“Wander around the stalls.”
“Alright.”
They walked hand in hand with Ally gushing over all the handmade scarfs, jewellery and anything else one could think of, until the creepy old woman from earlier in the evening had almost been forgotten.
“Stay right here,” James said suddenly as they approached another stall.
“Why?”
“Because there’s something I want to get for you. I’ll only take a second.”
Ally smiled up at him indulgently. “Alright, but don’t be too long.”
“I’ll be right there,” he said pointing to the stall just in front of them. “You’ll be able to see me, just not what I’m buying.”
Ally nodded and watched him wander off. Exotic music began to fill her ears and she turned around to find the source of the mystical sound. A breathtakingly beautiful woman was on the stage surrounded by lit torches. Her body appeared to be made of jelly and Ally was captivated in an instant by the alluring dance. She watched fascinated by the way the exotic brunette moved so fluidly and seductively. Rolling in and out to the tune of the music, the woman’s hips swayed at the same time as her belly advanced and retreated. Watching the performance, her mind jumped back to the night she first met Isabella and that she had reminded her of a belly dancer at the time. A small giggle almost escaped her. Now that she knew Isabella the idea had been a ridiculous one. The young woman was beautiful and seductive enough to be a belly dancer, but Ally had the impression she’d rather gnaw her own arm off than perform for a group of gawking males. She was not someone to fuss with. And Ally secretly loved that about her. Not that she’d ever let that pass her lips of course.
She was so enthralled in the performance she didn’t notice anything until a hand grabbed her arm with surprising force. She whirled around on instinct and found herself staring into the blue eyes from her nightmare.
She gasped and tried to back away, but the old lady had a firm grip. She could have shaken her off with very little effort, but she didn’t want to risk hurting her, just in case she wasn’t evil.
Ally looked into her eyes, mesmerised by the colour of them. It was the palest blue she had ever seen. But it wasn’t just the colour that entranced and freaked her out; it was the depth of knowing she saw in them.
“Who are you?” Ally demanded. “Why are you haunting my dreams?”
The old woman opened her mouth and disbelief filled her eyes. “You’ve been dreaming of me?”
“Yes!”
“Something’s coming for you, Alessandra.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” she answered warily.
The old woman’s grip tightened around her arm. “Your anchor is the only thing that will release you. Never forget your anchor.”
Ally drew her eyebrows together and her mouth opened slightly. “My anchor? As in James. What do you know?” She demanded angrily.
“Never forget your anchor,” the woman practically shouted.
“Who are you?” Ally asked with a feeling she was in the presence yet again of another fortune teller with bad news.
“I am a gypsy with a gift.”
“Curse is more like it,” Ally ground out.
She shook her head firmly. “No, if you can help people then it is always a gift, even if it is a curse to yourself.”
The woman looked in James’ direction, and dropped her arm as if it burnt. “Your anchor…never forget him,” she whispered one last time with urgency as she melted back into the crowd.
Ally stared into the dark night, and cursed the moment she had agreed to attend this fair. “Bloody seers…” She muttered.
“Ally,” James called out, as he reached her side. “Who was that?”
“The old woman from my dream,” she said dryly.
His intense gaze fixed on her. “What did she want?”
“What all fortune tellers want…she wanted to give me some bad news.”
James looked uneasy. “What was the bad news?”
Ally relayed what had happened, and James grew more pale by the minute.
“Are you alright?” She asked him and placed her hand on his arm.
“The gift I bought you,” he paused and took her hand. He slipped something cool into her hand. “Look at it.”
She opened her palm and saw what he had bought her. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him. “Oh dear.”
He nodded.
In her open palm was a silver necklace with an anchor pendant, the words ‘Never Forget’ written across it.
Chapter Four
Ally flopped down on the cream lounge in between James and Adele and let out a sigh. “How could I ever forget you, James? It doesn’t make any sense, but I know better than to ignore these types of warnings,” she said whilst narrowing her eyes slightly in Isabella’s direction.
Isabella groaned quietly in the corner. “Maybe she was just a crazy old lady? Just because someone claims to have the gift, doesn’t mean they actually have it.”
“Oh, come on. I know she wasn’t crazy, well maybe a little but not in that sense. I’ve been having the same nightmare for weeks and she just happened to be identical to the woman in them. That’s just a little too coincidental. And those eyes! I’ve never seen eyes like that before in my life. And let’s not forget what James gave me just after she’d said the exact same words to me.”
“It’s a coincidence, I’ll give you that, but I would have seen something as well if it was a real threat to your existence,” Isabella replied tightly.
James took control of the conversation. “Not if you weren’t looking for it, and this doesn’t seem to be a threat to her life exactly. It’s more like a threat to her memories.”
Adele reached out and squeezed Ally’s hand. “Whether it was imagined or not is irrelevant in my opinion. We need to treat this as a credible threat and take precautions against it happening. I for one am not willing to take any chances with her safety.”
James nodded. “I agree with Adele. We need to decipher the information we have and make a plan to keep her safe at any cost.”
“The first thing is to work out who is behind this,” Ally said.
Chase jumped into the conversation. “It has to be Vincent right?”
“No,” Damian said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “This is far beyond his capabilities. Ally is an immortal now. She can’t be controlled with compulsions anymore. It would have to be a physical attack from him, and that has nothing to do with forgetting James.”
“Maybe it’s metaphorical?” Ally suggested, looking at her grandfather.
“How so?”
“I don’t know, it’s just what she said doesn’t make any sense at all. I mean, you just said it’s impossible for anyone to use compulsions on me now and that’s the only way this could happen.”
James shook his head and ran his hands through his hair. “Something doesn’t add up with all this, but I do think we should take it literally, just in case.”
Ally looked at the floor and absently touched her necklace.
Caleb stood next to Isabella in the corner, and stared at Ally’s actions. “Might I make a suggestion?” He said, getting the full attention of everyone gathered. “It’s vital according to this gypsy that you don’t forget your anchor right? And the necklace I’m assuming will be what you’re counting on to trigger some kind of memory in the event this comes to pass?”
Ally nodded intently.
“Well, what happens if you lose the necklace as well as your memory? Perhaps something more permanent would be better.”
“Like what?” She asked.
“A tattoo. Just a small anchor on your wrist. You’d inevitably see it there if this prediction does come to pass and it’s a bit more security on the chance you lose the necklace.”
“That’s brilliant,” Ally beamed. “I don’t suppose you know someone who could do it quickly?”
He smiled secretly. “Yeah I do actually.”
“
Who?”
“Me,” he grinned. “Give me ten minutes to set up and I’ll have it done tonight.”
Ally took a deep breath and looked to James. He smiled down at her reassuringly and nodded. “I think it’s a good idea, little one.”
She shot a determined look at Caleb. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter Five
“That’s my girl.” Vincent bestowed his minion with an indulgent look which she lapped up like a kitten.
“Where is our prisoner?” He inquired.
She grabbed a goblet of warm blood and sipped deeply. “In the cells. We’ll have to move her soon though before they come looking for her.”
“All in good time, my dear, all in good time.”
“Where shall we take her?”
“She’s coming with us when we leave this place, which if everything goes to plan, will be in the next couple of days.” Vincent stood and slowly paced the room. “But we’re not going anywhere till I get the real prize.”
“Which is?”
“Alessandra, of course.”
Natalia’s low growl filled the small room. “What connection does she have to the girl?”
Vincent smirked. “None whatsoever. The prisoner is connected to the one orchestrating my master plan.”
“The grand enchantress?”
“Exactly,” he said with a sharp nod and a cold calculating grin.
“I still don’t see what this plan of yours is,” she stated as she swished the blood around in her glass.
“You will soon enough…everyone will see soon enough,” he gloated with wicked glee. “Now make sure there is no escape possible. Without her none of this will be possible.”
Natalia nodded her understanding.
“Before you go, there’s something I want you to do for me.”
“Anything.” She leaned forward and her smile widened in anticipation.
“I need you to go and check out a house for me. If it’s still there then it will be the perfect place for our little adventure to play out.”
“This sound interesting.”
He wrote down the address and handed it to her. “Go there tonight and find out who lives there and gather any other information you might think is relevant to us.”
She nodded then stood and left the room.
“Soon Alessandra, soon,” he said quietly to himself.
A knock on the door stole into his evil thoughts. “Come,” he commanded.
One of the lesser vampires entered the room cautiously. “The enchantress has sent word that she’ll do as you ask if you’ll release the prisoner.”
“I knew she’d come around to my way of thinking with the right motivation. Tell her we’ll meet in an hour to discuss it.” He swished his hand waving the nervous vampire out of the room.
******
An hour later, Vincent and Natalia arrived at the designated meeting place deep within the dark woods, with a small band of guards trailing behind them. “Where is she?” he hissed impatiently.
“I’m here,” a livid voice answered.
They all turned around and behind them stood the enchantress. Her emerald green gown flowed in the soft night breeze and her bright blue eyes shimmered with rage.
“How dare you,” she spat at the vampires. “I will hunt you down till the ends of the earth once I have her back.”
“Oh come now. Do we really need such dramatics, hmm? The girl is being well cared for and won’t come to any harm for now. Besides, I just thought I’d make the situation easier for you by offering the right kind enticement.” Vincent glowered at the powerful woman in front of him.
The middle aged woman vibrated with pent up rage, and vivid blue sparks jumped off her long blonde hair. Natalia took an involuntary step back from the woman.
“Are you sure about this?” She whispered to their leader.
His answer was a glare that could turn a person to stone. She steeled herself and took her spot beside him again with renewed vigour and scowled at the woman.
“Dramatics! If you want dramatics, how about this?” The enchantress declared with menace. She raised her hands and without a word spoken she called lightning down from the sky. The bright white forks hit her hands and radiated the force throughout her body. Her hands came down and they took aim at Vincent. “I could kill every single one of you with a flick of my wrist.”
“Ah, but you won’t, will you Arabella.” He smirked and took a step closer. “If you kill me then you’ll never know where I’ve hidden the girl.”
The sparks around her body doubled in number.
Vincent held eye contact for a moment, then began to pace back and forth, slowly and deliberately flaunting his position in her face. “I’m well aware of your power as a grand enchantress and that is exactly the reason I need you. The spell needed for this particular girl has to be strong, unbreakable even, and only a grand enchantress has that kind of spell binding capabilities.”
She glowered and slowly lowered her hands. Natalia watched as the power evaporated from sight. “I’m not the only grand enchantress walking the face of the earth. Why choose me?”
“Yes, but there aren’t that many are there? In truth, it was convenience. You just happened to be the closest one I could find.”
“How flattering,” she retorted with venom.
“So do we have a deal or not?” Vincent asked, cutting to the chase.
Arabella stood silent for a minute. “If I do this, you’ll release her unharmed as soon as the spell has been cast?”
“Of course, my dear,” he reassured her with false kindness. “All I want is this one little thing and she’s free to go.”
“There’s nothing about this that is little and you know it. But you haven’t given me much choice in the matter, have you!”
“Choices, choices.” Vincent cocked his head to the side. “We always have a choice, but you may not like the consequences of this one.”
Arabella ignored his cryptic words. “This won’t be an easy spell to do if she is as powerful as you say. I need time to prepare. You’re asking me to use the white goddess’ power for darkness for God sake. I’m not a dark witch and this is not something I do on a daily basis.”
“I have every faith in you, Arabella. I have no doubt that you’ll come through with the goods,” he said as he took a step back. “But I don’t have as much time to waste as you do, so you have twenty-four hours to do this correctly or the girl becomes one of us.”
Arabella gasped in absolute horror and stepped back, repulsed by the evil creature before her. “You wouldn’t.”
“Do you really want to find out what I would or wouldn’t do?” he taunted with a grin.
The air around them crackled from the power flowing in and around the enchantress. She took a deep breath and sent a silent prayer for forgiveness to the goddess. “Tomorrow night it will be done.”
Vincent smiled. “That’s more like it. See how easy it is when you co-operate.”
Arabella shook her head in disgust. “You are morally bankrupt and pure evil.”
“Thank you,” Vincent said and turned in the direction of home.
Arabella watched him leave and fought the urge to send a lightning strike down onto him as he left. “You’ll pay for this, Vincent,” she whispered after him.
Chapter Six
Ally cradled her cup of coffee as she sat under an ancient oak tree and watched her white mare, Destiny frolicking in the paddock before her. Her thoughts wandered and the anxiety churned inside her as she thought about the warning from last night. She wondered if anyone had gotten any sleep at all last night. God knows she and James hadn’t.
As if being the prophecy girl and having to kill my fiancé’s father isn’t enough. On top of that I have threats coming from the outside and unknown as well! Why can’t anything just be straight forward? Stake Vincent. Destiny completed. Go live happy life.
Soft footsteps coming from behind dragged her out of her thoughts. She turned her he
ad around and saw her red haired best friend coming towards her. A smile lit her face and she called out, “Hi Kat.”
“Hey Ally,” Kat returned with a smile and a wave. She got closer and sat down with her legs crossed next to Ally and watched the horse with her. The two shared a comfortable silence for a time before Ally spoke.
“So how’s being a vampire treating you?”
Kat laughed softly at the absurdity of the question. “It’s a lot better now thank God. I’ve got myself under control around humans thanks to Tristan.”
“You know that’s really impressive. It’s only been a couple of months.”
“I think it helps that the last thing I wanted to do was hurt a human.
“Well I’m proud of you,” Ally said, then let out a soft snort of amusement. “Who would’ve thought that we’d be sitting here, you a vampire and me an immortal, having this kind of conversation.”
“I know,” she said with an amused look. “It’s kind of ridiculous isn’t it?”
“Yeah, and not at all what I saw coming,” Ally replied. “So what brings you over here?”
“James called us this morning and told us what happened last night,” Kat said, and looked at her friend. “I came over straight away to see you and try to help.”
“You’re an elder member after all.”
“Not just that, goose. I’m also your best friend.”
Ally reached out and gave her hand a quick squeeze. “I know and thank you. I could use a friend right now.”
Kat squeezed back. “Do you have any idea who would do this?”
“Apart from the usual suspect no, we don’t. They don’t think it’s possible for Vincent to do something like this, whatever this actually is, but my instinct tells me that he is the orchestrator and someone else is carrying out his plan.”
“That does sound like Vincent.”
Ally nodded. “Indeed, but that still doesn’t help me much. It’s like waiting for a shadow to pounce. You don’t know when and you can’t defend yourself because it’s a not a physical being.”
Immortal Fate Page 2
