Sacrifice (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 2) (4 page)

‘Weird doesn’t begin to describe it.’ She paused reflectively, and when she continued her voice was controlled. ‘And you didn’t think to mention this before?’

‘Well, no. I mean, it didn’t seem important, I guess.’

‘Not important,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Just exactly what did you see? Did you fall asleep? Did you faint? What do you mean,
vision
?’

Her frown grew even deeper now, and I knew this meant trouble. The police hadn’t asked me to elaborate, and I didn’t know how to answer her. What did people do when they had visions? All I could think of was scenes from movies, where their eyes rolled back in their heads and there was spooky music in the background.

‘I don’t know, Mom. A vision. Like … like a memory sort of, only not in the past, but right then. You know?’ I tried to make light of it, but I could see her eyes narrowing further as I spoke.

‘No, I don’t know. And I don’t understand why you haven’t mentioned this before. When did all this happen?’

‘A few weeks before I left. I contacted the police, and they took the gun in as evidence.’

‘The gun? What do you mean, gun? Exactly how does having a vision turn into finding a gun?’

‘I saw him bury it … in my vision. So, I dug it up. The police took it, and they questioned me, of course. But then they said I could go. They did say they might need to contact me later though. And so they did. Today. Here, you can listen to the message if you don’t believe me.’ I said, starting to push my phone in her direction.

‘No, I don’t need to listen. It just seems, well, rather extraordinary—to put it mildly.’ Her frown eased, and her face looked more quizzical than angry.

‘Yeah, well, I did say it was really weird,’ I said.

‘But what about school? Are you going to just leave? And who’s paying for the ticket?’

‘They’re going to pay for the ticket. They sent me an email, and I rang the travel agent, and it’s easy—I just have to give them my passport details, and the account will be paid by their client.’ I didn’t think it necessary to actually tell Mom that I’d already booked the flight. I’d let her think I was asking permission rather than just telling her I had done it.

Mom shook her head, but it looked like she might be coming around. ‘I still don’t understand, Lili. You contacted the police and they have the gun. Were your fingerprints on it? Did you touch it?’

‘No—of course not,’ I said, shaking my head.

‘And they don’t suspect you of anything?’

‘No. Or at least, I don’t think so. They took the gun, and I told them how I came to start digging where I did. They accepted that.’

‘Digging? So, you actually dug it up … where you saw this man bury it, in your vision?’

‘Yes. Well, of course I dug it up … to be sure it really was there. I mean, I wasn’t going to contact the police in case it was all just a dream of some sort.’

‘Okay. So you dug up this gun. But you’re sure you didn’t touch it? Your fingerprints wouldn’t be on it, would they?’

‘No, Mom. I’m sure I didn’t touch it.’

‘Well, that’s a relief. But why do they want to see you again?’

‘They don’t. I mean, the police don’t. It’s the defence—the lawyers for the man they arrested. They want to speak to me.’

‘Well, if they want to speak to you so badly … you’re just a young girl, why can’t they come here to talk to you?’

‘The man is in jail, Mom. He can’t come here. And besides, they’re paying for the ticket. I can stay with Aunt Debs. Don’t worry. I’m not worrying.’

She continued to shake her head, but since she stopped asking questions I took that as being agreement. I was going with her blessing, sort of. I would see Sam in a few days. My whole body quivered with something between excitement and nervousness. I was glad she’d turned away and didn’t notice.

I helped Mom clear up the dishes, then ran upstairs to my bedroom and shut the door.

First, I jumped on the computer and sent an email to Claire telling her much the same story I’d told Mom, only leaving out the part about the vision. That was just too hard to explain in an email. I just said that I’d found a gun, and the police had questioned me, and now I needed to go back for more questioning. I said I’d email her again in a few days, but that I wouldn’t be here for Halloween. Then I sent an email to Debs to make sure I could stay with her for a week or so.

A reply came from Claire before I had a chance to log off.

You lucky dog! I bet you wrangled this just so you could go back to see Sam, right? Well, whatever you do, don’t admit anything. My stepfather’s a lawyer, remember? Phil taught me a long time ago, never admit anything. In fact, if you want, I can ask if he can go with you? He’s not a criminal lawyer, but it still mightn’t be such a silly idea. Anyway, just let me know. And call me when you get back. I’ll want to hear everything—especially about Tom.

Finally I sat down on the end of my bed and sent a text message to Sam telling him I was coming earlier and giving him my flight details. I would fly out on Wednesday so I’d see him on Friday morning. Within a few minutes I got several text messages in a row.

The first, from Sam, simply read;

Fabulous! I’ll pick you up at the airport. Can’t wait to see you. Sam xoxox

The next was from Crystal;

Hi Lili. This is wonderful. I’ve been trying to work out how I could see you—soon. I’ll pick you up at the airport. Look for my big blue car—I’ll circle til I spot you. Crystal

Then another came from Sam straight after;

Hi again. Crystal wants to pick you up. Girl talk I guess. Call me when you’re home. Sam xoxox

Crystal wanted to pick me up at the airport? That was odd. In fact, it didn’t make any sense. And how did she even know I was coming? She must have been there with Sam when my message came through. But it seemed really strange that she wanted to speak to me badly enough to pick me up at the airport. What could possibly be that urgent that she wanted to see me before Sam did?

Then I started feeling sick with that feeling that comes over you when you know something is wrong. Crystal had always been the calm one; she’d said not to worry, everything would be fine. But now, she wanted to see me—urgently.

I tried to put it out of my mind, telling myself that I would see Sam in just a few days so what difference did it make who picked me up at the airport? But even so, the strange queasiness refused to leave.

~ Chapter Four ~

‘Are you ready to go?’ called Mom from downstairs.

‘Yeah, just give me two minutes,’ I shouted down to her, fiddling with the open suitcase that was still sitting on my bed.

‘I’ll get the car out of the garage, and wait in the driveway,’ she called back. ‘Be quick, we don’t want to be late.’

I’d been on edge for days. One minute I’d be so excited at the thought of seeing Sam, and then the next I’d get nervous, wondering if things would be the same between us—wondering if Crystal’s wanting to see me meant there was some problem that had to do with Sam. I don’t think I could have coped if I’d had to wait much longer.

I did one last check of my suitcase to make sure I had the essentials: running shoes, shorts, jeans, a bunch of tops and lots of socks, bras and undies. I’d also packed the nice outfits Debs had bought me. Hair brush, tooth brush, toothpaste, shampoo, makeup—check. And of course, I’d packed my old photo album—the one with photos going back to when Dad was still alive.

I picked up the suitcase and my backpack and raced down the stairs, and out the front door.

I didn’t see where he came from, but when I went to lift my suitcase into the trunk, his hand surrounded my wrist and he pulled my hand away from the handle. I turned to face him, not even trying to hide the look of horror on my face.

‘Well, don’t you look happy to see me?’ David said, in a voice that was just above a whisper.

‘What are you doing here?’ I asked, my voice not much louder than his had been.

‘I’ve come to see you off, what else?’ His eyes narrowed and he did little to hide his anger.

‘Argh, let go of me,’ I said. My wrist had started to hurt.

‘I’ll let go when you tell me you’ve forgiven me.’

‘What? You’re nuts. You haven’t listened to a word I’ve been saying, have you? And how did you know I was leaving, anyway?’

‘I have my sources,’ he said, smirking.

‘Yeah, I bet you do.’ It was either Susan or Raye, but really, it didn’t matter.

‘I’ve been keeping an eye on you. I’m not giving up. I’ll never give up.’

I wriggled my arm trying to pull it free, but the more I resisted, the tighter his grip became.

‘Well, you better give up. What part of the word OVER don’t you understand?’

‘Come on, Lil. Give me a break. I said I’m sorry, what more do you want?’

‘I want you to let go of me. And I want you to listen. O … V … E … R. What does that spell, David? Huh?’

‘Okay. I can see you’re still mad. But you better get over it yourself. I won’t wait for you forever, you know.’

‘No? GOOD. Don’t wait. I don’t want you to, you idiot!’

I heard the car door open, and David quickly dropped my arm as Mom called out, ‘Lili? Who are you talking to? And what on earth is taking you so long?’

When Mom appeared, he lifted my suitcase into the trunk, slammed it shut and turned to her.

‘Hello, Mrs McIntyre. How are you today? I just thought I’d come say goodbye to Lili—wish her a safe trip and all.’

‘Oh,’ she said, with a rather curious look on her face. ‘Hello, David. That’s very nice of you, I’m sure, but really, we must be going.’

‘Yes, we must. Goodbye David,’ I said, rubbing my wrist. Then I quickly jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door.

~~***~~

My first flight to Australia was an eye opener. Door to door time, nearly twenty-four hours. But I’d watched movies, chatted to Claire, read magazines and dozed. The flight was long, but tolerable.

Not this time. This time, it felt like we were flying around the world again, and again, and again. I couldn’t focus on the movies or magazines, and there wasn’t anyone to chat to. There was a man beside me, but he was older and seemed to be doing work on his laptop. Other than the initial polite greeting, he hadn’t said a word to me.

When we finally touched down it seemed to take forever for the plane to taxi to the gate. And of course there was a huge line of people at the customs counter. At least I had my Australian passport—that line was a bit shorter. Then there was the wait for luggage, and of course mine was one of the last to come off the plane.

Crystal had said I was to watch for her near the taxi rank. I wasn’t standing there long before I heard a horn honk, and I spotted her car. She pulled over, popped the release and the trunk opened. I quickly threw my bags in, then opened the passenger door and jumped in beside her.

She looked at me and smiled, and it occurred to me that Crystal was probably incapable of looking anything other than stunningly beautiful. Her almond eyes were relaxed, her porcelain skin was as flawless and smooth as ever, and her long dark hair looked like something from a shampoo commercial—smooth, shiny and perfect. There was no suggestion of stress or sadness in her appearance. She looked as she always looked—calm and in control. So, what was with the great urgency to see me?

After the initial pleasantries about how my flight had been and how well I looked, she queried me about why I had to come back on such short notice.

I gave her a quick rundown of what had happened that day in the gardens—the day the young ghost appeared to me and asked for my help. She frowned as I finished my story and suggested that I speak to Sam and Elizabeth about this because, although she admitted she wasn’t very knowledgeable about ghosts, something about the whole thing didn’t sound quite right to her.

After that we drove along in silence for a time, then she turned to me for a moment, and I could see what looked like indecision on her face. When she spoke there was a slight edge to her voice that I hadn’t heard before.

‘You must be a bit curious as to why I wanted to pick you up?’

‘Well, yes, I was a bit surprised.’

‘I’d been trying to decide whether I should go see you—or if I could wait until Christmas. You don’t know how glad I was to hear you were coming back sooner. Anyway, I don’t know how to start so I’m just going to jump right in. You see, it all started with Tom. He misses Claire dreadfully. Funny, I didn’t think he would. But it seems he’s grown very fond of her. After she left, he started becoming more and more restless. He still did rounds, and he even came over to chat once in a while. But then he started to disappear for days at a time. Michael and I suspected he was slipping up a bit, but he was leaving the area so we didn’t get too worried about it.’

‘You know, Crystal, I’ve always wondered why Tom doesn’t just find a vampire girlfriend—I mean, it would be a lot easier, don’t you think?’

‘It would, if he wanted to leave here. But you see, we won’t allow any other vampires to stay.’

‘Oh, I see.’

‘And you know Sam won’t leave. And Tom and Sam are so close so I don’t think Tom will ever leave either. So, he meets these human girls, and gets involved. But these relationships of his have never lasted very long … at least, not before Claire.’

It was my chance, and I took it.

‘What about Sam? Does he, too, meet human girls, like Tom does?’

She smiled. I was sure she knew why I’d asked.

‘No. Well, yes, I believe Sam has had dates over the years—friends of the girls that Tom dates mostly—but he never seemed to get terribly involved with any of them. Sam changed when he met you. We all saw it, and we were happy for him.’

There was still one thing that I wanted to know, that I hadn’t been able to ask Sam. ‘How do they do it, Crystal? I mean, as vampires, aren’t they meant to kill people and drink their blood? How do Tom and Sam spend so much time with us, have
relationships
with us, safely?’

‘Lili, imagine your favourite food in the world. Now, imagine that the aroma of this food is ten, or even fifty, times as strong and enticing as it would normally be. Now, what if you hadn’t eaten anything for many hours and you were really quite hungry. Could you, if you had to, sit beside that tempting food, and not touch it?’ She paused for a moment, watching my face, then continued. ‘Of course you could. And so it is with them. They can control themselves; they just don’t let themselves get too hungry.’

She sighed, and when she spoke again, her voice was more serious.

‘Anyway, we’ve gotten side-tracked. Like I said, Michael and I suspected Tom was slipping up a bit, but because he wasn’t doing anything in our area we didn’t get too worried. But Sam worried. After all, Tom is like a brother to him, so he’s tried very hard over the years to keep Tom in line. But this was different. Tom was different, and none of us knew where he was going. And that had Sam worried.’

The traffic slowed as we got closer to the city. It was mid-morning but there were still a lot of cars on the road. Crystal kept her eyes on the traffic, but continued to talk.

‘Anyway, Sam tried to follow Tom, several times, but Tom always gave him the slip. So Sam started spending time with Erranase. You see, there was always a strong connection between Tom and Erranase—much more so than with Sam and Erranase. Anyway, Sam hoped that Erranase might know something about what Tom was doing, and where he was going.’

‘And did he? Did Erranase know what Tom had been doing?’

‘No, I don’t think he did. But the real point is … well, I can only guess it must have been Erranase that said something to Sam about it. I don’t know of anyone else that could have told Sam. You see, there are so few that know about this ability. And even fewer that have actually seen it done.’

‘Ability? You’re losing me, Crystal.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry. I know I’m not explaining myself. It’s just—I haven’t had anyone that I could talk to about this. Michael doesn’t even know.’

There was definitely something very wrong. And as I continued to look at her, I saw a strange expression cross her face.

‘Hey, whatever it is, it’ll be alright. You always say so. If Sam is in some sort of trouble, then let’s help him, if we can. But please, don’t take it all on your shoulders—whatever it is.’

‘You’re so sweet to say that, Lili. But unfortunately, this is something that is because of me. You see, Sam found out that I have the power to return vampires to humans.’

I wasn’t entirely sure I’d heard her correctly. In fact, I was pretty sure that I couldn’t have heard her correctly. Weren’t we just talking about Tom? But it sounded like, I mean, could Crystal have actually said she has the power to return vampires to humans? Could she actually have that ability? That couldn’t be what she said, could it? I mean, if she could do that, why wouldn’t she have done it earlier?

‘Lili, I think I’ve upset you. Let’s go to my place, and I’ll make us a coffee and we can sit and talk. It’s a rather long story, and I want to explain it right … so you understand.’

We were in the city now, making our way past the turn off to Debs apartment, then up the hill toward the park. Everything looked the same as it had when I’d left a few months earlier. And yet, it all seemed a blur. I was exhausted from the flight, of course, but I don’t think that was it. My mind raced with the thought that Sam could be human. Maybe this was why she’d said it would all work out for us. We could be together—for real. We could be a normal couple. We could have a family. We could grow old together. He
could
be the one sitting beside me on that porch, watching our grandchildren play. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head.

When we walked into the house I started to relax. Her house smelled like her—that subtle scent that reminded me of angel-food cake—sweet, but not overpowering. It calmed me instantly. Besides, I knew that whatever she had to tell me, it couldn’t be bad. After all, what could be bad about Sam becoming human?

I sat at the kitchen table while she made us coffee.

‘Where do I begin?’ She asked, looking anxious when she sat down across from me.

‘Well, you could begin by telling me how you’re going to make Sam human. I mean, you are going to, right?’

‘It’s not that simple, I’m afraid,’ she said, looking down at her hands.

‘Why not? I don’t understand. I mean, this is wonderful news, Crystal. I don’t understand why you would be upset about it. It’s the best news I could possibly imagine.’

‘Before you get too excited, let me explain how it works—and what I know. Let me go back to the beginning. It was so long ago. Like I said, I can only imagine that it would be Erranase that told Sam about it. I’m sure Michael knows nothing.’

I tried to sit quietly, but my legs jiggled with nervous energy. Why hadn’t she told me about this earlier? She knew how badly Sam and I wanted to be together. This was the solution, wasn’t it? I found it hard to focus on what she said, but I tried.

‘One day when I was at Mladen’s school, he wanted me to meet a young boy who’d been brought to the school—a boy who had been changed into a vampire. No one could understand how or why he’d been changed. No one took the blame, and no one hung around to teach him the vampire ways. But it was clear by his flame red eyes and translucent skin what had happened to him.’

‘Who brought him to the school?’ I regretted the question as soon as I’d said it. I mean, really, did it matter? I only wanted to hear the end of the story, not all the details.

‘It was one of Mladen’s teachers. There’d been rumours in a nearby town, about a very sick boy. The teacher suspected what might have happened so he went to check it out, then brought the boy and his mother to the school. That’s when Mladen sent for me.’

‘So that you could change him back to human, right?’ This part I was interested in.

‘Well, yes, as it turned out. But I didn’t know that at the time. Mladen had me sit with the mother while she told her heartbreaking story. You see, the boy was rather simple minded. And his father had left them years earlier so she was raising him on her own. She rarely left his side, but this one day she had to leave him alone for a few hours. When she returned he was gone. She was beside herself with grief and guilt. Luckily he was found by some nice boys that knew him, so they took him home. They didn’t understand why his eyes were red—they just thought he was sick. Word got out about this sick boy, and that’s when the teacher heard about him.’

Crystal paused, and took a sip of her coffee. I smiled and nodded, hoping she’d hurry up and get on with it.