by Lana Melyan
They neared the stable. Eleanor looked into its open gate and saw Gabriella’s horse.
“Yes, she is still here,” said Samson in a low voice, following Eleanor’s gaze.
“It seems strange even to me,” said Eleanor, stopping. “Did anybody ride her?”
“Amelia. It was safe, since the horses lost their speed, too. I don’t think she’ll be able to do it now.”
“Gabriella sacrificed her life as well,” said Eleanor. “She didn’t have children, but she died for the mission, too. Couldn’t the Higher Powers find some way to bring her back?”
“No.” Samson sighed and looked at the sky, like he hoped to see her up there. “She was killed with the dagger.” They resumed walking. “The dagger breaks the enchantment, which means Gabriella died as a human. It’s different in your case. You were killed by the Book. You died as a Hunter.”
The rest followed them back to the castle.
The food was served in the great dining room. Next to each plate stood a small glass of whiskey. As they lifted their glasses, Samson raised his and said, “To Melinda.”
“To Melinda,” they echoed.
They ate and talked, and after a short moment, Samson stood up once again and raised his wine glass. “Eleanor,” he said in a deep voice, and silence fell in the room. “I am sorry we didn’t get to celebrate your return. You lost someone today. We all did.” He looked down at his glass for a moment, then back at Eleanor. “It wasn’t how I imagined you to come back. And I know I’m not making it any better by taking Craig away. But we’ll have to postpone the celebration until the fight is over. For now, I want to say––welcome home.”
“Thank you,” said Eleanor. “Where are you going?” she asked as Samson sat down. “For how long?”
“First, Norway. Then we’ll fly to Egypt. It might take eight, ten days, max. During that time, the rest of you will need to find the transitioning vampires.”
“Find the transitioning vampires?” asked Eleanor . “You're saying you don’t know where they are?”
“No, we don’t.” Samson cleared his throat.
“Through the years, we've seen Fray move coffins from place to place,” said Ruben, putting his hand on the back of Kimberly’s chair next to him. “But we never got a chance to get near them.”
“It might be a distraction,” said Riley, “but we still have to check those places.”
“You need to be careful. Double check everything,” said Samson. “I'm sure he's thought of many different ways to confuse us, to put us on the wrong trail. We have two weeks, at most, until their awakening. This is our chance to defeat Fray. If they wake up, we could lose.”
The silence in the room deepened. Eleanor and Hanna exchanged a grave look.
“One more thing,” Samson added, “If Fray shows up––keep an eye on him. Please don’t fight him. Keep your tempers under control.”
“Why?” asked Eleanor.
“Because he still has the daggers.”
“No. What?” Eleanor couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
“We were powerless. We were weak against the vampires,” said Ned. “And Fray had too many of them.”
“Then what’s the difference?” Eleanor couldn’t hide her disappointment. She gazed at Samson. “It means I died for nothing. You suffered all those years for nothing. Nothing has changed.”
Ruben and Riley exchanged a glance.
“I wouldn’t say so,” said Samson calmly. “We didn’t have a chance then. Now, we can defeat him.”
“How?”
Staring at Eleanor like she was seeing her for the first time, Kimberly blinked, and her eyes darted to Samson.
“There is a way,” said Samson.
Eleanor spread her hands. “If there was a way, why haven’t you done it all those years ago?”
“Because back then a trip to Norway and then to Egypt used to take months, and by the time I’d get back, Fray would have an army, and it would be impossible to stop him,” said Samson. “The others will fill you in on the information we have.”
Eleanor felt bad for her outburst. She had no idea what had happened after her death, or what they’d been through during this long time of her absence. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”
“You don’t have to apologize,” said Samson. “You have a right to be disappointed.”
Craig chuckled. “Actually, your reaction was much better than he expected.”
It was late afternoon when they all went down to the front yard.
“I miss you already,” said Eleanor as she kissed Craig goodbye.
“See you soon,” said Hanna, hugging Samson.
They all waved after Samson’s car as it pulled out of the drive. When it vanished behind the trees, Riley turned to the others. “Who wants a drink?”
“Me,” said Ned, following Riley back inside.
Ruben put his hand around Kimberly’s waist and lead her down to the beach.
Eleanor and Hanna headed to Gabriella’s garden. They walked up the trail, past the big oaks, and reached the small, wooden bridge. Crossing it, Eleanor looked down at the creek, sparkling under the rays of the setting sun.
She stopped as she walked into the garden. “What happened?” she asked, looking around.
“What do you mean?” asked Hanna.
“It’s the end of spring. The bushes are green, but nothing is blooming. Not even the lilac. Why?”
“Yeah,” Hanna sighed. “It’s been like this since her death. We haven’t seen a single flower in this garden for a hundred and sixty-two years. We tried everything. Riley asked Samson’s permission to change the bushes. Samson said we were wasting our time, that nothing would help. But Riley did it anyway. He planted the new bushes in the exact same order, so it’d look the same. But Samson was right. The new ones didn’t bloom, either.”
“Riley did that?” Eleanor looked blankly at the water shooting up from the fountain urn.
Hanna sat down on the bench. “Are you surprised?”
“No. Actually, I’m not.” Eleanor sat beside her.
“You know, I always had this feeling. . . .” Hanna hesitated.
“What feeling?” asked Eleanor, now looking at the dandelions growing around the pool wall.
“I always thought . . . Just, please don’t laugh . . .”
“That Riley was in love with Gabriella?” Eleanor turned to Hanna. “I don’t think it’s funny.”
“Yeah.” Hanna nodded, gazing at her. “So you felt that, too?”
“No. I didn’t feel it. I knew it.”
“You knew it? How? Did Craig tell you?”
“No. Gabriella did,” said Eleanor. Hanna's eyes widened and her eyebrows moved up. Eleanor took her hand. “Hanna, breath. Nothing happened.”
“Then how… how did she know?” Hanna asked, stammering.
“When Samson turned Ned, Gabriella told Riley that she hoped one day he and Ruben would find someone, too. Someone they would want to be with forever. That’s when Riley confessed his feelings, saying he had already found his someone. That maybe she wasn’t his, but he was happy because he got to see her every day, to hear her voice, her laughter.” Eleanor sighed. “And he got to live with her under the same roof forever.”
“Oh no. How could I be so blind?” A tear dropped from Hanna’s eye. “He lost his love, too, he was in pain, and nobody was there to comfort him.” She glanced at the bushes and shook her head.
“Maybe Samson did. Because I think he knew,” said Eleanor quietly. “After Gabriella told me, I started remembering things. The way Riley looked at her. That he didn’t travel with us if Gabriella wasn’t coming. I noticed that he stayed close to home so he could be there for her if she needed something done. Only then did Gabriella realize why he was always the first one––after Samson, of course––to wish her good morning. I think Samson noticed these things long before we did.”
“I wish she had told me,” said Hanna, looking down at her lap.
&
nbsp; “She didn’t mean to tell me either. It just happened, it was one of those moments. We were talking. Word after word . . . it just came out. Besides, she was afraid of your ‘jealous daughter’ reaction.”
“No. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You say that now. But if you knew then, who knows.” Eleanor stood up.
“Eleanor.” Hanna sobbed suddenly. She dashed to Eleanor and hugged her tightly around the neck.
Eleanor put her arms around her, not surprised by the outburst.
“You’re back. It’s you,” Hanna muttered into her ear. “We were friends for three years and I thought. . . .” She sobbed again.
“You thought that you could handle this without emotions?” Eleanor smiled sadly.
“I missed you so much. I lost you both, and I had no one to talk to. The boys, they were so good to me, but it’s not the same.”
“I know,” whispered Eleanor, tears running down her cheeks. “And I was so sorry that I had to leave you in that mess.”
“I kept repeating to myself the last words you said to me, that you needed me to be strong,” sniffed Hanna.
They stood like that for a long moment.
“Do you wanna go for a ride?” said Eleanor, pulling back.
A few minutes later, the shadows of two horses flashed across the yard and disappeared into the woods.
Kimberly, who saw the two horses vanish in two seconds, glanced at Ruben.
“I still can’t believe this is real,” she muttered. “I expect to wake up any minute now.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Ruben said, taking her hand.
“Should I?” She looked at the ocean. “Then what?”
“Kimberly. . . .”
“It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just . . .” She pulled her hand away and walked closer to the beach. “Everything is so different now.”
“Kimberly, I know you’re confused.”
“I don’t think that’s the right word to describe what I feel,” she said, her eyes fixed on the wet sand. “I feel like I lost something. I thought I knew the difference between possible and impossible. Not all of it, of course, but there was some kind of line, and now it’s gone. Vampires are real, and I went to a party with them. My whole life I knew that this story about immortal Hunters was just a beautiful legend, and now here you are, killing vampires on your porch.”
The sun was still glittering above the hill, but to Ruben, the view became much darker. “Do I scare you?”
She looked at him. “No,” she said quietly. She stepped to him and put her hands on his chest. “I thought we were getting closer, and now there is this abyss between us.”
“Kimberly, nothing has changed. I am the same Ruben.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her. “You don’t mind that I am almost five hundred years old, do you?” Ruben forced a smiled.
But Kimberly’s face remained despondent. She hugged him. Gently, like she was a thin crystal glass, he put his hands around her. With his powers back, he had to be careful. While he adjusted to them again, he’d have to control his every move not to hurt her.
Her head slid down onto his shoulder. Through the thin fabric of his shirt, he felt the touch of her warm lips.
5
Alec stopped the car in front of a large iron gate connecting the ends of the tall stone fencing that surrounded the two-story house. It was around midnight. Through the bars of the gate, the headlights illuminated the wide front yard, the only light in the total darkness.
The gate swung open. He drove in, stopped the car before the low stairs, and got out. When he reached the front door, the vampire on guard opened it for him.
“He is waiting for you,” said the vampire.
The plan had worked, and now the house was full of vampires, waiting with anticipation for their turn to fall into the long sleep that would make them even more invincible and allow them to walk in daylight. Alec wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He had witnessed their violence for ten years, but he couldn’t say he had gotten used to it. They were monsters about to get even more power. But if that was what Fray wanted, what Fray needed to stand up to Samson, then so be it.
He climbed up the polished wooden stairs to the second floor, where Fray waited in the spacious study, sitting behind a mahogany desk.
“Everything is clear,” said Alec, walking into the room. “They were too busy to follow any of us.”
“That's not the only reason,” said Fray. “They didn’t follow us because they have other plans, which we know nothing about. We need to find out as much as possible.”
Fray stood up and opened the old wooden case lying on his desk. The Book was open to the essential page. Alec stepped closer. He'd been the one to place the Book on the stand at Eleanor’s old house. He hadn’t had time to look at it after Eleanor opened it. Fray and the vampires had caught up with him before he'd reached the cars hidden between the trees at the edge of the woods. He'd handed the Book to Fray, and from there, they'd all driven in different directions.
It was on his fifteenth birthday that Fray showed him the Book for the first time. That day he told Alec the rest of his secrets. About how he took it from Samson and how to use it, about Joanne––how he chased her, that the idea to turn vampires came to him after he met her, and how she became his first companion. When Fray said that Joanne was transitioning at the moment the Book was closed, Alec asked if it meant she was dead. But Fray explained the transitioning would resume as soon as The Book was opened, that Joanna and fifty-two other transitioning vampires would wake up when the process was finished.
The more questions Alec asked about Joanne, the more he understood what she meant to Fray, and the more he wished that she would never wake up. Fray was his, and he didn’t want to share him with anyone. Especially with someone as old and powerful as Joanne, with whom Fray had such a deep history.
Fray’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
“Those golden texts are a big mystery,” said Fray, flipping the pages. “And they can be very dangerous. We have to find out what Samson is up to and, more importantly, we need to keep them occupied until the transitioning vampires wake up.”
“Well, I’m glad you have an army of vampires to help you during my absence,” said Alec with irony. He gazed at The Book, then at Fray. “Let’s not waste time.”
Fray stepped out from behind the desk. “You lied to me.” He glared at Alec.
“I killed the witch and I got The Book, didn’t I?”
“But you didn’t kill her. You said that you could do it.”
On his way back, Alec had rehearsed different reasons to convince Fray that he never got a chance to kill Amanda. But they would just be more lies. “I lied,” he said without blinking. “I was never going to do it.”
Fray didn’t seem surprised. “Why? Because you love her?”
“Yes. If you know what that means.”
Fray bowed his head. “I know what it means,” he said. Alec heard a tension in his voice, and when Fray looked at him again, his eyes burned with rage. “It means weakness, and you’ve just proven it one more time. That woman––she isn’t Amanda anymore, she isn’t the girl you fell in love with. She is a different person now.”
“And I will be, too,” said Alec, piercing him with a glare. He stepped to the table and put his hand on the Book. “Do it.”
6
They headed back to Green Hill. Riley drove Craig’s Jeep with Ruben next to him and Eleanor and Kimberly in the back seat.
“I can’t see it. The Wall,” said Kimberly as the car slid into the woods.
“It only works one way,” said Eleanor. “Look back.”
Kimberly turned around and peered into the semi-darkness of the woods. Seconds later the air rippled, and from behind it emerged Hanna’s car, blinding Kimberly with its headlights.
“Unbelievable,” said Kimberly with perceptible excitement in her voice.
Ruben glanced back at Eleanor. They exchange
d a tiny smile.
After driving several miles down the main road, they heard sirens.
“Do you think it’s the police?” asked Ruben.
“They found the bodies,” said Riley. “That was quick.”
“What bodies?” asked Eleanor. “Where?”
“The vampires we killed at your house,” said Ruben.
Eleanor knew there had been a fight, but since she hadn’t seen the vampires, she’d
forgotten all about them.
“It’s not the police,” said Riley. “Look.” He pointed at the piece of sky above the woods, where clouds of black smoke rose up from between the trees.
The sound of sirens got closer. A short moment later, they saw them: with flashing lights, three fire trucks took the exit from the highway and sped up the narrow road leading to Eleanor’s old house.
“They’re getting rid of evidence,” said Ruben grimly. “Fire is good. Fire trucks can’t reach that place, and by the time the firemen get their hands on the bodies, they’ll look like barbecued human bones.”
Kimberly’s hand fidgeted at those words, and Eleanor took it.
“We’ll be home soon,” Eleanor said softly.
“I’m fine,” said Kimberly.
But her quick glance and artificial smile told Eleanor she was far from fine. That everything, including Eleanor herself, was new and frightening. To Eleanor, Kimberly seemed different, too, now that her mind was flooded with memories from her past. Kimberly had been her best friend for nine years and their friendship was still very dear to her, but it felt like it had happened a million years ago in some other life. They both needed time to adjust to these abrupt changes.
The road sign WELCOME TO GREEN HILL shone golden in the darkness.
Eleanor felt nervous when the car turned to the familiar street. As it stopped in front of her house, she looked at its dark windows and her heart sank.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Eleanor turned to Kimberly. Kimberly nodded, and Eleanor opened the door. “Call me if you need anything.”
As Eleanor got out of the Jeep, she glanced at Hanna’s car behind it.