Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (6 page)

“Can you walk Damian through the spell so
that he can tell them about it? I need to talk to Andrew a minute.”
Not wanting the others to hear, I get up, and he follows me to the
balcony. Although I know Reginald sent them, I don’t want to risk
revealing anything they shouldn’t know.

He shuts the doors behind him. “What are you
thinking?”

“Is it possible to use the powers to advance
death in another way?” By his perplexed features, he doesn’t know
where I am heading with this. “Can the powers to advance death be
used to incapacitate any type of creature, even if it is only
temporary?”

I can tell by his deep concentration, he is
seriously considering the possibility. “I don’t think it would work
on vampires because we are already dead and demons do not have
human physiology. I don’t think it works the way you are hoping. We
could do them more harm than good by putting them in a position
where they would be giving more information than there captures
have.” From his hesitation, I know there is more.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Gripping my hand, “Mia, I don’t want to
frighten you more, but if they are using people as their food
source, they may also be doing other things. I don’t want to place
the children in a position where they are forced to use their
powers to do anything for these creatures that could ...”

Knowing where he is going, I thrust my hand
up. I cannot allow my mind to venture there, my fear and the
nightmarish facts already bombarding my thoughts are difficult
enough to fight to bury so that I could continue functioning.
Putting my fingertips up to his lips, I plead. “Please don’t say it
out loud. If you confirm my worst fears, I won’t be able to
concentrate.”

He enfolds me in his embrace as tears escape
my lids. “I’m afraid too, but you have to keep calm and believe
that we are going to find them. Come on, let’s go back inside, I’m
sure Emma has walked Damian through the spell. You should connect
to the kids and give them this information. Don’t focus on anything
but connecting with them. While you’re doing that, I’ll see if I
can get any information from Lucas, Eva and Jackson.”

Entering, Emma and Damian are already inside
the circle so I join them. “Damian, tell them that we love them
again and not to take any chances but to observe and think about
anything that could give us a clue as to where they are. Tell them
to do the protectionist spell but to be very careful. I know that
Jacob’s hearing is the best so tell him to listen intently for any
approaching footsteps and to break it off immediately if he hears
anything at all.”

“I promise I will tell them everything. I
will make sure that they know again that we are looking for them
and love them.”

Closing my eyes, I’m surprised at how quickly
I feel an onslaught of fear which is not my own. I have connected
with Nicholas or Kayla who is now aware of their imprisonment.
Their eyes are darting frantically around as they shudder from the
damp, cold ground and air surrounding them. Pushing past their
fear, I concentrate instead on what they are seeing. There is
natural light streaming through the room, but I see no windows.
Instead, they are surrounded by sand or concrete color walls
aligned with chains while the attached rings rest on the floor. I
feel myself gasp at the terrifying site and realization that these
shackles are imprisoning my children. Nothing, but a few mice or
maybe rats, occupy the room. I wish I could tell them to look
toward the door and windows, but I can see Damian’s apparition
forming and do not want to break our connection for this new
request. All eyes are upon him as he whispers that we love them and
will find them. Slowly and in hushed tones, he instructs them on
the protectionist spell and tells Jacob to listen intently and be
sure to break off if there is any indication that someone is
approaching. Several frantic footsteps echo from the hallway and he
is gone.

As they come closer, Jacob whispers. “Hang
your heads down and don’t move.” The room goes dark and I hear the
creak of the door. Someone’s cool hand is on my chin, lifting
either Kayla or Nicholas’ head. A momentary flash of relief floods
through me as I realize they are good at feigning unconsciousness
as their chin is released causing their head to drop.

A male authoritative voice rings close to my
ear. “Did they see you when you grabbed their children?”

“No, I told you that we were very careful. We
even took side roads out of the city. There is no way that anyone
can trace this to us.” After a pause, the woman’s voice continues.
“I don’t understand, if you want him to suffer, shouldn’t we have
let him see us grab the children? Wouldn’t it have been better if
he knew exactly who took them and could imagine what his children
are going through, he knows what we were capable of, and I’m sure
that he has not forgotten the terror in her eyes at what she saw.
Wouldn’t it have been much more effective to let his imagination
eat away at him as to what they will suffer at our hands
before...”

An angry growl fills the room and
reverberates through the floor. Nicholas or Kayla shudders. A crash
echoes off the walls, they are fighting, but I don’t hear any
reaction from the children other than the locking into place of
every muscle of whomever I am connected to. Please don’t let my
children be caught in the cross-fire, I pray!

His angry voice grows louder. “I told you, we
will reveal ourselves to him in time. I want to do this in stages.
First, let’s see if he can figure it out. In the meantime, we
should enjoy the fact that he is suffering not knowing who has them
or what is happening to them. Once I am satisfied that this torture
is sufficient, we will reveal that we have them. I’m sure he
remembers what we did before and fears that our power and love for
carnage has only grown over the years, such thoughts will devastate
him. Then...” He pauses and his voice sounds calmer, calculating.
“I’m getting ahead of myself. How much ether did you give them,
they have been out a long time?”

“We knocked them out with it and then kept it
on them in the car.” He grunts. “Have Ana come down in a few hours
and see if they are up. Have her bring down water, food or blood.
We don’t want them dying before their time. Come on, we should go
and eat, I’m sure the family is ready for us now.” He chuckles
menacingly.

As the footsteps retreat, the overwhelming
fear of all of the children overwhelms me and I have to fight to
keep our connection.

Nicholas’s voice is strained. “We need to
stay calm.”

“How can you say that? They want us
dead!”

“He didn’t say that.” Nicholas retorts.

“They want dad to suffer, and won’t do
anything to us, at least not know. Once they reveal themselves to
dad, he’ll find us. Our family will find us.” Despite Jacob’s
whispered tone, he sounds confident. “In the meantime, it doesn’t
look like they want to do anything with us but keep us here. They
are even sending down food or water, but we need to stay calm or we
will get ourselves in trouble and maybe hurt.”

I can’t believe how well Nicholas and Jacob
are thinking. They sound wise beyond their years.

“It sounds as if no one will be back down
here for a few hours. Maybe we should try to do the spell that
uncle Damian told us about.” Nicholas notes.

Kayla interrupts. “You know how mom feels
about spells. We aren’t supposed to use them unless we are in
school.”

Jacob’s responds confidently. “Mom wouldn’t
mind, she probably even told uncle Damian to tell us about it.
Otherwise, how would he know? He’s not a witch. Besides, he said it
would help us keep track of each other in case they took one of us
somewhere else.”

Nicole interrupts him. “Even if we did it,
what good would it do us if we can’t get out of these chains?”

Nicholas replies. “We can’t think that way.
From the look of this room, these are not very nice people and we
need to do anything and everything we can to keep each other safe
until someone can reach us.”

“I don’t think I remember all of the words.”
Kayla murmurs panicked.

“I’m not sure if I remember either.” Nicole
chimes in.

“It’s alright, I think I remember what he
said and I can tell you what to say.” Jacob utters calmly.

Listening as Jacob instructs Kayla and Nicole
in the spell, I’m amazed that he remembers it exactly considering
his young age and the unbelievable stress and fear they are under.
I feel Kayla and Nicole’s joy as they watch the stars fall upon
them. Each breathes a sigh of relief as they complete the spell
without getting caught.

My senses bounce and I connect with Jacob as
his eyes slowly scan the room taking in every detail. The windows
are high up, almost touching the ceiling. They are not covered by
glass, only rusted bars. The walls are actually huge concrete type
blocks and the entrance way is secured by an ancient dungeon door
that you would see in old movies. That’s it! They are being held in
an old creepy dungeon.

Opening my eyes, Andrew is next to me and we
are alone. “Where did everyone go?”

“They went to comb the area where we caught
sight of the car. There are several estates in the immediate
vicinity and they are seeing if they can catch the children’s
scent. They know you felt the children traveling after the car
passed there, but staying around here was making everyone nervous
and they’re hoping we might get lucky.”

“How will they know?”

“Reginald’s friend took scents from the
clothes the kids wore. Although they masked the room with ether to
cover their trail, Catherine retrieved the kids’ clothes from the
hospital. What did you learn?”

“I think that the kids are being held in some
kind of a dungeon.”

Andrew interrupts me, probably to keep me
focused and get as many details from what I saw as possible. “What
did you see that made you think that?”

“The windows are odd shapes with no glass.
They have rusted bars across them and are up high, almost to the
ceiling. Also, the oversized wooden door is ancient with a large
metal ring and an old metal and bar window within it. The walls
look sandy colored, like large cinder blocks and they have chains
and shackles on them.” I stop talking as my anxiety increases at
what I need to tell him next. I grab his shoulders. “I heard them
fighting again. One of them couldn’t understand why he didn’t want
you to see them grab the children so that you would suffer knowing
who had them. Andrew, Jonathan is back!”

“Are you sure?” In those three words, I could
hear the tension of five hundred years straining against his vocal
chords.

“Whoever they are, they are working for him.
Who else would want to see you suffer by grabbing the kids?”

“Did you hear him say that?”

“Yes! I heard a man’s voice, it may have even
been him, but I’m not sure.”

“Mia, are you sure they’re with Jonathan,
because if it is him, remember Reginald put a trace on his
energy.”

“Andrew, we need to find out how to follow
the energy because he said...” I can’t push the words past my lips
as his words scream in my ears.

Andrew’s face becomes more anxious by the
second. “What did he say?”

“He…He said that he didn’t… want the kids to…
die before their time.” Forcing down a deep breath, my voice
becomes slightly clearer. “He is planning on killing them!”

“Mia, stop. I don’t think he will kill them.
He may be only saying that to placate the vampires’ blood lust,
they are more useful to him alive. What else did he say? Is there
anything that he said that might clue us in to where they are or
how long we have until he moves on to the next part of his
plan?”

“He said that he wanted you to suffer, first
not knowing who had the children and then he was going to let you
know that he had them because that would make you suffer more.
Andrew, please we have to find them! I’m afraid of what he is going
to do to them to make us suffer. He talked about how you know what
he was capable of doing and that his love for carnage has only
increased. He has things well planned out and the kids are going to
get hurt or killed!” As hysteria rings through my words, Andrew
lightly grasps my chin, ensuring that my eyes do not leave his.

“Mia, we will find them. They will be
alright, they are very strong, we just need to make sure who he has
helping him so that we can get them the right spells. I’ll call
Reginald and see if we can trace his energy or if we need to wait
for Reginald to arrive. I know that he is about three hours out
from the last time someone spoke to him.” The tension from his grip
alerts me that Andrew too is becoming fearful for the fate of our
children, despite his trying to speak in a reassuring manner.

Taking the telephone from his pocket, his
hand moves around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. He dials
Reginald. “Reginald…” Waiting a moment so that he recognizes it’s
Andrew, “Mia says Jonathan is holding the children, would you be
able to walk Emma or Mia through tracing his energy so that we
could find him?”

Andrew’s features become more intense. If
only I had his hearing, I would know what Reginald is saying.

“From what she could hear, she is afraid that
he is going to hurt them or kill them. The ones he is working with
sound pretty unstable.”

His features freeze, stilling my heart. After
a beat, his deadpan tone sends my mind freefalling. “I will let her
know.”

As his eyes meet mine, he can no longer hide
his fear and concern. “We can’t trace Jonathan’s energy anymore,
can we?” I mutter.

Releasing me and taking my hands, his
response is barely a whisper. “It’s not that we can’t trace it
anymore, it is just that Reginald got no indication that he is on
this plane so if he is, someone must be blocking him. Reginald
thinks that we should wait for him because he is older and has more
tricks. If Jonathan is here and detects someone is trying to find
him, he will use whatever tricks he has masking himself until
finding him wouldn’t matter and...” He closes his eyes and stops
talking.