Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (40 page)

I open my mouth to object, when Jackson puts
his hand on me. “Don’t, he is right, we can’t approach Grant, nor
would he believe us. We’ll make sure he stays safe. Don’t
worry.”

I wait for Eva and then head over to meet
Jeff at the terminal building knowing he would never bring Amelia’s
body anywhere near his children. Jeff is already there when I
arrive. His face is hard as if he has shut down completely and is
on automatic pilot, carefully examining the wounds. He stops a
moment when I walk in, but immediately turns back to the task at
hand without even a word. I approach slowly and can see that not
only are there several lashes, but one side of her neck and
clavicle area is torn to shreds.

Putting my hand on his shoulder, I want to
tell him how sorry I am about his aunt and to tell him what we
discovered, but he whips around facing me, his eyes enraged, and
his features murderous. His hand comes up as if he is going to push
me when a voice calls out behind me. I freeze as Julianne yells.
“She didn’t do anything and neither did her children. Jeff
stop!”

He pushes past me and phases before he is
even out of the room.

She comes over to me quickly. “Mia, you need
to warn the others. He smells vampire and wolf all over Amelia and
there’s no telling what he will do.”

“I call Jackson to warn him then call Ryan
and Eva. We assume he is going after our party in the woods, but
can’t be sure and I want to cover all of the bases. I even call
Andrew, in case he heads that way.

After closing the phone, I turn to Julianne.
I don’t understand, how could vampire be on her? Wasn’t she
attacked by a wolf?”

“I don’t know, but I could smell it as soon
as I walked into the room.”

It must be because Reginald was in here with
David’s body earlier. “He probably smelled David. I’m sure there
must be traces of him and my family all over this room.”

“No it wasn’t him. None of us would ever
forget his scent and that is not it.”

“Maybe it’s Andrew’s or James.”

Julianne’s eye’s shift toward the floor as if
she doesn’t want to see the body and considering who is on the
slab, I cannot blame her. “Maybe we should leave.”

“I have to do this first and make sure that I
am right.” Stepping closer, she inhales deeply and jumps back, her
widening eyes staring into mine. “He smelled a vampire and wolf on
her body. It is not from the room, it is from the wound. That’s
what made him so crazy.”

Gently, I lead her outside. “Julianne, my
family would not do this to your aunt. I know that you don’t know
me and considering you have been dealing with David’s family, I can
understand your apprehension about vampires, but I assure you that
my family is nothing like that. They are dedicated to preserving
life not taking it.”

She smiles. “I know that. You don’t have to
convince me. I haven’t been here long, but I have talked to your
students and observed what you have going on up here and I also
know what you risked coming in for Jacob, Paul and I. Believe me,
it is not Paul, Charlie, or I that you have to convince, it is the
adults.”

“Do you recognize the scent?”

“Not really, there is something that’s
familiar about it, but not quite, I can’t put my finger on it, but
I know for sure, it isn’t your husband or his family, there is no
trace of them coming from the wound, there’s only a faint scent of
Andrew on her skin, but nowhere near the tear.”

“You can be that specific?” I inquire
stunned.

“When a wound is pretty fresh and we really
concentrate, yes.”

“Maybe you should go back and make sure
Charlie is doing alright. I have to go and speak to a few people
about what is going on. We have to get some answers before things
get out of hand. Stay within the grounds and on your way back, try
to call Paul and let him know what’s happening.”

“I can’t call him, he has probably phased so
that he can detect scents and follow my dad’s tracks, but I’m sure
that they will return soon and I’m sure that he heard your warning
to Jackson.”

She’s off and I head to Andrew to tell him
what’s going on. Although I’m sure he is busy with Lucas, if things
are about to explode and there is someone else on the grounds, he
has to know. Arriving, I hear Lucas is awake.

Opening his door, I see a distraught
Catherine and weary Andrew. My heart sinks, it doesn’t look like
David’s blood is working. Plastering a smile to my face and forcing
my tone to sound upbeat, “I’m glad to see you up. You look better
than when we first brought you in.”

“Mia, I look terrible, but Andrew and
whatever is in David’s blood seems to be giving me some more time
to spend with my Catherine and I’m very grateful for that. How are
Nicholas and Kayla?”

“They are very worried about their uncle and
they need you to get strong.”

“Come on Mia, we both know where this is
heading, but you need to promise me something.”

“What?” Catherine’s features turn from
desolation to stoic as she kisses his hand.

“You need to make them understand that it
wasn’t their fault.”

“Lucas, can I ask you about the wolf that
attacked you? Was there one or two?”

“There was only one and it came at me from
the side. Mia, Andrew said they thought I was at the cabin, but I
wasn’t. I would never risk them like that. I was only out in the
woods after we got word that the kids had gotten loose. I didn’t
want them to phase back somewhere alone, not knowing where they
were and it was beginning to get light out. It’s bad enough knowing
that I caused all of this.”

“I know you weren’t out there. Nicholas
remembers what happened at the cabin, he remembers seeing Reginald
and even his scent, but he doesn’t remember you there at all. He
swears that he would have known it was you and Kayla confirms the
same thing.”

“Kayla is talking again?” Andrew interjects
surprised.

“Charlie and Jacob got her speaking again.
Once she was convinced that I believed her that they weren’t
chasing Lucas but someone else, she came out of her room.”

“Lucas, what did the wolf looked like?”

“It was brown and fairly big, why?”

My heart sinks, but as I look around the
room, I realize how many different variations of one color there
actually are. “Was the wolf a deep chocolate brown?”

“No, lighter, it was taupe, maybe tan,
why?”

My heavy heart lifts realizing it wasn’t
Kayla but turns fearful again as it strikes me that there’s another
wolf on the land, one that was not the four that I had been with.
“Lucas, neither Nicholas nor Kayla are light brown. They were
telling the truth, they didn’t do this to you. They did find
you.”

“Then who did it?”

“I don’t know, but Nicholas is almost black,
while Kayla is a deep brown almost like dark chocolate. It couldn’t
have been Grant or Jeff either. They are both shades of gray.”

“Do we know what color the others are?”
Catherine asks, her eyes more alert.

“I don’t, but Julianne could probably tell
me.” I call her. “Julianne says that she and her family are
variations of gray, except for Charlie who is almost black.”

Andrew’s features turn grave and Gabriel is
out the door before another word is spoken. Andrew turns to head
out. “I’ll be back, get Lucas started on Marlena’s blood.”

“Be careful, if it bites you.”

“Don’t worry.” He kisses me gently on the
forehead before leaving.

Before I give Lucas the blood, his body
starts contorting, pain etched in his face. Finally he stops
contorting enough that he can safely drink. “I’m alright now. Mia,
you should really get back to the children.” Knowing he wants time
with Catherine, I leave.

I want to check on the children, but wonder
if it would be more useful to find James and see if Amelia’s body
could give us any clues as to what we were looking for. I find him
in the research lab. “I need your help.”

“Sure, just let me put this vile away. I’m
testing the abnormalities in your, Marlena and David’s blood. Give
me one minute.” He returns instantly. “What do you need?”

“How good are you at autopsies?”

“Why?”

“You know Amelia’s body was brought in.
Everyone thought it was the kids that attacked Lucas but they
didn’t. I don’t know what Grant and Jeff believe about Amelia’s
attack, but they probably suspect the children or a vampire. I need
to know what you can tell me about the one who killed Amelia.
Everyone is out in the woods right now, and I need to know as much
as you can tell me before something bad happens.”

He rushes downstairs and immediately starts
examining the body, carefully cutting layers of muscle and cleaning
the bone underneath. He shakes his head as he brings the light
closer and closer. Finally, he turns to me. “I know why Jeff went
so ballistic, he was right, he did smell vampire all over her, but
it is not one of us. Come and take a look.”

Moving closer, he points out two nicks on the
bone about an inch to inch and one-half apart. “Is that what I
think it is?”

“Yes, and from the looks of it, not only was
it done by one very determined vampire, it was done more than
once.”

“What do you mean she was bit more than
once?”

“Mia, look at the indentation carefully, she
was bitten at least twice because the indentation indicates two
different angles. The tearing through the muscle is quite barbaric.
I have seen many a bite, but whoever did this was angry, not just
feeding.” Although I can’t see it, I know he is sure. Just then,
his watch goes off. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“No, that’s alright, I have to get in touch
with Andrew. Call me and let me know what else you find.” Letting
Andrew know what we found out and what we now suspect, I run to get
Martina, other than Gabriel, she is the only one who could confirm
my suspicions. We walk into Marlena’s room together.

She stares at me as a smirk crosses her face.
“So I hear that your children did my job for me, Lucas is dying and
because you killed David and turned me, he will turn to nothing
before day’s end. It’s rather ironic, you may have turned me into a
lowly human, but I will return to my rightful and superior state
while your precious Lucas will finally be turned to ash by the one
thing he insisted on saving.”

“Lucas will be fine.” I retort trying to
sound convincing.

“You are not a very good liar. My blood is
contaminated by yours, he was bitten by a wolf that...” She stops
and then just stares coldly at me. “He will die.”

“Marlena, I know that some of those, David
sired who live here have been contacted and that they are on our
land. I know that they killed Amelia and that they somehow have a
wolf that attacked Lucas, although why you would have what you
claimed is a plague escapes me, but I know my children didn’t do
anything to their uncle and that Lucas will be fine, but you will
never be a creature of the night again. I’m done here, I have what
I want.”

“There’s where you are wrong. You’ll never
have the answers you are looking for until you know what you are.”
She starts laughing. “You won’t be able to save him and you won’t
be able to hold onto me.”

I turn. “What are you talking about?”

As I became more frustrated, she only laughs
harder. Not being able to listen to her for one more second,
knowing we now have bigger problems, I bolt from her room to warn
the others that we have barbaric vampires and a werewolf on
Sanctuary grounds endangering everyone.

Outside, Martina stops me. “Mia, you were
absolutely correct, the minute you started talking about the ones
David sired, her thoughts drifted to David contacting those who are
here, while they were getting her in position to meet our family,
they let them know that Marlena was on her way here with the
imposter Jacob and that they were to help her if she needed them to
take out Lucas and his family.”

“But they originally took Marlena to Victor’s
farm, not here.”

“You forget that we didn’t try to interfere
with them at all. When she thought there were more children coming,
she gave them the order to find out from where and to find out
about the family so that if everyone didn’t arrive, they would be
ready to take them out wherever they are. They came across our name
and Sanctuary doing a search. When they didn’t find anyone there,
they must have figured out it was some sort of deception and they
came here. Mia, this is not good. We don’t know how many are out
there and by now, I’m sure they have contacted the others and know
that David is dead and even if they don’t know about the imposter
Jacob and what happened to Marlena, they will probably try to come
here to get her, we are not prepared for this! They are not demons
so what protects us from a demon’s most deadly powers will not help
us. We have to gather everyone and let them know what is happening.
I know that when she looked at you, there was a flash of you
throwing David several feet, you should let all our witches know
what you did, maybe it will work on the rest of them too. Did
Andrew say if they found Jeff or Grant?”

“I know that Paul caught Grant’s scent
heading up toward the cabin and they were following it.”

“Mia, they need to get back here. We are
going to need everyone’s help if those vampires are coming. Do we
even know how many?”

“Jeff may know if they found him, he said
something about David siring a coven here and someone named William
heading it.” Calling Andrew, it goes directly to voicemail. “Andrew
you need to call me as soon as you can, we have some information
and need you back here. We think a coven David sired is on the
land!”

Martina is leaving a similar message for
Gabriel. We call Eva to warn her and she informs me that Cecil and
Amanda have arrived and are with them. Hanging up on her, we go to
warn the witches. I instruct them about what I did to repel David
and hope it will work. All of our children are moving up to the
buildings, and I am about to go check on my own when I realize
Sarah and the children are probably still in the house. Martina and
I rush there.