Dakotah: Chapter 5

Mika's Notes: The 'joke' between Sierra and Dakotah actually came from a card my man sent me when I was living in Phoenix, away from him. Still have it too.  And yeah, I do think of the oddest things at the oddest times.  Warnings in this chapter: nothing really bad except my idea of an 'action scene' here and in the next chapter or so. LOL

Sierra walked down the hallway to their bedroom, unbuttoning her blouse. Feeling an unusual sensation, she stopped, cautious, curious. Her body was tingling in a strange way, not unpleasant but far from comfortable. Reminded her of the after effects of spell casting, especially those days when she’d forget to reground the energy after finishing her ritual. A shiver crawled up her spine. "Boy, that was weird," she mumbled, continuing on. “Kotie must be thinking of me after all,” she muttered, remembering their old joke.

Ever get the chills when you’re all alone, Sie?

No, Kotie, why?

You should with all the time you spend naked in my thoughts.

“Why do I always think of the oddest things at the oddest times?” Sierra asked herself, not expecting an answer. She reached the bedroom door, shirt hanging loosely around her body. Just a moment too late, she heard the person creeping behind her. "Wha..." was all she managed before a damp hand muffled her scream. Fingers closed over her mouth, clamping down hard.

Shh, my sweet. I won't hurt you, at least not yet. The stranger’s grip tightened on her, squeezing her heart with fear. You remember me, don't you? We were hitting it off so well until… well, until you met him. And he found a way to change your mind about me, didn’t he? His mistake.

Eyes widening in fear, Sierra recognized the voice. It was Brett, another vampire, one she'd been interested in before she'd met Dakotah. He’d frequented the same places she and her friends had and she saw him often. Sierra had been thinking of accepting his offer of a date until later when Dakotah had warned her off him, told her of his temper and unpredictability... I guess he was right.

He jerked her around and dragged her back out into the living room. Another form entered from the kitchen. Another vampire, she knew immediately. She could feel the malevolent power and energy rolling off of her being. Not a good sign at all.

Brett tossed her onto the couch and ordered her to sit.

"So you're the pretty little witch I've heard so much about? Humph. Don't know why he made such a fuss." The barb hurt, but Sierra did her best to ignore it. "Doesn't matter. You're just going to bring him to me anyway. Then I'll give you to Brett for 'safe keeping'." She laughed. "Bind and gag her. We're leaving." Brett obeyed.

***

"Ah, finally!" came the relieved sigh. "She's home."

"Great. How'd you finally connect with her?"

Dakotah looked worried. "I don't know. Something must've knocked her shield down. We'd better hurry."

Tyler turned the key in the ignition of Dakotah's Mustang and raced out of the parking lot.

***

"She's not here, Tyler. I've looked everywhere. Something's really not right."

My, aren't we a bright boy!

Dakotah looked around quickly, trying to find the source of the mental voice. His senses on full alert, he attempted to hone in on its location.

I'm not around you, honey-boy. Your little woman and I are having a ... chat. Why don't you come join us? There’s always room for one more in my brood. But, well, you already know that, don’t you?

Where are you? He pleaded. You’d better not hurt her! I promise you’ll regret even thinking about it.

Or what? She cackled. Come and get her. If you can

The voice was gone.

"Shit! Where is she, D? Forget that, WHO is she?"

"As to the where, I have no idea, I couldn’t pinpoint her location. She’s learned a thing or two in these last few decades, I think. As to who... well, she's Melinda."

"Melinda? Who the hell is Melinda?”

"Just Melinda," he said, looking past his friend, procrastinating on telling him the truth for as long as possible. "Go out to the car and get my map. I'm going into Sierra's altar room. I need to find something." Let’s just hope she didn’t ward her sacred space as well as her body, he silently prayed.

Tyler nodded and headed out to the car. He returned a few minutes later and found Dakotah sitting cross-legged on the floor with an intricately carved wooden box in his lap. In one hand he held a small silver knife and in the other a whitish stone on a black leather cord surrounded by smaller, darker stones. "Whatcha got?"

"This," he said holding up the small weapon, "is her ritual knife. She says she uses it mostly for symbolism and to chop herbs, but she also says she keeps it around to keep me in line. It's silver." He held it securely between his thumb and first finger, displaying the triple goddess symbol carved into the wooden handle as he moved it side to side. The light glinted off the untarnished blade and finely honed edge.

"This," he said, allowing the stone to dangle off its chain, "is a pendulum. She's been trying to teach me how to use it, but I've never had much use for it. Old dogs, new tricks and all that.” Dakotah smiled slightly at the lame joke. “Tonight we're going to see if I actually paid attention to her or if I'd just thought I had." He paused as he held the stone in his hand. "Sierra found it in some store and swore that, once she'd held it, that it had been made especially for me. It's a moonstone," he pointed to the large whitish stone hanging in the center of the cord. "These," he motioned to the tiny round stone beads on either side of the moonstone, "are bloodstone. Fitting, isn't it?"

***

They spread the map out on the kitchen table, smoothing it flat. "So how does this thing work?" Tyler asked.

"Like this," he responded. Dakotah leaned over the center of the map and took a deep breath. Taking the pendulum out of his shirt pocket, he held it steadily over the map. Concentrating on the lessons Sierra had given him, he silently grounded himself, making an effort to connect with the Earth. It was a half-hearted attempt; he didn’t have the time to do it properly. He had questions and needed answers. Fast.

"What is the action for yes?" The stone moved back and forth.

"What is the action for no?" The stone slowly swung in a circle. “Okay, on to the important issues.” Tyler was confused, but held his tongue, having faith that one of them knew what was going on.

"Is she in the city?" The stone moved back and forth. Yes.

“Good news, that,” Ty interjected. Dakotah grimaced. It was a large city they lived in.

"Is she in the west?" The stone slowly circled. No.

"Is she in the north?" The stone swung back and forth. Yes.

"Bingo!" Tyler shouted, getting excited despite himself.

"Geez! Be quiet!" Dakotah moved the pendulum over the eastern portion of the map. "Where is she? Please!" Never in my life did I think I’d be begging a map and a stone for help.

The pendulum hung motionless for a long time, much, much too long for either vampire’s comfort.

"Come on Dakotah, this is stupid. We know the area, I have some ideas where she could be, let's just go and..." Tyler's voice trailed off as the pendulum started to move again, side to side, a direction they hadn't seen before. "What's it doing?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." He watched for a moment, studying the pendulum, not breathing. It was swaying more to the right than the left so he gently eased it to the right. It still reached to the right. He moved it a bit more. “My god, I think it’s trying to tell where she is,” he murmured in disbelief. It began to swing to the left suddenly, but only slightly. Dakotah watched for a moment and moved it a tiny bit to the left. The pendulum began to swing in a circle. "Quick, I think it’s got something! In the kitchen by the phone, grab the pen!"

Tyler found it quickly and returned at a run. "What do you want me to do?"

"Follow the motion of the pendulum and make an outline." Tyler did as Kotie instructed, taking care not to touch the stone and knock it off course. "That's where she is," he said, pointing to the circle, smiling for real finally. He kissed the moonstone and put it around his neck. "I guess she was right, it was made for me."

"I guess this also means you've been listening to her too," his friend teased, ducking out of Dakotah’s reach, running for the front door.