Deadman's Blood

by T. Lynne Tolles

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Dominic. Yeah, it would have been nice to know how to control the telepathic thing - that part of my life could have been different, but my parents were great,” Josh explained.

  “They were - very much so, but you don’t know how much I wish that could have been me, and even more so with the thought of all those lonely years I could have been with Katarina, raising you,” Dominic admitted.

  “But you don’t know she would have taken the news of you being a vampire any better back then. She still could have lost it and spent her life in the institution as she did. You can’t know what could have been; you can only do what you can with what you are given,” Josh said.

  “How true. When did you become a philosopher, Josh?” Dominic sat back in his chair and raked his hands through his hair. “You’re right. I can only speculate what life might have been like and maybe we wouldn’t have been the best parents for you. We’ll never know the answer to those questions, but I am sure happy to have you in my life now. I know Anton and the others are too.”

  “Thanks. I’m happy too. It’s a lot to take in; the vampires, the werewolves, all of it, but it kind of makes me fit it in somehow. I don’t feel like I stick out like a sore thumb anymore. In fact, my abilities are pretty wimpy compared to all of you, but for the first time in my life I feel like I contribute to something bigger than myself and I like it,” Josh said.

  “I’m glad, Josh. Do you think you might want to visit Katarina at some point?” Dominic suggested.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Josh said.

  “I think you would be pleasantly surprised. You are a lot a like. And remember, you may not have ventured out to meet me, but that hasn’t turned out so bad,” Dominic reassured.

  “No. It hasn’t. You’re right. It just seems so weird. Most of my life I was so angry with her for giving me up, never knowing what the situation was. Now that I know it was all out of her hands, I guess...I don’t know, maybe I feel a little embarrassed for feeling that way,” Josh admitted.

  “Don’t do that to yourself. This was all out of your hands too. I said before, I could have set all things right if I had just checked in on Katarina. Don’t be embarrassed. I think it would be good for BOTH of you. If you felt more comfortable I could go with you or maybe even your mother would go with you while she is here,” Dominic suggested.

  “That would be weird,” Josh said.

  “Maybe not. Think about it, they may have a connection to one another that none of us could understand. Think about it. Whatever you decide, just let me know and I will make the arrangements,” Dominic said.

  “Thanks, Dominic. I think…I know…you would have been a good father. I’ll mention it to Mom tomorrow when they get here and see what she thinks.”

  “Good,” Dominic replied.

  As Josh headed out of the room he turned back and said, “You know, maybe things didn’t go as badly as you think they did today. Maybe she just needs to mull it all over and make some sense of it; after all, it is a lot to take in. I remember when Lanie first told me that Dimitri was quite possibly a vampire; I really had a hard time coming to terms with that. When you grow up thinking all of that is made up over exaggerated folktales, sometimes it just takes a little time to congeal. When she starts to remember her time with you, maybe she will think more kindly about your being a vampire,” Josh reassured.

  “That’s kind of you to say, Josh. I hope you’re right. I guess time will tell,” Dominic said.

  “Exactly,” Josh said with a smile, then closed the door behind him.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Darby walked out of the airport in Dublin, the cool North Sea breeze hit her face and touched her soul. It was as if she had always been meant for this place. Grass covered rocky terrain, faces so full of character and beauty everywhere. She loved it here. It felt odd to feel so at home in a place she had never been in her life.

  Devon could feel her exhilaration and smiled as he invaded her thoughts when they stepped into the cab and headed for the coast. Like a school girl, Darby took in every bit of the scenery as they travelled the terrain and found themselves on a windy dirt road. She held Devon’s hand tightly as she watched out the window. The cabbie deposited them at the door of a fairytale home. The roof was thatched and the creamy plaster accentuated the stone masonry.

  While Devon took care of the fare, Darby stretched her legs and walked around the gravel-filled, teardrop-shaped drive. Though it was obvious no one had maintained the area in years, there was evidence of a once detailed garden in this center of the teardrop. It still bore great beauty in its wildness. Tall grasses had taken over much of it, and wildflowers peeked through rocky crevices along with ancient bushes.

  The cabbie sputtered down the crushed pebbles and made a ruckus as he headed out to the windy dirt road that had brought them there. Devon turned smiling to Darby, and Darby lunged at him, throwing her arms around his neck.

  “It’s everything you said, Devon. It’s absolutely perfect,” Darby squealed.

  “Well, I wouldn’t jump to perfect. It needs some serious work on the gardens, and the thatching has gone a little bald in spots and….”

  “It’s perfect, Devon. I love it,” Darby interrupted.

  “You haven’t even been inside,” Devon exclaimed.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Darby argued.

  “Good. Let me get the door and let’s go in,” Devon suggested.

  She clapped her hands excitedly then brought her hands to her lips as the handsome man she would soon be calling her husband pulled out a key and started to unlock the door.

  She started to enter when Devon stopped her. “Hold on there. Let’s do this properly.” Before Darby could even ask what he was talking about, he had her off her feet and cradled in his arms as they stepped through the threshold of their home.

  “You know, I don’t think that’s considered proper until we’re married,” Darby said.

  “Really? Well then we’ll just have to do it again after the wedding. Besides…I like holding you this way,” Devon admitted.

  “You do, do you? And why is that, Mr. Bloomington?” she said.

  “Well, Ms. O’Reilly, because this way I can carry you straight to my bed and have my way with you, without you being distracted by looking around,” Devon said deviously.

  “I see. And what makes you think I didn’t have the same thing in mind?” she retorted as Devon ascended the stairs.

  “I can only hope,” he said as he kissed her, kicking open the door to the huge master bedroom at the end of the hall. The room was stunning and the view was to die for, but none of this was noticed for the moment, as it was only Darby that Devon could see, touch, and hold now and only Devon that Darby ever wanted to be with.

  *****

  The plane from Minnesota was actually a couple of minutes early arriving in Connecticut. It had been at least two years since Josh had seen the Brenners and he was thrilled to have Lanie in tote. When Richard and Anne Brenner exited their gate, Josh and Lanie were there to meet them and walk them to the baggage carousel. As Josh had suspected, his mother was all atwitter, gathering Lanie under her wing with hugs and quiet laughs. Richard and Josh gathered the baggage and led the girls to the waiting limo at the curb.

  “Wow. What service. Mr. Larsen must be loaded,” Richard said.

  “Yeah. I guess he is. I think you’ll like him. He’s a professor. You should see his library, it’s really impressive,” Josh said.

  “He has a library?” Richard asked in amazement.

  “Well, I think they call it the study, but yeah. The house is great,” Josh said.

  “He has a house with a library and he’s a professor?” Richard said, knowing professors didn’t often make a lot.

  “I think there’s family money involved. Something about royal blood or something,” Josh explained.

  “Really? That’s interesting,” Richard said.

  “But he’s real laid back, Dad. He’s n
ot snooty about his money, at all, and he’s very generous. Well, you’ll see for yourself,” Josh said.

  As Bernard put the bags in the trunk, Anne grabbed Josh and pulled him down to her 5’2” stature and gave him a big smooch. “I can’t believe you flew us out here to meet a girl. You look good and you seem really happy. How’s your ability treating you?”

  “Actually, it’s great. Dominic’s nephew, Blake, has taught me to control it, and I really feel so much more in control of my life now that I can keep it at bay. It doesn’t bother me to be in public anymore,” Josh explained.

  “I can see that,” Anne said proudly. “I never expected you’d meet us at the airport.”

  “Yeah. Blake is really great. He taught me a lot of things and so have Anton and Dominic,” Josh said.

  “And Anton is….?” Anne asked.

  “Anton is Dominic’s son, my half brother,” Josh said proudly.

  “Aw, Sweetie, you finally got a bother like you always wanted,” she said sincerely. “Will we be meeting him?”

  “I’m not sure. He’s in New York right now at the gallery,” Josh explained.

  “He works in a gallery?” Richard asked as they all got into the limo.

  “No, he owns a gallery,” Josh said.

  “Nice,” Richard said, obviously impressed.

  “What about this Blake…will he be here?” Anne asked.

  “No. He flew back to California last week with Dean, Sally, and Rowan. Rowan is his girlfriend. Dean and Sally are their neighbors and best friends, aside from their siblings,” Josh explained.

  “Whose siblings?” Anne asked.

  “Rowan and Blake’s siblings. Rowan’s sister, Darby, is engaged to Blake’s brother, Devon. They’re in Ireland for a week or so,” Josh relayed.

  “So how do you know Rowan and Blake, Darcy, Devon, Dean, and Sandy?” Anne asked, trying to keep all the names straight.

  “That’s Darby, Devon, Dean, and Sally, Mom. Lanie went to school with Darby and we all became friends a few months ago,” Josh explained.

  “I can’t tell you how nice it is to have you talking about all these friends. I guess Lanie, here,” Anne patted Melanie’s hand, “has really changed how you interact with the world.”

  “Oh, it was all Josh,” Melanie explained. “Once Blake taught him to control the voices in his head, it was all Josh’s doing. Blake was really amazed at how fast Josh picked it up.”

  Josh blushed a bit.

  “Well, I think you both had a hand in pulling Josh out of his shell and I couldn’t be happier to see him enjoying life,” Anne said, beaming.

  “Mom…you’re embarrassing me,” Josh said.

  “That’s what moms are for, silly,” Anne said matter-of-factly.

  The rest of the ride was catching up on life in Minnesota and a barrage of questions aimed at Melanie. Melanie and Josh kept the answers brief and neutral, for Josh was still uncertain whether he really wanted to throw the whole vampire, werewolf, and witch thing at his parents.

  *****

  When Melanie and the Brenners arrived at the house, Dominic was waiting for them on the steps.

  “Welcome, Mr. And Mrs. Brenner. I’m so glad you made it here safely,” Dominic said cheerfully.

  Richard was the first to approach Dominic, “Thank you, Mr. Larsen, for putting us up and sending the limo.”

  “My pleasure. How was your flight from Minneapolis?” Dominic asked.

  “Good. No problems at all,” Richard answered, rather surprised himself.

  With the girls in tow, Josh met up with Richard and Dominic and made the formal introductions.

  “Dad, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, this is Dominic Larsen. Dominic, this is my dad, Richard.” Then he turned towards Anne and said, “and this is my mom, Anne. Mom, this is Dominic.”

  “It’s a pleasure,” Dominic said, taking Anne’s hand and bowing to her like royalty. Then he turned and extended his hand to Richard. They shook hands firmly and respectfully.

  “I’m so glad you accepted my invitation. Please. Come in,” Dominic said.

  Richard, Anne, Josh, and Melanie entered the foyer. As Richard and Anne took in the beauty of the house, Bernard came in with what baggage Josh and Melanie weren’t carrying. Melanie smiled at him and closed the door behind Bernard.

  Anne exclaimed, “What a beautiful home you have, Mr. Larsen.”

  “Thank you. We like it. But I insist that you call me Dominic, after all, we are practically family.” They all smiled but seemed a little ill at ease. Dominic continued as he led everyone into the study and gestured for them to take a seat. “I hope that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. You are and forever will be Josh’s parents and I, for one, am very grateful that Josh was adopted by such loving people. I hoped that by us meeting like this we could get to know one another. I might be able to tell you a bit about myself and Katarina and you could tell me some of what I missed.

  “I’m also very thankful that you were so open about Josh contacting his biological parents, or I may never have known I had such a wonderful son. In the time I’ve gotten to know Josh, I’ve become quite fond of him. He is a man that any parent would be proud to call his own.”

  Richard spoke up, “Yes. He is and we are terribly proud, but I’ve got to ask, why would anyone give up such a child?”

  “Straight to the point. I like that. I’d want to know the same if I were in your shoes,” Dominic said. He casually looked at a nervous Josh and telepathically said, How much do you want me to tell them?

  Ummmm, if you can avoid the vampire thing I think it would be best. I’m not sure they could handle that.

  Fine…I’ll do my best.

  “I was filling in for a colleague of mine; a professor at Minnesota University for a semester, when I met Katarina. She was a bright and beautiful grad student that helped out my colleague. At the time I had been widowed for many years as I had lost my lovely Sophia, Anton’s mother, in childbirth. I didn’t expect to fall in love ever again especially with someone so much younger than myself. When my obligations to my colleague were up, I thought it best to let Katarina go on with her life, get her degree, and have the life she was meant to have with someone closer to her own age.

  “I hadn’t realized she had really fallen for me and had taken my leaving rather hard. Along with emotional havoc from my leaving, and some other extenuating circumstances, she had a breakdown and was misdiagnosed for schizophrenia and she was heavily medicated. Her family disowned her and she had no viable way to contact me to tell me of the pregnancy, or things might have been quite different for Josh. Katarina had Josh in the institution and was rendered incapable of caring for her child so they offered him up for adoption,” Dominic explained.

  “But why wouldn’t the institution have notified you of what happened?” Richard asked.

  “The medications they had her on were so strong, she barely knew who she was, and in bad judgment, they just listed the father as ‘unknown’,” Dominic relayed.

  “What happened to Katarina?” Anne asked.

  “Well, when I met Josh and I offered to help him find his parents to help him understand where his telepathic gift came from, he told me his mother’s name, his date of birth and place of birth, and I put two and two together. That’s when I went hunting for Katarina. I found her still institutionalized, but I have since had her moved and put under the care of my own physicians and they have slowly weaned her off of the medication she had been on for so long. She’s here in town now and progressing quite nicely.”

  “That’s so nice of you to do that for her. How does she feel about finding Josh?” Anne asked.

  “Well, we only just told her. She doesn’t really remember much from her time in the hospital. It’s like from the time they put her on the meds, her mind just went into limbo and now she’s woken up from a thirty year nap,” Dominic said.

  “How awful. Has she met Josh yet?” Richard asked.

  “No. I thought it best to let Jo
sh decide how he wanted to handle that,” Dominic admitted.

  Anne looked at Josh for his answer.

  “Yeah. I haven’t decided yet. I told Dominic that I feel kind of ashamed about it.”

  “Why in the world would you feel ashamed to see her, Josh?” Anne asked.

  “Because all this time I’ve been angry with her and whoever my father was. I thought it was their decision to give me up, and now I find out she had very little to do with it, and Dominic didn’t even know I existed until just recently. Besides, I have a mom,” Josh explained.

  “I know, Dear, and I appreciate that, but no one can have too much mothering. There’s nothing wrong with having two moms. Lots of kids from divorced parents have two moms, even three or more. Family is a good thing, Josh. Look how much your life has changed since you’ve gotten to know this family. Katarina has had a horrible life in that institution. Think how wonderful her life could be now that she’s out. She can finally know her son. She may have missed the baby moments and the growing up years, but she shouldn’t have to live her entire life not knowing you. Maybe you’ll hit it off and become close, and maybe you won’t, but you’ll always regret not taking the chance to find out,” Anne explained.

  Dominic’s eyes welled up. “Anne, you have a heart the size of heaven above. You’re both lucky men,” Dominic said to Richard and Josh. “Your mother here is a tiny little angel right here on earth.”

  Richard took his wife’s hand proudly and said, “Yes, she is!”

  Anne rolled her eyes, “Oh, stop it. But seriously, Josh. Set your doubts and anger aside. Look where getting to know your father has gotten you. That’s turned out to be a good thing. But Dominic, I have to ask, I hope you don’t find it intrusive, but why didn’t you check on Katarina? You said you fell in love with her. Weren’t you curious what happened to her?”