 |
| Dr. Ward checks on Georgian as Sebastian waits |
A cold wind blew in over the Atlantic and into the trees that surrounded Welshport Village and over the green hills of the forest of Tirymôr. The mansion, with its Gothic turrets and stone gargoyles that was named after the forest, sat sternly in the night with glowing windows of orange gas lamps.
In a room over the east wing, Georgina Kent still lay in a state of sleep. Unconscious from the night Sebastian Lord attacked her and bit her on the neck in a slight piercing that rendered her limp and asleep but not dead.
He lied in wait in her room. His body yearning for her blood but he knew that was not the task at hand. He had to take her to Goode Island where the mother and daughter coven would use their powers to switch the bodies of the wanted Mary Goode and Georgina.
This was the only way the witches would help Sebastian get Evie, his beloved wife, back from Windcliff.
Georgina tossed and turned. Her heart and soul could feel and Sebastian's dark eyes from behind the draped in her room. He had no need for sleep. He had no need for rest. He wanted to take her and take her this night.
At her side was Dr. Jonathon Ward watched over her making sure his patient was stable. But he could not control her nightmares or her dreams. He took her temperature. He counted the seconds of her pulse. It raced. Then it would slow. Then it would race again. He would listen to her heart. The beating was loud then soft. Then loud. He had never seen anything like it.
This night, dark and cloudy as it was, felt incredibly strange to Dr. Ward who began to feel uneasy at Tirymôr house. His patient's issues were a mystery. The bite on her neck unrecognizable. Something in his gut told him, this was not a normal situation. This place was not a normal place.
Dr. Ward stood up and removed his perfectly circle shaped glasses and a clean white handkerchief from inside his jacket pocket to clean then. She stepped aside from the sleeping Georgina and began to walk over to the large windows that looked out into the dark night with the thick drapes framing the view and the night like a painting.
Sebastian held his breath from behind the drapes. The Doctor still with a dreary and worried look on his face, aged beyond his true age. He shook his head in thought. Unsure of what to do for Georgina. Unsure that his seemingly haunted house of shadows could be the right place for a woman in need of true medical attention.
"No, I need to get her out of here." He whispered to himself, firm in his resolve that Georgina needed more and better medical attention
This was counter to Sebastian's plan. Upon hearing the doctor's thoughts spoken out loud, Sebastian knew he needed to act now.
Satisfied with the cleaning of his spectacles, Dr. Ward turned back from the window and looked over at Georgina who was still tossing and turning in her bed. Across the room, directly across from the doctor, he could see his own reflection staring back at him. Then, slowly, in the reflection the drapes began to peel back as if something, or someone, was pulling them open. Dr. Ward tilted his head confused then turned back his direct right hand side to see Sebastian Lord's mouth gaping open with two sharp fangs lunging at the Doctor.
Sebastian landed on top of the doctor who screamed and punched Sebastian on the back. They rolled around on the ground knocking over an oil lamp that spilled the burning oil onto a rug catching fire.
The fire swelled slightly as the two men fought catching the near by potted plants and drapes too. The flames grew and grew was the two men struggled on the ground. Then the vampire bit down on Dr. Ward's neck drinking his blood. Ward screamed in agony then passed out.
Sebastian jumped up from the floor, his mouth dripping with the red liquid of Ward's blood. The fire was now minutes from growing out of control, but Sebastian grabbed a pillow as the smoke began to fill the room and quickly put out the fire in all parts now just watching as the smoldering embers of the drapes and carpe fumed.
 |
| the lantern fire |
"FIRE!!!" A voice said from outside the room. It was once of the servants who smelled the smoke.
Sebastian acted fast and leaped over to unconscious Georgina. He grabbed hold of her and flipped her over his shoulder and dashed over to the large windows where that he kicked open and like a skilled acrobat with strength given to him by the curse of life after death gave him, climbed down with his abductee and landed safely on the dark wet grass of Tirymôr House.
He looked up at the open window of Georgina's room and saw lights flickering and smoke from the open window as servants came to check on the two people in the room only to find Dr. Ward passed out on the burned floor bleeding.
Sebastian , with Georgina over his shoulder, rushed off into the darkness as a far off wolf howled in the shadows of the dark trees that made up the seclusion of Tirymôr House.
Rebecca Lord then entered the bedroom where a male servant was trying to wake Dr. Ward. She was out of breath and in a thick golden robe with slippers that matched. He long thick curly red hair that was turning white was braided and went the length of her back.
"Georgina. Where is Georgina?" Rebecca asked in a panic as the servant looked up at the empty bed.
"I ... She... She wasn't here when I came in?"
Rebecca dashed over to the open window and look out, her face frozen in fear and jumping back to the memory of finding Sebastian's signet ring in Georgina's hand when she was attacked.
"How is he?" Rebecca asked of Dr. Ward.
"Bleeding from his neck, but the cuts are.... like punctures." The servant said.
Rebecca knew the wound well. It was the same as Gaspar's. It was the same as Georgina's.
"Take him to one of the other guest rooms. GO! QUICKLY! We must be sure he survives. He needs to tell us what happened here." Rebecca ordered as two more servants, a man and a woman, came in to help.
Rebecca then turned back to look out the window as the smoke from the room fire began to clear. She knew this was Sebastian's doing. But what was he doing it for and how was he alive? That is if this was even Sebastian at all. Rebecca had to know for sure. She had to see for herself if by some bizarre unthinkable chance her grandson had somehow survived his horrible murder and was somehow doing these evil deeds.
The Lord family matriarch wrapped her soft night coat a little tighter around her shivering body and knew what she had to do, she had to exhume Sebastian's coffin to see for sure if he was there or now.
****
 |
| Evie in the Windcliff library |
Feeling like she was a world away from her time at Tirymôr House, Evie sat in a dark study at Windlcliff Sanitarium reading a book provided by Dr. Kim. She wasn't allow many things there, and in fact she was only allowed time in the library for an hour a week but it was her favorite hour a week.
As a girl in England Evie would often escape her troubles by drowning herself in stories of art and magical tales of princes and princesses from other times. And although the books at Windcliff's library were curated carefully by Dr. Kim to not raise any kind of manic behavior of fantasy and further distort what he saw as clouded and demented minds, thy still helped Evie escape her current realty.
As best they could anyway.
"I could really give you a better story than anything you could find in here." A voice said entering the room lit by the large fireplace.
It was Evie's new friend, Alice Winterborn, the mysterious and beguiling fellow patient at Windcliff.
Evie smirked. "I'd love that! Do you have books hidden away in your room?"
"Well... not really. Just stories of my life. Stories of places I've been and people I've met. I've lived many lives Evie Jordan." Alice replied as she sat across from Evie.
Evie closed her book and gave Alice a look of confusion that glimmered with a sparkle of interest. There was indeed something strange about Alice, their interaction in the garden was proof enough that Alice Winterborn was something special. Someone with a keen connection to all things that made the world what it was: a magical sphere of beauty and mystery. Evie could tell Alice was the person who could unlock those mysteries.
"Tell me. How did you do that out there? How did you make the flower grow out of nothing and the rain ... how ... how can someone do that?" Evie asked, determined to understand Alice's truth.
"We are all apart of this world, the elements are in us. Its just a matter of connecting to them and using them for the grace of good than the greed of evil. But that's not a story I'd get into with you. I feel like you know that already." Alice replied.
"Do you? How? I don't feel anything at all like I imagine you feel or connect the way you connect. All I want is to get out of here and free myself. Its all my mind does. Constantly." Evie confessed.
"And perhaps that is why you cannot connect to the world around you. Mother earth is at your side at all times. You can free yourself. You just need to see it and believe it." Alice replied.
"Don't you want to be free of this place too?" Evie asked.
Alice smiled sweetly and the idea that Evie would put them two of them in the same situation. But Alice's life was perhaps best if she was kept somewhere safe. Even Windlcliff.
"The world outside these walls is not a good place for me. I feel much more at ease here meeting people like you and showing them their potential. From the moment I saw you I knew I could open your mind to a world outside of this one, and in a way that helps me too." Alice said.
"I don't understand. What can you teach me?" Evie asked as the fire in the hearth crackled in burned a bright yellow light on the two women in the library.
"I come from a place, Evie, that is a world so wonderful and so grand you wouldn’t believe your eyes….but that world is in its last days. There are factors that come along and take from my world and kill off what it needs to survive. I came here, to this place, in hopes of finding someone who could help my people. That was over 40 years ago.” Alice explained although she didn’t seem to over the age of 25 herself.
“But how?” Evie asked confused.
“The dangers, they’re everywhere.” Alice replied confusing Evie further.
“Alice I just need to understand…do you mean where you come from, your people are in danger?” Evie worried.
“The truth I hold about my people will come in time. Of all the years I’ve been here, people have yet to believe me. They didn't want to listen to a female who’s try and save a world. Everyone has just scoffed at me. Tossed me aside and called me mad. But I see something in you that shows me all is not lost in humanity. You’re kind. You believe me.” Alice said with a sparkle in her eye.
Evie wasn’t sure what to believe. It was as if Alice was speaking in riddles but one thing was for sure Alice’s mystic intrigued Evie. She found her interesting and beguiling. There was a deep sense of honesty about her even if it was clouded by delusion. But at the same time Evie knew exactly how she felt when people just tossed her aside too and didn’t believe her when she said that someone was trying to make her think she was crazy.
“I believe you, yes.” Evie replied grabbing Alice by the hand and squeezing right.
“And I'm thankful for that. You might be the answer to my people's prayers." Alice explained.
With the few similarities in their story aside, Alice’s situation seemed more dire. Stranger even. More involved. Were these words coming from someone who truly needed her help or were they just strange fantasies of a person who had no real grasp on reality itself.
What was Alice even referencing, Evie kept thinking.
How could Evie help if no one in 40 years was able to?
Evie decided to give Alice the benefit of the doubt and pressed her for more information.
"I'll do what I can to help, of course, if your people are suffering as you say but we would have to make sure we told the right people who could help."
Alice smiled back "Just always remember, my people are your people. I knew you would say that you would help. I just knew it."
"Alright ladies! ALRIGHT! That is enough cozy story time for the night let’s get back to our rooms. It’s meds time!." A burley nurse said from the open library door.
Alice kept smiling and got up from her soft chair and squeezed passed the nurse who didn't move a inch from her post at the door as she and Alice made eye contact as she passed back to her room.
Evie took a deep sign disappointed she didn't get the full story from Alice before the nurse's interruption. She too got up from her chair and replaced her book back on the shelf. She grabbed a lit oil lamp and began to make her way back to her room for the night when the nurse made a snickering sound with her lips and teeth.
"Don't listen to a word she says. She's been saying strange things like that since the day she came here." the nurse noted.
"Oh?" Evie replied.
The nurse lifted an eye brow and nodded yes with a chuckle. "Just wait till she tells you where she's from."
"She tells she’s from a people or a world that is in danger. Has anyone ever looked into that? Evie asked.
The nursed chuckled again at Evie's concern. She could see how Alice was yet again drawing someone new into her web of grand story telling.
"Honey, if everyone was to help Miss Alice find her way home to help her so called 'people', we'd all be drowning under miles and miles of ocean water. She says she's a sea-creature from a place below the ocean, hon! Some place from the depths of the Atlantic lost to all that can see. Who knows where she got it, but as you can see now, she's here for a reason. Don't indulge her fantasies, now. Otherwise you might just become a victim just like her last best friend here."
Evie's eyes squinted in confusion. "What happened to her last best friend?"
The nurse smirked cryptically before answering. "Alice drowned her." The nurse replied very nonchalantly.
A chill ran up Evie's spine. She may have escaped Jacob's murderous plots only to be placed in an environment where she was in danger from people all around her.
"Get to bed!!" The nurse shouted from down the hall. Evie nodded and nervously dashed back to her room checking over her shoulder every step of the way.
****
After a difficult and rough night over wild ocean waves that tossed and turned his row boat from Welshport Island to Goode Island, Sebastian finally arrived with the slowly awakening Georgina.
She moaned and groaned as the night sky began to change color from deep purple to the budding dawn of lavender and orange. Sebastian had to get to the cottage before the sun rise or he’d be finished.
He tied the rowboat to the dock and picked up Georgina who’s eyes began to blink open as Sebastian carried her over the rugged land of Goode Island.
“Where… am…I?” Georgian moaned, then suddenly she understood. “Sebas…tian!!!!!!!”
Georgian slapped her assailant in the face and rolled out of his arms to the ground falling face first into the dirt. Sebastian lunged at her but even in her weakened state she was able to turn back and kick Sebastian in the shin causing him to fall backwards to the ground hitting his head that left him unconscious.
Georgina gasped and tried to get up from the ground. She couldn’t believe that it was the dead heir of the Lord family on the ground in front of her. She looked around, unsure of where she was but knew she had to get away from the creature Sebastian has turned into.
From her place on the floor she back up and struggled to get up as her feet constantly snagged on her mud caked skirt. Then something grabbed her by her knitted hair and lifted her from the ground.
Georgina screamed and as she turned to see who was holding her by the hair she saw Eliza Goode’s menacing face angry that Georgina had thrown a wrench in their plans.
“You’ve been a bad girl.” Eliza said to Georgina who was panicked and frozen in fear just as Mary came into view.
“Mary.” Georgina whispered in gasp recognizing the woman who killed Sebastian.
Mary did not reply only poured out a small red pouch of white dust into Eliza’s free hand.
Eliza sneered at Georgina and blew the dust into Georgina’s face causing her to fall asleep.
“Get Sebastian before the sun rises, go!” Eliza warned as Mary quickly obeyed and helped the waking Sebastian up from the ground. “Hurry!” Eliza added noting the sun rise. And the group quickly headed to the cottage to begin their switch of Mary and Georgina’s body.
****
 |
| Celeste & Charlotte outside Gramercy Café |
A single floating cloud dissolved into a mist slowing in the distance a new afternoon sun that brought with it a fresh spring breeze over the green slopes and hills of Welshport Island. It was the day after Georgina’s abduction and somehow, someway, the village had already heard about Rebecca Lord’s missing maid.
While walking along a Burch tree lined avenue in the center of the village, Charlotte Lord and her new governess Celeste DeViana carefully cut through the leering crowds of people on the street and stepped up to the Gramercy Café for a coffee and passion fruit juice.
Even in the Gramercy, owned by a Lord family sympathizer, people stared at the young heiress and her new governess with shock in their expressions.
The owner of the café brought then their drinks and as young ladies of society would do, the properly folded their napkins over their laps and thanked him for his service.
“I don’t care what anyone says, the Lords and their companies have helped many a Weslhportarian for generations. I won’t throw you out.” The café owner said in a whisper to Celeste and Charlotte.
“Why would you?” Celeste asked playing dumb, but she knew the news of Georgina had to have already trolled into down from the Tirymôr Forest but she wanted to be certain.
The café owner smiled knowing her game and removed a rolled up newspaper, ironically owned and published by the Lord family’s publishing company, and placed it on the table with its headline facing up.
Celeste bowed her head to read it:
 |
THE WELSHPORT GLOBE
LORD MAID GOES MISSING IN SECOND STRANGE
OCCURRENCE AT FAMILY HOME IN SIX MONTHS
“Well,” Celeste said nervously, “you can’t believe everything you read.”
“So she isn’t missing? You know her family has deep ties to this community too. People are shocked. They’re saying she was burned alive up there in that mansion. We all saw the smoke.” The café owner said as Celeste folder the paper and handed it back to him.
“We didn’t hurt her.” Charlotte replied.
“Oh Miss I wouldn’t say you did. I wouldn’t.” He relied, forgetting Charlotte was even there. He smiled at the young girl and took out three wrapped chocolates and left them for her on the table then bent down and leaned in to Celeste. “Careful up there. Careful.” He warned.
Once the coast was clear Sabrina, the spirit of Sebastian’s murdered mother still dwelling inside the young Charlotte spoke.
“This must be more of Jacob’s doing. How can…” she paused “or…oh god. It couldn’t be.” Sabrina said in Charlotte voice.
“What? What is it?” Celeste said knowing who she was talking to.
“I just had a terrible thought that somehow Sebastian might be involved.”
Celeste looked around to see people were still looking at them oddly suspicious but when meeting Celeste’s eye they’d look away. She hoped they didn’t hear their conversation.
In a whisper the governess took the two connected Lord women to task: “Charlotte or Sabrina or whomever you are, you’ll have to help me understand all of this because at this point I feel I’m going mad. There is absolutely no way Sebastian could have been involved with Georgina’s attack or her abduction or the fire or anything like that. You and I both know he’s dead. And I’ll remind you of Evie’s fate when she even uttered the words Sebastian and alive in the same sentence. We have to be very careful from here on out if we want to stop Jacob and this war path he’s on.”
Sabrina then and there decided to keep her knowledge of Sebastian’s return by a spell from Sabrina’s sister Eliza a secret from even Celeste.
“You’re right, what I meant was that I think this has something to do or connected to Sebastian’s murder… we should start getting ourselves back on the mark.” Sabrina said.
“How could this be connected to Sebastian’s shooting?” Celeste wondered.
“Anything connected to Jacob is connected to death and distraction. I know for a fact that he’s involved. He always is. My death. Sebastian’s. And now maybe Georgina’s.” Sabrina said in Charlotte’s voice.
It was somewhat far fetched, Celeste thought, but at the same time it wasn’t. Celeste has always known how horrible Jacob was and cruel and there was no reason to doubt Sabrina. She had nothing to lose, her most precious belonging—her life and son were gone. Celeste knew—it had to be true. All of it. Jacob was responsible and the death and all the lies. It was him, and this was the reason Sabrina needed help from Celeste.
“We have to have proof he’s done all that he’s done. I can’t help you, no—I won’t help you—if you have no proof. That is my bottom line. Charlotte too needs to know whatever you put her through is for something. No matter how horrible he is, Jacob is still her father.” Celeste said sipper her coffee.
Charlotte frowned knowing her governess was right. Whatever Sabrina wanted to do to the man who murdered her, she wasn’t sure what if anything she could do.
“I just want him to stop. He has hurt so many people I just don’t want him to do it anymore.” Charlotte said, surprising her ghostly possession.
“There must be something. Something we can use against him. Letters? Old telegrams? Something.” Celeste wondered out loud.
“In his office. There’s many papers. I can look!” Charlotte said.
Then ghost inside her spoke —“if he finds you, he may hurt you. It can’t be you…it can’t be Charlotte.” Sabrina said.
“You can’t be serious.” Celeste replied knowing what was coming next.
“If you want proof Celeste. It’s going to have to be you. You will have to find it and that will be what we use to stop him, if we don’t he will continue to do what ever he…” Sabrina said before being hushed by Celeste as she noticed Filipe walk into The Gramercy Café.
“Love! What are you doing here?” Celeste said standing up to greet him with a double kiss.
“I was on my way to see Christian when I saw you and Miss Lord here having an afternoon snack. Hello Miss Lord.” The handsome Filipe said to a blushing Charlotte.
“Why are you going to see Christian?” Celeste asked as Filipe looked at her strangely.
Filipe looked at her strangely as if he thought she was playing with him. How could she have not heard about Georgina, he wondered. It was the talk of the town, in the newspaper and she worked in the house the kidnapping happened. Surely she would have heard the savants nervously whisper about the abduction, he thought.
“Someone attacked Georgina a few nights ago and came back last night and kidnapped her." He said frankly, then he saw the folded up newspaper on the table.
“Of course of course I wasn’t sure if it was that or Mary or…” Celeste replied In a flustered tone.
“Are you ok?” He asked, darting his eyes back and forth from Celeste to Charlotte who sipped her passion fruit juice, hiding the fact she was possessed by her aunt's spirit.
“I'm Fine. Fine. You can imagine it's been a crazy night, and the things at the mansion are upside down.” Celeste replied nervously. Everything made her nervous now. And knowing Filipe was going near Tirymôr made her almost sick to her stomach.
“You don’t seem fine. Did you see someone, or something last night?” Filipe said wondered, fully knowing that his friend Sebastian was most likely the culprit.
“I didn’t, no. Charlotte and I went to bed early and only woke up as the fire brigade came up to the house.” Celeste said truthfully.
Filipe smiled and seemed to believe her. He strangely felt happy no one saw whoever took Georgina. He knew it had to be Sebastian. He sensed it. He felt it in his own veins and in his heart. Sebastian and Filipe were like blood brothers and now that this connection gave him insight in to everything Sebastian did.
Feeling rushed by his plans to throw Christian off of Sebastian's scent from the kidnapping, Filipe said his goodbyes.
“Well I should leave you ladies to your luncheon and meet Christian to see what he has in evidence. You’ll come home tonight won’t you?” Filipe asked missing his beautiful partner.
“I’ll try.” She replied.
He smiled a half smile and pulled her in close for a deep romantic kiss. She felt tingles all over her body. She missed him so but her new job as Charlotte’s governess was indeed a monopoly on her time. Once he pulled away from their kiss he held her by the shoulders and looked deeper into her eyes.
“Please be careful my love. Please. I don’t know what is out there and I don’t know what is to come but knowing you’re at Tirymôr and I can’t be there to help you when you need makes me uneasy. Will you promise me this? You’ll be safe and careful?” Filipe asked of Celeste secretly worried about Sebastian on the loose.
“I’ll take care of her!” Charlotte interjected with a bright grin. Filipe and Celeste both turned to lovely Charlotte who was backlit by the un shooting through the café’s front window casting her in a glowing like an angel. Her hair tied in a perfect blonde beside and sky blue satin ribbon that matched the one tied around her waist.
“Of course you will! Of course!” Filipe said leaping over to Charlotte and kissing her on the cheek.
“Love you.” Celeste mouthed to Filipe who winked just before he left to meet Christian.
It was a happy moment swimming in a sea of deceit. Both Filipe and Celeste were keeping secrets from each other: Celeste was plotting to rid the world of the treacherous Jacob and Filipe knew Sebastian was alive and well and quite possibly haunting the halls of his family’s former mansion.
Both of these secret keepers knew the price they’d pay if either one were to fail at their new and dangerous job. They loved each other too much for that. The secrets continue to be kept for their love. For their safety.
As Celeste watched Filipe rush off down the main Welshport avenue to meet with Christian two women passed them in their way out and lifted their noses as if Celeste and Charlotte were two persona-non-grata.
Sabrina, from inside Charlotte, let out a sigh.
“We must act fast. The people of this town will have no more of us. I can feel it on the horizon.” Sabrina said.
Celeste signed. Sabrina was right, they had no time to lose. The proof of Jacob’s evil needed to be found and Celeste was about to put herself in the most dangerous lion’s den of all and Jacob Lord’s crosshairs.
