Dark Moors (THE TWO VAMPIRES, #4) (5 page)

An idea occurred to him – what if there was something buried there, beneath the ground, under the stone circle?  What if someone was trying to awaken it?

Daniel thought of Sebastian buried beneath the ground back in Canada.  He hoped nobody was trying to awaken him.

But what if
someone was trying to awaken something?  How could he find out?  And, most importantly, how were they going to stop it happening?  Would tapping into Sarah’s dreams help him at all? 

There was only one way to find out, and that was to do it, and he would as soon as he got the opportunity. 
But what if it did not work?  What should they do next?  Now that was a frustrating thought.  He really had no idea.  He supposed they should concentrate on getting stronger, so they would be prepared for anything, and searching the landscape for more clues?  But what if they did not find anything?  He shook his head to clear it.  There was no point going down that trail of thought.  One thing at a time.

In his thought filled daze he realized that they had already des
cended into the next valley, and were starting to climb another hill.  He had not been watching for danger at all.  Stupid.  He looked at Sarah, and this time it was she who gave him a searching look.  He shot her a smile in apology and resumed scanning the moor and sky.

The sun would rise soon, and the mist that clung to the hills was starting to sparkle in the early morning light.  It was beautiful.  It was hard to imagine that any evil lurked
there.  It was hard to believe what had happened this night, or that anything sinister had occurred at the stone circle.

As they mounted
the next hill he spotted it - the circle of stones where four people had recently had their throats sliced open.  The tragedy of it made him angry – why did people do things like that?  He looked away and continued to search for danger.

They were nearly at the cottage, at their home.

As they reached the top of the next hill he exchanged a glance with Sarah and slowed.  He guided her to climb the granite stones that marked the top of the hill.  It was where they had stood when they had first spotted the stone circle.  Had that really only been yesterday?

From the top of the stones he looked down towards their cottage.  It looked unharmed. 
Peaceful.  He looked beyond it and spotted a church.  A graveyard.  So that was where the dead bodies were raised, he surmised.  It would be worth a trip there tomorrow, he thought, to see if there were any clues as to who was behind it, or why they did it.

He hoped all the bodies were gone, so they would not have to suffer any more onslaughts of the dead.

Daniel turned, twirling Sarah so he did not have to let her hand go, and looked the other way.  He spotted Princetown, and the large prison that dominated the small moorland town.  A few lights were sparking on, windows glowing with warmth in the distance.  He shrugged his shoulders – could someone have escaped from the prison?  If that person had been locked up their ability to do magic may have helped them escape.  That would explain why this was happening here.  He could ask around to see if there had been any reports of escapes, just in case. 

That
probably was not it though, thought Daniel, it just did not feel right.  He suspected it was the stone circle itself, or whatever was below it, that was the reason why this was happening on Dartmoor, rather than anywhere else.  Maybe they could go back to the stone circle again and he could extend his powers into the earth – or maybe he could dig to find out if there was anything there?  But what if there was?  What if they unearthed something that was best left buried?

Daniel continued to search the landscape.  He wanted to make sure no-one was near, watching them, before they entered their new home.
 

He looked at Sarah and smiled, ‘Looks to me like
it’s safe,’ he said.

She smiled gently back and they walked together down the final slope as the sun peaked over the top of a distant hill, exchanging glances as they went.
  Sarah’s looks were adorable, her eyes wide, revealing the depth of their color; a deep blue emanating hints of turquoise.  Had they changed since she had turned into a vampire?  Had the color increased in intensity?  He could not quite remember, but whether or not they had; they did look truly magical.  It was like they were hiding secrets and power in their depths.

They were now approaching the low stone wall that surrounded their quaint abode, and Daniel drew Sarah closer.  He raised the hand that was not holding hers and stroked her ever so soft jaw, then raised her chin.  He leant in and kissed her lips very softly, lingering, and then letting her hand fall free.

‘You go ahead inside, I will try and work on creating a barrier,’ he said.

‘OK,’ Sarah replied.

He watched as she opened the gate and walked towards their front door.

Sarah
glanced back at Daniel before opening the front door of their house, but he was already busy concentrating within, trying to work out how to erect a barrier.  She knew he could do it; he was so talented at magic.  He had brought down all those dead that had been attacking them, and it looked like he had done it with ease. 

She wondered what anyone passing
the bunker would make of the piles of ashes they had left behind, and the empty graves that no-doubt filled the graveyard.  It would not be hard for someone to figure it out if they put the two pieces of evidence together, but who would believe it?

Sarah felt uncertain as she stepped forward and entered th
e house.  She flicked on the light switch and the low ceilinged, dark beamed cottage sprang to life.  She looked about, searching, alert to fresh danger – what if someone had set a trap?  What if there were more dead lurking in some corner? 

S
he breathed in deeply. No.  There were no dead, she was quite certain of it.  The air smelt good, not of death at all.  She relaxed her shoulders and inhaled again.  She could smell wood smoke lingering from the fire Daniel had lit the previous day, and the scent of the wax that the floor boards were treated with.  There was a hint of damp and mustiness, but in a good way.  It reminded her of the age of the building, which, to her, was unimaginably old – hadn’t Daniel said it was fifteenth or sixteenth century?

She walked into the living room, and spotted the remainder of the bottle of champagne they had been drinking the night before. 
Their glasses were on the wooden floor next to it. 

Sarah walked over and sat on the sofa.  She reached down and poured the remainder
of the bubbly into one of the glasses, then she raised it to her lips and downed it in one. 

The fizz had gone but it tasted smooth and sweet, and it was still alcoholic of course.  She rested her head back on the old sofa, which was surprisingly comfy, and stared at the dark ashes that were left in the fire place.  A solitary tear rolled down her cheek.

They had survived, shouldn’t she be happy?  She brushed the tear away.  It was too much, she was still in shock she decided, and so tired.  She missed her children - Megan and Bea. She longed to see them so much it made her heart ache.  She even missed Jo, her husband who had been turned into a vampire by Sebastian.  She wished he was still alive, that Sebastian had never changed him.  She did not wish it because she wanted him back, she had not been happy with him, and she was completely and utterly in love with Daniel.  Daniel was so hot, so sexy, he was intelligent and unbelievably good to her.  It wasn’t that she was unhappy with Daniel at all.  It was just that Jo had been such a big part of her life for so long. 

She felt a wave of resentment at what Jo had put her through when
he had had an affair.  She did not want him back, but a part of her had loved him, and he was the father of her children.  Now her children were with their Grandparents, her parents.  God, she even missed them. 

S
he really needed to wash off the traces of the dead that lingered on her clothes, but she decided that that could wait a little longer.

Sarah
curled her feet up onto the sofa and hugged them tightly to her chest, and then she let her eyes close heavily.  She did not even try to open them as her world faded away and went black.

Daniel
stood facing outwards from the cottage.  What was he going to do?  He needed to create a barrier.  Unfortunately he was not strong enough for it to be a barrier of protection, it just needed to be something that was there so they would be alerted if someone came near.  The wider the barrier the better, for the earlier warning they would receive, but if it was too wide they would be unnecessarily disturbed.  He wondered if there was a way to do it so he would only be alerted by supernatural beings.  Hmmm, he thought.  He did not want the odd mouse or bat bothering him every time it came near their house.

Daniel tentatively allowed the power inside him to rise and gather near the surface of his body.
  Very slowly he let it leave, his skin tingling as it passed outwards, mingling with the air around him.  Daniel stepped backwards, through the gate, and stood near the front door.  He let the magical energy move away from him, the field of power moving outwards in every direction, but he kept it in control, in his awareness.  He concentrated hard and the boundary expanded beyond the defines of the house, then beyond the wall that surrounded it.  He kept expanding the boundary until it reached about fifty meters further in each direction, expanding onto the wild moorland that circled the cottage.

That was far enough.  Now he had to make sure the boundary served its purpose.  He
focused his will and sent out tendrils of thoughts that were imbued with magic into the mix.  He made those tendrils rich with the ability to detect power.

He would need to stay connected to the boundary for it to work, but he could manage that without too much concentration.  The effort would slowly drain him of energy, but he could keep it going long enough for them to rest and wash.  When they left to seek
sustenance he could let it go, then he could re-activate it when they returned.

If any supernatural being stepped across the boundary, the power he had placed there would pull at h
is skin and he would know.  He and Sarah could escape.

Daniel let himself smile in self-satisfaction
; he had done it.  He glanced around his surroundings one final time before walking towards the front door and stepping over the threshold.  All was quiet except for the gentle sound of breathing. 

Daniel walked softly into the living room and spotted Sarah; she was fast asleep on the sofa. 
She looked so peaceful it pulled at Daniel’s heart; he wanted to go and kiss her, but thought better of it; he might disturb her.  It would be a good time to try tapping into her dreams, he had not thought he would have an opportunity this soon. 

Daniel watched Sarah
closely and gently probed at her mind, but it was as peaceful as she looked.  She was at the wrong point in her sleep cycle, he would need to try again soon.

Daniel crept back out of the room and up the narrow staircase.
  He took a clean towel from the floor at the foot of their bed and entered the bathroom.  He groaned when he saw the shower; this was not going to be pleasant.  He turned it on and groaned again as he saw the weak trickle of water descending from the very low shower head.  He was amazed Sarah had not complained about it.

Daniel took off his clothes and discarded them on the floor before stepping under the water, his knees bent so he
could fit into the cubical.  There were some bottles of wash products on a shelf, left there by Sarah he presumed.  He poured some shampoo into his palm and lathered it in his hair.  He breathed in deeply, recognizing the smell from Sarah’s hair.  Daniel closed his eyes and let the bubbles slowly wash over his body, while thoughts ran around his mind; all the possibilities, the avenues of investigation, the uncertainties.  He felt restless.  He wanted to feed again, to further increase his strength.  He wanted to feel like he was prepared should they be attacked again. 

Right now he was not
prepared.  He was not strong enough to go through what they had just been through again, if anything happened they would have no choice but to flee.

He was also tired.  He had had so little sleep recently, and he longed to catch up, but first he needed to wait and see if he could access any of Sarah’s dreams.  After that he would rest.  Later he would feed.

Satisfied he was at last clean, he turned off the water and scrubbed himself dry with the old towel.  He  rubbed as much of the water out of his hair as was possible, then crept into the room he shared with Sarah. He opened the cupboard and raised his eyebrows.  He laughed quietly with amusement; Sarah had stacked his clothes in perfectly neat piles.  It was adorable.

He picked up a
black t-shirt and pulled it over his head, before grabbing some underwear and blue jeans.  He pulled those on too, before walking barefoot back to Sarah’s side.  He sat down on the floor next to the sofa, as close as he could get to her without disturbing her, and rested his head back on the cushioned seat.  What a night!  He turned his head so he could see Sarah’s face.  She still looked peaceful, but her eyelids were fluttering gently.  This was his opportunity.  He reached out and touched her hand as gently as he could manage, to form an easy link to her subconscious.  It was possible to delve into her mind without touching her, but it required more effort.