Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny)

by Blakely, Noelle

  Aurora suddenly looked nervous, and she cleared her throat, which she never did.

  “What is it?” he asked. “Just tell me.”

  “Well, I didn’t want to scare you either, but speaking of helping Sara… I tried to heal her, Alex and well, look for yourself.”

  Aurora brushed Sara’s hair off of her forehead, exposing what looked to have been a nasty gash at her scalp line. It was closed and no longer bleeding but still looked pretty awful. He frowned at the ugly wound.

  “That’s not all. Look at this.” Aurora was still wearing her bathrobe, but it was hard to tell that it had once been white. She pushed up her sleeves and held up her arms to show him the scrapes where she had fallen on the driveway. Her forearms and elbows had been bleeding pretty badly when she first fell about two hours ago. Now there were still some scrapes, they were not too serious, and a lot of pink new skin, healing skin.

  Aurora was healing pretty quickly, but Alex knew exactly what she was getting at. As a Vampire, scraping her arms and elbows should have been nothing to Aurora. Those kinds of wounds should have healed almost instantly. At this rate, it would be another couple of hours before all signs of her fall were gone. It was the same with Sara. Aurora used her own blood and applied it to Sara’s gash, and it should also have healed in minutes at the most.

  Alex didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to tell Aurora that he was experiencing the same thing. He was still feeling bits of glass working themselves out of his feet where he had cut them last night. He could also tell that he was not as strong as he had been and then there was the sunlight. It should have been burning them when it touched their skin, but it was warm and pleasant actually. And, when the sun was up, Vampires usually find it difficult to stay awake. He was not the least bit sleepy, and it was probably around 11AM.

  “Look, I don’t know what’s going on around here, but I think Sara needs help.”

  Just then Sara stirred. Her eyes opened and seemed to take a moment to focus. Aurora immediately returned to fussing over her, wiping her forehead with the cloth she still held.

  “What’s going on?” She tried to sit up, but Aurora put a hand on her shoulder and kept her down.

  “Don’t try to get up yet,” she said.

  Sara was more than a little intimidated. Aurora never really spoke to her except for an occasional request and now she was sponging her head while sitting in a shed, wearing a dirty bathrobe. Oh, this is surreal, she thought. Her head hurt and she explored her skull finding a bump on the back of her head. It didn’t seem too serious but, when she mentioned it, Aurora immediately insisted on checking it too.

  “I really think that I am okay,” she insisted.

  “You could have a concussion, so I think you will take it easy,” Aurora lectured as well as any busy body nurse could have.

  Sara stopped protesting. Aurora scared her a little. She looked to Alex. “What happened? I seem to remember some of it, but it doesn’t make much sense.”

  Alex gave her a quick synopsis of what he remembered, throwing in his earthquake theory even though he was starting to think it was less likely that an earthquake had been the root cause of all this chaos. Perhaps the earthquake was a symptom, but not the cause.

  “I’m not sure what would have caused an earthquake in this area, and I have no idea what the lights were,” He concluded.

  “I remember the lights,” she said. “I know what they are, but they weren’t supposed to be anything like that. I would have said something last night, but the floor fell out from under us, and I blacked out at some point.”

  “We all did, Sugar. What about the lights?” Aurora was interested and listening.

  Sara blinked a couple of times and tried to gather her wits. Oh my gosh. Aurora Lake just called me Sugar and is having a conversation with me.

  “Um, well, I’m not an expert on the science, but I am sort of interested in Astronomy, and I read an article a couple of weeks ago in the waiting room at the dentist’s office.” She glanced up and saw that Aurora was starting to look a little impatient for her to get to the point.

  “Okay, never mind all of that. It’s like this. Sun spots are dark spots visible against the sun. They are caused by intense magnetic energy, and as they move around in the photosphere of the sun, they can cause solar flares of varying magnitude. Massive solar flares are like sun storms that can disrupt radio signals. Sometimes a solar flare will release a bubble of charged plasma called something like corona masses. That’s not it, but it’s close. Anyway the mass can impact Earth causing geomagnetic storms that in turn affect radio signals, power grids and so on. They also charge up the Northern and Southern Lights otherwise known as auroras.” She looked at Aurora and smiled when she explained the last part.

  “Ironic,” Aurora commented. “So the Aurora Borealis caused all of this?”

  “Not exactly. It’s the plasma bubble….wait, I remember what it’s called. A coronal mass ejection impacted Earth and created the geomagnetic storm that caused all of this. The lights were just another symptom.”

  “So, if scientists, astronomers knew this was coming, why weren’t we warned?” Alex interjected after listening quietly to the whole explanation.

  Sara shook her head. She was now sitting up because Aurora was so caught up in the story that she forgot to hold her down. “It wasn’t supposed to be anything like this. The auroras were supposed to be a spectacular show, and the worst that should have happened was some temporary radio signal interference.”

  “Well, this was obviously much worse than that.” Alex displayed his signature frown. “I think I should still walk to town. We can’t stay here in a shed. We need a car and some supplies. It shouldn’t take me more than a couple of hours to get there and get what we need.”

  “Be careful, Love.” Aurora stood and touched his face. “There are still other things going on that we don’t understand.” She raised her eyebrow in a gesture that told him, she did not want to share the other problems with Sara just yet.

  “I’ll be back before you know it. Don’t worry.” He brushed her lips in a quick kiss and started walking to the road.

  Sara squinted after him. Without thinking, she said, “What in the world is he wearing?”

  He had been wearing his robe, like Aurora, when everything happened. So, when he was looking around the property, he looked for something else to wear. With the only structure even partially standing and not burning, being the garage, all he found was a set of greasy coveralls.

  At least the fit wasn’t too bad. He guessed that they might have belonged to Sara’s brother, Ryan. He had only been gone a couple of years, and he used to change the oil in the cars. He was a big man, Alex recalled. Maybe even a bit bigger than Alex. Alex was sure that Ryan had not been around to see Sara because of him, and he felt a little guilty about that when he thought of sweet Sara sitting back in the shed. Well there was nothing he could do about it right now except make sure Ryan’s little sister was okay. So he wore Ryan’s greasy coveralls and trudged, barefoot, to the road.

  Aurora watched him go and then turned her raised eyebrow look on Sara. Sara clammed up and sat with her back to the wall of the shed. She grew nervous when Aurora came to sit beside her.

  “Where did you learn all of those facts about sunspots and solar flares? I’m impressed.”

  Sara blushed hotly. “I went to school for a while, but I never finished my degree.”

  “Why not?” Aurora turned her head to look at Sara as they talked.

  “Mrs. Lake, You’ve been so nice to me, but I’m sure you don’t actually want to hear about my boring life.”

  “Of Course I do, Sara, or I wouldn’t have asked,” Aurora leaned very close and brushed Sara’s hair off her brow to check the healing progress of the gash there. “ And my name is Aurora.”

  Sara reached up to touch the healing wound on her forehead. She hadn’t even known that it was there. It didn’t feel like much. It must not have been too bad, but it w
as obvious that Aurora had checked on it while she was unconscious. This evidence of Aurora’s kindness was confusing Sara. She always thought of Aurora as cold, conceited and spoiled. Granted, she also thought of her as beautiful and mysterious, but still cold..

  The trauma of the last few hours was overwhelming her, and the stress and confusion over Aurora’s apparent change in attitude towards her was more than she could take.

  “Aurora, can I be blunt with you?” she ventured a little nervously.

  “I prefer frankness in all my friends, Sara,” Aurora stated matter-of-factly.

  Sara just stared at her incredulously for a moment. “Friends? Is that what we are? Aurora, to be honest with you, I honestly didn’t think you knew my name until a few minutes ago.” She gathered her courage and went on in a rush. “It’s not that I don’t want to be your friend, but I am wondering, why now? Why do you want to know about me after all these years?”

  Aurora didn’t say anything at all for a long moment, then she said, “Let me also be honest with you, but I must first ask you a question. Assuming no horrible accidents ever befall you, how old do you think you will be when you pass?”

  Sara thought about it and said, “My grandmother was 89 when she died, but my mother died of cancer when she was 47. So, I guess I can’t actually tell you what would be more likely.”

  “Thank you for your honest answer,” Aurora said quietly. After a pause, she went on.

  “Sara, I am fourteen hundred and 13 years old. I was born in the first month of a new century in 600 AD. You can have no idea what life was like in that century, but one thing has never changed in all those years, and that is the value of a true friendship. I have been blessed, over the years, to know many incredible women. They were all remarkably different but had one thing in common; I loved them very much, and then I lost them. I know you think I am uncaring and that it’s despicable when I don’t bother to remember the names of people around me. But, sometimes I am just afraid to get close. The most difficult thing about being a Vampire is watching people you love wither and die. I’m sorry if I seemed cruel.”

  Sara looked back into the eyes of Aurora for the first time without looking away or blushing. “Wow, I never thought of that, before. I know how awful it was for me when my mom died, I can only imagine going through loss after loss. I’m sorry too, for not understanding.” She reached out and squeezed Aurora’s hand.

  Aurora didn’t try to pull her hand away. She just said, “We have some time to kill. So, do you think we could start over? I would really like to hear about that college you went to.”

  ten

  Alex walked on the grass next to the road headed toward town. He didn’t think that there was much glass left in his feet, and they seemed to be healing, but the grass was more comfortable than the pavement. As soon as he was out of sight of Aurora and Sara, he had stopped and picked out as many of the tiny pieces as he could find.

  He didn’t like this vulnerable feeling any more than Aurora did, which brought him to his next concern. The estate was only about six miles outside of Saratoga Springs, and he could have easily run it in less than 15 minutes at Vampire speed, but, he was already feeling a little weaker than he should, and he did not know when he might feed next. Obviously their blood supply had gone the way of the house and was destroyed.

  So, he walked and tried not to worry too much. He was lost in thought when he nearly walked into a fallen tree in his path. He was about a mile from home, and the sides of the road were forested, starting at about thirty feet back from the pavement. There was still a lot of wilderness around the area this close to the Adirondacks. The tree in his path was a tall cedar that had been growing at the very edge of the forest.

  I guess now it’s just long. He smirked a little at his wit.

  He followed the tree trunk back to its base, walking around or stepping over branches as he went. At the base of the tree, the torn roots pointed in all directions, huge clumps of soil still clung to them. The ground around the tree was devastated, and the damage appeared to continue along the edge of the forest as far as he could see down the road. He saw at least two other trees that had fallen, as well.

  As he approached the roots to examine the area of upheaval, he discovered that upheaval was actually a remarkably accurate description of the problem

  A fissure, approximately six inches wide had opened directly under the tree and one side of the opening, the side furthest from the road had heaved about sixteen inches or so upward, tearing out the roots and tipping over the trees.

  He leaned cautiously over the opening to look down in, but there was nothing to see. Some spidery roots and larger root stumps were visible for a short distance, then the crack plunged into complete darkness, and it was impossible to tell how deep it went.

  Alex climbed over the trunk and continued down the line of trees, climbing over the other fallen logs as he came to them. He really didn’t have a better option at that point, he decided since the trees were so immense that they spanned the roadway and continued onto the opposite shoulder. Nearer the road, the trees had more branches to contend with so, he felt that following the fissure was the easiest path.

  He walked about another three quarters of a mile, when the fissure veered at an angle toward the roadway. As it approached the pavement, it got wider and wider until the point where it crossed; it was about two and a half feet wide. The up-heaved side was about two feet high in the road, and the pavement from that point forward was cracked and broken.

  He still could not see very far into the depths, but he thought he might have smelled a very faint odor like something burning. A breeze appeared and whisked any scent away. All that was left was the strong smell of cedar and overturned earth.

  He had to jump over and up to get across the fissure.

  How big does a fissure have to be before you would call it a crevasse?

  He walked on without the “crevasse” to occupy him any longer. It had continued into the trees on the other side of the road. He could see the trees toppled for a short distance. The woods were too thick for most of them to fall all the way to the ground, and they leaned against each other drunkenly.

  He pondered what Sara told them about solar flares and that made him think about the sun. He was in awe of the light that surrounded him. At that time of the day, the sun was shining straight down on him, and he felt it warming his hair.

  He paused to look up at the sky and he noticed a thick line of black smoke in the distance. It had to be Saratoga Springs. He also noticed a less impressive but considerably closer cloud of smoke. His ever-present worry lines grew deeper.

  He reached the foot of a private drive branching off from the roadway, and the smaller cloud of smoke was drifting above about the right place to be coming from a home at the other end of the drive. He debated quickly, not wanting to leave the women alone too long on one hand, and checking for survivors on the other. It didn’t take him long to decide. He jogged down the drive and emerged into clearing of at least 10 acres. A barn stood almost appearing untouched by the damage visible everywhere else. What must have been a farm house at one time, was just a flattened mass of charred wood and ash, still smoldering enough to create the smoke that Alex spotted from the road.

  He knew that there would be no survivors in that wreckage. He crossed the barn yard and opened a smaller door that was inset within a larger sliding door on the front of the barn. Horses were stamping and making nervous noises in their stalls. It was clear that they didn’t like the smell of smoke that was drifting around the area.

  The air was clear enough that they were not in any actual danger, but he didn’t want to leave them like that. He went out the back door of the barn to the adjoining pasture and saw that the fences were in shambles. He would have to leave the horses inside for now, but he would make sure someone in town knew to come and rescue them.

  He spotted a stock tank against the back wall outside and found it to be half full of water. A scummy film o
f soot and ash coated the surface and he skimmed as much of it as he could before filling a bucket he found in a tack room. He methodically watered the horses and muttered nonsense to them trying to calm them. He found some feed as well, and since he couldn’t let them out to pasture, he fed them too.

  It had been many years since he owned any horses, but as his primary mode of transportation for several centuries, he knew very well how to care for them and they were much calmer when he left.

  He jogged the rest of the way to town, mostly on the shoulder as the road was so cracked and uneven that it was difficult to travel. Twice more he had to leap over the open fissures that were criss-crossing the area. One was nearly five feet wide, so a crevasse?

  The smoke was getting thicker as he approached the edge of town. He could actually hear the fires roaring and at least three small explosions in the distance. The wind was picking up, but seemed to be swirling around without direction. It did help to dissipate the haze, and he got his first real look at Saratoga Springs when he crested a small hill at the edge of town.

  He stopped where he stood, for the vantage of the hill. Everywhere was devastation. Homes and buildings were reduced to rubble. Whole neighborhoods appeared to be burning. Cars on the streets looked as if they had been tossed around by a giant child playing matchbox. Worse yet, he could see bodies and smell the blood. He began to doubt that he would find any help here for Sara and all things considered, her condition seemed pretty good, in comparison to the destruction he was witnessing. He saw live people as well, many trying to help others, but more often wandering or crying. He also saw looters. As if the damage wasn't serious enough, they crashed through whatever was in front of them that still seemed intact. He could not understand their desire to destroy.

  He heard another explosion and turned to look for the hospital. It was the tallest building in the town of 28,000 (technically a small city), but where he should have been able to see it above the trees of the park next to it, there was nothing. The building was gone, and he cringed at the thought of a pancaked concrete monstrosity. The whole town looked like a big budget disaster movie. He knew there was nothing he could do and that he should not try to go on into that chaos. There was no help there. He turned back to the road.