The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV (19 page)

“Something's got me.” I whispered as fear
replaced the fire and suddenly I was being thrown across the
room.

I hit the door with full force and it knocked
the wind out of me, but as I looked down, I realized that I hadn't
hit the floor yet. I looked over at Julian, then down at my
dangling feet.

“Get me down!” I said; my voice shaking as I
kicked my feet against the door and as I looked up what I saw
wasn't Julian's room, but a black and silver vortex that opened up
right in front of me. I screamed as it became as wide as the room,
floor to ceiling, and struggled against the invisible person that
held me. “Julian!”

“What's going on?” He yelled, over the
deafening noise that the vortex was letting off. I couldn't see
him, because he was either to my side or behind the vortex, either
way, I don't believe he really saw anything.

The hold on me released, but instead of being
dropped to the floor, I was thrown into the whirling darkness of
the vortex in front of me.

When I opened my eyes, I looked drowsily at
the side view picture of a lush green field with a thin group of
trees in the background. Slowly, I sat upright and looked around
me. I wasn't anywhere that I recognized, and that bothered me. If I
wasn't in Connecticut anymore, then where was I? This question was
answered, rather quickly, when a young looking man walked, slowly,
out of the woods, looking down at me as he approached with
caution.

I stood to meet him, as he looked at me
strangely. His eyes were full of wisdom, even though his face
looked quite young, and his light brown hair was pulled back in a
ribbon, holding it away from his face. My eyes widened as I noticed
how familiar the features of this face looked, when he finally
stopped a few feet from me.

“And, you are?” He asked, folding his hands
behind his back.

“Caitlyn.” I replied, slipping my hands in
the pockets of my jeans. “And, you would be?”

“Larado.” He answered, and that's when I
realized where I had seen his face before, some features of it I
saw every day when I looked in the mirror. “You're not dead, are
you?”

“Not that I know of. Should I be?” I
questioned. Larado nodded.

“Usually, when your here, your dead.” He
shrugged, and then stepped closer, looking at me with squinted
eyes. “Wait a minute, I know you.”

“I don't think so.” I replied, crossing my
arms, waving him off as I looked around. “You died a long time
before I was born.”

“Yes, that's true, but still, you look
familiar.” He answered. “I must have seen you from somewhere.”

“A prophecy, maybe?” I asked. “You know, on a
full moon night, in one hundred years, blah, blah, blah.”

“Yes, of course. You're her.” He smiled and
reached out to touch my hair. I stepped back away from him and
shook my head. “Julian must have found you then.”

“Yes, he did, and things haven't quite turned
out the way you might think.” I replied.

“You're son? You do have a son, don't you?”
He asked, nodding at his own question.

“Yes, I have a son.”

“A prince of the Kingdom, correct.”

“Look, if you know all of this, why are you
asking?” I asked, getting annoyed.

“How many of them have come true?” Larado
looked at me, with a bit of concern on his face.

“How many of what?” I questioned.

“The prophecies, how many have come
true?”

“As far as I know, in the last two years,
this will be the third, if I can ever find out how to get out of
here!” I said shaking my head. “Do you know how?”

“I don't even know how you got here.” He
shrugged.

“Great, what good are you?” I sighed and
watched his face take on a sour look. “Sorry. I was sucked in
through a vortex that just happened to appear in Julian's
bedroom.”

“A vortex?” He said, softly, and then looked
up at me. “Come with me, I think there's some things we need to
discuss.”

“First, I'd like to know one thing.”

“Sure.”

“Am I ever going to get home? Did Klamara
bring me here?”

“That's two things, and, no, Klamara didn't
bring you here. You're here for a different reason.” He replied and
gestured to the woods. “Come with me and we'll get this thing
figured out.”

I walked with him through the woods, and no
matter how many times I tried to speak; the words just wouldn't
come out, not until we reached our destination. I stopped and
looked at the area surrounding the tunnel that we were about to
enter.

“This is it.” I whispered. Larado looked at
me, quickly, and then looked back at the tunnel.

“This is what?” He asked.

“The cave, this entrance, its looks like the
same one that Klamara died in.” I replied. Larado smiled, and then
clapped his hands.

“You are amazing.” He said and looked at me
as if I had just been a masterpiece he had finished.

“Excuse me?” I replied.

“When I dreamed about you, when I told Julian
of the prophecy, I never thought you would be this powerful.”

“I'm not powerful; I'm a weakling that has
let one man conceive a son with me, and not know it, has another
man who insists on protecting me because Julian is, according to
him, an imbecile and one other that thinks I'm his personal
drinking fountain. Oh, yeah, really powerful.” I said, rolling my
eyes.

“I think you'll find that you're more
powerful than you think.” He smiled and the two of us entered the
cave. As we reached the end of the tunnel, it didn't surprise me
that we stepped into the same room that Klamara had walked into
when confronting the witch. “Do you recognize this place?”

“Yes, this was where the whole thing
started.” I whispered and looked at him, then around at the empty
room. “So, why are we here, again?”

“There are things you must see.” He smiled. I
looked at him, questioning exactly what I was supposed to be
seeing. “Ah, you don't really know where you are, do you.”

“If I did, I wouldn't be following you to
find out how to get home.” I sighed, and then shook my head. “I'm
sorry. Larado, but this is all a bit difficult for me to handle
right now. My whole reality just got sucked down the drain when a
hole opened up and pulled me through.”

“First off, let me explain something to you.”
He smiled, taking my hand. “You haven't really left the
bedroom.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, not believing what I
was being told.

“This is your inner mind, a sort of astral
plane within a person's own mind. The vortex was a way of getting
you to come into yourself to see this important information.”

“What important information, and who is it
about?” I questioned.

“Why don't we go inside, I can answer a lot
more of your questions there?” He smiled. There was something about
his smile this time that made me a little uneasy, but what choice
did I have. If this was my mind, it wasn't letting me out; no
matter how much I tried, until I knew whatever it was that I was
brought here to find out.

I looked to that sky, as the clouds and the
night started to roll in, then I looked at the cave as the entrance
slowly began to glow, as if a light had just started to come
on.

“One more question before we get started.” I
said and turned to look at him. He nodded, grinning. “The day that
Klamara came for you, what went on? How come you weren't taken
then?”

“For the same reason you weren't taken the
day he came for you three years ago, it wasn't time.” He replied;
the grin he wore never seemed to leave his face. “You had other
things to do before you faced him again. Most of the time, the
people he takes know what they are, or who they are, but I don't
think he left you because of your lack of knowledge, something else
drove him away, or someone.”

“Great, one more mystery I have to figure
out.” I sighed. “Okay, let's get on with this.”

“I'm glad you're so open to this.” He said,
and walked over to the cloth covered doorway in the far corner of
the room. “I want you to remember something; this is the past, no
one that you are about to meet will know you, and please play along
as we go.

“Why are you showing me this?” I asked him.
“Why can I talk to you as if you know I come from the future, if
this is the past?”

“Just call me a spiritual guide.” He laughed.
“You and I are connected by blood, which means that what I've done
in the past also becomes your past.”

“You're not dead, are you?” I asked him.
Larado just smiled and shrugged, and then turned to look at the
curtain in front of him.

I watched as several people walked into the
room and made themselves comfortable around the room. I stood
there, in the middle of a group of very unique individuals, but I
didn't realize that there were two others that were about to make
an entrance.

I looked over as the curtain draw back once
more and a young man walked out. He was an exact replica of
Klamara, and he smiled at me, but his eyes seemed to be a bit
different, not in color, for they were exactly like his father's,
but in an emotional way. He looked me over with a disapproving look
then looked over at Larado.

“What stray have you brought home this time,
Larado?” He asked.

“Be nice, Auron, she's a guest, not a stray.”
Larado said, as the smile faded from his lips.

“What clan does she belong too?” He asked,
putting a foot up on one of the stairs, and then he leaned on his
thigh with his lower arms.

“She doesn't belong to any clan.” Larado
replied.

“Then, she's a stray.” He said and looked
over me as I stood there. “Though, I have to admit, you do find the
prettiest looking strays I've ever seen, can I have her?”

“Why you little puke.” I snapped, and then
watched Larado straighten and look at me with disapproval. I
crossed my arms and stepped down, as I eyed him with disgust.

“Ooh, she's feisty, isn't she?” He walked
over to me and grabbed a handful of my hair, then pulled my head
back, exposing my neck. He didn't scare me, as I stood there,
staring up at him. “She's defiant, too. Just look how she stares.”
Auron's teeth became sharp as he snarled at me. “Eyes to the floor,
wench.”

I raised my hand and moved to slap him when
another hand caught my wrist. I looked over at this new arrival, as
Auron released me and stepped back. I couldn't believe it, as I
looked into his green eyes. My eyes grew wide as Julian stepped
back. His hair was much longer than it had been in the present, and
he didn't wear it tied back. He looked at me, then over at
Auron.

“Leave her be.” He told the young man and
dropped my wrist. “She's a guest.” He turned away from me and
looked over at Larado. “What are you doing here? I thought we had
discussed this. You're not supposed to know where I am.”

“It doesn't matter if I know where you are or
not, Julian.” Larado said stepping closer to me. “They're coming
for you anyway.”

“I have nothing to do with the Kingdom
anymore.” He replied and sat in one of the large chairs in the
corner, draping his left leg over the arm.

“That isn't important to them.” He sighed.
Julian laughed.

“They can't kill me, Larado; I’ve hopped back
and forth through time too much. This Godforsaken place has changed
hundreds of times over, and they never know what time to look
in.”

“You know, it's your arrogance that going to
get your thick skull bashed in by one of their clubs, can't you
listen to reason?” Larado asked.

“A prince, listen to reason? Please, Larado,
you've been hanging around with strays for way too long.” Auron
laughed, and then looked at me. I looked at him quickly, then
crossed my arms and shook my head, as I looked back at Julian.

“A prince?” I asked, quietly, which caught
Larado's attention. He looked over at me and shook his head, then
turned back to Julian.

“I was one, in a different life, but I'm not
a prince any longer, Jessa is pregnant, which takes me out of the
way.” Julian replied. I stepped up beside Larado and looked at
him.

“Who's Jessa?” I questioned, quietly. Larado
looked at me.

“She's the mother of the future queen.” He
replied.

“The one who will have the prince that will
lead us all to peace with the mortals.” I whispered to myself,
looking down at the floor, as I remembered the prophecy in his
books.

“So, now you’re telling your prophecies to
strays?” Auron spoke up. I looked up quickly, unaware that I had
been that loud about it, and I looked at Julian, then Larado. “I'm
surprised at you, man. I thought you would have had more class than
that.”

“Shut up, Auron!” Larado said, sternly, then
grabbed my arm and lead me out of that part of the cavern. He
turned, and then faced me, as his eyes slowly closed.

“Why are you showing me this?” I asked
him.

“You needed to know.”

“Know what? That Julian is a
two-hundred-year-old vampire with the power to jump back and forth
through time? That he is, was, or at some point will be the prince
of the Kingdom that my own child is a part of?”

“No, I brought you here so you could learn
about other things.” He said, and rubbed his forehead. “Caitlyn,
listen, you have access to knowledge that people would kill for.
You know, now, of Julian's secret, which turns out to be Quinn's
secret as well, although he is less concerned with things of the
past, and you also know of the Queen and her mother.”

“I don't know anything about her, except that
at this moment in the past, she has been conceived.

How useful is that information to me?”

“I can be very useful.” Julian's voice broke
into our conversation. I looked over at him as he stepped out of
the shadows. He looked over at Larado and smiled. “She's of your
bloodline, is she not?”

“Yes, she is.” He said and looked down at me.
“This changes everything.”