Resurrected (23 page)

“Mahurundra, High Priestess
of the West, I summon you. Give me the strength, the wisdom and
cunning to annihilate the shield that has been called forth by
Khalid,” Eme continued. Reaching into the canvas bag again, this
time she pulled out a dagger. The silver hilt sparkled in the
candlelight.

“Paoimus, High Priest of
the East.” Eme raised her left arm and within the grasp of her
right hand, she placed the dagger’s blade against her
flesh.

“Accept this blood offering
and together with the power of the North, South, West and East–give
me the strength!” Swiftly she let the blade cut deep into her
flesh. As her dark blood began to flow, she took the last few steps
until Eme stood as close to Adam as she could. Swinging her arm up
and over the ash-riddled shield, Eme’s blood splattered and ran
down the magical bubble until the wound she had created,
healed.

“No.” Adam mumbled. The
fear on his face was now evident to Eme and the other vampires. A
flash of light filled the room for but a second and Eme let out a
cry. The dagger she held onto fell to the floor, the sound of the
metal clinking as it hit. Eme’s arms were outstretched when she
looked skyward as though the spirits she had called upon entered
her or poured into her their power. Again Adam cried out, “No!”
Eme’s head lowered as she locked her eyes on him. Her pupils were
so large that her eyes appeared like huge black circles. With a
single word, her magick spilled forth.

“Shatter!” Eme cried out
and instantly the ash-riddled shield began to crack. With an
explosion, it broke away causing the other vampires to jump and the
pieces melted to nothing in the air.

“Now!” Mylana yelled,
looking between Elijah, Eme and Malachi. Elijah and Mylana ran
towards Adam.

“Du tourium, habixomus,”
Adam cried out.

Raising his hand in the
direction of Elijah, Adam invisibly sent him flying backwards.
Landing hard against the wall, the drywall caved at impact around
Elijah’s body. Immovable, Elijah was held firmly against the wall
with Adam’s magick.

With Elijah pinned against
the wall, Mylana leapt forward. Springing onto Adam, she caused him
to land hard on the floor. As she bit violently onto Adam’s lower
neck, he cried out in protest. Grabbing onto her firmly, he flung
her away from him easily. Landing on the coffee table the glass
shattered beneath her and cut deep into her preternatural flesh.
Meanwhile Eme had fallen to her knees. Her body felt numb from the
energy expended by the spell.

“How dare
you?” Adam glared at his children. His blood poured forth from the
wound, running down his chest, staining his clothes. But like all
the other vampires in the room who had suffered any harm, his wound
began to heal. Rising to her feet, Eme reached again into the
canvas bag. This time she pulled out a glass bottle that was much
tinier than the first. It was filled with a violet
coloured
elixir.

While Adam walked angrily
over to the fallen Mylana who scurried to her feet, Eme threw the
bottle with all her might. Breaking into pieces at his feet, the
elixir splattered his feet and the floor around him. Eme then cried
out, “Immobilize!” Adam’s feet were glued to the floor. He grumbled
and cried out profanities as he realized he could no longer move
from his spot.

“You will all pay for this
with your lives!” He threatened, his face flushed with anger.
Turning his cold stare from Eme to Elijah and Mylana, he then
looked into the shadowed corner farthest from them all, just a few
feet away from the door. Like a collective, they all joined Adam
and looked into the shadows. It was at this point that Eme realized
she had not acknowledged that Malachi was even there. As that
thought came to mind, he walked out of the shadow and into the glow
of the candlelight.

“What did I tell you
brother? You always do it wrong.” His voice was filled with an odd
emotion that Eme didn’t want to register. It contained a
maliciousness that equaled or surpassed Adam’s. Eme watched him
closely. Her uncertainty grew and her once secure feeling for
Malachi seemed to drift away. She was suddenly unsure of his
intentions, but didn’t want to delve into those particular thoughts
right then.

Ignoring Malachi’s comment,
Adam began to chant. As he did, a small altar at the north end of
the room became visible. The candles that burned dimly before, the
flames now grew in length and vigor. It was clear to the other
vampires that it was an altar. A human skull was upturned and the
bottom jaw missing. The cavity was filled with a thick red liquid
that glistened in the candlelight. The collected blood was not dark
enough to be an ancient’s like Adam’s, but it was too dark to be
human either. Placed around the skull were a black crystal, a claw
from a chicken and a small jar filled with a murky liquid. In the
jar floated an arm that had been severed at the elbow and revealed
the pasty forearm and miniature wrinkled fingers of a baby.
Speechless, the other vampires looked between Adam and the altar in
grotesque awe. While he chanted, the items on the surface began to
shake and quiver.

Gradually a gentle breeze
of unknown origin began to waft through the room. Quickly it grew
in strength and the temperature in the room dropped. Eme knew what
he was doing: he was summoning the dead of this house.

“You’re playing with fire,
Adam.” Eme said matter-of-factly, but he continued chanting. Eme
quickly looked at Mylana, her cuts were now healed. Only Mylana’s
eyes betrayed her fear, her face otherwise was a mask,
unrevealing.

Without thought, Mylana
stepped back, leery of what Adam was doing. Stumbling back a few
more steps, she let out a cry as a cut materialized across her
cheek. Eme and Elijah turned to look at her. Mylana was quickly
losing any composure that she had been able to hang onto. Invisible
fingers poked and scratched at her causing her to scream out and
flail her arms about. She had no hope of defending herself against
the attack from the enraged spirits.

Elijah, watching all this
in disbelief and horror, felt helpless. Turning a look to Malachi,
then at Adam, his anger grew. Elijah was angry at Malachi for his
seemingly uncaring part in this, as if what was playing out before
his eyes were only a show. Having had enough, not knowing how to
help Mylana escape from the attacks of the spirits, he did the only
thing he knew he could do. Stomping his foot in pure aggravation
and a growl of displeasure escaping his lips, he walked towards
Adam.

Standing before Adam, he
looked into his eyes and with pure hatred said, “There is no
creature like you. Not even the devil is as arrogant and perverse
as you.” Before Adam could respond, Elijah reached out, grabbed the
back of his neck and pulled him in close. He swooped in to pierce
Adam’s flesh and drink the purest nectar known to all
vampires.

Watching
Elijah attack Adam in a seemingly obtuse way, Eme could not figure
out what he was hoping to achieve with this form of assault. It
wasn’t until Elijah’s words entered her mind, “
Drain the bastard dry!”
It was only
then that Eme knew what he had planned for Adam. In an instant she
ran towards them in a blur. As she attacked, Eme hoped that Malachi
would follow suit, but as her mouth locked on Adam’s neck, Malachi
only watched. With each deep swallow of Adam’s cursed blood, they
could feel him weaken. The powerful magick having already
deteriorating his strength allowed Eme and Elijah to cling onto him
like leeches. Despite his diminishing strength, Adam was still able
to control the spirits. They still lashed out at Mylana,
scratching, poking and pushing her about. Their presence sent her
fear of the unknown to a new high. But as the moments passed
torturously slow for Mylana, she finally noticed that the spirits’
potency was weakening. The spirits’ once curiously strong pushes,
pokes, and scratches faded rapidly until she felt no more
supernatural entities near her. Eventually they vanished
completely.

Although she was delighted
that the spirits were gone, she couldn’t help but wonder why. As
she searched the room visibly, it was only then that she noticed
Eme and Elijah clamped onto Adam. He stood immobilized by the spell
as they feasted on his blood. She realized that the draining of his
ancient blood was what exhausted the strength of the spirits, for
they used his energy to attack her.

Malachi
finally became part of the picture and spoke clearly. A tinge of
anger
coloured
his
voice.

“Stop.” He said and walked
past Mylana and over to Adam, Eme and Elijah. Seeing that they
declined to take his command, he said it again this time louder,
losing his patience. Elijah let go of his deadly embrace with his
maker and turned his blood red gaze on Malachi.

“And why should we stop?”
His voice clearly tainted with hatred and loathing. Unexpectedly
Malachi stepped forward and grabbed onto Elijah. His actions like a
blur, he threw Elijah away from his brother. Then grabbing onto
Eme, he forcefully pulled her off and away.

“When I say stop, you will
stop.” Malachi said turning his back to his brother and addressing
the other vampires again.

“Now, Eme, release this
hold you have on Khalid.” He demanded. Completely stunned, she
stared at him dumbfounded.

“Now.” He said again when
Eme only stood there, motionless, her confusion evident to him and
the others.

“Fine.” She said, curious
as to why. Eme knew–they all knew–that she and Elijah had taken too
much for Adam to fight back with any respectable
ability.

Reaching into the canvas
bag again, she pulled out a small tiger’s eye stone and ground it
into large granular pieces within her grasp. With a flattened palm
she raised it to her lips and blew the contents towards Adam and
spoke one word, “Fineptia.” Instantly Adam fell to his knees, his
head bowed.

“He needs to pay for what
he has done to me. For killing my Deirdra, for unleashing ghastly
spirits upon me–I hate everything about him. He must die!” Mylana
said desperately, addressing Malachi.

“This is why I have stopped
his death. He could be useful. I have an idea for a resurrection
spell.” Malachi began. A gasp escaped Eme’s lips.

“No, there is no way that
we should do such a spell. She may not come back as she was; she
may not be the same. You don’t know the consequences of such a
thing.” Eme paused, “I am pained and sorrowed as much as everyone
else that Deirdra is no longer with us but that is not the way. She
is gone. Let her be.”

Mylana immediately was by
Eme’s side. “How dare you say such a thing? If it is possible I
want it done! Why shouldn’t we sacrifice his life to get hers
back?” Mylana bowed her head in sorrow for a moment before looking
up pleadingly at Eme then to Elijah.

“I have tried to accept it,
but I cannot. I have lost too many dear ones in my life. I cannot
lose anymore. I need her, Eme.” Mylana locked her sorrow filled
eyes with Eme’s. “This gives me hope.”

“Mylana,
don’t be foolish. It hurts, it will hurt for some time and you will
always
harbour
these feelings but you have
to give it time before the pain subsides. Trust me. This is not the
right thing to do.” Eme reached out and took hold of both Mylana’s
hands then kissed them. “Please, believe me.” Eme continued,
pleading with her to consider what she was
saying.

The night felt like it had
already existed a lifetime. The silence was unnerving and the
knowledge that Deirdra’s body was still in the room began to play
with Mylana’s sanity. She swore she began to hear the soft whisper
of Deirdra’s voice. Closing her eyes, she shook her head to shake
her out of this horror. Mylana walked over to the cinder-like body
of Deirdra. Falling to her knees she reached out to touch her once
beautiful vampiric body. Like in her dream, Deirdra’s body began to
crumble and fall to pieces at her touch. All that was left was a
heap of soiled clothes, ashes and a mass of tangled dirty blond
hair. The tears that had been welling in her eyes now flowed
freely.

“Mylana, no. Don’t do this
to yourself.” Elijah said in a soothing tone. He walked over to
her, grabbed onto her shoulders gently and guided her to her
feet.

“We will get rid of her…
body.” Elijah added, stumbling to find the right words. Mylana
turned her horrified expression in his direction, but did not
protest. She knew this had to be done. However the pain of
realizing it and having it dealt with was a whole other matter.
Lowering her head, Mylana gave a slight nod and walked away from
him to sit on the white couch. Feeling overwhelmed and emotionally
exhausted, Mylana let her vampiric nature of detachment take over.
She succumbed to numbness to survive.

“What are we to do with
him?” Mylana asked, her voice cold. She pointed at Adam who still
sat on his knees, his head bent.

Before anyone could answer
however, she added her venomous thoughts on the matter. “We should
decapitate him and burn him to a cinder. And God dammit, if he
comes back in another body, kill me now.” Her words were bitter but
she was serious about her statement.

Again, Malachi entered the
conversation. “I think you all should reconsider the resurrection
spell. If you all love her so dearly and if there is a way to get
her back, then why not?” He said giving Mylana a sincere look, but
she could not look him in the eye. Malachi walked over to her,
rested a hand upon her shoulder and looked between Eme and
Elijah.