Forever Young The Beginning (9 page)

Before the creature could renew its’
attack on Ian though, he had plunged his knife into its belly again
and was ripping upwards. He was certain that his knife was once
again stuck through heavy cloth since it still didn’t cut as it
should. The creature screamed and like lightning, pinned both of
his arms in its iron grip. Even as its’ head began to dart toward
his throat a dark figure bowled into the creature, toppling it. Ian
rolled to his feet and saw two figures fighting, the newest arrival
wielding a large knife. Their movements were so fast as to be
barely seen as a blur. Unearthly screams erupted again as he ran to
the two and began to help the latecomer stab the creature. Ian
stabbed it furiously with his now-diminishing strength, realizing
that the newcomer was doing more damage than he, as a creeping
numbness began to spread throughout his body. Li had recovered and
had joined in stabbing it with his knife. The creature separated
from the stranger, howling as it hurtled away in the blink of an
eye.

Ian was tottering now, and
was certain that it was circling back to attack again. He tried to
speak, but a growing numbness seized him and he could suddenly no
longer even hold the knife. As he sank to his knees he
thought
is
this
what it’s like to die?
He thought then of
his uncle and how he came to be in this land. As he collapsed his
mind drifted back to a day at sea scarcely three weeks ago, just
before dawn……

The stranger turned to Li
and he was astonished to see a woman standing before him. She said
“He… in…. danger. I… take him…. help…you…run…..
Elsie
. You run now!” She stooped and
gently picked up Ian as if he was a babe. The sense of being picked
up brought him to just enough consciousness that he noticed the
faint scent of lilac washing over him as her hair cascaded
momentarily onto his face. He was aware of seeing a face dimly
above him, as a pale oval. Then they bounded away like a flash. Ian
could make out the buildings flashing by at an unimaginable speed.
He again caught the scent of lilac. As they sped through the dark
streets of Marseille, he sank into unconsciousness. An interminable
time passed and he thought that he was being carried by a woman,
but as he began to again spiral down into blackness he thought that
she had stopped and gently laid him on the ground.

She said in broken English with a
French accent “Ian, you… drink or… you die. Drink mon ami, and
live.” Ian felt a warm and slightly salty liquid at his lips and
did as he was told, yet believing now that he was delirious and
only dreaming.

After several minutes, she said “Now
you…live Ian. We go.” Ian was aware of being tenderly picked up,
and again they bounded away. The streets and buildings blurred by
again at an unbelievable speed as before and the wind of their
passage roared in his ears. Finally Ian decided that he’d died and
that this was an angel carrying him to heaven. Thinking he must
have imagined the rest, he slipped into unconsciousness
again.

Ian again regained consciousness even
as the one carrying him changed from her ground-eating stride to
make one bound, landing squarely in the center of a broad veranda.
A large house loomed overhead in the darkness. He heard her shout
“Marie, Marie!” as she held him gently. “We…here Ian. We…help you
mon ami.”

From inside came the sounds of someone
unlocking the huge oak door and a golden pool of lamplight spilled
out onto the veranda. Ian was gently carried into the house. He was
aware of another peering down at him, and then of a hurried
conversation in French. Then the woman bounded and leaped upwards,
bearing him to a gentle landing and he knew he was hallucinating
because she’d just leapt up a whole flight of stairs with him in
her arms.

He was whisked into a large room and
lowered into a bed. The woman who had carried him tenderly adjusted
his pillow, her hair again cascading over his face. Finally he was
settled and still. He wanted to talk but again spiraled down into
unconsciousness.

When Li had reached
Elsie,
all hell broke
loose. The ship’s bell rang and general quarters was sounded.
Quickly the longboats were launched with the fully-armed crews of
Elsie making for shore at all speed. The harbormaster was alerted
that a vicious beast had attacked Ian in Marseille near the
Red Dolphin.
The King’s
Gendarmes were sent for and soon they were all at the
Red Dolphin
with Li
showing exactly where this had happened. There was one gendarme who
spoke some English, so he was able to get the details.

Li took Angus aside and Angus’ eyes
widened when Li described the attack and pointed to the building
where it had leapt from. “Li don’t tell anyone including our
shipmates what you just told me.”

Angus knew that they couldn’t tell the
King’s Gendarmes these details. Their best use was their manpower
and their familiarity with Marseille. He hoped that it might be
that Ian would be found yet that night or at daylight.

***

Ian dreamt of fighting a dragon and
being saved from certain death by an angel who could fly. English
and French women were talking in the distance somewhere. He was
flying through the air with her and began to hear birds chirping
all around them. Suddenly he was awake, and saw that he was in an
opulent room, lavishly furnished. A large window was open and it
was morning. Birds sat singing in a large tree outside. He looked
about and saw the woman who had brought him there. She sat very
still, looking at him with the most beautiful and exquisite gray
eyes. They were wide-set and like he remembered, she had a creamy
complexion, with a hint of pinkness in her cheeks, and her sensual
lips were a delicate shade of pink. Her hair was a light shade of
honey, slightly wavy with golden highlights, and hung gracefully,
framing her beautiful face. Her skin had a slightly polished look,
as of polished ivory if it was possible. There was almost a glow
about it.

He croaked “Did you really…bring me
here?”

“
Yes.”

“
What happened?”

“
You were
attacked.”

“
I remember, a wild beast
attacked me. I…I fought it, but I was losing.”

“
Well….yes.”

“
You knocked it off of me.
You fought it”

“
Yes.”

“
Thank you…I don’t know your
name.”

“
I’m Cosette Bouchard,
Ian”

“
You know my name? Oh, you
read that story in the newspaper.”

“
I just read it
today.”

“
But……..you knew my name
last night.”

“
Yes.”

“
How?”

“
I heard your friends call
your name, many times.”

“
I remember now. You were at
the
Blue Oyster
.”

“
Yes.”

“
You were across the street,
before I went inside that first time.”

“
Yes.”

“
Did you see me again before
last night?”

“
Yes Ian, I saw you many
times. I saw you walking about in Marseille, mmm…I saw you with
your friends at the salvage docks too. Then I saw you singing with
your friends and I saw you swimming with the others by your
ship.”

“
I….I knew it.”

She nodded, and he realized it was the
first time she had moved since they had started talking. “I could
tell that you felt me watching you. How is it that you can…. feel
that?

“
I don’t know. It….just
happens. It is a prickling feeling on the back of my
neck.”

At this, she raised her eyebrows, and
he realized that was only the second time she had moved since he
had been awake. “You are surprised… Cosette?”

“
I am, Ian. I’ve never seen
nor heard of such a thing…..and neither has Madame
Lafayette.”

“
Who is that?”

“
She is my best
friend…..more like a mother to me. I told her about you after
bringing you here last night. This is her home, and I live here
too.”

“
How did you bring me here?
I thought we were flying…..I must have been out of my mind…..that
beast bit me.”

She laughed then, a little bit of a
husky laugh for a woman, but with an exotic musical quality. “You
were weak, but not out of your mind.”

“
You…..you really
…..carried…..me here, Cosette?”

“
Yes.”

“
How did you do that? I mean
where are we now?”

“
It is easy for us. We are
some thirty five miles from where you were attacked.”

“
But how…..you said it is
easy for us? Who else helped you? I only remember you.”

Laughing that husky laugh again she
said “It’s easy for my kind.”

“
Your kind, Cosette? What do
you mean?”

She sat silent for a moment, her
beautiful eyes fixed on his. Finally she said “I am a vampire,
Ian.”

At that, Ian sat as still as Cosette,
staring at her. Neither spoke. Ian became conscious of a clock
ticking somewhere in the house, and he could hear sounds outside
both near and some far. Finally he said “There are no such
things.”

“
There are, Ian. I am one,
as is Madame Lafayette. Now you’re one too, mon ami.”

“
I’m a vampire? How is
that?

“
You were bitten last night
by a vampire. He was sent to kill you because of the way you beat
LeBlanc last night, when you stopped him from beating my
brother.”

‘
The lad…he is your
brother?”

“
Yes. You were very brave
Ian, and also very kind. I was….impressed, more than that, I
was
moved
mon ami.
And I was very impressed with the way you fought
LeBlanc.”

“
What is ‘mon ami’? I don’t
speak French.”

“
It means ‘my friend’. Ian,
I’ve never seen such fighting. Where did you learn
that?”

“
My friend, Li Hong taught
me. Why do you say I’m a vampire? I feel no different
today.”

“
You would have died but for
my blood.”

“
That was what you gave me
when we stopped for a while?”

“
Yes.”

“
Why?”

“
If I hadn’t, you’d have
died instead of crossing over.”

“
Cross over?”

“
That’s what we call it when
a human becomes a vampire, Ian. You’ve crossed over. You are no
longer human, mon ami.”

He shook his head and sat in
silence as that sunk in, and then he said. “You were watching me
many times before I ever helped your brother. Why was that?” She
looked away, then back at Ian and smiled shyly “I was looking for
my brother and saw you with your friends one day at the
Blue Oyster
. You looked
directly at me, Ian. I ……..somehow knew that you…… felt me looking
at you, and that we……were supposed to ……meet. It was almost as if
you drew me with your eyes, mon ami. So I followed you inside and
again, you knew I was looking at you. I could sense it, but I just
couldn’t believe it.”

At that, Ian laughed saying “Ah
lassie, you’re not the only one in this room having trouble
believing something.” At that Cosette again laughed that marvelous
husky, but musical laugh. “You have a wonderful sense of humor,
Ian.”

“
Cosette, you…..seemed to
not be able to talk last night. I….remember you
speaking…..but…maybe I remember wrong?”

“
You remember correctly,
Ian. After arriving here last night, Marie took time to teach me to
speak English.”

He let that one sink in for a bit,
then said “You learned to speak English last night?”

“
Yes. Vampires learn very
fast, Ian. It took several hours, all night really. She taught me
in this room, over in the corner on the sofa. She wanted to teach
me somewhere else, but I wouldn’t leave you. You’ll soon be able to
speak many languages. Marie is an excellent teacher.”

“
Ah, lassie! She’s driven
her ducks to a poor market the day she tries to teach me a
language. I’m a Scot. The English canna understand my version of
English.”

Again Cosette laughed, saying “Ian,
I’ve not laughed like this since living here. What magic do you
use?”

“
Och lassie! Magic ye
say?
You
carried
me thirty five miles and
I
am using magic?”

At this, Cosette threw back her head
and laughed all the more as Ian stared at her in
wonderment.

“
So our guest is feeling
better today?” Ian looked towards the door and saw a petite,
beautiful, regal looking lady, maybe forty years old looking at him
with remarkable violet-blue colored eyes. She was immaculately
attired in a simple but elegant dress and her glossy raven hair was
done up in a style that he’d seen in London. Like Cosette, her skin
seemingly had a glow about it, similar to polished porcelain. She
was carrying a silver tray with a silver cup on it.