Encala

by T. M. Nielsen

Chevalier stood up angrily, and Kyle held him back as he started to jump at Damon, “You will not speak about my wife like that!”

  Damon nodded, he wasn’t in the position to take on an Elder.

  “You will find… Chief Enforcer… that almost every heku that has met her will fight you over comments like that,” Leonid said, coldly.

  “I say we get her back and try again while the ability is fresh in her mind,” Damon suggested, changing the subject.

  “I say we let her be. She’s out riding and will be much more pleasant if we leave her alone for now,” Chevalier said.

  Sam ran into the room quickly with Allen in his arms, he looked terrified.

  “What’s wrong, Sam?” Chevalier asked, taking Allen from him.

  “Tell him Allen… exactly what you told me,” Sam said.

  Chevalier looked at Allen and smiled, “Firemen talking again?”

  “No, the bad man was talking,” Allen said, tears welling up in his eyes.

  Kyle frowned, “Bad man?”

  Allen nodded.

  “What is he saying?” Chevalier asked the toddler.

  “I don’t want to say, he’s mad,” Allen was crying onto Chevalier’s shoulder.

  “Tell them, Child,” Sam said, patting Allen’s back.

  Allen looked up, “My daughter…” he said, still sobbing. “You will pay for his death. A life for a life.”

  “Who is the Ancient’s daughter?” Maleth asked, confused.

  Chevalier handed Allen back to Sam and blurred down the stairs, with Kyle close behind him. Damon shrugged and followed them, along with Maleth and Leonid. They appeared in the stables as Chevalier looked around. Patra was in her stall, but the smell of blood was strong in the area.

  Kyle moved stall to stall and disappeared into one of them, gasping. Chevalier appeared at the door and looked down at Emily. She was sitting on blood covered straw, doubled over, and clutching her stomach. Chevalier scooped her up and yelled for the doctor as he blurred into the castle.

  ***

  “I’m so sorry,” the doctor said as he stepped out of her room. “She lost the baby.”

  Chevalier sat in the hallway with his head in his hands, “How is she?”

  “She lost a lot of blood, but... I have her sedated. She wasn’t very far along. This could have been worse,” the doctor said sadly, and then walked down the stairs.

  Chevalier stood up and walked slowly down the stairs. Heku guards moved quickly out of his way as he walked toward the prison.

  Kyle sighed and went in to sit by Emily on the bed. He took her hand and pulled another blanket over her. She was pale and cold. The smell of medicine on her masked the weakening pregnancy scent.

  Kyle sat with her as he listened to the sounds from the prison. Guards asked Leonid and Maleth if Chevalier should be stopped, but they were told to leave him be. Screams echoed off of the walls as Encala prisoners were cruelly tortured and torn to shreds. The worst was the Encala Elder. Kyle tried to ignore the agonizing screams as he was tortured for hours before Chevalier finally lost control and tore him apart.

  Sam whisked Allen by the bed quickly when he went to lay Allen down for the night. Kyle watched them, silently, still holding her cold hand. As the night passed into morning, Emily began to stir and mumble in her sleep. Kyle whispered a message to Chevalier that she was waking up.

  Chevalier appeared in the doorway. His clothes torn, and covered in blood. He hissed when he saw Kyle holding her hand.

  “Don’t let her see you like that,” Kyle whispered, ignoring the threat.

  Chevalier disappeared and returned twenty minutes later, showered and clean. Kyle stood up and blurred from the room, shutting the door behind him. He yelled at the guards as one of them headed into the room.

  “My orders were that she’s not to be alone with a single heku,” the guard said to Kyle.

  “I’m giving you new orders, leave them alone,” Kyle snapped at him.

  “The order came from the Elders, step down,” the guard said.

  “You’ll have to kill me to get in that room,” Kyle said, angrily.

  Emily opened her eyes when she heard the shouting and then looked at Chevalier. He sat down beside her and took her hand.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  Chevalier shook his head, “It wasn’t your fault. We’ll get him, I promise you.”

  Emily sat up, grasping her stomach and winced. Chevalier put an arm around her to help her up. She took the orange juice from beside the bed and drank some. When she tried to stand up, he stopped her.

  “I just need a shower,” she said, and he let her up, “alone.”

  He nodded and left the room so she could have some privacy. The shower served a dual purpose, not only did she still smell like blood, but she was testing to see if she was strong enough. She had a plan that was already set in motion.

  Emily slipped on a t-shirt and jeans, ignoring the pain the movement caused. Her shoes were the hardest, but she bit her lip and emerged from the room fully dressed. The fifteen gathered heku looked at her when she stepped out.

  “Are you going somewhere?” one of them asked her, and she nodded.

  “Emily, you can’t leave,” Chevalier said, taking her hand and trying to lead her back into the room.

  “I can… I need to go to the store,” she said, and slipped her purse over her shoulder.

  “Anything you need we can get you,” he said, frustrated when he saw her set her jaw.

  “I’m going,” she said.

  “Doctor?” Chevalier called, and he blurred to them.

  The doctor looked shocked when he saw Emily about to leave, “You can’t go, you aren’t well.”

  “I am too,” she said, irritated, and started down the stairs.

  “I’ll go with you then,” Chevalier told her.

  Emily turned to him, “Stay here, make plans for an Encala attack,” she said to him with an icy chill. He looked closely at her. Her words seemed to have an underlying meaning, but he couldn’t quite place it.

  “You… and you…” she said, pointing to two strange heku guards, “You’re coming with me.”

  The two guards got an approving nod from Chevalier, and followed her out to the Durango in the garage. Emily climbed in, again ignoring the pain and drove out of the city.

  “Give me your cell phones,” she said, holding her hand out. The guards frowned, but handed her the two phones. She rolled down the window and threw them out when they crossed a bridge. The guards eyes grew wide as they saw them splash into the water.

  Emily got onto I-80 and passed the city.

  “Where exactly are we going shopping?” one of them asked when the last exit passed by them.

  “How fast can you run?” she asked, ignoring his question.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Is that a hard question? How fast can you run?” she snapped.

  “I don’t know… thirty miles an hour or so. A lot faster for short distances,” one of them said, looking at her nervously.

  Emily stepped harder on the gas and sped toward the west. She ignored all of the questions the guards threw at her. She drove through the day, pulling over to the side of the road just as the sun set over the horizon.

  “Give me your wallets,” she said, holding out her hand.

  “Why?” one of them asked.

  “Do it,” she snapped, and they both handed over the only money they had.

  “Now get out,” she said, watching them.

  “No,” they both told her.

  Emily turned to the one closest to the door and let go one small piece of her abilities. He screamed and grabbed his chest, and then scrambled to get out of the Durango. The other followed him. When Emily spun out back onto the Interstate, the door shut hard with the momentum.

  “He’s going to kill us,” one of the guards said, watching her go.

  “Yes he is,” the other agreed, and began the long run back to Council City.

&nb
sp; Emily drove through the night and then left the Interstate and pulled onto a dirt road and stopped. She slipped out of the Durango and walked a ways off into the desert.

  “I’m here, come and get me,” she hissed into the wind. Only a few minutes passed before someone placed a blindfold over her eyes and secured her hands behind her back. She was put into a vehicle and could feel as it sped off.

  “You swear the blindfold will keep us safe?” one of the Encala asked.

  “Yes, the Elder told us that if she can’t see you… she can’t turn you to ash,” a weak voice said to him.

  They drove in silence. Emily wasn’t sure for how long, because of the blindfold, but she was relieved to be out of the car when they finally stopped. A rough hand took her arm and led her into a building. She heard hisses and hushed whispering as she passed.

  “Where does he want her?” a cold voice said.

  “Put her in a cell until we are ready. Keep her eyes and hands bound,” someone hissed.

  Emily was thrown into a cold cell, and she felt around with her foot until she found a bed, then sat down to wait.

  ***

  “I’m sure she’s fine. She has two guards with her. She probably needs to be alone,” Chevalier said, as the night drew on with no word from Emily.

  Kyle nodded but continued to pace, “I hope so.”

  Sam brought Allen in for bed.

  “Good night” Chevalier said, picking him up in a hug.

  “No, it’s not,” Allen mumbled, his bottom lip pushed out.

  Chevalier smiled, “What’s wrong?”

  Allen shrugged, “My firemen quit talking. They are broken.”

  “I’m sure they will talk again when Mommy gets back,” Chevalier said, kissing Allen on the cheek.

  “She’s not coming back though.”

  “Yes she is. She’s just upset right now,” Kyle said, trying to fight the feeling something was wrong.

  “Yeah I guess,” Allen sighed, and put his firemen on the floor when Chevalier sat him down.

  “Good night, Son,” Chevalier said, mussing his hair.

  “What will he do to Mommy?” Allen asked Chevalier.

  “What will who do to her?”

  “The bad man.”

  “The bad man doesn’t have Mommy,” Chevalier said, but the first pangs of panic began.

  “Yes he does, that’s where she went. To get the bad man.”

  Chevalier knelt down by Allen and took his shoulders in his hands, “What do you mean?”

  “The bad man, the one I told you about. She went to him,” Allen said, looking into Chevalier’s eyes.

  “How do you know?”

  “He said so. He was laughing, and then the firemen quit talking,” Allen said. Sam took him into the bedroom.

  Chevalier turned to Kyle, “She wouldn’t.”

  Kyle sighed, “Yes, she would.”

  The two guards who left with Emily appeared beside Chevalier, “Sir, she left.”

  Chevalier growled, “You let her go?”

  “She used her powers on us… took our cell phones and wallets and then drove off. We got here as fast as we could,” one of them stammered, afraid of the Elder’s wrath.

  ***

  Two days passed before Emily was taken out of the cell. Her stomach growled angrily, as they hadn’t fed her.

  “Where to?” someone asked, taking her arm.

  “He wants her prepared for the swearing in,” someone answered. Emily was pulled forward again.

  “Stay here,” someone ordered her, and she felt the hand leave her arm. She listened carefully, but couldn’t hear anyone. She jumped when the door behind her opened, and she could hear voices.

  “Just as long as you don’t take her blindfold off. She can’t see you or she will kill you,” a female said.

  “It’s about time we get this Child. The Elder had me make this dress months ago,” another female said.

  “Yes, Vaughn is going to love it.”

  The heku pulled her clothes off. Emily didn’t talk to them, and didn’t fight them. They ended up cutting her shirt off because they were afraid it would pull the blind off, and they also weren’t sure how to get it off without freeing her hands.

  Emily winced slightly when the cold hands touched her as they slipped a piece of soft velvet around her chest and fastened it behind her. It felt like no more than a strapless bra, but again, she didn’t complain. The skirt was also soft, like velvet, and fit obscenely low on her hips. She could tell it was no more than two strips of material, and could feel the air against her exposed thighs.

  Someone began to tug her hair into a bun, while another placed a coiled arm band on both of her upper arms. The heku women talked, irritatingly, about nothing important the entire time they got Emily ready for the swearing in, and she said nothing to them.

  ***

  “Finally, we meet again,” the Ancient said when he was alone with Emily.

  She stood still, not answering. She felt his dry, rough hands trail down her face, and finally rest under her chin, “You look so much like my Elizabeth.”

  “You killed my baby,” she hissed at him.

  “It was a male child, of no use to us,” he said coldly. “Besides, you killed my mortal. He was to be a general when he turned immortal.”

  She listened carefully as he walked around her.

  “You’re shorter than your mother, more muscular though.” She felt his hands move across the contours of her abdomen. Emily jumped slightly when she felt a light scratching on her thigh.

  “I expect full obedience from you, Child,” he said, and she could feel his breath on her face. “You cannot turn enough of the Encala to ash to make it worth your pain if you try. Obedience will be enforced through punishment. Do you understand?”

  Emily nodded.

  “You turned me to ash once… as a child, you were two,” he said, still walking around her slowly. “Quite painful, I assure you. Luckily, I wasn’t alone, and the Encala were able to revive me.”

  Emily heard the door open and the Ancient speak, “Ahhh, Vaughn, I was waiting for you.”

  “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” a deep voice replied.

  “This is my daughter, Emily,” the Ancient said.

  “Let me look at her,” Vaughn said. Emily’s skin crawled as she felt his eyes on her.

  “She is beautiful,” Vaughn hissed, and Emily felt his hands run from her waist down to her exposed thighs, “She’s just a little thing though.”

  “Do not underestimate the Winchesters though, Vaughn,” the Ancient said, amused.

  Emily fought the urge to pull away when she felt Vaughn run his nose along her chin to her neck and inhale deeply, “Mmmm, soon you will be mine, Child.”

  “We will be expecting a female child soon,” the Ancient said, pleased.

  “I don’t think that will be a problem,” Vaughn replied, and then kissed her roughly. His hand wound around the back of her neck. Emily didn’t fight, didn’t try to get away, but she also didn’t return the kiss.

  “You’ll have to wait until after the ceremony,” the Ancient laughed.

  “I’ll have that ring off of her finger by midnight,” Vaughn said, and his hands followed down the curve of her back.

  Emily felt the blindfold loosening and the sudden brightness made her squeeze her eyes shut. She opened them and let them adjust to the light. The Ancient was still in the room. His skin was pale and cracked with age. He smiled at her, and his blackened teeth shone. Vaughn was a hulking heku. Emily didn’t even come to his sternum. He was extremely muscular, and only wearing a kilt and cape. He was looking over her body and smiling.

  “Behave, Child, and this will go easier,” the Ancient reminded her.

  “Release my hands,” she said softly.

  Emily’s feet left the ground as Vaughn put his hands under her arms, and lifted her up so she was even with him.

  “Look at those eyes,” he said, grinning at her. His breath smell
ed like decaying flesh, and Emily’s stomach turned.

  “Yes, I always loved her mother’s eyes,” the Ancient said, sadly.

  Vaughn moved his face to her neck and ran his tongue along the pounding vein.

  “Tonight, Child,” he said, and set her back down. “Can we release her hands?”

  “Yes, yes, it’s her eyes we have to worry about,” the Ancient chuckled.

  Vaughn moved behind her and released her hands, and then wound his arms around her shoulders. Emily’s injured shoulder screamed, but she forced the pain down.

  “It’s time,” the Ancient said. “I will see you in there.” He left quickly, leaving Emily and Vaughn alone.

  Vaughn began to kiss Emily’s neck and shoulders as his hands ran lightly across her exposed skin, “Mmm you will love me, Child. I promise you that.”

  “Not now, not now! Get going, Vaughn,” she heard a female heku say. Vaughn chuckled and pulled away from her, leaving the room quickly.

  Emily was left alone, and she looked around the room. There was a single empty closet, but the door had a mirror on it so she stepped in front of it. She was right about the feel of velvet. Her outfit was blood-red and stitched with tiny, sparkling jewels. She tried to pull the skirt up higher. It felt like at any minute, it could fall off of her, but it wouldn’t move.

  “You can do this, Emily,” she said to herself, and then moved away from the mirror.

  “Come, Child,” someone said, and she turned to the heku at the door. He was a stern looking older man, balding and withered.

  Emily stepped toward him and he led the way. She followed silently, watching the hallways as she walked past. He stopped in front of two large stone doors.

  “You walk down the aisle to Vaughn. He’s been sworn in, now you just need presented to the Council,” he said to her.

  Emily nodded. She’d done this once before, and was dreading the judgmental eyes on her.

  As the doors opened, the great hall fell silent and all eyes turned to Emily. She saw Vaughn standing on the platform at the other end of the room. Emily began the slow walk toward him. The hisses and inhales from the crowd made her want to run, but she held her course, focusing on the Ancient, her ultimate target.

  Vaughn smiled broadly as she approached him, and he reached out and touched her waist, “I present to the Council, Emily Winchester.”