Warlocks, werewolves, banshees, ah Demons. I pulled the book from the shelf and sat down at the massive mahogany desk. It was amazing how many books you could find on evil. People tend to dismiss them as lunatic rantings but they were usually true. An individual person is smarter than the society to which he belongs. Well I at least would like to believe that. Most humans weren't ready to accept what happens in the shadows. Blissfully ignorant, they continue on with their lives.
I flipped on the desk light and opened the book. This particular book I purchased from a gypsy clan in Romania. They had been happy to have me with them for a few days to help them vanquish a Grimlock who was blinding their children. In return they helped me with my empathic powers. Gypsies are really good with empathy. Chances are if you've ever gone to a psychic, palm/tarot card reader, or a crystal ball reader it was a gypsy.
Flipping through the pages, I looked at every demon. Nothing. Well this was something new. I flipped to the index page and scanned for water demons. Four. I turned to those specific pages. None of them resembled the lady I saw. Hum. Maybe she was a water spirit. I rose and walked back over to the booked clad wall. The clock in the downstairs hallway chimed four. Damn! Sunrise would be in a half an hour.
I ran down the front staircase and headed right. "Open!" I yelled at the altar room door. The doors slid open and I jumped over the threshold. Potions. I needed a good all-purpose vanquishing potion. I opened the glass china cabinet again and looked to the back this time. I've been trying to work on keeping as many potions handy as possible. You never know what you might be facing and having to go to the store for herbs, then brew the potion wasted precious time. Toward the back in black glass bottles were a few that were stronger than the three I has used earlier with the fire starters, so I grabbed four. I turned and walked to the weapons chest. I grabbed an athame, strapped it to my calf and headed back out the doors and to the hall closet. I decided I should wear the long pea coat, it would be a little nippy out and I really hated being cold. Gun? What the hell, I slid the shoulder harness on quickly, then the jacket. With the potion bottles in my pockets I stood at the door. I really hope this is enough.
I centered myself and concentrated on the man in my vision. I reached my mind out and felt his. Good, nothing has happened yet. I focused on his location and with a swirl of wind I was there. I was standing on the dock looking up at shore. The fisherman was walking down the dock and heading to his boat when I appeared. I glanced quickly at the water and found that the bubbles were starting to form. Crap.
The man I was here to protect brought me back to the present by yelling at me, "Why are you here?" But the last half faded out as he saw what was going on in the water. I turned toward the fisherman but he was already at my side.
The bubbles became more frequent and then came the lady. I reached out with one arm holding back the fisherman and with the other grabbed one of the potion bottles out of my pocket. Just as she was crowning the surface I threw the bottle. It cracked on the surface and water exploded everywhere. The fisherman and I were both thrown back onto the dock. I jumped up quickly, glanced at the fisherman who was unconscious and was ready when I saw the woman rising through the water as if nothing had happened. Oh crap. I grabbed two more bottles and swung them both at the creature. Her eyes opened and caught a glimpse of the potions heading toward her. With one wave of her trident she sent them both flying back at me.
"Shield!" I held up my hand and a blue light of a shield formed a square in front of me as I kneeled to avoid the bottles and keep her in my line of sight.
The bottles hit the shield and the force threw me back on my butt. Damn those are strong. The lady was rising out of the water and stepped out onto the dock. I jumped up as fast as I could, but she was already standing above the man with her trident. I called for her trident and directed it into the water. She turned toward me and opened her arms. This was defiantly not good. A wave of water surrounded me and I was trapped. I couldn't move. I tried to teleport, but that was blocked too. Great.
She held up her hand the trident came to her and she shoved it into the chest of the fisherman. Blood trickled down his chest and onto the weather beaten wood of the dock. His eyes opened as he regained consciousness and he tried to shove her off. His eyes, they were black. My god he was a vampire. What the hell was going on? Why did I receive a vision to save a vampire? Better yet what was she doing killing a vampire?
She surrounded him in the same manner I was trapped and started to speak in a language I didn't understand. A green glow started to surround the man as his soul was sucked into the trident and then the body turned to dust. Her hands gripped the trident as hard as she could and she then absorbed the man's soul into herself. The only thing worse that dying is having your soul sent to the void. It is a horrible place where everything ceases to exist. Even for a vampire, I would not have ever wished that on someone or thing. I wanted to move, to call for his soul.
She must have sensed my torment, because she was walking over to me. She was dressed scantly in a toga type outfit. Both of her arms were clad with gold bands and her hair was braided with seaweed. She held out the trident toward me, but spoke first, "You silly little witch. You cannot stop what has been set in motion. We will have our revenge and we will return to our rightful thrones." With that she threw her arms in the air and water filled through the boards of the dock and carried her back to the ocean. The wave of water dropped to my feet and I could move again. I dropped to my knees and then remembered the vampire. I got up and ran to the pile of dust. I tried to get a vision or, well I was hoping for anything to explain what had just happened. Nothing. I waved his ashes into the wind, "I am sorry." God I was going to have to talk to Nicklas, if he didn't already know, about this. Boy this day is starting off well.
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When I finally teleported myself back home it was going on six o'clock. I had to be at the library to open in an hour. That didn't leave me much time to clean up. I was sopping wet and I was pretty sure I was going to have a bruise on my butt the size of a Buick. I went up the stairs to my bedroom. I walked directly into the bathroom and stripped. I carefully hid the athame and last potion bottle in my adjoining closet as I just didn't have time to get to my altar room, I knew I would stay there and try to figure this out. My housekeeper would be here at eight and I didn't need her questions.
I hopped in for a quick shower. The hot water felt good and I let the water take with it the negative energies that the battle had caused. I had lost an innocent, I think, and I was no closer to finding out who that woman was. My mind was racing and I felt exhausted. I got out of the shower and toweled off. This was going to be a long day. I dressed quickly in a dark green skirt with matching jacket and a silk ivory shirt. The library wasn't very formal, but it made a better impression on people if you looked decent. I might have been going overboard, but I figured what the heck! I braided my hair quickly and let it hang down my back. I sat at the vanity and looked at myself in the mirror. I was attractive. My long brown hair, when worn down, accentuated my high cheekbones. I looked as though I was born a Grecian, even though my mother was Scottish and my father hailed from Essex. I was tan, lean and muscular. But then I had to be athletic. Couldn't fight the forces of evil if you had to stop and catch your breath. I had a perfect body, but I did have to work to keep it up. I practiced yoga three times a week and took a karate class on Thursday nights. Well I only actually get to go every once in a while. Demons aren't very cooperative with schedules. My eyes were my favorite feature. I had my father's same vivacious green eyes. They were the perfect shade of emerald. I sighed and slipped on my dark brown sling backs.
I headed out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. Mrs. Cooper would wander why my bed hadn't been slept in. I walked over to it and turned down the sheets. I tried to scrunch them up a bit and then headed down the back stairs to the kitchen. I picked up the phone on the wall and dialed Rodger. He was a co-worker who owed me a favor. He answered the phone quickly. "Hello?" His voice was clear as a bell and then I remembered he hardly ever slept. "Good Morning Rodger." He paused briefly then perked up, "Alexis! Good Morning. What can I do for you?" He was always so cheerful. He was an older man with a potbelly with hair that was white and full. He looked like Santa Claus. "Rodger I need a favor." He chimed right in, "Sure. What?" I just kept going, "I need you to open the library. I have something that just came up and I am going to be about an hour late." I tried to sound as desperate as possible and it must have worked. He answered with out hesitation. "Sure! I'll be there in fifteen minutes." "Thank you Rodger." He hung up and I did the same. Good. Now I can get this over with before I have time to change my mind.
I walked to the hall closet and grabbed my long brown pea coat. It was mid- December, and quite chilly out. Although it had yet to snow, the wind chill made up for it. I wrapped the coat around me and buttoned it all the way up. I grabbed my gloves and was ready. I opened my mind and focused on Nicklas's house. I was outside his main doors instantly and just as fast his guards were almost on top of me. I threw up a force field and they hit it and fell back. Evil can sense good and likewise with me. I can feel their aura, as I'm sure it works similar for them. I was hoping this was why I was being attacked.
