FAINE'S POV
I had given Lottie a sedative to help calm her but in fact all it had succeeded in doing was helping her jaw to relax. She was catatonic. She’d had that same look when she’d lost Ruby. I understood that feeling when I lost Sean and Mary’s son Seamus, I felt as if someone had ripped out my heart and stomped on all the pieces till my heart was no more. I knew that I could never have children from my body, but seeing Lottie with Vera and Jordan with Sophia made me wish madly I could have a child too. I was afraid to broach the subject to Alec as I wasn’t sure if he would ever want a child. I know that Edward and Bella had Nessie, but she was a miracle.
Alec and Bastien had gone off searching for Vera who has apparently been kidnapped. Poor little scrap must be terrified. Her dream coming true in such a horrible way. She had seemed fearful for a while of a dark haired girl who was going to bite her. We all assumed it was Opal. Who’d have thought it would be this unknown kid. I looked out the window and was spooked at the sudden appearance of Mary coming through Lottie’s front door. Mary, who had been dead about 10 years at this stage. She smiled at me and beckoned me to follow her. I stood and saw that she was floating upstairs. We went to a room at the top of the stairs that had taken on the appearance of our spare room back in Paddy’s cottage. In the room were two single beds with two little blonde haired boys tucked up fast asleep in them. I turned to look at her and she made the look of a pregnant tummy and then pointed to me. I blinked and when I looked again she was gone. On the now empty bed which was now in Lottie’s house was a piece of paper. I picked it up and it was a photo of me holding hands with two little blonde boys. All of us smiling happily looking up at Alec who was jumping down from a tree nearby. I dropped to the bed shocked….i looked around me in case Mary was going to reappear somewhere else but she was gone. I heard a far off cry and new it was Lottie so I shoved the photo into my pocket and went down to her. Lacey I noticed had gone away and Lottie was sitting on the couch with her legs open, head in hands, moaning and rocking herself slightly. I felt the sudden rush of her feelings; hopelessness and finality fill my body. I dropped to the ground in front of her and grabbed her face gently in my hands.
“Lottie, she’s not dead.” I said firmly. She looked up at me with heavy eyes as if filled with tears.
“Ya, she is, he takes all my babies.” She said.
“Lottie look at me. Did you give chase? Did you follow Vera’s scent? Did you even try or did you just assume she was gone and just gave up?” she continued looking at me and then burst into tears, sobbing bursting out of her chest. I held her in my arms and rubbed her back soothingly. I could see her thoughts were of her burying a casket. An empty one, standing there looking like death as we lowered the little casket into the ground.
“Lottie, she’s not dead!” I said again even more firmly. “I feel it.!” My phone buzzed in my pocket, I pulled it out and it was Alec.
“Yes love any luck?” I asked hopefully.
“No, not yet, but we have found Nate and Ortho. They are now vampires, changed by a little girl who apparently is Ortho’s sister. There is no smell of Vera from her but something isn’t right. She seems guilty. Not sure yet of what. They are on their way home to the main house. Just wanted to let you know.”
“Ok thanks lovey I’ll let Lottie know!”
“Oh has she come round?”
“Ya, but she’s burying Vera in her mind!” I said knowing that would elicit a response from her. She looked at me glaring and was getting ready to pounce on me when she stopped mid step.
“Listen to that” she said, landing just in front of me.
“Can you hear it?” She said to me in her head again. I stopped, listening carefully. We could hear muffled childish voices coming from close by. She stared at me and bolted out of the house and I followed her headlong into the forest, ears cocked to hear the sounds again.
