“I thought you said you liked a more modern way of living and hunting.”
“I say too much.” Ian seemed pretty disgusted with himself, and I knew why. His conversation with Holly had left him shaken. Whatever it was in his past that Holly was holding against him had brought up a lot of self-doubt. I thought about just coming out and confessing that I’d heard the whole thing, but that might make him uncomfortable, perhaps even insult him enough to leave. I wasn’t prepared to take the chance on him leaving my house just yet. I felt safer with him around, and I hadn’t exactly sorted out my feelings for him. I wanted him to be close by, at least until this was over.
“What did you think of the ceremony?” he said changing the subject.
“I think I need to learn Gaelic.” We both laughed.
“It certainly helps,” he said.
“Well it was nothing like my turning.”
“Me either,” he said. I screwed up my courage and decided to be nosy. He shouldn’t mind answering questions about his transformation considering we’d just seen one.
“Who is your maker anyway?” He looked at me like he couldn’t believe I’d had the nerve to ask. “I’m sorry; it’s none of my business.” His expression changed when he realized I didn’t know if it was an inappropriate question or not.
“No, that’s ok. I just thought you knew,” he rubbed his hands together nervously. “Holly is my maker.”
“Holly?” I could not have been more surprised. Perhaps that explained why she was so angry with him for whatever it was that he had done. People always expect more from their own children than they do from others. “How did that happen?”
“I took sick around 1750. Not sure what happened. I think it was some kind of infection that set in from an injury. I was in and out of consciousness before I was turned so I don’t recall exactly.” He stopped and stood remembering. I stopped and waited for him to continue. “I passed out, and when I woke up, I was changed. Holly couldn’t stand to watch me die.”
“Well that sounds pretty much like Gavin’s turning.” Here was my opportunity to ask about what I’d heard in a roundabout way. “How come you never went on any killing sprees? How did you control yourself?”
“Holly was there to pull me back most of the time. I strayed though, and did things I’m not proud of. Things it’s hard to be forgiven for. Even after two hundred and fifty years.” I could tell that was as much as he was willing to offer.
Just then I heard a soft chuffing noise behind me. I looked back to see Aries hiding behind a tree. He motioned for me to come talk to him. Ian hadn’t heard the satyr and kept walking.
“You know what? You go back to the house without me, I feel like I just need to walk for a while.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if you run into Gavin?”
“If all those hunters that are combing the island haven’t found him I’m sure my luck will be no better.”
“Alright,” he said, squeezing my shoulder, “don’t go too far ok?”
“I won’t.” Ian went on ahead without me and I waited until he got out of sight before tracking back to see Aries.
“What have you found out?”
“Who was that?” he said, ignoring my question. The look on his face was one mixed with jealousy and concern.
“That’s Ian. He’s Gavin’s brother.”
The satyr took a long breath and inhaled deeply. “I don’t recognize him. I don’t like the way he smells. Don’t let him rub his scent on you before we mate.”
“Aires,” I said, taking a stern tone, “focus. What’s going on?”
“The hunters are slowing us down. They don’t like our kind you know, and they hunt for the sport. We can’t come out when they are searching the cove, they’re too dangerous.”
“Well the cove is not where he is. Not last night anyway. He left a woman’s body in town.”
Aries stopped for a moment perplexed by what I’d just shared. “Really? That’s very odd.”
“How so?”
The handsome creature ran his hands through his long beautiful hair in confusion. “It’s the strangest thing. I know his smell, and I smell it here in the cove but he’s nowhere to be found. We follow his scent and it always leads us to a dead end. But he’s here somewhere, I smell him all around, even now.”
I didn’t know what to say for a moment. “How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know little one,” he said coming closer to me. Slowly, he reached out brushing his thumb against my bottom lip. This was the first time his skin had touched mine and I grew lightheaded as I felt his influence. Not as strong as other times but it was definitely there, and I felt the corners of my mouth inadvertently pull up into a tiny smile, Aires responded by smiling back in just the same way.
“But find him we shall. This is one opportunity I intend to make the most of.” I closed my eyes and let my head roll back enjoying the drug like feeling he induced. Time stood still and there were no worries, no cares. I was completely lost in the moment as my mind and body relaxed into a deep and pleasurable state. When I opened my eyes he was smiling wide. “You’re such a sensitive little creature,” he whispered, obviously enjoying the type of power he had over me.
He dropped his hand down by his side once more and the feeling ended. My knees weakened and I swallowed hard, working to gather my voice. “Just find him please, Aries. I need to know why he’s doing this.”
“You have my promise that I’ll find him. And when I do, you’ll keep your promise to me,” he said. At that he turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the darkness. The night closed in around me, and I felt the anxiety of being by myself creep up like an icy hand on the back of my neck. I broke into a full out run and headed for home.
When I arrived Ian was already settled in his bed for the night. I was relieved because after the day we had I was really in no mood for talking about what we’d done. I turned everything off, locked the doors and windows and made my way to my bed. Taking everything off, I threw all of my clothes on the floor and crawled under the blankets. For a moment before I willed myself to sleep I wondered where my husband was right now, and I wondered if I’d wake up to the news that he’d killed once again.
Barefoot and mumbling I wandered deep into the woods by myself wearing only a t shirt and nothing else. The night was heavy with fog and the sound of crickets off in the distance could be heard. My leg was bleeding. How did that happen? The blood was not clotting either and every step I took left impossibly large rivers of blood behind.
For the first time in months I was cold. I couldn’t walk anymore. I sat down on the ground and leaned against the trunk of an old rotting tree. Everything smelled like death, and the blood gushed out like water, pooling around where I was sitting. I was frightened and alone.
Suddenly out of the fog someone appeared. A man was standing there, he kneeled in front of me and I saw his face. Gavin’s face. He smiled his warm and loving smile, and I felt his kindness.
My fear disappeared. “I’m going to fix your leg,” he said. He touched my calf and the blood stopped running as the pool of crimson I had been sitting in evaporated all at once.
At that moment the fog lifted and we were able to see up through the trees. The stars were so bright, and for a moment we sat together looking up. “Now you help me,” he said.
“I don’t know how to help you. I don’t know where you are.”
“I’m right here,” he said, his eyes filled with sorrow. Suddenly he was gone; I looked all around but didn’t see him. Then from behind me I heard crying. I got up and ran toward the sound. Gavin was lying on the ground naked and shivering. He was covered with dirt from head to foot and his beautiful curly hair was matted with blood.
“Please Rachel,” he said. “I’m scared. Please come find me. I want to come home.” He looked like a small child curled up in a ball. I reached out to touch him, to comfort him and let him know I loved him, but the moment my hand made contac
t he turned to dust. I was left alone, in the darkness…screaming.
For a moment before I fully woke up I hoped against hope that all of this had been part of one big dream. I’d reach over and Gavin would be laying there next to me, smiling. No Ian, no hunters. But I didn’t want to open my eyes because I knew there was nothing but emptiness in my bed. The dream had been so real that it rocked me to my very core. He was trying to reach out to me, I knew it.
I opened my eyes finally, and the dreadful reality washed over me. The sun was shining in though the bedroom window, directly in my face, and if it hadn’t been for the special glass I’d have been completely blinded. There must be something more I could do, something I hadn’t thought of.
The phone rang in the kitchen but I decided to ignore it. It only rang twice before Ian picked it up. I just stayed there staring at the ceiling hoping it wasn’t something I needed to be disturbed for. No such luck though because a moment later Ian was knocking on my bedroom door. I pulled the sheets up to cover me and then told him to come in.
“We have to go to the sanctuary,” he said.
“Is it Gavin?” After the dream I’d just had I really hoped we were not being called in to be told he was dead. I knew he was trying to tell me something, and I desperately wanted one more chance to save him.
“No, Alexander. He’s awake.” Ian was visibly shaken and with good reason. Alexander should be sleeping for at least three days after being turned. “He’s woken too early and he can’t speak. They need you to try and communicate with him. He’s panicking and nobody can calm him down.”
“I’m coming.” I was feeling panic now too. If Alexander was awake too early something had gone horribly wrong.
Chapter Nineteen
The dark windowless room was sparsely furnished with only a bed and simple night stand. It was a small recovery area for vampires who were being turned the proper way, but the sight of Alexander naked and curled up on the floor was anything but proper. Three days of coma were supposed to be followed by a peaceful awakening, and then of course, the thirst would begin. He didn’t seem to be thirsting at all, but he was very unsteady.
I made my way to where he lay and sat down on the floor with him. Putting my hand on his head I stroked his fine blonde hair. “Alexander? Honey can you tell me what’s wrong?” He shook his head no and continued to rock back and forth. This was a stark contrast to the boy I had seen the night before. I turned his head up to face me. Even a vampire with as little experience as I had could tell that the transformation had been interrupted. The ring around the outside of his iris did not go all the way around.
Everyone close to him was there. Ian and I, along with Holly, Daniel and of course his parents. “Can’t you put him into a death sleep like you did for me when I got injured?” I asked Holly.
“We’ve been trying, but I think he’s still too human,” she said. Just then Angus entered.
“He’s not gone back under I see,” he said. Holly shook her head no.
“What happens if he doesn’t?” I asked.
Holly bit her lip. “He’ll have to be...” I put my hand up. I didn’t want to hear the end of that sentence, and I certainly didn’t want Alexander to hear it either. He had gone to sleep expecting to wake up and live forever, but his forever might be much shorter than he’d expected.
“Leave me with him for a few minutes,” I said. “I’m going to try something.”
“Please do whatever you can,” his mother said. She was facing the loss of two sons now instead of one. His father put his arm around her and led her out of the room. I could tell she didn’t want to go. I might not have much control over the situation with Gavin, but I wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to Alexander if I could help it.
After everyone exited I gently rolled the trembling young man onto his back. He resisted at first, but then seemed to realize that I only wanted to help, and finally relented. The only way I could find out what was going on in his mind was to actually try to dig around in it. Perhaps that would give me some clue as to why he had awakened, and how I could get him back into the coma to finish his transformation.
I placed my hands on either side of his head, I needed a good connection and touching was the best way to accomplish that. He flinched as I pressed my hands to his temples. “It’s ok honey. I’m gonna try and help you ok?” He seemed to understand that and relaxed a little bit. I could tell it was painful for him however, because he clenched his jaw and balled his fists up at this sides.
Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes. After a few moments the darkness began to swirl. Liquid blackness ebbed and flowed until finally a picture came into focus. It was the back of a man’s head. I focused harder and tried to sharpen the image. The silhouette of the man blocked his face protectively with his arms and screamed as if he were trying to shield himself from something or someone that was coming at him. He fell to the ground and the image disappeared. Just then Alexander began to cry. I broke the connection.
“Are you trying to show me something?” I wondered aloud. Alexander put his hands over his face. “We need to get you back to sleep.” If indeed that’s what he was trying to do he was no good to me this way.
I picked him up and he screamed like he was being tortured from a simple touch. As quickly as I could I placed him in the bed and pulled the sheet up to his chest. He grabbed at the fabric trying to pull it away, but I got on top of him and with all my strength held him down pinning his arms beneath him.
Placing my forehead to his I opened the darkness up again. He tried once more to show me the image, but I pushed it down into a place in his subconscious where he wouldn’t be able to directly access it. He thrashed violently. He may not have finished his transformation, but he certainly had awakened with a super human strength. I held my ground and forced the darkness into his mind until it took over.
Gradually, he began to calm. His labored breathing slowed, and then after a long time, changed to the rhythmic pace of sleep. I opened my eyes and looked at him. Alexander was back in his coma, and hopefully to stay for at least another two days. I placed his arms at his sides and covered him up the rest of the way straightening the blanket. I wasn’t sure but I had the feeling that the poor boy had seen something traumatic at some point, and only now was it surfacing. Whatever it was it picked a hell of a time.
I got up from the bed and made my way to the door. That’s when the blood hunger began, and all of a sudden I was doubled over. Crawling the rest of the way on my hands and knees I tried to grab the handle, but it was just out of reach. I banged on the door with my fist hoping everyone had stayed close by. Hopefully they’d hear and open it because I was too busy writhing in agony now.
Daniel came in and saw my state. Quickly he scooped me up and instinctively opened his wrist at the same time. A moment later I was feeding from him. “Take all you want. I got lots,” I heard him say. I fed for a good five minutes in a blur without stopping. When the pain finally receded everyone was staring at me.
“Sorry,” I said to Daniel. “I don’t know what happened.”
“What happened,” said Holly, “is that you got Alexander back to sleep. I don’t know how you did it but you might have saved his life.”
“How did you do it?” Ian said leaning down to inspect my eyes.
“Something woke him up. He didn’t wake up by chance or bad luck. He was trying to show me something. I had to push whatever it was down so that he could sleep again.”
“Do you know what he was trying to show you?” his mother said. She was sitting on the edge of the bed stroking his cheek. I had a feeling she wasn’t going to move from that spot for a good long time.
“No,” I lied. “It was just a jumble of emotions.” I don’t know why I lied but I felt like it was something I had to keep to myself for now. Whatever it was Alexander had shown me, maybe it wasn’t something he wanted to share with everyone else. I’d have to keep his secret until he woke up and was coherent enough to ask.
“Well, I for one am just grateful you’re here,” his father said. “Old ideas be damned. We needed you, and you were here. If you hadn’t been we’d have lost him.” He gave me a warm embrace. “I don’t know how we can ever repay you.”
“It’s not necessary John,” I said. “He’s my family too.” I turned to Ian who had been silently watching the whole scene. “I’d like to go home now.” He nodded and a few minutes later we left.
We arrived back at the house and as soon as we set foot in the kitchen I felt the need to lie down. “I’m going to bed,” I said.
Ian put his arms around my waist and pulled me gently to him and put his lips to mine. I pulled away. “Please,” I said, “don’t do that again.” I knew I’d upset him. I could see in his face that his feelings for me were growing into something much bigger than friendship. I liked Ian, I could possibly love him, but putting a stop to whatever was happening between us seemed like the right thing to do. I was tired of feeling guilty.
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: One Crow Sorrow Page 12