The Vampire Legacy; The New Queen Rises (14 page)

However, as the morning light began to
brighten the room and I fell back into a deep sleep, something felt
very funny to me. It was such a feeling that I only slept for about
a half an hour before I jumped up, got dressed again and ran
upstairs to Julian's bedroom. I knocked on the door and opened it
slowly. I looked at his bed, which hadn't even been slept in. I
went in his closet and looked for his suitcase, but it wasn't
there.

Feeling quite confused, I shut the door and
ran down stairs to the parlor where Michael sat reading the
newspaper. He looked at me as I stood in front of him, in my
nightgown, and he folded the paper on his lap.

"What can I do for you this fine morning?" He
asked and put up a finger before I could answer. "Wait, let me
guess. Aliens took your clothes and left you with this sexy little
thing and you're wondering where Edith is with the laundry?"

"No," I said and watched him think again.

"You used all of your good clothes to make a
bonfire last night and this was the only thing that you saved?" He
asked again. I shook my head. "You're auditioning for a sex scene
in a porno movie?"

"You're just disgusting," I told him. "Look,
is Julian here? I mean, where is he hiding? I know I saw him last
night."

"You're hallucinating, love. Julian won't be
back until tonight around eleven," Michael said and smiled.

"But, he just spent the night in my room," I
told him and pointed to the stairway.

"Did you get his envelope?" Michael asked. I
nodded. "So what was in it?"

"Just some cash if I wanted to buy some
things," I said and wrapped my arms around myself. "Are you sure
he's not home?" Michael nodded.

I walked back upstairs and got dressed for
the day. Things were starting to become weird. When I walked down
into the sitting room and looked up everyone seemed to be there,
except Julian. Quinn and Lauren were talking, she waved at me, but
he didn't even look up. Michael was still reading his newspaper and
David was staring at me.

"I'm going to town, does anyone want
anything?" I asked. Everyone shook his or her heads and I looked at
David, and then gestured to the outside. "Well, good-bye then. I'll
be home later."

I stood by my car, in the coolness of the
garage and waited for David to walk out. He did so,
inconspicuously, and then walked over to me. He put his hands in
his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, then put it in my
hand.

"Tonight, at 10:00 p.m., meet me here and
I'll take you to where Jack wants to meet you," David said and
looked me in the eyes. I stared back at him hard and nodded. "Come
alone, bring none of the others with you and tell none of them
where you are going."

With that, he turned and walked away from me.
I looked at the white folded piece of paper that he had handed me
and I sighed. When I looked up to grab my keys off the car, I saw
Quinn standing at the doorway.

"Quinn," I said taking in a deep breath; he
wore his tan duster and had his hands tucked in the pockets. I
barely noticed as he stepped closer to me and stood on the other
side of the car. "I thought we talked about this."

"So, where's he taking you?" Quinn asked,
avoiding my words.

"Nowhere," I replied and unlocked the
car.

"I can just follow him if you don't want to
tell me."

"You will get my son killed, or me Quinn. So
don't even think about it," I told him. Quinn nodded, and looked
around.

"Julian will be back tonight. Are you going
to tell him about us?"

"There is no ‘us’ Quinn," I told him and
opened the car door. "Stay away from David. Don't follow him and
don't follow me. If I see you anywhere near wherever it is that I'm
going I won't come back in the morning. Understand?"

With that, I got in my car and started it up.
Quinn stared at me as I pulled out of the garage then drove away
from him.

I drove out to the Block Island Ferry and
took it across to the Island itself. I rented a small scooter, rode
out to the furthest point of the island, and just sat there. I was
confused and afraid. Last night was so real to me, I felt every
ounce of him near me, but he hadn't really been there. I thought of
the time that he left me eight years ago, when he told me all I had
to do was to think of him and he would come to me. Was it possible
that was what he did and it was just a dream?

I shook my head and closed my eyes. This was
going to be a long day and I wasn't sure if I was ready for it to
begin.

I ate lunch on the island then headed back
for the house. All the way there, I tried not to think about
anything, but things from the past started to pop into my head. The
time that Julian and Quinn argued down in the tunnels about me and
how he wasn't supposed to feel the way he did, the words that Quinn
said about how I was important to them, but Julian replied that I
was important to Victor.

Why would I be so important to a man that I
had never met, then again, why was I bringing it up now? After all,
it had been eight years.

Night came quickly and I snuck out of the
mansion without anyone noticing, while they were eating dinner, and
I drove out to Bluff's Point, where I was to meet David. He stood
next to a dark limousine and waited for me to park my car and lock
it up. I, again, was dressed in all black, like the night before,
but my leather jacket had been traded in for a knee-length black
coat.

I walked up to David and looked him over, and
then I looked at the driver of the car who held a door open for me.
I walked by and slid in the car.

"You're alone, I presume," David said and sat
across from me.

"Traveling in style, now-a-days, moved up in
the world, huh?" I said and rubbed the velvet lined interior of
this darkened car. "I'm alone, but, can I ask you a question,
though?"

"Why not?" David smiled at me.

"Why are you on this end of the stick?" I
asked him. He shook his head. "You don't understand? Well, let’s
see if I can explain it to you. You're dealing with a man who
disappeared after the birth of his son, then came back and stole
him from me. To me this seems like the losing side. The bad guys
never win David, you know that."

"Well, let's just say that I don't quite see
eye to eye with Julian's little prophecy about bringing peace to
vampires and mortals. Unity and all that stuff. I happen to like my
life of sneaking around in the shadows to get my dinner." David
evilly smiled at me. "With the Prince out of the way, and Julian’s
little power trip obliterated, the world won't change and we will
all stay happy."

"Whether it's Jack or someone else, if it's
meant to happen David, it will happen," I replied. He laughed at me
and then pushed a button on the side panel. The floor opened and a
large panel of glass slid out then up and blocked me in my seat. I
looked at David then knocked on the glass. "What are you
doing?"

"It's for your protection, but it's safe," he
said to me as the compartment started to fill up with gas. I
coughed and choked on the fumes and my world suddenly started to go
black. I looked at David one last time as he waved to me, and then
I was out.

When I came to, a few hours later, the limo
was parked and the motor was off. I pounded on the door, which was
answered by a large man. He pulled me out of the car and stood me
next to it. David looked over at me from where he stood talking to
three others.

"Ah, you've finally woken up," he said. I
smiled at him and looked around. In the far distant corner of my
eye, I spotted an old castle in the mist of reconstruction. I know
I had seen this somewhere before but I couldn't place where. As I
surveyed the land, taking in all I could, David hit me squarely on
the cheek and I looked at him. "Good, now you're paying attention.
Gentlemen."

Two men grabbed me, one on each arm and
started to escort me, quite roughly, up a long stairway made out of
logs tucked into the ground. It was a bit of a climb but as we
rounded the corner, I could see the castle clearly and I could see
most of the river that ran right by this place.

When I stopped looking around, and looked
straight ahead, I watched as my husband, dressed in black like the
rest of us were, stepped out from the trees with two other
bodyguards. He walked up to me and touched my cheek. I turned my
head and looked away from him.

"Ashley, how I've longed to see your face,"
he smiled and grabbed my chin. "To bad it's on such bad terms."

"Where's my son, Jack?" I asked him.

"All in due course, my love." He stood back
with his guards and smiled at me. "Tell me, why I should give him
back?"

"Because he's mine. I don't need any other
reason," I replied.

"What about your new love, Julian? What about
his cause, do you support it?" Jack asked.

"I want my son back so I can get on with my
life. His cause or your cause it makes no difference to me. I don't
want any part of it," I replied to him.

"But you are a part of it, my dear." Another
voice said and stepped out of the darkness. He was a tall man, of
French decent and he stepped up closer to me. I starred him in the
eyes and I wasn't frightened. "You are the Queen of the Vampires,
how does that make you feel?"

"Hurrah for big deals," I said sarcastically.
The man holding my right arm suddenly punched me in the stomach. I
could feel the air going out of me as the pain ripped through me,
but I straightened up as much as I could and I looked up at this
man. "You must be Victor."

"You've heard of me, how unexpected." Victor
smiled down at me. "Tell me, Ashley, how are my two fledglings
doing?" He grabbed me by the hair and pulled my head up as I
started to slouch. I looked at him and smiled.

"Just fine and dandy," I replied and smiled.
"Can I have my son back, please? I just want to go home."

"You honestly believed that I would give him
back that easily, did you? That you could just show up and take him
just like that?" Victor smiled. I looked at Jack and watched him
smile at me as he crossed his arms. "You were very mistaken in your
thoughts, my dear girl. I have marvelous plans for your little boy.
He will become my ultimate child, he will make me proud."

"Over my dead body," I replied and grinned.
"I will do everything in my power to stop you."

"But, my dear, you have no powers." Victor
laughed.

"You have no idea," I told him and watched
him as he clapped his hands.

"Bravo, bravo. You're confidence impresses
me, Ashley." Victor smiled. "But, if you try to take him away from
me, I will have to kill you."

"Give it your best shot," I replied.

"Now, now. We can't have this sort of
attitude while we are trying to raise a good child," Victor said
and smiled at the two that held my arms. "It seems that you might
need a little adjusting. I hope you are more cooperative the next
time we meet, Ms. Wolf."

"The next time we meet, sir, will be the last
day that you live," I whispered to him.

"Good-bye, Ashley," Victor said and walked
back into the shadows. Jack walked up to me and touched my cheek,
then kissed me softly on the lips.

"It was so good to see you again, Ash," he
whispered in my ear. "I hope we can be friends, for the sake of our
child," he said and stood, then started to walk away, but he turned
and looked at me. "Boys, teach Ms. Wolf some manners please."

With those words, as I watched him walk away,
the beating began. After a while, I became numb to the pain. The
anger that had filled my heart had caused me to feel nothing else,
and my eyes saw nothing but red as I laid, unable to move on my
own, on the needles and the leaves of the trees that surrounded
me.

One of them picked me up and brought me over
to a small circular foundation that might have been the remains of
an old fort. In the darkness, he set me down against the wall and
threw my jacket over me, leaving me there to bleed from the wounds
that their hands and boots had caused.

I slouched down, having no energy to move,
until I came to rest on the hard cement floor. I pulled at the
jacket and was able to cover most of my body and my head. I
inhaled, what little I could, and stared at the darkness, but I
didn't cry. I was much too numb for that, and what feeling I did
have left seemed to be hell bent on revenge. I soon stopped feeling
all together, laid there motionless, until I closed my eyes, and
let the blackness of my mind take over.

9

I could feel the light on my feet as the sun
rose in the sky, but I was still unable to move. I opened my eyes
and sat there for a while, just trying to think of ways to get out
of this, but nothing occurred to me.

Around noon, or I assumed it was noon, an
idea hit me and I thought that it was worth a try. I relaxed,
closed my eyes and started to draw a circle with my mind. In that
circle, I drew a five-sided star, starting with the Northern point
and ended at the same point. I place a candle in my vision at each
point of the star and when I was ready, I concentrated on the house
until I couldn't hold the picture anymore. When I opened my eyes, I
saw the chandeliers that hung in the hallway.

I was looking through someone's eyes, I just
wasn't sure whose. I walked into the sitting room and looked at
Michael and Julian who were sitting around, anxiously waiting for
something.

Without warning, Quinn flew into the room,
grabbed Michael by the collar of his shirt, and picked him up off
the couch.

"Where is she?" He demanded to know. Julian
stood up and looked at me, whoever I was, and then at Quinn.
Michael looked down at him with total calm.

"Quinn, put me down," Michael requested.

"Not until you tell me where she is, you son
of a bitch." He scowled in anger.