Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 75

"He said you appeared to be casting spells," I said and this time she nodded.

"Yes, that's right. I always try to do the right thing and then find out that it wasn't the right thing. That's why I've come back to the Elders now. I want them to teach me where I'm going wrong."

I didn't have a clue what she meant and so she tried again, "I want to help fight evil, basically. But there have been times when it might have looked like I was evil, when I was just trying to go 'undercover' if you know what I mean. But it never worked and the Elders ended up having to rescue me."

When I understood what she meant, I felt like I had met a kindred spirit in Tabitha.

Later that night as I lay down in a warm and comfortable bed, with Jo gently breathing as she slept peacefully in the bed next to mine, I came to the conclusion that Tabitha was truly a good person, she just needed some guidance. I fell asleep with the most minimal of fuss after such a hard and gruelling few days. Content that we had finally caught the woman responsible for so much pain, but sad that my father was nowhere to be found.

Jo woke me up the following morning. She was still in bed but she was desperate to talk to me.

"Lilly are you awake? Lilly? Lilly?"

"No I'm still asleep," I grumbled and turned away from her.

"Lilly. Wake up."

But it was too late for me to enjoy my slumber any longer. I was awake and I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again and so I turned to face her. Her face was bright, as if she'd been awake for hours and she looked excited. I knew why, of course. Carmelo.

I shook my head and chuckled to myself.

"What? What's so funny?" she said, frowning.

"Jo... you're glowing."

"I am?"

"One word, Jo"

"What's that?"

"Carmelo." The second I said it, she glowed even more and her eyes lit up like never before. "I can't believe you're falling for a man who is hundreds of years older than you," I said as I lifted myself up in bed.

"He's 25... he just happens to have been 25 for a very long time. And... I'm not falling for him. Don't be ridiculous," she said, trying not to giggle.

"It's written all over your face, Jo. I could tell the second it happened last night at the dinner table."

"It is? And you could? Oh, Lilly... I've never had this feeling about anyone before."

"How long did you stay up with him last night?"

"For hours and hours. We talked for ages and then he walked me here. He was such a gentleman, Lilly. I can't stop thinking about him," she said almost to herself as she peered up at the cave's ceiling.

The dreamy look on her face reminded me of how I had felt when I was with Oliver. I missed him and I still had that horrible feeling of emptiness in the pit of my stomach whenever I thought of him. I wished things had happened differently and that he had accepted who I was. Perhaps we would still be together if he had. But I couldn't think about him. He hadn't accepted me and I wouldn't dwell on it. I had moved on. At least I had thought I'd moved on.

"But doesn't it bother you that he's a vampire, Jo? He survives by drinking people's blood," I asked.

"Technically, he survives by drinking the blood of animals. He hasn't drunk human blood for a long long time," she answered and I knew that she had already made up her mind about him. Deep down, I doubt that it would have bothered her even if he did drink human blood. She was in love and when love hit you like that, nothing else seemed to matter.

Later that day, when Gabriel was feeling a little stronger, I took Tabitha to see him. For a split second, he had looked at her as if he knew her. When I asked him about it, he just said that she looked familiar, that's all.

And then we told him about her dreams and her concerns. He was quiet for some time and Tabitha and I exchanged glances.

"Tabitha, tell me about yourself. Tell me about your family, where you have come from, how you ended up here." And so we made ourselves more comfortable and she began to tell him all about her upbringing, everything that she had told me the day before.

After about an hour, Gabriel turned to me and asked if I would mind making some tea for us all, "I'm quite thirsty and you must be too, Tabitha, after all that talking," he laughed. I did as I was asked and went in search of some tea.

On my way, I noticed Carmelo and Jo laughing and talking together as they walked through the maze of the caves. They were holding hands like lovestruck teenagers and I could easily see that he had fallen for her in just the same way she had fallen for him. She glimpsed at me and winked when he wasn't looking. I laughed and carried on looking for the cave's main kitchen.

I followed the sounds of voices and the clanking of pans and sure enough, found a large room containing everything necessary for the preparation of food and drink.

Two elderly women were gossiping while they prepared what looked like soup over a large open flame. Before I could introduce myself I heard them talking about Carmelo. "I've never seen him act this way before. This young girl seems to have bewitched him," said one.

"But don't they make a lovely couple. It's about time he found true love. It's been a long long time since Rebecca died," said the other.

I cleared my throat to make myself known and they both turned and smiled widely at me.

"h.e.l.lo, dear. You probably heard that," chuckled one.

I nodded and she continued "But it's true. That cousin of yours, Jo, seems to be brightening Carmelo's day. He's quite smitten. It's been a long time since he knew love. What can we do for you, dear?"

We spoke for a little while longer before I thanked them and left the room carrying a tray with tea for the three of us.

When I eventually found my way back to Gabriel's room, he was alone. Tabitha was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Tabitha?" I asked, noticing that he was smiling more than he had been before.

"I sent her to find Carmelo."

"What for?" I asked, and he told me that there was something important he needed to speak to him, and us, about.

As I set the tray down I asked Gabriel what he thought about Carmelo.

"He is perhaps the most remarkable man I have met, the most remarkable vampire anyway," he chuckled, "why do you ask?"

Not sure whether to say anything or not, I decided that rumours were already doing the rounds so he should know.

"Because it seems that Cupid has shot him with his arrows," I grinned.

"Cupid is here? When did he arrive?" he asked seriously.

I shook my head in disbelief, "Cupid is actually real?"

Gabriel began to laugh and I grinned. He had caught me out.

"Very funny," I said, gently punching him on his good shoulder. "What I meant to say was, it appears that Jo and Carmelo have bonded."

Gabriel smiled and relief flooded through me. "You're okay with it?" I asked.

He nodded, "Since you arrived Lilly, my outlook on life has changed quite a lot. You have helped me become more open minded," he whispered gently, stroking my face as he spoke. "Especially since you brought Sammy back into our lives."

Before I could answer, Tabitha returned with Carmelo and Jo in tow.

"Now you need to be equally open minded, Lilly," he whispered out of their ear shot.

"Gabriel. How good to see you. My apologies for not coming to see you sooner. I was away for a few days and only returned yesterday evening and I certainly did not want to disturb your sleep last night," said Carmelo as they gently shook hands.

"And you have had far more important matters to attend to, Carmelo," Gabriel replied, looking at Jo, who blushed and smiled at the same time.

"Ahh, so the cat is out of the bag," laughed Carmelo.

Gabriel nodded and said, "Well, it's funny that you should use those words exactly Carmelo because I believe that the cat is quite literally out of the bag... I believe that Tabitha here is, in fact, of the feline variety."

Jo moved forward to sit at the foot of the bed, clearly curious. Carmelo followed, standing behind her with his hands lovingly on her shoulders.

Tabitha sat on one side of the bed and I sat on the other.

Gabriel took a sip of his tea and then handed it to me to put down.

"I believe Tabitha is part of our family."

We all gasped.

"But how?" I asked.

"Tabitha has kindly filled me in on her life but it wasn't until she mentioned, right at the very end, the name of her mother... Lori," he said and he turned to look at her, "that's why you looked so familiar to me when you first arrived. You are Rose's grandchild, Tabitha. You are Lilly's second cousin."

And we both shrieked and laughed and leaned over Gabriel to hug each other.

"That means that Lori is still alive!" I gasped, "We must return home to tell Rose."

"This is wonderful news, Gabriel. Would you like me to send news to Rose?" asked Carmelo.

But Gabriel declined, "I think this is something that needs to be done in person by Tabitha and Lilly. But thank you, Carmelo. In the meantime, I need to decide what I am going to do. And you, Carmelo, and you, Jo, need to decide what you are going to do too. If you understand my meaning."

Jo turned to look at Carmelo and he smiled down at her.

"Perhaps you would like to discuss this in private?" asked Gabriel.

"Well, actually. We've already decided," Jo answered quietly, "I am going to go home and finish high school and then I am going to return to live with Carmelo and help with the Elders," she said and Gabriel smiled.

"That is a wise decision, my dear. It also gives your parents a few months to come to terms with this situation and to accept Carmelo into the family... but don't look so worried Jo, I believe that your parents will understand. After all, this family has a long history of love at first sight," he chuckled.

His earlier words hadn't gone amiss with me and I asked nervously, "But what about you, Gabriel? What do you mean you need to decide what to do?" as I remembered that the Elders had invited Gabriel to live with them in the mountains.

"We will leave you two alone for now, Gabriel. So you can talk," said Carmelo as he, Jo and Tabitha walked out of the room. At the same time I heard Tabitha asking Jo if she could tell her a little about Rose.

"So what did you mean, Gabriel?"

"Lilly, I already knew that I would one day come and be with the Elders. I just thought that it wouldn't be for a few more years but since this has happened to me, I feel like an old man. I don't think I will ever fully recover from the fall. I think you know that too," he said sadly. "This is my destiny and I have therefore decided not to return home with you."

I sobbed, not just because he wasn't coming home, but because Vivian had hurt us once more. She had injured my grandfather and although he would recover, his body would never be as it once was.

"What am I going to do without you?"

"You'll be fine. You'll be absolutely fine. And with your amazing ability, you can come and visit me whenever you want to, okay?"

I nodded sadly. "But what will I tell the people in town?"

"I will give you letters to give to my close friends. I will tell them that I had to move away to take care of an elderly relative in the north. They will understand."

"But what about Ben? He'll be devastated," I whispered.

"I will tell him the same thing. He will get over it. He is young."

I knew he would, but he would be hurt not to see Gabriel for one last time. Not to be able to say goodbye. I knew how he would feel and I didn't want him to have to go through that.

"Through you, we can exchange letters. Then it won't be so bad for him, okay?" and I agreed.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

Three days later, we were ready to set off home but there was one thing I needed to do before I left. I asked Carmelo if I could see Vivian. Although he wasn't keen, he did understand that I needed some kind of closure. And since coming to Canada, I had changed. Not only was I turning into a young woman, but I had also become much stronger and I felt the need to stand up to her once more.

"It is very cold where she is being held beneath the mountains. You will need a cape or a coat to keep you warm," said Carmelo.

"Here, have mine, Lilly. I will wait up here until you come back up," said Jo as she removed the coat she had put on in readiness for our departure.

I took it and wrapped it around my shoulders before I followed Carmelo and a few others deep down into the mountain where she and Charlie were being held until their trial.

"What will happen to Charlie?" I asked him.

"Some of our witches are working on a spell to try and undo the curse she has placed on him. If we can do so, we will return him to his original self and he will be set free, although he will have no memory of what happened to him," I wasn't sure I liked the idea. He was responsible for seriously injuring my grandfather after all.

"Lilly, please remember that this poor man was not responsible. He has been changed at the hands of one of the most evil witches we have ever seen. If we change him back, he will be a different man. We cannot hold him responsible. However, if we cannot reverse the curse, we will have no choice but to hold him accountable with his mistress, Vivian."

Charlie was being held in a cell beneath the mountain. It was clean and comfortable and he was being fed and looked after. As I peered through the tight bars, I tried to see him as the man he used to be. An Englishman who had been kidnapped and cursed and forced to do the most evil things. I suddenly had a vision of London all those months before when my father and Vivian had vanished, I had a flash of a newspaper headline, 'Entrepreneur Charles Austen Missing'. I wondered if this could be the same man.

"Charles? Charles Austen?" I said gingerly, hoping for a response.

Charlie looked up and for a second there was recognition in his eyes.