Dhampir Love (10 page)

     “Tony asked me to help him oversee the blood bank in Portland and I wanted to have an idea on how it’s run.”

     “That’s a terrific idea, Jess.  Victor is pleased Tony will be running the blood bank in Portland.  Victor doesn’t tell Tony how proud he is of him.”

     “Maybe he figures Tony already knows.”

     “Maybe,” Jennifer said.

     The limo pulled up in front of the blood bank around eight.  Thinking it was too early for donors, I was surprised when we walked in and s
aw every chair full of patients.

     “Citizens of London are exceptional when it comes to donating.  They understand the need for blood, especially for blood transfusions.”

     “Are there a lot of transfusions?” I asked.

     “The military depends on us for a lot of blood for their soldiers.”

     “That’s understandable.  I hope the blood bank in Portland thrives.”

     “Portland’s blood bank is one of the biggest for Oregon.  Don’t be surprised when the phone rings off the wall and you’ll do a lot of shipping to other countries.”

     “At least I will be busy,” I said.

     Jennifer gave me a tour of the donating rooms and offices.  Victor’s secretary was helpful in showing me the ropes about running an office.  My knowledge of a nurse was the same as running a blood bank.  The paperwork was a little different, but I knew I would adjust.  Learning about the operations of the blood bank, I was satisfied I would run Portland’s just the way Victor would want me too.  

     Jennifer treated me to the Addendum Restaurant in the heart of London.  She ordered filet of lamb with aubergine charlotte and garlic.   It was a first for me to have lamb, but I found it delicious and filling.

    
It was late when we returned to the house.  Putting on my night shirt, I looked at Tony’s side of the bed.  I was missing Tony.  Tomorrow would be the last day for the meeting and he would be with me. Climbing into bed, I pulled the covers over me settling in for my last night without Tony. 

    
Closing my eyes, I heard a faint voice cry, ‘Help us.’  Suddenly I opened my eyes and looked around the room.  The moonlight shone through the curtain and with a few blinks, my eyes adjusted to see clearly in the dark.  Glancing around the room, I was the only one here. I lay as still as I could with my eyes darting around the room.  I knew I had to be the only one on the third floor. 

    
Closing my eyes, I listened for the voice again.  Thinking I wasn’t going to hear it, I turned to Tony’s side of the bed and grabbed his pillow.  Getting myself comfortable to sleep, I heard ‘Help us’.  Turning to face the room, I quickly sat up in bed.  ‘Help us,’ I heard again only this time it seemed to be coming from the end of the hall.  Crawling out of bed, I put on my robe and went to the staircase that leads to the first floor kitchen.  

    
Stopping at the top of the stairs, I heard ‘Help us’. Slowly I started down the stairs, but remembered the light switch was on the first floor.  Feeling the wall as I descended the stairs, I heard, ‘Help us’ on the other side of the wall, so I felt the wall coming across a knob.  It was a door.  Slowly opening the door, a ghostly figure floated downward.  Curiosity got the better of me and I followed it.  Halfway to the bottom of the landing the ghostly figure disappeared.  Stopping because it was too dark to see, I turned to go back up the stairs when I heard ‘Help us.’

     “Who’s there?” I asked turning in the direction of the voice.  Standing as still as I could, I listened for the voice again.  When I didn’t hear anything I started up the stairs again.

     “Help us,” the voice stated from behind me.

     I turned to see a ghostly figure,
a woman dressed in a fifteenth century gown, floating in the air.  She turned and floated down the stairs.  At the end of the stairs she turned to look at me. “Who are you?” I asked.  She never spoke another word before she disappeared. 

    
Standing on the staircase for a few minutes, I waited for the woman to come back. When she didn’t return I went up the stairs leaving the door open to find a flashlight.  Rummaging through the kitchen drawers, I found two candles and a book of matches.  At the top of the stairs, I lit the candle and went back to the open door.   Making my way to the bottom of the stairs, I looked around. 

    
The basement was cold, dark and damp and a switch was on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.  Hoping there would be light when I flipped the switch, I was surprised when the basement glowed.  Blowing out the candle I looked around the basement for any signs of the woman.  To my left was a long hallway which seemed to go on forever.  To my right, was a door boarded up.  “Is anyone here?”  I asked with no response. 

     I started down the hall to the first doorway.  The room was dark.  Feeling around for a light switch without finding one, I lit the candle and went into the room. It was empty.

     Going out into the hall, I heard ‘Help us’ coming from the end of the hall.  Blowing out the candle I walked to where I heard the voice stopping at the doorway.  Taking in a deep breath I looked inside the room.  My jaw fell open and my eyes widened.  The woman I saw on the stairs was sitting on the edge of a cot with a man lying down with his head bandaged.  Two small children were huddled in the corner.  The woman was looking in the direction of the man and the children appeared to be talking to each another.  I entered the room.

     Focused on the scene before me, I heard footsteps coming down the hall.  The woman looked toward the doorway and the children grabbed each other hiding their faces.  The man reached up with his hand and touched the woman’s face.  The footsteps stopped at the door and the ghostly figures in the room disappeared.  I turned toward
the door and didn’t see anyone.  Looking out into the hall it was empty. 
I just saw a ghost or rather several ghosts,
I thought
.

    
Gathering my knees off the floor,
I wanted to see
what exactly the basement had in store so I started looking in every room, but found nothing.  Going back to the stairs, I stopped and stared at the boarded door.  As I started up the stairs I heard a knock behind me. Inching my way back down the stairs, I peeked around the corner at the door.  Another knock on the door caused me to jump.  Now I wondered if someone was trapped and needed my help.  Going to the door I leaned my ear against it.  Not hearing anything, I straightened up to go back to the stairs when I heard footsteps behind me.  I turned to see two ghostly figures dressed in soldier’s uniform walking toward the door.  The hair on my arms stood up when the footsteps stopped beside me.  A whisper came from behind the boarded door, ‘Hush, they’re here’ and with no time to waste, I took off for the stairs and didn’t look back. Closing my bedroom door I leaned against it catching my breath and turned on the light. 

     Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, it was three in the morning and I wasn’t about to sleep with the ghosts from the basement on my mind. 

     Going to the kitchen, I decided some coffee would be just what I needed.  I sat at the dining room table overlooking the lake.  The first thought that entered my mind,
what other surprises did this house have?
Maybe Jennifer would know.  I’d ask her later.  Before the coffee finished brewing, I laid my head on the back of the chair. 

     My eyes opened to sunlight shining through the window.  I had fallen asleep in the chair.  Getting a cup of coffee, I went to the stairs at the end of the hall.  The winding staircase made it impossible for me to see the door leading to the basement.  Going back to the bedroom the clock on the nightstand said it was noon.  Finishing my coffee, I took a shower and went to the first floor to find Jennifer.  Jason came out of the den and I asked, “Jason, have you seen Jennifer?”

     “Ma’am, she had to go into town.  She’ll return later this evening.”

     “Is she picking up Victor and Tony?”

     “She didn’t say,” Jason said.

     “Thank you, Jason.”

     Jason closed the den door and went toward the kitchen.  Before going into the living room, I looked at all the painting’s lining the wall in the hall.  Not one person in the painting’s resembled the ghosts from last night. 

    
In the living room, I searched all the paintings with no luck.  Several paintings of William and Catherine hung on the south wall.  The north and west wall were paintings of Victor, Jennifer and Tony.  

    
Making my way to the den, I noticed a painting of a man, woman and three children hanging beside the doorway leading to the living room.  Thinking back, I never noticed it here before.  Taking a step back, I examined the painting to see a very young woman standing behind a man with her hand on his shoulder.  The man, dressed in a military uniform sat in a high back chair holding a baby.  Two smaller children were seated on either side of his legs.  Remembering the ghosts, I didn’t see any resemblance.

     The paintings in the living room were descendants of Victor.  Each painting had a metal name plate at the bottom giving the names of the people and the date it was painted.  Looking the paintings over, I heard a car drive up.  Pulling back the curtain, I watched as Jennifer exited the limo.  Out in the hall I waited for Jennifer to come in and greeted her as she opened the door.

    “Hello, Jennifer.”

     “Hi Jess, could you give me a hand?”

    “Sure.”  I grabbed two packages that were falling out of Jennifer’s arms.  We carried them to her bedroom, which I had never seen before.  Jennifer’s bedroom was magnificent.  A four poster bed sat in the middle of the room with lace hanging down on all four sides and a lace canopy on top with a mirror on the ceiling facing the bed.  Her décor was fifteen century.  “Jennifer, if you have a minute I’d like to talk to you,” I said, sitting the bags down on her trunk at front of the bed.

     “Sure dear, have a seat.”  She patted the bed.

     “Last night I heard a voice asking for help.  I went to see who it was and found a hidden staircase halfway down the stairs leading to the first floor kitchen.”

     “A hidden staircase,” Jennifer said, puzzled.

     “You don’t know about it?”

     “No dear, I don’t.  I thought I knew every inch of this house, but I guess I don’t.  Anyway—what happened?”

     “When I opened the door, a ghost was standing behind it repeating over and over to help them.”

     “Help who?”

     “I’m not sure, but there were several ghosts I saw in the basement, a woman and a man with two small children.  There are soldiers and someone behind a boarded up door.  After that, I left.  Would you know anything about it?”

     Jennifer looked at me with surprise.  “Could you show me where this staircase is hidden?”

     Jennifer and I went to the third floor.  Retrieving the candles and matches we went to the end of the hall.  Lightening both our candles, we proceeded down the staircase.   Halfway down, I stopped in front of the door and turned to look at Jennifer.  “This is it,” I said, turning the handle.  At the landing of the staircase, I pointed to my right.  “This is where I heard a knock and down the hall to the third doorway, I encountered the family of ghosts.”

     “Could you show me?” Jennifer asked.

     I nodded and took her to the room.  As we entered the room, a ghostly figure was sitting on the bed with its back to us.  Jennifer gasped and backed out of the room.

     “What about the soldiers?” she whispered.

     “They were coming to this room when the ghosts disappeared.  Once I went back to the stair case, I saw the soldiers at the boarded door.”

     “Let’s go back upstairs,” Jennifer said, grabbing onto my arm.

     Back up on the third floor in the living room, Jennifer was white as a sheet looking at me.  “What is it?” I asked.

     “It’s the first time I’ve been in the basement.  It has such an eerie feeling,” Jennifer paused.  “Victor never mentioned it.”

     “Maybe, he didn’t know.”

     “You can bet, I will ask him when he returns from Italy.”

     “When you find out will you let me know?”

     “Yes dear, I will.”   Jennifer went to the elevator. 

 
 
 
Chapter Five

   
With my back to the door, I heard, “Sweetie.”

     I knew his voice, but I turned to see Tony standing in the doorway and ran to him with a huge smile.  Flinging myself
at him, I hugged him so tight.  “I missed you.”  I said going straight for his lips.  I missed everything about Tony and didn’t or wouldn’t let him out of my sight again.