B008GMVYA4 EBOK (47 page)

The lights in the corridor were movement operated, as
Madison began to move within the corridor the lights flickered on – lighting
her way.

The silence unnerved her and she had been brought to the top
floor of The Coven. The Black Orchid wanted her there and she knew that
somewhere within the maze of offices they would be waiting for her. Something
was always lurking in the darkness, waiting to grab her.

A flash of movement caught the corner of Madison right eye.
She spun around towards the office, peering through the glass – searching for
the movement. The room was pitch black, but Madison was able to make out the
outline of about twenty desks and chairs - four rows of five desks all laid out
in identical rows.

Madison pushed down on the door handle to the office.
Normally she would stay clear of dark, creepy rooms but everything that had
occurred over the last month had pushed Madison to find a new sense of
confidence she had been missing before.

She pushed the door open, stepping inside the dark room. The
motion-sense lights flickered on, lighting up the four corners of the room.

The room was empty; she must have imagined the movement
before. The office room had motion-sensitive lights, they would have activated
if there had been any type of moment within the room. However, The Black Orchid
had already made themselves renowned for controlling electrical equipment (the
stunt with the elevator).

Each desk had a flat screen computer on it, wireless
keyboard and a black corded phone. Every desk was identical; there was no
paperwork or pens insight.  The office was neat and tidy, almost unused.

At the back wall were two large grey filing cabinets.
Madison headed towards them, curiosity kicking in and she wanted to know more
about The Coven. She pulled the open the top draw, brown files filled the top
draw – she started to examine them. The files were filled with different types
of bank account statements and details, some for business accounts others were
for personal accounts. She pulled out one of the folders and scanned the
statement.

“Madison… ” said a familiar voice.

She jumped, dropping the folder on the ground. The
statements scattered to the floor, making the tidy room begin to look untidy.

Leon stood in the door way, he eyed Madison nervously.

“Leon. You scared me…” she said catching her breath “Where’s
Brendan?”

“He’s downstairs in reception. He came looking for you but
you had disappeared, so we split up” Leon said walking towards her.

“The Black Orchid chased me. Then something happened with
the elevator, it brought me up here. I was looking for a staircase when you
found me” she said.

“Looks like you were snooping to me” Leon smiled.

“No. Well, It doesn’t matter anyway; we need to get back to
Brendan. He needs to know about the Black Orchid. They seemed… ”

“Pissed?” Leon offered.

“Yeah...” Madison agreed.

“Of course their going to be pissed! Your boyfriend
destroyed their plans! Their master doesn’t like to be let down…” Leon
protested, a little too harshly.

“I think we should find Brendan” Madison said ignoring the
harshness in his voice, pushing the draw of the filing cabinet close, but leaving
the papers scattered on the office floor.

“What’s with the rush? You’re safe with me.” Leon smiled a
little strangely.

Madison eyed him wearily. There was something not quite
right about the way Leon spoke and his posture. Leon was normally light hearted
and joked a lot when he spoke. Now, his voice was serious and almost lifeless,
a harshness to it which wasn’t like Leon.

“What’s wrong…?” Madison started.

The door to the office flew open, Brendan stood in the door
way, concern and panic spread across his face.

“Madison” he said running towards her and cupping her face
in his hands.

Leon shifted nervously on the spot, his eyes glued on
Brendan.

Madison continued to watch Leon for a second before she
became distracted by Brendan’s enchanting crystal blue eyes. Gazing into his
glorious eyes brought back the wave of warmth that ran up and down her spine.
Her heart fluttered as the smooth cold skin of his fingertips grazed her cheek.
Blood flowed into my cheeks from his touch. She shivered from the coldness of
his touch, but it felt pleasant.

“What happened?” Brendan asked, concerned tilting her head
to the side to examine the cut to her chin.

“The Black Orchid chased me. They are
really
not
happy. They knocked me over and made the light bulbs in the corridor explode on
me. Then, I got caught in the elevator, it took me up here. It must be broken
or something. Anyway, I was looking for a way down and came in here. Then Leon
found me.” Madison said, looking back towards Leon.

Brendan blinked hard at Madison’s explanation, absorbing the
information – the story she had come out with would have sounded completely
insane to anyone normal. Slowly, he let go of Madison’s face and turned towards
Leon who stood motionless.

“That was quick? Did you know where Madison was?” Brendan
asked, relief lifting his expressions.

“Umm… yeah, I heard her” Leon said, his dark eyes fixated on
her face.

“You should have called, man. I was only along the corridor”
Brendan said casually.

“Yeah, sorry about that” Leon said, a flicker of sarcasm in
his voice.

Brendan eyed Leon suspiciously, picking up on his unusual
tone. Brendan’s usual soft expressions harden quickly.

“You found her” said another voice at the far end of the
room.

Leon shifted to the side, giving Madison and Brendan a clear
view of the doorway. Leon stood in the doorway his eyes wild with confusion as
he looked from Brendan to Leon. Brendan and Madison stared in astonishment,
their eyes flickering between the two Leon’s. Leon had met Madison in the
office room before Brendan had turned up, but now Leon was standing in the
doorway – there was two Leon’s

“What’s going on?” Madison muttered, throwing Brendan a
concerned look.

Brendan pushed Madison back protectively, standing in front
of her. Brendan stared at the two Leon’s, confused and concerned.

Madison’s heart thumped loudly in her chest from the anxiety
and fear which was beginning to creep in once again. Both Leon’s stared at each
other, the Leon in the doorway had a confused, shocked expression on his face
whereas the other Leon seemed less surprised or unconcerned.

“Leon? What’s going on?” Brendan asked staring between them
both.

“Who are you?” said the Leon in the doorway, confused.

The other Leon did not respond his body remained motionless,
a smirk twitching the corners of his mouth.

“Brendan, take Madison and get out of here!” Leon said
taking a large step into the room towards the other Leon.

Brendan squeezed looked confused for a second at the Leon in
the door way, slowly he began to pull Madison sideways, past the filing cabinet
towards the other door at the end of the room.

BANG! 
The loud sound of three heavy
wooden doors slamming echoed around the room.

Brendan stopped dead in his tracks, ensuring Madison was
still directly behind him – using his body as a shield to protect her.

The Leon that stood in the centre of the room started to
violently shake. His whole body trembled as if he was about to explode.

His form faded into a translucent jelly like substance, It
bubbled and rippled over his image, distorting it, changing it. Thick layers of
translucent jelly slipped away from his form, falling down onto the floor and
vanishing.

Madison peered around Brendan in shock as the form that once
resembled Leon’s had now transformed into the form of one of The Black Orchid
boys.

His black hood hung over his head, cloaking his face in
darkness. The pale white skin of his hands stood out from the black hooded
jumper and his black jeans.

His hood shifted towards Madison and Brendan, although his
eyes were not visible, they could fill the empty pits of darkness staring at
them.

Brendan nudged Madison further behind him until her whole
body was covered with his, only her head visible, peering around the side of
his side.  

“I don’t think he wants us to leave, Leon” Brendan said.

The hooded boy stepped towards them, his head hunched over
and his posture slumped forwards.

“Leave them alone” Leon shouted, anger breaking into his
voice.

“This does not concern you, seer. Stay out of this and you
will not be harmed. Our master has other plans for you” the boy said, stopping
and cocking his head towards Leon.

“I’ve never been very good at minding my own business,
always sticking my nose in where it wasn’t wanted. Good job I did too, because
that lucky son of a bitch wouldn’t be here now” Leon gestured towards Brendan.

“You have been warned” the boy said to Leon.

“Oh no, I have been warned. How about we make this about me
and you! What’d you say?” Leon said sarcastically, baiting the boy.

The boy remained silent, he turned and began to pace toward
Leon his head hung low covering his ghastly face.

Leon held both hands out to the side, the palm of his hands
flat, directed towards the boy. Blue sparks of static electricity crackled at
Leon’s finger tips.

The boy seemed unalarmed by this, his pace quickened towards
Leon.

Leon forced his hands forwards toward the boy, like he was
pushing away an invisible barrier. Two balls of blue electricity erupted from
Leon’s palms. Streaks of lightening flew towards the boy, striking him in the
chest. He flew across the room, spinning in mid air. His small body slammed
into the two large grey filing cabinets a few feet to the right of Madison and
Brendan. He fell to the ground with an almighty thud, his head slamming into
the hard, grey carpeted floor.

Brendan grabbed Madison’s hand, pulling her behind him until
they were safely behind Leon.

The sparks of blue electricity vanished, just as quickly as
Leon was able to conjure them. His hands were limp by his side. His eyes stared
towards the space where the boy had fallen behind a desk. Leon’s face was hard
with anger, his posture stiff as he waited for whatever defense the boy would
come at him with.

A small pale white translucent hand gripped the edge of the
desk. Brown razor sharp fingernails dug into the solid wood, scratching off the
mahogany vanish.

He pulled himself to his feet, the hood of his jumper still
pulled forwards over his face.

“You may have more power than me. But I know how to kill
you, seer” the unnatural voice spat from under the shadow of his hood.

He slowly stepped around the desk until he was face to face
with Leon - only the distance of the room parted them. They were dueling, like
some type of western movie, ten feet apart, intimidating each other until one
of them drew their guns.

Leon’s eyes hardened as he tried to read what move the boy
would make.

Brendan shifted on the spot, shielding Madison with his
body.

Blue sparks cracked from Leon’s finger tips. A burnt smell
flooded Madison’s nostrils, she watched in astonishment at the power that Leon
had.

The boy flinched suddenly. He raced across the room so fast
that if Madison barely had time to blink. He ran faster than anything she had
ever seen, passing the room in a blur, too fast for anyone human to see. As a
vampire Brendan could run fast, probably faster than any human, but nowhere as
fast as what the boy could move.

He ran straight into Leon, disappearing as he slammed into
Leon’s medium build.

Leon’s torso lunged backwards as if a canon ball had hit him
directly in the stomach. He placed both hands over his stomach, as if he was
trying to stop himself from tearing in half. He gasped for air, like the wind
had just been knocked out of him. His body became limp, and his legs buckled
beneath him.

Brendan managed to catch him before he hit the ground, he
pulled him up right, supporting all him weight so he could stand.

“Leon, Leon, what happened?” Brendan asked frantically,
panicked.

“He’s. He’s in me. He’s trying to take over. Brendan, he’s
so strong. I don’t think I can….” Leon struggled to say, his face red and
distorted.

“It’s okay. We can sort this, right? Just tell me what to
do” Brendan said panicked, eyeing Leon with concern.

Madison watched from Brendan’s side, panicked and concerned
for Leon, studying his face frantically.

“We can’t. There’s nothing you can do….” Leon strained to
say.

Leon doubled over in pain, an agonizing scream erupting from
his throat.

He looked up towards Madison, his face redder from the
strain of keeping the boy from taking over his body. Brendan gripped him more
tightly, tears forming, panic stricken. Big red vein’s bulged out of the
whiteness of his eyes. A droplet of blood fell from him right nostril and ran
down his neck.

Madison’s eyes widened as she watched the strain on Leon’s
face, he looked like he was about to explode. Terror roared through her body,
causing her hands to shake at her side. Her heart raced in her chest, the
familiar dry, large lump grew in her throat.

“There has to be something!” Brendan asked desperately, a
tear spilling out over his cheek – his voice weak with emotion.

“No it’s too late. I know he was capable…” Leon chocked,
blood creased the corner of his mouth and coloured his teeth.

“Don’t try to talk, I’ll ring Fred. She’ll get some help”
Brendan said, his bottom lip quivering.

Brendan unbuttoned his grey jacket and reached his hand
inside his pocket to pull out his mobile phone. Leon stopped him before he
could pull it out completely. His eyes were focused on something that was
attached to Brendan’s belt. Brendan followed his gaze, until he found what Leon
was staring at.