“Listen to me...” the Night Mother stood over Michelle. “The vampire made a choice and she is saved. What’s done is done. He cannot help her now. You can. There are those that know of the stories, the prophecies foretelling her arrival. Forces are gathering. They may not know her name, or her gender, but they will be coming. In fact, they may already have the advantage. Legend has it, three items exist that lead to total power. A spell book, a sword and a set of armour. Knowledge, attack and defense. The vampire king, Vincent, had two of them: the sword and the book. I do not know if he knew what they were, but now it no longer matters. What does, is after the explosion at the mansion both were missing. Did one party find both? Did separate entities pick up each? I do not know. What I do know is, as of yet, the armour has never been sighted. The last piece of the puzzle that has never been found or seen, if legends are true, belongs to her.”
“Why would anyone hide the armour if they had it?”
“There are those that do not want the darkness lifted, or like Dominus, wish to strip her powers for use against the city. You must keep her safe until the time comes.”
“Until the time comes for what? What powers? What is she?”
But she was gone, disappearing almost instantly.
“Hey hunni,” came Alex’s voice, perhaps awoken by Michelle’s loud question. Weak, croaky. Michelle didn’t care. She could’ve spoken in sign language for all Michelle cared.
“Hey...” Michelle smiled, rising to bend over Alex. Michelle continuously ran her fingers through Alex’s hair after giving her light forehead kisses. “How are you feeling? Are you ok?”
“Feel weird. Kinda dizzy. Why am I in a hospital?”
Shit. Straight to the tough question. How best to answer this? “You’ve had a rough few days. What, um...what do you remember?”
Alex closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her head. “Um...”
Alex looked to be concentrating, or trying to. Michelle sucked in her lips and waited. She wasn’t sure what Alex would say, but she did know Alex was certain to forget one, very important thing. “I remember parent teacher night. I was saying goodbye to the parents, and then...um...I woke up here? Isn’t that weird?”
“No,” Michelle said quickly. “We...I...found you at school. You’d fainted.”
“Ok,” Alex breathed out, appearing to relax. “So, I’m ok?”
“I think so.” Michelle smiled. “Do you know who I am? My name?”
“Of course I know you,” Alex replied, reaching out for Michelle’s hand. “How could I ever forget you Mish Mash?”
Ok, so she remembers me. But what else does she remember?
“Do you remember anything about earlier that day?” At the look Alex gave her, she tried to come up with a plausible reason for asking, though it pained her to do it. The last person on this earth she would lie to or try to take advantage of was Alex. “Just trying to see whereabouts your mind is. You took a bump on the head.”
“I um…I remember most of the day. I think. I…” Alex paused, obviously thinking about something. She reached over for Michelle’s hand and brought it to her mouth, lightly kissing her fingers and then holding it in hers. “You came to Nick’s service. For me. Thank you so much. I never thought you’d come.”
Michelle ran her thumb along Alex’s cheek and leaned in closer. “Of course I did sweetie. I’d do anything for you.”
Alex rubbed her face against Michelle’s fingers and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Michelle returned her smile, rubbing her arm softly. “Me too,” she said, looking over Alex’s eyes. Even after what could be almost hours of sleeping, no make-up, bed hair, confusion, weakness and a croaky voice, Alex’s loveliness and warmth shone through her features. “I’m glad you remember that. I mean, I’m glad you remember Nick.”
“I don’t think there is anything that would make me forget him.”
But Michelle knew different. There was something that was blocking her memory. Alex remembered Michelle, she remembered Nick. But what else? And how did she as both Michelle and Nick were connected to Dante. Michelle had to be careful not to trigger memories by naming people. If Alex said the names on her own, Michelle wouldn’t make the disastrous mistake of trying to force memories from her. As per the Night Mother’s warning, could lead to Dominus taking over her again.
And that was the last thing Michelle wanted. As if her mind willed it, she had flashes of what the beast looked like while possessing her. The torment. The suffering. The way her lips tasted…NO. Michelle cleared her throat and gave a half smile. The last thing Michelle needed to think about was that night, yet she squeezed her thigh, feeling the chain of the necklace in her pocket. The night when Dominus truly took control over Alex. The night the demon ravaged her. Where she almost killed Dante. She grew black wings and hovered in the air, a gleeful, sinister creature of evil, intent on the destruction of all women. And yet, before that, maybe an hour before, Alex had come to Michelle’s door possessed by Dominus. It wasn’t hard to imagine that he had brought Alex there to kill Michelle. Michelle thought back, trying to make sense of it all and failing.
If Alex was possessed, why did she hesitate? And more importantly, how the hell did Michelle let that happen? Alex kissed her that night with a passion she had only felt with Dante. Alex did things to her that night. On the floor. Things she had only let guys do and yet with Alex, she never protested anything. The only sounds Michelle made were in fact Alex’s name.
“There’s something you’re not telling
