Chapter 41: Dr. Isolde McNeil
When I finally woke, I was my own bed with
Alex’s arms still wrapped around me.
“When did we get home?” I asked groggily
“About three hours ago. I didn’t want to wake you,” he replied
softly.
“What did you do to me on the plane?” I asked as
I woke up more.
“I guess you could say I hypnotized you. In a way that’s just what we call it. I used the suggestive power of my voice and
the relaxing quality of my sent to lull you to asleep. That’s what we do to human prey. If George had done that to you, you would
have been out in seconds. With me it took a bit longer because I’m not yet a
full vampire. Although I’m just as
effective as George, but I wasn’t sure how long you would be out for.” He gave
me a crooked smile as I sat up. I ran my
fingers through my hair trying to clear my head, then I remembered my
reflection yesterday and how strangely I looked.
“Do I still look like a ghost?” I asked wide-eyed
with worry as I looked into his eyes.
“No. You are back to normal. You’re a bit pale but certainly not opaque,
like earlier. You really had us worried,
that’s why we rushed home. We were actually
planning on spending a night in Miles City, but we didn’t think it would be safe.”
His voice was still laced with concern.
My stomach took that opportunity to growl loudly, I rolled my eyes and
shook my head.
“I guess I should get something to eat. We don’t have steak by any chance do we?” I
asked sheepishly looking at my hands, but secretly hoping to satisfy that
craving.
Alex gave me a big grin and nodded.
“How do you want it done?” he laughed.
“Medium rare, but more on the rare side, if you
please,” I replied with a smile. I got
up slowly to test out my balance and then went to the washroom to wash my face
and brush my hair. Overall, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck, but Alex was
right. I didn’t see any sign of that
haunted-looking girl from yesterday when I looked in the mirror. When I walked back into the room, Alex put gathered
me into his arms and held me tightly for a minute. I sighed quietly, perfectly content. He then swung me up into his arms and carried
me to the kitchen.
“I can walk you know,” I looked sideways at him,
only slightly annoyed.
“I’m aware of that but I enjoy annoying you and
I love seeing you blush. Unfortunately for
me, it didn’t work this time,” he smiled as he sat me on a chair.
“How are you feeling?” Katie asked as she and
Max entered the room.
“Okay, I think. I’m more hungry than anything else.” I looked at
all their worried faces. It was really
hard to look at everyone; they were all so worried about these strange changes in
me that came on suddenly and went away just as fast.
“I’ve called a friend of mine to come and check
you out. She’s a doctor, and has been
for about a hundred years, and we are hoping she might be able to shed some
light onto your unique situation,” Max said watching me cautiously for my
reaction.
“She’s a vampire,” I stated bluntly.
“No, not exactly. She’s an anomaly. She’s human, but her parents are vampires. She doesn’t age at the same rate as humans do,
but she still ages. However, her life
span is undetermined. At any rate, I
think she’s very interested in meeting you.
She’ll be here tomorrow.” Max explained as Alex pulled the steak out of
the fridge. The smell of it was
overpowering to me; I realized I could have eaten it raw as my stomach growled
in response to the intense smell. Max
and Katie smiled at me, amused, but certainly not surprised at my reaction.
“When did you last feed this poor girl Alex?”
Katie demanded.
“Last night I think,” I replied absently as he
lightly spiced the steaks.
“If you expect to keep her around, you should
be taking better care of her.” Katie took the steak from him and walked out to
the deck and put them on the barbeque. She
returned to the kitchen and started making the rest of dinner. Alex crossed his arms and glared at her. Katie was unfazed.
“I don’t care what your excuses are Alex. Anna needs to eat at least three times a day
and you are slacking!” she teased. He
glowered at her. I stifled a
giggled. He looked at me in disbelief
that I would take her side.
“Don’t blame him. Alex was rather preoccupied with my ghost like
appearance at the time.” I grinned at him and winked.
Alex, Will, Cassy, Lizzy and I ate dinner in
the kitchen while Max, Katie, George and Stephan watched. If someone had been watching us they would
think that we were just sitting down to a regular evening meal. Our dinner conversation was light and
relaxed, leaving the more serious issues to be discussed later.
“I’d like to start going through everything I
brought back tomorrow. I’m not exactly sure
what I have, so it may take a few days,” I commented to the group.
“We’ll help, of course! That way it won’t take as long,” Lizzy said cheerfully.
“Thanks, I’d like that,” I smiled gratefully at
her.
“I think you should get to bed early tonight
Anna. I know you feel fine, but I think
it would be prudent if you had as much rest as possible over the next few weeks,”
Katie said using her motherly no-nonsense voice. I nodded in agreement.
“How was the assembly at the school?” I
questioned, interested in the answer.
“The memorial will be held in two weeks at the
school. The family wants time to grieve
on their own before they deal with everything else. No one even realized that Lizzy wasn’t you,
she apparently does a very good impersonation of you.” Max looked fondly at
her.
“Should I be worried?” I teased.
“I don’t think so,” Stephan smiled “She’s
pretty good, but she can’t blush the way you do and if anyone was really paying
attention, they would have figured it out.” He teased Lizzy. She glared back at
him and stuck her tongue out like a four year old. We all started laughing. We talked quietly for the rest of the
evening, discussing the upcoming memorial for Jeff.
It was raining out this morning. A cool breeze was coming in through the open
window and I stretched luxuriously and listened to the birds singing. It was peaceful and joyful music, the birds
sounded as though they were playing happily with one another. A little while later there was a knock on the
door.
“Come in,” I said quietly.
“Anna, you awake yet?” Lizzy asked as she
stepped into the room. I rolled onto my
side grabbed Alex’s pillow and buried my face in it. Inhaled deeply. I sighed, missing him; Alex
had gone hunting last night and wasn’t back yet. Lizzy put her hand on her hip and started
tapping her foot as she arched her perfectly sculpted brow at me.
“Are you just going to lie there until he comes
home?” she demanded teasingly.
“Yup, that’s my plan,” I answered smugly. Her eyes narrowed and a split second later
she dove onto the bed landing on me. I groaned.
“Not happening! Get up lazy bones we got stuff
to do!” Lizzy happily beamed at me happily.
“You truly enjoy torturing people in the
morning don’t you?” I asked moaning as I slowly rolled over shoving her off me.
“Of course! It’s fun! Especially when the tormentee is not a morning
person,” she was so happy it was really annoying.
The next thing I knew I was being attacked by a
pillow. So what could I do but defend
myself? I grabbed my pillow and swung it
at Lizzy and that’s when the pillow fight started. We were giggling loudly and beating each
other soundly with the fluffy softness when suddenly the pillows exploded into
a white cloud of feathers. We sat there
convulsing with laughter as the white down drifted throughout the room. She took in the scene and chuckled softly.
“Girls, I think you had better clean up this
mess before Alex gets home,” she smiled.
“Later. I need a shower and I’m starving,” I
replied.
“No problem. I’ll put some eggs on,” Katie said
as she left the room.
Lizzy dashed out of the room after Katie. I sighed, surveying the mess. It looked like it had snowed in Alex’s
room. I shook my head jumped into the
shower. I got clean and food first. Priorities.
I turned the water off, put my robe on and exited
the bathroom to find Alex sitting in the middle of the bed in a pile of
feathers with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face.
“I leave you alone for one night and you trash
our room?” he looked at me curiously.
“Lizzy attacked me with a pillow this morning
and it got a teensy weensy bit out of hand,” I said sheepishly, avoiding his
eyes. I peeked up at him biting my lip.
He burst out laughing.
“I’ll clean up the mess, I just wanted to get
something to eat first. Promise.” I
walked slowly towards him and stopped directly in front of him. His arms flashed past me and before I knew
it, Alex pulled me into him and twisted so that I was lying on the bed. I took a deep breath and looked into his
eyes. He leaned down and brushed his
lips over mine causing me to automatically lace my fingers into his hair and
pull him closer. He tightened his arms
around my waist, then whispered into my ear.
“Next time you have a pillow fight, I hope to
be here to watch.” There was a suggestive teasing note to his voice; I could
almost guess what he was thinking. I hit
him jokingly on the chest.
“Get your mind out of the gutter.” I said laughing.
“What? I just mentioned I wanted to watch. I want to place a bet on who would win,” he
said faking innocence.
“Ya, okay, sure. Now let me up. I’m hungry and I have to pick all the feathers
out of my hair.” I shook my head for emphasis causing a puff of feathers to
become airborne.
“Leave them, I kind of like it,” he teased as
he pulled me back to bed using the belt of my robe.
“You’re such a guy” I said in mock exasperation
as I sat up and brushed my fingers through my hair.
“Ya, I would hope so,” he whispered smirking as
he placed his hand on my face and then slowly traced a finger down my
throat. My breathing increased instantly
and my eyes closed as I enjoyed the sensation of his hand moving on my
skin. My robe fell open slightly
exposing my right breast and his hand slowly moved down the centre of my chest
to my abdomen and then back up to gently cup my breast. I gasped at the intensity of the new feelings
he was causing in me and I couldn’t help but want more as his lips kissed the
side of my neck and slowly moved down to the hollow of my throat. He pushed the robe off my shoulders and gazed
at me for a moment as he slowly moved his hands along my sides. My heart was hammering as I leaned forward
and brushed my lips against his. He
stiffened suddenly and pulled my robe back up onto my shoulders. He closed his eyes and shivered slightly as
he tried to gain control of himself and my breathing started to slow.
“I don’t want you to stop,” I whispered
breathlessly.
“I know, but I don’t want to rush you. I shouldn’t have taken that indulgence, but I
couldn’t help myself,” he said softly as his eyes clouded slightly.
“Alex, I want to be with you. I want you to touch me. I want it more than I can
stand some days!” I said quietly.
“Not until you’re of age. We’ll just have to wait a bit longer. Believe me, it took everything in me to stop. I want to be with you more than anything, Anna,
but it isn’t right to rush you into something like this when you’re not ready. I know you think you’re ready, but you have
enough stress with what’s coming and I won’t add to that,” he said gently and
sighed, then kissed me as he stood up.
“I’ll get a garbage bag so that we can clean
this mess up.” Alex smirked and left the room, coming back a few seconds later. I was buttoning up my jeans as he entered the
room and once I finished getting dressed I helped him clean up the majority of
feathers before my stomach took over and demanded, quite loudly, to be
fed. Alex chuckled at my gastronomic
symphony.
“Go get something to eat. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a few
minutes.” I smiled gratefully at him.
“Thanks.
I’m really sorry about the pillows, but your sister started it.” I kissed
his cheek and headed for the kitchen.
Katie had eggs and toast waiting for me on the
table. I smiled at her in thanks and eagerly
dug in.
“My friend will be here in an hour. I hope you remember every symptom you’ve had as
she’s very interested in seeing you,” Katie said.
“I may be able to help her more than she
realizes. I have some information from
my mother about a virus and I have a full DNA work up of her and my
father. I hope it will help her, but my
concern is that she’ll want to take the information somewhere else. I don’t want any of the documents I have to
fall into the wrong hands, so I won’t let anything off the property including
my own blood if she needs it. At least
not without you or one of the others to supervise,” I said sternly.
“I understand. That is why she’s coming here with her mobile
lab. She won’t compromise you, or anyone
else for that matter, she is far too professional for that,” she reassured me.
“Okay, I had better get all my stuff in one
area so we can start going through it one piece at a time,” I said quietly,
more to myself than to her.
“Alex and George put everything in the rec room
downstairs. There is more room for you to
spread out and look at things,” she smiled.
“Thanks, that’s where I’ll be then,” I said as
I finished eating. I got up from the
table and put my dishes in the sink.
“What about the feathers?” Katie asked. I laughed as Alex appeared in the doorway
with two garbage bags full of feathers.
“I see,” she grinned, laughing as Alex rolled
his eyes. I skipped down the stairs into
the rec room so that I could tally up what I had brought home with me. I spotted the two large black duffle bags and
three black backpacks sitting beside the large leather couch. I started with the backpacks.
The first backpack contained all the letters,
keys and the small package I brought back from the safe deposit box. I placed those things on the pool table so I
could look at them later. The second backpack was my overnight bag and change
of clothes. I took my clothing out of
the bag and put them in the laundry room, and took the bag and the rest of the
contents upstairs and quickly put them away.
Returning downstairs, I started looking through the third backpack. It contained the two books we had gotten in
Arkansas. I placed them on the pool table
with the other things and I put the empty backpacks in the corner. Then turned to the duffle bags and unzipped
them both. I pulled out several things wrapped in plastic. There was a label on each item telling me
what it was. There was a hand knit quilt,
a few baby outfits and blankets, and two afghans all hand made by my
grandmother. A short note from my mother
said that she had saved them for me to use when I had my own home. I bit my lip as a wave of emotion swelled in
my chest. I felt tears welling up in my
eyes as I looked at these precious gifts that my mother was able to save for
me. I heard Lizzy coming down the stairs
even though her steps were so light on the stairs they hardly made a sound;
Alex was with her.
“So what do you think?” Lizzy asked.
“I’m a bit overwhelmed, I think. Apparently my grandmother made these things
and my mother saved them for me to use in my own home one day. These are a priceless piece of my heritage;
of a family that I never knew.” I was in awe as I examined the knit items, as
they were very intricately done. Lizzy
and Alex smiled as they looked at the items from the first duffle bag.
“You haven’t done anything like that in a while
Lizzy, perhaps you could show Anna how,” Alex suggested.
“Perhaps some other time. I’m not in the mood for needle work, and, I
never really liked doing that kind of thing anyway. I prefer instant gratification.” Lizzy narrowed
her eyes at Alex as she helped me put these items back in the duffle bag.
“I’ll put these in our closet,” Alex said
quietly and he and the bags were gone an instant later. I looked after him in silent wonder. It always amazed me how fast they could move
when they wanted to.
“What is it Anna?” Lizzy questioned.
“It just amazes me how fast you all move when you
want to, and I also liked the sound of him saying ‘our closet.’ I still think of it as his room not mine,” I admitted
with a small smile.
“That’s silly of you. The two of you are almost always
together. I don’t think he would fare
well if you decided to move back in with James.
He’s gotten rather used to having you here and, to be honest, where ever
you are I am sure he’d follow,” she stated.
My eyes widened at what she had said.
She smiled. “Anna, he’s in love with you. He may not have said it, but it’s pretty
obvious. He’ll bend over backwards for
you. He doesn’t even do that for me,”
she smirked, looking at me amused.
“I don’t do what for you?” Alex asked as he
walked back into the room.
“Pine over me, do my bidding, and all that
other stuff,” Lizzy admitted dramatically.
“That’s what Will’s for,” he stated matter of
factly and kissed her cheek. She pouted
up at him as he ruffled her hair playfully.
It was nice to watch the two of them tease each other.
Katie and a petite woman with flaming red hair and
crystal clear grey eyes entered the room.
“Anna, this is Dr. Isolde McNeil,” Katie
introduced the striking woman.
“Hello Dr. McNeil.” I held out my hand to
her. She took it gracefully and smiled.
“It be a pleasure ta meet ya,” Isolde said warmly
with a strong Irish accent.
“So, I’ear tha’you ‘ave a wee problem. Would ya
tell me of it please,” she asked happily.
“Um, sure.
Well, I started being able to do weird stuff when I moved here last
September. For example, I can see in the
dark, I can visualize my energy flow and manipulate it, I have crazy dreams
that, at times, come true, I get wicked cravings for steak, and my skin and
eyes have been doing some strange things too,” I blurted almost at once.
“Well, I see tha’ we’av our work cut our fer us,”
Isolde smiled.
I nodded.
I walked over to the pool table and picked up the large envelope that
had been in the black book. I opened it
and pulled out a file folder with copies of my mother and father’s DNA profile
and other blood work ups that had been done.
I motioned for Isolde to come over.
“My mother gave me this and explained that she
and my father had some kind of virus.
Each of them had a different strain of this virus and when they mated
you get someone like me. She called the
virus the Starcrisless or Legacy. She
said there were other names for it but she didn’t know them. All I know is that when I turn eighteen my
abilities will be fully awakened and that my father wants me.” I looked at her
tiredly.
“May I take a blood sample? I wan’te check an’
make sure it’s all okay,” she looked at me with respect and great interest.
“You can draw the blood but I don’t want the
results to go anywhere. If there is
something in my blood that shouldn’t be, I don’t want anyone else to find it,”
I said concerned.
“Ya don'av to worry ‘bout tha’. I’av my lab jus’
to the side o’the ‘ouse. You kin watch me
every move if ya like,” she offered sincerely.
I nodded, greatly relieved. I gathered
the file my mother gave me and followed Isolde outside to a large trailer. Alex, Katie and Lizzy came with me because they
knew I didn’t want to be alone.
We entered the large trailer it and I was
surprised and delighted to see that it looked like something out of a science
fiction movie. It was obvious I loved
it, which made Isolde smile even more warmly at me. She motioned me to sit in a chair. I did so and handed her the folder with my parent’s
information in it. She placed it on a
small counter to her left that held all sorts of tubes and medical supplies. She gathered a rainbow of tubes, a tourniquet,
and a needle with a vacutainer. She
took my left arm and tied the tourniquet around my upper arm. It was tight and I could already feel my hand
going numb because of it. She cleaned
the crease of my elbow and felt for a vein with her finger.
“Yer vein bounces, nicely, that’s what I’m
look’n fer. You’ll feel a wee poke now,”
she told me. It felt like a quick bee
sting, and she began to put the tubes into the vacutainer one at a time
collecting my blood. She took nine vials,
then gave me a glass of juice and a muffin.
“Ya better be eaten something, I don’want ya ta
faint on me,” she chuckled. I did as she
instructed with a small smile. She
started to review the papers in the file after she set some of the tubes into a
spinning machine. She copied some of the
papers and blacked out the names, instead just put a one or two on each
page. When she got to the picture of the
virus she stopped, her mouth fell open and her eyes widened as she slowly
turned and looked at me. She seemed to
go a bit pale, but it was hard to tell as she was relatively pale to begin
with.
“What is it?” Alex demanded.
“If this information be right, your wee friend
is gonna be very powerful indeed,” Isolde replied awed.
“Do you know what that is?” I asked her.
“I do, but without clarification tha’ya have
it, I don’want to be tellen ya much,” she said.
“Are you hiding something from me?” I asked, a
hint of anger in my voice.
“No child. I jus’ wanna be sure before I tell ye
what I think ye are. It’ll take me at least
a week ta decipher all the information tha’ I have’ere. I guess I’ll be a stay’n around fer awhile. I hope ya don’mind Katie,” Isolde said
looking at her friend.
“Not at all. I’ll have your room ready in a few moments. I know you’ll be working out here in the lab
most of the time,” Katie smiled graciously and left the trailer.
“Will you be able to let us know what this
virus is about at least?” Lizzy questioned.
Isolde smiled, understanding our curiosity. She looked at us and spoke, “The virus is in
your father’s blood, but what your mother’as is not a virus. It be a gene sequence tha’ enhances the
virus. I’ll be tellen ya more once I be
sure o’the results. It’ll be maken more
sense ta me then.” She turned to her computer and looked at what was on the
screen. I glanced over her shoulder and
saw what looked like a normal blood test result. I had seen this before in the hospital.
“Ya need to be eaten more protein child, yer
iron levels be low,” Isolde commented.
“Now leave me be. I be haven work ta do.” she dismissed us as
she turned back to her computer. We left
the trailer slowly as she studied the numbers that popped up on the computer
screen and transcribed them to a pad of paper. She stopped just before I exited and looked at
me with almost fear, I knew that she was worried, I could tell but the reason
behind that fear in her eyes was what bothered me.
