I had a hard time leaving Julius outside, but knowing he could not enter the house was some what reassuring. Although, knowing what Morrigan was doing downstairs was not and made my heart tighten. I made Julius believe I was coming in to save her, what he didn't know is that it was all apart of the master plan. I was merely just a distraction to draw in attention so that Morrigan to have her way with Anabelle while she still slept. Since Nyx knew the tall blond man she offered to take care of him while we worked. We sensed his presence long before we came, though my fit with Morrigan after they drugged Anabelle only caused me harm which was ill due. I felt so guilty for what was about to happen. However, I couldn't leave one of my own kind alone. I had to stay with her, no matter how much guilt and grief I would need to bare. I've watched as my people have been killed off, at least this way, she would still live. She would not be the beautiful maiden she once was, but a counterpart in a larger plan.
I stumbled into the house and fell onto the floor, gasping for breath. My wounds were deep from where the Wolf had cut me. Blood spilling down the crevasse of the wooden floors. I had a hard time pulling myself up but managed to lean up against the wall. Was I doing the right thing? Probably not. But this was for the good of my people. Once Anabelle's soul had been drawn out we could bind it to the new shell which was preserved for her, a pure blooded Danu. With the Danu blood and a pure and innocent Danu soul, such as Anabelle's, she would be a force that no one could control. Her powers would extend far beyond just mind control and seeing into the past or future, she would be able to make things move with her mind, she would be able to plant images and thoughts into your head is if they were your own and she would have an infinite power that only she could control. She could conjure up demons and creatures that only fairy tales had told about and the only person who could rein her in would be Morrigan. We would succom to her but for a moment until she had what she needed. The deal was to give Anabelle to me, to bind us together so that we may raise a large race of Danu to rule over all.
Nyx walked in smacking her hands as if she got them dirty. "Ready?" she asked, smiling at me while I still lay on the ground gasping for breath.
"Is it done?" I asked hoping that she managed to break the bond between Julius and Anabelle. The last link that needed to be severed before we could proceed. The bond was the only thing that kept Anabelle grounded to this human plane.
"It is. He can't come in to save her now. Only one bonded to her could have, but I left that part out," she smiled as she picked me up and balanced me on my feet. "However, he is a Vampyre again, so upon leaving I would beware of him. I don't think he will give up the idea of trying to save her."
"I shouldn't have an issue with that. There is no need for me to travel as a human. I can take Anabelle and simply vanish," I said as we made our way to the door that led to the sanctuary.
"Of course, only after Morrigan has what she wants first, only then can you take her away," Nyx corrected.
The Sanctuary was about twenty feet below ground. A hard place to have birds or to keep creatures of the sky, but it was secure and safe. This is where Morrigan did most of her conjuration and magic works. The smells of the potion she was brewing was fragrant as we approached closer to where she was. The billowing smoke rising up the corridor and through the stairs. It was pungent and strong.
Anabelle was starting to stir, which meant that the sedative was starting to wear off. Soon we would have to at least try to restrain her, she wasn't going to fall victim helplessly. That was the only part of the plan that pained me. As much as I wanted to see my people again and to rebuild my race, the thought of actually hurting Anabelle caused me anguish. She was a gentle soul and I knew that from the horses that she boarded, granted she would fight for anyone in her family or her friends if the need was there.
"Open your eyes," I heard Morrigan say as Nyx placed me on the stool in a dark corner, just out of view of Anabelle. She had walked over and stood behind the witch to watch as Anabelle woke.
"I think she is coming around," Nyx said as Anabelle began to stir. Her head lolled back and forth as if trying to shake off a bad dream.
"Where am I?" Anabelle mumbled and her eyes fluttered.
"Yes, she is coming to. Good. Go get Tristian," Morrigan ordered as Nyx grabbed me and stood me up on my feet bringing me closer to the table where Anabelle lay.
I saw her eyes fly open and she began to thrash around as Morrigan lifted her hand and smacked her hard across the face. "Miss me?" she said as she lifted the table at an angle so that Anabelle was practically standing.
I saw as Anabelle attempted to make eye contact with me, but I averted her gaze. She looked at me as if I was a shining beckon of hope, but she didn't realize that I lured her into this trap. "I'm so sorry, Ani," I softly whispered as I neared her. Her only response was a single tear streaming down her cheek.
"Ahh, you have returned, good, I need you to hold her still," Morrigan instructed as she continued to gaze at the large spell book she held in her hands while she stirred a large pot of fragrant ingredients.
I limped closer to Anabelle and grabbed her shoulders with my hands making sure she didn't thrash around or move. The look on her face broke my heart because of what she was seeing of me now. Hatred filled her eyes as she looked at me before she spat in my face.
"Why?" she demanded.
"It is the only way," I said looking away from her. Nyx nodded her head and Morrigan was mumbling to herself a list of ingredients she would need.
"I thought you were here to protect me, not feed me to the wolves," she cried. "Wait until Julius comes to get me, you'll be sorry then!"
"Well, not exactly. Since he broke the bond between you both, he wouldn't even be able to enter the house," Nyx chimed in.
"Whyare you doing this?" Ani yelled at the dark haired woman.
"Because, we all have goals we wish to seek. Unfortunately, ours involve you being sacrificed for the greater good," Nyx explained to her and walked away to speak with Morrigan. The spoke in hushed whispers as they continued to look back at myself and Ani.
"Why, Tristian? I thought we were friends. I even thought I..." Ani started to say.
"Even thought what? That you loved me?" I laughed. As much as I would have liked for it to be so, her heart belonged to another, I knew it was so. As much as I wanted her to be mine in every way, she wouldn't. That's why it has to come to this. "You don't love me and you never did. I was a rebound where Silas left you, though your heart isn't even with him either, is it?"
I spoke to her as if I slapped her in the face with cold hard reality. She looked taken back by my words and fumbled to find her own. I interjected before she could speak, "It's okay now though. You have no ties to the Vampyre's now and soon you won't even remember any of this. Soon you'll just be mine and we can be together, to build our race back to it's strengths as it was thousands of years ago."
"What makes you think that I even want to be with you?" Anabelle shouted as she tried to squirm some more.
"Because like Nyx said, it is your destiny. It is your destiny to be the most power of all Danu and with you, we can make our race flourish once again!" I said excitedly, pushing the images in her head of the new world we could take over.
"I like my world just like it is, thank you," she said angrily. "You would have me kill my friends, the only family I have just so you can resurrect a dead wife or girlfriend to take over the world because you're angry. No thank you!"
I shook my head. She just did not get it. Her friends and her life now was obsolete. They could do nothing for her. I could give her the world. Literally. She would become one with the preserved body and soon she would find out what it was truely like to be a Danu. Not just a Halfling. She had so little power as the being she was now. But as a Danu, a true and rich blooded Danu, so much could be at her disposal.
"Ready the vessel," Morrigan ordered and I watched as Nyx went into a chamber deep into the darkest part of the room and opened a heavy door to which she disappeared beyond.
It was a few moments later that Nyx came wheeling a table with a shroud over-top. Underneath was the vessel to which Anabelle was to be placed. She continued to try and thrash and move, wiggling to get free. She yelled and squealed, tried to bit anything within biting distance to her teeth. She was like a rabid animal as Nyx wheeled the body next to Anabelle.
"Please don't do this!" she cried as Morrigan removed the shroud from on top of the body.
"Aine," I whispered as the sheath was removed to reveal the woman underneath. She looked much like Morrigan herself except she had long, braided onyx hair. Her skin was pale as a cloud and cold as ice to the touch. Her body was naked and shrouded in a thin veil of golden light that preserved her until the right soul could be found to resurrect her. She was Morrigan's daughter. The ancient Morrigan that I fought against so long ago. She had preserved her only daughter, one to which would replaced her.
Morrigan walked over to the body of her daughter and placed her hands on her face, "My daughter," she said lovingly, "Soon, you shall wake, and soon, you will have what has always been rightfully yours."
Anabelle watched in horror as Morrigan coddled and kissed the maiden of death to her left. She shook and looked to me with mercy in her eyes. "Please, don't let me be dragged into her, please, Tristian," she cried with heavy tears that stained her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," was all I could muster up to say and turned back to my princess that I was to be given. "Are we ready?"
Morrigan smiled and kissed the lips of Aine once more. "My sweet, sweet Aine. I shall see you soon, on the other side."