Third Book in a Fine Line Series

A Fine Line:

The Ancients

(Part II)

Third Book in A Fine Line Series

J C Brennan

Note to Reader:

The following book is intended for adult readers.

Violence, adult situations, and strong language contained in the book are not suitable for younger readers.

Editing by and Back Cover Description:

Claudette Nicole Melanson

Cover by:

Paul Michael

Title: A Fine Line: the Ancients (part II)

Author: JC Brennan

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ISBN- 9781517009786

ISBN-1517009782

Dedicated to

My mother and father

Thank you both for being there for me.

Table of Contents

Chapter i: Enlistment1

Chapter 2: The clash30

Chapter 3: Alaricus' Reveal67

Chapter 4: homecoming94

chapter 5: unsettling truth119

Chapter 6: A Revelation137

chapter 7: Maranda157

Chapter 8: the amulet182

Chapter 9: hidden vision198

Chapter i0: clandestine child217

chapter 11: True Blood243

Chapter 12: fueling the fire266

Chapter 13: Power alone is not enough288

Chapter 14: Crossing the line321

Chapter 15: Anceint riddles343

Chapter 16: the ties that bind369

Chapter 17: the blackest heart falls338

Chapter 18: overcoming the darkness412

JC Brennan

Prologue

he A Fine Line story continues this third book, A Fine Line the Ancients Part II. The Crew had to leave their home town of Charleston, Missouri and found a new home near a small town called Ashcroft in Colorado. They believed they would be safe, at least for a while. However, their reign of peace came to a crushing halt when the damn brutally killed Analisia and her unborn child.

The reign of terror didn’t stop there; Amarious and his of Damned had more malicious revolting acts in store for the Crew. They surprised on Cecil and Autumn, killing them viciously in the woods not far from their new home. However, the Crew encountered their newest threat at the scene of their murders.

Without a moment to breath from the deaths of Cecil and Autumn, a t battle broke out in the small town of Ashcroft. Amarious started this battle and died at the hands of William, but not without loss of Troy. Troy had given his life to save William. The more shocking reveal from the battle was a woman, a hauntingly beautiful but feral woman.

The Crew is shocked to learn the woman, Analisia, was one of a set of triplets derived from a wise and noble ancient ruler of their kind, King Albion. One of her sisters was Amarious’ mate, Aurora, the beast who had taken Cecil’s life in the wood. There other sister, Aureliana has not been seen since Analisia and she decided to sleep many years ago.

Analisia gave the Crew more information on their history but this has raised more questions for them. Buckner had finally found his intended with Analisia and they were married. Of course Aurora made an uninvited appearance with a young man none of the Crew had seen before. She introduced him as Amarious and her son, Alaricus. Now the Crew has not only, Aurora to deal with but also her son. The Crew may now face a wrath from the Damned greater than ever before. But there are still secrets that haven’t been revealed when more ancients come into the family. What secrets to the Ancients still hold and how will the Crew handle them.

Who will live and who will die in the enduring,A Fine Line saga, The Ancients Part II…..

JC Brennan

Chapter 1

Enlistment

hirty years passed and the Crew were able to enjoy life despite the necessity of always keeping watch for the Damned. The tragic past seemed like a distant nightmare that still haunted their dreams. Though the Damned had left the Crew in peace for half a human lifetime, William knew in his gut another attack was inevitable. He could feel a darkness building down deep in his bones. They needed to be ready for whatever the Damned had planned.

Though they couldn’t know the details of an impending confrontation, the men worked together to make their home as safe as they could. Night watches were adhered to religiously and the property was also patrolled daily to pick up any signs of the Damned.

David became an excellent strategist. It was he who’d suggested they build an underground shelter. Though, at first, William and the other men had found this suggestion comical, a revelation by their newest member quickly changed their minds. David recounted for them a vision he’d had, which had shown him the devastating weapons of the future. Though the structure may not be necessary at the moment, he insisted it would save not only the family’s lives, but those of several others.

“The future will bring weapons of mass destruction not even our gifts can control. William, please trust me on this,” he’d pleaded.

David said he hadn’t seen whether the weapons would end mankind or not. But the Crew found his fear of what his dreams had shown him to be very real. William found that David’s recounting of his dreams reminded him of the ones Buckner had many years ago. With every one David recounted, William became more convinced they needed to follow the boy’s instructions. When Buckner began to have the same kinds of dreams again–that would clinch the decision.

Buckner’s dreams focused around a world war—one begun by a future president whose mission was to transform the United States from a place of dreams and freedom into a unrecognizable militant state. Buckner warned that the government would betray its people on unimaginable levels. He had nightmares every night for two weeks about the devastation the bomb had caused. He told William of the images had shown to him. He said beautiful building were turned to rubble, whole towns were gone, bodies of the dead burned beyond recognition lying everywhere, and people, even children, who would be forever deformed. William was concerned about the torment Buckner was going through again. He hated the fact Buckner had these awful nightmares and found it strange how he would not have them for a long length of time but they seemed to start up when something was about to happen.

Buckner cautioned that this war would make the Nazi invasions seem like a Sunday picnic. Buckner had vividly seen the people of their country fighting against their own government in his visions, the fracture within the United States had made it vulnerable, the ensuing attacks exploding into world war.

Buckner was shaking when he told William of his dreams. “It was the faces of the children that shook me up the most Will. I cannot explain it, but the images I saw were horrific and inhuman. The world is turned into a forbidding barren place. I feel strongly that we are humanity’s only hope.” Buckner wore a look of dread as he continued. “David has had the dream, I’ve had this dream, and, William, Analisia has had it too.”

“Analisia too?!” William choked out. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I thought, perhaps they were merely nightmares, but one day, when the three of us were talking, the subject came up. We began to compare our dreams…and they were too identical to ignore any longer.”

William decided they should begin breaking ground behind the house in 1945; right after the United States unleashed the atomic bomb on the Japanese in Hiroshima. The night before the bombing, August 5th 1945, Buckner woke the whole house with his screams. Sweating and trembling, he recanted the devastation, an ocean away, caused by the bomb. That very day the Crew’s construction on their underground bunker began.

The shelter the Crew started building took years to finish. Most of the design was created from Buckner and David’s dreams. Many features of the bunker had to wait, as the items had yet to be invented—such as air filtering systems that protected against toxins from nuclear fallout, radioactive iodine, weaponized biological carcinogens, and warfare gases. These poisons weren’t available at present time, but the Crew knew they would come. William began to wonder if life would be simpler, had his family not been gifted with insight into the future. He’d always heard, ‘Ignorance is bliss,’ but he also understood ignorance could be no weapon to help them save what was left of humanity.

As the years wore on, William became aware of why their kind was brought back to mix with the human race. He saw brother kill brother during the Civil War. He watched as humans turned on their own environment…and other people. The wars that came and went often reminded him that men carry demons in their souls.

In October 1962, the Cuban missile crisis almost brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. In 1963 the Street bombing in Birmingham, Alabama took place, killing four girls. Fueled by the Civil Rights movement, it brought to life the racist views of the Ku Klux Klan. Tragedy continued that year with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November.

As with every emotional event throughout history, J.F.K’s death would kick conspiracy theorist in over drive—with every right, he may add. William had his own idea about specific tragedies throughout time and all he was ever willing to say about any of them was, “They think we don’t know or they believe we don’t care.” The ‘we’ he was speaking of was the government of course, but those few words were all he would share about his thought on events such as these.

As each horrifying event passed, William’s heart broke, the weight on his shoulder grew heavy…but his willpower increased. He needed to stay strong, for the future was in their hands—or so they’d been told. Moreover, each act of violence served as a reminder of what had happened to Cecil and Tyrone and he ached for the void left in his family to be filled. Their strength would’ve only added resiliency to his and the family’s power. He continued to thank them for saving his life so long ago. He’d walk out to the creek early in the morning, to talk to them… He hoped their spirits resided in the nature around him and they heard. But there were never words for just how much he missed them both.

History also changed in more cheerful ways amid the never-ending chaos. In 1964 the Beatles were a household name in the United States with eight songs on Billboard Top 100. Congress passed a law forbidding discrimination based on gender. Americans were still recovering from the loss of their beloved President, and Lyndon Johnson was the new commander in chief. Women’s fashion became more risqué. The skirts grew shorter, along with more modern hairstyles. Colors became brighter and women’s heels stretched higher. This was the year William broke down and bought a new vehicle.

Buckner and William set out to buy a new car even though their van was still the family’s main mode of transportation. This was because the van was the only vehicle that could hold them all. When they pulled into the car dealership and Buckner saw the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible, his eyes began to dance. William couldn’t say no to him when he saw how enamored Buckner was with the car.

Under its hood was a 429ci v8 340hp engine. It was equipped with all the bells and whistles: automatic transmission, power brakes, power steering, black leather interior, cruise control, Twilight Sentinel, automatic climate control, AM/FM radio, and power windows and door locks—no options available in any vehicle the Crew had owned previously. William paid for the car in cash, and they drove home, laughing, with the top down. They were just like kids with a new toy. Buckner hadn’t stopped smiling from the moment he laid eyes on it until William shut off the engine when they pulled in front of the house.

Everyone came rushing out to investigate the new addition to the family. Just like Buckner, Caroline was in awe of the car. She and the other women begged to go for a ride. William thought he might just be driving around all night, although, he didn’t mind.

The women squealed as the wind whipped through their hair, and Rain stood up in the back, stretching her hands out to the heavens, as they drove the winding roads. The radio blared, We'll Sing In The Sunshine by Gale Garnett as they all sang along. William considered this to be a perfect day, the whole family laughing and smiling without cessation.

William focused on Caroline, the wind blasting her long hair back to highlight her stunning good looks. She was wearing a burnt-orange shift dress with blouson sleeves. The skirt hung down to mid-thigh exposing her shapely legs. But it was her smile that gave William the warmth he was feeling inside. Caroline’s smile was the smile no one could resist—the smile that won his heart over one-hundred years ago. William couldn’t believe it had been so long since the first time he’d seen her standing outside the country store. He remembered how she touched his heart, how absolutely beautiful she was. He still got a shiver down his spine, as on that first day, from her smile. William loved all the memories of their happy days together and would call upon them any time hardships would rear their ugly head. All too soon he would draw strength from them once again.

Two days after buying the car, Zak announced he would be leaving to join the army presently. From the time war broke out, Zak had known he’d join, however, he never said anything until it was done. He knew how much grief the family would give him, and didn’t want to afford them much time to attempt talking him out of his decision. He joined out of respect he held for all the men who’d fought in every war before this one…and for the overwhelming sense of duty and out of honor he felt for his country.

Over the years that followed David’s appearance, he and Zak had become closer than brothers. They shared a bond William felt was somehow initiated by his son. It was easy to believe William III wanted Zak to have someone who was ales father figure and more friend–someone Zak could confide in about anything. The Crew had kept a close watch on Zak after the deaths of Autumn and William III. They knew the Damned wanted him dead and, as far as they were concerned, that wouldn’t come to pass during their lifetime. And William believed David to be as protective of Zak as any other member of the Crew.

Twenty-two years after David joined the family, was when Zak made the decision to enlist. William still could not believe so much time had passed. Time was so much different for them now it seemed to slip by so fast. As for Zak joining the army—he didn’t like it one little bit.

William had to wonder if Zak’s decision was based more on honoring his father than a sense of duty. But his choice sent everyone into a panic. Losing Zak like they had William III filled the family with fear and anxiety. None supported his decision to go, and not a word was uttered regarding the subject, Zak knew how each one felt.

One evening, when the whole family was finishing a too-silent dinner Zak couldn’t take it anymore. “Stop avoiding the subject, please. Each of the men in this family fought heroically for this country, and now it’s my turn.”

“We only fought so you wouldn’t have to,” William argued hoping to change Zak’s mind. Though, deep down he knew it wouldn’t matter what he said, Zak remained unconvinced.

“Grandfather, I love you and know you want to protect me. But your good intentions don’t change the fact I’ve made up my mind to go. Please don’t make this any harder than it has to be. I’m a century-old mind housed within a twenty-year-old body. I possess wisdom far beyond what my physical appearance belies.