The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (12 page)

“
Are you going?” Taryn
asked.

“
I have to.” I said and
grabbed a pen and paper. I scribbled down Michael’s address and
handed it to Taryn. “Wait two days, then grab Bobbie and come down.
I’m sure Michael and the others won’t mind.”

“
You’re sure?”

“
Trust me.” I said and
kissed my friend on the cheek. “I got to go.” I walked out the
door, leaving Taryn standing there and stopped when I saw Cristian
standing by my car. “What do you want?”

“
Come with me.” Cristian
asked, folding his arms across his chest. I laughed and shaking my
head. “Why not?”

“
We’re not exactly best
friends, Cristian.” I said and unlocked the door to the car. I
looked up at Cristian, who stood beside and smiled. “Besides, we’d
probably kill each other before we get there. Hell, we’ll probably
kill each other after we get there.”

“
Why am I so bad?”
Cristian asked. I straightened, sighed, and then looked at
him.

“
For nine months, you have
been helping the others.” I said softly.

“
He’s
dangerous.”

“
You just keep telling
yourself that, Cristian. Keep saying that he’s dangerous, keep
telling everybody that they need to stay away from him, try keeping
me away from him.” I whispered and stepped closer to him. “And when
you’re done, admit to yourself that you have some deep rooted
emotional problems of your own to deal with.”

“
You think you know it
all.”

“
I don’t think, I know.” I
smiled. “People always told me that if someone tries so hard to
keep something at bay it’s because they’re really afraid to face
their own inner demons.” I placed a hand on his arm, moved very
close to his face, and whispered. “What demons are you
hiding?”

I backed up, closed the door to the car
and walked away, down the street. Having no real destination point,
I just kept going, not really watching where, until I looked up and
found myself at Justin’s door. Reluctantly, I reached up and
knocked. Justin’s roommate opened the door and stepped aside,
letting me in without question.

“
He won’t be back until
after twelve. It’s still a couple hours away.” The young man said.
I nodded my response, and followed him into the living room. “I’m
sure he won’t mind if you wait in his room, if you
want.”

“
Yeah, that’s a good
idea.” I said softly and walked down the hallway. Slowly, I opened
the door to Justin’s room, reached around the corner and flipped on
the light then walked in and sat on his bed. The black silk sheets
were cool against my skin and I closed my eyes as I lay my head on
the pillow. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep.

My eyes opened slowly, surrounded by a
white haze, and I knew it was a dream. There was no way that it
could be real, for I stood in front of a large plantation house,
like one out of the movie, “Gone with the Wind”. In the middle of
the scene in front of me, was a large bomb fire, to my left,
forming a horseshoe to my right was my family members, my aunt and
uncle, Bobbie, Taryn, Chris Tanner, my parents, Michael, Cristian,
and a young woman I didn’t know. Behind each one of them was a man,
dressed in black, holding them in that spot.

Someone grabbed my arm, spun me around,
and suddenly I was on the side of the house, looking up at
Justin.

“
Stay here, Sage.” He
instructed. “You’ll be safe here, and no matter what you hear,
don’t move from this spot.’

“
What’s going on?” I asked
him. He shook his head.

“
Promise me that you’ll be
safe.” he said and touched cheek.

“
Justin, what the hell is
going on?”

“
Remember what I said.
Stay here.” I watched him disappear around the house. That was when
the horrible noises began. I turned to see my father with a
flamethrower in his hand, walking in a circle, keeping the flying
vampires away from us, which backed us into a tent, and I watched
as people ran in different directions but were scooped up and
carried away. I watched a man step closer and he smiled at me, and
then threw an old fashion grenade in the tent.

“
There’s no way out now.”
He said and stepped away. Suddenly the tent was moving, as the bomb
ticked away. I looked at my father, who stood by the back of the
tent.

“
Dad, we have to leave
now.”

“
There’s no reason,
everyone’s dead.”

“
No, dad, we have to go!”
I said pulling on his arm. He snatched his arm away and flew out
the tent. I looked around and watched the horror scene in front of
me, too terrified to stay, but unsure of where to run. Quickly, as
if my mind were made up, I started running, but was scooped off the
ground. I could feel the wet lips of the vampire on my neck as we
flew, and I screamed.

I sat up quickly then turned and looked
at Justin, who was sitting next to me on the bed. Unsure of my
reality, I touched my neck then looked around, and stopped at
Justin’s deep brown eyes. My breathing slowed, and with a sigh, I
pulled my legs up.

“
What are you doing here?”
Justin asked softly, looking me over.

“
I don’t know.” I
whispered and shrugged. “I was just walking and this is where I
ended up.”

“
Are you all
right?”

“
It...It was just a
nightmare.” I said quietly, and lay back down on the bed, one leg
hanging over the edge of the bed, next to Justin, and the other
behind him, stretched out. “Justin, there’s something I think I
need to tell you.” I sat up again, not moving my leg positions, and
he smiled, as I licked my lips and put a hand on his neck, pulling
him closer to me. Justin looked over my face as I brought him with
me as I lay back down.

“
You had something you
wanted to tell me.” He said, smartly.

“
I don’t want to lose
you.” I whispered, and kissed him softly on the lips. He touched my
cheek and looked into my eyes.

“
You’re not going to lose
me, Sage. I’m your friend.” He said as he kissed me softly on the
cheek then over my skin, down my neck and to the other cheek. I
closed my eyes and let him move closer to me, and then I stopped
him, put a hand on either side of his face and looked him deep in
the eyes.

“
I don’t want to be just
friends, anymore.” I told him. Justin scanned my face, saw the
confidence I held there, the way I refused to let it go, and I
could feel the want pouring off him. As he fought to find his
words, I brought him to me and kissed him as I released him from my
hands.

Justin moved his hands, slowly, from
where they were and began to unbutton my shirt. He pushed it aside
and looked over my light skin then looked up into my eyes. I smiled
at him, then watched as he placed a hand on my neck, under my chin,
then slowly and softly began to move it down over my bare skin,
over the curves of my bare breast, and down over my stomach. His
hand came to rest on my hip, and then he glanced at me as he kissed
me passionately. I could do nothing but give into his touch, to his
lips and into the fire that seemed to race through every vein in my
body. My body ached for him, from being denied his closeness for so
long, that I just got lost in him, for the rest of the
night.

I opened my eyes and blinked a few
times to help focus on the red block numbers in front of me. All of
Justin’s windows were draped with heavy black material, so no light
would get in, and I had lost all track of time. I turned, slowly,
my body sore in spots, and I looked at Justin’s sleeping form
beside me. I smiled, moved closer to him, and put my head on his
chest. Justin wiggled a bit, then grabbed the covers and covered
both of us as he, then, wrapped his arms around

“
When do you need to
leave?” He whispered as he opened his eyes and turned to me. I
sighed and stretched.

“
Within the hour.” I
replied. “I’m sure Cristian is there by now, probably telling
Michael about the dangerous men I’ve chosen to get involved
with.”

“
That kid needs to get
over it.” Justin smiled. I sat up and threw the covers off. Justin
watched my naked body move as I grabbed the shirt and shorts that I
had been wearing. “Do you really need to put that on?”

“
Would you rather I went
out naked?” I questioned. He looked at me then down at the bed, and
back up, shrugging.

“
I’d rather you didn’t go
at all.” He replied. I stopped, standing there with just shorts on,
and was ready to respond, but he put his hand up. “I know you have
to go.”

“
Come with me?” I asked
him. Justin smiled, and then shook his head.

“
He doesn’t want me
there.” He replied.

“
I do.” Justin stretched
and then sat up.

“
I can’t.”

“
Why?”

“
Do you love
me?”

“
That’s just a stupid
question.” I said as I buttoned my shirt.

“
Do you?”

“
Of course, I do. Don’t be
ridiculous.”

“
Then, if you want to
continue to do so, without your father interfering, then you’ll
understand why I can’t go with you.”

“
My father, if that’s what
you want to call him, can’t tell me who to love and who not to,
just like my friends can’t. Michael has no hold over me.” I said
and sat by Justin on the bed.

“
With your blood ties to
him, I’m afraid he does.” Justin sighed. “I know about
this.”

“
I love you.” I whispered
to him and put my hand on his chest. “But, I have to go.” I watched
him turn his head to look away. “Last night tied us together,
Justin. Please, tell me it wasn’t a one night thing.” I waited for
him to move, but he didn’t look at me, and didn’t speak. “I have to
go now.” Still, he said nothing. I stood up from the bed and walked
over to the door.

Glancing at him one last time, I turned
and walked out the door.

Cristian looked up at as I came closer
to the car. Annoyed, I shook my head and sighed, trying to hold in
the tears, not to show him that I was hurt.

“
What the hell are you
doing here?” I asked him.

“
Come with me.” Cristian
asked. “We’re going to the same place, Sage, why not take one
car.”

“
Okay!” I said and got the
bag out of the car. “I’m not in any mood to argue, let’s just
go.”

* * * * *

Voices whispered in her ears, several
different voices, all telling her the same thing. There was danger,
she shouldn’t be going home, and death was coming, again. Cristian
watched Sage as she slept, he could hear her dreams, almost see
what she might be experiencing, and he hoped that she woke up soon.
The ride wasn’t long, but Sage had fallen asleep only minutes after
they had left. She yelled aloud, and then her eyes flew open and
she sat up more in her seat.

Cristian reached over to touch her, but
she moved away. She didn’t look at him, but he could see that she
was upset.

“
How long have they been
talking to you?” He asked her softly. She shrugged and then slowly
turned her head to look in his direction.

“
Most of my life.” She
replied. “They’re usually right, which is the problem. They told me
that you were coming, which is why this is so hard for
me.”

“
What’s hard about it?” He
questioned.

“
They told me things about
you, about how you were made, and they told me about the future.”
She whispered and looked out her window. “It just hard to trust
you.”

“
Have they always told you
when things were going to happen?”

“
They never mentioned
Justin to me.” She looked at him. “If that’s what you
mean.”

“
I would think that they’d
warn you about him first.” Cristian said and shook his
head.

“
What has he done that
makes you think that he’s a danger to me? He’s never hurt me, or
anyone around me.” Sage questioned.

“
In the past, when we were
younger, he did things to girls that would make your stomach
turn.”

“
I’ve seen his past; I’ve
known what he’s done.”

“
You knew and you still
associate with him?” Cristian asked quickly.

“
I felt him that first
night, Cristian.”

“
Look, you have a
different view of my brother than I do, but you still know what
he’s capable of. Why would you risk everything to be with him?” He
looked at her as if he couldn’t grasp her reasoning.

“
How well do you know
him?” Sage said turning in her seat to look at him. “Do you think
you know what his heart feels; do you believe you can see his soul
by looking in his eyes?”

“
Our blood is connected,
Sage. For the last two hundred years, I’ve seen what his soul is
like, whenever he killed, he sent it out for me to witness. Nothing
can change that kind of darkness.” Cristian replied and shook his
head.

“
I think; no I know that I
love him.” She whispered.

“
I hope you don’t expect
him to love you back.”