S1: Chapter 12: The Power Within

I woke to find Drake laying at my feet all bloodied and bruised and still unconscious.

I looked around peering through the blackness of the room I was in, trying to figure out where we were.

“Drake?” I whispered trying to nudge him awake. “Drake?” I repeated. He began to moan and stir. He lifted his head and looked at me. “Where are we?” he asked as he got to his feet. He pulled a chair closer and sat with me.

“I think it’s a warehouse,” I replied.

“Ah look! The lovebirds have finally decided to grace us with their presence,” a voice said from the darkness in front of us.

The lights came on and Drake and I could see we were sitting in the warehouse from my vision. But it was on fire? I thought to myself.

“No, that’s just what we wanted you to see,” Elijah said in response to my thought.

“What do you want from me?” I yelled in anger.

With a speed I’ve never seen before, Asher had run down from the catwalk and was staring me in the face.

“I think you know the answer to that,” he growled.

He stood closer to me; I could smell blood on his breath, it rolled off his lips with a strong metal stench. I turned my head to avoid smelling the decaying liquid drip from his tongue.

He stood me up and grabbed my face and looked deep into my eyes. Weakened from his fight with the Savage twins, Drake sat by helplessly watching as Asher tried to compel my thoughts. Come with me. Be mine. We could rule the world together. “What? How did I hear that? Your lips didn’t move,” I said. “How can I hear your thoughts?”

Asher glanced down for a moment. “She’s becoming even more powerful as she stands here,” he yelled up to his brother.

Drake picked himself up off his seat. “Back off,” he said, pushing Asher away from me and positioning himself in fight mode.

Drake turned to me, “We’re getting out of here, Zoe.”

“Oh no, Drake, don’t be in too big of a hurry to leave. My brother and I are just about to begin,” Asher said motioning to a table with tools lain out undaunted with his actions.

“What are you planning to use those for?” I asked.

“Don’t worry precious,” Elijah said joining Asher on the ground floor. “We’re not interested in hurting you…yet.”

“They’re for your boy toy here; the wretched little fiend that dares to call himself a Vampire!” Asher said. “I’m going to take pleasure in ripping him to shreds!” Asher charged at Drake. Drake put his fists up in defense. Asher punched him in the stomach.

Drake doubled over from the blow and collapsed to the floor. The twins cackled and gloated at the sight of his fallen body.

“Elijah, grab the girl and take her to the white room,” Asher instructed. “Make haste, we don’t want to keep our guest waiting.”

Elijah grabbed my arm and dragged me up the stairs to a room in the back of the warehouse.

“Stay here and keep quiet if you don’t want to be hurt.” He turned and exited the room.

I began looking around the room for something I could use…anything that would help me get out of this mess. But there was nothing, only a couch an ottoman and a privacy screen. I threw my hands up in despair. I heard screams from downstairs.

I covered my ears to try and drown out the sound. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Lily at the window.

“Lily!” I said. “How did you know we were here?” I questioned.

“Drake and I share a power source,” she explained. “I know when he’s in trouble. Zoe you have to listen to me very carefully and do everything I say, ok?”

I nodded in agreement.

She handed me a picture of Drake and a lock of her hair. “It’s time for a crash course in witchcraft,” she said. “Now clear your mind and repeat these words, ‘domus dulcis domus’”.

I did as she instructed. As I kept repeating those three words, I felt a surge of energy. Suddenly there was a flash of light and the screaming stopped. I kept repeating them until I was looking at Samantha’s smiling face. Drake, Lily and I had been teleported to my apartment.

“Good job,” Lily said as she helped Drake to the loveseat. “He’s hurt pretty badly. He needs to feed to regain his strength.”

I walked over and joined Drake by the loveseat. “Here,” I said offering myself to him.

Lily and Samantha stared at me in shock.

“I can’t,” Drake said looking up at me.

“You have to. Those guys were very strong. And I can’t do this without you!” I said. “Drink!”

Drake stood up and grabbed my arm, “this is gonna pinch,” he said.

He began suckling the blood from my wrist.

“Thank you, Zoe,” he said.

Almost instantly his wounds were healed.

He was right. It did pinch. I fainted.

Drake picked me up and carried me to my bedroom.

“Rest here,” he said. “I’m sorry for everything that’s happened to you. It was my job to watch over you, protect you. Now it appears you’ve taken the role over for me. I won’t stop until you are safe, Zoe.” And with that, he turned and walked back to the living room.

I woke twenty minutes later and heard Drake and Lily speaking downstairs; they were planning our next move.

“We may have gotten away for now, but they’ll return, and with numbers; you can count on it,” Lily said. “We need to contact the brood and get the rest of the syndicate here.” I pulled on some pants and walked down to join them.

“Zoe!” Drake said, approaching me as I came down the stairs. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” I replied. “What’s going on?”

“We’re discussing our next step. We have to make our move and quickly. Otherwise the Savages’ numbers will increase rapidly and we’ll lose any chance of coming out of this unscathed. What we need is increased manpower. Lily is going to contact the others and get them here as quickly as possible. But there is also you, Zoe,” Drake said. “Did your mother have a book? It would be a large, leather bound item and look pretty old. It would contain the incantations from your entire family’s history,” Drake asked.

“I don’t know! If she did, I’ve never seen it! Besides up until a few days ago, I had no idea my mother was a witch!” I responded.

“Call your sister and see if she can locate it, Zoe, it’s very important. From the way things are shaping up, we’re going to need it.”

I grabbed my cell phone and called Maggie. When she answered, I tried to make small talk and sound as calm as possible. “Maggie, have you ever seen a book Mom may have used around the house? It’s leather and looks somewhat like a large diary?”

…“Hold on a second Zoe, I don’t hear from you for almost a week and when you finally call you’re asking me about Mom’s diary?” Maggie said.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. Samantha and I were just really excited about the move and I wanted to have a job and place to live so you wouldn’t be too worried!” I said back. “We have a great apartment and I’ll start work at the local art gallery on Wednesday.”

“Zoe…the book?” Drake pressured walking up behind me.

“About that diary, it’s important that I find it Mags, have you seen it?”

…“I may know what you are referring to. It’s in the garage in one of the boxes from her room. Do you want me to check?” she asked.

“No, no. I was just curious,” I replied. What could I have told her? What words would have made her understand the urgency of my situation? Nothing would have been able to calm her had she known the truth. I continued talking to her until she knew I was ok and I knew she was fine. After I hung up, I informed Drake and Lily of the information.

“She said the book is in Mom’s old stuff in the garage.”

“Good. I’ll go and get it. Lily you continue trying to make contact with the families. Zoe, Samantha, stay inside. Keep the doors and the windows shut tight and locked. I’ll get back here as soon as possible,” Drake ordered.

“It’s getting to be light out,” I said looking at the sunrise out the terrace door.