“What do you mean, when you decided to change her? Who is your maker, and why isn’t he with you?” Liz asked.
“Some guy. I don’t know his name. It kind of happened the same way for all of us, well all of us that live here. Where are they, anyhow? Did they tell you where they were going? It’s not like them to just leave like that and not tell us. We’re sort of a family now.”
Liz thought for a second, and then answered, “There was no one here this evening. The place was empty, but I have only been here for an hour or so.”
“I should probably look for a note then. Maybe we’re supposed to meet them somewhere else.” Jeremy said nervously looking around.
“So, Jeremy, can you tell me some more about how you became a vampire? If you don’t mind I mean. I’m very curious about it. We have several laws you see, and turning young people is really not something that is usually done.” Liz remarked.
The teen shifted his weight, and for a moment, lost his calm demeanor. He bit his lip and glanced away as if afraid to say anything. Once again meeting Liz’s gaze, he began to speak. “Like I said, it was kind of the same for all of us. We woke up in an old farm house. There were a whole bunch of us. Some guy came in and told us that we were vampires. He said our throats hurt because we needed to feed. A few minutes later, he came back and tossed two live humans on the floor. They were crying and begging us to help them.”
Liz’s stomach twisted inside her. Those poor kids. If she ever found out who’d done this to them, she would kill the bastard herself. Keeping her outward appearance serene, she said, “Wow. Sounds scary. I bet you were really freaked out.”
Expelling a deep breath, he continued. “We were all kind of scared because we thought the old dude was crazy, but when he brought the people in, we couldn’t stop. It’s kind of like you have too, you know?” Jeremy hung his head in shame as he spoke the last few words, waiting for Liz to reply.
Liz reached down and smoothed his hair, and answered, “Yes, I know.”
Eyes gleaming with gratitude for the simple kindness, he smiled. “Just a second, okay?” He waited for Liz’s nod, and placed his hand on the Sharice’s leg.
The girl gazed into his eyes as he used his mind to speak to her. Her eyes lit up, and she began to smile. Sharice hugged him excitedly, and focused her eyes on Liz. “I thought you were her. When we first sensed you here, and knew the others were gone, I thought you were her. It seems like we’ve been waiting forever for you to find us! I’m so glad you’re finally here! Are you going to take us with you now? You’re not going to leave us here alone are you?”
“Whatever are you talking about, dear? I’m who? And how have you been waiting on me? I didn’t know myself that I would be coming here before a few hours ago.” Liz was shocked at the girl‘s reaction.
“I had a dream, we all did, and you were in it. You, the warrior, and the old man who spoke.”
Liz was confused. None of it made sense. The girl looked at Jeremy and said, “Tell her Jay, tell her about the dream!”
Jeremy began explaining to Liz that most of the new ones had dreamed, within the first few nights of their turning, about Liz, a younger man, and a really old man. The really old man had visited them in their dreams and showed them Liz and the other man. He told them that she was to be the mother of the vampire nation and would help them. He told them that when the time was right, and she had control, she would send others to find them and take them to a new home where they would be safe and happy. The old man also said that if they were patient and did the right thing, they would be able to live with others of their kind and even have families.
“You have a husband, right? You have a husband with black hair, and he’s real strong, and a good fighter, right?” Jeremy asked.
“I have a mate. His name is Michael.” Liz answered still confused.
“Well Michael is going to be our father. That’s what the old man said. He’s going to train us how to fight and to be noble. And after the war comes, you’re going to be Queen. What I don’t understand is why they don’t just make you Queen now.” Jeremy laughed.
Liz brought her hand to her temple and began massaging the area. The old man had to be Brogan, but what the heck was he up too sending dreams of her to changelings? Michael, undoubtedly, will find it hysterical that he is to be a father to countless vampire children. This is crazy!
Michael must have felt her mind go into a spin. “Where are you? What the hell is going on?”
“I’m at the cabin. Nothing is wrong, but you need to get my great-grandmother or someone to bring you here. You need to hear this.”
“Hear what? What are you doing there? Liz, I am tired of you running off alone. Didn't you learn anything today about the danger out there?”
“Michael, just get here, and for God’s sake don’t bring your sword.”
Liz watched the children sitting by the fire. They seemed so calm and peaceful now. Their faces and smiles illuminated with anticipation. “Michael is coming. Sometimes he can seem a little…well a little overwhelming. But don’t be afraid, he can be a teddy bear too. He’ll be arriving shortly with a witch.”
The children gasped.
“It’s okay. It will probably be my great-grandmother. Don’t believe everything you’ve heard about witches,” she said with a wink.
While they waited, she questioned them more about where they had been, what they had done and seen, and soon the others arrived.
Michael came through the portal first, followed by Angie, Gregorio, Athena, and Minerva. When they noticed the young teenagers by the fire, their facial expressions held a myriad of emotions. Anger. Disappointment. Even disgust.
Liz looked at Michael, rolled her eyes, and shook her head, saying, “Do you have to make a big production of everything?”
He shrugged and pointed at the children. “What is that?”
Liz’s face turned red. “Michael….”
Gregorio cleared his throat before she had the chance to continue. Liz regained her composure motioned to the living area. “Would you please find a seat. My new friend here has some information for you.” Liz motioned to the empty seats around the table.
The fact that they all listened to her and quietly did what she asked was not lost on Jeremy or Sharice. They traded knowing glances and smiles.
“Jeremy, if you would be so kind as to repeat your story to my friends?” Liz said.
She was right about Michael finding it hysterical that he was to be the “father” of new vampire nation; he actually laughed out-loud when the boy got to that part. Liz gave him a “stop it” look, and he quieted down, but was still grinning over the unintended joke.
When Jeremy got to the part about Liz being Queen, Athena and Gregorio shared a conspiratory look, but did not say a word. Once he had finished his tall tale, Gregorio started asking him questions. “Tell me about those that were staying here in this house.”
“Well, all of them were new, but not as new as me and Shar. Some of them were okay. Carl, he was the best of them, he wouldn’t ever let the other ones pick on us or boss us around too much. They were all older though.” Jeremy replied.
“Do you know what they were doing here?” Gregorio asked.
“No sir. Only that the Council told them to stay here and guard the place. The Council is pretty bossy, if you know what I mean. Everyone has to go here, and do this and that, and if you don’t…you end up dead.”
“Who was the leader here?” Liz asked.
“Her name is Claire, she’s mean. I mean really mean! I think that’s why they made her leader because she really liked to kill people, you know?”
“I thought you said they were like family to you, Jeremy?” Liz questioned.
“Well, I guess they were. I mean I never had a family, most of us didn’t. See, we used to be street kids. I left my mom and pops a couple years ago. All they wanted to do was get drunk and do drugs and beat on each other. When they g
ot tired of knocking each other around, they’d start on me. That ain’t much of a family, you know? Anyhow most of us (the ones our age), we all come from the streets, some of us from foster homes. Except for Stevie, he’s from an orphanage. He’d finally escaped from that hell hole, and two days later got turned into a vampire. How’s that for rotten luck?”
“Just exactly how many of you are there?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know for sure, maybe fifty that I’ve met. But I’ve heard them talking about it at headquarters, and it sounds like there’s whole armies of us. Tons. Somebody messed up and made too many our age and now they don’t know what to do with us. They can’t get rid of us because they need us. We are supposed to fight you guys, I guess, in this big war that don’t seem to ever happen, so they have to keep us. We don’t want to fight you guys. For the record, we don’t want to fight anyone.”
Liz looked at the others. “There’s only one thing we can do. We have to take them back to the castle. And we need to figure out what to do about this new issue.”
“Do? It’s not our problem.” Michael returned.
Athena placed her hand on Gregorio’s shoulder. “You do agree that we cannot allow this? This is our problem whether we created it or not.”
Deep in thought, Gregorio nodded. “It must be addressed and a course of action must be taken. After centuries of knowing the man, I am still appalled by the depths of his malevolence.”
Both teens stood without being told and waited to be taken with Liz. They didn’t even bother asking questions. Minerva opened a portal and the group returned to the Citadel.
***
During the Council meeting, Liz noticed changes in the attitudes of her fellow council members. Everyone that spoke, seemed to be speaking to her. When they had ideas or questions, they addressed Liz and waited for her response. She began to wonder just when these changes had occurred. Was this a new thing, or had it been going on for a while?
The leaders were in agreement that something must be done to help these children who had been so thoughtlessly changed. Even Rene, who had previously argued so strongly for putting all the outside clans to death, had changed his tune. What had been done to these countless young people was repulsive and unconscionable. They were children! It was possible that not all were as Jeremy and Sharice. Some of them might truly be monsters, but those that were not had to be saved. It was the appropriate thing to do. After discussing the issue, they invited Jeremy and Shar in to speak with them.
The teens entered the room wide-eyed with amazement, but did not seem fearful. They walked straight to Liz’s chair and sat on the floor beside her. Both of them answered every question. The teens had more information to give them than they had originally thought possible.
Monroe was having serious trouble with his followers, his Council was continuously at odds with each other. There had already been several attempts to throw Monroe out of his position of authority. The newly-made had been fighting not only with the old ones, but among themselves as well. For several months, the renegade army had been disbanded, having been told they would be recalled at some point. Any refusing to return to headquarters, would face death. The hordes of vampires had broken up into their own clans, some returning to previous clan affiliations, while others began new nests. They had no idea how many new vampires existed, but when they looked into Jeremy’s mind to view his memories, it appeared to be thousands. Michael estimated that at least two if not three thousand new ones had been created, many of them children. It was diabolical!
The children knew nothing of Tiberius so there was no way to be sure if he had managed to infiltrate Monroe’s inner circle. Not a soul on the Council had heard word from him since the day he left. When the questioning was at an end, Athena brought up the subject of what was to be done with the two teens. They were obviously getting tired, and it was well past daybreak.
Liz smiled at the two sitting so close to her and questioned, “What would you like to do? Would you like to stay here with us and become part of our family?”
Relief washed over Jeremy’s face as he replied, “That is what we are supposed to do. If you want us here.”
“I want you here. We all want you here, and not only that, we want you to help us find those that are like you and bring them here too.” Liz told him. Liz thought for a moment and then said, “My good friend, Angie, will help you learn our rules. There is one very important rule that must not break. If you do, then I’m afraid we will have no choice but to sentence you to death. Do you understand?” she asked.
Both of them nodded.
“A human child lives with us. Her name is Jenna. She is like a daughter to most of us here. She is not to be touched or harmed in any way. She is here for safekeeping and because we love her. Should you try to harm her, it is highly unlikely that you would live through your attack. Jenna’s protector is a formidable fighter, and will have your throats out before you can blink.”
Wide eyed, the teens nodded again.
Liz motioned to Gen, and the woman took them to find rooms. Rooms were going to be hard to come by. At some point they would need to think about turning some of the larger rooms into dormitories of sorts. They would need at least two to start with, one for boys and the other for girls. She mentioned this to the others while still thinking about what else needed to be done. While she was in verbal thought, Gregorio put Rene and his soldiers on that detail and made arrangements for Callista to have the necessary funding to purchase more bedding.
Half hearing what Gregorio said to the others, Liz piped in, “We’ll need extra clothing on hand too. Most of them will probably not have many, if any, belongings.”
Gregorio pointed and Callista. She nodded and left the chambers.
Lost in brooding thought, Liz paid no attention to what was happening around her. “And food. What are we going to do about food? We have plenty now, but if there really are thousands of them…good god, how do we feed that many? Livestock maybe? I guess we could have our own animal farm. Why not? Humans do it all the time, right?”
Gregorio nodded to Rene. He returned the nod and left the chamber.
As she threw out each new thought, Gregorio would point or nod to one of the remaining council members. In turn, the selected person would leave to begin work on that particular project.
Her last verbal thought was about finding enough teachers to educate the new comers to Council law and prepare them for life as a constructive member of the vampire nation. Gregorio rose and left to make the necessary preparations for that situation.
The room was silent. With the exception of Michael, the entire Council had been put to work. He gazed upon her with pride and awe.
Realizing that the room had gone quiet, she came out of her pensive state and looked around. “Where has everyone gone?” she asked.
“They are making the preparations you require.” he answered quietly.
Her face clouded by confusion, she replied, “I require? I required nothing. I was just thinking out loud.”
Michael leaned in and tenderly kissed her lips. He stood and pulled her to her feet saying, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she laughed as she replied. Raising to the tip of her toes, she pressed her lips against his and slid her arms around his waist. Her head resting against his muscled chest, she sighed.
“You never cease to amaze me. Brogan was right about you. Crown or no, you are our leader.”
“But—“
Michael gently pushed her away, just enough to look into her eyes. “Like it or not, you are already our Queen. You we will be our saving grace. Not from Monroe or the renegades, but from the darkness within. With your leadership, we will be able to live without guilt and shame. Somehow, for some reason, you always know the right thing to do, and I for one, will follow you anywhere. I believe they all will now. Baael was wrong. There is a bright side of darkness.”
Liz gazed into his eyes, her own clouded with dou
bt. “I can’t do these things. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“You are doing what most of us have been attempting to do for a very long time. You are being human.”
Liz sighed as she surveyed the empty room. “There are so many, Michael. How will we ever find them all?”
“You are the new mother of the vampire nation. You will know how to find them.” Michael smiled as he reached up and tweaked her nose.
“My children, huh?” She said. She shook her head, and her smile grew. “Not just mine. Ours. Our lost children need to come home.”
“In time.”
“Not nearly enough of it, I’m afraid.”
Michael’s eyebrow arched as his lips slid into a slow grin. “My darling, we have eternity. How much more time do you require?”
Hand in hand they left the Council chambers. Soft whispers followed them down the corridor.
And So It Began.
###
Author Bio
Willow Cross resides in Arkansas with her husband, two children still young enough to live at home, an enormous cat named Bitsy, and a wuss of a dog named Tank. Her home has been known to host the occasional ghost and several of her friends profess to be witches. Although she dearly loves Vampires and Werewolves, they are never invited for dinner.
Other books by Willow Cross
The Dark Gifts: Birthright (First in the series)
The Dark Gifts: Inheritance (Second in the series)
Oceans of Red volume one
Oceans of Red volume two
Haunted, 100% Totally True Ghost Stories
Coming Soon:
Oceans of Red volume three
The Dark Gifts: Legacy
You can connect with Willow at : https://willowcrossbooks.weebly.com/index.html
Or join her on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Willow-Cross/185071804869279
Twitter: @willowcross
Acknowledgements
Ken Sutton-Cover Artist
https://www.facebook.com/theworldinsidemyhead
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