The Stone of Blood (48 page)

“Something moved in here Toby!” she said as she released my hand and then turned around in the darkness and looked back at me. “I saw something. I really did!”

That was when I heard her scream!

That was when I almost died!

A man stood behind her now just inside of the shadows, holdin’ his hand over her mouth! And he held her tightly with his other hand as she wiggled and kicked and tried to get away! Another man stepped into the light from behind me, blockin’ my escape; while still a third man lingered eerily in the darkness to my right!

“It seems you have somethin’ that belongs
to me
.” The stranger before me said as he lingered in the darkness. “And now it seems that I have
somethin’
that belongs to you!” He continued as he brushed the back of his hand across Cricket’s soft cheek. And I saw his hand as it took on the features of a ‘
werewolf
’…and I watched as his fingernails grew in thickness and in length!

“Who are you? And what do you want with us?” I asked him, knowin’ full well what it was he wanted but tryin’ to prolong the conversation for as long as I could; to figure out a way to get both of us out of there safe!

“You don’t know who I am?” The man asked me sarcastically. “Are you NOT the one of whom it has been
foretold …
would come?” he said as he stepped into the light.

It was him! The man with the
cold blue eyes! The one I had seen in my dream that held the gun!
The one Cricket had pointed out to me as …the alpha-male!

He leaned over to her then, to where she was bein’ held beside him …and he breathed in her scent.

Cricket kicked and squirmed in the arms of the man who held her securely against her will!

“You see I know who
you
are!” he said. “But this one …this one is
of u
s?” he said of Cricket as he leaned in close to her and ran his fingers through her hair. “But
you
…” he said as he pointed his finger at me and shook it back and forth slowly. “…you are not
of us
!”

And then he stepped back slightly into the darkness.

“You are of no threat to me boy!” he said with disgust. “You are …
human
!”

And he looked up into the rafters of the barn as though he was lookin’ into Heaven itself, and he raised his arms up open wide.

“THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE SENT TO DEFEAT ME?” He shouted!

“Are you Nathanael?” I asked him.

“Nathanael?” He answered. “It is the blood of Nathanael that courses through my veins, yes! And it is
his
blood that draws me here!”

The man with the cold blue eyes took off his wide brimmed hat then and held it to his chest.

“Is it not written in your Bible, boy? Does it not say that ‘
I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to thousands of generations, to those who love Me and keep My commandments’
?”

He paused then as if in silent reflection and then he put his hat back on and adjusted its fit.

“There is a curse upon our fathers’ boy, a curse upon our children and our children’s children …throughout the generations!” he said. “But the
‘Sang Pierre’
…the Stone of Blood
is the key! A key to the power that will allow the
blood of our fathers
to be renewed! As
foretold in the prophecy!
You asked me my name, boy?” He continued. “Some say that I am the
‘
Prince of Blood’
while others say I am the
Alpha,
the
Grand Master and rightful heir to the throne of the
‘
Order of the Wolf
’
!
” he said as he then tilted his glare. “Who is it that
you
say that I am?” He asked scornfully.

“What would you have me call you?” I asked him cunningly as he stood half in and out of the light. I could see the outline of his face as he moved within the darkness. I saw him as he sneered at me like the one who had once lingered eerily in the night …as he also transformed between man and beast …between that of man and his much truer canine form!

I watched him then as he reached inside the long black trench coat that he wore and pulled out a silver revolver that glistened from the light that penetrated the barn …and then as he cocked it …click …click …and pointed it at my head! And I stood there silently …staring down the barrel of his gun!

“You will bring me the
‘Sang Pierre’
before the Blood Moon reaches its summit in the eastern sky, or I will take
that which is yours
!” he said as he turned his gun then and pushed it against the side of Cricket’s face. “You understand me?” He asked as he leaned over to her again and breathed in her scent and nuzzled her hair.

“I will kill her slowly, I will kill your family and then I will kill you…” He told me as he turned back again and pointed the gun at me. “…in that
order
!”

Cricket was tryin’ to scream as I watched her kick and squirm and I heard her muffled words as she looked to me to save her!

“Release her to me and I will give you the Stone of Blood!” I told him. “I will give you the
‘Sang
Pierre
’
!”

And the room went quiet.

Cricket shook her head back and forth and I heard her scream “
No!
” But I couldn’t let him take her! I had to keep her safe!

The man with the cold blue eyes slipped back into the darkness then and I saw as he looked down into the tunnel; the tunnel where me and Colby had
lain
old boards and loose tarp across its entrance to keep it hidden; the tunnel whose door was now opened to the depths below.

“There
is nowhere
you can run that I will not find you!” He told me as he turned back again and motioned for the man to let her go. “You bring me the
‘Sang
Pierre
’
or I’ll be back for the girl! You understand what I’m sayin’? You understand me boy?” He turned to me then as he asked … asked as though he were talkin’ down to a child!

Cricket ran to me and wrapped her arms around me tightly; jumpin’ up into my arms and holdin’ me close! And together we watched as the two other men exited down into the tunnel, steppin’ down upon those broken cobblestone steps that would lead them back into the cavern.

The
man with the cold blue eyes
turned to me as he stood before the entranceway and he repeated his words, “…
before the Blood Moon reaches its summit!
”

And as I looked upon him I saw him take on the form of the ‘
werewolf
’ and then I heard him speak to me in a voice that was much deeper than it had been before …a voice that held much anger …and with a tongue that held much rage! And I heard a great howlin’ as that of a hundred ‘
werewolf
’ roars risin’ up from beneath the floorboards and still deeper growls from within the earth! And I saw his eyes glow in the stillness of the darkened barn as he
looked to the stables and to the depths below him!

“My name is Lucian …it means ‘
the light’
.”
The blue eyed ‘
werewolf
’ said, just
before he descended into the deep. “
You cannot stop me …so do not try!”

And I watched him as he returned once again to the form of a man and as he struck
a single match and lit the end of a finely rolled cigar; and I watched as the puffs of smoke encircled him.

I saw him as he checked the time on his Pocket Watch …a golden watch that glistened between the shadows and the light comin’ in through the slats in the boards. The same Pocket Watch that I had found in the woods! The one that I had given to Ms. Lillie! And
he saw …
that
I saw
!

Lucian breathed in a long deep toke of tobacco as he looked upon me and Cricket, and as he grinned an evil grin. And through lingerin’ wisps and circlin’ rings of smoke he said,
“You
fail to bring me what is
mine, boy,
and my name will take on a much
darker meaning
for you
…
as the sound
of
her screams …
fill
your
nightmares!”

Twenty Eight

Autumn Leaves

The sound of the shovel as it entered the soil; digging deeply into that rich dampened dirt was overshadowed only by the low grumble of my breath and the sweat that poured down like single drops of blood upon my brow. The rich scent of the fertilized earth overwhelmed my senses as I told myself over and over that I was ‘
almost there …just a little bit farther
’.