by J Middleton
“Property of the King.”
“What the hell are these things? What are they doing here?” Victoria gasped and took the pendant from her, staring at his name engraved on the back. Glenda twisted the other one around to reveal her own name and confusion crossed her face.
“I don’t know. Maybe we should put them back?” she said uncertain what to do.
Glenda frowned, turning the pendant over to look at the front.
“What does this mean? Your name is own it. They’re on the diagram too.”
A noise from downstairs made them jump.
“Put them back. I want to get out of here,” Victoria whispered in a panic.
She passed the pendant back to her and she returned them both to the box. They ran downstairs and paused in the corridor outside their room. Quickly they opened the door, as the wind buffeted the floor-length window. They sat down beside each other staring into the room, with only a lit glow from a candle.
“Maybe he is keeping them for the King,” Glenda suggested.
Victoria shrugged, “No there is more to then that.” She let out a weary sign.
Victoria watched as Geneon entered the room. He walked over to the fireplace and lit a small fire. Victoria welcomed the warmth of the heat as it washed over her. She watched as he stoked the fire with an iron poker and added a fresh log to encourage the embers back to life. He pulled a thick quilt around his shoulders as he sunk into a large chair.
Sleep tugged at her and just before she drifted off.
Chapter 21
Victoria awoke early the next morning to find the fire had died. There was still just a little warmth still floating though out the room. She looked over and a scrap of paper was on the floor. Snatching the paper up she casted her eyes over the handwritten words upon it. She realized it was the torn edge of the letter they had found and the blood drained from her face. As she read it, forgetting about her surroundings.
“situation is handled my king.”
Feeling a wave of adrenalin surge through her, she grabbed Glenda’s arm and shock her awake.
“What’s wrong?” Glenda asked, frowning at the fact she woke her up.
Victoria dropped the torn paper in front of her and anxiously ran a hand through her messy hair as she read it. She looked up at him, her bright eyes widening to their furthest extent.
“What does this mean?”
“I found it in that room. It looks like the part of that letter.”
Nodding her head, she eyed the piece of paper in her hand like it was a bomb she had to diffuse.
“I have to find the rest of it, and find out who is this king person. So, help me if it is Lilly.”
Glenda looked up at her. “What? You mean go back into that room?”
“Yes, why not? We need to see all of this message.”
Glenda nodded slowly, “There is no way we can? We have a war on our hands that letter will have wait.”
“What if this has to do with Lilly?”
“You are gabbing at straws. There were no glues there that it involved anything but his master.” Glenda answered.
“There is something not right I can feel it?”
“Victoria now is not the time to be snooping around.”
Victoria breathed in deeply and released it through her nose. She glanced out the window beside them and raised her eyebrow at something peaked her interest. A tall man with a hood over his head was walking towards Ravens building. Victoria turned as Glenda was staring straight at her.
She headed to the door and opened it to the entrance hall. She kicked off her shoes and charged across the hallway to the stairs where her socks slipped on the polished floor. She hurried up the spiral staircase, feeling a flood of adrenalin fueling her muscles as she ran down the corridor towards Geneon’s room. She reached for the handle and turned it, praying it wasn’t locked. She let out a breath of relief as the door opened then crept across the floor toward the desk. It had been tidied sine her last visit so she pulled open drawers one at a time, checking the contents. She was careful to leave everything where she found it.
Victoria felt the minutes ticking by and her heartbeat to increase.
After searching every nook and cranny of the desk she stood back away from it, gazing around the room in frustration.
She spotted a small trash can tucked beneath the desk to one side, concealed in the shadows. She felt a swoop of excitement and dove towards it but, just as she grabbed hold of the wicker bin, the clack of the door shutting sounded.
Shuffling through the contents, she could hear someone on the stairs and tipped the bin up in a panic. Her hands spreading through the screwed-up balls of paper as they flew across the floor. There amongst them was a handful of torn pieces. She grabbed them, stuffing the bits into her pockets then scooped the rest of the rubbish back into the bin.
She pushed the basket back into place and tiptoed across the room, exiting it and shutting the door as quietly as possible. She let out a slow breath to calm herself.
A shadow danced in the stairway as someone ascended them and she pressed her back against the wall, waiting.
When they passed, she fled down the corridor and descended to the hall. She put her hand on the door knob as she heard a voice behind her.
“There you are?” Geneon said, frowned in confusion.
“We are waiting for you.” He pushed the door open.
“Sorry I, err, needed to get out of this room for a moment.” Victoria was trying to keep her demeanor as casual as possible.
She looked around and seen Vince standing in his invisible shield. Glenda was sitting close to Jessica and a few of the other sisters.
“You want to join us now are you want to take your chances again snooping around.” Smirking.
Victoria turned and narrowed her eyes. Slowly she moved beside Glenda and sat down. She looked over at Glenda and blinked one eye.
“Follow me” Geneon pointed to the door. “That is if you don’t get lost, but that’s right I think you already looked around right Victoria.” he stared at her.
The walked down the hallway towards a door which was left ajar. A narrow strip of light stretched across the floor. Geneon took a calming breath and pushed the door lightly so it swung open.
Victoria couldn’t help but be distracted by the vast room. It was a library of thousands books all organized in the most unusual way. The floor was made of crystal clear glass that looked down upon hundreds of books which were perfectly arranged into a spiral beneath the pane. The walls were similar, rising several floors high in a circle of glass as if they were inside a tunnel of books.
Glenda opened and shut her mouth as she spotted Geneon beside a crystal podium in the center of the room.
“We don’t have much time, look though the books that are in front of you and find some spells that will increase your strength. You have an hour.”
Geneon stepped down and watched the fellow sisters flip though pages.
Victoria walks closer to him as he was staring down at her.
“I need to talk to you.” She ordered.
Geneon raised his eyebrows in surprise, “About what!”
Victoria lifted her hand and opened her palm so some of the pieces of paper fell to the floor.
Geneon paused, eyeing it.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a letter that you wrote to your King.” Victoria kept her voice steady, gauging his reaction carefully.
“Oh is it now? Where did you find that?” He answered walking towards her slowly.
“In your room.” Victoria admitted jutting up his chin.
Geneon nostrils flared as his eyes turned red.
“You went in my room?” His voice was a little too high for to be fooled by his calm tone.
“Yes. I needed to know more about you. The only thing you told me was you worked for the king.” Victoria stiffened and tried to bite back his anger but it burst from his lips. “This is a trap isn’t it. Your king works
for Lilly don’t he.”
Geneon face contorted angrily,” I will not answer your questions witch, but if you continue to snoop I will have no choose but to turn in your son to the dark one.”
“What? I dare you. He has nothing to do with this.”
“Oh but he does, if I wasn’t loyal to my king I would let this demon from hell take her sacrifice.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Geneon turns and grabs a large book and throughs it in her face. “Read this!” he yelled.
“Approximately 2,000 years ago, a group of individuals called the Celts, who resided in North Eastern region of Europe conduced sacred religious rites on October 31st to welcome the incoming year. The celebration was known as Samhain (pronounced as “sow-in)” and literally translated as the “Summer’s End. The reason why it was held on this specific date is because the Celts had a belief that on that day before the new year starts, the dead spirits a cross over to earth. All Hollow’s Eve is the eve of Halloween. The Eve is more important than the day itself, the traditional celebration focusing on 31st, beginning at sundown. This seems only fitting for the great Celtic New Year’s festival. It is celebrated as a festival of the dead. It is when the dead could, if they wished, return to the land of the living for this one night, to celebrate with their family. The one that are born on this eve will possess an evil soul. It is also the day a pure blood witches are born. On October 31st, it is also marked the end of harvest and the start of the dark part of the year. It is a sacrifice day for most pure blood witches. The powers of a Nephilim, warlock, are and pure blood can be sacrifices on that eve. Only half blood witches are safe from the ritual on Samhain. On the eve of this day all evil can roam the earth for just one night from the hours of midnight to three. They can consume the souls of others. It is belief that on the evening of October 31, the day before the new year starts, the dead spirits can bring about bad luck and chaos. Halloween is the most sacred day of the year for witches and sorcerers. This is an eve of a mixture of magic and reincarnation. Since the worship of Samhain would be that of fear, the practices and rituals would reflect that fear This fear caused his followers to sacrifice their children are grandchildren with fire to increase their powers. The Druids believed that Samhain sent spirits from hell on Halloween night in order to take souls back with them. People--”
Victoria stopped reading and looked up at Geneon. Her eyes turned wide, body paralyzed and silent her adrenaline pulsed within every cell of her body.
“Where did you get this book?”
“All high priest has one, and they teach of it to their followers.” He thought for a moment. “Why wasn’t you taught of these things?”
Victoria looked down at the page and flipped it. Geneon grabbed the book and closed it.
“Why did you do that?”
“That is all you need to know?”
She looked at the symbol on the book and realized it was the black book like the one she had.
“That is the black book?”
“That is none of your concern? I should have never let you see it.” He walked away from her carrying the book. Stopping by a large portrait, sliding it to the side. It revealed a large safe with a combination. He opened it and put the book inside. When he turned around she was standing just a few feet from him.
“Why did you let me read it if you were going to take it from me?” she signed.
“To let you know I speak the truth.”
“I have said enough! Times up everyone. Out! Now! Geneon demanded, pointing towards the door. Victoria rolled her eyes and marched out of the room. The fellow sisters stormed from the room and hurried back to the where they were designed to stay.
Geneon followed Victoria closely and shut the door behind them as they entered the other room.
Victoria was haunted by what she had just read, as the words played out in her head. She turned around and a chain was around Geneon neck with the same symbol that she had seen earlier. A hazy, golden light emitted from the pendant a then vanished.
“What is that?” she pointed to his neck.
“Nothing” he stormed out of the room.
Chapter 22
Victoria was even more frustrated then before. A light appeared, glowing orange and warm from the corner of the room Victoria blinked to try and clear her eyes of the strange hallucination she was having but the vision didn’t fade. Hands hovered over her as a figure of a man came in view. The hood covered his face as his hand touched her shoulder and the energy flowed across her body. She pulled away and out of breath, as the image faded into the corner. Victoria fell back, gasping and looked at Glenda in shock.
“What was that?”
Glenda looked up at Victoria puzzled.
“You didn’t see that?” She panicked.
“See what.”
She watched Glenda’s eyes and the expression on her face silenced her. Knowing that she didn’t see anything. She waved her finger in the air and a glowing, blue spiral materialized in front of her which reflected on the ceiling in flickering strands of light. Glenda leaned back and gasped.
“Where did that power come from?”
“I’m not sure.” Victoria answered as she put her hand back down and the light disappeared.
“This is crazy?” Glenda said, blinking hard.
Victoria then rubbed her fingers together and lightening appeared in her palm, crackling and sparking. Jessica jumped to her feet. Eyeing the magic with fear.
Victoria felt her entire body tense as she gazed at the lightning. She wondered what else she might be capable of. Staring at her hands like they were about to combust. She jumped at Vince’s voice as the lightning disappeared.
“A King decided long ago that Earth wasn’t to know the truth. It was at a time where it was undergoing great change. Britain had just taken the throne and the new King, William, wanted the secret kept.”
“What? What are you talking about Vince? What king and what does it have to do with us.” She asks staring at him.
“The King wanted to be first to step through to other worlds but he was unable to complete the challenge. So, in the meantime, he established a secret society to make sure word never got out, on pain of death, but he never died. Today, the descendants are his servants still uphold it. Though it is unknown whether today’s royal family are aware that it exits. You, yourself have meet a member of that society. Are maybe you have meet his servant.”
They looked at him with confused expression.
“Vince, what king? Where did this come from?” she asks.
“The King.” He answered.
“Geneon.”
“No he is the servant.”
“Then who is the King? How did you talk to him?”
“He came to me in my mind.”
“Are you sure it was your grandmother.”
“No! It was the King.”
A lump formed in her throat which she forced down before looking at Glenda in the eye.
“His world has been evolved separately from us for millions of years. Now he has come here to claim something he holds dear.”
“What is that Vince?” Glenda asks.
“I know he plans to sacrifice someone.”
“What? I don’t know who told you that but it isn’t true. There will be no sacrifices from the king?” The words seemed to bounce off Victoria’s ears, taking a moment for them to unfold in her mind until she understood the implications of what he’d been told. Victoria looked between Glenda and Jessica, they were chewing on their lip.
She turned back around and Vince was sitting on the floor.
“Tell me more Vince about the King. Who is he?”
“What king?” he answered looking at her puzzled.
“You were just talking about a king that was from another world.”
“What? I don’t know of a king!” he snapped.
Victoria turned and looked at Glenda. She knew right then that a spirit was talking though Vince, but who. It di
dn’t sound like Lilly. “Come to think of it the voice wasn’t Vince!” she thought.
Victoria felt frustrated and confused. She hurried to the darkest corner of the room, moving away from Vince as she started rubbing her hands together until a glow emitted from them. Victoria blinked her eyes as an orb of light gathered between her hands, growing stronger and brighter by the second. She widened the gap between her palms and the light burst away from her towards the high ceiling. It cast a warm, orange glow in the room and illuminated Zac face.
“Zac” she whispered “I need you.”
She watched as his eyes stared down on hers and the orb disappeared.
“He’s alive, so he wasn’t killed.” She sighed. Turning around looking at the sisters as they stared in disbelief. Glenda walked slowly towards her.
“Victoria you must claim down. You are forgetting we are in a warlock’s house. So, don’t believe everything you here. It is dark magic and it can cause you to get distracted from the cause.” Her voice was no more than a whisper, spoken too quietly for no one else to hear.
She waited, moments stretching on into minutes but she never answered back.
“Lay down. I will keep watch.”
She watched as Victoria curled up under a blanket. Her eyes quickly closed as the dream began.
Burning torches illuminated a stone maze that stretched out below her. Its towering walls were moist and green with algae. Somewhere close she could hear water dripping in a continual stream with a rhythmic splat as it hit the floor. Victoria saw a dark set of stairs winding down towards the maze, leading to a tall, rectangular entrance where firelight flickered and danced. Making her way down some steps, keeping an eye on the amber glow emitting from the maze. Moving into the light she approached the gab, gazing up at the walls. They seemed monstrous now that she was on the ground, perhaps twenty feet height.
Victoria eyed the entrance to the maze where a corridor ran forward several feet toward a burning torch, before turning sharply to the left. A wind picked up a howled as it travelled through the narrow corridor of the maze, making the flames flutter in a frenzy. A gust of wind rushed through the gap with the sound of a sighing beast, ruffling her hair as a heated breath swept over her. She shivered a moved towards the fire. A grinding of stone made her swing around to find the gap in the wall closing. She drove towards it, colliding with the stone just as it shut. Leaning against the rock taking a deep calming breath. At that moment, she knew she was trapped. Her mind conjured terrifying images of what lay ahead in the dim passages. Moving forward, down a long corridor.
