Indulgence

by Liz Crowe

  “There was no other driver. The police report said I lost control on the wet pavement and that I was the only one in the vehicle.”

  “That’s because Vincent removed Matthew before anyone could get there.”

  “Right. And what exactly did Vincent do with Matt? And what about the other car? And how is it that Jenna and my other friends all know that Matt died in an accident three years ago?” Fury was building in me with each ridiculous claim.

  “Vincent learned to manipulate his gift. I didn’t know this until the night of your transformation.”

  “What?” I growled.

  Marlo let out a huge sigh. “After Vincent bit you at the party, I ran after him. I wanted to know why he did it. He claimed that after you lunged at Jenna, he feared for your life and thought that the rest of the Secret Coven would kill you since you hadn’t consented to your transformation. He knew the incident was a risk to our existence.”

  “You aren’t telling me anything I don’t know already,” I coldly stated.

  “I questioned Vincent as to why he thought that. We suspected that Jenna hadn’t seen anything since Lorenzo was able to get her out of the room so quickly. And in fact, Lorenzo confirmed afterwards that Jenna hadn’t suspected anything out of the ordinary. She believed that you were feeling ill. Allison, you are an exception to all of our rules. We wouldn’t have killed you, but you definitely would have needed to consent very soon thereafter. We would have transformed you. So to me, Vincent’s excuse didn’t make sense, especially considering the penalty he would pay for transforming you without your permission.”

  “His own death; yes, I questioned the same thing.”

  “And as I said earlier, Vincent is one of the most selfish people I know. I couldn’t see him risking his own existence just to transform another mortal.” Marlo paused before continuing. “But you weren’t just any other mortal.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “No, I’m a descendant.”

  “Exactly,” Marlo replied. “And the first of all descendants to show signs of vampirism.”

  I didn’t like what I was hearing, but what Marlo was saying was starting to make sense, even if I couldn’t bring myself to admit it.

  “You are something that none of our kind has ever seen before. Allison, you truly are one of kind. Knowing Vincent’s affinity for rare things, I started putting things together. I thought back to the day you were born.”

  “What? Why?”

  Marlo sighed again. “Vincent insisted that he needed to be in the delivery room, that he had to see you. At that time, we didn’t think too much of it. After all, we had watched over the births of descendants for centuries, watching for any abnormalities. But on the day you were born, Lorenzo was going to observe. Vincent insisted that he observe instead, and Lorenzo agreed. After you were born, Vincent was in such a good mood. It had been years, maybe decades, since any of us had seen Vincent so elated. When asked about the cause of his jubilation, he only said that he knew you were going to be special, that he could see it in your eyes.”

  “He said what?” My jaw dropped and I looked away from Marlo. Vincent had helped deliver me. Vincent was the doctor who had handed me to my parents and told them that I was going to be special. He uttered those words which lodged in my parent’s minds, the words that they repeated to me throughout my life. Those words that haunted me and kept me searching for my true calling were first spoken by him. Those words which wouldn’t just allow me to enjoy the life I had. Those words which forced me to keep looking for my true calling and led me to this.

  “He must have noticed the thirteen gold flecks in each of your eyes,” Marlo muttered. “No other descendant had ever had thirteen in each eye. We didn’t know then that it meant anything, that it would lead to this. But that’s not all.”

  I looked back at Marlo but didn’t know what to say. My mind couldn’t process that Vincent was present in the delivery room with me and my parents and that he was the original source of the angst I had experienced all of my life.

  “Do you remember how shocked Felix and I were at the party when you said Matthew had been dead for three years? Well we knew that wasn’t true. Allison, I was watching over you just a few weeks earlier and Matthew was alive and well.”

  My mind went blank. Although I heard the words, I couldn’t comprehend them. Marlo was standing here telling me she saw Matt just weeks earlier. I wasn’t sure how that was possible as I’d had a flood of memories in recent days telling me the opposite was true. Matt hadn’t been in my life for some time. He was dead and I had grieved for him and moved on and then I met Vincent and started dating him and fell in love.

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Jenna confirmed Matt’s death. She had all of the details of what happened. And I’m living in a different house that I’ve been in for almost three years. My other friends have abandoned me because of the self-induced exhile I plunged myself into after Matt’s death.”

  “No Allison, none of that is true. When I confronted Vincent in the woods, he stuck to his story that he feared for your life and wanted me to believe that he understood his sacrifice. So I asked him about Matthew and how he was able to separate you so quickly from him. Vincent became enraged as I pressed the topic. His reaction seemed strange to me, especially if he had been able to get you to leave your husband so easily. When he was good and angry and thinking about nothing else other than how he had separated you two, I touched him.”

  My mouth dropped open when I realized what Marlo tried doing in the woods with Vincent. “You saw it, didn’t you? You saw the truth? You saw his visions?”

  “Yes. You see, Vincent’s gift as a historian is not only to record stories, either seen firsthand or through another, but also to retell them.”

  “I know. He showed me Cain’s story using his gift.”

  “Well, he manipulated this gift. Allison, I promise you that Matthew was in the car with you the night of the accident. I saw it in Vincent’s vision. Vincent was driving the vehicle that hit yours and spun you out of control. He pulled your vehicle out of the ditch. He wanted to take you, that was his plan, but he had no time to get you out of the car as an ambulance was quickly approaching. So he took Matt instead.”

  “And then what?” I asked, feeling defeated.

  “He called me and asked me to go to the hospital to watch you and make sure the mortal doctors didn’t suspect anything.”

  “I don’t remember this. Why don’t I remember the accident or the ambulance ride or Vincent at the scene?”

  “Because Vincent didn’t want you to remember any of it.”

  “What?” I asked in disbelief. But I didn’t really care to hear the answer. I wanted to know what had happened to my husband. “So what happened to Matt? Where did Vincent take him? And what about Jenna’s memory and that of my other friends?”

  “As for your friends, Vincent was quite busy the few days you were in the hospital. He used his gift to erase their memories of you and Matt over the past three years and replaced them with new memories.”

  “He did what?”

  “He must have concocted a story in his own mind and fed it to your friends as the truth. That’s the only thing I can think of. He had all the time in the world to do this when you were in the hospital.”

  “And what about Matt?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know?” I yelled. “You saw his memories, how could you not see what he did with Matt?”

  “Allison,” Marlo pleaded. “Vincent knew what I was doing; he knew I was trying to see the events in his mind’s eye. He pulled away as quickly as he could. I didn’t have a chance to see what happened to Matthew.”

  “Then how do you know he’s alive?”

  “Because Vincent said so.”

  “And you believe him?” I asked incredulously.

  “I actually do on this one.”

  “Why?”

  “Honestly, I think he knows it would have hurt you too much
if you learned that he had killed Matthew. I think in Vincent’s mind, he thinks you will forgive him and still move on with him since Matthew is alive.”

  “Oh does he now?” I muttered to myself. My mind was processing everything I had just learned. “Well, tell me this Marlo. Why didn’t you figure any of this out while I was in the hospital? Didn’t you think it strange that I was in a car accident and my husband wasn’t at the hospital to visit me?”

  “Vincent told me that Matthew was taken to a different hospital. He said that he was following you home that night but that you were in an accident. He said you were being taken to Medina General but Matthew was being life flighted to another hospital. I didn’t think anything of it, honestly. I was concerned about getting to the hospital in time to see you. Vincent had said that he knocked you out so the EMS workers weren’t suspicious that you made it out of an accident that bad unscathed. With your symptoms accelerating, it was no surprise to us that you escaped that accident. But I had to get to the hospital and keep you unconscious for a few days while the doctors ran their tests. I had to make sure they didn’t suspect anything with you. And knowing Matthew was taken elsewhere, well, I didn’t expect to see him at Medina General.”

  “What about after I woke? I was screaming for my husband. Your vampire ears didn’t hear that?”

  “After I woke you, I got Doctor Frid. I assumed all would be well. I had to call Vincent and let him know that you were awake; he insisted on it. I was on the phone with Vincent when Jenna and the doctor were in the room with you. I was in the nurse’s locker room, far away from your room. I heard nothing; I wasn’t trying to hear anything because nothing should have been wrong. When I got back to the floor, Nurse Gail just said that you were hysterical and she gave you something to sleep. She said nothing about you looking for your husband or that he was dead. Allison, you have to believe me, at that point, I had no reason to suspect Vincent of anything. He played me for a fool in all of this, too.”

  “Apparently he played us all, now, didn’t he?”

  “He did. I am so sorry; I wish I would have seen this earlier. I wish I somehow could have stopped it.”

  “Don’t apologize for Vincent’s actions. But thank you, Marlo.”

  “For what?”

  “For telling me the truth.”

  “Of course, Allison.” Marlo grabbed my hand and gave me a soft smile. “Now let’s go back to the castle.”

  “No,” I said. “You go to the castle. I have something to take care of.”

  “Allison, you can’t seriously be running off with Vincent after what I just told you.”

  “No, I’m not running off with Vincent,” I replied sarcastically. “But he is the only person who knows where Matt is and I need know what he did with him.”

  “But…” Marlo started.

  “Stop,” I commanded. “I have to do this Marlo.” I held her gaze for a few seconds. “Matt was my world. He was my husband and I loved him, still love him, more than anything. I can’t let Vincent get away with all of this – the lying and the manipulation. My symptoms aside, Matt was innocent in all of this and whatever has happened to him isn’t fair.”

  “I understand,” Marlo replied. “Please be careful though. Vincent is older than you and therefore stronger.”

  “Well hopefully it won’t have to get to that.” I twirled around and headed into the woods, preparing myself for what I would say to the man who had ruined my life.

  Chapter Twelve

  An immense, irregularly shaped rock protruded from the river’s shore and formed a sharp point at the top. I slowed my pace to a walk as I approached it. There was no mistaking the landmark Vincent had given me. The outcroppings on the west side were bigger than those on the east, almost as if the boulder was directing me to where I needed to go.

  I took a giant leap and landed on the point, balancing there on one foot as I looked up at the sky. It was a perfect fall night complete with a clear, black sky and an almost full moon. Every star in the sky was visible. My enhanced vision revealed things my mortal eyes had never seen. The sky was filled with so many stars, so much so that it looked like someone had spilled salt across a black table cloth.

  I took a deep breath and thought about the course my life had taken over the past few weeks. As I did, a pang of heat bubbled from my stomach and scorched the back of my throat. I sighed and tried to swallow the heat back down. I couldn’t help but wonder that maybe my course began to change earlier than the past few weeks and I had just been blind to it. Maybe my destiny had been set from the time I was born. This burning deep inside of me had always been with me. I had thought it was my conscience telling me I had to do something more meaningful with my life. After all, there simply had to be more to my simple, average life other than the same old routine. I had never been able to give up the feeling that my body knew something my mind couldn’t comprehend. Little did I know that I had the devil’s poison running through my veins. Maybe it was my constant curiosity and yearning to figure out my true calling that caused the venom to bring about my symptoms. Maybe my mid-life crisis, as I had called it, caused my symptoms to go into overdrive. Something had to do it; something that had never happened to any of my ancestors.

  But even if I had unknowingly set my symptoms in motion, it was no excuse for what Vincent had done. I went from being happily married to a widow to falling in love with someone new who in turn had done nothing but completely manipulate me for his own selfish reasons. And I had been blind to all of it. After realizing Matt had supposedly died three years ago, my mind was suddenly filled with new memories of a new love – memories I had never questioned. The memories came back quite swiftly, the amnesia wore off, or so I thought. Day after day, a new memory of Vincent had emerged in my mind, yet nothing of the prior three years, and I had never asked any questions. I didn’t know how I could have been so gullible.

  And then there was Matt. I couldn’t fathom why Vincent would have crafted such an elaborate plan. He intentionally caused our accident without regard for Matt’s life or my own. Then he stole Matt and hid him. But where? And why? Why not just kidnap me if he feared me transforming and going on a wild hunt? Or why not just kill Matt? I shuddered at the thought, but if Vincent was as selfish as his siblings said he was, why would he go through the trouble of kidnapping Matt and transplanting him somewhere else? It seemed it would have been easier to just permanently remove one of us from the situation.

  Anger swelled inside of me as these thoughts ran through my head. If only I had known what that burning was deep in my core, my true lineage, maybe I wouldn’t have looked so hard to discover what it meant. But what I was really having a hard time dealing with were the never ending questions: why me and why now? Was it possible that my ancestors had been happy enough with their lives that they ignored the burning inferno at the center of their being? And I just couldn’t ignore it and kept searching for an answer which brought about the symptoms even faster? And look where that got me. Vincent stole my husband, manipulated my friends’ minds, manipulated my mind and now I was one of the living dead – soulless and eternally damned. I should have listened to Matt when he told me to watch what I wished for. Was he ever right! What I wouldn’t do to go back to that life I thought was so average and ordinary and, dare I say, boring.

  I came out of my daze and breathed in the cool air. My skin was hot but my blood was boiling even hotter with anger and contempt for Vincent. He wasn’t going to get his precious trophy this time.

  I leapt from my perch and headed west. The thought of Vincent not knowing what was coming made me smile.

  It took just a few minutes at the speed I was traveling to reach the lake in my backyard. I slowed to a jog and focused my eyes. Vincent was sitting on the bench by the lake. Even from this distance I could see how handsome he was. His silhouette was flawless, each feature in perfect proportion. I couldn’t let his looks or his charisma faze me this time. I slowed to a walk as I approached him.

  �
�Allison,” Vincent uttered as he stood and walked towards me. He grabbed my face with both of his hands and kissed my lips which sent an electrifying current through my body. I didn’t reciprocate. “You look beautiful,” Vincent stated as he stepped back and eyed my outfit. “Do you like the clothes? Francesca made them just for you.”

  “They’re nice,” I responded bluntly.

  “Nice?” He appeared surprised at my response or lack thereof. “That’s not the word I would have chosen to describe a custom wardrobe made exclusively for you.”

  “I never liked clothes all that much.”

  Vincent didn’t respond. He stared at me as if trying to read my mind. I was sure he was wondering why I wasn’t over the moon with my new wardrobe and my lack of enthusiasm must have had him stumped. He was still holding my hands and I made sure not to concentrate too long on any one image so he couldn’t pick up on my thoughts.

  “What took you so long to get here?” A different expression washed over Vincent’s face. It appeared that he was worried but I wasn’t sure if he was worried about me or worried that something wasn’t going according to his plan. Or maybe he was truly suspicious about my long commute.

  “I stopped by the river to take in the view,” I said, trying to hold back my anger. I shook my hands loose from Vincent’s grip and placed my arms firmly by my sides. Vincent combed my face with his eyes.

  “Okay,” he reluctantly said, apparently believing me or ignoring the obvious. “Are you ready to go?”

  I was in awe of his response but showed no emotion. I couldn’t believe that he could clearly tell something was wrong with me and he wasn’t going to ask. Maybe he really was as self-centered as his siblings had said.

  I scoffed. “No,” I replied, narrowing my eyes directly into his.

  “No?” Vincent questioned, cocking his head to the side.

  “You have to answer a few questions first.”

  “Allison, we really have to get going. We have a flight to catch.”