The Link (16 page)

“
Ummm, ewww,” I said.

“
Not for me,” he smiled, “because it was then that I began to have hope again that it had actually worked. I got in the tub with you and used the shower to rinse everything away. I bathed you. You were unconscious but then you suddenly screamed, dug your fingers into my arms and pleaded with me. You begged me to make it stop.
‘
Please make it stop’ you screamed. It was torture for me to hear because I knew I couldn’t make it stop. I had done this to you. I had put you in the worse pain you’ve ever felt and there was nothing I could do to stop it,” his voice was a whisper.
I held him, waiting for him
to continue when he was ready. “You continued screaming off and on for a while, begging and pleading with me to make it stop
,
” he continued
.
“Finally, you let out a horrible cry of anguish so loud that it cracked the window in the bathroom and then you collapsed in my arms. You were completely silent and still. I finished cleaning you off, dried you, put on a fresh nightgown and carried you to bed.”
He shook his head as if trying to erase a memory. “I could only sit back and wait then. Wait for you to wake up. Wait to be sure it had actually worked and that you were still you.”

I sat back and let this sink in for a few minutes, then reached up and took him in my arms
.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I whispered.

He pushed me back, surprise on his face, “What the hell Sarah!
Sorry
I
had to go through that? You’re the one who went through it, not me, I could only watch. Your concern for others still staggers my mind. This proves that you
’
re still you,” he shook his head in amazement.

“
Okay,” I replied
.
“I’m sorry
I
had to go through that, and I’m sorry
you
had to see it. Better?”
I asked.

“
Better,” he said and took me into his arms.

Suddenly Matt sat up. He was stiff and tense.

“
What’s wrong?” I whispered.

“
It’s Carlos,” Matt said through gritted teeth. I looked around the room, confused

“
Where is he
?
”
I asked.

“
He’s not here. I told him to leave earlier, just to be safe. He’s in my head now,” he said

My eyebrows shot up (well, this is new, I thought), then Matthew’s face fell, “The Enforcers
…
they’re coming?” he said, but not to me. I grabbed my nightgown and threw it on.
“Oh, no. Please, no,” he whispered as he stared at the door. Suddenly it flew open and in floated six figures, dressed in black robes, black hoods (thankfully) hiding their faces. Two of them glided over to us. I saw their eyes then, eyes that frightened me to the depths of my soul. Clinging hard to Matthew’s hand, I opened my mouth to scream.
As two of them reached out and touched our temples, they silenced my scream and plunged us both into blackness.

Chapter Eight

My eyes flew open and quickly took in my surroundings. I was on a bed, in a stone room. There was a big wooden door (locked I assumed) with a small set of bars near the top and a hatch near the bottom (which I assumed was for food, or in my case, blood), and I was alone
…
utterly alone.
A sudden ear-piercing scream cut through the silence. I shot out of the bed, instantly in a panic, frantic that it was, but hoping and praying that it wasn’t my Matthew. Another scream and I began to calm down a bit. I knew that scream, I had made that scream a few days ago. That was the scream of someone going through the change, it couldn
’
t possibly be Matthew.
I sat back on the bed, a little calmer now, but I had to know Matt was here too. I had to know he was okay. I began to trace the scar on my palm.
I h
esita
ted
between each trace while waiting to feel him tracing his. I was just beginning to feel the panic growing in me again when I felt him. The tingle flowed through my scar and then throughout
my body. I smiled, relieved that he was okay. I could bear this as long as he was okay. I could get through anything as long as he was okay. We both continued this, our comforting of each other, until I was startled by someone unlocking my door. I shot up off the bed and stood straight and still, waiting, as the door slowly opened.

He, or specifically it, because I couldn’t tell whether it was male or female, was in a long blood-red robe with the hood pulled up to conceal its face. A pale, bony finger pointed at me and motioned for me to follow. We walked, or I walked and it glided, down a long hall passing many doors just like mine. I struggled to slow down. If I wasn’t so scared, I would’ve laughed at how ridiculous I must’ve looked. As we approached one of the last doors, it suddenly opened and another figure in a red robe floated out, bowed his head to the other and floated next to him
…
and out of the door walked Matthew. His eyes met mine
and
I was just getting ready to throw my arms around his neck and hug him, but a slight shake of his head told me not to. He fell in to step next to me and quietly took my hand.
Okay, I thought, as I took a deep breath and squeezed his hand, now I really can do this. We continued to the end of the hall where they unlocked and opened a door and we walked into a room. It was huge, rectangular in shape, and straight out of medieval times . We had entered at the back corner of the room, and I turned to my right and saw five hooded figures seated at a huge table at the far end of the room, watching us and waiting. We were ushered forward to two chairs near the front of the room. They were in the center and facing the table.
We slowly sat down, well as slowly as I could. I was a new vampire and slow seemed to be nearly impossible for me right now. All five vampires pulled back their hoods then, and I saw their faces for the first time. They each had long flowing, beautiful, shining hair - a redhead, a blonde, one with grey hair and two with dark brown or black hair. Their skin was pale, almost transparent, and it
glowed
.
But it was their eyes that struck me the most. Intense, shining, black eyes that had such depth to them. I had to avert my gaze because I truly felt that if I stared at them for too long I would be
pulled in to them. There were two females (the blonde and the redhead) and three males. The one in the middle spoke then. It had an ancient voice, much like the voice of Sekhmet in Egypt, only deeper and stronger. “Remain silent until you are asked to speak,” he said sternly and a chill went down my spine. This wasn’t a good start. How am I supposed to reason with them if I can’t speak? How can I beg? How can I plead?

“
As you are aware,” he said, looking directly at Matthew, “you have violated our oldest rule - to never reveal yourself to a human. A violation that can have a penalty of imprisonment or death.” Matthew nodded slightly at this and my eyes darted from him to the Elders. It took every ounce of control I had to not scream “NO.” My hand squeezed his so hard that I actually saw him wince out of the corner of my eye. I loosened my grip a little
…
and waited.

“
You were also able to turn a human. This wasn’t a rule because no vampire has ever done this besides us, so this is not a violation. It deeply disturbs us, but we’re also intrigued. You will both be enlightening us in great detail about how you were
able to do this.”

I started to relax slightly at this, thinking all they wanted us to do was tell them details, but flinched when Matthew squeezed my hand hard this time
…
enlightening them must mean something more than just telling them. I grew tense again
…
and waited for more.

The one speaking turned and looked directly at me and I sat up straight, “Y
ou
will now show us why he is with you, why the link changed.” My mind raced. I was completely confused. I started to open my mouth to say
‘
S
how
you? How am I supposed to show you?’ but stopped short when Matthew jumped up and said, “NO!
Please NO!
Please let me show you.”

The Elder who had been looking at me whipped his head around to Matt and said, “SILENCE!” Suddenly Matt grabbed his head, let out a shattering scream and fell to his knees. I immediately started to go to him but heard the voice say, “You will sit,” and something invisible forced me back into my chair. I could only watch helplessly as Matt curled up into a ball and whimpered on the floor in front of me.
Somehow he managed to meet my eyes with his (Oh the pain in them- it hurt me, it terrified me) and mouth, “I’m so sorry,” before covering his face with his hands again. “Now,” the voice said to me, “you will show us.”

My head was instantly filled with a blinding white light. I squeezed my eyes shut but the light was still there. And then the pain hit.

For someone who had just gone through the change, I thought there was nothing worse than that pain. I was dead wrong. I tried to stifle the scream that was begging to come out. I gripped the arms of the chair until they shattered into sawdust then moved my hands to the sides of the chair, where they didn’t last long either. I clenched my teeth as I felt this pain moving through me, slithering like a snake, like it was searching. Probing my mind until it must have found what it was looking for there because then I felt it move down to my heart. Moving around it like it was searching for a way in.
Circling. I hopelessly tried to brace myself for what I knew was coming. It was at the moment that it found its way in, the moment that it penetrated my heart, that my scream
was finally released.

When I woke, I had no idea what time it was, or what day it was. I was back in my cell. I sensed that I was being watched, but I really didn
’
t care right now because I was on the bed and I was in complete agony. Even my eyes hurt when I tried to look around. I heard a someone approaching the door, heard the slot slide open, heard a tray being pushed through, could smell the stench of the evil, could feel the blood calling to me, but I just wanted to give up. I didn’t want to move, I just wanted to keep the pain away. As if sensing what I was going through, I felt my scar begin to tingle. I knew Matthew was trying to help me up, trying to help me feed, helping to bring my strength back, helping me remember my reason for being. For a full minute I just lay there trying to draw some comfort from my tingling scar. I imagined that it was him lightly caressing me. I started to feel my heart beat a little harder (ouch, that hurt). I gritted my teeth and brought my hand up to look at it (there is no pain like this pain). I whimpered as I brought my other hand up and groaned as I tried to touch my scar. This continued for quite a while, this was all I could
manage right now, even
thinking
about moving any more than this hurt too much. I tried to cling to the happy memories of the last month…
seeing him for the first time, our first kiss, the first time he told me he loved me, our first time together in the hotel, our first time together after I’d been changed. I could feel each memory helping a little. My love for him was forcing its way to the surface as it slowly pushed the pain down.

“
Okay, okay,” I said, “I’ll try.” I knew he could hear me. I had to try to do this for him. I slowly rolled over onto one side…
it felt like I had rolled in a bed
full
of sharp needles and broken glass. I gasped and cried out. I really, really wanted to stop there. “Please, no more,” I whispered and I lay there for a moment, feeling the pain back on the surface.

He waited for a few seconds, then I felt my scar tingle again and I heard him whisper, “Please, Sarah, please.” Hearing his voice, it was easier to bring the love back up and push the pain down.

“
Don’t stop talking to me,” I said. I listened to his gentle words of love and encouragement as I gritted my teeth, pressed down on the bed and forced
myself to sit, trying unsuccessfully to not cry out.

I stayed there for a minute, still as a statue, feeling my scar tingle, listening to his words, until he said, “I’m so sorry Sarah.”

My eyes flew open, and I hissed, “STOP!” and he was silent. “Don’t you ever tell me that you’re sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for.
You
didn
’
t do anything, this was done
to
me and to us. Now, please, just tell me how much you love me so I can keep going.”