Redemption (Book 6)

11

Henri DeKalb, 1658-1721 and Charlotte DeKalb, 1660-1729 were carved into the gravestones.

"Why are we here to see these?" I asked.

Louis smirked and dug into the ground next to Charlotte's gravestone. He pulled a golden locket out of the ground and it twirled in the moonlight, glinting light on the names on the tombstones. That is when I saw the people walking toward us, a man and a woman dressed in clothing from about three hundred years ago. The man had light brown hair and eyes and the woman had dark skin, black hair curled into an up-do, with bright dark eyes.

"It's been a while," Louis said to the two of them.

"Has it?" Charlotte asked. "We don't have the same concept of time as you, Louis. Not anymore. But Isaiah! I knew you'd come back someday."

"You know I came back just for you, Charlotte," he winked at her.

"Careful there Isaiah," Heri warned with a smile. "That's my wife."

"What can we do for you, Isaiah?" asked Charlotte. "As much as we love to see you, you never come just to pay a social call."

He glanced over at me, then back to them. "It's Claudia."

She blinked and turned to look at me, narrowing her eyes. "You're a vampire, aren't you darling?"

The woman didn't give me a moment to respond and just continued.

"You don't have any emotions," she said. "That's what this is about?"

"Yes," Isaiah said. "Can you get her to turn them back on?"

Charlotte laughed aloud and put her hand on Isaiah's shoulder. "Oh Isaiah, you always thought so highly of my ability. Too highly."

"I trust you, Charlotte," he replied.

"Well, keep trusting me but that doesn't mean I can do anything to make someone do something. "I'm under the constraints of nature."

Isaiah chewed his lip. "Fine. Thanks for your help, Charlotte. Both of you."

Henri laughed. "I haven't done anything. This is her area of expertise; I'm just along for the ride."

She smiled. "Listen, Isaiah, you have to give her a reason to flip the switch back on. She's not going to do it unless she's the one who wants to."

"Excuse me," I said. "I'm right here. You could speak to me."

Charlotte gave me a look. "Honey, you don't know what is going on in your own life. You turned off your emotions because your life was too hard. I'm not judging you, but Isaiah loves you and that means you have the strength to deal with anything the world throws at you. And now, you're a heartless, emotionless vampire who doesn't care about anyone. If you don't fix it soon, no one is going to care about you. You're lucky you have anyone who is still worried enough about you to try and get your emotions back on."

I was taken aback by the violence of her words.

"Now," Charlotte turned to Louis. "How is your family doing?"

"Well, thank you," said Louis with a smile. "Isabelle is in one of her ups."

"Still ruling New Orleans?" asked Henri.

Louis smirked that signature look. "Oh yes, we rule this place. You two would love it. Why don't you conjure something up to stick it out here for a while, Charlotte? I'm sure you could do it."

She shook her head. "Oh no! What we're doing here is almost too unnatural for me already. Bringing us back would simply be too much."

"Well, I gave it a try," he shrugged.

And I was desperately bored. They weren't going to get me to turn my emotions back on so the excitement was over. I looked around me and walked back down the path from which we came. A moment later, Isaiah was beside me.

"You're rude and heartless," he said as he fell into step beside me.

"Did you expect anything less?" I raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"No, but I hoped," Isaiah shrugged.

"I'm bored," I told him. "There's nothing to do in this place anymore."

He laughed. "You're bored with New Orleans after less than three nights?"

I shrugged and ran my hands through my hair. "I guess so. Isn't there some place with new things to do we can go?"

"I don't even know how to handle you," he shook his head.

"Then don't handle me," I said. "Let me go."

Isaiah snorted. "Yeah, right. You know, it's just a couple days from when you're supposed to start school. We could go back home."

My mind quickly went through the possibilities of going back. There were people there who were interesting, people who could be a good time. Somehow, in that little town, there was always drama and trouble that could be more interesting than New Orleans. I turned to Isaiah and smiled.

"Okay," I nodded. "That sounds good to me."

"Seriously?" he didn't look like he believed me at all.

I giggled a little and stopped. "Let's go home. I like that idea best. We'll say goodbye to your little friends here, and make it back home by tomorrow night."

He just shook his head. "Whatever you say, Claudia."

"If it's whatever I say..." I looked up at him. "Does that mean we go get a snack before we go? Maybe one that is expendable."

"No," he said without missing a beat. "You aren't a precocious, spoiled little child, Claudia, so stop acting like it."

"Of course I am," I told him. "You described me perfectly."

"Then you should stop being that way," he said as we walked up to the mausoleum.

"There's not much chance of that," I smiled at him.