Chapter 9

Pride

Kara woke alone, bought out of a dead, dreamless sleep by her mobile 'phone buzzing on the table beside her. The noise seemed deafening after the emptiness of her sleep and her waking felt sudden and violent.

The call came from Alice's parents and though she felt a knot of dread, she answered it quickly...

Upstairs, Chris was stood by the Book reading about the clan of Tantrix demons and how the effects of the Thrall were broken.

Tantrix Clan

The Tantrix demons are groups of female demons known as Clans.

The are primarily led by Clan Planners who co-ordinate the various groups.

However Tantrix demons are more heirachical than most demon groups, with each Clan leader reporting to a Tribal Queen, who has overall control of all the Clans.

Their main weapon is a form of mind control, which convinces the, generally male, subject that he is deeply and immediately in love with the demon in question.

There are only two known ways to combat the Thrall. If a person is already secure in a love, the Thrall cannot touch him.

A strong but unconfirmed attachment, combined with the desire to keep the object safe from harm is known to save a person from the effects of the Thrall.

Chris let the Book fall shut and turned to leave the attic.

Downstairs Kara put the phone down heavily, dropped backwards onto the sofa she'd been sleeping on, finally allowing her tears to fall.

Her grief rose in great gulping sobs that drove through her with such violence that they hurt her chest. The call she had just taken confirmed what she had feared. That this wasn't all a bad dream. She wasn't going to be woken by the sudden bleeping of her electronic alarm, to find it was actually three days ago and Alice had left her towels all over the bathroom floor as usual. That 'phone call meant she was already awake and that Alice was dead.

That 'phone call had come from Alice's parents to say that the police had released her body for burial and that they would like Kara to accompany their daughter's body home.

Kara had agreed readily and faced with this reality, with a heavy heart she had ended the call, and after controlling her emotions, rose to tell her new friends and employers the news.

"Piper?" She called to her boss who was busy in the kitchen

"Hmm?"

"That was a call from Alice's parents. The police have released her body and her parents want me to take her home. To Staffordshire. In England." she began to talk quickly, babbling "And I don't really know how long I'll be. Or what I'll do if any more demons show up. She blinked back more tears at the thought and looked helplessly at Piper go.

Chris had once again been listening at the door way and he stepped into the room to stand at Kara's shoulder.

"I'll go" he said quietly, he cleared his throat and repeated himself, louder this time "I'll go."

Kara turned and smiled gently at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you." she said quietly.

Piper spoke then. "Kara, why don't you go and take a shower then see if Mel has some clothes you can borrow to go to the police station in?"

"Thanks Piper."

"Don't thank me yet Mel hasn't leant you any clothes yet and she's not great at sharing the decent stuff." Piper smiled and spoke jovially.

Kara smiled as best she could and and turned to go up the stairs to the unoccupied bathroom. Piper called her youngest son to her.

"Chris, honey, you know this wasn't your fault don't you?"

"Isn't it? If she hadn't have met me..."

"Then, you, middle child, would probably be dead and the Rising, whatever it was would have happened. Anyway by the sounds of it whatever deal she made with her sister to guarantee her safety seemed to be called off when her sister became Clan Queen. I wouldn't think about it honey. You've offered to be there for her and I'm proud of you for that." Piper leaned over and kissed the side of his head "Really proud." She dried her hands on a tea towel and left the kitchen.