Eternal Changes (Mikah) (18 page)

Karver smiled as the child flailed in his arms. “Your momma’s gone, but don’t worry child. You’ll be with her soon.” Karver pulled the child up and was getting ready to delve into her soft flesh…

“Don’t do it, brother,” Talmadge said from the doorway.

Karver’s eyes glittered red as he glanced over at Talmadge. “You don’t own me,” Karver said as he tore the little girl’s jugular out. A grunt left Karver’s lips as Talmadge flew into him; the girl’s jugular flew out of his mouth and landed on the ground. Blood dripped from Karver’s chin as he fell to the ground, Talmadge on top of him.

Talmadge grabbed Karver’s throat with both hands as he stared into Karver’s blood red eyes. “You crossed the line, brother. We agreed we’d not harm any child. Ever.”

Karver’s hands flew up and he knocked Talmadge off of him. “
You
agreed. I answer to
no
one.”

“So be it,” Talmadge said as he stormed out of the hut.

 Karver shook the memory away as he looked down at the girl. She was going to be wild and fierce once she went through the change. There was not a doubt in Karver’s mind.  She was not only his niece, but so much more. There had always been whispers of the possibility of a Mikah, but that line had never been crossed…until now.  She was going to make the Haemon renowned. Together, they would be unstoppable.

Karver flicked his wrist and put the girl in a deeper slumber
.
She was going to need all the sleep she could get and the last thing he needed was for her to try to escape during the day. He left the room and headed to check on the prisoner Ophelia had brought back.

Karver entered the room that the prisoner was being held in. The boy was in the corner of the room on the floor. His arms were wrapped around his legs in a fetal position as he slowly rocked back and forth.

 “Get up boy,” Karver hissed.

“W-w-what do you w-w-want with m-m-me?” the boy stuttered.

“I want to know what the blonde girl means to you,” Karver said as he kneeled down by the boy.

“I d-d-don’t know who you’re t-t-talking about,” the boy sobbed as he tried to back up.

“Don’t play games with me,
boy,”
Karver hissed as he grabbed the boy by the shirt.”You were seen kissing her.”

Recognition lit up in the boy’s eyes. “L-l-lucy? You got Lucy?”

“I guess that’s her name,” Karver said as he shrugged his shoulders and let go.

“Please, d-d-don’t hurt her,” the boy begged as he fell to his knees, tears in his eyes.

Karver looked at the human in front of him. The boy was the perfect example of why humans were no better than cows. They’re weak, pitiful creatures. He was actually doing them a favor by killing them. “You care about the girl?” he asked.

The boy nodded, unable to speak. It was all the confirmation Karver needed. He walked away from the boy with an evil grin on his face. His plan was well on their way to fruition.

Chapter 16

Ashton parked his car in the school parking lot and waited. The students scurried into the school to socialize and to get what they needed from their lockers before the bell rang. He surveyed the area around him. Where was Lucy? 

The final bell rung shrilled through the school and Lucy still wasn’t here. Ashton could smell her scent a mile away. He attempted to detect Michael’s scent as he closed his eyes and inhaled. His eyes popped back open. Lucy wasn’t at school and neither was Michael.

Ashton tried to touch Lucy’s mind with his. Nothing. He closed his eyes and reached out again. Still nothing.

Ashton dissipated and solidified in Lucy’s bedroom. His eyes darted back and forth as he scanned the room. The covers on her bed were wrinkled and the comforter was pulled back as if it had been slept in. He slowly circled the room. He jerked to a stop. Lucy’s backpack was leaning against her dresser.

Ashton closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Lucy’s scent floated throughout the room, but it wasn’t as strong as it should be. She had to have been gone for a while. If she’d been there within the last hour, he would’ve still been able to smell the strong essence of her blood in the air.

Ashton dissipated and reappeared outside the house. He trudged along the perimeter. Nothing was out of place. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he ran his hand through his hair and flew up into the air. Where was she?

Ashton made a beeline for Michael’s house. Michael hadn’t shown up to school this morning either. He didn’t believe it was just coincidence that both Michael and Lucy were missing.

Ashton landed near Michael’s house and walked up the front steps and knocked on the front door. Footsteps clicked on the hard floor as someone approached the door. Ashton stepped back as the door was jerked open. A woman with sandy brown hair stared up at him. Her green eyes were pools of sadness, tears flickering in their depths. She clutched a white cloth napkin in her hand.

“Good morning, ma’am,” Ashton said as he stepped forward. “My name’s Ashton and I’m one of Michael’s friends. I noticed he wasn’t at school this morning and I just wanted to check on him to make sure everything’s ok.”

The woman’s voice wobbled. “He’s not here. I don’t know where he’s at. He never came home last night.”

“That’s not like him,” Ashton said as he looked at the distraught woman.

“It’s ain’t like him at all. He’s always home on time,” she said as a tear slipped free and slid down her cheek. “My husband left to go look for him. The farm’s so big and if he got hurt…”

“I’m sure he’ll show up,” Ashton soothed as he took her hand in his and stared into her green eyes. “Try not to worry.”

“Thank you,” she said as she smiled shakily at him.

“I’ll go look for him and I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Ashton said.

“Oh, thank you!” The woman said as she ran forward and threw her arms around Ashton.

“You welcome,” Ashton said as she released him.

Ashton turned and walked down the porch steps as she shut the door. He scanned the surroundings before he flew up into the blue sky. The farm was hundreds of acres and it’d take a human several days to comb all of the land looking for a body. He circled the area twice taking his time as he looked for anything out of the norm.

Two hours later, Ashton was tired and frustrated. There was nothing here. He flew away from the farm and headed once more towards Lucy’s house. Maybe there’d be something there that he’d missed earlier that would give him a clue. On most occasions it only took five minutes to get to her driveway, but this time it took him an hour as he slowly investigated the area below.

A quarter of a mile down the road from Lucy’s house, he spotted a truck that looked similar to the one he’d seen Michael drive. It was sitting on the side of the road. Ashton surveyed the area to make sure no one was around as he lowered himself to the ground below. He rushed to the truck once he landed and he noticed that the truck door had been ripped off its hinges.

The smell of fear hit Ashton like a ton of bricks. His eyes widened as he turned around in the road. The smell trailed down the road. Ashton propelled himself forward and followed the scent. He turned and ran through the woods and came to a sudden stop. The smell was much more intense in here. He walked up a tree and touched the rough bark as he stared at the ground. The leaves and dirt were scraped across the ground as if someone had scooted across it.

 A chill ran through Ashton’s veins. Who would have taken Lucy and Michael? The Haemon didn’t even know Lucy existed, that only left Caoilainn. He dissipated and solidified in Talmadge’s room. The vampire was asleep in his bed as Ashton hurried over to wake him up. Ashton touched Talmadge and Talmadge’s eyes fluttered open.

“What is it now, Ashton?” Talmadge moaned as he sat up in the bed. “Do you have any
idea
what time it is?”

“I need your help,” Ashton said. “Lucy’s missing. I can’t find her
anywhere.”

Talmadge squinted up at Ashton. “Maybe she just needed a break from everything.”

“No,” Ashton replied as he paced the floor. “You don’t understand. We have a connection. I can usually hear her thoughts and I hear
nothing
.”

Talmadge got up out of the bed. “You can’t contact her at all?”

“No,” Ashton said as he shook his head. “I’ve been trying to all morning.”

“Who do you think has her?” Talmadge asked.

“I’m not sure, but I need to speak to Caoilainn. I need to know if she has Lucy,” Ashton said.

“I’ll call Caoilainn to us,” Talmadge assured. “Just give me a minute.”

Ashton stopped in his tracks as the older vampire closed his eyes. A serene look came over Talmadge’s face as he stood by the bed.  Talmadge opened his eyes as Caoilainn appeared in the room.

“Talmadge said it was urgent and that you needed to speak with me,” Caoilainn said as she looked at Ashton for answers.

“Do you have Lucy?” Ashton asked.

“No. I haven’t seen her since I the first time I’d brought her back to me,” Caoilainn said. “I told her I wouldn’t see her until a year after the change.”

Ashton dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands. “She’s missing,” he said as his voice cracked.

Caoilainn froze. “Missing? What do you mean
missing
?”

Ashton’s voice dropped to a barely above a whisper. “Lucy didn’t show up for school today. I went to her house to look around. Her bed had been slept in, but the scent of her blood had faded. She hadn’t been in her room for a couple of hours. Her backpack was also left there.”

Caoilainn glanced over at Talmadge, worry glittered in her amethyst eyes. “Malachi was supposed to be protecting Lucy during the night. He never came home this morning.”

“There’s more,” Ashton said. “The human boy is missing, too. I thought maybe she was with him, but when I showed up at his house, his mom answered the door. He had never come home the night before. I scanned the surrounding area for any clues and I stumbled upon Michael’s truck. It was less than half a mile from Lucy’s house and the driver side door had been ripped off. The smell of fear pulsated in the air. I followed the scent into the nearby woods and found an area where the leaves and dirt had been scraped across the ground as if someone had scooted across it.”

Ashton stepped back as Caoilainn suddenly shifted into a cougar. “What’s she doing?”

“She’s trying to contact Malachi. They have a link that connects them that they can trace when they’re in their cougar form,” Talmadge said. “Even if Malachi’s in his human form, she can feel his life force through their link.”

“Something’s wrong,” Caoilainn whispered as she shifted back and looked at Ashton. “I can’t feel Malachi.”

“I’ll go check the woods near Lucy’s house and meet you two back here,” Ashton said right before he dissipated.

Ashton reappeared in the woods. The leaves rustled as a slight breeze stirred the air. He took a deep breath and froze. A rustic smell wafted through the air: blood. He rushed forward as he traced where the smell was coming from. With each step, the smell became stronger and stronger. Ashton skidded to a stop. There were paw marks of a cougar engraved in the ground.

Ashton followed the tracks. He paused as he looked around. The dirt and leaves had been scattered as if there had been some type of a struggle. Ashton kneeled down and touched the dirt. Paw marks and boot imprints were imbedded on the dirt. He stood up and took another breath. He was close. He scanned the area and stopped. The body of a cougar lay near a tree. Blood matted the fur.

Ashton rushed over to the body and rolled the cougar over. “Malachi,” Ashton whispered. He touched the cougar’s neck. There was no pulse. He froze as he saw the gaping hole in Malachi’s chest. Malachi’s heart was gone.

Ashton picked up Malachi and wrapped him in his arms. Ashton levitated off the ground and flew to the caves.

Ashton walked to Talmadge’s room with Malachi’s body in his arms. He hesitated at the door and took a deep breath before entering the room.

Caoilainn spun around and looked at Ashton before dropping her gaze down to Malachi’s body.

Caoilainn brought her hands to her mouth as tears wavered in her eyes. Her voice dropped to a whisper.  “No.”

Ashton carried Malachi’s body to the couch and laid him on it. Caoilainn rushed forward and knelt down on the floor next to the couch as she ran her fingers through her friend’s coat.

“I’m going to find out who did this and
rip
them to shreds,” Caoilainn hissed. “I will hold their murderous heart in my hand.”

“Whoever did this to him has Lucy,” Ashton stated point blank.

“It has to be the Haemon,” Talmadge said as he moved over to Caoilainn. He knelt down beside her and took her in his arms.

Caoilainn’s voice shook. “Those monsters have our baby?”

“There’s no one else who would do this,” Talmadge said as he rubbed her arms. “Hopefully Karver doesn’t know Lucy’s my child. If he finds out, he’ll do everything in his power to use her to kill me.”

Caoilainn looked up into Talmadge’s face. “But, he’s your
brother.
”

“He’s pure evil. If he realizes she’s my daughter, he’ll not care that she’s his niece. Every plan in his mind will revolve around using her. That’s how he’s always been,” Talmadge said.

“Whoa,” Ashton said as he looked down at Talmadge. “Karver’s your
brother
?”

Talmadge looked up at Ashton and nodded. “Not something I enjoy admitting.”

A look of horror crossed Caoilainn’s face as she grasped Talmadge’s shirt in-between her hands. “Lucy will start going through the change tomorrow night.”

Ashton shook his head in denial. “No. Her birthday isn’t until this weekend.”

 “That’s the day her human parents had received her. It isn’t her actual day of birth,” Talmadge said. “Caoilainn’s right.”