Blood From a Stone Read online

  The hours passed but no sleep came. He was vaguely aware of a few infomercials on various products, a historical documentary about life in the 1970’s, and something about Roswell, New Mexico, aliens and Area 51. But his mind was occupied with thoughts of Willow…and where things were going with her.

  What the was he going to do if he couldn’t break this curse? And then there was the matter of his blood. He still didn’t understand how that worked, but he had a very strong feeling that it might have something to do with freeing him of it completely or maybe giving him some kind of hall pass.

  He could heal others…so, why couldn’t he just heal himself of the curse? Was something like that possible? He sighed. He supposed that couldn’t be it, since his blood was already in his body and had done nothing except turn to cold thick glue and eventually concrete in his veins when his time was up.

  The clock read 4:23am. Daylight would be here soon and he would be counting the hours until he saw Willow again. Hell, he already was! He wanted her so badly, and yet some foolish sense of conscience or chivalry or whatever you wanted to call it had stopped him. Maybe tonight he wouldn’t be so chivalrous after all. He smiled to himself, but it faded quickly.

  The fact that he would indeed hurt her in a few weeks was not something he could ignore or deny, anymore than he could deny that she was falling for him….or that he was falling in return.

  He flipped off the television and closed his eyes, just for a moment. God, it felt good to lay in the darkness. He never thought he’d think such a thing, considering he spent fifty years at a time ‘lying in the darkness’…any more than he would have considered anything about his curse a ‘gift’, as he’d called his ability to heal, earlier.

  He relaxed his body and savored the softness of the pillow behind his head, wishing Willow were there so he could feel the curve of her body next to his under the blankets. Yeah, a little ‘dessert’ would have been nice, but it would be enough just to have her lying there with her arms around him right now.

  A few moments later, only the steady sounds of his slowed breathing broke the silence while he drifted off into a dream, as the sleep he craved came to claim his body and mind.

  C HAPTER FOURTEEN

  A small streak of sunlight peeked through the shade covering the bedroom window. It was a little past 8am as Samson opened his eyes and sat up quickly, taking a moment to adjust to the strange sensation of having just woken up…again. It had been missing from his life for so long that it would take some getting used to. And he savored every second of it.

  He stretched his muscles, rose from the bed and padded to the bathroom. He relieved himself, splashed cool water on his face, and noted the flush in his cheeks that looked just like yesterday, after he’d slept, and dreamed for the first time in five centuries. And again he noted how he looked rejuvenated somehow. Strange indeed.

  He headed for the kitchen and before doing anything else, decided to call Willow and make sure everything was alright.

  He picked up his cell and nearly dropped it when he looked over and saw the apparition from last night standing in the darkest corner of his dining room. She wasn’t faded this time…he could make out her full shape and form, and her features as well. She glowed as if surrounded by some kind of backlighting.

  His heart pounded just a little. Yeah, he himself was some kind of ‘monster’ from legend, but what was she? A ghost? Some kind of banshee?

  “Who are you?” He approached her cautiously.

  She backed up from him and then came in closer. He could feel a chill….that chill when she brushed by him! The sensation he’d felt at Chico’s when he was alone and again with Willow the other night.

  So, then. Perhaps yesterday was not the first time she had been in his presence. Apparently she’d been following him around for at least a few days now.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  She stared at him in apparent silence and yet he could hear her voice loud and clear in his head.

  “My name is Adrielle. I am a Guardian…your Guardian.”

  “What the hell is a guardian? You mean like angel kind of guardian?” He laughed. “Sorry ma’am, but I don’t believe in that crap.”

  “What do you believe in Samson?” Her eyebrows went up as if she’d said the words aloud.

  “Well. I believe in curses. I can tell you that!” He smirked.

  Adrielle smiled. “Yes, so you do. And with good reason. What else do you believe in? Do you believe in yourself?”

  “In myself? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means what I said. Do you believe in yourself? Because that belief is your only way out of this.”

  “You mean the curse, right?” His brows knit together. She nodded but said nothing.

  “So then, all I have to do is believe in myself, and poof! Just like in a fairytale.”

  She smiled. This one was quite the comedian. “Hardly. But you‘re certainly going to need it if you are going to see this through to the end.”

  “So….you’re saying, there is an end for this curse? Or do you mean an end to me? Like death or something.”

  Adrielle nodded again as she began to shimmer and fade.“You will know. Just follow your heart in all things and you will know. Through the blood of thy will, the clock shall stand still.” And without another word she disappeared.

  “Wait!” he said aloud. But it was too late. She was gone.

  Dammit!! What did it mean? Had she meant there was a way to end the curse? Or that it would be his own end? And what about ‘blood of thy will’ and ‘the clock shall stand still’. Those were the very words that the priestess had chanted…the ones that had echoed through his mind so many times over the decades. Did that have something to do with his blood being able to heal?

  It must. There could be no other explanation for her appearance in the first place. Why else would she have come unless it was to give him a message?

  Well, he supposed, guardians or angels…..whatever you called them, were going to have to be added to the list of things he now believed in. Right along side of love. And stopping having sex to make sure you, and the one you’re with are ‘doing it for the right reasons.’ He laughed out loud at that one as he headed for the kitchen to make some coffee.

  The pot finished brewing and he quickly poured a cup of the steaming liquid. Through the blood of thy will, the clock shall stand still. What did the words mean exactly? Blood of your will…was it figurative?

  He plunked down his mug of coffee on the counter, tapping his fingers against the tiles. His brows knit together in thought. He’d healed Cisco somehow by jumping in and stopping him from biting Willow and Sasha. The dog tore into his skin, and tasted his blood. He’d healed the little cat by tearing open his flesh and pouring some of his blood into the cat’s mouth. What was the common denominator, and how did it pertain to the ‘clock standing still’?

  In both cases his flesh had been torn, blood poured out and was tasted by those who had some kind of injury or illness, and they’d been healed. He’d felt electricity. The animals had then been rejuvenated and seemed to have more life injected into them. Cisco’s coat had been so silky soft and he was bounding around like a puppy. It was as if Cisco had been regenerated. Time will stand still. Come to think of it he also had a flush to his cheeks both times he’d woken up and seemed to look younger and more rejuvenated. Was he onto something here? He was certain he was. Apparently when his blood was tasted by another who was ill or injured, it not only healed them but turned the clock back…maybe made time stand still in some small part. Not only for them, but for him as well. That was why he felt the jolt of electricity and could see the rejuvenation in his own face and feel it pumping through his veins. Like his blood had been ionized or something.

  So, he’d apparently figured out something to do with the ‘time shall stand still’ part…or at least he was getting close. But what of the ‘blood of thy will’ part? There must be more to it than simply havin
g an animal drink his blood or making it do so, otherwise it would have worked on the rats. There was something else involved here.

  In both cases he’d intervened during some kind of emergency. With Cisco, he’d done something that would have cost him his own life had there been no such thing as a rabies vaccine because now that he could feel the dog‘s soul, he knew that Cisco had indeed been infected with the virus. Death was certain for him…and whoever he bit, had Samson not stepped in when he did.

  He gulped down another sip of coffee and headed to the shower. The steam and warm water did nothing to slow his mind from racing at breakneck speed toward what he hoped were the answers to his salvation.

  Thy will. The words meant ‘what you desire‘. The blood of what you desire? That made no sense.

  He lathered up his hair, rinsed off and stepped out to towel off. Will. Desire. Only one thing came to mind when he thought of the word ‘desire’ and that was Willow. He restrained himself from thinking about her being here with him right now, and what they would have or could have done in that shower he just took. Nope. Wasn’t gonna let his mind wander off there right now. He needed to keep his wits about him. He looked down at his crotch which was threatening to swell just thinking about it.

  Sorry bud, you’re gonna have to wait, cause I ain’t going there today. Flying solo’s always fine, but I think I’d rather hold out for a little co-pilot action. Maybe tonight. At least I hope tonight.

  Damn. He needed to get his mind off the subject now, or he would indeed be taking a little solo flight. Not exactly what he was hoping for after being asleep for fifty years. Wake up and your first fun and games is doing the five knuckle shuffle by yourself? Pathetic. And yet here he was actually considering the possibility because he was going to hold out for Willow Dalton.

  It was bad enough that he’d already been Awake for what? Three days now and no action. By his own choice too. Christ almighty he was loosing his mind! Well, he supposed he could chalk this one up along side all the other less than savory and/or stupid things he’d tried during various Awakenings. Suicide came to mind. As did poisoning and being run over. Being celibate seemed to go nicely next to those!

  Usually he’d ’wake up’ and was in a bar and onto bed with at least one willing partner within hours of climbing down from his perch. He’d started down that road again this time, but somewhere along the way he took an off ramp, and decided that highway was the wrong route.

  He combed through his hair, threw on some jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt and headed back out to the kitchen for some more coffee.

  He poured another cup and sat down at the table, resisting the urge to call Willow. He needed to spend some time thinking this through and maybe it would benefit him to not have her on his mind while doing so. Then again, keeping her off his mind wasn’t going to work, so he figured screw it and picked up the phone.

  The cell rang a couple of times before she picked up. “Hey, are you up?” he asked, looking over at the clock, noting it was well past nine and she was probably awake.

  “Yeah, actually. I did sleep in a little though, after you kept us up so late.” She laughed.

  “Me keeping us awake? And of course, you had no part in that at all? Okay. If it scores me some brownie points, then that’s all I care about. So I’ll plead guilty as charged.”

  “You’re too easy,” she teased.

  “No, you were the one who was too easy last night remember?!”

  “Ow. That stung,” she said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

  “I’m just kidding. Actually there’s a certain look you give me when you’re getting fed up. You look just like an old school teacher, and I assure you, you are the farthest thing from ‘easy’ as they come when you take on that persona.”

  “OW! That stung even more. You’d better shut up. You’ve already lost all the brownie points you earned, a minute ago” she taunted playfully.

  “Okay,” he sighed. “Well, then I guess you have to let me take you to dinner to see if I can earn a few of them back?”

  “Hmmm. I don’t know. You sure you want to be seen with ‘an old school teacher’?”

  “Like I said last night…then everyone will think I got me a hot date. School teacher this time, instead of the nurse. Although either is fine. Take down the bun, whip off the glasses and spank me with the eraser.” He laughed.

  “You are…incorrigible!” she said. “And yes, ’incorrigible’ does sound like something an old school teacher would say.”

  “Then I guess you’ll have to put me in line. So, dinner tonight? What time do you get off?”

  “Not til 9 again. I guess this time I’ll bring something decent to wear.”

  “You look good in anything…and I’m sure out of anything too. But suit yourself. I’ll pick you up about quarter after? Same place?”

  “Yeah, that would be perfect,” she said.

  “Perfect. Just like me? Remember…last night you thought I was perfect. Doesn’t that win me a get-out-of-jail- free card?”

  “Okay….you get points back for good behavior,“ she laughed. “Now, I’m going to go let Cisco out, and I’ll see you tonight.”

  “See you then,” he said, and hung up.

  Now he’d talked to her and made arrangements for tonight, so he could focus on the task at hand. The ghost had said that his belief in himself was the ‘only way out of this’. And dammit, he was going to figure this out.

  Maybe a walk in the crisp morning air and some breakfast out somewhere would fuel the engine. He threw on his boots, a heavy sweater and his coat, grabbed the keys and headed out the door.

  He walked about a quarter mile south on Lakeview and found a little hole in the wall mom and pop style diner where they served breakfast and lunch only til 2pm, and decided to give it a try.

  He walked in, sat down on a stool at the counter, and ordered coffee, eggs and toast. Grabbing a newspaper that a previous customer had left lying open in the empty seat, he began to peruse the events of the day.

  Same shit, different decade, really. Politicians getting caught doing something they shouldn’t, police arrested a thief who’d robbed a store, some ads for various new movies coming out…and a new weight loss clinic. Now that was something new since the last time he’d awakened.

  He quickly wolfed down the eggs, and swigged down the rest of his coffee, tossed a $10 bill on the counter and started out the door, when he felt the chill. He turned around, half expecting to see the ghostly apparition, but there was no one there except a man sitting a the corner booth closest to the door.

  Samson started to open the door to walk out, shaking off the eerie feeling.

  “You’re going to have a choice to make,” the man in the booth said, not looking up from the newspaper that covered his face.

  “Excuse me?” Samson said quietly, turning on his heel and walking toward the booth.

  “You heard me. You’re going to have to make a choice or two.”

  “Do I know you?” Samson moved in closer.

  “No. Not directly…but then again, if you think about it, you do in a distant sort of way.”

  “Did she send you here?” his voice took on a slight tone of the agitation he felt.

  The man lowered the newspaper down to expose his face abruptly. “She who?”

  “You know…the woman I saw this morning.”

  The man’s handsome features took on a look of slight exasperation. He’d sensed as much earlier, but had pushed the vague impression aside not wanting to confront that the little minx had beaten him here. He smirked to himself. Damnable woman! Always disobeying while she was alive on earth, and even now as a Guardian. Even ascent to higher levels of existence was not reward enough to make her behave. But then, perhaps that was what had drawn him to her when she was human and had held him to her for all these eons of timeless existence, since he himself was not supposed to be here either. He looked Samson directly in the eye, and figured he would ask the question, though he already kn
ew the answer. “What did she look like?”

  Samson sighed heavily. “Tall. Blonde with long hair. Oh, jeez…let’s see. Nothing out of the ordinary really, except maybe just a bit see-through?!” He raised his eyebrows sacastically. “I’m sure you never noticed, hmmm?”

  The man shook his head in exasperation, suppressing

  a slight smile. “Adrielle knows better than to have revealed herself to you.”

  Samson nodded. “Yeah. She already told me her name and that she’s a Guardian….Angel. Whatever you people are. And you? You know her, obviously you’re affiliated somehow.”

  “Yes. My name is Maximus. She is my mate.”

  Samson slid into the booth. “Okay, Max. You don’t mind if I call you Max, do you?“ He didn’t wait for Maximus to respond. “Let’s just skip the bullshit. Obviously both of you know who I am and you know why I’m here…what I’m trying to do. So can’t you just tell me how the hell to break the curse?”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” the man said quietly. “I’m not supposed to be here at all. Neither is she.”

  “Then why are you? To annoy me? Torture me by dropping hints?”

  Maximus shook his head. “Hardly. We’re not permitted to break the rules, but we figured that we may give you some small clues and help you along the way. And when the time comes perhaps make an Asension to the next level.”

  Samson’s brows knit together. “The next level? The next level of what?”

  Maximus began to shimmer slightly. “You’ll find out soon enough.” The words were not said aloud but instead seemed to materialize inside Samson’s head.

  Maximus looked at the counter to make sure no one else was there before he began to dematerialize. He raised the paper back up to cover his features.