Indulgence (239 page)

“I’m afraid you’re wrong, Allison. You were driving your
Jeep and Matthew was in the passenger seat. Another driver t-boned your car
through an intersection and your car flipped and landed in a ditch.”

“There was no other driver. The police report said I lost
control on the wet pavement and that I was the only one in the vehicle.”

“That’s because Vincent removed Matthew before anyone could
get there.”

“Right. And what exactly did Vincent do with Matt? And what
about the other car? And how is it that Jenna and my other friends all know
that Matt died in an accident three years ago?” Fury was building in me with
each ridiculous claim.

“Vincent learned to manipulate his gift. I didn’t know this
until the night of your transformation.”

“What?” I growled.

Marlo let out a huge sigh. “After Vincent bit you at the
party, I ran after him. I wanted to know why he did it. He claimed that after
you lunged at Jenna, he feared for your life and thought that the rest of the
Secret Coven would kill you since you hadn’t consented to your transformation.
He knew the incident was a risk to our existence.”

“You aren’t telling me anything I don’t know already,” I
coldly stated.

“I questioned Vincent as to why he thought that. We
suspected that Jenna hadn’t seen anything since Lorenzo was able to get her out
of the room so quickly. And in fact, Lorenzo confirmed afterwards that Jenna
hadn’t suspected anything out of the ordinary. She believed that you were
feeling ill. Allison, you are an exception to all of our rules. We wouldn’t
have killed you, but you definitely would have needed to consent very soon
thereafter. We would have transformed you. So to me, Vincent’s excuse didn’t
make sense, especially considering the penalty he would pay for transforming
you without your permission.”

“His own death; yes, I questioned the same thing.”

“And as I said earlier, Vincent is one of the most selfish
people I know. I couldn’t see him risking his own existence just to transform
another mortal.” Marlo paused before continuing. “But you weren’t just any
other mortal.”

I narrowed my eyes. “No, I’m a descendant.”

“Exactly,” Marlo replied. “And the first of all descendants
to show signs of vampirism.”

I didn’t like what I was hearing, but what Marlo was saying
was starting to make sense, even if I couldn’t bring myself to admit it.

“You are something that none of our kind has ever seen
before. Allison, you truly are one of kind. Knowing Vincent’s affinity for rare
things, I started putting things together. I thought back to the day you were
born.”

“What? Why?”

Marlo sighed again. “Vincent insisted that he needed to be
in the delivery room, that he had to see you. At that time, we didn’t think too
much of it. After all, we had watched over the births of descendants for
centuries, watching for any abnormalities. But on the day you were born,
Lorenzo was going to observe. Vincent insisted that he observe instead, and
Lorenzo agreed. After you were born, Vincent was in such a good mood. It had
been years, maybe decades, since any of us had seen Vincent so elated. When
asked about the cause of his jubilation, he only said that he knew you were
going to be special, that he could see it in your eyes.”

“He said what?” My jaw dropped and I looked away from Marlo.
Vincent had helped deliver me. Vincent was the doctor who had handed me to my
parents and told them that I was going to be special. He uttered those words
which lodged in my parent’s minds, the words that they repeated to me
throughout my life. Those words that haunted me and kept me searching for my
true calling were first spoken by him. Those words which wouldn’t just allow me
to enjoy the life I had. Those words which forced me to keep looking for my
true calling and led me to this.

“He must have noticed the thirteen gold flecks in each of
your eyes,” Marlo muttered. “No other descendant had ever had thirteen in each
eye. We didn’t know then that it meant anything, that it would lead to this.
But that’s not all.”

I looked back at Marlo but didn’t know what to say. My mind
couldn’t process that Vincent was present in the delivery room with me and my
parents and that he was the original source of the angst I had experienced all
of my life.

“Do you remember how shocked Felix and I were at the party
when you said Matthew had been dead for three years? Well we knew that wasn’t
true. Allison, I was watching over you just a few weeks earlier and Matthew was
alive and well.”

My mind went blank. Although I heard the words, I couldn’t
comprehend them. Marlo was standing here telling me she saw Matt just weeks
earlier. I wasn’t sure how that was possible as I’d had a flood of memories in
recent days telling me the opposite was true. Matt hadn’t been in my life for
some time. He was dead and I had grieved for him and moved on and then I met
Vincent and started dating him and fell in love.

“That doesn’t make any sense. Jenna confirmed Matt’s death.
She had all of the details of what happened. And I’m living in a different
house that I’ve been in for almost three years. My other friends have abandoned
me because of the self-induced exhile I plunged myself into after Matt’s
death.”

“No Allison, none of that is true. When I confronted Vincent
in the woods, he stuck to his story that he feared for your life and wanted me
to believe that he understood his sacrifice. So I asked him about Matthew and
how he was able to separate you so quickly from him. Vincent became enraged as
I pressed the topic. His reaction seemed strange to me, especially if he had
been able to get you to leave your husband so easily. When he was good and
angry and thinking about nothing else other than how he had separated you two,
I touched him.”

My mouth dropped open when I realized what Marlo tried doing
in the woods with Vincent. “You saw it, didn’t you? You saw the truth? You saw his
visions?”

“Yes. You see, Vincent’s gift as a historian is not only to
record stories, either seen firsthand or through another, but also to retell
them.”

“I know. He showed me Cain’s story using his gift.”

“Well, he manipulated this gift. Allison, I promise you that
Matthew was in the car with you the night of the accident. I saw it in
Vincent’s vision. Vincent was driving the vehicle that hit yours and spun you
out of control. He pulled your vehicle out of the ditch. He wanted to take you,
that was his plan, but he had no time to get you out of the car as an ambulance
was quickly approaching. So he took Matt instead.”

“And then what?” I asked, feeling defeated.

“He called me and asked me to go to the hospital to watch
you and make sure the mortal doctors didn’t suspect anything.”

“I don’t remember this. Why don’t I remember the accident or
the ambulance ride or Vincent at the scene?”

“Because Vincent didn’t want you to remember any of it.”

“What?” I asked in disbelief. But I didn’t really care to
hear the answer. I wanted to know what had happened to my husband. “So what
happened to Matt? Where did Vincent take him? And what about Jenna’s memory and
that of my other friends?”

“As for your friends, Vincent was quite busy the few days
you were in the hospital. He used his gift to erase their memories of you and
Matt over the past three years and replaced them with new memories.”

“He did what?”

“He must have concocted a story in his own mind and fed it
to your friends as the truth. That’s the only thing I can think of. He had all
the time in the world to do this when you were in the hospital.”

“And what about Matt?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” I yelled. “You saw his
memories, how could you not see what he did with Matt?”

“Allison,” Marlo pleaded. “Vincent knew what I was doing; he
knew I was trying to see the events in his mind’s eye. He pulled away as
quickly as he could. I didn’t have a chance to see what happened to Matthew.”

“Then how do you know he’s alive?”

“Because Vincent said so.”

“And you believe him?” I asked incredulously.

“I actually do on this one.”

“Why?”

“Honestly, I think he knows it would have hurt you too much
if you learned that he had killed Matthew. I think in Vincent’s mind, he thinks
you will forgive him and still move on with him since Matthew is alive.”

“Oh does he now?” I muttered to myself. My mind was
processing everything I had just learned. “Well, tell me this Marlo. Why didn’t
you figure any of this out while I was in the hospital? Didn’t you think it
strange that I was in a car accident and my husband wasn’t at the hospital to
visit me?”

“Vincent told me that Matthew was taken to a different
hospital. He said that he was following you home that night but that you were
in an accident. He said you were being taken to Medina General but Matthew was
being life flighted to another hospital. I didn’t think anything of it,
honestly. I was concerned about getting to the hospital in time to see you.
Vincent had said that he knocked you out so the EMS workers weren’t suspicious
that you made it out of an accident that bad unscathed. With your symptoms
accelerating, it was no surprise to us that you escaped that accident. But I
had to get to the hospital and keep you unconscious for a few days while the
doctors ran their tests. I had to make sure they didn’t suspect anything with
you. And knowing Matthew was taken elsewhere, well, I didn’t expect to see him
at Medina General.”

“What about after I woke? I was screaming for my husband.
Your vampire ears didn’t hear that?”

“After I woke you, I got Doctor Frid. I assumed all would be
well. I had to call Vincent and let him know that you were awake; he insisted
on it. I was on the phone with Vincent when Jenna and the doctor were in the
room with you. I was in the nurse’s locker room, far away from your room. I
heard nothing; I wasn’t trying to hear anything because nothing should have
been wrong. When I got back to the floor, Nurse Gail just said that you were
hysterical and she gave you something to sleep. She said nothing about you
looking for your husband or that he was dead. Allison, you have to believe me,
at that point, I had no reason to suspect Vincent of anything. He played me for
a fool in all of this, too.”

“Apparently he played us all, now, didn’t he?”

“He did. I am so sorry; I wish I would have seen this
earlier. I wish I somehow could have stopped it.”

“Don’t apologize for Vincent’s actions. But thank you,
Marlo.”

“For what?”

“For telling me the truth.”

“Of course, Allison.” Marlo grabbed my hand and gave me a
soft smile. “Now let’s go back to the castle.”

“No,” I said. “You go to the castle. I have something to
take care of.”

“Allison, you can’t seriously be running off with Vincent
after what I just told you.”

“No, I’m not running off with Vincent,” I replied sarcastically.
“But he is the only person who knows where Matt is and I need know what he did
with him.”

“But…” Marlo started.

“Stop,” I commanded. “I have to do this Marlo.” I held her
gaze for a few seconds. “Matt was my world. He was my husband and I loved him,
still love him, more than anything. I can’t let Vincent get away with all of
this – the lying and the manipulation. My symptoms aside, Matt was innocent in
all of this and whatever has happened to him isn’t fair.”

“I understand,” Marlo replied. “Please be careful though.
Vincent is older than you and therefore stronger.”

“Well hopefully it won’t have to get to that.” I twirled
around and headed into the woods, preparing myself for what I would say to the
man who had ruined my life.

An immense, irregularly shaped rock protruded from the
river’s shore and formed a sharp point at the top. I slowed my pace to a walk
as I approached it. There was no mistaking the landmark Vincent had given me.
The outcroppings on the west side were bigger than those on the east, almost as
if the boulder was directing me to where I needed to go.

I took a giant leap and landed on the point, balancing there
on one foot as I looked up at the sky. It was a perfect fall night complete
with a clear, black sky and an almost full moon. Every star in the sky was
visible. My enhanced vision revealed things my mortal eyes had never seen. The
sky was filled with so many stars, so much so that it looked like someone had
spilled salt across a black table cloth.

I took a deep breath and thought about the course my life
had taken over the past few weeks. As I did, a pang of heat bubbled from my
stomach and scorched the back of my throat. I sighed and tried to swallow the
heat back down. I couldn’t help but wonder that maybe my course began to change
earlier than the past few weeks and I had just been blind to it. Maybe my
destiny had been set from the time I was born. This burning deep inside of me
had always been with me. I had thought it was my conscience telling me I had to
do something more meaningful with my life. After all, there simply had to be
more to my simple, average life other than the same old routine. I had never
been able to give up the feeling that my body knew something my mind couldn’t
comprehend. Little did I know that I had the devil’s poison running through my
veins. Maybe it was my constant curiosity and yearning to figure out my true
calling that caused the venom to bring about my symptoms. Maybe my mid-life
crisis, as I had called it, caused my symptoms to go into overdrive. Something
had to do it; something that had never happened to any of my ancestors.

But even if I had unknowingly set my symptoms in motion, it
was no excuse for what Vincent had done. I went from being happily married to a
widow to falling in love with someone new who in turn had done nothing but
completely manipulate me for his own selfish reasons. And I had been blind to
all of it. After realizing Matt had supposedly died three years ago, my mind
was suddenly filled with new memories of a new love – memories I had never
questioned. The memories came back quite swiftly, the amnesia wore off, or so I
thought. Day after day, a new memory of Vincent had emerged in my mind, yet
nothing of the prior three years, and I had never asked any questions. I didn’t
know how I could have been so gullible.