Alexander tenderly stroked his sons cheek.
"I pray you will see the value in the sacrifices I have forced upon you, son."
The boy whimpered in his sleep and curled into himself.
Alexander's gaze wondered to his open labtop where he watched his wife pat around, likely searching for an escape. His hazel eyes narrowed. One down… two to go.
****
Myriah stood in the hospital room with Axel at her side. Axel more or less declared he would be escorting Myriah to get the intel that she needs.
She eyed the resting body as tears filled her lavender eyes.
"My mother isn't here…" Myriah mumbled. Axel sighed as he gently pulled the blanket over the corpse. Fortunately she looked as if she succumbed in her sleep…
Axel bowed his head as Myriah gently stroked the blonde hair that lay beneath the blanket.
"You were right you know… had I not been your sister…" Axel felt his shoulders shake as the sobs ripped from Myriahs throat.
"Who… why…."
Jasmine silently appeared at Axels side.
"The girl was murdered." Jasmine whispered. Axels eyes snapped open.
"The brown eyed man did this." Myriah flinched. "He also took my mother, right?" Jasmine nodded. Myriah learned that part of jasmines gifts was to see the last moments of the dead, sometimes the spirits would find and rest under her command. She also learned that Axel helped her to navigate the road to the nether world that Jasmine may help the dead find peace as was her life sake. It soothed her every growing insecurities to know that their bond was that of master and student. Despite her newfound greed of those in her life, Myriah still felt the nagging tug that perplexed her about the green eyed girl.
"I want his head." Myriah snarled only of yelp when Axel appeared back first infront of her.
"My my your reflexes are on point… vampire… This makes you a valid protector of her." Myriah peaked from behind Axel to see the red eyed man, smirking. He also looked familiar to her, she could feel the stirrings of the red spirit within her.
'Not now… there are too many eyes around us…' Myriah internally pleaded.
"What do you know of the brown eyed man?" Axel asked, a bold move on his part. Those red eyes see too much…
"Only that when Ms. Whitman laid her eyes upon him, he had one golden eye and one blue, and questions." Āciriyar murmured. "My sight cannot reach him..." Axel pursed his lips.
"Which also means that he is tainted with the darkness?" Āciriyar waved his right hand in a so so motion.
"It was my thought as well.. however I am not fully blind to the darkness. If it was a student or relation of mine… I will always see them."
"Perhaps not because many live without-" Axels sentence halted on a gasp. His and Āciriyars eyes met. "It's very rare for a Mystic or Magical creature to survive the darkness let alone return from it-"
Like that they were in their living room with Edymond fussing over Myriah who was staring wide eyed at nothing.
"Goddess."
"I saw the Brown eyed man…" she whispered. "Āciriyar didn't get us away fast enough." Jasmine whispered, "He has her scent. It seams that's how he finds his prey."
"And he has yet to miss a mark…"
****
Āciriyar faced the brown eyed man with a thoughtful expression.
"Well I'll be…" he praised as he approached the withered figure.
"You poor creature…" Āciriyar murmured, "Cursed to this wretched form…"
"You know me not, beast." The creature snarled. "I only want the girl."
Āciriyars golden eyes narrowed.
"I am afraid I cannot allow that."
"Your magic's have no affect on me Āciriyar-"
The golden eyed man chuckled, a dark and chilling sound. "Now is that any way to speak to your master… Vamir?"
The cloaked creature completely froze before a withered hand slowly reached for the hood that covered its face.
Āciriyar angled his body so he was fully facing the creature as the hood slowly revealed a terrifying sight. It was a gambit that seamed to have paid off.
The golden eyed man felt his breath hitch when the creatures metallic brown eyes met his. Not blue and gold, but a metallic brown… the brown eyed man… which could only mean…
"Āciriyar- Tayavuceytu eṉṉai koṉṟuviṭu… (kill me… please…)" The golden eyed man was completely frozen. He didn't anticipate the creature would still know the Language… does that mean he is flawed? Or that his time is approaching?
The creatures face was narrow and bony… likely similar to the rest of its form… permernant malnutrition. The once milky skin now resembled stretched leather, that aged far past its expiration. The sight was similar to looking at a skelington with skin stretched to fit.
"Kaṭavuḷāl... Ēḻai ciruṣṭi... (by the gods… you poor creature) "Ṭīccar... Nēramillai... Eṉ uyiraṟṟa vāḻkkaiyai muṭittuk koḷḷuṅkaḷ... (teacher… there is no time… end my lifeless life…)"
With a tight throat and an unreadable expression, Āciriyar approached the man and placed a hand on his head, only to feel ice course through his veins, striking the man, and severing his connection with the world. Āciriyar blinked to see he was no longer facing the brown eyed man, he was back in his realm. Back within his own body.
'It seams this is not a battle I can assist you with… Pure One…'
***
"From what I know of that creature, it works off of command." Jasmine murmured, "it's not something I was privy to on an official level."
"So it will find the people it's assigned to find in order?" Angalo asked at which Jasmine nodded. "Which means it's no accident he was at the hospital… or that he killed Amanda…"
Myriah whispered, "And he's under my fathers control…"
"He's under the Whitman control." Nicholas murmured. "He's a creature that the Whitman family created…"
Myriah felt her body go cold. "H-how…"
"With the blood of one who sees the past…" Nicholas started. "Someone who sees the dead?" Myriah observed, "Why call it the past?"
"Death is past life, Goddess." Edymond explained, "The flow of death is the lover to life. Death is the darkness while life is the light." "So one who sees the dead is able to harbor the darkness within them without losing themselves?"
"Oh you're prone to eventually lose yourself, Pure one." Nicholas murmured. "Look at yourself: you struggle with it on the daily." Myriah growled and Axel came between them before Myriah could strike him again.
"Can you not?" He asked exasperated. "I only speak with truth." Nicholas murmured, "Atrocious things were done to you, Goddess. Things even the best or the strongest would never be able to survive." Myriah slowly nodded.
"Especially a Pure one." Nicholas's tone was softer, almost… empathetic… "Pure ones have always been docile and gentle creatures who cultivated light, and life." His silver eyes found Myriahs and she seamed to relax into Axels form.
"I'm sure your vampire here has told you of the traumas to the mind, spirit and morale as a whole?" Myriah nodded, "h-he said trauma marks us… and it imprints on us and…"
"It may consume us." Nicholas concluded, "Vampires become the undead… and shifters turn to what mortals call a demon… and-"
"Pure ones die from it." Nicholas murmured. His town sounded so final. Making Myriah flinch and grip Axels shoulders.
"You escape the darkness's hold thanks to your vampire here." Myriahs gaze flew to Axel who bowed his head, trying not to meet her questioning gaze. "Vampires may consume the darkness from their mate. Naturally, the stronger we are the easier it is for us to maintain and relinquish it."
"But you are not immune to it.." Myriah whispered as she cupped Axels face in both of her hands, making him meet and hold her gaze. She stared, searching his silver eyes.
She was rewarded with a warm smile and his hands wrapping around hers.
"I am well, you need not worry…" he assured, "but-"
Axel shook his head and pulled Myriah into his form. "Don't fret love." He cajoled, "You will tell me-"
"I promise." Axel stroked her hair as he held her head to his chest, glaring at Nicholas as he did. Of all the worries to add to her…
"Anyways… the ones who see and command the past have a certain… affinity for the darkness… which makes them the equivilant to playdough for one such as Alexander Whitman." Myriah nodded, "Is that because of their connection with death? It would empower them to wistand the traumas of that place, and they would naturally have a superior healing factor no?" Myriah murmured, "This would allow for extended experimentation…" Myriahs sentence faded as she wondered from Axels embrace to the entrance way that lead to her room. Axel watched her leave with his head tilted. 'What connection is she drawing?'
"Keyonie was rumored to have been someone like that." Kain murmured, "Āciriyar said he could see the past."
Angalo tilted his head, "Now that I think of it…Ones with an affinity for the past were often taken by the order and never seen again. And that's in recent times…" "it's been that way since the red night," Edymond murmured, "it's part of why Āciriyar would take them under his wing. Keyonie was rumored to have been one of the strongest …"
"He disappeared with the sleeping baby…" Angalo murmured. Tyler perked up,
"What if… and just hear me out. Keyonie is said to have had blue eyes… the girl in jasmines dream has blue eyes." Jasmine blinked: "when did this become about me?"
"Alexandria's family was attacked alittle over twenty years ago." Axel murmured, "Her late husband, Keevan has a distant sister who found her life mate some odd century or so ago…"
"Keyonie wouldn't have left Myriah on her own… his magic was rumored to allow him to travel time itself. He also was rumored to have had the strongest connection to her, he would have kept her close."
Edymond murmured as his white eyes landed on Jasmine who seamed to be checked out of the conversation. "Keevan?"
Myriah asked.
"Keevan?" Nicholas repeated. "His family was rumored to be one of the few where the gift of seeing the past was passed on. I believe Santiago is him … and his sisters …"
"That would explain how he knew to reach out to me." Axel murmured, "I wasn't aware he had more than one sister."
"He and three sisters who were far older than him." Nicholas murmured, "Santiago told me the tragedy of his mother .. she went mad after her mate disappeared. She claimed to always feel him but could never find him…"
Myriahs gaze found Axels and she felt herself leave the room and the conversation as a whole.