Strange unions

"The Dark Stranger"

© VeGirl 2014

Esme has arranged for our departure and a bag is placed in the trunk of the car just as I join her. "It's all set."

"What exactly have you done?"

She wiggles her brows with a secretive smile. "Trade secret..."

I roll my eyes. "Get in the car!"

She snickers as she is seated next to me and I get the car rolling. "I have prepared the motion that I have to complete with a spell as we reach the other side," she explains.

I furrow my brows in confusion. "I don't understand."

"I know..." The smile on her face is smug.

I purse my lips and rev the car. With gravel spurting behind us I set us in motion. My irritation is soon vanished as I recall that we are on a rescue mission to get Vincent.

"Stop here," she says right before we exit the tunnel through the mountain that separate this mysterious place from the rest of the world. "We'll stay here inside." She explains as I cut the engine off. "And you'll stay indoors," she ads stern. "You might want to cover your eyes if you don't want to get nauseous or the migraine from hell." A wicked smile flashes over her as she exits the car.

Bemused I notice her grabbing the bulky bag from the trunk; reminding me of a doctor's bag. She sits down on the ground in front of the car and she is a mere dark silhouette against the backlight.

Methodically she places items before her. I recognize her grimoire but other than that I don't know what she has there. With handgestures I know the spell has started. It is of course impossible to hear the words she is chanting, but by now I am familiar enough to know she does that.

After a while the light is starting to flicker and I start to feel nauseous. Soon the outside of the tunnel feels like a giant stroboscope and my ears are ringing painfully. Gladly I shut my eyes and involuntarily I press hands over my ears to relief the pain. This weird feeling stops as abrupt as it started.

The car door slams shut, making me jump high. "So, now we can go find him."

"Jesus!" I glare at Esme who has a secretive smile on her face. "What did you say?" I remove the hands that have been covering my ears and she repeats the sentence.

"What happened?" I ask as the nausea has subsided.

"I reset the clock."

I am still feeling like an airhead. "You mean that you have turned back time?" I gasp as she nods pleased with her performance. "And that works?"

"I'm pretty sure, but we'll find out as soon as you'll meet your cousin. Now let's go!"

I shake my head as if to shake some wit into it before I start the car.

"Have you done this before?"

"Just a few times. Things might be a little weird, and that is not good. It can backfire." She gives an embarrassed smile. "I remember one time when the house of parliament had made a bad decision and when they got a chance to do it again, they made the same stupid mistake again, even if I had told them otherwise."

I furrow my brows. "What are you talking about?"

"And the other time when there was this volcano, and I did my best to get the people of that small town to leave, but it did squat."

I sit there gaping.

"Stop glaring at me like that! It's nothing I do if I'm running late in the morning," she growls and after some glaring from my part I start to snicker.

"I don't think you're allowed to change the course of time."

"No I'm aware of that," she sigh. "That's to Mr Bigshot upstairs." She starts the car and get this show on the road.

I roll my eyes and turn the ignition. Soon I am on my way back home again.

The strangest feelings course through me as I pull the car up on my driveway and stopped. It is impossible not to flick my eyes towards Vincent's house.

"Where is he?" I am not clear that I said it out loud until Esme urges me towards the house. "Let's go find the leach."

I open the door to my house and Layla steps out of the kitchen door, staring dumbfound at me. I smile, relieved to be home again. Has it really been ten years?

Her questioning face makes me worried that the spell might not have worked and my smile falter.

"I thought you said you'd pick up something good on your way home?" are her first words and tears starts to well up in my eyes. "What is it?"

"Vincent is missing," I say as tears fall and unknowingly that is the perfect thing to explain my strange behaviour.

"He's missing?" She furrows her brows. "But he was here yesterday... you were about to go on some kind of trip...?"

"There was a change of plan," Esme explains evasive as she walks by us both to the kitchen. Straight to the cupboard she grabs a bottle of scotch and gulps down a fair amount of liquid.

"Esme," Layla snaps shocked. "What's going in here?"

Esme don't answer, but hands me the bottle with an encouraging nod and I take a swig of it.

"Samira Nolan! What is going on?" Layla demands to know.

"We need your boyfriend's phone number," Esme commands to a surprised Layla who is looking more confused than ever.

"Why?"

"Firstly for he is a friend of Vincent's..."

"And vampires are excellent trackers."

Her expression bleaken. "Come again?"

"He's a vampire and we need him... like two days ago..." Esme had taken charge of the situation.

It is almost visible how thoughts are swirling around in her mind. "Vampire...?" Her tone of voice is quite sarcastic. "How much have you been drinking before you got here?" She smiles sardonic.

Rage fills me instantly and I grab her shirt. "Get me Damian's number now!"

Her eyes widen in alarm and she blinks rapidly. "Sure." She fiddles up her phone from her pocket and pulls the number from her address book.

I immediately dial him and notice how it goes straight to voicemail. "Damian; call me now! It's Sam." I tell him my number and say that it is an emergency, hoping he will call quick.

Like a caged animal I walk back and forth in my house. I seriously consider stepping onto my treadmill and just keep running, but then reality sets in. I'm waiting for a call.

I want to pour myself a sturdy bourbon, anything to keep the worried wait off of me. I don't want to see an injured Vincent for my inner sight; the thought that he might get killed is too hard to bare. What would happen if he died? Would he be draggedback up to heaven? They would never allow him back anywhere with a memory of me; they would remove every trace of remembrance concerning me.

My phone rings and I fiddle enough for it to slip out of my grip and onto the floor with a bang. With a fearful expression over it being broken I hurry to pick it up.

"Hi there gorgeous..."

"Damian!"

"Have you finally decided to go for the superior of guys; the vamp?"

I clench my jaw to not snap at the guy for flirting and basically just being a... guy. "Vincent is in trouble and I need your help."

The line goes silent for a momentum. "What can I do?"

A sigh of relief leaves my lungs and I am barely aware that I had withheld that breath. "You should be an excellent tracker... in theory." My eyes flicker to Layla who watches me carefully. "And I know you're strong, so would you please help me? I think he's been captured."

Again there was a silence before he spoke. "I thought you two were about to leave for a while..."

This was my time for silent contemplating. "We were..." My eyes happen to catch a warning from Esme, and I know that I can't say anything; not as long as I stand in front of my cousin. "But something happened to him and I worry." My voice cracks and I don't know what to say. "Can you come?"

A knock on the door makes me jump and as Layla opens it Damian stands there, looking grim.

"How...?" I know there is no use in asking how he could get here so fast and I leave that word hanging. I totally miss the way Layla is staring at him with wide eyes, trying to figure out if my statement could be true. "Come in." I say and there is a wicked glint in his eyes as they roam over Layla. "Don't worry I can revoke my invitation if you eat her again."

Layla flicks her head towards me. "Again?" Her voice is both sharp and brittle at the same time and has a brand new pitch.

Damian simply smiles wayward and shrugs his shoulders. "She's delicious."

Layla gasps and Esme puts a supportive arm around her shoulder as she sways alarmingly.

"Never mind her; we have business to discuss!" I snap and watches Esme lead Layla to the kitchen as I gesture for Damian to sit down on the couch. "How good are you at sniffing out people and what would it cost me to hire you?"

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