Angel of Hope (con't)
* * * * *
The pain was what woke Leandra up.
"Oww," she groaned and tried to touch her head, but found herself chained to a wall. A similar kind of groan came from
the person beside her.
Turning as much as her aching neck allowed, the lioness shifter beheld Ash Redfern sitting on the cold stone floor beside
her. The first thing he said to her was, "Hey, you’ve got ears."
Leandra sat there, groggily wondering what that had to do with anything. Of course she had ears. All humanoids did.
What kind of pathetic thing was that to say? Was Ash trying to sound intelligent, ‘cause it wasn’t working.
Seeming to have sensed his friend’s bewilderment, or maybe he just read her mind, Ash replied raspily, "I mean, you’re in
half and half form. But that doesn’t exactly help us anyway." Then he changed the subject, "How are you feeling? ‘Cause I
just feel like I’m dead. Actually, in a way I was born dead but..."
He was rambling on, blabbing because obviously, he was as scared as Leandra. They had no idea where they were,
where their other friends were, if they were alive at all and hadn’t a clue about who had brought them to their little stone
cell. At least the latter, they were about to find out soon.
Somewhere between Ash’s rambling, footsteps had sounded not too far away and were now approaching.
In agonizing slowness, the heavy wooden door creaked open. "So," a voice every Night Person dreaded spoke, "I see
you’ve finally decided to wake up."
Leandra’s mind exploded in pain.
@~~~>~~~>~~~~
Actually, for someone with such a scientific mind, Tier took the news rather well.
He had burst out laughing only 4 times and denied that such a place like the Night World could be real 2 times. An hour
and one class later, Destiny was satisfied that Tier had finally let in sink in about the Night World. She was infinitely glad
that he hadn’t been as hard to convince as Iliana Harman.
"So," the human boy started slowly for the third and final time, "tell me if I’m getting anything wrong. There’s a secret
society called the Night World and before, all vampires, witches, were-wolves and shape-shifters belonged to it. But
now, because the millennium is approaching, four invincible Wild Powers with the power to save the world have been
born and the witches have seceded from the Night World. And a year after the Wild Powers were born, four more
teenagers called Dark Angels were born, with the power to protect or destroy them. AND, you’re saying that my
ex-girlfriend as of yesterday is one of them. Did I miss anything?"
Destiny smiled. "Not anything important. You’re gonna be a pro, boy."
"I don’t want to be a pro," Tier mutter grudgingly, "I just want all this to be over with. I still don’t really get the Wild
Powers and Dark Angels stuff."
"Then there’s only one thing to do," Destiny replied thoughtfully. Swiftly standing, she took Tier’s hand and started leading
him towards the student parking lot.
"Hey!" he protested, but followed out of curiosity. "I have History next! I can’t miss it, I’ve got a test!"
Twirling around on her heel, Destiny tried to look stern. "And LeAnne’s in that class, no doubt. Do you really want to see
her?" Silence, just as she’d predicted. "Besides, you’ve already skipped one class, what’s another going to hurt? You
have to get 5 lates to get any real penalties anyway." After that, there was no disagreement from Tier.
Reaching her rented Pontiac Sunfire, Destiny opened the passenger side door and waited patiently for Tier to get in. Then,
she was off to the Daybreak safe house. She had some scrolls she needed to show to Tier.
@~~~>~~~>~~~~
"One to militate against the kings long forgotten,
One to smolder the hearth’s fiery spark.
One to blind what the two eyes may see,
One to quench the twilight and bring only dark,"
Destiny recited as Tier read the words from an ancient looking scroll. Actually, it was a worn and broken piece of
parchment that Circle Daybreak had previously thought to be only rubbish. But obviously, they had been wrong.
When they had arrived at the safe house, Nick had let them in and told them he was going for a walk. Goddess knew
where he was right now and in his depressed state, Destiny should have been worried. But she knew Nick and trusted
him to keep safe. The boy, unlike how his late brother could have been sometimes, wasn’t stupid.
"What does that mean?" Tier asked in frustration and bewilderment.
"It’s a scroll speaking of the Dark Angels. The one to militate kings long forgotten is Nick, the two eyes one is LeAnne
and the last two, we don’t know yet."
"Uh-huh."
Sorting through the stack of scrolls that had been mailed to the safe house, Destiny found the second prophecy for the
Dark Angels. This time, she sat beside Tier and holding the parchment between them, began to read,
"Contained in their minds is the heart of all darkness,
To triumph all they need is the power of mind.
Behind in one year of the famed Wild Powers,
Darkness obtain all four and daylight shall die."
At the baffled look on Tier’s face, Destiny explained, "The prophecy basically means that with telepathy, the Dark Angels
can kill the Wild Powers. And the third line means that the Angels are a year younger than the Wild Powers.
But, we did our own little experiment to see if this was true and as it turns out, there is a designated Angel for each Wild
Power and only that one Angel can kill that one Wild Power. All the Wild Powers can destroy any Dark Angel they want,
but a Dark Angel can only hurt it’s designated Wild Power. And how they kill is with telepathy. For beginners, they have
to touch their opponent, but Nick, being our little lab rat, has proved that with practice, they can really hurt someone
without physical contact. Are you getting all this?"
Feebly, Tier nodded.
"Good." Promptly, Destiny pulled out the last scroll Circle Daybreak had been able to find and showed this last one to
Tier. It was a bit more intact than the rest and a fancy, gold coloured border ringed the prophecy. Little, delicate looking
symbols were intertwined with the golden border and gave it a rich and elegant feel, despite it’s age.
This time, Tier was the one who read the words,
"Four to stand between the light and the shadow.
Four of blue fire, power in their blood.
Four are added to stand by or between them.
Four will help call or avert the Dark."
"I think I get it, now," Tier said after a long silence. "The first two lines are talking about the Wild Powers and the last two
tell about how the Dark Angels can either help or hurt them. It’s really very straight-forward once you get used to the
wording."
Destiny turned and gazed at Tier in admiration. "It took me a week before I got any of this," she admitted.
A rueful smile appeared upon Tier’s lips. "I just want to get this over with and have LeAnne back. God, she’s been my
world. I don’t know what I’ll do without her, so the only thing I can do is get her back."
The distant look in Destiny’s eyes was getting thicker now and her friend noticed. Boldly, because he sensed this was his
only chance, Tier asked, "Who’s the father of Gabriel and Selena? What happened to him?"
Destiny closed her eyes and smiled as she remembered her times with Devon. Slowly, she explained. It was getting
stifling, not talking about her feelings to someone and Tier was a good friend who she sensed wouldn’t blab about it. "In
the Night World, there’s always been this theory that every person in this world has a soulmate. One person that is born
for you and vice versa. A few years ago, we found out that it’s not just a theory. It’s real.
"I met my soulmate, Devon Corona when he joined Circle Daybreak and was put on my team. As soon as I saw him, I
knew he was something special. I vowed that he’d be mine, even before I realized we were soulmates.
"Then, a few days before a big meeting we were about to have with the gang called Black Dawn that we were after,
we found out that we were soulmates. Goddess, I wanted him bad," there was laughter in Destiny’s voice. "I can’t say I
regret what we did. He gave me two beautiful children and with them, he lives on too."
"Lives on?" Tier asked, though he could guess what Destiny was about to say.
"The next day, we met Black Dawn and Hunter Redfern, the leader of all the Lamia or vampires that can have kids, made
a guest appearance. It was Hunter who killed Devon and if it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to avenge his death."
"Oh," was all Tier could manage. He was overwhelmed that this could be the true story behind Gabriel and Selena’s birth.
Never would he have imagined THAT or willed it upon them. It was a sad story and one he wished he hadn’t heard. But
at least he now knew why Destiny kept fighting the Night World. It was her revenge.
Suddenly, Destiny piped up, "I have a picture."
Turning towards the witch, Tier saw a picture of a blond, blue-green eyed boy about his age in her hand. "But he’s not
dead," the ex-basketball player pointed out. "that’s the guy that let us in."
A soft laugh came from Destiny’s lips. "No, that was his little brother. A lot of people mistake him for Devon."
Well, didn’t he feel stupid.
"Look, there’s going to be a meeting tonight. Here," Destiny quickly switched gears. This was no time to wallow in her
memories for long. "Last night, as I told you, we were at the Black Iris and two of our agents were kidnapped. Tonight
we’ll be discussing what to do. I want you to be here. If you want to help LeAnne, Tier, you’ll have to be a part of this.
We’re going to have to work as a team. Can you make it at about 7:30?"
Of course. He’d do anything for LeAnne and Tier told Destiny that.
"Great! I have to get home. Lupe’s going to have a hissy fit over me making her take care of the twins for two days and
nights in a row. I’ll see you tonight, maybe with the twins." The witch was half way out the door when she realized that
that wasn’t the polite thing to do. "Come on, I’ll see you to the door and drive to the school parking lot since I guess
you’re kinda stranded," she added.
At the school, Destiny couldn’t resist one last reminder. "Tonight!" she warned as Tier was stepping out the door and then
sped off as fast as she could down the street.
As soon as Destiny got out of the elevator, she could hear voices and cries coming from down the hall. Or more
specifically, her apartment. Try as she might to just walk in, Destiny couldn’t resist the urge to listen in on what was going
on for just a second.
"Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop-"
Waaaaaa! Waaaaaa! "Mommy! We want mommy! NOW!!!!"
"When the cradle rocks, the cradle will-"
"No!" Waaaaaa! "We want MOMMY!!!!" Waaaaaaa!
"And down will come baby cradle and all."
"We don’t like that song! MOMMY!!!" WAAAAAA!!!
This would definitely be a good time to intercede. Quickly, Destiny pulled out her key and crashed through the door.
Everything in the room went deathly quiet. Then the squeals of delight and sighs of relief started.
"Mommy! Yeah!" Gabriel screamed as he wrapped an arm around one leg and pulled himself up into standing position.
Witch babies grew a bit faster than normal and he could already walk slightly.
Selena was just as quick to climb onto the other leg.
"I’m glad you’re back," Lupe said with a tired smile. Without another word, she retreated into her room for a well
deserved rest.
Looking down at the two happy and eager faces, Destiny sighed internally. As much as she loved them, she had to admit,
she couldn’t wait for the meeting that would take her back to the Daybreak safe house and leave Lupe once again to care
for the twins.
Funny though, Lupe probably didn’t feel the same way.
* * * * *
Braeden Soterios scowled at the two pathetic Daybreakers cowering away from him in the corner of the room. Oh, they
looked like they were on pain.
A deep, rich laugh escaped from his throat. He really had no compassion or use for them. All he needed them for was to
find out where the Wild Powers were kept, then they would be wiped away from Night World memory.
Oh sure, he had sent a ransom notice to the Daybreak safe house for Ash and Leandra’s safe return, but that was nothing
a couple of dragons couldn’t handle. And in the deal, the Night World would get yet another Dark Angel, this one much
more powerful and skilled than LeAnne. By the time those gullible Daybreakers figured out what was really going on, the
shape-shifter and Redfern would be a pile of bones and a mummified corpse.
And no matter what, Braeden planned to have some fun with Destiny and her children. He didn’t justify the murder of an
innocent child, but by taking them away from their mother for a while and making it seem like they were going to be hurt,
maybe he could finally make that pretty little witch snap. It was something the Night World had been trying to accomplish
for quite some time now. Braeden had been so close last night, when Destiny went racing after Aaron Chandler, but it
hadn’t quite been enough. Perhaps this latest little brainstorm would finally push her over the edge. Then he would get a
major bonus.
With a flick of his mind, Braeden put an end to the torture he’d projected into Ash and Leandra’s minds. Well, most of it
anyway. A little throb of energy was always waiting right there if they didn’t do as The Pharaoh ordered and he let them
know it.
"Now," Braeden began, savoring every moment, "are you going to answer me truthfully or do you want to experience a
bit more of that little headache I just sent you?"
He didn’t wait for a reply. From their eyes, Braeden could already tell they didn’t want an argument. "I want to know
where the Wild Powers are staying. I know you possess that information and I demand that you tell me, or your life is
forfeit."
As terrified as they were, Ash and Leandra knew what letting The Pharaoh get hold of the Wild Powers’ location would
mean. Stubbornly, they remained defiantly silent.
"Tell me," Braeden said one last time, voice quiet and full of cold authority.
Still, no one spoke.
The Pharaoh cried out in fury and disgust. "So be it," he whispered as he turned to leave the room. "Maybe you’ll be
more cooperative when you wake up." Then, he sent a mental blast that would have killed any mortal towards the two.
No time was given to even cry out before both were once again left in darkness.
In a rage, Braeden stormed up the steps, his surviving men from the night before following close behind, of the mansion
Hunter had rented for him. It was a beautiful stone house, built in the late 1880’s and had an ideal basement for keeping
prisoners.
Upstairs, Braeden was snatching up his jacket to go hunting when the doorbell rang. Quickly, his head snapped up and he
darted a glance at the clock hanging on the living room wall.
3:00 p.m.
Shit. He’d forgotten about LeAnne for a second. He’d told her to come to his house today after school. And he was
really hungry too. Normally, he wouldn’t hesitate to take a pint or two from someone that happened to drop by. But this
wasn’t an ordinary someone, this was a Dark Angel and his meal would have to wait.
Slowly, Braeden made his way towards the front door. There was no point in rushing. Make the girl feel a bit unsure of
herself, it wouldn’t hurt.
As soon as she caught sight of Braeden, a 100 megawatt grin appeared upon LeAnne’s pretty face.
A smaller smile also tugged on Braeden’s lips, but this was one of amusement. *You’re such a little fool,* he laughed to
himself, but strangely, the thought wasn’t totally sincere. A tiny part of him was screaming for LeAnne to get out, to get
away from this evil place.
*Now why would I think that?* Braeden wondered in bafflement, much like a cat that’s all of a sudden found himself
surrounded by a ring of dogs and didn’t know how he got there. Half frantic and half bewildered. Unfortunately, Braeden
Soterios was soon about to find out exactly why.
@~~~>~~~>~~~~
Desperately, Tier tried to keep his tears at bay. Crying wouldn’t solve anything and it would make him feel like a baby.
And that just wouldn’t do right now. He had to stay focused and on track if he wanted to beat this.
Every little detail about the Night World, the Wild Powers and the Dark Angels was a lot to take in, in just three hours. At
the beginning, Tier had just pretended to believe Destiny to humor her, but now he had the proof and HAD to believe.
It was now almost 4:00 p.m. and Tier had tried his best to pass the time until 7:30. Homework, reading a book,
basketball, talking on the phone, everything. Nothing as of yet, had worked and Tier was getting desperate. What was
really killing him was the fact that he could tell no one about the Night World. Not on the phone, directly, or even on the
Internet.
*God, LeAnne,* Tier mourned miserably, *Why are you doing this to me?*
Rolling over on his bed so that he was lying on his stomach, Tier gazed at the framed picture of he and LeAnne from their
class trip to Wonderland. They looked so happy in each other’s arms, as if nothing in the world could tear them apart.
"Nothing except Braeden Soterios," Tier muttered grudgingly. He was NOT a happy camper.
Staring longingly at the deceiving picture, Tier made up his mind. No matter what, he would get LeAnne away from that
monster. Even if Tier couldn’t have her for himself, he’d make sure that that murderer didn’t lay a hand on her either.
Tier had always felt that LeAnne was way too good for him and he’d never had a way of showing how much he cared.
Well, now was his chance. Now was the time Tier would finally show LeAnne how much he loved her, even if she never
realized what a favor he had done her or if it meant his own life would be lost.
* * * * *
As usual, LeAnne felt her heart flutter as soon as she laid her eyes upon Braeden Soterios. "Hi," she said shyly. Goddess,
she was going to get in big trouble for this. She was supposed to be grounded, but surprisingly, what would have really
bugged her a few days ago. suddenly felt like no big deal. As long as she was with Braeden, LeAnne was happy.
A charming smile curved The Pharaoh’s lips and he opened the door wider for LeAnne to step in. "Welcome to my
humble abode," he announced with a sweep of his hand. Then a thoughtful expression entered his face and with a cute
little frown, he added almost sheepishly, "Actually, you can’t exactly call it very humble, can you?"
The room he was referring to definitely couldn’t be considered humble. Though from the outside, the house looked old
fashioned yet cozy, the inside was modern and cool. The stone floor had been taken out of the living room and kitchen
years ago and replaced with a hardwood floor. In the living room sat two leather sofas and a lazy-boy made of the same
material forming a half circle around the big-screen TV. One wall was composed solely of mirrors, making the room
seem larger than it already was. This place just screamed Braeden Soterios.
"It certainly is unique," LeAnne agreed with a little lovesick giggle.
"Just like you," Braeden murmured as he enveloped her lovingly in his arms.
Happiness flowed through LeAnne and it showed in her laughter.
Suddenly, a shadow crossed Braeden’s face and he led the Asian girl in his arms to the couch. "Look LeAnne, you must
know that invited you here for a reason."
A small sigh escaped LeAnne. She had known this was going to happen. Nonetheless, she had tried to elude herself. She
didn’t have a clue what Braeden was so eager to tell her, but she had a feeling it wasn’t good. Maybe it was about last
night. He had run out on her unexpectedly in the middle of a kiss into the woods when a fight had begun, close to where
they had been. Maybe he thought she believed him to be a coward. "Okay," she sighed wearily, "Shoot."
"LeAnne," Braeden started, running a hand through his wavy brown-black hair, "what Destiny told you about the Night
World is true. It exists and she and I are both a part of it." Braeden hoped she wouldn’t question how he knew what
Destiny had told her. In fact, he hoped she didn’t question him at all. This was the ultimate test to see if she was under his
control and Braeden braced himself. As powerful as he was, LeAnne had been born to be greater than he. There was no
telling how she would react to this, even with his mind control firmly in place.
"Really?" LeAnne replied calmly, not looking the least bit fazed. Braeden almost let out a physical sigh of relief. "What are
you? And Destiny too." She seemed genuinely interested, which was even more of a relief to the blue-eyed boy beside
her.
"I’m a made vampire, older than even Hunter Redfern and Destiny is one of those damned Daybreak witches," Braeden
put every bit of loathing he could conjure into the word Daybreak.
LeAnne agreed, though she didn’t really know any Daybreakers that well except Destiny and she was fairly nice in
her opinion, "Oh, I know what you mean. They’re all such goody-goodies. Their little I love you, You love me act is SO
disgusting." Where the words came from, LeAnne didn’t know. It was almost like she didn’t have any control over
herself, she just said whatever phrase popped up in her head at the moment. The real LeAnne inside felt like a
programmed robot that had accidentally acquired a brain.
Braeden however, didn’t seem pleased that they’d strayed off the topic wanted to discuss. "What Destiny said about you
being a Dark Angel is the truth too. You were born to destroy Jezebel Redfern, the first Wild Power."
At this, LeAnne looked quite queasy. Braeden was losing his hold on her. Desperately, he thought of what he could say to
win her back. "LeAnne?" He burst all of a sudden, "do you love me?"
The hazel-eyed girl seemed a bit surprised at this sudden outburst, but replied without question, "Yes. Definitely."
Turning so that he directly faced her, Braeden said seriously, "Then do this for me. You have to kill Jezebel Redfern for
me. She’s after me and I don’t have the power to hurt her. She’s a Wild Power and could incinerate me in seconds.
Would you want that?"
LeAnne gazed into his dark blue eyes with sympathy and love. Braeden almost wished that the emotion was real. It had
been so long since anyone had cared about him… But he couldn’t dredge up those memories right now and besides, she
was human. Vermin. It wouldn’t do to fall in love with her. Not that he’d had any plans of the sort anyway, The Pharaoh
tried to tell himself.
"For you, Braeden, anything," LeAnne whispered right before her lips met his, in a passionate embrace.
It was at exactly that moment that Braeden Soterios knew his life was over.
* * * * *
"You know, we’re not getting anywhere," Tier tiredly remarked.
"No, really?" John Quinn shot back from across the living room. No one was in a particularly good mood and none of the
vampires wanted to take some crap from a human that they’d just met. Quinn and Delano might have joined Circle
Daybreak, but it was practically vampire nature to hate what they called vermin. It was a hard habit to break.
Destiny leaned back against the sofa and let out a sigh of frustration. She was getting a migraine from all this discussion
and as Tier had said, they were getting no where.
It had been an hour since Tier had arrived and the meeting had begun. Half of that time had been spent explaining how the
tall, brown-haired human fit into all of this and in the last half they had only managed to float back and forth between Plan
A and Plan B.
Plan A was to send Nick with some hidden back-up and hope for the best. Plan B called for the Daybreakers to attack
The Pharaoh and demand that he release Ash and Leandra. Both strategies didn’t fare too well because: 1) Plan A was
exactly what The Pharaoh expected and 2) They had no idea where Braeden was staying.
The fact that Tier kept saying all he wanted was LeAnne to be safe didn’t exactly help either.
"Look," Nick finally pointed out quietly, though his voice was still filled with cold strength and conviction. "You couldn’t
pay the Night World to be creative, so why should we be? You can almost always predict what they’re going to do next,
yet somehow, they find a way to succeed. I mean last night, we knew they were going to attack, but they won anyway.
Why don’t we just stick with Plan A? I can take care of myself if I have to. Besides, there’s really no other choice."
Destiny almost let out a sigh of relief. They had finally come to a decision and with a little persuasion, the task would be
done in the next 24 hours. She wouldn’t have to tell anyone about the threat to her children.
The other Daybreakers also seemed to brighten at the hard truth that Nick had presented. It wasn’t necessarily a good
idea, but at least they had reached a decision and could finally end the meeting.
That is, until Rashel spoke up. "Look, I know where you’re coming from. We really don’t have any other choice, but we
need a fool proof plan. Yesterday, we just rushed in there like a herd of elephants without much of a plan or preparation.
But this time, Braeden has chosen the mall as our meeting place. It’s definitely way too public for comfort and we need
something sound to depend on this time."
A collective groan echoed through the room.
"Rashel, love, you do realize that if we stay here much longer, I’m going to go into bloodlust and have that guy over there
as dinner, don’t you?" Quinn said calmly, not exactly being subtle with his threat.
For a second, Tier must have thought Quinn was serious because his face turned into a mask of horror and panic until
Quinn and Delano started laughing at him.
In between fits of giggles, Delano managed to gasp out, "Goddess! *giggle* You *gasp* are so *giggle* gullible!"
Obviously, Tier didn’t appreciate being called gullible and forgetting for a second who Delano was, threw a pillow from
his chair at the Lamia.
"Hey!" Delano object before tossing his own pillow at Tier. However, the human boy ducked and instead, it hit Keller in
the head.
As you can tell, this was the beginning of a great pillow fight. And in the middle of shouting inane insults back and forth at
each other, the Daybreakers came up with a fool-proof plan.
* * * * *
PART 14:
PART 15:
PART 16:
PART 17:
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