Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy (6 page)

Reaching the grove of white birch trees on the edge of the lawn, Dragan stopped
,
looking a
head of him
.
I
n
the
center of the magnificent trees stood a tiny chapel
still
standing strong
, e
ach
stone placed by his very own hands.  The stained glass, shipped over a hundred fifty years ago from Europe
,
stood the test of time against the harsh
New England
elements.  There were four main windows
,
e
ach formed by a kaleidoscope of colors with a
distinct
red cross in the center of each
.
  The heavy
,
wooden door
was
fo
u
r inches
thick,
a large
brass ring
as its handle.  Above the door was inscribed “
nosce te ipsum
,
”
k
now thyself.  This was to serve as a reminder and a warning to all that entered to pay no attention to the opinion of the multitude.  Dragan pulled on the ring.  Stepping into the tiny chapel was a step back in time for him.  This was the only place on his property that had a
consistency
that gave peace to the unrest in his
soul
.  Crossing the threshold,
he
immediately
remove
d
his shoes, setting them off to the side
before
dropping to one knee, as a sign of respect to his God before
moving forward.  There were very few pieces of furniture in the room.  The
re were
four wooden pews, two on either side of the center aisle with its thick red runner leading to
a stone
altar
.  The
altar
itself was also designed and made by him from stones taken from the
Holy
L
and
,
while the granite was excavated off of his own property.  On the
center altar
, he had placed a large brass
c
ross which gleamed from its daily
polishing
.  To the right of the cross
,
a bible opened to his favorite passage.  I John 1:9
,
“
If we confess our sins
,
He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
.”  This passage gave him hope
to continue
.  Hope for not only his salvation
,
but hope for his death
,
and with his faith
,
enough forgiveness to be reborn.  Stepping to the
altar
, he dipped his fingers in the holy water
before making the sign of the cross on his forehead before
, again,
dropping to his kne
e
s at the
altar
to begin his
daily
ritual of pray
er
to anyone in the spirit world that would take the time to listen. 
His hope was that even
just one
intercessor
would have enough mercy
on him and
take even just one of his supplications to the only One that could save him.

Behind
him,
a figure stood
quietly unseen
in the corner of the chapel.  His glowing white robe flowed as if moved by a wind not felt.  As always, his massive hands clasped in front of him out of respect of the person praying.  Listening to the prayers sent
forth,
he
could
actually feel the anguish emanating from the kneeling figure.  He felt such a deep compassion for
the vampire
.
  Sebastian felt his teacher enter the space next to him.
  After nodding his head in greeting, he turned his gaze back to the vampire.

“You are here again
,
Sebastian.”

“Yes
,
Elder.”

The Elder looked with empathy at his protégé.

“Why do you keep coming to him as he prays?”

“I come because that is my job.”

“No!  Your job is to address the living and their supplications.  He is dead already.  His fate is sealed.”

“Be that as it may, he is not disingenuous in his supplications
but
quite sincere.  More sincere, I might add, than most that I listen to daily.  Very few so devout that they continue this ritual several hours a day faithfully for over a hundred and fifty years.”

“Ah
,
Sebastian
- t
hat is the
crux of the
problem
is it not?  It has been over a century
,
and he still breathes – he
is
undead.”

“His faith is to be admired.  I will continue to watch and listen as he is not like the others of his kind.”

The Elder looked curiously at his protégé.  “Please explain.”

“There has been a shift.  The holy water
no longer
burn
s
his skin
,
as it should.  That
grace
can only come from our Father.”

The Elder turned his gaze to fall on the kneeling
vampire
.  “Interesting.  Very well
,
I will allow you to continue for now, but at some point you will have to accept the fact that not all of them can be saved.”

Sebastian
looked
at the vampire, who was no
w
sobbing with his head in his hands, overcome in his
grief
because of his
plight
.  He felt the Elder was wrong with this one.  This one should be saved
,
and he was going to make sure that he would do whatever he could to make that happen.

Shadow
,
standing
guard
outside of the chapel
,
w
ait
ed
patiently on the stone step knowing that soon his
master
would exit the building.  As if sensing that the time was near, he stood, eyes trained on the door.  Dragan walked out feeling no release from his mediations
.
  Looking to
Shadow,
he snapped his fingers.  “Come. 
Let’s
go find this new friend of yours and see what she is all about.”

“Like this
,
Jack?”

“That’s exactly right
,
Miss Amira!  Are you sure you haven’t done this before?”  Amira glowed at
his
praise.
  She had spent the morning helping divide and move some of the perennials around the yard with the grou
nd
skeeper
,
and she loved it.  Her eyes were bright and shining as she looked up at him.  Jack knew he was smitten with the new tenant, she embraced everything she did with such a passion and energy that he envied.  He could not help it and grinned down at her.  Out of the corner of her
eye,
she caught a movement to the left of the garden.  Pushing the trowel deep in the ground
,
she pretended not to notice.  “Hey Jack?”

“Yes
,
Miss?”

“Do you know the wolf
,
Shadow?”

She heard the fear in Jack’s voice.
“Yes ma’am, but you would want to stay away from
him
.  He is wild.” 

Smiling
,
Amira looked back down at the ground.  “I am going to get a drink, do you want one?”

“Ah, sure
, that would be great
.”

Amira walked to the house
while
brushing
the dirt off her pants.  She caught another
glimpse
of
white fur as Shadow
, now crouching low on the ground
,
eas
ed
toward her
,
waiting for the right time to pounce.

Dragan watch
ed
from the trees at the game Shadow was playing with the woman.  This was not the wolf he knew
,
and he was not sure the game was a good idea. 
He was afraid that she would be
frightened
.  As S
h
adow was getting ready to make his move,
Amira
picked up her pace and was
quickly
at the front door and inside
before the wolf could make it to her
.  Sitting on his haunches, he cocked his head to the side, whining, waiting
for
her to open the door and come back out. 
Incredulous
,
Dragan
caught
movement from the side of the house
.
  “I’ll be damned.”

Amira had snuck out of the back door and
was easing
around the side of the house.  Within seconds, she had the wolf pinned again
;
her laughter rang out
.

“Are you kidding me?  What kind of stealth attack was that?”  Letting him go, she knelt down while he licked her face.  Jack Connor ran up to them with
a
rake in hand.  Shadow turned quickly and in the blink of an eye had Jack on the ground, his teeth around
the man
’
s
neck.

“Release!”

Immediately the wolf released h
im
,
and Amira watched as Shadow jogged over to his master.

Running to Jack, she eased him up to a sitting position.  His face was
now a
bright red.

“Are you ok?”

Nodding while wipin
g his bald-head
of the sweat that seemed to be pouring out of him in buckets
with his handkerchief
.
Amira
jumped to her feet
flipping her dark hair over her shoulder
and
stood glaring
at Dragan.

“Really?  You could have given the poor man a heart
attack
.
”

Dragan looked down at her surprised.  “I wasn’t the one that ran at a wolf with a rake in my
h
and.”

“True, but you didn’t do
anything
to stop it.”

“Oh good grief.
If Shadow wanted him dead, he would be dead right now.  That was
just
a
gentle
warning.
”  Walking over
to
the man still sitting on the ground
,
Dragan extended his hand.  Jack accepted the help
,
admiring the strength of his boss as he was easily hauled to his feet.

“Thank you
,
Dr. Reynolds.”

“You are welcome
,
Mr.
Connor
.  Why don’t you go back to the house and take the rest of the day off.”

“Oh, sir.  That is not necessary.  I am fine.”   Looking warily at Shadow, he moved further away from the wolf.

“I insist.  In fact, why don’t you take tomorrow off
also?
  Go visit your sister.  You haven’t seen her in awhile
,
and I am sure she would be happy to see you.”

“Thank you
,
Dr. Reynolds.  I will do that.”

“
C
atch you later
,
Miss Amira.  Thank you for your help.
”

Amira
looked
from Dragan to the
groundskeeper
not sure what was happening
,
but it was obvious that the man
had been
dismissed.  Walking over to Jack, she kissed him on the top of his head.

“Thank you
,
Jack!  We have to do that again soon.  I love learning about all of the plants.  You are so patient with me.”

Jack beamed from the kiss, patting the top of his head as he walked off.