by Mela Zen
“Then why do I have a bad feeling?” I whisper.
“Because you miss her, I guess.”
“I guess.”
Danni gives me one last smile before leaving to help Kenzie in her room. As I am putting away my dish, the front door chimes open and I immediately drop my dish to get to the room. My heart drops as I see only Jax and Anna but no Annabelle in sight.
“Where is she?” I ask.
“Not here,” Zeke comes from another door, “I don’t sense her anywhere.”
“She did what she was promised. A life for a life,” Anna says lowly, “I'm sorry.”
“No, honey it’s not your fault. Annabelle made the decision, not you or us,” Jax tries to console her but it doesn’t work as she looks away from his eyes and mine.
“I did my best to convince her out of it. But you know her, hard-headed and stubborn like none other. She did say something though,” Jax looks at the both of us, “She said she did something that was risky and a long shot. I think she did some sort of spell, I do not know. Maybe, just maybe we can find her by using her memoirs and tracking down which spell she used.”
“It does make sense. My sister usually never does something without a backup plan. And Annabelle is smart, she would leave something behind,” Zeke doubles down, thinking hard, “Her memoirs are scattered all over this place after we sold the house in Arizona. Anna are you up for the challenge?”
“Heck yes! What do you need me to do?” Anna asks.
“First you need to train Kenzie to help find my sister’s basic memoirs. You should know how to do a locator spell. Use this book,” Zeke grabs the book from the top shelf, “As guidance.”
“Elijah, you and I will look for the Black Magic volumes she left behind. I know where one of them is and I assume you know where the others are?”
“Only the one we buried in Spain. That is all I know for sure,” I say with disappointment.
“That's too far, we will use the one I have as guidance for the others,” he sighs, “The hard part is opening them up.”
“Wait you have one?” Anna asks.
“Of course. My sister trusts me.”
“Well, that settles it, let’s find these books and find Annabelle,” Jax says.
“Yeah, let’s find her,” I nod.
Annabelle
A couple of days later
It is so musty here I can smell the dust from the entrance way. I can even see the dust and its tiny particles floating around with hits of water alongside it. My small rectangle prison is just enough to hold a twin bed and a chair.
Luckily, there is a bathroom with a fully equipped sink, toilet, and shower. It was kind of odd considering the place is really worn out, but I didn’t complain. I did complain about the clothes and the lack of blood. If they needed me to be strong and with energy, surely they’ll give me enough blood right?
Wrong.
Not to mention the tight chains they have on me, which doesn’t help me when I do need to go to the restroom. It stings me every time I attempt to move, whimpering at the power of vervain and wolfsbane mixed together.
The bars on the small window is also coated in the mixture as well as the bars holding me hostage. They over exaggerate, I did, after all, promise them my life so why go the extra mile.
“Ahh, it’s lovely seeing you struggle beneath those chains. Though it shouldn’t be so different as we used to play with them before, haven’t we love,” the annoying Brit appears again.
“I remember. I wish I remembered strangling you with these chains but my memories falter just like your performance.”
“I knew you were bad at sex, should have gone with me Annabelle,” Alvarian also appears from the shadow.
“Hmm, you guys are built the same. Besides, I like my men tamed,” I give him a sly smile. Aldridge knows I am the dominant one.
“Careful there, love, we were planning to go easy on you but you are making it hard,” Aldridge growls.
“Oh you came to attack me? Is that why you came to visit? I thought you became bored of me. Though, it seems the fading black oval on your face tells me otherwise.”
Aldridge punches the bar, he brings his fist back, realizing that there is vervain on the bars. The night after I was put in here, Alvarian and Aldridge paid me a visit, attempting to beat me up but Daryl got the best of them and well, left a warning.
“Not today love, you are going to pay for what you did to Aldean. Daryl will not stop us now,” Alvarian puts on a pair of gloves and grips the cell bars away.
I steady my rhythm, knowing if they sense it they will use it against me. I am at a clear disadvantage with the wrist bands. I let out a deep sigh, knowing I can’t really fight back. My eyes widen when Aldridge pulls out a whip, a whip that looks vaguely familiar.
“You chose this one out, remember love? I loved when you squirmed under my touch,” Aldridge eyes briefly went to lust but then dark, “I would love to go back to those time but you killed my brother. Time for you to pay.”
Alvarian suddenly lifts me up and slam me against the wall, back facing them. He unlocks the cuffs while his brother whips me a few times until he cuffs my hands above me, tied against the window block.
The whip is coated with vervain and bits of wolfsbane. Each whip left me stinging and biting my tongue so I wont let out a whimper. I can’t show weakness. Not yet at least.
After about forty whips, I felt my back drenched with my blood and my shirt scattered around it, “My turn, brother. I want to enjoy this while I can,” Alvarian says then whips me from behind.
I am so weak right now I can barely stand. I felt Aldridges body hovered over me, unlocking the cuffs then turning me around to only lock me up again.
“How about from the front?” Aldridge gives a sinister smile.
“I like that,” Alvarian begins whipping again.
A few whips later, he stops as the thundering footing comes nearer. I am breathing heavily now, bloodied and bruised. Daryl’s dominating figure appears, anger covering his eyes.
“How dare you disobey me,” Daryl shouts.
“I had no choice! She killed my brother and your brother and you let her idle by? No, I joined to extract revenge, if you can’t understand that then what kind of a brother are you?” Aldridge fights back.
“You could have killed her after we are done with the ritual. Even my brother knew that! Now we have to wait until she is healed! You bunch of imbeciles!”
“Now, now! Look at it as a few more days to improve the spell, eh?” Alvarian turns around trying to console the angry vampire.
With little strength I have, I push my feet from the wall to cross my ankles around Alvarians neck. In a quick instant, I move my ankles opposite of each other, snapping his neck towards me. Then I kicked it back, hearing the spine disconnect from his head.
“There, now you can see your brother,” I laugh and cough out blood, “Don’t worry Aldridge you will be next,” I finally said before I faint.
Chapter 30
Elijah
There is absolutely nothing in these books.
Absolutely.
Nothing.
“I don’t think she has left anything behind, we checked the memoirs, all twenty plus of them, twice. Jax, are you sure she said something?” Anna looks at her mate.
“I know she planned something. She said so herself. If only I know,” Jax sighs leaning back, clearly worn out from the reading.
“How about we try a locator spell. Maybe the one the witches put up is down.”
“You think they be that careless?”
“It’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”
Anna and Jax sit and look at each other, little hope in their eyes. Then they look at me, a beat up me, a tired me. Ever since the night, she has been gone, my body has been worn out. My back aches, nothing could heal me. It felt like I was whipped very hard to the point of no return.
“Why not,” I say softly.
“Zeke!” Jax shouts f
or Annabelle’s brother. I thought I was bad, but Zeke has it worse. I think it is due to the sister-brother bond that they uniquely share.
Jax told me it was different from the bonds other sibling vampires share. For instance, Jax and his sister Jacqueline prefer to be in opposite worlds. Jac loves the low life, simplicity, and nature while Jax prefers the lavish side. But if either of them needs help, they will come to each other.
However, Annabelle and Zeke share this bond that is not so easily described. He feels her pain as much as she feels his, except it is more on the mental side. Not physically. Zeke has been out of it, he lost it a few nights ago, screaming in pain.
He knows something is wrong with her.
Zeke appears, paler and circles forming under his eyes. Danni helps him walk for he has not been drinking blood. He drank some of Danni’s put spit it out, preferring the cold bagged ones from the donation spots.
Something is clearly wrong.
“Another locator spell?” He asks. He sighs at the nodding heads and sits on the couch.
“Please work,” Anna whispers, poking Zeke’s hand. A couple of droplets of blood appear and drip on the world map.
“Invenies, eiusdem sanguinis particeps,” Anna chants waving her hand around the droplets of blood and letting the lavender fade out.
{Translation: find the person who shares the same blood}
The droplets begin to move which is a new development considering it has never moved from the past four attempts. All of us somehow gained hope, looking at the droplets intensely. It moves from Oregon then to Wyoming circling around then it does a curious thing.
A stain remains at the tip of Wyoming trailing off to Montana also leaving a stain to finally do the same in Idaho. We look at each other then back at the map were the droplet of blood remain.
“She’s in all three places?” Zeke looks at Anna and me.
“It could mean that she has been there, is there, or will be there. Other than that it doesn’t really tell us much,” she sighs.
“But at least we have an idea,” Jax remains hopeful.
“Still not enough,” I finally spoke. I slam my fist on the table then march outside to cool off.
Then a faint but brutal pain hits his heart, causing him to crunch over. My mind immediately thought of Annabelle, this is what marking does to you. All the pain she is feeling, I am feeling it very vaguely but I feel it.
After taking a couple of large breaths, I stood up looking dead into the forest when something caught my eye. Curiously, I tilt my head and walk to it amazed at the thing. It is just a couple of leaves floating very nonchalantly, but there is no wind in sight.
I move away from letting flow right pass me and it hits the door. I run up to it, still amazed at the thing and I open the door. Maybe, just maybe the crew knows what this is.
“Hey, guys!” I shout.
They all come in, stopping, and staring at the leaves floating in the air. Zeke comes forward, examining the thing then he sniffs it.
“Well fucking hell Annabelle,” he chuckles, “You’re so old school I hate it.”
“What is it,” Anna asks.
“Nobody on earth knows this spell but those who were in the Sapphire Coven. It is a simple locator spell, the only difference is the length of it. In order to get in the coven, you had to complete this spell while another spell is being cast. If successful, then you whisper to the leaves what do you want it to do? Almost like a talisman.”
“Sounds, complex,” Anna smiles, “But its very genesis.”
“It’s only complex because Annabelle made it out to be. It is the main reason why there are so little people in the coven. Nobody could successfully do it.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s follow it!” I say.
“What about Kenzie? Someone needs to watch her,” Danni looks at me.
“Don’t worry, I’ll have her friend’s parents watch over her for me. They owe me big after I helped her with her big project.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am sure. Besides, Kenzie wants her big sister back and I intend on getting her back.”
Annabelle
I can barely move my body.
I can barely feel my body.
I can barely open my eyelids. I am that exhausted.
But when I do open my eyelids, I am not in the cell anymore but on a rock. I guess they didn’t notice me awakening for they were too consumed with their petty argument. Actually, they look very, very worried.
I wanted to say something very sarcastic, typically of me to do but the words are caught in my throat. I shut my eyes for a quick second to relax my muscles top open them again when screams filled the room.
Tired, I slowly open my eyes to see them on the floor and a black mist appearing. I felt my breath literally being stolen and I drop my head losing conscious.
Chapter 31
Annabelle
My vision is blurry, my head is pounding, and I feel like my body is just a corpse lying on this twin bed. Actually, I don’t think I am even in the cell anymore as the place as gotten bigger, unless it is my mind playing illusions on me.
It feels like I have been here forever. I don’t recall the time or what day it is, I used to be very savvy at that, considering I practically lived through the ages without the use of cellphones and such. However, since my blood is constantly drained, and I am inconsistently fed, my mind is groggy from those things.
To add to my body being drained from my oxygen suppliers, I have been beaten and slander. Mostly the woman has used my frail and weak body as punching bags for all the years I have teased them and verbally abused them for their fictitious acts. I know I am no saint, but damn they know how to kick it to me.
I didn’t make it easy on myself. After their sixth or seventh fail, I started to tease them...a lot.
Flashback
“God damn it, Margaret, are you even trying?” Daryl growls at his wife.
“Fuck off, Daryl. You don’t even know how much energy it takes to perform this,” she snaps back. It does take quite a bit of energy. Madeline and Genevieve are the weaker witches, thus why they take days to recover while it takes Maggie a couple of hours.
“Then why isn’t the spell working wife?”
“Because you are all idiots...and not patient enough,” I snorted. I am going to regret opening my mouth.
“Say what now,” Aldridge asks.
“I mean, you have to figure it out by now. You all so inferior and stupid that the supernatural world has denied you the honor of becoming what I am. Honestly, Valentina was much smarter and she did it by HERSELF. While you have three sappy and low life witches and two bimbo vampires that can't do anything but argue.”
Then I blacked out.
They use my body as a release point of their anger; they are angry that the spell that they bragged about so much, isn’t necessarily working for them. Every time, at least when I am in the room, it fails and the first person who volunteered, usually Daryl or Aldridge, end up angry at me thus beating me.
Point is, they need more than just my blood. I tried explaining it to them, recalling the events of my transformation, however, they tell me to shut the fuck up. So I tried.
Transitioning to my horrible time here, I think about the spell. I hoped it work, it better, after all, I taught the stupid thing. And it was a requirement.
Direzione del vento.
Also known as the Direction of the Wind.
It is a very old school locator spell. One that will buy you time. I made it so that no spell can stop it, and it is very hard to create those spells. I couldn’t cast a spell for months after creating this one. It really did drain me.
It should reach my people by now. I should be feeling some kind of excitement but alas I am still here with a troubled mind and a troubled heart.
In the midst of my predicament, I think about my brother and at time Elijah. But mostly my brother gave he must be feeling everything I am feeling. If my bod
y is tired so is his. It different from marking your mate, it is a linking spell. But that doesn’t mean life for life. Just feelings. It is like a werewolf thing too, siblings often feel each other through spirit.
It was his fault. I told him not too but as the stupid little brother that he is, I did it anyways, for him. He enhanced what we are genetically predisposed of. Again his fault.
And the other times I think about Elijah. My mate. Just the thought of him made me smile. His puffy lips that feel so good against mine. Especially the smile after he kisses me. Oh god, those pearly white teeth and wide smile, I just get the giggles picturing it. His touch that ignites my skin to the beyond and his blood.
If only I can have a sip of his sweet tasting blood. I just got a bolt of energy thinking about it.
Then I frowned since I left things in a not so good terms. My fault, I am used to being the dominant one. I am used to being in control and not giving 50/50.
“Ah the old maiden is awake. Are you ready to give some up,” Madeline interrupts my fantasy about my mate.
“Do I even have a choice,” I croak out.
“No.”
“Take it,” I hand out my arm to which Madeline glady slashes a deep mark. I dont gasp at the pain anymore, I just...roll with it.
“Wow, you have a little more than the usual. Thinking about dear old mate now,” Madeline teases.
“Busted,” I respond.
“Well you should. Given we are going to kill him once this is done,” the moment she finished that sentence she screams, dropping most of my blood.
“You bitch,” she breathes out.
“You might want to get that fixed. I hear a wolf’s scratch is such a pain to get rid of,” I smile looking at the three claw marks across her eyes.
“MADELINE!” Genevieve screams.
“What!” Madeline yells back.
“Come here, now!”
“You’re lucky you runt.”
“Bye now.”
Something is very suspicious.
As they leave the area, their heartbeat quickens to a undeniable strong and fast pace. I tried listening for something but all I got was the wind and heavy breathing. Genevieve’s voice sounded a little bit worried….and scared?
