Bound by Blood & Fate (a novel)

“Hell is empty. And all the devils are here.”

William Shakespeare, The Tempest: Act 1, Scene 2, Page 10

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Chapter One

There’s darkness in us all

We are all creatures of darkness and greed. Stare into the heart of darkness for too long and it begins to stare back, taking root into your very soul until it blossoms and sprouts into something sinister or what some would call evil.

This is how wickedness is born. The dark, festering and growing so deep that no light dares to reach out and touch it, forever lingers in our souls.

Somewhere deep in the heart of London, in a dark alley on a stormy night, a man bathed in darkness stood over his prey. During the day some might say that he was handsome and even downright charming, but at night he became something else entirely. Something wicked.

Wiping his blade on a handkerchief produced from his coat pocket, he grinned. His white teeth glinted in the moonlight making him appear as a freshly escaped mad man from Bedlam Asylum. The man bent down, his face half hidden in shadows.

“Where is the book?” He asked slowly, his voice low and menacing.

The already half-dead man, lying in a puddle of blood, urine, and dirty rainwater, whimpered. “I told you...I don’t know where it is.”

The man clicked his tongue in annoyance at the groaning figure before him. “Shame. If only you told me what I needed to know you wouldn’t have suffered so much," The man said as he sighed. “Oh, well.”

"Please," the man croaked as he reached out a trembling hand. “Please, have mercy,” he pleaded.

There was no mercy to be given.

The man holding the glistening red knife stepped on his fingers, crunching bones, the sound would sicken any reasonable and sane person. This man was neither, instead, the sound sent shivers of pleasure down his spine.

The man lying on a filthy London street let out an agonizing scream, drowned out only by thunder rumbling its displeasure far above their heads, while the knife-wielding man smiled.

"As I said, you should have told me what I wanted to know," he said simply in a voice without emotion. In a quick and graceful movement he bent down and slit the already broken man's throat.

Though small, the blade was sharp and when wielded in the hands of its owner it always found its target.

The man stood with his head tilted to one side as he watched the dying man gurgle, blood filling his mouth and spilling from the slit his blood-soaked knife made. His prey always looked like fish gasping for air when they did this, and the sight rather amused him.

He made sure to never press the blade too hard when slicing throats or else it would be over too quickly, and that wouldn't be any fun, now would it?

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Chapter Two

Dreams and Fallen Stars

Katherine Estelle Blackwell walked through a forest enveloped in darkness, its canopy opening up to reveal luminous stars high above. Shooting stars shot across the night sky, leaving shimmering stardust in their wake. Kate could feel the cool earth underneath her bare feet and she dug her toes in deeper, relishing the sensation. It made her feel alive. The sky seemed to glow brighter and Kate looked up to see a fallen star, no, a woman, standing before her. She was naked, her long hair covered her pale breasts. She was the most lovely creature Kate had ever laid eyes upon and she couldn’t seem to look away from the strange yet mesmerizing woman. Her gaze was magnetic and Kate felt its pull.

“You must protect the book at all costs. There are those who seek its knowledge for their own greed and devious ways. The book cannot be used in such a manner for it will only bring destruction and despair to those who seek to use it. Guard it.”

Her voice was melodic and Kate imagined that even sirens who lured victims with their enchanting voices would pale in comparison with the mystical creature that now held Kate within her grasp. C

“I don’t understand. What book? Why must I protect it?” Kate asked, completely bewildered.

The woman did not answer. Kate realized she was no longer there. Kate was alone again. The strange and ethereal woman simply vanished. Leaving only shimmering stardust where she stood only moments before. Kate looked up at the stars but they too disappeared leaving only a blanket of dark velvet above her head.

Kate awoke with a start, breathing hard while her nightgown, slick with sweat, clung her to her body. She experienced the same strange dream almost every night for the last month ever since the book came into her possession. Kate splashed water on her face from her water basin before lighting a candle. She crept to her bedroom bay window. It was big enough to where she could fully lie down or she could prop herself up with pillows and gaze out the window at the moon and stars.

Kate set the candlestick down on the windowsill before settling herself into the window seat’s plush cushions. She stared down at the large and very old book that sat on the other end of the seat cushions. It was bound in leather, its pages made of vellum with colorful illustrations adorning them. Kate took a deep breath and stretched out her hand towards the curious book. She traced her finger along the symbol emblazoned on its cover. A symbol she had seen many times before while studying old alchemical manuscripts at University. It was the Ouroboros. A symbol that dates back to the days of Ancient Egypt. A serpent eating its own tail creating a circle in appearance. The symbol represents a sense of wholeness or infinity.

She picked up the book and gently flipped through its tattered pages. Although it was full of beautiful alchemical illustrations it was written in an unknown language. Kate suspected it was a codex written in a complex code using multiple languages. She recognized aspects of Greek, Latin and use of the phonetic alphabet but she had not been able to translate it yet.

The book came into her possession in a rather peculiar way. It was while Kate was vacationing in Rome with her Uncle who planned the trip as a reward for Kate completing her studies at Oxford. Uncle decided to attend an unveiling of a newly discovered Egyptian sculpture at the National Roman Museum but Kate opted to explore some antique bookshops while her Uncle was preoccupied. She preferred to take her time and though her Uncle loved books too he rather had a hard time sitting still.

Kate wandered into an odd little shop, near the outskirts of Vatican city, full of antiques and shelves upon shelves of old books. Kate was instantly drawn to the strange book that sat upon one of the dust covered shelves. She felt a strange pull to it as if it was calling to her. She pulled it from its spot on the shelf and ran her fingers over the leather, studying the gold Ouroboros on the cover. Kate was so entranced by it that she did not hear the shopkeeper approach her until he spoke.

“Ah, I see something has caught your eye, Signorina.” The little man with gold spectacles said, causing Kate to jump in surprise. He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling as he did. “A curious book that one is,” he continued, “it came into my possession many years ago in a very unusual way. It arrived at my shop with a handwritten note. The note instructed to keep the book safe until the one it is meant for is called to it.”

Kate inspected the old book curiously and then at the little man standing before her. Kate’s curiosity always seemed to get her into trouble yet the book she clutched in her hands somehow felt familiar. The worn leather was smooth to the touch and it seemed to almost whisper to her, the words begging to be read.

“How will you know when the one it is meant for arrives?” Kate asked intrigued.

He smiled warmly at her. “I suspect that it will call that unknowing person to it when it is time. I believe it has called you as you are the first person to notice the book in all these years.”

The shopkeeper had gifted the book to her and refused Kate’s money when she offered to pay. He simply said that there are things in this world that we cannot understand and we all must play a part in the great unknown.

Kate flipped through the worn pages once more then sighed in frustration. Her dreams began only days after the book came into her possession and now she was losing sleep because of it. It was still in the middle of the night so Kate blew out her candle and crawled back into her bed. Kate longed for sleep but her dream felt so real that Kate laid wide awake replaying the surreal memory of it over in her head. Eventually she dozed off into a fitful sleep where she tossed and turned the remainder of the night.

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Copyright, Jessica Burns Piraino, 2021