 It was late and the house was quiet when Dominic sat at his desk in the library. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small key and unlocked the side drawer. He pulled out an object wrapped in a blue silk handkerchief and set it in front of him. Like a little boy at Christmas, Dominic’s eyes were like saucers as he slowly unwrapped the item. As if picking up a piece of delicate glass, he held the object in front of him. Elbows on the desk and palms up, he held the item as if he were offering it to some ancient god. He marveled at the workmanship of the carvings. It appeared to be made of wood of some sort that did not irritate his vampire hands.
Vampires are allergic to wood, some types of wood more than others. That is why if stabbed with a stake, a vampire would be rendered immobile. A stake in the heart would be one of the few things that could kill a vampire. Some types of wood, however, can be tolerated if they have been treated with a coating of special. If needed, such treated wood could even be worn as a talisman, but this wood he held now did not seem to be treated with such a concoction. The item was cylindrical in shape, but fluted at each end. With tendrils of what looked like ivy and four distinct animals, it was intricately hand-carved. The first animal was a lion, reared up on his back legs and front paws thrust forward as if holding himself against an invisible wall. The second was a large bird, maybe an eagle, wings widely extended and claws ready, looking like he was about to grab some unsuspecting prey. The third was a large bear in a leisurely stance on all fours, presumably a Grizzly or Kodiak. The fourth was a wolf standing relaxed, his piercing eyes full of wisdom beyond his years. All four animals wore crowns, all of them different, but beautifully noble. What is this? Dominic thought to himself. He had studied the item every chance he could since his return from the old crone’s altar room far below the castle on Heart Island. This was where he had found the item when the Bloodstone Heart was destroyed along with Dimitri. Dominic was a professor of science but he was fascinated by artifacts relating to his vampiric lineage along with any other supernatural artifacts. He had become known as the ‘go to’ man for most ancient relics supernatural or not. It had been almost a week since their ordeal with Dimitri and his small army of vampires. Dimitri was rebuilding the Order of the Black Orchids and the power that came with it from the Bloodstone Heart. Dimitri had kidnapped and nearly killed a sweet young woman with psychometry abilities, named Melanie, in order to get Josh to bring him the Bloodstone Heart he had accidentally found in an alley. Hmmmm. Josh...Now there’s something I should be dealing with right now instead of staring at this artifact and wondering what it is, Dominic thought to himself. Josh Brenner, a powerful telepathic, had meandered his way through the lives and hearts of Dominic’s family in recent weeks. Through a series of mishaps and conversations, Dominic suspected that Josh might be his son. Though Dominic was not proud to have stolen a few pieces of hair from the sink in Josh’s bathroom a few weeks before, the DNA results had come back indicating his suspicions were right. Dominic was meeting with Anton, his vampire son, in the morning to tell him of his findings. Once that was done and depending on how Anton took the news, he would then find the courage to explain things to Josh, though he was not looking forward to it. Aside from his telepathic abilities, Josh seemed to show no sign of his vampiric blue blood lineage, but as Dominic had explained to his nephew, Devon, several weeks ago, sometimes the genes mutate. Some children are born to werewolves that never go through the change, but other talents are accentuated instead, such as telepathy, heightened sensitivity to smell, or night vision. It’s the same with born vampires, especially if a human parent is involved such as Josh’s mother, Katerina Jannson. Dominic’s blue blood family extended back as far as the ‘Ancient Ones’ who were thought to be the first vampires and were still considered royalty to the very old vampires and other supernatural beings. The Larsens kept their blood untainted through the centuries until Dominic’s sister, Abigail (Abby) Larsen, defied Dominic and the rest of the family, fell in love, and married Nathaniel Bloomington. Dominic’s nephews, Devon and Blake, were the results of that union. But Abby and Nathaniel were killed when Devon and Blake were young vampire boys, and it was then that Dominic felt he had begrudged his sister and her brave and loyal husband. For so many years, Dominic had ridiculed and fought with his sister and her husband about how she had tainted the family’s blood with outsiders; it seemed trivial and shameful now. He was as proud of Abby’s boys as he was of his own son, Anton. And now, with Josh in the picture and all the friends and significant others of the boys, the family was bigger and happier than it had been in years. Josh and Anton had become close over the previous weeks and Dominic hoped that with this new bit of news, the relationship would only become stronger. Blake felt a strong sense of responsibility towards Josh and Melanie (Lanie) since their stay in California with him and Rowan. Though Blake was a vampire and much older than Josh, in human years, they were much the same age, as vampires age approximately one year for every four human years. Dominic chuckled to himself as he wrapped the cylindrical artifact up in the handkerchief and locked it safely in the drawer again. Abby would be ribbing me something awful about befriending werewolves, let alone letting them stay in the house. Had only several months gone by since Dominic was horrified by the thought of his family consorting with werewolves? So much had changed. He had to admit he liked Dean Wolfe very much...and Blakes’s girlfriend, Rowan, who was also a werewolf. Dominic had a soft spot in his heart for her. Besides, it wasn’t her fault she had been turned to a werewolf some months ago, but Dominic felt even if she had been born one, he would have warmed up to her eventually, as she had such a good heart. Her sister, Darby, was now engaged to his nephew, Devon, and could do no wrong in Dominic’s eyes. To him, she was pure sunshine and sweetness, and he knew his sister, Abby, would have loved having her as a daughter-in-law if she were still alive. Darby too, was gifted. She and her sister were ancestral witches, but were never taught or nurtured in that fashion. Now that Darby knew more and had fallen into a friendship with another ancestral witch, Sally Keaton, who had been trained by her family in the art of witchcraft, it was possible that Darby would find powers she never knew she had. A big smile settled on Dominic’s face as he thought on all these loved ones, presently sleeping under his roof in the quiet old house. With palms down, he patted the leather blotter on his desk, stood, and turned off the desk lamp. Tomorrow I will talk to Anton and then, hopefully, Josh. Like Devon suggested, I shouldn’t let too much time pass - Josh’s acceptance into the family is the first priority, then I’ll show them the artifact. Feeling content with his plan, he headed to bed. Continues... |
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