Congregation Of Darkness (Full Moon Series Book 2)

by P. Mattern

  When he’d been informed that Adrastos was sitting up on his own he was amazed . Between the heavy dose of snake venom and Adrastos’ inhalation of Charley Rabbit’s neurological storm he had figured on his Master’s recovery taking at least a year ,so Adrastos was several months ahead of schedule.

  Maung felt that the contingent seemed to be turning into a chamber. The smell of wintergreen and absinthe greeted his nostrils as he moved forward, the soldiers in front of him parting off to each side so that he was standing at the foot of Adrastos’ monstrous bed.

  Maung bowed deeply.”Master Adrastos we are so pleased with your recovery!”

  Adrastos smiled.”I’m not completely restored, but I can feel my strength returning by the hour. I have a vision request for you. I hope you are up to it, because my incapacity has heightened my impatience,and your immortal life depends on your producing such a vision , First Seer Maung.”

  Maung blanched slightly but bowed again and said stiffly,”I am Maung, First Seer and unique in my generation. You have only to ask, Lord Earl Adrastos, and Maung will supply the vision and the interpretation.”

  Adrastos dismissed the henchmen to the outside corridor, then speaking clearly in low tones he said, ”I wish to know if my Declared Woman , Parmitsvia Elaine Rabbit, is impregnated with my child. And I want to see a future vision of that child, if indeed she is.”

  Maung’s eyes,already clouded by the milky glaze of glaucoma,took on a deep red sheen that then became multicolored. A cloud, seemingly projected by Maung’s unseeing eyes, began to form in the air space between himself and Adrastos, hovering over the space between them. As vague images began to form inside the cloud, Maung spoke.

  “As we speak your Declared Woman, Parmitsvia Elaine Rabbit is heavy with your son. He is strong and healthy and bears the tanistiel as you and your ancestors before you have borne. He is your heir. And he is the seventh in seven generations to bear the tanistiel ,according him full access to that spirit creature and its power.”

  As Maung spoke the 3D image in the cloud became much clearer, until a face could be discerned. A male figure with high cheekbones, a strong jawline and handsome features much like Adrastos’ own appeared ,his cloak whipping in an unseen wind. The figure’s coloring was the opposite of Adrastos’ however-the man in the vision was flaxen haired with intensely blue green eyes.

  Adrastos’ jaw dropped as he beheld the figure inside the cloud and involuntarily his hands stretched out toward the image. He realized to his complete surprise that he was weeping, silent tears forming and streaming from the corners of his eyes ,as a myriad of intense and unexpected emotions overwhelmed him.

  “My SON” ,he whispered, over and over again in an almost reverent, hushed tone.”My SON!”

  Abruptly the cloud began to fade and dissipate, the colors from the images inside it fading and retreating until nothing remained. Adrastos continued reaching out toward the cloud until it was completely gone, tears still steaming from his eyes.

  “LEAVE ME!” he proclaimed harshly in a ragged voice, overwhelmed by his strong feelings and suddenly becoming aware of his tears.

  Maung bowed deeply and retreated into the hallway to join the guards. He was pleased as well as relieved that he had been dismissed so suddenly, because he hadn’t wanted to finish the latter part of his prescient vision of Mitzi’s womb.

  He was fairly certain that he had seen two fetuses-fraternal twins-residing within the matrix.

  And even MORE certain that the other fetus was absolutely NOT the sire of Adrastos.

  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  Cass and Mitzi were relaxing at the kitchen table after a meal. Charley had eaten Mitzi’s delicious homemade lasagna with them and left in a hurry. Mitzi was concerned that Charley seemed overly distracted these days, although he kept telling her he was fine. Cass’s take on Charley’s state of being was that Charley was overwhelmed ten ways from Sunday due to the barrage of adjustments he was having to make as a result of his breakup with Fress, his new intense and difficult to control twice-bitten bloodlust ,his schoolwork, and most recently the news that he was about to have a little brother or sister . Cass assured Mitzi that it was nothing personal and that,more importantly ,there was nothing that Mitzi could do or SHOULD be doing. It was something for Charley to work on, a rite of passage for Charley on his journey to becoming the male energy he was eventually destined to become.

  Deep down Mitzi understood. Cass had eventually revealed to her the details of Charley’s epic battle with Adrastos-hearing them she had been both thrilled and horrified and even more thankful that they had all escaped with their immortal lives. Moreover she was fiercely proud of Charley for stepping up to the immense and seemingly impossible challenge.

  Cass stretched and jumped up from the table suddenly, grabbing a marker from the tray in front of the grease board that was mounted against one wall of the kitchen and used as a message board.

  “I can’t keep up with the partner exchange rate around here ”he complained good naturedly. He began to write on it with a red marker ,scratching his head from time to time.

  Mitzi sighed.”Well Charley is currently dating Merilee ,from what I hear. But I know he still loves Fress. A mother knows these things.”

  Cass grunted and stood back from the message board to survey his work.

  “Okay here’s the best I can do. Charley is dating Merilee-check-and Fress is dating Daniel currently. Makenna and Orry are still a ‘thing’ thank God, they’ve managed to create the only enduring relationship –besides OURS of course my love-in the group. Lux is currently with my man Pierre-who we would know nothing about except for the twin connection. And by the way Mitzi, Pierre is HUMAN and we will all have to watch our P’s and Q’s a bit when he comes for dinner. No fine type A negative with dinner. Bummer. I’ll pick up some really good wine I think. With a name like Pierre you would think he’d like wine-maybe?”

  Mitzi laughed and hugged Cass. “I think that would be great.I love the way you fuss over our tribe. Like you’re trying to keep us all straight.”

  Cass chuckled.”Well somebody has to. Oh and I forgot our newest members,Carey and his lady Kimbra,a.k.a.’ Romeo and Juliet.’ A little new blood for the group-literally-Kimbra being a full-on human. She’s a feisty one too. No shortage of feisty females around here I’ll tell you!!You,Fress,Makenna,Merilee,Ariel ,Celeste and Kimbra-spitfires,every one of you!! Apparently passive females are officially extinct.”

  Mitzi sniffed,”I prefer the term Warrior Princess,thank you very much. And I know you wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Cass sat down beside Mitzi and looked lovingly into her eyes.

  “I am a happy man. I feel like a ridiculous sense of pride about your being pregnant ,like I’m a vampire Bantam rooster or something. Vivi my love lets take a portal trip before your baby belly becomes too unwieldy. Just the two of us. Where would you like to go?”

  Mitzi thought for a moment, smiling up at him”Paris?”

  Cass smiled back.”Paris in the spring-perfect! Although every time I think of Paris ,which I admit isn’t often, I think of Toulouse Letrec and his whores.”

  Mitzi shot back, ”Fine. Paris it is. You can be Toulouse Letrec and I will be your whores-all of them.”

  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  The trudge through the woods was largely silent after the blood feast, save the muffled whimpers of the young human girl who was being carried on a layette made up of ropes and burlap strung between the strong back and shoulders of one of the Goth hybrids and the front of another of the hybrid contingent. It was good that the carriers had had their fill of human blood back at the decimated campsite, because the human female reeked of it. The two hybrids carrying her joked in their strange and guttural Goth tongue about snacking on her but knew better than to push their luck. Balik never tolerated disobedience in the ranks, and any of the u
nderlings that tested him would be ordered to fight each other to the death.

  The human captive, whose name was Leah, was actually still in a semi state of shock, curled up into a fetal position on the layette, her mind replaying the scenes of horror she had been witness to over and over. She tried not to look at the strange, subhuman looking beings that surrounded her. They seemed to be a mix of Neanderthals, with glittering beady black eyes, protruding tusklike teeth and sloping foreheads crowned with matted dark hair ,and American Indians. Part of the pack had finer features as well as straight, shiny dark hair that they wore either unfettered and blowing in the wind or in braids.

  The one that had stood in front of her like a dark fierce giant and had spoken in English was obviously the leader,and he alone seemed the most human even though he had murdered her aunt in the most heinous way imaginable. Her tears filled her eyes again remembering her aunt and she clasped one dirty hand over her mouth to stifle the scream that welled up unbidden in her throat. Aunt Nan had been her guardian since she had been removed from her mother’s house at the age of seven by the local social services after they’d been tipped off that she was being molested by her stepfather. Leah hadn’t minded going to live with her kindly aunt, who never raised her voice and treated her as her own child during her formative years. She and Uncle Herb had provided a stability and loving home environment that had slowly healed Leah of her tortured childhood memories.

  And now this. Everything she had known, her entire family and the caring support and stability she’d come to rely on- gone in an instant.

  She had no idea why she was alive, and the rest of her family had perished. Her entire being felt numb ,frozen in that horrible moment in which every precious thing had been ripped away.

  The wind picked up and she shivered even more violently now ,and tried to curl her body even more tightly together, her arms encircling her knees. In spite of the cold she nodded off, the rhythm of the hybrid’s march and the slight swaying of the layette she was on that was encouraging her shocked consciousness to shut down. And then mercifully someone threw a rough cover over her, even covering her head, and she was warm, and she slept.

  When she awakened it was because she’d been dropped unceremoniously to the ground. The impact was jarring and she was disoriented.

  The same dark man, the Leader, was looking down at her.

  “Get UP,” he said,his voice so rough that he was almost growling.

  Shakily she rose to her feet. It was daytime again ,warmer. She had been on her period and also urinated on herself-her jean shorts were stiff with urine and dried blood. Her senses seemed to be partially shut down but she was certain she must stink.

  An older woman appeared from behind the hulking form of the Leader. Her braided hair was variegated with ebon black steaks and white and her face was weathered. She took hold of Leah’s wrist and began pulling her down a grassy embankment toward the sound of water rushing. As she was being pulled Leah looked back behind her at the Leader ,still watching her, and noticed he was standing at the entrance to some sort of cavern.

  The water in the rushing stream was going to be very cold, Leah knew,but she hurriedly shucked her limited attire on the grassy bank ,took a very deep breath, and plunged into it. There was a physical shock as the water surrounded her and she began scrubbing at herself even before her teeth began to chatter. The stream was about 10 feet across, and swollen with melting snows from the surrounding hills..Taking another deep breath and trying to ignore the creeping numbness in her limbs she ducked her head underneath the water also, scrubbing her fingers over her scalp, trying to comb them through her semi-matted hair.

  Abruptly she felt a vice-like hand clench her upper arm and pull her back to the bank. The old woman had quite a grip, and an unusual amount of upper body strength given her advanced age.

  “Heshe” the old woman told her, gesturing to a pile of garments.

  Leah was shaking violently though the warming sun was helping to raise her body temperature. With clumsy half-frozen fingers she tried in vain to snag the clothing item nearest her ,but dropped it because she was having problems working her fingers to grip it. Making a disgusted sound the old woman pushed her hand away and started dressing her,pulling a woven shift over her head and motioning to her to step into a pair of short pants that were loose fitting and reminded Leah of turn of the century bloomers. As Leah pulled them up around her hips the older woman jerked them down and fastened a strange thonglike contraption around her that fastened on both sides of her hips. The part that was against her crotch seemed to contain layers of cloth in a crude oblong shape.

  ‘Oh ‘,Leah thought.‘ For my period.’

  But at last she was warm, for which she was grateful. As she followed the woman back up the incline to the cave opening she was also surprised to notice her stomach growling. The events of the previous day seemed very far away now, as if she had dreamed them, or as if she was still dreaming.

  Or as if she had died along with her aunt and now found herself in a strange underworld populated by creatures that seemed barely human.

  So maybe, she thought, THIS was hell.

  As Leah passed into the cave opening it took a moment for her eyes to become accustomed to the gloom. The appeared to be walking into a low tunnel ,and just as she was about to exclaim because the scant light had faded to complete darkness, her adjusted eyes saw an opening ahead seemingly filled with golden light of a rare color.

  The older woman she’d been following stepped aside and Leah’s breath was taken away at the scene laid out before her.

  She was surrounded by gold, everywhere .Hues from deep gold to orange to lemon shone from the glistening stalagmites hanging imperiously from the immensely high cathedral like ceiling of the cavern as well as from the stalagmites pushing their way into the space from the cavern floor. Some of the formations were dripping and shimmering, others seemed as though they were glorious multicolored whipped cream swirls made of stone dust . At intervals along the cavern floor, other formations that appeared to be blooming pink and red stone flowers grew in clusters. It was an underground fairyland.

  Leah noticed that the floor of the cavern dropped off gradually on all sides into an arena shaped area in which the Leader and many members of the tribe that Leah recognized from the day before were gathered. Some squatted in front of a smoking fire ,some sat on flat stone formations.

  But they had all ceased speaking in their harsh guttural tones and were,to a man ,staring at her as if she were lunch.

  “Batta” ,the leader spoke in a commanding voice. He moved toward her while the others stayed frozen in position.

  In her peripheral vision the old woman appeared, accompanied by a younger woman. The leader had orders for them also.

  “Foothe carse geeshe!!! Camparsh!!!” he said forcefully, sending the women skittering over the stone strewn floor toward another part of the immense cavern.

  Finally he stood in front of her ,casting a shadow. Leah noticed torches set into the crevices of the stone walls at various point ,but most of the light seemed to be coming from above them,through 2 or 3 natural skylights that allowed the daylight outside to shine down into the cavern in huge striated beams of light.

  “Hungry?” he asked. Leah suddenly noticed the scent of roasting meat coming from the immense fire she had seen. Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.

  The Leader spoke again.”They will bring you food. What is your name?”

  Leah swallowed nervously,”Leah” she said in a voice that sounded very small to her own ears. Her voice seemed to get lost in the immensity of the cavernous space surrounding them.”LEAH!” she repeated more loudly than she’d meant to, her own voice reverberating against the stone walls and echoing back at her from all around her.

  To her surprise the Leader seemed to smile slightly.

  “No need to shout Leah. I’m standing right here in front of you. ”he said, his English perfect.

  “Do you want to live,
Leah?” he asked, his countenance again serious.

  “Yes.” Leah answered, her mind full of conflicting emotions. She was alarmed at the question but decided to answer as honestly as she could.

  “Good.” The Leader said, seeming satisfied with her answer .And still he continued, ”The life you had is over. If you join us, if you remain with us, it will mean that you will have a new life and a new name. All that you had, and all that you were, will die. Do you understand?”

  For the first time since the previous night tears threatened at the backs of her eyes, but she held them back.

  “Yes.” She answered again. She found herself almost wanting to like her captor. He was very handsome, in a dark way. And though his brow bore a fierce frown ,the eyes beneath seemed almost kind. She could sense the killer in him also-after all ,he had killed her aunt as if she’d been a sheep he was obligated to slaughter.

  But he had spared her. And her aunt Nan, who had sacrificed her own life for Leah’s, would have wanted her to do everything she could to survive.

  He was speaking again.

  “You will eat your fill. Then you will be taken to the Mavesla ,the ruler of our tribe . He alone will decide your fate. You must not raise your eyes to him unless he gives you permission to. He is very ancient and very powerful. “ Turning behind him he shouted at a trio of females busy cutting slabs of meat from the skewer held up by forked sticks on opposite ends .