Eternal Damnation

Chapter 16

-Ezekiel POV- 

"Alright, I'll keep in touch." Wolf says before hanging up his phone as we walk up the stairs to our hotel room which this time, I took the liberty to book. 

"How is she?" I ask. 

"Theo is doing good. She still needs to stay a few more days in the hospital but she is completely out of danger." 

"That's good." Aurora says. 

Abigail opens the door to our room. 

"Seriously Ezekiel, you outdid it!" 

Aurora stands there looking stunned with the book tucked in her arms. 

"Oh, yea! Now this is more like it!" Wolf says. 

He walks in and jumps on the white luxurious sofa, lying down. 

"Just wanted to show Aurora what luxury looks like in this modern age." I look at Aurora as I say that, though that is an excuse. "What do you think?" 

"This looks like it is fit for royalty." She says looking amazed. 

"Well, you are my princess." 

"Laying it thick there buddy." Wolf says. 

I narrow my eyes at him. "You saying she is not worth the princess title?" I ask turning this on him, not that it matters because Aurora is not even paying attention.  

"What? No... I didn't... I mean..." He panics. 

"Anyways..." I cut him off before he can finish. "Let's check the book." 

He gives me a low growl and sits up looking irritated. 

Aurora looks at me and nods. We sit around the coffee table where she sets the closed book. 

Aurora opens the book to the first blank page and then turns it to see... another blank page. 

"What!?" Wolf asks. 

Aurora looks confused and starts to turn all the pages but they are all blank pages. 

"This is what we went through all this trouble for?" Abigail asks. 

"No... this is not right." Aurora says confused. "I remember all the spells were visible." 

"Then what is wrong here?" I ask. I hold the edge of the book to move it towards me so I can take a look but then I hiss feeling pain on my fingers. 

“Uh! That burned.” I say and hold my hand back. 

Aurora puts a finger on her hand, thinking. “I remember that my mother’s note said that no dark being can handle the book.” She looks apologetic. “Sorry.” 

I sigh and Wolf chuckles. “I knew you were a spawn from hell... f**k!” He shouts holding his hand back. The book also burned him when he tried to move it towards him so he could have a look at it. 

“Hu... what now?...dick” I smirk at him. 

Abigail gets up and points at the book. “That book is... discriminating!” 

Aurora smiles and shakes her head. “Sorry, all of you. I don’t know how the magic around it works.” 

We try to put our heads together to try and figure out why all the pages are blank but we are all at a loss. 

"The only thing I can think of is... the gems. The book is not complete so... it hides its content." Aurora says. 

"Maybe those gems are like keys?" Abigail asks. 

"I guess that is a way of seeing it." I mumble. 

"But the question is, where the hell are those gems now!" Wolf is now irritated. "This whole mission is turning out to be infuriating!" 

Aurora hangs her head. 

"It's not your fault Darling." I give her a smile and then give Wolf a warning look. 

"I never said it was her fault." Wolf says. "It's just the whole situation that pisses me off." 

"Wait..." Aurora says, looking like she thought of something. "I have some power back and we have the book so maybe I can scry for the gems."  

"Scry?" Wolf asks. 

"Yes, it will show me their location. To find something or someone, we witches can scry but we must have something like an object of sorts that is connected to them or the item. Those gems are part of the book so they are connected to it." She says. 

"Okay! Now we're talking." Abigail says now looking pumped up. 

"What do you need?" I ask. 

She looks to the side thinking. "I need a map and salt." 

"I have salt!" Wolf throws on the table three salt packets from one of the diners we frequented. 

"Would my tablet work for a map? I can pull the Europe map on it." Abigail says. 

Aurora looks confused. "I... don't know. Maybe."  

"Let's try it." Wolf says. 

Abigail nods. "Let's do it." 

I cross my arms and stand there watching 

They quickly prepare everything. 

Abigail lays the tablet flat on the table with the map on the screen and Aurora pours the salt on the screen. 

Aurora then holds one hand over the book and the other over the tablet, then, closes her eyes. She starts chanting a few words that are unknown to me. The salt suddenly starts moving and they cluster over France. 

"It is not specific enough." Abigail says and starts zooming in on the map. 

The cluster of salt then moves over the city of Paris.  

The tablet starts to flicker but Abigail continues to zoom in until we are now on the streets. The tablet then flickers violently and suddenly, smoke comes out. The whole screen then goes black. 

"Damn it!" Wolf shouts. "We are back to square one!" 

"No, we're not. Stop being so dramatic!" Abigail shouts at him. "It was the catacombs." 

"The Paris catacombs?" I ask. 

"Yes. That was the last place the salt concentrated at and now I am going to need a new tablet." 

"Sorry." Aurora says. 

Abigail shakes her head. "Don't be. We now have a destination." 

Wolf gets up. "Yes! Let's go and get this over with."  

I cross my arms staring them all down. "I paid for the night. Besides, don't you want to eat a nice dinner? I heard this is where they have the best stake." 

"Oh snap! Yes." He quickly goes to order room service. 

Abigail shakes her head looking at Wolf. "Such a simple man to please..." She then gives a wicked smile. "...and manipulate."  

I shake my head and look at Aurora who is looking at the book with a sad expression. 

I walk over to her and take her by that hand, pulling her over to the balcony outside that overlooks a small forest. 

The night breeze is soothing, welcoming.  

"Talk to me, darling. What is on your mind." I say softly. 

She smiles. "It is just that so much has happened in such little time. I think I am getting a bit overwhelmed." 

I nod. "We haven't really had a breather, have we." 

She shakes her head. She glances at me and looks into my eyes but then her cheeks flush and she looks away. 

"Who was that woman?" She suddenly asks in a small voice. 

"What woman?" 

"The one that attacked us. The blond woman. It seemed... you knew her." She says. 

(That woman...) 

"She is someone from my past." I say. 

"Someone who?!" Abigail asks coming from behind us. 

"Yea, I think we deserve to know. Seems you know the enemy." Wolf says standing behind Abigail. 

I sigh. I rest my hands on the ledge that overlooks the forest and I look into the distance. 

"Elenore, she was my childhood friend and the woman I loved. She was my fiancé before... we were turned." 

I am numb to those feelings now but I still feel a sense of melancholy towards those memories. 

"Okay, so why is she working with the enemy then?" Abigail asks. 

I hesitate.  

"Not everyone who is turned embraces immortality with opened arms. Elenore despises what we are and she wants nothing more than to rid this world of our kind.” 

"Really?" Wolf is surprised. 

I nod. "At first, she was devastated. She thought of herself as an unholy being. A demon or monster. Then, she went on a rampage killing any supernatural being she encountered. She even started hunting them. Then, despair took over. Knowing that nothing she did would change anything. She tried to kill herself but I stepped in." I look up into the sky. "She then disappeared. I searched for her for over a decade but figured, she didn't want to be found, or that she actually had succeeded in taking her life. I gave up and started to live my own life." 

"So... why is she helping the hunters then?" Wolf asks. 

"She said it herself, they have the same goal." Abigail says. 

"We don't even know what that goal is." Wolf says. 

"We do now. Whatever it is, it means getting rid of us, of all our kind." I say. 

"Is that why they want your book?" Abigail asks Aurora. 

Aurora thinks about it. "I'm not sure but, my blook line is an old one. The book was made by my ancestors and passed down through generations, so it contains very powerful spells. There is a chance that there could be something in it that could do such a thing." 

“Honestly, it seems to me that they know something we don’t.” Wolf says. “If their goal is to get rid of us, then they know of a way to do so and that is probably the book but... how do they know that? I mean, they have never gotten their hands on the book before, right?” 

Wolf can be an i***t but sometimes surprises me with his sudden burst of smartness. 

“That is a very good question.” I say. 

"Many items that are made by witches are imbued with protective spells against dark creatures. Of course, I never thought that you guys actually existed. So the spell is not something that is unknown to witches. They probably have witches working with them that told them about it. In fact, I know they do because a witch is the one that put me to sleep all those years ago." Aurora says.

I nod, understanding.

"Okay..." Abigail says, looking like she is thinking. "...so... we get the gems, put them back in the book and Aurora does a spell that fixes whatever is wrong with her." 

"And then what?" Wolf asks. 

"We destroy the book." Aurora says, surprising us all but she looks determined. She looks at all of us. "It is too dangerous and now that hunters know about it, they will always come after it. I rather destroy it than having it fall into their hands. That is... if we can destroy it. It is protected by powerful magic." 

“And what about the whole going back to your time notion you talked about?” I ask. 

“You know as well as I do that... that is... just wishful thinking of my part.” She says. Her face shows a state of acceptance. “I am thinking clearly now and if it is possible, I am sure that the price to pay will be a high one.” 

Abigail nods at her. "Then we have a plan." 

Knocks come from the front door.  

Wolf rubs his palms together. "First things first... food." 

Both he and Abigail walk back inside. 

I stand there and look at Aurora who also just stands there.  

"Are you sure you are okay with this? That book is part of your family." 

She stares at me for a few seconds and then slowly nods but then surprises me with her next question. "Do you still love her?" 

I am taken completely by surprise and stand there without answering for a few seconds. "I... I still care about her and I think that I will always have love for her but not the woman she is now. I will always have love for the woman that she was, the woman that died that night along with me... in the park." 

She nods, thinking about it. "Did you ever love again?... after her." 

I slowly shake my head. "No. Have you? Have you ever loved someone?" 

She shakes her head. "Other than my family... no. I guess I... basically died before I could." 

I can't hide the fact that I am developing feelings for this woman. I want no harm to befall her. I want to protect her, keep her safe. Something I haven't felt in a long time and I think I want to tell her but I know the mutt and the crazy spider lady are listening in. So, I'll wait. 

I take a step towards Aurora and lean in. She looks at me surprised. I put my finger on my lip telling her to be quiet. She nods and I quickly lean in and give her a quick kiss.  

When I lean back, her face is as red as a tomato and her eyes are almost popping out. 

I give her a smirk and step back inside. 

(She is so innocent looking but once you get her in that euphoric state, that innocence goes away.) I think all this remembering her moans and the way her body reacted to me. 

I bite my lips as I go back inside. 

(That girl will be mine.)