Persephone stood. “I am Persphone, but that is just a name given to myself and to make things simpler. In truth I am Crying Sky but also I am Fawn17.”
“And I am Captain Gibson and in here with me is Sundog. Haven and Yooman, the four of us created Misty. “She is the daughter of four parents, not two. The genetics will bear this out.
“And I feel like I have like ten parents, not four.” Misty said from the top of the stairs where Michael was bringing her up in his arms to join them. Everyone laughed and commiserated with her at the same time. Misty continued. “Try having vampires as parents.”
“There is nothing like her anywhere.” Persephone said while still laughing. She was a mother who had her daughter back from the brink. “Here is what we know. The Gemini…the Yoomans had gathered many life samples from other worlds and kept them for further study, back in the lab on their ship, long before it met up with Havens but it was already infected with Lorn. They were housed in some of the crew members. Vampires did not originate on Earth, at least that is our thinking. As it was with Havens, they had no choice but to inherit the Earth and find a way to survive. I’m sure there were others that escaped after the crash. Zeerah and the Lorn found a way to escape and survive. Perhaps there were other foreign life forms that did much the same thing.
And that brings us to the marbles, the spheres collected in the revolving foliage of a tree that I saw in Worlen’s room long ago, when he put one of them in a candle and it became a smoking serpent intended on taking me over. Though the marbles holding the essence of a Lorn inside were dark and smoky, they must have had other marbles of a different color. Perhaps they brought them. Who knows the purpose? I say they were from the Lorn but I don’t know for certain. It could have just as easily have been something that Yooman science had come up with; those orbs. The spheres were powerful because they were containers holding untold secrets within, the distilled essences of so many things. So powerful that those who kept these orbs, benefited from a sort of radiation or residue emanating from them.”
Beatrice spoke now. “Cinnamon, here is the answer regarding this Haven in hibernation you carry within. It is not a Haven. It is Don Lucido returned to us at last. After being trampled and so terribly wounded back in la Coruna, we salvaged what we could and amazingly, through many skilled hands, both Haven and Vampire, Lucido’s body recovered but there was little of his essence inside- a recovered shell but empty. He has found his way back. We don’t know why or how he came to you.”
“Don Lucido is who you see inside me?” Cinnamon asked. Vampires and Havens nodded. “How do we get him out?”
“In order to set him free, Cinnamon, you must die.”
61
Cinnamon felt the eyes of many upon her. And flashed back to Michael’s story of his vampire family ambushing him when it was time for him to be turned. There was more than a remote similarity.
Cinnamon was shocked and overwhelmed by this news and considered her thoughts and words before she spoke. If she refused or resisted, it could get ugly, yet she knew these people as family. She knew some of their history and trials. She resented that they would probably not take no for an answer, yet at the same time, could not blame them for their excitement or their plans. “I can see where this is going and what needs to be done. I wish to volunteer to do what is needed so that don Lucido Del Rio can complete his journey home.”
Michael stepped forward. “Relax Cinnamon. You are among family and friends in an evening of celebration. Understandably, you do have much to think about.”
“You’ll have the very best specialists for this procedure but be warned, they’ll be working with ancient tools, still ahead of what’s available now.” Persephone tried to reassure. “There is no one with more experience. The life inside you… the essence of Lucido, clings to you and when you die, he will move to his own familiar body.” When that happens we will work to bring you back so you can join us for breakfast.”
Everyone laughed.
“This is serious, though.” Persephone continued. And I say right now there are no guarantees. We could have done this procedure without you ever knowing. But that’s not how we work. That’s not who we are. Especially with those we love.”
“It’s all moving so fast right now. I need to think.” Cinnamon said. “I’d like to sit here for a while with Michael.”
The rest of the rooftop group understood, giving Cinnamon hugs as they departed. Soon it was down to Michael and her.
Cinnamon couldn’t breathe. Events seemed to have sped up within the last few minutes. “I’m so scared.” There, she said it. But having done so, she didn’t really feel any better.
“It’s a scary place to be.”
“They are going to end my life, so that the presence inside me, don Lucido’s presence, awakens and transfers to his natural body….” Cinnamon began.
“…and then re-awaken you, revive you.” Michael finished and then continued. “The very fact that Misty is here among us might give you some confidence in the expertise of those working with you.”
“Will you hold my hand?”
Michael regarded Cinnamon to see if she was joking. She wasn’t. She was trembling.
“Yes.”
“All the way through,” she emphasized, “not just when I’m going out or coming back.”
“Cinnamon, I will do better than that. I’ll hold you through the entire procedure. I need to. And I’ll have an ice cold Coke waiting for you when you are ready, after you return.”
“It’s a deal.” Then she was gripped again by fear. “Let me get my breath.”
She couldn’t look at Michael. It was already so tense. She went with a change of subject, to give herself some time. “I have spent most of my day feeling so awful about what happened to those you loved, those I learned to love, through you. It’s so achingly sad. You must be so very alone.”
“A vampire’s life can be lonely and sad. We experience the passage of time differently but feel more deeply and for a longer time. Still, we’re not unlike other lives; hello and goodbye, tragedies and celebrations…magic and heartbreak. Don Lucido’s return may bring about changes. It might be time for me to put together the House of Ro`dan. If so, I’m going to need a caretaker. Interested?”
Cinnamon’s face betrayed nothing.
“You certainly have the skills for it.” Michael continued. “You remind me of myself, competent, confident and you hold your own with powerful personalities. You’d be good at it. And, have you considered that once you are with us again, you will technically qualify as one of the undead?”
Cinnamon almost laughed, or groaned which was unexpected at the seriousness of their talk, but managed to respond. “I thought you said, ‘when you’re alive, you’re alive and when you’re dead, you’re dead.’”
“And that’s just where we’ll leave it…for now.”
She stood and peered out along the commons, following the lawn to where the forest began. There was no sign of Ruby but unnervingly, Cinnamon felt she saw several sets of radiant red eyes among the trees but on second look, couldn’t find them. It would take a while to digest the contents of this night. After several silent minutes, they left the darkness and went down the stairs to John and Persephone’s suite. Or, was it their suite? Somewhere down their hall was a place for vampires. Havens and vampires seemed to watch over each other.
Michael gave Cinnamon a warm embrace and an affectionate kiss on her forehead, then turned and walked down the hallway, a hallway she had not yet travelled. When he neared the door, it opened and a woman of exceptional beauty appeared. She peered over Michael’s shoulder as they shared a tender embrace. Her eyes met Cinnamon’s only for a moment before Cinnamon averted her gaze and focused instead on a necklace this woman wore. It glowed crimson at the pendant and slowly pulsed. The Beating Heart.
The End
The Safe Haven Trilogy draws to a close, but it also launches the series, Dust in the Wind.
The Safe Haven Tr
ilogy
Water & Dust
Ravages of the Sun
The Blood in Between
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Randall Gardner Ailes has been a practicing psychotherapist and social worker for over thirty years. He has taught in public schools and colleges and has been a writer / storyteller since childhood. Many writers from the realms of music and literature have influenced his writing. From the world of music writers such as John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, John Phillips, Neil Young, Paul Simon and Carly Simon were helpful in learning economy of words and emotional range. Twilight Zone and Star Trek were television influences. JRR Tolkien, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Larry McMurtry, Anne Rice, and Carlos Castaneda have been his teachers through their books of horror, terror and suspense, ghost story, fantasy and science fiction. Randy worked his way through school as a singer / songwriter. He likes to travel as much as he likes staying home in Michigan with family and friends. “I have always seen things through a writer’s perspective and have been blessed/cursed with the need to write. It is my therapy.”
The Blood In Between (The Safe Haven Trilogy Book 3) Page 34