~*~
They sat like that for a long time, while Ash let Caislyn just cry it all out. He didn't even think of moving her until the last hiccuping sob subsided to the slow, unsteady breathing that told him she had almost worn herself out enough. Before long, she was sleeping in his arms and he picked her up as gently as he could, using a little magic to aid him so hat she wasn't disturbed by the jostling movements. He took her back to the bedroom and tucked her into the bed.
Ash looked down at her as he pulled the covers up around her, and wished more than anything that he could snuggle in beside her, and hold her until everything in her life was better. He knew, though, that he was the cause of at least some of her problems. He also knew that the best thing for her was for him to keep his distance from now on. It would kill her if he disappeared on her too, so he wouldn't do that, even though there was a chance it would bring Gregore back to her. Ash had been searching for Gregore since the damn fool left, but he had to give the witch credit, he didn’t make it easy to find him.
It would not be a popular decision with those in Faerie when they found out he was searching for Caislyn’s husband to bring him back to her. He was giving up the fight for Caislyn, for her magic, that the Fey so coveted now that she had received the blessing. Ash didn’t care for the blessing, the magic, or any of it. He did love Caislyn though, and he couldn’t stand seeing her tear herself apart anymore.
~*~
It was morning again when Caislyn woke up alone in the bed of the RV. She vaguely remembered being wrapped up in Ash's arms, and then everything else was a blur. She was sure he was the one that put her here though. His unique scent, the smell of Faerie that ever clung to him, was still on the air. She got up and looked around, finding no one, she went to the kitchenette to see if there was something she could eat. All the training and emotion had taken a toll on her body and she was feeling shaky.
Caislyn had just sat down to eat when a knock sounded on the door to her RV. "Ugghh, who is it?"
"Caislyn, it's me, Sasha."
Caislyn got up and went to open the door, "hey, Sasha, what's up?"
"I didn't want to bother you, but my da let me take a tent of my own. It was Gregore's tent, before the wedding." He sounded half apologetic to be admitting that. "He left some things behind," Caislyn looked down, noticing for the first time that Sasha had been holding a framed object. She knew immediately what it was, and the thought that Gregore had left without it broke her completely.
"Just put it over there," she motioned to the couch and then she retreated to the bedroom without further word, her breakfast and Sasha completely forgotten.
***
THE HUNGER
"Jaxon, we've had a few days to clean up and get everything organized here, we can't wait any longer. I know you aren't anxious to go back to the camp, because of... well, the memories, but we have to go talk to Caislyn. I haven't heard from her or Gregore, and that's not right. Something might be wrong there."
"I just don't want to go back there." Jaxon turned in a huff, knowing she was being childish, but she couldn't shake all the animosity she still felt for everyone in that camp. "My life went to shit when I met Caislyn, more so than it already was."
"Come on, that wasn't her fault, she didn't know anymore than you did."
"I know that, and it still doesn't help me. I just keep thinking, if I had never met her, maybe I would have had a chance to meet my mother and keep her in my life for a little while. My mom died trying to save Caislyn's. If she hadn't been out collecting those herbs... If..."
"Jaxon, if you hadn't met Caislyn you may have never met your mother. You can't keep doing this. What's done is done, and it's not anyone's fault back at that camp." He was growing frustrated with her, and he wasn't about to back down now. If she wasn't going to be a grown up about things, then she wasn't the woman he thought she was. "I will not leave them in possible danger, not knowing what's going on." When she didn't respond he voiced his concerns out loud, "and I can't believe you have become the person who could do that either."
"It's not that damn simple, Seth."
"Yes, Jaxon, it really is. Get over it already, there's no bringing anyone back that's been lost. You think Caislyn hasn't lost? She lost her father. You may not have known him, but it was a huge loss for her. And She lost you, the only friend who was there for her when her parents were missing. You were the only one who helped her, and because she had you, you were both able to find your mothers. That's something. And then you just took off without a word. Imagine how she must be feeling. And she's pregnant on top of that and dealing with Ash and Gregore, training her ass off in order to tell me where to find you. Did you for one minute, while you were on your little hissy-fit rampage, think of anything other than yourself?"
"Seth!" Brigid interrupted.
"No, she needs to hear this. There have been people bending over backwards to make sure she was okay, to bring her back and keep her safe. And she hasn't thought of any of them in all of this. Her mom's gone, the rest of us were still there though."
"Seth, you're being a little harsh right now," Brigid countered.
"No, Brigid! I am not being harsh. I don't blame you for our entire family being killed, or for me being turned into this monster. I blame the evils responsible for those things. You were tricked. It happens. Caislyn had no control over the things that were happening, not anymore than you did, Jaxon! And more importantly, she probably kept you alive a lot longer than you would have lasted on your own. So, you can either get your shit together and come with me to the camp, or you can run along on your own again, doing whatever it was you were doing before. Because, I am going to check on the camp, and make sure everything is okay. Then I am going to make sure they know what we've learned. What I do after that depends on the decision you make right now."
"Are you just about done?" Jaxon turned on him, her eyes going blacker than night. "You forgot one little thing in your tirade there. I killed people, I have continued to kill people. And I like it. I don't just like it, it's a hunger that sneaks up on me and has to be fed. I can't control that part of me. It just grows and grows until I sate it. Have you ever taken one second to consider that I won't go back because I am just as afraid of hurting them as I am of how I feel about them?" Seth, just hung his head and shook it. "Look at me!" Jaxon was on him in an instant, snapping his head back up to look at her. "Does this look like a person in control? Do I look like I need to be around a camp full of food bags that also happen to be my friends?"
"Bullshit!"
"Jaxon didn't hold back her temper then, she lashed out at Seth, pushing him back so far through the room that he fell into the couch. The audible crack almost broke the spell and made her laugh as she remembered the last couch they broke, but then her mind back to her friends and the nightmare she kept having about eating them. "what happens when I eat Caislyn? What then Seth? Does that make it all better, because then the prophecy can never come to pass?"
"Jaxon, how many innocent people have you munched on in your travels?"
Jaxon stiffened, but didn't say a word. She just stood in the middle of the room staring off into nothingness as the truth of those words smacked into her. It was something she honestly hadn’t considered before.
"That's what I thought. I think you have more control over your hunger than you think you do." Seth picked himself up off the now broken couch. “Vesta’s not going to be too thrilled about the trail of broken couches we keep leaving through her properties.” The smik died quickly on his face when he took note of Jaxon again.
"It doesn't matter, Seth, I dream about it all the time. I close my eyes, and there I am killing little Sasha, or Vesta, or Caislyn. I can't go back unless I know that won't happen."
"Then we'll train you, Jax." Brigid said gently, "we've both learned to control it, you can too."
~*~
It took two weeks of constant training to get Jaxon’s blood lust under control. Brigid and Seth would randomly surpr
ise her with wounded people, some of them with fresh, angry wounds that pumped blood as if a fountain enticing her to drink from them. At first, Jaxon failed miserably. She pounced on the first three victims with wild abandon, having to be pulled free from the lifeless bodies each time. Soon, though, she was able to start blocking the hunger. With each bloodied person that was paraded before her, she would gain a little more control. Jaxon would still vamp out, eyes going black, teeth lengthening, ready to strike, but she didn’t move. She only eyed the sight with disdain as she licked her lips, wondering how the hot, coppery fluid would feel flowing down her throat. As soon as she felt the burn in her throat, she would turn away from the scene. It did nothing to stop her other senses from picking up on the slightest cues. The scent of copper pennies hung thickly in the air, a perfume that made Jaxon salivate with the hunger. Still, she wouldn’t budge.
An impromptu walk through the park turned out to be the ultimate test for Jaxon. She just happened to be the person nearest to a little girl who fell down out of a tree and broke her arm. It wasn’t a little break, it was a compound fracture, bone sticking through skin, bleeding freely. Jaxon put aside any thoughts of hunger and ran to help the girl. She was there before the girl’s mother could reach her, “it’s okay, sweetie. We’re going to get you help,” she cooed in English that the girl probably didn’t understand. When the mother got close, she nervously side-stepped Jaxon and picked her daughter up in her arms to take her to the car they had parked nearby. While Jaxon’s eyes were deepest black and her fangs protruded a little from her lips, the instinct to eat was not there. She simply felt the emotion of those around her and wanted to help ease their pain. It was that moment that allowed Jaxon to relax enough to want to get back to Caislyn and get things settled.
***
THE CODE
Caislyn sat in her room just staring at the walls, willing something in her life to change for the better. Nothing happened. Despite her willing it so. Apparently, Fey magic wasn't as strong as everyone thought. Or at least her version of Fey magic wasn't.
"Caislyn, are you okay?" Vesta was suddenly in the doorway, whispering as not to jar Caislyn from her thoughts to harshly.
"Hmm?" She questioned without glancing up.
"Do you need anything?"
"No," Caislyn turned away from her mother, not wanting her to see the tear that was about to fall from her eye. When she did, something else in the room caught her attention. The book. The book her mother took the time to hide from the Brotherhood rather than trying to make sure she and her husband were safe. The book that she and Jaxon found after teleporting to the cottage in Ireland, unknowingly. The book that she had been too distracted this whole time to look at. She slid over to the edge of the bed, and grabbed hold of it. Vesta had already left the room again, and Caislyn stood wondering for the life of her if the answers had been with them this whole time, and they were too blind to see.
She sat back down on the bed and started flipping through the pages, hoping something would jump out at her and immediately make sense. When that didn't happen, she flipped back to the beginning and began to read.
Once Caislyn was about twenty pages in she tossed the book across the bed in frustration, "I don't get it. There's nothing here. How can this damn book be so important?" She got up to go ask her mother if she remembered why, but no one was in the RV. There was a note, and some lunch sitting there waiting for her.
"I figured you would be hungry when you were done staring at the walls. Eat. Your body needs to be taken care of, if not for you, then for the baby you carry. I've gone to help out in the camp. Love, Mom."
Caislyn took the food back to the bedroom and started flipping through the pages of the book again as she ate. She continued flipping until she found a page with an illustration on it. There, she paused and took note of the artistry. Soon, she noticed the words tracing the page and she began to read them, turning the book with her as she did. The entire painting suddenly took on a new life with each turn. Numbers became evident. There was some sort of pattern emerging and Caislyn grabbed her sketch pad and began writing it down. It repeated every so often. And soon she realized what it meant. She heard the door to the RV open and shut, announcing that someone had come back in, but it didn’t matter now. All that mattered was that Caislyn had just found a pattern that pointed her in a new direction. She had something to focus on again, that wouldn’t depress her. At least, she hoped it wouldn’t.
She flipped back to the beginning of the book and started counting the words on the page. For each page in the book, there was a corresponding number. Caislyn soon realized that the number, marked the place of a word on each page.
"Oh dear Goddess! Mom!" Caislyn began yelling through the RV, hoping that it had been her mother who had come in. Vesta came running into her room only moments later trailed by a very worried looking Ash.
"Are you okay?" Vesta yelped.
"Caislyn?" Ash questioned.
"Mom, it's the book!" She held the book up to show Vesta what she was talking about. "We never bothered to really look at it before, because there was always something else going on."
"You found the coded reference in the picture too? I only just found it when the Brotherhood showed up, so I never got a chance to find the book it was talking about." Vesta explained.
"Mom, I don't know what coded reference you are referring to, but I found something, and it pointed directly back to this book."
Caislyn pulled out her sketch pad and showed them the code that she found in the picture, and explained what it meant. “I have to go back now page by page and see what it says,” she told them excitedly.
"That's way more than I realized," Vesta exclaimed.
"What does it mean, exactly?" Ash asked.
"It pinpoints specific words on each page of the book."
"Well, what does it say?" Ash questioned as he sat on the edge of the bed, waiting.
"I'm not finished yet. I'm still trying to copy down all the words, but so far, it talks about the Brotherhood and a plan for change."
Vesta tapped Ash's arm to tell him to follow her, "Let us know when you've finished, Caislyn."
~*~
While Caislyn was working with the rest of the code in the book, Vesta took Ash into the other room. "Keep an eye on her. I'm not sure what that code will end up saying, but we do not need her flying off half cocked the way she does. I'm going to discuss a few things with the elders in camp. We need to be prepared for whatever that book has to say. It could mean war, it could mean something far greater. I just don’t know." A far off look on Vesta’s face emerged as she remembered all the times her husband, Mac, and her had debated exactly what this prophecy meant. They had fought over whether or not to just allow her to fulfil it or to keep her powers bound for life.
She snapped out of her reverie and looked at Ash, hoping to stress the importance of her next words. “Don't go in her room making her think she has a babysitter, because it will drive her away faster. But also, don’t leave, and make sure you can check on her periodically. I know my daughter, if she finds something truly important in that book, and she will...” Vesta stopped momentarily, hands on the RV door about to step out, “she will find a way to get past you. Hopefully, you can follow her.”
"Vesta, what do you think she'll find in that code?"
"I think she'll find the truth of the prophecy and why she's so important to it." Vesta’s demeaner changed to one of profound sadness before she walked away. "I won't loose my daughter too. I lost my husband already. Please, just keep watch until I get back."
"Of course," Ash said as he sat on the couch while Vesta disappeared out the door.
~*~
Caislyn wrote out the final words on the final words on the sketch pad and then flipped to the beginning to look them all over. "Oh Goddess! What are we supposed to do with this?"
Caislyn immediately picked up the cell phone she had refused to use since she last contacted Seth.
"
Seth, I need Jaxon, now."
"What's going on?"
"I found a code in the book that we got from the attic in Ireland. It tells what we're needed for, what the prophecy really is..."
"It'll take a while for us to get to you, Caislyn, we're still in Italy."
"Stay there. I'll come to you."
"Do you think it's safe for you to travel, or even teleport in your condition."
"I don't think my condition is going to matter much longer if I don't get to Jaxon very soon."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Are you guys still at my family's place in Italy?"
"Yeah, we are. Caislyn, what was that supposed to mean?"
Caislyn hung the phone up and got up to get dressed. Once she was done, she tucked the paper with the de-coded message on it into her pocket, grabbed the cell phone and put that in her other pocket, and then she focused on wanting to be in Italy, at the house she had stayed in for the summer when she was 16. If she was right about what the book said, then they were going to be able to change everything, for the better, and very soon.
***
THE PLAN
Caislyn popped into the condo her family had in Italy. She had almost forgotten what happier times were like and the nostalgia hit her immediately as she remembered being sixteen and heading out to go get gilato with her friend AnnaBeth two doors over.
At first, Caislyn didn't think anyone was there when she first teleported in, but then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, a little too quickly, and saw Jaxon sitting on a chair just before the dizziness overtook her. The room started spinning, and then quickly started dimming out to a solid gray tunnel in front of her just before everything went black.
~*~
"Is she okay?" A woman, who's voice Caislyn didn't recognize, was asking.
Incarnations Page 6
