Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (29 page)

“I’ll be up momentarily.”

Ascending the stairs, I should have known
Andrew would be waiting for me. Taking my hand, we return to our
seats. “That was quite impressive. I could see his darkened aura
get brighter as you spoke.”

Gabriel is sitting by us. “You should know,
he is very intrigued by what you said concerning his brother,
although he is fighting his curiosity on what you mentioned, I
believe that if you are persistent with him on this and in
concentrating on the mystery of what happened to allow David’s
heart to beat once more, we may be able to hold on to him. Right
now he is reeling, but his curiosity factor may save him.”

After all these years, I know when he is
restraining not to say more. “What aren’t you telling me?”

He chuckles. “I thought I was the mind
reader.”

“Your face is getting easier to read.”

He laughs. “Mia, it’s just that he is in a
tumultuous place right now and even though we all know how much he
loves the children, I heard you saying that you wanted him to help
them learn about their powers and how to use them. Right now, that
may not be the best thing.”

My eyes shift between them and I know they
must have talked about this while I was with Reginald. “I can
understand your concern and I do realize that he is in a dark and
doubtful place right now, but I know how guilty he feels about what
David did to them, how much he loves them, and I know no matter
what he would never do anything to hurt them. I believe that his
helping them feel empowered will not only help them but will help
him as well. He will feel that he is righting the wrong. I promise
both of you that I will keep a careful eye on him, but I really
believe that it would be best to give Reginald as many contacts to
grab hold of as possible. Otherwise, you know what will come for
him. He has impaired their side for millennia and they would love
nothing more than to bring him down.”

Andrew turns to Gabriel. “She’s right and all
he has ever done is help us and ensure the children were born safe.
We can all ensure that the children do not become overwhelmed or
learn things they shouldn’t.”

“I’ll go down and see if I can get him to
come up. Maybe I can get a better read on him and continue the
conversation you began.” With that, he’s gone.

Jacob and our friends are still sleeping.
Andrew lifts the arm rest, drawing me into his side. “You should
get some rest as well.”

I am absolutely wiped and the adrenaline has
worn off. I place my head against Andrew’s cool chest and drew
myself into his side. I hear him whisper something, but my mind
cannot process anything more and I quickly drift to sleep.

Andrew kisses my ear softly. “Wake up
beautiful, we’re home.”

As the plane descends, I wrap my arms around
him tightly. “I love you.”

“I love you too. I can’t wait to get you home
so that you will know that our family is fine and everything will
be alright. Mia, do you remember your dreams, can you tell me about
them?

“I don’t even remember dreaming. What did I
do?”

“You were talking in your sleep about the
children, but you were jumping all around. None of it made any
sense.”

“It must have just been these last few days
because really I don’t remember anything.”

The plane stops. “Why don’t we get Jacob up
and go home. I’m sure that it will be better once we are
there.”

“Don’t get him up. I’ll carry him. I’m sure
that he is still exhausted.”

Driving home, everyone is still a little
disoriented. Thankfully Jason came with a bus. “Nicole, Nicholas
and Kayla would have come, but they crashed in their chairs waiting
for the plane to arrive, so Catherine and I put them to bed. I hope
you don’t mind. They haven’t slept at all since coming back.”

“Thank you. How are they doing really
though?” Andrew inquires.

“Nicholas and Kayla seem to be running a
little hotter than usual and their heart rate has increased
slightly since coming home, but we don’t know if it is because of
their anxiety over the situation or if they are going through any
changes. Nicole seems to be doing better. She seemed to relax
somewhat when she learned you boarded the plane, but I have to warn
you, she saw the imposter Jacob destroyed and for a moment, she
couldn’t differentiate the two. She was screaming out for him and
then even tried to attack Lucas when he was taking him down, but we
have been talking to her and I think that once she sees Jacob, she
will be on the road to recovery. Mia, you should also know that
Marlena has not changed back to whatever she looked like before she
bit you. We have been keeping her away from everyone, but before
that, when they were on the farm, Nicole was around her and Lucas
said he could see the stress it was placing upon her.”

“Thanks Jason, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Andrew interjects. “Do we know any more about
what is going on with her physically?” Reginald moves closer to the
front of the bus so that he can hear our hushed conversation. “I
can’t explain it but all the tests come back as if she is a normal
twenty-five to thirty year old female. Her heart beat is normal,
her blood is AB negative, her pulse rate is high, but that is
probably because she doesn’t understand what is going on. We have
performed MRIs and Cat Scans, tested for brain waive activity and
it all comes back within normal range.”

“How can that be?”

“We don’t know. Even James is at a loss. He
is redoing the tests and checking all the results, but he is
amazed. Mia, I hate to ask this, but are you sure she is the one
who bit you? Is it possible that she is a witch and was never a
vampire?”

“I know what I heard. David called a woman
Marlena over and instructed her to bite me, but I couldn’t see
anything.”

“Mia, James wants to get your blood drawn as
soon as possible, he is afraid that the more time that passes, the
more diluted the results will be.”

I withdrew a small cooler pack from my purse
and handed it to Reginald. Andrew’s eyes shoot to mine in surprise.
“I had Damian draw some blood when he came to see me in the
hospital. I knew you would be upset because I had already lost so
much already, but I knew questions needed to be answered. I want us
to be able to eliminate my involvement with it by having the
closest counts possible. I don’t think that it was me or my blood,
but I know it’s important to have the circumstances closest to the
time period.”

Reginald places his hands around the cooling
pack. “Thank you.”

“I hope that it leads you to a road with
answers, but remember what we talked about. Even if it gives you
some type of physical answers, the ones that you are truly looking
for will never be answered from such contents and it would be best
if you consider that he was destroyed the day of the ambush.”

“I will try to keep that in mind.”

We finally pull through the gates and despite
knowing that we will be facing an uphill climb with the residual
effects from this incident, my body relaxes for the first time,
knowing that the children are safe here.

Eva comes up to me. “I’ll show Grant and his
family the house and help them get settled so you can see the
kids.”

The bus barely comes to a stop, Andrew picks
up Jacob and we are flying up the residency stairs. “Dad, I’m
awake, you can put me down.” He states groggily.

“Let’s get inside first.”

The door opens before I even touch the
handle. Running into the children’s room, I can’t believe they are
safely tucked in their beds. “Mom is that you?” Kayla rubs her
eyes, jumps up and throws herself into my arms. “You’re here!”

“I’m here and so happy to see you.” I grip
her closer to me. Nicholas and Nicole rise and run toward us as
Jacob enters. We were all hugging as Andrew’s arms embrace our
group. My family is truly here and no matter what, we will face
whatever comes together. Shock grabs hold of me as I realize that
in the midst of my joy, I feel the difference in temperature of
Nicholas and Kayla. Jason was right. They are running hot, and not
just a little. My stomach twinges. As happy as I am, I know without
a doubt that they will be facing a change and we need to prepare
them for that. They all begin talking at once. Nicole is grasping
Jacob’s hand and staring into his eyes, finding her true connection
to her brother. Someone’s stomach grumbles giving me a good idea to
get us quickly back into our routine with a little flair. “Let’s go
outside and make s’mores.”

“Really? You always say that midnight
snacking is a bad thing.” Jacob eyes the clock.

Andrew laughs. “She may say that, but your
mom was infamous around here when she first arrived for her
midnight snacking.”

I laugh with him. “I think we can make an
exception this once.” The children quickly throw on their shoes and
sweaters before running down the stairs laughing and hugging each
other before I can even gather the ingredients.

Joining Andrew and the children, I see a new
and even stronger bond growing between them because of this
experience in the way they are holding on to Jacob and he is
whispering that he spoke to me about learning all they could so
that something like this will never happen again. Relief at this
revelation flares in Nicole’s eyes.

“I’m so glad that you are o.k.” Nichole
squeezes Jacob’s hand tighter. “I can’t tell you how awful it was
knowing that they got you again. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe
worrying.”

“I was afraid for you too. When they told me
that you were with that crazy woman and someone who looked like me
that could hurt you, I was so afraid that if he were to harm you,
the last thing you would remember is me causing you pain.”

“But it wouldn’t be you.” She states trying
to reassure him.

“I know, but still to have someone look like
me hurting you, I couldn’t stand that.” By the time I reach them,
they are locked in a bear hug as tears escape down their cheeks.
Putting down the food, I hug them.

“It will be alright. You are both so brave
and kept your head despite everything. I’m so proud of all of you.”
I look at them. “I know how scared you were, but you did so well
and you watched out for each other. You are all so grown up. I
can’t believe how much you remembered and how well you followed
directions to help us find you.”

“Mom, how did you come to us? Is that
something that we can do?”

“I am not sure if you can do it, but I do
know that we are going to ensure that we teach you all we can about
your powers and abilities.”

“Jacob did tell us that and we know the
rules. We promise that we won’t use them without your permission or
ever in anger.” Nicholas states confidently.

“Mom, what happened to the others there?
Could they still be coming for us? Why did they take us in the
first place? Do they know about you and dad? Would they have taken
us to hell?”

Taking a moment to figure out how to answer
them, Lucas approaches us. “Would you mind if I joined you?”

“Why would we mind?” Kayla jumps up, hugging
him.

Sitting down, his eyes glance to me and I
know he wants to answer their question so I nod. “They didn’t come
after you because of your mom and dad. They didn’t know anything
about you, not really. They were very bad people who wanted me to
suffer, not you. Their fight was with me, no one else. You know how
your mom and dad have always tried to warn you about falling in
with the wrong people when you enter the real world?”

“Yes, but you are married to aunt Catherine
and have been here for a very long time, why would they want to
hurt you?”

“A long time ago when I was human, I came in
contact with those people and I didn’t think to look beyond the
surface, the way your parents are trying to teach you. I married a
woman in their family and agreed to have her change me, but then
when I saw what they really were, I ran away and took one of the
people that they were trying to hurt with me. They didn’t like what
I did and they wanted to get revenge upon me by hurting you.”

“But we aren’t your children. I still don’t
understand.”

“You’re right, but the people who grabbed you
mistakenly thought that you were mine and they wanted to use you to
hurt me. I’m sorry that you got mixed up in this whole mess because
of the mistakes I made in the past.”

“It’s not your fault uncle Lucas.” Nicole
rises and hugs him. “They were just very bad people. I’m glad that
you got away from them.”

“I am too. I love it here and I love all of
you very much.”

“Why don’t we start the fire and get these
marshmallows roasted. The air always smells so nice when you make
s’mores.”

After they gather the twigs and place them
all on the wood, Andrew pulls a lighter from his pocket. “Wait,
allow me.” I place my hands on the sticks and concentrate on the
flames and heat I want to generate and the heat this world has to
offer. As soon as I feel the sticks become hot, I remove my hands.
A moment later, the children’s eyes are mesmerized by the little
fire.

“How did you do that?” Nicole stares at me
and her eyes widen.

“Let me show you.”

The shock on each of their faces is clear.
Taking her hands, I cup them around the tip of a small branch.
“Place your fingers on the tip and concentrate on the elements
around you. Think about the sun and heat, lava and fire. As soon as
you feel the branch getting hot, remove your hands.”

Closing her eyes, she concentrates for a long
time. All of a sudden, her hands recoil quickly from the branch. A
moment later I am holding a lit twig and Nicole is beaming from ear
to ear. Andrew, Lucas and I hold the twigs so the others could try
and their triumphant smiles light up the darkened night.