The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV (3 page)

“Connie MacIntyre's office.” She answered. I
looked over at Damien and sighed. “Hello?”

“Yes, could I speak to Ms. McIntyre?” I
asked.

“May I ask whose calling?” She replied.

“Caitlyn Moore.” I answered. “Her
sister.”

“One moment, please.” She replied and put me
on hold, letting me listen to the sleepy elevator music that was
always playing.

“Cait?” Connie's voice clicked over.

“Connie?” I replied. “Yeah, it's me.”

“What's wrong? You sound a bit frazzled.”

“Listen, I need some information.” I replied.
“And, it might seem a bit funny.”

“Whatever you need, do you want me to come
over?”

“No, but I might need you to watch Damien for
a couple of days. Rob's on call and if I get what I need, I might
have to take a trip.”

“Okay, Cait, you're freaking me out.” Connie
replied, with worry in her voice. “Spit it out, what's up? Did you
and Rob have a fight?”

“No, it has nothing to do with Rob and I,
we're fine.” I paused, thinking about how to put this in terms that
she might get, without getting upset. “It's about Julian.”

“Excuse me; I thought I heard you say
Julian.” She whispered.

“I did. I think I remember him.” I sighed.
“My dreams have become more vivid, and I decided to look in those
boxes you gave me from Mom and Dad. I found the house pictures. I
remembered it as if were always part of me.”

“It was, for three years, and so was Julian,
but why now? Why not before?” Connie asked, thinking to herself.
“I'll come over after work to explain what I can.” She paused.
“Never mind, I'll be over after lunch.”

“Won't that hurt your record?” I asked,
thinking about her job.

“Cait, what good is it being Junior Vice
President with a perfect record if you can't pull any favors now
and again?” Connie sighed. “Twelve-thirty, okay?”

“I'll be here.” I replied and hung up the
phone.

Damien was sleeping when Connie came in. She
smiled at me as I sat on the couch, then she rubbed my head, which
she had always done, and sat beside me. She looked at the photo
album I held in my hands then she looked up at my eyes.

“He was your whole life.” She sighed.

“So, why can't I remember him?” I whispered.
I looked up at her and she shrugged. “When I think about him, and I
know what he looks like now, my heart just wants to pop out of my
chest. Did I love him that much?”

“Probably more.” She replied.

“Did he love me?”

“Without a doubt.”

“So,” I smiled oddly. “What happened?”

“I don't know. He brought you home that last
night, crying, and told me that until you asked not to tell you
about him.” Connie shrugged. “If you remembered what he looks like,
maybe you'll remember the rest on your own.”

“Where is he?” I asked, Connie sighed.

“Do you really want to chase him? Damien and
Rob are your family now.”

“I just want to know.” I shrugged. “I have to
at least know, besides, I think I'm entitled to know what happened
to those three years of my life, don't you?”

“Okay, well...” She sat back and folded her
hands together. “What do you remember?”

“The first day that he and I saw each other,
the first time he made his presence known, even then I just had a
feeling.” I answered, standing up and walking over to the window to
look out. “I remember that we spent most of the day at the park,
and I didn't see him again, but I knew that he existed, and I knew
what he was. I know that when I told you about him, you basically
told me that I was insane and that no one was standing in that spot
when you looked over, but I knew what I saw, and what I felt.

“I knew he was a vampire, there was no way
the wind could carry a name like that and to finally feel one, not
just anyone, but Julian, was overwhelming. By feel, I mean the way
he felt when he and I connected, as if I suddenly knew everything
there was to know about him. I know I saw his past in my dreams for
nights after we left, and I dreamed of him when I found out that we
would be returning to the park. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't
insane, and that what I felt from him was totally real.

“It was later that summer that we went back,
by then, I had told you, and Beth about him, over and over, until
you were sick of hearing about it. He had become my new obsession.
I believed that he was a vampire, but what I couldn't understand
was why he had shown himself to me, and then just disappeared. It
wasn't until we went up there again that I truly understood the
connection.”

“Do you remember the next time you met?”
Connie asked. I looked at her, and then smiled.

“I didn’t dream it last night, but it's there
now, as if it had just popped into my head.” I replied. “It's
funny, but it's like my head is just making this up as I go.”

“It's not.” Connie said, not smiling anymore.
“It's real, very real, and so is Julian, but there are things that
happened, things that I can't tell you that may scare you. They're
dangerous, Julian and the others, even though you’re so distant
from it now. I know that this isn't something you can jump right
back into.”

“I'm not going to jump right back into it,
Connie. You don't understand that all I want is to know what
happened to those three years.” I sighed and closed my eyes. “Do
you want me to tell you about what happened next, what I
remember?”

“Go ahead.”

“Beth and Laura were walking down the beach,
collecting seashells and you were lying beside me on the blanket,
trying to get a tan. I think you fell asleep because you didn't
move when I stood up, suddenly, and I looked towards the wooden
walk-way that led from the beach to the green grass at the park.” I
closed my eyes then sat down on the love seat that was by the
window, trying to concentrate on the visions in my mind.

“There were two reasons why I had even
returned to this place, it seemed to draw me to it, it was in my
thoughts, and I found myself staring at the pictures I had taken
every time I took them out, I felt as if I belonged there.

“And then, there was the matter of the raven
haired vampire, Julian. He was foremost on my mind when we came
back to this place, and this time I was determined to find him.

“As I stood, looking up this ramp, I noticed
the black hair blowing in the breeze just over the small hill,
where the sand dunes were. I felt the familiar overwhelming feeling
that I had the last time I was there and made my way up the ramp to
the deck. He stood there, as I came closer, in the corner of the
deck, his arms out on the wooden railing. His head was bent, only
slightly, downwards as the stray hairs from his ponytail blew in
his face, and he looked up at me with those green eyes.

“He was dressed, almost like he had been
before, except that his shirt was a bit different. There was no
collar this time, no place for a tie. He watched me come close. His
childish looking face seemed quite amused as he smirked.

“I stopped and looked him over. There he was,
in living color, the man who had been in my thoughts for what
seemed like forever. I looked him over more carefully this time,
taking in everything, from his broad shoulders to the way you could
see the muscles flexing under his shirt, and I watched as his chest
rose and fell with his slow, calm breathing. His sleeves were
rolled up, as if he were hot, but didn't want to show it, exposing
his bare forearms, which looked like they had been used for doing
some sort of heavy work. He was all man, in all the right ways, and
he smiled, as I admired him, no doubt reading my thoughts, not that
you couldn't just see it on my face as I felt my cheeks blush.

“He looked as if he were about to laugh at
me, as I stood there, then I jumped as he pushed himself off from
the boards, and crossed his arms as he walked towards me. I stood
frozen just staring at him as he made his way over to me.

“Don't be scared.” A strong, sexy, masculine
voice spoke softly to me. It took me a moment to figure out it was
him. “I don't bite,” he whispered, then stopped in front of me,
“unless you want me too.”

“I know what you are.” I said, and covered my
mouth. The words had just slipped out and it scared me, suddenly.
He knew, that I knew, now what was he going to do?

“I know.” He replied. He stood a good six
inches taller than I did, maybe more, because he seemed to have to
bend down to get close enough to me. I shied away as he came
closer, his presence becoming quite overwhelming. “You know a lot
about me, but there's still a lot you don't know.”

“Julian.” I whispered, not believing that I
was even speaking. He smiled and nodded. I looked at him, suddenly
realizing that the voice in the wind was his. “Why are you showing
yourself to me?”

“Because, you know a lot about us. About what
we are.” He replied and reached out to me.

“We?” I asked and shrank back from his
fingers. “There are others?”

“There always is.” He laughed. I turned and
glanced down at the beach, wondering if anyone realized that I had
gone, and when I looked back, to where Julian had been right in
front of me, he was gone.

“How will I find him again? I thought to
myself, and if I knew so much about them, why did I feel like such
an ass. Why couldn't I bring up any information about them, though
I had been studying them, through books my whole life, and if he
was one, what was he doing out in the sunlight?

“These were all questions that ran through my
head as we left to go home. I cornered Connie, told her about my
experience then listened to her lecture me on how I really
shouldn’t go off chasing strange men, who happen to think that he
was a vampire, no matter how good looking they might be.”

Connie shook her head. “I don’t think it
would be a good idea to follow up on this.”

“I don’t understand why you feel that I’m not
capable of handling this. I just want to go back there and see.
Odds are that he doesn’t even live there anymore, so would you just
spit it out?” I asked her, feeling this pull in my chest that
seemed to be slowly turning into a throbbing pain. “Connie, I swear
that whatever happens, I won’t get caught up in it; I just need to
see it with my own eyes and not in a photograph.”

“Fine, but you have to promise me that you’ll
call if you leave, everyday.” She sighed. “What are you going to
tell Rob?”

“That I need to see Grandma, that it’s an
emergency and that she’s ill and Damien can’t come. I’ll give him
my cell phone number to call, since grandma disconnected her phone
a few weeks ago, all she has now is voice mail through her nurse.”
I shrugged. Connie smiled at me, and then nodded.

“I’m going to take a two week leave, which
should give you enough time to get what you need done. I’ll stay
here with the baby and Robert until you come back.” Connie replied,
and then looked up at me. “If Julian is still around, give him a
message for his friend Nick. Tell him that I’m still waiting for
that phone call.” I looked at her questioningly, and watched as she
put up her hand. “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

“So, what’s this place called?” I asked,
softly, trying to conceal my nervousness.

“La Amour’ Memorial State Park, just on the
outskirts of New London, Connecticut. It looks just like the
picture.”

“Julian lives in a state park?” I asked,
laughing.

“It wasn’t always a state park. From what I
understand, there was a girl in their lives just before you came.
She was, apparently, very important to their “survival” but her
parents moved her away. After she left, Julian turned all the
rights to the place over to the state, who said that they could
live there, if they opened the house to the public, which they’ve
only recently done.” Connie replied.

“So, who’s this girl?” I asked. Connie
shrugged, and then looked at me.

“I don’t know; they never talked about her.”
Connie stood and walked over to the door. “I have to go back to
work, but let me know what your plans are, okay?”

I watched her pick up her pocket book, pat
the side of it, and then look up at me quickly. She moved back
towards me and sat on the couch, where from the depths of the black
bag beside her, she withdrew a small black book with an eerie red
design, nothing recognizable, but still a unique design.

“What’s this?” I asked as she handed me the
book

“It’s a journal that you kept from the first
summer we visited the house. Mom and Dad found it one day, which is
why you stopped writing in it, and took the damn thing. I found it
after they died, buried in the underwear drawer of mom’s dresser,
and kept it figuring one day you’d remember.” Connie reached over
and hugged me then kissed me quickly on the cheek. “Please, say
that you’ll be careful.”

“I will.” She made her way to the door once
again, waved and then disappeared out it. I sat back on the couch,
letting the waves of excitement that I felt wash over me as I
placed the book on my lap and opened it to the first page.

“I know.” He whispered, softly, and I looked
up into his eyes, being caught in their splendor. “I've been there,
I've watched you sleep.” He blinked, seductively, then stepped back
and turned, promptly walking away. I watched him leaving, as Connie
touched my arm. She, too, watched him walking away.

“Was that him?” She asked. I nodded. “Well,
let's go after him.”

“No.” I whispered, and then looked at her,
suddenly afraid to have her know even a little about him. “No, we
can't. We have to find Laura and Beth. It's dangerous.”

“Are you okay? Did he threaten you?” She
asked. I shook my head, but, at that moment, I couldn't say
anymore. We walked away and went to find the other two.

I stopped walking, and turned to look at
Connie, who was looking at me oddly. She looked quite concerned and
then took my hand.