Authors: Shirlee Lewis
“I missed you,” he said, in between kisses.
Tony picked me up and carried me to the bed. He looked me over and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to call you back. The meeting was deep in the forest outside of Parma. Not one cell tower within a twenty mile radius.”
“It doesn’t matter; you are here with me now.” I stared at his face. “I wasn’t expecting you until this evening.”
“Thorment’s meeting was short and to the point, but we’ll talk about the meeting later.” Tony got off the bed and took off his shirt. “Right now I have business of my own that needs attending to.” Sitting back down on the bed, he went straight for my neck. My response was instant. I explored every inch of Tony’s body and he explored mine. We rediscovered each other. Tony tried to be gentle with me, but I wanted him to have me the way he wanted and I was not giving up. I knew I would suffer tomorrow, but my adrenalin and lust for him outweighed the consequences and always would.
My Tony was home and I couldn’t have been happier.
After two hours of welcoming Tony home, I turned on my side to face him laying my head on his chest running my fingers across his chest.
“I’m so glad you’re home.”
“I’m so glad I’m home too,” he said, with a cheeky grin.
“Jess, you ought to see the Mortensin vampire Clan in Italy.”
“A vampire clan named Mortensin? I didn’t know there were any.”
I had no idea vampires were a clan. Actually, I didn’t know anything about vampire’s period. But, I was eager to learn all about them.
“Yes, there are several who belong to one clan. I don’t think it’s just in Italy though.”
I rose up on my elbow so I could look at him while he talked about his adventure in Italy.
“Thorment is the head vampire of this clan, the Mortensin’s. He sets rules for the clan and his brood is made up of four vampires, besides him.
Mortum, is second in command, he is the scariest of them all. His job is to impose punishment when you disobey. One look from him and you instantly look away. His stare is horrifying. You feel as if he can see into your soul and it’s an odd feeling.
Stefan, third in command, is a dwarf. I never understood what his role in the clan was.
Zorak, fourth in command, is very good looking for a vampire. He is about my height and muscular. I did notice woman admiring him and he was extremely friendly.
The last is Leviathan. He oversees the rules of the clan and makes sure they are followed. If the rules are disobeyed, Leviathan brings you in front of Thorment. That’s one place I don’t want to end up.
“The brood has mates which are very powerful and protective as the brood. Carmina belongs to Thorment who oversees the meeting with Thorment. Ophelia belongs to Mortum and takes care of the refills when flasks are getting low. For those who didn’t use flasks, she led them to a tent where their thirst would be fulfilled. Jayde belongs to Stefan, also a dwarf. Gwin belongs to Zorak and very beautiful. The newest member is Freda. Leviathan didn’t show an interest in her, but I am pretty sure she belonged to him.”
Tony’s eyebrows came together in the middle when he mentioned Freda. He glanced at me to see how I would react, but I waited for him to tell me more.
“Why are there so many in command of this clan?”
“Thorment said it has been that way for thousands of years and each one has their duties to fulfill when an occurrence happens. The brood meets to decide the fate of the one who disobeyed the laws set forth by the clan.”
“Did he tell you the laws of the clan?”
“Yes!”
I waited for
patiently Tony to continue.
“Vampires are not known in the normal world. Everything about vampires is very discreet and secret. Dhampir’s obey the one who made them until they die. If a dhampir disobeys, then they are to face Thorment and his
brood. This one law must be obeyed by dhampirs or our fathers pay the ultimate price if we disobey.
“So, Victor tells you to do something, you have to abide?”
“Yes.”
“And if you don’t?”
This was starting to worry me. I couldn’t see Tony doing anything to disagree with Victor. They were both so close and talked about everything. Victor was standoffish with me, but then again I was human and he once said ‘I smelled good to him and there was nothing he would do to harm me’.
“The father of the dhampir is responsible for them no matter their age. Jason, for instance, has no father so my father is responsible for him. He hired him to care for my mother in his absence. If Jason disobeys a request from my father and Thorment hears about it, then my father is required to answer to Thorment and his brood, if my father cannot take care of the situation himself. My fat
her will pay the ultimate price. Death,” Tony’s brows furrowed.
“Why? You would think the dhampir has to answer to Thorment.”
“Do you remember what we did with William and Charlotte?”
I nodded.
“Same thing happens to our fathers. We are required by vampire law to obey our fathers regardless.”
“So, the devastating mess….?”
“A dhampir was ordered to protect his mother while his father went away on business. This dhampir is in love with a human from a nearby town. Against his orders he visited this human which caused his mother to be unprotected. The town people set fire to the house with her in it.”
I had already heard the story from Jennifer, but with Tony telling me
; it sent chills up my spine. “What happened to the dhampir?”
“He encountered the same fate as would his father. His father agreed to the fate of his child, so therefore his child is no longer on the face of this earth. He was spared because he agreed to the fate of his child with one exception. He cannot father another dhampir.”
Goose bumps appeared on my arms and I shivered from the story. There was no way Victor would ever face a fate like that. Tony was the most kind, sincere and obedient son I knew of. “The father must be young.”
“Oh, he is and very much single.”
Tony and I lay quiet for a few minutes before I asked, “People still hunt vampires?”
“Only in Europe they do.
The belief is vampires exist and should not roam the earth. Believe it or not, Jess, but the towns’ people hold meetings when they suspect a vampire is around and discuss what kind of punishment they should endure.”
My mouth fell
open and my eyes grew wide. I thought, this was from the turn of the fifteenth century that you read about in old tales, but here Tony was explaining it in modern day. “How do vampires hide from these people?”
“They don’t.”
“But how……”
Tony held up his forefinger and I stopped talking. “They only come out at night to hunt when the town’s asleep. For us, who don’t look like vampires, it’s easy to be in public without being noticed. You never see my father out in daylight and he travels in a vehicle that has very dark tinted windows.”
“But the blood bank in London is located in the heart of the city. How does he get in without being seen?”
“The back door,” Tony said, and then laughed.
“Did you witness the fate of the dhampir?”
“I did.” Tony looked down when he said that. “That was the reason for this meeting. To ensure that we witnessed and knew what would happen if we didn’t obey.”
I wrapped my arms around Tony and hugged him as tight as I could. “You always do what Victor says, okay. I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.”
“Don’t worry Jess; I will never let anything happen to my father or myself.”
The sun was setting in the sky and the moon was coming up over the horizon by the time Tony finished telling me about the meeting. I was getting up to dress for bed when the voice from the other night cried, ‘Help us.’ We looked at each other and I whispered, “Do you know the story about the basement?”
“Is that where the voice ca
me from?”
“Yes, it’s a family. There are soldiers down there too.”
“Wonder why we never heard it before?”
“The wall was always up. Your mother and I tore it down when you and Victor went to Italy.”
“Hum, well that’s interesting.”
“Tony, do you know about the basement?” I asked again.
“No, I sure don’t, but I’ll talk to father about it in the morning.”
Tony and I laid there listening to the woman crying for help. I was glad he was home and the crying didn’t bother me since I knew what it was. Soon I was asleep.
The morning sun peeked through the curtain and I woke to a beautiful day. Tomorrow I would be heading home to Oregon. Tony had already left so I stretched and went to the bathroom to take a shower. I packed my suitcase and took it down stairs, sitting it beside the front door.
“Jess, could you come in here a minute,” Jennifer called from the living room. “I have some news about the basement.”
Jennifer had caught my interest. I couldn’t wait to hear about the ghosts.
“I talked to Victor about the ghosts. Apparently, they showed up after the house was built. An old farmhouse stood here before William had the house built. The story is an English family would hide peasants in the basement of the old farmhouse so the soldiers wouldn’t find them. The soldiers were required by the king to bring in anyone who did not pay taxes on time. This family in the basement could not pay so they hid. The soldiers searched for them until they found them. The room where the ghosts are is the last place the family ever saw.
The ghosts of the soldiers are there because the owner of the farmhouse shot them after they killed the family. As for the barred door around the corner of the staircase, it’s still a mystery. I guess we will never know and I am not going to find out.”
“Would you like for me to see what’s behind the door?” I asked.
“No dear, that won’t be necessary.”
Hearing the front door open and close, I saw Tony walk by the doorway of the living room. “Excuse me Jennifer.” Getting up I ran to the elevator, but the doors closed just as I got there so I watched the ancient arrow slowly moving from number to number until it stopped on three. I pushed the button and waited for the doors to open so I could see Tony.
On the way up to the third floor my cell phone rang. It was Tony.
“Hello.”
“Sweetie, where are you?”
“I’m in the elevator.”
“See you in a minute.”
The doors opened at the third floor and Tony was waiting for me. “Our plane leaves in the morning. Are you packed?”
Tony and I walked toward our bedroom.
“I’m all ready, but I want you to go with me to the basement.”
“We don’t need to. Father told me about the family and soldiers you saw down there.”
“I know, but I want to see what is behind the barred door before we leave.”
“Jess, you don’t need to know what’s there.”
“Do you know what is behind the barred door?” I asked thinking he knew.
“No and I don’t want to know. Please let us leave it at that.”
“Where is Victor?”
“He was heading towards
his bedroom. Why?”
“I need to talk to him.” I started for the elevator when Tony caught my arm and stopped me.
“Jess, please, leave it alone.” Tony looked at me with concerned eyes, which only made me more curious.
“Okay,” I said and went to get his suitcase from the closet. Sitting it on the bed, Tony went to the dresser and started getting his clothes.
Taking the opportunity with his back to me, I ran for the elevator. With the doors already open I reached for the buttons with my hand and pushed a button hoping it was for one. I looked up to see Tony running toward the elevator. “I’m going to talk to Victor,” I said as the doors were closing.
Instead of going to Victor, I went to the first floor kitchen and up
the stairs to the door that led to the basement. Opening the door, I descended the stairs and flipped on the light. Looking around, I saw a board just the right size for prying leaning against a wall with several nails sticking out along the end. Taking the board, I pried off the boards which held the door shut just enough for me to get around them and into the room. As I was getting the last board away from the wall, I heard footsteps behind me. Looking behind me I saw a soldier with its back to me walking toward the room with the family.
The door didn’t want to budge. Using all my strength, I managed to open the door, but not without the door hinges squeaking. When I had the door open enough I slipped inside closing it behind me.