Creative Retelling (Take 2)
This cut is to save everyone from having to sift through their friend's journals. I hope those who read it and like it reply. Let me know what you like. Sorry again for the length (10+ pages), but I figure I needed it for everything to be coherent
Six hours of ritual…to protect them when they decide to attack the other mages. I don’t know why I agreed to it really. They could have done it without me. Why did I help? I could have just stayed out of it…
Because it could mean the difference between those other mages or the world. Or at least that’s what they tell me. They’re out to stop the Hellmouth from opening and bringing forth masses of doom and destruction. I heard them say it, I just don’t know if I can believe it. I don’t know if they were telling me the truth or whether they told me that to get me to trust them.
I feel calling them murderers like I did was a little uncalled for and far too blunt at the time. They’ve fought, for the most part, to keep themselves from dying. But I can’t help but notice that they can easily take a life without thinking about it twice. They seem to have two faces, each and every one of them. One face is warm and smiling, and able to show happiness to others at a party. The other face is cold, dark, and a little frightening, that which they show when they are fighting and killing.
They scare me still…to be able to lead both lives as if neither touches the other. To be able to flip a switch and be happy one moment…and then cold and serious the next. Maybe it’s due to all the hardships they’ve had since their awakening…but then again, that could just be another lie.
Should I trust them? Should I believe them? I don’t want to become like that, I don’t want to be able to kill another living creature as easily as they seem to do. I can understand killing or fighting back against things like Vampires and Risens. Those creatures are unnatural and unbalance the delicateness of life. They’ve had their chance and then lost it; yet they come back to haunt and possibly hurt those who still live.
Unlike ghosts and spirits they are not trying to move on. They are not simply at an impasse that can be overcome. They have come back to prey upon the living to prolong their new ‘lives’. Them, I can understand the need to be rid of. It’s the still living. The mages, the werewolves, the other supernaturals; that I can’t understand the need to fight rather than try to save first...
Those were the last thoughts on Tshaya’s mind as she let exhaustion creep over her and pull her under into sleep.
______
Tshaya awoke in her own bed. She grumbled and rubbed her eyes to try and make the blurriness go away. When she looked around again, only then did she realize that this wasn’t where she’d fallen asleep. She’d been in Merrovick’s room in the church. Both she and Rayanne had pretty much collapsed there in the late afternoon after their ritual had finished.
She looked down at herself and saw she was dressed in a pair of comfortable pyjamas. Tshaya blinked a little and tried to puzzle it all out. How had she gotten from the church to her home? For that matter, how had she gotten from her street clothes to pyjamas? A frown crossed her face and her bright green eyes darkened a little in thought.
Maybe she had just come home and didn’t remember it because of the exhaustion. That had to be it. Tshaya stood and walked across the room to where her phone was, on the smaller of two dressers. The timer on the phone showed it to be eight in the morning. She should have had the store open by now. Tshaya flinched and placed a hand on her head. Seemed she was still suffering some side effects of extreme exhaustion…she felt a migraine coming on.
She grit her teeth and picked up the phone. She dialled Melissa’s number and prayed the girl would be free for the day. It bothered her that she’d had to rely so much on the younger girl as of late. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t afford to pay Melissa for the extra hours, it was the fact that she felt she was imposing too much. Tshaya made a decision, that after today, not to call her in unless she really needed the help…like she used to before meeting up with the other mages.
Thankfully Melissa picked up the phone. She sounded perky, even at this hour. For a moment Tshaya contemplated throwing something. Not only was the girl a bit of a flake…she was a goddamn morning person. Tshaya felt her lips twitch a little and she forced back the laugh that was threatening to boil over even as Melissa accepted the offer of more work.
"Thanks Tshaya, you sure you ok? I’ve been covering for you a lot lately." She said, her tone taking on an air of concern.
"Yeah, Melissa. Promise. Life is just…just a little more hectic lately then I anticipated. I’ll do my best to get back to the normal schedule, but things are a little up in the air. You don’t mind the extra work do you?"
"Nah, I mean its, like, more money for me right? And experience too."
Tshaya nodded to the air and then grimaced. She answered Melissa and thanked her again. She said that if the migraine let up she’d go out and get them a special lunch and then spend the rest of the time working together. After Melissa agreed they hung up and Tshaya sighed. She turned around and walked up to the window.
The weather outside was grim. The clouds were a deep grey and everything looked so dead. She could almost see the rain about to fall. Tshaya slowly raised a hand to the window and flexed her fingers over the cool glass. Another sigh escaped her lips and she leaned her head forward as well.
Time passed, the day wore on and still Tshaya was plagued with the migraine. She supposed it didn’t help that the ghosts had been wailing at her every half hour like clockwork. It would last for twenty minutes each time and then there would be ten minutes of blissful silence…but only ten minutes.
Tshaya looked at the clock by her bed. It was nearly six o’clock. She groaned and forced herself out of bed. Things weren’t going to get any better this way. Maybe she could go for a walk and maybe the fresh air would help get rid of the problem. She moved about carefully gathering up her clothes. Tshaya did her best not to jostle herself as she got dressed, hoping to avoid any more stinging pains running down her neck and over her shoulders.
Finally she was clothed and ready to go. Tshaya went to the washroom and brushed her hair out and left it hanging around her shoulders. After another quick look in the mirror she turned, grabbed her house keys and the miscellaneous stuff she took with her when she went out and closed the door behind her.
She walked down the stairs, opened another door at the bottom and moved into the shop proper. Melissa smiled at her and asked if she was feeling any better. Tshaya begged off the question and said she needed to go for a walk. She promised to pick something up for the both of them and apologized for not coming down earlier.
Tshaya was out of the shop before she could get a response. The quicker she was out of there the better her chances were of having some peace…she hoped. She started down the road towards Lasalle, towards some place she could get food for supper. The ghosts that had been bothering her all day seemed to quiet once they were out of the enclosed space. Tshaya breathed a short sigh of relief only to wince at the still present migraine.
~One problem at a time. Concentrate on walking and before you know it there won’t be a migraine.~ She thought as she started onto the next street over.
She did just that. She concentrated on just walking. Her eyes watched her feet, occasionally glancing up to make sure she wouldn’t bash into someone else walking the other way. With the spirits silenced around her Tshaya could feel the throbbing all over her head. She hunched her shoulders and tried to ignore it again.
It didn’t work, all her concentrating merely made the pain worse. Every time she tried to take her mind off of the migraine she always found herself coming back to it and being unable to get past it. Tshaya grumbled under her breath and looked up in frustration. She had made it to Lasalle, but she was nowhere near a food place.
~Damn it! I hate this!!~ She screamed silently, all the while closing her eyes against a flash of pain from the migraine.
~Tshaya…Tshaya~
Tshaya stopped and looked around. She didn’t notice the pain for the first time in a while. Her attention was on the voice that had called her name. This was the third time she’d heard a voice like this. The first time it had given her a name and inadvertently allowed her to meet up with the other mages (Merrovick, Rayanne, and Josh); the second time it had drawn her out for that unfortunate night of seeing creepy dead children all over the place. Should she listen now? What would she meet this time if she did?
She gulped and bit her lip. The longer she stood here, the more trouble the person asking for help might get into. It was decided. She couldn’t leave someone out there in danger. If she could help she had to try.
~The fallen tree in the glade. Sixteen lines in a circle. Find it, find me…help…me…~
Tshaya frowned in confusion. None of it made sense. She looked around and pulled out her cell phone. The only place she could think of to look was in the flower mill area, in the forest where she’d first awakened as a mage. It was the only place she could think of that a tree might be left fallen where it was instead of being cut away.
She called a cab and didn’t have to wait long for it to arrive. Once she was inside she directed the cabby to her destination. On the way there she was silent, trying to hear if there would be anything else of note. Nothing came. It was only then that she realized that her migraine was gone. Maybe the sudden rush of adrenaline had swept it away. Either way, she was thankful to have it done with. When she arrived she paid the cabby and smiled as she thanked him. Tshaya got out of the car and started towards the woods.
Wrapping her arms around herself as she went, Tshaya kept her eyes and ears peeled for anything that might help her search. It was colder than she had anticipated. She’d forgotten her coat at home. Tshaya cursed under her breath and continued on; she had to find the person who called out to her.
Over an hour passed and still Tshaya had found nothing. She was about to give up when something caught her attention. Just at the edge of her vision she saw large roots trailing out from behind some trees close to the even larger mound of rocks that she had used once to look back over Notre Dame.
Tshaya crept up to the stand of trees and peered around them. She found herself looking into an overgrown glade. It was obvious that no one had been here in a very long time. Everything was covered with moss and other greenery. The crowning glory of the glade was the particularly large tree that lay draped diagonally across the expanse. She took a moment to just stare in wonder at the beauty in front of her before she remembered she wasn’t just sightseeing.
Tshaya started her search at the base of roots of the large tree. Her hand traveled over the mossy bark and she began a more thorough check of the tree before her. She came to about the middle of both tree and grove before she found anything. Tshaya had looked away for just a moment at the sound of a departing bird when her hand brushed over something strange. When she looked back she saw that under her fingers was a symbol carved deep into the old wood. It looked like a wheel with far too many spokes.
A minute or two passed as she looked at it curiously. Tshaya blinked and her mouth opened a little.
"The Romani Wheel, I read about this in class. Never knew that would come in handy." She sounded astonished.
"Waitaminute…"
Tshaya leant closer to the carving and trailed her finger along all the grooves. As she did so she started to count the so-called spokes. One, two…could this be what she was looking for? There were so many. Seven, eight…to Tshaya it started to look more like a star and less like a wheel. Thirteen, fourteen…she didn’t need to count anymore, she knew what this symbol was. Sixteen lines in a circle. This is what she’d been looking for.
With a small cry of excitement Tshaya started to look around for someone, something. Perhaps someone was trapped under the tree. Maybe there was something behind the tree, a cave that someone couldn’t get out of.
Even as she thought it, Tshaya began to loose confidence. Again she was left without a trace. There were no other markings on the tree itself and she couldn’t see any kind of cave opening behind. She started to search around the bottom side of the tree. She found nothing there either.
"Where are you? I can’t help you if I can’t find you." She called to no one in particular.
There was no reply.
There was nothing else she could possibly do. Tshaya was out of ideas. She didn’t like the idea of leaving whoever it was behind like this, but she was tapped out for now. Tshaya told herself she’d come back later…or tomorrow. Maybe then she’d be able to find something.
As she turned to leave she felt the ground underneath her give way. Tshaya screamed and made a grab for something as she started to fall into the hole. Her hands swiped at grass that only ripped and came with her as she fell. Everything went dark as she fell a little longer; Tshaya covered her face and prayed to whatever gods where out there to keep her safe. She felt her body land roughly and felt her head smack against the ground. Seconds later she was out, too far to feel anything.
***
Tshaya awoke with a start. She had died just now, fallen to her death…and no one would ever know about it. She gulped and looked around. What she saw wasn’t something she expected to see. There were no windows, but she knew she was in a bedroom of sorts. The walls were made of stone and there were lit candles resting in a few places throughout the room. There was a roaring fireplace set into the far wall. She realized that she was sitting up in a really comfortable bed made almost entirely out of tanned animal fur.
She frowned and raised a hand to her head. The feeling of lightly bound cloth met her shaking fingers. Tshaya blinked and tugged at it a little. Seconds later she both felt and saw the bandages unravelling and falling away.
"Dead people don’t need bandages do they?" She asked herself quietly.
"No they don’t." Came a reply.
Tshaya shot a look in the direction of the words. There, standing in the doorway to the rest of this place (to which she had missed on her first sweep of the room for some reason) there was a darkly tanned man. His unruly curls were as black as coal, and seemed to match his eyes perfectly. He wore worn an old pair of jeans and a button down shirt, open at the collar. He grinned at her. Behind him she could hear music and the sounds of merriment.
"Are you feeling alright now Pena?" He asked.
The man’s voice was deep and almost sultry as he spoke. It was easy to pick out the Romanian accent. He moved from the doorway and started towards her. Tshaya watched him and gulped. She didn’t know him, but she had to admit he was quite attractive. He walked so gracefully; it was almost hypnotic it was that alluring. She was finally able to put up a hand to stop him before he reached her.
"Pena? I’m sorry, but I’m not your sister sir." She heard herself say.
"But you are. You are of the Rom no?"
He kept his distance and gave her a quizzical look. Tshaya couldn’t determine if he meant her harm or not. So far he’d done nothing but talk to her, asked if she was ok. He seemed to care what happened to her. She shook her head in response to his question.
"But you have the colouring…and you obviously speak the language."
"I learned it from my parents. They spoke it frequently at home." She answered.
"To be sure, you are Phral, it is easy to distinguish in you. Your family name…what is it if I may ask?"
The man had moved now to stand beside the bed. He wasn’t imposing and Tshaya felt at ease around him. He was still a stranger, but he had an air of calm around him. It made her feel better just to be this close. His question wasn’t unreasonable and she figured if she told him at least that much he might be more inclined to help her.
"Fuuridae." She said, pronouncing like she’d been taught as a child.
The man blinked and nodded. He smiled and took her right hand gently in his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed just below her knuckles. Tshaya was a little shocked; she didn’t try to remove her hand as she watched his actions. When he let go of her hand, Tshaya pulled it away and placed it in her lap again. For a long moment neither spoke to the other.
Finally the man bowed to her a little. His dark eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief for a moment, but once he’d pulled himself standing again there was no trace of it there. The grin had returned to his lips as he watched her. Tshaya realized that she still didn’t know the man’s name…or what had happened after she’d fallen.
~Now is as good a time as any to find out.~ She thought.
"Who are you?" She asked, looking up at him steadily.
"Forgive my rudeness. I am Nicolae. I am the leader of this group, this kumpania. Is there anything else you wish to know Tshaya?" He asked
She thought about it for a moment. What did she want to ask in the first place? In the end she found that there were so many questions that she didn’t know where to begin. Tshaya heard a shout from the other room and watched as Nicolae looked back for a moment. When he turned back he was still smiling.
"We are having a party. Would you like to join us? You can eat and drink…and I will answer any other questions you may have."
Tshaya felt her stomach grumble so she nodded. She pushed the fur blankets off and moved to stand beside Nicolae. At first she was a little wobbly on her feet, as if she had spent a long time in bed. Nicolae caught her and supported her as they left. The room they walked into seemed to be a communal place. It was a large cave-like space with a ceiling that vaulted high enough to be lost in the darkness above the light of a huge fire in the middle of the room. Everything seemed so lively. Many people bustled about, some sat at makeshift tables not far from the fire playing cards or gossiping, some sat closer to the fire in groups telling each other stories or playing instruments that filled the air with music, and still others whirled and danced around the fire with loud woots and cheers.
She tried to take it all in at once and found herself being overwhelmed. Tshaya swayed on her feet and felt steadying hands on her shoulders. She glanced to her side and Nicolae there, helping her. When he noticed her staring he grinned again and squeezed her shoulders just a little. Tshaya blushed and bit her lip. She went back to looking at the party taking place.
They were gypsies. Tshaya picked out all the bright and somewhat eccentric clothing the people all wore as danced, frolicked and had a good time. She remembered stories of gypsies that rode around in caravans and swindled the ‘civilised’ city folk out of their hard-earned money. Looking at this group she didn’t want to believe the old stories, they didn’t seem all that bad to her.
Nicolae led them to a nearby table that had just emptied out of occupants. He sat her down and then sat across from her.
"Ask your questions and I will do my best to answer." He said after moment of watching her.
"How long have I been here? Where is here for that matter?" Tshaya asked.
"You’ve been here a few days now, you kept slipping in and out of consciousness. This is the first you’ve been fully awake. This place is our home. We found it when we first moved out here and figured it would be a good place to settle for now. There is no rent and we are not restricted in what we do. We lead simple lives here and usually no one bothers us."
"I’m sorry then, I came looking for someone. They said they needed help." Tshaya blurted out.
"There is no one but our kumpania here Tshaya. We have no seen anyone in need of help."
Tshaya gulped and looked away. She wasn’t sure if it was the best idea to be telling him that she heard ghosts. If nothing else he would think her crazy and laugh at her. At worst he would get mad at her for thinking him gullible enough to believe the story and refuse to help her anymore. Then again, he may believe her. If he was Romani then there was a good chance that he still had some belief in the spirits and magic. Tshaya decided to take the chance.
"I hear voices…" She stopped and blushed.
~Right! Not crazy. I hear voices. Nope, that’s not crazy at all…~ She berated herself.
"Actua…ghosts. I can hear ghosts. I know it sounds weird, but I can hear them and often they ask for help."
She had fallen over her own words in an attempt to get it out and cover up her past mistake. Tshaya’s cheeks quickly heated up as she watched Nicolae for his reaction. She couldn’t tell because of the dancing shadows that the fire cast over his complexion. Moments passed and she saw him cover his mouth. Then she heard faint, muffled laughter. She felt her confidence plummet. Nicolae thought she was crazy.
"That is amazing, you are Mule-vi. My grandmother shared that ability when she still lived." He said, still sounding jovial.
"You think I’m crazy don’t you?" She asked, figuring he was just making fun of her.
Nicolae sobered and looked directly at Tshaya. He was serious now. He shook his head and explained that his grandmother had in fact passed on some of her ability to him before she had passed on. He could sometimes hear the dead speak to him…but it was faint and not nearly as powerful as what his grandmother or Tshaya possessed.
Tshaya found herself feeling flattered from the praise and smiled back at Nicolae. Food and a deep red wine were served to the pair. Her stomach grumbled and she remembered it had been a few days since she had anything to eat. She looked over the food, and while she didn’t recognize anything she was used to eating, neither did she find anything in the food that she wouldn’t eat. Tshaya dropped any pretence of being polite while she ate and dug in. She would say sorry later.
Everything tasted great. Though, only after she had finished the first bit of food on her plate did she slow down. Tshaya took a deep breath forced herself to stop and compose herself. She knew that Nicolae was looking at her and she felt her cheeks redden a little. Why was she so conscious of him? He was just another guy, ok, not just another guy, he was really good looking.
When she heard him chuckle Tshaya looked up. Nicolae was watching her with his head cocked to the side. He made a sign of apology for the outburst and told her to continue. She held back for another minute and then continued at a more polite pace. She savoured the food as it hit her tongue and tasted the wine. When she swirled it around in her mouth the flavour of cherries and plums settled there and made her giggle just a little. She’d never rally drank a lot of wine in her time, always finding it kind of gross, but this was an experience that would surely change her mind.
"Wow, where did you get this wine?" She asked after swallowing the last bit still lingering on her tongue.
"It is a family recipe. You can’t get it anywhere else." He answered happily.
That made her frown and sigh. It meant she’d never be able to drink it again once she left. She knew that Gypsies were known for their travelling ways. They would probably be gone within the month. Tshaya looked around and noticed for the first time that there were no cars or caravans to be seen. She wondered then how they would continue to wander and thought that maybe this group would stay put. It would be an interesting friendship, coming to find them in the caves or even having them over to her home…but these people seemed to draw her in. They were familiar to her in a way she couldn’t really vocalise and she didn’t want to loose that.
"Tshaya. I’m curious. Have you met any werewolves or Shilmulo in your life time?" Nicolae asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Shilmulo? You mean Vampires? Yeah. Just recently actually. Up until now I thought they and werewolves were fiction."
~Ok, really I only hoped they were fiction. Hearing ghosts isn’t conducive to not believing in other such folk tales.~ She berated herself.
Tshaya blinked a little and when she opened her eyes again things had gotten a little blurry. She rubbed her eyes and looked back to the fire. People seemed to have slowed their dancing even while the music continued, but it started to take on a more sombre tone. Her ears picked up on the scraping chair legs on the stone floor and then Nicolae was beside her with a hand on her shoulder.
"We’ve been waiting for you Tshaya. You are the one we need. May I have a dance before we begin?" He asked, leaning over and whispering into her ear.
Tshaya felt a little woozy, but she had managed to catch the entire sentence. She frowned and tried to ask what exactly he had meant by ‘before we begin’, but it seemed like too much effort. His hand trailed down her arm from her shoulder and finally took her hand in his. He pulled her to her feet and held her against him so she wouldn’t fall. Her head rested on his. She, again, tried to say something, but still couldn’t manage it. Tshaya had just woken up maybe twenty minutes ago and now she felt like going right back to sleep.
Sleep…the nightmares. Tshaya shuddered in Nicolae’s grasp and just barely managed to walk with him over to an empty space in front of the fire. Then the dance started. As a group the men moved in slow circles, keeping their partners close against them. Then they started to move around the fire as well. Just like the twirling motion, it started out slowly.
Tshaya could feel her limbs becoming heavier by the minute. She wouldn’t be able to stay standing much longer. Her grip tightened around his hand and she heard him laugh a little. The music soon started to pick up, and with the increased rhythm came a quicker pace for the dancers. The steps around the fire became longer and the twirling came faster. Tshaya felt really dizzy and lost her footing.
Before she fell even to her knees Nicolae caught her up in his arms. With her snuggled into his arms he continued to dance and twirl with the others. Time passed, what seemed like hours (though most likely only a few minutes) had been taken up for this dance. Tshaya was just about to loose herself to sleep when they all stopped. She heard more people talking around her, but the words were incoherent. She decided it would be best to let everything go for now.
***
She woke up in relative darkness. She could tell that there were torches nearby, but everything was still too hazy for her to figure it out. Tshaya felt lethargic and unresponsive. She was sure even if she had wanted to move it would have been impossible for her right now. By the feel of things she was now wearing different clothes. Her jeans had been replaced with a light flowing skirt, her T-shirt and sweater had been replaced with another, lighter shirt. It rested just off her shoulders and the arms ended in a kind of bell sleeve.
There was something around her neck. A medium sized chain trailed down over exposed skin and a heavy pendant rested between her breasts. She couldn’t feel the cool of the metal of the pendant on her skin because it was still over the cloth of the shirt.
"She has all that is required. She is of the Phuridae clan and has the eyes of the Urmen. She has had contact with the Shilmulo and the Garou, and she has Daenna’s gift to speak with the dead. She is a powerful Mule-vi." That was Nicolae’s voice just now.
"Then she is set for the ritual." Said a strong female voice.
Suddenly the room was filled with whispering. As it became louder and more distinct she realised it was not in fact people whispering, but the dead. There were many ghosts in this room (wherever she was).
~They finally brought us someone.~
~Hey, I know her! Ooh this will be fun indeed.~
~Look! She can hear us…~
~You’re going to die for them you realize? They are going to use to get back what they’ve lacked for some time now.~
The spirits began to giggle. They all sounded like children. Tshaya’s memory flashed back to the night with the creepy dead children and she shivered and whimpered. It only made them giggle more. She could almost feel their hands moving through her, trying to grab her and drag her with them.
"Shh, it’ll be alright Tshaya. You’re going to bring back the Mother of the Gypsies. You’ll be our salvation and our way back from oblivion." Nicolae whispered into her ear again, to Tshaya he sounded altogether to happy.
Tshaya was able to shake her head weakly. She didn’t want this, she didn’t want to be a sacrifice. She wanted to live a long life with her friends, her store and even (yes) with her ghosts. But she doubted any of the people here would want that for her now that she realised what they were going to do.
Nicolae picked her up again. She now saw all the people gathered along the walls of room It was big enough to hold all of them and still more if need be. Most looked on in awe as she passed by them in Nicolae’s arms. Tshaya also saw that the clothing she was wearing were once a dark black, but were now fading with age so that they were almost a dark grey. They clung to her body and made her look fragile and waif-like. The pendant also a black colour, possibly onyx.
They moved past all those gathered and into a farther room. There were torches lighting the parallel walls for every five feat until the end of the room. Tshaya managed to get a look around and saw that the room was about the same size as the last, so big enough to have an audience. Great. At the end of the room there was a large stone alter, it looked almost like a box since there were no distinguishable legs, just slabs of stone to support the top. At each corner of the alter there stood a tall stone column that reached up to the darkened ceiling Behind it on the wall was depicted a large tree budding with fruit. In it’s centre was the Romani wheel again.
Nicolae placed her gently on the cold stone before turning back to the growing crowd behind them.
"By the will of Daenna, the mother of Gypsies and her vampire lover Dracian. Overlooked by the tree of knowledge, which bore the seeds that even now the Rom guard and keep hidden from the undeserving. We commend this soul to search out and retrieve that which was lost to us for ages now."
Tshaya listened even as she tried to force herself to move. Her body still refused to listen to her. She felt tears overflowing as she fought against the realisation that she might not make it out of this one. Her mind ran morbidly over what might be done to her in order to be a fit sacrifice.
"Bring her forth! Bring her back!" Nicolae called out and was soon followed by a repeated chorus of voices.
She heard the ghosts continuing to chatter at her while the gypsies started to chant. Nicolae turned back to her. In his hand there was a black candle. He leaned closer to her and it felt like the candle got brighter. She saw a flash of blood red from the stone in the pendant. After another moment Nicolae blew the candle flame out and seemed to be waiting for something.
It took only a moment to figure out what it was. Tshaya saw the stone start to glow from inside its depths. It was still a blood red colour and she felt fear rush over her as the glow started to move from the stone up along the necklace. She watched, still unable to move, as it crawled and made it way up. Wherever it touched bare skin the glow also spread there and continued on.
The glow reached her skin and Tshaya began to scream. Everything hurt and she wanted it to end. It felt like the glow from the pendant was burning her skin, that it was trying to make it’s way inside. She felt the pain sink in and vanish. Tshaya noticed then, and only then, that there was another presence in control of her body.
~Should we tell her now?~ Asked one of the ghosts.
~I don’t see why not? She’s bound to finish the ritual either way.~ Responded another.
~Goody. Tshaya….Tshaya you’re going to help us come back. You can share your body with her. She’ll pretend to be their mother…but only until they stop being useful…~
~She says she’s a…a demon! Yeah, that’s it. She said she’s been leading these guys by the nose to get herself brought into the world. Called herself Daenna and everything. They’re gonna be so shocked when they actually find out.~
So, she’d been led here to have a demon be brought back All these people weren’t really at fault…not really. They had been following what they thought was a benign spirit’s guidance. None of them knew what the real purpose of this ritual…
Tshaya watched herself sit up and turn to face the crowd. Nicolae blinked and watched her. She felt something inside her laugh at the man’s gullibility. She had been the one who had led him on this course and she was laughing at him now. Tshaya then watched herself stand up and put an arm around Nicolae’s neck. She leaned in and kissed him passionately.
~You, my dear, are mine. Your body, your mind, your soul, they all belong to me. Just like group of people (though they don’t know it yet). Be good and I might even let you participate in things…be bad and I doubt you’ll like the outcome.~ The woman’s voice was smooth and almost purring as she said that.
____
Tshaya woke with a start in Merrovick’s bed. She was back in the church. She glanced over to Rayanne and gave a small sigh of relief. The other woman was still there. It had only been a dream. None of it had been real. In a motion of relaxation Tshaya brought her hand over her chest.
She felt a chain. Tshaya blinked and looked down. Whatever chain it was was hidden under her shirt. She gulped and slowly began to pull the chain and whatever was attached to it out of her shirt. Her hand flew to her mouth even as the pendant fell over the T-shirt. Her eyes were riveted to the stone that nestled in the centre of the pendant. It was a black stone…but every once in a while it seemed to glow from inside with a blood red light.
"No…no, it was only a dream…"