Haeven (45 page)

Just then a shrill beeping filled the room
and a nurse rushed in and another who was followed by the doctor on
duty, "Get them out!"

One of the nurses took Artur by the elbow and
led him away as my parents followed. He must have waited with them
in the lobby until the doctors and nurses could stabilize me. When
they were allowed back into my room the doctor gave them his
diagnosis while Artur stood in the doorway listening.

"Her organs are atrophying."

"What does that mean?"

"They're shutting down. I'm sorry. There's
nothing we can do."

"How long?" my father asked.

"A week, two."

"No. NO!” my mother cried out. She slowly
turned and her eyes fell on Artur.

“I want to help you care for her,” he said.
“Please,” he said, “I have resources, a home in the country. It
will be like a…a haven compared to this.”

My parents were dumbfounded and neither
answered for a long moment.

“It must be...I have been a prudent man and I
have no children of my own. I can't think of a better way
to...”

“Yes," my mother sobbed. “Please, I can’t
bear to watch her die like this.”

"I’ll do whatever I can,” he stepped forward
and took her hand, “whatever I can.”

A few nights later my mother, father and Evan
watched while the doctors and nurses systematically removed all my
life supports one by one and replaced them with the mobile ones.
Then I was wheeled out to the private ambulance Artur had hired to
convey me to his country home. Everything went so smoothly; each of
my new caretakers performed their tasks perfectly and seemingly
without effort.

For my family it was a very solemn occasion
and each of them was under a great deal of private stress and
strain. Evan may have felt the most believing somehow that he was
to blame. We were together when the accident happened and he kept
thinking that if he had only done this or that differently or if he
had insisted on driving instead of letting me. According to the
police investigation, I was behind the wheel when the crash
happened and it seemed to be the result of a combination of factors
that came after I tried to avoid a collision with another driver
who had been travelling in the wrong lane.

My dad's regrets mostly revolved around the
fact that he felt I shouldn't be going anywhere but home, that if
these were my last few days they shouldn't be spent with strangers.
Artur was very persuasive, though, as was my mother and Evan. The
three of them had driven to Artur's home and after seeing the
beauty of the grounds and house itself they were convinced. It was
so peaceful and picturesque, a miniature heaven on Earth my mom and
Evan called it and after all that I had been through didn't I
deserve the serenity of passing away in such an ethereal
environment.

As soon as they were able to convince him and
my dad agreed to accept what Artur was offering Artur began making
the arrangements. He did his best to ensure that the transition was
as easy as possible for myself and my family. He had rooms made up
for each of us so that my family could stay with me night and day
and hired a staff to take care of all our needs. Artur even
arranged for a car to take them from the hospital to his home and
rode with them during the long drive.

"Whenever you're ready, Avery," he called to
the driver once my family was all comfortably seated in the back,
"the ambulance will follow."

About halfway there the car jostled oddly and
Avery pulled it to the side.

"What's wrong?" Artur asked.

"I think we may have a flat tire. Wait here,"
Avery put the car in park and got out as the ambulance drew up
behind him.

"Need a hand?" the driver offered.

Artur had gotten out of the car as well, "No,
Wyatt you go on ahead and get Emily settled. We'll be there
shortly."

The driver nodded and pulled away. Together
Avery and Artur watched the ambulance until it was out of view.
Once it had dropped from sight Avery went to one side of the car
and Artur to the other. My parents and Evan never had a chance to
react, Avery immobilized each of them and held them in place while
Artur reconstructed their memories. He went to my mother first and
as he pulled away her eyes softly dropped closed.

Afterwards Artur performed the same procedure
on my father then turned to Evan.

"You!  You!" he mumbled.

"You remember," Artur frowned.

Evan nodded, "I know what you’re doing!
 You're taking her, aren't you?  You're taking Emily back
to 
them."

"Not
them
, Evan...
us
. Emily
belongs with us now. We will care for
her, 
Herrik 
will care for her. She will never know
this kind of pain again and she will be loved...loved more than
anyone in either of our worlds is ever likely to be loved."

"I know.  I know that now but
please...please don't take her away from me. Let me remember her.
She is my sister and I deserve to love her, too," Evan pleaded.

"I'm sorry. There's too much at stake. Haeven
is in a very precarious place right now. Maybe someday but that
someday is not today," Artur said with finality.

Miles away Wyatt, Merry and Davit pulled onto
a tiny dirt road where they met Daemon, Penny and Colin in a second
ambulance. In it there was some poor, nameless, family-less young
woman who, though for very different reasons, would not make it
very many more days. Wyatt brought the strange woman to Artur's
home and from the moment they arrived my family was under Artur's
and the other's influence. They never knew the difference and
throughout the final days never thought that it was anyone other
than me.

After changing vehicles Daemon, Colin and
Penny brought me to Haeven. They pulled into the garage then Daemon
and Colin eased my stretcher onto the cement. Together they wheeled
me towards the elevator while Penny followed carrying and
monitoring all my mobile supports. They brought me to the garden
level and rolled me down the hallway where dozens of people were
hard at work restoring the passageway and common rooms. As we
passed many paused for a moment and with sad and curious faces
peered down at me. We had to stop a number of times for someone to
say a word or two or for others to reach out with loving hands and
cautiously caress my arm or gently squeeze my fingertips.

Eventually we made it to Herrik's apartment.
It was cold and dark and felt as haunted as Herrik looked. He
didn't say a word or show any emotion other than sorrow as Daemon
and the others transferred me to Herrik's bed. With long looks
Penny and Colin quietly slipped away.

Daemon hugged Herrik close, "Love is never
something to reject, especially when it is meant to be..." he
kissed his father's cheek. "It has a mind of its own and it will
always have its way with you no matter how hard you try to fight
it."

Daemon turned and walked away. Herrik
listened to his footfalls and then for the sound of the door being
tugged closed. He stepped towards me and laid his hand across my
forehead.

"Emily...Emily, love. I can’t believe it has
come to this!”

I felt his voice rippling through me.

"Oh, Herrik!"

"Is this...am I really what you want?" he
asked.

"How could you ever doubt it?"

"You deserve so much more."

"But I want you," my mind whispered. “I love
you.”

I felt his lips brush my temple then he
wrapped his fingers around mine. I heard him suck in his breath as
he slowly, reluctantly brought my wrist to his lips. Gently but
insistently he took as much as he dared. Then Herrik eased the
respirator tube from my throat and mouth before gnashing his own
wrist and letting his blood flow into me. He let it fall steadily
until he grew too weak to give any more.

At first there was only the slightest change.
I felt my heart flutter and my lungs seemed to protest without the
assistance of the life supports.

Again he took my arm, this time taking just a
little more than before and when he gave it back I was sure I felt
it slowly spiraling downwards and spreading throughout me. Each
drop seemed to be begging and pleading with my body not to give up.
Herrik must have felt it too. He gently tugged all the remaining
tubes, wires and monitors from wherever they were attached and
pushed them all away.

Then his hands softly glided around my
shoulders and he sat me up. He waited an indeterminable amount of
time for any more signs, the slightest indication that his efforts
may have had any greater effect.

"I don't...I don't understand," he sobbed.
"It can't be too late! Oh, but Artur warned me...he said...he
believed you might be too far gone!" I wasn't sure I was meant to
hear his thoughts but for some reason I couldn't avoid them. "It
isn't...it isn't too late! I love you, Emily. Please come back to
me," his voice urged.

Suddenly I realized that he had never done
this before. Herrik had regrettably taken lives but he had never
given one back. He had received countless pledges from other
vampires and decided whether or not they could make others but
never made one himself.

"Maybe," he said aloud, "maybe..." his voice
had a strange, hysterical tenor to it and he seemed to be
considering some instinctive urge, some inherent, subliminal
knowledge. He clutched my hand to his chest. "Emily," his mind
called, "I think you need to let go," he said. "I think it needs to
be all or nothing. You need to give me your life. I need you to die
for me Emily."

"N...n..." I wanted so desperately to deny
him but somewhere deep down inside I knew he was right. I had to
stop fighting.

Herrik sensed my agreement and cautiously
lowered his lips to my neck. I felt them part and the piercing
pressure of his teeth as he forced them through the soft flesh that
covered my throat. My mind and body frantically wanted to cling to
the life he was so determined to take from me but my blood seemed
to be rising up and bubbling out far too quickly for me to try to
hold on. For a brief moment I sensed the strange ecstasy that
Herrik felt as my life ebbed and flowed across his tongue and the
ruthless need it created in his body and mind.

I heard his heart roaring with a ferocious
determination, its beats thundering in my ears while mine dwindled
and the thumps came slower and slower until they were an endless
number of seconds apart. Herrik strained to control himself and to
not let himself be mesmerized beyond the point where he could not
stop. He listened for the fateful sound of my heart stuttering into
stillness and the last wispy breath escaping from my lungs. My
mouth fell slightly open and when my body went limp with
lifelessness Herrik howled manically knowing the finality of what
he had done.

He gently laid me down and dazedly slashed
his wrist again before cradling my head to the open wound. Minutes
later there was still no change and while he wept and prayed
Herrik's confidence began to crumble.

My mind seemed to awaken first. It was so
cold, I felt so cold! My fingers twitched and when he felt them
Herrik unbowed his head and saw the first little tremors of color
spreading across my skin.

"Emily!" he cried out undulating from utter
desolation to complete joy.

It moved so slowly, his blood snaking through
me and reconstructing and reawakening everything it touched. As it
gained momentum it created a wave of warmth that spread from my
head down to my chest and throughout my limbs. It felt absolutely
effervescent, almost ticklish as it crept along and I felt my lips
trembling into a faint smile.

I opened my eyes and saw him smiling back at
me, "Herrik," I pushed myself up and took his face in my hands.
"Oh," I touched him in disbelief. "I can't believe..." I kissed him
lightly; his cheeks his lips, his eyes. "I've missed you so much!"
I couldn't think of anything to say that would fully express how
much I felt at that moment.

Herrik buried his face in my hair, "I'm
sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"

It was strange hearing his voice, so strange
and wondrous because it was more than just words that I heard but
the emotions behind them, too. He was broken-hearted for all the
mistakes he felt he had made and for the irrevocable outcome that
came of them all.

There was nothing I could say that would take
any of his sorrow away especially when I was feeling so many of my
own private griefs. We were both tormented by all that we had
lost.

"I played at being a god, Emily, and I failed
miserably. I tried to create a world that was never meant to be and
I have paid dearly for it. How will anyone ever forgive me?"

Somehow I sensed that there was something in
his thoughts that he was keeping from me.

"There is...there are, many...so many
things..." he sighed.

I kissed him, "I'm sure you have very good
reasons for not telling me, so I will not ask, but Herrik," I
forced him to meet my eyes, "I love you and I forgive you. I still
believe in you and what you are trying to do."

He was shaking his head.

"And I am sure Artur believes in you, too,
and Daemon and Avery along with everyone else who fought beside
you."

"No. It's over Emily. I don't have the
strength, I've lost the will."

I didn't know what to say. I pulled him close
and hugged him tight, "You will find it again. I know you
will."

He was so tense and overwhelmed by everything
that had happened. He took a deep breath of my hair and let it all
out then I felt Herrik's fingers running up and down my spine. It
was a subtle, innocent touch but it felt absolutely invigorating
and I found myself arching into it longingly.

"Oh, Emily!" he whispered. "I love you. You
are the only thing that has made any of this worth it. I can never
be without you again." He pulled back, his expression intense but
solemn and sure, "I need you," he confessed. "You are a part of me
in a way no one else will ever or could ever be."