48. The Awakening
Chapter 48
The Awakening
V atican City - Syracuse
April 20, 2018
(Night Before Death)
Dolly gasped. She shot upright on the sofa as if ripped from the depths of a nightmare. Her throat burned, and an invisible hand squeezed tighter. It choked the breath trapped in her esophagus and blocked in her lungs. She clawed at her neck, desperate for air. Her vision blurred, but slow and steady, the room sharpened around her, and that’s when she saw her—a young, beautiful black girl, doe-like eyes wide with fear. She stood before her in tattered clothes from another time. The girl’s eyes mirrored Dolly’s, haunted and lonely. Then, as quickly as she appeared, the girl evaporated into nothing, mouthing a warning.
Dolly collapsed forward. She inhaled sharp and astute, aware as the invisible grip released her. She gasped. She sucked in the air. Tears burned her eyes. It was dark in the suite now. Shadows danced up the walls and spread like thick cobwebs. She remembered ordering food, the quiet of the evening, and the google searches for the history of the Vatican. They were supposed to leave for Lucio in two hours, but now—now everything felt wrong.
“Darlene!” she shouted. She scrambled off the couch, and her heart thudded in her chest. She ran to her sister’s room, but it was empty. The bathroom too. The vanity mirror had been shattered, and shards of glass glinted like tiny knives scattered across the floor. Dolly stood frozen. She tried to make sense of it. She closed her eyes, and reached out for Darlene with her mind and her power—nothing returned. Only silence.
“Darlene!” Her voice cracked, and desperation clawed at her gut. She tore through the other rooms in the suite, frantic in her search. Each she found empty. Panic surged as she bolted into the hallway. Tristan. She ran to his room and paused before she blasted the door open with a burst of her power.
Inside, the air stunk of death with the metallic scent of blood. Charmaine and Tristan lay tangled in sheets, blood smeared on their skin, both naked, both still. Neither of them breathing.
Dolly’s stomach lurched.
“How... what happened?” She stumbled forward, shock rooted her to the spot. Her mind screamed at her to act, but for a moment, she was paralyzed by the sight before her. Then, instinct took over. She rushed to Charmaine’s side; her hand pressed against her breast. With a chant on her lips, she summoned the light of Liora. She called on her guardian with everything she had.
Liora’s eyes flew open. Each glowed, then dimmed as her body surged with the healing power of light. And then she changed. Charmaine gasped and sat up, spitting up black bile. She grabbed Dolly. She clutched Dolly as she sobbed in relief.
“Thank the heavens. Thank you, God!” Dolly said.
Charmaine blinked, dazed. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. Darlene’s gone—” Dolly began.
“Tristan?” Charmaine’s gaze switched to Tristan, who was covered in her blood. “What did we do? Did we do this? How did this happen?”
“I don’t know, but something definitely happened to all of us,” Dolly said.
Charmaine crawled over to Tristan; her hands shook as she began chest compressions. She pressed her joined hands against his cold chest and felt nothing. She closed her eyes, focused, and tried to reach into the light he carried deep within. The source was still uncorrupted by his Draca. She had to heal him the way Dolly had healed her. Tristan remained still, unmoving.
“Go!” Charmaine shouted. “Wake Sonya! Now!”
Dolly wasted no time. She sprinted out of the room to the door across the hall, her heart pounding. Inside, the scene mirrored the last. Sonya and Shakespeare lay in the same lifeless state. Dolly knelt beside Sonya, but this time, when she tried to summon the light, it faltered. Sonya’s connection to darkness repelled her.
Dolly cursed under her breath. “I can’t do it….”
Behind her, Charmaine staggered into the room, supporting a pale and weakened Tristan. She had pulled on a robe; he had pulled on his briefs. They held each other up. “Is she okay?” Charmaine asked.
“I need Darlene,” Dolly said, tears now flowed down her cheeks. “My light’s not enough. I can’t do it by myself. When we were one, we could pull on each other for the greatest source of power. Now we are not. She is not my guardian. A guardian’s power comes from the source. The source for Sonya, and Kaida is Darlene.”
“Don’t panic,” Charmaine urged. “Tristan, help her.”
Tristan looked drained and confused. “Me? How?”
Charmaine nodded, her eyes pleading. “Sonya needs the pain. She is not going to take it from me and Dolly. She’s consumed too much of it from Shakespeare. You have enough darkness in you from your Draca to reach her.”
“But she’s dead. I’m a vampire.”
“Kaida is not dead. Sonya is in the void. Kaida is there. You need to take her,” Charmaine said.
“What do you want me to do?” Tristan asked. He was so confused he stepped back instead of forward.
“Touch her, bite her. We’ll use the scarab to reach Kaida.” Charmaine’s voice trembled, but her resolve was clear. “It’s from the realm. We can amplify its power to heal her while you… bite, join with her.”
Dolly’s eyes widened. “Join?”
Charmaine left them to return to the room before either could reject her plan. She found a robe for her friend to cover her naked body. She grabbed the artifact. She then rejoined them.
“Join?” Dolly asked. “If he bites her, and Kaida surfaces, they will mate. It is the law. Your bond is… it could sever.”
Charmaine’s face hardened. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t have a choice.”
“I have a choice!” Tristan’s eyes darkened. “I told you Charmaine. This is real. Not something I’m ever let go of. I will never mate with anyone but you. No matter the cost.”
“Tristan! Please it’s my sister!”
“What about us!” he shouted at her.
Charmaine wept. Dolly looked at the two of them and then to Sonya and Shakespeare. “I understand Tristan. When Lucio chose Darlene even after my love it was the greatest pain I ever felt. But somehow, I found a way to through it. Somehow our love remained. If Charmaine is yours, nothing can change that,” Dolly said.
The weight of the decision pressed in on Tristan. He didn’t want to sever his bond with Charmaine. He’d never had a love so pure.”
Charmaine read his thoughts. “You told me what we have is real, that it’s not just magic. Well, here’s your chance to prove it. Because Tristan, no matter what I will never choose any one but you. Ever.”
Tristan's gaze turned to Sonya. Now torn and heartsick, he could not decide. Even his Draca resisted. They had both made their heart choice. It was Charmaine or nothing.
“I can’t do this. I don’t want any connection with anyone but you,” Tristan mumbled.
“Please Tristan, she’s my sister. If she is gone so am I, you will lose me forever,” said Charmaine.
Tristan closed his eyes.
“Do it,” Charmaine whispered into his thoughts. “For me. For us. Save her.”
With a calm breath, Tristan approached the bed. He helped Charmaine slip a robe onto Sonya’s limp form. Charmaine leaned in and pressed a reassuring kiss to Tristan’s lips, but her tear-filled eyes revealed her fear of losing him. Tristan looked away. She stepped back as he lifted Sonya into his arms, her head lolling. Without hesitation, he sank his teeth into her jugular and drank from her. Dark pulsating lights rippled through the room when Dolly and Charmaine clasped hands over the scarab. The two summoned an ancient power to heal. Telepathically, Charmaine directed Tristan to contain the darkness with a promise to draw enough energy to pass to Sonya.
Together, they channeled the same force, and its strength surged, pressed against them, threatened to break free. Shadows and light swirled and merged, formed a vortex of magic that enveloped Tristan and Sonya, black waves of energy went over them until Sonya’s body gasped with life. Her eyes fluttered open, Kaida’s essence bloomed within her. Dazed, Sonya looked up at Tristan, who laid her down gently. Their hearts beat in sync even as they parted, thrummed between them, potent with dark matter, energy and undeniably linked. Sonya was the first to pull away. Charmaine noticed.
Sonya’s connection to Shakespeare reignited, as strong as ever. She turned to him, drawing him into her arms, and a primal power surged through her, healing him as his eyes opened. Shakespeare clung to her; his grip unbreakable.
Charmaine’s heart broke. Tristan reached for her, pulling her close, but she resisted, her voice trembling. “I saw it… I saw…”
Tristan took her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You haven’t lost me, goddess,” he whispered fiercely. “I will never love anyone more than you. I would die proving my loyalty to you.”
Relief washed over her, and she melted into his embrace, burying her face against his chest. But Tristan’s gaze drifted to Sonya, their eyes met briefly before they both turned away.
“Darlene’s gone,” Dolly said and broke the charged silence.
Everyone turned to her, confusion in their eyes.
“I saw Julia Brown—not the old woman Lucio knew, but the young girl trapped within her. She pulled me from the dark sleep, tried to warn me. I think… something came for Darlene. Something is trying to stop us.”
“Something, or someone?” Charmaine asked.
“I feel her,” Sonya murmured. “She’s in a forest, a place called Syracuse.”
Shakespeare’s body tensed. “Vittorio? She’s with him?”
“Yes, in his lair, right now,” Sonya confirmed.
“We have to go,” Dolly urged. “Now!”
“No,” Tristan said firmly. “We can’t rush in. Vittorio is too powerful to confront without a plan. If Darlene’s with him, the prophecy has unfolded. We must be ready.”
“What does that mean? Ready? What do you think this all was for. What we agreed to with those cult people. What we changed into. We are ready together. Not as one.” Dolly’s voice trembled. “He could kill her!”
Sonya answered. “Darlene’s stronger than we think. She won’t go down without a fight. You know her better than that.”
Tears filled Dolly’s eyes. “But she’s my sister… she needs me.”
Charmaine hugged Doly tightly. “It’s okay. We’ll get her back. Just hold on.”
“We need to go to Rome—to Lucio. Dolly, you must be there when Draquria returns. Darlene was right: she’s the key. Whether through Julia Brown’s curse or the prophecy itself, she’s destined to end Vittorio and release the Draca. When that happens, he’ll come for Lucio. Whatever power was awakened in you, Dolly, is our only hope of saving him.”
Tristan turned to Sonya and Shakespeare. “You two go after Darlene. Protect her. Help her defeat Vittorio. Phoenix may be calling the shots now; we’ll make our move accordingly.”
Sonya hesitated. “We shouldn’t split up.”
“We already have,” Dolly whispered, she wiped her tears. The room fell silent. “Lucio warned me. Darlene and I were strongest together, but she needed her independence, to be her own person. Julia Brown came to me because we disrupted the balance. She wanted Vittorio dead, all vampires gone, with the darkness sealed forever. It gifted power to Papa Legba to grant revenge and supremacy to her people. But she was mistaken; the Draquria isn’t Vittorio—it’s the darkness itself. She was deceived.”
“It’s not over,” Charmaine said with renewed confidence. “We can still change this.”
Dolly wasn’t so sure, but when she looked into Charmaine’s and Sonya’s steady gazes, something shifted within her. Every painful moment of her life had been shared with them, and they had never wavered in their loyalty to her.
Sonya stepped forward, taking Charmaine’s hand, and together they knelt before Dolly, their voices strong with ancient purpose—their discipline inherited and forged through their rebirth.
“We are the protectors of the realm. We serve you, our Chosen. It doesn’t matter if there is one or two of you. We will serve you and Darlene to the very end.”
Charmaine lifted her head, her voice filled with resolve. “As the Protector of Light, I’ll banish the darkness and help you heal Lucio.”
Sonya’s gaze was fierce, her voice unyielding. “As the Defender of Pain, I will pull Darlene from the shadows and restore her faith. Together, you two will reunite, stronger than before.”
In that moment, Dolly realized these women weren’t just friends—they were Liora and Kaida, cosmic forces bound to her by an unbreakable loyalty, guardians whose purpose was intertwined with hers. They would end this war, save her love, and bring her sister back.
“Then tell me what I don’t know,” Dolly said, her voice steady. “What’s hidden in the Vatican, and how soon can we get to Lucio?”