Chapter 1 - Sixth Sense

*Warnings* - Bad photo-shopped cloak

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Riverblossom Hills

Allen - Bison Residence

4.06am

Jane awoke with a startle. ‘What the hell?’  Her eyes quickly scanned the area to find… nothing. Her heart was still racing and she had that splitting headache she knew so well. ‘While I was sleeping… that’s a first’, she mumbled stepping out of bed. Her eyes fell on the window as she made her way to the bathroom. It was still dark outside…

The cold bathroom tiles sent a slight shiver through her body. She opened the faucet and cringed at the sound. Why is it that every sound seems enhanced when you have a headache? Jane splashed some water on her face to calm down. It seemed to help a little. She filled a cup and sipped on the cool liquid, letting the images flow back into her mind.

A shadow… next to my bed… 4.20am… Jane thoroughly searched the image. What does it mean? Was someone going to try and kill me? In my sleep? She looked up at the bathroom clock. It was 4.16 now… The moment she lowered her gaze another flash crept its way up. …There was a picture on the wall… She was starting to get a bit dizzy. I've seen that picture before… 3 minutes left on the clock. But where…?  As soon as Jane recognized the woman in the picture, it hit her. She wasn't supposed to look at the different aspects of the dream image, but instead see it as a whole. The entire room was very familiar.

‘Oh, my God! Grams!’ she dropped the cup and ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the lower levels of the house.

Don’t let me be too late… please… don’t let me be too late… Jane silently prayed.

When she reached her grandmother’s room the door was open. Jane entered just as the shadow from her dream crept beside her grandmother’s bed…

‘Get away from my grandmother!’ Jane said as she, cautiously, moved in on the stranger. The hooded figure turned around, moving away from the bed, towards Jane. He took a swing at her with a sharp object, she couldn't clearly identify, barely missing her skin. As a reflex she lifted her leg and buried it in his stomach. The moan that came next revealed what the cloak concealed. It was a man… Jane’s kick had quite the impact as she saw him hunch over, almost folded in two.

It was a good counter-attack, but it didn't last long. Before she could count to 5 he grabbed her and pinned her to the wall. Trying to fight off the increasing pressure he applied to her neck, she heard a sound coming from the hall and out of the corner of her eye she noticed some movement near the bed. You've got to be kidding me… there’s three of ‘em… She could not take on three people; she wasn't strong enough. Jane started to really get scared when she felt she was slowly slipping into unconsciousness. Oh no, help…

His sudden turn loosened his grip on her neck. Something else had caught his attention. She heard the faint whispering voice of her grandmother coming from the bed. As she gasped for air, she recognized it as chanting. Apparently so did he, because he was trying to make a quick escape. Jane gave him another kick, aiming right between his legs this time. A weak kick as it were, but the impact was better than the last.

Just as he hit the floor another figure entered the room. Jane moved quickly as soon as she recognized her sister. ‘Take my hands, quickly Jules!’

It was then that Julie recognized her grams voice chanting from the bed.  I know that chant…

‘Jules!’ Jane yelled again. Now was her turn to act fast. Julie reached out her hands to Jane’s and white sparks started to appear. Grabbing hold of each other’s hands they joined their grandmother in the chant.

'To be protected from you,
This magic charm we do,
With these words we banish thee,
For you to let us be,
To be protected from your harm,
With light we now seal this charm’

A bright white light emitted from their joined hands. Small at first and growing… and growing until it covered every inch of the room. They heard a spine-tingling scream filled with agony and the sound of shattering glass. Then it was silent…

When the light subsided a few seconds later there was no one to be found. ‘Grams, are you alright?’ Jane was the first to speak after her grandmother turned on the nightlight. It wasn't bright, but at least they could see each other now. ‘Yes dear, I’m fine…', her grandmother replied with a shaky voice.

‘Who was that?’ Julie asked, still recovering from the shock. ‘…more like ‘what’…’ Jane said looking at her sister. She caressed the back of her sore neck ‘… so strong… he just lifted me as if I weight nothing. I’ve never met anyone with that kind of strength before…’

Their grandmother stared at the opposing wall… lost in thought; her mind racing. ‘Well, whatever he was he’s pretty wounded now. That spell attacks anything that we consider to be our enemy’.

‘Yeah, and that scream… No way that spell missed. I guess 3 people do make the spell pretty powerful huh? We got him good.’ Julie smiled proudly looking at her sister. When Jane didn’t respond she followed her gaze…

‘Dammit, seems he got the window pretty good too… just look at this mess!’ Julie growled. She cursed inaudibly and started picking up large shards of glass. ‘Wait, Jules, you’ll cut yourself. Let me get the broom…’ Jane said leaving the room.

Rosalie watched as her granddaughters cleaned up. Being very careful not to show how worried she actually was. She knew they hadn't seen the last of it. Others will come… they’ll come and try to finish the task this one failed to accomplish…

She sighed. ‘So this is it then… This is  how it all begins…’

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Down-Town

Lewis Clan

5.45 am

250 miles from the Astor-Bison residence…

The low ticking sound of the grandfather clock was the only sound disturbing the silence in the room. She heard the girl approach before she even reached the office. Her coming this rude hour meant that there was news.

‘Miss Lewis?’ her voice came from behind, ‘Charlotte just reported in. We were unsuccessful at getting the information needed. He was…uhm…’

‘Hm, let me guess… They roasted him’. Her voice was cold and detached – Stained with disappointment and yet a hint of satisfaction. It’s as if she knew all along what she sent him into and didn’t care.

‘Which spell did they use?’

‘We don’t know – Charlotte said there was a bright light coming out of every nook of the house, but in all my research I've never come across any spell able to do that.

“Hmm!” A sly smile formed on her lips. -Guess I was right. It won’t be as easy as that… Maybe it’s time to shorten a certain someone’s vacation. She won’t be happy about it, but if I want it to be done right, she’s the one to do it… A small chuckle escaped her lips. Revenge has a pleasant feeling even when just thinking about it. I may not have started all this, but I sure as hell will be the one to finish it…

'I guess that's it then', she mumbled to herself. ‘I'm sorry Miss Lewis, did you say something?’

She had forgotten the girl was still there. Had she been thinking out loud? Did she compromise her goal?

“That’ll be all for now, Kat. Please notify me when Charlotte gets back. I need to speak to her” she answered short not once turning around. With a quick and almost unnoticeable motion, she flicked her hand, dismissing the girl.

'Yes, Miss Lewis!' Kat said a little irritated at the motion before starting for the door.

Still gazing out the window, her eyes shifted towards a yellow cat with dark stripes holding a small motionless rodent between his paws. The moment the cat lowered his head to devour his catch, the rodent dodge the attack and ran into the nearest bush – playing dead. What if…

'Did Charlotte see him after the attack?' Her question stopped Kat, who was already halfway through the door. ‘No, she didn’t mention seeing him leave the house. We don’t know if he got out or not, but with the fierceness of that attack, I do think it’s very unlikely.

If he did manage… he could be anywhere!’

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*Note:
Forgive the darkness of the night pictures. The background of the blog made them look even darker.