Vengeance in Blood (Book 2): Tribulations (8 page)

“Really?” Tiffany walked over to the dog food as Bonnie and Clyde bounced around her.

“Yes.” Besseta smiled, seeing the joy on Tiffany’s face. “Yes, I have a guest downstairs. We’ve been getting information from him. Kenneth has been talking to him after I did.”

Filling the bowls, Tiffany pointed out, “You don’t need to talk to them.”

“True, but I can’t get them to think about what I want to know unless I ask,” Besseta said, walking to the refrigerator to fix some food for Kenneth. “Kenneth is very good at getting information and asking questions. With what we’ve learned from this one, I’m really worried about this group Manu Fortis.”

Tiffany put the bag of dog food back and sat down on the floor with the dogs petting them as they ate. “Has Kenneth asked you yet?” Tiffany asked in a low voice.

Stopping her work, Besseta turned around. “No, he doesn’t want to try.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Besseta nodded, still hearing Kenneth in the bathroom. “He said he will wait on me but doesn’t want to become a vampire; he’s very adamant about it.”

Looking back down to the dogs, Tiffany said, “He is a very remarkable person.”

“Yes he is,” Besseta replied, hearing Kenneth leave the bathroom, as she started working on his food. Then she glanced over at Tiffany and the dogs and sighed.

As he walked in the kitchen, Kenneth smiled, seeing Besseta talking to the dogs and Tiffany sitting beside the dog bowls. “Bonnie, your name starts with a ‘B,’ not a ‘C,’” she said, pointing at the bowls.

“Dogs can learn the alphabet?” Tiffany asked in wonder.

“They know their names, so they should know the difference in spelling,” Besseta reasoned, but Tiffany didn’t look convinced. “They are very smart,” Besseta pointed out.

“Oh yes, pugs are a very smart, loyal breed. I like the modern version much more than the original pugs brought over from China,” Tiffany said, petting the dogs.

“You know where pugs came from?” Besseta asked, shocked, as Kenneth walked over and put his arm around her.

“I know all the breeds,” Tiffany said, not looking up. “I had a dog—it was just a dog, what today would be called a mutt—when I was little. The one who turned me killed it,” she said with tears again running down her face.

Kenneth pulled Besseta close as Tiffany kept petting the dogs and continued in a soft voice. “I lived near Babylon in a small village. My best guess is I was about nineteen, and I can only narrow it down to 1978 B.C. to 1990 B.C. Calendars then only cared for seasons, not the number of years. My family was killed when I was around twelve by raiders. I escaped with my dog and lived in the wilderness. That area of the world then was lush and green. It looks nothing like it does now.”

Besseta wrapped her arms around Kenneth, hugging him tight as Tiffany continued. “Hakka was my dog’s name. He was a great dog, protecting me, helping me hunt, and comforting me until the day
he
showed up at the cave we were living in. Hakka tried to protect me, but as you know, it was in vain. When the man killed Hakka, I lunged at him with a small knife. It was the only thing I was able to take from my house. The man laughed at me while he fed, and I knew he was edimmu. He then threw me down as I continued to curse him.”

She looked up with sorrow and hate in her eyes. “He stood over me and said, ‘So, little one, you think you are a warrior. Let’s see if you really are.”

Looking back down at the dogs, Bonnie and Clyde stopped eating as Tiffany continued to stroke them. “He bit his wrist and forced the blood in my mouth. I tried not to drink but was lightheaded. After a few minutes, he hit me on the side of the face. ‘If you are a warrior, I will see you again,’ he told me as he walked out of the cave. I don’t know how many days it took for the change, but it was a long time. I’m just guessing, but I think it was two weeks. I had drunk all my water in the cave, and Hakka was rotten when I finally was able to make it out of the cave to get some more water.” Tiffany stopped and wiped her face.

“I buried Hakka’s remains then went looking for the man,” she continued. “It was several months later that I found out I could move things just by willing them to move.”

Kenneth and Besseta just held each other as Tiffany petted the dogs, stopping her tale. Unable to take the suspense, Besseta asked, “Did you ever find the man?”

“Oh yes,” she nodded. “His name was Idilu. I caught up with him in Egypt several hundred years later. I kept him alive for almost a decade,” she said with a hollow, evil grin. “It didn’t bring back Hakka, but he was avenged.”

“What about the raiders who killed your parents?” Besseta asked.

Shrugging, Tiffany said, “They were just raiders. It would’ve been like looking for one rock in a rock quarry.” Besseta took a breath to ask more but stopped, watching Tiffany with the dogs.

“I tried so hard to get another dog,” she sobbed. “But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get one to come near me. I even tried wolves, but they were more vicious towards me.”

Besseta looked up at Kenneth. “Well, I guess you can be their aunt, and they can be your babies as well,” she said, and Kenneth smiled.

Looking up sharply, Tiffany gasped, “Really?”

“Like I said, you have been the only friend I had,” Besseta told her. “But Kenneth is mine. I’ll share the babies but not the daddy.”

Kenneth busted out laughing, picking Besseta up. “You’re the one I’ve waited on, Besseta,” he said, hugging her.

“Just wanted to clarify,” Besseta said with her face buried in his neck.

Tiffany jumped up and hugged both, picking up Kenneth, thereby picking up Besseta. “Thank you so much,” she sighed.

“Tiffany, air,” Kenneth gasped, and Besseta lifted her head up to see Kenneth’s face turning blue.

Tiffany put them down, and Kenneth almost dropped Besseta as he leaned back on the bar. “Damn, you women are strong,” he panted.

“Sorry,” Tiffany said.

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Kenneth said, shaking it off. “Just don’t hug the dogs like that because they won’t understand,” he warned.

“I will never hurt them and will only be gentle,” she assured him.

“I know,” Kenneth said, standing up. “I’m going to take our guest some food,” he said and walked to the refrigerator.

“I’ll have something ready when you get back,” Besseta told him as he walked out. Kenneth saw Tiffany’s bags in the doorway and set the food down and struggled to pull them inside. Grabbing the food, Kenneth closed the front door.

Sitting back down by the dogs, Tiffany smiled. “You’ve done really well getting him.”

“Yeah,” Besseta giggled, “I’m just glad the dogs liked me.”

“Me too,” Tiffany agreed. The two sat and talked, then Besseta pulled out clothes for the dogs.

They were playing with the dogs when Besseta noticed the sun was setting. She looked around the kitchen and saw the food still sitting on the bar. “What’s Kenneth doing still talking to that man?” she asked, getting up. She could only hear mumbling below her; it was several feet of rock under the basement and several feet of dirt under that before the dungeon started.

“I can’t hear what they are talking about,” Tiffany said, adjusting Bonnie’s sweater.

“Let’s take the dogs outside, and I’ll go and check on him while you let them take care of business and play with them outside. They love playing on the grass,” Besseta said, walking over and grabbing some food for Kenneth.

“I would love to,” Tiffany said, floating up and extending her legs then put her feet down. The dogs just looked at her in wonder. Seeing the two walking to the front door, Bonnie and Clyde took off, panting.

“Don’t let them get in the lake; there are some big pike around here,” Besseta warned, seeing the dogs running toward it.

“I’ll kill every fish in this lake,” Tiffany growled, slowly rising above the ground and darting after the dogs through the air.

Watching the dogs turn around and charge Tiffany as she floated toward them, Besseta laughed as a game of chase ensued. Turning around, she headed to the dungeon. Opening the door, the man’s thoughts started flooding her mind. “Damn, Kenneth can scare him better than I can,” she mumbled, closing the door.

She found Kenneth sitting just outside the cell door, taking notes at the small table. “You forgot food,” Besseta said, walking over, and the man in the cell let out a scream when he spotted her. Looking over, Besseta saw Ted shaking as he backed in a corner.

“You’re still giving me answers, Ted,” Kenneth said, taking the plate. “When you stop or become rude again, she will start biting your fingers off.”

“Oh, he’s been a bad boy?” Besseta smirked, pulling Kenneth’s chair back and climbing in his lap.

“When I came down, he tried to threaten me,” Kenneth said, hugging her then diving in the plate of food.

Besseta just glanced at the cell, but Ted was looking at the floor. She looked over the pages of notes Kenneth had made and started asking questions. “So Ted, do you or the Manu Fortis know of any other immortal creatures?”

“Werewolves,” he whimpered.

She listened to his thoughts and smiled. “Tried to catch any?”

“Only one has ever been recorded caught, and that was in the twenties. It got away,” Ted moaned. Kenneth stopped eating, picked up his pen, and started writing. Besseta grabbed another notebook and jotted down Ted’s thoughts.

“Have you ever heard of incubi and succubi?” Besseta asked, and Kenneth’s body became tense.

“Just from horror movies and books,” Ted answered in a soft voice, still looking at the floor.

Kenneth handed a piece of paper to Besseta. “Are they real?” was written on it. “Later,” Besseta said. “So why isn’t the Manu Fortis still trying to get werewolves?” she asked.

“We don’t have as much information on them as we do vampires. We don’t know how to control them,” he answered, and she wrote down his thoughts as Kenneth wrote down the answer.

The weird, three-way interrogation continued until the sun set, then Kenneth and Besseta left Ted still chained to the wall, locked his cell door, and left, grabbing the notebooks. As Kenneth locked the outside door, he turned to Besseta. “We make a good team.”

“The best,” she smiled, hugging him.

“Are incubi and succubi real?” Kenneth asked.

“Oh yes,” Besseta told him with a fearful expression.

“You’ve met one?” Kenneth asked, stepping back.

“No,” Besseta said, and Kenneth could see she would be just as happy to never meet one. “I’ve met a few that have though. One is playing with the dogs.”

“Tiffany?” Kenneth asked, shocked.

“Yes, that’s how I know she was around for the Crusades. I asked her, and she got away from an incubus in Jerusalem after the knights took the city.”

“Well what—”

Besseta held up her hand. “Baby, ask Tiffany. She has studied vampires, werewolves, succubi, and incubi. That’s where I found out most of what I know,” she said. “Except what I found out by accident.”

Reaching out, Kenneth pulled her close. “I am going to miss you walking around in the shirt,” he admitted.

Confused, she asked, “Why are you going to miss it?”

Looking down, he pointed out, “You can’t, like, walk around in that with Tiffany living with us.”

“The hell I can’t,” Besseta snapped. “I love the way you look at me when I put that on,” she told him, and Kenneth’s jaw fell open. “We won’t be able to just… Well, you know.” She smiled. “We’ll have to run to the bedroom.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kenneth grinned and let her go as they went up the steps. They walked to the front of the house to see the dogs and Tiffany still playing. Kenneth froze as Besseta giggled. The dogs were running on the water, chasing Tiffany, who was hovering a foot above the surface.

“Breathe, Kenneth,” Besseta said, feeling his body become rigid. “Now you know why I wanted to make sure Tiffany stayed on our side.”

Kenneth shook his head. “Just seems unnatural,” he mumbled.

“Like reading thoughts is common,” Besseta said, moving to his side and putting her arm around him. “Let’s get Aunt Tiffany and the babies and get supper started. You need some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Kenneth protested.

Besseta sighed. “I wanted you to wash my back in the shower before we went to bed.”

“BONNIE, CLYDE, TIFFANY!” Kenneth shouted. “Let’s eat!” Besseta laughed at him as Tiffany darted off the water with the dogs right behind her.

Kenneth almost yanked Besseta off her feet as he pulled her into the house, running for the kitchen. Stopping Kenneth, Besseta pointed to the bar. “Park it while I cook,” she said, pulling him down and kissing him.

Tiffany trotted in wearing a smile that filled her entire face. The dogs ran past her and almost dunked their heads in the water bowl. They would take a break to breathe then dive back down. Tiffany sat down beside them.

“Tiffany, what are the incubi and succubi?” Kenneth asked.

The smile fell off her face. “Don’t tell me Manu Fortis is looking for them?”

“No, they don’t know they exist,” Kenneth told her. “Besseta asked; I just want to know. From what I remember from books, movies, and comic books, they were like vampires but take your life force.”