|
|
 |
 hen they awakened in the morning, however, everyone felt refreshed and
ready for a day of lazing by the pool. Marc, Maya and Sarah decided to go
into Bangkok for the day, but the others all decided to stay at the hotel
and relax for a while. They had breakfast in the restaurant together, then
Marc, Sarah and Maya left. Jade leaned back in her chair.
"So what are we going to do today?"
"I'm going to lay by the pool," Kat replied. "All day. I'm going to
*enjoy* being here."
"I think I'll join you," Nicole said with a grin. "I got chatted up 5 times
yesterday, this promises to be interesting."
Everyone at the table laughed.
"I was reading the pamphlets in the room this morning, and there's a gym on
the ground floor of the building behind ours, and all guests can use it,"
said Leo. "I was thinking about having a work-out, before spending the
afternoon by the pool with Kat."
He smiled at her.
"Good idea," said Jade, "I think I'll join you. I'm still kinked up from
the plane trip. Dazz?"
"Yeah, I'll come. I haven't been to the gym in ages."
Jade stood up.
"Ok then. Let's go, shall we?"
Jade, Leo and Dazz left, leaving Kat and Nicole at the table.
"Looks like it's just you and me, Nic," laughed Kat. "What do you say we
lounge over breakfast a little longer before we go to the pool?"
"Sounds good to me."
A few moments later, a young man in a pin-stripe suit and a fedora came over
to their table.
"Miss Kate Porter? My name's Rob Pollard. Come with me, please."
He opened his jacket to reveal a silenced 9mm automatic pistol.
"Um... actually, no," replied Kat. "I think you have the wrong people."
"Oh, my mistake," he said, as he tipped his hat and stepped back.
He walked away without a second glance.
"On second thoughts, let's just get the bill," suggested Kat, signalling for
the waiter.
"Pity," murmured Nicole. "He was sort of cute."
***
In the gym, Jade, Dazz and Leo were exercising the kinks out of their
bodies. The gym was almost empty, there was only 3 other people in the
room, and two of those worked for the hotel. As such, they felt fine about
talking freely.
"Have you dropped your amulet, Dazz?" asked Jade.
"Frequently," he muttered, feeling somewhat out of shape compared to Jade
and Leo, whereas he was actually in fine physical form.
"In dirt, I mean. Buried it."
"Nope."
"Maybe we should do that."
"Why?"
Jade explained what had happened to hers when she'd dropped it, and what had
happened when she and Kat had held a flame near Kat's. Then Leo explained
what had happened in the shower with his. He also mentioned that it
activated slightly with his sweat, and had also activated in the pool the
previous day.
"That's curious," Jade said. "Mine hasn't done anything else since Kat
dropped it."
"Maybe because you haven't dropped it," Leo replied with a grin.
Darryl shrugged.
"There's a pot plant just there. I'll go bury it, and see what happens."
Jade and Leo joined him as he did, and Jade was pleased to see a faint green
glow from the amulet.
"Well, that holds out the theory that the amulets activate when near their
element," Jade mused. "I wonder what *else* they do."
***
Around lunch time, Jade, Leo and Dazz emerged from the gym and went
wandering around the pool until they found Nic and Kat. They found the
girls getting massages from a couple of Thai men by the pool.
"Hmm, that looks good," said Jade with a grin to Dazz.
"*I'll* take care of it," he promised, and Jade laughed.
They approached Nic and Kat, and dropped their towels on spare near by
benches.
"Hi there," said Jade. "As good as Dad?"
"Mmm, no... But not as expensive as Dad either, and it definitely gets the
kinks out!"
"And you wouldn't *believe* how good he is with his hands," Nicole added.
"In the cleanest possible way, of course."
Jade and Kat both laughed. Darryl gave Leo a bemused look, and shook his
head.
"I'm going swimming," announced Jade. "Coming?"
"Yes," agreed Darryl instantly.
"No," Leo replied, watching Kat. "I'll wait."
Jade raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't comment. Then Darryl pushed her
into the pool, and her attention shifted focus.
After Nic and Kat had finished their massages, they and Leo joined Jade and
Dazz in the pool. Leo's amulet activated the second he entered the water,
then subsided. He was acting slightly strangely towards Kat, and she was
getting annoyed. Jade recognised the warning signs, and decided that she
didn't really want to be around when Kat lost her temper. Unfortunately,
she didn't end up having a choice. After lunch at the pool-side bar, when
they'd swum back around to where they'd left their towels, Kat lost her
temper.
"What?" Kat finally snapped to Leo.
The second she spoke, her amulet glowed red. Unlike Leo's, the light didn't
go out. Leo shrugged, and the light intensified.
"Um... Kat?" said Jade, tentatively.
"What?"
Jade silently pointed to Kat's amulet, and Kat started at it for a second,
before shrugging and turning back to Leo.
"Well?"
The light was getting slowly stronger. Leo looked at her for a long moment,
then shrugged again, and looked somewhat shame-faced.
"I was jealous."
As soon as he spoke those words, the red light began to die down, until it
was nothing more than a pale glow. Jade stared, starting to put pieces
together. Leo reached for Kat and pulled her into his arms. As he kissed
her, his amulet activated, and Kat's went out. It was beginning to make
sense, but Jade needed to check something first. She pulled herself out of
the pool, and quickly drying off, picked up the book Kat had brought down to
the pool. She flicked through to elemental correspondences, and read
quickly. Water for love, healing and emotion. Fire for passion, anger,
protection and courage. Air for intelligence, travel and divination. And
Earth for stability, money, fertility and employment. I'll have to be
careful with Darryl, thought Jade with a grin. Then she showed the others
the page she was reading.
"It makes a kind of sense," murmured Kat. "The amulets are activated by
their element *and* what they represent. They probably also intensify the
feelings. I doubt I would have gotten that angry usually, or that Leo would
have gotten so jealous. Jade, have you tried using your tarot cards since
you got your amulet? I bet you'd get some amazing results now..."
"hmm maybe" Jade shrugged
Jade was feeling very restless all of a sudden and was trying to think on how to shake that feeling. Everyone else was staring at Jade from the tone she had used which sounded like she was bored. She excused herself and left the pool side and headed up to her room. She decided to have a shower and a long one at that. She methodically washed herself and got dressed into a pair of shorts and a casual shirt. Part of her wanted to go to the library and look a few things up but some other part of her kept telling her that was boring and wanted some fun. She decided to go for the fun and left out the back door as she wanted to go alone. She headed into the nearest major town and stopped at a bar for a drink. She was thirsty from her longish walk which she had quite enjoyed. She sat down at a table and also decided to get something to eat. She was still trying to decide what to eat when a drink arrived. She said to the waiter that he must be mistaken but he replied that a gentleman over there ordered it. She followed where he was pointing and spotted Darryl. She grinned and waved him over. Maybe all she needed to relax her and settle her was Darryl. He's sneaky she thought since she hadn't even noticed she was being followed. She sipped her drink as Darryl eased into the chair sitting across her. The amulet around her neck seemed to feel warmer but Jade ignored it thinking the drink was just going straight to her head.
***
Sarah and Marc had gone into the same town that day and walked past the bar that Jade and Darryl were in. They decided not to interrupt them and kept heading back to the hotel. They caught a taxi and got back to the hotel to find Nicole, Kat, Leo and Darryl in the foyer looking worried.
"Where's Jade?" Sarah asked Darryl "And how on earth did you get back here before we did?"
"Mum?" Kat asked "What are you talking about Darryl never left"
"He must of because we just saw him with Jade in a bar in town about five minutes ago" Marc informed them
"Oh no!" Nicole said
"What?" almost everyone said as confusion set in
It took a few minutes to work out what had happened and that somehow some else was playing Darryl's role. It didn't take long for Sarah and Marc to almost panic and for Kat, Leo and Darryl leave for this bar. Nicole stayed and tried to make Sarah and Marc relax with little success. Marc was ready to follow the other three and Sarah wanted to inform security, police and anything else she could think off. Sarah took them upstairs to their room and made them sit down. When they were not watching Nicole cast a spell on them to make them sleep. Then she muttered to herself. She knew that someone was going to try and screw things up. She just hoped the rest weren't to late.
***
Jade had ordered a light meal at Darryl's suggestion and hinting at a huge desert. She had drunk quite a bit at this stage and could no longer feel the amulet getting hotter and hotter. In fact Jade started to feel numb and soon followed everything Darryl was saying even though somewhere in the back of her head warning bells were going off. She followed him upstairs and into a room. She looked and noticed an alter with rune symbols on it. She translated the runes and knew that the alter was one of sacrifice, she didn't fight as Darryl laid her down on the alter, Jade seemed to have no control on what she was doing and the voice in her head was louder. Jade started to panic and try to fight this hold that Darryl seemed to have on her, she was scared like she had never been before. She tried screaming but no noise came out. Darryl started chanting and calling upon some God she had never heard off. Jade went beyond panic and moved on to shock. She thought she had finally found someone she could love and trust. Tears flowed freely now.
Darryl tried to reach for her amulet and take it off her neck. It shown bright blue and burnt him instead. As he had leaned over though Jade noted that Darryl wasn't wearing his amulet. Her head was clearer now and could feel the heat of the amulet and could hear it calling to her. The sound was sweet. Jade relaxed and then let her spirit follow the song of the amulet. She watched from above as her eyes closed.
Jade saw the door slam open hitting the wall and swing back before opening again. Leo walked in closely followed by Darryl and Kat. Darryl stopped short spotting his look alike. Kat's amulet was bright red as she flung the evil Darryl across the room with thought alone. It stood and changed form. It was ugly as but it laughed at Kat
"Child's play" It said and kept laughing. "Your lucky I don't have the time for this or I would have pleasure crushing you where you stand."
The now very dark form moved towards Jade on the alter. He grabbed a knife and went to take the amulet off by cutting the leather it was resting on. He tried for a few seconds without success and swore again. Kat raised her eyebrows and she recognised the language he spoke.
"No matter about the amulet, only she can use it and that is no good to you if she is dead"
He then stabbed Jade in the heart and shimmered out of the room.
"Jade!!!" Screamed Darryl and ran to her body.
Kat howled in frustration as the false Darryl escaped, then turned to her sister.
"Leo!"
He stepped forward.
"I don't know what to do."
"I'll help you. Hold your hands like this, over her. Now focus. Visualise her healed. Not just the skin, love, *completely* healed. Fix her aura."
As Kat instructed Leo, the wound stopped bleeding and slowly began to heal under Leo's hands. Darryl was clutching Jade's hand tightly.
"I can't see her aura, love, how am I supposed to fix something I can't see?"
"How can you not- Oh. Here."
Kat rested her forehead against the base of Leo's neck, and he jumped.
"Fix that tear."
"How?"
"The same way you fixed her body. The body can't live without the soul, and if you don't fix her aura it'll be like you didn't do anything."
Leo concentrated, trying to do exactly what Kat said. He'd never done anything like this before and wasn't exactly sure what he was doing. As Darryl watched, the blood that stained Jade's top vanished, and even the hole repaired itself. Then Jade gasped, and opened her eyes. She shrunk away from Darryl when she saw him, but then relaxed when she saw that he was wearing his amulet. Leo pressed his hands together, and sighed.
"Are you ok?" asked Kat and Darryl at the same time, but not talking to the same people.
Jade coughed a couple of times, and sat up. Darryl supported her with one arm, and tucked her hair behind her ear so he could see her face clearly.
"Yes, I'm ok," said Jade, poking herself in the chest. "Thanks to Leo. Get me off this alter."
Darryl lifted her into his arms, and carried her a few steps away from the alter before putting her down again. Kat was looking at Leo carefully.
"You used your own energy," she said. "Next time, pull it from the earth. It won't make you as tired."
Leo merely nodded. Kat kissed his palm.
"Thank you."
He smiled at her, and stroked her hair, once. Kat turned to Jade.
"Are you OK?"
Jade nodded.
"Good." She paused. "I suppose we had better get back to the hotel then."
***
As the four entered the lobby, Nicole was waiting for them.
"Thank God you're ok!" she cried, rushing forward and embracing Jade.
"Where are Sarah and Marc?" asked Darryl.
"Upstairs, sleeping," Nicole replied. "We had better figure out what to tell them before I wake them up."
Darryl raised an eyebrow at her wording, but didn't comment.
"What happened?"
Jade told her part of the story as they went up to their rooms, and Darryl picked up where she dropped off. Nicole interrupted.
"You went inside the amulet?"
Jade frowned.
"I suppose that's one way of looking at it. It was like it was surrounding me and protecting me, and when... *it*... stabbed me, it seemed to suck me up and hold me, and the next thing I knew was when I was healed by Leo and it spat me out again."
Nicole was almost beaming, but Darryl continued with the story before anyone asked her why.
"And then he said some things that none of us understood, and Kat tried to strangle him, and that's when he stabbed Jade..."
"I wasn't trying to strangle him," said Kat calmly as her amulet began glowing again. "I was trying to rip his throat out. *I* understood what he was saying."
Nicole and the others looked at her in surprise. Then Jade grinned.
"I *thought* I recognised one of those words! You used to swear with it..."
"And so did he. After he said that he'd crush us if he had time, and before he said that he was going to kill you. He was speaking in Quechua."
"Que-what?" asked Leo, confused.
"Quechua," Darryl replied. "It's spoken in Bolivia, Peru, Argentina..."
"It's also the official language of Tawantinsuyu," said Kat.
"Wha-?"
"The capital of the Incan empire. What's now Peru."
"Tawantinsuyu," said Nicole, dreamily. "Land of the Four Directions.... You have a very good accent, Kat."
"Thanks," replied Kat dryly. "But how do you know so much? There's no way you could have learned so much from a tablet, and there's not any written records. Plus Mum and Dad are sound asleep just through that door, and there's no way they would have slept through this usually. What's going on, Nic?"
Nicole tried looking for an escape as she wasn't ready just yet to reveal who and what she was. As open as Kat and Jade were there were a few things they weren't aware of yet and now was not the time to let them know about it. Nicole released the spell on Sarah and Marc and they entered shortly. The attention was diverted enough that everyone forgot about Nicole and she left quickly to head back to her room.
Marc and Sarah kept hugging Jade which was driving her nuts and asked what happened. Kat made up some excuse and fortunatly they accepted it. Marc however was determined not to let Jade out of his sight which made Darryl feel really uncormfortable. Kat again came to the rescue stating that they should all retire for the evening and Jade gratefully followed her up to their room.
"Thank you so much" Jade said as she flopped onto her bed
"Your welcome" Kat replied
To Kat's suprise Jade burst into tears. Kat sat on Jade bed and hugged her and noted that her aura had a strange tinge to it but considering everything that had happened Kat wasn't really that suprised.
Kat remembered the first time and last time she ever saw Jade cry. It was when they were in high school and Jade was a lot different then. Jade was very popular at school as she just got along with everyone. She didn't get straight A's or come top in her class except for physical education. When Jade was in year ten though and dating a young man by the name of Matt things changed. At a party one night Matt wanted to go a bit futher than Jade did and when she said no he begged her to sit in the car with him. She said no again and told him she was going home and that they were through. Matt became angry and drove off into the night.
He died that night and Jade took that real hard blaming herself. From that relationship forwards Jade just didn't seem to have that much luck with guys or at high school. To Sarah and Marc's horror she joined the army. However Kat believed that it was the best thing for Jade. It taught Jade a lot and she slowly built up her self esteem. Jade wasn't exactly miss popularity anymore and Kat knew that wasn't what Jade wanted anyway. As Kat stroked Jade's hair she wondered what she was thinking. Kat was horrified when she saw the other "Darryl" and knew that would have put Jade on edge. Kat just hoped Darryl had the strength and smarts to stick by Jade.
***
The next few days were rather uneventful much to everyone's relief. Marc was still being a hawk about Jade and it moved on to Kat as well which was definatly getting on their nerves. Nicole was playing a low profile but spent most her time studying in her room or elsewhere. Strangely no-one ever asked what she was studying.
In the background the demon watched them constantly. He too had plans he was to follow and his master was extremely unimpressed by Jade being alive. Killing them wasn't going to work and trying to get the amulets of them wasn't working either. Then he grinned evilly. Maybe he wouldn't need to be so complicated. Maybe now it was time to get back to the basic sins. He listed them while counting them off in his head. Greed, gluttony, lust, wrath, sloth, pride and envy. Envy the demon repeated that one might just work like a charm. He looked at the all four of them. Bah, the demon thought, only one of them would be really useful. Well one target will have to do to start stiring the pot after that he reckoned that he could really make all hell brake loose and it was so fun when that happened. He would strike but not yet. This Nicole creature was making him nervous as she seemed familar but he couldn't quite place his finger on it and he had a lot of fingers. Not to worry he thought, I can work on that later.
|
