The heat of the hallway was stifling, I could feel sweat breaking out on my furrowed brow.  Why was the hallway warmer than I recalled, why did heat seam to drift up in lazy rivulets of distortion from the cobbled floor?  The candles still flared to light, but they appeared dimmer, as if the heat of the corridor stifled their fire, their heated flames not as strong in the warm air. 

    It's Summer now, Collette thought to me.  

    Summer, I shook my head.  She had moved time ahead, nearly seven weeks drifting into the past with a thought.  Spring had vanished under her control, running away as time sped forward.  The seasons had changed and Summer now heated the stone edifice of her castle, baking the interior in its fiery embrace.  

    We walked the short distance to the room where Keith had been bound to the X-frame support for all but seven weeks.  I was curious as to what I would see upon entering the room.  How had Keith fared in the time that had passed?  Or had it passed for him as impossibly easy as it had for me?  Had Collette's influence protected him from the passing time?  

    I did not.

    She had said he would suffer, that the need for blood would burn in his veins until he would give up life itself to feed.  We had fed on Keith and then returned to the bedroom to bathe in the tub where I had read to her.  That was only hours ago as far as I was concerned, but in the meantime Keith had lived seven weeks in longing torment.  The door to the room opened and we entered, walking slowly. 

    Keith looked abysmal, there was no other way to put it.  His skin hung loosely on his now bony frame hanging limply in the taut leather bonds.  He had lost most of his hair, the few spots of hair he had left were clumped and dirty.  His finger and toenails were sharp talons.  His face has pulled back, his teeth nearly visible behind his thin skin.  

    The wound on his cheek where Collette had cut him to entice Linus to feed was a gaping gash that had not healed.  No blood exited the opening in his cheek, and the flesh looked gray and dead.  He smelled bad, a pile of excrement sitting at his feet.  It was not a pleasant scene and I shook my head at the desolation of his bound form.

    Linus was still sleeping and Collette informed me she had put him under for the time trip so he wouldn't feed on Keith the entire time.  He looked the same as when we had left him hours ago, his face relaxed as he slept a dreamless sleep.  

    Collette walked up to stand next to Keith.  "Can you hear me?"  

    He didn't stir.  

    "Keith.  Wake up."  Her voice was calm, and she stood patiently as Keith opened his eyes.  

    He looked at her, but he didn't see her.  He was trapped in his mind, living in the dark recesses of his psyche where the demons of the last seven weeks could not find him.  His head fell forward and he bobbed lifelessly before rolling backwards, his mouth open.  He tried to speak and a thin trail of spittle fell from his mouth.  Again his head dropped and a single word fell from his mouth, "sorry."

    Collette seemed oblivious to the smell as she stepped forward to unstrap his feeble limbs.  Keith fell limply into Collette's arms, and she pulled him away, his feet dragging along the stonework floor of the castle.  She drug him across the room and lowered him gently to the ground.  Collette turned to me, come here, she commanded.

    I crossed to her side.  

    Show me your throat.

    I tilted my head away and bared my throat to her.  Her finger lashed out and she cut my neck, blood dripping rapidly from the fresh wound.  Stand above Keith's mouth, she thought to me.

    Keith was too weak to feed, I realized, as I straddled Keith's limb arm to position my dripping blood over his mouth.  I kept my head positioned to allow my blood to seep into Keith's mouth.  My blood fell, sliding down his throat.  Collette kept me positioned for ten minutes, allowing a large volume of blood to pour into Keith's frail body.

    How is he? I thought to Collette.

    Weak, she replied, weak and scared.  Don't worry, she looked at me, he will be fine.  She appeared to be looking through the wall behind me and I realize she was peeking into the future, at the upcoming battle.  Odd, she thought to me, I am not entirely sure what will happen, something is different.  Then she laughed, this could be fun. 

    She caressed Keith's cheek with her hand and I watched as the wound on his cheek closed, the skin growing together and gaining a healthy, pink look.  She healed his cheek as easily as a caress, soft and tender yet powerful.  Collette held her palm on Keith's forehead and he opened his eyes.

    "I'm sorry," he repeated, sounding stronger.

    "I know."

    "With your permission, I would like to feed again.  I am hungry."

    "I know," Collette said again, "but you need to wait.  You were just fed, and it is important that you wait to feed again."  Her voice was soft.

    "Whenever you desire," he said weakly. 

    Wow, I thought to Collette, what a change.

    He has suffered.  She looked at me, watch.

    Another mist appeared and I watched as the past seven weeks darted across the vapor.  The image was accelerated, the weeks passing in seconds.  I watched as Keith struggled against his bonds, shouting into the air, screaming at Linus as he lay sleeping.

    I watched as his vain attempts to regain his freedom faded from intense struggles to impotent hanging.  My mouth fell open as I watched his his healthy skin age and wrinkle before hanging loosely on his frame.  He aged before my eyes, his hair growing gray before falling to the floor.

    Through it all he begged for forgiveness, begged for freedom and begged to feed.  Tears fell from his eyes as the time passed; he was crying in despair, pain and desolation.  During the last week, the last minute and a half of the scene playing out before my eyes he could only whisper.  He kept repeating the same two words over and over, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

    The mist faded and Collette explained, he has repented, he has learned, and he is mine.

    Collette kept caressing his cheek and as she did the color returned to his face.  His skin tightened and within moments he looked as healthy as he had before the time had sped along rapidly.  Collette had spurred time along and as easily as she had performed that miracle, she nursed Keith back to health.

    Keith opened his eyes, "I feel so relaxed."

    "You are mine," Collette smiled.  

    He nodded, her words explaining how he felt.  "Keith," Collette began, "your grandfather is on the way here.  What do you think of that?"

    "Who?"

    "Your grandfather, the father of your father," she explained with a soft thought planted in his malleable head.  

    "Oh, him.  Why is he coming here?"

    "He is coming to take you home," she left out the part of the mob approaching to kill her.  

    "I don't want to go!"  He sounded stronger as he shouted the words.

    "I know."

    You're looking forward to this, aren't you? I thought to Collette.

    Oh, yes, this will be fun.  It has been quite a while since I have been unable to see the outcome of a confrontation.  That is what I find so exciting, the fact that I am not entirely sure what will happen.  She looked at me, it is because of you, I know that.  For some reason I can not see what will happen; all I do know is that it is because of you.  

    She smiled, thank you.  I needed the change.  

    Don't thank me just yet, I giggled in her mind.  You don't know the outcome, what if it is bad.  What if?

    She laughed then, a mellow burst of mirth, it won't be.  I won't let it.  It is just an unknown.  

    I joined in with the laughter.  Okay, then, I smiled, you're welcome.  

    Keith looked up at Collette, "when will they get here?"

    Collette shut her eyes, exhaled sharply, and replied, "in an hour."

    She had done it again, I realized.  She had advanced time, just a day this time, not as long as the initial burst of time, seven weeks, but still a remarkably impressive feat.  You are truly amazing, I thought to her.

    Come, she thought back, we have things to do.  Together Keith and I followed Collette out of the room to prepare for the upcoming confrontation.

    We left the castle to stand in the cool, ocean air.  The waves lapped against the shore, licking close to our feet.  I jumped back when the first wave of cold water crashed noisily over my feet.  Keith stepped away as well.  He looked remarkably healthy, as if the seven weeks of torment he had endured had not happened.  I looked at Collette and found that the water of the crashing waves skirted her feet.  As easily as drawing a breath she commanded the water to avoid her feet.

    She amazed me in so many ways.

    Thank you.  

    You're welcome, I replied.  She had read my thoughts with simplistic ease.  

    What I want you to do is have fun, learn to use your strength as you did when we were confronted by Keith and Nathaniel.  There will be a lot more people her, and it might overwhelm you.  If you have problems, concentrate on one person at a time.  Don't worry about me, I can handle the rest.  Easily, she admitted.

    "Keith," she spoke aloud, "when your grandfather gets here you will here some thoughts in your head.  I want you to step forward, embrace your grandfather, step back, and then repeat the words.  You will here other things," she stopped and concentrated.  Like this, she spoke in Keith's head, "and you will repeat the words or perform the action. Do you understand?"

    Keith, his mouth held open at Collette's presence in his mind, nodded.  "Yes, mistress.  You will command me what to say and do, but not out loud.  You will be inside, inside," he repeated, "my  head."

    "Good.  Then we are ready."  

    No sooner had the words left her mouth, that a faint sound could be heard.  The din grew louder, growing closer as the approaching crowd appeared.  I recalled the first time that I was privy to a group of people coming to hunt Collette.  She had transported me through the fabric of time, had brought me to stand at her side while she confronted a milling mob.  That mob had been falsely led by another vampire bent on usurping Collette's power.

    This group was different.  This group was collected with two goals in mind; to destroy Collette and all that she was and, secondly, to retrieve Keith.   Collette was prepared, and I knew that she had the ability to defend herself from the approaching mob, but I was slightly apprehensive.  She had admitted that she could not foresee the outcome of the confrontation.  Could that mean a positive outcome was not guaranteed?  Could it be that she could not foresee the future because she did not have a future? 

    Collette smiled at my thoughts, reading my internal consternation as we waited for the wave of assailants to arrive.  With a nudge of her mind Collette commanded a mist to appear, a white haze filling the salty air.  The mist obscured the sun, the world taking on an Angelic glow as the day illuminated the mist.  The sounds of the crowd grew closer, the mist hiding them from view.  The mist, Collette explained, will make it harder on them, they rely on their sight far too heavily.  It will be an advantage.

    A voice called out, "Keith."  I recognized the voice of Nathaniel, Keith's grandfather. 

    "Shout out, 'go away,'" Collette whispered to Keith.

    "Go away," Keith obeyed, his voice carrying along the surf. 

    Silence greeted Keith's vocal announcement.  We stood silently, waiting for the approaching throng to become visible.  The group grew closer, the murmurs and faint whispers growing louder.   A faint light appeared, and another, a third.  Torches lit the sea air haze, shining like flickering halos.  They were pinpoints of light, growing closer as they approached.  Nathaniel became visible and he stopped to stand in front of Collette.

    "I have come for my grandson," he hissed at her.

    Coyly Collette asked, "who?"  To Keith she thought to him, say who.

    Keith looked at the white-haired man, tilted his head, "who?"

    Nathaniel did a double take, paused briefly to look at the blank look on Keith's face, before returning to face Collette.  "I do not know what kind of mind control you have on him, but I am here to break it, you bitch."  He turned towards the milling crowd, "we," he said facing Collette again, "know what you are, and we will stop you and your kind.  Make no mistake, I will kill Keith if I have too, your reign ends here.  Now!" He was shouting as he spoke. 

    Collette just smiled.  "Make no mistake," she repeated his words, taunting him, "you can not stop me.  You will not be taking Keith with you, and if need be I will claim you and make you one like me.  Do you understand me?"

    I shut my eyes and scColletted the crowd.  A young man in the back was bouncing nervously, he was scared; uncertain and young.  I concentrated, there is a scorpion on your arm.  Perhaps you should burn it off with your torch.  I repeated the words over and over, sending them into the frightened boys mind.   Finally a scream shattered the tense scene as the boy lowered the torch to his arm.   His skin blistered, the fire burning his skin.  Blisters formed, popped and bled as he ran the torch from his wrist to his elbow trying to rid his flesh of the scorpions that were stinging his skin.  His voice shrieked, he was screaming in pain, terror, and repulsion.

    Collette thought to me, very good. 

   The young man screamed and ran into the ocean to his right, diving under the pounding surf.  The salt in the water burned the open wound of his arm and he screamed, bubbles pouring to the surface as he exhaled.  He panicked, sucked in a breath of salty water and began to choke.   He popped to the surface, his lungs burning, and he sucked in a lungful of air.   The water was still burning his arm, and his screams echoed along the beach.

    Nathaniel turned to face me, "we will kill you, too."   He was nodding as he spoke and I wondered if he was just trying to convince himself of his words, or was he confident in his convictions and his followers.

    I looked through the minds of the crowd and found an man, roughly thirty years old wondering if the power Collette possessed was transferable.  He was curious if he could become a vampire, to rule the night.  He longed to hold that power, to cause the fear in others that Collette had caused in the hearts and souls of the milling throng.  I thought to him, do you want the power?  Raise your torch if you can hear me.

    A single torch was held aloft.

    Very good, I reached into his mind.  Do you want to become one with Collette, if so, throw the torch at Nathaniel.  This is your only chance.  I will not extend the offer again, and if you don't you will perish as the others will.   The last was a bluff, I was uncertain if Collette had plColletted on killing the group, but I knew she could if necessary.  I waited and smiled when the torch flew through the air.  A scream rang out and the group parted to allow the torch to fall useless to the ground.

     Nathaniel had not moved, the torch landing just to his left.  He glanced down, the torch flickering as it lay useless on the ground.  Thick smoke rose from the torch, a dark gray plume of spent air.  He turned his head to look into the crowd.  Speaking loudly, he shouted at the thick mass of people, "I don't know what lies you have been told, but trust me, they are lies.  Do not believe the filth that you are being fed."   He turned back to Collette.

    Collette was looking at him, smiling innocently.  "Having fun yet?" 

    Nathaniel took a deep breath, "now!" he shouted.

    With that the crowd rushed forward, swarming over Collette, Keith and I.   There were perhaps sixty people gathered on the beach to confront us, and they all rushed to envelope us.  Two people grabbed my left arm, three my right.  Another three people grabbed my left foot then two more lifted my last leg and I fell to the ground with a soft thump, the sand easing my fall.

    I heard Keith scream in shock as he was lifted and dropped to the ground.  The crowd enveloped him as readily as they had me.  I turned my head to see a mass of bodies close around Collette, and then two hands gripped my head.  I was forced to look at a large man approach me.  I was struggling against the hands that held me immobile, growing frustrated at the lack of freedom my limbs were offered.

    "No," I screamed in desolation as I watched a thick wooden stake approach my body.

    The large man stepped forward and dropped to his knees beside my struggling body.  "Die you vile man," he hissed.  He positioned the stake against my heart.  I was struggling furiously, needing to be free from the hands that held my immobile under the stake.  I was twisting impotently, trying to pull free from the throng, trying to save myself from the deadly piece of wood.  I called out to Collette, "help."

    A hammer fell, the stake penetrated my chest, and I lay still.

* * * * *

     I waited and smiled when the torch flew through the air.  A scream rang out and the group parted to allow the torch to fall useless to the ground.  Nathaniel looked at the torch smoking on the ground.  Shaking his head he looked into Collette's dark eyes, "you will not win, concede and die peacefully."

    Collette smiled, "I don't think you understand who it is that you are facing."  I could hear the venom dripping from her words, though her tone was calm.  She opened her mind and climbed into Nathaniel's thoughts.  I can control you, and you will be unable to stop me.  Try to speak, she commanded inside his mind.  He tried to obey, trying to call out to the throng of people waiting for the word to commence their surprise attach.  The word, now, was stuck in his throat.

    See, Collette whispered to him.  I can stop you from speaking, and I can force words from your throat.  Nathaniel's voice rang out, driven by Collette's thoughts, "I have made a deal with this woman.  She will not harm any of you.  In exchange I will stay here with her and try to convince her to release Keith to me.  We will be fine, and we need Frank to stay as well."

    The group became agitated, surprised by the events.   They were expecting a confrontation.  Murmurs rang out, words of surprise, questions of the details of the deal being shouted into the misty air.   "Please," the voice of Nathaniel rang out, "it will be okay.   Go home, relax, things will be fine here."  A tear fell from Nathaniel's eye as the crowd turned to obey.

    Surprise registered on Collette's face as a voice rang out, "it is a trick," the masculine voice called to the crowd, "she is manipulating Nat's voice."  The crowd paused to listen to the new voice.  They were anxious to attack, that was what they were poised to do when the surprising words of Nathaniel's filled the misty air.  The voice continued, "you know Nat, his goals and thoughts on these creatures.  Attack them, I say."

    Nat's voice rang out, "don't listen to him.   She is not controlling me, I promise.  Yes, you know me, I despise her kind, but I know what is best of my grandson. Please, go home, I will take care of it."

    The second voice continued, sounding agitated, "it is not Nat speaking, it is the demoness."

    A third voice sang out, coming from the area the torch had been thrown from, "listen to Nat.  We have always trusted him, and his guidance.  We know him to be a just and honorable man."

    Again the second voice filled the air, "Frank is in on the lie, he was singled out for some reason, don't listen to him."

    The crowd was confused, murmuring amongst themselves, confused as to what course of action to take.  Could Nathaniel be speaking the truth, or was he being controlled by the woman that stood silently watching the crowd?  Was Carlton shouting out what was happening, or was Nathaniel actually in control of the situation, having made a deal with the devil?  The crowd was anxious to return home or fight, fidgeting in the ocean spray, anxious to do...something.

    Carlton decided the course of action when he shouted out one word, "now," and the crowd attacked.

    The crowd rushed forward, hands reaching out to grab my body.  I felt a torch rake against my arm, the fire searing my flesh, and I hissed in pain.  I struggled, trying to free my body from the groping hands.  I was forced to the ground, my head hitting the sand with a soft thud.  Men and women fom the crowd enveloped me, trapping me against the ground.  I twisted against the binding hands, trying to work free. 

    My head turned to the side and I followed Keith's screams with my eyes as nine men pulled him away from Collette and I, dragging him towards his home town.  He was struggling as I was, trying to free his trapped limps from the relentless grip of the crowd.  Collette's voice reached my mind, fight them with your thoughts.  Learn, grow stronger.

    I pulled my eyes off of Keith and exhaled a sharp breath of air.  Shutting my eyes I concentrated on Collette's words.  I had controlled a seagull, causing it to defecate on Keith, all those weeks ago.  I had spoken with Frank, reaching out to him, so I knew I could reach into other's minds.   Could I do more than one, however, I pondered.

    Try it, Collette's coaching words.

    With my eyes held shut, the hands holding me down, I reached out to the crowd.   I was breathing heavily, concentrating on my task.   I could see the scene unfolding from outside of my body.  I looked from above at the eleven people that held me down.  I was watching from my disassociated position as I watched a burly man approach my body with a large wooden stake in his powerful hand.  "No," I shouted from my elevated position, looking down as the man held the stake against my chest.

    I snapped back into my body, screaming "no!" as a hammer fell, driving the stake into my chest.  The world went blank.

     * * * * *

    I waited and smiled when the torch flew through the air.  A scream rang out and the group parted to allow the torch to fall useless to the ground.   Nathaniel glanced at the small flame, lifted his eyes, and spoke to Collette with contempt dripping from his words, "you will die.  You will lose, and Keith will once again be mine.  He will be coming home with me."

    Fight the crowd, use your mind.  Her words were strong in my mind. I reached out with my thoughts, speaking to the man who had thrown the torch.  Very good, Frank, very good indeed.  Now, what you need to do is turn and leave, convince as many people as you can to follow you.  When you return you will be welcome into our home.

    Frank's voice rang out, "let's go."  He sounded slightly upset, "it is just a women. Nathaniel brought us out here to attack a woman."  He laughed then, "couldn't fight a man, eh, Nathaniel."   His voice was dripping with contempt.  "I am out of here."   Frank began to walk away from the crowd, "see you, this is a waste of time."

   The crowd began to stir, Frank's departure spurring them to uncertainty.  Frank walked away slowly, his movements pulling a dozen people with him.  Murmurs of assent rang out, "just a woman," or, "what a waste of time," and, "foolish man."  As more words drifted through the salty air, more of the crowd dispersed. 

    Nathaniel's voice echoed in the wind, "I will show you," and he attacked.

    Playing on the charade I had commenced, Collette fell to the ground with Nathaniel lying on top of her.   "Help!" she screamed in mock helplessness.  "Get him off me."  She was hammering weak blows on Nathaniel's face and chest, trying to push him off of her with feigned weakness.  "Get him off, please, get him off of me."

    Three hands gripped Nathaniel and pulled him off of Collette's prone body.  Nathaniel was screaming in rage, "attack the demoness, kill her and her kind."

    Shouts rang out, "leave her alone, Nathaniel," and, "she isn't a threat," or, "Frank was right." More of the crowd began to leave the beach, returning to their homes. 

    Under Collette's prompting thoughts, Keith walked to stand before his grandfather, "I want to stay here," he repeated the words dancing in his mind.  "I am happy here, Gramps, welcome and safe."

    Nathaniel glared at Collette, "you haven't yet won.   I will kill you.  Count on it."

    Another voice sang out, "leave it alone, Nat.   Jesus."

    A thought reached out and darted into Nathaniel's mind, you will be mine within the week.  In fact, you won't be leaving.  Then repeating his words, count on it.

    Nathaniel was confused, wondering how the crowd could be so easily swayed.  I was reading his thoughts, listening in on his confused ponderings.  How is it possible?  he asked himself.  Then, how can I sway them back?   I read his thoughts before he acted, thinking the words to Collette, look out, he is about to attack.

    "Die!" he screamed, lunging at the apparition of Collette.  She had faded from reality, becoming a mist that Nathaniel simply passed through.  He landed on the ground, his face pressing into the sand.  Pushing upward he rolled over, lying on his back.  Collette stood above him, once again solid.   He shouted into the air, "did you see that, I went through her.  She faded into a mist, did you see, did you see?"

    Half of the crowd had looked on and a middle-aged man stepped forward, "we saw you attack her, Nat," he sounded sympathetic, "and she simply stepped away.  She didn't become a mist, as you say, you just missed."

    "No!" he screamed in rage, "no!"

    "Thank you," Collette said.  Then as an afterthought she whispered, "Brian."

   The middle-aged man with the rotund shape of most middle-aged men looked at Collette with a look of denial tinged with understanding.  He opened his mouth to speak, but no sounds issued forth.  His mouth opened and closed, trying to voice the thoughts that wrestled with reality behind his eyes.  "Truth," he tried to speak, "Nathaniel was speaking the truth."

    Yes, he was, Collette said in Brian's mind.  Do you know why I called you to me?  Why I whispered your name to let you know that Nathaniel was telling the truth, and why you will not be returning home?

    No, he thought.  I wasn't sure if he was denying the words that echoed in his brain or answering her question.

    Because, she told him.  You beat your wife.   She will not miss you, in fact, she will be thankful you are gone.  In return you will suffer, you will live the pain she has suffered through under your hand.   Then with sarcasm dripping in his mind, isn't that wonderful?  Say yes.

    "Yes," he obeyed, tears welling in his brown eyes.

    He saw his wife in his mind, smiling at the news that he would not return.  She looked beautiful, her eyes shining in delight; the way he remembered them when they had first started dating. His heavy hand had driven that light from his eyes, and now, seeing her as she could be he felt regret for his actions.  He could not explain his anger, but he could see the pain that anger brought.

    Yes, Collette whispered in his mind, she will be better off without you.  She listened to him sob in his mind, regret pouring from his eyes in a salty trail. I'm sorry, so sorry, he sobbed, grief and regret tugging at his soul.  Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, over and over he repeated the words, for the first time the terror he had inflected on his wife enveloped his mind.

    The crowd thinned, and finally receded like the tide, leaving Nathaniel lying on the sand, and Brian sobbing in his head.  Collette, Keith and I looked towards the departing crowd and smiled, elated in our victory.  That was easy, I thought to Collette.

    She burst out laughing, "how little you know," she said, her mirth echoing along the beach.  

    Was she answering my thoughts, or speaking to Nathaniel? 

    Both.  You have no idea what happened, do you?

    We won, I thought back hopefully.    

    "Yes," she said aloud, "we won."  Do you know that you died twice?  On two separate occasions a wooden spike was driven through your heart to end you life?  Here, she thought to me, let me show you.

    I saw in my mind's eye the hands that held me struggling on the sand.  I watched in morbid fascination as a thick stake was driven through my heart.  I watched as blood seeped from my open mouth to stain my face and collect in the sand, turning the sand an awful brown color.

    I died, I admitted, shock inching in my thoughts.

    Yes, you did.  Twice I had to replay the timeline to save you.  It was a worthwhile endeavor, you learned well.  Your thinking allowed up to be victorious without any blood shed.  And, she added happily, I gained two more slaves.  Very worthwhile.  "Now," she spoke, "let's return home."  With that her castle appeared, and the five of us walked into the safety the rock walls provided, Nathaniel and Brian being forced along with Collette's silent thoughts.

    The drawbridge closed behind us, the castle welcoming us home.