It was an odd sight though, to behold a gate seemingly standing in a field with nothing else around it. She jumped when it opened, and the distressed face of her host greeted her.
“This is a surprise. I did not expect you quite so soon. I figured you’d be having too much fun to come back.”
She scrambled through the door. “I was. I um… something happened. I had to come home right away.”
Fazendiin got a thrill out the ease in which she said, home…
“You looked rattled.”
“You could say that.”
He grasped her shoulders gently. “Are you okay?” he looked intently into her eyes.
“I really don’t know. I’m not injured, at least not physically.”
He eyed her with a troubled gaze. “You’re shaking. Let’s get you inside.”
She followed him back inside and into the study, where he insisted she sit. He proceeded to pour her a hot cup of tea. A few sips helped calm her nerves.
“So what happened?” he asked after a few minutes.
She looked up at him, dreading disappointment when she admitted her mistake.
“I won’t judge, promise.”
“Well… let’s just say if we were living back in olden times, and I was a member of your clan, I’d have my first strike.”
“Oh. I see.”
“Everything was going so great. Perfect really. More perfect than anything I could have ever imagined, or seen in dreams, or visions. And then this thing happened…” She explained the man following her, getting scared and letting instinct take over.
When she finished Fazendiin startled her by bounding out of his chair with a look of anger.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She’d disappointed him. Proven she had no willpower after practically swearing she’d never do such a thing. But to her surprise he came over and knelt before her.
“It’s not your fault. I’m sorry. I should have better prepared you before sending you out there. We can control it, but sudden, unexpected fear for one’s life tends to bring it out of us. Especially once you’re aware of the power. I should have warned you, prepared you for that possibility.”
“It’s not your fault someone attacked me. And I was being stupid, tempting fate walking down a street all alone in the dark. I guess I let myself get a little too comfortable. Forgot where I was.”
He got off his knees and sat back down in his chair.
“Still… I’m sorry, Juliska. Truly. I guess your parents should have found a better teacher for you. Perhaps I have been living alone and wrapped up in my own little world for too long as well.”
“You have Basil.” She sat back and let out an uneasy laugh. “Look, whatever the reason, it’s happened now. I got scared and ran home like a frightened little girl,” she admonished, with a roll of her eyes. “Something I meant for my attacker to do, not myself.”
Fazendiin smiled tightly. “Like you said, regardless of the how and why, it has happened. So we’ll have to address this situation. I can show you how to control it from now on, but the need will return. There’s nothing you can do about that other than make yourself immortal…” he chuckled as if making a bad joke.
“Right. There’s always that.” She blew it off as nothing more than an attempt to lighten the situation. Still… it was more appealing than accidentally hurting anyone. But not something she was ready to consider yet.
“It will be okay, Juliska,” he assured.
She nodded weakly. Unsure. And suddenly tired.
“Can we continue this tomorrow? I’m feeling quite exhausted and rather idiotic at the moment, and I think a hot bath and some sleep are in order.”
“You are disappointed in yourself,” he stated. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. It is your nature. Better it happen how it did, rather than…” he trailed off.
“Better than if I’d done it back home, to someone I care about…” she finished. “Better in the outside world, where no one knows what I am, than on the island, where they’d find out what I am and…” she trailed off.
Neither needed to say more.
The point was made.
Things had changed. Forever. Regardless of her feeding now or later… she was a vampyre and needed to accept and understand what it meant for her future.
#
In the middle of the early hours of morning, Juliska slept, soundly.
She did not hear the heavy bedroom door open, or her host slip inside. He stood over her bed and let his palm hover just over her stomach. After a minute, he left just as quietly and returned to his study.
His mother’s stained glass frame waited for him.
“You’re despicable. Forcing her to feed,” she admonished freely. “You didn’t know what it might do to her child.”
“I had to move things along somehow. She wasn’t supposed to be here this long and I need her to return home. Isabella is on the estate now too. I have her stowed in a small cottage where Juliska cannot run into her. But soon, Isabella will need to come into the house for the remainder of her pregnancy.”
“Yes, let’s not mess up your precious timeline, or think about the fact that you’re planning on ruining Juliska’s life.”
He scowled. “Depends on your view I guess. She’ll thank me in the end. And you’ll be happy to know my little experiment seems to have worked. By feeding, the pregnancy did move forward just a little. I think the child will survive, thanks to me.”
“She only needed the help, thanks to you.”
Aloyna said nothing more. It was a dirty trick. Her son wanted the child for himself.
Don’t forget this is all because of you… these people suffer because of the prophecy…
A fake prophecy, with a real purpose. One she had to see through.
Patience, she reminded herself. All these long years she had waited, and at last, fate was about to catch up with its creator…
#
They spent the next few days discussing more about being a vampyre.
Mostly, how Juliska would need to feed, with the scenario of her returning to the Svoda as this might complicate things. Fazendiin insisted that the need might not show itself again for months, a year possibly, since she was still younger. But Juliska did not want to risk hurting anyone on the island, or exposing herself as a vampyre.
So it was decided that if the need found her, she’d have to leave the island to feed.
“But how? Leaving the island requires permission from the Viancourt or the Banon and is not permitted regularly.” Juliska worried this would be her greatest downfall, just getting past security to leave the island.
Fazendiin got out of his seat. “I think this is a problem I can help you with. I had been planning on giving you a going away present… a way to leave the island wasn’t exactly what it is meant for, but it might just do the trick.”
She eyed him incredulously. “Is there a problem you can’t solve?”
“A fair few, but my gift suddenly seems a prudent choice. Wait here.” He left the study. Just as he did, Aloyna appeared in the stained glass.
“Hello, Juliska.”
“Oh. Hello. How are you?” She pinched her eyes together. “I really need to stop asking you that.”
Aloyna smiled warmly. “I’m well as I can be and you can ask all you like. How are you today?” This was all she could do when in the presence of anyone that was not her son. Small talk. Meaningless conversation.
“I’m okay. Sort of. My life feels a bit chaotic and out of control. But your son is helping me with that.”
Aloyna smiled in return. She could do nothing else. Her son returned.
“Ah. Good morning, Mother.”
She nodded and left the room.
“It really is such a shame,” whispered Juliska. “What was done to her. Is there no way to free her?”
“One of those problems I have no fix for. I have not yet discovered a way to free her, but I will never stop looking.”
“With your de
termination, I imagine not. What happens if you never find a way?” She bit her tongue, thinking maybe it was a subject best left untouched. “Sorry, I just cannot imagine all you’ve gone through and the thought of the poor woman never being free again must be so difficult.”
“It is. But I manage the best I can. And so does she. Hope is not lost though. And time has a different meaning for me, and her, than it does for others.”
“Like me.”
He gave her a half shrug and a stiff grin.
“I have to tell you,” Juliska started. “I’ve been thinking about the whole being immortal thing. I still can’t imagine doing it, but I can see its appeal. Now perhaps more than I could before.”
“You mean before your travel plans went awry?”
“Yes. But not just because of the attack. Seeing the world for the first time like that… there’s so much to see, to do, to try… so much more than a normal lifespan would allow.”
“I cannot argue those points. All valid in my opinion.”
“I guess I could always feed to prolong my life, but I do not want to. I’m too afraid of the consequences of doing so.” She changed the topic. “So what’s this going away gift?”
He handed her a box.
She opened it carefully, and gasped, dropping it onto the floor. “What the heck is that?”
The most peculiar looking spider she’d ever seen came hopping out of the box, bounding across the floor. She jumped up onto her chair, watching it scurry around below.
“A spider?” she shouted. “What can I possibly do with this thing?” She shuddered at the very idea of accepting this gift.
“Come now, really? Afraid of a spider?”
“That’s not just a spider, that’s huge! And what is it made out of? Glass?”
“It’s my own creation. It’s quite real, alive. But also… changed. Transformed a bit. Enhanced. It’s a very pleasant creature. He’ll make a nice pet. His name is Pajak.”
“A pet, are you serious?”
“Yes. Come down out of that chair. I’ll show you.” He leaned over and tapped on his leg. The spider came clinking over and crawled up the outside of his pant leg. Fazendiin let it crawl into his hand. He pet it and it let out a sound almost like a high-pitched purr.
Juliska approached it cautiously. Its eyes followed her and gave her pause for a moment. She jumped when it bounded out of his hand onto her arm. It didn’t try to burrow its way into her clothes, or crawl around, it just sat there looking at her inquisitively.
“This is just beyond bizarre.”
The spider proceeded to crawl up her arm, slowly, and slink into her hair. It stretched out its legs and wrapped them around her hair. Then just sat there as if it had found a new home.
“Beautiful,” said Fazendiin. “And hidden in plain sight.”
Juliska tried to forget that a glass spider had made a home in her hair and asked him what she really needed to know. “Just how can this thing help me?”
“By reaching out to me when you need to feed. I created Pajak to understand human language. And gave it a direct contact line to me. Initially, this was to be a manner in which you could contact me if necessary, but now, it can also be a way off the island in an emergency situation.”
“Wow… that’s um… powerful magic.”
“You don’t live as long as I do without learning a few neat tricks.”
“Still, how will contacting you help me get off the island?”
“I can get you on and off the island without anyone knowing.”
“You can?”
“Yes.”
“But the Balaton, they have all these magical barriers…”
“They don’t keep me out.”
Her eyes widened. “If they don’t keep you out then why…” she stopped herself.
“Then why don’t I attack? Take over?”
“Sorry. Just popped into my head.”
“Maybe now you’ll believe me when I say I have no desire to do such things. If the Svoda on the island were the ones of old, my opinion might differ. If they ever gave me provocation, I can’t say I would not change my mind. But if they leave me to live in peace I will do the same.”
Juliska let out a deep exhale.
“So if I cannot fight the urge and need to feed, I can just tell Pajak and he’ll tell you, and you’ll get me off the island.”
“It’s that easy.”
“Easy?” she questioned half-heartedly. “Not that I’m not thankful and somewhat relieved, it’s just… none of this is easy.”
“It doesn’t need to be hard, Juliska. I realize you’re a little freaked out right now because of what happened when you were attacked. But with time you will learn control. I have faith in your abilities, even if you don’t, yet. So, Pajak… not such a creepy little gift after all, is he?”
She frowned. “Why not a bunny? Or a lady bug?”
“Don’t think so. I don’t like bunnies. Or small insects.”
She shook her head. “The great and mighty Grosvenor fears bunny rabbits…”
“I guess everyone fears something.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Hers was not the spider making a home in her hair though.
At least not right now. It was the fact that it was almost time for her to return home, to the island. To go back to her life. Would she be welcomed back and just slide into her old life? Was Eddy waiting for her?
Her fears surfaced later that night in her dreams. And the next night. And each night that followed leading up to when she’d leave for the island. The dreams were getting so awful she began to fear going to sleep, however, could not seem to keep herself awake. She was restless and yet exhausted. The dreams didn’t feel like visions, and she did not believe they were.
Just dreams. Nightmares. Her fears burrowing out of her subconscious like any normal person. And no dream was exactly the same, but each ended the same way.
An uncontrollable killing rampage when her vampyre side awakened with a need that could not be quenched. The first few dreams she killed her family. Then the next few, she killed Eddy. After that, she killed just about everyone on the entire damn island leaving behind a pile of lifeless corpses.
And right at the end, the dreams got super bizarre. There was one person left alive, an infant, which she held in her arms like it was her most prized possession. And then she burst into flames and when the fire went out, the infant was gone and she was on her knees looking over all the destruction she’d caused.
These dreams nagged at her day and night.
Even with the gift and promise of help from Fazendiin.
She feared returning home. Not just because she might hurt someone.
She was coming up on six months away. And her family, and Eddy, they had no idea if or when she’d return. She’d even given Eddy an out, a chance to move on with his life. What if he had? What if he’d met someone else… it was a thought she almost could not bear. Going home was not going to be as easy as she thought.
Eddy had once called her intuitive… he wasn’t wrong. She was sometimes, but more often than not, her gut feeling was correct. It had been wrong in the case of Fazendiin though, so maybe since she had been wrong before there was no reason to worry now.
She was going home a changed woman. Life on the island would never be exactly the same again. Part of her was excited by that fact, and the other part of her was scared out of her wits.
She sat up and swung her legs out over the edge of the bed. That stupid nausea had returned. Thankfully it never lasted long, but she was growing tired of it.
At breakfast, Fazendiin kept looking at her funny and she finally put down her fork and stared at him.
“You seem very agitated this morning,” he noted.
“Hm. Yes. Well…”
“Feel like sharing?”
Apparently she did.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m exhausted but I couldn’t possibly sleep right now. When I do sleep, I’m having w
acky dreams that I can only describe as disturbing. I feel like if someone wanted to pick a fight with me this morning I’d take them on, or maybe even instigate the fight. I’m not a fighter! I may have a bit of a temper, but I don’t start fights. I just feel… weird. Not normal.”
“Are you still getting those bouts of nausea?” he asked her, concerned.
“Yeah, that too.”
“Have you ever been sick before?”
“No. I’ve always been lucky. Very healthy. Never even had a cold.”
“Are the dreams why you’re not sleeping well?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “At least I think so.” She proceeded to explain her nightmares to him. “I guess I’m worried I will fail and hurt someone. Maybe even kill someone.”
“I’m not sure how to alleviate those fears, Juliska. I think this is something you have to work through on your own.” He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and stopped.
“What?”
“After breakfast, I had something to tell you but now, I’m worried it’s not the right time.”
“For what? Just tell me.”
“You are free to go home.”
“Oh…” She let out an even breath. She knew this moment was coming and still felt unprepared.
“I have taught and shown you all your parents desired, plus a few things. Their wishes are fulfilled. Now, the choice is completely yours Juliska. You can go back to the Svoda. But I would never force it upon you if you chose not to. It seems, if you examine your dreams, you do have some fears over doing so. And to be frank, I understand these concerns. They are valid. What happens if they discover what you are? I cannot answer that. At the same time, they are not the Svoda of old and raised you as one of their own.”
She nodded, understanding.
“I do want to go home,” she whispered. “I need to.”
“I did not think you’d choose otherwise. You have family there. Friends. Loved ones.”
“Yes.”
“Then it is the right choice for you.” He paused, looking at her evenly “There is one last offer I can make you. I wasn’t going to because it seemed clear to me you’d say no. And you may still, and that is perfectly acceptable. But I will offer just the same. All your fears could be alleviated by doing one thing…”
Forsaken (Fated Saga Fantasy Series Book 8) Page 18
