Cumberland (Not A Dream Book 1) (16 page)

We tugged at the rocks, blocking the barricade. They were tough to get off, but as a team, we were not giving up. I watched Olivia stop and pull away to wipe sweat off of her forehead.

              “What is wrong,” I concerned.

              She shook her head, “This isn’t going as planned. Why is the snake not helping with this?”

              “He is helping,” I assured him.

              “Helping? How? Keeping watch for Carolyn and her
disciples
?”

              “Yes,” I said.

              She sighed and went back to pulling at the rocks. Some rocks fell, revealing a square metal object directly behind the rocks. I touched the cold rusty metal and asked my grandpa, “What is this?”

              “It looks like a door,” he answered with confusion in his voice.

              “She must have installed a door and blocked it off with rocks, so it couldn’t be found,” Jack answered.

              The Blue Crow picked at rocks and continued to pile them off to the side, with us. The rocks began to get heavier, but I didn’t seem to mind too much. My focus was to get my parents to safety.

              We finally removed the last few rocks, and I asked Rolf, “Has this always been here?”

              “I am not sure, it is new,” he sighed.

              I looked closer at the door, and there wasn’t a window to peer through. I looked for a door knob, and saw where it should have been is now welded shut. I punched the door in frustration, and walked away to breathe.

              I could feel myself wanting to cry as I said, “I failed. We will be stuck here forever. The Sun is setting.”

              Mason tapped me on the shoulder, “Hey Milly, don’t be so hard on yourself. Besides, look what you did.”

              I turned around and saw the door sit agape. A dimmed light shone down a flight of curvy stairs. As Cumberland was getting darker, the light was getting brighter.

              “Home!” I exclaimed.

              I heard the roar of an engine coming from the trees. I looked to see one Land Patrol truck pulling up in front of us. The snake apologized, “I am sorry, I didn’t see them coming. You guys should go, now.”

              “No, we are not finished here,” I determined.

              Carolyn and her two body guards piled out of the vehicle. The Silver Cobra quietly slithered away, and I told the Blue Crow, “Take your babies, leave! Be safe.”

              I could feel Mayven hide in my shirt, trying to sit still.

              Jack hollered out, “We warned you, Carolyn!”

              “Well, I have a surprise for you,” she smirked.

              She pulled out a huge barrel, from behind herself, and shot it at us. I covered my face, and felt something heavy land on me. I looked up and noticed a net was encasing us. On the sides were heavy metal balls.

              I tried to push up on the net, to free us, and the balls quickly grew spikes, and grounded themselves in to the ground. I could see the sky darkening, as Carolyn circled us.

              She chuckled, “You guys are never leaving here,” and then she slammed the metal door shut.

              “You can’t make us! We will get out of here,” I yelled.

              Holden snapped with a roar, “You will get what is coming to you!”

              She tilted her head back and cackled, “Yeah, we will believe that is true.”

              “Why are you doing this? Just leave the creatures free, and leave Cumberland,” I demanded.

              “Why would I do that?” she countered.

              “They have done nothing wrong to you!” my grandpa snapped.

              “Fine. I will tell you,” she said.

              “Good,” I told her.

              “When I was a little girl, I saw these creatures roam around. No one believed me. I got picked on at school for it!” she began to get upset.               She continued, “Then, as I got older, I joined the CIA. Later, there was an elite group there. Very top secret. More so than the Alien Division, which is a joke by the way. It was the Cumberland Division. I learned everything, and took over,” she began to laugh.

              And then instantly became serious, “Now, I can see these creatures whenever I please. But then I learned about Vampires, because of Holden. He was my first Husband, after Mason was born.”

              I shook my head, “That is horrible. You are horrible!”

              She laughed, “You are too nice, Milly.”

              I squinted my eyes at her, and began to breathe rapidly. I asked her, “Were the parents that raised me clones, too?”

              “Yes. Your mother was first, because I wanted to marry your father. But he was too upset, so I brought her back as a clone. She was never presumed dead, only missing.”

              “What about my father?” I asked her.

              “After your clone mother sacrificed herself for you, it was much easier to marry him. I had two daughters of my own. Ones I made using cloning, of course. And I learned about his life insurance policy. I made him disappear here too. They were both prisoners here. But then I learned that
you
were listed as his beneficiary.”

              “You are a witch,” I claimed.

              She continued, ignoring my comment, “Anyways, I brought him back, as a clone. I wanted him to change the name on it, but the clone refused. They both developed a soft spot for
you
!”

              “Not my fault!” I screamed.

              “Well, nevertheless, his clone sacrificed himself for you, as well. It is fine, though. You don’t know who you really are, but
they
do. Their blood came in hand with my research,” she cackled once more.

              Chills ran down my spine, causing me to ask, “Why don’t you just
disappear
?”

              I heard a noise coming from the trees, and it instantly caught everyone’s attention. Out of the tree tops, the Uffington White Horse appeared. He swooped down, while releasing the talons on his hooves. He kicked, as he lowered towards us, and cut the net free.

              “Yeah! Now that is what I am talking about!” Olivia stated with excitement.

              The Uffington White Horse quickly disappeared on the side of the Onyx Waterfall. We stood there, ready to fight. 

We stood there, watching the sky get darker. I eyed Carolyn carefully, and she screamed, “No!”

              “Yes!” I screamed back.

              “I refuse to let this happen!” she yelled.

              “Well, it just did. What now?” Olivia smirked.

              She reached in her coat pocket and whipped out a pistol. She didn’t hesitate to start pulling the trigger. My parents, Mason, and my grandpa all took a stand in front of Olivia, Jack and I.

              The bullets reached us, and hit everyone in front of us. I watched as they didn’t even budge. Mason stood in front of me, and I tried to look around the front. There, I noticed bullets just bouncing off of them.

              I looked at Jack and Olivia, they just shrugged their shoulders. Carolyn starting making clicking noises with her gun, and threw it down in anger.

              I said to them, “Where did they get those bullet proof vests at?”

              My dad turned to me and said, “Milly, we are Vampires as well. Your mother, me, and your
friend
Mason.”

              Shocked I asked, “That means, I am too?”

              “You have a chance. Your grandpa is only half Vampire. That is why he didn’t turn immortal until old age,” he answered.

              My grandpa smiled, “Hey! I am not
old
, I am crispy.”

              Carolyn interrupted us, “Fine, you guys want to play ball, then let’s play.”

              She pulled out a syringe and I asked, “What is that?”

              “Oh, this? Well, this, my dear, is a mix of Vampire blood, and another secret ingredient. I have tested that if it is directly injected into someone’s vain, they become immortal.”

              “You won’t live through it! You have to be born a Vampire. That is the way it works,” my mom told her.

              Mason and I started charging after her, as she started to inject herself with the syringe. The two men stopped us and held us back as she completed her process.

              We fought to get free but failed.

              “My two body guards were my test subject for this. They are much stronger than you,” she cackled again.

              I growled trying to pry free. Olivia was able to hit them in the head with a rock, and made them let go. One man tackled Olivia to the ground, and I went over to her to try to get him off.

              The other man tackled me to the ground. Mayven popped out and started to peck at his head. My parents teamed up to get Olivia free, and I could hear my dad yell, “Mason, get Milly!”

              Mason tore the guy off and the man grabbed Mayven, and threw it to the ground. I looked over to him and saw he was okay, just a little hurt. But I noticed large movement behind the baby Phoenix.

              I looked up to see the Blue Crow standing there. I smiled.

              I peered at Carolyn, and watched as she transformed. Her blonde hair turned red, and her skin became pale. I asked my dad, “What is going on?”

              “Well, when you are transformed into a Vampire, you become a pale skinned red-head, the most beautiful being there is,” he shrugged.

              “You have a different color hair,” I pointed out.

              “Just because you turn into a Vampire, doesn’t mean you can’t color your hair,” he winked.

              Mayven hopped back up on my shoulder, shaking. I patted him on the head, “You will be okay.”

              Carolyn started to charge after me, “Give me that Phoenix!”

              I held the bird close to my chest and I watched as the Silver Cobra came out of the grass and quickly wrapped around Carolyn.

              “No! Put me down! I need that bird!” she screamed.

              He squeezed her tightly, until a crunch noise came from her. Then, she didn’t move anymore.

              “Hey, you did say she wouldn’t live through it,” my grandpa nudged my dad.

              The two men started shooting at the snake, and out of nowhere, the Blue Crow swooped down and ate the men in one bite. I gasped at the sight, and asked the snake, “Where did you go?”

              “To get help,” he hissed.

              I smiled at him, “Thank you.”

              I turned to my parents and everyone hugged each other. I asked them, “How were you able to make me, if you guys are immortal?”

              “Before you turn twenty-five, you are more human than anyone else. With some amenities, of course,” my mom answered.

              “Also, women are rarely transformed. That is why my wife was transformed into a human,” my grandpa answered with a small tear.

              I hugged him tightly, “I miss her too.”

              The snake broke our moment, “I am starving. Can I?” he pointed down at Carolyn with his tail.

              I nodded, “Go right on ahead!”

We turned to the stairs, behind the door, and watched as the light got brighter. Cumberland started to darken. I turned to the Blue Crow, and Silver Cobra, “Thank you for everything, but we have to go now.”

              The Silver Cobra said, “Wait, you have a few creatures here that want to say good bye.”

              I quickly ran up to Murphy and Alistabell, and Alistabella, “Oh, I will miss you guys!”

              “We will miss you too,” they said hugging me back.

              The ground started to shake, and I soon saw Lester the Big, “Lester! I hope you will be alright!”

              “I will, Milly. Will you visit?” he asked.

              I nodded, “I will, I promise!”

              I looked around and saw sad faces surround me. I could tell they did not want me to leave. I told them, “If I were able to live here, I would. I love this place.”

              Mason held my hand, “We will visit. I want to see more of my dad as well.”

              I smiled at him, “Okay.”

              I looked at Mayven, “Do you want to go home with me?”

              He chirped proudly and started to glow bright red.

              “Grandpa! What is happening to him?”

              “He is glowing because when Cumberland gets dark, his feathers glow bright,” he answered.

              “My own night light,” I joked.

              Everyone started to cry as we started to walk up the stairs. We turned back around, and all said, “Good-bye, until next time!”

              Cumber turned black instantly, making it hard to see the first few steps.

              “Ouch!” I heard Olivia yelp.

              I heard Rolf yelp as well.

              “Are you okay?” I asked.

              No reply.

              “Hello, is everyone okay?” I asked aloud.

              No reply, once more.

              I felt something prick the side of my neck. I pulled it out, and used Mayvens’ light to realize it was a tranquilizer. I tried to yell out, but felt myself drop.