Ordained (5 page)

He feared the meeting about to take place. Abby had always sensed something happened here in her youth. He witnessed her shudder the moment they passed through the exterior iron gates, hesitant to continue on. Her eyes were focused, suspicious of the manor before her. Could she sense the darkness that once resided here? Once within herself?

Once inside, she had been on alert, always on guard for something out of place. Her usual sassy and sarcastic personality had taken a backseat to something far less comfortable, downright cynical to anyone that didn’t really know her.
Please let us get through this day without her snapping.

Not that they wouldn’t have deserved it…

Chancellor Moore, Lincoln and Jayden were all waiting for them in the Chancellor’s office. Moore and Lincoln surprisingly gave civil introductions to her. Some would have found Jayden’s sneer and unwavering glare uneasy. Abby, however, would have been inclined to rip the eyes from his sockets had she been paying attention to it.

“Abigail Sorrensten. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it,” expressed the Chancellor, semi-smiling.

“You’re the reigning Chancellor?” Abby asked indifferently.

“Yes. I am Chancellor Moore. This here is Lincoln, one of our eldest and wisest advisors.”

They nodded in acknowledgement. Abby locked eyes with Jayden. “And you?”

“Jayden is my assistant,” stepped in the Chancellor, sensing the annoyance on Abby’s quizzical face. “If you need anything, just ask. He’ll take care of it for you.”

Not freakin’ likely
, thought Noel. Jayden continued to stare silently at her. Not necessarily glaring, but relentless none the less. Even Noel couldn’t figure out the meaning behind it. Realizing Jayden’s behavior, Abby slightly cocked her head at him. Noel recognized the threatening glint in her eye and casually stepped in between them, cutting off their line of sight. Her eyes found his and quickly softened.

Noel turned to Lincoln just as he was focusing in on his and Abby’s left hands. All aghast, he asked, “Are you married to each other?”

Noel answered mundanely, “Yeah, so?”

He gasped loudly. “Didn’t the Order tell you that advisors are not permitted to fraternize with their hunters?”

“Yes,” countered Noel, “but they’re all dead now.”

“And you’re not.” All eyes turned to Jayden. Silence ensued.

Noel remained in Abby’s line of sight so she merely spoke through him. “Our personal lives are no longer the Order’s concern. Don’t bother asking cause we’re not telling. And I mean that in every aspect of our lives.” Abby then turned her back on Jayden. “Can we do this already?”

Noel silently sighed. Abby had many virtues: perseverance, courage, endurance. There were times he’d trade them all for patience.

The Chancellor retrieved a book from his desk and passed it to Abby. Noel leaned over her shoulder. He gently pressed against her as he recognized the symbol depicted in the book. It was exactly what they were looking for.

“Do you recognize this symbol?” asked the Chancellor.

“Looks like a blurry circle to me,” Abby stated, though she understood more than she was letting on.

“It was the symbol given for Morphus, prize pet of the Goddess Eris,” he explained.

The drawing didn’t do the real symbol justice, seeing how it was impossible to depict. The real symbol had illusionistic qualities. You could watch it forever and see it change from one thing to the next. Suiting for the demon Morphus, who could also morph into endless formations.

“We have been informed that he is set to rise and perhaps, may have already done so.”

Unimpressed, Abby tossed the ancient book carelessly to the table. “Demons rise practically every day. What makes you think he’s due?”

Lincoln answered, “The Oracles have informed us. They’re our medium to the gods.”

“Could someone explain to us why Morphus is the responsibility of the hunter organization and not the demonic warriors?” Abby challenged.

Rather curtly, Jayden was the quickest to respond. “For as long as you two have been around, certainly you’ve become chummy with the warrior organization. Why not ask them yourselves?”

Noel felt a twinge, a slight annoyance ran down his spine. Jayden was intentionally egging her on today. Why, he did not know. Regardless, he shot the Chancellor an annoyed expression as Abby did the same towards Jayden.

“Perhaps I have and would like to hear your version,” retorted Abby rather rudely, crossing her arms.

“Have you really?” asked the Chancellor urgently.

“We’ve spent years trying to locate someone, anyone, in their organization but have been unsuccessful,” said Lincoln.

“Imagine that,” mocked Abby. “A secret organization that actually maintains secrecy.” She raised her eyebrows at Noel in disapproval.

Offended, the Chancellor quickly replied, “The Order has maintained its secrecy.”

“I beg to differ. There’s not a culture in the world that hasn’t heard of the vampire hunter. They may believe hunters are fictitious, but they’ve heard of them nonetheless.”

Lincoln spoke over the Chancellor’s flabbergasted huff. “Abigail, you are correct. Vampires alone were our responsibility. However, it took a hunter two thousand years ago to contain Morphus. She placed a binding spell on him, linking him indefinitely to the hunter lineage.”

“Why didn’t she just kill him?” Abby asked eagerly. This was something they hadn’t been able to discover on their own.

“No one at that time had been successful. Warriors, hunters. Those who went in search of him never returned,” answered the Chancellor. He settled back down in his executive leather chair lined with golden studs.

“But you think he can be killed now?” asked Abby disbelievingly.

“With the weapons of today, it’s very likely he’ll succumb.”

Sure, perhaps a nuclear bomb
. “Don’t bother. Just find another witch and trap him again.”

“Easier said than done,” said Lincoln. “Morphus is the pet of the Goddess Eris. If you remember your mythology then you know she’s the Goddess of Discord, a trouble-maker.”

“We already know this story,” Abby interjected. Noel reached out and gently tugged her backwards. She took the hint and relaxed her stance a bit.

“She caused an upset between the gods,” explained Noel. “Bitter for not being invited to a wedding, she tossed a golden apple amongst them with the phrase ‘to the fairest’. Naturally, each goddess wanted it for herself. Long story short, it initiated the Trojan War.”

In a tone that seemed over the top serious, Lincoln sternly said, “Well, here’s one story you won’t find in any library book. Her pet, Morphus, once tried to raise a demon army and bring about an apocalypse to destroy mankind. She blessed him with special powers that no god or mortal has ever been able to find a weakness for. When released, he’ll try to bring about the apocalypse again and rid the world of the human race.”

Unimpressed, Abby asked, “So why’s the spell wearing off?”

“Feuding of the deities,” replied Lincoln. “Athena is a warrior goddess, our goddess. Still annoyed with Eris for tricking the gods into war, Athena blessed her favorite warrior, a hunter, with magical powers that were used to contain Morphus. Since the hunter’s powers were not legitimate from birth, Zeus allowed the spell to weaken with time.”

“So this is Zeus’ demented way of having us prove that we’re worth the time and effort of continuation,” sassed Abby.

Noel moaned silently.

“To some effect,” replied Lincoln.

“How much time do we have?”

“The ordained huntress was scheduled for confrontation on the first day of spring, March twenty-first.”

Noel shook his head in disbelief. “I’m sorry,
who
was supposed to meet him?”

“Athena was supposed to reincarnate the female hunter that bound him originally. She was to be born with legitimate powers and skills this time.” Ashamed, Lincoln continued, “But, for whatever reason, the ordained huntress no longer seems to be with us.”

Jayden shifted his stance. Noel had completely forgotten he was there. “How do you know that?”

Lincoln replied, “The ordained huntress would have been born with a birthmark of the symbol you were shown. None of the current hunters have it.”

Noel huffed in disbelief. “So you had the only hunter ordained with the power to defeat Morphus and you let her out into the world unprotected?”

“Not on purpose.”

“Good job.” He stepped closer to Abby, fearing the possible change of her emotional state hearing this directly from the Order’s mouth.

“No hunter for hundreds of years had shown to be more special than the others. All were inspected after birth and the mark was never seen. We had no idea Morphus was coming or that she would fall to Eraticus prior to confrontation,” said the Chancellor.

Annoyed, Jayden spat, “Please. Any hunter actually blessed by a god wouldn’t have died against Eraticus.”

“Excuse me?” exclaimed Abby.

Ah, crap.
They had been so close to finishing this without incidence. He truly wanted to throttle Jayden.

“I’m only saying what we’re all thinking. Morphus has been blessed by a goddess. A far more worthy opponent than Eraticus, who by the way was nothing more than a simpleton, a rather large and smelly buffoon ranked at the bottom of the demonic world, yet he still wiped the floor with each and every one of you.”

His eyes fixed on Jayden, Noel didn’t realize Abby had shifted to return her line of sight. He barely regained position before she tried to lunge for him.

“You bastard!” yelled Abby. “I don’t see your pathetic ass out there doing anything productive in the world.”

He crossed his arms and his shoulders rose almost high enough to touch his ears. “What? I should be like a hunter? Leave school at eighteen, kill a few vampires and die a few years later? Such a contribution, really.”

So fixated on Abby, Jayden neglected to see the retaliation coming from Noel. One hand still holding her back, Noel thrust his grip around Jayden’s neck and pulled him close. Stunned and abashed, the Chancellor and Lincoln froze in place.

“One more remark from you and I’ll step aside. And let me assure you, her bite is far worse than her bark.”

Noel released Jayden, shoving him backwards several feet. He gently rubbed his reddened neck and backed himself into the corner again. He and Abby continued to stare coldly at one another even as Noel increased the space between them.

“So we have about eight weeks until he’s released?” continued Noel, his eyes still focused on Abby, determined to keep her reigned in for the remainder of the meeting. She was clearly uncomfortable with her surroundings - a little too trigger-happy for his taste.

Still bewildered, Lincoln was slow to answer. “Not necessarily. The first day of spring was to be the day of confrontation. For all we know, he’s already been released.”

“Let’s assume he has been. Where would he go?”

“He’ll need to start recruiting demons for his army. But he also won’t want to risk running into the ordained huntress before he has to.” Lincoln instinctively retreated to the other side of the table as Noel continued pushing Abby away from Jayden.

“So what are you planning?” urged Noel.

“To have Abigail lead a team in with first priority to destroy and entrapment secondary.”

Abby shook her head in disagreement. “No go. I work alone.”

“No hunter other than the one ordained can defeat Morphus. You will need all the help you can get,” preached the Chancellor. He too seemed weary and ready for the meeting to end.

“Well, as your assistant put it so bluntly,” she snapped, flashing a nasty look toward Jayden, “your hunters are trained to do jack. So I’ll tell you what. If I need a vampire staked on the way to Morphus, I’ll let the
team
make a contribution. But until I ask for help, stay the hell out of my way.”

Chapter Eight

Abby slammed the door open and stomped out of the office in a foul mood. She was literally screaming inside. Her attention was immediately thwarted, drawn to the huntress leaning against the wall beside the office, the one she almost smacked with the backside of the door. Unaffected, she continued to lean back with her arms crossed, her demeanor blasé. Fixed in a gaze with the woman, Abby experienced a recognizable sensation. This was the same person that hid in the darkness watching her. She was sure of it.