Greetings dear readers and fellow Owen/Abby fans. Well, it's been a while but here's my latest addition to the growing library of Owen/Abby fanfictions.
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been working on a HUGE, (read: ten chapter) Kick-Ass fic, "The Case of the Santa Claus Strangler". If anyone's interested it's up at the Kick-Ass page. Feel free to read it (and review). LOL
This is a little one-shot I was able to put together in one day. It's the warm-up for my next MAJOR multi-part fic.
I hope everyone likes this and it warms them up for my next big project.
BTW, I'd like to thank MOST of the members at "Be Me A Little" for their support...most, not all. This fic is for everyone there who's said *good* things about me and my writing.
And again, kudos for anyone who can spot the Stephen King reference. ;-)
And, as you know, I'm addicted to reviews. Please feed my addiction by reviewing. :-D
Cold Creek, Montana, March 1984
It was the beginning of March of 1984. All across North America, people smiled and belatedly turned over a page on their calendars (the event delayed a day due to it being a Leap Year). Everyone looked forward to the approaching end of winter and advent of spring.
Yet, the month wasn't one of light and happiness for all. In the small town of Tarker's Mills, Maine, the month's full moon arrived at the same time as a violent ice storm. During the night a savage, berserker howling was heard. The next morning's light revealed, in the woods by downed power lines (the sight was discovered by a lineman sent to do repairs) is a drifter with his chest savagely ripped open. In the ice around his corpse are wolf tracks…that look oddly human. After this third killing in as many full moons, true fear grips Tarker's Mills.
These events though, were not known –or even reported- in the Rocky Mountains of Western Montana. Out there, a different milestone was about to be noted.
Oscar Alfredson stepped out of his old, stone ranch house and took a deep breath of the cold, late winter air. The sky was a deep blue and stood a stark contrast to the white hills of the Rocky Mountains, as he stepped off the front porch and craned his neck to take in the scenery of Western Montana that he'd loved all of his sixty-plus years.
Hefting the strap of his overnight bag on his shoulder, he walked along the path to where his pick-up truck lay parked in the drive next to the house. He opened the door –living where he did, meant he didn't need to lock his truck here. During the daytime he could spot someone coming around. Plus, the truck was a needed and much used vehicle around the ranch and was constantly in use. At night though…Well, Oscar didn't worry about such things at night any longer. He hadn't for coming up on a year now, as of later this month. It was fair to say that since his grandson had moved in with him…and brought his companion who'd become Oscar's surrogate granddaughter, someone breaking into either his house or car at night was definitely the least of Oscar's concerns. Abby, his surrogate granddaughter was quite adamant that if anyone should actually try such a thing out in such a rural and isolated location, she would hear it…and that person would definitely be sorry.
The sound of metal striking metal reached Oscar's ears. He shut his pick-up truck's door and followed it around to the back of the house where a strong and lanky looking teenager was working at splitting logs. He was currently wielding a heavy sledge hammer and pounding it on a wedge that was deep in a large log. With a final blow, the log split and the teen reached for a heavy axe to further split the wood.
"Owen?" Oscar called out. Owen looked up as his grandfather called him.
"Oh, hi Grandpa." Owen responded as he set the splitting axe back down again.
"You're making progress." Oscar noted as he looked over Owen's work area. There was a decent-sized pile of split logs, neatly stacked.
"Thanks"
"I don't know what I ever did before you and Abby arrived." Oscar said with a smile in reference to the fact that the two of them had taken over much of the physical jobs he had done himself before they arrived.
"Are you all set?" Owen asked as he walked over to his grandfather.
"I'm all set. I just hate that I have to go to the Elk's convention today."
"Why? You go every year. You have a great time."
"Other years, I didn't have you and Abby living here."
"We can take care of ourselves."
"Oh, I know that. But, I just hate that it's today, and what you wanted to do."
"Grandpa, Abby understands. Besides, if you didn't go this year, everyone would wonder why."
"You're sure Abby won't mind?"
"I'm sure, Grandpa." Owen said with a smile.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm not being here for you as much as I should."
"You've done plenty for us."
"I had to go away on your birthday too." Oscar said with a sigh.
"We had my party the day after, when you got back. It was a lot better than any birthday I'd had before." Owen said as he recalled his thirteenth birthday celebration the previous summer. "Look, Abby knows how much you care. Trust me. If you'd seen how she acted when I first met her, you'd know how much living here has changed her."
"Since when did you become so grown-up?" Oscar asked with a smile as he put his arm around his grandson. He noted how much taller Owen had gotten since his arrival almost a year before, not to mention far broader shoulders. It was a testament to the benefits of all the hard, outdoor labour Owen had undertaken. When Owen arrived here that night in 1983 -almost a year ago, now- he looked like a boy. Now, Oscar could easily see signs of the man Owen was turning into.
"Since I started living with a great role model." Owen replied. His grandfather had proven to be the available father figure and role model that Owen had been sorely lacking in his previous life in Los Alamos. In a year, Owen had felt he'd become more self-sufficient and capable. He'd learned the ins and outs of running a ranch and could undertake most of the jobs associated with it. His hands had become strong and calloused like his grandfather's were and he was glad to leave behind the weak boy he'd been as his body became strong from the work he did. In fact, Owen was now pretty much capable of doing any job around the place on his own. And, for the rare job he couldn't handle solo…Abby was always ready to help once the sun set. Her incalculable strength, as a rule, meant work was done fast. Owen was fine with that. Once their work was done, it meant they could either watch TV, go to see a movie at the drive-in…or spend some quality "couples" time alone. Owen was proud of how he'd grown. He wanted to step up and be a help to his grandfather. He also wanted to be someone Abby was proud to be with.
"Well, since you're practically pushing me out on the road, I'd better get started. I want to get to Butte before it gets dark." Oscar said as he gave Owen a hug.
"Alright, where are you staying again?" Owen asked as he returned the hug.
"I'm staying over at the house of the Exalted Ruler. The phone number is on the table."
"You actually call him the Exalted Ruler?" Owen said as he fought off a laugh. It sounded like The Grand Poobah of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes on The Flintstones. Abby would definitely get a laugh out of that when he told her.
"Don't make fun." Oscar said with mock-indignation. He'd found, after decades of membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks that the term "Exalted Ruler" tended to invoke snickers from the non-initiated. Even Elina had spent about ten years doing that.
"I can't help it."
"Try." Oscar deadpanned as he walked over to his truck. "Well, tell Abby that when I get home tomorrow, we'll all do her special day properly."
"I will Grandpa. Drive safely." Owen called out as his grandfather waved and got into the driver's seat. He started the pick-up and turned it down the driveway towards the main road.
Owen looked at his watch and then turned towards the western horizon. The sun was sitting lower on the horizon than it had been only a half-hour before. He figured it would be about ninety minutes until sundown and Abby got up.
Now, he figured, was the time to set things up for when Abby arose. He finished stacking the last of the wood he'd split and entered the house. A few minutes later, he re-emerged, carrying a box of items. He walked around the house to where the door for the root cellar was. Pulling a key from his pocket, he unlocked the door, re-pocketed his key, and descended into the root cellar. He smiled as he thought of Abby's reaction when she woke up that evening…He hoped she'd be surprised.
Approximately ninety minutes later, last traces of the sun's disk had slid below the western horizon and the final traces of the day's light left the sky. Down in the old root cellar that had been converted into a cozy -if unusual- bedroom, Abby opened her eyes and looked around. She sensed something was different.
It took a second for her to realize that Owen wasn't there. She suppressed a sigh of disappointment. She knew that some days he was just too busy to come downstairs to wait for her to wake up. But still, she loved waking up to find him there. She loved it even more on the rare times she awoke to find he'd gotten into bed with her. It was an immense understatement to say she preferred that to waking up alone in a bathtub or in her trunk. (Of course, on occasion in the last year she had lingered too long in Owen's room the night before and had to spend the day in her trunk that was kept in Owen's bedroom for just such a necessity.)
Abby sat up in her bed and noticed a sheet of paper on the bedside table nearest to her. She clicked on the light –noting the irony that she really didn't need the light to read, Abby thought it had to be more of a behavioural habit than a physical necessity- and smiled as she recognized Owen's handwriting.
Hi Abby.
Good morning/evening. I'm sorry I couldn't be there to wake up with you today. Come on upstairs and I think you'll understand.
I love you.
Owen.
Abby found herself smiling and suppressing girlish giggles as she reread the note. She sniffed it. It even had the smell of Owen's favourite cologne, Hai Karate, on it. (In all honesty, she still thought he used a little too much of that, but nobody was perfect.) She impulsively kissed the note, then folded it up neatly and put it inside the drawer of the bedside table, beneath the paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice she was currently reading.
She shut the drawer and then padded over to her dresser, glancing at the numerous posters of John Schneider and –of course- David Hasselhoff (Owen constantly teased her about her celebrity crush on the Knight Rider star. He said that David Hasselhoff should do a show Abby could really like…where he always wore a bathing suit. Maybe he should play a lifeguard, or something. Abby responded that she didn't think a show all about lifeguards would EVER succeed.) that adorned her walls, to get out her clothes for the "day". (She'd gotten into the mental habit of calling her the nocturnal hours she could move about as her 'day'. It had begun soon after their arrival here and she found herself doing more normal things since she no longer had a pressing need to stalk prey to feed.)
On top of the dresser, she saw something that caused her to smile again. There was a picnic cooler sitting there. She opened it and saw that an IV bag of blood –procured from St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula about a week prior- sitting in a bowl of warm water. Abby smiled again as she pulled the bag out and held it in her hands. So far as she could tell, it felt like it was warmed nicely. She wondered what Owen was up to. Usually her "breakfast" consisted of a beer bottle full of cattle blood brought from the local butcher. If Owen had brought down an IV bag of human blood, then something special might be in the works. Abby looked above her head to the ceiling and wondered what he was planning in the house above her. She wrenched off the valve from the IV bag and began to feed. She simply couldn't wait to find out what was going on upstairs.
Less than five minutes later, Abby –now dressed in a purple sweatshirt and a pair of blue jeans stepped inside the house. She took a second to brush snow off of her bare feet and looked around.
"Hi Abby." Owen's voice called to from the dining room.
"Owen. What are you up to?"
"Come on in here and see." Abby silently walked over to the dining room and her eyes went wide at the sight that awaited her. Owen had turned the lights low, to highlight a single candle burning on the table. The record player was playing "The Breakup Song" (which they'd agreed was their special song) by The Greg Kihn Band. On the wall, a homemade banner read "Happy Birthday, Abby".
"Owen, what are you doing?" Abby asked with an awed voice as she processed the sight.
"Well, remember when I asked you, back in the courtyard at Los Alamos, when your birthday was and you said you didn't know?"
"Yeah"
"I just thought…You've told me so often that when we became friends, you started living again. So, I thought that if that was when you started living again, why not call that your birthday? Today's the date I lent you my Rubik's Cube and we started to become friends."
"Owen, do you mean…?"
"That's right; happy birthday, Abby." Owen said with a smile as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Abby responded and put her own arms around his neck and pulled him into her as the kiss deepened. Finally the kiss broke and Abby smiled at her lover.
"Owen…I don't know what to say about all this. I think I'm the only person who ever got an actual birthday as a birthday present."
"So, you're good with us using this date from now on?"
"It's just like everything else you've ever done for me Owen…It's perfect."
"I'm glad you like it. If you don't mind, I was going to give you your present tomorrow along with Grandpa's when he gets home from Butte." Owen said as he thought of the paperback copy of Sense and Sensibility he'd gotten for her. If there was one thing he'd learned about Abby's tastes in the last year it was that she loved romances.
"Oh that's fine. I think it's be too much if you gave me a present now on top of everything else."
"Good."
"So, when did you think of this?"
"It was last summer, when I had my thirteenth birthday. Do you remember that?" Owen asked with a smile.
"How could I forget it?" Abby replied with a smile of her own as they both remembered that date and milestone of their relationship that came with it.
July 1983
With a sigh, Owen set down the heavy sledge hammer that he'd been using to pound rocks into gravel. He flexed his hands and groaned. It had been a hard day of work under the early July sun working at their ongoing repair job on the ranch's driveway. Owen was sweaty and tired. He looked around the ranch that was quiet in the early evening of a summer's day. His grandfather had gone fishing for the day at Wolf Creek and was playing cards with his friends afterwards. It was a monthly tradition for him and his old friends that Owen had refused to get in the way with.
Owen took a deep breath of the fresh Montana air. He didn't feel any different. He wondered if he should. He was hours away from turning thirteen. He was going to be a teenager now…on the road to manhood. In truth he didn't feel that much different. He did look quite different than he had months earlier. He'd already had a growth spurt and over three months of hard physical labour had built up his muscles. As well, working in the sun every day and left him tanned. Yet, he didn't feel all that different from what he had felt like before. Well, there was ONE thing he felt made him different: Abby. Owen had realized his life could be divided into two parts –his life before meeting Abby and his life after meeting Abby. The latter could only account for perhaps four months of his life. However, it was fair to say that those four months made him happier than the other twelve years and eight months combined. Having Abby in his life was magical. And the happy life they'd built here -away from the bullying, the violence of her need to hunt, the isolation they'd both endured- was helping them dispel their bad memories and replace them with the good memories they'd created her since arriving at winter's end.
Owen entered the house and removed his work boots, leaving them on the mat by the door and put his slippers on. He felt sticky and dirty. Ordinarily, his work continued into the night when Abby rose to come and help him. However, she'd said that tonight she thought he deserved to quit work early and so he was complying. He looked at his watch and saw that he still had about a half-hour until she was up. He looked down again at his sweaty and grimy form. Deciding that he had enough time for a quick shower before Abby got up, he bounded up the stairs to the washroom.
A half-hour later, Owen –who was now showered and wearing clean clothes- sat at the kitchen table reading a Batman comic. He was muttering to himself over this new character, Jason Todd, who was somehow being set up to replace Dick Grayson as Robin. He already didn't like him. Owen grumbled to himself that Jason was just a Dick clone –he ever had the twin curls of hair of his forehead- as he reached for his A&W Rootbeer. His anti-Todd diatribe was interrupted by the sound of the screendoor opening and Abby entered the kitchen. She saw Owen and she smiled.
"Hey." She said to him.
"Hey." He said with a smile of his own. He looked her up and down. It was hard to believe she was the same girl he'd met in the Los Alamos courtyard. That girl had looked ill and dirty, dressed in ratty old clothes that seemed to more conceal her than anything else. Now, Abby looked clean and very healthy –It was a result of being able to feed daily, even if it was only animal blood with the occasional IV bag of human blood mixed in. As well, being fed regularly and having a stable home permitted Abby to pay attention to niceties such as clean clothes and showering regularly- although she was still very pale in comparison with Owen. (There was nothing that could be done about that.) She was dressed in a short-sleeved lavender t-shirt and some shorts made from cut-off jeans. As always, she wasn't wearing any shoes or socks. Overall, if one discounted her pallor, she looked like any regular girl her age that lived on a ranch and who loved the open air and nature.
Abby came over, sat down on the chair next to Owen and gave him a kiss on the lips.
"What're you reading?" She asked once the kiss broke.
"Batman; I hate this Jason Todd though."
"Why?"
"He's just another Dick Grayson clone. He's like…Coy and Vance Duke, only worse!"
"Wow. Is he that bad?" Abby giggled.
"Yes!" Owen replied adamantly.
"Well, how about you put the comic away now and we go outside and do something?" Abby said as she gently closed the comic book. She really wished Owen could appreciate Shakespeare like she did. Comics were still a fairly new thing for her.
"Like what?"
"We have a Frisbee that glows in the dark." Abby said with a playful grin.
"Like you need that?" Owen said with a grin of his own as he stood up and took Abby's hand as they walked outside. He savoured the feel of Abby's small, pale hand touching his. Her skin was quite cool to the touch, as a rule. It didn't bother him at all though. On the contrary, he always found it so strange that her skin was so cool...yet he felt so warm whenever she touched him and the warmth spread through his whole body.
The time flew by as the young couple enjoyed their Frisbee game in the yard. Abby, after catching a throw that caused her to leap a –literally- inhuman distance into the air, paused and looked at Owen.
"Owen, what time is it now?"
Owen looked at his watch and his eyes grew wide. "Wow, it's midnight already." As he looked up from his watch, his breath caught as Abby was suddenly standing right beside him. A half-second before she'd been standing at least twenty feet away. The speed that she could move at still startled him.
"It's your birthday now, Owen; happy birthday!" Abby said happily as she leaned in and kissed him on the lips.
"Thanks Abby." Owen said as their lips parted. "This is already the best birthday I've ever had."
"Why?"
"I have you." Owen said with a smile and an arched eyebrow.
"Aw, you're so sweet." Abby giggled. Then she paused. She took a breath and gulped. "Owen…Do you want to go inside now?"
"Sure." Owen replied as they walked, hand-in-hand, back to the house.
Once inside Abby gestured, with a smile, they go up to Owen's room. He turned off the downstairs lights, picked up his comic and led Abby up the stairs to his bedroom. Once they were in his room, Owen took Abby in his arms and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Abby responded and they fell down on his bed, locked in an embrace.
After a short while, they paused and they looked at each other as an understanding of mutual desire passed between them.
"Abby" Owen said, with a voice that was trembling with nervousness. "Do you…Do you want to…?"
Abby put her hands on either side of Owen's face and replied with a voice that belied her own nervousness. "Yes. Yes, Owen…I want us to…" She said with a nod of her head.
A smile came over Owen's face as Abby slid herself up towards his pillows. Owen took a few steps over and put a knee down on his mattress. With shaking hands, he lifted his shirt off and over his head, revealing his torso that looked far stronger than when Abby had seen him pull himself out of the swimming pool in Los Alamos. Abby smiled at him in recognition of his now far more muscular body. With trembling hands, he reached for the hem of Abby's shirt. He fumbled it and smiled at her in embarrassment.
"Sorry. I'm kind of nervous."
"I know. It's alright. I am too."
"You are?"
"Owen…I've never done this before."
"You…?"
"Owen, I've let people look at me. I've let them kiss me. I let them touch me sometimes. But, I've never let anyone do this with me. Not ever. I just couldn't…I never cared about anyone enough to do that. I never loved anyone the way I love you." Abby said as she took his hand and put it to her cheek. She hoped that would help him relax. What she'd told him was true. As strange as it seemed to her, considering what she'd done to survive the last two centuries, she'd never allowed any relationship to ever progress to this stage. She'd never been in love with any of them. She was in love with Owen though and she knew that this was finally the time for her to do this. She was with the right person.
Owen smiled at her now, feeling a little more relaxed and together they lifted Abby's shirt off of her. Abby smiled and pushed a little hair out of her eyes. Then she reached over and undid Owen's jeans and pulled them down, along with his briefs. Owen stood up briefly to kick them off his legs along with removing his socks before getting on the bed again. He smiled again at Abby and gently undid and pulled down, and off her legs, her jean shorts and underwear.
Abby looked up and Owen and smiled at him. She caressed his cheek gently with her hand as he maneuvered himself into position over her.
"I love you, Abby. I love you so much." He said softly
"I know. I love you too." Abby replied in a soft voice of her own.
Owen leaned down to kiss her as they began to finally consummate their relationship.
March 1984
"That was a wonderful night Owen." Abby said with a smile as she remembered the first time they made love.
"Yeah, it was." Owen replied as he put his arms around her. Abby giggled as he pulled her into a hug, as he craned his head down slightly and kissed her around her ear. "I was so nervous." He whispered to her.
"I know. I was too."
"I was afraid you wouldn't, you know, like it."
"I love you Owen. I wanted us to do that together. I knew that I'd like it."
"I do think we've gotten better at it though." Owen said with a grin.
"Oh, that's for sure."
Owen gestured to the single candle burning atop the table. "Blow out your candle, Abby, and make a wish. Abby complied and blew out the candle.
"So, what did you wish for?"
"I always thought you're not supposed to tell."
"Really?"
"I'm not sure, but I already have my wish, so I guess I can give you a hint."
"You can?"
"Look in the mirror. I think that you've pretty much made every wish I've ever had come true."
"I can't have done all that." Owen said as Abby gave him a faked indignant look.
"Oh, you have. I have someone who loves me. You thought of a way I don't have to hurt anyone any longer. We have this life here. It's all because of you." Owen smiled as he realized just how much of an impact he did have on Abby.
"So, what are you going to do with your candles next year?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you want to do the number two, or maybe do thirteen, or two-hundred and twenty-four next year?"
"We're not doing two hundred and twenty-four!" Abby said with mock horror as she giggled.
"It must be weird to not really get any older." Owen said softly.
"Yeah, it is. It's something to really wrap your head around it."
"I want to find out for myself." Owen said plainly and watched her reaction. Abby smiled at him, half happily and half sadly.
"Oh Owen, are you sure you want that? It's not something you should think of lightly."
"I know, Abby. I have thought about it. I've thought about it for almost a year now. I want it."
"Don't you want to wait a while longer? You could grow some more, learn to drive, you could do so many things."
"I know that. But Abby, if I did that, it would feel…weird to be with you then. Wouldn't it feel strange if I was sixteen, or eighteen, or twenty and we were out somewhere together? We couldn't act the way we wanted to. Guys who are that age don't have girlfriends who look twelve."
"I know Owen. And, to be honest, I really wouldn't want that either. But, I also don't want you to regret being stuck at this age forever if you'll regret it someday."
"I won't regret it. Not ever. I promise I won't. It's just…I don't want to get that much older if you can't get older with me."
"I wish I could grow older, Owen. But, I can't."
"Then, my not getting any older either is the only other way. Abby, you can't tell me you've never thought of doing that yourself?"
Abby thought back to that night in Los Alamos when she realized she loved Owen. She thought then that turning him might be an option. She had to admit, she'd have never dreamed Owen would so willingly want to join her like this. She still was planning on turning him that summer, if he still wanted her to. But, she felt she had to let him be aware of the implications. At least, she thought, Owen wouldn't have to exist like she had for so long as a predator. He would feed the way she did now. It was that knowledge that probably made it as easy as it did to entertain thoughts of turning him.
"I'll admit, I've thought of it from time to time." Abby said with a smile.
"You have?"
"Yeah"
"Good" The two smiled at each other and held hands.
"Owen, Grandpa is staying over in Butte tonight, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he is. Why?" His reply was for Abby to smile at him and lead him, by the hand –turning off the record player as they passed- to the stairs and up to his room.
A couple of hours later, Owen and Abby lay in his bed. The sheets and their hair were both badly disheveled and all their clothing lay on the floor. The two lay facing each other, each propped up on their elbows.
"We've definitely gotten better at this Owen." Abby said with a giggle.
"Good. All I want is for you to enjoy it."
"I do, Owen. You don't have to worry about that." Abby said as she leaned in and kissed him.
"You know, when we met…I never thought we'd ever do this."
"Never?"
"Yup, it would have been too much to ask for. I thought I'd have been happy if you wanted to be friends with me. I mean, the first time we met you said we couldn't be."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, by the way."
"Why did you say that anyways?"
"I was afraid to let someone get close to me. I couldn't let you find out what I am. And, there was always the chance I could lose control around you. When I got hungry, it could happen all too easily."
"But you did let me get close to you."
"You're special Owen. I guess I picked up on that. Somehow, you found a way right through my defenses and into my heart." Abby said as she traced her finger over Owen's cheekbone.
"I wasn't even trying to do that. I just hoped you'd want to be friends after all."
"I know." Abby said leaning in to give him a quick kiss. "I guess it's a good thing too. I've seen what happens when you ARE trying to impress me. Would you've cut open your palm, or just tried to slice off your finger like in the basement?" Abby said with a laugh as Owen groaned and buried his face in the pillow.
"Are you EVER going to let me hear the end of that?" He sighed with his voice muffled by the pillow over Abby's giggles.
"I'll remember it as long as we're together. So, I'm afraid you're going to hear about that…forever" Abby said with a loving smile. Owen pulled his face out of his pillow and smiled back as her words sunk in. Owen knew the implications of what he wanted Abby to do with him. He didn't care, however. There was nothing else in the world he could want as much as this life he had with her. Growing older, learning to drive, sunlight, normal food...they all really seemed insignificant to the feelings he had for her. The thought of being with Abby forever was perhaps the happiest image he could imagine...even if she was always going to bring up his near-disastrous attempt at impressing her in the basement of his old apartment complex.
"Well, I guess I can handle it then." He said as he pulled Abby close and they began to kiss again.
Along the James River, Virginia
Such changes have taken place, the being once known as Jebediah Marshall thought to himself. His family's old plantation still stood, and it appeared that the family still owned it –if the name on the gates was any indication. But, the estate had changed much in the last eleven score years. The house now had electricity powering it and everywhere there were these infernally noisy automobiles and trucks.
And, he couldn't begin to stomach the changes in the people. Women went about speaking of important matters that they really had no business worrying themselves about. In his day, it was left to the men-folk to attend to such matters. And it appeared that –to his disgust- the end of slavery in 1865 had resulted in those 'people' thinking they had some sort of equality with the ruling class. His brother had never favoured that peculiar institution or practiced it himself. Jebediah though had considered it perfectly natural. To him, it was as natural as the lust he felt for his little niece Abigail. And, as a rule, if Jebediah Marshall thought something was right for him, he acted on it. In hindsight, he really should have paid more attention to the goings on of the War Between the States. If he'd happened to drop by on that fool from Illinois, Lincoln, or perhaps his vaunted commanders Grant, Sherman, Meade and Sheridan…His beloved Virginia would have been victorious.
Alas, that was water under the bridge now. He had more pressing matters to attend to, such as tracking down his beloved little Abigail. He figured that ultimately tracking her shouldn't be too hard a chore. He'd learned things of his condition over the centuries. One of them was the fact that when he turned someone into a vampire, there was an unbreakable psychic bond between the vampire and his or her maker. He'd learned that from turning a few vampires over the last two centuries. He could trace them psychically, like a scent in the wind.
Now, he was certain he could track Abigail down. It was now March. Why, he would wager that he would have his reunion with her before the start of summer.
A grin of his sharp teeth spread across Jebediah's ghostly pale face and he took to the sky as his quest to find his niece began in earnest. His first direction he travelled was to the west.