The Vampire Legacy; The New Queen Rises (15 page)

"Quinn, this is insane, who are you looking
for and why would Michael know where she is?" Julian asked.

"Ashley! He knows where they took her,
Julian," Quinn said and growled at his brother. "I know he
does."

"Quinn, be reasonable," Julian said and
walked over to them. "Ashley's fine."

"Have you even noticed that she's not here?
That she's not down here right now, with you?" He looked at his
brother with total anger. I had never seen this side of Quinn
before and it shocked me to see the fury in his eyes. "If she's
hurt, I swear I'll kill you," he said to Michael, almost in a low
growl. "Talk! Now!"

"Quinn!" I hollered, but the voice belonged
to someone else. I was in Lauren's body; I heard her voice. "Quinn,
put him down, he doesn't know."

Quinn looked over at me. I watched his eyes
glow red, as if he didn't think that Lauren should have anything to
do with this. "Please, I'm begging you to let him go."

As he looked at me, his eyes lightened, and
he slowly put Michael down. He walked over to me, stared me
straight in the eyes for a few moments and then his face softened.
I smiled up at him and touched his face. Even in this body, I could
feel the pulse he let off and he must have felt it too, because his
eyes filled with wonder and he asked, quietly, "Ash?"

"Yes, it's me," I said softly and caught the
confused look on Julian's face, as if he wasn't sure how to take
the fact that I was touching Quinn or why Quinn was so upset.

"Where are you?" Michael asked. Quinn looked
at him, quickly, and bared his teeth. I touched Quinn's hand and he
looked at me.

"I don't know, I've never seen this place
before." I looked around at the boys, and then I looked directly at
Quinn. Calming Quinn down seemed to be something I had to do before
I paid any attention to the others. "Listen carefully, Quinn. I'm
hurt and I'm weak. I don't know how long I can hang on to her like
this. Michael doesn't know; I told you that yesterday. It's David.
David knows, because he brought me here. Don't blame Michael. He's
not a threat."

"Ash, how bad are you hurt?" Julian asked,
catching on to what was happening.

"Victor!" I said suddenly. Quinn stood up
straight. "I met Victor last night. He is not a nice man."

"How bad are you?" He asked again, and the
room began to grow dark.

"Julian, help me," I replied and faded back
to my body. I was worn out to the point of pure exhaustion, so I
closed my eyes again and feel asleep, but the burning in my veins
had worsened and the growling in my stomach hurt me too.

It was dark again when I opened my eyes, the
stars were out and I could almost see the moon from where I was
laying. I was weaker than before, I could feel that, but then again
I could also feel something else, no, someone else. I felt it as
the person came closer, familiar and friendly, and then the one
became two and this other one was full of worry and love.

A third one tickled my senses, a darker more
mischievous one and I knew right away who that was. I glanced
around and whispered to them to help me, fearing that I had lost my
voice, I kept yelling until it got louder, loud enough for them to
hear.

"Help me!" I yelled with my mind and my
mouth, and I heard the sudden scurry of footsteps, the light from a
flashlight, and four familiar faces looking over me.

"Holy ..." Michael started and Lauren covered
his mouth.

"Ash," Julian whispered. "Ash, it's us. Can
you hear me?"

"Can you say something so we know that you're
still in there somewhere?" Quinn said and touched my fingers.

"Piss off," I replied sarcastically at his
question, which I'm sure came from genuine concern, and then I
grabbed two of his fingers and held them tight."What does it take
for a girl to get some grub around here?"

"Yep, that's her," Quinn said and smiled, and
then back away as Julian picked me up. I moaned at every little
step and turn and I could barely sit straight in the car when they
put me down. Quinn drove and Julian rubbed my hair softly as I
dozed in and out of consciousness.

"I don't understand what you were thinking,
going out like that alone," Michael said and looked at me. "You
should have at least told one of us where you were going."

"I couldn't," I whispered, knowing that he
could hear me. "It would have gotten Jack hurt."

"You could have gotten killed," Julian said
in response.

"That's what I tried to tell her before she
left," Quinn said and sighed.

"You knew about this and you didn't follow
her?" Julian asked him.

"She insisted that I couldn't," Quinn
replied. "I tried to convince her that it was a dumb idea."

"Don't blame him, Jules," I told him and took
his hand. "I told him not to follow me or I wouldn't come back
there if I found out he did. I threatened him." Suddenly, I felt a
sharp pain in my side and with each passing minute it grew worse
until I couldn't lie there anymore, but I couldn't sit with it
either. It became so much that I knew I was screaming, but then all
I could remember was the darkness.

I opened my eyes slowly and looked at Julian
and Quinn, and then I closed them and just listened to their
voices.

"She's dying, Julian," Quinn whispered at
him. "Do something."

"What is with you lately?" Julian asked.
"What's the sudden concern with her that has you jumping off the
wall?"

"Look, she's going to die if we don't do
something for her," Quinn said avoiding his question. "You have to
do an exchange or she won't make it through this."

"An exchange could kill her Quinn, and you
know that," Julian replied.

"Trust me, she can handle it."

"What makes you such an expert on her all of
a sudden?"

"She's already part of us, by her heritage.
Giving her you're blood isn't going to kill her."

"It's going to change her though; she'll be
one of us."

"She is one of us!" Quinn hollered at his
brother. "In case you haven't noticed, big brother, she's changing.
She's been getting more and more like a vampire every day, since
she came here. If you weren't so damn caught up in your work and
off on business trips, maybe you would actually see what the woman
you’re supposed to love so much is turning into."

"I suppose you've noticed it?" Julian asked.
Quinn nodded and smiled.

"I've noticed every detail of her
transformation and you know of none of it. Right before you're very
eyes, Julian, she's changing. So stop being stubborn and do the
exchange."

"Why do you want this so bad? Is this what
Victor told you to pressure me into?" Julian asked him, getting
angry himself, letting his voice rise. "What the hell are you up
to, Quinn? What's the big hurry?"

"I love her, all right!" Quinn yelled at him
to his face. "I am in love with her and I can't just stand here and
watch her die. You think you know it all, but you know nothing. She
needs you now, but you’re off on business. I can't watch you hurt
her anymore."

Michael listened at the doorway to the two
men in the room bicker. He stepped closer to the bed and rolled up
the sleeve of his shirt. Quinn looked at him as he leaned down and
looked me in the eyes, which I had opened to smile at him.

"What are you doing?" Julian asked.

"I'm going to do the exchange with her,"
Michael said and took my hand. He looked back at them and shook his
head. "This way here she won't be connected to either or you and
when she's better, she can make you two stop being so loud."

Michael looked at me and touched my hair as
he lifted me off the pillow and wrapped his arms around me. "This
is going to hurt just a little, honey. Don't be frightened and try
to relax."

I felt him touch my neck to find my vein and
then I felt his teeth burrowing into me. I tried to relax, but the
pain was too much. I grasped him around his upper body and held on
to him, my breath was shallow and I felt like a fish out of water,
gasping for air.

When he withdrew, I stared off into
nothingness at the wall, until I heard his voice, and he turned my
head. I watched him cut his wrist then look down at me. He told me
that I had to do it, drink from him, but I wouldn't, therefore he
pushed his arm into my mouth and the blood flowed until I couldn't
do anything but swallow it, once I did there was no stopping.

The burning in my veins calmed down and I
felt instantly better, but when he pulled away and I looked at
Quinn and Julian, I could tell that something was wrong with this
picture. I closed my eyes; not wanting to see them staring at me
anymore, then there was silence.

When I looked around again, they had all left
the room. I could feel my energy coming back, and I heard a small
whisper in my head.

Michael
? I asked with my mind. The
whispering stopped.
Michael, is that you
?
Please, answer
me
.

Yes, it’s I, Ash. Don’t be afraid
, he
whispered back.

What is that noise that I’m
hearing
?

The minds in the house, the staff that run
this place
, y
ou’ll learn to ignore it in a while
.
Would you like some company
?
Julian is asking if you’re
awake
.

No, I think I need some time alone
, I
told him softly. I looked over my body and watched as the bruises
healed and the cuts faded.
Michael
?

Hmm
?

Why can’t I hear them
?

Who
?

The others
.

When you change, you can only hear the
thoughts of your sire
,
everyone else is unreadable
.

What if they initiate it
?

No, nothing
.

Michael
?

Yeah
?

What happened?

Well, Sweetie, I’m sure you’ll find out
soon enough
.
I don’t want to explain it to you because I
don’t know the whole story.

Where are you now
?

In the bathtub
.

Naked
?

Yes
.

Oh, well then, I’ll let you take your
bath
.

Thank you
.

I stood up from the bed and walked over to
the window, and looked over the back yard; I stood there looking
for a long time before anyone walked out onto the green grass.
Quinn walked with his hands above his head, as if he was about to
be arrested. Then he quickly sat, then lay, down on the grass.

There was a quiet knock at the door, and when
I turned to look, it opened slowly and Julian walked in. He smiled
at me as I leaned against the windowsill and smiled back.

"Up and about already?" He asked me. I nodded
and crossed my arms. "I guess I have missed a lot lately."

He stood by me and looked out the window at
Quinn, who was lying on the grass, and then he glanced at me as I
looked at the floor.

"Is there something that you need to tell me,
Ash?" Julian asked. I looked at him and shook my head. "About you
and Quinn?"

"There is no Quinn and I, Julian," I told
him, walking over to the edge of the bed, and then I sat down. "Or,
at least there's trying not to be."

"What does that mean?" He questioned.

"It means ...I don't know what it means." I
sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"Do you love him?" He asked me.

"I can't answer that," I replied.

"What do you mean you can't? It's a simple
yes or no question?" He said and the tone of his voice changed. I
looked at him and then stood.

"I can't answer it because I don't know," I
replied. "I don't know what I feel, and right now I don't think I
want to know."

"Well, I need to know."

"I don't mean to hurt you," I said softly.
"So much has happened and it's overwhelming."

"Do you love me?" He asked again. I looked up
at him.

"Yes," I replied.

"Are you in love with me?"

I stopped and thought about this. It should
have just told me that if I had to think than I must have some
doubts. I looked up at him, looked him deep in the eyes and started
to cry. When I got myself under control, I inhaled deeply and
rubbed my arms.

"I don't think so," I told him. Julian looked
up at the ceiling then back at me with his hands on his hips. "I
love you, Jules, but I'm not sixteen anymore. I don't think it's
the same love that I felt that year. I think Quinn was right. I
think that I was in love with the idea of doing something that my
parents disapproved of."

"I loved you, I love you still. I waited
eight years to hold you again." Julian sighed and sat on the
window.

"Eight years, Jules, is exactly what happened
to me. I changed and for those years you held a spot in my heart
that no one could touch, you still do, but it's different," I
replied and sat by him. "It's more like the love of a sibling, that
kind of unbreakable love that family shares."

"Is that what you told Quinn when he asked
you if you loved him?" Julian questioned me.

"What I told Quinn was that I loved him like
a brother. What Quinn told me is that I was lying." I touched his
cheek with the back of my hand and he looked up at me. "I don't
know just yet what I feel for your brother, and I'm sorry that I
didn't tell you earlier about the confusion I was having."

"When you went to Boston, before I came home,
what happened?" Julian asked.

"Quinn bit me, you know that," I
answered.

"Something else must have started this whole
thing."

"When I touch you I can feel you're power,
you're strength, and it's very inviting to fall into. When I
touched Quinn, something else happened, something that I can't
explain, and I can't try to either," I told him softly, as I put my
chin on his shoulder. "I'm scared, for you, and me. I don't want
this to end in a bad way, Jules. I couldn't live without you in my
life again, but I also don't want to lead you on by thinking that I
can love you totally the way you want me to."