Graced

by Sophia Sharp

  In either case, she’d find out as soon as she moved the canvas tent. Kneeling down the grab a corner with her bound hands, she pulled back with all her might.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  ~Rescue~

  Laura struggled through it, but eventually , and with a great deal of sweat and effort, she had succeeded in pulling the entire canopy off. Underneath was not a pleasant scene.

  The bodies of both Borrak and Serkhol lay ruined in slushy puddles of their own blood. The ground had soaked some up, but as Laura walked amongst the wreckage to get to Borrak and the knife, she felt the moist warmth at her feet. And for whatever reason it repulsed her.

  Maybe it was having the vampire sense dulled that did it. Or maybe it was the experience she had with these two men. But either way, she was reminded of the squeamishness that sometimes took hold of her when she had been only a human girl.

  Amazingly, the table where the candles were lay completely undisturbed. The torrial were both still right in the middle of it, and Laura’s clothes, together with Borrak’s and Serkhol’s shirts, remained underneath. Only the fallen candles gave away that the tent had collapsed.

  Laura hobbled over, and picked the knife from Borrak’s hand. Using its sharp blade – still stained with Gray’s blood – she cut through the rope that bound her feet. Next, positioning it in between her knees, she rubbed the bands binding her hands until she seared them completely. An overwhelming sense of relief gripped her. She had just completely freed herself.

  A gust of wind blew across her back, and she shivered from the cold. That was something she had completely forgotten about. When she was a vampire, the cold and heat just did not touch her. But now, sitting in the mud almost completely unclothed, and with the herbs still in effect, she realized she was freezing.

  Quickly, she scrambled to her clothes. And in her haste, had forgotten completely how they had come off. She picked up her shirt first, throwing it over her head, only to have it fall to her feet. That’s when she was reminded of the slits that had been cut in it. She picked it up off the ground, and looked it over. She realized, holding it in her hand, that she could see a little bit more detail in the fabric than before. She exhaled happily. It meant that the herbs were starting to wear off.

  But there was no way to mend her shirt, no way to tie it to somehow keep it on. And the same applied for her jeans, when she got to them. The only option, she realized with a growing sense of dread, was to use either Serkhol’s or Borrak’s shirts.

  She shivered, and this time it was not from the cold. She didn’t want to have anything to do with those two men touching her. But then again, she couldn’t just continue on half-naked. So, holding her breath and grimacing, she picked up one of the shirts and threw it around her shoulders.

  Except that when she did so, nothing happened. She didn’t know what she expected – a shirt was just a shirt, really – but somehow had thought that knowing who it had once belonged to would make her skin crawl. And it did, in a way, but it was more mental than physical. Quickly, she did up the buttons on the front. The shirt itself was large, and fell down past her knees. And surprising, it did not smell.

  Next, Laura looked at the two torrial. She reached out to pick them up, then pulled her hand back. She remembered what Borrak had told her. About the elders using them to keep a tab on him and his brother. If that’s what they could be used for, Laura did not want to risk giving her location away. She did not want the elders to know anything about her.

  But the medallions on the table did not have that iridescent glow. In fact, as best as Laura could tell, neither were currently functioning. Or, at least, neither of them worked without being hung around somebody’s neck.

  She didn’t want to take any chances, but she couldn’t just leave them here, either. Borrak had mentioned to her they were a key to their power, to their ability to trap her and the others. Were these torrial responsible for that black cloud that snatched up Logan, Madison, and Alexander one by one? For the same gale that had engulfed her before she woke up bound and hanging upside down?

  That could very well be the case, she decided. In fact, she could come up with no other explanation. Yet if these torrial only worked when they were touching somebody’s skin…

  Laura picked up her tattered shirt, and, shielding her hand, reached out towards one of the medallions. She touched the intricately worked surface with one hand – with the shirt acting as a buffer – and… nothing happened. She sighed with relief. The lines on the face of the medallion did not begin to glow, and she felt none of the reverberance that Rafael said came when using one of the devices. Still, she thought it better to be safe than sorry. Quickly, she wrapped up both medallions in her shirt, tying them off in a knot and leaving the chains exposed. Then, using a small piece of fabric from her jeans that she just cut off, she picked up both medallions by their chains.

  The next thing to do would be to find the others. She remembered how she had been carried to the tent, and knew they were not far off. With all of them free, they could rush to Portland and find Gray the care he needed.

  Of course, a bear wondering through the streets of an urban city would surely cause questions, so she knew that their options were limited to finding a pharmacy, getting some type of antibiotics, and applying them to Gray’s wound. And praying that they had done it fast enough.

  She glanced over at Gray, who was still watching her from his perch on the ground. She wished desperately to form the connection with him, if only to see how much he was hurt. But she knew, based on her vision, that she was still under the influence of the herbal mixture. Trying now would only confuse them both.

  “I’ll be back soon, ok?” she told him as she started off towards where the others were. “You stay here and… try not to move.” Gray only looked at her, but the way he crooked his head made Laura feel that, connection or no, he understood.

  She walked the short distance to the area where the others were held briskly. When she saw the shapes of the wooden structures that held them form in the darkness around her, she broke out into a run.

  Alexander was the first she got to. Taking a quick look at him, and seeing that he had passed out again, she glanced at Madison and Logan to see if either of them were awake. Neither were. They must have been administrated a fresh serving of the herbs just before Borrak and Serkhol got to her tent.

  Since she was already by Alexander, she decided to start with him first. She bent down to undo the rag that had been placed in his mouth, and threw it away as if it were a live serpent. The thing was vile, plain and simple.

  Next, she stood back up to use the knife on the top of the rope that held him. She tried to be careful, to cradle him before he fell, but he turned out to be unexpectedly heavy. And without her strength back yet, she fumbled him down to the ground.

  Well then. She stood up, hands on her hips. She definitely wasn’t used to feeling so weak. Exhaling loudly, she bent back down to start using the knife on the rope twisting around his body.

  Once Alexander was free – if still passed out – Laura moved on to Madison, who was the next closest. This time, she took a bit more care with lowering Madison down, if only because now she was more aware of the strength she lacked. The rag came off next, and then all the ropes binding her body were sliced through.

  She looked Madison over. She was out cold, as well, but didn’t seem to be hurt in any other way. Neither did Alexander, for that matter.

  It was Logan she was worried about. She remembered that horrible bruise on his face. And as soon as Madison was safely on the ground, she ran to him.

  She slid onto her knees just before reaching Logan. He hung there, twisted away from her. She took him by the shoulder to turn him around, and gasped when she saw his face.

  From far away, which is where she had been last time she saw him, the bruise looked bad, yes, but not horrible. From up close, however, it looked absolutely dreadful. The entire left side of his face was puffed up almost beyond recog
nition, and the eye on that side was swollen shut.

  “Oh, Logan,” Laura whispered, cupping his head in her hands. How could she have let this happen? She pulled him closer, holding him tightly for a few seconds. Then, with increased determination, she rose up quickly to cut through the rope that held him. She caught him just before he fell, and, with all the strength left in her, lowered him softly to the ground.

  It was then that she saw the first flicker of his eye.

  “L…Laura?” he said uncertainly.

  “Yes!” she exclaimed. “Oh my God, you’re awake!”

  “A…wake?” He sounded drowsy. “Where… where am I?”

  “You’re in the woods. We’re all in the woods. We were captured here by two humans serving the elders.”

  “Captured?” His eye widened in surprise. “We were captured?”

  “That’s right,” Laura said gently, “but Gray ended up saving me. And he took care of the two humans.”

  “How could… humans… capture us?”

  “They had torrial,” Laura explained. “But that’s not important now. You are. How are you feeling?”

  “Me?” Logan blinked once seemingly in surprise. “I feel… different. And my head aches.” He brought a hand up to his face, and he winced as he touched the side that was swollen. “Oh yes. I think I’m starting to remember. There was a fight, and there were these two horrible creatures…”

  “Human men,” Laura jumped in. “They were both just human men.”

  “Really?” Logan sounded surprised. “Are you sure we speak of the same ones? The ones I fought against were like no men I have ever seen. They were hideous, monstrous deformities. Their faces—”

  “I know,” Laura interrupted, taking his hands. “I know what they looked like. But they… spoke to me. Told me things about who they were. And as hard as it is to believe, they were simply regular human men.”

  “Hm. Then how…?”

  “All this?” Laura asked. Logan nodded. “They gagged you with a ragged cloth. And apparently, they had some type of mixture of herbs or something like that, which, when breathed in, completely dulls the vampire powers within us.”

  “What?” Logan sounded shocked. He looked around, and pushed himself up in alarm. “I can’t see…” he whispered half to himself in complete disbelief. “It’s… dark. And I can’t see!”

  “I know,” Laura said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I know. Me neither, not as well as before. But the effects wear off. Already, my vision’s better than when I first got free.”

  “A herb that restricts the vampire within us?” Logan sounded like he was in complete disbelief. “I have never heard of such a thing, but if it’s the truth…”

  “It is,” Laura nodded. “I saw one of them put the mixture on the cloth just before they stuck it into my mouth. It made me pass out, right away.”

  Logan nodded. “I guess that’s why things are so hazy and difficult to remember…”

  Laura smiled. “That’s right. But you’re safe now. We’re all safe now.”

  “Your shirt,” Logan said suddenly. “What are you wearing?”

  “Oh. This?” Laura tugged at the cloth she was wearing. “It’s one of theirs. My clothes were taken.”

  “Taken? They didn’t…” he trailed off, not willing to say the unimaginable.

  Laura swallowed. “They were about to. But Gray came there just in time.”

  “Thank God.” Laura squeaked as Logan threw his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. “I could never live with myself if I let anything like that happen to you,” he whispered in her ear. “Laura, I’m so sorry all of this ever happened.”

  She frowned. He was sorry? What about the way she had let him be beaten? He could have been killed! She should be the one apologizing to him. She had been the last one captured, after all, which meant she had a chance to save them. And he was apologizing to her? The stubborn man!

  “How are the others?” he asked suddenly, pulling away.

  Laura reached out to touch his face. “In better shape than you,” she said softly. She motioned towards them. Both Madison and Alexander were on the ground, and neither had moved yet.

  “We need to get away from here,” Logan said. “And we need to wake Madison and Alexander.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ~

  It took a bit of effort, but, eventually, both Alexander and Madison awoke from their slumber. Neither had been hurt anywhere nearly as badly as Logan, and Laura suspected it was because the elders were looking for her and Logan, not her and Logan and two others.

  It took a little bit more time getting them up to speed with what happened. Laura explained how she had been taken into the tent, and the conversations she had with both twisted men. She told them how Gray showed up just in time to rescue her, and how she suspected the torrial were key to the barrier she found when she was searching for the others.

  “And what about that… darkness?” Alexander asked. “What do you think that was?”

  “Based on what Laura’s told us,” Madison offered, “I suspect it has something to do with the powers of the two torrial.” Laura nodded in agreement.

  “It makes sense,” Logan said. “That a torrial would be able to work against Vassiz in that way. The darkness that swept up each of us in turn is very likely something extracted from the dream realm and controlled by the two medallions. We are, unlike humans, very intimately connected to that world.”

  “Right,” Laura said, nodding.

  “And the herbs,” Madison continued, “that’s… astounding. That something exists that can mute down the vampire within us?”

  “I know,” Alexander whistled. “In all my years, I have never heard of something like that. Not even a hint about it existing.”

  “Do you remember what they said was in it?” Madison asked Laura.

  Laura shook her head. “No. All they told me was that it was a common herb that did it.”

  “Wait a minute,” Logan interrupted. “Didn’t you say you saw them apply the mixture to your rag?”

  “That’s right,” Laura answered.

  “Well, in that case, wouldn’t the mixture still be on them? I’m sure we can find it by their bodies.”

  “And take care of Gray at the same time,” Madison added. Laura looked at her in surprise. “I can take a look at the wound. With the vampire sense faded, I shouldn’t have any problem discerning the severity of it.”

  “Thank you,” Laura said. She got up, and the rest of them followed her to the tent.

  The scene was just as she left it. The canopy had been pulled over to one side, revealing the two fallen bodies. This time, the queasiness that Laura felt was more subdued. And, she realized with delight, she could already see further in the dark than before.

  Gray was still there, licking at the wound on his leg. Laura ran up to him, and he moved his great head towards her. Madison came next, walking towards him with a bit more caution.

  “I’m hoping he recognizes me,” she said, “but, with the vampire sense dulled, I can see him clearly. And the advantage before was that I was nearly indiscernible to him I just hope I don’t spook him now.”

  As Madison got closer, Laura head a growl begin in Gray’s throat. Quickly, she started stroking the back of his neck. “It’s alright,” she whispered to him. “Madison is a friend.” She wished she could form the connection already, but it was still impossible. “She’s going to take care of you. Don’t worry.”

  And, as if Gray understood every single word, he instantly relaxed. She felt his muscles loosen as he settled back down into a more comfortable position.

  Madison walked over to the side, and squatted beside Gray. He moved his head to look at her, but Laura pulled it back. She held onto him as Madison gently examined the wound, spreading his fur out to see it better. When she was done, she got up and nodded to herself.

  “So?” Laura asked.

  Madison smiled. “It’s not nearly as bad as you m
ight think. Bears are strong creatures, and they get into fights all the time in the wild. This stab is little worse than a scratch he might get from another bear. I wouldn’t worry about it getting infected, or anything like that.”

  “But he was limping when he walked,” Laura said.

  “I know. The slit from the knife is narrow, but it went pretty deep. Not deep enough to damage anything permanently, but deep enough to cause discomfort until it heals.”

  “And how long would that take?”

  Madison licked her lips. “Two, maybe three weeks? The wound itself will close up long before then, but it will take a while for the muscle fibers to recover. In either case, neither Gray nor you need to worry.”

  Laura exhaled a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “That’s such a relief,” she said, and looked to Gray. “You hear that, you big hero? You’re going to be just fine.”

  Madison smiled. “Now, I think we need to figure out what to do with them.” She looked over at the two bodies on the ground.

  “Right.” Laura rose. Alexander and Logan were already examining the bodies, albeit with a bit of caution. It was like they didn’t quite know how to behave without their vampire senses. Both of the men looked as if they were afraid either Borrak or Serkhol might jump out at them at any second.

  “This is the one who used the bottle,” Laura said, pointing at Borrak on the ground. “If we’re to find the mixture anywhere, the first place to check would be on him.”

  At her words, Logan bent down right at the body. He gripped Borrak by one side and heaved him over. Laura grimaced. Death had not made him any easier to look at.

  Logan patted the front pockets of Borrak’s pants. “I think this is it,” he said as he dug in to pull something out. Sure enough, in his hand was that same dark glass bottle that Laura had seen Borrak use on her rag.

  “That’s it,” Laura said, picking her way over. She still didn’t like the way her bare feet squished through the dirt that was still moist with blood. Logan handed the bottle to her, and Laura examined it in her hand. It looked to be about half-empty, and had a cork twisted into the top. She didn’t want to open it lest she unleash the effects of the mixture again.