5 Markus
The drive home filled with tension as Dominic and I just looked at one another, reading each other's minds.
'Are you gonna say something, or am I.' I asked Dominic with my expression.
'I got it,' Dominic replied with a nod before talking.
"Ok, I'm just gonna ask," Dominic blurts out. "Are there any more surprise relatives you wanna tell us about?"
Both mum and our new aunty Clarissa chuckle at Dominic's straightforward question.
"There's no more surprises." mum answers.
"There is one." Clarissa chimes in. "How come you never told them about me," Clarrisa asked mum, clearly insulted.
"You know why," mum shot's her a look.
"That didn't mean you had to hide them from me. If anything, they would have been 'safer.' You know that." Clarrisa shot's mum a look back.
"Safer!" mum exclaims sarcastically. "And what exactly is your definition of 'safe.' mum went on.
"You know what I mean, Suzanne," Clarissa replied with a serious look.
"I know, but did you really have to say that in the car? We'll continue talking at home," mum said angrily.
And that's where the conversation ended, and mum continued driving. Dominic and I knew they were talking about us, but we didn't know in what context; it was really weird.
Earlier that morning at the cafe...
"Clarissa," Suzanne said as she took a seat in front of her.
"It's been a while since we last saw each other, hasn't it," Clarissa replied sadly.
"It has; I wished we'd be meeting under better circumstances," Suzanne said grimly.
"Same here," Clarrisa agreed with a sad expression. "But as I said on the phone - He's here Suzy; Keres is in the country, in Lezway city; he took over the entire area," Clarissa informed, seething with anger, "the coven too," she added grimly.
"What!? What exactly happened. How did you even make it here?" Suzanne asked.
"I was imprisoned for a couple of months before I managed to escape; I stole a car to get here, but that's not important. During my imprisonment, Keres tried to force me to tell me where you were. He knows I gave you the sword of Azrael."
"Does Keres know about the children?" Suzanne asked anxiously.
"No, he doesn't; at least not the specifics," Clarissa answered. "But he will soon. The children will be brought into our world, whether we like it or not."
"No, I won't let Rhiannon and Dominic have any involvement in this," Suzanne protested.
"We've already lost Tina," Clarissa said, purposefully trying to hit a nerve.
"Don't you dare say Tina's name," Suzanne interrupted angrily.
"You know It's the only way to protect them. That's why I gave you the sword of Azrael and had you adopt them, to begin with; to protect them, to keep them safe, until they were ready."
"I'm not going to destroy their lives!" Suzanne yelled.
"Their lives won't matter if they end up dead!" Clarissa yelled back; Suzanne fell silent.
"Then, what's your plan," Suzanne asked begrudgingly.
"The children will awaken on their eighteenth birthday. Until then, all we have to do is keep them safe."
"And how do you suppose we do that?" Suzanne asked.
"When you finish work, pick me up from my hotel room; from there, I'll take care of the rest. The hotel name and room number are on the napkin." Clarissa said before taking her leave.
At Clarissa's hotel room...
'That heat; the hellhounds getting close,' Clarissa thought to herself as she paced around the room.
Unable to find a solution herself, Clarissa called for her grimoire, passed down thru the generations of her coven, from leader to leader; the only thing she managed to hide away and keep safe.
"Levetra." Immediately, Clarissa's grimoire flew out of her bag, landing in her hand. (pronounced - lev - e - tra)
The grimoire mentioned that the beast could be sent back to hell by wounding it with a weapon made of pure silver.
'Pure silver," She thought to herself. Reading those words, Clarissa went to the cutlery draw.
"Perfect." She exclaimed as she grabbed out some silverware.
"Melvarus." At her words, the silverware started heating up, liquifying in mid-air, reforming into daggers. (pronounced - Mill - va - russ (Roll the R)
When the bases for the daggers were formed, While they were still hot, Clarissa added a little touch of her own, runes, every rune carving itself onto the daggers. Once the daggers had cooled, Clarissa then added grips. The weapons now completed, Clarissa poured some of her magic power into the daggers, making the runes illuminated a faint white light. When Clarissa finished, she left her hotel room and headed for the Hellhound.
In a forest clearing...
Choosing her battleground carefully, making sure she could make a quick escape if needed, she began calling to the Hellhound.
"I know you're here!" Clarissa yelled as she treads across the small forest clearing, her newly made daggers in hand. "Stop hiding and show yourself!"
Eyeing the perimeter, Clarissa froze, cautiously scanning the area as she heard the beast growl. Her senses on full alert; Clarissa noticed only pawprint's coming from behind a tree, burned into the earth beneath it; the enemy was invisible. Wary of the foes ability to turn invisible, Clarissa kept her distance until the beast lunged at her.
'Keep calm,' Clarissa thought to herself, 'just think. From this distance. NOW!'
Judging the trajectory from where she stood and the position of the Hellhounds last pawprints, Clarissa dodged the attack. Having no way to tell whether the Hellhound would claw at her or not, Clarissa slid underneath it, not wanting to take the risk. After dodging the attack, Clarissa saw the Hellhound destroy part of the tree behind her, right where her neck was a few moments ago.
'I made the right call,' Clarissa thought as she kept her eyes peeled for the Hellhounds trail.
Keeping her body low, Clarissa prepared for the next attack. This time when the Hellhound lunged, Clarissa dug the tips of her fingers in the earth, flinging mud right onto the beasts face while still holding her daggers. The Hellhounds invisibility now made useless, it revealed its frightful appearance.
Agitated by the sneak attack, the Hellhound got low and snarled, its ears cocked back and its razor-sharp teeth on full display as the scales covering its body started moving along with its dangerous barbed tail. The scales moved in a way that the fur of an animal would when it's about to lunge. Preparing for the attack, Clarissa readied her daggers. But this time, before attacking, the Hellhound changed into a shadow and split itself in two.
"Bring it on, you overgrown mutt!" Clarissa challenged the Hellhound.
In seconds the Hellhound lead a coordinated attack with its clone, attacking with its barbed tail and firey breath. When one Hellhound attacked, so did the other; it was a relentless assault. But whenever one of the Hellhounds showed an opening, Clarissa took it. In the end, it was only Clarissa and the original that remained. With the last of its strength, the Hellhound went in for one last attack. But just as Clarissa was about to finish it, she was stopped by a man with black hair and dark brown eyes. The man wore a dark grey jersey with jeans and a jacket.
"Markus," Clarissa said with hatred.
"Wow, you look like shit," Markus laughed.
"I'd hate to have seen what you looked like after your beating from Keres." Clarrisa quipped back.
"Touchy," Markus replied, slightly angered.
"So what now, are you gonna kill me," Clarissa asked.
"Pretty much," Markus said with a grin.
"Bring it on," Clarissa provoked.
"Fine by me," Markus replied with a smile before disappearing and reappearing behind her.
Before Markus managed to sneak up from behind her, Clarissa thrust the daggers at her sides, right into Markus's abdomen, making sure to shove them in deep with all her strength and twist the daggers in.
"The same tricks don't work twice, you bastard," Clarissa said angrily.
"Shit!" Markus let out as he stared at the daggers.
"Ifrier." When Clarissa spoke, the sharp sides of the daggers lit on fire, burning Markus's wounds and flinging him away from her with a controlled mini-explosion. (pronounced - I - f - rear (Roll the R)
Due to the explosion, chunk's of Markus's midsection had been blown away.
"Fuck!" Markus yelled from the searing pain. "I swear I'll kill that bitch for this," Markus said in hatred. All he could do was watch as Clarissa made her escape.
With both the Hellhound and Markus out of commission for a while, Clarissa made a run for it, making her way back to the hotel.
"Shit," Clarissa exclaimed in frustration. "Of course that asshole would send, Markus. FUCK!"
Making a hasty retreat, Clarissa healed herself and made her way to Suzanne. While driving, Clarissa looked at the time on the dashboard, 1:16 pm.
"Damn it, I hope her shift isn't over," Clarissa said as she checked the car mirrors.
"Good, I'm not being followed." Clarissa let out a sigh of relief. 'But I'm not out of the woods yet.'
Grabbing her phone, Clarissa punched in Suzanne's phone number.
"Come on, pick up," Suzanne said as the phone rang.
"Clarissa?" Suzanne answered. "What's happened this time."
"Well, we've hit a bit of a snag in our plan," Clarissa informed.
"And what do you mean by 'a snag' Clarissa," Suzanne said angrily.
"Um... I sort of... fought the Hellhound." Clarissa said, moving the phone away from her ear.
"DAMN IT, CLARISSA!" Suzanne yelled.
"Oh, come on, don't be mad at me. This isn't my fault." Clarissa said innocently.
"HOW IS IT NOT!" Suzanne protested against Clarissa's feigned innocents.
"Hey, that's not fair. I'm here to help you."
"Fine, whatever; My address is 24 Rosemount Drive." Suzanne hung up.
"She hung up on me," Clarissa laughed. "Suzy must really be mad at me this time."
Using voice commands, Clarissa put Suzanne's address into google maps and followed the directions given. It's safe to say that when she arrived, Clarissa did not receive a warm welcome.
At Suzanne's house...
"You can take the room down the hall to the right. Right now, I can't be bothered dealing with you," Suzanne said. "Oh, and get some new clothes on. You can get some out of my room. It's the room next to yours."
"Just to let you know, I'll be putting up some runes, cloaking spells and barriers. Because not only did Keres send out a Hellhound, he sent out Markus."
"I don't know who this 'Markus' is. But all I can say is 'Markus' and that Hellhound better not come knocking at my door." Suzanne warned.
"I make no promises," Clarissa answered.
Susanne shot's Clarissa a glare. "That's enough; I don't wanna hear anymore. I'll talk to you later," Suzanne said before heading off to do something, anything, to take her mind off her sister's brush with death.
By late afternoon, Clarissa had covered the perimeter of the property in protective and defensive magic and runes. Finished putting up the protective measures on the outside of the house, Clarissa decides to call Aaron.
"Aaron," Clarissa answers.
"So you're still in town. I thought you might've already left by now," Aaron says.
"Thing's have changed; I'm gonna need help from your pack, preferably tonight, I've got a bit of a vampire problem," Clarissa says.
"Never a dull moment with you around is there, Clary; reminds me of when we were little," Aaron laughs. "I'll see what I can do; I'll keep you posted," Aaron adds before hanging up.
Just after Aaron hangs up, Suzanne comes walking into the room.
"I think it's time you and I had some proper time to talk; follow me," Suzanne says.
Heading to the back door Clarissa and Suzanne took their seat's on the back porch sitting area.
"So, about the more imminent danger. Who exactly is this 'Markus' you spoke of earlier." Suzanne asked.
"He's one of Keres's vampire underlings and a strong one at that," Clarissa said with hatred. "He helps Keres manage the covens," she added with venom in her voice.
"Is he really that strong?"
"Yeah, he is. I ran away before and came here because I knew I wouldn't have been able to beat Markus alone. His regenerative abilities are nothing to scoff at."
"I'm just glad you're alive," Suzanne hugged Clarissa. "Off the topic of Markus, Is there's any other info you have on Keres."
"I found out Keres needs the blade of Azrael and the blood of an ethereal child. But, what I don't know, is why he needs it and what exactly he plans to do once he has what he needs in his grasp," Clarissa told Suzanne.
"Wait… the blade of Azrael… and the blood of an ethereal child," Suzanne repeated, trying to remember something. "The ancient ritual!" Suzanne exclaimed.
"You don't mean -"
"Yes," Suzanne interrupted.
"- Then, Keres is planning to resurrect someone or something," Clarissa carried on.
"We can't know for sure," Suzanne interjected. "it's just speculation for now."
"It doesn't matter. If there's even a chance your speculation's true, we'll have to stop him, no matter what."
"I know. But what about the children," Suzanne asked, concerned.
"Things have changed. If the ritual's involved, we have to keep the children and the blade away from Keres at any cost. We can't let any of you get anywhere near him."
"Then should we run," Suzanne asked sadly.
"No, Keres doesn't know anything about you. And that's an advantage for us. Because right now, Markus's objective is me," Clarissa said. "So we'll use me as bait to lure Markus out and kill him. We'll start the plan tomorrow."
"And what if the plan doesn't work," Suzanne asked worriedly.
"If our plan fails. Then we run," Clarissa answered with a hug.
During the last few hours before 8:00 pm, Clarissa set up more spells, magic traps and barriers around and inside the house. When it was getting close to eight, Clarissa got a call back from Aaron.
"It took a bit of persuading, but I've got the okay," Aaron informs.
"Good, when can they get here," Clarissa asks.
"Not long, maybe thirty minutes, forty at most," Aaron says.
"Good; just make sure they get here soon," Clarissa tells Aaron.
"I will," Aaron says reassuringly before ending the call.
After the call ended, Clarissa used the rest of the time to start looking thru her grimoire for some defensive spells and runes she could use for Dominic and Rhiannon.
"Are you gonna come with me to pick up the kids or stay here?" Suzanne asks Clarissa.
"Oh, I'm definitely coming," Clarissa says with excitement.
And with that, Suzanne and Clarissa drove to Aarons.
"So, what are my niece and nephew like," Clarissa asked curiously in the car.
"Dominic's an outgoing, playful, and kind young man," Suzanne answered with a smile. "Rhiannon's more of the reckless type at times," Suzanne smiled again. "She reminds me of you in that way." Suzanne gestured with a look toward Clarissa. "But she's changed after..." Suzanne cut herself off.
"I'm starting to like her already." Clarissa mused, lightening the mood. "So how's Aaron and his family been doing anyway," Clarissa went on to ask.
"Their good they go family camping every few weeks or so," Suzanne answered.
"Wow, that big softie's just as boring as usual," Clarissa and Suzanne laughed.
"You do know, If worst comes to worst, and Keres finds out about you and the children, we'd have to lock the children away and keep them in a state of suspended animation."
"I don't want to think about it," Suzanne said grimly.
"You know, Suzy, I've always been meaning to ask. Why did you, back then, want to be the one to adopt the children; It was supposed to be me. So why..."
"I could ask you something similar," Suzanne interrupted. "You could've turned me down when I asked to be the children's mother; But you didn't, so you tell me why."
"You've always said stuff like that, even when we were little. It always pissed me the hell off," Clarissa said angrily; she left it at that, knowing she wouldn't be getting answers.
"Just let me ask you one important thing. Will you be able to separate from the kid's if you had to."
"And why would I need to do that," Suzanne asked warily.
"Because, to avoid leading Keres to capture you both and complete the ritual, I may have to separate the children from you and take them with me. Rest assured if that does come to pass. I promise I'll take good care of them both." Clarissa reassured.
"That won't happen," Suzanne clutched the steering wheel.
"You know it would be one of the safest options, aside from putting them in a magically induced suspended animation," Clarissa said logically.
"Just shut up; Right now, the safest thing for them is to just let them grow and be normal children. So, please, just... just wait till the time comes." Suzanne said sadly.
The rest of the drive was quiet until they reached Aaron's. When Suzanne and Clarissa drove up and parked, the two of them watched Rhiannon and Dominic open up the sliding door. Outside Rhiannon and Dominic walked to the car and jumped in.
Rhiannon's P.O.V. Back to the present...
"Who's she, mum?" Domonic asks in the car; his eye's filled with curiosity.
"She's your Aunty. She just got back from overseas." Mum answered.
"You can call me, Clarissa," she said with a low clear voice.
The drive home filled with tension as Dominic and I just looked at one another, reading each other's minds.
'Are you gonna say something, or am I.' I asked Dominic with my expression.
'I got it,' Dominic replied with a nod before talking.
"Ok, I'm just gonna ask," Dominic blurts out. "Are there any more surprise relatives you wanna tell us about?"
Both mum and our new aunty Clarissa chuckle at Dominic's straightforward question.
"There's no more surprises." mum answers.
"There is one." Clarissa chimes in. "How come you never told them about me," Clarrisa asked mum, clearly insulted.
"You know why," mum shot's her a look.
"That didn't mean you had to hide them from me. If anything, they would have been 'safer.' You know that." Clarrisa shot's mum a look back.
"Safer!" mum exclaims sarcastically. "And what exactly is your definition of 'safe.' mum went on.
"You know what I mean, Suzanne," Clarissa replied with a serious look.
"I know, but did you really have to say that in the car? We'll continue talking at home," mum said angrily.
And that's where the conversation ended, and mum continued driving. Dominic and I knew they were talking about us, but we didn't know in what context; it was really weird.
Back home...
When we got home, mum and aunty went outside to talk. Dominic and I just spent our time watching TV until we heard a knock on the door. When I opened the door, I saw a man with inhuman features. It was weird because while the man looked real, he also looked fake; it's hard to explain.
"My name's Markus; I'm a friend of Clarissa's; could you invite me in," The man asked kindly.
"Sure, come in. Aunties just round back talking with mum." I answer.
But as I faced my back towards him, I felt something as cold as ice grip my neck from behind. As this was happening, I could see the expression on Dominic's face as he looked on in horror.
