WHISPERS TRILOGY

THE ORIGIN

Daybreak.

A solemn one for that matter.

Kyle had heard all the commotion the previous night. Dale slept through it all, but such are nine year olds. Kyle followed his father to the cabin and examined the inside of the trapdoor. Daniel lowered a ladder into it, then himself in. Kyle did not follow. Who knew what was in that hole? There needed to be someone outside who would make sure anything that was supposed to be inside STAYED inside.

The water was at knee-level and reeked so horribly it stung his eyes. Covering his nose and mouth with his shirt, he used a torch to examine the chamber. An enormous Star of David was on all four walls of the chamber. The whole thing was metallic, that he could tell. He moved his torch light slowly as he examined the rest of it. Wall... Rat... Rotten chains... Empty metal grate... Creepy little girl... Wall... More chains–

He snapped his torch back quickly.

Nothing. Nothing but empty wall.

He could have sworn he saw something unusual, but deciding that he did not really want to find out what it was he saw, he made a resolution to take his family back home early. Something weird was happening, something he did not want to mess with.

"Kyle, you there?"

"Yeah I'm here, what's up?"

"Tell everyone to pack up. We'll have to spend the rest of the week in a hotel or something." He said this as he was climbing back up the ladder. Kyle nodded, then his eyes widened in horror, "Dad! Behind you!"

Daniel felt himself being thrown backwards by a strong force. Kyle was also thrown backwards, falling on the dirty, dusty cabin floor. The trapdoor slammed itself shut. "Dad!" cried Kyle. He rushed to it and tried to open it, but it was sealed shut. "Mom! Guys!" The rest of the family came and found him struggling with the metallic door. "Dad's still inside!"

Inside, Daniel stood up quickly and yanked his gun from its holster. He was a marine of a high rank, trained for more than ten years, gone into war for more than five. His muscles were now extremely large and his handling of a gun was off the charts, not to mention his knife skills. One would think that after all that, nothing could scare him. THIS did.

He scanned the chamber with his torch, his gun ready to fire. Nothing at first, then his torch light revealed the little girl once again. She was a pure blond, with the body of probably a nine to eleven-year old girl. Her eyes were blue but a dark outline was around them. She was in a long white cloak, with blue markings on the sleeves and on the hood. She floated above the water, not in the tiniest bit wet. Her most shocking feature, however, was the fact that she looked so much like–

"Sheila?" it disoriented him for a moment, but he got his grip back and directed the gun's nozzle at her. "You're not my daughter. Who are you?" "Your family is in danger, Daniel Cruz." Her voice was not that of a girl, but like a crowd of people speaking all at once. "What do you mean? Who are you, the Belledame?" "We are the last defense against her return. Our souls remained to ensure that if she DID return, we would ensure she is stopped. You are the first human souls she has encountered in all these years; she will certainly come after each one of you." Daniel understood none of this.

"Who IS the Belledame?"

A pause, the silence ringing in his ears. She was probably debating whether or not she should tell him.

"Vanessa Montgomery. Sixty seven years ago, a woman who went by this name lived in that house right outside. In this town back then, there was a cult called the Omar. The Omar practiced magic, divination, charm casting and enchantments that were there and have been there since time begun. We were a peaceful people, using the power for the good of others. It was either by sheer misfortune or by fate's hand that Vanessa joined the cult."