Blood's Refuge (Book 2 of Blood Ties Novels)

Reunited

Andy and I had to go down to the police station to give our statements. The police were more interested in what happened, then how we found them. After Andy had finished the shooting report, booked Frank for kidnapping, and explained finding Seth’s body, we went to the hospital where we were told to sit in the waiting room. Andrea was in with the doctor due to protocol. 

When Andi saw that we were there, she threw a royal fit until we were allowed access to her room. She sat on the paper-covered vinyl table, legs and arms crossed, outfitted in a hospital-gown. “So, what’s the story?” she asked as soon as the door was shut.

“What do you mean? You were kidnapped and due to our impervious investigative skills, we found you. When we arrived at the first sight, Brandon and Frank were there. Brandon pulled a gun and shot. I shot back and hit him. Frank disappeared, but Gabriel caught him and brought him back. Then we found the first holding cell. After a few days of searching, we came across Seth outside the barn and discovered you in the barn. The coroner pronounced Seth’s death a massive heart attack.” Andy’s explanation wasn’t anything but the truth, minus the explanation of our skills, and the vampiric involvement. 

“That’s not what I mean. I could have figured that out,” she fumed. “I meant, why aren’t they letting me go? Why are they running tests on me? Am I okay?”

“You’re fine,” I answered from her feet. I was busy doing a quick examination of my own. In the frenzy of need, I hadn’t stopped to make sure the blood I shared had healed her completely. All of her bones seemed fine, just a bad bump on the head and a few fading hand-shaped bruises around her arms left behind from our previous sharing. “They’re not letting you go because you should be going into shock, most people do after they’ve been kidnapped and I’m sure they’re just routine tests. Nothing to be afraid of,” I said as I rose from a kneeling position. 

“Humph.” She looked at her brother and then at me. She smiled, “Thank you.” Then she opened her arms wide for a hug. We both walked into them and got a group hug. 

I stepped back and allowed them time together. “I need to go make some preparations. I’ll be right back,” I promised as soon as I saw the disappointment on Andi’s face. I gave her a quick kiss and ducked out of the room. 

“You have some major explaining to do, Ands,” I said as soon as I knew Gabe was gone. 

“I know,” she replied without meeting my eyes. “I understand if you think that I’m insane, but I truly do love him. I know you know he loves me just as much…”

I cut her off, “No, Ands. That’s not the problem. Why didn’t you just tell me at the beginning? If you could handle it, I certainly could have. I mean, it make sense now. I always wondered the appeal of so much tomato juice.” I made a face to cut the tension I could feel coming off her.

“You don’t have to play a game with me. I know you’re worried.”

“Of course I’m worried. Ands, you let a vampire bite you,” I whispered just in case someone was listening. “Do you know how dangerous that is? What if he lost control and killed you? I would be out my sister and my best friend, all in one. I’m pretty sure you told me you were going to be safe. Letting a mythical creature bite you probably isn’t the best place to start being safe.” I carried on down that line of thought for a while. I didn’t want her to ever do something stupid like that again. She just nodded and tried to jump in, but I wouldn’t let her.

“Please, Andy, let me explain,” she finally got out when I had finished my tirade. 

“Please do. I just don’t understand what would possess you to allow him to do that to you.”

“It’s his nature,” she began. I was about to interrupt again, but she held up her hand to stop me. “Let me finish.” I nodded. “He would never have done it if I hadn’t have asked him too. The first time was the night that Sara had come to dinner. He worried all evening that he had hurt me when we were in the dining room, do you remember?” I nodded again. “Well, he had warned me to never allow him to do that again. He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from biting me accidentally. He knew he wouldn’t kill me, but he didn’t want to bite me nonetheless. That’s when I asked him to do it. I knew he wanted too, even though he was afraid too. I basically had to force him to do it. He loves me too much to ever cause me pain, and he’d never kill me, even if I asked him to do it.”

“What are you talking about? Why would you ask him to kill you?” She was worrying me more than ever with the last assertion. 

“If he was to change me, essentially I’d be dead. Now that I can hear his thoughts, I know that spending eternity with me is all that he wants, but he’s conflicted with the thought of killing me and causing me pain through the transformation.” Her explanation did little to calm my nerves. At least she’s not suicidal. 

“I think maybe we should discuss this later, at home. For now, wait patiently and do what the doctors tell you to do. I know you won’t go into shock because of what happened before, but do what they tell you to do anyway.” I leaned down to give her another hug. 

She wrapped her arms around me, but refused to release me. “Please, don’t leave me until Gabriel comes back. Then you can go home if that’s what you want to do.” 

I kissed the top of her head the way you would to comfort a child. “I’ll stay if that’s what you want, but I need to go once Gabe gets back. I have a lot of work to finish at the station.” She released me and I sat next to her on the bed and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She leaned into my chest and began to cry soft, quiet tears.

I slogged down the hall to the morgue and picked up the phone outside the doors. “Morgue, how can I help you?” a very polite young lady asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m looking for Seth Haden. He was brought in last night.” 

“Yes, Mr. Haden. Enter after the buzz.” She hung up and the door buzzed loudly. 

I entered the cold unit. The antiseptic smell overwhelmed me for a moment. I rubbed my nose several times trying to relieve it from the burning sensation. When I got to the desk, a short blonde with a quick, solemn smile greeted me. “Mr. Haden, this way please.” I followed her to a secluded room where I could view ‘the body’ in peace. “We are deeply sorry for your loss.” She squeezed my shoulder and left quietly. I peeked around the white and blue plaid curtain. Seth had been cleaned up and dressed. His closed eyes shot me back to 1935. 

The night my father died, my mother cried herself to sleep and I watched over my baby brother. It was a stormy night, and his six year old mind couldn’t comprehend what had happened to our father. He sat in the rocking chair our father had built for hours just staring at the door, hoping that he would walk in and prove that this news was wrong. 

I had been just down the street when it happened. I heard the gun shot down the block. I was on my way to the family store when the crazed man came in waving his firearm. He wanted food and my father told him to take it. Just before he left, the man thought better about leaving a witness to his burglary. He shot my father in the chest and ran out the door. 

I ran toward the store when I saw the man leave carrying two bags of goods and a rifle. I got there just in time to see the light leave my father’s eyes. I was the one with the horrid job of having to tell my family the sad news. Seth hit me and ran away to his sandbox. Our mother went out and consoled him. “I hate him. He’s a liar. I wish he would go away,” Seth yelled. 

I took care of the police and neighbors that evening allowing my mother time to grieve privately. Seth refused to look at me, refused to even acknowledge my existence. Once our mother excused herself for the evening, he went to his room and watched. I peered in on him sporadically. He finally fell asleep in the chair around two in the morning. I lifted him from the chair and tucked him into his bed. His little arms clung desperately to my neck. “Please brother, don’t go.” He started to cry.

I climbed into bed with him and let him curl against me and cry his sadness out. I became his refuge from the world when everything else seemed destroyed. When he was exhausted, his little body finally fell limp into silent dreams. 

A tear ran down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly. “I wish I had found you sooner. I wish you had reconsidered years ago.” I allowed myself a moment to grieve appropriately and remembered a poem I made up for Seth to help cope with our father’s passing. It seemed an apt moment to repeat it again.

“There once was a man who lived long ago, 

Who died for mankind to make us whole. 

Because of His love, 

The Father sent from above 

The only way for us to go to heaven. 

If you believe in the Holy One, 

Then you will see your loved ones. 

Daddy and mama have gone on before us, 

But there is no need for such a ruckus. 

We will see them in heaven when it is our time. 

So when you fall asleep tonight, 

Look up at the stars. 

Watch the beautiful light 

And think of the glorious wanders. 

Know in your heart 

That we will never more part 

For more than a day 

Because of what He paid. 

We will meet again in Glory when 

Our days have come to an end.” 

“Gabriel, that was beautiful,” Andrea cried harder. She had been listening to my thoughts. “He was ready.”

“I know. He’s gone home.”

I stood and kissed his forehead. When I turned, there were three nurses standing in the door way, tears falling from their eyes. The youngest came over to me and wrapped her arms around me. “We’re so sorry for your loss,” she mumbled against my shirt. 

I patted her and nodded. “It was his time. He’s gone to his Heavenly home.” 

“That had to have been the sweetest poem I’ve ever heard. It was obviously special. Who wrote it?” the older nurse asked as she wiped tears from her cheeks.

“I did, a very long time ago. What do I need to do now?” I asked to no one in particular.

The third nurse was the one to answer. She was slightly older than Andrea, but she was filled with the kind of authority that no one set aside. She had to have been the head nurse for the floor. “We need to take care of the final arrangements.”