Twilight Visions: Part 2
Disclaimer: Almost all the characters in this story are mine. There is one mentioned and two that I brought in that do not belong to me. Hunter Redfern and Dani Abforth belong to L.J. Smith. L.J. Smith also owns the last name of Harman. Raven Mandrill is only mentioned in my story, but she is in Huntress, by L.J. Smith.
Author's Note: This is an original Night World story. The story takes place shortly after Huntress, and before Black Dawn.
*~*~*
"You think I was adopted when I was born? My father or my mother at least would have told me, wouldn't they? I mean they have always loved me and treated me like I was their own, not someone they had adopted." Sarah said in horror.
That might explain why she and her sister were so different, but she couldn't believe that her father at least would've told her.
'I need to talk to my father,' Sarah thought to herself. She touched Tom on the hand and sent the message to him just before she plunged into sleep.
@~@~@~
"What was that all about?" Heather asked in suspicion. She had felt something flow between the other two people in the room.
"There was one last thing I might have forgotten to mention." Tom said quietly. "Sarah's my soulmate. I don't think she understands what that is, but she knows that there is something between us. She sent me a mental thought before she was pulled into sleep that she had to talk to her father. She doesn't know that I am a vampire and had heard her thought anyway."
"Well, it's true then. The Old Powers are awakening. We need to find out more about her. She needs to talk to her father and then we need to find her real parents. It is only right that she learn who they are."
Tom sat there minutes after she had left, staring at Sarah's face. He decided that he would talk to her father first and find out as much as he could first, before Sarah talked to him.
@~@~@~
Tom pulled up in the parking lot to where Sarah lived with her sister and father. He walked up to their apartment and knocked. Angie opened the door, her eyes red and she was sniffling as if she had been crying.
"Tom! Where's Sarah? Is she okay? What did you do to her?" Angie screamed the last at him.
'She really loves Sarah, although she almost never shows it.' Tom thought to himself as Angie pulled him into the house.
"You took off with her two days ago and you haven't brought her back yet. WHERE IS MY SISTER???" Angie led him to the living room where Sarah's father was sitting with his head in his hands, crying over the worry of his lost daughter.
"Angie, shut up!" Tom shouted, his hands over his ears. He shouted this with his mind as well as with his mouth, to make sure that she did shut up. They were right in front of the living room door now.
Tom quieted his tone. "Angie, I must talk to your father in private. Will you please go pack a light bag for Sarah for when I bring her home tomorrow?"
"Sure," Angie mumbled and went off to get the back ready for Sarah.
Tom walked into the living room and saw Sarah's father. 'At least I know that she didn't lack for love while she was growing up. Even though her sister is a pain in the ass.'
"Mr. Whitney, I'm sorry I didn't come two days ago to talk to you. When I took Sarah out the other day we went on a picnic. Then we went for a ride in the woods. Do you know of anyone who might want to kill Sarah? Because someone did try. They shot her with an iron bullet."
"Iron!" Mr. Whitney cried, "Is she okay? Please tell me she didn't die!"
"No, she didn't die. She's alive. I took her to very good doctor and right now your daughter is being as stubborn as she always is. But you do know that the iron bullet could have hurt her?"
"Yes." Mr. Whitney said, greatly saddened that someone had found out about his daughter being adopted. "I adopted her to help a friend of mine. You see, my friend was only twenty, engaged, and she had an affair with a really bad man. She ended up pregnant and had Sarah. She moved away from her fiancé and had the baby here in New York. She gave Sarah up for adoption and I adopted her. Sarah was never to have found out. No one was."
"Well, you see Mr. Whitney," Tom said, his eyes turning silver and his canines elongating, "I am a lamia. The other day when I took Angie up on the blind date and met Angie, at the movies I drank some of her blood. That's how I found out that she was a witch. Sarah needs to talk to you. I will bring her home tomorrow and you had better tell her everything. If you don't know who her father is, I suggest you tell her who her mother is so we can find out where she lives now. Or else."
Mr. Whitney blanched. He thought about the threat that Hunter had given him. '"If you reveal to anyone that I am that girl's father, I'll tell the Night World elders that you know about them. Think about what might happen if they find out that vermin knows who and what they are."'
"I don't know Sarah's father's name, but I know her mother's name. Her name is Abigail. Abigail Abforth." Mr. Whitney let out a long breath. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had been waiting for sixteen years to say her name to someone. Especially to someone who would tell Sarah.
"Thank you. I'll make sure to tell Sarah her name. We'll see you tomorrow, around one o'clock. Be here to talk to her. She wants to talk to you about this." Tom told the older man in a firm voice. Tom knew that Mr. Whitney was withholding the father's name from him, but he couldn't tell what the name could be. Someone was blocking the man's brain from any outside interference.
Angie met Tom outside the room.
"Here. This is one of her favorite outfits. Her favorite nightgown. And her favorite reading book." She handed him a bag and a book.
Tom took the bag and book, murmured his thanks and left the apartment.
@~@~@~
Tom looked down at the book as he drove out of the parking lot. "Night World! What the hell!" Tom nearly went off the road. He pulled off to the side. He quickly turned the book over and read the back.
'Prince of Darkness
The pain was something Poppy couldn't ignore. The diagnosis was death. There was no hope - until James appeared in the darkened hospital room. James, her best friend and secret love, the handsomest boy in El Camino High. But this was a James she didn't know - menacing yet irresistible as he offered Poppy the gift of eternal life. Only he could open the door to the Night World and spirit her into it's lonely secret universe. One dizzying kiss and she can see into his soul. She finds that he has always loved her. They're soulmates - but can she follow him into death. . . and beyond. It's a desperate choice and Poppy's time is running out. . . .'
Tom closed his eyes. He knew these people. It was Poppy and James Rasmussen. He knew their story. Knew what they stood for. Hell, now he even stood for the same thing.
'Sarah,' his mind said to him over and over again. Sarah knew everything about the Night World. She probably knew more about the Circle Daybreakers than even he did. And he was one of them. Not that his brother knew. He had to keep up the pretense of being part of the Night World and hating the people belonging to Circle Daybreak. But, actually, he had made a lot of friends in that group. Thank the Goddess that Raven had been able to talk him into joining.
Tom started the car back up and continued driving to Heather's small hospital.
@~@~@~
"Where is he?" Sarah asked Heather as she walked into the room, carrying Sarah's breakfast to her on a tray.
"He'll be back in a little while. He had to go do some things. Now, sit back and eat or I'll strap you down." Heather spoke to Sarah as if she were a sister instead of a patient.
"But it isn't right that you should be acting as a nursemaid! My shoulder is fine now. I could at least get up and help you do things. I have to go home anyway. Dad and Angie must be worried sick about me." Sarah said. She still couldn't admit to herself that Heather and Tom might be right about her being adopted.
"You sit your butt down right now. I'm not having my beautiful stitching coming apart now. Especially when you've already pulled the stitches out once trying to get out of that bed." Heather told Sarah as she tried to get up again for the second time that day. They both heard the jingle of the front door as someone entered the waiting room.
Tom walked into the room. He was carrying a bag of clothes and a book in his hands.
"Has she given you any trouble, Heather?" He asked her with a gentle smile toward Sarah. "If she has, I won't give her what her sister gave me to give to her." He said as he held up the bag and book.
"You went to see them? How are they? Are they all right?" Sarah asked, worried about the welfare of her family.
"Yes, Sarah. They're fine. They were really concerned about you, although I didn't tell your sister what had happened. She told me these were your favorite things."
Tom handed Sarah the bag with her clothes and when she saw the book, she was astonished that Angie had remembered that it was her favorite. "She gave you Secret Vampire to give to me! Thank God. Now I won't be totally bored out of mind while you guys are making me sit here all day with nothing to do."
Sarah tore into the book and Tom motioned Heather out the door.
"Heather, did you get a look at the book that Sarah was reading?" Tom asked her.
"No, what was it about." Heather asked, puzzled.
"I'll tell you in three words. The Night World." Tom said gravely as he uttered the words that felt like poison on the tip of his tongue.
"WHAT!!! How did she get a book on that? I thought there were no records about the Night World. I thought the elders made sure of that when they promised death to anyone who let out the secret of the Night World." Heather cried.
"Yeah, well, looks like the secret got out. We should tell Thierry about this. There is no way that if the Night World leaders find out first what hell there will be to pay. It's better that the leader of Circle Daybreak find out first." Tom said quietly, hoping Sarah hadn't heard Heather shout.
"You're right. I'll let Thierry know. Well, what did you find out about her mother?" Heather asked, now quiet.
"Well, we were right. She was adopted and she is a witch, but her father and sister love her as if they were related. I don't think Angie knows anything, but it's possible she could. The only thing is, Sarah's father is hiding who Sarah's father is. I'm not sure who it is, but I think someone threatened him into silence. But, anyway, that book is the story of Poppy and James. You don't think the author would have written their story without their permission, do you?" Tom asked, suddenly very worried.
"No, I don't think so. Maybe you should call them while I call Thierry." Heather said, moving toward the phone in her office as she gestured to the phone behind the secretary's desk for Tom to use. "I'm not sure if anyone's home at the mansion, but I'll see if Nilsson is there. It's possible.
Tom walked up to the phone and quickly dialed James' cell phone.
"Hello," Tom heard James answer.
"Hey, James. It's Tom Mandrill. I was wondering. Have you ever told anyone your story? I just found a book titled Secret Vampire and it was about you and Poppy. So, have you? Other than Poppy, I mean." Tom answered, wanting to get this over and done with so he could go in the other room and sit and talk to Sarah.
"Yeah, Tom. I have. The lady's name is Lisa Jane Smith, but she writes under L.J. Smith. Poppy and I went to talk to her back in '97. Then we called the other Circle Daybreak people, we even told Thierry about her, and told them that she was going to write a series of books on the Night World and that we thought they should go tell her their stories. Of course, I don't know who's book she's on right now. I think that Thierry had even the Wild Powers and their soulmates write down their stories and had someone bring L.J. Smith their stories."
"Thanks, James. Hey, I'm going to be going to Thierry's mansion in about a week. Would you and Poppy meet me in Vegas? I want to introduce you to someone." Tom spoke into the receiver, looking at the room where Sarah had better be laying down, relaxing, and reading her book.
"Sure. I'll even call the others. Maybe we could all get together and have a party. Who knows?" James said, a tiny touch of excitement in his voice at the thought of seeing everyone again. It had been almost three years since he had seen them.
"Okay. See you soon." Tom said and hung up the phone.
Tom walked back to the room that Sarah was in and watched her while she lay in the bed reading. "Sarah," he said quietly, hoping she wasn't too far zoned into the book that she didn't hear him. Angie had told him how her sister could start a book and if she was really into that book, you couldn't pull her out of it if the world was going to be blown up. When she looked up at him, he smiled.
"Yeah, Tom," Sarah said, smiling at the part she was at in the book. She was at the part right after Poppy had fainted and James had caught the milk carton as it had tumbled from Poppy's hands without spilling a drop.
"I was wondering something. Next week, do you want to go on a trip with me? It would get you away from your family and college. Please?" Tom asked her, giving her the puppy dog treatment that he hoped would make her cave-in and go with him.
Sarah smiled. 'So, Angie forgot to tell him that I don't give in to the puppy dog face, huh.' "Sure, I'll go with you. But where are we going?"
"Oh, just across the country. To Las Vegas. You are old enough to gamble, right?" Tom asked, grinning wickedly.
"Tom, it's not right to ask a lady about her age, but, yes, I am old enough to gamble. I can't wait to see that big Sphinx casino that Hannah talked about in her story." Sarah said and returned to her book.
'She must be talking about Hannah, Thierry's wife. I can't wait until I can surprise her even more and let her meet the real Hannah.' Tom thought to himself, a gentle smile stealing across his face as he watched Sarah.
"Tom, can I talk to you for a minute?" Heather said from out in the hall. As soon as he got into the hall, Heather pulled him into her office. "Thierry's on the phone, he wants to talk to you."
Tom picked up the phone and said, "Hi, Thierry. How can I help you?"
"Hey, Tom. Heather Harman just told me about those books. I know it was dangerous for the Circle Daybreakers to give their stories to that author, but I gave the okay. Humans have to learn about the Night World if they are going to help protect themselves when the millennium starts." Thierry said.
"Okay, Thierry. What would you say if I said I found my soulmate and I wanted to throw a party next week with the inner Circle Daybreak people?" Tom asked hesitantly.
"I'd say congratulations and I wouldn't mind. I can't wait to meet her. Oh, and Tom." Thierry said into the phone.
"Yeah?"
"Make sure she isn't a vampire when she gets here." Thierry said before hanging up the phone.
Tom stared at the phone in his hands and then threw back his head and laughed.
@~@~@~
The next morning, Sarah was all healed. There wasn't a scar even, which astounded Heather and Tom both. If she was part witch shouldn't there be a scar, especially when the bullet had been iron.
Sarah was taking it all in stride, however.
"I've always been that way," Sarah stated simply. "Whenever I'm seriously injured or hurt in anyway, I always seem to heal rather quickly."
Tom brought Sarah home that day and her sister and father were there, anxiously awaiting her return.
"Hey, guys," Sarah said. She was surprised to see her father home, because he usually worked everyday.
"Hey, sweetheart," Mr. Whitney said, walking over to her and hauling her into his arms for a huge hug. Then he looked at Tom and said, "honey, can I talk to you for a second. Please."
Sarah nodded, unsurprised that her father wanted to talk to her. "Sure, Daddy." Sarah said and followed him into his office. "What's up?"
"Well, Sarah. Tom has probably told you, but I wanted to say it out loud for the first time in almost nineteen years. Sweetheart, I should have told you sooner, but. . . .Your mother is a witch. She came to my wife and me, we being good friends of hers, and she asked us to adopt you. You see, she was engaged to be married to another witch, but she'd had an affair with someone else and became pregnant with you. She knew that we had wanted a child for a long time and she asked us if she could live with that and us when her child was born, if we would adopt her. So we did and, even though we are not blood related, I feel in my heart that you are my daughter."
"Oh, Daddy!" Sarah cried, tears running freely down her cheeks. She ran to her father, who was standing next to the big windows, and hugged him tight around the middle. "I will always be your daughter. No matter if I find my true mother and father. Anyone can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a Dad."
The two of them stood there hugging each other for a long time after that. Just standing there embracing each other as if when they let each other go, they would lose each other forever. Finally Sarah pulled away.
"Daddy, Tom wants me to go on a trip with him for a couple days. He wants to take me to Las Vegas, probably to gamble. I already told him no, but if you don't want me to go I'll tell him I can't. So, may I go?" Sarah asked the man that had been her dad for almost nineteen years, hope shining in her face.
Mr. Whitney turned pale. That was where he had last heard that Abigail lived and he had some reservations about Sarah going anywhere with a vampire. Then he straightened out his face and, knowing how much it meant to Sarah, he nodded his head in agreement. "Sure honey. You can go. Do you need any money?"
"I don't know. Let me ask Tom when we get back to the living room." Sarah's face was alight with happiness. She was really happy that her father was allowing her to go with Tom.
The two of them walked back to the living room to see Tom and Abigail in an argument.
" - but I want to go!" Angie cried.
"I said no! I am not taking a spoiled brat that whines when she doesn't get her way. And anyway if I took you to Las Vegas, I'd probably get thrown into jail for allowing a minor to gamble." Tom said heatedly, but calmly.
"It's not fair." Angie said, then saw her father and sister in the doorway. "Dad, tell Tom to let me -"
"No, Angie. You are not going to Las Vegas with them. And, by the way, go up to your room and get that money that you borrowed from your sister a month and a half ago. You should have paid her back then. And, Angie, I mean all of it."
"But -" Angie looked to her sister for support.
"No, Daddy. I'm sure I won't need that much money. Besides, she couldn't pay me back all the money she's borrowed from me over the years. She wouldn't have enough." Sarah said teasingly to her sister, then she straightened out her face. "But, Angie, I'm not going to change Dad's or Tom's mind about letting you go with us to Las Vegas. It is not a place for fifteen year olds. I'll tell you what. When you turn eighteen, I'll take you to Las Vegas. Just you and me, no one else."
"You mean it?" Angie asked her sister hopefully. At Sarah's nod, Angie ran into her arms and gave her a bear hug.
Sarah nodded, then looked at Tom. "My dad wants to know if I'll need any money for the trip."
"No, Sarah. You don't have to spend any money if you don't want to. I'll pay for the whole trip." Tom said to Sarah.
Angie noticed a softness in his eyes that had never been there before. Mr. Whitney also noted the softness in his eyes that hadn't been there the day before when Tom had come to threaten him.
"Oh, that's cool. Dad, thanks for offering though." Sarah looked at her dad and smiled.
@~@~@~
Tom and Sarah left on their road trip the following day. The trip seemed to go fine all the way. The two talked and laughed and enjoyed themselves. Until the day before they would arrive in Las Vegas.
@~@~@~
Sarah woke up in the middle of the night. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that she was needed somewhere. So she got out of bed and noticed that Tom wasn't on the twin bed that was sitting next to hers, sleeping like he should have been.
Sarah quickly got dressed and slipped out into the night beyond the door. She stood listening for a moment then heard a rustle in the woods just behind the hotel. She carefully and quietly followed the rustling sound.
There, in the woods, was Tom. He held in his hands a deer and he was leaning over it, his head bent toward it.
"Tom," Sarah gasped and Tom's head instantly came up.
On his lips was a smear of red liquid. Sarah realized that Tom had been drinking the blood of the deer. She turned and started to run, but didn't get very far for, suddenly, Tom had taken a hold of her wrist and wouldn't let go.
Disclaimer: Almost all the characters in this story are mine. There is one mentioned and two that I brought in that do not belong to me. Hunter Redfern and Dani Abforth belong to L.J. Smith. L.J. Smith also owns the last name of Harman. Raven Mandrill is only mentioned in my story, but she is in Huntress, by L.J. Smith.
Author's Note: This is an original Night World story. The story takes place shortly after Huntress, and before Black Dawn.
*~*~*
"You think I was adopted when I was born? My father or my mother at least would have told me, wouldn't they? I mean they have always loved me and treated me like I was their own, not someone they had adopted." Sarah said in horror.
That might explain why she and her sister were so different, but she couldn't believe that her father at least would've told her.
'I need to talk to my father,' Sarah thought to herself. She touched Tom on the hand and sent the message to him just before she plunged into sleep.
@~@~@~
"What was that all about?" Heather asked in suspicion. She had felt something flow between the other two people in the room.
"There was one last thing I might have forgotten to mention." Tom said quietly. "Sarah's my soulmate. I don't think she understands what that is, but she knows that there is something between us. She sent me a mental thought before she was pulled into sleep that she had to talk to her father. She doesn't know that I am a vampire and had heard her thought anyway."
"Well, it's true then. The Old Powers are awakening. We need to find out more about her. She needs to talk to her father and then we need to find her real parents. It is only right that she learn who they are."
Tom sat there minutes after she had left, staring at Sarah's face. He decided that he would talk to her father first and find out as much as he could first, before Sarah talked to him.
@~@~@~
Tom pulled up in the parking lot to where Sarah lived with her sister and father. He walked up to their apartment and knocked. Angie opened the door, her eyes red and she was sniffling as if she had been crying.
"Tom! Where's Sarah? Is she okay? What did you do to her?" Angie screamed the last at him.
'She really loves Sarah, although she almost never shows it.' Tom thought to himself as Angie pulled him into the house.
"You took off with her two days ago and you haven't brought her back yet. WHERE IS MY SISTER???" Angie led him to the living room where Sarah's father was sitting with his head in his hands, crying over the worry of his lost daughter.
"Angie, shut up!" Tom shouted, his hands over his ears. He shouted this with his mind as well as with his mouth, to make sure that she did shut up. They were right in front of the living room door now.
Tom quieted his tone. "Angie, I must talk to your father in private. Will you please go pack a light bag for Sarah for when I bring her home tomorrow?"
"Sure," Angie mumbled and went off to get the back ready for Sarah.
Tom walked into the living room and saw Sarah's father. 'At least I know that she didn't lack for love while she was growing up. Even though her sister is a pain in the ass.'
"Mr. Whitney, I'm sorry I didn't come two days ago to talk to you. When I took Sarah out the other day we went on a picnic. Then we went for a ride in the woods. Do you know of anyone who might want to kill Sarah? Because someone did try. They shot her with an iron bullet."
"Iron!" Mr. Whitney cried, "Is she okay? Please tell me she didn't die!"
"No, she didn't die. She's alive. I took her to very good doctor and right now your daughter is being as stubborn as she always is. But you do know that the iron bullet could have hurt her?"
"Yes." Mr. Whitney said, greatly saddened that someone had found out about his daughter being adopted. "I adopted her to help a friend of mine. You see, my friend was only twenty, engaged, and she had an affair with a really bad man. She ended up pregnant and had Sarah. She moved away from her fiancé and had the baby here in New York. She gave Sarah up for adoption and I adopted her. Sarah was never to have found out. No one was."
"Well, you see Mr. Whitney," Tom said, his eyes turning silver and his canines elongating, "I am a lamia. The other day when I took Angie up on the blind date and met Angie, at the movies I drank some of her blood. That's how I found out that she was a witch. Sarah needs to talk to you. I will bring her home tomorrow and you had better tell her everything. If you don't know who her father is, I suggest you tell her who her mother is so we can find out where she lives now. Or else."
Mr. Whitney blanched. He thought about the threat that Hunter had given him. '"If you reveal to anyone that I am that girl's father, I'll tell the Night World elders that you know about them. Think about what might happen if they find out that vermin knows who and what they are."'
"I don't know Sarah's father's name, but I know her mother's name. Her name is Abigail. Abigail Abforth." Mr. Whitney let out a long breath. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had been waiting for sixteen years to say her name to someone. Especially to someone who would tell Sarah.
"Thank you. I'll make sure to tell Sarah her name. We'll see you tomorrow, around one o'clock. Be here to talk to her. She wants to talk to you about this." Tom told the older man in a firm voice. Tom knew that Mr. Whitney was withholding the father's name from him, but he couldn't tell what the name could be. Someone was blocking the man's brain from any outside interference.
Angie met Tom outside the room.
"Here. This is one of her favorite outfits. Her favorite nightgown. And her favorite reading book." She handed him a bag and a book.
Tom took the bag and book, murmured his thanks and left the apartment.
@~@~@~
Tom looked down at the book as he drove out of the parking lot. "Night World! What the hell!" Tom nearly went off the road. He pulled off to the side. He quickly turned the book over and read the back.
'Prince of Darkness
The pain was something Poppy couldn't ignore. The diagnosis was death. There was no hope - until James appeared in the darkened hospital room. James, her best friend and secret love, the handsomest boy in El Camino High. But this was a James she didn't know - menacing yet irresistible as he offered Poppy the gift of eternal life. Only he could open the door to the Night World and spirit her into it's lonely secret universe. One dizzying kiss and she can see into his soul. She finds that he has always loved her. They're soulmates - but can she follow him into death. . . and beyond. It's a desperate choice and Poppy's time is running out. . . .'
Tom closed his eyes. He knew these people. It was Poppy and James Rasmussen. He knew their story. Knew what they stood for. Hell, now he even stood for the same thing.
'Sarah,' his mind said to him over and over again. Sarah knew everything about the Night World. She probably knew more about the Circle Daybreakers than even he did. And he was one of them. Not that his brother knew. He had to keep up the pretense of being part of the Night World and hating the people belonging to Circle Daybreak. But, actually, he had made a lot of friends in that group. Thank the Goddess that Raven had been able to talk him into joining.
Tom started the car back up and continued driving to Heather's small hospital.
@~@~@~
"Where is he?" Sarah asked Heather as she walked into the room, carrying Sarah's breakfast to her on a tray.
"He'll be back in a little while. He had to go do some things. Now, sit back and eat or I'll strap you down." Heather spoke to Sarah as if she were a sister instead of a patient.
"But it isn't right that you should be acting as a nursemaid! My shoulder is fine now. I could at least get up and help you do things. I have to go home anyway. Dad and Angie must be worried sick about me." Sarah said. She still couldn't admit to herself that Heather and Tom might be right about her being adopted.
"You sit your butt down right now. I'm not having my beautiful stitching coming apart now. Especially when you've already pulled the stitches out once trying to get out of that bed." Heather told Sarah as she tried to get up again for the second time that day. They both heard the jingle of the front door as someone entered the waiting room.
Tom walked into the room. He was carrying a bag of clothes and a book in his hands.
"Has she given you any trouble, Heather?" He asked her with a gentle smile toward Sarah. "If she has, I won't give her what her sister gave me to give to her." He said as he held up the bag and book.
"You went to see them? How are they? Are they all right?" Sarah asked, worried about the welfare of her family.
"Yes, Sarah. They're fine. They were really concerned about you, although I didn't tell your sister what had happened. She told me these were your favorite things."
Tom handed Sarah the bag with her clothes and when she saw the book, she was astonished that Angie had remembered that it was her favorite. "She gave you Secret Vampire to give to me! Thank God. Now I won't be totally bored out of mind while you guys are making me sit here all day with nothing to do."
Sarah tore into the book and Tom motioned Heather out the door.
"Heather, did you get a look at the book that Sarah was reading?" Tom asked her.
"No, what was it about." Heather asked, puzzled.
"I'll tell you in three words. The Night World." Tom said gravely as he uttered the words that felt like poison on the tip of his tongue.
"WHAT!!! How did she get a book on that? I thought there were no records about the Night World. I thought the elders made sure of that when they promised death to anyone who let out the secret of the Night World." Heather cried.
"Yeah, well, looks like the secret got out. We should tell Thierry about this. There is no way that if the Night World leaders find out first what hell there will be to pay. It's better that the leader of Circle Daybreak find out first." Tom said quietly, hoping Sarah hadn't heard Heather shout.
"You're right. I'll let Thierry know. Well, what did you find out about her mother?" Heather asked, now quiet.
"Well, we were right. She was adopted and she is a witch, but her father and sister love her as if they were related. I don't think Angie knows anything, but it's possible she could. The only thing is, Sarah's father is hiding who Sarah's father is. I'm not sure who it is, but I think someone threatened him into silence. But, anyway, that book is the story of Poppy and James. You don't think the author would have written their story without their permission, do you?" Tom asked, suddenly very worried.
"No, I don't think so. Maybe you should call them while I call Thierry." Heather said, moving toward the phone in her office as she gestured to the phone behind the secretary's desk for Tom to use. "I'm not sure if anyone's home at the mansion, but I'll see if Nilsson is there. It's possible.
Tom walked up to the phone and quickly dialed James' cell phone.
"Hello," Tom heard James answer.
"Hey, James. It's Tom Mandrill. I was wondering. Have you ever told anyone your story? I just found a book titled Secret Vampire and it was about you and Poppy. So, have you? Other than Poppy, I mean." Tom answered, wanting to get this over and done with so he could go in the other room and sit and talk to Sarah.
"Yeah, Tom. I have. The lady's name is Lisa Jane Smith, but she writes under L.J. Smith. Poppy and I went to talk to her back in '97. Then we called the other Circle Daybreak people, we even told Thierry about her, and told them that she was going to write a series of books on the Night World and that we thought they should go tell her their stories. Of course, I don't know who's book she's on right now. I think that Thierry had even the Wild Powers and their soulmates write down their stories and had someone bring L.J. Smith their stories."
"Thanks, James. Hey, I'm going to be going to Thierry's mansion in about a week. Would you and Poppy meet me in Vegas? I want to introduce you to someone." Tom spoke into the receiver, looking at the room where Sarah had better be laying down, relaxing, and reading her book.
"Sure. I'll even call the others. Maybe we could all get together and have a party. Who knows?" James said, a tiny touch of excitement in his voice at the thought of seeing everyone again. It had been almost three years since he had seen them.
"Okay. See you soon." Tom said and hung up the phone.
Tom walked back to the room that Sarah was in and watched her while she lay in the bed reading. "Sarah," he said quietly, hoping she wasn't too far zoned into the book that she didn't hear him. Angie had told him how her sister could start a book and if she was really into that book, you couldn't pull her out of it if the world was going to be blown up. When she looked up at him, he smiled.
"Yeah, Tom," Sarah said, smiling at the part she was at in the book. She was at the part right after Poppy had fainted and James had caught the milk carton as it had tumbled from Poppy's hands without spilling a drop.
"I was wondering something. Next week, do you want to go on a trip with me? It would get you away from your family and college. Please?" Tom asked her, giving her the puppy dog treatment that he hoped would make her cave-in and go with him.
Sarah smiled. 'So, Angie forgot to tell him that I don't give in to the puppy dog face, huh.' "Sure, I'll go with you. But where are we going?"
"Oh, just across the country. To Las Vegas. You are old enough to gamble, right?" Tom asked, grinning wickedly.
"Tom, it's not right to ask a lady about her age, but, yes, I am old enough to gamble. I can't wait to see that big Sphinx casino that Hannah talked about in her story." Sarah said and returned to her book.
'She must be talking about Hannah, Thierry's wife. I can't wait until I can surprise her even more and let her meet the real Hannah.' Tom thought to himself, a gentle smile stealing across his face as he watched Sarah.
"Tom, can I talk to you for a minute?" Heather said from out in the hall. As soon as he got into the hall, Heather pulled him into her office. "Thierry's on the phone, he wants to talk to you."
Tom picked up the phone and said, "Hi, Thierry. How can I help you?"
"Hey, Tom. Heather Harman just told me about those books. I know it was dangerous for the Circle Daybreakers to give their stories to that author, but I gave the okay. Humans have to learn about the Night World if they are going to help protect themselves when the millennium starts." Thierry said.
"Okay, Thierry. What would you say if I said I found my soulmate and I wanted to throw a party next week with the inner Circle Daybreak people?" Tom asked hesitantly.
"I'd say congratulations and I wouldn't mind. I can't wait to meet her. Oh, and Tom." Thierry said into the phone.
"Yeah?"
"Make sure she isn't a vampire when she gets here." Thierry said before hanging up the phone.
Tom stared at the phone in his hands and then threw back his head and laughed.
@~@~@~
The next morning, Sarah was all healed. There wasn't a scar even, which astounded Heather and Tom both. If she was part witch shouldn't there be a scar, especially when the bullet had been iron.
Sarah was taking it all in stride, however.
"I've always been that way," Sarah stated simply. "Whenever I'm seriously injured or hurt in anyway, I always seem to heal rather quickly."
Tom brought Sarah home that day and her sister and father were there, anxiously awaiting her return.
"Hey, guys," Sarah said. She was surprised to see her father home, because he usually worked everyday.
"Hey, sweetheart," Mr. Whitney said, walking over to her and hauling her into his arms for a huge hug. Then he looked at Tom and said, "honey, can I talk to you for a second. Please."
Sarah nodded, unsurprised that her father wanted to talk to her. "Sure, Daddy." Sarah said and followed him into his office. "What's up?"
"Well, Sarah. Tom has probably told you, but I wanted to say it out loud for the first time in almost nineteen years. Sweetheart, I should have told you sooner, but. . . .Your mother is a witch. She came to my wife and me, we being good friends of hers, and she asked us to adopt you. You see, she was engaged to be married to another witch, but she'd had an affair with someone else and became pregnant with you. She knew that we had wanted a child for a long time and she asked us if she could live with that and us when her child was born, if we would adopt her. So we did and, even though we are not blood related, I feel in my heart that you are my daughter."
"Oh, Daddy!" Sarah cried, tears running freely down her cheeks. She ran to her father, who was standing next to the big windows, and hugged him tight around the middle. "I will always be your daughter. No matter if I find my true mother and father. Anyone can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a Dad."
The two of them stood there hugging each other for a long time after that. Just standing there embracing each other as if when they let each other go, they would lose each other forever. Finally Sarah pulled away.
"Daddy, Tom wants me to go on a trip with him for a couple days. He wants to take me to Las Vegas, probably to gamble. I already told him no, but if you don't want me to go I'll tell him I can't. So, may I go?" Sarah asked the man that had been her dad for almost nineteen years, hope shining in her face.
Mr. Whitney turned pale. That was where he had last heard that Abigail lived and he had some reservations about Sarah going anywhere with a vampire. Then he straightened out his face and, knowing how much it meant to Sarah, he nodded his head in agreement. "Sure honey. You can go. Do you need any money?"
"I don't know. Let me ask Tom when we get back to the living room." Sarah's face was alight with happiness. She was really happy that her father was allowing her to go with Tom.
The two of them walked back to the living room to see Tom and Abigail in an argument.
" - but I want to go!" Angie cried.
"I said no! I am not taking a spoiled brat that whines when she doesn't get her way. And anyway if I took you to Las Vegas, I'd probably get thrown into jail for allowing a minor to gamble." Tom said heatedly, but calmly.
"It's not fair." Angie said, then saw her father and sister in the doorway. "Dad, tell Tom to let me -"
"No, Angie. You are not going to Las Vegas with them. And, by the way, go up to your room and get that money that you borrowed from your sister a month and a half ago. You should have paid her back then. And, Angie, I mean all of it."
"But -" Angie looked to her sister for support.
"No, Daddy. I'm sure I won't need that much money. Besides, she couldn't pay me back all the money she's borrowed from me over the years. She wouldn't have enough." Sarah said teasingly to her sister, then she straightened out her face. "But, Angie, I'm not going to change Dad's or Tom's mind about letting you go with us to Las Vegas. It is not a place for fifteen year olds. I'll tell you what. When you turn eighteen, I'll take you to Las Vegas. Just you and me, no one else."
"You mean it?" Angie asked her sister hopefully. At Sarah's nod, Angie ran into her arms and gave her a bear hug.
Sarah nodded, then looked at Tom. "My dad wants to know if I'll need any money for the trip."
"No, Sarah. You don't have to spend any money if you don't want to. I'll pay for the whole trip." Tom said to Sarah.
Angie noticed a softness in his eyes that had never been there before. Mr. Whitney also noted the softness in his eyes that hadn't been there the day before when Tom had come to threaten him.
"Oh, that's cool. Dad, thanks for offering though." Sarah looked at her dad and smiled.
@~@~@~
Tom and Sarah left on their road trip the following day. The trip seemed to go fine all the way. The two talked and laughed and enjoyed themselves. Until the day before they would arrive in Las Vegas.
@~@~@~
Sarah woke up in the middle of the night. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that she was needed somewhere. So she got out of bed and noticed that Tom wasn't on the twin bed that was sitting next to hers, sleeping like he should have been.
Sarah quickly got dressed and slipped out into the night beyond the door. She stood listening for a moment then heard a rustle in the woods just behind the hotel. She carefully and quietly followed the rustling sound.
There, in the woods, was Tom. He held in his hands a deer and he was leaning over it, his head bent toward it.
"Tom," Sarah gasped and Tom's head instantly came up.
On his lips was a smear of red liquid. Sarah realized that Tom had been drinking the blood of the deer. She turned and started to run, but didn't get very far for, suddenly, Tom had taken a hold of her wrist and wouldn't let go.