Page 19 of Resurrection
“Of course,” Jamie agreed. “I’ll make sure everyone is up and off to school tomorrow, so you can get some rest.”
“I appreciate it.” Seiran let go, and Jamie headed upstairs. “Forest, come,” Seiran directed the golem again. Golem. That brought another flash of memory that Gabe couldn’t quite sort out. Had he seen one of these before? The weave of it seemed familiar, but not enough to jog any old memories loose.
Seiran headed through the main hall below the stairs and the golem followed. Gabe trailed along. They entered a kitchen, and Seiran paused to point at the giant fridge. “The blood is in the freezer there if you need it.”
Gabe thought about that for a minute, even gazing around the room to try to identify the different pieces of technology. His gaze finally landed on the small metal box that looked like a microwave. “Okay?”
“Do you need blood right now?” Seiran’s tone had gone tight again, reserved and a bit tired.
“No. I fed on the shifters Max had visiting.” The bitter edge of their blood still lingered as an aftertaste. He hoped he didn’t have to feed on shifters regularly, they didn’t really appeal. Though he’d take the nourishment from wherever he had to.
“Good.” Seiran turned and opened a wide double door that led out into an enclosed arboretum. If the outside garden had been a little wild, this insolated glass box was a jungle. And the dancing pops of color weren’t from any actual light, but fairies. Another trickle of memories hit, and Gabe felt a bit dizzy. He got flashes of faces, fairies and fae, he’d met in the past. The notation settling in place that he knew the difference, fairies like these were a type of fae, one of dozens. Then there was the garden itself. The space echoed with an overlayed memory of barren ground, and a roll of pain through his gut that felt like the revenant rising.
Gabe took a step back, returning instead to the kitchen, sucking in gulps of air and clutching the counter. Seiran returned a few moments later, minus the golem and stared at Gabe from a few feet away.
“Are you going revenant?” He asked, not daring to get closer.
“No.” The darkness wasn’t rising, but the memories were overwhelming in that moment, even if he couldn’t sort them out enough to understand them. “Too many memories at once, and not enough to clarify.”
They stood in silence for a minute or two, until Gabe could breathe again.
“I have all your stuff still,” Seiran said after a few minutes. “It’s a bit of a mess,” he admitted. He turned toward the far wall and opened a door, which showed a stairway leading down. “This is probably a good place for you to hang out during the day, too. Mostly light proof.”
Gabe followed slowly, keeping a hand on the wall as they descended into a dark space. The basement below was finished, walls bland, and floors a hard type of tile. Boxes were everywhere. The only windows were covered in thick curtains, and the overhead lights were a scatter of those inset can lights.
Seiran went to a set of boxes, opening the top two and then putting them aside before finding another. “There are some clothes here. I don’t know if they will fit anymore.” He turned and pointed to the corner of the room. There was a large box bed covered in a dust sheet. “That was your bed. There is still grave dirt in it, not much. We will probably have to add more. I’ll send Sam a text to get some. Bathroom is through that door.” He pointed off to the side, then wrapped his arms around himself as though he were cold. “Do you need anything else, right now?”
Answers? But he could see the witch was tired, and he had his phone. Maybe he’d do some researching. “No, thank you,” Gabe said, weaving his way around the space to keep distance between them. The witch seemed nervous enough without him getting too close. “And I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Seiran asked.
“Whatever I did to hurt you.”
Seiran sighed. “Doesn’t mean much when you don’t remember.”
Gabe could understand that. “I’m still sorry. You look tired. Maybe you should get some rest?”
“Don’t touch my kids, okay?”
“I don’t plan to,” Gabe promised.
Seiran turned as if to go, then paused, like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. He shook his head and mounted the stairs, even shutting the door behind him as he vanished up into the main part of the house.
The silence was intense. The weight of the space and the memories it held, strong enough to make Gabe want to sit down and meditate again. Dozens of boxes, probably filled with details of his past. At least the space itself seemed void of memories. New to him, perhaps? He made his way to the first pile of boxes and began opening them, mentally categorizing their contents. The space itself was pretty organized. Clothing on one side, books and documents on another. There were no photo albums or anything really sentimental. Had he been that cold before? How long had the darkness been pulling at him before he’d gone to ground? He’d always thought himself a bit more human than that, even if vampires didn’t have a lot of humanity after a couple of centuries passed.
He found a laundry area on the other side of the bathroom and began to sort through the stacks of clothes to remove the musty smell. Everything had been sealed in plastic bags, and seemed in good shape. Lots of business-like attire. Not all that unlike Max. But they had said he had managed businesses before.
His phone pinged, a dancing sound that made him jump. He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the screen for a minute, making out the words.
Mike: Heard you’re back. How much do you remember?
Who was Mike?
Not enough.Gabe replied.Max said I should remember naturally.But Gabe was more than willing to admit how frustrating that was. He needed answers.Can I ask you some questions?
Mike: Of course. You are my sire.
And that was a revelation. This Mike was a vampire, and Gabe had made him. Well, this was a place to start at least. He made his way to a chair, clearing off the dust cloth and sitting down. Maybe he would find some clarity.