Chapter Thirteen

Peter set the glass on the table next to him as he held the doll in his hands and the doll tilted its head to one side, slowly blinking its sapphire blue glass eyes.

"Right, by all that's holy I demand you tell me what you are!" he demanded as the doll sighed and gave him a blank look.

"Shouldn't that be who you are?" a soft voice asked while they looked at each other and Boe, who was sitting next to Peter, sniffed the doll's foot, making the doll look down at it. "Hello, Kitty."

"His name's Boe. What's your name?" Cassandra asked as the doll looked at her and softly smiled.

"I am Shade," Shade said, making a small nod of the doll's head.

"Where did you come from?" Peter asked. He felt stupid talking to a doll, but he had heard stories of souls inhabiting dolls and the doll looked at him with a puzzled look on its face.

"I originally came from Paris," Shade said when Boe gently pressed against Peter's leg and he looked down at the tiger.

"What's wrong?" he asked while handing the doll to Cassandra and Boe looked toward the shadows, softly growling.

"I think he wants you to follow him," she said as Boe sneezed then nodded its head and Peter sighed, scratching the back of his neck. Nodding his head, Peter followed Boe as they vanished into the shadows and Cassandra looked at the doll, whose eyes were wide in shock.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Jane looked out the window as she sipped on a glass of wine and folded one arm over her stomach. Charlie was over at Amy's house, but she admitted that she missed having her own home and the fumigating people told her it would still be some time before she and Charlie could go home.

"Penny for them," a voice said when she turned around and saw Peter standing behind her.

"When did you get back?" she asked.

"I'm not. Boe wanted to show me something," he said as she looked down at the tiger and nodded her head. "You ok?"

"Heh, I'm just homesick," she teased and he sighed, placing his hand on her shoulder. He gently moved her closer then wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on the top of her head.

"Still no word on when you guys can go home? Um, not that I want you gone," he said then coughed and she smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, like you would want us underfoot twenty-four seven."

"Hey, you were never underfoot," he said with wide eyes then smiled and let go of her. It was true that having her and Charlie around did hamper his time alone with Cassandra, but it was nice having them around and Jane smiled, rolling her eyes. He shrugged then went to figure out where Boe went and saw a black and white blur moving down the hallway. He found Boe in the library when he watched the tiger moving around the room, sniffing the carpet, when the tiger stopped near an old trunk near the window and Peter placed his hands in his pockets, walking toward the tiger. He stopped at the portrait of two children when he smiled and straightened the teddy bear sitting to the left of the portrait.

Robert and Emily Cromstoke were the children of Lord Henry and his wife, Angelica, and were killed by their stepmother. Peter, with the help of two paranormal investigators, were able to free the souls of Robert and Emily, as well as the souls of their parents and their nanny, and the man who owned the house had sent him the portrait after finding the portrait in the loft.

Cassandra thought it was funny that he had placed the teddy bear there, as well as a wooden box with pewter British soldiers, and Peter had noticed that the teddy bear would either be moved or was lying on the floor. He had also found the wooden box on the table and the pewter soldiers would be on the table in mock battles.

Peter patted the top of the teddy bear when he walked toward the trunk and looked at Boe.

"Ok, what do you want to show me?"

Boe gently pawed at the trunk when Peter stood next to the tiger then knelt down and looked at the trunk. He had bought the trunk at an auction when he was in Philadelphia seven years ago, but had never opened it and he sat back on his legs, raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. A soft click filled the air when Peter opened the lid and looked at the wooden stakes strapped to the lid of the trunk with leather straps. Looking into the trunk, Peter started removing bottles of holy water, a small crossbow and other vampire hunting weapons when he picked up the black leather covered journal. Carefully opening the journal, he blinked his eyes a few times and PROPERTY OF GIACOMO VINCENZI was written on the first page.

"Is this what you wanted me to see?" he asked while Boe peeked into trunk and gently pawed at the journals. Peter removed the journals when Boe placed a paw on one of the journals and Peter nodded. He removed the journal then the journal next to it when he looked at Boe and held the journals against his chest. "Is there anything else?"

Boe looked into the trunk then gently pawed the wooden box with a cross nailed to the top. Frowning, Peter placed the journals on the floor then carefully lifted the box out of the trunk and moved his fingers over the wood of the cross. He then opened the box as he blinked his eyes a few times and looked at the dagger sitting on the blood red velvet. The handle of the dagger was gold and the light sparkled off the ebony blade. Something that looked like silver had been entwined in the ebony, but he was startled when Boe growled as he was about to picked the dagger up and Peter watched the light shimmering off the ebony blade.

"What is this?" he asked then sighed, closed the box and placed the box on top of the journals. Closing the trunk after placing the other things back inside, he picked up the journals and the box then looked at Boe and nodded his head. They left the room when they walked back to the living room and Jane walked closer, looking at them.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said as Boe headed for the shadows and he smiled, adjusting his hold on the box and the journals. "Right, tell Charlie there will be no orgies while I'm away."

"Oh, like you're not having them in your hotel room with you ladies," she teased as he gave her a wide eyed, shocked look and his mouth fell open. Smiling, he shook a finger at her while shaking his head then walked to Boe and she watched them walk into the shadows. Softly laughing, she walked toward the kitchen and sighed, shaking his head side to side.

New Orleans, Louisiana

The loft was quiet as the spider moved across the web and the sunlight from the small window caused the dust to sparkle. The door opened when Misty walked across the beams toward the table and frowned, tilting her head to one side.

"What the hell?!" she asked when she walked to the table and looked at the empty doll case. Turning around, she looked to see where the doll had gotten to when she balled her hands into fists and growled. Storming down the stairs, she headed down the hallway when she opened the door that led to the basement and went down the stairs. She walked toward the metal door at the back of the room when she reached up and took the key from the top of the door. She had told Rory that she didn't know what was behind the door or where the key was as she unlocked the door and reached along the wall, flipping the light switch up. The light came on as she heard a low growling sound coming from the cage sitting on the wooden table and she walked to the table, glaring at what was sitting in the cage. Sapphire blue glass eyes looked at her as she slammed her hands on either side of the cage and the doll snarled at her. "Oh shut up!"

"Let me out!" a low voice snarled as she sighed and lowered her head, shaking her head side to side.

"I can't let you out looking like that!" she shouted as she looked at the doll and most of the black hair was missing as well as the fingers of its right hand and the lower part of its left leg. The face was scratched and the clothing was in tatters. She knew it was a risk to send the doll after Remy, but the doll had come back covered in blood and she was sure that Remy was gone. She knew that he was a vampire and figured he would have been too weak to find shelter and would have turned to dust after the sun had risen. The doll growled when it raised its right hand and green scaled fingers with curved nails slid into the holes where the doll's fingers hand been. Slowly a green scaled lower leg and foot slid out of the hole in the doll's left leg appeared as the doll stood up and wrapped its fingers around the bars of the cage. The scratches on the doll's face vanished as the clothing repaired itself and an evil grin spread across the doll's face.

"What about now?" the low voice asked and she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Fine," she said then turned and headed for the door. Turning around, she looked at the cage then frowned and leaned against the doorframe. "He's missing."

"You assured me that he couldn't escape."

"I think someone took him."

"What are you talking about?" the low voice asked and the doll glared at her.

"Rory was here with a warrant. He wanted to search the house because YOU left the police evidence room! I told you to stay there until I got them to release you!"

"You brought him down here?"

"I had to! He had to search the whole house! It was only pure luck that he didn't go up to the loft!"

"Then how did he get out?!"

"Don't shout at me! I don't know!"

"Was Rory alone?"

"As far as I know," Misty sighed when she thought of something and blinked her eyes a few times. "No, he didn't."

"What?"

"Remy told me that an old friend is in town," she said as she kicked off the doorframe and started pacing back and forth. "If that's true then he told Rory and Rory…"

"Who is this friend?"

"He's name is Peter Vincent," she said and was surprised as the doll's eyes widened and its mouth fell open.

Cassandra looked out the window while the doll sat on the couch then slid onto its side and slowly blinked its eyes.

"Are you alright?" Shade asked as she turned and looked at the doll. Smiling, she walked to the couch when she placed the doll upright and sat on the couch. She never really played with dolls as a kid, but having someone to talk to was helping and she gently stroked the top of the doll's head.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just get worried when Peter walks the Dark Road," she said and the doll's eyes widened. "What?"

"I have heard of the Dark Road. It's a a passage that witches, wizards and other magical beings use to travel from one place to another, but it can be hazardous if anyone strayed off the path," Shade said and she picked the doll up then placed the doll on her lap.

"How did you know that?"

"Let's just say I know a few things about the supernatural," Shade said with an impish grin when Boe and Peter walked in the room and he walked to the couch, leaning over the top.

"Playing with dolls? Once a girl, always a girl," he teased as she glared at him and gently swatted his arm.

"He knows about the Dark Road," she said as he walked around the couch then sat down, placing the journals and the box on the coffee table. "What are those?"

"You know that trunk in the library?"

"The one near the window?" she asked and he nodded. "What about it?"

"I opened it and there were bottles of holy water, wooden stakes, other vampire hunting stuff and journals. Turns out that the journals belonged to Giacomo," he said while placing his feet on the coffee table and the doll gave him a slightly stunned look. "What?"

"Are you talking about Giacomo Vincenzi?"

"Yeah, he was one of my ancestors."

"May I see the journals?" Shade asked while tilting its head to one side and Peter placed his feet down then picked up one of the journals. Opening the cover of the journal, they looked at the first page and SHADEAN was written in black ink.

"Who's Shadean?" Cassandra asked while the doll looked at the page then sighed, blinking its eyes a few times.

"I am," Shade said as they looked at the doll then at each other and the doll slowly leaned against her.