Making it back to the house I knew Aubri was alarmed. Anthony was quickly loading up a big black SUV with hastily packed boxes and bags. The front door was open and I hopped onto the deck in one bound.
"Mia! Grab Nicoli for me please. I have to grab my tapestries," my sisters voice called as soon as I stepped into the house. Immediately. I went to grab my nephew in his playpen. He gazed up at me with his glowing mismatched eyes. The red in his eye gave away his hunger. Great timing. I scooped him up and began disassembling the playpen and putting it into an open box labeled for it.
Where are we going to go? I really couldn't go back to Papa's. He'd go crazy. Literally, and i still need to train and unlock my past. Maybe then I can figure out how to stop the running and death.
Right now though I could only hope Aubri has a second safe house or something. I mean she sees the future for craps sake. After energy blasting the box to the front door I went looking for my big sister.
"Aubri?" I called out just as a dark feeling crawled down my spine when my call was meet with silence. Walking into my sister's room I noticed the lights all off which was odd. I tried to switch on the light but it didn't even flicker. Nicoli grabbed a fistful of my hair and whimpered. I held him closer and focused on the waiting energy inside of me. Willing it to fill my hand, a light blue ball of energy illuminated the room. An overturned lamp had my heart speeding up as I looked into her closet only to see the back door open. Biting my lips I was at a crossroad with Nicoli. I didn't want to bring him in there with me but I couldn't leave him by himself. Familiar footsteps approaching answered it all for me. Anthony entered tentatively with his hand resting against a small pouch filled with a weapon he refuses to demonstrate for me.
"Anthony, I need you to hold Nicoli while I go check on Aubri," at first he was automatically going to hold the boy he treated as his own. By the end of me speaking he pulled his hands back and reached for his pouch. Giving me an exasperated stare I had to give myself props for even trying.
"Fat chance. I'll go. Stay on guard, Aubri told me her protection spell was breached over 5 times in one hour." I watched him go into the room and prayed that he came out of there with my sister alive. As I turned I frowned watching a particular shadow dance. It shifted and slithered across the wall towards a shadow cast by the huge bed. Like a sponge it soaked up the darkness and became a large man figured shadow. What the hell is that thing?! With an inhuman screech it surged forward and swung out with a large clawed arm. I ducked down and scrambled to the right just in time. Thrusting my hand out I shoved the bright energy toward the creature causing it to back away with a shrill groan. Hmm, obviously light will be my weapon.
I just couldn't leave Nicoli ungaurded. Forming a bigger ball of energy I hollowed it out by pulling in some of the energy. Movement from the corner of my eye pulled my attention from my task. The shadow creature moved cobra fast and struck out at my feet. Tumbling to the ground I held tight onto Nicoli and squeezed my eyes shut preparing for the pain of landing on the hardwood floors. Just before I landed the weight in my arms disappeared. Opening my eyes I bugged out seeing that I no longer held my nephew. Searching the room, my heart began to race when I couldn't see him. The shadow creature didn't care that I had lost my nephew. It swung at me catching me square in the jaw. When it's arm met my cheek I screamed at the burning pain traveling across my face. Creating three basketball sized energy formations, I threw them with as much strength as I could. Two hit the creature directly in the chest and the third whizzed past it crashing into the windows shattering glass. The shadow tried to dodge the energy but they blasted straight through it's barely tangible form. A high pitched scream came from the creature as two holes burned through it's chest. Crashing onto the bed it writhed in pain and I jumped to my feet running for the door. I had to find Nicoli.
"Nic?! Where are you?" I scanned the hallway and there at the end sat Nicoli with a wobbly lip and a tear streaked face. Running to scoop him up I spun around just as I felt the energy shifting behind me. A blast of shadow energy slammed into the wall causing a dent. Nicoli screamed and cried holding on tighter to my body. His trembling form made a shiver of protectiveness crawl down my spine. Setting him down I quickly formed a giant ball of glowing energy. The creature tried to escape but before he even took a step, I sent the energy right into it. Sizzling filled the air and smoke permeated the hallway. The creature was only screaming for a few moments before it completely stopped. Movement from Aubri's doorway had another ball of energy in my hand despite the sudden onslaught of exhaustion that filled my body. Limping Anthony carried an unconscious Aubri over an arm filled with tapestries. He looked at me and gestured to the stairs with his head. Staring at Aubri's still form I rushed forward trying to stamp down the fear blooming in my chest.
"We have to get out of here. Shadow ghouls travel in packs," he told me with a raspy voice.
"Is Aubri okay? What's wrong with her?" I questioned worriedly.
"I don't know what's wrong with her but she's alive," he responded while descending the stairs. I followed after him with a whimpering Nicoli. We left the house as fast as possible and got into the Black SUV he had prepared earlier.
Anthony drove for hours. I lost track of how many as the moon retreated and the sun began peaking over the horizon to greet us. Still he drove, and drove. Aubri didn't wake up either. Anthony tried to hide his worry for her but I saw him constantly glance at her, slightly reassured by her steady breaths. Nicoli was quiet until the sun began to peak out, from there he slept fitfully. My heart saddened when he tossed and whimpered, sometimes baring his tiny teeth. Finally when the sun began to dip back down behind the huge rock structures behind us, we stopped in the middle of a windy and humid desert. I looked around but as the night drew closer the harder it became for me to see beyond the numerous sand dunes surrounding us. Anthony said i couldn't use my powers until Aubri was awake, so my vision stayed dull.
"Umm, did you mean to drive us into the middle of the desert?" I asked skeptically. Anthony just glanced at me through the rear view mirror but stayed silent. I bit my lip in worry. He was really freaked out about Aubri, and his silence attested to it. The only thing stopping me from freaking out was the fact that she was still alive and Nicoli needed a calm presence. Rolling down his window, Anthony tossed a small silver ball out the window. When it hit the desert floor a loud metallic groaning came from beneath us. Painfully slow, the SUV lowered into the ground. I stared curiously as the SUV was submerged in absolute darkness. Finally after almost 3 minutes of the dark we lowered into a brightly lit garage like bunker. The walls seemed to be made from some kind of thick concrete and sheets of strong metal. It was filled with all kinds of bullet proof vehicles from tanks to something that resembled a submarine with retractable wheels.
"Stay in the car," Anthony demanded roughly. I glared at the back of his head and groaned petulantly. Watching him stride around the car, a door slammed shut behind our parked SUV and I turned around to see an elderly man stand beside a metal door holding a silver tray with a few chrome colored items. Anthony's body blocked my view of the tray so I went back to examining the man. He had short and thick graying hair along with soft and warm brown eyes with smile lines beside them. His skin was olive toned and weathered. The man wore a butlers uniform that was pressed to perfection with coattails an aristocrat would be jealous of. Their muffled voices were hard to distinguish but the pieces I did pick up made me scowl.
"Their father..........needs to return.......marriage......no power." The old man seemed worried about what Anthony told him.
"Aunt...merciless....protection...." They were cut off when I opened the car door and slammed it with an icy glare.
"Just because Aubri is unconcious doesn't mean you get to send me back to my father. I wont go back to be his pawn," Anthony's face grew darker and he returned my glare. Without a word he went to Aubri's side of the car and grabbed something. He came back holding one of Aubri's tapestries and I knew I wasn't going to like this. As he held it up the first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful colors that were scattered across the picture. Finally I recognized myself in a beautiful wedding gown fit for a goddess. Standing beside me was Roman...or at least i'm pretty sure it was him. His green eyes were no longer bright and kind, they were hard and calculating. Despite the look in his eyes and the frown on my face both of our parents grinned with triumph. Almost unnoticeably a spark of power rested in my chest along with the shape of an hourglass. I looked up at Anthony with solemn acceptance.
"Why?" I asked.
"I don't know. But I think it'll be a good idea for you to go along with what they have planned to gain more Intel on your Aunt's location. Aubri suspects that either your father or Roman's know exactly where she is and what she has planned. We need you to go back," his words were gentle and the silence was deafening as I tried to wrap my head around this... I am about to become a spy in the place I used to call home. Not to mention, I still had to marry Roman which is exactly what I had been trying to avoid.
With a defeated sigh I looked up at Anthony who looked a little sad himself.
"When do I leave?"