Supernatural Tales - Book II

Chapter 3

(Unedited)

An eerie stillness had taken hold of them all...

Iris did not know how long it had been since Ethel's heart stopped, she did not feel alive enough to even compute what was going on. But she knew Antonia had stopped wailing a while ago and her magic and vampire had gone as silent as the night. Through a dazed vision, she could see her mate clinging to Ethel's body and kissing their limp hand, over and over again, yet her ears could not pick up the sound of the words that Athena was whispering to her or feel the touch of her sister's hands against her arms. Beside her, Esme sat just as impassive, her golden eyes duller than ever as she looked right through her palms and tried to understand how her powers could fail her like that, powers that should have saved Ethel. But then, both women quivered when a howl rang through the air around them, it was June's wolf letting out their agony outside the palace, and Esme closed her eyes at last, too numb to even cry anymore.

A strange gust of wind suddenly appeared and twirled around Ethel...

"I-Iris." Antonia felt the mysterious breeze, her heart racing as she clung to her child, and Iris's eyes looked up only to find the strange waft that was emanating a mystical aura as it lingered around Ethel.

"They are not dead." A voice had spoken from somewhere behind them, causing everyone to turn to it at once, and Iris's vampire roared frightfully in an instant before moving to attack the speaker.

However, the moment Iris's eyes found who it was, she halted and her vampire calmed down in a beat while her magic buzzed lowly. It was a girl. Her young face was donned with an innocence that could render anyone intending to harm her a mere putty and she was stood a few feet away from where everyone. Her dark brown eyes, much like her hair, were brimming with anxiety as she tried to not fidget where she stood and the more Iris studied the small girl, who looked almost intimidated under her gaze, the more she did not wish to harm her at all. Iris's magic hummed, trying to figure out who and what she was, and she could not hide her surprise when she failed to do it, it was almost as if the girl was a human. Azure and Sybil must have come to the same conclusions because their puzzlement reached Iris and she breathed deeply.

Iris stepped forward and the girl's big brown eyes focused on her...

"They are not dead!" The girl had yelled before Iris could even speak, she was visibly shaking now, and Antonia stood up with Ethel in her arms before moving closer to her.

"What do you mean, dear?" Ray had asked, her gentle voice coaxing the girl to sigh softly, and Iris would have stopped her from approaching Ethel if she had not looked as terrified as she did at that moment.

"They are not dead. They... They traveled." As soon as those words left the girl's lips, Antonia gasped in horror, and Iris's eyes closed as she clenched her jaw, her vampire growling as her body started glowing with magic.

"Who. Are. You?" When Iris spoke, her magic and vampire spoke with her, their voice bone-chilling, and, surprisingly, the strange girl did not look scared when she turned to them again; her brown gaze deep and warm.

"Who I am does not matter, Queen Iris. The reason am I here does... I am here for them." Nodding to Ethel's unmoving form, the girl had spoken gently, her voice stronger now and Iris's magic hissed when she walked closer to Antonia and their child.

"They are not dead. They are simply... Sad." When she said that, her brown eyes turned gloomy too, and Antonia looked down at Ethel while Iris forced her feral vampire back so she could ask the right questions.

"Why is Ethel sad? Where did they travel to? The future? The past?" Iris was having a tough time keeping her voice in check, Azure and Sybil noticed before moving to her sides, and the girl sighed before shaking her head.