Crimson Secrets

by Garnet Davenport

  The man bowed. “As you ask.” He walked away.

  “What makes you think he will even know that it is mine?”

  The Morrígan turned to me. “Oh, you naive girl. You didn’t think all that time you spent with the Callamores that they didn’t test your blood once?”

  I stood weakly. “He won’t do whatever it is you want him to do!”

  The Morrígan was walking out, but she turned and glanced over her shoulder. “He already has done what I need him to do. He loves you. That is only the start. He would die for you, and that’s what I need him to do.”

  I went up to the bars of the cell in a rush. “He hasn’t done anything to you. Don’t hurt him!”

  She just kept walking.

  The sky turned red right before dusk. It looked like a cruel crimson red and orange that was splattered across the entire sky in anger. It worried me just seeing the sky with so many colors.

  What was Declan going to do? I didn’t know him well enough to know what his decision could be. I was worried—worried about what could happen to him. “Declan, wherever you are, don’t do anything to get yourself into trouble. I will be all right.” I laid there in the dirt on the floor of the barn praying that he will be all right. I decided that I would sacrifice myself before my parents could be slaughtered. I knew that this was only the beginning and that her torture had just begun. I had little hope for my happy future. I started to cry and continued until I was asleep.

  ➢12 Withdrawal

  My heart beat loud and hard. I could feel it throughout my entire body. My bare feet ran through the woods, I recognized the edge of the brush from my nightmares and continued forward. The yard of the Callamores was right in front of me. I kept tiptoeing through. There it was, the place that I once considered my prison, now my home.

  I walked inside and looked around. “Hello? Is anyone there? Declan?”

  Nobody came. Then I saw Mary. I went running for her. “Mary?”

  She walked right past me to the door, never even noticing me, opening it to the man-slave of the Morrígan’s that was ordered to bring the box.

  There he was, holding the box as he spoke. “I have a package for Declan Callamore. I was told to make sure he received it himself. Could you please get him?” He sounded so nice as he asked.

  Mary was suspicious but went to the intercom and paged for Declan. I was so excited that I was going to get to see him even if he couldn’t see me. Declan came rushing into the foyer.

  My heart beat harder. “Come on, feel me here. Declan, I’m right here.” I was begging and pleading that he would hear me.

  He went through and grabbed the guy and shoved him up against the wall. He had shaken the wall so hard when he hit, a picture had fallen to the floor, hitting with a loud breaking of glass.

  His forearm was on his neck as he ordered where I was. “Where is Shay? What have you done with her?”

  The guy didn’t speak, he just held out the box.

  “What is this?” Declan grabbed it from his hand and opened it. He handed it immediately to Mary, then knocked out the messenger. Guards came up behind him. “Take him to the basement.”

  Mary looked inside, and her hand went to her mouth. “Declan, I’m sure she is fine.” She went to reach for Declan’s shoulder, but he moved away.

  He grabbed the box back, handed it to another guard. “Take this to Nate. I want a full work-up on it.”

  The guard took the box. “Yes, sir.”

  Mary put her hand on his shoulder. “Declan, I know she is fine.”

  He shook his head. “How can she be? There had to have been almost four pints of blood in there.”

  He walked past me, almost looking into my eyes as he passed. He paused for a second and turned back around looking into my direction. I had hope for just a second.

  “Is something wrong, Declan?” Mary asked.

  He looked in my direction. “No.” He turned back around and then walked quickly up the stairs.

  I went running after him. He went into the office. Edness was in there with all the other council elders of our region. When he walked in he brought the room to silence.

  “There has been a development. A messenger has brought Shay’s blood to the house. I sent it to Nate to verify the validity of this messenger. He is now in the basement cellar.”

  Edness came over to Declan and put her hand on his cheek. “My boy, we will find her. Shay is strong. She will be brought home safe.”

  He turned away to gather himself and then went back to the table, placing his hands on the edge of it, leaning forward. The room was set up to be a war room. There were maps and notes set up everywhere. The maps were covered with red circles and troop paths.

  They were looking in the wrong area. “Declan, I’m here.” I felt pretty sure I knew where I was based on the amount of time in the car and because the air smelled like salt when we’d made a stop. I went to pick up a pen, but couldn’t grab it.

  Edness walked back over to Declan. “My boy, I know you are worried, and today’s events didn’t help, but you must rest. There will be plenty to come and you will need your strength. I will send for Nate to get your answer and to get you something to help you sleep.” Edness turned around to motion to a guard to get Nate.

  “Grandmother, I won’t sleep until she is safe with me.”

  Nate came into the room shortly after she spoke. “I’m sorry to confirm that it is a match.”

  I immediately felt rage. Nate handed him a pill to take. “I don’t want it.” Declan shook his head.

  “Now,” Edness ordered him. Declan held out his hand for the pill as he scowled at Nate. He popped it into his mouth.

  “Open,” his grandmother demanded.

  Declan turned and growled at her.

  “Declan. Swallow it,” I yelled at him. I had two hopes: one, that he would hear me if I was loud enough, and two, that if he didn’t hear or see me while he was awake then maybe he would while he was asleep.

  He swallowed the pill and showed his grandmother his empty mouth.

  “There you go,” she said. “Now, off to bed. If anything changes, I will send for you.”

  He just looked at her and started to walk out of the room.

  “Declan, aren’t you forgetting something?” Edness said.

  He turned back around and gave her a kiss on her cheek, then continued to walk out of the door. I followed him closely, talking to him as we walked down the halls together.

  “I’m sorry that I left here. I wanted the space to clear my head. This is just too much space. How am I supposed to make this life altering decision? I don’t even know who I am anymore, how can I decide for everyone else? How do I know who is telling the truth?” I looked up at him as he opened the door to his room and walked in.

  His room didn’t have very many personal items in it. The one thing that I noticed from the beginning was this teddy bear on the dresser, this strange white bear that had turned dark in some areas from age. It was probably from when he was younger. He walked past it and took off his shirt, then throwing himself into bed in one grand motion. I took the opportunity to look at all the tattoos that he had. They were so amazing, all the time and detail that must have gone into each design.

  I now could see his full sleeve of tattoos up close. The design poured onto his chest, continuing to a Celtic knot over his heart, and the name Hellena written in script curved below it to the side by his armpit. On his right side of his abdomen he had lines like small tallies that looked like long raindrops. I couldn’t really see too much detail with it. Then there were lines down his right shoulder of his back that looked like an old language. Maybe like some kind of Viking runes.

  It was weird seeing him like this. He was almost vulnerable, and I wished so much to be there with him. The scars that I could see in the dull light were large and discolored skin of his biceps and chest. I hadn’t thought too much about him actually being in battle but this confirmed that he had gone through war.

&
nbsp; I sat down on the edge of the bed and had my back to him. He grunted and rolled back and forth. I turned and looked over my shoulder; he still wasn’t asleep. What the hell would it take to knock him out?

  I stood and walked over to the bear and started to reach for it. I could touch it but not pick it up. What did this mean? He started to fall asleep after about an hour. He had such a high tolerance. I went and lay down on the bed beside him. I just wanted to feel the warmth of his body up against mine. But there was nothing. I was still freezing and I couldn’t do anything about it. I closed my eyes because they started to burn and just within a moment of doing that I heard a cracking sound.

  I was being pulled back to the cell; the door had opened. I could see both places in my blurred red vision. A blurred man walked into Declan’s room and he was headed for me. His outline was lit with a yellow light as he moved. He had some type of prod in his hand. It was lit on the end. As he got closer and closer my heart was jumping in no specific rhythm in a hard beat. I stood up from his bed, ready to be torn from him and brought back to the reality of my prison.

  “Shay?” Declan was sitting up and went toward me as if he could see me clearly.

  “Declan, can you see me?” I asked.

  He rushed to me, but couldn’t get to me. “Yes, what’s going on?”

  I turned toward the guy that I could see walking to me with the prod. “Declan, I have to talk quick. I don’t know how long I have. I’m trapped and so are my parents. I need you to make sure that they are all right. Promise me. Save them, I will be fine. We are on a farm somewhere miles out. You guys are looking in the wrong direction. It’s the Morrígan. She has us. She is going to take my blood for a ritual. And she wants you dead. Don’t come looking for me. Don’t rescue—Aaahhh!”

  The guy burned my side. My body thrusted when the heat hit my skin.

  “Shay, what’s happening?” He could see my skin start to burn. The flesh turned black and started to boil.

  “Shay! You tell them I will kill them all. I will find you.”

  I could feel myself slipping away from him. “Don’t.” I reached for him.

  In that moment I saw him reach for me, and I was no longer there. Instead there was the man standing over me leaning in to burn me again. “No, stop. Why are you doing this?” There was no answer, but I really wasn’t expecting one. My captors hadn’t been very forthcoming when it came to giving me any answers.

  Declan looked so angry, I needed to get back to him. I couldn’t have him look for me, and I need to make sure that my parents are all right.

  After being prodded like a cow for about twenty minutes and burned up and down my body, I had a chance to catch my breath.

  I had to try to figure out how I was able to connect with Declan again. Was this a walking dream? I knew that I had almost drifted off from exhaustion, but I couldn’t truly sleep. I paced back and forth in my cell with the horse blanket wrapped around me, waiting for someone to come back, but they never did. I waited through the night and the sun came up in the morning. No one came to check on me, give me water, or to see if there were any changes. Why? Shouldn’t they be checking on me? What could I do to get out of here? I started to move back and forth around the cell. What was I looking for?

  While pushing round the straw I found a sharp screw on the floor, mostly rusted, but it might work. I moved to the door of the cell and started to scrape it back and forth until I saw there was a difference in the welding. My hands scraped and bled as I continued ripping at the hinge. My determination was stronger than the pain that it was causing.

  I was able to get the hinge of the door loose on one side, and with all the strength I could muster I managed to push it out at an angle to break free. I looked to see if anyone was around who might have heard my escape. Seeing no one, I took off low to the ground until I saw some of the Morrígan’s man-slaves over toward the house. How could I get past them? My heart started to beat hard, and within that minute I was in full mac tire form. Crawling across the ground like a common household pet. How degrading.

  I turned and saw the house from the edge of the woods. My parents were inside. They were just talking to the Morrígan. Standing there quietly, I started to hear their conversation.

  “And that’s why you believe she can save us?” What were they talking about? I decided to get closer while listening.

  The Morrígan spoke. “She can develop these amazing abilities as long as she doesn’t bond with Declan. And then she can be more powerful than ever, she will save us all. These abilities that she is starting to discover will only improve and that will make her the mac tire that she is meant to be.”

  They all drank the wine the Morrígan had offered. “So what do we need to do?”

  I couldn’t believe this. My parents were conspiring with her and trying to keep Declan away from me. This woman had me threatened, tortured, and imprisoned.

  “If she bonds with Declan it will be too late, she has to remain an independent mac tire for the winter solstice ritual. Her abilities will grow quickly and she will have the ability to stop the hunters for good. She must break the curse to end the mac tire persecution.”

  She made it sound so important.

  “And what about my son?” my mother asked with her hands shaking on the wine glass and staring impatiently at the Morrígan.

  “It’s for the good of our species,” said the Morrígan.

  Knowing now that my parents were in no danger, I took off with all this new confusing information. I needed to find out more about this winter solstice ritual.

  It was such a magnificent idea—to be the savior of the entire species.

  ➢13 Defined Lines

  I would run. Edness Callamore said that there are other territories, other regions. I could go there and learn what they were hiding. I heard footsteps from behind. I turned to run. Branches cut my skin when I turned with speed. My heart was beating out of control. I couldn’t contain my breathing. It hurt and I couldn’t do anything about it. My feet started to ache. I didn’t know how to turn into my mac tire when I wanted to. Run, Shay, run. I tried to hold the horse blanket tight to me to keep the elements from my wounded skin.

  Footsteps came closer. I couldn’t outrun them. I was going to have to fight. I turned, searching for a high vantage point. I was tired. I hadn’t had real sleep in days. They came. I could see three men moving toward me from different angles. Hunting rifles ready. One shot grazed my arm and tore the blanket. I was going to die. Second shot. My upper thigh was hit, and I fell to my knees.

  I closed my eyes, waiting for the end. A howl came from the distance. Two of the hunters turned and started toward the howl. I heard screaming from the direction they went. I blinked my eyes several times watching the last hunter turn back and forth between me and the blackness in which his partners went but had not returned. I could see this hunter as he loaded more ammunition. I narrowed my vision in on the hunter as I watched him come closer and closer.

  My eyes started to blur from the pain. The hunter walked straight up to me and I heard the shot. My heart stopped for a moment as I looked straight into his eyes and then I turned my head and closed my eyes while I waited for the next shot. Everything around me started to disappear, and I felt like I was walking on a cloud. Muffled sounds from everywhere flooded my ears. I knew nothing about my surroundings. I didn’t know if it was heaven or hell or someplace in between.

  It was colder. I was cold. I was alive, and I was in pain. I opened my eyes to the one person that I didn’t think I would see. “What are you doing here?”

  He was looking straight at me. “I was out patrolling. I just happened across some hunters, and there you were,” Duncan said.

  I started to sit up and looked around at the warehouse he had brought me to.

  “No, don’t do that.” He took a step toward me. I flinched with pain. There was blood everywhere. “You were shot, twice.”

  I put my hand on my leg. “I need to get to a hospital.”<
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  He came closer. “You see, I’m working on that.”

  I looked at him, puzzled.

  “I called Nate. He should be here any minute. So I need you to hold on. I’ve already got enough to apologize to my brother. I’m not going to add this to the list.” Duncan turned away slowly clearing his throat. “So, you just have to sit and keep breathing.” He cleared his throat again.

  “Is Declan coming with Nate?”

  Duncan turned around and grabbed an energy drink. “No, I told Nate not to tell him. I figured if anything happened to you, it would be harder if he was around. You know, more demanding.”

  I chuckled. “No, don’t make me laugh.”

  There was awkward silence before I realized just how far out I actually was. “You were out patrolling?” I looked over at him.

  “I happened to be in the area, and I knew you were around. I could feel you, your breath and heartbeat, your pain.” He turned away and walked over to the darkened windows to look out at the fresh blanket of snow. “It’s good that the snow is falling harder. It will cover our tracks.”

  I had turned away, embarrassed that he had this connection to me; however, I had nothing for him. We sat in silence without even the glance at each other for the rest of the time.

  It was hours before we heard from Nate. I had drifted in and out during this time, half sleeping, half awake. Duncan came over to me and sat beside me. I leaned up against his chest, hearing his heartbeat steadied mine and it was comfortable, a familiar type of comfortable. “I’m so tired,” I said as he tucked my hair behind my ear and touched the side of my face.

  “Sleep,” he said as I drifted off.

  He jolted up. “I hear someone. I’ll be back.” He helped lay me back down on the makeshift couch, strategically placed out of direct sight of the warehouse door, that was actually a back seat bench to some old car. I heard a metal door open and close. “She’s back this way.”