Immortal Prophecy (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) (15 page)

James and Adele looked at her with concern.

Maybe this was a bad idea, James thought.

Adele was very concerned for her granddaughter but she knew Ally was strong and would come out of this victorious and stronger than ever before. She decided to let James begin and she would fix the mess that would inevitably ensue.

James looked at Adele for confirmation that he could tell her.

She nodded her approval.

Meanwhile Ally was eyeing them both warily, “I’m waiting…”

“We are going to my home, Carlisle Manor in Scotland.”

“Why?” she asked trying to appear calm.

“In order for you to understand, we need to tell you something,” James said as a smile slowly played across his lips, “and I believe you wanted something back.”

Ally looked confused for a moment before understanding he was referring to her memories of the night before. She glared at him. “You had no right to take my memories, and yes I do want them back.”

He tried to see past her anger, remembering that she had a right to be angry. However it hurt him deeply that this was how they were to begin their lives together.

“When you remember what happened it will help you to understand what we tell you, and why we did it.” James said.

Ally who was still sitting beside James just stared at him, waiting for her memories to return.

James flicked his eyes to Adele then returned Ally’s stare. He leaned closer, never breaking eye contact and said in a soft whisper that felt like it was floating all over her skin, “Remember.”

She felt something tugging at the edge of her mind again. So that is what this sensation is, she thought.

Before she could take another breath, the air was knocked out of her lungs as the memories came flooding back. She felt like she was there again in the middle of it, the terror was as real as it had been that night. The fog had been lifted and she had access to her mind again.

Ally watched Vincent kill Sarah. Then he came after her with deadly intent alluding to the fact that he had already killed her parents and then she saw James…

Ally remembered James had come to her rescue. She was moments from certain death, when he appeared. She heard his voice in her mind, but this time she heard the sheer terror in his voice. If she hadn’t already been sitting on the ground, she would have fallen down with the intensity of the experience.

Slowly the memories came to an end and she was struggling to breathe, coming to terms with what she had experienced.

How could all this be real? she wondered. As with the mind control, her brain understood the concept but in reality it seemed impossible if not a little farfetched but she couldn’t argue with what she had seen with her own eyes and experienced herself. No-one here was crazy or insane. This was simply their reality and it wouldn’t seem as strange to them as did to her. Unlike them, she hadn’t been born with the knowledge of what was possible.

James and Adele had been watching her with concern as she was remembering what had happened.

Ally heard James speaking. “Alessandra…Everything that happened last night was very real. Vincent is trying to kill you because of the prophecy and yes he was responsible for your parents’ deaths as he insinuated.”

Ally felt frozen to the spot and she was trembling on the inside. Vincent’s name, alone, struck terror into her heart and now she knew that he was responsible for her parents’ death. Ally was even more terrified, if that was possible. Bewildered, she turned to her grandmother for confirmation.

“It’s true Ally,” Adele said softly.

“It can’t be,” she continued, “what I saw last night was not possible!” She was desperate for them to tell her this was all some cruel joke. That would be easier than dealing with the fact it might have been real.

Maybe she was still in her warm cosy bed at home and this was all a really bad dream. “It’s not real,” she whispered to herself trying to snap out of whatever nightmare she had found herself in. Mind control she could deal with. Vincent and her parents dying at his hand, she found that was not something she could deal with.

James spoke and interrupted her downward spiral of fear. “You are right. What you saw last night is not possible for a human but Vincent is not human. He is a vampire Alessandra.”

Her hands flew to her neck where he had almost bitten her last night. Taking deep calming breaths Ally tried hard to be reasonable and rational about everything she was being told. “What does this have to do with me?” she asked very confused.

“We are taking you into hiding until you have everything at your disposal to defeat him,” James replied.

“Huh? Me defeat him? At what…chess?” she said, her sense of humour was a mask for her terror.

James looked dumbfounded.

“Adele maybe you will get more sense out of her,” he said, the frustration showing on his face.

Both Adele and Ally glared at him indignantly. Then Adele spoke gently, “Ally, you are an immortal. That is why he tried to kill you.”

“An immortal…” she repeated. “What exactly is that? If you tell me I am anything like Vincent I’m jumping off this plane immediately.”

“No, not a vampire like Vincent, he is evil. We immortals are guardians of the human race. We stand between them and the vampires.” Adele looked at Ally and laid her hand upon hers. “Your mother was an immortal as well. That’s why Vincent killed her and your father.”

James could see Ally trembling with fear and shock so he wrapped his arms around her in a warm loving embrace to comfort her. Without thinking, Ally leaned closer into him.

She knew that he was holding her and that she should be angry at his deceit but right now she didn’t have the strength. All she wanted was comfort and James provided that. There would be time for being angry later.

Adele watched Ally slowly crumbling under the weight they had put upon her shoulders and wished there had been another way to do this but the choices had been taken away from her. The reality was that there never would have been an easy way to tell her.

“My mother and father were immortals?” Ally asked.

“Actually your father was human but Vincent killed him because he was with your mother. It was a trap to lure you out so he could finish you off before you killed him,” Adele said as carefully as possible.

“But why would I kill him when I didn’t even know who he was until last night?”

“The prophecy,” James said.

“What prophecy?” said Ally exasperated. “He said something last night about not fulfilling the prophecy and the Fortune Teller predicted it too. What the hell is it?”

With a look at James then at her granddaughter, Adele began to answer her question. “In order to understand the significance of the prophecy and your part in it, you need to know about the immortals as well. There is a lot of information but I will just give you the basics. The prophecy is about a half immortal, you my darling, brought into the world under the cover of a solar eclipse to hide her presence from the ones that would seek her destruction. The prophecy, we are referring to, was written five hundred years ago by our oldest and wisest Immortal Seer, Gabriel. Some of us can see into the future. Our kind was once a mighty force to be reckoned with but long ago the vampires took us all by surprise and killed half our race. The remaining half that was left, was so terrified that most spread across all the corners of the globe, trying to hide from Vincent and the other vampires. A few remain in Scotland but not enough,” Adele then paused as she looked at Ally.

“Information overload but go on,” Ally said.

Adele sent a quick glance to James and communicated with him in the way of their kind. All immortals were telepathic and could communicate with each other as easily through thought-transference as they could through the spoken word.

“
She is doing well James. Have faith in my granddaughter. She is strong and there is a reason she was chosen for this destiny.”

James smiled his thanks but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“So, the immortal race is no longer the proud strong people that we were. According to Gabriel the prophecy girl would change all this. She would reunite the people and lead them into battle against the vampires and Vincent. In essence Ally, you are the last thing that stands between us and extinction.”

Alessandra was staring at her grandmother in shock and confusion. She pulled out of James arms and felt suddenly bereft. She looked to her Gran saying, “I think there has been a mistake.”

Please oh please tell me this is a mistake Ally thought, feeling panicked.

Hot tears were falling from her eyes and running down her cheeks as Ally said, “This is too much. My life has already been turned inside out. I just can’t handle this sort of turmoil again.”

Adele grabbed her and looked right into her bright glistening green eyes.

“Yes you can! You were chosen for this role because you can do this. There is no choice baby girl…there never really was. I have faith in you.” Adele wiped Ally’s tears away with her thumb lightly. “Alessandra, you’re not alone in this. There are people that will stand by you every step of the way. Two of us are right in front of you, James and myself.”

Alessandra looked back at her grandmother and seemed to draw strength from her words. She had to believe what her grandmother was saying. If she didn’t have faith, then this whole situation would be doomed to fail from the start. Ally remembered Madame Isabella’s words, When we lose hope all is lost. She mustn’t lose hope, at least not yet.

Ally turned her head to the side to look at James. Their eyes locked and the world melted away.

Oh Alessandra, have the courage to stay and fight, he silently prayed.

Adele spoke and the trance was broken, “Ally we will help you through this.”

Intellectually none of this made much sense to her. Things like this just don’t happen but at the same time her soul was crying out with joy. The pieces slid into place and she no longer felt like she didn’t belong anywhere. She had a place, a very important place in the world.

Finally, I belong somewhere, she thought, as she felt her heart soar for one blissful moment and she breathed a sigh of relief amidst the fear she felt.

Before Ally even noticed, the fear had taken control again. She found herself speaking without thought, “I will go along with this for now, Gran but I’m not happy about leaving Melbourne and I intend to return home as soon as possible.”

That simple statement sent James over the edge. For god’s sake Alessandra, you are not going home!” James snapped.

Stark terror and frustration were ruling him now. “Didn’t you hear a word Adele said? Your destiny is here in this country, with your people…with me. No matter what you think, you can’t run from this. Vincent will find you wherever you go and he will kill you. Make no mistake Alessandra, the only reason you are alive now is because I found you just in time. You can kick and scream all you want but you will do what you are destined to do!” With that said, James got up and stalked toward the cockpit. He needed a breather. The tension between them was driving him insane. He felt torn. All he wanted was to love her and comfort her but he knew she would not accept it yet. He had no intention of snapping but it was too much when he saw how determined and stubborn she could be.

I should never have lost my temper, but god help me she would drive a saint to snap, he thought as he walked off.

Ally was shocked into silence at this burst of outrage from James. She knew that she was being temperamental about this whole matter but her entire life had been turned inside out once more. She could feel a murderous rage coming over her as the shock of his words wore off.

How dare he! She thought. I have every damn reason to be acting like this. James has no idea what this feels like. He has known who and what he was since the say he was born.

Adele reached out to her and she came back to reality. “Don’t worry about James, sweetie. He is just terrified that Vincent will find you.”

“I understand that but this news is a huge amount to absorb and I need more time,” she paused. “I believe what you have told me but…”

“I know sweetie, I know. I should have told you a long time ago,” Adele sighed.

“Why didn’t mum and dad tell me?”

“They were going to on the morning that you found James in the kitchen. He was,” She stopped short realising she was about to say too much.

“Gran…” Ally said giving her a look that said, Tell me now or else!

“Well he was there to claim you as his soulmate.” Those words hung in the air. “There is something more about the immortals that I haven’t told you, a more romantic side. We all have one soulmate who is the other half of your soul. The man you are destined to love like no other. James is that man for you.”

That would explain so much about my reaction to him, Ally thought. But does such a thing really exist? Am I willing to believe in fairy tales?

She felt completely out of control of her life at this moment. “So I have never had a choice in this either?”

Adele laughed softly, “You didn’t but really Ally, but this man is quite a catch.”

Ally was shocked but amused by her grandmother’s comment. “Whether he is a catch or not is beside the point. I know nothing of his nature or character and what I have seen so far, does nothing for me, gorgeous looks aside of course.”