Chosen (Book #4 of the Vampire Legends) (7 page)

“With all my
heart. I’d do anything for him, which is why I am here right now, talking to
you,” Rachel said.

“I can tell that
you really care about him,” his mother said. “And while his father and I are
not on good terms with him, we are glad that he has found someone like you.”

Rachel felt
surprisingly good to hear her say those words. She was glad that in some small
way his mother approved of her. That maybe she even liked her. She didn’t know
but knew this wasn’t helping her find the Red Amulet.

“So what does
this have to do with the Red Amulet?” Rachel asked.

“It has
everything to do with the Red Amulet,” she said. “When you truly love someone
you are the one that holds the key to finding it. You have the power to find it
in this case. Nobody else does. The answer lies in your hands, Rachel. Only you
can save Benji now.”

“What do you mean
I hold the key to the Red Amulet? What does that mean?” Rachel asked.

“You will learn,
young lady. You have all the answers you will need. You have to search within
yourself to find them,” she said.

“But I don’t. I
promise. I have no clue where to find it. Please, help me out here,” Rachel
begged. “I can’t do this on my own. I can’t!”

“You have to. You
have no choice. The answer will come to you, I promise. Sleep on it, my dear.”

“Sleep on it?”
Rachel asked.

“Yes—if you truly
love him, it will come to you in your dreams. Go on now: go to one of our rooms
upstairs. Sleep. Find the answer for yourself,” she said. “Trust me, it will
come.”

Rachel followed
directions. She left the room and went upstairs, winding her wat down the hall into
one of the guest bedrooms.

She crashed on
the lush bed, and in moments fell asleep, hoping that his mom was right. She
fell asleep, hoping and praying that she loved him enough—and that all her
answers would come to her in her dreams.

Chapter
11

Rachel lay there
in silence staring up at the ceiling, which was beautifully painted with a
landscape of a Roman garden with sculptures and fountains. She replayed her
conversation over and over with Benji’s mother, but couldn’t figure out what she
meant. She knew she didn’t have the answers or the key to finding the Red
Amulet and didn’t feel any closer to finding it having spoken to her. She felt
at a loss.

Sleep on it
she kept saying to herself over and over in her head. Those were his moms words
of advice for her. She didn’t quite understand, but wondered if maybe it would
just come to her in her sleep.

Rachel felt her
eye lids getting heavier by the minute, and then before she knew it, she was
fast asleep in a strange bed in a strange room in a new castle.

The walls were a
bright white and there was a bright blue pulsing light that hit each wall.
There was no artwork, no furniture, no bed, no carpet, just stark white walls.
Rachel stood there, alone, spinning in circles humming a childhood lullaby as
she swung her arms around her. Her pink and yellow dress was long and flowed in
the air around her. Suddenly, red balloons floated up out of nowhere with light
blue ribbons which she held in her hand as she stared wondrously at the
balloons, she saw a note attached to one of the ribbons.

She reached out
for the note and held it in the palm of her hand. A light was shining from the
inside of the note. She opened it and it read; Dear Rachel, remember me? You
looked through me once to determine your fate. You must return to me, I will
give you everything you need. I will be the key to saving Benji. Now, find me.

Rachel let go of
the red balloons and watches as the floated through the air one by one and then
popped as they reached the ceiling. The popped plastic came falling down and
landed at her feet. Inside each balloon were rosemary leaves whose smell
permeated the stark white room. The scent filled her body and her mind.

Then the room
became multicolored and started turning in circles with shapes and images on
the walls. Red, Orange, Green, Pink, Violet, Yellow the room kept on changing
colors and it turned around and around. Rachel started turning her body again
over and over and over until she fell down on the ground.

All of a sudden,
her body shook as she awoke from her dream. Her head still spinning and she had
a huge headache. She couldn’t understand where it was coming from. She’d never
had a headache upon waking before. She knew something must have happened. She
knew what she had to do.

It came to her in
her dream, the colors, the balloons, the note, the smell of rosemary and the
spinning. It was all making sense to her now. She had to find the kaleidoscope
that Benji had given her last year. It would hold the key to finding the Red
Amulet. She knew it would, she just had to find it.

Rachel thought
long and hard as to where the kaleidoscope might be. It had been a long time
since she’d seen it or looked through it and couldn’t remember exactly where
she’d left it. As she thought about all the possible places, the most probable
place it could be was her house in Bedford. She knew she must have left it in
her bedroom but couldn’t remember exactly where. She had to go find it.

*

She quickly got
dressed and out of the bed she was laying in. She took one more look at the
beautifully painted ceiling and then put her shoes on. She knew she didn’t have
much time to get out of the castle so she moved quickly.

She tiptoed down
the hall to the room that Hunter and Penelope were sharing. She knocked softly on
the door but didn’t hear anything. She opened it slowly, hoping to no witness
anything she shouldn’t and when she saw them both laying there sleeping she
walked in.

“Guys, guy, it’s
me, wake up,” Rachel said in a whisper.

She watched as
they both started twitching and turning in the bed. They opened their eyes
slowly to see what was going on.

“Sorry, guys, I
didn’t mean to wake you, but I’m leaving now,” Rachel said.

“Rachel? What are
you doing here?” said Hunter.

“I’m leaving. I
have to go,” Rachel said.

“What? Now?”
Penelope asked, wiping her eyes and looking over to check the time.

“Yes, right away,
I figured it out,” Rachel said.

“But it’s not
even light out yet,” Hunter said.

“Figured what
out?” Penelope questioned.

“I figured out
how I will locate the Red Amulet,” Rachel said excitedly.

“How?” Hunter
said. “I thought you needed my parents to tell you?”

“No, your mom
helped me a lot, but the answer lies within myself. I know what to do and I
have to go do it now,” Rachel answered.

“Tell us!”
Penelope said. “What is it?”

“I have to find
the kaleidoscope,” Rachel said. “Once I have that, I will have all the answers
I need.”

“Kaleidoscope?”
Hunter asked.

“Yeah, Benji gave
it to me once. I don’t have time to explain. I must leave you now,” Rachel
said.

“Well, do you
want us to come with you?” Hunter said, jumping out of bed.

“Yeah, we will
come, too!” Penelope added.

“No, please. I
must do this on my own,” Rachel said. “I’m sorry.”

“Alone?” Penelope
asked. “Why?”

“I just do, I
can’t explain it,” Rachel said.

“All right then.
Do what you have to do now,” Hunter said, with a confused look on his face.

“I wish I could
bring you with me but I have to leave you at this point. I no longer need
help,” Rachel reMarced.

“Ok, be safe out
there. And guard the Red Amulet with your life,” Hunter said. “And please, take
care of Benji. I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“Bye, Rachel,”
Penelope said as she walked out of their bedroom door and onto the balcony of
the castle.

“Good luck!”
Hunter yelled after her.

Rachel stood
there, looking at the passing clouds, wondering why she didn’t think about the kaleidoscope
in the first place. She remembered it had brought her such clarity in the past
in regards to Benji that she should have thought of it first. But, she couldn’t
just stand there beating herself up over it, she had to move on. She had to
make it right and find the kaleidoscope.

She leaned over
the balcony’s edge and before she could count to three, her wings were in
flight, she was about to take an even longer journey to her house in Bedford,
New York. It was a little bit farther south than Hunter’s boarding school, but
she figured if she could make the trip yesterday, she could do it again today.
The worst that could happen would be that she would have to stop off to rest
her wings for a little bit.

Not long after
she took off, she realized she was starving. She hadn’t fed in what felt like
days, and perhaps was days. She couldn’t remember. Her life was not a time warp
and she couldn’t place the days anymore. All she knew was that she had to feed
and now. She peered down below like an owl after its prey. As she flew along
the coastline, all she spotted were dolphins jumping up out of the water and a
few minnows swimming around in schools. Neither of those appealed to her,
especially because the dolphins reminded her of the last family vacation she
took, back when she was human. Her family went to Florida and stopped off at
the Dolphin Research Center where she spent the day learning, caring for and
even swimming with dolphins. She knew they were an under populated species, and
she didn’t want to do anything to harm them, despite her relentless hunger.

Then, she headed
inland to see what kind of animals she might spot there. At first, she saw
nothing. Nothing but tall trees, fields of grass and rolling mountains. She was
desperate, the aches and pains in her stomach were becoming unbearable, her
body began to quiver and shake as she flew through the morning sky. Her eyes
became watery and her palms began to sweat. She knew she had to find something,
and fast.

Then, out of
nowhere, she spotted one. A giant elk, standing atop one of the mountains,
bending down chewing on grass.  Rachel swooped down out of the sky withing
seconds of spotting it, and captured it with the sharp claws that emerged from
the tips of her fingers. As the elk lye dead on the ground, she took one quick
look at it, kneeled down and dug her sharp white fangs into its body. As she
slurped all the blood out, she remembered how good it felt to feed again. It
had been a long time since she tasted blood, and she needed it. She craved it.

As she sucked
ever last ounce of blood from the deer, she stood up, checked her watch and
then within seconds was back in flight to Bedford. She felt much better having
fed, and drank all the blood so that she would have reserves since she didn’t
know the next time she would have time to feed would be.

She soared over
much of the same scenery as on her journey up to Maine. Still, finding herself
blown away by the beauty below. The leaves were at their peak; all bring
orange, red and yellow. The most beautiful fall landscape she’d ever seen. If
she were a painter, she would definitely paint this picture.

She couldn’t wait
to get back to her house, although, part of her was dreading it. She hadn’t
seen her parents in over a year and the last time she saw them it didn’t
exactly go over well. They basically kicked her out of her house and sent her
packing. So, needless to say, she was worried how they will react when they see
her. In her ideal world, she would be able to slip into the house without
anyone noticing her, go up to her room, find the kaleidoscope and then make a
break for it. She’d snuck out and in before, so knew it was possible, but
didn’t know how it would go over today.

It was nearing
the late afternoon as she began circling Bedford, New York. The sun was going
down in the sky and the air was getting colder. The breeze picked up a bit, and
threw her off balance a few times as she zeroed in on her house.

She hovered for a
few minutes to survey the situation. She wanted to see what was going on down
there before she just landed on the front lawn. She had to make sure that
nobody was outside, and that nobody was watching. She was also hoping to find
some clues to see if here parents and brother were home. She knew Sarah
wouldn’t be home since she was away at college this year. As she looked down,
she didn’t see any cars in the driveway. She didn’t see anyone in the yard or
on the back porch. She didn’t even see her grill on the back porch. When her
father was home he was always grilling something; burgers, hotdogs, veggies.
She knew if he were home, he’d be outside doing something. But, she didn’t see
him or his grill.

She knew she
could land now. Nobody was outside and nobody was watching her. As she dropped
out of the sky and landed on her front lawn she quickly scurried over to the
side of the house. She peered through the side window which gave her a good
view of the downstairs of the house and she didn’t see anyone. She figured that
nobody was home, so she went over to the front door and tried to open it. Her
parents never locked their doors; they were very trusting people. So, the fact
that it was locked was odd to her. She didn’t quite know what to make of it. She
went around to the back of the house and stood in front of the sliding glass
door that entered the kitchen off the porch. She clutched the handle, and tried
to slide it. That, too was locked.

That’s odd, she
thought to herself.

As she stood
there, thinking about what to try next, the door slid open and a man stood
there, staring at her.

“Hello? Can I
help you?” the man asked.

“Um, who are
you?” Rachel asked.

“Who are you?” he
asked her back.

“What do you
mean? I live here!” Rachel said. “Well, I
lived
here.”

“What are you
doing here?” Rachel asked the man.

“What do you
mean? This is my home. I live here!” he replied.

“What do you
mean? You don’t live here. My family lives here. The Woods,” Rachel said,
taking a step back to make sure she was at the right house. For a moment she
thought she accidentally went to a neighbor’s house. But, this was it. This was
for sure the house she lived in with her family.

“Ah, yes, the
Woods,” the man said.

“What’s that
supposed to mean?” Rachel asked.

“Oh, nothing! It’s
just that they moved out almost a year ago now,” he said.

“Moved out? What
do you mean moved out?” Rachel asked, stunned.

“Well, they sold
us this house,” he replied.

“What!” Rachel
let out a scream. “They sold you this house?”

“Yes, don’t you
know that?” he asked her confused.

“No, I haven’t
been here in a year,” Rachel said.

“Are you the
daughter that is in college?” he asked.

“No, that’s my
older sister,” Rachel answered.

“Oh, you’re not
her?” he said, looking back at her in confusion.

“No, I’m Rachel.
Her younger sister,” Rachel said.

“Um..I didn’t
know they had three girls?” the man asked.

“Three? No,
there’s just two girls and a boy,” Rachel answered.

“Well, Um..” the
man said, looking scared.

“What? What’s
wrong?” Rachel asked.

“Well, your
parents said you were dead,” the man replied, looking horrified.

“Dead!” Rachel
said. “Me?”

Rachel stopped
and then realized that she probably shouldn’t have said anything. She should
have just went along with his story, and said she was Sarah. Now, he’s going to
tell everyone she’s alive. Or even worse, call her parents. This couldn’t get
any worse, she thought. She had to figure out a way to get out of this.

“I’m the half
sister, not the one who died,” Rachel said quickly, trying to cover herself.