The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (19 page)

"Alright." She replied. Michael and
Sage both stood and walked back to the house. He escorted her to
the room where everyone was, then gathered the men and went into a
separate room.

Michael closed the door and looked
around then he stopped and looked directly at Julian.

"I know who's after my family now." He
whispered. David sat forward. "A man came to Sage in a dream, a man
she couldn't possibly know anything about."

"You've seen his face?" Michael
nodded.

"Who is he?" Quinn asked. Michael
looked at him; his face straight, unmovable, and he spoke to Quinn,
without any doubt in his mind.

Michael wanted to whisper, to shout, to
scream, but he spoke, in an even voice, as he stared into Quinn's
green eyes. "It's Victor."

* * * * *

I wanted to fall into darkness, to be
at total ease, but the light sound of music played in my head. It
was a soothing sound. Something slow and dreamy. I sighed as I
listened, then slowly I opened my eyes. I knew I was dreaming, for
I could see the haze just around the edges of my vision. I laughed;
I must have been silly to think that I could get away without
dreaming in this house.

I was in my bed, where I had fallen
asleep, in only a light tank top, which in my dream had risen up to
just below my breast, and a pair of cotton shorts. It was then that
I felt it; a soft gentle touch that passed over my skin, bare and
covered. It was sensual, very erotic, but gentle. I could feel it
on my breast, between my thighs, and as it passed over my
privates.

I watched with sleepy, clouded eyes as
a hand formed on my stomach, first as an imprint, then I watched it
take shape. A hand, then an arm, transparent but there at the same
time. I moved up the length of this ghostly hand and looked into
what might have been a face, but had no facial features. I should
have been frightened, after all, aren't ghosts supposed to be
scary?

I moved back down and looked at his
hand, as it caressed my stomach, sending waves of sexual feelings
up and down my body, and then I heard his voice, deep,
knowledgeable, ancient, but so full of life.

"Listen to me child." He whispered,
though I couldn't find the lips on his face. I wanted to sink into
that voice and stay there, then slowly, to make sure I heard it
all, he continued, reciting a poem:

"A prophecy has come to
pass,

when a child of magic will, at
last,

bear a child of no mortal man's
blood,

a powerful being created from hope and
love.

This child will be very special,
indeed,

a ray of light for all to
see,

and, when the time comes, it's next in
line

An added heir to the throne of the
Kingdom of

the Nine.”

His hand slowly moved away from me, the
small poem seemed stuck in my head as he disappeared. My eyes grew
heavy and I smiled as they closed slowly, letting the darkness take
over, but my dreamless sleep was quickly disturbed, when bright red
eyes suddenly appeared in my vision. I screamed, aloud, and opened
my eyes.

My room filled with light as the door
opened quickly and the light turned on. I looked over at Justin, as
I sat up in bed, my eyes wide with fright. He closed the door and
walked over to me, sitting down close to me on the bed.

"Was it another dream?" He asked. I
nodded, voiceless. "What was it?"

"Just eyes." I said and reached out for
him. Justin wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. "Bright
red eyes."

"Shh." He said softly, trying to calm
me down. "You're safe now." He whispered. I looked up at him and he
smiled, then leaned down and kissed me on the lips. I closed my
eyes and let that fire go through me. Justin giggled against my
lips when I sighed and lay back on the bed, bringing him with me. I
moved my hands from his sides and began to unbutton his shirt,
which became almost impossible with my shaking hands.

Justin sat back a bit, grabbed his
shirt and ripped it open the rest of the way, sending buttons
flying cross the room. I laughed when he did this, completely
straight faced and couldn't help but laugh harder as I heard his
shoes hit the floor, one by one, as he kissed my neck.

Justin looked at my face, as my nervous
giggle slowly, and then he put my hands on his shoulder and ran
them down his chest, where he released them and kissed me again. I
reached for the buckle on his jeans and quickly removed his belt.
He helped me struggle to remove his black jeans, which were tossed
on the floor with the rest of his discarded clothing.

Justin moved the remaining blankets
from me and moved his body so that we seemed to be one person on
this large bed. I smiled up at him as he came close.

"What's so funny?" He asked, touching
my cheek with his cool lips. I shivered at their touch, and wrapped
my arms around his soft, but well-built, body. I caressed his back,
ran my fingers over his skin and laughed at the little noises he
made. "Who knew you were such an animal, you're such a petite
little thing."

"Oh, well, don't grant me sainthood
yet." I whispered and smiled at his eyes. "You haven't seen half
the stuff I do."

"I can't wait." He said softly and
kissed me deeply with such fire, that it seemed to be the end of
any verbal conversation for the rest of the night.

I opened my eyes slowly and looked at
the soft face of the man who I had fallen asleep next to. His face
seemed very innocent, like the last two hundred years had just
suddenly left him overnight. He moved slowly, then opened his eyes
a bit, and looked at me. I watched a smile form on his lips and his
hand touched my side.

"Good morning." He whispered. I smiled
back at him and winked.

"How did you sleep?" I questioned. He
laughed, quietly, and touched my cheek lightly.

"After being with you most of the
night, I slept like a log." He laughed. I slapped him on the bare
leg and he jumped. "Where did you get so much energy
from?"

"Shut up!" I laughed and rolled out
from under the covers, grabbing my bathrobe that was on the chair.
Justin rolled over onto his stomach and watched me slip on the
robe.

"Where are you going?" He asked
softly.

"I'm going to take a shower." I replied
and walked over to the door. "Don't stay in bed long; I want you to
go with me to the cemetery."

"Why?" He asked, confused.

"I want to introduce you to my
parents." I smiled. He nodded as I left the room, closing the door
behind me. I walked down the hall towards the bathroom. When I
heard a door behind me open, I turned quickly, thinking it might be
Justin, but I looked at David, instead. He looked me over, nodded
then disappeared down the stairs. I walked into the bathroom and
closed the door.

* * * * *

Justin stood by the doorway, looking
out at the grass, then at the sky, where it seemed to connect with
the ocean. He sipped on the drink in his hand and smiled to himself
as he thought of Sage. He heard footsteps and turned to look at
Cristian, who walked, slowly, into the room.

"What are you doing here?" Cristian
asked. Justin looked at him, gestured out the window and
sighed.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He
replied. Cristian looked down at his hand then back up at Justin.
"Look, if you’re going to start being an ass, save your breath, I'm
not in the mood to hear it today."

"Why are you doing this?" Cristian
questioned. Justin turned and looked at his blood brother then
crossed his arms. "She's young, Justin. Let her find someone else,
someone to grow old with, and not just watch her grow
old."

"I love her. Cris, why can't you
understand that?" Justin said softly. "What about Taryn, she's
young too, why don't you take your own advice about
her."

"I'm not a risk."

"Neither am I." Justin replied, calmly.
"Look, you and I need to get this straight. We're home because
we're all in danger, not just her. I'm going to protect her, just
like you and Michael but, I can't do that with you constantly
badgering me." He watched Cristian cross his arms. "Would it help
if I apologized about what I did in the past? What if I prayed to
the Gods for forgiveness; would you leave me be then? Charles
forgave me for what I had become, Cris, why can't you?"

"Charles was a stupid man, Justin. He
forgave everything you did because you were his son. He couldn't
live without your acceptance of him; he couldn't bear the thought
that you might leave him like he had done to you." Justin closed
his eyes.

"He had no choice but to leave us. They
would have killed our family because of what he was." Justin said.
"And, that has nothing to do with this."

"Did you ever tell Michael that Charles
was your father?" Cristian asked, sternly. "Did you ever explain to
him about your "ties" to Charles that he had done the same thing to
you as Michael had done to Sage? Giving you blood to save your
life?"

"No!" Justin snapped then bowed his
head, closing his eyes. "I never thought it was of any great
importance for anyone to know my past."

"Why do you think I'm trying to protect
Sage from you?" Cristian asked. Justin looked up at him. He knew
why Cristian wanted her to be away from him. "In the beginning it
was because of your dark side, but that's not the case
anymore."

"So, what new crusade have you embarked
on now?" Justin asked softly.

"I don't want her to end up like you."
He whispered. "You're blood was tainted by Charles, and then by
Devon's. What if your blood mixes with Michael's, how will that
girl react to that?"

"Why would she even take blood from
me?" Justin asked. "I'm not going to force it on her. Listen,
Cristian, drop this now. Find it in your heart to believe me when I
say that Sage is safe with me."

"I'm sorry, Justin." Cristian said
softly. "I can't ever truly believe that."

"Then you and I are not brothers."
Justin replied, speaking loudly. "From this moment on, our ties are
severed." Justin walked towards the door, then stopped beside him,
and looked him in the eyes. "If you decide to continue this little
pursuit of yours, know this, I'm not afraid of you. I am, by far,
stronger than you are and I'm not afraid to use what powers I have
to defend what belongs to me."

Justin walked out of the room and left
Cristian to stand there, alone. He walked down the hallway and
stopped when he heard the door close behind him. He turned slowly
and looked at Michael, who glanced up at him. He had come out of a
room, close to where Cristian and Justin had just been arguing
loudly. Michael walked closer to him and Justin smiled,
awkwardly.

"So, what did you hear?" Justin asked.
Michael crossed his arms, then bit his fingernail and looked up at
him.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about
Charles?" Michael questioned.

"Like I told Cris, I didn't think it
was of any great importance." Justin replied then turned and
started to walk away.

"How did he die?" Michael asked
suddenly. Justin stopped and waited for Michael to catch up with
him. He sighed loudly and turned to Michael.

"Would you like the long version, or
the short one?" He asked.

Michael gestured to the room to the
left of them and the two of them headed in, but instead of stopping
to sit on the chairs there, Michael opened the doors and they
continued through. They walked over the lush green grass and Justin
sighed, pulling his sunglasses out of his pants pockets. He slipped
them on and glanced at Michael.

"You were always his
favorite."

"Funny, I always thought I was the
outsider." Michael replied. Justin laughed and put his hands in the
pockets of his jeans. "So, what happened?"

"After you left, Charles started to
panic, he thought that someone had taken you, but, Cristian, being
the good hearted so he was, told him that you left because of me.
Charles never seemed to forgive me for that, and when Cristian
decided to go out looking for you, he seemed to shut down. I knew
that he didn't want to be left with me, the son who had bad blood,
but I tried my hardest to please him." Justin laughed a bit.
"Nothing made him happy, at least nothing I did. He started to get
visits from this man. He had to be in his late thirties, but he was
a vampire, and said that his name was Victor La Rouge, and that he
was related to us boys in some way. He told Charles that he had
found a way to get rid of what was tainting me, but what he did to
me only made it worse.

"I killed, mercilessly, whenever the
bloodlust took over, which was more often than not when Victor was
around. I couldn't control it, couldn't seem to grab hold and I was
angry at Cristian, who had lived with us for almost five years
before you came. He was supposed to be my brother, but I felt that
he had abandoned me, left me to deal with this hatred of living
things." Justin looked at Michael, quickly and stopped walking. "I
never wanted this, Michael, but it was in my blood and I felt that
Charles would accept me more if I were just like him."