Vera Blue - Hold
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"Ow... Ow. Sam, how much more blood could you possibly need?"
Katherine's older brother looked up from the syringe and shined me a cheeky grin. "As much as needed sweet thing. Gotta do what we gotta do. Now, sorry but lemme just-"
He handed the syringe to Kate before she ran back to her little cove on her living room floor. Very gently, he lay his large hand on my forearm. A shiver ran up and around my spine. Samuel's power was quite unique. From one single touch he could get any and every bit of information from a human, witch, vampire, whatever crossed his path.
When he was younger, he wasn't able to control it. He wore gloves permanently. But now thankfully, he knew when to turn it off. And right now Kate was using my blood and Sam was trying to... actually, I didn't really know what Sam was doing. Micah and Kate had told me to come over but didn't really specify what they were doing.
So all I had to do was sit here and let a coven of witches work whatever voodoo they needed to do. Micah Roberts was sat on the other end of the dining room table touching his finger tips to the braille on the pages from one of his old notebooks. I hadn't seen him in so long. His dark beard had grown considerably; I can always appreciate a man with a good beard. His green eyes still brilliantly bright as he stared blankly ahead.
Kate was sprawled out in the living room with maps covering the wooden floors. Her hair tied up above her head as she crawled back and forth from one end of the world to the other, the blood they'd taken from me sitting idle in a bowl beside her.
And Callum was being completely unhelpful sitting beside me. "You're going to be so thirsty by the end of this."
"Why are you here?" I repeated for the fifth time tonight.
"Because this is interesting. Three witches working hard to locate two of the oldest people to still exist. Plus, I want to see if they do manage to do it."
"We will." Sam reassured removing his hand from my forearm. I breathed out a sigh and shook away the discomfort. Whenever he used his power it always left a bad taste in my mouth. It was intrusive, plucking such personal things from me without permission. I couldn't control what he took but he could choose what he wanted.
He smiled all of a sudden and said, "Awh, your first steps were so cute. Baby Chels was adorabl-"
"So invasive." I interrupted with a frown. "Why did you go back so far?"
"Just seeing where the wind takes me if I'm honest because these two aren't giving me much to go on."
Micah turned his head in our general direction and grinned underneath all that beard. "Be patient, Sam. We're still searching for a way to do this. Unfortunately, it won't be like locating any other vampire or witch, they will have protection spells and diversion spells, they're smart I can guarantee it."
"Yeah but they don't know we have a direct blood link." Sam said. "If I could get through to that part of Chels it could work."
I glanced a Kate muttering away in Latin using a spoon to drop small droplets of blood onto the various maps. Amazingly, three or four moved across the paper but for the third time tonight, it poofed into a small flame. Thankfully, Kate had placed a flame retardant sheet beneath all of the maps. And for the third time she crunched them up and replaced them with new ones.
"How many times are you going to do this?" I asked.
Kate huffed a sigh and stood. "Until we figure this out."
"Thought so."
She disappeared and came back with a large old book. Very gently she placed it on the table opposite Sam and I and said, "I've looked through gran's book a thousand times and there isn't anything relating to what we want to do, not to this level."
Micah closed his own book and leaned back, crossing his large arms one over the other. I remember first meeting Micah all those years ago, he looked intimidating with his large figure but he was so sweet and gentle. And he may be blind but it didn't stop him from doing a thing. I could see the love in Kate's eyes and it was cute to watch them meet each other blow for blow. He was the only one that would get past Kate's visions so he kept her on her toes.
"Maybe we're doing this wrong." I pondered. "Maybe doing it by the book isn't what's supposed to be done here."
Kate looked at her brother and then Micah. A spark of something entered her gaze as she pondered whatever it was she was thinking. And then Micah suddenly said, "It's a bad idea, girl."
"It's the only idea, boy. Hold on."
Cal and I exchanged a look when she left and came back with an even older looking book. Its markings looked aged, historic almost. The words clearly embossed in Latin, the black leather bound book dropped beside the other one she was looking at.
"Kate, you sure? Gran said never to use it in case-"
"Of a dire emergency? This is one."
"What is it?" I murmured.
"It was our grandmother's Grimoire. The one I was looking at is the family one. But this... this is blood magic. Dark magic she used to dabble in. It's natural for every witch to turn to it every once in a while but it could sometimes be costly."
My face formed a grimace. "If Ana played around with it why did she tell you not to use it?"
"She said we could if it was an emergency and technically it is so it's fine." She shrugged but the fear was in her eyes.
"Katherine." I warned. "If this isn't a good idea..."
"Look, it's only a locate spell we're not bringing anyone back from the dead are we?"
Sam leaned forward. "Risky though. If mom knew..."
"She won't unless you tell her you nark so shut up and help me look through it. Chelsea if you need to, why don't you go out and feed. We don't know how strong we'll need you to be."
As Cal and I left, I could see the worrisome expression on Micah's face as Kate and Sam started flicking through the Grimoire. If blood magic was the only way of finding them then maybe it wasn't meant to be. Since last night Nate and Jackie had been over to, once again, tell me that she hasn't heard anything from Christian. No surprise. As the days wore on, my worry grew.
I know Christian wasn't stupid enough to get himself hurt or killed but with not even a message to say he was okay we could only assume the worst, especially his sister.
It was just past ten o'clock in the evening, and I wasn't about to be picky with who I fed from. Two women – maybe mid-thirties – stepped out of a convenience store across the road.
"Blonde or brunette?"
"I'm not picky, Cal."
"Brunette for you then." He chuckled walking toward the women to compel them into the alley.
Twenty minutes later, full and ready for whatever hellish experience awaits me behind Kate's door, Callum caught up to me. "Feel like I made a mistake picking the blonde."
"You did." I bragged with a laugh. "The brunette tasted nice. Yours was whipping out a cigarette before we got to them."
He narrowed your eyes. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I knew which one you'd go for so I let the inevitable happen."
Nicotine sometimes lingered in the bloodstream. I wasn't even sorry.
Back at the house, Cal and I walked into a thick solemn atmosphere. Both of us paused when we noticed the living room lights were off and instead, candles were lit to form a circle where the maps were centred; the Grimoire sitting just outside of the ring of candles.
"Well if this doesn't look like a scene out of a TV show." Cal murmured beside me.
"Kate? Micah?"
Sam came out from the kitchen with a bowl of water in his hands. Kate and Micah emerged, Kate leading Micah away from the flames in the living room back to the dining room table. She'd changed out of her t-shirt do a black vest and a pair of old looking shorts which was a bit odd but okay. Her hair was completely scraped away from her face and neck.
What were we about to get ourselves into?
"I'm a bit concerned by the outfit change, Kate." I voiced eyeing the bowl and the open Grimoire. "Should I be worried?"
"Little bit, yeah." She exhaled sharply. "We found something that'll work. Cal, sit with Micah so you're out of the way. Chels, take off your jacket and come into the circle with Sam holding hands please."
Sam smirked suggestively as he held out his hand. He'd always been an extremely flirty kind of guy but it's always been innocent. He was handsome, sharing the same caramel skin as Katherine, reflecting their Spanish heritage. But again, it was always innocent.
I grabbed his hand with a roll of the eyes and joined them both in the circle. Kate disappeared again and when she came back this time...
"You're kidding."
"I'll hold you down if I have to. Sit opposite Sam."
I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and did as the witch commanded. Micah hadn't spoken a word since we'd come in. Before I could glance at him, the air within the room grew heavy all of a sudden. Something had changed. As if someone had sucked every ounce of happiness or humour from the room.
Katherine placed the large – unnecessarily large – knife within the circle but not stepping into it herself. Her body language changed, her shoulders relaxed, each fingertip touching her thumb.
Then she muttered one word clearly in Latin: "Sanguis."
Sam's eyes turned a darker shade of brown, almost black. It wasn't like when a vampire's eyes turned black it was different. His lips pursed, his jaw clenched. He looked like a different person. Katherine entered the circle, her eyes blinking to the exact same shade; the flame of the candles grew dimmer as she sat beside us in front of the book.
She spoke another word under her breath, similar to the first, "Sanguisuga."
A whisper brushed against my ear and I flinched away from it. Bloodsucker, the voice had murmured. The whispers grew louder, their voices piercing my ears with each word. I covered my ears, the pain of their words intolerable. Leech, demon, monster... vampire.
Hands shot out and grabbed my wrists, Sam's hands. He stretched them in front of him, in front of Katherine almost offering them to her.
"Wait." I spoke.
She moved the book beside her in slow ghost like movements, her foreign words mixing with the verbal torments moving from one ear to the other. Even with my strength, Sam's grip was vice like. My eyes grew wide as Katherine picked up the knife.
I tried to struggle away but I was held here not just by Sam but by whatever spell she was chanting. My body wasn't my own. It was Kate's.
I tried my hardest not to grunt or scream as Katherine etched words into my arms but the pain was unbearable. I could feel the monster these voices were trying to will out of me emerging, my veins throbbing, my fangs growing.
My blood dripped onto the map beneath my arms, the words on my arms unreadable. She dropped the knife and used my blood to write another word onto her own arms. In horror, I watched the flames around us grow, both Sam and Katherine now chanting in sync.
Then all of sudden the whispers stopped, blood rolled from my ears down my cheeks and along my neck.
I gasped as Sam's hands moved further up my butchered arms and tightened his grip, his powers coming into full effect one hundred times stronger than ever. My vision darkened only to be filled with images of my childhood, images of the day I was born, to the moment my mother and father met... but then the images turned to things I'd never seen before, scenes I couldn't have imagined if I'd tried.
Christian, human. To the moment he'd been turned. Constance and the witch stood in front of him. I was in his place; I was seeing them through Christian's eyes. Then I understood what Sam was doing.
His power extracted information from whomever he touched. He was going beyond that; he was using the blood link I had to Christian to get to Constance. Where our link began.
Constance was a vision of pure beauty. I could just tell which one she was. Raven hair, clear pale skin and plum coloured eyes. Her sister shared the same eyes, she had a scar across her eyebrow and along her cheekbone but she was beautiful nonetheless. I endured the pain Christian experienced as Constance bit him but the images suddenly flipped to Constance's point of view. I was her now watching the life drain from Christian before she fed her his blood.
Things went by quicker, huts turned to buildings, towns turned to cities. And then it was the present. The air was muggy around me. I was taken to a bar first, the drinks flowing, the name of the bar in large letters above the door... and then I was taken to the beach. The white sand beneath my feet felt like silk. I could smell the salt from the sea.
"Constancia!"
My body turned involuntarily and my eyes took in the amazing mountains, the drums and the music a tune of celebration and the giant famous statue sitting upon the peak of the highest mountain top...
Then I was back. Back in Katherine's living room, back to my reality.
"She's awake."
My eyes slowly focussed to Callum sitting at the other end of the couch I was lying on and then to Micah sitting on the arm chair with a look of pure worry. The living room was clear apart from the maps which now sat on the dining room table. Sam and Kate nowhere to be seen.
"You passed out." Cal informed me taking my hand and squeezing it. "Christ, are you okay? That was quite a show you three put on."
I lifted my arms and grimaced at the barely visible scars. They were healing but I could still make out the words. They were in English and Latin: Blood of her blood, it said.
"I'm fine." I sighed. "A little weak. Where's Kate?"
Micah shook his head at the side and left the room abrubtly.
"Cal?" I frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Blood magic is a... dangerous thing to be practising. She's resting, she'll be down soon. You've been unconscious for five hours."
Outside the window, the birds were chirping. I stared for a moment, the image of Kate carving those words into my arms tainting the fact we'd found her. We knew where Constance was. Those whispers still echoed within my ears. They were still ringing.
"Chelsea?"
I shook out of my trance and I forced a smile. "I'm fine, I promise. It'll pass. I'm going to use the bathroom quickly."
Walking past the kitchen, I glanced at Sam nodding as Micah spoke to him. He looked exhausted. Probably worse than I felt.
I turned the light on in the bathroom and sighed heavily at my bloodied t-shirt. I felt like there was a heavy weight on my shoulders. Every movement I made, even if it was just the lift of the hand, it tired me. I needed to feed again. Kate was right to tell me to feed beforehand.
Through the half open door in the hallway, I could see Kate sitting up against her headboard. I knocked before stepping in, her eyes only darting over me briefly before closing again.
"You okay?" She asked.
"I'm functioning on 45%. How about you?"
"Half of that."
Slowly, I sat beside her and took her hand. We sat in silence for a while, I didn't know how long for. But after another minute or two I said, "Still love you."
She squeezed, released and nodded, her eyes welling up slightly. "Good. Because it didn't work. It circled four locations on the map. We can't get to all of them in time. Half of them are on opposite ends of the earth-"
"Wait, what are you talking about? It did work. Didn't Sam see what I saw?"
Her mouth turned downward into a frown. "No, he said he saw nothing."
My mood lifted. "I saw everything, Katherine. From the day I was born to the day Christian was turned. I know where she is, I was where she was."
"Well, where is she?"
My smile grew at the thought of actually seeing the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. I'd always wanted to go to Brazil. "Rio. She was in a bar called Bar do Mineiro maybe we can start there. We'll leave as soon as we're able to move."
"Oh thank God. I thought we'd just experienced the definition of hell for nothing."
"You're lucky we didn't because if I went through you cutting my arm up for no reason we'd be having a completely different conversation."
**
After showering back at home, the ringing in my ears finally stopped and I felt somewhat normal. I was alone in my house for the first time in a long while, I'd asked Joe and Cal for a bit of privacy while I recouped.
I grabbed the pile of mail on my table and collapsed on my bed with it. Each one was either a bill or junk except for one. It was handwritten and there were about four different stamps on it varying from Johannesburg to France.
My heart froze. Could it? Ripping it open, I unfolded the letter and read:
I'm fine, Kitten. Stay safe.
That was it. And the date read two days ago.
I was happy he was still alive but as soon as we find him I'm not only going to throttle him for making me look like an idiot in the airport, but for sending me a damn letter with five words on it with no apology.
I threw the stupid thing on the floor and growled, "If anyone's going to kill you Christian Beaumont it'll be me."
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Drop the comments ;)
Sanguis means blood
Sanguisuga means bloodsucker