Marked

by A.N. Meade

way. She wanted to understand what was happening to her. Marc had tried to help her understand her past, but there was so much that he cloaked in shadows. He highlighted their love, which was powerful and beautiful, but he refused to speak of the darkness they faced. She could see that he was hiding something every time that he dropped his eyes or changed the subject with a gentle smile, she knew it. She needed to understand what it was that he was trying to protect her from. What was that faint sadness behind his eyes? In a way, it would be better if she could just ignore it somehow, but she knew that she could not. She wanted to be able to giver herself to him fully. There was no way to commit herself to the future without understanding their past together. She wanted the whole picture.

  It was hard not to think of Enric and Natasha. She had bonded with Enric in the short time that they had known each other, and she missed him. He also gave her a measure of safety and protection, without him she would be forced to hunt. She wasn’t sure what would happen to her without regular feedings. Marc had always made sure that her hunger was under control. She did not want to become a monster. This would be such a great test of will. Louisiana seemed like a long way away. She did not stop to sleep, she just drove for days. It was important not to waste time. She had sold her ticket home for the money to rent the car. She didn’t dare get out of it except to pump gas. Marc had given her some money to spend in Paris. She used it now to keep her on the road. It felt like stealing.

  Just across the Louisiana state line she was running low on gas and pulled over at a tiny mom and pop store. She could feel it now. She was weak from lack of food and sleep. There was a shadow over her face, and her eyes had taken on an animal like ferocity. The smell was overwhelming when she went in to pay. Fresh blood surrounded her. She could hear their heartbeats, it almost drowned o ut their voices. She was so hungry. It was hard to fight the urge to kill. She could see herself doing it in brief flashes in her mind. It didn’t even seem like a strange thing to fantasize about anymore.

  “Twenty on pump three.” She laid the bill up on the counter, glancing briefly into the attendant’s eyes. He was a young boy, barely out of high school. He was tall and thin, a little awkward. She scared him. She could see it in his eyes. She could feel it in the pulsing rhythm of his heartbeat, and in the increased quiver of his voice as he spoke. She liked it.

  “You’re not from Louisiana.”

  “I’m visiting a friend down in New Orleans.” It would be so easy, so fast, to just lunge across the counter. He was just a kid, she told herself over and over. He was about the same age as the boy in Paris.

  “Do you need directions?”

  It was endearing that he was trying to help her. He had no way to know her thoughts. “I can find her, thanks.”

  Aimee turned and walked out, giving him a wink and a smile, careful not to part her lips. His reaction to her fangs, as amusing as it may be, would hurt her chances of blending in.

  Marc searched everything, back in Atlanta, within a ten mile radius. He looked for anything, any small detail that would give him a starting point so that he could find her. He found nothing. Finally, Marc decided to go back home and try to figure out what to do next. The long drive up the isolated road that led to the mansion was not like the homecoming that he had imagined. He kept looking at the empty seat beside him. She was supposed to be there with him. He missed her.

  Enric and Natasha did not rush to greet him. They knew that he would need some space to himself. He was angry. He was frustrated, and he was heartbroken.

  “Welcome home.” Natasha greeted him as he passed by her.

  He didn’t look at her, he just kept on walking. “Hello, Natasha.”

  Enric got up and walked out into the hall. Marc had almost reached the stair case. “Marc, I got to speak with Liam.”

  Marc turned and glanced up at Enric, “What did he say?”

  “He’s on his way. He should arrive late tonight.” Enric had so many questions. He dared not ask them. In all the time he had known Marc, he had never seen him so strained.

  “Did he have any idea what might have happened?” Marc never met Enric’s eyes as he spoke.

  “If he did, he did not speak to me of it.” Enric wished that he had more to offer. He wished that he had the power and connections to have Aimee already on her way home. As things were, he did not. Even after all of the time he had spent in sincere contemplation, he had not the slightest idea at all what was going on.

  It was mixed news to Marc that Liam had called back. He was glad that his good friend would soon be here, but he also knew that for Liam to drop everything and rush out to America, reason was sure to drive his urgency. Marc wasn’t sure about what to make of it all, but he did know that he was incredibly, incredibly tired. He passed by his own door, letting his fingertips run over the wood and by the handle. He couldn’t bear to open that door. He could see her laying there in his bed. She had given up so much, suffered so much to be with him. She wouldn’t leave. He knew it. His anger was rising as he passed by the library. It wasn’t that long ago that they sat there, reading over their favorite passages, sipping wine and laughing. He walked inside, scanning the covers before pulling Wuthering Heights off of the shelf. The cover still bore a stain from the wine Aimee had spilled when she leaned in carelessly. He slammed it shut and threw it across the room. It slid to a stop near the door as Enric walked in.

  He picked it up, and placed it back on the shelf. “You’ll find her Marc.”

  “How? How will I find her when I have no idea what is happening?” Marc was beginning to feel that deep pit of hopelessness grow within him. He had lost everything.

  “Do what you have done in the past when fate has left you torn from one another.” Enric could not figure out what happened, but he knew Marc’s old friend would be able to, and with Liam here to help get her back, they would be successful. They had to be.

  “Elsie?! Of course, surely she could see what has happened. I need to book a flight right away.” Marc rushed out of the room. This was the first time that he had felt hope at all of finding Aimee since she disappeared. He wasn’t sure if Elsie would be able to find a living person, and he refused to believe that she had been killed. Elsie may not be able to see anything at all, but she was his best hope of finding Aimee again.

 

  Princess and the Priestess

  For Aimee, her fatigue was passing, giving way to a renewed sense of energy. She could sense everything so deeply, sight, touch, smell, and sound. Taste she avoided, though her hunger was growing with every hour. It wasn’t long before she was inside New Orleans. Oddly, she hadn’t thought things through this far. She knew that she needed to get to New Orleans, but she hadn’t thought about how to find Elsie once she got here. Elsie was vampire, and while it was true that Aimee could sense her, New Orleans was filled with their kind. Everywhere she turned, Aimee felt them. It seemed like they were watching her. Many of them were older, and very powerful. She just kept on driving.

  Finally there was a market on the corner that caught her eye. The sign was old and the paint curled away from the wood. There was a strange assortment of wooden crates out front. Some were filled with familiar items like sweet potatoes or fresh herbs, but others held strange fruits of varied kinds and textures. The smell was strong in the air, sweet and toxic. Aimee made her way inside. The store was small and crowded. The shelves were covered in glass jars filled full of beans and seeds of every color, shape, and size. The man behind the counter was old. His hair used to be dark, you could tell from the underside of his ponytail. The crown of his head to about mid-ear was dusted in a silvery grey. His glasses were small and round and rested near the end of his nose. The frame was bent, it tilted a little bit to the right. He looked up at her in a very knowing way, with a strange understanding for a human to possess. He was, however, quite human. She could practically see his heart beating. It was very calm. His tranquility made her feel a bit uneasy.

  Aimee laid a few apples up
on the counter, “They look beautiful.”

  “Yes, but you didn’t come here to buy apples,” He said with a smile, taking her bill, and handing her back a bag and some change.

  “I am looking for someone.” Aimee was careful not to reveal too much.

  “Ah, and someone is looking for you.” He folded up a slip of paper and put it in her bag. “Come back again.”

  “Thank you.” Aimee turned and left. She opened the bag when she got to the car. There was a folded paper. It was her receipt with something written on the back. It had an address on it, 1358 Dalonde Street, New Orleans.

  Beneath the address were some handwritten lines that read: “Lend your ears, for you have two. This is a sound that some do rue. Catch yourself before you fall. There is one God that rules us all.”

  She wasn’t sure yet what this meant, but it must have something to do with finding Elsie. It didn’t take Aimee long to find the address. The bottom of the house was a store front. The windows were dusty and hard to see through. The sign on the door read closed. Aimee could feel a strong presence there. It was hard to see through the windows because they were so clouded with dust. Someone was in the kitchen. Aimee could smell the spices as they escaped through the cracked window. She readied herself. Standing