Ever After

Chapter 28



Roth’s Past



Roth had been drafted to the Vietnam War shortly before his twentieth birthday. Will had told me the night before he was to be deployed; he went to China town in New York with some other guys from his barracks, to enjoy one last night at home. Roth had been separated, from his group and gotten lost, being drunk did not help.

A woman, who he had stopped to ask directions from, attacked him. It was an elderly lady or she appeared to be anyway. The woman led him to a small house tucked in a back alley. She gave him some coffee to sober himself up with, or so he thought.

The coffee turned out to be laced with opium, and it knocked him out cold. When he awoke he was in gut wrenching pain, the woman had bit his neck, and tied him to a steel post in her home. The woman turned out to be a vampire, and wanted Roth for a companion. She was not in fact old, but nearly his age and very beautiful.

Roth stayed with her, for a number of years, until he felt he could no longer take human lives, to sustain his own. He wandered alone for several years, until he ran into Taylor who was a member of the Followers. Roth had not known other vampires existed that hated killing humans. He was relieved to know he wasn’t alone.

Taylor brought Roth to the coven and to Doc where he stayed and found peace. It was amazing that I could think if Roth’s life story as I lay here, but so many things ran through my mind as we waited for Doc and Pratt to come for us.

“Hurry up, she looks bad, that jack ass Todd bit her...” I heard Roth on the phone; his eyes were on William and me as he spoke. “No, he’s ok he’s beat up but not too bad. I knocked out those two, one ran into the woods. I have no vial, or I would have killed his ass!”

I knew he was taking about Todd. I too wished he had a “vial” (of dead blood) of course. I hated to think after we left here, Todd would wake up and be even more hell bent to get me. Roth hung up and came to kneel next to Will. I could see how dark green his eyes were, as he seemed to be studying me.

“Is she breathing ok?” He asked.

Will took a staggered breath and blinked slowly. “No, she’s having long pauses in between, that’s not good at all. I don’t know what that venom will do to her. I know her body was weak, too weak for this, for all of this.” He pulled me closer to his chest as I shook.

“Damn.” Roth simply said, as was customary of Roth. He was simple but cared deeply for his coven, his “family”. “Doc and Pratt are two miles out, they ran into a chick from the Dark coven, she said she helped get Corrine out of there?” He looked at Will confused.

“Yes, Corrine told me about her. It seems she was taken against her will and turned into a vampire. I think she said one of those guys with Todd was her boyfriend.”

“Wow, well I guess she’s with Doc now, she wants to be a Follower.” I was happy to hear Sayann had found Doc and Pratt, and they were accepting of her. I knew how desperate she was to escape Kyle and the Dark coven. At least one thing had worked out tonight.

It was starting to rain harder, now. That really did not help me much. I was already frozen, despite Will’s efforts to warm me. He picked me up and he and Roth moved closer to the thicket under the pine tree where Will had originally hid me. The rain seemed to hit us less there, but the wind was picking up now as well.

“Will, hold her up a little she looks like she’s having trouble breathing.” The alarm in Roth’s voice scared me. I was in fact having trouble, but was so dizzy and afraid I did not realize the big pauses between breaths.

“God, she is.” Will knelt down into the frozen leaves and snow and angled me up wards. It helped somewhat, but not enough. “Damn it Roth what are we going to do?”

Will’s voice was now full force into panic mode. I must have really looked bad, as they both stared at me, terror in their eyes. It was hard for me to breath but I was holding my own. I thought so at least. I guess I was wrong from their reactions.

“I’m going to call Doc and see where in the hell they are. I told them our exact location!” Roth flipped open his cell and dialed Doc’s number.

I listened as he spoke; his voice was rushed and emotional. “You guys have to get up here now, take that frigging thing off road. Corrine’s getting worse dude I’m not kidding!” He was yelling now. I could hear he was talking to Taylor; he must have been driving the others. “It’s just past the bridge, were at the top of the hill, in a clearing of pine trees, haul ass man, its serious tell Doc to be ready!”

“Where are they?” Will snapped, his patience blown.

“Not too far from here, I told Taylor to just go off road, if they try to get here on foot it will take forever”