Note from the Author:
Imagine my chagrine when I read from a few of my faithful fans that I accidentily reposted the same chapter. Oops. I guess a strong dose of codeine laced cough syrup will make anyone loopy. I'm sorry for the mix up. Here is the latest chapter.
P.S. there will probably not be another posting until after my birthday (August 3rd if you want to send me an E-Card), so sorry.
Note from the Author:
School is insane, and so is work. I'm sorry this has taken so long to get out. You can all beat me (no dirty thoughts). I will prolly post again just after my Birthday (send cards through e-mail if you wish), I will be turning 21 on August 3rd.
My Immortal Chapter 12: In Silence Does Peace Reside
The weeks came and passed turning into months. Christmas blended into New Years, which bled to Valentines and into March. Spring was coming. New beginnings and my life was almost back.
Josh stepped aside, ignoring my insistence that Serenity was now his and Andrea's, and turned over his half of the club to me. Devin, with some help from the Talamasca, was able to erase my death from all official documents. I never died. This, I'm sure you can understand, was a great relief to me.
What? I like having a pulse. It's good for your heart.
The week was coming to a close. Things were wrapping up. I drove into our parking lot in the back of the loft and turned off the engine to my car. A brand new Jeep Grande Cherokee. I loved the Camero, but... I grew out of it. This was my new baby. Midnight blue, black leather interior, once again a really expensive and loud stereo system and a secret compartment in the back end.
Ok, I lived around the Vampire Hunter a little too long. With the knock that came to my power base I started investing in weapons. In the secret compartment under the floor board in the back I kept a Sub Machine Gun with six extra clips, a dozen stakes that were silver tipped wood, Two Plasma Guns, and two silver swords. In camouflaged compartments built into the walls were my supplies for spells. On the right I had salt, a sacred blade blessed by a coven of witches, and a book of spells. On the left I kept dried herbs, a collapsible camping pot, holy water, various symbolic stones, and a few talismans.
I also had stuff like this in a room in the loft, but you never know when you'll need spell supplies.
I got out of the car and hit the button on my key ring that shut our automatic gate. I walked to the door and went in. I had plans to set into motion for tonight.
Josh really did a great number on our loft. The first floor was divided up by steel wires eight feet in the air that had white linen hanging from it forming walls. There was a hall that ran the length of the Eastern wall, connecting the front door and back door. The back of the first floor was the only solidly built room, housing Josh's private studio. It opened into his office, which was separated by light blue linen. Next to it was my office, which was made from dark blue linen. Behind the studio was the laundry room and storage closet. The laundry room had a shoot that came from the second floor. Our offices spilled into a grand room that had two guest rooms at the front that were built up into white tents complete with pointed roofs. They shared a bathroom that was in between them and built as a standing room that had three doors, one into each room and one into the grand room. A clever locking mechanism locked all doors so no one would be disturbed. The grand room had a couch, a massive entertainment system, and a long table towards the linen wall that separated the grand room from the hallway. The table was used when we had guests. Between the two doorways to our offices was a spiral staircase that led up to the second floor.
The stairs on the staircase were tiled with blood red glass, and lightly lit from underneath. The second floor had our kitchen and modest family room. The kitchen was at the edge of the second floor towards the western wall. It was fairly big, with a low wall that had the stoves (two of them) up against it, and the sink and counter up against the railing overlooking the first floor. There was a reason the guestrooms had roofs, the first floor looked out over the first. The kitchen being on the second floor and dining table being on the first caused Josh to be creative. The end of the kitchen was taken up by a large machine. A crane, with a solid oak platform suspended from thin adamantium tension wires, lifted food over the lip of the balcony and out over the first floor. A special loading zone was built into the kitchen counter where the oak platform docked, with a second dock built on the first floor.
The living room had a small dining table for when Josh and I were home alone, and could comfortably sit two more people. There was a leather couch, a big screen TV, and a set of leather arm chairs. It was a comfortable place for us to just hang. The south end of the floor was taken up completely by black linen walls, which made up our bedroom. Inside was our bed, a set of wardrobes, and at the back black linen walls made up the changing room, and frosted glass walls made up our bathroom. The eastern wall was almost completely glass as it was a large balcony that ran the length of the building.
It was a small jungle filled with plants, and a tea table. Not to mention a lovely Jacuzzi that could fit a dozen people.
I ran up the stairs and started cooking. Josh thought I was at work today. He was out preparing to leave in a week on his club tour. In a few months he would be in Europe touring with Britney Spears. I wanted to make sure he remembered this week, as I had a huge surprise planned for Friday and a major favor being called in by a few higher powers. Not getting into that.
I made Fettuccini Alfredo, a vegetable quiche, and a homemade New York Cheesecake. I broke out some bottles and started mixing up a carafe of Champaign Cocktails about twenty minutes before he was due home.
Right on time I could hear him punching in his code on the electronic lock downstairs.
Vampiric hearing, it's a good thing. (Note to self, look into possibility of Martha Stewart being head of demonic cult.)
I finished laying out everything on the table and sat down facing the stairway.
"Blake? What do I smell? And why are you..."
I had the drapes drawn on the entire wall, blocking out the lights of the city. The windows at the top of the first floor were all drawn shut also. The second floor had hundreds of candles around, waiting to be lit. The only light was the light from the stairs, and the lights he had turned on, on his way through the house. I used my powers to turn them off, then in a wave of flashes, all the candles lit up.
"What, I can't surprise you?" I asked with a smile. It had taken practice, but I could now smile without showing my teeth.
"You can surprise me whenever you want." He walked over and kissed me deep. "What's the occasion?" He asked.
"Well, sit down and eat. I'll explain during dessert." He sat down and we chatted. He told me about his fight with management, about some appearances that would have to be postponed. Then he started getting angry. "Then this Jackass told me that they were hiring guards to keep out anyone that looked like they might be wizards or witches. And that there would be dogs around the doors sniffing for lycanthropes. When he said this I clearly told him that if anyone; human, wizard, lycanthrope, or vampire, was kept out of the venues I would not perform."
"What was his response to that?"
"I didn't stay to hear it, I walked out of the conference hall. Johnny followed me and I told him I never wanted him working for me again. Johnny just nodded and smiled. I mentioned that his nephew is Wiccan, right?" He said taking a sip of the cocktail.
"No, you hadn't." In the months that had followed my return I had delved into Wicca in this realm. When I was away I realized my religious calling. I knew there was a higher calling, a power that governed the universe. Wicca showed me that this power assumes the form of what we need. Every God worshiped by us is real, for the Goddess assumes that form. The use of the term Goddess is used loosely for the higher being is non-gender-specific. Ever since I started studying it I realized it was what was right for me.
"Anyways, I'm considering simply not performing with this venue, but rather breaking contract and taking the show someplace else. But I'd end up footing the bill." He shook his head. "I just don't know."
"You'll figure it out." The rest of dinner was just us enjoying being together. We finished dinner, and he started grinning.
"Ok, now dessert. I wanna know what's up."
I smiled and looked at the cheesecake on the counter. I closed my eyes and concentrated, and teleported it to the table. Smoke spilled up around it and it was gone, then smoke spilled up around the center of the table and the cake appeared. I looked at the plated that held the remains of dinner and opened my hands, palms facing the table. Blue-black flames danced across the plate cleaning them.
"Desert is served mon-amis." I said with a smile.
What? Work for a drop dead gorgeous Frenchman for as long as I did and not speak with some of his slang.
He took a bite, smiled, then looked at me as he swallowed. "Ok, had dessert, now tell me."
"Ok, well... I just thought..." I cleared my throat. "This was so much easier while looking into a mirror. Ok, I want to marry you. In four days from now we fly to a private island off the coast. When we get there we'll meet all of our friends and family for a couple days of vacation. Then we perform the ceremony in front of everyone we know pledging ourselves to one another. That night, if it's ok with you, we finish the Marks and I make us bound to each other mystically for all time. We will then cross into the Never Never. There we will be in a pocket universe where time moves a hundred times faster. We spend three months simply relaxing and enjoying ourselves. When we're finished we exit to our waiting family and friends, you go on tour, and we have the rest of our immortal lives together."
He sat there with his mouth open, shielding himself from me completely. He had been able to do that with greater ease once he got the third mark.
I expected him to smile at me.
I didn't expect him to pick up his slice of cheesecake and shove it in my face, and then dump his drink on my head.
"How could you!"
I looked at him stunned. "I..." I froze as he started grinning. "You little fucking SHIT!" I jumped up and started running after him. He took off down the stairs and I smiled. I teleported down to the foot of the stars and watched as he came around the bend looking over his shoulder. He turned, saw me and yelped, then froze. I ate bit of cheesecake off my cheek. "Master Vampire/Phoenix/Mutant/Necromancer, remember?"
"Oh yeah." He smiled and pulled me close to him. He licked a bit of cake off my cheek and smiled. "So, hungry?" He bared his neck and I smiled.
"Oh GODS YES!" He screamed a few hours later.
One of the abilities I inherited when I became a Vampire was the ability to bring orgasms with my bite. I sucked from his wrist, drawing a line of power along his veins to his lower parts. With each draw from his blood I caressed him. With each drink I brought him. When I was done he was fighting to relearn to breath. He looked at me, spent, and I collapsed next to him.
"We didn't even get to use the new toys." I looked over his shoulder at the dresser. There was a pair of leather cuffs, a paddle, and a cat-o-nine tails.
"Don't worry," I said stroking his cheek. "There is always next time." I stood up and got dressed. Josh just lay there basking in the radiance our lovemaking, glowing from within. I smiled and walked out onto the balcony. I looked out over the city, my city, and all was well with the world.
The wind came softly, slipping through the leaves. It smelled of fresh sands and river water. I turned into it and knew I wasn't alone.
"You're developing well, young one." She stepped out of the wind, smiling with eyes shining in the dark.
"Thank you holy one."
She sat on a bench next to a blossoming bush. "You know why I'm here."
"Because I am soon to tie Josh to me as my human servant." I said.
"Yes. You will soon begin your quest to search for the blades of power. I'm to tell you how you shall find them." She stood and plucked a petal of one of the yellow blossoms on the plant. "The sad truth of flowers is that their beautiful scent is actually the smell of the blossom rotting. That in actuality, one enjoying the smell of a garden is basking in the death of life." She turned to me. "The truth of the Phoenix and Dragon forces are that they are extensions of the life of the cosmos. A race older than time, younger than Gods. They may not be the first races to inhabit the universe, but they are close.
"It is known to your scientists that Lizards and Birds are descended from the Dinosaurs of old. With the Phoenix and Dragons they are descendants of the defenders of Shazra, the crystalline worlds that existed in the center of the universe. After what your people call the Big Bang, the Mother Goddess began structuring the universe. She believed, at first, that perfect order and balance was required to keep the harmony of the void. So she created a star of pure white light, and 5 planets that orbited in a single ring, balanced equally apart, and each orbited by three moons. The planets themselves were intricately structured crystals inhabited by the 5 ancient races.
"The first was a world inhabited by the Elementals of Earth. The crystals were shaped like roots that supported fertile soil waiting for plant life, but there was none. The second planet was inhabited by the Elementals of Fire. The crystals shone every color with their glow, but they were eternally hungry as there was nothing on which they could feed. The third planet was inhabited by the Elementals of Water. The crystal networks acted as tubes through which they swam, but being playful beings they grew bored with no one but themselves for company. The fourth planet held the Elementals of Air. The crystalline spires sang with their passing, but they experienced no joy. There was nothing for them to push, move, and reshape. The final planet held the Elementals of Spirit, the precursors to souls. The inhabited the center of the fifth planet, but could not move and could not explore for they had no form.
"Within the sun it self existed the Guardian of Shazra. The Guardian hurt for its charges. It looked to the Mother Goddess and pleaded for something it could do. She looked upon the Protector and nodded. It realized what needed to be done. The Elementals needed to be scattered throughout the universe where they could spread and multiply and build worlds. The guardian let out a cry that shattered the crystalline worlds, creating a disc of fragments and shards. The guardian reached into itself and ripped. The resulting explosion rendered the guardian in two and sent all the Elementals throughout the universe. All except for ten.
"Two of each Element remained. They didn't want to leave their home worlds to be completely lost. They each took shards from their worlds and fashioned them into the blades of power, and they inhabited each. You have two blades. The blade of Light and Darkness. The Elementals of Spirit reside in them. You must still find the blades of Fire and Ice, the blades of Water and Sound, the blades of Earth and Growth, and the blades of Wind and Travel. They contain the basic elements, the original forms of them.
"With the rending of the Protector, two individual beings were created. Each containing the same powers. The initial fighting of the two beings sent the galaxies speeding away from each other. The two realized that they would never be able to defeat one another and that they could continue their original purpose of safeguarding life. The Phoenix began to spawn and grow in numbers. Its mission of protection of life and existence has continued to this day with few of its members falling to darkness. The Dragons though mirror that, few of its numbers have remained true to its original cause and have instead given into the darker traits of beings of great power. They are a gluttonous race that feed on destruction and strife.
"For each birth of a Phoenix, there is also the birth of a Dragon. Each being tied on a level that goes beyond the connection of soul mates for they are created to continue the balance of power. When your Phoenix merged with the powers of Necromancy, Vampirism, and your own Humanity to keep you from being destroyed it caused an unbalance that the Dragon that was born at the same time can not ignore. It is even now on its way, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. When it arrives it will be still too young to do any extreme damage, but... it will learn and grow." She looked to the sky as I absorbed what she told me.
"How long?" I asked.
"By the Summer Solstice the Dragon will rise from the shadows of space and let loose a trumpeting challenge." She answered.
"What of my brother? He is Phoenix also."
"He can not take part in this battle." She looked at me. Looked into me. "This is something that you must face. He has his own destiny to face, this is yours."
"So then I am alone."
She smiled at me. "No, my child. In your future I see greatness. You shall rise as the South. Your season will be Winter. You shall reign in halls made of crystals and stone." She closed her eyes and smiled. "Not since my brethren and I in Egypt has there risen what shall rise. You wait and see. Your Age shall come."
"What do you mean?" I asked stepping closed, hand raising to clutch the pendant she had given me.
"Consider it your first prophecy. The first prophecy of the Shadow Phoenix." She looked into the window at the sleeping form of Josh. She started in and I just watched from where I stood.
She walked to the side of the bed and looked at his sleeping form. The sheets were covering his lower half save his left leg from knee down. She turned to me and smiled, then I saw a glowing silver tear start to travel down her cheek. The tear fell onto his chest and flared bright. Thin silver cord slipped from it around his neck. The tear became a glowing point at the tip of a crescent moon pendant.
She walked back out of the bedroom onto the balcony. "That is my first wedding present to him. Your first wedding present is to come." She smiled at cupped my face. "They are so proud of you child. They fill the Summer-lands with your song." I started to cry. "Their love for you is only outshone by the love of the Goddess on High for Creation. They are proud." She pulled me into a hug. "All is forgiven."
I was still crying as she stepped into the wind.
I soon fell to my knees sobbing.
Josh found me like that and pulled me into his arms, murmuring that is was ok and asking what was wrong. I looked into his blue eyes and whispered. "I can't be forgiven. I can't be. Please, don't forgive me. Please don't. Please." I broke down into sobbing again.
In the heart of Golden Gate park a flower blossomed. The petals were a mixture of black and blue that looked almost like flames. The blue began to glow, and the black began to shimmer. It burst into flames of blue and black. Then it faded, leaving silence in its wake. No one noticed, not even the crying man who made it. The man being rocked and soothed by his lover.