The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (8 page)

I looked at him, sighed, and shook my
head, then looked away as I put down the glass vase I had been
holding.

“
I haven’t gotten what I
wanted yet.”

“
And what’s that?” I
smiled.

“
I haven’t gotten inside
your head.” Justin replied and stepped closer to me.

He moved quite suddenly and was
standing behind me in what seemed like an instant. I closed my eyes
as he moved the hair from my neck. He touched my bare skin with the
tips of his fingers, gliding them slowly along my shape, and then
he moved away from me. I turned and looked at him as he backed up
to a chair.

“
What are you afraid of?”
I asked quietly.

“
Nothing.” He whispered
back and looked away.

“
So, why do you always do
that?” I questioned, and leaned against the counter.

“
Why did you come tonight?
Why were you calling to me?” He asked his own questions. I shrugged
and looked at my shoes. “You must know.”

“
Think about it, Justin.
It’s Valentine’s Day. Taryn and Cristian are together and Bobbie,
though the thought still makes me sick, is with Chris Tanner. What
the hell was I suppose to do, sit at home again, when I knew you
were out here alone.”

“
So, this is just because
you had nothing else to do?” He asked.

I wanted to say yes, but I shook head
instead. “So, why did you come?”

“
I care about you.” I said
softly and rolled my eyes. Justin smiled at this and let out a
little giggle. I looked at him quickly.

“
What? I’m not allowed to
have feelings for you. I’m not allowed to care?”

“
I’ve spent the last few
weeks trying not to care about you.” Justin replied, his smile
fading. I looked at him oddly. “And, it hasn’t worked.”

“
Why would you try to stop
it? Don’t you want it?” I whispered. “How long had it been for you,
Justin?”

“
A very long time.” He
answered and closed his eyes.

“
It’s not bad to care
about someone.”

“
It is for me.” He replied
as he crossed his arms.

“
Why?” I asked. Again, for
it seemed to happen every time they were together, Justin’s
frustrations got the best of him and he had me backed into a corner
almost immediately. His breathing was heavy, but his fangs weren’t
bared and his eyes stayed their brown color. His hands shook as he
touched my cheek, as the color seemed to come back to my
face.

“
I don’t want to harm
you.” He whispered and looked into my eyes. “I don’t want to make
you feel any pain, of any kind. If I love you, like my heart tells
me I do, and then something breaks us apart, I didn’t want to see
you crying.”

“
Is that why you came to
me every time I called you.” I asked softly as he traced my lips
with his fingertips. “Because you think I’ll be hurt if you
don’t?”

“
I came to make sure you
weren’t hurt.” He said and leaned closer to me. “Sage, I don’t
understand this ache in my chest.” He said and took my hand. He
placed it over his heart and held it there. “Why won’t it go
away?”

“
I don’t know.” I said
softly and looked into his eyes. “But, you can’t hold in how you
feel, you have to let the hatred of your past go, before you feel
anything else.”

“
I have no hatred.” He
whispered.

“
So, why won’t you let
yourself feel love?” I asked and touched his cheek. “I swear to
you, Justin, you can’t hurt me. I’m prepared for
anything.”

“
Anything?” He said softly
and pulled me to him, quickly. “Like this?” He kissed me hard and
passionately on. The lips and I could feel myself resist for only a
moment, then I gave into him. I put my hands on his hips and held
him there. When he broke away, he placed his forehead against mine.
“I don’t know how much more of you I can take before I can’t hold
out anymore.”

“
Don’t worry about it.” I
smiled at him and closed my eyes. He kissed my forehead and sighed.
“You don’t have to hold back with me.”

“
I have to control at
least some part of me, Sage. I can’t be totally open.”

“
The darkness around you
is fading.” I whispered, and looked up at his eyes. Justin looked
at me as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. “When we met,
I told you that you were darker than anything I had ever met, but
its fading. The darkness is going away.”

“
I don’t feel it.” He said
softly. “Maybe it’s fading around you, but you don’t realize what
effect you have on my nature. The vampire in me is darker than
night, but it’s slowly moving back as the man slips forward when
you’re near, but the vampire comes out in force after you leave. I
have a hard time controlling the bloodlust after you go home. It’s
like my body craves you, and when you’re not here, the only way to
satisfy it, is with blood.”

“
You’re not the only one
with fears, you know.” I whispered noticing we hadn’t moved from
the corner. Justin still had the upper hand. He touched my cheek
and kissed me lightly on the lips. “I have a fear about
you.”

“
You’ve finally figured
out that I’m dangerous?” He asked and smiled.

“
I have this fear that
sooner or later I’m going to totally give into you and once that
happens I’ll never want to let go.” I said softly. Justin looked at
me oddly then smiled. I looked around as he walked over to the bed
with me and sat down.

“
Well, the witch has a
fear after all.” He smiled and moved towards so that I lay back on
the bed. “I can’t believe that you have that fear.” He moved down
on the bed next to me and watched me close my eyes. “I thought
you’d at least have a fear of bugs.”

I opened eyes and moved closer to him.
Justin didn’t like the look in my eyes, or what I had asked him.
“Show me your dark side.”

“
You’re not serious?” He
asked and sat up. I watched him move away, then get up and walked
over to the empty fireplace. I sat up and watched him. “I can’t
show you that. Why would you ever want to know about that? Why
would you want to see what kind of monster I am?”

“
I want to know all of
you, Justin.” I whispered noticing his change, “Forget I
asked.”

“
I could show you, but I’m
not sure I could control myself after I do.” He walked back over to
me and sat facing me. “If you really want to see it, I’ll show
you.” He took my face in his hands and held me there as he stared
into my eyes. His eyes filmed over to a black color, and then he
sent his memories to me. I suddenly fought him, got out of his
hands and away from him, and his eyes. “I told you that I was
darker than anything you’ll ever meet.”

“
Why did you do those
things?”

“
Hatred.”

“
Hatred for what? I
thought you didn’t have any.”

“
For Michael, for Cristian
and for me.” He whispered, and then looked away from me as his
fangs started to grow. “I hated it all. After our transformation, I
wasn’t the same. The vampire had tainted my blood, blackened my
heart. I didn’t want anything but power and to bring death upon
others.” He suddenly covered his face with his hands. “Leave the
room now!”

“
What?” I
asked.

“
Do it! Now!” He yelled. I
went to run by him, but he leaped up at me and grabbed my arm. I
was turned, forcefully, and looked at his red eyes, then all I saw
was the white of his fangs and I closed eyes as my body shook with
fear.

Chapter
5

August

Michael closed his eyes, and ears, and
let the sounds of the day escape. He relaxed in the sunlight, while
lying out on the large green lawn, and tried to think of nothing.
That never worked. His eyes scanned the room in his mind and it
took him a few minutes to think of where he was, and then it
clicked. He was at a hospital. Once this realization hit him, he
heard the small sound of a baby crying. Michael turned and looked
to his right, there beside him, was a bassinette. He looked down
into the small glass rectangle and was greeted by the bright blue
eyes of a newborn. The instant their eyes met, the small child
stopped its cry.

“
Look, Michael, she likes
you.” A masculine voice whispered at him and he looked up at the
young man in front of him. His name was Douglas Owens, a young man
that he had befriended five years before. Douglas smiled at him,
then scooped the bundled little girl up and handed her to Michael.
“Here, hold her.”

“
She’s so small.” Michael
said softly as he held the child close to him, then walked over and
sat in the chair. He looked over at Yvette, the child’s mother, who
was sleeping peacefully in the bed beside him. “And, she all ready
has her mother’s eyes.”

“
Yes and her mother’s
power.” Douglas laughed. “Did you see those lights?”

“
Douglas, lights
flickering on and off at the time of your child’s birth doesn’t
mean anything but coincidence.” Michael smiled at him, then down at
the little girl. He took that statement back later. “So, what’s her
name? We can’t call her little girl forever.”

“
It’s Sage Marie.” Yvette
whispered as she slowly rolled over in the bed and looked at them.
She smiled at Michael and then laughed aloud when the baby cooed at
him. “She knows who you are."

“
She ought to.” Douglas
said. “Without Michael, this day would have never come
about.”

Michael looked up at Douglas quickly,
then back at the baby and checked for any signs of vampirism.
“She’s fine, Mike.”

“
It’s just that I want to
make sure.” Michael said softly.

“
You’re blood is her
blood, Mike.” Yvette smiled. “You’ll always be part of
her.”

“
I just wish it wouldn’t
put her in so much danger,” Michael sighed.

“
It was just a blood
transfusion, what harm could it cause her?” Douglas asked. Michael
looked at his friend, knowing that Douglas knew what might become
of it. He knew that his friend was just happy to have the little
girl alive, no matter what the cost. “Besides we know you’ll keep
her safe.”

“
Sage, say hello to your
Uncle Mike.” Yvette smiled and watched the baby catch Michael’s
eyes. Michael sighed and closed his eyes, bringing the baby up to
hug her.

When he opened them again, he was
laying on the carpeted floor in the living room of a house he had
spent about ten years in. He turned on his side and looked at the
little girl, about four years old that sat only about five feet
away. She was holding a teddy bear and looking at him with narrowed
blue eyes. Her long brown hair fell in natural waves down below her
shoulders. She watched him with an intensity that almost made
Michael uneasy, but he knew her nature was to be
protective.

“
Sage.” Douglas yelled and
looked in the room. He looked at Michael then at his daughter. Sage
looked up at her father then quickly back at Michael. “What did she
do to you?”

“
Oh just a little bit of
Ah-boo-tay, this and To-wha that.” Michael smiled and got up. “Then
she knocked me over with a pretty impressive shock wave of
power.”

“
What have we told you
about that, young lady.” Douglas scolded.

“
Ah, no harm has done
Doug.” Michael said and stood up by his friend. “She’s only
exploring it.”

“
How are we going to teach
her the right way to use her powers if you keep egging her on to
knock you over?” Douglas asked as the two men walked out of the
room, leaving Sage to watch television. “When are you going to
bring Julian and Quinn over to see her? It’s been four years since
we’ve seen them.”

“
They’re out of town
still; something about France is keeping them away. David’s running
the house, so I don’t really know what’s going on.’

What Michael had been afraid of was
that they would find out about Sage. Her link to vampirism and her
ties to Michael would be exposed as soon as Julian looked at her.
He wanted to keep her away from that kind of influence. Michael
looked back at Sage and she glanced back at him, her eyes still
narrowed, but then her lips curled up in a smile at him. He smiled
back at her and she turned away.

When he turned back around, he was
standing in front of the house he had just been in. The fire seemed
to reach out from every window. He scanned the house for life as
the sirens neared. There was one in the house, one out of three.
Michael pin pointed the person and ran for the house. He ran up the
burning stairway, towards Sage’s room and flung open the door. The
little seven-year-old sat in the middle of her bed, as the flames
erupted around her, and looked at him. A blazing blue light
surrounded her body and nothing seemed to be touching
her.

“
Sage, we have to leave
now.” Michael yelled at her. Sage looked at her room, and as if
just coming out of a trance, she started to scream. The blue light
faded and Michael grabbed her off the bed. He ran down the stairs
and out passed the dining room. There, as he quickly glanced at the
table, sat two charred corpses. He looked at them, the odd way they
just slumped there and then he felt the child that wiggled in his
arms. This broke him out of the trance and he headed for the door,
clearing the threshold and most of the lawn before the house
exploded into a giant ball of flames.