9am Monday Cabin in the Woods
Marci did her best to understand what Bai was telling her. She was beyond tired, probably still in shock, and concerned with Gwen who had not stirred at all. William moved towards Bai, who was sitting directly in front of Marci on a small ottoman; He put a hand on Bai's shoulder, a comforting gesture. The sun begun to rise outside. Jacob entered the cabin sliding his phone into his pocket while stumbled in on the somber scene.
"Suns coming up. I need some form of sleep. Detective Stone seems to believe we are safe during daylight." Jacob's statement was more of a question than fact.
"Shadow Demons rarely, if ever venture outside during day." William assured Jacob; William noticed the weary look on Jacob's face. He did need rest. Jacob managed a smile and made his way back outside and sprawled out on a bench on the porch.
"So all three of you are The Blessed?" Marci asked once Jacob left the room. William shook his head in a way that reminded Marci of a parent correcting a child.
"No, Bai and I are Draíochta, there are five families of The Draíochta, Mother called us the Blessed. Jacob is an Afflicted"
"Afflicted?" Now Marci felt like a child; repeating terms back to Grandpa hoping he would explain them.
William slid down next to Bai on the ottoman, together the two old men gave a sigh of comfort.
"Well my dear girl, Blessed are born with our gifts, Afflicted get their gifts either through infection, curse, or experimentation."
"So how did the Afflicted come to be?" William could hear the confusion in her voice.
"That my dear child is a whole other story." William took the glowing ball and began another tale.
After many lifetimes, man along with The Blessed flourish. The Mother decided she would look over the West. Father took the East. They would come together a few times every year; they believed all was right in the new world they created. What they did not know was Mother's blood gave the Komodo King immortality, that with the memories he retained fueled his rage. While years passed for everyone around the King, he physically never aged, however his hate continue to age. It poisoned all he did. He befriended Blessed of all walks of life. He would learn spell craft, potions, and enchantments, anything he could from them. Then once they out lived their usefulness, he would murder them and eat their flesh. Then he would stalk the villages at night, kidnap orphans and animals who were out and left unattended. Forcing them to follow him to his castle, once there he would experiment on them. The horrors that Marci saw crushed her spirit and heart. Once he had enough survivors, he moved on from orphans to the men and women of the villages. He would take his twisted survivors and graft them on to the people. After many failures, he discovered children took to the grafting the best. Lifetime of horrors and now he had an army of twisted experiments who ravage village after village. Flesh that merged with metal and magic. Shadows that came to life to swallow people up. Rumors began to swirl in the towns of The Blessed and man. Incredible tales, of monsters never seen before by man or Blessed. These tales reached Mother and Father. Mother convinced these tales were just a side effect of the fear she gifted man, so she reassured The Blessed that these stories were not true. More Lifetimes passed. The Blessed became a positive force in the world. Blight and disease where all but a distance memory. Mother and Father started spending more time together and less time in the actually world. They spent so much time together; the Blessed began to believe they were both just legends.
King Komodo looked over his kingdom of monsters. He rejoiced in his accomplishments; through tireless experimentation, he created a new magical army for him to control. He created the Afflicted. He gave the world Vampires, Ghouls, Were-animals, Shadow Demons, sorcery and witchcraft. The Shadow Demons were his pride and join. Monsters created by murdering a human who already has a dark soul, in such a horrible way it leaves a stain on the world. Each Shadow Demon has a power based on the corruption in their soul at the time of their death. They are the most powerful weapon he has ever created. Now the King only needed to wait for the right moment to attack. He devoted two more life times to finding out where Mother and Father were calling home. Once he discovered that, he sent his vampire and were-beasts to infect and spread throughout Mother and Father's castle.
This was a slow process, but he had made it this far by being patient, he could not lose sight of the end game. Once all the guards became his creations, they reported a most interesting development. Mother and Father had children. Two of them. Twins. A Boy and a Girl. Unlike Blessed children or the children of man, these two aged much slower. The former King now had a new objective, corrupt the children first. The Mad King decided he did not want just to take the children no that would be too easy. He wanted them to come willing; he wanted them to choose to destroy their parents. He wanted Mother and Father to know that not only had their children of the Animal Kingdom, Mankind, and the Blessed betrayed them, but so had their own real children. With this new information, The Mad King slowly implemented his plan. When the children received discipline or punishment, he had his traitors whisper in the children's ear how if they were in charge the world could be different.
When the children would go to bed at night, the Mad Kings creations would pay them a visit. Were-animals changing their eyes, hands, growing tails. Vampires flouting around the room. All kinds of wondrous and amazing magic filled the room. Each morning the children would whisper and laugh over the wonders they saw. Mother and Father were so thrilled to see how happy their children were. For the two of them, life could not get any better.
A few life times more had passed. The Boy became brash, headstrong, teenager. While The Girl was a fierce, confident, kindhearted soul. Each a different side of the same coin. Mother had aged gracefully but noticeably over the years. The children had moved to separate rooms, but their visitors continued. However, the Former King paid a close mind to the way the children changed and made sure their visitors matched their ever-forming personalities. The Girl would be visited by were-swans, will-o-wisps, all who told tales of magic and brave fighters who blazed the trail against oppressive or absent figures who did not deserve their power. The Boy's visitors would be vampires, were-wolves, the monster of flesh and magic. Telling tales of great men taking control of weaker kingdoms. Freeing those Kingdoms from powerful yet corrupt rulers. How heroes were just a matter of prospective.
One day Mother and Son had an emotional disagreement, the detail of which are lost to time, however it was so distressing for the young man he fled the Castle to the woods. Mother wanted to send the Royal Guard to fetch him, Father told her to give him time, let him sort his feelings. Father's advice was from a place of love and concern but it was devoid of current facts. For this moment allowing the Boy to flee allowed the Mad King Komodo to make his move on the Boy. The boy fled deep in the heart of the forest. His magical steed never even breaking a huff over the strain he forced out of him. The sun slowly set, the deep and thick woods gave the impression that it was late into the evening.
End Chapter 15