The Lost Soul (24 page)

When every last one was sat on the ground, the rattling grew louder. The sound of chains and the shuffling of feet. His gaze followed the sounds which now came from a tunnel to his left.

Filthy men and women appeared carrying bowls of bread and water. They shuffled along until each one reached his or her destination. A cage.

A man stood before him and held out the small bowl which just fit within the bars. Jack took it hungrily, snatched it from his grasp and devoured every last drop of water before shoving the small piece of bread into his mouth, chewing it around and around in his mouth before he was finally able to swallow it, the dryness causing it to stick to the back his throat. He coughed and swallowed again.

The man in chains waited patiently and then took the bowl from him.

Jack stuck his arm through the bars and grabbed the man. He was so thin, it was like holding the weak branch of a tree.

"Wait," he croaked.

The man looked at him blankly.

"What's your name?" Jack asked. "Where are we? Please... help me..."

But the man said nothing, standing still until Jack eventually released his arm.

When all the slaves had finished, he walked away with the rest of them. Back into the tunnel from where they had come.

The sound of creaking resumed as the cages were lifted back up to the top of the cavern.

He turned to look at the young girl to his side. Her uneaten piece of bread sat beside her.

"Eat the bread," he had managed to utter. "You must eat or you'll die in here," he'd said.

The blank look disappeared from her face and she stopped muttering those three words for a moment as she turned to look at him. She picked up the piece of bread and threw it toward him. He held out his arm and caught it.

He thought he caught sight of a slight smile before she turned back, rocking back and forth, "I'm sorry daddy, I'm sorry daddy, I'm sorry daddy..."

Jack flinched. He'd fallen asleep. Opening his eyes to the darkness, he heard Zalea and Eric's gentle sleeping breaths and so he closed his eyes once again. It wasn't a dream, it was a memory. And Jack knew that poor girl was saying sorry to her daddy because she was refusing to put up a fight. She was starving herself. She was killing herself. She succeeded.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

An interesting discovery had been made. Not only had Jack, Nickolaus and Tiffani disappeared during the phase of the full moon, but many others who had gone missing throughout the world had done so during the very same period.

The Nephilim had somehow managed to tap into something that was connected with the moon, creating an opening when it was full.

And there would be a full moon that night.

"I believe Calliope has erected the pyramid to coincide with the full moon this evening," said a very serious looking Michael. "She is going to open the floodgates to allow her brothers and sisters to come to the surface, this very night."

"We don't have much time," said Gabriel a little while later, putting on his winter coat and scarf, topping it off with a warm hat. "Do you really think your plan is going to work?"

Michael smiled, "All we can do is try, Gabriel. And I wouldn't want a better bunch of people working on it."

"Are you ready, everyone?" he asked as they all gathered in the living room, those that would feel the cold, wrapping themselves up.

"I still can't believe we're going to actually do this," whispered Lilly to December as they hooked arms and walked outside.

"I think it's the right thing to do, hon. Don't worry, they'll understand, given the circumstances," she replied with a slight tilt of her head.

#

Powell River Community Centre was full of every woman in town, old and young. They all sat waiting, whispering among themselves.

When Gabriel took to the front, standing on a pedestal, they all gasped and began talking loudly.

"But... but Gabriel. How are you here? All the other men have been taken by that woman," shouted Janice Harbinger, the owner of Harbinger's Drug Store.

"Now, now, calm down everyone. Please. All in good time. We are here to sort out, for once and for all, that woman who is known as Calliope."

There were more cries of disgust at the mere mention of the name.

"Calliope has put a kind of spell on the menfolk of this town," he said before he was interrupted again.

"But you're here... what's going on Gabriel?"

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"Why are you here?"

"A spell? Whatever are you talking about?"

Gabriel lifted his arms, trying to quieten down the angry mob.

"Please, ladies. Let me speak...."

But they just wouldn't sit quietly and so the Elders had no choice.

Moira stepped forward, along with two other witches, and began to whisper a few words:

"Ladies of Powell River. Sit still, be quiet, listen. For the safety of this town, you must sit still, be quiet, listen. Ladies of Powell River. Sit still, be quiet, listen. For the safety of this town, you must sit still, be quiet, listen."

Silence spread throughout the centre as Gabriel turned and thanked the three witches before turning to face the women. He watched as the expressions on their faces turned from shock to fear.

"Please do not fear these women, they have just gotten you to quieten down so I may tell you the truth. And.. I'm sorry to add, the truth is a painful one, a shocking one and for some, possibly just downright unbelievable, but I ask you, for the sake of the menfolk of this town, our friends and families, I ask you to be open minded," he said loudly as his eyes scoured the room and once he was happy they were all with him, he began.

"As you know, my name is Gabriel Tulugaq. My ancestors are from Newfoundland but my great, great, great grandfather moved to Powell River where our family has lived in peace, and very happily, for many years. My name, Tulugaq, literally means raven. I, and all of my immediate family members, have a secret which involves the raven... we all have a special gene which enables us to," he stopped for a moment to take a breath before continuing with a glance to his family, "enables us to... transform into ravens."

The women's faces dropped. Some of them giggled, although no sound came out, but they all sat staring at Gabriel.

"Gabriel, perhaps you should show them?" suggested Millicent, "We brought you extra clothes, just in case," she smiled.

He nodded, looked directly at his audience and seconds later, they were being watched by a raven on the podium.

"Their heartbeats are increasing," whispered Lilly. "Do you think we need to calm them down?"

Moira shook her head. "They'll be all right, the spell will keep them relatively calm."

Gabriel flew into a small room, where Millicent took him some clothes before he walked back out and stood back on the podium.

He held his arms out before speaking, "I am sorry to shock you but it is important you know the truth, the whole truth. Lilly, Tabitha..."

Lilly, Tabitha and Rose walked across to him, they turned to face the crowd and then, seconds later they were two Mountain Lions - one black, one white and an Iberian Lynx.

The women's eyes shot wide open in fear before the girls quickly walked away and returned moments later dressed in different clothes.

Moira moved forward to get rid of all the ripped clothes that were piling up on the podium before Gabriel continued.

"We are not here to strike fear into your hearts, ladies. Far from it. We have lived among you for many generations and we are good friends with many of you. But, alas, I am far from finished... there is much more you need to know about us. Sammy?" he asked as a tall figure hidden beneath a long hooded cloak appeared beside him. Sammy carefully removed the hood from his face, before taking off the cape altogether, turning to reveal his beautiful black wings.

"Moira? Can you release part of the spell, so the ladies can at least speak. I believe they may have questions?"

Moira nodded and the three reversed part of the spell.

"Sammy Morton?" whispered several women at once.

Sammy nodded and smiled.

"He's a murderer!" yelled another.

"No... please," he gulped turning to Gabriel.

"Ladies, Sammy is no more a murderer than any of you. Sammy was the victim of a horrendous spell by an evil, cruel witch. She was the one who murdered my daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Not Sammy. He is entirely innocent, forced to hide and live in the forest up until we discovered the truth over a year ago. I ask you to look at this man's face, ladies, and tell me what you see? Because I know you will not see a killer."

Every woman sitting in there looked at him, scrutinising his face until their expressions changed completely.

"It is true," said Deborah Ashby, a cashier at the local supermarket, "He is innocent," she whispered and the rest of them nodded.

"Thank you," said Sammy as he turned to walk away.

"Wait..." said Deborah, "Where have you been hiding this past year?"

"I live with Lilly, Tiffani, Tabitha and Zoltan at Gabriel's house," he answered shyly.

"I know of Tabitha and Zoltan but I've not heard of anyone called Tiffani. Who is she?" she asked kindly.

And then another hooded figure stepped tentatively forward. When she removed the hood and cape, the entire room gasped.

The young faery swallowed and attempted a smile, but instead tears began to fall down her delicate cheeks.

"Oh don't cry, my dear," said a gentle voice from the back.

Tiffani lifted her head and smiled.

"Tiffani is a faery. She's not from around here but she has lived with us for a while now," said Gabriel. "I will tell you more about where she is from shortly. But first, there is more you need to know."

The women's eyes turned to Gabriel while he continued to tell them about the strange supernatural world they lived in.

"What I am about to tell you is going to shock you even more, but it is important you are aware of everything that surrounds us. I know you are probably very frightened right now but please hear me out. There are also vampires and werewolves. The ones that can survive on the blood from animals live among us but those that need human blood to survive live elsewhere. We have always tried to keep this community as safe as possible. There have been times when we've had to deal with evil vampires intent on destroying our lives but we've always managed to destroy them..."

"Oh dear," said an elderly voice hidden from view. "I assume you're talking about Mrs Murray and Mrs Ormond?

Gabriel nodded, "Sadly, yes. And there have been a few other tragic cases but, at the moment, evil vampires are the least of our problems. But, just so you know who the good vampires are in our community, you should meet Chris here. He was transformed into a vampire by the same posse responsible for the deaths of Mrs Ormond and Murray. Let me hand you over to Sonya for a moment..."

Sonya, with her long shiny white hair and beautiful features stepped forward and smiled at her old friends, colleagues and neighbours.

"Hello everyone," she began, "Last year, we managed to capture the witch who was responsible for Serena and Neleh's deaths, the one who made Sammy into a half-human. Her name was Vivian and she kidnapped my brother-in-law Jack and niece, Lilly, many years ago. After her capture, and before her judgement took place, she managed to very nearly kill my only daughter. Jo's only saviour was transformation and so Jo came home to me a vampire. It was tough, of course it was tough, but she's my daughter and I love her and so I accept what she has become. Thank you for listening," she said before she stepped back into the rest of the group.

"I did wonder why she suddenly appeared to be so much more beautiful," said a voice from the crowd, "Oh, don't get me wrong, Jo has always been an absolute stunner. I thought it was impossible for anyone to become more beautiful and lo and behold, she did," chuckled the voice.

"Aye, you're right, Alexandra, I always thought that was a bit strange. Makes sense now, of course."

Gabriel stepped forward and walked among the chairs looking for someone. When he eventually found her, he asked Moira to release the binding spell so she could stand up.

"Mrs Dickson, I'm going to need you to come up here with me," he said, very gently helping her to her feet.

Fear shot through her eyes and didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Please don't be afraid," he said, leading her to the group before turning his attention to the crowd before him. "We recently had to make a terrible decision in order to protect our kind. We had to tell a lie to you all. An awful lie that involved you, Mrs Dickson. I hope you'll forgive us," he said as he turned her slightly so she faced yet another person hidden beneath a cape and hood.

The person turned, very slowly dropping the hood to face her mother who collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Mom!" screeched Jemima.

"She's okay, Jemima. She's just passed out, that's all. She'll come to in a moment. She'll be fine," reassured Rose.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

It hadn't taken long for the young girl to succumb to starvation. Jack could do nothing but look on as she wasted away, refusing to eat or drink a single thing. He didn't eat the bread she'd thrown him until she was gone. When he heard the clattering of the chains as the shuffling feet made their way through the tunnels beneath him, Jack watched as the slave next to him tried to wake her. When she made no movement at all, the slave, a woman probably in her forties, looked over at him. Jack wanted to say something but no words would come. He looked down, ate the piece of bread he was given, drank the tepid water and handed the bowl back to the same male slave who had been there the past few times.

No-one uttered a word.

When the cages were lifted back up to the ceiling, the young girl with the lovely big eyes stayed on the ground below. Her cage had been opened, left there waiting for someone, or something, to come and dispose of her lifeless body.

Jack wanted to cry for her, but there were no tears left within him. For what seemed like ages, he merely sat and watched, waiting for them to take her away.