Book Three Chapter Nine: Ghosts Of The Past

Chapter Nine Ghosts Of The Past: In front of me, I saw Kaleen lying on the ground, her crimson eyes were glassy and unfocused, in her hand, she held the bright orange flare gun that Vladimir had smacked out of my hand. The one that had landed next to her. I could hear a click, click, click sound, I then realized that Kaleen was still pulling the trigger, over and over again. She probably couldn’t believe that it was finally over. Everything that had happened, everything that Saja and Vladimir had caused, it was all over. Relief spread through me and I jumped into the air and yelled in triumph. I looked to Kaleen, she pulled the trigger of the flare gun once more, then the barrel broke open, revealing the empty flare slot, and Kaleen dropped the flare gun. I ran over to her.

            Kaleen started to laugh, it was a happy, joyous laugh that grew louder with every passing second. I joined her. “It is all over! It is all finally over! Vladimir and Saja are both dead!” Kaleen yelled. An unexplainable joy filled me. I began to cry with joy. There would be no more pain, no more struggling, no more fighting for my life. All of that was over. It was all in the past. Kaleen cast a sad eye to the dead bodies around us. “We lost a lot of good people to get this far. We lost a lot of people in order to conquer the forces of evil and fight until the end. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten.” Kaleen said. I nodded. “No, they will not. I will not let them be forgotten. No one who helped me will be forgotten.” I said. I was infinitely happy, but infinitely sad also. I was happy that we had finally stopped Saja and Vladimir, but I was also sad because so many had died in order to stop this war. So much blood was spilled, so many lives were lost. I then heard footsteps behind me. Confused, I turned around.

            In front of me was possibly the most beautiful sight that I could ever see. I saw everyone was up to me, everyone who had died here at Drottingheim. The five military soldiers, me, my mom, my dad, Hale, Chibata, Mr. Grant, Anara and Luna. A great happiness filled me, a happiness too vast to describe. “I shall certainly hope that we will not be forgotten.” Hale said cockily. I ran up and hugged him. “You are alive!? How?” I asked him. Hale did not answer. I then remembered something that happened a while ago. Something that happened when I visited Saja’s spirit. She had told me that when I defeated Vladimir, my friends would be resurrected. I hugged everyone who had died here on Drottingheim. My parent’s looked at me when I hugged them. “Son, you saved the world. You did it.” My mom said, hugging me back. “I am proud of you, Nick. More proud than you will ever know.” He said, hugging me as well. Pride filled me. I had earned my parents’ love after all.

            After I was finished hugging my friends who were brought back from the dead, I heard a noise, a noise that was so beautiful that it hurt, yet it was indescribable. I looked to the sky, which is where the sound seemed to be coming from, and saw a large white vortex. The sound seemed to be coming from there. I saw several beams of light coming from it, and traveling down each beam of light was a figure. The beams of light ended right in front of me. What was this? What was happening? When the figures were halfway down the shafts of light they were riding on, I recognized them as people. Then in a few moments, the figures reached the ground in front of me, and I knew exactly who these people were.

            A familiar Spanish accented voice reached my ears. “Good god, Nick! You did it!” Yelled Carlos in triumph. He reached out to hug me. I hugged my old friend back. “You have brought us back from the dead, we walk the world once again!” He yelled. He looked around. “This is not Ectoclis, where are we?” Asked Kai. I nodded, smiling. “This is Drottingheim, and I killed Vladimir here. It is over, it is all over! The war is over!” I shouted at my friends happily. There were cheers and hugs going around. Our yells of triumph could probably be heard across space and time. “Can we get back to Ectoclis?” Asked the king, who had been over with Luna, along with the queen. Judging by the happy looks on their faces, it looks like the royal werewolves had patched things up together. I nodded. “Yes, I can open portals to different worlds.” I told them. They “oo”ed and “awe”ed “Does that mean you can get us back to Artemis, as well?” Asked Carmella. I nodded and my friends from Artemis smiled at me.

 

            After an hour or so of catching up with each other, my friends from Artemis and my friends from Ectoclis started to say their goodbyes. Carlos went first. “My friend, thank you for bringing peace to the worlds, I will make sure that your legacy is not forgotten on Ectoclis, as will the others from Ectoclis. We will tell stories of your heroism, and we will make sure you are remembered as a hero.” Carlos said. I nodded, smiling. “Thank you, Carlos.” I said. Carlos hugged me again. “Just remember this; when you reach home in your own Ectoclis, think on the young Spaniard who helped you save the world.” He said. I nodded, still smiling. “I will, Carlos.” I said. With that, I pointed to a spot that was clear of people and shouted “Ectoclis!” A portal to Ectoclis opened. Carlos stepped through. The king, the queen and Luna stepped forward. They all hugged me. “Thank you for bringing our family together again.” The king said, smiling. I nodded, acknowledging his thanks. “Yes, we owe you a great debt.” Said the queen. “Yes, thank you ever so much, thanks to you, everyone is now free.” Luna said. She gave me one last hug, and stepped through the portal with her parents. Fenton, Kai, Serena and Liam stepped up to me. They all hugged me. “Thank you for saving us, and giving us a second chance at our lives.” Said Kai.

            I nodded. “Thank you all, for helping me defeat Saja on Ectoclis, and as for Kai, Serena and Fenton, thank you for helping me defeat Saja on both Artemis and Ectoclis. I could not have done it without you.” I told them. Liam stepped forward. “Nick, I did all that I could to sabotage Saja on Ectoclis, but she outwitted me, I was killed by one of her vampires.” He said. I patted on the shoulder. “You gave it your best shot, and that is all that matters.” I told him. He smiled. “Thank you. For everything.” Liam said. I nodded, smiling, not knowing what to say. “Yes, thank you for all you have done.” Fenton said. He hugged me. When he let go, Kai spoke up. “Hey Nick, be sure to visit Ectoclis soon, aye? I’ll buy you some of that turquoise drink that you like so much!” Kai said happily. I smiled. “I promise, I’ll visit Ectoclis some time soon, tell the others that, okay?” I said. Kai nodded. “I will.” He said with a grin, and with that, my four remaining friends from Ectoclis entered the portal.

            My friends from Artemis stepped forward. Carmella, Federov, Anna-Maria and Anara. “Thank you ever so much for all you have done.” Anna-Maria said. She hugged me, then let go after a few seconds. “Nick, I did not know you very well, but I am happy that I could have helped you in your fight against evil.” She said, she hugged me, then let go. Federov stepped up. “Nick, I helped you defeat evil, for that, my life has purpose. I will miss you, and promise you will visit Artemis soon!” Federov said with a big grin. I returned the grin. “I promise.” I told him. Anara stepped up and hugged me. “Thank you for saving the world, Nick. I will see you again soon. Maybe we can do a reunion of some kind in the future, where everyone who helped you in your quest to defeat evil will attend.” She said. I nodded and smiled. “What sounds like a good idea. I think I can arrange something like that.” I told her. With a few final waves from my friends from Artemis, I closed the portal to Ectoclis and opened one to Artemis. They stepped through and disappeared.

            Kaleen turned to me. “I guess this is our stop.” She said. I nodded. “So it is.” I said. Kaleen shook her head, flustered. “I just can’t believe that this is all over, I mean, it has been our life for years now, and now it is over. What will we do now?” Kaleen asked. I shrugged. “We could go back to our normal lives, we could only go to school on cloudy days.” Kaleen suggested. I nodded. “That sounds like a plan, although, we could never lead truly normal lives.” I told her. She nodded. “I know.” She said forlornly. Mr. Grant walked up to me. “Thank you for all you have done, Nick. Regardless of the fact that you saved the world, I still expect those questions on atomic bonds on my desk by Monday.” Mt. Grant said. I laughed. Mr. Grant could joke around even now. What a guy. My parents both grabbed me tightly. “I love you very much.” My mom said. “I am proud of you, and I love you.” My dad said. I hugged them back. “I love you, too.” I said. Chibata and Hale stepped up to me.

            “Thank you, Nick. You would have made a fine soldier in nineteen forty.” He said, laughing. I laughed as well. “Thank you, Chibata.” I said. He hugged me and patted my back. “I’ll see you around, kid.” He said. I nodded, smiling. Hale walked up to me. “Nick, you have done a fine job, I commend you for that. Thank you for everything you have done, it will not go unnoticed in any land, and your friends will make sure of that. You will be a celebrity wherever you go. Doesn’t that sound fun?” Hale asked I laughed. “Yeah, that sounds pretty awesome.” I said. Hale hugged me. I then heard footsteps approaching. Puzzled, I looked at who they belonged to. I got my answer. Walking towards me was Saja.

            I looked to her. “Hello Saja.” I said to her. She nodded to me, smiling. She then gave me a hug. I hugged back, it felt very strange, because it had never happened before, or at least, not in a very long time. Did we hug on our ‘date’? I couldn’t remember. When Saja let go of me, she spoke. “Nick, thank you very much for brining me back to life, thank you for giving my brother what he deserves, and thank you for freeing the worlds. I have seen the error of my ways. Being dead for about a year does that to you. I wish to go to Earth with you, I will not cause any evil to your world. I will feed on humans, but I will make sure that vampires are not exposed.” Saja said. I nodded. I lowered my voice, lest my parents hear. “I will feed on humans, too. I have lived the last three years on human blood, I cannot settle for anything less anymore.” I said, I wanted to feel sad, but the reality of the situation overtook the sadness.

            I nodded. “I think it will be interesting to have you on Earth.” I told Saja. I truly think that Saja had changed. I truly think that she was good, and no longer evil. I closed the portal to Artemis and opened a portal to Earth. I went to step through. Kaleen grabbed me by the arm. “Wait.” She said. I turned around. “What is it?” I asked her. “I… I have something for you.” Kaleen said. I looked puzzlingly at her. Faster than I could react, Kaleen grabbed my shoulders, pulled me close and kissed me. Her lips made contact with mine, and her fangs brushed the soft skin of my lips, sending a spark of electricity through my body, and it felt good. I had experienced this feeling once with her before. After a few seconds, Kaleen pulled away, looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. Kaleen pulled away, still smiling and walked into the portal to Earth without another word. I looked back to my friends from Earth. “I’ll see you on the other side, and I’ll see you all in the near future.” I told them. They all smiled. “I look forward to it, kid.” Chibata said with a smile. He then walked through the portal to Earth. “See you around, Nick.” Hale said, he then walked through the portal to Earth. Mr. Grant walked up to the portal. He was about to enter it, and over his shoulder he said “Nick, I’ll see you around.” I smiled and nodded. With that, he walked through the portal without another word. Both my parent’s walked up to me, hugged me again, and walked through the portal. Finally, Saja turned to me. “I will be seeing you in the future, who knows what will happen? Maybe we will, heaven forbid, become friends.” Saja said with mock surprise. I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that just might happen.” I said sincerely. Saja looked at me with a sly smile. “Anything could happen. You just need an open mind.” She said with a wink.

            With that, Saja disappeared into the portal to Earth. I took one last look at the beautiful world of Drottingheim. I want to return to this place some day. I thought to myself. I smiled, feeling unbelievably happy that the war was over. I could finally relax for the first time in years. My journey was over. I faced my destiny, and I succeeded. I took my eyes off of the twilight color that tinted Drottingheim and I stepped through the portal to Earth.

Author's Note

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Reviews

[John Mcnab]

YOU BROUGHT BACK EVERYONE WHO DIED IN BOOKS 1, 2 AND 3 OMG THAT WAS SUCH AN AWESOME MOVE! I love this book! I love all of your books! This is an awesome series, and I am proud to say that I have finished it! Very good writing, Ryan Henderson, I certainly hope you do not give up writing after these series is done!