The Gatekeeper -- Chapter Three

Chapter 3



My grandfather.  Chester Brightman had died in 1974, years before I had even been born.  I knew almost nothing about him.  My father had never revealed much about the man other than he had been a fairly hard taskmaster back when the Inn was just a working farm and he had had a drinking problem.  After reading the first two entries of his journal, it wasn’t hard to imagine that he had had some major issues.

Alex pulled a T-shirt from the bottom of the bed and tugged it on over his bare torso, yawning in the process like I’d bored him with all this drama.  He left the journal open on the table by his bed and settled back against his pillow.

“He wasn’t crazy.  It’s all true.”  He said.

I searched his face for some sign of a joke.  A crinkle of his beautiful eyes, a twist of his lips.  But there was nothing but resignation registering on his face.  He sighed and regarded me with an expression that seemed almost apologetic.

“Selena was counting on you reacting like this.”  He reached back over to the table and picked up a cell phone.  I hadn’t known he even owned a cell phone, so this was a surprise as well.  He scrolled through it, pulled up a number and handed me the phone.

“She wanted to talk to you once you learned the truth.”

I stared at the phone, uncomprehendingly.  Now my mother wanted to talk?  She didn’t bother to call after my father’s death to offer any consolation but now she wanted to talk.  Oh hell no.  I huffed and grabbed the journal from the table, sticking it back inside my jacket.

“Tell her to kiss my ass.”  I grumbled, turning away and heading towards the door.

Before I even had my hand on the knob, I felt his presence very close behind me, warming the skin on the back of my neck and sending odd little shivers down my spine.  I didn’t turn around.

His breath ticked the hairs at the nape of my neck, “I can understand your anger.  She should have come forward a long time ago, but she didn’t think you would understand it, Sarah.”

Shaking off the disconcerting effect he had on me, I opened the door and left, leaving the door open behind me.  I started walking, not looking back, but knowing that he would be still standing there in the open doorway, watching.

It didn’t matter.  I just wanted to escape.  I felt like the world I’d grown up in was suddenly falling down around me like some ancient relic, bursting into gray ash and tiny pebbles.  I walked without thinking where I was going.  My feet moved forward as my brain buzzed with questions and accusations against the woman who had abandoned me.

My grandfather had been mistaken, obviously.  Vampires were a myth from the dark ages that Hollywood had decided to use to make money off of.  I’d read some of the books, of course.  I wasn’t immune to the idea of it.  But that’s all it was--an idea.  They were just stories written to scare people who were into that kind of thing.  Or they were cleverly written teen romances involving vampires as well as werewolves.  Those were the kind I preferred.  But I knew better than to imagine any of it was real.  I was too old to believe in fairy tales.

Looking around me suddenly, I realized that I’d walked farther than I had intended.  Although most of the landscape surrounding me was blanketed in darkness, I could make out the sound of a stream gurgling and three huge white shapes in the field before me.

I was in the meadow.  Panic pushed through me in waves and my heart began beating savagely inside my chest.  No.  Not here.  I turned blindly to make my way back towards the main house.  That’s when I heard the voice.

“Ah, Sarah.”

The voice echoed around me, unfamiliar and oddly seductive.  The voice of a man.  It was endlessly alluring, smooth and sent little hot shocks up my spine.  But I could feel the dangerous undertones, the hint of deception as my brain tried to process the way my body was reacting.

“Who’s there?”  I called cautiously, glancing around.  Fear congealed in my gut, rendering my legs and arms powerless.  Whoever was calling me seemed to know me on a deeper level than I thought possible.  It terrified me.  There was a complete and deadening silence in the surrounding trees.  A nothingness that brought the fear to a heart-stopping crescendo.

I waited and my gaze found the boulders in the dim moonlight.  I was reminded of the last vision I’d had when I’d touched Alex.  The woman in the meadow, waiting expectantly.  But there had been no fear in her such as I felt now.  Only anticipation.  What had she been waiting for?  Who?  Why hadn’t she been afraid?

It was then that I saw a figure step out from behind one of the boulders.  His movements were fluid and graceful as a jungle cat.  He paused for a moment and then leaned back against one of the boulders, crossing his arms.  I couldn’t make out his features in the darkness, only the carefree stance and powerful build.  Even without the validation of physically seeing his eyes, I felt them on me just as I felt the ground beneath my feet and the ragged breaths coming in and out of my chest.

Then he spoke.

“At last.”  There was a breath of a sigh and I thought I saw his lips curve upward in an ironic smile, “My dearest Sarah.”  Again, that same melodic voice captured my attention completely.

I found the power in my limbs suddenly and moved towards him, nearly desperate to see his face, “Who are you?”

“I’m sorry.  I should have introduced myself.”  He chuckled darkly, “I am Michael.”

“Oh…”  If he was Michael, then that meant he was the one who’d been sent against his will for bad behavior, but acknowledging that fact meant that I might have to admit that the whole idea of vampires could be real.  I shook myself mentally, still trying to deny the truth that was, quite literally, staring me in the face.

I straightened and raised my chin an inch before I replied.

“Why are you here?”  I asked coldly, my chilling tone giving me courage in the face of this unbelievable scenario.  I tried to steady my breath, drawing in slow, deep gulps of the cool night air.

He moved.  It was a flash in the moonlight, a blur of motion like I’d never witnessed before.  No human had the capacity to move like that.  When I found myself face-to-face with him there in the meadow, I knew without a doubt that the journal was authentic.  I knew that my grandfather hadn’t been crazy at all.  Because a foot away from me stood a vampire.

My denial had reached its end.

Closer now, I could see the details that I’d missed before.  His body seemed to be a solid mass of muscle, garbed in black jeans and a black V-neck T-shirt that emphasized the size of his biceps.  The human-looking frame and face might have brought my disbelief back in a tidal wave if it weren’t for the eyes.  The contrast between his dark slanting eyebrows and the ice blue gaze that slid over me appreciatively was inhuman.  The sardonic half smirk of his hard-looking mouth revealed that the nature of the creature before me was far from friendly.

“Why am I here?”  He tilted his head slightly and raised a hand to rub his chin, “Hmm.  Let me think.”  Snapping his fingers suddenly, he brightened up and stated sarcastically, “Oh yes!  Now I remember.  I’ve been imprisoned here.”  I watched him move casually away, his dark boots treading quietly in the nighttime stillness, “Either you’re not the brightest bulb in the room or you haven’t read the journal yet.  Which is it?”

I’ve had to deal with smartass guys in my past, but considering his position in the world and my ineptitude when it came to vampires, I was a little shocked.  I waded through my confusion as quickly as I could and recalled my grandfather’s words about how the Gatekeeper couldn’t be harmed.  It was a leap of faith to assume that statement applied to me as well, but I wasn’t about to let him get the upper hand.

“My question had more to do with why you were locked up here in the first place.  But honestly, it doesn’t matter much to me.  I’m sure the Council had their reasons.”  I met his stare calmly when he turned back towards me.

“Their reasons.” He spat out, “Yes, they certainly did have their reasons.”  His eyes narrowed suddenly in surprise and he lifted his face, sniffing at the air.  The entire posture of his body changed.  I watched as his lazy arrogant stance was transformed into a cautionary half-crouch, his startling eyes bright against the pale surface of his elegant face.

“Sarah.”  A firm male voice came at me from behind and I turned my head to see Alex standing in the field in his pajama pants and t-shirt, his eyes dark and brooding.

His eyes skipped over to Michael and then back to me urgently, “It’s better if you don’t talk to him.”

“Do my eyes deceive me?”  Michael’s voice was like a blade slicing through the night and then he laughed without humor, “What a wonderful coincidence.  I was just about to explain to my new warden the extent of my crimes.  It will be helpful to have a witness who was there to back me up, Alex.”

Alex remained silent and didn’t move forward.  I turned back to Michael, realization flashing across my mind like a bitter wind, “You know each other?”

“Indeed, my dear.”  Michael had relaxed visibly, crossing his arms and falling back into a care-free demeanor that did not seem to flow all the way up to his eyes, still harshly narrowed as he looked on Alex with clear suspicion.

“Of course,” He added flippantly, “When I last saw him, he looked somewhat different.  You’ve added some years on, haven’t you Alex?”

“This isn’t the time to get into it, Michael.”

“She doesn’t know, does she?  Well, now this is interesting.”  He moved closer to me, close enough that I could see the tiny black flecks in the chilly blue of his eyes and feel the waves of dark hate flowing from him as he regarded Alex, “Are you here to protect her then, pretty boy?  Are you going to save her from me?”

Oh God.  His voice.  Even though my brain screamed out against it, I could feel a beguiling warmth curling through me.  I struggled to push it back and ignore what my body was telling me it wanted.  I’d never felt a need as great as this.  It felt like my very soul was crying out for it.  For him.  I wanted his arms locked around me, his mouth on me, that delicious voice whispering into my ear.  It felt like an inferno was beginning inside me, little flames reaching up inside me and burning my throat.  What was this?

Vampire.  He’s a vampire, Sarah.  He’s not human, I told myself.  It took a staggering effort for me to do it, but I managed to make my feet step away, back towards Alex.  Safe but empty somehow.  The fire inside me died down a little, dampened by the cold protection of Alex standing beside me.

“Let’s go, Sarah.”

I turned back only once as Alex guided me away.  I caught Michael’s gaze with my own, trying to find something redeemable in him.  Anything at all.  As I sent my silly wish out to the universe, Michael’s eyes widened slightly.  Something softened him momentarily.  I felt a sigh escape me as he turned and disappeared.



Rays of bright penetrating light had swept across my down comforter and into my face.  Rubbing my eyes in confusion, I turned to the alarm clock and shot up in bed.  It was 8 a.m.  I should have been up hours before, helping Nelly get breakfast for the Millers, the big group of ten who had rented the family cabin.

I shrugged into a clean turtleneck sweater and the same worn pair of jeans I’d worn before and rushed down to the kitchen, already hearing the laughter and bickering of children coming from the dining room.  When I entered the kitchen, I found Nelly frying a pan of eggs and Alex dumping biscuits into a basket lined with a linen towel.  The sausage was already cooked and still steaming on a serving plate on the butcher block.

“Why didn’t you guys wake me up?”  I demanded, grabbing the egg mixture from the refrigerator to start the French toast.  I slammed the door shut and turned to find them both staring at me, perplexed.  Then Alex flashed one of his heart-breaking grins and put the biscuit pan on the counter next to the sink.

“Chill out, boss lady.  We figured you could use a morning sleeping in.  Besides, we had it covered.”

I glared at him half-heartedly, “This isn’t your job, Alex.”

He laughed brightly, “I go where I’m needed.  We also had some extra help.”

“The kids want some hot chocolate, Nelly.”  My sister, Katie strode into the kitchen with a pot of coffee in her hand and a towel over one arm.

“Katie?”  My heart fluttered when I saw her familiar smile across the kitchen.  She put down the coffee pot and came over to wrap her arms around me.

“Hey, sis.”  Her eyes, as warm and brown as our father’s had been, studied my face intently.  She hadn’t changed much from her last visit a few months ago.  Her super curly black hair fell across her shoulders just like it always had.  It had taken most of her life to accept the fact that her curls were beautiful and not a burden.

But it was Katie’s warmth and understanding that had always stood out.  Her ability to reach into me and pull out the thoughts that I’d wanted to remain hidden.  She had a way of reasoning with me, comforting me and urging me towards something more positive than my dark mind tended to dwell on.

Knowing her abilities to get inside my head had never been more frightening to me.  Protecting her was foremost in my muddled mind.  I couldn’t imagine telling her about the contents of our grandfather’s journal, much less about our guest in the meadow.  But she would insist on it.

She smiled at me winningly, “I think we can trust these two to finish things up here so you and I can catch up on our girl talk.  What do you think, Alex?”  She flashed him a look of inquiry.

“Leave it to Nelly and me.”  He agreed, grabbing a stack of plates from the china cabinet, “Of course, if we don’t get this food to the Millers in the next few seconds, I’m going to end up stuffing it into my own mouth.  It all looks delicious.”

Nelly smacked his hand when he reached for a piece of sausage and waved us out, “We’ve got it, girls.  You two grab some coffee and go catch up.”



“Tell me.”  She said.

We had settled ourselves into a long wicker sofa on the back porch, holding our coffee mugs and sipping slowly.  She had sat cross-legged on the floral cushions; her shoes had been dropped quickly under the coffee table before us.  In comparison, I felt stiff and reluctant to begin.  Katie had always been so much more comfortable in her own body than I was.  It was petty for me to feel jealous when things were so screwed up, but I shot her an irritated glance anyway.

“Which part?”  I grumbled, wrapping my cold hands more firmly around the hot mug.

She rolled her eyes, “The first part, dork.  Dr. Fleming’s visit?”

“Oh.”  That heavy feeling of depression sank back into me, “He had some news.”

“News about what?”

I took a shaky breath and looked at her, “It’s bad, Katie-bug.”

When I began to explain, I tried not to notice how her expression faltered.  I hated watching the light in her eyes go dull and dark.  Then angry.

“That selfish, pathetic bitch.” She hissed.  She slammed a hand down on the coffee table but I wasn’t able to grab my coffee before some it has sloshed onto the glass top.

“What kind of mother does that?”  She rose from her seat and began pacing across the porch, seething with the news that she did actually have a mother, but that mother had chosen to leave her children.

“I don’t know the reason, Katie.  But we have some information to go on.  If you want to.”

She stopped and stared at me for a moment, as if seeing me for the first time.  There was desperation in that familiar face.  There was anger and hurt and questions begging to be asked.  But for the first time in her life, Katie used one of my own tactics against emotional trauma.  She quite suddenly cut herself out of it.

Facing the screened window, she took several long deep breaths and then her shoulders slumped.

“Doesn’t matter, does it?”  She whispered.

“It might.  Alex said she had good reasons for leaving…”  I started.

“Alex?  What the fuck does he have to do with this?”  Then she threw her hands up to prevent my answer, bent down to grab her shoes and turned away, “Forget it.  I don’t want to know.  I wish you had never brought this shit up, Sarah.”

But I needed her.  She knew me.  She understood.  What was she doing?

She disappeared into the house and I heard her quick steps tapping up the stairs towards her room.

Nelly came out with a puzzled look on her face, “What was that all about?”

I leaned over, buried my face in my hands and mumbled, “I told her about Mom still being alive.”

The cushion next to me sank as Nelly settled herself beside me, her familiar girth comforting me as I cursed myself for what I’d revealed.  She wrapped one heavy arm around me and pulled me close, “Oh, sweetie.  I’m sorry.”

I lifted my head and met her sad eyes, “Why didn’t anyone tell me?  Why didn’t you?”

She sighed, “You don’t know how many times I was tempted to do just that, honey.”  The lines on her weathered face seemed deeper this morning and it occurred to me that this burden had been weighing her down for years.  I tried to imagine being the caretaker of two small girls who had suddenly lost their mother.  I’d never considered what it might have cost her.  Or why she stayed to take care of everything.

“When Selena and your Dad started having problems, I tried to mind my own business.”  She laced her fingers together on her lap and stared down at them.  They were the hands of a working woman.  Sometimes they would get so dry in the winter, her knuckles would crack and bleed.  They were the same hands that wiped away tears, developed calluses by pushing brooms, pounded flour into dough for dinner rolls.  She regarded them sadly as she spoke, “She started going into town more often.  She started drinking.  I guess your Dad was hoping it was a phase she was going through.  She paid less attention to things around here.  Every day, another new job was given to me to be responsible for.”

“What changed?”

She shook her head slowly, “Oh, honey.  Your Mom hated living out here.  She didn’t want the responsibility of it.  She did love your Dad, but it just wasn’t enough.”

Her simple statement struck me like a lightning bolt.  It wasn’t enough?  What about us?  Her own children?  I felt the now-familiar hot and heavy tears begin to fill my eyes and Nelly pulled me against her with both arms, “I know it’s hurtful.  It seems impossible to you, honey.  But some people just don’t bond with their children the way they should.  It has nothing to do with you personally.”

Katie suddenly flew through the door, a coat draped around her and barked out, “I’m going for a walk.”  Then Alex strode after her, grim purpose darkening his eyes.  He glanced at me quickly as he followed Katie out.  He would try to talk to her, I was sure.  More importantly, he would keep her away from the meadow.  The idea of my sweet sister coming into contact with Michael made me feel physically ill.

They returned an hour later.  I had been helping Nelly clean up the breakfast dishes and we both paused when Alex came through the door.  His expression was grim.  I put away the bowl I’d been drying and gave him a questioning look.

“Katie’s decided to head back to school early.  She’s packing.”

Nelly went to him and laid a hand on his arm, “How’s she doing?  Any better?”

He shook his head slightly, “She’s confused and angry.  But with some time, I think she’ll be fine.”

“I wish she’d stay.”  I said.

Then I heard her coming down the stairs and I went to meet her in the entry.  She had her bright blue backpack hanging over one shoulder.  Her eyes were red rimmed and bright with tears she’d held back.  There was also an edge to her expression; anger so bright and fiery that I felt the need to take a step back.

“I’ll call you when I get back to the dorm.”

“Katie, please stay and talk to me about this.”

Her head shook in denial, “No.  I need some time.”

She pushed past me and left through the front door without a hug or even a sisterly farewell.  I watched her wrench open the passenger side door of her Jeep, slam the door and march to the driver’s side.  I stayed there at the front door, watching as she drove down towards the road.

Maybe I could have done something more.  I should have forced her to talk to me; to work this thing out and decide together where to go from here.  But how much could I tell her?  She hadn’t asked to see the journal and I thought that she had forgotten about it.

The afternoon was waning when I went in search of Alex.  The golden light of the setting sun dusted everything with warmth.  The tops of the trees, the white trim of the windows on the outside of the house, the roof of the barn across the lane from Alex’s cabin.

I found him in the main aisle of the barn, running a curry comb through the mud on Messenger’s hindquarters.  Settling myself on a tack trunk near Messenger’s stall, I gritted my teeth and leaned with my elbows on my knees, staring at the concrete floor.

“You need to tell me everything, Alex.”

Messenger swished her tail once and shifted her weight, giving a satisfied sigh as Alex continued to rid her of the dirt caked into her dark coat.  He was quiet for a long time and I wondered if he would say anything.

Just when I was ready to give up and leave, he began to speak in a low tone.

“I grew up in Chicago.  We moved to San Francisco four days after I turned seventeen.”  The curry comb continued moving in smooth strokes down the mare’s flanks and over her back, “I was angry with my parents for making me leave my friends, my school.  Everything.”

He put the curry comb back in the grooming bucket and turned to me, “I rebelled.  I stayed out past curfew.  Got into trouble with the law.  Then I met her.”

I studied him curiously and waited.

“She was beautiful.  Hell, more than beautiful.”  He flashed a hint of a smile, “She was older, obviously experienced.  She had me wrapped around her little finger in a matter of days.  Sex wasn’t something entirely new to me, but she made it something… Magical.”

His full lips pursed as he picked up a body brush and began to groom the horse again.

“She wasn’t exactly what I thought she was.”

“What do you mean?”

His eyes met mine and the sardonic gleam there made me catch my breath.

“She was a vampire.”

“Oh…”  I cupped my hands around my mouth in surprise.

“Her name was Selena.”