Sensitive to the Light Immortal Bloodlines I

Sensitive to the Light (Chapter 21)

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Dedicated to Xx0DarkAngel0xX for becoming a fan, voting and telling me lots of fascinating things about New Zealand - I'm definately gonna skip the skiing! 

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Callan

After chastising us all for chipping in with our tuppence-worth, Bette grabbed the piece of paper containing the prophecy from Gray and carefully folded the netbook closed before leaving the Library to work ‘uninterrupted’.

“I’ll be back as soon as I’ve got it all translated, then you can all bicker over what it means.” She said as just before she closed the door behind her.  I hoped to hell that the last few verses made more sense than their predecessors.

Following Isaac’s example, I made my way over to the Queen Ann’s; more specifically, the liquor nestled in their midst.  The decanters and crystal glasses all sat upon a large silver serving tray which had been sculpted so as to hold its contents steady while in transit.  Grabbing it by the handles, I carried it back to the table and set it in the center.

“Here, I think we’re going to need this if we’ve got to try and figure this shit out.  You never know, it might help to be a few sheets to the wind and give us a way to look at it from a different angle.” I explained as I sat back down.

“I’ll drink to that,” Gray took a decanter and a glass and poured himself a generous measure, smiling as the tawny liquid burned its way down his throat.  “Since you’ve all been helping yourselves anyway, do any of you want another fag?” He proffered the packet around the table.  

Julius and I both took one each from the packet and Ann waved him away, the three of us smoked in silence while we all poured our preferred spirits from the decanters;  Bourbon for Gray, Rum for Julius, Gin and Tonic for Ann and Brandy for me.  I’d had my fill of Rum long ago and I couldn’t help wrinkling my nose in distaste as Julius poured his glass.  

We all looked up at the sound of Isaac thundering down the stairs and yelling for Bette before he burst back into the room.  

“I know what it means,” he announced triumphantly, “Where’s Bette?”

Julius answered him, “She’s gone t’ figure out t’ rest o tha’ blinkin’ Prophecy, said we was all distractin’ ‘er.  Wha’ d’ya mean ya know wha’ it means?.”

“I mean exactly what I just said, you bloody idiot.”  Isaac retook his seat along with his glass of Scotch and lit a cigarette, purposefully building the suspense which had us all staring at him like he was the damn messiah.

“For fucks sake Isaac, spit it out already,” I growled in exasperation as he went to take another drag of his cigarette.  He just raised an eyebrow at me in response, his cruel lips curving into a smirk as he continued to puff away, blowing smoke rings towards the ceiling.

Gray gave him a slap about the back of the head making Isaac cough his cigarette out of his mouth and across the table.  

“Isaac, you were the one who said we’re all damned souls.  Do you not think it might be in your best interests to tell us what you’ve figured out?  Unless you want to be your own one man army of course...”  He let the words hang in the air, holding Isaac’s gaze as they both glared at each other.

“Fine,” he huffed, rubbing the back of his head in mock hurt.  “I went to talk to Daegan since she actually seems to understand how I feel about those fucking dogs... What’s up with you?” He asked, shifting his glare to me and the surprised look on my face, “You lot were busy playing Sherlock so I thought I’d go and speak to our brand new number seven.  As it happens, she sparked a memory and I figured out the moon thing.”

Ann drummed her fingers against the tabletop in a wordless display of impatience - she hated to be kept waiting.  “Isaac...” She warned,

“Alright, alright, it’s an eclipse; The seventh event, five Moons hide the Sun.  I’ll bet you all the Scotch in the cellars that there’s only ever been six occasions where five eclipses have cropped up in a single year.  The Prophecy is on about it happening again, happening for the seventh time.  Are we all happy now?”

“Thank you Isaac,” I nodded in agreement, “When Bette gets back with the internet, we’ll get her to look it up.”

“Makes sense,” Julius and Gray said together,

“Why were you talking about eclipses?” Ann shot Isaac a furtive look from under her hooded eyelids.

“She asked me how I died, I told her about the gallows and that there was an eclipse.”

“Nothing else?” She asked suspiciously,

“No, Ann.  I didn’t tell her anything else and I certainly didn’t say anything about after.”

The awkward turn the conversation had taken was thankfully realigned by Bette’s timely appearance back into the Library.

“I’ve got it all here, but I don’t want any interruptions until you’ve heard the whole thing,” she said sternly before she began to read.

“One House for each, the Seven Seals,
The fate of all, to be revealed.

One full week, the heavens weep,
No day or night shall bring relief.

Blood of the Innocent, born of death too fast,
Brings forth the awaited, birthed at last.

Not one of the Living, nor that of the Dead,
The Devil's bargain will raise their head.

The Seventh Event, five Moons hide the Sun,
Fulfillment of the Prophecy has surely begun.

Mountains yawn their mouths once more,
Torn asunder, to propose war.

Damned souls destroyed by Dogs of war,
Taken away to suffer more.”


She put the netbook back on the table, turning it to face us all as we gathered around to see the translation of the Prophecy.  

“Right then,” I took a pen and paper from the table and began to make a list;

1. Seven houses for seven seals,
2. Seven days of shitty weather,  
3. ?
4. Something to do with Daegan - what exactly does the Devil’s bargain mean?
5. Seventh time that five eclipses occur in one year?
6. ?
7. Hellhounds.

“Great,” Isaac snarked, “So we know how we’re going to die but not all the bits that lead up to it.”

The sound of Daegan screaming echoed down the stairs and Ann grabbed onto my forearm as I tried to rise to my feet.

“Leave her be,” she said, “She’s a grown woman, not a damn baby and the fact she went upstairs on her own is proof enough that the shock has worn off.  She probably just saw a spider or a rat, something that gave her a fright.”

I saw a look in her eyes that I hadn’t seen for centuries, maybe even since before she chose to join us.  It was a soft, almost motherly look which sat strangely on her seemingly young features.  I nodded almost imperceptibly before settling back into my seat and topping up my brandy.

“Bette, can you look up Isaac’s theory about the eclipses?”

“Mmmhmm,” she mused, “It would make sense if he’s right.  Hang on.”  She pulled the netbook back towards her and tapped away at the tiny keyboard.  “Here we are, Since the Gregorian calendar took over in 1582, there’s been six years with five solar eclipses. 1693, 1758, 1805, 1823, 1870, and 1935. Apparently the next one will be 2206.  Either they’ve got their maths wrong or we’re in for a long wait.”

“That’s almost two hundred years away,” Gray’s forehead was creased in confusion, “Less than a century between each one up until 1935 so why such a big gap?”

“I have no idea, but at least we’re safe to assume Isaac’s right, unless anyone else has any ideas?”  I looked up from my list to see heads being shaken ‘no’ so I put a tick next to number five on the list. “What about the Devil’s bargain Julius?”

“S’gotta be ‘bout Daegan.  Or Fext I s’pose. Neither of ‘em are dead, neither of ‘em are livin’.  Maybe it’s both of ‘em; a bargainin’ might be a gamble, a game o’ chance...”

“A deal? No way, surely Fext couldn’t be that stupid?” Bette was staring at Julius aghast.

Ann’s cold mask of indifference settled back over her features, “You’d be amazed at the lengths a parent would go to if it would save their child.”

“But a crossroads deal?” She banged her fist against the table in frustration with such force that most of the antique glassware jumped and  jolted a foot into the air before smashing against the floor.  Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she looked at our confused expressions.  

“A crossroad is the traditional place to go to make a deal with the Devil.  It’s well known in most cultures to be a place where two dimensions touch, a threshold, a place that’s neither here nor there.  There’s one in the woods near Daegan’s house, it’s old and half of it is just a track now, but it’s still a crossroads for all intents and purposes.”

I took a moment to process Bettes words before I spoke.  “So what you’re saying is that Fext went to a crossroads, summoned the Devil and traded his soul for Daegan's life?”

“Exactly.”