Graced

by Sophia Sharp

  Laura shrugged uneasily. She had told Alexander and Madison her worry about being discovered by one of her friends, or maybe by one of the police officers in the city. They had been amused, but didn’t think it was enough of an issue to worry too much over. Laura did. She didn’t like thinking of herself as that missing girl who had run away from home, but, in reality, what more was she? Not that it mattered that running away had been the only choice at the time, or that she was trying her best at the moment to do everything she could to get back home. Get back home, and be safe. Tell her family what happened – well, maybe she couldn’t tell them quite everything, but at least she could see them – and stop living her life in fear of being caught by the elders or their cronies. And then go away with Logan. That would be ideal, the best resolution to everything that had happened to her recently. And she would fight to get it.

  “I wouldn’t worry about that,” Madison said. “Even if we change nothing about her, none but the most astute would be able to recognize her. And definitely nobody from an old photograph they may have seen.”

  “What about my family?” Laura asked.

  “They’ll recognize you,” Madison said gently. “After all, you’re still you. They might be taken aback by some of the visual changes, at first, but they’ll recognize you. I know it.”

  “Are you…” Laura began, “are you speaking from personal experience?”

  Madison sighed, and her eyes became heavy. “Laura, you have to understand, that back when I was transformed… well, if I had come home, let’s just say I wouldn’t have gotten a hero’s welcome. It was a different time then, compared to now. There would have been no way I could have done it.” She sighed, a deep, sad sigh. “I… kept a tab on my family after the transformation, though. As time went on, I watched them age and wither, while I stayed exactly the same. It was a difficult time.” She glanced at Alexander, who was watching her closely. “Luckily, I had someone beside me then.” She flashed him a small smile. “And as the years passed and took their toll, I watched as each of my family members died. One by one. First it was my father, and my mother not long after. Less than two decades later, it was my sister, and a few years after that my two brothers. I came to each of their funerals, but kept myself out of sight. Watching your loved ones die like that, and knowing there is nothing you can do, is one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever have.”

  “I’m sorry,” Laura said slowly. “I didn’t realize—”

  “That’s alright,” Madison said, cutting her off. “There’s a reason I’m telling you this. I know you’re anxious to see your family, to let them know you’re alright. And I don’t blame you. But if I were you, I would consider leaving them in peace. They already lost you once – if you show up, only to leave again, they would lose you twice. That’s not a burden you want to impart upon them, I’m certain. And being the way you are, the only choice for you is to leave them again, the second time. If you come now, or within a year, or within two – whenever we finish what we set out to do – all you would be doing is reopening old wounds. Time heals all, they say, but not even time can make a family forget their lost daughter. Not if she comes back only to leave again. And so, I don’t think seeing your family is ever going to be an option for you. For their sake, if nothing else.”

  “Wow,” Laura breathed. “I didn’t… I mean, I never… considered… it like that.” A great sadness overtook her. Did this mean she could never see her family again? Could never hear her sister’s laugh, could never smell her mother’s cooking? Could never be woken up on her birthday before the crack of dawn by her parents and sister parading into her room and singing “Happy Birthday” at the top of their lungs? When Laura left Vancouver with Logan, being chased after by the packs of Vassiz, never once did it cross her mind that it could have been the last time she would see her family ever. But what Madison said did make sense. Could she really be selfish enough to subject her father and mother to losing her twice? Could she look her little sister in the eye after so long only to tell her they would never see each other again?

  “I’m sorry, Laura,” Madison said. “I did not mean to upset you. The power to choose lies in your hands, of course, but I’m only speaking from experience.”

  “Of course,” Laura said softly. She felt her eyes grow moist, and looked away. Up ahead, Logan was still picking his way through the trees, keeping watch in front for any danger. She yearned desperately to run up to him and have him hold her in his arms, and tell her that everything was going to be alright. But with Madison and Alexander right there… she had to be strong. As much as she liked it or not, she had been thrust into the leadership role of their entire group, thanks to that cryptic prophecy that Gabrielle told her of. And she couldn’t allow herself to be weak-willed, not in front of everybody who depended on her.

  Brushing at her eyes quickly with the back of her hand, she stood up straighter, and focused on the road ahead. They were still so far from having accomplished what they set out to do, and that was what she should be focusing on.

  “Alright,” she told Madison. “Thank you for…telling me.”

  “Of course,” Madison said gently. “I only told you for your own good. What you do with that information is up to you.”

  “Right. But – now we need to focus on getting to Egypt. And before that, on finding Jacob.”

  “Perfect,” Madison said, and Laura could tell by the tone of her voice that she understood that Laura wanted to move on from their previous conversation. “Like I said before…”

  Laura listened as Madison outlined her plan for meeting with Jacob. They had already gone over the plan in its entirety, in the morning while they were waiting for Rafael. But it never hurt to go over things more than once. The plan thus far was for them to check into a hotel in the downtown core as soon as they got to Portland. From there, Madison would reach out to Jacob, and arrange a meeting in a busy location the next day – the mall, or a park, or something of that nature. While she did that, Laura and Logan would disguise themselves as best as possible to avoid recognition. The trouble, if you could call it that, would be getting Laura to the hotel before she had a chance to veil herself.

  And the solution, as inelegant and primitive as it may be, was to simply purchase a pair of those big aviator sunglasses that would take up half her face. If nobody could see her eyes, it was unlikely anybody would recognize her. Especially, Madison said, with the changes that had occurred over the past few weeks in regards to her physical appearance.

  Laura still felt a little uneasy about going out amongst so many people. She understood that by doing so, it meant none of the Vassiz would be able to pick her out, or the others, by their lack of a scent. With so many people around, it would be impossible for another vampire to realize that there even was somebody else who’s scent was missing in the crowds. But at the same time, the thought of so many eyes on her, all at once, made her feel a little bit exposed. And uncomfortable. No matter what Madison or Alexander or even Logan said about the aviators.

  Next, assuming they got to the hotel without any trouble – a big if in Laura’s mind – Madison would return to give them all the location of her meeting with Jacob. They would stake out the place ahead of time, and find spots where all of them could remain while at the same time blending in with everybody else and avoiding any extra notice. Madison would make the suggestion to Jacob of where they had to go – the mere hint of a suggestion – and if he showed any signs of a recoil, she would get out of there – fast.

  However, if he seemed to be listening to her, and did not seem completely appalled by what she was suggesting – as only Madison really seemed to believe he would do – she would tell him to meet them all later that night at the hotel. But it wouldn’t be the same hotel that they were staying at – that would make it much too easy for Jacob to plan an ambush together with some of his pack, in the off-chance he changed his mind before coming.

  That took care of the big question marks. Others were s
till up in the air. They didn’t know, for example, if Jacob would agree to fly them where they needed to go even if he sympathized with their plans. And even assuming he would, they didn’t know when he would be able to do it. It had to all be planned out, as it wouldn’t be plausible to assume he would just leave with them on such short notice. But then again, maybe he would. No matter what, Laura didn’t like the uncertainty much.

  But there was nothing for her to do except hurry up and get to Portland. There, they would finally get some answers, to see if they could get to Egypt to find the torrial repository. If it were even still there.

  Yet the angels believed it to be. Although Laura was disappointed when she found that neither Madison nor Alexander had been able to get the exact location of the repository from any of them. If they knew where it was, it would have made it so much easier if they had simply told them where to go. As it were, they were practically shooting arrows in the dark, hoping one would find its target.

  “…and that’s how we can get to Egypt,” Madison finished. “Just like we planned.”

  “Great,” Laura said. Just then, she noticed Logan motioning from up ahead for them to come to him. He had stopped, and was waiting by a thick tree. And if Laura didn’t know any better, she would have said that he looked tense.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~A Gust of Wind~

  Laura was the first to run up to Logan.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Tracks.” He pointed up ahead into the thick undergrowth. At first glance, Laura couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary… but then she noticed a single bunch of twisted grass blades. And then another bunch, not far off. And then more, and more, going on and on just like footprints in the snow. Except that whatever – or whoever – had made these was walking very lightly on its feet.

  Alexander was next to arrive. Taking one look at Logan, and glancing briefly at Laura, he directed his attention immediately to where the two of them were looking. He nodded to himself as he saw what they saw.

  “Who do you think did it?” Laura asked.

  “Not sure,” Logan replied quietly, “but whoever it was, they were here very recently. Otherwise I wouldn’t have picked the tracks up.”

  “…how recently?” Laura asked, feeling a growing sense of apprehension.

  “Fifteen minutes ago, maybe less.” Logan looked to the side as Madison arrived. “Madison should be able to tell us more.”

  “You’re right,” she said, after taking a few moments to look at the broken grass. “Whoever it was, we barely missed them.”

  “Do you think…” Laura gulped, “…do you think it was more of the Vassiz?”

  “Could very well be,” Logan answered. “We’ll have to step warily from now—”

  He cut off as a black gust of something swept in rapidly from the side to engulf him completely. And just as fast as it had appeared, it was gone. Before Laura even had time to react, much less think, Logan was missing.

  “Loga—” Laura started to yell, twisting around to look behind her. But then something hard knocked into her side, and sent her flying. As she flew, dazed from the unexpected attack, she saw the same black gust appear very quickly around Madison to whisk her away, and almost immediately after, around Alexander. And both of them were gone.

  Laura hit a trunk of a tree with tremendous force. Her shoulder slammed into the bark, and she cried out as a stinging pain ran up and down her arm. But she had no time to worry about pain. As she fell to the ground, she felt her vampire instincts kick in – really kick in, like she was back in the thrill of a hunt – and she righted her fall, landing deftly on her feet.

  Immediately, her first reaction was to figure out what was attacking her, and from where. She had to know the threat. All her senses opened up to let in the stimulation of the surrounding world, and she surveyed everything around her. She saw nothing at first. Everything in her surroundings was quiet. She strained her ears, but not even the sound of the wind rustling through the dried forest leaves could be heard. She looked to all sides, and up in the trees, and down in the brush for the threat. But there was nothing.

  What was that shadow? She didn’t know. But she knew that it had taken Logan. And Madison and Alexander. She was the only one left, the only one it didn’t touch – for whatever reason – and she knew it was up to her to save the others.

  But even if that darkness didn’t touch her, something else did. And she had no idea what it was. It moved so fast, she just did not see it was there until it hit her right in her side.

  She scanned the ground in front of her. Everything was so eerily quiet. Much too quiet. Suddenly, she realized something – where was Gray?

  Discretion wasn’t on her side. Whoever had attacked her group knew they were there, so it wouldn’t do much good sneaking around trying to avoid notice. Gray had been just behind them right before they found the tracks…

  If it were vampires attacking her, if it were the Vassiz, they wouldn’t have picked up on Gray. Which meant he should still be here, somewhere. But she couldn’t even hear him.

  As fast as she could, she dashed back. Back to where Gray had been. And before she had even taken three steps in the direction, she saw him.

  He was about thirty feet away, staring strangely right at her. Or maybe through her. It was like he couldn’t see her at all. Abruptly, he lifted his paw and swiped at something in front of him with immense force. At the same time, he roared – but Laura didn’t hear anything. His paw hit something right in front of him, and rebounded back hard. Laura blinked. There was nothing there.

  Gray stood on his hind legs, and again tried to paw against whatever it was in front of him. And again, his limb rebounded back as if he had hit it against a concrete wall.

  Laura ran towards him. Just as she was about to reach him, she slammed head-first into an unforgiving surface. But there was nothing there. She fell back, rebounding from the invisible barrier like she’d just run full-steam into a solid wall. She’d run with such speed that it took her a few moments to shake away the pain – and the shock – that had come from hitting the wall. It was like a barrier of air had been somehow set up, hard as rock and completely invisible.

  Luckily – but entirely inexplicably – those few lost seconds did not bring on another wave of attacks. There was no strange force knocking into her side, no noise that could give away her attacker. And no sign of that wretched black shadow.

  She got to her feet, and walked over slowly to the place where she’d slammed into the barrier. It was only a few feet in front of Gray, but, as close as she was to him, he made no sign to have noticed her. In fact, he now had both his front paws leaning against the outside of imperceptible wall that separated them. And the way his paws pressed up against it reminded Laura of a glass dome.

  She reached out carefully with her hand to where his paw was. And about two inches before she could reach him, she felt the surface again. The same hard, invisible material she had run straight into. It was cold, but completely smooth. She ran her hand along it, and realized that it was slightly curved. By the feel of the curve, she could say that she was on the inside of the barrier. She looked up towards the sky. She could see the clouds as clearly as before, but… every once in a while, she caught a bit of a shimmer running across where she guessed the top of the surrounding dome would be. It was like someone had placed an enormous glass bowl over her. She didn’t know how big it was, but suspected the barrier was solid all the way around. Which meant she was trapped.

  She heard a noise behind her, and whipped around. It wasn’t noise from close by, she realized, but rather, from further away. From right about where Logan had found those tracks. And it sounded like somebody moving through the trees.

  Quickly, Laura ran to a nearby tree trunk and pressed herself against it. She moved with more grace than whoever was making the noise, and was sure hadn’t made any sound herself. She could still hear the other movement through the woods.

  She
tried to get a sense of who was making the noise. She could do it, she knew, based only on the sound waves that they produced and her instinctual understanding of them. She had done it once before, when she and Logan came across the hunter and found Gray. But as hard as she tried, she couldn’t quite get the same grasp on it as before. It was like there was an… interference… that blocked her from figuring it out.

  But she knew that they were still quite a ways away. She snuck a peek from around the tree she was using as cover, and, seeing no one, bolted to another tree closer to the source of the noise. She was extremely careful not to make a sound – she didn’t know who her attackers were, but she had seen what they did to her friends.

  The movement she could hear continued. And, at least, she could tell by the direction of the noise that whoever was making the sound was not moving towards her, but rather to the side. Good. It meant they didn’t know where she was yet.

  Just as she was about to step out from the tree to stalk a little closer, she heard a voice, hushed but still clear to her ears.

  “Where on hell’s earth did she go?” It was a man’s voice, although not particularly deep.

  “I don’t know.” Another voice answered. That meant there were at least two attackers. This voice was also a man’s and irritatingly grating. And by the tone taken, it sounded like the owner of the second voice was subservient to the owner of the first.

  “Dammit man, she’s the only one we need!”

  “I know, I know. But I did exactly what I was told to do!”

  “How hard was it,” the first voice growled, “to capture one little girl, when I had taken care of all the rest?”

  “It wasn’t like that,” the second voice contended. “The pendant… it should have worked against her.”

  “It worked when I used it against the others.”

  “I saw that! But not what happened with her. Maybe mine’s defective.”