He unlocked the front door and we walked in. I almost couldn’t breathe from the sight. I thought I was dreaming. The rooms resembled those in the castle, like the one I had been in a hundred years ago. Suddenly, Daray came to mind, but just for a second. That castle wasn’t up to the challenge of being comparable to this grand home and Daray was no comparison to Jayce.
Giant statues of cherubs lined the hallways. The sweet smell of the abundant fresh cut flower bouquets filled the air. Dual staircases covered with thick carpeting led the way upstairs and a sparkling chandelier hung perfectly centered between them. Various paintings of landscapes hung in beautiful thick frames. I walked across the marble floor, unable to hide my state of awe. Finally, I turned to him. “You really live here? Just you?”
He laughed. “Yes, I really do. No, not by myself, Terran, Aiden, Makan and Meriel also live here. Layla does too most of the time. We’ve lived here for a while now. I know it’s big, but we had to have enough space for all of us so we weren’t stepping on each other’s toes. It’s hard to keep peace between them all the time.”
He started to kiss me just as the front door flung opened. A bunch of whistles and cheers greeted us as the others arrived. Yes, everything had gone back to normal.
Meriel suggested that the living room would be the best place for everyone to gather so we could continue developing our plan of attack. Everyone sat amongst his or her kind. The four shape shifters occupied the soft leather sofa. The element ladies sat on an oversized loveseat, while the element guys sat on a couple of chairs nearby. Garrison and Kaleb sat in some other comfortable looking chairs near Jayce and me. Fairies sat on the edge of the bookshelves so they were the same height as everyone else and didn’t have to flutter their tiny wings the entire night.
The conversation went back to Daray. Everyone knew he’d become one of the most powerful vampires; the only obvious way was to destroy him, but we would need him alone. It wouldn’t be easy to get him away from the others, or to even get around the others for that matter. Even now that we had more muscle on our side, the nightwalkers clearly were the more skilled fighters. If it came to face-to-face battle, I wasn’t sure we’d stand a chance. We would have to avoid that type of confrontation at all costs.
It started getting pretty late and the stress of the day had taken its toll on everyone. Jayce suggested that we should try to sleep while we could. Kael and Garrison offered to take first watch. “Better to be ready and alert in case we should have any unexpected company.”
Garrison looked over at me and I sensed his worry. If the nightwalkers came tonight they would undoubtedly have the upper hand. We were in a very dangerous position. Jayce picked up on our increasing apprehension; mind you, Garrison and I weren’t hiding it very well. A person with no functioning senses could have picked up on this easily. Makan and Aiden came over to our little gathering.
“What’s going on?” Aiden asked.
“Shanntal and Garrison are just a bit worried about unexpected company,” Jayce said.
“They’d have a lot of nerve coming here,” Makan sneered.
“Guys, just calm down. I don’t sense anything happening tonight. I’ve tried to pick up on any hint of them and nothing. Nothing is a good thing.” Jayce said.
‘That’s because they know we’d put up a good fight!” said Kael, kissing his gigantic muscular arm.
I couldn’t help but laugh and roll my eyes at Kael. His smart mouth couldn’t keep anything serious. My reaction fueled the joker and he continued his flexing and carrying on. Pretty soon, everyone was laughing.
“What? What’s so funny?” he asked, still flexing.
“Oh Kael, thank you. I needed that.”
“Anytime.” He shot me a big toothy smile.
Once Jayce showed everyone where they were sleeping, I asked, “Where am I going to stay?”
“With me. I’m not letting you out of my sights again.” He took me by the hand and led me into his bedroom.
We crawled under the covers, his arms holding me tightly. A minute later, I was fast asleep.
I never escaped the house. I was still locked away in the room when he’d come back covered in blood and carrying a body with him. He held the corpse close to me, blood pouring out of the wounds. He offered me some. He wanted me to drink blood like they did. When I refused, he locked me downstairs with the others.
In the dungeon the werewolves clawed viciously at me. I put my arms up to protect my face. With each strike the werewolves took, I received a jolt of excruciating pain. No matter the pain, I couldn’t let my guard down. My arms were protecting my face and covering my eyes so I couldn’t see what was going to happen. My arms bled heavily from the wounds their claws left. The scent of the fresh blood taunted the group, making the situation even worse.
A fight broke out between the werewolves and doomahorns. I lowered my arms for a brief second to see what was going on, only to cry out with fright when a doomahorn broke free and headed in my direction. I screamed for help while tears streamed down my face.
A werewolf slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. My body ached from the blow. The beast snarled out a rumbling growl before coming in for the kill. The doomahorn came back into my sights, standing even closer than before. I didn’t know which beast to pay attention to. Which one was going to kill me? I closed my eyes, hoping, wishing, someone would rescue me.
I heard the doomahorn stomp its hooves and the werewolf growl as it stood its ground. I opened my eyes when I heard the sound of the hooves thundering against the cement floor. I watched as the two stood across from one another. It was as if I no longer existed. To my surprise, the doomahorn never attacked; instead it was helping me.
When the werewolf smashed into me, my tears had been coming down so heavily that the force of the hit sent my tears flying into the air, landing on the doomahorn while it was charging me. Suddenly, the beast transformed into a striking white creature with a single horn on top of its beautiful head. The once awful beast had turned into a magical unicorn with the touch of my teardrop.
The unicorn pierced her silver horn through the heart of the werewolf. Then, she turned around to take on the others. She was killing them, killing them in order to help me. Her magic horn opened my shackle and with a single touch instantly healed all of my wounds.
She spoke to me through my thoughts and told me her name was Gabriella. She thanked me for saving her from the evil curse the nightwalkers had bestowed. She told me she’d be forever in my debt. She explained she would help me escape to safety. I jumped up on her white back and she ran through the house, allowing us to both escape unharmed.
I jolted awake to find that Jayce’s arms were no longer wrapped around me. I reached out for him, but he wasn’t there. I fumbled around with the nightstand trying to locate a light of some kind. After knocking over who knows what, I realized there wasn’t one. If Jayce were near, he would have checked on me after the noise I’d just made. This startled me.
“Jayce, where are you?” The worst thoughts sprang into my mind. What if the nightwalkers had come? What if I was the only one left? I felt so safe with Jayce near me and now that he was gone, I felt panicky and exposed.
A voice answered, but didn’t belong to Jayce. “It’s alright, Shanntal. Jayce is on watch now. He’s okay. Go back to sleep. I’m keeping an eye on you.”
I watched the silhouette make its way to the corner and sit down.
“Garrison?”
“The one and only.”
I sighed in relief. ‘Thanks for staying with me.”
“Glad to be of service. You know, if you ever need to talk, I’m here too.” His voiced squeaked with the offer.
It was a nice gesture. I usually talked with Kaleb. “Thanks, Garrison. I’m glad you’re here. Sorry if I snore.”
“I’ve heard it before. Kind of sounds like a freight train.” He chuckled.
I lay back down, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I needed Jayce besi
de me. He was the only one to give me that kind of comfort.
‘I’m still with you, Shanntal. I’m just downstairs. Kynthia and I are on watch. Go back to sleep. I’ll be back beside you soon.’
‘I really missed being connected to you, Jayce. I like how we don’t need to say things aloud. Just know, I am here waiting for you, longing for you, burning for you.’’
‘Come on time. Let’s get a move on!’
‘I really did miss you. I don’t ever want to be apart again. I want to be with you always.’
‘Believe me, I understand. We’ll just have to keep Daray away from you. He had his chance. I promise you, he won’t get another one like it, not while I’m around.’
‘I love you. I can’t bear to be without you either. Life is not worth living if you aren’t by my side.’
‘I’m satisfied you understand my point. It may mean a fight to the death. I am prepared, I’m prepared to do all of it just so you know how much you mean to me.’
‘Oh, Jayce. I won’t let it come to something like that. We are all just getting a head of ourselves. I think we are making too much out of this. It will be okay. I‘ve got a feeling.’
‘Get some sleep.’
‘Good night. I’ll be here when your watch is over. I’m waiting for you to come back to me.’ I closed my eyes and listened to the rhythm of Garrison’s breathing. A few minutes later, I drifted back off to sleep.
I awoke a few hours later with Jayce back beside me. I rolled myself over so I could look at him. He looked so carefree as he slept. I leaned over and kissed him on the lips without disturbing him.
I decided I had enough sleep and definitely enough nightmares, while wondering if any truth was hidden in them. Why was I seeing these things? How did I think this stuff up? Not wanting to wake Jayce, I laid where I was and didn’t move. I closed my eyes, remembering how Gabriella had saved me from the dungeon. Was there any possibility something like this could happen?
The Forest
~ Chapter Seven ~
I remained snuggled in bed as I waited patiently for Jayce to wake. I felt so safe and secure I’d stay here forever if he let me.
He opened his eyes and smiled. “I’d love you to stay here forever with me.” Leaning his head towards mine, he kissed me good morning.
I didn’t want to get out of his big fluffy bed. I wanted to stay in it with him by my side. I knew it was wishful thinking, but thought I’d put the suggestion out there anyway. “Jayce, I’ve got a perfect plan and it involves the two of us hiding away in here, away from the rest of the world. What do you say?” I batted my eyelashes, hoping he’d accept my proposal.
“Tempting… very tempting.” He held me tightly as he pondered the offer.
I thought he was going to agree, but then he said, “People need to know we are all alright. They especially need to know that you are okay. I think you should call and check in with your uncle. He’s been feeling beside himself because he thinks he let you and your family down.” His tone remained sweet, but sounded more like an order rather than a suggestion.
He was right. That was a definite mood changer as the shock of reality settled in. Surprisingly, I hadn’t really thought about Uncle Dane and Auntie Steph since I’d left that night. I’d forgotten they didn’t know I had escaped from Daray.
“Oh my, you’re right. They’ve got to be worried sick.” I hopped out of bed and rummaged through my purse looking for my cell phone. I dug around before finding it buried deep in the corner. I pulled it out and dialed home.
Auntie Steph answered on the second ring.
“Hi, Auntie Steph. It’s me,” I paused, feeling a bit nervous. Was she going to be mad? I’d left two nights ago and not on the best of terms.
“Shanntal. Oh, I’m so happy it’s you.” She surprised me by sounding pleased to hear from me. “Where are you, honey?”
Her tone took a load of pressure off. What was I thinking? How could I hurt the people that meant the world to me so easily? Why did Daray have such a hold over me?
“I’m fine,” I said. “I didn’t stay with Daray and the others. I thought it was better to leave.” A small attempt to leave out the details of my horrific stay, in hopes she wouldn’t panic.
“Oh, you didn’t?” Just as predicted, her voice sounded stressed.
“It’s okay. I’m at Jayce’s house now. Layla, Terran, Aiden, Makan and Meriel all live here too. I’m going to be staying with them for a little while, just until things cool off with Daray and the others. Garrison and Kaleb are here too and they’re staying close to me. Really, we’re only staying here because there’s more room for everyone.”
“Oh, so that’s where you are. Well, I guess that sounds acceptable. Yes, I’m good with it, sweetheart, just as long as I know you’re safe and the others are sticking with you.” I heard her relief at realizing that I wasn’t alone.
“Is Uncle Dane around?’ I asked, feeling apprehensive again. They typically had the opposite reactions when it came to things.
“Sure he is, hang on a sec and I’ll get him.” I heard her call out for him and a few seconds later he was on the phone.
“Shanntal, I’m so glad to hear your voice. Are you okay?” his cracking voice carried so much concern.
“I’m alright. I’m sorry. I should’ve listened.” I took a moment before explaining the situation. “I’m with Jayce and all the others. I wanted you to know I’m okay, but I’ll be staying here with them for a while. Just until things cool off a little more with Daray and the nightwalkers. There’s just more room here for everyone, so it seems like the best idea right now.”
“You aren’t coming home?” He sounded hurt.
“Just for a while, it will be safer. Uncle Dane, please I need you to understand; I didn’t leave the nightwalkers, no, what I mean is, Daray’s going to be mad when he finds out I’m no longer there. I kind of made my getaway while he was out.” I cringed, waiting for his response.
“He doesn’t know you left?”
“He’ll find out soon enough or who knows, maybe he already did. It wasn’t a pleasant reunion. I found out that he keeps prisoners in the house and he locked me in a room alone when I said I wouldn’t marry him.” I hadn’t wanted to share all these details, but needed him to completely understand why I left in the manner I did.
“He did what?” Uncle Dane yelled.
“Uncle Dane, please, calm down. I’m fine. I’ve got everyone here and they’re willing to protect me and keep him away. We’re prepared should Daray or any other nightwalker try to approach me. Layla had three more of her kind join us last night. We’re ready. Please don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
He wasn’t falling for it. Instead he started hollering crazy things into the phone. I wasn’t sure what to say to make him calm down. I stood holding the phone away from my ear so I didn’t go deaf from his yelling.
Jayce grabbed the phone out of my hand. “Dane… yeah Dane. Hey, it’s Jayce.”
I heard the yelling stop on the other end of my cell.
Jayce spoke in a calm rational voice. “I promise you, she’s going to be fine. Trust me when I tell you, she’s safe now.”
Maybe it would be better if I just went home. Jayce shot me a look and shook his head. I hadn’t realized he was connected. I thought he was busy, listening attentively while waiting patiently for another chance to speak.
“I understand. Yes… I know… I understand exactly what you mean… trust me, I will… yes, I promise you… okay then, it’s settled.”
I was dying to know what was being said. From the look on his face, it felt like I was going home. Well, at least he’d tried.
Giving me a flash of his perfect smile, he said, “Oh and Dane, I want you and your wife to know, you’re welcome to visit her anytime. I mean it; you are always more than welcome.”
Jayce had defused the situation. He was good at calming me down, so I shouldn’t be surprised when he could do the same to others. “Sure thing, it was nice talki
ng with you also. We’ll see you shortly.” He handed the phone back, but not before providing a silly victory dance showing how impressed he was by his soothing techniques.
“Hi.”
“Hello again. I tend to overreact when it comes to you. I just can’t help myself. I really am sorry, Shanntal,” said Uncle Dane.
“I’m sorry too. Honestly though, I think flying off the handle tends to be a trait in the family. A rite of passage, so to speak. Guess we should’ve been born with wings to help us fly better.” We both laughed at my poor attempt at humor. Jayce successfully managed to completely change my uncle’s state of mind. He was back to his loving self and no longer the raging lunatic.
Escaped the Night Page 14