THE WASHINGTON FAMILY

THE CREATURE BENEATH THEMANSION

The mansion remained completely silent. The creature that had awakened beneath the Washington family stood motionless, its enormous body hidden beneath the shadows. Damon, Nathan, and Nicole stood several feet away from it, watching carefully. None of them knew what had awakened. None of them understood why the creature had appeared after Nicole's blood had been spilled. For the first time in centuries, even the brothers were clueless. Damon, the eldest of the four, stepped forward first. He had always believed that being the firstborn gave him the right to lead his brothers. He also believed that whatever he did, no matter how cruel it seemed, was to protect his family. His weakness was that he expected his brothers to respect him without question. Nathan, on the other hand, was different. He was driven by bloodlust and pleasure, but beneath his careless attitude was an extremely intelligent mind. He enjoyed danger because danger entertained him and gave him some sense of a high. Nicole was the calm one. He rarely acted out of anger, and throughout the centuries he had often been the brother forced to suffer the consequences of his family's mistakes. Lazarus was different from all of them. He was proud, cunning, and extremely confident in his abilities. Damon had always disliked those qualities in him, especially because Lazarus rarely accepted Damon's authority as the eldest. Now, three of the brothers stood together, while Lazarus remained somewhere beyond their world. Nathan slowly stepped forward. "What are you?" The creature did not answer. Its eyes remained closed. Damon looked at Nicole. "You said this thing was connected to our mother's deal." Nicole nodded slowly. "That's what I believe." Nathan looked at the creature. "Then how do you know?" Nicole stared at the darkness beneath the mansion. "Because I remember something from the night we were born." Damon frowned. "What do you remember?" Nicole's eyes became distant. "A woman." Nathan looked at him. "What woman?" Nicole shook his head. "I don't know. I was too young. She seems familiar." The creature remained silent. Then the walls began to crack. The brothers prepared themselves for an attack, but instead of attacking them, the creature slowly disappeared into the darkness beneath the mansion. Within seconds, the floor closed again. Damon stared at the spot where it had vanished. "What the hell was that?" Nathan shook his head. "I don't know." Nicole looked toward the darkness. "Whatever it was, it knew us." Damon turned toward him. "And you said you remembered a woman." Nicole nodded. "A woman who was there when we were born." Nathan looked confused. "Mother?" Nicole shook his head. "Not possible." "Then who?" Nicole didn't answer. Far beneath the mansion, behind walls that had not been opened for centuries, an ancient chamber began to glow. A woman lay inside a stone coffin. Chains covered her body. Strange symbols were carved across the walls around her. Her skin was brownish, with a warm tone, and her long dark hair covered part of her face. She had been sealed there for centuries. Her name was Rose. To the world, she had been forgotten. To Esther Washington, she had once been a friend. But Rose was no ordinary woman. She was a powerful witch, a nature witch whose magic was connected to the earth, plants, animals, blood, and the natural forces of life itself. Years before the four brothers were born, Esther had travelled to New Orleans. She had been searching for answers after the death of her husband and the struggles that followed. It was there that she met Rose. The two women became close friends. Rose possessed knowledge of magic that most people could not even imagine. She could read the signs of nature, communicate with forces hidden within the earth, and see fragments of possible futures. When Esther eventually told Rose about her desire for wealth and children, Rose became uneasy. She performed a ritual and looked into the future. What she saw terrified her. Four boys. Four brothers. Four beings carrying an unnatural power. She saw cities burning. She saw armies falling. She saw oceans turning dark. She saw humanity running from creatures they could not defeat, monsters. And standing at the center of it all were the four Washington brothers. Rose believed the children would one day destroy the world. She decided there was only one chance to stop the future she had seen. The night they were born. While they were still weak. While they were still innocent. Rose planned to kill them before their powers could develop. But Rose did not know that Esther had already made another deal. The sage had granted Esther her wishes, but he demanded a sacrifice. The sacrifice was not one of the four boys. It was Esther's daughter, and Rose loved her because she had no daughter. Ten years after Esther made the deal, she gave her daughter to the sage as payment. Rose discovered what Esther had done and became furious. She tried to stop the sage from taking the child, but the sage was more powerful than she had expected. Then came the night of the boys' birth. Rose arrived intending to kill the four children. But before she could carry out her plan, the sage intervened. He knew what Rose had foreseen. He knew she intended to destroy the children before they became powerful. So he sealed her away. Rose was imprisoned beneath the mansion in a chamber created by ancient magic. The same night the brothers were born, she disappeared from the world. Esther never told her sons about her. They grew up without ever knowing that Rose existed. For centuries, Rose remained trapped in darkness. Until now. Nicole's blood had been spilled. A member of the Washington family had died and returned. Family blood had broken the seal. Deep beneath the mansion, Rose opened her eyes. They were completely black. She slowly smiled. "After all these years..." Her voice echoed through the chamber. She looked toward the ceiling. "Esther..." Her smile widened.

Above her, the brothers still had no idea who had awakened beneath them. They only knew that something ancient was alive. Something that knew their family. Something that had once wanted to kill them. Rose slowly placed her hand against the stone wall. Roots began crawling through the cracks, wrapping around the ancient chamber. She smiled. "The future has changed." She looked toward the ceiling. "But perhaps it has not changed enough." Her manifestation was what the brothers had previously sensed. Meanwhile, Nicole had already left the mansion. He didn't tell Damon or Nathan where he was going. His body had begun craving something more than ordinary blood. The Washington brothers possessed a terrifying ability. They could drain the life force from living humans and use it to strengthen their own bodies. Blood could satisfy their hunger, but life force could make them stronger, faster, and more powerful. Nicole desperately needed it. He eventually reached a medical storage facility. Inside were several blood banks and a few patients being transported through the building. Nicole moved silently through the corridors. He took several blood bags and drank from them, but the hunger remained. He looked toward one of the patients. He could hear the person's heartbeat. He could feel the force of life moving through the person's body. Nicole closed his eyes. "I'm sorry." He placed his hand on the person's chest. A faint glow appeared beneath his fingers. The person's body began weakening as Nicole absorbed a small amount of their life force. Nicole immediately released them. The person survived, but Nicole could feel the strength returning to his own body. His eyes darkened. His muscles tightened. His senses became sharper. He looked at his hands. "So that's what happened to me." Nicole had always tried to control his hunger. He had never enjoyed hurting innocent people. That was one of the reasons he had always been different from his brothers. But now his resurrection had awakened abilities he had suppressed for centuries. Nicole left the facility and disappeared into the night.