentence and turned back to Jemima.
Jemima reached for her hair and pulled it back over one shoulder and nodded to him. Angelus came up to her once again. His fangs began to elongate as he morphed. He sank his fangs into her neck and drank. She wanted to pull away but couldn’t - no, she didn’t. The pain; it didn’t matter. Her immortality, that did. Her heart began to slow as the blood was drained from her limp body. Angelus pulled away and cut his own wrist. He forced the blood into her mouth, forced her to drink. She couldn’t resist it. It pumped through her body. It made her feel partly alive, the blood of a vampire within her and the energy it gave out. She dropped to the floor dead. Soon she would rise, never to walk in the light again.
Darla was upon Ebony. She was dead soon after, but she would rise again too, a vampire.
******Present Day******
The moon shone down on her fangs that sparkled in the light. Her eyes shone the bright yellow of the demon. Black Jem stood over a man who lay on the floor, scared stiff in front of her.
The alley was quiet, no one was around. Even if there was people around that would be no problem for Jem.
“Shhh,”she silenced the guy who just lay trembling and muttering to himself. “No one will hear you.” Jem came right over him and sat on top of him pinning him down. “You don’t want to die do you? You value your life?” she asked him and got a shake of the head then a nod.
She asked his name in a voice that made it sound like she remotely cared who her next meal was. “Alec,” he managed to mumble.
“I like that name,” she told him in a half sarcastic voice. “Anyway, back to the you not wanting to die deal. That’s not gonna happen but you can live for eternity, I can give you that.” Alec gave a puzzled look. “That didn’t make sense, did it?” He shook his head. “Well, unless you’re me or a member of the underworld.” Jem grinned evilly at her victim, “How about this for an explanation?” She leant forward and kissed his lips. She grabbed for Alec’s wrist and pulled it to her lips then bit into his skin savagely and drank.
After a while Alec’s pulse began to slow and Jem let go. She looked up to the sky suddenly, to the stars and gave a sigh of pleasure as the blood pulsated through her body. She smiled and looked down to Alec whose eyes fluttered constantly as he fought consciousness. Jem grabbed Alec’s head and pulled his upper body towards hers. She drew one of her nails across her chest and held his head to her breast forcing him to drink.
She laid his body down on the floor, left the alley and headed back to the cemetery and her crypt. Alec would come to her soon.
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
Jadyn
Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2002 5:57 am
Post subject: The Search - Final Destination
For a short time after Tash left, Jade stood staring sightlessly out the window, grappling with the turmoil she felt inside. The desperate need in her to go to Sorrow had not waned. If anything, it seemed to grow stonger by the minute. *Whatever mind tricks Valerian played on me last Friday sure packed enough of a punch to cause me to forget about Tris till now... If Tash hadn’t managed to break that little episode of paranoia...* Jade shuddered at the thought of how long she’d have continued going on the way she had.
Her return to reality also meant that Jade started remembering the more minute details of the incidents leading up to the attack... details that had, for the last 72 hours, been lost in her haze.
Valerian’s chilling words in Cindy’s apartment... “I can guarantee you that Tristan is in no danger from me... Why... I positively dote on him...” “Let it suffice to say that I finished it. I look after my own, have I not always done so? Even when they disappoint me...”
Horribly familiar images played in her mind... Valerian’s blood dripping from a gash on his wrist onto Tristan’s lips... My dreams. Her and Tris in a deserted alley, his lips locked to her neck as she gasped in ecstasy... Jade’s mouth tightened into a straight line as she pondered on the meaning behind those words. On the night that they’d first made love, she’s told Tristan her fears about Valerian using him as a pawn in his sick quest to lure her to the dark side.
It now seemed that the fear was fast becoming a reality. *What if Tris doesn’t know about the danger he’s in? I didn’t even think to tell Tash about it so that she’d be able to warn him!*
The length of time she’d wasted hiding after her attack nagged at Jade like a sore tooth. She saw now that it’d been a delaying tactic on Valerian’s part to keep her and Tristan apart. *So that he could turn him?* Jade balked at the thought. *Damn it! If only I’d returned the following day... To tell him about this, if nothing else!*
Tash’s parting words haunted her... “I don’t know how he’ll be feeling when I find him - if I find him... He may be quite different even if he does come back... He loves you, that will help him...”
*Help him do what exactly? What if that love makes him even more susceptible to the darkness?* Jade’s fingers flexed convulsively on the window sill before she finally made up her mind. As much as she hated breaking the promise she’d made to Tash, Jade couldn’t bear the thought of Tristan getting hurt.
She hurried to the bedroom to swap the thin cardigan for a warmer jacket. A brief stop in front of her vanity mirror had her applying some peach blush onto her cheeks and knotting a silk scarf around her neck to hide the puncture marks. Finally, smoothing her hair into a knot at the nape of her neck, Jade hurried out to hail a cab...
******Sometime Later******
Jade had just pulled up at near the entrance of Sorrow’s apartment building when she spotted two familiar figures coming out. *Guess Tash had no problems finding Tris after all.*
“Drive on for a bit,” she told the cabbie, not wanting them to spot her straight away. Where could they be going?
“Stop me here,” Jade said when Tash and Sorrow turned in the opposite direction her taxi was going in. She alighted, paid the fare and started after them on foot... She hadn’t caught more than a glimpse of Tristan but what unless her eyes had deceived her, he seemed to be in a pretty bad way. *Please don’t let me be too late...* So worried was Jade, she failed to realise that her fears were unfounded, for Sorrow was still able to walk in broad daylight...
Away from prying ears?
Sorrow
Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2002 11:06 am
Outside Sorrow's building, Tash looked around for the nearest church spire and steered Sorrow towards it. St. Paul's was a small church, but once inside Tash figured she and Sorrow could talk without having to worry about Valerian 'overhearing'.
She settled herself on a pew and regarded Sorrow thoughtfully. His aura had quieted considerably upon entering the consecrated ground and his entire demeanour was rather more relaxed. "So, now that we can talk, do you think it's worth trying to rid yourself of the demon?" she asked. Tash was never one to beat around the bush too much.
********************
Jade quietly made her way towards the church entrance, careful to keep out of Tash's and Sorrow's sight. Thankfully, since leaving Sorrow's apartment, the two seemed too preoccupied with their own thoughts to notice her stealthy movements behind them...
Peeking around the wooden door, Jade did a quick scan of the hall. Tash was seated less than ten feet away, Sorrow beside her. Their voices carried across clearly... *Demon?!*
********************
"I think it's the only option. I don't think that in the long run I can exist as a half vampire and retain who I am. " Sorrow stood and paced up and down the aisle, "The problem is where to start. Any ideas?"
Tash opened her mouth to answer Sorrow, then stopped. A feeling of shock, guilt, and a touch of horror hit Tash from nearby. *Oh, shit. It's Jade.* Tash recognised the essence. She quickly stood to get between Sorrow and the door.
Jade slumped against the wall, unable to believe what she'd just heard. Her legs suddenly failed to support her and a wave of dizziness had her crumpling to the floor. *V-vampire... Oh God, no...*
Tash was caught. She could sense Jade's collapse, and looked back at Sorrow who was frowning at her sudden movement. "Um, Sorrow...someone's followed us. And I think she just heard what you said." Tash looked vexed. "Sorrow, it's Jade..."
Sorrow pushed past Tash and dashed towards the entrance. "Oh god..." He knelt by Jade and brushed his hand against her face. "Jade?"
Jade jerked away from his touch. "No..." she choked, eyes wide with pain. *Why... I positively dote on him.* Valerian's mocking words circled in her head, taunting her as the meaning of them finally hit home. "Too late," she whispered, staring unseeingly at Sorrow's tormented expression, "I waited too long... I got to you too late..."
Tash didn't want to intrude on Jade and Sorrow, but she couldn't trust that neither one would lose the plot. So she moved to Jade's side and scooped the light woman in her arms. "Let's not discuss this in the doorway, shall we?" she said as she carried Jade to one of the pews and laid her down gently.
Tash whispered to Jade as she settled her, "You weren't too late. I think we can work something out." Tash gazed into Jade's eyes, willing her to be calm. It was times like this she wished she had Matthias' ability.
Sorrow sagged against a pillar as Tash carried Jade into the church, *How much had she heard? Does it matter?* The momentary horror in Jade's eyes flashed back at him and Sorrow felt all his hopes come crashing down. *She hates me... she couldn't even stand my touch...* All he wanted was to hold her but right now he was sure she'd fight him. *I might as well just give up. It's all meaningless without her!*
Jade shook her head disbelievingly as she pushed herself upright. A red-hot fury was clawing at her throat, trying to fight its way out. Who exactly it was aimed at, Jade couldn't determine for she wasn't too sure who was to blame for the situation they'd found themselves in.
*This was my fault. If I hadn't succumbed to that damn cowardice and hid myself at home for three days, I might have stopped Valerian from this...*
*No... If Tris hadn't left, he wouldn't have been at risk... How could he have just left me like that, without an explanation?*
Jade's fists clenched. "Or if Tash had just told me where to find him, I wouldn't have wasted all that time looking... I would have found him before that monster turned him...*
She brushed Tash's hand off when her friend tried to reassure her. "Work something out?" Her tone was soft but the bitterness and anger in it made it harsh. "How do you propose we do that?!" She stood up and turned towards where Sorrow stood, his despair evident to all but her.
Tash almost reeled from the emotions she felt from Jade. First guilt, then anger. Sorrow's despondency battered against her mind as well, adding to the maelstrom of emotions flying around this small church. Tash did her best to keep herself centred.
*Jade first,* she thought. Turning to her friend, she said, "You're angry - at me and at Sorrow. And I don't blame you. But he didn't want you to know and I couldn't tell you. I know it's hard, but please put yourself in his position for a moment. He's just found out that he was turned years ago, and he knew about you. Naturally he was worried about the connection between you."
She turned to Sorrow, "And you. Isn't it time you stopped thinking Jade couldn't accept you and try to explain what you've been going through these past few days?"
She stopped and let out a long breath. Her friends' expressions were priceless, but Tash wasn't really in the mood to appreciate them right now. Shaking her head, she spoke into the silence after her outburst. "Just talk for a while, for Chrissake."
Jade's face went blank as Tash's words sank in, a numbing shock taking the place of the pulsing fury that had swamped her before. "Y-y-years ago?" she stammered unsurely. "How could that be? But I thought..." Jade's eyes darted between Tash and Sorrow as she grabbed the back of a pew and sank down onto it. "So Valerian wasn't the one who turned you?"
When there was no response, she tried again. "Tris?" The brittleness had drained out of Jade's voice and she sounded almost normal again...
Sorrow looked at Tash who stared impassively back. *No help there then.*
Sorrow sat down next to Jade and slipped his arms around her. For a moment she struggled. "Hey, it's still me," he whispered to her. When Jade finally relaxed he took a slow breath.
"The attack when I was twelve? I didn't just get a set of bite marks and it wasn't just any vampire who attacked me. Valerian knows enough about what happened that night that I can't really deny it was him. There's a vampire inside me and it's from his line..."
Sorrow rushed quickly on, "I'm still human though, at least that’s what Tash keeps telling me. I only found out on Thursday. Tash could see a lot of black in my aura and I let her get a reading. I lost it, Jade, totally and utterly. I could barely deal with it so how could I ask you to?"
The gentleness of Sorrow's embrace and voice seemed to be at odds with the words he was saying. *How does he seem to be so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time?* Jade's mind whirled as she remained nestled in Sorrow's arms, fighting to come to terms with what she was hearing.
"The thing is, Tris, you didn't ask me.” She pulled back. “How could you not have told me? Didn't I deserve to know? Didn't I deserve the chance to deal with it instead of finding out like this?" Try as she might, Jade couldn't clamp down on the sick feeling inside her.
"Instead of going through this?!" Reaching up, Jade yanked off the thin scarf she'd tied around her neck to mask the wounds found there.
Sorrow saw the wounds and raw need suddenly raced through him. His lunge was blindingly swift and he barely managed to stop short of Jade's throat. Sorrow pushed away from Jade convulsively, his fangs apparent. As he collapsed onto the floor Sorrow wrapped his arms around himself and squeezed his eyes shut. "No...No...No..."
Tash started to move as Sorrow lunged, but she could see he was getting himself under control. *What was Jade thinking, showing him fresh wounds like that?* But it would be better, Tash knew, for Jade and Sorrow to work this out for themselves. Sorrow seemed to be containing his hunger – barely. Tash waited, ready to act if necessary.
Reeling from shock at what had happened Jade stared down at Sorrow’s trembling form. His almost-attack had been frightening and totally unexpected. She'd only revealed the marks to use them as a means to lash out. A hot wave of shame and regret coursed through her as she finally saw how selfish she'd been in assuming that she'd been alone in her agony.
"Tris..." Jade whispered, sliding off the bench to sit beside him, deftly refastening the strip of thin wool around her throat as she did so. Her hand reached out to tentatively touch his shoulder. "Please... I'm so, so sorry..."
She steeled herself to keep her voice from breaking. "Forgive me my love... I... I was too caught up in my own pain to see yours. Too focused on my own troubles to listen to yours. I'll do both now, if you'll just give me a chance..."
Sorrow jerked from her touch "I'm sorry I couldn't...." He rose and stepped away from Jade. The peace he'd found within the church had shattered. Though he ached to hold Jade, he couldn't trust himself. Not now that he knew the wounds were there.
"Jade, I couldn't face it. I couldn't face you. I know I've left you alone and I shouldn't have. I'm so sorry, but you saw me. I have barely any control..."
"There's more...” he added, “Valerian..."
Tash felt a little superfluous now Jade and Sorrow were talking through it all. She turned her back on the couple and walked carefully to the front steps of the church, where she sat gazing at the afternoon traffic. They’d let her know when they needed her again.
Finally she was able to think past Sorrow’s problem – and Jade’s – and start to worry about her own. *Valerian. It’s him, and he’s here. Am I just a coincidence, or part of whatever scheme he’s cooked up?* The face from her nightmares floated in front of her again. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered despite the sun falling directly on her.
Trying to banish her fears, she kept half an ear trained on the pair behind her, listening for any telltale signs of trouble.
"Valerian?" Jade made herself ignore the flash of pain she felt at Sorrow's rejection and moved toward him again.
When he remained silent Jade spoke again. "Whatever it is, Tris, you're not alone in this. I pushed you away before. Now you've pushed back and we both hurt. Please don't block me out again. I don't know if I'll have the solutions to everything - probably not - but I do know that I love you and that neither of us can go through this without the other..."
"Oh Jade, I don't want to hurt you but right now it's all I can do not to sink my fangs in your throat. I need the distance; it makes it easier. I know we can get through this but I can't remain like this. That's what Valerian wants." Sorrow risked his control a little and sat on the pew as close to Jade as he dared. "He thinks what I am will help him get you and I don't want to see my darkness drag you down."
"To hell with him!" Jade spat. "I don't know all the details in this scheme Valerian's cooked up but the bastard's forgotten one little thing. He knows nothing about love, or the power it commands. How could he? He has no soul..."
Her words were evidently falling upon deaf ears for Sorrow showed no sign of softening. Jade threw all pride to the wind and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Please, my love. Have a little more faith in me, in us. I've resisted him all these years, what makes you think I'll fall prey to it this time?"
Jade ignored the little tug of unease inside her as she remembered the disturbing dreams she'd been having recently... And the feeling of heady sensation of power, of belonging that she'd felt...
As Jade pressed herself against him, Sorrow's control shredded under a surge of absolute hunger.
On the steps, mere feet away, Tash suddenly felt a cold evil penetrate her skin. She was moving even before the sickening realisation sunk in. *Shit, shit, shit! This is why I didn't want Jade along.*
His hands pushed Jade’s head to one side and his mouth blindly sought her neck. With a glorious sense of release Sorrow's fangs sank through her flesh and pierced her jugular. The heady rush of blood flowed into his mouth and his remaining thoughts were consumed in a rush of ecstasy.
Jade's back arched as pain shot through her. Her hands moved up to push futilely against Sorrow's powerful shoulders. But he was too strong to fight off and her energy drained quickly, causing her head to fall limply against him.
The agony, however, was suddenly replaced by a sharp jolt of pleasure. Jade felt a strange sensation within her mouth and gasped aloud when she realised that her incisors were gradually sharpening into lethal points.
The desire that arose came swiftly and was almost overwhelming in its power. Jade barely had time to think about what she was doing before she fastened her lips onto Sorrow's neck, punctured through skin and flesh and attempted to satisfy the unnamed craving.
Tash found herself slipping into her vampire-hunting mode. Cold and calculating. She thrust a cross at Sorrow's face, making him flinch, but his grip on Jade remained firm. *Fine,* Tash thought grimly.
She'd fished out a vial of holy water while crossing the space to the couple. Pushing the top off with her thumb, she threw the contents directly into Sorrow's face.
The pleasure only intensified as Jade began to feed from him. Sorrow's hands began to roam when suddenly agony coursed over his face. Biting back a scream Sorrow wrenched away from Jade's neck, all but clawing at his tortured eyes. He flopped back onto the floor, his teeth returned to normal and Tash could see barely a hint of black in his aura.
Satisfied that Sorrow would be quiet for a while, Tash turned her attention to Jade. She seemed confused, but her fangs dripped bright blood. Tash grabbed her shoulders and shook the woman fiercely. "Jade, snap out of it! Damn, this is why I said to stay away. He doesn't have much control. Imagine if Valerian could have seen this? He'd be in paroxysms of joy!"
A strange look came into Jade's eyes as reality set in. "Valerian..." Her voice was hardly audible as her teeth returned to normal. "Oh God..."
*What have I done?* Jade's mind seemed to be filled with hysterical screams and her fingers dug into Tash's arms. "Tash..." The desperation was evident in her voice. "Help me..."
Tash squeezed Jade's shoulders firmly. She wanted to wrap Jade in a hug, but wasn't about to get her neck that close to her face just yet. "Jade, we can help Sorrow. He's a living being, not a corpse. There must be a way to rid him of the vampire inside."
Tash looked over her shoulder at Sorrow still curled up on the floor, his hands covering his face. She winced. Turning back to Jade she said, "I know you want to help him. But right now he needs to stay calm and I'm afraid when you're near it stirs too much in him."
Jade followed Tash's gaze. *Help him... Rid him of the vampire inside... Do I actually want that?* Remnants of the hot, throbbing pleasure she'd felt when the taste of Tristan's blood had filled her mouth were still sending shivers down her spine.
Another small shake from Tash, however, had Jade realising again the enormity of what had just happened. Swiping a hand across her mouth to remove any traces of blood, Jade regained control of herself and said quietly, "I won't leave him, not like this. You can't expect me to walk away from what just happened..." Her eyes beseeched her friend to understand. "I won't go too near him again, if you think that's for the best. Please... Let me stay."
Tash knew the pain Jade must be feeling. If it were Victor, she wouldn't want to leave either. *But I did leave Victor alone when I had to. As difficult as it was.* She looked into her friend's troubled gaze. Sighing in resignation, she said, "I'd be happier if you weren't near him at all. But if you really can't bring yourself to give him that much room, try to give him as much as you can. And for pity's sake, don't touch him again."
Jade winced at the tone of Tash's voice but since Tash had every reason to be upset with her (she had defied specific instructions on looking for Sorrow after all...), Jade said nothing. Instead, she moved away from the prone figure of the man that she loved, ensuring that there was a reasonably "safe" distance between them.
Tash gave Jade a reassuring smile before leaving her to check on Sorrow. Kneeling near him, but careful not to get too close, she asked gently, "How bad is it?"
One whole side of Sorrow's face was red and his right eye was even more bloodshot than before. "Well it's stopped hurting," he whispered, "how's Jade?"
Sorrow propped himself up on his arms and glanced round the church. He avoided looking directly at Jade. The memory of what they had just shared had not been completely erased by Tash's holy water. He brushed his hand across the wound and shivered.
"She's ... shaken," Tash replied, "As I'm sure you can imagine." Tash was still picking up the residue of arousal from both of them and was revolted by the thought of feeling that way over drinking blood.
"She won't leave you, though. I asked her to go, but she wants to stay. At least she understands she has to give you room. If you want her to go, I can make her..." Tash figured it would take physical violence, but if Sorrow really needed to be away from Jade then she was prepared to persuade her by whatever means necessary.
"I don't want her to leave...." Looking at Tash he knew she wasn't happy about his decision but he didn't want to hurt Jade further. This was something they needed to get through together.
Getting to his feet he moved carefully towards Jade, concentrating all the while on retaining control. "I'm sorry Jade, I've shouldn't have done that. Forgive me?"
Jade's whole body was tense. When Sorrow had started to walk towards her every muscle in her had braced either to run or to fight - she wasn't sure which. He looked terrible; the side of his face was swelling from the holy water. He was covered with abrasions and looked menacing and dangerous.
Sorrow's opening words, therefore, threw her completely. Despite the wave of relief that she felt at the fact that he wasn't going to turn her away or try to attack her again, Jade stopped herself from making any physical contact.
"Not unless you forgive me for driving you to it," she said softly, tears glistening in her eyes. The sight of the fresh wounds she herself had made on the side of his throat made Jade's heart swell with love and with guilt at the same time.
Tears started trickling down her face. "I'm sorry..." Jade apologised for the second time that day. Her voice broke and she dropped her eyes, the pain she felt rendering her incapable of looking Sorrow in the face.
The sight of Jade's distress almost broke his resolve. At that moment all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and kiss away her tears. Sorrow knelt as close as her dared. "Jade, it's nothing for you to be sorry about. You didn't know."
Looking at the beautiful woman who had captured his heart, Sorrow's doubt dissipated. "I love you Jade. Don't cry please. Please..." Sorrow's eyes began to fill with tears as he ached to go to her.
"How could you still love me?" Jade cried. "After what I did to you... How could you even stand the sight of me now that you've seen me that way?" A pale hand reached up to touch her lips. "I don't know why I did it Tris... It was as if something in you called to that side of me and I couldn't stop it from taking over."
Things seemed to be calmer than before, but the same sense that made Tash go only a few feet the first time she left them 'alone' warned her not to stray too far yet. She settled discreetly on a pew a short distance away and made a show of looking around at the church's interior. She hated to infringe on their intimate time together, but she couldn't in all conscience leave them unchaperoned with both of them in this fragile state.
Sorrow pondered Jade’s words. Only a few days ago she might well have been right but now he understood what it was like. "Who am I to throw stones, love?" The hunger was barely troubling him despite his closeness to her and he could no longer stand to see her hurting so much. Moving carefully to avoid provoking any resurgence of his desire he focused on Jade's pain and his need to ease it.
Gently he enfolded her in his arms and whispered to her, "I love you...I love you. Human, vampire - they are both you. I wish I could show you that. We will find a way for me to rid myself of this demon and should your vampire side ever trouble you we'll find a way to live with it. I'll not give up on us so easily now."
Jade's slender shoulders trembled uncontrollably as she wept against Sorrow's chest. The feeling of being in his arms again, of hearing those precious words again, somehow made her believe that everything he said was possible. "I love you too... Even when we're no longer linked by what we are inside, I swear I won't love you less."
Sorrow's arms tightened around her and for a few seconds the two of them just stood there, comforting each other and being comforted.
When the torrent of tears finally passed, Jade looked up into tender green eyes and smiled tremulously. "The bastard doesn't know it yet, but I think Valerian's little scheme's failed miserably. Backfired totally..."
At Sorrow's quizzical look she elaborated, "He knew that it'd be a matter of time before the vampire in you would start to surface. When it did, he sensed it and made sure that he was around to... well... help you develop it. All in his crazy, selfish bid to have me give in to my dark nature..."
Jade's eyes became slightly unfocused as she sorted through the pieces of the puzzle again and arranged everything in its correct place. "Valerian knew... He knew that we'd be drawn to each other because of our link by blood. He was hoping that I'd follow you over to the other side when you finally turned... He didn't plan for... couldn't have thought that we'd..." Her smile suddenly turned brilliant. "That we'd actually fall in love. That we'd manage - however accidentally - to outwit him!"
Sorrow chuckled quietly as he recalled his earlier words to the great vampire. ”Your pride will be your downfall. Us 'lower beings' are still somewhat capable of a modicum of intelligence. Enough maybe to foil the plans of someone as superior as yourself.” He hadn't realised then how apt they would be.
Jade brushed a hand gently down Sorrow's face before glancing over his shoulder at Tash. Taking a step away, she said sheepishly. "I think whatever else we haven't said can wait. Tash's been awfully patient but I reckon she's about had enough of our lovey-dovey mush..."
"Just one last thing..." Sorrow bent and kissed Jade slowly and thoroughly. When he finally broke it off they were both breathless. He stared at Jade until their breathing had slowed then turned slightly, "Tash?"
Tash was trying hard to keep her own emotions in check. Jade's talk of Valerian brought back the fear, and their declarations of love only reinforced the loneliness she felt at the distance she'd had to keep from Victor recently. Shoving all that to the background once more, Tash concentrated on the tasks at hand.
"Sorry to make you cut the reunion short, but you know we haven't much time," she was looking at Sorrow as she spoke. "It won't be an easy task to exorcise the demon from you, but we need something in the interim I think. Especially since we need your help if you're able to give it."
Tash stood. "Sorrow, Kate's been kidnapped. The Coven of Sindell has her and we're trying to find her. Victor's following someone right now who may lead us to her. Will you be up to a rescue?"
"The elder? What was his name? Serapis?" Sorrow frowned and thought for a moment. Against whatever Serapis had brought from England they'd need as much help as they could get. "I'll help, though some sort of binding is going to be necessary. Rescuing Kate is going to require some violence, which is bound to rouse my demon. We really don't want me trying to bite people in the middle of a firefight."
He looked at Tash. "If we can sort something out on that front though, I'd be happy to help. I knew something like this would be coming since I met Kate."
Tash nodded, "I agree. Fighting won't be good for you in your present state." She reflected, "Binding, huh? I daresay Daye or Luc could help us out with that. Hopefully they can do something that will hold for a while." Tash chewed her lip, "But you'll have to be careful...I'm sure you already know that."
Tash looked from Sorrow to Jade and back again. She knew it would be pointless to ask Jade to leave with her. "I'll stay here until someone can come here to try a spell. Then I have to get back in case Victor finds out where Kate is." She closed her eyes for a moment. *Just when I thought the week couldn't get any worse.*
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
The long night had finally caught up with Sorrow and he was stretched out on a pew, dozing. His head lay in Jade's lap and she gently stroked his hair. Tash came over from the door as a car pulled up outside.
"Luc's here," she said. "I'm going to head back and wait for Victor, OK?" She gave Jade's shoulder a squeeze as she spoke. Jade nodded and shook Sorrow, who struggled to awaken.
Tash couldn't help but blush as she looked at Luc. The vision from Kate she'd experienced - all too fully - rose up from where she'd tried to suppress it. Seeing Luc awoke the memory of 'being' Kate as he made love to her. Pushing it back to the depths of her subconscious, she walked to the pair of wiccans entering the church and whispered to them at length, occasionally gesturing back at Sorrow.
Luc and Inanna stood in the doorway of the church as Tash explained to them the situation concerning Sorrow then quickly made her excuses and left. Luc led the way towards the waiting couple at the far end, Inanna following closely.
"Friends, we meet again and under similar circumstances I'm afraid. Natasha filled us in on the situation. Jade, this is a friend of mine and Kate's." Luc extended his arm out to lead Inanna forwards. "This is Inanna Fairchild; Inanna this is Jadyn Lee and Tristan...er, Sorrow."
Sorrow sat upright on the pew and looked up at Luc. He smiled at the brief moment of shock they displayed. "Is it that bad? I must admit I haven't had time to check a mirror recently and you never know it might not be of any use anyway." He drew Jade a little closer. "I presume you have some questions before you can proceed? I suggest you ask them here then we go elsewhere to perform the ritual. Somehow, I doubt the resident priest would take kindly to whatever you have in mind."
"I should think not," said Luc briskly, "besides, we have brought everything we need and such a spell would work much better outdoors." He sat next to Sorrow and stared for a long time into his deep green eyes. After a moment he spoke. "I'm afraid I don't have too much experience with this sort of magic, and it is the most extraordinary case of demonic possession. I've never heard of a vampire and a human co-existing."
"There is a great conflict, I can see it all around, unsettled. Fear, pain, guilt, anger." Inanna quickly closed her mouth and sat down realising that everyone was staring at her.
Luc smiled, then returned to Sorrow and continued to try and gain a deeper understanding of the origin of such a phenomenon. He wasn't doing much more than reading the fluctuating auras and energy imbalances that surrounded Sorrow when suddenly he hit up against a residual black spot. Luc frowned in puzzlement and rose to his feet.
"What is most perplexing is that something prevented you from being aware that this change had taken place. Do you have any idea what might have been the cause?"
"Well I assumed something must have blocked it up, since until Tash did her reading I had no idea. Fourteen years is a long time to not notice the fact you're possessed." Sorrow rose and took a few careful steps away from the others. "Any indication who did it?"
"Indication? No, I wish it were so simple. Whoever did this to you must be very powerful. Either that or very old; with great age comes great power. Maybe a Warlock, a Demon - could be almost anyone. Like I said before, this sort of thing really isn't my field of expertise."
Luc looked at his watch. It was starting to get late and in a few more hours night would begin to draw in. The late afternoon sunlight filtered in to the church though the stained glass in the windows reflecting a myriad of colours around the old stone building.
"If you're ready I think we should be making a move. I'm not sure exactly how long this will take and we want to get things finished before it gets dark and you..." Luc's voice trailed off.
"...Start trying to bite people. It's not quite that bad." Sorrow gestured to the door. "There's a small park about three blocks over, maybe we could use that?"
*********
Jade sat at a distance as she observed the silent proceedings that played out before her. Luc marked a pentagram on the earth in salt and sat Sorrow in the centre. Inanna carefully lit the dozens of candles that littered the area they had chosen. Thankfully the park was pretty much deserted so there was no chance of them drawing any undue attention to themselves.
Luc kneeled beside Sorrow and carefully anointed his forehead with sweet smelling oil then stepped out of the pentagram and closed the circle. He then drew out an old book and flicked through the pages.
Jade raised an eyebrow in surprise. "A book? You're doing the whole thing from a book?"
Luc looked up. He seemed a little nervous. "Like I said, not exactly my area of expertise."
Jade looked like she was going to say something more but one look from Sorrow silenced her. Sorrow closed his eyes again and continued in his meditations as Luc had instructed him. Having lit all the candles Inanna rose to her feet and stood at the opposite end of the circle facing inwards across from Luc. They both stretched their arms into the circle, palms facing upwards. Luc drew out an athame and held it high into the sky.
"As above, so below!" he cried and plunged the blade deep into the earth. "We ask you this evening to bless our sacred rites, to hear our calling, grant us our will! We invoke thee! Gods of the Underworld, Osiris, Hades, come and aid us in our work. We invoke thee! We invoke thee!"
Inanna began to slowly walk widdershins around the circle while Luc walked in the opposite direction. Inanna quietly repeated the words, "We invoke thee," as Luc continued to chant.
Luc stopped moving and held the book steady in his hands and began to read.
"Deamon abeo, abi...
Adligo...absisto malus..."
Luc closed the book in exasperation and muttered under his breath, "Lousy dark incantations. Why can't they write them in English?"
Inanna looked a little worried but continued to invoke the will of the gods as Luc chanted.
"Terra, Ignis, Aqua, - all three,
Elements of astral I summon thee,
Earth by Divinity, Divinity by Earth,
By the light on this night, show us your worth
I call to thee
Give us the power to see,
Give us your might
By the power of three
We invoke thee!
Let the salt of the earth protect
As it did in the dark days
As the Old Ones foresaw
Let it bind evil
Let it keep the darkness at bay
Protect and Bind! The one known as Sorrow
Protect and Bind from evil
From darkness
By the power of three times three
So mote it be
So mote it be!"
Light flared around the pentagram. Sorrow raised himself up as lines of light wrapped around his wrists, ankles and throat. A line snaked across the pentagram to gather over the right side of Sorrow's face. A low muffled scream escaped from Sorrow as the argent lines tightened slowly. Gasping for breath he collapsed backwards as the light pulled him to the earth. With a roar the pentagram ignited and was consumed in a searing flash of bright yellow fire. Sorrow was left gasping for air, unconscious in the cinders.
Upon seeing Sorrow in such pain Jade leapt to her feet and ran to him, "Tris!" she cried. Inanna grabbed her and held her back from the circle.
"You can't break the circle, it isn't finished yet!" Inanna struggled Jade to the ground. *Damn it, this girl's strong,* she thought.
Suddenly there came an almighty clap of thunder from above. The sky had clouded over and turned dark with the heavy storm clouds that churned in a grey swelling mass. Luc removed the athame up from the ground and with an exhausted sigh imparted the closing of the circle.
"Hail and farewell, the circle is open but unbroken, merry meet, merry part and merry meet again. The rite is ended. Blessed be."
There was another roar of thunder and then the heavens opened. Inanna released her hold on Jade who immediately crawled the small distance to where Sorrow lay still in an enormous amount of pain and held him tightly in her arms.
There were tiny hissing sounds as the cool rain doused the candles and all signs of the ritual were washed away.
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
Victor followed the footsteps that the Agent had left in the field. Even though the sun had gone down Victor's eyes adjusted to the moonlight and he could see clearly as if it were day. He followed the trail until he could see the country home in the distance. It was very well lit (making it dangerous to approach too closely) and Victor could see a lot of activity in the form of silhouettes moving in the windows.
He sat still and observed, wondering how safe it would be to use the cell phone in his pocket to call the others. He watched a patch of shadow break away from one of the outbuildings and move towards the porch. Even Victor's eyes could not determine who - or what - it was. Victor assumed it was Agent Eldrige. *Well at least he's not working with them,* Victor thought.
---------------
Galen swore inwardly to himself as he saw the large country house. The forest had quickly given way to a large clearing. The only things appearing visible to block his approach were a small shed and what looked like a large pile of hay. There was, fortunately, no movement outside that he could make out. Maneuvering himself around the outskirts of the clearing, Galen put himself in a position to make the shortest approach to the shed that he could. Ducking down, he started out across the field.
Halfway there, he noticed movement around the shed. Someone was inside. Drawing his pistol, he was glad for the clouds obscuring the almost full moon. While the area would be illuminated somewhat, it was definitely less illuminated than it would otherwise be. When he reached the shed, he moved around next to the entrance and heard movement.
The door opened a moment later and he found himself face to face with a hooded man in the robes of a member of the Coven of Sindell. “Who are you?” the coven member asked. Galen’s instincts kicked in and he hit the witch once in the back of the head with the back of his pistol. Staggering, the witch fell to one knee and tried to rise again before being hit a second time and rendered unconscious.
Galen dragged the witch into the shed and stole the ceremonial robe. Putting it on and replacing his pistol, he searched the shed for a few minutes to find something to tie up the witch. That task completed, he proceeded to walk the rest of the distance to the house. *Just try to blend in,* he told himself. *Look like you know where you’re going.*
Reaching the side door, Galen tried the knob. It was locked. Listening at the door and glancing through the windows revealed that nobody else was near the door, so he reached under the robes for the set of picks. Picking the lock took a short time that seemed to take an eternity. This was one of the most likely times for him to be exposed. Entering the country house, Galen softly shut the door. Placing the picks away, he started down the hallway.
Going down the hall took Galen (eventually) towards the main hall. A number of witches of both sexes were there, busily going over maps. He couldn’t do more than glance at them, but some of the books the others were going over pointed to some kind of astrological and astronomical calculations. A couple had places marked as various sites, with dates and times. There was a feeling of pressure around the room, as though everyone was trying to meet some deadline.
Galen continued to walk through the country house and wandered into the dining hall. A few witches were seated at the table eating. The most interesting comment he overheard was about how “her screams won’t let me sleep at night.” Listening in for a minute, it became apparent they were discussing someone being tortured.
“Hey there,” one of the female witches near the door said to Galen as he approached. He would have thought she looked nice, were it not for what he had overheard people talking about. “You lost or something?”
“No,” Galen replied, his mind working quickly. There was no way to tell at a glance what kinds of powers the woman had. “Just thinking too much, I guess. It’s been a somewhat hectic day.”
“Why don’t you sit down and take a rest for a minute, then?” Since he couldn’t refuse without looking more suspicious than he already did, Galen slid in to a seat across from the woman. There was a brief silence before they started talking. It turned out that she had been recruited primarily for her knowledge of astronomy and was taking a break from the pressured activities of the main hall. “Mr. Aquilius has been going on for a while about how we need to hurry up. We can’t have the comet disappearing on us.”
They continued to talk until she finally excused herself to return to the main hall. Galen continued through the house and found his way up to the second floor. *Oh great. That was just what I needed to see,* Galen thought as he ducked down the hall. The moment he saw the demon classified as Tango, every assumption about what was going on became circumspect. Nobody knew what exactly it was that the Order wanted, but knew that they seemed to almost manipulate a few conflicts.
When the demon had left Galen continued down the hall and found himself in a rather large study. An alter sat in one part of the room, along with bookcases. On the desk was clippings from the paper talking about Dante’s Comet, while open books were spread across the coffee table. Galen began looking through several of them. “Transpossession,” he muttered to himself, unable to believe what he was reading. He was willing to go far enough to conjecture that Serapis wanted to use Ms Wiccham for the ritual. But why?
Galen was startled when he heard a voice. “Like what you’re reading?” He looked up to see Serapis standing there, recognizing him from the photo on file. Even though the photo was 20 years old, he didn’t look any different. The agent began to position himself better to reach for his gun. “Don’t even think about it!” Serapis snapped.
“I’m sorry,” Galen said, lying. He began running various songs through his head, not willing to take the chance that Serapis was not a telepath. “I’m a new initiate-“
“Piece of advice; next time you break in to an organized coven, do not claim to be an initiate while wearing the robes of a level 5 Priest!”
*Oops,* he thought, checking the marks on the robe. *Yep. Level 5 priest.* “Would you believe me if I said I was drunk?” was the last thing Galen said before he felt himself falling asleep.
---------------
Victor moved in closer to see some detail. The lights inside would cover his presence outside and from what he could see there weren't any guards outside. Victor witnessed Agent Eldridge go down and he knew he had better escape. Somewhere inside someone was shouting "Demon!" Victor ran across the field, his knees protesting all the way. Deep in the woods he was able to throw off the pursuit. He walked back to the country road before he pulled out the cell phone and pressed "2" on the keypad.
News at last
Tash was drinking her third cup of coffee. Since returning from the church she'd been waiting for the phone to ring, increasingly worried that Victor had been gone so long. Some little while ago the phone had rung and Tash had almost wrenched the phone off the wall in her haste to grab the handset. The poor telemarketer on the other end of the line had received a vicious serve from Tash, for which she was now feeling a little ashamed.
She drained the last of the coffee and glanced once more at the clock. The hands had only moved five minutes since the last time she'd checked. *Ten to nine...Where the Hell are you, Victor?*
The shrill ring of the phone made her jump, and she almost dropped the handset in her eagerness. "Yes?" she queried.
Victor's voice was jerky and she could tell he was jogging with the phone. "Tash? Thank Ghortab you are home. I'd hate to have a leave a message. I’ve been there. I know where they are holding Kate."
The phone made a thunking sound and she heard Victor curse. Then she heard the sounds of grass shuffling. "I dropped the phone, dammit," she heard him say from not far away.
Tash felt an incredible wave of relief go through her as soon as she heard Victor's voice. Then she fired a barrage of questions. "Are you OK? Where are you? Is Kate all right? How many people are guarding her? What happened to the Agent?"
Victors voice came through clearly, "Ah! Found it!" He then began to tell her about the remote location and the hordes of Sindell coveners. He was sorry to report he had no idea where inside Kate was but he thought that Agent Eldridge was one of the 'good guys' - he was not working for Sindell at any rate. He told her that he would meet her on the highway just before the country road. There wasn't much else he could tell her except that he was okay.
Tash absorbed the information, thankful that they were getting somewhere at last with getting Kate back. But relief was her main emotion. "Victor, I'm just so glad to hear your voice. I was starting to worry, you'd been gone so long."
She pulled out a roadmap of the area and checked the highway Victor had mentioned. "It'll take me a couple of hours to get there. I'll see you then. Try to stay out of mischief in the meantime, OK?"
Victor didn't know what kind of mischief he could get in this far away from anything even remotely interesting but he said, "I promise," anyway. An hour later he was sitting on the side of the road watching a few cars drive by. A police car pulled up and Victor showed him the phone, smiled and said his girlfriend was coming to pick him up. When asked how he had gotten here he lied smoothly, "My wife kicked me out of the car." The cop just shook his head and drove away. It was nearly midnight when Victor heard the drone of Tash's bike making its way down the deserted road.
The trip had been uneventful for Tash, and she was glad of all the caffeine in her system. It had been a tiring day, what with the high drama earlier on with Sorrow and Jade. She spied Victor standing by the side of the road and pulled smoothly to a stop beside him. "Hey, sexy, going my way?" she asked with a smirk.
Victor laughed and said, "How much?" He gave Tash a quick kiss before she could be angry and hopped on the back of the motorcycle. The springs complained at the extra load, and Victor whispered, "Better take it slow," as he indicated the dirt road ahead.
Tash frowned. "Ok, but I don't want to get too close just yet. We don't want to tip our hand. Engine noise carries at night..." She started slowly down the track Victor had indicated, reducing her lights to parkers only.
The road was rough and corrugated, with potholes appearing intermittently to catch the unwary. Tash navigated her way slowly down the track, both to reduce the noise of the bike and to spy out the dangers in the low light. After some minutes the road degenerated into a rutted track with long grass growing in the middle of the ruts. Tash glanced over her shoulder at Victor. "Much further?" she queried.
"This should be close enough," Victor said. He climbed off the back of the bike and gathered some sticks. He jammed them into the ground in a rough pointer shape. He then plucked some of the tall grass and tied streamers of it to the tripod of sticks.
“There, it's that way," he said pointing the same direction as the sticks, "And this will help you find it again. It's likely to look different during the day."
Victor suddenly looked up into the sky. He pointed at the blurry streak that hung in the air. "That comet has something to do with this too, I'll wager. I thought I heard someone say 'comet' but it was too hard to hear to the details and be alert."
Tash followed Victor's gaze and shrugged. "Not knowing squat about magic, I wouldn't know. But comets are a favourite mystic portent." Tash strained her senses, but even knowing there were perhaps dozens of coveners out there she could pick up nothing. *Much too far,* she thought.
She desperately wanted to charge across there and rescue Kate from whatever horror she was experiencing, but knew that she and Victor alone weren't nearly enough to do that. Sighing, she gazed around memorising the landscape. Anger built inside her, and she picked up a stone and hurled it into the night. "Dammit!" She stood there a moment, her body quivering with the need for action. Then she turned back to the bike. "Time to go, then, I suppose," she growled.
Victor stared into the darkness where the stone had flown. He was still as a statue and the sounds of the surrounding country were all he could hear until Tash fired up the bike.
"It's not fair that we know where they are and there isn't anything we can do", he said. "We cannot let them do this to her, " he said facing Tash. "They must be stopped at all costs. Kate has given selflessly to us and we can do no less for her."
As Victor sat on the back of the bike, Tash could feel the tension in Victor. He didn’t say anything until the bright multicolored lights of LA were rapidly approaching. "Lets stay together tonight. Not sleeping...but I've missed being near you."
Tash was grateful for the silence on the long ride back. She wasn't sure she could trust her voice. When they pulled up at Poplar Avenue and Victor made his suggestion that he stay the night, she just looked at him for a long moment. Then she grabbed his hand in hers and wheeled the bike with the other, up the stairs and to her door. Still saying nothing, she flung open her door and gestured for Victor to enter.
Victor raised an eyebrow at her abrupt gestures, but complied. She shoved him roughly towards the bedroom as she parked her bike to the side. She practically stomped into her room behind him. Victor maintained the silence as he watched her tear off her clothing and hurl it across the room as if it disgusted her. When Victor did not undress fast enough for her she ripped off his clothes as well.
Tash let all the pent up frustration, anger and guilt spill out of her as she frantically crawled over Victor's body. There was nothing gentle about this. This was raw need made manifest.
Victor could feel her rage at the fate of her friends. He could see the bruises on her soul from the pain and burden of the memories of others. He wanted to reach into her, cleanse her, make her happy.
Victor felt him before he heard him. *Eat her. Eat her before she goes rotten like an overripe peach. Eat her while she still has that spark of purity left. Otherwise she will taste of ashes like that old woman. Used up and dried up.*
Victor howled in rage. Nothing was sacred. Tash stopped cold and gaped as Victor's screams echoed through the building. He stood up and set her on the bed. He clawed at his chest in frustration and agony. "Will you never go away!!" he shouted.
Tash sat stunned on the bed as she saw Victor's aura flare black and red. Her first thought had been that she'd managed to really hurt him. He was barely healed, after all. But she'd felt that tendril of cold evil worm its way through him and she knew it was Vrithetek that tormented him.
Her own anger evaporated like mist as she stood and gently took his hands in hers, to stop him damaging himself. She tried to trap his gaze, to give him something to focus on.
Victor's rage burned within him and Vrithetek lapped at it like a cat drinking a saucer of milk. But when Tash took his hand he felt his anger subsiding and Vrithetek turned away from it like it was vinegar. Victor took deep breaths and let them out slowly. He looked deep into Tash’s loving brown eyes and felt the warm glow of her soul reaching out to him. He dared not touch her deepest self, but as she folded herself into his embrace he could feel her heartbeat and her breath, soft and moist, on his chest.
He knew that wherever he went, whatever he was doing, Vrithetek would seek to poison any peace he might find. So Victor defied him. He wanted that vile part of himself to choke on the devotion, love and contentment he felt with Tash. Maybe then he might at last find solace.
He lifted Tash gently in his arms and walked to the bed. He laid her atop the sheets and climbed into the bed with her. There they both surrendered to the moment and were swallowed by the love they felt for each other. Their passion re-ignited again and again through the night until the morning sun was shining brightly through the window.
Talhu's Revenge
Talhu was drinking coffee in Bibliophile and thinking that if he read one more book on Psychology written less than 100 years ago, his head would explode. He had not read anything he didn't know and couldn't say in 15,000 fewer words. Humans were crazy. He'd known that after the first 100 years.
He had been watching the various patrons pass in and out and briefly considered consuming one, but then he'd have to lay low. This was a white-hat hotspot so it might not do to draw too much attention to himself. He thought briefly about going back to Alaric with the expressed intent of feeding him one of these books, but that too might not be prudent.
So, lacking anything better to do he decided to go visit Victor. He could torment him a little. He still owed him for the Marker on the forehead thing. He was walking up the street trying to think of a fitting revenge. He had rejected cutting off his leg (it would just grow back) and eating his girlfriend (he had probably already told her Talhu's true name) and was working his brain ways to re-evil Victor when he realized he had arrived at 1318 Poplar Ave.
Talhu had no problem opening the door to the building. And when he got to Victor's door the lock there, while new, wasn't as sturdy as it looked. Once inside Talhu looked around for Victor. He wasn't in the apartment anywhere.
Talhu examined the rock in the bedroom. Just looking at it made Talhu uncomfortable. He opted to leave it alone. That seemed the safe thing to do. Talhu poked in drawers and closets looking for something that might make Victor sorry he had chosen to ridicule him.
He found a suitcase loaded with Orbs of Thessela...*So many!* thought Talhu. None of them glowed with power. They were all inert, drained of any souls they might contain. Talhu knew that Victor ate souls in the "old days" and realized that these were "empties".
Talhu laughed inwardly about the idea of Victor recycling his empty containers. Then he had an idea. The ritual to charge an orb of Thessala wasn't tough. It was the discharge that took the effort. He figured Victor could do it with a touch.
*I wonder how many of these I could refill? What kind of trouble would he get in with his girlfriend if she knew he had a stash of souls in his closet?*
Talhu was certain that it would mean a lot of carnage. He was up for that. He knew it would mean some effort. He was up for that too. He took the suitcase out of the apartment and jimmied the lock to make it (more or less) normal looking. And strolled out of the Poplar Avenue apartment building headed towards some death and mayhem.
---------------
The pedestrian bridge over the freeway was a good 20 feet over the pavement below. The high chain-link fence along the sides was designed to prevent accidental falling. It didn't help the homeless man Talhu had dragged up here. He was thrown. Talhu admired the acrobatic gyrations he made as he freefell to the street below. Soon his ears were greeted by crunching metal and squealing tires.
Talhu savored the sweet music of chaos until the massive crunches of rush-hour traffic became a cacophony of horns blaring and angry shouts of frustration. Talhu climbed the fence and dropped the 20 feet to the road below. He wandered through the blood-spattered hunks of metal choosing Orbs and filling them with souls terminated before their destined time.
He stopped at one car, a small station wagon with two young children in the back. The baby boy in the car seat looked unharmed, but the little girl in the other set has broken her neck. Poor thing would proably be paralyzed for the rest of her life. *Can't have that!*
Talhu smiled at the boy and made baby-talk at it as he finished off his sister. The orb in his other hand glowed white with the pure soul inside. *Let's see Victor explain this one!*
---------------
It was barely 10 am when Talhu strolled casually back into Victor's apartment. Talhu felt pretty good, he had had a productive day already. He was full from the minister he had consumed on the freeway. On his way out after putting the suitcase back, he hummed a gay tune about a Girl from Ipanema as he strolled into the sunny California morning.
He was headed off to report in to Alaric. He hoped that the demon would have something useful for him to do. Talhu felt like doing some real work for a change.
Company
Galen was not fully conscious but was vaguely aware of what was going on. He tried to move and immediately discovered that his hands and feet were both tied. Someone seemed to be carrying him but he couldn't be sure. *Was that blur passing by a wall, the floor, or the ceiling?* The sensation changed again and he could feel himself descending. This was enough in his current state to send him back to unconsciousness for a minute, not knowing that he was being put down in the basement and left.
Kate awoke as the heavy basement door banged shut. She raised her head dizzily and then collapsed into a coughing fit once more. Her lungs felt heavy and painful as her body trembled weakly. Once her breathing had calmed a little she managed to cast her gaze around, searching the darkness fearfully. At first she saw nothing, then slowly her vision cleared as things drew into focus. At the foot of the staircase she could just make out a dark shape curled on the floor. Kate moaned weakly as she tried to sit up.
"Hello?" she whispered hoarsely. Her throat was so sore she could barely force the words out. It took her a while to shuffle across the floor to the staircase. As she neared the body it groaned and rolled over. Kate let out a small cry of surprise, her heart pounding nervously. Slowly she crouched over the body.
"Hello?" Kate gently rolled the body over and softly turned his face, her hands shaking. "Wake up...please wake up..." she pleaded as she shook him ever so slightly.
Galen let out another groan as he felt his head being moved. The female voice sounded distant and far away. For a moment his mind wandered back to the past, then reality intruded. *No, it couldn't be her. Not when she was dead for over a year.* His eyes opened and for a moment he thought he had managed to die and go to hell with the way the woman that hovered above him looked. She had a long contusion across the top of her forehead and her eyes were dark and wide, the pupils heavily dilated. Her red hair was a tangled mess of blood and earth. Her lips trembled slightly and had a slight bluish tinge from the cold. Her shaking hands were tightly bound and covered in blood. He immediately felt sorry for her, and figured that she had to be Kate. The young woman helped to sit him up against the frame of the staircase.
"Okay, I'm up” breathed Galen. “I’ll go out on a limb here and guess that you must be Catherine Wiccham?"
Kate nodded, although the action made her feel slightly woozy. “Kate…call me…Kate.” She slumped back down against the frame of the staircase breathlessly. "Who are you?"
He considered exactly how much he could tell her. "I’m Special Agent Galen Eldridge, with the FBI. Needless to say, breaking in here didn’t exactly go according to plan…"
Kate didn't really take in what he was saying, although the sound of a friendly voice awakened a hope in her heart that had been silent for a long time. She rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision and her lips quivered as she found the strength to speak. "M-M-Mr Eldridge......wh-whoever you are, you shouldn't have come...Serapis...he'll kill you, you realise that?" she began coughing again, holding her head in her hands.
Galen watched Kate force her words out; it seemed to take such an effort and left her looking more exhausted than before. “Don’t try to speak,” he said softly, “I realise Serapis probably will kill me once he has whatever he needs from me…and he must need something, otherwise I’d be dead already.” Galen slowly turned his head around the room, looking for some means of escape. *What have you got yourself into this time?* he thought. "Listen, Kate... you don't think you can try to work the ropes on my hands, do you? If you can get them free...."
Kate nodded. Galen turned so that his back faced Kate and she knelt behind him. It was difficult work, considering her own hands were bound tightly together and she couldn't move her hands very much at all. Her fingers trembled as she worked at the tight knots but for all her efforts the binding didn't budge.
Suddenly the basement door burst open. Anubis stood at the top of the stairs and light flooded in through the open door. Kate shielded her eyes against the light and slowly backed away from Galen.
Anubis grinned, "Look at you two, nice an cosy..." He grabbed Kate by the arm and threw her against the far wall. Kate cried out as her head struck the hard stone and she slipped back down to the floor.
Galen could hardly believe what he had seen. The earlier remarks he had heard about "her screams" now made more sense, and he believed he finally knew who was responsible. Anubis crouched over Kate, stroking the pale contours of her bloodied face. He twisted a handful of her hair in his fist; he appeared to be talking to her although Galen couldn’t quite make out what was being said. After a moment he released his hold on Kate and let her slip to the floor.
Anubis turned to Galen. "Well nah who might you be?"
Galen could still see Kate lying in a heap upon the floor. He could tell she was weak and probably wouldn’t be able to take much more from this sadistic bastard who seemed to take such pleasure in seeing her in pain. Galen remembered what he had seen up in Serapis’s study, that Kate was to be the subject of a transpossession spell. *Well she certainly looks close to breaking point,* he thought to himself. He was struck with a thought, maybe it was possible for himself to distract this vile creature from torturing her, although he realised this would probably mean making himself the target instead of Kate. *Well, I've certainly had brighter ideas, that's for certain,* he thought.
"Didn't Serapis tell you?” Galen finally said with a wry smile. “I'm your new speech therapist."
Anubis picked Galen up by the neck and held him firmly against the wall. Galen uselessly struggled against his tight grip. "Ah another comedian a see, missy over der wa same wen she first met me, an look at her nah." Anubis uttered a low laugh before dropping Galen to the ground.
Galen fell to the floor coughing. *This is definitely not the best plan I’ve ever had.* "Yeah, I can just see that Kate loves your special brand of charm. Bet the ladies are just dying for a man like you."
"You know? I ha mi orders wid miss Kate, I can’t ‘urt her too much jus mek her weak. Nah you on de other hand, well let's jus say, ah coud have alot o fun wid you..." Anubis withdrew a long serrated knife from under his coat. "How woud you like ta see what you liver look like...?"
Anubis slowly drew the knife across Galen's torso, the sharp blade cut through his shirt and just slightly sliced at the skin. Kate coughed again loudly from the other side of the room. "No, Anubis...." she breathed painfully, "that's, that's not your job..."
Anubis stalked over to Kate "Wha wrong princess? You feelin' neglected?" he grabbed her by the back of her t-shirt and pulled her awkwardly across the room. "You know mista? I tink she’s gettin' a liking fo dis..."
"I should apologise for that remark," Galen said. "The one about a man like you. I - I think I just insulted men by including you among our number." He tried to prop himself up against the wall again. "Of course, if you were a real man you wouldn't be spending all of your time on a broken woman."
"An what iz she to you eh? You fancy you self da hero do ya?" Anubis let go of Kate and she stumbled before landing on the floor next to Galen.
"Will you shut up?" whispered Kate frantically to Galen. "Do you want him to kill you?"
Galen turned his head to face Kate. "And do you want him to go back to work on you?"
Kate looked up; Anubis had his back turned to them as he rummaged around in his bag. "No...but h-he isn't going to kill me, but you? I don't want to begin to think what he'd do..."
"No...tink about it...I know I iz..." Anubis towered over them both. "Now who should ah start wi first? Perhaps you?" he pointed the knife he held towards Galen, "While you watch..." he looked at Kate. Anubis advanced towards Galen, a malevolent grin on his face. He pulled him up from the floor and held the blade contemplatively at the base of his gut. "I sure luv to carve..."
Suddenly the basement door opened again and Serapis entered. He sighed upon observing the scene before him. "Anubis, Anubis, when will you ever learn a little self control?”
"You know something, Serapis?" Galen said. "You really have a knack for ruining people's fun. We were just getting to know each other so well...."
Serapis smiled pleasantly at Galen as he removed the knife from Anubis' hand. "However tempting it may be, if you kill 'em, you don't learn anything! Our new companion knows a lot about our operation here. I for one would like to find out who sent him."
Anubis reluctantly released Galen and let him drop to the floor again. He sighed and dragged Kate over to the other side of the room where all his equipment lay. Serapis returned his gaze to Galen, kneeling down to his level.
"Don't worry, you'll still get to hear her screams while we conduct a little business of our own.” Serapis pressed his hands to either side of Galen’s head. “By the way I feel obliged to inform you that this might hurt...a lot."
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
No amount of training or past experience ever prepared one for an individual reaming session. Each session tended to have its own unique qualities about it. The one constant in the process was the amount of pain that would accompany a session, especially when an attempt was made to resist. Then again, even that was inaccurate. Levels of pain could vary. It just happened for Galen that the pain this time was enough to make him sound like a male version of the banshee.
Galen started a math routine to try to block Serapis. *Two squared is four,* he thought. *Four squared is sixteen…. The fourth root of sixteen is two….* The pain increased again, breaking his concentration. “You’re just making this harder on yourself,” Serapis’ voice came. For a moment, the mental attack slowed, then suddenly picked up again. It was part of a routine to break a resisting target.
Suddenly it was his first look at the main facility. Sitting in an unmarked helicopter they passed over the nearest town, called Rachel. Rachel was a small town, with somewhere around a grand total of three motels, a UFO bookstore and little else. “There it is,” the other passenger with him said. “Not much to look at, is it?” The facility (the parts that were visible from the air, at least) looked just like any other air force base. At first glance, Area 51 was as unimpressive as his own hometown of Rosewell.
He tried to focus on a different memory and the scene shifted. Now it was 1987 and Galen was sitting in one of his lectures, bored. The professor was not exactly the best and lectured in a way more disorganized than the book. His reason for going was always because, the way he thought, if he was paying for lecture he made sure he attended. It was also likely that the professor could not have made the class interesting if he tried. That was the way it worked in economics.
The attack began to slow again. Kate’s screams from the torturer were coming through loud and clear. Having the chance to relax let him place something else in his head to distract his conscious mind when the attack started again. “That’s certainly an interesting song to have in your head at this time,” Serapis remarked. Despite the attempt at distraction and another flash of pain, he continued running the old Andrews Sisters song through his head. Let Serapis deal with the boogie woogie bugle boy.
Another memory started to come through. His first date with Cassandra, which consisted of dinner in his office at Area 51. While not the most romantic of situations, it was the best they could do until they were sent out on assignment. As she had joked, it might even be better than they might do on assignment. Serapis had managed to use his conscious thoughts as a back door, since they had wound up listening to the Andrews Sisters that night.
Again, he tried to shift to a different memory. In many ways, he was engaged in a battle of wills with the magician. This time the strategy backfired. While the time wasn’t certain, the event was. A newpaper reporter had learned too much about his new employers, so was about to receive a visit from three men in black suits. The encounter went like it always did. They arrived in a black car, knocked on the door, and then began to caution her away from it. “You’ve begun to delve in to areas best left alone,” Galen remembered saying to her. “While your initiative is certainly commendable, this story is best buried.”
“And if it isn’t?” she asked.
“We’re trying to protect you. That can’t happen with how visible this story will make you.”
The session continued for about an hour before Galen finally passed out from the pain.
night walker feeds
He prowled the dark L.A. street searching for something to fill the gnawing hunger within him. As on so many other nights before, Night Walker was plagued with memories; memories of love and betrayal. He could not help but think of Amanda. Amanda laughing, playing, loving. Amanda sneering, whip in hand as she drove him mad with pain. Once this woman had been everything to him, the light of his days and nights. But after her beloved Ambrose discovered them together, she had turned from him. Night Walker had not wanted to believe that she would betray him, so Ambrose had brought Amanda to him, let her lay the whip across his flesh herself. He was flayed inside and out. And he believed. At that moment Ryan died and he, the Night Walker, would soon be reborn.
Tonight Night Walker searched again for that which would satiate his unbearable hunger. He flew from one seedy nightspot to another, looking for just the right morsel. Finally, in a dimly lit dance club, he came upon a lost wild child, the perfect thing. The girl was pale and willowy, perhaps nineteen or so, with long red hair, pale green eyes and a soft, sweet smile. She was dancing with reckless abandon in the middle of the floor when he walked in. Night Walker observed her for a few moments before casually approaching wearing the grin he had perfected over the years, disarming and enchanting all at once. The girl noticed him immediately, taking in his dark Irish beauty and boyish charm, all well practiced and calculated. She beckoned for him to join her on the crowded dance floor and he happily obliged.
Hours later, Night Walker followed the girl, Brenna, down a darkened hallway to her apartment. She was acting nervous and shy and the hunger within him was gnawing at him. Night Walker could barely contain himself as they entered her tiny studio, pushing the door shut behind him and pulling the girl to him. She giggled and inwardly he winced at the sound.
Night Walker breathed deep of her scent; wildflowers, wind and despair. She was lonely and lost, a little girl in the big bad city. He drew her closer and closed his eyes. There she was, Amanda, his Daye, cloaked in sunshine, laughing and dancing just out of reach. He could hear her, feel her, smell her, and then (his mouth coming down on the girl's) taste her. Young and innocent again. As he drew the girl’s life force out in the kiss, Night Walker let his disguise slip. His skin brightened, becoming golden and radiant. His hair lightened, glowing iridescent. The girl was whimpering slowly as he continued to drain her, pulling her heat and light deep inside. Finally, she fell silent and went limp in his arms. Night Walker dropped the girl, eyes still closed as he dreamed of Amanda, above him, below him, within him. He shuddered finally, and fell to his knees, replete.
After a few moments Night Walker opened his eyes, taking in the drab apartment and the lifeless body of the girl before him. He grimaced at the awkward remains then shrugged, rising to his feet. He turned and left the room without a backward glance. His hunger was calmed for now, but he would find no peace in this temporary respite. Those who changed him had left this hunger in him. Hunger for life force, but not just any life force. His hunger would only be truly satisfied when he fed upon that one special person, his light and love, Daye.
Reunion
Shadows flickered as Jade drew down the blinds, leaving only the glow from the scented candles to illuminate the room. She turned back and smiled tentatively at Sorrow, who was lying on the bed, watching her with dark, intense eyes. As Jade crossed over to sit beside him and squeeze his hand lightly, Sorrow couldn't help but notice how she avoided making any other form of body contact.
Both of them had come back to Jade's apartment after the binding ritual, where she'd bathed his wounds, refusing to leave him be until they'd been treated. Throughout it all though, Jade's touch had been somewhat impersonal - gentle, but almost clinical in nature.
Sorrow knew the reason why. The day's incidents were still fresh in her mind, just as they were in his... He was in no doubt that the apprehension, guilt, fear and love twisting him up in knots were pretty similar to the emotions tormenting Jade at the moment.
*We've only been apart for a few days but there seems to be a multitude of things we've got to talk to about. Not that talking's going to help much, since none of our problems actually have definite solutions!* Sorrow didn't feel like breaking the blanket of silence that had enveloped them just yet, so he kept his thoughts to himself. Tilting Jade's chin up so that their eyes met, he raised her hand and pressed his lips against her palm, tightening his grip even as Jade made to pull her hand away.
"Tris... Lucien wasn't able to guarantee that the binding spell had worked and that all of your vampiric instincts have been suppressed." Jade looked troubled as she recalled how her taunting and her proximity had finally driven Sorrow over the edge back in the church and how that, in turn, had roused the demon within her. "Don't you think we shouldn't risk... If Tash hadn't been around to stop us earlier..." She shivered at the horrific consequences that played out in her mind.
"I'm quite sure that it did work." Sorrow's concerns were not due to the fear that he might once again succumb to his blood-thirst. "The hunger I've been battling for the last four days has all but disappeared. I just want to hold you close, to touch you. Is that too much to ask?" His smoldering gaze captured hers and held.
Jade felt her stomach clench. Despite her misgivings about the wisdom of Sorrow's words, they mirrored exactly what she wanted and she found herself unable to deny him what he asked. With a small sigh, Jade laid her head down on Sorrow's chest and closed her eyes.
That distance Sorrow had sensed between them closed slightly when Jade rested against him. Fighting the exhaustion that seemed to be sucking him down towards sleep, Sorrow murmured, "I shouldn't have left you..."
"Shhhhh... That's all past now my love... What matters is that you're here with me now." Jade angled her head towards him and kissed his jaw. Then her eyes narrowed... "Just don't do it again, ok?" A grin spread over Jade's face at the sham look of docile obedience Sorrow gave her and she jabbed a finger in his stomach. That sparked off a small tussel which resulted in Jade being flipped onto her back and Sorrow pinning her down as he tickled her mercilessly. It felt so good - so normal - to laugh again without restraint... Like they were like any other normal couple spending a night at home, content just to have each other for company...
"Tris! Ok! Stop it!" Jade sputtered and giggled as she struggled. The wide smile on his face told her that he wasn't going to heed her and Jade re-doubled her efforts to free herself. "Your wounds are going to open up again if you... Don't!" She choked as another wave of mirth overtook her and she wriggled helplessly against him.
Sorrow's broad smile faded momentarily then he bent down and kissed Jade softly. When finally he drew back, Sorrow looked deep into Jade's eyes, "I love you", and forestalled any response by kissing her again.
"I... love... you..." Sorrow interspersed small kisses between each of his words. When his lips moved close to Jade's throat, there was a brief stirring of his vampiric hunger before it was ruthlessly quashed by the binding. Sorrow brushed his hand across the wound his fangs had made. His lips sought hers and as she melted into the kiss Sorrow tickled her again.
Jade gave a small shriek, jabbed an elbow in his mid-section and jerked out of his embrace. "Why you... you..." She shoved Sorrow back against the pillows only to feel instantly contrite at his gasp of pain. Giving him a small sheepish smile, Jade allowed Sorrow to gather her back in his arms and for a while they just lay together, drawing comfort and pleasure from being able to hold each other again.
"Oh... And Tris?" At Sorrow's enquiring look, Jade grinned and said, "I love you too..." She sobered a little, recalling her own words at the church earlier. Even when we're no longer linked by what we are inside, I swear I won't love you less. "I truly mean that..." The hand Jade had on Sorrow's arm tightened slightly as she looked to his face for some indication that he believed her.
"We're more than vampires Jade, and I refuse to think that what we have is merely the result of our shared nature." He kissed her again. "Why does it have to be our vampiric side that joins us?"
Jade chose her words carefully before she spoke, for although she agreed with Sorrow to a certain extent, she was wary about taking too much for granted. "Part of what we feel is linked to that. The... episode... in the church testifies to it and we can't afford to ignore what's happened. But the dark links don't account for everything. That was what Valerian didn't expect..."
Jade relaxed her hold on Sorrow's arm before continuing. "He hasn't changed. Valerian..." She sat up and rolled her eyes. "Still as arrogant and assuming as he was before. Still thinking that we'll all just fall in line with his grand schemes..."
Jade punctuated each sentence with an abrupt wave of her hand. "Jade and Tristan. Shove them together. Let blood call to blood. Get them all worked up. Push Tristan to the dark side. Watch Jade follow him over. Sheesh... Sometimes, I wonder why he wants me on his side so badly when he doesn't seem to think very much of my intelligence."
At Sorrow's deep chuckle, Jade broke off her tirade and smiled a little sheepishly. "Sorry... I was getting a little carried away..."
"Oh, don't mind me. You're right though, he does seem to completely despise humans. I guess everybody has to have a blind spot." Sorrow smirked. "But let's not talk about the great Valerian anymore. We're going to ruin his plans and then get on with the rest of our lives. Which will include me spending an inordinate amount of time with you..." Sorrow lapsed into silence again as he gently drew his hand up and down the long indentation of Jade's spine.
The depth of need that she felt had Jade sliding back down, molding herself against Sorrow's tall frame. As her mouth claimed his for a hot, sweet kiss, Jade couldn't help but compare this desire with the demanding arousal she'd experience back at the church with her fangs buried in Sorrow's throat. Both were undeniably sexual and blatantly erotic, but where this was an statement of love, what she'd felt earlier had been darkly primal, wild and forbidden.
*And the only thing they have in common is they both come from whatever it is inside me and Tris...*
Her worries that one might blend into the other came flooding back and Jade broke out of the passionate embrace. "No..." Her voice was husky but she held a hand up against Sorrow's chest when he reached for her again. "What if the binding wears off? Or if it isn't strong enough?"
Sorrow waited a moment then reached towards Jade. "Slow then," He gently caressed her cheek, "Measured..." he whispered then brushed his lips against hers. He dropped his head slightly and rested his mouth against her throat. "Restrained." Sorrow gathered her to him. He brought her hand to his lips and placed a feather light kiss in her palm. He turned her hand over and kissed it again just as gently. Meeting Jade's eyes he carefully placed her hand over his heart.
Jade felt the pounding beat against the warmth of her palm and the feeling of it seem to reassure her. The unspoken words in Sorrow's gaze were clear - *Whatever problems we have between us can wait... Right now, we are to be are two lovers, nothing else...* When his fingers teasingly grazed the area just below her navel, Jade finally surrendered to the yearning inside her. With a soft moan, she arched her back, straining forward in a silent plea for him to take more...
"I've missed you Tris..." Jade murmured between their caresses. "I've missed you so much..."
Sorrow paused in his sensual exploration of her and smiled. To Jade's surprise, he moved away from her slightly and leaned back against the pillows. "Show me how much," he said, fighting to maintain his willpower and curb the onslaught of desire that battered constantly at his senses. The change in tone of their lovemaking made Jade shiver in anticipation as she rose, slipping off her black silk kimono in the process and knelt unashamed before him, allowing him to look his fill. Her skin had a golden hue from the warm candlelight and her hair swung in a dark silk curtain as she bent over to leave a trail of soft kisses down his body...
As the heat in him built to a boiling point, Sorrow reached down and drew Jade back upwards to kiss her mouth. "My turn." His lips moved slowly over her throat then lingered at her collarbone as his hand caressed the curve of her breast. Sorrow's kisses slowed as he moved lower, teasing Jade's flesh with both tongue and teeth.
Jade arched into his caresses, demanding more, desperately seeking sensation. As her arms moved to wind around him, Sorrow broke away from her body and pushed her arms back to her side. "No." Sorrow took over the rest of their lovemaking with smooth, fluid moves born of love and desire, pleasuring Jade till she was weak and replete. Only then did he allow himself to take what he want, only then did he give in to the fulfillment of release...
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
The flame from the last candle flickered and went out, leaving Jade and Sorrow with only the faint light from a nearby streetlamp to illuminate the room. Neither cared though, for they were too caught up squabbling over the boxes of Chinese takeout Jade had ordered from a 24-hour diner for them to eat in bed...
"Quit stealing my mushrooms!" Jade threw Sorrow an exasperated look.
"Well, I gave you some of my ginger chicken!"
"Yeah... Like all the ginger!" She flicked a piece of the offending vegetable into a trash bag with a look of disgust.
Sorrow schooled his expression into one of mock hurt. "So much for being the love of your life... How could you claim to love me and begrudge me a few measly mushrooms?!"
Jade raised an eyebrow. "Oh... But I do love you Tris, how could I not? I always go crazy over men who greet Chinese delivery ladies at the door wearing nothing but their birthday suit..." The incident had Jade laughing out loud. "Drat... That was my favourite place for Chinese food and now they'll probably never deliver to me again..."
Sorrow eyed her balefully as her giggles subsided. "And who's fault was that? I never figured you for a practical joker..." He reddened as he recalled how shocked the poor middle-aged auntie had been when Jade had yanked his towel off at the very same moment he'd opened the door.
"Oh alright. I'm sorry... I'll make it up to you..." Jade put aside the unfinished box of noodles and hugged Sorrow, looking suitably contrite, though her eyes were still dancing with amusement. "I'll give you my fortune cookie, how's that?"
"Hmmm, well who could resist an offer like that?" Sorrow reached for the chow mein and looked at Jade. "The one problem with Chinese food, " he said as he dipped his chopsticks into the carton, "is that two hours later you're hungry again..."
Lying back for a moment with Jade snuggled up to him Sorrow felt an easy peace. "We need to clear up this lot," he said, gesturing to the empty cartons. Sorrow stood and, still naked, began to gather up the rubbish.
Jade lazed in the bed and watched her lover. When he had finished he stood in the doorway and looked at Jade. "Now about that fortune cookie..." She slid over and patted the bed next to her, drawing Sorrow in for a quick kiss as he got back under the covers.
"I use to eat these by the boxful when I was a kid..." Jade chuckled as she idly tore open the plastic wrapper. "My sister June use to tell me that if we ate enough of them, we'd be able to control our own fates, make our own fortunes... We even had this whole little ritual to break the cookie..."
Sorrow caressed Jade's shoulder, glad that for once the memories of her family were not upsetting her as much as they usually did. She looked up at him with a tremulous smile and it took a while for Sorrow to realise that she was holding the fortune cookie in her hand. "For luck," she said when he raised a questioning eyebrow. "God knows we could use it right now..."
*Snap!* The cookie broke and a tiny slip of paper fell out. Jade popped her half of the cookie into Sorrow's mouth and picked it up, smoothing the crumpled note out to read it aloud. [The road is long with many winding turns.] She rolled her eyes and grinned. "Is this suppose to be a dire prediction of my future or a cheesy line of lyrics from a Hollies song?"
Sorrow's shoulders shook with mirth and he pulled Jade closer, burying his face in her hair. After a few minutes, however, Sorrow's eyes and tone were serious when he tilted her face up and said, "Cheesy or not, there is a certain grain of relevance in that line when you think about it. We do have a long, tough stretch ahead of us, numerous battles to fight... The first of which would be my fight to rid myself of this demon inside me so that our love gets half a chance to work out. I won't let this beat us, though I've no idea of where to start... I suppose a simple rite of exorcism..."
"Do you think that'll work?" Jade asked.
"No idea whatsoever, but it's the standard response to possession." Sorrow smiled, "So that's where we start. If it needs something more exotic then I'll go find it, though I think we may end up creating something just as unique as these circumstances." A thought struck Sorrow as he pondered his future. "Jade... About XY, you'll be rebuilding right?"
Jade sighed. "Yes I'll be rebuilding but it might take awhile, why?"
"Well, finding a cure to all this might take me out of L.A. for a while. I'd like you to be there but if you need to stay around for the shop..."
Careful to hide the gleeful happiness on her face, Jade said, "Well, there's the insurance claim to settle, plus the police'll probably need me to go to court to press charges on that bastard reporter Anderson... XY's been trashed so badly, I'll probably need to rebuild everything from scratch and that's only the beginning! Once it's up, there's stock to source for and re-order, inventories, security systems..."
As disappointment darkened Sorrow's eyes, Jade flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. "You silly idiot! Did you actually think I'd even consider letting you out of my sight after the past week?!"
She grabbed a nearby pillow and "thwaped" him sharply on the arm. "And even if I was, do I look like the sort of twerp that would pass on a holiday with the man I love to rebuild a shop I can rebuild anytime?"
Sorrow sighed in relief. Avoiding the worst of Jade's blows, he gathered her to him. "It might not be much of a holiday," he whispered. "I'd imagine we'll be looking over dusty bookshops or heading out into the wilds. Are you quite sure you want to be there?" Sorrow's voice was very soft and he kept his gleamingly mirthful eyes averted from Jade's gaze.
"Hmmmmm... Hiding in dark corners and being alone with my lover in the wilds with no one else around. You've been snooping around and reading about my secret fantasies in my diary, haven't you?"
Jade's dry remark was met with a chuckle from Sorrow and she realised that in all the time she'd known him, Sorrow rarely laughed aloud. Tonight, he seemed to be doing it a lot... Jade crossed her fingers and hoped that it was sign of happy times to come, not only for her and Tris, but for all her new friends in L.A... *Just as soon as we get this damn Cloch Coosan thing solved.*
Jade's thoughts turned to Kate and she felt a sudden stab of guilt. *I was so focused on looking after Tris and cementing our own happiness, I'd almost forgotten! God... What kind of friend does that make me?!* Jade scrambled up, much to Sorrow's surprise, and switched on the bedside light to glance at the clock on the nightstand. She saw with a start that it was past 3 a.m. *Damn! Too late to call Tash.*
"What's wrong?" Sorrow looked puzzled.
"Nothing. I was thinking about heading over to Tash's place but seeing how late it is..." Jade frowned. "It's just that we haven't spoken much about how we're going to rescue Kate and I have a feeling that this rescue's going to be even harder than the one we attempted at the Beazor... What are you smirking at?"
"Well, I hate to state the obvious love, but we've been kind of... tied up... till now." Sorrow gave her a pointed look.
Jade cheeks turned pink which make her smack Sorrow with the pillow again. "Tris... Be serious! For all we know, Kate could be badly hurt, or dead. And instead of helping Lucien find her, we're here planning our future. Poor Lucien must be suffering terribly..." She broke off, remembering all too well how it felt to know that your loved ones were in danger but to be unable to help them. "Maybe Victor found some leads when he tailed Agent Eldridge."
"Hey, hey... Wait... Jade, relax!" Sorrow grabbed hold of her as she made to climb off the bed. "You can't go over to Tash's place now. It's late - she and Victor are probably asleep and there's really nothing much we can accomplish now. Anyway, Tash knew where we were. I told her that I'd come back here with you after the binding. If she or Victor had any updates, they would have come over..."
The sense in Sorrow's words sank in and Jade stopped struggling and sat back down. Pulling the quilt around her to ward off the chill, she sighed. "We'll check in with Tash first thing tomorrow morning. Which means we'd better get some sleep... Especially after the day we've had."
Sorrow's mouth quirked in amusement as he deliberately misunderstood Jade's last statement. "Why, I'm flattered. Thank you darling... I didn't know I was that good." He swept Jade up and planted a hot, drugging kiss on her lips, cutting off any pithy comments or retorts...
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
Many hours had passed in the darkness of the basement room since both Serapis and Anubis had retired to make final preparations for the ritual that night. A low moan escaped from Kate’s lips as she began to awaken; slowly she pushed her aching body up into a sitting position and attempted to regain some control over the nausea rising in her stomach. The room swam in front of her eyes for a long time before she was able to focus on anything. Through the darkness she could just make out Galen's form, slumped against the wall a few feet from where she sat, he seemed to be mumbling something indecipherable a few moments later he began to sing in a low monotonous tone.
“…He was a famous trumpet man from old Chicago way…. He had a boogie style that no one else could play… He was the top man at his craft…”
Kate frowned worriedly, “Agent Eldridge?” she whispered hesitantly as he continued to sing.
“… But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft… He's in the army now blowin’ reveille… He's the boogie-woogie bugle boy of Company B…”
Kate shuffled the short distance across the floor to where he sat. At first she didn’t know what to do, she guessed whatever he was going through had to be symptomatic of the reaming that Serapis must have performed on him; she had seen similar signs before, back at the academy – usually when a subject tried to resist. Kate noticed that Galen’s hands were tied awkwardly in front of him this time. From the way it appeared to have been done she guessed that Galen must have somehow shimmied his hands around from behind his back. She squeezed his hands firmly in her own, “Galen? Can you hear me?” she whispered soothingly, Galen stopped singing and looked up into her eyes. Suddenly he began to laugh, at first it began as a low chuckle, then gradually got louder.
“We are so SCREWED!” he suddenly cried ripping his hands free from hers. “We are never gonna get out of here you know? Well not alive at any rate…”
“Don’t do this…” pleaded Kate.
“You’re probably gonna die pretty soon… …as part of this crazy ritual of Serapis’… …when he’s through with you he’ll probably have me killed too. Maybe they’ll bury our dead bodies together!”
Galen laughed again before continuing to sing. “They made him blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam it really brought him down because he couldn't jam… The Captain seemed to understand because the next day the Cap’ went out and drafted a band…”
Kate sighed in frustration, she couldn’t think what to do and his singing wasn’t helping either. *Damn Andrews Sisters…* She leaned forwards, her hands outstretched towards his head. Galen immediately stopped singing and drew back from her touch. Kate retracted the hand, frowning again.
“I’m not going to hurt you Galen, I just want to help.”
Galen just watched her as Kate slowly extended her tied hands towards his forehead. She maintained eye contact as she gently trailed her thumb across his forehead in a soothing motion. Galen seemed to calm slightly, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. After a moment he breathed in deeply, opening his eyes suddenly and staring at Kate in confused anguish.
“Cassandra? What are you doing here? We were supposed to meet back at the safe house at 7:00…”
“Shhh,” Kate whispered “shhh, you’re okay, you’re gonna be okay…”.
“Don’t touch me!” he suddenly cried and tried to throw Kate back. “I know you, you’re one of the martians here to abduct my cat…. dissect my dog….”
Kate pushed him firmly back against the wall and sat across his body so that he couldn’t move again. “I’m sorry about this Galen but this is for your own good!” She looked at him in worry as she continued to massage the Sixth Chakra just in the middle of his forehead and above the bridge of his nose, he seemed highly confused and disorientated, it was obvious he had put up quite a fight against Serapis.
Kate began to hum a soothing melody as she worked, then she ran her hands over to the back of his neck and began to work the same from the back of his head down to the base of the neck. Galen was much quieter now; he began to hum the same lulling tune as Kate and rested his head in the crook of her neck. After a few minutes more he began to moan drowsily, Kate retreated a little and looked into his face.
“Oh man… What happened? I feel like I have the worst hangover in history!” Galen sat back and then looked a little confused at Kate. “Well this is a very compromising situation…”
Kate suddenly felt very self-conscious and quickly climbed off of Galen. “Urm, sorry but you wouldn’t let me help you…I-I was trying to restrain you.”
Galen grinned slightly as Kate propped herself against the wall next to him. “Well, so long as your intentions were honourable…”
Kate looked at him for a moment with speculation then rested her head back against the wall. “Your headache is a side effect from whatever reaming procedure Serapis no doubt performed on you. It’s quite common, especially when a subject tries to resist. There becomes this build up of psychic pressure in the brain that brings on a kind of narcosis, similar to being drunk actually – which is why…”
Galen nodded his head and then regretted it as the room spun around like horses on a carousel. “So, what were you doing just then?”
“It’s just a technique I learnt, the pressure build up is directly linked to the Sixth Chakra…” she pointed with her hands towards the centre of Galen’s forehead. “The Ajna, the third eye… relaxing the Chakra releases the build up of pressure as does the, the back of the neck…”
“Well thanks, it’s not something you had to do…”
“You’re kidding right? You came here, I know it’s your job but what you did with Anubis…directing his attention on to yourself so he wouldn’t hurt me…it was" she paused for a moment. "It was brave," she finally said, then she smiled slightly and added "stupid...but brave."
Galen gave a small laugh. "Thank you. Believe it or not, I've actually done dumber things than taunting a sadist with a knife." He sighed, craning his neck to look around the basement. “There really is no way out of here is there?”
Kate shook her head and the room spun around with her, she held herself against the wall in an attempt to steady herself. “No, and believe me I’ve tried.”
The two of them sat in resigned silence for a long time. Each looked around the room as though some new means of escape might suddenly appear.
Galen swallowed hard. He couldn’t help but feel some small amount of guilt for this young girl’s predicament. Perhaps if he hadn’t enforced the cover up from the LAPD, at least there might have been the chance of back up. In this situation his colleagues back at HQ would just deny that there had ever been an Agent Galen Eldridge, that he certainly didn’t work for the FBI and in no way was he connected to any secret government agency dedicated to investigation the supernatural.
Galen watched Kate as she began to cough again, probably the onset of some varying degree of pneumonia, he could still feel her icy touch upon his forehead… He shivered as he felt the shadow of guilt grow thicker. He felt he owed Kate more than he had told her so far. Clearing his throat he finally summoned the courage to speak.
"…Kate… there's something you should know. Standard operating procedure for cases like this involves a cover-up. Erm… what I mean is… well… nobody knows I’m here. Not my superiors, nobody. If we don’t, I mean if some thing should go wrong…”
“I understand. We’re talking complete and total denial of any involvement right?”
Galen nodded contritely. "Investigating an underground Wiccan insurrection, dedicated to resurrecting a dark priestess isn't exactly something that the FBI would want to admit to knowing about.”
Kate smiled weakly. “Well I don't think this is exactly something people at my end would want to be public knowledge either. Somehow I don’t think it’ll be printed in the next edition of Wicca Weekly. I can see it now “Coven Makes Colossal Fuck-up”…"
Galen grinned half-heartedly; he was amazed that someone who had been through so much could still manage to act so facetious. He was about to say something further when suddenly the door at the top of the stairs opened and three witches entered.
They descended the staircase in silence; finally the eldest of the three spoke. “Well, Well, isn’t this cosy? Sorry to break up the party but Catherine, your presence is requested elsewhere. You have a ritual to prepare for.” She grabbed Kate roughly under the arms, hoisting her up from the floor. Kate struggled weakly against her captors but any effort was useless as a second witch took a hold of Kate too and together they began to half drag, half carry her up the stairs.
The third witch stood in front of Galen, she observed with annoyance that he had freed his hands from behind his back – however with what she had planned it wouldn’t matter all that much. She removed a hypodermic syringe from her belt and removing the protective cover advanced towards Galen.
“Mr Eldridge…”
“Agent Eldridge if you please, I didn’t spend two years training at the bureau just to be called ‘Mr’ thank-you.”
“Oh yes I forgot you’re supposed to be something of a comedian too. Well I don’t want you to get lonely without your little roommate so I brought you a little present.” She grabbed his shirtsleeve and rolled it up. “Just a mild sedative… nothing to be worried about…” She injected the liquid into his vein and then moved to walk up the stairs.
“Wait” cried Galen, “you can’t just leave me here! I demand to see Serapis…”
The witch turned back towards him “I’m afraid he’s a little busy tonight, got a date with destiny and all that, but don’t worry we have plans for you.” She smiled knowingly and then slammed the door shut, plunging the room into darkness…
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
Paul looked like shit. He felt like shit and frankly he was going to be shit unless he deliverd that shitty elf to Kain. They had been chasing him across LA for days...three shitty days. Paul wanted a shower and was tired of sleeping in his truck.
Paul drank the last of the Dunkin' Doughnut's coffee and poked at the McMuffin sitting on the dashboard. He decided that if he ate it he'd be committing suicide. He couldn't remember if he had bought it today or yesterday. He pitched the offending food product out the window, and drove down the highway.
He was bringing reloads from home for the posse. They had cornered the bastard elf (as Paul thought of Matthias) in an Elementary School. He was in the playground with a dozen or so children disguised as one of them. The posse had rounded up all the kids and were sniffing the hell out of them trying to find Matthias.
The problem with messing with children is that the police get involved. After a 20 minute shootout they were out of ammo and the police weren't ready to come in with guns blazing for fear of hitting another child. One was quite enough.
Paul had to chuckle at the cops. They would pay for this bad publicity for years. Paul realized he had been sitting on the freeway for about an hour and had only moved a few feet. He began to cuss at the traffic then switched on the radio in time to hear, "...multi-car pileup on the freeway. It appears a bridge-jumper has snarled traffic for folks headed downtown."
Paul was livid. He slammed the dashboard with his fist. He tried to pull to the shoulder in the vain hope of getting off the freeway but some long-haired freakazoid in a VW bug wouldn't move aside. Paul reached over the back seat, and pulled out the LAW...
-------
Kain hung up the cell phone. Judging from his grim expression it was not good news. Aetolus sat behind Kain's desk and snickered with a hissy noise. "It would appear that your men are still pursuing the Fae, Kain. When I was in control of our forces in Beazor I was more choosy about those I let command. You were an exception of course..."
Kain let the barbed comment slide. He had been putting up with the insults and the snide remarks for the last few days over this Matthias affair. He tried to change the subject, "This deal with Serapis...is it still on for tonight? Will we have the rituals?"
Aetolus was quiet for a long time then quietly he answered, "I believe so. I do not trust this Serapis and I trust Alaric even less. They each have their own agendas. I just want the girl with her knowledge intact. Once we have extracted the rites, Serapis can do with her anything he pleases."
"If you do not trust Serapis, how can you be sure he will turn her over to us?" asked Kain.
He had been fuzzy on this part of the plan from the beginning, but sometimes Aetolus kept his own council. Back when he was a general, it was typical for him to wait until the eve of an engagement to reveal his plan.
"Do you remember the immortal? Tempest?" Aetolus asked.
Once Kain had nodded, Aetolus continued, "I have been grooming him for decades. He is powerful, the blood of generations of mages flows through his veins. He is easily manipulated; his lack of memories and therefore the wisdom of his life experience has made him impetuous. He is deadly becasue his reflexes have been honed by centuries of battle. He is totally in my control."
Kain actually felt a little tickle of pleasure at the thought of Tempest being the pawn of Aetolus. He had hated the guttersnipe the first time he laid eyes on him. Aetolus had forced Kain to give him that huge bankroll in exchange for his worthless lead. It all made sense now. Aetolus had used the money to separate Tempest from his friends. That meant they could not tamper with the carefully placed controls that Aetolus had worked into his mind.
Brilliant. But Aetolus was gloating, and he was just getting started...
-----
Talhu drove back to the little house with the azalia bushes. He parked in the driveway and walked to the front door. "Detective Russel! Hey there!" came a voice from next door.
A rail-thin bleach-blonde wearing capri pants and a leopard print top shuffled over in her 4" spike heels. She might have been attractive once about 20 years ago, but now the California sun was taking its toll. Talhu could see her wrinkles jiggling as she got closer.
"Detective Russel, can you tell me what's been going on? I keep hearing about these Occult rituals, and just this morning some homelss guy thinks he can fly over the freeway and some other wacko fires a rocket launcher at another car. Is it the Muslems again? Are we going to have another Nine Eleven here in L.A.?"
Talhu just stared at her. She said that all in one breath. Humans were crazy. "Ma'am, that's dayshift. I work nights." he said turning his back to her and leaving her there screeching at him. He closed the door and locked it.
"It's about time you showed up, Pravus" said Alaric from behind him.
Talhu's shoulders slumped; he was going to get it now. He turned to find Alaric in a rare good mood. He was actually smiling. The TV was playing in the living room and there was chopper footage of the pileup on the freeway. The scene cut to jerky home-movie footage taken from the street as the homeless guy flew over the fence and landed in the street.
Talhu's blood would have run cold if he had blood. But the camera jerked and the tape stopped before Talhu jumping the fence could be seen.
Alaric was pointing at the set. "Nice work. A little random perhaps, but I like your initiative. This will slow down the authorities and give the normals something to talk about aside from our activities."
"How did you know it was me?" asked Talhu.
"Pravus, you have a unique but less than subtle style. The news reporter was talking about the dessicated bodies found on the site. Their blood turned to powder. They were saying it was dehydration from the sun brought on by the delay in getting rescue personnel to the scene. I, of course, knew it was you."
Talhu was glad he wasn't going to get busted but he wondered what Alaric had in mind for him. When he expressed his question, Alaric was eager to fill him in.
"Tonight, there is going to be an alignment. This alignment will signal an opportunity for a transpossession. There hasn't been one of those in eons. I have an interest in seeing it ...interrupted."
He then ran through a series of complicated maps, diagrams, and timetables. Talhu waited patiently through the presentation but just wanted him to go away. He'd go to this country house (as planned) and make the rendezvous (as planned). But from there he'd do it ...as Alaraic put it...in his own unique and less-than-subtle way.
Preparations
******Somewhere In the Country House******
Kate’s muffled screams echoed down the long corridor leading to Serapis’ study. Liam Abrhams, one of Serapis’ most loyal followers had been listening to the young woman’s painful cries for almost two hours now. He knew it was a necessary course of action, he knew it had to be done, but even he – steadfast in his devotion to their cause – was beginning to understand the concerns of some of the younger initiates. *Why couldn’t this woman just give up? Why did she keep on resisting? Didn’t she know that she would lose in the end? All of this struggle and opposition was futile, Serapis would get what he needed, what he wanted, and the girl would die…*
Liam looked at his watch. It was now almost 2:15pm. Suddenly Kate’s screams sounded again. Liam looked up and shuddered at the thought of what lay ahead of them that night…
******In Serapis’ Study******
Serapis was kneeling in front of Catherine who was bound and gagged to a chair in his study. She had been dressed in a long black velvet dress that trailed along the floor. The long sleeves covered the multitude of bruises, cuts and needle marks that still remained. Her hair had been washed and hung in long, red, loose curls that stood in stark contrast to the pale skin of her throat and shoulders that showed above the low cut neckline of the dress.
Serapis brushed the side of Kate’s face as their latest reaming session drew to a close. He held her face in his hands as her screams melted into pitiful sobs and gasps as she tried to cope with the pain that shot through the inside of her head like razor-wire. Serapis removed a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped away the tears that rolled down her cheeks. Kate looked into his eyes. For the briefest moment Serapis saw true fear in those eyes. They had almost cried out to him, begging him for mercy. He smiled and stroked her tear-stained cheek.
“There, there my dear…don’t cry, it’s so unbecoming of you. Where’s your fighting spirit eh?”
Kate tried to avert her eyes from him, casting her gaze down. Serapis smiled again. “You know there is nowhere to hide from me Catherine, not even in here…” He ran his fingers against the side of her temple. “I will always find you in there.”
Serapis rose to his feet and walked over to his desk, opened a drawer and removed a small wooden box. He sighed casually and perched on the edge of the desk, facing Catherine. He had been working solidly for the past two hours to remove the various psychic barriers that he’d set up in Kate’s mind all those months ago when Janus had been killed. Serapis opened the wooden box and removed two hypodermic syringes. He wandered over to Kate and resumed his position by her side.
“Do you know what these are Catherine?” He held the two syringes up to the light; one held a dark green liquid while the other was clear shimmering blue. Serapis held the green liquid-filled syringe in front of Kate. “Well this one, this my dear, is a poison, a deadly poison that works gradually to slow your heart beat, killing you in a matter of minutes. And this…” he held up the blue syringe, “this will save your life. It is the antidote and is effective up to three minutes after cardiac arrest. Do you understand what I am telling you Catherine?”
Kate looked at him steadily in the eyes and then slowly nodded her head.
“Good, good. I’ve taken the liberty of restoring your memories. I’ve had to do a lot of clearing up in your head. Such a mess isn’t an appropriate vessel for transpossession. I even had to remove that little curse between you and Lucien, and restore your magical powers…you have a lot to thank me for.”
Kate moaned in protest through the crudely tied gag bound across her mouth.
Serapis grinned, “No need to thank me now of course. Why don’t we wait until Janus has returned to us? ...which reminds me!” Serapis stood up again and rummaged in an old armoire, then he returned. In his hand he held a glowing Orb of Thessela. “Say hello to Janus…”
Kate frowned and looked confused; Serapis smiled in satisfaction. “Yes Kate, this is Janus’ soul… the same one you carried around in your head for all these months. When the time is right, when your soul passes on to the other side, Janus shall take your body and live once more! I’m guessing she’ll be grateful, very grateful if you understand my meaning! We were once very close, Janus and I…” He pulled at the heavy velvet fabric of Kate’s dress, revealing her bare legs. He trailed his hand up her smooth calves to rest on her thigh.
“I think I could get used to Janus in this body, youth certainly has its advantages…” He twisted a strand of her hair around his fingers. Tears rolled down Kate’s cheeks. Serapis leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “I always get what I want Catherine…”
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Kate released a deep sigh of relief as Serapis straightened up and quickly placed the Orb and the wooden box in the top drawer of his desk before unlocking the study door. Liam Abrhams, the wiccan who had been listening to the terrible screams only minutes earlier, entered the room.
“What is it?” asked Serapis angrily, “I told you I was not to be disturbed!”
“Well, we can’t… urm…” he lowered his voice in embarrassment, “we can’t move it Sir, it’s too heavy!”
Serapis sighed in annoyance, looking back at Kate. “I’m kind of busy in here…”
Liam looked past Serapis at the frightened girl tied up in a chair. “I understand that Sir, but…” he sighed, “there are other things too. We’re way behind schedule, the Magical Circle is fixed but the Firsts completely messed up on the Triangle of the Art… they actually inscribed the hexagrams with Tetrisgrammartron instead of Tetragrammaton! We’ve been up since daybreak rectifying the situation. But the altar, we got it as far as the Circle edge but we can’t move it in some of the…”
“Okay, shut up, shut up, I’ll come down and sort it out!” Serapis sighed in resignation. He quickly ushered Liam out of the room before casting a knowing glance back at Kate. He knelt back down at her side and bent his head to lay a soft kiss upon her bare knee. Kate’s repulsion only caused him to smile. “I guess we’ll have to finish our business later…”
With that Serapis shut the door, locking it behind him, leaving Kate alone in the study to contemplate her fate.
Pre-ritual Problems
******In the Ritual Clearing*****
With a final heave the altar rolled into place. Serapis sighed in satisfaction. *Finally things are beginning to come together.*
It transpired that the spelling mistake on the inscription on the Triangle of the Art had created an impenetrable force around the clearing. It had taken Serapis the best part of the last four hours to figure this out, reverse the spell and re-cleanse the area in preparation for the ritual.
Serapis was about to return to the house and resume his ‘business’ with Kate when one of his ‘guardians’ came running through the forest into the clearing.
“Wait! Sir!” The young man shouted out to Serapis as he came crashing through the undergrowth.
Serapis sighed in annoyance as he turned to face the young warlock. “What is it now?”
“Well, urm…” the man waited a moment to catch his breath before proceeding.
“Well come on Silas! What is it?” demanded Serapis impatiently.
“We, we found something, just off the main road… I think you should come see…”
******Twenty Minutes Later******
Serapis walked the length of the dirt track that led off from the main road. Silas stood at the edge of the main road that ran the length around the forest perimeter.
“We found them early this morning. Tracks, look.” He indicated towards a tyre-marked groove in the dirt. “Motorcycle I’d say, plus look further up, foot prints – two sets. The second set looks a lot like those we found last night near the house. There was also this…” Silas led the way further down the track and then pointed towards a small pile of grass and twigs. “Looks like some kind of marker.”
Serapis frowned; he looked back to towards the main road and then followed the tyre marks up the dirt track. He didn’t like the look of this. *First Talhu attacks my followers, then that FBI Agent comes snooping around and now this! I can't wait until I can just kill 'em all!*
Serapis kicked over the crude ‘marker’ in frustration, this entire ritual was becoming just one big problem after another. It was obvious that whoever had left the prints had been watching the house and the fact that they’d left a marker indicated that they intended on returning. Serapis was glad now that he’d had the foresight to enlist a small number of his followers to patrol the perimeter of the grounds after finding that Agent last night.
“Okay Silas this is what I want you to do…”
******One Hour Later - Back at the Manor House******
Serapis casually strolled through the half empty manor house. Most of his people had already made their way down to the ritual site to put the finishing touches to the altar. He looked at his watch. *Where did all the time go?* he wondered. It was already growing dark outside and Dante’s Comet glowed brightly in the greying sky. *Not long to go now…*
Serapis paused outside his study door for a moment, contemplating what lay ahead of him that night. Silently he pushed the door open and entered the room....
catching up
***15 -Feb- 05***
The vampire had been in limbo for what seemed like years, floating in nothingness waiting for the force holding him back to let up. This had given him time to think about his double souled body. *When I get back into my body I'm going to stab myself in the heart. That might get rid of the soul. If not, at least it'll get rid of that damn beating.*
The force holding him back lifted. *Finally!* He moved, quickly regaining control, suprised at Stalkers lack of resistance.
*I'm back.*
*Not for long.*
*Huh?* It was then the vampire felt the burning, the restriction and then the pure loss of control. He felt the pain closing in around his existence.
*What have you done?* He fought the power coming in around him, then he recognised it. *It's holy water.* The power crept in. It was all around him, surrounding his existence, the holy water slowly making its way to the heart.
Now was the time for hunting. This time the hunter became the hunted, the holy water attacking the vampire as if being controlled by a vicious torturous beast. It bit at his life force, sterilising it, neutralising it like an acid to an alkaline.
*NOOooooo...*
Stalker felt the pain of the vampire, the torture it went through as it died. He was relieved; it was destroyed and wiped from this existence. He was also sad; he had spent over two hundred years with this creature and it had always felt a part of him. It could have taken control from the beginning but didn't. *Why?* Stalker didn't know.
It was then the wave of pain spread over him, the power doing what it was supposed to do when a vampire left. It was trying to destroy the evidence, the evidence being Stalker's body. "ARGHH! Have to remain in control. Stop the power. Control it." Stalker was fighting a losing battle.
It was then he lost control. Darkness came. He felt like he was falling, being destroyed, ripped apart, but just as he thought the battle was lost a familiar feeling washed over him and he was once more wrenched back toward his body.
Someone was grabbing him and shaking him. "Are you all right, my son? What have you taken?"
Stalker looked up to see the priest. "Huh?" It was then that he lost consciousness.
*** 21-Feb-05 ***
Stalker awoke, his heart beating extremely loudly. *It's no longer weak. The water worked.* He felt deeply inside himself and could not feel the presence that had been with him for centuries. *The demon is definitely gone.*
Stalker looked around. He was in a place he didn't recognise. It was in some sort of store room, the windows were stained glass and definitely religious.
*Hmmm, must be the church. How did I get here? Maybe the priest brought me here.*
Stalker heard quiet talking coming from the door to the right of the room. He went over and put his ear to it. Although the vampire was gone his hearing was still extraordinary. Listening intently he heard: "Sorry to make you cut the reunion short, but you know we haven't much time..."
The voice was familiar, but Stalker couldn't remember who it belonged to. He continued to listen.
The woman was talking about exorcising a demon but that wasn't the thing that shook Stalker the most. The next words Stalker heard shocked him and he felt a shiver down his spine. "Kate's been kidnapped. The Coven of Sindell..."
Stalker's knees felt weak and he abruptly sat on the old pew he had been laying on only moments before. *Catherine kidnapped! It can't be! I must have heard wrong. It must be a coincidence, I'd better keep listening...*
Putting his ear up to the door again it only took one name to have him sitting again. There was no coincidence and no doubt; the one name he heard... "Serapis!"
Stalker leant with his head in his hands. *I have to help her, but how? If I go out there who will I find?* Stalker did what he felt best. *I will wait until they leave and follow them to see who they are.*
Time passed slowly and after a long spell of silence from behind the door Stalker heard a new arrival - two people and the woman whose voice he had recognised left.
A little later Stalker heard nothing from behind the door *It's too quiet.*
Stalker quietly pushed open the door to find the church empty. "SHIT!"
He raced across the church to the door. "They are gone! Shit! SHIT!" Stalker punched the door in frustration, his fist passing completely through the door. He pulled it out to find his hand badly cut. "SHIT"
Stalker held his hand hard against his chest to try and stop the bleeding.
He could smell his own blood. It smelled normal and it was his. A feeling of pride washed over him. He had not really thought about it but now he was truly more human than he had been in two hundred years. It was then he smelled something else. *Blood? It's not mine.* He walked back along the pews and found the one where the tiny drop of blood lay. He sniffed deeply. "Hmmm, powerful! Blood, but not entirely human." He sniffed again. "Vampire? Is that possible?"
"Ahh, you are finally awake my son."
Stalker spun around to see the priest that had given him the holy water standing in the doorway of the church.
"Huh? What?" Stalker was stunned that he hadn't heard the man's approach.
"You had me scared for a while there but don't worry, I didn't call the police. Nobody knows you're here."
"Huh, the police?"
"The drugs you took, don't you remember? You came to me in a very bad condition, asking me to bless some water for you. I followed you when you left and saw you pass out on the sidewalk. That was a week ago. Now that you're awake, I hope that we can get you into some sort of rehabilitation clinic," the priest said calmingly.
Stalker ran out of the church and into the night.
Stalker stood in front of the church. *Where do I go now?* He started running once more. *The apartments. Maybe she left me a message.*
Stalker arrived at the apartments at Poplar Avenue out of breath and feeling dizzy from lack of blood. *Bloody cut, why won't it just bloody heal?*
Stalker went inside, walked down the hallway and unlocked the door to his apartment and entered. Just as he was about to shut the door behind himself, Stalker saw two other people entering the building. Something made him leave the door open just a crack and watch them. As they passed Stalker smelled something from the small Asian woman. *Blood! The same from the church - she was one from the church. Seems like I've struck gold.*
Stalker waited until they had both climbed the stairs to the second level before he left the apartment and followed. He noted which apartment they were in and went back to his.
There was nothing in the apartment to give him a clue as to where Kate would be. It was exactly the same as he had left it eight days earlier.
Stalker left the door open with the chain across so he would hear anyone coming or going from the building and then lay down on the couch for some rest...
A gathering storm.
Tash closed the door behind Daye, the last to arrive. It was good to see her again - Tash hadn't had a chance to talk to her since the incident at Pasadena. That seemed like years ago. *God, it was only a week.* Tash looked around the room. Jade and Sorrow were together on one of the couches, holding hands. Victor was standing next to the wall, his arms crossed. Luc was pacing the room nervously and Inanna was perched on the other couch, clasping and unclasping her hands.
Victor nodded grimly at the new arrival while Tash busied herself with making coffee. It was obviously intended to keep her mind off the upcoming night. Sorrow looked like he was not feeling well and Jade's eyes were puffy. She'd obviously been crying. *What a group,* he thought. "Once more into the breach, dear friends..." he muttered.
Daye stood uncertainly on the outskirts for a moment. There was so much hurt, sadness and fear in this room that even she with her limited senses could pick up on it. Finally, she approached a pacing Luc and put a comforting smile on her face.
Sorrow looked around the room at the pensive faces, deciding to dispense with the pleasantries none of them really felt like saying. He spoke brusquely, "So, what next? We know where Kate is. Other than rushing blindly in, how do we rescue her?"
There was a short silence in the room before Lucien snapped. "Well, are we going to sit around all day and drink coffee or are we going to discuss this?"
Seeing that Lucien's hold on his control was pretty shaky, Jade got up and laid a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get her out Luc, I promise... Victor and Tash are the only ones among us who've been to where Kate was being held captive. I'd say they're probably best equipped to start the ball rolling."
In his apartment on the first floor, Stalker awoke with a start. "Shit, fell asleep."
Quietly he unhitched the chain on the door. Stalker stumbled out of the door and crept up the stairs to the second floor. He could hear people talking behind a door so he moved towards it. He leant against the door, cupping his hands to try to hear more. "Oh, crap!" Stalker yelled as someone opened the door from the inside and he fell forward onto the floor.
Tash looked down at the man on the floor. It was ‘Jake’. She was sure it wasn’t his real name, but he’d been with Kate that morning Tash had met her. Something remarkable had happened to him over the past week, she surmised – his aura now had very little black left in it. *What is this? The land of the vampire cure??* She held out a hand to help him up. Time was too much of the essence, and additional help was not to be sneered at. Time enough for regrets later if it turned out badly.
"This involves you too,” she said to him. “Get in here, and stop listening at the door.”
Victor addressed the room, “Kate is being held about a two hour drive from here in an old Victorian country house. It’s huge and it is crawling with the Coven of Sindell. They have every possible ward, spell, charm and glamor working in their favor. They outnumber us at least ten to one and we are tired, wounded, and," he looked down at Stalker who was slowly coming to his feet, "woefully unprepared. I say we nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure."
Victor’s joke went flat on the sombre crowd. They just stared at him. "Well? I don't even know were to start!" He threw up his hands in frustration.
Tash stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the lounge room full of worried people. She shared Victor's frustration. "Well, I know we're a pretty pathetic bunch at the moment, but we're all Kate has. And I for one refuse to sit around and do nothing. I'd rather go down fighting for a friend than not try. The thing we have to quickly work out is, how best to even the odds?"
"Seeing that we're going up against one of the strongest covens in the world, what we're woefully short on now is people with a background in magic. What about Matthias? Where's he?" Jade looked enquiringly at Tash. She'd not seen the fae since leaving Bibliophile after the attack on the Beazor.
Tash sighed heavily. Among all the terrible things that had been weighing on her mind lately, a small extra niggle was the worry that she hadn't seen or heard from Matthias since he'd left Kate's house after the raid to collect the crystals. She looked at Jade, the anxiety showing clearly. "I have no idea. If he's all right, I suppose we shall hear from him when he's ready." Her mouth quirked in a rueful grimace. *That seems always to have been his way, after all....*
"Tash, do you still have that chest full of weapons? It's not much, but it’s a start. Can we get any more guns? Swords? I for one don't want to face Sindell without so much as a toothpick." Victor's agitation was becoming evident. As a Battle Fiend he had the most experience at war but had no love of it. "Jade, is there anything left in XY that we can use? Luc, do you know anything high-powered that we can use against them? Come on! We are some of the most powerful beings in LA! We faced down Kain in his lair! We can take this group of librarians and scribes!"
*But they have the advantage. You could lose and then what? You'd be a bunch of powerful corpses. But the feeding is likely to be good!*
Victor growled, *Not now. I almost believed it myself for a second!*
Inanna rose to her feet, "I didn't find out much about Serapis' plans but I do know what kind of force we're up against. Well, urm, Serapis has about a dozen coven members from Sindell, the rest are simply new initiates - I doubt that they are even capable of casting powerful magical spells. I think they were chosen for thei-their...physical strength..." Inanna looked around at the staring faces and then sat back down.
"So, twelve high powered magicians plus a couple of dozen thugs? We can handle simple violence even with those sorts of numbers, especially if they're human. If we could circumvent the magicians this is heading towards being possible." Sorrow smiled a little, "So anybody know how to block that level of magic?"
"XY had some books on the Coven of Sindell that might help us find a weak chink their chain... But we don't have the time to dig through that huge mess of rubble now looking for them..." Jade bit her lip in frustration.
Victor's questions about their available resources had set Jade to thinking. She had been mentally going through the trashed remains of XY. From what she remembered the last time she had been there, everything the fight with Jem had left unbroken had been looted by the time the police had got around to boarding up the shop.
"I don't think XY's going to have much to help us." Jade sighed and shrugged. "The only thing I managed to find intact was this cheap trinket." She tossed the pentagram-shaped amulet she'd picked up the day Anderson had attacked her onto the table with a look of disgust. "Not that it's going to help us much... It's just a gimmick XY sells to tourists and kids... Supposedly, it endows the wearer with mind-control powers of some sort..."
Victor picked up the doodad and turned it over in his hand. "Doesn't look like much. I've seen dozens of similar trinkets from Nepal to Brazil and they never did anything." Victor casually tossed it back onto the table.
Daye stared for a moment at the ‘trinket’ on the table. Something about it niggled at the back of her mind. She strode over to the table and picked it up, turning it over in her hands as she extended her senses out to it. "Of course..." she murmured. "But how does it work and can it help us?"
Tash frowned as she looked at the amulet. Jade's words swirled in her head. "Mind control...?" She blushed as she remembered the feeling that had come over her when Ian had returned to her flat the other day. "Um..." she started.
Tash really didn't want to go into this. It was an episode best forgotten, in her view. But needs must. Best to jump right in. "From what Jade just said, I think I've seen this before." Everybody turned to look at her as she continued. "Ian had an imprint of this on his forehead - he must have leant on it in XY. He seemed to be very … persuasive..." Tash found she couldn't meet anyone's eyes.
She held out her hand to Daye, who passed the amulet to Tash. Tash held it out to the room at large, "So, who wants to try it?"
Luc stepped forward, "What can it hurt?" He took the amulet and pressed it hard against his forehead. The sharp relief on it left red lines on his face. "So, do I seem more persuasive?" he asked.
Tash shrugged, “Well, order me to do something.” She glared briefly, “And behave!”
Luc smirked then faced Tash, the mark on his head showing clearly. “Tash, go open the door.”
Tash thought for a second. “Nope, don’t feel compelled to do that…”
Everyone looked thoughtful for a while then heads started shaking. "Well, it must have been a one time thing.” Luc tossed it on the table. Everyone saw the mirrored mark on his palm as he said, "I say we forget the amulet and keep thinking." Everyone was quick to assent.
Daye glanced at a trinket lying on the table. Wondering why she hadn’t noticed it before, she picked it up. “Is this from your shop, Jade? It’s pretty.”
Jade looked at it and frowned, “Yeah, I think I’ve seen it around. Does nothing so far as I know. You can keep it if you like it.”
Daye smiled her thanks as she pocketed the amulet.
Stalker stood leaning against the wall, *Bloody hell. I've arrived in the middle of a geek convention.* He waited for a suitable gap in the talking. "While you lot are playing with your toys Kate could be dying. Let’s just go get this fight started."
He looked around. "Bugger this," Stalker sighed, "you lot can have your pissy little war meeting while I go do some real work." He walked to the door then turned around, "Now if someone will just tell me where Catherine is being held I'll be on my way."
"Do you think going off without a plan to do battle against a powerful madman and his loyal coven by yourself is a real good idea?" Daye asked the agitated man. "I mean, everyone of us wants to rescue Kate from Serapis, but charging in blindly and getting ourselves slaughtered is not going to do much good, right?"
"Yeah, all right. You guys better stop stuffing around though or I'm gonna bloody well leave and do this on my own." Stalker walked back to his spot near the wall.
"Die on your own is more like it. Be productive. Give us a plan, and THEN you can rush in like the cavalry!" Victor was getting angry. He had never cared like this before. He could hardly imagine why this meant so much to him. Kate had killed Janus after all. But for some reason this was all he could think about right now. "So are you going to offer any suggestions? Or are you going to sulk and storm out?"
"Amanda, can the Council offer any assistance?" Sorrow's voice cut across the tension between Victor and the newcomer.
"Uhm..." Daye hesitated. She would have to have shared with the Council to get official help from them and although that would be a great help she hadn't been exactly forthcoming. "I think I can get some things from the shop and a few people I know. I can probably get my hands on a few talismans that would provide a magical barrier to the wearer. I might be able to take a few of the initiates out with a spell to put them under for a while. What else?"
While the others continued discussing magical solutions, Tash went to her bedroom and pulled out her box of tricks. Dragging it to the lounge room she started sifting through the various weapons at her disposal. She thought about the crossbow for a minute then reluctantly put it aside as a 'maybe'. She'd be fighting humans, after all. *And I don't kill humans.* She couldn't help the inward wince at that reiteration of her personal moral code. Mrs. White's face floated in front of her. To banish it, she concentrated on classifying her cache.
Stalker saw the weapons. "Oi," he said as he crossed the room. He picked up the crossbow, "Can I use this one?"
Daye watched Tash and Stalker for a minute then made a decision. "We will obviously be making an assault on two fronts here," she said. "Luc, you, Inanna and I will probably have to do most of the battle against Serapis and the higher ranking coven members. The others will need to take care of the more physical aspects. How well shielded will Serapis be personally?"
"He has his followers to do most of his dirty work for him, then there are the witches from Sindell. They'll be our biggest problem, but any kind of spell casting involves a higher state of concentration which - if we catch them unawares - they won't have."
"I may have something to help," said Victor. He dashed out of the apartment and across the hall. He ducked into his room and grabbed the large suitcase from the closet and raced back. He laid the case on the table in the lounge, opened it and displayed the herbs and medicines inside. Nestled among the contents were a dozen or so glowing Orbs of Thessela. Victor's surprise was evident, but he remained silent on the Orbs.
"Here are some things we can brew potions from. Poppies, Lethe's Bramble, Wolfs bane and lotus...this stuff could be useful," he said flatly.
Stalker slung the crossbow by the strap over his shoulder and wandered over to the bag, "Hey, what are those glowy thingies?"
Tash looked up at Stalker's question. The last time she'd opened this case to get the healing herbs for Victor she'd noticed those small orbs. But that time they'd been dark. She had no idea what they were, but she could almost taste Victor's agitation. The glowing orbs seemed to reflect in Victor's eyes as his gaze caught her questioning one.
"Unless they're magical wishing stones that will set the world to rights," Daye began, "I don't think that's important right now." She looked at Victor hopefully. "They're not, are they?"
"No. They are Orbs of Thessela...soul prisons. Used in rituals of the undead and," his voice got very quiet, "soul eating. They glow when they are full," he said again. The room was very quiet. Victor looked at Tash and mouthed the word, "Later."
Tash sensed Victor's confusion. If he'd known they were full, she was sure he wouldn't have flung open the case in such a cavalier manner. She nodded. "Kate," she said. "We're here to work out the best way to save Kate. Nothing else matters." *Yet...*
Jade's eyes shifted from Victor to the case of ingredients he'd left on the table, her gaze sharpening as she recognised several of the items within it. Yew berries. Mandrake root. "I'm not exactly a spell and potion expert but these may help me a little when we're fighting off an entire horde of witches later... Give me half an hour, I'll be back." With a tight smile, Jade gathered them up and returned to her own apartment to search for the remaining components she needed to concoct a deadly poison.
Luc resumed his frantic pacing. "We're wasting valuable time. We all know Serapis has some big ritual planned, something to bring that bitch Janus back from the dead and if we don't stop him he'll kill Kate in the process! This whole thing reeks of some kind of rite of possession, especially with Dante's Comet on the horizon. Inanna's been researching the cosmic charts and apparently tonight it will reach its closest point to the Earth before it begins to make its return journey. It has to be more than just coincidence that these factors are all occurring tonight, which means.....we don't have much time...."
The news made Victor jump. This was more than he had expected. "Fuck! We have got to move! It will take two hours to get there and it’s nearly moonrise! It might well be too late by the time we get in place. Lets go, we can plan on the way!"
Daye grimaced. "No, we need a plan now. So tell me what you all think," she said, beginning to pace as well. "We go in and try to put the stooges to sleep. If Luc and Inanna can help me, I think I can manage a large casting that will cover most of them. Then we go ahead and take out the ones that manage to resist. We head for wherever Kate is being held and start throwing whatever we have at the guards there. If you give me those herbs there, I will go into the kitchen and cook up something to protect us from serious magical threats. It probably won't last forever, but it will shield us from mind control and such. We're going to be vulnerable to spells with physical components, but Serapis can't just will us to drop dead or what have you."
Having said that, Daye grabbed the ingredients from Victor's case and pulled her satchel off her shoulder. Inside were most of the essential ingredients for the potion she had in mind. With what Victor had handy, she would be done in no time.
The Time is Now
The darkness had begun to descend like some kind of beast from the hills. Deep in the forest, within a small clearing a slight flicker of light permeated the gloom of the late February evening and the sound of low resonant chanting rose into the night. The air was thick with the scent of burning sage, uva uris and wormwood intermingled with ginger and nutmeg.
The chanting grew louder as Kate was brought through to the clearing, carried by several initiates. The clearing now accommodated the witness of over thirty wiccans plus the elaborately constructed Circle of Magic that had been burned into the ground. The intricate symbols and incantations wove a delirious pattern that circled inwards across the thirty-foot diameter towards the Triangle of the Art within which the Altar was situated.
Serapis stood poised within the centre; several candles had been placed upon the corners of the altar although they remained unlit. In his hands he held a long nine inch silver blade and a large chalice. Kate was brought within the Circle and then forced to lie down upon the altar. Her arms and legs were held still while Serapis quickly secured her to the platform. He smiled cruelly at his young sacrifice as she struggled against her bonds. Placing his instruments upon the edifice, he gently trailed his fingertips across Kate’s pale cheek.
“Don’t worry, I promise this will all be over soon and then you’ll wonder why you made such a fuss.” Serapis removed a small vial from under his long, ornate robes. He uncorked the bottle and held it to Kate’s lips. She struggled weakly against drinking the potion but he managed to force enough down her throat despite her protests. “Just a little valerian root, vervain, agrimony – I had it made up especially just to take the edge off.” He smiled again.
The night sky had grown darker while the mystical onlookers waited patiently for the ritual to begin, like gruesome spectators come to watch a hanging. With a series of elaborate gestures Serapis forced the burgeoning cloud cover to retreat, revealing the moon in its full glory, and Dante’s Comet as it burned in the heavens above.
The time was now…
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
Aetolus felt the subtle shift in the energies of this plane. He knew something was coming. He turned to the quiet man sitting next to him. "Go now, my servant. Your part is to be played out tonight. Go swiftly and be true to me." Tempest stood like a robot and bowed to Aetolus. He then spun on his heels and headed out the door of the Beazor and walked several blocks before he stopped.
*How did I get here?* he thought. He shook his head in wonder. This had been happening nearly every day for a week. He'd have to see Tash about these blackouts. Maybe she could help. He walked again for a few blocks when he realized he was on Poplar Avenue. There was activity there. He could feel some sense of urgency to enter the building.
As he approached the door, he saw Tash and Victor leading a small party of grim looking and heavily armed friends out the door at the same time. "Hey. What’s going on?" he asked.
The others filled Tempest in on the drive into the country. He didn't ask any questions. He didn't offer any help or strategy or plan. All he had to say was, "Got it". Victor stared out the window as they drew closer and looked for the marker he had left the night before. At one point Tash was pointing out the window in the car ahead so Victor had them stop. And he jumped out and ran into the field. They were close.
Tempest stepped out of the car and watched as Victor ploughed through the high grass on the country road. He seemed to be searching for something and wasn't finding it. He walked back to the road and spoke to the group, "There have been patrols through here. The place is covered with footprints. At least a dozen of them in the past day.”
Tash knew what that meant. "OK, so we've lost our marker AND they know we're coming. Wonderful. That'll really help." She looked around at the landscape, trying to pick out the landmarks she'd noted in the dark the night before. "Victor, can you remember exactly which way it was? Those trees over there look familiar..."
"All the prints lead that way," Victor said, pointing the same way.
Tempest started walking without so much as a word. He knew the plan, but he was going to be point whether anyone liked it or not. Somewhere deep in his unconscious mind there was resentment at being here but he could not figure out why. But carnage was a good substitute for contemplation he had found. Judging from the numbers the others had been talking about there would be plenty of that. He was eager to start.
Daye watched Tempest stalk off. She stood her ground for a moment and extended her senses as far as they would go. However, whatever was going on here was beyond her senses. She strained for a few minutes and then gave up in defeat. "Well, I'm at a loss. Which way should we go?"
The others all shrugged and traipsed after Tempest. As they proceeded, Victor felt a growing certainty that this was the same route he’d taken last night.
***
Alaric slipped through the basement door, humming the theme to The Nightmare Before Christmas to himself and making a mental note not to watch Tim Burton movies again. It was getting near 8pm and most of the witches had left for the ritual. Those who had stayed believed he was going down to the basement to eliminate the agent. When he reached Agent Eldridge, he pulled out a dagger and quickly slashed the ropes that bound him. Afterwards, he fired several shots from the agent's gun in to the floor then placed it next to him.
"Time to awaken, my majestic friend," the demon said. Alaric pulled out a syringe containing a counter agent to the earlier injection that had rendered him unconscious, administered this and then headed back upstairs. That was one problem taken care of. *Now, if only I could get this tune out of my head.*
***
Tempest broke out of the woods near the house and crossed the field at a brisk walk. He was glad he was in front because the racket the crew behind him was making through the underbrush would alert anyone.
As he approached the manor house he could see someone standing on the porch. He crouched down and prepared to charge when the figure turned in the light and he saw a black suit and tie. *No robes. He's too well dressed for a cultist. Must be that agent they were talking about. Damn. Wanted to slice something.*
"Hey there!" he called out, "Who are you?"
Galen's paranoia kicked back into high gear as he caught sight of the man at the edge of the woods. He could easily be working for Serapis, and Galen was about to throw caution to the wind when he saw several other people approaching. Most of them he didn't recognize, but could identify a few people. Catching sight of Ms. Lee, he hoped that her door was actually fixed.
"Do you think you could be any louder?" he called out. "I don't think they all heard you approaching."
Stalker stayed at the back of the group and hid in the undergrowth as the rest of them entered the clearing around the house. *Bloody idiots, putting themselves out in the open like that.* Stalker kept an eye out with the crossbow loaded and ready as the group approached the man in the suit.
Before anyone could answer the questions flying around the field, the sound of an incantation carried across the clear night. "Ignis!" Flames leapt up from the grass and everyone shielded their eyes from the sudden burst of light.
As the flickering flames died for lack of fuel, Sorrow stepped quickly into the shadows. "Scatter!" he called before moving deeper into the darkness.
The adept thrust his hand towards the sky as he spoke the word, “Signum!” A small white globe leapt upwards before bursting as a perfect fire-flower.
Tempest charged the short distance to the house and made his way under the overhanging balcony. He leapt on to the windowsill and launched himself at the railing where the adept stood.
While Tempest dealt with the single guard, Tash turned to the dishevelled looking man before her. "So, Agent Eldridge, I guess you found Kate. Any idea where they have her?"
Galen turned to face the woman and fought down the urge to make a sarcastic remark. "They had some rather interesting maps in the main hall. It'll be a long walk, but we can make it in time. By the way, I never did get your name."
Tash looked at the Agent. "No, you didn't," she observed. "If we're all still alive at the end of this, I may even tell you."
Tash noted the bulge of a gun under Galen's shoulder and was thankful she wouldn't have to give up one of her precious weapons to him. "Point the way, then," she said.
Galen shook his head and started off into the woods. “By the way, is it possible to bum a cigarette from one of you?” When nobody offered he continued forward in silence.
Tempest used his momentum to swing his legs around into a full kick on the adept. The robed man flew back through the glass doors of the house with a crash of broken windows and wood.
Inside, the three wiccans who had just entered the room were quick to respond. One of them pointed a hand at Tempest and muttered a magical phrase. Tempest recognised the beginnings of an eldritch bolt and willed his sword to him. The blade appeared and sundered the glowing energy into two streams on either side of Tempest’s body. He rushed forward and flicked the sword into a lunge that split the man's arm to the elbow. The other two mages, unused to such violence (or being sprayed with arterial fluid) scrambled to cast wards but were soon bleeding fatally on the floor of the room.
As the group made its way away from the house, a figure slid out from behind the trees and began to follow. The Night Walker could sense the danger around Amanda and her friends. If he could lend a hand, it might work to his advantage.
The group slipped through the woods with no further attempt at stealth. Even Tempest was not trying to be quiet as he leapt off the balcony and rolled to his feet to start running. They spread out a little but remained within sight of each other. They hit the outer perimeter about five minutes from the clearing.
"Go,” Sorrow hissed to Luc as he drew his blade and attacked the two impetuous cultists who sought to impede their progress. Sorrow ducked under the arcing bolt of energy that leapt from the first. As the second raised his hands the tip of Tempest's blade pierced the man's heart from behind.
Sorrow whipped the tip of Hizashi through the throat of the acolyte and the lightning faded as the man drowned in his own blood. Sorrow ducked a blow from another wiccan and drove his fist into the man’s sternum.
Stalker was waiting in the undergrowth still. As soon as the man in the suit pointed the direction Stalker took off in that direction. *Hmm, don't think that lot will last long; haven't even noticed I’m missing yet,* Stalker thought as he jumped up into the tree.
***
From the clearing, the noises in the forest were growing closer. Serapis returned his attention to the ritual. His followers had formed a tight circle around the Triangle of the Art. Kate was tied upon the altar. Things were ready; there was no time left to waste.
***
Victor snuck up behind the robed participants who were as yet oblivious to the party crashers. He reached his hands into their bodies and drew forth their souls. *Eat them!* came the unbidden thought.
Victor released one soul, but he could feel the taint polluting the other. It was soon consumed. The guilt washed over him as the evil voice within made satisfied noises. Victor watched as the soul drifted slowly back into the one robed figure and it began to stir again, but the other lay very still.
As Galen pressed towards the edge of the clearing, he removed his tie and wrapped it around his hands to use it like a garrotte then positioned himself behind a cultist. They deserved what they got. *Maybe if you tell yourself that often enough, one day you’ll even believe it! In one fluid motion, he flipped the tie over the disciple’s head and pulled it tight around his throat.
Jade held her ground as two followers rushed at her, swiftly withdrawing a curved dagger from the jewelled sheath slung low around her waist. Her hand flexed on its hilt - once... twice... - then she attacked, stabbing the man in the abdomen and the woman in the arm. The lethal poison she'd used to coat the blade worked rapidly, its neurotoxins leaving her victims convulsing in agony, their bodies twisting and flailing as they choked on their last breaths. Jade kicked their weapons aside but barely spared them a glance as she strode forward purposefully, her entire stance poised for further battle...
Daye leapt into the fray as well, chanting and gesturing as she ran through the crowd of adepts. As she passed, a few of the young initiates fell to the ground in a magic-induced coma.
***
Serapis hastily raised his hands into the air. Immediately several candles that were placed upon the altar burst into flame - as did a few various watch fires on the perimeter of the clearing. Serapis cleared his throat and began.
“Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey,
Harken to the rune I say.
Four points of the Circle, weave the spell.
East, South, West, North, your tales tell.
East is for break of day,
South is white for the noontide hour.
In the West is twilight grey,
And North is black, for the place of power.
Three times ‘round the Circle's cast.
Great ones, spirits from the past,
Witness it and guard it fast.”
There was a loud clap of thunder high in the clouds, followed by a bright flash of light that surrounded the Circle of Magic.
***
Tempest charged forward slicing disciple after disciple. The smell of their bile mingled with the scents of herbs and incense filling the grove. A mage near the altar turned and made a violent gesture. Tempest was hurled thirty feet through the air and slammed into a stout tree on the outskirts of the clearing.
Victor moved to where Tempest lay and pulled him to his feet. "Go! Don't stop now!"
Stalker swung down and snapped the neck of one of the initiates then leapt back up into the treetops only to jump down again to rip the heads off a few more.
Daye heard Serapis begin the ritual and she knew that if she was going to be of any help she should be at the altar now. She started forward, paying little attention to the melee around her. As she pushed forward she failed to notice one of the adepts approaching from her left, a long nasty blade in his hand.
Night Walker waited in the shadows as the intrepid group waged battle against the Coven. He saw and heard the leader beginning his invocation and realized that Daye was going to pit herself against the man. If she reached him, that is. As he stood his ground, one of the younger acolytes charged at Amanda with his athame raised high. She was so intent on reaching the altar that her guard was down.
Just as Daye realized she was under attack a blur of black flew at the adept, knocking him away. Daye turned in the direction he landed and was suddenly struck dumb by what she saw.
“Are you all right?” Night Walker asked, his tone full of concern. He found himself easily slipping into the role of concerned ex-lover. Here was his greatest mistake in the flesh. She looked a bit older and perhaps less naïve, but really very much the same. Of course at the moment she looked completely flabbergasted.
“Amanda, are you all right?” he repeated, reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder.
Daye stared in disbelief at the apparition before her. Was he a ghost? An hallucination? *This cannot be happening! Not now. I don’t have time to deal with this right now.*
“Ryan?” Daye’s voice was choked. “How? Where? What are you doing here?”
Ryan grinned cheekily. Daye was so shocked. This could be fun. Except not here and not now. “Rescuing you, I think,” he replied. “Perhaps when this is all over I will tell you all about the how and why.”
Daye glanced around at the battle raging in the clearing and nodded decisively. This discussion would have to wait. “Right,” she said. She turned to the altar. “I’d better get going then.”
Ryan shook his head, but followed her, watching for other attackers. They left the follower Ryan had battled lying on the field, lifeless. Night Walker’s hunger was for the moment abated.
***
Serapis continued his invocation, "I call upon the Ancient Ones from the great abyss to do my bidding. I invoke Thanatos - God of Death, Eris - Goddess of Discord and Strife. I invoke Hecate - Goddess of the Underworld! Hear me now upon this night, hear my words; grant me my will!"
There was another rumble of thunder in the sky. Suddenly the trees overhead seemed to part and there was a rippling trail of fire that blazed across the sky directly across Dante's path.
***
Tash watched the others attack the coven members. She could feel the deaths around her and found herself frozen for a moment. She'd known people would probably die today, but the reality was almost overpowering her tattered mental control. Then a face loomed in front of her and without thinking she lashed out with her staff. It caught the coven member across the temple with a loud 'crack' and he fell, groaning loudly. Adrenaline took over and Tash found herself leaping, dodging and whirling her staff in a vicious dance.
Galen dropped the cultist to the ground when another rushed at him. The mage tackled him, and they began to wrestle on the ground. Eventually when he was on his back he reached into his jacket for the handgun and fired four times. He took a minute to breathe before pushing the body off him.
Victor grabbed a nearby branch and clubbed a follower in the side of the head. He waited to see if he had slain the woman and when he was assured her soul was remaining with her, pushed into the crowd to create distractions.
A wiccan's high pitched scream quickly became a garbled whimper as death began its claim. Jade withdrew the dagger from his chest, watching silently as the blood gushed forth, dark red mingled with the black of her blade's venom. *Don't think. Don't feel. Don't hurt.* She chanted the words over and over in her head, a mantra to keep herself focused on the job at hand - rescuing Kate... *Letting my conscience get in the way would only get me killed. Can't have that. Don't think. Don't feel...*
Tempest charged again at the altar. The same mage that had attacked him before pushed forward with both fists. Tempest slowed...then stopped dead in his tracks.
Tempest dropped his sword and it floated through the force to settle on the ground. He crossed his arms over his chest and mumbled the words he had learned at his parents’ knees. Suddenly the force was gone, he rushed the remaining few yards and with a swipe recalled the sword and separated the mage’s head from his body.
Jade brought the heavy silver hilt of the dagger down hard on the follower's head before a flash of movement on her right had her turning and swinging out, catching another robed figure right across the face. The wiccan crumpled to the ground but as Jade raised the dagger to deal a fatal slash across the throat, she found herself looking at a girl no more than seventeen or eighteen... The teen's jaw was bleeding and badly bruised but it was her eyes - wide and glazed with fear - that had Jade hesitating...A costly mistake...
Momentarily distracted, Jade did not notice three other followers circling her until a magical stream struck her with the force of a lightening bolt, blinding her with pain. Serapis had prepared his subordinates well – these mages were versed in spells conjured against creatures of the night and had been instructed to take Jade out at the first available opportunity. As their magic formed a strangling coil around Jade, lacerations appeared on her arms and shoulders. Her dagger clattered uselessly to the ground and she fell to her knees.
"Blind and bound, crushed and cursed... Childe of the damned, come do your worst..." The chants of the wiccans grew louder as the spell culminated and Jade's vision began to grey. She fought to stay conscious and ordered her body to fight but found herself helpless against the witches' combined powers. Her bones felt like they were being broken in half, one by one... Her breath was laboured and came in short gasps... "Jade!" Sorrow's voice sounded as if it was coming from very far away...
As Sorrow charged towards the ritual circle a second magician turned slightly and thrust an arm towards him. "Unbind," the mage said and a blinding flash of light filled the clearing. Sorrow staggered back as around him flowed a whirlwind of chaos, death and blood.
Within Sorrow rose a deep darkness that flowed past all restraint. It wished only to destroy those who had sought to bind him, to kill those who would keep him from his power. An inarticulate cry tore from his throat as a twisted bolt of blood red heat leapt from Sorrow's clenched hands and struck Luc full in the back.
Tash could see glimpses of a form tied to the altar as light flashed in the sky. Her staff swept the legs out from a robed figure as she tried to advance on the centre.
***
The moans and screams grew ever louder. In the midst of all the confusion Serapis knocked the Orb of Thessela containing Janus' soul off the altar. He hastily retrieved it and continued to chant, "Gathered we are upon this night, to summon, to Resurrect she who has passed beyond this Earthly plane. We request our sister Janus, whose soul remains in our midst within this ancient orb, be released! Oh mighty Hecate, release! Receive the soul of the innocent and submit to us the darkness of our sister!”
"Serapis!" shouted Tempest as he approached the dais.
Serapis grabbed a long blade from the altar, his hands trembling. *They will not stop me! Not when I am so close!* He quickly slashed through Kate's hand and gathered the blood in a chalice.
“In blood we consecrate our holy rite offered to you in sacrifice, the Blood of the Innocent. Give me of your power. Give me of your strength. Hear me upon this night! HEAR ME!"
As Serapis uttered his final words Tempest wrenched the chalice out of his hands and spilt the precious blood upon the ground. Blood splashed over Tempest as he did so, leaving a viscous trail of vermilion down his arm to drip from his fingers. Serapis retreated slightly, sensing an aura of dark power surrounding his assailant. His fingers ran across the altar groping for a weapon while his eyes fixed the man’s in a hypnotic stare.
***
Daye and Ryan broke through to the side of the altar just as Tempest arrived. They watched in horror. Daye tried to rush up to try and help, but Ryan took hold of her to keep her safe.
“Let me go!” Daye shouted, struggling to free herself from Ryan.
‘Amanda, this is beyond your ability to act,” he argued. “Let us take care of things down here and allow them to finish Serapis as they are able to.”
Daye turned to look at Ryan just as one of the cultists swung around and turned loose a bright blast of magical energy. Daye threw Ryan down, pointing the jewelled end of her staff at the attacker and taking the brunt of the attack on herself. The energy arched through the staff and mostly dissipated, but she still found her body shaking and smoldering from the fire.
As Ryan staggered to his feet, two more of the adepts charged and he and Daye were forced back into the melee.
Galen glanced around the field and caught sight of Serapis, so began to line up for a fatal shot. While he pulled the trigger, something hit him – magic probably – that knocked him to the ground. The shot went wild and he lost his gun for the third time in two days. “Why do I even bother?” he muttered, as he began to brawl with the cultists.
Tash's senses were being battered by the emotions charging the air. Violence, bloodlust, guilt. She fought to retain her sense of self. She felt a blow across her shoulders and staggered as the impact nearly knocked her to her knees. She was able to turn in time to block the second swing of the club, now aimed at her head, and countered with a thrust to her attacker’s sternum with the end of the staff. An audible 'crunch' accompanied the robed woman's scream as she doubled over on herself.
Stalker leapt onto a disciple only to have a mage fire a bolt of lightning at him, sending him several feet into a tree. Stalker leapt down onto the mage, tearing his arms off and clubbing him to death with them.
Galen did something he did not think he would be able to do, quite by accident; he relocated his gun. He almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing when he glanced in Sorrow’s direction. Another cultist was running towards Sorrow and he fired twice before discovering he was out of ammo. So much for technology. Tossing the gun aside, he returned to using fists.
Luc staggered from the impact of Sorrow’s magic and collapsed to the ground. Sorrow turned his attention to the nearest robed figure. The initiate stood in shocked disbelief as Sorrow bore down on him. In moments Sorrow's fangs had torn out his throat and Sorrow drank deep of magic-touched blood.
Tash turned as a familiar darkness penetrated her mind. She saw Sorrow, blood dripping down his chin. Tash barely had time to register the horror before a pair of cultists leaped on her, bearing her to the ground and knocking her staff from her hands. Her elbow in the face of one man took care of him, but sensing possible success more joined their fellows.
Victor saw Tash get buried under a pile of coven members. He charged to her aid, shoving the offending peons out of his way to grab onto the topmost one and hurl him away. Cultists flew off her as his strength, still diminished, was more than a match for the disciples.
As stolen blood and power surged through Sorrow to wash away the backlash he looked around for the second mage who had sought to bind him. A whispered word dragged the woman across the clearing to his hand. Sorrow reared back and sank his fangs into Inanna's throat. Inanna’s blood flowed like rich red wine over Sorrow’s tongue, tantalising him with stolen life and power. He drew back for a moment before seeking to drink again.
As Tash flailed with elbows and feet, she ignored the pummelling she was receiving in turn. The weight seemed to lessen and she saw Victor standing over her, hurling her attackers several feet in an attempt to free her. Tash stumbled to her feet and, unable to find her staff quickly, resolved to finish this with fists and feet.
Victor caught Tash’s eye as she rolled free of the last one, and he winked at her. Suddenly he crackled in blue energies. Sparks leapt from his fingertips and his form began to run and melt. A mage was approaching with arms outstretched muttering the rituals of binding. "Demons banish, evil bind!" his voice formed the words.
Victor was helpless as the glamour began to fade and he was held powerless by the spell. His mouth formed a silent plea, "Help!" His nine-foot frame and towering horns were becoming visible and the green of his armor shone through his fair skin. His eyes turned from a baleful blue to a glowing red.
Stalker staggered. *Shit, need blood.* He ripped the head off the next acolyte he found and drank deeply. As he finished, he saw one of the group vamp out and attack Inanna. He leapt across the gap between them, grabbing the vampire and throwing him off Inanna and into some cultists. "Drink them!" he ordered.
Sorrow stood, shrugging the adepts off. He gazed balefully at Stalker and gestured towards him. The air was rippled by the passing fury.
Galen found himself in a rather unpleasant position. Two cultists were holding him while a third was pummelling his face. He finally got free by jerking one of his captors at the last moment, causing her friend to hit her instead.
"Our light destruct, our magic slay... Tainted blood, suffer our wrath... Darken never again our path..." Jade let out an agonised scream as the lacerations along her arms became jagged rips in her flesh.
Then, just as quickly as the magic coil had bound her, it disappeared... leaving Jade crumpled on the ground, her body quivering and bleeding. The sounds of fighting and the stench of death continued around her in a cacophony of noise so Jade grit her teeth and pushed herself up, struggling through the pain-filled haze to determine what had happened. The sight of a decapitated cultist greeted her eyes and turned her stomach... Jade turned from it and concentrated instead on steadying her breathing and fighting back the nausea and dizziness that threatened to swamp her. As a result, the darkness snapping at her senses didn't register immediately...
When it finally did... *Oh God! The binding! Tris!* Jade stumbled and pushed her way forward, all pain forgotten. Her head whipped around as she desperately looked for Sorrow among the multitude of battling bodies...
***
Luc picked himself up from the ground, ignoring the pain from Sorrow's magic blast, and fought his way into the Circle where Serapis and Tempest were psyching one another out. He felt the darkness emanating from the two as a strong and searing force. He turned his back on it and concentrated on Kate.
Kate gasped in relief when she saw Luc. The screams and shouts all around the clearing were deafening. The anguish and pain were more than she could bear and she'd been trying desperately to block it all out.
Luc gently drew his hand against Kate's face, catching the tears flooding from her eyes. "My love..." he whispered. He was just about to begin untying Kate when he suddenly felt a sharp stab in his back. Serapis held his arm around Luc's neck and drew the knife in his hand around to hover over his heart. Serapis levelled his gaze at Tempest. "The Dark One, he sent you didn't he? DIDN'T HE?"
Tempest continued to stare blankly at Serapis. He didn't care whether the man Serapis held poised under his blade lived or died. Either way, it was all the same to him. He stared into Serapis' eyes and in a husky voice said, "I am not working for anyone. No one controls me! I am not anyone's sheep".
Inanna staggered up to the altar despite her blood loss and quickly began to untie Kate and pull her from the stone altar. When Kate saw what was happening she struggled to free herself from Inanna's grasp "LUC!" she cried painfully, "NO! Luc!!!"
***
"Victor!" Tash screamed as he was overcome by magic. She followed the coruscating energy back to its source and burst into a flurry of action, her fists flying.
The mage continued his chant, "Reveal the form so that your true name may be spoken. I banish thee to the nether realms!" He got no further as he fell back under Tash’s furious attack. The blue lines continued to stream from his hands for a moment then sputtered as he raised his arms to protect his face from her onslaught.
Tash didn't dare let up on the mage, knowing she had to keep him occupied to stop him finishing his spell against Victor. She continued pounding his face long after he'd fallen to the ground. Blood sprayed in patterns over her chest and face until Tash felt a hand gently snare her arm. "Enough," said Victor softly.
She glanced at the hand on her arm. It looked human. No hint of talons. She gazed into Victor's perfectly human face, then her expression changed from tender to purposeful as she roughly pushed him aside and lashed out with a sidekick to the cultist running at him from behind with a wickedly long blade.
Tash looked beyond the clearing to see several coven members beating a hasty retreat from this forest that had suddenly turned into a slaughterhouse. The scent of blood and other bodily fluids hung thickly on the air.
Talhu watched the service below degenerate into a fray. He walked back towards the house. *Maybe a nice campfire in the living room,* he was thinking when he noticed a dark figure leaving a back door.
***
Tempest watched the drama on the dais dispassionately. He was focused on Serapis. Luc meant nothing to him.
Serapis backed away from Tempest, dragging Lucien with him. "I will kill him, I swear. Now back off." Tempest remained where he was and picked up the Orb of Thessela that lay discarded upon the altar. His hand left crimson smears on the Orb as Kate's blood still oozed down Tempest's arm. "Give that to me!" ordered Serapis, the desperation in his voice audible. For a moment his hostage was forgotten and he reached forward to grab the Orb.
In one swift movement Tempest wrenched his sword violently through Serapis' innards. He watched as the angry expression instantly transformed to one of pain. "Not today, jerk-off. If this IS Janus, she's mine. And I'm letting her free". Tempest crushed the Orb in his hand.
Serapis fell to his knees pulling Luc, still held in a vice-like grip, down with him. With his remaining strength Serapis glared back up at Kate who still sat upon the corner of the altar, Inanna holding her tightly in her arms.
Serapis pressed the knife firmly against Luc’s chest, “What do you think Lucien? See you in hell?” he questioned bitterly before plunging the blade deep into Lucien's heart...
Kate burst free from Inanna's grip. The soul of Janus swirled around the air at Tempest's feet but she ignored it. All she could think about now was Luc as Serapis loosened his hold on him and he rolled limply to the ground.
***
"ARRRRGGGGHHH." Stalker was hit by Sorrow’s bolt of power and it threw him back, tearing his chest open. He lay on the ground unable to move. Stalker’s soul tried once more to leave his destroyed body. Stalker looked down - his mother’s pendant glowed. *The pendant! That’s why my soul never left.* He watched as his chest healed and he regained use of his body.
As Stalker struggled to his feet from where Sorrow's magic had blown him, Sorrow gazed at the cowering mortal before him. He reached down to the cultist and wrenched his head back to expose his neck. Sorrow drank the man dry, savouring the terror that tainted his blood. Sorrow looked around to see a stranger holding the still living body of Luc, who had bound him with magic.
Tash looked around - not many of Serapis’ followers were left. There was a grim scene at the altar, and she could see Sorrow had just drunk deeply. Again. She thanked her own sense of caution as she unstoppered some holy water. Tash approached Sorrow, grateful that he was distracted by the events on the dais.
***
As the last of the acolytes began to flee, Daye and Ryan turned their attention back to the drama being played out on the dais; a grisly tableau erected in honour of the pursuit of power. Tempest and Serapis were near the altar, Tempest’s sword protruding through Serapis' midsection. Luc's life was flowing from him as Serapis held him in his arms. Inanna stood by the altar, too young and inexperienced to take effective action. Kate was reaching out to her lover unable to stop his murder.
Tempest tired of this old man dangling on his sword. He pulled out the blade and swung in an arc levelled at Serapis' neck.
Sorrow's magic lashed out and blasted Tempest's sword from his hand. Sorrow didn’t want Luc’s murderer to be interrupted in his task.
Tempest turned to see where the magic had come from and passed through the formless energies swirling at his feet. They dissipated and disappeared. Tempest stopped. He looked around, as if confused as to his surroundings then turned back to the dais. Serapis' eyes widened. Tempest smiled then walked forward and grabbed Serapis’ neck and began to choke the life from him.
Kate pushed her way through the chaos to Luc's side and held his strong body in her arms. Her hands trembled as violently as the tears that flooded down her cheeks and blurred her vision. "Luc..." she wept, gathering his bloody body into her arms.
Serapis proved more resilient than Tempest thought, taking long minutes to die. But his gaze looked into Tempest's eyes. As the life finally left the old man's face, Tempest wrenched his head and listened to the meaty crack. Then looking around quickly, he kissed Serapis' dead form. "Thanks lover," he said, "I hope you like it where you are going."
Kate trailed her hand against Luc's pallid face. His eyes had already grown dark. "No..." she whimpered helplessly, "...no...don't leave me, don't leave me!" With what little strength remained Luc held onto Kate's hand. "My love..." he whispered weakly “…stay with me…”
***
Jade finally spotted Sorrow some distance away, her stomach clenching viciously when she saw the blood that stained his features. Although less than fifty feet separated them, getting to him proved to be no easy task. The ground was strewn with corpses and body parts. Several fires had broken out and a thick grey smoke filled the air, making it hard to breathe or see.
"Tris..." Jade's attempt to call out to Sorrow came out as an inaudible rasp before she froze in place. The last of the three wiccans who'd attempted to kill her earlier stood before her, his face murderous. "Serapis didn't mention any other blood-drinking fiends besides you! That slight oversight just cost me my brothers..." He advanced menacingly and spat, "You will die for that! Fucking bitch!"
The last two words came out in a furious roar as he flung himself at Jade, taking her by surprise and knocking her to the ground. "You shall die! You and your vampire lovers!" With a strength born from rage, the wiccan clamped his fingers around her neck and started the spell again. "Blind and bound, crushed and cursed... Childe of the damned...”
Waking up in the middle of the now dwindling battle, Galen realized that he had been rendered unconscious sometime during the skirmish. He was starting to get too old for this.
Tash called, "Sorrow!" As he turned his face she was ready with the holy water, hurling it at his eyes. She poised, ready to dodge or attack, depending on what he did next.
Sorrow’s hands passed before his face and the water dropped to the ground before striking him.
*Shit, his magic's working. I'm screwed now,* Tash thought.
Sorrow gestured. The pain was building; he needed blood before it crippled him. Tash felt an invisible hand grasp her round the chest and Sorrow dragged her to him. "Now you're mine. For the church - for denying me my mate!"
"Sorrow, fight it!" Tash urged as she struggled to free herself from the inexorable pull. Ribs cracked under the pressure he was exerting. She lashed out with a foot, catching Sorrow in the chest, but it seemed to do him little harm.
Daye stared in shock as Sorrow battled Tash and the others attacked Sorrow. She was at a loss. *What the hell? Should I stop them? Have they all gone bloody daft?* Just then she noticed the blood drying on Sorrow’s mouth and chin. She decided to wait and watch.
Sorrow growled, "No more pain, Tash. All I need is blood and I can have my magic back. It's so simple. I drink you dry then kill them..."
Tash managed to flick her wrist to drop the stake from her sleeve into her hand. She prayed she wouldn't have to use it, but if it came down to Sorrow or her...
"Sorrow, please, think about what you're doing. You so badly wanted rid of the demon. You don't want to do this!" Tash pleaded.
Stalker leapt up, unslung his crossbow, aimed it at Sorrow and fired.
Sorrow twisted away from the crossbow bolt at the last moment. It struck his chest but missed the heart. Sorrow's concentration was fouled by the sudden agony and his grip around Tash faltered.
***
As Kate wept she became oblivious to the chaos that continued to play out all around her. Everything melted into blackness as time seemed to slow to a standstill. Kate desperately pressed her lips against Luc's. "No, no! You can't die, not now, I won't let you!" Her tears rolled from her cheeks and fell onto Luc's face.
Luc smiled weakly and held her face in his free hand. “I love you…” he whispered, the words catching in his throat. Kate smiled hopefully and pressed her lips against his again, but this time she knew he felt nothing.
Tempest turned to Luc and Kate, curled in a heap at the base of the altar. "Are you okay? Will he make it?"
Kate looked down at her hand. Luc had released his hold. "No," cried Kate, "No, no!" she buried her head in Luc's shoulders and continued to cry.
Tempest's voice was tender, "He's gone, Kate. Let him go. It’s not safe here." Tempest placed a tender arm around her shoulder, "Come. You cannot do anything for him."
Kate felt someone tugging at her shoulder but she couldn't move, she didn't want to move. She held on to Luc's dead body and continued to cradle him. She held her bloody hand up to his wound and let their blood flow as one.
Inanna stood beside Tempest, eyeing him with suspicion then she turned her gaze to Kate. She knelt by her side and wrapped her arm around her trembling shoulders.
Tempest laid his hand on Luc's chest. "Restore, revive, rekindle the flame," he chanted. Golden light, feeble and wan spread from his fingers. He had no talent for healing, but he was not about to let Luc go without an attempt. Inanna placed her hands next to his and chanted along. Bright light flowed from them into Luc. As Tempest and Inanna finished the ritual the light faded and Luc continued to remain still.
"See? He's passed beyond! We have to go!" Tempest lifted her by her arm and began to drag her off the dais despite her pleading and tears.
***
Even with the pain coursing through her, Jade fought back and struggled to break the bind. *Oh no you don't! Not twice in one night!* However, despite her resolve, Jade felt her strength flagging. A whimper escaped her lips when the wiccan dragged her up by her braid even though she steeled against it. It was then that she saw the scenario playing out in front of her - Tash being held in a choke-hold by Tristan, a wooden stake clearly visible in her hand... Stalker firing the crossbow...
"Nooooooooooo..." Jade's efforts to free herself were suddenly fuelled by a panic-stricken desperation to get to Sorrow before Tash or anybody else killed him. Perhaps the mage's earlier attempt had drained him. Or perhaps the loss of his brothers diminished the spell's effect, for she was able to break through the stranglehold he had on her and throw him off.
Grabbing a discarded athame lying nearby, Jade swung out viciously, aiming for the wiccan's throat. She felt the blade connect and heard the gurgling sound he made as blood poured forth, but didn't bother looking back as she scrambled to her feet...
With Sorrow distracted by the crossbow bolt, Tash took the opportunity to slam her stake home. But her recent beating was starting to take its toll and the blow was partially deflected by Sorrow’s ribs. It penetrated, but at an angle, lodging itself in his shoulder.
Sorrow snapped the bolt in his chest and roared with the pain in his chest and shoulder. His counter was quick and practised as he drove crippling strikes towards Tash's limbs.
Tash frantically deflected the blows aimed at her from Sorrow, slowly being driven back by his strength and fury. The combination of his D'Nethk'Quan and the vampire made him virtually unstoppable. It was all she could do to stay on her feet.
Victor watched. He was conflicted about what could happen. He saw no way to help other than killing Sorrow.
*There IS another way.*
Victor stepped to Tash’s side and held out his hand...waiting for her permission.
Tash knew what Victor intended. She didn't dare. She could control Sorrow with Vrithetek's help, but she simply didn't dare. Still busily defending herself from Sorrow, she spoke breathlessly, "I can't, I'm sorry. Only if there's no other way..." She knew Victor would understand.
"Tris!" Jade dashed into the clearing.
Sorrow's head whipped around to look at Jade. As she drew close to him Sorrow gestured with his hand and a circle sprang up around them. As flickering light obscured the two lovers Tash stood helpless without, unable to penetrate Sorrow's shield but grateful for the respite from his relentless attack.
Stalker turned and leapt at Sorrow but was thrown back from the shield. "Crap!"
"Damn!" Tash looked helplessly at Victor. She quivered from exertion and her chest heaved, trying to drag in oxygen. Referring to his offer she said, "Well, it's kind of a moot point now I guess."
*Thank Ghortab,* Victor silently prayed.
Unable to penetrate the barrier around Sorrow and Jade, Tash had to trust that Jade would be able to get through to him. She could do nothing else. Not one to waste her energies needlessly, she scanned around to see the current state of affairs.
No coven members remained. Tempest and Inanna were dragging Kate off the altar as she was clinging desperately to a still form on the ground. Several bodies lay scattered about, including one in an ornate robe that Tash assumed was Serapis.
A trembling started in Tash's limbs as reaction began to set in. *Hang on,* she chided herself. *We're not out of the woods yet.* She laughed once, hollowly, at her own unintended pun.
Daye let her body sag against Ryan, shaking her head wordlessly. She was sore, battered and bruised. He drew her close against him and rested his chin on the top of her head. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her up as much as comforting her.
“So, are these your friends?” he whispered. She nodded wordlessly. “And did you all just win or not?”
“I don’t know,” she replied softly. She looked around at the bodies and the people she was beginning to care for in various states of pain and sadness. “I honestly don’t know.”
**********
Talhu focused on the dark figure in the woods as cultists fled all around him. He snuck up to the escaping man. "Boo," he said from behind him when he was very close. Talhu grabbed the man’s scruffy collar and lifted him off his feet. "You look like an interesting fellow. Tell me what you know."
Anubis shook his head as best he could, "Wah ya tink, I git a professional ethic an all. Man have a rep to maintain in dis business ya know."
Talhu pulled out the knife he kept for just such occasions. He held the man up against a tree and pushed the knife into his gut slowly. "How's your ethic now?"
"Ung," the man grunted, "Nah dat wa sloppy, ya missed de spleen too. Better if ya go left aboot three inches. Dat be mi left, not yours".
Talhu hated when they were into it. It made it a lot harder. He slashed through the man's gut and let his entrails slop out.
Anubis let another deep moan escape his lips. "Nat bad. Slow death by dehydration evan better. Gotta admire a man who respects pain, dat beein me job an all. De gurl, she nat appreciate all de work ya ha to put in.” Anubis held on to his wounds, “why don’t ya tug on dat," he said, pointing to a dark organ dangling from the gash.
Talhu thought he'd be sick. This was pointless. This guy was a wacko. Another crazy human. As if the "normal" ones weren't crazy enough. "Okay, tell you what. Tell me what you know and I’ll spare you the amateur hour."
Anubis considered it for a while. "Fine. Miss Catherine has da knowledge, and Mista Serapis – he has de soul. Join de two an’ you can open de pretty ring. Simple, bu she kept dat secret a long time. She wah a good sport, lemme work her reel good."
Talhu's spirit leapt. The Cloch Cosan was this close. All he needed to do was follow the girl Kate and he might get another chance. Alaric and his aspirations be damned; he might go home! The old doubts stirred in the back of his mind. He'd been thwarted so many times. It might not even be possible. But he was going to try. He could not conceive of giving up. With immense satisfaction Talhu turned the knife into Anubis’ gut. With a final gurgle the torturer slumped to the ground. Talhu smiled and then picked up the pace, following Tempest and his band of misfit friends as they made their way out of the forest.
Season One: Feb 06, 2005 - Jul 06, 2005
"I'm bored." Jem sat watching Chris as he looked over a few weapons.
"Yeah,"Chris said uninterested as he continued to turn the blade over and over in his hands.
"Chris," Jem paused, "What the hell are you doing? You're staring at a sword when you could be, I don't know, going to get Alec maybe? Or getting something to eat or..."
"What's your deal with that guy? Why'd you sire him anyway? Thought you didn't like religious folk." He looked up and at Jem for answers.
"I don't, it's just it's kinda funny to see how they turn out, and plus another guy..." she joked.
"Jem," he glared at her. She gave an innocent look back then grinned.
"Oh, sweetie you know you're the only one for me." Jem walked towards Chris and trailed her fingers down his face. He pulled her closer, morphing.
"He's just another lackey," she reassured her old lover. Leaning forward Chris sank his fangs into the nape of Jem's neck slightly, teasingly.
Pulling back Black Jem turned. "Hey!" Chris grabbed her arm pulling her back, "In the words of you, play nice!" Jem grinned at this then turned back. Tracing down his cheekbone with a nail she scratched his skin causing it to bleed. Pulling his head towards hers she licked the blood up then morphed.
At that Chris sunk his fangs into Jem's neck and Jem sunk hers into his. They stayed like this for a while, arms wrapped around each other and the blood flowing between them. It had been 10 years since they had last been like this. Chris began to pull at Jem's top, slipping a strap off her shoulder and Jem ridding Chris of his T-shirt.
Suddenly the door of the crypt flung open and someone walked in. The couple pulled away from each other; it was Alec.
His short blond hair was no longer blond due to the mud and dirt he'd been through when digging out of his grave. He wore a black suit that was ripped in places, his hands bloodied and sore along the knuckles.
"Gee, great! You know I appreciate the 'you finding me' part but not the 'you walking in on me' part! God, you lackeys have perfect timing don't you?"
"Black Jem," he stared grimly at her.
Jem looked at Chris who by now had morphed back and was trying to convince himself he wasn't about to bite this vamp's head off right now - he'd do that later when Jem wasn't looking. Alec had spoiled his chance to get back with her. *Little fucker.* He glared at the fledgling who had managed to piss both Jem and himself off already.
"See why I don't like him? He's only been here thirty seconds and I'm already contemplating killing him!"
"Aww, Chris, don't get stroppy. I'll make it up later." Chris smiled slightly as they locked mouths. Remembering their company Jem pulled away and handed Chris his shirt.
"So, you seem dumb enough, annoying enough and have really great bad timing. Welcome to the Black Veins, enjoy your stay and, oh, don't get in my way." Jem pushed past him, Chris by her side, her attitude very evident.
"So, what am I supposed to do?" Alec turned to face Black Jem.
"Follow me." Jem lead the two men out through the graveyard into the L.A streets where they would feed.
The Bloody Remains
Tash tried not to breathe in too deeply – the stench of death was overpowering. She welcomed Victor’s supportive arm around her shoulders as her legs refused to stop their trembling. The pain in her chest was becoming like fire as broken ribs grated against one another. Her whole body felt like one giant bruise.
Around her, the clearing contained the strewn bodies of Serapis’ followers. Some continued to groan or made feeble attempts to crawl into the forest, but most were disquietingly still. Some of those were missing parts or were horribly contorted. She could see Tempest and Inanna – the latter with blood streaming down her neck from Sorrow’s attack – dragging a reluctant Kate in the direction of the road. A lump formed in Tash’s throat as she realised that the motionless form she’d seen Kate clinging to was Luc. She gripped Victor’s arm tightly.
“Oh, God. Luc… Kate wouldn’t leave him unless….” Tash broke off, unable to speak for the sobs that welled. *Poor Kate – she loved him so much.* Tash knew precisely how Kate felt about him, from the occasion she’d delved into the woman’s mind. Victor's eyes were following something in the air. He walked to the dais and reached out a hand and grasped something above the body. Victor kept his hand closed as he returned to Tash's side.
Before she could move, Tash saw Galen Eldridge stumble to the altar and gather up Luc’s body. He struggled a little with the weight, but followed resolutely after Kate’s entourage. Tash felt some misgivings at this combination. She wasn’t entirely sure about Tempest since his betrayal, and Galen was still very much an unknown quantity. Tash moved to follow as well, but Victor’s arm restrained her.
“We can’t leave yet,” was all he said.
Tash blinked, then continued to survey her surrounds as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Daye had moved to the edge of the clearing, wrapped in somebody’s arms. Tash couldn’t see too clearly from here – Daye’s body blocked her view of the stranger. Even his aura was hard to discern from this distance.
The character that Tash only knew as Jake seemed to have run off somewhere. *Well, from what I could notice at least he did his bit during the battle.* Tash tried not to dwell on the image in her mind when she’d seen him rip the arms from one of the mages.
That only left her and Victor and… She faced the swirling barrier that Sorrow had created to trap him with Jade. “You’re right,” she said to Victor. “I can’t leave them…”
*****
Soft milky light illuminated the inside of the sphere while the forces Sorrow had conjured dampened all but the loudest sounds from the outside.
Sorrow's eyes raked Jade's bleeding body before he closed the small distance between them. "He caught one of her arms. "They've hurt you," he whispered. He placed a finger over her lips to forestall a reply then raised her arm to his lips. Jade gasped in pain as he sucked briefly at the cut, but as he ran his tongue slowly along the length of the incision she moaned. Soft warmth seemed to flow into her from his mouth...
"I will make them pay for this!" Sorrow let her arm fall then wiped blood from his lips. "Do you remember the church?" Sorrow whispered again as he moved his face to within inches of Jade's. "How it felt..." Sorrow kissed slowly along her jaw line, "My fangs in your throat..." He scraped the needle sharp points of his fangs down the soft skin just below her ear. "Your fangs in mine..." His mouth sucked gently on the wounds he had made yesterday afternoon. "Do you?"
"Yesssss..." Jade's response came out as a sigh as her body involuntarily arched against Sorrow's. Memories of the forbidden pleasure she'd experienced during their ‘bonding’ in the chapel came flooding back. Darkly tempting... Infinitely seductive... Demandingly desirable. All of Jade's earlier intentions of pulling Sorrow back from the abyss were forgotten; the only thing that mattered was the promise his eyes held...
Jade drew back slightly from her lover's embrace and slowly raised Sorrow's hand to her lips, watching his eyes darken as she flicked her tongue flicked over her own incisors. Gently she pierced the pad of his thumb, allowing the blood to flow into her mouth, shudders running down her spine.
She paused a second later to make a similar mark on her own hand... "However wrong his intentions were, Valerian was right about one thing. Blood," Jade said softly, clasping both their hands together, "calls to blood."
"Yours," She smiled slightly as their blood mingled, "and mine... I love you Tris... And from this moment on, I am a part of you. Joined not only by heart... But by blood."
Sorrow moved back a little. "Oh my love, we are joined." Taking Jade's hands in his, he looked at the still bleeding cuts along her arms. As he bent forward to kiss Jade's wounds again, the rose pendant she had given him slipped forward to dangle between them.
"My necklace! I'd almost forgotten about it!" Jade exclaimed as she twirled the delicate piece of jewellery between her fingers. The amber crystals making up the pendant's petals glowed softly against their platinum setting, leaving no doubt as to why such stones were known as "solidified sunlight" and prized for their life-giving properties...
Suddenly, a burst of golden light burst forth from the crystals, forcing the two lovers apart. Jade threw herself to the ground and covered her eyes but her attempts at blocking the light were futile. The entire sphere created by Sorrow's magical force field glowed like a ball of fire.
After the initial bewilderment and disorientation, when Jade's vision finally adjusted it felt as though she'd been awoken from a deep trance. With dawning horror, she realised how close she and Sorrow had come, once again, to damning themselves... How she had, once again, almost succumbed to the darker side of her nature.
However, Jade had no time at present for self-recriminations, or to wonder about what kind of magic had stopped her. She got to her feet and rushed to Sorrow's side, praying that the unknown forces at work had not harmed him in any way.
Sorrow lay against the edge of the globe he had created. His skin was burnt where it had been exposed to the intense light. On his chest the pendant continued to glow softly as Sorrow breathed shallowly. He was obviously in great pain.
"Jade?" His voice was not the quiet, confident whisper it was just moments before. Instead it was a pain-wracked croak... "I can't see..." Sorrow's eyes gazed blindly outwards towards the sound of Jade's movements then he lapsed into silence, as memories suddenly flashed into the sightless darkness...
A young woman dragged towards him then the sudden surge of blood into his mouth. Sorrow turned on his side and retched... Sorrow continued to vomit as image after image, sensation after sensation, flooded his mind. The wiccan he'd drained dry while savouring his terror. Sorrow relived the moment he blasted Luc in the back and he choked back a scream of horror at what he'd done...
The force field around them vanished with an audible pop, yet Sorrow continued to moan as he relived the awful crimes he had committed over and over again. As Jade lay a gentle hand upon his back he jerked back, gasping for breath. "My love..." Her soft words made him pause and Sorrow felt her brush back the hair on her forehead. Remembering his words to her just moments before, Sorrow turned away, closed his unseeing eyes and wept.
Cloch Cosan
Tempest closed the door quietly. He was sure Tash wouldn't mind putting Kate in her bedroom. Inanna sat in the lounge practically collapsed on the couch, but he could feel her eyes following him around the room. “You don't trust me do you?" he asked, sitting uncomfortably close to her.
She drew back somewhat and smiled unconvincingly. "No. But I don't know you either," she said. "The others seem to know and trust you though."
Tempest smiled. *Such a sweet girl,* he thought. "Keep an eye on Kate until the others arrive. I have unfinished business," he said. Rising from the sofa, he walked to the door and into the hall and closed the door behind him.
Outside Tash's apartment, Janus had to fight the urge to laugh out loud. She was alive again. *And this body!* she thought, admiring the lean muscular build. *I always wanted this body, I just never thought I'd have it like this! Thank you Tempest.*
As she stood there looking around the building she was aware of burning sensations on her skin. It was as if embers were moving around her body as she moved. Suddenly she realized it was the shards. She could pinpoint them by concentrating on direction and distance. There was a concentration of them …there. There was a single one over there. She could have them at any time. All she needed was a quiet place to work. The stairwell was dark and the door at the top of the stairs was out of view of the hallway. Janus walked quietly up the stairs and knocked gingerly at the closed door.
She waggled her fingers at the lock and was rewarded with a slight click. Inside she surveyed the spacious loft. The mystical pentagram painted on the floor and the hanging herbs and dusty shelves clearly indicated the home of one well versed in the mystical arts. Janus closed the door and examined the circle. It was painted with chalk and powdered bone mixed with some sort of paste. It was precisely aligned and it was very old. *There has been power here in the past. This will do nicely.*
***
In the glade, the swirling energies around Jade and Sorrow vanished as suddenly as they'd appeared. Tash stood ready, her gun in one hand and a stake in the other, just in case. She saw Sorrow on the ground, sobbing. Jade was holding him, trying to comfort him. Tash walked forward gingerly, mindful of her broken ribs. Jade looked up with a startled expression, "Tash, we almost surrendered..."
Tash knelt carefully beside the couple. Sorrow seemed harmless right now, but she'd felt his fury and his bloodlust just minutes before. Now all she felt from him was pain and guilt. She looked at Jade, "What happened?"
Victor stood by and watched Tash care for the couple. The energies in his hand wanted attention. The soul of Luc was eager to speak, but Victor would not let it...he could not afford to be distracted until the danger had passed. Victor stared at Sorrow and saw that his gaze was unfocused, his stance unsteady. Victor stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Sunlight on vampire eyes..." Sorrow steadied himself before going on. "That and the blood loss." He gestured towards the broken crossbow bolt and stake still embedded in his chest.
An image flashed into the darkness. Tash's broken and bloody corpse lay crumpled in the clearing as Sorrow wiped the last traces of her blood from his lips. "No..." Sorrow's clarity vanished in a wash of guilt and he collapsed to the ground and sobbed once more.
When Sorrow gestured at the shafts still protruding from his body, Tash felt a twinge of remorse. *No, dammit,* she thought to herself. *I refuse to feel more guilt. He WAS trying to kill me at the time...*
She rested a hand lightly on Sorrow's shoulder, absently noting that she still clutched a stake in that hand. Sorrow's face was singed and she could feel the waves of pain rolling from him. "Can you walk? We’ll have to deal with those,” she gestured at the shafts, “later. I'm sorry, but we have to get out of here." Tash looked around at the corpses and wounded that littered this place. "Now..."
Sorrow managed to get control of himself, steeling himself against the conscience driven visions of what he had done and what he may do in the future. He struggled with Jade's aid to rise again. "Lead the way then, Tash."
***
Stalker looked around the clearing. There was little he could do now so he quietly made his way back into the undergrowth and waited for everyone to leave.
Once he sensed everyone had gone he made his way back to the clearing, walking around amongst the bodies. Occasionally he bent down to snap someone’s neck or to collect any charms, pendants, rings, weapons or any other valuables he could use or sell, placing them into a large bag he'd found near the dais. *A man’s gotta make a living somehow.*
Stalker's sack was getting pretty full. *These bloody witches sure carry a lot of crap.* He left with his bounty in the general direction of the road.
***
As the ‘heroes’ made their way out of the forest stillness descended upon the clearing. Silently a handful of witches made their way towards the centre of the dais. All around them were strewn the disfigured corpses of their brethren; blood and mayhem followed by dismembered limbs and depleted mystic trails. The sour smell of scorched herbs and incense combined with blood and vomit replaced the hum of magic with a discordant vibe of evil. Something infinitely more evil than what they had been about to conjure had passed through this sacred place.
Liam Abrhams emerged from the forest. He’d fled with a small number of his comrades into the cover of the woodland as the ‘slight resistance’ Serapis had informed them of began to cut down their opposition like crops in a field. He wandered over to the altar and nudged Serapis’ body over with the toe of his boot. He smiled slightly in relief as he saw the man’s dead eyes staring back lifelessly.
As the desolate wiccan survivors wandered around the clearing gathering a mental list of the dead a deep rumble sounded overhead. The witches looked up into the pitch-black sky as the trailing blaze of fire across Dante’s path appeared to contract in on itself. It swirled inwards like a whirlpool and suddenly vanished in a blinding flash of golden light. The sight was accompanied by a roaring sound that seemed to emanate from deep in the earth.
Liam gripped the edge of the altar as the earth around them began to tremble and shake. Suddenly there was an almighty hissing sound, like hundreds of tiny voices whispering over and over again…
“…Heeecateee…Heeecateee…Heeecateee…”
Liam stumbled out of the Circle of Magic and with an almighty ‘crack’ the tabernacle split in two. The hissing sounds grew louder - the sound echoed around the empty glade seemingly coming from every direction. The witches gathered together in fear.
“It’s the gods! They are angry with us!” cried a young boy, tears rolling down his cheeks. “They demand retribution!”
Liam grabbed the boy and pulled him with the rest of the small group as they quickly made their way out of the forest. As his fellow wiccans made a break for the house Liam stood at the edge of the clearing. He watched as a thick black smoke began to exude from each of the bodies. He listened as several that were not entirely dead began to scream in agony as their contorted forms combusted from their insides out. In a matter or seconds each corpse was reduced to nothing more than a pile of dark ash; in that same instant the earth became still and the whispering sounds halted.
Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He put it to his lips and lit it with a single match. With a final glance into the clearing Liam allowed the match to fall silently to the ground. The un-extinguished match made quick work of the dry brushwood and grassland. Liam watched for a moment as the ritual area began to ignite before he turned his back and quickly ran through the undergrowth to catch up with his comrades.
***
Stalker walked for a while struggling with his large sack. He stopped and sat at the base of a large tree. "Bugger this." Stalker started unloading some of the heavier objects from the bag intending to leave them. "Ha! A dozen candles. What the hell possessed me to take th..."
At that moment directly before him a portal opened. Stalker quickly stood. The scene within the portal was of an old blue demon being mauled by some other wolf-like demons. The old demon reached out his hand, looking unfocused in Stalker’s direction. "GO NOW! Don't look back! Find a way to save our people from this wretched dimensio..." The old demon’s words were cut short by the fact that one of the other demons tore his throat out. The portal rippled and just as it seemed one of the wolf demons was going to jump through, the portal closed...
"Shit." Stalker looked around for any trace of what had been before him. "Guess I'd better tell someone about this." He gathered up his belongings and continued on his way.
As Stalker approached the road he saw a man standing beside his car with a mobile phone to his ear, speaking into it. "Yeah, there is smoke to the east. Maybe you should get a fire truck down here to put it out or something.."
*Smoke?* Stalker turned and looked. *Good, that'll cover our tracks.* He stepped out onto the verge of the road. "Tell them not to worry. It's a controlled burn - it'll go out soon."
The man looked startled, "Oh, ok." He spoke down the phone, "I'm sorry to waste your time. It's all under control apparently.. Ok.. Thank you. Bye."
Stalker walked over to the man and snapped his neck. "Borrowing your car! Is that all right? Just say nothing if that's all right!... Thank you." Stalker hid the body under a bush and left for Poplar Avenue.
***
Janus did a quick search of the room and uncovered the beeswax candles and the herbs she'd need. Janus prepared the circle by tracing its lines with the powdered ingredients, and placed the candles at the five points. Below she could hear the others arriving. Somehow she was sure they'd never look up here. She sat cross-legged at the northernmost point.
“Lihas ja Luu, Putki ja Kirja,
Kutsua takaisin retkeilijä kotiin.
Kääriä ja Taivas, juottaa ja Selvä,
Kannattavuus kristalli keskittyä jälleen.”
She chanted over and over. The circle glowed and nine rays of light streamed out like tentacles of electricity into the night.
***
Inanna walked over to the window and glanced out. She could see the remainder of their 'party' entering the vestibule and shuddered involuntarily as she laid eyes again upon Sorrow. Her hand casually rubbed at the two fresh puncture wound upon her throat. She turned back and wandered into the bedroom to check on Kate. She’d grown disconcertingly quiet, just staring into nothingness from the end of Tash's bed. Inanna laid a gentle hand upon her shoulder and Kate looked up.
"They're back," Inanna informed her quietly.
Victor carefully helped Sorrow navigate the front steps and the way to Tash's apartment. Tash walked behind, her stake still gripped firmly. She wasn’t going to be taking any more chances with him. At the first sign of black creeping into his aura, Sorrow would be on the ground. As they reached her apartment, Tash looked askance at her lock and grumbled about having to replace it again.
Inside, Inanna came from the direction of the bedroom as the others filed in. She watched as everyone shuffled back into the apartment. She felt sick. Only hours ago they had been assembled in this very same room. Now Lucien was dead. So much had changed. She looked warily at Sorrow as Jade lowered him down into a chair.
"How is he?" she asked. "Alive?"
Jade looked up at the terribly pale girl, then back at Sorrow. She stroked his cheek softly, "Yes, he's alive..."
"Pity," said Inanna shortly, before turning back to look out the window.
It took a while to run out of energy, but eventually Galen had reached the point where he was more dragging than carrying Lucien's body. He couldn't weigh any more than 200 pounds, but was starting to feel more like 400 at this point. As tempting as it was to just drop the body on the floor, he instead decided to ask where they wanted Luc taken. They directed him to the bedroom with the motorcycle in it.
Victor frowned at Inanna's snipe, "Is Kate in the bedroom?" he asked. Her curt nod answered Victor. He walked to the room and slipped inside, closing the door behind him. He knelt by the bedside and gently spoke, "Kate. Can you hear me? Are you awake?"
Kate looked up as Victor spoke although she remained silent.
Victor spoke slowly. She was drained physically and mentally. She had been tortured and suffered. But Victor knew that this was more important. "Kate, I have Luc's soul here with me. He refused to leave the dais and go on. So I have brought him here to you. He has something to tell you."
Kate continued to look through Victor until he took her hand and placed his over it. Inside his fist glowed a brilliant light, so pure and so bright. As Victor slowly uncupped his hand the glow of Luc's soul just seemed to rest in the palm of Kate's hand.
She held her hand out in front of her and gazed into the light. It seemed to sing with a peaceful resonance. Kate held it closer. This was him - this was Luc. Suddenly the glow rushed towards Kate. She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes tightly as the light entered her body, filling her with the same effulgent luminescence. A single tear rolled down her cheek; she could feel him inside, like he was a part of her own soul. Kate struggled to control her emotions but feeling him so close was almost too much for her to bear.
After a few minutes she could feel his essence slowly begin to leave, "Don't leave me…" she whispered desperately, “don’t leave me alone…”
* You are never alone, Catherine. I will always be here…waiting. But for now this is the way it must be.*
Kate bit her trembling lip in an attempt to suppress the floods of tears that threatened to overwhelm her. "But I don't want to live without you…. I can’t go on without you…."
*Yes you can, and you must. You have a gift and you must use it. As it once was, so shall it be again, it is your duty to protect the innocent from the forces of evil. Don’t let this drive you away from your calling… You have so much to give...so much love to give. This is not the end for you my love...*
Kate wept weakly; “I love you…” She could feel Luc was about to slip away.
*Love makes you strong, remember that… and this… I love you Catherine, forever.*
Kate whispered silently towards the heavens as the last remaining flicker of light left her body. She slumped against the wall, completely drained and immersed in her grief.
Victor patted her hand in an attempt to focus her back on the world of the living. "He wanted one last moment with you. So few ever get that chance. Treasure it and do not rush to join him. He will still be there when you finally reach the end of your journey." He stood silently, about to leave the room when Kate suddenly spoke.
“Victor..?” she croaked weakly.
“Yes? What is it?” enquired Victor softly.
Kate sighed as though she were releasing a thousand terrible burdens. “…Thank-you,” she finally whispered.
Victor nodded in acceptance and left the room.
As Victor re-entered the lounge room, Tash looked up from where she was sitting on the couch. Sorrow was seated in a chair, Jade kneeling beside him and bathing the burns on his face. Tash had been watching the proceedings dispassionately. She'd been feeling so much intense emotion lately, and her body was so battered, that she'd reached a point where it was difficult to feel anything at all. But Victor was emanating such an air of satisfaction and benevolence that it penetrated through her fog. Tash found herself smiling at him. He'd obviously done something good in there. She gestured behind him at the bedroom door, "Will she be all right?"
Victor replied, "She will be fine. She needs rest and some healing wouldn't hurt. Right now, though, she needs some time alone."
Galen closed the opposite door and looked at his bloodied hands, "I need to wash my hands and then I need a drink," he said in emotionless tones.
Tash looked at Galen in gratitude. She'd seen him struggle with Luc's body and was surprised that he went to so much trouble. *Maybe he feels guilty for hiding the location of the house from us...* She began to stand but winced sharply as her ribs grated. "Ow!" she gasped. Deciding to remain seated, she pointed. "The bathroom's through there."
“You aren’t injured too badly, are you?” Galen asked. Tash shook her head no, and he headed off to the bathroom. Five minutes later he had a feeling he knew how MacBeth felt. No matter how much he tried to rationalize killing his fellow human beings, his conscience always nagged at him. *Focus.*
After finishing, he glanced at the phone. It was a wall mount. While records of phone calls could easily be erased he did not like the idea of everyone overhearing his call – even in code. Since it looked like the worst was over, reporting to his superiors could wait another hour or two. What was the worst that could happen?
***
Matthias deeply regretted the deaths at the school. He would cry later for the children who died at the hands of those demons. He would not cry for the demons that died at the hands of the police. Their bullet ridden corpses would rot and burn and he would do nothing but laugh at them for even thinking that the LAPD was ill-equipped to deal with the supernatural. There were two ways to deal with supernatural threats. Destruction and violence were ways that, while dangerous and messy, were also effective. Innocents always suffered though. Oillill said a silent prayer to Saint Patrick for the children's souls and held back the tears as he skulked down the dirty street…another homeless man in LA.
Paul was in the crowd of rubber-neckers and grisly onlookers and was safely anonymous with his rage and disappointment. That damned elf had gotten away and Paul had no way to track him. A homeless man pushed past him and down the street. Paul had to resist the urge to beat him to death as a tonic for his frustration. Paul continued to stare at the lengths of police tape and into the schoolyard when an idea (or was it a thought) crossed his mind.
*The smell,* he thought. *There was no smell.* Paul knew the urine and sweat smell of homeless people well since he had to gather up food for the beasts in the Beazor all the time. It was distinctive, strong, and suspiciously missing from that homeless man…Paul whirled around and did not see the bum anywhere, but he ran down the street hoping to catch even a glimpse of him.
Oillill hunkered in the alleyway shaking. He could feel the awareness of the man as soon as he had passed. In his hurry to escape he had forgotten an important detail. Worse yet, he had forgotten it at an inopportune time. A quick glamour to appear as a trash can (complete with smell this time) helped him blend in.
Paul glanced down the alleyway and didn't see anyone, but at the back of his mind he knew that there was something wrong. A cardboard box. A dumpster. An overturned trash can, and several piles of debris in the dead end street all could be the trickster.
Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out his pistol. He affixed a silencer to the barrel and walked several steps into the narrow passage. With the police only a block away he would have to be quick. He checked the clip of iron rounds he had especially made only a day ago. A full load. He chambered a round and took aim at the box…
By the time Paul had exhausted most of his clip the only remaining item in the alleyway was the trashcan. To be honest, Paul suspected it shortly after he started but was hoping it would change into the fairy and try to run. He walked up to it and pointed his gun at the can. A rat crawled out of the mouth of the can and tried to escape, but Paul stomped on it spewing its innards on his shoe.
He looked down for just a second at the rat guts when Matthias rushed him. Matthias grabbed his wrist and pushed him against the alley wall. Matthias was stronger than most humans. Most. Paul pulled Matthias from a joint he didn't realize he had and threw him to the ground. He placed his rat-splattered foot on Matthias's chest and levelled the gun at this face with one hand while extracting the iron manacles with the other.
Six beams of electric blue light energized Paul from behind. They crawled over his body straining to reach Matthias at his feet. Paul's muscles jerked spasmodically in a macabre dance of pain. The six tendrils found their targets within Matthias' clothing. There was a terrific rending sound as Matthias' pockets, pouches and hiding places exploded with shards leaping up the light beams. Paul's body was battered from six directions at once as the shards flew like missiles to heed the faraway call.
Paul lay unconscious but his body was still twitching with the voltage he had absorbed. Matthias stood and quickly disposed of the iron manacles and gun. He surveyed his tattered clothing. He could make it look good as new, but the fact remained it wasn't covering anything like it did before. Matthias was a child of nature…but that wasn't natural.
Paul had been wearing a pair of Khaki shorts and a wrinkled Hawaiian shirt. *I could wear the shorts…but they don't match the jacket,* he thought looking at his now ruined velvet coat. He threw off the coat and felt the chill of the air on his back, now exposed through the tatters of his puffy shirt. Finally he succumbed to necessity and stole all of Paul's clothes. They didn't fit him at all. They were baggy and stank of desperate sweat. But they would do, and there was plenty of cash in the pockets.
Matthias walked back to the school and climbed behind the wheel of a police cruiser telling his fellow uniformed officers that he had a baby on the way and had to go. The officer waved to him as he sped off with sirens and lights blazing.
***
The darkness was slowly fading to grey. "Well it looks like the blindness isn't permanent." Somehow Sorrow imagined that that information hadn't cheered up many of the others. He ran his fingers over the makeshift bandage Jade had wrapped around his upper chest and tried to avoid the doorway in his mind that whispered promises of healing through blood.
"Inanna, I'm sorry about what happened..." Sorrow trailed off. Words didn't really cover it. But for Stalker's intervention Inanna would be dead right now and ‘sorry’ didn't cover almost killing someone.
Sorrow felt a sudden surge around them. "Is someone spell-casting?" He could feel the local energies being twisted; something was approaching and fast.
A shiver ran down Tash's spine; darkness seemed to be looming towards them. In the distance, she could hear a siren approaching. "I don't know," she said, "But I've got a bad feeling about this."
Stalker pulled up in front of the apartment building in his stolen car. He got out and ran inside, *May as well see how the rest are going.* He ran up the stairs and approached Tash's door then knocked loudly.
Talhu raced down the street on the motorcycle following the glowing energy that had streaked across the sky. He had been too slow to keep up with Tempest and Kate but this was the Rite of Gathering...he knew this sign and it meant he did not have much time. A siren whooped behind him, but he continued to race to his destination. He would not miss his opportunity this time. He skidded the bike to a halt in front of the building in time to see the entire third floor erupt into a shower of arcs and lights. *It’s not too late yet,* he thought.
Matthias recognised Talhu on the bike he was trying to get past on the narrow street. Finally he skidded to a halt in front of 1318 Poplar Avenue and left the car running and the door open as he raced up the stairs.
Tash eased herself into a standing position and opened the door. "Hi, 'Jake'," she said. As she widened the door, Matthias ran up the stairs and stopped, breathless, an overlarge Hawaiian shirt flapping around him. Tash barely had time to register this incongruity before Matthias spoke.
"It's now," he panted. "Here - upstairs!" Without stopping to see if anyone followed, Matthias pelted back to the stairs and took them three at a time, heading up.
Tash stood for a moment, stunned. She had never seen Matthias the least bit unruffled. She turned to face the room, dawning realisation showing on her face. "Oh..." she said.
A black fog rolled down Poplar Avenue. It was dark and ominous. Pets and old women died in its wake, and others who saw it coming fled just from the uneasiness it spawned. One bit of cloud thought to itself, *Tempest has not returned and yet I feel the energies of the Cloch Cosan. He must be opening it for his own purposes.* Another part of cloud was thinking, *Paul has not reported in. Shame he died in that school, he was very efficient at his job.*
Other bits were thinking other thoughts but they all rolled forward towards Poplar Avenue. The cloud pooled outside the building. It crept up the sides and stairways; it surrounded the building like a mythic mountaintop and seeped in like a corruption.
As the floor above blazed with eldritch energies, Sorrow tried to stand. *Right now would be a great time to be able to heal.* There was a great deal of energy overspill and had he been able to tap it at least one of his problems would have disappeared. Sorrow's vision was rapidly improving; he was now able to see at least blurry shapes.
Victor moved fast. Inside he could feel the chaos and energies. This was the worst of all the gatherings. Before he’d been outside...now he felt as if it were opening within his stomach. He started barking..."Inanna! Get Kate outside! Sorrow, move your ass and grab your sword! Tash! You, Jade and Galen get upstairs and see who's opening the Nether Arch! Jake! Follow me!” And Victor charged to the front door to try to stop every evil in thirty miles from converging on this spot.
Stalker yelled as he ran after Victor, "What the hell is going on, I thought we'd already killed all the bad guys?"
Tash gritted her teeth against the agony that lanced through her as she quickly checked her gun and asked Jade and Galen about weapons. Jade had a blood-encrusted dagger, but Galen was unarmed. She directed them to her weapons box. "Be quick," she urged. In moments the three were advancing up the stairs in Matthias' wake. To Tash it felt as though something were forcing her back - she had to push hard to maintain forward momentum. The pain was excruciating, but she did her best to ignore it.
Inanna rushed into the bedroom to get Kate. She half carried her into the stairwell just as everybody else appeared to be running upstairs to the third floor. Kate gripped the handrail tightly, not allowing Inanna to move her further. "Kate? What is it?" she asked curiously.
"It's her. She's still here..." Kate’s gaze followed Tash and co. as they launched up the stairs.
Inanna paused for a moment before grasping Kate tightly. “We have to get out of here, now!” she said firmly while leading Kate down the stairwell.
Talhu smashed the door with his foot and was promptly greeted by a magical barrier. He tested it twice...it was tough. Inside he saw Tempest sitting. He was stripped to the waist and tapirs of incense burned around him. Tempest was muttering in German, "Bind and call, bind them all, the energy of nine, brings energy to all, when nine come together, nine shall fall, bind and call, bind them all."
Talhu had no idea how Tempest could remember the Ritual of Binding, much less cast it, but without some way in he was impotent to leave this accursed plane. Matthias tapped on his shoulder. "Not invited?"
By the time Sorrow had reached the bottom of the stairs his vision was pretty much clear. He drew his sunlit blade and stepped out into the night. Above him clinging to the building were dozens of shadow figures and on the third floor he could hear the siren song of the shards whispering promises of power to any who would listen. Sorrow opened his senses and heard...nothing. The third floor barely existed to his hearing, its sound all but overwhelmed by the creatures that were seeking passage through it. Even the clarion call of the united shards was faint.
*We can help you, we can give you what you want,* the shards called to Stalker. *Huh, what the..? More friggin’ voices! Get the hell out of my head. I bloody hate it when voices come in uninvited.* Stalker shook his head trying to stop the voices.
Victor slammed the front door shut and held it desperately, looking at Sorrow and ‘Jake’ for ideas. He had not had time to think and this was a really bad plan. Black smoky evil seeped under and through the cracks around the door. A tall dark man formed in the foyer and stared at the trio. "Victor," he said, "It’s about time you faced facts. You cannot keep anything from us."
Soon the smoke was filling the hallway, the stairwell and the foyer as the creatures formed into a variety of dark and ominous shapes.
"He may not be able to, but I can," Stalker said as he unslung his crossbow and fired at the man. "Well, maybe not!" he said as the bolt passed straight through him.
Kain shoved Victor aside and began to beat him. Victor tensed to take the blows, but they glanced off his armor. Kain whispered in Victor's ear as he leaned in, "He's gone mad, Victor. As much as I hate to trust you it is up to you and your rotten friends to stop him. None of us want to go on a fool's mission to reclaim his glory but we are powerless to resist him. Stop him! I promise it will be worth your while."
Sorrow heard the demon's words and wondered. He searched his memory for something – anything - that would do what was necessary.
Victor could not believe what he was hearing. Kain and all of these demons were pawns in some mad leader's scheme. While Victor doubted he could do anything to affect the mind of a demon, much less a mad one, he knew that he must try.
Tash, Jade and Galen reached the third floor to see Talhu battering at the wall. "You bloody Fae! Always cheating! How dare you just walk through the wall?" The demon's voice was raised in a furious pitch. The door lay in a shattered heap in the hallway but a swirling barrier filled the doorway. Beyond, Tash could see Tempest sitting in the middle of a pentagram and Matthias standing with one arm outstretched.
“Bloody Tempest! Damn. Why couldn’t I sense his purpose? His mind seemed almost empty when he showed up here earlier. Goddamn!!” Tash railed at herself for being so blind. The signs had been there from the moment Tempest fought Victor. *We said then that he wanted the shards for himself.*
A frown crossed Tash’s features. To no one in particular she said, “But I thought only Janus knew the Rite of Binding? And we stopped the ritual – Tempest stopped … the ritual … Oh, God…”
Jade’s eyes widened as she understood what Tash was getting at. She looked in at Tempest. “That’s Janus?”
Galen’s mind was racing. Ritual of Binding? Janus? And then there was one of the demons he was told to look out for. He turned to Tash and Jade then said, “Just what is going on here? Don’t tell me it’s the apocalypse, either. The paperwork for one of those is terrible.”
Back downstairs, Victor shouted at Aetolus from where Kain was holding him, "Hey, do you really think you'll get away with this? Every demon within thirty miles is headed here now to take a piece of this great prize...which I can tell you from experience isn't so great. None of these losers and," he looked at Kain, "toadies want to go with you. It'll be awful lonely at the other end!"
Aetolus turned slightly to face Victor. "They have no choice. Kain, finish him off this time. I'll rest easier back on Beazor knowing he's not around." Kain grabbed Victor by the head and turned his neck around 180 degrees. Victor slumped to the floor, his head at a crazy angle.
Kate and Inanna stood together, a combined force of determination. Kate recognised these demons as the same that had been protecting the house at Pasadena. They stood, poised and ready to banish them back to whatever hellish dimension they could summon. Inanna held Kate’s hand tightly as they began to chant.
“We banish thee, we banish thee to the dark place! Hear us Osiris! We call upon thee…!”
Aetolus growled in anger, “Not this time!” he roared and with one swift movement he threw both of the witches out of the building and into the desolate street. Before they had time to pick themselves from the ground Aetolus pulled the front doors shut, sealing them with a dark, black energy that seemed to swim all around the exterior of the building.
*Of course!* Sorrow coaxed the power flowing upstairs to him. He wove a gossamer web of doubt and uncertainty through the minds of Aetolus' followers.
Aetolus waved a hand in annoyance. "We are wasting time! The energies are approaching their peak! Come! They are powerless to stop us!" The other demons looked around at each other. There was definite uncertainty. Kain was the first to move. He walked casually to the stairs to stand at Aetolus' side. Soon others strolled, shuffled, drifted and moseyed towards them and proceeded up the stairs at a reluctant pace.
Sorrow and Stalker dashed up the stairs leaving Victor behind. They could not help him. Stalker tipped his sword in a silent salute. That was all the time he could spare before rushing off. As they cleared the first landing Victor's head swivelled back into place and he rose to head up the stairs behind the demon army that was marching steadily to the third floor.
The three would-be saviours of mankind could do nothing but watch as Talhu continued to bash holes in the wall. In the interests of expediency Galen had tried to help, but Talhu had simply snarled wordlessly at him so he backed off. Now he stood with Tash and Jade to the side, waiting for the entry to be made.
Tash peered through the mystical barricade and wondered why Matthias didn't seem to be doing anything. He simply stood, his arm held in front of him while Tempest chanted apparently unconcerned by his presence. The nine crystals were arranged in a circle around Tempest and as his chant reached a crescendo they began to glow, becoming so bright they made Tash's eyes water.
Her skin prickled. Cold evil was coming up the stairs. She turned to see shadowy shapes drifting slowly upwards, led by one who was advancing faster than the rest. She swallowed. "Oh, God, they're the same as the one in that house."
She heard Jade's indrawn breath beside her. "What are they?" she asked.
Before Tash could reply she heard footsteps racing behind the demons. Sorrow and 'Jake' hove into view, overtaking the ethereal forms. Behind her, the steady rhythm of Talhu’s blows was punctuated by a grunt of triumph as he finally burst through the wall.
As Sorrow pounded up the stairs he felt the crystals call to the darkness in him.* Time to ride the tiger.* Sorrow faced the darkness within. It flowed into him and through him. As the need to kill screamed through his mind, as the desire to rip Tash to bloody shreds clawed its way up through his consciousness, Sorrow tried desperately to retain some measure of control. When he reached the final landing he had ripped the bandage from his chest and using the last of the stolen blood healed the wounds as best he could.
Tash tensed, an unreasoning fear rising within her. Malice and darkness were enveloping Sorrow, and a sudden image of her own bloody form burst into her mind. She shuddered, backing away a step from him. The hand clutching the stake grew slick with cold sweat. She’d never felt such fear when faced with a vampire except once… *Valerian…* Despite her unexpected terror, Tash stood her ground as Sorrow swept past her and through the gaping hole in the wall.
Stalker ran through the hole and saw someone he didn't recognise. He looked back to Sorrow. "Hey, is he a bad guy?" A nod was all he needed and Stalker grabbed the man, throwing him across the room.
After Talhu bulled his way through the ragged hole he'd made in the wall, several cloudy black shapes followed. Tash collected her wits as Stalker tackled Talhu. She called out to him, "Talhu - the demon's name is Talhu!" This earned her a glare from Talhu, and a startled look from Galen. Tash shrugged, "Well, I wasn't about to tell a stranger anything, was I? Especially since you weren't willing to say he was a demon."
"Well that's good. It's always nice to know a man’s name before you kill him," Stalker said back to Tash, unfortunately giving the demon enough time to propel Stalker back across the other side of the room with a well-placed fire bolt.
Galen glanced at Tash. True, he hadn’t been willing to say Talhu was a demon. Then again, he still didn’t know how far he could trust this group. “Right, and because most people think demons are real, any random person would be expected to believe that.” The sarcasm in his voice earned him a glare.
Jade had already dashed into the room after Sorrow. Tash followed with Galen. Tempest shouted out the final word of his incantation and the glow from the crystals gradually rose, slowly merging. Tash could see that soon it would form an arch. She'd seen this before, from the vision she'd had of the Paris opening. Her mind froze. *Fuck, we're too late!*
***
Down in the street Kate and Inanna could hear a multitude of terrible sounds emanating from within the building. They both pounded on the front door furiously but it wouldn’t budge.
“Oh god! We have to do something!” cried Inanna in desperation. She watched in fearful awe as the glow from the third floor grew brighter, permeating the darkness in the street like hellfire. Curious faces peered from windows all down the street, the light from the third floor casting a weird radiance onto the features of the onlookers.
Kate ran her hands across the building, just like she had done so many weeks earlier upon first visiting this place. “What we need is a door…”
***
Matthias stepped back to a corner of the room and with deliberate motion reached into a pocket in the oversized clothing and withdrew a slim tine of metal. He hummed to it softly and was rewarded with a vibration. He intoned a clear note and the tines of the fork resonated. As the note died he drew a breath and began to chant:
"Che cosa rilegato sfasciato.”
Sorrow heard the tone from the fork mesh with the song of the shards and realised Matthias' intention. As the shards combined to form the Arch a cold wind began to blow into the room. The candles around the circle flickered and went out. In the heart of the Arch darkness began to form. A darkness in which bright motes of light darted. The coloured motes flashed into the room and continued to weave patterns of light. Tempest stood before the Arch, hair blown back by the wind, arms raised in a fierce gesture and an ecstatic smile upon his face.
Stalker leapt across the room to stop Talhu who was trying to get to the Arch.
Matthias continued to chant:
”Per bagnare questo posto con il suono ed il tono puri,
Per produrre il milione da quello che è uno."
Talhu reached into his jacket and brought out a small dagger that he used on the hand of the man who was holding him back, severing all the fingers. As Talhu ran toward the Arch Stalker fumbled awkwardly with his crossbow but managed to load and fire it. "Yessss," he hissed in triumph as Talhu fell forward with a bolt protruding through his skull.
Aetolus marched in with his army behind him. They made a sombre procession through the ragged hole, widening it and expanding it to accommodate their various forms. They trod over the prone form of the demon at the threshold of the Arch. Kain bowed his head in resignation as he stepped into the eddying abyss. As Aetolus stood aside like a diabolic doorman to admit the rest of his army Matthias stepped forward. Aetolus must have sensed something was wrong because his aspect changed from that of a benevolent leader to a horrid face screaming at the fae. Matthias maintained his chant, but he could not make his body move the last few inches needed…
Tash was feeling lost. Talhu was taken care of. Tempest (or was it really Janus?) was unreachable through the fierce magics that surrounded him and the other demons she knew from bitter experience she could do nothing about. They filed through the Arch, ushered by their leader. That demon seemed to be staring intently at Matthias who was mere centimetres away. The wind tugged at her as she realised that Matthias was trapped. His arm was outstretched, straining to touch the edge of the Arch with the object in his hand.
The energy enveloping the circle in which the shards sat tingled and burned Tash’s nerve endings as she crossed that outer shell. Tash found herself moving forward until she was just behind Matthias and the Arch loomed before her, a swirling miasma of magic and terror. Matthias was still desperately mumbling his chant as he strove to take that last step, the vibrating fork held rigid in his hand. Tash grabbed his shoulders and pushed gently, propelling him forwards.
Talhu regained consciousness, "Shit, that hurts.* He crawled the rest of the way to the Arch just in time. His last thoughts as he disappeared into the portal were, *Anywhere but here. I need a vacation.*
The tips of the tines touched the edge of the Arch.
Galen had not been able to avoid becoming mentally lost in the action, especially when the army arrived and began to march through the portal. As the fork touched the Arch, he was overcome with a very familiar feeling of foreboding. “Oh crap.”
The noise of the shards exploding into a million pieces was mind buggering. No longer supported, the Nether Arch began to collapse in on itself. Time seemed to stop for everyone in the room as Tempest's memories flooded out from the shattered crystals. A split second of time stopped like a photograph.
The million shards were frozen like multi-coloured streaks of light emanating from the centre. Tempest’s memories flashed through everyone's minds like a videotape on impossible fast forward while the events in the loft unfolded as a series of stills, almost as if time itself were on a strobe.
Visions of Germany, his training, the death of his parents, the sword and the death of his grandfather accompanied the sight of Tempest's eyes clearing and his grin disappearing as he recognised Aetolus and the terrible things the demon had done to his mind.
Events in Tempest’s life as a mercenary reeled through the collected minds. Bloody conflict and violence punctuated the view of Tempest’s sword appearing and sliding through Aetolus' cranium.
The search for Tempest's parents’ killer and his encounter with Aetolus emphasised the tragedy of Tempest as Aetolus' pawn. In the loft, Aetolus attempted to change to an insubstantial form a fraction of a microsecond too late. Tempest shoved the sword and watched as Aetolus toppled and was sucked into the retreating portal carrying the sword with him.
Tempest's life in Russia flowed from the ever-expanding arc of crystal fragments. His encounter with Talhu, the explosion in Tunguska and the hunt that took decades ending in a draw made a bleak undercurrent to Janus and Tempest fighting for control of Tempest’s body. The light from their combined essence whirled and expanded around them.
Victor's appearance in Tempest's life first in New York and later in Paris was accompanied by his emergence at the ragged hole. Victor stood at the portal squinting at the impossible energies, helpless to stop any of the events unfolding in slow motion before them all.
Hot and sweaty sexual imagery of Janus and Tempest in Paris filled the minds of those who watched as the two essences broke free from Tempest's body and created a triad of energy and flesh.
Then the years of wandering through cites and the underworld, the times when he had nothing, the feelings of being lost and alone darkened everyone. The memories of arriving in LA synchronised with every one else's memories. The visions stopped. The sound stopped. The crystals were frozen in space and time. But all witnessed the essences of Tempest and Janus, unwilling to accept surrender and unwilling to pass on to oblivion rush at Tempest's body simultaneously.
Tempest's body exploded in an ectoplasmic spiritual critical mass as time rapidly resumed moving as normal. Matthias turned to shield Tash as needle sharp fragments of crystal exploded in all directions. Glass and wood exploded as hundreds of thousands of fragments perforated each wall of the third floor. Beams creaked and sagged as the structural integrity of the top level was reduced to Swiss cheese.
Victor grabbed Jade and pulled her through the hole while turning his armoured back to the hurtling fragments. Sorrow and Stalker hit the deck and covered their eyes from the flying death. Galen dove through the hole and rolled down the stairs. He'd be bruised but it was better than being ripped to shreds by flying crystal.
***
Kate and Inanna continued to chant the words that would open the doors and allow them to enter the building; “Fractum Ostium, Fractum Ostium.”
Tears of frustration ran down Inanna’s cheeks as the terrible screams and cries coming from within the building grew louder and louder. They had almost succeeded in their laborious task when an explosion the like of which neither had ever heard before rent the air and debris showered down from the building above.
Kate instinctively wrapped her arms across Inanna in protection. She looked up, shielding her eyes as best she could and gasped as she realised the entire top floor of 1318 Poplar Avenue had just disintegrated. At the same moment there was an audible ‘click’ and the front doors swung open.
Kate helped Inanna to her feet and together they stumbled towards the doorway. They had almost stepped foot inside when they were met by the limping form of Galen Eldridge as he emerged from the foyer.
He coughed painfully before speaking, “No, get out. After that explosion, there’s nothing we can do up there. We’ll know soon enough if they made it out in time.” With that he ushered the women out into the safety of the street, overriding their protests. “Trust me, it’s safer out here.”
Galen felt something strike him, probably a piece of the debris that was falling from the building. He fell down to his knees. “Okay, maybe it would be safer inside.” Then he fell over on his side, his final thoughts before losing consciousness being, *Not again.*
Epilogue - Awakening
The benign forces beneath Poplar rested, satisfied. They had drawn the elements necessary to this place and now the task was complete. The Cloch Cosan would no more trouble the dimensions.
But the other thing, the ancient and malevolent presence that even the mystic forces surrounding this place knew not about, had been slowing stirring. Vast power surged through the ether from above. Finally the primordial evil gradually began to grow aware of its surroundings once more….