by Devin Morgan
Sarah laughed. “In the middle of the day?”
“Hot is hot, doesn’t matter the time of day.” Maggie shook her head, reaching for her straw. “Well, this will just have to do.” She sipped the cold amber liquid, smiling. “Hey, it’s better than I thought it would be.”
The women chatted about the August weather and their predictions for an early autumn until the waitress brought their lunches.
“This salad isn’t half bad. I guess you can get used to anything.” Maggie poured every drop of the creamy dressing on the raw vegetables. She took a bite, added salt and smiled. “Just what the doctor ordered. And speaking of that, what have you done with Gorgeous? Have you stopped seeing him? I haven’t asked you but I’ve wanted to for the last couple of weeks.”
“He’s just adjusting to his life. There have been so many changes for him in such a short period of time. It would be difficult for anyone.”
“So did you tell him you didn’t want to see him anymore?” Maggie’s curiosity had the better of her. “What’s going on? I hate being the last to know.”
“Nothing Maggie. He just took a break for a few weeks. He’ll be back on Friday.”
Her assistant’s eyes lit up. “I was afraid I would never get to look upon that face again. A fate worse than death, I tell you.”
“Well, he’ll be in on Friday. Same time, same place as they say.” She spoke the words with a great deal more confidence than she felt. She wasn’t sure of her position with Carlos any more. And that fact wasn’t comfortable.
#
He came through the door and sat quietly across from her. “Look Sarah, I’m sorry about the sessions. I just needed some time away from everything to think.”
She leaned forward. “And so, what do you think?”
He stared out the window at the late afternoon sun reflecting on the tall buildings for a few moments. He turned to look at her.
“I think I’ve become way too attached to you. You pretty much became the most important person in my life. And the vamp? The vamp became who I wanted to become, not who I am. I know I’ve acted like a kid sometimes, but I’m feeling things I’ve never felt before, thinking about things I didn’t even know existed in my world. It’s just been a little too much and a little too fast. That’s all.”
“If I’ve pushed you or misled you in any way, Carlos, I’m so sorry. It’s been confusing for me as well. And I know that’s no excuse but it’s a reason.” She rose and moved from behind the desk to stand just in front of him. “You are the most unusual client I have ever had, it’s been fascinating and bewildering.” She sat on the corner of her desk facing him, her red toenails peeking out from the cut out at the front of her shoes. “I can’t deny how much you mean to me personally. I would be lying and you would know it. I want only the best for you.”
“I really thought about it after you called me and I’ve made a final decision. No more changing my mind. Sarah, we are so close to the end of this story, I just can’t quit. I decided that I want to know what happened to Aris, why he is here now and how he got here. I don’t want to be away from you anymore. I’ll take what I can get.”
He stood and took her hands in his. “So I’m back. And I’m staying until the end. Again.” He smiled. He released her hands, stepping toward the recliner. “’I’m a better man for knowing you’. Isn’t that what the leading man says to the heroine in movies?” He laid down resting his head on the cushions of the chair. “Okay, let’s keep up the good work. One step at a time.”
Sarah’s head was whirling. He was here one day, gone the next, then back again. She was confused but refused to worry about it while he was in her office. As always, she allowed herself to fall easily into their past pattern. She picked up the recorder and moved to her chair. It was the most natural thing in the world to begin the familiar induction, “Focus on your breathing.”
CARLOS HAVARRO, transcript, Session 23. September 3
After Anne lost the child, the King literally disappeared from the palace and her life. Each day he would ride to the hunt with his gentlemen, the Seymours were always among the first chosen, those who rode closest to him. George Boleyn lost his high rank in the King’s company just as Anne lost her position in his heart.
History has been unkind to Henry. Yes, he was selfish beyond redemption, however, many of his darkest decisions were seeded from his desire for an heir. I do not make excuses for the King, yet Anne promised him a son. She did not deliver. Henry, no more than a spoiled child himself, saw her failure to produce an heir as betrayal. He loved Anne as he had never before loved nor would ever again. But he loved England more. And his vanity, his public display of virility more even than England, so he was left with what he saw as no other choice. To rid himself of yet another Queen; to find a new one who would give him a son. He presented Cromwell with the puzzle of ridding him of Anne.
Cromwell hated her. It was with joy he received Henry’s request. And find a way, he did.
The King knew he could not use the same excuse to marry a new Queen as he used with Katharine so a new tactic must be found.
Cromwell trumped charges of the Queen’s adultery with members of her court and under torture, her musician, Smeaton, admitted to the charges. He gave the judges names of others the Queen supposedly used to betray the King, including her own brother.
As if knowing what was to come, her ladies and her gentlemen began to drift away from her rooms to find their way into the apartments of Jane Seymour. It was with a light heart they left her. Anne had never been an easy friend and her title made her even more petulant and spoiled. She alienated any who would have stood for her with her evil tongue. Her uncle was glad to have her lose her power and, in time, even her sister left her side.
It was alone, without a friend she faced her judges, so eloquently defending herself. Yet it was too late. The die had been cast. Anne was proclaimed guilty of treason. She was sentenced to death along with the men who were also unjustly accused.
Her brother and his friends were held in the tower awaiting their execution. Anne was placed in a room with a window looking down on tower green. She watched as the scaffold was built where they would all die. The men were executed in May. Two days later, Anne met the headsman. She proclaimed her loyalty to the King and died well.
On the day she died, Henry proclaimed his love for Jane Seymour, his next wife.
I waited quietly to find my own fate. Richard visited me often in my rooms. He told me the counsel knew of my action with Katharine. He stood for me, he said. Akira had not made a final decision as to what would be my punishment. Khansu was determined that I should be eliminated for my misdeed yet she still cared for me as a son. She strove to bring her mate to her way of thinking.
Richard told of counsel meetings again and again debating my execution. Akira was the only one who wanted to allow me to continue. All the elders saw my actions as disobedience to the ancient law, disobedience performed not once but twice. It was against their judgement that I was pardoned at my first indiscretion. Their fear was for the coven, their own authority as leaders over the members. If I were allowed to continue, what would stop others from doing the same thing, killing because they desired to kill and nothing more? They spoke of the danger I brought to the coven with my actions, my disregard for the kindness of the counsel after the Wolsey affair. Akira’s determination to keep me began to lessen as the arguments for my destruction were repeatedly spoken. Finally, even Sebastian was against me.
So I waited. There was no escape from their judgment. There was no place to go where they would not find me, nothing I could do to prevent my execution if they chose that as my end. The days were interminable, the nights, longer than the days.
It was with deep sorrow that he continued to speak. “I waited much as you wait, Sarah, for the outcome of our story.” There was silence and when he spoke again, his voice was once more powerful and in command.
At last, the day came of my sentencing. I faced the dai
s on my knees. The soft velvet cushions were no longer there for my comfort. The hard, cold marble floor matched the look of ice in the eyes of the vampire King and Queen, sitting on their thrones above me.
“Aris, you were forgiven when none before you has ever been forgiven.” Khansu leaned forward, speaking softly, yet his words were full of anger and recrimination. “You ignored your great fortune at being allowed to continue without punishment for your first transgression.” He stood, facing his mate, “And you, Akira, were paramount in his forgiveness.”
She rose from her seat, standing, motionless before him, unable to deny the accusation.
“This time there will be no forgiveness.” He turned back to lock eyes with me as he spoke of my judgment. “This time, you will pay with your existence for your selfish crime. You were manipulated once again by the vixen, Anne. Yet this second time, she spoke false about her rival. You murdered an innocent, one without blood on her hands. And so, for that and that alone, you will be eliminated.”
Akira caught my eyes for an instant, then turned her back to me. I saw compassion in her glance yet I knew my fate was sealed.
“Sebastian, take this traitor to the law to the executioner.” It was finished, the royal couple walked from the room leaving me to my fate.
I rose from my knees as Sebastian stepped beside me. “Come with me foolish one.” He gripped my elbow, guiding me through the few members of the elite counsel invited to my trial. They were silent, casting their eyes down as I passed by.
“Why did you do it?”
I did it to avenge my lost sweetheart. I did it because I could, nothing more and nothing less. I did not answer him. My unbeating heart broke at my transgression. I felt no sorrow when I thought she was the second hand that murdered my Elizabeth. Now I knew the truth. She had been faultless. I ached for my crime, if I could have wept, I would have.
The halls were dark, lit only by the candle held in Sebastian’s hand. We walked slowly. After a time, he asked the question once again. Still I gave no answer. We continued in strained silence until the light of the candle displayed a huge, wooden door at the end of the passage. Sebastian slowed his steps; he spoke softly.
“I cannot let them end you yet you must be punished.” He was torn between our close fellowship and his loyalty to the coven. “ You have betrayed the law. You are a convicted traitor yet you are still my friend.” We stood in silence for an eternity . He spoke again. “You must face the executioner and end the life of this body, but I will not burn you. I will not end your existence. I will carry your body to a deeper pit to leave it there. No one will know you have not been fully destroyed. You must take your essence from the Catacombs never to return. Go far from this place, disappear forever from your kind. “
Gratitude filled me as I reached for his hand. “I will do so.”
“Do I have your word?”
I gave him my truest word. He embraced me quickly. We crossed the few remaining steps to the entrance of the chamber of execution. We passed over the threshold.
A large stone slab rested in the center of the room; a vampire in a black cloak with a heavy hood stood next to it. What little of his face that was visible was covered in a black mask with slits for his eyes. Resting on a small stone table next to the slab were a long polished wooden stake and a huge mallet, the tools of my destruction.
Resolutely I moved to the slab, standing silently, observing my final resting place as this man that I was. I heard the door close as Sebastian stepped outside the room. I was grateful that all vampire tradition called for privacy for any ritual be it joining of mates or execution. Had there been other witnesses, I would not be here with you in this moment.
I lay down, closing my eyes, waiting for the pain of the stake. Sarah, I will not take you into that horror. Just know it was swift, the body was empty of my essence from the first blow. From that moment, I seemed to be floating just above it all exactly as it had been during the time of Alexander yet very different. Now, I knew what I was. I knew a disembodied spirit is free to move about unfettered. I still was conscious. I could once again inhabit a human body.
I watched as Sebastian re-entered the room. He spoke quietly with the executioner. I watched as the black clad man left the chamber. Sebastian stood, looking at the dead remains before him. He whispered, “Remember your promise. You must never break it.”
He lifted the dead carcass in his powerful arms, carrying it from the room. I paused only a moment then left the chamber, the Catacombs and the palace. I left the world that I had come to know as mine. I floated, an essence in search of a host, a home for my spirit. I vowed then that my formless eternity would be spent in aiding mankind in whatever way possible as small restitution for the blameless life I took without true reason.
“And so Sarah, here we are at the end of yet another tale. It seems all of my stories are sad and of death. For that I am sorry. My deepest hope is you can forgive me for taking an unblemished life. I am not evil. I do not rejoice in death. I was manipulated by a vile malevolent woman. She used my grief and despair to her own ends. All horror is now placed behind me. I seek a fresh existence. Your pardon will give me hope I can be at the beginning of a new story filled with joy and life.”
“Of course, I forgive you. You were used as a tool of execution. I understand your feelings of retribution for the death of your loved one. Anyway, all of that happened in the very distant past. But, Aris, how did you get here, in the twenty first century?” She hoped to draw him on; she was not ready to end their conversation.
“That is for another time, Sarah. If I answer all of your curiosity, you will have no further need of me. And so, I bid you farewell for today.”
She sighed knowing that once he said goodbye, the session was closed. Emptiness pervaded the space without him, an unexplainable void. She sat in silence for a moment as she always did when Aris left, then began to count Carlos into real time.
CHAPTER 35
Bob saw his wife and her friend as he walked in the door to the theatre. He joined the two women in line as they stood to buy tickets for the movie.
“Hey ladies, would you like an escort for the evening?” He hugged his wife and kissed Sarah on the cheek. “It sure is hot tonight. I hoped the temperature might cool down when the sun set but it looks like it’s a no go on that.”
Colleen snuggled under his arm and grinned. “It’s not too bad besides, we’ll be inside in a minute where it’s nice and cool.”
Bob wrapped his free arm around Sarah, looking over her head at the line. “Is this line moving at all? I knew we should have gotten tickets ahead of time.”
“Relax husband. It’s slow but it’s moving.”
“Sarah, I was going to call you today, but when Colleen said we were all going to the movie tonight, I decided to wait to talk to you.”
Sarah knew it must be something related to the Carlos/Manu saga so she just nodded.
“I think Manu must know we’re tailing him. There’s been no activity between him and the rest of his gang in a few weeks. The group hasn’t been together or at least not in a way that my people have seen. I can keep on it for another week or so but if there’s no action, I have to back off. I won’t pull everybody off it, but I’ve got a limit as to what I can do. I’m trying to keep this whole thing quiet so Carlos isn’t implicated but without anything else to go on, I can’t justify the men on the punk’s tail.”
“I don’t get it.” Colleen nudged him to move forward as the line began to snake closer to the door.
“There’s nothing to get. There’s no activity. Maybe he figured he was being tracked so he’s laying low or maybe he’s given up on the Carlos thing. I don’t know, but it’s quiet with that bunch right now.”
“I’m glad.” Sarah spoke with more conviction than she felt. “I hope it all just disappears and everybody can get on with their lives.”
Bob turned to walk down the hall to their movie but Colleen grabbed him by the back of his shirt. “Oh
no you don’t, dude. I want popcorn.”
He groaned as he turned to look at the refreshment stand. “Not another line.”
She took his hand and maneuvered her way to stand at the end of the shortest queue of people. “What’s a movie without popcorn?”
“How about a better seat in the theatre.”
“You knew I was a popcorn kind of girl when you married me.”
He ruffled her spiked hair with one hand while he rested his other arm on her shoulder as he settled in for the wait.
Sarah enjoyed the Colleen and Bob show every time the three of them were together. This time was no different. Their relationship was so comfortable and caring, best friends and lovers, husband and wife.
#
Her bed linen felt cool to the touch after the warm ride home from the theatre. She slid her arm beneath the pillow and cradled her head in the crook of her elbow. Sarah smiled as she thought of her two friends and the easy way they loved one other. As she wondered if she would ever find that kind of complete relationship, her thoughts drifted to Aris and Carlos. Soon she floated into a sweet sleep.
Her dream began where the movie ended except it was she and not the female lead that walked down the forest path with the tall, well-built man. He carried a picnic basket in one hand and a rolled blanket under his free arm. And, this time the man who walked beside her was clearly Carlos. He wore jeans and a light tee shirt. She was dressed in denim shorts and a loose tank top. It was a perfect day as the sun filtered down through the trees and a gentle breeze ruffled their hair.
They stepped from the path, crossing over a felled tree. Before long the dense forest opened into a perfectly circular clearing. Tall meadow grass and the remnants of late blooming spring flowers covered the ground inviting them to share their lunch in the sweet smelling glade.
Carlos spread the blanket and beckoned her to sit next to him. She took off her shoes and socks then settled in for lunch. The picnic basket was full of wonderful things; hard cheese and crisp French bread, sweet purple grapes and a bottle of rich, red wine. There were napkins and crystal glasses nestled in the bottom of the basket along with a corkscrew and a small tablecloth.