Chapter Seventeen: A Promise Is Broken
Sebastian couldn't take it anymore. For over two weeks he had had to bear Jacob's little trip down the stages of grief. That encounter with Richard had awakened something in Jacob... maybe triggered a certain part of him that he had buried; his humanity. Sebastian watched as Jacob kept tossing and catching a dagger; a dagger that had found its way through his neck when he tried confronting Richard.
Two weeks and Jacob hadn't uttered a single word. The two of them had taken refuge in some caves underneath the city of Salem. Both of them didn't need light since they could see in the dark but Sebastian had gotten hold of an electric lamp as a courtesy for his vampire comrade. But Jacob, on the other hand, seemed to prefer the shadows because he was sitting away from the warm green light that emanated from the lamp.
It was too quiet even for Sebastian. He was not much of a talker himself and had spent the past nine centuries on his own, well, except those five years he once spent with Lord Ethan but still... Even when he was alone, Sebastian always took pleasure in either talking to himself or an imaginary version of his master. But even he couldn't do that in front of the young vampire. Embarrassing as it sounded in his head, Sebastian didn't want to look like a total nutcase in front of Jacob.
Jacob finally stood up. He rubbed off some dust that clung to his fine black jeans and shirt. His face was downcast... like a man about to attend the funeral of a beloved and his clothes certainly did paint that picture. He was probably going out to feed... to feed on humans. However, Jacob hadn't killed any humans recently and this was his norm; he would go out to feed, return, sleep for a few hours, brood in some dark corner of the cave, head out again and so on.
One thing that bothered Sebastian the most was Jacob despairing aura. The lad wasn't even trying to hide it. Sebastian had already lowered his senses to a point where he couldn't even detect any living critter near him but still this aura...
"Alright, I have had enough!" Sebastian bust out.
Jacob simply looked at him and continued walking.
Sebastian wasn't going to be ignored like this. He dashed to Jacob, grabbed him by the neck and said, "Look here you little rascal, I don't really care about how or why you found yourself in such depressing predicament but in the name of Poseidon would you at least dial down that infuriating aura of yours."
There was a change in neither Jacob's aura nor his sunken features. He didn't even try to defend himself or struggle when Sebastian grabbed him.
Sebastian saw Jacob's hands gently hold his and the boy slowly pulled Sebastian's hands away from his neck. That's when Sebastian saw it. It was staring at himself... his old self nine hundred years ago. In Jacob's deep blue eyes, Sebastian saw an abyss... like the great dark trenches of the ocean where no merfolk dare wondered. These were the eyes of someone who had lost hope. In all honesty, both of them had done unredeemable things but still to lose all hope, purpose...
"Oftentimes I find that it's ourselves who destroy our own hopes and purpose. We are immortal, yes, but if we have no purpose then there would be no reason for our existence..."
Lord Ethan's words rung through Sebastian's mind.
"Jacob... what is your purpose? Why do you think you are still here?"
Jacob looked intensely at Sebastian and said, "I thought I knew... I thought that if I had my revenge against the town then..."
"Vengeance huh," Sebastian uttered in a more lively voice than usual. "I think I understand... I don't know your story but obviously, you thought that by causing pain, by seeing the people you loathe in pain... you thought that it would take away yours."
This time Jacob sat on a rock near the lamp. Sebastian took off his coat and sat next to the young vampire.
"I am sure that you already know how vampires can get rid of their emotions," Jacob said.
"Those who can't cope with the consequences of what they do sometimes have gone down that path, yes, I have heard..."
"Well, the thing is... emotions are a nasty thing; they never really go away. They're always right there, hidden, buried and just waiting to reappear... under the right circumstances of course."
"And your brutal scuffle with Richard..."
"Not just Richard," Jacob quickly responded. "It was everything that happened that day. You know I compelled a seven-year-old girl just so that I..."
Sebastian thought Jacob was going to break down in tears but it seemed he was still far from it.
"Everything I had done up to that time, all the people I had killed, hurt... I felt nothing after I did those things; not pleasure, guilt... nothing. But after Richard stabbed me with the same dagger and at the same spot that my sister stabbed me... It all came back... everything."
"And now you don't know what to do? No good deed can bring back the dead. Wait, where are you going?"
Jacob had stood up and was facing the dark pathway that led to the entrance of the cave. He then looked at Sebastian. There it was; a smile. It was a smile that one would rarely see on a dark creature; one with hope, joy, faith, and at the same time... regret and sorrow. All these emotions were now being projected even from his aura.
After picking up a large brown envelope, Jacob said, "It was fun old one but it seems like this will be the last time we ever see each other."
Jacob disappeared into the darkness.
Sebastian was, once again, alone. He fingers had formed a strong fist and he had to resist and ignore the burning and stinging sensation building up in his eyes. Sebastian knew what Jacob might do and though every part of his being wouldn't let him... he had to use this to his advantage.
Sebastian reached for his black coat and searched the right-hand pocket. He pulled out a small vial. It was time to set everything in motion. The solstice was coming and Sebastian needed to be ready.
He raised his arm and when he pulled it back, a rock shot out of the wall of the cave. Behind where that rock had been was the Orb. Sebastian grabbed it and held it as carefully as he would have a young child. He didn't need to kill the rest of the Ten now that he knew what Ashley was. That must have been why Lord Ethan showed him a vision of Ashley. How Lord Ethan knew about her remained a mystery to Sebastian but he couldn't waste time pondering over that.
He placed the Orb back to where it was. He gently lifted both his hands, focusing on the motion of his fingers and controlled some sand to cover the Orb. Sebastian closed his hands into a fist and the sand hardened into a rock.
"Just wait a while longer master," he said.
Just a while longer.
Sebastian knew the odds were greatly against him. Richard, Claudia, that Hunter, and that Arzyrian... His last hope rested in the contents of the vial that he placed back into the right pocket of his coat.
A few minutes later, Sebastian was standing in the woods. This part of the woods was concentrated with leylines. Leylines were like rivers flowing with supernatural energy. They crisscrossed each other through the globe and the realms much like the way latitudes and longitudes did. Salem was filled with them and wherever two or more leylines crossed each other...
"Atlon tharvis Arzyria!"
... a portal could be opened.
A fiery spiral appeared and a gust of warm wind hit Sebastian's face. It didn't matter whether or not one was a witch or warlock. Anyone provided they were in the right spot and knew the right incantation could open a portal and depending on the magic concentrated in the leylines one could open a portal to almost anywhere.
But that didn't mean that everyone could go through any portal. Some realms required that you bore a certain type of magical marker or signature. This was the rule set by whatever forces existed beyond the understanding of beings like him. Having lived as a Drifter, Sebastian had learned that this was so that realms could protect themselves from beings that threatened them.
The time was coming for his master's awakening and the first place Sebastian had to go to ensure that was Arzyria.
"I am sorry my child," Sebastian said to himself as he walked into the portal. "Looks like your father is going to have to break a promise he made with you all those years ago."