Sanctuary_Bloodlines_Book 1

by C. L. Stevens

  As tired as she was that night, she still insisted that Meilin take her to the hospital. The vampire must have had something important on her mind as well because she did not even question why she wanted to go with Anastacia already discharged.

  Danielle was awake when she came this time despite the hour. She had obviously been waiting up for her because she jumped out of bed and ran into her arms the moment she entered. Desiree caught her in her arms to stop the child from knocking her over. She smiled despite herself. Danielle was jumping up and down in her embrace, obviously doing quite well. Seeing the girl so exuberant and healthy sent waves of warmth and happiness flowing through her.

  “I see someone is doing a lot better.” She said, holding the child close.

  “I am, I am.” Danielle replied enthusiastically. “The doctor said it's all gone. No more sickness. He said I am in full uhmistons.” Uhmistons?

  “Do you mean full remission sweetie?” She asked.

  “Yes, that!” Came the muffled reply as the child buried her face in her middle again. It was cancer then.

  “You smell really good Desiree.” Danielle said wonderingly. She had a tight hold on her blouse and was sniffing her clothing and middle with enough force to be heard making the effort.

  “Uh, thank you.” She said uneasily. She was not wearing any perfume or scented lotions. She tried to pull the child to arm's length to get a better look at her but she held on tightly, still taking in exaggerated intakes of breath.

  “Sweetie… sweetie! Danielle!” She practically shouted, and forced the girl's face up to look at her. Danielle’s eyes were rolled back into her head for a moment showing nearly all whites before focusing on her.

  “Danielle, are you alright?” She asked worriedly.

  The child blinked twice before answering in a sleepy voice. “Can I come with you?”

  “Come with me where?”

  “Come with you to live. I want to live with you Desiree. I want for you to be my mother and be with me forever.” Danielle replied breathlessly.

  Desiree was staring down at the child as if she had just grown horns. Danielle returned that gaze, looking up at her with large shimmering eyes, looking up at her the way… the exact same way children look up at Meilin.

  Desiree was so stunned she didn't even notice when the child cuddled in close and started breathing in her scent again with lungs full of air. Nor did she see the other 3 children waking from all the noise the two had made. She was in another place, at another time, with a strong male voice, eerie and frightening as it was commanding.

  “Almost sounds like the gifts the damned, the ones that call themselves vampires receive.”

  She sat down hard as her legs buckled underneath her. What am I?

  Slowly she became aware of many voices. She blinked and saw 4 children crowded around her. They were all speaking at once. She tried to rise but Danielle was cuddled in her lap, holding her so close she could hardly move.

  “Are you going to finish healing us like you did for Danni” The oldest boy asked her. There was so much pleading and hope in his voice she had to fight back tears. The other 2 children clamored the same.

  “She will. She is an angel.” Danielle was saying. “She will be my mommy and take me with her.”

  “You need to let me up so I can help them sweetie.” She whispered to the frantic child. “That's it. Let go so I can see to helping them like I helped you.”

  When she was finally up, she looked at all the children.

  “You all have to pretend like you are sleeping or the magic will not work.” She lied. “That's it. Yes, you too Danielle. Get back into bed. Just one more and you will all be fine.” She continued in her soft drone.

  All four children looked completely healthy but it was better to be safe than sorry. She knew that she would not be returning to this hospital again for some time if ever again.

  When they were all in bed and under the covers, she went to each and asked their names. They all gave them in shaky voices, smiling up at her with eyes full of something she couldn't identify in the dark room yet still managing to fill her with unease. They were undoubtedly positive looks by any measure but they made her feel so anyway. She swallowed hard under each of their eyes as she tucked them in and bade them to close their eyes. There was no saline bag on any of the 3 children so she decided to give each a half dose directly into the IV.

  “I know it's going to work because you all are being so good,” She whispered as she tiptoed her way out. She was almost to the door when Danielle jumped out of bed and ran to her.

  “No!” She cried. “You must take me with you. I want you to be my new mother!”

  “I cannot sweetie.” Desiree replied sorrowfully. “Your family will miss you.”

  “But I wanna…” The child began but Desiree went down to one knee and grasped her chin firmly to get her attention.

  “Your mother thought she was going to lose you, lose her precious, beautiful baby girl. And now you are well again. I… we can't make her lose you anyway. That would be so mean, don't you think Danielle?”

  The child did not answer, only sniffled behind the crook of her elbow. Desiree took that as Danielle agreeing. She hugged her close and kissed her on top of her head. She seemed to melt into her embrace, sobbing softly. Desiree squeezed her tighter.

  “I am so glad you are well sweetheart.” Desiree said as tears came to her eyes. She had not realized how happy she truly was that the girl would not die until now. She did not mean to cry, it was just that good things rarely happened in life and this was so amazing that it made everything else, all the other times in her life that things didn't work out well, things that seemed so important at the time, completely trivial by comparison. Desiree held her for a long time but at last pulled her to arm's length.

  “You need to get back in bed Danielle,” She said softly. “Maybe I can come back to see you again before you go home.” She lied. Danielle nodded and turned around but by the time Desiree took 3 steps to leave, the child was running for her again.

  “You cannot come with me sweetheart,” She said, trying to remove the child's arms from around her waist. She was too frightened to use any decent amount of force; fully afraid she might hurt her without meaning to. “You must let me go.” She whispered over and over.

  “No, no!” Danielle screamed with such raw emotion that Desiree stopped struggling for a moment. The sound made the other 3 children sit up abruptly in their beds.

  “I want to go with you!” The girl sobbed. “My mother doesn't hold me like you do. She doesn't make me feel happy and safe like you do. She never calls me beautiful.”

  “Oh my god, it's you, isn't it? You are Desiree.” A heavy-set woman said behind her. “You are real! You saved my Allison!” She fell to her knees. “Oh, thank you, thank you.”

  Desiree looked around nervously as more people crowded into the room. Men and women, young and old were pushing each other roughly to get through the doorway.

  “Oh, God bless you child.” An older man blubbered at her side. Old as he was his hand clawed at her arm with surprising strength. “You saved my grandson. God bless you!”

  “No, I didn't.” She tried to say but more and more came clamoring forward, all the while Danielle seemed to hold on even tighter as if she were afraid the newcomers would take her angel away from her.

  Someone kissed her cheek out of the blue with enough force to stagger her.

  “Billie will live because of you. I can't thank you enough.” A man said. She tried to turn to him but a woman got into her face screaming frantically.

  “You must save my boy!” She muttered, clawing at her arm desperately. “He is only nine. You must save him. You save children! Pleeeease!” She wailed. “You must save my boy!”

  Desiree stared at the woman, not sure what to say. Her cries were so desperate it made her heart ache. She looked around as if for help only to see the same look on other faces.

  A short, balding man with
only a few wisps of white hair left on his shiny pate began pulling on her arm from the other side. He looked to be a doctor and was flanked by two brawny security guards. There was a fevered look in his eyes that made her pull back from him, dragging Danielle along.

  “Don't be alarmed young lady,” He said to her with an upraised hand as if to show he meant no harm. “You are not in any trouble, I assure you. But I need to know what you gave the children.” His manner and tone became more desperate as he spoke. “I need to know! What did you give them? Show it to me!” He demanded.

  He could say no more as more people shoved him and the guards out of the way to get closer to her. There were so many it was hard for her to make out individual faces anymore as they yelled, pleading and demanding things of her.

  “My daughter! You must help my daughter!”

  “Please miss, please! My son is 24 but can you still help him? He is sick. I will do anything, anything!”

  “My grandson!”

  “My child! She is dying! You must save her!”

  “Why do you only save children? My husband deserves life too! His family needs him. What is wrong with you? Why will you not save him?”

  A baby was suddenly shoved in her face. The smell of the child’s diaper was rank and it wailed in the woman's outstretched arms.

  “My baby!” The woman screamed! “Please cure my baby!”

  The infant was suddenly falling as more people pressed in for her attention. The mother screamed again, a pathetic wail as they both tried to catch the baby. Hands clawed at her face and arms as she shoved Danielle behind her, trying desperately to get her clear of the mob and fell to her knees in hopes of finding and protecting the baby. She put her arms around the child just as someone grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled so hard she thought her neck would snap. Despite herself, she let go of the child to grab her own hair in an involuntary attempt to stop the awkward pull on her neck. The babies crying seemed to slice through the din of other voices like a hot knife and she willed herself to cover the child with her own body before it was stepped on but could not get all the way down because of the hold on her hair. A large boot stomped less than an inch from the baby and rose again and she knew that it would crush the child. She punched out at the leg and connected solidly just above the knee. She heard the crack of bone as the owner fell away with a scream that was swallowed up in the turmoil. No one seemed to notice nor care. The tugging on her neck eased as she felt some of her hair being torn out of her scalp. The release let her cover the child with her own body at last. She heard Danielle screaming her name and tried to tell the child to get back as she felt hands pulling at her clothes and hard shoes coming down on her arms and legs.

  The crowd continued to scream at her desperately, angrily but she could no longer tell if they were even using actual words anymore. It was all just noise to her as she felt blood rolling down her face. It had gotten into one eye and she was blinking repeatedly to try and clear it. She wanted to wipe at the eye so badly but dared not move. Dared not leave the baby exposed even for a second.

  She didn't know how long she lay there curled into a ball but at some point, there was the sound of breaking glass, sharp and piercing and then the feel of strong wind. She opened the eye that could still see and saw that she was falling. Panic engulfed her and she tried to spin in the air to hold the baby away from the impact, to try to protect it as much as she could with her own body.

  “Hold the child fast!” She heard in her ear and her heart skipped a beat with delighted recognition.

  The landing was only slightly jarring and she easily controlled the baby in her arms. She looked up into the lovely face of her sister, a face even more beautiful at that moment than she remembered and barked a laugh. Or a sob, she was not entirely sure which.

  The next thing she knew they were back at the car.

  “What in bloody hell happened back there?” Meilin practically shouted, causing the baby, who had finally quieted to start crying again. “Did you steal that babe?” She asked incredulously.

  “What?! No!” She stammered as she simultaneously tried to calm the child.

  “Then why was that mob… no, you can explain later.” Meilin said disgustedly, waving the question away. “I need to clean up this mess. Give that thing to me.”

  “Don't hurt it!” She replied, pulling the child away from the vampire. Meilin gave her such a look of shock and affronted dignity that she hurriedly handed the baby over, blushing red all the way down to her neck. The door slammed a lot harder than necessary behind the vampire's exit of the vehicle.

  It was some time before Meilin returned. When she got into the car she gave Desiree a none too friendly look before driving away.

  “I destroyed all the evidence of us being there today and erased the surveillance video of the last few days. At least I hope I got all the areas you may have touched.” She stated harshly. “But I could do nothing about all those people that saw your face.” She shook her head. “What happened girl?” She demanded.

  Desiree told her about what Mina the fortune teller at the Cornucopia Festival had told her and how she had first used it on Anastacia and then the sick and dying child she had met in the hospital restrooms. Of how that led to the other children in that room. Meilin’s face lost much of its harshness as she continued.

  “They attacked you because you saved their children?” She asked in consternation. She whistled softly. “Talk about killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.” She added sarcastically.

  Desiree flinched as the images of faces ran through her mind, their eyes staring feverishly as they reached out to grab her, scratching and clawing and screaming.

  “Were any of the children hurt?” She asked cautiously. She had tried to push Danielle clear but was not sure if she succeeded.

  “Not any that I heard tell.” She replied and looked over Desiree critically. “You look worse than any I saw getting bandaged up.” She gasped, her face becoming angry. “I can't believe they did that to you. Why did you let them?”

  “Let them?” Desiree replied incredulously. “It was all I could do to protect the children. It was like they went rabid or something. They would have trampled Danielle and that baby into the ground had I moved!”

  Meilin studied her for a moment from the corner of her eye as they rode along.

  “You are a better person than this world deserves Desiree.” Meilin commented so casually and with so much raw belief behind it that she was at a loss for words. She could only stare.

  “Let's heal you of all that child.” She said, gesturing to her face and arms. “You look as if you were attacked by a malevolent cheese grater.” The vampire added with a smile and took her hand.

  Desiree laughed hard enough that she doubled over but stopped abruptly as the vampire began to feed. The stinging pains she felt on her face and arms and the greater throbbing pain she felt on her head evaporated like a sprinkling rain in the heart of the desert. She felt the tickle of hair being regrown as it lengthened to brush her shoulders and beyond. She felt the overwhelming pleasure of the vampire's sweet kiss, of Meilin’s deadly bite and the subsequent healing washing over her, renewing her strength and filling her entire being with bliss. It was over too quickly, far too quickly and for a moment she could only sit there and wish for more, to regret its absence.

  Chapter 21

  When they returned to the Sanctuary, the house was buzzing due to the hour. They drew every eye as they walked through the house, conversations quieting as they approached different groups and then starting up again even more intensely when they passed. To Desiree’s delight, they were joined by someone she had not seen in some time and the memory of their first and only encounter made her suddenly hot all over when he smiled down at her. Luckily Meilin did not seem to notice.

  “Any news Deidrich?” She asked the newcomer as he fell in with them.

  “Not a sign nor whisper.” He replied. “The informant reported and they believe her d
ead, and no wonder,” He added, stealing another look at Desiree. “I believed so as well.”

  “Good.” Meilin said with a nod. “And the informant?”

  Deidrich turned back to her, a perplexed look on his handsome face.

  “He has been taken and silenced as ordered by your lord father.” He replied as if he were surprised she needed to ask.

  “What a waste.” Meilin began, obviously annoyed. “We could have continued to use him. When it is learned that he is no more, they will only find another.”

  “Your lord father proceeds as if he was not the only one in their employ. Prudent, yes?” Deidrich’s gaze roamed the house as if there could be enemies behind every corner. “We will find the other snakes in the grass, that we shall.”

  Desiree gasped with understanding. She could not help but look around suspiciously herself.

  “There was a traitor in the Sanctuary?” She asked aghast. It was unthinkable. The Sanctuary was supposed to be safe from outside enemies.

  “That knowledge is not to be shared.” Meilin warned. “As long as Elder Von Rothe is ignorant of our awareness, we can use any such traitors against him.”

  “I wish I knew how he got by the oath.” Deidrich mused.

  “Enough. We can speak of this in a more private setting.” Meilin commanded and Deidrich nodded his assent.

  “The other task I gave you. Were you able to discover anything?” Meilin asked.

  “Not yet, though I admit that I have been busy.” He looked to Desiree and then back to the other vampire. “Perhaps your ward can be of assistance, yes?”

  Meilin nodded thoughtfully. “If she is willing.”

  “Assistance with what exactly?” Desiree asked cautiously.