Vitrian Secrets by Dele Andersen (book club reads txt) 📕

“You know the stories.” Wanda could not hide her amazement. Thoughts flashed in her memory the instant Eric mentioned their journey to the fortress. Refusing to accept the thoughts in her mind, she took a step into the section of the dining area, closer to the table, as trepidation swept through her body. “Turn, I need to see your face,” she demanded, summoning courage.

“Sorry I raised my voice.”

“Turn and talk to me,” Wanda insisted.

Eric turned, and instantly Wanda staggered back. Fear engulfed her like a fly caught in the web of a spider. Her breathing became heavy. She was staring at those—those eyes again. His eyes had changed, and they were now the cat-like irises she had noticed at school. They were real; her eyes hadn’t deceived her.

“What are you?” she gasped, watching the eyes as she took a step back. She felt stupid for not remembering them. What had she been thinking? Bathe had mentioned anyone who could see demons and was not a Vitrian must be a demon. The rebels were playing with her mind.

“Don't be . . .” Eric took two quick steps and reached out to keep her from falling.

“Get away from me,” Wanda shouted. She fell on her back but didn't think about the pain. She felt for her Praying Méndez.

“It's all right,” Eric said. He bent down and moved closer to Wanda.

Wanda searched for her Méndez without taking her eyes off Eric. Her hand touched something in her pocket just as Eric spoke.

“My eyes get like this when I’m stressed or tense.” He tried to lighten the mood, his hand still reaching for her. He almost touched her, but all Wanda could see were the dangerous, cat-like eyes.

Wanda's hands trembled in her pocket, and she pulled them out. The item wrapped in the silver scarf that Alexis had given her came out. She and Eric turned to the silver cloth and watched as the object rolled, and then the fabric fell open. A small stone fell out, and it glowed heavily in deep sky blue the instant it was revealed from the cover of the cloth. Wanda wondered what it was as she gazed at it.

“Ahhh!” Eric cried out at the appearance of the stone and pushed his body back. He immediately pulled his hand up, blocking his eyes from the glowing blue stone. He got up and crashed into the table behind him. As if made of weak wood instead of thick timber, it crumbled under his weight. Wanda watched in amazement as Eric tried to push himself back from the stone.

“Where did you get that?” he asked, his tone harsh. His voice had begun to sound different.

She remembered what Alexis had said about the item and using it against any demon.

“Alexis gave it to me.” Confidence built up in Wanda's voice. “A blessed tool used against any demon.”

“That is no blessed tool,” Eric cried, his voice totally different. He pulled his hands off his face for Wanda to see the structure changing. Shock gripped Wanda, and she quickly moved her body farther from the dining table, knocking something off behind her as she pushed back with her hands and legs on the floor.

“Eric,” Wanda said in a low tone.

The thing taking shape in front of her was frightening. It felt like she was watching a movie with a shapeshifter gradually changing.

“That is a stone carved from witchcraft . . . from the depth of the Abyss itself,” Eric said.

Eric, his hands suddenly looking more prolonged than usual, dragged himself to the box that fell from the broken table. He forced it open and brought out a Praying Méndez. He threw the Méndez to Wanda.

Wanda caught it. “What am I to do with this?”

“Pray,” Eric said in a deeper voice that Wanda recognized but hoped it wasn't what she thought.

“For what?” she asked as fear riddled her voice. The words came out involuntarily. What she was staring at was unimaginable. She froze where she was as Eric changed, his torso becoming longer and his clothes tearing apart little by little.

“The stone will make me go wild,” he tried to explain. “Pray that I will not hurt you.”

He was changing shape more and more. The stone was indeed not binding or stopping him. The stone was . . . it was aiding him to change, though she could see his body was fighting against it as he grunted and made agonizing sounds.

Quickly Wanda tossed the silver cloth over the stone, and the glow went out. She took the Méndez and tried to pray, but she could only mumble a few words because she saw a shadow filling up the room. She turned toward Eric again to see her nightmare in front of her. The grayish-white creature stood up, its body bent from the waist up so that it could fit into the shack. Its eyes were now the cat-like eyes she'd seen before; they were reddened and ready for the kill.

“Run, run.” She heard a voice like her dad's echo in her thoughts. She got up in one push, ran past the sofa, and rushed toward the door Eric had come from. She heard him crushing items and the wall beside her as he ran after her, but she didn't look back. She knew he was big enough to catch up with her quickly.

She barely stepped out before Eric smashed a section of the wall down. She looked back and saw the thing he had changed into. It stood outside the shack. She looked around and realized she had no clue where she was. The shack was the only house in view; no other form of shelter existed. All she could see were trees to her left and right and the little open area the shack occupied. The old house stood alone in the entire area, like a vacation home for campers or to escape civilization.

She knew Eric would jump at her in one leap. She was right. He jumped, but she was smart enough to turn sideways and run into the dense part of the woods. Eric landed furiously on the ground, skidding away some twelve feet. He stopped and stood up on his huge feet. He ran after her into the woods, pushing the trees out of his way. His strength was inexplicable. He bent down and pushed large tree stems in his path as easily as if they were little sticks.

Wanda ran, feeling the creature directly behind her. It stretched its arms to catch her, and she saw two massive trees growing side by side. She ran into the tiny space between. It barely got one of its fingers scrambling for her as it touched her through the small space between the trees. The creature's hand got wedged between the two trees. Wanda pressed her body out of the weak grip of the big finger, which was as thick as her neck. She turned, and with all the strength in her, she stabbed the Méndez into the creature's palm. Wanda saw the enormous supernatural power of the thing as it roared. It gave one of the trees a massive blow with its right hand. The entire tree shook vigorously, and then it pushed the tree out of its path. Wanda watched in disbelief as the big stem cracked, and with an earth-shaking sound, the tree fell to the ground.

Wanda lost her balance and fell the moment the tree hit the earth. Without any hesitation, she got up, turned, and ran a good thirty feet trying to escape him. She slipped and found herself dangling off the edge. Her right hand was barely holding onto the stone that kept her from falling. The next level beneath her was about forty feet below and made of solid mountain rock. She knew attempting a jump was futile.

The creature walked up to the edge where she was hanging, his eyes still burning fire red. He looked down at her, and for a moment, they both stared at one another. Wanda was sweating, her heart pounding hard in her chest, and her hair was damp from running. Her fingers began to slip. She tried to grip harder, but she couldn't. Her hands hurt terribly.

“Eric, Eric,” she shouted, fear in her voice, hoping Eric was still somewhere inside the creature and would come to her aid. She lost her grip on the rock and was about to drop when the creature caught her hand. He pulled her back to the top. She took in a deep breath, kneeling by the edge and panting heavily. She looked up at it. It had moved backward about twenty-five feet into a squatting position, and its eyes had changed back to blue human eyes.

“Thank you.” Her lips quivered as her body continued to shiver intensely.

Movements in the woods alerted her that they were not alone. Figures dressed in black from head to toe suddenly encompassed them. The rebels had arrived.

There were about a dozen of them. The man in front held a blanket. He placed the blanket around the creature as it changed back into Eric.

“It's okay. It's okay, son," the man said, holding onto Eric's face and making sure he was all right.

Wanda's body felt as heavy as a log of wood as she looked at the man and Eric while several thoughts flashed through her mind. Eric had been protecting her all the while: in school, during the road attack, and the arrows. She recalled the arrows, and shock gripped her as she realized the arrows were truly meant for her—her mum had suspected the same. If it were not for the creature jumping in to protect her, the arrows would have shattered her body. And lastly, Eric had saved her from the fall over the cliff when the rebels attacked.

She looked up at a figure beside her. It was the man who had thrown the blanket over Eric. He looked down at her from his very tall height.

“My name is Xavier,” the man said with a faint smile. It was apparent from his smile he was expecting Wanda to be surprised to hear his name. “I knew your father very well—a good friend who will be remembered by many.”

Wanda couldn’t believe what she was hearing. According to Alexis and Bathe, Xavier was dead. “No,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief as her eyes searched Xavier's face. “No, it's not possible!”

“I know,” Xavier agreed. “If you give me some time, I will explain everything to you. You need to know the truth; you need to know who you truly are.”

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THE END

Continue with Vitrian Secrets Series Book 2

VITRIAN SECRETS – THE CHOSEN UNVEILED

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The Chosen Unveiled (Book 2)

Prologue

The world twirled in Xavier's eyes. Xavier did not see the demon that came and struck him from behind. All he felt was his sudden crash in the wall before he passed out, leaving his friend Marcus to fight alone.

Abruptly, Xavier came back to reality. A loud scream resonated in his ears. While he tried to gain full control of his environ, he wondered what demon had knocked him out?

The scream that had woken him came again, louder