Chapter 42
Chapter 6:
Trisha’s P.O.V
I ran after Lucinda to the room where all the children were staying for the night. I vaguely had the realization that Rosanna was following behind me. But she wasn’t my primary concern right now, it was Neema.
He was having a vision. And he was having it in the middle of a hoard of children who had no idea what to do or what to expect.
I used my vampire speed to reach the room and as I’d expected, all the kids were standing in a circle around Neema, watching in horror as he convulsed on the floor while some of the teens who had been brave enough were sitting by his side, holding him down as his body thrashed around wildly.
“Neema!” I called out before I reached him, the crowd parting to make way for me.
As I’d expected, his eyes had rolled back in his head and when I touched his skin, it was ice cold. “How long has he been like this?”
“Ab-bout seven minutes…”One of the teens answered shakily. “We didn’t do anything, I swear we-“
“I know,” I told the kid. “I know.”
“Alright, everyone! Clear out!” Rosanna’s voice rang out over everyone else’s, temporarily stunning everyone. “Now!”
Soon enough, the room began to clear out and I felt Neema’s skin starting to warm. Good, he was coming back.
A couple of minutes later, Neema’s skin began to perspire and he opened his deep blue eyes and looked at me in a daze. “Mom?”
His voice was weak, barely above a whisper but it gave me immense relief to see him back to normal. Every time he has a vision, I pray to God that it gets easier for him, that he wouldn’t feel this much pain once he was older. I knew that the visions cost him physical and mental exhaustion and I felt helpless that I couldn’t do anything to make this easier for him. He had too big a burden placed on to his little shoulders and I just wish he didn’t have to go through all of this at such an early age.
“Yes, baby,” I swept his hair off his forehead and placed a gentle kiss on his half closed eyelids. “I’m right here.”
His tiny hand tightened on mine for an instant before he started to drift off to sleep, but not before he told me in that same quiet voice, “He’s coming.”
I knew this day would come eventually; I was surprised it took this long, but the shock of it still had be paralyzed on the spot for a good few minutes, before I regained my senses.
I took Neema into his arms, glad to feel his heavy weight on mine as I placed him on one of the beds in the teen’s dormitory and let him sleep. I’ll take him up to my room with me after I was done here. Rosanna had been waiting patiently by the door all this time, arms folded across her chest and her flaming red hair the only spot of color in the pale room.
“My name is Trisha Redfern,” I told her straight up since there was no point in hiding anything now. “I’m Jonathan Redfern’s sired daughter and I used to be a member of King Damien’s court.”
Rosanna stayed quiet for the longest time, giving me no clue as to her mood. But then the sea waves crashed against the Shelter, hard and fast and I understood that she was anything but calm on the inside. When she finally spoke, her words were like shards of glass.
“So tell me, Trisha, what juicy little gossip have you passed onto your King till now? Should I be putting on a show for the visit?”
I barked out a harsh, humorless laughter. “Trust me, the last thing I want right now is to see his face, let alone transfer messages to him.” I shook my head and took a seat at the foot of Neema’s bed. “I came here so I could escape him; I desperately wanted to get away from him. And I needed to protect Neema.”
“Is he a threat to your son?” This time the harshness in Rosanna’s voice was directed at Damien and once again, I heard the sound of the waves crash against the walls of the Shelter.
“No.” I said instantly. “Someone else was but Damien executed him.”
“I don’t understand,” Rosanna came closer this time and turning a chair around, took a seat in front of me. “Then why did you run from him?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Then uncomplicated it.” She snapped. “I need to know what we’re getting into before this hits us. King Damien Vandolff might be the ruler of all land forms but the oceans and the islands belong to me. Talk.”
I sighed and rubbed a hand down my face and then I told her everything. From turning to entering the palace as Jonathan’s daughter, to meeting Damien, about Neema coming to my office, about Vandal and then running to Lucas. Then I told her about the fight between Damien and Vandal and how he killed him to save us…to save me. The only things that I didn’t tell her were the human shelters at the Sanctuary and the fact that Damien was Vandal’s son. That secret wasn’t mine to tell and it could cause a huge rift all over the world.
“I have two questions.” Rosanna said after she had absorbed all the new information.
“Ask away.” I shrugged. She knew almost everything about me now anyways, might as well go all the way. And besides, I could already guess what her questions would be.
“First,” she held up one finger in front of her face. “Why did you tell me your name was Kristin Swan when we first met? Why not your real name?”
“A lot of people know me in the land, especially after my fight against Vandal, so I thought Kristin Swan was a better option.” I told her. “It’s a part of my real name actually. Before I was turned, my name used to be Trisha Kristin Swan. Jonathan gave me his name after I was turned and I didn’t think using my middle name was relevant. Next?”
“Who is Neema?”
I took a deep breath. This was always the difficult part. The more people that knew about Neema the bigger the chances got of putting his life in danger. But I couldn’t back out now. I was stranded in the middle of the ocean with not an island in sight and not to mention the Queen of the Oceans was sitting in front of me. If it all went to hell, I’d just have to deal with it one step at a time. So I decided to tell her the truth.
“Neema is an Oracle of the Lord.”
Rosanna sucked in a deep breath. “The Oracle? The one who appears once in a thousand years to bring peace to the world?”
“So you’ve heard the legends.”
“They are legends.” Rose shook her head. “And he seems to have chosen you as his caretaker. No wonder you knew about the rebellion.”
Rose got up from the chair and started to walk towards the door.
“Rose?” I called out, unable to tell what her intentions were.
“Go get some rest; we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” She said over her shoulder. “And since we don’t know what the Vampire King wants from us…yet, we welcome him onboard. We’ll deal with his demands accordingly. Till then, there’s nothing we can do.”
The door closed behind her with a soft click and I breathed a sigh of relief. The ocean was calm outside the window and I got the feeling that the danger had passed… for now. There will be a storm coming tomorrow and once it hit’s us, everything was going to change.
