transformation from mortal to vampire, it had been 18 years and the vampire was desperately in need of a refresher course to better acquaint himself to his enemy. Thaddeus the bear roared and the ground shook as he started running in the direction of Hartwell. While Hartwell had a good 30-second head start, the speedy bear quickly made up the stagger, shocking Hartwell, who was scared for the first time in his vampire life.
He muttered under his breath, “What in god’s name…” as he turn around to see the bear lumbering toward him at an impressive 50 miles per hour. Thaddeus grabbed Hartwell from behind and wasted no time ending their first of many battles. He picked the vampire over his head and then impaled him through a long, sharp branch of an adjacent tree. Hartwell, his back to the tree, had a four-inch-wide tree trunk running through his back and most importantly, his heart, as he dangled five feet off the ground. Before Hartwell died, Thaddeus turned back into his human form and walked up to Hartwell, “That’s one,” he said as waved his right index finger and then walked away.
The sun came up shortly after the end of the first battle, Gary coming to first as a wolf and then morphing back to his human form. He slowly rose to his feet and then followed the tracks and scents that led him to his greatest nightmare: Hartwell impaled on a massive tree branch.
Hartwell doubled over in pain and violently coughed after Gary freed him from the tree limb.
Gary said, “We have to get to the beach.”
Hartwell’s memory of his early training was sparse, but he did remember the picture of the beach and the word ‘SAFETY.' And safety was on the shores of Maine, where he and Gary trained for months and became experts on their enemy, Thad the hunter, which meant that Hartwell wouldn’t die as often on his march to mortality and his 100th death.
EIGHT
Hartwell was once again curious about his foe, and wanted to learn every tip and tendency he could wrap his mind around and then pass on to his troops.
“We’re talking about the origin of the species here,” Linda Vinson said to Hartwell internally as she layered sheets of lasagna in a glass dish and then alternated layers of ricotta cheese and ground turkey meat cooked in marinara sauce.
“Whoa! Were you able to find out who their leader was?” Hartwell asked.
“No, I’m still working on it, but I will get back to you as soon as I know.”
While the riddle was a bit perplexing in its vagueness and complexity, there was a certain level of exhilaration for Hartwell being in the middle of a heated confrontation once again. It was his birthright as a vampire to take on all comers with a cool head and an even cooler heart, so he was not overly worried about what was about to come.
The special connections and bonds that these beings had formed in and out of the House of Hartwell was about to be tested in a major way. Feelings and life impediments that had been dead and buried for decades and even centuries for some people, were about to be dredged up from the grave and quickly renewed.
Linda Vinson was diligently attempting to find out the source of trouble not only for Hartwell but also to alleviate this sinking feeling in her loins that the conflict was much larger and more personal.
“Why are you and grandma’ fighting?” was the question that Claire Vinson was dying to ask her mother.
But, instead, she instinctively was on her way to Hartwell’s house just as she had done previously when she turned 18 and revenge was on her father’s mind. However, this time her mind was clear and her intentions were pure – purely good, that is.
Another person that had never been to Hartwell’s massive beach-front house was also on his way, and was being accompanied by some other people that might be of interest to many people inside the house as well. He walked up to the front door of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse, the altered appearance being a perk of a vampire able to shield what you don’t want others to see, and firmly knocked on the dilapidated door three times.
Samuel glided over to the door and Kayla yelled from the kitchen, “Make sure you ask who is there before opening the door!”
Of course, young Samuel was all ‘think first ask questions later’ and had absolutely no intention of speaking before winging the door open.
“Okay!” he replied and then asked in his most polite tone, “Who is it?”
“A friend,” the deep male voice replied from the other end of the door.
That was good enough for Samuel, but not for his mother.
“Show me what he looks like,” Kayla bellowed while carving up an avocado to put in a salad.
Samuel concentrated on the man on the other side of the door and then morphed into his form. He had no idea of the bomb he was dropping when he slowly turned around to face the group, the light from the waning sun reflecting off his face for dramatic effect.
Only two people in the room could identify the man, and they both were not in the room when the reveal occurred.
“Never seen him before,” Thaddeus said as he looked at Garrison for confirmation.
“Nope. That chiseled face is not familiar to me.”
“If nobody knows this man, I don’t think we should let him in,” Daniel said, trying to fill in as the leader of the pack while Hartwell was not present.
But punky Andrew never liked to back up, “What are you scared?” as he glared over to his Uncle Cal and they both smiled.
Daniel never was one to back down from a challenge, either, especially one that came from his cousin’s mouth.
“Okay, let him in!”
Hartwell and Maggie glided into the room and their attention was focused on their son and his statement, not the image of the man that Samuel was portraying near the front door.
“Let who in?” Hartwell asked with all of the bravado and natural curiosity of a true leader.
Daniel then replied with all of the innocence and respect of a person that had absolutely no idea that the very point of his right index finger would put the very foundation of the family in jeopardy.
“Him.”
Maggie and Hartwell turned their attention away from their son and to the man at the door, the very sight of which propelled them to an identical and stunning observation, “Gabriel?”
They then turned to each other and Maggie asked, “How do you know Gabriel?”
Hartwell could not believe that his wife new this stranger, because he never imagined her life without him.
The usually mild-mannered Maggie was flustered and shouted the first thing that came to mind, “How do I know him? How do I know him? I was the one that watched as he was buried in the ground!” she said and then used her legs to run off instead of simply gliding as the tears from her eyes instantly froze and created a slick path from the main room to the knitting room.
All of the women followed Maggie down the hall for support, but the one’s that couldn’t glide – Emily, Carla, Kayla and Ariel – were slipping and sliding at first until the vamp’s held them up and brought them to more firm flooring.
Belinda got there first and asked the first question because they shared the mother bond over the generations with Daniel.
“Who is that man?”
Meanwhile, Hartwell glided over and approached the man as everyone gathered behind him in support. Like Maggie, he was the only person of his group to have any idea who the man was, and the suspense was starting to create tension. Hartwell slowly extended his hand and if you took a vote of everyone in the room, there wasn’t a person in there that wouldn’t have guessed extended nail and beheading.
Gabriel picked his right hand up from his waist and met Hartwell in a handshake.
“It’s been so long, my friend,” Hartwell said as the two men met in a hug.
“Too long,” Gabriel Billingsley replied, although no one could comprehend the hidden meaning of his statement at the time.
NINE
Billingsley was just about to call on his minions because he had no idea how the reunio
n with Hartwell and Margaret would play out. But the handshake and subsequent hug with Hartwell guided him toward saving the rest of his surprises for another day. It would be more than enough for the two main players of the family to create dissension and confusion before moving in and completely destroying the remaining foundation of the family.
Maggie never got to answer Belinda’s question because hell literally froze over. Samuel and Maxwell had to be called in to first warm the temperature as heat blowers and then dry everything off as huge, absorbent towels. Hartwell picked up his emotionally crushed wife after Gabriel left and then flew her out of the house so they could have a private moment for a change.
He floated above the water and stroked her hair with his long, thick fingers. Although these beings could do just about everything without physical contact, it was still the basic touch after all of these years that still had the most impact. It took a few minutes for her to finally calm dawn enough to talk about what had just happened.
“Well, it seems like you and I were the only people in the room to know who Gabriel Billingsley was, or is. Now, I spent the better part of my pre-Thad and Gary years as a vampire roaming the country with him, but the question that is haunting me is…” Hartwell said as he was about to pop the big question, but apparently his delivery was a bit slow for Maggie’s taste. She knew what was coming and decided to blurt out the answer without thinking about the ramifications. Maggie’s mind