The Dark Rising

  I asked him to please let me wash out Vance’s bloodstained shirt because I couldn’t bear to let it go, it being the only thing I had left of his. I'd awakened the next morning to find it freshly laundered and repaired—a kind gesture that brought a bit of moisture to my eyes.

  Continuing on my way down the hall, I passed by the tiny bathroom/laundry area to Hex’s office. This room was full of shelves, from floor to ceiling, and every available space had been crammed with books except for the spot which held a tidy desk. It was clear he spent most of his free time reading.

  I perused the books, dragging my fingers over them. They were all heavy subjects. This guy had a serious head on his shoulders, he was definitely smart.

  I soon grew bored of browsing through the titles though, so I left and wandered into the doorway of Hex’s science lab. I didn’t dare enter for fear I would do something to disturb some of the sensitive equipment or a possible experiment.

  I turned away and walked across the hallway into the gymnasium, which was what I had dubbed the space since there always seemed to be some kind of workout going on here.

  Walking over to the mirrored wall, I popped out the panel containing the refrigerated vials. I knew exactly what space the item I looked for was lying in.

  I reached in and pulled out the clear test tube with the blue swirling liquid, rolling it gently back and forth between my fingers. I contemplated what doing this could possibly mean for me.

  Hex was the only reason I was even alive now. He had no responsibility toward me. He didn’t have to bring me here. He'd made a conscious choice, taken a risk. Didn’t he deserve the same from me?

  He had been nothing but kind and helpful to me from the moment of my arrival, earning my trust, easily, naturally. What was I afraid of?

  If I left this bunker right now, Vance would find me and kill me. Even though my blood had regenerated, and I felt closer to my old self, I was no match for him.

  Could these jinn powers work for me? I thought to myself while I studied the contents of the tube.

  It was a way to even out the score and possess powers which Vance didn’t have. This would give me added protection in addition to the things Hex was teaching me.

  The only real way I could ever move around without Vance always being one step behind me was to do this. And the only way I could possibly hope to save him was to keep ahead of him.

  I lifted his shirt, which I was wearing, and rubbed it slightly across my cheek. Taking a deep sigh, I wondered if I'd ever feel the shirt on his body rubbing up against my skin again. Would he ever kiss me in the heat of passion? Would I hear him whisper he loved me in that soft, sultry voice of his? Would I live long enough for him to remember our past together of his own accord? Would he ever remember his past at all?

  I came to my decision at that precise moment.

  Not taking this opportunity meant the absolute death of our relationship and no chance at redemption for Vance. It would mean my literal death too. He'd continue to hunt me, even though my blood no longer contained the power he so badly craved. It was just like Krista had said. I had become his meal of choice. He'd be on the rampage until he found me.

  I replaced the vial onto the refrigerated shelf and pushed the mirrored door closed. I leaned against the panel, letting out a sigh as I listened to the many thoughts ruffling their way through my head.

  “So have you made up your mind?” Hex’s voice permeated the silent air around me, and I jumped slightly before turning to face where he stood in the doorway.

  “Yes,” I said, looking straight into his gentle brown eyes.

  “And?” he replied, lifting an eyebrow in question.

  “I’m going to do it.”

  Chapter 18

  Hex’s smile radiated out across his face.

  “Good. I’m glad,” he said. “And not just because I get to use you as a guinea pig. I really think it will help you, if it works.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what made you decide to do it?” he asked curiously.

  My eyes instantly misted up. “I love Vance more than anything in this world, even myself. I’m sure that's difficult for you to understand. How could a girl like me be so crazy over a demon warlock who has no sense of right or wrong? But this demon part of him has always been there in some regard. It was a lingering threat, a possibility. He fought against it though, did his best to push it away from him. I can’t help but think if he could access his real mind again, he'd react the same way he did before. Right now he's being driven by all these other emotions.”

  I paused and I struggled for a way to continue, one which would help him see what I was talking about.

  “If our places were switched and I was the one suffering, he'd stop at nothing to try to find a way to save me. Even if it meant he would die trying. I can’t do any less for him.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I love him more than I can explain, and if I don’t try this he'll be lost to me forever.”

  Hex stepped into the room, coming closer, his face a serious mask.

  “And what will you do if it comes down to the fact you need to kill him instead?” he asked me point blank and my body shivered even hearing such words spoken aloud.

  I wrapped both of my arms around my mid-section, trying to hold myself together. “I hope I won’t ever have to cross that bridge,” I answered, slightly sick.

  “You need to face this. What happens if he’s an evil that can’t be stopped?” He pushed me harder. “Could you do it?”

  I started crying, and I lifted my hands to rub them over my face. I hesitated in answering him.

  “Portia?” he questioned again, not backing down at my obvious distress.

  “You're asking me if I can kill Vance!” I sobbed. “I just told you he's the person I love most in this world!”

  Hex came right up next to me, placing his hands on each of my shoulders, squeezing firmly.

  “Because you love him, could you free him from this, if death was the only way out for him?” he asked.

  I thought about this for a moment before I answered. “Perhaps, if it was the only way to help, I'd let him go and hope to the high heavens he'd take me with him.” I shuddered.

  Hex didn’t release me, but kept staring. Something wasn’t right here. There was a reason he was asking me all of this.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” I searched his face.

  Hex dropped his arms away from me, and my heart clenched, tightening almost painfully in anticipation of whatever bomb he was about to drop on me.

  “What's happened?” I asked.

  “Vance joined with the Hoodoo coven,” he said, watching me closely.

  “Okay,” I replied, drawing out the word a bit. I sat down on the soft mat because suddenly my legs were too wobbly. “Did they hold an actual ceremony to bind his magic to them?”

  “Yes,” Hex replied, with a slight nod.

  This wasn't good. It would mean his ties with our coven were completely severed.

  “Is there more?”

  Hex nodded, sitting down across from me with a nimbleness that belied his age.

  “Tell me,” I demanded.

  He looked at me for a moment before giving a sigh. “He slaughtered an entire coven, thirteen innocent witches and warlocks, after he couldn’t find you.”

  A sharp gasp caught in my throat and for a second I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. My eyes welled with tears.

  “This is my fault,” I said in a choked whisper. “I should've let him find me.”

  “You’re not to blame. If you had let him find you, you would've only delayed the inevitable. You were right to run,” Hex disagreed.

  “But all those people are dead now!” I cried out.

  “Something which has nothing to do with you, except for the fact you love the person who did it,” Hex argued.

  “He’s never killed an innocent before.” I lifted a slightly trembling hand to press against my for
ehead.

  “He killed you,” Hex pointed out.

  “Yes, but he knew I would come back,” I argued.

  “That may be, but you were still an innocent. He has slowly been opening doors, inch by inch, even if he didn’t realize it. His choices and actions have been leading up to this very moment.”

  He was right. Vance always had one major flaw and that was the fact he barreled head long into everything, not ever fully weighing the consequences of his actions before he did them.

  He'd rushed into the binding spell with me, which had linked us on a level we could've never imagined. From that point on he'd been led by his heart, not his head. He had been trying to make good choices, but they hadn’t necessarily been the best choices. Now he was teetering on the brink of complete destruction.

  “We need to finish my training,” I said, standing with resolution. “I will stop him one way or another. I can’t let him keep killing people.”

  “Good girl,” Hex said, getting up to join me. “Now come into the other room with me. I bought you some things.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.” I followed him out, back into the living quarters.

  “I wanted to,” he replied with a grin.

  He handed me two large bags. I peered inside to see they contained several items of stylish clothing as well as hygiene and make up.

  “You picked really well for a man who claims to be a virtual hermit,” I said with a smile.

  “Well, I need to confess. I snagged a sweet little salesclerk and had her help me select the items.” He handed another bag to me.

  “What's this?” I asked, pulling out several long, black, spandex looking outfits.

  “Workout clothes,” he explained. “You need to have less restriction when we train. I think they will work well for fighting.”

  “Then what are these for?” I pulled out two pairs of knee high boots made of leather along with a thin black utility belt.

  “I want you to get used to wearing the boots. They're safer to wear in the bayou, and the belt is to carry weapons around your waist. You'll be a regular warrior when I'm finished with you.”

  “And I'll look it too apparently,” I said gesturing to the gear.

  “That’s part of the illusion,” Hex said. “When Vance sees you again, I want you to seem deadly to him, not like his next meal. You need to be dangerous. It'll make the predator in him respect you on a whole new level.”

  “So we're going to play mind games?”

  “The mental game is just as important, if not more so, than the actual attack. It's where you build your strategies. This is especially a key point when it comes to Vance, since you have said this is where his weakness lies. He fails to plan properly. We need to take his weaknesses and make them your strengths.”

  “I don’t think he has many of those.”

  “I disagree. He has a couple of other big ones we can exploit,” he replied, looking at me.

  “What're you talking about?” I asked, confused.

  “You. He's drawn to you for two reasons. One is he's hungry, and the second is purely physical. He desires you.”

  “Oh." I blushed slightly.

  “I would bet he's mentally at war with himself over you. He has a strong desire to kill you, but his physical pull is going to be just as strong. If he destroys one, he destroys the other, which leaves him in a big world of hurt. This will be a great distraction to him.”

  That made sense. “So what do you think he'd do?”

  Hex shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just guessing here, but I’m thinking if he could stave off the raging monster inside of him long enough, he would try to turn you. That way he could still keep you in at least one capacity.”

  “Ahhh … demon wife, how lovely,” I replied sarcastically, though the idea my husband might not want me dead was encouraging to me.

  “I don’t think the coven would allow it though,” Hex said breaking into my thoughts. “I think they want to kill you so they can revert all of the Awakening to him eventually.”

  “Why not bring me in too?”

  “They're targeting him specifically. He filled the thirteenth spot, after they killed one of their members to make room for him.”

  “How are you finding out all of this stuff?” I asked, suddenly suspicious. “Did you go there alone?”

  “No, nothing that risky,” he replied quickly. “I happened to find a couple of the coven members lurking around and I popped into their heads for a minute. Don’t worry. They never even knew I was there.”

  “A couple of coven members? What if you would've had to fight them by yourself?” I placed my hands on my hips.

  “Two would have been easy,” he laughed and he reached out to pull one of my hands away from my hip. “And if you'll let me teach you, I will show you how easy it can be.”

  I sighed. “Then let’s quit wasting time and get started, shall we?”

  He nodded, seemingly pleased by my eagerness to proceed.

  “I plan to give you the jinn cells tonight before you go to sleep. Then we'll begin monitoring the results in the morning.”

  “Well, it’s bedtime now,” I replied, eager to get on with things so I could move forward. “Let’s do it.”

  “Follow me,” he said with a nod in the direction of his lab. “Oh, and just so you know, your family is on their way. They should be here two days.”

  “Who's coming?” I asked, feeling a rush of relief run through my system knowing we'd soon have backup.

  “Several from what I understand, including your parents, grandmother, Vance’s mom, and possibly a couple of coven members.”

  “I’m surprised any of them want to risk being around Vance after everything that's happened. They were pretty untrusting of him before,” I said.

  “I told them Catriona was responsible for the killings, not Vance,” he replied. “Your dad was very relieved to hear it.”

  “Not that it matters now. He would kill all of them without hesitation,” I mumbled.

  “Well it's up to us to keep that from happening, isn’t it?” Hex said and he patted me on the shoulder.

  We stopped in the doorway of the gym and Hex went to the disguised panel to get the vial.

  “Where are they all going to stay?” I asked him.

  “Here, of course. It's the only truly safe place.”

  “Won’t it be a little crowded?”

  “The exercise mat is thick. I figured they could sleep on it. I've got plenty of blankets in the storage unit. It will just be a matter of keeping everyone busy and fed,” he replied nonchalantly.

  “If my mom's coming, you won’t need to worry about people being fed,” I laughed.

  “Is she a good cook?” He smiled as he walked past me to go across the hall into his lab.

  “The best,” I said proudly, my mouth watering over the thought of eating some of her great green chili enchiladas she'd whipped up.

  “Well, that'll be a welcome change. I've gotten used to my own cooking, but I can’t say it's ever been good.” He chuckled softly.

  “I haven’t been complaining." I smiled. I leaned up against the doorjamb, still afraid to enter the sophisticated space with its high tech equipment.

  “Yes, I've certainly mastered the bologna sandwich and canned beans, haven’t I?” He laughed while he placed the glowing vial on some sort of motorized shelf that began tipping back and forth.

  “Don’t forget the cold cereal.” I added.

  “Now you’re just mocking me,” he said, looking up at me with a wink. “Get in here.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to break anything.”

  “You won’t. Come sit.” He gestured to a rolling office chair which sat in front of the computer.

  I eased past him and sat down as he had instructed being careful not to knock anything.

  “Does this thing have internet?” I asked absently, running my fingers over the tops of the keys.

  “Sadly, no. I didn’t want an
y outside signal pointing to this place. The electricity here is fueled by a generator and sometimes magic,” he explained.

  “So that's why you don’t use a dish for your television?”

  “Correct. It's also the reason there's no phone."

  “What if something were to happen? How would you get help?” I asked out of curiosity.

  “I figured I’ve made my bed, now I have to lie in it. No one would be able to find this bunker let alone get in.”

  “So you'd just lay down in here and die?”

  “Pretty much,” he chuckled. “Why do you make it sound like such a horrible thing? I’m an old man!”

  “You aren’t that old. Besides, I’m starting to enjoy being around you. You’re a tough teacher, but you're honest. I could use some honesty in my life right now,” I said with a slight smile.

  “I bet you can.” He looked over at me sympathetically. “I’m sorry you've gone through so much in your first year of being a witch. It isn’t normally like this. In fact, most witches and warlocks go their whole lives without having to ever deal with, or worry about demons and black magic. You probably would've too, if you had never met Vance.”

  “Then I'll happily take the life I have now,” I said, not even needing to think about it. “I never knew how happy I could be until I met him.”

  “You also didn't know how sad either,” he pointed out as he removed the vial from the tray. He inserted a needle into the rubber stopper on top, pulling the swirling liquid into the syringe.

  “I don’t care. If those happy moments are all I ever get, it will have been worth it. I love him and my time with him has been some of the most precious.”

  “The fact you can still look at the situation positively tells me precisely the kind of person you are. You've probably grown more in this past year than in the rest of your life and it’s turning you into something precious,” he commented.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You've walked through the refiner’s fire. It's buffed away the rough spots, polishing you up to be bright and shining in a world where darkness is abounding.” He looked at me with softness. “In my whole life I've never met a person who loves as unconditionally as you do.”