by Dawn Gray
I watched them all leave the room and I sat there, with my eyes closed, on Justin's lap, in his protective arms, with David sitting in the seat beside me, holding my hand. I could feel the power that surged between us, and then I knew that we would have the power to stop whatever Victor threw at us, as long as we stuck together.
Chapter 13
As I looked at the familiar black door in front of me, then at Julian, who stood to my right, and Justin, who stood on my left, my stomach was beginning to turn, but just as I thought about turning around and running, the door opened and Caitlyn stuck her head out. She smiled at me, then at the boys and stepped aside, letting us in then shutting the door and locking it tightly behind us.
"Well." She said and stood in front of the three of us, smiling. "This is certainly a surprise."
"Liar." Julian whispered. Caitlyn smiled at him, and then took his hand and lead the three of us down to the basement of the house. My first thought was that this place would be some sort of old library type of place, where you feel like being quiet, but the room, surprisingly, was bright, cheerful and had loud paintings on the wall. She looked at me.
"Don't be nervous. He's the best doctor that we know." She whispered, taking my hand. I looked at the boys as she led me to a curtain, then handed me a robe. "Change into this and we'll get on with it."
"You make it sound so easy." I whispered. She laughed quietly then winked.
"Doctor Benson has been my doctor since I was pregnant with my son. I didn't know it at the time, but he is also the doctor that most of, well, I can't say your kind, because it's my kind too, but he treats most vampires and knows a lot about witchcraft." Caitlyn reassured me. I slipped into the gown, and then moved out to sit on the table; the two men were over in the far corner talking between them. "If you would feel more comfortable, Justin could stay while Julian and I left."
"No, that's all right." I sighed. She smiled at me, again, and then we all looked up as a handsome man walked down the stairs.
"Hello, everyone." He said, pleasantly. "For the two of you who don't know, my name is Doctor James Benson, you can call me anything you want."
This put me at ease and the five of us began the whole process of getting to know each other. He did his exam, which he talked me through, as Justin held my hand and the other two chatted on the other side of the curtain, then he told me about my pregnancy and what I should and should not do, then he asked if I would like to see the baby.
This made me excited and I watched as he pulled a portable ultrasound machine out of the corner, where it had been neatly hidden away. With a mass of warm, clear gel that he squirted onto my stomach, he began to show us the small black and white picture of the small baby that grew inside of me. It was when I heard his heart beat and saw it on the monitor that I got caught up in the sound.
"Wow, would you look at that." Justin whispered. I looked up at him and closed my eyes, just enjoying that light, quick beat of the child's heart. "Are you all right, Sage?"
"Just listening." I whispered back. Justin kissed my head and then took my hand and squeezed it hard.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Doctor Benson smiled.
"You have no idea." I whispered and watched the small life form on the monitor reacting to the sound of my voice by hopping around.
"Well." He said and shut off the machine. I wiped the gel off from me and pulled down the Johnny. "It looks like you have quite a healthy baby on your hands, but what I want you to do is to get some vitamins and start to really watch out for yourself."
"She will." Justin smiled and I looked at him quickly. After I was dressed and we said good-byes, the three of us drove back to the house; I was silent most of the time. "Sage?"
"It's nothing, Justin." I replied to his unasked question. "I'm just remembering that beat of his heart."
"He said that the baby was healthy." Julian smiled. "That's always a good sign."
"Six more days." I whispered. Justin turned in the seat and looked at me as I watched out the side window.
"We'll make it." Justin whispered back. I looked at him, smiled or at least tried to, then nodded. Why wasn't I so sure?
* * * * *
Justin walked through the halls of the house the next morning, holding several papers in his hand. He was in a very good mood. The night has gone by without any real incident and he had slept very peacefully next to Sage, with his hand on her stomach, thinking about the future with their child, but as he glanced up from the paper in front of me, he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes.
Justin, curious to know what was going on, stepped quietly over to the edge of the doorway and peeked around into the room. He watched as Cristian smiled at the person, hidden by the blowing window curtains, then he began to unbutton his shirt. This made Justin not only curious, but a bit upset that Cristian, who was supposed to be the good son, would be so open to doing things like that in an open room.
Justin watched, though, as the events unfolded before him, baffled by what he was seeing as Sage, dressed in a light, silky robe stepped out from behind the curtain and reached up for the now half-naked man in front of her. She smiled at him, looking Cristian deep in the eyes, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"You know, Ms. Owen, that all this sneaking around is going to hurt someone." Cristian said as his hands rubbed her back over the robe.
"I don't care!" She replied, stroking the back of his neck with her fingers. "I'm sick of playing around, of pretending that I don't want you, when it's totally obvious that I do."
"What about Justin?" Cristian asked, leaning down and kissing her on the neck.
"What about him?" Sage questioned, and then pulled him close. Justin didn't want to watch anymore, his stomach turned and the darkness inside him raged to get out and raise hell, but his eyes held him there, watching as Cristian picked her up and sat her down on the counter, then placed himself between her legs as their kisses became more wanting, more heated.
"Justin!" His named rang out. Justin turned to look down the hallway at David, who waved him over, and then he looked back into the room at the two, who were in the midst of a very heavy conversation using only their body language. Justin closed his eyes, turned his body and slowly walked away, trying hard to control the breathing and fiery that he held in him. He stood in front of David and shook his head, his hands clenched so tight they were turning white. "What is it?"
"Nothing." Justin said softly, but David could tell there was something wrong.
"Listen, there's something I have to show you, in one of Julian's spell books that might help up with Victor." David replied. Justin looked up then shook his head. "I would have asked Sage, but I can't find her."
"Try down the hall, with Cristian." Justin mumbled. David looked at him oddly.
"Wait." He said with a smile. "I must be hearing things because I thought you said that she was down the hall with Cristian."
"I did." Justin scowled then gained his composure. "Let's go look at your book."
"What about Sage?"
"I'll deal with that later." He said in a low tone. David nodded, and then the two of them made their way back towards the library.
* * * * *
I smiled to myself as I rubbed my small belly with my right hand, and then glanced at the ultrasound picture that the doctor had given me. How could I have thought that this would be wrong? Here I was, sitting in my father's home looking at the first picture of a child that grew inside me that was part of me and the man that I wanted to be with forever. It was then, as I thought about Justin, that I heard the distinct giggling of Taryn and watched her quickly walk by. This made me wonder, because I hadn't seen Cristian all morning, and as far as I knew he was out on the boat with Michael and Quinn.
Slowly I rose to my feet and made my way out into the hallway, where I listened for the sound of her voice again, which I followed to the dining hall. Waves of worry and distrust seemed to sweep over me as I turned towards the small enclosed room. It's ce
iling's were painted beautifully with four different kinds of plants marking the seasons. It had six large windows, twelve feet high at least, and three on each side, the right side looking onto the patio, where Bobbie, Ashley and Lauren all sat, relaxing, and the left looked out into what Julian had referred to as the Oriental Garden.
This is where I spotted Taryn, laying on the grass, her shirt off, her white bra exposed, and I watched the dark head of hair that kissed her navel, and began to unbutton her jeans. She laughed, as his hair tickled her playfully, then he slid off her jeans. My face grew flush, as I watched this man kissing her thighs, and between her legs, where her light pink cotton panties were. I couldn't believe that Taryn had the nerve to do something like that, outside, in broad daylight with a man that I knew wasn't Cristian then again, and I couldn't believe that I was still watching.
It was then, just as my feet finally began to work and I moved to back away that I caught a glimpse of the man's face. My eyes widened as I moved closer to get a better look, but his hair hid his features, until he came up and put his cheek against her stomach, and he turned his face towards me. I felt a wave of dizziness as I stared at Justin's face, one that looked as though he was in total heaven.
Tears began to fall, and I placed my hand over my mouth as a wave of nausea swept over me. I turned, unable to comprehend what I had just seen; but certain that I had to find a bathroom, quick.
As I knelt on the floor, with my eyes closed, sitting next to the toilet, I heard the door open and footsteps in the room.
"Sage?" Julian's voice whispered. I looked up at him, through swollen eyes and then sniffled. "Are you all right?"
"I...I'm not sure." I replied, then sat down on my butt and pulled my legs up to my chest. "What do you want?"
"Marian said that you looked awfully pale when you ran by her, I thought I might check on you." Julian replied and sat on the floor beside me. "What is it?"
"Justin." I whispered. Julian looked at me oddly. "I just saw him with Taryn out in the garden." I closed my eyes. "I'm sure if I stayed any longer I would have seen him WITH her."
"Oh, my." Julian said softly. "Now, this is quite odd."
"Why? What's so odd about it?" I asked and looked at the wall. "My boyfriend, the father of my child, is with another woman, his brother's woman. How can that be odd?"
"No, you don't seem to understand." Julian sighed. "What's odd about it is that I just left Justin and David in the library."
"How long ago?" I asked him.
"How long does it take to walk from there to here?" He asked. I sat up and shook my head.
"No, that can't be." I insisted. "I know what Justin looks like, Julian. I know it was him."
"What were you doing about fifteen minute ago?" Julian questioned.
"Sitting in the breakfast room, looking at the baby's picture. Why?"
"Did anyone else see you?"
"Bobbie came to check on me, and that was just before I watched Taryn run by. Julian, what's this about?" I asked, leaning forward.
"About fifteen minutes ago, Justin saw you with Cristian."
"The only way I would ever be with Cristian is to put a piece of tape over his big mouth and tie him to a maypole, even then, I would just leave him there to rot." I said in disgust. I looked over at Julian, and then thought for a moment. "What's happening?"
"Dark forces are trying to work against you." He whispered. "You see the only way that this will work is if the three of you stand together, but if there is a break between you, then the power won't be there."
"So, you think that we're all seeing things?" I asked.
"So far, it's just you and Justin, and that can easily be fixed, you couldn't have been in the spot that the other saw you in, if you were with someone else at the time." Julian explained.
"Bobbie saw me, and you saw him." I nodded. "What about David?"
"There hasn't been any incidence so far, but I'm sure something will show up." He shrugged. "I'll explain it to the boys; just remember that your mind is playing tricks on you." Julian stood up and looked at me. "Take your time, then come down and try to eat lunch, if you can."
"I will." I sighed then watched him leave the room. "Dark forces." I whispered to myself. "Victor." And, closed my eyes.
Later that night, after things straightened out between Justin and me, I decided to take a shower. Justin realized that there was no way I would ever be with anyone else, especially Cristian and he also assured me, not that I needed it after Julian's explanation that he would never do anything to hurt me, and he told me that being with Taryn, in any form, would never happen.
It was as the shower sprayed on, though, that stranger events began to happen. I steamed up the room with the hot water, like I always did before I stepped in and stared at the ceiling for a bit. There was a knock at the door, a light tapping noise, but as I opened it and looked out, there was no one there. I shook my head, closed the door and walked over to the shower, where I stripped off the towel and stepped in.
As the water ran over me, I put my arms out in front of me, closed my eyes, and leaned on the wall. I thought about what I saw earlier, of how Taryn seemed so into whatever was going on, and then I thought of the man that she was with, the one that looked like Justin and shook. The look on his face was pure ecstasy, as if that moment the world had stopped.
It was then, as I thought about the sheer pleasure in his eyes that I felt the cold draft of the shower door opening. The feel of a presence behind me made me stand up straight, but as I turned to face my intruder, strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me towards a hard, naked body. I wanted to resist, and put my hands up against a solid chest, when I did; I instantly knew that it wasn't Justin who held me so seductively. Warm lips moved across my bare skin as I pushed against the arms that held me, but I couldn't budge them.
Slowly, the warm lips made their way towards mine and I got a look at the face in front of me. David's eyes looked hollow, almost empty, as if he were a puppet on a string. His face moved closer and I turned my head to the side, but his hand reached up and grabbed my hair, whipping my head back towards him. I looked at him, trying hard with my mind to break the black cloud over his but to no avail.
David's lips pressed hard against mine, demanding and forceful, and the more I struggled, the harder he held me. He backed me up against the wall, pressing his body against mine, and started kissing my neck, that's when I panicked.
"HELP ME!" I screamed out with my mind and my voice, but that's when the fangs hit their mark. I screamed as the pain flashed through me and I felt David taking the blood, quite forcefully from my veins.
As the world began to turn black, and the terrified face of David, blurred in and out before me, I heard the door break open and other voices screaming, but the one I heard so clearly was the one in my head.
Sage? It whispered. Oh, God! Sage, please don’t go. Then, as the connection slowly went away, I heard the desperateness of his words. What have I done?
Justin stood paralyzed in the doorway of the bathroom, as Julian and Michael pushed through. He couldn't believe what he was seeing as he looked over David, who knelt on the floor, naked and dripping, who held Sage against him, blood flowing from the two deep wounds in her neck. David's face seemed quite confused, and he looked up at Justin as if asking for an explanation.
Michael grasped the auburn haired man behind the arms as Julian rushed over and picked up Sage from the floor. David kept asking if she was all right; if she was alive, but Justin couldn't answer, he could just stare.
Slowly, her eyes opened and Justin looked over at her as she moved on the bed. Michael stood against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other, and his arms crossed over his chest. Her bright eyes surprised him and almost made him want to smile, but the events of the past few hours wouldn't allow him to.
"Justin?" Her weak voice asked. Justin slowly walked over and sat on the bed next to her, taking her hand tightly in his as he kissed it. Sage sighed, and then closed
her eyes a bit as she looked around the room. "Where's David?"
"He can't hurt you, Sage." Quinn replied. She looked at him, a bit confused, and then she turned in Justin's direction.
"He didn't hurt me." She replied. Justin looked over at Michael, who quickly walked over to her and knelt by the bed. "Michael, where is he?"
"Safe." Her father whispered. "Do you remember who happened in the bathroom?" She nodded, still staring into Justin’s brown eyes. "Tell us, if you can."
"I got in the shower and was standing there when someone else came in. I thought it was Justin, but it wasn't." She closed her eyes and looked over the faces in the room, then stopped to stare at Justin's once again. "It wasn't David either."
"Are you mad?" Cristian asked. Michael looked at him, anger welling up in his eyes. "Of course it was David, we found him, with your blood all over his face. You had two very deep holes in your neck."
"Michael." Sage whispered, drawing Michael's attention back to her and away from Cristian, who would be in a lot of trouble if he didn't close his mouth. "Michael, listen to me, please. It wasn't David, I mean, it was his body, but he wasn't there. His eyes were so hollow, like he was empty, and, I don't know, there was something strange about the way he felt."
"Do you think someone was controlling him?" Julian asked. Sage nodded and looked up at Justin, whose eyes stared back at hers, and a wave of acknowledgement washed over him. Justin kissed her on the forehead, then quickly stood up and walked over to Quinn and Julian, who stood only a few feet apart.
"Where is he?" Justin asked.
"In the basement, in the catacombs." Julian replied.
"You're not seriously thinking of letting him go, are you?" Quinn asked. Julian looked at his brother, then back at Justin.
"If you believe in what you think you know, there is no other choice." Julian said, folding a key into Justin's hand.
