Lilith's Shadow Ch. 10

Hello Everyone, I'm not sure who's been waiting for chapter ten to post, but please believe, it's finally here and I enjoyed writing.

I got stomped in figuring out what to write but thanks to Iread2relax,a friend of mine, that she gave me a few ideas and here's what I cultivated. I hope you all enjoy it and I hope it inspire you to write reviews and give feed back on what you think of my story so far. Also, bear with me, this is my first non human story and I'm sure it shows. however, any constructive criticism I welcome and thank you for your interest

Navaura~ :)

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Chapter Ten:

The thing about Wisconsin is that it's a humid state that over looks lake Michigan. The surrounding areas of the north are field with trees, camping grounds, hunting grounds, rivers and all sorts of areas reserved for those who enjoy the wild and activities such as canoeing, bike riding and boating. The areas of Southern Wisconsin are mostly populated Urban cities like Madison, Milwaukee and Racine.

Overall, the state of Wisconsin may not be a bad place to live if you know where to go to have fun. Being in the south makes you a lot closer to Illinois, so you are only an hour away from the festivities, if Wisconsin is too small for your liking.

That morning as we left our home, the home that had been mine for a good year and a half, I looked around to make sure that everything was in place. What made me like the place was that it was old mixed with a bit of modern.

The place itself was modern while the inside was built old fashioned. There was a foyer, that led into the living room from the door. From there adjacent to the living room was a library, which is where Stefan spent most of his time when not teaching hockey to teenage boys or sparring with his sister and brothers. Next to the Library was the Kitchen. The kitchen was a pastel blue and white color, which struck me as odd for these guys because they weren't your average guys and then after talking to Reina I found out she'd been the one who chose the color for the kitchen, because she said that it needed a woman's touch since neither of them ever set foot in it unless it was to eat. The kitchen was massive with all sorts of chef items in there. A table big enough to seat eight stood off away from the island.

If you walked past the living room, where there was a tan colored leather sofa set with dark cotton draperies hanging in the window, you would step down into a sitting room, which is where the t.v. set was. Another set of furniture sat in there but this set was black leather.

To the right of the room, matching the flooring in both the living room and sitting room, there was the stair case which led up to seven bedrooms. Olivia and Tavis had their own rooms.

Stefan and I shared a room, with a joint bathroom linking our room to Tavis room. Our room had been redecorated on my insistence because who would want such a bland room of all white. It drove me nuts to even go in there so one of the first things I did was add a little milk chocolate, leaving the base white.

The second thing I did was change the decorations of the room. I had the queen sized bed removed and put in a king sized bed with a four post black wrought iron bed and then I had the bedding switched out for a tapioca green with a chocolate colored bed spread mix. I know it's bizarre but I liked the color scheme so it's what I ordered. I also put up nice cotton draperies.

For the kids rooms I'd done a simple blue for Tavis and a sunflower yellow for Olivia with a fresh beat band theme for her room. So everything in there refers to the fresh beat band. For Tavis, Little Bill because that was his favorite cartoon.

I know, the question you're thinking is what's the point of thinking about all of this? I was thinking about this because our ship had just docked on Lake Michigan and we were about to stock it with supplies for our journey to Ontario and seeing that I have nothing else to do but wait til they are ready to leave, I was going over in my mind how our place had looked when we left, since after all this would be the last time I saw it for who knew how long.

Our voyage to Ontario would take a while. We'd already left Greenfield for Milwaukee and from Milwaukee, we went to Minnesota where we boarded the Lady Marine, a vessel owned by a friend of Vance. We sailed the Lake superior that would no doubt cross into the boundaries of Ontario.

I can't really tell you how long it took to sail from Lake Superior to Ontario because my first night on the ship I got sea sick and locked myself in my cabin.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, due to the fact that every time I awoke I was struck with a serious bout of nausea that made it hard for me to with stand the slight rocking back and forth of the boat by the great lake. Stefan would come into the room, check on me and try to get me to eat something, but no matter what he brought I couldn't sit up long enough to eat it.

He would sit down with me during the day time in our dimly lit cabin and tell me that everything was going to be alright. After figuring out food wouldn't help, he began bringing me water. I sipped what I could of the cool liquid but it wasn't much on an upset stomach. Stefan set the cup down on the table.

He sighed and inquired, "Why didn't you tell me you got sea sick?"

I shook my head first to the left, then right, "I didn't know. Never been on a boat before."

He raised his right brow. "What?"

I cleared my throat, "I wasn't born and raised here Stefan." My voice sounded weak even to my own ears. Softer than it's normal sturdy high pitch.

"How come I didn't know that? We've been together over a year and I didn't think to ask you that question."

I laughed, the sound light. "Too focused on other things to court your own wife."

He smiled, "Well, I guess I should be a bit more attentive."

I cleared my throat, " You're attentive enough, it just never came up I guess."

"So if you are not from here, where did you grow up at?"

"I lived in Arizona. I actually came out here for school."

"Under grad?" He inquired, suddenly remembering the degree she still hadn't finished. He sighed, this year was her last year and instead of her enrolling for the semester, she'd taken off school to have their child. "Well, you must re enroll, after we get Junior back of course."

I shrugged, "I will when I'm ready Stefan, that degree isn't going anywhere. I may as well take my time seeing as how I really don't have anything to do the next life time."

He smiled at me. "Yeah, it's not like we're struggling anyhow. Between me, Reina and Van, we've accumulated more than enough to live off of." He stated.

I laughed, finding this funny. Stefan had a way of boasting about his assets, without just coming outright and saying it. This, I found an endearing quality -that he'd found so much pride in being able to provide for me and our three children, even with the exception of the first two not being his, he made sure they were well taken care of.

I got the idea that it was more than just a sense of duty but a sense of pride and joy, especially where Tavis was concerned. As far as he was concerned, Tavis may as well have been his at birth. I felt my heart grow tender at that thought. He shrugged his shoulders with a smile, "You're welcome, Odilia."

"So, how long will we be in Ontario?"

"A day at the most, just long enough to stay overnight before charting another boat..."

"Plane. Can we got to Europe by plane?" I suggested, my stomach queasy from the thought of another boat ride."

He smiled at me and nodded, "of course. I'll cancel the freight that was going to take us there and schedule a small flight."

I exhaled, feeling a bit fresher at the news. "Thank you."

He nodded, you're welcome."

I sighed, tired again. He leaned in, kissed me on the cheek and whispered, "sleep well." As my eyes drifted close, I realized that he'd planted that suggestion in the corners of my mind. As I drifted off into unconsciousness, he whispered, "You're going to need all your strength."

I was able to ask, "What about you?"

Right as he answered, sleep over took me and the last thing I heard was, "I'm fine."

~~

Stefan

I placed the blanket over odilia and stood up from the bed. After suggesting to her that rest was needed and seeing her through to it, I got up and made my way toward the entryway that led to the deck of the ship.

After noticing the crew had tucked themselves in for the night, I went to where I knew the captain of the ship was commandeering. "ahoy, there." I stated as I walked up behind the captain.

"Ahoy, Stefan, how's your wife?"

"Sleeping now." I stated as I stepped up beside him, taking a look out at the dark sea, so deep in darkness that I couldn't understand how the captain himself could possibly steer the ship in the right direction.

"Cruise control," he stated, answering the question before I could ask.

"I suppose, since it's impossible to see at night. However, I would like to know what brings you out here."

"My thoughts." He quickly answered.

"Is that so?" I glanced over at him.

Captain George Marsh had been commandeering ships full of human cargo, supplies and anything else anyone may have wanted to haul over seas for a very long time. Although he was human, he and I had known each other since he was a six year old boy, who'd sailed with his father.

Sworn to secrecy, George had never uttered a word to anyone, that I know of, that he'd frequented trips overseas for the undead. He also never pried, but stayed to himself, and because of this, he and I had developed a mutual trust with one another, one that extended to friendly conversation.

"When I was a boy, my father told me the story of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald and how the freight was lost in a storm, right before they reached the drop off zone for the supplies they were carrying. Everything was lost. The ship, the materials and the crew all disappeared without a trace. Several searches of the wreck yielded no results."

"Really?"

"Yes. To this day, no one can say what happened to those men for sure, they can only make conclusions due to the fact that no bodies ever turned up."

"Sounds like a legend." I stated to the older man.

He just laughed, "If only it were that, Stefan, then we'd all be safe, but it happened a few miles before the docking of the ship. The freight was a lot closer to Ontario than imagined."

"So you are scared that we may not make it?"

"It's possible since this season is known for the worst storms off the lake, including freezing."

I inhaled sharply and gave the man a pat on the back, "How about we focus more on getting there than the possible delay?"

"Ey, ey, sir." The captain stated.

Odilia:

That night I fell into a deep sleep and found myself submitted against my will to a horrifying nightmare of me chasing an unknown figure through a wooded area trying to reach the child the figure held in its hands.

The figure wore a dark cloak, and ran faster than what I was able to do. It seemed the harder I tried to catch up with it the further it got away from me.

Finally, we crossed a patch of grass and the figure stopped. It was then I heard the crashing of waves beneath me. The ocean! we were by the ocean. As I came to a stop, I realized that the figure was upon a cliff and the child it carried was dangling over the cliff from it hands.

Immediately dread filled my heart and I watched as the baby was let go, to fall below the cliff. Letting out a long wail of a no, I ran forward and leaped over the cliff after the child...

"No!!!!" I screamed so loud and hard... bolting upright in my bed. As I sat up, I heard the door open and although I couldn't see his face, I knew Stefan was there. He rushed over to me, "Odilia, baby, you alright?" He inquired as he reached me, my shoulders shaking as I put a hand over my heart, trying to relieve some of the pain that had risen up there. "No, Stefan..." I whispered. Tears had pooled at the corners of my eyes and were now falling down my face, "We have to hurry. We have to get Junior back. We have to!" I gasped, tears flowing freely down my face. Stefan had sat on the bed and was now pulling me into his arms. "We will, Odilia. We will."

I shook my head adamantly, "We..we don't have that much time. If...the shadow demon takes the baby beyond Lilith's cove, we...we can loose him forever."

"Don't think like that, Odilia. We will get him back."

"But what if we don't?" I inquired, my tone soft, my crying ceasing.

"We will."

"But...what if we don't?" I wanted to know.

He shook his head at me fiercely, "That's not an option" He stated. "We will get our child back and that's all there is to it."

~~

Tooli couldn't help but be disturbed by the scream that had come from the cabin next to his. He'd intended to wait until docking in Ontario before he would explain to Odilia what he'd dreamed a day ago, but in her urgency to get to her child, he felt there was somethings that she needed to understand, and although he'd wanted to wait to tell her, the matter was of the utmost importance.

He'd gathered his wine colored robe and the tassels that had been twisted at the bottom of the robe and pulled it up. Making his way to Stefan and Odilia's Cabin, he knocked softly. After a minute, the door opened and Stefan glanced up at him, "Hello, Tooli, is there something you wish to discuss?"

Tooli nodded, "Yes, sir, there is, however, it concerns both you and your wife."

Stefan was about to decide against it, but saw with the robe that he wore, that it was of urgent matter. Most see-ers didn't wear them unless they were about to speak something profound.

Immediately, Stefan stepped away from the door. Tooli entered the room and stood adjacent to the bed, so that he could face both of them while speaking. The door closed and Stefan came and sat down next to his wife, who cracked a small smile at Tooli, "Hello, Tooli."

"Ma'am." He stated. His gaze on her, he could see the spiritual protection she had around her. It shown to him in a ray of blue light. He understood that she would be the only one who was protected well enough to get the baby back should it enter through the surface of the cave.

Stefan's protection was bright red which meant he would not venture beyond the earth's surface. Inhaling sharply, he said, "I was going to wait til we docked to Canada before I revealed this to you, however, I now know this message is urgently needed."

Stefan was running his hands along his wife's arms to keep her calm. "Yes?"

"The first thing I will start with is explaining to you and your wife, how far each of you may descend to Lilith's cove."

"What do you mean each of us?" Odilia inquired, her tone already shaky."

"I thought she and I were supposed to be together to get our child?" Stefan inquired, his tone abrasive.

Tooli shook his head, "No, Stefan, you can only go to the surface, it is Odilia who may go to beyond the surface."

"Why did the counsel say only to the surface?" Stefan inquired, becoming erratic.

Tooli exhaled, "Because they want you to retrieve the baby before he goes below the surface, because should he go below there, it will be harder to access him, however, not unobtainable."

"Why am I the one who goes below the surface?" Odilia still hadn't wrapped her head around the idea yet.

Tooli removed his hood and his eyes connected to hers. Odilia was brought into violet colored eyes, and allowed to see what he saw. She saw herself kneeling before mounds of dirt, with a book open and in her right hand, one of the daggers she carried in her bag was slicing her left hand. A few drops of blood spilled to the ground. Tooli closed his eyes, shutting her off from the rest of the vision.

"My blood? Why my blood?" She inquired.

Stefan cleared his throat, "Excuse me?" He was trying his best to stay calm now.

"You must slice through the palm of your hand because you are what put this whole turn of events into motion."

"What do you mean?" She inquired.

It then dawned on Stefan that the shadow demon had never come to claim Odilia. He glanced over at Odilia. "She never claimed you. Nor had she tried. Why?"

Odilia was immediately brought back to the time period she'd gone through while turning.

"Because when you sealed your bond with one another, she couldn't lay a finger on you, however, once you had Stefan Jr. Everything changed."

"She decided to see him as supper?" Stefan inquired trying to lighten the mood.

"That's not funny." Odilia stated, a scowl on her face.

"The child is special." Tooli stated. " He is to be a counsel member."

"So she wants to eat him before he can become one?" Odilia stated, trying to get the gist of what he was saying.

Tooli smiled, finding their remarks humerus. "First of all, Lilith only eats human babies and it's at a special time it's done. She wants to use him to break the codes that holds your tribe together, so that it may be dispersed and leave things open for those in transitioning, so that she may take on human form herself."

"Her in human form has nothing to do with my people, how can she take human form if she is a demon?"

"Long ago, she was human, but after copulating with demons she became trapped in their Lair. She is seeking a way out through your tribe because you are the ones that keep her from coming above. Your incantations and prayers has had her trapped in that Lair for centuries. The only time she's able to come above, is when she feeds and even still she is limited to what she may do."

"Why not find another child instead of ours?" Odilia inquired.

"Because, a counsel man or woman is born every hundred years. They spend their entire youth learning and training in magic and the things of our tribe and it's history." Stefan answered for her.

"That's right, Stefan."

"If they have to be trained, how can she possibly get the information she wants now?" Odilia wondered.

"As an infant she can attach an oracle to him, and should that happen, she will see what he see and learn what he learns. Should this happen, your entire tribe will be wiped out."

~~

What a way to put even more pressure on someone, I thought as I mulled over what Tooli had spoken to both Odilia and I about our child.

Although Odilia didn't quite understand the importance of a counsel man or woman in our tribe, I did, because through out the years any time there's been any type of question about a birth, transitioning, magic, weaponry or even disputes in our land, the counsel men and women have been the people gone to to determine the ways in which everything was settled.

They were the dignitary of our land. What they said, did and allowed was our entire way of life. So, I knew that for our son to be destined as a counsel member, really meant a lot. I also thought about the possibility of our tribe being wiped out and was assured that this would not be a good thing.

~~