Resurrected (38 page)

Rising to her feet, Mylana
smoothed her clothing in an eerie regal display and again made her
way for Brian.

“Stop!” I
cried and stepped in front of Mylana. She grabbed hold of me and
with all of her preternatural strength tossed me against the nearby
wall like a rag doll. As my body dented the drywall, decorative
plates and candles from nearby sconces fell around me. Brian stood
braced for Mylana’s attack but had no will to fight back. I could
see he wanted her actions to be his punishment for his misdeed.
He
wanted
her to
hurt him.

“My God, what have I done?”
Mylana uttered under her breath.

I groaned in pain. Stone
was at my side in a split second and attempted to help me to my
feet, but as he reached for my left arm, I screamed out. My
shoulder had been dislocated. Instantly letting go of me, he turned
looked between Brian and Mylana, and mainly addressed
her.

“Are you
happy now? Is this what you wanted to achieve?” he began. “Just
accept that she is his now. But remember, she will always be
connected to you. She will love you and I’m sure hate you at times
as well. Things will fall back into order as before. You will
survive this. So will she.” Stone stood by my side, his
demeanour
very strong for someone so young. His words
penetrated Mylana’s resentment and her mood lightened. Despite
this, I still knew it broke her heart. She knew it was true and so
did I. Nothing could have broken the bond between us. We had shared
it for so long that it was like a second nature.

Stone then kneeled before
me and said, “I need to reset your shoulder before the blood heals
it in the wrong position.”

Nodding, I braced myself
for more pain. I could feel Stone place his hands and fidget for a
bit to find just the right angle and position to grab hold of my
arm and shoulder. Without holding back, he jerked my arm and pushed
on my shoulder. With searing pain I felt it pop back into place and
immediately the tingling sensation of the blood healing my shoulder
began to intensify. Leaning against the wall, I sighed and closed
my eyes and waited for the pain to wane.

As Stone cared for me, I
could sense his newly acquired empowerment and was prideful for the
first time ever within these walls of Chantonnay. He truly did
belong now and he had found his place within the clan.

Stepping closer to Stone, I
leaned in towards him and kissed him gingerly on the cheek, my lips
grazing the corner of his mouth.

“Thank you,” I said simply
and made my way to Mylana.

Standing before her, I
could see the blood tears well in her eyes. I reached out and
wrapped my arms around her, waiting for her to embrace me. She did
and all the stress disappeared.

“I will always love you.
You will always be my mentor, my teacher,” I said, pulling back and
out of the embrace. I wanted to look at her. I couldn’t help but
smile at her beauty, despite the red that streaked her cheeks.
Reaching up I wiped at the blood tears and as I took back my hand,
I licked the blood from my finger. Leaning forward, I kissed her on
the forehead then her cheek. Letting my lips linger longer than
normal, I relished the scent of her and as I pulled back, I licked
the last traces of Mylana’s blood tears from my lips.

I looked around the room
and realized it was just the four of us.

“Where is everyone?” I
asked. The instant my question left my lips, I saw Brian fidget.
The idea of more to come made him rather uncomfortable.

Mylana turned her gaze from
Stone to Brian and with elegance directed us to sit.

“We have a lot to talk
about. Better to be comfortable than to be standing around like
idiots,” she said, then turned and made her way over to the
fireplace. Before sitting, she picked up the poker and moved the
burning logs about, sending bright sparks up the chimney. It was
only once we were all seated that she began.

“It seems that Malachi,
left without giving a reason, and Eme was devastated. She and
Elijah went away together. She is in a bad place right now I think.
I think she feels used, but that’s just my opinion. I think Brenna
is out feeding, and well, probably looking for you Deirdra. But she
would never admit that to me.”

“And where is Adam?” I
asked, unable to wait for her to get to that part. I had to know.
Mylana for a good few moments said nothing. I could see she was
searching for a way to tell me what had happened.

“He’s gone,” she said.
“Malachi took in the last of his essence–his very soul if you
will–after Eme blood-let him as part of the resurrection spell that
brought you back. After you came back, we were all so shocked that
it had worked, and even more so that you had come back in human
form. With us drinking from him to keep him weak and the blood he
lost for the spell, it was a wonder he was even alive. So when
Malachi was left alone with him, he did the deed and took Adam’s
miserable life. It was Eme who told me of what had happened before
she left with Elijah.”

“So you mean, really gone?”
I asked in complete shock.

“Yes, his body turned to
ashes–” Mylana paused, her eyes darting between Brian and Stone. I
hadn’t known at the time, that is what had happened to me. It was
when I began writing this manuscript that I learned that particular
bit of information. Through purging my thoughts and getting my
fellow vampires’ side of their experiences to fill in the parts I
didn’t know, was how I got the full painful story. I now see how
her choice of words had affected her as it did. With a deep breath
and a large sigh, she continued.

“Malachi scattered his
ashes and we are finally rid of him.”

“Maybe so, but for all we
know he may live on within Malachi,” I said, unable to hold back my
pessimism. “But from what I have seen, what I have endured, there
is no way he can touch me. He could be standing before me now and I
would only feel pity for him.” A slight smile of pride graced my
features and I could see that my expression alone set Mylana and
Stone at ease.

The four of us sat in
silence a long time. It was welcomed after the events of the
evening. It was I that woke us from our stupor and rose to my feet.
I had come to a conclusion as I sat there with them. Oddly I felt
that I had no home, despite knowing that it was not true. I knew I
was welcome to be with Mylana as I always would and I knew Stone
wanted me to go back with Brian and himself. As for Brian, I was
sure he was still mentally attacking himself over what he had done
and that was all he was truly involved with at the time.

I needed and wanted to be
alone. For the first time in my life, both mortal and as a vampire,
I was ready to be alone. But I wouldn’t go far; I didn’t want to
leave my family. That was not what I wanted, but I had to sort
things out. Neither Chantonnay nor the hospital was the best
setting for that. They would be too much of a distraction. I was
reliving the effects of being a fledgling and it was like going
back in time, but with the wisdom of my previous
experience.

“Don’t be upset with me,” I
said, “but I need some time alone.”

Mylana’s eyes revealed her
melancholy and I knew she thought I was going to leave
her.

“I have decided to stay at
the Hotel Frontenac. I just need time away at a place where I can
relax and there are no distractions. I do not want to go far from
you; I just need to do this right now. I will still come between
Frontenac and Chantonnay.” I turned to look at Brian. “And I will
also see you the Asylum,” I added. Brian gave me a weak smile then
lowered his eyes to the floor.

“I can live with that, as
long as you are still nearby and I know I can see you,” Mylana
said, a warm smile crossing her lips.

“Stone, can you drive me to
the Frontenac?”

Without hesitation he stood
and nodded. “Yes, I wouldn’t mind at all.” Looking down at Brian,
he then returned his attention back to me. “I should take him home
anyhow.” Stone added and without saying a word, Brian rose to his
feet and began shuffling his way for the foyer. I went over to
Mylana and embraced her.

“I will come by in a few
nights.”

“Alright. I will tell
Brenna of what has happened then?”

“No, let me. Just tell her
where I am and send her over the night after tomorrow for midnight.
I will be waiting for her.”

“I will.” Mylana then
kissed my check. Turning I made my way to Stone and Brian, and
together we walked out into the cold to the cab.

Left standing outside the
Hotel, I watched as the dirty yellow cab drove away. I couldn’t
help but feel a sudden sting of loneliness, but I knew this was for
the best. I needed time to myself. This was the ideal time for me
to explore my past and present and what I hoped to attain for
myself in the future. I did not want to experience or live my
preternatural life as I had the first time, torturing myself over
what I had to do to survive. I was done with dipping my toes into
the pool. I was going to embrace every part of this life: my
lovers, my kin, and, at long last, my hunger for blood.

Epilogue

Well, I have finally come
to the end and have very little left to impart to you. This has
been a very pivotal portion of my preternatural life. One that will
always haunt me, but it is also what keeps my drive for survival so
much stronger.

It is now 2003 and I have
tried over the past three years since that experience to try to
clearly understand what had really happened. Now I am writing to
purge it all and to receive any or all information from my fellow
vampires so I can finally piece it together. If I do not, and deep
down I know I never will, I will have at least had time to re-bond
with my family of blood-drinkers. This in the long run drove me to
wanting to know more of their mortal and immortal life experiences.
Ah, but I digress...

Earlier I
spoke of
clearly
understanding what had happened. Well what I really mean is,
this time around I have found with each passing day, my vampiric
nature is different than the one I had before. What I had feared in
the beginning has happened. My insight–if you will–into Brian’s
insanity and having experienced my own personal hell… knowing that
I will eventually have to go back there, I believe it has finally
affected my sanity. Although Brenna likes to call it my new
intuition, the others like to deny that I have even changed at
all.

Since the first night I
went back to Chantonnay, which created the brawl between Brian and
Mylana, Eme and Elijah have returned. However, Eme tends to now
leave for long periods of time, something she never did in the
past. I know that she is secretly seeking out Malachi despite her
denial.

Also, I no longer have much
of a connection with Elijah. I think deep down I am abnormal to him
now and make him uneasy. But as one thing changes, so does another.
I have found myself rather comfortable within the company of Brian
and Stone, with whom I spend most of my time with, other than
Brenna. I do not mean to sound cruel but I will not and do not
allow myself to linger on things lost to me.

Brenna met me at the Hotel
Frontenac and I didn’t know what to expect from her. I didn’t know
if she would be relieved that I was a vampire again, or saddened
for the loss of my mortality. I also wondered if she was going to
angry about Brian doing the deed instead of Mylana. When we met I
could see the shock of my immortality register on her face. With a
weak and unsure smile, I directed her up to my rooms and told her
everything. She was the first to hear about my ordeal in limbo and
what it was like to be human again. Oddly, I found her more a
friend at that moment, like when I had first met her as a mortal,
than when she was my child. It was wonderful for me. Although I
never lost Mylana, she is now distant and cold to me at times.
Again, with some things lost, others are found…

So, I now
find myself wrapping this up as my fledgling hunger gnaws at me.
With all that I have written and all that I have heard, the one
thing that drives me–and all vampires–is the hunger and bloodlust
that must be appeased. And the one thing I have learned to live
with is that we will
always
be slave to it… and to the demon
within.

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