by Dylan Keefer
“Tell me this,” Larent said. “If I say no, are you going to take me back down there and chain me up again? Are you going to let Gregory kill me?”
Nya shifted on her feet. Her eyes looked sad for a moment. “I’m hoping that you haven’t made that decision just yet.” She nodded for him to follow her. “In the meantime, you are mine. You will stay with me.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Mei sat outside on the porch of the O’Henry house with cell phone in hand. Her mind was racing, but at least this time, she was at peace. She had woken from her vision with her body on the sand shaking. For a moment, she thought that something was wrong, but she realized that she was crying.
Olivia had her hand resting on Mei’s forehead with a gentle stroke through her hair every few seconds. It had all been so vivid, and now, it was clear what was going on. Mei was chased because she was not only half vampire, but a half Dominion vampire. Her father was not only Dominion, but heir to the throne. That made her heir to the throne now that they were dead. They wanted to shut her up. They wanted her dead. What they didn’t know was that Summoner blood ran through her human side. Her necklace not only dampened her vampirism, but it suppressed the battle for power between Summoner blood and vampire blood.
Mei took the phone and dialed the number she had memorized praying that one of them would answer. If they answered, she knew they were okay. There was a click on the other line and silence.
“Ch-Charlotte?”
“Oh my god!” The voice sighed loudly on the other line. “I swear ya gave me a heart attack. We hadn’t heard from you, and no telling if that Clayton had gotten you both killed or not.”
“I’m so happy to hear your voice. I was…”
“Milo, get over here!” She heard Charlotte yell. “Sorry, Pru—Mei. I still have to get used to that. Milo will be happy to hear your voice, too. I’m going to put you on speaker.”
“Okay,” Mei said. She heard shuffling in the background and then,
“Mei! Mei! Are you okay?” Milo’s concern made her smile. She missed them.
“I’m fine. I just wanted to hear your voices. A lot has been going on.”
“With us, too?” Charlotte said. “I think I’m getting the hang of this vampire thing, but Milo keeps freaking out.”
“With good reason,” he defended himself. “I think that you should tell her about the dog.”
“That was an accident, and I bought the guy a new puppy.”
They all took a few minutes to catch up. Milo and Charlotte were making their way west across the Northern United States. They had been traveling almost non-stop and had just found a hotel room early that morning. It had been fairly uneventful aside from Charlotte attacking a dog, and some random stories. Traveling was hard due to the fact that Charlotte couldn’t be in the sunlight, and at night when she drove, Milo slept. They were managing though.
Then came Mei’s story. She poured out about everything that had happened since coming to Boston. The only thing that she felt she should leave out was the fact that she and Madi had slept together. That wasn’t a need to know.
“My god!” Charlotte said. “We leave ya, and ya get all of the action.”
“So, Serge was the one who brought you to our ancestors?” Milo said. “Wow.”
“And Elizabeth, the witch, was the one who caused me to lose my memory. I just need to have the power of this necklace strengthened so that the Summoner blood within me doesn’t destroy me.”
“And then you can claim your throne?” Charlotte said. “You’re technically a vampire Queen, Mei.”
“I’m no Queen,” Mei said. “I just don’t want the Dominion to destroy people’s minds and will.”
“Or you,” Milo said. “We don’t want them to destroy you. Can this Madi girl help? She is a Summoner, right?”
“We’re going to see if we can spell the locket to help even more, and we’re also going to contact a priest who may know how we can defeat the Dominion.” Mei stared out into the scenery from the porch. “I wish you were both here with me. It would make things a lot easier.”
“Maybe we should come back?” Charlotte contemplated.
“No,” Mei squelched that comment. “If the Dominion are as dangerous as I’ve heard, I don’t need you or Milo here. I’ll just worry, and I’ve got enough to worry about.”
“You mean, Clayton?” Milo asked. And Madi. She wasn’t sure why the girl was so captivating to her, and part of her wondered if it was because of the Summoner blood flowing through her. Mei still wasn’t sure how that worked, but it had to be affecting her somehow.
“Clayton has been great, and I’m thankful he’s here. It’s a little complicated with the whole Hunter thing.”
“He could have told you that to begin with,” Milo said with exasperation.
“Well, you just be careful,” Charlotte said. Concern dripped from her voice. “You’re important to us, and you may be more important to the world than you know. You might be the one that the Dominion are after, but you also are the one that can stop them.”
The front door opened, and Clayton walked out. Mei looked up at him, and he nodded to the phone.
“Did you get a hold of them?”
“Yes,” Mei said clearing her throat. “Guys, Clayton is here.”
“Hiya, Hunter,” Charlotte said with her voice dripping sarcasm. Clayton groaned.
“This is going to be a thing, isn’t it?”
“Be nice,” Mei pleaded to both of them. “I think I need to go. We’ve got a lot to discuss.”
“Well, let us know what we can do?” Milo said.
“Yeah,” Charlotte agreed. “I think the best way for me to honor Philip is to get back to living. I may be dead, but I’m not dead yet.”
And somehow that made perfect sense.
Madi sat with Olivia in the room. Both of them were quiet. When Mei and Olivia had returned to the house earlier, they had found Lucas and Laura both in a deep sleep on the couch. Clayton looked amused, and Madi looked guilty. The two of them still hadn’t woken up which confirmed Mei’s suspicions that Madi used some sort of spell on them, and Clayton wasn’t about to stop her.
“So, what’s the plan?” Mei said. “I need to figure out some way to keep the spell on this necklace from fading.”
“What’s next is that we go find Father Elias Moore,” Madi said. “Eric said that Moore would be able to give us information about the Sanguinem Liber--the Vampire Bible.”
“Why would this priest want to help us?” Clayton said.
“And should we really be trying to search for this thing?” Mei pointed out. “We don’t even know if it really exists and how it works. Maybe we should focus on suppressing my Summoner/ Vampire nature. In my vision, Elizabeth said it was dangerous.”
Madi nodded. “Right, but if we are going up against the Dominion, we may need to rethink our plan. We can’t have your powers suppressed until we know more about them, or we’re going to need to figure out some way for you to learn how to control them yourself.”
Mei shook her head. She didn’t know how to do that or if that were even possible. Olivia spoke up. “Maybe I can provide some help. While you were outside,” Olivia said. “I had Madi go up into the attic and find a few old books for me. They’re journals from the women of our family. They date all the way back to my ancestor Elizabeth. That’s how I knew about you. I feel like you both should have them.”
“Both?” Madi questioned as she reached for the books beside her. Olivia nodded.
“Elizabeth was very open about who she was, and how she knew it would affect her children and children’s children on down the line. She knew it was dangerous being a Summoner.” Madi sat up straight. Her mother looked in her eyes. “Madi, I know that you’ve been trying to protect me all of these years because you believed that your powers and my accident were related. It took me a while to come to grips with the fact that you might have the same powers that Elizabeth had, but I wasn’t completely sure un
til today. Mei found you for a reason.”
“You know?” Madi was still coming to grips with what her mother was saying. “You fell through the window when I became a Summoner--I--I caused your fall.”
“I didn’t know for a while,” Olivia said somberly. “I felt this unexplainable pull when I was in that room, almost like an invisible hand yanking me to the window. I knew that there was something wrong. No, I don’t blame you for it happening. You kept your family and everyone around you at arm’s length because you are trying to protect yourself.”
Madi hugged her arms around herself and nodded. “It’s easier that way, and it doesn’t matter now.”She picked up the books and stood up to give them to Mei. “You read them. Maybe you’ll find something in there. We need to see if we can locate Father Moore.”
“Laura would know,” Olivia said. “She’s a very religious person and is involved in a lot of community events.”
“Of course, my brother would marry the perfect woman,” Madi snorted.
“And his sister would create a spell to knock them out,” Clayton quipped receiving a glare from Madi.
“I’ll wake her up and get some information. We can be on our way after that?”
“Or you could stay the night?” Olivia said. The three of them looked at her. “I do have the house all to myself, and I’m sure you’re not going to want to find a hotel room when you can stay here—for the night, at least.”
Mei and Clayton looked at Madi who shook her head. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Madi, if we go to a hotel, there is a paper trail,” Clayton said. “Even if we have cash, it’s not secure to stay in one at the moment.”
“We have free room and board,” Mei agreed.
“The Dominion are already looking for us. What happens when they trace me back to Salem.”
“Why would they think you’d go to your mother’s house?” Clayton asked. “They’re looking for us in Boston. There is no reason for them to look for us here.”
Madi closed her eyes. She was trying to think of a way not to stay there. Mei walked over and grabbed her hand. Madi’s eyes popped open, and Mei could feel that she wanted to pull away quickly. She didn’t though. Mei just smiled and squeezed her hand.
“We’ll be okay. I can feel it.”
Madi searched Mei’s eyes. The fire had died down enough for the fear to be plainly seen. Mei could feel her heart aching to wrap Madi in her arms and kiss her, but she couldn’t. Not here. Not now.
“Fine.” Madi turned to her mother. “We’ll stay. I’m going to go wake up Laura.”
“I’ll come with,” Mei stated. She wasn’t sure if Lucas was in the running to be woken up as well, but in case he did, and Madi was tempted to lash out in some way, Mei wanted to be there to calm her down.
“How are you feeling about all of this?” Oliva asked Clayton once the girls left. Clayton shrugged.
“I’m just along for the ride.”
“Which is surprising,” Olivia said. “You don’t seem like the type that goes along for the ride. You seem like the type of guy who does whatever he can to save the girl he loves. But something is holding you back. You’ve been quiet.”
“Is this the therapist coming out?” Clayton laughed nervously. Olivia smiled and motioned for him to sit.
“You know that your daughter is a Summoner, and the Mei is a vampire. I’m a vampire hunter. I’m a chosen one to protect humankind from evils that are out there.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad role to play,” Olivia said.
“Except that in order for me to gain my true powers, I have to invoke them by killing an evil that I’ve come to love.” He looked towards where Mei and Madi disappeared. “It’s a far cry from being her knight in shining armor.”
“And if you don’t kill her, then you die?” Clayton nodded.
“Madi says that she thinks she can figure out a way to help, but the longer I wait, the more I have a chance of losing her.”
Olivia nodded. Then, she raised her finger. “Do you have to kill the evil that you love or the Mei that you love? From what I understand, there are two different parts to her. One that has not fully manifested yet.” Clayton hadn’t thought about that. Mei was a Dominion vampire, but still only half vampire. Was there a way to kill half of her?
The girls came back into the room with an agenda in their eyes. “Laura worked a fundraising event at a park where several churches attended and helped out. She said they had a dunk tank, and one of the people dunked was a Father Elias Moore. She gave me a list of the churches that were there. Shouldn’t be hard to find him.” Madi looked between Clayton and her mom with a hint of suspicion in her eyes. Clayton jumped up.
“Well, let’s go,” Clayton said.
“I’m staying,” Mei said. Clayton looked at her confused. She nodded to Olivia. “I think it would be good to have at least one of us stay for protection in case it’s needed. Plus, I want to read some of these books Olivia gave us.”
She said ‘us’ with emphasis while looking at Madi, who ignored that part. “Thank you, Mei. Clayton and I will be back.” She looked at him. “Come on, Clayton. Let’s get this show on the road.”
CHAPTER SIX
St. Anthony’s Episcopal Church loomed over them with an eerie beauty about the building. Something about the outline of the building against the clouded sky made the church feel like a presence of evil surrounded it. Clayton tucked his shirt over the gun that he had attached to him. It was a safety thing. He knew that Madi could handle herself, but he didn’t completely trust her mental state. Something about her proved that she could be reckless.
“So, Mei seems to really have connected with you,” Clayton said as they sat in the parked car across from the church.
Madi smiled. “You don’t really want to talk about the connection that Mei and I have. You know that we just didn’t sleep in the same room last night.”
Clayton didn’t let the comment phase him. Yeah, he had put two and two together. He also knew that Mei had a huge and loving heart. Her emotions were almost as wild as Madi’s. There was bound to be something.
“Mei is fragile. I know she’s a vampire, but I don’t think I need to tell you how easily she can care for someone that’s—you know.”
He half-expected for the girl to turn to him with anger in her eyes and a flick of her wrist to enact some sort of spell. Instead, she stretched her hands out and gripped the bar on the dashboard above the glove box. They drummed lightly against it as she sighed.
“Broken. Someone that is broken—like me. That’s what you’re trying to say.”
“You’re young,” Clayton said. “You’ve had a lot to deal with, and trust me, if there is one person that can spot a broken person, it’s me. I’m broken in more ways than one.”
“But you love her?” Madi turned to him. It was a genuine question. “Because I’m trying not to. I see her, and I can see Mei—who is only several years older than me instead of several hundred. I see someone who understands what it’s like to be a woman who happens to have a life she didn’t choose.”
Clayton saw it. Madi was being real. He wasn’t sure why she was opening up to him about this, but she was being honest. It was time for him to be.
“I love Mei,” he said. “I love her a lot. But I love a different Mei than you do, and that is my curse. You and I both have a decision to make when this is all over.”
“What’s that?” Madi asked.
“I have to decide if my love for Mei, the vampire, is worth me giving up who I’m afraid to be. You have to decide if your love for Mei, the woman, is worth giving up your vendetta to destroy the Dominion.”
Madi thought about that. It made sense. It made perfect sense, and that’s what scared her. She shook her head and opened the door to the car.
“You’re right, but I don’t have to decide that today.”
Clayton watched her shut the door and walk around the front of the car. She looked at him as if to say, ‘a
re you coming or what?’. He shook his head and followed suit.
As they walked up the stairs to the massive church doors, Clayton heard music coming from inside of the building. Music and singing.
“This is a weekday, right? Aren’t churches empty except on Sundays?”
“When was the last time you went to church,” Madi asked.
“I’ve never been,” he said. “Church wasn’t a thing for me. I’m assuming you went a lot.”
“Up until I got my witchy powers,” Madi wiggled her fingers at him. “It didn’t seem right walking into a church after that. I figured God might strike me down or something.”
The doors opened with a squeak that could have woken the dead. Madi walked in first and stared in some awe at the large foyer with vaulted ceilings and old wooden architecture. Everything echoed as if they were all alone in the buildings. The singing came from another room—a choir, a piano, and an enchanting melody.
“Nearer my God to Thee,” Clayton said drawing a curious look. “I know something about history, too. That’s the hymn that was played on the Titanic when it was sinking.”
Amused, she turned to open the doors to the sanctuary. It was beautiful. Stained-glass windows with detailed artwork caused the sunlight coming in to change to a rose-gold color. Oak pews and creaking floor. The choir seemed miles away as they walked down the center aisle. As they grew closer, the sound reminded Madi of what simpler times should feel like.
The man in the front pew sitting with his eyes closed seemed to be there at that moment. One hand waved in the air as if he were conducting a great symphony, or if he were magically making the music come from their lips. The choir itself didn’t seem to care that spectators were watching. Their lungs powerfully gave them breath to belt out the song that filled the entire building.
Suddenly his eyes opened, and he looked at them. His eyebrow raised, and he closed his eyes again. Both Madi and Clayton looked at each other as the choir finished singing their song, holding out the last note until the end. The hand stopped and made a motion for the singers to stop.
