The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (10 page)

“
Did he come home with
you?”

“
No, but he came home
about twenty minutes after we arrived.” Cristian replied and
shrugged.

“
Was there anything odd
about him?” Michael connected with his eyes and his watched
Cristian’s turn red.

“
Nothing. He ate dinner,
with us, like he always does, then took a book and went to his
room.” Michael said. “It’s the same thing he does every
night.”

“
Well, then we’ll come
back in the morning, when he’s up, just to ask some questions.”
Sheriff Brody said and then turned to leave. “Good night
boys.”

“
Good night.” They
chorused. When the three older men had left, Cristian and Michael
walked up to Justin’s room. Michael shook him and woke him
quickly.

“
What the hell did you
do?” He questioned as soon as Justin opened his eyes.

“
First off,” Justin said
as he straightened himself. “What are you doing in my room,
secondly, what are you talking about?”

“
The girl.”

“
Be more
specific.”

“
The girl from the fair.”
Cristian added. “The sheriff was just here, he said she was
missing.”

“
So?” Justin
questioned.

“
So, what did you do to
her?” Michael asked.

“
I did nothing.” Justin
replied. The two of them looked at him. “Look, I didn’t harm her. I
just took a little, and then I walked her home and left her sitting
on her porch.”

“
Why didn’t you walk her
in?” Michael asked. He looked at Justin, suddenly feeling an odd
danger around him. “Justin, where is she?”

Justin sighed and looked away from his
two brothers, got up from the bed and walked over to the window.
“There.” He said and gestured with a nod. Michael and Cristian
walked over and looked out the window; the only thing out there was
an old well.

“
You didn’t.” Cristian
asked.

“
That thing's about forty
feet deep, they won’t find her.” Justin said and walked
away.

“
What did you do?” Michael
asked again.

“
You’re getting quite
repetitive in your old age, Michael.” Justin smiled.

“
It’s a simple question,
just answer it.” Cristian said sternly.

“
All right!” He snapped.
“We went into the woods and I started to take from her. She was
fine with it, but something happened. I couldn’t control it and I
must have started to hurt her. She finally got away, but I grabbed
her and held her by the neck. I was trying to get to her neck,
trying to move her head to the side and I think I broke it. I heard
a snap, and then she just went limp.”

“
So, you put her in the
well?” Michael questioned.

“
I had no choice; there
was nothing else to do.” Justin said sternly.

“
You’re going to have to
get your story straight; the sheriff’s coming back in the morning
to ask questions.” Cristian said.

“
And, Charles will be back
tomorrow afternoon.” Michael said and shook his head. “We’ll have
to think of something.”

“
No, I don’t want the two
of you involved.” Justin said sternly, the two looked at him as he
crossed his arms. “This is my problem.”

“
It’s our problem, Justin.
You brought it home with you.” Michael replied. “Our blood is your
blood, and vice versa.”

“
Don’t give me that crap,
Michael.” Justin snapped, his face getting angry. “I don’t need
your help; I’ll take care of it on my own.”

“
Fine, see that you do,
then.” Michael said and turned, then left the room.

His eyes slowly opened once again and
looked at the passing clouds. He rubbed his eyes and then looked to
his left. There stood Cristian and Justin, dressed all in black,
looking at him as he lay on the ground.

“
Are you done now?”
Cristian asked. Michael looked at him. “Get up, before you make us
look like fools.”

“
What’s going on here?”
Charles asked. He looked at Michael who sat up. “Are you quite
finished fooling around.”

“
Yes, Sir.” Michael said
and stood up. He looked at Justin, who looked away, then walked
over to them. “Why did you do that?”

“
You should keep your
thoughts to yourself.” Justin said in an angry tone.

“
If it wasn’t for you, we
wouldn’t be out here in the middle of the night, trying to fish a
body out of the well.” Michael replied.

“
Boys! Now!” Charles
ordered and the three of them walked over to the well. Charles
looked at them and stopped at Michael. “You’re the smallest, put
this on.” He handed Michael the rope to tie around him. “Well,
let’s go.”

“
This is his mess, let him
go down.” Michael said and tossed the rope at Justin.

“
Do what I tell you, now.”
Charles replied and gave the rope back to Michael. He tied it
around his waist, and then climbed up onto the wall of the
well.

“
Just don’t let go.” He
told them and began to lower himself into the darkness. He was
quite far down, almost thirty feet when he caught the smell of a
decaying body. He covered his nose. “God, what a
stench!”

“
Do you see it?” Cristian
yelled.

“
I can’t see my own
freaking hand, how am I supposed to see a...” Michael turned
himself around and looked into the dead eyes of the young woman.
Her face was drained of all color and she stank of
death.

Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung
open, with her tongue hanging out. Michael quickly tried to control
the urge to scream, and he reached out and wrapped the rope around
the girl. Her scarf seemed a bit tight as it held her from falling
even further. Michael looked at the scratches on her neck, then up
at her face once again. He shivered and tugged on the
rope.

He watched her being lifted out of the
well, with himself already standing on solid ground. Charles
dragged the girl away from the well and looked at her.

“
I don’t think Justin
killed her.” Michael said and looked quickly at the shocked face of
his blood brother. Justin couldn’t believe that Michael was
defending him. “I think she hung herself by that scarf around her
neck.”

“
Your right,” Charles
replied and looked at him. “You can see where she was trying to rip
at it.”

“
So, what now?” Cristian
asked.

“
Don’t you boys worry
about it,” Charles said softly. The three of them looked quickly at
him. “Go inside and I’ll take care of it.”

Michael stood by the fireplace as
Cristian sat in the chair by him and Justin watched out the window.
“What do you think he’s doing?” Michael asked. “He’s been gone
almost three hours.’

“
Probably made up some
story to tell Brody and he’s there spinning it now.” Justin
replied. The door opened and Charles walked in. He nodded to the
boys, and then walked away.

Michael sat up and looked around.
Ashley sat by him and touched his cheek.

“
Are you okay?” She asked
him. Michael nodded, and then shrugged sighed and looked out at the
ocean. Ashley hugged him, and kissed him on the forehead. “She’ll
be here soon. Mike, don’t worry about her. I’m sure she’s on her
way right now.”

The door swung open up at the house and
they both turned when someone called his name. They stared at
Julian who was looking at the two of them.

“
Quinn says that the guard
house just called.” Michael looked at her quickly. Ashley looked
down at him, from her standing position. “They’re sending a car
down. The driver said that you invited them.”

“
Them?” Michael asked.
“They’re both here?”

“
Well, let’s go find out.”
Ashley said and took his hand. The two of them walked over to Jack,
who took his mother’s hand, then made for the house.

Michael stood by the front door and
looked at the black car as it approached them. He couldn’t control
his breathing or the rapid pulse of his heart as he waited for them
to stop. The car came to a halt and Michael watched as the door
opened slowly.

Chapter
6

February 14

The only thing I seemed to be able to
hear was the beat of a heart, a deep, slow, swooshing beat. Just
above that noise seemed to be the rapid sound of breathing, as
lungs filled with air, then released it quickly. My skin seemed to
be crawling; goose bumps rose and fell all over my body. The
pressure of two tiny needles pressed against my neck, right over
the rhythmic thumping of the vein there. I drew in a quick breath
and all the noises stopped upon that instance.

My eyes flew open and I looked at the
sideways room, and then lifted my head to look at it straight. I
thought that it was odd that I didn’t remember lying down, but when
I looked at the pillow all I saw was a body. I looked over this
bare piece of skin, then up and my eyes connected with Justin’s
face. His eyes were closed, his mouth opened just enough to let the
airflow in, and he seemed at peace. I noticed his hand on my waist,
and realized that I had been using his chest for a
pillow.

What had happened here? I thought to
myself. The last thing I recalled was Justin coming at me with his
teeth. I shook my head and rested it back on Justin’s chest. Again,
I heard the slow beat of a heart and realized that had been hearing
it in my dreams. The hand moved from my waist and touched my hair,
gently, then moved it out of the way of my eyes.

“
I’m sorry, Sage.”
Justin’s voice whispered. I looked up at him, resting my chin on
his skin, and watched his eyes open. He looked at the ceiling then
down at me. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“
What happened?” I
questioned. He sighed and closed his eyes once again.

“
You fainted.” He said
softly. “I grabbed your arm and turned you around and when you
looked at me, you fainted.”

“
I thought you were going
to kill me.” I whispered back at him, and then put my head down
against his chest. “All I saw was fangs and red eyes and it scared
me.”

“
I should take you home,
now.” He said and started to slide out from under the covers. I
watched him walk over to the chair and take his shirt, and then
watched every muscle in his back move as he slipped the shirt over
his head. He turned and looked at me, pulling that shirt down over
his stomach, “The others might be back by now.”

“
Well, what time is it?” I
questioned and sat up, swinging my legs over the end of the bed. I
breathed in deeply, and then closed my eyes and bent head down. I
didn’t care about the time; I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to
have Justin back on the bed so I could feel him next to
me.

I looked up when he stepped closer to
me, opening my eyes as he did, and he touched my cheek with his
fingers. I stood and put my hands against his chest, rubbing the
muscles there with my fingers, feeling them under my touch. I
smiled at the reaction that I was getting as he shivered, and then
took my hand. I glanced up at his face, innocent and young at that
moment, and then moved closer to him and he leaned down to
me.

“
What are you going to
tell your friends?” He asked.

“
They don’t have to know
anything.” I replied as his lips touched mine softly. “Besides,
what do I care what they think now, I’m not stopping
this.”

“
Good.” He whispered and
kissed my lips again, pulling me to him tenderly.

I walked into the house a little after
six a.m., removed my coat and hung it in the closet, and then
walked towards the living room, where I spotted several sleeping
people all bunked out on the couch. I shrugged and walked away,
down the hallway to my room, where I kicked off my shoes and
climbed under the covers. I felt there was no need to wake any of
them, for I was only going to go to sleep myself anyway.

My slumber didn’t seem to last long, to
me anyway, even though it was close to one in the afternoon when I
was woken up by the sounds of people arguing. I sighed, threw the
covers off and walked out of the room, stretching as I walked down
the hallway. I stood in the kitchen doorway as I watched the four
people in the room, either eating or talking, but never noticing
me. I smiled and walked over to the fridge where I opened the door,
and that’s when all the noise stopped.

I backed out of the refrigerator, a
boxed juice in hand and turned to look at the four faces that
stared at me. I smiled, oddly, and looked at them as if they were
all nuts, while I walked over to the extra chair at the table and
sat down. They had followed me with their eyes as I did
this.

“
Yes? Can I help you?” I
questioned, but they all just continued to stare. “God, I know I’m
probably the most gorgeous thing any you have ever seen, but, now
you’re just giving me a complex.”

“
Where the hell were you
all night?” Bobbie asked. I looked at her quickly, knowing this
would be the obvious first question out of anyone’s mouth and I had
the perfect answer.