Copyright © 2025 by Julien Gregg
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Five
"You might as well come inside," Bradly said, defeated. "Did you follow me here?"
"No, I dreamed I would meet you in this room today," he said. "I know what you are. I want you to turn me into a vampire, too."
"Impossible," Bradly said. "You need to be with the family."
"Why did you come here?" Kevin asked.
He looked so like Bradly that he could have been his brother. They had the same dark hair and green eyes. They even had the same chiselled features, the prominent cheekbones, the full lips, and the dark lashes that seemed longer than others. They were definately family. There was no escaping that fact. Bradly sighed as he looked around the room. The carpet was burgundy, and the walls were hunter green paper with burgundy diamonds in rows. The bed had a dark green blanket. The curtains were burgundy velvet and lace. The room had a bed, nightstands, four lamps, and a long chest of drawers, on top of which was a lamp. The other was a floor lamp at the end of the chest toward the bathroom.
"I came to check on the family," Bradly said. "I only wanted to check in. I didn't want to meet any of you. I had decided to stay out of your lives. I still send money, but the family thinks my son is sending it. You know differently."
"Yes, I do," he said. "I'm at odds with the family. I've been searching for you."
"Well, stop," Bradly said. "I refuse to turn you. You must return to the family, and I will return to where I came from."
"Fine," he said. "But I will hunt for you. My offspring will hunt for you; eventually, you will turn one of us."
"Go, now," he said, pointing at the door.
Kevin left, but he wasn't happy about it. Bradly looked around the room with a sigh. How could this have happened? Kevin had said he'd dreamed of meeting Bradly in this room today. That was his witch blood at work. Bradly had to get out of there. He had to get back to the island and Edward. He booked a flight and headed for the airport. He didn't see Kevin again. He got on the flight and flew to Mexico. There, he called Edward. It was several hours later that Edward showed up with the boat. He kissed Bradly and welcomed him back.
On the island, they made love before Bradly told him what had happened in Woodland. When he did, he paced back and forth and ran his fingers through his hair. The encounter had shaken him, and he wanted Edward to understand exactly how it made him feel. That Kevin could use his abilities to hunt Bradly was something that he'd never thought of.
"I don't think he can hunt you to the island," Edward said. "But if he does, he's in for a shock. This island has dangerous animals, and they will attack him."
"I don't want him dead," Bradly said. "I just want him to remain human and away from me."
"You should never have gone to Woodland," Edward said.
"From now on, I'll call my contact there and check on the family that way," Bradly said.
"If he comes here, we must protect him," Edward said. "Do you want to turn him?"
"No," Bradly said. "But I'll have to if he comes here. It's that or death."
"I wouldn't force you to kill a member of your family," Edward said. "We'd just have to be creative in dealing with him. This sort of thing has never happened to me. I suppose it was inevitable with turning witches."
"Why didn't Mary look for witches?" Bradly asked.
"She did with Elan," he said. "Elan was a Montrose Witch."
"Montrose?" Bradly asked.
"The Montrose family is a family of witches of extreme power. They're no match for the Moreau family, but as far as I have known, they are the most powerful magical family in the world."
"Many mentioned them once," Bradly said. "She said that you all avoid the Moreau witches, which she thought was a mistake."
"We don't want the Heir to the Legacy of the Moreau family to come for us," Edward said. "She's a mighty witch who can rot living and dead tissue."
"That's scary," Bradly said.
"She's old now, though," Edward said. "Her daughter will be taking over for her sooner or later."
Kevin didn't come to the island, but he did send letters. His letters talked about the fact that he no longer wanted to be an immortal. He had found love and was set to marry a girl named Andra Moreau. It seemed the Fell family and the Moreau family were merging. That seemed to make Edwar sit up and pay attention. They heard no more from Bradly after a few years. Life on the island went back to normal.
While on a hunt on the mainland, Bradly contacted his man in Woodland and learned that Kevin Fell had become Kevin Moreau. The Moreaus never changed their surname. He had moved to Moonlight Bay, California, to be with the Moreau family. That was all that was known about Kevin. The family had welcomed a new member when Kevin's sister, Rachel, married a man named Reginald Love. She had taken his name, and Reginald was not a witch. She'd had two children by the time Bradly had looked into the family. It seemed the Fell name was going to die out. That was fine with him. There were Fells in other parts of the country. The name wouldn't actually die out. His branch of the name would, but the actual name would go on.
They checked in with Mary a time or two and found that she was living on her island with Brooke and no one else. Elan had left them to find his own piece of the world. Brooke was talking about a fledgling but hadn't found one to turn. Edward and Bradly went back to their island. Then Edward shocked him by turning a young Mexican man named Gustavo. He moved to the island to live with them. Bradly felt lost on the island with Gustavo there. The man was beautiful with his glossy black hair, dark eyes, and naturally tanned skin. He proved to be a remarkable vampire who could read minds and communicate telepathically.
They found that a coven of Darias's vampires had moved to Mexico. They moved to another of Edward's islands off the coast of Costa Rico. This one also had a house, but Bradly was starting to feel like the third wheel with Edward and Gustavo. He found Jason and finally moved to his island. It was a better arrangement, because Jason never wanted to sire a fledgling. Bradly started to think about his own island after another fifteen years.
In nineteen forty, he bought an island off the coast of Australia. He had a house built to his liking, and he moved there. He compelled an Australian man named Daryl to live on the island and do his bidding without asking questions. He got rather adept at piloting a boat he'd bought to get to the mainland to hunt and buy supplies. He checked in with all of them by phone from time to time. He even went to see Edward and Gustavo several times.
Life settled into a pattern for Bradly. He wasn't completely happy, but he was content.
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