Saving Mitchell

Chapter 25 – "Unearthed"

Liam begins to question me, asking me why I think it's my father. I can't speak my mouth unable to make the words. I feel Mitchell's hand in mine but still my body cannot react.

I see the vision so clear before me, the pale skin, the cold dead blue eyes, the perfected features of his face and the dark wavy hair that lays the way it did all those years ago. Everything about him was the same, untouched by time and still as fierce.

A tingling starts in my fingertips as I reach for Emily's pendant. Holding it in my hand tight I try to call the vision back, wanting to see his face one last time.

The crystal pendant remains cool in my hand, no magic left to open the past back up to me. I place the crystal back on the table, Liam laying his hand over mine.

"Cara you told me the night your father attacked you, you left him there bleeding on the floor. When you returned the next day he was cold and lifeless. That's all you ever told me, the demon that was the vampire had left him. What did you do after that?" Liam's tone is soft, his blue eyes showing his care for me.

"I took him to the tombs of the castle; I dragged him down each step till we reached the bottom. I dug a deep hole and rolled him into it. I buried him there Liam, I left him there to rot." My voice sounds foreign to me, as if someone else spoke for me.

"Did you ever go back, to make sure?" Mitchell's brown eyes calm my racing heart beat as I gaze into his beautiful face.

"No, not once. When I left there I had no reason to return. I left Ireland that day and I've never been back. Not once in two thousand years have I step foot in land of Eire. I have traveled to France, Spain, Germany and even Russia but I made England my home. Ireland holds nothing but pain and dark memories Mitchell." I lean forward, wrapping my arms around Mitchell's neck.

After we get back to the flat Liam starts making phone calls, Mitchell trying to comfort me with my favorite throw and some warm tea. George and Abby had left a note telling us they went to Abby's and would be back soon.

Mitchell hands me the cup of tea, sitting down beside me with his arm draped over my shoulders. Liam comes back in the living room, sitting down on the sofa next to us.

"Cara, we need to go back to Ireland, back to your family castle. I called a friend of mine and he says the Connor Castle is still standing. I know it's on the coast and many Lords claimed it over the years but the walls are strong. We have to go back and make sure you're father's remains are there. If we find nothing then we'll know but Cara we have to know." I want so badly to wake up from the nightmare, to not have to go back to Ireland. Mitchell gives me that comforting smile, his hand squeezing my shoulder.

"Book the flight Liam. It's time I went home." A sense of dread covers me and I feel instantly sick.

Liam makes a few more calls, using his influence to get us a flight out tonight. Going up to my room I begin to pack, Mitchell throwing a few things in with mine. We spend the evening not saying much, George coming in from Abby's all smiles.

Mitchell takes him in the kitchen, explaining everything to him. George comes out of the kitchen, wrapping me in his arms. "I'm so sorry Cara. I'll keep an eye on things here and if I hear of any more attacks I'll call you right away. I can come with you if you want."

I hug George hard, kissing his cheek. "Thanks George but I'll feel better if you stay here. Be careful, that sadistic bastard could come after you." We say our goodbyes to George, my arms not wanting to give him up.

After we board the plane Mitchell starts asking me questions, trying to take my mine off of the trip to Ireland and my father.

"If you're from Ireland and so is your father how did he meet your mother? Wasn't she Russian?" I smile up at him, my hand gripping his.

"My father was visiting Russia when he met my mother. He told me he had heard of the powerful magic that the Romanoff witches possessed. Their magic was alluring to him and so was my mother. He told me he had never seen a creature more beautiful than her. I asked him once why he never turned her and he said because he was hoping she would bear him many children. Instead he had to make his children, changing those that opposed him through his curse." I lay my head on his shoulder, his hand stroking my hair.

"I see now, your father charmed your mother. We are deceptive and it seems we are designed that way by our true creator, your father. I hope we do find him Cara, find his remains still buried in that castle. But if we do you know this means there is someone, something out there that knows you too well." His fingers go under my chin, lifting my lips to his.

The flight takes a little over an hour, a car waiting for us at the airport. Liam's friend Galen drives us out to the castle, the sound of the ocean bringing back memories of my childhood.

I see the cliffs and green moss cascaded in moonlight as we get closer to the coast, the torrents of the castle starting to crumble. Creeping vines cling to the walls, the years of neglected taking its toll on the stones and mortar. All the memories I had locked away flow back to me, the blood, the screams and all those souls taken by my hand.

The car stops and I feel my body freeze. This was the place I drained my first victim, the place I watched my father slaughter thousands, the place my mother died to protect me. With my hand on the door handle I slowly emerge from the car, Mitchell and Liam waiting for me. With Liam to my left and Mitchell to my right I walk towards the blood soaked memories, hoping this night I would give me some closure.

Walking through the arch doorway I can smell the musky scent of death, the dark castle greeting me with a cold dampness that makes me shiver. I point to a doorway that leads to the stairs that travels down to the tombs.

My feet move in a sluggish pace, taking each step slower. The walls around me stood tall but the doorways and windows had begun to give way to the decay of time. Liam hands me and Mitchell a torch, the light casting out in front of us.

The dirt floor was under my feet all too soon, the tombs smaller than I remembered. I stand in the middle of the room, shining the light all about. "I'm not sure where I buried him Liam, maybe here."

I point the light at the dirt next to some fallen stones, the pillared archways now filled with stone crypts of Lords and Ladies that lived here after I fled. So much of my father's castle had changed but so much of it remained the same.

Liam and Mitchell move the stones, Liam running back upstairs to get two shovels. Galen comes back with him, the two of them begin to dig where I think my father is buried.

I stand there walking the dirt pile up, Mitchell behind me with his hands on my shoulder. "Are you ready Cara?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." I lean my head back, looking into the heaven that is Mitchell's eyes.

Holding the torch for Liam I inch closer to the hole they are now standing in. Galen climbs out, Liam looks up at me breathing heavy. "Cara, I think we've found something."

Kneeling down next to the hole I look down as Liam lifts out a wooden box. He hands it to me, Mitchell squatting down next to me.

Dusting it off, I flip the brass lock up, the wooden box creaking open. Inside is a piece of parchment and my father's crest. The writing on the parchment doesn't look familiar but it is written in Gaelic, my father's nature tongue. I read it, my heart stammering to a stop.

Mitchell takes it from me, his eyes going as wide as mine. "Cara, daughter of the first, you will pay for your betrayal."

The three men stare back at me as the room closing in around me. "My father lives and he wants me dead. Why wait till now, why not kill me years ago?"

I feel Mitchell's hand on my arm as he pulls me to my feet. "I won't let that happen Cara. We are going to find him and this time he will stay dead."

Looking over at Liam I see the fear in his eyes. He knows as well as I do my days are numbered.