Ever After (26 page)

“Uh… yeah, I believe so.” He gave me a puzzled look.

“Well, I was sort of wondering here lately about, well…” I felt weird asking now but decided to just put it out there, if he didn’t want to talk about it that was ok. “Uh how you came to be a vampire, the whole story.” He looked a bit out of sorts, obviously caught off guard by my question. He focused on one of the roses and ran his finger across the blood red petal.

“Doc didn’t tell you?” He did not make eye contact as he spoke, I was afraid I had ticked him off now.

“No, he and your mom both said it was your story, and you should be the one to tell me about it.” I bit my lower lip waiting for him to tell me not to ask or to go away or something.

“Oh.” He walked over to the big bay window, his back facing me as he stared outside, he crossed his arms. I waited for a few minutes as he was thinking. I didn’t say a word.

“It’s not much of a story really.”

“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked, you don’t have to tell me anything, just forget I brought it up.” I looked down feeling like crap for making him think about that painful part of his past. It wasn’t like enough bad stuff was already going on, with me being sick.

“No…no it’s ok really. I was just thinking about it there for a minute, you should know. You shared all the painful parts of your past with me. I want you to know everything about me too.” He turned slowly and walked over to me he gently ran his finger down my cheek, and smiled lovingly at me. “I always want to share everything with you Corrine, forever I love you never be afraid to ask me anything ok?”

“Ok,” I blushed a bit. I don’t know why I thought he might get mad at me for asking, this was my William I was talking about, not a regular guy. I figured it was a flash back to my totally dysfunctional relationship that I had with psychopath Todd that made me think it was wrong to ask.

To this very day, Will had never gotten mad at me or even short tempered. He did with others once in awhile, but even when I was grumpy, he was loving and kind to me. He sat next to me on the edge of the bed and began to tell me his story. He seemed tense, so I knew the circumstances and details about his change to a vampire had to be hard for him to talk about.

“It happened when I had just turned nineteen, and I was going to start college that fall. I had been preparing to start my studies in medicine to become a doctor. I had just turned nineteen one month before I first met Vincent. I had seen him before in town he seemed to be a normal guy. I never heard anything strange about him or anything, he just seemed pretty pale, but that really wasn’t too odd to me.

I was going to a small college, just outside New Orleans, back in those day’s there was not so many to choose from, as it is now. Vincent worked at the College, or he made it appear like that to me. I went with my father for enrollment, and he was there. He even introduced himself to my father on the campus tour. I should have got suspicious when he didn’t talk to any of the other parents, just my dad and me.

I was young and way too trusting back then to have realized I was in danger. Vincent was kind to me, but also seemed very interested in my family’s history. I had to tell him who my birth mother was, he swore we had family in common, and that’s how he got me to tell him all the details. I know of course he was making sure I was in fact Lydia Darcy’s biological son, the one he was looking for.”

Will seemed tired suddenly, that worried me, but I figured he was just upset recalling all this and so on. I could see the hurt in his eyes.

“We became good friends in the next few months; he made himself fit in even with my friends. It was not unusual for him to play basketball with us, or shoot pool Saturday nights at the local dance hall. He didn’t look much older than all of us really, so it never looked odd. The only odd things I had heard rumors about at that time actually, were about Doc.” He laughed softly.

“Doc? You have to be kidding me!” I was shocked, as Doc seemed to be a master at disguise from all humans.

“No really, because of his perfect skills as a doctor and surgeon, people back then speculated he had magical powers, or he was super human. In those times people were really suspicious of others who were gifted or extremely intelligent, they cried black magic or witchcraft most often. I had met Doc at a very young age. He was one of my father’s friends, as my dad was a doctor as well, but just a family doctor not a surgeon like Doc.

Doc always talked to me, and when I needed advice about life or my future he always lent me his ear. My dad was pretty short tempered, and critical of my thoughts and opinions so having Doc around was a lot of help for me. I had heard the stories about Doc’s old white plantation house in the back bayou’s and how kids dared each other to sneak back there.”

“What did people think was going on there?” I scooted back under my covers, as the wind outside howled, blowing the snow around in swirls.

“I don’t know for sure what they thought, just that it was odd he lived so far out, and he had a lot of extended family living with him. Those were coven members of course, but they posed as family much like we still do today. I think more of them lived there though back then. It’s funny really because despite the rumors of what Doc “was” or might be, and so on, when people got sick, they called for Doc every time.

Many people refused to be treated by any other Doctors and would only see Doc when ill.” Will took a deep breath before he continued, he squeezed my hand gently and stared lovingly into my eyes, being sure not to stare to long though, or he would put me in a trance as all vamps could do.

“I remember the night it happened like it was only yesterday. Vincent had asked me to come help him move one weekend, it was late winter like it is right now. It was not too cold being in New Orleans, but we did get freakish ice storms once in awhile. One hit earlier that week, so it was still a bit cold and slick.

Vincent said he had some furniture in storage in an old warehouse, in the industrial side of town. I again thought nothing of it, people used a lot of the old abandon warehouses for storage, and they were rented out all the time, by the shipyards. The ware houses were next to the river and in pre civil war day’s the cotton taken from the plantations in the area was shipped out down there.

It was a bad area then, lots of crime not a really good place to hang out, so I was not familiar with the place at all. It was very dark and desolate. I remember feeling strange being there, must have been my inner sense trying to warn me I guess.” He shrugged his shoulders and shakes his head. I patted his arm.

“You couldn’t have known Will.” I said reassuringly.

“No, I never could have imagined what kind of monster he was, not in a million years! He was on time that night, and showed me the building we would be going into, it was about a seven story’s a really dark place. I just wanted to move whatever he wanted and get out of there, and fast. I got more uncomfortable when he showed up alone.

If we were moving furniture, we would need more than the two of us. I kept thinking to myself the whole time. He led me upstairs, it must have been like a thousand steps to the top floor, and he seemed to glide up them all with no effort. I do remember thinking that was really odd.

Vincent opened the door, and it was very dark, only lit by candles. Back then, electricity was not in those buildings. They were so old and un used it was a waste to power them, that is what he told me. I was shocked once my eyes adjusted though; the whole entire first floor was an apartment. It wasn’t a shack either; it was as we say today
tricked
out
.” Will smiled at me. I could tell was trying to be funny and make me believe this story didn’t bother him.

“Nice was it?” I smiled back at him.

“Crazy nice, he had couches art work and chandeliers. I was not expecting that at all. Before I could ask him about the place, he was at my side. The grip he had on my arm was enough to drop me to my knees. I begged him to stop and let go of me, and I asked him what he wanted from me.

I could tell he was enjoying the pain he was putting me in. I could see it in his eyes. He told me what he was about to do to me was nothing personal between us; it was who I was related to that brought this on. He said killing me was payback for Doc Parker and my birth mother Lydia. I couldn’t figure out why he hated Doc, or why he mentioned my mother who had died at my birth so long ago.

It was all like a nightmare, none of it made sense; Doc was only a family friend. I had no idea why killing me would bother him anyway. He tied me to a chair, picked up my arm and broke it, like it was a twig. He kept a dead on stare directly into my eyes has he did it. I tried not to cry out in pain. I looked down when he stared at me, it felt wrong, as if he was trying to hypnotize me or something.

I remember him saying I looked like her, and that she was finally going to get what she deserved for refusing him. I asked him what he was talking about. He told me my mother caused this to happen to me. I argued with him, reminding him, she had been dead a good nineteen years now, and that he was crazy.

I was about to get the shock of my life, when he knelt down in my face and told me he was a vampire, just then some of his coven arrived at the apartment. I was promptly hit in the head, before they began to speak to him.” He looked down sadly.

“Were you scared, when he said that, or did you think he was nuts?” I squeezed his hand.

“Nut’s, I mean really did. I had never thought vampires existed, only in books and old wives tales and stuff. I wasn’t out long. I awoke to a voices yelling. He and his guests were in an intense argument in the next room. The walls being so old were paper thin, so I could hear everything they said.

A woman was telling him he was risking their safety by kidnapping me. They seemed to be angry with him, for being careless and stealing me away just to get revenge on my mother and Doc. I listened closely, I gathered from what they said that Doc Parker was a vampire as well, which was news to me of course.

I learned my mother, as you already know, was one as well and she was still technically alive and living in New Orleans. I didn’t know then the details of how she came to be a vampire yet. I was in total shock to hear that she was still alive, or whatever you consider a vampire. I had no idea at that time.

I understood Doc was apparently the leader of the rival coven of vampires, known as the Followers, and Vincent was once a member. They did not say then what happened to make him get banished from the coven. I could put two and two together though. Vincent was evil, and the Followers were apparently not. I could see Doc sending him away. Doc was kind and I couldn’t see him being evil, even if he really was a vampire.

They all came back in my room, so I pretended to be still knocked out. They seemed to be trying to figure out what to do with me now. I felt one of the female vamp’s put her finger under my chin, and tilt my head up where she could see my face. I can still feel her cold fingers on me; it was not like a human touch.

“We should keep him, he’s very adorable.” She said. I pretended to be just waking up from the hard hit that Vincent had given me. He did not acknowledge my conciseness as he spoke to the others in the room. It seemed they had decided not to kill me after all. They wanted to groom me to be one of them; they referred to themselves as the Dark coven.

Vincent apparently was one of the elders or some kind of leader vampire as the others treated him as an authority figure. They spoke of one vampire frequently. I could hear the fear in their voices when they did. He apparently was the actual head elder, he was called Leo.

It seemed to me Leo called the shot’s for the Dark Coven, and Vincent was his right hand. He spoke of going to Europe for a few years to organize a Dark coven there. He wanted someone to take his place here that was new and would do exactly as he ordered. Unfortunately, that “
someone
” was me. My head was killing me, and I drifted off to sleep, hoping this was all a really bad night mare.”

Will’s face grew tense now. I could see it as he ran a hand through his thick black hair. The next part of the story had to be the one hardest to speak about. I couldn’t imagine how scared he had to have been. The Dark Coven was ruthless and evil, and he was in the middle of it.

Will looked at me and smiled, I knew he was not really, wanting to go on as he turned away and watched the snow falling. I knew from Lydia, that he tried hard to forget all of this. Doc said the same thing; he told me it would haunt William forever. He said the pain Will went through, was un forgettable.

“You don’t have to go on. I can see it’s too much Will.” I kissed his cheek and laid my head against his shoulder.

“No, you should know I was just thinking of exactly how it all happened. I haven’t thought about in a very long time. “Vincent woke me later; I couldn’t tell you how long I was there. It seemed like days, but really, it was probably just hours. He got in my face and told me he was going to change me and I would belong to him and the Dark coven forever. I would live as they did and keep the secret of their identity, never would I be allowed to leave. He would guide me into being one of them, a vampire of the Dark coven.

The bite was excruciatingly painful; it instantly sent a searing pain into my neck.” I could see him rub his neck as a reflex action, he wasn’t even aware he was doing it. “The pain was horrific. I suffered in agony for around two weeks or so. I was sure I was dying.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Well I guess I was really, but I had no idea what was happening to me then, Vincent wouldn’t tell me anything at all.