Xander ran up the steps, and threw his arms around Emily. He grabbed on tightly to her, as her knees began to quiver. Whatever power she had awoken, it had drained her completely.
“W—what was that?” Emily asked, in complete shock. “What did I just do?”
“I don’t know,” said Xander, running his hands through her hair. “I just don’t know.”
Emily’s head was beginning to spin now. Unable to keep conscious, she fainted into Xander’s arms.
“Emily!” cried Xander, as he held a cataleptic Emily in his arms. “You’ve gotta come back to us!”
What neither of them could’ve guessed, though, is that Emily had gone to a far more wondrous place. She had gone home.
The End
The Awakening
Chapter One
Emily walked along the beach, her toes sunk into the sand as the water washed against her feet. It was peaceful, and she found herself strolling along the shore without purpose or worry.
Seagulls gawked, as they flew high above the ocean; and the bright sun sparkled in Emily’s eyes, as she watched them from a distance.
Dolphins danced in the ocean while monkeys played in the trees. Amazing, she thought, witnessing the beauty of countless creatures living in harmony. Wherever she was, life was good.
Was she in heaven? How did she get here? These questions should have been important to Emily, but they couldn’t have been further from her mind.
“Come to me,” a voice whispered in the breeze.
Emily spun around, seeking the voice that had spoken to her. Her eyes frantically searched around, hoping to find anyone nearby.
“Come to me,” the voice repeated. “Come to me…my child.”
“Mother?” asked Emily, yelling out to the unknown. “Is that you?”
The only response Emily got was the lighthearted laughter of several gibbons playing in the trees. Emily had not seen her mother in many years, and searched the area, looking for her.
Emily sprinted down the wet sand, hoping to see her mother standing on the beach. Finding nothing, she dropped to her knees, trying to remember just what had happened to her.
“You will find no answers on the ground,” said her mother.
Emily picked herself up off the sand, and spun around to see her mother.
“I—I can’t believe it,” said Emily, staring back at the woman who had given her life. “How is this possible?”
Her mother, Amanda, hadn’t aged more than a day since Emily last saw her. It was as if she had been frozen in a moment in time.
“Mother, you’re…beautiful,” said Emily, at a loss for words. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I know, my child,” replied Amanda, embracing Emily with open arms. “But I’ve never left your side.”
“What do you mean?” Emily asked. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re not meant to,” answered Amanda, stroking her daughter’s hair. “Not yet.”
Emily pulled herself back and with a worried look in her eyes, she asked, “Why am I here? Where is father?”
“You are here because you are meant to be,” Amanda said. “And where we are, is a world apart from the place you were born.”
“You’re not making any sense,” said Emily, grabbing hold of her mother’s shoulders, giving her a shake. “You’re speaking in riddles.”
“I wish it were that simple, my child,” said Amanda, looking her daughter deep in the eyes. “We only have a few short moments together, and I have an important message for you.”
“What do you mean?” Emily questioned. “What happens in a few short moments—?”
“Please, just listen!” interrupted Amanda, turning sternly at her daughter. “I know your powers have finally awoken; you wouldn’t be here now unless they had. I also know that you have been introduced to vampires; that some have come to hurt you, and some have come to save you.”
Slowly, Emily began to remember the events that had led her to this meeting. She remembered the terrifying ghouls, and their vicious master; her friends, who would give their lives to save her, and finally the vampire, Alexander, who had nearly lost his own life.
“You cannot trust them!” Amanda shouted. “Vampires only know death and decay. They are parasites to your world, and seek to destroy what they cannot control. I will not let them hurt you…like they did to me.”
“The vampires killed you?” asked Emily, beginning to tear up. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know—.”
Her mother, knowing she had little time left, continued, “The vampires will try and destroy you, and everyone that you care about. They will try and seduce you, until you care about nothing other than blood. They will try and break your very existence.”
“Why mother? None of this makes any sense,” Emily said.
“Because of who you are, and what you represent,” Amanda said. “Unlike anything else in the world, they fear you. Everyone single one of them. Do not trust a vampire; not any of them.”
From what Emily had seen of Simeon, she would have to agree. However, Xander was also a vampire, and she would probably already be dead if it wasn’t for him. Looking deep into her mother’s eyes, she said, “Not all vampires are like that. A vampire saved me—.”
“All vampires are like that!” Amanda screeched. “Especially him—!”
All of a sudden, a powerful force grabbed hold of Emily, ripping her away from the beach; away from the mother she had just found.
“No!” screamed Emily, as she flew into the air, high above the birds. “Not yet, please! Please just give me just one more minute with my mother!”
Chapter Two
“Emily…,” said Steven, prodding his sister in bed. “C’mon, it’s almost lunch time. Are you going to sleep all day or what?”
Emily slowly opened her eyes, and looking up at her brother, she asked, “How did I get here?”
“Well…I’m assuming you fell asleep?” questioned Steven, with a puzzled look on his face.
That’s when Emily remembered the events of last night, both the attack and her visit with her mother.
“You won’t believe it, Steven, but I met mother last night,” Emily said.
“You must really be out of it,” said Steven, shaking his head. “Mom died a long time ago, you know that.”
“Y—yeah, you’re right,” Emily stuttered. “I could have sworn that I saw her.”
“What happened last night?” Steven asked. “What happened to your gentleman caller?”
Figuring that it was best not to worry her brother, Emily slid out of bed, and said, “Oh…nothing happened. We talked for a bit, and then I went to bed.”
“Yeah, sure,” said Steven, laughing. “You tapped that ass, didn’t you?”
“Ugh, you’re such a pig sometimes,” complained Emily, entering the bathroom.
“Hurry up and get ready!” shouted Steven, from the bedroom. “I figured you needed to get some fresh air, after the rough last couple of days.”
“Where are we going?” inquired Emily, turning on the sink faucets.
“Out for lunch with Tyler and Julia, hope you don’t mind,” Steven replied.
“Not at all, I think that’s exactly what I need,” Emily said. “Give me a couple minutes and I’ll be ready to leave.”
And so, the two siblings made their way downtown. They walked down the busy streets, which was unusual for the small city of Georgetown.
“Look at all these people!” exclaimed Emily, as all the strange people brushed by her. “Are they all tourists?”
“I don’t think so,” Steven answered. “Since when did Georgetown become a tourist destination?”
“Well I don’t recognize any of them,” said Emily, looking around. “Not a single one—.”
Emily’s voice trailed off, as she something caught her eye.
Down the block, a strange man was staring directly at her. It was almost as if he was staring straight into her soul. When Emily looked back at him, the
man looked away. For whatever reason, he didn’t seem to want Emily to know that he had been watching her.
“Did you see that?” asked Emily, pointing down the street. “That man over there, he was looking directly at me.”
Looking down the street, Steven searched for the man Emily had been talking about. Finding none, he put his hand on her shoulder, and said, “You’re losing it, Emily. There’s no one watching you. C’mon, let’s go, they’re waiting for us.”
They found Tyler and Julia, waiting for them a few blocks down the street. They were sitting on the patio, having a few beers. Grabbing some chairs, Steven and Emily joined them at the table.
“Hey, bitches!” shouted Julia as they sat down. “I’m already on my third margarita, time to catch up.”
“And you call me a lush,” said Tyler, taking a sip of his beer. “You’re one wild woman. Don’t ever change, baby.”
“You love it,” said Julia, scrunching up her face.
“All right, you guys,” said Steven, waving his hands in their face. “Let’s settle down.”
Emily looked around, searching for the man that had been staring at her. She wasn’t about to overlook this, like her brother had suggested.
That’s when she noticed someone else staring directly back at her. This time it was a woman in her fifties. She had been staring at Emily, as she pretended to read the local newspaper; something Emily knew was never that interesting.
“—Emily!” shouted Julia, tugging on Emily’s arm. “What are you going to drink?”
Emily looked back to the table, where an impatient waiter was waiting on her order.
“I—I’ll just have a pint of whatever you’ve got on tap,” Emily said. “Thank you.”
“Alright, now that you’re both here we can have a proper goodbye to my best friend, Emily,” said Julia, raising her glass in the air.
“Umm, Jules, they don’t have their drinks yet,” said Tyler, lowering his girlfriend’s glass. “I think someone’s already had a few too many.”
Emily’s friends continued to talk and share stories, but it couldn’t have been any further from her mind. She scanned the sea of people, looking for anyone out of place.
All Emily could find were people just like her, trying to enjoy the warm summer day. They laughed, shared stories with their friends, and tried to live their lives one day at a time.
“Are you even listening to us, Emily?” asked Julia, signaling for another drink. “What’s wrong with you?”
“She’s afraid everyone is out to get her,” Steven explained. “She’s still a little shaken up about the attack.”
“Well can you blame her?” Tyler interjected. “It was a pretty traumatic event—.”
Suddenly, Emily brought her hands to her hand, in visible pain. The throbbing headaches had returned once more.
“Another headache?” asked Steven, touching Emily on the shoulder. “Are you sure it’s not serious?”
Emily’s eyes were beginning to burn now, and soon they were swallowed up by a blinding white light; the same radiant light that had called forth such destructive force no less than a day ago.
At that moment, she had instantly become aware of everyone that had been staring at her. However, it was more than just the two people she had noticed. There must have been a dozen strangers staring at her, for reasons unknown. She could feel their hearts beat, as their eyes fixated on every move she made.
“Steven, we have to get out of here,” said Emily, bringing her hands away from her face as the white light subsided.
“What are you talking about?” Steven asked. “We just got here.”
“We have to get out of here,” restated Emily, grabbing her purse. “We have to leave, right now.”
Chapter Three
A hooded man trotted through the murky forest, his dirty boots splashing in the shallow stream as he ran towards the waterfall. They had been searching all day now, and had finally found what they had been looking for. All he needed was to tell his master.
The man approached the small waterfall, and plowed through the rushing water. He entered a large cavern behind the water, hidden away from the world.
He flipped back his hood, revealing his long brown hair. A good-looking man, he was powerfully built and had the blood red eyes of a ghoul. However, this man was clearly not a junkie like the others.
“Master!” the man shouted to the shadows. “We have found what you required!”
“Tell me what you know, Horace,” said a voice from the shadows.
“We have found the summoner and her friends,” Horace replied. “They have entered the city.”
The voice growled from the darkness, letting his aggravation be well known. It was a weekend, and the downtown city streets would be packed full of people. They could ill afford a bloodbath.
“Under the circumstances, you have done well, Horace,” the voice replied. “I need our men to be ready to move the moment night falls.”
“Yes, master,” said Horace, nodding his head. “May I ask what we are to do about the woman’s friends?”
“I would prefer as little bloodshed as possible,” the voice said. “But if the mission demands it, they are expendable.”
“I understand,” Horace said. “It shall be done.”
Horace turned from the shadow, and began to exit through the waterfall. After a moment, he paused, and turned back around towards the shadows.
“Is there something else?” asked the voice, getting louder.
“What shall be done about the vampire?” Horace asked.
“The vampire shall not be harmed by you,” said the voice emerging from the shadows. “I will kill Simeon, myself.”
Xander’s face began to smolder, as he left the darkness. He stared down the ghoul with his burning retinas, and said, “We have waited far too long for this moment, and she is too important to lose.”
Chapter Four
“Hurry, get her inside!” shouted Julia, as she opened the door to Emily’s home. “Careful.”
Steven and Tyler carried Emily inside, as she was too weak to move herself. She could barely lift her head up, as she was lowered onto the couch.
“What’s wrong with her?” Julia asked. “I’ve never seen her like this before.”
“I agree,” said Steven, shaking his head. “I wonder if she caught something when those men attacked her.”
“Has she been acting weird?” inquired Julia, entering the kitchen.
“Not any more than usual,” Steven grinned. “Although she did say that she saw our mother last night. I just assumed she was dreaming.”
“But you’re parents are dead,” Tyler stated.
“No shit, Tyler,” Julia grinned, reentering the living room with a glass of water. “I think that’s a little obvious.”
Julia put the glass of water on the table beside Emily, and sat down in the chair across from her.
“I bet it’s got something to do with that mysterious guy from last night,” Tyler said.
“I forgot about him,” Julia said. “You know, you’re probably right. Maybe it’s an STD”
“Knock it off, Julia, why would she get involved with a guy like that?” Steven asked, pacing the room. “She picked an awful time to fall for the bad boy.”
Coming to her senses, Emily slowly opened her eyes and said, “You know guys, I’m right here, you can speak directly to me; and I promise that Xander was nothing but a gentleman. He would never harm me…or anyone of you for that matter. I’m sure of it.”
“I hope you’re right, Emily,” said Steven, handing her the glass of water. “Cause if I find out his intentions are less than pure, I’ll kill him myself.”
Meanwhile, in an abandoned refinery at the edge of town, Simeon was gathering his troops for the coming battle. The refinery was run down and destroyed, a perfect place to conceal as small army.
“We are about to make history!” shouted Simeon, raising his fists in anger to the surrounding ghouls.
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They were numerous in number, easily a few hundred strong. Like the refinery, they were worn down, battered, and beaten. They had been scouring the city all day, keeping close watch on the summoner.
“The summoner will not escape us,” Simeon said. “Our kind thought that we rid ourselves of them thousands of years ago, but one of them slipped through our grip. That will not happen again. This time, our kind will be victorious!”
A Moonlit Night - The Complete Saga Page 4
