The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (21 page)

"No, he just said that we were meeting
a friend of his." Sage said and watched the odd look that came
across Caitlyn's face. "Are you all right?" She asked; which made
Julian turn and look, quickly, at her.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said and patted
the almost unnoticeable potbelly hidden under her shirt. "Whenever
Julian is close by, this little one seems to get hyper."

Julian walked over and placed a hand on
Caitlyn's stomach. He smiled when he felt the baby kicking at him,
then he kissed Caitlyn's cheek and went back to the paintings. Sage
smiled at the overpowering feeling of love between the two, but it
was obvious that Caitlyn was married and Julian had
Ashley.

"So, what brings you to this part of
the country?" She asked, looking at Julian then offered Sage some
tea.

"A prophecy." Julian replied. Caitlyn
sort of shrugged and nodded her head.

"Of course. With you, why would it be
anything else?" She smiled. "So, what is it this time? Ghost and
goblins?"

"Now you sound just like David." He
replied, leaning against the wall.

"And, how is our auburn-haired rebel?
Still missing in action?" Caitlyn questioned.

"No, he's home now, which is kind of
what brought me here tonight." Julian answered, then, walked over
and sat on the couch beside Sage. "What do you know about the
Kingdom of the Nine?"

"Oh, my." She said, enthusiastically.
"That is an old one." Sage watched as Caitlyn walked over to the
back wall, tugged at a book, and stepped aside. The bookshelf split
in half and opened up, sliding to each side, revealing a small
room, which Caitlyn stepped into, then walked back out with a book
in hand. "So, who wants to know about it?"

"I do." Sage shrugged. "It was in a
dream that I had the other night. The ghost in my dreams mentioned
a child being born who is not of mortal blood and that is the next
in line to rule the Kingdom of the Nine."

"Well, I'm not sure about the whole
baby thing. Prophecies are Julian's specialty, but I think I can
help with the kingdom thing." She smiled and placed the book on the
table, opened it up and flipped through it, quickly, and then she
stopped, read a bit, and smiled. "Here we are, the Kingdom of the
Nine."

"So, what is it?" Julian
asked.

"Wait a minute; I'm trying to bring
something up." She snapped, and then smiled at him. Sage watched as
she walked over, sat in a chair near the desk, and closed her eyes.
"Just so you know; this isn't always very clear to me."

"What is she doing?" Sage
whispered.

"Caitlyn's ancestors were connected to
the vampires, like a blood link. Everyone is born with the
knowledge of the generation before them." Julian
replied.

"Basically," Caitlyn spoke up, "I'm one
big library on vampires. I know most of what there is to know about
their history. I just have to find it."

Sage watched as she seemed to fall
under a spell, her eyelids twitched, but the rest of her never
moved, until, her eyes popped opened and she smiled at
Sage.

"I've got it." She whispered, then
stood, and walked back into the small room, where she took out
another book, and opened it to a certain page. Sage looked at her,
oddly. "Like I said, sometimes it's not clear, but usually, it
points me in the right direction." Sage smiled at Caitlyn, who
smiled back, then glanced at the book. "Okay, here we
go.

"In the beginning, God created life,
and with it came man, and woman, for those of us who want to be
associated with them." She giggled. Julian shook his head at his
friend, and smiled. "We all know the story of Adam and Eve,
banished from Eden because they betrayed God. Well, the Kingdom of
the Nine comes from that whole deal.

"A long time ago, in an unknown land,
not far from paradise, a kingdom was built. Like any other kingdom,
it had its upper class and lower class, but this one seemed to have
a lower, lower class, made up of the gypsies and magic-users.
Apparently, this all revolves around nine sons of the king, and
begins with the King's eldest son. He was young still, the prince,
but old by their standards. People were married and a ruler by
then; this prince was probably only eighteen to twenty."

"Does this story have a point?" Julian
joked. Caitlyn smiled, and gave him a dirty look. "Look, I'm going
up to check on Damien. I'll listen in, though."

Sage looked at Julian, who scurried out
of the room, then at Caitlyn, who shook her head. "Who's
Damien?"

"My son." Caitlyn laughed. "He and
Julian are very close, and he knows when Julian's in the house. He
must have called to him." She looked up at the ceiling as she heard
little footsteps, and then looked back at Sage. "Let's continue
without him."

"All right."

"Where was I? Oh, yeah, the King's
eldest son, Imar, was very jealous of his father, because he was
the king. Imar wished to rule then, when he was young, so that he
would not be an old king. Apparently, looks meant a lot to this
young man, but killing his own father was not an option.

"One night, Imar went to a sorceress,
and asked her to grant him eternal youth, because he knew his
father would rule for a long time to come, for the King was still
young.

"The woman concocted and babbled,
stirred and brewed, and then she turned, and looked at the Prince,
and told him that she would grant him what he wished, but only on
one condition, that he bring to her, one young man, about his age,
every night for eight nights, and on that eighth night, when the
moon was full, he would have his wish."

“
I assume he did what she
wanted?" Sage whispered.

"No, actually, he didn't."

"He didn't?" Sage asked, in
disbelief.

"He thought that this woman was insane,
and told her so. She cursed him for laughing at her, told him that
he would get his eternal youth, but the cost would be damnation. He
would be a prisoner of the night that sunlight would char his
flesh, mortal food would burn his insides, like lava, and the Gods
would no longer be his defenders. He would drink the blood of the
living to thrive and, of course, Imar laughed, again, and left the
woman's house.

"By the light of the sun, the next
morning, Imar began to change. The sun began to burn, and any
symbol of a God would make him feel as if he were suffocating. He
felt weak and drawn, and slowly, it became worse. Over the course
of eight days, the normal length of the dying period for new
vampires, he became a creature of the night. He took blood from
humans and animals alike, and eating food felt like swallowing
fire. He left, and went into hiding, where he stayed for centuries.
This is Kingdom One."

"So, who were the eight
others?"

"His brothers, like I said, the king
had many. Every one of them moved up as a brother disappeared, nine
in all. So, while Imar was the king now, he was only the King of
his kind, a new creature the hate and greed created. He was the
King of the Vampires."

"Okay, good story, but what does that
have to do with this?" Sage questioned, a bit confused.

"That's a good question. You see, every
two thousand years or so something new arrives, actually nine of
them arrive." She whispered.

"Nine what? And, what does it have to
do with the Kingdom?"

"Children, of vampire decent. Jack,
Ashley's son, was the second. Damien was the first. Over in
Ireland, the third was born, Scandinavia, the fourth, Britain, the
fifth, Bucharest, the six, Brazil, the seventh, and in Egypt, the
eight will be born in two months. You see, the Kingdom of the Nine
changes every two thousand years, new blood is born. Imar and his
brothers have all been forgotten, except in these books, almost ten
thousand years have passed, I'm sure, since they were reborn."
Caitlyn sighed and stepped up to Sage, knelt in front of her, and
took her hand. "If the ghost has visited you, Sage, someone close
to you will be the next barrier of a Prince. They're all boys, the
nine. Do you know anyone?"

Sage thought for a moment, closed her
eyes and thought back to the day before. She had mentioned to
Bobbie about Lauren's secret, the one that hid behind her eyes that
she had no idea about. She opened her eyes slowly, and looked at
Caitlyn.

"Lauren." She whispered. She watched as
Caitlyn's eyes widened and she smiled.

"Of course, it could be her, couldn't
it? She has vampire ties, though; I don't believe she knows it."
Caitlyn nodded as she thought this over.

"I think she knows." Julian's voice
interrupted. Caitlyn looked at him. “Quinn has been helping her
work through some issues in her youth, and he believes that they've
uncovered her "ties" to us or to him anyway." Julian walked into
the room, and helped Caitlyn off her knees. "Your son is
asleep."

"Thank you." She whispered. Sage
watched the two of them standing close to each other, with her hand
in his, looking into each other's eyes. She watched the sparkle
appear again, and laughed at them, which brought them back. Caitlyn
stepped back and Julian smiled.

"I have a quick question, before we end
this." Sage spoke up. Caitlyn looked at her, tentatively. "Okay,
I'm not sure how this is going to sound, but here goes. If vampires
can't bear children, how did this whole nine thing come about? I
mean, a child of a vampire, who is that?"

"Good question." Caitlyn said and
watched Julian sit down and look at her. She sat back in her chair
and thought for a moment. "From what I understand, after the nine
"men" all became vampires, something happened, an evil force came
to destroy the family, like taking out the blood ties, including
any fledglings.

"Three of them stood up to fight this
evil. Imar, who was trying to find peace in himself, and come to
terms with this inner demon he had. There was Jofara, who was, I
believe the fourth of the brothers, who couldn't seem to control
his blood lust, but tried with all he had to keep it at bay. Then,
there was the youngest of the three, Beau-frine, who at the very
last moment sacrificed himself, by being severally burned, to save
a pregnant slave from the monster.

"The Gods apparently decided, after
seeing the unselfish thing these three did, decide that they were
going to grant them one wish. Now, the three of them talked and
agreed that their wish would be children, a bloodline for them to
live on. The Gods agreed, but with one catch, the children, nine of
them, would only be born with the turn of every other millennium.
They were disappointed, of course, but agreed to these terms. So,
this is the legend. From what I understand, none of the nine
original vampires ever lived to see the newborns. They all died
just before the first prince was born."

"This is just getting better and
better, isn't it?" Sage sighed. "It almost sounds like what's going
on with Michael and the rest of us."

"You never know what strange thing is
going to happen to you." Julian said, softly. He smiled at Sage,
and then looked at Caitlyn. "We should be going."

"Thank you for your help." Sage
smiled.

"You’re most welcome." Caitlyn replied,
and escorted them to the door. Sage stepped outside, and looked at
Julian, who placed a hand on Caitlyn's belly, then kissed her on
the cheek. "Good night."

"I'll be by to check on you." He said,
softly.

"We're fine, Jules, really." She
replied. Julian gave her a smart look, and she laughed. "It was
nice to meet you, Sage."

"You too, and congratulations." Sage
smiled. She watched the door close, and the two of them got into
the car, and then began the long drive home.

* * * * *

Late September

I sat in the library, looking through
Julian's extensive collection, and some books that Caitlyn had let
me borrow. I looked up at the door as it slowly opened, and David
stepped inside. He closed the door, quietly, and turned, then
looked up at me. He looked as if I had surprised him, then he
regained his composure, and walked in.

"So, Bookworm, what are you doing
locked up in here?" He asked. I shrugged, and looked down at the
book. "Are your dreams back?" I nodded, and looked up at him. I'm
sure he could see the fright in my eyes, because, he walked over to
my side of the table, and leaned against it, looking at me. "I'm
guessing that you haven't told Michael, or Justin."

"What am I supposed to tell them,
David?" I asked, quietly, but the anger from my fear of my own
dreams seemed to suddenly hit me. I looked up at his hazel eyes,
and then sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, but it's hard
to tell them. What can they do, anyway?"

"Don't you have a spell lying around to
protect you from evil spirits?" He asked, and turned to look at the
books, spread across the table. He smiled as he recognized the old
spell books and Grimoires that lay there." I guess we think
alike."

"I'm just not sure I'm strong enough to
complete some of these. They're pretty complicated." I sighed. I
felt hands on my shoulders, messaging the tension out of them,
slowly. I leaned my head back, and looked up at David, who kissed
me on the forehead. "Why is Quinn so set to kill you when you're
near me?"