Salem Moon (26 page)

In Lily
’
s bedroom, she told him about the dream that wasn
’
t a dream, about Lucien
’
s touch and his words. She opened her robe and showed him her
shoulder.
Gabriel gasped when he saw the deep bite marks, the shape of teeth prominent even while small trickles of blood emanated from the wounds.

“
He…
touched
you? He did
this
to you?
”

She nodded.
“
Yes. He said he was you, but I knew he wasn
’
t…
”

“
Damn you to Hell! How
dare
you do such a thing?!
”
Gabriel yelled into the room.
“
Show yourself, you bastard!
”

The sound of mocking laughter echoed through the room.

“
He
’
s here,
”
Gabriel
said.
Again, she went into his arms where she felt safe.

“
Did you really think I would abide by your wishes, Gabriel? What is it to you if I touch her
, if I make love to her?
Are you afraid I might prove more of a man than you? A better lover?
”

“
I swear to almighty God, Lucien, if you touch her again I will kill you.
”

Silence.

“
Gabriel, look!
”
Lily shouted, pointing to the window. There, at the window
was
the steamy breath of a living being. It was Lucien, appearing once again as the Arctic Wolf. Two red eyes peered in through the window pane and the mouth opened as if in slow motion, grinning.
The creature snarled fiercely.
But, Lucien was obviously struggling to maintain this form as Gabriel fought against him with his mind, willing him to leave
,
to keep Lily safe until he could fight him alone. The figure at the window waned, became translucent and was gone.

“
Stay with me tonight, Gabriel. I…can
’
t be without you and I don
’
t want any harm to come to Dylan because of that…
thing
.
”

“
I am not going anywhere, Lily. I promise
.
I will protect
both
you and Dylan.
”

They lay under the down comforter together, he lying on his back
,
she
resting
her head on his chest and
holding
tight to his forearm.

As she listened to the steady beat of his heart, the rhythm made her drowsy and she fell asleep in his arms. All was quiet. Gabriel watched her sleep, marveling at each delicate breath she took
,
her lips slightly parted.
He brushed the hair gently away from her
forehead
, noting how smooth it was. S
he looked peaceful, as if she knew she was safe in his arms, just as it should be.

Suddenly, a thought came to him
. He
understood something that Lucien either could not understand or had lost on his perilous fall from the grace of God
,
that one could love another even more than one
’
s own self. Yes, Lucien had indeed underestimated the very real power of love.

T
he weeds grew knee high where Gabriel walked. The scent of this place was dank with the smell of raw earth, and stagnant water. Underneath that was the scent of flowers, unlike any he had ever smelled. He heard the loud buzzing of the heat bugs and his brow broke out
with
sweat. In fact his whole body felt like a cloud of moisture had fallen on him. His clothes stuck to him. Things unseen slivered in the stagnant water
. Evil
things
,
entities he was sure were better hidden from view.

He felt odd, as though he was only a voyeur here, looking upon this place from a great distance, detached from it completely. At the same time, he felt the humidity, smelled these flowers, and heard the sounds of what was obviously swampland.

He had to be dreaming, and yet he remained alert. Even with the decay of this place, there was an inexplicable beauty to it. There, on the very banks of the swamp was a house. The structure was leaning toward the
stagnant water
and appeared as if it would eventually succumb to it. The wood was green with mold, even black in some places and the weeds had broken through the paved walkway. The front porch railings were a tangled
jumble
of broken spokes and split and rotted wood
, leaning
outward from the porch. The landing was a treacherous mess of
snapped and
splintered wood
. H
oles appeared everywhere, revealing only black nothingness below. God only knew what lived under this forlorn, neglected house.

Even the trees here were different
. The
great limbs of the Oaks were laden with Spanish moss, some of it reaching all the way to the ground. Trees in New England did not have this type of moss on them
. It
was indigenous to the south
.

Gabriel remained watchful, dream or not, remembering he and Lily
’
s plan to infiltrate the subconscious level of Lucien
’
s mind, to gather information that may lead them to Lilac
’
s whereabouts. He
forced his mind
to stay with this dream, to let it take him where ever it may. Finding himself at one of the elongated windows in front of the house, he peered in.

The interior was cloaked in shadow, the filth of the windows making it difficult to see
through
. He wiped at the greasy dirt with his shirt sleeve and there, as he took his arm away, he caught movement in his peripheral vision,
to
one side. He turned his eyes to that one spot and waited for whatever
moved
among those dark shadows.

There were
many
warning signs posted around the property, Danger, Keep Out,
and No
Trespassing. And then he spotted a number on the house and a name as well. He did not recognize the number, but the name took him completely by surprise
.
Ah
,
yes the name was one he had known while growing up in the Salem of old
.

The number 1303 and the name of J. Gordon, Veterinarian had been painted all those years ago on the front facade of the home. The paint had faded and chipped in the hot, damaging southern sun, but it was there
.
His father had once described this very place to him and his sister both. This was the home of the kindly southern veterinarian that had sent them their dog, Hunter
.

Had the family itself died out? Was that why this house, which had at one time been splendidly appointed in the opulence and traditions of the old
south, was
now left to die a slow death from the decay of time?
Eventually
, the structure would pitch itself even further forward until the swamp owned it.

Movement again
; this
time Gabriel had no doubt that it
was a
human being moving through the rooms
. A woman, her
head down, arms folded
as
she
walked
to each window and
peered
out, as if waiting for someone to come. Finally, she came to the very window he looked through
, her
eyes widening in recognition.

Time ceased as each looked upon the other and Gabriel
’
s heart pounded with excitement. It was
her,
Lilac! So, this
was
where Lucien was keeping her prisoner. Curiously, she shrank away from him, as if she did not want him to help her. He was puzzled by her behavior, but had little time to dwell on it. He needed to find some kind of sign to pinpoint her exact location so the police
could
find her.

Numerous days had passed since her disappearance and Chief Thompson and his ex-wife had called a truce in their never ending bickering so they could focus their attention on finding their daughter.

Gabriel circled the property once more, this time stepping out into the murky swamp water where he found what he
’
d
been looking for
. Hidden
from view
in
the high growing weeds and bramble bushes, he spotted what looked like a piece of white washed wood. He waded over to it, mindful of the slivering beings moving away from him. He cleared the brush and weeds away and there he saw it:
“
Devil
’
s Tear Swamp
.
”

As he turned back toward the house, he felt a strong gust of wind at his back and heard the whooshing sound of large wings. When he turned around, he found himself face to face with Lucien.

“
So, you think you are clever, my sweet innocent boy
,
that you were able to find the devil
’
s own lair.
”

“
Let her go, Lucien, she has nothing to do with what has passed between you and me.
”

“
If you want her, go get her. I will not stop you. You do not have the power to take her from me. This is a dream, remember? How then, will you carry her away from here? You cannot affect anything in the world of dreams. You may observe, but that is all.
”

“
I will…send others for her. They will bring her to safety. Take her away from
you
!
”

“
I assure you, I will not interfere in it. But are you so sure she wants to leave here, leave
me
?
”

“
Why in the world would she want to stay in this…wretched place? Does she know what you really are?
”

“
She knows but, does not care. Her desire for me is so great, that she has fallen in love with me.
”
His laugh was sarcastic and
cruel
.

“
After all, Gabriel, what is the difference between the two? Love and desire are one in the same.
”

“
They are not, Lucien
.
What do you know of love
? A
creature such as yourself who holds only lust and violence in its heart. You told me that you do not possess a soul
. Therefore
,
you cannot love as I can, as Lily can.
”

“
Ah, you are as naïve as she. When you first set eyes upon her, what was your true emotion? Did you love her? No! You
desired
her. You wanted to kiss that perfect mouth, touch her breasts,
lay with her
. And that
my friend is desire, not love. You cannot lie to me and tell me your thoughts were pure. They were not!
”

Gabriel
’
s face flushed with the truth of Lucien
’
s words. He could not deny that he had those thoughts but, he
’
d also pushed his base instincts down, and when they
’
d finally made love it was much more than he could explain to Lucien
. Their very
souls
had
touched. They were meant to be together and that was the real truth of it. That was
their
destiny.

“
You are right Lucien
.
I will not tell you that I don
’
t desire her. But you are also wrong. I desire her
because
I love her. Ours is a deepening love, a forever kind of love
,
that which you gave up on long ago when you stopped loving the one who made you
,
when you turned your face away from the grace of God.
”

Lucien
’
s face displayed hurt amazement. He looked as if Gabriel had struck him. He left him standing there
and
, never
looked
back. He came
away
from the realm of dreams
back
to reality.