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Bonus Chapter 6.5
Welcome! You don't have to read this chapter to enjoy The Secrets of Sealgaire. This bonus is a result of a contest at Desirable Discourses where members were asked to create a vampire. The winner, pictured above, was TinaG13's submission, Lance.
I hope you enjoy meeting Lance and a few other members of the supernatural culture that thrives in Bella Donna Cove. As I'm furiously typing out chapter seven, please enjoy my little bonus.
Polina had second thoughts about going home with Cyd. On one hand, she needed to cram in as much magical knowledge as quickly as possible to protect Niall, Heather, and the pack. On the other, she was attracted to Cyd, and she thought he might be attracted to her, too.
‘I finally find someone I want to get to know better, and the timing couldn’t be worse.’ She thought. ‘I certainly can’t drag him into this mess. It’s not his fight. What if something happened to him?’
Polina tried to keep her feelings in check and pay attention to Cyd’s lessons. It wasn’t that easy, being that his huge four-poster bed stood right behind them.
When her eyes finally began to blur from the tiny writing in the massive spellbook, Polina knew it was time to go.
“Are you sure you’ll be OK driving back tonight? You’re welcome to stay.” Cyd offered, then quickly added, “My roommate Chastity has moved into the space downstairs with Gabe Green - you know him from school - so her bed is still in her room here, and you’re welcome to use it.” Cyd tried to stay cool while he beat himself up mentally. ‘Smooth move. Now I’m either a pushy professor trying to get her to sleep with me, or a playboy who shares female roommates with the professor downstairs. Can I possibly make things any worse?’
By the look on Polina’s face, she was trying to decide between the same two options. He tried to explain about Chastity, “I know how that sounds - Chastity is a really good friend of mine from childhood. We grew up together, and she’s just like a sister to me, and she’s a part owner of the brownstone with me, and -“
Polina cut him off. She was relieved to hear there was a good reason for what he said, but the fact was, they were both dead tired and treading dangerously close to a place she couldn’t go right now. “Don’t give it another thought. I really need to get home and take care of some things before I get to bed tonight. Thanks again for the extra help - you don’t know what it means to me.”
As she pulled away from Cyd Roseland’s brownstone, Polina reflected back on the evening’s conversation. It had been so hard not to jump at the offer of his help, especially since she was being forced into helping Frances to keep Niall and Heather safely hidden from Bruno. She needed an ally, but who could she trust? Everyone had their own agenda, and she simply didn’t know Cyd well enough to blindly trust him with pack secrets.
She loved the pack, and considered herself a member, even if they didn’t all treat her that way. It would be great to have someone in her life that was like her for a change, instead of being the outsider. Cyd was so sweet and funny, and he said the offer to help came with no strings. The pack didn’t have the knowledge of how to deal with Frances and Bruno’s magic, and she herself was only a beginner. If she even had a chance at reaching that level of skill, it wouldn’t be for years. The pack did not have that kind of time.
As she rounded the curves on the mountain road to return to the Goodie’s safehouse, she glanced at the peak, remembering what Cyd had told her about the being that lived there. Rubbing her tired eyes, she thought she could see lights coming from somewhere up there. ‘How could this place have been here so long and I’ve never noticed it?’ Without realizing what she was doing, Polina took the turnoff that headed to the top of the mountain instead of the one that wound its way down the other side towards home.
Polina sat in her parked car and looked at the house. It did not draw attention, sitting amongst the other cars parked in the drive and on the street. ‘A party?’ It looked like an ordinary home, not the home of a monster. Cyd made sure to stress the fact that this man, this vampire, was no friend. ‘But if he’s the peacekeeper, how can he be a bad man?’ she fought the mental battle with herself, all the time knowing what the outcome would be. ‘He didn’t say “peacekeeper”, he said “balance keeper”. There’s a difference.’ Polina got out of the car and headed for the door.
As Polina approached the front door, preparing to knock, it surprised her by swinging open.
“Welcome, my dear! What a pleasure to have such a beautiful woman grace us with her presence this evening! Do come in!” The man at the door gave a formal bow at the waist and gestured her inside with a wide swing of his arm.
Polina found herself entering the house before she even paused to consider the insanity that brought her this far. She shook her head, trying to focus, and looked back to the man who was now closing the door behind her.
“My name is Merl. Please, step into the parlor and make yourself at home. Can I get you a drink?” Merl fussed around Polina as though she were an invited guest. Polina realized that perhaps that was exactly what this man believed her to be.
Polina extended her hand to Merl. “I’m Polina Gunter. I was wondering if, perhaps…” Polina trailed off, not knowing the man’s name she wished to speak with. She certainly couldn’t ask to see the resident vampire.
Merl helped her out. “Lance? He’s already in the meeting room. He must be expecting you, please, it’s right this way.” Merl had a hand on her back and was guiding her towards a door off the parlor, where she could hear many voices.
“Actually, he’s not expecting me. If he has other guests, maybe this isn’t the best time…”Polina began.
At that, Merl cocked his head to the side as if considering her appearance at their door for the first time. “Please, take a seat, then, and I’ll let him know he has a wonderful, unexpected guest awaiting him. I won’t be a minute.” And in a blink, he was gone. Literally. Polina once again rubbed her tired eyes, sure it was just a trick of the light.
The parlor was like some kind of medieval museum, filled with paintings, tapestries, ancient shields and swords, and even a few suits of armour. Many of the paintings depicted Sir Lancelot, King Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table. A few certainly had to be of Queen Gweneviere. “Someone has a Camelot fetish.” She said quietly, just as the door to the adjoining room swung open.
“I’m afraid you can blame Merl for that. It’s a great love of his, to be sure.” A deep, smooth voice made her jerk back to see its owner.
“My name is Lance.” The tall, broad, handsome man said, as he closed the door behind him and walked to Polina. “Welcome to my home.”
Polina was accustomed to looking people in the eye when she spoke to them, and this is where she made a very large mistake. She stood rooted to the spot, lost in his gaze, a crooked smile slowly spreading to her face.
Lance, smiling back realizing that she was caught in his gaze, broke the enchantment. “Is there something I can help you with?”
As if waking from a dream, Polina stood there, taking a moment to remember where she was and why in fact she was there. “Yes,” she eventually stammered. “I..the town…I mean..”
“Why don’t you have a seat and start from the beginning.” Lance suggested.
“My name is Polina Gunter. I live in Bella Donna Cove, and my brother is…” Polina would never, ever reveal her brother’s identity to anyone, but if this man was who Cyd said he was, then he surely must already know.
“Normund Gunter, leader of the Bella Donna Pack.” Lance finished for her, putting her at ease by showing her he did in fact already possess that knowledge.
She smiled and visibly relaxed. “Bruno Canasta was holding a werewolf hostage in his home, and we…helped him escape. Now Bruno and Frances McCoullough are out looking for him, and we…we don’t know…”
“You don’t know how to stop him. Frances McCullough. Now that one bears watching.” Lance’s forehead creased as he said her name. “Are they aware that you came here?”
“No! No one knows I’m here-“ Polina stopped, realizing too late her mistake.
“You can relax. If you were in danger, you’d already be gone. And clearly someone has told you about me and my ‘job.’ My existence isn’t exactly a secret, but it IS privledged information.” Lance saw the alarm on her face and added, “I won’t ask who told you to come here - for now. I think you should start at the beginning and tell me the whole story, so I know what I’m dealing with.”
So Polina told him everything she intended to tell him. Then she once again made the mistake of looking him in the eye, and told him what she didn’t intend to. Who Niall and Heather really were.
“Frances raised a zombie, and the three of them are looking for Niall and Heather. We must guard them with our lives, but I’m not strong enough. He’ll kill King Niall, and I can’t even think about what he’d do to Heather.”
When Lance broke eye contact with her, Polina seemed to awaken once again. She took a moment to gather her wits, and realized that she had told him far more than she’d intended.
“So, the cloaking spell I sensed was yours.” Lance said with a slightly amused smile.
“Hey! Stop that!” she said angrily.
“Didn’t the man who sent you here tell you to never look a vampire in the eye?” Lance chuckled.
Lance held up his hands in surrender and got right down to business before she could protest his invasion into her thoughts. “Listen. I can only interfere in certain circumstances, and by “interfere”, I mean bring a swift, final justice. There are rules that must be followed, and it gets very complicated when more than one race is involved. Can you excuse me a moment? I’ll bring an answer back to you as soon as I consult my advisor.” Lance rose from the chair and headed towards the room with all the voices, which now seemed to be bursting at the doorframe with laughter.
Polina, too nervous to sit and wait, began to look at the artifacts in the parlor. “This stuff must’ve cost a fortune!” She moved piece to piece, examining each one closely trying to find some mark that would show the antiques to be fake reproductions. She could find nothing that gave any sign these weren’t the real deal. She walked to a picture that was quickly becoming her favorite - one of the courtyard at Camelot, and studied the figures gathered there with their horses, dressed in their medieval finery. She could almost hear the conversations the knights were having as the King and Queen approached from the castle in the background.
Lance entered the meeting room, cleared his throat and addressed the Vampire Council, which was meeting in his home this year. “I hate to steal the entertainment, but I have need of Merlin. This shouldn’t take long. Please, enjoy yourselves and we will be back to finish the meeting very soon.” Lance led Merlin to a small room. Meanwhile, the vampires talked amongst themselves.
“There’s a human girl out there! Do you think he’s gotten us a special dessert?” asked Luciano.
“And she’s a witch! I can smell her sweet blood all the way in here! Lancelot was always an excellent host!” added Ethan.
“You cretins act like you’ve never had a human girl before!” scolded Sloan.
“Some of them probably haven’t ever had a human girl, right Zelor?” Pasha nudged her sister and they both laughed at Zelor.
“Human girls are vastly over-rated.” sighed Zelor.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll take your share!” threatened Nickoli.
“Yeah!” added his twin Nathaniel.
“There’s more - wolf blood, but she’s not a wolf? I must see this creature!” said Keiran as he got up from the table.
“Don’t you dare! If you ruin the surprise, Lance won’t let us have her!” said B.J.
“Since I’ve travelled the farthest for this meeting, I should get first taste!” stated Frederico.
“That shouldn’t count! You can fly! We had to take human transportation - we should go first!” thundered Nickoli.
“Yeah!” added Nathaniel.
Nickoli looked over at his brother. “Have you ever had an independent thought in your entire life, Brother?”
Nathaniel looked puzzled for a moment, then gave his reply. “Yeah.”
“So, can you see how this will end, my friend?” Lance could see nothing in Merlin’s ball, but obviously Merlin saw much.
Merlin put a hand up to silence his friend and replied, “Quiet! I’m watching! It really could go either way.” After a short time that seemed like hours to Lance, Merlin walked away from the crystal.
“Well?” Lance was growing impatient, and Merlin appeared to be in no hurry to reveal what he had seen.
“This Bruno Canasta. He has incredible power, which we already knew.” Merlin paused before explaining the rest. “The difference is that instead of his only using it for personal gain, he has begun to use it against others - innocents. Clearly, this cannot be allowed.”
“We are in agreement there,” Lance interrupted. “So why does it seem there is some sort of problem with me stepping in?”
Merlin smiled at Lance. His friend hadn’t changed in all these centuries. Chivalrous to the end. “The problem is this magic that is flying around our little town. It’s just slightly older than we are.”
This gave Lance a start. “Older than we? Nothing is older than we.”
“Well, my friend, this is. This event that is coming to pass has been in the works for centuries before our birth, and must come to an end here, now. It would be best if we stayed out of this, because our involvement might put an end to this current - showdown, if you will, but it might prolong the war by not allowing the permanent resolution to happen that needs to happen. Do you see what I’m saying?”
“As usual, Merlin, very cryptic and not a lot of help. Why can’t I simply kill Bruno, and we can keep watch over Frances?” Lance simply saw black and white.
“Because if you kill Bruno, his magic will remain alive to be reborn into another generation, which will grow up to complete what Bruno could not.” Merlin saw the look of disappointment on his friend’s face and continued. “If we stay out of it, there is good magic on the other side that can possibly defeat him forever.” Then Merlin had to take an easy shot at his friend. “You like this girl, yes? This is why you want so much to get involved?”
“It’s not like that.” Lance defended himself perhaps a bit too much. “When I was searching her mind for the truth of why she came, I found her to be a good person with a good soul. There’s just not that many good people left in this world. She was completely honest, and doesn’t have to be involved in this situation at all. She chooses to place herself in danger to be on the side of right. I find that admirable, and if she asks for my help, I should be no less admirable and give it. That IS what this job is all about, after all.”
“No, technically your job is to make sure one magical faction does not attempt to take power over the others that live in your area.” Merlin reminded him.
“And to protect innocents from magical forces than mean them harm. She is an innocent. And I WILL protect her.” Lance fumed. “There must be a way I can help that would not involve harming a future generation with this rogue warlock’s evil magic.”
“What we can do is watch. If things begin to go badly, you can step in and end it now, then we will have to watch for the reappearance of the evil at a future time. We’re in a unique position to be able to do that.” Merlin tried to reassure his friend, but Lance would not be put at ease. “Ever the Knight, eh Lance? What would you have me do?”
“Describe to me the events you have seen, and I shall decide what can safely be done.”
“That’s it! I know exactly what can be done. But it will take both of us. Will you help?”
“You have only to ask, Lancelot. I live to serve you!” Merlin smirked at Lance and gave a courtly bow to make his point.
“Such a comedian. I can hardly wait to send you back in to the meeting and you can practice your new stand-up routine for them next. I need to interrupt your skyrocketing comedy career for just a moment.” Lance shook his head, then laid out the plan to Merlin. “She already has all the knowledge she needs - I saw it there - she simply doesn’t know how to use it!” he began.
As she went from painting to painting, looking at the armor and shields, she thought, ‘Man, these guys are ALL about Camelot! What a collection!’ Suddenly, a ridiculous idea began to dawn on Polina. ‘Lance? Merl? Lancelot? Merlin? No, it couldn’t be.’ She put the idea out of her mind as soon as she heard the door behind her open.
Lance sat down with Polina and explained everything that he and Merlin had discussed. Of course, Polina already had most of this info. All she really needed was the knowledge of how to use it. He was very impressed that she didn’t even blink when it came to her part in the plan. ‘This girl is truly special.’ Lance thought as he laid everything out for her. ‘She deserves to find happiness.’ He finished, and rose as if to leave the room. Polina rose, too.
That was when Merlin stepped in to complete his part of the plan.
“It was so wonderful to meet you, Polina Gunter. Do come see us again!” He told her as he stepped forward for a hug. Polina was so off guard that that she didn’t think to feel awkward and put her arms out to him. As he placed his hands on her back, Merlin send a wave of power through her body. He implanted a sort of trigger that help her remember the knowledge at the exact moment she needed to. When he was finished, he pulled back to let Lance have his turn.
“Polina, it has been a great joy to know you, and we will keep watch over what will come to pass.” Lance put a hand on her chin and drew her gaze up to his. “You will not remember this meeting. You will retain the knowledge that has been given to you, but you will not know where it came from.” He grazed her cheek with his hand as he continued. “Cyd Roseland is a good man, and will be a strong ally for you. Trust in him. Trust in his help, and trust in his heart. He will be true to you in all things. And one more thing. Never look a vampire in the eye.”
Lance broke eye contact and moved his hand from her face. Polina stepped back, blinking.
“Excuse me, Miss? Are you OK?” Lance put a look of concern on his face.
“I..Yes, I…” Polina stammered.
“I trust you can find your way back to the right road now that we’ve given you directions?” Lance helped her along to the door.
“Yes, the right road. Directions. I made a wrong turn.” Polina looked a bit more sure of herself. “I’m just so tired, I got completely turned around.”
They laughed at the silly mistake that brought her to their door, and Lance and Merl watched as Polina got into her car and drove away.
“If you were so fond of the girl, why did you give her that suggestion about the warlock Roseland? I swear I shall ever understand your mind.” Merlin shook his head as the two of them headed back to the meeting room.
“Because she deserves far better than she’d ever get from me.” Lancelot answered, raising a hand to halt the protests that were sure to follow. “Now let’s go watch this unfold.”
“Brilliant plan, by the way. Using knowledge they already had to solve the long term problem rather than just eliminating the current problem. Sheer Genius.” Merlin patted Lance on the back as they entered.
“Shhh! Here he comes!” warned Sloan. “Don’t go and spoil his fun! Let him surprise us with the witch!”
“I guess I’ll take the next turn to give my area report.” Lance began, lifting the remote to the big screen that dominated one wall of the meeting room.
“Wait! Where’s the girl?” Nickoli asked.
“Yeah!” added Nathaniel.
“Way to keep a secret, guys!” said Pasha, shaking her head.
“She’s right here.” Lance replied, clicking the remote, putting the unfolding events on the screen that Merlin had created for Lance.
The Vampire Council, with some grumbling about a missed dessert, settled in to watch the ancient war between Good and Evil that was unfolding in Bella Donna Cove.
***Thanks to everyone who submitted the following contestants for a Sealgaire vamp:
TinaG13 for Lance
Aussie Karima for Merlin
Pixx for Luciano
Aussie Karima for Ethan, Sloan, Pasha, Zelor, BJ, and Frederico
GLDKELLY for Nickoli and Nathaniel
HolleyB76 for Keiran
*And because I so shamefully neglected to thank her for the loan of her sim, Drake, Valpre for my Dr.Dave Drake in the previous chapter!
I'll see you again soon for Chapter Seven of Secrets of Sealgaire! Thanks for reading!