The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV (5 page)

“Don't be sorry, Julian.” I whispered
listening to his sighing then watched him blink, sleepily. “Just be
safe.”

“I won't be gone long.” He whispered. I
promise.”

“Don't make a promise you don't intend to
keep.” I replied. Julian drew in a deep breath as he stared into my
eyes.

“I have to go.” He said, quickly, then backed
away, only a bit as if he didn't really want to let go, but then he
stood, and I watched him walk to the door. Julian stopped and
turned to look at me. “Would it be wrong to love you?”

“No.” I said, honestly. He nodded and walked
out the door again.

I don't know what the threat is, Diary, but
if it made him leave, after all this time, then it can't be
good.

* * * * *

As I drove closer to the house, with trees on
one side of me and ocean on the other, I began to vaguely recall
the first time I had driven down here. The four of us girls were in
the back of a mini-van, and I was staring out the window, vaguely
listening to Beth and Laura debate over the best color of lipstick
to wear to the beach. Connie was asleep beside me and I watched, in
fascination as the view of the ocean grew.

This time, when I pulled up to the front gate
of the house, a young woman in a booth stopped me. She smiled at me
as I rolled down the window and handed her a five dollar bill, the
entrance fee to the park. She smiled and handed me a ticket, marked
with the date, and it took me a moment to work up the nerve to ask
her a question.

“Could you tell me if the man who owned this
house about six years ago might still be around?” I inquired.

“Oh, yeah, actually, Mr. Deveraux and Mr. La
Rouge both still live here.” She replied, cheerfully.

“They do?” I asked. She nodded again. “I
thought they turned this over to the state.”

“Well, sort of.” She smiled. “They decided to
open it to the public and since Mr. Deveraux owns a large company
that employs quiet a large number of the people who live here, the
state decided to name it a state park.”

“I don't mean to be so nosy, but are they
home at the moment?” I asked, as butterflies danced in my
stomach.

“Would you like me to call up to the main
house?”

“Um, well, I...I'm not sure if I'm going to
see them, but, I just wanted to make sure, just in case.”

“Are you a friend of the family?” She asked,
softly. I shrugged.

“I guess you could say that, but I haven't
seen them in a very long time.” I replied. She nodded, picked up
the phone and inquired about the two of them being in, and then she
turned to me and nodded. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” She whispered back and sat
back in the booth. I pulled the car threw and made my way up to the
oval driveway in front of the house.

Out of pure fascination, I parked the car a
bit away from the house and stared at it for a while, taking in the
whole scene and making sure I wasn't seeing things. It took me a
good thirty minutes to step out of the car and walk up to the
house, which I did on shaky legs. I reached out, with a hand that
didn't seem to be my own and touched the wall of this magnificent
house, smiling at the fact that my hand didn't go right threw it,
and then I stepped through the large double doors in front of
me.

Three women, who were sitting next to the
doorway, all stood and smiled at me. The youngest of the three, for
they all looked to be in their early fifties, walked over to
me.

“Would you like a tour, Miss?” She asked me.
I smiled at her, as I looked up at the five chandeliers that hung
above me, and shrugged.

“I'm not sure, yet.” I replied. “Actually, I
was hoping to see someone that I knew”

I looked over at her, and then down the
hallway as a strange but familiar feeling washed over me. He
stepped out of the door to my right and I watched the smile fade
from his face. It struck me suddenly, like a wave in the ocean,
crashing down on top of me. I knew this man.

“Maybe, I could be of service.” He said
before really looking at me and when he did, he stopped dead in his
tracks and stared. “Caitlyn?”

“Michael?” I whispered and felt the dizziness
take over. The three women, who were standing beside me, ushered me
to the nearest seat, where I could barely sit on my own. His face
came in and out of focus and I reached out to touch the blond
haired blur in front of me. My fingers brushed the cool skin on his
cheek and his hand came up quickly, pressing my hand against him.
“Are you real?”

“Cait, how do you feel?” He asked me, softly,
after instructing the women to get the others. What others? I asked
myself. Were there more of him? My eyesight slowly faded, bringing
me into darkness, with the same unanswered question on my mind.
Were they real?

3

It was still bright outside when my eyes did
open again, but instead of the chair that I had passed out in, I
was now laying on a large queen-sized bed, somewhere in the house.
I stretched and turned to look at the window, where I spotted a
figure standing. He was tall, almost six feet, and his hair was
long, and black. He had his hands tucked in the pockets of his tan
Dockers pants and the short-sleeved polo shirt he wore seemed to
show off every muscle he had on his arms and chest.

I stood, sliding out of bed, slowly, trying
not to startle him, although, if he was who I thought him to be, he
should have heard me long before then. I made my way over, towards
the window and stood there, staring at him as he looked out at the
ocean. I watched the playful smile stretch across his childish face
and he turned, slowly, to look at me. I saw him, and his green eyes
seemed to glow with love and affection. I took several steps back,
taking in his whole being before my body reacted to him standing
there.

“Oh, God.” I whispered, then turned and
walked out of the room. Why wasn't I prepared for this, for the
overwhelming feeling of being near him again? The reason was
simple, I didn't remember them, and I hadn't truly believed that
they existed.

I could hear him saying my name as I rushed
to get down the flight of stairs in front of me, slipping down the
last four as I went, only to be caught by the arms of another
familiar soul. I looked up into his hazel eyes, and even though he
smiled down at me, I couldn't help but feel fear towards him. I
backed away, knowing exactly who I was looking at but not sure how
I knew. His name was David Tarrot, and he looked at me oddly, and
then turned to his left as Michael walked into the picture.

“Cait, it's going to be alright, just take it
easy.” He said, as he put a hand up and made his way towards
me.

“Stay away from me!” I ordered, stepping back
from him.

“What's going on here?” Another voice
interrupted and I turned to the right to see the third one walking
over. He was tall, much like Julian, with the same black hair and
green eyes, but the difference was in the feeling, as he sent waves
of darkness and danger towards me. “Caitlyn?” He asked a bit
shocked to see me. He turned and looked up the stairs, which made
me look at the man who was calmly walking down behind me. “What's
with her, Julian?”

“Leave her be, Quinn.” Julian's soft voice
invaded my mind and he looked from Quinn, his younger brother, back
to me. “I don't think she quite remembers who we are.”

With those words, images flashed through my
mind, like an entire three hour movie in about five seconds and I
remembered everything, right down to the last thing he said to me
before I lost him. I stared at Julian, digging deep into those
green eyes, with my own and I stuttered, trying to get the words
out, but I couldn't and I turned and walked quickly toward the
door.

Julian followed, his presence was not all
that far behind, as I made my way, in the down pour of rain that
had started shortly after I had left the bedroom, towards my car,
which was still halfway down the driveway.

“Caitlyn! Caitlyn, wait!” Julian's voice
yelled above the beat of my heart and the echo of the rain in my
ears. I stopped, just beside my car, with the keys in my hands, and
I looked at him, tears running down my face. I understood, at last,
the strange emptiness I had felt for so many years, and I
understood that the only one who could fill it was him. He stopped,
five feet from me, and stared at me, the two of us completely
drenched, through the wet hair that fell into his face. “Please,
come back inside.”

“Where have you been?” I asked him, feeling
stupid for assuming that he would know how I was feeling. “Why
haven't you shown yourself to me? Why haven't you come when I
called on you?”

“Come inside and I'll explain it all to you.”
He pleaded.

“No!” I yelled at him. Julian stood straight
and silent as I started to move towards him. He didn't move when I
raised my hand and slapped him square across the face, and his eyes
closed as he looked to the side, waiting for my raised hand to
strike again, but as I brought it down, I rested it on his wet
skin, and turned his face towards me. Slowly, his eyes opened and
came to rest on mine. I stared at him for only a moment then
smiled. “I remember you.”

His arms came up and he wrapped them tightly
around me as he held me close to him, breathing deeply, no doubt
taking in everything about me, then he backed up and kissed my
cheek.

We need to get inside, before you get
sick
. His mind said to me and I smiled as I looked at him,
because it was obvious that if he opened his mouth to talk the
tears that he was holding back would break loose. I nodded and he
took my hand, holding it firmly, as we walked back to the
house.

Later on that evening, after I called Connie
to let her know that I got in fine, and changed into a pair of
sweat clothes, which ever of the four they might have belonged to,
I sat staring at the ceiling in the sitting room, remembering how
many times I had looked at it before, and from which angle. I
looked down, only to get caught in Quinn's eyes as he handed me a
hot cup of tea, then watched as he went to sit down in the chair
across from me. Michael and David were also in the room, but they
didn't seem at all interested in staring at me the way Quinn was
doing just then.

The television was on, but no one seemed to
be watching it, and the volume was down so low I couldn't hear it,
but I was sure the boys could. And, as I continued to look around
the room, taking in what I could remember, Julian walked in and
smiled at me. I stared at him, making him my focus point this time,
and he stared back, with a witty smile on his face, like he had a
joke to tell, but couldn't get it out.

“Are you two just going to stare at each
other all night?” Quinn asked which made his brother look over at
him, as Quinn shifted in his chair. “Because if you are, then I'm
going to bed.”

“It would be just like old times.” David
laughed, which made me look over at him. “The only thing they ever
did was stare at each other all day.”

“Either that or you couldn't get them apart.”
Michael smiled, and I watched as the three of them talked as if we
weren't in the room. “Their faces were surgically attached.”

“Funny, guys!” Julian mumbled under his
breath, only glancing at them, before focusing back on me. I looked
away and turned towards the window, which caught their
attention.

“I don't know what I remember.” I whispered
and set the cup down to cross my hands over my chest. “It's like a
strange haze goes over my eyes when I try to look back. When I saw
Julian on the stairs, I could see my past so clearly, but now it's
just a blur, with bits and pieces flowing towards me.” I turned
back to them and blinked. “Right now the only thing I can think of,
the only memory that stands out clearly, was when we met.” I smiled
and looked at the three others in the room, then looked at Julian
again. “The first time I came here alone.”

“Yep, that was an experience.” Quinn replied,
sarcastically.

“It was a night, just like this, my sisters
were fighting, my parents were threatening to send us all back if
it didn't stop and all I could think about was getting here, to
feel safe. The rain was coming down in thick heavy sheets and the
front door was locked so I had to come in the back. It had started
to thunder and lightning outside, other than that, the house was
dark, but I knew that Julian was here, I could feel him.” I turned
and looked at the fireplace, keeping the faces of my listeners in
view. “When I finally made it in the door, I was drenched and
standing in the middle of the hallway, a puddle was forming on the
floor below my feet. The only thing I could see was the lightening
reflecting off from those chandeliers.

“I walked down the hallway, I think it was
towards the stairway and I started to shake, from the cold and the
fact that Julian hadn't answered my calls, mentally. I thought
about who was in the house because he had mentioned the three of
you to me, but I don't think I really believed that you would be
here and that's when I saw the red lights coming towards me.” I
looked quickly towards Julian, trying to catch my heart as it began
to beat faster, because I was feeling, as if for the first time
what I felt that night. “The red lights turned out to be eyes in
the darkness.”

“Quinn's eyes.” Michael whispered. I
nodded.

“Yes, Quinn's night eyes, though I didn't
know what he was at the time. I could feel him getting closer, but
I couldn't move anything to get away, the only thing I could do was
shake. I think it was then that the hypothermia set in because I
could feel my legs giving out, as if they were separate from my
body, and that's when I felt arms around me, holding me up, then
there was one under my shoulders and the other was under my knees
and I was being lifted. I felt safe, though, as if I knew that
whoever it was that was holding me wasn't going to hurt me, so I
let my body relax and I drifted into darkness.” I whispered,
looking down into the hot tea in front of me. I stopped talking for
a moment, and glanced up at Julian, who was sitting with his eyes
closed as if he were trying to picture it.