The Vampire Legacy; The New Queen Rises (8 page)

The next morning we traveled by car towards
Salem, Massachusetts. Although neither of us said a word most of
the trip, Quinn's thoughts seemed to be the focus of my attention.
I turned in my seat to look at him. His face was calm and he seemed
to be at peace as he looked straight ahead at the road.

Suddenly, breaking the silence and turning
toward me quickly, Quinn startled me, making me jump in my
seat.

"What are you staring at?" He asked me.

"I'm trying to read your thoughts," I replied
to him.

"Well, cut it out!" He said sternly. I smiled
at him and then watched he pulled the car over and put it in park.
He turned and looked at me. "Why would you want to know my
thoughts?"

"Because, you think you’re so cool, you think
that no one can break you," I replied and he smiled at me, and then
laughed aloud. "What?"

"You don't have a clue about me."

"You think your God's gift, I know that."

"I am."

"Bullshit, Quinn," I told him. Suddenly, he
was above me, his arms were so close, one on the seat to my left
and one above my right shoulder on the door, and I was backed into
a corner. He looked at me with his bright silver eyes and when he
smiled at me I could see his vampire teeth. "Do you think you're
scaring me?"

"I can smell the fear on you, Ash," he
replied to me, moving closer. I put my hands up on his chest and
held him away, not wanting to think about what he might do to me.
"Do you think you can resist me?" He smiled. "Don't you think I
could make you do whatever I wanted you to?"

"Why would you do that?" I asked him. He
shook his head as if to tell me that I couldn't possibly
understand. "What do you want, Quinn?"

"Isn't it obvious? Can't you feel it?" I did
feel it and that was what scared me, the longer I left my hands on
his chest the more intense the pulsating feeling his body was
letting off got. I wanted to move away, but I would just be leaving
myself open to him. "Wouldn't that be ironic, to have something of
Julian's that he never really got?"

"I would never give into you, Quinn, and you
know it," I told him. He broke my hold, my arms gave way under him,
and he moved closer to my lips with his. I felt his body weight on
mine. Even through his clothes I could feel his body. I could feel
his warm breath against my cheek and his strong hand where he
placed it on the back of my neck. He looked deep into my eyes and
held me there for the longest moment. I couldn't resist him if he
tried anything. I was weak and vulnerable, and his touch, though he
and I were complete opposites, was inviting. I caught my breath and
whispered to him, just as he was about to kiss me, "Stop,
Quinn."

He stopped just short of my lips and, without
moving, looked down at them, and then up at my eyes. His mouth
moved as if he wanted to say something, but then his lips touched
mine softly. A spark seemed to happen, my body responded and so did
his. He suddenly moved away and looked at me sternly, as if he
didn't know what came over him, but he didn't apologize. He just
turned in his seat and pulled the car out into the road. I watched
him in shock almost the rest of the car ride, but when I got bored
with it, I began to think of Julian and the last time I saw
him.

"Your mind is quite loud, you know," he
suddenly said to me.

"So is your mouth!" I replied. He pulled the
car over again and looked at me. "What are you going to try this
time, Quinn?" I asked him.

"Look, I don't know what happened back
there," he replied to me. "You just rub me the wrong way."

"The wrong way?" I smiled at him. "What is
that supposed to mean?"

"Forget it!" He said and pulled out onto the
road again. I stared at him again for a little while longer and
then I looked back out at the road.

"Do you think she can help me?" I asked him
quietly. He glanced over at me as my eyes filled up with tears. He
sighed, probably thinking that I was a weak person for crying.

"If she decides to help you at all, I'm sure
she can show you some way to communicate with your son. Assuming
that he's anything like you," he said with a tone that I couldn't
quite place, somewhere between anger and sarcasm.

The house we pulled up to was a
Victorian-style house in desperate need of a paint job. Quinn only
looked at me quickly as we walked up to the door. He knocked on the
door and then watched as it opened with a creek. Quinn took my hand
as we walked down the darkened hallway. I could feel it pulsating
in my hand and I could also feel him wanting to let it go, but then
he dropped it as we walked into the large room at the end.

She sat at a round table, an old woman with
long, gray almost white hair, in the middle of the room. The table
was covered in rose petals and drying herbs. She looked like she
was weaving the petals into the folds of a wicker basket.

"What do you want, Boy? Why are you here?"
She asked Quinn without looking up from her crafts.

"I need you to do something for me," Quinn
said to her, in a stern voice.

"You mean something for her, don't you?" She
asked, looking up and pointing at me with a crooked finger. Quinn
nodded.

"I don't help vampires."

"I'm not a vampire!" I spoke up, quickly. She
stood and walked over to me.

"Your parents were vampires, so this makes
you one also," she replied to me.

"My mother is a nurse and my father is a
contractor. They may be stupid, but they’re not vampires," I told
her.

"Ah, but your biological parents were, and
you know it. You read it in your mother's journals." She smiled at
me as I looked at her in shock, because no one knew about it, not
even Julian. "And that means that your son is also one."

"Will you help me?" I asked her quietly, as
she walked back to her seat. "You see, he was taken."

"I know this, we all know this."

"Yes, but I need to find a way to communicate
with him, to make sure that he's alive," I told her and then,
suddenly, images flashed through my mind again. "Your daughter is
ill." She was the one who looked at me in shock this time. "That's
why you are making the basket. You're hoping that the herbs and
roses that are woven into it might help her get better."

"How do you know this, child?"

"I see things, in my mind," I told her and
looked at Quinn, then walked over to the table and sat with her.
"She'll be all right, you know. The doctors have a cure."

"Listen to me, child," she said and looked up
at me from the basket. "This is not an easy task."

"Just tell me what to do and I'll do it," I
replied to her. She smiled and looked up at Quinn, who turned and
walked out.

About three hours later, I walked out of the
house and looked at Quinn, who was standing against the car, with
his head down and his arms crossed. His hair was down and, when he
looked up at me as I walked down to him, his eyes seemed to hold
darkness in them. I stood less than two feet from him crossed my
arms and looked into his eyes.

"Did she tell you what you wanted to know?"
He asked me. I nodded and sighed. "Good, we're spending the night
in Boston."

"Why?" I asked him.

"I don't feel like driving home tonight," he
told me as he walked over to the driver’s side door and got in.
Although, I admit that the prospect of spending the night with
Quinn scared me a little, a stronger fear seemed to be hiding just
under it. I got in the car and we headed to Boston.

The hotel that we stayed in was quite large,
and the room was a one-bedroom suite with a large living room,
small kitchen and a bathroom. I stood looking out over the city,
from our fourteenth floor room, and felt the sudden urge to go out
alone. Quinn walked out of the bathroom, in just his dark blue
jeans, with wet hair. He stopped and looked at me as I looked out
the window.

"What's the matter?" He asked me. I turned,
looked at him, and caught myself staring at his well-built body, as
the water still glistened on his skin. I felt my face grow flush
and I, quickly, turned back to the window.

"I'm going out," I told him. He cleared his
throat, as if he were about to protest, but he didn't say a word. I
glanced in the mirror at myself, dressed all in black, with long
black hair, reaching passed my shoulders, and I slipped on my hip
length, black leather jacket. I looked at Quinn, who stood against
the counter still dressed in just his jeans, looking at me. "Don't
wait up for me. I'm not sure how late I'll be."

I walked the streets silently, but could feel
all of the emotions in the air. I watched the college kids from
down the road in their little groups, laughing and hugging each
other. I walked passed numerous clubs and stores, but somehow it
didn't seem as interesting. I walked on until I found myself
standing on the sandy beach, just passed the Aquarium, looking out
at the dark ocean and wondering where Julian might be. I don't
remember walking toward a darkened spot under the pier, but I
suddenly found myself standing in the shadows, watching a young
man. He was dressed all in black, making out with his girlfriend,
or at least I thought that is what they were doing until he dropped
her. Her lifeless body lay in the sand.

He turned and looked directly at me, moved
quicker than I could see, and then was standing right in front of
me. I looked up at him, and he lashed out, grabbed a handful of my
hair, and pulled my head to the side. I saw his vampire teeth and I
put my hands up on his chest to keep him from coming any
closer.

"My, you're a pretty little girl, aren't
you?" He said and smiled with those fangs. "What are you doing out
here all alone?"

"Watching the water," I told him, with no
emotion in my voice.

"I want to taste you, you seem very strong."
He smiled again and moved closer to my neck. "Maybe, I'll make you
my slave, or maybe I'll take you out on that water."

My eyes wanted to close listening to the
sound of his voice, but I fought with everything I had not to go
under. He laughed when he felt me shaking, and it seemed to entice
him more. What was I doing out here? How could I have been so
stupid? I ventured away from the safety of a room and Quinn, into a
city that I didn't know.

"You can't have me," I told him and pushed
him away.

"You're stupid to resist me," he told me. I
felt around on the wood behind me, grabbed a hunk of that wet wood
and pulled it off. I stood there, with the sharp shard in my hand
and waited. "You're so pretty, and with such beautiful skin."

I looked up, passed this young man into the
darkness just beyond us, and looked into familiar red eyes. I felt
my eyes fill with tears, knowing that Quinn had followed me out
here, but not knowing if he might help or just watch this vampire
do this to me.

"Please, let me go," I begged him, but he
shook his head. My arm raised and I drove the shard of wood into
his back, down into his heart. He stepped away and looked at me in
disbelief, then stumbled to the edge of the water where I watched
him burst into flames, but he made no noise. I just stood there
looking at him, and then I looked at Quinn, who was staring at me
from where he stood. The fire light made him look hauntingly
beautiful. When I finally got up the energy to walk away, I headed
back up the beach, without looking up.

Suddenly, I ran into a wall, a human wall,
and it through me off balance, so much that I ended up sitting in
the sand. I looked up at Quinn, stood up and tried to walk passed
him. He grabbed my arm and brought me back to him. He put both
hands on my face and looked into my eyes.

"What do you want from me?" I asked him,
looking him deep in the eyes, unafraid of anything that he might
do. However, he said nothing, just stared, and my world went
black.

It was light out when I woke up the next
morning, in a warm bed, staring at the window. Quinn walked into
the room and looked at me. "Get dressed," he said and walked back
out again.

I looked under the covers at the fact that I
wasn't wearing very much, got up quickly, and dressed. I hurriedly
walked out of the bedroom and found him standing in the kitchen,
drinking coffee.

"What the hell did you do to me last night?"
I asked him with anger in my voice.

"I saved your life," he said plainly.

"You stood there and almost let that thing
bite me," I told him. "If that's saving my life, don't next time."
I took a step forward. "How did I get here? Why did you take my
clothes off?" He stood there, saying nothing. I walked right up to
him and slapped him across the face. "Answer me!"

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him,
then wrapped an arm around me and grabbed a handful of my hair with
the other. He moved closer to me. I couldn't believe what he was
doing.

"No, Quinn, no," I pleaded with him as he
moved to my neck. I felt his teeth on my skin, and then as they
scrapped my flesh, goose bumps rose and my body shivered. "Please,
don't," I pleaded again. I felt the tips of his teeth putting
pressure on my flesh. "Why are you doing this?"

I felt the teeth break the skin and the pain
was intense. I pushed against him, trying my hardest to get away as
my eyes began to water and I began to scream inside. After a
moment, my body weakened and I went limp in his arms, the pain
eased slightly, but it was still there. My breath was ragged,
trying to stay calm was making it hard to breathe, but my hands
fell away from his chest as I felt the blood flow from me to
Quinn.

The grip on my hair suddenly loosened and
that hand slid down to my back to support me. I felt the teeth
withdraw and the pain was gone and I turned my head and looked at
Quinn's face. His eyes were full of pain and shock. His mouth hung
open a little, showing the blunt end of his shrinking teeth, but
his mouth had my blood on it. I stared at him in total shock and he
looked at me in the same way.