CHAPTER 4

Within the village, another stranger wonder the dark streets, he could see the mansion in the distance and could see the candles and lanterns as they light up the old place. He ran his finger over the scar on his hand and sighed. It had been a great many years since he’d been there, a great amount of time had passed. Something within him kept him wanting to return. But when he met the man, the one that said he could get the revenge on the creature that had scared him, he took that chance. But somewhere deep within him was an urge to find the creature and care for it.
“Tell me my son, is she there?”
“There are a great many things that have changed in the two hundred years since I was here last.” He responded.
“That was not what I asked.” The voice hissed from the darkness.
“She is there. Along with two visitors.”
“Then we wait. Katherine is preparing for the new moon. The day when her powers are at their greatest.”
“What will happen then?”
“Then I shall come to her once more. Her powers will be mine.” He said as he stepped from the shadows, his short blond hair and piercing blue eyes caught the moonlight, his companion looked toward the house once more, his deep green eyes only saw loneliness in their task.
“You’ve had a change of heart.” He said looking at him.
“I have no heart to change, master. So how could it have changed?” He responded looking at the taller man.
“There is a change in your feelings. That mark she has left upon you has changed you. That very mark that I taught her to leave, will take another from me.”
“You are more evil than she, yet I’ve remained with you for over five hundred years, without question I have followed your orders.” He responded as he suddenly disappeared into the darkness.
“Yes my son, I know that you have not questioned me or what I’ve asked of you, but she has a power that will control you someday.” Nickolas said pulling Nathaniel to him. Nathaniel lay his head on Nickolas’s chest and closed his eyes; Nickolas was his protector, his master. But his heart held room for another, the one that was forbidden to him.
“She is more powerful than you think.” A voice answered from the shadows.
“How much more?”
“Nickolas, you should know this. Her power would grow more every year.”
“That isn’t what I asked old man.”
“Her power grows with every life she brings across, the change in Nathaniel was only the first. With the change in the preacher and then the seer, things will become hers, the entire world will bow down to her.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Your mistake was taking her life from her. Katherine’s life would have ended a normal one. You brought out the evil that was buried deep within her heart. Had it been left alone, she wouldn’t have been as evil as she is now.”
“Yet you stay with her. You were my servant.”
“She treats me with the respect that you never did. And gave me the life that I had always wanted. Katherine’s heart may be evil, but it has never been cold. She knows you are here, she has felt your return. Come to the mansion and pay your respects. You are her maker after all.”
“I may have made her, but that is as far as it goes.”
“Think about it Nickolas, if you return to her side, she will rule with you forever.”
“How can she rule with me if she hates me? Tell me that Henry, tell me how someone that loves me that could love me, hate me?”
“There is a love deep within her black heart. You just need to learn to find your way back to it.” Henry said before he disappeared into the darkness. Nickolas shook his head and walked into the mist and disappeared. Henry arrived back at the large mansion and looked toward his mistress, he knew she had already visited their guests, and he knew that she had felt her makers return.
“Did you see him?”
“Yes mistress, he is the same as he was the day he left.”
“What brings him back? Why does he come here, come to my home once again?”
“He feels your power growing, he wants to own that.”
“He knows better than anyone that my power is my own. And even in death he can not own what is not his.”
“The boy has returned as well.”
“Find him.”
“Your mark draws him to you. The man that shall be your mate has found his way back to you, two hundred years may have passed but he still yearns to hold you close.”
“Take Martin and find the boy. Bring him to me, but my guests are not to know he’s here.”
“Yes mistress, but why not allow him to return on his own?”
“I am inclined to allow him to return on his own, but please find him, I want to see if he still carries the mark.”
“Yes mistress.” Henry said bowing and leaving Katherine to her thoughts. Katherine looked out the stained glass windows, looking toward the village below.
“I feel you master, if you dare come to me. But know that my heart will never be yours again. I shall never trust you again. For you’ve done what no maker should ever do, leave their young before they are ready.” Katherine said looking toward the figure; she knew it was him that he was near. But he was kept away, the grounds of the mansion were now protected by her powers, her own powers now dwelled in the very earth beyond the gates.
“Mistress, I hate do disturb you, but your guests are waiting.”
“I am coming, have you found the boy?”
“Not yet mistress, but he shall be found. Do you desire something from the village? You’ve yet to feed in two days time and I’ve only known you to go several hours.”
“I shall return to my guests, I will feed after they have retired for the evening.”
“Yes mistress.” Henry said walking away from her. Katherine shook her head and headed down to join her guests. She could see them talking quietly over the dinner that had been prepared.
“Katherine, where have you been?”
“Dealing with a personal matter, were you worried?” Katherine asked, looking toward Bianca. Bianca nodded and then looked toward the plate that had been set before her, it was something deep in her that made her feel that she would be embarrassed with anything said in front of her friend.
“Why blush little one, feelings are nothing to blush or be embarrassed about.”
“I feel that there are feelings deep within me that should not be.”
“Why? Why should you not have feelings? Caring for someone is natural. There is no harm in caring for another person.”
“This is true.” Darcy said looking toward Bianca. “ But you must understand that with that love is something more. It is believed that a man and woman shall only be the ones that shall share the bed and the love, but there are those that are willing to go beyond that.”
“Do you believe in many things Darcy?” Katherine asked.
“I was a priest Miss Katherine, I believe in things that god says is true, but there are things I too believe.”
Katherine smiled and lifted her glass of wine.
“To the things we do not understand. And to the friendships that shall be formed within the walls of this house.” Katherine spoke, lifting her glass to her lips and looking at the others.
“To friends.” Darcy said lifting his own glass. Bianca lifted her glass and drank from it, as her eyes watched Katherine’s movements. Katherine took a sip from her glass and then sat it back down on the table.