“You have left a trail of bodies for me to follow.” Then, from next to her a woman stepped out into the faint light and turned to face her only a few feet away. “And if I can follow the trail you have left, certainly others could.”
“Veria.” Charlotte said in surprise. “I… I don’t know what to say. I never thought I would see you again.”
“Yet we were captives together, kept along the same hallway.”
This response puzzled Charlotte briefly then the vampire’s meaning dawned to her. “You were the ‘she-creature’. Oh, Veria, I didn’t know. If I had I would have tried to help you. Are you here to kill me?”
“Michael was there too, Charlotte. That man endured incredible trials as he searched for you. Can you imagine the hurt he must have had when you left him after your last visit?”
“I have hurt too Veria. I have been devastated since that day. I would have destroyed him if I had stayed. Others were searching for me. I was afraid I would lead them right to him.”
“They are searching for you still, sweet Charlotte and they are closer than you may think. You never gave a thought to coming to the house of Del Rio with any of this?”
“I have been defiled by Desmondo Milan.”
“And you think this changes how we would look upon you? Desmondo ravaged you when you had no means to fight him or find an escape? The only honor I see lost is his.”
“When I had an opportunity for escape I took it; a mother leaving her infant with monsters so that she might escape.”
“To remain would have meant your death. Escaping made it possible that you might yet hold your child again.”
Veria watched Charlotte consider the thought, and then her face showed puzzlement.
“Why are you here?” Charlotte asked.
“Because Edwardo the Assassin was coming to find you and I thought you might appreciate dealing with me instead. Edwardo favors brief talks, asks fewer questions and often receives silence as an answer.
“Did you come to kill me Veria?”
“I came to see if you were already dead, Charlotte. And you very nearly are. Stop this self-exile. Don’t let Desmondo Milan have his victory. You are hurting. Do you need to punish yourself with loneliness? You still have a family.”
“I come from the family, Tilson. They were beheaded, all of them but me by Lucido Del Rio. I was taken prisoner and made to barter what was left of me to survive. I was kept under watch for years.”
“Is that what Milan said to wear you down and sway your thinking? Your Tilson family was already dead and possessed by something ancient and wicked. They were beheaded because that is the only way to kill the being in possession of another; sever it and separate parts of the body so it can’t re-collect. You were watched over for your protection, you weren’t kept. You could have left anytime but you became part of the family and we loved you. We love you now, Michael most of all. Milan has woven a spell over you to taint your memories and confuse you and turn you against us.”
“I’m a vampire, Veria. Michael is….”
“Michael is making his own journeys. His heart travels before him. Who can say how your paths might converge?”
The mention of Michael gave Charlotte a faraway look.
“Come home Charlotte. Stop punishing yourself for things you could not help. You can hold to yourself or reunite with those you know. You won’t be held prisoner. You are in danger. It is fate that I reached you before others did.”
“My head hurts. I look for ways to find myself again. I need time.”
“I will leave tomorrow night. After that we may never cross paths again. It will be hard to find us. Tomorrow night, Charlotte…. Take care of you.”
Then the Lady of Darkness wasn’t there.
10
It was the time when the evening was being referred to less as nighttime and more often as the early morning, though daylight wouldn’t weigh in on the subject in the English countryside for several more hours. The hunters, seven of them moved as if their lives depended on whether or not they were heard in the silent darkness, and they were right to be careful. Most of them didn’t know what it was like to stalk and kill a vampire. Some of the group had been on a witch hunt before, but besides seeing someone hanged or burned to death, the activity as a whole was not so exciting.
Recently, Theodore Rounding, a farmer had awoken to find his wife, Sandra without heartbeat or breath. During his attempts to revive her he then and there discovered an injury at her tender throat. His grief was severe. He mourned his loss, explaining the circumstances, and mentioned these injuries to those close to him, causing her lifeless body to be examined several times. Inevitably attention was drawn to two round holes in her neck which caused witnesses to shudder when they beheld the wound. Her complexion appeared ivory as well and this led to the decision to burn Sandra’s body as a precaution against her returning as a vampire. This wasn’t a unanimous decision. Farmer Rounding, the children and close relatives were not in favor of such quick disposal of their beloved. The community influence in this matter was strong and though resistance was fierce, it was also fleeting because the needs of the populace carried more weight in the matter than those relatively few who were against the speed and the manner of a final rest.
The day after the grieving and the burning, religious and community leaders met and plotted to hunt this vampire down before more people, especially the young would be victimized. Through word of mouth and the human grapevine, questions were asked and accounts were taken. Hearsay and gossip held reign in these times, far more than science. Often the reports and allure of telling the most outlandish or hair-raising tale garnered far more support than the truth. Sometimes a plan, even if it amounted to foolishness, was agreed upon and undertaken because it felt better to be taking action than to feel powerless to do anything.
So seven brave or foolish huntsmen headed by a man named MacQueen, collected and departed for the Landon farmstead. This was an old abandoned house and farm buildings on the Landon family land, but they had long since rebuilt on a more suitable parcel of their property. Mostly what was left at the farmstead was rock walls, rectangular basements, and fallen, decomposing timber structures. It had long been the subject of childhood dares and macabre stories. Though there was no real evidence of ghosts or habitation by vampires the rumor currently was true.
MacQueen wanted to use the light of day to their advantage. They did not want an encounter with a vampire with the night ripe with dark hours. It was best to cluster together and keep watch for the bloodsucker’s departure and return. It was difficult not to chat among themselves as they awaited the dark creature’s reappearance, but vampires could hear very well and this troop wanted the element of surprise and not be on the receiving end. Sleeping for several of them was encouraged unless this led to loud snoring. If you weren’t a sleeper then often it was a rather long night.
She was seen by three of those on lookout and yet each witness became increasingly uncertain whether they had seen anything at all. It looked as though she appeared out of nowhere and then took three or four delicate steps before a collapsed building and then was gone. She was moonlight in the darkness, dangerous as a deadly snake and just as captivating. No one spoke nor did they move. They wanted to give her enough time to find her sleep before moving in. Hopefully there would be no face to face confrontation. The plan was to wait until late morning brightness, block off entries and escape routes and throw torches on to the heap of broken timber that gave evidence to where a barn had stood once upon a time. The old beams and wood would burn quickly and the vampire would be consumed in the flame.
Once she lowered to nearly a crawl and moved forward, the room opened up under the collapsed wreckage much like a small entry into a large cavern. In fact, one room went to another and another and another beneath the shambles that comprised an accidental roof. Charlotte only wanted it to block out the sunlight. That, and be a reasonable place to hide out. But she would move on after the s
un took its probing eye across the sky to look somewhere else. She would have to wait until then and avoid its fatal stare. But wait, she was not alone in this chamber.
“You carry the stink of the vampire Veria. You should be more careful in choosing your friends.”
This was a woman’s voice but there was someone else in the darkness watching. The one speaking was the vampire Jennifer and Charlotte went on guard immediately.
“I am friend to no one. I have no friends.” Charlotte returned.
“Charlotte, I am hurt by such a remark but it didn’t escape me that you couldn’t get away from us soon enough. Not even your own child could slow your hasty flight.”
“Desmondo said I could leave.”
“That isn’t the way he tells it. His version is that you abandoned your own child, abandoned us too. Your infant cries for its mama. Belladonna is doing all she can, but no one takes the place of their mama. Desmondo would like you to come back and tend to your own.”
“He let me go. I left and sold my soul to do it. To go back would be the death off me.”
“Desmondo would like the mother and child to be together again.”
“I have been kidnapped and forced to do things I should have had a choice in, and I can say that equally about the Houses of Del Rio and Milan. Leave me alone. I wish to be free of every one and left alone.”
Hot fire danced briefly in the eyes of Jennifer but she turned her attention to her own hand, contemplating her fingers and razor sharp, claw-like nails. “Have you seen Angelina lately? Desmondo wanted her to return also. She doesn’t seem to be anywhere to be found.”
“Maybe she danced too close to the sun.” Out of the shadows stepped the vampire Bevin, Jennifer’s consort. “We might have been the very last ones to see her.”
“I don’t want to go back. Please leave me alone.”
Jennifer approached Charlotte. “It’s settled. You’re coming back with us.”
Charlotte started backing away but Jennifer kept closing the distance.
“I won’t. I have no milk. I’m a vampire. Milan made sure of that. Now, he can live with his decisions.”
Jennifer’s strike was lightening quick and ended with her licking the blood off her fingertips. Blood also ran down Charlotte’s cheek where Jennifer had clawed her. After the bloody taste Jennifer interpreted the flavor. “So Veria did talk with you, begging you, no doubt, to come back to the house of Del Rio.
“Notice I am still on my own, Jennifer. I didn’t go with her either.” Charlotte wiped blood away from her face. She regarded Jennifer with a hateful look and moved as if to strike back in retaliation and Jennifer flinched. Charlotte used that moment, turned and fled through the opening from the chamber they were occupying into the next room but didn’t stop there. She crossed that debris strewn chamber and streaked through the next opening and the next. Jennifer and Bevin were in close pursuit shrinking that distance until Jennifer’s talon-like fingers tore into Charlotte’s back. Charlotte screamed but managed to painfully pull free and fly to the next room. Jennifer followed but pulled up short. The way was blocked. Veria stood in the opening and the two vampires drew face to face.
11
There was no electrically charged moment when time stood still, no pregnant pause before the storm. The two fronts in this squall had been drawing toward each other for a long time. The tempest was here. Veria launched herself into Jennifer before the element of surprise was lost. The collision sent Jennifer back-stepping and off-balance and Veria shoving her to keep it that way. She reached out to steady herself but her nails could only scrape along the walls, resulting in a trail of sparks until she was deposited into the broken pile of beams and walls. Above ground the clamor was heard and the top of the pile erupted, shook and shrank as the might of this tussle slammed into dilapidated heaps. In the room below, Jennifer had blood trickling out of her mouth.
“What is wrong, Veria? Why do you treat me this way?”
“The list is long. I haven’t time enough to tell you.”
“What’s the matter, Veria? Did you lose all your dollies in the fire?”
“Jennifer, I’m going to kill you. There’s no need to make me angry. I have been angry with you for a long time.
“And yet where is sweet Charlotte? It would seem the one you are here defending has runaway. But where’s your sense of fun. You’re such an easy target. I delight in hitting the bullseye.”
“How does that shaft of wood feel?” Veria asked. “It is no accident that you find yourself skewered. I tried to put it through your heart. I forgot… you don’t have one.”
Above, the sound of torches landing atop the remnants of the farm building reminded them both that men were outside intent on killing them. Jennifer regained her footing and slid herself painfully forward along the split wooden beam Veria had thrust Jennifer onto.
“You are a whore Veria. You have always been a whore, turning tricks even when you were a girl.” Jennifer winced and she slid some more. “Devious always, you attacked me by surprise. I never had a chance.
“Oh, you’ve had plenty of chances.”
“You’d be no match for me in a fight that was fair.”
Behind Veria, Bevin held a sharply pointed shaft he’d found as he watched the two of them converse. Vampires hear very well. They are also capable of being extremely quiet. The two were playing against each other at this moment. Bevin had moved slowly, not wanting to be sensed or heard. He needed to get closer and Jennifer was giving him time to do just that.
“I have no interest in a fair fight, Jennifer. My interest lies in you being dead. Many of the things you have done to me weren’t fair either. I remember you being behind me in the crowd in front of widow Belladonna’s house as it burned, just before a wooden shaft was thrust into me from behind and if that wasn’t by your hand it was with your knowledge.”
Jennifer kept quiet. Saying anything at this point would only make matters worse.
Veria found a piece of wood with a sharp point like a knife from what was lying about and regarded it, then shifted her eyes to Jennifer in a slow cold stare. She stepped forward and grasped the bloodied shaft that ran through her. Jennifer tried to back away but she was impaled and movement wasn’t without a painful price.
“This…is from Angelina.” Veria swung fast and Jennifer braced for the blow. The pointed shaft slammed into the split beam keeping Jennifer prisoner. Jennifer could see now that the horizontal penetration of the shaft prevented her from sliding herself free.
Bevin stole closer. Jennifer coughed and played for time. “What do you care about Angelina? She was nothing to you.”
“She was someone to somebody.”
“You mean Michael. Poor little Veria, even after all the years, still lost when it comes to matters of the heart. You do better with bedding a man than loving him.” Jennifer winced from her injury. “I want to scratch your eyes out.”
“You’ll have to hurry then. I’m bringing your life to a close.”
The fire above was beginning to roar, and had grown from kitten to lion. Pieces of burning debris were dropping through to where they were. Bevin had brought himself to within striking distance of Veria and strode toward her as he carried the pointed shaft forward, intent on running it through his woman’s adversary, but his weapon was stolen from his hand. Though he swung to stab Veria he now held nothing. It had been taken from him. The shaft reappeared though. It was shoved into him from behind. In front, Bevin’s chest began to turn scarlet.
Jennifer screamed.
Bevin turned around, and his eyes showed surprise as he beheld Lucido Del Rio.
“Our paths have crossed too many times where I have felt the sting of your ways. Die now, Bevin. You have made a succession of unfortunate choices.”
Bevin stumbled past Veria as he struggled to reach Jennifer. Smoke thickened and flame was dropping around them everywhere. Above, the pile was shifting. Old timbers were creaking and cracking.
“C
ome on, this way.” Charlotte implored Veria and Lucido, barely visible through the wild dances of the flame.
They joined Charlotte and dashed with her into the last remaining room. She brought them to a dark corner and there a door came into view; old and rotten.
“This is a tunnel to what once was a farmhouse like yours, don Lucido. The house is gone but the tunnel survives. Here is where I rested during the day.”
As they closed the rickety door behind them the crash of the burning load above could be heard as it fell to its cellar.
“What lies at the other end of this passage”? Lucido asked.
“It’s filled in with stone and dirt.” Charlotte replied. “I don’t know whether it’s collapsed or by some manner of purpose but we’ll not be bothered from that direction without a large effort.”
“I do not like being trapped here but I’m more concerned about the heat and smoke finding us. Let’s go to the end and see what blocks our way.”
The length of the passage was less than a hundred yards. It was not in sound shape, nor was it evenly built for height and width. It was really a safe passage to and from the large barn that had once been there. The remnants of which were now burning. There were all manner of scoundrels, wolves and beings holding to the shadows at the time the Landon family had originally built the homestead. The weather could be brutal as well. A covered trench in the ground was easily welcomed while making the trip to the barn in uncertain times. Now the length was traveled by three vampires. They too, wished safe passage. There was no lantern but that was alright, darkness was a friend.
As they approached the end they encountered several rocks that were about the size of a human head. Part, no doubt, of the house’s crude foundation.
Vampire hands, fingers and nails are strong like talons and besides being formidable weapons they were just what was needed to attack the tunnel blockage. For three vampires, two of them centuries old the clearing of the passage was but a trifle. They emerged with darkness still holding reign but another hour would bring the hint of sunrise.
The Blood In Between (The Safe Haven Trilogy Book 3) Page 6