Author's Note:
I NEED FEEDBACK!!!
My Immortal Chapter 7: With the Rising Moon
"Blake?" Anita asked running towards me. I looked at her, then towards Seraphine who was staring at me with horror.
"You!" I said raising my hand. I felt my eyes light, but it was different. It was like going from frosted glass to clear. I could see her aura as a bright blue. I saw Jean-Claude who was looking from her to me, in a state of confusion, as having a blue aura, also Asher. The other vampires all had softer aura's, and I could sense who's vampires were linked to who. I turned to one of Seraphine's vampires, and wrapped my power around it. I could feel the line of power that went to Seraphine, the line that allowed the Master to animate and control its subordinate. I severed the line and the vampire fell to the ground, writhing. I did this again, and again, and again, until all of her vampires were out of commission. Then I turned to her wereanimals that were pounding on the edge of the still active circle of power.
I held my hand out to them and set them alight with black and blue flames. They screamed and fell, burning, the smell of overcooked meat and the sound of exploding bones filled the air. I started walking towards Seraphine, and she slowly backed away. She hit the edge of the circle of power and tried to break through, but couldn't.
"I absorbed its energy, Seraphine. It's mine now." I smiled an evil smile and walked up to her. I could taste her fear almost. "You are afraid Seraphine. I can taste it on my tongue. It's a sweet taste, like skittles." I inhaled and could smell her blood. "You smell like a fine wine. I want to drink you up." I grabbed her telekinetically and pulled her to me. I grabbed her face with my hands and bared her neck. The ring had gone silent, no one moved. I could hear every heart beat in the room, hear the blood flowing in their veins.
"Do you want to die Seraphine?" I asked. "You're already dead, I know. But do you want to die in every meaning of the word?"
"No." She whispered.
"Well, you should have thought of that before you attacked me." I bit into her neck, and drew the blood from her veins. It burned my mouth with power and heat. It tasted salty and thick. I wanted more. I drank deep and full until there was nothing left. I pulled back and looked into her eyes. They were scared and soft. In them I could see my reflected visage, burning with black and blue flames. "I free your soul to burn in hell." I set her on fire in my arms. She screamed, eyes closed in pain. She pushed against me in a futile gesture, trying to get away.
I wouldn't let her go. Her death was mine. She hurt me, and I wanted her to pay.
Her ashes fell to the floor at me feet, and left my suit dusty. I stood there and tried to understand what I had just done. I drank the blood from her body, and reveled in it. I felt energized and exhilarated.
What the hell had happened to me?
"Blake?"
I heard my name, but stared at the dust at my feet.
"Blake? Can you hear me?"
I turned and faced Anita. She was walking towards me slowly, gun still in hand.
"Are you ok?" she asked with a concerned look.
I looked about. Jason was standing there, fear in his eyes. His eyes matched all the gathered wereanimals and vampires. The Alphas looked on with that dauntless superiority that came with being king. The blond vampire Asher and Jean Claude each stood with blank faces. I had seen that expression before, but they were the best at giving blank face.
"Are you ok?" she asked again.
"I don't know." I licked my tongue over my newly formed fangs. They were very sharp. I closed my eyes and tried to sense The Phoenix, but came up lacking. But the power was still there. And I knew what had happened, because he knew what he was doing.
He altered my DNA and merger his non-corporeal essence with my body. We became one being. He had gained enough from his short time with me to value my life. When I accidentally absorbed the powers of Seraphine, he knew my body wouldn't be able to handle it. He knew that becoming one with me truly, and not just symbiotically, that we could harness and accept her powers. I am a new being. In no way human, and not mutant, and not vampire.
"What am I?" I whispered.
"Jean Claude, what happened to him?" I heard Anita ask.
"I am not sure, ma petite." He said walking towards her. "He is... more complex than I ever imagined. It would seem though that he has somehow... stolen Seraphine's powers. I am sensing him as another Master Vampire."
"I am not a vampire." I said.
"I am afraid, you are." Jean Claude said.
"No, you don't understand. I am beginning to understand what I am. I can read Aura's and figure out what a creature is. I am sensing my own. I am Vampire as you are, but I am also Mutant. I am human, but I am also Phoenix. And to top it all off..." I turned to Anita. "I am Necromancer, as you are."
"This is too much." Anita said, walking to the edge of the circle. "Vampires I can deal with, Wereanimals I can deal with, but this..." she turned back to me. "Where do you come from?"
"As near as I can tell, a juncture universe. I've studied alternate realms in hopes of finding mine. I've found reference to realms with vampires made from disease, and from demons. I've found realms with demons and witches. I've found realms with werewolves and wizards. I've even found realms with super-humans. But my realm has them all." I looked at Anita. "I just want to go home." I fell to the ground, crying. I was more tired, and lost, then I could have ever imagined. "I miss him so much..." I saw her walking towards me, then the world went black.
I awoke in a room with a black bed. The walls were white with black drapes every few feet. I got out of bed and realized I was naked. I was scared for a moment, disoriented, but then everything that had happened came rushing into my mind.
I stood and saw my clothes, the Phoenix uniform, laid out in a chair. I closed my mind and formed black jeans, a black button down shirt, black shoes, and a light black leather jacket on me. My hair was still a blue metallic, but I made it so that the blue was highlights in black. I held my hand out to the sword and dagger, and fastened them to my waist. The sword was to the left, running down to just above my ankle. The dagger was a less heavy weight to the right. I felt better with my weapons.
I walked to the mirror above a dresser to take in how I looked. My skin was pure white. I opened my mouth and found two sharp fangs. My eyes were the darkest blue I had ever seen, almost black. "Where are you Blake?" I asked.
I turned to the door. I could sense Jason outside it and became thirsty. I closed my eyes, images of drinking him dry coming to mind. With some effort, I regained control of my faculties, then walked to the door.
I opened it and Jason turned to me. "Nice to see you up, bud."
"Yeah..." My mouth became very dry. "Where is Jean Claude?"
"It's two in the afternoon. We weren't sure if you would slip away like a vampire or what." He looked a little nervous. "But obviously, you're not a normal vampire."
"Yeah."
"Anita is waiting for you in Jean Claude's living room." Jason said, motioning down a hallway, but he stopped mid gesture, "Unless you're hungry."
"What?"
"Jean Claude wanted me to meet you as soon as you awoke. I'm his Pomme De Sang, and have had a lot of experience feeding vampires." He looked nervous, and sensed more so. "He wanted me here incase you were hungry."
"I'm not really ready to start drinking my friends." I said. We headed down the hall, awkwardly silent.
We walked into the "living room", a room surrounded on all sides by drapes. It was in the center of a vast cavern. Jean Claude was a unique individual, and had luxurious tastes. There were couches, and hundreds of pillows everywhere. The fireplace was empty of flames, and the picture above it showed Asher, Jean Claude, and a young woman in ancient clothes.
Anita looked at me over a table of papers.
"After you passed out we sent a team to retrieve Seraphine's things." She gestured to the chair opposite her. I sat and looked at them. "These are lunar charts, planetary alignment schedules, and a list of spells. But the thing I think will interest you most of all is this." She handed me a book, opened to a passage.
"And so it is in this world, where all is different yet the same, that the Earthmover entered and ruled. Secret he kept his way of entry, to ensure his private empire. But rebellion was on the minds of those that lived there. Vampires of Soul, Demon, and Bite allied themselves with Wizard, Witch, and Animal. Together they cast him through space, back to this realm. The door of Atlantis was sealed from the other side by spell, so as to keep him out. The Earthmover, enraged, designed a new portal of pure magic. When he was done, he realized it could only open when Saturn, Moon, Earth, and Sun are all aligned in perfect sequence. The four watchtowers will open their doors, allowing transport to this other world, the fallen kingdom of the Earthmover."
"This... is familiar." I looked at her. "When I came here I lost parts of my memory to Seraphine, but I seem to recall hearing of the Earthmover when I was home."
"That's not the point. In exactly four days the planetary alignment that is spoken of will occur."
"You mean..." I couldn't say it.
"You can go home, but you may not be the only one to go. There is a list of names here, over two hundred vampires, witches, and wereanimals. They are planning to open the doors of the four Watchtowers."
I looked into Anita's eyes, but she wouldn't hold eye contact. It took me a moment to realize she was worried about falling into my gaze now. "How do we stop them." I asked.
"I don't see how. They are spread over the planet. I can get you to the Watchtower of the West, there is a map here. But once you get there, you're on your own." She handed me the map, it showed what was clearly San Francisco. "I think it's there because of the Door of Atlantis."
"Well, I should pack then." I stood and started to leave.
"No, you first need to learn about your new powers. I don't know if the magic will be the same as that in your world. Metaphysics are a bitch." She stood and walked towards me. "You will need to learn what it is to be a master vampire, and what it means to be a Necromancer.
I nodded. She walked me through the basics of raising the dead, and explained the things that had come up through out the years she had been doing it. The dangers of loosing control of Zombies, and how to judge how big a death would be necessary.
Yey, PETA is going to fall in love with me.
Asher and Jean Claude woke around six that evening. Anita informed them that she would be taking me along on a raising appointment at about ten to allow me to try to raise a zombie. They just looked at me with curious expressions.
"What, did I get a third eye in that fight last night too?" I asked, tired.
"We are simply attempting to ascertain your powers." Asher said, with a heavy accent. His hair covered the right side of his face, and I could see a hint of scars.
It descended from there to long lessons in Master Vampire abilities. The possibility of an animal to call, the ability to sense other vampires, and also the ability to bind vampires to myself. The text that Seraphine had had said that the Earthmover had bound vampires in my world, so it was possible that I could create my own coven. Neat.
No sarcasm in that neat. No. None.
Hours, and a massive headache, later Anita and I were on our way to a cemetery.
The drive was quiet. Anita seemed to sense that I didn't much want to talk. I was sorta wrapped up in shock. I had what I had been seeking, a way home, but my world was also faced with the dangers of this world. I was so wrapped in thoughts, hopes, fears, and the dream of being back in Josh's arms I hadn't noticed the cemetery.
"We're here." Anita said getting out.
We stepped out of her Jeep Grande Cherokee and grabbed a duffle bag and a chicken from the back. We walked up a slight hill to a give site with a nervous man there.
"Hello Mr. Lankin, this is my Associate Blake Alexander." Mr. Lankin was a short, balding man with a Boaters Tan. He wore a nice black suit with a blue tie. He screamed accountant.
"Mr. Lankin." I said extending my hand. I sent a feeling of calm over me to him, as when he saw me he started getting nervous.
"Mr. Alexander." He said shaking me hand. He turned to Anita, "I had thought you worked alone."
"Mr. Alexander is new to the business, and was hoping to get some training from me. Your raising is very standard, and I was hoping if it was ok with you if he did it." As soon as she said it, the nervousness came back in a rush. I sent a feeling of calm to him and he nodded, smiling. "Sure!" He said.
Anita gave me a look, then led me to the site. "I'll be right outside the circle. Here is the chicken, and you still have your dagger." I did have that, she made me leave the sword. Something about it being way to showy. She got to carry her guns, I couldn't have the sword? It hardly seemed fair.
I nodded and she stepped back. I took the chicken by the throat and held it up. "Sorry clucky." I said, then cleanly cut off its head. It started to jerk in my hand so I used my powers to still it. I walked in a circle around the grave holding the chicken. When I got back to where I had started I felt a tingle in the air. I focused and willed the circle closed.
A sudden rush of magic filled the air. It was alike a wind that had nothing to do with air that pushed down into the earth. I looked at the gravestone and read the name. "Sarah Lankin, by name I call you from the grave!" I felt a surge of magic. "Sarah Lankin, by blade I call you from the grave!" I pressure started pressing in my mind. "Sarah Lankin, by blood I call you from the grave! Rise, and walk again!" Magic rushed from the air, and from me, into the grave. A moment later the ground rippled and out of it flowed a young woman with vibrant gold hair.
"Sarah?" Mr. Lankin asked.
The woman blinked at him, then started to cry. "William." She breathed.
I walked to the edge of the circle, and Anita nodded. I broke it with my foot, and the magic snapped outwards. Sarah stepped out to William and they hugged. "He wants her permission to marry again." Anita whispered.
"Honey, I love you so much..." William started, but she pressed her finger to his mouth.
"I know why you brought me here William." She said smiling. Anita's head darted to Sarah. "You fully have my permission." She said.
"How did you know that's why I'm here?" He asked, now crying too.
"I watch over you." She said. "And I know you fought against loving again, but Bethany is a wonderful woman." She stepped back. "I am at peace William, it's now your turn. Live, and love, and be happy." She turned to me. "It's time for me to go back."
I looked on with awe. Anita had told me that zombies only had the memory of who they were, and a lot of times didn't remember that they had died. I looked at her, then lit my eyes sending an urge to William to look away. I saw a spirit within her, a soul.
"Yes Blake, you raised not only my body, but called my soul back as well." She stood over at her headstone, looking at it. "You have a long road ahead of you, and the Goddess Isis is watching over you."
"But how..."
"I am in the afterlife. My cycle on this Earth is done. I can remember dozens of lifetimes, and I was given a choice. I chose to stay in the realm of the gods, in the place of angels and eternal Spring." She smiled. "Isis told me to explain to you that you now have the ability to bring people back, but only for a night. Keep your ability secret, or you will be sought out by millions."
I nodded, and Anita was silent. William looked back as I unlit my eyes. "Sarah Lankin, I set you at peace again." I pressed my thumb to the bloody stump of the chicken's neck, then pressed it to Sarah's mouth. "By name, by blood," then I pressed the flat of the dagger to her forehead, "and by blade I send you back to your grave." She knelt down, a tired look, and then lied down on the grass. She closed her eyes, then just slipped into the grass. There was no sign that she had been there.
"Thank you." Mr. Lankin said, then he walked down to his car.
"I've never seen anything like that Blake." Anita said looking me in the eyes. "I've never heard of a Zombie being raised with a soul."
"Well, before me had you ever heard of a man that had a giant flaming bird living inside of him?" I asked.
"Good point, let's get back to the Circus. We still need to get you ready for your trip home." So we went.