Dark of kNight (34 page)

Sitting in the chair my mind whirled. I could see the excitement on Daniel’s face. I had a sense of awe from seeing my idea actually come to life in scientific terms. It was only a guess. My heart leaped inside my body. It hit me that Casey was going to be all right. I was so excited I jumped out of the chair and threw my arms around Daniel.

“I think you are going to make a good assistant,” Daniel teased.

“Okay, but I wouldn't want to interfere with your plans with CARA,” I smiled.

Daniel looked around the room again and I could see the expression change in his eyes. “What are you going to do with this clinic?”

Pausing for a moment, I knew what he was thinking. A few modifications and Daniel could open up a new office here. It would be a perfect location with the benefit of saving us both a lot of money.

“It’s yours.” I reached into my pocket and handed him the keys. “Consider it an early wedding present.” I smiled.

“You read my mind.
Literally,
” he purred as he leaned down and kissed me.

“I’ll bring Jason over and we can start a few layouts. Let me clean up here, and we will be ready to go.”

Another question brewed inside my head. “Daniel? I remember you saying that a human couldn't carry a Lycan child. They both would die.”

“Dr. Miller and Martin came up with a sort of vaccine to give your mother. It allowed her to carry you throughout the pregnancy. When you were born, her body shut down completely. It was a risk they were willing to take,” he said softly.

Remaining quiet for a moment, the words flowed to my heart. Why were they so desperate to have a child if it meant the chance of losing my mother? I knew the question in my mind would probably never have an answer. Only my father and mother knew the true answer behind all of this.

Daniel cleaned up while I shut the computers down. I decided to organize the files my father had lying around on the desk. One folder caught my attention. There was a disk inside marked “Miller Project” with several documents. One in particular was a contract with the United States Department of Defense. Glancing over the contract, my mouth opened.

“Daniel?” I spoke softly.

“What’s wrong?” Alarmed by my voice his head snapped toward my direction.

“I think I’ve found something that you need to see.” I held the file in the air. “Dr. Miller had prepared a type of experimental serum that he was planning on selling to the Department of Defense.”

“What?” He walked toward me and took the folder from my hands. Carefully glancing over it himself, his eyes widened. “I can’t believe this,” he said looking over the entirety of the documents attached. “He was using the werewolf venom. I recognize the codes.” He shook his head.

“Why was he going to sell werewolf venom to the government?” I asked.

“Because of the power of its regeneration. Apparently, he has found a way to combine the Lycan and the werewolf venom into a type of vaccine.” He paused again. “I remember something a few months ago. He called the clinic in Scotland. Miller wanted us to cross-reference the vaccine with the project your father developed. We tested Miller’s vaccine and sent him a letter stating the vaccine was highly volatile. He wanted us to modify the vaccine for military use. To be used in the field during war.”

“So basically,” I began, “he was going to sell the government the venom to repair the soldiers who had been mortally wounded?” He nodded.

“Yes, he said that because of the war, he would have enough soldiers to experiment with. Your father was against this. I remember Martin said he would have no part of this and wanted Miller to drop it. DalMar pulled out a month ago.”

“Right before my father’s death,” I added. “Daniel?” I looked at him.

His eyes met mine. We both knew that it was a possibility. Dr. Frank Miller had a motive for killing my father. He was the only one that stood in his way. With Martin gone, the project could continue. A question remained unanswered.

“He must have tried the vaccine on himself,” I reasoned. Daniel nodded.

“Makes sense. If he couldn't get our backing, then he had no test subjects to prove his theories.”

“But, why come after all of us then?” I asked.

Daniel thought a moment and shook his head. “I’m not sure. Possibly because we were a threat to his success. With Jason and me out of the way, no one would argue against his insane ideas to the government.”

“But the vampires?” I added.

“No idea. They did not know him. It may have something to do with Casey and Nathaniel,” he said taking the folder. “We need to get back to the house. When Casey does come out of this, we need to ask her a few questions. I am taking this file with me.”

Leaving the clinic, we headed back to the house. Daniel was in his own thoughts again as was I. My thoughts were on how my father’s friend betrayed him. A werewolf attacked and killed him. Dr. Miller was a werewolf. The picture became all too clear. The question remained in my mind concerning how did he know of the vampires. We didn't even know vampires existed until last night. It was a surprise to us all. There was a reason, a plan he had for trying to kill them. What did they know?

“You know you are going to blow a fuse?”

“Sorry, I guess I got carried away.” I smiled.

“I understand,” he said when we passed the exit sign for Fort Mountain. “You know,” he continued. “I’m beginning to think those old myths of Fort Mountain are true.”

“Which ones?” I knew he was thinking about the many stories told of the nearby mountain.

“Well, you remember our fathers telling us of the local stories of how the wall was built?”

The story was one I knew well. I remembered our fathers telling us the logical version of how the great wall was built by the Welsh to protect them from the onslaught of Indians who were following them up the Alabama River. The ancient wall protects the highest point of the mountain, extending 885 feet, seven feet high at its tallest point and up to twelve feet wide.

“The Welsh?” I added.

Daniel shook his head. “No. Dad had told us another story. I’m guessing the reason you did not hear about it was that you were unaware of the Lycans. The Indians who lived here described a people who came to visit. They were fair-skinned with blond hair and blue eyes. They called them ‘moon-eyed people’, because they could see better at night than by day.”

“Vampires,” I stated, listening closer to the tale as I watched Daniel nod his head.

“The Indians didn’t know these were vampires. It must have been the ones Nathaniel spoke of, the good guys. The vampires explained to the Indians of the creatures that followed them. The vampires were not running from the Indians. It was a great evil. The wall was hand built by the vampires. They worked at night building the wall. During the day, the Indians performed religious ceremonies over the wall. By placing a certain spiritual power in the wall, it became impossible for any evil to cross it. It was a warning to all who were werewolves. Since people didn’t believe vampires or werewolves existed, they came up with their own theories.”

“Dad,” he continued as I listened, “said before the Indians left, they chose a group of people who arrived later to become the guardians of the wall. The guardians protected the humans and the wall against the werewolves. The Lycans were then created. A specific line of Lycans would stay guarding the wall throughout their lives and bloodline.” He paused for a moment and looked at me. “Julie, our forefathers were the original bloodline. We are the last of that sacred bloodline.”

“You knew the vampires existed?” I turned to him. He nodded slowly.

“It was unclear at the time. Legends and old stories become fabricated over time. We had never seen a vampire. It was just now that I put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Now I realize we have an obligation to fulfill. I was thinking. How does an October wedding sound?”

“October? We’re already in August.” I glanced back to the road again.

“Julie, I want us to be married as soon as possible.” His voice sounded a little tense. The look on his face warmed my heart and I couldn't say no. If there was anything that I could do to make him happy I would.

“All right, October then.” I watched as his face brightened with a huge smile. He reached over and took my hand placing it up to his mouth he kissed it.

“October.” He repeated.

≈≈≈

Jason was walking down the stairs when Daniel and I returned to the house. Charlotte and Thomas were already there. Charlotte appeared to be better than she was last night.

“How is Casey doing?” Daniel asked Jason.

“Great. She is still in a little pain. I just gave her something else for it. Other than that, she is doing great. It appears that her fever has subsided. Thank goodness we had Nathaniel here. Did you… whoa. Would you look at that?” Jason paused and reached over and lifted up my hand to examine my new engagement ring. He smiled and nodded his approval. “Where was I? Oh, yes, it was a good thing that Nathaniel was here.” He glanced over to Thomas. Thomas looked back at Jason without speaking. “Did you find anything?” He turned his attention returned to Daniel.

“She is going to be fine. It turns out the Lycan bacterium works as an antivirus against the werewolf venom in our human state. I had CARA save the information. I will take you over there and show it to you. It is truly amazing how it works,” Daniel said walking toward Charlotte.

“Oh, I am so relieved,” she cried out. I walked over Charlotte to give her a hug and show her and Heather my ring.

“There is one more thing.” Daniel turned his attention toward Thomas. “Julie found a file in Martin’s office. Apparently our friend Dr. Miller intended to sell a serum he labeled as a vaccine to the Department of Defense.”

“He was going ahead with his plan then?” Thomas said with a shocked look.

“Yes. I’m guessing since DalMar wouldn't back him, he decided to try the vaccine on himself, turning himself into a werewolf,” Daniel added.

“I’ll wager this was the reason why he wanted us to modify the serum,” Jason added.

“I also believe that once Martin had figured out what Miller was going to do, he probably shut the project down. Here is the evidence.” Daniel handed the file to Thomas.

“You think Dr. Miller killed Martin then?” Thomas said looking through the file.

“Yes. Without a doubt.” Daniel’s voice was firm.

“Then why would he drag all of us in to this?” Thomas sat down with the file in his hand.

“My suspicions would be to clear all of the evidence. He would consider me a threat because of what he knew I would inherit from my father’s death. There was a threat that with my father gone, Daniel and Jason and I would begin to put the pieces together,” I chimed in.

“Well, that still leaves the question of Nathaniel and Casey.” Jason sat down beside Thomas and looked over the file.

“I think I might be able to shed a little light on the subject,” Nathaniel said as he began walking down the stairs. “I apologize for eave’s dropping. You mentioned the name Dr.

Frank Miller.”

“Yes, do you know him?” Daniel asked.

“I recognized the name. It didn’t make sense to me until I heard your story. My brothers and I moved here from Oklahoma. It was a few weeks ago, before we moved. We had gone hunting...” Nathaniel paused for a moment as all of us eagerly awaited for a new light to shine forth.

“I was in the woods and had tracked a deer. After my kill, I heard what sounded like a couple of wolves having a disagreement. Every now and then, you would hear packs disagree in a fight or two. As I was finishing, I heard a yelp. This was not a normal wolf yelp. Curiosity set in. I left the deer and proceeded in the direction of the noise. Once I arrived, I found something of a surprise. It was a werewolf holding a naked man. He had just killed him. At first, I thought it was going to eat him, but it didn’t. It dropped the lifeless body on the ground and turned in my direction. Staring at me for a moment, I knew it probably couldn't determine what I was. Then I heard more coming. I guessed it was more werewolves, so I left.

“When I met Casey for our first date, I took her to a nice restaurant for dinner. A man walked over to the table and spoke to her. She introduced him to me as Dr. Frank Miller. I remember the way he looked at me as if he knew me. Most humans do not react that way to our kind. Their first impression is usually one of curiosity as to what we are. His was different.

“My answer to your question is since I was connected to Casey, he probably figured if we all came together, the puzzle would be solved. To draw me out, he used Casey.”

Nathaniel stood motionless as we all were in awe as the picture unfolded in front of our eyes.

My heart welled tightly inside my body. I wanted to be by myself for a moment. Walking past Nathaniel, I went out to the patio and closed the door behind me. Leaning on the railing, I looked out beyond the trees. Tears formed in my eyes. I understood what Daniel meant when he said that we are spiritual creatures. Dr. Miller made his choice by greed, turning himself into a werewolf. “
No better than a werewolf,”
I remember Daniel saying. Hot tears fell down my face. I couldn't let the feeling of revenge come over me.

Nevertheless, I was glad justice prevailed.

The door opened behind me and I inhaled deeply. The warm spicy sent told me it was Daniel. He was concerned.

“Are you all right?” Standing beside me, he leaned against the railing. His face showed the concern he felt in his heart.

“Yes,” I said. Turning to him, I looked into his eyes. “Daniel, do you think it’s a bad thing that I’m glad Dr. Miller got what he deserved?”

Daniel frowned for a moment and looked down at his hands. Letting out a sigh he reached for my hands. “It’s no more than what I would do. Remember I told you there were laws that we can never break.”

I nodded. “Killing out of revenge,” I said.

“Yes. It would make us no better than a werewolf. We have to avoid things like hate and revenge. They bring us to the dark side of our nature. He knew the rules, and decided to play against them. Fate dealt her hand.” Remembering the night Daniel and I were together. I trembled.