Forever Young The Beginning (44 page)

Ian again entered and rocketed down
the stairs in a blur of motion. He went into a bedroom and ripped
the covers off of a bed and rocketed down the steps. Ripping bed
sheets at vampire speed he bound each corpse. He carried the bodies
up to the roof one at a time and after the last one, he began to
ferry them across the alleyway to the roof of the carriage house.
Alyssa watched in wide eyed wonder as he returned each time,
landing in a crouch with so little noise. She realized that he was
bringing the bodies out to place them on the roof of the carriage
house.

The last body was brought out so he
untied the cloth and exposed them. Now at least if he couldn’t
return, the sunlight would burn these six bodies and maybe the
carriage house too.

Shouldering his rucksack with the
weapons first then he turned to her and whispered “Time to take you
home now.” Scooping her up he leapt to the ground and took off with
a great bound at a speed that made the wind roar in her ears as her
hair whipped in the wind. She couldn’t believe the speed at which
things flashed past. They had rocketed past a man on horseback and
she thought that maybe she heard the horse whinny in fear as they
went by. Two sharp turns and another short burst of speed, then
they had stopped. He set her on her feet at a darkened
alleyway.

“
If you know what’s good for
you, you’ll never tell what you’ve seen this night. I’d better
never hear of it. Now go.” he whispered.

She stood and gawked at him,
and then realized that she was only three doors away from the front
of her apartment building.
How could we
get here from Mauritarius’ house so fast?

“
Go now. Shoo!” He made a
shooing motion with his hands. “I have things to do before the
King’s Gendarmes come.” he whispered.

Still she stood staring at him in
awe.

He took a small step toward her.
“Don’t try my patience.” he whispered.

That did it. Thinking suddenly of the
fearsome power that she had seen demonstrated tonight, she backed
slowly away from him and finally turned and ran to her well-lighted
front door. She turned and thought she could still barely make out
his outline. He suddenly streaked across the street in less than a
heartbeat and was gone. Quickly she went to her apartment and sat
dumfounded. Unaware that she was shaking violently, she began to
cry and couldn’t stop.

What in God’s name did I
just witness this night?

And who… what …was
that…thing… that knows where I live?

Marie was beyond curious when notified
of a large crate waiting for her at Marseille. She would have to
see to it herself since Henri had gone to Paris so she would take
the boys with her to Marseille the next day and would visit the
orphanage while she was at it.

The next day, they departed for
Marseille. By eleven o’clock they were at the docks and the
warehouse superintendent showed her the large crate. Within two
hours she had gotten it loaded into a rented wagon with a team of
four horses. She had shopped for some items at the local market
such as honey for the boys and some boots for each of them. They
both were growing like weeds, as children that age always do. She
had visited the orphanage as well and had taken their monthly
report to read at home.

They departed in their carriage, the
wagon with a driver and helper following them. That afternoon she
got two of the men on her staff to help the other two and they got
the crate off of the wagon and onto the large front veranda. When
it was uncrated and unwrapped, Marie’s mouth flew open in wonder.
There sat a Silbermann piano. She had heard talk once that such a
thing existed, but had never even met anyone who had seen one. In
an hour, it was sitting not too far from her Harpsichord and she
was playing it.

Soon the sound drew the staff who
listened in wonder to the music that Marie was playing. After a
while Li and Sophia entered the parlor and stood listening raptly
as Marie played. She started a tune that they all had sung often
and soon they were all singing as she played. The song ended and
Marie turned to all who were present.

“
This is a gift from
Ian.”

Sophia said “It’s wondrous. I’ve never
heard such a sound.”

Sending the boys to wash for supper
and sending the staff back to their duties; Marie linked her arms
to those of Li and Sophia and walked them out the back door. They
walked toward the barn as Marie turned to Sophia and
spoke.

“
So how are you doing on
your third day as a vampire, Sophia?”

***

Celeste sat in the carriage in her
usual place, next to Ian, her arm linked through his, her head
leaning on his shoulder as they left Orleans and headed down the
Loire valley toward the Atlantic. It had been no problem getting
permission from Caryn to allow Celeste to come stay at the
chateau

She was in heaven being with Ian and
traveling to places she had never seen before. Bubbly, curious, and
exuberant, she was a wonderful travelling companion. Near Toulouse
she proudly told Ian that beyond the mountains to the south was
Spain. She rattled off the various items that Spain exported and
its capitol and told him all about the Basque country of the Great
Pyrenees Mountains. He thought of Alandra wistfully as Celeste
talked of Spain. Sighing he thought that by now she had surely
married and started a family of her own and thought that he’d like
to see her and her children once. He entertained thoughts of going
there one day when she would be in her middle age and would no
longer recognize him.

At last they reached the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea and turned to follow it to Marseille. In six days
more they arrived at the Chateau de Lafayette. There was a joyous
reunion then and there was still time so Marie busied her staff to
make a sumptuous welcome home meal for Celeste and Ian. Later after
eating and exchanging news in general, Marie played her new piano
for everyone. Celeste sang for them on and off all evening long.
Before the evening ended though, she insisted on showing how she
and Ian could dance to Ian’s song, ‘Dance with Anna’.

Later Ian took Li aside and
said “You two stay in my house. Sophia and you will need the
privacy until she is through with her
imprinting
.”

“
Who told you,
Ian?”

“
No one. I knew it as soon
as I saw her. Not to mention that when she looks at me I get the
prickles on the back of my neck.”

Laughing, Li shook his head as he said
“The prickles never lie.”

“
She’ll be a good one. I’m
happy for you, my friend.”

“
There is more that you
should know, Ian.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Louis and Mustafa know all
about us now. They’ve been helping me with Sophia. Marie and Henri
thought it was time that they knew.”

Ian nodded and stood silently a bit,
and then he responded “They would eventually have to know at some
time. I’ll speak with them about it later today myself.”

Later after the staff had been
dismissed and the boys and Celeste had been sent to bed, there was
a meeting held. Ian gave an account of everything that had
transpired concerning the incident with the vampires in
Paris.

“
It was after I shot the
fourth one that I saw that the woman on the sofa was
Alyssa.”

There was a collective sharp intake of
breath, and Marie even gasped audibly, her hand flying to cover her
mouth.

“
So you took her out of
there and then came back and killed the other two?” Henri asked in
wonderment.

“
Yes.”

Marie said “Oh, Ian you shouldn’t have
taken the chance!”

“
But think of poor Alyssa
and the horror of being killed that way.”

“
She refused?”

“
Yes.”

“
And you took her home
afterwards?”

“
Yes.”

“
Well, is there any chance
that she recognized you then? Ian, Alyssa will remember your
eyes.”

“
No. I wore a hood of black
cloth and black gauze.”

Li exclaimed “Black gauze? Good idea!”
Marie and Henri concurred.

Ian shrugged. “I brought it for all of
you to see. I think we each could use one of them. In fact, I even
put a bit of garlic oil on my clothes before I went there that
night.”

“
Whatever for?”

“
In the event one would
escape and might remember my scent.”

Marie said “Garlic! What a grand
idea!”

“
I rarely spoke, and then
only in a whisper. She was terrified and in shock.

“
We’ll report this at my
next session with the
Council
. Alyssa has become a person
of some renown and her disappearance at the hands of vampires is a
severe violation of our protocols. You’ll be magnified in their
eyes. This is the perfect event to introduce you to the
Council
.”

“
And the Francoise
incident?”

“
What Francoise incident? Oh
you mean that terrible accident where his Chateau burnt to the
ground? It’s a mystery from all I can determine.” said Henri with a
wink. “Is there anything else of interest with this
affair?”

“
I searched the house after
taking the bodies far away, but I found no evidence that this group
was linked with others.”

“
And it was the one with one
foot which led you to them?”

“
Yes.”

Marie spoke for all of them then, her
eyes suddenly taking on a violet-blue glow “I’m glad you got that
one, Ian.” Li and Henri nodded grimly, their eyes
blazing.

***

Anna and her son Serge came to visit
on their way to Nice. Ian ran to the carriage and helped her down
and then just picked her up and kissed her passionately and then he
swung her in a circle several times. When he set her down she was
flushed and laughing, with tears in her eyes. She immediately threw
her arms around his neck once more and kissed him passionately.
Introductions were made all around as the staff carried their bags
in to the house. Marie sent a maid who knew both Li and Sophia to
Ian’s house to deliver a note telling Li to stay there with Sophia
until Anna and her son had gone.

Everyone sat in the cavernous parlor.
Ian sat next to Anna who held his hand and sometimes leaned her
head on his shoulder. Celeste sat on the other side beaming and
holding Ian’s other hand with her head leaning on his upper arm at
times. Henri said “Ian. Look at you between these two pretty
ladies!”

“
Aye, Henri. It seems I’m a
thorn between two roses.”

At that there was laughter all around
and Anna said again “Oh, Ian I have missed you and hearing things
like that so very much.” She reached up and turning his head toward
her she kissed him. Serge could see the change in his mother and
had to admit that they seemed to be a good match.

That evening Marie regaled them with
music, playing her new piano with Ian accompanying her on his
violin. It was a night of fun and laughter and Serge was truly
impressed by these people.

Afterward Anna came to Ian’s room well
after midnight and they made love passionately several times. She
still wanted to go fishing with him in the morning, so he awakened
her before dawn and they left while it was still dark. Ian took her
by horseback all over the estate to places she had never
seen.

Later after breakfast they all put on
old clothing and went swimming at the waterfall.

That night Anna announced that they’d
be going to Nice for a week or two. She said that there was a
limited amount of room at her uncle’s place, but invited Ian and
Celeste to come stay there. They all departed three days
later.

The trip to Nice was scenic but
uneventful. Ian and the others drove themselves, taking turns.
Jacques was glad to see them and quickly ordered his staff to
prepare his last empty rooms for Celeste and Ian. They went
sightseeing the next day and Jacques was a wonderful host, showing
Ian and Celeste all of the sights.

The days passed in splendor. They took
Celeste and Serge to a lagoon nearby for swimming. Ian worked with
Celeste to refine her swimming technique, being as he had taught
her the fundamentals at the chateau. The time flew by and soon they
were making their way back to the Chateau, having said their
goodbyes to Jacques. They took their time and arrived some six days
later, in late afternoon.

Ian took them to Marseille
and wanted to show them around, taking them to eat at the
Blue Oyster
, which had
been remodeled after the kitchen fire. The proprietor Henrique
Pronovost recognized Ian as soon as he saw him. He came up to him
and hugged him and smiled and performed a little bow as he was
introduced to the others. He looked at Ian and said “Your money
won’t spend here, Ian. My place is your place. Order what you will
my friend.”

They ordered and while they sat, Ian
looked about the place. It looked a lot the same. Corinne, the girl
who used to be his old shipmate, Lorn’s girlfriend, waited on them.
She remembered Ian and asked about Lorn so Ian told what he knew
from his last visit, and offered to dispatch a letter to Lorn if
she wanted him to.