"The Sacrifice:;The Sacrifice Trilogy"[Book 1.]

6.The Destroyer of the Keeper

"So, who's this Adelaine woman again?" I ask once we get closer to her house. She lives on the corner of 303 Oak Street in a very old and very creepy part of Little Hill town. What makes it creepy is the sky: It's not blue like it should be, but a dull grey. "She's a witch and a powerful one at that. If anyone can help you, she can," Jake tells me, and as soon as we make it to her house; I gape. Right now, I'm standing in front of a beautiful one-story blue-colored home with a gate near the entrance. There's also a keypad to let us in, and for some strange reason; I feel like I'm having a sense of Déjà vu. However, that's just not possible, right?

I walk up to Adelaine's house and head to the red and blue keypad latched to the brown door. Jake, Noah and Braiden are right beside me, but I don't pay them any mind, until Jake asked, "What are you doing, love?" His stance held an air of suspicion but I quickly reassured him. "Testing a theory," was all I said. When I looked back at him, I lost focus and thought: damn, how can a person look so hot in just a freaking black t-shirt and jeans? My thoughts were cut off by a blushing Jake snapping his fingers and saying, "Focus," in a very tender voice.

"Right, sorry. I've been having Déjà vu moments lately, and I think Adelaine might know something," I inform him. He looks back at me with confusion, but there's something behind it...trepidation? I shake it off though, as it's probably nothing. "Why?" He asked. I shrug in response, because I've no idea why I think she would know anything about me. "I just have a feeling, and I always follow my feelings," I tell him as I start to type in what I believe to be the password into her house. If this woman knows me as well as I think she does, she'd know my birthday. 5-23-96  I type into the keypad. I really didn't expect anything to happen- none of us did, really- so when something did happen, loud gasps erupted from all of us. An intercom stretched out in front of us and a woman's voice could be heard over it. "Hello? May I ask who's there?" The woman asked politely.

I take a deep breath, push the "Talk" button, and start to speak. "Hi, is this Adelaine? My name is Savannah Faye and I was told you could help me." There was a long pause, then I heard footsteps pounding on the floor, and then the door opened. She has beautiful grey-blond hair, light skin, and is wearing a white satin dress with a matching jeweled necklace. For some unknown reason, however, her face is marred in shock and tears are streaming down her face as she comes over and embraces me. I'm at a loss for words as the feeling of being home in her arms consumes me.

"My girl," she whispered in my ear. "I thought I'd lost you," she sobbed. Suddenly, memories come flooding back like an awaiting storm- just underneath the surface- begging to be released. Patricia was right; she is not my mother, but now I know who is. Adelaine Briana Kane is my mother. "Mamma," I rocked back and forth, like I did when I was a child in her arms. "I've missed you. How did Alexander do it, though? How did he erase years of my life and implant new ones?" I inquire, alarmed.

It wasn't mom who answered me though, it was in fact Jake. "The question you should be asking is not how, but why," he recommended and I had to admit; he has a point. Mom pulled back from me and nodded slightly as she turned toward her house. "He's right. All of you come inside and I will explain everything to the best of my knowledge," she authoritatively says.

I follow her inside, with Jake, Noah, and Braiden close behind.

* * *

The moment I stepped into my childhood home, it was like I never left. A wooden interior greets me home; along with a beautiful painting of me as a little girl in the multi colored living room. I seem to remember where everything was; the wooden red recliner that is directly to my left was my favorite chair when I was a little girl, and I'm delighted to see it still there. I sit down, waiting for the other to find their seats while I admire the glass table in front of me. When I see Jake coming around the corner, I silently beg him to come sit next to me and by the look of that damned cheeky grin, he probably heard me again. At that precise moment; he comes over to me and manifested a brown leather chair next to me. "After everything I've seen in just two days, this doesn't surprise me!" I confess, laughing in my head. Soon, he joins in my laughter, and we're wrapped in our own glee. It's only when we stop, and see everyone- and I do mean everyone- giving us sideways glances, and "what the hell?" looks, that's when we realize that we were laughing out loud. 

Braiden was the only one to voice her thought. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?" The bitch queen asked hostilely. "Shut up, Brai," Jake spat. Her only response was a scowl, accompanied by an eye roll. "I'm just saying ever since she came along"- she pointed at me- "you've been different. You act like a lovesick puppy when you're around her," she says with apparent scorn. Something about the way she says, "she" and her," rubs me the wrong way. I stand up, look Braiden directly in the eye and ask, "How do you think Noah feels? He loves you for everything that you are, and the worst part about that is you don't even care, do you?" Venom consumed me like a vacuum consuming garbage; the anger just kept building and building...

...until someone else took my place. Someone deadlier and darker. The other half of me.

She grabbed Braiden by the throat, and throttled her across the room. Braiden flew back into the glass table, promptly breaking it. However, Braiden regained her footing and tried to lunge for her, but then she suddenly froze. Frankly, everyone in the room froze except for her and mom. "Who are you, demon? Why do you possess my daughter?" The "demon" as mom called her, fixed her blood-like crimson eyes on Mom's brown ones. "Oh, mother, do not compare me to those vile creatures! I am much more than that," the demon said in a strong, gruff voice. Mom kept her composure, but I could see a twinge of fear behind her eyes. "I am not your mother! You're just like the rest of them," she rages. 

The demon gave what could pass for a shrug. "Believe what you want, but you're my mother and I'm not like the rest of them. We are not so different, Savannah and I. My name is Alana, and we are The Destroyer of the Keeper, Alexander Charleston. By the time her twentieth birthday comes around, we will merge and defeat him. All the Souls will be free," her voice took on a lighter tone as she said that last word but quickly referred back to her gruff voice. "I do not know what she will endure before the merge, but I do know that she will never forgive you after she discovers what you've done," Alana chastised mom. "I did that to protect her! Don't presume to know anything about me or my family!" Mom screams.

Alanna cackled, which sounded really gross coming from her. "Protect her? Please, you did that to save your own ass," she accused. Mom was seconds from snapping Alanna's neck, and so I stepped in. "Okay Alanna, time's up. I want my damn head back," I commanded sternly. She looked up at me and smiled. "Fine, but you won't remember this in the morning," she says right before her eyes shut, she takes a deep breath, and I fall into mom's arms.