Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Monkey Wrench ❯ Prelude ( Chapter 17 )

Friday, January 14th, 2005

 

9:17 a.m. EST

 

Milford, DE

 

Nikolai's House

 

“We still have to pay our debt.”

 

That oddly accented whisper soft phrase had played over and over in my head for the past eighteen hours like a badly sung karaoke performance. What in hell was Nikolai talking about? He hadn't been very forthcoming when I asked him about it during his many “visits” to check on me. He finally told me to stop questioning him or he'd have to find a way to close my mouth shut. Believe it or not I stopped asking, I simply didn't trust him to use tape like a normal kidnapper.

 

I hadn't been able to sleep much, the burning sensation in my chest was bothersome and itchy and not in the least conducive to proper snoozing. I was still groggy from whatever voodoo they had done to me yesterday, and I still couldn't breathe properly, like I was constantly fighting for breath. I was interrupted from any further musings when I heard footsteps coming down the basement stairs. Tilting my head in their direction, I grimaced in squinty eyed pain as a bright lantern was shoved in my face.

 

“Ah, you look much better this morning, you're still laboring for breath though. Are you hungry? I'll have breakfast prepared for you,” Nikolai asked softly.

 

My mind raced back to yesterday, when the man before me stated in no uncertain terms that I was never leaving this place, and there was nothing I could do to change his mind. Would this be my existence? Would my life forever be limited to sleeping in a basement with no one but a crazy Russian werewolf for company? I wouldn't allow it, if worse came to worse, I'd end things with a bed sheet and an exposed heating pipe. I just really didn't want it to come to that.

 

“I'm moving you upstairs today. I thought the basement might get a little dark after a while.”

 

“Oh,” I replied, pulled from my dark musings of suicide by the prospect of a little change of scenery.

 

“You'll like it I think. It's a nice size room, gets a lot of sunlight.”

 

Christ what was Nikolai doing? Did he become a realtor overnight? I wasn't buying the property I was being held captive in it.

 

“Okay,” I nodded, agreeing with him readily seemed to keep him happy so why not?

 

“Good,” he smiled at me brightly.

I was shocked at how different he looked with the smile and suddenly realized he looked nothing like the stooped, hunched Quasimodo clone from the night before. His eyes shone brightly, not quite as brilliant as the other lupinaras I'd seen, but still, an improvement nonetheless. His posture was straighter and he looked slightly less sick, but still not one hundred percent.

 

It's a damn shame even with all these improvements he still wasn't all that attractive, very odd for a lupinara to be so plain. It's as if nature took away some of his aesthetic as a price for whatever extra power that double fang bestowed him.

 

He must have caught me looking at him because he cleared his throat loudly and stated he was going to retrieve my breakfast for me now.

 

I watched the lantern swing up the steps, illuminating his mid-section in the otherwise pitch black basement. Unbidden, I thought of Rowan for the first time since my capture. Strange that it had taken me this long to think of him. I wondered if he was trying to save me or if he was still on that “mission” for Gage. Maybe he was also in danger and that's why he hadn't come to get me?

 

Nah, that was dumb, I admonished myself in my mind. Rowan could take care of himself. Surely he'd come after me any day now, I mean, he DID save me when those vampires tried to take me a few days ago, wouldn't this be even more dire a situation?

 

Hope sprung quietly in my being as I thought of the Beta Guard and silently made the decision not to end things not matter how bad they got. I wouldn't take the coward's way out, if the Pack was trying to retrieve me. Wouldn't that suck if they'd planned this big rescue operation and all they found was a dead body?

 

Well I'll do my best not to die on you guys, but I'm afraid it's out of my hands.

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1:00 p.m EST

 

Uig's Hunt Farm

 

Gage slammed the phone down on its cradle with slightly more force than necessary. Which meant the entirety of its formerly whole black plastic casing was little more than tiny jagged chips of debris littering the top of his desk. He'd just gotten off the phone with Alden and he was not happy with what the IDPC leader had to say.

 

There had been absolutely no progress whatsoever in discovering why Rowan and his team had not come back yet. To make matters even worse, Prince Seraphiel, the angel who'd insisted on Rowan's presence on Gaea for this mission, was no where to be found. It all reeked of a set up to Gage, a thinly veiled albeit well executed set up that he allowed the Pack to fall into.

 

It was no coincidence that Theryn's kidnapping had occurred at the exact time Rowan would be unable to retrieve her and it was no accident that the IDPC was unable to unlock the portal even now, long past the scheduled time of release. Alden had the Council's best rune crackers on the case, including his fellow rune caster Blanche, yet they were getting nowhere.

 

Gage was at least able to comfort himself with the notion that when Rowan did finally return to Earth, he could find Theryn quickly through his permanent scent imprint. The Alpha knew the more time that passed, the chances of finding Theryn unharmed were getting smaller and smaller. The poor Thompson family was a wreck, and he felt so responsible for their pain that he left Seth and Alistair with them last night.

 

Pinching his nose at the bridge, Gage decided to do something he didn't particularly want to do. Notifying this person of the situation could make things worse but then again, not seeking his help could be equally dangerous. If nothing else, maybe he could even the playing field between them and whatever that treacherous angel monarch had planned.

 

The Uig Alpha held his breath as he made the summoning sign for the demon Mastema.

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1:05 p.m. EST

 

Seaford, DE

 

Lisa's Parents' House

 

Lisa plopped down on the couch at her parents' place with a heavy sigh. She'd called out sick from work today hoping to find more leads on Theryn's kidnapper but so far, not so good. Dom was outside on the porch barking orders into that ever present cell phone of his, moving people around “the perimeter” like they were living chess pieces.

 

Neither of them had gotten much sleep the night before, having not left the Thompson's house until well after midnight. She'd tried to get more information out of Dom and Gage, especially about whoever “Seraphiel” was and that weird dimension they were talking about. Of course, she was met with blank stares by Gage and swift orders by Dom to, “Be quiet and stop being so bloody nosy.”

 

She was worried about Theryn. In her heart of hearts she had really thought Rowan would come through this time and save her, but nobody would tell her where he was. Had he really given up on her and left to go on some far off mission? Somehow Lisa didn't believe that, Rowan was far too professional to blow off finding her best friend, even if it was just to fulfill his Beta Guard duties.

 

Something was up with the Pack's errant enforcer and she decided it was going to be her job to found out what.

 

Luckily, right on cue, the screen door slammed shut behind Dom and Lisa shot up from the couch to confront the one person she knew could provide some answers, with the proper encouragement of course.

 

“So, any luck?” she asked hopeful.

 

Dom shook his head no and walked passed her to the kitchen. That damn werewolf was always eating something and her mom was NOT going to be pleased if all her left over roast was eaten before she got home from work.

 

“Could you stop stuffing your face for five seconds, long enough to give me a real answer to my questions?” she stated tartly.

 

Dom's head shot out from inside the refrigerator. Quickly swallowing a mouthful of food, he narrowed his eyes at her in response, “I am a lupinara and we have higher caloric intake requirements than humans and if you want me to be able to perform at full capacity I must eat.”

 

Lisa snickered under her breath, “Oh yes, we simply must have you performing at full capacity Dom, whatever would we do? I'd like to actually see you perform at any capacity for that matter.”

 

Dom leered at her slickly, “I just bet you would.”

 

Lisa's mouth dropped open at his blatant innuendo at a time like this. They were searching for Theryn and here he was coming on to her in her parents' house.

 

“I'd shut your mouth if I were you,” Dom called back to her as he exited the house from the kitchen door, “it's practically an invitation.”

 

Lisa was so angry and pissed off she realized only hours later that she'd completely forgotten to ask him all those questions.

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7:30 p.m. EST

 

Milford, DE

 

Nikolai's House

 

Darastus swiftly spun in the last of the dry ingredients in his Level Amethyst healing potion. Most other mages incorrectly believe that Level Onyx is the most powerful, for it is the blackest in the spell casting arts, but they would be wrong. The most potent curative spells are always at the second to last level, because a small bit of light magic is necessary to properly manifest medicinal properties. Its smalls things Hlike this that make him the most powerful mage alive and what keeps him one step above the rest.

 

As the potion completed its last chemical reaction, turning a lovely shade of bromthymol blue, Darastus transferred it to a syringe. It was time to get the girl fully healed; they had other things in store for her and couldn't wait for her own feeble body to make the necessary adjustments. She was now burdened with two heartbeats instead of one, and it was Darastus' job to make sure she could withstand the encumbrance.

 

As the vampire mage walked up the stairs that now led to the girl's room on the second floor, (next door to Nikolai's) he wondered at the implications of his plans. If all worked accordingly he'd have in his possession something no mage has ever had before and oh what he could do with such power made him nearly salivate with hunger. Best not to count one's chickens before they are hatched though, he knew better than most nothing was guaranteed in this endeavor. But he knew he'd never get this close to such an opportunity again…

 

“Will that fix her breathing, Darastus?” Nikolai exclaimed from his perch at the girl's bedside. She was once again restrained in her hospital bed, the leather straps biting into her skin as she struggled to get free.

 

“Great saints alive, stop crowding her, she's probably being smothered by you,” the vampire admonished, shaking his head in contempt.

 

“She sounds like she has asst-ma or something.”

 

“It's called asthma Nikolai, and yes, once I give this to her she'll be breathing normally in no time.”

 

“What are you doing?” Theryn screamed abruptly, followed by a string of heavy breaths.

 

“I'm giving you medicine so you won't have to worry about losing any more oxygen, now just sit still for me while I put this in,” Darastus explained.

 

“No, dammit,” the girl shouted, “stop pulling your magical shit on me. Now get away…I said get away, I'll be fine…stop him please… nooooo…”

 

Darastus pulled the syringe promptly from the arm of the now unconscious girl and disposed of it in the nearby trashcan. He looked up to find Nikolai staring at him anger.

 

“She didn't have to be conscious when you gave her the shot, did you?” Nikolai accused.

 

Darastus smirked, “No, I didn't, but it would have taken another fifteen minutes to brew a sleep spell and I didn't feel like wasting any more ingredients on a gratuitous procedure.”

 

The werewolf countered, “It would have made it easier--”

 

“There was nothing hard about what I just did, I simply walked up to her and gave her the shot. Now would it have been easier on her? Yes, but we're not concerned about such trivialities are we Nikolai? I was under the impression you knew the role of our little druid here and it isn't as an honored houseguest.”

 

The Russian narrowed his dark azure eyes at him, “I'm aware of Theryn's role Darastus. Believe me, I don't forget for one second what we have done or what we have in store for her, I just hope you remember the sacrifice she will eventually make for you. Perhaps you could treat her with a little more dignity in the future, that's all.”

 

Darastus shrugged his shoulders in acknowledgment. He supposed the wolf was right. Theryn would be surrendering quite a bit in the near future; it was the least he could do to make her stay more comfortable.

 

“All right then. Any future spells will be done in an unconscious state, although there really should only be one more.”

 

“Yes,” Nikolai responded sullenly, “I know.”

 

The vampire laughed loudly at the werewolf's countenance, “Come now Nikolai, you're not having second thoughts about my part of the deal?”

 

Nikolai's voice grew hard in defiance, “And if I am?”

 

Darastus turned menacing in an instant, “You won't like the consequences dear friend. Don't forget I'm the only reason you're not madly chewing through every wall in this house right now. You were days away from a feral frenzy when we performed the fusion spell and look at you, already you've recovered significantly from your sickness. This was all I asked in return, and if I remember correctly, you were more than happy to agree.”

 

Nikolai backed down after a few moments contemplating his thoughts, “You're right. I agreed to this unholy act knowing full well the cost to her life and mine. We will proceed as planned.”

 

And with that said, Nikolai turned around in blatant dismissal to sit on nearby chair at Theryn's bedside. Darastus closed the door behind him and headed to the parlor to speak with Eugene, Calvin and James. He had a sneaking suspicion the Russian was growing too attached to his druid savior and this could spell trouble later on down the road. He needed spies during the daylight hours and the awestruck mages were the perfect eyes and ears to employ.

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The Gaea Dimension

 

Rowan stood over Meliora's seated form, arms crossed in impatience, staring at the pink and yellow horizon as if watching an invisible television screen. He was thinking so many things at once and none of them were making any sense.

 

In the time it had taken to move Meliora and Edgar to his tent so she could try to contact Alden psychically, Edgar's Earth chronometer stopped working. Now they had no idea how much time on Earth was really passing. The Di-Chrono expert had only estimated the hour to month ratio before and according to Edgar, Darastus could continuously change the dimensions' time relationship at will.

 

“Any luck yet?” he asked the fey Portal Technician.

 

“No, I'm experiencing a lot of static,” Meliora replied.

 

“What does that mean,” Edgar queried.

 

“I believe it's been best described as a bad mobile phone connection. Just when I think I'm psychically connected to somebody at the IDPC, it breaks, and I'm left having to `re-dial,'” she explained, “it happens over and over.”

 

Rowan wondered aloud, “Could magic be the cause of this interference?”

 

Meliora shook her head no in response, “No, not normally, magic operates on a different plane than psychic waves; the two shouldn't ever cross paths. It's a most unusual phenomenon for a psychic connection to be hindered like this; I've only had it happen once before.”

 

“When?” Edgar and Rowan demanded simultaneously.

 

“I was assisting a committee on the IDPC dealing with the Strata dimension, something to do with the angels and their portal wards, I can't remember exactly it's been so long ago. Anyway, I just remember trying to contact my brother while I was in Strata and not being able to reach him. I don't know if it's happened to any other psychic fey, they are so few of us left after the war…”

 

Rowan cursed under his breath. The Strata dimension was the home of the angels and domain of the Prince of the High Angelic Order, Seraphiel. That manipulating bastard was behind the psychic shielding, Rowan knew it. It was all just too damn convenient.

 

There wasn't time for this right now, it didn't matter what was causing the blocking, and it remained their only way to communicate with the Earth dimension. If Meliora couldn't get the portal open, they were absolutely screwed. Who knows when they'd finally get back to Earth? So much could have happened already and powerlessness was NOT something Rowan took to kindly.

 

“Keep trying Meliora. Maybe you'll catch a break, if you get tired, rest, but I want you back at it the moment you feel up to it. Got it?” Rowan stated.

 

Meliora nodded her head quickly and swiftly lowered eyelids in concentration. Rowan motioned for Edgar to follow him back outside.

 

“You know she's not going to get past the shields,” Edgar said plainly.

 

Rowan sighed heavily, “I know, but it'll make both of us feel better if she's trying.”

 

“You doing okay?”

 

“Honestly, no, I'm not.”

 

“Look, I know this can't be easy on you,” Edgar replied, “What with your mate in danger and you being stuck here, helpless. I can only imagine…”

 

Rowan didn't answer as Edgar trailed off, leaving his sentence unfinished in the silence of the Gaea twilight. The other team members had retreated to their tents, all working furiously at getting home. Darastus' objectives were no longer the most important puzzle on this expedition but Rowan needed the answers nonetheless.

 

He knew the vampire was using the stolen raw Earth magic and it had something to do with Theryn. He knew it was a scheme so developed that it included a notoriously reclusive double fanged lupinara and an unlikely allegiance with the Prince of Angels. He just didn't know why.

 

A strong breeze made the tent's flaps dance behind him as Edgar walked to his own simple night's lodgings. Having a fellow lupinara on board was nice, but Rowan now found there were times when it made things more…difficult.

 

He walked away from the group of tents toward a valley going east, towards the welcoming darkness, and thought of the importance of time.