The Ambrose Clique - now published on Amazon

1 - Descending is Never Easy

- updated -

This man smiled a lot. It wasn't the friendliest smile ever, he looked a bit like a shark. But I liked it. He looked smart, and kind.

"Come with me, I'm picking you up for your mother!" The man held up a card, bigger than the playing cards I've been teaching myself to play with. It showed a woman in a white dress, with a green blanket and a silly white hat. A moon was by her feet. The High Priestess, my mother's card. She says this is okay.

He grinned at me, reaching across and opening his car door as he spoke. I nodded and slid into the passenger seat. This man was kind.

We drove, I didn't keep track of where to or how long for. He kept asking me questions. I only answered him once.

"How old are you?"

"Nine," I mumbled.

"You're very grown up now, you remind me of your mother."

If he knew my mother, he must be a good man. If I reminded him of my mother, I must be good. She was very good.

* * *

I wasn't too sure now if he was a good man. The cellar he took me to was cold. It was nice to start off with. He gave me sweets and blankets and we sat together. But the blankets got scratchy and the floor got colder. My legs hurt and I grew very tired. He stayed with me for most of the day, constantly smiling. Constantly watching me.

"Do you want me to tell you a story?"

I nodded.

"Once upon a time, years and years ago, there was a beautiful goddess. But she was very lonely, for all of her beauty and talent, she had no friends. But she was a magic goddess, and decided to make herself some friends. She wanted them to look like humans, but gave them special powers like hers, though they weren't as powerful as she was."

"Magic powers?"

"Very magical."

"Like witches?"

"Yes, like witches. But these witches weren't the ugly ones in fairy tales. These witches were beautiful like the goddess, and talented too. They lived on earth happily, with other magical creatures."

"Dragons?"

"No, creatures like werewolves and vampires."

"But they're not magic! They're scary!"

"That can be quite true, my dear. There was a vampire, and he was very strong. But he was a kind vampire, and wanted to help his other vampire friends be just as strong as he was. He threw great parties, and invited all of his friends."

"Have you been to one?"

"I have, love."

"Can I go?"

"One day you can, when you're older. But let's get back to the story; a group of witches didn't like this vampire, they were jealous of how strong he was and how many friends he had."

"Boo!"

"Exactly, they weren't very nice witches. They made their friend group bigger and decided to hurt this nice vampire. He didn't think people could be so mean, so he didn't expect it! The group tried to attack him, the witches tried to kill the nice vampire!"

I never understood it, why would they try to kill the nice man?

As I was about to voice my confusion, a loud crash came from above us. The man sighed and started muttering to himself.