by Bell Stoires
“I have a favour to ask,” she said.
“Yes.”
“But I haven’t asked you yet,” she said, smiling lightly.
“It doesn’t matter; whatever you ask of me I will do.”
“Give me a break,” Clyde yelled from the living room, but Ari and Ragon ignored him.
“Can we go to your family Mausoleum?” she asked. “And… and about Crystal- I want to give her to Lee.”
The moment Ragon had said that they needed to find someone to care for Crystal, Officer Lee Ryans face popped into her head. She pictured his short blond hair and dark eyes, and remembered how she had joked with him, saying that the cocker spaniel he had owned had his eyes, as if she were his child and not a pet. Ari didn’t know how she knew it, but she was sure that would keep Crystal. Lee was kind, he was good, and his life was as far away from all the madness which was constant in Ari’s.
“Lee?” said Ragon.
“Officers Ryans,” said Ari, reaching for Ragon’s wallet and retrieving the small business card that had the policeman’s home address and after-hours mobile number written on the bottom.
It didn’t take long for the coven to pack. Ari had gathered Crystal’s toys, her food, and a large bed that she had ordered off the internet, and was finally ready to leave.
“You’re going to be better off with Lee,” she said, and Crystal’s large brown eyes stared up sadly, so that Ari had to try hard not to look at them and feel guilty.
When they finally reached Lee’s house, Ari had settled Crystal in her bed on the front door and attached a note, explaining that Crystal needed a new home. Fresh tears welled in her eyes as she bent down and said goodbye.
“I love you,” she whispered, and Crystal nudged her hand, wanting her to continue patting her. “You will be safe with Lee. You can’t come to Britain; I don’t want you getting hurt too.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” said Ragon, reaching down and patting Crystal also.
“This… this must have been how you felt when you left me at the orphanage,” said Ari, trying to hide her teary face.
Ragon smiled, turned to look up at Ari and said, “You’re right- I felt like I was giving you a second chance.”
Quickly Ari hugged Crystal and before she could change her mind, reached for Ragon’s phone and sent a message to Lee, saying that there was something waiting for him outside his house.
The coven watched from the car as Lee raced to his front door, opened it and saw Crystal. Instantly Ari knew that she had done the right thing. Crystal would never replace the dog that Lee had lost, but they both needed each other. Lee was no longer wearing his police uniform, but a pair of track pants and a white t-shirt. Had Ari not been so sad at loosing Crystal, she might have thought that he was handsome, but as it was, she saw only the white bundle of fur that Lee had picked up. For a moment Lee looked around, confused, but then he smiled, reached down and read Crystal’s name tag and the pair went back inside.
“I have one more favour to ask,” said Ari, as Clyde started the car.
Ragon smiled at her, simply nodding his head and waiting.
“My parent’s grave,” she said sheepishly, “before we go I want to visit them.”
It was fifteen minutes later when Clyde drove down the steep driveway of the Toowong Cemetery. The moment Ari had seen the tall iron gates that signified the entrance of the graveyard, a shiver ran up her spine and her stomach dropped. She had nothing but horrifying memories of this place, but she knew that she needed to brave it in order to say goodbye to her parents.
Ariana had spent her entire life wondering what had happened to them and why she had been abandoned on the door steps of the Grace Valley Orphanage twenty-four years ago. This year she had discovered the painful truth; that they had been killed by a vampire. But she didn’t know why; nor did she know why the Ancients, the most powerful vampires that existed, wanted her dead also. Those answers lay in her family tree.
“Do you want me to leave you alone for a moment?” asked Ragon, when it was just the pair of them outside his family tomb.
Ari nodded. The moment that she had stepped through the cemetery, small tears had begun to fall from her eyes and trace their way down her face. She didn’t want to alert Ragon to this, so kept her silence as she stepped into the tomb, trying hard to position her hair so that it hid her face from sight.
The moment Ari placed her foot on the cold brick floors she knew exactly what she needed to do. The tomb was cast by many eerie shadows, all borne from the moon whose light only just managed to creep through the door and into Ragon’s family mausoleum. Reaching out a shaking hand, Ari found the familiar crypt in the centre of the room and traced her fingers along the names she knew were etched there- Bridget and George Hutton.
“Goodbye mum and dad,” she whispered.