by Monica Davis
“Could these … creatures … represent a danger for Anne and Daniel?” Peter asked.
James shut his eyes for a moment. He didn’t want to think about what they might do. “It’s possible.”
“Damn it,” Peter swore, which was out of character for him. Usually it was James who lost control of himself.
“The Guild will watch over them and act if any danger arises.” Even though he was no longer a member of the organization, his son was still under their protection. James’ heart beat faster. He prayed that the demons hadn’t found Daniel. He hoped his suspicions were unfounded. “I’ll protect them with my life, if need be.” He reflexively touched the amulet that he wore hidden underneath his shirt. Kitana had given him the eye of Horus medallion. It made James invisible to demon eyes and kept him from succumbing to dark temptations.
Peter frowned. “You’ll have to explain things to them.”
“If it comes to that, I’ll do it.”
Peter inhaled sharply. “Maybe … No, forget it.” He busied himself with the transfusion and avoided meeting James’ eyes.
A smile crossed James’ lips as he saw an image of the pale and chubby Peter he had known as a child, the little boy who had been afraid of everyone and everything. “I’ll explain everything to Anne and put in a good word for you.”
“Thank you,” said Peter.
“No, Peter, I’m the one who should be thanking you.” James took a long look at Daniel, who still lay motionless beside him. “You’ve done so much for me. I don’t know how I can ever make it up to you.”
It wasn’t the sterile atmosphere or the air stinking of disinfectant that tightened Vanessa’s throat, but rather the sight of Daniel. He had been in the hospital for four hours and hadn’t yet regained consciousness. To the left of his white-sheeted hospital bed sat Anne; to the right, Vanessa. She held Daniel’s ice-cold hand, taking care to avoid the IV line, and tried to stay strong as Anne openly wept.
The monitor above the bed beeped away.
Vanessa didn’t care much for hospitals. It was far too cold for her, and everything reminded her of the appendix operation she’d had as a small child. She had felt so alone at that time, even though her mother and father had visited her as often as they could. Now she felt alone again. It was as though Daniel were miles away, despite the fact that he was lying right next to her.
“If only Danny hadn’t shut me out, this never would have happened.” Anne dabbed at her reddened eyes with a handkerchief, sniffling. “What kind of mother am I, not to notice what was going on with him?”
“What do you mean?” Nessa felt incredibly guilty for not having told Anne about the headaches. But Danny would never have forgiven her. She stared intently at his face, which looked as though he were merely sleeping. His lips were pale and slightly open, and his chest rose and fell slowly but regularly. A nurse had attached a number of electrodes to his upper body to monitor his heartbeat. Long, thin cables ran under the sheets to the beeping device, which was so annoying that Vanessa was tempted to shut it off. The sound was driving her crazy! Once in a while, Daniel’s heart began to beat wildly, worrying the two visitors enormously, but moments later it resumed its steady pace. His blood pressure and oxygen content was also being measured, but Dr. Graham, who looked in every now and then, couldn’t tell them what was wrong with him. Danny was on an IV drip as well — a bag filled with a clear liquid was hanging on a stand next to Anne. Vanessa couldn’t bear to look at the drip line; it turned her stomach.
“Anne?” Vanessa asked again, since there had been no answer to her question.
Mrs. Taylor was lost in thought and seemed not to have heard her. “I wanted to tell Danny last year, but then Peter left, and I didn’t want to upset him more.”
“Anne, what are you talking about?” Vanessa looked over at Daniel’s mother, who was lovingly stroking his dark hair.
“He’s such a handsome boy; he was handsome even as a baby.” Anne sighed. “I was a nurse here back then. When I saw this little thing with the big, round eyes and the tufts of black hair, I fell in love with him at once.”
“I understand that’s how it happens for every mother.” Vanessa still didn’t know what Anne was trying to say.
Anne lifted her head and looked Vanessa in the eyes. “Daniel’s not my biological son. Peter and I adopted him when he was a year old. We always wanted to have a child, but it wasn’t to be. I can’t have children.”
“What?!” Vanessa thought she might have heard Anne wrong. He wasn’t her son? But … that couldn’t be! Then she remembered how often she had wondered who Danny had inherited his features from, especially his coal-black hair. Anne was blond and much shorter than Danny, and Peter had brown hair and wasn’t very tall, either. Nessa had never met Daniel’s grandparents, so she had always assumed that his genes came from them.
“After his birth, Danny was in the NICU for six months,” Anne went on, turning back to face Daniel. “Peter, who was doing his residency here, and Dr. Graham fought to save his life. Danny had a blood disease that no one had ever heard of, and they still don’t understand it very well even today. It was as though his mother’s blood had mixed with his own. That sometimes happens at the end of pregnancy, usually starting with the second child, but his biological mother had certain antibodies that Dr. Graham couldn’t identify. These cells attacked Daniel’s own blood. Usually, with a rhesus incompatibility, immunoglobulin is used, but that didn’t cure him — the genetic differences were simply too great. The doctors tried everything. The only thing that finally worked was a blood transfusion from his biological father.”
“Whose blood did he receive earlier today?” Vanessa held her breath. One of her hands was gripping the stiff hospital sheets, while the other still kept a tight hold on Daniel’s hand. Was Danny going to die? Dear God, no!
A faint smile on her lips, Anne said, “It was a transfusion from James.”
“James?” Vanessa didn’t know anyone by that name.
Anne blew her nose. “James Carpenter. His biological father.”
This news lifted a weight from Vanessa’s chest. “Oh, thank God!” Questions suddenly shot through her head. “Why did his parents give him up for adoption? What happened to his real mother? Have you kept in contact with James all these years, or how else did the doctors get his blood so quickly?”
“Nessa!” Anne smiled at her. “I’ll tell you everything. You know, it feels good to finally be able to talk to someone about it.”
Vanessa shifted uneasily in her chair, keeping her grip firm on Danny’s hand. She suddenly felt more responsible for him than ever.
“Peter and I have known James all our lives. He was my neighbor when we were children, and I got along with him just as well as you and Danny do. We drifted apart a bit when James went to boarding school, but whenever he came home for vacation, it was as though he had never left. We were always good friends. We didn’t even lose contact when he was studying archaeology in Cairo. That’s when I married Peter, even though I’d had a crush on James for years.”
Anne’s confession surprised Vanessa. It was strange to think of this middle-aged woman as a starstruck girl.
Anne was still smiling at her, as though the memories were pleasant. “James was a spoiled rich kid. For me, he was the unattainable prince of my dreams. I was really madly in love with him.”
It was almost like Danny and her, except that the Taylors were poor as church mice.
“Wow, so Danny’s real father is rich.” It was like a fairy tale.
“Actually, I don’t really know how James earns his money these days; maybe he’s still working as an archaeologist. But his parents have a lot of money — at least, that’s what James told me once.”
“Why isn’t Peter helping you with money? He’s a doctor, after all.” Vanessa bit her lip. “I’m sorry, that’s none of my business.”
“It’s okay.” Anne blew her nose again. “Peter sends us money every month, but I’m saving it
all. For Danny. He doesn’t know about it, and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”
Vanessa tilted her head. “Why aren’t you telling him anything about it?”
“I will. As soon as he graduates.”
Then Vanessa understood. Anne wanted Danny to graduate and find a proper job so that he could make his own way in the world.
“No one knows anything about Daniel’s mother,” the older woman continued. “James says she appeared one day with a newborn child in her arms and claimed it was his. The blood test confirmed it, but then the woman disappeared without a trace. James said that he had had a brief relationship with her and then they lost touch.”
Vanessa could only shake her head. She would never have imagined that Daniel had such a tragic past, a past that he knew nothing about. “So James didn’t want the baby?”
Anne sighed. “He’s a strange bird. Attractive, tall, athletic — just like Danny — but a little strange. Back then, he said that he traveled overseas for work all the time and had no one to help him take care of the baby while he was gone. He knew how badly I wanted a child. But I could feel how hard the decision was for him, Nessa.” Anne leaned over and said in a quieter voice, “I watched him say goodbye to Danny. Tears were streaming down his face.”
There were tears in Vanessa’s eyes as well. “Why hasn’t Danny ever met him?” He had the right to know his real father.
Anne took a deep breath and shrugged. “James didn’t want him to know that he was adopted.”
“But why not?” Nessa didn’t understand how anyone could simply give up a child.
“He thought it would be the best thing for all concerned. I sensed that he was hiding something from me, but I didn’t want to pry. I was so happy to finally have a child, that I didn’t care about anything else. I never even asked where he got the adoption papers. It usually doesn’t work like that — there are legal requirements.”
“With a lot of money, anything’s possible,” Vanessa interjected.
Anne nodded. “Yes, that was my conclusion, too. Perhaps his parents gave him the money. They still live in Little Peak, at the other end of town, my old neighborhood.”
“Daniel’s grandparents,” Vanessa murmured.
“Daniel knows nothing about them; he thinks that they’re just friends of the family. They visit us now and then.”
A smile crossed Anne’s face. She blew her nose again noisily and continued her story. “James gave me a cellphone number where he could be reached in case of emergencies, should Danny ever need another blood transfusion. I called him before the ambulance even arrived.”
Vanessa straightened up in her chair. “Have you seen him? Is he still here?” She caught herself holding her breath from sheer suspense.
“We saw each other just briefly. It was strange to see him again after all these years. Almost like he never left.” Anne glanced toward the door. “He got here so fast — I think he must be living somewhere nearby,” she said, more to herself than to Nessa.
Vanessa would have liked to have met Daniel’s real father, but she had arrived at the hospital later than the others. She couldn’t fit with them in the ambulance, so she had ridden her bicycle all the way to the hospital.
Anne sighed. “Before James left, I spoke to him briefly and told him that I was going to explain everything to Daniel. James doesn’t think it’s a good idea, but I’m going to do it as soon as possible. Danny has a right to know to whom he owes his life.”
Vanessa nodded in agreement, but she was still processing all this new information. She couldn’t imagine how Daniel would feel when Anne told him the truth.
“Now you can understand why Peter hasn’t been in contact with Danny. My lawyer told me that his new wife is expecting a baby. And Danny’s not his real …” Anne dissolved into sobs. Nessa hurried to her side and gave her a hug.
Tears running down her face, Anne looked up at Vanessa and held her tight. “Oh, Nessa, Danny’s all that I have, he’s my life!”
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Vanessa said to the trembling woman, blinking the tears out of her own eyes. “Danny’s strong, he’ll make it.” He has to — he’s my life as well.
Marla and her demonic friend Sirina sat at the foot of the hospital bed, reveling in the suffering of Vanessa and Anne.
“You can say good-bye to your little Danny-Boy. We’ll take him soon enough, and you two crybabies won’t be able to do anything about it.” Sirina laughed out loud, fanning herself. If Anne and Vanessa could have seen the two women, they would have thought they had come directly from a costume party … or had broken out of an insane asylum. Marla was still in her punk outfit with the torn fishnet stockings, while Sirina was dressed like an eighteenth-century lady. She was wearing a dark-green costume made of a flowing fabric; it narrowed at the waist, but ended in a trouser skirt rather than a dress. As a demon, she required freedom of movement, since fighting formed a natural part of her life. Hierarchical rankings in the underworld were constantly being challenged. Everyone strove to obtain more power and respect, and only the best and strongest among them could serve alongside Overlord Xandros to rule the underworld. The rest lived together in the lower levels, and those who did not submit to the Overlord’s will were as good as dead.
The emerald-colored fabric made a lovely contrast to Sirina’s fiery red hair, which rippled over her shoulders in a wild mane. She snapped her black fan shut with a sharp clacking noise, slid elegantly off of her perch at the foot of the bed, and walked up to the head end, eyeing Vanessa and Anne with suspicion.
“Knock it off, you trollops!” Sirina had big plans for her “Daniel.” “Silvan will soon be joining me in the underworld.” At last, he would be her husband. It was predestined.
Marla leapt off of the bed as well, positioning herself next to Sirina. “Has the Council already approved your marriage? Silvan’s transformation isn’t yet complete. As long as he still has a trace of humanity within him, they won’t agree to any union.”
“Not yet,” hissed Sirina, flipping her fan open again and waving it frantically through the sterile air. “But they will. I’ve almost convinced Antheus already. Soon he’ll be eating out of my hand.”
“I can just imagine,” Marla muttered. “You and Antheus really would make a better pair.” Antheus, a powerful, massive demon, was just as cunning and power-hungry as Sirina. Everyone knew that he had an eye on the throne and was already being considered as a future Overlord. He was Xandros’ second-born, and thus stood next in line to the throne following the death of his older sister Kitana. But then the news spread that Marla had located her half-brother. The Oracle’s prophecy threw a wrench in the works for Antheus. He was naturally furious, and an enraged demon should never be underestimated.
“I don’t want Antheus!” Sirina stamped her foot and crossed her arms. “I want Silvan — he’s the future Overlord!”
And I want James Carpenter, Marla thought. This man was the reason they had killed her mother. Damn it all, she must have just missed him! It was maddening! He had been here, right in this room! It would have been a perfect chance, but apparently she was just as useless as Metistakles always said. I’ll show them, all of them! She could get at Carpenter through Silvan. When the time was right …
To her relief, the human bimbo and Silvan’s foster mother were heading home. “We can’t do anything else for him,” Anne said. “The hospital will call me as soon as his condition changes.”
“Please let me know right away.” Vanessa looked totally dejected, and it was evident that she didn’t want to leave Silvan’s side.
“Of course. He’ll want to see you when he wakes up.” Anne put an arm around Vanessa’s shoulders and led her to the door. “Right now, he needs some peace and quiet. The doctors suspect that he might be somewhat conscious of his surroundings, and it wouldn’t do him any good to hear us constantly sobbing in his ear.”
“Do you really think he’ll want to see me?”
Anne dabbed
at her eyes with her handkerchief. “I have to admit, I saw you two last night. You both seem to be very much in love.”
Marla looked on in fury as Vanessa’s face went red. This human strumpet has completely fallen for Silvan!
“You know how mothers are: We can’t fall asleep until our children come home safely.” Anne pushed Vanessa gently through the door.
Sirina hissed in anger as Marla told her exactly what had transpired between Silvan and the human girl. When the demons were finally alone in the room, Marla began to remove the IV from Silvan’s arm while Sirina unbuttoned the top of his gown to tear off the electrodes. The device above the bed sounded an alarm, but Sirina silenced it with a wave of her hand and turned back to Silvan. She ran her long, red fingernails down his exposed chest, purring like a cat.
Marla made a growling noise at her. “Damn it, Sirina, take your hands off of my brother! He’s not yours yet!”
Sirina smirked arrogantly. “White just isn’t his color. This hospital gown is simply awful.” She pulled his sheets down abruptly. “As the future Overlord of the underworld, he needs a woman at his side who knows something about fashion.”
“It’s about time to bring him home, don’t you think?” Marla walked up to the head of the bed. “His mind has been wandering for hours between the worlds; that could cause permanent damage to his body.”
Smiling lasciviously, Sirina replied, “That would truly be a shame.”
Daniel was floating through the darkness. The only thing that he could see was a billowing veil. Whispering voices flitted past him like flashes of light — sometimes he understood what they were saying, and other times they seemed to transmit images. Atrocious images, full of suffering and violence. He even perceived emotions, but only feelings of deception, power, and ambition.
Just a moment ago, he had been lying in his bed, writhing in pain. He knew one thing for certain: Only Marla or that other witch could be behind him being trapped in this strange place. He remembered now: Marla had roughly awakened him, and the other young woman had pulled his blanket down to his knees. They wanted to convince him to let them into his head. Evidently, they had succeeded.
