by L. A. A. Law
“I have to make the call. There is someone there that I can trust implicitly and they will not reveal anything, but at least they can be on guard to protect all of those innocent people.”
“I hope that you know what you are doing.”
“I’m doing what I have to.” I just hope I know what I am doing as well.
Telling him the number, he hands me the telephone. “Jason it’s Mia are you alone.”
“Actually, you caught me in the middle of a meeting.”
“Don’t say who you are talking to. I need you to move away from the group or if you can’t, call me back at the number on your screen, it is a matter of life and death.”
“I will call you right back.”
Kenneth returns. “May I speak to you alone?”
Thinking he is talking to Grant, I clasp the telephone tightly until I hear Grant’s reply. “I’ll go get something to eat. What could I bring back for you Mia?”
“Nothing, I’m fine thank you.”
The cushion dips beside me. “Mia, I’m sure Grant told you his sister telephoned me and he wants me to go back and get those individuals I heard speaking about staying behind. Before I get any further involved, I need some answers from you.”
“What would you like to know?”
“Grant’s sister believes that you have placed a spell on her brother and that you are trouble, but Grant swears she is mistaken. I can see how desperate you seem to get back to your family, but why should I believe that you haven’t done something to my friend to cause what is going on now.”
“Father let me assure you that I am not what made your friend a werewolf, but I believe that you already know that from the night that you saw some werewolves in the forest transforming back and forth. It is very easy for us to ignore things that we cannot explain, I can say that from experience, because relatively speaking I am new to this word as well. I came here because my father saved the life of a young boy who is the son of your minister. I will not lie to you, I am a witch, but I have never used my powers, such as they are to do anything but good. I know all too well the nightmare and loss that using gifts that one has to bewitch someone or do evil could cause. In fact, I’m a psychiatrist at a hospital in Maine that primarily deals with patients who have been impaired by evil. My family and I have always tried to protect those who are weaker than we are. There is nothing that I can say or do to convince you that I have not bewitched your friend, all I can do is beg you to help us. All I want to do is make sure that my family does not suffer and neither does his.” The telephone rings. “Father, I need to answer this, but if you wait one moment, I will be happy to answer whatever questions you have in order to get you to help.” He does not rise to leave.
“Jason, are you alone now?”
“Yes, but what is going on? You sound very upset.”
“Andrew and some of the family are coming home but we have had trouble here. What I am going to tell you, you can’t tell anyone, except for Rachel and Ryan, but you have to do it alone and make sure that they understand that they cannot reveal what they know to anyone, not even my family.”
“Mia, what are you talking about?”
“Jason, please just listen. Andrew will be returning with someone who looks like me and someone who is pretending to be Jacob, but they are not who they appear to be.”
“Mia, back up, you’re not making any sense.”
“I’m sorry. Let me start from the beginning. Did Lucas ever tell you the story of his time here in England?”
“Yes, but that was centuries ago, what could that have to do with anything now.”
“Did he tell you of the little girl that he rescued?”
“Yes, but I’m sure that she is dead.”
“That would be correct, if she was just a little girl, but she was a werewolf and a very powerful one from what I understand. The family that Lucas was with blames him for rescuing her and causing a werewolf plague upon them which killed Lucas’ wife and some other family members. When Lucas was here dedicating the hospital, the dedication made the papers and the family found out he was back. They wanted to take revenge and got the children.”
I hear Jason gasp. “Why would they take your children to get revenge upon him?”
“They thought that they were his children, he was watching them at the time.”
“When we were trying to rescue them, they grabbed me and got Jacob. They also got Gabriel and Eva and someone else, but I don’t know who the third one is.”
“Mia, if they have you how are you calling me and didn’t you say that Jacob and you are heading home?”
“That is where this gets difficult so I need you to just listen to what I’m telling you and take it as truth even if it sounds ridiculous. Can you do that for me please?”
“After what we have all seen is there really anything that we can classify as ridiculous.”
“I’m not even sure I can fathom it all but it is essential that you believe me and do what you can to protect everyone up there. We were on their estate trying to rescue the kids. I had been channeling with them, so I was slower than our group. I sent Lucas to go and find Andrew because he went on ahead and Nicholas and Kayla were hurt.”
He interrupts. “Are they alright?”
“I hope so, but that is something else that we have to talk about. Jason, please just listen, this is confusing enough and I have to make sure that you are prepared. The woman coming back as me is dangerous, she is part of the family that Lucas spoke of and so is the one who is coming back as Jacob. They want to kill the family because of his rescuing Elizabeth, they are looking for revenge and I’m telling you they are barbaric and have no conscious. They are holding Jacob in some sort of cage because they saw him transform and know he can escape from shackles, they are also holding Eva, Gabriel, another of ours, and two other children in a dungeon. If they believe for even one minute that you suspect anything, they will kill them and take you out.” I have to stop as sobs tear up my throat.
“Mia, if there are only two of them, we can take them out when they get here.”
“I wish that you could, but you can’t take them out before we get to our family here. If they have some sort of plan that requires them to communicate with each other and she misses a communication they will kill our family here before we have a chance to get to them! You can’t take them out, you have to let them think that they are fooling you and see if you can discover their time table. I know that they want to find out how to acquire our powers before killing our family to torture Lucas, so I’m hoping it may buy us some time, but I also need you to be on guard and try to keep the children away from Jacob and keep me away from the patients. I know that I am asking a lot, but they are not like our family, they hunt and they do so brutally and barbarically, if they were to ever hunt there...”
“I understand. I will talk to Ryan and Rachel and we will make sure that someone is watching them at all times, what about talking to the family without them being present?”
“I am going to have to leave that up to you, but you have to be careful and no one can let on that they know. So if you do talk to them, do it alone and not in a big group without even Ryan and Rachel present. We don’t want them getting suspicious.”
“What about you, how did you get away and where are you now?”
“They may think that I am dead. The one who is pretending to be me caught me in the woods with another and they bit me. They left me for dead but I was rescued by a werewolf and am with him now.”
“Mia, if you were bit, are you alright? Reginald told me that his transformation was brutal, more so than usual because he was a witch.”
“I don’t think I transformed. I don’t feel as though I have changed, in fact, if I had changed, I couldn’t have been bleeding from the gash in my head. No, I’m sure that I haven’t changed.”
“How could that be?”
“I don’t know, but that isn’t important now, Jason, please, you need to protect them u
p there and if something should go wrong here, you are going to have to tell Andrew before the first full moon that Kayla and Nicholas may be turning into werewolves.”
“What!” His loud response causes me drop the telephone.
Kenneth places it back in my hand. “Mia, what in the world is going on? You get bit by a vampire, they are turning into werewolves and you are with a werewolf now!”
“Jason, please I know this is a lot to take in but Nicholas and Kayla were bitten, it was a misunderstanding and Andrew, Nicole and the real Jacob tried to heal them before Jacob was caught, but we don’t know what the repercussions of their being bitten may lead to. You just need to be prepared. I also need you to do something else for me. I know that some of the family is staying behind, someone overheard their suspicions and with Eva and Gabriel missing, it must have been decided to have them look for the others while getting the children safely home. When everyone returns, you need to determine who stayed behind and give them this number to contact me. We are going to try to get into contact with them, but if they are already gone, you can call them to get in contact with me, but don’t say it is me. Tell them it is someone who can help. We need to be very careful.” Taking in a deep breath, “I need you to do one last thing for me. After they all return, if Emma and Reginald return with them, have them leave Sanctuary and get in touch with me, but again, don’t say that it is me. The less you say on Sanctuary grounds near the imposters, the better. Please Jason, you need to be careful and tell Rachel and Ryan to be careful as well, if we slip it will be disastrous.”
“Mia, are you sure that you are safe with this werewolf? If he or his pack bit the children, you cannot be safe with them. Maybe they are in league with that family.”
“I am safe with him. The family has two of his children so we both have the same goal in mind. Jason, if you do tell Andrew and he has trouble believing you, tell him to look at her ring finger. But if you think it is too dangerous to tell him or that his reaction will give anything away, leave him in the dark. I can’t risk the children.”
“Mia, are you sure that you are alright? This is quite a lot to take in.”
“I’m fine as long as we can protect the children. Jason, promise me, that you will do everything you can to protect yourselves and our family at Sanctuary. These vampires are more barbaric than you can imagine and we can’t afford for them to hurt anyone there.”
“I promise. Can I reach you at this number you’re calling from?”
“Yes, if that changes, I’ll call you again. I have to go, be careful.” With that I hang up.
“I’m sorry Kenneth, or do you prefer father?”
“Ken is fine actually.”
“Ken, just tell me what it will take to convince you that I have not done anything to bewitch Grant and to get you to go back to the hospital one more time in search of those family members who are staying behind.”
“Actually, I am already convinced. I know what a good man Grant is, maybe that is why I never truly wanted to admit to myself that I knew something had touched his life that could not be explained. I listened with an unobstructed heart to your conversation and although I could only hear your end, your concern for individuals besides yourself and your immediate family rang through ever word. No one can feign that type of concern. Although, I do have to ask you something, Grant told me that you became blind in the struggle, why didn’t you tell your friend that you are blind and that you and Grant are on your own?”
“He is going to have a difficult enough time keeping the people at Sanctuary safe. If he does decide to tell my husband what happened, I can’t afford Andrew being distracted worrying about what is happening here with me in this condition. Any distraction could lead to a mistake which could cost someone their life. There is too much that can go wrong, everyone needs to be focused on protecting the children who are held captive here and the children and helpless patients that we have at the hospital, telling him would have served no purpose.”
“I will be back as soon as I can, hopefully with your friends. In the meantime, if you need to rest, there are extra rooms upstairs that we have for visiting guests, have Grant show you to a room.”
He retreats as Grant sits beside me. “Do you think that Jason can keep it from Marlena and whoever is Jacob?”
“Jason is a very good man and knows the importance of what I asked, he will be very careful.”
“What about the other two?”
“I can trust them implicitly besides I cannot protect my children who are there from here and knowing their father unless he is sure that it isn’t me, he won’t attack me or Jacob. I know that in that moment of hesitation, one of my children or someone that I love will die. I know that Kenneth said that two of them were suspicious and staying behind, but we don’t really know what they are suspicious of. What if it isn’t about the imposters, they may only be searching for our missing family members. I can’t have two barbaric vampires with only who knows what kinds of strength and power looking like myself and my son go into a hospital and school area where there are not just our kind but humans who have no special power or strength to protect themselves and who have already suffered. I have to hope that giving them the heads up as to what is coming their way will prevent injury and death to those there and hopefully we can work on getting those here out. Do you think that if you go back to your pack without me that you could convince them that they have to move now and cannot wait to speak with anyone else or wait for their arrival?.”
“Mia, when I left the pack to come and find you, I violated a direct order to stay on our lands, I have never broken from a direct order before. This type of behavior would only go to prove my sister’s argument that I have been bewitched. If I go back there now, it is likely that they will hold me in one of our cells.”
“What are you talking about, what type of cell?”
“We have holding cells. On occasion, we have had instances where our kind have gone crazy, been bitten or been bewitched and we have had to hold them until the elders decide what to do with them. If I were to return now, I would probably be held in the cell until they could determine that I was either not bewitched or that there was no help for me. Either way, it would be precious time lost.”
I hear something in his voice. “Grant is there something that you are holding back?”
I hear him sigh. “Mia, you need to understand something first, it wasn’t that I thought I was holding something back from you and I wasn’t trying to mislead you, it’s just that I didn’t believe that it was possible and it was determined that my great, great grandfather had gone crazy because of the vampire bite that eventually killed him.”
My mouth drops open. “What do you know?”
“Mia, please I’m sorry that I wasn’t totally honest with you, but you have to admit you are not fully forthcoming with me either. It’s just that I was listening to you talking to Jason and if you really do trust him I think that you should know something and that you should call him back and let him know of this possibility.”
“Grant what is it that you didn’t tell me?”
“It wasn’t entirely true that I didn’t know of the possibility that David could change before this time. I told you that the story of Elizabeth was famous among our kind, but what I didn’t tell you was that she had come on to our land when she returned here for revenge against the family that took hers. She had taken several wolves, they stormed the estate during a hunt. She had underestimated them though and her pack was severely decimated. My great grandfather heard the cries that night and he and his brothers went into the woods against the elders’ orders. Two of his brothers died, but my great grandfather got Elizabeth and some of the others in her pack off of the estate. Elizabeth stayed here for a while to allow some of her members to recover from their injuries. While she was here, David must have caught her scent and I have heard vampires never forget a scent. She was walking the grounds when he came to her. She said that he was safe. She identified him as
the one that had rescued her. However, that evening, two of our Elders were found bitten and then he went after Elizabeth. My grandfather leapt in between them and he was bitten. Elizabeth stayed with him until the end in the cell, the elders believed that Elizabeth was too young to remember what Lucas looked like and that somehow an imposter convinced her that it was him. Elizabeth insisted that she did not forget and my grandfather insisted that she was deceived by David saying that he saw the vampire transform from Lucas to David just before he lunged for Elizabeth. They thought that he was impaired because of the bite and that he could have never seen what he claimed. Obviously, we were all wrong. I’m sorry I kept this from you, but if they all have that power, Marlena might be able to change into someone else if she thinks that they suspect her, so if they tip their hand in any way, they need to grab her and find some way of holding her so that she or the one pretending to be Jacob can’t transform into anyone else.”
As this sinks in, I remember David telling Marlena that after she bit me he would transform her. With any luck, maybe he is the only one with that power and found some way to transform them into one person. Hopefully, they can’t do it themselves. Calling Jason, I convey the possibility that if she or Jacob catch on or are out of their sight they could change into another persona. He tells me that he has already talked to Rachel and Ryan and that they are prepared to keep an eye on both of them and ensure that they don’t get to anyone, but that they aren’t sure if they will tell Andrew or any of my family until after they talk to Emma and Reginald since we don’t know enough about the family to know what their powers are and what they are capable of.
“Mia, can I ask you something? You said that your son did not know how to transform and you didn’t know how so it couldn’t be from his being a witch, what are you people really because vampires don’t change.”
“Grant, I’m sorry, I can’t say what allows him to change.”
“Mia, please if he can do it and David can do it, at least if you told me what it is about you people that allow this type of transformation, we could learn what to look for. I need to understand what allows David to do this if we are ever to even have a chance at defeating them.”