Turning on my heels, I dove into the back seat of the car, pulling my feet in right as Solomon slammed the door. The locks clicked into place at the same time that Raphael hit the window…hard. The window was almost shattered and Raphael had his fist cocked back to hit it again when the SUV pulled onto the highway.
Someone was screaming and it took a second to realize that it was me. I clasped my hands over my mouth, closed my eyes and told myself to breath because this just simply was not happening. I took mental stock of the events so far: bio-mom sent for me, foster-mom tried to sell me, three boys trying to catch me, best friend lying to me, and I may be related to Efia and Jordan.
I removed my hands from my face and opened my eyes. Tabitha was looking right at me with concern as she handed me a bottle of water and a wet wipe. I immediately began wiping the dirt, grime and tears from my face and hands. I was handed a second wipe and a third when the job continued to need them. We drove silently into the mountains for about 15 minutes before Solomon spoke.
“Are you going to be okay?” His voice was so smooth and so deep that I felt it calm me all the way down to my toes. When Tabitha didn’t answer him I saw that his eyes were on me.
“Oh, I’m fine.” All three of us knew I was lying, but what else did they expect me to say?
The SUV pulled up to a gatehouse where Solomon entered a code to gain access. There were three sets of security gates to pass before we came to a circular driveway in front of a huge four-story white house. The steps to the double front doors were made of large white boulders held together with cement. The window over the front door rose through all four floors revealing a soft light from inside.
From the back seat of the SUV the house looked massive. Giving me the opportunity to get my bearings, neither Tabitha nor Solomon made a move to exit the vehicle. They were so silent and unmoving that I almost forgot they were there. I had so many thoughts and questions running around in my head that I started to feel sick.
After a few minutes, Solomon opened his door and got out. He opened Tabitha’s door and then walked around and opened the door for me. I stepped down onto the gravel driveway and took a deep breath of the clean mountain air only to be reminded that I was still covered in dog mess. Covering my mouth to keep from throwing up, I stared at the house.
Solomon had began to walk ahead of us, taking the steps two at a time, and opened the ancient pine door. Then, he stepped to the side and bowed slightly in our direction.
“Did he just bow at you?” I turned and asked Tabitha.
“No, he bowed at you”, she said shortly, not very pleased at Solomon’s behavior.
Solomon looked sincere but I couldn't help but wonder what kind of cruel joke he was playing. The longer I looked at him the more I began to realize that he really thought I was ‘bow’ worthy and that worried me. I had to get away from these two as soon as possible. The only problem was that I had no idea where I was…oh, yeah, and that someone was trying to hunt me down!
The foyer of the house was amazing. The ceiling was four stories high with a huge crystal chandelier in the center. There was a large table under the chandelier where a vase of red Calla Lilies sat. Calla Lilies were my favorite flower, but I had never seen them in this color and was drawn to touch them. Their petals were as soft as they looked and the fresh smell of pollen rose to tickle my nose. As I stood near the table admiring the flowers a door to our left opened and three massive dogs stepped out.
I had never had a fear of dogs, but these were more like horses. Their backs were about waist high and their heads came up to my shoulders. They didn’t walk too far out of the room before they stopped and sat down. Behind them was a tall dignified man in a black tunic and matching linen pants.
“Good Evening”, he said with a very strange accent. I thought it was African but he looked as pale as Tabitha did.
“My name is Samuel and I am at your disposal. You must want to freshen up”, he continued, extending a hand toward the massive staircase to his left.
I fell in step behind Samuel as he led the way. The stairs were large slabs of white marble and it took me three strides to get from one to another. The hand carved smooth cherry wood hand rail had lilies carved into the spindles at intervals of three. It was simply breathtaking.
We continued up the stairs until we reached the landing of what I was sure was the third floor. We stopped in front of a pair of double doors and waited while Samuel unlocked and opened them. The room beyond the doors was as large as my entire house in New Mexico. There was a floor to ceiling fireplace to the right and an assortment of comfortable furniture in front of it. On the left side of the room was a kitchenette with stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. The floors of the room were a deep brown hardwood that was so shiny that I would have been able to see my reflection had the lighting not been so low. This room was amazing.
Samuel had continued to the far side of the room and pulled back the heavy draperies. The moonlight revealed a four poster bed at the rear of the room. The bed, being about two feet off of the ground, had a set of stairs on the side for easy access. A deep red velvet coverlet and several pillows in various shades of gold gave the room a relaxing and welcoming feeling. On either side of the bed, there were antique side tables holding identical ornate lamps.
The sound of claws on the floor drew my attention to the three massive dogs entering the room. They each took up sentry on the Persian rug in front of the fire place. Samuel continued to ready the room for occupancy and had opened a door leading to the most amazing bathroom I had ever seen in my life. Just by looking at the sunken jetted tub made me feel a little bit cleaner.
He started to fill bathtub then turned around and left the room leaving me standing in the middle of the massive room not knowing what to do. Certain that I would wake up at any time and be back on the bus next to a sleeping old lady, I closed my eyes and held my breath. I was snapped out of my mental reverie by sudden movement. The three dogs were standing with the hairs standing up on their backs, looking towards the large windows at the rear of the room as if they sensed something out there.
“Solomon”, Tabitha said, scaring me a little since I forgot they were there.
Solomon turned on his heels and swiftly left the room with one of the three dogs trailing him. The other two dogs stayed in the room, one placing itself near the window and the other walking over to the bathroom door and lying down. The entire scene felt orchestrated and rehearsed and it made me uneasy.
“Cheyenne, why don’t you get yourself cleaned up and then I will get you something to eat.”
Tabitha was not asking me if this was a good idea, she had simply given me an order in the nicest possible way. Every instinct in my body told me to run from the room screaming. These were not normal events for a 17 year old. What kind of mess had I gotten myself into?
I looked at Tabitha for some type of sign that all was well and noticed again that her smile never made it to her eyes. This time, however, instead of looking predatory like they had when looking at Raphael, her eyes now looked concerned. She took a step toward me, but stopped when the beast near the bathroom door growled softly.
“Cheyenne, there is a lot that I want to tell you but I can’t. All I can do is be your friend. The bath water is ready. You should be able to find some clothes in the closet.”
She stood there for a moment before she bowed in my direction and walked out of the room, leaving me with the two remaining dogs and a ton of questions.
I debated jumping from the window and taking my chances with the fall and whatever it was that made Solomon rush from the room. I stood there debating until the sound of large dog claws on a highly shined floor brought my attention back to the glorious bathroom and the water that was dangerously close to spilling over onto the floor. I quickly turned the faucet off and released some of the water down the drain so that the jets could be turned on without getting water on the floor. I closed the door, undressed and sank into the best bath
I knew I would ever have.
As I lay in the tub washing the grim and dog mess off of me, I began to plan my next move. I would demand to know what was going on and how it had anything to do with me. I needed to know who I was and why my name was in a book of Efia’s descendants. Why were people chasing me? Why did they want to kill Tabitha? And this house, these dogs and Samuel? I wanted answers.
With my resolve firmly in place and my body free of anything smelly and gross, I stepped out of the tub and reached for a towel. I walked through the bathroom towards the closet to see if there was a pair of sweats or a robe or anything, really. Once I was able to find the light in the closet, I almost gasped at the amount of clothing it contained. Everything was color-coded and hung on wooden hangers. Each section was divided by length of the garments as well as the season they should be worn in. This would be my dream closet if everything in it was a size 8 long.
I sighed at the thought that the items in the closet were obviously Tabitha’s. I was going to look like I was wearing my little’s sister’s clothes. I went to the dresser that sat in the middle of the closet and opened the top drawer. On top of the delicate under garments was a note. “Cheyenne, make yourself at home, Efia.” I read the note twice, turning it over to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, then picked up a pair of panties that were just my size. I would have thought it was a coincidence if the bras had not also been my size. I ran over to the wall of clothes and began grabbing items off of the hangers, squealing in excitement when I noticed that they were all my size: 8 long. And then came the feeling of dread. What was going on?
There was a hard series of knocks on the bathroom door. From the closet I could see Samuel backing his way into the room so that he did not offend my sensibilities. He sat a tray of what looked like tea and cookies on the vanity and went back out the way he came. The door was left open and the large dog came in, sniffed the air and turned to look me directly in the eyes.
I stared at the dog not knowing what to do or if I was in danger. As if it sensed my dilemma, the dog lowered itself to the ground and lay on its back. From what I had watched on National Geographic and the Dog Whisperer, I knew that this was a sign of submissiveness. Even so, a submissive 200lb dog was still a 200lb dog. I approached slowly and scratched it behind the ears before rubbing its stomach. I noticed a heavy chain around the dog’s neck and looked at the tag that was hanging there. Her name was Artemis after the Greek goddess of the hunt: an appropriate name for such a powerful dog.
As I stood up and turned to get dressed, Artemis followed me to the closet and sat in the entrance. I wondered if she was there to watch me, but couldn’t tell if it was to keep me safe or keep me from leaving.
“Artemis, what’s going on here?” I asked the dog.
Artemis’ head turned toward me and her eyes glistened as if she truly understood what I was asking her. After a moment, she tilted her massive chin in the direction of the clothes I had yet to put on as if telling me to hurry up. On cue, the other large dog entered the bathroom looking at the two of us as if we were late for something important.
“I’m coming”, I said, feeling silly that I was talking to the dogs, but the dog at the door promptly left when I made my statement. They must have been trained really well, I thought. These dogs certainly weren’t stupid.
I returned to the job of getting dressed in a set of black sweats while Artemis cleaned her front paws. She was actually quite an amazing animal. Her short coat was the color of caramel and she had a white patch on her chest. Her eyes were that brownish-yellow that dogs have and which made them look really mean and her ears and tail were cut and she reminded me of a huge Pitbull. After I dressed, I knelt next to her and rubbed her shiny soft coat. She lifted her head and placed it on my shoulder and exhaled. What a great dog.
When we walked out of the bathroom the remaining dog completed the same submissive maneuvers that Artemis had and I was able to read his tag. His name was Apollo, the Greek sun god among other things, and Artemis’ twin. I wondered if these two dogs were actually twins. They certainly looked alike except that Apollo was larger than Artemis. I rubbed his belly and scratched him behind the ears before we rose together and headed for the door.
The two dogs acted as escorts, one on either side, guiding me as we walked down the hallway toward the stairs. I assumed that they were trained in some type of search and rescue school as they led me all of the way downstairs and to an enormous kitchen. There were two dark granite islands, both with bar stools on one end. The gas range was an industrial monster with 8 burners and a grill. I counted three ovens, two stainless steel fridges, two dishwashers and a microwave over the range.
I stopped in the entrance and felt Artemis lean on my legs in agreement. We stood there while Apollo walked forward causing the occupants of the kitchen to quiet and turn to face us. In unison all of them did a quick bow, put their hands behind their backs and cast their eyes downward. There were about seven of them of all genders, all ages and all nationalities. All of them were wearing the same blood red tunic and pants with black shoes. The pants had perfect creases from mid thigh all of the way to the ground. They wore varying styles. The ladies’ tunics had pockets in the front and the men had side pockets that you could only see if they put their hand there. In addition to the uniform, each of the people standing before me wore a black 2 ½ inch suede choker with a red calligraphy initial on it.
“I see that you’ve found the kitchen”, Tabitha said.
Her silent appearances were really starting to get on my last nerve. She walked toward Apollo, and knelt to scratch him behind the ears. As she stood, a girl about my age walked toward her reaching behind her neck to the clasp on the choker. Tabitha’s eyes widened and she gave a slight shake of her head as the girl’s hand fell from the choker and returned to rest behind her back. I looked closer at the girl's choker and the initial on the choker was a ‘T’. Could each person in this house have a personal assistant? That seemed odd.
“You like Artemis? She’s a good dog”, Tabitha continued as if nothing had happened.
I looked down and realized that I had been rubbing the dog’s massive head ever since entering the kitchen. Something about her presence made me feel a lot calmer than I should under these circumstances. Artemis met my gaze. Her golden eyes looked intelligent and supportive; like she would be there whenever I needed her. I knew that I was reading more into the dog’s agenda because I had no family of my own. Of course I would read the simplest of signs as evidence of undying love and support. Even so, something about this 200lb dog made me feel less alone.
“Yes”, I said. “She’s a very good, very large dog.”
“Gigantic is more like it”, Tabitha laughed. “Efia doesn’t do anything on a small scale.”
“Where is Efia?” I demanded.
I looked up at the collective gasp that came from the red uniformed staff. It was the quietest of sounds and I probably would not have heard it had I not been on edge the way that I was. I glanced at Tabitha only to see that she was looking at the red clad people with a look so chastising that I took an involuntary step back.
“Efia”, Tabitha said without looking away from the group, “is around.”
She was speaking more to the group than to me so I took this time to study their faces. Each of them was attractive and healthy looking. Their skin was flawless, even the teenagers. There were black, brown, olive and pale-peach colored skin amongst them, making it seem like the United Nations assembled before me. All the different colors, heights and ages made for a beautiful picture of humanity.
Solomon and the third massive dog entered the kitchen, breaking up some of the tension between Tabitha and the red uniformed people. Artemis and Apollo chose that time to walk all of the way through the kitchen and disappear through specialized a door that opened when they approached. Solomon tilted his head in acknowledgment of Tabitha and then toward me before walking to the massive refrigerator.
“Have you eaten yet
”, Solomon asked while looking in the stainless steel masterpiece.
“No”, I said simply. Not knowing what emotion I was feeling I stuck with hunger. “Do you have grilled cheese?”
“I’m sure we could manage.”
I noticed that some of the staff members were caught off guard by my food choice while others seemed to be relieved that I had chosen something so simple. I tried to figure out what the correlation was between the relieved and the aghast and found that it had a lot to do with the initial on their choker. The people with an ’E’ and the ‘P’ were appalled by the choice, but those with a ‘T’ or ‘J’ smiled and cast quick looks in my direction.
Since there probably weren’t any people with a ‘C’ on their neck, I stepped forward completely prepared to make my own food. I reached for the bread that Solomon had just placed on the counter when the girl with the ‘T’ on her choker appeared by my side, gently moving the loaf of bread out of my reach. She was almost as silent as Tabitha but she was taller with light brown skin and the deepest dimples I had ever seen.
“Let me make it for you”, she said politely.
She looked directly into my eyes for the first time since I walked into the kitchen. Her eyes were the strange color of sea foam that sparkled when she smiled.
“Sure. Thanks. I’m Cheyenne”, I said, extending my hand.
The girl looked at me for a moment and then over to Tabitha before shaking my hand in a very professional manner.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Cheyenne. I am Veronica.”
Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) Page 5
