The New Queen Rises

by Dawn Gray

  "Try me," he replied, then turned and started to walk into the darkness.

  "Tell me about the witch," I firmly told him, barely seeing him stop and turn back to me.

  "Why would you want to know about her?" He questioned me.

  "Michael told me that she could help me feel my son," I replied to him. "If she can do that, Quinn, I need to know how. I need to see her."

  "She won't help you," he replied flatly.

  "Why not?" I asked him. He laughed softly, and then stepped closer.

  "Because, you’re a vampire, Ash. She hates us," he told me. I shook my head, as if I didn't believe him. He moved at me and grabbed a handful of my hair, pulling my head back to look up at him. He wasn't hurting me, but trying to make a point. He caressed the skin on my neck, just to the neckline of my shirt. His fingers left a trail of tingling sensations wherever he moved them. I put my hands on his chest where I felt the heat from his body, a soft pulsating feeling, and smiled at him.

  "So, why has she helped you?" Looking deep into those red eyes, suddenly images flew at me. "You saved her life," I told him, before I had a chance to think about my words. The grip on my hair loosened, but he didn't release me, and his fingers stayed on my skin as he looked at me in shock. "She was dying of a wound that someone had inflicted on her, someone who hated witches. You gave her some of your blood to help heal her wound."

  He totally released me and stepped back, the feeling ceased as soon as he let me go. "How could you know that? I've never shared that with anyone."

  "I'm a vampire Quinn. Remember? You said it yourself," I told him. "She was young, wasn't she?"

  "Fourteen," he said softly, turning away from me. "The man who hurt her was her Grandfather, and he hated that her family had gotten into that religion."

  "It was a long time ago, wasn't it?” He nodded. "Will you take me to see her?"

  "We'll leave in the morning." He looked at me and sighed, thinking about whether to leave me or not. Then he took my hand, and looked at me as if he suddenly felt the same thing that I was feeling, but he looked away quickly and began to lead me out of the tunnels. "Never follow me again, Ash," he said sternly, without looking at me, but his grip on my hand never lessened until he left me safely at the back door.

  The next morning we traveled by car towards Salem, Massachusetts. Although neither of us said a word most of the trip, Quinn's thoughts seemed to be the focus of my attention. I turned in my seat to look at him. His face was calm and he seemed to be at peace as he looked straight ahead at the road.

  Suddenly, breaking the silence and turning toward me quickly, Quinn startled me, making me jump in my seat.

  "What are you staring at?" He asked me.

  "I'm trying to read your thoughts," I replied to him.

  "Well, cut it out!" He said sternly. I smiled at him and then watched he pulled the car over and put it in park. He turned and looked at me. "Why would you want to know my thoughts?"

  "Because, you think you’re so cool, you think that no one can break you," I replied and he smiled at me, and then laughed aloud. "What?"

  "You don't have a clue about me."

  "You think your God's gift, I know that."

  "I am."

  "Bullshit, Quinn," I told him. Suddenly, he was above me, his arms were so close, one on the seat to my left and one above my right shoulder on the door, and I was backed into a corner. He looked at me with his bright silver eyes and when he smiled at me I could see his vampire teeth. "Do you think you're scaring me?"

  "I can smell the fear on you, Ash," he replied to me, moving closer. I put my hands up on his chest and held him away, not wanting to think about what he might do to me. "Do you think you can resist me?" He smiled. "Don't you think I could make you do whatever I wanted you to?"

  "Why would you do that?" I asked him. He shook his head as if to tell me that I couldn't possibly understand. "What do you want, Quinn?"

  "Isn't it obvious? Can't you feel it?" I did feel it and that was what scared me, the longer I left my hands on his chest the more intense the pulsating feeling his body was letting off got. I wanted to move away, but I would just be leaving myself open to him. "Wouldn't that be ironic, to have something of Julian's that he never really got?"

  "I would never give into you, Quinn, and you know it," I told him. He broke my hold, my arms gave way under him, and he moved closer to my lips with his. I felt his body weight on mine. Even through his clothes I could feel his body. I could feel his warm breath against my cheek and his strong hand where he placed it on the back of my neck. He looked deep into my eyes and held me there for the longest moment. I couldn't resist him if he tried anything. I was weak and vulnerable, and his touch, though he and I were complete opposites, was inviting. I caught my breath and whispered to him, just as he was about to kiss me, "Stop, Quinn."

  He stopped just short of my lips and, without moving, looked down at them, and then up at my eyes. His mouth moved as if he wanted to say something, but then his lips touched mine softly. A spark seemed to happen, my body responded and so did his. He suddenly moved away and looked at me sternly, as if he didn't know what came over him, but he didn't apologize. He just turned in his seat and pulled the car out into the road. I watched him in shock almost the rest of the car ride, but when I got bored with it, I began to think of Julian and the last time I saw him.

  "Your mind is quite loud, you know," he suddenly said to me.

  "So is your mouth!" I replied. He pulled the car over again and looked at me. "What are you going to try this time, Quinn?" I asked him.

  "Look, I don't know what happened back there," he replied to me. "You just rub me the wrong way."

  "The wrong way?" I smiled at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

  "Forget it!" He said and pulled out onto the road again. I stared at him again for a little while longer and then I looked back out at the road.

  "Do you think she can help me?" I asked him quietly. He glanced over at me as my eyes filled up with tears. He sighed, probably thinking that I was a weak person for crying.

  "If she decides to help you at all, I'm sure she can show you some way to communicate with your son. Assuming that he's anything like you," he said with a tone that I couldn't quite place, somewhere between anger and sarcasm.

  The house we pulled up to was a Victorian-style house in desperate need of a paint job. Quinn only looked at me quickly as we walked up to the door. He knocked on the door and then watched as it opened with a creek. Quinn took my hand as we walked down the darkened hallway. I could feel it pulsating in my hand and I could also feel him wanting to let it go, but then he dropped it as we walked into the large room at the end.

  She sat at a round table, an old woman with long, gray almost white hair, in the middle of the room. The table was covered in rose petals and drying herbs. She looked like she was weaving the petals into the folds of a wicker basket.

  "What do you want, Boy? Why are you here?" She asked Quinn without looking up from her crafts.

  "I need you to do something for me," Quinn said to her, in a stern voice.

  "You mean something for her, don't you?" She asked, looking up and pointing at me with a crooked finger. Quinn nodded.

  "I don't help vampires."

  "I'm not a vampire!" I spoke up, quickly. She stood and walked over to me.

  "Your parents were vampires, so this makes you one also," she replied to me.

  "My mother is a nurse and my father is a contractor. They may be stupid, but they’re not vampires," I told her.

  "Ah, but your biological parents were, and you know it. You read it in your mother's journals." She smiled at me as I looked at her in shock, because no one knew about it, not even Julian. "And that means that your son is also one."

  "Will you help me?" I asked her quietly, as she walked back to her seat. "You see, he was taken."

  "I know this, we all know this."

  "Yes, but I need to find a way to communicate with him, to make sure that
he's alive," I told her and then, suddenly, images flashed through my mind again. "Your daughter is ill." She was the one who looked at me in shock this time. "That's why you are making the basket. You're hoping that the herbs and roses that are woven into it might help her get better."

  "How do you know this, child?"

  "I see things, in my mind," I told her and looked at Quinn, then walked over to the table and sat with her. "She'll be all right, you know. The doctors have a cure."

  "Listen to me, child," she said and looked up at me from the basket. "This is not an easy task."

  "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it," I replied to her. She smiled and looked up at Quinn, who turned and walked out.

  About three hours later, I walked out of the house and looked at Quinn, who was standing against the car, with his head down and his arms crossed. His hair was down and, when he looked up at me as I walked down to him, his eyes seemed to hold darkness in them. I stood less than two feet from him crossed my arms and looked into his eyes.

  "Did she tell you what you wanted to know?" He asked me. I nodded and sighed. "Good, we're spending the night in Boston."

  "Why?" I asked him.

  "I don't feel like driving home tonight," he told me as he walked over to the driver’s side door and got in. Although, I admit that the prospect of spending the night with Quinn scared me a little, a stronger fear seemed to be hiding just under it. I got in the car and we headed to Boston.

  The hotel that we stayed in was quite large, and the room was a one-bedroom suite with a large living room, small kitchen and a bathroom. I stood looking out over the city, from our fourteenth floor room, and felt the sudden urge to go out alone. Quinn walked out of the bathroom, in just his dark blue jeans, with wet hair. He stopped and looked at me as I looked out the window.

  "What's the matter?" He asked me. I turned, looked at him, and caught myself staring at his well-built body, as the water still glistened on his skin. I felt my face grow flush and I, quickly, turned back to the window.

  "I'm going out," I told him. He cleared his throat, as if he were about to protest, but he didn't say a word. I glanced in the mirror at myself, dressed all in black, with long black hair, reaching passed my shoulders, and I slipped on my hip length, black leather jacket. I looked at Quinn, who stood against the counter still dressed in just his jeans, looking at me. "Don't wait up for me. I'm not sure how late I'll be."

  I walked the streets silently, but could feel all of the emotions in the air. I watched the college kids from down the road in their little groups, laughing and hugging each other. I walked passed numerous clubs and stores, but somehow it didn't seem as interesting. I walked on until I found myself standing on the sandy beach, just passed the Aquarium, looking out at the dark ocean and wondering where Julian might be. I don't remember walking toward a darkened spot under the pier, but I suddenly found myself standing in the shadows, watching a young man. He was dressed all in black, making out with his girlfriend, or at least I thought that is what they were doing until he dropped her. Her lifeless body lay in the sand.

  He turned and looked directly at me, moved quicker than I could see, and then was standing right in front of me. I looked up at him, and he lashed out, grabbed a handful of my hair, and pulled my head to the side. I saw his vampire teeth and I put my hands up on his chest to keep him from coming any closer.

  "My, you're a pretty little girl, aren't you?" He said and smiled with those fangs. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

  "Watching the water," I told him, with no emotion in my voice.

  "I want to taste you, you seem very strong." He smiled again and moved closer to my neck. "Maybe, I'll make you my slave, or maybe I'll take you out on that water."

  My eyes wanted to close listening to the sound of his voice, but I fought with everything I had not to go under. He laughed when he felt me shaking, and it seemed to entice him more. What was I doing out here? How could I have been so stupid? I ventured away from the safety of a room and Quinn, into a city that I didn't know.

  "You can't have me," I told him and pushed him away.

  "You're stupid to resist me," he told me. I felt around on the wood behind me, grabbed a hunk of that wet wood and pulled it off. I stood there, with the sharp shard in my hand and waited. "You're so pretty, and with such beautiful skin."

  I looked up, passed this young man into the darkness just beyond us, and looked into familiar red eyes. I felt my eyes fill with tears, knowing that Quinn had followed me out here, but not knowing if he might help or just watch this vampire do this to me.

  "Please, let me go," I begged him, but he shook his head. My arm raised and I drove the shard of wood into his back, down into his heart. He stepped away and looked at me in disbelief, then stumbled to the edge of the water where I watched him burst into flames, but he made no noise. I just stood there looking at him, and then I looked at Quinn, who was staring at me from where he stood. The fire light made him look hauntingly beautiful. When I finally got up the energy to walk away, I headed back up the beach, without looking up.

  Suddenly, I ran into a wall, a human wall, and it through me off balance, so much that I ended up sitting in the sand. I looked up at Quinn, stood up and tried to walk passed him. He grabbed my arm and brought me back to him. He put both hands on my face and looked into my eyes.

  "What do you want from me?" I asked him, looking him deep in the eyes, unafraid of anything that he might do. However, he said nothing, just stared, and my world went black.

  It was light out when I woke up the next morning, in a warm bed, staring at the window. Quinn walked into the room and looked at me. "Get dressed," he said and walked back out again.

  I looked under the covers at the fact that I wasn't wearing very much, got up quickly, and dressed. I hurriedly walked out of the bedroom and found him standing in the kitchen, drinking coffee.

  "What the hell did you do to me last night?" I asked him with anger in my voice.

  "I saved your life," he said plainly.

  "You stood there and almost let that thing bite me," I told him. "If that's saving my life, don't next time." I took a step forward. "How did I get here? Why did you take my clothes off?" He stood there, saying nothing. I walked right up to him and slapped him across the face. "Answer me!"

  He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him, then wrapped an arm around me and grabbed a handful of my hair with the other. He moved closer to me. I couldn't believe what he was doing.

  "No, Quinn, no," I pleaded with him as he moved to my neck. I felt his teeth on my skin, and then as they scrapped my flesh, goose bumps rose and my body shivered. "Please, don't," I pleaded again. I felt the tips of his teeth putting pressure on my flesh. "Why are you doing this?"

  I felt the teeth break the skin and the pain was intense. I pushed against him, trying my hardest to get away as my eyes began to water and I began to scream inside. After a moment, my body weakened and I went limp in his arms, the pain eased slightly, but it was still there. My breath was ragged, trying to stay calm was making it hard to breathe, but my hands fell away from his chest as I felt the blood flow from me to Quinn.

  The grip on my hair suddenly loosened and that hand slid down to my back to support me. I felt the teeth withdraw and the pain was gone and I turned my head and looked at Quinn's face. His eyes were full of pain and shock. His mouth hung open a little, showing the blunt end of his shrinking teeth, but his mouth had my blood on it. I stared at him in total shock and he looked at me in the same way.

  "Ash?" He asked me softly, touching my face with his fingers. I wouldn't answer him, as I tried to catch my breath. "Ashley, please," he said again softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

  "Why did you do that?" I asked him, softly. I could see the pain in his eyes. He shook his head, and then lifted me up and brought me into the bedroom. He laid me down on the bed and leaned down over me, his hair falling down around his face. "You hurt me, Quinn, why did you do that."

  "I wan
t you, Ash," he told me softly.

  "So, do what you want to me now," I told him, but this seemed to hurt him. "I can't do anything to stop you, you've proven that already."

  "No, I won't," he said and moved away. I found my strength and sat up.

  "You already have," I told him and walked out of the room. He followed me and grabbed my arm. I looked at him and sighed. "You confuse me," I said to him, grabbed my jacket and slipped it on. "I want to leave, now."

  The trip home was quiet and I kept looking at the two small marks on my neck. I knew that Michael and David would notice them, so I made Quinn stop at a CVS store and I bought cover-up to hide them.

  "Why are you hiding them?" He asked me as I applied the stuff to my neck. I looked at him and smiled. "What?"

  "Can't you see it now? Michael asks me exactly what happened to my neck. I tell him, oh, not much, just Quinn giving into his desires. Yeah, I could just see what happens next," I told him and then looked back into the mirror. "So, I'm covering them up."

  "To save my ass?" He asked me.

  "To save us both, and don't think that this makes me forget what you did to me," I said to him. His eyes dropped and then he looked at the road. I watched his mouth move but I stopped him. "I know you're sorry," I said quickly. Quinn shook his head and said nothing. "Wake me up when we're almost there."

  I covered my body with my coat and closed my eyes, but all I kept seeing was Quinn's face so close to mine, and the way that he felt when he was drinking my blood. I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was staring at me. This was very odd for me.

  We pulled into the long driveway of the house, but he stopped before we reached the security house. He put the car in park and turned to look at me. I sighed and continued to look straight ahead.

  "Ash, look at me," he requested softly. I shook my head and sighed. He took my hand and I looked over at him. I looked into his eyes and he caught me there. I heard his voice in my mind. I want to make you forget.

  "No," I told him. "I want to remember."

  You want to remember what I did to you. Why? He asked me with his mind. I smiled at him, thought to myself about why I might want to remember and figured out that I wasn't sure myself.