The Veiled Monarch

by Shae Bryant

  "My parents! They won't let me near them again. What about Isaac and Raina? What do they think? My job!"

  Anika held her at arms length, gently taking Catherine's chin in her hand, "Catherine, dear. Isaac and Raina are right outside of this door. They will not leave you. Neither will I. We are all here to help you."

  Catherine sunk down onto the bed, wringing her hands, "Anika? How did you know that I didn't want to die?"

  "Sometimes, the heart tells you. Yours told me." Anika sat down next to her, "Do you want me to stay here? Shall I go get someone to come in and talk with you?"

  "No." Catherine shook her head, "I need to figure this out."

  "I'll go then."

  Anika started to leave, but Catherine tugged on her dress, "If you would just sit here for a bit? I don't think I have anything to say yet, but I'm about to have a lot of questions."

  Anika sat back down next to her, "We will sit here and talk — or not talk — as long as you'd like to."

  They sat there for three hours. The rest of us stayed outside. Most of it was spent trying to make small talk or pacing the sidewalk. Vince kept reassuring us all was well. We all believed him, but we wanted to make certain Catherine was doing alright. When the doorknob to the room turned, all eyes focused on it.

  Anika walked outside, "Raina. Would you like to go in? I think she could use someone else to talk to besides me."

  I looked at Isaac who gave me a nod and shooed me inside. The room was so dark. It was so similar to a few days ago at Vince's house. The moonlight from the window cast odd shadows all around the room. Catherine was somewhere in here. When my eyes adjusted, I found her sitting on the bed.

  She was cleaned up now, and had changed into new clothes. If I didn't know any better, I would say she was just fine. The gashes on her neck had disappeared, and she looked wide awake.

  "Hi?" I walked towards her, "Anika said I can come in?"

  "Yeah."

  "I uh..." I had nothing. "Catherine, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry."

  She smiled at me, "I'm OK now. I mean, I'm not really OK because I keep hearing your heart beating and that is so weird. But, I'm going to be alright."

  That was better. She was even talking like herself. I hoped that Catherine was already made aware that a turning didn't change who you are. Catherine would always be Catherine. Fangs or not.

  "How do you feel?" I asked.

  Isaac leaned against the door frame before Catherine answered me. He tapped on the opened door, trying to muster his best smile for her. Anika and Vince must have heard our conversation. That opened the floodgates. Everyone and the dogs streamed into the room, making sure that Catherine was feeling alright.

  We all found spots on the bed or the floor, rallying around her to make sure she wasn't in need of anything.

  I am glad this was Catherine's first Non Human experience. All three of the groups were working together side by side. We showed her that we all can be caring friends, regardless of what happens in between.

  "I'm worried about my family." Catherine admitted, "You know what they're like, Raina."

  "We'll work through it together." I squeezed her shoulder, "We can convince a few of them to see you. Maybe they'll understand."

  "I don't think you understand what this is like." She huffed, "Your family is so perfect and accepts you."

  I shrank down onto the bed, feeling like I was about an inch tall. Especially when I met Isaac's annoyed gaze. He pursed his lips and blew out a puff of air from his nostrils. Uh oh...

  "Tell her, Raina." He ordered me.

  "Tell her what?" I tried to play dumb.

  Isaac cursed, "I can't believe you! Our friend is hurting and you aren't helping! You're kind of being a bitch, you know that?"

  Ronan and Kevin were both staring at me as well. Both of them had frowns of disapproval on their faces. They were not happy that I was keeping this information from Catherine.

  "Isaac!" Vince jumped to my defense, "That is no way to speak to a woman."

  I put my hand up before they could get into a fight again. "Forget it, Vince. He's right. I'm being a bitch."

  Catherine stared at Isaac and I both, "Uh...what's going on?"

  I took a deep breath, "My parents don't live in Boca. I don't know where they live. I haven't for a long time."

  Catherine blinked at me, "What?"

  "My parents ignored me after they found out I was a Druid. All they wanted was for me to go away. My childhood was spent around friends and their families. Mine didn't care. When I turned eighteen, they gave me the keys to my car along with two hundred bucks and told me to get the hell out. I haven't seen them since that day."

  I hated telling this story. I also hated the looks I was getting from Vince, Anika and Catherine right now. Why did Vampires always seem to look right through you? It was so unnerving. I know they can't read minds, but sometimes I wonder.

  "Why did you tell me that your parents were in Boca and things were so great?" Catherine asked.

  "Because..." I threw my hands in the air, "It's easier. It's easier to tell people that and change the subject. I don't want someone to feel bad for me. I made things work just fine."

  "Yeah. Half of it was on my couch." Isaac chuckled.

  I turned to Catherine, "Look, I'm sorry. I do know what this is like for you. I promise, we'll find a way to work it out. A lot of us have dealt with families who turn their backs on us. I'm not the first and I won't be the last. Neither will you. We'll get this figured out. Right now, let's just focus on how you're doing."

  "I'll be alright." She assured me, "It's going to take some time to figure things out. That's all."

  Anika stood up, "I'd say tonight's plans were changed. It's still a lovely night. Why don't you take a walk? I think the first full night is a wonderful thing to experience. Someone can go with you if you'd like?"

  "Maybe just Raina and I." Catherine said. "If that's OK?"

  "Yeah. Sure. I'll go."

  We walked together in silence for a little while. I kept an eye on Catherine, but she looked like she was far off in another land. Her eyes darted from one place to the next. She seemed like she was looking at everything for the first time. Every so often, her head would tilt towards a direction, and she would listen to something that I was not able to hear.

  I didn't know what it was like to turn. I heard it's quite an interesting experience. All of a sudden, the whole world becomes more vivid to a new Vampire. They can hear and see things that they had never noticed before. The smallest of details suddenly come to life in a big way.

  That must be similar to a Druid's discovery. Once a child realizes they can talk to an animal or work with nature, the world around them changes. Every gust of wind, every speck of dust, every leaf and every living thing feels much closer to you. There's some strange innate kinship that we feel with the natural world around us. It's beautiful.

  Werewolves experience their own awakening — so to speak. They tend to smell and notice everything around them. Some of them swear they can even see by smell once they turn. There's a deep-seated sense of freedom, but at the same time, they feel like they must be a part of something. A group. A community. A pack. They have to be there, and they have to protect it.

  I wondered if Catherine was feeling the same way about her world now. Was her own turning in any way as beautiful as our discovery or as eye-opening as a Werewolf waking up after the first full moon? Judging from her excitement over our walk through a sleepy town, I imagined it was.

  Catherine stopped me mid-step and put her arm in front of me, "Someone's walking towards us."

  "As in right towards us?" I asked.

  She nodded, "Yes. Right towards us."

  A blur of black and blue clothes appeared in front of me. Then, I came face to face with a man I had only been told stories about. He was exactly as he'd been described; muscular, wide shoulders, sandy blonde hair and taunting blue eyes. This was most definitely Faulkner.

  "Mis
s Kleyman." he gushed, grabbing Catherine's hand, "You look beautiful. Turn around now, let me see you. I need to bask in the newly turned radiance."

  Catherine jerked her hand away from him, "You!"

  She rushed towards him as if she were going to hit him, but he moved away with a chuckle, "Oh dear. No, that won't do. I am much faster than you are. Now stop this. You will never catch me."

  I started to look for something — anything — I could use as a stake, "A stake will."

  He laughed, "If you can hit a target that moves as fast as I do. After all, I am very full. Now. Now. I'm not here to fight with you, ladies. I'm here to give you something. A gift."

  Catherine stood with her fists balled up at her sides. Her lip trembled when she spat out, "Why!?"

  "I always keep my promises, Miss Kleyman." He smiled, "I told you that you'd have no choice. Now you don't have one. Think of it this way, you have a new lease on life now. Enough about that. We'll talk about the gift. Since you have all decided not to honor my requests to stay out of things, I figured you can be part of my plan. There's a shop on main street. It claims to be a fabric store. You'll find what you need there."

  Faulkner disappeared with a gust of air.

  Catherine started to walk back towards the motel, "He's telling the truth."

  "How do you know?" I called after her.

  "I have a hunch. Let's see if Vince agrees!"

  We ran back to the hotel where we shared our encounter with Faulkner. It seemed Catherine's hunch was correct. Vince agreed that Faulkner was telling the truth. There was a catch to this and none of us knew what it was. Faulkner never gave information without some sort of string attached to it.

  We very well could be walking into a baited trap. If we weren't, he was saving up a favor to call in later. Whatever his game was, we had to play along for the time being.

  All of us went to the quiet main street. It was like a ghost town. There were no cars coming or going on the two lane road. Every shop had their lights off and there wasn't a soul in sight. The fabric store was on the corner of the street where it intersected with a country road.

  Places in a small town of Georgia don't have the greatest security in the world. It was easy for us to get in through the shop's backdoor and look around the office. Kevin and Ronan dug into the filing cabinet, producing forms and papers that did not belong to a fabric store.

  "This isn't right. None of it is." Kevin handed a form to Vince, "Here. Look Vince, you own businesses as well. What do you make of this?"

  Vince frowned at the paper, "Are all of these papers fakes?"

  "I don't know." Ronan read through another, "This is a fake W-9 form. It makes no sense."

  "For once I don't understand what Faulkner is doing." Vince handed me a few of the papers, "Look. These are all papers for the shipping company, but not one of them is legitimate."

  "So what do we gain from following this paper trail?" I asked.

  "I don't know. Not yet. We will go visit this shipping company together. Those of us who can move quickly will go in first. Isaac, you and Brian go second and the Druids will go last."

  Catherine leaned towards Vince, "And me?"

  "I said we will go first."

  "Oh..." She slumped her shoulders, "Because. I'm...yeah."

  He patted her shoulder, "I'm sorry, my dear."

  Vince, Anika and Catherine left first. The rest of us stayed behind near the shop and waited for them to go ahead. If we went in separately, they would have time to warn us about any traps. Isaac watched Catherine walk away with the other two, furrowing his brow in thought.

  "That woman has become one of my closest friends, Raina. I wanted her to stay the way she was."

  "It's not possible anymore." Ronan tried to comfort Isaac, "She is who she is. Just like we are who we are. We'll help her make it through things."

  "We got you, brother." Brian said, "We got her too."

  I closed my eyes after I sat down on the sidewalk, petting Brutus' head. Ronan, Kevin and I didn't need to speak right now. We finally took some time to let things be quiet. Druids enjoy our times of silence. When we're able to just listen to the world around us and soak it all in.

  The silence didn't last long enough. My phone beeped a notification. It was Vince telling me it was safe to go now.

  We turned down a country road, arriving at a large group of warehouses in the middle of nowhere. The gate outside advertised the grand opening of "Iron Shipping and Exports". I could not help but roll my eyes at the obvious name. There were lights darting across the windows in the main office building. It looked like everyone else was already inside and looking through things.

  Kevin, Ronan and I got out along with the dogs. Steel, Brutus and Ronan's German Shepherd, Lago, all three perked their ears up. They bobbed their heads back and forth, running to the edge of the road and then to us.

  "Sirens!" they warned us, "Police are coming."

  "Oh no!" I groaned, sprinting towards the door. I started to yell, "We have to leave now! The dogs...!"

  It was too late. The sirens in the distance were coming closer. Someone knew we were here.

  "That..." I closed my eyes and sighed.

  Catherine sat on a chair, "We should just stay put."

  I shook my head at Isaac, who was preparing to run out the back door. "Just stand still and put your hands up. Running won't do any good."

  "It will work out fine for us." Vince said.

  I rubbed my temples and sighed, "Vince..."

  The Police arrived with only three squad cars between them. I was sure they were the only officers in the area. Their weapons were drawn when they yelled for us to put our hands up. But, their hands were shaking. It was obvious that these officers were not used to dealing with Non Humans. The sight of three Vampires, two Werewolves and three Druids scared them.

  We were all arrested. Both my badge and Catherine's were taken. The station itself was a tiny shell of a police station, with two cells and a few small offices. If we were being charged, they would be forced to transfer us to a larger place.

  We sat in the cells staring at each other. Catherine and I warned them not to say a single word until they saw a Lawyer. The officers who stayed at the shipping company ran through the front door. They carried on a whispered conversation with the others. All of them glanced back at us and returned to their discussion.

  I was confused when I saw all the officers leave but two. One of the radios told them they needed assistance from a neighboring town. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Whatever it was, these small town officers could not handle it themselves.

  After spending two hours in the cell, one of the officers let Catherine and I out. He brought us into the far office and handed us our badges back.

  "There aren't any charges being pressed." He spoke with a heavy Southern drawl, "While you folks were sitting here, we found some really nasty stuff underneath that building. Either they make great Detectives in South Florida or y'all had a good informant."

  I took my badge back, "Can you tell me what you found?"

  "We're havin' to bring in help from Brunswick to figure this all out." He answered me, "They found a lady in there who was in some distress."

  Catherine leaned on his desk, "Is her name Erin Neason!?"

  "... I'm not supposed to tell you." His face told us everything.

  I breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank God. She's a missing person. Check for yourself. There's another woman with her who was missing! Her name is Alyssa."

  He frowned, "There's a body. It's bein' transported to Brunswick. I hate to say it, but you may have to identify it."

  "Five feet four, white female, blonde hair, dark eyes?" Catherine asked.

  The officer said nothing, but he nodded in the affirmative. "I can't discuss the case. What I need is for y'all to prepare your friends to give us some statements. Then, I need y'all to go on up to Brunswick. The lady you mentioned might be the lady transported to
the hospital there."

  He couldn't tell us for certain whether or not it was Erin, but he could let us know in other ways. His nods and the way he skirted around our questions was easy enough to decipher. They had found Erin, and I was silently praying the body was not Alyssa.

  "We can do that." I smiled, "Thank you."

  "After that, y'all need to go back to Florida and report to your supervisor. I think he wants to have a talk with you." The officer said.

  Catherine groaned, "Darius is going to be mad at us."

  The officer managed a snicker, "Oh, I think he is already, Detective."

  The officer walked with us to the holding cells. Everyone was released and given their personal items back. He graciously gave us a few minutes alone so Catherine and I could prepare them to give statements. This also gave us the time to come up with a story everyone could agree on.

  Catherine's name had no NHR attached to it. The Police in Georgia had her listed as Human. However, this wasn't something we could hide for very long. It was best for us to give them the story of Catherine's attack now so it was on record. Our story was missing a few key pieces. Including who turned her.

  After the statements were taken, we were given directions to the hospital. Charges were not being pressed, but the situation at the shipping company was most definitely a crime scene. We were warned we may be subpoenaed to give testimony once arrests were made. If arrests were made.

  Officers were swarming the small hospital. Brian and Isaac ran to the Emergency Room where Brian's story tumbled out to a very confused receptionist. She finally picked up her phone to call in security, thinking maybe Brian was drunk or high. After explaining things to security, the officers were called in to speak with Brian.

  Two other officers pulled Catherine and I aside. They had already been informed of who we were and that we may be able to identify a body. Catherine and I walked with them to the morgue where the technician stood next to a covered body on the steel table.

  She pulled the sheet back to reveal a face that I had seen before. Catherine and I both bowed our heads and nodded in unison. It was Alyssa's body. I couldn't tell what caused her death by her face alone. She looked like she was sleeping peacefully on the table. I hoped that she didn't suffer at their hands.