Chapter Seventeen: Secrets

~ Marie ~

Her back protested as she tried to sit up. Normally, it was something she would have ignored but the ache combined with the exhaustion had her flat on her back again. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself slowly to her knees. From there, she used the bookshelf to help lift herself up the rest of the way. Sleeping on the floor had not been a good idea.

Marie had stayed up long past the time Adrian had gone to bed, searching for answers. Before he left, he had offered to carry her to bed if she was too tired to walk there herself. She had told him no in between turning pages. Marie wouldn’t have accepted his offer but she should have gone to bed. After she had gone through the last book on the table, she had tried to go through other books for demons that would have been worth talking to. She had finally passed out after reading another two more books. And still she found nothing.

Now it was… Marie glanced at her watch. It was already noon. She stretched for a moment before heading towards the door. Coffee and then back to reading. She needed to find something by tonight. Adrian said the bond was still there so Mark wasn’t dead but his time was running out. Whoever had him wouldn’t hold him for long.

*~*~*~*~*

Marie leaned against the table as she stared at her shelves. What was she missing? She was positive she had pulled all the demons that would have been fine to be summoned by such a low amount of death. Marie had even checked the higher end of the mid-tier demons. A sigh escaped as she leaned back. Maybe she should look higher. Even if it shouldn’t have worked, there was still the possibility that the demon showed up because they wanted to be summoned. Though why a demon would want that, she couldn't even begin to understand.

But if that was true then the demon would have had to have supplied part of the energy needed to be summoned. Only a really high level demon could have done that. A low level demon would hoard the energy, spending as little as possible. Hmm. Marie scanned the shelves as an idea began to take hold. It was impossible that this demon would have shown up but if she was going to look at higher level demons she might as well start with that. She pulled out a book with a brown, worn cover that had no title on any part of the book. It had been a long time since she’d opened this book but if she remembered correctly, he should be at the back. Marie flipped through the pages at the back of the book until she came to a large script that took up a whole page. She didn’t need to compare it to the paper on the table to see it was a match. How did they get a demon like this to show up? This should have been impossible.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. She caught a glimpse of her watch as she closed the book and put it down. Five-thirty. Not a vampire then. Should she ignore it? Better not. Marie stood up and went over to the door.

She opened it to find a giant mass of red waiting on the other side. A large bouquet of roses was being carried by a struggling deliveryman. He shifted the flowers to one arm as he worked not to crush them against his chest.

“Marie Williams?”

“That’s me.”

“These are for you. May I come in and put them down?” Marie opened the door and held it as he maneuvered the bouquet through the opening.

“You can just put them on the floor.” The man put the flowers on the ground before he wiped the sweat from his forehead as he exhaled.

“Have a good day.” He didn’t even ask her to sign anything. Instead he walked out the door as she stared at the giant red bush. The roses were in a large glass vase filled with water but what was she supposed to do with this? Was there a special way to take care of flowers in a vase? Marie spotted something white amidst the red and leaned over to get a closer look. A white envelope peeked out from the sea of red. She opened it up and read the card.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

-Noah

Below that a phone number was listed. Did he have additional information for her? She would need to wait at least another hour before she could call him and see what he wanted. Marie put the card back into the envelope and headed back to her study but her doorbell rang again before she had a chance to sit down. Who was it this time? She went over to the door and cautiously opened it. A woman stood on her front porch wearing a dark blue business outfit. Her blond hair was put up in a bun. The woman’s blue eyes shifted from side to side as she wrung her hands.

“Are you the Guardian?”

“Did you need something?”

“We need your help. Please, there isn’t much time.” The woman grabbed her wrist and tried to pull Marie out of her house but she dug her heels in and tried to pull her arm back. The woman glanced back, confused by her resistance but Marie wasn’t going to let herself get dragged out of her house without learning more.

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“I-I’m Susan. A servant of the Westfall clan.” The woman’s eyes shifted away as she tightened her grip on Marie’s arm. “We didn’t want something to happen to our Master so we’ve been keeping an eye out.” Susan finally let Marie's arm go before she reached into her pocket and pulled a talisman out. “We found this outside.” Marie recognized it immediately. It was identical to the one she had ripped off of Mark’s barrier but the spell wasn't completed. There was a script missing. Susan grabbed the talisman and stuffed it back in her pocket before she clasped her hands together. “Please help us.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Marie glanced back at her hallway before closing the door behind her.

Susan had practically pushed Marie into the passenger side seat of a blue car and driven away before she had even put on her seatbelt. Marie looked the vehicle over as they got onto the highway. The car felt smaller than Adrian’s but was just as new. The tint on the car was dark but not as dark as his. The passing signs read I-35 N but it didn’t give her any clue as to where they were going. She was only good at remembering landmarks given her teleportation ability.

“Where did you find the talisman again?”

“Um. We found it on the ground. Right inside the gate. We searched the area but didn’t find anybody. We were worried that they had made it inside so we hid our Master and I came to find you.”

“Has anyone contacted you since then?”

“N-No. Nothing since I left.” The car turned off the highway and went down Rittiman Road. They turned right at a park and passed several blocks before she turned left. Susan drove them down a dead end street and stopped just before the dead end. She turned onto a driveway and stopped in front of a large wrought iron gate. Susan opened her window and keyed a code into the machine located on the left side. The light on the machine turned green before the gate opened up slowly. They had to wait for the gate to open up enough before Susan could continue.

Marie stared through the bars and tried to gain as much information as she could before they opened all the way. The driveway was lined with bushes that were uniformly trimmed. The lawn was well taken care of, with not a weed in sight. Once the gate was open, Susan drove them all the way to the front of a large two story house and parked the car. The whole area was clean and neat. The only problem was the lack of people. She hadn’t seen a single person on their way up the driveway. No gardeners. No security. It didn’t help that the front door was open, either.

Susan frantically searched the area before jumping out of the car and running up the stairs leading to the wraparound porch. Marie got out of the car at a much slower pace as she continued to look around. She heard the woman shouting but couldn’t make out the words. Marie frowned.

Her senses had been opened ever since they stopped at the gate but she couldn’t sense any magic. If this was a vampire safe house, there should be some magic defenses up but there was nothing. This was clearly a trap. But was Westfall in on it or were they just another victim? Marie put a quick barrier on herself before making her way to the front door.

Inside, she found herself in a small entryway. A hallway lay in front of her with a staircase to the left and a doorway to the right. Above the entryway was a large crystal chandelier. There was still no sign of anyone.

“Over here! Please hurry!” Susan’s arm waved from further down the hallway before it disappeared. Marie followed slowly, her senses still open. Every room she passed on her way over looked perfect. No signs of a struggle or anything that would give her a clue as to what might have happened to the inhabitants. At the end of the hallway, Marie found a large kitchen but no Susan. A giant stone island took up half of the room. The rest of the kitchen had cabinets on three of the walls. This area was clean as well except for several cans littering the floor in front of an open doorway. Was this where Susan had gone?

She scanned the room but didn’t see any other way Susan could have gone. Marie took a closer look at the open doorway. It was actually a secret passageway hidden behind a shelf. Marie closed the shelf for a moment to study how it worked. There were still a few cans left on the shelf. Marie texted it out, moving the shelf back and forth. There was no way to lock it. Good. Even though teleporting was an option, she didn’t want to get locked down there. She opened it back up and peered in. Beyond the doorway was a staircase that went down into darkness. Marie felt something unpleasant just beyond the reach of her magic senses. Another demon?

She stood back from the passage. Better to be prepared in case it turned out to be as bad as she thought. She wrote the script for defense on the palm of both of her hands. This would only give her a little more protection beyond her barrier but this would allow her to take two more hits. It might make all the difference when it came to a demon. The rest of her magic would be saved for offensive measures. With that out of the way, she took a deep breath before she started her descent.

The passageway was more rough than she had seen from upstairs. The bare minimum was used to keep the space from collapsing. The walls were still mostly dirt and the stairs were made of rough boards nailed together. She wasn’t sure how sturdy any of this was. It was holding her weight so far but that didn’t make it safe. To make things worse, there was no railing either. Marie recoiled a moment later and had to quickly lean against the wall to keep from falling. She stood there for a moment. Marie kept her hands by her sides even though what she really wanted to do was to use them to cover her nose. Having her hands free was more important than keeping the smell out. She tried to breathe as normally as possible as she continued to make her way down. The stench of blood and death grew the closer to the bottom she got. Dammit. This was more than enough death to summon a demon. Maybe even multiple demons.

At the bottom of the stairs, her eyes confirmed what her nose had already told her. Multiple bodies were scattered about. No one had survived the massacre. The demon wouldn’t have left any of them alive. Marie studied the bodies more closely but she didn’t see Mark among them. The tightness in her chest eased a little as she moved on.

Further down the passage she spotted light. She moved closer and found an opening in the wall. It didn’t even really qualify as a doorway with how crooked the wooden beams and poles used to hold it up were. It was barely taller than she was and the width wasn’t that large either. This was probably what prevented all those people from escaping. Marie shook her head. There was enough time for theories later.

She crept through the opening and found herself in a much larger cavern. It was more blood splattered than the place she left behind. Pools of blood had formed around the center of this cavern, close to the circle in the center of the room.This was where the people had been sacrificed. Once the killing had been done, the bodies were no longer useful and were moved to the other area.

Marie scanned the rest of the cavern. Susan knelt next to a body in the middle of the circle. Beyond them, on the other side of the cavern lay another body. She edged along the cavern wall while keeping the center in her line of sight. Mark was propped against the cavern wall, his head leaning on his shoulder. Marie gently laid him down. She knelt beside him and sent her magic into him, checking his condition. His barrier was completely gone but it had done its job. He was still alive. Marie placed a quick barrier on him before she worked on stabilizing him.

“Please, help him! My Master is still alive!” Marie glanced back at the circle. Susan stood and faced her with tears running down her cheeks as she clenched her hands in a gesture of prayer.

“Are you done acting?”

“What?” There was a moment of silence before laughter filled the cavern as the man rose to his feet.

"It's no use continuing this charade." Susan stepped back in awe before kneeling with her head down. The man straightened his suit and fixed his hair as his eyes swept the room. She needed more time than he was going to give her. Mark was barely past the point of not dying in the next hour. Tsk. If only she was more efficient at healing.

“I am glad it was a success, Master.” He gestured for her to rise and she quickly stood before him. “May I have my reward now, Master?” Maybe this would give her the extra time she needed. Marie only half paid attention to the exchange going on behind her as she poured more magic into Mark.

“It is only right to reward hard work.”

“Master!” Marie spun around and stared at the center of the room. The vampire had Susan by the throat and lifted her up until she was a foot off the ground. “What are you doing?!”

“Unfortunately, your services are no longer required.” Marie threw a fireball in their direction but the vampire dodged it.

“No, Master! I can...still be...useful!” Susan choked out the words as she clawed at the hand holding her throat. There was already too much death in the room there didn’t need to be anymore. Marie stood up and threw two more fireballs. But they were dodged as well. The vampire laughed and threw the woman's body away. Susan’s body hit one of the cavern walls but she was dead before she even reached the floor. Dammit.

“Now where were we? Ah. Introductions.” He snapped his fingers before bowing gracefully. “Eric, Master of Westfalls.” He straightened up and strolled towards her, careful to walk around the pools of blood.

“Former Master of Westfalls. Everyone in your clan is dead.” Marie moved away from Mark, as she kept her back against the wall. She didn't want him to get caught in the middle of her fight.

“True but that's only for the moment. I will have a clan again after I have taken care of the other Masters.”

“Why would anyone want you for a Master? You clearly don’t take care of your clan.”

“Well, when they only have two choices. They should make the correct one.”

“And that choice would be?”

“Me or Death. Simple isn’t it?” Just needed to keep him talking. Good for her that he liked the sound of his voice. She could only hope he didn’t have magic sight like Adrian or the ability to sense magic. She needed time to write her spell. Marie tried to hide it by writing it behind her back

“So you just wanted power? Killing your entire clan seems to be a drastic choice. Wasn’t there other ways of accomplishing your goals?”

“It was something of a waste but sometimes drastic measures are needed in order to achieve something great.” He shrugged but he wasn’t the least bit affected by the deed. It would be easy to blame his current attitude on the demon but he had killed his clan before the demon had been summoned. Eric had considered them disposable pawns all along.

“Why didn’t you kill Noah?”

“Still haven’t figured that out? I thought you were more capable than that.” He clicked his tongue at her as he wagged his finger. “After Susan captured him, I had planned to use him right away but it was more interesting to use him to cause trouble between Bel Meade and Stone Oak. Soon those two will be so busy fighting each other that they won’t notice when their little war serves to make me stronger. And if I so happen to kill a couple of people to hurry things along they will only blame each other.” Just a little more.

“Susan wasn’t the only one helping you. Who else helped you?”

“Still trying to find answers even though you’re about to die.” He laughed but didn’t stop walking forward. “I might have had a little help with information.” Eric shrugged but a flash of hatred twisted his face for a moment before it returned to a mocking expression. “Susan was more than enough for Noah. All I had to do was dangle the possibility of being turned into a vampire and she happily complied.” He laughed harder as he put his hand on his stomach. “She left to get you knowing I would slaughter everyone inside. She even told them bye with a smile on her face.” He stopped laughing and straightened up. “Foolish woman. Though she isn’t the only one.” Eric smiled maliciously as he stared at her.

He was only twenty feet away now. She would only get one chance. Marie got ready to pour her magic into the spell. This spell would force the demon from his body but she couldn’t let her guard down even if the spell did connect. Depending on how much he fought to keep the demon, she would still need to fight Eric after this. She watched him move closer, her body tensing in preparation. Ten feet. Five feet. Now! Marie threw the spell at him. He smiled at her before disappearing. Between one blink and the next, he was gone.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” Marie turned to her left and found Eric two feet away from her. She stepped back but he was already right in front of her. He broke her barrier with a simple tap of his finger before grabbing the front of her shirt and using it to toss her across the cavern.

She sailed through the air before bouncing against the ground and sliding to a stop. Marie rolled to her side and her hand went through a puddle of blood. She felt disgust roll through her. Marie pushed herself up and noticed that she was just a few feet away from the circle. She lunged towards the circle and quickly burned it away. Shutting down the portal wouldn’t make the demon go away or sap its strength but it would make it harder for it to use the death and magic in the air to recover. Now she just needed to injure it.

“It’s too late. I already have all the power I need. That circle has served its purpose.” Eric didn’t know anything about demons if he was boasting like that. Didn’t matter. Right now, ignorant as he was, he was still a major threat.

Considering his little shove cracked the extra defenses on her hands, she would need to use everything at her disposal. He was playing right now but there was no telling how long this would last until he got bored and killed her. Tsk. If only she had all her magic back. Marie pressed her lips together. Thinking like that would do her no good. She’d worry about secrets later. If she lived.

Eric studied her for a moment before he glanced to the right. He gave her a sideways glance as his smile became more cruel. Dammit! He was heading towards Mark! That was the deciding factor. Marie’s eye color changed to orange as she scrambled to her feet. She gathered lightning in her hands and rushed towards the vampire.

She was careful to aim high as she threw the balls of lightning at Eric. He dodged it easily, without looking behind him. It didn’t even slow him down as he continued walking towards the boy.

Marie stopped and quickly wrote out another spell. She aimed carefully and let the spell go. Eric dodged it yet again. The spell hit Mark instead but that was just what she was hoping for. Eric stopped for a moment. He threw his head back and laughed.

“You weren’t even aiming for me. Clever.” He was still chuckling as he stopped in front of Mark. Eric put his hand out and came into contact with the barrier. Sparks flew from where his hand caressed it. Marie took that chance to start the demon separation spell again. “You really don’t learn, do you?” He sneered at her before returning his attention to the barrier. “Or maybe the reason you fight so hard is because of this boy?” Eric placed both hands on the barrier and pressed down hard. Cracks began to form along the surface of the barrier. Damn him! She was only halfway finished.

She abandoned the spell and went back to gathering lightning in her hands as she walked towards him. He looked right at her as he pressed down again.

Crack!

The sound filled the cavern. The barrier was close to breaking. The cracks along its surface had merged and grown to the point that it was one touch away from shattering. Dammit! Marie blinked and her steps faltered. Eric had disappeared. She stopped and tensed. Her eyes scanned the area.

She felt a touch on the back of her arm. His finger continued to slide down, his touch was soft. She whirled around but he was already gone. Marie slowly turned before she made her way over to Mark. Where was he? She got her answer when pain lanced across the back of her legs. Marie stumbled but forced herself to keep going. Eric’s laugh echoed around the cavern but she still didn’t see him.

Once she reached the boy, she let the lightning go. Marie knelt beside Mark and wrote the spell directly on his body. It was reckless to use this much magic on a barrier but she wasn’t going to let him die here.

“What are you doing?” Eric's breath moved the hair around her ear but she focused on the spell. Searing pain was felt on her right cheek as his nail slowly cut into her face. She wrote the final character and shoved her magic into the spell before she turned towards him and threw more lightning. Eric had already disappeared, only his laughter stayed behind. “I’m curious. Why are you trying to prevent me from killing him? Wouldn’t all that magic be better used to protect yourself rather than a half dead vampire?”

Marie stood up and turned to face him again. She gathered more lightning as she waited for him to make his move. He tilted his head as he contemplated her.

“Maybe I’ll keep you around for a while. I could always use a pet.” He laughed as she threw lightning. Eric jumped backwards, landing on his feet more than thirty feet away. She tensed again ready to throw more lightning at him when there was a blur of movement and he went flying into the wall, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris.