Part 2 (1/2)

He had already left. Angel exhaled and rolled her eyes. She held back her tears and used a napkin to wipe her eyes. With her head down and her arms folded, she wandered away to be alone. She found an empty bench and sat down.

Alex went to meet his guardians. They did not notice him coming and so he overheard part of their conversation. ”But John, you have to tell him,” his grandmother said.

”Mom! He wouldn't be able to handle it if he knew everything,” John protested.

Alex walked a little slower and eyed the two with interest. Uncle John suddenly turned his head and noticed him. ”Alex! Come here!” he said, affecting a cheerful tone. He went to shake his nephew's hand and hugged him. ”Congratulations! You've made us all proud!”

His grandmother kissed him and said, ”I'm so happy that you've accomplished this. We all are, and I know your parents would have been as well.”

Uncle John took a long meditative sip of his drink and nodded.

”Yes,” said Alex, turning once more to John, ”I believe we have much to talk about tonight.”

It was about 2:00 AM when Alex, John and Grandma Howe reached the Estate. Apart from when John spoke occasionally to the driver of the limo, the ride home was a silent one. The limo pulled up into the garage where many other vehicles were parked. When they got out of the car, the silence discomforted Alex even more. He was eager to know everything and say something but, seeing his uncle's solemn face, he remained quiet. His grandmother looked at Alex and placated him with her kind gray eyes.

Inside the manor, John sighed and sat down on the leather chair. ”Okay Alex,” he said. Alex sat down on the sofa facing his uncle. Grandma wandered off into the kitchen to prepare some coffee. ”What I'm going to tell you,” continued John, ”is just the beginning of what you really need to know.”

Alex remained silent.

”Now, you do know that you were the last human to be born on the Earth. In fact you were born on the day of the last battle. Of course you were too young to remember anything.”

”Okay,” Alex said. ”What are you getting at, Uncle John?”

John exhaled, ”I'm not the one to tell you this story. Your mother is.”

Alex looked confused. ”My mother?” He felt foolish even thinking it. ”Is she still alive?” he heard himself ask.

Alex's grandmother came in with three hot cups of coffee on a tray which she placed on the table. ”Well, where have you gotten till?” She asked, sitting down on the sofa next to Alex.

”Uncle John mentioned my mother.”

”What have you told him?”

”I told him about the day of his birth and I was about to tell him its significance.” John turned to Alex. ”Your mother wrote you a letter and it's this letter that reveals the truth.” Uncle John stood up and walked over to the library in the hall. He began to root around the cluttered book shelves. His fingers finally rested on an old tome which he pulled out. Suddenly the library slid open, revealing a silver door. ”The letter is in here,” he called out to Alex, gesturing toward the silver door.

Alex got up, more baffled then ever. ”What the h.e.l.l...”

Grandma Howe took Alex by the hand and led him to the library. ”Come and see what your mother left for you,” she said.

Alex felt queasy as his palms sweated. He eyed his uncle with apprehension. ”Look, I...I...” he stammered.

”We have time. You want this or not?” John's sharp eyes stuck to Alex's.

Alex nodded, silent for some time. Then, with more confidence, he said, ”I want this.”

”Now, this is a test to see if you are what we think you are,” John said.

”What test?”

”Put your hand here on this k.n.o.b,” John pointed.

Alex did as he was told and heard a whirring noise from inside the entrance. He felt a tiny shock and let go.

”The first part of the test was a fingerprint scan and a small nanopin p.r.i.c.ked your hand to check your blood,” John said.

”Why would it need to check my blood?” Alex asked.

”You'll see,” said his uncle, smiling. His eyes glimmered with the excitement of a little child.

The door slid open, leading to a long pa.s.sageway. As he approached it, the ground lit up with a pure bright light, illuminating the walls.

”Now you'll have to go inside and see for yourself.” John said.

”You mean you're not going to come with me?” Alex's voice trembled.

”No,” said Grandma. ”We promised your mother that you'd do this alone.”

Alex stared at his guardians, waiting for one of them to say something else.

Grandma Howe smiled. ”Don't worry. Everything will be fine. When you get to the end, you'll know just what to do.”

”But how will I know where to go and what to do?”

John put his hand on Alex's shoulder. ”It's a straight path. You can't fail.” He gave a gentle push and Alex went beyond the threshold. Instantly the door reappeared behind him, closing him inside. Now there really was no going back.

As he walked on and his eyes adjusted to the bright path, Alex wondered how this place was possible. Did the Council build this secret pa.s.sage? Did they even know it existed? Maybe Uncle John was keeping secrets from the rest of them.

Fifteen minutes pa.s.sed and Alex could see another silver door at the end. He quickened his pace, eager to find whatever it was that he was looking for. He checked his watch. 2:35 AM. He wondered whether his guardians were still awake, waiting for him.

He reached the second entrance and saw that it had no handle. Alex touched it to see if anything would happen. Nothing. He tutted in irritation and searched around to find a switch or key to open the door, but there was none. Then he heard the same whirring noise he had heard at the entrance. Out of nowhere, a robotic voice echoed in the corridor. ”Please state your name,” it said.

”Alexander Howe III,” he replied.

”Access Denied!”

He tried his mother's name, ”Miriam Howe.”

The voice didn't say anything. The whirring sound grew louder and faster. Finally, the voice said, ”Access Denied! Three attempts left until total lockdown.” His guardians hadn't told him anything about this. Surely they hadn't forgotten? He tried his uncle's name. That didn't work either and nor did his grandmother's name.

This was his last chance. He thought of going back to ask his relatives, but he suspected they would not hear him through the closed door. Again, he searched around for some clue. Just then, he noticed a small inscription in Cuneiform on the door. He touched it and immediately a thousand different inscriptions appeared, all in ancient languages. There was Hebrew, four different dialects of Aramaic, Sanskrit, Egyptian, Arabic, Urdu, and many others. Alex realized they all read one thing. A name. Aidan. He read it aloud and the robotic voice said, ”Access Granted!” The door slid just like the first one, revealing a room. Once he entered, the door materialized again behind him.

The room was large with hundreds of books crammed on shelves all around. In the center was a small waterfall. Alex gasped. The flowing water was red. His cheeks tingled as he came to the realization that it was in fact blood. The blood flowed down from the fountainhead into a small pool.

His stomach churned. Fear crept up his skin. He turned around, paranoid that there might be some kind of monster behind him. A chill crawled up his spine. What if there were vampires here? He tiptoed cautiously over to the pool to take a closer look. But then he stopped, afraid that if he came any closer, something would jump out and kill him. He waited and looked around once again, keeping his right ear p.r.i.c.ked for any sounds. The sound of the cascading blood echoing through the room was the only thing he could hear.

Alex wandered around the rest of the room. There were chairs and a Louis XVI style desk. There was also a coffee table, exquisitely decorated in gold and platinum, and four lounge chairs, a deep red sofa, and two recliners around the coffee table. He walked over to the bookshelf on his left. The literature ranged from science, history, political science, legends, cla.s.sical, Greco-Roman literature, Shakespeare and ancient literature. There were scrolls from Alexandria, Taxila, Nalanda, Athens, Rome, and many other ancient centers of learning. Alex returned to the desk. On it there was an old book.

It was bound in leather and the cover showed a silver cross with a bra.s.s snake wound around it. In plain English, the long t.i.tle read The History of the Dynasty and a Plain Translation of the Verse of the Ardemic Prophecies. The History of the Dynasty and a Plain Translation of the Verse of the Ardemic Prophecies. Beneath this was the subt.i.tle, Beneath this was the subt.i.tle, Included: Supplementary Material on the Secret Histories and on the Lineage of King Anaxagoras XXIX by John Benjamin Howe. Included: Supplementary Material on the Secret Histories and on the Lineage of King Anaxagoras XXIX by John Benjamin Howe. Alex opened the book to see strange writing in a language unknown to him. Next to these were the corresponding English translations. He browsed through and read the section on the Ardemic Prophecies, which had been bookmarked: Alex opened the book to see strange writing in a language unknown to him. Next to these were the corresponding English translations. He browsed through and read the section on the Ardemic Prophecies, which had been bookmarked: XXIX. There will come a time when the Earth's moon shall darken. A large destructive force will strike down upon the armies of the King. Fear not for the Lord of All Bloods shall save them and destroy the impure ones that were cast out of the Earth. The False prophet known as the Falsifier is the Enemy of the King and yet he shall be called the Son of Men and Anisaei alike.