The Link (17 page)

He did just that as I tried to stand up, but I heard him gasp when I fell to the floor. “I’m okay,” I said, “My legs just hurt too much to hold me up right now, but I think I can crawl, so keep going, okay?” He continued his soothing words. And I moved an inch closer to my goal with each word he said, until finally, I was there, sitting and gasping at the effort it had taken. I picked up the pint and inhaled deeply
…
then screamed at the pain as my fangs released, drank and then passed out on the floor.

I heard footsteps approaching and I opened my eyes. Looking through the crack under the door, I groaned, knowing they were coming for me. I
would either have to move or get hit by the door. As the key turned in the lock, I pushed myself out of the way bracing for the pain I knew would come, and was a little surprised that it wasn’t quite as bad as before. An ancient finger told me that I was to follow him
and
my mind screamed
‘
Y
ou
have got to be kidding me’, but I pulled myself up and found that I could stand, barely, if I leaned into the wall. I used the wall to move forward, much too slowly according to the guard who kept impatiently looking back at me. Halfway down the hall, I looked up and saw him standing there, waiting for me, his eyes trying not to show the pain he felt for me. The instant I saw his face I felt the pain and love flip-flop and I started walking a little better, a little faster, anxious to reach him, to touch him. I remembered from the last time that I wouldn’t be able to hug him, as I so desperately wanted to, so I reached my hand out to him. But he surprised me by saying to the guards, “May I
please
be allowed to help her the rest of the way?” They looked at each other, then nodded slightly to Matthew, and I felt the love completely overtake the pain as he swept me up in his arms and kissed my
forehead. I knew I would get through this now.

He carried me to the front of the room, where they had kindly replaced the hard wooden chairs with a softer, padded sofa, and Matthew sat down with me still wrapped in his arms. He cradled me on his lap and I rested my head on his shoulder. I turned my head to look at the Elders, and as I made eye contact with the red-headed female I could swear I saw sympathy flicker in her eyes for a second. I began to feel a tiny glimmer of hope in my heart. As a guard emerged from a side door carrying a tray with four pints of blood, the one in the middle said, “Feed first.” I whispered to Matthew, “I don’t want to, it’s going to hurt, and besides, I just fed.”

Pain filled his entire face as he softly said, “No, Sarah honey, the last time you fed was ten days ago.”

My eyes grew wide and I gasped, “Ten days? I’ve been out for ten days?”

“
Yes sweetie, I’m so s
-
”
he started to say, but didn’t finish because my finger flew to his lips and his eyes met mine and I softly shook my head. “Please honey,” he whispered as he handed me the first pint. My eyes begged him “NO” but I softly
nodded my head, inhaled and quietly whimpered as my fangs released and I drank.

He gently took the empty bag from me and started to hand me another, but I pushed it away and said, “You first,” and tried to smile. He opened his mouth to protest, but then his eyes
softened;
he nodded his head, drank and placed the empty back on the tray. I didn’t protest much when he had me finish the last two.
I knew I needed it more than he did at the moment. But then I stiffened as the guard left the room. I didn’t want to know what they were planning now, but I truly felt death would be better than repeating what I had already gone through. I pressed myself closer into Matt’s chest and waited.

The Elder in the middle
spoke first
, “After seeing what you have shown us, and, in the days that followed, witnessing the intense connection you two have, we find ourselves in unknown territory. Never before have we faced something like this.
To just dismiss what you have and eliminate you, might not be in our best interest.
We feel that it would be better to study you and to learn. Therefore we have decided to allow you to live, but with the following
conditions: We have attempted a few times throughout history to choose mates for vampires, to lessen the loneliness that permeates our existence. We are frustrated to say we have had very little success in this. After learning from you, we are wondering if perhaps our failure is because we don’t have love in our own lives.
Perhaps because we don’t feel it ourselves, then we can’t find it for others. So our conditions for your survival are as follows: First, that you will never create another vampire and never reveal your knowledge of the change process to others. And second, that you will now search the world for suitable mates for any lonely vampires who seek them. But you must know that if a vampire is created as a mate for another and that match doesn’t work, it will be your responsibility to destroy the newly created vampire. They can only exist if the match is right. If you accept these conditions, we will allow you to survive. We have decided that we will call you Recruiters.
Do you accept these conditions?” he said.

Matthew and I didn’t hesitate a heart beat as we looked in each other’s eyes and said together, “We
accept.”

Chapter Nine

We left the Elders in a daze, still not really believing what had just happened. Matthew started to set me down as we reached the door to his room, expecting to have to leave me now, but the guard put his hand on Matt’s shoulder and stopped him. He continued to carry me as they led us to a different room, a little farther down the hall from his. We were both confused and a little anxious as we followed them, both of us wondering why they were changing his room. We made a left then, passing the door to my room that was at the end of the hall and Matt and I both looked at each other, but we continued on. The first thing I noticed about the doors along this hallway was that they didn’t have small doors at the bottom of them to slide trays through. I felt anxious as we kept going and knew Matthew did too. The guards stopped at the second door, opened it and waited, impatiently, since Matt had slowed because he didn’t want to have to put me
down. I sensed his hesitation and I traced my scar and whispered
,
“It’s okay, Matt.
I’ll be with you always.” He closed his eyes and leaned down then to kiss me goodbye as he took the last two steps.

“
I love you, Sarah,” he whispered and then I felt him gasp and I saw his eyes fly open in surprise.

I turned my head to see what he had seen and my heart soared. Was I really seeing what I was seeing? Did this really mean what I thought it meant? This room was nicely furnished with a small dining table, a soft sofa, a carpet on the floor, and, in the middle of the back wall, a comfortable bed. A bed with a canopy and flowing curtains around it. A bed with a thick goose-down comforter on it. A bed that was definitely big enough for two. Unimaginable relief flooded into me.

He crossed the threshold but looked down as he felt me tense up. “What’s wrong?” he whispered.

I managed to say, “Not yet,” through my clenched teeth and I looked at the guards. I was anxiously waiting for them to leave the room, trying to hold it together until they did. Matthew quickly understood, and he held me tighter, pressing his
cheek to my forehead as he carried me towards the bed. I heard the door close as he gently placed me on the bed. Moving as close as he could, he wrapped his arms around me, and lightly kissed my face and caressed me as I tried to let go of the fears from the last few weeks.
And I tried desperately to keep the pain below the love. I sobbed endlessly into his chest, instinctively wiping away the tears that I didn’t cry anymore, as he patiently waited.

I don’t know what time or day it was when I finally stopped. I had fallen into a restless, sobbing sleep but my heart soared as I realized I was in exactly the same place
that
I was in before. I was wrapped in Matthew’s arms with my face pressed into his chest. I looked up and saw that he was sleeping but with a deeply troubled look on his face. I took a deep breath and felt more alive as his scent filled me. I carefully stretched my legs and moved my arms a little. I was thrilled to discover that the pain was down to a dull ache. I could live with that, I thought
…
and I drifted off to sleep again.

When I next awoke it was with a hunger that I hadn’t felt for a while. Matthew had gently placed
his hand in mine, our scars touched and I wanted him, needed him more than ever. I needed to feel good again. No more pain, no more terror, just pure pleasure. I pulled his face to mine and started kissing him, tenderly at first, working through the aches that I still felt, then harder, pressing myself into him. He hesitated. He pulled back and looked into my eyes, “Are you sure?” he whispered
.
“I don’t want you to hurt anymore.”

I stared hard into his eyes, “Positive,” was all I could manage to say as I pulled him down to me. I was feeling what I needed to feel, knowing that this was exactly what I needed. It was a struggle to get me where I wanted to be, where I needed to be. But I knew that he could do it. I had complete confidence in him. He slowly, tenderly, helped me work through the pain, until, finally, I felt it rolling towards me. “Kiss me,” I gasped as I was blissfully engulfed by pleasure. No more pain,
just
pleasure. P
ure pleasure.

Several hours, and many times later, I was playfully tracing my finger down his chest, wondering and hoping that this could go on forever.
He had happily, yet exhaustively, helped me get rid of the dull, aching pain…
though it was now replaced with an insatiable hunger that I couldn’t seem to control right now. He turned to me with a sparkle in his eyes, “Again?” he said.

“
Always,” I replied and he leaned down to kiss me but there was a knock at the door.

We both shot out of bed and were dressed in the blink of an eye. I tried not to groan as the painful ache worked its way back into me, but he could see it in my face and he came over and placed his arms around me as he helped me stand. I smiled at him and he turned to the door and mumbled, “Come in.”

A cloaked figure glided in and set a tray on the table.
The evil stench hit me like a slap in the face. I wanted to, had to eliminate it and I was starving but I hesitated because Matt wasn’t moving and his arms were still wrapped around me. And these were arms that I never wanted to leave. I looked into his face, my eyes silently pleading with him, but he was staring intently at the cloaked figure, watching it. I understood then. We had to wait until he or she left the room. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to clear my
head. I was new to this and hadn’t yet learned to control my thirst. I turned my face into Matthew’s chest, breathing in his scent, my ears listening for the sound of the closing door, the signal that I knew meant that I could drink.

We sat together on the sofa a few moments later, enjoying the warmth of our recent meal with our limbs entwined. Simply being near him made me feel better. And we waited.
“Ummm, did we really agree to be some sort of vampire matchmaking service?” I said.

He thought about this for a moment then replied
,
“Well, yeah, I suppose we did, although with most dating services there isn’t the fear of death if it doesn’t work out,” he said sarcastically.

“
Very true,” I replied
.
“But that’s why we have to be perfect at it,” I replied.

He nodded and then we grew quiet again. We assumed that the meal they had brought meant that we would be summoned soon, and our assumptions were verified quickly as the doorknob turn. We rose and followed the cloaked vampire without him having to beckon us, and went to see the Elders. We
were still anxious yet somewhat intrigued now
.
We were
almost looking forward to finding out what they had in store for us next.

Lesson #1 - Self-Control

When we walked in w
e saw that only one Elder was in the room, the red-headed female. She was seated at the front of the room with two chairs across from her. “My name is Penelope
,
” she began
,
“Over the next few weeks you will be receiving training from each of us
.
”
S
he
spoke
in a beautiful voice that belied her age. “You will have five different types of lessons. I am here to teach you self-control,” she said, and then a side door opened and in came two of the cloaked guards, leading a handcuffed man, a man who
se
horrible evil stench assaulted my very core. My eyes grew wide and then focused only on him. I was needing to, preparing to strike, when I felt myself trying to fight this unbearable urge. I was not ready for this, I had never killed before and I sure in the hell didn
’
t want to now, or ever
, if that was possible
. Though my entire being knew that this man was
unbelievably evil, had killed many and would definitely kill again unless he was stopped, I knew that killing him was more than I could or wanted to handle. I knew that, being as fragile as I was right now, so new and vulnerable, it might change me somehow. I gripped Matt’s hand and moved as close to him as possible. She stood and softly shook her head as she walked to me, “No, you have to do this on your own, child,” she softly said as she helped me stand and forced me to release Matt’s hand. My mind screamed at her
,
“What are you doing? He’s my anchor, don’t leave me unchained, please” but I said nothing and just stared at her wide-eyed.