Awakened (Book #5 of the Vampire Legends) (2 page)

“Rachel?” Mark
said, in a surprised voice. “Is that you?”

“Mark!” Rachel
said, in an excited voice. “What’s up little bro!”

“Wow, crazy to
see you again!” Mark said.

Rachel didn’t
know what was up with her family today. It was as if they hadn’t seen her in
ages. She couldn’t figure it out.

“Um, yeah! Here I
am!” Rachel said, going along with it.

“What are you
doing back here?” Mark asked.

“Well, I came
home today. Aren’t you happy to see me?” Rachel said, playing with him.

“Well, yeah, I
guess so. But what did Dad say? Was he angry?” Mark asked.

“Not too much!”
Rachel said. “I got off easy this time!”

“Clearly!” Mark
said.

She then took a
closer look at Mark and realized he looked different to her. She couldn’t pin
point exactly what it was but it was as if he was a different person. He didn’t
quite look like himself and the way he was acting around her was odd. Sure, the
conversation was normal, but it was almost as if he was hiding something. It
was very out of character for him.

“What’s wrong
Mark? Are you ok?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah, why
wouldn’t I be ok?” Mark snapped. “I’m just feeling a little off today, that’s
all.”

Rachel watched as
Mark washed some blood off his hands in the kitchen sink.

“What happened?”
Rachel asked.

Mark turned
around and looked at her, trying to cover up his hands, “Oh, nothing.”

“What’s on your
hands? Did you hurt yourself?” Rachel asked concerned.

“Oh, that. It’s
nothing really. Just a minor scratch,” Mark answered.

It looked like more
than a minor scratch to Rachel but she didn’t press it any further. She didn’t
want to upset him and he was already acting a little strange. She didn’t want
to alienate him.

“So why’d you
come back anyway?” Mark asked.

“What do you mean?”
Rachel asked. “I was only gone for a night! Why are you and Dad acting as if
I’ve been gone for a long time?”

She waited as
Mark looked at her, as if he were trying to read her.

“What?” Rachel
asked. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I’m sorry. It’s
just that, well, you have been gone since we moved,” Mark said.

“Moved?” Rachel
asked.

“Yeah since we
moved back here, you’ve been gone,”

“You’re funny,
Mark!” Rachel said. “Stop playing games with me!”

“I’m not playing
games. Don’t you remember?” Mark asked, still staring at her with an odd
expression.

“Remember what?”
Rachel asked.

“You know,
Bedford, AHS, Benji?” Mark said.

Then, all of a
sudden, Rachel had a flashback to a moment she had with Benji where they were
kissing on the balcony of his castle. The flashback came and went quickly and
then she shook her head, trying to remember it all, but she couldn’t.

“Not really?
We’ve lived here the whole time though,” Rachel said. “Bedford?”

“Remember Dad’s
job got transferred up to New York? We moved for a year and then after you left
things got really bad for the family and mom went into the hospital. Then, Dad
decided to move us back to Pennsylvania. He felt the move was all a terrible
mistake and he wanted to bring the family back home, back to better times,”
Mark said.

“WAIT WHAT? Mom’s
in the hospital?” Rachel shrieked.

“Yes, it was all
too much for her after you left. She couldn’t take it. She’s in a coma now in
the hospital. Doctor’s aren’t sure if she’s going to wake up,” Mark said.

“But why? What do
you mean?” Rachel asked. “This is MY FAULT?”

“Well, I guess
so. Indirectly it is your fault. You caused us a lot of stress and grief. It
was all so unpredictable one day to the next and nobody knew where you were
going or where to find you. It was really hard on us,” Mark said.

“I had no idea. I
don’t even know what you’re talking about. I never did anything,” Rachel said.

“Listen, Rachel.
I don’t really want to go over this with you now. It’s really not a good time
for me. I have to go now,” Mark said, looking down at his watch.

“Wait, but you
just got here. Where are you going?” Rachel asked.

“I have to go.
Stop asking so many questions!” Mark said.

Rachel went
upstairs to start putting her room back together. She was puzzled by the fact
that everything was in boxes but didn’t want to keep questioning it. She
started taking her things out of their boxes one by one. She pulled out old trophies,
posters, and her clothing. Her favorite MTV t-shirt was there, in the box with
her Dr. Martin shoes that she loved so much. Then, she pulled out some old
photographs of Dana and all her friends. She hung them back on the wall in
their proper places and continued unpacking. She was happy to see her room take
shape again, just as she’d remembered it.

As she reached
down to the bottom of one box she found a dusty picture album, blew off the
dust and opened it up. She was confused by the photos she saw and didn’t know
who these people were. It was pictures of her with a group of girls she didn’t
know. Then she saw pictures of a homecoming football game and her sister Sarah
as a cheerleader. It didn’t look like the high school she remembered and all
the kids were strangers to her. She didn’t recognize one of them. This was all
very confusing to her. Maybe what everyone was saying held some truth, she
thought to herself. Still, she didn’t want to believe it.

Then, she pulled
out her cell phone to text Dana. She missed her; it felt like forever since
they’d hung out for some strange reason. She wanted to see what she was up to
and if she wanted to hang out.

Rachel: Hey Dana! What’s up? Wanna come over?

Dana: Rachel?

Rachel: Who else would it be!

Dana: Is it really you?

Rachel: Um, yeah! Stop acting weird. What’s up?

Dana: Where are you?

Rachel: Home. You?

Dana: In PA. Where else!

Rachel: Me, too!

Dana: You’re back? When did you come back? Are you just
visiting family?

Rachel: What do you mean?

Dana: It’s been a while. I’m surprised to hear from you.

Rachel: What happened last night? Do you know why I woke
up in a field?

Dana: What? What are you talking about?

Rachel: What did we do last night?

Dana: IDK. I wasn’t with you.

Rachel: What do you mean? We ALWAYS go out together!
Seriously, what happened?

Dana: Rachel? Are you sure this is really you?

Rachel: Yes. It’s me.

Dana: Prove it then. This is too weird.

Rachel: I’ll come over. No actually you come here. I don’t
want my dad to get mad at me. He’s already a little pissed I didn’t come home
last night.

Dana: It’s late, I can’t tonight. Will I see you tomorrow?

Rachel: Yeah, I’ll see you in school tomorrow. Pumped for
our math class together. Ugh, Mr. Malloy is such a loser and that tupe is
redic.

Dana: Gotta go my mom’s here to see me. See ya tmw.

Rachel: Bye xoxo

Rachel thought
about her text conversation with Dana and thought it was a little strange, but
assumed she was in on this whole joke. It was like everyone was ganging up
against her to convince her that she’s been gone or missing for a long time.
What a strange and odd joke to play on someone, she thought.

She continued to
empty her boxes and then found her diary wrapped up inside a towel in the
bottom of a box. She opened it up and realized that the lock on the side had
been broken and pages were missing. There was an old entry from a few years ago
about the Dutch Fair and then a big gap in pages where someone must have torn
them out or something. Then, a random half page with the name Benji written on
it. She didn’t know why pages were ripped out of her diary or who Benji was,
but it was the second time today she’d heard his name. She thought back to the
morning, waking up with a Benji, but she didn’t think it would be the same
person. She didn’t know that guy. It must have been a different Benji.

It was late and
this day was completely exhausting to Rachel. She couldn’t run this mystery
over and over in her head one more time. She lay her head down on her soft down
pillow, crawled under the covers and quickly fell asleep. She was excited to
see Dana tomorrow and finally catch up about what happened to her over the
weekend. She had to get to the bottom of her Saturday night antics.

Violet sat in her
chamber as all the Greslins lined up at the foot of her throne waiting for her
to speak. It was a big night for her, as she finally got possession of the
Varithian Bracelet. She held it up and examined it. It was dripping with
sapphires and diamonds, the sapphires glowing, more blue than any gem she had
ever laid her eyes upon in all the centuries. Their coven had combed the world
for this bracelet for as long as she could remember, and thanks to her, they
had found it.

This bracelet had
allowed them entrance into the castle, a place they had been trying to enter
since their origin. Now, with this bracelet and in this castle, there was
nothing that could stop them. In just days, at the next new moon, the stars
would be perfectly aligned for the Varithian Ritual. When it was done, the
ancient vampire energy would be summoned, and her coven would be more powerful
than any coven on earth. There would be nothing that could stop them from
taking over the world, and she would begin by destroying Benji and the
Vladdicus Coven, and everything that was theirs. Then she would turn every
human left on the planet, dominate them all, and make all of mankind slaves to
her. She could already taste the fresh blood, and could not wait to inflict as
much pain and damage as possible.

As she looked at
the bracelet, looking at her reflection in a particularly large diamond, she
marveled that if only Hunter had loved her enough, maybe none of this would be.
Maybe they would be living together. Maybe she would be kinder, gentler. If
only Hunter had been kinder to her, had not spurned her for that little witch
Penelope, maybe Violet would have joined the other coven.

But now it was all
too late. Hunter had had his chance, but he had lost it. And now, she would do
everything in her power to make him pay, to make all of the Vladdicus pay for
his mistake. And that awful little girl Rachel most of all. She smiled wide as
she imagined herself tearing her to pieces. She looked up at the huge hole in
the ceiling, at the passing clouds in the moonlit sky, and could not wait for
the new moon.

Benji couldn’t
believe the news when he heard it. It was impossible. He thought his ears were
playing tricks on him when he heard that Violet and her coven had gained
possession of the Varithian Bracelet. He sat there in the library of his castle
with Matilda, Hunter and Penelope in awe. They were all stunned.

Benji stood up
and quickly looked out of the stained glass window towards the moon. He saw a
tiny sliver of the moon lighting up the night sky. He sighed in relief knowing
that he still had a little bit of time to save his coven before Violet would be
able to attack and destruct all the vampire covens in the world, but he knew it
would be cutting it close.

The ancient Coven
Book said that the only way to stop someone who has possession of the Varithian
Bracelet is to find the Waverly Mirror, which will reflect the sparkle of the
bracelet back towards the coven using it, and all their harmful plans will then
turn upon them.

“What are we
going to do?” Matilda asked. “This is going to be the end of us. The end of
EVERYONE!”

“This is awful,”
Hunter said. “We haven’t heard news like this since, well…as long as I’ve been
alive. It’s our biggest fear!”

“Hunter, No!
Please don’t say that. Please say we’ll be ok, please!” Penelope yelled. “I
don’t want to die.”

“Guys, calm down.
Please. All this hysteria isn’t going to help us or change the situation. We
have to come up with a plan. We still have a few days. We have to stop Violet.
We can’t let her end all of the vampire covens,” Benji said, trying to act
calm.

“Benji! Stop
trying to pretend this isn’t a big deal,” Matilda said. “Maybe you don’t realize
what a huge calamity this is going to be. THIS IS IT FOR US! Don’t you
understand that?”

“Matilda, I didn’t
say it’s not a big deal, but if we sit here and panic about it, it isn’t going
to DO ANYTHING. We have to find the mirror. The Waverly Mirror. That is the
only way we can get out of this situation and save ourselves and the other
covens. We MUST DO SOMETHING!” Benji yelled.

“But where is the
Waverly Mirror?” Penelope sighed. “Why must we always be on a mission to find
these objects? Can we ever catch a break around here?”

“Listen,
Penelope. It’s what we have to do. When you sign on to be a vampire, these are
the things you must do. It’s not a choice that we have. It’s an obligation.
It’s our duty to save our brothers and sister, our aunts and uncles, our
ancestors. It’s the only way,” Hunter said.

“The Coven Book
said that the Waverly Mirror is located off the coast of Africa, on one of the
Canary Islands. I’m not sure exactly which island, the book didn’t say, but
it’s on one of them,” Benji said.

“How are we ever
going to find it?” Penelope said in a whiney voice.

“Don’t worry. We
will do it together, the four of us,” Benji said. “Together we can accomplish
anything. With all our smarts, we’re sure to find it…somewhere!”

“I wouldn’t be
too sure about that,” Hunter said. “It’s probably well hidden and since nobody
has gained possession of the Varithian Bracelet in thousands of years, it is
probably well concealed.”

“You’re right,
Brother, but we have to at least attempt to find it. We can’t just wait for
Violet to attack. We have to try and stop her. Are you suggesting we do
nothing?” Benji said.

“Not at all! We
have to do something but we have to go together,” Hunter said.

“Well, this is
not going to be an easy feat,” Matilda said. “Speaking of easy feat, you will
never guess who stopped by here the other day looking for you and Rachel.”

“Who?” Benji
said. “What are you talking about?”

“Remember that
guy Rob? He said he know you from AHS. Well he came by desperately looking for
Rachel. He said he had to find her and asked if I knew where she was,” Matilda
said. “It seems like everyone is on a mission looking for something or someone
these days.”

“WHAT?” Benji
yelled. “What do you mean? And why did it take this long for you to tell me
this news?”

“Why are you
getting so angry? Isn’t he a friend of yours?” Matilda said.

“A FRIEND! NO
NEVER! AN ENEMY!” Benji couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“OH GOSH, I’m
sorry, Benji. I had no idea,” Matilda said.

“So, what
happened? What did you tell him?” Benji asked.

“Well, he said it
was an emergency. He said he had to find her to set things right. I didn’t know
what he was talking about but it seemed urgent. He seemed desperate to see her
so I took him to Uncle Drew’s crystal ball. I used it to pin point her location
and to show him where she was,” Matilda said in shame. “I’m sorry. I didn’t
know he was an enemy to you and Rachel. Oh gosh, what have I done?”

“This is a
nightmare. Rob is after Rachel and in a few days time we are all going to die.
I can’t think of anything worse!” Benji said, putting his head in his hands.
“This is just awful.”

“What are you
going to do?” Matilda said.

“Benji, what is
he going to do to Rachel?” Hunter asked. “You know he’s always had a thing for
her. At lease that’s what I heard.”

“I have to go
save her. I have to stop Rob from getting to her first. She can’t be influenced
by him. I can’t let this happen,” Benji said.

“But Benji,
Rachel doesn’t remember you. You said it yourself. Even if you got to her
before Rob, it wouldn’t make a difference. She wouldn’t know who you are or why
you’d be trying to stop her from seeing Rob,” Penelope said.

“I have to go. I
must. I have to save her, she would do it for me,” Benji said.

He was seething
with anger and jealousy. He wished that Rachel had remembered him. If she had,
none of this would be happening. He couldn’t let her get back together with
Rob. Especially after all they’d been through together. He had to find a way
for her to remember him. He had to win her back and get her out of the amnesia
spell. He didn’t know how he was going to do it but his heart was pulling him
towards her. He had to get to her and stop Rob. He couldn’t let anything happen
to her.

“I’m sorry, I
can’t go with you to find the Waverly Mirror. I have to go be with Rachel!”
Benji said.

“What do you mean
you’re not going to come with us? We had a whole plan. Now what are we going to
do?” Hunter said.

“You’re going to
have to go on without me. I’m sorry,” Benji answered.

“Please tell me
you are kidding,” Matilda said. “You are going to sacrifice our whole coven and
the whole world for a girl who doesn’t even remember you? For someone who could
care less about you or our Vladdicus Coven?”

“Stop saying
that, Matilda! She WILL remember me. She will. I just have to prove to her who
I am and our history together. She will come to, I know she will,” Benji said
hopefully.

“I can’t believe
you are throwing us to the wolves like this,” Hunter said. “This is
disappointing of you.”

“Hunter, put
yourself in my shoes. If this were you and Penelope would you try to save her?
Would you try to save your love or would you let some other guy steal her away
from you while you sit and watch idly by?” Benji said. “I don’t think you
would. You have to understand where I’m coming from.”

Benji watched as
Hunter looked over at Penelope and smiled. “I love you,” Hunter said to
Penelope. “I love you more!” she whispered back.

“I understand,
Benji,” Hunter said. “You go and do what you have to do. We will go alone. But
once you get to Rachel please bring her and come help us find the mirror. We
need all the help we can get.”

“Great idea,
Hunter! Bring Rachel. We could use her. She’s a smart girl,” Matilda said.

“OK, you three go
and I, well…we will catch up with you as soon as we can.”

“Hurry! There’s
no time to waste. You have a big search ahead of you,” Benji said.

The four of them
came together in the middle of the room and held out their hands to do their
secret coven handshake. It’d been a while since he’d done the handshake, but
felt it was an appropriate time as they were all setting out on their missions.

“1-2-3-Vladdicus!”
Benji said. “We can do it guys. Stay strong!”

“Good luck,
Benji,” Penelope, Hunter and Matilda said. “Hurry back to us. We can’t do this
without you.”

“Please go! You
will make good headway until I return,” Benji said.

With that Benji
walked out onto the marble balcony, stood there for a moment and then took off
into the night sky. He had to get to Rachel and fast. He knew he didn’t have
much time before Rob would get there and he had to stop them from falling in
love. He couldn’t let it happen. The mere thought devastated him and made his
body feel weak inside. A tear rolled down his cheek just thinking of her not
wanting to be with him anymore.