The Vampire And The Orphan
Chapter Nine

They were making good time on the road when Nathanial suddenly stopped the car and became tense.

“What is it?” Lettie asked, “is someone out there?

“I’m worried,” Nathanial spoke softly, “about The Order.”

“Ben said he wouldn’t say anything,” Lettie reminded him.

“They have their ways, though,” Nathanial mumbled, “if Greta predicted you before your mother would have even been born, then they could already be anticipating you too. The Order has the strongest coven bloodline that existed as a part of it.”

“What do we do then?” Lettie asked.

“We don’t go back to my house,” Nathanial said firmly. “We’ll go to the place I told you about tonight. They won’t know about it. Greta’s coven was not affiliated with The Order.”

“Okay,” Lettie agreed.

“They may already have someone following, although I haven’t sensed anything.” Nathanial got out of the car, and she followed; he motioned for her to come closer to him, so she did. She was gripping the phone with the light on it.

“If we take off from here, they won’t know what direction we went,” Nathanial was thinking out loud. “Unless I dump the car...”

“Dump it?”

He grabbed her bags and a few bags from the trunk, “step back; I’m going to push it off the cliff.”

She was wide-eyed, watching in wonder as he quickly pushed the car right off the edge; it made a huge crashing sound as it landed.

“My gosh!”

“This is the strongest I’ve ever felt,” he mumbled.

“Then we should be able to run fast, right?” she asked nervously.

“Yeah,” he was nodding, and she was so focused on him that she didn’t notice the phone was dying; it turned off, and suddenly they were blanketed in the dark.

“Oh no, Nathanial! Where is your phone?” No sooner did she speak than her necklace grew warm and started to burn her. “It’s coming!”

“How did I not grab it? Lettie come this way,” he commanded, and she tried to follow his voice, but her legs wouldn’t work, and her gaze was stuck on the cloud; it seemed bigger and heavier than ever. It filled her with a certain dread she couldn’t explain.

“Lettie!” Nathanial was reaching for her as it was barreling closer, and then suddenly, it was gone.

“Nathanial?” she looked around but only found darkness, just like in her dream, “Nathanial!”

“I’m nowhere?” She felt a certain dread. How did she end up here? This wasn’t a dream, however. She was really here this time. “Where am I?”

“What is this?” she asked again, and still no answer, no creepy voice in her head either. “I hate how dark it is. I want a light.” Suddenly her necklace started to glow a soft teal hue, giving her eyes something other than nothing to look at. Her fear began to diminish as she looked at it; she grasped it in her hand and felt comfortable. She didn’t know how but she knew she was not alone.

“Who is here? Where are we?” she asked out loud.

She was met with more silence, but as she walked around, she could feel a surface under her feet; she knew she was not in her dream. However, it was someplace very similar to what she dreamed of.

She could feel him; even in the nothingness, she could feel Nathanial reaching for her. She needed to get back to him! He was out there with that cloud thing!

“Do not leave yet.” A voice, a female’s voice, and it sounded like the most melodic, beautiful song she’d ever heard. She instantly longed to listen to it again.

“Who are you?” She asked.

"Lettie, where are you?” she heard Nathanial’s voice somewhere deep in her head.

“He needs me. I must go to him! The cloud will get him!”

“Jael has no reach for anyone but you in that world.” The voice interrupted her. “He’ll realize you are gone from his reach and go away soon enough.”

“Let’s not leave ourselves out in the dark like a jewel for him to come to and snatch up, hmm?”

“Light keeps him away, but my phone died.”

“Call on the necklace when you need it,” she advised.

“Is it magical?” Lettie asked. “Wait, you said Jael; the cloud is Jael?”

“It’s a ball of dark energy he controls; he can use it to bring you to him,” she said, “you must never go to where he is, do you understand?”

“No, I don’t! Why?”

“That’s all I can tell you now; I shouldn’t have spoken to you at all.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know.”

“So, make me understand!” Lettie begged.

“In due time.”

“But”-

“Trust only him.”

“Nathanial?”

“Jael is gone; go back to your mate now,” the voice seemed to fade.

“How do you know he’s gone?”

No answer.

“How do I get back?” She asked next and again got no answer.

"Lettie!" she heard Nathanial’s voice and clung to it instead.

“Nathanial!” she called out and closed her eyes, seeking him out with her mind.

When she opened them again, he was in front of her; his emerald eyes were full of panic. They were back on the street, but the cloud was gone.

“Lettie!” he gripped her shoulders and studied her, “Are you okay? Where did you go?”

“I’m okay; what happened out here?” she breathed.

“You disappeared,” Nathanial looked like he saw a ghost as he stared at her in astonishment, “it was almost on you, and then you were gone. It swirled around like an angry tornado, and then it went away. I yelled for you, and you were nowhere.”

“I ended up back in that nothing place we dreamed about, only it wasn’t a dream. I was somewhere else, and I wasn’t alone.” Lettie’s mind was swirling with confusion about who owned that beautiful voice.

“Your necklace?” Nathanial noted how it was now letting out a low hum of light.

“We should go and talk about all this later,” she said nervously, shifting her eyes to the sky. “I don’t know if Jael will come back.”

“You found out that was Jael?” he spoke as he lifted her into his arms; somehow, it felt less awkward this time; she was growing more accustomed to his presence. She knew he’d take off at high speed, so she prepared herself by burying her face in the crook of his shoulder. His arms secured themselves around her tightly and securely, and she felt it again. That same feeling she has just now in that place, safety.

She was safe there, and she was safe in Nathanial’s arms. She didn’t know much, but she knew that much, at least.

**

The journey was long, and it took a lot out of Nathanial to travel at such high speeds for such an extended period. Lettie’s blood is giving him extra power certainly helped but only so much. He’d nearly depleted his reserves by the time they reached the vast mountain. It was crude and jagged with several sharp peaks. The sun was near rising too. He guessed he only had about an hour. He set Lettie down on her shaky legs, and she took several moments to gather herself.

“We have to climb that?” she breathed out in horror.

“Be nice if you had had those wings,” he joked, and she let out a tiny giggle, but he could see it didn’t ease her nerves.

“I’ll carry you up, and I can jump from peak to peak; there was a small valley between two large peaks with a little creek and meadow area. That’s where we’re going, and that’s not all the way up.” He said in an assuring voice.

“Okay,” she nodded, looking a bit more at ease.

“We have very little time.” He knelt, “jump on my back for this. I’ll need my arms for the climbing; you’ll need to hang onto my back yourself.”

“Okay,” she assured him, she quickly climbed on, and he made haste towards the mountain.

He jumped from peak to peak just like he told her. It wasn’t too hard at first, but the higher up they got, the looser the rock was, and the harder it was to find footing. He couldn’t risk falling and her getting injured, so he had to take it slower, which put him in a race with the sun that he was now at risk of losing.

Finally, he met the peak he needed to and realized the valley was a much steeper drop-down than it used to be. The sun was getting closer, and there was very little time to decide what to do.

“Lettie, I’ll need to hold you and drop down the ledge. I will be gravely injured when we land, and the sun will come up very soon.” Nathanial spoke slowly. “When we land, there is a rock cave very close; just drag me into it and away from the sun as soon as we land, okay?”

“You’re too heavy for me!” she asked with wide, fearful eyes.

He quickly bit his wrist and thrust it towards her,” drink. It’ll give you enough strength.”

“What? No, it would be best if you drank from me,” she argued.

“That won’t change me being injured when I land. You are the one that will need strength to get me out of the sun. Once you do that, there is a tunnel deep inside the cave with a handmade coffin. I can heal in it.”

“Isn’t there another way?” she asked timidly.

“No,” He said, “and we have to do it now.”

She nodded nervously as she latched her lips around his wound and started to suck; his body reacted to her instantly this time. The feeling of her pulling from him was driving him to madness as a desire to take her suddenly overtook his senses. He nearly ripped his arm away from her in shock.

What in the? Since when did he have desires like that? He didn’t have time to consider it, however. Instead, he scooped her up and secured her in his arms; he made it to the cliff edge and allowed his body to slide down the edge.

Every rock jerked and bruised his body, and the sun felt like a predator so close to closing in on its prey. He put all his thoughts and energy into her, Lettie. She needed to stay safe. That’s all that mattered. Even if he perished here, she’d be safe on this land. She could sustain herself here. He held her tight, and as they started falling faster, his skin started to feel warm, and he knew the sun was coming soon. They landed hard, and he felt his back crack as his spine shattered, and he let out a howl of pain.

“Nathanial, no!” Lettie was screaming, and he wanted to assure her, but the words didn’t leave his mouth. His skin was growing warmer, and his entire body was wracked with pain, but so long as she was safe, it was all that mattered.

“NO!” she screamed, and he felt her hands on him just as he felt the hotness become searing, and in the very next instant, it was gone. He was no longer hot he was still in a massive amount of pain, but the heat was gone.

“Lettie?” he groaned.

“It’s okay. It’s safe here, drink,” she said.

A drop of blood hit his lips, and the pain no longer mattered. All he could taste, smell, and sense were Lettie all around him; it was what he wanted, all he needed.

It was like coming home; he closed his eyes and gave in the pleasure as each drop hit his throat. He wanted to latch on and devour her, but he also wanted to savor her, and the conflict nearly drove him to madness.

“It’s okay; take as much as you need.” Lettie’s voice cut into his mind like a thief in the night stealing the moment abruptly as he came to his senses. Nathanial attempted to sit, and his bones, still healing, cracked again, causing him to cry out again.

“Lie down until I figure out how to get us out of here. I need to get you to the cave and your coffin.” He felt Lettie’s hand gently push him down.

“Where are we?” it was so dark, and the only thing he could see was the glow from her necklace.

“It’s like when the cloud came at me,” Lettie mumbled.

“We’re in the nothing dream thing?” Nathanial struggled to talk through his pain.

“It’s different, though,” Lettie said quietly.

“How?” Nathanial asked.

“When the cloud came towards me, I was pulled into this weird place. When you were about to burn, I... somehow pulled us here.

“Pulled us where?” he asked as he looked around at the nothing around them.

“I don’t know,” Lettie said softly.

“How do we get out?” Nathanial asked.

“I don’t know that either,” she admitted.

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