The Vampire Legacy III; Familiar Souls (22 page)

"Now, I know that you've heard why." He
smiled. I nodded. "So, why bring this up?"

"Tell me about your past." I asked him.
David's hands moved from my shoulders and he walked over to the
other side of the table, his arms crossed over his chest. He turned
and looked at me.

He stopped, breathed in quickly then
sighed, letting it out. "I was seventeen when I met my maker, my
sire. She was, or looked, only nineteen herself, and we took to
each other quite quickly. She was wild." He laughed to himself,
then sat down in the chair across from me, and, with his hands
together in front of him, he leaned on the table. "Her name was
Roma, such an odd name for the roaring twenties, but it fit her.
She was unique and over three hundred years old.

"She told me that I was the most
handsome man she had ever met, and wouldn't I just make the perfect
vampire?" David looked up at me. "I thought I was in love, I
couldn't wait to spend eternity with her. I had no parents, which
seems to be our common bond, Michael, Julian, Quinn, and me; we're
all orphans. I think it attracts us to our fledgling, that there
won't be any need to sever ties, with your mortal life, if you
really don’t have one, but as I said, I thought I was going to
spend eternity with, but she died two days after I had completed my
transformation."

"So, you were alone." I asked. He
nodded, and looked me straight in the eyes. "What did you
do?"

"I was angry, and I just decided to
destroy anything that got in my way." He shrugged. "I killed
without thought or need, spent my nights tormenting people, and my
days hidden in a dark cave, and even as the decades passed, and the
anger faded, I was never really totally calm. Things would set me
off, little things, like birds singing. I thought about sneaking
out, and watching the sunrise, letting it fry me, but I still
wanted to live.

"Around the 1960's, Michael came into
town. He was the first vampire that made me feel safe, which is
probably where you get it from. He brought me back to the world,
and showed me how to do things the right way. A little here, a
little there, and that's when we met Julian, and Quinn, about 1978,
or so. The two of us were hunting this area, checking out the
beaches, and we happened to end up here.

"Quinn and I never really saw eye to
eye on anything, and when Ashley came about, it got worse. I knew
her power, I could always feel it, but I had gotten involved with
Victor, whose ideas seemed to make sense to me, at the time. Now, I
believe that I was naive, and just looking for acceptance." David
sighed, and stood up. I watched him walk over to me, and lean down.
His eyes trapped mine, and he came close. His lips touched mine
softly, his finger touched the bottom of my chin then he backed up
a bit, and looked into my eyes. "Thank you, for accepting
me."

"David, I..." I said, softly, and then
watched him sit back down as if it was nothing. "I'm a little
confused." I admitted. I sighed, loudly, and looked at him. "Why is
it that I have this strange attraction to people with dangerous
pasts? I mean, can't I pick a normal guy, once in a while, and if
not normal, at least one who isn't a vampire?"

"It's in your blood." David laughed. I
shook my head, and then stood up. David helped me as I closed the
books, one by one, then I looked up at him. "You're a good friend,
Sage."

"How can I be a good friend?" I asked
him. I went to close the book he had his hand on, and he took my
hand. I held the fingers that held my hand. "How can we be friends,
if everyone believes that we don't even speak?"

"Isn't the secrecy great?" He laughed,
then let go of my hand. He stepped back from me, and sat in a chair
as the door opened as Michael, and Justin walked in. David looked
over at them, then back at me, and smiled. "I guess this therapy
session is over. It's been good, Doc. Maybe next time, you can lie
on the couch, and I'll ask the questions."

"David, you're an ass." I laughed at
him then smiled as he stood, looked at me, slyly, and left the
room. I looked at Justin, who walked over, and helped me with the
books. "So, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"You know Quinn." Michael said, and
looked at me." "If David is missing, he starts to make the rounds,
checking on you girls."

"So, what's your excuse?" I asked,
looking at Justin, who winked, but didn't say anything. "Oh, the
strong silent type."

"Was David bothering you?" Michael
questioned. I looked at him, and shook my head.

"We were just talking." I replied,
shrugging. I looked down at the book that hadn't been closed, and
then I looked up at Michael. "He's not going to hurt me. If he was;
I would feel it. You know that."

"I know." He said, and sighed. "I'm
just being a father."

I walked over to him, and looked up at
him, then kissed him on the cheek. "You're doing a great job, Mike.
Besides, I don't think he'd get away with much with the five of you
watching him every two seconds."

"He'll get his breaks, Sage, but with
all of this going on, I'm just not sure when." Michael turned, and
walked out of the room. I looked at Justin, as he read the book in
front of him.

"What are you looking at?" I asked him.
He smiled, and then turned the book so that I could see it. I
noticed the spell on stopping nightmare. "How did you
know?"

"Easy, I sleep next to you." He
whispered. "How come you didn't tell me?"

"What's to tell? They're just bad
dreams." I shrugged.

"Bad enough to make you look for a
spell to stop them." He replied. I grabbed the book out of his
hand, thankful that he had found it, and looked at it. He seemed to
find the perfect one; it was the Autumn Equinox, and a full
moon.

"Feel like casting a spell,
tonight?"

"Hum?" He debated then smiled. "Sounds
like fun, what time do we start?"

"Midnight, the witching hour. Tell all
your friends." I said, smartly, and kissed him on the cheek. "I
have to get some supplies, so, why don't you run along and play,
and then meet me in our room, about ten, so, you can help me get
ready."

"You need to relax, huh?" He
laughed.

"Yeah, but your idea of relaxing, and
my idea of relaxing, are two different things." I smiled and left
the room. Where was I going to find the stuff that I needed to do
this? I looked through the house, and ended up in the kitchen. I
looked through the cabinets, then turned and looked at the cooks.
"Excuse me," I interrupted, as she shouted orders to the other
workers. She turned, and looked at me, then stood straight, and
nodded. "Could you tell me where I could find some dried
herbs?"

She looked me over, then smiled, and
led me down into the basement. She stopped at an old wooden door,
found her keys, and then opened it for me. I looked inside, as she
flicked on the light, and smiled. There were shelves of jars and
racks of candles. I looked at her as she stepped away and left me
there to find what I needed.

I looked over the endless rows of herbs
and oils, then moved to the shelves with the multitude of colored
candles, and ended with the shelf that held the numerous sticks of
incense, each different scent in its own sealed bag. I stepped out
of the room and closed the door behind me, then took my stash and
headed up to the room. Justin was sitting on my bed, reading the
spell book that we had picked out, and looked up at me as I stepped
into the door.

"So, did we find what we needed?"
Justin asked. I nodded and started spreading out the large amount
of supplies that I had gathered.

"Well, let's see." I smiled at him and
looked down at my assortment. "Patchouli oil, for protection,
Dragon's blood for exorcism, these are what you rub on the candles.
Vervain, which is a holy herb, Lemon Verbena, which drives away
evil, and Cloves, which banishes evil, for coating the candles
after they're anointed. Cinnamon incense for power and strength,
and magenta, purple, and red, for Spiritual healing, driving away
evil, and protection against psychic attack, which are our
candles." I sighed, then turned and looked at him. He laughed at
the fact that I knew all about what I had collected with only
looking at the book he held once. He stood up and walked over to
me. "Did you tell all our little friends to come and play
later?"

"No, I thought it would be better if we
did this together, alone." He whispered as he wrapped his arms
around my waist. I shook my head as he kissed my neck.

"I'm not sure, Justin, it usually works
better with four people. I know." I said and turned to him. He
smiled at me. "We could ask Bobbie and Taryn if they would like to
join us."

"If that's what you really want." He
sighed, as if he were disappointed. I laughed at him then kissed
his cheek. "God, you're so hard to say no to."

"I get that from my father." I laughed
and slipped away from him to find my friends. Once their presence
as tonight’s ceremony was set in stone, I raced back to my room to
get ready. Justin was still there when I got in and I grabbed the
white sheet from the closet, where I had seen the maid put it this
morning. "Would you like to help me?"

"What? Why what are you doing?" He
asked as he watched me start to strip. I laughed at his face, as he
watched my clothes fall to the floor and then he walked over to me.
He helped me wrap the sheet around me, like a dress, and he buckled
it with the silver, cord belt that I handed him. He looked at me
and smiled. "You look like a Goddess."

"That's the plan." I laughed. I stayed
close to him until midnight came around. At eleven-thirty, we both
stepped outside and started to set up what we needed on the beach.
Julian had set up a bomb fire, small enough for the four of us to
see each other, but bright enough to see what we needed to
do.

I drew a pentacle in the sand and set,
on each corner, one candle, the red one to the very northern point,
one magenta to the left and the right and one purple on the last
two points. Each candle had been rubbed down with the two different
oils, the patchouli from the wick to end, to attract the protection
it supplied, and from end to wick with the Dragon's Blood, to repel
the evil. After they had been coated in the oil, they were rolled
in the mixture of the Vervain, Lemon Verbena, and Cloves. Justin
laughed at me as I danced around the circle with the lit cinnamon
incense, surrounding the area with the power and strength the
incense let off.

Bobbie and Taryn came only a few
minutes after we set up and so we began. Bobbie stood to the east
point of the star, Taryn to the west, Justin to the south and I
stood at the northern point. I looked over at Justin and laughed,
reminding me of the second time that I had met him, when I was
doing a small spell, to attract him to me. I watched his
concentration as he tried to focus on that night's
events.

"So, what are you?" I asked him. He
looked at me, with one eye closed, the other opened and staring. "A
witch or a vampire?"

"Isn't this supposed to be serious?" He
asked, jokingly.

"Laughter is the greatest magic of them
all." I replied. I looked at the two girls, who were giggling
quietly. I sighed and rolled my shoulders. "Let's get his show off
the ground, shall we?" I watched them nod, and I grabbed the long
wooden rod that lay at my feet. I started to walk in a circle,
three times, clockwise around the three of them.

"We conjure thee, oh; great circle of
power, to aid us in this consecration. Please, be our boundary as
we work to dispel the evil among us, be our protection between the
realm of the living, and the world of the mighty spirits." I
stopped after I ended the circle for the third time, and looked
into the fire in front of me. "As above, so below. We wish you
welcome." I leaned down and pounded on the ground three times.
"This circle is sealed, let no harm come to those who stand within
its protective walls."

The four of us took a moment to be
settled, and then I turned and looked towards the north, my arms
crossed over my chest. I opened my eyes wide, so that I could see
all the stars in the heavens. "Hail to the spirits of the North,
Element of Earth, be with us tonight. Please, accept our open arms
and bear witness to the magic we release tonight. Bring to us your
stability, your empathy, and your prosperity. Help us to complete
this working. So, mote it be."

"So, mote it be." The other three
echoed. Bobbie, standing at the East point, turned in that
direction and crossed her arms. She looked directly towards the
full moon and smiled.

"Hail to the spirits of the East,
element of Air, be with us tonight. Please, accept our open arms
and bear witness to the magic we release tonight." She repeated.
"Bring to us, your knowledge, your inspiration and your freedom.
Help us to complete this working. So, mote it be."

"So, mote it be." We all
answered.

Justin spoke up, his voice went right
to my heart, and my body ached for him. "Hail to the spirits of the
South, Element of Fire, be with us tonight. Please, accept our open
arms and bear witness to the magic we release tonight. Bring to us,
your vision, love and healing. Help us to complete this working.
So, mote it be."