Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (24 page)

“Henry, Anthony go and release our captures
from the dungeon but take her son to me.”

“That was not the deal I offered you.” My
insides are spinning out of control, as soon as they reach for
Jacob, they will know it is an illusion and kill the others.

He is out of his seat and upon me before I
can even register his movement. Loosening my tourniquet, he pierces
the wound with his talon like nails and extracts yet another goblet
of blood. “Mia, I have shown you a courtesy and yet you play games
with me. I will release the others because they are of no use to me
and for that you will give me the information I desire or watch
your son suffer knowing that your other children will suffer the
same.” He grasps my chin, pulling my face up to his. “If you do
give me the information without trouble, I may consider allowing
you and your children to live and show me what other talents and
tricks you have learned as my special guests. Do not trifle with
me. I’m sure that my family would be all too happy to hear me call
a hunt upon your friends if you should fail to give me what I want
while I torture and feast upon your half-breed as you lay there
helpless forced to watch the life force slowly escape from his eyes
and the last scream escape his soon to be muted lips.” Releasing my
chin, he flicks his wrist causing my body to fly across the
room.

Hitting the wall, I gasp, but not out of
pain, the two have returned grasping Jacob. I can’t understand it,
he escaped. Damian told me he was safely with Andrew. My head spins
wildly. I can barely hear the others speaking. “We let them go,
they are fast, but you have about an hour before they will reach
wolf territory even at full speed.”

“Gather the others and follow them. Henry,
you stay with me. If I do not get my answers in five minutes, catch
up to the others and you can enjoy the hunt on at least the two
wolves and the witch. Just dispose of the two vampires.”

I panic. Why would they allow Jacob to come
back? Andrew would never risk him like that. He must have escaped
from Andrew, but how and what am I going to do? I have no answers,
David is not naïve and can’t be fooled by any parlor tricks of mine
and my son will pay the price. Crawling, I try getting closer to
Jacob in hopes of casting some sort of spell that will deflect
David long enough for Jacob to run again.

David is upon me, pulling me off the floor.
“Now tell me about your special talents Mia. Tell me how your son
transformed and how you have not become a vampire. What are you
really?”

My eyes glance toward Henry whose fidgeting
in anticipation of David ordering the hunt. I propel myself with
hands outstretched hoping to repel David while yelling to Jacob.
“Run, Jacob, now out the window.” David goes back, but quickly
recovers and is upon me instantly, the goblet disintegrating in his
hands which grasp my neck. About to thrust my head into the floor,
he stops stunned, and stares at his hand. I feel a sticky ooze
dripping down along my clavicle and wonder if he reopened my head
gash.

He cries out startling us both. “It’s not
possible.” As he gathers his wits, he yells to Henry. “Kill them
all.” Henry is out the door in a flash. Unexpectedly, Jacob hurls
himself through the air at David.

“Jacob, run!”

The next moment, I know my eyes cannot be
registering what they see. Flying through the air, it is not Jacob,
but Andrew, his eyes fierce. Knocking David off of me, he tosses
him across the room. Instantly, I am in his arms and we are at the
door. Stunned, I can barely speak. “Where’s Jacob?”

“He’s safe, don’t worry. Try not to talk. You
are losing blood. Tie the tourniquet tighter. As we sped across the
grounds, I hear vicious growls, screams for assistance and spells
being cast all around us.

“What about the others?”

I don’t know how you got them to come down
and release them, but that was brilliant. You will have to tell me
later. They were out the door as I was brought up to you. I’m sure
they got the children out and that Gabriel, Eva and Emma are
fighting with the others. Mia, please don’t talk, your heart rate
is extremely erratic and I need you to focus on calming it down.
Everyone will be...” We are hit from behind, crashing toward the
cold, hard ground. I hear a crunch, but feel no pain. Andrew is
wrapping himself around me tightly, rolling. By protecting me, he
is making himself vulnerable. I hear his grunts and the breaking of
some bones.

“Andrew, let me go, I’ll be alright.” He
doesn’t, so I struggle. Finally he releases me, but stays close.
With my hands freed, I gather the energy and repel the vampire
attacking us. Picking me up again, Andrew starts running.

A familiar voice bellows. “Andrew stop
running, it will be fine.”

Andrew halts as Reginald comes beside us,
tossing the vampire who crashed into us at least one hundred feet
into the air sending him crashing down before a wolf. The wolf
drags him into the woods.

“Andrew, get Mia back into the estate. The
woods are crawling with our people, Elizabeth’s people and wolves
from the neighboring land. They mistakenly attacked Gabriel and two
of my men. I can smell Mia’s blood and hear her weakened heart.
Emma told me she can’t see and was bitten. It’s too dangerous for
you to be traveling now with everyone on the grounds. Emma took the
children and is hiding in one of the rooms with Eva, see if you can
find them. I know you will find this impossible to believe, but the
estate is the safest place to be right now until I can gather some
more of my people. We will come for you. Alone you are too
vulnerable and the closer you get to the drop off area, the more
wolves you will encounter who are afraid and out of control.”

Turning, he runs back with us.

“How many are on the grounds?” Andrew
inquires.

“There are twenty of my people. Elizabeth
brought fifteen and I don’t know how many from the other pack.
Elizabeth’s men are staying close to my people because two of my
men got attacked near the drop off point by another wolf’s pack who
were attacked just before Mia was dropped off.”

“What about Gabriel, is he alright?”

“He is fine. They roughed him up, but Grant’s
children turned on their own and knocked them down to protect
Gabriel and Eva and then ran with them and Emma. They are just
waiting for my people to get all together and then they will
leave.”

“Do you really think it was safe for them to
return to the estate?”

“I didn’t like sending them back there, but
honestly, I was more afraid to have them out here on their own with
everyone out of control and not knowing each other. Emma is very
strong and I sent Cecil, their way. I’m sure she has found them and
that between all of them they will be fine until I can get the
others to them. I think that it would be best if we stuck together
and tried to leave as a group, this way, no matter who we
encounter, we will have our bases covered. I only need a few
moments. We only broke up into three groups. It shouldn’t take me
long to find them, they were heading toward the estate anyway. Mia,
do you know how many were in there?”

“Honestly, no, but I did hear David give some
of them the order to gather the others and follow Gabriel, so they
would be ready to attack them if I didn’t give him what he
wanted.”

That’s good. They must have been the group
that scattered when the wolves began to attack. We saw them as we
were running toward Emma.

“Do you think that there were any more in the
estate?”

Before I answer, several blood curdling howls
rip through the atmosphere and Reginald is gone. Andrew runs
quickly back to the estate. Hopefully we are not heading into
disaster. Andrew is hurt, I am weak and if David is still in the
house, I doubt we could fight him off successfully. “Andrew what if
there are others in the house?”

“Mia, it’s alright. We will be fine. Reginald
is right. With the wolves out to kill all of the vampires, we need
to leave as a group, it is safer that way. We just need to find the
right side of the estate that they are in. I’m sure that Eva is at
the window ready to have the others jump from it if anything goes
wrong. They would never allow themselves to get trapped in there
again. They are ready for an attack and are probably hiding in a
room no higher than the second floor with at least two windows so
that they can get everyone out if necessary. Circling the building,
my heart rate accelerates with fear considering what we may
encounter. Taking in a deep breath, hoping to calm it, instead my
head begins spinning wildly and I wonder if I am going through the
conversion now or if my body is finally registering the pain and
loss of blood. My peripheral vision is obliterated by the
encroaching darkness and I fear my blindness is returning. As my
heart rate spikes, I quickly pierce my lips so my fears do not
surreptitiously escape to compound and already overwhelming
situation. Somewhere, my conscious registers that Andrew has run
around two sides of the building and is leaping up to a second
story window with me in his arms. I register a room full of
familiar faces before my vision fails and my consciousness
fades.

Resurfacing, I feel Andrew’s hands at the
back of my head exuding that same strange, yet comforting heat. A
moment later, the veil is lifted from my eyes and my vision is
clearer than before. Trying to sit up, his hands move gently
towards his lips and mine before they are at my ear, speaking
softer than a gentle breeze. “Mia, don’t move, you are healing, but
there is activity in the hallway and they seem panicked. Something
is happening.”

My eyes dart around the room. Grant’s
children are at the two windows with Eva, while Gabriel and the
others are at the two doors. Emma is mumbling with her hands
outstretched before one door, while Cecil is at the other.

My voice is barely a whisper. “What are they
doing?”

“They’re chanting a repellant spell to keep
the door immovable.”

Eva moves to Andrew’s side. “Reginald is here
with the others. They’re outside.”

He enters through the window and Grant’s
children jump out. Moving to take Cecil’s place, she jumps out. I’m
shocked as he opens the door slightly and appears to be listening.
Andrew lifts me. As we walk toward the window, Reginald joins us.
In a hushed tone, “Mia, what spell did you cast upon David?”

My eyes tear up meeting his which rage with
curiosity. “I tried to repel him, but that didn’t work.”

“Mia, you had to do something else, the three
remaining vampires in the house are frantic, David is bleeding and
they swear they can hear a heart beating within him.”

Andrew answers before I can. “Reginald you
know that’s not possible. If everyone is together, we have to
leave.”

“Go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”

I grab his hand. “Reginald, come with us, you
can’t stay here. It’s dangerous. If the wolves enter, they will
mistake you for one of David’s clan, you could be killed. Elizabeth
and the others are bent upon the destruction of every last member
on this estate.”

“There probably aren’t many left around the
estate. They were either killed or escaped. The only ones left are
the three that entered shortly before Steven’s group joined us and
David. If what they are saying is true, I have to investigate.
Nothing like this has ever happened and probably will never happen
again.”

“Reginald, please, it is not a good
idea.”

He places his hand upon mine causing a very
strange feeling to course through me. I feel better than well all
of a sudden. “Mia, I will be fine, you know I can’t pass up
gathering new information about our kind. I need to see this David
for myself, see if what they are claiming is real. I will be quick,
I promise and then I will meet up with you. I just need to see this
for myself.”

Knowing all he risked for me in the past, I
can’t leave him alone in this. “Andrew we can’t leave him. You know
what would happen if the wolves find him.”

Cecil jumps back through the window. “What is
keeping you?”

“Cecil, take the others and go. I overheard
the others, David is bleeding and they hear a heartbeat.”

Her features turn to stone as she grabs his
hand. “Reginald, you know that is not possible, this curse is not
reversible. We cannot bleed and our heart stops for all eternity
the day darkness engulfs us.”

“I know what you are saying, but what if what
they are panicked over is happening. I can’t leave such a question
unanswered. You know that this is what so many of our kind have
been searching for through the millennia. If there is even the
remotest possibility, I cannot leave.”

I hear her resigned sigh. “Go, find this
David. We will keep the others at bay. Be quick, the sooner we
leave, the better, we have three wounded, two dead and don’t forget
three of his got back into the estate.”

“Thank you.”

My pleading eyes meet Andrew’s. “We can’t
leave him, we know where David is and if he is hurt, he probably
hasn’t left.”

“Mia, do you even feel strong enough to move
around? You lost a lot of blood. Even though your wounds are healed
and I increased your body’s rate of replacing what you lost, I’m
sure you are still very weak.”

“I feel fine. I’m sure once we take him to
David he will quickly see that it is not possible. Andrew please I
don’t want to leave him here alone.”

He turns to Reginald. “Alright, we’ll take
you to him, but Reginald once you see it is not possible, we have
to leave quickly.”

He places his hand on Andrew. “Thank
you.”

The others are back now too, Gabriel must
have heard. “Let’s go, we all stay together.”

We travel through the hall quickly. I don’t
know why, but I’m surprised Andrew remembers where we were.

Entering, no one is there. Reginald moves
inside more and leans down where David fell after Andrew knocked
him off me. He inhales deeply and mutters to himself. “This is not
possible. It can’t be.” Pain contorts his features. He sweeps his
hand across the rug and brings now bloodied fingertips to his nose.
Rising, he is out of the room in a flash. We follow, Andrew keeping
me close. Outside, Andrew practically lifts me, plastering me to
his hip as we hurriedly cross the land.