I let Holly and Daniel drive me into town. I was too shaky. As we entered St. Peter’s Catholic Church I fell into my regular habit of dipping my hand in the holy water to then make the sign of the cross. It had been a number of years since I’d darkened this door but some things never leave you. Holly flew at me like a shot and grabbed my hand just before it hit the liquid.
“What are you doing?” Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “You want to get burned?”
“Burned?”
“I know Angus dissolved the guardianship between you and my brother, but honestly, has he not taught you anything?” Holly had not been terribly impressed with Gavin today to say the least and this was not helping her downward thinking.
“I’m sure he did and I just forgot,” I said, making an excuse for him. Holly rolled her eyes and put her arm around me.
“Come on. Let’s go sit down.”
Holly and Daniel sat with me as the hour long service dragged on. I was supposed to be reflecting on my Aunt. Everything her life had stood for and everything she’d done for me, but my only thoughts were for my husband. I should be with him. If I were sick and suffering in the woods somewhere I knew Gavin would never let me suffer alone. Something was wrong, something more than, as Holly had said, a return to his violent past. A sick feeling crept up on me and I doubled over with a sudden wave of anxiety. Gavin needed me, he was somewhere out there and he needed me, I could feel it. The bond we had shared when we formed our mental link was flickering on like an old television. Something or someone was trying to access my brain but it wasn’t being fully absorbed for some reason. I needed to get somewhere that I could focus and try to reach back for whatever was reaching out to me.
“It’s ok,” Holly whispered, rubbing my back as I sat doubled over. “She’s in a better place.” I nodded in agreement, but my Aunt was the last thing on my mind. She was dead and her soul was at peace. It was an undead soul I was worried about.
The service finally ended and we headed up the steep hill of the graveyard to take Aunt Sarah to her final resting place. The rain began as soon as the coffin was laid down on the ropes, and as I felt the sting of the warm drops the wind blew directly into my face I turned my head downward. I wanted to grieve for her, but right now it was impossible. Other relatives that I barely saw or spoke to were in tears and I felt horribly guilty that I couldn’t be like them.
I saw humans so differently now. I wasn’t one of them anymore; I was in their world, but not of it. I was different. Gavin had changed me, and now he had left me alone in a new world that I still didn’t completely belong to. The thought of potentially being vampire without him was painful, and he had warned me before that the threat of the loss of the blood bond can do strange things to one’s emotions. I had experienced insanity as a human, and I had a feeling I could experience it again as a vampire. This insanity, however, would be a darker and scarier place than anything I’d have imagined as a mortal. It was the last place I wanted to go, and I had a feeling that finding Gavin and getting an answer as to why this was happening might be the only rescue from it. I could feel myself slipping, and the only rope to normalcy was out there somewhere, roaming the woods.
The graveside service ended and there was nothing left to do now but go home. I was grateful I didn’t have to spend any more time talking to people as the rain had driven everyone to their cars as soon as it was over.
Holly and Daniel dropped me off and went home to change with a promise they’d be back as soon as possible to continue their search. I changed myself and sat at the kitchen table to wait for them. It was darker in here than normal now since Daniel had boarded up the broken window. Gavin had replaced all of our windows with UV glass so I wouldn’t have to walk around all day in my own house wearing the protective Prada sun glasses. He had done that just for me, so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable. How could this be the same man that murdered an innocent creature and then terrorized me?
A loud banging at my back door caused me to jump, searing through my already frayed nerves. I wanted it to be Gavin but I was too afraid to turn around and see who it was.
“Hey Rach!” I recognized Ian’s voice. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah it’s open,” I said getting up to greet him with as much calmness as I could.
He spotted the board and gave a nod in its direction. “What happened to your window?”
“Gavin came back last night,” I said.
“Where is he? How did the window get broken?”
“I don’t know,” I said trying not to tear up, but Ian heard it in my voice.
“What’s the matter?” he said taking me by the shoulders so he could look me in the face.
“We have to find Gavin. Something is wrong with him. Last night I went looking and he had Nina…” I broke down, sobbing finally from the emotion I had been holding in like a curled up fist.
“Nina?”
“Yes, a nymph. He was feeding from her,” I said. “Ian he killed her, and then he took her head…” I didn’t have to say anymore. The look on his face told me he had put two and two together. He hugged me to his chest.
“Don’t you worry Rach. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”
“Holly said they almost executed him last time he acted this way.”
“We’re not gonna let that happen,” he said, pulling me away so I could see his eyes again. “Do you know where he is?”
“No, Holly and Daniel are on their way back to keep looking. They looked all last night.”
Right on queue their car pulled up the driveway. Without saying another word Ian ran outside to talk to them. I watched out the window as they spoke. If any bad blood existed between Holly and Ian it wasn’t showing now. They all seemed to be focused on the task at hand. Daniel pointed toward the woods and Ian nodded and zipped off. Daniel then took off in the opposite direction.
Holly came inside. “Holly, I want to go with you guys and look,” I said.
“No,” she said. “You need to stay here. He’s very strong when he’s in this frame of mind. You wouldn’t have the strength…”
“He’s my husband!” I yelled, cutting her off.
“I know, and I know you just want to help. We all want the answers trust me. We just need to find him as fast as possible before he does this again. He won’t be given any second chances this time. He kills another vampire or an innocent and it’s all over.”
“You can’t let them kill him Holly,” I said pacing the kitchen floor.
“Maybe it won’t come to that. I have to go,” she said, heading for the door. “If you see him at all call us. I can be back here in a flash.”
Holly disappeared out the door and once again I was sitting at my kitchen table alone and helpless. Sitting with my head in my hands I racked my brain trying to think of ways to find him. Then I had an idea.
“Maggie!” I called to the dog. She jumped off the couch from where she’d been sleeping, tail wagging and tongue hanging out. “Let’s go find Daddy. Wanna find Daddy?” Maggie ran to the door like she knew exactly what I was asking. “Good girl Maggie,” I said as we headed out in the same direction I’d come from last night. “Let’s go bring Daddy home.”
Chapter Ten
As soon as we were out the door Maggie began smelling the ground. I followed the little dog as she took the direction of her nose deeper and deeper into the dense forest. We walked for about twenty minutes before she stopped and stood completely still, she was hearing something and I opened up my distance hearing so I could hear it as well.
Heavy footsteps were coming from the other side of the tree growth we were standing in. Suddenly there was a splash. Maggie took off running and I pursued the little dog until finally we came to a small piece of swamp, buzzing with mosquitoes and black flies. The water was murky and the whole area had a foul stench reminiscent of rotting eggs and unwashed bodies.
Maggie spotted something floating in the murky water and began barking. “What is it girl?” I said t
urning my head to see. In the black water there was a hooded jacket floating face down, hood up and arms stretched out to the sides…a body.
It was impossible to tell who it was or how they died from where I was standing, but I had to find out. If the body of a man was floating in this little swamp and he had been drained, chances were good that Gavin had crossed his old familiar line and killed an innocent.
“Stay here girl,” I said to Maggie. The dog whimpered but did as she was told. Slowly and carefully I put my foot into the edge of the water. The sludge underneath was soft and my leg sank deep into it. I put my other leg in and proceeded to trudge slowly toward the floating corpse, my body shaking. I desperately wanted it to be some kind of mistake. Maybe someone had wandered in here and drowned accidentally.
I kept putting one foot in front of the other sinking deeper into the muck with each new step. The water was up to my chest now and if I got stuck there was no getting out. Vampires couldn’t drown but I didn’t relish the thought of being stuck in the swamp with a dead body until someone figured out where I was. Nobody knew I had left the house, so it could be a while before that happened.
Finally I made it to the man. I took a deep breath and grabbed the sleeve turning it over bracing myself for a gruesome sight. Instead I saw an old coat draped over a piece of driftwood. A huge sigh of relief and squeal of gratitude escaped from my throat. Gavin hadn’t done anything yet, not that we knew of anyway, that would earn him the wrath of the council.
I turned around to wade back toward the shore where Maggie was waiting. When she saw me coming back she began wagging her tail. “I’m coming back girl,” I said. Suddenly the murky bottom gave way and my boot slid into it up to the knee, my head slipping under the water for a moment as it did. I pulled my leg out and tried to move forward but each time one leg came free, the other had sunk even deeper in the effort. The suction held my right leg up to my thigh now and my left was stuck halfway up the calf. My head slipped under the water again, this time taking my glasses with it.
The rain that had pelted us during the funeral had stopped, and the noon sun beating down through the opening of trees blinded me. It was September and the sun was as hot and strong as a mid-summer day. I felt the intense heat burning my still too new vampire eyes and cried out. Maggie began barking and I could hear her paws hitting the edge of the water.
“No Maggie!” I yelled between bouts of fighting to keep my head from being pulled under. “Stay!” If she ventured in after me she’d drown in this mud hole. Not knowing what to do I thrashed around, while trying at the same time to shield my eyes.
I was almost in the throes of a full blown panic attack when out of nowhere a pair of strong arms slipped around my chest and I was being pulled up. The stranger didn’t say a word as he dragged me out of the swamp and under a thick growth of trees where there was more shade. I felt the glasses being put back on my face and after a few moments I could see again.
“Going for a swim baby?” a familiar voice said. I looked up to see Gavin smiling down at me, his lips spread across his teeth in a Cheshire cat like grin. I was so startled to see him I crab walked myself backward and into a tree. “Hey, Hey,” he said softly as he got to the ground and crawled toward me. “It’s just me,” he reached out and touched my face. “I’d never hurt you Rach.”
I was trembling. “Gavin,” I said, “What’s going on? Why are you acting so strange?”
“Strange?” he said, acting like he didn’t know what I was talking about.
“You killed Nina!” I screamed at him. “You threw her head through our kitchen window! You’re scaring me.”
“Oh baby no,” he said, “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to show you.”
“Show me what?”
“How it’s supposed to be. How I really am. How you really are deep down. All of this is bullshit. The feeding without killing… it’s...unnatural. We made a horrible mistake stopping Samuel. See, we’re like animals Rach. Beautiful wild animals.” He closed his eyes and licked his lips as if tasting his own words. “You wouldn’t ask a tiger not to hunt or a wolf not to stalk its prey would you? Come on. You know you’re a monster,” he said, gently tracing my cheekbone with his finger. “You feel it don’t you? There’s a beast living inside you Rachel, you’ve known that since you were a child, haven’t you? That’s why you cut yourself off from the world. Deep down you’ve always been afraid you’d lose control of it, and letting it out would be bad for everyone. That’s why you needed to be contained.”
“What are you talking about? Gavin it’s not the same. Come home with me,” I pleaded. “Holly can help you. You still have a chance to undo all this. Please, let me call the others. Holly, Daniel and Ian just want to help you.”
Gavin doubled over and let out a frenzied laugh. “Help me? Holly help?” He took my face and squeezed my jaw so hard I thought it would shatter as the sound of slow crunching bone sent shivers of white cold fear slithering through my veins. “Holly is useless, and so are the rest of them.” He softened his grip and stroked my cheek again. “You’re the only one that matters now. You have a darkness in you, Rachel. That’s why I picked you. I can see it in you. It’s beautiful and dangerous. I want you to embrace it now. You’re the only one who’s wild enough to understand.”
“Understand? I don’t understand anything that’s happening here,” I said. Again he began laughing. He laughed so hard that his whole body was racked with convulsions. Then something changed. All at once he was screaming like he was in pain.
“What’s wrong? Oh god Gavin please come back home. Let us help you.”
“It’s too late!” he screamed, batting me with his arm. The force was so great that my head cracked the tree I had been sitting against, splitting the trunk open. Everything went blurry and through the haze I saw Gavin get up and take off back through the brush. He was gone and I was too stunned to get up and go after him.
“Help!” I screamed. I tried to get up but failed, falling back down onto the damp forest floor. “Somebody help me!”
Chapter Eleven
“Ah shit,” I heard Ian say behind me.
“Ian!” I said, pointing to the direction Gavin had run off in. “Gavin went that way.” He bent down to examine my head as if he hadn’t heard what I said. “Go!” I yelled.
“But you’re hurt.”
“I don’t care. I’ll be fine. I’m a vampire, I’ll heal in five minutes. Go catch him. He’s talking crazy,” I said.
“I’ll be back for you.” Ian took off in the direction I had pointed in. Slowly and carefully I rolled over onto my stomach and began crawling back toward the house, listening to the skull bones as they noisily readjusted themselves around my brain. I got about five feet before I felt myself being picked up like a ragdoll.
“You just don’t listen do you?” Daniel said.
I felt a flush of heat cross my cheeks in embarrassment. “I guess not.”
“That’s ok. Neither does my wife half the time, but don’t tell her I said that,” he laughed. Daniel gripped me tightly and ran toward the house. We were home in a few seconds leaving Maggie trailing behind.
Daniel sat me down on the couch in the living room. “Your head will be ok,” he said. “Can’t say the same for the tree.”
“You should go help Ian track Gavin. He was there in the woods. I talked to him.” Just as Daniel was about to turn for the door Ian walked in.
“I didn’t see him,” he said. “Didn’t even pick up his scent.”
“I’m thinking we’ll need to take him by surprise,” Daniel said.
“That’s a great idea but how? We don’t even know where he is. He could be anywhere in these woods and beyond,” Ian said.
Just then the door opened and now Holly was joining us. “Any luck you guys?”
“Rachel saw him in the woods and I tried tracking him but he got away.” Holly frowned at me but didn’t say anything about not listening.
“Rachel, did he say
anything to you?”
“He said Samuel was right and we made a horrible mistake stopping him. Said we are wild animals and we need to be able to hunt freely.” Holly, Daniel and Ian all exchanged a knowing look. “What?” I said.
“That’s exactly the kind of shit he was saying right before I left. After he was turned he subscribed to that philosophy for a while,” Ian said.
They all seemed a little too willing to give up on him. “But not now,” I protested. “I don’t know what’s going on but something is wrong. He’s sick somehow. Twice including today he’s doubled over in pain. He needs help.”
“That can happen from over feeding,” Holly said.
“Over feeding? Has anyone disappeared? Are dead bodies lining the streets from here to St. Peter’s? No!” I stood and headed for the bedroom. “This is your family you’re talking about. I can’t believe you’d be so quick to think that he’s all of a sudden become some kind of killing machine.”
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: One Crow Sorrow Page 6
