As Caitlin and Caleb flew over the Israeli countryside, the sun beginning to set and the temperature finally cooling, Caitlin ran over in her head the inscription on the wall.It had read: Where the graves rise, the olive tree has many branches.She’d had no idea what that meant. Caleb explained that he thought it was a reference, a clue that they needed to go to the ancient Mount of Olives, the legendary mountain that sat on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It was a mystical place, he said, part cemetery and part olive grove, and had been one of the most important places of vampire power for millennia. It was rumored, he said, to be home to the most powerful vampire coven of all.They hadn’t stopped flying since, racing towards the Mount, towards Jerusalem. The entire time, Caitlin couldn’t stop wondering if she would find her Dad there. Or the Shield. Or, she dared to hope, Scarlet. She couldn’t get there fast enough.The Israeli countryside below her was breathtaking. As they headed
Scarlet felt herself being pushed and prodded down the dark stone corridor of the prison, as they descended lower and lower into the earth. Her hands were clasped tightly behind her back with silver shackles, while Ruth was led beside her, a muzzle over her mouth. Scarlet was terrified as they went, hearing the distant shouts of prisoners, getting ever closer. They sounded like vicious people, and she felt as if she were being led into the depths of hell, towards an insane asylum.As she was shoved again, hard in the back, Scarlet caught a glimpse of her warder: he was a huge man, with a big fat belly, unshaven, with missing teeth. She could smell his awful breath even from here.“Keep moving, you little brat!” he said.He then wound up and kicked Ruth hard in her back, sending her flying forward, and banging her head into a stone wall. Ruth yelped. There was nothing she could do, though, with the muzzle securely over her face.Their warder laughed. Scarlet felt her rage well up, b
Caitlin and Caleb followed Aiden as he walked down the steep slope of the Mount of Olives, turning amidst hidden paths in the trees. They walked in silence, Aiden several feet ahead.Caitlin was burning with so many questions for him, as always. How long had he been here? How had he known she was coming? And most of all, why did all the clues lead to him? Was he her father?They continued in silence, trailing behind, until they reached a plateau at the base of the mountain, well-hidden by the trees. She watched as he walked right into what seemed like a grove of trees. He disappeared amidst the foliage. After exchanging a look, Caitlin and Caleb followed.As they did, she was amazed at what lay just beyond: nestled amidst a thick grove of olive trees sat a large villa, long and wide. Surrounded by columns on all sides, with wide-open arches, it looked like an ancient monastery, with its clean, simple lines and empty space. Inside was a broad, limestone interior, with a simple courty
As the convicts crowded in around Scarlet, one of them stepped forward, the largest of the bunch. He towered over the others, and he looked to Scarlet liked he was seven feet tall. He was bald, with a huge scar across his nose, and bulging with muscles. He was clearly the leader in here.He turned and faced the others.“She’s mine,” he announced. “My plaything. Mine to torture as I wish. Any of you have a problem with that?”The dozens of faces stopped, and Scarlet could see their fear. No one was willing to challenge him. Clearly, this creep was king of the hill in here. The others slowly slinked away, disappointed but resigned.The creep turned and reached down and grabbed Scarlet with one hand by the back of her shirt. He picked her up high in the air with a single hand, and inspected her as if she were an insect. He was so powerful, he held her as if he were carrying a fly.Scarlet wiggled and squirmed, struggling to break free as she was hoisted in the air and as he walked wi
Sam marched beside Rexius, Samantha and Judas down the cobblestone entranceway to Pontius Pilate’s palace. Followed by a dozen members of Rexius’ coven, they marched like a small army, dressed in all black, right down the center of the stone plaza. It was dark out, late into the night, the walkway was lit by flaming torches on either side of them. They came to a big arched gate, in front of which stood a dozen Roman soldiers.To Sam’s surprise, several of these soldiers had the temerity to step forward and form a wall to block their approach.But the vampires kept marching, never even pausing, and as they did, Rexius merely smiled and held up a single hand before his face. Sam watched as the soldiers suddenly collapsed, slumping to the ground.Sam marched with the others right over their bodies, and he could feel their soft corpses beneath his feet. They continued marching, across the big circular stone plaza, past the Roman fountains, past the perfectly trimmed cypress trees. They
Caitlin ran. She cut through a path in a never-ending field of wheat, the stalks reaching up to her chest, and ran towards an enormous sun, sitting as a ball on the horizon. The sun was just beginning to rise, the pre-dawn light blanketing the sky, and in the distance, she could see the silhouette of her father. He stood there with his hands outstretched by his side, as if waiting to embrace her. In each of his fingers dangled the four keys, glistening in the sun.Caitlin ran with all she had, trying to get closer, but the more she ran, the farther away he seemed to get.The next thing she knew, she was in a desert. She was running up a rocky hill, dust and dirt in her face, the sun beating down on her head. She looked up and saw she was racing towards a huge crucifix, mounted at the top. On the cross was Jesus, crucified, looking down at her.Caitlin ran towards him, wanting more than anything to help him, to bring him down off the cross. But no matter how hard she ran, she kept sl
Scarlet stood in her cell, Ruth beside her, and looked up at the group of people before her. There must have been a dozen of them, and she could sense right away that they were different, like her. Vampires. Except, they were not like her. They had a very different energy—a dark energy. She sensed they had very dark intentions.The guard opened the silver bars to her cell, and now they stood just a few feet away, staring down at her. The guard stepped forward and unlocked her silver shackles, and she rubbed her wrists, happy to have them free. She was tempted to try to make a run for it, to dart past them, between their legs, and up the stone staircase. But she knew she wouldn’t make it. Ruth certainly wouldn’t, either. So she stared back at them warily, waiting to see who they were, and what they had come for.As she looked them over, she suddenly thought she recognized one of them. She did a double-take: could it be him?Scarlet couldn’t believe it. It looked just like him, althou
Caitlin stood beside Caleb, at the base of the Mount of Olives, her heart breaking inside. She had just completed her training and she knew it was time to say goodbye to Caleb.They had to part ways; there was no way around it. Aiden had made it clear that she was needed out there, on the search for her Dad, and that Caleb was needed here, to stay and defend the coven, with Aiden. There was nothing Caitlin wanted less than to have to part ways with him. She wanted him to join her, especially now, on the final leg of her search for her father, for their daughter. She hated her destiny. Why couldn’t they just stay together, live their lives together in peace? Why were they always destined to be torn apart?As she stood there, looking into Caleb’s eyes, she could see that there was nothing that he wanted more, too. But they were both dutiful warriors. They were both loyal to a fault, and they both knew where they were needed. They would not let others down. And they both knew that if Ca