My thoughts, that were deeper than they should be, were disturbed by Jaryn who have suddenly sprung up next to me. Damn him and his speed. “Don’t do that.” I said with a smile and a laugh.
“Sorry, I forgot that you’re not used to it.”
“It’s alright. I’m not used to any of this. Over the past two days I’ve gone from this heartbroken girl to liking someone I barely know and now I’m being held prisoner in a totally different country.” I explained.
“I’m sorry, I really am. We’re all sorry that you had to be put in the middle of it but we knew that Reid cares about you so taking you would get him back to us.” Jaryn said.
“Why don’t you just let him be?” I asked.
“Right after we got changed we made a pack that no matter what, we would stick together because we were all that we had. Mum and da were gone and none of us had families outside of us so we thought it was best.” He said.
“None of you had ever been married?” I asked.
“Some of us, yes. Sebastian was married to young woman but he preferred the company of man rather than her. Blake was always to ill-tempered to match with anyone as you can tell, no one wanted him but he was paired with a very pretty lass whom I adored. Reid was married off to a girl he didn’t love and Ashwin was married to a nobleman that had been eyeing since she was young. I was the only one who never married before we were changed, I consider myself lucky. I don’t have those memories to tie me down.” Jaryn said with a hint of a smile knowing that he was lying to himself.
“So what happened to them all?” I wondered.
“Sebastian’s lover, Thomas, was accused by Sebastian of killing his wife so that they could be together. Just because he wasn’t attracted to her didn’t mean that he didn’t love her. Sebastian’s heart was broken in many ways after that. Blake’s wife was never happy with him. He would rather be at the pub and in the company of others rather than her. She died of the fever and he didn’t mind one bit, I did on the other hand.’ Jaryn sat for a moment, thinking about the ghost that had passed. I touched his hand lightly to comfort him. He smiled and let out a small laugh. ‘Perhaps I have a demon in my past after all. Uh Reid’s wife didn’t love him either and she ran off with the man that had her heart; Edward. Ashwin was the only happy one out of them all. She was married to the man she always loved, David. He was a nobleman that was ten years older than she was but that never stopped her from catching his eye. He died in battle just before she gave birth to their child.”
“She’s had a baby.” I said with delight in my voice.
“Aye but we were told that it died shortly after birth. Ashwin came home, grief stricken and not to long after that was when we were all changed.” I sat there for a moment - soaking in all the information I was given about their past and understood a little more of why they were doing what they were doing. All they wanted was to be together as a family because that was all that they had left. I looked at Jaryn and into his sad eyes.
“Thank you Jaryn.” I said as I placed my hand onto his.
“For what?” he asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“For helping me understand you all more.”
“Anytime, you really like Reid don’t ya?” he asked me.
“I do, whether it’s just as friends or something more I don’t know but he helped me when I thought I couldn’t be.’ Jaryn asked if I would explain further. ‘My boyfriend at the time broke up with out of the blue and without explanation. Reid approached me and after we talked for hours he walked me home and said he wanted to try something, he kissed me. That single kiss made me forget all about my ex and for the first time in months I was actually able to think about moving on with my life. Before I could thank him he just disappeared, like that.” I snapped.
“Yeah he’s good at that.” Jaryn said with a roll of his eyes.
“Finally found him the next day and we went out that night, and well you know what happened because you were there.” I laughed. He looked down as if he was ashamed of what they had done the night before.
“Sorry for that to.” He laughed. It was the first time I had actually smiled and meant it since I had been taken the night before and he noticed, telling me that it was nice to see a real smile across my face. “There are gardens all around here, go exploring. Who knows when Reid will get here, and you might never get back to Ireland eh?” he said. He was right, who knew where Reid was let alone if he was on his way. For all we knew he could still be passed out in the woods so I took Jaryn’s advice and strolled out the French doors that let outside to snoop about. Before I knew it I was turned around in a maze of hedges, rose bushes and stone benches. It was the most glorious place that I had ever seen but I’ve never been more lost in all my life. It was times like this that I missed my cell phone, smart phones were sometimes to smart but in this case I would make an exception. Wondering around for what seemed like hours I finally stopped when I found something I had been searching for all morning; Ashwin.
She was standing alone, feeling the soft peddles of a rose, looking as if she was deep in thought. Rather than bother her I turned to leave the area when she lifted her head slowly and asked me to stop. I did; dead in my tracks. “I’m sorry. I didn’t me to disturb you.” I said right off the bat. She seemed to be one of the kinder of the siblings but I didn’t know her manors.
“You didn’t, you’re fine but you’re also lost, yeah?” she asked as she turned to face me. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Inside I was screaming with a jealous rage that I couldn’t be at gorgeous as she was. She looked like a living doll with her porcelain like skin, deep red hair and piercing green eyes. She looked the most like someone might think of a stereotypical Irishmen while all of her brothers had brown hair, though they all had similar striking features.
“Yeah, I don’t know where I got turned around at.”
“Walk with me, I’ll show you the way.” She said as she started walking with a smile. I wanted to ask her about what happened at breakfast but I was slightly fearful of doing so because I didn’t want to upset her. I didn’t seem her going off on me in a rage but I didn’t want to upset her if there was a chance of that. The silence between us was overwhelming and she must have realized that. “Whatever it is that you want to ask, please do so. I can feel you’re emotions and it’s making me crazy not knowing what you would like to know.” She finally said.
“At breakfast this morning, you were starring me down and then left in hurry. I didn’t know if I had done something wrong or not?” I asked her. Ashwin stopped, turned to me and looked deeply into my eyes. She finally smiled sweetly.
“You just…you just look like someone I knew once. It didn’t hit me until that moment but it kind threw me for loop.” She said, explaining her actions.
“Oh…’ I wasn’t sure on what to say after that. ‘Someone you were close to?”
“In a way, we were close from a far. I doubt it makes any sense to you but…”
“No it does, more than you might think. I’m sorry that I made you feel w
hat you did.” I said. Ashwin only smiled at me with small nod. We continued to walk out of the hedge maze and the sight of the house was amazing even though it wasn’t my home. Ashwin looked down at me and looked sad as I did; it was like she was feeling everything that I was at that moment.
“I know it’s not home but you’ll be leaving soon, I promise.” She said as she touched my shoulder gently. I smiled but only out of thanks for her kind words. I did miss home, my family, Trish and even Charlie. All I wanted was my own bed and my own life back but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. I never thought I would miss home, school and the people in my life as much as I did. Trish’s annoying mannerisms, Charlie’s nagging questions about his feelings for Trish, even her brother’s attitude towards her. Sean never hated me but he never said that he loved me either. He always acted like I was just someone who was living in his house. We never had brother/sister mom
ents and if I was to express my true feelings about Sean I was hurt that I never had the relationship with Sean that all the Hollings seemed to have with each other so I could understand why everyone was so upset about Reid’s leaving.
Five
Reid finally took his seat on the plane, his leg bouncing worse than ever. He was honestly worried about what his siblings would do to Nora. He understood that they all wanted his return but this wasn’t the way to do such a thing. Reid had already endangered all their lives; including Nora’s by telling her what they really were but now they had taken her thus putting her life in even more danger. Every one of the Hollings’ children had made at least one enemy over the years. When you had lived as long as they had then it was bound to happen; whether their enemies were mortal or immortal they were always around.
Then there was the fact that it The Keepers themselves were to find out that they had exposed themselves to a mortal then they would all pay including Nora. The Keepers were the only ones who could take an immortal’s life but anyone could take Nora’s; she was the easy one.
“Sir?” Reid heard but it seemed distant. “Sir?”
“Huh, oh yes I’m sorry.” He finally said as he snapped out of his trace.
“Do you need something?” The sturdiest asked. Reid was confused looking but realized that he had accidentally hit the call button.
“Yes, after takeoff can I get a scotch on the rocks please?” He asked. She said that she would have that out for him as soon as they were in the air then walked away. Maybe alcohol would calm himself or so he could hope. There were still a few minutes before liftoff so he pulled out his phone again and dialed Blake’s number again but this time only got his voicemail. Only becoming more frustrated he flipped his cell phone shut with more force than he needed to and attempted to rest his eyes as the captain’s voice came over the intercom, explaining their flight in details. Reid didn’t care. He just wanted to get to Ireland as fast as he could.
He wondered what Nora was doing at that moment, if she was safe. He wasn’t quite sure what his brothers and sister would do to her. If they wanted something bad enough then they would do anything and all they wanted him was back within their circle. It wasn’t that he didn’t love them but he just couldn’t take being with them at all hours of his life; he mainly wanted space. After thinking about it for a while he could have just asked to go on a holiday rather than packing his things, leaving in the middle of the night and angering them all. He always hated to admit that any of them were right, especially Blake and in this case he was starting to think that he was. Reid could see where he was said to be selfish, leaving his family without even saying good bye.
‘Thank you for choosing Air United, the best way to fly U.K. and back.’
The sound of the engine starting and the blades spinning caused Reid to drift off for a moment. He thought about an event years ago back when he and Blake were inseparable; it was the first time that Reid had questioned Blake’s attitude towards mortals since he had been forced to have the self control. At first he was spiteful that he was forced to have it yet Blake wasn’t but then it started working on him. His feelings and mood shifted, he wasn’t as fun as he normally was. He remembered the first time he had really stopped being the Reid that he knew.
It was the year seventeen ninety two; New Orleans. Blake and Reid were there on holiday having left the others at home. They were young, immortal and could do as they pleased. They had been at the bar for hours, drinking until they couldn’t any longer. They left the building with a girl on each arm and headed back to their hotel where they spent the night in a series of debauchery events. In the early morning hours while Reid was standing on the balcony of the hotel talking to the two girls that he had brought back while Blake was with one of his girls on the bed, in the beginning stages on a wild night while the forth girl was already asleep on the chair in the corner.
Reid wasn’t in the mood for sex nor was he in the mood to drink anymore. His thoughts were weighting him down more than normal. While the blond haired woman wondered into the room to find a bottle of wine so that she could down it; leaving the red headed woman alone with Reid. She tried to advance him but he wasn’t biting so she stood there, looking out over the city. They seemed to be the only ones awake. “You’re not as fun as you were earlier?” the woman stated. Reid looked over at her with a cold stare. She moved towards him again, running her fingers up his arm then down his chest as she licked her lips. He grabbed her by her wrist, stopping her from touching him.
“I’m not in the mood.” He said with a stern tone as he released her, throwing her backwards.
“What don’t you like girls? What man would turn this down?” the red headed asked as she popped her hand on her hips. Reid only smiled.
“No, I don’t like girls. I like women and you my dear are not a woman. You’re whore and I don’t feel like giving my attention to a whore any longer.” Reid said as he walked inside the room.
“You son of a bitch!” the red head yelled as she stormed in after him only to stop when he turned to face her again, this time furious looking. He took that term to heart because he had lost their mother forever; giving up her life for all of them. Blake stopped what he was doing and pulled the woman off of him, tossing her to the floor. Reid had the redhead by the shoulders, gripping her tightly. She began to panic, thinking that her choice to yell at him was a bad idea. Blake watched as his brother’s temper grew and grew from her words.
“Well are you going to do something about it Reid or just stand there and shake her?” He asked finally as he grew bored with the lack of entertainment. Reid looked at his younger brother then released the young girl, acting as if he was in some sort of shock.
“Oh bloody hell.” Blake said as he hurried the young girl, wrapped his hands around her head, twisting it with enough for to snap her neck. He dropped her lifeless body to the ground and walked to his brother, placing his hand on Reid’s own shoulders then easing his forehead onto his brother’s.
“I didn’t want to. Not because of what she said but because she’s mortal…their lives are so precious; far more than ours.” Reid explained. Blake started to laugh as he looked up, he knew that these feelings were inside his brother aching to get out; having actual feelings for mortals. Blake hadn’t understood that, he honestly never understood having feelings for anyone that you didn’t care for. This was the same frame of mind he had when he was mortal as well. He never wanted to help his fellow man though he did for his father’s sake.
“You and this caring for mortals is making me sick brother, I mean really can’t you just…have fun with it?” Blake asked.
“I don’t find fun in harming them, holding their lives in our hands.”
“Well I do and you used to and since we’ve killed this one well have to do with away with the other as well. Don’t want any witnesses now do we?” Blake said as he pulled the naked young girl from the floor, snapping her neck just as he had done with the first girl; with such ease. Killing was very easy to Blake, it always had been.
“I’m not doin’ it Blake.”
“Fine, I’ll finish it and then I will have saved your arse yet again.” Blake said as he took the last girls life. Both men stood in the now quiet room looking around at the corpses’ that had infested their dwellings. Blake pulled out a cigarette from the pocket of his slacks, lighting it before he pulled his pants on over his underwear. He then sat down on the chair as he relaxed his head on the wing. Licking his lips he looked at his brother and waited for something, anything to justify his actions.
“Don’t you dare look at me with those judgmental eyes. I am your old brother and you will respect me.”
Blake smirked. “Respect? You think that you deserve respect? I’m looking at a man who can’t think for himself because you’re all of a sudden worried about what others will think. Others being mortals…they are below us Reid.” He barked
“We used to be them, we were mortal at one time.” Re
id barked back.
“That is the key phrase right there; used to be. We aren’t any longer. I will not live in fear because of what they will think.”
“You can’t just take someone’s life without being held accountable for it Blake!” Reid brought up. Blake only laughed.
“Silly Reid, I can see them comin’ from a life time away. They’ll never catch me…or you as long as you stay with me that is.’ He tuned to look at the bodies then looked back at this older brother. ‘And as for these girls…no will miss them. By the time they smell the snitch of their bodies we’ll be long gone and besides, I never use our real names so they can’t track us brother.”
Blake finished getting himself dressed as Reid packed up any of their belongings. Within an hour they were gone, without checking out. Gone into the night; Blake with a clear conscience and Reid with a heavy heart. Once back in Ireland nothing was said of their trip to America other than they had a good time.
“Here you are sir.” The young woman said as she handed the drink that he had requested earlier. He took it from her hands and smiled when he noticed the color of her hair; it was fiery red just like the woman in New Orleans.
Immortalis - Book 1 (The Keeper's Immortals) Page 5