Taken (Book #2 of the Vampire Legends) (12 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Rachel jumped up from her
bed, threw on her clothes that lay on the floor from the night before, and ran
into Sarah’s room to tell her what she was about to do. Sarah was startled when
Rachel burst into her room, and let out a scream. Rachel quickly shushed her
and put her fingers to her lips. She started whispering to Sarah about her
dream and the kaleidoscope without telling her what exactly she was talking
about. She wanted to let her sister know she was in love, but she wouldn’t dare
bring up that she was in love with a vampire. Rachel would take that secret
with her to her grave before ever telling anyone, especially now, now that she
knew it wasn’t a lie.

“I have to go find him,”
Rachel said, still whispering.

“Find who?” Sarah asked.

“Benji. Haven’t you been
listening?”

“Ok, but what’s the urgency?
It’s Saturday morning.”

“I just have to see him,”
Rachel said. “Can you cover for me again if M & D come looking for me? Tell
them I’m still sick in bed.”

“Err, I can try,” Sarah,
said back with uncertainty.

“That’s good enough,”
Rachel, said as she ran back through the bathroom and tiptoed downstairs and
out the front door.

As she got outside she felt
the cold, fall air hit her face. She was surprised how cold it had gotten and
realized she should have worn a heavier jacket; but there was no time to go
back, she had to find Benji.

As Rachel walked out of her
driveway, she headed into town. She knew there were always taxis waiting at the
Bedford train station.

It was about a
fifteen-minute walk, but to Rachel it felt like hours. Her heart was pounding
out of her chest, as she was so anxious and excited to see Benji. She couldn’t
wait to see his face when she told him what happened with the kaleidoscope.  It
was all coming together for her. She was finally starting to see the real
Benji, and she couldn’t wait to tell him she believes in him now.

As she got into town she
could see the bustle of people going into the stores in town. The bagel store
had a line out the door and the there were many grownups and kids walking along
the sidewalks. Rachel saw Liv standing on line at the bagel store but didn’t
stop to say hi. She walked quickly, to avoid making eye contact with her, and
turned down the road towards the train station. She could see a train entering
the station, the loud horn blowing as it approached. She continued walking and
saw the line of taxis waiting for passengers to arrive.

Her pace quickened as she
raced over to one of the taxis in line. She motioned to him to see if she could
get in, and he waved her in and smiled.

“Where you headed Miss?” the
cabby asked, and started to drive out of the station.

“I’m heading to Tarrytown,”
Rachel said.

“Where about?” asked the
cabby.

“Lyndvia Castle, please,”
Rachel, replied.

“Lyndvia Castle?” the cabby
shouted with worry.

“Yes, that’s what I said,”
Rachel answered suddenly feeling unsure about her decision.

“Listen Miss,” the cabby
said, looking at her through his rear view mirror. “What do you plan on doing
at Lyndvia Castle? That place has been shut down for years now. It’s condemned.”

Rachel began to feel scared
as she sat there in the back of the taxi. She couldn’t turn back now, not after
her dream and seeing the kaleidoscope. She tried to think of something to tell
the driver, but then realized she did not owe him any explanation on why she
was going or who she was heading to see.

“Just take me there, OK?”
Rachel said back firmly.

“All right, I take you to
the entrance of the driveway, but I can’t go any further.” The cabby said.

“That’s fine.”

As she sat there, she
wondered what Lyndvia would be like. Would it really be as bad as the cab
driver was making it out to be? She took into account that he was clearly
unaware that vampires lived at the castle— let alone her one true love, Benji.

The ride felt like days as
the taxi crawled off the highway exit ramp. She looked down at her watch and
realized that she’d been in the car for twenty minutes already. She didn’t
realize it would take this long in the car to get to Lyndvia. She hoped this
taxi was actually taking her to Lyndvia and wasn’t kidnapping her. She’d heard
horror stories about kids getting kidnapped from taking taxis in NYC, but she
prayed that wouldn’t happen to her.

“We’re almost there,” the
cabby said as he stopped at a red light.

“How much longer?” Rachel
asked.

“It’s just at the end of
this road.”

Rachel looked out the
window. The sky was cloudy and grey and the cool breeze was making the branches
sway on the trees. She could feel the car slowing down as it approached a dirt
road. She began to regret her decision as she felt her body jolt up and down on
the gravel road. She didn’t see a soul around her and there were no other cars
on the road. She debated whether or not to turn around, but she’d gotten this far,
she couldn’t turn back now.

The car came to a sudden
stop at the end of the road. Rachel looked out and saw a tall rusted gate,
covered in ivy.  It was a grand entrance, but was completely run down and
overgrown with shrubs and weeds. Rachel looked up at the meter to see what she
owed the cab driver.

“That’ll be 17.50,” the
cabby said.

Rachel reached into her bag
and pulled out her wallet. She searched for the twenty dollar bill that her
parents had giver her last week for her allowance, handed the cab driver the
money and said, “Keep the change.”

As she reached for the
doorknob she could feel her body responding to the fear she felt inside. She
was clammy and sweaty even though it was only about 50 degrees outside. Her
heart was beating so loud she could practically hear it.

“Be careful, Miss,” the
cabby said. “Here’s my card if you need a ride back.”

Rachel took the business
card and tucked it away in her back pocket as she shut the door. She stood
there as the cabby sped away back down the gravel road. All she could see were
his tail lights glimmering as he turned the corner through the dust and dirt
that was hovering around in the air.

She quickly pulled out her
cell phone from her bag and clasped it tightly in her hands. Whenever she felt
scared, she would do this, just in case she needed to make an emergency call.
Then, she opened the phone and saw the screen.

No Service
.

Crap! She thought to
herself, as she put the phone back in her bag.

She stood there, staring at
the large iron gate that stood in between her and the driveway to Lyndvia. To
the right of the gate was a gatehouse with boarded up windows and doors. The
roof was sunken in and the paint was peeling. She saw an opening to the left of
the gate, which looked big enough for her to squeeze through.

She walked over and peeked
her head through the gate and saw a long winding gravel driveway. She slipped
through the opening, wiped off the dirt and leaves on her clothes, and began
walking down the long driveway.

All she could hear on her
walk down were her feet scuffing along the gravel driveway and the sounds of
crows flying above her.  She had an eerie feeling she had in her gut. She
looked up and saw the braches of the tall pine trees that lined the driveway.
The wind had picked up, causing the branches to sway back and forth, and to
make cracking noises. The leaves were falling at her feet and crunching as she
stepped on them.

The driveway seemed to go on
forever. She couldn’t see the castle yet she could feel herself getting closer
to it. The driveway made a sharp left turn, and as she neared the bend, she saw
it. It was huge.

The castle sat on the side
of a cliff overlooking the Hudson River. It spread out on grounds with nothing
around it. It was a soaring three-story limestone castle, with multiple pointed
steeples and chimneys. It was sprawling, with parapets and turrets on several
levels, its rooftop covered in sharp triangular peaks. Its widows were high and
narrow, made of stained glass. It looked like a place from fairytales, and she
couldn’t believe a place like this could exist in America.

She stood there admiring the
castle, and couldn’t help but feel that someone was watching her. She peeked up
at the windows, but didn’t see anyone looking down at her. She was scared
standing there all-alone, so she decided to walk up to the door. She climbed up
the three stone steps that led onto the wrap around front porch and faced the
door.

The metal door was huge in
comparison to her 5 foot 2 inch stature. The door had an enormous knocker on
it, and she reached out to grab it. The cold touch of the metal sent chills
down her spine as she lifted it away from the door and then gently tapped it on
the door. The noise made a loud echo sound as it rang through the walls of the
castle. She pulled her hand away from the knocker and put them in her pocket.
She waited, but nobody came to the door.

She reached back up to the
heavy knocker and tapped it on the door again, except a little louder this
time. She stood there waiting, listening to the sounds of the crows and the
leaves rustling on their branches around her. She waited a few more minutes,
but nobody came.

She walked up to the window
and peeked in. She could have sworn she saw something moving, but then it
disappeared. She heard a noise coming from inside the castle, and figured the
door was about to open, but it didn’t. She stood there, alone and in the cold.

She reached up one more time
for the knocker when she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

“Hello Rachel,” the voice
said.

Rachel jumped and let out a
scream. “What are you doing here?” Benji whispered.

Rachel reached into her
backpack and pulled out the kaleidoscope and handed it slowly back to Benji.

Benji put the kaleidoscope
back into his pocket and smiled back.

“I would never lie to you.”

“I had this dream, Benji,”
Rachel said. “It was so real. You and I were walking in Paris but it must have
been hundreds of years ago, because we were in old-fashioned clothing and
everything. It was so weird, yet so real.”

“Yes,” Benji said, as though
he already knew exactly what she was talking about.

“Do you know what I’m
talking about?” Rachel asked.

“Rachel, we’ve been together
before,” Benji began. “This is not the first lifetime we’ve been together.”

Rachel’s body went still and
she just stood there staring at Benji. She couldn’t believe what she was
hearing. She felt it, too. She could feel they’d been together before, but
couldn’t understand how or why they kept coming back to each other.

“I’m so glad you came,
Rachel,” Benji said, looking up at the castle.

“I couldn’t stay away. I had
to see you. I had to tell you I believe,” Rachel said as she grabbed Benji’s
hand.

Benji looked deep into
Rachel’s eyes. “Are you ready to know who I am?”

Chapter Fifteen

The bell rang, and Hunter
gathered up his books and headed into the dining hall. He was relieved his
Saturday classes were over for the day and that he could finally relax and get
ready for the big night. He was excited because it was the day of the Fall
Social at Mount Pines. The Fall Social was one of the most popular events at
Hunter’s school and everybody attended. Hunter hadn’t chosen his date yet, but
knew his crush; Michelle was going to have the same dining hall schedule as he
did, so he would ask her then. He knew she still hadn’t been asked, and since
it was only a few more hours until the dance, his chances of her saying yes
were high.

Michelle and Hunter had been
friends forever, going back hundreds of years. She, too, was a vampire and they’d
been at school together for centuries. Michelle was beautiful, with long blonde
hair and big green eyes. She was perfect to Hunter, yet he’d never made a move
on her before. He was nervous around Michelle and always became shy and
introverted when he was around her. She was a very nice girl, and popular among
the female vampires at Mount Pines. She had many friends, except Violet, who
was her biggest enemy.

Violet hated Michelle
because she knew Hunter had a crush on her. She knew this because she overheard
him speaking about her one night in his dorm room. Hunter was also convinced
that Violet had the ability to read people’s thoughts and that made her hate
Michelle even more.

As Hunter entered the dining
hall, he got on line for lunch. Everybody at boarding school bought hot lunch.
It was much different than day school, or public school, where hot lunch was
disgusting and not cool; it was actually good at Mount Pines, and all the kids
enjoyed it.

As he stood on line and
waited, he saw Michelle through the opening of the kitchen and the dining area.
She was sitting alone, with her tray of food, waiting for her friends to join
her. Hunter knew this was a great opportunity to go over and ask her about the
social.