by Deborah Noel
“Years later, Sable’s children went missing, never to be found again. Her husband was beaten to death at a bar. None of these actions could be traced back to Oxmeade. They were deemed coincidental. Shane didn’t believe this to be true. When he was told of my return from a holiday abroad, he tried to send me a warning. It was too late. Oxmeade had one of his crony vampires hunt me down and capture me. I was put through the ringer. I was chewed upon, but kept from the edge of death. I was raped. They pulled my hair out, one strand at a time. They plucked out my fingernails. They burned my body with whatever they had nearby. They burned my fingerprints off my fingers, one at a time. I even had my teeth pulled from my jaw, one at a time.
“When all that still didn’t have me speaking, they had a turned witch cast evil ailments on me and I was stricken sick with plagues. They always kept me from the brink of dying.”
I caught a glimmer of a tear building in the corner of her eye. She inhaled deeply and continued on.
“Somehow Shane got word of my torture. I guess vampires were bragging about the horrid means by which they were enjoying the persecution of me and it got back to Shane. All of the torture was done during the evening hours when the vampires thrived. Occasionally turned witches would stand guard during the daytime hours. Shane somehow managed to work things out where he was able to see me. I was on the verge of dying once more. He whispered a spell into my ear and promised to remove me from my hell within a few days.
“He held true to his word. The spell that he cast was one that would make it seem to anyone that I had died. I was comatose, with an undetectable heartbeat and breath that was so shallow it couldn’t be noticed. I was still very aware of my surroundings, though I laid there motionless. Oxmeade himself came one night to pronounce me dead and declared victory over witches once more. His vampires wanted to truly finish me off by sucking my blood, but he told them they would forever be tarnished with the likes of my blood within them. And if that was to happen, he would forbid them to enter his home forever.
“They tossed me in the woods and left me to rot with the worms. Shane retrieved me from there and reversed the spell. It took Shane and other powerful wizards and witches many weeks to undo the damage done to me. They had to empty my body and soul of my scent. They had to create a new one for me. My name was changed. My heritage was a fallacy that I had to memorize as part of my new identity to remain hidden forever from the vampires.”
She stopped speaking for a few seconds and simply stared out the plane’s window into the darkness of the sky we were sailing across.
As she gathering her composure she looked at each of us. “That is why when we met I told you I was Irish. I have been telling that for many, many, many years for my safety. My real name I share with my ancestor, Gwenediere.”
I was the first to speak. “But your features are the same, weren’t or aren’t you afraid that Oxmeade would recognize that?”
“To a vampire, I look blurred and pale. Like a sickly human in their eyes. It is a spell I live with everyday to hide that simple fact of which you picked up on.”
She looked so matter-of-factly and exhausted that we all sat in silence.
Her eyes softened, “Shane and I go far back and I owe him my life. I learned a great deal as Sebastian’s student and that is how I was able to remain silent, giving the vampires none of the information they wanted. But it was Shane’s magic that saved me from certain death. He will forever have my life and my heart. We have grown to make a good team. Our love for each other blossomed from that. We promised never to have a covenant of our own in order to protect our kind from the evil of Oxmeade. We help those who come into our lives who need it most.”
Declan cocked his head to the side. “Why did you two come to us?”
She smiled. “What Shane told you from the beginning of himself is, for the most part, true. He is a relative of the MacMartins’. It goes further back than they realize, but he is so young looking that he pulled off being a closer generation. Telling you he was from Wales is true. It’s the timing that is off. Meeting you and your family was just by chance. Seems to me though, that someone or something had a purpose for our paths to cross. It’s just one of those things. One never knows why a person enters, leaves or sometimes, even returns to your life, but there is a reason. There is always a lesson to be learned; whether it presents itself now or later.”
Chapter Thirty-four
We landed at the Shannon Airport in Ireland for a refueling. We did a “hot fuel,” so the plane never shut down. It taxied to the fueling station, the attendant on the ground filled us up, and we quickly took off to head to Iceland for our next stop, then on home to a small private airport in Eastern Pennsylvania. All this was according to our pilot. Our attendant came and offered us something to drink and a snack.
Once in the air again, I leaned against the window and thought of my daughter. How I missed her so. Even though I knew she was safe, I still couldn’t help feeling like I failed.
“I failed her as much as you did,” Declan said softly in my mind. “Before you give me any flack, I’ve been poking around in Brae’s mind too. She’s still thinking about her torture. Poor thing.”
I answered him telepathically, “Mattie will be with us soon. I feel bad for Brae. How terrible. And since when can you read Brae’s mind? I thought that you could only read the minds of the people you can talk telepathically with or with someone you were touching?”
I could feel him smile without even looking at him. Then I saw it in the reflection of the window.
“It’s been hit or miss mostly. I started toying around with it more after your first premonition. It was Sam’s idea. We decided to see just what kind of powers we really have and the extent of them.”
“So, what have you found out?”
“That I can slip quietly into people’s heads and hear what they are thinking whenever I want. It’s rather easy. You just kind of tune in. I can’t talk to just anyone else yet. Shane and I are going to experiment when we get home.”
“If I put up my walls, can you still read my mind?” I asked.
“Good question. I’ve been able to hear when you have been scared before and I’ve been able to just enter your mind to talk, but I’ve never tried to just read your mind. Put up your wall and think of a number. Concentrate on it for a few minutes, and we’ll see if I know what it is.”
“Well, it won’t be my favorite number,” I kidded with him.
“Start now.”
I put up my wall and thought about the number 984, then waited a second; concentrating on making sure my wall was up and changed the number to 16. I thought about each number for a few seconds.
Declan came over and literally whispered in my ear, “984.” Then he kissed my cheek. He went down the small aisle to the back of the plane. He talked with our stewardess and returned to his seat. A few moments later she brought us each another drink. When she returned to her seat, I leaned over to Declan and whispered, “That’s the number I started out with. Then I tried a double padlock on my wall and thought of 16.”
“Ha,” he spurted out loud.
“Shall we try again?” I challenged in his mind.
“Give it your best shot,” he retorted.
“You too, honey.”
I put up my wall and cleared my mind. I summoned all of the might I could and concentrated heavily on closing the wall tight. I thought of the number 769. I pictured the each numeral in my head.
I looked at Declan. I could see the frustration mounting on his forehead.
“Ha,” I said to him. “You got nothing!”
“Damn!”
I took my seat and raised my glass in a singular victory toast.
Our plane made another stop to refuel and then we were en route to home. Brae stayed to herself for the rest of the way home. We landed at a small private airport in the middle of the night. A car was waiting for us. The driver packed our bags in the trunk then opened the door to the back seat for us Wit
hout a word of instruction from us, he took us to our home.
Declan had texted Sam when we had gotten settled in the car, so Sam and Shane were waiting in the driveway for our arrival. Sam tipped the driver a twenty and he left. He never said a word to us, though he shook Declan’s hand.
“Welcome home,” Shane gave us each a hug. He lingered longer within Brae’s embrace. Knowing that he could see what she saw, I wasn’t surprised to see him lean back and look at her with concern. She shook it off as not so bad.
“Well, shall we go in and swap stories?” Sam asked as he turned and headed for the front door.
Declan held the door to allow me to enter first. I stopped short when I saw the picture frames filled with portraits of Mattie that hung on our living room wall. My heart ached for her. Our bags were left piled at the base of the stairs. A familiar pouncing down the steps proved to be Bullet delighted to see us again. He ran to me and jumped up on his hind legs, reaching up as far as he could with his front paws. I bent down to accept his gracious kisses hello. His tail whipped back and forth so fast he should have been propelled away. He went to Declan next and did the same, as my sight focused back on the photos of my daughter. Declan came to me while Bullet was busy greeting Brae and gave my hand a squeeze. He pulled me along to the kitchen with Bullet in quick pursuit.
Sam and Shane had thrown together a welcome home meal for us: rolled lunchmeat and cheese with fresh rolls and potato chips along with sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce. I hadn’t realized just how hungry I really was.
Talking was at a minimum, as everyone was busy stuffing their mouths full of food.
It was good to be home.
When dinner was done and the kitchen cleaned, we all ventured out onto the patio where Sam had built a fire in the fire pit.
“Don’t worry, Cianna. I shoveled out all the ashes that were in there and have them waiting for you over at the lab,” Sam told me.
It took me a second to realize what he meant. He was referring to the ashes from the remains of the vampire killed by the wolf. I winked at him.
“Thank you.”
We all sat down. Declan and I together on the recliner lawn chair. Sam took a chair at the table on which he propped his legs. Shane and Brae sat next to each other in separate chairs.
“So who starts the story telling first?” Shane asked.
Brae quickly got us started and explained that she had told us the truth of her history. She gave an edited version for Sam’s benefit. He was appalled by her torturous tale. The entire time, Shane held her hand in support and comfort. It was sweet to witness.
When she was done, Sam refrained from asking any questions, but did say, “Well, that explains who Oxmeade Carlsburg is.”
Declan then took everyone to the beginning of our Black Forest experience and added small details that were not shared over our online chats.
I told the tale of my encounter with Jondra in the woods and the unfortunate burning of Dethstare Gaardens.
Shane was curious if Jondra gave any clues as to who was watching us and asked if we knew of any reason for the fire. Brae assured him that is was a witch’s spell and that Ms. Evelyn had been taken. I added that Jondra thought Rogi was keeping an eye on us for sure, and probably a few others, but she didn’t elaborate. I added that I knew Jondra had not been taken captive, as she had given me a small, untraceable cell phone.
“The only thing that I can think of is that Rogi told us that his grandson, Crevan, was being hunted and his association to Lucas Dethstare had Jondra under the impression she was being sought after to give up her brother’s whereabouts,” I enlightened Sam and Shane.
“Did Jondra or Rogi allude to what it was that Crevan had done that was so bad,” Sam inquired.
“Jondra didn’t know,” I answered.
Declan added, “I am sure Rogi knows, but he was tight-lipped about it. He was careful with his words. He wasn’t going to say anything that didn’t need to be said.”
I pulled out the letter from Rogi and handed it to Sam. “If you look close at the end of the first paragraph you will see a smudge. I think he started to say something about Oxmeade, but changed his mind. You can barely make out the letter “o” with a small diagonal line next to it. It makes the most sense to me, especially after seeing the brut at the fire scene on TV and the way Jondra spoke ill of him. Brae’s experience was proof in the pudding for me.”
Sam looked the paper over and handed it to Shane. “You can barely see that smudge. You have to know to look for it. Good job, Cianna.”
Shane nodded in agreement and handed it back to me.
I folded the letter up and tossed it on the table. “So what happened with our vampire prisoner?”
Sam jumped up from his seat. “Glad you asked. Follow me.”
We followed Sam inside and gathered in the family room. He walked over to the TV and turned it on. He had the video recorder already set up and waiting to show us the answer to my question.
Sam had set up cameras facing each of the cells we had made. We watched as the older vampire paced in his. He wrapped his fingers around the bars and quickly pulled them away. You could hear a faint sizzle. He cursed and spit at the camera. He continued pacing.
He mumbled continuously in a foreign language. The younger vampire hollered over for him to settle down. The older vampire spit at the wall toward his comrade and yelled, “You stupid fuck! Do you know how much trouble we are in? If we can ever find a way out of here, we will surely be killed. We have failed our mission and even worse have been captured. We are fucking vampires. And we were outsmarted by a fucking human! You should have killed that prick when you had the chance. Instead you hesitated to look at a girl. A fucking girl and a human at that! You stupid fucking fledging,” he hissed.
I tried to place his accent, but I couldn’t.
“Fuck you, old man,” the younger vampire spat back. “You’re so old you forget what it is like to walk among humans. And you are so stubborn you refuse to follow orders. We were given a no kill order during the daylight. We were told to not make a scene that could expose us. I followed orders. I did my job. I caught the scent we were looking for and thought it was the girl. That’s why she drew my attention.”
“Ah, yes, good boy, Remmie, following orders. What a good little soldier. It got us captured, you moron! You didn’t do your homework. Humans are always killing each other, usually with no just cause. Didn’t you watch any of the news reports? Read any of their newspapers?”
“Maybe so, Tomos. Those happen more so in the cities, less likely in the less populated suburbs. I did my studies.”
Tomos threw his hands up in the air, “Ugh!” He returned to pacing. He became more irritated. “Our punishment will still be death. When Bernard returns without us, tells of our imprisonment and still no target, we will be sentenced to death. Do you know the stories of the viciousness of death sentences? Do you?” He was screaming at the silver-lined rock wall that separated them.
Remmie didn’t answer.
“The boss is not a nice individual. He has perfected the ways of torture. He goes the extra mile to ensure brutality and suffering.”
The younger vampire remained silent.
“I’ve seen such events with my own eyes. I have been forced to participate in the rituals. Pick your worst fear and it pales in comparison.”
The vampire was becoming more and more agitated as the fear he was creating himself grew. He howled and cursed. Every moment he was showing signs of being uncomfortable within his own skin. It seemed as if his fear was choking whatever life force he had out of him.
Remmie hollered over, “Calm down. You’ve been dead to this world for a long time, Tomos. What do you have to live for?”
Tomos stopped and reflected on his partner’s words. He turned in circles. He sat down on the hard slab that jetted out of the wall and served as a make-shift bed. He took to mumbling again. He lowered his head and placed his hand over his heart. He was very still fo
r a few moments. Then the vampire did something that made me lean forward to make sure I was seeing the right thing. The angry creature was wiping his eyes. Streaks of red smeared across his face.
“Crazy, isn’t it?” Sam interjected.
I shook my head in amazement.
“It gets better,” my uncle added.
The vampire looked at his tear-stained hand, which was actually bloody. He stood up with a jerk and walked to the silver bars confining him. He yelled at the top of his lungs, “Fuck you!”
He began to remove his clothing. He stood naked in his cell. A wretched laughing bellow started low then increased until it was so loud we all had to cover our ears. Sam muted the sound on the TV.
“Watch this,” Shane instructed, his own eyes still plastered to the screen.
In one movement the vampire ripped open his own chest. He reached in and pulled out his heart. Red blood mixed with glints of silver spilled to the floor. Vessels were dangling from his insides. He threw his heart to the ground and stomped it flat with his foot. Blood squirted everywhere. Lungs were the next thing he pulled out from his body. They were flung against the wall with a splat. Sizzle and steam streamed down the wall. He fished around and yanked out his stomach. His intestines were like spaghetti hanging from a fork. He threw his head backwards as Sam unmuted the TV. The thing before us was laughing hysterically.
“Tomos, what are you doing over there?” Remmie yelled to him.
Without saying a word, Tomos exposed his fangs and placed his wrist over his mouth. He ripped mouthful-sized chunk from it. His flesh tore open as he let his arm dangle. He whipped his other arm to his mouth and sunk his fangs into it. Instead of repeating the performance, he began to suckle. With each gulp that entered his mouth, you could see the liquid fall from his throat, trying to go the natural course down his esophagus, past his lungs, but this time nothing was there. The blood turned black and bubbled as it touched the remaining organs in his body. As more of this dead man’s blood entered his mouth, it became thicker and seemed to be getting hotter as his insides were beginning to explode with each drip that touched it.
