22. Family Secret

"Constance I want to tell you a story" he said over his oatmeal as we had breakfast together.
"A story?" I asked, my father was not a man who told many stories over the years.
"Well...it's a bit more than just a story" he said mysteriously. And before I could respond he began.

In 1567 a Hungarian servant girl slept on a makeshift bed of damp straw. Her mistress was a highly respected and popular Countess. The servant girl waited on the Countess day and night. On this particular night the servant girl and her mistress were not alone. A fire, the only source of heat and light in the room, created moving shadows on the stone walls. Moving among these shadows was a dark figure....

The figure moved closer and closer to the sleeping servant girl.
The servant girl felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned, expecting to see her mistress needing help with her chamber pot.

But when she turned her eyes met the cold stare of a stranger.

The servant girl opened her mouth to scream but as hard as she might no sound escaped her lips. The stranger took her face in his hands. She noticed that his hands were not just cold but icy. The strangers stare transfixed her. She felt her body go limp and was not able to defend herself as the stranger sunk long fangs into her small warm neck. She had heard stories of "bloodsuckers" and expected her life to drain away. But, instead she felt an icy chill run into her neck and down each arm. The sensation ran down past her stomach and through her legs until she could feel the last bit of warmth leave her toes.

The servant girl had been infected....infected by an ancient curse. A curse that would haunt her for the next 400 years. The servant girls name was Audra.....Audra Youngblood.

My head began to spin and I was sure that I would soon throw-up or pass-out. I didn't know why but I instantly knew deep in my heart that the story my father had just told was true. I also knew that the curse he spoke of was now my curse.

My father continued to speak but the words sounded miles away...

"My mother, your grandmother, was not a monster or a demon. She was an innocent girl who was cursed to live for eternity, she fled persecution by moving around the world before anyone could notice that she was different. Her last stop was Riverview. It was here that she met my father and fell in love."

"It was my birth that finally freed her from the curse. Unfortunately this meant passing it along to me. But, with her guidance I learned to control the dark forces within my soul and live a normal life...until...the death of your mother. I don't think her death was an accident. I think it's the curse. It's tired of being kept quiet, it wants out, it wants to create havoc on the world again."

"Constance, I am telling you this because you must control the darkness within you or "IT" will control you. I am sorry but this is your legacy."

That evening, in my room, I pondered the information I was given. Meanwhile, in another room, my father was greeted by death.

He had passed on the Youngblood legacy just in time. He had warned me of the darkness within. Now, would I be strong enough to heed his warning??

21. Keep your hands off my dad

How am I supposed to make in the rock-n-roll world with this look?

How do you like the new do?
Different huh? Well that's exactly why I like it.

I was going for something edgy.
A cross between two of my favorite female rockers.
My dad seemed a little upset about it because he always went on and on about how much I looked like my mother, especially the blond hair.
Finally the comparisons to my mother can end.

And I rocked my new look at my 18th birthday party.
My dad went all out as usual and some of the hottest guys from school showed up so I was eager to show off my guitar skills and shake my booty a little.

So everything was going great....mainly because I was the focus of attention and....well honestly I LOVE attention. But....

Someone else at the party was getting some attention too...and I didn't LOVE that!
Especially when that person is my dad.

It seems he invited his OLD friend Kenya Caspian to MY party and she had her paws all over him. It really was quite a spectacle.
As I watched the two of them together my mind began to wander......

I envisioned her stealing my fathers' heart.
She would rip apart the memories he had for my mother, take the money he had worked so hard for, and......

UGH!!! I didn't even want to imagine what she would entice him do when she got him alone in the dark. OH NO! That's not happening, not if I have anything to say about it...and oh did I.

As the party crowd dwindled and my father had stepped out of the room I made my move.

"So, Kenya, looks like your having a lot of fun" I said rather sarcastically.
"Yes Christin" she smiled "I'm having a great time and I've really enjoyed your music, you really have talent."
"Thanks, I do have a special talent, and it seems you do too."
"Whatever do you mean?" She asked quizzically.
"Oh the talent you have of throwing yourself all over rich widowed men" I snarled.
"What?!" she actually seemed genuinely shocked.
"I know what you're up to and I just want to be honest with you. If you know what's good for you you'll get your gold-digging self out of my house and never look back!"

I didn't even recognize where the hostility and vile hatred was coming from. All I know was that there was a powerful energy running through my body and I was taking it out on this woman.
When my dad came back into the room Kenya was pale and shaking. She sobbed to my father that she wasn't feeling well and needed to go. Before he could even offer her a ride home she ran from the house.

Kenya Caspian didn't return my father's phone calls that evening and the next morning there was a note on his car window:

My Dearest Bishop:

I know this is sudden but I've gone to Sunset Valley to spend time with my children. I will always cherish the special friendship we shared. Good-bye.

Yours Truly, Kenya

P.S. This may sound troubling but I sense a dark shadow in your home be cautious and take care of yourself.

Good thing I got to the note first. Nice try Kenya. My dad will forget about you soon enough.

20. Meet Constance

"Hi, my name is Constance Youngblood. Nice name huh, there isn't a normal name in the whole Youngblood clan...well...except my mothers'. Her name was Christin and she died when I was an infant. So I never knew her, but everyone says I look a lot like her."

"These two guys celebrating my transition to the teen years are the main men in my life. The one on the left is my dad, he's pretty cool but there were a few years that he missed my mom so much that he was barely able to get out of bed each day. The guy on the right is my big brother. He is a writer and an artist, he likes to spend most of his time alone in his room but he's always been there for me."

"Over the years I've become a bit of a wild child. My dad says that my aunt Beryl was wild too and it caused a lot of grief in the family. But then she settled down, got married, had kids (I'm not sure in that particular order). They think I'm wild but I have a plan...I want to be a star!"

Everyday after school I went to my cousins house. He's a bit of a nerd but I trust him with all my secrets.

"Hey Cyd I have an idea." I said one day while studying.
"Focus Constance" he said in his typical serious tone.

"Sorry Con" he apologized "I just need to focus on this weeks tests,
I've got a low A in biology and if I don't do well it will drop to a B."
"Fine..we'll focus on studying" I said but my mind wandered. One thing it wandered to was dreamy Chuck Roberts. He was a senior, tall, handsome, and...completely taken by Bethany Whitehouse.

I just imagine how wonderful
a study session with Chuck would be.

But....no....here I was in my cousins kitchen.
All I could think was that someday Chuck Roberts would be "begging" me to go out with him. When I'm a star I'll have to beat off the boys with a club.

"Ok Con were done studying what's the plan?" he said in an unenthusiastic manner. "There's something I wanna buy with my birthday money" I replied "Will you go with me?" "Do I have a choice?" he smiled "NO...come on" and I grabbed him by the jacket and we raced into town.

When we arrived at the store I knew exactly what I wanted. I have big dreams. Dreams that can only come true with this item.

My dream began with the purchase of a Takamine ESP93 steel-stringed acoustic guitar, made of cedar and painted pale pink. As I strummed out the tunes I knew that this guitar was going to be my best friend for years to come.

19. Reunited

"CHRISTIN!"
I yelled, into the night as my true love appeared before me. She was just as beautiful as the day she left this world....the day the fire took her from me and our children.
But she was looking at me like a stranger... something was different......

It was her eyes. Replacing the soft violet pools of love and compassion was pain and hurt.
Her eyes were now filled with memories of the fire.
All I wanted to do was take her in my arms and take away all her pain.

"Sweety its me...its Boston...baby I brought you back so we could be together" I pleaded with her to trust me.
"Why" she finally spoke "why am I here?"

"Why? So we can be together again" I said.
"But I'm gone Boston, we can't take back what time has done" she softly smiled as she said this.

"I miss you Christin, I don't think I can go on another day without you." I said as tears of realization ran down my face.

"Boston!...you can...and you will go on...for me...for our children...and our grandchildren" as she said these words she took my face in her hands. "you are doing so well with our children, but they deserve more. You need to be there for them...emotionally. You need to move on my love"

"Move on? Are you serious?" I stammered.
"Boston Youngblood you are the most loving man I've ever met" she smiled again. "Yes, I'm serious. I'm in a good place. A place much kinder and more beautiful than I can even describe. And I will be there...waiting.....for you."

I couldn't resist any longer. I took her in my arms and placed a kiss on her lips that I hoped would last forever.

"I have to go" she squeezed me tightly "take good care of Carson and Constance, they are always in my heart."
The emotional lump in my throat was so large I couldn't speak. There was so much I wanted to say, I wanted to argue my side further but the words wouldn't come out.

She stepped away from me slowly and gave me one last smile. Her eyes were different now, they weren't full of pain anymore. They were full of peace and love. I wanted to be strong but I couldn't stop the flood of tears that continued to run down my face.
" I love you Christin" was all I could manage to get out.
"I love you too..." and as she said these words she floated away in the cool night breeze.
And suddenly I was filled with a warm feeling I hadn't felt since before Christin died.

I knew that my Christin was in a wonderful place and I knew that someday we would be together again.

18. Midnight Outing

Life...even without Christin did go on.
The years passed and as hard as I tried to put on a happy face for the kids I just couldn't crawl out of the shadow of grief that followed me everywhere. I know its effecting the kids, I know I need to do something.

Constance had her grandfather's artistic nature and filled her spare time at her easel. As she gets older she looks more and more like her mother. I think she has noticed the pain in my eyes when I look at her and I fear that she is blaming herself, she has distanced herself from me...I can't say I don't blame her.

Carson remains in his room when he's at home. He types away at his novels and has stated that he enjoys the escape that writing brings him. The only person he seems close to is his sister.

One lonely night I walked to the cemetery. I'm not sure what I was looking for or what I expected to find but it all began with a story my mother used to tell me when I was a very small boy......

She used to tell me about a dark land. A land ruled by darkness. The story was always very vivid, as if it wasn't a story at all but an actual part of her history.

In this land death was not an end but a beginning and the ghost from the land of darkness were called upon they would reveal the secret of bringing back those who we've lost.

My mother was my only connection to these dark world myths so I followed my instinct and went to the Youngblood family plot. I felt no fear but was a little uncomfortable as I called out my mothers name into the quiet darkness.

What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. The ground trembled slightly and bright starry lights began to appear before me.

In a few short seconds my mother, Audra Youngblood, appeared before me.

I'm not sure how I kept my composure. Here was my mother, my dead mother standing before me. She began speaking and a warm calm filled my soul.
"My dear Bishop, I know why you're here, I'm just surprised it took you this long."
I replied, "I'm glad you know because I'm still not sure."
"You will" she said, "just speak to the three ghost of lost love"
Before I could respond the graveyard was buzzing with life....well...not exactly life.

The first ghost who approached me was a beautiful woman. She told me a story of her first love and how it ended on their honeymoon. She and her new husband were on a dinner cruise off the coast of Greece when a rouge wave capsized their ship. The two clung to a piece of floating debris but it could not support the weight of two. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of blood trickling down her forehead as her "first love" floated away to safety and she sunk to the dark ocean depths.

As she floated away another ghost appeared...this time it was a large intimidating man. His wife of 35 years had created a lot of debt around town with her habitual shopping. But he loved her and assured her that he would work his fingers to the bone to pay off the growing stack of bills. Then one day after a long day she asked him to help her with the toaster, little did he know that he was the one to be "toasted". In the end he did pay off her bills...with the million dollar life insurance policy she collected from his little "accident".

The final ghost was a strange character. He was bubbly and animated as he told me how he had lived in a mansion in the Hollywood hills with his beautiful girlfriend. One morning he pulled out of his driveway and headed down the steep winding road that lead to heart of the city. As the car sped up he noticed a photograph on the seat next to him. It was his girlfriend...laughing in the arms of another man. He would would have stopped right there and gone back to give her a piece of his mind but strangely the brakes didn't work and the car dropped to a fiery end at the next turn. She always said she'd have the last laugh.

The stories the three ghost told me were obviously not of "true love" so I was a bit confused. But I didn't question the reasoning any longer as a book appeared on the ground in front of me.

The pages of the book were fragile and aged. The words described a ritual. The ritual of lost love. Not sure what to expect I continued to read. I read the book through to the end which happened to be just as the sun began to rise in the distance.

Feeling a rush of adrenaline I ran home. I needed to prepare. That evening at dusk I lit the candles and the urn.

I shouted the words from the book, called out her name, and waited.

Nothing.....nothing , I could feel my heart breaking again. And then .....