Dawn Awakening

Food! Robbie's mouth watered in anticipation. She couldn't recall the last time she had hunted. Welcomed the taste of blood. She should be grossed out. But, all she could manage was to lick her lips in anticipation. Finally, she was learning to embrace her inner vampire. After all, her fanged subconscious had saved the man she loved. She hopped up from the bed, using every bit of her vampire speed to hurry to get dressed. And paused, shouldn't they be planning funerals and mourning the dead. Wasn't a surprise a little inappropriate given their grim situation? "A surprise? Isn't it a little too soon for a surprise?"

John Mark snickered at Robbie's shocked expression. She'd expected the human thing...the mourning and long faces. Death was a part of life. And hey, as they both knew all too well, you only went around this crazy world once. There was plenty of time to reflect on the events of last night. Tonight was not about that. Tonight was for the living, not the dead. He was done pussyfooting around and wasting time. "It's never too soon for a surprise."

Robbie understood John Mark's enthusiasm the minute she smelled the smoke from the bonfire and saw the orange flames dancing high into the night sky. Tonight was about life and celebration, not about death or sadness. She'd been consumed by death. Gripped in the iron fist of sadness since she lost her parents in the accident. It seemed like she had two lives, the pre-accident life of hope and optimism where everything and anything were possible, and the post-accident life where everything was shadowed by the gloom of heartbreak.

She'd been forced to face the mortality of her parents and in the process, her own inescapable end. Someday, she'd die. John Mark would die. These bluffs and the small town nestled in the valley below would someday be gone. Everything changed, given enough time. Everyone died, even those she loved. Even though it hurt to think about it. Someday, they'd be gone too.

Robbie smiled at John Mark and released his hand. Jovially, like a little kid on a play date, he trotted over to join the brothers by the fire. She wandered over to the edge of the bluffs and peered down in contemplation at the valley below. The lights from town glittered in the distance. She listened to the sound of people going on with the business of living, so many lives, as countless as grains of sand on a beach or stars in the sky. But, each one of them mattered. Counted. The Sons lived and died to make sure they went on generation after generation.

In life, there were only two choices. Give up and let death take you long before your time. Cease to live and simply exist in a deep pit of sorrow. Or, embrace life and the possibilities it had to offer. Move forward and live. Remember those who had gone. Love those who were here. And enjoy, simply enjoy what was in front of you in the here and now. For someday, your life and all the people in it will be gone.

Robbie finally got it. The pieces finally came together and she looked at the bigger picture. Sure, there were losses. This battle had cost plenty. A price paid in blood. But, there had been gains too. People lived because others died. The gentle breeze of the night caressed her cheeks as she lifted her face to the night sky. She fit. She knew where she belonged and exactly what to do with this life. Live it.





















Chapter 50

She heard footfalls behind her. Carefully measured, graceful steps filled with power. "Matchsquathi nenoth'tu, Little Warrior, why do you cry?" She recognized the deep bass voice immediately, recalling the safety she felt as she sheltered in his strong arms. Ashamed of her tears, her cheeks burned hot and she dragged the back of her hand over her cheeks to hide them.

He towered over her. Tall and lean with flowing black hair and finely angled cheekbones. His eyes shone tawny amber in the night. Power and strength permeated the air around him like an aura. "I'm sorry...it's just so...overwhelming."

The Great Father smiled and offered his hand. He understood overwhelming. How many times had he stood in this very spot, at the edge of the bluffs looking down into and endless forever, and thought the same thing? "Come."

He was a man used to getting his way. His orders were followed and not questioned. Robbie didn't question them now. There was something ancient, something powerful, and something magical about him. She reached out and took his hand, allowing him to lead her to the bonfire.

A flow of electric current zinged up her arm from the slightest brush of his palm against her fingertips. The zap of the charge went soul deep. She realized with shock exactly who she was touching. John Mark had told her about him. But, she'd never actually seen him. And her analytical, librarian's mind had filed him somewhere in the fiction section of her brain. To her, he was a myth, an urban legend, sort of like the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. He was in the realm of distant possibilities, but not real. She blinked in disbelief. He was real. He'd carried her when she could not carry herself. Cared for her. Soothed her with his calm. His blood started it all. Flowed through every brother, through John Mark and into her. "Great Father?"

The Great Father nodded in confirmation. His lips slanted in a crooked grin. She shared his blood. But, she'd doubted he really existed. Oh yeah, he was as real as they came. She looked up at him with hero worship in her eyes. Star struck, like he was Elvis or something. He hated that. It was kind of hard to make friends when you were THE BOSS and everyone treated you like you were they guy who invented the Internet. He was only a man. Granted, a very extraordinary man, but just a man all the same.

John Mark glowed with pride as Robbie was led to the center of the group. Trying to keep up the lighthearted party atmosphere was hard for all of them. Each and every one of the brothers felt the absence of those who were lost, especially Lucien's. Stern and stoic, cold as a creek rock, as always, Dane was doing his best to fill Lucien's shoes. But, even he couldn't hide his grief at Lucien's loss. Seeing the Great Father helped. They weren't orphans. There was a future. And Robbie was about to become a part of it.

"My Sons," The Great Father addressed the warriors. "Tonight is a night of great joy and celebration. We celebrate our victory over the enemy. We celebrate the memory of the lives of our Fallen. And," he said with a smile aimed down at the Little Warrior clutching his hand, "we welcome our new sister into our ranks."

Whoops and cries of triumph and joy echoed around the circle. Robbie blushed at their eager acceptance of her. So, this was the surprise John Mark had dragged her out of bed for. She was about to become a Son. Being a vampire would never be enough for her. John Mark knew that. She was an all or nothing kind of person. And he'd kept tight-lipped about the big surprise, saving the honor of calling her sister for the brothers. She'd always considered herself a child of light. Being a vampire didn't change that. She still walked in the light. Darkness nor death had no hold on her any longer.

The Great Father dropped her hand and stood to the side, motioning for the circle of warriors to part. Good thing she studied so hard in school. She knew who the man passing between the brothers was. The family resemblance between the two men...no, they were more than men, was uncanny. They could have passed for identical twins. "Look into her heart, does it beat with the strength and courage of a warrior?" the Great Father said, bowing to his brother.

The Prophet approached, locking on to Robbie's temples with long thin cool fingers. She forced herself to be still beneath his hands and to open her mind to his probing intrusion. More than a bit terrified of what he might see. The secrets she kept hidden even from herself.

"I see the heart that beats within, my brother. It is that of a warrior's heart, brave and true." The girl was afraid. But, then again when someone could look as deep into a soul as he could. A bit of trepidation was expected.

"From this day on, so you shall be known as Matchsquathi nenoth'tu, Little Warrior," The Great Father said, pinning Robbie with his stare. She had not gone through the trials in the official sense. But, she had shown bravery. She had overcome her fears. And she had faced the enemy without fear. Her trials were different than those of her brothers. But, they were her proving ground. And she'd earned the right to be called a Son...a warrior.

The brothers repeated, "So it shall be."

Robbie spared a glance from the Great Father to his brother, The Prophet. She was going to die...again. But, she wasn't afraid. She'd seen death. Faced it head on. She knew what awaited her on the other side. There was nothing to be frightened of. She braced herself for their bite and for the blood she would receive. Nothing compared to the sensation of having her blood forced from her veins or having theirs infused into her body in exchange.

Dazed and stumbling, she rode out the pain. It was like being born a second time. There was so much she hadn't seen before. So much, she didn't know. The force of their combined blood was powerful stuff. Made John Mark's weak as Kool-Aid. Over two hundred years of living, so much power, crammed into a single speck in time. Every experience, every thought, every second of living, the life of the two brothers, and every warrior that ever was, fused into a singular space in her mind. Overwhelming didn't begin to cover the experience. Gasping and trembling, clawing at the ground, she took the lives into her and gave hers, the only one she had, in return.

"Rise Warrior, greet your brothers," The Great Father said, helping her to her feet. The pain ebbed and with it the overwhelming voices of the brothers in her head. She could hear them, sharing and invading her personal space. It was confusing and a bit discerning. There were so many voices and her mind was only so big. But, it wasn't unwelcome. It felt like...well, it felt like...home. No matter where life took her. No matter where she went or how far she roamed. She'd always have them and their gentle song with her on the journey.

Robbie gritted her teeth, hoping no one was really looking. Observing, partying down at her induction, but not really watching as she pulled her t-shirt over her head and slid the straps of her bra down over her shoulders. She guessed when the brothers originally decided to decorate their backs with tattoos there weren't many females in their ranks. Shyly, she stretched her bare chest over the rough stump and bit her lip in anticipation.

The Shaman, Doc, as the brothers called him studied the blank canvas of her back, waiting for inspiration to come to him. Idly, he called upon his Muse and dipped his needle in the ink. His fingers were gentle on her skin. That was, until the first bite of the needle drove its way home, deep into the tender flesh. She would not cry out, although the process was painful and agonizingly painstakingly long. She was a warrior. And she'd bear her marks with pride, as John Mark and the brothers did. She did have her limits though. There was no way in hell she was prancing around topless in a ceremonial loincloth, as some of the brothers were dressed, tattoos or not. Yeah, until now, she mussed, this had been a "boys only" kind of club.

John Mark grinned like a proud papa. Growling protectively under his breath at any warrior who happened to be brave enough to sneak a peek at Robbie's bared flesh. Obviously, the Sons were going to have to revise their ceremonial dress code. He'd be damned if his woman was going to wear a loincloth and nothing else, at least, around anyone but him and definitely not around the brothers.

His back was sore from the addition to his marks, the skin tingling and aching as the pinpricks from Doc's needles healed. He was no longer an apprentice, struggling to earn his way to full acceptance. He was a warrior now. Proven in battle. Tempered by loss and heartbreak. Brave. Strong. And worthy. Finally, although it had cost so much, he was finally worthy.

Robbie sat deep in the cover of darkness, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, rocking slowly back and forth. The assault on her senses was easing and the pain along her back, dulling, as her body repaired the damage from the Doc's handiwork, permanently fusing the ink into her skin. The party raged on in a chorus of rowdy laughter and joking conversation. She'd retreated to a quiet spot away from the friendly sparring matches, and nods of welcome for a few stolen moments of privacy. Although from now on she'd never really be alone in her head. Still, the illusion of aloneness was nice.

Cords of wood, stacked neatly, bordered the boundary of the wide clearing. Everyone ignored them in favor of a night of respite. But, nobody forgot what the neat stacks of logs were for. Pyres. Tomorrow the brothers would start the gruesome task of honoring their dead. She heard John Mark's thoughts, clear as her own, in her mind. He was looking for her. She didn't have to open her mouth to answer. She simply cast a thought in his general direction instead.

John Mark lowered his body to the ground beside Robbie. She sat, with her limbs curled into a ball with a far off, pensive expression on her face. He could literally hear the wheels turning in her mind. She got it. Understood the meaning behind every cryptic answer he'd ever given her. She was such a 'why' girl. Nothing made sense to her until she took it apart, picked over the pieces, and put them back together. Clarity could be a bit overwhelming. Minding her tender skin, he draped an arm around her shoulders. "Ready for your surprise?"

John Mark looked deeply into her eyes. To her, it felt as if they were boring a hole into her soul and seeing everything within. Her surprise? She didn't know if she had it in her to handle any more surprises tonight. He was blocking her from his thoughts. Hiding the core of his intended surprise behind a layer of marshmallow fluff of idle brain chat, nursery rhymes, bad commercial jingles, and the like. Less than three months ago, she would have sworn that the meaningless banter of his inner monologue was all there was to him. He was so much more. His emotions and the depths of his feelings, of his passion, more than what she'd ever guessed. It was frightening and a bit intimidating, to live in her own shadow, or the shadow of herself that she saw in his mind.

John Mark frowned, picking up on her self-doubt and hesitation. She was not going to logicalize herself out of this one. Not this time. He was living in the moment. Thinking of her and her happiness and damn it, he wasn't about to let her ruin it. He was going to drag her kicking and screaming into the moment with him.

Her mind was scrabbling with the input. Sifting through data at a blinding speed and filing it away. He was not going to be lost in her mental shuffle. In his head, he'd rehearsed the scene at least a million times.

He had it all planned out. Down on one knee with her gazing lovingly into his eyes. Tears, not of sorrow, but of joy, gathering in the corners of her eyes, making them sparkle like the emeralds they so reminded him of. He knew exactly how he wanted to do it. What he wanted to say. All those loving words of desire and commitment, hovered on the tip of his tongue, tripping over one another, like grade school kids at recess, in a hurry to be the first one out of his mouth. In his mind he'd been suave and smooth, a real Romeo type. In reality, he simply grabbed her left hand and slid the ring on that barely fit over the first knuckle of his pinkie finger onto her ring finger. "Marry me."

Robbie stared down at the ring. The gold band glimmered in the firelight. Orange tongues of flame sparkled off the facets of a crescent-moon shaped garnet and the sparkling diamond in its C shaped center. In the firelight the ring and the stone took on a life of its own, like a flame on her finger. "Its beautiful."

"Is that a yes?" John Mark asked shyly. Gingerly, he held her hand and toyed with the ring on her finger with the pad of his thumb. "The stone reminds me of you. The way the sunlight looks in your hair, tinting it with red and gold, like flames.

"You remember, the day we snuck down to the beach. We were twelve and so eager to be grown ups. But, we were still kids. You were scared shitless that your mom and dad would find out. But, you went anyway. We swam for hours. Thought we were hot shit because we were on our own. Just the two of us against the world. Remember? Got home just before your parents did. You had to shimmy up the drainpipe and crawl in your bedroom window to keep from getting caught. I thought you were the bravest girl I knew.

"I think that was the day I first noticed you. I mean, really noticed you. You were standing there on the beach. Skinny as a rail. All elbows and knobby knees. You didn't even have boobs yet. Your face was nothing but a connect the dots of freckles and layers of a peeling sunburn. But, it was the hair that got my attention. You were my beautiful fire girl. And once I looked at you. Really looked at you. I never looked back. Ever. Robbie, there's never been anyone else for me. It has always been you. It will always be you. Forever."

Robbie blinked back the tears threatening to spill over her lashes. As a kid, John Mark had been closer than a brother to her. In junior high school and high school, he'd been a nuisance to her. Geeky, dorky, goofy John Mark. She thought his crush on her would eventually wear thin when someone better came along. When she'd gone off to college she'd sought to reinvent herself they way adolescents hovering on the brink of adulthood do. He'd stayed here, patiently waiting for her to figure out her place in the world. And when tragedy had brought her world crashing down around her. He'd been there to pick up the pieces.

She'd fought him every step of the way. And he'd still remained by her side. And through it all, even when she didn't want him to and certainly didn't deserve him, he'd been her friend. Her best friend. Patiently waiting for her to see him as more. And when she'd finally seen him, really seen him. She realized it'd been him she was looking for all along. He was the reason no other guys measured up. He was the reason she'd always felt like a piece was missing, because without him, it was. "Yes."

John Mark let out a whoop of sheer joy. Every fear of rejection, every whispered wish, every lonely desire vanished with her answer. She loved him. For the first time in his life he felt complete. As if all the puzzle pieces in his life finally slid into place. He didn't want to wait one more second to begin their lives together. In this time of unhappy endings, he wanted a happy beginning. "Well, lets make it official then," he said. Still full of surprises, he slung Robbie over his shoulder and carried her toward the fire and his curiously watching, very amused brothers.

Mortified, Robbie buried her face against John Mark's back as he carried her. The earth beneath her rocked and tilted right side up in her upside down position slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The brothers formed a loose circle around them laughing and guffawing at the lightness of the moment. He set her on her feet, never letting go of her hand, grinning like a Cheshire cat. The Great Father stifled a chuckle, approaching, feigning an attempt at seriousness as he approached to conduct the ceremony. Robbie wondered, if The Prophet, saw this coming.

"Nihaw-ku-nah-ga", "You are my wife," John Mark said, pressing his hand over her heart as he said the words.

He waited patiently motioning for Robbie to do the same. Robbie's tongue twisted as she spoke the unfamiliar Algonquin words. She placed her hand over his heart and said, "Ni wahsiu", "You are my husband." They drank from a ceremonial cup, her blood combined with his and that of the Great Father and the Prophet. She felt the energy coursing through her veins binding her to him. They were one.