Authors Note:
I suggest you read, my "Mother Knows Best" first. This story takes up where that left off.
When will my Death Begin?
By Ldynwaitin
Chapter OneThe Beginning of the End
A cold breeze flew through the empty halls of The Carroll. It flowed down dark hallways, through long empty rooms. It was a special wind, for it was not born out of nature. It finally came to the room it was looking for. There were two occupants in the room, Randal was resting on a bed, next to him was a chair where Cecil sat. The curtains in the room shook as the wind whistled past them.
Cecil watched the curtains move. It was then that he noticed that the window was locked up tight. No natural breeze moved the curtains. Cecil felt the wind flow through him, getting up, he followed the breeze as it swept out of the room and down the hallways.
Randal tossed and turned on his bed. He was more tired now then he'd been in a long time, but it was a good tired. Using the money he had saved, he managed to actually talk the owners of The Carroll into selling it to him. Now the proud owner, he and Cecil had worked hard on creating a haven for werewolves.
So far he'd only managed to reinforce two rooms that he knew could contain a wolf. But in time he'd hoped to create a sanctuary for any wolf that felt persecuted by his kind. Feeling the room growing cold, he realized it was one of the hazards of buying a building with no windows. For now the only window in the place was in his room.
Sighing he dug his head into his pillow. He felt a soft breeze tickle his ear, softly, ever so softly he could swear he heard words whispered in the wind. Bolting up, he searched the room. Cecil was not sitting in his chair. He saw the curtains flowing in the breeze, yet he knew the windows in his room were not open.
"Who's there?" Randal asked. "Cecil, is that you?"
Cecil had grown to be a loyal companion. In the time he'd first left the Carroll he'd never left his side. But this time he was not in the chair he always sat in when Randal slept.
Suddenly Cecil appeared, "Randal," he gasped. "Something's got the ghosts in The Carroll spooked. And getting a ghost spooked is not an easy thing."
Randal saw the curtains flowing towards him, the breeze grew colder, so cold he would not be surprised to see snow falling in the room.
"Something's in here," Cecil whispered. He felt cold, it shocked him because since his death he had felt nothing.
Randal shouted, "Who are you, what do you want?"
He softly heard "The Carroll," whispered in the breeze.
"The Carroll," Cecil gasped. "How can it be the building?"
The moment Randal first entered this building he always suspected that there was something special about it. After what happened to Mother, his suspicion's grew stronger. Now they were confirmed, this building looked out for those that lived and died in it.
Listening carefully he heard words whispered so quietly he could not make them out. Slowly though, the words began to become clear. Randal stood up, letting the blanket fall to the floor as he distinctly heard the wind whisper, "Josh…Aidan are in danger, return to Boston."
"Did you hear that, Josh and Aidan," Cecil said. He turned to face Randal.
"Yes, I heard it," Randal said, as he picked up his cell phone and turned it on. He saw several calls that he missed when it was off. After making a few phone calls, he began to pack.
"Well," Cecil asked him. "What did you find out?"
"Mother," Randal softly replied. "She's on a rampage. She left a message. She said she's grounding Aidan tonight, and that she wants me to find his dog."
"Josh!" Cecil gasped. His eyebrows twisting in confusion, "What the hell is grounding?"
Randal closed his suitcase, "I'll tell you on the way, for now, we have to get back to Boston as soon as possible." Ten minutes later he was driving away from The Carroll.
If the Carroll had not warned him he would have slept most of the day. It was a sixteen hour drive back to Boston. Glancing at the clock in his car he saw 7:16 A.M. He would reach Boston at around eleven that night. He hoped he would make it there in time.
Aidan dug in his heels as he was dragged into the forest. He struggled to see straight as sweat and blood dripped into his eyes. Shaking his head his vision cleared, he now knew where he was being taken. He had an idea, just an inkling, but he never thought Mother would dare to do that to him.
Just ahead he saw an open grave. He fought harder to free himself from the grip of the vampires that held him, but they were to strong. He was weakened physically and emotionally at what he just witnessed. Suren was dead, killed by Mother.
He could faintly hear Mother talking behind him, "When this is done," he heard her say, "I want you to get in touch with Donal. I was unable to reach Randal so I sent him out to find Aidan's dog. That wolf has been an embarrassment to our kind for to long. Tell Donal I want it brought to me." She looked ahead, knowing that Aidan could hear her as she spoke louder.
"I want to deal with him, myself."
Aidan was dragged to an open grave, once he reached it, he saw an open coffin at the bottom. He was thrown inside the coffin, the binding on his wrists cut in deep. He saw Mother looking down at him.
"The famished ache that you will come to feel," she told him. "Is something very few can understand." Aidan looked up, he saw something in her eyes. He saw her struggling to look just at him.
"And the eternal madness that will result," she softly said. "Is a fate worse than no other."
Mother fought to keep her eyes on Aidan. For the past few months her life had been filed with vision's of the ghosts that would not leave her side. When she realized that only she could see them, she hid it from the others. She did not want to appear weak to them. She had no idea who they were at first. But as more appeared, she soon realized that they were the spirits of those that she had killed in her lifetime.
Standing over Aidan, she now saw a new addition to the hundreds that massed around her. A young woman stood above Aidan's grave. She looked down at Aidan. Her head slowly moved up and stared at Mother, her eyes still looked lovingly at her. Even after what she did, she still loved her. Mother closed her eyes, she tried to block out Suren's image. She heard Aidan say to her, "I can think of a worse fate."
Opening her eyes, she saw the hate in his eyes, she could feel his anger, his rage. Aidan slowly slid down into the coffin. Locking eyes with her, Aidan said, "Living an eternity knowing that you killed the only one that ever loved you."
He nodded at her, "Close it."
The vampire standing in the grave threw the lid to the coffin down. Jumping out dirt was now being shoveled into the grave. Aidan lay in darkness, as he heard the dirt hitting the coffin, his home now. In minutes the sound of dirt falling faded.
Mother waited at the grave until it was entirely filled with dirt. She kept her eyes down, hoping that no one saw the fear she fought to hide.
"It is done, Mother," one of the vampires declared.
Sighing, Mother slowly nodded her head. "I want a guard posted here, no one must be allowed to unbury him, understand?"
The vampires around them all nodded their heads, "Yes Mother."
Mother knew she could not trust them, she never trusted anyone. She learned that early in life. Aidan had made many friends, she needed to eliminate them as well. Slowly she turned and walked away from the grave. She kept her head lowered, faintly, to the side she saw a dark haired woman following her. Briskly walking, she fled Aidan's gravesite.
Aidan was now truly alone, closing his eyes he tried to hold on to the last time he saw, Suren alive. Snatching that image he latched onto it, it would be the only thing that would keep him from going insane. He opened his eyes when he heard a scratching on the coffin, his head fell back when he heard someone whisper, "Aidan."
Josh stared at the gun held in his face, he swallowed hard with fear clutching at his throat. Everything had so not go as planned. He should have listened to his instincts, they shouted at him not to come, but he was so upset with all that had happened to him, to Nora and Julia. He needed to, had to end it here and now. The back of his head ached, blood dripped down from his nose. He could see that Ray looked about as bad as he felt.
"You wanted to kill me, kill me?!" Ray shouted.
Josh flinched as Ray slammed the butt of the gun in his gut. He cocked the gun and held the barrel right between Josh's eyes.
"What a mistake you turned out to be. I heard how you've been trying to find a way to end the curse. You stupid, stupid fool, I gave you a gift, son."
"I am not your son," Josh slowly said with his teeth clenched. "I didn't want this THING you gave me, this curse. This was not a gift, it ruined my life and those around me. Tell me how this 'gift' made my life, anyone's life better."
Ray slowly shook his head, "If you don't know by now, then you'll never know." He held the gun to his face, "I created you, and it looks like it's up to me to end your miserable life Come on, let's do this your way."
Josh tightly clenched his teeth. He stared at the gun, he saw Ray's finger begin squeezing the trigger. Closing his eyes he waited for the curse to finally end. That's when he heard something he never expected to hear.
"Put it down, put it down," Nora frantically shouted.
Opening his eyes Josh saw Nora run from behind the shack. She held a pistol in her hands.
"A bullet in me," Ray told Nora, "Is the same as a bullet in him, sweetheart."
"Nora, he's right," Josh told her. He realized he couldn't save himself, but he could save Nora. "Shoot me, save yourself."
He looked up at her, his eyes begging her to do it. "Shoot me, Nora do it.
Do it, Shoot me!" Josh pleaded with her. He saw this as a final end, a way to make it better. His death would mean life for Nora, would end the curse he gave her.
He smiled when he saw her cock the gun. Her eyes glanced from Ray to Josh. She panted hard, licking her lips she slowly aimed the gun towards Josh.
Josh let his head drop to the ground, after all his searching for a cure, his curse would finally end.
"I'm not letting you do it, sweetheart," Ray shouted. "He's my mistake that I have to correct."
Ray slowly began to pull the trigger. "Don't do it," Nora shouted. She aimed her pistol at Ray's head. "Do it, and you die."
Ray and Nora slowly squeezed their triggers, they stopped when they heard a voice call out from the forest. "Such drama, you should have sold tickets."
Wiping the blood from his nose, Josh saw a tall figure walking out from the forest. Immediately he knew it was a vampire. His face flushed cold when he saw several more vampires walking behind him. Josh immediately recognized the lead vampire, he saw him back at the hotel when Randal first brought him in.
The tall Vampire stopped a few yards away from them. Ray and Nora aimed their guns at the vampires. "Stinking blood suckers," Ray hissed.
A dark skinned vampire angrily hissed at Ray, "You going to let him talk to you that way, Donal?" he asked the tall vampire.
Donal slowly smiled. "What a gift, Leon. We come here looking for one mutt and find three curs. I look forward to seeing you in the dog fights, Blondie." He threw a kiss at Nora.
Ray's hand began to shake, he had heard of the fights but so far managed to stay away from them.
Donal's hand moved up, he pointed at Josh. "But not you, I don't know why, but Mother say's she wants to make sure I bring Aidan's dog to her in one piece. Said I'm to bring you straight to her." His head slowly tilted to the side, he curiously stared at Josh, "Don't know what makes you so special, hopefully Mother will let me know. Just got a call, with Aidan grounded she's going to be feeling really generous."
"What?" Josh gasped. He struggled to stand, "She wouldn't do that to Aidan."
"It's a done deal," Donal said. He then grimaced, "Why the hell am I talking to you, mutt." He pointed towards Ray and Nora. "Have fun, guys."
Ray brought his gun up, "Not going to be that easy," he grunted. Nora saw where he pointed his gun. She raised hers and fired the same time as Ray. Their bullets flew in the air, past the vampires and into a small propane tank that stood next to the shack.
The tank exploded with the bullets impact, fire and large pieces of the tank flew towards the vampires. They ran back, most were trying to pat down their enflamed clothes. Ray spun around and slammed the butt of his gun into Josh's side. Josh bent over and gasped for breath from the cowardly blow. "That should keep them busy long enough for me to get away," Ray shouted. Nora grabbed Josh as Ray was running into the forest.
"Gotta go, Josh," she panted, as she dragged him into the forest. They ran past the trees and the thick undergrowth without looking back. They could hear the cries of the vampires behind them. From the violence of the explosions, Josh hoped that most of them were caught in the flash fire that flew out of the tank.
Trying to catch his breath, Josh began to move towards the west. "There's a cemetery," he told Nora. "Just west of here, saw it when I was looking for a place to turn." He smiled at her, "Big wall and lots of mausoleums to hide in there, we should be safe."
Running as fast as his legs could carry him he dared to look back. He saw the flames from the tank were still burning bright, it lit up the night sky. He stopped and struggled to breathe. He found it hard to take a full breath. He looked up at Nora with such pain in his eyes. She wanted to examine him, but he brushed her back. "No time, Ray did a real number on me. Nora, I'm just going to keep you back, let the vampires catch up with me." He pointed ahead, "The cemetery is about five minutes that way. You need to go before they come."
Nora shook her head, "Josh Levison I am not leaving you here to those blood thirsty vampires."
Josh half grinned, "Didn't you hear? Mother wants me for something special. Not sure what, but for now I don't think they will hurt me, much."
"And if you're wrong?"
Josh smiled, "Then your curse is over."
Nora grabbed his arm, "You're coming with me, NOW!"
Josh pulled his arm from her grip, "Nora, if they capture you, they'll put you in the dog fights." He wiped a small tear from his eye. "I've been there Nora, I can't have that happen to you, I'd rather die."
Nora began to pull him down a small trail, "I'll take that chance, I'm not leaving you here."
She placed his arm on her shoulder, and helped him to run. She could hear him struggling to breathe. She had no idea the damage done by Ray, she prayed that Josh was right, and the cemetery was not far.