The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (17 page)

* * * * *

I watched him begin to walk out of the
room and I ducked into the corner. David walked by me without a
glance back and I watched him walk down the hallway and disappear
out onto the patio.

It seemed we had the same problem. He
couldn't seem to get away from me and I couldn't seem to forget
what he almost did to me last night. I wanted to tell Justin, or
Michael, but I kept it to myself. What I really wanted to know was
why he had stopped, not that I had really wanted him to continue,
but it was a reaction that seemed to spark my curiosity.

I looked at the three men in the room,
and then I turned and walked off after David. Justin had met me out
in the garden, and then he and Ashley became caught up in a
conversation. I had left them to continue and I came to find
Michael, and had found David instead.

I cornered him as he walked back from
the patio to what seemed to be Julian's office. David leaned
against the desk, crossed his legs at the ankles then crossed his
arms and bent his head down towards his chest.

"Who exactly did you think you were,
last night?" I asked him, leaving the door open only about an inch,
as I stood facing him. David looked up at me, but otherwise didn't
move. "Answer me."

David jumped when I hollered and then
shook his head. "I'm sorry, I just assumed that you were some
mortal put there as a joke by the others because one of them knew I
was back."

"Why did you stop?" I
questioned.

"I recognized you. Your face, your
smell." He smiled.

"I know that. I heard your conversation
with Julian, but there must have been something else." I said and
crossed my arms. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Depends on the question." He said
quietly, looking me over with a straight face.

"Are you a friend or a foe?" I asked.
He laughed quietly, and put his hands in the pockets of his
pants.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well, the next time you're in my room,
I figure it would be good to know if I needed a stake or not."
David smiled at me and stepped closer. This made me back up a bit,
but he stopped and looked at me. "What?"

"In my dreams, you were so dark, so
evil, it almost frightened me, but when I look at you now, stand
close to you; I don't feel it." He reached out and touched my cheek
with his fingers. "I feel," he paused and smiled, stroking my cheek
lightly, "funny, the only word that I could think of was safe. I
feel safe near you."

Suddenly, the door came swinging open
and crashed against the wall. Quinn was quickly, between David and
me. I had seen his face, the blood red eyes, the snarl, the fangs
and the anger.

"Get away from her!" He snarled at
David, who looked at him, a bit frightened by the sudden
outburst.

"Quinn, please. He wasn't hurting me."
I begged.

"You stay away from her, or I'll kill
you!" Quinn ordered. This sudden protectiveness from a man I had
only just met almost made me laugh, but I saw David looking at me.
His eyes seemed to grow dark, but he turned and left the room.
Quinn looked at me, his face quite normal. "Stay away from him,
Sage. He can't be trusted."

"Don't worry. I don't think he's coming
around again after that little show." I smiled and sighed. What was
it with men and their protectiveness, and this good and bad thing,
was it me or just the house bringing them all out? Quinn walked out
of the room, leaving me a quick second to breath before a young
woman with auburn hair walked into the room.

She put papers on the desk, then turned
and looked at me. She smiled and walked over.

"Are you okay?" She asked me. I nodded.
"Are you sure, you look a bit pale?" Again, I nodded. "My name is
Lauren, you must be Sage."

"Nice to meet you." I said finally
finding my voice. "Is Quinn always like that?"

"Oh, so that was the roaring that I
heard. No wonder David left in such a hurry." Lauren smiled. "He's
been like that a lot."

"Ashley told me that you were mortal.
Why are you not one of them?" I asked then paused. "If you don't
mind me asking."

"Not at all." Lauren replied. "I'm
supposed to meet Ashley down at the boat dock for a ride, would you
like to come. The more men that show up, the worse this place gets.
So far, it seems to be testosterone central."

"I'd like that." I nodded.

"Good, I'll gossip on the way." Lauren
said and the two of us walked out of the room. I spotted David as
he stood on the steps of the garden to the right of the house. It
was a large oval garden. Lauren smiled at me, took my hand and the
two of us walked away from the house, far to the left where the
boat dock was.

I closed my eyes as we walked on and
Lauren looked at me, I could feel her eyes on me even though I
couldn't really see her. I opened my eyes, turned, and looked at
her as she smiled.

"What is it? You're shaking." She
whispered. I shrugged and shook my head, then sighed.

"It was a dream that I had last night.
It just seems so strange to me. The man in it was dark, but he
seemed so familiar." I replied and shook my head again, trying to
lose the feelings of danger.

"Tell me about this man."

I inhaled and tried to stop shaking,
then turned and looked at her. "He was tall and fair skinned; his
hair was black and curly, but not like a perm, only just like
waves. He moved like a vampire, very graceful, and he spoke with
his mind, most of the dream. He told me that he was the face of
death, that he was going to be the one to get rid of Michael,
Cristian and Justin, and then he asked me how old I
was."

"What did you tell him?"

"I asked him why it mattered since I
wasn't going to live to see it anyway." I exhaled loudly and
shrugged. "The most important thing was that he said he was like a
brother to the others, to the three boys. Do you think I should be
concerned, I mean, should I tell them?"

"I've learned a lot in the past few
years, Sage." Lauren smiled. "Some of it has been to never
underestimate the power of a dream or vampires."

"So, you never told me why Quinn was
like that earlier." I asked. She and I began to walk again and
Lauren looked at the ring on her finger.

"I first met Quinn when Ashley's son
disappeared. She came here to find Julian and I followed her. I
guess he's like that because of David playing a part in Jack's
disappearance. He and Ashley were involved; Quinn, I mean, and he
seemed to start changing then.

"He began to care about something else
besides himself. Ashley killed Victor and her husband, then took
her son back and David saved her life, but Quinn just never really
wanted to trust David anymore. David has been away since Victor
died, I guess he wanted to make sure everything cooled down. Ashley
doesn't blame him, and since she's not mad, the others won't hold
it against him."

"So, what's with you and Quinn?" I
laughed. "If you don't mind me asking?"

“
Not at all." She
shrugged. "Quinn and I are engaged to be married, though we're not
quite sure when the date is."

"Are you going to become one of
them?"

"I'm not sure; Quinn has offered it to
me, but, the one downfall of being a vampire is that you can't bear
children, and it's one of the things that I truly want to do. I
want a child of my own." Lauren smiled and looked up as we reached
the boat. "Well, enough about the boys. In fact, let's forget them
all together, and get on with this day."

I smiled at Lauren and Ashley as we
climbed aboard and then looked out at the oceans and listened to
the sound of the wind.

* * * * *

Michael smiled at Julian as he stepped
out onto the patio and watched Jack play with Quinn. Julian turned
and watched Michael step up to the wall. He shook his head and
turned, then leaned against the wall.

"Would you like to have our little talk
now, about Sage?" Julian asked. Michael turned and smiled then
nodded, but he didn't say anything else. "I guess I should ask the
questions, huh?" Julian laughed, pulled his shoulder-length black
hair back and put it into a ponytail, using some sort of fancy
tying. "Now, let's begin with this question. How on Earth did you
slip her by me?"

"Easy." Michael said. "I never told you
about her and when I did it was too late for you to meet
her."

"Was it because I would know?" Julian
asked. Michael nodded. "Did that frighten you?"

"Yes." He said plainly.

"Why?" Julian asked
confused.

"Because, if you saw what she was, then
you would insist on protecting her and she didn't need anyone
else’s protection but mine." Michael sighed. "I don't mean to
offend you, Julian, but she was the closest I would ever come to
being a father. I've always wanted children, but obviously,
couldn't have them and Sage was my way of doing just
that."

"Michael how did you get involved in
this whole thing to begin with?" Julian questioned. "I mean didn't
you think of the affects it would have on this child?"

"She was going to die without even
being born. I couldn't let her do that." Michael sighed. "Yvette
was in a bad situation and I felt that this was the only way. I
explained to her and Doug the risks involved with our blood tie,
but they just didn't want to hear it, they just wanted that little
girl and I don't blame them.

"The blood interlace was simple, as
simple as it could have been. They hooked an I.V. up to me then
after I gave my blood; he put the needle into the womb and let
nature take its course. Sage rejected it at first, and I thought
that they were going to lose her for sure, but she came back and
the bleeding stopped. She had healed and everything was going
fine.

"The doctor destroyed everything, and
he helped us by doing and ultrasound every day. She grew, gained
weight, length and strength and decided to make us wait six weeks
before making a grand entrance during a thunderstorm. Her first
cries were ear-piercing; letting her presence be known, and at each
cry the lights flickered and threatened to go off, but she was the
most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. She showed no outward
signs of vampirism, like the glowing eyes or the vampire teeth, but
you could feel her power. Of course, her parents were,
hereditarily, from a line of natural healers. They had special
gifts, themselves, but they never talked about them, or used them.
I think they chose to ignore them, but I don't understand why they
wouldn't have saved themselves."

"Maybe that was the choice they had
made; to provide Sage with a different future then they had seen."
Julian shrugged, and Michael nodded slightly, but looked down. "Do
you think that they saw Justin?"

"Sage said she was never told about his
coming." Michael shrugged and looked at the sky. "She hears voices;
they tell her about the future, but, they seem to let her see only
the dangerous things like they're protecting her."

"So, they never saw Justin as a danger.
I would assume that it was a good thing then." Julian
replied.

"I never thought of it that way."
Michael smiled, and then he paused. "Why would they tell her about
Cristian, then?" Why would they even warn her about him if they
didn't think Justin was dangerous?"

"Probably because he was going to be a
problem by keeping them apart. Cristian became the danger." Julian
suggested. Michael agreed. "Things happen for a reason, Michael; we
all know that by now."

"Yes, I know. The prophecies, who could
forget, but I have a hard time thinking that this is one of
Larado's little dreamed up schemes. It seems too complex for
him."

"Oh, but nothing was ever really that
complex for that man. Just a bit, how should I say, confusing?"
Julian laughed.

"Could you look it up?" Michael asked.
Julian gave him a confused look. "The prophecy? To see if there
even is one on our little family?"

"There aren’t any signs though; I
wouldn't even know where to start." Julian shrugged.

"What about David. How do you think he
fits into this?" Michael said and crossed his arms. "Do you think
he has good intentions, this time?"

"I don't think he's going to kidnap
her, if that's what you mean." Julian replied.

"So, why is he home?"

"He said he had this dream and he was
afraid that Victor would be coming back."

"That makes me feel really safe."
Michael replied sarcastically.

"I told him that he's not coming back
that he was dead, but then he also told me that he came back home
to get away from Sage, from the image of her face in his head."
Julian sighed. "I've never seen him look more confused about what
to do."

"This is all very strange." Michael
sighed and turned just as a young man stepped out onto the patio.
He was dressed in a work uniform. "What is it, Walter?"

"Excuse the interruption, but the guard
house is on the phone. It seems we have a few more visitors." The
young man replied.