Fighting Destiny (Central Coven) (5 page)

We left the dining hall, and walked across the Barto lawn in front of the cluster of freshman dorms.  There were a few ravens cawing angrily at each other over the best pieces of garbage in the dumpster.  A few late season songbirds sang cheerily from the trees.  Suddenly the shrill call of a red-tailed hawk silenced the other birds.  I turned toward the call automatically.  Birds were commonplace on campus, but not large birds of prey.

Ahead of us, in one of the shade trees that lined the lawn perched a beautiful hawk.  Her brown feathers shone in the morning sunlight, and she puffed out her white and brown speckled chest.  “What is that?” Anita pointed.  “That is Mickey, my familiar,” I answered.  “Your what?”  “She is like a spirit guide.  An animal that has abilities I don’t posses, and assists me when I need it,” I explained.

“The weird just keeps coming doesn’t it?  When will this seem normal?” Anita took a deep, and exaggerated breath, “Sorry, just had to vent for a sec. I’m better now. So explain this to me, what does she do?”  “You will get used to this stuff eventually Anita. Anyway, you wanted to know about the bird. She is a guide.  Sometimes she is just there to reassure me, signal I am on the right path, or share her strength.  Most of the time she comes to deliver a message,” I explained.

Anita’s brow furrowed in confusion.  “Why does she need to deliver messages to you?”  “I have a lot of powers, most I am just learning to control, but I am not psychic.  Well, not in the ‘I can see the future,’ sense.  Sometimes I can get images of things that have already happened, but only if I am touching something to anchor me to that event.  The bird helps.” 

“So the bird is psychic?” Anita asked. I nodded yes.  She tapped her finger against her lips, pursed in contemplation. “Okay, I think I understand.  It isn’t really any weirder than anything else.”  “Seriously?  Anita, you are the coolest roommate.  I mean you are the only one I’ve ever had, but you deal well with my weirdness.”  “Hey, I’m a half-vampire, so, I think I should be more open-minded.”  “That is a good thing, because I need to go talk to a bird now,” I said and waited for her to tease me.  Instead she waved her hand, motioning me to get on with it.

I looked around to make sure Anita and I were the only ones out on the lawn.  My supernatural roommate watching me have a conversation with a bird is one thing, that kind of eccentricity is not to be shared with the rest of the campus. Ordinarily there would be a few people wandering around, but the tragedy last night seems to have kept most inside this morning.  I shouldn’t be surprised; Mickey would have known, otherwise she wouldn’t have come.

She swooped down off her perch and landed on my outstretched arm.  We locked eyes. She could only communicate with me when our minds were linked. Her intense stare connected our psyches and made me feel like I was swirling into a hazy white vortex.

Suddenly I was inside a dorm room.  A girl, sat at her desk, pouring over an English textbook.  She tapped her pencil mindlessly on the corner of the thick book while she read a passage from
Antigone
.  Her dark blonde hair was casually twisted and secured by a lime green hair band.  A silver chain hung around her neck, with a letter shaped pendant attached to it. It had only one letter, V, for Vanessa.

My mind wanted to revolt.  I didn’t want to watch the last few minutes of Vanessa’s life.  I didn’t want to see that she was like the rest of us. Tired of studying boring textbooks, restless, perhaps insecure and lonely.  I tried to pull away from the vision, but it just kept coming.

There was a creak outside the window.  Slowly the lock slipped out of its cradle, and the window began to push open.  Vanessa turned suddenly to see a man standing by the window.  She opened her mouth, probably to scream, but then her expression changed from terrified to blank.  Her eyes appeared unfocused, unseeing. 

The man waited a few seconds, and then entered the room.  He was average height, brown hair, fairly ordinary except for his unnaturally white skin, and his eyes were off.  They were vacant, and milky white. 

Another man entered her room, also through the window.  He was taller than the other man.  The second man had shoulder length blonde hair, and beautiful hazel colored eyes, not like his companion’s dead white colored eyes.  His beauty was mesmerizing, angelic even.  I found it hard to resist, and I was only seeing him in a vision.  If I weren’t a magical being, I would have followed him, done anything for him, hell I would have worshipped him.  

I heard Mickey screech her ear splitting call, pulling me back from his hypnotic face.  She forced me to see the blonde vampire slit her throat in one lightning fast move.  I knew what was about to happen, but it still took me by surprise.  Vanessa awoke from her trance for a split second and her eyes widened in shock.  She brought a shaky hand toward her neck, and then slumped to the ground. 

The blonde vampire used a blade to make a small cut on his wrist, and forced it against her mouth.  She began to spasm almost immediately.  The zombie-like vampire tossed Vanessa onto his shoulder and jumped out of the window.  The other one lingered, looked at the blood on the floor and smiled.  He coated his hand in blood and pressed his palm against the window.  Slowly, he licked his hand clean.  It was as if he were waiting for someone.  Then he reached into the pocket of his jacket, removed a shirt, carefully placed it on the windowsill, and leapt from the window. 

“God,” I shuddered, finally released from the sickening vision.  “What did you see?” Anita asked.  I scrubbed my hand hard against my face to combat the images bouncing around in my brain. “Dammit! Uhh…it looks like there were two vampires in Vanessa’s room.  The first one that came in through the window had a blank look with milky white eyes. I’ve heard of vampires under magical control, but I’ve never seen it.  It’s a really creepy look, even for a dead guy.” 

              Anita’s eyebrows drew up again, they way they always do when she thinks too hard. “I don’t understand.  Who could control a vampire?  I don’t know much, but I thought magical beings couldn’t control each other. ”  “In most circumstances that is true, but vampires were created in magic, not born.”

I looked in her eyes to see if any of this made sense.
  Her eyebrows lowered slightly, so I took it as a sign to continue. “Necromancers are the only supernaturals that can control vampires.  It has to do with vampires having died.  That allows necromancers to use their death magic to bend the vampire’s will.  Oh and Necromancers created vampires in the first place, so…”

Anita’s mouth nearly hit the ground.  There would inevitably be questions, but I preferred to answer them somewhere much more private than the middle of the freshman dorms. Besides, Anita’s eyebrows had headed north again, which could only mean she still needed time to process. I turned all of my attention to my faithful familiar, and saw she was waiting for a reward. I took a treat from my bag, and handed it to her. I started carrying around dog treats when Mickey first came around.  I must have guessed right, because Mickey made a small happy sound and flew away.

“Anita, we should go back to our room. Based on what Mickey just showed me, this is a lot more dangerous than we ever imagined.” “What do you think we should do?”  “Do you know how to get in touch with Grey?”  “Grey?  Chloë, I don’t think that is a good idea.  Why don’t you tell me what we are up against and I will decide if contacting Grey is necessary,” Anita argued.  I didn’t argue with her.  I knew once we talked she would see we were in over our heads.  “Mmm…okay,” I scanned the area and saw a few students heading toward the dining hall, “but not until we are back in our room.”

At the dorm we found campus police questioning everyone entering and exiting the building.  I groaned; the last thing we needed was to talk to the police.  It was probably inevitable since we lived down the hall from Vanessa, but I would rather wait until later when we had a plan.

“Anita,” I started to say. “I know, we don’t have time to talk to them right now, uhm where could we go?” Anita interrupted.  “I could teleport us somewhere, but in broad daylight we risk being seen.”  Anita smirked, “Not into the ‘Now you see me, now you don’t’ shtick, huh?”  I smiled and slightly shook my head. “No, I don’t pull fuzzy animals out of hats either.  Anyway…I know, let’s go to the library.  Classes have only been going on for a week so the study rooms should be empty.” 

We cut through a crowd of students on their way to class, or to eat. We made it past our dorm without being noticed by the police, most likely because they weren’t looking for us.  We really didn’t need to slink around, but having a group of vampires after me for unknown reasons was making me paranoid. 

Finally we made it to the library.  Once inside we made a beeline for the elevator and pushed the button for the fourth floor.  Something about the fourth floor gave me the creeps.  I must not be the only one either, because on a campus bursting with students this place was deserted, and all of the study rooms were open. Inside the closet sized study room, not re-decorated since the 1960’s, we squeezed together at a tiny desk to discuss the origin of vampires.  This was a very odd moment for me, telling a vampire (okay half-vampire) the origin of her species. 

“Did Grey ever explain to you how vampires were created?”  “No he never said anything, but to be fair I was pretty big into freaking out at the time.  I mean not only did I have to come to terms with the existence of vampires, but the fact that I was one too.” “You two have a weird relationship.  It seems like you care about him, and hate him at the same time.  Didn’t he save you?” I asked confused.

“Yeah he saved me.  And I don’t hate him, I hate
them
.” “Uhm, no, I still don’t understand,” I replied.  “I hate what they turned me into.  Don’t get me wrong. I am glad Grey rescued me, and part of me knows he had nothing to do with what happened to me. But he is still one of them, and he has the same thirst for blood they do.” “So he is guilty by association?” I asked skeptically.  “Look I know it isn’t fair.  Grey has been great to me really, but vampires are dangerous.  All of them.” “So should I be afraid of you?” Anita lowered her eyes solemnly, “Why not?  I am.”

Definitely time to change the subject.  “Okay, well get comfortable because this is a long story.”  “Wait, how do you know it?” Anita asked.  “From the
Council
histories.  It was required reading anytime I was with my mother.”  Anita nodded once and motioned for me to continue. 

“Alright, the best place to begin is the beginning.  Vampires were created when Caligula was the emperor of Rome. During his brief reign the patrician class ruled without concern for common citizens, or their slaves.  They believed the lower classes existed for their amusement, and nothing was beyond their control, not even death.

The daughter of a Senator fell ill and died at the age of twelve.  She was frail, but lovely.  In his grief he sent for the priestesses of Pluto. Pluto was the Roman god of the underworld.  In reality the priestesses were necromancers, witches that control death.  He begged them to bring his daughter back to life, and when that didn’t work he offered to pay them.  A purse of gold coins finally convinced them to help.

Resurrection is not a power necromancers possess, but it didn’t stop them from trying.  They wrote spells and brewed potions…”  “Wait,” Anita stopped me.  “I thought witches didn’t need to use special spells or potions.  Isn’t the magic a part of you?” 

“Ordinarily spells and potions aren’t needed. However, when a witch, sorcerer or necromancer tries to use powers they do not possess, or tries to control another living being, they must use magical science to accomplish it.”  “Magical science?” she asked baffled. “Yeah, potions and spells are like magical chemistry.”

“I hated chemistry in high school,” Anita mused.  “Me too, and it is close to the high school version. It is like a mixture of the sciences, chemistry, biology, physics, and the unexplainable element of magic.”  “Well continue with the story,” Anita urged.

“The first tonic they made was toxic.  They combined belladonna and hemlock as the main ingredients.  And, as if brewing that potion wasn’t bad enough, what they did next was positively horrid.  The priestesses/necromancers requested a slave from the Senator, to test the potion on.  He provided them with a twelve-year-old boy.  The histories say they drowned the slave boy in the manor’s fountain. 

They poured the potion down his throat, and began to chant.  The spell was not recorded, and obviously it was much better if it were lost forever.  In any case, they failed to bring the boy back to life, at least in his original form.  The coven managed to turn him into a zombie.  They tried to destroy the creature, but since zombies still appear from time to time it is believed they were not successful in that either.

The second potion they created used nightshade and foxglove.  Again they ruthlessly murdered a slave, this time an older male about nineteen years old.  Again the slave arose differently than he had been in life, but it was not immediately obvious. 

He was pale, and could not stand the sunlight.  The Senator told them it was a small price to pay to have his child returned.  They brewed more of the potion and prepared to recreate the ceremony again that evening.  They drew a circle on the stone floor in blood, and waited until the moon was at its highest point in the sky.  They were about to begin their chant when screams echoed through the main hall.  The necromancers abandoned their spell circle to investigate.  They found the second slave, a Celt from Britain, bent over the neck of a young girl.  He hissed when he saw them and blood ran down his bone white face.