Divine Blood (Vampire Love Story #6) (7 page)

“
You’ve been
what?”

“
I’ve been putting my
hands on their chests and healing them.”

“
Son, your heart is in the
right place. But, you can’t abuse your gift.”

“
I’m not abusing it. These
puppies needed healing and I gave it to them.”

I looked at my son and the
relief I had that we found him outweighed any other feelings I
might have had. I was just happy I found my son.

“
You sure did son, you did
a good thing for those puppies.”

I turned around and Joshua
had a big smile on his face while holding his mother’s hand. Lena
was as relieved as I was.

“
Joshua, how did you do
that?” I asked. “How did you find your brother?”

Joshua looked at me and
said, “I don’t know. I could feel him. The more I thought about
him, the more I was sure where he was.”

“
Is this the first time
you have ever felt this way?” I asked.

“
No,” Joshua said. “I can
often find Jason just by allowing my heart to show me where he is.
Even if it’s just in the house.”

I was blown away by his
comment. He, too, was just five years old. Did I have the two
smartest kids in the world?

I learned something about
twins that day, that they were scary individuals who had a
connection that very few individuals were allowed to understand. It
must be phenomenal having a twin, a twin you could locate just by
feeling him in your heart.

I continued to stare at the picture on
the hallway of my boys when they were five years old with their
arms around each other’s shoulders. There they were the two best
buds. Joshua stepped up that day. I knew then that I had two very
blessed boys.

Chapter Nine

Our castle was pretty old school on
the outside, as one would imagine a sixteenth-century castle to be.
Like I said, on the inside, it was very modern, or as modern as
2028 could be.

I often would sit back on my chair and
just observe Jason and Joshua as they played. It was quite a sight.
Now they were older, and the only playing they seemed to be doing
was in video games.

Jason wouldn’t allow Joshua to cheat.
And whenever he could, even at a very young age, he had the
diplomacy to say it in a way where he gave Joshua an opportunity to
take his move back saying that it was obviously a
mistake.

He knew his brother cheated, but yet,
his brother was able to retreat his move and still have a high
level of respect for himself. Jason was a phenomenal kid, because
he understood that was what his brother needed.

I had to be honest, Jason frightened
me outright, sometimes. I wondered if he was perfect. I looked
further on the hallway wall and looked at a recent picture of my
son Jason. He had taken at a studio that his mother made him and
brother go to. She loved having pictures of her boys.

I looked at Jason’s photo. He strained
to give the best smile he could. He was handsome boy, and his
waters ran deep. Profound wasn’t the word. Jason was like having a
mini-Deity in the house. But that didn’t happen overnight. Both
boys went through a lot of trials before either one of them
sincerely grew up.

Once they understood their destiny,
that was when things changed, but that their knowledge of who they
were didn’t happen overnight. There were a lot of talks. That
started at a very early age.

I remembered the boys were
almost seven years old, and we were in our main bedroom, wrestling.
Joshua was really aggressive and would just clobber me without a
care in the world. He knew I could take it and he knew that was the
only chance he had. Jason, however, knew my weaknesses, very
ticklish feet. He would always figure out a way to make me say
“uncle” by tickling my feet. He was very tactical in that way. In
his mind, getting me to say “uncle” was the only goal. It didn’t
matter if I did it through pain or laughter.

Lena came to the door.
“How are my three boys doing?” she yelled out.

“
We’re taking down Dad!”
was Joshua’s reply.

Lena smiled. “I know two
boys who are really stinky and need a shower and I am not referring
to Jason.”

“
Very funny,” I
said.

“
He’s like a flower.
Seriously, have you ever smelled B.O. on that boy?” Lena was
referring to Jason.

“
No.” I
laughed.

“
Well, there you
go!”

I knew, early on, I was
going to two completely different relationships with both my
sons.

I remembered later that
night, Joshua came into my bedroom to tell me goodnight and said,
“Daddy, there are a lot of different types of animals on this
island. Some alive and some dead.”

I was scared to know where
this is going. Joshua had a tendency to be a bit morbid at times,
to the delight of his Uncle Tommy. As a matter of fact, Tommy
encouraged his bizarre behavior on just about every
subject.

I know I had to ask the
question, so I let her rip. “Why, son?” Then I held my breath,
preparing myself for what he was about to say next.

“
Sometimes, I think I see
a dead animal.”

“
Why is the animal dead?”
I asked.

“
I don’t know. Something
might have killed it or it died naturally, but it always looks
really dead.” Then Jason said to me, “It’s not dead, it’s
sleeping.”

“
Jason says that to
you?”

“
Yes, and he’s always
right because every time, that animal gets up and walks
away.”

I looked at Joshua and
knew exactly where this was going.

“
Jason always wakes them
up by putting his hand over their eyes. One time, this rabbit
didn’t even have a head. Jason said it was asleep and put his
finger on the rabbit’s belly and his head popped out from his neck
like a jack-in-the-box.”

“
Wow.” Great, my son was
healing road kill.

“
Joshua,” I said, as
morbid as he would like it. “Everything dies eventually, animals,
people, and even headless bunnies.”

“
You promise? Everything
dies?”

“
I promise, son. Things
die.”

“
Thanks, Dad.” Joshua
kissed me on my forehead and ran out of my room.

“
Did you hear any of
that?” I yelled to Lena. She was in the bathroom and was quiet
during that exchange.

“
Yeah, I heard
it.”

“
You know, you could have
helped me out!”

“
I thought the superhero
had it all taken care of,” she joked.

“
Are you going to start
with that?” I said.

“
I’m just saying. You can
save the world, but you can’t tell your son that his brother is a
healing freak. I love my little healing freak, but he is a healing
freak, nevertheless.”

“
If it’s so easy, next
time you tell him.”

“
I’m just
saying...”

I looked up and Jason
slowly made his way into my bedroom. Jason had a peaceful demeanor
and usually a giant smile on his face that gave off an ounce of
confidence and happiness. It was so odd seeing a six year old have
so much peace within himself.

“
What’s up, son?” I said
to my little rascal.

“
May I climb into bed with
you and have a talk?”

“
You sure can, little
man.”

Jason climbed up on the
bed and laid next to me. We both were lying on our backs with our
faces facing the ceiling.

“
What’s the word?” I asked
my very intelligent son.

“
Daddy. Why am I
different?”

This was the first time he
had ever approached me about his gift in any way.

Lena heard from the
bathroom, came in, and laid on the other side of Jason.

We knew this was about to
be a very heavy conversation and we both needed to take part in
it.

The three of us all sat
up, so we could see each other’s faces.

“
Why do you think you are
different, son?” I asked.

“
I know I’m
different!”

“
Why?”

“
I see the way people look
at me. But most of all, I see the way you look at me.”

“
How do I look at you,
son?”

“
You look at me like I’m
different.”

“
What do you think makes
you different?” I asked my five year old, in absolute disbelief
that I was having this kind of conversation with him at such a
young age.

“
I know, Dad.”

I began to get freaked
out. “What do you know, son?”

“
I know I have a plan on
my life.”

“
How is that possible?
You’re five.”

“
You know it’s true. I can
feel it deep in my heart.”

“
Deep in your heart, huh?”
I looked at my son and just hugged him. He wasn’t going to get an
answer out of me, not on this night. But what he was going to
receive was a father’s love.

After a couple of minutes,
Jason got up and headed for the door. I stopped him and said, “Son,
have you ever felt angry?”

“
Yes.”

“
Why?”

“
These two boys were
picking on a girl and I was so mad. I wanted to show the boys the
right way to be nice. But they didn’t care.”

“
That’s what makes you
mad? Seeing injustice?”

“
I think we should tell
him,” Lena whispered in my ear.

“
He’s too young,” I
whispered back.

“
Is he? His I.Q. is higher
than both of ours.” Lena was crazy to think he was old enough to
know his future.

“
But he is still just a
five year old,” I said sternly.

“
Daddy, please tell me
what’s going on. I need to know, how to save the
people.”

‘
Save the people?’ What
the hell was he talking about? I stopped in my tracks and gave Lena
a sharp look.

“
What do you mean, Jason?”
Lena asked delicately.

“
I need to know how to
save the vampires.”

“
How do you know any of
that?” I asked, not so subtly. I looked at Lena and gave her a look
as if to say, “Did you tell him?”

“
Son, what is a
vampire?”

“
You are. Mommy
is.”

I nearly peed my pants as
the words came out of my son’s mouth. “Son, who have you been
talking to?”

“
Nobody.”

“
Then how do you know
this?”

“
It is what is in my
heart.”

I looked at Lena and she
was as baffled as I was.

I looked at my son and
asked him, point blank, forgetting that I was speaking to a five
year old, “How much more do you know and where does the information
come from?” I asked.

“
It’s deep in me. I know
that the world will someday be a better place, but I’m going to
have to pay a price for that.”

My stomach dropped. Did
Lena already explain it to him? I realize she hadn’t because Lena
was giving me a look that said, Have you told him this
already?

“
How do you know, son?” I
asked. “Who told you?”

“
No one told me. I know it
is what needs to be done. I don’t know how, but someday I will be
chosen to do an act so unselfish that it will save all
mankind.”

What the hell was he
saying? Who the hell had been talking to him! Mankind? The kid was
six. “Son, you seem to know a lot.” I said. “What exactly is your
question?”

“
I don’t have one, I just
wanted you two to know that I know.”

“
And you’re okay with
that?” I asked.

“
Do I have a choice?” my
six year old said.

“
We hope you might,” I
said, trying to console my son. But instead of that happening, my
son consoled me.

“
It’s going to be okay,
Dad. I will always watch over you.”

What the hell did my son
just say to me? Then Jason hopped off my bed, took off, and went to
his bed. No kiss, no hug. Just creepy insight.

That was the first of many weird talks
with both our sons that seemed to get us to talk in circles while
resisting telling them what we were told about their
destiny.

Chapter Ten

I decided to walk to the kitchen. Some
Nestlé’s Quik chocolate milk sounded good about right now, unless
my boys had gotten to it first. They had been known to devour a
whole container with a gallon of milk between them in one
sitting.

I went to the cabinet and was pleased
to see that there was still half a container left. I poured myself
a glass of milk from the refrigerator and mixed in the necessary
ingredients and before I knew it, I had chocolaty goodness. My boys
weighed heavy on me, this night. The funny part about it, my boys
had weighed heavy on me since the day I knew they were to come into
the world.