CHAPTER THREE
Maddie was exhausted. She had stayed awake all day in the hopes of hearing from Zanna. She needed help, and quickly, or she'd be unable to do her civic duty.
Someone knocked on her door just before sunset. Maddie raced to the door, expecting to see Zanna, or maybe one of her friends. Instead, she was greeted by a very handsome man with blonde hair and the most charming smile Maddie had ever seen.
"Madison Gallagher, right?" He asked.
"My friends call me Maddie," she replied.
"It's nice to meet you, Maddie. You know my cousin, Zanna." His words were spoken in an adorable Southern accent.
"You're Zanna's cousin?" She repeated. It was hard to believe someone so polite was related to the angry warlock.
He extended his hand to her as he said, "Yes, Ma'am. My name is Oliver Blackrain. I'm here to help you."
"Did Zanna give you a way for me to walk outside during the day?" Maddie asked eagerly.
Oliver looked mildly surprised by her question. "No, Maddie, I'm afraid she didn't. Is that what you're trying to do?"
"Well, I have jury duty, and I need to report because it's the law, but obviously, it's a problem for me to go out in the sun."
An amused smile played at Oliver's lips. "You're an interesting girl, Maddie Gallagher," he decided. "Most vampires don't worry about serving jury duty."
"It's my civic duty."
He smiled wider. "Yes it is," he agreed. "Maddie, I came here to warn you that you're in danger."
"Danger?" She repeated in confusion.
"My family believes you may be a threat to them."
"I don't understand... I'm just an aspiring writer who works as a bartender at night to pay the bills. I'm not a threat to anyone."
"There's a prophecy. A young vampire will be the key to opening the gate to incredible power. Whoever controls that vampire will control everything. You don't understand what is inside of you, Maddie, but I do."
"I knew you were in town to cause trouble, Ollie," Zanna said as she appeared behind him. "Get out of here before I hex your balls off."
"I'm here to help, Zanna," Oliver insisted.
"Warlocks don't help anyone but themselves."
Maddie suddenly remembered that Zanna had said her entire family was evil. She'd been lulled into a false sense of security by Oliver's charming smile and light Southern drawl. She took a slight step backward, but looking at Oliver, she couldn't view him as a threat. He seemed too genuine.
"I believe him, Zanna," Maddie decided aloud.
"That's because you're a baby vamp with no real knowledge of the supernatural," Zanna replied. "Leave, Oliver, or I'll show you what I've learned in the last twenty years."
Oliver smiled apologetically at Maddie. "Forgive my cousin, Miss Maddie. She has trust issues," he said. "I'll head out for now." He walked away.
Zanna pushed her way into the house. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to talk to strangers?" She demanded.
"He said he was your cousin," Maddie replied.
"Which should have been enough to make you slam the door in his face." Zanna shook her head before shoving a necklace at Maddie. "Here. This talisman will let you walk in the sun. The Master of the City is assigning you a bodyguard. He should show up soon. She said his name is Doug. If any strangers approach you who are not a vampire named Doug, don't trust them. Are we clear?"
"Yes... Would you like some coffee, Zanna?"
Zanna looked confused by the subject change. "What?" She asked.
"I'm about to head to work. I always have coffee before I leave the house." She motioned toward her fancy coffee maker and ample supply of flavored creamers.
Zanna frowned before saying, "Yeah, fine, whatever. I could use some caffeine."
Maddie smiled and set up the machine. First coffee, she thought, then friendship!
+
Eric Pierce had been doing this for several years. As he arrived at the very old hotel, he knew he was in for a long night.
"This place looks ancient," Zoey Patil mumbled.
"It opened in 1889," Ella Liang replied. "It's a historical landmark."
"So we're looking at ghosts for sure, and maybe more?" Zoey guessed.
"Definitely ghosts, and judging from what the manager described, possibly some level of demonic activity," Eric confirmed. "Brace yourselves. We're in for an interesting night."
"Sounds like a party," Jeremy Young said cheerfully as he arrived with Calvin Wu. "Let's clean house."
"I sense incredible evil here," Cal said softly. "We should be cautious."
"Where's the fun in that?" Jeremy replied.
They entered the building. Eric took the lead. That was his job, after all, as the founder of Lighthouse.
Five years ago, Eric had created Lighthouse, an organization made up of supernatural people that helped people who were facing paranormal afflictions. They did this free of charge, and in the last two years, they'd become certified as an official non-profit organization. They had evolved from their original purpose and had become a full investigative team, often working with the police to solve crimes with paranormal elements.
Ella was Eric's partner. She was the first person to join Lighthouse once he came up with the idea. Being a Seer and a Weaver, Ella had found Eric, sensing that being part of Lighthouse was her destiny.
"No Lisa tonight?" Zoey asked. Zoey was the newest member of Lighthouse. She'd been with them for about a month and a half. Lisa had been the first to join after Ella. She wasn't just a vampire who moonlighted as a bouncer at a nightclub; she was also a forensic psychologist who'd done time at Quantico before getting turned during a case.
"She's working at the club tonight," Eric replied. "I told her we probably didn't need her. This shouldn't require her expertise."
"Guys... Do you feel that?" Ella asked.
Eric knew what she was referring to. "The darkness is like a shroud hanging over this place," he replied. "Stay together. We need to figure out what we're up against."
"Are there any guests?" Cal asked.
"No. The manager closed the hotel down 'for renovations' so we could solve this problem for her."
"I sense.. Life," Javier Ortiz said as he joined them.
"Javi, not that I'm not happy to see you, but I didn't call," Eric said. "What are you doing here?"
"Something told me I needed to be with you tonight," Javier replied.
Cal bowed his head to the vampire as a sign of respect. Although Cal was a weredragon, he'd been raised by the vampires after warlocks murdered his parents, and he always respected his elders.
"So, you sense life?" Zoey repeated. "Meaning what, exactly?"
"Someone present in this hotel very much still has a pulse aside from the members of this team," Javier replied. "Proceed with caution, my friends."
"Don't we always?" Jeremy quipped.
"You never do, Jeremy," Javier replied with a fond smile. "Today, I must ask the impossible of you. I detect someone deeply powerful residing within these walls, and I cannot be certain which side their loyalties are on."
Eric nodded. "We appreciate the head's up, Javier. Everyone, follow me, and don't wander off," he said.
They walked deeper into the hotel. A few spirits watched the team work, although they seemed relatively harmless in nature. It wasn't until they walked up the steep staircase to the second floor that they encountered something demonic.
Three dark, shadowy figures stood in a circle. They held hands and chanted in their demonic tongue. Jeremy was about to blast them with a wave of water when Javier gently touched his arm.
"Not yet," he said softly.
"They're summoning something," Jeremy protested.
"The living entity is approaching," Javier explained.
Sure enough, a man entered the hallway. He wielded a long sword. His shirt was open, exposing his bare and extremely muscular chest. His long, dark hair flowed behind him as power radiated from his entire being.
"Whoa... What romance novel cover did this guy escape from?" Jeremy joked.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't mind reading it," Ella replied with a smirk.
As the man began to duel against the demons, Cal said, "He appears to be on our side."
The man used his sword to destroy the demons. As he connected to each one, their physical form went up in flames.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the fight. Several more demons appeared.
"Time to go to work," Eric said.
Jeremy pulled out his mp3 player and put on an eighties music playlist to get everyone hyped up for battle. Zoey and Cal immediately began setting demons on fire. Jeremy blasted them with tsunami waves, drenching the hotel's walls and floors. Javier used his crucifix to banish a few before blessing the tsunami waves, adding salt to them and turning them into holy water. Ella focused her energy on weaving a positive outcome for them.
Eric initially participated in the battle, but then something jumped into his body. As a channeler and a medium, he was used to that sort of thing and knew how to maintain awareness of what was happening.
The entity inside of him was neither a spirit nor a demon; it was a deity. Eric often served as a Godly vessel, and not always willingly. Deities were impatient and didn't like to be told they had to wait to get their message across.
"You must protect the girl!" Eric's voice boomed. It was even deeper than usual, and the power behind the message made the walls of the hotel vibrate. Whichever deity was currently using him was extremely powerful.
"What girl?" Ella asked patiently as the others finished battling the demons with the strange man.
"She who hath been blessed by the Gods and cursed to fulfill a prophecy."
"Forgive me, my Lord, but could you be more specific?" Ella knew better than to catch an attitude with the deities unless it was absolutely necessary. Some of them became offended very easily. She also knew they preferred to be called "my Lord" or "my Lady" by the lowly humans they chose to speak to.
"She is no mere vampire... She is destined for far greater things."
At least that narrows down the list of potential people he might be talking about, Eric thought. Whoever she is, she's a vampire.
"Tell me what you can," Ella coaxed.
"She has great power within her, but she does not yet understand this. Whichever side she chooses to work with shall become unstoppable. It will be very difficult for evil to taint this girl, but not impossible. She must be protected until the day comes when she can protect herself."
"Who is she, my Lord?"
"Madison," he replied. "Madison Gallagher. She is the vampire of prophecy." With that, the deity left Eric's body. Eric stumbled forward slightly, the sudden absence of his passenger throwing him off balance.
Javier and Ella steadied him. "Are you alright, amigo?" Javier asked.
"Yeah... He was a really powerful one," Eric replied. "I need to eat sooner rather than later to refuel."
"It's cool," Jeremy said as he blasted a final demon with water. "I think we're done here."
"Wait," Zoey said, turning toward the mysterious man with the sword. "Who are you?"
"Do not concern yourself with that," the man replied.
"You helped us out a lot tonight," Eric said. "We could use a man of your skill set fighting beside us."
"I sensed the great evil attached to this hotel, so I came to destroy it. I work alone."
"What's your name, amigo?" Javier asked in a tone that was filled with vampiric compulsion.
"Your vampire tricks will not work on me," the man replied calmly. A set of black wings suddenly sprang from his back. "This hotel is safe now. My work is done." He flew away from them, vanishing into the night through an open window.
"That was... unique," Zoey mumbled.
Javier made the sign of the cross and kissed his crucifix before saying, "He is a dark angel. They are very rare. We are lucky he didn't destroy us all."
"He didn't seem evil... He just seemed antisocial," Zoey protested.
"Regardless, we will see him again," Ella said with certainty. When Ella used that tone, the events she spoke of were set in stone.
"Then we'll learn more about him when we do," Eric replied. "In the meantime, we need to focus on the message I delivered tonight... Whoever Madison Gallagher is, we need to find her and protect her before it's too late."
+
Damian Larson found a roof to perch upon as he thought about everything that had just happened. His instincts told him it was important.
The demons had been easy enough to destroy. He hadn't expected Lighthouse to show up, but their arrival had helped resolve the situation quicker. Still, he wasn't thrilled that they knew of his existence now.
Damian's job wasn't to interact; it was to watch. He got involved when it proved necessary, like it had that night, but he mostly tried to stay out of everything.
New York City's supernatural community was large and complex, but Damian didn't fit into it. He wasn't evil, despite his demonic mother, but he would never be accepted by the side of Good. His father had been an angel, but his love for Damian's mother had caused him to fall. Both of Damian's parents had been murdered as soon as he was born, and he had been banished to Earth and left for dead.
A monk had discovered the infant and taken pity on him, rescuing him and raising him in a religious sanctuary. Damian was a deeply spiritual man who wanted to help others, but he knew he would never be accepted by the Light.
"Madison Gallagher..." He recited aloud. "Why would the Gods concern themselves with you?" He closed his eyes and focused on her name. Soon, he sensed where he should go.
He spread his wings and soared through the night sky, knowing that was the fastest way to travel. He stopped when he sensed he should and found himself standing outside of a bar. He looked through the window and followed the energy he was tracking until he saw her.
He had considered many possibilities for who this mysterious vampire of prophecy might be. The cheerful redhead tending the bar didn't exactly fit what he'd pictured. She smiled brightly at everyone she encountered and seemed remarkably full of life for one of the undead.
Damian hid his wings and summoned his black leather duster jacket. After closing his shirt, he walked into the bar and tried to blend in. Generally, Damian avoided crowded places such as bars, but this was no ordinary situation.
Protect her, Damian, something told him. She needs you now more than ever.