Ancient Fire

by Judi Calhoun

The distant music played on, weaving like satin ribbon within the shadows of my dreams. When I recognized the coarse male voice singing House of the Rising Sun, my eyes shot open. My cell phone!

  My fingers pushed the talk button. “Hey?”

  “You never called me back last night. Is everything alright?” Jake asked softly.

  A wave of panic shot through me. “I…I’m so sorry,” I said. “There’s a reason. A good reason…I…I just can’t talk about it right now.” I really wanted to say that being with Rick Steel reminded me of just how miserable I was without him.

  Except for his breathing, there was painful silence. Perhaps he already knew about Rick, and perhaps he was upset, hurt, confused… fill in the blank.

  “Jake?” I asked, fear creeping into my mind.

  “I want to see you,” he said finally. “What’re your plans today?”

  “I’m taking Peter to visit my dad,” I said. “Do you want to come? Peter wants to meet you. We could have some fun, afterwards.”

  “I’ve got a game in an hour. I was hoping you could watch me play, but you already have plans...”

  “No. It’s okay. I will cancel. Peter won’t mind.”

  “Go,” he said. “There’ll be other games; it’s not like today’s our playoffs. You should visit your dad’s grave. We’ll hook up tonight.”

  “Jake, are you mad at me?”

  “Never happen,” he said. “See you at seven.”

  I hadn’t really asked Jake to define our relationship. Are we a couple? I glanced at my calendar. We had been out every Wednesday night and every weekend since September 7th. There was gossip; it still didn’t feel as if we were exclusive. Gabby said she heard from Amanda, who heard it from Cindy, that Jake told Steve Hays that I was his girlfriend. So does that mean last night I just cheated on Jake?

  I glanced over at Peter as I drove to the cemetery. Finally, I had the advantage; other than, him jumping out of a moving car, he could not escape my questions. “So, what’s up with your crazy animal eyes?

  He flashed me a smile and laid his arm on the back of my seat. “It’s called night vision. I’m not an animal.”

  “Most people have normal vision,” I reminded him.

  “No, most people don’t...in fact there are more people with eyesight problems than you may think. In the United States alone, 75% of adults have vision problems and over 64% wear corrective lenses. I can give you the figures for near-sighted and far-sighted, but I’m guessing you don’t want to hear it.”

  He was maddening. “You happen to be very annoying.”

  “So I’ve been told,” he smiled.

  “I’m never going to get a straight answer from you, am I?”

  As usual, he didn’t answer, just grinned.

  The morning air was clear and slightly cool, yet the sunshine warmed up the skin on my left arm as I maneuvered mom’s Jeep through the gate around the winding roads that led to dad’s grave. Cemeteries are peaceful. Yeah, I get that, yet today something seemed off and perhaps a little too quiet for my comfort.

  I pulled underneath a hefty branch of a maple tree dense with autumn leaves. As we exited the Jeep, I gestured toward the largest stone in the back row. I walked past Peter, and ran my fingers over the coarse granite. Hi dad.

  For more than a few moments my gaze was drawn to Peter. He stood very still, his eyes locked on the sky, instead of dad’s grave. Suddenly his head snapped left then right. It sort of frightened me. “Peter?”

  “They’re coming!” He said as if in a hypnotic trance. “No, I’m wrong. They’re here right now.”

  Before I could ask him who was coming, the ground opened up in front of us… demons surged from the graves in dramatic style. It was as if they’d been sleeping with the dead, waiting for the right moment. They were visible… wanting us to see them.

  Storm clouds blackened the sky. Night fell in the middle of the day. Of course, darkness was the only kind of daylight demons could stand.

  As my clothes shifted, I glanced at my cousin and gasped, nearly stumbling. Peter was gloriously dressed in full black leather armor…spikes ran up and down both arms and shoulders. He held onto a long, thin blade resembling a Viking sword. He was busy shoving it into the guts of a vampire demon. My cousin was a Slayer!

  I’d deal with him later; right now I had my hands full, cutting up demons. Why were they here? My question was quickly answered. A blue Chevy Malibu pulled over in front of mom’s Jeep. The family headed toward a new grave. One of them was the target.

  A vampire flew, launching himself at the family. The demon sunk his teeth into the man, pushing him down and draining his blood. The wife started to scream.

  With a quick movement, Peter jumped on his back, sending the vampire tumbling forward over the man’s body in a somersault. In a flash Peter was up, driving his sword into the demon’s heart.

  The girl had open vision. I knew it. Few creatures can remain hidden from the guiltless eyes of children. The shadows that adults ignorantly disregard, kids clearly see. The wispy blond child around five years old was pointing at the demon and yelling “Monster.”

  Blood covered the man’s neck and chest. The wife watched helplessly as her husband suffered from the attack of another demon, invisible to her eyes. It was obvious who their target was… the dad. I had no idea how many were here. Every time we killed one, another would materialize directly in front of him, always him.

  I glanced at Peter on his knees, searching for his blade, a skinny Vamp right behind him. Oh, Lord, no. “PETER!”

  I took off running to help when something grabbed me. I staggered backwards, struggling to free myself from the skeletal fingers that had my wrist. I jerked free, ripping my shield open to block him. A dark blur slammed hard into the metal with a loud series of rings, sending a shower of sparks from claws sharp.

  This familiar demonic ballet we performed over my father’s grave was just too painful a reminder of his death. I was in agony missing him and I desperately wanted to help the girl save her father.

  Peter had his weapon now. Thank God! He was making another Vampires life miserable. They both lost their balance, and went rolling, growling, biting, and hitting-- down the small embankment, where they landed near the wall of a tomb.

  The vampire in front of me became solid, taunting me to attack. I swung my blade, but he vanished, re-appearing behind the little girl, smiling at me with a wicked, devilish grin. “You lose,” he whispered, his bony fingers reaching for the child.

  No, no, no, not her!

  Anger rose up inside of me. I bolted, feeling power rising and swirling over me like a twisting gust of wind lifting feathery wings. His death was mine. I could almost taste it. I was on him, slicing the air, again I hit nothing. The mom grabbed for the child as the coward vanished.

  I growled in anger. Gritting my teeth, slamming my blade into the ground, kicking the dirt. They were all invisible now, every stinking last one of them, playing that little hide and kill game.

  Except for the soft whimpering of the mother and child, everything went deadly quiet.

  Peter was on his feet, like me, scanning the torn up graves trying to figure out if they had gone or was this just another ploy.

  A scream sliced across my consciousness. I turned to see the little girl being dragged away by invisible hands. The horror of it struck me with pain. She had been the real target all along. I should have known. I’d beat myself up later about it; right now, I was running after that demon.

  I was knocked violently sideways by some unseen force. It felt like I’d hit a rock wall. I staggered to stand up when invisible claws slammed me hard into a tree. My head hit the rough bark. I heard a faint crack, and dizzying nausea swept over me. The vampire Lorcan! I could see him now. He was fully visible, laughing at me. Violently he shoved my head sideways exposing the white skin of my neck. “Slayer,” he whispered. “Such a stupid mistake.”

  I spied my sword behind him, shoved into the dirt where I had left
it. He was right. It was a stupid mistake. I struggled hard against him, nearly gagging from his nasty sulfurous breath. Yet, I still had another weapon.

  “Yesh…” I started to call on the power, but screamed in pain, as his fangs sunk into my neck, like small knives. He swallowed my blood exchanging it for his vile poison. I stopped struggling, growing weaker, until my voice completely failed, and my knees buckled.

  I was gliding like a leaf caught in a breeze. I looked down from the stars of the silky heavens, seeing my body under the tree. Blood was all over my neck. Lorcan was gone. I was dying. Everything was fading to black, somewhere far, far away, I could hear Peter’s voice calling.

  I needed to open my eyes. Straining with every ounce of strength inside me, I willed my eyelids to open. There was a crack of light...a crack of hope. More light. Peter was hovering. “Shonna, do you hear me? Tell me you’re okay?”

  I had that crappy dull ache like you get in the middle of the flu, typical of most demonic vampire venom. It might linger for weeks. What did it matter I was alive, thanks to Peter, my Boy Scout hero. He was applying pressure to my throat, using a towel he’d found in mom’s Jeep. When he was sure the bleeding had stopped, he helped me stand.

  “The girl!” I gasped softly latching onto Peter’s arm, looking all around. The place was a mess. Open graves destroyed the grounds. It was going to take work to fix this.

  “She’s alive,” he said. “Went home with mom and dad.”

  Relief washed over me, followed by regret for allowing myself to end up as a demon appetizer. I knew demons targeted kids; how could I forget? I should have been protecting her. Ariel’s rule- never, ever become detached from your weapon. How many times did I have to learn that lesson? I shook my head. Let it go! I had almost died simply because I allowed my grief to distract me. I had to pull it together, for mom’s sake at least.

  I glanced Peter zipping up a small case containing hypodermic needles. “Did you just give me a shot?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I gave you one earlier to control the bleeding.” He shoved the case in his pocket. “This one stops the flu symptoms.”

  What? “What’s in that stuff? Where did you get it?”

  “I developed it in the lab on campus. It should take about an hour and you’ll feel normal again.”

  “You developed a cure for the flu?” I asked, not really believing it.

  “Not every strain of the virus is the same,” said Peter, opening both doors on the Jeep, and tossing the blood soaked towel on the floor. “What I developed will treat the symptoms for demonic venom, this particular vampire strain anyway.”

  I didn’t really believe that my cousin had actually developed a cure for vampire venom and yet as weak as my body felt, I did not want to argue. I had to admit I was starting to feel slightly better and I was able to walk, slowly, very slowly to the driver’s side door.

  Peter reached for my arm, turned me around and led me to the passenger side. “I’ll drive.”

  “Do you have a license?”

  He glanced at his watch. “It will take a least another 45 minutes for that shot to work fully. So unless you want to stick around here for the workers to show up and call the police, arresting us for property damage, then I suggest you hand over the keys because you’re in no condition to drive. Trust me,” he said. “I can do this.”

  I reluctantly handed him my keys, hating to admit everything he said was probably true.

  As I eased my aching skull back against the headrest, I caught my reflection in the car window. I was pale with dark circles around my eyes. I was hoping his anti-venom would work fast, because it was going to take a ton of work to make my face look good enough for my date tonight.

  “I thought by now, you’d be hammering me with questions,” said Peter.

  He was driving fast, faster than a formula one driver. I was starting to think that he saved me just so he could kill me in a flaming car crash. “Could you just slow DOWN!”

  He applied the brake, slowing the Jeep to a crawl. It felt like we were going only five miles an hour now. I glanced over and we were doing a respectable thirty.

  I let out a long sigh. “Peter, why didn’t you tell me you were a Slayer?”

  “So, you’re angry with me?” he asked from under his lashes.

  “Hardly…you saved my life back there. Okay, seriously what’s up with all these cagy games you like to play?”

  As usual, he said nothing.

  “Okay,” I said. “Here’s the deal. I’ll forgive you if you promise to tell me all your nasty little secrets, from now on.”

  “Deal,” he said.

  “First, let’s talk about your eyes.”

  “It’s a gift from Yesher, well one of my gifts anyway. My level of retina illumination is about six to seven times greater than normal, sort of like a cat, only the Tapetum Lucidum that reflects light back is twice as strong in my eyes. Which means, that in total darkness, I can differentiate between colors and shapes, and I can calculate movement from spiritual activity. In simple terms, I see in darkness as if it were daylight, yet much better. Without the aid of binoculars, I can visually explore the depth of oceans and gaze high into the celestial bodies of our solar system. It really comes in handy.”

  My jaw dropped.

  He studied me for a moment, and then burst out laughing. “Just kidding! I can’t see into space, or the bottom of the ocean, nobody can. It’s my turn. Do you think Ian is a demon?”

  I stared at him with my mouth still open, feeling like concrete being jackhammered, experiencing one shocking slam after another. “I used to think that,” I said slowly. “Have you ever heard of Familiar Spirits?”

  He nodded his head. “The spirits who invoke a curse that raises the dead shell of human flesh. Yeah, I know about Belial’s army of regents: Powers, Rulers of Darkness, Spiritual Wickedness in high places. It makes perfect sense. Ian jacks some dead guy’s body for the purpose of killing.” He glanced at me, his eyes squinting. “Are you sure?”

  I explained the grave, and how we had researched, finding very little information.

  “Do you have a problem with me doing some investigating?” he asked.

  “Why would I mind?”

  “Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I might as well tell you. I’m almost done.”

  “Almost done? What do you mean? You’ve been researching Ian Corbet?” I asked. “When did you start all this?”

  “Not important,” he said. “And yes to your other question. You see these other gifts I have, it’s the reason I know what’s hanging around your mom. It’s not human. I can feel it.”

  “Feel?” I asked.

  “Yes. Like today I knew right before, they were going to attack. Also, I can read people close to me. I know what they’re feeling.”

  “You can read emotions? Ha! Do you know what I’m feeling right now?”

  “At your dad’s grave...I sensed something.”

  “That’s easy, I was missing him. Anyone could figure that out.”

  “You feel disappointed with your father for abandoning you,” he paused. “And thinking that way, makes you feel guilty.”

  I gulped hard and nervously shifted in my seat. I had that same uncomfortable feeling I got when Ariel, my Cherubim mentor, read my thoughts. Only now, it was Peter and I didn’t care that he was right. It was private stuff! Exactly what good was his gift anyway?

  “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said softly.

  “You didn’t,” I lied and forced a smile.

  * * *

  Chapter 14