In Memories We Fear

by Barb Hendee

  “A long way,” she admitted, stepping over a fallen branch. Getting him to Portland was going to be a nightmare, and she didn’t want to think of that just yet. A large raven came down through the treetops and landed on a low branch slightly ahead of them, on a small aspen tree just across from a large spruce.

  Maxim was a half step in front of Eleisha, and he looked at the bird intently. It, in turn, seemed focused on the spruce, and suddenly Maxim gasped loudly, holding his arm back to stop her, and he shouted, “Leisha!”

  She saw the glint coming down as a dark shape beside the spruce flowed into movement. On instinct, she shoved Maxim as the sword swept past. The tip sliced his face, and he hit the ground, but Eleisha didn’t watch him fall. She spun around, looking up into a pale face with cold eyes. His arms were already drawn back again.

  Stop!

  She drove the command into Julian’s mind with every ounce of anger and strength rising inside her. His sword stopped midswing.

  Freeze!

  His body went rigid, and her satisfaction at the sight of it was almost alarming. She wanted to hurt him. He’d just swung a sword at Maxim.

  I told you what would happen if you tried to hurt me or mine again, she projected.

  Even frozen, Julian’s face shone with fear.

  But the air shimmered beside Eleisha and a scream sounded in her ear, breaking her focus and sending her falling to one side. The magenta-haired girl ghost materialized, still screaming.

  Maxim was writhing on the ground, lost in terror, and he scrambled up to his feet.

  “No, don’t run!” Eleisha called to him.

  But he ran.

  Eleisha looked around wildly.

  Julian was nowhere in sight.

  The girl ghost blinked out, and then blinked back in on Eleisha’s other side, aiming a kick at her. Even while knowing the ghost couldn’t hurt her, Eleisha flinched, then jumped to her feet.

  Seamus materialized beside the girl ghost, shouting, “Get away from her!”

  The girl blinked out, and so did Seamus. Julian was still nowhere to be seen, and Eleisha needed a direct sight line to reach into his mind. As he had no telepathic ability, he was like a blank wall to other telepaths. They could not locate him mentally.

  So she ran after Maxim, hoping to protect him, and without bothering to focus or even trying to pinpoint Philip’s mind, she sent out a mental cry.

  Philip! Hurry! Julian’s in the woods.

  Jasper had reached the old cemetery quickly, and he was crouched behind a headstone, watching Philip stroll toward him.

  Philip did not seem to be doing anything in particular, just walking and looking at the old epitaphs on the graves. It galled Jasper beyond words that he was supposed to run from Philip again. The only other two times he’d met Philip, he’d run like a little girl—with no choice then.

  But now he was ready for a straight-up fight, and Philip didn’t look so tough anymore—tall maybe, but not so tough.

  However, Julian had been crystal clear, and Jasper always followed his orders, so he glanced around, wondering about the best time to move into Philip’s sight line and start running away from the forest, leading Philip in the other direction.

  He was just about to move, when Eleisha’s voice burst inside his mind. He couldn’t believe the clarity of her words, and he could almost “hear” the direction she shouted from.

  Philip! Hurry! Julian’s in the woods.

  Philip’s expression shifted to alarm, and he whirled around, looking into the trees, and Jasper knew he’d heard the voice, too.

  The game had just changed.

  Jasper pulled his sword, and dashed forward, hoping to catch Philip with his back turned.

  Philip was walking through the headstones, thinking on Eleisha, thinking on what had happened between them last night, when her voice erupted inside his head.

  Philip! Hurry! Julian’s in the woods.

  He froze, thinking she was in the shack with Wade, but her telepathic voice sounded far away. What was she doing in the woods?

  It didn’t matter.

  Julian.

  He jerked out his machete and took a step forward, ready to break into a run, when a sound behind him caused him to dodge and turn on instinct, and a silver blade missed him by inches. He swept his own blade upward with force, sending sparks flying as the metal connected, and then he found himself looking at a familiar-looking vampire—but he couldn’t quite place him.

  The vampire snarled and swung again. He was fast, and his motions were smooth, but Philip blocked him easily and began driving him backward. Philip didn’t have time to be fighting some puppy. Eleisha was alone in the trees with Julian, and Philip was ending this quickly.

  He just kept swinging, forcing the vampire to step back and back, confusion and worry growing in his eyes when he couldn’t get an opening to attack Philip.

  Then Philip feinted left with his blade and swung hard with his right fist, catching the vampire across the jaw and knocking him off his feet. Philip had the machete ready to stab downward, through the vampire’s chest to stun him—just long enough to take his head.

  But when he drove downward with the point of his blade, his attacker rolled with incredible speed and came up on all fours; then he shot into the forest, running so fast that Philip had trouble seeing him.

  Philip didn’t bother following. He bolted into the forest himself, heading toward the sound of Eleisha’s mental cry.

  Wade was repacking his suitcase when Eleisha’s cry burst inside his mind.

  Philip! Hurry! Julian’s in the woods.

  Rose stumbled in shock, and he knew she’d heard it, too. He ran for the door.

  “Wade, no!” Rose called. “You don’t know where she is, and you can’t stop Julian. Philip and Eleisha both know exactly what to do. You’ll just get yourself killed.”

  He turned on her angrily. Did everyone view him as useless?

  “I’m not going to just leave her out there with—”

  “Wade!” Seamus shouted, materializing near the door. “Run for Caufield Cemetery. That’s where Maxim’s heading, and Eleisha’s right behind him. Julian and that girl ghost are out there!”

  Before Rose could say a word, Wade ran out the door, heading down the path for Caufield Cemetery.

  Blind with panic, Jasper ran, wondering how to salvage this. Mary had been right about Philip. A few months of training with an instructor had not left Jasper remotely prepared to take on someone like Philip.

  He understood that now, but it was too late.

  Philip was on the loose somewhere in these trees, a threat to Julian.

  Jasper had failed again in the one thing Julian asked him to do.

  The air wavered up ahead, and Mary appeared. He skidded to a stop in relief. She always knew what to do.

  “God, I screwed up, Mary. I really screwed up!”

  “Run that way,” she said, pointing south, “to that cemetery where we arrived. Everyone’s heading that way, and Julian’s going to need help.”

  His eyes followed her transparent finger. He could still pull this off if he jumped in to help Julian at the right moment.

  He bolted south, crashing through brush and not even trying to be quiet.

  Eleisha nearly flew through the trees, ignoring branches hitting her in the face as she tried to catch up with Maxim. She could only imagine what he was feeling. All the years of hiding in terror had now culminated with his greatest fear of Julian swinging that sword from the darkness.

  She caught a glimpse of Maxim in a break in the trees up ahead, and she tried calling to him telepathically.

  Maxim!

  She didn’t want to send a command and freeze him in case Julian was near . . . and she needed to save her own mental strength to fight.

  Maxim, please, wait for me.

  To her relief, he slowed and looked back. His eyes were mad with panic, but she caught him quickly, pulling him down to a crouch, realizing they were at the edge
of the tree line and looking out over the graveyard of Caufield Cemetery. Until now she hadn’t even realized they’d been running south.

  He clung to her, and she clung back, her thoughts racing for what to do next.

  Something loud was rustling through the bushes about forty feet away. It couldn’t be Julian. He didn’t make noise.

  Then Philip’s voice shouted in her mind. Where are you?

  But he sounded farther away than forty feet.

  Here! We’re here at Caufield Cemetery!

  “It’s all right,” she whispered to Maxim. “He’s coming.”

  But the air wavered beside her, and the girl ghost appeared, shouting, “I found them!”

  With hiding no longer an option, Eleisha grabbed Maxim and tried pulling him into the open. At least that way, if Julian attacked, she’d see him coming.

  “No!” Maxim shouted.

  He held back, terrified of the open space, and she couldn’t pull him. Something dark moved from the bushes beside her, and she looked up just in time to see a fist coming down.

  She didn’t even feel pain.

  The world just went black.

  Julian heard a satisfying crack as his fist connected with Eleisha’s face, and she dropped, lying in the dirt with her eyes closed.

  Letting out a strange cry, Maxim bolted out into the graveyard—it was the only place to run—and fled through the headstones at high speed.

  Julian started after him, wondering what was causing that rustling sound in the forest about forty feet away, when Jasper burst from the trees with his sword in his hand. What was he doing here? Where was Philip?

  But Jasper spotted Maxim immediately and blurred into motion, running after him, and Julian could not help being impressed by his servant’s fluid speed. Jasper sailed over the headstones as if he could fly, and he cut off Maxim’s escape almost effortlessly.

  Maxim wheeled and began running back toward Julian . . . until he saw Julian and then cut left. Julian broke into a jog, moving faster with each step.

  He rarely had call to run, but he could if necessary. By this point, he knew he’d never seen Maxim before, but it didn’t matter. If Maxim had been hiding for nearly two hundred years, he was an elder who had once practiced the laws and might teach them again. He was a danger. He was an enemy.

  At the sight of Julian running to intercept him, Maxim wheeled again, and this time, Jasper caught him, using a roundhouse kick to knock him off his feet. Jasper didn’t waste any time and raised his sword to strike. Julian moved closer but didn’t interfere. If Jasper wanted to take Maxim’s head, Julian had no objections.

  Again, he couldn’t help being surprised by the sight of his once shabby, useless servant now standing there in his long black coat with his sword raised, ready to destroy an enemy. This would all be over in a matter of seconds.

  An explosion sounded. Blood sprayed from Jasper’s shoulder, and he stumbled backward. Another explosion followed immediately, making a hole in his chest.

  He choked in shock and called out, “Mary!”

  Julian swiveled his head to see Wade standing at the mouth of the path and holding a gun in both hands. Another shot rang out. This time Julian’s chest sprayed dark blood and another shot followed, catching him in the stomach.

  Maxim bolted, darting away through the headstones. Julian stumbled after him but quickly lost sight of him.

  Philip burst from the tree line about twenty feet from Wade, and he spotted Julian before he’d even slowed down.

  He carried a machete in his right hand.

  Mary materialized next to Jasper, who was still on his feet but reeling, with blood pouring from his torso.

  “Oh my God,” she said. “Jasper! Oh my God!”

  Julian . . . stop.

  A weak command reached his mind, and in horror, he swiveled his head again to see Eleisha up on all fours, regaining consciousness and trying to get up.

  Philip was running through the cemetery at high speed toward Julian, trying to close the gap between them.

  Julian forced himself to think.

  In the blink of an eye, an easy victory had shifted to a defeat so stunning he might not simply lose the battle, but lose his life. The same survival instinct that had caused him to commit the near-genocide of his own kind rose up through the blood and the pain in his chest, and he could see only one way to stop Philip and Eleisha.

  Gripping his sword in both hands, he took a few steps back and swung hard, slicing through Jasper’s throat. He watched his head fall to the ground, the body falling to its knees and dropping right after.

  As Jasper’s psychic energy burst, Philip stumbled and dropped his blade. Then he cried out and grabbed his head. So did Eleisha. So did Wade. Julian was never affected by the psychic release of an undead.

  But Jasper had been a young vampire, and Julian knew he would not have much time.

  He turned and fled, hearing only the sound of Mary’s wailing behind him.

  Seamus did not feel the psychic blast. He’d heard the younger vampire call out for Mary, seconds before, and he now had a name for the girl ghost.

  But everything happened so fast.

  From the time Wade fired the first shot to the instant Julian had beheaded his own companion, only a few blinks could have passed.

  Seamus’ companions were all holding their heads in what appeared to be agony. He could not see Maxim, who had run through the headstones. But the girl ghost was in far more pain than Eleisha or Philip or Wade.

  She was on her knees beside the dead vampire, sobbing as if she were mortal and crying out over and over again, “No, Jasper, no!”

  Seamus was moved by this sight. He understood loss, and he teleported beside them.

  “Mary,” he said softly.

  She looked up, her features twisted and transparent tears on her face. “Seamus, where is he? Where is his spirit? I don’t see it!”

  She let out a long, low-pitched sound of pain, and he wondered how to answer. Had she expected this Jasper to come to her as a ghost?

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Mary, I don’t know.”

  She made the low-pitched sound again.

  After the last of the blast faded, Eleisha climbed to her feet, feeling dizzy and sick. She stumbled out into the graveyard.

  “Maxim?”

  Searching with her mind, she felt him on the other side of a tall headstone, and she stumbled onward, finding him huddled there, frozen in terror. She dropped down, grabbing him and pulling him close.

  “It’s over,” she said, rocking him back and forth. But it didn’t feel over. She was shaking and couldn’t seem to stop. All she could think of was the sight of Julian murdering his own companion and running away.

  All she could hear was the sound of the girl ghost’s sobbing.

  She looked up, dimly aware of the sight of Philip and Wade running toward her. The sobbing faded.

  When she turned her head to look back, the girl ghost was gone.

  Thirty minutes later, Eleisha was sitting on the mattress inside the bedroom of the shack, with Maxim beside her and Rose in front of her.

  “That’s a bad bruise,” Rose was saying. “Has Philip looked at this? Did he think the cheekbone was broken?”

  Eleisha did not remember leaving the cemetery or coming back here. She didn’t know why she’d have a bruise.

  Wade and Philip were speaking in low voices in the main room, but she couldn’t see them.

  Bits and pieces of the night began coming back to her, and she remembered Julian’s fist coming toward her face.

  Julian.

  She gripped Maxim’s hand. He was safe. Julian hadn’t hurt him. He gripped her fingers back.

  Philip came through the bedroom door with Wade on his heels. They both looked at her with concern. Why were they concerned?

  “Are you all right?” Wade asked.

  She just looked at him.

  “Philip thinks I should call a taxi,” he went on, “and we should g
et cleaned up, and try to go home tonight. It’s still early, and we can make Heathrow before midnight. We’ll be traveling west, so we’ll land in the dark.”

  For some reason, Eleisha’s voice didn’t seem to work, or maybe it was her mind. She couldn’t answer him, but his words brought a flood of relief. Home. Yes, she wanted to go home more than anything and leave this place behind. She wanted to lock them all away in their fortress of a church, with its heavy doors and bulletproof glass.

  “Maxim can’t fly to America yet,” Rose said. Wade turned on her, almost angry. “We can handle it. I’ll help you on the flight, and Eleisha can help Maxim.”

  “I think we should go, Rose,” Philip said quietly. “Tonight.”

  “I’m not talking about fears and phobias,” Rose answered, growing angry herself. “He doesn’t have a passport. He doesn’t have any identification. We won’t even get him through security.”

  Despair flooded in, washing away Eleisha’s relief. They couldn’t go home . . . and how could they ever get proper documents?

  But neither Philip nor Wade appeared alarmed. Wade seemed slightly chagrined, and he said, “I think we might have that covered.” He glanced at Eleisha. “But you might not like it.”

  He walked out into the main room and came back in carrying a long black coat and a pair of boots.

  “The vampire Julian killed was about Maxim’s size, and he was turning to dust, so we took his coat and boots . . . to help Maxim fit in better on the way home.” He reached into the coat’s pocket and took out a wallet and a passport. Opening the passport, he crouched down to show it to Rose. “They look about the same age, same height, weight, slender face, pale with dark hair. Maxim’s hair is darker, but this Jasper Nesland had very short hair, so the color isn’t so visible in the photo. I think this passport will work if we book a plane ticket in Jasper’s name.” He glanced at Eleisha again. “I know it’s ghoulish, but I just can’t think of—”

  “No, it’s good,” Eleisha said, finding her voice as bits and pieces of the night still came back to her. She could hear the explosions in her ears. “Where did the gun come from? You didn’t bring it with you.”