Cruden Tale (Awakening spin off book)

Chapter 6 6

December 2nd

Leyanne s journal

It's been a few days since the moon ritual, and I figured out my purpose for being here all along. There is a hunter awakening somewhere in this state and I have been drawn here repeatedly through the decades in anticipation for him. I guess Khonsu wants me to intervene in some way and has been trying to guide me all along. Not that I even know how to do that right now.

I do not know what a single Hunter could do to the beings of our world, but my gut tells me that it's not good. For a creation five hundred years after the extinction of his kind I assume Ra the sun god has some major plans for this one and it wouldn't surprise me if he rewrites all the rules of what a Hunter is. I shouldn t relax with expectation and my previous knowledge and expect something worse to prepare myself.

We are so far from the origin of the Aztec's that I do not even know what I'm looking for. What he will look like, how I will find him. I have nothing but the vision of a man in darkness with his back to me, and no amount of meditation or insight rituals have given me anymore than what I have already seen. I have this deep pit in my stomach every day, a foreboding and I cannot ignore it.

I have had my Grimoire's and some essentials dispatched from my home in Scotland and I have sent Cora my spying witch a very clear message to come to me. In this I cannot proceed alone. For once I need a little help. I feel this journey is going to be vast. I want to know what she was watching me for and if it relates to this problem.

I have managed to find an abandoned estate house just outside the city too, which is perfect for my continued habitation. It's secluded in a deep overgrown forest and a little derelict in places which means no one will come looking if new lodgers move in. I moved in yesterday and already managed to create a useable home and a place for my alter and possessions when they arrive. The kitchen has a stone fire range from times of old which is enough until I can set up some sort of generator for modern conveniences.

There are fireplaces in the rooms which seem useable too and in the absence of power, candles and lanterns light my way in the night. Not that I need it, I have enough spells to make sure I never do but my modern technology require charging at the local cafe. My laptop and phone are my link to the world on the internet and my contacts worldwide, still my best source of research. Despite it not being great it will serve my purpose while I am here. It s not like I haven t lived in rough times and lack of conveniences. I was born three thousand years ago and did my business in a hole in the ground.

The house seems to have its own water supply which is a plus. I assume tanks underground fill from a nearby mountain creek, which means the taps run and toilets flush, even if it's icy cold. I need this privacy if I am to further the search for this man. If this Hunter really is what I have been drawn to then upon finding him I intend to make the trip back home, to my own house in the highlands with him. He will come willingly or not, until I know what is to be done with him.

I push my journal aside and move the candle closer to me on the table, the grand room cast in gentle shadows from the fire and the pillar candles dotted around. At a guess this house had been occupied up until recent years. The furniture I found covered in canvas is antique yet not ruined, just abandoned. The fact they remain means the heirs have probably all died out and had no one to carry on the lineage and love this large estate and its belongings anymore. Being hidden in an overgrown state meant locals avoided it with tales of hauntings and death. I already decided that upon leaving I ll leave my protection spell in place to preserve what had once been a home full of memories for someone and only a true blood relative will be able to gain entry and lift it.

There are slight modern touches amidst a sea of original features yet there were layers of dust from years of un-use when I started to organise it. No one has touched a single thing in here for at least twenty years or more.

I gaze out of the huge arched window, draped in heavy moth bitten velvet, at the height of the moon in the sky and sigh. The restlessness inside of me ceased to dissipate in the last couple of days and endless research and reading has led me only on a path of Aztec origin. I m frustrated with the puzzle I cannot piece together. Annoyed that my knowledge surpasses anything I can find in books.

A flash of white outside of the window catches my attention and draws my eye to a familiar sight. The raven from days ago has landed on a branch nearby of a low bowed tree and signals what I have been waiting for since sending out my message to Cora. The witch is arriving.

It's about time.

Getting up and heading out to the large hall I open the door just as a car s headlights illuminates the overgrown dirt road and unkempt grounds of this hidden house. The car pulls off to the side, cast in moonlight and halts under a bowing oak tree to the left. Cora soon exits, followed by a tall dark male figure dressed in black immaculate tailoring, and both make way to the brightened door which holds my silhouetted form.

'Leyanne.' Cora greets me with an edge of wariness, eyes flitting over me nervously and cannot conceal her hesitation. We have not seen one another for many years, and I guess she isn t sure what mood to expect given she was summoned here after I caught her spying. She knows I m someone to be feared should I have reason to be angry.

'Cora, I see you brought a guest.' I flick my eyes over the handsome stranger with tell-tale poreless skin in a flawless beautiful face. Ethereal and definitely not human in his handsome perfection. He has fair hair and I know even in darkness his eyes will be red. Normally they should glow in this dull light, but I sense something off about him.

'He s been assisting me, Leyanne. This is Cornel Gabor, he is from the ancestral line of Romanian vampires and has been my companion for a while.' Cora seems shy and although darkness conceals it, I can sense her blushing. A coy young girl feel to her vibe and I immediately assume she has a crush on her Vampire sidekick.

I smile politely, not surprised by this revelation and already sensing what he was from afar. I deal with vampires a lot in recent decades, given they are still an organised and rather charming breed who often require assistance in the mundane. Not being able to conceal what they are among humans means they very rarely show face outside of their covens.