Vesta Mansion: Book One - The Power Inside

by P. A. Priddey

  VESTA MANSION

  THE POWER INSIDE

  Book 1

  BY

  P. A. PRIDDEY

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.

  Copyright © 2016 P.A.PRIDDEY

  Table of Contents

  1 Hunted

  2 Voices

  3 Sickness and Dreams

  4 New Beginnings

  5 The Spirit of Vesta

  6 The Refuge

  7 Forest Creatures

  8 Strange Events

  9 Changes

  10 Time to get out of the House

  11 Girls Girls Girls

  12 New Additions

  13 Little Ghosts & Psychic Women

  14 A Time to Trust

  15 New Friends

  16 Fears, Tears and New Year’s Cheers

  17 Shaula

  18 Small Blue He’s Coming for You

  19 Choices

  20 Strange Gifts

  21 Let’s Rock with the Warlock

  22 Daralis

  23 The Night Hunters

  24 Luella

  25 Rockman

  26 Soul Searching

  27 Die Warlock Die

  CHAPTER ONE

  Hunted

  Hearts pounding, the girls ran, terrified at what chased them.

  Adhara glanced back down the road and saw what looked like men, but were running on all fours like animals. ‘They’re getting closer.’

  ‘I can’t run any further,’ cried Sarin.

  ‘You have to try.’ Adhara grabbed her arm. ‘Come on, there’s a light ahead, we can make it.’

  They ran through a field as fast as their legs would allow them. It was fear and hope which spurred them towards the light. Hope turned to despair when they saw it was just another street lamp. The girls had reached the edge of a town. Sarin stumbled and fell. Adhara helped her up and heard the growls, the men were too close now, and held her sister tight. The men approached, both girls screamed.

  The closest, his eyes black, lunged at them. He crashed to the ground as a woman leapt past the girls striking him full in the face with an iron bar. She spun, swinging the weapon so hard, bones shattered and the second flew backwards. The last was upon her when she rammed the end of the bar into his throat.

  They heard more growls and hissing as shapes appeared in the distance.

  ‘RUN!’ the woman shouted at the girls.

  The nine-year old twins didn’t argue and set off down the street. The pace wasn’t fast as Sarin was in pain.

  ‘I’m bleeding, it hurts.’

  Adhara pulled her along. ‘I know, but you gotta try.’

  The street they ran down looked deserted. They saw no lights coming from any of the houses — it looked like the rest of the world was asleep. The girls had to stop as they were both exhausted.

  Sarin sat on a wall with tears in her blue eyes. ‘Where are we, Dar? And what were those things?’

  Adhara shook her head. ‘Dunno, but they weren’t men, how’s your leg?’

  ‘Hurts.’ Sarin lifted the hem of the old-fashioned robe above her knee where blood run down her shin from a deep gash.

  ‘Looks nasty.’ Adhara tore a strip of cloth off her own robe and bandaged her sister’s wound.

  Both frightened and confused, as their memories only went back three months. During which time they were prisoners, used as slaves to clean a house, and do the work their kidnappers brought home. They escaped after finding the couple unconscious due to the drugs they had taken. An hour after leaving the house they sensed the strange-looking men coming for them, and would have been caught if not for the woman.

  Sarin pulled the hood up over her black-streaked blonde hair. ‘Where we gonna go?’

  Adhara shrugged. ‘Dunno, but there might be a church nearby.’

  ‘It’ll be warmer than out here, and those things might not be able to get in.’ Sarin stared at the houses. ‘We could knock on one of these doors, someone might help us.’

  ‘No, the people here could be like the ones who trapped us in that other house.’

  Adhara shivered, as she couldn’t remember being outside at night before. They heard howls in the distance and they set off. A blue van drove past as they ran along the side of a park. Adhara glanced up at the trees along the edge. The wind made an eerie noise as it blew through. The twins froze as the van pulled up just ahead of them.

  A large man got out and leant on the door. ‘Hello, girls, you’re out late.’

  They were too frightened to answer.

  ‘I’ll give you a lift if you want,’ he offered.

  The girls turned and ran.

  Adhara screamed as she felt his hand grab her shoulder. There was nothing she could do, he was too strong, she screamed again.

  ‘NO,’ shouted the woman, now running towards them.

  The man released the girls and leapt towards her. He was taller and three times wider, but she was faster and a spinning kick to his chin put him down.

  Adhara looked down at the man, she heard a noise, and glanced at the van. She saw a gun pointed at the woman, watched in horror as a dart hit the woman’s neck and she collapsed. They tried to run, but another man grabbed their arms and dragged them back.

  ‘Put ‘em in the van,’ grunted the big man, dazed, as he stood up rubbing his chin.

  ‘No, please let us go,’ cried Adhara, her heart pounding fast. ‘Please no.’ The girls were thrown into the back of the van.

  ‘This one, too,’ growled the big man, and kicked the unconscious woman in the stomach. ‘I’ll have fun with her later.’

  ‘Can we have fun with the others?’ said a small, ugly, pock-marked face man with beady eyes.

  ‘You’ll not touch ‘em, they’re far too valuable,’ said the big man. ‘And if you so much as look at ‘em again you freak, I’ll snap ya neck.’

  Taken to a house in the country, and put in cages in the cellar, the girls were there for three days and given food on trays through a slot in the cage. There were others, mostly young women. The girls huddled together in a cage near the door. Asima, the woman who had tried to save them sat in a cage at the other end of the cellar. The twins cowered at the back every time the door opened.

  This time it was the big man who sauntered over to them. ‘Good news, you won’t be here much longer, I’ve a buyer for you and he’ll be here tomorrow. He already sent some of his friends to get you, but they failed.’

  The twins didn’t look up as tears fell down their faces.

  The man walked to the end of the cellar and picked up a length of copper piping. He hit the bars of Asima’s cage with it. ‘Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you.’ He dropped the pipe and left the room.

  A golden light flashed through the cellar, and the twins looked at each other as their eyes sparkled.

  ‘What was that?’ said a woman in another cage.

  Adhara pulled her blonde-streaked red hair away from her eyes and smiled. ‘Papa’s coming.’

  ‘Who’s coming?’ Asima asked.

  ‘Papa,’ said Sarin, also smiling.

  ‘No one’s coming,’ said a woman. ‘No one knows where we are.’<
br />
  ‘Papa will know, and he’s going to save us.’

  ‘Papa, help us, Papa, please come now,’ they both said. ‘Papa, come now, we need you.’

  CHAPTER TWO

  Voices

  Alex Aylward stared at the phone on his desk. ‘Please don’t ring.’ He yawned and rubbed his eyes which sparkled. He had hardly slept over the past week because of the voices. Two o’clock every morning they woke him, and as much has he tried he couldn’t get back to sleep. His bad leg often woke him in the past, but this was different.

  Papa, help us, Papa, please come now, Papa, we need you. The voices said to him every night, two little girls pleading for help. Alex would wake in a cold sweat, he had to do something it was breaking his heart.

  The rational part of his brain told him it was just a dream, added to the fact he had never fathered any children — not that he knew of. There had never been any serious relationship. They never lasted long, as he was only ever interested in his friends. It had been a long time since he had any friends.

  Alex turned off the computer and grabbed his walking stick before leaving the building. If the bus was early he would miss it and have to wait an hour for the next one. The journey back would take thirty minutes, but he needed something to eat and drink. It would be seven o’clock before he made it home. He was on his final warning for having too many days off. They didn’t understand, when his leg started to ache, drink was his only release from the pain . . . It was an excuse he had used for a long time.

  The bus arrived. He got on and sat near the front. The town in Buckinghamshire he passed through was already busy with people starting their nights out on what had been a hot day in late May, which brought many out early. Now aged thirty-nine, a good night for him meant a bottle of whiskey while listening to music where his mind would wander off to the good times he once had.

  Life used to be so different. He had a well-paid job in the city and owned his own house by the time he was twenty-five. It all changed when accused of stealing. Alex was innocent, with the accuser being the guilty party. He couldn’t get another job in the city after, which cost him his house. He did have a good group of friends then, and one found him a job in construction. Alex spent a few happy years there until his accident. He had been walking along the scaffolding three stories up when the boards beneath gave way. He fell bouncing off the steel framework below knocking him unconscious. Alex had broken his leg in three places, his left arm, and three ribs. The doctors were amazed he was still alive, but alive he was, and it felt special to him at the time. He had to use a wheelchair for the next six months, and had one friend who would push him anywhere he wanted to go.

  Paige Harper, his oldest friend. They had known each other since they were ten years old, and went through school and college together. She got married when he was working away which shocked him as she had been single when he left. It was no happy marriage, there were no children, and her husband was always out with his friends. Alex met the man twice and took an instant dislike to him. It meant he could spend more time with her, and they were inseparable.

  His friends helped him to walk with the aid of a crutch. His mother wanted him to move back in with her and his three-year old brother Thomas, but he loved his nights out and independence, so stayed there twice a week to make her happy.

  Alex lived off his compensation from the accident until he could work again. His friends took him to physiotherapy, which had been working until his bad luck returned. After certain events he decided to leave.

  He found a job he could do on the other side of town, and a one bedroom-flat. He used the rest of his money to get it furnished, bought a new sim card, and wrote a letter to Paige. He told her the accident affected him more than he let on and needed to get away. He had written more, but only signed it, Alex. There was no warmth in the letter. The taxi arrived and he left heartbroken. He posted the letter through her front door as she would be in the pub waiting for him.

  That was five years ago, and this is my life now, he sighed. The bus stopped outside a row of shops. Alex bought a portion of chips and a bottle of whisky before he struggled home. He only managed to eat a few chips and stare at the whisky. He thought if he drank it he wouldn’t hear the voices and sleep through until morning. Then he would hear them no more, but that would be worse as he needed to hear them. Alex felt even more tired than usual and now had a splitting headache. He fell asleep on the sofa without opening the bottle.

  Papa, help us, Papa, come now.

  Alex woke, the voices were more urgent. He didn’t know what to do, it was dark, he checked the clock on the table — it was midnight.

  Papa, come now, we need you.

  It was the first time he heard them when awake, and now saw an image of them huddled together — two little girls trapped in a cage. Heart beating fast he struggled off the sofa and put on a jacket before leaving the flat. He had no idea what to do, but needed to get out. He lived near the countryside and something inside urged him to go in that direction. Alex hobbled along the road as fast as he could and passed the last lamp-post on the street. He walked down a dark lane to a fence. He put his hand in his pocket where he found his cigarettes and took one out. He could see shapes he guessed were bushes. One moved. It had the shape of a dog, the shape turned and looked at him with bright red eyes — it was no dog — it was a large wolf.

  Alex gripped the fence.

  Those are bad for you, said a male voice in his mind.

  Alex didn’t take his eyes off the wolf. ‘Who said that?’

  You’re looking at me . . . you must come now.

  He tried to get a good look at the wolf. ‘What makes you think I’ll be going anywhere with you?’

  If you don’t they will die, said the wolf, in a matter of fact tone.

  ‘Who will die?’ said Alex, knowing it was a stupid question.

  You know who, they’ve been calling you.

  ‘I’ve been hearing them for a week now, every night, in my dreams.’

  You can’t have . . . they haven’t been there that long.

  Alex put the cigarette back in the box. ‘Nevertheless, I’ve been hearing them for a week.’

  It must have been preparing you, come now or your children will die.

  ‘What’s been preparing me?’

  I’ll try to explain later, we must hurry.

  Alex pointed at his leg and held up his walking stick. ‘What can I do? Just look at me. I can’t even walk properly, never mind doing anything to find or free them from the cage they’re in,’ he said, feeling useless.

  I’ll help you — just leave your walking stick.

  Alex struggled over the fence. He didn’t care if he was in danger, he didn’t care it was a large wolf with red eyes. It was a chance to save the girls, his girls, and a chance he was quite willing to take. Alex wasn’t sure what thought struck him first. The fact he thought of them as his girls, or he walked without his stick, and felt no pain. He stretched his leg which felt warm. It took just a few paces to walk normal after limping for many years.

  You must hurry . . . we’re running out of time.

  ‘It might have escaped your attention, but it’s night time. Your eyesight might work in the dark, but mine don’t,’ said Alex, as all he could see were shapes. He looked up and saw a full moon breaking through the clouds.

  I’m sorry, I should have realised. Close your eyes and concentrate on them.

  Alex did as asked, his eyes started to feel warm. He opened them and the shapes were now plants, rocks, and the big wolf. It was like infrared only a lot brighter without any colour. The wolf was even bigger than he realised, with its head as high as his elbow and Alex himself stood at six-foot.

  Quickly, we must get going, and only you know the way.

  Alex stared at the wolf. ‘I’ve only heard their voices, and seen them in a vision, but have no idea where they are.’

  Concentrate on the girls, it will come to you.

  He did, and once a
gain a warm feeling came over him, he saw an image of them huddled together in a cage. He didn’t know where they were, but for some reason he could sense them and knew which direction to go. ‘This way,’ he said, and ran.

  Alex thought this was part of a dream, as he wasn’t limping but running. He felt no pain or tiredness as they ran through some woods. He could smell the trees which appeared to reach down and touch him. He had no idea where he was going, just the direction, but he didn’t care as it was to the children — his children. A hedge appeared in front of them and they both leapt it with ease. He tried not letting the enjoyment of running get the better of him as he knew it was going to get serious and his girls needed him. Alex didn’t understand his feelings, but there were many things he didn’t understand.

  Twenty minutes later they saw the outline of a house. The wolf slowed and stooped low, Alex crouched. It was a large house and many of the lights were on, he could see no other houses nearby.

  ‘They’re in there somewhere.’

  Yes, I can sense them. Can you see the window near the ground?

  ‘The one by the shed?’

  It’s to a cellar — you must go in and bring them out.

  Alex turned his head towards the wolf. ‘I don’t even know what else is in there, and you want me to just climb through the window?’

  It’s why you’re here, the girls are inside. You must get them out quickly . . . and speak with your mind not your mouth as others will hear you.

  ‘How do I speak with my mind?’

  There’s no time to teach you now. Just think the thoughts and I will hear them, and you best turn off your sight.

  I won’t be able to see, Alex said in his mind.

  There’s enough light, and it will be better than you making them scream when they see your red eyes.

  How do I get rid of it?

  Close your eyes and concentrate on seeing normally, but hurry, and only free the girls.