Cole's Plan

(3rd Person – Present)

“Do you remember when we first met?” Seth asks Amillia.

“Of course, I do, it’s not exactly one I would forget. Such a warm and welcoming greeting I received when I went to Mystethikal. Lots of fun time,” Amillia couldn’t help but to laugh a bit because her welcoming into that world was anything but fun.

Seth laughed with her. Amillia ended up getting all of the glass out of his back and bandaged up. He should be good as new by tomorrow thank to the super healing speed that shifters tend to have. Such lucky creatures in a way, well, some of them anyways.

“But you did help get my son back and also to bring Mia into this world, so I couldn’t be happier that I went, although, I could have so taken you down back then if I wanted too. You’re lucky I didn’t because I was still new to using the gifts I had been given,” Amillia states.

They were inside of their hotel room each setting on their own twin size bed. They decided it was best to just stay put in the hotel and let everyone rest up, especially after what they had all just been through. They barely made it out of that pack alive, and chances are, that pack is no longer existing, if they are, may the gods have mercy on their souls. Erik would be fuming that Amillia and the rest of them all got away when they had them trapped and right there in the perfect trap.

An awkward silence fell between the two, so Seth decides to turn on the television in their room to make up for neither of them conversating with the other. The news is always the same old same in the mortal world. There’s always someone doing someone dirty, the rich and powerful being greedy, such a lack of empathy for the sake of entertaining others at the expense of anyone they can.

It's all a distraction, very, very few mortals actually realize that it’s all just a distraction. There’s always more to every story, and this world has its own story. People are always wanting more, but they’re always mostly fed lies. It’s a vicious cycle that spreads like a virus across the masses.

Amillia isn’t a fan of the news, it’s all biased anyways. She’s not really paying attention to anything that’s being said. Someone’s always disappearing, or doing something massively destructive, or there’s some disaster occurring somewhere, and people are starving. It’s nothing new and Amillia is aware that all of this is about to get worse. People may have tales to inform them of what is going to happen, but none of them state how exactly it’s going to happen, but things are going to get worse.

While zoning out, Amillia begins to think about the when she and Seth first met each other. The times she spent in that world and everything that happened there. To say she hadn’t been expecting any of it is to say the least.

Seth can tell that Amillia is in her own head, running through her thoughts. She has a tendency to do that. It’s something to do with seeing the past to put together pieces of the future. He’s never truly understood anything at all about Amillia’s powers and what it is she truly is. He knows she’s powerful, but she’s never been one to be open about herself. She has walls built so high that the Great Wall of China would be jealous.

“How are your kids, where are they at?” He asks her, bringing her out of her thoughts and back into reality.

“They’re safe, they’re some where no one can get to them. I can’t exactly say where they are, but I know they’re okay. And no, I haven’t had a chance, after we left your world they had to separate from me because I had to stay here and very impatiently wait for everything to start back up again. I’ve been here the last seven years; I’ve just been laying low and mostly hiding to be honest.” Amillia told him.

She never actually said where they are, but at least she did answer his question. She gave him more information just then than she ever did before in the past. In fact, she doesn’t seem to be as cold and distant as she had bene back then.

“How are you here?” Amillia asks Seth. “When we left you had become like king of that world, or king of the shifter, or whatever that title they gave you is, what happened? How did you end up in the mortal world?”

Seth looks at her, surprised she doesn’t already know. “Amillia, there’s been a huge influx of shifter, of all magical creatures actually, into the mortal world. Demons and everything are walking around and becoming some of the most powerful beings here. The mythical world is moving in, and it’s taking advantage of all the mortals that live here.”

Without warning, Amillia laughs.

“Seth, honey, that’s nothing new, it’s been happening for years. This world has been set up to be destroyed because of the choices someone made back in the beginning. This world is supposed to be destroyed so a new, pure one can be rebuilt. But that doesn’t tell me why you are here, this world shouldn’t be of your concern when you rule a whole different one.” She points out stating it as if it’s obviously a fact that she already knows what’s going on here.

Seth sighs, “A lot of the one’s who don’t want to be under a single command and want to rule on their own from my world joined forces with Cole and have been escaping into this world, adding fuel to the already burning flame. It’s affecting everything on my end as well, so, here I am, trying to help put a stop to everything I guess.” He answers.

Amillia rolls her eyes at him, “you know that there’s warriors in this world fighting. You know everything Seth, I told you. You knew Damian’s here and that he has his own people fighting. You know the prophecies and everything they say.”

Seth looks at her with a half grin, “You’re right, Damian had been here, then he disappeared and that’s when everything else started getting worse. I don’t know about his warriors and where they went, but this battle has gotten this bad because he left this world.”

Maybe she stayed too isolated during her time here, but she had to be disguised. It’s not as if she would have been able to go to Damian and check on him or be near him anyways. He had done one killer job of fighting back the darkness in this world once she left it. It is possible he could have left, after all, they did have other concerns to deal with and he knew that this world would be doomed either way. Besides, someone’s always going to fight back eventually.

Now’s not really the time to worry about the past, things she can’t change, things that are beyond her control. Focusing on the past isn’t going to solve the problems of today. Besides, she’s well aware that Seth is not a fan of Damian any in the slightest.

Seth is itching on the inside to ask Amillia a question, but he isn’t wanting to make her angry with him, and after his little spill on Damian he knows that he’s walking on thin ice already. He just doesn’t understand, but he wants to understand. He doesn’t know how he’s held on to his sanity for as long as he has.

“You know that I can pretty much hear the conversation you’re having with yourself, and your anxiety is through the roof.” Amillia informs him after a few moments of silence between them.

Seth doesn’t say anything, he just lays in his bed with his back resting against the headboard and his feet stretched out in front of him.

“I thought we talked about this back in your world Seth,” Amillia asks, propping herself up on her elbow and twisting herself to look in his direction.

He looks away from Amillia and starts to stare up at the white ceiling above them. It sort of has a yellow tint to it, whether it be from people smoking in the room or from the light reflecting off of it, or maybe a combination of both.

“You talked,” he mumbled almost to low for Amillia to hear his response, but she did hear him.

Yup, she sure did do a lot of talking. Apparently he didn’t do any listening. She never promised him anything and tried to help him the best she could. He can’t expect too much from her and he knows exactly why too. She’s never been anything but honest with Seth. She has major respect for the shifter, even though she’s never been fond of the shifting species in general.

“Yes I did, trying to get through your hard head the truth of the matter!” Amillia says, her anger rising a bit. Just about every time he tries to have this discussion she gets mad. There’s only so much repeating oneself that someone can do though!

“Did you ever find out why?” He asks.

She looks at him, his anxiety turning into complete sadness. She can see the dark aura taking over. “No, Seth I haven’t. I promised if I got the chance I would, but I’ve been playing mortal for the last seven years in this world, I haven’t had a chance to ask anyone anything, but I will keep my promise to you. I meant everything I have ever said,” She confirms.

“Do you think that things will ever be different?” He asks.

“I don’t know Seth, I wish I could give you a definite answer for that, but I can’t. There’s no way too. We both how our destinies are supposed to go, and we both know our choices shape how we get to the end the result and hope it doesn’t change on us. There’s no way we can predict what’s going to happen in the future for certainty. I know the fates are bitches and I will have a discussion with the Moon Goddess for you eventually though,” She states.

That really doesn’t do much to comfort Seth. She tried though, but even she knew there would be no comfort, not unless he got the answer he’s always wanted. It just isn’t happening though and that’s what he doesn’t understand.

Everyone is up before the sun even rises. They got a total of four and a half hours of sleep total. Sonja seems to be doing slightly better, although no one is expecting her to just be find after everything that she has been through the last twenty-two years.

Khalil and Natalia seem to have her under control for the moment. The way that Khalil is caring for Sonja has won him just a few brownie points with Amillia. She’s still not one hundred percent certain about him.

Jackson and Renee are the only two that look as if they had a woken from a normal sleep and peaceful night. Renee had showed up after everyone else, she just barely escaped the pack lands and was able to locate where they went too once she made sure she, herself, was safe.

Renee is a special kind of shifter. She’s a beautiful black panther with sparkling baby blue eyes with a hint of witch attached. The whole time she had been in the mortal world, befriending Amillia, it had been on Seth’s command, apparently the need to protect her never went away. Renee had been able to hide her true identity because of the witch in her, and she really is a pure soul, so it made playing a mortal easier than it would be for most.

“Where we headed to now?” Natalia asks.

“We probably should find Damian and them and make sure they’re okay. We need to come up with something because we’re about to enter this war diving headfirst,” Amillia responds.

“Should we really be talking about this here? We should keep moving, now that Erik and Cole know for sure that at least three of the Black sisters are together they’re going to be working overtime to try to take you down.” Jackson whispers barely audible enough to be heard.

He does have a point, they’re still at the hotel, in the lobby, getting ready to check out. They had all just met up with one another again. It’s pretty obvious by this point in time that no one can be trusted, not even those seeming as if they’re mortals can be trusted at this point. Possessions are possible.

Natalia and Renee leave to go get a vehicle big enough for the seven of them. The other five waited outside for them to come back. No one said a word, it wasn’t exactly awkward, but yet it was still a little bit of a stiff atmosphere.

Once the other two returned with a full-sized van, they all pilled in and started their journey. Renee sat in the back scrying, trying to see if there is a chance she’ll able to pinpoint, or come close to figuring out where Damian went too.

“What are we going to do if we can’t find him?” Seth asks.

Amillia thinks for a moment before she responds. “Then we’re going to go regroup for a bit and come back and finish this war, or at least our parts in it at least.”

She can’t tell them the whole plan, but she has to see who in this group she can actually trust. There’s too many new people and she’s not exactly sure what all she has missed out on while she was in hiding.

They had just started driving with no particular destination in mind as of yet. It’s taking Renee a while to set up and tap into the amount of power needed to track someone of Damian’s caliber. Amillia is of absolutely no help, the Wyatt’s can trace her magic, they’re going to sense the strong magical shift that would occur, which means Renee is stuck doing the search all on her own.

Renee is focusing closely on the crystal she’s using to scry with over a map of the part of the world they are currently in. She’s concentrating hard and holding a gold locket necklace in her hands as she chants. The locket is the only thing that Amillia has of Damian. He had that when they had lived together in the mortal world. It has a picture of her on one side and a picture of Matthew on the other, Amillia sort of stole it from him when they parted ways.

Amillia has a bad feeling in her stomach. This isn’t going to be easy. She can sense that something bad is about to happen and right now she’s wishing she could predict what it is. She’s finally reunited with at least two of her sisters, and soon they’ll have more of the family together, but something just feels off, and she doesn’t know how to decipher this feeling that she has.

“I think I have him,” Renee finally says after being on the road for ten hours straight.

They had all decided it would be easier if they just took turns driving instead of always stopping to rest. No one wanted to stop moving just in case somehow someone found out Renee is with them, and they trace their location through her magic. After all, it better to be safe than sorry.

“Where is he?” Amillia asks.

“It kind of looks like he’s on the east coast, so we’re at least a few days travel by a vehicle to get to him. Not all of us have ID’s, so we won’t be able to travel by plane, unless you want to confuse the attendants, or whoever I’d need to in order for us to be able to board successfully,” Renee states.

“Where at on the east coast?” Amillia asks. There’s a few places on the east coast that Amillia can say is not the best place for Damian to be, like, ever!

“It looks like he’s in a place called Pamplin City, Virginia… Do you know where that is?” Renee asks.

Amillia has no idea where that place is. She’s never heard of it before, but there’s a first time for everything, and so now they are on a new adventure. The goal is to make it across the country and into wherever this place is in one piece and without being followed.

Fifty lashes with the whip that has metal spikes all around the tip of it that grabs the skin and is sure to remove it upon every single painful blow. Fifty latches is enough to tear the entire hide off of someone’s back, and it’s not as if they’re going to allow you proper medical treatment after such a punishment either.

Nope, they left him lying there, his bare back exposing muscle, flesh torn apart, ripped from the meat, and hanging down. Blood is covering the whole area of the floor around him.

They think that he let them go. Ha! Like he would ever risk that mistake again. After everything that has happened, at least this punishment isn’t quite as bad as they have been in the past. It seems where they are concerned he can never do anything right.

He knew as soon as he realized that Seth and Amillia are in the same vicinity that their mission wouldn’t be accomplished. He tried to inform his boss of this, at least he understands that connection that exists there. Seth is a powerful Lycan, and Amillia is the deities’ favorite weapon at the ready. Just who they are alone makes them a dangerous opponent, adding their bond into the mix and it just makes everything dangerous. The bosses better be praying that they find those two before those two find Damian.

He can’t help but to laugh about that, a cold and sadistic laugh, all while coughing up blood. His body has long went numb from the pain that he’s in, he doesn’t even feel the damaging wounds on his back right now. He doesn’t want to move though, no, in fact he is hoping that he just dies down here. It’s better than being involved in any more of their plans.

“Good to see you still have your sense of humor about you boy!” The loud, deep, and non-emotional voice booms from the darkness.

He had thought that everyone left and had no clue that someone was hiding in the darkness, beyond what he can see.

“I wanted to take that whoring bitch out first, but she appears to be impossibly protected with some pitiful good luck,” The voice says, “So I think we’re going to change our tactic a little bit,” The man is taunting him now, wanting him to show some form of weakness. He doesn’t he doesn’t move, instead he lets the man talk, hate for this creature building up inside of him.

“I’m going after the children instead, after all, thanks to information that you gathered for us, they are the ones that we have been trying to prevent all these years.” The man said, emphasizing the word “you” to try to trigger emotion from him.

He knew better, there’s not needed to get hostile, or mad, or even show a tad bit of anger at his words. He knows that’s what the man in the shadows are wanting him to do. He’s not giving him what he wants. Those days are far and done with.

The man, beaten to a point where death should welcome him, lets out another bone chilling laugh.

“Do you really think you can? Do you know what the oldest is, what he can do? And you better believe they’ve been trained and know how to fight. No one would leave the kids defenseless.”

He knows what he’s speaking the truth and that’s why it doesn’t bother him much. He knows there’s no way, going after Amillia alone is a suicide mission. She’s not only been trained by the Wyatt family, but Damian has trained her, and her life has been one big constant battle, something new to fight every day. She’s very entuned to who she is as well, she’s an admirable opponent, and after what happened with her and her sisters, there’s no way she wouldn’t teach her children everything that she knows.

“I killed Cameron pretty easy, slit him open like butter.” The man says, mockingly with no remorse.

It’s no longer possible for Erik to not show any emotion anymore. Anger boiled in his blood raising his heat. The damage to his body be damn, Cole has taken things too far. Yes, he did kill one of Amillia’s children, but he had been an infant, someone had told Cole when Amillia went into labor and Cole attacked them knowing they’d be the weakest, plus shifters really aren’t much of a challenge to demons, or any member of the Wyatt family.

“The only reason you done that is because he was an infant and you attacked at them when they’re at their weakest. Do you not think that alone is enough to fuel hatred inside Amillia enough to fight you and watch you die while enjoying it?” Erik asks, a cocky smile on his face.

He’s just speaking the truth, and Cole knows it. After all, before they whipped him, they gave him a truth serum, although that was pointless due to the fact that even though he proved to be innocent of what they charged him with, he was still punished for it. They had just wanted a scape goat because the mission failed. Erik had been the one to tell them it would too, so he made the perfect scape goat when his words became true.

It's Erik’s turn to taunt his father. “Matthew is fifteen now, and Mia is eleven, my son will kill you with joy in his eyes, grandpa, just remember that.” The smirk on Erik’s face along with his words sends Cole into an angered phase. Cole’s face turns red and if steam could be coming out of his ear and nose right now then it would be.

“That bastard is no part of my family!” Cole growled loudly, his voice booming and echoing off of the stoned hallway. “And there’s no way I’d ever let a kid take me down!”

Erik can’t help but to laugh again when Cole spits in his face, a look of disgust written plain as day across his own face.

“Don’t it suck to be cursed to not be able to kill the one person who for some reason you hate the most?” Erik asks.

Cole had done some horrible things in his life, most of them concerns his wife, or ex-wife by this point, Jasmine. There’s a reason she left to do what she had to do; Cole hadn’t left her much of a choice. But there’s something about Jasmine that she had kept hidden from her family, in fact, if it hadn’t of been for Amillia then he never would have known the truth about his mother. She’s the high priestess of the lost children to the first woman to ever exist.

When Jasmine had been forced to leave her family, she made sure to place a curse on Cole, he would be unable to physically hurt any of his children, or anyone within his blood line. It had been Jasmine’s way of still protecting the one’s she cared for before she had to leave them. Cole has no idea that his ex is something as powerful as she is, and that’s something that Erik never planned on telling him either. It’s not as if Cole has ever listened to Erik anyways, that’s why he keeps losing, eventually Carrick will get sick of the loss and end Cole, or maybe the prophecy will come true, and Amillia and her family will end up defeating Carrick. Isn’t that what everyone is afraid of?

Cole doesn’t say another word to his son, he puts an order for twenty more lashes and a batch of icy salt water to be poured over top of his wounds. Erik expected at least, boiling water will be next with alcohol as well. He’s surprised he didn’t get the neck collar again, that thing is a beast.

Sonja woke from her sleep in a panic. Her heart is racing, and sweat is covering her body. Khalil is still asleep next to her. Bless his heart, he truly has been kind, gaining her trust and trying to get her to fall in love with her. She can tell how madly in love he is, but there’s so much that she still doesn’t understand, but she wants too, about so many things. It’s a distraction.

Khalil shifts in bed, sensing that Sonja is awake, he opens his eyes. She’s setting up in bed beside him just staring off into space. Her eyes are clouded over with what looks like white fog, she’s not blinking, or moving. The sight is creepy enough to make goosebumps appear on his skin.

“Sonja?” He asks snapping his fingers in front of her face in attempts to bring her out of whatever trance she is stuck in.

She doesn’t move though; he shakes her shoulder and says her name a little louder. There’s still no change in her behavior or her looks. The situation is starting to put Khalil on high alert, he has no idea what is going on or what to do.

The seven of them had stopped at a motel to freshen up and get some good sleep, or at least attempt to sleep peacefully. They had rented two rooms, cojoined together by a door between both rooms. Khalil and Sonja got their own room being that Sonja admitted she’d at least give Khalil a chance, and the others are all sleeping in the other room.

Getting out of bed quickly, Khalil runs through the door. He knew it wouldn’t be locked; they had all agreed that the door should remain unlocked for quicker access to each other in case something happens. A little caution has never hurt anyone.

Khalil burst into the other room and quickly goes for the light switch hoping that at least one of these five people asleep in here will wake up. To his luck, Amillia did, which instantly woke Seth up as well.

“Something is going on with Sonja, she’s in a kind of trance and I don’t know what to do,” he states hurriedly to the two of them. He’s already started making his way back to the door, spitting all that out at once reminded him she’s in the other room alone, which had not been his intentions.

She’s still setting there in the trance, only one thing is different, not she looks like she’s in pain.

Amillia and Seth quickly get up from where they had been sleeping and rushed into the other room.

“She’s experiencing a vision, physically, instead of just seeing what’s happening, she’s experiencing it with her body as well. I’ve this happen a few times. There’s nothing we can do but wait for her to come out of it, it can be more dangerous to try to force her out of the trance than it is to let it play out.” Amillia informed them, but she didn’t hesitate in taking a step toward Sonja and setting beside her on the bed.

Seth takes a seat on the other bed and puts his elbows on his knees, rubbing his face with his hands. He’s exhausted considering he hasn’t actually slept since the last time they were in a hotel, and he hadn’t actually slept much then either.

Khalil was still standing in front of Sonja, his arms crossed across his chest and looking right at Sonja, his gaze not shifting. Worry is written all over his face, and it’s obvious she’s in pain and it’s starting to affect him as well. The pain is starting to radiate through Khalil as well.

The daze only lasts for a few more minutes and then the haze over Sonja’s eyes start to fade and the normal color coming back to them. Amillia’s relieved to see that her sister is okay. She isn’t sure how often that happens, and it’s concerning because the more she has intense visions like that the more it can hurt her.

Sonja I sin tears and breathing hard when she finally comes too again. She can’t believe what she just saw. It wasn’t the future; it had been the present. It takes her a moment to readjust herself and get grounded again to realize where she actually is and who all is actually around her in reality.

She grabs a hold of Khalil, who had got to her in record time the moment she left the trance. She’s sweaty, she has tears in her eyes, and her whole entire body is shaking. She even has a small cut forming on her lip that is swelling and bruising.

“Sonja, are you okay?” Khalil asks her.

She doesn’t respond right away; she has to take a few deep breaths first to steady herself. “I will be,” she responds. She then looks up at Amillia with sorrow in your eyes. “I was seeing Erik get tortured, he’s in pretty bad shape. His father was taunting him, and he told him that he’s going to stop trying to chase and attack you and go straight for your kids.”