Resurrected (8 page)

Walking out of the alley,
he could feel his strength return with each passing moment, though
the wound on his neck remained. Before turning the corner, he
glanced back seeing the tragic scene of the two dead children
behind him. With a sigh, Elijah began walking in the direction of
Chantonnay. The events of that night weighted heavy on him and he
couldn’t help but feel that his guilt, fear and loathing would be
his downfall.

A Mustang glided its way
out of the gates of Chantonnay, but he kept his pace slow towards
the approaching car. He could tell the silhouette of the driver was
Deirdra’s. Instantly the desire to tell her what had happened
overwhelmed him, but that lingering feeling of dread would keep him
from telling her all that he knew.

“Elijah, what’s wrong?” She
asked. As he peered into Deirdra’s eyes fear gripped onto him
fiercely.

“Elijah, please. What is
it? Tell me!”

“He’s
here…” Elijah finally said, his
demeanour
changing
from fear to defeat. He was overcome with a sense of hopelessness.
Elijah couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel, only
darkness and a cage made of steel to imprison his clan. One guarded
by his sire, the Blood God.

“Who’s here?” Stepping
closer to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Looking up at
him, he knew she waited for a response.

“Adam…” It was the only
response he could muster.

“Adam?” Letting go of him,
she took a step back.

“What do
you know about this Adam? Who
is
he?”

Before Elijah could even
answer, Deirdra stood before him again, reached up and touched the
wound. Immediately he was reminded of the attack against him and
fought against the threat of weeping at his misfortunes–at
everyone’s misfortunes.

“Who did this to you?” She
asked frantically. “Why aren’t you healing?”

“For Christ’s sake, what
the hell is going on!” She exclaimed but as Elijah did not respond,
she turned and began walking back to the car only to stop halfway
and look back at him.

“Are you coming or what?”
Her voice clearly showed her agitation. “Well?”

Seeing Deirdra’s
frustration and annoyance with him broke Elijah’s heart. When he
needed her the most, she wasn’t capable of being there for him and
the reasoning behind it troubled him.

“He’s changing you.” Elijah
said weakly.

“I’m not the one that’s
changing, it’s you! You and everyone else!” She said, flailing her
arms about in her anger. Shaking her head she turned and began
walking back to the car. Stopping suddenly after opening the car
door, she stood eerily still. However, soon enough she climbed into
the mustang without another word.

Unable to let her leave
without informing her that Stone was alive, Elijah silently told
her of his situation.

“I found
Stone
.” He said silently. Instantly,
Deirdra climbed out of the car and was by his
side.

“Where is he?” He could
hear the distress in her voice.

“He is with Brenna and
Kristine. Not the best hands to be in, I might add. You know, your
child is no longer yours… and Kristine is no longer to be trusted.
We are all pawns in Adam’s game. You must see that, you have to!”
Elijah said, desperation filling his words.

“What do
you mean she’s not my child anymore? And as for Kristine, I never
trusted her to begin with!” She exclaimed. He felt her anger grow
as she continued to ask her questions. “And how do you know this
Adam, who
is
he?”

Elijah leaned in and
whispered into her ear, “176 Garner Drive, you will find them all
there. I warn you, be careful.” Elijah then gingerly kissed her
cheek. Deirdra breathed in deeply his scent and without warning she
wrapped her arms around him pulling him close to herself. She
leaned in closer and brushed her lips against his and on tiptoe she
made her way to nuzzle her face in the crook of his neck. Elijah’s
body shivered with excitement at her touch. It was only when
Deirdra’s fangs pierced his flesh that Elijah felt violated. With a
firm grasp, he grabbed onto her shoulders and pulled her
away.

“No.” He said. She glared
at him then shrugged out of his grasp and walked back to the idling
car. Hopping in, she revved the engine and sped away, leaving
Elijah behind.

Chapter 7

(Eme – December
11,1999)

Eme had been in magical
flight for almost seven hours. With the sun rising rapidly and her
strength diminishing with each passing moment, she began her decent
back to the earth and landed softly on her feet.

Eme looked around for a
practical place to rest, but having stopped in the middle of a
forest, she had to improvise. She began to dig with her bare hands
at the soft earth beside an immense spruce tree. Once the hole was
large enough to fit her body, she buried her backpack under a
nearby brush and climbed into her makeshift bed that eerily
appeared like a grave. After covering herself with dirt, she waited
for sleep to come.

While Eme lay there
corpse-like, a beam of sunlight seared across her face. She
scampered to her feet, her head darting back and forth. Looking
around, confused and frightened she waited for the burning to
begin. But nothing happened–the sun only wrapped its warm embrace
around her. Looking to her right, the grave-like bed she remembered
laying in no longer existed. It appeared as if she had been resting
only on top of the earth on a bed of spruce branches. As Eme
attempted to figure out what was happening, her vision began to
blur and everything seemed to melt away in a heat-wave-like
manner.

Not a moment too soon her
vision cleared, the forest had disappeared and she found herself
looking at a vast land that eerily appeared like her homeland from
millennia ago. The scorching desert sand stung her bare feet as she
stood in an old wrap skirt, the hot wind gently swaying her long
hair. If she were to look to the west, she would see the pyramids
rising high in the air in all their glory. She sighed as she closed
her eyes, tilted her head back and breathed in the warm
air.

Any confusion she had been
experiencing was quickly overcome by the welcome feeling of being
at home. Eme soaked in the heat of the sun–warmth she hadn’t felt
in nearly four thousand years. But all too soon she was interrupted
by a male voice calling her name. Her eyes flew open and standing
before her was her immortal brother, Ezra. He was dressed similarly
to Eme, in a white wrap skirt. His auburn hair swayed in the hot
breeze and his hazel eyes glistened in the sun. Eme’s eyes filled
with tears as her body began to shake.

Her voice was filled with
shock and confusion, “Ezra? My dear brother, is that really
you?”

Remaining silent, Ezra
lifted his right hand to Eme’s face and grazed it gently. A warm
smile spread across his features.

“Oh, it has been so long
since I have seen you.”

Mute Ezra
turned and began walking slowly towards the Nile. Eme followed
behind her brother, watching him curiously. The closer they came to
the river, the greener and lusher
the land
became. The fertile earth that flanked the river seemed an oddity,
for the rest of the surroundings consisted of sandy
desert.

Ezra knelt down at the
riverside and dipped his hands into the water, his palms cupped. As
he raised his hands the water ran down his arms. He turned to Eme
and extended his arms to her, letting the water fall to the ground.
Eme shook her head in confusion. She pleaded with her eyes for him
to explain what he was trying to tell her.

Ezra’s
demeanour
was peaceful. He gestured
north, pointing towards the river. Moments later her vision began
to blur again and the surroundings wavered. Once the confusion of
the changing scenery had dissipated, Eme discovered that she was
bound with iron chains at her ankles and wrists. She could feel the
searing pain of the torn flesh on her back and she knew she had
been beaten.

This was the time in her
life when she was utterly alone. Elijah had long ago left her side
and the pain of Ezra’s departure was still fresh in her mind. With
unfortunate luck, she allowed herself to befriend a coven of
vampires who turned out to be trouble. These vampires had been
searching for what most thought was only a myth about the origins
of their kind. But to their delight, Eme was who they hoped she
was–one of the first vampires. Unable to disguise or contain their
sinister desires, the elder vampires within the coven raped her for
her blood, leaving her debilitated. Once they discovered that Eme’s
blood did not make them any more powerful, their anger was swift
and severe.

Eme loathed that her mind
had taken her back to that place, to her worst memory. She closed
her eyes, hoping that when she opened them that she would find
herself elsewhere. But alas, once her eyes were open, she was still
bound but now placed in a cage outdoors. Darkness surrounded
her.

Out of the black abyss came
Ezra walking up to her. Clothed in fur and leather, he looked down
at Eme. Again her vision blurred, the surroundings wavered and Eme
soon found herself standing free beside Ezra. Dressed in a fine
short-sleeved cotton chemise with an ankle length over-dress, the
gentle breeze played with the dark green cloak that hung over her
shoulders. Snow fell gently around them and the clanging of swords
in battle rang in the air. Eme knew then she was in Denmark at
another pivotal point in her life she had tried to forget. Staying
silent, Ezra now pointed south. Slowly he lowered his arm and
mouthed the word Rome. Eme looked at him questioningly.

“Why Rome? I don’t
understand!” Eme felt unusually vulnerable.

Ezra mouthed the words,
“you must retrieve him.”

Almost instantly after he
gave Eme his instructions, Ezra and the background faded into
black. A feeling of claustrophobia began to set in and Eme reached
out into the darkness only to realize she was immobilized by dirt.
Eme pushed and clawed her way through the earth that she had
covered herself with at dawn. Once she was above ground she took in
a deep breath. The gentle light of the moon cascaded down around
her and looking around, she was relieved to see she was surrounded
by trees. Feeling more at ease, a sigh escaped her lips. Not quite
knowing what to do, Eme sat beside where she had just risen. She
didn’t know how to take what she had just seen in her
dream.

She hopped to her feet not
wanting to be there any longer and gathered the things she had
buried the night before. Having exhausted much of her energy the
night before on magick, she felt rather weak. With the combination
of being fatigued and unnerved by her dreams, Eme wasn’t even going
to try and attempt magick that night. She decided to walk to the
nearest town and make use of man-made transportation. With her
backpack casually hanging over one shoulder, she began walking in
the general direction of the lights she had seen last
night.

Walking swiftly, Eme’s
thoughts were frenzied. Instead of returning home, she felt she
must instead head to Rome posthaste. Her brother’s spirit was
guiding her to the missing key. The idea of heading to Rome was
terrifying. She didn’t know what to expect, she had assumed he was
dead and let the memory of him escape her.

Reaching the city limits of
Baton Rouge, she quickly hailed the first cab she saw and headed
directly for the closest international airport. She decided to book
her flight to Rome for early the next night.

She made the best of her
early morning in Baton Rouge trying not to brood over her past in
Rome. After feeding, Eme lay on the bed in the motel room beginning
to feel antsy. The thought of phoning La Maison Chantonnay came to
mind but something held her back. She had a feeling that things
were not the same there and she feared if she didn’t hurry, the
people she loved wouldn’t be there when she returned. Eme couldn’t
wait to be in the air, at least doing something–going somewhere,
rather than just waiting for things to happen.

Chapter 8

(Deirdra – December 6,
1999)

After I left Elijah, hunger
gnawed at me until blood was all I could think about. The warmth
from the mustang’s heater was soothing. I drove aimlessly for some
time before I parked outside a strip mall. I sat in the idling car
for a moment before turning it off and climbing out into the frigid
air. It was eerily calm and silent. The parking lot was practically
empty, except for the small cluster of cars outside the entrance to
the old English-style pub. Casually I made my way to the pub where
I would find my snack.

The night sky had a pinkish
hue due to the city lights that illuminated the hovering clouds.
Taking in its beauty, I took one last look up at the sky and then I
swung open the door. Cigarette smoke tinged with the scent of stale
beer wafted into my face. I walked into the gray smog and over to
the bar, taking a seat at one of the many empty barstools. Turning
slightly I rested my elbow against the counter and proceeded to
scan those lingering in the pub.