1 The Dead man arrives
I must have fell asleep again because I suddenly found myself in the company of a woman with blue eyes, brown hair that fell in waves to her shoulders and wore a tan spaghetti string dress. Together we sat upon a blanket in a green meadow.
I looked down at myself and saw I wore a white version of the dress the woman wore.
"You must be Angela." The woman said with a laugh, "I'm Shannon Olslin, Madelyn's eldest sister."
"Madelyn's sister?" I exclaimed aloud before I could stop myself. I gasped and clasped my hand over my mouth.
Shannon laughed, "This is Vanaheim. Here, your voice is as harmless as my own."
"Vanaheim? Madelyn's sister?" I exclaimed, "Where am I?"
2 Shannon sighed, "This is Vanaheim, in some people's mind, heaven. As to your other question, Madelyn has four other siblings other than myself. All of us died while we were infants. So we grew up here."
She giggled, "Madelyn visits us on occasion. Julian too."
"So what am I doing here?"
Shannon shrugged, "Sometimes people come here to rest and sort things out without disturbance."
I shrugged and went along with it. "Okay, you know what's going on right?"
She nodded, "A djinn has sent you on a journey of discovery through your dark family past."
"Fine. I know that my mother played a Game with these evil things and lost. She had a relationship with one, got this special binding ring, got out somehow."
"Or was released." Shannon interjected.
I speared her with a glance, "Then dad takes someone from her, makes her run away from him into the arms of an obsessed vampire and gets killed."
"Now all you have to do is find out who your father took from her." Shannon said quietly.
I made an ugly sound in that pretty place. "Well that's *real* easy. Find out who vanishing would make her be so freaked out about Daddy to send her running into the night."
"And I wager you have an idea." Shannon said with a slow smile.
"Not really, just a weird dread that it might be a child."
Shannon's eyebrows arched, "Really."
I nodded, "I remember two lullabies my mother sang."
"Pre-birth memories, fascinating."
I shot Shannon a dirty look and continued, "One was *my* lullaby, Pretty little horses."
"How do you know it was yours?" Shannon demanded.
"Because my aunt told me! Now shut up." The woman was taken aback and wisely remained silent.
"The other one was Baby dear—or at least the second verse of it." I revealed. "Auntie Florence says that all of my mother's children each have a lullaby that was theirs personally. Mine was the horse one and Branton's was Rock-a-bye Baby."
Shannon nodded, "So logic dictates that the mysterious lullaby belongs to a sister or brother."
I nodded and frowned, "But why did Daddy take one of his children away from Mommy?"
Shannon shrugged as I was jarred awake by the phone ringing. I let the machine pick it up.
"He's coming, Taliesin." Said a slithery voice. "He's coming-- for you."
I shuddered as the caller hung up and the phone rang again.
"He's coming up to the gate, Taliesin." The voice said a moment later and hung up.
I slowly rose to my feet and I watched as the phone rang again.
"He's coming up the lawn, Taliesin." The voice informed me and giggled, a hideous mixture of a snake's hiss and hyena's cackling. "He's coming -- for you."
I was getting tired of this crap and knocked the phone off the hook then climbed up inside the chimney.
Obviously the caller wasn't human because the phone rang and again the machine picked up.
"He's at the door, Taliesin and hiding will do no good." It said then giggled again. "He's-coming-for-you!"
I heard someone bang on the door and then the cliché creaking of the door opening.
The phone rang and the voice announced, "He's heeeereee."
I heard the sound of his footsteps. Thud. Squish. Drag. Thud. Squish. Drag.
The smell of rotting flesh flooded my senses and made me silently gag. I heard the sound of wheezing and realized the creature was trying to breathe.
The creature's footsteps drew closer and it stepped inside the room with me. Its stench exploded and became ten times stronger. It was so vile that I almost lost my footing and fell down the chimney.
The weird rasping became loud thunder to my ears. I heard glass in the room rattle as I sensed it hunting for me.
Over all the noise and rattling, I heard a sound that chilled me to the bone. My name, coming from the fiend's mouth.
The others arrival an hour later coincided with the creature slipping away. It knew where I was but was happy to wait for me to come to it. I think it even preferred it that way.
Everyone stepped in the room as I slipped down the chimney in a cloud of soot.
"Angel what are you doing in there?" Joan demanded helping me dust off.
Something is here, I think it's my Dad, I told Damon, who immediately got a stern face.
"We have a problem. Robert's here." He told everyone.
Joan gulped. Stefan and Elena exchanged looks. Florence fanned herself while Madelyn and Julian were up to the challenge.
We split into teams and searched wings. Joan and Madelyn went north. Stefan and Elena went east. Julian and my aunt went west and that left the south half of the house for Damon and I.
What did you find in the records, I asked Damon as we scoured the first half of rooms.
"Baby Boy Taliesin, currently age is seventeen. Born today at midnight on the dot."
So the babies in the locket are my brothers, I thought. And Baby Dear is his lullaby.
"What about a lullaby?" Damon inquired wryly. I have got to stop thinking so hard.
Nothing Damon, I replied just as the stench hit us.
Robert's close, he told me trying not to gag.
We followed the scent through a maze of hallways and rooms. The stronger the scent became, the closer we came and the more familiar our surrounds got.
I spotted the dresser I left blocking Damon's door splintered in the hallway. Damon assumed the shape of a crow as I took the form of a vixen and both of us slipped inside.
What I saw shocked me.
TO BE CONTINUED…
I must have fell asleep again because I suddenly found myself in the company of a woman with blue eyes, brown hair that fell in waves to her shoulders and wore a tan spaghetti string dress. Together we sat upon a blanket in a green meadow.
I looked down at myself and saw I wore a white version of the dress the woman wore.
"You must be Angela." The woman said with a laugh, "I'm Shannon Olslin, Madelyn's eldest sister."
"Madelyn's sister?" I exclaimed aloud before I could stop myself. I gasped and clasped my hand over my mouth.
Shannon laughed, "This is Vanaheim. Here, your voice is as harmless as my own."
"Vanaheim? Madelyn's sister?" I exclaimed, "Where am I?"
2 Shannon sighed, "This is Vanaheim, in some people's mind, heaven. As to your other question, Madelyn has four other siblings other than myself. All of us died while we were infants. So we grew up here."
She giggled, "Madelyn visits us on occasion. Julian too."
"So what am I doing here?"
Shannon shrugged, "Sometimes people come here to rest and sort things out without disturbance."
I shrugged and went along with it. "Okay, you know what's going on right?"
She nodded, "A djinn has sent you on a journey of discovery through your dark family past."
"Fine. I know that my mother played a Game with these evil things and lost. She had a relationship with one, got this special binding ring, got out somehow."
"Or was released." Shannon interjected.
I speared her with a glance, "Then dad takes someone from her, makes her run away from him into the arms of an obsessed vampire and gets killed."
"Now all you have to do is find out who your father took from her." Shannon said quietly.
I made an ugly sound in that pretty place. "Well that's *real* easy. Find out who vanishing would make her be so freaked out about Daddy to send her running into the night."
"And I wager you have an idea." Shannon said with a slow smile.
"Not really, just a weird dread that it might be a child."
Shannon's eyebrows arched, "Really."
I nodded, "I remember two lullabies my mother sang."
"Pre-birth memories, fascinating."
I shot Shannon a dirty look and continued, "One was *my* lullaby, Pretty little horses."
"How do you know it was yours?" Shannon demanded.
"Because my aunt told me! Now shut up." The woman was taken aback and wisely remained silent.
"The other one was Baby dear—or at least the second verse of it." I revealed. "Auntie Florence says that all of my mother's children each have a lullaby that was theirs personally. Mine was the horse one and Branton's was Rock-a-bye Baby."
Shannon nodded, "So logic dictates that the mysterious lullaby belongs to a sister or brother."
I nodded and frowned, "But why did Daddy take one of his children away from Mommy?"
Shannon shrugged as I was jarred awake by the phone ringing. I let the machine pick it up.
"He's coming, Taliesin." Said a slithery voice. "He's coming-- for you."
I shuddered as the caller hung up and the phone rang again.
"He's coming up to the gate, Taliesin." The voice said a moment later and hung up.
I slowly rose to my feet and I watched as the phone rang again.
"He's coming up the lawn, Taliesin." The voice informed me and giggled, a hideous mixture of a snake's hiss and hyena's cackling. "He's coming -- for you."
I was getting tired of this crap and knocked the phone off the hook then climbed up inside the chimney.
Obviously the caller wasn't human because the phone rang and again the machine picked up.
"He's at the door, Taliesin and hiding will do no good." It said then giggled again. "He's-coming-for-you!"
I heard someone bang on the door and then the cliché creaking of the door opening.
The phone rang and the voice announced, "He's heeeereee."
I heard the sound of his footsteps. Thud. Squish. Drag. Thud. Squish. Drag.
The smell of rotting flesh flooded my senses and made me silently gag. I heard the sound of wheezing and realized the creature was trying to breathe.
The creature's footsteps drew closer and it stepped inside the room with me. Its stench exploded and became ten times stronger. It was so vile that I almost lost my footing and fell down the chimney.
The weird rasping became loud thunder to my ears. I heard glass in the room rattle as I sensed it hunting for me.
Over all the noise and rattling, I heard a sound that chilled me to the bone. My name, coming from the fiend's mouth.
The others arrival an hour later coincided with the creature slipping away. It knew where I was but was happy to wait for me to come to it. I think it even preferred it that way.
Everyone stepped in the room as I slipped down the chimney in a cloud of soot.
"Angel what are you doing in there?" Joan demanded helping me dust off.
Something is here, I think it's my Dad, I told Damon, who immediately got a stern face.
"We have a problem. Robert's here." He told everyone.
Joan gulped. Stefan and Elena exchanged looks. Florence fanned herself while Madelyn and Julian were up to the challenge.
We split into teams and searched wings. Joan and Madelyn went north. Stefan and Elena went east. Julian and my aunt went west and that left the south half of the house for Damon and I.
What did you find in the records, I asked Damon as we scoured the first half of rooms.
"Baby Boy Taliesin, currently age is seventeen. Born today at midnight on the dot."
So the babies in the locket are my brothers, I thought. And Baby Dear is his lullaby.
"What about a lullaby?" Damon inquired wryly. I have got to stop thinking so hard.
Nothing Damon, I replied just as the stench hit us.
Robert's close, he told me trying not to gag.
We followed the scent through a maze of hallways and rooms. The stronger the scent became, the closer we came and the more familiar our surrounds got.
I spotted the dresser I left blocking Damon's door splintered in the hallway. Damon assumed the shape of a crow as I took the form of a vixen and both of us slipped inside.
What I saw shocked me.
TO BE CONTINUED…