House Wyndham Vampires: Half Light Part 20

"You will still have a place to stay, and you will have freedoms-but with a curfew imposed. Myself, your Aunts and Uncles, will also be staying there for the remainder of the year, as well as Jared. Michel will remain in this house. Your things are packed. The twins will be driving them over to the house. Marcus is setting up an account for you to use-I'm afraid I'm going to have to monitor your purchases. And I'm afraid you'll have to stop visiting that coffee shop." She shook her head. "I know how coffee dulls the scent of blood, but there are other places nearer to where we're going to be than driving over here."

I did manage to clear my throat and speak finally. Apparently she wanted me to. "What...what about Brandon?"

"The human boy? Well," she put her hands on my shoulders. The touch was light, but the weight devastating. "I think mister Fleetwood should remain in the background for now-don't you agree? I think he'll be much happier mating with the girl his parents chose for him."

She meant Heather. The only way she knew about Heather and Brandon's past and their parents' choice was because someone told her. I doubted Brandon had, and I was pretty sure Heather didn't. And the only one I told about it was Jared.

He wouldn't look at me.

She was trying to distance me from Brandon. Nothing seemed forced or commanded, but more inferred. I felt my heart cry out as I realized my year of freedom wasn't going to be freedom anymore. My life outside the Wyndham estate had ended.

It was just s.h.i.+fting to a new Wyndham estate. Different walls. Same rules.

And I was still expected to bond with Michel.

Apparently the Baroness owned a palatial estate just north of the city. I remembered seeing it from the interstate several times-never knowing I'd be confined to its halls one day. The drive to my new prison was quiet. I was with Jared. Alone. In his new car. He'd tried to initiate conversation once.

"It's really better this way..."

I watched the scenery go by, my gaze burning a hole into the pa.s.senger window.

"Carly I-"

"f.u.c.k you." It wasn't smart. It wasn't eloquent. And it certainly wasn't lady-like. But at that moment, I didn't care. I felt betrayed. I felt helpless. I also had a million questions in my head and a sneaking suspicion there was so much about my life-about all of our lives-that I'd been kept in the dark about.

Namely-how had I made that flash of light in the hospital? A light so bright it'd done some serious damage to one vampire but left Jared unscathed? And why had the Baroness not wanted me to talk about it?

Why was it so d.a.m.ned important for me to be a freak'n virgin when I bonded with Michel? Why couldn't I step out and have fun like he could? Why had my Father chosen me out of an orphanage of over a hundred kids?

I'd lost myself in these questions and their possible answers and hadn't noticed where we'd turned. What brought me out of my seething anger was the wooded path leading up to the house. The concrete drive wound to the right and then the left. I looked out all the windows and saw nothing but trees- But I could hear heartbeats. There...and there.

"I hear...people..."

"Those are the Wyndham guards," Jared said as he expertly drove along the road. "A private paid force to keep watch over the house whether anyone's in residence or not. They're out there but you really can't see them."

He was right. I couldn't see any movement in the night. I could just hear them. "Will they be watching me too?"

"I don't know, Carly." He said, and his voice sounded tired. Spent.

I felt bad and I didn't want to. I wanted to be mad at him. Really mad at him. So I just watched as the house abruptly showed itself.

It looked like something out of the deep south. Very antebellum with four tall columns in front of a double door of dark wood. The house was a light peach color with white trim. And it was just...big. It reminded me of that house you see in the beginning of the vampire movie they did of Anne Rice's first book. The mansion her lead character owned.

Only it wasn't sitting in a bayou. It was here. Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Two other cars sat in the semi-circular drive and I recognized the same ones that had been in the driveway of our house.

Our house.

It wasn't our house anymore. It was Michel's.

That made me think of Craft and I was immediately with him. I sensed fear and anxiety. Craft?

There was a long pause as Jared parked his new BMW behind the others. Carly? You...you shouldn't be doing this. If the Baroness senses it...

Can she? I mean, can she hear me talking to you? I chewed on my lower lip. Exactly how is this possible?

I told you. There's a link between us...a bond. It's fading. You sound far away.

So do you. Jared opened the door. Cold air blew in and I opened my own door. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?

He didn't answer me right away. I followed Jared up three marble, semi-circle steps to a mosaic landing. Everything was well lit up from the porch chandeliers that hung above us between the columns and the floodlights all over the house. No shadows lurked here.

Long, rectangular windows framed the double doors. I could see through inside. Bright light reflected off of a polished marble foyer.

I heard Craft just as Jared opened the door. I'm...okay. Carly...you need to see Brandon. Warn him.

He didn't sound okay. In fact his inner voice sounded strained. For an instant I was taken in by the grandeur of the grand room I stepped into. Yeah, it had marble floors all right. Two staircases wound up and off in either direction to hallways that disappeared into darkness. In the center of the foyer was a small round table with a vase of white roses on top of it.

The white rose. The flower of the Wyndham crest.

Marcus stepped out from a door to our right and clasped his hands together. I was always amazed at how much he looked and sounded like Father. Though Marcus was much younger in both mortal years and vampire years. Marcus had been born after it was believed Father had died in a war. It was on the battlefield decades later that Marcus had met his brother for the first time, and accepted his gift of immortality. "Welcome to Wyndham House South."

Hah. Very funny.

"I figured I'd show Carly her room," Jared said in a quiet voice, even though it echoed against the room's walls.

"Yes, please. After she's settled in, the Baroness would like to see the two of you in the parlor for evening tea." He smiled and strolled back into the door he'd come from.

Evening tea to a vampire meant pretty much what you'd think it meant. From an English line, the Baroness had found a way to mix certain teas with blood to make them palatable. That way she could still enjoy the taste of her homeland and it wouldn't upset her const.i.tution.

Meaning, she wouldn't have to throw it up later.

"Come on," he said and I followed him to the stairs.

Craft? You don't sound okay. You sound like you're in pain. I almost paused on the stairs as we went up and turned to the right. Before when my connection was much stronger, I'd actually felt his fear, his anger, his curiosity. Now...it was like talking to him on some mystic phone.

I'll be fine...it's...Michel's a little archaic in his... there was a much longer pause this time and I barely paid attention to where Jared turned before we were standing inside of a room three times the size of the one I'd had in the house.

We'd walked into a small living room, complete with sofas, fireplace, flat screen, and computer set up. There was a kitchenette and another door that lead to a bedroom and bathroom decorated right out of Southern Living. I opened the walk-in closet and found all of my clothing already in place. Including my shoes. Even my toiletries had been set up in the bathroom, along with a complete set of new ones, in case I ran out.

"Been planning to have us here the whole time, haven't they?"

"Carly-it's really not like that-"

"Shut up Jared," I said but I was searching for Craft's voice. h.e.l.lo? Are you there? Please talk to me!

I'm here. I think I blacked out...

Oh G.o.d no. Craft what is he doing to you?

Nothing...Carly, you have to go see Brandon.

You keep saying that. Why?

Another pause. Michel's doesn't play by the rules, Carly. He's...he's not going to listen to your father. He...you're his...and if something is his...

Craft?

He's not going to leave Brandon alone. He wants to...eliminate the compet.i.tion...

"What does that mean?" I said aloud, and my voice echoed in the room.

Jared took a few steps toward me. "Carly? What does what mean?"

I put up my hand and turned away. Craft? I...I don't know if I can get to Brandon. They...they took us to a different house.

I know. I heard. But you've got to protect Brandon... another pause. He'll make it...look like an...accident...

"What's he going to do?" I waited. I could feel Jared's eyes on me. "Craft? What is he going to do?"

"Craft?" Jared was suddenly in front of me. "You're talking to the Ghoul?"

"Stay out of it, Jared," I said in a menacing tone. I turned even further from him. "Oh G.o.d...Craft? Craf-"

Jared's hand was on my mouth as he grabbed me. I trembled in his grip, unable to move as his eyes held me. His eyes were black and his fangs extended. Slowly, his eyes returned to normal and his teeth vanished, but he kept hold of me. "Can you speak to the Ghoul?"

I nodded. He still had his hand over my lips.

"Could you do that before he drank from you?"

I shook my head.

"Could you do that after you drank from him?"

I nodded.

He pulled his hand away. "Don't do it while you're in this house, Carly. The Baroness can sense it. She probably already has."

"But Craft said Michel's not going to leave Brandon alone, Jared. He's going to do something that'll look like an accident."

"The Ghoul tell you that?" Jared's expression was harsh. "And you believe him?"

"Well yeah...why would he lie?"

When my brother laughed I shrank back. Most of the time I wasn't afraid of Jared. He was my friend. He was family. But when he was like this...I would realize there was so much about him that I didn't know. He had an entire history before I was even born to this life.

"Ghouls should never be trusted, Carly," he said in a bitter tone that I hadn't heard before. "You think he's telling you about Brandon for your piece of mind? No, he's telling you about Brandon because Michel wants him too. Because Michel controls him."

"But, we have a bond-"

He was in front of me again, his expression harder than I'd ever seen. "For now. But Michel and Craft have a bond you'll never share."

"Because Craft is his Ghoul first? I know about all that-"

"No." He laughed and started to leave the room. But at the door he turned and smiled. "Craft Hood and Michel Babineaux have the ultimate bond, Carly. Michel is Craft's human older brother."

The rain finally came cras.h.i.+ng down outside. The windows lit up with lightening as it ignited the night sky, followed by thunder that set the furniture and the floor beneath my feet trembling.

We stood suspended in time for a brief instance, but it felt as if Jared had finally pulled the pin of a grenade. Once I could find my voice I swallowed and noted that he was still there, waiting on my reaction.

I blinked. Cleared my throat. "Wh.." It came out as a whisper before I could swallow again. "What did you say?"

"Michel and Craft are brothers, Carly."

What did he mean? Brothers. We referred to others made by the same sire as brothers and sisters. Cousins for those of distant relation to the same House blood. But...Craft wasn't a vampire. He was a Ghoul.

A servant.

"No..." I shook my head, slowly.

"Yes. It's true. I wasn't supposed to tell you that. But I think it's important. Craft isn't a Ghoul because he wanted to be-his story's a long and sad one. So you see-blood-human blood-will always speak louder and have more strength than House blood, Carly. You can't believe everything he tells you."

But...I knew in my heart Craft wasn't a liar. In fact, other than Brandon, he'd been the only other person I'd met that hadn't lied to me. He'd protected me.

I looked away from Jared, at the floor, and only half noticed it was covered in a lush, thick carpet. A cloud beneath my feet.

"I'm sorry, Carly. It's just...I wish Michel hadn't come here. I wish you hadn't of met Brandon."

"What...what purpose would it serve for Craft to tell me that Brandon was in danger?"

Jared didn't answer, but I could hear him moving at the door. When I looked up from the floor and fixed him with my own gaze he stopped. He'd been coming toward me.

"The Baroness is waiting."

"What is it?" I ran after him and followed him back down the hall. "Jared-what the h.e.l.l is it you people aren't telling me-"

He stopped and spun so fast I nearly ran into him. I backed up and almost cowered at his look, but then my own combination of frustration and anger flared and I glared back at him, allowing my own little monster to show itself.

"You people?"

"You know what I mean, Jared. You people that know things and don't tell me. Don't you think I'd have liked to have known that Michel had made his own brother into a Ghoul? Don't you think I'd like to face whatever it is you people want me to face with my eyes open? Why is it you and Father and everyone else are keeping me in the dark?"

"You think we're not telling you something."

"No Jared," I narrowed my eyes at him. "I know you're not."

He turned and continued down the hall to the stairs.