Bloodbond

Chapter 20

I sat in the middle of a circle of white candles, with Gabriel on my right. All the lights had been turned off so that only the gentle glow of the candles' flames illuminated the room. Under the circumstances, the soft light seemed a bit eerie and fear began to seep into my bones as I sat there waiting.

Gabriel's generals stood back against the wall, while Madame Lavoie was seated in front of us, just outside of the circle. Her legs were crossed and it seemed as if her thoughts were elsewhere. No one in the room made a sound. Breaking the thick silence just didn't feel right. Even though I felt wrong doing it, I shot a quick glance at Gabriel and saw that he was sitting in a similar fashion to Madame Lavoie, with his legs crossed, back ramrod straight, and a look of complete concentration on his face. I felt a little like the black sheep here. I just didn't know how I was supposed to act. Madame Lavoie had assured me that she would instruct me in what I was supposed to do as we went along but, as of yet, all she'd told me to do was sit in the center of the candles. Not much to go on.

Laid out in front of Madame Lavoie was a thick blood red cloth, on which she had placed a fierce looking dagger, about three inches in length, with a curved silver handle. When I saw her pull that thing out, my heart rate had gone through the roof.

To the left of the dagger, were two small empty vials that were currently uncapped. Finally, next to the vials, was a small talisman that was shaped liked a pentagram. Being all into fantasies myself, I knew there was nothing evil about that shape. The symbol represents a connection with the elements and the earth.

All too often, it has been misrepresented as having an evil connotation when, in reality, it is meant as a protection against evil. It's amazing what ignorance and hatred can do to people.

A rather large book, encased in a mahogany colored leather that had obviously seen better days, sat open in front of Madame Lavoie. From my vantage point, all I could make out was the pentagram that sat on the thin, delicate page. I could see that the page was covered in writing and some other designs, but I was just too far to see what it said; assuming I could even read it, of course.

The most striking thing about this scene was the pendant and the beaded headdress that Madame Lavoie wore around her neck and on her head. The pendant was made of pure silver and it had an extremely intricate design engraved on it that depicted leaves and vines winding together in some kind of pattern. It looked so breathtakingly elegant, like all you wanted to do was run your fingers along the path that the vines took in the design.

The headdress was an entirely different story. In and of itself, the beaded design it carried was quite beautiful, but it just looked so out of place sitting atop Madame Lavoie's head, with her hair pulled into a perfect bun that rested at the nape of her neck. The beads formed a criss-cross pattern that, now that I'm thinking about it, actually appeared to somewhat mimic the pattern that the vines took in the pendant. Hmm, the beads themselves were even varying shades of greens and browns. There was a definite connection to nature here.

After sitting still for what felt like hours, Madame Lavoie finally focused on the ceremony. I'm not sure what had her attention for so long but, hopefully, it would only help what we were doing now.

"Cassia," hearing her say my name, I listened carefully. "I need you and Gabriel to turn and face each other. Clasp hands and, whatever happens, do NOT let go unless I say so. Are we understood?" I gulped but nodded my head in agreement and turned to do as she had asked. When I took Gabriel's hands in mine, it seemed to steady me a bit. He appeared so calm and self-assured. I was hoping he would rub off on me a bit.

"I will read passages from the book. Once I've done that, I will come to you, Cassia, and I will place this talisman," here she pointed to the pentagram, "around your neck. Be prepared for what comes once it touches your skin." And, without another word, Madame Lavoie picked up the book and began to read from it. She read in a language that I didn't understand, though I guessed it was Latin. However, it was only a guess, as I was really bad when it came to languages other than my own.