Bloodstone Heart (38 page)

Melanie could see what was going on around her, but she was too weak to move, much less escape a vampire.
 
When Dimitri stopped the car and turned off the engine, she sluggishly opened her eyes to get a look at her surroundings.
 
A wave of dizziness hit her as she tried to focus on the scenery. Everything was so incredibly bright she could barely stand to open her eyes in a squint, but that didn't stop her from trying.
 
She couldn't quite tell if it was her surroundings moving up and down or if it was just an illusion.
 

Dimitri pulled her out of the passenger side of the car to a wobbly standing position. Again his hand was on her arm and he commanded her to walk with him. Her body did as he commanded as he led her down a sloping landscape and onto what she had finally figured out to be a pier with boats swaying back and forth. He led her onto a small boat and let go of her arm, and she instantly slumped to one side in an odd and slightly uncomfortable position as he untied the boat, started its engine, and started to steer away from the docks.
 

If only she could find the energy to jump, but she knew that would just be a death sentence, since she had no energy to swim back to shore. She was doomed.
 
No one knew where she was - no one had known for weeks. How had he found her? She had been so careful. Had he found her lost post-it note and figured the rest out? How could he, it was cryptic at best to someone who didn't know her plan, unless it gave him enough time to check out the other four recipients of tickets to find out if they were legitimate or not. It puzzled her, and it was too hard to think in this state.

The ride was bouncy, the noise from the engine deafening, and she felt nauseous from her pounding head which made her more sensitive to the bouncing, the brightness, and the noise. It seemed like a long ride but she wasn't sure if it was just because everything seemed so distorted. Dimitri cut the engine and the boat drifted to a waiting dock where he hurriedly tied the boat up. He grabbed her arm and shoved her up onto the dock. She would have fallen off the other side if a pylon had not stopped her. He grabbed something out of the boat and again had her arm. He commanded her to follow him again and he led her to what looked like a cave. He took something out of his pocket as they came to a bright red door that had some lettering on it but Melanie was in no shape to read it. He pushed through the door and they went down a long corridor. It was dark, very dark, and she couldn't see anything.

It seemed like they walked forever before he stopped and opened another door and then another, all in pitch-blackness to Melanie.
 
If she had control of her body it would have been horribly disorienting, but Dimitri with his vampire vision, knew exactly where he was going and what he was doing.
 

The door he opened seemed to be their final destination, at least it was hers.
 
Here he flicked on a fluorescent overhead light that flickered and buzzed into life most unpleasantly to Melanie's sensitive eyes. She was glad for the light once it stopped flickering, she could get a glimpse of the room she was in.
 
Dimitri quickly tied her hands behind her and behind the chair that dug into her forearms terribly.
 
Then he tied her feet to the legs of the chair, and just to make sure she didn't get any crazy ideas, he tied her torso to the back of the chair.
 

He brought another chair close to her, which seemed to be the only other thing in the small room and stared at her for a moment before he began to speak.

"Well now, Miss Harper it's time for a little Q & A."

Melanie's head lolled on her neck as if it was barely attached.

Dimitri continued, "Where is your boyfriend, Josh Brenner?"
 

Melanie didn't answer.

"Where is the heart-shaped stone?" He waited a moment, but she did not respond. "I know he has it, because he couldn't have survived the explosion without it. Now tell me what I want to know.”
 

He seemed to be concentrating very hard on her and Melanie thought maybe he was trying to read her thoughts. After another moment he stood up, sighed, and said, "Maybe a little alone time will help your memory.”

 
He put the chair he was sitting on by the door, grabbed a bag he had brought in with him, and pulled out some duct tape. He ripped off a piece about eight inches long and placed it firmly over her mouth. He then went to the large metal door, opened it and turned to look at her one more time before he left and closed the door behind him. After a few clicks and metallic sounds, she assumed he locked the door tight behind him and there she sat in a room alone.
 

The room was no more than ten feet by ten feet and the wall perpendicular to the wall with the door had a large arch. It looked like a doorway but it had been bricked up a very long time ago. The wall opposite the arch was the same, with a walled up arch in it. There were no windows and no furniture besides the chair by the door and the one she was tied to. A beam on the ceiling ran the length of the room to which the light was attached.
 

It was cold and dank and felt much like she imagined a dungeon might feel. Moisture dripped from the walls and there was a strong smell of musty mildew and seawater. The rope he had used was rather like twine, coarse and very tight and the ones around her midsection made it hard to take in a deep breath. Even if she had her strength, there was nothing but her head that she could move. She was so tired from being drained, that her head dropped to her chest and she passed out.

Josh had gone up to his room to lie down.
 
It took a long time for him to fall asleep with all the adrenaline that had pumped into his system with seeing Melanie hurt. It was similar to his night time journeys but he was awake, and the night time journeys were more like a casual flight - it was fast, but nothing like this morning.
 
The journey to her then was more like free falling from 30,000 feet. It was fast and frightening, not to mention the pain he'd felt when he got there. He was certainly not looking forward to another one of those journeys.

He practiced some relaxing techniques that Blake had taught him. After about an hour or so he finally did fall asleep and he found himself on a casual flight to Melanie. He hadn't really meant to, but she was always on his mind. He was in a small room with two chairs in it. Stone bricks that looked very old enclosed the room along with a big metal door. A tiny, limp woman sat in the middle of the room, tied with small gauge rope to the chair. She looked unconscious or sleeping, but Josh couldn't tell.
 
There were no injuries aside from the fang marks on her neck with streaks of crimson running from the holes to her blouse collar.
 

He wanted so badly to hold her, but he'd tried that before in this state. It was frustrating and useless to see her in this condition and not be able to do anything.
 
It was like watching a live feed of a room where you had no idea of its location. He did talk to her and try to comfort her.
 
He was pretty sure she couldn't hear him, but somehow it made him feel better, and he hoped that in some way, telepathically, she'd know he was looking for her.

There were no windows in the room and no references to where they were.
 
The walls were thick stone and nothing could be heard, but there was a distinct smell of the sea in the moldy, dingy room.
 

Well, that's great! There are hundreds of miles of coastline, Josh, can you try and get more specific
, he argued with himself.
 
He sat with her for a long time before a large gust of wind hit him and he was flying back to his bed in Westport to find Blake waking him up.

Blake said, "Are you okay? You were talking in your sleep."

"I was? Sorry! I was with Lanie. She's tied up to a chair in a damp, moldy room somewhere near the sea. I could smell the ocean, but I have no idea where."

"Well, that's a start. When you travel there, can you see anything? I mean, is it just a dark space you travel through or is it like being in a plane above land? I ask, because maybe it can help us to distinguish where he has her.
 
It would be nice to surprise Dimitri for once."

"I never really paid attention to what was around me when I got there."

"Also, have you ever tried to leave the room she was in? Maybe we could get some perspective that way, a clue or something as to where they are."

"Huh. No. I never really tried; I'll have to do that." Josh paused for a moment and then continued cautiously, "I'm not sure I've thanked you for all you've done, Blake. You've taught me a lot of great stuff and you've had some good ideas despite my complaining. I just wanted to let you know it is appreciated."

"Thanks, Josh. That means a lot. The reason I came up here was Bernard was worried that you needed to eat to keep your strength up.
 
He noticed you didn't eat much at breakfast and thought you should at least have something for lunch."

"Yeah. Okay."

The two walked downstairs into the dining room to meet up with the rest.

Dominic was coming down the hall when Blake and Josh came out of Josh's room. As he approached Josh's room, Blake and Josh were turning and heading down the stairs. Dominic hadn't intended on doing this, but he ducked into Josh's room trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
 
He looked around and headed for his bathroom, where he found that Josh had shaved and hadn’t rinsed out the sink.
 
He grabbed several pieces of stubble and a couple of strands of hair from a comb lying nearby and headed for the back stairs to the kitchen where he quickly deposited the items into a Ziploc bag, sealing it tightly.
 
He grabbed one more bag out of the drawer and then headed for the study while everyone was in the dining room having lunch.

When he got to the study, he quietly closed the door and headed for his desk.
 
He pulled out a Sharpie and wrote on the bag of hair samples 'J.B.' He then yanked out a couple of hairs from his own head and placed them in the other Ziploc bag and marked it 'Father?’
 

He pulled a ballpoint pen out of his desk and a piece of stationery and began to write.

Michael

I need a favor. I told you at the party the young man staying with us, Josh, was adopted. After a little searching, I think we may have found his biological father and I was hoping that you could test the samples I've included in this package ASAP. Please keep this between you and me for the time being and as always, thank you for your help.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Dominic.

He pulled out a large Tyvek envelope, inserted all the items and the letter into it and sealed it.
 
He then wrote on the front of it.

Dr. Michael Rowe

He looked up in his Rolodex the number for the messenger service he often used and scheduled a pick up for the envelope.
 
As he headed for the dining room, he set the envelope on the table in the foyer near the door.

Chapter 30