by Dara Nelson
“He was old, over a thousand years old. He was strong, he was smart, he was wise, and he was my mentor after I was changed.”
“Was his body ever found after you were able to open the tomb again?”
She shook her head, “None of the bodies are ever found. Nothing. No clothing, no bones, no clue at all that they were ever there. They just vanish.” She said.
“And how long does the door stay sealed?”
“It varies. Usually several months. But I’m guessing it depends on how long it takes for the vampire inside to die. When the door opens it either means that they’ve passed the test, which no one has since Sekhmet in 925 B.C., or they’ve died.”
“And nobody’s ever been able to link with a vampire inside to find out what the test is?”
Again, she shook her head, “No. The door seals and you’re cut off from the outside world completely. Mentally, physically, everything.”
“And how many after Hapshet?”
“Ummm, four that we know of, one every one several hundred years or so, until 1702, then nothing, until now.”
I looked at my watch, “Okay. Unfortunately, that’s all we have time for now. We have to go catch a plane. Thank you, Bahiti.”
She nodded, “No problem. We will begin your hieroglyphics training when you return, Sarah?”
“Absolutely. For both of us.” I said as I placed my hand on Jason’s shoulder.
“And you’ll keep searching for a way to get Sarah and Jason out of this, right?” Carlos squeaked out. Bahiti looked over at me with questioning eyes. I smiled and she understood. She and I both knew that there wasn’t a way out, but we had to keep Carlos’ hopes alive, “Of course I will, Carlos. I will devote all of my time to it while you are gone.”
He let out a huge sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair, “Okay. Thanks B.”
We left her office and headed back to our rooms. “Carlos? Do you have some pants that Jason can borrow?”
“What? Oh, sure. Since he’s not used to wearing clothing, sweatpants will probably be best. They’re not as tight as jeans. I have tons. He can have as many as he needs.”
I loaned him a duffle bag, found a cape to hide his wings then packed my own things. We were in the car on the way to the airport thirty minutes later.
Chapter Five
“Four days!!!! It’s going to be another four days before we can even look for him?” Jason cried. We were currently in the air, on Stefan’s plane.
“Jason. Please try to calm down. Your father will be fine. But the boat is in Corpus Christi and we need it on the island to look for your father. Otherwise we’d fly to the island.”
“Actually, it’ll be three days, Sarah. We’re going to Miami, not Corpus Christi. And I rented a bigger boat that will get us out there faster and be able to search longer,” Matt said.
I smiled at him, “Thank you, sweetheart. See Jason? It’ll only be three days. Let’s take a look at the map and see if we can plot a search pattern.” I pulled out the map and spread it out on the table in front of me. I found our island, got my bearings, then closed my eyes and tried to picture the flight that Jonas had taken me on when he had kidnapped me.
“Matt? Do you remember what time of day it was when he took me?” I said, with my eyes closed.
“Things were so hectic that day, Sarah. But it was before noon. It had to be. Because we were planning on doing the transformation of Maria at noon and had to bump that up because of what Jonas did, remember? Yeah, when he slit her throat to try to tempt you into killing her so we had to rush the change before she died, I think it was maybe eleven?” he said.
“Okay. And if I’m standing on the beach, with my back to the house, where is the sun at eleven? Can you show me on the map?”
Carlos, who had been sound asleep on the couch next to me, reached his arm over my shoulder to point at a spot on the map, “It’s here. Out over the cave.”
I turned and kissed his cheek, “Good morning, sleepyhead,” I whispered.
He blushed, “Sorry. Too much stress right now. It messes up my sleep times.”
I wrapped my arm around his shoulder, “Don’t apologize, hun. I completely understand. We’re all pretty stressed right now.” I said.
“Yeah, but none of you are nodding off at all hours of the day.”
“Maybe not, but we’re definitely feeling it, Carlos. We just react differently,” Matt said, trying to make him feel better. I could tell it didn’t work though. I needed to cheer him up, so I linked with him and thought, ‘I’m dealing with it by needing more sex than I usually do. Which, for me, is a pretty tall order.’ He swallowed his laugh, but I saw the smile dancing in his eyes, ‘One that I’m happy to try and fill, baby,’ he thought as he gave me a quick kiss and whispered, “Thanks.”
I nodded and went back to the map. I stuck my finger approximately where the rock cave that is just a few hundred yards off of the shore of our island and marked it with a red pen. “Okay, I know I felt the sun on my cheek most of the time. You guys have seen him fly. About how far do you think he could go in ten minutes?”
They looked at each other, “What do you think, Matt? Sixty to seventy miles?”
“I’d say anywhere between fifty to a hundred, just to be safe.” Matt said.
Using my fingers, I measured out approximately one hundred miles in an arc from the cave. “Ummmm, Matt? Could you take a look at this please?”
“What is it Sarah? Oh,” he said as he knew immediately what I was showing him. There were at least forty island dots within the search area, maybe more. “Well, we’ll just have to search each one as quickly as we can. I mean, Aquila’s a big guy. He shouldn’t be too hard to spot.”
My heart felt heavy. Searching that many islands in the short amount of time that Aquila had left was a daunting task, to say the least. I could see the panic in Jason’s wide eyes as he too stared at the map. I gently placed my hand on his arm, “We’ll find him Jason. I promise we will.”
“But, will it be in time? Father said that seraphim’s don’t survive as long as vampires do without blood. Three weeks, maybe a month, is what he told me. We’ll be starting the third week by the time we start searching.”
I wanted to respond, I truly did. I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be fine, that we would find his dad in time. But the truth was that I couldn’t say that. All we could do is try to hold on to the hope that we would. So as Jason turned to head down to his room to spend his time worrying alone, instead of trying to stop him and making statements that we would all know weren’t true, I just let him go. We would all deal with our fears in our own ways.
Two days out on the boat, Bahiti called me on my cell phone. “Are you alone right now, Sarah? Can you be?”
I walked below and into the state room that Carlos, Matt and I were sharing, Jason was using the other, but he was topside right now. “I am now. What is it?”
“Well, I’ve been doing some research, and also remembering a little. It was a very long time ago, so the memories of it aren’t that clear.”
“Memories of what, Bahiti?”
“The Seraphim’s, and how they react when they’re starving. You have to be extremely careful, Sarah. He won’t be himself. He won’t know who you are. He might not even know who Jason is. He’ll be insane with hunger and he’ll probably attack first. If he doesn’t recognize Jason, he would see him as a threat.”
“If he might not know Jason, then I can’t have Jason going in there with me. If Aquila were to hurt his own son, he’d never forgive himself. I have to go in alone.”
“Are you sure, Sarah? Does it have to be you? Can’t you just drop the blood near him, then return to the boat until he feeds?”
“I’ll try to do that, but if he’s that crazy, he might just be more intent on attacking. So I have to be ready to try to stop him, Bahiti. I have to stop him just long enough to get through to him.”
“Okay, Sarah. I suppose you’re right. But please be car
eful when you find him. Take care and I’ll see you when you get back.”
“I will, Bahiti. I’ll see you later.” I hung up the phone and tucked it back into my pocket. Matt and Carlos watched me very carefully as I walked back to the deck and took my seat next to Jason. I knew I should probably go and tell them what the phone call was about, but I really didn’t want them to worry. And I sure as hell didn’t want them fluffing their feathers and saying that they should be the ones who should approach Aquila. I knew that, as a female, I would have the best shot of him not feeling threatened. It had to be me, there really wasn’t a choice; was there ever? Not in my mind. And I’m sure not for them either. I was here to protect them. They were here to protect me. End of story. So, now I had to work on what my distraction would be. How would I keep both of them on the boat with Jason while I went ashore? One I could manage (I’d ask one of them to make sure Jason stayed on the boat), but both? I looked up when I felt the boat begin to slow down. We were nearing the port at Haiti, our final refueling stop before we reached our island. Jason stood up and headed below, so as not to be seen by anyone at the dock. I followed him, but he tried to stop me, “Sarah. You don’t have to wait down here with me. I can tell that you need to walk around and stretch your legs. Go on. It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
I hesitated. He was right. My legs felt tight and cramped. A walk around the pier would do them some good. But did he want to be alone or did he just feel bad about not wanting to be alone? I watched him for a moment: his shoulders were drooping, his head hung down. This was a desperately sad young man, trying so hard to be brave. The last thing he needed was to be alone. I could stretch my legs when we got to the island. “I’m fine, Jason.” I went and sat down on the couch. He opened his mouth to say something, but then just shook his head and sat near me. He was completely silent, and I could tell he was losing control. I gently placed my hand on his shoulder and whispered, “It’s going to be okay, Jason. You have to believe that.”
“I’m t-t-t-trying, S-s-s-arah,” he sobbed, then his head came down and rested on my lap. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and rested my cheek on his head. “Shhhh, it’s okay, Jason. You’re not alone. You will never be alone.”
We stayed exactly where we were until Matt and Carlos were finished fueling the boat. But as soon as Jason heard the footsteps above, he quickly sat up, dried his eyes and put on his brave face once again. “You hungry?” I said, realizing instantly that I was starving again, something I had managed to ignore given how busy and stressed I was. My body ached for more blood, something that I just couldn’t give it right now, given our limited supply. I sadly grabbed four pints from the fridge - two for me and two for Jason. I warmed them and then drained mine in the blink of an eye. “Why do you drink them so fast?” Jason said, as he slowly worked on his. I had to visibly stop myself from snatching his right out of his hand.
“We can’t drink any other way. It’s fast or not at all,” I said.
“Have you tried?”
“What, to go slower? Well, no, I guess I haven’t,” I said.
“You should. It might help you keep the benefits of it longer and not need to feed so often, which I gather is something you’d like, correct?”
“You’re right about that. Absolutely. Maybe I’ll try after we find your father.”
“How much longer until we get to the island and can start searching?”
“From Haiti, it’s usually two days. But this boat is bigger and faster, so a day and a half, maybe less.”
“I’m going to try to get some sleep for a bit.”
“Sounds like a good idea. Good night, Jason.”
“Good night, Sarah,” he said as he closed the door to his room. I heated four more pints and brought them up to Matt and Carlos, “Anyone hungry?”
“Starved,” they both said. I handed them their meals, then wrapped my arms tightly around both of them. “I’m scared, guys. What if we don‘t find him in time? Jason will hate me,” I whispered.
“Sarah,” Matt began, “He’ll be sad, he’ll be angry, he’ll be upset, but he won’t hate you. He can’t. Nobody can.”
“Maria does.” I said and I felt Carlos bristle next to me.
“No she doesn’t, Sarah. She’s upset and hurt right now. But she doesn’t hate you,” he said.
“Well, either way, I’m not worried about Maria. I’m worried about Jason and how it will affect him if his father is dead. They have an incredible bond. I’d hate to be the one to break it.”
“Sarah, stop that. You can’t blame yourself if we don’t find him in time. You’ve only been to that island once, and you were scared and with Jonas. It’s a vast ocean with countless small islands. It wouldn’t be your fault if we can’t find it again.” Matt said.
“Yes it would,” I said as I turned and walked to the couch. I was suddenly exhausted, and trying to ignore the fact that I was hungry again. I stretched out and put my arm across my eyes. Carlos looked at Matt. “Do you want me to drive for a while?” he said.
Matt looked back at me then shook his head, “No. You go talk to her. You usually have better luck getting through to her.”
Carlos laughed, “Yeah, right.”
Matt smiled as he went back to concentrating on driving the boat. We were about a half day from the island. Carlos walked over and stood next to the couch, looking down at me. “Sit up for a second, would ya?” I moved my arm up, stared at him for a second while debating to myself whether I should acquiesce, then decided I didn’t want any more arguments, so I sat up. He plopped down on the couch, guided my head back to his lap and began caressing my forehead. “I don’t want to argue and I don’t want to talk anymore, Carlos. I’m tired.”
“Shut up, Sarah. I know,” he whispered then a shiver rocked through his body. My eyes shot open, “What the hell….,” I started but he stopped me when he popped in my head. ‘Shhhhh. Sorry, hun. I couldn’t help it. I was just remembering what you did the last time your head was in my lap,’ he thought as he gave me a giant goofy grin. I tried really hard not to, but couldn’t help smiling back, “You, seriously, don’t fight fair. You know that, right?”
“If I didn’t cheat, I’d never beat you and that could damage my fragile ego.”
I rolled my eyes, “Oh, please,” I said as I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes. He leaned down, kissed my temple and whispered, “I love you, Sarah.”
I reached my hand up, weaved my fingers through his and mumbled, “love you too,” as I drifted off to sleep.
The scent penetrated my nostrils and I was instantly awake. I moved Carlos’ arm as gently as I could and then flew to Matt’s side, “Humans? Here? At our island?”
“Apparently,” he said as he cut the motor.
I gripped his shoulder, “I can’t, I can’t be near them Matt. Not right now. We’re on a limited diet and I’m still trying to adjust to things. If they’re bad at all, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself. And I don’t want to do this. Not here. Not at this place. Not at my home. I can’t tarnish my home like that.”
He kissed my forehead, “It’s okay, Sarah. I understand. I’ll go see who it is and find out why they’re here. You stay here with Jason. Keep him out of sight, okay?”
“I’ll go with you,” Carlos said as he stood up from the couch. He stretched his arms and yawned.
“You heard everything?” I said to him.
“Course. I’m a ninja, baby. I sleep with one ear open.”
I rolled my eyes, “Excuse me while I go throw up,” I said, smiling as I made my way downstairs, while Matt pulled quietly up to the dock. Carlos jumped off the boat and tied it up to the dock. Suddenly I stopped, turned around and ran back to them. I hugged them tight, “Please be careful. I need you two around for a very long time.”
They both kissed my cheeks, “We will, Sarah. We promise. Now, go below with Jason, please. We’ll be back in a few minutes.” I nodded, turned and walked down the stairs. I tapped on Jason’s doo
r, “Jason? Are you awake?”
I heard him rustling in the room, and pulling on his pants, “Yes. I’m up. Come in.”
I opened the door. He looked anxious and ready to go, “Are we there? Is it time?” he said. I sat on the end of the bed, “We’re there, but it’s not quite time. There are some, ummm, uninvited visitors on the island. Matt and Carlos just went ashore to, well, to tell them to leave.”
“Are you kidding me? What else could go wrong? How many more damn delays are we going to have?” he cried.
“Jason. Try to relax, please. It’s still dark out. We can’t search until daylight, anyways.”
“I know. You’re right, Sarah. It’s just so frustrating. We need to find him and it has to be soon or it’s going to be too late. Do you know what that feels like? That’s my father out there.”
“I know, Jason. And whether you believe it or not, I understand. Both Matt and Carlos were taken or in trouble. And I had to try to find them before it was too late. It tests you. It challenges you. It just about kills you. But, in the end, it makes you stronger. And it makes you appreciate, even more, those who love you.” Speaking of which, I thought, I need to check on them. I linked with Carlos to watch what was happening. ‘Gotta check out what you are seeing, hun’
‘What took you so long?’
‘Been talking to Jason. Looks like a small boat anchored in the cove. Do you see anyone?’
‘Not yet, but I hear someone. Up near the porch. I think…..’ POW! The sound of the gunshot ricocheted off the trees.
Chapter Six
“Stay here!” I said as I jumped up and ran out the door. I made it off the boat and onto the dock before the sound of the gunshot had dissipated. Two more steps took me onto the path to the house. Suddenly an arm reached out from behind the tree and wrapped around my waist. I moved to strike, but the voice stopped me. “Honey, wait. It’s okay. It’s not what you think. This guy was just scared and protecting himself and his wife. Nobody got hurt. Sarah, please calm down,” Matt whispered.
“What the hell happened, Matt?”