Vampires' Lair

by Connie Ruth VeJar

  Chapter 14

  Hunter woke staring up at the stone ceiling of the cavern. Pain shot through his inanimate body. This feeling was one that was almost unrecognizable to him. It has been centuries since this affliction had tormented his being.

  The pain that shot throughout his body felt as if every nerve ending in him was exploding like fireworks.

  He closed his eyes once again and what he saw within him was truly like a tiny firework display inside of him.

  What was happening to him? Hunter thought. It took what strength of his that remained just to make it back up to his quarters.

  Blood! Blood! This was what he needed to regain his strength.

  He dressed as quickly as a weakened vampire could and went in search of the sanguine liquid that would reinvigorate his body.

  Hunter headed toward the great hall, this was where he knew that the guests would be enjoying themselves. They would be provided refreshments and every type of alcoholic beverages imaginable. To ready them for the vampire’s feast

  Hunter used his ability to block out other vampires from sensing that he was near. Walking into the great hall he homed in on his pray. He hadn't time to mingle with anyone. His strength would not last much longer. He had chosen a young woman who looked to be in her twenties. Blonde hair and average in stature. He immediately placed her in a trance and soon she was his to do his bidding.

  He willed her into one of the bed chambers. He was not interested in any type of copulation, he was only interested in the life blood that ran through her veins.

  Hunter turned her to face him, her eyes were glazed over but still a small amount of true desire could be seen deep within her eyes.

  How could she not have desire for a vampire such as Hunter Blaise? He was a tall, muscular vampire with pitch black hair and eyes that were just as black.

  Hunter moved in close to her, his lips swept over hers with a feathery touch.

  His lips continued along her cheekbone down her neck. He could smell her pheromones intensifying with his touch. The only fragrance of hers that appealed to him was the robust smell of the irony metallic sweet taste of her blood.

  As his lips moved up her neck, his fangs descended and dug deep into the side of her neck. He siphoned out from her what he needed to replenish his strength but not enough to kill her.

  He let her fall onto the bed, leaving her behind to sleep and recover from his withdrawing of her blood.

  She would not remember anything that had taken place. She would wake up with the feeling of a bad hangover.

  Even though some of his strength had returned he was not fully rejuvenated. Quickly as he could, he sped off to his quarters.

  The clock struck midnight as he pulled the curtains around his bed. The short dash up to his room had exhausted most of his newly obtained strength.

  Chapter 15

  Stormy had glanced up just as Jasmine was exiting the hall. Stormy would let Jasmine have that night to rest, but first thing the next day she would visit her and introduce to her fellow witches. These were witches had more knowledge and special abilities not to mention, experience on what she should do with her Fire Angel.

  Hazel, her special power was that of power itself. She herself was one of the most powerful witches alive. Flaming red hair and eyes that were just as her name implied Hazel.

  Chloe’s specialty was death with her black hair and eyes she was the epitome of it.

  Aurelia, with her golden blonde hair and shiny golden eyes. Her magical specialty was elementals, be magical abilities specialized in the manipulation of all the elements that included fire, earth, wood, water, and metal.

  Necromy, her special power was Necromancy, she dealt with the spirits and the dead. Her hair was black with white streaks in it, crystal blue eyes.

  When you looked into her eyes you got the feeling that you were being pulled into her soul through her eyes.

  With these four friends and their special magical abilities, Stormy Morgan hoped that they would be able to bring forth the powerful Fire Angel that she knew lay hidden from the world in Jasmine Willow.

  Chapter 16

  A resounding dismal howl could be heard calling out into the cold, blustery winter night. The howls were thundering through the Romanian mountains.

  He called out to her, destined to be the protector of the most powerful one. He knew one day she would come into her power and he and only he would stand by her side, as her protector and guardian. He had waited in the Carpathian Mountains for centuries for this day. The day that would bring change for all the supernatural beings.

  Standing at the uppermost point on the rocky frozen lake shore, he cried outcry after cry. His cries were to warn all that he was near.

  He had staked his claim on a rocky outpost atop a treacherous rocky shore, to wait until the time came for him to stand by her side.

  His hair was long and shaggy and the color of the sandy beach that lay down below him. He had eyes that would mesmerize all who dared to gaze into them. He was a mixture of two souls which revealed themselves though his eyes. One was a brilliant blue and one a golden brown. His eyes were made more captivating by the black fur that encased them.

  He was her protector, her guardian. He was her Hellhound. He is Wild Fire.

  Chapter 17

  Stormy Morgan never thought that she had any specific powers other than her visions. But there were a lot of other witches with this ability. So, when it came to her having a special ability, none had revealed itself to her. Sure, she had all the normal magical abilities as any of her fellow witches. As for a specific special power she had none.

  She was descendent of some great powerful witches. She felt lucky to have inherited any magical abilities at all. She had been the only person in her immediate family who was blessed with magic. Stormy's great-grandmother was thought to have been the last one of the Morgan clan until Stormy came along.

  Stormy would soon find out that she does, in fact, have a special specific power. A power that will soon reveal itself. A power that will manifest itself now that Jasmine Willow was in her midst.

  The power of divination and oneiromancy which can be practiced by any witch. But there are those that possess a stronger sense of sight to see what other witches cannot. Divination combined with oneiromancy, when a witch possesses both abilities together, this makes for one powerful seer.

  Stormy would find out soon enough that she indeed had her own special magical gift.

  Witches participated in the vampires winter retreat for a few reasons. For one was that they were well compensated. Another reason they were able to assist the mortals with any unforeseen effects of the vampires consuming their blood.

  Having medical training for mortals combined with magic. This combination made them a great asset to the vampires.

  There were times when some of the vampires went a little too far when it came to consuming from the unknowing guests.

  So, for Stormy and her fellow witches, their job was to maintain the physical and mental being of the mortals.

  Stormy had tired of cleaning up the messes left by the vampires, so she had left the vampire's lair in search of a more normal way of life, normal for an ordinary witch anyway.

  The wind was whistling around outside the castles wall. Through the blowing wind she would hear an occasional sorrowful howl off in the distance. The sound left her frightened. The castle seemed to be empty. Each room that she entered looked as though time had come to a standstill and the occupants had disappeared.

  The ghostly sounds followed her every step. She was steered by an unknown force, a force that was too powerful for her to escape from its grip.

  She was being beckoned out of the castle, and into the forest. She walked on not knowing where she was going or why.

  There were a few snow flurries whipping around in the gusty wind. She hiked through the deep snow into the thick forest. Soon she heard voices, speaking words she did not understand. She soon saw who was speaking, i
t's was the vampires of Castle Blaze. They had the arms stretched out and hands clasped together and formed a circle around a lake.

  She made her way down to the lakes shore, there she saw a woman in a feathery black cloak, with the hood obscuring her face. She was hovering over the middle of the lake.

  Her skin was as white as the snow around them. The woman raised both arms, thrust back her head causing the hood to fall off. The woman's blood was draining from her body and filling the lake below her. Flames erupted all around the circle vampire when this happened woman lifted her head up to reveal who the sacrificial lamb was. A hellish scream rang out through the chilly winter air, Jasmine.

  Stormy Morgan woke up with the words coming forth from her lips, Jasmine.

  Chapter 18

  The silence was abundant in the cold quarters of the vampire. No fire burned in his fireplace, he had no need for warmth. The rooms heavy curtains were pulled shut.

  The ornate king size bed sat at furthermore part of the bedroom, so as to avoid any sunlight that might make its way in from the rooms many windows.

  Something in the water had drained him of all his strength. In his weakened state he would not have lasted the night without consuming the life sustaining blood that he had consumed. Now he needed sleep, vampire sleep, a sleep that would help him recover from what had happened to him. Laying in his bed surrounded by darkness, he waited for the sweet unconsciousness to overtake him. His lingering thoughts only left him with more questions than answers. One thing that he did know was that whatever had stripped him of his vampire strength was a powerful force.

  His mission was still to speak to Stormy concerning her special guest. He suspected that she held the key to this powerful mystery.

  His night was once again filled with the same dreams as before. Her arms raised up and her blood filling the lake. Only this time flames lit up all around the lake. On the outside of the circular wall of flames were vampires standing hand in hand as if they were casting a spell upon her.

  The following evening, he woke, not as revived as he thought that he should have been, due to the interrupted sleep. First on his agenda was having a private chat with Stormy Morgan.

  Chapter 19

  Thump, thump, thump. Someone was pounding on the bedroom door.

  It was taking all that she could to raise herself up off her bed.

  The pounding continued.

  “I am coming,” she said feebly.

  Her head seemed to be pounding along with the door.

  “Who is it?” Jasmine said, her voice almost inaudible to the person on the other side of the door.

  “Jasmine, it's Stormy!” came a reply. Jasmine unlocked the door and turned and headed back to her bed.

  Stormy could see that something wasn't quite right with Jasmine.

  “What is wrong?” Stormy asked.

  “Wrong?” Jasmine replied.

  “Jasmine, you look terrible, are you feeling okay?”

  No, she thought to herself, not after what she had experienced the night before.

  Jasmine lay down on the bed and motioned for Stormy to take a seat in the chair next to the bed.

  “I am physically fine,” Jasmine started out, “but my mental health. I am not so sure.”

  “What do you mean?” Jasmine could see that Stormy was generally worried about this remark.

  “What has happened to make you think that?” Stormy asked.

  Stormy had the suspicion that some of Jasmine's powers might be revealing themselves in this castle that has seen so much magic and has been thought to be magical itself.

  Jasmine went over the events of the previous evening. This only amplified Stormy's suspicion concerning Jasmine being a Fire Angel.

  Stormy knew that the time had come to try and convince Jasmine that a world that was believed is in all actuality a truly living world.

  Jasmine had written many novels about vampires and witches, but now she was about to find out they exist in real life.

  This was Stormy's segue into enlightening Jasmine.

  "Jasmine,” Stormy started out, “there is nothing wrong with your mental health. What I am about to tell you will most defiantly shock you. My ancestral line is filled with magic. I am descendent of a magical bloodline where all of my ancestors were witches. This magical blood that ran through their veins and runs through mine.”

  Jasmine couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure, she wrote about these very things in her novels. But just because she wrote about them didn't mean that she believed in them. Jasmine let Stormy continue.

  “This castle is owned by Hunter Blaise, it has been in his family for hundreds of years. This castle is known to be magical itself. There are many secrets that these walls hold.” Jasmine looked at Stormy Morgan with intrigue. Jasmine said nothing, she just listened.

  “This castle is owned by one of the oldest vampires in existence.”

  Jasmine let out a little giggle. “You are kidding me, you are a correct in saying that there is nothing wrong with my mental state, but unless you are joking around then there is most definitely something wrong with yours.”

  Stormy knew that this wasn't going to be easy. Ignoring Jasmine's comment Stormy continued on. “There are a lot of forces that are unknown to most of the world’s population. This castle and some of its inhabitants included.”

  Jasmine did not know what to think about the tall tale that was being spun to her, but she continued to listen with a suspicious ear.

  Castle Blaze was once owned by a powerful witch that cast a binding spell upon it at her suspected demise.

  “What do you mean suspected?” Jasmine chimed in.

  “The story goes that she was killed by Hunter Blaise's sire, but there are those who say that she was she herself was transformed into a vampire.”

  “Wait a minute!” Jasmine said. “I get it now, you are trying to sell me on a novel that you have written.”

  “No, Jasmine. What I’m trying to do is give you insight into a world that truly exists. I am also trying to explain to you why it was that I invited you here.”

  Jasmine propped herself upon the pillows. Now she was wide awake and ready to hear all that Stormy Morgan had to say.

  Jasmine let Stormy continue with her story.

  “I am a witch and a very good one, but there are those who have greater powers than I. Then there are those that would be considered to have super extraordinary powers.

  Those witches are only known in folklore in the magical world. Some witches truly believed that these witches with these superpowers were real. No witch in recent history has ever known to have ever seen these special witches.

  “This super powerful witch is called a Fire Angel. She is one of the strongest witches that ever lived.”

  Jasmine spoke up. “If she is only suspected to be folklore then how is it that you believe that these witches are real?”

  Stormy went on to tell her about what her great-grandmother had told her.

  “How do I fit into all of this?” Jasmine asked.

  “My great grandmother said that the Fire Angel would not know that she had any magical abilities at all. The Fire Angel's power would not show itself until a certain time in her life. One of my magical abilities is the power of my visions. My visions started showing me this powerful witch many months ago. Although at the time I didn't know exactly what the visions were trying to show me. That is until the first time that I touched you, then I knew that the Fire Angel was real and that you were one. The only one that this modern world has ever known.”