The Day of Legion (19 page)

A set of stairs from the kitchen led to a second floor, with four doors leading off. Amanda pointed to the last two doors and told them that they could each have a room. David suggested they freshen up, before deciding what to do next.

Patricia used the shower first, leaving Amanda and David below. She loved it as the water washed away the dirt and grime of the last day. Despite what had happened, the danger she suddenly found herself in, she knew she would sleep well. This place had an energy she hadn’t felt in years.

* * * *

David made sure Patricia was in the shower before he spoke to Amanda.

“How is he?” he asked.

Amanda shook her head. “He’s okay, but he’s scared. I can feel the danger and it’s nothing I’ve ever felt before. Are you going to tell her?”

David nodded. “Dad trusted her and said she’s a seer. She’s in the thick of it like us, so she deserves to be told. I’ll tell her after I’ve cleaned up.”

* * * *

Half an hour later, Patricia was sitting on the sofa. She wore fresh clothes from one of the bags and felt wonderful. David sat next to her, and Amanda sat in one of the chairs opposite. She handed Patricia a cup of tea.

“This looks ominous,” Patricia said.

“It’s time you know the whole story,” Amanda told her. “This is just beginning.”

Patricia nodded. She knew this was coming, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Amanda continued. “As you know, for generations our family has been fighting the dark forces that surround us all. For some reason, we were chosen, and the lineage has carried on, with the gifts in some cases getting stronger. Albert is a perfect example. He could read people and see the darkness like no other in our family. I can communicate to those who have passed and David can predict some of the actions of the darkness. Others not in our family have also been given these gifts.”

“As a result, the darkness has targeted our and their families, and has suddenly become far more active. They are systematically destroying our ability to resist its forces. Jason Hansen is a gifted individual, but not so much that he would be targeted the way he was. We think there is something the darkness knows that we don’t, and is working its way toward an end that may destroy us all.”

“Where you fit in, I don’t know, but Albert certainly felt you; that’s why he sent David to you when you became Jason’s doctor. You know you’re in danger because of what’s happened, but we don’t know your role yet.”

“I have to ask something,” Patricia said. “I was going to ask Albert, but never got the chance. You keep saying darkness and light. Are we talking about God and Satan? What do you mean by it all?”

Amanda moved to the edge of her seat. “There are certainly forces more powerful than we can imagine; some pure and righteous and some deeply sinful. Some religions call them God and Satan, but there are many names. The common thread is good versus evil; a battle perpetrated by the darkness to control man. Man was created for good, but due to his nature darkness developed and took a powerful form of its own. That form despises all that is good and right. Now it wants to destroy all good, and since its ‘birth’ it’s fought a battle with the light. The darkness feeds on the spirits of evil people and lives off the energy created by evil acts. It’s also weakened by the acts of good people–love and kindness.”

“It’s a battle that may go on forever, but what’s important is keeping the balance in favor of light. There are many times in history where the pendulum has swung too far toward darkness–world wars, ethnic cleansings, famines, diseases, civil wars. Some places are battling darkness all the time. Those people who have a propensity towards bad behavior are encouraged and watched over by dark angels from the day they’re born. For an act to be truly evil, the person has to make the conscious decision to commit the deeds, but the influence and presence of the dark angels is usually enough to encourage the evil-minded. They feel the power and urges and are soon deep into something they relish.”

“Luckily, the light is far stronger and is prevalent in most of us. The majority of us are inherently good and, although we make mistakes, we go about our lives creating light energy as we go, but evildoers are growing in number. Morality is eroded away by our actions, and things we used to find objectionable are now acceptable.”

“We know that the darkness is getting stronger and wants certain people out of the way, but at this point we don’t know why just those people. We can sense darkness getting stronger, angrier and more desperate. All we can do is keep fighting it.”

David cleared his throat. “As Amanda said, we know they’re after certain people and we have to protect them. I need to show you something.”

He stood up and motioned for them to come with him. They followed him outside to one of the other cabins. It was very small; Patricia suspected it was a bedroom, perhaps a guest house for when the main cabin was full.

David opened a trap door in the ground, exposing stone steps leading down. He stepped in. Patricia followed down thirteen steps and found herself in a huge room. It was lit by bulbs strung along the length of the wood ceiling. Thick wood beams crisscrossed above them, holding up the underground ceiling.

Shelves lined two walls, holding what looked like thousands of books of all sizes. Some looked modern, but most were old and leather-bound.

Three rows of large wooden chests of drawers stood in perfect lines and went the length of the room down the centre. The drawers were all closed and had round metal rings for handles. Against another wall was one row of wooden cupboards. They looked as though they had been there forever.

“What is this place?” Patricia asked.

David didn’t answer, but motioned for her to a door on their left, which she hadn’t noticed. As they got closer, Patricia could see a dim light shining underneath.

David swung the door open. It showed a room about half the size of the previous one. There was a large wooden table in the center. Thirteen chairs surrounded it. In front of each chair was a thick leather book. Each book was identical and tied closed with a thin leather strap. A wrought-iron candelabra sat in the center of the table and was nearly the length of the table. It held twelve white candles, and one black candle at the far end.

The table was made of thick oak and obviously very old. The wood was marked by use in most places. It looked handmade, with intricate carvings of angels on each leg.

The chairs were made of the same wood, and were covered in carvings of angels and strange symbols that looked familiar to Patricia. She found herself staring at them, trying to remember where she had seen them before.

Her attention was then drawn to the books. The covers were thick, brown leather and each book was about six inches thick. On each cover was the embossed picture of a small boy surrounded by angels. They were covering him with their wings as he cowered on the ground. The angels were looking above, as though waiting for something to fall. The leather covers were cracked and dry.

At the end of the room were two doors. David opened the second one. This led to another large room about fifteen feet across. It was set up as a living area and had a large flat-screen television in one corner with a Playstation attached. A long, plush sofa was in front of the screen, with reclining chairs around the room. A small lamp table sat in the corner with two chairs on either side. The lamp was on, and a book lay open on the table. A pair of silver eyeglasses sat on the pages.

It was the complete opposite of the previous rooms. They were ancient stone and wood, filled with books and artifacts with a historic feel. This room was warm and bright, much like a family room of a modern house.

In the far corner Patricia could see two figures. Both were small, one smaller than the other. The larger of the two turned around. It was a woman. She was wearing a brown hooded robe with the hood obscuring most of her face, but Patricia could just see her feminine features.

The second figure turned and smiled. It was a small boy. Patricia stepped forward to get a closer look. Patricia looked at David. “You took Jason Hansen?”

David nodded. “We had to. You’ve seen what we’re up against, the attack on him and his mother, his father and you. We had to protect him. We can see now why the darkness sensed him. He has a force in him like we’ve never seen before. He will grow to be a powerful enemy of the darkness.”

“You can’t just take him,” Patricia said, walking toward him.

“He has no living family members,” Amanda said to her. “He would have been put in a home and been vulnerable. Look how they got to you in your home. If we hadn’t protected him, he would be dead by now.”

Patricia didn’t say anything. She knew they were right. Jason got up and walked across the room to her. He looked well. He was clean and in pajamas and a dressing gown, ready for bed.

“I want to examine him,” Patricia said. “Make sure he’s all right.”

“He is fine,” a quiet voice said.

Patricia jumped. The woman had moved quietly and now stood next to her. She slipped the hood exposing her face. Patricia stared.

“This is Elizabeth,” Amanda said.

Patricia still stared. She couldn’t take her eyes away. Elizabeth was incredibly old. Her wrinkled skin was white, almost opaque. Her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were snow-white and her eyes glowed.

She had grey eyes, with the darkest, deepest pupils Patricia had ever seen. As she looked, Patricia could feel an incredible amount of love and compassion, calmness, serenity. She reminded Patricia of an angel she once dreamed about.

The old woman took her hand and held it tightly. Her skin was warm and her grip comforting. Patricia could feel emotion start to build inside her, suppressed for years. Sadness, fear and dread, full of danger and secrets, power and purity, light and dark, depression and happiness.

“I’ve been here before,” she found herself whispering.

Elizabeth smiled. “Yes child, you have.”

David and Amanda looked at each other, confused.

“Patricia, you were here just like Jason is now. David and Amanda were also here for a while in their youth. The only difference is, you were sent back out into the world to hide among others, so that you could be called upon when the time came. That time is drawing nearer every day. David and Amanda stayed with Albert and continued the fight, as have other people through time.”

“I don’t understand,” Patricia said. “My parents knew about this?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yes, eventually they did. They noticed things about you when you were a toddler and sought answers. That brought them to Albert, here at the sanctuary. They knew that this was the best place for you, because the darkness was already circling you, waiting for the opportunity to either claim you or kill you. Your parents weren’t seers, but they could sense an evil presence in the room when you were sleeping. They tried many things to protect you from the swirling blackness around you, but nothing seemed to work.”

“One day they brought you here, and said goodbye. You were a tiny child, frightened and shaking, but even at a young age you knew there was something big you were a part of. Your parents left you here and drove home, knowing they might never see you again.

“They were still driving the next day when they were rammed off the road by a truck driven by an evil man. He was being guided by his dark angel, who was looking for you. He killed your parents.”

Tears ran down Patricia’s face. As Elizabeth talked, she remembered. They were vivid memories and as clear as if they happened yesterday. Her mind opened a floodgate of all of the suppressed memories, and they were pouring through; memories she had hidden away in a part of her mind.

She had to close her eyes. The memories were painful, but necessary, she could see that. She saw herself as a child of three, standing in front of the main cabin outside, holding Albert’s hand. He was much younger, strong and capable. Her mother and father were standing by their car, waving. She waved back sadly. They got in the car and drove away. Their faces were wet with tears and her mother leaned on her father’s shoulder as he drove down the winding road, through the pine trees.

Patricia remembered them now, driving away from the sanctuary. She saw them as they experienced their tragic accident. Next, she found herself in the cab of the truck as it crashed into her parent’s vehicle. The man at the wheel was a skinny, greasy, evil-looking man, who was smiling and happy in what he was about to do. A dark figure sat next to him, leaning in slightly and whispering in his ear, encouraging him.

Patricia turned and looked into the sleeping area of the cab behind the driver. The body of a young female lay on the mattress, lifeless and cold, naked. Patricia could sense she had been raped and strangled by the driver, that it was a slow, painful death.

She could see into his mind. It was cold and dark, devoid of love. He had killed many times before, all young females. All were prostitutes he’d lured into his truck with the promise of money, or a ride, or sex. He’d raped and tortured all of them and buried them along his routes he drove.

He didn’t consider driving a truck as work, just his cover. His life’s work was killing and raping as many sluts as he could. He loved the power it gave him and the fear his victims felt. He hoped his bitch mother was burning in hell, watching him seek revenge on her and all those like her.