December Moon (The Raven Saga) (29 page)

"Who is he?" said December as the two girls sat looking at nothing in particular, deep in thought, wondering about the identity of their own 'lost soul'.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

The following morning, Lilly and Tabitha went down to check on Rose and Walter to see if there had been any change in his condition.

As they tiptoed down the stone steps and arrived at the closed curtain, they whispered Rose's name.

"Come in girls," she answered sadly, knowing that both of them stood behind the heavy curtain.

"Hey Rose," they both said as they gently kissed her on her cheek. "How is he?" asked Tabitha.

Rose sighed, "the same, just the same."

Lilly noticed that another bed had been placed in the room, presumably for Rose to sleep in but the cotton sheets remained untouched. She had spent the night in the chair, holding his hand.

A tray with a plate of untouched toast and jelly sat at the bottom of it.

"Rose, you must eat something. You've not had a bite to eat since before the attack," Lilly admonished.

But Rose simply shook her head, the ends of her mouth turned downwards as she roughly brushed her eye with her hand.

"Will you at least have a cup of tea? Please Rose?" asked Tabitha.

Closing her eyes, she turned from Walter for a moment and smiled, the saddest smile the girls had ever seen on her pale face.

"All right, I'll drink a cup of tea. Sweet tea... thank you."

Tabitha turned and walked out of the room, Lilly could hear her hopping up the steps as she sat on the other bed.

"I've been talking to him, you know?" whispered Rose, "I hoped maybe the sound of my voice would bring him back."

"I'm sure he can hear you," said Lilly, thinking that's what people often say when their loved ones are in a coma.

Rose nodded absent-mindedly.

A few minutes passed before Tabitha returned with the hot tea. She wasn't alone. One of the women who had taken Walter's blood the previous night, along with Carmelo, Jo and Gabriel walked in. All looked at Rose solemnly.

Gabriel spoke first, "My dear Rose. I'm afraid the news is not good," he said as he perched on Walter's bed facing her.

As Rose looked up, Lilly thought she looked old. It was the first time she had ever looked old.

Carmelo took over, "there used to be a disease in the vampire world called
Sangue Debolezza
. It was an ancient disease I thought had been
wiped out many years ago but the witches have discovered that Walter's blood contains this very disease. In years gone by, Sangue Debolezza was only passed on through a bite from a carrier; and seen as Walter seemed in good health prior to his fight with Duran, we can only assume that Duran was carrying the disease. I'm so very sorry, Rose."

"And there's no cure?" she whispered.

Carmelo shook his head.

Rose dropped her head into her hands and began to sob.

"What if we were able to obtain a sample of blood from a carrier? Could the witches produce an antidote?" Lilly asked.

Rose looked up and waited with baited breath.

"Honestly? I'm not sure that it would help."

"But it's worth a shot, right?"

"Possibly, but where would we obtain a sample?" he asked.

"What about Frank? He was Duran's first victim. I presume that he is still alive... and here in the caves."

Rose took Carmelo's hand in hers, "Please try, Carmelo. Try anything."

He nodded and quickly exited the room, rushing up the steps to call to the witches and nurses for help.

"I wonder why Frank is still alive and not in a similar coma," said Jo as she stood up and prepared to follow Carmelo out of the room, before squeezing Rose's hand.

"It must be because he was human when he was bitten," replied Gabriel as he placed a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder.

"How is dear Meredith?" Rose asked, suddenly remembering that somebody else was suffering far more than she was.

"Not very good, I'm afraid. She, too, won't eat a thing. But it's to be expected. Losing a spouse is truly heartbreaking. Nothing helps, but time," he sighed, speaking from experience.

Trying to stand, Rose struggled to lift her weary, bruised and aching limbs from the chair.

"I must go to her. Lilly, Tabitha, please help me. Gabriel, will you please stay with Walter until I return?"

Gabriel smiled and nodded as he watched Rose hobble out of the room, using the two girls to lean on.

Meredith had slept for a few hours and when she had woken, just for a split second all was well until she remembered the horrors of the day before. She had witnessed her husband thrown against a huge boulder with such force that it had literally taken the life out of him. He had lived
for perhaps three minutes, just long enough to tell her and the boys that he loved them dearly, that she shouldn't be sad for too long. He wanted her to move on with her life. "Do it for me, my love," he had said, "do it for me." Those were the last words he had spoken.

She couldn't even lie down in bed any longer for the grief overtook her and she had to rush to the nearest bathroom where she sat on the floor retching. Her stomach was so empty though, that she was unable to vomit.

She had never known pain like it. The deepest, dullest ache rose from the pit of her stomach and settled in her heart, making her want to scream and shout and hurl things against the wall.

But Meredith would never do such things, perhaps at home alone, but not there surrounded by family and friends. Some were also in mourning. She couldn't forget that.

As she sat curled on the floor in the old fashioned bathroom, so out of place in the middle of a mountain range, Meredith heard Rose's voice.

"Meredith, dear, may I come in?"

But she was unable to speak. The grief prevented words from coming out of her dry mouth. She lifted herself off the floor and crawled over to the wooden door and unlocked it.

Rose gently pushed it open to find Meredith looking so unlike herself. And Meredith looked up to find Rose looking so unlike herself. She stood up and they fell into each other's arms, sobbing. There they stood for half an hour, letting their grief out.

Lilly and Tabitha tiptoed away once they'd delivered Rose to her destination, leaving the two women to grieve together.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

An attempted antidote had been concocted using a sample of Frank's blood. The new-born vampire had been eager to please, eager to help once he'd heard about what had happened. Frank was slowly getting used to the Elders and he was beginning to feel like he belonged, although his thirst for blood was incapacitating, leaving him unable to spend much time out of the confines of his temporary cell.

He knew once he had conquered the thirst, he would continue to live with this bizarre group of people and creatures, but he was pleased about that. Frank had been a loner for so long that he no longer felt like he belonged in Powell River. He carried such guilt for the death he had caused, the death of the bear that had, in fact, been an innocent man.

Rose sat beside her long lost husband while the concoction was injected directly into his neck. Although she was warned that it may have an adverse effect and cause Walter to wake with such a thirst that he may reach for the nearest source of blood, she had been adamant. She would not leave his side.

And so, the strongest vampires were standing by should he need restraining.

After ten minutes, there was no change. Twenty minutes, nothing. An hour went by and Walter lay there unmoving.

Rose had just about begun to lose all hope of speaking to him again when suddenly, Walter bolted upright, taking a deep breath and then falling on his back, his eyes closed. It was as if he'd been given an electric shock and then fallen unconscious again.

Rose took his hand in hers again and began to talk to him. She told him all about her life and the life of their family, how much she loved him.

"I never stopped loving you, even though I'm an old lady now and you're still a young man," she chuckled. "You look exactly the same as when we were married all those years ago..." and she continued talking to him for hours.

Carmelo decided there was no longer any threat. He was certain the antidote was ineffective and so he dismissed the vampires and the rest of the family returned upstairs to leave Rose alone with her husband.

It was only once everybody had gone that something happened.

Rose felt Walter's hand twitch in hers, before he gripped it tightly.

"Walter?" she whispered as another tear fell out of the corner of her eye.

"Walter?" she asked again.

"Rose?" responded the voice.

"Walter!" she gasped and leaned forward to watch as he slowly opened his eyes and turned to face her.

"Why Rose... you look even more beautiful now than..."

She shook her head, laughing, "You always were a pretty poor liar, Walter."

He slowly sat himself up and stroked her face gently, "I'm not lying, Rose. Oh, how I've missed you. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too... we've lost so many years..." she said, sobbing.

"But we're together now, that's all that matters."

"But you're still a young man, Walter. Look at me... I'm an old lady."

"I might look like a young man, my love, but I'm older than you," he laughed, wincing and holding his stomach.

"Walter! Are you all right?" she asked anxiously.

"I... I think so, just some strange sensations I've not felt before. I'm rather hungry though."

"If you can walk, we can help each other upstairs where we can get you some... food," she said as she stood up and offered her shoulder.

"Oh, my love, I can see that you are injured. I'll be fine. Let me carry you," and before she could say anything, Walter had hopped off the bed and whisked her up in his arms as he walked out of the room, following her directions to join the rest of the family.

As the two emerged from the steps and entered the main hall, a roar suddenly erupted from the room where everyone had been sitting quietly waiting for Walter to pass into the next world. Nobody expected to be seeing him alive and well and when they did, they cheered loudly.

"This man is feeling a little peckish, can we organise some... food for him please?" said Rose, above the sounds of the voices as they fussed over them. He gently put Rose down on the wheelchair that had been found for her, and placed the blanket over her weakened legs.

As Walter was taken away to feed, Meredith approached Rose. She was looking better than she had that morning, their shared moment of grief had helped enormously. She hugged Rose, "I'm so happy for you, my dear Rose."

Looking deep into her eyes, Rose said, "I wish I could say the same for you, Meredith."

"I've had many, many happy years, and wonderful memories with John, Rose. You've had nothing like that with Walter. You deserve some happiness now."

Rose looked unsure all of a sudden, looking down at her feet and squeezing her hands together nervously, "I don't think so, Meredith. Look at him. He's young. I am old. We can't possibly be together now."

"Why ever not? Technically, you are a similar age. Besides, what's wrong with a boy toy?" she replied, smiling. "Rose, you deserve to be together," she said as she gently pushed her towards Walter who had finished feeding and was heading back in her direction looking fit and healthy. Well, as healthy as a vampire can look.

That evening, surrounded by candles, Walter and Rose sat cuddled in a cosy little room in a far corner of the caves. They had needed some privacy. They had a lot to catch up on.

Sunk deep into an old soft sofa, they were wrapped in a warm blanket as Rose told her new found husband of her life in Powell River. How she had come to accept that she would probably never see him again and had just about managed to move on.

Walter placed his hand gently on her cheek and turned her face so he could look into her pale blue eyes.