Awakening - Book of Fire (Blood Heritage #1) (20 page)

He tried to save her, but he couldn't do it. He didn't really know what he was trying to save her from. He kept running with her, trying to hide somewhere no one would find them, not even me... I found them, and so did he, the one who came for her. He found her...he took her...and then my husband took his own life. They found him sitting at the base of her lilac tree, he cut himself over and over letting himself bleed to death, he died right there beneath the purple flowers. The pain in her voice is thick and James understands completely, this woman has lost everything she truly loved. James feels her pain and despair spreading in the air. "They were her favorite, you know, Lilacs were her favorite," her voice trails off as she just sits there quietly staring at him.

In that moment had James known what Amber is beginning to understand, he may have had a deeper understanding of Leigha's father and a major piece of the puzzle might have fallen into place for him, but he is still in the dark and the world continues to spin off kilter and out of sync.

James is struck by the similarities in how the couples adopted their daughters. Out of all the seemingly crazy rambling he senses this is truth. Perhaps there is more to what has been said than it first seems. He asks her if he can keep the photo and her research file so he can review them thoroughly. He recorded their conversation and this too will require some thorough analysis. He realizes he has neglected to ask about the birthmark.

"I forgot to ask you; did Leigha have any birth marks, anything identifiable that we could use to identify her?"

"She did, that is how Mark found her, that’s how he knew she was the one he was looking for! They all cry tears of blood, it marks them as his. Their birthright and their curse. The marked will all be taken and so will others who are worthy. There must be seven. Seven churches, seven tribes, seven lambs of God and seven seals. Seven will bring the beginning and the end.....so it is written...and the dead shall walk the earth and the rivers shall run with blood, the blood of the chosen."

She is trembling and her words rush from her lips uncontrollably as a fire and brimstone preacher shouts the word of God to a terrified congregation. Believing what she’s saying she cries in exasperation and despair. He feels sorry for her pain and anguish, wishing he could say something to ease her burden. He wants to bring her daughter back alive, to show her there is still something worth living for. Though this woman has obviously lost her grip on reality, no one can really blame her under the circumstances. The loss of her daughter and her husband in such a short amount of time... He puts his hand on her shoulder telling her he will do everything he can to find her daughter. She looks him deep in the eyes, and with a sign of resignation says; "you will fail"... she turns and walks away. He is left feeling such a deeply savage desire to fix this for her, his fists clenching in anger, he draws blood on his palms. Coming to his senses he stands and gathers her files, ready to do a thorough re-run of the day's events.

On his way back to the office, he hears the dispatch. She has driven her car off the road colliding into a concrete barricade at a high rate of speed. Her body has been thrown through the windshield, crushing her skull. They won't be able to save her. Dying at the scene, she succeeded in taking it into her own hands, ending it all, the suffering and the searching. She truly held no hope her daughter would be returned to her. She believed the story she told completely, His sympathy for her compounds into guilt that now he is powerless to help her. He can't understand the intensity of this religious type; at least it sounds like religion… He hasn't been to church since his childhood, but her rantings ring familiar bells within him. Something about an end time, an apocalypse, a second coming of some sort. He will have to look it up when he can get ahold of a bible. Though he is sure the book says nothing about alien breeding programs, he is sure some of what she said comes from religious ideologies.
Could she really believe God took her daughter on a space ship intending to breed with her, and if she did believe such a thing wouldn't a religious person think this is a good thing?

He stops, picking up a burger and fries for dinner, hoping to be home early enough to spend the night with Amber. James is not that lucky. About the time he begins feeling the butterflies of anticipation, the call comes in. The body of an infant has been found, and it is exactly the way the vision said it would be. There’s a small puncture in his neck, the apparent cause of death, but otherwise he is completely perfect, full-term and healthy. The boy was even kept alive for a few weeks after the death of his mother, that is if they are assuming the baby belongs to one of the dead girls, which obviously everyone is assuming since there are no other missing children this young in the area. Joanna wants to get the DNA results back before too much discussion occurs. Despite the obvious, Joanna likes to handle things by the book as much as possible.

He is so small on her table, his tiny hands partially clenched into fists, his feet perfectly pudgy with all ten tiny toes. He is a beautiful child, and she can't understand how anyone could kill something so precious, so helpless. Knowing there are still two others missing just like him, Joanna takes great care collecting what little evidence there is.
Are they already lying somewhere out there discarded like trash, their lives and futures taken before they have even begun to live
? Sometimes people can be so ugly, and this, in her mind, is as bad as it can possibly get. The results come back positive, he is the son of one of the dead girls, and will be buried with her by the family.
At least they have closure, but it is a finality that won't necessarily bring them any kind of peace. There are still more questions than answers. They no longer have to wonder, but sometimes wondering keeps hope alive, and without hope there is only numbness. The confirmation that the girl's father is also the father of the child only makes the case seem more twisted and disgusting. What kind of man waits for his daughter to become old enough, kidnaps her, gets her pregnant and then kills her, and the child as well?! What possible motive could there be in this situation? They are truly dealing with a psychopathic personality. No one with any level of conscience could be so absolutely cruel.
Joanna, for the first time in her career feels helpless, she's in way over her head.

Among the many questions that remain, Joanna is working on how it is possible to change the surface of the body, bleaching the skin, removing birthmarks and other imperfections. There doesn't seem to be any answer that makes sense but she refuses to stop poking at the mystery. Praying if she gives it enough attention and energy something will unfold for her, Joanna tries everything she knows and then begins experimenting. Still believing there’s nothing a combination of science and persistence can't solve. She's seen it time and time again, the miraculous way cases can be resolved, even when there seems to be no hope by one tiny fiber. Something inside her recognizes this case won't be solved by science. A tiny and superstitious part of her is opening to the possibility there is something more, something dark and supernatural involved. Though she will never admit it to anyone else, she is beginning to believe something wicked has entered their lives, and they may never be the same again.

Amber plans on asking Rissa if she can build a kennel for the pup in the back. She wants to walk with her back and forth so she isn't traveling alone. The streets haven't seemed as welcoming and innocent since the attack. She feels someone is watching her and it keeps her just a little edgy. There is plenty of time in her work day to take little Allie out for walks and the fenced space out back is perfect for her to play in when Amber is working. For today, the little one has to stay in her kennel and wait for Amber to come home. Amber takes a moment playing with her and giving her a new toy to keep her entertained while she’s gone. Allie gives her the saddest eyes and the most adorable little whimper she has ever heard as she leaves her. Amber feels guilty for having to leave her alone. The baby has already wriggled her way deep into Amber's heart.

Walking to work, watching the world continue on as if her nightmares never existed. She sees the beauty in the rays of sunshine touching the pavement, but everything in her world has shifted slightly. Remembering the sense of wonder and wide-eyed curiosity she felt watching these creatures, she feels a sense of loss, disappointment that her innocence has been taken from her again. She has seen there is darkness everywhere, hiding in even the most unexpected places. Amber isn't sure she will ever truly feel safe again. She sees the illusions sometimes hiding so much from our eyes, moments of clarity revealing images of creatures hiding in plain sight. Anxiety rising inside her, she questions her own perceptions, her sanity.

The veils man has created by his ignorance and denial are thinning and her eyes can see what hides behind them. She understands why for so long others have chosen to remain ignorant, wishing her ignorance would return. She sees the psychological blindness coming out of centuries of following without question the ways of leaders bent of hiding the truth. They are numb, nothing more than sheep, sacrificial lambs waiting for the judgement that is coming to take them out of their miserable existence. She is not like them, not anymore. Amber feels the power pulling at her, taking her above the radar of existence, into the veil, where she can see without being seen. There is so much she knows but does not understand about herself. Amber is painfully aware of the difference. She anxiously bides her time until she can continue reading the book, there are answers there for her. It was left for her, created for her so she can know and understand what is being asked of her. Still not completely trusting the source of the information, she is grateful for it's existence nonetheless.

There is a war coming and she is the secret weapon, the unexpected wild card. She can feel this. She is somehow not supposed to be, wrong somehow. Her power and her strength are an accident of design. Someone broke the rules making her what she is, and that's why she has been running for so long. She is an outlaw, even more than she ever knew. She isn't only hiding from the man lying cold and harmless in the morgue. She has another enemy, a much more powerful and fearsome one. She does not know who or what he is,
but he won't know what hit him when she gets it all figured out
. Trying to build her inner confidence, as the dialogue plays in her mind, she talks herself into a tirade of overconfident drivel, "
fake it until you make it
."

She used to live her life drowning in fear, and now she can feel the inklings of courage rising up within her like smoke from the fire burning in her soul. She is brimming over with a desire to make things right, and the slow fire of rage feeds her courage even more. She will become a valkyrie bathing in the blood of those who destroy the innocent, a succubus ready to drain the life from the deviants and thieves. None with darkness in their hearts and blood on their hands will escape her. Someday she will do something great. She can see herself in her minds eye and it is almost humorous to her. Somehow every fiber of her being knows it is destined to become truth. She will become a warrior. An image of herself as Zena warrior princess vividly attaches itself to her creative mind and she bursts into laughter.
Sword, shield, and leather fringed leotard....not exactly my style... Hold on Toto, we are sure as hell not in Kansas anymore!
Something is awake inside her straining to get out. It pushes at the surface of her conscientiousness. Amber isn't sure she is willing to let it out. Her mind is running away with her today, it must be all the stress, I
might need medication
she thinks, taking a deep cleansing breathe and bracing herself for whatever the day has in store.

Arriving at the store, Amber is surprised to find Rissa is disappointed she didn't bring in her new friend. "I was hoping I would get to see your new little companion. What did you decide on? I keep imagining you bringing home a bunch of fluffy little kittens, and how funny that would be." Rissa says, "You could have called you know"!

"Nope, sorry Rissa, no fuzzy kittens.. actually.. guess I picked a pretty scary dog...she’s a tiny angel to me."

"What is she, a Rottweiler?"

"Nope, an American Bulldog. She’s supposed to get huge and eat anyone who comes calling without permission. She seems pretty harmless to me, but then she’s only eight weeks old." I'm glad you didn't automatically know the breed, I might have had to get worried."

"What is her name, Killer?" Rissa asks, laughing.

"Actually it's Allie."
Amber proceeds to bring Rissa into a major giggle fit again explaining the reasoning behind the name.

"Well, please feel free to bring her in, you can keep her kennel in the office when it's raining, and she can play out back most of the day. I'm sure the customers won’t be bothered by her at all. We should probably get her socialized right off the get-go, so she doesn't become a problem for you later. It will be good for you to have her when you walk to work, hey when are you going to learn how to drive that car of yours anyway?"