Awakening (33 page)

Everyone around me bowed their heads.
I did the same. What the heck was going on? Who were all these
people, and what was this enlightenment he was talking
about?

I had to get out of here and find Luke
and Freddy. I started to take a step back, but before I could move
away Macaven lifted his head. He raised up the dagger and swiftly
brought it down into the middle of the goat. He slashed across the
goat’s midsection, and blood and guts started to ooze out onto the
stone’s surface.

He shouted and raised his arms. “We
call on you, the dark powers beyond, the forces that can show us
the way to the true calling.”

The goat’s blood and entrails poured
down onto the altar, and a swirl of orange began to form above the
stone. I realized that Macaven was calling on spirits.

Faces began to form within the orange
cloud. Faces with expressions frozen in torment and pain and, as
these spirits opened their mouths, wild, terrified shrieks filled
the room. Banshees, he’d raised up banshees.

I began to move back in earnest this
time, but I only took one step before a shock of recognition ran
through me. One of the faces in the mist looked familiar. There was
something about the nose and the lips… I took a step forward and
watched in absolute horror as the spirit of my brother James
floated past.

“
James,” I whispered his
name, and as I did my brother’s spirit changed direction and headed
toward me.

I took another step forward, my hand
outstretched. “James.”

Before I could move, arms grabbed me
roughly from behind, a hand covered my mouth, dragging me back into
the shadows. I struggled against my assailant, but he was stronger
than I was. I was shoved to the back of the room. I broke free and
twirled around, my hands forming into fists. I started to take a
swing, but then froze when I realized it was Luke standing in front
of me glaring down at me.

He had on a black cloak and a golden
mask, pushed up onto his forehead. “Are you insane. You can’t
confront a banshee. It’s suicidal.”

“
It was James, my brother
James, did you see him?” My words came out in a rush.

Luke stood looking at me, his
expression one of shock. “One of the banshee’s is your
brother?”

I nodded my head and a tear slid down
my face.

“
Colina, how did your
brother die?”

I turned away, not able to say the
words.

Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me out
of the room, through the door and into the hallway.

He stood behind me, his voice low.
“Tell me what happened to your brother?”

“
He was there and then he
wasn’t. They did something to him. I didn’t understand it at the
time. I could hear his screams even after his body fell to the
ground.” I leaned back against him. “Does that mean that the dark
wizard has bound his spirit?” I held my breath, hoping his answer
would prove my worst fears wrong.

“
It makes sense. Macaven
could have bound your brother’s spirit to him, to do his bidding.
If he did, it means James is one of his banshees now.”

At Luke’s words anger filled me. “No!
We have to help him.” I started toward the door.

Voices could be heard shouting on the
other side of the door.

Luke pulled me back. “We have to save
Darla. Now that the ceremony has distracted everyone, we can search
for her.”

“
I think I know where Darla
is.”

Luke’s fingers dug into my arm.
“Where?”

I pointed toward the tapestry.
“Through there, there’s a hidden passage, and then a set of stairs
and at the bottom of the stairs there are rooms. I think your
sister is in one of those rooms.”

More shouts could be heard from the
other room. Luke looked from the door to the tapestry. “We have to
get her out. Our best chance is now while everyone is
busy.”

“
But James…”

Luke interrupted me. “Your brother is
dead. There’s nothing we can do for him. But Darla is alive.” He
reached over and pulled up my mask. “I’m sorry Colina.” He brought
his face close to mine. “James’s spirit couldn’t come to you
because Macaven has bound him.”

“
Is that why, when I called
my family, I could only make contact with my mother? But what about
my father?”

Luke turned away.

“
You know something about
my father? Tell me!”

Luke turned back toward me. “There’s
no time for this, we have to go after Darla.”

“
What did that madman do to
my father?” This time I begged.

Luke didn’t say anything for a few
seconds. He stood there looking as though he was trying to decide
something. A grim expression crossed his face when he finally
spoke. “When I was researching, trying to find what ancient spells
they could be trying to do, I came across one that involved a
dagger. I got close to the platform, and I got a good look at the
knife. I think it might be the same one they killed your father
with.”

I let out a sob.

Luke reached up and wiped away a tear
from my cheek. “If I’m right and he’s using the same ceremonial
knife, the one I recognized from the books, when he killed your
father, your father’s soul became trapped in the
dagger.”

“
I don’t
understand.”

“
Macaven needs dark magic
to power the old spells. He wants to create something, something
that can wield power. Something bigger, something not of this
world. From what I heard people saying in the crowd, tonight he’s
making preparations for an old and powerful spell. He’s trying to
bring forth…” he stopped.

“
A spirit? Like the
banshee?”

“
No something far worse.” A
look of fear crossed his eyes. “A demon.”

Another burst of sound from the room.
Whatever they were doing in there, they were enjoying it. They had
looked on with enthusiasm as Macaven killed a goat. What would they
do when he started sacrificing people? The thought sent chills down
my spine.

Luke must have been thinking along the
same lines and an expression of fear and then outrage crossed his
face. He looked at me and said in an angry voice, “A demon isn’t a
spirit, not in the strictest sense. It’s a combination of spirits,
their essence combines. Makes something bigger, darker, different.
Macaven would have had to kill a lot of men who had evil in their
hearts.”

His words shocked me. “My father was
not evil!” My voice was full of outrage.

“
No, but he was powerful.
Once Macaven had a collection of souls, the essence of those souls,
their blackness, their pure evil would gather together to create a
demon, but it’s not enough just to gather the souls. Macaven would
have to form this being, this dark thing, to bring it into our
world and to do that he’d need power. Lots of power.”

“
And you think that’s why
he has been killing people?”

“
Right now we have to save
my sister. I heard them say, there are going to do more sacrifices
at midnight. Colina, we don’t have a lot of time.”

“
But James…”

Luke raised his hand and stopped me.
“We free my sister and then we will find a way to help your
brother.”

Everything Luke said made sense. The
reason my father’s and brother’s spirits had never tried to contact
me was because Macaven had bound their spirits to him and now they
were both part of his sick and twisted plan. I had to find a way to
set them free.

Chapter
Sixteen

Luke turned toward the door. “Freddy’s
still in there, on the other side of the room. We split up, and
were keeping watch for you.”

“
How did you get the cloaks
and masks?”

He touched the silky black material.
“We came in a side door. They had these all laid out on a table for
people to take.” He took a step and put his hand on the doorknob.
“I’ll go get Freddy.”

I started to follow.

He pointed toward the tapestry. “You
wait in the hidden passage. I promise I won’t be long.”

“
We should stick together.”
If he was going back in there, I was going with him.

“
From the sounds they’re
making, who knows what kind of twisted magic they may be doing in
there. I've got a better chance on my own.” He turned and faced me.
“Colina, I promise we will find a way to help your brother once we
get Darla out.”

James’s spirit was in there bound to
that madman. “Can you make someone release a banshee?”

Luke put both hands on my shoulders.
“You can kill the wizard. As soon as a wizard dies all the spirits
bound to him are released.”

I clenched my fists. “If I kill
Macaven my brother’s spirit goes free?”

“
It’s not as easy as it
sounds. He’s a black wizard. A black wizard that’s been practicing
ancients spells. He’s more powerful than anyone I’ve ever come
across.”

“
And my only powers are
raising the dead and helping spirits cross over.” I grabbed his
arm. “Do you think I could force my brother’s spirit to the other
side like I did to Thomas’s spirit?”

Luke shook his head. “Not while
Macaven has him bound. His magic would hold your brother’s spirit
here. You’d have to somehow break his spell to release
James.”

“
If I could get the dagger,
I could slit Macaven’s throat like he did my fathers.” The words
that came out of my mouth surprised even me.

Luke’s fingers dug into my skin.
“That’s the anger talking. It’s an enchanted dagger. Killing
Macaven with it, you don’t know what that might do, what spell or
thing that might set free.” He let go of me and said in a soft
voice, “Trust me, we’ll find a way to release your brother, but
right now we have to get my sister.”

Without another word, Luke walked
through the door and shut it quietly behind him.

I stared after him. I could free my
brother by killing Macaven, but even if I wanted to, how could I
kill a powerful black wizard? I made my way behind the tapestry,
into the passage and stood at the top of the staircase, waiting.
Minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Luke or Freddy. I
was starting to seriously worry, when I heard footsteps coming down
the passage. There was no place to hide, no place to duck into, and
if it wasn’t Luke and Freddy I was in real trouble.

Freddy called out. “We come in peace.”
He wore a black cloak and held a mask in one hand.

I gestured down the stairway. “I think
Darla is in a room at the bottom, but I couldn’t get in, there’s a
heavy lock on the door.”

Freddy opened the cloak and revealed
the bag hanging over his right shoulder. He patted the bag. “No
worries, I brought a few things that might help.”

We made our way down the stairs and
stopped in front of the door.

Freddy took off his cloak and put the
bag on the floor. He opened it and rummaged around, finally pulling
out a pair of bolt cutters.

“
What didn’t you bring?”
Luke asked.

Freddy smiled up at us. “Like the boy
scouts, I’m always prepared.” He broke the lock.

It was just a gut feeling I had that
Darla was in there. We had no real idea what we were about to walk
in on.

Luke took the lead and leaned his hand
on the door. “Stay behind me.”

Freddy passed me a flashlight. “I’ll
stay out here as look out.”

The door swung open and I followed
Luke inside swinging my flashlight in a wide arc. It illuminated
the room showing two dozen bodies sitting or lying on the floor.
Some of them had on dark hoods, others turned and looked at us.
Their captors had placed gags on their mouths and bound their hands
and feet with thick rope.

As I shone my light across fear
stricken faces, I realized that these were the ones who’d refused
to join Macaven’s ranks. How could someone round up innocent people
to be sacrificed? How many had they already killed? I could feel
the anger building inside me.

I finally came across a face I
recognized. Darla didn’t have on a hood, but there were bruises on
her face. Someone had blackened one eye and cut her lip. Luke
rushed toward his sister. Crying out her name, he fell to the floor
beside her. He pulled out a pocket knife and started to cut the
ropes biding her hands.

I realized in horror that they had
hacked off her beautiful hair. Where golden strands once fell
almost to the floor, her hair was now short. It was chopped
hazardously around her head above her ears . I reached up and
touched her face. “Darla, what did they do to you?”

Tears were rolling down her
cheeks.

Luke reached up and grabbed one edge
of the tape covering her mouth. “This is going to hurt.”

Darla nodded her head, and Luke
yanked.

A cry of pain escaped Darla’s mouth.
Her hand reached up and touched her brother’s face. “You found me.
I knew you would.”

They embraced.