Authors: Shirlee Lewis
In my room I couldn’t hear the chanting. Locking the door and checking the window, I was satisfied and crawled into bed.
“Tony, I’m doing my best to find you. I know you can’t hear me, but I love you and I won’t give up. Lord, keep him safe.”
Closing my eyes, I heard a tap on the window. Looking toward the window, I caught a glimpse of a fingernail. Getting up, I stood at the window. The moon full in the
black sky with bats circling catching bugs. Over beside Type ‘O’ Positive Bar -N-Grill stood a dark figure leaning against the wall looking in my direction. Could it be the bat/human only in human form? Stretching out his arm, he waved for me to join him. Taking Thorment’s advice, I was in no way, shape or form leaving this room until the sun come up.
Unlocking the window and opening it, I whispered softly, “I don’t know what you want or who you are, but I am not coming anywhere near you. Leave me alone.” Closing the window, a hand reached under the sill stopping it and the window was opening with a face appearing. Staggering backwards, I tripped over the chair leg falling on my bottom with my mouth open only no words were coming out. He entered my room.
I should have gotten up and ran, but I was frozen to the floor. Closing the window behind him, he turned to me and said, “Jessica, I’m not here to harm you.”
“Then what do you want?” I asked.
Removing his hood, I couldn’t help but stare. His face, white as a bleached sheet with hair white as snow hanging down to his shoulder, his eyes red as blood as were his lips. Taking off his cape, I gasped. His body tight shirt clung to his chest showing protruding muscles only a body builder should have. I had to look away.
“What do you want?” I asked again.
He walked over to me, helping me off the floor and to the bed. Sitting down, he took a seat beside me. Leaning toward me he whispered, “I know where Freda took him.”
“Where?” I blurted out.
Taking his hand he placed it over my mouth. “We are vampires and hear all. I advise you to keep your voice down.”
I nodded yes and he let go of my mouth.
“Jayde and Stefan are right. She took him to the Amazon forest.”
“But why,” I whispered leaning toward his ear.
“To make him her mate,” he said.
“Where in the Amazon did she take him?”
“That I do not know,” he said louder than a whisper. “Four men followed after she left last night. She had a plane waiting on the other side of the mountain.”
“How do you know this?”
He laughed and asked, “Did you not see me flying around?”
“Oh. Is there anything else I need to know? Did you follow them? He wasn’t hurt was he?”
“Jessica, I don’t follow anyone and I have told you all I know. No, he isn’t hurt or wasn’t last time I saw him.”
“I don’t have time to waste. I need to be on my way to the Amazon forest.”
“You need to wait until morning to leave.”
“Why is that?”
He shook his head. “Humans, they don’t know anything,” he laughed.
“Then tell me why I can’t leave now.”
“I’m not the only vampire who finds you, shall I say… attractive. Oh, the thoughts Thorment had when you arrived as well as the others. I’m surprised Carmina hasn’t…never mind…It’s irrelevant to why you are here anyway.”
“I don’t care one way or the other if the entire town finds me attractive. I’m here to find my husband.”
“I know,” he paused. “Your husband is an attractive man, by the way. Freda would have pounced the minute she laid eyes on him at the meeting in March. His father and Thorment were the only ones keeping her from it.”
“You really are starting to get on my nerves,” I paused.
“I don’t mean to. I hardly speak to anyone anymore. I only come out at night and hardly in my human form. But you, Jessica, caused the change instantly. If you weren’t married….” He trailed off.
His last sentence caught me off guard. He too was attractive, but he was far from my mind. My mission was to find Tony and that’s what I planned to do. To get him off the subject of me I asked, “You know my name, but what’s your name?”
“Count Darwin Vandersteed,” he said softly.
“Count, then why aren’t you in charge of a clan if you’re a count?”
Darwin stood and walked to the window with his back to me. “Over four hundred years ago, my clan was demolished. I’m the only one remaining. Where I’m from, if you were suspected of being a vampire, you were destroyed.”
“Where are you from?”
“London.”
“Any relation to Old Count Dracula?”
He laughed and turned around facing me. Leaning against the window sill he continued, “You’re sense of humor is good. I like it. To answer your question, no I’m not. I was turned a vampire by a wondering soul looking for a place to hide. Not knowing what she was, I let her in my home out of the cold and rain. As we were making love she lightly kissed my neck and then a feeling of being stabbed with needles,” Darwin paused. “I never understood my role in human life, but I guess I do in this life. A bat,” he smiled.
“All of the vampires I know they don’t turn into bats, why you?”
“Afraid the town’s people would find me as I was turning into a vampire I took refuge in a cave. The bats, smelling blood, thought I was food. During the time I withered in pain, my senses were keen and I saw best at night. I noticed my ears coming to a point, my fingers and toes growing longer into claws and my body shrinking. When I tried to speak all that came out was a high pitch squeaky sound. Next thing I knew, I could fly.”
“But you can turn human.”
“I can. At first it was amazing to fly and I enjoyed it, but then I wanted to be human again. Resting upside down on the ceiling inside the cave, I decided to give it a try to be human so I flew to the rocks below. I concentrated on all of the human instincts such as breathing, standing,” he laughed. “It wasn’t long before I started changing back into a human. At first, it was difficult, but with years of practice, it comes natural.”
“Which do you prefer, bat or human?”
“Bat mostly.”
We were silent as I took in all he told me about himself. He lost his family and now he spent his life as a bat.
“You knew I was coming, didn’t you?” I asked Darwin.
“You’re husband repeated your name over and over as he waited in Freda’s room for her return. He talked as if you were there with him and how much he loved and missed you. His last words, before Freda returned, were: Jessica Mureaux, I love you sweetie.”
“How long did Freda keep him here?”
“Not very long. As a matter of fact, when you were at the toll gate, Freda was taking him from the hotel to the airplane.”
“I didn’t see any vehicles on the street. How did she?”
Darwin interrupted me, “There is more than one road to leave town.”
Tony was so close and yet so far away.
“I tried to talk to you in hopes you would get to him before he arrived at the plane, but I guess I scared you more than helped.”
“I’d say so—I wasn’t about to stop for anyone or anything until I reached Thorment.”
Yawning and feeling tired, I needed to sleep before my long drive back to Modena. Darwin noticed and quietly whispered, “I see you need rest.” He raised the window.
“Darwin?”
He turned to look at me.
“Thank you.”
He nodded and was gone.
Lying down, I thought of Tony wishing he was here with me instead of the Amazon forest with Freda.
Wanted him for her mate
, I thought. Leviathan had his hands full with Freda.
“Tony,” I said quietly. “You are my true love. I’m going to find you and we will be together again. I love you with all my heart and I miss you dearly.” I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
Bright and early in the m
orning I walked across the street to Type ‘O’ Positive Bar -N-Grill for breakfast. Of course, they didn’t serve anything but blood and I sure wasn’t up for that. Taking off toward the toll gate, I saw Darwin standing beside a tree. He watched as the car drove past. I waved and smiled at him.
The gate was up as I drove past the booth. Looking back in the mirror I saw a
n oversized bat flying around. I smiled because I knew it was Darwin.
Back on the highway, I stopped outside the hidden road to Mortensin Castle. Glad to be away from there, I never wanted
to have any reason to go to the mountain again. Pulling onto the highway, I was headed to Modena.
Calling the airport, I booked a flight to the Amazon Forest in Brazil. Booking it for two days from now was the right move because I needed time to plan what my next task would be. Stopping outside of Modena I purchased
some practical clothes consisting of pants, long sleeve shirt, a ball cap and a package of hair bands. Stopping at the ATM machine, I withdrew all I could for the day. I’d come back tomorrow and get more. Not knowing how much money I would need altogether, I decided around ten thousand dollars would do. Going back to the car, I saw a doll shop next door to the bank. Remembering Abigail, I stopped in to find her a doll. The doll which caught my eye was two feet tall wearing a wedding dress made of silk complete with the veil and bouquet. Purchasing the doll now was a split decision because I didn’t know when I’d be back to get it for her. The clerk gift wrapped it for me before I left.
Back at the hotel, Carlo was busy checking a guest in. He saw me and laid the key to my room on the counter. Grabbing the key, I waved at him and then went straight to the room.
Packing everything Tony and I owned I was ready for Brazil. Opening the small refrigerator Tony had several flasks and bags of blood. Taking them to the bathroom sink, I poured the blood down the drain, rinsed the flasks and packed them in Tony’s suitcase.
Taking my backpack, I packed it with three sets of clothes, my toothbrush and toothpaste, my hair bands and wallet. The money, I placed in a garbage sack then tucked it at the bottom of the pack. I was ready for my adventure.
The day after tomorrow, I would be on my way to Brazil. Was I ready? I had to be. I had to find Tony.
Chapter Fourteen
Today, I packed the car with our suitcases and Abigail’s doll.
Grabbing a cup of coffee in the dining room, Carlo came over to the table taking a seat. “Mrs. Mureaux, I see you are leaving us.”
“I am tomorrow.”
“Will you be back?” Carlo asked.
“I don’t think so because I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
“You’re going to find your husband, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Carlo I am,” I said with confidence.
“Please be careful. I only want the best for you and Mr. Mureaux. I pray you both are together and live a long and happy life.”
“Thank you Carlo.” Carlo looked at me for a long minute.
“Carlo is there something I need to know
that you haven’t told me.”
“No, Mrs. Mureaux.
May God be with you on your journey?” Carlo returned to the lobby without looking back at me.
Finishing my coffee, I was off to the ATM again to withdraw all I was allowed for the day. Tomorrow morning I would do the same before I headed to the airport.
Spending some time in Modena, I decided to window shop to pass the time. Walking down the main street of the town, I noticed a rather large man standing on the street corner facing my direction. He resembled the man from a dream I had had in reference to Tony’s kidnapping. He stood more than six feet, black curly hair and built to resemble a weightlifter.
“Act casual,” I told myself. “It was just a dream.”
Trying not to pay attention to this man, I walked into an odds and ends shop to browse. Looking over the merchandise, I came across a rather rare doll and immediately thought of Abigail. Even though I had purchased a doll for her, I decided it wouldn’t hurt for her to have another one. The doll was three inches in height, dressed in a tank top and mini skirt with buster brown shoes, blonde hair, blue eyes and a small smile. She was made of porcelain. I didn’t see a price tag. The sales clerk happened to walk by at the moment I turned around to locate her.