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

“Don't!” Celina shouted. “No–No!”

With his vision still fuzzy, Xavier vaguely saw Celina stretch out her hand toward the other end of the room, as she screamed. With the horrific scream and stretched out hand, Xavier knew something happened in the house.

As he watched Celina, Xavier remembered he had left Marcus on that side. He looked in the direction of Celina's hand, wondering why she screamed. The shadow of a huge figure stood where Marcus should have been, but the wall between him and Marcus obstructed his vision. He didn't know what the creature was or if Marcus was still there.

Xavier tried to get up, but the pain was too much. His impaired vision and Celina’s horrified scream confused him. What was happening on the other side of the room? He needed to get to Marcus. He felt the wetness on his face when he tried to get up. His hand went to his face, and he knew he was bleeding the moment he touched it. He pushed with all his strength and got up. He heard Celina’s voice again, shouting at the man who had hunted her. He turned toward the door in time to see Celina pulled outside and away as she continued to scream and object to leaving.

“No, you can't leave him there. He is your friend,” she yelled.

“He made his choice to stand against me, and he hid you away for years,” the man said, his voice intense with anger.

“Bathe. . .?” Xavier said in confusion. He thought he heard the voice of his friend. He stretched his hand toward the door where Celina's voice had come from. Within a few seconds, his vision became clearer, and he forced himself up, walking toward the broken wall a demon had crashed through when they fought. Then he saw Marcus on the floor.

“Marcus!” Xavier rushed to his friend lying flat on the floor. He was bleeding profusely.

“Oh, God!” he exclaimed, seeing a deep wound on Marcus' temple as he turned Marcus over. “I have to get you help,” he said anxiously. Marcus' breathing was slowing down significantly.

“Where is he?” Marcus breathed.

“Who?” Xavier asked. Marcus must mean the person who took Celina away. “He's gone. He took Celina with him.”

“We have to get her back . . .” Marcus grunted.

“Don't talk, Marcus.” Xavier looked around the room for anything he could use to help his friend, but he wasn't familiar with the house. He didn’t know if there was any healing ointment. Marcus had invited him to the house to protect Celina, but Xavier had never been there before the day of the battle.

Marcus pulled him closer. He bent over with his ear toward his longtime friend.

“We have to get her back; the lives of the children depend on . . .”

“Let her go, Marcus,” Xavier pleaded. “You kept her for years. You have to let her go.”

“We can’t.” Marcus coughed. A tiny bit of blood came out of his mouth. “Take care of the children.” Marcus began to cough again.

“What children?” Xavier said, bewildered.

“The children with the Chosen traits. And my children.” Marcus pointed behind Xavier. “All three of them . . .”

Xavier looked behind him quickly. An open door led into a dark room. He looked back at his friend, about to ask why he was pointing toward the room behind him and why he had said three children. Marcus had two children, Jason and Wanda. He knew no other child, but Marcus mentioned all three of them. Immediately, he guessed the rumors that Marcus had a child with Celina were true. He knew Marcus had kept Celina away for years, but right now Xavier wasn't concerned about rumors. One of his closest friend was dying.

“And Wanda.” Marcus coughed out the words, his body convulsing.

“What about Wanda?” Xavier said.

Marcus coughed again as his breathing weakened. “Celina . . . Wanda will destroy the Chosen children. . . .” He stopped.

“What?” Xavier said. He looked confused as what Marcus meant confused him.

“Make me a vow,” Marcus said very faintly. “Protect Wanda, protect the children . . .” Marcus raised his voice with all the energy he could muster. “Vow,” Marcus said as loud as he could.

“I vow to protect Wanda,” Xavier answered quickly, even though he knew that as a Vitrain, vows were binding. “Also Sofia and Jason . . . stay with me, Marcs.” He called Marcus by his old teenage nickname, though he didn't understand the reason for the vow.

“Keep my children away from Ake...uah.” The words came out so faintly that Xavier struggled to understand it. “The curse will destroy all the Chosen.”

“Ark . . .” Xavier mumbled, trying to understand what his friend was saying. He had never heard the word “Akeuah” before, not in North America, his homeland, or in Norway, where he’d relocated.

“What curse?” Xavier asked.

But his friend was motionless.

“Marcs? Marcs!” Xavier shouted.

His friend was gone.

Xavier raised Marcus' head gently to confirm that his friend had crossed over to the other side. Tears trickled down his cheeks as he shut his eyes in anger, then he laid his friend down.

“Rest, my old friend.” Xavier spoke the words from the depths of pain. He placed his hand on Marcus' eyelids and closed them.

He got up and walked toward the wall he’d come through when he regained consciousness. Still vexed, he placed his left hand on the wall. He found his phone with his right hand and made a quick call.

“Marcus is gone,” Xavier said when the call was answered.

“What?” His partner sounded surprised. “What do you mean, gone? What happened?”

“I don't know,” Xavier said. He was still trying to manage the anger in his voice. “I was knocked unconscious; I didn't see what happened or who did it. I only heard Celina screeching. I guess that was when it happened.”

“No. Not Marcus.” 

“Marcus wants us to protect his family. That was his dying request.”

“I’m coming over.”

“It’s too late now,” Xavier answered. “But vow to keep Wanda, Jason, and Sofia safe.”

“Are you sure he is dead?”

“Yes,” Xavier replied, almost shouting the words in annoyance. “Marcus is dead. He is gone! There is nothing we can do now . . .”

Suddenly, like he had said something wrong, a loud cry came from the room Marcus pointed at. The door to the room was directly behind him. He turned at once and faced the room.

He switched the phone off, cutting his partner off mid-sentence. There was something in the room, something that hadn’t been there before when Marcus pointed toward the room. He squinted his eyes, and then an astonishing shock hit him. Marcus' body was no longer on the floor.

There was no sign of dragging or Marcus crawling. The body was just gone, leaving traces of blood on the floor like he had vanished from the spot.

An unusual sound came from the dark room opposite him. He turned and readied himself for whatever might emerge from the room. He couldn't see who or what was in there; all he knew was that it was big. It groaned in an angry, deep voice.

“Marcus?” he called. Had his friend found a way to move his body and transform?

The thing in the dark room turned and looked in Xavier's direction, its demonic eyes fixated on him. The man who came for Celina must have sent one more demon to finish them all. He had lost his Praying Méndez in the battle before he got knocked unconscious, so he brought out a Vitrian weapon. The Vitrian symbol glittered brightly in his hand, signifying the presence of a demon.

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I hope you enjoyed reading

VITRIAN SECRETS – THE HEALING MÉNDEZ?

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VITRIAN SECRETS – THE CHOSEN UNVEILED

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Publication Date: 10-29-2020

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Dedication:
Wanda Troms was kept away from the Vitrian lifestyle by her mother, but she needs to get the Healing Mendez to heal her little brother, Jason. Can she survive? Will the brutal Vitrian rebels release the Healing Mendez? Or is it going to be another brutal battle with demons and their magical powers? Vitrian Secrets is filled with twists.