Gregory glanced down at the broken mirror and then looked up at me again. His face twisted into a snarl of fury. “Do not tell me what to do!” he roared. He moved a quick step towards me and slapped my face.
Pain raced across my already sore face. I cried out and tried to shove him away. Gregory parried my attempt and swung around, throwing me to the floor.
I hit the floor hard and it seemed as if every bone in my body had broken. I lay still for a moment and then tried desperately to crawl away. Unfortunately, my arms didn’t want to work right. They collapsed and I fell flat on the floor. I saw Gregory loom over me. “You listen to me, Juliana. You are my wife, my property. I will not take this disobedience from you. Never repeat what you just did. Do you understand?”
I raised my head to glare at him. “Gregory, go to hell,” I snarled back.
“You’re my wife. You will do as I say!” He jabbed me with his front foot and got me in the ribs. I winced and struggled again to get to my feet, but I was too exhausted, too weak. He kicked again and all I could see was a blur heading towards my face. My jaw exploded in fresh agony and that was the last thing I knew.
***
When I remembered waking I was not in my right mind, to say the least. I had become very sick and several days had passed since the event. “Nice day, eh? Where’s Adam? I thought he would be here by now. I’m so hot. Why is it so bright in here? And where is he? I saw him only yesterday.”
“Hush, Julia. You have no idea what you are saying.” The person laid a cloth on my forehead. It felt reassuringly cool.
“What? Who’s here? Of course I know what I am talking about. Where is Adam? I saw him yesterday.”
“It’s Crystal, Julia. Get some water, Katherine. Sis, you’re going to be okay. Just try not to talk.” I suddenly recognized the voice and it sounded tired and anxious.
“But Crystal,” I protested. “I want to talk to Adam. I just saw him yesterday but–” I started to say in confusion. Crystal suddenly thrust a tall glass in front of my face.
“Drink this,” she ordered tartly. Crystal tilted the glass so every drop slid down my throat. She handed it back to someone and ordered more. She sighed and looked back at me. “Julia, it is not Sunday. It’s Wednesday. Moreover, you have not seen Adam in months, remember? You saw me on Saturday. Father and I.”
“But I thought it was Sunday today. And I swear I saw–”
Crystal cut me off, saving me although I didn’t realize it at the time. “No,” she said firmly. “You saw me on Saturday and it is Wednesday. You’ve been very sick, Julia. You’re delirious. You have no idea what you’re saying.”
“She knows exactly what she’s saying! She did see that son–of–a–”Gregory started from behind her.
“Gregory, be quiet! She saw me on Saturday. She’s been running an incredibly high fever and until now had been having coughing fits constantly. She’s seeing and hearing things. Besides just why is her jaw all purple and swollen? She has no idea what she’s saying. A little while ago she was talking about strange lights in the sky and vampires. We know they do not exist, right?”
“True,” Gregory growled, avoiding her question. He turned and left the room. Minutes afterwards, I drifted back into unconsciousness.
It was night and I was just emerging from a house. It wasn’t my mansion, but a smaller, less comfortable home. It looked almost like a wooden shack compared to the home I was used to. Adam emerged out of the house right after me. “So, this is living in the night,” he commented casually.
I nodded, glancing at him. “More or less. You blend into the shadows and do not see many people,” I answered.
Adam grinned. “I can get to like this. I can see you for the rest of eternity.”
“Forever,” I agreed. I turned and walked down the street. It was supposed to be pitch black out in the dream, but surprisingly I could see everything perfectly, including the dark green of tree leaves. “A child of the night,” I muttered softly. I smiled a little and continued walking. Adam followed.
“And I thought vampires were supposed to be evil. I guess they’re just...different,” he said quietly.
“Different but not necessarily bad,” I replied. The image was replaced by a different image instead. It was of Gregory holding an ax. I was bound and gagged behind him. Adam was thrown into the room by someone I didn’t know. He was unconscious and showed no sign of waking. Gregory raised the ax and I tried to scream, to warn him, but the gag prevented me from doing so. The ax came down across Adam’s back and there was blood everywhere. Somehow, I wasn’t gagged anymore and I began to scream endlessly.
I awoke to a world that held nothing for me. The lighting in the room was incredibly dim. I realized it had to be night, although I had no idea which night it was. Crystal was sleeping in a chair next to my bed. I saw a doctor’s bag on the dresser across the room and knew he had to still be in the house. “What?” I whispered in confusion. My voice was so weak that it could barely be heard but in the silence of the room it was just loud enough to wake my sister.
Her eyes flew open and she quickly looked at me. She saw that my eyes were open and sat up. “Juliana? Are you awake?” she asked, as if she wasn’t sure.
I nodded, not trusting my voice. I coughed weakly and then rasped out, “My eyes are open, are they not?”
My sister looked relieved but concerned at the same time. “Your eyes had opened several times before, Juliana, but you were not fully awake,” she answered my sarcastic remark. “I wasn’t sure if you were really awake at first.” Crystal stood up and put a hand on my forehead. She nodded to herself. “Your fever’s down quite a bit. That’s why you’re awake.”
I frowned, troubled. “I do not remember opening my eyes. Wait– I remember I once did. I do not really remember it though,” I said confused. “Some water please?”
Crystal handed me a glass of water. “You were in some kind of sleep for the past two weeks or so. We were able to feed you and give you water during those periods of wakefulness but each time you didn’t remember the time before. You also talked about the strangest things.”
I slowly drank the water and noticed how my hands shook with weakness. “Two weeks? Two whole weeks? It couldn’t have been that long,” I protested.
“It was. I have been counting the days.” Crystal nodded towards a calendar. “The doctor was just about to give up on you. Those silly doctors,” she said, shaking her head.
I nodded groggily. “They do not realize that I am a survivor.”
“I’ll be back in a minute. I’m going to go get the doctor.”
“All right,” I muttered uncertainly. Two entire weeks of my life had passed and I couldn’t remember any of it. In another week I would turn sixteen. It was a hard thing for me to accept.
Crystal returned with the doctor and my husband. Gregory came to my side. “Darling, are you all right?” he asked.
I looked at him darkly and shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Gregory smoothed back my hair and gently stroked my face. “You are going to get better now, Julia. We are going to be fine,” he said in a soothing voice.
I said nothing as he moved away and the doctor came to my side. He checked me over and commented, “You have a remarkable wife, Mr. Smith. Her recovery is amazing. . . but she still needs rest. Who would you want to stay with you, Mrs. Smith? It can only one person.”
“My sister,” I whispered. Gregory looked momentarily startled but quickly recovered. The doctor looked surprised as well. I guess it was customary for the woman to ask for her husband to stay with her. I never was really into tradition. Especially now.
Gregory took my answer remarkably well. “If Julia wants her sister to stay with her it is perfectly all right with me. Crystal has been a wonderful help to me during Julia’s illness. Get some rest Juliana. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”
Crystal and I both nodded. Gregory left the room and the doctor gave my sister a few more instructions. He left a mi
nute later. Crystal looked back at me. “What happened to your jaw?” she asked.
I looked at her uncomfortably. “I do not remember,” I answered quietly, leaning back against my pillows. I was exhausted but I also wanted to fill in some of the blanks in my memory. I wanted to know what had happened in the last couple of weeks. “Crystal, what has happened these last two weeks?’ I asked.
Crystal sighed and then answered “Your husband called me Sunday night two weeks ago. He told me that Adam had found you that morning and bought you home after your argument with Father. Gregory said Adam had stayed until you regained consciousness and then left. He then said that you had gotten up and began to walk around the room, then suddenly fell. He told me that is how your jaw got bruised and swollen. Is that true?”
“I think so,” I answered uncertainly. Truthfully, my memories weren’t very clear about that time, I couldn’t quite remember exactly what had happened. I remembered arguing, falling. But I couldn’t remember if I had hit my jaw during the fall or if Gregory had hit me. I thought for a long moment. “Honestly, Crystal, I’m not sure.” I admitted, shaking my head.
Crystal nodded and continued, not pressing the question. “He told me you had blacked out and hadn’t regained consciousness since. I told him to call the doctor and that I would be right over.”
I nodded for her to continue. “Was I running a fever then?” I prompted softly.
“When I got here you were running an incredibly high fever. You were practically burning up as I watched, but you were chilled and unconscious. A few hours later you woke but you were talking nonsense. You kept mentioning vampires and seeing Adam. You couldn’t seem to figure out that you couldn’t see him. You kept talking like you really had seen him the day before.”
“Oh no,” I moaned. “Gregory heard?”
“Aye, but I told him you did not know what you were saying. You had no clue. You were hallucinating. It was the truth, after all.”
“More or less,” I agreed. “How did he take it?”
“He was not too happy but knew I had spoken the truth. I stayed up with up with you the entire first night and slept away the second morning. I was awakened by the doctor who told me he didn’t expect you to live though the week. I decided to relay the information to our parents and get some clothing from home. I was hoping to make Father feel guilty about the doctor’s prognosis. He did not seem to understand he was partly the reason for your condition. Mother understood though. She cried a lot. She said she did not want you to die before her– she was much sicker more of the time. I then went to the market to find our brother. He was going to a meeting. I was also. . . looking for Adam.” Crystal admitted softly. “I knew you would have wanted him to know.”
“Did you find them?”
“Adam found me first. He saw me looking at passing people and came over himself to find out if you were all right. I told him what information I had including what the doctor had said. He took the news hard, Julia. The look on his face was pure rage. He said that if you died he would have killed our father himself for making you flee like that into the cold. He then told me to tell you his prayers were with you and to please keep him updated on your condition. He then walked back to his stand and I found Peter.”
“Did he even care?” I asked Crystal.
“In his own way. He shook his head and said it was a crying shame. I come back here and your husband and I took turns sitting with you. You began to rally slightly that Wednesday. You opened your eyes and began to talk again but once again you rarely made sense. And the stuff that did make sense I had to pretend didn’t. You were asking about Adam and I certainly could not tell you that you really saw him on Saturday in front of your husband.”
“Oh, I do remember that. I couldn’t figure out why you kept denying the fact that I had seen him then.” I shook my head. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I gave you some water and you slowly slipped back under. I was giving the family updates every day of course. You seemed to continue to get better for those couple of days until last Sunday but then suddenly deteriorated again. I went back into town to tell Adam that we were preparing for the worst. He was scared, but he would not admit it to me. However, I knew because I could see it in his eyes. He sat down and told me to wait a second. He wrote you a letter and gave it to me to read to you.”
“Were you able to understand it?” I whispered.
Crystal nodded. “He remembered that I couldn’t read well and made it simple enough for me to read. I had to wait to read it though, because Gregory was home that night. I hesitated waiting– afraid that you would die before you heard it. The next night I was able to read it to you. You had begun to improve again and I hoped that the letter would be a source of strength for you. Come to think of it, it did seem to have an effect on you. Your fever had begun to go down again before I read it . The next day it went down even farther and you just seemed to fight more. This is Saturday night, Julia.”
I smiled a little. “Do you still have the letter?” I asked.
“Aye. Right here,” Crystal replied. She unfolded a piece of paper and handed it to me. I opened it with shaky fingers and read it. The words were simple – for Crystal’s benefit – but the meaning was clear. He didn’t want me to die, was reassuring me that happier times lay ahead. I folded it and handed it back to my sister.
“I have to leave,” I muttered.
“What?! Juliana, you are not going anywhere. You are weak and running away isn’t going to help your life. You will just die out there. You have nowhere to go.”
“I do not care,” I answered sitting up dizzily. My sister pushed me back down.
“Do not worry, Juliana. You’ll be all right. Things will get better. Just rest and get your strength back. Things will look a lot better if you’re well.”
I nodded in resignation. “Fine Crystal. Let me sleep.”
“Good night, Julia.”
***
Chapter 4
It’s been slightly over a full year since I was married. Actually a year and two months, but who was counting except me? I was now sixteen and a half years old. It had taken about two months to regain my strength after the illness that had nearly killed me. I saw Adam twice after I had recovered enough to go out and it was only in passing at the market. Surprisingly, my husband was incredibly helpful and caring during my recovery. I thought perhaps Gregory and I could really start over and have a decent life.
At the moment I stood at our parlor window staring out into our gardens. Gregory came up and put his arm around my waist. “How fare thee, Julia?” he asked.
“Better than I have in months,” I admitted. I enjoyed the serenity that had enfolded our house, was relieved that all the bruises had finally faded. I hesitated doing anything that would upset the delicate sense of peace.
“That is good. Do you have any plans for today?”
“I was thinking of going into town later,” I answered.
“Ah. Any particular reason?”
“My only motive is to get outside more.”
“Good idea. Do you want me to go with you?”
I looked at him and smiled. “Aye, I do not mind.”
Gregory smiled and turned towards the door. “Do you think you will need a cloak, Juliana?”
I thought for a second. “I do not think so. It is warm enough today. It’s still summer, after all.”
We left the house and walked down to the market. Gregory suddenly broke away a few feet and went to speak to an older man. I continued a little ways down the aisle and stopped by a stand of books. I had just started looking at them when someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into a darkened corner before I could react. The person released me once we were partly hidden from view. I whirled around and saw Adam watching me earnestly. And my husband was just a ways down the street. Suddenly, the distance seemed much shorter. I let out a shaky breath.
“I was hoping you would be here today,” he said right off.
My ey
es darted from him to the exit leading back to the center of the market. I was afraid Gregory would see us together and I didn’t want him angry again. I decided I had no choice but to act completely hostile towards Adam. “You crazy fool. How dare you drag me over here?”
Confusion flickered in his eyes. “I had to talk to you.”
Adam, I am married. This is not proper,” I protested.
“Julia –”
“Nay. I am here with my husband, he’s down there. I just want you to leave me to a peaceful life. Can you not do that? We cannot be together. There’s no other way, Adam.”
“Julia, what in the world is wrong with you? What words did they poison your mind with when you were trapped in that house? Juliana ....” He touched my shoulder. I fingered the note I had in hand and turned away from him. I cut my finger and wrote a very short explanation after the actual note. I didn’t have any ink with me. Adam stepped up behind me as I re–hid the note.
I turned and slapped him. “Just leave me alone! I’m happy!” I yelled, running past him. As I did so, I shoved the note into his hand. I left him staring in bewilderment and went to stand next to my husband. After a minute Adam also walked out, his face stony, stride filled with repressed anger. I had no way of knowing if he had read the note. I felt helpless as he turned and disappeared in the opposite direction. I then looked up at my husband. He smiled broadly.
“That’s a way to tell off an overeager peasant,” he said. “Do you think we’ll have any more problems with him?”
“Nay,” I answered curtly. Gregory smiled again and put his arm around me.
“Good. If you are done here then we should get home. We were invited to dinner at the Johnson’s. Do you think you will come?”
“Nay, I’m too exhausted. Let’s go,” I replied wearily. Gregory nodded and steered me towards home. I didn’t see Adam once as we left.
As soon as we arrived home I sat down in a chair and immediately dozed off, thinking of Adam and wondering if he had read the note. It contained the place and time we could meet at later. I didn’t know if he read it or if he even cared after the show of hostility I showed him today. I hadn’t wanted to be so mean but if Gregory had seen some of it I had to pretend that I didn’t care for Adam any longer. I hoped he would understand.
Lost Soul Page 4
