Brewing a Bloodline Ch. 14

Joshua was gazing lovingly into Ruby's eyes, when Celia's cry invaded his consciousness.

"Joshua! We are under attack!"

He blinked and his eyes turned molten, even as the commotion could be heard.

Ruby had been looking directly at him, but it was as though she was not even seeing him anymore.

"He's here!" Robert whispered from across the room, and his voice held nothing but terror. "He's come for us - to finish what he started!"

Ruby whimpered and hugged herself tight, wrapping her arms around herself in a forlorn hopeless gesture.

The noises grew louder, and more ominous, as they came closer, and even Joshua felt himself beginning to cower, under that raw air of menace and evilness.

"Celia!" he called out silently, but she was silent and as he tried to seek her out with his mind, he could not even sense her presence anywhere in the house.

Has she fled? Had she abandoned them all to this evil threat?

There was a tiny part of Joshua that could understand if she had escaped this place and this evilness which was about to descend.

But Joshua knew his beloved too well; she would sacrifice herself before abandoning any of them.

And that thought brought all new terrors to Joshua's being, so that when the black cloaked figure swept into the room a second later, Joshua was as paralysed with terror - genuine terror as the other two people.

"And so we have new blood!" The figure hissed as he glided across towards him.

"Hold out your hand, let me taste your offering!"

Joshua felt the waves rolling over him, and he steeled himself to resist this evil compulsion.

"NO!" the musical chorus caressed him, and filled him, and reassured him that he was not to endure this alone. "Do not resist... you must yield to this creature, you must let him continue to be fooled... you must comply!"

Joshua slowly raised his hand, and he even managed a tremble as though he was trying to resist.

The cold grip should not have been a shock to him, but it was.

The claw that ripped across the veins on his wrist should not have been so painful - but it was.

The creature bent slightly, and as he began to gulp at his blood, the room began to spin, and Joshua felt a wave of fatigue.

The creature swallowed loudly and then licked his lips.

No!" he exclaimed almost gleefully. "It is not new blood at all, but old - so old..." His finger hooked under Joshua's chin, forcing him to look up into that black stare. "Are you alone, do you have family, those who share more of this heritage - where do you come from?"

Joshua blinked, and for a moment he was afraid that his eyes might have glazed over, and turned their silver colour.

The creature leaned in closer, and Joshua could feel the waves of energy coming from him.

"Sire," A man - a man familiar to Joshua, shuffled forward eagerly. "He has a sister, she is a shallow creature, from what I have observed, sire." Joshua realised with a little jolt why the man had been familiar. He had followed Celia back to the hotel when she had gone on her shopping spree.

The creature released Joshua, and turned to the man, who knelt down in supplication.

Joshua felt his lip curl with disgust as he realised what this man was.

He was a hopeful. One who would do anything and everything for a vampire with the hopes that they would turn him into one of them.

"A sister!" the creature gurgled gleefully. "A female - another brother and sister for my collection - oh how marvellous! Where is she - I must sample her immediately, find her and bring her to me!"

Joshua had not been aware of the others entering the room, but as the creature's horde of underlings shuffled about, and then filed from the room, his eyes fell on a figure who was stood hunched over.

"Caster!" the creature hissed. "I have need of you."

The figure slowly stumbled across the room, but just before he reached the creature, he looked directly at Joshua.

For only a split second his gaze fixed onto Joshua, but it was enough.

The old man from Ruby's memory, sliced through Joshua's guards and implanted directly into his mind.

"Be ready!"

It was a simple instruction, and it happened so quick that it passed by the creature's notice, as that being was caught up with the delight of a new lineage of 'old blood'.

"Sire, what would you have me do for you?" the old caster whispered from a dry cracked voice.

"Search this room, and see what magic lurks here," the master hissed.

The caster wearily looked around the room, but he was using more than his eyes to see what was here. Suddenly his eyes locked onto Robert, who whimpered and cowered.

But the caster turned then to look at Ruby.

"They have talismans, sire," the caster croaked out. "Someone had placed protective talismans on them, and I sense that the house itself has similar tokens of defence and protection."

"And so we see the truth at last!" the creature spat out. "We will dispose of their talismans in short order, but first there is a more important deed which must be done... I am to receive new vintage stock for my farm. I need to be purified and prepared so that I can properly manipulate them, to bring out their fullest flavours."

"As you instruct my master - so do I obey," the old man whispered as he pulled himself up straight, and began to summon his magic.

"Not yet!" the creature hissed impatiently. "I must first test the sister, to be sure that she is worthy of my investment, and then you must find the source of those defences that have suddenly appeared..." he sighed almost regretfully but Joshua was not fooled by it. "If it turns out to be anything to do with this sister - or the brother there, then they will both have to be destroyed."

"Sire." the caster whispered as he sank back down into his hunched and defeated posture.

"There is food and liquids over there," the creature pointed dismissively to a table running along the far wall. "Go and sit and take your nourishments - I will need all of your magic before this day is out... it may even spell your end, my poor old slave, but I am sure that you will be glad of the rest."

The creature was cruelly mocking the old man, even as he stumbled wearily across the room, without even acknowledging the threat.

For some reason, which he could not quite fathom, Joshua came to the conclusion that the creature used this threat - or promise on a regular basis.

The creature stood silent for a moment, before turning suddenly to look at Ruby who had curled up on the sofa, and tried to look as small and insignificant as she could.

"Come," he hissed, and she blinked and she whimpered. "Come my lovely and take my embrace... let me sample you, and be sure that you are not tarnished at all."

She blinked again and her gaze shot across to Joshua. "You promised!" her look said. "You promised to protect me!"

"Come to me!" the creature hissed again, and with a defeated sob, Ruby sat forward, as she prepared to stand and walk to the creature.

"NO!" Joshua's mind screamed out to hers. "Fight the compulsion, do not give in so quickly, make him work to get you... delay him, even if only for a little while!"

He could hear the creature's horde as they stomped through the house, throwing open doors and shouting out in high pitched grating voices.

Ruby stiffened on the edge of the sofa, and then fell back with a gasp.

The creature moved towards her.

"You dare to defy me!" he demanded almost gleefully. "Come my sweet, and suffer my attentions, for I will not be so gentle as I was before."

Suddenly there was a loud roar of triumph, and Joshua heard Celia's scream of terror, followed by a low rumble as many footsteps tumbled down the stairs.

The vampire lord spun around as the door flew open and several of his creatures entered, bringing with them a struggling panic stricken Celia. The rest of his minions came rushing after them, and the house fell silent again, as they all waited expectantly.

They threw her down to the floor at the feet of their master, and there she curled up defensively with a hysterical sob and a wail, which was to Joshua's sudden relief - completely over the top.

He realised then that his Celia was acting.

And he suddenly saw that she knew exactly what she was doing.

"Stand!" The creature commanded, and she blinked up at him slowly. "Oh my glorious creature, are you the one? The one that I have waited so long for? Come to me my love, and let me taste your delights."

She sobbed pitifully and slowly came to her feet.

She was so tiny that even standing - she was barely above the creature's hips.

The creature bent towards, her, and his fangs slid down to long needle points.

Celia whimpered as the creature came relentlessly towards, her, she stared frozen at it, as she recorded every hideous detail of his face and physique.

And then at the very last possible moment, she blinked.

The world around them seemed to explode.

"Magic!" the creature hissed. "Who dares to go against my power, who is this caster who seeks to stop me?" He looked to his underlings. "Seek out who this magic user is!"

The creatures all flew out again, and as loud bangs could be heard in the basement, they all headed down below, leaving their master to hiss with fury. It then reared up and screamed. "Caster! I have need of you!"

Whilst it was diverted, Celia looked across at Joshua. "Get them to the sitting room, they will be safe in there, no vampire will be able to enter the sunshine room."

She turned then and all but flew towards the door. "You will never have me Vampire Lord!" she screamed defiantly.

The creature seemed to freeze for a moment in shock at her defiance, but then it flew after her with a bone chilling scream of his own.

The creature was fast, but then so was Celia, as she went up the stairs, and into her bedroom, where she slammed her door, and rested her hand on the back of it for a moment.

"Caster!" the creature screeched in fury as the door barred him from his prize.

The caster shot Joshua a quick look, before hurrying from the room.

"Now," Joshua exclaimed. "To your sitting room, Ruby, you and your brother stay in your sitting room - you will be safe there!"

Ruby however seemed frozen in terror, and as he glanced at her brother, Joshua could see that Robert was also unable to move or function through his fears.

Joshua could hear commotions all through the house, and he knew that he did not have long, before someone would come back and interfere with them all.

He gave a low hiss, and then he grabbed the arm of each sibling and half carried, half dragged them from the room.

It was only a short journey down the hall to the other room, but it seemed to take forever for them to get there.

They did manage to get there though and Joshua kicked the door too behind him.

"Whatever happens," he told them quickly. "Do not come out of this room until... until the sky is blue and the sun is once again in the sky."

"But... but what if it doesn't?" Ruby demanded tearfully. "Where will you be, Joshua?"

Joshua looked down at her for a moment, and then he bent and kissed her hard on the lips. "I will come back to you soon, my love," he said solemnly. "But stay here, stay quiet and stay safe!"

Celia stood with her hand on the back of her door, and her eyes closed as she concentrated through the banging on the other side.

"Caster!" the creature shouted in impotent fury.

Suddenly the banging fell silent and she felt the wood under her hand begin to burn.

She resisted for a little longer, and then with a gasp she fell back and ran to the far side of the room.

The door shimmered, and the pattern from her blue dust, glowed red hot.

Then the door flew open, and the exhausted caster fell back to allow the creature to storm in.

The old man slowly began to follow, but as he moved beneath the frame of the door, Celia's dust pattern appeared in the gap, and a blue sparkling web formed, which caught the old man fast.

It covered him entirely, and then suddenly there was a loud cracking sound, and the room shook.

The bangle on his wasted wrist sprang open and fell to the ground, and the old man let out a long joyful cry. "FREE!" he cried out euphorically. "I'M FREE!"

The web vibrated, and as the tears fell from his eyes, the old man began to fade into the dusty lines of her trap.

The creature had stood frozen in helpless horror as he realised that he was losing his magical slave, and that there was nothing that he could do to stop it.

As the old caster vanished completely, the web continued to vibrate for a moment longer, before it too vanished, leaving only the metal bangle still spinning on the floor in the door way.

The creature howled out furiously as he swept down and scooped up the bangle.

He spun around and glared at Celia who stepped back in genuine fear, as he held that awful thing out to her.

"It was you!" he accused, "You did this, you are the witch!" he screamed. "You have taken my caster," he glided across to her and grabbed her wrist. "Now you shall replace him!"

"No!" Celia screamed in terror at the idea that she might once again become a captive of her own magic.

She tried to pull away, but the creature was strong, and she was still weak from her castings.

She tried desperately to summon her magic, but once again she had done so much recently that she was drained.

The creature pulled her up savagely, and the bangle touched her flesh.

Celia screamed again as the cold darkness flooded her being, and her sense of control began to slip away.

"No!" she screamed again. "NO!"

Joshua swept into the room then, carrying a wicked looking wooden stake. He ghosted silently up to the creature whose entire concentration was fixed on Celia, and he plunged the wooden stake into the creature's back, where it speared his heart.

"No you will not have her!" Joshua growled as he twisted the wooden steak savagely.

The creature howled out in agony and the bangle fell to the ground, again and Celia managed to wrench herself from his grasp and fell away from him with a sob of near hysterical relief.

The creature pulled his cloak around himself and gave a loud ear piercing screech, which shattered windows and glass all over the house.

The sunlight flooded into the room, as with the death of the old caster, the sky began show through, and the unnatural clouds began to boil away.

The creature howled and screeched, and then fled from the room, and the house.

As the sun made its presence felt, there was the sound of howling deep in the house, where the vampire's minions became trapped in the basement.

They had heard the scream of their master, but they could not fly to his aid, they could not flee from the place where their powerful lord had been bested either.

"Are you okay?" Joshua asked as he held out his hand to help her up.

"Yes, yes I am... or I will be..." she looked at the bangle with absolute hatred, and then pointed a shaking finger at the thing.

The bangle began to vibrate, and it literally left the ground as it shook and trembled, faster and harder.

Suddenly there was a high pitched keening noise, which seemed to come from the bangle, and with a loud wailing sound, it shattered into a million pieces.

"Now I am okay!" she hissed with a savage sort of satisfaction.

She stood up slowly, and Joshua held on tight to her hand.

"We should go and collect Ruby and Robert and get them away from here, before the sun sets."

They turned towards the door, just as Robert charged in.

"She gone!" he cried out in distress. "Ruby has been taken!"