Revolutions (Davenport Manor Book 3) Read online

  Todd then warned her about Daniel’s natural instinct after Emma turned him, and that they were to stay away from him for his own safety. He may not be able to fight the urge to attack them since they were both still human, even though he was aware that they were living weapons.

  The two of them conversed back-and-forth about Daniel becoming a vampire. It was surreal, especially for Todd, who was close to Daniel. He simply couldn’t imagine him as a vampire. Kelly and Todd were both worried that his personality might change as well. Would he become more aggressive? Would he be like a different person? He couldn’t picture Daniel as a predator; in his mind he would always know him as an easy-going, laid-back guy. All of the vampires that Todd knew were already vampires when he met them. He had never met one before they were turned. He began to wonder if Emma was different from her human self now. Was Zachariah different as well? He certainly couldn’t imagine Aidan being any less intimidating, even as a human.

  Todd felt as though there was a bowling ball sitting in his stomach as he was unable to shake the thought of Daniel from his mind. Kelly thought about the fact that Daniel had no idea that when he woke up this morning, it would be his last day as a human being. In essence, he would finally get his wish granted. What a scary thought though; to know that your body will die, but you keep “living” afterward. Forever.

  As the two talked into the night, their eyelids became heavier. Their weary bodies were finally winning the battle against their buzzing minds.

  “Would you mind staying in here with me tonight?” Kelly sheepishly asked. “I’m just too weirded out to be alone, if you don’t mind.”

  “I can stay, that’s fine with me,” he agreed as he got up off the couch. “I’ll go grab my pillow and blanket from my bedroom so I can sleep on the couch.”

  Kelly’s heart sunk just a little as she had hoped he would stay in the same bed as her. She wasn’t looking to be intimate with him, but just wanted to be close. This wasn’t exactly the sleepover she had in mind; however she didn’t want to seem too forward during such a difficult time. She knew his mind was elsewhere and that she was probably the furthest thing from it.

  Todd returned to her room a minute later carrying his pillow and handmade quilt that was in his closet. He tossed his pillow down onto the couch where he had been sitting, and unfolded the quilt, carelessly tossing it onto the entire length of the couch. Kelly was still sitting on her side with the quilt lightly draped over her thighs.

  Todd pulled back the quilt and sat down in the middle of the couch, ready to crawl into his bed for the night. He placed his hand on Kelly’s shoulder and gently suggested that she go to bed, too.

  “You need to get some rest, love,” his deep voice spoke softly. His tired eyes held contact with hers for a brief moment.

  She tilted her head and rested it on the top of the couch as she continued to gaze back at him. Of course, her mouth was about to speak before thinking first. “You know you don’t have to sleep here on the couch.”

  Todd furrowed his eyebrows, but didn’t respond, making it difficult for her to read what he was thinking.

  “Oh! Don’t take that the wrong way! I just feel bad you sleeping on the couch,” she corrected herself.

  His face relaxed and he smiled ever so slightly, “I know, love. I think it would be better for both of us if I just stayed here on the couch…at least for tonight.”

  She wasn’t sure if his tired eyes weren’t blinking properly, but she was certain that she saw him wink. She gave him a closed-lip smile and a quick squeeze on his leg before getting up and climbing into her own bed. She felt as though her brain was turning into a glob of mush; so many thoughts were running through it. First, she worried about Daniel; she couldn’t get his whole situation out of her head. Then, her emotions took over, and made her obsess over the fact that Todd was just a few steps away.

  She heard him situating himself on the couch, assuming he was trying to get into a comfortable position. Due to his height, he barely fit and couldn’t completely stretch out his legs. She laid there quietly on her side, unable to fall asleep. All of her thoughts were becoming like a freight train through her mind. Every now and then she would hear the rustle of Todd’s blanket, and by instinct she would rustle hers as well. As if she were trying to let him know that she too was still awake, without saying the words.

  Todd attempted to lie on his back with his legs slightly bent, and leaning up against the back of the couch. He stared up at the dark ceiling, allowing his eyes to un-focus into the dark abyss. He then switched to his side, hoping that this position would help him fall asleep. He noticed that every time he moved, Kelly moved as well. He had a feeling that she was still awake. He was having an inner debate with himself on whether he should go crawl into bed with her or not. He could tell by her reaction that she was disappointed that he was staying on the couch.

  At the moment, the ball was in his court and he decided to swing the racket. He pulled his quilt off, slid his legs over the side of the couch and sat up. He glanced over at the bed where Kelly laid quietly, but the darkness clouded his vision. He stood up and lightly walked over to the empty side of the bed, slowly pulling the covers back. As he climbed in without saying a word, Kelly turned her head to face him. However, she didn’t speak either.

  After he settled into a comfortable position on his back, he stretched his arm toward her. “Come on,” he invited her into the nook of his arm.

  She turned over and scooted toward him without saying a word. She rested her head on his chest as he simultaneously wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. She gently placed her arm across his torso, making him her personal body pillow. They remained silent; neither one uttering a single word. Just the simplicity of being with another person was enough to make the both of them relax. Kelly closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the air circulating from each breath in his chest. The rhythmic beating of his heart inched her closer to slumber with each thump.

  Todd felt the rising of her shoulder with each breath she took, lulling him to sleep. He felt her muscles relaxing, her weight becoming slightly heavier upon him. The comfort of being wrapped around one another was just the kind of sleep aid that they needed. Within minutes, they were both sound asleep while intertwined around each other.

  The elevator bell dinged as Emma and Zachariah reached the fifth floor of the hospital. It was five o’clock in the morning, and the intensive care unit was beginning to quietly bustle. They were each carrying a backpack that contained a jug of blood, hoping that two would suffice until they could get him down to the car. They moved at a speed that no human eye could detect until they reached Daniel’s room.

  Zachariah quietly shut the door behind him so he didn’t attract the nurses’ attention. He knew they would soon realize that the door was shut, but he hoped that he and Emma could move quickly enough before they noticed. They unzipped their backpacks and took out the jugs of blood, unscrewing the caps to be prepared. They set them down on the floor next to the bed and took a moment to look at Daniel. It would be the last time that they would see him as a human. With a beating heart in his chest. Breathing because it was necessary. Alive.

  Emma touched his cheek with the back of her fingers, gently stroking the skin that wasn’t covered by tape. Zachariah put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder and lightly squeezed it, as if he was saying goodbye. Emma examined all the tubes protruding from his body; the breathing tube in his mouth, the IV in his hand, the monitors hooked up to his chest. She knew Daniel would not want to live like this and it was time to remove them all.

  “You know the monitors are going to alert the nurses when we unhook him,” Emma stated. “Maybe before we do this we need to go charm them to ignore it.”

  Zachariah nodded in agreement as they both turned toward the door. There were three nurses at their station in the middle of the intensive care unit. They were surprised to see visitors at that hour and were about to speak up to scold them for being there. But before
they could get the words out, Emma and Zachariah had already begun to control their minds. They told them to turn off the alarms that would sound from Daniel’s room and to ignore his room entirely. The three nurses nodded in a trance, not understanding why they would ignore their patient, but knew that was what needed to be done.

  Emma and Zachariah returned to Daniel’s room and closed the door once more, feeling more confident. The fear of being caught was now gone, making them far less anxious about what they were going to do. Essentially, they were about to kill Daniel, however he wouldn’t be completely dead.

  “I sure hope that he hadn’t changed his mind since he wrote up that living will,” Zachariah said as he began to pull the tape off of Daniel’s face. The tape held the breathing tube in place in his mouth. They didn’t want to remove the tube too soon, and had planned to do so after he was bitten and the process of dying began.

  Emma chuckled, “Well, if he did, he’s in for a big surprise when he wakes up!”

  “Now is as good a time as any,” Zachariah sighed. “Do you still want to do it or do you want me to?”

  Emma held her head up high, “I will. He’s my blood family, it’s only right. Now, you and Daniel really will be brothers.”

  Zachariah smiled ever so slightly; the idea itself was a happy one, but the reason why was not. He began to remove the blood pressure cuff from Daniel’s arm as Emma peeled off the wires that were hooked up to his chest. The monitor above him started flashing red and sounding an alarm. Zachariah carefully followed the cord to the plug in the wall to unhook the monitor; he didn’t want to accidentally unhook the respirator. They needed Daniel alive in order to turn him.

  Emma glanced up at Zachariah once more and asked, “Are you ready?”

  With serious eyes locking with hers, he nodded. He had his hand placed on Daniel’s shoulder, ready to hold him down. His other hand was holding on to the tube going in his mouth, ready to pull it out.

  Emma sent a quick puff of air from her mouth and gently tilted Daniel’s head to the side to expose his neck. She opened her mouth and extended her fangs, preparing to do something that she hadn’t done in nearly two centuries. The last and only time she did this was when she turned Zachariah in 1839. She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe she was about to do it, but knew she had to.

  Instead of striking quickly like she normally would, Emma slowly lowered herself until her mouth was directly above Daniel’s neck. She hesitated, constantly second-guessing herself.

  “He’s going to be fine,” Zachariah softly encouraged. “Look at us; we’re still the same people that we were when we were human.”

  That was the only reminder that she needed to shove her to do the task at hand. She lowered her mouth to his skin and quickly pierced the surface with her fangs. She could taste his blood going into her mouth, which was enticing her to drink by instinct. However, she injected the venom from her fangs into his bloodstream. She lingered and did it several times until she could hear the change in his body.

  Daniel’s body suddenly tensed from head to toe as he arched his back. His eyes shot open, although, they were void of knowing anything that was going on as he was technically still in a coma. Zachariah and Emma could hear his heart speeding up, even though the respirator was keeping his breaths in a slow rhythm. The breathing was the only tranquil thing happening at that moment. His muscles began to relax and contract, causing awkward movements. As the venom began to take hold of his body, he came out of the coma and tried to scream. He was frantic and confused as he felt his body begin to die. His pleading eyes immediately fixated on Zachariah as he uncontrollably reached for him. Zachariah wanted to take his hand, but he had to continue holding him down and prepare to remove the breathing tube at the right moment.

  “Daniel! Daniel!” Emma exclaimed to get his attention to her, letting him know that she was there with him as well. She held down his other shoulder with her hand, but quickly used her free hand to hold his. She grasped it tightly to reassure him that he was not alone.

  His head darted to face Emma, not realizing that she was there, too. Another awkward scream rose from his chest, causing it to echo through the tube.

  “Daniel, it’s okay, you’re going to be okay. We’re here,” she spoke quickly, hoping he could understand her. “We had to turn you, so your body is dying. You’re going to be okay, you’re not leaving us.”

  As his body writhed from the pain of his organs shutting down, having an internal battle, the fear in his eyes began to relax. He understood her. It didn’t make the experience any more comfortable, but he knew that it would be over soon. He involuntarily squeezed her hand as the pain came in yet another wave.

  Zachariah and Emma listened closely to the sound of his heart, which was beginning to sputter and beat irregularly. They knew that sound. As each beat became weaker, they could hear the whoosh of blood through his veins slowing. His back slowly relaxed, allowing his body to settle back on the bed. His grip on Emma’s hand loosened as his eyes began to close. Zachariah did not have to use as much force to hold him down any longer.

  They watched Daniel’s body as it was in the final moments of life. The time between each faint heartbeat became longer and longer, until the final one was heard. They looked to each other for reassurance, and Emma nodded at Zachariah, indicating for him to remove the breathing tube. Daniel no longer needed it and she knew he would awaken to his new life.

  At that moment, the door swung open and the doctor stood there with confusion painted on his face. He was surprised to see visitors in there at that hour, and that they had removed Daniel’s breathing tube. When Emma whipped around to face him, he was even more startled when he saw her fangs gleaming from her mouth.

  “What the…” he began to exclaim. Emma shot over to him before he could finish his sentence and locked eyes with him. She knew that they had to move fast before Daniel woke up and made the doctor his first victim.

  “You’re going to leave here and forget which you saw. It is a miracle, but Daniel is all better and you released him in the middle of the night,” Emma charmed him.

  The doctor’s face went from being confused to pleasantly surprised by the news. He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

  Emma rushed back over to Daniel, whose eyes were just beginning to flutter open. She reached down and picked up both of the jugs of blood, passing one over to Zachariah, who had just unplugged the respirator. The silence in the room was deafening, the bright lights still beaming down at Daniel. They could hear the nurses chattering at their station, the squeaky wheels of an IV cart rolling down the hallway, and a man coughing uncontrollably a few rooms away. But, inside Daniel’s room, life was over. In Emma and Zachariah’s case, life was over centuries ago.

  Daniel rapidly blinked his eyes as he sat up in the bed, examining the room. It looked like a regular hospital room, but different. He could see every detail in vibrant color, the smell was potent in his nose, and he could hear distant sounds as if there was an intercom broadcasting in his room. He looked to Emma, who also looked the same, yet different. He could see slight imperfections that he had never seen before.

  Then came a physical feeling that he had never felt before. A hunger. Or was it a thirst? He couldn’t be sure what it was, but it was a craving that took over his entire body. He needed to satisfy it and at that point, he was willing to do anything to quench it. He could smell what he desired in the air around him; it was everywhere. It was in his room, and he had no doubt it was outside of the room as well.

  Zachariah still had his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, which for some reason that Daniel could not understand, made him furious. He felt as though Zachariah was trying to prevent him from getting what he wanted. Perhaps even challenging him to it. An unfamiliar growl built up in his chest, something that he had never been able to do before. He was not only prepared to remove Zachariah’s hand from his shoulder, but he was ready to remove it from Zachariah as wel
l!

  “Daniel,” Emma soothed. “Drink this.” She handed him the jug of blood that had already had the cap removed.

  Daniel took it from her and looked down, smelling the aroma dancing upward from the opening. That was the answer to his craving. He instinctually knew that by drinking the blood that the intense feeling would go away. His new fangs descended, which was a foreign feeling to him. He reached up and touched them with the tips of his fingers, lightly scraping the sharp tips along his skin. He quickly put the jug to his mouth and tilted it, chugging the blood faster than he could drink. It was as if he was a man who had been stranded in the desert without water for days.

  “Slow down, Dan,” Zachariah carefully said. “We have plenty for you, it’s not going anywhere.”

  Only Daniel’s eyes looked to the side at Zachariah as he continued to chug the blood down his throat. Emma and Zachariah waited patiently as he drank the first jug and prepared to give him the second if he desired it.

  After he drank the last drop, he clumsily threw the jug to the floor and growled, “More.”

  Zachariah handed him the second jug, from which Daniel immediately started to drink from. Blood was spilling down both sides of his mouth, which practically caused Emma in Zachariah to twitch. Aidan had taught Emma to always be neat when she drank, and in turn, she taught Zachariah the same practice. Every last drop of blood was to be savored, not wasted. However, they both remembered the first time they ever drank blood, and could recall it being quite messy. There was plenty of time to teach Daniel the ins and outs of being in an immortal.

  After Daniel finished the last drop of blood from the second jug, he had a bit more control over himself. The craving was still there, but it was no longer as intense as it was before. He sat silently as he looked down at the empty jug, blankly examining it. He was trying to absorb everything that was happening.