Sweet Sleep (The Children of Ankh Book 1)

by Kim Cormack

  Lily took her father aside. She said, “Did you know about Kevin?

  Markus glanced at Lily and declared, “I have always had my suspicions regarding the Smith family tree. As soon as I begin to read a story, I always make an attempt to guess the plot twist. There is always a plot twist in every single one. This one was foreshadowed on the very first page. I knew the brother’s of prophecy when they were children. I played a part in those first years. Those years, when they were only little boys, and nothing more. The moment I saw young Clay, I knew this story was going to be a page turner.”

  Lily said, “Do you think Tiberius knows?”

  Markus replied, “Judging by the hoard of Triad that came for these kids, I’m guessing he does. We don’t have time for this conversation right now. The clans may have been chased away from our tombs, but they know where we are headed the second we leave this house. They will be waiting for us.

  Lily whispered, “Do you think they’ve already killed what’s left of Kayn’s family?”

  Markus said, “I wouldn’t, I would leave them alive as bait”

  Kayn was actively attempting to pretend she couldn’t hear the conversation, they were having. Her family was going to be used as bait! She needed to know if they were still alive. She felt her pocket; it was heavy. She felt like cheering as she discovered that she still had her cell phone on her.

  She sent her brother a text, “Matt, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine?” he replied.

  Kayn didn’t bother to text now. She needed to hear her brother’s voice. She needed to know it was him. She dialed her brother and Matt answered almost immediately, “Hey, Candy Kayn, how’s it going?”

  Kayn knew there was no time for small talk and said, “Are you at home?”

  Matt answered casually, “I just pulled into the driveway.”

  Kayn raised her voice in urgent desperation, willing her brother who was oblivious to everything that had happened, to understand the urgency of his situation, “Get the hell away from the house right now … you need to leave.”

  Matt stammered, “What in the hell? Someone just pulled up behind me and blocked me in my own driveway. Who is this clown?”

  Kayn looked at the group and made eye contact with Lily, her eyes were raw with fear for her brother, she said, “Listen to me, Matt. Drive over the lawn! Do whatever you have to do to just get the hell out of there.”

  “What’s going on, who in the hell is this guy?” Matt spoke quietly into the phone.

  Kayn heard a crashing sound and then another one. Matt yelled into the phone, “What the hell. He is ramming me. He’s frigging smiling. Who is this asshole?”

  Kayn felt her eyes beginning to cloud as she harnessed her sadness and turned the sadness to anger, speaking to her brother as calmly as she could manage. “Listen to me very carefully. I love you … you have to get into the house right now. When you’re inside, lock the door, run up to my room, then you have to put the rocks in the bag on the window sill and in front of the doorway. Then pour the bag of salt around you, and bring Jenkins if he’s home. We will be there in a minute.”

  Matt joked in an obvious effort to dispel his fear, “Rocks, salt … seriously? And who is we?”

  Enough of this bullshit “Get the hell out of that car … run right now, you complete moron! They are going to kill you,” Kayn screamed at the top of her lungs into the phone. She could hear the slam of the front door. She heard her brother calling for Jenkins, and telling him to run upstairs. She heard the creaking of the stairs. Kayn heard him enter her bedroom door and then heard shuffling around.

  He got back on the phone with her and said, “Now what in the hell is going on, Kayn?”

  Kayn said, “There’s no time. I’m part of a clan of immortals, so are Kevin and Lily. Don’t leave that bedroom until we get there.”

  “Sure you are … is that it?” Matt asked his voice a mix of sarcasm and disbelief.

  Kayn added, “Make sure you put the salt in front of the door because demons are coming.”

  Kayn looked at Kevin who was already on the phone pleading with his mother to leave the house. She obviously wasn’t listening to him. Why would they listen? This all sounded totally insane. She could hear Kevin leaving a message for Clay. His voice cracked with desperation, “Do not go home. No matter what you do. Do not go home after work today.”

  Kayn saw the door and bolted toward it.

  She was roughly obstructed by Frost who told her, “We’ve all been a party to this exact moment countless times, don’t be ridiculous, Kayn. You have to make it past the Abaddon. You have a better chance at doing that while in a group. If you run out half cocked, it’s game over.”

  Lily scolded, “This is an obvious trap. The Abaddon can’t come in the house. The house is spiritually protected. It’s simple logic. The Abaddon obviously permitted you to come in to get us out of the tombs. Why have an appetizer when you can have a full meal.”

  Lexy stood in front of the door, “Your alternative is go downstairs and get into a tomb. I will shut you in. Forget about trying to save anyone.”

  “They are ready, they understand now,” Markus said, nodding at the two of them.

  He was obviously the one in charge, for bad ass Lexy said nothing to assert her opinion once Markus had spoken.

  Markus continued, “There is only one reason that this house was not breached by the other clans. We must be surrounded by Abaddon. I know you have seen one before, but can you imagine ten or twenty of them?”

  Kayn stated the obvious, “How could ten or twenty of those giant clawed monsters be out at dusk? Hell, how could they be out at any time? Someone would obviously see them … wouldn’t they?”

  Markus said, “It’s taken care of, and that is all you need to know right now. Stop trying to skip chapter’s young lady.”

  Frost leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I already told you about the shield.”

  Markus spoke in a fatherly authoritarian tone, “There is a clear path through everything. It usually involves using your brains over your brawn. The second we try to leave this house they will show themselves. The mist feeds on our spiritual energy. It slows us down, but it can’t kill us. That’s where those clawed buggers come in.”

  “Remember, being eaten really sucks,” Grey stated.

  Markus smiled then said, “We have to be well-prepared and incredibly fast. One more thing, how much salt is in the kitchen?”

  Lily answered, “At least ten bags of salt, maybe more … why?”

  Markus chuckled and answered, “I have either a brilliant idea or a completely suicidal plan. It really depends on how you look at it.”

  “Okay, I’m listening.” Grey said. The Ankh’s resident daredevil was always up for a mission that had no rational shot at succeeding.

  Markus let them in on the premise of his certifiable, yet brilliant idea, “Lexy, Lily, Grey, and Frost, you will go with Kevin and Kayn. We will create a distraction. You six will need to run like you have never run in your life, but first go and get in the shower one by one. Soak your clothes and cover yourselves in salt. You need to outrun them until you have given them an alternative to snack on. You need to be the least appetizing option. I’m hoping they will pass you by and clear you a path to the house. Frost you’re in charge. Get Kayn to what’s left of her family. Kevin and Frost you stay inside the house. Get her up to that room and keep her there until it’s over. Grey and Lily you guard the front. Keep them out of that house as long as you can. Lexy you guard the back door, and just kill everything that moves.”

  Markus put his hand on Kayn’s chin and gently tilted her face up. He spoke solemnly, “Kayn, they probably won’t go into the house until you get there. Your brother and Jenkins are leverage. Keep them in the bedroom with you and they will have nothing to hold over you. Everything is going to happen very quickly. Do not make rash decisions.”

  Kayn said, “I want to tell you that I understand, but I don’t.”

&n
bsp; Markus replied, “You will. Go upstairs with the others and cover yourself in salt, or you won’t even make it out of the yard.”

  Upstairs in the bathroom, the others had already begun to soak their skin and apply the salt.

  Kevin called home again as one by one they got into the shower. They could hear Kevin talking to his mother, begging her to listen to him. Then they all froze as the tone of the conversation changed.

  Kevin pleaded, “Mom, please go. Get out of the house right now. I know I left Clay a crazy message.” Kevin became really quiet, and he stood there with tears in his eyes. “I’m not on steroids. I’m not doing drugs of any kind. I need you to get out of the damn house.” There was a pause in the conversation and Kevin whispered, “I’m sorry mom. I didn’t mean to swear.” Kevin clutched either side of his head and dropped to his knees. He cried out in agony.

  Kayn made an attempt to go to his aid, but Frost grabbed her by the wrist, and said, “He’s psychic. Don’t you remember what happened the last time you tried to interrupt?”

  ~

  Kevin opened his eyes and in the time it had taken to blink, He found himself standing on the stairs in the house that he had grown up in. He climbed the stairs towards his bedroom. His Mother was searching his drawers for drug memorabilia, cursing under her breathe, “Not doing drugs my ass.” She didn’t believe him, he didn’t blame her. She was freaked out by the changes in him. It had been a daily topic of conversation in their household. This was a vision of some kind. He had to get her to leave the house. He said, “Mom, you have to leave.” She couldn’t hear him. He screamed, “You have to leave!”

  She flinched and shook her head. He knew his voice had almost reached her. It was possible her reaction was a well timed random act but his instincts told him otherwise. If she didn’t allow herself to open up and believe that what she was hearing was real, he was going to be forced to watch the end of his own Mother’s life. It was entirely possible that she had inherited the psychic ability.

  What was it? Frost had said something about a door being left open? Kevin tried to remember the speech that Frost had given them on the day he had marked both Ankh. He just had to make her listen. She had the genetics to listen to him. She had two parents with abilities. His Mother just had to listen. He had to believe that it was possible for her to hear him. A flash of knowledge soaked into the tissue of his brain. Chloe had been dead when she reached them from the other side. She hadn’t called out from upstairs. She had probably been standing right there with Kayn in her spirit form screaming for her twin to run. He could get through to his Mother. He knew it was possible. A bunch of vehicles pulled up outside. He didn’t have time to figure this out. Her time was up.

  His Mother stood up and walked over to the window. “What in the hell are you doing, Clay? Who in the hell are all of these people? Why are you pulling up on the lawn? Your Father is going to have a shit fit when he gets home.” She shook her head and walked out of the room to give him shit. She started down the stairs.

  Kevin screamed with everything he had, hoping it would reach her subconscious mind, “No, don’t go to him! It’s not Clay! That is not Clay! You have to run, get out of here! Go, run away! Lock yourself in the bathroom!” Kevin pleaded, “No mom, please … that’s not Clay.” She paused on the stairs and shook her head again. He could tell he was getting through. He was, but she didn’t want to listen to the voice inside her head.

  Someone was at the front the front door. His Mother was still paused on the stairs. Someone opened the door and came inside and closed the door behind them. She hollered, “Clay is that you?”

  Kevin began to plead, “Run away Mom. Go and hide upstairs. You have to go upstairs and climb out of one of the windows. That is not Clay. Go, before he sees you. You have to go. That is not your son.” She wasn’t moving a muscle. It was as if she had heard his warning on some unconscious level but she couldn’t allow herself to believe the voices in her head. Kevin pleaded with her “This is your son, Kevin. You need to trust me. That’s not Clay. You have to hide. Those men are there to hurt you.”

  She smiled as Clay appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He smiled back at her, and Kevin could tell that she immediately felt at ease. She was going to ignore the warning in her head. Most people would ignore the little voice that told them not to do something. She walked down the stairs and gave his brother’s look alike a big hug. Kevin stood helplessly watching his Mother’s final moments play out. She wasn’t going to listen. She was used to ignoring the voices in her head. She’d grown up with Granny Winnie and she’d never allowed herself to believe. Why would she start to believe now?

  She whispered, “Kevin was just on the phone. You’re right. He’s having a mental breakdown or something. I don’t know what to do.”

  Clay said, “Where is Kevin right now?”

  His Mother, still embracing who she thought was her son replied, “I think he’s with Kayn.”

  The Clay lookalike said, “Well, that’s convenient.”

  Kevin could see the expression on his Mother’s face change as she hugged Clay. She stepped back from Clay and looked at him and said, “What does that mean?”

  Kevin smiled, that’s right Tiberius, show her who you are. Clay would have never used the word convenient.

  His Mother said, “You hugged me all stiff, like a robot. What’s wrong?”

  Clay started to chuckle. He shook his head at Kevin’s Mother and said, “I’ve never had anyone complain about the quality of my hugs before.” Clay looked at the family pictures in the front hall as if it were the first time he had ever seen them. He took the picture of Granny Winnie when she was younger right off of the wall and looked at it and said, “That bitch never even told me about you.”

  His Mother scolded, “You know I don’t like it when you use that kind of language Clay. What’s wrong with you?”

  The duplicate of Clay began to laugh again. He attempted to explain, “I guess Winnie never told you anything about your father?”

  His Mother took a step back and said, “What’s wrong with you Clay?”

  Clay’s look alike said, “Hand me your cell phone … Mother?”

  The word Mother hit a nerve. She wasn’t allowing herself to believe what her instincts were screaming at her. His Mother passed her cell to the look alike Clay. He took her phone, grinned and redialed the last number that called her. He pressed speaker phone. It rang once and then went straight to messaging.

  “He’s not answering. I’m going to have to leave him a message. Hey Kevin, It’s Grandpa Tiberius. You should come and join us. We are having a little family reunion. Actually, I changed my mind. Meet me at the Conduit’s house. I’ll bring Mom and leave a nice little note for your brother, Clay, to meet us there.”

  Kevin’s mother said, “You’re not my son are you?”

  Tiberius stood staring blankly at a family picture and said, “Do try to follow along Dear. I’m your Father.”

  Kevin’s Mother said, “That’s impossible, you would be old.”

  Tiberius exclaimed, “Wow, The older one could pass for my identical twin. He is a good looking kid. Hey … is Daddy at home yet? Wait … I just realized I don’t even know my own daughter’s name. That was awfully rude of your Grandmother.”

  “It’s Lillian, and no, my husband’s not home yet,” She whispered, backing further away. Kevin could tell she was going to try to make a run for the back door.

  Tiberius shook his head slowly and said sweetly, “Had I been around when you were born, I would have named you something much better than Lillian. “It’s probably why you turned out to be so homely looking.”

  Kevin’s Mother kept glancing towards the kitchen. She wanted to run for it but she was making her intentions painfully obvious.

  Tiberius said, “I do have to say that I’m a little pissed at Grandma. Had I known this information earlier, I would have made Winnie’s death a little more personal.”

  “What?” Kevin’s mother w
hispered. She was stunned. She whispered again, “You killed my Mother?”

  “Just save time, sweetheart and call me Daddy. I sure did kill her, and it was kind of a good time; although, I didn’t know who she was in all fairness to me.”

  Kevin watched his Mothers expression shift to a look he had only seen on a couple of occasions. She was bubbling over with rage as she spat, “You son of a bitch,” She began throwing pictures off of the wall at the twisted stranger half her age that claimed to be her father.

  She would listen to the voices in her head now. She had allowed the concept in. Kevin said, “Mom, you have to try to run. He is going to kill you. This is your son Kevin. If you can hear this you have the same gift your Mother had, it’s all real. I have the gift too. Everything that you never allowed yourself to believe, it’s all real. You have to get away before he kills you.”

  She stopped moving and glancing towards the door and allowed it to sink in. She stared down at the floor and then to the picture her sons look alike was holding and slowly raised her head to look the man that had called himself her father square in the eyes. Kevin could tell that she understood that this man was not just here for her. He was here for her children. First, and foremost she was a Mother.

  She threatened, “I don’t know what you are or who you are, but I’ll tear you to pieces with my bare hands before I let you touch my children.”

  For an instant Kevin was proud. He did not know his Mom had that kind of fire inside of her. In a second, the man who would call himself his Grandfather wrapped his fingers around his Mother’s neck and squeezed. She kicked, flailed and tried to scream as he choked her until she calmed down a touch. He then let her go. She collapsed to the floor gasping for breath.

  Tiberius laughed at his Mother’s strong will, “Oh, I like you so much more now. You do have giant balls. You must get that from me. You probably think I shouldn’t kill you because you’re my daughter. You definitely are not how I imagined you, but I have the ability to change that. The first thing that we have to do is make you much younger and prettier. I can’t have my only daughter looking as homely as you. What will the other immortal fathers say?”