A Shade of Vampire 37: An Empire of Stones
Rose
We had returned to The Shade as soon as we’d seen the air ambulance approaching. We’d ended up taking five of the less mindless, and more talkative, humans with us back to Meadow Hospital for the jinn and witches to heal, and to hopefully get some comprehensive answers out of them—though I wasn’t holding out much hope. Even the best of the bunch were so far gone they couldn’t even tell us their own names.
We’d left them in the care of Corrine and her team of nurses overnight, but waiting was proving difficult—we all desperately needed answers. As soon as we got back to the island, Caleb charged Benedict’s dead phone, but it contained nothing helpful—the last message he’d sent was to Julian, asking him what assortment of games he’d be bringing along for the trip to Murkbeech.
We were unable to get any rest. At ten in the evening, Claudia and Yuri had joined us at our home, along with Ashley and Landis. We had spent the night speculating what kind of creature could have distorted the minds of humans so thoroughly. My mom had come over to join us, and seemed equally baffled—we’d told her what the young English boy had said, about dark hooded beings appearing in dreams and leaving them ‘empty’.
We had gone around in circles till dawn, mostly waiting for a word from Corrine that we could visit the hospital and ask the humans more questions. Without them it was all just guesswork—and we had very little conclusive evidence to go on.
Eventually the group disbanded, and Caleb had gone off to speak via phone to the human hospital officials, who were as clueless as we were about what happened at the camp.
I found my mom sitting on the porch, overlooking the tops of the trees, deep in thought.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
She took my hand, drawing me down to sit with her, and sighed. “I delayed telling you because you’ve got so much on your plate, but… it’s your father and Ben. Sherus showed up on Ben’s doorstep a few hours ago, requesting he and Dad travel to the fae realm for a meeting soon. Sherus didn’t say why he needed them; I’m not sure of the reason for his sudden appearance.”
Sherus. That ginger-haired fae who was responsible for giving my brother a living body. I felt quite stunned that he had visited after so long… and concerned. What did he want?
“You have no idea at all what he came for?” I asked.
“Sherus said that there’s something coming—something that we should all be afraid of… he just doesn’t know what. Or he does, and is keeping information from us.”
“River must be worried,” I murmured, thinking of my sister-in-law. She had almost lost Ben because of Sherus and the stupid deal he’d made with the ghouls to keep feeding them a fresh supply of ghosts.
My mom nodded. “Ben’s at home with her now, trying to reassure her I think. They’ll leave tomorrow.”
“Well, I suppose there’s no point in worrying till we know more,” I muttered. I couldn’t see any reason why Sherus would attempt to harm my father and brother.
“You’re right,” my mom replied, trying to be reassuring, but her paler-than-usual skin indicated just how deep her worries ran. “The priority is your children and Julian and Ruby…” She squeezed my hand. “I don’t doubt that we’ll find them, Rose. They take after you and Caleb—smart, resourceful and strong.”
I hugged her, privately thinking that at least half of those qualities most definitely came from her. We didn’t talk about the kids again, or Ben and my father, but quietly sat in silence—both turning over possibilities and outcomes in our head, desperately searching for solutions and impatient to know more.
The next morning, Caleb and I were anxiously looking through local police reports in Scotland and the rest of the British Isles to see if there had been any news of events similar to what happened in Murkbeech. Before we could find anything of interest, Corrine knocked on the kitchen window, beckoning us outside onto the veranda.
“One of the patients has started to make a bit more sense,” she informed us. “Nothing much to go on, but you should come and hear what he has to say. Honestly, I’ve never heard anything quite like it,” she added grimly.
She vanished us to the hospital, where we met up with Mona and Shayla, who’d apparently fetched Claudia, Yuri, Ashley and Landis.
Corrine led us into one of the rooms; the boy Caleb and I had spoken to on the island—the blond, British boy—was sitting up in bed, looking around the room in dull surprise. He focused on us as we entered, and once more his gaze zoomed in on mine. He furrowed his brow, as if he half recognized me, but couldn’t quite place where he knew me from.
We had returned to The Shade as soon as we’d seen the air ambulance approaching. We’d ended up taking five of the less mindless, and more talkative, humans with us back to Meadow Hospital for the jinn and witches to heal, and to hopefully get some comprehensive answers out of them—though I wasn’t holding out much hope. Even the best of the bunch were so far gone they couldn’t even tell us their own names.
We’d left them in the care of Corrine and her team of nurses overnight, but waiting was proving difficult—we all desperately needed answers. As soon as we got back to the island, Caleb charged Benedict’s dead phone, but it contained nothing helpful—the last message he’d sent was to Julian, asking him what assortment of games he’d be bringing along for the trip to Murkbeech.
We were unable to get any rest. At ten in the evening, Claudia and Yuri had joined us at our home, along with Ashley and Landis. We had spent the night speculating what kind of creature could have distorted the minds of humans so thoroughly. My mom had come over to join us, and seemed equally baffled—we’d told her what the young English boy had said, about dark hooded beings appearing in dreams and leaving them ‘empty’.
We had gone around in circles till dawn, mostly waiting for a word from Corrine that we could visit the hospital and ask the humans more questions. Without them it was all just guesswork—and we had very little conclusive evidence to go on.
Eventually the group disbanded, and Caleb had gone off to speak via phone to the human hospital officials, who were as clueless as we were about what happened at the camp.
I found my mom sitting on the porch, overlooking the tops of the trees, deep in thought.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
She took my hand, drawing me down to sit with her, and sighed. “I delayed telling you because you’ve got so much on your plate, but… it’s your father and Ben. Sherus showed up on Ben’s doorstep a few hours ago, requesting he and Dad travel to the fae realm for a meeting soon. Sherus didn’t say why he needed them; I’m not sure of the reason for his sudden appearance.”
Sherus. That ginger-haired fae who was responsible for giving my brother a living body. I felt quite stunned that he had visited after so long… and concerned. What did he want?
“You have no idea at all what he came for?” I asked.
“Sherus said that there’s something coming—something that we should all be afraid of… he just doesn’t know what. Or he does, and is keeping information from us.”
“River must be worried,” I murmured, thinking of my sister-in-law. She had almost lost Ben because of Sherus and the stupid deal he’d made with the ghouls to keep feeding them a fresh supply of ghosts.
My mom nodded. “Ben’s at home with her now, trying to reassure her I think. They’ll leave tomorrow.”
“Well, I suppose there’s no point in worrying till we know more,” I muttered. I couldn’t see any reason why Sherus would attempt to harm my father and brother.
“You’re right,” my mom replied, trying to be reassuring, but her paler-than-usual skin indicated just how deep her worries ran. “The priority is your children and Julian and Ruby…” She squeezed my hand. “I don’t doubt that we’ll find them, Rose. They take after you and Caleb—smart, resourceful and strong.”
I hugged her, privately thinking that at least half of those qualities most definitely came from her. We didn’t talk about the kids again, or Ben and my father, but quietly sat in silence—both turning over possibilities and outcomes in our head, desperately searching for solutions and impatient to know more.
The next morning, Caleb and I were anxiously looking through local police reports in Scotland and the rest of the British Isles to see if there had been any news of events similar to what happened in Murkbeech. Before we could find anything of interest, Corrine knocked on the kitchen window, beckoning us outside onto the veranda.
“One of the patients has started to make a bit more sense,” she informed us. “Nothing much to go on, but you should come and hear what he has to say. Honestly, I’ve never heard anything quite like it,” she added grimly.
She vanished us to the hospital, where we met up with Mona and Shayla, who’d apparently fetched Claudia, Yuri, Ashley and Landis.
Corrine led us into one of the rooms; the boy Caleb and I had spoken to on the island—the blond, British boy—was sitting up in bed, looking around the room in dull surprise. He focused on us as we entered, and once more his gaze zoomed in on mine. He furrowed his brow, as if he half recognized me, but couldn’t quite place where he knew me from.