Melabeth Forgive Me, For I Am Sin! (20 page)

Yes, yes he did.

弓

I awoke…

I sat in a crummy hotel room. David had been my first, my first lover, and my first friend. I wiped the tears away. I am sad that I may have lost a friend.

I couldn’t take anymore of this… pity party. I just killed Jason Black and was close to killing the Smith brothers. Soon I would have my revenge upon my father and Evil Alex. Once these deeds are done, I can begin my life; I can find love and keep it.

I lay back down and wrapped myself up in the blankets; after a few minutes I fell back to sleep.
I was not in a dream about Aaron Reite. Instead I have awoken inside the library. I haven't been here sense the Island.

I'm not excited about telling Nicks about the killing of Jason Black. We killed a lot of people in that bar, and Nicks will be pissed if he finds out about it, but what he doesn’t know about, won't hurt him.

I was learning my way around the library. The place was huge, and the more time I spent here the more I learned. There were books about anything I could think of, and I came to find out there were a lot of ghosts who wandered these halls. None of them would talk with me; in fact as soon as they saw me they would run through a wall or disappear.

I decided, since I was here, I would do some more exploring. I found a staircase behind a doorway that I had never seen before. I headed up the winding set of stairs. The stairs came out in the middle of the floor inside a large room.
Unlike the lower floor, there was a stone ceiling, and it was decorated with paintings of the sky and mountains.

This place didn’t seem to follow the rules of space, because below me the lower floors had skies for a ceiling. I once thought this was a dream; now I believe this was a place of magic. There were more hallways that led away from this room; I do believe this place has no end.

As I slowly walked around the room, it took me a minute to take in all of what I was seeing. There were books of course, and two very large fireplaces at both ends of the room. Against one wall, there was something new; a table stood with a single chair in front of it. On the table were glass beakers and all kinds of measuring tools. Glass bottles of all colors and sizes sat on shelves above and around the table. On the glass bottles there were labels, but they had strange symbols on them that I couldn’t identify. It didn’t take a scientist to know that this was someone’s lab for experiments.

On the other side of the room, I saw yet another item that I had not witnessed in this place, a full length mirror. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen one mirror anywhere. I walked over and looked at myself in the mirror and gasped at what I saw. There I stood, looking like a vampire; but eyes were full of light. It looks as if there were a flashlight behind my eyes, filling them with light. It was as if I were looking at my spirit. The thought sent shivers up my spine.

I walked away from the mirror and continued to take in the contents of this room. I worked my way over to the other side of the room to the second fireplace. Once again I noticed a couple of odd things; first the fireplace had no fire just some smoke rising out of the ashes. All the fireplaces of this strange place were always lit and blazing with heat and fire, but not this one. Second there was a stand placed on a small round table right next to the fireplace. On that stand was a violin; it looked delicate and beautiful.

I walked closer and leaned in to get a better look at the instrument when a voice startled me from behind. “I wouldn’t touch that; Nicks would not like it if you did.”

I turned around to find a young lady standing a few feet away from me. It only took me a second to realize she was a ghost, but it was the first ghost who talked to me; heck, it was the first ghost not to run away. She stood about my height, but she was really thin and straight with not too many curves. She wore a dress that was really dated; it reminded me of some of the outfits that Alice liked to wear; I knew that the outfit came from the eighteen hundreds or older. She stood straight as if someone had attached a steel pipe to her spine; it took no imagination at all to see that she could balance a book on that head. Her hair was brown and pulled into a tight bun on her head where she wore a little blue hat. Her face was long and sharp, but she didn’t look to me much older than me.

I guess I took too long to answer her, so she spoke again, “Sorry
, didn’t mean to startle you, but Nicks would not like you touching his violin.”

I was unsure of her, “Thanks, I was just looking… sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

The ghost gave me a tight smile, “I am the Bow.”

“Your
name is the Bow?” I asked.

“No, my name is unimportant, but I am the Bow, I am the Bow to the violin.”

I laughed as I teased her. “Oh, that makes sense; well I am glad to meet you, Bow. I happen to be the String. In a minute my three sisters will be here and we can make some music. Of course that is assuming there is a player.”

Her face went tight, “That doesn’t make any sense; the violin already has strings, and I am the player.”

I shook my head back and forth, “That’s not the only thing that doesn’t make any sense in this room, I thought you were the Bow?"

As I looked at the spirit, something seemed off besides the fact she thinks she is a bow. It wasn’t that other spirits just don’t talk to me. There was more to it than that. When I approached a spirit and it noticed me, they would flee. If I saw their faces before they disappeared, it was full of terror. So, I couldn’t help but wonder why these ghosts were afraid of me? And, better yet, why she wasn’t?

As if someone whispered her name in my ear I knew the spirit name. I announced, "Elizabeth… that’s your name."

The spirit nodded, and then spoke, "Call me the Bow, please. It is what I am; at least that is what I’ve become. You are so much like your father; I can see Nicks’ power in you; the world will never be the same. And to think I was here while he created you, mixing the magic, as he listened to me play." She pointed over at the desk where all the science equipment was.

A lump grew in my throat when I realized what she was saying. I looked over at all the bottles in wonder. I looked back at Bow, “How did he do it?”

Bow shrugged her shoulders as she began to answer me, “I don’t know. I don’t believe anyone knows now.”

“Nicks knows,” I disagreed.

She shook her head, “Afraid not, Nicks has had many experiments in making his first child. He worked on it for… well, to be honest, I don’t know how long. I have been in this place for hundreds of years, and he was deep in his work when I met him. After you didn’t rise, Nicks went back to work, but the next couple of tries were much more dismal than yours. Nicks came up here about eight years ago in a rage; he had all he could take in failed experiments. He grabbed all his scrolls, books and notes; it was his life’s work. Then he burned them
all.” As she said this, she pointed at the fireplace we stood next to; it had no fire but just smoked. “No fire has burned here since that day; I do not know what that means.”

“He doesn’t even know what I am.” My voice sounded like a stretched rubber band.

Bow gave me a sympathetic look, “He knows what you are, and you are his daughter. After the day he burned his life’s work, he stopped coming up here; he stopped listening to my music. After the first night you came to us, he changed, more like the old Nicks I used to know.”

I couldn’t worry about what I was, but maybe Bow could tell me stuff that Nicks would not. “Do you know where this place is?”

“Of course,” she simply replied.

“And that is…” I prompted.

She smiled, “When people die, most go to heaven or hell. Some of us get lost and its Nicks’ job to help us find our way to the final death. You can do that for spirits as well; that is why the other ghosts hide from you; they hide from the judgment of God.”

Hold the phone, what did she say? I was quiet for a moment as I thought of my next question. “Are you saying this is purgatory?”

“I have heard it called that, but Nicks says a better name is the Library or Conscientia. That means knowledge or place of knowledge.”

“And did Nicks tell you about God?” I asked.

Bow lost eye contact with me and then looked back at me, “Nicks does not know what waits in the final death, but I have faith,” She said this at the same time that she grasped a cross which hung from her neck. “I have faith, and I am ready to go to the final death; everyone I have known is dead and I hope that after all this time I can find forgiveness in the next life.”

I wondered what kept her here, “Forgiveness from what?”

Bow gave me a hard look; she was holding back tears. “I murdered my husband, and I was put to death for it; I was afraid to die, so I ended up here. Nicks had pity on me, and loved how I played the violin; when Nicks believes I am ready, he will send me.”

Strange, I thought; I always thought this to be some weird dream. I began to think that I might be going somewhere, maybe not my body, perhaps, just my soul, but I was not sure. With Bow here, it made me think of a million more questions, and I have no time for that. I do believe that her knowledge of how this place works is limited, but I bet she could answer another question that I have been wondering about of late.

I had come to notice that I was the only vampire that could see ghosts. I did not let the other Whites in on this at first, but I finally told Alice. She had a small freak out, and I was told never to tell anyone about this no matter what. She didn’t tell me why; never seems like people will give me information; I always have to figure it out on my own.

David knew, and Alice was not happy about that, but what could she do?  I now believe that my power to see ghosts has something to do with being the daughter of Nicks. I wonder if some other things I do is because of him, like my second sight.

Bow was just staring at me, and she almost looked bored, “Bow.”

“Yes, Melabeth,” Bow said with a small smile.

“What kind of magic creator is Nicks?” I asked, but I wasn’t sure if I should have. Everyone is always telling me that information was not safe in my head, but I was curious like a cat.

Bow laughed, “Nicks is not a creator; he’s an Angel, and that makes you half Angel.”

Bow said this with a very straight face; she was serious. Well, so much for getting any more useful information from her. Just as well, curiosity killed the cat, and I have been killed enough lately.

I walked around the room a little bit more; Bow followed behind me quietly, but I still knew she was there. I turned and looked at Bow, “Why not play for me?”

At this, she smiled wide, “I thought you might not ask.”

Black dust swirled around her left hand; she was now holding the violin. I looked over and noticed that the violin on the table was gone. A bow came out of her right hand like some sort of cheap magic trick. She began to play.

I understood why Nicks kept her around; the way she played was indescribable. The music vibrated through my body; I felt the music from my ears to my toes. It was wonderful, magical and uplifting. I felt myself smile, and I felt some sort of release. I always loved music; I had never heard the song she played. I felt like singing, so following along with her rhythm, I sang:

Bow finished her song, lowered her violin, “Your voice, it’s like no other. The song is a little creepy, but your voice is otherworldly.”

I smiled; it was always a good feeling when someone liked and recognized your gifts in life. “Thank you, and the same thing goes for you. I have never heard your equal, or even dreamed that the violin could sound that amazing. No wonder Nicks keeps you around; I could listen to you play for hours.”

Instead of being gracious about my praise, Bow looked upset; you would have thought that I just told her she sucks and needed some lessons. “What’s wrong? What did I say? I meant it as a complement.”

“I know,” Bow sounded whiney or about to cry.

When I was young I loved to play

In the grass, and in the hay

I became older and lost the way

I was sold and betrayed

Then my life fade away, fade away,

Then my life fade away, fade away,

I awoke in a brand new age

Ready to play a brand new game

New friends to help me find my way

Revenge is the game I play

Then there life will fade away, fade away,

Then there life will fade away, fade away,

Come along and be my friend

Together we will kill again

Be my friend and play with me

For the game I play, only ends when

Someone fades away, fades away,

Someone fades away, fades away,

“Then what?” I asked in dismay.

Bow looked around then made eye contact with me. “I was hoping you would not want me around. I was kind of hoping you would send me on. Nicks will not, because he likes my music and company. I am ready, even if he is not ready to send me.”