Deadman's Blood

by T. Lynne Tolles

  Blake tried to calm him down. “Remember we talked about this last night, Dean. Breathe. In with the good air and out with the bad feelings.”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever, bat boy. What do I have, Dominic?” Dean asked.

  “Bat boy…don’t start, Dean…” Blake said.

  Sally’s eyes grew wide as if she were sure that Blake would say something that would send Dean off on an emotional rollercoaster. Rowan jabbed Blake in the ribs and he saw Sally’s expression. “Right. You’re right, Sally, Rowan.”

  “It’s nothing to worry about, Dean…It’s just something you are going to have to get used to handling and controlling. I think what you are experiencing is empathic traits. Some who master this trait are able to calm a room full of people. It’s really an amazing gift, but very hard to control at first.”

  “Really?” Dean said, almost in tears. Blake shook his head and the monkey started clapping at that moment for some strange reason.

  “Really, Dean. It will take a while, but I think Blake can help you control it if you let him,” Dominic said.

  “Would you do that for me, buddy?” Dean said, looking at Blake as tears rolled down his cheek.

  Blake was beside himself. Buddy? Dean had never called him ‘Buddy.’ Who am I? Gilligan to Dean’s Skipper?

  “Uhhhh…” Blake stuttered until Rowan kicked him under the table. He flinched and gave her a look, which she returned, and then he turned to Dean.

  “Sure, Dean. Anything.”

  Across the table, Devon was shaking his head and chuckling. Dominic looked at Devon and said, “So what about you two…anything odd you’ve noticed about one another?”

  Devon and Darby looked at each other. They shook their heads and then both looked at Dominic. Devon said, “No. Not that I can think of…..” Then he smiled and started to chuckle as he said, “Unless you count that she’s hearing voices.” Then he laughed full out.

  “I did not…I told you, I thought you said you were hungry and I was just responding to you,” Darby argued.

  “But I wasn’t there, Sweetness. I didn’t say a word,” Devon said. Darby folded her arms across her chest with a ‘hmmph.’

  “Well, at least I don’t sneak up on people all the time,” Darby shot at Devon.

  “I don’t sneak up on you!” Devon retorted.

  “You’ve scared me half to death at least three times in the last couple of days,” Darby said.

  “I can’t help it if you’re jumpy,” Devon replied.

  “Hang on you two. It doesn’t sound like anything supernatural, at least yet. Just be aware of anything odd going on around you, okay?” Dominic interceded.

  Devon and Darby both looked at Dominic, a little embarrassed by their bickering, and nodded.

  Melanie asked, “What about you, Dominic? Anything unusual?”

  “Hmmm. Not really….although I had the strangest dream last night.”

  “What was strange about it?” Anton asked.

  “Well, first off, have you ever noticed when you have a dream you can’t remember parts of it as time goes by?”

  Anton nodded in agreement.

  “Well this dream was more like a movie, and I remember EVERYTHING, vividly,” Dominic said.

  “What was it about?” Anton asked.

  “The past. Our past. At least the Larsen family. Did I ever tell you the story about your great uncle Owen?”

  “Yes. Wasn’t he the one that originally had the Larsen Blood Diamond?”

  “Exactly. The dream was about Owen, the woman he loved, and the Blood Diamond.”

  “But Dad, you’ve been telling us about that story for years; what’s so odd about having a dream about something you’ve been researching for years?”

  “Because the dream filled in all the missing pieces, pieces no one could have known or guessed unless they were there. And that is what the dream was like. It was as if I was transported in time and watching it all play out,” Dominic said.

  “Couldn’t it just be that your imagination filled in the blanks?” Anton wondered.

  “Definitely. But some of the things I saw never even crossed my mind before. I may never know. It doesn’t really make any sense and I have no way of proving that any of it happened the way I saw it last night, but it was so incredibly vivid.

  “What about you, Anton? Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary with yourself?” Dominic asked.

  “Well, since you brought up your dream, I too had the strangest dream last night. It was as if I was in someone else’s head - seeing what they saw. Only it wasn’t pleasant in the least. I was watching it all through the eyes of a vampire stalking someone. I thought it was just a feeding, but when the victim was pulled into a van, the killing changed to something else. The vampire did not feed on the victim; instead, the victim’s neck was broken and as he lay dead in the van, the vampire drained his blood.”

  “What? But that would be a death sentence to a vampire - drinking the blood of the dead!” Devon exclaimed.

  “I know, right. But the vampire did not drink the blood; the vampire drained the victim’s blood into bags and deposited them into a cooler,” Anton said.

  “But why would a vampire do that?” Blake asked.

  “Unless he or she is planning on killing another vampire,” Devon said bluntly.

  “A lot of somebodies,” Dominic said. “It doesn’t take much Deadman’s Blood to kill a vampire.”

  Darby spoke up, “I don’t understand. When vampires drain a victim, they are killing them, right? So why would the blood of a dead person kill a vampire?”

  Dominic said, “That is a misconception many have about vampires. A vampire leaves their victims alive, though barely. A victim ultimately dies from being drained of their blood, but a vampire never drains beyond the victim’s death, only just before. If they were to continue past the victim’s death, the blood becomes instantly deadly to a vampire. I know that is surprising, but blood is the elixir of life and somewhat magical.”

  “But that doesn’t make any sense. You drink your blood from the baggies. How does that blood differ from the blood that was taken from the dead man in Anton’s dream?” Darby continued.

  “I know it is hard to understand, but once the soul leaves the body, the magic of that person’s life is taken with it and the blood goes bad. If the blood is taken from a live person, the magic stays with it. This is true even for humans. You can’t use a dead person’s blood like you can use their organs. Even if that person was on life support, which is ideal for organ donating, it doesn’t work the same with blood. There’s something truly magical about it,” Devon explained.

  “Anton, do you think that it truly was a dream or could you possibly be experiencing ‘remote viewing’? Maybe it was someone else’s dream - lucid dreaming,” Dominic wondered.

  “I’m not sure what it was; it could have just been a dream, but like you described in your dream, I remember everything vividly, like I was experiencing it myself,” Anton said.

  Blake suggested, “You and Dominic should probably keep a dream journal for a few days and see if anything comes of it.”

  “Excellent idea, Blake. We should definitely do that. Even if they are just dreams, it would be interesting to compare them to actual events and see if anything comes of that.”

  Anton agreed.

  “Melanie, Dear. You are the only one who hasn’t had any input,” Dominic commented.

  “I wish I had something interesting to add, but I haven’t noticed anything odd lately, I’m sorry,” Melanie answered.

  “Don’t be silly. There’s nothing to be sorry about; just try to be aware of anything that might be out of the ordinary.” As Dominic was finishing his sentence, the little monkey wrapped around Alyssa started squawking and jumped to the ground, flailing its arms as if it were on fire. An instant later, a pale Mark appeared where the monkey had been. Bare naked, he scrambled for something to cover himself with as he got to his feet.

  Grabbing Alyssa
’s napkin, he blurted out, “Whatever you do, don’t say, spell, or even think of an animal or an insect. I don’t think I can handle another change at the moment.” Then he glared at Blake and Dean and continued, “You two, keep your snarky comments to yourself until I can get a pair of pants on. Got it?”

  Embarrassed smiles appeared all around the table as he walked out of the dining room bare-bottomed for all to see. Alyssa quickly excused herself and followed him.

  *****

  “Well, there’s something you don’t see everyday. What just happened?” Blake said, stunned.

  “That was pretty remarkable. I suppose our Mark has found a new power in shapeshifting,” Dominic said.

  “What?” Dean screamed, almost sounding like a scared little girl, catching everyone by surprise at the octave he’d reached. He cleared his throat then continued, “You mean to say that Mark can change into anything he wants? Even a wolf?”

  Blake laughed at Dean’s concern and stated, ”Aw, don’t worry, Dean. You’re still our favorite male werewolf.”

  Dean sneered at Blake, while Sally and Rowan both gave him a nasty look. Blake withdrew by saying, “I’m sorry, Dean…it snuck out of me. But Dominic? Is it true, can Mark change into anything?”

  “We’ll see with time. It will take a lot of self discipline for him to control changing. Probably much like it was for Rowan and Dean in the beginning. As to WHAT he can change into, well, we’ll just have to see. I’m sure Alyssa will need your support as this will be as hard on her as it is on Mark,” Dominic said.

  “Speaking of Alyssa, we don’t really know what power she attained either,” Darby said. But as she finished her sentence, Mark and Alyssa re-entered the dining room.

  “Move over, Dean…I’m starving,” Mark said as he started grabbing hordes of food and filling his plate. As he did this, he continued, “As for Alyssa, oh, she has a power, all right…” He looked over at Dominic and said, “What is it when you can float in the air?”

  “Levitating?” Dominic said.

  “Yes. Levitation…that’s what Alyssa’s power is,” Mark said.

  “What? What are you talking about?” Alyssa asked.

  “You. When I turned back into a person this morning, I walked into the bedroom and found you sleeping above the bed - two to three feet above the bed. I made some stupid comment to myself about a mon…I mean a furry little creature and ‘poof’ I turned again,” Mark explained.

  “What were you before you were a monk…”Blake was interrupted by Mark sticking his fingers in his ears and singing “LaLaLaLaaaaaLa. I can’t hear you saying anything. Laalaaaalalalalaaaaaalaa.”

  “Okay. Okay….I get it.”

  Mark took his fingers out of his ears and continued, “I was a …” then he put his elbows tight to the sides of his body and with his hands near his shoulders he made a waving motion, like he had some kind of strange wings.

  Dean said, “You were a Faerie?”

  “No, you moron…Faeries aren’t animals. I was an insect that….” Then he continued the strange motion with his hands.

  Blake said, “An insect that…flies?”

  Mark touched his index finger to his nose.

  “Didn’t I swat at a...” Rowan started to say and Mark raised an eyebrow at her with a warning. “Didn’t I swat at something at dinner last night?”

  Mark answered, “Yes, you did and you nearly knocked me out cold. So from now on, if you see an insect or animal and I’m not standing right next to you, don’t kill it, smash it, or swat at it. It could be me.” His voice almost squeaked as he made his point.

  “That’s good to know, Mark. We will have to be more careful. I’ll inform Bernard that there will be no bug killing or mouse/rat traps set without checking your whereabouts first - at least until you can get a handle on this. I would guess that Dean and Rowan can be useful in advising you how to control your transitions.

  “And Alyssa, we’ll have to see if you can levitate something when you aren’t sleeping. This is really turning out to be quite a day,” Dominic said.

  Darby, suddenly pale as a sheet, stood and ran from the room with her hand over her mouth. By the time she had cleared herself from her chair, Devon was standing at the door with it wide open. Everyone in the room was stunned as the two were out of the dining room in a flash.

  “What was that about?” Blake asked.

  “I don’t know, but did you see how fast Devon was at the door? Even for a vampire that was incredibly fast,” Anton said in amazement.

  “Indeed. Maybe like Josh has strength, Devon has obtained speed,” Dominic interjected.

  “Well, that would account for Devon’s scaring Darby. If he has that kind of speed, it could seem that he was no where around and then instantly there,” Anton replied.

  “Yeah. That would take some getting used to,” Blake added. “Do you think Darby’s okay?” Blake directed to a concerned Rowan who was watching the door for any sign of Devon and Darby’s return.

  “She said she wasn’t feeling well this morning. You think I should check on them?” she said.

  “I’m sure Devon would let us know if something was wrong,” Blake reassured her.

  “Well, it seems we all have something to get used to,” Dominic continued. “Seems my theory was right about the Bloodstone Heart; it’s just a matter of learning how to control and use these new powers. If we are in for something big on the horizon, we’re going to need all the strength and abilities we can find.”

  “Anything new in your research on the prophecy or the altar room?” Mark asked as he gobbled down a hunk of ham that even had Blake a little disgusted.

  “Nothing solid as such, but in looking at the artifact once more, the center medallion came off. At first I thought I had broken it, but after examining more thoroughly I feel certain that it may serve as a key to something much more important,” Dominic said.

  Blake asked, “So what’s your next step?”

  “Well, I’m hoping that with Mark’s help in the research, we may come across something that ties the medallion to the altar room under the castle,” Dominic said.

  “You still think there is something significant there?” Josh asked.

  “I do…It’s more of a gut feeling, but I’m quite sure it hasn’t revealed all its secrets,” Dominic said.

  “Is there anything you need us for, in helping?” Blake asked.

  “Not at the moment. Why? Do you need to get back to California?”

  “Well…” Blake looked around the table guiltily, “It’s just we have obligations there. I need to check on some possible work and I know that Sally’s probably wanting to check on the progress of the rebuilding of the bookstore and well…there’s Harry. I’m sure he likes having the house to himself, but he’s got to be getting lonely. I mean, if there is something you need me to do, I could check on things from here, but it would kind of be nice to get home.”

  “Yes. I can certainly understand that. I wish you didn’t live on the other side of the country. I’ve been enjoying having such a full house. Go and take care of your obligations. We’ll keep you posted on anything that arises.”

  “You’re sure, Uncle Dominic…It’s okay if you need us to stay,” Blake clarified.

  “Don’t be silly. We’ll call if we need you,” Dominic assured him.

  “If you are sure. Would it be okay if I took a bit of “red elixir” with me?” Blake said as he winked at his uncle. It took a second for Dominic to register that Blake was talking about the new shipment of blood that had arrived that morning.

  “Sure…sure…take what you need.”

  “Thanks…we’re out and with all the excitement I’ve not been able to get a call in to Dr. Rowe for a shipment.”

  “Not a problem at all,” Dominic obliged.

  “Thanks…then I should start making arrangements for flights,” Blake said. As he looked back at Mark, who was still shoveling food into his mouth at an astonishing rate, he continued, “Slow down the
re, Mark, you’re eating like a pi….” As the word started to come out of Blake’s mouth, Mark looked up in despair as he knew what Blake was about to say, and before the last letter of the word rolled off of Blake’s lips, Mark’s body started to convulse and blur around the edges. “….piiigggg.”

  Mark dropped to the floor and the whole of his body blurred. As all looked on in astonishment, he turned into a full grown hog. He squealed in frustration at his onlookers and all their dropped jaws.

  Alyssa got up from her chair and said as she herded the large swine out of the room, “This is going to take some getting used to.”

  Nobody replied to her comment, but all agreed.

  “Well, this was an enlightening meal, but I think I will take my leave check on Darby and maybe do some more research,” Dominic said as he excused himself from the table. With that, the rest of the attendees filtered out of the room and onto other matters of the day.

  Chapter Nine

  Dominic headed for his study, hoping to find more information about how Katarina was progressing as she came off a couple of decades of medication. He felt almost obsessed. Every chance he got during the day, he ran to the computer to check if there were any email messages from the doctor he has procured for her.

  Ever since Darby and Devon’s engagement party when he and Josh first talked about his mother, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about those carefree fall days on the Minnesota campus when he fell in love with a bright and beautiful grad student. He never thought his heart would warm again after losing his sweet Sophia, but he had never expected Cupid’s arrow to pierce his soul with such impact, and he was most certainly not looking for it when it happened. Never had he had such a rapport with someone so young.

  But it was his love for her that made him leave so many years ago. He had thought he would be doing her a disservice in getting her wrapped up in a world of vampires. He wanted her to have a normal life - one that would enable her to have a normal love, a normal family, and all that comes with it. If he had even suspected that she had been pregnant, he would have never let her endure it alone.