Immortal Prophecy (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) (12 page)

Kat noticed the concerned gleam in Ally’s eye. “What’s going on?”

She looked to Kat and shrugged. “That’s the problem. I don’t know but look at Gran and Chase.”

Kat followed her friend’s vision and looked at them, really looked at them. A shiver of unease ran throughout her. “Looks intense.”

“It does.” Ally stared trying to read their lips or hear their voices, anything to indicate what was being spoken of. “Some very weird things have been happening over the last twenty four hours and I intend to get to the bottom of it,” She said, sounding decidedly determined.

“Like what?” Kat asked as she looked up at her.

Ally tried to recall last night’s event again but came up empty. It was still surrounded by a fogginess she couldn’t get past. “Well I can’t remember last night after a certain point anyway and when I saw James again I had this strange image in my head almost like a daydream,” she said remembering what had happened earlier. “Either I’m going mad or something really strange is going on.”

“What was it?” Kathryn was showing a clear interest in what she had to say.

“It’s going to sound very odd,” Ally said.

Kat nodded encouragingly.

“I saw an image of James and this other guy that I have never met before, circling each other, like fighters in a ring, ready to strike at any second. The thing is, I haven’t seen James for five years and the only time I saw him was in my grandmother’s kitchen!” she exclaimed. “So it’s not possible.”

“Maybe it is,” Kathryn said, in all seriousness.

“And I was terrified of someone called Vincent.” Ally was trying to solve the puzzle still but nothing came together.

“What do you mean you were terrified?” Kat frowned.

Ally took a deep calming breath and continued, “I was leaving the kitchen and heading for my bedroom, thinking about the prophecy. This, of course, led me to thoughts of James and out of nowhere I thought of Vincent.”

Kat’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Who is Vincent then?”

Ally was feeling slightly insane. “That’s the problem. I have no idea!”

“This is going to sound crazy but going with the theme of things tonight, it may not be so bizarre.”

“I’m listening,” Ally said.

“Well what if you do know who Vincent is and what if you did see that?”

Ally just stared blankly at her friend.

“You’re not following me are you?” Kat sighed in frustration.

“Not really, no.”

“Alright, try it a different way. Perhaps you did see James and you met Vincent last night but there is a reason you don’t remember.”

“The reason being?” Ally asked still not entirely sure where her friend was going with her theory.

“Someone made you forget.”

Ally looked like she had just been smacked in the face. “Made me forget? As in drugged me?”

“I don’t know the how’s or why’s Ally. I’m just trying to figure it out.” Kathryn appeared to have a mixture of horror that someone could drug her friend, while at the same time being full of excitement that they might be getting somewhere in trying to decipher what the hell was going on around here.

Her mind was going through a list of suspects, she couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to do that to her. “But why would someone do that?” Ally wondered aloud.

“Maybe you stumbled upon something you shouldn’t have?”

As Kat said the words, Ally felt wave of fear slide over her. What could she have stumbled upon?

“Maybe,” she muttered to herself more than Kat.

“Ally, James is back.” Kathryn said while not taking her eyes of Chase.

“What?” Ally exclaimed. “How do you know?”

“I read Adele’s lips,” She said, looking back at Ally now.

“Really! Did you get anything else?” Ally asked excitedly, maybe she would get some answers after all.

“No just that James is back and we aren’t supposed to know.”

Her beloved Grandmother was hiding something and it must have been big. James and Chase also seemed to be in on the secret. She felt her head start to spin at the betrayal she felt.

“What are they hiding?” Ally spoke, but it was barely audible. She could feel tears welling in her eyes and her heart was constricting, threatening to splinter into a thousand pieces.

“How could she? How could they?” Ally asked her friend.

“I don’t know Ally.” Kat felt her own heart break for Ally. She didn’t know how to comfort her. She was also concerned about Chase. Kat had believed he was a good man and possibly the one she might spend her life with. Yes, it had only been one night, but she was a firm believer in the saying when you know, you know. She knew, or at least not half an hour ago, she knew that he was the one.

“You know what,” Ally said as she stood up. “I’m not going to stand for it. Someone has some explaining to do and they are going to do that right now!” She felt her voice rising in anger.

“Ally,” Kathryn whispered tugging on her arm. “Chase is coming back.”

“Wonderful, we can start with him,” Ally smiled with wicked delight as she stood up.

“Ally, maybe there is a better way to go about this?” Kathryn urged her friend in a quiet way.

“I don’t care.” Ally stated defiantly.

Chase had almost reached them, so Ally sat back down, getting into position to strike, verbally not physically.

“I’m back lassies,” Chase said with a warm smile as he sat down. Completely unaware of what was about to happen, he smiled at Ally. She saw that as an opening and took it.

Ally looked at him with a mask of calm but underneath she was seething. Chase seemed to notice something wasn’t right. His eyes flicked back to her face of their own accord and she saw dread in them. She leaned closer and in a quiet but very firm voice, she asked, “What the hell is going on here Chase?”

He looked back at her warily, trying to assess what she knew or, more to the point, didn’t know. “What are you talking about lass?” he asked smiling, trying to appear open and oblivious to Ally’s angry mood.

Ally wasn’t buying it. Chase knew something and she was going to find out what it was.

“I want to know what is going on and I want to know now,” she repeated again with more force this time

“Ally, maybe this isn’t the time,” Kathryn said quietly. She could understand why her friend wanted to do this but sometimes pushing things didn’t get the results you were seeking.

“No, now is the perfect time,” she said without even glancing at Kat. Ally was focussed on extracting information. The guests had left and there was no-one around, except for them. Nothing would stand in her way. Nothing…

Chase realised he had to do some serious damage control or he was going to be in a lot of trouble. “What is it that you think is going on Ally?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“I don’t know, that’s the problem and I’m looking for answers.” Ally stared at him intently hoping to unnerve him.

Just then an idea started to form in her mind. She decided to go with it. “Tell me Chase, if you were in this situation what would you do?” she paused, before continuing, to gather her thoughts. “You see, five years ago my life changed forever, I had a prediction made by a Fortune Teller. Suffice to say it wasn’t a joy-filled reading. Things from that prediction have started to come to fruition…”

Chase was starting to melt in his resolve, he knew he must not, but he couldn’t help it. She was humanising herself and he couldn’t help but start to wonder what he would do in her situation.

Ally continued, “She predicted that two people close to me would die, which turned out to be my parents. A man named James Carlisle was supposedly my guardian and soulmate. Until that morning five years ago, when I found him standing in the kitchen, I hadn’t so much as seen or heard of the man. Then he was gone, never to be seen again, until now…” She took a deep steadying breath and continued. “There were two men looking for me, one being James, the other was an unknown man, who I now have a hunch is someone called Vincent.”

Ally looked at her best friend who smiled encouragingly. Chase remained fixated on what Ally was saying. “Last night is foggy to me, after a certain point I can’t remember anything. Then this morning, I pull a name out of my head. The name was Vincent and I was inexplicably terrified of him, even though I had no idea who he was, and as far as I knew, I hadn’t even met him!”

Chase watched her with his full attention as she related all the information to him. He really felt for the girl. She was lost, confused and scared to death of what was going on around her.

“Tonight when I saw James, I had what I think might have been a flashback. I saw James and another man, presumably Vincent, preparing to fight. We, Kat and I, came to the conclusion that someone drugged me, because I may have stumbled upon something that I wasn’t supposed to see.”

She paused to gather herself. Ally could feel the tears threatening to fall, unbidden, from her eyes. As she relayed the events of the last couple of days, she felt an overwhelming sensation starting to consume her. Ally then understood that she had been more affected by this than she realised but she had started down this path of discovering the truth. She forced herself to fight the feeling and continue. “I felt someone watching me in the bushes outside and now James is back and we aren’t supposed to know about that. I know my grandmother is hiding something from me. I also know that James is involved and now I know that you, Chase are also involved.” She paused for dramatic effect and tried to gauge Chase’s reaction. She was running purely on instinct.

Ally had thought if she could make Chase put himself in her shoes, he might crack. She could see the struggle that was going through his mind. She just prayed that she had tipped the scales enough in her favour to make him reveal all he knew.

“The Fortune Teller foretold a prophecy that I had to fulfil or all would be lost. A secret was being hidden from me that would change my life in ways I could never imagine.”

Ally gave him a moment and stared at him without breaking eye contact before she continued. “Now tell me Chase, would you sit back and go quietly into the night or would you fight like hell and let nothing stand in your way to find out what was going on?”

Damn it he thought. He would do the exact same thing that she was doing if he found himself in her position. He couldn’t help but admire her.

Chase hadn’t been fully convinced that she was the one, until he heard her speech. Ally was showing incredible courage and daring in the face of adversity and uncertainty. She was able to move him by speech alone and he felt a subtle command being sent his way. Ally was powerful already and she is only half immortal. Imagine what she will be capable of when she has been brought fully over, he pondered.

Chase tore his eyes away from Ally and found Kathryn looking up at him beseechingly. If Ally hadn’t fully convinced him, Kathryn just had, with a simple look and without words.

“Please Chase,” Kathryn said lovingly placing her hand on his. “We need your help. Tell us what you know.”

The defeat was written in his eyes and his features. “Oh lass, I cannot deny you anything.” He smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead. She glowed with the happiness that only new love can bring.

“Thank you Chase,” Kat said, and smiled up at him.

He turned back to look at Ally. “I don’t know everything but I know this…” He took a deep breath and sent a silent prayer up that Adele and James didn’t roast him for this. “James and Adele are the ones deeply involved. Kathryn and I only play a minor role.”

Ally’s eyes flew to Kathryn; she appeared just as confused as Ally.

Kat looked at Chase with startled confusion. “What do you mean, I play a minor role? How am I involved at all?”

“Lass, that is something we need to discuss later and in private.”

He could sense that Kathryn was nervous. “It’s not bad, I promise. I hope that you will be very pleased with the idea.”

Ally sighed in frustration. “Guys, focus please. My problems first if you don’t mind.” Ally was getting very tired. Her eyelids were trying to close but she fought valiantly to keep them open.

“Right,” Chase said, getting back to the matter at hand. “There is a prophecy and yes there is someone called Vincent. James as you know is your guardian and soulmate and well, to put it mildly, Vincent is evil to the core and he well, kind of wants you dead…”

“What?” she exclaimed, not expecting to hear that at all! She was obviously in shock “What the hell for? I don’t even know him.”

Chase looked like a boy who had misbehaved, waiting to be found out and then put in the naughty corner. “Adele and James will explain everything in detail but there is more…” Chase said with a suddenly serious tone.

“Do I want to hear it?” she laughed sadly, almost wishing she hadn’t been so pushy.

“You aren’t what you think you are…” The words seem to hang in the air around them.

“More riddles, awesome. ” Sarcasm filled the room as she rolled her eyes.

“You wanted to know,” Chase quipped back.

“I wanted answers not more questions.” She gathered her thoughts and relaxing back into the chair asked, “Tell me this then; could they make me forget something that happened? And would they actually drug me?”