Within the Cards (28 page)

“Can I help you again little one?” he asked. Ultress was busy at the time, but he grew fond of the little girl and didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

“Please don’t kill my brother,” she begged. Her eyes were large and wide. Ultress could see the sorrow in her tearless eyes.

Ellie looked at me, and I looked at her. We both could feel the compassion of the small child to the one person she clung to for support. Ultress kneeled down so he could look into the eyes of the child. The child’s eyes were innocent of any crime, but he could see the fear that was in them. She was taught as Ellie had taught me to respect and love others. She smiled at Ultress reaching to touch his face. When she touched his face, she transferred the picture of the one she called the ‘stinky one’. Suzi was close by, and she wasn’t alone.

“Tell your brother to regain his visible form. I want to speak with him.” Ultress told her.

She looked at her brother and told him to appear. He was reluctant, but he did as she asked. I was still holding him so he didn’t vanish out of fright. Elizabeth continued to hold on to Dee and Ellie trying to keep them apart. Ultress moved near this being named Thomas. I could see the fear in him as his maker approached. I released my grip.

“Why have you chosen to defy your maker?” Ultress asked. With shameful eyes, he peered up at Ultress’s towering form. His voice was full of remorse for his act of betrayal.

“My betrayal is from my own weakness of lust. This has proven me no greater than the mongrel vampires we hate.” Thomas explained.

Thomas didn’t realize his comments about the vampires angered Ultress. He grabbed Thomas by the neck lifting him up and pressed him against the rocks that form the waters fall.

“Do you know your own heritage? I’m one of the mongrels you speak of.” Ultress lashed. Thomas’s eyes grew large. Graylee tucked her head in my side.

“Please sir, I beg your forgiveness. You aren’t like the other vampires that I refer. I will never betray you again my king.” Thomas pleaded. He turned his head to the side because he knew his fate would soon end his immortality.

Ultress hearing the gasp of fear from the little girl named Graylee calmed his anger. He knew she was present, and he couldn’t destroy her brother. He was the only one she trusted to take care of her. Ultress turned toward the little girl and then turned to look at Thomas as he lowered him to the ground.

“Go with your sister and never defy me again. I’m your maker, and I’ll not have mercy on you if you betray me again. Do you understand me?” Ultress’s voice was deep and harsh again.

“Yes, sir,” the young man named Thomas replied.

Ultress bent down again to little Graylee and smiled. As he gave her a wink, she returned a smile to him.

“Now little one, show me the direction of the ‘stinky one’ please.” His voice was gentle and soft again. Graylee pointed in the direction to the east. She assures him she was just beyond the light green trees. Ultress knew from her projection to him there were two guards with her. Ellie put her fingers to her head. She was reading Suzi’s intentions. I saw the vision of what her intentions held. Ultress sent both Graylee and her brother Thomas back to the village.

Suzi planned to retrieve the box from Dee and invite her back to the Lord's lair. She would turn her over to them telling the Lords she had stolen the box for them. To prove her loyalty, she would give them Ellie for their pleasure. Dee was her sacrifice to the Lords. Ellie took Dee’s hand, and I took the other. Together, we could make her see what her older sister was going to do with her. These were thoughts she didn’t want to see on her own. She lived many years with Suzi and she didn’t want to see the realization that Suzi could be capable of such acts. She was blocking her own ability to read her older sister’s thoughts.

It was up to Ellie and Dee to confront Suzi, but they wouldn’t be alone. Ultress, Elizabeth and I would be close. The sisters would have to work together to throw Suzi off the track of the box. Their grandfather and I would take care of the guards.

The love of my existence had no choice, but to sit as open pray and hope Dee came to her senses and didn't betray her by turning her over to Suzi. Suzi wasn’t far. I could read her thoughts. Ultress and I hid far enough away so she couldn’t pick up our scent. Once the girls distracted her, we would make our move on the guards. If this plan worked, Suzi would be helpless and be at our mercy. She would have to conform to our way of existence, or Suzi would be extinguished. However, if this plan failed my existence would end with the capture of Ellie. I wouldn’t stand for their abusing her. If this were to be, I would hunt down Ellie’s captures and would surely die because I wouldn’t give up until she was free or I was no longer.

Ellie and Dee sat by the waterfront. The beautiful waterfall that had revealed Dee’s accomplice was the backdrop of a scene that could end in tragedy. If we were of mortal existence, one would see this scene as the Garden of Eden. It was beautiful, but with so much evil among its mist. Suzi appeared from the jungle. I could not see the guards. I close my eyes to pull their images into focus. They were behind the waterfall hiding and waiting for Suzi to signal. The waterfall obscured their scent. We must go.

The water would cover our scent from Suzi as well. Ultress descended from the left, and I descended from the right. They were trapped in their own web. They had intended to capture Ellie and Dee while Suzi distracted them. These thoughts were similar to our plan, but Suzi didn’t intend on the strong connection of love that protected Ellie and Dee. Suzi knew nothing of this emotion.

The guards were strong in their fight, but could not withstand the power of our conviction. They had little other than their existences to lose. We were fighting for our family. Ultress completed his intended mission of ending their immortality. He was fast in his annihilation of the two guards as he ripped their throats with his forceful fangs. For a normal hybrid, the guards would have been fierce competitors, but we were far from normal. Our out-casting proved this fact.

Suzi hadn’t realized Ultress and I annihilated her comrades. She made her move, but her backup wasn’t to be found. Dee finally realized her sister was no longer a trusted being. She had also drawn a line in the sand, and she wouldn’t cross this imaginary boost for power. The sister’s conflict was short but violent. Ellie and Dee were able to restrain Suzi. The sounds of hissing echoed in the jungle’s mist. They begged her to join our side, but she refused to succumb to our way. She would rather not exist at all than give up her power. Greed had been the way she lived for her many centuries, and she wouldn’t reduce herself to a follower.

Suzi wouldn’t listen to her sisters. Her family was that of the Lords. She saw herself as the reigning queen of the witchyres. She wouldn’t release her title. She looked in Ultress’s direction and demanded.

“Kill me. I will not follow your kind.” She hissed at him. “You’re not my family. You’re a snake, and you have clouded their heads with lies. The Lords are the rulers. You will cause the extinguishment of these gutless slugs.”

Her fangs dripped of hatred, and her venom was lethal. She was going to have to be eliminated. Ultress was going to have to do this unforgiving task to one of the granddaughters he loved from her birth. His weakness was his love for her. He didn’t see her as an enemy. He saw her as he did Ellie and Dee. He couldn’t take her immortality. Suzi now knew his weakness, and I saw through her thoughts, this was what she would take back to the Lords as a show of loyalty.

“Suzi, go back to your Lords. They will do what I can’t bring myself to do. I’m not like them. I can’t kill my own.” Ultress turned from her. His strength drained from his body. Elizabeth saw the pain in his eyes. She had seen this pain in his eye over two centuries ago as he stood before the hybrids and held her hand. He knew he couldn’t save her. He was before a jury that had already made their decision of his guilt. The decision to remove him and his love to the purgatory of the other world was ahead of them.

“You’re a weak leader. That will be your downfall just as it was when we sent you to hell over two hundred years ago. You will see hell again. You will see it soon as will the rest of you traitors.” Suzi wasn’t going to change her mind. She again jerked and spit in their direction.

Ellie and Dee continued to restraint their sister. Elizabeth approached Suzi, but no spell would change her feelings of hatred toward us.

“Suzi, we gave you the chance to continue your immortality, but you turn your back on us. Return to your enslaved life. You are not a queen. You are nothing more than a pawn in the games my sons play. They have no loyalties to you.” Elizabeth’s words were cold. She loved Suzi, but she saw the hurt in Ultress’s eyes and that she couldn’t stand. She would not tolerate it from anyone.

She commanded Ellie and Dee to release their sister. The two sisters didn’t want to give up on their sibling, but they knew she wouldn’t be convinced to stay and fight against the ones she remained loyal too. They released their hold on her as Elizabeth commanded. Suzi didn’t disappear as they expected. She moved toward Elizabeth and raised her finger in her direction.

“Go back to hell. I rebuke you as my grandmother.” She hissed at Elizabeth. Ellie started to grab Suzi, but Dee stopped her as Elizabeth held up her hand in Ellie’s direction.

“You two dare to stand against me for these hybrids.” She turned her direction to Ellie and Dee. “When this war is over you will be my slaves. You will answer for your betrayal to the witchyres.” These were her final words. She spat her venom at Ellie and Dee then vanished. They knew this was the last time they would see their sister. She would return to the Lords and answer for her inability to bring them what they wanted. This would cause her demise. She would no longer be a factor in our destiny.

I wrapped my arms around Ellie.

“Ellie, what was ‘I told you so, I told you so’ about?” I smiled. Ellie elbowed me in the side once again. Dee looked at me, and I read her thoughts as she sneered.

“One day you will learn stupid vermin.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I knew Graylee would lead us right where we needed to be.” She smiled and turned up her nose. We both began to laugh. Dee looked at us as if we were crazy, as did the others. We retrieved the box and made our way back to the village where the witches and the villagers waited for our arrival. Thomas and Graylee were standing at the entrance of one of the huts. Graylee ran to meet Ultress and Elizabeth. Thomas remained where he was standing with his head held low. Ultress approached him with Graylee in his arms.

“You can thank your sister for my sparing your life.” Ultress lashed and raised his lip to expose one of his fangs at Thomas. Graylee laughed as Ultress touched her cheek and winked at her.

“Please sir, I beg you to allow me to make my indiscretion up to you and your family.” Thomas begged. Ultress glared down at him.

“Believe me, you will make this up. I’ll see to it. Now make sure you take care of this little one and no more of this invisible stuff. At least until I tell you.” Ultress demanded. Graylee again laughed.

“Yes sir,” Thomas replied and lowered his head. Graylee wrapped her arms around Ultress’s neck and kissed him. He returned her hug.

“It looks like you made a friend.” Ultress smiled at her as he pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. Graylee giggled and covered her eyes. This made Ultress laugh for the first time since I met him.

Chapter Twenty-Four

GRANDPARENT’S WISHES

Our encounter with Suzi brought distress to Ultress and Elizabeth. Ultress was a strong being, but he was unable to destroy the grandchild that wished him and Elizabeth back to hell. Her words were harsh as she lashed her hate in their direction. He couldn’t remove her existence. He knew she wouldn’t be so lucky once she returned to his sons. His sons were viscous, and they wouldn’t stand for her failure. If they could turn their mother and father over to the vampires for annihilation then they would have no problem in erasing Suzi.

Elizabeth knew his struggle. She saw his fight with the inter-demons of his mind. She too had her own demons that haunted her. Her memory of the day of her annihilation was still all too familiar in her mind. She knew the force of her son’s convictions and hatred for anything that was unworthy of them. Their ability to cut out the existence of ones that didn’t think their way was easy and swift. The Lords prided themselves to be the ultimate rulers and nothing would stand in the way of their destruction or of their reign of power.

Suzi refused our help, but we had to remember this was the only way she knew. Suzi didn’t carry a spell that changed her being or protected her from the hate. Ellie and Dee had learned another path. Ellie’s views were simple. You live in an existence among the human race, and you only partake of those that wouldn’t continue to live. She also felt all immortals could coexist. Dee viewed the love between her grandparents as a small being, and she witnessed the love that grew with Ellie and me. She was learning this thing called love did exist, and now she was willing to stand against a world of savages she had existed with for many decades.