“What is this spell going to do?”
“You will soon find out, my dear. Just one more thing,” Amelia said, as she mixed in some alligator teeth and a set of eyeballs. She placed a candle in the middle of the table and suspended the bowl over the flame.
When she was finished, Amelia reached over the table to grab Whisper’s hands. “Now, hold my hands over the bowl.”
Amelia held Whisper’s hands tightly and she began a chant that Whisper soon caught on to. After a few minutes of this, something began to happen between the two of them and, suddenly, the atmosphere in the room became extremely heavy, making it hard for them to breathe. There was a mist forming in the air and it was floating above them, as Amelia began to speak. They chanted together in a fury, as they called upon the other side, channeling the souls of the dead from hurricane Katrina, asking for their spirits to rise from their watery graves to help them in their bidding. Whisper listened, as Amelia called upon the alligators to retrieve the lost bodies and bring them to her. She said a few more words and ended the spell with a kiss on Whisper’s lips, as the bowl billowed up a black smoke… empty.
“What did we just do?” Whisper wanted to know.
“We have just raised the dead, my young one. Congratulations.”
“Did it work?”
“The Vampires will be here tomorrow,” Amelia answered. “You’ll know for sure, by then.”
Whisper was about to ask another question, when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Outside a small window, she could see a longhaired man dressed in dirty, loose-fitting clothing that almost looked like some type of robe. She watched, as the man walked around aimlessly, not making any contact with anyone. He seemed to be checking the perimeter of the compound and he had two pet wolves near him that seemed to be his guardians.
“Who is that?” Whisper asked. “I thought you lived here alone?”
“I do,” she answered, not even looking to see whom Whisper was talking about. “He’s been around for over a thousand years… long before I was born. He wishes to be left alone, doesn’t have any contact with anyone.”
“He’s not dangerous, is he?” Whisper nervously asked.
“No, not at all,” Amelia assured her. “In fact, he’s been waiting on this land for centuries,” she went on to explain. “My greatgrandmother knew that the Baron would be coming here someday and that man has been waiting here, ever since.”
“He knows the Baron?” Whisper suspiciously asked. “He’s not one of them, is he?”
“Quite the opposite,” Amelia answered. “You’ll see. And, Whisper, do not mention to anyone that you saw him. Do you understand?” she asked, looking her in the eyes and making sure that her point was made. “Not a single word. Swear to it.”
“Not a word,” Whisper promised. “I swear on my life.”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
“They’re here!” Sebastian was shouting, as he came into JD’s view at Amelia’s house. “Those bastards are here!”
“What did you see, Sebastian?” JD asked, as he walked through the thick grass to meet his son.
“Two semi-trucks with trailers attached, they just pulled up at the end of the path,” he said, catching his breath. “The windows are all completely blacked out, including the windshield… I couldn’t see who was driving.”
“What were they doing?” Nate asked him.
“Nothing, just sitting there,” Sebastian answered. “They pulled up, facing this way and shut off the engines. They’re probably going to wait for the sun to go down.”
“Great,” Nate said, shaking his head. “We only have seven hours before then. I think we should just enjoy our last day on earth, because who knows what the Baron’s brought with him from England.”
“Have some faith, Nate,” JD replied. “Amelia said she could help stop them. Let’s just be ready for anything.”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, you guys, but we all know… we’re up against the best he’s got,” Nate said, as he began pacing.
“So, what are you suggesting then, Nate? We run?” JD angrily said back. “I’d rather fight and die, right here in the swamps, than spend my life on the run!”
JD immediately called a meeting with everyone in the group and they all gathered around to hear what he had to say. Amelia stood by his side, as JD made his announcement from her porch.
“Everyone,” he began, “the Vampires have arrived. There are two truckloads of them waiting outside the swamp, right now. And, that means, that there are a lot more of them and a lot fewer of us. So, this is what’s going to happen… Nate and I are going to stay and we want the rest of you to high tail it out of here and leave the swamps. They won’t be after you, until they’ve taken care of us.
“There’s no way I’m leaving you to face them alone, dad,” Sebastian replied. “I’m staying, no matter what you say.”
“So am I,” Moonflower joined in. “What would my world be like without any of you in it? I’m staying.”
“Amelia needs me,” Whisper added. “I’m staying, too.”
“I’d rather stay and die with my family, than run from those bastards!” Wendy shouted out. “I’ve had about enough of their shit! Fuck ‘em!”
“Maybe the Baron would be satisfied with only us, JD,” suggested Nate. “Maybe we should just give up ourselves and try to bargain with him. Maybe we can save everyone else.”
“If it were that easy,” JD said, shaking his head. “I would. But, we both know the Baron is going to kill anyone that had anything to do with Wolf Creek and us. He already killed everyone there, why would he stop with us?”
“JD’s right,” Amelia replied. “This is where it all ends, one way or another. My great-grandmother foresaw this night, over a thousand years ago,” she explained. “You can’t run any longer. Either you die tonight, fighting, or you live… free of the Baron’s rule.”
Nate understood that it was wise to heed this woman’s word, nodding his head in agreement. “Well then, let’s prepare ourselves. We need to get this place ready for sundown,” he said, stepping down from the porch. “I’m sure they’ll be coming, right after dark.”
“One thing I can protect us from, is their ability to fly in from overhead,” Amelia said, stepping out into the yard. She closed her eyes and tilted her face to the sky. As she began repeating a few words, the thick trees began to weave into a ceiling of vines and branches that formed a shield from the sky above them.
Everyone watched in amazement, at the magnificent feat this woman had just performed. When everything became still, once again, she stepped back over to the group that was gazing in silence and gave them further instructions. “Now, when we’re ready, I’ll let them in through the main path and we’ll be able to keep them grounded,” she explained. “The path is narrow enough, that their numbers won’t matter as much.”
“Sounds like an excellent plan, Amelia. We brought plenty of high-powered rifles for the wives to protect themselves with and I guess we’ll just pray for a miracle and great aim,” JD said, flashing a grin. He looked over to where the women were sitting and listening closely. “You ladies all know how to use them, right?”
After the women all nodded in agreement, Amelia began to speak. “Well, everyone, I suggest we get this place ready for a fight. There might be some things you can use over there in that storage building. Go have a look.”
JD and Nate entered the building, that had been built not all that long ago, already filled with junk and completely overrun with spiders and thick webs.
“Look what I found,” Nate called to JD.
“What is it?
“Have a look… score!” Nate said, as he held up an old, rustic, but still functioning, bear trap.
After pulling on a tarp, Nate uncovered close to twenty more, along with a huge stack of wooden stakes.
“Perfect,” JD said.
The two men gathered what they could and they left the unit to show the others what they’d di
scovered. JD called for Sebastian, who was slacking off and talking with Moonflower outside of Amelia’s house.
“Sebastian!” JD shouted. “Get your ass over here! I need you to take an axe and sharpen all of these wooden stakes into a nice, sharp point.”
“No problem,” he said. “Then, what?”
“Then I need you to dig a couple holes, out towards the end of the path. Make the holes about ten feet round and about seven feet deep.”
“I see where you’re going with this,” replied Sebastian, with a smile on his face.
“Good,” JD expressed. “Get those stakes in the ground and have Chumlee’s lazy ass help you cover them up. He isn’t doing anything useful.”
“Hey!” Chumlee snapped back. “I’m not that lazy. I had a job once, for almost two weeks. But, they said I was eating up all the profits and they fired me.”
“Just shut up and get going, you two,” JD demanded, losing a bit of his patience.
Sebastian and Chumlee obeyed the orders, grabbing some shovels and making their way down the twisting path, until they found a nice spot to dig three pits. They worked fast and soon, they were sticking the sharpened wooden stakes into the ground and disguising the traps with branches and leaves.
JD and Nate were also digging into the path, but they were only making small indentations in the earth… enough of them to set the twenty, or so, bear traps they’d brought out.
As the group was busy preparing for the events to come, the swamps around them were coming to life… the alligators could be seen swimming near the shores of the dark, murky water. One by one, the reptiles began emerging from the waters, each one holding a dead body in their mouth, leaving the rotting corpses in the shallow water, before disappearing back into the swamps.
Whisper saw this and she began getting sick from the thought of what was about to happen.
“Whisper,” Amelia said, putting an arm around her. “I know this is hard, but I know you have it in you. Before it gets dark, I’ll need you by my side, to perform the last part of my spell. I’ll need your strength to bring back the dead.”
Whisper held on to the tears that were about to burst from her eyes, but instead of crying, she nodded and gave Amelia a hug.
Everyone continued working throughout the day, setting traps and putting up various barriers and blockades to protect themselves. By late afternoon, everyone was ready and everything that could be done was done and they all met in front of the house to hear what was going to happen next. There were only two hours left before sundown, but they were prepared as they could be… worried, but ready.
“We don’t have much time before the sun goes down,” JD warned everyone. “I suggest getting something to eat and drink, before we fight. And, I’m not sure what’s going to come down that path, but whatever it is… it’s out to kill us. I suggest you make peace within yourselves, before we begin.”
“Those of you that will be firing the rifles,” Nate added. “Don’t open fire, until they hit the traps. I will give the word, when it’s time to shoot. Stand strong, until I say fire.”
“Listen to what Nate says and try your best not to shoot us,” JD told the group. “Sebastian and I will be transforming, along with Nate and Chumlee. Moonflower, you watch the women.”
“You know I will, JD,” Moonflower answered. “But, don’t expect me to just sit back and do nothing. I’m not a little girl anymore and I can fight like a hellcat,” she boasted with pride.
“Do not underestimate the Baron,” JD said, looking squarely at her. “He’s much stronger than any other Vampire you have ever seen, Moonflower,” he explained, looking down the path. “I’m not even sure if I can take him.”
______________________________________________________
Chapter Seventy
Everyone anxiously watched, counting down the minutes, as the sun began to sink lower and lower and the feeling of dread began to rise in its place. As the darkness set in, everyone cocked their weapons, taking aim down the path that would lead the army of Vampires to them. While every got their weapons in order, JD pulled Nate, Sebastian and Chumlee aside and they quietly followed him into the storage building, not knowing what he wanted.
“Get in here and shut that door behind you… hurry,” JD said, with haste.
“What’s up, JD?” asked Nate. “I think we have everything pretty well covered. Did we miss something?”
“Since this could be our last night alive, I think we need to be extra strong,” JD said, digging deep into his coat pocket. “I have one last flask of yohimbe. It’s not like we can find another Skinny to cook it up. He’s long been, dust in the wind.”
Everyone laughed, but Skinny was a great chemist, for being such a Vampire scumbag.
Sebastian looked at it and then he looked at Chumlee. “We’ve never done it before,” he said, with a concerned look. “What’s it going to do?”
“You both have fully-grown second hearts. The yohimbe will enhance that heart and make you grow bigger and twice as strong, until it wears off,” JD explained, as he opened the flask. “I suggest you take some. You’re going to need it.”
Sebastian and Chumlee both looked at each other and then shrugged.
“We’re down,” Sebastian said, as JD shook up the flask, making sure it was well-mixed. “We’ll need every extra edge we can get, I suppose. Break it out.”
JD took the first couple swigs, coughed and gagged and then passed it over to Nate, who did the same thing.
“That does not look fun,” Sebastian said, his face twisted into a confused look. “You sure this stuff will do the trick?”
Wiping his eyes and holding his hand in the air, JD waited to catch his breath before answering the question. “I won’t lie to you, it does burn like hell,” he finally chocked out. “But, once it kicks in, you’ll feel like kicking some Vampire ass… believe me.”
“Fuck it, then,” Chumlee said, with his hand out. “Gimmie the flask.”
The hefty-sized kid swigged back a couple huge gulps and he immediately started to gag, until he threw up most of his dinner.
“Is it that rough?” Sebastian asked, laughing at his friend. “Are you alright?”
Chumlee was still gagging, but he was giving Sebastian a thumbs up, finally stopping long enough to speak. “Holy shit! That burns, like hell! But, this stuff is kickin’… go for it, Sebastian!”
“Here goes nothing, I guess,” the young Lycan said, taking the flask and kicking back a couple swigs.
Sebastian immediately coughed and swallowed hard, tasting the extract drip down the back of his throat. He made a funny face, but unlike his friend, Chumlee, Sebastian’s insides managed to stay where they were.
“Do not EVER tell your mother about this, Sebastian,” JD sternly said.
Sebastian waved his hand in the air to answer ‘ok,’ while his eyes watered up and his blood began to pump much harder in both of his hearts. “Wow!” he said, his eyes widening. “What’s that shit made of? Rocket fuel?”
He saw an anvil, weighing several hundred pounds, sitting in the corner of the unit and he picked it up with ease. Grabbing onto both ends, Sebastian began twisting the solid chunk of metal, as it gave way under his super-strength.
“HEY!” Amelia’s voice was heard, when she stepped in and saw what Sebastian was doing. “You’d better fix that, young man! Or, I’ll put a spell on you that will wither your crop!”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, you can drink all of that yohimbe crap you want and your crop won’t rise! Get where I’m going?”
Sebastian stopped with embarrassment and noticed that everyone was staring at him, until JD broke the silence with laughter. Chumlee stepped up and grabbed the twisted anvil that was laying in front of Sebastian and he contorted the metal back into its original shape.
Amelia just shook her head and turned back towards her home to make the final preparations, just as the sun was about to set.
The trailers
of the semis opened up, revealing the army of Vampires that had traveled all the way from England to kill JD and his associates. They were hanging by their feet like bats, until, one by one, they opened their eyes and spread their wings, flying freely out of the back of the trailers and into the night sky. The Baron and Maximilian were the last to awaken and they now stood on top of the semis, looking down upon their family of the undead waiting to receive their orders.
“They’re in there. I can smell them,” Max said to the Baron, looking around, not seeing a way into the swamp.
“Yes,” replied the Baron, frowning. “And, they’re with a fucking witch. It seems that she possesses the spirit of the one who assisted the Pack almost two hundred years ago. Donovan once spoke of her… I didn’t just find this place by chance.”
“How the hell are we supposed to get in there?” Max asked with growing impatience. “It looks impregnable.”
“Fly over the swamp and see if you can find a way through the trees.”
“Yes, my lord,” Max replied, unfolding his wings.
The Vampire took flight over the swamps, seeing that the trees were impenetrable and sensing that it was sealed, airtight, with a spell; he returned to the Baron to report his findings.
“Well, then,” the Baron said, with obvious irritation. “If we can’t get in, then I want you to fly over them and deliver a message from me. Tell them, that if they do not confront us, we’ll stay and we will feed upon the humans. Tell them… that we’ll spread a new bloodline across this side of the world.”
“Yes, my lord, I will deliver the message… it is quite sinister.”
“You know what that was, right?” JD asked, as everyone looked up to the trees.
“Unfortunately,” Nate answered back, “I do.”
“There’s no way that any of them can enter, unless I let them,” Amelia said, putting them at ease. “Let them try. They will only get frustrated.”
The Lycan Chronicles Page 45
