Immortal Prophecy (The Immortal Prophecy Saga) (2 page)

Ally woke up to the sounds of her parents’ voices, whispering quietly somewhere in the room.

“Mum, Dad? Is that you?” She felt her warm quilt smothering her, the sensation was one she welcomed but how did she get home, let alone get into her bed?

Her mother, who had been talking to her father on the other side of the room, abruptly looked up and came over to sit down by the bedside and took her hand. “Ally, sweetie, how are you feeling?”

Ally’s father came over and sat on the opposite side. “You gave us quite a fright.”

“What happened?” She asked whilst trying to sit up.

Her mother gently encouraged her to lie back down. “You don’t remember anything?” The concern was written all over her mother’s face.

She looked at her mother, trying to work out why she looked so worried. “Um, not really I was at the fair with Kat. Then we went to see the Fortune Teller and…” Her voice trailed off. It all came rushing back to her. Ally felt herself starting to black out again but as she got control of her breathing, the unnerving sensation disappeared.

“Kathryn told us that the Fortune Teller predicted some awful things. Is that right?” her mother asked as she gently stroked her daughter’s cheek. It was something she had done to calm her for as long as she could remember.

Panic flooded Ally when she looked at her adoring loving mother and father. What if they were the two close people that Madame Isabella had been referring too? If the prediction came true and it involved them, how could she ever live without them? Ally caught hold of herself before her thoughts started to run away with her, as they so often did.

“It wasn’t a nice prediction,” Ally said quietly then realised Kathryn might have told them what was said. “Did Kat tell you what it was?”

Her parents looked between each other before her mother spoke. “No, she said that I should ask you.”

“Oh.” Her stomach dropped. Ally wondered if it would have been better to have Kat tell them or to tell them herself?

“Well honey out with it, what was so bad that you ended up passing out?” her mother prompted.

Ally told her parents what the Fortune Teller had said. With each passing word she was convinced that her parents knew something that she hadn’t been told. There wasn’t that level of surprise in their eyes she expected to see.

“What aren’t you telling me? Is she right?” She asked her parents with real fear clawing its way inside her chest with each passing second.

Her mother and father looked at each other with sadness and defeat in their eyes. “There is something we must tell you, but you need to rest first.”

“But mum, if there is something I want to know, now!”

“Ally,” her father said, “We have a business dinner to attend tonight then first thing tomorrow morning we will sit down over pancakes and tell you everything. I will ask Adele to have them cooking in the morning for us.”

She smiled sadly. Her parents had been keeping a secret from her and if the Fortune Teller was right, it was going to destroy her world.

“Kat was really worried but I said that you would call her when you felt up to it.”

“Thanks mum.” Her parents rose to leave when she stopped them, “I love you both. Please be careful.”

“We will sweetie. We love you too.” Her mother smiled at her. “Now get some rest.”

“Goodbye sweetie,” her father said, as gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. It felt so final. Goodbye instead of goodnight. Ally almost said something but when she looked up they had already left the room.

“Oh well, might as well call Kat.” She sighed as she picked up her IPhone and dialled her friend.

Kathryn answered almost immediately sounding panicked. “Ally…Oh my god, I have been worried sick! Are you ok?”

“I’m feeling much better now.” Ally was hoping that she sounded convincing. The truth of the matter was that she was terrified and filled with an inner turmoil that she just couldn’t seem to shake.

“I was so worried about you! And I’m so sorry for taking you into that Fortune Teller. What a horrible woman!” Kathryn was indignant on her behalf. Ally couldn’t help the quiet laugh that escaped her. She was very lucky to have a friend like Kathryn.

“It’s ok you didn’t know what was going to happen. I’m sure everything will be fine.” Ally felt the dread run through her again and knew that nothing was going to be fine. She already knew that there was a secret being kept from her. Did that mean the rest of the prediction would come to fruition? She prayed with all her heart and soul that it didn’t.

Finally convincing Kathryn that she was ok, Ally finished the conversation and decided that she needed to try and forget about what had happened. Settling on reading a book as a way of losing herself, she began to read. Ten minutes later, the book fell from her hands as a deep sleep claimed her till the morning.

The next morning Alessandra awoke to sounds of conversation and the waft of pancakes and coffee coming from the kitchen. She immediately brightened convinced that she had been wrong. Her parents had come home after all! They weren’t the two people who would be lost to her if the prediction came to pass. She jumped out of bed feeling a sense of relief so great that she almost felt euphoric. Running to the door, she almost tripped over her slippers lying in the middle of the room. She stopped and quickly put them on then continued in her rush downstairs to the kitchen to find her parents.

When she got there she stopped short. Ally’s grandmother, Adele, was standing in the kitchen with a man she had never seen before. She was struck by his eyes. They were an exquisite green, like the sea surrounding a Mediterranean island kissing the white sand. He was tanned and had a muscular physique. The smouldering stranger’s hair was so dark that it appeared to be raven at first but upon closer inspection his hair was actually a dark bitter sweet chocolate that was slightly spiked. He was strangely familiar to her but Ally was sure she had never seen him. A sixteen year old girl would remember a guy like that.

The stranger, who didn’t appear to be a day over twenty two, looked at her and she became paralysed. In his gaze she saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes but as quickly as it came it was gone again. She was overcome with a desire to know who this exotic looking male was.

Gran interrupted her thoughts and broke the spell between them with one life altering sentence. “I’m so sorry Ally. Your parents…” Her grandmother didn’t have to finish the sentence. Ally already knew what was coming as soon as she saw her face and the first words “I’m so sorry” were uttered.

“No” she cried in disbelief, closing her eyes and collapsing down onto the floor.

She felt like her whole world was spinning out of control and the world started to get blacker and blacker but she welcomed the darkness, anything to block out the pain, the shock and the truth of what had happened. Madame Isabella’s prediction had come to pass…

Ally eyes began to flutter open. Her vision was filled with the stranger’s piercing emerald eyes staring intently at her. Ally knew he was concerned, it was reflected back at her in his eyes and in the energy that seemed to flow out of him and fill the room. There was a connection with this man that she felt to the very fibre of her being. It didn’t make sense but she couldn’t deal with that now. The worry lines around his eyes relaxed once she had opened her eyes and tried to sit up.

Her grandmother was fluttering about asking if she was ok and telling her that she should go lay down since just moments ago, she fainted dead away from the shock of learning her parents had passed on.

“What happened?”

Adele’s face paled and she seemed to be lost in her thoughts for a moment before replying. “It looked like an animal attack.”

Ally’s mind was racing, trying to process the information. She was trying to form a coherent sentence but all that escaped her mouth was a series of sputters followed by, “No, n-n-no, you can’t be serious, what?”

Adele looked to the stranger and they seemed to be carrying on a conversation between them without words.

“Who are you?” Ally asked suddenly annoyed with them both. She had the feeling that she was intentionally being kept in the dark and she didn’t like it one bit.

“I’m sorry darling,” Adele looked warily at him. “This is James Carlisle, a family friend. He was invited for breakfast by your parents this morning. There was something they wanted to discuss with you, but the police called and…”

“Oh god…” Ally whispered. James Carlisle, her guardian and soulmate was standing right in front of her. She was staring at him openly in shock and disbelief at the same time feeling there was something between them and by the look in his eyes he did too.

James spoke with genuine concern. “Alessandra, I’m so sorry for your loss. Your parents were wonderful people. It is a true tragedy.” He looked at her grandmother and said, “Adele, I must go but I will return.” Turning his full attention back to Alessandra, James stared intently at her with his sultry eyes for a moment longer than necessary before saying, “It was a pleasure to have met you Alessandra. I am just sorry it was under such circumstances”

In a truly exotic display he took her hand, looked into her eyes and kissed it gently then turned around and walked out of her life.

Ally watched him leave and sank into a chair at the kitchen table.

“It has begun…” She whispered to herself.

Adele dropped the coffee cup she had been holding on the floor with a loud crash. Her eyes widened with shock as she asked, “What has begun?”

“I don’t know exactly, Gran. All I know is that it won’t be good.” Ally replied.

Feeling defeated she began to sob hysterically for the beloved parents who had been taken from her.

Chapter One

I
T WAS A BALMY SUMMER NIGHT
with the pale full moon hanging low against the charcoal night. The blinking stars were shining bright. The chirping of the cicadas from the scorching day had been replaced by an orchestra of crickets that welcomed the evening. Ally loved the night, everything was so peaceful but tonight everything had a haunting feel to it. It was unnerving to say the least.

Sitting in her black Mazda she became lost in her thoughts of the mystery that continued to haunt her. Many things were still unknown about her parents’ deaths. The police had come to the conclusion that it had been a random animal attack and ruled the case closed.

If the evidence had been open and shut, perhaps she might have believed them and moved on with her life. There had been one question that had always cast doubt in Ally’s mind. What kind of animal drained its victims of blood without slashing it to pieces? Not any that she could name.

Ally had spent the last five years trying to solve the unanswered question surrounding their cause of death, without success. Her grandmother had told her to let it go and move on. That it was time for her to heal. But as much as she might like the idea it wasn’t possible. Until she had the facts about exactly what had happened to her parents that night she wasn’t going to move anywhere.

Ally had become a private investigator as a result of trying to solve the mystery of her parent’s death. She dealt more with cheating spouses than homicide cases, but it was something that she found fulfilling and satisfying in a way she could never have imagined. Being an inquisitive and quick minded person by nature, it suited her perfectly. She also enjoyed having the freedom to work alone since she was a loner by nature these days. Alessandra’s only friends in the world seemed to be her Gran and her dog Coco.

After her parent’s death, she had shut down and withdrawn into her own little world. Her friends hadn’t understood and expected her to get on with her life. Her best friend, Kathryn was no longer a part of her world either, although that had been Ally’s doing not Kathryn’s. She had been there with her on the day of that awful prediction. Every time she looked at Kat it was a reminder that she neither wanted nor needed. Ally had never wanted to hurt her but she had to, for both their sakes. What was the point in having a ghost of a friend like her anyway? She had been irrevocably changed that morning and it haunted her to this day.

In the most secret places of her soul, she feared that she would never recover from the tragedy. Walking through the world as a shell was not the life she had planned for herself five years ago but fate had stepped in. Ally knew that she could change the path she was on and come back to the land of the living but she wasn’t certain that she possessed the strength or courage that she would need.

James had not returned since that fateful morning. Adele had given her a vague response whenever she had asked after him but that was a long time ago. She decided to put the errant thoughts of him back where they belonged…in the past.

Stretching as much as one could in a car, Alessandra ran her hands through her chocolate brown waves, something she had done from the time she was a little girl. Whenever she was uneasy, it seemed to comfort her.

“Not long now Coco,” Ally said, half expecting the dog to reply. The little Blenheim cavalier just lifted her head up and looked at her, then promptly went back to sleep as if to say, whatever. Ally let out a soft chuckle and gave her puppy a scratch behind the ears. “Can always count on you, to keep me entertained on assignments,” she said as she picked a bit of fluff off her favourite jade green knitted jumper.