My Beloved by T.M. Mendes
They spent the next thirty or so minutes just embracing one another and making idle chit chat to avoid the pain. Knowing she had to go visit her brother and dad, she let go of her mom.
"Go to sleep, mom. I love you," she whispered and Debbie was helpless but complied. "I don't want to go to sleep though. You'll b-be gone," she spoke through a barely there voice as her mind succumbed to a deeper sleep.
Suppressing another cry, Wendy closed her eyes and thought of her dad.
*****
"Daddy?" Wendy spoke quietly at seeing her dad sitting on a bench at the playground she played. Following his line of sight, she saw herself when she was only eight years old, laughing and giggling away as her brother chased her. Walking to her dad, she sat next to him.
"Hey, Princess," he murmured and slowly looked at her with a sad smile. "Came here to say goodbye?" he offered and Wendy had to stifle her tears when she saw his lower lip tremble ever so slightly. Leaning her head down on his shoulder, she nodded.
"Sort of. Dad. I just want to let you know that I-I'm safe, and God, I love you so much, dad."
His hand grabbed hers and squeezed it for comfort. "I know, sweetheart. I love you, too. You don't know how much I miss you, but..." he trailed off, looking into her eyes. "I can see you're happy. Why can't you at least visit?" he questioned with a slight wobbly voice.
"I can't right now. Maybe someday."
They were both interrupted when her eight-year-old self was laughing and tugging on her dad's hand. "Come play with me, daddy! Please? Mark ditched me." Her younger self pouted cutely.
"In a minute. Let me finish talking with this young lady, okay?"
Little Wendy nodded, making her pigtails flop, then she skipped away.
"You keep your promise, do you understand me?" he made clear and kissed her forehead. "Go on, I have a feeling there isn't too much time and I know you left your brother for last."
Wendy had to shake her head with a watery smile. "You always understood me the best. And I promise, one day I WILL be there to see you guys again."
Hugging him to her one last time, she cried silently when he got up and chased around little Wendy. Closing her eyes again, she focused on her brother.
*****
"I remember this place," Wendy murmured as she looked around. She was outside looking at the lake in front of her. Spotting her brother at the end of the dock looking at the water, she walked up to him, taking a deep breath.
"Wendy Bird?" he asked with a voice that showed how incredible seeing her was.
"Hey there, Mark," she said in a soft voice. Standing up, he engulfed her in a hug. It was strange, she felt every bit as human as before she turned. That had to be Vincent's doing.
"Where are you? Please tell me so I can find you. Or... are you d-dead?" he asked with a broken expression.
She placed a palm against his cheek and shook her head. "No, I'm not dead. But I can't tell you where I am. Know that I am okay. Take care of mom and dad, okay? How is everything?" she asked, feeling fatigue wash over her. It took a lot of concentration to stay in their dreams and it was beginning to take its toll.
"How do you think? We're a mess! Mom can't stop crying, dad is even less talkative, and Jamie is searching hell and high water for you. So yeah, not so great!"
Wendy was hurt by his harsh words but she was sure they'd get by without her. They needed to. "Please don't be like that, Mark. You know I want to see you and you know I would have a pretty good reason if I couldn't, and I can't. Not now. You guys will move on from this, I know it."
Markus stepped back and shook his head angrily. "No, we won't! Damn it, Wendy! How can I just move on?! You're my baby sister! You were taken from us and you expect me to just shrug it off?!" he yelled in anger and confusion.
"No! I don't expect you to just shrug it off, but I do expect you not to think your life will be on pause until I can come see you! Live your life, Mark. Find a girl to marry and give mom and dad lots of grandchildren!"
He shook his head angrily as tears rolled down. Storm clouds were rolling in, reflecting his mood. "How is this even possible? How am I talking to you now? Oh my God. It's that crazy vampire story you told me in the hospital, isn't it?! That was real! He took you, didn't he?!"
Wendy knew he was spot on and that also told her she needed to get out of here. Rushing forward, she hugged him tight and kissed his cheek. "Leave it be, Mark. I love you," she whispered.
But before she rushed out of his dream like being sucked out, she heard him say, "I will find you, Wendy!"
Chapter 24
(Part two)
Wendy
Gasping, she sat up as if she were breathing again after being under water for too long.
“Wendy? Is everything alright?” Vincent asked her with worried eyes.
Her eyes connected to his as she shook her head sadly. “No. Oh God, that was so much harder than I thought.”
When she relayed to him what went down with her brother, he growled. It was a deep baritone that sent a shudder down her spine. “Don’t worry, Firefly, he can’t find us.”
Wendy let a small frown slip on her face as she pulled away to look up at him. “No, don’t be angry at him. He has every right to react that way. If it was the other way around, I’d be furious too.”
“He made you cry,” Vincent said stubbornly as he rubbed her arms up and down.
Gingerly placing her fingertips under her eyes, she found she was in fact crying. “I’m fine. I will be.” Reassuring him, she leaned up and kissed him softly. It was just going to be a quick soft gesture, but his hand came up behind her and held her head to him. Smiling against him, she sunk into his feel and tried not to let her mind get too mixed up. But having his warm, firm lips against hers wasn’t going to make it easy.
Well, if he was trying to distract her, it was working! His large hands were caressing her sides that caused her to shudder against him. His tongue traced her bottom lip, making her moan. He chuckled at her as her face heated up slightly. She was able to flush easier since she had blood just yesterday.
“Shut up,” she mumbled and then continued to kiss him. Raising her leg, she hooked it around his hips to pull him closer to her. Vince growled lowly in his throat that sent thrills through her. Her breathing was coming in gasps as she tried to settle herself better.
“You have no idea what you do to me, Firefly,” Vincent said with his voice husky and low.
She felt a little cheekier than usual as she pressed into him more. “Oh, I think I know exactly what I do to you,” she said with a wink, referring to how excited he felt. His chuckle rumbled through him as he dipped his head to the crook of her neck.
“You are turning into a little vixen,”
Before she could respond, he bit into her, causing her to arch as the pleasure assaulted her. Wendy felt like she was high. There were no true words to how it felt. If she thought him biting her felt good as a human, this was no comparison. Her nails bit into his shoulder blades through his shirt as she tried to keep some of her dignity by not screaming down the whole house. She felt her fangs grow in response as a sudden overwhelming urge to sink her teeth into him pushed at her. Having no choice but to comply, she turned into his neck and returned the favor.
Vincent pulled away enough to stop biting her as he groaned loudly. ‘This must feel as good to him as it does to me,’ she thought while snickering in her mind. The taste of him was explosive. She compared it to if sex and heroine had a baby, this taste, this addictive sweet taste, would be it. Just as she pulled away to catch her breath, her mind flashed before her.
She saw Jamie and Markus walking through the woods and somehow she knew it was near where she currently was. It was snowing out and it looked like they were arguing. Wendy screamed as she saw a blur of a vampire come in a swipe at her brother. Jamie screamed and jumped back, and Wendy looked around for anything to help her distinguish what day it was. She knew she was in a very small clearing and it had a small pond next to i
The scene blurred as she blinked her eyes back into focus and saw Vincent looking worriedly down at her. “What is it, what happened?” he asked frantically.
She felt an iciness wash over her when she realized what she just saw. “Vincent? I-I don’t know how, but I just saw what’s going to happen in the future with my brother and Jamie.” Her voice shook with how freaked out she was as she tried to keep it together.
“Are you certain?” he asked with a concentrated look.
She nodded frantically. “Yes! In one month, Jamie and Markus are going to try to find me somehow, but they get attacked by a vampire. I couldn’t see the vampire’s face though.” She couldn’t and wouldn’t let anything happen to her brother or her best friend.
He cradled her face in his hands. “It’s going to be okay, alright? I promise.”
Wendy saw in his face he wouldn’t let anything happen to her loved ones, for which she was grateful.
“Can you describe where they were at? I may know the area if it had any type of land markings.” he asked. She then recited what she saw, like the small pond, and small clearing.
He nodded to himself. “I know where that is. It isn’t far from here, maybe a mile or two, but the question is, how did they find us?” he asked more to himself.
Wendy hadn’t a clue as to how, but all she knew was that they had to save them from whatever attack they were under when the time came.
“We have a month to figure it out, so it will be fine,” he assured her.
Sighing, she sat up and looked at him. “Vincent?” she started, “what does this mean? Can I see the future now?” Her voice was a little skeptical; she didn’t want to believe it.
He shook his head slowly as he tried to think himself. “I’m not sure. It is odd, but until this becomes a regular occurrence, we won’t know for sure.”
Deep in her gut, something told her she wasn’t behind the vision. Her eyes followed the ‘tattoo’ on her upper arm that proved she was safe, but was she? Shaking the feeling away, she gave him a small smile before hopping out of bed.
“Don’t you want to pick up where we left off?” he suggested with a smirk and patted the bed to prove his point.
Sticking her chin up, she flounced to the door. “How about you finish on your own?”
He growled playfully before crouching before her. She squealed and flitted out the door. It was times like these she was so thankful he could distract her.
She didn’t want to think about what could happen.
She ran past Darcy and Anya who were kissing in the hallway, making her grin. They have been getting along VERY well these past couple of weeks. Wendy was ecstatic to hear they were finally together! They still tease each other almost non-stop but now they can shut each other up by kissing. Laughing away, she felt an arm reach out and she squeaked in alarm. She was slammed into the wall on the far edge of the house, making her groan from impact. Her eyes saw Asher in front of her, staring down with blank eyes. “A-Asher?” she asked hesitantly.
“You’re coming with me.” His voice was void of any emotions. She struggled against him as he started to drag her up to the steps. The sun was still out though!
“Asher, stop!” she screamed. He almost made it to the door when they were both knocked down. Wendy scrambled away from him on instinct as Vincent wailed on him. Darcy ran in, taking in the scene before pulling Vincent off of the hunter.
“Let me go! He almost killed her!” Vincent’s roar was deafening, but Wendy knew he was holding back because he was stronger than Darcy. He didn’t want to hurt his friend.
“Just hang on a minute! Can’t you tell he’s not acting right? I know you don’t like the guy but you know as well as I do that he wouldn’t normally do something like this!”
All eyes looked down at Asher, who lay on the floor staring at nothing.
“I. Don’t. Care!” Vincent spat through gritted teeth. He was shaking with rage that was barely contained and it rolled off in waves.
Wendy got up quickly and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “I’m fine. See?” Her soothing voice worked as he calmed down, but only enough to not kill Asher.
“Anya, I need you to look after him in the lock up room,” Darcy asked her, which made her nod. Taking his arms, she dragged him to the other room.
Wendy felt a bubbling anger storm through her from all the things that have happened so quickly. It seemed that now that Vincent was calmer, her emotions had enough room to fan out.
“I am so sick of this!” she cried out, waving her hands in an open motion. At that exact moment, the lamp next to them blew up, causing all of them to jump. “What was that?” she asked slowly as her anger receded.
Vincent and Darcy shared a look and nodded. “You think so?” Darcy asked Vincent’s unspoken statement.
“Mind clueing me in?!” Wendy asked with frustration.
“Wendy, why are you so annoying?” Darcy asked with a disgusted expression.
Her eyes widened at the unexpected insult. “Darcy, what-” She was interrupted when he scoffed.
“I don’t know what Vincent sees in you. You’re pathetic,” Darcy continued. Vincent looked like he was going to intervene but Darcy held up a hand, stopping him.
Wendy’s blood began to boil. “Darcy, if I were you, I’d shut up,” she warned him when she felt her fangs slide down.
“Why? Are you going to hurt me? Please! You are nothing, nothing but a-”
Wendy’s hands flew up and the chair behind him blew up, causing her to scream in surprise.
“Sorry about that, Wendy. I needed to ruffle your feathers to see if it was true,” Darcy explained quickly when her eyes swung to him again. She placed her hands on her hips, still not getting it.
“I think we found out what your ability is,” Vincent murmured as he flitted behind her to hug her waist.
“What?! H-How is that possible? I thought the future seeing thing was my thing… maybe.”
Darcy cocked his head to the side. “Future seeing? Where was I?” he asked, making Wendy reluctantly explain what happened. She was still peeved at him for saying what he did but now understood why he did it.
Vincent kissed the side of her head. “It does make sense that you have an ability, a powerful one at that. It comes with the territory of having someone like me as your Beloved.”
Wendy blew out a breath and stepped away.
“Well, can we figure out how to control this thing? Preferably before I blow Darcy up?” she asked, not wanting to hurt anyone.
Chapter 25
Vincent
“Watch where you’re using that thing!” Darcy cried out when Wendy blew up another piece of fruit next to him but it nicked him in the arm.
She felt frustrated, which wasn’t helping her concentration. It was only making it worse. “Sorry but it’s a little hard to concentrate using this thing when I don’t even know how I’m doing it half the time!” she said, exasperated.
Vincent came up behind her and held her hands.
“Just breathe, Firefly. This power is tied to your emotions, so you need to rein yourself in.”
She tried what he was saying and breathed in and out, feeling calmer by the second. What she felt though when she was calmer, was a low buzzing of sorts in her hands. She could feel the power just below her finger tips as if it were dancing below her skin. She focused on her hands and then pictured the apple just off to the right instead of looking at it. Taking a deep breath, she closed her fists and opened them quickly. Hearing a pop, she opened her eyes and saw Darcy was now covered in apple, almost as if someone had covered him in apple sauce.
“Why was I picked for target practice again?” he asked rhetorically and wiped off the side of his face.
Vincent suggested that in order for Wendy to concentrate more, she needed an incentive to not hurt anyone. Darcy was forced into the job much to hi
“Believe me, I think it’s stupid too. Vincent, I’m serious, I could really hurt him!” Wendy said with worried eyes.
Vincent shook his head in response and kissed her cheek. “You won’t. You’re good to the core and I know you won’t let yourself hurt him.”
Her brain felt tired from all this training they’ve been doing for the last two weeks. And she was only now getting how this power worked. It was strange though, it wasn’t anything she could grasp or hold. But it was more of a burst of energy that couldn’t be tamed. It was like telling a feral lion to play with a kitten’s toy.
“Now do it again. See if you can rein it in again,” Vincent said softly behind her after he placed another apple next to Darcy.
She got why he was training her past exhaustion. She knew he wanted her to be able to defend herself from whatever wanted her out of the picture. So, closing her eyes, she tried to do what she just did again. Breathing in and out slowly, she focused on the now more prominent buzzing just below her palms. Her mind imagined the apple next to Darcy as she closed her fists and then opened them quickly. Opening her eyes, she saw Darcy was covered in fresh apple mush once again.
“Great job!” Vincent praised as it seemed she was finally getting a handle on her power.