Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (10 page)

“Lucas, I don’t know how they found you, but
they think that the children are yours and they are not seeking
revenge because you left Andrea. I heard one of them say that you
unleashed a werewolf plague upon them by saving someone and that
the werewolf killed her.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I was only
involved with one hunt, the one where I hid Elizabeth and ran. I
didn’t save any werewolf. I only saved her. She was only a
frightened little girl.” He inhales and errantly, I wonder if he
remembers her scent to this day. “I didn’t unleash anything upon
them. All I wanted to do was escape with Elizabeth and make sure
that we were never found.”

“Well the one who spoke blames you for a
werewolf attack which killed Andrea and for whatever reason, this
David thinks that our children are your children and is seeking
revenge...”

Before I finish, Catherine’s ring tone fills
the car. She went with Andrew, how did we get her phone? Lucas
brings the telephone next to his ear.

“David, yes it has been a very long
time.”

Reginald’s face freezes as he draws nearer to
the telephone, probably wanting to catch every word uttered on the
other end of the line.

“David please leave the children out of this,
I’m sorry that Andrea got attacked by a werewolf, but I assure you
that when I left that day I did not rescue a werewolf. I just
couldn’t live the lifestyle that you had chosen.” Despite straining
to speak diplomatically, his desperation rings through his tone. He
is silent.

“I am not passing judgment on your hunting
habits, it just wasn’t for me, but I assure you that when I left, I
never meant you any harm, nor did I rescue anything that would come
back and hunt her down.”

He inhales deeply, probably fighting to calm
himself. “David, yes I will admit that I took a child with me, but
I assure you that she was no werewolf. She was just a frightened
little girl who didn’t want to die and I couldn’t feed upon her.
Please David, let the children go, they are not...”

Before he could finish, Reginald clamps his
hand hard over Lucas’ mouth, frantically moving around searching
for something. Emma rips a piece of paper out of her purse and hand
it to him with a pen. Quickly scrawling something on it, I read it
as he holds it before Lucas - Don’t tell him they are not yours. He
will have no reason to keep them alive and will kill them
immediately. As the words register, my body goes numb and my
breathing turns to hyperventilating. Emma clamps her hand over my
mouth, probably so David cannot hear my reaction.

“David, please don’t hurt the children, they
have done nothing to you, if you want to take this out on someone,
I will come to you, just tell me where you are and you can have
your revenge upon me. Please David, I swear to you Elizabeth was
not a werewolf and I did nothing to hurt your family, so I am
begging you, please let the children go.”

Reginald and Lucas’ features harden in anger.
Then Lucas’ tone turns cold. I had never heard his voice sound so
devoid of life before. “Yes I can hear them scream. I’m sorry that
your sister sounded like that when the wolf was ripping at her. I’m
sorry that you had to hear and witness that, but David, it was not
the little girl that I rescued that did that to her,
she...was...human. I left her with her new human family and then I
left so that she could try to piece together a normal existence. I
did nothing to hurt your family. I mean you no harm, the children
mean you no harm and I am willing to turn myself over to you if you
will just please let the children go!”

I can’t stand not knowing what is happening
to the children any longer. Knowing what Damian said about
channeling with Jacob and Nicole, I instead focus on Nicholas and
Kayla. Maybe if I can see their surroundings I can help Andrew find
them even if Nicole and Jacob could not transform themselves into
birds. Concentrating only on Nicholas and Kayla, I force myself to
tune out the conversation between David and Lucas because the fear
and anger that the conversation is evoking within every cell of my
being is interfering with my connecting to the children. I am more
aware at how quickly my body is moving and at first I am unsure of
whether it is the car or the children, but then I see Kayla being
thrown to the ground. Nicholas’ heart rate spikes as his panic at
the situation unfolding around them overtakes him. The cold hard
ground meets my falling body as pain radiates throughout my being.
Choking on the dust caught in my throat, I hear a woman screaming.
“I’m sure you can see that we are faster and much stronger than
you. If you move from this spot, we will crack your spine and feast
upon your dying corpse while the other one remains bate for the
werewolf. Fear cripples his senses and as he shuts down, he casts
me out. As my eyes flutter open, I see Reginald is driving. Lucas
is gone.

“Where’s Lucas?”

For the first time since I’ve known him,
Reginald’s voice is livid and strained as he forces the words past
his taught lips. “He jumped out of the car. He is probably crossing
the outer grounds now and we will be there momentarily. What did
you see or hear?”

Unfettered sobs rip through my chest as my
dejected and dead voice recounts the woman’s words. “They
threatened to snap the children’s necks if they move and feed off
of their bodies. We need to find them, they are terrified and in
the hands of monsters, worse than any demon or creature that we
have ever encountered. Reginald please you need to hurry, we have
to get to them; they are running out of time, I can feel it!” My
tone turns into a hysterical, pleading, squeal.

“Mia, I need you to calm down. Did you see
anything that could help us? We are entering the forest surrounding
the grounds now.”

“They were surrounded by trees and in the
middle of cold ground, but there was nothing special about the
area.”

“Mia, you need to reconnect with them and
look around for anything that may give us a clue as to where they
are. Give Emma your telephone so that she can call Andrew and see
if he found anything. From the looks of the surrounding grounds, we
are not going to be able to drive much further, we may have to
ditch the cars and begin traveling on foot. We don’t want them
knowing we are here and hasten their plans. Try to connect with
them one more time, see if there is anything at all that can give
us a clue. See if Nicole and Jacob have been able to find them
while Emma calls Andrew to see if Jacob and Nicole took
flight.”

The thought of Nicole and Jacob getting close
to these monsters that already have hold of Nicholas and Kayla cast
unbridled terror throughout my very being. I desperately fight to
grab hold of my free falling world to concentrate on connecting to
Nicholas or Kayla. Fear rips through me as the minutes click by
without a connection. As I drift between the car and a fleeting
connection, I hear the faint echoes of Emma’s voice pleading with
Andrew not to panic.

I hear the faint echoes of her voice as I
forge forward. “Nicole and Jacob may not be flying high enough or
maybe they have not transformed yet. See if you can get Nicholas or
Kayla’s scent, but remember the wind is blowing west to east so if
you do get the scent, stay focused...”

Her voice fades completely as the wolf’s
howling surrounds me. As the howling gets closer, more menacing,
their fear spikes, I focus on the hyperactive heart beating,
praying I do not lose my connection.

Nicholas screams. “Kayla, watch out!” She is
running.

A voice I recognize as Kristen’s is yelling
for Alex to shoot him.

I’m falling and stunned to hear Jacob’s
anguished voice. “Come after me, you don’t want her, I’m what you
want.”

A crash echoes off the trees, followed by an
anguished howling. Did someone shoot the wolf?

Damian’s hurried voice shocks me, almost
causing me to lose my connection. I wasn’t aware he channeled with
me or that I was telling the others what was happening, but his
warning voice is loud and clear. “Jacob, run and turn into the
mouse or bird! If the wolf bites you, you will die because you are
part vampire. Leave now and do what I instructed you earlier,
go!”

Kayla is in my view and I realize I
unknowingly shifted from her to Nicholas. She rises, shouting.
“Jacob, watch out he is right behind you.” I’m moving and thrusting
myself in the air. All of a sudden, something clamps my shoulder,
intense pain shoots throughout my system, breaking contact with
Nicholas.

Opening my eyes, Damian is gripping my hands.
“Mia, what happened, did the wolf bite Jacob?” His voice reflects
his utter terror.

Struggling to force the words beyond my
constricted airway, they are barely a whisper. “No, Nicholas threw
himself at Jacob knocking him out of the way. It bit Nicholas on
the shoulder! What’s going to happen to him? Is he going to die? I
heard your warning to Jacob.” Tears veil my eyes, streaming down my
face as Damian grabs my arms, shaking me.

“Mia, you need to get back to the children,
now! I need to tell Jacob how to save him!”

“Is that possible?”

“Yes, but you need to get me back there now!”
He shouts.

I close my eyes, focusing only on Jacob and
hoping he hasn’t transformed yet. Feeling the tears streaming down
my face and utter desolation as he mutters blaming himself, I know
I am with him.

Nicole’s arms are wrapped around him, “Jacob
they were trying to protect you, but we need to go back to them and
do what we can.”

“They are both laying there dying because of
me! I didn’t listen and now ...” A shot and angry howl becoming
fainter by the second interrupts him.

“This is our chance,” Nicole states quickly,
“we have to get them and run! We can drag them, but we have to get
them away from the others, I saw the wolf knock down the two
vampires, they are laying there, I don’t think that they are dead,
but maybe we can outrun them, let’s go.”

Nicholas and Kayla’s moaning becomes clearer
as Jacob and Nicole reach them. The children struggle as they drag
their cousins through the thick brush. “Nicholas why did you do
that, you should have just let the wolf take me. I’m so sorry, I
never meant for you to get hurt.”

Nicholas gasps through his agonizing moans
and his voice sounds strained. “It would have killed you, I
couldn’t let that...”

Before he can finish, Kristen is yelling to
Alex to get up. “They are getting away.”

My senses are shifting uncontrollably as
excruciating pain pierces through me along with the struggling, I
can’t tell who I am connected to as growls and yells seem to be
coming from every direction. Never have I experienced such
turbulence.

As the sounds become more distinguishable, I
realize that there is more than one wolf howling! My own terror
turning my blood to shards of ice threatens to break my connection
and I can feel Damian and Emma gripping my hands in hopes that I
can hold on. Someone gasps as the crunching of bones echoes off the
trees, but I do not feel any additional pain.

Kayla’s anguished scream makes whomever I’m
connected to jump as I grip my connection tighter. “Move faster,
the wolves just killed the vampires! They turned to dust and
disappeared, they are probably coming after us next! Run!”

A second later, Nicholas’ weakened voice
offers some hope. “They’re retreating, they are not following
us.”

I didn’t realize that I was conveying back
what was happening, until Damian’s commanding voice rings out.
“Jacob, stop running, you have to cure the wolf bites.”

All movement stops as Jacob’s impassioned
plea reaches me. “How can I cure the bite, is there a spell?”

“He can’t hear you remember.” Nicole says
winded.

“Then how does he know what’s going on?”

Nicholas whispers, “Mom must be telling him,
remember he said she could feel us, maybe she can hear us as
well.”

Jacob’s desperate plea tears at my heart.
“Mom, please tell me how to cure this, it’s all my fault, they
can’t die because of me! Help me please! Mom!”

I so desperately want to tell him that I am
with him. I’m surprised that Damian even knows how Andrew cures
people to instruct them. Damian instructs the children in a calm
and authoritative voice, speaking very slowly, deliberately.

“Jacob, Nicole, put your hands on their bites
and concentrate as hard as you possibly can on the energy that
flows in you to cure those around you. You must be careful, the
ailments that you cure, make you weak and because this is a bite
from a wolf which could kill you, the minute you see the wounds
around them closing and healing, you must cast aside what is
flowing through you so it does not become a part of you and impair
you. Go slowly and concentrate on only the wounds. Nicholas, Kayla
when you feel their touch change from cold to the heat passing
through you in the infected area, tell them, so that they can get
ready to release the hold. Once the healing energy is flowing
through you, it can work on its own in conjunction with this
spell.”

Then he repeats the words Emma told me once
about how to help heal wounds which I incurred.

“Once you repeat this spell several times and
you can see the change in the wound, Jacob and Nicole, you must
concentrate on dispelling the energy flowing through you
immediately, you cannot let it grab hold of you or flow through
you, it must stay contained in your healing hands, you must act
quickly. Think of it as a ball and throw it out as if you’re
pitching. It will weaken you. Remember what I said, I’m on my way,
I need to break the connection, I can smell you.

I hear a lot of activity around the children
and know that this is going to be very dangerous for all of them. I
want to stay with them, but if I do, I will not be able to move and
if Damian smells them, we must be close. Maybe if I can reach them
too, I can be more helpful. Everyone is leaping from the stopped
vehicle as my eyes flutter open.