The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls

by Dawn Gray

  "Why didn't you ever tell me about Charles?" Michael questioned.

  "Like I told Cris, I didn't think it was of any great importance." Justin replied then turned and started to walk away.

  "How did he die?" Michael asked suddenly. Justin stopped and waited for Michael to catch up with him. He sighed loudly and turned to Michael.

  "Would you like the long version, or the short one?" He asked.

  Michael gestured to the room to the left of them and the two of them headed in, but instead of stopping to sit on the chairs there, Michael opened the doors and they continued through. They walked over the lush green grass and Justin sighed, pulling his sunglasses out of his pants pockets. He slipped them on and glanced at Michael.

  "You were always his favorite."

  "Funny, I always thought I was the outsider." Michael replied. Justin laughed and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "So, what happened?"

  "After you left, Charles started to panic, he thought that someone had taken you, but, Cristian, being the good hearted so he was, told him that you left because of me. Charles never seemed to forgive me for that, and when Cristian decided to go out looking for you, he seemed to shut down. I knew that he didn't want to be left with me, the son who had bad blood, but I tried my hardest to please him." Justin laughed a bit. "Nothing made him happy, at least nothing I did. He started to get visits from this man. He had to be in his late thirties, but he was a vampire, and said that his name was Victor La Rouge, and that he was related to us boys in some way. He told Charles that he had found a way to get rid of what was tainting me, but what he did to me only made it worse.

  "I killed, mercilessly, whenever the bloodlust took over, which was more often than not when Victor was around. I couldn't control it, couldn't seem to grab hold and I was angry at Cristian, who had lived with us for almost five years before you came. He was supposed to be my brother, but I felt that he had abandoned me, left me to deal with this hatred of living things." Justin looked at Michael, quickly and stopped walking. "I never wanted this, Michael, but it was in my blood and I felt that Charles would accept me more if I were just like him."

  "If you didn't want this, Justin, you should have said something."

  "Like I said, I was trying to win my father's acceptance. Nothing was too much for that ungrateful bastard." Justin said, getting angry. He turned and looked at Michael. "I'm sorry; Michael, but I can't discuss this right now. Sage and I are going to the cemetery to visit her parents, and I want to be in a better mood for her."

  "I understand, Justin." Michael nodded and watched Justin turn and walk away. He sighed and looked out at the water, wondering what other things could Justin be hiding, and how much did he not know about his brother.

  * * * * *

  I walked out of the bedroom and looked down the hall at Julian, who was walking down the stairs from the third floor. He stopped, looked at the back of the book in his hand and walked a bit.

  "Julian." I said and watched him stop; he turned and looked back at me.

  "Well, good morning." He smiled. "What can I do for you, Sage?"

  "I had a question, actually, and I was wondering if you could help me."

  "I can try." He smiled, tucked the book under his arm and looked me in the eyes. "Shoot."

  "Have you ever heard of something called the Kingdom of the Nine?" I asked. Julian thought for a moment.

  "I vaguely remember hearing something or reading something about that, yes." He nodded. I smiled and clapped my hands together.

  "So, I'm not really a basket case." I laughed at him. "What a relief?"

  "May I inquire why you're asking about this?" He asked me as he looked at me strangely.

  "It's something I heard in my dreams last night." I replied softly, raising an eyebrow at him to see if he thought I was nuts.

  "Well, I can see if I could find more information on it if you would like me too." He smiled. I nodded in agreement thinking that it might help to know what the ghost had been talking about. "I'll call a friend, maybe I can get more information that way."

  "Okay." I smiled. "I've got to go, um; Justin and I are visiting my parents today."

  "I'm sure they'll approve, Sage."

  "Thanks." I sighed and hugged him, then waved and disappeared down the hallway. I found Justin sitting in the "breakfast room" with his eyes closed and I leaned over and kissed him. Justin opened his eyes and smiled. "Ready?"

  "Yeah, I was just relaxing." He replied and stood up, and then the two of us headed out the door.

  * * * * *

  Julian looked up from the large book in his hand at David, who stood in the doorway then he looked back down at the book again.

  "Can I help you, David?" Julian finally asked. David, slowly, stepped into the room and closed the door. Julian looked up one more time and noticed the look on David's face. "You look annoyed, Dave, what is it?"

  "Victor." He whispered, Julian stood straight and closed the book. David crossed his arms and sighed. "I can't help but think that there's some connection between him and this thing with Sage."

  "What thing with Sage?" Julian questioned then looked down at the book, touched the cover with his fingers and glanced at David. "What's your fascination with her?"

  "It's not a fascination." David said suddenly. He sighed, put his hands on his hips and looked up at the ceiling, and then he looked at Julian. "You don't understand that the dreams of her were all I had for almost three months, and it's not as if they were nice dreams, the sexual, erotic, fantasy type of dreams that you have over and over. They were bloody, violent, hideous dreams and she was evil, pure evil. She tortured me, with secrets I had kept to myself for years. She knew all about my life, from start to finish. I did everything in my power to stop them, but they came, along with the dreams of Victor, every night. Her face was there, etched in my mind. I almost started seeing her on the faces of other people."

  "That doesn't explain why you want to know about her now." Julian said softly. "You realize that Michael will find out about your interest in her and that he might get mad."

  "Julian, listen to me. I don't want anything from her. I don't...want her, but when I'm near her, there is a calm in me that I haven't felt in decades." David sighed and shook his head. "I feel safe near her, not like in the dreams, I want to be her friend."

  "Then, be a friend, David, and stay away from her." Julian replied. David covered his face with his hands. Julian shook his head and put his hands, palm down on the table. "Look, I do think that there's some sort of connection with her and Victor, with all of them and Victor, and your past dealings with him might put her in more danger. For her sake, David, stay away from her."

  "What's the prophecy?" David asked, calmly, and Julian looked at him. "Look, I've seen you in here too many times with that book you have there. Every time you pick it up, it's because someone's involved in some sort of ridicules prophecy. So, what is it this time, people rising from the dead, witches and warlocks, let me guess, vampires."

  "You're pushing your luck, my friend." Julian said softly. David's face showed his anger and, suddenly, he turned and walked out. Julian let out a sigh of relief and looked back down at the book on the table, then reached for the phone.

  His fingers quickly dialed the number he was thinking about, and he listened to it ring twice before a quiet voice picked up on the other end.

  "Hello?" It whispered,

  "It's me, we need to talk." He replied.

  "Why are you calling me?" The voice asked, amused. "You usually don't give warnings when you visit, why now?"

  "I'm bringing someone?"

  "Mortal or immortal?"

  "A bit of both."

  "This should be interesting." Suddenly, there was a pause on the other end, then, the voice spoke again. "Tonight, at eleven-thirty, not earlier, no later. Tell no one else, bring no one else."

  "I know the rules, but I have to at least tell Michael, they're related."

  "This just keeps getti
ng better." The voice replied sarcastically. "Fine, Michael can know, but no one else. I mean it, Julian."

  I understand, eleven-thirty." He replied, quietly then listened to the phone hang up. He sighed and slowly moved the phone from his ear, then set it down, gently, hanging it up.

  * * * * *

  Justin smiled at me, as I walked into the room later that evening. Our visit to the cemetery was quite interesting but nothing unusual happened. We returned not long after we left and spent most of the day sitting on the grass talking. It felt strange to be able to hold him in the presence of others, considering that we had been so secretive about it for so long.

  He was, at the moment, speaking to Lauren and Quinn about something that must have been amusing, for he kept laughing. His eyes had grown quite a bit lighter in the last few days as if coming to terms and facing Michael had lifted some of the burden that he had felt in the past.

  I was just watching him, taking in all of his moves when I felt a light touch on my shoulder and turned to look at David, who stepped back, without a word and gestured to the hallway. I looked around the room one last time, and then walked out of the room. David stood, suddenly, at the end of the hallway looking at the window.

  "Why is it," I started and watched him turn to look at me, and then I continued, "that every time I think I've finally figured out my life, my friends, and my feelings, some handsome man steps into the picture."

  "So, which one is it this time?" He smiled.

  "You know what I mean, David." I replied. He shrugged and sat on the bench next to the window he had just been looking out. "So, what's the matter?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, you wanted to talk to me, didn't you?" I asked and watched him shrug again. "Please, David." I whispered, sarcastically. "You wouldn't have asked me to come out here if there wasn't something you wanted."

  "That's just it." He snapped and looked at me. "It's not something I want, Sage, it's something I need."

  "And, what's that?"

  "You." He whispered. I stepped back, looking at him confused, and then I started to back away. I was ready to leave, but, as I turned, I heard his voice. "Wait, you misunderstood me."

  I looked back at him, suddenly. "You mean that it's not as it sounded?" I asked him. He nodded. "Please, explain to me, what you mean."

  "What I meant was..." he stood up and walked over to me, leaned down so that I could look into his hazel eyes, "that I need you as a friend, nothing more. I know how you are with Justin, Sage, and my intention is not to break that up. I would like to be able to be near you, like I said before, you make me feel safe, calm, and it's been a long time since I've been this close to being at peace."

  "You know Bobbie and I were talking, last night," I smiled and touched his cheek, "and, you came up in our conversation."

  "Why?"

  "Because I needed to talk to someone about how I felt when I was near you." I dropped my hand and shook my head.

  "What do you feel when you’re near me?" He whispered as if it were a secret just between the two of us.

  "Nothing." I whispered back. He looked at me, oddly. "I feel nothing, good or bad, and it's never been like that before."

  "But, what does that mean?" He asked again. Suddenly, we heard footsteps behind us and I turned to look at Julian and Michael, who stood about ten feet from us. I looked at Michael, who gestured to me, asking me to come over to him. I smiled, and then looked back at David, who looked at Julian, then back at me, and leaned down close to me again, so that he could whisper. "Sage, please, be careful. Those two mean well, but something isn't right."

  "I know." I replied. I smiled up at him, and touched his hand, and then I turned and walked over to Michael and Julian. We walked away from David, who I glanced back at, and stepped into Julian's study. I looked at the two of them, neither of them looking any older than eighteen, and then I sat on the chair in the corner. "So, what's wrong?"

  "Sage, I'd like you to come and see a friend of mine with me tonight." Julian whispered. I shrugged and then looked at him.

  "Okay." I replied. Julian looked at Michael, who nodded, then turned and left Michael and I alone. "What's the matter, Mike?"

  "I'm just worried, that's all." He replied.

  "I know you're worried, but, there's something else, isn't there?" I questioned. Michael nodded and walked around the room. "You can tell me, you know. I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

  He sighed, thought a moment, then stopped and looked at me. "Have you had any other dreams of that man?" I shook my head and watched him, as he looked up at the ceiling, then back at me. He walked over and knelt in front of me, then took my hand. "When you go with Julian tonight, try to pay attention to what is said."

  "Why?"

  "He's trying to find out if all of this is connected to a prophecy."

  "So, what does that have to do with me?"

  "Listen, Sage, everything happens for a reason. Julian believes that everything has a prophecy, and this is what he's going to try and find out tonight. What you mentioned to him, about the Kingdom of the Nine, made him think that there might be, well, higher powers involved." Michael sighed. I nodded at him, thinking to myself that this was all too weird. Michael leaned closer to me, and kissed my cheek. "Things will be all right, Sage."

  "I know they will." I smiled, whispering back at him.

  Chapter 11

  Julian looked from Sage to the black door in front of him. His hands shook as he reached out and knocked on the door. He couldn't believe how nervous he felt. After a moment, the door in front of him opened and his eyes were caught by silver ones that looked directly at him.

  The petite young woman, who stood in the doorway, looked over Julian; her brown hair falling just passed her shoulders, then she looked passed him at Sage and smiled.

  "Come in." She whispered. The two of them walked into the house and the woman shut the door behind her. Sage noticed the strange affection between Julian and her, the way their eyes seemed to sparkle when they looked at each other. The woman pointed to the couches in the room where she stopped and closed the door. She turned and looked at Sage, who was sitting on the smaller of the two couches. "You must be Sage."

  "Yes." She replied, unsure of how to answer. She looked at Julian, who was looking at a few of the pictures on the wall, then back at the woman.

  "My name is Caitlyn O'Neal, incase Julian hadn't told you." She smiled then glanced at Julian, herself. "Which I'm sure he hasn't."

  "No, he just said that we were meeting a friend of his." Sage said and watched the odd look that came across Caitlyn's face. "Are you all right?" She asked; which made Julian turn and look, quickly, at her.

  "Yes, I'm fine." She said and patted the almost unnoticeable potbelly hidden under her shirt. "Whenever Julian is close by, this little one seems to get hyper."

  Julian walked over and placed a hand on Caitlyn's stomach. He smiled when he felt the baby kicking at him, then he kissed Caitlyn's cheek and went back to the paintings. Sage smiled at the overpowering feeling of love between the two, but it was obvious that Caitlyn was married and Julian had Ashley.

  "So, what brings you to this part of the country?" She asked, looking at Julian then offered Sage some tea.

  "A prophecy." Julian replied. Caitlyn sort of shrugged and nodded her head.

  "Of course. With you, why would it be anything else?" She smiled. "So, what is it this time? Ghost and goblins?"

  "Now you sound just like David." He replied, leaning against the wall.

  "And, how is our auburn-haired rebel? Still missing in action?" Caitlyn questioned.

  "No, he's home now, which is kind of what brought me here tonight." Julian answered, then, walked over and sat on the couch beside Sage. "What do you know about the Kingdom of the Nine?"

  "Oh, my." She said, enthusiastically. "That is an old one." Sage watched as Caitlyn walked over to the back wall, tugged at a book, and stepped aside. The bookshelf split in half and opened up, sliding t
o each side, revealing a small room, which Caitlyn stepped into, then walked back out with a book in hand. "So, who wants to know about it?"

  "I do." Sage shrugged. "It was in a dream that I had the other night. The ghost in my dreams mentioned a child being born who is not of mortal blood and that is the next in line to rule the Kingdom of the Nine."

  "Well, I'm not sure about the whole baby thing. Prophecies are Julian's specialty, but I think I can help with the kingdom thing." She smiled and placed the book on the table, opened it up and flipped through it, quickly, and then she stopped, read a bit, and smiled. "Here we are, the Kingdom of the Nine."

  "So, what is it?" Julian asked.

  "Wait a minute; I'm trying to bring something up." She snapped, and then smiled at him. Sage watched as she walked over, sat in a chair near the desk, and closed her eyes. "Just so you know; this isn't always very clear to me."

  "What is she doing?" Sage whispered.

  "Caitlyn's ancestors were connected to the vampires, like a blood link. Everyone is born with the knowledge of the generation before them." Julian replied.

  "Basically," Caitlyn spoke up, "I'm one big library on vampires. I know most of what there is to know about their history. I just have to find it."

  Sage watched as she seemed to fall under a spell, her eyelids twitched, but the rest of her never moved, until, her eyes popped opened and she smiled at Sage.

  "I've got it." She whispered, then stood, and walked back into the small room, where she took out another book, and opened it to a certain page. Sage looked at her, oddly. "Like I said, sometimes it's not clear, but usually, it points me in the right direction." Sage smiled at Caitlyn, who smiled back, then glanced at the book. "Okay, here we go.

  "In the beginning, God created life, and with it came man, and woman, for those of us who want to be associated with them." She giggled. Julian shook his head at his friend, and smiled. "We all know the story of Adam and Eve, banished from Eden because they betrayed God. Well, the Kingdom of the Nine comes from that whole deal.