B00528UTDS EBOK (12 page)

Lex had come to believe that his memory of Brenda was causing his failure. Kayla’s mother had been the only light that still burned in his heart, and he had worried that he might need to kill her before enough of the dark energy filled his soul to give him the strength he needed?

He had been so close - too close.

He had though that if he could kill Vance and Kayla, he would finally be at peace with the world of humans. Maybe then he could put his energy into closing the doors and isolating mankind.

It was for the good of the people.

The humans were too primitive to coexist with those of
Outerlands
. Since he could not seem to stop the crossing over into that world, he would close the door and rule
Outerlands
without the taint of humans.

Lex forced the memory from his mind. He hadn’t known then that Brenda’s child was his own daughter, and that by harming Vance he would be bringing heartache to his child. He’d believed Brenda had betrayed him with a human.

It was true that she’d been terrified of what he was. She could not accept that he was of the wolves, and this was why she’d kept the knowledge of their child to herself. If he could only go back to that moment, he would change so many things. He would not have brought such horrific pain to his daughter, or to his people - the people he had been sworn to protect as the leader of the Zen Warrior Society.

To this day, he still could not believe that before he’d known that Kayla was his daughter, he’d actually planned on having her assassinated. Lex shuddered to think of how close he’d come to killing his only child. If it had not been for the Valley of Dreams, he may have done just that.

The Valley of Dreams was a fog-covered basin where one would lose themselves within their own fantasies and fears. It was one of the most avoided places in
Outerlands
. One could enter the Valley of Dreams and wander around within their head until they perished from exposure or starvation.

He had planned on killing her, but she’d saved him from himself, and the mist. Lex could not block out that memory, no matter how he tried.

Kayla had been running from him. She ran through the forest. Far away - the ethereal mist of the Valley of Dreams beckoned her, and she ran faster. The Zen warriors were bigger and stronger, accustomed to the wolf’s body. They were gaining on her fast - closing the gap.

The mist was not so far away when one could maneuver the woods with the keen senses of the beast. The fingers of the enchanting white fog reached out into the woods to touch her with its magic, tapping into her brain to show her what could be hers.

“Do not go in there Kayla,” Lex’s words followed her as she let the mist close in around her.

His transformation back to human form was complete, and he watched - horrified as his newfound daughter entered the mist. His warriors had stopped some distance behind him, refusing to go further.

Lex moved cautiously into the mist. “Kayla!” he called out. “You cannot stay in the mist. You will die in here!”

A shadow moved within the mist and Lex walked toward it. As the milky air cleared, he saw Brenda. She looked exactly the same as she did the last day he’d set eyes on her. She was crying, and shaking her head in disappointment.

“Brenda!” Her name slipped from his lips. “You are not real,” he yelled, closing his eyes against the vision.

When he opened his eyes Brenda was gone, but now there was a little girl riding a squeaky tricycle. She was circling him. The child stopped and with a small - plump hand, brushed her blond curls away from her face. She looked up at him with wide blue eyes.

“Daddy … where were you? Why do you want to hurt me?”

Lex swallowed hard, the pain of realization tearing at his heart. The mists swirled around him, seeping into his mouth, his nose, and ears. It was even oozing through his skin. Every moment he’d every spent with Brenda moved through his brain, and then there was the child, his only child.

“I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know!” he pleaded with the little girl for understanding.

A large wolf came out of the mist - baring its teeth, it snarled sadistically. The beast jumped on the child, sinking its teeth into her throat. The wolf began to twist its head back and forth - tearing at her flesh.

The Gatekeeper disappeared as quickly as the last vision. Lex shook inside, no longer sure of what was real and what was illusion.

Slender hands grabbed his arm and began pulling him. Lex followed, no longer caring where it was he was going. Slowly the mist thinned until he found himself in the crisp night air.

Kayla stared up at him, her bright blue eyes wary - ready for him to leap at her. What clothes remained on her - hung in shreds. The consequence of the changing when one was not ready for it.

“You came back for me!”

Kayla nodded her head, but still she watched him cautiously.

That had been the moment that he’d truly embraced her as his daughter, but it had been too late. He’d already stolen from her the only thing that would matter in her life - the man that she loved.

Jeanie cleared her throat in an attempt to get the man’s attention. She’d put on her hooded cloak and left the house so that she could seek out help for Sarah, but she’d noticed him across the road - staring. When Jeanie approached the man, he seemed to be completely unaware of her presence.

“Well you’re a day late and a dollar short.” Jeanie was in a huff, irritated by the constant intrusion of these otherworldly creatures in the affairs of the Fabre family. She knew that he could not be human. If he were, he would not know about Sarah being in danger.

* * * *

Caroline’s heart raced, threatening to burst in her chest. She slammed against the cottage door - practically ripping it from its hinges to get inside. It was still dark within the confines of the cottage walls. She had not yet drawn back the curtains to let in the morning sun. Her eyes scanned the interior until they came to rest on the cradle where her baby daughter lay screaming in terror.

At first she could see nothing but the small form of the baby lying on her back, her arms swinging in the air as she screamed. When her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she saw that there was an area of darkness that was denser that the natural darkness. The shadow stood near the cradle - staring down at the frantic child.

“What are you? What do you want?” Caroline demanded.

The thick darkness that was the shadow - moved. It was then that Caroline saw red glowing eyes where its head should have been. Yelping, she backed away from the evil presence.

“I have come to offer you a reprieve.” The rasping - hollow voice was the voice of evil in its purest form. It was a voice that could not be heard with the ears, but only within the mind. “I will spare you your fate, in exchange for the child.”

Caroline prayed for the strength to face down this being - this bringer of death. “Why would you have an interest in this baby?” she asked, refusing to show fear.

The silence that followed was like that of the grave. The shadow hovered over the cradle, but its orbs of red light were fixed on Caroline.

Caroline shook her head. “If you have come for me … then take me, but leave my child be.”

Its hollow laughter filled her head. “When you embrace death you seek me out. You have made your choice. If you seek immortality, you will be trading the child’s life for your own.”

Caroline blinked and the shadow was gone. As quickly as the presence left, the child became quiet, falling into a deep slumber. She ran to the baby and reached out to feel the child’s chest. Sighing with relief that the baby was still breathing.

Swallowing hard, Caroline was confused by the words of the entity. Had she just come face to face with the Angel of Death? Or was it some demon sent to bring death and misfortune to her family? Whatever it was, it wanted her child?

* * * *

Sarah jumped upon waking. Her dream of Caroline remained vivid in her mind. It was the curse of the Fabre witches to remain alone throughout life. If they tried to defy the curse, they risked the lives of their children. Most women in her family never married. If they did, the marriage rarely lasted. They feared for their children, and like most mothers, they would ultimately choose their children over their own hearts.

No one knew the origins of the curse, but at least now Sarah knew that it must have come before Caroline’s time. It was the curse that had brought about her demise, not Darrien.

Sarah’s thoughts were brought back to the present when she heard a noise at the top of the stairs. She held her breath and listened.

The door handle rattled and then turned.

Scrambling to the other side of the basement, Sarah tried to avoid the dim light that made its way into the basement from the open door. Her senses picked up danger, even before she saw the figure on the stairs. It was a man, but at the same time, he wasn’t a man. The instinct that she was born with screamed at her to run. That instinct told her that this was a monster, someone that she should fear. But Jeanie stood behind him, and she didn’t seem the least bit worried.

Her eyes followed him as he made his way down the stairs. Silently she waited - waited for him to reveal who he was - waited for the death that she sensed was imminent.

The man stood there staring at her. Not with hatred and hunger as she’d expected. What she saw in his eyes was understanding and compassion.

Sarah again nodded. This was another mythical creature that she had not considered real. Just like she had believed that vampires were no more than myth.

“That is what I am. I don’t have time to explain everything right now, but that is what I am.” Lex held out a hand to her.

Reluctantly, Sarah placed her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. When her skin made contact with his, she saw into his head and into his heart. The room seemed to fade away and she stepped into someone else’s body - into someone else’s head. The vision was so strong that it blinded her to the world around her.

* * * *

Sarah was in the body of the man’s daughter, and she was on the ground, sobbing.

“I am so sorry for your loss.” A man with dark hair tried to soothe her. She didn’t know who it was, but he seemed to be someone important.

Then she could hear someone else’s voice. “We tried, but he lost too much blood by the time we got here.” Whoever was talking to her was male, and she felt as if she should know him.

Her tears fell, heedless of all else. What did she care of what others thought? Her heart was gone, stolen from her once again.

The man was there, the same man that had entered her aunt’s basement. He stepped forward, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. “I am so sorry. I cannot change what has already happened, but I can make amends by being the father I should have been long ago.”

Sarah stepped back into her own body and was looking upon a scene that she was not part of. A young woman was crying hysterically.

The woman shook her head violently. “You have caused me too much grief. It is you that took from me those that I loved,” she told him, crying out in anguish. “My dad is a man of God, you are a creature of darkness.”

Lex bowed his head and backed away from her. “If you should need me Kayla, I will do my best,” he told her before leaving through the open door of the death chamber where her lover’s body lay on a cold slab of marble - covered with a red velvet cloth.

Pulling away from a large man with blond hair, the woman made her way to where the body of her lover lay. She then dropped to her knees beside him.

Sarah could feel her grief, and it was so great that it shook her to the core. The woman could only lay her head on the body of her lover and cry. She was not aware of when the others left the room so that she could be alone with her love for the last time.