by P. Mattern
Cass pulled her against him as he exchanged a glance with Lux.
“We’ll let you know everything. Now please go in .Fress is waiting for you.”
With Mitzi safely ensconced within the walls of the cottage Cass and Lux sped toward Mitzi’s home, not sure what they would find there.
The first sight that greeted their wary eyes was Charley Rabbit cleaning broken shards of glass off the floor of the living room, where a decorative mirror had been smashed. It was obvious that whoever had ransacked the home was not only looking for someone but also some THING. Immediately Charley shared Buttercups grave status with the twins.
“She’s being attended to by a specialist nurse-Sephla-upstairs now. Celeste and Ariel are with her also. Seems like she’ll pull through although she received quite a shock to the system.”
Cass and Lux both stiffened at Charley’s somber report.
“What kind of shock to the system?” Cass wanted to know. Already his color was rising.
“What did they do-the perpetrators-rough her up?”
The look in Charley’s eyes was the only answer he got, but he immediately understood that the attack was more insidious. Cass’s eyes widened.”But she’s not-WAIT-you mean to tell me that they SODOMIZED her?”
A glaze of wrath descended over Cass’s eyes. He felt as though his blood was boiling, and a quick glance over at Lux revealed that his twin was experiencing the same reaction. Cass knew in that moment how dear his family and extended family, including the docile, servile Buttercup who had never harmed anyone in her existence and was the epitome of devotion, was to him. And he knew he would kill to protect any and all of them.
“It’s not safe for you and Mitzi, Cass and Buttercup to stay here now, ”Lux said to Charley.”We’ll need to make other arrangements until we figure out who’s behind this. Agreed?” he finished, looking uncharacteristically grim as he looked at the others.
The vampires stood together in a triad for a few moments in the room ,contemplating both the enormity and significance of the attack. During those moments a bond was strengthened between the twins and Charley Rabbit. The commitment that they felt toward each other and the others that comprised their ‘tribe’ deepened. Suddenly the half-scowl on Charley’s face was replaced with a look of recognition.
“I really love you guys.” Charley said.”Whatever I can do-just tell me and I’ll do it. You both have had military experience and I bow to your greater experience and expertise. By the way ,has Yaya been informed? Is he aware of the attack?”
Lux cleared his throat.
“I put in a call…Yaya will get back to me with whatever information he can glean from all the sources at his disposal. It’s clear this attack was orchestrated. Buttercup was obviously not one of the targets-her situation was collateral damage after the attackers didn’t find what –or who-they were searching for. When Yaya consults his sources we’ll get a clearer picture of what we’re up against. In the meantime we circle the wagons, protect the women folk, all the cowboy stuff.”
Charley looked thoughtful.
“The cottage isn’t really big enough for all of us-what with the new houseguests ,Kimbra and Carey staying there. I know Fress still has the spare bedroom upstairs for Cass and my Mom. As soon as Buttercup can be safely moved we’ll take her over there also. Don’t worry about me. I’m sure Merilee will be happy to let me stay after I share what’s happened here…but what can we do for a more permanent solution? Rent a house?”
Cass and Lux exchanged meaningful looks.
“We might be moving to the country Charley, at least temporarily. Remember Sunnyside Farm?”
“Your family place where we picnicked?” Charley replied.”And where my mom and I had flying lessons? It’s beautiful out there guys but I never saw a house. Is there a house or are we talking about permanently camping out?”
Cass smiled for the first time in the last few serious hours.
“Oh there’s a house there Charley,” he replied, the twinkle in his eye returning. “It’s actually been there awhile. Rather large. Six bedrooms-7 or 8 if you count the office and the den. About 4,800 square feet overall.”
Charley looked even more confused.”Then where is it on the property?”
“About half the length of a football field away from where we were picnicking.” Lux replied.
“The reason you didn’t see it, Charley, is because it’s completely underground.”
All three vampires looked toward the stairs as hurrying footfalls sounded. Celeste and the nurse Sephla appeared and came toward them. Charley tried to read Celeste’s face but found it unreadable. The nurse spoke first, without preamble.
“Buttercup is conscious, and the damage caused by her attack has been repaired-at least as far as we can tell. She will be in a substantial amount of pain for the next few days. She will require feedings every three hours to get her strength back…if you don’t have a decent supply on hand I suggest you sent someone to the Blood Bank. It goes without saying that the attack traumatized her system and she will not be able to provide service to anyone for at least 10 days. I would encourage her to continue to eat grass and lactate. In that way she can still provide some service and feel useful, very important aspects of psychological wellness for a clone. Her traumatic injuries are all below the waist-above the waist she seems fine.”
As she spoke Charley let out the breath he’d been holding in, and noticed Cass doing the same. In the bright overhead light of the chandelier the scar on the woman’s right cheek stood out in bold relief, as if carved with raw pinkish scarred edges into the flesh of her otherwise strikingly beautiful face. Charley could see it more clearly and saw that it included not only an encircled septagram, but also a dragon head in profile in the center of the septagram. He recognized it as the insignia of Adrastos. He wanted to ask Sephla about it but thought it might be taken as rudeness.
“Thank you.” he said earnestly to the nurse Sephla ,bowing slightly in deference.”It was so very kind of you to come on short notice, and we can never repay you for saving Buttercup.Is there anything we can do-or give you-to show our appreciation?”
Sephla shook her head but looked around the circle of male faces with a serious expression. Violetblue highlights shone in her dark hair as she stood under the light of the chandelier.”You’ll have to fashion a stretcher to carry Buttercup out of here in. It’s not safe here. Once Hybrids have swarmed they will be back periodically to continue searching for whatever-or WHOever-they were seeking when Buttercup was attacked. It is their way, in the same way that birds migrate and salmon swim upstream-part of their genetic code. You must abandon the home for now.”
“We intend to.” Charley answered evenly. Once again he was filled with a burning desire to ask Sephla about the scar on her right cheek. Although he struggled to push down the question he was burning to ask it struggled to the surface all the same.
“Excuse me-Nurse Sephla-and I apologize for my rude question ahead of time-but ,if you don’t mind-can I ask how you received the scar on your cheek?”
Behind him Charley thought he heard one of the twins gasp. And he thought they were absolutely right for being appalled. It was rather a rude question in the best of circumstances ,and made to seem even more rude by the fact that Sephla had gone out of her way to travel to Mitzi’s house and help Buttercup on short notice.
Quickly Lux appeared beside Charley.”Sister Sephla I apologize for my young brother here-he’s only been turned a short while and tends to speak what’s on his mind before he thinks.” Lux finished, giving Charley a sidelong annoyed look that included widening his big blue eyes and then immediately forcing them into glaring slits for emphasis.
Sephla’s serious countenance changed to one of bemusement.
“As it happens,” she said,”I was asking myself if I should share my history with Charley, given that I was told his mother is a refugee from Faquier Hall. That is correct ,isn’t it? She finished ,looking at Charley evenly.
“Well then,” Sephla continued ,seeming to contemplate that information and beginning to slowly walk in a circle around Charley where he stood.”I suppose I should tell you the story to put things in perspective for you.”
By that time she had completed a full circle around Charley and stood facing him again.
“A few decades ago I was once a Declared Woman of Adrastos Animavorous. I was given to him by my own father to repay a debt he owed Adrastos. Adrastos had given my father seven years to repay the debt, but as our tribe was at war almost constantly during that period of time, settling the debt turned out to be an impossibility.
“At first Adrastos treated me well, even with kindness at times. He Declared me as the Mistress of Faquier Hall, and for a time I convinced myself I was in love with him. I wore my chattel chains proudly. But when he suggested I become a tribite, I resisted. In my culture to allow oneself to be thrice-bitten was to become eternally damned.
“He began to whip me privately in his attempt to change my mind-he needed my permission in order to turn me you see, but I refused to give it. I continued to refuse and begged him to reconsider. My humiliations became more frequent and more public. I realized that his cruelty was escalating, and so I made a plan of escape.
“I was an expert flyer, and also familiar with what had been discovered as the portal system ,though much of it still remained to be discovered at that time. On the night I escaped I begged my wetnurse Willow to come with me. She was the only one at Castle Adrastos that I trusted. I was going to carry her as I flew to a new life ,but at the last minute she told me she couldn’t leave. Weeping, she watched me fly off the paraphet and toward the portal over the surrounding forest.
And then she ran as fast as her small feet could carry her to tell Adrastos.
I won’t describe the torture I was subjected to when his soldiers caught up with me-it was at the instant that I was about to set foot into the portal-I still remember feeling a sense of freedom as I dipped one of my slippered feet into the swirling, shining entrance-and was immediately jerked backwards into the rough grasp of his minions.
I was young, by both vampire and human years. He had things done to me-final things-to make sure that I would never have children. And he branded me-to make me ugly to other male energies, to make sure that I would never forget what happened. And then he let me go.”
She paused to look at all the faces in the room. Celeste , unmoving, was focusing on a spot on the wall ,her countenance brooding ,a scowl across her normally smooth brow. The twins were seemingly frozen in place. Looking searchingly into Charley’s eyes she spoke again.
“Charley if Adrastos finds Parmitsvia, your mother, he may brand her too. And worse. Because she escaped him.
That is what I wanted to tell you.”
Cass stepped forward until he was shoulder to shoulder with Charley Rabbit and facing Sephla. He was polite as he spoke to her but tinges of annoyance underscored his words.
“Sephla we appreciate your warnings, and your sharing your history, but Parmitsvia-Mitzi- is my betrothed. I’M responsible for her safety. And we do have a safe place to move her and Buttercup, which we will, with all haste-I assure you.”
Sephla took at long moment to look Cass up and down ,as though sizing him up.
“Of course “, she murmured, seemingly more to herself than to the parties gathered there.
“The sire of the boy child in Parmitsvia womb. He is the second to be conceived but he will be the first to emerge from the matrix. He will be a formidable male energy on the world, and in future worlds to come. “
Charley looked impatient, and also a bit skeptical.
“Sephla “, he said bluntly, impatience in his voice,”My mother is pregnant with twins.”
As soon as the words emerged from his always impetuous mouth he was immediately sorry, as through his prescient sense he realized that he was about to hear something he was never meant to hear. Beside him Cass made an unidentifiable noise as though trying to ward off or even prevent the words that were about to emerge from the mouth of the Vampire nurse.
Sephla reached out a small hand to place on Charley’s forearm ,but before she could speak Cass interrupted her by whirling Charley around to face him.
“Charley.” He said ,shooting a baleful look in Sephla’s direction.”I told you your mother is pregnant with twins-fraternal twins-but in truth I am the father of ONE of them.
The other is the sire of Adrastos.”
Charley had an out-of-body experience for a moment as he attempted to digest this newest piece of information, which on the surface seemed to be the largest overshare of all time .It was crowded with additional ,surmise-able information that he didn’t want to know. Among the thoughts racing around in his head were anger and disappointment at Cass for not clueing him in sooner ,rage at the thought of Adrastos’ intimacy with his mother, incredulity that what had to be a freak accident of nature had to occur to Mitzi, who was such a generous kind and loving being that she would always be a hero of his …all these emotions swirled in his consciousness and rendered him speechless.
The silence that followed was both awkward and debilitatingly sad. Cass tried to touch Charley’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort and Charley jerked away automatically. But Cass wasn’t finished speaking because he urgently needed to update Charley and reason with him.
“Charley, Mitzi doesn’t know-she can’t know man .However upset you are at the moment-and you are ENTITLED to be upset without a doubt…imagine how she would feel if you told her. It might even cause her to miscarry, Charley. Lux and Celeste and I thought it would be prudent not to share until after the birth. I’m sorry man. But its about Mitzi, more than you. She’s the priority.
And now on top of that I am asking for your solemn promise not to breathe a word-not only to your mom but not to anyone-Merilee ,anyone.
For your mom’s sake. And my child. I love them Charley.”
Although Cass finished his soliloquy in a calm tone, his heart was racing and he feared that he had lost Charley’s friendship. And taking into account the impulsivity problems that Charley seemed to be having of late he wasn’t sure he could be completely trusted to keep this latest information to himself.
But Cass needn’t have worried on either account. With the voice of a much older ,world-weary being, the fresh horrors of the evening reflected in his eyes, Charley sighed and said tonelessly ,”I agree. Cass I would never do anything to make her unhappy. It’s not her fault.”
Turning his eyes to his friend, Charley said soulfully,
“And I can see the depth of your love for her…and the child. I know now that you will always do what’s best for them. It must have killed you to find this out-but you’ve continued to treat my mother wonderfully…and that is love. You have nothing to prove to me anymore. I’m convinced that you’re right in not telling her. And I thank you for it.”
Standing a short distance behind the other three vampires, Lux was pleased and surprised to hear Charley’s words. In his mind Charley had definitely matured in a few short weeks, even though his revelations and life lessons had come in a barrage that included dark temptations, situational curve balls, seeming betrayals and mind-numbing revelations-Charley had handled it all pretty well-at least in Lux’s opinion.
Stepping forward he clapped Charley on the shoulder. Sephla, who had been silent since bringing up the true circumstances of Mitzi’s pregnancy, began to speak again.
“I really cannot stay more than two more days-there is another clone situation I must attend to. But I will be available to check Buttercups progress after this, and make sure that she is healing well. The stitches are dissolvable and should disappear on their own as she heals.” As she finished, Sephla displayed a wan, tired looking smile to everyone ,including Celeste, and added,”It was a privilege to assist in Buttercups recovery. She is a true innocent in the world.Whoever did this monstrous thing to her had revealed the
ir evil nature and disregard for other beings.”
Celeste stepped forward and embraced Sephla warmly,throwing her arms around the woman and resting her head on Sephla shoulder for a moment before releasing her. Afterwards the two women stood facing eachother,each one’s affection for the other reflected in their eyes.
“I can’t thank you enough for coming,”Celeste told her.”You must stay with Ariel and I for the rest of your visit-I will help you move your things from the hotel.It is the least that we can do-we are in your debt Sephla. You are a true heart.”
Charley added ,”And if you will pardon me for saying so ,because I know we just met-Adrastos failed in one thing. You are still a very beautiful vampire ,Sephla, even with the scar you bear.”
Sephla held Charley’s gaze as she touched her branded cheek in an almost absentminded gesture.
“Thank you Charley Rabbit. I know you are sincere and your words have meaning to me.”
As the rest of the group echoed Celeste’s appreciation, Celeste linked arms and took Sephla out to her SUV. Watching the women make their way down the garden path Charley said, almost to himself, ”There’s a story in their history together that no one is telling. I can feel it.”
Once again Lux was pleased with Charley, both for his prescience and his acceptance of others.
“You’re right Charley. But that’s all I can tell you for now. But I can tell you this-if it wasn’t for Celeste, Sephla might have ended up as a card carrying member of the Dark Congregation, rather than the Light. It was Celeste that helped her recover from her near destruction by Adrastos, convinced her that her immortal life was worth living and that her gifts were much needed by the V-net. And-as we’ve seen here tonight-they are.”
Charley shook his head in wonder. ”So that’s what groups of Vampires are called? Not claves or tribes or covens but-Congregations?”
Lux gave Charley a slightly disappointed look.
“Charley you obviously haven’t half finished the copy of the Reverendum I gave you or you would KNOW this stuff. The Reverendum is Vampires 101 to 401-if I were you I’d read it from cover to cover. And as soon as possible.” He finished, a serious professorial tone in his voice.