The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (14 page)

“
How can this be? She has
no outward signs of vampirism; in fact, she has no inward signs
either. The only thing I get is this overwhelming feeling of being
near you.” Julian asked, looking at his blond friend.

“I can explain it to you, if you
like.”

“
I would, very much so.”
Julian said and looked back at me. “What a remarkable young woman
you must be.”

“
I’m just ordinary.” I
said and shrugged. “There’s nothing very remarkable about me,
Julian.”

“
We’ll see.” He smiled and
looked at Michael. “Later, we’ll talk.” I watched him walk away.
Michael smiled and then looked at me.

“
And, that’s why he’s
never met you before.” He smiled. I looked at him, and then shook
my head.

“
What a strange man.” I
said softy, and we walked out the back door onto the patio to watch
the birds, and Jack from there.

I watched the approaching storm from
the large bay windows in the reading room that faced the back of
the house, smiling at every flash of lightening and wanting to
giggle at the very sound of thunder. These seemed to be my
elements, when events were about to happen in my life; they were
brought to me by thunderstorms, riding the dark black clouds as
they rolled in. I thought about Justin, and how he seemed to be
just like those storms; the thunder was his loud ego and the
lightening imitated his sudden mood changes. I wondered what he was
doing at that moment, and if he thought of me.

A slight noise made me turn around and
look at the approaching figure behind me. The room was dark, so
that I could see the lightening more clearly, and this person was
nothing more than a silhouette at the moment, until he reached me
and I saw his eyes.

“
Are you thinking about
him?” Cristian asked softly. I smiled.

“
Would it anger you if I
was?” I questioned back. Cristian crossed his arms and shook his
head. “Then why ask?”

“
Am I really that bad?” He
smiled at me.

“
Is he?”

“
Just so you know, I
didn’t tell Michael about you and him.” Cristian said as I turned
back to the window. He watched the expression on my face, then as I
slowly closed my eyes. “If you care about him that much, Sage, why
don’t you tell Michael about him?”

“
He asked me not too.” I
said and opened them, turned my head and looked at him. “And, it’s
not time.”

“
He wants to know if I’ve
seen him.”

“
What did you tell him?” I
glanced over his face as he sighed. “Why didn’t you tell him the
truth?”

“
Your name would have come
up.”

“
I’m a big girl, Cris, I
can handle it.”

“
Listen to me, Sage. You
don’t seem to understand what happened between them. It could be
dangerous for you to be involved.”

“
I am already involved,
Cristian, with both of them.” I said and shook my head. “Stop
trying to protect me, can’t you see that I don’t want
it?”

“
But, you might need
it.”

“
You can’t keep everyone
away from your brother, Cristian.”

“
I can try.”

“
Do you think that not
telling him is going to protect Michael from finding out he’s here,
in New London?” I quietly asked, my frustrations mounting. “Michael
wants to see him, wants to know. You can’t keep it from him
forever.”

“
What about you?” He
softly questioned. “Are you going to tell your father about the man
you’re talking about? Are you going to tell him that if Justin
comes here, it’s because of you?”

“
Look, I will tell him,
but not now.”

“
Now is as good a time as
any.”

“
Maybe the two of you
should get together and talk to him.” A female voice interrupted.
Both of us turned to look at Ashley as she walked into the room,
arms crossed. The light flipped on and she stood next to us. “Why
are you so secretive about Justin’s whereabouts? How come your face
turned white when Michael asked about the young man you were so
interested in?”

Ashley smiled and looked from one to
the other. “These were questions that were running through my mind
and all day I was trying to find the connection, and then it hit
me. There would be only one reason both of you are so quiet about
this. He was the man that Cristian was trying to protect you from
that Cristian would rather not have here.”

“
This is not of your
concern.” Cristian said and shook his head.

“
It is my concern. Michael
is my sire and what affects him, affects me.” Ashley said and
looked at me, for I had been standing there quietly. She looked at
the blank look in my eyes, and then watched as I walked out the
door. “Gee, I wonder where she’s going.”

“
I don’t have to wonder.”
Cristian sighed. “I know.”

I stopped the black BMW next to the
entrance of the woods, for I had driven back home, not to collect
some forgotten items, but to see if I might catch Justin. I
traveled through the woods, as the rain started to come down
lightly, and found myself in the clearing that I usually saw him
in. There was no one there, no sign of him anywhere. Quickly I ran
back to the car and drove over to the apartment that he shared.
There was no answer to the four times I rang the doorbell, and when
I turned the handle, it was locked.

Once more, I got into the car and
drove, ending up, this time, at the Ravenloft. I searched the
crowds, looking for a man dressed in black in a sea of colors, and
spotted him, just as he walked behind a curtain with a young man. I
made my way through the crowd, shifting this way and that around
and in between bodies in motion. When reached the curtain I
stopped, and reached my hand out for it, as if it might not be
real, and then I pulled it aside and stepped in. The room behind it
was a bright green, with flashing blues, yellows, and purples. Once
my eyes adjusted to the strobes that danced around the room, I
spotted a door. The room, the green one, seemed to have strangeness
to it. There were couches and chairs, small coffee tables and
lamps, but it seemed to be empty of people.

I stepped into the room, just behind
the door and stood against the wall, while my hand felt for the
light, as my eyes adjusted to the complete darkness, and I found a
switch only a foot away to the left.

I flipped on the light and looked at
the body that lay at my feet. A man, in his early thirties lay on
the floor in front of me, wide-eyed and bleeding from the gashing
hole in his neck.

I suppressed a scream, only to have it
come out anyway, when the young man that had been with Justin, came
staggering towards me, arms out in front of him, like a monster.
The boy was suddenly tossed aside as a black object moved at me
swiftly, like a blur and pinned me against the wall. My eyes
widened, my arms were up against the wall as if I were under
arrest, my mouth was slightly open and I held my breath as I looked
into two bright red eyes, The fire in them slowly faded, and then
backed slowly away. I suddenly got the full view of my attacker and
began to breath.

“
What are you doing here?”
He asked me angrily. His eyes lightening to a dark, almost black
color. I slowly reached out to touch Justin’s cheek, but he stepped
back once more. “I could have killed you.”

“
I...I needed to see you.”
I whispered. He shook his head and closed his eyes. “I saw you come
in here and followed you.”

“
Don’t ever do that
again!” He replied and walked away from me, stepping over the
bodies on the floor. “What do you want from me?”

“
I just...” I stopped and
watched him walk over to the small bed that was in the corner of
the room. He sat there, leaned forward, put his elbows on his knees
as he folded his hands, and looked up at me, waiting. “It wasn’t
important. I’ll leave, now.”

I turned to go, placed my hand on the
door handle, and then felt the warmth of a body against me, I
paused as I turned a little and looked up into Justin’s
eyes.

“
I don’t want to hurt you,
again, Justin.” I said softy and looked away from him. “I shouldn’t
have come.”

I moved out the door and walked through
the green room, feeling his eyes on me and I turned just as I
reached the curtain. He was standing in the doorway, one hand
against the doorsill, above his head, the other, just barely on his
hip.

I sighed and stepped back from the
curtain. “I just need to know one thing.”

“
What’s that?” He
asked.

“
Michael.” I whispered. He
sighed and closed his eyes, and then with his lips pressed tightly
together, he looked up at me again.

“
What about
him?”

“
Will you come see
him?”

“
You know the answer to
that, Sage.” He answered and turned, leaning his back against the
doorsill that his hand had just been on. He put his hands in the
pockets of his jeans and crossed his legs at the ankles. Justin
looked over at me. “Did you come all this way to ask me
that?”

“
No.” I whispered, and
stopped playing with my car keys then shook my head. “There was
something else I wanted to ask you?”

“
Sage.” He said softy,
then walked over to me. Justin stood about three feet from me and
he looked into my eyes. “What do you want from me?”

“
You.” I replied and
shrugged, then looked up at him and shrugged again. “That’s it,
just you.”

“
That’s a lot to ask.” He
replied and shook his head. “What if I told you that you couldn’t
have me?”

“
Bullshit.” I whispered
and stepped back from him.

“
What?” He
smiled.

“
You and Cristian, you’re
both so full of it.” I replied and gave him an angry smile. “What
do you think you’re going to accomplish by pushing me away
again.”

“
I never let you
in.”

“
Oh, screw you, Tudorian!”
I said and shook my head. “Why don’t you take that tough guy act
and shove it, because I can see right through it!”

“
Sage, grow
up.”

“
Me?” I smiled and put my
back against the wall. I knew what I was doing, egging him on, and
I knew that he responded to it, and that he would let his guard
down when I hit the right button. “I’m not the child who’s hiding
behind a confrontation that happened two hundred years ago. I’m not
the adolescent that won’t grow up and let by gone be by gone. Don’t
tell me to grow up, Justin, I’m not like you. I act my age, not
like a child of three.”

“
You really should think
about leaving now.” He said and put his hand on his
hips.

“
Gonna hurt me?” I asked,
and shrugged. “Go ahead. Do what every other man has ever done to
me. Hurt me, I dare you too.”

“
You little witch.” Justin
said his anger mounting.

“
Oh, name calling. Real
mature.” I laughed. “What are you going to do next, start throwing
stones?”

I watched his fangs grow as he smiled
and I knew he had almost reached his boiling point. I took in a
deep breath and let it out slowly.

“
Justin, you can’t help
what you are.” I whispered as he stared me down. I turned my head
to the side and moved my hair, while I watched the expression on
his face, and my heartbeat faster. I pulled the collar of my shirt
down and smiled. “Come on, Justin, do it.” I looked at his face,
and then smiled. “Don’t be such a child. Grow up, be a man.” I
watched his chest rise and fall as his breathing quickened. “DO
IT.”

I watched him move towards me and I
closed my eyes. I felt his body against me then his hands were on
my face, turning me towards him. I opened my eyes and looked into
his bright red ones again. I waited for him to move, to turn my
head back and attack, but he just held there.

“
You always let me in,
Justin.” I whispered, as I reached up and touched his chest, where
his heart was. “No matter how much you try, I’m always right in
here.”

“
One of these days, Sage,
you’re going to get hurt.” He whispered to me, as I turned my head
to the side and looked away from him.

“
I already am.” I said
softly. Justin put his lips against my cheek and sighed as he
closed his eyes.

“
I mean that one of these
times, I’m not going to be able to stop.” He replied. I wrapped my
arms around his waist and turned my head to face him. Justin put
his forehead against mine.

“
How do you feel about
me?” I asked. Justin moved back and looked away, but never really
let go. “Please, I need to know.”

“
Why?” Justin
questioned.

“
Michael wants to know
where you are. He wants you to come home and see him.” I
whispered.

“
Are you your father’s
messenger?” He asked. I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Then
stop asking me to see him.”

“
I can’t.” I
whispered.

“
It’s not all that hard to
do, Sage.” Justin said and took my hands from around his waist. He
stepped back, out of my reach and watched the tears slide down my
face.