Chapter 17
Blackbirds
“It’s harder starting over than never to have changed.”
~Linkin Park~
The moist grass on the side of the long road prattled with dew drops whenever her feet would fall on them. It had taken her a good amount of time to finally reach the Hillsides, and it was to be expected, since she traveled by foot.
Slowly but surely, she would arrive to see her—that person that had plagued her past. A life, long forgotten, that she needed to be rid of, but first, it was imperative to set her free. A rattling chill draped itself over her body from behind as she turned her unmoved eyes back in the direction from which she came. The howls and screams echoed along with the unsettling wind that originated from the city—it’s very reflection laced on her pupils.
She closed her eyes solemnly and continued to advance. One short stride led her to the Wolf’s Bane Forest, which made her freeze in her tracks. Her pink dead eyes watched the still trees. The dark shadows that cast over them, held a mysterious secret that called her. They beckoned with wails of silence to draw her near, and after reaching the moistened dirt and grass that were in between the forest and the road, her body was overwhelmed with a surge of mana.
Her head was invaded my images of her Master and three young woman—Priestesses of the East. Ezekias was younger back then and the girls appeared to be powerful, even more than her and her sisters. Then there was blood and everything stopped. For the first time in a good long while, her heart pounded frantically in fear and shock after seeing the vision.
It was a premonition of the past—her Master’s past that held a secret.
‘No wonder he forbade us to go near the Wolf’s Bane Forest!’ She thought in complete angst.
“Anise?” Startled by the voice, Anise grabbed Midnight who had been traveling alongside her, as she felt the cat soothe her emotions—her eyes returning to their usual monotone demeanor.
Without turning to face the person, she spoke. “What are you doing here, Conan?”
“I can ask you the same question. Where are you going?” He asked forcefully, recalling his dislike for the girl.
“It is quite obvious; those Aberhants have gone wild and are rampaging about the city. The Covenant has most likely sent out their most capable soldiers. It’s only logical that I get out of there as fast as possible.” She said.
Her statement irked Conan, not because of the choice of words; it was due to how much Anise had actually spoken. The mahogany haired witch was known for her taciturn behavior and detached attitude. Something was not right with her, and Conan couldn’t tell if it was the ongoing events or something else.
Nevertheless, he shrugged the suspicions away and continued on his path. He would not involve himself in the affairs of those witches, unless it dealt with Olivia. “Well whatever, don’t go getting yourself killed.” He spat and left Anise to her thoughts.
Shortly after, Conan picked up the presence of the wolf he had fought earlier. He was near and it was because of this that he hid himself away in the woods. Hopefully, the forest would mix up his scent enough so that the wolf wouldn’t notice him. Fate smiled on Conan, when he saw the young man make his leave. After a few minutes, he realized that it was safe to emerge and confront the woman.
‘I’m going to find out who you are…’
Determined, he made his way towards the front gate, ready to jump it if need be. However, it was an unnecessary action, for the mysterious woman emerged from her home and allowed him to enter without a single word. Conan watched her stern eyes; they bore a hint of confusion but never once did they waver. Maybe she was as puzzled as he?
He never went past the front door of her home and she made no indication of letting him in. That’s when she turned to face him.
“What do you want? You’re obviously not human.” Her eyes seemed angry. She was a defiant woman, and he noticed this after hearing her audacious comment.
Conan wanted to be annoyed by her words; he disliked being talked down to, but somehow, he could not muster up the irritation. She made him feel different—a sensation that not even Olivia could stir in him.
“I…don’t know why I’m here.” He said, looking down at his feet in embarrassment towards his weak statement.
He waited for it, for the annoyed exclamation of him wasting her time or something of the sort, but it never came.
One sigh, “My name is Margery.” The words surprised him as he looked up in excitement. Though, it quickly died down when he realized the name meant nothing to him.
“It’s nice to meet you. I…um…sorry for coming to your place like this, I just felt as if I knew you.” He said sheepishly.
‘Great, if my sheer presence here wasn’t enough to freak her out, that comment would definitely do the trick.’ Conan thought, irritated with himself.
Margery’s eyes were still riddled with concern. “How did you find me?” Apparently, Margery was not bothered by his awkwardness, and this made him ease up a bit.
“I’m a werewolf. I gotta a good nose.” Conan boasted with a smirk, as if he felt the need to impress her, but why? Why did he feel so strange around this woman?
‘I remember bits and pieces of her face. Are these feelings linked with those visions?’ Before those thoughts could continue, he felt Margery put her hand on his shoulder and say something about going home. It was hard to tell because at that moment, the visions got stronger.
Conan saw her again in the memories that he could not place. He saw her smiling face pushing him on the swings of a park, her beautiful legs running around with him as he played, and the feel of her soft lips on his scrapes and bruises whenever he hurt himself. Those were all warm memories, recollections of someone that could only be one thing.
“You’re…you’re my mother…!” He said in shock as he stared at Margery with wide eyes.
Instinctively, Margery removed her hand away from his shoulder and let it rest over her night gown where she could feel her beating heart.
“What is your name…?” She asked, vehemently. Her face scowled as her eyes were splashed with an intense anxiety.
“I’m Conan…” Unlike with himself, Conan’s name did cause a reaction in Margery. It was clear, that to her, his name meant something.
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‘I remember that one time, when Cass and I were playing in our backyard. It was a full moon—just like tonight. He saw a bird fly overhead and looked at me with concern. I laughed.
“Big brother, you’re afraid of birds!”
He laughed and smiled, while patting my head. “Maybe so, but did you know that black birds represent monsters?”
I shivered when he said that. “Stop, you’re lying.”
“Well, let’s not stay around to find out!”
After that we ran inside to get some sleep—from that day on, the full moon always scared me.’
The shivers danced around his spine when he entered the old cemetery. David found Isabel’s trail; oddly enough, he did not see her car, but something led him in what he believed to be the right direction. After getting lost a couple times, he had finally spotted Isabel’s red Honda Civic Ferio in the mayhem of cars. Unfortunately, she had taken a different lane than he had, making him miss the exit. Because of this, David had to circle around the cemetery and enter through the back gates.
Luckily enough, he found Isabel.
Now, what?
A tremble stirred him when he saw a red haired woman scream in agony and fall to the ground. She had a Covenant’s outfit and her blood tainted it. David turned his stare in haste towards Isabel, when he saw the old man antagonize her.
‘Isabel!’ His mind screamed at him to go and aid her, but what exactly could he do? What exactly was that man? He had no gun on him, just a cane that apparently had some sort of firepower.
There was that voice again, yelling at him to take action. It was the same he had heeded when he kissed her, but this was far from that. If he did intervene, he could die, and if he didn’t, Isabel and that woman would most likely die.
His heart beat frantically, until the most unexpected had happened.
‘Exsavior…?’
The last person he had expected to see was the one he could not stand. David followed Exsavior’s stare and for the first time, he saw Mia. No, he saw something that appeared to be Mia.
‘What is going on?’ His eyes were wide in terror as he moved back slightly. A branch snapped when he looked up towards the sky and remembered his brother’s words.
‘Black birds represent monsters…’ It was a full moon when had said it then and it was a full moon now. Mia had full-fledged black wings and her appearance was the embodiment of a ghastly creature of the night. David felt terrified, but he refused to retreat. The sole knowledge of Isabel caught in the middle of all of this held him in place.
Dropping his eyes to the ground and away from Mia, he tried to calm himself. ‘Exsavior is with her…maybe I really don’t need to do anything?’
What was he thinking? Exsavior was human like himself. Wasn’t he? That was what his mind told him, but after seeing him arrive and swiftly move Isabel out of harm’s way, the notion was beginning to feel weak. Deep in his subconscious, he knew that it was not possible to move as fast as Exsavior had done so.
‘It doesn’t matter anyway; I can’t let Exsavior protect Isabel when it’s my job to do so.’ Forgetting his fear for a brief moment, David forced himself to look back up, only to see the old man inches away from him.
His skin went pale.
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“Isabel, I’m so glad you’re safe.” Exsavior said, never taking his eyes off of Mia. He did not even acknowledge Ezekias, or the familiar scent he picked up coming from the trees.
Letting go of Isabel’s waist, Exsavior prepared himself for her scolding, but it never came. She looked up at his eyes of concern that also held an air of relief—an emotion that was directed towards her.
“I’m sorry I worried you.” She said, quietly.
He ignored her words for the time being. “What has happened to Mia?”
Isabel’s eyes fell to the ground in sadness as they shifted to Lynn’s body.
“A demon possessed her.” Her words forced Exsavior to remember the first night he met Mia. In his wolf form, he had caught a glimpse of a being that circled around her. It was obviously biding its time to take possession of her, but after scaring it off, Exsavior thought it was gone for good.
A naïve perception…
“This is most disconcerting. How did I not sense your presence, wolf?” Their attention was brought towards Ezekias, who appeared to be displeased with Exsavior’s presence.
The comment made him smirk, as he remembered Isabel’s spell. Subconsciously, his hand lightly touched his chest where he knew the invisible mark to be—the symbol of his sister. It had worked well, Ezekias did not perceive him.
“You’re perception must be getting dull—I can’t blame you. It’s part of getting old you know.” Exsavior’s mock made Ezekias scowl.
“Well, at least you both felt comfortable enough to forget about me for a moment.” With a calm voice, Ezekias quelled his anger as he ignored the insult. His next action made Isabel gasp.
In a swift motion, he vanished from the spot he was in, only to reappear with someone she knew too well. Through the corners of his eyes, Exsavior could see how the situation went from bad to worse. He saw Lynn’s unconscious body on the ground—her arm bore severe wounds—and then he saw Ezekias, holding a shock stricken David.
“David!” Isabel yelled, almost in tears now. David said nothing, his pale face showing the only emotion that controlled his body.
Once again, another emotion was allowed to surface and grace Ezekias’s face. With a smirk, he spoke. “No more witty comments I see.” The phrase was meant for Exsavior, who remained still and stern. “Now, this is most fortunate for you, Isabel.” In an instant, he forgot about Exsavior as the name slipped his lips like a snake with a hiss. It made them cringe. “I was just about to be rid of you but it seems with this young man, you will be forced to give me what I want.”
The words caused some sort of resolve to form from within David. “Isabel, don’t worry about me. I don’t know what’s happening, but don’t give in to him!”
Exsavior could tell that David acted on instincts; he obviously hadn’t a clue as to what he was saying.
“Tell me, what do you need.” She ignored David’s pleas and Ezekias smirked.
“Open the mausoleum with your necklace, just like you released this wolf from that forest; release my comrades. Unless you don’t care about, good ol’ David.” He grabbed David’s shoulder and this made him pull away out of anger.
Isabel nodded. “Alright.” She said simply and Ezekias tossed the necklace towards her.
“Isabel, are you sure about this?” Exsavior asked in concern, and Isabel nodded without looking at him.
“We don’t have a choice.” Determined, she moved towards the mausoleum and passed Mia, who observed in curiosity—a single phrase escaped her lips when Isabel neared.
“You won’t open it.”
It was but a whisper only meant for her ears. Isabel smiled to herself, without looking at Mia. She knew too well it wouldn’t work.
“Awaken Horus; Isabel beseeches you by decreed of the House of Hallow.”
The necklace in her hand glowed as she expected it to, but when the power collided with the much suspected force field, it did not react as it did with the shrine. An energy wave repelled her necklace’s power and pushed it back towards her.
“Isabel!” David yelled in fear and Exsavior was about to run to her side, but her body flew away from the shock. She panted, out of breath. Her shoulders were burned as the clothes on them were reduced to nothing but shreds, revealing the scorch marks.
Ezekias scoffed. “You are useless.”
“You bastard!” The angry voice surprised both Exsavior and Isabel as David attempted to punch Ezekias.
“David, no!” Isabel’s voice screeched with a strident scream when Ezekias grabbed David’s punch. His palm easily broke the bones in his fists and it crippled David to his knees as he cried out. Ezekias then lifted him by the neck with his one hand in an attempt to strangle the life out of him.
“Know your place.” His eyes squinted dangerously towards David, as he struggled to maintain his consciousness.
At some point, during her dread, Isabel felt Exsavior lose control. She saw his body tremble in anger as the clothes he wore were ripped to shreds releasing the enormous wolf. In her heart, she wished for him to succeed, but at the same time, she wanted to yell for Exsavior to stop.
“Let him go!” Exsavior roared, letting his giant body fly towards Ezekias.
The old man shifted his stare, and with no emotion, he let his other had hand drop the cane and fly towards Exsavior.
“Vis de Campus.” The power came as a shock to Exsavior. He had braced himself for the cane’s power, but Ezekias had discarded it completely. In its place, a powerful electric-green barrier wrapped itself over Ezekias and David.
It scintillated and cackled with static, burning Exsavior’s fur and flesh when it made contact. In addition, the force repelled him away from them, as his enormous body landed next to Mia. Her unmoving eyes stared at the wolf that was rendered to her feet.
Exsavior struggled to lift his body as he spoke between breathes. “Mia, what are you doing? Don’t you see; David is in danger!”
But Mia remained silent and Exsavior scoffed at this. “I refuse to believe you can’t hear me!” He yelled frantically, never removing his eyes from Ezekias.
“Tonare!” An angry cry filled the air, as Isabel finally lost control. Her Active Power thundered in Ezekias’s direction but died in a wisp when it collided with his force field.
She refused to stop there, as her levitation took her towards the witch. The anger consumed her, making tears fall from her eyes every time she struck the field with her imbued hands. “Let him go!” The attacks were fierce and it made ripples on the field, but they only served to draw blood in her hands.
Seeing this, Exsavior turned to face Mia. “Snap out of it, Mia! Isabel needs you!” He pleaded, the golden orbs that were his eyes attempted to persuade her, but she did nothing.
Her stare was hard and unmoving and her lips as still as ice.
“Mia!” Hey yelled at her and then a flash of light blinded him for a brief moment.
“Exsavior…? You…are you the wolf?” It was an echo, and it was Mia’s voice alone. His canine eyes scanned her body only to see her black wings lose their tint when the whiteness started seeping through them.
The demon within her screamed, and Mia held her head and backed away from the wolf. “Damn you, you disgusting mongrel!”
“I told you, no one can ever hope to control an Angel.” Everything appeared to slow down and freeze in place when Ezekias spoke.
It was final. The words were said and Ezekias left no doubt within them after he confirmed it. He had finally revealed Mia’s identity—she was definitely a perfect being amongst Immortals.
Exsavior remained unmoved out of pure shock.
‘Did he…just say…Angel?’ The screams formed in his head as he attempted to grasp the word. He could feel everything swirl around him, Isabel’s cries and her hesitation after hearing it, David’s beating heart slowing down, and Mia—she was crying. Somewhere inside of her own body, she was hurting.
‘What can I do?’
“I am not one to be taken lightly, old man! I am a captain of the Minions; I am Samhain, arcdemon of Hell!” The angry demon backed away from Exsavior and neared the mausoleum.
“Behold my power!” Samhain yelled and with one touch of his clawed finger, the invisible force field that Isabel attempted to dismantle before, dissipated.
Ezekais lips curved into a devilish smirk as his eyes reflected joy when he saw the force field die. “So Isaiah, this was you’re doing after all.” His attention was soon brought back to David when Isabel had ceased her attacks, allowing her body to fall in exhaustion to the ground. Her bloodied hands lay lifelessly on her lap. He smiled readying himself to end David's life after relishing in Isabel's futile efforts.
One scream brought them all back to their senses. It was David’s scream.
Through his struggling eyes, David had seen Isabel’s floating form yelling angrily, tears coating her face before she fell to the ground. He had also perceived the turmoil within Mia. They both were hurting; more than he could tell for Isabel had injured herself for him.
‘Are we gonna let them to that to her?’ It was that voice again, and luckily enough, he had an answer for it.
‘Of course not.’
‘Good, I’ve been waitin’ for the right moon ta do this.’
Ezekias’s pleasure of watching Isabel was broken when David freed himself. In shock, he looked at the boy and saw his eyes turn red; his jaw grew in size to an extent that his mouth looked as if he would swallow his entire body unless the fangs did not do their job. Then there was his skin; it became no more when a sea of raven fur covered his once tiny human form.
Ezekias opened his mouth in amusement to speak.
“Another werewolf…”
Author's Note:
I'm getting in the habit of doing this! I wanted to take the time and explain the meaning of Blackbirds, the title of this chapter. The symbol is not the usual death or evil omen; it can also be used for transition and the connection to the dark side of the moon. So, it fit perfectly for this chapter. David undergoes a change for the first time and this also relates to the quote used in the beginning.
"It's harder starting over then never to have changed." In other words, his transition to the werewolf. Lastly, all my quotes do have relation to the chapters, so it should have been implied.
Thanks for reading! Sirius-