“Pratt, you know there is no cure for cancer, my god we would have cured her to start with when I diagnosed her over the summer.” Doc said, his voice shocked at Pratt’s un realistic treatment plan.
“I know…I know, calm down I’m well aware of this I spent all those years in the rain forest looking for a cure to the damn disease. The thing I’m trying to explain is, there is no cure for human cancer, but technically, Corrine is no longer fully human. The changes she has made, although they have stopped, have changed some of her cell structures in the last few weeks. I believe if we use some of the serum I discovered many years ago in Brazil, we might have a chance.” Pratt sounded very confident to me about this serum.
“Is this the same serum you used for Emma?” Will questioned him.
“Yes, the very same one, and it’s probably much stronger than the one I had at the time of Emma’s illness.”
“It proved to be lethal though, didn’t it?” I asked.
“Well yes, to humans more than likely, we never got to do extensive studies. It cured three humans, but later it proved lethal to some of our lab rats. What gives me confidence is Corrine is not fully human any longer, so this serum may be exactly what we need.” Pratt smiled slightly, as he was very confident in his theory.
I looked at him; he was as all the coven members naturally handsome, with his sandy blonde hair that just brushed his neck. His Romanesque facial features could have landed him a modeling job just about anywhere. I had to wonder what his wife Emma looked like, more than likely a super model no doubt. I quit daydreaming, when Pratt spoke again.
“I was in the Brazilian rain forest forty years ago give or take a year. I think Doc has told you. I won’t bore you all with the long story, but the discovery of a rare flower there, ultimately led me and a group of other scientists to the country. The natives had said it had healing powers many said it could repair tissue, and even cure some disease.
I led this team of very well respected scientists for years, we did extensive research and study’s. Of course being a vampire time was not an issue for me as it was my colleagues, so when they returned to the states, I stayed in Brazil to further study the plant’s ability’s. I felt it could be used in some other ways and set out to discover just how to use it.”
“Did anyone who took it live, or any of them cured?” I asked softly seeming to have lost my voice, I figured my mind was next to go.
“Yes, Corrine three of the tribes members with Lymphoma, were cured and they had no side effects and none of them were vampires or even half bloods. The serum stopped any further cell damage and it healed the areas of the body the cancer damaged. It was not long after those miracle cases that the lab rats began to die, so we were forced to stop testing and all trials on any humans.”
“That’s a shame it may have proven to be a cure to many human ailments!” Doc said as he picked up the research papers from the table and shook his head.
“Indeed, but the FDA would have had our medical license’s in no time. We would be banned from ever practicing in the states if we would have continued.”
“Yes, I have had issues with them before.” Doc said, not looking up as he scanned the lab reports. “So Pratt, do you feel we have a shot here, using the serum?” Doc’s voice was upbeat now I figured that had to be good.
“Yes, I have a very good feeling that this will save Corrine, with rest and steady doses of serum her body will heal. Then we will administer a small dose of vampire venom when she is strong enough. This should push her body to complete the change over and become a half blood as she wishes to be.” Pratt winked at me, a coy smile on his face. “You still wish that do you not Corrine?”
“Of course I want that, I want nothing more Dr.Pratt. I want to be like William and belong to the coven.”
“You already belong here Corrine; you just will be a full fledged member, that’s all.” Doc chuckled softly. I saw the intense look on Will’s face finally ease as he accepted Pratt’s detailed plan and explanation of how they would try to heal me.
“I want to begin treatment’s immediately, as once we start them we must never miss a dose or her body system will quickly go back to where she is now. The doses must be exact and at the same time each day, four times a day. If we miss any her system will quickly shut down, and we aren’t going to talk about that, as it will not be allowed to happen under Doc’s care and mine.
Chapter 9
Transition and Revelations
The next week was long and very pain full for me, as I expected it to be. Pratt began the treatments, and the serum as he expected conflicted with my body’s system. I had more intense pains and the pain medications barley even took the edge off. William was at my side every step of the way, through it all.
He mopped my brow when I ran insanely high fevers and fed me ice chips. He held me close and wrapped me up like a burrito when the fevers broke and my body temperature nosedived into un human lows and I was freezing. I was a giant mess and he never once complained as he helped me hang on, he brushed my hair and read to me every day to make things easier for me.
Lydia told me in confidence one afternoon, that she had hoped for decades that William would find his match, his one, and only soul mate. She told me how happy she was that we were together, she had worried he would be alone his entire vampire life. Lydia and I spent many hours together, when she could coax Will out of the room only by promising to not leave me alone under any circumstances. I learned much about her life and the coven’s very long history, not to mention a little about Will’s own human past.
I was to return home to Cambridge to spend Thanksgiving with my family in one week. I had been in Maine at the “treatment center” since October 31’st and it was now mid November. Doc had been in constant contact with dad and arranged for me to return home on his private jet. Doc and Libby my “nurse” would be coming with me.
I was a bit homesick, but as long as Will was with me, anywhere could feel like home. I missed Gran very much too, despite our long phone conversations and letters. I wanted to feel her warm hug’s and smell her lavender perfume. It reminded me of when I was little every time I got a whiff of it. I was thinking a lot about memories lately, and a lot about Will’s past too.
Lydia would not tell me the entire story about how Will came to be a vampire, she said it was his story and he would be the one to share it with me. I knew the circumstances of how he was changed, and that it was devastating to her so I didn’t push the topic. She respected Will’s privacy and feelings when it came to that touchy subject.
I had been reading when Will came in my room, it was two day’s now before we were to head back to Massachusetts. I was amazed as he carried a bouquet of brilliant red roses. I was speechless as he pulled one rose out and handed it to me, and placed the others in a vase next to my bed.
“Not one in these is more beautiful than you my sweet.” He smiled, giving me a wink as he leaned over and kissed my cheek softly.
“You spoil me Will, you do realize that don’t you?”
“Yes, that’s my job is it not?” He gave me an adorable grin, his deep blue eyes sparkling. He rendered me speechless as I stared in to them.
“Sounds good to me,” I smirked and smelled the gentle aroma of the single rose he had handed me.
I watched him adjust the flowers. I had wanted to ask him something since the day at the sledding hill, when he told me he was a vampire. I wanted to know what had happened exactly, the day he was turned into a vampire. I just never found the right time to ask. I did know of course Vincent was the vamp who turned him, how could I forget that.
Today seemed like the perfect day, it was a quiet Sunday. Doc and Pratt were busy preparing to return to Cambridge. Lydia and Emma (who I had not met yet) were out shopping. I decided that since we had some time alone, I would see if he felt like telling me about it.
“William,” I said softly. He looked up at me as he put down a magazine he’d been about to open
&nbs
p; “Yes, love?” He gave me a warm smile.
“We know a lot about each other right?” I was starting to re think this. I didn’t want to upset him; he seemed to be in such a good mood today.
“Uh… yeah, I believe so.” He gave me a puzzled look.
“Well, I was sort of wondering here lately about, well…” I felt weird asking now but decided to just put it out there, if he didn’t want to talk about it that was ok. “Uh how you came to be a vampire, the whole story.” He looked a bit out of sorts, obviously caught off guard by my question. He focused on one of the roses and ran his finger across the blood red petal.
“Doc didn’t tell you?” He did not make eye contact as he spoke, I was afraid I had ticked him off now.
“No, he and your mom both said it was your story, and you should be the one to tell me about it.” I bit my lower lip waiting for him to tell me not to ask or to go away or something.
“Oh.” He walked over to the big bay window, his back facing me as he stared outside, he crossed his arms. I waited for a few minutes as he was thinking. I didn’t say a word.
“It’s not much of a story really.”
“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked, you don’t have to tell me anything, just forget I brought it up.” I looked down feeling like crap for making him think about that painful part of his past. It wasn’t like enough bad stuff was already going on, with me being sick.
“No…no it’s ok really. I was just thinking about it there for a minute, you should know. You shared all the painful parts of your past with me. I want you to know everything about me too.” He turned slowly and walked over to me he gently ran his finger down my cheek, and smiled lovingly at me. “I always want to share everything with you Corrine, forever I love you never be afraid to ask me anything ok?”
“Ok,” I blushed a bit. I don’t know why I thought he might get mad at me for asking, this was my William I was talking about, not a regular guy. I figured it was a flash back to my totally dysfunctional relationship that I had with psychopath Todd that made me think it was wrong to ask.
To this very day, Will had never gotten mad at me or even short tempered. He did with others once in awhile, but even when I was grumpy, he was loving and kind to me. He sat next to me on the edge of the bed and began to tell me his story. He seemed tense, so I knew the circumstances and details about his change to a vampire had to be hard for him to talk about.
“It happened when I had just turned nineteen, and I was going to start college that fall. I had been preparing to start my studies in medicine to become a doctor. I had just turned nineteen one month before I first met Vincent. I had seen him before in town he seemed to be a normal guy. I never heard anything strange about him or anything, he just seemed pretty pale, but that really wasn’t too odd to me.
I was going to a small college, just outside New Orleans, back in those day’s there was not so many to choose from, as it is now. Vincent worked at the College, or he made it appear like that to me. I went with my father for enrollment, and he was there. He even introduced himself to my father on the campus tour. I should have got suspicious when he didn’t talk to any of the other parents, just my dad and me.
I was young and way too trusting back then to have realized I was in danger. Vincent was kind to me, but also seemed very interested in my family’s history. I had to tell him who my birth mother was, he swore we had family in common, and that’s how he got me to tell him all the details. I know of course he was making sure I was in fact Lydia Darcy’s biological son, the one he was looking for.”
Will seemed tired suddenly, that worried me, but I figured he was just upset recalling all this and so on. I could see the hurt in his eyes.
“We became good friends in the next few months; he made himself fit in even with my friends. It was not unusual for him to play basketball with us, or shoot pool Saturday nights at the local dance hall. He didn’t look much older than all of us really, so it never looked odd. The only odd things I had heard rumors about at that time actually, were about Doc.” He laughed softly.
“Doc? You have to be kidding me!” I was shocked, as Doc seemed to be a master at disguise from all humans.
“No really, because of his perfect skills as a doctor and surgeon, people back then speculated he had magical powers, or he was super human. In those times people were really suspicious of others who were gifted or extremely intelligent, they cried black magic or witchcraft most often. I had met Doc at a very young age. He was one of my father’s friends, as my dad was a doctor as well, but just a family doctor not a surgeon like Doc.
Doc always talked to me, and when I needed advice about life or my future he always lent me his ear. My dad was pretty short tempered, and critical of my thoughts and opinions so having Doc around was a lot of help for me. I had heard the stories about Doc’s old white plantation house in the back bayou’s and how kids dared each other to sneak back there.”
“What did people think was going on there?” I scooted back under my covers, as the wind outside howled, blowing the snow around in swirls.
“I don’t know for sure what they thought, just that it was odd he lived so far out, and he had a lot of extended family living with him. Those were coven members of course, but they posed as family much like we still do today. I think more of them lived there though back then. It’s funny really because despite the rumors of what Doc “was” or might be, and so on, when people got sick, they called for Doc every time.
Many people refused to be treated by any other Doctors and would only see Doc when ill.” Will took a deep breath before he continued, he squeezed my hand gently and stared lovingly into my eyes, being sure not to stare to long though, or he would put me in a trance as all vamps could do.
“I remember the night it happened like it was only yesterday. Vincent had asked me to come help him move one weekend, it was late winter like it is right now. It was not too cold being in New Orleans, but we did get freakish ice storms once in awhile. One hit earlier that week, so it was still a bit cold and slick.
Vincent said he had some furniture in storage in an old warehouse, in the industrial side of town. I again thought nothing of it, people used a lot of the old abandon warehouses for storage, and they were rented out all the time, by the shipyards. The ware houses were next to the river and in pre civil war day’s the cotton taken from the plantations in the area was shipped out down there.
It was a bad area then, lots of crime not a really good place to hang out, so I was not familiar with the place at all. It was very dark and desolate. I remember feeling strange being there, must have been my inner sense trying to warn me I guess.” He shrugged his shoulders and shakes his head. I patted his arm.
“You couldn’t have known Will.” I said reassuringly.
“No, I never could have imagined what kind of monster he was, not in a million years! He was on time that night, and showed me the building we would be going into, it was about a seven story’s a really dark place. I just wanted to move whatever he wanted and get out of there, and fast. I got more uncomfortable when he showed up alone.
If we were moving furniture, we would need more than the two of us. I kept thinking to myself the whole time. He led me upstairs, it must have been like a thousand steps to the top floor, and he seemed to glide up them all with no effort. I do remember thinking that was really odd.
Vincent opened the door, and it was very dark, only lit by candles. Back then, electricity was not in those buildings. They were so old and un used it was a waste to power them, that is what he told me. I was shocked once my eyes adjusted though; the whole entire first floor was an apartment. It wasn’t a shack either; it was as we say today tricked out.” Will smiled at me. I could tell was trying to be funny and make me believe this story didn’t bother him.
“Nice was it?” I smiled back at him.
“Crazy nice, he had couches art work and chandeliers. I was not expecting that at all. Before I could ask him about the place, he was a
t my side. The grip he had on my arm was enough to drop me to my knees. I begged him to stop and let go of me, and I asked him what he wanted from me.
I could tell he was enjoying the pain he was putting me in. I could see it in his eyes. He told me what he was about to do to me was nothing personal between us; it was who I was related to that brought this on. He said killing me was payback for Doc Parker and my birth mother Lydia. I couldn’t figure out why he hated Doc, or why he mentioned my mother who had died at my birth so long ago.
It was all like a nightmare, none of it made sense; Doc was only a family friend. I had no idea why killing me would bother him anyway. He tied me to a chair, picked up my arm and broke it, like it was a twig. He kept a dead on stare directly into my eyes has he did it. I tried not to cry out in pain. I looked down when he stared at me, it felt wrong, as if he was trying to hypnotize me or something.
I remember him saying I looked like her, and that she was finally going to get what she deserved for refusing him. I asked him what he was talking about. He told me my mother caused this to happen to me. I argued with him, reminding him, she had been dead a good nineteen years now, and that he was crazy.
Ever After Page 19
