Alex Black: The Vampiric Uprising

Chapter 3

"What did she say?" Jace asked as Alex walked out of the office. "She's all for it, but she refused to let us do it alone," Alex explained as he toyed with the ring resting on his finger. "So now what?" Jace questioned, pulling Alex from his thoughts. "Now we got to find Auria. Then we need to brief her and Tara on the current state of affairs and the way forward," Alex said. "But we don't know where Auria is," Jace stated confusedly. "We do. She went back to Tìr na nÓg to go see her people after the whole Thomas debacle." Jace thought this over for a minute before responding. "But aren't you supposed to be invited into the forest in order to enter?" He asked.

"Yes, you are right. And that is exactly why Auria left me an 'invitation' of sorts. And besides, we've both been there before, that makes traveling to and fro much easier. Remember when Auria explained to us that once you've been there for the first time, you don't need an invitation" Alex explained as he started walking off, but not before taking Jace's hand in his, pulling him along.

"So off we go to an ancient Celtic forest," Jace said with excitement in his voice. Alex looked at him with a smile on his lips. "To find our friend so she can help us kill evil vampires," Alex responded. "Well, that took a very sinister turn real quick," Jace laughed. "Doesn't it always take a sinister turn?" Alex responded with a slightly more serious tone but still smiling. "I really do love you," Jace said out of the blue. "I love you too," Alex responded while squeezing Jace's hand lightly.

"So what exactly is this 'invitation' that Auria gave you?" Jace asked as they walked through the doors of The Academy and into the cold winter air. "It's a trinket that allows me to contact her should I ever need her assistance and she is not around," Alex said as he walked around the building, closer toward the back. He came to a halt underneath a great, old willow tree and took out what looked like a ceremonial dagger except for the fact that the edges were completely blunt. Gaelic words were intricately etched into the hilt with a radiant amethyst set into the very bottom of the hilt.

"How does it work?" Jace asked. "Auria told me that I simply need to focus on her and it will work. I don't know what that means but I trust it will work," Alex explained as he made to sit down on the ground. "I'll leave you to it then," Jace said as he quietly stood and observed. Alex focused his thoughts on Auria and within seconds, the dagger started glowing faintly. "Alex?" Came a familiar voice before a transparent image of Auria appeared. "Is everything alright?"

"Auria, everything alright, in a sense. We need your help with a mission though. Will you be able to come?" Alex asked. "Oh dear, that sounds bad. I'll come right away. Could you do me a favour and stab the dagger into the ground and then stand back?" She said as her eyes darted around as if she was looking for something. "I just need to gather one or two things then I'll be there," she added. Alex nodded and did as she asked. Now standing next to Jace, he watched as the amethyst radiated a bright, purple light. When the light faded, Auria stood in front of them. "Auria! You're here!" Alex exclaimed. "In the flesh," She said with a twirl and hugged both Alex and Jace.

"You sounded quite urgent. What's going on?" She asked eyeing Alex up and down. "Vampires. but we need to find Tara as well. I'll fill you both in on everything once we're all together," Alex said earning a confused look from Auria. "Well then, let's get to it," she said as she shooed them to start walking. "Come on, come on. Get a move on already," she rushed them as they walked back into the building. They entered the building and Alex took out his phone to call Tara. "Hey. Are you busy at the moment?" Alex asked and paused for a moment waiting for a response. "Meet us in the library. We need to talk about something." Another pause. "Alright, see you now. Bye," Alex hung up and the trio made their way to the library.

Not long after their arrival, Tara came through the doors. "Auria? You're here too? Man, this must be bad," Tara said as she approached the table they were all sitting at. "Nevertheless, it's good to see you again," she said as he embraced Auria. "So why are we gathered here today? Please don't tell me my wedding invitation got lost in the mail," Tara jested. After subduing their laughter, Alex composed himself and started the conversation.

"So for the past few weeks, we've been having trouble with vampire attacks. We don't know why there's such a big rise in attacks, nor do we know where their lair, or lairs are. Their near-perfect human-like guise also makes it extremely hard to identify and isolate them from the general populous," he paused for a moment before he continued. "The threat is very real and it is starting to get out of control. I fear we have an uprising on our hands and if something isn't done about it, we will lose our territory."

"Fortunately, Jace and I have come up with a plan. There is a way to track the vampires that requires that I enter the astral plane. That is not the dangerous part of the plan, the next part is where the danger comes in. Once I've figured out where their lair is, the four of us are going to go to their lair and ending them. I initially only wanted it to be me and Jace, but Lorraine refused to let us go in alone," Alex explained. "So are you guys in?"

"Killing some vamps? Heck yeah, I'm in" Tara exclaimed with excitement. "You will be entering the astral plane by yourself?" Auria asked. "That's what I said," Alex stated. "Have you ever visited the astral plane before?" Auria enquired once more. "No, but I'm fully confident that I can do the ritual successfully," Alex spoke with confidence. "You shall not go alone. the way to the astral plane is easy to find, but the plane itself is treacherous and one can sometimes struggle to find one's way back," Auria said. "But I'll be..." Alex started. "You are not going alone Alexander Black, I will accompany you and that's final," Auria ordered

Alex sighed defeatedly. "Fine, I suppose an extra said of eyes won't hurt." Auria had a smug smile on her face. "I'm glad you agree with me," she said, to which Alex gave a faint smile. "Does anyone have any questions?" Alex asked but at that moment the library doors burst open. "Alex, there's been another death!" Lorraine said as she approached them hastily, panic evident in her voice. "Where?" was all Alex asked as he got up and readied himself. "Flower shop downtown, please be safe," was all she said before the four jumped into action. "We will be safe," Alex said as he held out his hands for the others to grab hold.

"Tara, Jace, you hold onto me. Auria, you hold onto them." He said as the four quickly formed a circle, each one holding onto the other. "Oh, we're transplacing?" Auria asked with excitement. "Yes, it's the quickest way right now," Alex explained and in a matter of seconds, they had vanished from the library and were now standing in front of the downtown flower shop.