“Azalea, try to look angry. Say you are here for revenge.”
“Viktoria, they’re here. Get them to count to three and then throw in one of the balls filled with holy water.”
***
“It’s done. All that is left is some ashes. I’ll continue with the siege; you clean up the ashes. Don’t throw that just anywhere. Put it in this bag with the cross inside.”
Greg peeked his head around the doorway. “I just heard the car pull into the driveway. Are you finished?”
“Almost. Go on ahead; open the door, so they will not think anything is strange.”
I heard Greg running up the stairs and opening the door. The chatter of my children as they walked through the door caught my ears as I quickly cleaned up.
“We’re home!” Cameron yelled.
“I’m starving!” Melisa said. “Come on, let’s sit down and eat. Cameron, it’s your turn to pray. Go on.”
“Thank you, Lord, for the food and extra thanks for the ice cream Grandma Nelly bought. Amen.”
“Thanks again, Nelly,” I said as I walked into the dining room where they had already sat down, “for what you have done. It was a great help. I’m going to put a fresh pot of coffee on for dessert.”
“No, honey,” she said as she lightly touched my arm. “You don’t need to; we bought coffee also.” She pointed to a bag. She took a deep breath as she looked around the room. “I feel something different about the house. It looks brighter and smells so nice. It’s not as dark as it was before.”
“You are an angel, Nelly; thank you. I just changed the lightbulbs while everyone was out. I also opened the windows for some fresh air.”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” she asked herself. “Before it had such an odor; I don’t smell it anymore.”
We ate dinner as the kids played with each other. Once the coffee was consumed—and Cameron had eaten his ice cream—Nelly said, “Viktoria, I better leave. It’s getting late.”
“It was good to see you, Nelly,” I said as I got up and gave her a hug. “God bless you.”
“Viktoria, can you get my bag? I forgot it upstairs.”
“When did you change your work bag?” I asked as I came down the stairs carrying her new bag. “I’ve never seen this one before. It’s a very fancy one.”
“Viktoria, that’s not mine.”
“Oh dear,” I said looking down at the bag. “Brandon must have grabbed the wrong bag. Oh, Nelly, do you know what was happening when Brandon left? It’s very unlike him not to take the right bag.”
“You’re right, but he dropped this on his way out,” she said before handing me something.
“Why, I have never seen this before.” I held it up to inspect it. “It’s a black robe and has a symbol. I think I’ve seen this symbol before but where …”
“Let me see that, Viktoria,” Nelly commanded, holding out her hand. She looked at it for a long moment before announcing, “I think I have seen this robe before. It was my husband’s; he was a member of some sort of club … I don’t remember the name right now, but it was a gentlemen’s club and there was that ring. I am surprised to see it; I thought his father had gotten rid of it.”
“Maybe his father gave it to Brandon to keep as a keepsake, Nelly, but I’ve never seen Brandon wearing a ring before—apart from his wedding ring.”
She looked around the room before looking back at me. She smiled. “You know, Viktoria, it’s good to be here. I’ve missed this so much. We should get together more often.”
“I agree,” I said, lightly patting her hand. “You have not been in this house for a long time. Every time we planned for something, something else always came up. I’m so happy that you’re here; I hope the kids don’t tire you out; I know Cameron is a handful.” I looked back at the kitchen. “Nelly, I’m making tea; would you like some?”
“Sure, if you still read the tea leaves,” she said putting the bag down.
“Yes, I do. Why?”
“I just miss the days when we were able to sit down and chat.”
I smiled as I remembered. “I have always wanted to talk to you but never really had a chance before. We will do it tonight, as soon as I get the tea ready.”
“Thanks, Viktoria,” she said and sat at the table in the kitchen. “Tea is nice, soothing. It relaxes me.” She let out a yawn that she could not hide. “I feel so tired. I should go to bed soon, or I am going to park myself on this chair.”
“Maybe we should reschedule your cup reading until tomorrow. Good night, Nelly. If you need me, I am going to be in my office working a bit longer.”
“Don’t read my cup without me,” she said with a tired smile. She got up and headed to the guest room. “Good night.”
“Good night, Nelly.”
I headed up to my office, but I admit that my mind was racing. I still could not get over the fact that Azalea and Lacey had seen Brandon. Maybe what they really saw was a jinn disguised as him; maybe that was the dark shadow we had all seen.
As this case got deeper, I was becoming more and more petrified. Perhaps I should back up from this case, not get as involved. I thought maybe Brandon was right; sometimes, things had to be left alone.
Once I was settled into my office, I noticed someone sitting in the chair. “I also think, Gabriellele, that I promised I would help and stop Lilith. And while this is far more than I bargained for, I cannot back away from the case. I gave my word, and I will do this.”
“Thank you, Viktoria. I know you’re scared; don’t be. We’re here for you as you are for us. Don’t forget we have power as well; we won’t let anyone hurt you or your family.”
“Gabriellele, how do you know all these things? Unless you can read my mind? … Can others … like you read too?”
“Yes, we all do; we can communicate among ourselves this way.”
“Therefore, you could read other demons as well humans?”
“Only some. If they are ranked higher than us, we cannot read them.”
“Can you do me a favor? Can you read Brandon’s mind? Something is bothering me, and I need to know what’s going on.”
“What is it, Viktoria? What’s bothering you?”
“It’s about Azalea and Lacey. They both said they saw Brandon today.”
“I don’t know.”
“You know what? As you said, it might be a jinn. It’s possible.”
“We cannot read jinn either. It’s so hard; they’re much faster than we are. … Maybe I am exaggerating again. I do have a tendency to do that.” She tried to backtrack. “Just disregard what I said.”
“I need to go over the files in case I missed something important. While I’m checking the files, you can keep me company and tell me more about yourself.”
As I was checking over the files, Gabriellele was thinking about how we were going to find the rest of the people. “We don’t know where they live, what their ages are, nothing at all.”
Suddenly, I saw something. This never crossed my mind. Gabriellele was telling me about her birthdays from the past when it hit me. “It would help us a lot if their birthdays were the same.”
We checked the rest of the files—an exact match.
Besides sharing the same birthday, Azalea and Carmella were born at the same time. That meant there were six hundred sixty-six born all over the world at the same time.
Then it hit me to look at the blood type. Bingo. All the same.
Also, all three were adopted. “I have to call Michael,” I said, reaching for my phone. “I have to tell him what’s going on.”
Chapter 5
Birthdays
“Hi, Michael,” I said to his voice mail. “I know it’s one in the morning, and you can curse me out later, but I need to talk to you. It’s very important; you know that I would never bother you unless it was big. Please call
me.”
A little while later, my phone rang. “Viktoria, I got your message. It had better be good, or you owe me big-time.”
“As I said, it has to be big or I would not bother you at all. I was going over the files, and I noticed something: all three victims have some things in common. All their birthdays are the same, and they were all adopted.”
“Listen, I’m going over to the office now. We can’t wait for tomorrow. I don’t have the files with me, so can you come in?”
“Yeah, I can leave the kids with their grandmother, Nelly. I’ll meet you at the station. I don’t want the kids to know anything about this case.”
As I was driving to the station, Gabriellele gave me a warning. “There is someone with us. Are you sure you want to go over there?”
“Yes, Gabriellele, it’s important. This concerns you and the others.”
“Is this about what you were talking about with Michael? That we share the same birthdays?”
“Yes. We might also have come close to finding the rest of them. We might be able to save them faster than we think.”
“Viktoria, soon I—and the others—will go to the light. Right now, I’m scared.”
“You don’t need to be scared,” I said as I pulled into the station. “Okay, I have to go inside now; you can stay around if you want.”
“I have an idea about how to find the rest before Lilith gets to them,” was how Michael greeted me. “We have to be fast, though.”
“What is it?” I said as I took off my coat.
“We have to check the hospital birth records for this date all over the United States.”
“What about the rest of world? Don’t forget, Michael, there are six hundred sixty-three females and one male left. Also the ones with us are adopted.”
“How about the twins? Can we find them? Didn’t you say that they hold the power close to hell? Far as I remember, weren’t they born in New York State?”
“Michael, you are a genius! I’m going to call Greg, see if he can help us.” I looked down at my ringing phone. “He’s calling me now. Perfect timing!” I put it to my ear. “Hi, Greg, you must be eavesdropping. I was about to call you; Michael and I have a good lead in the case.”
“Good thing I called then,” Greg said. “I was concerned about you and the kids; is everything okay there? What were you saying about having a good lead?”
“Yes. I’m at the station now, and I know it’s very late, but do you think you can come over?”
“Consider it done. I should be there in ten minutes.”
“Okay,” I said. After hanging up, I turned to Michael. “Greg is on his way. Let’s start searching; when were they born?”
“They were born on February 14, 1982,” he noted as he opened their files. “They are Valentine’s Day babies.”
“Are you sure? 1982? Michael, we have to check for all baby girls born that day and year.”
A few minutes later, I heard the door open and looked up to see Greg walking in. “Look who’s here,” Michael said with a smile as he leaned back in his chair. “Our man! What did you do? Fly here?”
“If I say yes,” Greg asked as he sat down, “would I get a ticket from you for speeding?”
Michael smirked. “Not this time.”
“What have you found about the case? Are we getting close?”
“Well,” Michael said, getting back to the files, “all three victims were born on the same day in the same year. All three were female, and all were adopted. Now we are searching for the birth records.”
I looked at Greg. “What we need from you is a way to find the twins so they can help us to stop Lilith.”
“When did you say they were born?”
“February 14, 1982.”
Greg looked me in the eye. “Viktoria, are you okay with this?”
“Why would you ask that?” Michael asked, surprised. “Of course she is! She looks a little tired; that’s all.”
“I’m sorry, Michael; I suppose you don’t know that Viktoria lost twins at birth. They had the same birthday too.”
Michael looked at me. “I’m so sorry, Viktoria. I didn’t know. This must be very hard for you, especially with this case.”
“It was a long time ago,” I said, wishing Greg hadn’t brought this up. “Brandon and I were only engaged; I was still in college. Brandon had a new job in the hospital actually. I think the Lawson firm found him just about the time I found out I was pregnant. We were ecstatic. We got married before the twins were due.
“However, during the birth, the umbilical cord was wrapped around one of the babies’ necks, and he was a stillborn. The other baby died the next day. I saw the first baby for few seconds and the other baby the next morning. He was in an incubator when I left him, but right after I came up to my room, the nurse told us they had lost him. Since then, I have tried to block it away.”
“Since you are psychic, have you ever seen them or felt their presence in the last twenty-seven years?”
“You know what, Michael? I suppose that since I tried to block it so hard, I did not see them or hear them at all. I have never talked about this with anyone until today. The kids don’t know anything about their twin brothers. I did not want to get hurt again or hurt them by telling them.” I sighed before looking around the room. My eyes landed on the files. I clapped my hands once. “Come on, guys! Let’s get back to work. It’s three in the morning. We need these addresses, so can you make a few copies?” I said passing some files to Michael.
“Look at this, Viktoria,” Michael said, coming closer to me. “Of all the birth registrations in the state of New York, there were one hundred forty-five girls and thirty-two boys, one set of twins. The twins were born on Long Island in a general hospital, and there was another baby boy born as a stillborn at the same as time as the twins.
“What I am saying is that there was only one set of twins born that night in all of New York.”
“Long Island General Hospital?” I asked. “But I had my twins there that night too. It should show their registration as well. However, there is nothing about a second set of twins.”
“That’s what I’m saying; why doesn’t it show that?”
“I just remembered what you said, Greg, about when Leila switched the boys. She must have then erased some files. Maybe, accidentally, she erased my twins’ files too. That could have happened, right?”
“Greg, we have to check the death registrations in that hospital that night. How many babies were stillborns?”
“That night shows two stillborns. One was a boy and one a girl. Their birth records have no names. There is no record showing anything about the birth of your twin boys or any kind of record showing that you were even admitted to the hospital that night. There is no death of any babies the next day either. It was not registered from Long Island General Hospital. Maybe you’re right; they must have been erased accidentally.”
“That’s impossible. Michael, I think we’re confusing ourselves; we need a break. Let’s get some coffee.”
“At least they show that only one baby boy lived. So how do we get the address?” Michael asked.
“The address is shown on the register as being in upstate New York. We get the names and address there,” I said.
“Viktoria, I’ll do it. I know what to do from here; let me get into the system.”
“Look at this, they only lived there for few years and then they moved,” Michael said.
“Is there any forwarding address?” I asked.
“Let me see … no, there isn’t one. But don’t worry, we can still get it. We have to check any kind of records like licenses or unpaid traffic tickets. There must be something. We could also check their tax returns.”
“Look,” I said, “I can’t stay that long; I have to go back home. I am extremely tired, and I need to get the kids t
o school in the morning. So that is it from me, but if you find anything, let me know. Good night.” I got up to leave.
“We all should get some rest,” Greg said. “Michael, we can continue with this later. We’re coming, Viktoria! Wait!”
“Greg, call Viktoria back here,” I heard Michael say, “I think I have the address.”
“Viktoria!” I heard Greg yell. I turned around. “Come back! Michael has something to show you!”
“Okay, I’m coming. This better be good,” I mumbled. I was so tired all I could think about was my nice, warm bed.
“Greg, write this phone number down,” Michael instructed. “And this is the address. We can go over tomorrow and ask around. Viktoria,” he said when he saw me, “we have a phone number and an address. We are checking on the baby now.” Michael then proceeded to talk into a phone.
“Who is Michael talking to, Greg?”
“He is talking to his friend Den from the FBI. He’s looking for more information on this family.”
“Okay, Den,” Michael said into his phone. “What was the kid’s name?” He wrote something down. “Okay, got it. Thanks for the info; I appreciate it.” He put the phone down and grinned at Greg and me. “I am the man! I have some information; it’s bad, but it’s still information.”
“What is the bad information?”
“Well, we know that the kid’s name was Alvin.”
“What happened to him?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, the kid passed away from meningitis in high school. After his death, the family returned to Italy. They couldn’t stay here any longer.”
“What is the other news, Michael?”
“Viktoria, his mother took it the worst, but because of her illness, they’re back. They came a few weeks ago. They live in Locust Valley, New York.”
“It’s something, Michael. It’s the best news ever. We’re getting closer to this, I can feel it!”
“Viktoria, I don’t think you heard me right: the kid died. He does not exist anymore.”
“I heard you, but this kid is not dead. They set this up, switching names with someone who died from meningitis. I am telling you, he is alive! We will find him! You even said it yourself, Greg; they have been touched by Leila, and they are immortal! He is protected by angels!”
Lilith's Awakening Page 8
