Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (16 page)

His fur brushes my hand. “Go ahead, touch
him, he is very real, it is not a trick and we are not trying to
deceive you.” My voice is commanding but quiet.

I hear him drop to his knees. “This can’t be
real. This is the work of the devil.”

“I assure you father, your friend is not evil
but it will triumph if you do not help us.”

Grant’s grave voice is imploring. “Please I
am not asking you to do anything wrong, I just need you to make
contact with someone. We need his help and we need to warn her
family about the imposters who plan on taking their lives. A
message-that is all I’m asking. However, when you deliver the
message, you must be alone and deliver it only to the one called
Gabriel. Mia, do you have a picture of Jacob?”

Taking the watch from my neck, I fumble to
open the locket revealing a picture of my family. “He is the one on
the bottom row, left hand side.”

“Kenneth, when you take the message to
Gabriel make sure that this boy or a woman who looks like Mia is
nowhere in sight. They are not who they are pretending to be.”

Kenneth’s sharp intake of breath concerns me,
but I slump in relief at his resigned response. “Only a message to
someone named Gabriel. Where am I going? What is the message?”

“You are going to the hospital and ...” I
turn toward Grant’s voice and hold out my wallet. “The third or
fourth picture is a family picture and there is a man
standing...third from the left, show it to Kenneth. “That is
Gabriel and I need you to tell him that things are not what they
seem with Jacob and Mia but that he cannot let on what he learns
because their lives and the lives of others depends on him not
showing that he is suspicious. Tell him to have Reginald or Emma
call this number when they are away from the others. Remember, only
to him and with no one else around. Pretend that you are there to
see a patient. Can I ask one more thing from you?”

“What it is?”

“If they are not there, could you please
pretend to know him, just him, not the rest of the family and find
out where he went?”

“I can do that. You two can stay here and I
will leave right now. It shouldn’t take that long, the hospital
isn’t that far.

Removing my wedding ring for the first time
since Andrew slipped it on my finger, I search for Kenneth’s hand
and press it into his palm. “Father, if he has any trouble
believing your message, show him this and I promise he’ll
understand.”

He rises and the door shuts moments later. I
can’t stop running over my barren ring finger and thinking about my
family. Grant lays his hand gently upon mine. “He will deliver the
message and your friends will contact us.”

“I’m sorry you had to reveal yourself to
him.” I know I’m making small talk, but my nerves are wound so
tight by the thought of how much could go wrong with even this
simple message, I need a distraction. “Do you think that it will
cause a problem?”

“I will deal with everything else later, but
honestly, Kenneth is a very cool clergyman. Despite his trying to
force down his suspicions, I think he has always known, but was
trying not to admit it to himself. We thought he even caught some
of our pack members on one of his outings in the woods one evening.
Generally we stay away from camp areas and well-traveled trails,
but one evening after Amanda had converted some of our new pack
members, we were teaching them how to transform at will. One of our
young boys started a game of tag, werewolf style. They were running
through the woods and transforming back and forth when we ran
across Kenneth. He was camping with some of the children, they were
asleep in their tent, but he was outside having a cup of coffee by
an extinguishing fire. Although he never spoke of seeing them,
after that evening, we caught him walking in the woods more and
watching the group of boys more closely.”

“Would you mind my asking how your family
originally became werewolves?”

“I don’t mind at all, if I get to ask you
questions too. I could use the distraction as well.”

I laugh. “I guess that’s only fair.”

“My mother was bitten when she was a little
girl and her family was vacationing in France. They had rented a
home and she had gone exploring and got lost. When they found her,
they thought that she was bitten by some sort of wild dog. They
took her to the hospital and she was treated and they thought
everything was fine, but then she started disappearing for days at
a time and would wake up, sometimes very far from home, without any
memory of what occurred during that time. This went on until she
was at college. There, she met my father. He knew what she was
immediately and confirmed it when he followed her the night of the
first full moon. He had taken a video camera with him so that he
could tape my mother transforming and then running. At first she
thought it was a trick, but the more she got to know him, she began
to trust him and he took her here and showed her others of her
kind, after that, they were together all the time, fell in love and
had us. We are natural born wolves so our powers of transformation
did not come until we were twenty-one, but my mother was only
thirteen when she began to change.”

As the realization of what this means seeps
into my consciousness, I freeze.

“Mia, what’s wrong.”

“Nicholas and Kayla both got bitten. Does
that mean that they will be turning into werewolves when the first
full moon occurs?”

“Y...”I could hear the yes coming from him at
first, but then he stops.

“Grant, does it mean that they will be
werewolves?”

“I don’t know, normally I would say yes, but
with all of the commotion going on around them about curing them,
I’m not sure if you guys have the power to repel such a
transformation and if the cure stopped this possibility.”

I can’t believe that this could be happening.
“When is the next full moon?”

“We just went in to the new moon phase so we
have time.”

Despite our accepting the surreal world as
part of our lives, I cannot believe how it is throwing us a new
curve where surreal creatures are crossing mythical lines in the
same way that Reginald’s life had. “Grant, does your pack have any
werewolves that are also witches?”

“I’m sorry I don’t have an answer to that
worry, but from the little that I have seen your Jacob do, I’m not
sure that you have to be overly concerned. I’m sure that they will
do fine with it. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what would you like to know?”

He hesitates before his voice drops to a mere
whisper. “What are you really and is there a chance of what you’re
afraid of coming for your son?”

“I am a psychiatrist at a hospital in
Maine.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know
that.”

“I know, but I don’t think that you will
believe me if I tell you that I’m just a witch. I know that you
think that I am more, but I’m not. In fact, I’m not sure that I am
even really good at being a witch. I learned about what I was after
I was already taking care of my first twins so my life was more
about my children and my work than this surreal world. My parents
never knew about this world, my dad is a great doctor and
researcher and so was my mom. They were very pragmatic people and
would have never in their wildest imagination consider that such
things could exist.”

“Mia I know that this may sound strange, but
Nicholas jumped in front of Jacob because someone was shouting that
if Jacob got bit, he was part vampire and would die. Who was
yelling? If you are only a witch, how are your children vampires?
Are they all vampires?” His questions are quick.

Considering what we may be facing and what he
is, I may need his help if we do get to the children and learn that
they will turn into werewolves. My instincts scream that he is a
good man and although he can be manipulated, anyone can. He did
disregard his sister and his pact to come back for me. I let out a
huge sigh. “Their father is a vampire and two of my children are
vampires while the other two are just witches.” I can’t believe how
normal that sentence sounds to me.

“Is that why Nicholas jumped in front of
Jacob, because Jacob and Nicole are the vampires while Nicholas and
Kayla are the witches?”

Before I respond, the door opens. Kenneth is
back. “Did you see Gabriel and give him the message?”

Sitting next to me, he takes my hands. “Mia,
I’m sorry, Gabriel was not there.” His tone tells me there is more,
but he is hesitating.

“What aren’t you telling me? Please, any
information that you have, we need to know, there are too many
lives at stake!”

“I saw some of the others that were in the
photograph. I waited until they moved away from the nurses’ station
and then asked one of the nurses where he was. She said that
Gabriel did not return with them and that they were getting ready
to go home. I stayed around and went over to talk with one of the
patients sitting next to two of them who seemed to be whispering in
a corner. They were discussing staying behind to retrieve their
family members who had been captured. I could tell that they didn’t
want the rest of them to know what was going on. I heard one say
that they could use the excuse of taking Andrew’s place to help
with the record keeping to throw off any type of suspicion.”

From what he was saying, someone suspected
that something was off besides the missing family members. Maybe
they realized it was not me and Gabriel is already searching for
the ones who were captured. “Did they say anything else? Did they
mention if Gabriel is out there looking for the ones who got
caught?”

“Mia, Gabriel was one of the ones captured.
I’m sorry. I thought about going up to the ones who were talking
and giving them the message, but you said to only speak with
Gabriel and I wasn’t sure what to do. If it is of any consolation,
I think they suspect something in their group is wrong because they
didn’t want someone in your family to know what they were doing. I
would have stayed around longer, but you came up to me and asked if
you could help.”

“What did you say?”

“I told her that I had seen the patients and
already given last rights to those in need so I was just seeing
some of the patients in the lobby before leaving.”

“She didn’t suspect anything, did she?”

“No, she went back over to your husband and
the others.”

My stomach churns at the thought of her with
my family, but at least it sounds like no others were replaced.
“Mia, I’m sure that everything will be fine.” He places the ring in
my palm.

“Thank you so much for trying to get the
message to them for me.”

“Grant can I see you for a moment?”

“What’s the matter?”

“I just need to talk to you a moment.”

Putting my ring back on, I feel a strange
sense of relief knowing that Gabriel is with Jacob, despite their
danger. Concentrating, I try reconnecting with Jacob. Finally, I
hear rattling, but not the familiar chains as a familiar voice
whispers.

“Jacob, you are not strong enough to break
the bars, they must have a spell attached to them like the
shackles. All you are going to do is make yourself exhausted.”

A strange voice bellows from a distance.
“Stop making that racket. Even if you do break the bars, I’ll stop
you from escaping and I don’t care if that means I have to kill
you. David might get mad, but he’d get over it, so stop the racket,
you are giving me a headache!”

Jacob’s nervous voice quivers. “What do you
think will happen to us? Do you think the others are alright or do
you think they are being held somewhere else in this awful
place?”

“Sweetie, I know that you are nervous, but
I’m sure that the others have made it away and that everything will
be alright, you just have to hold on to hope.”

The male, menacing voice is now taunting. “Oh
yes hold on to hope, or maybe you should be practical and give
David what he wants. If you do, he may let you join us instead of
killing you the way he killed the others in your group.”

Sobs rip from Jacob’s chest. I can’t stand
that he is suffering and believes he lost his family. Knowing the
loneliness engulfing him, pulling him into an endless surf, I
desperately need to communicate with him, reassure him that he is
not alone, they are alive and will rescue him. If he could only
feel me in the same way that I feel him or feel his sister so that
he would know that he is not alone. My heart breaks for the pain
that I know he is enduring now. If I could only wrap my arms around
him and make him feel safe and comforted. I’m unaware of how hard I
am picturing him in my arms and hoping that I could bring him
comfort until I hear his surprised voice.

“Mom”

I feel him relax slightly. He felt me!

“Jacob, it’s me Eva, not mom.”

I could tell from her tone that she knows
something is going on but wants him to stop talking because of the
inquisitive ears.

“Your right, I’m sorry.” His voice sounds
distracted.

I concentrate harder wanting him to know that
his family is alive and wish that I could tell him, but I doubt
that he can hear me, so I focus on my holding him. Hopefully he
will continue to feel me. Even though he doesn’t say another word,
his body relaxes.

Grant’s anxious voice and grabbing my arms
breaks my connection. “Mia, are you hurt? Why are you crying?”

“I’m sorry, I was just...” I stop not knowing
if Kenneth is with him and unsure if I should say anything.

“We’re alone. Kenneth went to the church to
pray. He wanted to talk with me because he got a call from Amelia
and she told him that I was bewitched by you and on my own. She
asked if he would contact her if he heard from me so that the pack
could grab me and try to break the spell. Now will you tell me what
is wrong?”