Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (8 page)

“He can’t hear you Kayla, remember, he can
only appear and give us messages.” I’m stunned that Nicole
remembered.

“Your mom is back and can feel and see what
you do.” I hear him tell them about the spell to loosen the chains
but when they try and fail, we know they have a spell that we are
unable to decipher that is blocking our attempt. Squeezing Emma’s
had twice, she alerts Damian to go into the alternative speech.
“Although I can’t see you, I love you and we want you to know that
we know you are being held in a dungeon. We are all looking very
hard for you and have brought in some very powerful friends. Keep
calm. You are doing such a good job at watching out for each other
and thinking before you act. Listen as closely to everything around
you as possible and try to remember as much as you can. Try not to
reveal that you have powers, we are trying to find some spells that
will help you. We are very proud of you for staying calm, we love
you and I will try to let you know when your mother is with
you.”

Faint footsteps echo from down the hall.
Squeezing Emma’s hand, Damian disappears as one of the boys
whispers “sh.”

The quickening footsteps pass the doorway, as
a blood-curdling scream sends adrenaline coursing through Kayla.
“Who was that, do you think the person that just passed us was the
one who screamed?”

“I don’t think so. The scream came from that
window.” All eyes turn to the window as another screams jolts her
erratic heart.

“Why are so many people screaming all of a
sudden?” Nicholas’ voice is fraught with fear.

Nichole’s strangled voice is barely audible.
“You don’t think they could be chasing people, do you?”

Jacob’s response reminds me of Andrew when he
is trying to keep me calm, strained but monotone and authoritative.
“I don’t think that they are like the vampires we know and love. I
think they are the ones we were warned about. We are going to have
to be very careful about what we say and do around them, we don’t
want to get them upset or give them a reason to go after us. I
don’t think that they brought us here for that. I think we are here
for a different reason, so let’s not panic, but we really need to
be careful and hopefully they can get to us or get something to
help us before anything bad happens.”

“I don’t think that we can just hope that
they will find us in time, I think that we have to keep our eyes
open for an opportunity to get out of here. These guys are
dangerous and they seem a little crazy.” Nicholas’ rising voice
sends a new wave of panic through Kayla.

“I am not saying that we shouldn’t take an
opportunity if we can, but I don’t think that we want to be out
there now. If they are doing what we all fear, we don’t want to get
mixed up in that. If it were their intention to do that to us right
now, they would have released us and we would be running for our
lives. All I’m saying is before we even consider doing anything, we
should wait until they finish their...business.” As Jacob speaks, I
hear traces of Andrew’s voice resonating in his words. His train of
thought and diplomacy, especially for his age, stuns me.

I can feel their increased anxiety with each
passing scream and echoing footstep thrashing through the deadened
brush as I shift between them. Reaching Jacob, he is rigid, and
stiff. I can feel him shutting himself down and everything out.

“David told you when you are done with a body
to throw it in the pit.” The woman from the car is screaming at
someone.

“Stop nagging all the time. I’ll clean up
after I am satisfied and there is no one left to hunt. I won’t lose
out on a well-deserved meal because I’m too busy cleaning up. We
won’t get scavengers this late in the evening so close to the
estate.”

“If I were you, I would be more worried about
David than scavengers. You know how he is when he thinks that he
has someone else and then realizes that they have already been
drained. Alexander is still angry that he was only able to find his
hand and three fingers.”

“That was over a thousand years ago, his
temper has gotten better. Besides, I always fully drain them so
that there’s no chance of a mistake.”

“Well it’s your limbs if you are wrong. Good
luck, I smell another one.” The screams are now distant.

After a few moments, quickening footsteps are
once again approaching and a man’s pleading voice is near the
window. “Please spare the lives of my remaining children, let them
leave. You must be satisfied by now. We have done nothing to
you.”

The children’s pounding hearts in my ears
almost drown out the woman’s cold-hearted response. “This is not
personal. It was just your time. You have enjoyed our hospitality
these many years and served us well, but we are hungry and it was
time to clear your house. Thank you for being so plentiful.”

A loud, unearthly roar and the snapping of
bones overwhelm Kayla’s senses as she vomits from unadulterated
fear.

Another woman’s anxious and loud voice
screams to the others as her hastening footsteps retreat. “Be
careful hunting, the family has been infected by a werewolf. The
father just killed Alexandra!”

The roaring continues as Kayla’s eyes dart
past the bars, I see the onslaught of night. Nicholas and Nicole’s
features are also frightened, but Jacob appears impassive or frozen
as Kayla’s vision is clouded by tears. The roars and woman’s
screams become fainter.

Nicholas’ anxiety rips through his hurried
words. “Jacob we need to get out of here. Could that really be a
werewolf?”

“She has to be wrong, I can see the moon and
it is not full. I thought that they could only come out on full
moons.” From his monotone and detached manner, he is struggling to
shut down to keep the others calm.

Kayla’s voice sounds strangled. “Do they
really exist?”

“Why can’t they exit, we do.” Nicole replies,
the tension in her voice apparent.

“What do we do if it comes down here? From
the sounds of what it did to that vampire, we have no way to
protect ourselves while chained to the floor!”

I’m torn, I don’t want to leave them, but I
have to alert the others. There must to be something that we can
tell them, something that the children could do if that thing heads
toward the dungeon. Opening my eyes, Emma is next to Andrew and
Reginald. Jumping to my feet, the words fly from my mouth. “The
vampires are hunting a family and ran into a werewolf! It attacked
one of them right outside the dungeon, the kids are terrified!”
Andrew places his arms around my shaking and collapsing body. “It
was right outside of their window, what if it goes back for
them!”

Andrew’s voice breaks. “You need to calm
down.” Turning to Emma, “Is there anything that you can walk Mia
and Damian through to help the children to protect themselves while
Reginald sees if he can find any indication of Jonathan’s energy so
that we can find the children?”

A look passes between Reginald, Andrew and
Emma as Emma grabs my hand leading me back to the circle with
Damian. Joining hands, I hear her instructing Damian in a spell
that the children could use to try and hide their scent from the
werewolf.

I interject. “Isn’t there a shield that they
could use to ward off the werewolf?”

“Mia start to concentrate on the children to
get Damian through quickly, I will walk him through this spell
first and instruct him how to draw upon the energy around them to
repel it. This spell will act similar to electrical jolts and will
keep the werewolf away if it breaks through the other spell, but we
need to do this quickly and they need to understand that the jolts
are a short term solution and must be thrown consistently to keep
it away.”

Fighting through the utter fear overwhelming
my senses as this new threat unfolds; I finally feel a beating
heart. From the rigid muscles locking me stiffly in place, I know
I’m with Jacob. The howls are becoming louder, closer. Damian’s
quick words are trying to assure the children that we are tracing
them as he begins instructing them in Emma’s spell. They quickly
chant the words, repeating them like a mantra.

Despite the hurried footsteps around them,
Damian remains instructing them regarding the use of the energy
around them. I only hope no one hears him. He cannot get caught, if
he does, there will be no way of communicating with the children.
Hearing the jostling of the handle, I grab Emma’s hand as hard as I
can and am relieved as Damian disappears but am unsure if he
finished his instructions.

Jacob mutters anxiously. “Whoever, it is,
keep chanting the repellant spell quietly, but if they come in and
we have to use the other one, let me do it. We don’t want them to
know we all have powers. The less they know about us, the better we
will be.”

“What makes you think that?” Nicole’s replies
quietly.

His response is a mere whisper. “It’s just a
strange feeling that keeps coming over me, but I don’t think that
they are the threat that we think they are.” I’m shocked that his
feeling is similar to Emma’s.

“You do realize that we are locked up and mom
and dad can’t find us right?” She retorts harshly.

“I do realize that! I know that I am asking a
lot, but something inside me keeps screaming that if we reveal too
much we will be facing an even bigger threat, one that mom and dad
can’t combat.”

Kayla interrupts. “Jacob, if they know you
have powers though, won’t it be dangerous for you and won’t they
suspect that we have them too?”

“They can suspect anything that they want,
but probably wouldn’t do anything without making sure. I can handle
myself so don’t worry about that.”

Despite his young age, Jacob is just like his
father, ready to take charge and do all he can to protect those
around him. I am so proud of him and very scared for him. The
opening door crashes against the wall and the children’s quickened
heart beats become sonic booms.

A familiar man’s voice beckons to someone.
“Tell David, that the children are still here. Can I release them
and make them food for the werewolf, it would be poetic justice,
don’t you think, if it destroyed them, besides, they would make
four more targets that it could be going after, giving each of us
time to gather our weapons.”

Jacob’s exceptional hearing registers the
distant response. “Just grab your weapon and put the proper chain
around the door to try and stop the werewolf from getting to them,
David wants to torture their father first, maybe even have him
listen to their screams. Once we catch the wolf, maybe your plan
will be David’s implement of torture.”

“Fine!” He retorts disgruntled.

The door slams, chains jostle, and a shot
rings through the cavernous dungeon. Did the vampire shoot the
werewolf? Contemplating this, I realize I’m not even sure which
side I hope is victorious because I do not know which side is more
dangerous. Knowing Jacob will not reveal what only he heard, I’m
relieved when I hear a distant howl, for the time being, the
vampires are preoccupied with the werewolf, hopefully giving us
time to trace their captures. When the shots continue to get
fainter, I disconnect to the children, hoping that I will be met
with good news. We have to find the children before the werewolf
dies and they refocus their efforts.

Opening my eyes, the look on Andrew’s face
turns my blood cold. I can’t find the strength to get up off of the
floor. He rushes to my side.

“Andrew they are going to kill the children
and let us hear their screams!” I sob.

He embraces me tighter. “Mia, it won’t come
to that, but I need you to stay calm about what I am going to tell
you.” He’s straining harder to speak calmly than I have ever seen
him.

“You can’t find Jonathan, can you?” My
deadened voice whispers through my quieting sobs. I know this and
somehow Jacob did too. My body begins shutting down. We are back to
ground zero with no hope of finding them.

Reginald joins us. “Mia, Jonathan is not on
this plane.”

“He has to be, who else would want to kill
our children to torture us? Maybe you just can’t trace him!”

Reginald takes my hands. “Mia, it is not that
the trace would act as a locator beacon to hone in on. It was a
spell to tell me if he ever entered this plane again so we would be
on alert and would then know to activate another spell which would
help us if he were to ever get close to you again, but I assure
you, that I would have known immediately when he entered this plane
and he has not. I even did the location spell to ensure that there
was no chance I was wrong.”

“Then who has the children because whoever it
is has a definite grudge against Andrew and thought that it would
be ironic to let the werewolf kill the children, some sort of
poetic type of justice.”

“Did they say anything else that could give
us a clue as to where they have the children or why they have a
grudge against me?” Andrew rasps.

I repeat everything I heard and tell Andrew
about the weapons and my assumption that they must be on some type
of compound because the woman was speaking about how this family
enjoyed the hospitality of the hunting family and that it was now
time to clear their house.

“They must be on an estate.” Reginald jumps
up returning to the map.

Andrew helps me to my feet and over to the
table.

“What road did you see the car on?” Reginald
inquires.

Andrew points to the spot.

Reginald hand glides north over the map.
“There are a lot of estates scattered throughout this area. Let the
others know that we will divide up the area.” He flips open his
computer and types something in.

As it’s computing, he looks up. “Andrew, were
you ever in this area and did you ever have encounters with a
family of vampires or trouble with werewolves? That might help us
narrow down the search even more. From what Mia is saying, it had
to be someone that you once came across and has a score to settle.
From the sounds of it, they will contact you, but we should try to
find the children before that. Once they contact you, it may be
rather late in their game.”