Chosen (Book #4 of the Vampire Legends) (3 page)

BOOK: Chosen (Book #4 of the Vampire Legends)
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Chapter
5

 

 

Rachel flew
through the air at lightning speed to get to the place she thought would have
some answers for her. She landed, then looked up at the castle as if it she
didn’t recognize it. It was completely different. There was scaffolding up over
the entire outside with bright blue tarps hanging over the roof. She could see
the cracks in the façade and instantly knew what had happened. The Greslins.
They invaded during the great war. She couldn’t help but worry if everyone was
all right. She hoped that Matilda and Uncle Drew were OK and that they were
still living there.

She quickly
walked up the cracked marble staircase and into the grand foyer of the castle.
She ran into the library to find Uncle Drew, but he wasn’t there.

“Uncle Drew,
Uncle Drew!” Rachel called. “Where are you?”

She waited a few
seconds and called his name again. Then, as if from thin air, Uncle Drew stood
before her.

“Yes, my dear,
what can I do for you?” Uncle Drew asked.

“Uncle Drew, you
have to help me. It’s Benji, there’s something wrong,” she said, worried.

“You’ve been gone
for almost a year. I heard you took the leap of faith with him,” Uncle Drew
said. “I’m proud of you, Rachel. I knew you had it in you.”

“Never mind
that,” Rachel said, “Benji’s in trouble, he’s hurt and I don’t know what to
do.”

“What do you mean
he’s hurt?” Uncle Drew asked, sounding alarmed.

In walked
Matilda, who’d overheard their conversation.

“Benji’s hurt?”
she asked.

“Yeah! He’s
bleeding from his neck, and he’s unconscious. I need help. Fast!” Rachel
yelled.

“Where is he?”
Matilda asked.

“He’s in the
cave, where I left him. He was too heavy for me to carry but he’s tucked away
safely in the cave,” she said, hoping that it was true. She assumed he’d be
safe there for a few more days. After all, they’d been there for almost a year and
they were OK. She didn’t think he’d be in any danger from the Greslin Coven
there; he seemed protected.

“You need to get
back there,” Matilda said. “You can’t just assume he will be safe.”

“I can’t go until
I find the Red Amulet,” Rachel said. “He woke for only a moment and uttered
those words.”

“The Red Amulet?”
Uncle Drew asked. “I haven’t heard those words in thousands of years.”

“What is it?”
Rachel asked.

“The Red Amulet
is an ancient healing pendant. It’s said to be able to cure any illness or injury
known to the vampire people,” Uncle Drew said.

“I’ve never seen
the Red Amulet,” Matilda said, questioning him.

“That’s because
it has been hidden for many years, since your great grandfather used it to save
his wife, Gertrude from imminent death,” Uncle Drew replied. “It hasn’t been
seen since.”

“Where’s our
great grandfather now?” Matilda asked. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”

“No, you haven’t
met him. He lives in Europe now, with Gertrude. They live in Palpana Castle
with her family. After the incident they grew into solitude and didn’t talk to
the family anymore,” Uncle Drew explained.

“So, how can I
find it?” Rachel asked.

“That’s a good
question. I think the only one who still talks to your great grandfather is
Hunter. I don’t know if he would know, but it’s worth a shot,” Uncle Drew said.

“Where’s Hunter?”
Rachel asked. “I haven’t seen him in over a year!”

“Last I heard, he
was back at his prep school,” Matilda said.

“Then I have to
go there. I must go find him now,” Rachel said in a hurry.

“But wait! I want
to come, too,” Matilda said, looking around and grabbing her coat.

“No, Matilda.
This is something I must do on my own. I must be brave and strong,” Rachel
said. “Goodbye!”

 

 

Chapter
6

 

 

Rachel ran
through the gates of Hunter’s prep school and down the long driveway. She
remembered the prep school from last year, but it looked a little different to
her. Maybe her head was foggy, but she couldn’t remember where Hunter’s dorm
was.

She stopped and
looked around at the identical red brick buildings with white shutters. The
wind was blowing and the leaves that were falling off the trees were brushing
past her as they travelled to the ground. She saw some kids walking around, but
didn’t recognize any of them. Why should she? She only came here once. She
didn’t know who to approach to ask about Hunter.

Then, she spotted
something familiar: the coffee shop. The bells rang as she entered through the
door and saw some of the kids look up at her. She knew she wasn’t a student
here, but she couldn’t understand all the cold stares. Was she trespassing?
Unwelcome? She couldn’t figure it out, but didn’t care. All she cared about was
finding Hunter and the Red Amulet.

She walked over
to the counter and waited for the man behind the counter to acknowledge her.

“Sir, excuse me!”
Rachel said, trying to get him to turn around.

“Hello? Can you
help me?” Rachel said again.

“Hello, Miss,
what do you need?” the man behind the counter asked.

“I’m looking for
someone,” Rachel said.

“I can try. I
know most everyone around here,” the man replied.

“Well, I need to
find Hunter,” Rachel said.

“Hunter who?” the
man asked.

“Um. I actually
don’t know his last name. You know Hunter, he’s been going here for a while,”
Rachel answered, trying to give him more information.

“Uh, why are you
looking for Hunter?” a girl asked.

“I must find
him,” Rachel said back, not wanting to explain herself.

“Why?” the girl
asked again. “What business do you have with Hunter?”

“Listen, this is
really none of your business. I just need to speak with him,” Rachel replied.

“I’m Hunter’s
girlfriend. That’s why it is my business that another girl wants to see him so
badly,” the girl replied. “My name is Penelope.”

“Well Penelope,
for your information, I am Benji’s girlfriend. So, you can calm down. I’m not
after your man,” Rachel said, trying to get Penelope to stop being so jealous
and threatened of her.

“Oh! Rachel?”
Penelope said, suddenly looking aware of who she was.

Rachel watched as
her facial expression went from mad to smiling as if they were long lost
friends reunited for the first time.

“Why didn’t you
say so!” Penelope asked.

“Well I didn’t
realize I had to,” Rachel replied.

The two of them
walked out of the coffee shop together and then across campus to the large
brick building where the art studio was located.

“Hunter is
finishing up a watercolor painting he’s been working on for weeks. It’s a
landscape of the campus in the fall. He’s very proud of it,” Penelope said as
they entered the building.

“Oh, that’s
nice,” Rachel said, trying to sound interested.

All she really
cared about was getting to Hunter to ask him about the Amulet. It was all she
could think about. She knew every minute away from Benji could be fatal and she
couldn’t bear to be away from him any longer—but if she went back without the
Amulet she didn’t know what would happen. She knew she had to find it and hoped
that Hunter would be the key to this mystery.

As the two girls
entered the art studio, Hunter stood there in the dim light, alone, painting
with his headphones in. He didn’t hear them come in as he continued to paint
the orange tinged leaves on his landscape.

“Hunt,” Penelope
says, tapping him on his shoulder, making him jump with surprise.

“Oh! Penelope, I
wasn’t expecting you,” Hunter said, turning around. “Rachel? What are you doing
here?”

“Hi Hunter,”
Rachel  said with a smile of relief. “I’ve come because you are the only person
who can help me.”

“What? What’s
wrong?” Hunter asked, sounding concerned.

“It’s Benji,”
Rachel said, looking back at Hunter.

“Benji?” Hunter
questioned. “What’s wrong with Benji?”

“He’s hurt,”
Rachel said, beginning to tear up. “I’m worried he won’t make it.”

“What do you mean
he won’t make it?” Hunter replied. “Tell me this isn’t true.”

“I wish it
weren’t,” Rachel said, the tears flowing down her cheeks. “He’s hurt and I
don’t know how to help him or how he got hurt in the first place.”

“So how can I
help you? I’ll do anything. Just name it,” Hunter said.

“It’s the Red
Amulet,” Rachel whispered, not wanting to say something she shouldn’t in a
public place.

Hunter looked
around, “The Red Amulet? How do you know about that?”

“The last words
Benji said to me were about the Red Amulet and then he went unconscious. I
didn’t know what it meant, so I tracked down Uncle Drew and Matilda who said
you were the only one who may know since you still have ties with your great
grandfather.”

“I am the only
person who my great grandfather still speaks to, but we don’t speak often. No,
he doesn’t still have it. He told me that my mom was sick and he had to send
her the Red Amulet to cure her,” Hunter said.

“Is she OK? Your
mom, I mean?” Rachel asked, worried.

“I think so. I
don’t talk to my parents much anymore. I’m not as close with them as I used to
be,” Hunter replied with a sad face.

“You didn’t call
them to ask?” Rachel questioned with surprise.

“Well, if she
wore the Red Amulet, than there is no chance she wouldn’t be cured. It can cure
anything, no matter how big,” Hunter said.

“So where is it
now then?” Rachel asked, thinking about Benji, still lying in the cave.

“That’s the
thing. I don’t know now,” Hunter replied. “I think my mom sent it back to my
great grandfather. I just do not know.”

“How can we find
out. Is there anything we can do to find it?” Rachel asked, beginning to feel
herself panic at the thought of not finding it.

“I hope we can
find it. It’s somewhere, we just have to find out where,” Hunter said.

“Would the old
coven book have any information about the Red Amulet?” Penelope butted in. “A
long time ago I remember reading about the Red Amulet and how to locate it if
it’s lost.”

Hunter looked
back at Penelope in surprise, “You’re right! What a brilliant idea!”

“Where’s the old
coven book?” Rachel asked quickly.

“It’s in the
Alpha Chi Delta library,” Hunter said.

“Where’s that?”
Rachel asked.

“It’s a Greek
organization off campus,” Hunter replied.

“Can we go?”
Rachel asked.

“It would raise
too much attention if we just walked in there in the middle of the day, but
they have huge parties every night. In fact, they are having one tonight. Why don’t
we go later, and we can slip in in the middle of the party. I can cover for you
and distract them, so nobody will see you sneaking into the library,” Hunter
said.

“Why would it
matter?” Rachel asked. “Why do they care if we look at the book?”

“Because the
fraternity is not just a fraternity,” Hunter said.

Penelope and
Hunter exchanged a glance, “Should we tell her?” Hunter asked.

“Yes,” Penelope
said. “She’s one of us now.”

“Tell me what?”
Rachel asked.

“That fraternity
is not all human. There are some of our kind in its ranks. They come from a
different coven. We’ve been keeping the peace for quite a while, but I wouldn’t
want to provoke them. I don’t want to start an all-out vampire war at school.
You have to keep a low profile when you get that book. Don’t let any of them
catch you,” Hunter said.

“So when’s the
party? We have to move quickly,” Rachel said.

“It’s not till
later tonight,” Hunter said.

“Let’s go back to
my place and wait until there’s time so nobody else sees you here,” Hunter
said. “And you can fill me in on everything that’s happened to my brother since
I’ve last seen him.”

 

 

Chapter
7

 

 

Rachel took a sip
of the blood that Hunter had poured for her into an old ivory shot glass. She
felt better after the first sip. She didn’t realize how hungry she was—in fact,
she couldn’t remember the last time she fed. It must have been days but her adrenaline
was keeping her going. Her mind was only focused on one thing and that was to
save Benji. She couldn’t give into her needs at a time like this—she had to
find the Red Amulet and save him.

“So what have you
and Benji been doing the last year?” Hunter asked.

Rachel thought
for a moment, then realized she couldn’t answer that question. She honestly
didn’t know what they’d been doing. She couldn’t recall one thing that had
happened since their jump into the water. The only thing she remembered was her
crazy mermaid dream—and even that was becoming a bit foggy to her. She couldn’t
help but wonder if she was losing her mind or if someone had erased her memory.
Was that even possible? Could someone have erased an entire year of her life?
She didn’t know what to say.

“Well it’s funny
you should ask,” Rachel said. “I happen to not remember what happened this
year. It’s all a blur and in fact I don’t even feel a year older. It’s like I
went to sleep and woke up and it was a year later.”

“What do you
mean?” Penelope asked.

“It’s a strange
feeling, I wish I could explain it better,” Rachel said.

“That’s odd,”
Hunter chimed in. “Do you know then what happened to Benji? Why is he in danger
and how did he get so hurt?”

Rachel looked
back at Hunter, then at Penelope in shame. She was so upset that she didn’t
know what had happened and that she couldn’t have done anything to prevent it.
She wished she could have been there for him, to protect him, to care for him
through this time but she couldn’t. Her emotions flooded her and she began to
cry.

“I don’t know,”
Rachel said. “And that’s what’s so hard for me. I don’t know what happened to
Benji and I don’t know how to help him. I’m a terrible girlfriend. I just feel
awful about the entire situation. I should have stopped it from happening.”

“Listen, Rachel.
Benji loves you. Don’t beat yourself up over this. We will find a way to save
him. I know this is hard for you, but please don’t blame yourself. You didn’t
do anything wrong,” Hunter said. “You are an amazing person and I know he feels
lucky and blessed to have found you.”

Rachel wiped her
tears and looked back at Hunter.

“You’re right. I
shouldn’t beat myself up, but I can’t help it. Imagine how you would feel if
something happened to Penelope on your watch and you could have done something
to prevent it but you didn’t. You would feel awful.”

“We will find the
Red Amulet,” Penelope said. “As soon as we locate the coven book, we will find
out how to get it for you. Don’t worry. I know this is a stressful time, but we
will get through it together.”

“I don’t think
you guys appreciate the urgency here. This is not a joke. You didn’t see him. I
did. He’s lying in a cave right now in the middle of nowhere, dying. I don’t
have time to sit around about talk about my feelings or yours or anyone’s. I
need to get the Red Amulet. Can we please go to the frat house now? Please?”
Rachel begged.

Hunter looked
down at his watch, “We can leave here in a five minutes. We don’t want to be
the firsts to arrive. We need to mix ourselves in with a big group of kids,
too. We can’t just show up to the door the three of us. It’s too suspicious.”

“Why are you so
worried about this other coven? Have they ever done anything bad?” Rachel
asked.

“They haven’t
yet, but we are not of the same coven. We do not have the same beliefs or
missions in life. When you have a difference like this, it can mean life and
death if you step over the line. If you get into an argument with one of their
kind, you have no idea the ramifications.”

“C’mon guys, can
we just leave now? I see a group of people walking over there now,” Rachel said
as she peered out the window.

“I think we
should be fine to go now Hunter,” Penelope said. “Let’s go find that book!”

Rachel couldn’t
help but feel that Penelope and Hunter didn’t take this seriously. Well, maybe
they took it seriously, but not as urgently as she would have liked at a time
like this. She wanted them to help her find the book so that she could forge
ahead on this mission she was sent on. She didn’t want to have to linger behind
and wait on others to do it for her. She hated that. She never liked the idea
of waiting for other people to make something happen. She knew that if she
wanted it done, she would have to do it herself. But in this case, she couldn’t
do it by herself. She didn’t know what the Red Amulet was nor did she know how
to find it. It could be anywhere in the world, and she hadn’t the slightest
clue where to begin looking.

“Here’s your
coat,” Hunter said as he helped Rachel get her coat on.

The three of them
walked out of the dorm and into the crisp night air on their way to the party.
Rachel was anxiously awaiting getting her hands on the coven book so she could
save Benji.

 

BOOK: Chosen (Book #4 of the Vampire Legends)
5.78Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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