The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (11 page)

“
I got lost in the woods.”
I replied, popping the straw into the juice box. “Everything looks
the same at night when it’s covered with snow. Some kids who were
going to school this morning helped me find my way out.”

“
You really expect us to
believe that?” Tanner asked, making me look at him.

“
I don’t expect YOU to
believe anything because, personally, your opinion doesn’t count to
me. Therefore, I would appreciate it if you kept your nose out of
my business. Thank you very much.” I said, smiled at him, and then
turned to look at Bobbie, Taryn and Cristian. “In fact, whether any
of you believe me or not doesn’t really matter.”

“
What’s with you today?”
Taryn asked.

“
Well, let’s see. I got a
call last night from someone named, oh my God, Taryn, just like
your name, saying that the battery was dead on the car and could I
come and help. So, me being the nice person I am, got off my lazy
butt and went out to help, just to find that no one was really
there. I got stuck in a snow bank, lost in the woods, nearly froze
off my toes, haven’t slept all night and now I have an attitude
problem.” I got up and looked at them. “Oh, yeah, and the fact that
I don’t have a life, and need to get out more might have something
to do with what’s with me today.”

I walked out of the kitchen, into my
bedroom and closed the door. I sighed and smiled to myself. What
was really with me was that I spent the evening, free of any
friend’s disapprovals with a man that seemed to set me on fire and
I missed him terribly. We didn’t have sex, but kissed and caressed
each other, so gently at times, that it almost sent me over the
edge of want. He had controlled himself quite well, despite my
touch on his skin, and appreciated it. I had never been attracted
to a man like I was with Justin, but I wasn’t sure how far wanted I
to go with him yet. I was thinking about him, as I sat on bed, when
there was a knock at the door. I got up, rubbed my head and dragged
my sleeping body over to unhook the lock. When I opened the door, I
looked at Bobbie, who was standing there patiently, and walked back
to the bed. Bobbie walked in and closed the door. She made her way
to the bed, while kicking shoes out of the way, and sat on the bed
beside me. Bobbie looked at me, as I glanced up at her, then closed
my eyes as I lay back and covered up.

“
You didn’t have to snap.”
Bobbie whispered.

“
Yeah, well. I’ll
apologize later.” I replied.

“
Tell me about
him.”

“
About who?” I asked
quickly, looking at her, and then I closed my eyes again. “I don’t
know what you’re talking about.”

“
Justin.”

“
What makes you think I
know anything about him? You’re keeping him away from me, that is
all I know.”

“
Then why do you look so
different this morning or afternoon such is the case.” Bobbie said
softly. She pulled the covers from my neck, and then pulled down
the shirt’s collar looking at skin.

“
What are you doing?” I
asked as I slapped away Bobbie’s hand.

“
Looking for bite marks.”
She replied. I turned over and looked at my cousin, a bit
annoyed.

“
Oh, is that it.” I
replied and then nodded, as if I understood her perfectly. “You
should check between my legs. They like the meat on the inside of
the thigh. I hear it’s higher in protein.”

“
Okay.” Bobbie said and
stood up. “I’m only looking out for you.”

“
Do me a favor.” I asked,
looking at Bobbie. “Look after someone who might need looking
after, like Taryn. You’re so worried about Justin that you’re not
looking at the real danger. Cristian is his blood brother, and you
know how it goes with family members. There’s not always just one
black sheep.”

“
Cristian has proved to us
that he means no harm, vampire or not.”

“
Yeah, well, you’ve never
even given Justin a chance, Bobbie.”

“
From what Cristian tells
me, I don’t think a chance is what he needs. Maybe a full frontal
lobotomy, but other than that, I’m not sure.” Bobbie stepped over
to the door.

“
You can’t judge something
you’ve never even experienced before, Bobbie.” I sighed and turned
over on my side. “And, you can’t go around trying to make people
believe that there’s such a thing as a perfectly good vampire,
because there’s no such thing. Sooner or later, Cristian’s going
prove that to you and you better hope that Taryn isn’t at the
receiving end of it.”

“
Go to sleep, Sage.”
Bobbie said softly. “Being lost in the woods, all alone, can take a
lot out of you.”

“
Yeah, and so can
Cristian.” I said and looked at my cousin, who gave me a dirt look
and closed the door. I inhaled deeply, and then let it out slowly,
got up and walked over to the window. I looked through the foggy
glass, and wondered where Justin might have hid himself that
day.

I began to distance myself from Taryn
and Bobbie. I would stay out later at night, not always with Justin
though, and kept how I felt to myself. Bobbie began to worry, and
as Taryn and Cristian drew closer together, in their relationship,
she noticed how I moved further apart from them. She began to
suspect that I knew something about the young man that even Taryn
didn’t know, but she kept it to herself.

Chapter 7

August

Seven months later

I looked up from the letter in hand,
and my eyes began to water, my mouth moved as if I wanted to form
words, but nothing seemed to want to come out. Taryn walked into
the room and looked at me. She watched as I placed a hand to my
mouth, and then looked back down at the paper in front of me
again.

“
Sage?” Taryn asked. I
turned quickly and wiped my eyes, and then I folded the letter and
grabbed my suitcase. “What is it? What does it say?”

“
I’m...I’m sorry, Taryn,
but I have to leave.” I said softy and then looked at my friend.
“Something’s come up and I have to go home.”

“
This is your home.” Taryn
replied. I shook her head.

“
No, I have to go to
Michael.” I answered. Taryn looked at me in shock and walked over
to where I stood.

“
Sage, this is insane.”
Taryn said and took my arm. “You haven’t heard from Michael in
almost six years, what’s so important that he would write now and
want you back home?”

“
He doesn’t know and all I
know is that he wants me there. I have to go.” I zippered the bag
and started to walk away.

“
Wait!” Taryn yelled. I
looked at her and tapped foot. “What about Justin?”

In all the confusion, I had forgotten
to tell my friend that was leaving, and we had grown so close over
the last eight months, just the thought made my heart
race.

I had even convinced him to move into
an apartment close by, but we had remained only friends, upon
Justin’s sudden request. I nodded, thinking that this would be a
good idea, and left the bag as I walked out the door.

Justin lived two houses down from us,
and he didn’t seem to be home as I banged on the door. After only a
few moments with no answer, a light came on in the room just beside
the doorway and Justin’s new roommate of two weeks answered the
door in his underwear.

“
Hey, Sage, what’s up?”
The half-sleeping young man asked.

“
Justin? Is he home?” I
questioned.

“
Nah, he went out about an
hour ago to the Ravenloft. It’s a club.” He replied.

“
Thanks, but I know what
it is.” I stepped away from the door, pulled my keys out of pocket
and walked over to my car. I drove, as quickly as traffic would
allow to the club at the north side of town. Once I was parked, I
walked up to the bouncer and whispered Justin’s name and three
power words in his ear. The bouncer stepped aside and let me
through, as the crowd behind me booed.

I stood on the balcony, looking down at
the people on the dance floor, as I scanned the crowd for Justin. I
spotted him with Bobbie and Chris Tanner, along with three other
people, sitting in a corner booth. As I made my way down, the words
in Michael’s letter rang through my head. I had to leave soon, and
this had to be quick.

I stepped up beside Justin, tapping him
on the shoulder. He looked up at the urgency on my face and stood,
quickly.

“
What is it?” He
questioned. I looked at Bobbie, quickly, feeling the odd emotions
from her.

“
I have to leave town.” I
replied, looking back at him.

“
Now, right now?” He
asked, as I nodded. “Why? What’s the sudden urgency?”

“
Michael wants me to come
home.” I whispered.

“
Did you say Michael wants
you too? Michael who?’

“
De Polyneices.” I said
softly and watched his face turn sour.

“
Let’s dance.” He said and
grabbed my hand. He brought me out onto the floor, and even though
the song that was playing was very fast, Justin pulled me close and
together we swayed to it as if it were a slow love song. “Michael’s
here?”

“
No, not right here,
anyway. He lives over near the town line, by Waterford.” I said
softly and looked up into his eyes. “Is he the one?”

“
The one what?” Justin
asked and looked down at me.

“
The one who hurt you so
long ago?” I whispered to him.

“
He’s the Michael that I
mentioned.” Justin said and nodded, then closed his eyes. “Why are
you going to him?”

“
Well, it’s funny,
actually.” I looked to the side and then back at him. “He’s sort
of, well, what you might call a father to me.” I whispered. Justin
stopped us from moving; staring at me a bit confused, and looked
away for a moment before catching my eyes. “His blood is my blood,
that sort thing.”

“
Why didn’t you ever tell
me that before?” Justin questioned.

“
I didn’t think it would
matter, really.” I replied and stepped back away from him. “But, I
really must go now.”

“
Please, don’t mention me
to him.” Justin asked as he placed his hand on my hips and pulled
me back to him. I started to sway gently once again.

“
What’s with you and
Bobbie?” I whispered and looked up at his face. “It’s been almost
nine months since we met, you would have thought she would be over
it by now, but she still insists that we’re seeing each other and
that it has to stop.” Justin smiled, he leaned his head a bit to
the side as he looked at me then his smile slowly faded.

“
I’ve been thinking about
you a lot, Sage.”

“
I always think about
you.” I said and batted my eyes, playfully.

“
Would you come home with
me tonight?” He asked softly. I closed my eyes and put my forehead
against his chest. “I know you have to leave, but, I’m sure Michael
can wait until the morning.”

“
I’m confused.” I admitted
softly.

“
I know what I said, but I
didn’t want you to have to explain us to your friends anymore.
They’re still giving, you grief just for associating with me.
Imagine how it would be if we were involved.” Justin
sighed.

I stepped back and looked at him then
looked at Bobbie, noticed the look on her cousin’s face, and went
back at Justin.

“
Judging by the look on
Bobbie’s face, she thinks we are involved. Justin, I told you
before that what we feel didn’t involve them. I thought I made it
clear that I could care less about what they thought.” I moved back
a couple more feet and looked him in the eyes. “Good bye,
Justin.”

I walked away, getting lost in the
crowd, and made my way out of the club. My eyes watered as I got
into my car and drove back to the house. Cristian’s car was parked
in front of the house when I pulled up. Slowly, I got out of the
car and walked to the door and paused, not wanting to go up, not
with him there, but just the thought of being close to Justin’s
territory seemed to make me walk through the front door.

Cristian walked by without a word, as I
walked up to the apartment. He looked at me quickly, with a look of
concentration and impatience on his face, and then scooted out the
door. I looked at Taryn when I walked in and the girl gave a mean
face.

“
What’s the matter?” I
asked.

“
What’s going on between
you and Cristian?” Taryn asked. This made me stop and look at my
friend.

“
Nothing but detest, I
assure you.” I smiled back, but saw that humor was not going to
solve this one. “What is it, Taryn?”

“
He’s leaving, just like
you.” She replied. I looked at her, confused, and then it dawned on
me. Of course, if my Michael were also Justin’s Michael than it
would only figure that Justin’s blood brother would also be
Michael’s blood brother. I shook my head. Why couldn’t I get rid of
him?

“
No, Taryn, I don’t think
you understand.” I said and grabbed the suitcase. “They’re all
connected.”

“
Who?”

“
Justin, Cristian, and
Michael, they’re brothers and the reason that Cristian’s leaving in
such a hurry, is because Michael asked him to come and see him,
just like he did me.” I explained. “However, I don’t think that
Cristian really realizes that Michael asked me to come home
too.”