I've Been Waiting for You

by Mary Moriarty

  Thor, holding Olivia’s hand, turned towards Houda and her little girl. “I know this is not enough time to get to know one another, but I want you to know I will do everything in my power to keep you both safe.”

  Houda held her daughter. “Promise me should anything happen my little girl goes to Sally.”

  Thor looked at Olivia, “I don’t suppose you have had a chance to explain who or what we are?”

  Olivia looked from Houda to Thor. “No.”

  Thor got down on his knee and looked into Fatima’s eyes and then up at her mother. “I will do my best.” He took a power bar out of his pocket. “Here, little one eat, you will need the strength.”

  He watched as the mother hugged her daughter and talked low to her.

  Colum watched as everyone got ready. “Take only what you have on you, nothing more. You will be provided for once we are safely away and should you have family that you want to get back to, we will get you there. If not you will be provided for.”

  One of the women came out of the bathroom. Her face was down as she came to the group. Houda walked up to her and spoke to her in Arabic.

  Houda turned to the group. “She is scared and is afraid she will be a problem. She just threw up.”

  Thor came up to her. “Tell her we will be out of here fast and the wall is the only place of any concern. Not to worry.”

  Colum pulled Odin and Thor aside. “Caution aside, we use our powers to get these women and children over. We won’t be going over the regular way.”

  Both men nodded.

  Colum walked up to his father, who’d just come back in with a couple of his own men. “We have the gate unlocked.”

  Colum smiled at the men. “OK, so we go traditionally. Let’s move out.”

  They filed down the hallway, single file. The women all held onto the man or vampire she was assigned to. If there were two in a group, the second woman held onto the front one by her robe. Constant contact.

  The only noise was that of the soft footfall of the men’s boots and the women’s robes gentle swish. They came to the door that led to outside. There was a brief stop and then they continued. They were going the long way to reach the big gate where they would be able to exit the open gate rather than the men using their powers to get the women over.

  All of a sudden, dogs started to bark. The group stopped and plastered themselves against the wall. They were not in the shadows at this moment.

  One of the captors woke to the sound of the dogs barking next door. They had never gotten dogs, who needed them when their neighbor had enough for the whole village? He lay there for a minute and then decided it would be good to check out. Since he was awake he would make coffee too.

  He got up, heard the dogs really barking like they had found something. Probably a rat.

  He would wake the others. They needed to get up, anyway. They were lazy, good to get them up. He holstered his handgun and picked up his AK-47. He put his band of ammo around his shoulder. He would be so glad when they were done with this job so he could go back to his family in the mountains. This was no life.

  He knocked on doors as he walked down the hallway. As he turned the corner he saw the women’s quarters door was ajar again. What is this, their door shouldn’t be open. He walked to the door, opened it with his toe and sticking his head in, knew it would take a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the dark. What he saw, rather what he didn’t see, confused him at first.

  * * * * * * * *

  Justin could smell trouble, and this smelled like trouble. He saw his brother, Brent, standing by the corner of the wall up ahead. Brent looked back and motioned for Justin to come forward. Colum nodded, and Justin advanced the group of women. He passed by the young mother and newborn and picked up her scent. This would be good, get her scent, then go take care of whatever his brother wanted.

  He got to his brother. Brent whispered, “Can you get a visual and see if the dogs are right there? If they are, shut them up.”

  Colum had come up. “It might not be a bad idea. We have 15 more yards to the gate.”

  They all froze at the next sound.

  “The women have escaped, the women have escaped!”

  Curses could be heard up and down the line. Colum couldn’t believe it. They would be thrown into a shit storm with all these women and children. “Travis, Odin and Thor, get the girls and as many out with you as possible.”

  Travis grabbed Sa’dah’s hand, “Come little one, don’t be frightened. I will keep you and the babe safe.” He took off as if his feet had wings pulling the young mother with him. Odin had Sally, who grabbed Fatima. Thor had Olivia and Houda, along with the girl who had been sick. They almost made it to the gate when they heard men running after them.

  “Run, girls!”

  Sally looked back as Olivia came around the corner. She saw a few men and she knew they weren’t on their side. Gunshots could be heard, along screams of the women and children. Sally was almost at the gate with Odin. She looked ahead quickly and saw Travis running with the young mother holding on to his gear. Glancing back where Sally knew Thor and Olivia should be she saw the woman who Olivia and Houda were with, fall as they ran. At that moment everything slowed down like still frames in a movie, slow motion. She saw Thor turn. He was perhaps ten feet from where Olivia had stopped to help the fallen woman. Sally said later it all came down to feet and seconds and those last few breaths she took before all hell broke loose. She heard Thor yell Olivia’s name. Saw Olivia reaching for the woman, saw the woman get up and then Sally wasn’t sure what she was hearing but she had a feeling it wasn’t good. Because she saw the hostiles duck for cover and then she heard Thor scream, “NOOO!!”

  The woman had grabbed Olivia’s hand and then Sally saw with certainty what was about to happen. Olivia tried to yank herself free but fell to the ground. The woman was too strong and she quickly threw herself on Olivia and Houda. Olivia looked up, eyes wild as she locked her gaze with Sally’s one last time, she reached out with her hand to Sally. Sally felt Odin’s body hit hers in a tackle. Then the explosion rocked the courtyard. It happened so quickly, that Sally felt the ground shake. Going down, she had breathed in a bunch of dirt. Now, she thought she would suffocate with the weight of Odin’s body on top of hers. Then she felt him get off of her, heard screams of the vampires, women, children and the kidnappers; more gunshots and Colum screaming orders. She and Fatima were scooped up by Odin, she heard Fatima’s cry, “Mama, mama.”

  She was being carried as Odin ran fast. Fatima’s little hand was clutching her arm as she screamed her mother’s name over and over.

  She heard Odin say something and then she heard more shots being fired and then she felt the pain hit and rip through her legs. She must have made a noise, she didn’t remember, all she heard was Odin and his curses. She then felt like time had stopped. She heard a lot of gunfire and Fatima’s crying as Odin ran further but still holding them. Then she was loaded into the helicopter along with others and Odin whispering in her ear as he bent over her. “I will be back.”

  Was that her screaming as he left, or someone else? As if it was all a dream and was Olivia with her or back in the courtyard?

  Odin had Travis and his father stay in the helicopter with Sally, the children and some of the women. He ran back to the compound.

  He stood at the outside wall and waited and let his senses take over. He heard the fight taking place, probably just a few yards away. He jumped up and was quickly over the wall. The way was clear. He ran around to the corner of a building saw what was taking place. Saw Thor about to rip off the head of one of the captors. It looked like all the women were safe, so it was pretty much an open battle, and it was clear who the victor would be.

  He saw a hostile taking aim at his brother. He found the hostile in his sights, yelled to his brother then pulled his own trigger and the man never knew what hit him. He was over to Thor’s side instantly, and saw the red rage that radiated from his brother’s eyes as he kne
lt on the ground where they had last seen Olivia.

  Odin grasped his brother’s shoulder. “She’s gone. I’m so sorry. We never figured a female bomber would happen.”

  Thor looked up at his brother. The one thing, person, creature, who had always been with him, who had never left him was gone. “I never told her I loved her.”

  Odin got down on his knees, heard a noise, turned and shot another one of the girls’ captors with his Glock at close range. “Come with me, we have to get out of this area.”

  Thor looked at his brother. “They can’t kill me.”

  “No, but they will take your soul if you let them. Come, let’s go see if the King needs us. We will come back after.”

  The battle was pretty much over by the time they rounded the corner. Justin was making short order of any captors that came near him.

  Colum came up to them. “Thor, I am so sorry, she was just like my daughter.”

  Thor stared at his King. “Do you think she will come back?”

  Colum nodded his head. “She will, and it will be in our circle or close to it. We must watch and wait for a sign.

  Thor nodded his head. “Then I will wait for her, as you did for Katherine, Sire.”

  Brent came up to their tight group and cleared his throat. “We have cleared the compound, sir.”

  Colum looked at Brent. “Good job. Do you know how many casualties and fatalities we have?”

  Brent always felt nervous around the vampires, so much power in these guys. “Three fatalities, Olivia, the suicide bomber and one of the other women, her body is near where the bomb went off.”

  “Well, let’s gather up her body and find out if she had family. Gather up anything that we can and we’ll get back to our helicopters,” Colum answered. He radioed for an empty copter to come pick them up.

  They walked to the last spot that Olivia had stood and Thor knelt again in the dirt. He let his hand scoop dirt and he said a few words. He took out a bag and scooped more dirt and fragments of cloth. This would be all they had to bury Olivia, for her family. For him, he would wait for her rebirth.

  Odin knelt near the body of the other woman who died. “This was Houda, the mother of Fatima. Brent, get me my litter in my pack.”

  Brent knelt near Odin. “Yes, sir.” He got out the bag that they used for this purpose. They carried everything on missions. Depending on how far they went determined the amount of gear they had.

  “Here, sir,” They gathered up the woman’s body. Odin looked over at his brother who still knelt by the hole where Olivia had last been. Odin saw tears of blood stream down his brother’s cheeks. He heard him talking in a low voice. “I’m sorry I failed you, Olivia, but I won’t next time.” Odin watched, frozen as Thor scooped up more dirt and put in a small bag.

  “I will wait for you,” Thor whispered before rising from his knees.

  Chapter 10

  Katherine awoke and felt the baby give a violent kick, keeping it up for a few seconds. She had been stretched out on the couch, reading, and then had dozed off, so Elsabet had gone to the kitchen to make her some hot cocoa. Other women from the coven had been in and out, watching over their new Queen, and expectant mother.

  Elsabet came in with a tray and saw the strange expression on Katherine’s face. Since Katherine had the gift of second sight and was able to see certain things, past, present and future, she knew it was one of those times.

  “What’s the matter dear? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “Elsabet, the baby is acting funny.”

  Elsabet sat the tray down and then sat down next to her daughter-in-law. Laying her hand on Katherine’s belly, she felt more kicks and pushes. The baby’s feet were pressing outward.

  “I feel like all of a sudden this baby has a personality, I can’t put my finger on it, but something seems different.”

  Elsabet smiled, “Maybe the baby has gotten its soul and spirit. This baby has taken on the spirit of someone departed.”

  Elsabet then knew what Katherine knew. “Oh, my God.”

  “Yes,” was all Katherine could say.

  Chapter 11

  They stood in a tight group, all except for Sally, who was in a wheel chair. Katherine, the Queen, was in bed, having just given birth to not one baby, but two; twins. A boy, who had been born first, then a girl. Not a little girl, either, but a chubby, red head who even after three days old, was obviously going to be running the nursery, her parents, twin brother, family and coven.

  Odin pushed Sally’s wheel chair up to Olivia’s family, to pay her last respects and talk with them. Little Fatima had not let go of Sally’s hands the whole morning. When they turned to leave she tried to help Odin push the wheel chair.

  When they got up to the Humvee, Fatima was helping Sally stand. Sally placed a kiss on the child’s cheek then looked up at Odin. He smiled down at her and the little girl. They had buried Houda within 24 hours of her death as was Muslim custom. She had a plot in the same cemetery that Olivia was buried at, overlooking the ocean.

  Sally sat with Odin’s arm around her on the ride back to the compound. She had felt a need to be nearer to her mother so they had taken over her old room and Fatima had been put in the adjoining room. Colum, ever thoughtful, had had his carpenters make a door so Sally could get to the little girl quickly in the middle of the night. Even though she had her legs cast up, she could still move, it was just hard to stand for lengths of time.

  As it was every night since their return, Fatima ended up in bed with her and Odin. When they awoke in the morning the little girl was usually nestled tightly in Odin’s big arm as he also gripped Sally’s shoulder. The death of not only Olivia, but Fatima’s mother, had been especially rough on all of them.

  Pulling up in front of the garage, Sally reached towards Thor. “Will you come and see the new babies?”

  Thor shook his head. “I can’t, not now.”

  Sally was not to be deterred. “Please?”

  “OK,” was all she heard.

  They walked into the nursery, Odin behind Sally. Fatima was holding onto Sally’s hand but then reached up to Odin. Odin scooped her up and held her tightly. Thor was behind them. Colum had gotten back before just them. He sat holding Katherine’s hand as she nursed the twins.

  Sally could hear little noises coming from the two babies as they nursed. She couldn’t remember when her mother had nursed her youngest brother Patrick. She went in close and kissed her mother’s cheek who smiled up at her. She looked like a Madonna. Her skin, a lovely ivory color touched with rose, lips a beautiful natural shade of red. Her hair falling in waves at her shoulders, a lush auburn.

  “You are beautiful, Mom.”

  Katherine looked up at her oldest. “I feel pretty good, considering the birth wasn’t the easiest.”

  Sally sat and watched as the babies nursed. She could feel Odin and Fatima right behind her. Listening to the suckling noises she then reached, brushing back the silky hair of her little brother.

  “His hair is so soft,” she was fingering it, lost in the smell of the babies, and the gentle noises that the babies made, when she heard a noise that she wasn’t sure of, at first.

  Katherine wasn’t sure she had heard the baby make the noise she thought she did, either.

  “Did she make a strange noise? Did you hear that?” Katherine looked around at her family that was gathered around the bed.

  Sally nodded her head. “I think you did. I heard her growl.”

  Sally brushed a kiss on her little brother’s forehead and she heard it again and then a swat from a little hand of the baby girl. Sally sat back and reached out for the little hand of her baby sister. The baby gripped her finger. Sally felt Thor step forward.

  “She’s beautiful Katherine. What are the twins’ names?”

  He had hardly stopped talking when the baby girl stopped nursing, turned, and, opening her eyes, looked directly at Thor. The baby girl was studying him intently. She then turned away from the breast co
mpletely. Katherine quickly covered up her breast as the baby seemed to be turning to get a better look at the voice.

  Sally saw this whole exchange. “Thor, say something, it’s obvious she likes your voice.”

  Thor smiled, “You think?”

  He took the baby’s hand and brought it to his lips. “Hello princess, I’m Thor.”

  They all watched as the baby shifted as Thor looked up at his King. “May I hold her?”

  Colum nodded. He knew what was happening. “Yes, of course.”

  Thor scooped up the newborn and put her over his shoulder and started gently patting her back. Burb after burp came from the little one. Finally Thor sat, then placing her on his folded leg. Then he looked down into the eyes of the newest princess.

  All stood silently as Thor stared into the eyes of the newborn. Not a sound could be heard except the gentle suckling noises of her older brother.

  Thor felt tears well up in his eyes. Here was the King and Queen’s new baby girl, destine to be a Queen someday. She would rule with her older brother. But that was not any of the thoughts going through his head at a fast clip. No, it was the fact that Thor knew those eyes which looked up at him right at this moment. They were not a newborn’s eyes but the eyes of Olivia. They were brown, which was unheard of for their kind, especially with the mother being from the Fae. No, here was a brown eyed newborn but she had the soul of a young woman. She just stared at him, as he felt tears course down his cheek. They were not blood tears of sadness and of mourning, but clear tears of happiness because here was his girl.

  I love you little one. Do you hear me? He watched for a sign and waited. The baby sighed, closed her eyes and then letting go of his finger reached up and touched his face as he bent down to get closer. A tear came down out of her eye.

  You understand little one? I love you now and forever.

  The answer was obvious. She stroked his cheek with her tiny hand and then took his finger, giving it a squeeze. Then her other little hand reached up and grabbed at his hair and yanked it.