Series 1/Chapter 10: A WICKED TRUTH

The Broken Craine/Casador family 

Cressida Craine's life had been filled with all the best things money could give. She was the child and heiress to a long line of wealthy Savannah socialites and businessmen. She was the golden girl of her family, often adored for smiling the right way, looking her best, being the perfect daughter, the daughter the Craine family held up on a pedestal. 

All of the glitz and glamour of her past dulled quickly as Cressida grew. She fell into a deep depression. Lost interest in the world she was brought up in and eventually met a man that promised her more than what her family could give her. With this man, it wasn't about money or prestige or being a local famous person.

He promised her a world of magic and passion and powers beyond her wildest dreams....if and only if, she could give him a son.

In truth, she fell in love with this man, his dark features and smoldering eyes seemed to seep into her like a thick honey. Everything about him seemed to be from another world almost too perfect. But she gave in. She gave him all he wanted and in turn would give him the child he wanted.

Cressida would be repaid with every once of supernatural abilities he could give her for this child. The chosen child. The Coin. 

Caspian Casador was the man Cressida fell in love with. He was the man who promised her the world, but soon after she signed her name in what he called the Book of Entry she realized that perhaps she made a mistake. A big mistake. A mistake that she was unsure she could correct.

Caspian's dark side quickly manifested itself in torments and cruelty. He was angry and twisted events in their lives around and he constantly thought she was attempting to leave him and take the child she was holding in her womb away from him. He wanted to control her, he didn't want to love her. He wanted the child for himself, he didn't want to raise it together. He was vicious and evil and the place he took her, this dark underworld where no one could find her or her baby was truly hell. 

If it weren't for the other witches in the coven that Caspian controlled, Cressida would have probably killed herself and saved her child from being the monster's baby. But in a coven as tight as Mae, Cressida and Gabrielle's she found a way out.

They broke their vows together. Mae knew the only way to salvation was to free themselves of their bondage to Caspian. It was their only way to freedom and for 20 years they lived safely away from all the dark shadows that Caspian cast over them for so long. 

But much like the sun and the moon switching places over the day and night, the past had come crashing down upon them all. Mae was dead, living as a spirit in Cressida's home and Caleb, one of the twins Cressida gave birth to that was promised to Caspian was killed by a rival witch who's murderous plot to overthrow Cressida finally came to fruition. 

Ashe Evans, Gabrielle's one time lover who had died years before and who was brought back from the beyond by Cressida held her in his arms as she cried uncontrollably over her dead son's body. He held her so tight that his arms began to cramp and he could no longer hold his position. He pulled her away from his chest so that their eyes met and asked if she could stand. She nodded yes and looked over at her son's body and pulled a white sheet over his face. 

"What do we do now?" Ashe asked.

Cressida walked over to a side table that had been knocked over in the brawl with Morgan and placed it right side up and replaced the toppled over telephone that had been sitting on the table. She took a deep breath. 

"We have to find Caitlyn before Morgan realizes that Caspian's son isn't the only one with the powers of the Coin." Cressida answered through a weak and pained voice. "Gabrielle may know where she is." 

Cressida took a second long breath and dialed Gabrielle's phone number and waited for her to pick up, and when she did, Gabrielle instantly could tell the worst had happened.

"My God Cressida! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I should have been there. I should have been there to help you protect him and protect our pact! First Mae and now Caleb. Cressida I'm so so sorry!" Gabrielle said devastated of the news.

Cressida's face still tear-stained could only push through her sobs as best she could to get to the next step.

"We don't have time, Gab. Where do we find Caitlyn? Morgan can't find her first, if she does, she'll kill her too. I can't let that happen. I have to protect her from Morgan and Caspian. Please tell me you know where she is?" Cressida pleaded.

"I do. Of course, I do! The day I saw her she was sitting outside of a cafe and she told me she was stay with her boyfriend Nick at the Hotel St. Filipe downtown. I'll go there now!' Gabrielle said.

"Hurry Gab. Hurry. I'll meet you there." Cressida said replacing the phone and rushing over to get her purse.

In the living room, Mae's ghost appeared. Morgan's powers had pushed away any interference from the other side not allowing Mae's spirit to appear. As soon as she materialised she sensed Caleb's death. She was gutted.

"Where are you goin!? It's too dangerous Cressida! You cannot leave here!!" Mae said, her terrified voice shaking in empty vibrations.

"I have to protect Caitlyn, look at what happened to my son, Mae!! Look what happened to you! We have to stop this, I have to stop this. Caitlyn can't be the next to fall. I can't let it happen. Either I save her or she'll be killed or Caspian will take her. I can't let the other two win." Cressida said, her face still swollen from crying.

Ashe grabbed Cressida's hand just before she stepped out of the door and pulled her one step back.

"I want to help! That's why you brought me back. What can I do? Tell me!" He asked.

"Nothing. There's nothing you can do now, Ashe. I've made too many missteps and allowed too much to happen without fighting back. It's like I was playing checkers when Caspian and Morgan were playing Chess. I messed this all up, and I have to fix it." Cressida said carefully pulling her hand out of Ashe's grasp.

"Cressida please...take Ashe." Mae begged.

Cressida looked at both of her friends and saw the deep sadness of what had happened and how it was terrorizing her whole world. It was proof enough that she wanted no more to do with Caspian's curse on them all. 

"No. Just me. I'll face him alone." Cressida announced as she slowly left the house and set off for the Hotel St. Filipe.

Mae and Ashe were left in the house alone with Caleb's body. They didn't know what to do. It was all so overwhelming and shocking. Together they walked back to Caleb's room and to their horror...his body was gone. 

"What the..." Ashe said his eyes as big as two large eggs.

Mae closed her eyes and extended her arms out. She began to glow, she began to levitate. She began to feel the underworld and felt every soul that was passing through. Freshly dead spirits finding their way into the world of the dead.

Caleb was not one of them. Mae kept scanning the souls. Searching each one. Their faces all worn and screaming and sad and lost. Their faces stretched and tearing hurting from lifetimes of pain and suffering. But still none were Caleb.

When she realized Caleb was not one of the dead she came back to Ashe.

"He's not like a normal person. He does not die like a normal person." She whispered.

"But he is dead right? That witch Morgan strangled him, I saw it! I saw her do it. He's dead!" Ashe said, his voice now screeching with frustration of not knowing what was happening around him. 

"Ashe..." Mae began before Ashe interrupted her.

"Damn it Mae, is he or is he not dead! What's going on!?" Ashe asked.

"He's gone. But...." Mae added.

"But what?" 

"There's no way to find out where he is and if he'll come back." The Spirit said.

"He can come back? Does Cressida know this? We have to tell her." Ashe proposed.

"She knows there is a possibility of him coming back, Ashe, she knows it very well. The problem is I don't think she's thinking clearly right now. And the worst part of it is, if Caleb returns, he will not be the same. He may be compromised by the powers of his father Caspian. Cruel. Evil. Monstrous. And with all of this, the danger surrounding Caitlyn remains. Caitlyn needs to be the one protected now. Caleb is a lost cause. Gone. We have to focus on Caitlyn and keeping her as safe as possible." Mae replied.

Ashe shook his head. He was angry. He was livid. Everything was happening around him and there was nothing he could do. He was brought back to life to help, to be a apart of the solution and so far he felt absolutely helpless and worse---a burden. 

He picked up a vase and through it up against the wall smashing it thousands of pieces. He screamed into the vacant room.   

All he could do now is wait. Wait with Mae. Wait for time to come back around and hopefully, Caitlyn and Cressida would connect and she would be saved. 

Ashe and Mae hoped. They waited. The prayed. 

****

Pascal, fresh from his interrupted date with Gabrielle combed the halls of the Hotel St. Filipe looking for what his master Caspian wanted. His daughter.

He slowly walked the halls in the middle of the night touching the walls, feeling for the one woman that Caspian wanted and needed in his life to fulfill his prophecy. His last surviving child. But there was nothing. Pascal sensed no response from the powers that were inside of her. 

Thanks to Nick.

Nick's own powerful psychic abilities had been put on red-alert when he was visited by Caspian in his dream, Nick was the one blocking Pascal telepathically. Nick himself was following Pascal in his mind, watching him search all the hall ways like a beast searching for his next meal. 

And suddenly, at the end of one the halls, Nick appeared to Pascal. 

"Get out." Nick said, his voice cold and deep.

Pascal smiled and stepped forward but Nick, lifted his arm out and Pascal suddenly froze in place. 

"Get out." Nick repeated.

But to Nick's own unfortunate ignorance, Pascal was no ordinary human. He was a man cursed by the dark forces that lived inside of Caspian and all that was evil. 

A sudden black cloud began to form around Pascal like a fog rolling over the cold sea, and with each blanket touch, the darkness revealed the monstrous truth of what Pascal's curse had done to him. What Caspian's curse had made him: Pascal slowly morphed into a blood-thirsty hound from hell with teeth sharp and hungry, with eyes yellow and cold, with fur gray as the night sky and claws as sharp as steel blades ready to slice through any human flesh that stood in his way.

Pascal's hound appearance frightened Nick so much that freezing the monster in his place no longer worked and Pascal, in giant monstrous form lunged at him biting at his arm. But Nick backed away and fell to the floor knocking himself unconscious. 

The growling Pascal then used his keen sense of smell to sniff out the daughter of his master. The new princess of darkness that Caspian needed, wanted and desired to sit by his side on the thrown of all that was evil. His coin. 

She wasn't far. Nick, appearance in the hallway gave away her location easily. Pascal, found their hotel room and leaped through the door busting it down instantly. Inside a the sleeping Caitlyn jumped out of her bed screaming at the animal foaming at the mouth and ready to take her.

Nick came from behind, bleeding from the head and jumped on Pascal's back. There was snarling and growling and fighting and punching. Nick gave it his all but Pascal was too powerful. With his strong jaws, Pascal grabbed at Nick's arm and pulled him up then threw him to the wall of the hotel room again knocking him out.

"NICK!!!!!" Caitlyn screamed. 

Pascal then turned back into his human self terrifying Caitlyn who had no idea what was happening or who this monster was. 

"This is another dream. I'm dreaming again. I have to be." Caitlyn said out loud pinching her arm hoping she'd wake from the horrors she was witnessing. 

"You must come with me." Pascal said coldly. 

Caitlyn leaped from the bed and went over to Nick who was out cold. She tried to wake him, crying over him but he would not. 

"YOU KILLED HIM!" Caitlyn screamed.

"No. He'll live. But you can no longer be together. Caitlyn, I'm sorry. But you have to come with me now. Please." Pascal said, his heart knowing full well that Caspian, somewhere hidden in the hotel was expecting them. 

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" She shot back.

"That is a mistake." Pascal noted.

"Get the hell out of here!!" Caitlyn screamed holding Nick's head in her lap and he slowly began to come to again.

"If you do not come with me there will only be more pain and suffering, that I can garantee you. Please don't make me do something I don't want to do. Please." Pascal begged.

"GET OUT!" Caitlyn screamed. 

Pascal's brow furrowed and with all his powers he grabbed at Caitlyn's arm. She punched at his face and his body but he felt no pain. He felt nothing. He was a creature under the control of all the darkness and Caitlyn was no match for it. 

Pascal tightened his grip around Caitlyn's arm and pulled her close and with the closure of Pascal's eyes, they were gone. Gone to a different place a different room. 

Her father's room. 

Nick woke up. The sun burning his eyes. His head bleeding, his mind spinning. His arm throbbing in pain. And Alone. 

"CAAAAAAAAITLYN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed into the empty void that was his room. 

The Nick awoke. In his bed. Alone. All of it happened in a dream-state. Caitlyn was kidnapped but taken from him in a way that no one in the entire hotel would ever have seen or noticed. 

She was gone...now in the dangerous clutches of her demon father Caspian. 

****

Two women, witches from a coven known only to the dark creature known as Caspian Casador dashed into the lobby of the Hotel St. Filipe after meeting each other outside. It was Cressida and Gabrielle who had frantically made there way to find Caitlyn before it was too late.

Together they rushed over to the late night front desk person who was quietly filing paper work on a counter behind the hotel's check-in desk. 

"Can I help you?" The woman said, turning slowly to the two visibly nervous women that she heard rush up to the desk. 

"We're looking for a woman that has been staying at the hotel for a few weeks now. Her name is Caitlyn Frost and it's an emergency. We have to see her." Cressida began. 

"I can't really give you information on guests without their knowledge." The woman at the front desk said as she logged into the hotel's computer.

"But it's an emergency." Gabrielle repeated.

"I can't give you any information on our guests. I'm sorry. It's a safety concern." The woman said again.

"Miss, you're not listening, we have to...." Gabrielle began to say just as Cressida lifted her hand, placed it between her face and the woman's and closed her eyes.

A two spiraling white circles began to twist and turn around Cressida's hand, the woman looked at her in shock, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Cressida then began to mutter something under her breath that no one understood. 

And then, with the snap of her fingers, the two circles jumped from Cressida's hands and encircled the woman's head like a crown and evaporated into her skin. The woman's eyes soon lit up in a flash in the same color as the circles that entered her body. Cressida was now controlling her every move.

"Show us where Caitlyn is." Cressida said softly.

The woman, in a hypnotized state typed in Caitlyn's name into the computer but nothing came up. The system was not showing Caitlyn as a guest. Frustrated, Cressida touched the computer monitor and allowed her powerful mind to enter the machine and sort through all the records. She was inside the computer, inside the records telepathically and suddenly, there it was. The room number associated with FALCONER, NICKHOLAS AND GUEST. 

Cressida opened her eyes and turned to Gabrielle.

"Come on!!" 

As soon as Cressida and Gabrielle were out of site, the front desk clerk came to. She looked around for the two women who were gone---she had no memory of being put under.

Upstairs, the two witches came to Caitlyn and Nick's room. They heard crying inside. There was no more time to waste and in a flash of light transported themselves into the room finding only Nick, face down in the carpet hysterically crying.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Cressida asked, rushing to his aide.

Nick, devastated that Caitlyn was gone looked up at the new face then quickly jumped back not understanding how they two women entered his room without opening the door.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want?" Nick asked as she slid over and grabbed his police gun from a holster that was on a soft accent chair in the corner.

Gabrielle backed up and Cressida too put distance between them.

"You have to listen to me, we don't have time, I have to find her before it's too late. Where is Caitlyn??" Cressida begged.

"WHY?" Nick asked through a flurry of tears that stained his face.

"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!!!" Cressida screamed, her patience thinning.

Nick pointed his gun at her and snarled. He was sick of all of this. He was tired of the shadowy figures that continued to come into his world and take what he loved. So many people of his life had gone away because of the evil dark shadows that flowed in and out of his life. Now Caitlyn was gone too and these two new women were going to be the very last ones to take what he wanted. He calked the gun's hammer.

"Get the fuck out." He growled.

"You don't understand, Please you have to listen to us. This is Caitlyn's mother. We've been trying to find a way to keep her safe and ..." Gabrielle began before Nick recognized her.

"You. I know you. We met. At a coffee shop. You...you spoke to Caitlyn." Nick said.

"Yes." She answered. 

"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH US?" Nick screamed the gun still pointing.

"Nick please." Cressida replied.

"You're her mother?" Nick asked, the truth finally seeping into his broken mind.

"Yes. I am. Nick, please, I'm begging you to tell us where she...wait..." Cressida said before stopping herself when she realized what she and Gabrielle had come in on when they entered the room. A man on his face crying in a heap of devastation. Almost in mourning. 

Cressida's eyes widened when she realized that they were too late. 

"He took her didn't he." She said softly.

Nick, finally feeling calmer and understanding that they were there in truth to protect Caitlyn slowly lowered his gone and got up off the floor.

"He...this thing, this monster of a man, I don't know what he is. He took her. " Nick explained.

"Gone?" Gabrielle asked unsure of how if no one left the room since the door was locked and Caitlyn's things still seemed to be all over the hotel room.

"He took her like nothing. Just like she was nothing but a toy or something. I don't know where. I don't sense her. I don't feel her presence like I did all the time we've been together." Nick explained.

"You can feel her?" Cressida asked.

"I can feel everyone. Everything. Plants. Animals. People. I feel it all. Anything that is alive and with a heart I feel. I didn't feel him. I don't feel her. I don't know why. I don't know why!" Nick said, sobbing, his gift of telepathy and psychic abilities seeming to vanish in the middle of the night.

"No, it's not you, it's him. He's done this." Cressida said.

"Did she die?" Nick asked, unsure of why he could no longer feel her.

"He wouldn't do that. He needs her. But he's taken her to a place that is unreachable.....almost." Cressida added.

"Who is he?" Nick asked.

The two witches paused. They didn't know how to honestly answer. They looked at each other then back at Nick.

"The devil." Cressida said. 

"The devil? No he was like a wolf. Or some kind of monster. A wolf a ....a...a..." Nick said his mind racing and still unsure of what he saw.

Gabrielle walked over to him. He flinched unsure what she was reaching for. She grabbed his hand softly then whispered "show me".

Nick closed his eyes and with his telepathic powers connected with Gabrielle. He showed his his brawl with the monster. He showed him the snarling mouth of a beast. The horrible growl. The vicious twisted teeth. Then He showed her when the beast transformed into Pascal. The man Gabrielle was falling in love with. 

Gabrielle gasped and quickly let go of Nick's hand.

"What it is?" Cressida asked. 

"Pascal. He... he took Caitlyn. He took her." Gabrielle said, tears welling up in her eyes when she realized the man she was falling in love with was connected to the evil Caspian.

"What do you mean?" Cressida asked.

"For Caspian. He's working for Caspian." She said, shocking Cressida.

"What do we do? How do we get Caitlyn  back?" Nick asked. 

The witches looked at each other knowing they had to do something they never wanted to do again. They left the dark world they had come from and had given their souls to decades ago never to go back again. But Caitlyn's own soul was at stake now, she was now in the clutches of the man who'd use her to take over all the planet in a sweeping horrible plot to control the souls of all the world. 

"We have to go to her. We have to go to her." Cressida said. "It's her only hope."

"Can we?" Gabrielle asked, unsure of how it would even work.

Cressida wasn't sure. She knew that they could always return to the world of the dead, the depths of darkness. They were part of it too, forever. They didn't need to even tell Caspian, they were connected supernaturally to this place, the place of shadows. But a return was dangerous and could lead to death if they were caught, especially because on the count of their defection years ago. 

"I don't have a choice. I'll go. But I'll need help." Cressida said.

"I'll go." Gabrielle replied.

"Me too!!" Nick said. "Anything to get Caitlyn back." 

"No, no. It's too dangerous. I have to do this with..." Cressida said pausing before she uttered Ashe's name, the man she brought back to life to help her navigate through the underworld and kill Caspian before he surfaced and took Caitlyn out from under them. Only he could be the one to tackle this with Cressida. 

"Nick, I need you to stay here. Stay in this room and don't leave. Under no circumstances do you leave this room. I have a plan and I have to act on it quickly. Gabrielle, before I do this, I have to show you something. At home." Cressida said, noting Ashe's secret whereabouts.

"What?" Gabrielle asked, seeing Cressida's facial expression turn very serious.

Cressida grabbed Gabrielle's hand then turned to Nick and warned him again to stay at the hotel in his room. He nodded that he would then stat back down like a child listening to his mother as Cressida closed her eyes and quickly transported Gabrielle and herself back to her home. 

Cressida knew that without Ashe she could not defeat Caspian, and she could no longer keep him a secret to Gabrielle. She had to come clean that she brought him back to life.