Dark Moors (THE TWO VAMPIRES, #4)

by M. D. Bowden

  ‘What makes you think that?’

  Sarah blushed, ‘Well, Daniel thinks I have prophetic dreams – but I can’t remember them – he tapped into one and that’s what it revealed.’

  This time the witch looked appraisingly at Sarah, but did not say she doubted her, ‘You’ve discovered more than I have, but I have been reading about local legends…’

  ‘Really?’ Sarah asked, ‘Where did you find that info?’

  ‘I have some distant relatives that live in the general area, witches too, and they have stored historical records on anything magical in the roundabout region,’ she said gesticulating to her surroundings.

  ‘Did you read anything about the stone circle?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘As a matter of fact, yes I did. A coven of witches, I can’t remember when, did bury something there – an old vampire…’ she said, looking at both Sarah and Daniel to see how they would react.

  Sarah caught Daniel’s eye, and he knew she was thinking what he was; why would someone want to resurrect and old vampire? What about Sebastian? Would someone want to resurrect him?

  ‘But why would someone want to resurrect an old vampire?’ Sarah asked the witch, who just shrugged.

  ‘Are you planning anything to stop the next sacrifice?’ the witch asked.

  The key question, thought Daniel, if the sorcerer did want information this was likely to be it, but again, what did it really matter? He decided to just watch and see how it played out.

  This time Sarah shrugged, ‘Not really, but we do want to stop it – we were just going to watch the stone circle at the full moon and see what we could do to stop the ritual, and the people being killed.’

  The witch leant in closer, conspiratorially, ‘Can I help you?’ she asked.

  Again Sarah looked at Daniel questioningly. He half shrugged/nodded to show it was fine by him. If she did want to stop them she would be there anyway, at least he would know where she was if she was with them, and maybe she would help, maybe she did mean what she said and was not connected to the sorcerer.

  Sarah laughed at her manor, ‘Yeah sure, that would be great. You should come by our house on the day of the full moon, we live not too far from here…’

  As Sarah explained the location of their house Daniel kept watching them closely, Sarah so as to be sure she was not likely to succumb to bloodlust and attack anyone - but he did not think she was, she seemed just fine - and the other Sarah to make sure she did not suddenly change tack and attack his Sarah, while he went to the bar and ordered more drinks.

  When he returned the two Sarah’s were laughing and chatting about life and films, and he thought, what the hell? Might as well enjoy the evening. He would have to feed later, for he still needed to strengthen himself for the coming fight, which Daniel suspected was not going to be an easy one. He would have to shake off the witch later, for he suspected she would not be too accommodating of them feeding in front of her, and he did not want to risk their lives, and a fight, unnecessarily.

  He sipped at his wine, and laughed as Sarah did, enjoying watching her have fun.

  Chapter 16

  Sarah awoke on the day of the full moon as bright sunlight shone around the edges of their curtains. She stretched, enjoying the sensation; she felt so good after days of heavy feeding. Her blood was strumming with power and energy and life. But today was the day that her dreams had warned her of, well – not her directly – but Daniel – for he was the one who had tapped into them while she was sleeping. He had seen another ritual occurring in the stone circle on the full moon, four people slaughtered and the ground cracking open. Sarah, who they had met in the pub a few days before, had said legend had it that there was an old vampire buried beneath that stone circle. It really was not hard to put two and two together; the sorcerer was trying to resurrect an old vampire.

  She shuddered at the thought. Sebastian had been an old vampire and it was he who had come to her town and destroyed her life. She had been human and had lived with her children, and that would still be the case if it was not for Sebastian. Sebastian’s actions had led to the death of Jo, her former husband and the father of Megan and Bea. OK so he had not destroyed the happiest of couplings, but Sarah had not wanted Jo dead – she had loved him in her way, regardless of the trauma he had put her through with his infidelity.

  Sebastian had killed people just for the hell of it, the fun of it, and Daniel had had to get rid of him – and it had taken a lot of power to do so. She had no doubt that Daniel could do it again, but at what cost? Last time she had died, and now she was a vampire. How many people would die if another old vampire was resurrected? She gritted her teeth, she hated to think of how many.

  Sarah glanced across at Daniel, who was still sleeping, breathing deeply by her side. Daniel. He was amazing, so good to her, so sexy. If it was not for Sebastian coming to her town in Canada she would never have met Daniel, so it was impossible to regret everything about the situation. And really, being a vampire was quite amazing in itself. A part of her was glad that she was a vampire – it felt so good to drink blood. So good. But she did hate the fact she was at risk of hurting people, of killing them. If it was not for Daniel and all his help she was sure she would have killed many people by now. So far she had not killed anyone as a vampire, and she hoped it would stay that way.

  By far the worst thing that had come of her becoming a vampire was the loss of closeness to her children. She loved Megan and Bea so much. Sarah smiled at the thought of them, although her heart ached too, and she smiled wider when she realized she was thinking of them without fantasizing about drinking their blood, and that meant that her control was increasing. Daniel had told her once that it might be five whole years before it would be safe for her to return to living with her children. Five years. That was an incredibly long time to be away from them. She hoped with all of her heart that he was wrong - that she would be able to return to them, without risking hurting them before the year was out.

  She would master control.

  She would get to grips with her lust for blood. She needed to, so she would.

  She put her hand behind her head and looked at the rays of sunlight as they shone through the small room, making the dusty air glitter and sparkle, while she thought back over the last few days. Apart from feeding on oh so delicious blood - repeatedly - Daniel had also tried to teach her more magic. That had been painful – not just to her head, but to her psyche – she just did not appear to have an aptitude for it. So far she could manage to light a candle – but even that took time and effort and pain. Daniel had just grasped it straight off when Heather had taught it to him. Frustrating.

  But she had learnt some other stuff, stuff that she had been good at. She could now transform into a ginger cat and a wild deer, as well as the small white owl. She really wanted to have the opportunity to see if she could transform into some kind of underwater creature – like a fish or a mammal. It would be amazing to be able to explore another world, and dive deep, deep down into the darkest depths of the ocean. Daniel had never tried to do this, but Sarah longed to. Unfortunately they had not quite got around to a trip to the coast yet, but they would – it was not that far away.

  Daniel stirred at her side, so she turned to face him, and admire him, she thought, smiling ruefully to herself, for Daniel was not awake yet. She looked at his closed eyelids with their thick dark lashes. She wanted to kiss them, and his jaw, and his lips… Instead she just satisfied herself with looking - kissing could come later when he was properly awake.

  She could see the top of his naked shoulder and toned chest above the rim of the bed covers, and she watched as his chest rose with each breath, then fell as he exhaled. Ummm, he really was delicious; more delicious than blood ever could be – she was so ridiculously in love with him. She giggled softly and closed her eyes, thinking of certain, err, moments of closeness they had recently experienced. She was still so hot for him, she could not imagine that that would ever fade.

 
He opened his eyes and met hers.

  ‘You’re not spying on me again are you?’ he teased.

  ‘Maybe I am,’ said Sarah.

  She was going to continue but Daniel’s expression became serious and he looked beyond her, like he was searching for something.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked, sitting up in bed.

  Daniel put his finger to his lips to silence her, and he continued to probe their surroundings with his powers.

  Sarah tensed. She truly hoped there were not more dead bodies coming to attack them. She quietly sniffed the air, and felt reassured not to smell the stench of death that had accompanied the arrival of a multitude of dead when they had risen before.

  She sent out a few probing tendrils of power herself, but could not sense anything other than Daniel and his powers. An odd creeping sensation ran up her spine, but that was probably just caused by the expression of concern and concentration worn by Daniel.

  Finally he spoke, ‘Something isn’t right,’ and he swung his feet out of bed, Sarah only getting a quick glance of his sexy body before he was fully dressed and going downstairs to investigate.

  Sarah got up herself and speedily put on her own clothes, before trailing after Daniel, not sure she really wanted to know what was wrong; after all, being the day of the full moon, the day when they were planning to act, she would not be at all surprised if the sorcerer had something darker than she could possibly imagine in store for them.

  She crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping that everything was ok, and watched as Daniel went to the front door. She watched as Daniel tried to open the door, as he failed. He looked back at her, concern on his face, and went into the kitchen. Sarah watched again as he tried to open a window and this failed too.

  Great, we’re trapped here, she thought. That will really help us stop the sacrifice.

  She ran back up the stairs and tried to open the windows in the bedroom and bathroom, but she could not open either so she ran back down the stairs and returned to Daniel’s side.

  ‘The sorcerer?’ she asked him.

  Daniel met her eyes, and she saw the frustration that was simmering under the surface.

  ‘It doesn’t make sense,’ Daniel said, ‘I can’t actually feel the boundary, I can’t get a hold of it in my mind, or with my power – it doesn’t respond to my touch, or weaken as I try to fight it. It’s almost like it’s not really there, like it’s crossing from another dimension of something - but it must be there, it must just be some kind of spell I’m unfamiliar with…’ he trailed off, thinking.

  Sarah tried sending out further probing tendrils of power, another attempt at finding what Daniel sensed, what it was that was preventing them from leaving, but she found nothing.

  ‘I didn’t sense anyone getting through the boundary I put up either,’ Daniel muttered, thinking aloud.

  ‘Maybe no one did, maybe this spell was done from a distance,’ Sarah offered.

  Daniel shrugged non-committedly and started to pace back and forth in the small kitchen.

  ‘How am I going to get us free if I can’t sense the boundary - if I can’t fight it?’ he asked aloud, but he was not really talking to her, just airing his thoughts, so she did not answer.

  She had no answer.

  For something to do she walked to the sink and filled the kettle, then fetched coffee and cups. Daniel stopped pacing and sat at the table, putting his head in his hands and rubbing his temples.

  Sarah finished making the coffee and placed a cup on the table in front of Daniel, filled to the brim with warm steaming liquid. Then she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his dark hair from behind.

  He sat up straight and turned to face her, ‘Thanks,’ he said, lifting the coffee to his lips and taking a sip, ‘it’s good.’

  ‘There’s still time before the ritual, it’s still hours until it will be dark, maybe we’ll think of something before then,’ she ventured, then had a thought, ‘I wonder if Sarah will come – she might be able to help us – she is a witch.’

  Daniel reached across and gripped her hand, ‘I hope so,’ he said.

  She pulled his hand towards her mouth and kissed his fingers, slowly, one at a time. His dark eyes met hers, a hint of amusement beginning to show. She warmed inside at his smile - her plan was working. She continued to kiss his fingers, ever so gently, still keeping eye contact. She started to sink into his soul as his eyes opened up, showing his vulnerability, his spirit and his strength, showing the stars that resided within him, or connected him to the universe – she did not know which but what she saw was beautiful. He was pulling her to her feet, and he was kissing her neck, her jaw, her chin, and then her lips. She kissed him back, letting herself go, not letting herself worry about what they could not control. She undid the buttons of his shirt, fumbling while looking back into those eyes that were so much like the night sky, on a clear and beautiful evening, while his fingers pried under her top, and ran lightly over her skin beneath, making her tingle with electricity everywhere he touched. In one swift motion he grabbed her top and pulled it over her head, then her body was pressed against his, cool skin on cool skin, and he was undoing her bra while kissing her forehead, then her temple, then her neck.

  ‘I love you so much,’ he whispered in her ear, and kissed her hard on the lips before she could reply, taking her breath away.

  She gave into his kiss, letting her body melt into his, becoming putty in his hands. She was his and he could do with her anything he willed. She kissed him deeply, passionately, fervently. It felt like their boundaries were fading, like they were no longer two people, two vampires, but one entity swirling with energy and power, connecting in lightness and darkness and desire.

  She broke away and let words tumble from her mouth, ‘I love you so much Daniel, you are unbelievably amaz…’

  Kisses broke her words and she forgot what she was saying as Daniel pushed her back against the counter, and his hands were inside her underwear. She moved her hands to his jeans and ripped the buttons open. He pressed against her and she wrapped her legs, one at a time, around his hips so he could not escape. And he was inside her, and they really were one, moving together with passion, with exquisite, almost painful longing to fulfill their needs, to make themselves complete.

  Sarah skimmed Daniel’s collar bone with her teeth, and saw a faint line of blood appear. She ran her tongue over the vibrant, energy rich elixir and brought her mouth back to his, kissing him, massaging her tongue against his, still tasting his blood, his essence.

  He increased his speed, and she responded, rocking her body back and forth against his, feeling the friction, the delicious escalating pleasure, the scent of his pheromones driving her crazy, his blood, his body - she exploded as he did - their eyes linking again as they came together, tears rolling down her cheeks from the closeness, the vulnerability, the exposure. She laughed and Daniel kissed her again, their bodies still linked, and he held her firmly to his chest, ‘You are amazing,’ he said, and she could tell there was a smile playing at the corner of his lips even though she could not see his face, she just buried her face in his chest and hugged him back, enjoying the surge of hormones and love and the purity of her affections.

  Chapter 17

  As darkness began to fall Daniel looked out of the small cottage window and saw the full moon bright on the horizon. It was time – they had to get outside. They had to stop the ritual, stop the old vampire from rising.

  They had to stop the sorcerer from killing those four helpless people that were needed for the sacrifice, for the awakening.

  Daniel probed once more, trying to get a grip on the magical wall that was keeping them firmly shut within their tiny house, keeping them trapped so they could not escape, could not help those people.

  Daniel spotted the witch approaching the cottage, her long hair tied back; she looked prepared; ready to fight. It had of course occurred to him that this Sarah might have created this trap in the first place; they still did not
know that she was not working for the sorcerer, so he did not drop his guard, or relax, when he saw her. He clenched his jaw, preparing himself in case she should subject them to any kind of new attack.

  He caught her eye and waved, not sure how she would respond. She waved back, but then her eyes widened and she scanned the exterior of the cottage. The witch stepped back and stood there thinking, not approaching.

  ‘Sarah,’ Daniel called gently, ‘the other Sarah is outside.’

  ‘She came?’ Sarah said as she hurried to his side and took his hand.

  Daniel watched, amused again by her behavior, as Sarah peered around his side and out of the window to get a glimpse of her new friend. He held onto her protectively, just in case.

  Daniel could sense that the witch was using magic, but her magic felt totally different from his, like her power originated from a different source. Her lips were moving and her eyes like slits, Daniel imagined she was muttering some kind of incantations.

  His Sarah looked up at him questioningly, and he shrugged, he had no idea if the witch would succeed in breaking the spell put upon their cottage, the one that was keeping them inside – or if she was in fact reinforcing the spell that was already there.

  As he looked back at the witch Daniel witnessed a smug smile tug at her lips, and she began to approach their front door. Daniel, Sarah at his side, her fingers crossed behind her back, approached their door from the inside. Daniel tugged at the handle and it opened, revealing a woman on the other side who was trying not to appear too elated at her success.

  Daniel’s Sarah stepped out through the door and flung her arms around her, ‘Thankyou so much,’ she said, ‘we are SO glad you came.’

  ‘I bet you are,’ said the witch.

  ‘Come in,’ Daniel said, extending his arm in welcome.