A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate hearing what you have to say about the story. I know you all don't want me to ramble on and on, so I'll just get on with the chapter already. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Sweep series, that right belongs to the wonderful Cate Tiernan, who created these wonderful characters.
Chapter Three
Morgan
Sunlight suddenly illuminated my once dark room and my sister's high-pitch voice pierced my ears as I groaned and pulled the covers up over my head. I could still hear her telling me to get up through the blankets and I groaned even louder, hoping she would get the message. She didn't. Because the next thing I knew the blankets were ripped from my body and I was blasted with cold air.
I shot up out of bed and face my sister, who was standing there innocently, smiling. "Mary K!" I started reaching for my comforter that she threw on the floor. "It's five minutes after eight. Can't you wait for a decent hour to go shopping!"
Mary K. quickly scooped up my comforter before I could and darted to the far end of my room. "You know what they say, the early bird gets the best deals on all the fashionable clothes." she smiled, tossing my comforter into the closet.
"Who says that?" I asked, running my hands through my hair. It is way too early to have to put up with Mary K's cheerfulness.
"That's not important," she says from within my closet. She suddenly pops out with a pair of dark wash jeans and a blue-striped v-neck sweater in her arms. "Here wear these." She drops the clothes on the foot of my bed and bounces out of my room through the bathroom we share. "Hurry up!" She calls over her shoulder.
About ten minutes later, I am showered and dressed and headed downstairs to get some caffeine in me. I was feeling grouchier than usual and the only thing that could make me feel any better was a diet coke. No, actually that would be Hunter, but seeing as he's busy today and didn't want my help, the soda would have to do.
"Mary K. told me that you two are going shopping today," my mother, Mary Grace Rowlands, said from her spot in front of the stove where she was making breakfast. I nodded, feeling my body wake up after the first gulp of soda. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, hiding a grin, "She also said that it was your idea."
I was saved from replying by Mary K., herself, flouncing into the room, clad in denim skinny jeans, a black cardigan over a soft pink camisole with black ankle boots. She grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and sat down at the table, opposite our father, who read the morning paper.
"I marked off the stores with the best sales, so that you won't have to suffer through millions of them," Mary K said putting a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth.
"Great," I managed a smile, but I found myself excited to spend the day with my sister even if I would be was shopping all day long.
Hunter
"Jeez, what a dump," Sky commented when I turned onto Mission avenue that was on the very edge of Widow's Vale. It was an old dilapidated neighborhood, with rows and rows of apartment buildings. An occasional house popped up here and there. "You wouldn't believe people actually lived here. It makes our house look a like a palace."
I nodded absentmindedly, watching a young woman walk up to one of the apartment buildings holding the hand of a disgruntled toddler and in the other a squirming bundle of a newborn baby. Across the street was an elderly man mowing the grass in front of a small cottage-like house that sat a little ways off the street. Neither one were blood witches, but I asked the Goddess anyway to aid the two in making their lives better.
The farther down we went the apartments turned into empty warehouses, some in better shape than others, but nonetheless abandoned. I sighed, seeing the long line of warehouses. There was no way we would be able to check them all out today. I pulled the car over to the side of the road, we have to start somewhere, and shut off the engine. We sat there for a minute, each collecting our thoughts.
"This one seems in better condition then the rest," Sky broke the silence, pointing to the building we sat in front of. She was right. The building's structure looked solid and not in any danger of falling down.
"Let's go," I said getting out of the car. We made our way up the cracked cement walkway, but before we even got up to the door I could see that it was padlocked. I stopped with a sigh, looked up at the building and started casting out my senses. I felt Sky doing the same.
"There's no one inside now or recent," Sky said, reaching the same conclusion I have. "This place has been empty for a very long time and nobody's disturbed that."
"And there's no lingering traces of magick in or around it," I added before abruptly turning. "On to the next."
We hadn't gotten that far when we were stopped in our tracks by a strange croaking sound. We stared at each other, at the sudden darkened sky, trying to figure out where it was coming from. It continued for a few more minutes until it stopped and we heard the ruffle of wings as whatever it was flew off.
"That was weird," Sky commented, once it was silent again. She pulled her black leather jacket tighter around her, while my brown leather one flapped in the sudden wind. "Must have been some kind of bird, like a hawk or something."
"Or something," I muttered, feeling a chill go up my spine and it had nothing to with the cold.
Morgan
"What about this one?" Mary K. asked, holding up yet another mini denim skirt, but this one had fuchsia flowers threaded onto the pockets. "It's cute," she added, holding the skirt up to her and stepping in front of a mirror.
"It's too short," I tell her, adjusting my hold on the shirts I was carrying. Ignoring me, she draped the skirt on top of my ever-growing pile and moved onto the next rack. I didn't argue with her, I would just put it back when she wasn't looking, like I've been doing for the past hour.
"Okay, I'm done here," Mary K. said suddenly, turning away from the clothes she was looking at and came back to me. "Let's hit the dressing rooms and then we can check out."
"Sounds good," I replied following my sister as she led the way to the dressing rooms.
It was twenty minutes later by the time we left the store. Leave it to Mary K. to try on two different shirts with three different pairs of pants. Add in the numerous times she ran back to get something in a different size for me, even though I had insisted the original one was fine. By the time we had gotten to the checkout line, it was a mile long.
"Where to next?" I asked her.
"The lingerie store," she answered brightly.
I stared at her.
"For you," Mary K. clarified, then added when she saw the look I gave her. "Don't worry it won't be anything to revealing, just a little something to make Hunter hot for you, like he's not already."
Quickly, so that she wouldn't see the blush creeping over my cheeks, I hurried on ahead. "Why did I ever suggest to go shopping with you?" I muttered, but she still heard me.
"Because I'm your sister and you would do anything for me," Mary K. bounded up to me and looped an arm through mine. I smiled, knowing she was right.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By the time we got home, it was mid-afternoon and the back seat was piled high with bags. I had pulled in the driveway and shut off the engine when Mary K. finished a text.
"Alisa's coming over," she said, shoving her phone in her pocket. "She'll be here in ten minutes. I'm going to show her all the new clothes I got!"
I nodded as we both got out and started getting the bags from the back seat. "Doesn't look like mom and dad are here," I mused as we started up the walk to the house.
"They said something about catching a movie today," Mary K. said walking ahead of me. I had just gotten to the door when I realized I had left my keys in the car. Fortunately, Mary K. had her key to unlock the door.
I set my bags just inside the door and then told her, "I forgot my keys in the car, can you take my bags to my room?" She nodded as she continued up the stairs. I hurried outside and jogged to Das Boot. Throwing open the car door, I grabbed the keys from the ignition. That's when I felt it.
Everything went quiet. Dead quiet. My senses tingled as I heard the click of stiletto heels hitting the pavement. I spun around to see a woman standing in my driveway.
She radiated beauty in a simple black, satin gown with long, auburn-red hair cascading down her back. Her bright green eyes, unlike Hunter's, bore right into me, piercing me right to my soul. She had blue markings across her brow and down the sides of her face, making her look like some mystical being sent to earth. But what terrified me most of all was the billowing mass of dark shadows that swarmed around her feet and inched up along her slender body.
"Can I help you with something?" I asked nervously.
She smiled, her scarlet-red lips parting slowly. "You do look so much like your father, don't you?" her voice sent chills down my spine. She moved a few steps closer and I couldn't help the involuntary step back I took.
"You know my father?" I asked her.
She smiled even more. "I know your father quite well and he would like to see you,"
"Well, you can tell him that I want nothing to do with him," I told her. I turned around to go back inside, but before I can move, she's there in front of me again.
"I'm sorry, that's not part of the plan," she said, the smile gone from her face. "If you have a problem with your father, you'll have to take it up with him. I'm no one's messenger."
As she spoke, she held a hand out to the side and raked a long, red fingernail across the palm of her hand. She didn't even flinch when blood dripped from her hand. The shadows around her feet caught the droplet of blood before it hit the ground and wrapped itself around her hand. Her eyes closed, reveling in the feel of the shadows drinking her blood.
I began to call on the ancient Riordan power chant and building magickal defenses as well. The woman's eyes snapped open then, those green eyes, those cruel and terrifying eyes burning right through me.
"Just as he predicted," she spoke and I wasn't sure if it was to me or herself. The power chant died on my lips and I grasped at emptiness for them, but it was no use. They were gone. My mental defenses gone as well.
"Now," she continued and the shadows started to drift away from her and inch toward me. "You are going to come with me, quietly. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your innocent young sister, do you?"
The shadows were within touching distance now. Anger and worry boiled up inside me at the mention of Mary K. "What did you do to her?" I demanded, my voice surprisingly strong.
"Nothing yet," she replied. "As long as you do as I say, she will come to in about an hour, two at the most."
"If you hurt her, I'll-" But I didn't get to finish because of the sudden cold that seeped into my body. I looked down to the shadows enveloping my feet and legs, climbing higher. I tried to kick out with my legs, but I couldn't move, I was frozen in place. I tried to shoot witch fire at it, but it was useless, the shadows just absorbed it.
Meanwhile, the woman laughed. The shadows gripped me harder and it felt like my insides were being shredded. I started to scream, but it died on my lips when the shadows clamped down on my nose and mouth. I could feel myself start to get lightheaded and my vision blurred. The last thing I heard before the darkness claimed me was the woman saying.
"For a powerful witch, you didn't protect your magick better. Someone might come along and steal it."
Mary K.
"Mary K! Mary K., wake up!"
I opened my eyes, feeling like I've woken up from a bad dream. But I hadn't, at least not one I could remember. I couldn't even remember falling asleep. My mouth felt like I'd stuffed cotton balls into it. After blinking my eyes a few times, I could see Alisa standing over me.
"Have a nice nap?" she asked as I sat up. "You were really out when I got here."
"When was that?" I mumbled, not sure if she could hear me. I got up and headed to the bathroom to get a drink of water.
"Only a few minutes ago," Alisa answered following me into the bathroom. The half a glass of water did nothing, my head was still foggy. So, I went downstairs for a diet coke, if it worked for Morgan, it should at least clear my mind.
"Is Morgan out with Hunter?" Alisa asked as I drank the soda.
I swallowed and answered, "No, we just came back from shopping. She said Hunter was busy today. Why?"
Alisa shrugged. "It's just that the front door was opened and shopping bags were on the floor like she left in a hurry or something," she said. A sense of panic filled me as I rushed to the front door. It was closed, but the bags were still on the floor.
"Morgan!" I called up the stairs. I waited a couple of seconds for a response before I called again, this time running up the stairs to her room. I flung the door open to her room. Morgan wasn't here and it looked like she hadn't been since this morning. I tried to remember if I had seen a note Morgan might have left. None.
What happened? I asked myself. And how did I fall asleep when I don't even remember being tired?
"What's going on?" Alisa asked, coming up behind me. I shook my head, unable to speak. I went to my room to get my cell phone and dialed Morgan's number. She probably is with Hunter. I tried to reassure myself. But why wouldn't she leave a note? Especially, since I was apparently sleeping.
The sound of faraway ringing broke me out of my thoughts. It was coming from outside. I looked out my window and saw Das Boot still parked in the driveway and a small black phone lay on the ground next to it.
"Maybe she didn't realize she dropped it when Hunter picked her up," Alisa suggested when she came to stand beside me. But it sounded like she was grasping at straws.
"Maybe," I said as I punched in Hunter's number. He didn't answer. I tried two more times and he still didn't answer. "Come one, Hunter! Why can't you answer your damn phone!"
I sat down on my bed and tried to calm down. Getting upset wouldn't help Morgan. I had to think rational. Bree. Morgan could be over at Bree's house. I quickly dialed Bree's number and waited for her to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Oh, hey Bree, it's Mary K.," I breathed a sigh of relief when she answered. "Is Morgan there?"
"No, she's not," I felt my heart sink as she spoke. "It's just Robbie and I here. Why? Is something wrong?"
"It's Morgan," I told her, on the verge of tears. "She's not here, and she didn't leave a note and her phone is still here. I tried calling Hunter, but he's not picking up and I have this really bad feeling that won't go away. Bree, I'm really scared."
"Mary K., it's okay, just calm down," Bree said, her voice sounding controlled and sure. "Call your parents and stay there. Robbie and I are coming over."
Hunter
"C'mon, Hunter, it's cold, dark, and I'm hungry!" Sky complained as we walked back to my car. We hadn't found any evidence of people, witches or non-witches, or magick in any warehouse we looked in. If it hadn't gotten dark, I would keep at it until I found something. Sky looked back at me when she felt me lagging. "C'mon, you promised me a cheeseburger!"
"I did not," I said when I caught up with her.
"It was implied," Sky replied. "When you asked me to do this with you. Little did I know it was going to take all day." We reached the car and Sky went around the the passenger's side.
"Sky, hold up," I stopped her as I froze in my own tracks.
"Seriously, Hunter, if you don't get in this car now, I am going to put you in myself," Sky sighed, exasperated. "We can come back tomorrow and check out more warehouses if you really want to."
"No, it's not that. Look," I told her and pointed to the tires that were all slashed.
"You're kidding, right!" Sky ranted. I kneeled down to examine one of the tires, while Sky went on. "Of all the times to be stranded..."
I tuned her out and concentrated on the tire. There were no traces of magick and it was slashed haphazardly in two places. It was either done by some random teenager or someone who really didn't want them to leave.
My senses tingled and I felt the presence of many someones. They weren't blood witches, but I could feel power emanating from half of them. I looked toward Sky and said, "Sky, do you feel-"
"They're across the street," she interrupted me, her voice low. "The ones from the vision."
"Are you sure?" I asked her, straightening up and looking across the street. Just like she said, there were a group of teenagers looking lost and disoriented.
"Quite sure, they have the same tattoos," Sky confirmed. Now, I could see the red and blue tattoos on their faces. They all seemed shaken over something, they didn't even notice them. Until a blonde-haired and blue-eyed boy about sixteen looked away from the group and straight at us.
"Hunter!" Sky called after me when I started to cross the street toward the group. She hurried to catch up to me. "What exactly are you going to do? Interrogate them until they tell you everything they know? Hunter, stop and think for a minute." She reached out and tried to grab a hold of my arm, but I quickened my pace before she could.
"I am thinking," I told Sky. "And they know something, I can feel it."
By the time we reach them, the whole group is watching us. A girl with short blonde curls and blue eyes, stepped in front of the group, obviously assuming leadership. She was the only one in the group with red tattoos across her brow and down the sides of face, all the others' were blue.
"I'm Hunter Niall," I introduced myself, extending my hand toward her. "And this is my cousin, Sky Eventide."
The girl shook my outstretched hand greeted back, "I'm Stevie Rae Johnson," she gestured to everybody clustered around her. "These are my friends. Rephaim, Darius, Aphrodite, Damien, Jack, Erin, and Shaunee."
"Pleased to meet you," I replied. "It's awfully late for a bunch of teenagers to be out, especially in this part of town."
"I could say the same thing about you two," Stevie Rae said back.
"Point taken. Okay, first things first, you guys are-" I began to say.
"Well, those of us with the crescent moon outline are fledgeling vampyres," Stevie Rae explained, and then she gestured to herself and the well-muscled brown-haired guy. "Only Darius and I are vampyres with the complete mark."
"Oh, so you're..." I started to say when we heard the same loud croaking Sky and I heard earlier. Only this time, I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.
"There's that hawk again," Sky replied. She turned to me. "Do you think it might be hurt?"
"That's not a hawk," the young native american man with raven feathers braided into his long, black hair, Rephaim, stated. Until now, he had stayed close behind Stevie Rae almost like her shadow. I also noted that he was one of the only humans in the group.
"Okay, anyway, if you guys are vampyres that mean you feed on humans," I gestured to Rephaim and the tall, blonde girl, whose name I remembered was Aphrodite. "Are these two your next meal?"
"Ew, hell no will I be a human blood bag," Aphrodite sneered looking pointedly at Stevie Rae. Then she muttered under breath, but I still caught what she said. "I can't say the same thing about him."
"Okay, we're not completely dependent on blood," Stevie Rae explained. "Some of us crave it a little more than others, but that's it."
"So, what are you guys doing in this part of town?" I asked them. "It's not exactly the scenic route."
A moment later, I felt a small swirl of power surrounding Stevie Rae. It was only there for a second and then it was gone. But it left me staring at her in curiosity.
"Well, Aphrodite," Stevie Rae gestured to the other girl. "She had a vision about a bunch of hostages in one of these warehouses. Actually, we were the hostages, you two included."
I gaped at her. She'd caught me off-guard, something anyone rarely did. "We saw the same vision,"
"Well, shit," Aphrodite muttered.
"How is that possible?" Stevie Rae questioned. I could tell she was trying to mask her shock.
"We scryed using my scrying stone, us and two other blood witches," I stopped when a red BMW sped down the street and stopped by the curb three feet away from us. I knew exactly who it was even before Bree got out of the car followed by Robbie. Both of them looking worried about something.
"What are you doing here?" I asked them when Sky and I walked over to them. I spotted Mary K. and Alisa still in the back seat of the car. "What are they-"
"Hunter, Morgan's missing," Bree interrupted me.
It was like someone had sucker punched me in the stomach and I couldn't breathe. Everything had gone still and silent. I was trying to make sense of what Bree had just said. No, Morgan couldn't be missing, she was home, where she was safe. Slowly, I became aware of everyone around me and Sky's hand on my arm. Probably to prevent me from running off and doing something stupid. Not that I blamed her.
I shook my head. "No, you're wrong. Morgan's-"
"Hunter, listen to me," Bree interrupted me again. "Mary K. called me upset. Morgan wasn't there, but her car was. Along with her cell phone and keys, Hunter, something happened to her."
I was too wrapped up in my thoughts to sense Stevie Rae and Rephaim walk up to us, so I jumped a little bit when she spoke right next to me.
"Excuse me," Stevie Rae replied. "Did I hear you say that someone was kidnapped?"
"We don't know that for sure," I told her.
"Well, our friend was kidnapped and it seems awfully suspicious that another girl was kidnapped too," Stevie Rae said.
"Look,..." But that's all I was able to say before a scream came from inside Bree's car and something crashed through the windshield. There was an explosion of glass, everybody shielded themselves and others from getting glass impaled in their skin. Alisa was able to get out of the car before the creature crashed into it. But Mary K. wasn't so lucky.
The half-man half-bird creature stood up slowly on top of the car, completely unharmed. He stretched open his wings and let out a low croaking sound, sending Bree, who was helping Mary K. out of the car, back toward the rest of us.
"Nisroc?..." Rephaim started to say, taking a step forward. I shot a look in his direction. Stevie Rae put a hand on his arm, stopping him. He gently took her hand off his arm and squeezed it. He turned back to the creature. "Nisroc, what are you doing here? Where is father?"
"What is he doing? Is he one of them?" I asked Stevie Rae.
"It's a long story, for which we don't have time for right now," Stevie Rae explained. "Let's just say he was, but not anymore."
"Maybe you can tell us next time when we're not facing imminent death," I told her and struck out with blue witch fire at the creature.
Nisroc barely spared me a glance. He swiped his wing through the air, dodging the witch fire with one swat. Then, he tucked his wings back in, tilted his head up to the sky and cawed another loud croaking sound.
Suddenly, Rephaim grew a little frantic, rushing toward the creature again. "Nisroc, no! What are you doing?" he exclaimed. "You don't have to do this. There's another way; you don't have to live this way!"
"Guys, I think we should go now," the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy named Jack spoke up. He sounded scared and when I turned around I found out why.
I almost didn't believe what I was seeing. But one look at everybody else and I knew that it was real. There was a whole swarm of those half-men beast flying down toward us.
"Yeah, I second that," Sky agreed from where she stood next to me.
Suddenly, Nisroc jumped off the car and lunged towards us. I put myself in between the creature and my covenates. "Sky, make sure everyone stays together and get out of here!" I told her. After a slight hesitation, Sky listened to me and I heard them all run off.
"What are you doing?" came Stevie Rae's voice. She and Rephaim were the only other ones who didn't run.
"They're not going to go away on their own," I said and turned back to the creatures, a spell on my lips.
"You can't fight them, they'll kill you!" Stevie Rae warned. Her voice was rising, taking on an authoritative tone. "Both of you, let's go!"
I looked from her to the creatures. One more loud croaking sound from Nisroc and my decision was made. "Alright, let's go!" I relented. Rephaim nodded as well. With me leading, all three of us ran in the direction the others went in.
We caught up with the others about a half-block away, looking tired and confused. Sky pushed her way through the group towards me. "This isn't some random chasing," she panted. "They're herding us somewhere."
"We have to keep moving," I replied. "Maybe if we split up in small groups we'll confuse them."
"So that we don't have to watch them kill us altogether, yeah good plan," Aphrodite sneered.
"You have a better one?" I shot at her.
One of the creatures suddenly swooped down toward us, getting a little to close to Mary K., causing her to scream, sent us running again.
"We can't keep running like this," Stevie Rae pointed out. "We need to take cover."
Almost immediately after she said that a warehouse rose up ahead of us. All my senses, witchly and not, told me to stay away from it, but Stevie Rae was right. We couldn't keep running forever, we needed shelter.
I was the first one to the door and thankfully it wasn't locked and I was able to pull it open halfway before it stuck. "Everybody, hurry up! Get inside!" I called to the group. After everyone made it inside, I started to close the door, but it wouldn't budge. The flapping of wings sounded like thunder as the brown-haired guy, Darius, darted forward to help me. Together we battled with the door until it closed with an audible thud, leaving us in pitch darkness.
"Now, what do we do?" Jack asked. His hand must have brushed against Mary K., because she yelped a little in surprise.
Laughter floated toward us from somewhere in the warehouse and there was a faint rustle of wings. Then came the soft thud of boot heels on concrete, coming towards us.
"Who would have thought it was going to be this easy?"
A/N: I know it took me a long time to get this chapter up, but hopefully it was worth the wait. Tell me what you thought and please review!
