Volume 1.16 Far from Home

Type: Series

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: M

Characters: April, Andrew, Luca, Willow, Ethan
Word Count: 2892

Glossary: 

Warning: language

Cause it's almost like
Your heaven's trying everything
To break me down
Cause it's almost like
Your heaven's trying everything
To keep me out
Far From Home-Five Finger Death Punch

Al Simhara, Egypt

Present day...

They awoke in the early evening just as the sun was dipping in the horizon. It was still hot outside, as April and Willow discovered when they left their tents, but there was a gentle wind blowing from the west now, it sent wisps of their long hair and fine particles of sand flying in their eyes.

“How was your rest?” Willow asked April as they headed for the ladies communal shower.

“What rest?” April frowned at the Witch. She’d barely slept, thinking about her meeting with Ethan and the Curator. She couldn’t believe just how close they were to the end. Twenty one long years without Julian. She grew sad and mournful all over again when she thought of the years they’d spent apart, the time they’d live apart too because surely he would never forgive her for her indiscretion.

What a waste! April thought sadly as she pushed through the bathroom door.

Their faces fell when they discovered there was only one shower. April suggested Willow should freshen up first and the Witch eagerly accepted, she liked the idea of Egypt and roughing it out, but the humidity irked her to no end, she felt dirty and grimy and she couldn’t wait to get cleaned up.

April drifted back outside. She found Luca and Andrew lounging in the open communal kitchen, each cooling off with a glass of tepid water. It did nothing for their thirst, but they had to keep up the pretense of being normal.

 As far as mortals were concerned Vampires didn’t exist and they wanted to keep it that way.

“What’s the plan?” She asked the two men as she reached for a juice pack from the fridge.

She perched herself on the small dining table. Two female tourists, seemingly related judging by the likeness in their looks, gave her death glares and she couldn’t understand why until Andrew pointed out she wasn’t exactly in her kitchen, her casualness was offensive to others. She brushed them off with a mere shrug of her delicate shoulders; she wasn’t in the mood to stress over others’ feelings.

“You’ll go with Andrew and Willow to meet Ethan,” Luca told her. She nodded. It made sense. Luca and Ethan hated each other’s guts, and they all knew Luca’s wound from losing his mother had never healed, and now that she’d slept with Ethan to get the keystone, it had festered into a septic and incurable mess, he’d kill Ethan without thinking twice if their paths ever crossed.

“What about you?” She asked him.

Luca shrugged. He didn’t have any plans. He’d be floating around the market till their return and then they’d head off to meet with a merchant Willow had heard about through a friend in Sunset Valley. The Witch wanted to stock up on magical reagents she thought they’d need for their escape plan when they broke out the clan.

Twenty minutes later, April had also freshened up and they were good to go. They dropped off Luca at the market before proceeding to the rendezvous spot.

Luca watched the car grow smaller and smaller, until it became one with the night, and he sighed sadly, wondering where the feeling of aloneness came from suddenly, but he was determined to shake it off.

He slowly walked in the general direction of the shops, a deep frown on his face. He had a bad feeling about the meeting, Ethan was a sly one, and Luca suspected he’d make them sweat for the keystone. He hoped he was wrong because he really wanted to get the hell out of Egypt and be reunited with Cadence ASAP. Okay, ‘reunited’ would mean they were in a relationship of some sort, it was too strong a word for whatever it is that they had, not that they had anything of course, stealing kisses here and there hardly qualified as something. But, he couldn’t lie and say he didn’t miss her, in fact she’d been on his mind nonstop.

The market was just as he remembered, busy and lively with locals selling their wares to tourists eager to experience the dessert and its oriental culture.

He walked into the small bookstore across the café. The owner, Aziz, greeted him like they were old friends. They exchanged small talk, with Luca asking after his wife and kids. Aziz was happy to announce he was a daddy for the fourth time, Luca said all the right things one was expected to say under the circumstances.

“Still searching for the Star I see,” Aziz drawled, his bushy eyebrows twitched upwards.

Luca brushed away the hair on his forehead with a frustrated hand and nodded.

“Don’t you think the search’s been going on for too long, don’t you think it’s time you let this go, Luca so you can start living again?” Aziz asked. A customer looking for a recipe book on oriental curries, walked in and the shopkeeper went to attend to her, leaving Luca to ponder his question.

He wandered the aisles; he absently picked up books and leafed through them quickly before putting them back on the shelves. He wanted to get Cadence something, a small gift, but he didn’t know what, a book seemed so impersonal, jewelry was too personal, and…

“Where were we?” Aziz clapped him on the shoulder in a playful manner, jolting him out of his daze.

“Ah, yes, about the search. It’s been twenty one years Luca,” the shop keeper sighed sadly. Luca didn’t say anything. He was right, it was way too long, but Julian was his brother, he’d never give up hope of breaking him out.

“He’s my brother. I can’t leave him there,” Luca spoke at last as he moved towards the door. He liked Aziz; he was probably one of the few people he trusted in the world. He knew what he was; he’d caught on to him on his tenth year in a row back in Egypt. The shop keeper had noticed he and Andrew never aged and he’d casually asked him about it and Luca had answered truthfully, convinced Aziz would scream ‘bloody vampire’ and unleash the town on them. Surprisingly the other man had just nodded and sent them off, and they never talked about it again.

“What about the girl? She must be all grown up now,” Aziz cried just as Luca reached the door.

Luca hesitated on the threshold for a few seconds before he slowly walked back inside the shop and sat down at the counter. It was years since they’d talked about Cadence.

Aziz went to the back; he came back five minutes later with a tray of four steaming mugs coffee. Luca raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I’m guessing, it’s going to be a long night,” Aziz explained as he took the empty seat next to Luca.

The vampire smiled, flashing his fangs briefly.

“She is beautiful, Ziz,” he murmured as he stared deep into the black pool inside his mug. He drank it black, no sugar, while his friend liked it white, with lots of honey too.

“And she’s trouble. She’s the reason your brother’s locked in there,” the shopkeeper reminded him.

Luca shook his head. For years he’d tried to convince himself Cadence was the reason for his hell, and some days he believed it. But the truth was she was an innocent bystander in all of it, she never had a say, never even agreed to the mess because she was just a small baby at that time.

“She didn’t exactly cause this, her blood just reinforced the bind,” Luca replied, he then proceeded to tell Aziz about Cadence, about their meeting, the day he nearly ran her over, and the origami he’d left in her room. He didn’t mention their kiss though, that was a can of worms he wasn’t ready to deal with yet.

“Something has changed. You’re softer now when you speak of her,” Aziz observed as he cradled his face in his hands, his elbows firmly pressed on the surface

“Nothing has changed. My plans for her are still the same,” Luca’s denial sounded weak and feeble and they both knew it.

“The plans may still be the same, but your feelings aren’t.” Aziz just had to have the last word as he rose to clear their mugs. Luca couldn’t believe they’d drunk four mugs of coffee between the two of them in less than an hour. But that was Aziz for you, once you opened up to him, you couldn’t stop and time flew by very quickly. Luca often joked he’d make a good psi vampire with his uncanny ability to pick at the emotional layers of those around him.

While Aziz was busy at the back, Luca saw his chance to leave. He didn’t want to bid the shopkeeper goodbye because he’d make him stay and pour his heart out, and he was done sharing for the night, he’d said all he was willing to say about Cadence. For now.

The sweet, melodic sounds of a flute grabbed his attention, and Luca found himself standing in front of the fountain at the center of the market watching a young, dark-skinned girl, with equally dark hair, play the instrument and a humongous cobra’s head kept ducking in and out of the basket in front of her.

Occasionally, to the delight of the tourists, the snake charmer would drop her head to steal a quick kiss from the snake; her tongue would briefly make contact with the long, poisonous one of the Cobra's, eliciting awed gasps from the crowd. It was a freaky, yet beautiful sight, and Luca was in awe of her, it took guts and something extra special to make such a deadly animal bend to anyone’s will. While some thought of snake charming as a skill, he thought of it as a gift, not that many people could communicate so well with deadly reptiles.

He looked up from the girl and his eyes lit up when they rested on the Relic shop across. A few, but fast paced strides brought him to his destination and for the next hour or so he was lost in trinkets and postcards and other odd items as he searched for the perfect gift for Cadence.

While Luca spent a relaxing evening at the market, April, Andrew and Willow didn’t have such luck. They got a flat tire halfway to the Ruins of Karnak, one of the most photographed sites of Ancient Egypt.

It took Andrew over fifteen minutes to change the tire with the inadequate tools they had in the rental car, and by the time they reached the rendezvous point they were all irritable and annoyed.

Since Andrew knew the tomb inside and out from his previous visits to Egypt, they located the entrance easily. Once inside April and Willow were disappointed to see the tomb only had one room, other than the treasure chest Andrew told them contained fragments of the Sarcophagus of the Kings, there was nothing much to ‘wow’ over.

Andrew ushered them down the narrow stairs to a secret room in the basement. He activated a switch on the floor and Willow gasped when a secret door materialized on the wall and slowly creaked open, revealing Ethan and a distinguished looking man lounging in the two of the four arm chairs strewn haphazardly around the tiny room.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in. I was starting to think you wouldn’t show,” Ethan drawled as he opened his arms to embrace April. She visibly shrunk away from him, and Andrew, sensing her discomfort stepped between her and Ethan.

“Get your filthy paws off of her,” Andrew warned the other Vampire in a low growl, all the while eyeballing him.

Ethan just smiled and put up his hands, “It shouldn’t be hard to do since I already had my fill.”

Instantly Andrew jumped at him and pummeled his fists all over his face. For a good ten minutes all that could be heard in the room were the sickening sounds of bodies colliding as the two Vampires wrestled each other on the floor.

Willow and April screamed at the two men to stop, but they seemed oblivious to their cries, the years of hatred between them had finally come to a head, they were hell-bent on destroying each other.

Willow cast a Mood Elevatus spell and a deep sense of calm fell over the room. Dazedly Ethan and Andrew pulled apart. The Curator, who had been silent throughout the chaos rushed to Ethan’s side and helped him up from the floor, while Willow fussed over Andrew.

“Where’s the fucking Star?” Andrew growled as he pushed away Willow’s caring hands. He just wanted to get the keystone and leave; he couldn’t stand being in the same room as Ethan.

The Curator reached for the small antique box on the table. Up until then they’d all thought it was a jewelry box of some sort, they would never have guessed it held the answer to all their problems. The box looked so normal, so ordinary, not worth a second glance.

“Here it is,” he unlocked the box to reveal the keystone. Andrew stared at it for a long time. It certainly looked like the keystone he’d seen in the History volumes at numerous libraries he and Luca had visited over the years. But only Willow, through her psychometric ability, would be able to verify its authenticity.

Willow gingerly took the keystone from him, as if afraid of its power. She softly chanted the words to a revealing spell. She’d barely finished the chant when her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the floor, hitting the stone tiles with a dull thud.

She writhed all over the ground, the keystone still clutched firmly in her hand, as memories of people, tribes, races who’d used the rune in the past to banish evil flooded her mind.

“What’s happening to her?” April asked as they all watched Willow’s body convulse on the floor.

“She’s confirming the keystone’s authenticity,” Andrew explained. Before April could interrogate him further, Willow grew still and her eyes returned to their normal state.

“It’s genuine,” Willow mumbled as she struggled to sit up. She handed the keystone back to Andrew and he helped her up from the floor as they prepared to leave.

At the door Ethan stopped them.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” He asked as the curator fished out an official-looking document from the box.

“What?” Andrew asked, a sinking feeling settled at the pit of his stomach.

“The papers for the keystone. Did you think you could just leave with one of the country’s artifacts without proper clearance?” Ethan smirked. He then proceeded to explain that though the rune belonged to his family by some obscure means, it was on permanent loan to Egypt, they’d need proper documentation to get it out of the country and they had a month to return it back to Egypt’s’ Museum of Magic and Art.

“We had a deal.” April screamed at him, she couldn’t believe how stupid she was. She’d actually trusted him, believed he’d follow through with his end of the deal, he was a vile man through and through, and the sooner she was out of his presence, the better.

“And I delivered. You wanted the keystone and there you have it. But you need these to clear it out of the country.” Ethan said again as he waved the papers, “and this baby here, gives you all the clearance you need!”

“Cut the crap Ethan and hand over the document,” Willow’s patience had also worn thin, the keystone’s magic source had drained her. She knew it wasn’t anything she wanted to mess with; you don’t play with that kind of magic.

“Not until you give me what I want. It’s simple really. Mahomed here,” Ethan waved at the curator, “accidentally left some important papers in the Tomb of Discovery, not far from your base camp. Find them and bring them back to me and we’ll trade.”

April and Andrew looked at each other, they were trying to decide whether or not they should do Ethan this one favor. But they knew they didn’t have a choice really, Ethan had them where he wanted them.

“Why can’t he get the documents himself?” Willow piped in. The whole thing smelled of a setup and she didn’t like it.

Ethan just shrugged. He was in charge and he didn’t have to tell them more than he already had.

The Curator filled them in on the lost documents, he wasn’t too sure about their exact whereabouts in the Tomb of Discovery, but he was certain they were there.

“That tomb is huge. Where the hell are we supposed to start looking?” Andrew demanded. He hated that they were being pushed into the corner like this. Ethan knew they needed him more than he needed them, and he would exploit their desperation to his satisfaction.

“That’s for you to figure out. The sooner you find the document, the sooner you can leave. Tick tock, the clock is ticking!” Ethan sighed dramatically as he waved them off. The meeting was over.

April shot Ethan one last death glare before she followed Andrew and Willow out of the tomb. Julian’s nemesis was one Vampire she’d love to kill if given a chance. She should never have believed him…