Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (37 page)

Pulling out my phone, I alert Andrew and the
others that the children are out of the cabin. Despite our being
hours away on foot and by car, I know from their speed that if they
are heading toward Sanctuary, it will not take them anywhere near
what it did for us to travel back usually.

Running, I call their names, trying to
communicate with them on some level, knowing that if Reginald’s
spells could not impair them, the protective barriers won’t even
slow them down. Despite Andrew and the others locking down
Sanctuary and warning the others, a crippling fear for all my
children and my family grips my heart.

Traveling deeper and deeper into the woods,
the vicious growls are interrupted only by the sounds of spells
being cast everywhere. My blood runs cold as I realize, not only
are our witch friends out in the woods, but I hear the voices of
the St. Cloud’s calling out to the children as well. Andrew comes
from the trees, lifting me up and traveling quickly. I can barely
hear him through the whistling wind. “Nicole and Jacob are with Eva
and Catherine, they will be fine. Do you have any indication which
direction Nicholas and Kayla are heading in or why they bolted from
the cabin?”

“No, right before it happened, Jeff ran to
the door as if he sensed something, but Kayla bolted, knocking him
down, breaking the door and then was out in a flash, everything
happened so fast.” Andrew stops running, closes his eyes in
concentration and then we are off, bolting through the forest. We
catch sight of two wolves, but it is Jeff and Grant, they appear to
be tracking the children.

Moving again, a breaking dawn begins to color
the sky offering us hope that the children are slowing down in
preparation for their conversion back.

“It sounds like they stopped.” Andrew
whispers to me as I see Grant and Jeff slow down, slipping into a
low crouch and slinking through the trees, probably to sneak up on
the children. As we draw nearer, the sight before us freezes us in
our tracks. The children are contracting on the ground, but the
horror comes from what lies beside them. Lucas is on the ground
writhing in pain, I see the tear at his neck.

Jeff and Grant immediately phase into their
human form. From the look passing between them, I know Lucas is
going to die. Rushing to Kayla and Nicholas, I fight against the
tears. How could I have been so careless? I should have gotten them
farther away. My mind is freefalling. If I had gotten them away,
Lucas would not be dying.

Nicholas converts first. Grabbing at my arms,
he screams. “Mom, it wasn’t us. I swear. We came across him like
that.” Bolting out of my arms, he rushes towards Andrew who has his
hands on Lucas’ wound. “Dad, please you have to save him!” He is
crying uncontrollably as Kayla converts and becomes alert to her
surroundings.

“What happened? Where are we?” Her eyes turn
from mine and she looks to Nicholas and Andrew who are hovering
over Lucas and I know she cannot see the wound. As her eyes scan
our faces, she panics. “What’s going on? What happened?”

Before I can respond, Gabriel, Damian are
there grabbing Lucas and Reginald joins us. “Andrew you have to go,
we’ll make sure that they get back.” Andrew is off like a
flash.

“Nicholas, what happened? Why is everyone so
upset? Why are they carrying uncle Lucas?”

Nicholas’ jagged response rings dead through
his tears. “Uncle Lucas was attacked and they think we did it.”

I force down my own anxiety in hopes of
reassuring them so that we can travel back quickly. “No one is
thinking anything. It will be alright.”

Nicholas’ words register with Kayla and she
grips me tightly, she’s inconsolable, muttering to herself. “I knew
I was going to hurt someone. What have I done?” She keeps repeating
this, her voice getting lower and lower. I try to move quicker,
fearing that she is slipping into shock.

Nicholas yells out, grabbing her hands as we
travel. “You didn’t hurt anyone. Kayla, I remember everything.” His
eyes widen and I know he sees his sister slipping away. His voice
turns forceful, but he releases her hands so that we can continue
on unhampered. “I remember running through the woods and by the
time we got here, he was already on the ground. We didn’t do that
and you have to believe that!”

Her eyes focus momentarily. Thank God. She
shouts back. “You don’t remember everything, sometimes you said you
get lost and maybe it wasn’t you, maybe I was the only one who did
this. Maybe you found me after I killed him.”

“No one is dead.” I interrupt holding her
tighter to me. I need to keep her talking.

“He will be and it is because of me.”

Despite my trying to keep her talking, with
every step forward, she is slipping away, even Nicholas, seeing his
sister’s pain and retreat can no longer fight the abyss which is
this situation is hoisting them down. By the time we reach
Sanctuary, the children are shut down. Their robotic auto-pilot
movements have us traveling at a crawl. Reginald picks up Kayla and
Jeff lifts Nicholas.

Rushing them into the terminal building, I
begin checking them out. Despite their normal vital signs, each is
engulfed in a comatose state, not seeing or hearing anything.
Speaking to them, I try assuring them that we know that they did
not do it, but other than the occasional flicker in Nicholas’ eyes,
I am not getting through and Kayla’s eyes remain unfocused and her
mind unreachable.

I want to check and see how Andrew is making
out with Lucas, hoping that I could give the children some hope,
but looking how Kayla just stares blankly and Nicholas’ eyes have
closed slightly, forming unfocused slits, I’m afraid to leave
them.

After what feels like an eternity, Damian
enters. “Any news?”

Pulling me toward the corner of the room, his
tone is almost inaudible. “It doesn’t look good. Andrew is trying,
but he may have been too late. Nicole and Jacob are outside. Maybe
they can help you in here.”

Turning to Nicholas and Kayla, tears are
escaping the sides of their eyes and I know they heard Damian’s
whisper. “Let them come in.”

As Nicole approaches Kayla, she hugs her and
whispers. “I know you didn’t do it. You would never hurt anyone,
especially uncle Lucas, please come back to us so that we can
figure out who did attack him.”

Jacob is whispering something similar to
Nicholas. They keep repeating these words, refusing to let go of
their siblings. After a while, I see light returning to Kayla and
Nicholas’ eyes. Although they still do not speak, I know they are
listening. I whisper softly in each of their ears. “They are right.
This is not your fault.” Despite my fear that one of them bit
Lucas, I need to make them understand that this is not their fault.
I should have gotten them further away and been better able to
contain them. “We need you to come back to us and help to figure
out what happened.”

Kayla remains comatose, but Nicholas stirs.
After a moment, he opens his mouth and his voice cracks. “Mom, is
uncle Lucas really going to die?”

“Your dad is doing all he can.” I wish I
could reassure him, but know that lying to him will only make
things worse. “We have to just wait and hope.” I gently stroke his
cheek. “I need you to tell me everything you remember from last
night.”

He closes his eyes, but I know it’s in
concentration. “I remember you were with us when we were changing
this time. I felt very tired, but it wasn’t as hard as the other
night. I could feel you and even Kayla. I was able to talk to her
and she was talking back to me. I could understand her. I was
really afraid that being tired wouldn’t allow me to fight my desire
to run, but it seemed to be going alright. Even Grant and Jeff
didn’t seem as anxious, but then, I remember the hairs on the back
of my neck raising and I could sense something was coming.” His
features turn frustrated. “No, wait, it wasn’t that I sensed
something coming, I sensed danger and I think Jeff did too because
he got up and moved away from us. It was coming closer and then
Kayla bolted. I knew I had to follow her. I could sense Reginald in
the woods and knew he was trying to stop us, but it wasn’t like the
last time, I knew he wasn’t the threat so I pushed passed him.
Whatever he was trying to do felt uncomfortable but not crippling
and I knew it wouldn’t stop me so I thrust myself forward.
Everything in me could feel danger, but I tried to focus on Kayla.
I didn’t want her out there alone. I knew she must have sensed it
too but ...ugh!...why can’t I say it.”

Putting my hands on his shoulder in hopes of
calming him, I keep my tone soft. “Nicholas, take it easy. The
words will come. You are doing wonderfully. Relax and
concentrate.”

His eyes shift to the back wall and narrow
slightly as if he is trying to picture it all in his mind. “It was
really strange. I didn’t just sense it. I smelled it, but then
rustling seemed like it was coming from all sides and in my
confusion to try and listen and hear which direction it originated
from or was heading toward, my mind was getting lost and I had to
keep fighting just to stay focused on Kayla. I lost her once, but
then something strange happened and I envisioned where she was in
my head and my body began moving toward her almost as if it were on
automatic pilot leading me right to her. It couldn’t have been more
than a few minutes.”

I had to interrupt him. “When you lost her,
was it near where we found you?”

“No.” He said confidently. “I lost her
earlier when we were just outside of the cabin. Afraid that I might
lose her again if I concentrated on what was around me, I decided
to just keep my focus on her. Mom, I know what you’re thinking, but
I’m telling you, she didn’t do this and neither did I. My mind
didn’t get lost anymore once all I did was concentrate on her. I
swear to you and I was near her when we came across uncle Lucas, he
had already been attacked.”

His tears slip quickly down his cheeks and I
hug him fiercely. “It will be alright.” I hear the door open and
it’s Andrew. From the look on his wearied face, I know it isn’t
good news. “How is uncle Lucas?” Nicholas inquires before I
can.

“We have to wait and see. We are doing all we
can.” He hugs Nicholas, but I know from the way he glances at me
that he was too late to help him. After Nicholas releases him, he
goes over to Kayla and places his hands at her temple. Two minutes
later a tear rolls down her cheek as she finally shuts her eyes.
Jacob and Nicole are talking with Nicholas and Andrew gestures for
me to follow him outside.

Moving down the hallway, he turns toward me.
“It doesn’t look good, he probably won’t last through the night and
Amelia is missing. No one has seen her since this happened. Grant
and the others are searching for her now. Did Nicholas say any more
about what he remembered?”

I reiterate everything Nicholas told me.
“Mia, I’m sorry to leave you alone with the children, but I want to
give Lucas and Catherine whatever time I can to say good-bye.”

“I understand.”

“Kayla should sleep for a while, but as soon
as she wakes, see if you can get any information from her at all.”
He kisses me and retreats to Lucas’ room.

When I return, Nicole and Jacob are gone and
Kayla is still asleep. Sitting by Nicholas, “How are you
feeling?”

“I’m worried. Mom, what if uncle Lucas dies?
Aunt Catherine is going to think that we killed him and everyone is
going to hate us, but mom I swear we didn’t attack him.” His tone
is reaching a crescendo and his body stiffens. Knowing that Lucas
is probably going to die, I don’t the children around when he does,
we need to tell them somewhere they feel safe and loved, not a
hospital room. “Did Jacob and Nicole go back to the suite?”

“Yes they went to get Kayla’s favorite music
box.”

“Let’s call them and tell them to wait there
for us. I’ll carry Kayla. I’m sure she’ll feel better in her own
bed and you look like you could use some rest.”

Tucking Kayla in, Jacob opens her music box
and Nicole crawls onto the bed, hugging her. Following Jacob into
the boys’ room, I get Nicholas’ favorite story to read to him. Even
though I catch him rolling his eyes because he thinks he’s too old
for me to do things like this, I see a smile play on his lips and
know he is grateful for the distraction. After an hour, he and
Jacob fall asleep.

Calling over to check on Lucas, Jackson
answers and lets me know there is no change and that Grant and Jeff
are still looking for Amelia, so I’m surprised when I hear a knock
and its Jeff.

“Francis told me that you came back here and
I promised Charlie that I would check in with you before going back
out to look for Amelia. How are they doing?”

“Come in.” I back away from the door. “Can I
get you anything?”

“No, I promised Grant I would come right back
after seeing Charlie.”

“Kayla hasn’t really responded and Nicholas
just fell asleep. Jeff is it possible that he is right and they
didn’t attack Lucas?”

His eyes shift to the floor revealing his
answer. “If they didn’t attack him, who did? I know Nicholas says
they found him like that, but it is probably because they don’t
remember. It was animal instinct, something they couldn’t control.
When you first turn, instincts are very hard to control and it is
only natural that they would consider a vampire a threat. I just
don’t understand why he was out by the cabin and why your friend
didn’t stop him.”

Thinking about what he is saying, something
doesn’t make sense. “Lucas wouldn’t have been out at the cabin, he
knew that it was off limits.”

“Mia, there was definitely a vampire out by
the cabin and it was not Reginald. His scent became very familiar
over the last few evenings, even to the children in their wolf
form. I detected the scent before your children and I sensed
danger, probably because we have been raised to fear and distrust
vampires. He had to have been out there and that had to be the
scent that Kayla was following when she burst through the door. She
was definitely following someone and when we do that, especially
sensing danger, we don’t give up the hunt, we follow the
trail.”