Arrival of the Prophecy (25 page)

Dillan
thought
they would be going up the staircase, but the man kept pointing for them to go
past it and down the hall that led them into a kitchen. The man in Charles’s
care pointed at a door that took them to another small hall, which turned down
into a narrow staircase. “When was the last time that you remember seeing your
sisters?” Charles asked as they made their way down.
Dillan
never said a word, he just shook his head. He couldn’t recall a time that he
had ever laid eyes on them, not even when his father was alive. He and Parker
were always told that their sisters were being raised with the elder women in
the pack so that they could one day take leadership of their people. They on
the other hand, had been brought up with the men as it had been from the
beginning of time.

Charles leaned the man up against the wall, then reached over and
turned on the lights that ran down the length of the basement. There was a hallway
that ended in a ‘T’ going to the left and right. The man mouthed the words
‘left, last door’ as he slid down to the floor. Thomas took the lead, as
Dillan
filed in behind him, letting Charles bring up the
rear. They made their way to the last door at the very end of the hall, and
immediately heard movement on the other side. The sound of heavy chains was
apparent and
Dillan
went mad working on the four
locks that were spread out, up and down the outside of the door.

“
Dillan
, let me go in first,” Thomas said
as he slid the last latch.

“How could they be locked in like this?” he asked as he pulled the
door open.

The room was pitch black and smelt of human waste so strongly, that
all three men grabbed their mouths and began gagging.
Dillan
stepped in feeling around on the inside of the wall for a switch. He found
nothing, so he reached in his pocket and pulled out his lighter. The moment he
brought it to life, two figures in the far corner cried out, turning their
heads, pulling their filth covered legs up and wrapping in each other’s arms so
tight it was hard to tell which was which. It was hard for him to believe that
he was looking at two females that were the same age that he was, when they
looked so small and frail. Their skin was extremely pale, and both wore nothing
more than a
gray
bag for clothing. He saw bones
spread out across the floor, along with the girl’s bodily functions.

“Find the keys to their chains. I want them out of here, Charles. And
I want them out now,”
Dillan
ordered, then turned and
left the room.

Dillan
was
gritting his teeth as he approached the man that was
laying
over by the basement steps. He pulled his blade out from the sheath at his
back, leaned down and sliced the man’s throat. He then headed up the stairs to
put an end to the other two who had had a hand in treating his sister’s so
badly. All that he kept seeing was the two girls gripping each other, with
their ratted red hair covering their pale faces as they looked back in utter
fear. They were stained with their own waste and eating from the floor God only
knew what, he couldn’t even bare to think about. He kicked the door so hard
that it shattered into several pieces,
then
pushed
past the debris to enter the kitchen. The first thing he saw as he entered, was
his driver holding one of the men by the throat, while the other lay in a
puddle of his own fluids at his feet.

“They tried to leave. That one thought he would use this,” he
explained holding up a small kitchen knife.

“You just saved me the trouble. Get ’
em
out of here,
then
make sure there’s no one else around.
My sisters will be coming up and I want them protected at all cost.”

“Yes, sir.” he replied, kicking the corpse out of his way, as he
turned to open the door.

“Travis?”

“Yes?” he replied, turning to look at
Dillan
.

“Do you remember my father?”

“Very well, sir.”

“Have you been here before?”

“When he was alive,” Travis replied, dropping the dead man that he
was still clutching by the throat.

“Did he or my mother ever speak of my two sisters?”
Dillan
asked walking up to him.

“Your father mentioned that they had been taken to the women’s camp
by Three Talons, but he feared that they were in danger.”

“Was it because of my mother?”

“Yes,” he nodded, “Years later it was
rumored
that the girls had never left the grounds. Some even said they had died like
the other three…” Travis paused, jerking his head back gazing into
Dillan’s
eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need. I knew what she did to them. She told it many
times. She used to say it was to assure her own power and had no choice but to
choose the few, so that they would not end up having to fight for her place
when the time came.”

“I’m afraid we all knew that she feared that her own blood would
challenge her, even one of you males.”

“Indeed?”

“Indeed.
Harbra
, was making decisions that
had us all wondering how long it would be before she had us fighting each other.
Harbra
ordered the attack on the small clan of wolves
that was nothing more than women and children, commanding that all be put to
death or else suffer her wrath. That was what brought those like
myself
to start talking in small groups, behind backs.”

“What were you talking about? Were you planning to take over the
pack?”

“Of course not, my Lord, but we had gotten to the point that we were
ready to speak with you about it,” Travis replied, bending down grabbing one of
the deceased men under the arms. “We are a tired people,
Dillan
.
Our numbers are half what they were when your father lived.” Then Travis dragged
the body out through the door.

Dillan
reached up,
rubbing his red bearded chin, thinking about everything that was going on
around him, and the things that he was just now finding out. He heard the girls
screaming as Charles and Thomas, practically pulled them up the stairs and into
the light of the kitchen. One of the fair skinned girls reached up and ran her
nails down Charles’s arm, then pulled away. She rushed to her sister, gripping
her around the neck so tightly that Thomas couldn’t pull her away.

“Leave them be,”
Dillan
had to yell to be
heard over the girls high pitched screams, as he came around the hall entrance.
“I’ll handle this.”

He got down on his knees as close as he dared, and began explaining
to them who he was. “No one will ever harm you again, I promise. The girls held
each other as if they were the only things left on earth.
Dillan’s
voice turned into a soft purr, something that all ‘were’ creatures were capable
of doing. The girl’s hands clawed at each other’s back, as he scooted closer,
pulling into each other’s chest as tears began running down their soiled cheeks.
The hair on their heads was so filthy that there was no way of telling what
color
it was; bright red, sandy, reddish blond, nor could
he tell how tall they were, for they had never stood straight enough for any of
them to tell. He didn’t even know if they were able to stand upright.

“I’m going to touch you now,” he explained in a soft tone and same
rythymic
purr as he reached out with one hand.

They both flinched before he ever got close enough to touch them,
but he continued in his efforts to let them know that their torture had come to
an end. His shoulders began to
shake,
his lungs took
in a deep breath of air as he stroked one cheek, then gently touched the mirror
twin next. The girls squeezed their eyes tightly and their bodies went rigid.
Dillan
pulled his hand back, putting his knuckle between
his teeth and swallowing the lump that had lodged in the back of his throat.

“I’m going to get you girls cleaned up and fed a real meal. Then you
will sleep like the true little queens that you are,” he sniffled, wiping his
face roughly,
then
stood licking his lips. “Don’t hurt
them. I’ll go up and get things ready. Bring them to my father’s room in a few
minutes.” Then
Dillan
smiled down at the two that
were glancing wildly from the floor to each other, and every so often up at him.

“Your mother’s room will have everything you need, my Lord,” Charles
said as
Dillan
walked away.

“You know my name. Never call me that again,” he replied glaring
back, then without another word, disappeared into the hallway.

Dillan
was about
to step into his father’s bedroom for the first time since he was a small
child, when he heard the girls start screaming again. He closed his eyes and
leaned his head up against the hard wood door that was hand carved with
intricate details of
Harbra’s
upper portions. She
looked like a wooden cameo with long flowing hair. He turned the knob, then
reached above his head pulling back a piece of wood and removed a key. It was
one of the things that he knew he would always remember his father doing,
telling him that he must never let it be known, then winked and rubbed the top
of his head.

Every piece of furniture in the room was made of dark mahogany that
was once polished to a glass finish, which now carried a fine layer of ghostly
dust. White sheets covered the enormous bed and dresser, but the high back
chairs in front of the fireplace and all of the small tables that adorned the
room were given no care.
Dillan
walked over to a wide
panel door and slid it back revealing a bathroom almost the size of the bedroom.
He stepped in and began running the dark murky water from the pipes that hadn’t
been used in years, until it ran pure and clean. After he cleaned out the
bathtub and had it filling with water, he left to go into his mother’s room,
which was right across the hall.

Dillan
wasn’t
surprised in the least to find
Harbra’s
room
absolutely immaculate. The door was unlocked, and he went straight into the
bathroom and gathered two of everything he could carry; two robes, two gowns,
two pairs of slippers. He then took the whole tray of bath oils, shampoo, and
floral smelling soap that was sitting right by the spotless bathtub. He hurried
back across the hall in time to add some of the oil and a little bubble bath,
hoping the girls would feel more secure hiding under them, and at the same
time,
enjoy
the feeling and pleasures of taking a
simple bath. Charles and Thomas brought the girls in, one walking backwards,
holding one girl under the arms, while the other walked forward, holding the
other very much the same way. The girls would not let go of each other without
having caused them even more discomfort.

“Bring them in here,”
Dillan
called out,
running his hand through the water.

“They refuse to let go my…sir,” Charles said, remembering at the
last second.

“Make them the best meal possible. If they kept my mother’s room
that way, then she made sure this place was well stocked,” he said, leaning
down by the girls. “And please make plenty. I’m starving too.”

“Of course,” Charles replied, seeing the difference growing in
Dillan
every time he spoke.

“Thomas, help Travis make sure this place is secure. My mother has
made her share of enemies and I wouldn’t want them to try anything here without
our people, and then have him go tell the others to make their way here.”

“And the wolves?”

“They’ll be there when we go back,”
Dillan
snapped.

“Yes, sir,” Thomas said then left to do as he was told.

“Now, how are we going to do this?” He smiled, looking at the
frightened girls, which looked more like one with two heads at that point.

Once again,
Dillan
was standing rubbing
the stubble on his chin, when he noticed his own reflection in the mirror that
was beginning to steam over. His long red curls were hanging wildly in every
direction, and his clothes were almost as bad as his sisters. He walked closer
getting a better look at his unshaven face that made him look much harsher than
he was trying to appear to the girls. His blue eyes stood out among his dark
skin and burnt looking
stubbled
beard. He decided it
would be wise to clean
himself
and change while they
took their bath.

“If I leave the room, will you two get in the bath on your own?” he
asked, squatting by the tub and splashing the water up with his hand. “No one
will ever hurt you again. I am your father now, and I’m here to take care of
you.”

He stopped talking knowing by the look in their eyes that he wasn’t
making any head way in trying to make them understand what he was trying to say.
He mocked taking off his clothes, and played like he was stepping in the tub,
accidently slipping on the rug and went in soaking the floor, causing the girls
to scream out. He came up out of the water, thinking he had just scared them
even more than they already were, but found them both smiling. “Thought that
was funny, did
ya
?” he asked, taking a handful of
water and bubbles and throwing it at them. Both girls screamed out in a playful
manner this time, and for the first time one released the other and reached out
to touch the bubbles.
Dillan’s
heart bounced in his
chest for the first time in his entire life, and something deep inside changed
as he watched one his sisters put the handful of bubbles up to her nose and
giggle, while looking at the other girl.