“Dravon are you going to be okay? You can't die on me.”
“Yes Em, please answer my question. Your Gran is taking good care of me, and it is almost time for my next dose of medicine then I won't be able to communicate for a little bit.”
“The Keeper's name is Bethany, the Protector's name is Steven, then of course the Soulmate is supposed to be Jasper, and the Healer's name is Haven. Haven is not a pixie or fae. She is a witch, and Bethany is worried if that will work in the ceremony. She reassures the others that it will though.”
I can't handle talking to her anymore. I quickly put up the telepathic wall, so that she won't know how much pain I am truly in. I relay the information to James so he can do the same with Molly, Grayson, and Ren. I am once again screaming in pain so James gives me my next does of twenty five drops, and the pain starts to decrease slightly.
Chapter Thirty Two
James
I give Dravon his next dose and pick up my cell phone to send a mass text to Molly, Ren and my dad. This is major news. The more Emmaline learns and relays to us the more information we have to use.
James: Emmaline's telepathy gift has manifested itself, further. She was able to hear my thoughts at the Ceremony and Sadie's thoughts, now. Em and Sadie have decided to play it off as if Em is still in a lot of pain so that they won't figure out that Sadie can already heal her to an extent. They thought she was still asleep while she was communicating with Dravon. She heard them talking, and all she could tell him was that they are in the woods, in a cabin that is hidden, and that it is 30 minutes from the center of town. She smelled maple trees. She was able to tell him that Jasper seems to be the boss. Kaleb seems to be second in command. There are maybe nine other vampires. They have a wolf, two witches, and a witch coven coming in to help with the Ceremony in less than 48 hours. They are going to wait until Dravon's blood is no longer in her body, and then they are going to reverse the binding that Ella and Molly did. Then they will proceed with doing their own. If they succeed in binding her to their Keeper, Soulmate, Protector, and Healer; she won't be able to become the Chosen. She was able to tell use the names of the four. The Keeper's name is Bethany, the Protector's name is Steven, then of course the Soulmate is Jasper, and the Healer's name is Haven. Haven is not a pixie or fae. She is a witch, and Em says Bethany is worried if that will work in the ceremony. She reassures the others that it will.
Molly: K. Thank you James. Aryanna is with me. Please make sure that you let the others know. How's Dravon?
James: About the same. I'll keep you posted, and I will let them know.
Molly: K. Love.
Grayson: K. The pack and I will be there soon, son. We will do some research in the pack history book, and see what we can find out about a Steven. Please let the others know that Jameson is with us. See if you can find out a last name.
James: K. Will do. See you when you get here, Dad. I'll keep you posted.
Ren: K. I have some info on Jasper. Asher, Chloe, Seraphina are with me so please let the others know. How is my son?
James: I will let them know Molly has Aryanna, Dad has Jameson. They are on their way. Dravon is resting, and as good as can be expected.
James: Dad, Molly has Aryanna; Ren has Asher, Chloe, and Seraphina with him. They are on their way.
James: Molly, Dad has Jameson, Ren has Asher, Chloe, and Seraphina with him. Everyone is on their way.
Once everyone is texted, I go back to take care of Dravon, and to wait for everyone's arrival. I hope that we can come up with a plan soon. I want Emmaline and Sadie back safely. I have loved Sadie for a long time and have found out now that I am to be bound to her for life. I couldn't be happier. I would actually be on cloud nine if it weren't for the fact that she is in danger. We must hurry and devise a plan to rescue the two most important women of my life.
Chapter Thirty Three
Molly
I arrive at our other cabin, Ella's cabin that we always used as a safe haven. No one but our coven knows this cabin exists. I knew that everyone would be safe here. I am almost brought to my knees by the sight of the cabin for I had a lot of wonderful years here with my best friend. She was more like a sister to me than just a friend. I can't remember a day we haven't spoken to each other since we were twelve. The realization that I will never speak to her again dawns on me, and I can't hold back the tears that have threatened to spill over for the past few hours.
I have to allow myself to grieve, but I can't get hysterical. Emmaline needs me, but there will be time for pain. It is said that time heals all wounds, but I don't think a million years will come close to healing this wound. I remember the love we shared for poetry. I particularly remember two poems we read and loved a long time ago, and we used to read them at every birthday that we celebrated together. That was every year because we never missed celebrating a birthday together. I recite them in my head.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep by Robert Frost
Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend by Albert Camus
I remain in my car sobbing and basking in the emotional roller coaster I am on when the front door opens. Jordan appears at the door, and I can see from the car that she has spent hours doing exactly what I am doing at this minute. Her eyes are red and puffy, her face red and splotchy, and her shoulders have a slump to them I have never seen. It was rumored that she and Johen had been talking about The First Rite of Hand fasting. They had been courting for seven months, but according to the tradition once The First Rite of Hand fasting takes places it is for a year and a day or as long as love shall stay under the condition that they will be legally joined at The Second Rite of Hand fasting. According to Wiccan religion The First Rite of Hand fasting is a marriage itself, but it is not until the Second Rite of Hand fasting that it becomes legally binding.
I know that she is devastated, and she has every right to be. I am devastated. Hell, we are all devastated. We shall put our dead to rest tonight with a proper burial.
I will conduct the funeral ceremony. We don't have hardly anyone left to serve as ushers. Jordan already has the ritual space cleared of furniture. Our fallen friend's bodies are laid out on separate altars.
The Coven is mourning, and you can see the grief written all over their faces. They wait at the outside edges of the ritual space where the altars are located. Jordan has prepared the ritual space fully, and I just need to recite the ritual prayer.
I walk over to Sara's altar, and lean over kissing her forehead.
"Beloved one, we thank you for your gifts and guidance as an Elder, although you are dead, your journey doesn't end,
You're not alone, The Goddesses and we are with you,
The beloved that have gone before await you.
May you pass from love into love,
And carry with you only love.
Let your love shine and open the way.
Peace be with you as yet another journey for you begins," I say with tears leaking from my eyes, and approach Johen's altar kissing him on the forehead.
"Beloved one, we thank you for your leadership and guidance as an Elder, although you are dead, your journey doesn't end,
You're not alone, The Goddesses and we are with you,
The beloved that have gone before await you.
May you pass from love into love,
And carry with you only love.
Let your love shine and open the way.
Peace be with you as yet another journey for you begins," I repeat and more tears flow as I approach Derek's altar, and again I kiss his forehead. I repeat the incantation.
The tears are coming quicker now because I only have one more prayer to say and I don't know if I can manage it. I approach Ella's altar but my footsteps falter, and Jordan starts towards me. I hold up my hand letting her know that I am okay. I lean over and kiss Ella on the forehead, and my tears
soak her hair. I whisper so only she can hear. "I will miss you my dear friend, I will never forget you, and I will always honor you." I get myself under control as much as I can and begin the prayer.
"Beloved one, we thank you for your dedication, leadership, kindness, direction, and never ending love as our friend, Elder, and High Priestess.
Although you are dead, your journey doesn't end,
You're not alone, The Goddesses and we are with you,
The beloved that have gone before await you.
May you pass from love into love,
And carry with you only love.
Let your love shine and open the way.
Peace be with you as yet another journey for you begins." I break at the end of this prayer, and hit the ground next to the altar on my knees and sob. Jordan does come to me now, and I let her. She hugs me and her tears mix with mine as we kneel on the ground, and the sobs we can no longer hold back rack our bodies. The Coven is quiet because we are all so overcome with grief. I can hear their muted cries as I mourn my friends. My anger for the senseless violence mixed with my grief gives me enough courage to get back on my feet. I pull Jordan up with me and give her nod to thank her. It is time to finish this burial, and let my friends rest in peace.
"Now that the prayers have been said I invite you to come say farewell to the fallen. You can give words of encouragement for their journey ahead, or just simply kiss their foreheads. If you choose to just stand quietly that is acceptable also," I say inviting the coven to say their goodbyes.
After everyone has said their farewells, we begin wrapping the bodies. I wrap Ella's, Jordan wraps Sara's, Jerilynn wraps Johen's, and David wraps Derek's, in white cloth to allow the bodies to decompose as naturally and quickly as possible to provide nourishment for other life. The candles at the end of their altars are lit. We then carry our fallen friends to the freshly dug graves, depositing them in the wooden boxes that have been carved for such rituals. We lower them into the ground to accompany the rest of our dead Coven members. Ella wanted us to have our own place to worship and to bury our dead. She wanted us to feel as if they were never far from us.
"My granddaughter and your Chosen have been taken. We can only allow ourselves a little time to grieve just now, but we will grieve for our friends properly. I need your help now. Can we pull together as a Coven, as friends, and as people with a common enemy?" I ask, and I know I am asking a lot of my coven right now. The truth is I need their help, support, and the closeness only my coven can provide.
"We will stand with you, fight with you, conquer with you, and if it is destined to be we will fall with you," they say in unison.
I am overcome with tears once more at the dedication and friendship I have within my coven. "Jordan did you prepare the potion?"
"Yes, as soon as I got your text. I prepared two bottles just in case we needed more."
I am alerted by a chirp, but before I look at my text I recognize Aryanna walking towards us. How does she know about this place? We will ask questions later. I am just elated to see her.
"I hear that we need to save our girl and that a witch needs her ass kicked," she says with a slight smirk. She looks deadly serious about helping us, but I think that she just wants to lighten the mood. We are all so melancholy, and we are grieving.
"Yeah, an ass kicked and a throat punched," I say somewhat enjoying this light banter.
"Then let's kick some ass, take names, give out some throat punches, and get our girls back," she says.
I can see slight smiles on my Coven's faces, even in this time of loss. I finally read my text.
James: Emmaline's telepathy gift has manifested itself, further. She was able to hear my thoughts at the Ceremony and Sadie's thoughts, now. Em and Sadie have decided to play it off as if Em is still in a lot of pain so that they won't figure out that Sadie can already heal her to an extent. They thought she was still asleep while she was communicating with Dravon. She heard them talking, and all she could tell him was that they are in the woods, in a cabin that is hidden, and that it is 30 minutes from the center of town. She smelled maple trees. She was able to tell him that Jasper seems to be the boss. Kaleb seems to be second in command. There are maybe nine other vampires. They have a wolf, two witches, and a witch coven coming in to help with the Ceremony in less than 48 hours. They are going to wait until Dravon's blood is no longer in her body, and then they are going to reverse the binding that Ella and Molly did. Then they will proceed with doing their own. If they succeed in binding her to their Keeper, Soulmate, Protector, and Healer; she won't be able to become the Chosen. She was able to tell use the names of the four. The Keeper's name is Bethany, the Protector's name is Steven, then of course the Soulmate is Jasper, and the Healer's name is Haven. Haven is not a pixie or fae. She is a witch, and Em says Bethany is worried if that will work in the ceremony. She reassures the others that it will.
Molly: K. Thank you James. Aryanna is with me. Please make sure that you let the others know. How's Dravon?
James: About the same. I'll keep you posted, and I will let them know.
Molly: K. Love. I'm on my way.
Chapter Thirty Four
Emmaline
Exhaustion is setting in fast. I have fought against the meds all I can, and I have told Dravon everything at this point. He is in agony, and my Gran is giving him a potion to stop the pain. I wished there was something I could do to make him feel better. What was I thinking? I should have never bound my life to someone else's. How dumb was I? What if he dies because of me? I couldn't live with myself if that happened. Maybe it is a good thing if I let Dravon's blood get out of my system. What am I thinking? If I do that then I won't become the Chosen and we all die.
The quote from one of the Spiderman movies pops into my mind, and I can remember reading the Marvel comics. When Uncle Ben tells Peter to, "Remember, with great power comes great responsibility".
I know this seems to be a funny thing to remember at a time like this, but for some reason, perhaps destiny, it came to my mind. It rings true. The Goddesses gave me my magical gifts which hold great power, and it's my responsibility to use them for good. I won't let Dravon or Sadie die.
"Sadie, are you hurt?"
"Not physically anymore."
"I know that this has been very traumatic Sadie. We will get out of this alive. I promise you. What do you mean not physically anymore?"
"Whatever potion that the healer gave me has taken the pain away. I think I am still bruised and battered, but as you said the emotional trauma is way worse."
"I love you Sadie. We have friends that love you. We will get through all of this together. I've spoken to Dravon."
And with those last words we fall silent again. I pray that my words and promises don't become broken. I pray that they will find us, and save us before it's too late.
“Dravon, how's everything there going? Do you guys have a plan?”
“Yes, Emmaline we have a plan, and things are going okay here. How are you and Sadie holding up?”
“As well as can be expected, but the elixir is making me exhausted. Sadie is broken. She says her physical wounds don't hurt. They gave her something that took the physical pain away. I don't know what she had to endure before I got here, but she's not the same. She is so quiet, Dravon.”
“I am sure that she is just still in shock. Baby girl, all you can do for her is comfort her at this point. Your Gran is on her way here with the coven and Aryanna. Grayson is on his way with his pack and Jameson. Ren is on his way with Asher, Seraphina, and your grandmother Chloe. We have powerful reinforcements on their way. Ren has some information on Jasper. Grayson and his pack are doing research on Steven. Your Gran has information on Bethany. We have all this to our advantage. It won't be long now, before we figure out where you are being held. Please just hang tight. I love you!”
“Love you, too! Please tell James I love him; and don't snarl, Dravon. Tell him that Sadie is really going to need him when we get
out of this place. She admitted to being head over heels in love with him even before I told her about them being soulmates. I know he has also felt this way about her for a long time.”
“I will pass along the information. I have to go now babe. It is time for another dose.”
“Dravon, I’m sorry this is happening to you, because of me.”
“Em, I will never be sorry that I am bound to you. If someone said I could live pain-free without you, I would tell them no, and live through this pain every day of my life if it meant that I get to spend those days with you. Please never regret that you are bound to me.”
“I have to be honest, I was regretting it at first thinking that you wouldn't be in pain if it wasn't for me, but then I thought about that saying from Spiderman in the Marvel comics … ‘Remember, with great power, comes great responsibility’. Uncle Ben said that to Peter. I know this sounds crazy but it made me realize that the pain you are experiencing and the pain I was experiencing is all worth it. I have the power to save the supernatural race. So that gives me the responsibility to do whatever it takes.”
“That’s a great way to look at things, babe. Stay positive. I must go now.”
And again I am shut out completely, with those last thoughts. I know Dravon is in more pain than he is letting on. He has to be or he wouldn't be blocking me out completely. I am saddened by this, but I reassure myself there is nothing I can do but play the waiting game.
It has been quiet here and that can only mean one thing in my mind, they are devising a plan of attack in case anyone tries to rescue us. I think they know that it's only a matter of time and the clock is ticking. Time is running out for them. I am so exhausted, but I smile with that last thought, as I finally drift off to sleep.
Chapter Thirty Five
Dravon
I have to say goodbye to Emmaline too soon. The pain is getting worse, and the hunger is becoming overwhelming. I am afraid I may need to rip into anything with a heartbeat soon. That would be devastating to Ren and to me. I would die because it's not Em's blood. Ren would be upset, because we never use violence to feed. I can't control the screams that escape my mouth no matter how hard I try. The pain is just too much, and sometimes sobs accompany the screams that escape me betraying my body and nature.