The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls

Familiar Souls

The Vampire Legacy III

Dawn Gray

Copyright 2011
Dawn Gray

Smashwords
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August 24.

Dear Friend:

It is with great disappointment that I
write this letter to you, not as a friendly correspondence, but as
an urgent plea for you to, once again, return to the safety of my
home.

It has come to my attention, via a
letter written from an overseas contact that I, and anyone who has
any sort of blood ties to me, is in great danger. The details of
this threat are, at the moment, not at my disposal, but I fear that
this is not a joke, and once again, stress the need for speedy
return home.

I have considered your families in this
matter and have been reassured that whatever this power maybe, it
wants nothing to do with your family, only your ties to me. Since I
trust that you have kept your word, as I have kept mine, to keep
our knowledge of once another secret, than your family will be at
no risk, for they know nothing of who I am.

Arrangements have been made for you to
stay, if overnight travel is necessary, at a local hotel on August
29th, otherwise you will have a private room at my home in New
London, Connecticut. Please, bring only what you might need for
clothing, and tell no one exactly where you have gone, only that
you must go alone. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this might cause
in your life, but I assure you that this is an urgent
matter.

With apologetic love:

Michael De Polyneices.

Michael stood by the wall of the patio
and looked out across the large stretch of green grass to where it
touched the ocean. His blond hair, which reached down passed his
shoulder blades, blew back in the breeze. His hands, which seemed
to be clutching the wall so hard they were beginning to turn white,
shook when he touched his chin.

A hand rested on his shoulder and he
looked back quickly at Julian, whose green thoughtful eyes trapped
his long time friend in a stare. Michael broke from Julian's trance
and looked out at the yard, once more.

"The letters have been sent." Julian
said and took a sip of the drink in his hand. "The carrier will
have them delivered by tonight and an answer should return by
evening, tomorrow." Julian paused to look at Michael's pained
facial expression. "Was it really necessary to tell both of
them?"

"It wouldn't have been fair to protect
one and not the other. They are my life, even though it has been a
while since I have gone to see them, with them actually knowing."
Michael said and stepped back, then looked at Julian. "They're
taking care of each other."

"They don't know the truth about the
other one, how could they be taking care of each other?" Julian
questioned. Michael sighed and put a hand on his hip.

"Maybe you should take the girls and
Jack and leave, Julian." Michael said softly. "Ash and Lauren will
only be targets when this begins. It would be safer this
way."

"We're not leaving." Julian smiled at
him. "This is our home too."

"Yes, and it's just been rebuilt, I
wouldn't want it to be destroyed again." He sighed and closed his
eyes. "Why now?"

"Because, now is the time for all
prophecies to come to pass." Julian said and shook his drink, then
took a sip.

"Oh, horseshit!" Michael yelled and
swung his fist at the air in front of him. "You know I don't
believe in all of that nonsense, why are you bringing that
up?"

"I've read it, Michael." He whispered
softly.

"Well, you know what?" Michael said,
angrily. "Your books can go to hell."

"It's because our family is at its
strongest." Quinn's voice interrupted. Michael looked over at
Quinn, the younger of the two men now standing before him, and
rubbed his head. "Think about it, we have Jason and Angel, Isaac
and Louis, Ash, Jack, Lauren, and Cecilia, not to mention Cleo.
Don't you agree that over the last two years, we have grown in size
and strength? Of course, now would be the time to challenge it all.
People see this as an opportunity to bring the power back to the
other side."

"Okay, this I don't need to hear."
Michael sighed and shook his head. "It's not that I don't
appreciate you two trying to help me cope with this, but I would
feel better if they were here all ready."

"Have you gotten any word on what might
be going on? What threat that they might be talking about?" Julian
questioned.

"No, the only thing they know is that
its origins are from France and it's very powerful." Michael
answered and looked up at the sky. "We don't stand a
chance.”

Chapter
1

Eight Months Prior

January

The college was a crowded place and it
seemed to hurt him as he stood in a secluded corner and watched the
people pass by. How could he possibly make it through the rest of
the day with over two thousand pulsating bodies around him? He
sighed and looked at the time on his Timex watch. Time for History
223-04, a Romanian history class. This was only school in the
country that a teacher was allowed to teach about old Romanian
myths and legends.

He ran a hand through his thick black
hair and sighed. The class room was right around the corner, no
need to hurry. He watched as the last of a small crowd of girls
walked in. There were three of them and they seemed to let off a
power that caught him by surprise. They seemed almost uninterested
in him but turned to get a second glance as they entered the
classroom.

Cristian Kingston walked up to the
doorway and looked around the room. He spotted a desk in the corner
of the room and sat down in it. The three girls looked over at him
and one of them smiled. They seemed to stay very close together.
The teacher walked in and looked around at the faces of the new
students. The semester had just started and everyone was new and
unfamiliar to each other.

Cristian listened to the teacher call
off names and waited for his, which they pronounced wrong, as
usual. He sat there the rest of the class and tried to ignore the
feeling that he was getting from the three girls.

Taryn McNally looked at him a couple
times and then smiled at Sage Owen who rolled her eyes and looked
at her new history book. Taryn was a small framed, strawberry
blonde who was attracted to men who looked like the mysterious
type, which was just what this new guy was and since Taryn knew his
name she was going to do anything in her power to get him. Taryn
loved a challenge but she thought about what Sage had told her as
they walked by him in the hallway.

"Don't jump into him to soon, Taryn. I
have an awful feeling he's not what he seems." Sage had told her
and she hadn't even noticed Sage looking at her when she glanced
back at him. However, she wasn't about to take Sage's word in vein,
Sage knew a lot about strange things and had proved that her
intuition was uncanny.

Sage Owen was what Madam Bodell had
called ‘a natural witch’, this was odd because she had said that
within seconds of meeting the three girls. Taryn pulled away from
her thoughts and looked at Bobbie Morgan, whose black hair was
almost as shiny as the sun and Taryn watched the colors reflect off
of it. Bobbie was Sage's cousin but her witch heritage had crossed
over Bobbie's half of the family. She sighed and looked down at her
book once again and finally listened to the teachers boring lecture
on what not to do in this class.

Cristian looked over at the girls and
noticed the girl with the slightly red hair was looking at him. She
quickly turned away and pretended to look interested in the class.
Cristian sighed and turned back around in his seat, and that's when
he noticed the young man beside him looking at him oddly. Cristian
stopped and looked back into his eyes.

"Hey, man, you pick the weirdest chicks
to get interested in." The kid told him. Cristian
smiled.

"Oh, yeah, why's that?" Cristian asked
him softly. The kid laughed slightly.

"Those are the local witches, or at
least one of them is. Taryn McNally, Sage Owen, and Bobbie Morgan
in that order." The kid pointed out. Cristian looked over and
smiled. The one who had been looking at him was Taryn, according to
this kid. "Sage is the witch; they say she killed her last
boyfriend by casting a spell on him to jump out the window of a
twenty story building."

"Okay, like I believe that one."
Cristian said and rolled his eyes. The kid smiled.

"I know. Pretty far out story, huh? I
don't make them up, I just tell'um." He smiled. "My name's Chris
Tanner, but most of the losers here call me Slide."

"Cristian Kingston and I'll call you
Chris, all right." Cristian smiled and they shook hands. Chris
nodded. "Where is the Hanson Building?"

"I'm going there next period, I'll show
you." Chris replied, and Cristian nodded in agreement. He glanced
over at the girls and then at the teacher.

* * * * *

I abruptly felt very strange sitting in
the same room as Cristian Kingston even if my best friend wanted
him. There was something about him that made my head hurt and my
body tingle, which usually meant that it was something bad. My blue
eyes looked at him, casually, trying to find a notch in his
thoughts that I could get into. I was very telepathic from what the
old woman told me, not that I believed it.

I had never felt anything like Cristian
Kingston before, not since I was seven did anything come close. I
looked away as Chris Tanner pointed us out to the strange new
comer. I didn't trust Chris much more than a rattlesnake. I just
wished this period would get over so I could get out of that
suffocating room.

Lunch was normal for Bobbie, Taryn, and
I. We went to meet with a small group of friends at a usual table
in the student lounge, and then headed to the cafeteria for some of
the day's mystery meat. I felt awkward and ate nothing for a while
then picked at the half of a sandwich that I had agreed to split
with Bobbie. There was a small commotion among a table of girls
next to the entrance that made me look up and watch.

Taryn made an audible intake of breath
and I looked at her quickly, then back at the door. Bobbie nudged
my shoulder and smiled then looked at Taryn, who looked as though
she were in a trance.

Bobbie leaned close to Taryn and gave
her one of her less insulting phrases. "Hey, slack-jaw, wipe your
chin your creating a puddle."

Taryn looked at her and elbowed her in
the gut, then smiled. I smiled awkwardly and then looked up as
Chris and Cristian headed towards their table. I looked back down
at my book.

"Ladies, good afternoon to you." Bobbie
and Taryn rolled their eyes. "This is Cristian Kingston. I'm sure
you've seen each other around campus but have not been properly
introduced."

I couldn't help but look up at him.
"And who made you, honorary butt-kisser to the stars,
Tanner."

"Sage, my lovely, lovely Sage." Chris
said and sat down beside me. I looked at the three on lookers and
then at Chris. "Your beauty is undeniable, but your mouth is like
that of a barbarian muskrat."

"And you really do make this up as you
go along, don't you?" I said and stood up. Chris gave me this
shocked face. "Chris, dearest, be so kind as to drop dead by the
time I see you next." Chris put a hand over his heart and blew me a
kiss. I looked at Taryn and Bobbie then at Cristian. "It was ever
so nice to meet you."

"The pleasure was positively all mine."
Cristian said and we smiled at one another.

"Bye, ladies." I said as I turned and
walked out of the room. Taryn looked at Cristian as he watched her
walk away.