“Jess,” Tony called from the bedroom.
I heard him, but Charlotte held my eyes. I wanted to go with Charlotte, so I eased myself up on the ledge.
“Jessica! What are you doing?” he asked, running over to me. He helped me out of the window and carried me back to bed. He went back to the room and locked the window. I didn’t remember a thing.
Waking up, I felt rested. The first time I’d felt rested in a while. Tony would no longer doubt me about the woman in the trees, Charlotte. Smiling, I got out of bed and went to the living room. I turned on the morning news then went into the kitchen. It didn’t take Tony long to roll out of bed, come into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator.
“Good morning sweetie,” he said, kissing my cheek.
“Good morning,” I said, putting water into the coffee pot.
“What plans do you have today?” he asked.
“I’m going to call Kelli and see when MaryAnn’s party will be and then I’m going to clean my house, why?”
“I have plans with father today and I’ll be gone most of the day.”
“What have you and Victor planned?” I asked.
“We have to go to Portland and see about purchasing a blood bank. He wants to branch out his business here in the states.”
“That’s a great idea and then you could run it for him.”
“That’s the same idea father had,” he said. “I better go before father gets anxious. I’ll see you tonight,” he said, then kissed me passionately.
“See you tonight.”
With Tony gone for the day, I decided to spend the day relaxing. I checked both doors and all the windows making sure they were locked. Going to the living room, I decided I didn’t quit my job too soon. But that woman had me spooked and I wanted Tony close. Beside I made Tony extremely happy.
Thinking back to the woman behind the wall in England, I searched my mind remembering Charlotte’s voice. But this woman’s voice in the tree was nothing as I remembered. Not only, did I know her voice, I now knew what she looked like and I was feeling uneasy again.
I turned on the television and watched an old western about a house the town people were trying to save from the wealthy homesteader. He wanted to tear the house down and make a railroad. The house belonged to the family that owned the land. The woman’s parents grew up in that house and she wanted it as a remembrance. It turned out to be a good movie.
Curled up on the sofa all day, I watched movies until dark keeping me from missing Tony, work and thinking of Charlotte.
Tony came home late from his day with Victor.
“How was your day?” he asked, opening the front door.
“It was good. I watched television all day.”
Tony headed down the hall. He came back a minute later and sat on the sofa with me.
“Father decided to buy the blood bank in Portland today. He signed the papers this afternoon. I wanted to ask you if you’d like to work with me there.”
“I would be more than happy to,” I said, giving Tony a hug.
“We’ll be partners,” he said.
“When does your father take over?” I asked.
“In a few months, but we won’t be opened for business for about a year.
“I can’t wait to get back to work. I think I quit my job too soon.”
“Jess, I don’t think you did.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“I want you here with me.” One step closer, my mate, one step. “We will never be apart again.”
I nodded once in agreement.
The sound of thunder woke me up.
I got up and went to the kitchen. After putting on a pot of coffee, I went to the living room and sat down. Tony was coming down the hall. He saw me sitting on the sofa.
“Good morning, sweetie,” he said, sitting down beside me.
“Good morning, honey.”
Tony grabbed the remote from the table beside the sofa and turned on the television. I laid my head on his shoulder while he flipped through the channels.
I had a million things to do before Kelli got here to decorate for MaryAnn’s party. I had to spot clean my house and wrap MaryAnn’s present.
“Tony, Kelli and I need for you to meet MaryAnn at her car and visit with her for a minute while everyone gets in a hiding place.
“No problem, Jess. I’ll watch for her.”
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a kiss.
I got up and poured myself a cup of coffee, and then went to work cleaning the house. Satisfied with the results of a clean house, I went outside to the garage. The chairs were in the rafters. I went back in the house and asked Tony to help me.
He got all the chairs down and I cleaned them before taking them in the house. We leaned them against the wall for now.
I went back to the kitchen and got the punch bowl from the top shelf and washed it.
Around noon Kelli arrived with the cake and decorations. Tony helped her carry everything in from her car.
“Where should I put the cake?” Kelli asked.
“The kitchen table will be fine.”
Tony went to visit his father while Kelli and I decorated.
“I’ll be back in time to meet MaryAnn at her car,” he told me and headed out the door.
Kelli and I set the chairs up. We could sit for a minute before the guests arrived.
“MaryAnn hasn’t a clue about the party. She thinks she’s coming over for a game of cards,” Kelli said, nearly bouncing in her seat.
“I wondered what you told her to get her over here.”
MaryAnn’s birthday was in a couple of days. She wouldn’t be expecting anything.
The guests started arriving around one. Tony was back from his mother’s. Five minutes to two, MaryAnn showed up at the house. Tony went outside to occupy her until all of us found hiding places.
“This is so much fun,” Kelli said, hiding behind the wall in the kitchen. I hid on the other side by the bar.
As MaryAnn entered the house, we all jumped out of our hiding places and yelled “surprise, Happy Birthday.”
MaryAnn’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Thank you everyone. This is quite a surprise.
Tony came over and put his arm around me. “I even jumped and I’m not easily spooked,” he said.
I couldn’t say anything for laughing so hard.
A little after two o’clock, I heard a knock on the door. Standing at the front door was a woman I didn’t recognize. She was blonde headed and dressed in a sweater and jeans. She wore wide rimmed glasses holding a present.
“Can I help you?” I asked, opening the door.
“Hi, my name is Vicki Vilene. I’m new in town, and I heard everyone talking about a birthday party—May I come in?”
“Oh, sure,” I said, sounding a little weary, but held the door open.
Vicki walked slowly to the table holding the gifts. Gently she put the present down. Turning around she looked at me and smiled. I smiled back at her. She made her way to the sofa and sat down.
I went over to Tony to ask him if he knew her, but he beat me to the question. “Who is that?” Tony asked whispering. “Do you know her?”
“Vicki Vilene. She said she’s new in town and heard about MaryAnn’s party. She even brought her a gift. I’ve never seen her before. I thought maybe you knew her.”
“She’s not familiar to me.”
We both shrugged.
Kelli was busy serving the cake and punch.
Tony and I looked around the room and noticed she wasn’t in the room. We looked at each other and shrugged.
I excused myself and went to the hall bathroom. As I closed the door and locked it, Vicki grinned. Turning on the light, I looked in the mirror and saw Vicki behind me. I turned to face her and she put her hand over my mouth.
“Jessica, I have waited patiently for you.”
Tony knocked on the bathroom door. “Sweetie, are you okay?”
Charlotte put her mouth
to my ear and whispered, “Tell him you are.”
“I’m fine; I’ll be finished in a minute.”
“Okay, don’t be long,” he said.
“Good girl,” Charlotte whispered. “Now we are leaving, but first I need to get these things out of my eyes.” Charlotte took the contacts from her eyes throwing them in the commode. Charlotte turned to me, grabbed my chin and whispered, “Don’t make me hurt you here with all these guests.” Releasing her grip from my chin, she moved her hand to my neck placing her forefinger on my vein. “Be a very good girl,” she whispered. “Okay?”
Afraid to move or say anything, I nodded and did exactly what she said. I didn’t even scream.
“Push the handle,” she ordered me. I pushed the handle and the toilet flushed. “Now, look into my eyes,” she demanded. I looked into her eyes and forgot what I was doing. I was totally hers. “Now, you’re going to climb out the window and wait for me,” she said, staring into my eyes.
I nodded and went to the window, opened it, and climbed out. I waited for her to join me. She climbed out of the window, took my hand, and led me toward the fence. She flew to the top, leaned down and helped me over.
“Now we’re going to a special place. Come!”
I followed Charlotte into the trees. She picked me up and ran with me in her arms to Old Man Jenkins farm. She laid me on a bed and sat down beside me.
“Jess, sweetie, is everything okay?” Tony asked from behind the door. “Jess,” he said, knocking on the door. “The guests are gone Jessica?” Turning the door handle, he discovered it was locked. Tony kicked the door open.
Charlotte stared into my eyes. “Now we are going to behave ourselves, aren’t we?”
I nodded.
“I have a special dress I want you to put on,” she said, getting up from the bed.
Charlotte flowed over to a closet. Looking over her shoulder she smiled. Opening the doors, she took out a bag. Inside was a beautiful white dress. Sixteenth century. She brought it over to me and laid it on the bed. Looking at the dress, I realized it was a wedding dress.
“What is that for?” I asked.
“You’re not behaving yourself,” she angrily said. “Now put it on,” she demanded.
I swallowed hard, undressed and put on the wedding dress. After the dress was on, she had me parade up and down the room.
“It’s a perfect fit, mother. Just like I remembered,” she mumbled to herself. “Now, lie down on the bed,” she firmly ordered.
I lay on the bed watching her. She picked up a scarf and tied it around my mouth.
“We can’t have you screaming and interrupting me, now can we?”
Tony called for me, searching the house, the backyard and the garage. I wasn’t anywhere to be found. Starting to panic, he quickly ran over to his mother’s house.
“Mother, is Jess here?” he asked in a panic.
“No, she isn’t,” she said. “Tony, son what’s wrong?”
“I can’t find Jess. She was in the bathroom, and now she’s gone. I’ve looked everywhere,” he said, sitting down in the recliner putting his hands to his face. “Where’s father?”
“I’m right here. Where’s the last place you saw her?”
“In the hall restroom and the door was locked. I had to kick in the door. She wasn’t there,” he said, with a worried look at his father. “Father, I checked the entire house, the backyard and the garage. My Jess is gone.” My mate is gone.
“Wait here, my son. I’ll be back,” Victor said, placing his hand on Tony’s shoulder.
Victor went over to the house, straight to the hall bathroom and sniffed around. Jessica’s scent was going to the window. He went outside, to the window and sniffed following Jessica’s scent to the backyard and then to the edge of the trees. He went back over to his house.
“Her scent is strong leading to the backyard.”
“The backyard,” Tony said. Then it hit him. “Charlotte.”
“Charlotte?” Victor repeated. “You don’t think she’s gotten her hands on Jessica, do you?”
“I don’t know. All I know is I can’t find her,” Tony said.
“Come, son, we have to hurry. Her scent is in the trees at the back of the house. I’ll see if I can pick up her scent from there.”
Victor and Tony went to the trees in the back of the house.
Charlotte smelled me from head to toe. “You don’t know how delicious you are.” Taking another scarf, she tied my right hand to one side of the bed frame and tied my left hand to the other side. Both legs she tied to the bed frame. “Now you will behave yourself for me.”
Sitting on the bed beside me, she looked deep into my eyes. I tried not to look into her eyes, but she slapped my face. “You will look into my eyes,” she demanded. Holding my chin, moving her head closer to mine, I could see fire burning and dancing within her pupils. Watching the fire, I soon relaxed and all my cares disappeared. I no longer feared her. Charlotte moved my hair away from my neck, opened her mouth extracting her fangs. I could feel my pulse rise and my blood began to boil as I anxiously waited for her fangs to sink into my neck. Running her finger over the vein pulsating, waiting, she leaned over me.
Victor followed my scent for half a mile stopping at a vacant old farm house on the outskirts of town. Looking in the window, he saw Charlotte leaning over me. Tony went into the house and straight to the bedroom.
“Charlotte! Let her be,” he growled, standing in the doorway.
Charlotte looked up and hissed at him and leaped off the bed toward Tony. Tony stood his ground as she came toward him. Victor leaped in the window as light as a feather, nodded once to Tony. As Charlotte lunged toward Tony, he took a step backward. Victor extracted his fangs, flew off the ledge, grabbed Charlotte by the throat and ripped it open in one swift movement. Charlotte screamed and fell to the floor.
Tony flew to the bed and untied my arms. Still under Charlotte’s influence, I lay looking at Tony but not seeing him. All I could see was Charlotte and her extracted fangs. Tony untied my legs and removed the scarf from my mouth. Lifting me into his arms, he hugged me tight, and kissed my lips. I collapsed.
Tony removed the wedding dress and dressed me back in my clothes.
Victor took care of Charlotte. He had torn her into pieces and placed them in a pile.
“Father, will you carry Jess home?” Tony asked.
Victor nodded once, handed Tony a lighter, and took me in his arms. Tony picked up the dress, laid it with Charlotte and then threw the lighter on her.
When I woke up, Tony was sitting on the edge of the bed. Looking at him, I smiled. He didn’t smile back. “What’s wrong, honey?”
Tony didn’t answer me. He took me in his arms and hugged me tightly to him.
“Tony, you’re squeezing me. What is going on?” I asked, as he released his grip on me.
“I thought I lost you forever,” he said, bringing his lips to mine.
“What do you mean you thought you lost me forever?” I asked pulling away from the kiss.
“Jess, you don’t remember?”
“I remember going into the bathroom and Vicki, I mean Charlotte was there. Now I’m lying here talking to you. I had a crazy dream Charlotte was just about to sink her fangs into my neck, and I woke up to you sitting here on the bed.”
Tony took me in his arms and held me tight.
“Jess, sweetie, I need to tell you something, okay?”
“Okay.”
“It wasn’t a dream. She took you to an abandoned house and was about to give you immortality when father stopped her.”
My heart sped up. “How did he stop her?”
“Let’s just say she will never try to hurt you again. She’s gone for good.”
“Gone for good? She won’t be back, ever?”
“That’s right, sweetie. She will never bother us again.”
I hugged Tony as hard as he hugged me when I first woke up. Tears were starting, and I couldn’t stop. I was so happy.<
br />
“Jess, why are you crying?”
“I’m so happy. I’m just so happy.”
When my tears dried up, I took in a deep breath. It felt so good knowing my life was going to get back to normal. Tony was not going to have worry about me anymore.
Chapter Eighteen
My sleep was restless. I dreamt of a dark shadow stalking Tony. Standing at the edge of the forest, Tony took my hand and we headed along a winding path. Stopping to zip up my jacket, Tony went ahead. Looking around and taking in the beauty of the forest, I heard a branch break behind me. I turned to look and found nothing. Continuing on along the path, I thought I saw a black blur out of the corner of my eye. Turning to look, there was nothing. Rounding the bend in the path, Tony was leaning against a tree and smiled when he saw me. I smiled back. Taking his hand, we walked until we came upon a spring. The water was cool and I was thirsty. Leaning down to get a drink, Tony went to a boulder and sat down. Straightening up, I started to say something when out of the blue a dark shadow swooped down, grabbed him and carried him off. “No,” I screamed. Trying to follow the shadow and keep up, I lost sight of them. What was I going to do? Tony was gone.
I jolted upright, gasping for air. The thunder cracked loudly making me jump. I looked over at Tony. He was snoring lightly. I rolled toward him and watched him sleep counting his breaths. Before long, I too was asleep.
When I awoke in the morning, the bedroom looked brighter. The sun peeking through the curtain made me think of, a new day is dawning. Smiling, I welcomed the new day and the sun with open arms. A new day because I could breathe easier knowing Charlotte was gone. Asleep and snoring lightly beside me was Tony. I leaned over and hugged him tight. He smiled and opened his eyes.
“Good morning, sweetie,” he said, wrapping his arms around me.
“Good morning honey,” I said, enthusiastically.
We didn’t get out of bed right away. It seemed appropriate to rejoice in our battle and seal our love for each other. I started kissing his neck making him start a low, soft growl. Our love was amazing. Could life for us get any better? We showered and dressed.
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