Nevermore, the Complete Series (28 page)

Karen was beyond enthusiastic about the bedroom. She blabbered on about the beautiful bed, the bizarre mirrored floor, the canopy, the bay window that gave a clear view of the surrounding nature. I sat on the edge of the soft mattress, twiddling my thumbs as I pondered how to ask her what was on my mind.

“Is something bothering you, Alex?” she finally asked after she took a quick glance at the bathroom.

“Sort of,” I admitted, “it's about Claire.”

“What about her?” she sat beside me, her expression grew serious, “you don't like her?”

“No, that's not it...do you know if she is seeing Mitchell?”

Karen burst into laughter. “What?! No! She's never even met him or Jace. Why, do you have a thing for Mitch or something?”

“Funny,” I looked at her sternly, “I just heard a rumor that some strawberry blonde girl has been hanging around at the house, and sneaking through Mitch’s window. I just thought it might be her was all.”

“Nah, it must be somebody else. She’s not the only one with blonde hair you know.” She smirked.

I nodded my head slowly, struggling to believe it. “That’s all I wanted to ask you. I’m really glad you got to come over and meet Salem and everything.”

“Me, too. He's amazing, Alex. You are one lucky lady!” She giggled.

“Thanks, Karen,” I laughed and hugged her briefly.

As we walked down the spiral staircase, I could hear Salem talking quietly to Claire. I could barely make out any of their words, but she seemed to be questioning him about the locket. So that is why she had kept staring at the bookshelf so much – the locket. What was it about that heart that she was so interested in? They fell silent when we approached, and I saw Salem carefully tuck away the locket.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, ladies,” he said when Karen approached her cousin's side, “
however, I believe it is time you ought to go home.”

“Oh, of course,” Karen said politely, “Thank you so much for letting us come by! I hope we didn’t overstay our welcome or anything.”

“Not at all,” Salem said with a polite smile.

“Yes...” Claire said, “thank you for showing us your home.” Something in her tone made me uncomfortable.

“Hopefully we can do it again sometime,” I replied, mostly toward Karen.

Karen gently hugged me, and before I had the chance to step away, Claire laid a gentle hand upon my shoulder. The same jolting, electric feeling swam through my veins – and if I wasn't mistaken, Salem noticed it.

I watched quietly as the two girls walked through the tall white doors and vanished from sight. With a sigh of relief, I threw my arms around Salem and buried my head in his chest. His thin, cold arms crossed around my back as he held me against him and rested his head on the top of mine.

“I wish you would have told me before that the piano was for me...” I whispered.

I could feel his lips form a smile against my hair, “I apologize if I embarrassed you.”

“You didn't. Karen actually liked my song,” I said in awe.

“That doesn’t surprise me. It is magnificent.” His embrace tightened somewhat. “You are right about something being unusual about Claire.”

“I know. And I found out, according to Karen, that Claire has supposedly never met Jason or Mitch, let alone been to the house.”

“I observed some unusual behavior,” he commented, “she appeared fascinated by Hannah's locket. She did not eat, nor drink, during the picnic. And as she was leaving, I believe she did...something to you.”

“It was that same feeling I mentioned the first time I saw her,” I shuddered. “Do you think that’s what caused the nightmares?”

“I hope not,” he replied as he hugged me even tighter. “There was also something bizarre about the way she smelled.”

“Vanilla?”
I asked, staring up at him. “That's nothing unusual. Lots of girls smell that way.”

He smiled and shook his head, “I must admit that I sometimes forget you cannot smell things quite as strongly as I can. I believe the excessive amount of vanilla perfume is being used to cover something up.”

“Like what?”

“You may have been right to speculate that she might be a vampire,” he replied scornfully. “And if that is the case, she has done her research and taken a lot of effort to attempt to cover it up.”

“Why would she do that?”

“I do not know,” he sighed, “perhaps she is afraid someone will discover her secret.”

“Well, she’s doing an awfully good job of not looking like a vampire, if she is one. And it seems pretty strange that she would be around Karen all the time and willingly around me if she was also,” I said, trying to piece all of the information together, “unless she was trying to find me or something.”

Salem tensed somewhat and released me from his embrace, “That is what I fear might be the case.”

“You think she is? Should I tell Paul and Kim?” I asked as I watched Salem begin pacing, deep in thought.

“Not until we know for certain what we are up against. We don’t want to have them hunting down a human, if somehow we are wrong.”

“Do you think I should at least warn Karen?”

“If Claire wanted to hurt Karen, she would have done so by now,” he replied, “I think you are her target, although I don’t know why.” 

Warily, I curled up in Salem's bed that evening. My mind was overflowing with haunting thoughts that I only wished would go away. The feeling of Claire's touch made me even more hesitant to sleep, almost knowing that I was going to delve straight into the nightmares I had briefly escaped. Salem remained downstairs. The floorboards barely creaked under his weight as he paced back and forth. I could only imagine what was going through his mind.

My eyelids involuntarily fell shut as I listened to the rhythmic creaking sound. I fought off sleep for as long as I possibly could. The attempts at opening my eyes and staring out the window failed me repeatedly, each time I tried they would quickly fall shut once more. The exhaustion was suddenly overwhelming and I could feel myself drifting away.

At first, everything was shrouded in mist. I could hear two distinct voices – Salem's and Claire's. Slowly, they came into view. They were outside of the house. Salem was at least ten feet away from her. Her expression was fierce and frightening as she approached him.

“What are you doing here, Claire?” he asked, not even the slightest hint of fear in his voice.

“I think I forgot to mention just how truly thankful I was for being allowed to see your house.” A devilish smirk played across her lips. “You see Salem, I’ve been trying to find you for months now, but the scent of that human covered you up all too well. I can smell her on you even now. Her stench has seeped deep into your pores Salem, how truly disgusting it is.” She spat.

“Looking for me? I had assumed you were after Alex,” he said plainly. “After all, you were present at her former house.”

“No, no, dear Salem,” she laughed, “it has been you this entire time. Out of some dumb luck your little human pet let me know she was the one you had been staying with. I thought you two may be living there. The place still smelt so strongly of her, but all I found were two little boys. It was so hard not to kill them.”

His eyes narrowed, “What do you want of me?”

“Daniel had once said I might find you here. I must admit that I sure was surprised when I found you had a relationship with one of…them. I would have thought you were stronger than that – better than that,” she stopped about two feet away from him, her hands on her hips. “That sort of reminds me…I don’t think I will be needing that cousin of mine anymore now that I know where you are. I doubt she will be missed anyway, not the brightest bulb after all. After a simple bump in while I was looking around the school I saw the faintest glimpse of you deep in her thoughts. You wouldn’t believe how easy it was to convince her I was some long lost cousin who had shown up for her graduation.”

Salem maintained calm, listening to her story and watching her every move. “Daniel...” he whispered, and then asked, “and you claim to have seen Karen’s thoughts?”

“He taught me a lot of things, Salem. A touch is all it takes to see someone’s thoughts, or put yours into their head,” she grinned maliciously, tugging at the lustrous strawberry blonde hair on her head. The wig fell away, landing gently on the ground. Salem's mouth fell open in shock when the locks resembling spun gold were revealed.

“H-Hannah...” he gasped, stepping backward.

Hannah's lips pulled up in a playful, yet disturbing smile. “So, you do remember me! Here I was beginning to worry you had forgotten all about your beloved family, seeing how you have managed without us, as you put it.”

“I…I didn’t mean it like that, Hannah,” he uttered, still in shock.

“Of course you didn’t, just as you meant nothing harmful by abandoning Arthur and mother, leaving them to die in that fire,” she hissed, “Daniel promised you would be strong, promised you held so much potential, but all I’ve seen is a pathetic little gnat!  Feasting off animal blood! How can you ignore the temptation of her scent, Salem? Does the throbbing in her veins at night not beckon you?” She spat as the next words escaped her mouth, “How can you assist her in hunting our kind?”

“There are more ways of feeding than killing people!”

Hannah shook her head in disgust, “She is your enemy, Salem. Our enemy! And you love her!”

“I do,” he said quietly, confidently, “Just as Raziel…Daniel…loved our mother.”

She growled. “Daniel loved Margaret before he became a vampire. You fell in love with a human knowing what you both were!”

“I feel no remorse for how I feel,” Salem replied, “but I do feel deeply regretful for having lost my family to that fire. I thought I had lost you forever, as well.”

“You feel no remorse for it yet!” she said, inching closer to Salem. He stepped away again, his back now up against the wall of the house. “Will you just wait around until she finally finds it in her to kill you, like it is in her nature to do with our kind?”

“She has no intention of killing me, just as I have no intention of killing her, despite that being in my nature.”

“Oh, but she will. Once I am done with her.”

Salem's expression changed, he was furious. “What do you mean by that?”

“Her nightmares of you killing her, those have all been my doing,” she smirked, as though pleased with herself. “I have been waiting idly by for her to finally snap so I could see you go at each other's throats!”

Now he was confused. “You want her to kill me?”

“Why not?!” she laughed, “After all, you did kill my father!”

Before Salem had the opportunity to react, Hannah was up against him – her hand coiled around his throat, thick nails digging into his skin. “When all of this is through,” she spoke through gritted teeth, “I want my locket back.” 

Salem cringed in agony and barely managed to slam a fist into Hannah's side, but she hardly flinched. “Silly brother, you must know that human blood makes us stronger! You are weak and useless, Salem!”

“No...” his voice was barely audible, “you are the weak one, a slave to your hunger.”

“Slave?!” Hannah burst out into giddy laughter. “I am no slave, Salem. Slaves hate what they are made to do. I love it. The struggling. The screaming. Right down to the last breath of their pitiful little excuse for a life!”

“You have been corrupted, Hannah...” his voice quivered.

“You are too soft, Salem. Humans are food, nothing more. Don’t you remember our dear mother telling us not to play with our food?” Another burst of giggles flew from Hannah’s mouth. “I’ll tell you what, dear brother. Prove to me you can become what you truly are. Kill Alexis and empty her veins. I will forgive all that you have done, and we can be a happy little family again. What do you say?”

“What!?
I would never-”

“Then you will die,” she yelled, interrupting him.  Salem's eyes flickered violet, but before he had the chance to summon whatever object he had in mind, Hannah slammed his body into the wall. “I used to idolize you, and now look at you! You are pathetic!”

The sound of Salem's agonizing screams woke me immediately.

Why weren't they stopping? Why could I still hear the sickening sound of his shrill yells? I jumped up from the bed, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. My feet led me to the bay window, and my stomach churned at the sight. My body convulsed, my bones twisted and molded until they were smaller and smaller. Before I let my body get ahead of my mind, I hopped onto my nightstand and struggled to direct my cellphone to my contact list. After a moment, a list of names revealed themselves across the screen. I quickly selected Paul's name and the phone dialed. It occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to talk, but I hoped the sound of Salem's scream might alarm him enough to
come find out what was going on. Shards of glass cascaded through the whirl of feathers as the body of the raven burst through the window.

My wings flapped quickly behind me as I flew toward the scene. Salem lay motionless on the grass, his shirt tattered and covered in his own blood, his face turned away to where I couldn't see it. Hannah hovered over him, her teeth bared and ready to strike. I wasn't that familiar with how vampires killed each other, but this reminded me entirely too much of how Salem killed Raziel. My beak fell open and the harmonious screech caused Hannah to falter, but she didn't cover her ears. She scanned the sky until she found me, hovering fifteen feet overhead.