Bloodstone and Pentacles - Part 5

Chapter 9

Gasping for breath, Kayla raked trembling fingers through her sweaty hair and wet her parched lips. "How do I control it?" she grumbled, her voice frigid.
         "Do what you were doing, but leave a small amount of power unattached to the whole. Make that small part strong and thick, then use it to hold in the whole of your power, like a shield. When you can keep the shield around your power for at least a day, we'll start serious training."
         Kayla tilted her head and glanced up at him. "And what do you expect will happen to Draven in that time?"
         Gabriel blinked, then looked down at Kayla. "Hopefully nothing, though I know how stupid hope is right now. We need to get you physically ready for this battle."
         "Wait, battle? Why a battle?"
         "Well, what did you have in mind, Kayla?" He held out a hand to her, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
         "Ambush, surprise attack, I don't know." She looked down at her hands and blinked as she watched little tendrils of lavender electricity course over them. "Wow... how do I get rid of it?"
         "Just do what I told you. Gather and shield your power."
         "As my master wishes," she retorted with a low, sweeping bow.
         "I'm not your damn master. I'm just trying to help you."
         Kayla nodded and closed her eyes, letting her thoughts seep out into the air. The mist reappeared as if a dark curtain had been pulled away. She reached out with the same psychic hands and tugged the power to her hands, curling it into a ball and tossing it into the darkness before her.
         Again, the power swirled around the ball and connected, but Kayla formed a mental block to hold a small amount of mist away from the rest. Once the ball was glowing and formed, she forced the remaining power to strengthen and grow thick with her own energy. Only then did she let down the block and smash the stronger energy into the ball, commanding it to surround the whole.
         The wall held for a heartbeat before the force and instability of her power pushed at the shield. Kayla strengthened the shield with more of her own energy and forced the power to submit.
         I command you now, her mental voice boomed, and the ball stopped jerking and pushing.
         Smiling, Kayla pulled herself back into her physical form and felt a crackle of electricity as she looked toward her brother. "What are you smiling about?"
         "You've done well, grasshopper," He laid his palms against one another, as if praying, and bowed over his hands.
         "How is it that you know all these movie lines?"
         Shrugging, Gabriel rubbed his shoulder and looked down at her with a grin. "I'll admit, the cinema has always been my weakness. I loved plays long ago, and films have helped me pass time and pretend to fit in with the world."
         "Think you'd want to act?"
         His eyes widened, and he laid a boney finger on his chin. "Never thought about it, really.... but I guess I could act, if I wanted to."
         "We'll get you an acting job soon enough. Now, could you feel what I did with my power?"
         "Yep, and that's amazing control for a newly-changed vampire."
         "...And?"
         "And you have to keep controlling it like this so we can test your true power."
         "So... what do we do until then?"
         "I answer your question." Gabriel smiled and laid a finger against her third eye, the center of her forehead, and tapped into his own memories, screening them out for her as she gasped.

         Kayla stood in the center of a large orchard, the scent of oranges and apple blossoms swimming around her. She smiled and twirled around, letting the scents of fruit and night life soak into her skin.
         A shrill cry stopped her in mid spin, and a small woman in a Renaissance gown scrambled toward Kayla, tears streaming down her shocked face. "Help me, please!" she screamed, throwing herself against Kayla's legs and hugging them tight. "Monster... after me... terrible eyes..." She spoke between sobs, her body trembling and shaking Kayla to her core.
         "Slow down," she whispered, cradling her head against her stomach. Looking the way the woman had come from, Kayla watched two more women come running toward them, skirts held high.
         "Celia, were you harmed?" a woman in a pale pink and gold gown asked as she panted, fighting not to bend at her waist.
         "Flora, take off the bloody corset so you can breathe," the other runner wheezed, her face crimson.
         "Flora, what happened?" the woman at Kayla's feet, the one called Celia, demanded, using Kayla to haul herself to her feet. "Did that creature hurt either you or Odessa?"
         "No, we are both well," the one called Odessa answered, untying the laces on her dress. "See? I can breathe easier now. You should try this." Turning to Celia, she smiled. "The monster left. He ran away then second he saw us. Plus, the hunting party is out tonight. That creature has no way to escape."
         Celia smiled and wiped her eyes. "Let us hope you are right." Looking up at Kayla, Celia blushed. "I am sorry to have startled you. There was a man with fangs after us!"
         Flora looked Kayla over and smiled. "It is very fortunate that a whore was leaving her master's quarters, or poor Celia might have run all night. Was Lord Gabriel lonely?"
         Blinking, Kayla looked down at her dirty jeans and the remains of her sleeveless dress and cursed. "No, ummm... I am but a maid to Lady Shandra. I am no whore." As the ladies looked her over and smiled to one another, Kayla slowly backed away toward where they had come from. "I must be going."
         "Not that way! The monster is over there!" Odessa cried as Kayla turned and ran through the trees.
         As she continued down the path, she stumbled over a lumpy form and fell to her knees, wincing as her skin split open. Searching for the lump with blind hands, she touched fur and a sticky congealed coating on top.
         Holy crap, please tell me I'm not touching something dead...
         In the back of her mind, she heared Gabriel's faint laughter. She mentally cursed him and moved farther down the path, finding more lumps on the ground around her.
         As she neared a tall peach tree, a small circle of furry and feathered bodies lay around the trunk, like fruit fallen from the branches. What the hell's up there?
         "Hello?" she called softly, touching the tree trunk. "Are you alright?"
         A low growl shattered the still night as glowing red-ringed hazel eyes stared down from the very top of the tree. "Go away," a resounding voice grumbled.
         "Gabriel?" she squeaked, stepping back and slipping on a tiny body. Kayla hit the ground hard as a gunshot sounded over her head. "Gabriel, get out of there! They're coming for you!"
         "I told you to go away!" he growled, leaping from the tree to the ground between her feet.
         Kayla stared into fiery eyes, then slid down the tree and fled.
         Mist curled around her, and her shoes tapped on a stone floor. Kayla looked to her left nad gasped, stumbling backward into as golden tapestry. Gripping the tapestry, she leaned against the wall and stared at the ballroom.
         Dozens of snow-pale faces stared at Kayla, eyes wide, faces blank as if they were falling asleep. Gowns and suits in every shade of blue and yellow coverd the people, silk fans hanging from wrists and hips. Silk gloves hid their hands, and a booming voice called out. "Boy, get over here!"
         Every head snapped to the front of the room to a golden dias holding a tall wooden throne, a broad-shouldered man upon the cushiopns. He wore an icy blue shirt over black pants, black leather boots hugging his feet. Shallow lines creased his forehead and the skin around his mouth and nose, and a mustache and short, pointed beard framed full lips. Three square-cut gems adorned his finger, clenched over the throne's arms.
         Kayla gasped as Gabriel strode toward the dias, covered by black satin leggings and a red tunic, hair tied back in a silk ribbon. He kneeled on the steps before the throne nad bowed his head, gloved fingers touching the dias. "What is it that you wish, sire?"
         "Rumors have been flying about this family, and I am not sure how or who spread them." He fixed his gaze on the ring on his middle finger.
         "Sire, what kind of rumors?" Gabriel asked, lifting his eyes to the man.
         "There has been word of someone of this family out and about in the wee hours of the morning."
         Kyla blinked and stared at the man. Who the hell is this?
         ".. but I shall do everything in my power to find more information." Gabriel turned and left the room with the grace of a dancer.
         Kayla closed her eyes and shook her head. As her eyelids lifted once more, she saw candle flames splashing against an outer gray stone wall. Kayla laid her hands on a lower-level window sill and tugged her body up, digging her toes of her shoes into the wall between the stones. She looked up and blinked, staring into the blank eyes of a black bat.
         Ohmygods, ohmygods, ohmygods, ohmygods, she thought, fighting to push down the scream in her throat. Calm down, calm down. Calm. Down. Now.
         “Eden, our son is leaving,” a woman’s voice sounded like a flute in the silence. The bat tilted its head toward the room and Kayla looked inside.
         Holy shit... they’re from my dream! she gaped, her jaw dropping. The other one must have been...Draven? Kayla looked into the room and laid her chin against the window sill.
         A piece of paper crumpled in the woman’s hand as she lowered it to her thigh. “And you show no sign of grief?” she asked, wiping a white silk handkerchief over her eyes.
         "He should have been more careful, if he planned to stay here. He has no choice now," the rumbling male voice replied, his gray eyes glued to his feet. "Even with our status, we cannot keep him here...and alive."
         Nodding, the woman laid her hand on her swollen belly and sighed. "Our little girl will never know of her brother, and he shall never know of his baby sister. Is this what we want for our children? For our family? Do we want to tear this family apart?"
         "No, no, Shandra," Eden said, gently wrapping his arms around her. "If he can get away alive, this family may come together once more." He closed his eyes and stroked his wife's hair as she cried. "All we can do now is hope."
         Kayla slid down the wall and stared at the weather-worn stones. Holy crap, she thought as she rubbed her hands against her thighs. Gabriel, this doesn’t really answer my question.
         I suppose you’re right, he answered with a sigh. Well, what exactly would you like to know about them?
         Maybe something they liked to do or what kind of people they were; I don’t know…
         Hmmm…. Soon, he muttered, and Kayla gasped as she felt a yank. She rose as if dragged by invisible hands and blinked as he stared into grinning hazel eyes. “How do you feel?” Gabriel asked, laying his hand at his side.
         “I’ll be back,” she murmured as she bolted away and hunched besides an ancient tree as she trembled and the contents of her stomach emptied into the grass.

         "Why in the hell are they not here?" Redell raged, slashing a curtain with claw-like fingers.
         "They were here yesterday, Redell," Draven sighed and leaned against the counter. "Why would they still be here?"
         Bruce crossed his arms over his chest, griping his biceps in bulky hands. "Are you insulting Master Redell’s intelligence? He knows far better about the movement of night creatures than you."
         Draven shook his head and smiled. "Bruce, you can stop completely kissing his ass now. Redell’s a big boy," he said, patting Bruce’s shoulders. "He can stand up for himself, if he feels the need."
         Bruce grumbled as he turned toward the doorway, Redell grinning fro ma window. "Thank you, Draven. Now, do you know of anywhere else we should try?"
         Draven shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I don’t think they would go anywhere I’d go. I mean, Kayla just found out my true nature the other day, so she wouldn’t know about any of my secret places."
         "Are you sure there is absolutely nowhere else we could look?" Bruce asked, gripping one of Draven’s arms with feline claws.
         "We could look just about anywhere, and there’s only a slight chance that they would be around here. Gods, how many times do I have to tell you? I don’t know anywhere else they could be."
         Bruce nodded and took a step toward him, lifting the claws and slashing across his face with a down word swipe. "Then what do we need you for, you useless puppy?"
         As Draven groaned and fell to his knees, clutching his bloody face, Redell glared and walks toward Bruce, gnarled hand coming at his face. "What have you done, you fool?" Redell cried, yellow streaks of lightning slashing from the ceiling and hitting Bruce. The boy hissed as Redell’s fingers snapped closed, and Bruce’s limbs her pinned to his body by an invisible shield. "You are my slave, boy, and you will do nothing unless I command it!"
         Bruce grunted as the lightning wrapped around his body like bandages on a mummy until only his eyes were visible. His eyes blazed sapphire blue before flashing apple red, and a growl pierced through the air and the lightning. Fur flowed over Bruce’s skin, and claws slashed the bolts away. "Redell, do you really think that will stop me? You’ve done worse before," he roared, falling on to four paws as fangs dropped from his upper lip.
         Draven stared as the panther lifted his head, a snarl rumbling from his throat. Neither of my other forms could fight him when he’s like this… "Bruce, stop! Redell, either get him under control of run before he rips you apart."
         "Nonsense! My apprentice knows his place below me and under my command," Redell laughed as he threw a ball of lightning into the panther’s chest.
         Bruce growled and leapt at Redell, bared fangs glistening with drool. Redell ducked as Bruce sailed over his head, but one row of claws ripped into Redell’s shoulder. He screamed and held his shoulder while the panther circle, his tongue lolling from his mouth.
         Draven grabbed Redell’s arm and raced to the door. "What the hell happened to him?"
         "He has never defied me in six years," he groaned, blood pouring between his fingers. "That little traitor! How dare he harm his master!"
         Draven rolled his eyes, then looked at the bloody wound. "Why is that not healing yet?"
         "Have you ever been scratched or bitten by a were creature? Their marks stay in the flesh nearly as long as wounds from wood for vampires. A mortal would have been turned into a lycanthrope by now. Draven, where do you expect us to go with Bruce after us?"
         He shook his head and looked back at the restaurant to see Bruce lunge through a window and land in the parking lot.

         “Now, about your training…”
         “How about just taking a nap, huh?” Kayla groaned, sitting on a fallen oak trunk. “Maybe right here even.”
         Hands on his hips, Gabriel drawled, “Tired already? Kayla, my dear sister, we have just barely begun. You must learn to completely harness your power, channel it, use it, transform-“
         “Please, no more!” She ran both hands over her face with a yawn. “If Redell Is honestly set on finding me and destroying the world, or whatever he wants to do, do you really think we’ll have enough time for me to perfect all the things you want me to learn?”
         Heaving a sigh, he nodded. “I suppose you’re right, but you need at least some form of handle on what you can do.”
         “Good point.” Tilting her head to the left until a pop sounded from her neck, she sat up with her spine straight. “What shall we start on today, sensei?”
         “I’m not your master or sensei, Kayla But today, you learn to fight,” he said with a grin as he reached toward a tree to his left. Gripping a branch, he tore it from its trunk and began stripping leaves from it.
         “Then what are you doing with that?” she asked as she stood.
         “Making a staff so you can try to hit me.” Gabriel grinned as he held the five-foot bare branch toward her.
         “Are you serious?”
         “Of course I’m serious. Now, swing that thing at me."
         Drawing a breath to fill the bottoms of her lungs, Kayla wrapped her fingers around the branch and tugged it from his grasp. Steadying it over her right shoulder, she looked at Gabriel's ear-to-ear grin. "What?"
         Shaking his head, he laughed. "Nothing.... would you like me to pitch or catch this inning?"
         "Oh, shut up," she grumbled as she swung the branch at his face. The branch cut through a blurry form, and she felt a tap on her shoulder.
         “You have to be completely focused at all times, and you definitely need to be focused when attacking. Now, do that energy gathering thing we tried, and try to put the energy into your body.”
         “What is that gonna do? She whined, letting the branch hand at her side.
         “Well, good batters know that it takes more than just arm strength to hit a baseball. Giving strength to your body will increase the force of impact and help you follow through the strike.”
         With one raised eyebrow, Kayla stared at Gabriel. “And how long has it been since you’ve played any baseball?”
         "Gods, I can't even remember... probably around Babe Ruth's days?"
         "Holy shit, are you kidding me?"
         Smiling, Gabriel shook his head and took the branch from her hand. "He was wonderful to watch in person, and I found myself at a gymnasium with a group of young men learning how to play the game." He wet his lips nad turned his gaze to the stick. "They became suspicious when they saw that I did not age.. and I was forced out of the gym without an explanation."
         “I’m sorry, Gabriel. But.. do you want to still attempt my training? Or would you rather just stop for today?”
         Shaking his head, Gabriel held the branch toward her. “We had better keep this going. Try that power gathering thing.”
         Kayla nodded and closed her eyes, feeling through her core with a misty and slowly materializing hand. Her skin touched the bubbling ball of violet light, and she thrust the misty hand into the ball, wincing as it flowed up her arm and through her entire body. Her eyes flew open as she raised the branch in front of her face. "Ready?"
         "Are you?" Gabriel chuckled, the toe of his right shoe sliding backwards in the dirt with a scooping sound of rubber on rock.
         "You tell me," she murmured as the branch flew into his jaw with a crack, and Gabriel stumbled back one step, shaking his head.
         "Nice hit," he muttered as he rubbed his jaw. "Let's see if you can keep that luck for another one."
         With a grin, Kayla circled the branch back over her right shoulder and winked. "Let's." She snapped her wrists and stared as Gabriel fell to his knees, the branch floating over his head. He sprang to his feet and smiled as Kayla stopped the branch's movement by squeezing her hands around it.
         "Very good." He brushed a lock of fallen hair behind his ear and watched her.
         "Good? How was that good?" she asked, her empty hand open at her side. "I missed."
         With a wink, he took the branch from her hand and twirled it parallel to his body. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to strike a three hundred-year-old vampire even once when he or she is expecting an attack? Tell me, Kayla; do things sound a bit different to you?" He gave a low-pitched grunt as he swung the branch over her head.
         She jumped back a foot and glanced up at him with wide eyes. "Yes..." she whispered, eyes traveling down his arm to the branch. "It... well, everything sounds like we're in a tile room.... or, do you know how everything sounds louder if you just place your palms loosely over your ears?" Gabriel nodded as she lifted her hands to the sides of her head, cupping them over her ears. "It's as if there is a constant echo... but things sound so much clearer at the same time."
         He nodded and smiled. "Exactly. It's almost as if the world was once blurry to every sense... yet now it's sharpened as well... and there are many, many unpleasant smells that vampires can detect and humans cannot; not to mention the unpleasant odors humans encounter will be triply the potency for you, my dear." Gabriel grinned as her dazed smile turned sour. "There's no turning back now, Kayla."
         "I realize that bro," she grumbled, shaking her head. "Now, besides a craving for blood and sharpened sense, what comes with being a vampire?"
         "Well, kind of think of this transformation as taking steroids; you'll have much better flexibility, stronger muscles, a much better metabolism, and a resistance to most things that can kill a human."
         "And I'm immortal?"
         "To some extent," Gabriel sighed and tossed the branch to the ground in front of Kayla's feet. "You will live for a very long time.. unless someone finds a way to kill you."
         "So... any random attempts on your life, Gabriel?" she asked, sitting on a fallen tree trunk.
         "Not too many, but a few have been at least slightly successful." He tugged down the collar of his shirt, revealing a bubbly scar only a pinpoint wide across his Adam's Apple. "Some of the Slayers were a little desperate in other parts of the world and tried heated liquid silver. the metal doesn't hurt us very much, but they removed my earring while the sun was coming up... it only touched my neck, fortunately enough."
         Kayla blinked and shook her head. "what did a bunch of Slayers subdue you with? Wooden staffs? Daggers edged with wood? Sunlit rooms?" She laughed and ran her bandaged hand over her hair.
         "Actually, all of the above... at one point. I bare plenty of other scars from similar attempts."
         "But why would Slayers come after you with so much force? Were you wanted for some kind of crime?"
         With a sigh, Gabriel crouched, balancing on the balls of his feet. "Besides defying my exile? Not really. Possibly the theft of a couple Nobel's pets... please don't ask?" he pleaded, gaze fixed on the ground between his feet.
         Kayla nodded and rubbed at the bandages. "Too bad healing is such an itchy process. how bad do you think the scar will be?"
         "Everything that happened to it involved some sort of wood, correct?" As she nodded and unwound the bandages, he cringes. "Well, depending on how wide and how deep the cuts were, you'll probably have some pretty bad scars to show the kids."
         She sighed and nodded, rubbing her forehead with her unbandaged hand. "Sounds like fun. But... basically, I'm going to be like Superman or something because I'm a vampire?"
         "Without the cape and weakness against Kryptonite, yep."
         Kayla grinned. "Awesome. Now, should I try beating on you again, or have you had enough?"
         He laughed and nodded. "Bring it on."

***MORE TO COME***