The Dark Gifts Birthright

  “You’ve spoken of this internet before.” Gregorio’s eyebrows lifted causing deep wrinkles to form in his forehead.

  Jenna jumped up and pulled on Gregorio’s arm. “This is where we need to live.” She said handing him a new picture.

  Gregorio took the picture of a rudimentary castle perched on the side of a mountain. “Where have you seen this before Jenna?”

  “In my dreams. In my dreams, it says that we need to live in this place. The people that talk to me in my dreams say that we will be safe there.”

  “Jenna, who are the people that talk to you in your dreams?” Michael asked.

  “The people that told me we had to leave that place with the booms.”

  Liz’s eyes grew wide as her mouth fell open. “She told us we had to leave the fortress. She told us that we had to get away before the second blast was heard. She knew what was going to happen.”

  Loud voices carried through the room as everyone fought to be heard over each other. Athena jumped up. “I’m going to find Cass.”

  Liz walked to Jenna and kneeled on the floor. Her tiny hand quickly moved over the page leaving streaks of black and grey. “What are you making now, honey?” She asked the girl.

  “I am making a picture of the bad man.”

  “What bad man?”

  “The one that wants to kill us.” Jenna paused. “I don’t like drawing the man, but they said that its time to show you who he is because he is a very bad man, and he wants to hurt Mommy most!” Tears glistened in her beautiful brown eyes, and threatened to roll down her darling cherub cheeks.

  Liz reached over and pulled her close. “Shhh, it’s going to be okay. No one is going to hurt you or your Mommy.”

  Jenna wiped her eye with the palm of one hand, leaving dark smudges across her cheek. “I know, but it is scary.”

  Using the tail of her shirt, Liz wiped away the soiled area and patted the top of her head. Jenna smiled. Picking up a bright blue crayon, she began drawing another picture.

  ***

  Cass did not know the source of Jenna’s dreams or the voices she claimed to hear. She had entered the child’s mind thousands of times and had never encountered another presence, nor had the child ever spoken to her about the voices. Prophetic dreams were not common in humans, but they weren’t unheard of either. Most thought Jenna’s unlikely ability was due to her mastery of telepathy. When questioned about who they were, Jenna could tell them nothing. Only that she knew they were good, and that they loved her and wanted to protect her. Cass asked Jenna if there was anything else, like the dreams or voices that she had not yet told her about. Jenna couldn’t think of anything and then suddenly her face lit up.

  “There is one thing, Mommy. I had a prickle my first day here.”

  Cass looked shaken and asked, “What sort of prickle did you have darling?”

  “Oh, I had a big prickle that a ‘him’ was not who he said he was.” She said proudly. “But I couldn’t ever figure him. I tried and I tried, but I couldn’t get it.” Still keeping a smile on her face, Cass mentally shot out to the room “The traitor.”

  Jenna laughed and sweetly reminded her mother she could hear her. Cass laughed too and kissed the child on top of the head. Standing, she said to the others, “Everyone in the camp must come before this child to be judged. If the traitor is still among us she will know.”

  Jenna’s picture of the man showed them little. The most they could make out was that the man was a vampire, tall and thin, had no hair, and wore black. That wasn’t much to go on. Jenna was certain that the man in her picture was not the spy, but the one most deadly to them.

  . Cass placed Jenna on the floor. Her daughter retreated to her crayons and paper. Pacing back and forth, she stopped in front of the other council members. “I want you to send word and gather all the members of the covens. We are going to question them on an individual basis. They will swear allegiance to us.” She slammed her hand on the table. The sound reverberated through the room.

  “As you wish,” Tiberius replied and went to go make the necessary preparations.

  “I will get busy with Liz and attempt to find us suitable housing.” Gregorio said. Motioning to Liz to follow him he also left the room.

  “Michael, you and Callista collect some items for transfiguration. Antiques are best, especially swords and scabbards,” Cass said over her shoulder as she watched out the window. The camp had come to life outside and many were scuttling here and there on the new tasks the leaders had set before them.

  ***

  Callista took Michael to several of his safe houses by portal to acquire some of his most ancient pieces. Like most vampires, Michael had a soft spot for things that he had used in historical times. They had returned with several antique, sheathed swords, and a few vases and urns from his Roman Empire days.

  Those items were perfect things to sell on the open market. Even the large New York auction houses would jump at a chance to sell that kind of merchandise. They contacted a trusted art dealer who promptly sold their items. Within seven days, they had a vast amount of money at their disposal and were ready to purchase any property that was needed. The day after Gregorio received word that their items were sold and his account had been credited, a somber Jenna approached them.

  She entered the living room, tears flowing freely down her face. “It’s not safe here anymore. They said we have to leave. Something bad is coming, and we got two days to go to the new place.”

  “Do you know what the bad thing is, baby?” Asked Cass.

  Jenna collapsed in a flood of tears. Huddled on the floor and sobbing so hard that she could barely speak, she wailed, “I-I d-don’t l-like this game anymore. I-I want to go home. I don’t want to talk to them anymore! E-Ever since I told you about them no one will p-play with me. Everyone just wants me to talk about t-them!”

  Cass pulled Jenna into her lap saying, “Shhh. Everything will be just fine.” Her questioning eyes lifted to Liz’s concerned face.

  Liz shrugged. Her lips mouthed, “I don’t know.”

  “Could you?” Cass asked and attempted to hand the girl to Liz.

  “No, Mommy.” Jenna cried as she latched on to Cass with all her might.

  “Come on honey. You come with Aunt Liz and we’ll go have some playtime. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Babies?”

  “Anything you want.”

  “Okay, but I get to be the Mommy.”

  Jenna moved easily into her arms and they chatted all the way upstairs.

  Cass motioned for Angie to follow and began discussing the situation with the other leaders.

  Once they entered her room, it didn’t take long before Jenna was smiling and laughing again. Angie sat on the bed and began telling stories about her childhood.

  “Really, I’m not kidding. That bucket was stuck so tight on my foot that I couldn’t do anything but try to break it off!” Angie made a kicking movement with her foot sending Jenna into a fit of giggles.

  The fit ended almost as quickly as it began. Jenna’s face went slack. Her eyes became vacant and empty. Her face showed no emotion at all as she spoke. “You must flee. The time for waiting is no more. They are upon you, make haste!” The voice coming out of her sounded nothing like the darling girl they knew.

  Angie started and brought her hand to her mouth, covering her lips.

  Liz grabbed Jenna and shook her. “Jenna!”

  The little girl’s head nodded back and forth as if she were a rag doll.

  “Get Cass. Now.” Liz ordered.

  Angie nearly flew in her haste to find Cass.

  Slowly, Jenna’s head turned and she focused on Liz with her dead eyes. “Do you not hear me child, I said run!”

  She blinked, and Jenna was back as if nothing had happened, laughing right where she had left off. Seeing the look of horror on Liz’s face, confused her.

  “What’s wrong?”

/>   “Don’t you remember what you just said?”

  “I didn’t say anything at all! Angie was talking about the bucket on her foot, and I was laughing.”

  It was Liz’s turn to run. She met Cass and Angie on their way up the stairs. Cass took her child and ran out of the house, Angie and Liz followed close behind.

  Cass screamed as she ran, “Run! Make portals. Leave now. Everyone fly, we will find each other later.”

  She created a portal and was through in a flash. The girls barely had time to follow her. Just as they stepped into the portal, they heard shouting coming from the camp behind.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Finding the Lost

  As they stepped through the portal, pain began to register. Both Liz and Angie, fearing for Jenna, had followed Cass right out into the sunlight. Thankfully, the portal reopened in a dark, cold place. The chilled air felt like heaven to their wounded smoldering skin. Cass’ footsteps gradually faded down the hall in front of them.

  “Cass, stop!” Liz called out. But the sound of running dwindled until it was gone completely.

  Angie leaned against the cold stone wall and gasped for air.

  “You okay?” Liz asked.

  “I’m getting there. The pain is receding. I’m glad we just ate.” Angie managed a weak smile.

  “Where are we, do you know?”

  Angie straightened and looked around. “None of this looks familiar. It’s not the fortress.”

  Liz ran her hand down the icy stone. “It’s dry and cold. Real cold. We must be underground.”

  “Umm Liz, we need to find our fearless leader.”

  “Shhh. Do you hear that?” Liz asked.

  Both girls listened quietly. A light skittering sound could be heard in the distance. They looked at each other and grimaced.

  “Rats,” they said in unison.

  “Ewww. I hate rats,” Angie said as her nose wrinkled.

  “What’s that smell?”

  Angie closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose. Her eyes snapped open. “Death,” she whispered.

  Their heads began to vibrate with a strange thrumming sound. The two friends looked at each other in amazement. Liz grabbed Angie’s arm. “Do you feel that? I don’t think we are alone.”

  “Of course we’re not, Cass is here too.” Angie replied.

  Liz put her hand up to silence her. “I don’t think we should be speaking out loud. Something’s not right with this place. I don‘t know what it is, but I can feel this…presence.”

  Angie closed her eyes and let her mind stretch to encompass the surrounding area. “This isn’t good. Evil dwells here.” Eyes wide with fear, she raised her hand and pointed in the direction Cass' footfalls had taken. “It’s that way.”

  “Shit.”

  “We better get moving. We need to find her before whatever-that-is, does.”

  “I don’t think she's thinking clearly at this point.” Liz replied.

  “Liz, whatever it is, it’s neither vampire nor human.”

  “It feels very...old.” Liz put her hand out to stop the girl from further conversation, and with a quick shake of her head, let Angie know that she shouldn’t communicate anymore.

  They stood silent for a few more seconds, listening to the sounds around them, trying to locate Cass and Jenna. Liz was worried about Michael and the others. The shouting they heard as they entered the portal didn’t make sense to her. She had no idea if the camp was being attacked or what was happening. She had to find Cass, or they both would be trapped in this place. Cautiously, the girls headed down the hall.

  The structure seemed enormous. The hall was so wide seven grown men could walk side by side. Coupled with the high vaulted ceiling made of large stone blocks, the space seemed more like a never ending room than a corridor. They passed door after door, checking a few as they passed. Most were locked, but some opened into large rooms. They found living quarters and empty storerooms, all encased in darkness. As they moved further down the hall, a feeling of dread began to wrap around them.

  Several minutes passed before they finally reached the end and found a spiraling stairwell. They could go up or down, but they had no clue which direction to go. Liz stretched out her mind and probed the building around her, feeling out each space she encountered.

  Angie gasped and grabbed Liz’s arm. “Jenna says they are in the bottom place. She says someone is with them and she is afraid. Her mother is not speaking and she cannot enter her mind.”

  “Down it is then.”

  “I think we’d better hurry.”

  The girls bolted down the wide stone stairwell. There was no sound of their passing. They moved like ghosts, nearly floating as they ran. As they continued, the stench that had been faint all those levels above, became over powering. The presence was stronger down here as well. When they finally reached the last level, both girls stopped. Liz pulled on Angie’s sleeve touching her finger to her mouth.

  Angie nodded.

  A pervading sense of evil blanketed the air. It moved in waves from the end of the hall. They tiptoed the remaining steps to an open doorway at the far end of the hall, and stopped again. The odor was even thicker there, and so pungent they could almost taste it. Sneaking in, they melted into the shadows.

  A dim flicker came from a small fireplace across the room, casting eerie shadows that seemed to leap and dance along the walls. Liz looked around, wishing she had taken the time to find some sort of weapon. She was an able fighter, but that did her little good without something to fight with.

  Her back to the door, Cass stood transfixed.

  Jenna looked over her mother’s shoulder, eyes wide, and mouth trembling. The child moved her head ever so slightly to the left.

  Liz craned her neck trying to see around one of the large columns that blocked her view. It was impossible. She would have to move to another position to find this new adversary. Taking a few moments to pull herself together, Liz decided that an open approach would be a bad idea. Whoever or whatever this was, it was dominant enough to mesmerize the most powerful vampire she knew, she would need the element of surprise if she were going to be able to help Jenna and her mother.

  ***

  Chaos erupted inside the house. The shouting the girls had heard as they stepped into the portal had been Michael and the others. But there was no attack, just the shock of seeing the girls run out the door into the sunlight after Cass.

  “That woman is going to get us all killed.” Michael growled as he paced back and forth across the small kitchen.

  “She hasn’t seemed right since she returned.” Athena sat stiffly in a chair. Her eyes vacant as she tried to create a link to Cass.

  “The sleeping have awakened. Minerva has her witches ready to move everyone as soon as needed.” Gregorio leaned forward placing his hands against the table, watching Athena. “Any luck?”

  “Nothing. Her mind is closed to me.”

  Michael kicked at a chair, sending it flying into a wall. “Damn.”

  “Enough.” Gregorio’s voice boomed. “Control yourself, son. Think with your head not emotion. Where is she? Find her.”

  “I can’t. It’s just darkness. It’s like she has vanished from the planet,” Michael answered his face red with embarrassment.

  The front door slammed and within seconds a breathless Callista stood before them. “They are in Slovenia.”

  “What?” Michael and Athena asked in unison.

  Gregorio folded his arms across his chest. “What are they doing there?”

  “We have no clue. All that I can tell you for certain is that Liz and Angie are in Slovenia and a great evil encompasses them.” Callista shrugged. Walking up to Michael, she placed her hand on his arm. “It’s ancient. Older than anything we have encountered before. We need to get to them quickly.”

  Michael wanted to leave immediately. Gregorio would have none of that. There was still the matter of the attack coming in two d
ays. Jenna had not been wrong yet about her feelings, and there were too many there that needed to be taken to safety. Michael was livid. He and Gregorio faced off and argued for several minutes over it. It was Athena that finally changed Gregorio’s mind. If they lost Cass to whatever evil this was, the war against the renegades would be over. There was no winning without her power.

  The group decided that Athena, Michael, Callista and several heavily-armed vampires would go after them. The others could stay behind and make the travel preparations. Which caused another argument. Gregorio didn’t want Athena going with the rescuers. Stating she was much too important to risk losing her as well. He ranted and raved for several minutes before finally deciding to go himself. Michael didn’t want Gregorio going either, he was needed at the camp. When it was all said and done, fifteen vampires and three witches had been selected to aid in the rescue attempt. The missing had been gone for just over an hour when the portals were opened and the chosen stepped through.

  ***

  The girls managed to slip further into the great open room without being noticed. The pillars hindering their view made it easy to move unnoticed. Hidden behind these columns, quiet as death, they crept between them until they could see their opponent.

  It was difficult to tell if it was male or female. It appeared to be a great pile of stinking, oozing flesh. It’s stringy, greasy hair drooped over the rotting pile of tumorous blubber and hung to the floor. Set into the engorged face was a saggy mouth and two drooping eyes. In the fire light its’ eyes were completely black, like great empty windows that had never held light. They could make out nothing discernibly human about it. A giant sheet of filthy, tattered, purple satin covered its offensive body, leaving just the stubs of giant tree-like legs sticking out at the bottom.

  The visible parts of its body were covered in stench-filled pustules. As it sat there, they would break and pop. Puss oozed down the body of the massive thing leaving a fresh trail of goo on the grimy sheet, only to close and fill again. As if the thing was fighting off some horrid disease, but not quite winning the battle.

  Its eyes remained focused on Cass and Jenna. Occasionally, the face registered a slight change as if it were in a mental conversation with them. A great claw-like hand lifted. Absurdly long talons that might have once been fingers motioned for Cass to come closer. Her feet stayed planted, but her body swayed forward as if pulled by strings.