Crimson Secrets

by Garnet Davenport

  A deep voice came through the speaker. “Who is this? Where’s Mary?”

  I turned to her and she urged me to answer. “This is Shay. I’m helping Mary with dinner. Will you be joining us?” I felt excited and on edge. My heart started to race faster and faster. “Hello, is anyone there?” No one answered. “Hello?” I said with a quivering voice.

  “No,” said the voice over the intercom, and sent chills up my spine.

  I turned to Mary. “I guess he doesn’t need anything. Who was that?”

  She sighed and continued to knead the dough. “Come over here, sweetie, and start cutting these vegetables. That was Declan.”

  I looked up at her. “Declan? The other brother that’s all dark and broody? He doesn’t even talk to me.”

  She put some plastic wrap over the top of the bowl for the bread to rise then started to tell me about Declan. “He is Julius’s eldest son. He just turned twenty-one, and he’s the heir to our territory.”

  I was interested to hear more about him. “So, why does he act the way that he does?” I looked up at her trying to not make it obvious that I wanted to know the gossip.

  “He lost his mate to hunters almost two years ago. Poor boy, he will never be the same. They were out trying to move the hunters away from the region, and they were separated. He holds himself up in his room and only comes out when Mrs. Callamore asks him to.” She shook her head with sympathy.

  “Oh, sorry to hear that.” I spoke with the same sympathy for him.

  The intercom buzzed again. “Yes?” I answered.

  “Now, my dear, why are you answering? Come to the living room right away. Mary?”

  She walked over to the intercom, wiping her hands on her apron before she reached for it. “Yes, ma’am?” She looked a little worried.

  “Miss Evans will not be doing any chores around the house. If she is found doing anything other than what she has been instructed to do please inform me immediately of her decision. Do we have an understanding?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Then she looked up at me as I walked out of the kitchen and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”

  And yet again I got close to knowing something and it got ripped right out from under me.

  I continued to walk into the living room. “Yes, Mrs. Callamore?”

  She looked up at me. “Miss Evans. May I speak with you for a moment?”

  I swallowed. “Yes, Mrs. Callamore.”

  She stood this time. “There are people in this house that do not wish to be bothered, and I expect that you will not only maintain your distance, you will respect their privacy,” she said in a firm tone.

  “Yes, Mrs. Callamore.”

  “You have a book awaiting you in your room on your lineage.”

  I sighed, thinking to myself that I had even more homework. “Yes, ma’am.” I turned and walked out of the room while she sat and continued to sip her tea.

  Poor Declan. No wonder he was always in a bad mood. I turned down the hall just in time to see a shadow and then the door shut. “Hello?” I shuffled down the hall never taking my eyes off the door as I walked my back was up against the wall. I reached my room and backed in slowly shutting the door very quietly. I wondered what happened. They said I was the first female mac tire in generations, so she must have been human—well, as human as you can be for this group.

  I opened the book sitting on the bed and read about a powerful sorcerer and the talismans he forged over his lifetime and the power he created within them. It spoke of a mac tire sword that could place wind in the wielder’s hand and penetrate any object or being. Then the book told of chained cuffs that could strip abilities from any mac tire. The sorcerer created these talismans to capture any mac tire he wanted. Rituals could be performed to take power away from the mac tire and transfer it to the sorcerer. Then there was mention of the Quadripartite, a brotherhood of hunters from the earliest days that used bows and arrows to honor their killings of all mystical creatures. My ancestors used sweat lodges to help meditate and ease joint pain when they first emigrated from Ireland in the 1800s. They learned some techniques from the Native Americans. They had several homeopathic ways to heal themselves. There were rituals that the mac tires perform every winter and summer solstice under the high of the moon.

  There was so much information, my head was spinning. I had so much to catch up on. Male mac tires had it so easy. They got to learn all this over like five years, not in one month.

  The intercom beeped, and I walked over and pushed a button. “Yes?”

  It cracked as a woman spoke. “Lunch will be served in fifteen minutes, and you are expected in the dining room.” It cracked again as she finished speaking. It wasn’t Mary. I hoped I hadn’t gotten her in trouble.

  I walked out of my room and turned down the hall to see if the door at the end of the hallway was open, but it wasn’t. I walked down the staircase and into the living room. Edness Callamore was nowhere to be seen.

  I was looking around at all the antique items and books that she had in the bookcases lining the walls. One of the housekeepers came into the living room. “Miss Evans, please join Mrs. Callamore in the dining room.”

  I smiled at her and she nervously smiled back. “Thank you.”

  When I walked into the dining room, Edness Callamore and Declan were already at the table. Declan stood, made his way to me, and pulled out the chair. I cautiously sat, looking up at him as he helped me move the chair closer to the table. I looked at Mrs. Callamore as he placed his hand on my right shoulder. My heart started to pound the instant he touched me.

  He moved his hand away quickly, and I looked up at him to see him staring back.

  “My boy, have a seat,” said Mrs. Callamore. “I would like to apologize for the lateness of lunch.”

  He turned to her. “Yes, ma’am.” Then he walked back to his chair and had a seat while he continued to glare toward me.

  I felt an extreme, uncomfortable warmth the rest of lunch, as if I had a fever. I started to get lightheaded. “Mrs. Callamore, I’m not feeling very well.” I must have looked like a ghost when I said it, because the next thing I knew, Declan was ordered out of the room, and I was being carried out and into a separate wing of the mansion. It looked like a medical facility.

  A man put heart monitors on me and then an IV in my left arm. I felt so lightheaded. “What is going on? What happened?”

  Edness Callamore was standing by the door. I looked over toward her. She ignored my questions. Her arms were crossed over her chest while she watched what was happening to me.

  The man that put the IV in started to walk toward her. “Thosaigh sí a aistriú go luath, tá mé ag a thabhairt di sreabhán a cool ar a teocht an choirp síos.”

  I looked up at them. “What?”

  They both turned quickly toward me as I tried to sit up.

  “My dear, did you understand what he just said?” Edness Callamore took a few steps toward me.

  “What are you talking about? He spoke perfectly clearly. Why did he say I am transitioning early?” I asked, laying my head back down. She turned away from me and walked out of the door in a hurry.

  “When can I leave?” I asked the man monitoring my heart.

  He looked at me and then at the monitor. He walked over to me and sat on the stool by the table where I was lying. “Honestly, other arrangements have to be made. You must keep your distance from the Callamore sons until this is worked out.”

  I just looked at him in shock.

  He stood, and then walked out the room. When the door opened, I could hear so much arguing. I am sure it was Julius and Declan.

  My heart raced. Before I knew it, I had ripped the IV out of my arm and jumped out of the bed. With my bare feet, I ran, trying to find a way out. It was as if I had tunnel vision, running down the hall until I found a door that led out of the mansion. When I opened it an alarm went off, flooding through the hall in a sharp-pitched tone, I covered my ears with my hands until I was far enough away f
rom the mansion, and I ran for the woods.

  ➢7 Hostage

  The moon was coming up while I was running in the woods. The air outside was chilled and dry; it smelled like fresh snow. I stopped and took a deep breath and saw the warmth in the air that was coming off my skin. I needed to run—from all of this. I didn’t know what was out there, but it had to be better than here. I was being held hostage in that lurid mansion. I turned around to look back, and out of nowhere there were two wolves coming at me. One was the wolf I had seen over and over, with blueish-silver fur and ice-blue eyes, and the other a pure silver-furred wolf with ice-blue eyes, both so beautiful, but I turned away from them and ran.

  There were more trees surrounding the mansion than I had ever seen before. I ducked and dodged through them with ease, never turning back to see them coming after me. All I knew was that I could hear them in the distance. I came to the river. It must have followed the property. I jumped the wide water, catching myself on the other side and then continuing to run in one fluid motion.

  I quickly made it to a road. I turned back to catch a glimpse of a shadow inches from my face. My heart pounded, and I turned hot. The shadow figure got closer. It reached out and covered my eyes and mouth, and it tried to pull me to the ground. I fought back, trying to get away from this stranger I couldn’t see. I grabbed at it, and my hand suddenly boiled. I heard it cry out in pain. Then, in that instant, it dropped me to the ground. I hit my head, and then everything was dark.

  ***

  I awoke in my room at the Callamores’. Everything was so sharp. I could see objects even more clearly now in the room. I didn’t know what happened the previous night, but I think someone tried to kill me and I didn’t ever want that to happen again.

  There was a quick knock at the door, and before I could speak, Edness Callamore entered. She quickly walked over to me. “My dear, we need to talk about yesterday’s events.”

  I folded my arms across my chest in a defensive manner. “I believe we do.”

  She laid her hands in her lap. “I want you to feel completely safe here while you are going through your transition.”

  I nodded my head in agreement. “I should.”

  She looked at me then put her left hand on my lap. “You will be confined to this room during the duration of your transition.”

  My jaw dropped. “What?”

  She moved her hand back as if she was afraid of me. “You continue to fight your transition and run from the safety of the property.”

  I knew she could tell that I was angry. “Excuse me? Duncan kidnapped me. I have been forcefully moved from room to room, no one will tell me anything, and someone tried to kill me last night. If you don’t mind, I will be leaving today,” I said, not asking as I got up.

  “No, my dear, you are not allowed to leave either.”

  I turned around to look her in the eye.

  “You have to understand. We do not know what is happening to you. We do not know the extent of your abilities, whether you are capable of hurting someone, or if you are a danger even to yourself. You must stay here until we know the extent of your developing abilities.”

  I sat back down on the bed thinking about what it would be like if I hurt Tommy. I would never be able to live with myself. While I sat there speechless, Edness Callamore got up and left.

  After a few minutes had passed I needed to ask her a question, and when I opened the door, there were two really large guards standing outside my door.

  “Miss Evans, you are not to leave your room,” the taller one said.

  “I wanted to speak with Mrs. Callamore.”

  The taller spoke again. “I will inform her of your request. Please go back into your room.”

  I closed the door, realizing I had just become a prisoner. I leaned back against the door and slid down, sitting on the floor.

  All I could do was stay there. It felt like days had passed as I remained prisoner in my room. I saw the sun come up and go down. At night, when I lay in my bed, I couldn’t do anything my body was telling me to. I felt an intense pressure building that was constantly making me pace my room.

  Some mornings when I awoke, I found blankets and clothes ripped, scratches on the walls, and broken lamps and furniture. My heart beat so rapidly I couldn’t breathe. It was too painful, and I couldn’t move. I would lay with my eyes open, unable to move. Sometimes I could feel tears stream down my face. I had almost no memory of anything that was happening.

  I hadn’t seen Edness Callamore in about a week. She left me there, to let my mind wonder about what would happen to me on the new moon. The only interaction I received was with Mary when she brought me food. When that door opened, my nerves were on edge, my heart pounded, and I couldn’t think of anything else but to run. It was only getting worse. I was trapped inside my own body’s prison.

  There was a knock at the door. Mary came in with dinner. I was sitting on the floor by the bed. “Miss Evans, please get up.”

  I looked up at her face. She was blurry. I could hardly make out that it was even her. I tried to say I couldn’t get up, but I couldn’t. I fell from my propped up position, my head hit the floor, and my eyes glazed over. I couldn’t see anything but blurry shapes when they moved.

  “Declan!” Mary screamed running over to me.

  I felt her hand on my forehead, and then I saw a blur run into the room.

  “Something’s wrong. She just fell.” Mary tried to pick me up. I could feel her fingers tight on my skin.

  Then familiar hands were bracing my back and legs, lifting me off the floor. I laid limp in his arms as he carried me down the hall to the stairs. My heart was beating out of my chest. I could feel his beat with mine. I thought I was going to die; I felt so much pain, and I just wanted it to be over. He carried me into that same room that looked like it belonged in a hospital and set me down on the table, brushing my hair out of my face. I could see blurry movements of color.

  Then, when another man ran into the room, Declan backed out. I could hear Mary talking to the man. It was all jumbled together. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t move. They continued to talk as I drifted off.

  My skin was hot. It was like there was fire surrounding me. It hurt, on top of everything else, but I couldn’t run anywhere. The flames were taller than the room. The ground began to shake beneath me. The flames swept closer, moving around me, engulfing me in a circle. The heat scorched my skin. The fire rose up around me enclosing me in a tomb.

  My heart stopped for just a moment when I had no breath to take in. Numbness started at my toes and fingertips and ran fast through to my core. Then it ebbed away just as it had come. I gasped, bringing in the air I needed, and my eyes shot open. I saw a blurry figure standing in front of me as I lay on the table.

  “Shay, oh my god, I thought you were going to die.”

  I looked in her direction. “Mary? What happened?” I started to try to sit up.

  “Don’t try to do that. Lay back down.”

  I looked around the room blinking wanting to get my vision back.

  “No, I need to get up.” I sat all the way up and then hopped off the table. I could make out a blurry figure leave the room. “Who was that?”

  Mary turned toward the door. “That was Declan. He brought you down here to the infirmary.”

  I started after him, pulling the machine that was monitoring my heart right through the door behind me.

  “Wait!” I said to no one there. “Thank you.” I stood just outside the door for a moment. Then I walked back into the room.

  “What is going on here?” Edness Callamore said as she walked through the door with the look of murder on her face.

  “Shay almost died. I had to get Declan to bring her down here.”

  Edness Callamore stood in anger. “Yes, she obviously looks like she is dying.” She waved her hand up and down presenting me as evidence.

  Mary begged, “Mrs. Callamore, I promise you—”

  She held up her hand. �
�Just stop. Return to the kitchen.”

  Mary lowered her head. “Yes, Mrs. Callamore.” Then she walked out the door.

  “You don’t have to talk to her that way,” I said. “She didn’t do anything wrong. Something was wrong with me. I couldn’t tell you what, or even what happened, but you haven’t been here to help.” I yelled at her as if it was really her fault, even though I knew it wasn’t. I pulled off the pads that connected me to the heart monitor and walked past her and through the door. I could still hear Edness Callamore talking. I kept walking, I wasn’t going to go back to my room, and I had been prisoner for too long.

  I want to thank Declan. I felt like he had saved my life more than once. I walked down to the end of the hall, where I had seen him before. I took a deep breath and knocked on his door, waited, and then knocked again.

  “Declan?” I paused. “Are you there?”

  I knocked again. I turned away from his door and saw the most beautiful blueish-silver-furred wolf—the same one I had seen out in the woods several times before. I jumped. He bared his teeth at me. “I’m not sure who you are. Are you Duncan?” I stepped to the side. He watched me as I moved. “Duncan, I am really scared right now. I just wanted to say thank you to your brother.”

  He curled his lips more, showing more of his teeth.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t even tell you what is going on. I could have just died. How is that possible? And when I was in that room I was burning, I mean really burning. I saw fire build up around me. I don’t know how I am alive. How am I alive?” I looked away from him.

  I then realized in that moment that I must have died, or at least I experienced the closest thing to death. I was so overwhelmed I fell to the floor. I leaned up against the wall, staring at the floor. “I died. What is happening to me? I should not be alive right now.” The images of the fire wrapped around my brain, and I couldn’t stop seeing it play over and over. I was so overcome by my thoughts that I didn’t even realize that I was picked up off the floor and moved to a room, which was where I woke up the next day.