Vampire covens were dysfunctional to be sure, but if I could make it work here, at least I wouldn’t be alone anymore. So I kept on walking down the stairs, and didn’t object when they locked me inside of a cell…
Chapter 11
The cell was spotlessly clean. That was about the best recommendation I could make. Three of the walls were cement, the bars and cell door were about twice as thick as what a human jail cell would be. I imagined I didn’t have a chance at breaking it open. There was a small bed, a toilet behind a metal partition, and a sink. That was it.
I sat on the bed and wondered if I’d made the right decision in not running. I was kind of glad my magic had been too hard for me to control, it had meant I’d gotten what I wanted despite James’ control of me, but I also knew I never wanted to feel that loss of control again. It’d felt like I’d been sucked up into a tornado and couldn’t tell up from down. I absolutely had to figure out the trick to using my magic in the city.
Plus, working on it would distract me from my worries.
In the forest, it was the peaceful and balanced spirit of nature and life in the wild that had grounded me. It didn’t take me long to realize, that looking outward wasn’t the answer. All that was out there in the city was chaos.
That only left looking inward. My own soul? That didn’t quite sound right. My soul was fairly at peace with myself, but it was one against hundreds of thousands in this city, if not millions once my power grew great enough to encompass the whole of it.
I thought it through slowly. My power came from within, the elemental spirit power was pulled from the plane of elemental spirit, or as some called it, the spiritual plane, or where souls returned to between lives. It was pulled and channeled from that plane by my soul, and the more I channeled, the greater the power, and the greater the reach of that power.
Unlike other sorcerers, my gateway was my own soul, instead of my soul reaching through another gateway, such as air for air.
It suddenly occurred to me, that my anchor to prevent other souls from sweeping me into chaos could be the spiritual plane itself. What could be more centering than the entire elemental plane of spirit?
The question was, if I was right, was how the hell would I anchor my mind through my soul and into the spiritual plane, while pulling spiritual magic in the other direction? I had the idea it would be like pushing and pulling on an object at the same time, or trying to pat my head, rub my belly, and hop on one foot at the same time.
Rather than try to do both right off, I thought I might as well see if I’d truly figured it out first, and just try to connect to the spiritual plane, have it anchor me. I knew it was childish, and I needed to get past it, but I really wished my mother was here to explain it all. Even just doing that… I’ve never done it before, and had no idea if it was even possible.
Although, the idea of it kind of rung a chord deep inside me. I knew the eldest of us, the most powerful, were considered omniscient in human tales and legends. While that wasn’t true, no one being could possibly know everything, it was true that the eldest of us could find anything out from past, present, and even future that they wanted to know through the Akashic records… which resided in the spiritual plane.
Perhaps anchoring in the spirit plane was the first step in a long journey toward that goal. Perhaps the reach of my power out here, would be mirrored by the reach of my power inside the spiritual plane. Or maybe I was deluding myself by seeing what I wanted to see, there was only one way to find out.
I sat in a meditation pose and closed my eyes.
“Miku?”
My eyes popped open and I looked over to the bars. The earth sorceress stood there, with a questioning look on her face. I stood up and moved closer.
I frowned, “How do you know my name?”
She sighed, “What happened, is your mother and father alright?”
I shook my head, “Who are you?”
“Sorry, you wouldn’t remember me. I haven’t seen you since you were two, which was what? Hundred and fourteen years ago? I’m Melody, I’ve known your mother since she relocated here from the East coast a hundred and fifty years ago.”
I asked, “You were friends?”
Her eyes watered at my words, and I felt uncomfortable, “Were? I’m so sorry. We were… allies. You know how insular your race can be, at least the good ones, but we were as close to friends as she would allow. I’m… sorry for your loss.”
I wasn’t sure what to say.
She asked, “How did it happen?”
I frowned, “My father… had an accident, my mother followed.”
She shook her head, “What do you mean, followed?”
“She followed her mate into death,” it hurt to say it, at peace with her loss or not.
Her eyes narrowed, “She just left you? I don’t believe it.”
I snorted a little angry now, I hadn’t wanted to believe it either, “I was there.”
Melody didn’t argue, but I could tell she wasn’t buying it. It was kind of annoying actually, only my respect for her age and power stopped me from flipping her off. Like I wouldn’t know?
She nodded, “I suppose there’s a whole story to how you got here, and I can guess some of it. Give Ceara a chance, she doesn’t suffer fools or law breakers, but she isn’t heartless either. You should try to get some rest, I think she plans on seeing you last.”
“Why last?” I asked, curious despite myself.
She smiled, “To get as much information about you as she can before you two speak. I think you surprised the hell out of her with that spirit lightning. Not much surprises a two-thousand-year old vampire.”
I nodded, “I’ll get some sleep,” after I try to anchor to the spirit world, but I didn’t say that last out loud.
Melody nodded, “I’ll see you again, I’m sure.”
Then the floor cracked and rumbled, and she slid right through the cement foundation and into the earth below, and then she was simply out of my range to detect. I shivered at the thought, and went back to my bunk and sat down. I wasn’t sure what to make of that conversation, but maybe it was a good thing, I could use allies, and perhaps a friend? Whatever that truly was. I closed my eyes and focused inward to my own soul.
I could visualize my soul, and saw the spirit magic flowing from the center of it. Just a small amount, enough for me to keep an eye on the immediate area. I had no idea what to do at this point. I tried willing myself into that flow to the other side. That didn’t do anything but make me feel foolish. I also wondered that if I succeeded, if I would simply be separating my soul from my mortal body and actually going there.
Killing myself on accident would be stupid.
Well, how did I do it out here? I didn’t send myself out into the mortal world either, I sent my magic. I increased the flow slightly and created a thread of magic, just like I used to probe the air shields on the younger vampires. If only humans had similar shields, none of this would be necessary.
I tried to thread that magic back through the flow of power and into the elemental plane of spirit. It was like trying to thread a string into a firehose that was blasting out water. That wasn’t going to work. Maybe, I needed a new channel altogether.
The spirit magic flowed from the center of my soul, so I picked a different spot, and tried to use my soul as a gateway, just in the other direction instead, and pushed the thread through.
I gasped, and unshed tears gathered in my eyes. It was almost indescribable, the peace that overwhelmed me as I spirit read the elemental plane of spirit. That wasn’t much of a description, but I wasn’t sure what else to call it. It was incredibly peaceful, calming, and centering. It felt so wonderful that I never wanted to lose the feeling.
It was also extremely dangerous, for just that reason.
I was tempted to end my own life, just so I could go there. When that thought crystallized in my mind, caution rose up as well. I wasn’t done with this life yet. I took deep breaths, and centered myse
lf in my mind. I was anchored, but I couldn’t even imagine trying to explore that plane with my magic. It would be too dangerous to try, I was already at risk of losing myself to its allure, and I was barely anchored to the edge of the plane.
I didn’t think I could resist its call if I ventured further.
I held the connection while refocusing my mind outward into the mortal realm, and pushed out my power slowly. I paused several times, but eventually I was connected to all those human souls out there, a half mile out.
It was hard to describe.
It was like sitting in the center of a large tornado, the wind wouldn’t touch me in my place of peace, but I could see the chaos around me. I was encased in the peace of the elemental plane of spirit, and the chaos of all the human’s souls couldn’t touch me there. I could still read them, see their lives, and if I focused on one specifically I could see all their lifetimes. Their hopes, dreams, fears, losses, but I was insulated from it, I wasn’t drowning in it.
I felt balanced. No longer tempted to end my life, or caught up in the chaos. I realized then, if I wasn’t reaching out with all my power, I shouldn’t ground myself. I either needed to do both, or neither. That way I wouldn’t be tempted to let go of my mortal life, or be drowned in chaos.
I wasn’t any more powerful now, than when I was in the forest. But now I could access all that I had without fear. I felt someone approaching the cells and released it, both sides. I kept just enough magic going to keep track of people near me, and maintain a shield.
I opened my eyes and looked over as she approached. I recognized her as one of the three guards that were upstairs. She was around two hundred, but looked twenty-four. She had shiny and straight light blonde hair and an athletic body. She wore a dark blue pencil skirt, a red blouse, and a dark blue, almost black, light jacket. She also had a smile on her face that reached her eyes.
“Hi, I’m Lisa. Are you hungry, or thirsty?” she sounded really friendly.
I nodded.
“I could eat, and maybe some water? I should be good on blood for at least a couple of days, hopefully I’ll be out of here by then.”
It was hard to believe it’d only been one day since I woke up a vampire, and had my first meal of blood. I knew I was more like a fifty-year-old vampire in power, but I wasn’t sure if that meant I’d feed like one, which was every couple of weeks. I was still new though, despite that power, so it might be every three days for me… like a normal baby vampire.
Lisa nodded in agreement, “Tomorrow at the latest. I’ll be back soon.”
She flashed me another smile and walked to the next cell. Curious, I reached out with a thread and read her soul, not memories, just… who she was. She wasn’t just acting nice to get information from me. She was actually just a really nice person. I relaxed and waited for her to come back, I was kind of hungry. I hadn’t eaten since the eggs this morning. After that, I seriously needed some sleep.
Chapter 12
I woke and stretched my body, and heard a light sound behind me. I turned my head and looked, it was Lisa. She had an amazed and curious look on her face as she stared at me.
I hopped down off the bed and embraced my shift to human form. It was different than wolves or other shifters for us. The major difference of course was taking our clothing with us, the only time I shifted to a naked girl was my first time shifting. The second difference was that it’s a lot faster, only takes a second or two, and a flash of magical energy accompanies the change.
Lisa asked curiously, “Why do you have five tails?”
I smiled, “I just do, I was born with three. Look up the Kitsune legends, that at least is one thing they get right, although I couldn’t tell you why.”
She tilted her head, obviously confused, “Born with three?” she questioned.
I nodded slowly, “I’m not human. This is my second form, and I didn’t achieve it for my first hundred years. Seriously, you can probably just google it. Umm, did you come down here for something.”
She looked confused for a moment, and then her eyes widened slightly, “Oh crap, Ceara is waiting for us. You distracted me.”
I laughed, “Sorry. But that bed sucks, the mattress is a torture device that only looks comfortable.”
She made a hand signal toward a camera down the hallway, and pulled my cell door open when it buzzed. No keys, interesting.
She giggled, “That’s our evil plan. Come on, I’ll walk you up. I’m kind of jealous, you look fantastic after that change. No bedhead.”
We walked down the hallway, through another heavy door that was no doubt controlled from the security desk, and into the stairwell.
Lisa explained, “It’s quicker this way,” and she took off up the stairs like a shot, I followed the best I could in her wake. We came out on the third floor and made our way to the same double doors. It looked like they were already fixed.
Lisa guided me inside and her smile dropped and she stood up almost unperceptively straighter. I got the idea she suppressed her naturally bubbly personality in front of the boss, I supposed it made sense since she was one of the inner guards.
“Ceara, I’ve brought Miku.”
Ceara replied, “Thank you Lisa, you can wait outside. Miku, come sit please.”
I was almost baffled, I was expecting formality, not… whatever this was. I walked in and saw her sitting on the couch again, toward one end which sat caddy corner to another couch. I wondered if this was a test of some sort, there was also a couch across that large empty floor. I chose the middle ground, and sat on the caddy corner couch, not next to her, but not so far away either.
Ceara waved, “Relax. I find these things go better without formality.”
I translated that in my head to, a relaxed person is easier to read and extract information from, than a terrified one kneeling down in front of her. Still, I wasn’t going to argue.
Ceara continued, “I don’t think this will take long, I’ve talked to the others and it seems you’ve had a rather bad time lately. That said, I’m not quite sure what to do with you. As a vampire you fall under our laws, as a sorceress you are your own agent. So, let me ask you. If I gave you a choice, what would you want?”
This was far too reasonable. I was probably being paranoid but… I couldn’t read her at all, and honestly I was afraid to try.
“The forest holds no appeal to me any longer for various reasons. I think I’d like to stay in Seattle, as for beyond that, I haven’t really given it much thought. I don’t want to just go my own way, and be alone, but it’s complicated.”
It was. As a spirit sorceress I was supposed to live on the edge of society. Observe and only interfere to help a soul that couldn’t find the way back, or unlock their memories. I wasn’t supposed to interfere with free will at all for mortals, except for self-defense, and if they ceded that free will.
On the other hand, as a vampire I would be inextricably linked to this coven and other vampires. It would be very tempting in that scenario to turn my back on the tenets, which I don’t want to do. For instance, if some monster attacked right now, I’d have to sit back and watch, I wouldn’t be able to interfere at all, unless someone specifically asked for my help.
How could I truly be a part of a group on those terms? I didn’t think I could get away with calling the coven a family, which was the last exception, they couldn’t be, not really.
Ceara nodded, “Let’s get back to that, can you tell me what happened that led you here from your point of view?”
I took a moment to gather my thoughts, and started from when Terry called for help. I finished my story when I threw the knife in Vince’s eye.
Ceara shook her head, “Are you telling me, that you killed him because he asked for help?”
I shook my head, “I killed him because he was a twisted and evil bastard. It was him demanding me for help that enabled me to act on that.”
Ceara asked, “And that constituted help?”
I nodded sincerely, “He
was stuck. Sunk completely in evil and cruelty and unable to die. I freed his soul from that torment of endless mortality, he’ll get another chance to get it right now.”
Ceara chuckled, “I’ll take your word for it. So what happened with the lightning?”
I sighed, “I was supposed to just hit you, that was the compulsion. But I’d never used my power in the city before, and touching all those human souls was overwhelming and it all went wrong. I suppose I should tell you I overcame that deficiency last night.”
Ceara smiled, “Alright, why don’t we do this. I’ll offer you a place in the coven. You can get settled, take some time to think, and let me know where you want to contribute. You can do anything from filing paperwork on the third floor to mopping the cafeteria and cleaning tables. Work one of our clubs, or go get a degree in something to get any job in our companies. Or, if your so inclined I think your capable enough to join the guards.
“If that doesn’t appeal to you, you’re free to go at any time.”
I could probably do most of that, but I’d make a terrible guard, unless the person I guarded kept asking me for help… and there is always the danger that help might end in the wrong party dying. The rest of it sounded possible, and it was something to do. It also meant I wouldn’t be alone anymore. I decided to be honest.
“Probably not a guard, but I think I’ll take you up on your offer. A couple of days to look around and decide? I mean what job I want. I definitely want to stay if you’ll let me.”
Ceara nodded, “First things first,” she called in Lisa, “Lisa, assign a condo to Miku here, and then take her shopping. She needs clothes that fit, and a real pair of sunglasses.”
Oh… thank Inari. This was the easiest trial ever, and I was getting a wardrobe out of it, and a place to stay. Maybe things were starting to look up. It would be complicated as hell, but better than being a slave to James, or in a jail cell.
Spirit Sorceress: Spirit Sorceress: Book 1 Page 6
