A Raven in the Hand

CHAPTER 9

The worms that kept on the ceiling began to move together, forming a mound in the middle of the infected area. Kayla moved her lap top out of the way and stood up, the fire ball waiting in her hand. The worms gave her no clue on the type of power, there were surprising so many on this world.

A face began to emerge out of the mass of the creatures, a red face wit the eyes, nose and mouth accentuated in black, not to mention black spots upon the red and a small tuff of black hair on the top of his head. His black eyes seemed to glow with the red light, worms were crawling out of his mouth.

She starred at him, not in fear but in curiosity. As the head descended, showing the rest of his body free of the worms, Kayla recognized the fur around his neck and the wand in his hand. She was surprised to see one of his standing here, one such as he would never leave his village! What was he doing here?

He was more than just a character on the roster, this man was exactly what you saw. This man be, a Voodoo priest! He landed on the floor on his feat, crouched low to the ground but still starred at her. He slowly began to raise himself, his body swaying back and forth, in a serpent dance in a sort of way.

Kayla had battled a few of them in the past, she and a warlock had been traveling in Africa a few years back. They had to retrieve a magical artefact from a Voodoo priestess in a remote village, they succeeded in their task, but it wasn't easy. Their gods definitely existed because the Priestess' prays were answered as she called for their power. The two barely made it out. But what was one with his stature away from his village?

She felt her body swaying with the rhythms of the priest, she remembered that their main deity was a snake, and he bestowed a gift on his chosen, the power to hypnotise. She shook herself free, gaining control over her body and way was natural to her, she threw the ball of living flames straight at the man. But before the fire could touch the magic man, the worms from above released their hold on the ceiling and collided on the ball. They covered the flames as the ball exploded, the worms fried as the fire claimed all of them. The mass of worms had reduced the blasting radius of the spell, keeping the magic man safe. But the ball was closer to Kayla, she was blasted back and had hit the wall hard with her back. She fell on the ground, almost knocking over the table beside her, she was sore but still alive.

She raised her head to see the priest smile from across the room, his two front teeth were missing, allowing a few worms to wiggle though. He pointed his wand at her, the charms and feathers danced as it was moved in tiny circles, he was casting. Kayla was still groggy from the hit, she began to call forth a spell, but from the dark light escaping from the tip of the wand, she doubt she had time.

Suddenly the world turned dark around her, then a flash of searing red waves were redirected around her. There was something between her and the blast keeping her from harm, a someone in fact!

She wasn't in a dark place, as her mind cleared, she noticed a rather large dark body knelt in front of her. She looked up and felt utterly relieve, it was the Undertaker, dressed in his ring clothes, his deep green eyes assuring her.

"Are you ok?" He asked in concern.

"I think so…" she replied as the red light stopped.

The Deadman stood up and turned right around, but the Boogieman was no where to bee seen. The only reminisce of his presence was the burning worms left to suffer an ill fate for their master.

He turned back to Kayla, stretching out his hand to her. She didn't hesitate from his touch, even though it was still cold to the touch. He raised her gently, pulling her close to his frozen body. She couldn't hep but hold on to him, she was shaken by the attack, not being far from her savoir comforted her.

"Are you sure you're all right?" He asked softly, she seemed lost in his eyes.

"I'm just sore, left my guard down a bit." She felt his arms close a little tighter around her, pushing her closer to his form.

She found that she liked being so near him, his icy touch didn't bother her. It was easy to get lost in his eyes, she wondered for a moment if these feelings were what he had thought, or were they just an infatuation for something completely new and unheard of.

"You have a way of making friends." He wiped a little piece of cooked worm off her face ith his thumb as he caressed her cheek, she was liking his gentle touch…

"What the dog-gone hell happened here?" They turned and starred at the door where the angry voice was shouting from.

Teddy Long, General Manager of Smackdown, was standing in the open door way, and he wasn't alone. Stone Cold was standing behind him, as well as was his manager Jennie and a few other wrestlers. They were all looking surprised at the Deadman and Kayla.

"Take it easy Teddy," The dead man grinned, "I was just showing a few tricks of the trade with our new photographer, you know I am a sucker for a pretty face."

Kayla seemed to blush, she tried to hid it by turned her head inward to his chest, pretending to wipe her eyes of something. Until Dave walked into the room. He looked at the two, the embrace they were in was burning a hole within the Animal. He never liked the Undertaker and they had never had a reason to but heads before. Batista was aware that the Deadman would be coming around, looking to get the belt and destroy anyone who got into the way. It was widely known that the Phenom was a master of minds, his head games always gave him an edge over his opponents. He wondered now, was the Deadman starting to get gold fever? Getting close to the animal's baby sister would definitely cause them to but heads, he would not let that monster use his sister in order to get the belt for himself.

"Kay? Why are you hugging the Undertaker?" He was certainly confused with her actions of late, she wasn't acting herself.

Kayla moved slowly away from the Deadman, "He was just…helping me up, I tripped on my heels."

She nervously grabbed her laptop and bag and walked out the room, past her worried brother. Dave looked back at the Deadman, the Undertaker was standing tall and unmoving. It reminded Dave of a dominate male dog in the pack, standing his ground in front of another male.

Batista didn't back down either, he decided to stand at his full height just before leaving to follow his sister and get some answers. She was still walking down the hall with her bag in hand, covered in ash and little bits of meat like substance.

"Hey! Kay, wait up!" Dave shouted at her, she stopped at the sound of his voice.

She turned to face him, her eyes full of worry, "First thing, it's not what you think…"

"Really? It sure looked like you two were getting pretty cozy in there." He replied as he placed his hands on his hips, "What's going on Kay?"

Kayla bit her bottom lip in frustration, she was able to keep her secret from him before without lying, but how could she explain this without revealing it? She was always taught the dangers if one not of the faith would find out that Magic and its likes are alive and well on this world, they just hid themselves from the human world as best they can. But again, she did not want to lie to him, she would have to choose her words carefully to try to reassure him but reveal nothing.

"Alright," She took a breath, "You see, the Undertaker has knowledge…in a non-sexual manner…that I am very interested in. trust me, there is nothing going on between us."

He stood there for a moment, his eyes wide open, "That tells me shit! Kay, that guy is not a nice guy, trust me about this! Those stunts that everyone thinks are so fake? Well, they are real! The fights are real, the blood is real, the pain is real, what you see is real! I've seen the hell, fear, and pain he's put on a lot of wrestlers. He's conniving, manipulative, malicious, and dangerous! You cannot trust that man…Kay, I've heard that the guy dabbles in witchcraft, that's fucken nuts!"

She couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Oh no…he's not into witchcraft, that I know for sure."

"Kay, I don't trust this guy, he's only after one thing with you…"

"Oh come on, Dave…I'm sure he's not after my ass…"

Dave looked confused for a moment, "Not you…I'm talking about the belt! The Undertaker is going to be coming for the belt soon, what better way to get to me is to get his little sister on his side! He'll use you and throw you away like he did with Stephanie McMahon, she was never the same since. He kidnapped her and took her to his church when he was the leader of the Ministry. He kept her there for a week, she doesn't remember the horrors that she went through there. Sane said that he must have done something to her because she can't remember a thing.."

Kay was still with this news, "He kidnapped a woman? Why?"

"It's a long story…" He placed his hand on her shoulder, but pulled away from the squishy feel of the reminisces of the explosion.

"Um…Kay…what the hell is this shit?"

To be continued…