Welsh Road (The Depravity Chronicles) (21 page)

“What?”

“It’s not
important. But
you
, baby boy,
you
are important. I need you to do
a few things for me before our guests arrive.”

“What makes you
think I would do anything for you? Damn. You are one crazy wench.”

“Thanks for the
compliment. And you
will
do as I say. That is, unless you would like me
to maul your girlfriend and feed her to my pet.”

“Your pet?”

“Are these
okay?” William asked as he returned to the living room. In one hand he held the
carcass of a squirrel, and in the other hand a small fox.

“Right on cue,”
Nina said happily, clapping her hands together. She watched Nicholas as he
studied William.

“Dude, what’s
your deal?” Nicholas asked. “What are you?”

“What I am is
hungry,” William answered, staring at the dried blood on Nicholas’ cheeks. He
stalked closer to Nicholas, licking his lips. “Starving, actually. Famished.”

“Focus,
William,” Nina said.

He ignored her.

With surprising
grace, William lunged at Nicholas. Just as Nina was about to put an end to
William, Nicholas surprised everyone, including himself. He grabbed a ritual
knife – an athame – from the altar table that sat right beside him. He shoved
it into William’s chest as he descended on him. William stumbled backward,
shocked that there was an 18 inch blade stuck in his chest. After the shock
wore off, he began laughing.

“I can’t be killed,”
William said, still laughing, as he clutched the hilt of the athame. “I am
immortal!” William’s smile quickly vanished, however, when he realized that he
couldn’t remove the knife. Picking up on William’s fear, Nicholas used his palm
to push the blade even deeper into his chest.

“Immortal, huh?”
Nicholas mocked, though he quickly – and smartly – backed away from William. He
reached for another athame. But before he could reach it, he discovered that he
couldn’t move his arm any closer to the knife. In fact, he couldn’t move
anything at all. Panic welled up in his belly.

“Enough!” Nina
said. “I enjoy death matches as much as the next wench, but I don’t have time
for this shit.”

“Please,”
William begged, turning toward Nina and pointing at the athame protruding from
his chest.

“Of course,
doll,” she answered as she walked over to him. William smiled brightly, anxious
to be free of the blade in his chest. The smile was still on his face when Nina
decapitated him. She tossed the head to Nicholas, who quickly backed away and
then kicked it across the room like a soccer ball. The head burst into flames
midair at the same time his body burned like a campfire.

“Gross!”
Nicholas complained. “Was that necessary?”

“You are unlike
any human I have ever met,” Nina said, somewhat unnerved by Nicholas’ refusal
to act, well, like a human. “Most people I have tortured and killed spent
nearly every moment crying, screaming, praying, pleading. You name it.”

“Oh, gee, I
wonder why they would do that,” Nicholas said, shaking his head.

“I knew you were
different, which is why I chose you. Still, I am curious about what makes you
so divergent from other humans.”

“So, I’m some
sort of peculiar human. What are you? A witch of some sort?” Nicholas asked.

“What makes you
think that?”

“You just said
it a minute ago.”

Nina reflected
for a moment, then shrugged it off. “I said ‘wench,’ which I believe is what
you
called me. Besides, you mustn’t believe everything I say. I am, after all,
quite evil. And as we all know, you can’t trust demons.”

“You’re a demon,
then?”

Nina sighed
heavily. “I didn’t say that either. Would you just shut up? You can be
exhausting, not to mention annoying. We need to focus. Our guests will be here
soon. If both you want your to live through the night, then I suggest you stop
playing games.”

“You mean you’re
not going to kill us?” Nicholas asked, somewhat hopeful.

“I said ‘live
through the night,’” Nina repeated. “As in, tonight. One day. I don’t recall
saying I wouldn’t kill you tomorrow.”

Nicholas perked
up when he heard the sounds of gunshots not too far from the house. He walked
toward the window, but only made it about halfway across the room before Nina
stepped in front of him.

“I think it
would be more effective if you weren’t standing when our guests arrived,” Nina
said.

“What’s that
supposed to mean?” Nicholas demanded.

Nina pressed her
two forefingers against his forehead. Nicholas made a strange face and fell
unconscious to the floor.

“That’s better,”
Nina said. “Now, just a few more things to do before they arrive.”

After a few
moments of reflection and mental preparation, she walked to the window. It was
almost dark, and with the trees covering the bloated, setting sun, she saw
movement in the dusk. The back door opened and closed; it was the only sound
they made. She looked to the shadows in the four corners of the living room.

“Are you ready?”
she asked them. “The time is nearly upon us.”

“We are ready,”
the chorus of voices answered in unison.

The sound of
their voices made Nina slightly anxious. Just their mere presence made her
uncomfortable. She didn’t like working with these creatures. They were
unpredictable, untrustworthy, and utterly insatiable when it came to human
blood. But alas, she had little choice if she was going to pull this off.

Sometimes, when you
need a little muscle, it can be helpful to have a coven of vampires in your
corner. This is especially true when one of them is your brother.

* * * * * *

4

Isabelle Marsh
paced nervously around her house, unable to shake the feeling that something
very bad was about to happen.

“Jesus Christ,
Belle,” her husband Hank groaned. He had tried all day, in vain, to find a way
to calm his wife. From the moment they had discovered that Jena had snuck out
of the house earlier that morning, Isabelle refused to be comforted. “Would you
sit down or something? You’re making me nervous.” He knew immediately that he
should have kept his mouth shut.

“Oh, I’m so
sorry to be a burden, Hank,” she barked. “Our daughter nearly died last night,
and now she’s with a man who we don’t know from Adam. Oh, and have you
forgotten that she was covered in someone else’s blood? I mean, were you even
there with me last night as we sat by her hospital bed?”

“Yes, Isabelle,
you’re right. I’m sorry.”

Isabelle
snorted. “Do
not
appease me, Hank Marsh. How can you sit here like it’s
just another lazy Saturday?”

“What do you
suggest we do then? Honey, I really believe that this professor Bearson can
help her. If anything happens I’m sure he’ll let us know. She does
not
need
your
kind of help.”

“Oh, that’s so
big of you. So supportive and comforting. Well, I can’t just sit here all day
or it will drive me crazy.”

“That won’t be a
long drive,” Hank mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, dear.
Try and call her again. Maybe this time she’ll answer.”

“You’re useless,
Hank,” she huffed. She stormed out of the room toward the second floor of the
house.

“Where are you
going?”

“I’m getting out
of your hair. Enjoy watching your precious television.” As she climbed the
stairs, she wracked her brain trying to decide what to do. Anything was better
than what she was currently doing, which was absolutely nothing. She stopped
outside of Jena’s bedroom door, wanting very badly to go snooping. The last
time she had done that, Jena didn’t speak to her for nearly a week.

Desperate times
and whatnot
,
she thought to herself. She was surprised to find Jena’s door locked when she
tried to open it.

“You better not
be going through Jena’s shit!” Hank bellowed from the foot of the stairs.

“I can’t believe
you actually got up from your chair,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Isabelle?” Hank
called.

“Would you leave
me alone?” Isabelle shouted. “I’m not doing anything that would piss her off.”

“I seriously
doubt that,” Hank rebutted.

After several
seconds of silence, Isabelle figured he had returned to his recliner. She
debated whether to unlock Jena’s door and search for clues, but decided against
it. There was only one way she was going to find the answers she so desperately
needed. Once she made the decision, adrenaline began pumping through her veins.
She raced down the stairs, nearly tripping twice, until she came to a halt in
front of Hank’s chair.

“Do you mind?”
he complained. “I’m trying to watch something here.”

The television
abruptly turned off, confusing Hank.

“Sorry to
interrupt your precious, uh, whatever it was. I’m going to see Jena.”

“Isabelle,” Hank
began, but Isabelle raised her hand, as if daring him to continue to speak. He
just shook his head.

“This is
nonnegotiable. Would you like to drive me? Make up your mind quickly because
I’m not going to sit around and wait while you decide whether golf is more
important than your daughter.”

“I wasn’t
watching golf,” Hank said tersely, clearly offended.

“I don’t give a
wet monkey’s
ass
what you were watching, Hank. And that is so far from
the point that I could slap you into next week.”

“Yeah, I think
I’ll stay here,” Hank said. She could tell he wanted nothing to do with
whatever Isabelle had planned. “Just make me a promise, please.”

“What promise?”

“That you don’t
go in halfcocked and piss her off. This is a delicate time in her life, and if
we want her to include us in whatever is going on, we need to handle this
accordingly.”

“Are you
suggesting that I am only making things worse by trying to protect our
daughter?”

Hank paused for
a moment, recognizing that he needed to choose his words carefully. Jena was
just like her mother, and when the two of them clashed, it was like two massive
storm fronts crashing together and destroying everything within a ten mile
radius.

“Well?” Isabelle
pushed, tapping her foot impatiently. “I’m not getting any younger here, Hank.”

“Your love is
passionate and all consuming,” Hank said slowly and deliberately. “Sometimes
you can come across a little strong. Just remember to breathe before you speak,
taking the time to measure your words and your tone of voice. Not to mention
the
other
methods you have at your disposal.”

“Okay, Dr.
Freud,” Isabelle responded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Hank stood from
his chair and pulled his wife into his arms. He squeezed her tightly, kissed
her forehead, and stroked her hair. “I love you, baby. I really do. Just be
careful.”

Isabelle took a
deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I love you, too, my darling husband. You’re
right, I’ll be careful.”

Hank’s eyes
widened with surprise and pure delight. “What did you just say?”

Isabelle pushed
him away, smiling. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Could you
repeat it for me? Wait, let me grab my voice recorder. I may need this evidence
at a later date.”

“Oh, ha ha,”
Isabelle chortled. You can take the lawyer out of the courtroom, but you can’t
take the courtroom out of the lawyer. “I’ll call you and let you know what’s
going on as soon as I can.”

“Please, Belle,
be careful.”

“I promise. Do
me a favor and text our daughter to let her know I’m coming and that she should
text me and let me know where she is.”

“Will do,” Hank
said.

“Thanks. I love
you and I’ll see you soon,” Isabelle said as she made her way toward the
kitchen to grab the car keys. Once she was in the garage, she jogged over to
one of Hank’s massive workbenches. She crawled underneath it and pushed against
one of the tiles in the wall. It opened with a loud
Click
, revealing a
hidden compartment about the size of a knapsack. She grabbed what she needed,
closed the unmarked tile door, and anxiously climbed into her Mercedes.

For the first time
since Jena was born, Isabelle regretted not having told her sooner about her
heritage. She looked at the family heirloom sitting on the passenger seat,
hoping that she was making the right decision. Once she presented this to Jena,
there was no turning back.

Isabelle placed
her hand on the heirloom that represented an important part of Jena’s past as
well as her future. The Grimoire glowed in response to Isabelle’s touch,
illuminating the car with a brilliant, pulsing blue light.  

1

“Fancy meeting
you here,” Anna said to Sam as they worked on finding a way to cut him down
from the hunting net that had snared him.

“I guess this
shit really
is
becoming an annual affair,” Sam said darkly. “I could use
a knife up here.”

“Are you sure
that’s a good idea?” Matthew said. “You’re pretty high up there.”

“Did he smoke
weed?” Trevor chuckled.

“Really?” Anna
said, slapping her son on the back of the head.

“You could have
killed me, Trevor,” Sam reminded him. “Do you really think that making me the
butt of your jokes is the best plan of action?”

“Sorry, bro,”
Trevor said sincerely.

“In his defense,
we were just attacked by four Mantis Demons,” Simon interjected. “We thought
you may have been a straggler.”

“How ‘bout that
knife?” Sam repeated. Matthew took a pocketknife from his belt and tossed it up
to Sam, who immediately went to work to free himself.

“My butt is
vibrating,” Jena said.

“That was
random,” Simon chuckled. The thought of her butt vibrating was more exciting than
he would have liked. “Is there anything I can do?”

When he said
that, Trevor slapped himself on the forehead. “Wow.”

“I think I can
handle it, thanks,” Jena said, trying to hide the giddy grin on her face. She
pulled her cellphone from her back pocket. “It’s my dad. Apparently my mom is
on a witch hunt.”

“No pun
intended,” Trevor said.

“We’ve been over
this,” Jena huffed. “I don’t think I’m a witch.”

“Well, you’re
something,” Anna added. “I think it might be a good idea to call your mom. I
know that if I were in her shoes, I would be sick with worry.”

Jena lowered her
head and stared at her shoes. She knew Anna was right. But she also knew her
mother well enough to know that if she told her their location, Isabelle would
be there in a matter of minutes. She would never be able to live with herself
if something happened to her mom. Between Sam’s arrival and the text from her
father, Jena could sense that the voice in her head was about to make a
statement. She pushed her anxiety as far back in her mind as she could. She
needed a distraction. Moms are good for that kind of stuff.

“I understand
your concern,” Anish said. “But I think your mom is a bit more resilient than
you give her credit for. Not to mention the fact that she has a few of her own
tricks up her sleeve.”

“She
is
dastardly,” Jena admitted.

“Nice SAT word,”
Trevor applauded.

“Are you really
saying that I should call her and have her join us?” Jena asked, dead set
against the idea that her mother should be fighting Nina and her band of merry
Mantises.

“Actually, yes,
that is exactly what I am saying,” Anish said.

“Do you think
maybe you could have told us that, uh, I don’t know,
a few hours ago
?”
Jena growled.

Anish ignored
Jena’s hostile tone. “Honestly, I wanted to leave that up to your mother. I may
not know her well, but I do believe in her and her gifts. So should you.”

“Her gifts?”
Jena repeated. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“I didn’t say
that,” Anish said.

Jena stomped her
foot like a five year old having a temper tantrum. “Jesus Christ, Anish. Enough
with the cryptic shit.”

Sam unexpectedly
fell from the net, somehow managing to cut the strands at just the wrong place.
He was in a free fall, headfirst. Fortunately, Matthew was watching as Sam
worked, so he was able to give the rest of the group a heads up so they could
save him. For a brief second, Matthew believed that he was about to see one of
his best friends break his neck and die. Just before Sam hit the ground, he
froze midair. Only inches separated his skull from the unforgiving forest
floor.

“That was a
close one,” Sam said. “Could someone flip me right-side-up? This might not
break my neck, but it will sure as hell give me brutal headache.”

“We got it,”
Simon said, pulling on Trevor’s arm to help. Once Sam was back on his feet, he
thanked Trevor and then slapped him in the back of the head.

“I think Mom
already had that covered,” Trevor said, rubbing his head.

“Yeah, well, it
was my slap to give,” Sam laughed. He turned his attention to Jena.

“Hi, I’m Jena,”
she said, extending her hand.

“Nice to meet
you,” Sam said with a smile. “I wish we could have met under less bizarre
circumstances.”

“You can say
that again,” Jena laughed. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to call my
mom now.” She walked a few yards away from the group as Sam began to debrief
them on what had happened at the farmhouse with Bubba, Jackson & son, and
the crazy ginger.

When Sam
finished his story, Anna sighed heavily. A lot had happened so far today, and
at the moment everything seemed a bit unmanageable. Innocent victims were
hanging from trees. Demons were jumping out of trees. Sam had just fallen from
a tree and it damn near killed him. In truth, if she made it out of this alive,
Anna would be happy if she never saw another tree for the rest of her life. As
if all that weren’t enough, vampiric sons were committing patricide. Sure,
Commissioner Jackson was a sociopath. But still…no one deserved to die that
kind of death.

“Are you sure
this young man was a vampire?” Anish asked.

Sam was visibly
flustered. “Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t have a strong working
knowledge on the variations of blood-sucking bastards. He was dead. Nina did
some crazy shit with their blood and then her own. It boiled. William came back
to life. He drained his father of his blood. Is there some other creature that
fits that description?”

Matthew began to
speak, but Sam cut him off.

“Of course there
are. Silly me. You know what? Forget it. I don’t want to know. But what we all
should
know is that decapitation kills those fu…”

“Language!”
Trevor interrupted, trying to lighten the mood. “All you need to know is that
if you run into another vamp again, and I assume one of us probably will,
either stake it in the heart or cut its head off, like you did with William.
Either one of those things will kill it, regardless of what type of blood demon
it might be.”

“Good deal,” Sam
said. Anna nodded in agreement.

“That works for
me,” Jena said, rejoining the group.

“What did your
mom say?” Simon asked. “Is she coming?”

“No,” Jena said,
clearly relieved. “I managed to convince her to wait on campus for us. I just
couldn’t tell her everything that was going on. She’d never believe it and would
think that I had lost my mind. I told her about the farmhouse, though, and that
there were answers there that would help me deal with everything.”

“You did the
right thing,” Anish said.

“I thought you
said you wanted her here with us?” Jena asked, shaking her head at Anish’s flip
flops.

“At least she
knows you’re safe,” Anish said.

“For now at
least,” Sam chimed in.

“Peace of mind
is an important thing for a parent,” Anish pointed out.

Jena got the
feeling that Anish was keeping something critically important from her.
Something about her mother.

“How would you
know about peace for parents?” Trevor asked. “You don’t have any kids.” After
he said that, he worried that he sounded insensitive. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
it to come out that way.”

“I was once a
father,” Anish said softly. This bit of news sent shockwaves through the group.

“Oh, shit, man,”
Trevor said, putting his hand on Anish’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I had no
idea.”

“It’s okay, my
boy,” Anish said, forcing a smile. “You had no way of knowing. Besides, it was long,
long ago. Another life it seems. Before you ask questions, it is not a topic I
would like to discuss. We have more important things to do, and we’re wasting
valuable time.”

“He’s right,”
Anna said. “We need to get moving.” God, how many times had that statement been
made in the last hour? It was true, of course. They needed to get to Nicholas
as quickly as possible. At the same time, she could clearly see the pain in
Anish’s eyes. It was a haunted, tortured expression that was reminiscent of
despair. Her intuition told her that Anish’s child had died a horrific,
unnatural death.

“Sometimes I
wonder why I don’t quit my job,” Sam said with a chuckle, though he was only
half joking. “I just ran from that house like a bat out of Hell, quite
literally, only to head right back into the madness.”

“Are you sure
you’re up for this, brother?” Matthew asked, genuinely worried about his best
friend.

“Let’s do this,”
Sam answered.

They walked in
silence, each of them lost in their own jumbled thoughts.

Anna was praying
for their safety, especially Trevor and Simon. Sure, they had a natural talent
for this line of work. But all the gifts in the world won’t help you if your
enemy is equally if not more talented. Not to mention that Nina may have
centuries
of experience under her belt. Trevor and Simon were only teenagers.

Trevor worried
for his mother, knowing that he had to protect her at all costs. It was one
thing if something happened to him. But if his mother was killed…damn. He and
his twin brother Tommy, along with their sister Trisha, how could they live
without their mom? Trevor was mentally preparing himself for the very real
possibility that he might not see tomorrow. In some ways, it was the first time
he truly struggled with his own mortality.

Simon was going
through several war strategies in his head, similar to a football coach
endlessly reviewing plays so he could take his team to the championship. Simon
had a knack for understanding all things military…eerily so. Amidst his
thoughts, however, came the desire to stare at Jena’s backside every so often.
After a few minutes it proved too distracting, so he changed positions and
walked behind Trevor. That would take care of the problem, unless of course
Trevor farted. Then no one was safe.

Matthew was
praying, asking God for guidance and a bit of clairvoyance. One of the things
that had made Matthew such a successful exorcist was that he was gifted at
anticipating a demon’s next move. He had yet to share with his friends that he
was on a first name basis with the Holy Father himself. When it came to
exorcisms and matters of the occult, the Vatican had Father Matthew McMillan on
speed dial.

Sam was thinking
of his wife, hoping that Lisa would not be widowed at a young age. Sure, when
he had joined the FBI they both understood that a certain level of risk was
involved. And he had seen some crazy, messed up things in his nearly 20 years
in law enforcement. But nothing had prepared him for what he had seen with the
Wendigos last year. In some ways what he saw tonight was infinitely worse than
that. Sam knew that if there were more creatures like William waiting for them
in the woods ahead, or in that damned (literally) farmhouse, their chances of
survival were significantly less than he had originally hoped.

Anish
continuously chanted as they walked, casting protection spells around each
member of the group. He knew that the magic was relatively weak, and easily
broken. At the same time, it might give them a small edge. Even infinitesimally
small advantages could make the difference between life and death. He was
counting on it.

Finally, Jena
was still trying to wrap her mind around the past 18 hours. At this time
yesterday, she was just getting out of the shower, doing the necessary prep
work to do her hair and makeup. She smiled as she thought about the joy she had
felt, dancing with Nicholas and being close to him. She had liked that boy
since she first laid eyes on him in elementary school. Then, Welsh Road. The
confrontation with the demon. The blackouts. The magic.
The magic.

It sounded crazy
– and maybe she was – but she could literally feel the magic continuing to grow
inside her. It was as if a secret part of her brain had somehow been unlocked,
like a dam bursting from the endless onslaught of a raging river. The problem
was that she had no idea how to control it, and it scared the crap out of her.
With any luck, it would scare the crap out of Nina, too. But there was no way
she was going to figure out how to control it before they arrived at the
farmhouse. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Nicholas.
If it hadn’t been for her, he wouldn’t have gotten caught up in this mess.

Though each
individual was lost in their own respective worlds, there was an invisible chain
that bound them together. With each new mortal combat they faced, another link
was added to that chain. At this point it seemed to be growing every freaking
minute. In order to survive what lay ahead, one of them was going to have to
learn how to channel that bond into energy, and utilize that in magical ways.