Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny) (16 page)

Ryan tied off the crossbow to the saddle in such a way that
in one swift motion, he could release the knot and access the weapon.  The
crossbow made him think of how Alex had promised to keep Sara safe and he
glared at the Vampire without pausing in his task.  Alex looked miserable and
guilty.  Ryan’s anger almost dissolved in pity until he remembered what a close
thing it had been. 

For the second time in two days, he had used a full shift
to overpower and slaughter men.  This was not how a
Were
should act, but
the situations had been desperate. 
Weres
had not remained hidden from
humans so well all these years by ripping them apart on a regular basis, he
thought.  Ryan was cunning and well trained, and if the need arose for him to
have to take a life, he did so professionally using stealth.    He limited his
changes to subtle shifts that allowed him to access his strength, speed and superior
senses.  He was a skilled scout and an assassin if need be.  Letting his beast loose
to create murder and mayhem was not typical of his precise, almost obsessive,
control of everything that had to do with his shifting or his profession. 

He knew the other’s thought of him as a little
irresponsible, a grinning boy who took almost nothing too seriously.  He was happy
to let them underestimate him; the advantage was his.  The smiling face he
showed the world was not a complete fabrication. He actually was easy going in
his personal life, but underneath, he was hard and sharp and he rarely missed
anything that happened around him.  He was also much more intelligent than most
people gave him credit for.  It amused him to let everyone think he was a simple
man and someday it might just save his life. 

Ryan, like Alex, was also anxious to get them secured so
that he could gather some information and pass some on.  The
Were
-tiger
incident had disturbing implications, and he knew this was important intelligence
that he should be delivering in haste, but he felt that he had to see Sara safe
before he left again.  Things had become extremely dangerous.

The two more days that it should have taken for them to
reach the cabin, became three as they started traveling through the trees and
any other cover they could find.  It was decided that travel along the road was
a little too risky and that it was worth sacrificing speed for safety. 

Ryan scouted ahead, making sure their path was clear of
attackers.  He returned frequently to check in.  He always reported the way to
be clear, and they continued as fast as the terrain allowed. 

Once when Alex thought he smelled human blood in the wind,
he asked Ryan, “Are you sure there is no one around here?”

Ryan just said, “the way is clear.  Let’s just keep moving.”

Alex started to think that Ryan was sometimes the reason
that the way was so clear, and he began to suspect again that Ryan was more
than he seemed. 

They reached the cabin near sundown on the fourth day since
leaving the barn.  The one room log structure was intact, but little else could
be said for it.  The decades of neglect were evident, but they were all too
tired to do anything about it before they got some rest.  After scouting the
area, Ryan was confident that no one had been near this cabin in years, so for
the first time since the barn, they all slept without posting a watch. 

It took another two days to get the cabin comfortably
habitable.  The fireplace chimney was blocked by squirrel’s nests and other
debris from animal habitation.  Evidence of mice and other woodland rodents was
everywhere inside.  The few pieces of furniture that had been there, were
destroyed and had to be burned, with the exception of a couple of stools.  The
cabin was a log structure with one decent sized rectangular room.  There was no
power, water or other conveniences.  The hearth was large enough to cook over
the fire, and there was an outhouse in the rear that Alex couldn’t remember why
he had built but figured he must have had human guests at some point.  The
original structure was over 120 years old, but it had been repaired and rebuilt
as needed over the years.  The window openings had sturdy shutters closed over
them, a reminder of the days not so long ago that the Vampires could not withstand
the sun, but there was no glass in the panes.  When the cabin was cleaned out
and a fire going in the oversized hearth, it was pretty cozy.  They had no lack
of horse blankets, bedrolls and sleeping bags after the encounters they
survived on the way, so they sat around the room on homemade cushions and even
built a bed. 

Ryan raised his eyebrows a little when Sara and Aurora
built one large bed for all of them, but they had all become accustomed to
sleeping together as they had in the barn, with Alex and Ryan on either end,
Aurora next to Alex and Sara snug between Aurora and Ryan.  While they had been
keeping watch at night, sometimes a spot would be empty, but the order never
changed.

Ryan took a large, complicated looking bow and went hunting
on the second day.  He brought back a brace of rabbits, and they fashioned a spit
to cook them on over the fire.  Aurora even thought that the cooking rabbits
smelled delicious, but she knew better than to try to eat any. 

Out of respect for Ryan’s feelings, Sara let Alex and
Aurora feed from her wrist, but did not engage in any of the other pleasures
that made the experience more enjoyable.  She even waited for him to go hunting
before she suggested that they take care of the situation before he came back.
Alex and Aurora only needed to feed every few days depending on the energy they
expended, and they were both looking a little tired by the time they fed on
Sara for the second time each. 

On the third day, Alex explained that he felt he had to go
see if he could locate any of the Vampire council and learn what he could.

“Not only do we need to know what’s happening, but I have a
responsibility as a council member too,” he reasoned.

“What about my responsibility as a council member?” Aurora
countered, she didn’t think anyone should leave or at least that they shouldn’t
split up. 

Alex touched her hand soothingly. “I think it will be
easier for one of us to move swiftly and secretly until we know where we
stand.”

Ryan nodded. “I hate to say it, but he’s right.  We need to
use stealth now to get what information we can.  I am also going to try to
contact some resources in the next few days.”

It was Sara’s turn to protest. “You only just came back!” she
complained a little scared at the idea of them all separating. The group had
become her security and family in just a few days. 

“I don’t have very far to go, and I won’t be gone long,” he
assured her. “Besides I want to go hunting again and make sure you have enough
food and supplies until I get back.”

“Please, don’t leave them for too long,” Alex pleaded with
Ryan. “I am afraid that I will be gone for more than a few days.  I need to try
and locate council members, and that means big cities if anything can be
discovered in the rubble.” 

“I will take care of things here.  Don’t worry.” Ryan said
seriously.

“What about me?” Aurora insisted. “I am a council member
too, and I am far from helpless.”

Ryan knew that was true after watching her tear out the
throats of two enemies at once, but before he or Alex could respond, Sara
grabbed Aurora’s arm.

“Please, don’t go,” she cried. “Don’t leave me alone
here.”  She seemed about to start sobbing.

Aurora took the small women in her arms protectively and
said, “No, I won’t leave you. It’s okay, I will stay here with you.”

Ryan felt a twinge of jealousy at the grateful look Sara
bestowed upon Aurora.  “In any case, I won’t be gone long,” he said again. 

Alex looked relieved all the way around.  Aurora would be
safe and would have Sara to occupy and protect and Ryan would be around to help
protect Aurora, as well. 

“It’s settled then.  I will leave in the morning,” he said.

Alex took one horse and left the next morning in a thick
fog.  The weather was becoming wetter, colder and windier since the Solar Storm. 
It was just one thing on the list of things he hoped to get information about. 

It was slow going for the horse on the first day, just
trying to get out of the rough terrain of the wilderness area, but Alex knew
that once they were out of the foothills that he would be glad of the horse. 
Alex was a long way from the cabin before he heard anyone else around.  That
made him feel confident that the cabin was remote enough to be safe, and he
felt better about his decision to lead them there.  That first time he heard
someone coming he was able to conceal himself behind the thick undergrowth and
use his equine skills to soothe and keep his mount quiet.  The person passed by
without incident. 

On the third day of his travels, he was letting his horse
drink from a spring fed stream when he saw a young man lead a horse out of the
trees just a little further downstream.  The youth spotted him and tried to mount
and flee.  Alex moved like the wind, closing the distance and grabbing the
horse by the bridle.  He reached out and pulled the rider from the saddle and
as the man fell, Alex felt the telltale sting of silver as a knife struck out
and sliced across Alex’s forearm.  
A silver knife! This one was an enemy!
 He
ripped the knife from the man’s hand and threw it into the stream.  His eyes
were red and glowing, and his fangs were glistening in his open mouth.  He saw
the scared eyes of a very young man, he guessed to be around 19 or 20, and he
felt a little guilt at killing him this way.  But, still, he plunged his fangs
into the artery pulsing in the neck and drank deeply of the blood that gushed
and spurted into his hungry mouth.  Alex had not hunted like this in over two
centuries, and it was exciting and saddening at the same time. 

When he finished, he let the limp, pale corpse drop to the
ground, and he stood with his eyes closed, fists clenched and head back,
feeling the hot thrill of the lifeblood flowing through him.  Even the live
feeding from willing humans was nothing compared to drinking his fill and
feeling the life flow from his prey.  His rational, refined self was ashamed of
his behavior, but the fierce predator reveled in the moment.  He pulled himself
together, rinsed his face with water from the stream and dragged the body into
the trees, burying him under a pile of leaves, dry needles and other loose foliage. 
He shooed the horse and moved on as quickly as he could. 

He felt so much stronger for having satisfied the thirst. 
He hadn’t wanted to drink too much from Sara before he left.  He didn’t want to
risk weakening her too much, and Aurora would need to feed too.  The combined
thoughts of feeding and both Sara and Aurora made him stiffen in his current
satiated state.  He shifted uncomfortably in his saddle and tried to think of
something other than the petite, slightly busty girl and the tall, slender beauty
he married.  Together, they made a scrumptious picture, and he had to dismount
and walk for a bit. 

Alex traveled on for another week.  He guessed that he was
about 40 miles Southwest of Albany.  His plan was to head to Hartford where a
couple of council Vampires had been living before the Solar Storm, and then he
could turn east to Boston and try to locate some others he knew of.  For a day
and a half as he approached Hartford, Alex could swear he smelled the briny
odor of sea water over the wind and rain that were almost constant now.  He
should have been approaching a town called Springfield where he could turn south
to Hartford, but as he emerged on a hill top that should have overlooked an
inhabited valley, he stared at an ocean surging with breakers lapping at the
shoreline.  Uprooted trees and floating debris from homes and buildings churned
up foam at the waterline.  Similar debris was scattered across the ground above
the waterline for some distance indicated that the tide or a surge had been a
good deal higher at one point. 

Alex stared in disbelief.  The Atlantic was more than 60
miles further inland than it should have been.  Hartford was under the sea, and
while he intended to head east to verify, he fully expected that Boston was
long gone, as well. 

For two days, Alex followed the new coastline roughly Northeast. 
It became painfully obvious that Boston was a waste of time and was at least 80
miles out to sea in this new geographic arrangement.  He turned inland and
headed Northwest back towards home.  At least it had been his home before the Solar
Storm.  Cutting across the countryside, he made it home in four days.  He fed
once along the way when he saw a campfire in the distance and approached to
find a single man sleeping beside the low blaze.  He silently moved in on foot
and examined the contents of the temporary campsite.  The man slept with his
hand on a crossbow that was loaded with a silver tipped bolt.  Alex wondered at
the fact that most of the humans he had seen since the Storm were all Vampire
haters.  Before the Solar Storm, the majority of humans were accepting if not enamored
of Vampires.  Now everyone he met wanted to kill him.  It was another mystery
to solve. 

He didn’t bother to wake the man before he bit him.  He was
feeling less guilty and more at peace with his hunter persona after spending a
couple of weeks finding out that civilization wasn’t too civilized anymore. 
Afterward, he stoked the fire and left the body to burn in it.