Aris Returns

by Devin Morgan

  The harsh sound of the ringing of the phone snapped her attention to the present. Loud music blasted from the receiver as she answered.

  “Hello?”

  “I told you to lay off. It was tires last time, next time it will be you. I’ve given you way too many chances. You just used the last one.” The voice was barely audible, the words bitten off. “This is your last warning hypno lady. And I mean last.” The phone went dead in her hand.

  Sarah caught her breath, placing the receiver on the night table. “I have to talk to Bob and Colleen.” She whispered to herself, trying to calm her racing heart. “I have to tell them everything.”

  #

  Colleen waved as Sarah crossed to her table. Sarah sat down across from her friend, an alarmed expression on her face.

  “What’s up, hon? What’s the matter?”

  “Colleen, it’s about Carlos.” She was careful in presenting her story. She still didn’t want to involve Carlos with the police, but she needed help.

  “What about Carlos?” She leaned in to hear better in the noisy restaurant. It was late Sunday brunch time and the deli was full of families eating and laughing. “What’s going on?”

  “I think his old gang is trying to get him involved again.”

  “Yeah?” Her brow puckered in concern. “How so?”

  “Well.” Sarah wasn’t sure how much to tell. She was glad the waitress came to the table to take her order. It gave her a moment to think. She looked at the menu without seeing the words, ordering coffee and scrambled eggs out of habit. When they had privacy, she spoke. “I’ve gotten a few phone calls from one of them.”

  “Phone calls? How did they get your number?”

  “I don’t honestly know. All I know is that they want Carlos back and he refuses to see or talk to them.”

  “Do you know who it is who called you?”

  “No, not for sure but I have a good idea. He contacted Carlos’s mother. She knows who he is.”

  Irritation showed through Colleen’s voice when she spoke. “When did this happen, this thing with his mother?”

  Sarah looked at the coffee mug as the waitress set it on the table. She glanced at Colleen quickly, “A while back.”

  “A while back? Was this before or after the tire slashing? Why the hell didn’t you tell me then? What’s going on with you Sarah?”

  “I didn’t want to get the police involved. I don’t want anything to stand in his way of moving forward and out of the lousy life he’s led.” Her tone was apologetic, “I want him to succeed.”

  “You think I don’t? What the hell is the matter with you? I’m here to help him, not hurt him. Don’t you remember who sent him to you in the first place?”

  “Yeah, I know. But I don’t want any of this to be official.” She looked directly into her friend’s eyes. “I’m coming to you as a friend. As someone who knows him and knows how different his life is becoming. God, Colleen, I want him safe and happy more than anyone knows.”

  Colleen leaned closer and reached across the table to take her hands in her own. “I know it.” Her voice softened as she spoke, “I know it. And I’m here to help both of you. I think I know more how you feel about Carlos than you do.”

  Sarah jerked her hands away. “Don’t start with that romantic crap. He’s a client and a friend, nothing more. He’s just someone who is so deserving, so basically good. He’s come such a long way. I don’t want him pushed back into the gutter.”

  Colleen took her hands again and squeezed. “I know, I know. I want to help him too. We’ll take care of this, nothing official, but Sarah, I’m going to have to tell Bob. We need his help here.”

  The word was clipped as she spoke. “No!”

  “Yes, hon, we need more information than either you or I have. Bob won’t turn cop on us. He likes Carlos and more important than that, he respects how hard he is working to turn his life around. Sarah, I told you, it takes a village to raise one person up, a village, not just two hard working women. We need help and my husband will be glad to do it.”

  Silence reigned for a moment, then Sarah spoke quietly, “Okay, ask Bob. I’m just at a place where I don’t know what to do next.”

  Colleen nodded her head, “So what did the guy say to you on the phone?”

  Sarah sipped the hot coffee, and then began her story.

  #

  It was early afternoon the next day when they met. The air was hot, the high humidity made their lightweight clothes stick to them as the three friends walked through the park. Even in the heat, the sidewalk was crowded with people.

  Bob motioned to a bench that was vacant. He placed Sarah between he and Colleen. She wasn’t sure if it was to protect her or to make sure they both could give her equal hell for not telling them sooner.

  “There’s no use hashing over why you didn’t trust us to come to us sooner.” There was controlled anger in his tone when Bob spoke. He had demanded to meet with Colleen and Sarah as soon as his wife told him about the threats.

  “It isn’t about trust. Honestly.” She reached to take each one of their hands. “I trust you implicitly. I just didn’t want to get anyone else involved, most certainly not the police.” She let go their hands, folding hers in her lap. She looked like a contrite little girl caught being naughty. But she wasn’t a little girl and this wasn’t a petty incident. It was serious business.

  “Look Sarah, we both want to help you and we both like Carlos.” Colleen touched her friend’s arm. “We’ll find a way, won’t we Bob?” She looked at her husband for back-up.

  “Sure we will.” He touched her other arm. “But I’m going to report this, Sarah. We’ve got to put a stop to it now. I’ll put a tale on Manu. We don’t have any proof it’s him, but he’s a suspicious character and he’s always in trouble. I’m sure there’s a good reason to have him watched. Maybe we’ll be able to get him off the street without involving either you or Carlos. Don’t mention any of this to him until I tell you. I’ll do my best to keep him out of it. And I’ll keep you informed so you’ll feel more comfortable.”

  “Do you think you could really do that?”

  “Sure, I can do anything. I’m a cop.” He laughed and stood up, “Now, come on. Let’s go get a hotdog.”

  Sarah felt glad and relieved when she linked arms with her friends; they crossed the lawn to the hotdog vendor, the grass damp beneath their feet.

  CHAPTER 33

  CARLOS HAVARRO, transcript, session 22, August 13

  As I waited for the Queen in her private audience chamber, I gazed out the window. The clouds covered the sky in a thick blanket of grays and dark purples. The bushes in the garden hung their heads with the weight of the rain water beating down upon them, yet I was warm, satiated from my hunt of the morning.

  Upon arising, my thirst turned to hunger so the early light found me riding out to find fresh blood. I rode before the storm began and as luck would have it, I happened upon prey. It was a quick and clean kill, no pain to the mortal, no soil to my clothes. I rode back to the castle just as the first drops began to fall. Dry and content, I entered my rooms to find a summons from the Queen. I wondered at her hapless victim on this occasion.

  Laughter filled the outer room as Anne and her ladies entered the chamber. I bowed my finest courtier’s bow. When she saw me, she turned to dismiss her court. We stood alone in her chamber. She was dressed in blue velvet trimmed in gold. Blue and green velvet seemed to be her favorites. Her headpiece was embroidered in threads of gold, laden with golden pearls. I wondered at her small neck holding such a weight.

  She moved to my side, standing silently, looking at the sodden garden beneath the window. I waited for her to speak. After some time, she did.

  “Aris, I have another situation for you.” She continued to stare out the window. “This is more dangerous and demands a greater loyalty than the first.” She turned to me. “Are you prepared?”

  “As always, my lady, I am at the disposal of my sovereign.”

>   “This will be more difficult, filled with even greater danger than the first.”

  “I have no fear where my Queen is concerned.” I tipped my head toward her, smiling.

  She moved a short distance from the window, then returned. Leaning toward me, she whispered. “It is Katharine of Aragon. It is the false Queen. She must be eliminated. While she lives, there are many who would have her on the throne instead of me. When the time is right, will you stand for me?”

  I was silent. This was a woman without conscience. I felt no remorse in killing Wolsey. He was a cruel old man who deserved to die. Had he not been the death of my Elizabeth? But Katharine? She was a just Queen, still loved by the people. It was clear, the love of her loyal subjects was the cause of the death sentence from this vile woman before me.

  “Your Grace,…”

  “Wait, before you answer. I have proof that Katherine worked with Wolsey to send Elizabeth Wyatt to the Emperor’s court. It was a relation to her that desired an English maid to breed. Katherine herself chose Elizabeth. She convinced Elizabeth you would never return. She would be left unmarried at court. She kept a secret of the ancient age and ill health of her grand uncle. It was she as well as Wolsey who caused the death of the woman you loved.”

  “How do you know…?”

  “Thomas Wyatt informed me when the court was notified of her death. Katherine was in partnership with Wolsey. She held the sword that murdered your beloved.”

  I stood still. I burned. I turned to ice. I knew what I would do. I would avenge the woman I loved even if it meant my demise. What could be offered by eternal life without my chosen mate? Everlasting emptiness, nothing more. After a moment of silence, I nodded my acceptance of the challenge, my aching, non-beating heart crying out for retribution for my lost love.

  And still, I love her. Through time and lifetimes. Sarah, can I have found her once again? Will I possess her at last?”

  Sarah gasped. She was drawn to this vampire from a different age no matter how hard she fought against her desire. She longed to separate him from Carlos, to know him in real time. To feel his arms embrace her, his lips against her own. Desire that wouldn’t be ignored awoke within her. Steeling herself against her own yearning, she spoke. “Please, go on with the story of Katherine.”

  “If I must.” A moment of silence, then he spoke again.

  “I was on the cold road to Kimbolton Castle on my second mission as a messenger of death. I carried no regret I would be the disease that would kill the first wife of the King, the woman who sent my only love to her grave. It was my sworn duty to uphold the monarchy and my place within it so I rode quickly to my destination, eager to put to an end the life of the second murderer of my Elizabeth.

  I entered the castle with a false letter from the King to his abandoned wife. It was, yet again, another request for a divorce. The present Queen knew Katharine would renounce the letter and the accusation of an untrue marriage, but agreement was not her purpose. Getting my person into the castle was.

  As an envoy from the royal house, I was treated with great favor. I had a suite of rooms with servants to meet my every need. Katharine of Aragon hoped I would speak for her to the King so she saw to it that I was made comfortable. Angry beast that I was, I took every advantage of the hospitality given to me.

  Luck would have it that the weather turned impassable. I was kept at the castle for a few desolate weeks, weeks of ebbing life and slow death.

  Each night I would climb the outer wall into the false Queen’s sleeping chamber, injecting her with my deadly venom. Each day she would appear a bit more weakened, more confused. The guard was doubled at her door. Yet, night by night, I executed my charge from Anne, watching the King’s first wife grow weak and pale. Her physicians were called. One by one, they proclaimed the wasting sickness. Her slow death progressed as I added venom to her blood while she slept.

  In months past, Katherine sent letters to Henry begging he allow their daughter, Mary, to be with her in her sorrow. Henry refused time and again. Now, in her last days, the roads were impassable for further letters. I knew it was Anne that tormented her old rival through the voice of the King. I marveled at her confidence, her control.

  It was clear to all except Anne. Henry would do anything, love anyone, murder anyone he felt stood in the way of his design for a true, male heir. No one was safe from his hand. I heard in the court she lost another child. Henry’s Kingly eye began to wander and it was the maid Jane Seymour who caught his attention. Her family jumped to the challenge to defeat the Boleyns, to take over as first family of the royal court. It was his interest in another woman that drove Anne to take her last measure to assure her position as undisputed Queen.

  And so, Katharine of Aragon died of the wasting sickness, alone, without her only child at her side. Did I feel sorrow? In my bitterness, I felt only justification. What do you expect of the undead?

  Before the body of the Spanish Queen was even cold, I was on the road back to London. As I left court, there were rumors the Queen was once again with child. I hurried to tell her of our good fortune at Kimbolton, knowing my tidings would give her courage and security.

  I arrived at the palace yet was held back from seeing Anne. One of the court midwives told me the Queen knew of Katharine’s death. She had been rejoicing when she felt pains. Immediately, she was retired to her rooms where, at fifteen weeks or thereabouts, the Queen gave birth to a premature boy child.

  I stood outside her chamber door as the King rushed by me to her bedside. I heard her sob and scream through the open door as the Queen’s women carried the soiled, bloodied sheets from her room. Over the sounds of her tears, I heard the King speak. “You have killed him.” The words were quiet, full of sorrow.

  “I did not. He came too early.” She sobbed, hanging her head. “I did not kill him.”

  His reply was no longer soft, but a bellow, “You have murdered my son.”

  Weak with exhaustion yet feigning hope for the future, she spoke. “We will have another.”

  “There will be no other.” The man who had turned England upside down for her stormed from her room. “I will see you no more.”

  I could see through the open door to her chamber. She fell back onto her great bed, her emotionless eyes staring at the royal canopy above her. She lay still as if dead.

  Henry mounted his great horse. He rode far and fast from the castle, away from Anne to his new interest, the Lady Jane.

  Anne cried, screaming for the King when she was told he was gone. She called for her brother. I was told George lay next to her on her bed. He stayed with her, consoling her for three days without leaving her chamber. In desolation, Anne turned her face to the stone wall refusing to respond to anyone.

  Yet, the day after the still birth, a Queen’s messenger arrived at my chamber. He handed me a purse filled with precious jewels. He presented me a new sword, the hilt encrusted with rubies and burnished gold. I knew all was for the life of the dead Queen. I moved the sword left and right, marveling at its perfect balance.

  Do I disappoint you, Sarah? But you must see that I can be only that which I am. And yet, somehow, I know you feel compassion for me. I can sense it.”

  “I don’t know if it’s compassion for you or the absurdity of the situation that keeps me waiting for our next meeting.” She spoke truthfully to the vampire.

  “My joy, Sarah, is that you wait for our next meeting.”

  Carlos didn’t sit with Sarah after their session. He rose from the recliner, leaving the office after a short good bye.

  CHAPTER 34

  “Why have you missed your last two sessions and what about a phone call?” She hurried down the street, trying to hear him through the noise of traffic and the weak signal on her cell phone.

  “I said I’m sorry.” Carlos sounded disconnected from his words. Sarah didn’t know if it was the cell reception or if he was putting space between them.

  “I don’t get it. What’s going on?”


  “I honestly don’t know. I just feel like I’m losing myself somewhere here and I don’t like it.” He sounded irritated at having to explain himself.

  “You’re not losing yourself, you’re gaining new parts to yourself. You’re seeing more of life and embracing it.” She sighed. “I know it’s hard to have so many changes happen in such a short time but they’re all good.”

  She paused but he didn’t answer.

  “Please, don’t pull away from this future you’re beginning to build. I know it feels pretty weird but, that’s because it’s all new.”

  “It isn’t that, I just feel so out of myself so much of the time. Work, reading, this new thing with sketching. I feel like I’m losing something I’ve had all my life.”

  “You’re losing nothing, you’re gaining a life.” She reached the door of her office building. Her cell signal would drop when she stepped inside so she stood outside the revolving door to finish her conversation.

  “Look, I’m standing in the street and it’s hotter than hell. Will you just please come in on Friday?” The only sound she heard was the traffic on the street. “Carlos?”

  “Okay, I’ll see you Friday, same time still okay?”

  “Same time is great.”

  #

  Perspiration dotted Sarah’s forehead as she and Maggie hurried down the street. A hot wind was blowing, the humid air felt like a steam bath on their faces. “If I wasn’t so hungry, I would have just skipped lunch.”

  “Not a good idea, besides there isn’t anything going on this afternoon.”

  They ducked into the deli and settled into a booth, both reaching for the menu. Soon their orders were placed and tall glasses of iced tea were placed on the table before them.

  “When it’s this hot, iced tea sure hits the spot.”

  Maggie grinned. “A nice frozen margarita would hit a higher spot.”