McCrady Manor: Blood Curse - Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

          Leigha walked up the wooden steps to Meghan's door and knocked.  No one answered, so she walked in, to make sure her friend wasn't home.  It was an unspoken rule that their doors were always open to the others.  They even knew where the spare keys were hidden.  "Meghan!"  She called out.  However the cabin was empty.  Then she noticed a piece of paper on the couch.  Walking over she picked it up.  Then silently read the note.

 Leigha,

I knew you'd come in!

Thanks for sending Macen

to my rescue.  He talked me

into going to the doctor's office (gag).

You worry too much, but

it was probably the right thing to do.

See you later, Love and hugs

Meghan

          She folded the note up and slipped it into the back pocket of her jeans.  Then turned and walked out of Meghan's cabin, shutting the door behind her. Crossing the narrow road to her own cabin, she glanced up at the afternoon sky. She walked up her front steps, turned the knob opening the door, and went in leaving the door open.  As soon as she stepped inside she saw the red light on her answering machine blinking.  So she pushed play and listened.

          "Leigha?  Leigha Mauve Zelmorre where are you?"  Her mother's annoying voice came across.  "Are you working or are you out with 'that boy' again?  This is your mother.  Call me!!  I want to talk to you."  Leigha couldn't help but to stick out her tongue after she stopped the machine.  Sighing, she picked up the phone and dialed her home phone number.  She rolled her eyes as her mother's answering machine picked up.

          "Hi, Mom, it's me.  I was working with 'that boy'.  Not that it's any of your business, really.  You must not want to talk to me all that bad because you're not home shortly after you originally called.  You know my number.  Bye."  She hung up.  She pushed play again and let the second message play.

          "Hi, Honey.  It's your lover.  I'll be over soon.  I just have to lock up and drive over.   Love you."   A smile crept across Leigha's face.  "And I really do love you."  A strong male voice said from behind her.  She turned around and saw Alec with a handful of roses.

          "Well that's nice to know."  She said with a light giggle in her voice.  "I think you've been dreaming again, though.  I'm not your lover."

          "Yet," Alec grinned slyly.

          Leigha nodded.  "Yet.  And you know that I'm a sucker for roses."

          Alec crossed the room and pulled her into his arms.  "I know."  He grinned as he tossed the roses aside.  He kissed her, mentally patting himself on the back when she didn't protest.  After a moment, Leigha pulled back.

          "I said I'm a sucker, not a pushover."

          "I never said you were a pushover."  Alec declared as a sly smile extended across his face.   "But I would like to push you over."  He laughed wickedly.

          Leigha smiled and turned her back to him as she picked up the roses.  "I'm worried about Meg."  She whispered.

          Alec wrapped his arms around her then and pulled her close being careful not to crush the roses.  "Why?"  He asked resting his chin on her shoulder.

          "When I went over there this morning she was laying on the couch.  She didn't look good at all.  She looked pale and tired.  She said that she threw up this morning."  Leigha paused.  "I told Macen and I guess he dragged her off to the doctor's."

          "That's good," Alec told her.  "At least she's getting checked out."  Alec was a first year resident at the Forrest Hospital Emergency Room.  Extremely good at what he did, and pretty young to be at that point already, but he had worked very hard to get there taking an overly max-ed class load the whole time he was in college and med school. 

          "I know.  It's just that something has been really weird about her.  Ever since that celebration with the big bon fire."  Leigha paused, lost in her own thoughts for a moment.  "It's like she's been trying to hide something."  She turned and looked into Alec's blue eyes.  "I don't know how to explain it but it's like she has gotten really withdrawn and quite.  It's been three months.  I just don't understand it."

          "I don't know what to tell you, Leigh.  Maybe something happened that night that she hasn't been able to tell you or is afraid to.  Maybe she has just been upset about Codie leaving.  I guess that they were close and he left that night."  He told her.

          "No, they weren't."  Leigha threw out.  "Meghan turns green every time Codie's name is brought up."

          "He said that they were.  In fact he said that they were really close, if you catch my drift."  He paused as he watched Leigha eyes change color from violet to a smoky gray.  He knew that deep down inside her the tempers were starting to brew.  "Maybe that's what she is afraid to tell you.  She knows how you hated him."

          "She would have told me,” Leigha stated angrily.  More so to convince herself than Alec.

          He leaned over and kissed her forehead.  "I think that I'll go make us some dinner."

          "Alec," she whispered.  "I don't have any food.  We were going to go shopping remember?"

          He smiled as he looked back into her violet eyes.  "Yes I remember," he laughed.  "Or at least now I do."

      After a quick trip to the nearest grocery store, fifteen minutes away, Leigha sat in her den reading while Alec sang in the kitchen.  The strong smell of pasta, spaghetti sauces and garlic bread surrounded her.  Her stomach growled every few minutes in response.

          It was a classic romance novel that she held in her hands.  Man and woman meet.  Man and woman fall in love.  They both deny their feelings.  Problems arise causing man and woman to become thrown together.  Resulting in their not being able to deny their feelings any longer.  Growing closer.  Eventually they make love.  One still tries to deny their feelings but the other convinces them not to.  Then they all live happily ever after.  The end.  "I could write one of these things."  Leigha uttered.

          The phone rang and Leigha jumped up to answer it hoping it was Meghan.  "Hello?"

          "Where have you been?  I've tried calling you four times today.  And I did not enjoy that snotty message that you left on my machine, young lady."

          "Hello, Mother."  Leigha mumbled.  She could feel herself tense up the instant her mother's voice raced into her brain.

          "So where on Earth were you?"  The older woman asked apparently irked. 

          "For your information, Mother, I do have a job and a household to take care of."  Leigha defended which annoyed her.  She knew that she had no reason to defend herself to her mother.

          "A small one!"  Her mother spat through the phone.  "You told me that you don't go in until the afternoon."

          "No, I said that I don't get home until the afternoon.  I work the morning shift."  Leigha explained for the hundredth time.  Her temper was rising higher every second.

          "Well, make it clearer next time."  She yelled.

          "I don't know how much clearer I could have made it," she all but spat out.  "You've had no problems the past four months."  Her retort was out before she realized it. 

          "Fine, but I called an hour ago and you weren't there.   I suppose that you were with that boy."

          "For your information, Mother, my life no longer revolves around you.  I have a job.   I have a roof over my head.  I pay my own bills.  And I happen to be in love.  An hour ago, by the way, Alec and I was grocery shopping.”

          "I don't like your attitude."  The woman yelled.  "Is that boy living with you now?  Is that why you have to go grocery shopping together.  I'll just have to call up that boss of yours and let him have a piece of my mind about this co-ed rooming that he allows."

          "Mother!"  Leigha shouted.  "He lives in his own cabin.  Plus, since you stopped making payments on my car, I no longer have one.   I need some way to get to town and get what I need."  Now Leigha was really getting angry.  The woman knew how to push her daughter's buttons.

          "Since you're making your own money you can get your own car."

          Leigha took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  "That car was a birthday present."  Leigha tried to say calmly.  "You didn't even give me the chance to finish paying off the car myself.  In fact, you didn't even warn me, what so ever, that I should find new transportation."

          "I told your father not to get it for you."

          "It wasn't from you, it was from Dad.  You had no right to do what you did after he died."  Leigha said still trying to maintain her composure.  Yet, she was very close to tears.  "I need to go, Mother, Alec is making me dinner."

          "What's he making?  Macaroni and cheese?"  She asked sarcastically.

          "No, pasta with a spicy tomato sauce and gourmet bread."  She told the older woman playing it out some.  "And by the way, he is an amazing cook." 

          "He's trying to get you in bed.  That is what he's trying to do!"

          "So what if he is, Mother!"  Leigha wailed not being able to hold back her anger any longer.  She wanted to piss the woman off now.  She wanted to make her as mad as she was.  "As you very well know, Alec and I have been dating for 3 years.  If that was the only reason he was seeing me, he would have left long ago."  She paused, debating on saying what she wanted to say next.  She decided to give into the urge.  "Plus, not that it is any of your business but Alec and I have made love many, many times."  She lied.

          "Leigha!!"

          "I am so sick and tired of arguing with you, Mother.  When you want to talk to me without trying to run my life or interfere, let me know.  Until than, Good-bye."  The receiver hit the cradle before she thought twice about hanging up on her mother.  She turned around and saw Alec.  "Sorry," she whispered near tears.  She threw the book that she was reading across the room.  She had so much anger and frustration built up inside her from the woman who called herself her mother that it was eating away at her insides.  She let Alec wrap his arms around her.  "I wish that I was adopted."  She told him honestly letting the tears break free. 

          "You lied to your mother."  Alec smiled and looked at her.  He gently wiped away a few fallen tears.  "We could always make that lie a truth."

          Leigha turned around and punched Alec playfully in the gut.  "I didn't lie," she announced with the bite of anger still in her.  "I always have my dreams."

          Alec noticed that Leigha's eyes were the darkest gray he had ever seen them.  Stone gray...almost black.  They were beautiful.  She was beautiful when she was angry.  "I could always make you dreams into reality."  Alec declared with a playful look on his face.

          Leigha smiled.  "You know that I want to wait until Mr. Right comes along and asks me to marry him."

          Alec pulled away suddenly with his hand over his heart acting as if he had just been shot.  He gasped a couple of times and then fell onto the couch.  "I'm not Mr. Right," he whined.  "Oh, God, my poor broken heart."

          Leigha walked over to the couch and leaned over him.  "I should just laugh in your face and go eat.  But you look so pitiful."  She whispered before pressing her lips to his.  "I love you.   Maybe you are Mr. Right.  But how would I know.  You haven't proposed."   Alec threw his arms around her and pulled her down onto him.  They started kissing again.  Only this time with more passion.

          Alec stopped to breath.  "Are you saying that if I did ask, that you'd say yes?"  He questioned.  

          Leigha shrugged.  Then she lifted her head as far as she could and sniffed the air.  "Do I smell something burning?"  She asked.

          Alec jumped up and ran into the kitchen forgetting that Leigha was on top of him.  Leigha never saw the floor coming, but she sure did feel it.  Then burst into laughter, as she rubbed her bruised behind.

          Macen watched as Meghan walked from the bathroom and laid down on her bed.  All the color had drained from her face.   He walked across the bedroom and sat down next to her on the satin burgundy sheets.  "How are you feeling?"  He asked pushing her golden brown hair away from her face.

          "Dinner just came up."  She whined.  "And it really didn't taste that good on the way back up."

          "I'm sorry, baby."  He whispered stroking her golden hair.  "Can I do anything to help?"  She shook her head and closed her eyes.  "Are you tired?"  

          She nodded.  "I am so sleepy, Macen."  Her eyes shot open and she looked at Macen.  "We have to think of names...we need to get stuff."  She shot up to a sitting position.  "What if it's more than one?  We have only six months to prepare!"

          "Calm down, Meg.  Lay down and get some sleep.  You have an appointment next week.... and we'll talk about the rest after you wake up.  Okay?"  Macen said stroking her hair to try and get her to relax.

          "Don't leave me tonight."  She pleaded.  "Stay here with me, please."  Her eyes were wide with fear.  He could tell how upset she was.  Which made him worry.  It hurt to see her like this.  She was so collected before.  He detested his brother for what he had done to her.  So much that the next time he saw the sight of Codie, his evil twin, would have more than a black eye.

          "Okay, Meggie.  I'm going to go and get some of my stuff from my cabin and I'll be right back.  Alright?"  He asked as he started to rub her back a little.

          "Swear you'll be right back."  She whispered closing her eyes.

          "I swear," he muttered than leaned over and kissed her forehead.  "Get some sleep.  I love you."  A smile spread across her face before he kissed the corner of her mouth.  "I'll be right back, I promise."

          "I'm sorry that your mom hates me."  Alec said putting a fork full of pasta in his mouth.

          "It's her loss.  You're a wonderful man and I love you."  She reached across the small round table and touched his hand.  "Your my man." She whispered with a smile.  "With her attitude I'd give her up before I'd give you up."  She stated matter-of-factly.  "She has always been a bitch to me...I've never understood that."

          "Want some champagne?"   Alec asked feeling her anger starting to spark again, and wanting to nip it in the bud before it wrecked the mood of the evening.  "I know that you don't drink and are still underage, for a couple months" he whispered grinning.  "Though this is a special occasion."

          "Special, why?"

          "Because.... indulge me."  He whispered.  "You can just have a sip, you don't have to drink it all."

          "Alright, I suppose,” She smiled laughing.  "Planning on seducing me, Alec?  Trying to get me drunk?"  She asked watching him pour the bubbly into the glass.

          "Not planning on it, yet...but hey, if it happens...” He laughed with a sly smile.

          "What's the special occasion?"  She asked a little nervous.

          "Take a sip first," he told her handing her the champagne flute.

          She took it and sipped.  She heard something clink in the bottom of the glass.  "What did you put in my glass?"  She questioned.

          "You might just have to drink the rest to find out."

          The black haze started to disappear behind the images. 

          She saw the woman standing, looking out the curved window.  She stood in the tower looking over the large body of water.  Then she looked down and she longed to sit in the front garden next to the stone lions.  Maybe even play in the fountain.  But it was to chilly out.

          Then she looked down at her large rounded belly.  She turned and started to make her way to the perfectly made bed that rested in the center of the room.  She sat on the bed, which made the sheets and quilt wrinkle under her weight.

          Suddenly she clenched her rounded middle and screamed something awful.  For a moment the scream seemed to echo though the house.  It took her a moment to realized that it was someone else's bellow.

         

`        Meghan shot up, waking in a panic.  She looked around, finding herself in her own room, in her own bed.  Her heavy eyes begged to be closed again as her heart raced.   She laid back down, and fell back into the land between sleep and dreams.

          Macen walked back into Meghan's cabin.  She was still asleep.  He stood in the doorway of her room and just watched her for a few moments. He then went back into the living room and dropped his bag next to the couch.  He sat down and started watching TV.  He wasn't sitting there 5 minutes before she came out.

          "Did I wake you?"

          "No. I don't think so."  She whispered rubbing her eyes.

          "Feeling better?"  He asked as she sat next to him.

          "Kinda...a little," she paused.

          "Still tired?"  He asked as she laid down with her head in his lap.  He instantly started stroking her thick golden brown hair.

          "A little."

          "Nauseated?"  Figuring she'd say "a little" he asked anyway.

          "Not at the moment."  She turned her face towards him.  "Six months...so much to talk about and do.  I don't know where to start."

          "Us, or the baby?"

          "Both," she muttered.

          "No, which do you want to start with?"  He asked.

          "We should start with you and I, I guess.  When do you think that we should get married?"  She inquired.  He had done so much for her.  He did love her.  She was so happy that he did and that everything was working out the way it did.  She wasn't absolutely sure she was "in love" with him.  She thought she was.  Figured she was pretty sure, that she was.  If she wasn't she knew she could take that leap with him, her feelings were strong already for him.   She just couldn't get over the fact, Codie had damaged something inside, and she wasn't sure about anything she did anymore.  She didn't want to lose Macen.  She wanted to marry him, which she knew for sure.

          "What do you think?  Before or after the baby is born?"  He asked smiling at her.

          "Before...I was thinking...soon.  How long do you think we'll need to plan the wedding?"

          "At least 3 months.  You'll be six months than, honey.  Are you sure you want it before?"

          "New years!"  She exclaimed.  "Small, friends and family, candle light."

          "That sounds really nice."  Macen said thinking that she'd be almost due.

          "I have no family, though."

          "I am sorry that your parents died."  Macen whispered still stroking her hair.  "You've had so much pain through your life."  Her eyes were looking up...at the ceiling.  They seemed distant. So far away.  "Baby, what's wrong?"

          "I have no family that I know of, well, some distant relative, grandparents, aunts and uncles, that sort of thing...but I have some somewhere, I have real family out there."  She whispered.

          "What?"  He asked very confused.  He thought that her parents died.

          She suddenly snapped back.  "I'm adopted."

          "My goodness," Leigha gasped looking at the ring she found in the bottom of her glass.  "It's a half caret.  You could afford this?"

          "Leigha, it's paid for in full."  Alec laughed loving every minute of her reaction.  "Now," he said getting down on one knee beside her.  "I want you to marry me.  I want you to be my wife.  I know we've had a wonderful past couple years, other then the time, not even a year ago we broke up for a few weeks, but love prevailed right? Forever and always, you and I.  Will you Leigha?  Will you marry me?"  He asked with her hand in his, placing the ring on her finger.

          "Yes!  Yes, yes, yes!"  She yelled bouncing in her chair.  "Of course I will.  I love you Alec."  She said smiling from ear to ear.  She threw her arms around him and hugged him knocking him down.  "When?  When will we be man and wife?"  She asked still on top of him.

          "Any date that you pick."  He laughed then pressed his lips to hers.  In the distance they heard thunder crash, and the lights flickered.   "Was that anything like fireworks?"  He whispered.   She laughed and crushed her mouth back against his.

          Thunder crashed and made Meghan jump a little.  "I found out after my father died."  She wiped away the tear that had escaped down her cheek.  "I always wondered why I was the only child that ever survived for them."

          "Does Nate know this?"

          "No. I haven't told him."  They were all close to Nate McCrady and his family, but especially Meghan.  She cuddled up against him.  Enjoying his warmth, taking in his scent.  "Tomorrow," she whispered.

McCrady Manor: Blood Curse - Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

 August 1

     She lay on the couch looking out the door to her best friend's cabin.  The identical cabin sat directly across a small dirt road from her's.  She watched Leigha's door, waiting for her to leave.  Leigha would be leaving soon, to go work at the mansion.

          She shifted her body and looked at the ceiling.  It was three months ago that it had happened.  Three months to the day.  "May first," she uttered aloud.  "I want to forget." She almost cried to herself wishing the past moments away.

          As she tried to push the memories back...the images formed stronger.... so clear that she couldn't ignore it...

          The blazing bon fire loomed up before her...before them all.  Almost one hundred people were gathered on the beach dancing around.  Some were drinking, but she sat with a soda in her hand, always the responsible one.  She had never had a drink in her life.  It just didn't interest her. 

          She just sat there watching the bon fire.  She watched as the small embers would break away from the flaming wood and fall onto the sand or into the lake.  She felt as if nothing in her life would be the same after this night.  As if nothing would be solved.  Yet, she knew that she would survive and that she would go on. Yet the feeling she had seemed more then upcoming change.  It seemed more then normal nerves.  It almost seemed, dangerous.

          Everyone was celebrating a job well done.  They had all been working so hard for the past few months, some for a year, preparing Clear Water Estate to be opened up for the public.  Fixing up the old house that was called McCrady Manor.  Restoring the inside and out to it's past glory, with some modern additions and making it completely safe again.  They tried to keep everything they could, and reproduced what they couldn't, to what it had been.

          Nathaniel McCrady, his wife Paige, and son Austin lived in another house on the land called Bell Manor.  Nate had decided to set McCrady Manor up as a museum for a trial season.  The big house was just sitting empty, and the county seemed so interested in it.  Rarely were people allowed in it.  As it had been rumored to be haunted.  They also fixed up the massive land, so that the visitors could explore and enjoy its glory.

          In the next couple days they would open the massive iron gates, at the front of the driveway, to the public.  Then those hired as guides would tell the visitors all about the history of the land and the McCrady family.  The guests would see the beautiful house and land and be amazed.  It was so breathtaking.  She had been living there for a while and the beauty still blew her away.  She thought about the house for a moment, she had seen a few of the changes, like a new birth.

          The house stood a wondrous five stories high, and one low.  All six levels had been revived to its original grandeur. The Queen Anne Victorian style home was started in 1876 and finished in 1878.   Nathaniel McCrady Jr., his wife Rebecca, and their three children oversaw the building of the house.  Before the house was complete, his wife and daughters met tragic deaths.  Many of the attractions of the house had never been seen in their parts prior to the building of the manor.  The 13-foot ceiling in the main hall.  The front entrance with a double entrance, the inside doors showcased elaborate stain glassed windows, as did other areas in the house.  The mosaic tiling held the word McCrady amidst it's complicated design.  The large spacious rooms holding beautiful woodwork, sparkling chandeliers, specially made moldings, and beautiful art pieces including massive fireplaces shipped in from other countries. The land was as magnificent as the charming yet impressive house.  Filled with archers of green grass, stables, a gazebo, beachfront, forest, a rumored church and graveyard, and a massive English style hedge maze. There were also the two other houses on the land, Bell Manor, and Harmony Manor, which stood in destruction after a fire in 1915.  Also the employee quarters, which was a lane of cabins available to the long-term employees, which use to be the servants quarters.

          Most of the people who had worked so hard would have to leave within the next few days.  Only a few would stay behind to continue the work, and she was one of them.  Feeling so happy about it, since she no longer felt at home, anyplace but here.

          She made some new friends and knew that a couple of them would be staying. Most everyone had taken on their job here to help them through college.  Some were just interested in history.  Most of them, it was something interesting to do in-between and after classes.  For her, it was a job she was enjoying that she needed.  She had nowhere else to go, nothing else to do.  She loved to write, but couldn’t at the moment.  Her flame for writing had been blown out about a year before. Someday she would start again. 

          Right now, what she wondered was if the guy she liked would be staying.  His name was Macen Haskelway.  He was sweet and kind.  He always made her laugh.  With his dark hair, gentle blue eyes, and a kind smile.  He stood about 5'11 to Meghan's 5'5, but it was a nice balance.  He inspired to become a police officer, which she respected, had been taking his classes he needed to fulfill the dream.  It was admirable in her eyes.  Macen seemed a lot more sensitive than his identical twin brother, Codie.  Though Codie was the one who seemed interested in her.  Not Macen.  Which just confused her how she could be attracted to one, and not the other.  She tried to be friends with Codie, but something inside her, seemed to ward him off.

          Just as she had finished that thought she realized that Codie was standing over her, watching her daydream in the darkness.  He asked her to take a walk with him around the land...suggesting a stroll through old maze.  She figured that it wouldn't hurt...but what she would soon find out was that it would.

          "Meg!"  Someone shouted from her door bringing her back to reality.  She heard her screen door open and looked up to find Leigha.  "Where the heck were you?  La--La Land?"  She joked.

          "No, I'm just tired," she whispered as she sat up.  "Aren’t you going to be late?"

          "Not yet, but I will be if I don't leave in the next five minutes."  She smiled.  Leigha had a big beautiful smile.  It made her even prettier than her long red hair and her large violet eyes did alone.  "I need caffeine and I drank my last can of soda last night when Alec came over to watch movies.  Do you have any?"

          "Yeah, help yourself.  There are some cold cans in the refrigerator.  It's the cheap stuff, but it works," she answered.

          "Great I'll get you some more when I go grocery shopping tonight.  Okay?"  Leigha said as she walked into the kitchen.

          "Don't worry about it," she muttered.

          Leigha walked back out into the living room with a can of cola. She stopped in front of her friend before leaving.  "You don't look so good, are you okay?"

          She shook her head.  "No," she moaned.  "I think I'm coming down with the flu or something.  I got up this morning, ate, and it all came right back up. Plus I've been real tired the last few days."

          "Do you work today?"  Leigha asked.  She shook her head.  "Good, get some rest then.  I'll stop by after I'm done with work and see how you're doing."  Then Leigha waved good-bye and left, walking down the dirt road towards the main part of the property.

          As soon as Leigha left...her memories returned.

          It was dark as they walked into the beginning of the maze.  There was no moon that night and the stars weren't very bright.  A dark curtain seemed to be upon them.

          She hadn't been in the maze before so she had to trust Codie's leading.

          As he took her deeper into the tall hedges, and as she became lost and confused, his mood changed.  Suddenly, he pushed her up against the hedge wall and started to kiss her. She pushed at him and tried to tell him she didn't like him like that, but he kept coming, and had her pinned.  She tried to get away from him, to scream, to kick, but he covered her mouth with his and started moving his hands inside her clothes.  He was very strong and she could not move.  He slid his hand across her mouth as his kiss ended.  "You're mine, Meghan Quinn.  Mine.  I'm gonna take you places that you've never been and you will enjoy it.  No matter what you do."  A big smile spread across his face.  "You can't stop me.  Everyone is on the beach and no one will hear your screams.  So go ahead and scream all you want."

          He uncovered her mouth and ripped off her T-shirt.  Her bra followed and he started to touch her.  Then her shorts and underwear were off before she knew the difference.  The whole time she was trying her hardest to fight him, and the urgent need to pass out.

          He pushed her to the ground and started removing his clothes.  She tried to get up but he bent over and picked up a stone about the same size as his fist.  "Lay down or you will regret it," he threatened, holding the rock over her.  All her kicks and punches seemed to do nothing.

          "Why are you doing this?" she managed to question.  Her breath was ragged and burning in her throat.

          "You're mine.  That simple."

          "No, I'm not," she said and started to raise her head up.  She felt the stone hit the side of her skull.  The sharp pain made her dizzy and her head fell back down to the ground.  Warm liquid started to drip down her face and she looked to find the blood forming a small puddle around her.  She looked up at him and her head began to spin wickedly. His sick smirking smile was the only thing she could see.  Then everything went black as she felt another sharp pain in her head.  Soon, though, it was numbed, as she was lost in all darkness.

          She couldn't remember anything after that until she opened her eyes to find those of her attacker staring back.  "Calm down, Meggie," he whispered.  Macen was the only one who called her Meggie.  She searched his face for the one difference that Codie and Macen had, a mole on Macen's left temple.  Codie had it removed.  His had been on the right side.  They were mirror image twins.  When she saw the mole, she felt so much relief.  "Are you okay?" he asked.

          She couldn't say no, all she could manage to do was cry.  "Don't tell anyone," she pleaded.  "Please, I don't want anyone to know."

          "Meggie," Macen said with a strong accusing tone, "What did he do to you?"

          She looked up out of shock.  "You saw?"

          "I saw Codie running from here.  Before, I saw him leave with you from the beach.  I grabbed the blanket that we were all sitting on and came out here.  Did he..." Macen closed his eyes.  "Did he touch you?"

          She looked down and found the blanket wrapped around her.  She could also see that her clothes were spread out between the two hedge walls.  She couldn't do anything but nod.

          "That bastard!  I am going to...fucking kill him!"  He grabbed a stone from the ground and got ready to throw it, but stopped with it over his head.  He brought it down by his face and looked at it.  He could see the blood on it.  The blood he was touching with his hand.  "He hit you with this, didn't he?"  He watched as she nodded.  "Meggie, I am so sorry."  He dropped the rock and picked up her scattered clothes.  Then he grabbed her arm gently and helped her up.  "I'm taking you home.  Then we are going to the hospital."

          "No," she begged.  "Please, I am already...so...humiliated."

          "Did he rape you?"  Macen asked.

          Her body was shaking and her heart racing.  She was so sore she didn't know if her body had been invaded or not.  "I don't know,” was all she could manage to mutter.

          "Meggie," she heard bringing her back from her memory.  She saw Macen peering down at her.  She also felt something wet and cold against her forehead.  "How are you feeling?" he asked moving the washcloth off her face.

          "I remembered...it came back again," she whispered choking back the tears.  "Codie...everything.  Why does it keep doing this...why do the memories keep coming back?"  He gathered her into his arms and held her there and she cried. 

          "Honey," he whispered softly.  "They come because they are part of your life, now, sweetheart.  And if I could change it I would."  He smiled at her.  Ever since that night, three months ago, he had been by her side every step of the way.  They had become very close.  More so than just friends, now.  "If it had been me...I would have been gentler and we would have waited until you were ready.  I swear it, Meg.  I'd turn back the hands of time if I could.  I hate seeing you hurt like this."  He paused.  "When I stopped in at the mansion Leigh said that you weren't feeling well.  What's wrong?  Do you have a tummy ache?" He asked in a childish voice trying to cheer her up.

          "Do you really want to know my symptoms, Doctor Haskelway?"  He nodded smiling.  "Let's see...I am extremely tired.  I'm nauseated and vomiting.  I'm not really hungry.  I have a small headache.  I am dizzy, crabby, and my jeans are tight."

          Macen couldn't help but to laugh.  "And this means..."

          "That I have the flu and I'm getting my curse," she said rolling her eyes.

          Macen's face seemed to fall.  "Meggie...I hate to pry in the personal department, but when was the last time you had your," he paused.  "Curse?"

          "See the calendar on the wall in the kitchen?" She asked pointing towards the kitchen.

          "Yes."

          "Get up and look at it.  I mark the first day on the calendar with an x to help me predict the month after," she explained.  He flipped the calendar back to July...then June...then May...and then April.  "What are you doing?  Getting it all memorized so you can predict when to avoid me?"

          "Meg," he whispered.  "The last time you had one was in April.  The middle of April.  Which means that..."

          "What!  You're nuts," she shouted before he could finish.  She jumped up ran into the kitchen, almost tripping over her own feet, and looked herself.  She was shocked to find out that he was right.  With all the work that she had been doing she hadn't even noticed.  "I've skipped 3 months."  She looked up at him.  Her gray violet eyes were wide.  "What does that mean?"

          "I hate to tell you this but I think that we better get you a pregnancy test.  I don't like the idea of you carrying my evil twin's baby but...I think it's more likely that that is why you have been feeling so bad."  He said, wrapping his arms around her.  She started to cry.

          She hated doctor's offices.  They always reminded her of needles, pain, and death. "We could have just gotten a home pregnancy test," she whispered to Macen.

          "They aren't very accurate," he said.  "This way we'll know for sure."

          "I'm too scared.  What if I am?  What am I suppose to do?"  Meghan questioned.

          "Meghan Quinn?" the nurse asked.  Meghan stood and walked up to the nurse.  The nurse led her back to an area with a waiting room.  "The bathroom is to your left.  Go in there and urinate into one of the plastic cups found above the toilet.  Write your name on the cover and put it in the turnstile found on the wall.  Then you can have a seat in the waiting room, here, and wait for the results," the nurse explained, pointing across the hall to the empty room with eight chairs.

          Meghan stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.  "You should have told me that I'd have to pee into a cup.  I would have drank some water."  She whispered to herself after the door was locked and no one could hear her.

          A while later she sat in the waiting room biting her nails.  She kept thinking that she wasn't ready for a baby and how she didn't want it to be Codie's.  But she loved children and knew she could never kill a life growing inside of her...if there was one.

          "Meghan Quinn?"  A nurse asked, standing in the doorway.

          She looked up.  "Yes?"

          "Your pregnancy test came back positive.  So when you leave today make another appointment for your first prenatal visit."  The nurse handed her a slip and then said, "Congratulations."

          Meghan sat there for a second, numb.  She looked down at the little slip of paper the nurse had handed her for a good couple minutes.  Then stood and walked out to the appointment desk.  Her next appointment was made for the following week.

          "Meggie, what did the test come back as?" Macen asked.

          She looked at him and he could see the tears forming in her eyes.  "Positive," she whispered.

          He walked her to the car.

     He drove her to a small restaurant where he requested a quiet corner booth.  "Why did you drag me here?" she asked as they sat down.

          "We need to talk."

          "Talk about what?" she whispered sliding into the corner.   She put a hand to her nauseated belly.

          "About you, the baby," Macen paused and handed Meghan a menu.  "Me."

          Meghan rested the menu on the table in front of her and studied her surroundings.  The cafe had a cozy family atmosphere.  It was soft, warm, and inviting.  Her eyes were drawn from table to table.  Families, business meetings, dates all gathered in the friendly little restaurant.  Her gaze continued around the room until it finally stopping at Macen's blue gaze.  She looked into his eyes and saw love...and fear.

          "What about us?" she asked.

          "Well," he began, nervously running his fingers through his hair.  "I've been thinking.  You're pregnant."

          "So I've been told," Meghan commented dryly.

          "Don't," he said.  He was nervous enough.  He didn't need her being sarcastic.  He was having feelings that he'd never felt before.  There was only one way he knew to explain how he felt for her.  "You're pregnant.  My brother is responsible."

          "So?"

          "My twin brother.  Identical twin brother, and...."

          "What does that have to do with us?"  Meghan interrupted.  "You're nothing like..."

          "Would you let me finish?" He interrupted.  He ran his hand through his brown hair again.  She was watching him so intently and it was making him so much more nervous.  "He's my twin.  We have the same genes."  Macen paused.  He took a deep breath.  He looked directly into Meghan's eyes.  "Let me be the baby's father."

          Her eyes grew wide.  "You...what...the father...I...I...” She closed her mouth.  Her mind was racing and thoughts were blending into one another.

          "The way I see it, we have a nice relationship starting between us despite the fact of what my brother did...and I'm sure you think of it every time you look at me.  Codie has done this before.  He wouldn't be a good father and I would.  I may not be the best choice but at least this way it can never be proven differently.  And if our relationship doesn't work...I will not abandon this child.  The baby will be mine heart and soul.  I'm not doing this because I feel that I have to either.  I am doing this because I want to.  Ever since I first saw you those many months ago...my heart has only wanted you, I was just too shy to tell you.  I just didn't know how to explain it.  Now I do."  He paused and looked down at his hands then reached up and ran them through his hair.  Then he reached over and took her hand in his, softly stroking her soft skin.  "I'm trying to say that I love you, Meggie.  I have never felt like this for anyone else.  If you don't feel the same...let me know."  He took a deep breath and stroked the hand he held in his softly.  "Honey, if you feel even a little of what I feel in my heart and soul, then I think we should give this a chance.  I think we could at least try to make this work."  He looked at her waiting for a reaction, but the waitress came to take their orders. 

          "Everything is happening so fast."  She whispered, after the waitress had walked away.  "Macen...I don't know what to say,” she paused.  "I don't know what I can say right now."  Her heart was racing so fast.  It felt like it would either burst or suddenly stop completely. "This whole year has been so bad."

          Macen reached across the table and touched her other hand and drew both of her hands together.  Then he saw the tears building up.  "Do you want to tell me about it?"

          She looked into his eyes and saw the concern that he felt.  Along with the love.  He did love her, she realized.  She lowered her eyes as she began.  "My father died from the results of a car crash in early January."  She began.  "He died almost exactly a year after my mother."

          "Meggie, I'm sorry."

          "She died after giving birth to my last sister.  The baby survived only a few hours after my mom.  Throughout my life I have lost 10 brothers and sisters.  4 before me, 6 after.  The only one who survived past a few months was my brother.  He was born a few weeks before my seventh birthday.  Brandon lived until the Christmas after his fourth birthday.  She had three other pregnancies after Brandon.  Two while Brandon was alive.  The last one, though, is what killed her.  She developed severe Eclampsia and she died, as several of her organs failed her, while the baby entered the world.

          "My father was hit by a drunk driver head on.  He died in the hospital shortly after.  He made one of the nurses write me a note...saying..." she paused. "That he loved me.  He died before I got there.

          "The rest of it you pretty much know," she said as a single tear broke free and ran quickly down her cheek.

          "I won't ever leave you.  Meggie, unless you want me to," he whispered.  "I swear."  He took her hand and brought it up to his mouth placing a kiss on her knuckles.  "Marry me, Meggie.  Marry me and give this," he paused.  "Us, a chance."

McCrady Manor: Blood Curse - Prologue

 PROLOGUE

          The woman pushed her long silver hair behind bent shoulders, then lit the row of small candles lining the overhang of her old roll top desk.  She sat gracefully, gently spreading the white lace nightgown across her knees.  Flickering light and shadows played across the desk as she coaxed open the top and lit the large candle sitting in its left side. 

          She felt for the catch hidden in the desk's intricate hand-carved pattern of Celtic knots and crosses with delicate fingertips.  Finding it, she pressed firmly and released the door hidden in the carvings.  She reached into the opening beneath the desk's writing surface and pulled out a large leather-bound book in which she had painstakingly recorded memories since the age of seventeen.  Seventy-one years later, she was still writing in the same book, at the same desk, in the same room.  The distinct smells of floral and leather, pages as crisp as during her teen years, recalled her innocence and youth.  Now the book was almost full, she herself nearly finished, and it held more secrets than innocence. 

          Slowly she paged through the volume, stopping here and there to read a page, an entry, a memory.  It was nearing completion, only a few pages remaining blank, but there were still things that needed to be recorded.  Most of what she knew had been set down over the years; yet there was more to be told, more she wanted to say.  So much more that needed to be revealed to the one who would someday find it.  She had to finish quickly for she knew her time was coming soon.  She didn't know exactly when, but she knew it was near.  She wasn't worried, for her life had been long and well lived and her nephew was near eighteen and well able to care for himself.

          She indulged in thoughts of him for a moment.  So young, yet he was already so in love with the woman who would become his other half.  His angelic voice and firm determination would bring him success.  He would bring home the three; the ones that they had chosen to give up, the three that they tried to save.  It didn't work, though none knew except for her.  She couldn't bear to tell anyone that the curse was still there, longing for the life that it needed to steal, lingering in the shadows and exploiting the dark.  There were few left to tell, for everyone else was gone while she remained, though only for a while longer.  Her nephew, the three children that had been given up and the one taken away would need to know.  She didn't know if those four children were healthy or even alive, though she felt it true.  A tear slid from her eye, trailing down her aged cheek. She let it fall and soak into her nightshirt. 

          Picking up the pen, she began to write her last thoughts in the final pages of the book.  Evening twilight and the glow of the full moon spilled through the tower window, augmenting the candlelight.  She gazed up at the moon for a moment and thought of her Moon, her lost Moon.   Her Moon would find the book.  She had seen it, in a dream.       

Short Story: Hall of Life Choices (©1996)

The Hall of Life Choices

 I float down the dimly lit hall, a large decision ahead of me.  It is time for me to choose who I am.  It is time for me to be.  You see, I am about to be born. 

As I near the first door His words echo around me.  "After you pass a life, you cannot return to it.  You must choose...quickly.  You must decided on the certain thing you will know once the door is opened."

The first door to my right opens and before me I see a couple.  A man and wife, both in their mid-thirties.  She sits in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth.  Her dark hair is short and frames her face.  Her blue eyes are watching the man carefully.  He is pacing the hospital waiting room.  He wants this to be over with.  He raises his hands and rakes them through his light brown hair.  His brown eyes darting from the window to her large stomach. 

I would be a boy.  I'd be given the name Kristopher Damen.  I'd be born with dark hair and eyes.  My first word would be "funny."  I would be one of many children, four would follow close behind me.  I would play soccer and be in the school band playing drums.  I'd become a lawyer and marry at the young age of nineteen.

The man, a factory worker.  The woman, a teacher.  He'll start drinking in a few years.  Then she'll start "falling down stairs."

I close the door and move on.

The next door to my left opens.  Inside is a young girl of eighteen.  Her long red hair falls halfway down her back in curls.  She has sad smoky gray eyes.

When she had decided to sleep with her boyfriend, the man she thought she loved....and did, dearly, in a way....she had no idea that a baby would be the outcome.  The minute her boyfriend found out she was pregnant, he left her with the short phrase.  "It won't work with a baby."

I'd be born a girl, the spitting image of the teenager.  She'll name me Breanna Leigh.  My first word would be "flower" and I would be the light of my mother's eyes.  She'll love me with all her heart.

Once I get old enough I will help with the shop my mother will open in a few years, and later take the business over.  We'd be the best of friends.  Life would be simple, but full of love, hope, and dreams that come true.

I know that if I close the door, I can't return to it.  It seems like such a wonderful life.  Though I am curious about what else there is for me.  I close the door and move on. 

The next door to my right opens.  I peer inside and see a woman laying on a hospital bed. 

 Many different monitors are connected to her body.  She is dying, but determined to bring her baby into the world first.  The man sitting next to her has tears running down his face.  He still prays that God not take his wife, but if He does, he'll love that baby with his all.  He'll give her everything she could dream of. 

I'd be born early and be in the hospital for a few weeks, but I'd survive.  The woman, on the other hand, would die shortly after the doctors remove me from her belly.

I'd be given the name Jessalyn Faith.  I’d have a gift, a natural artist like my mother.  I'd have flowing blonde hair and haunting violet eyes, like my mom.  I'd be a good student and a singer in the church choir.

My father would take good care of me and love me with all his heart.  He'd remarry in five years to a nice woman whom would give him more children.

The story is too sad.  I have to move on.  I close the door.  

The next door to my left opens.  I look inside to find a dark haired woman huge with the life inside her.  She wears an elegant red silk gown.  Her face red with anger.  Her mouth moves quickly forming words.  She is mad because she had gone into labor in the middle of an opera she was attending.  The man sat there listening to her ranting.  His head hung down, yet he looked calm, as if he were use to her outbursts of madness.

They think that they are having a boy, but they will get a surprise when they receive a girl.  I'd be given the name Alexandra Hope.  I'd have black hair, like my mother, and blue eyes, like my father.  I'd do well in school because it would be expected of me.  I'd be popular since I would be one of the richest girls in school.

My mother would only see me when it is convenient.  At the age of seven I'd be sent away to boarding school where I would spend my childhood and grow into an adult.  My two older sisters would be there with me, and my younger brother would be across the lake from us.  
No one in this family is happy.  Not one...

I close the door and move on.

The next door opens and I peer in.  I see a woman who has a lot of love in her heart.  Love for the baby she is about to bring into the world and for the man who helped make the baby.  He's out of the picture right now.

I'd be born a boy.  She'd name me James Conlin, after my father.  The man who would soon reenter my life.  He'll come see me after I'm born, and bring my mom flowers and an apology.  I'd be a musician.  Given the talent of voice.  It would be called "The voice from Heaven."  God's gift to me.

I feel that there is still something better for me, so I close the door and move on.

The next door to my left opens.  Inside I see darkness.  A haunting ebony.  The only light comes from above the woman standing in the back of the room.  I can barely see her.  Then I hear her speak, her words, soft music to me.  "I know that you can't understand this, but it's really the only choice I have.  I can't raise you because I'm afraid I'll abuse you like I was."  She says as she rubs her rounded belly.  "I will make sure that you go to a wonderful family and that they will love you like nothing else.  They can give you things that I cannot.  But you will always be in my heart and not a day will go by that I won't think of you, my little baby."

All I know is that I'd be born a girl and given up for adoption.  Nothing else comes to me.
This isn't the life I want.  I move after closing the door.

There are two doors left at the end of the hall.  The door to my left opens first and I look in.  I see a woman and a man.  She is a rich woman in money.  The man, on the other hand, is rich in love.  He will love his baby, she will not.  There is jealousy in her brown eyes.  She already knows that he never loved her, only used her to get the baby he wanted.

I'd be a boy born into money and lies.  Both my mother and father will use me to get to the other.  Already I can't stand it....

I close the door with a slam.

The last door is before me.  I am afraid to open it.  I'm afraid that I will receive the worst life yet to see.  I'm afraid...

The door opens and before me I see a loving couple expecting their first child.  They are excited and can't wait to hold the screaming baby in their arms.  The doctors had informed them, though, that there was a complication.  My heart is underdeveloped.  I may not survive....

I'll be born a girl, with the name Kirsten Eve.  I will live... at least to early childhood.  I cannot see past that.  My parents will love and support me through operations and a transplant.  They won't want me to die, but if that should happen they will be grateful for the time they had to love me and all the wonderful memories that will fondly be remembered.

I accept...this is my life...the life I accept.

A white light appears at the other end of the hall, I turn and run to it.  The closer I get the more I forget about all that I saw through the door.  All the lives quickly disappear from my mind....including the one I accepted.  Will I be a boy or a girl?  Will I have two parents or just one?  Will I like my life?  Will I be loved?  Will I be born okay...


The light is all around me but I cannot see.  I'm cold and feel wet.  Something sharp and hard touches me.  Something else is put into my mouth and touches the back of my throat.  Someone yelled, "It's a girl!"

That's it, I really don't like this!  I take a deep breath and make a shrilling sound that scares me but the sound keeps coming.  I start to move whatever I can.  Someone help me.  Someone... I'm being lowered onto something.... or should I say someone.  My mother.  She holds me close to her.  I can smell her.  She checks for ten fingers and ten toes.  A small laugh passes her lips.  "She's beautiful," she whispered close to my ear.  

"Yes, she is," a deep voice agrees.  Then I feel a set of lips kiss my forehead.  Is that you Dad?

I realized that I stopped making that sound.  I feel safe and happy.  I know whatever happens, I'll be okay. 

© 1996 - ANNISSA Y,   (MoonNStarMommy@gmail.com)
DO NOT SHARE WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE ABOVE PERSON!!  
This is copyrighted.

Article: Surviving Special Needs (©2011)

Surviving Special Needs

By Annissa Yahnke  © 2011

It’s funny, some days, how people perceive you.  Some days, people look at you like you gave birth to a monster, and others, people feel the need to tell you how strong you are.   What they don’t understand is being a parent of a child with special needs has nothing to do with strength.

            I personally dislike the phrase “special needs.”  Every person has a few special needs, a certain type of bottled water they prefer, the need to feel superior, or just those who enjoy not being noticed.   They are all special needs an individual has to cope with feeling comfortable.   My children, they are unique!

            My middle two boys are my medical miracles.  I have one child born with a rare disorder called Mosaic Trisomy 16, and was only one pound twelve ounces when he was born.  The Doctors, I was told later, pretty much had no hope of him having any quality of life.  However, he is 9 years old now and proved them all wrong.  Does he have hurdles?  Of course he does, but nothing like they tried to make me believe he would.  Then my 3 year old came along and he has what seems like a never ending list of medical stuff going on, from Autism, to missing part of his brain, to having a type of dwarfism, and more.  The thing I hear the most:

YOU ARE SO STRONG!

            Yeah, not so much!  It has nothing to do with my strength.  It has more to do with supporting my children and being there for them.  Doing everything that needs to be done to make sure they have a good life.  Having a wonderful support system, and finding outlets for myself and my family to create a type of normality.   Most of all, it comes right down to love.  LOVE is the key to it all, you’ll do anything for love.

            Most parents of kids with unique issues would give anything to trade places with them, to protect them from the pain, and let them live in the innocence that most children get to experience in whole.   Most of us don’t break down until we’re behind closed doors, because we don’t want our children to see how much it affects us, because it’s not about us.  All parents just want to protect their children.   Unfortunately, those of us who have unique kids, we have to sit back and watch them go through things no child should have to.  We have to be their biggest cheerleader, their support, their parent, their friend, and sometimes their nurse.

            So what about us parents?  How can we survive all this and not just fall apart.  It’s all about a few key things.
•         Trusted Doctors
•         Wide Support System of Family & Friends
•         Taking some ME Time.

And when one of those things isn't in place, everything just feels off balance, so it is important to find that balance.

            If you don’t like your doctor, keep looking!  We have gone through a few that we didn’t like, but for the most part, we have found a lot of wonderful people in the medical field.  Having that support system is very important.  Family, Friends, Church, even strangers will come up and offer help, there is nothing wrong with taking it!  It is sometimes hard to do, but you will need to take it.  Practice saying YES, instead of NO … followed with “we are doing okay.”   It’s okay, to not be okay!  Finally, finding some time for yourself is usually the hardest.  I know I’ve gone days where I don’t eat and it suddenly dawns on me when I’m not feeling well at the end of the day.  It’s hard to take time for us when our children needs us so much.  Read a book, take a bath, play on Facebook, find something that is selfish and just for you, for at least twenty minutes every day.  Even if it’s after your kids go to bed, and making yourself take the time before you go to bed.

            The last thing I suggest is starting a blog.  It may not be for everyone, but I suggest it mostly so you can get out some of those pent up feelings that you don’t want to let out, because it’s not good to hold that stuff in.  It can be a private blog, for just your eyes, or a very public one where you share it with family and friends to keep them updated.  If writing is not your thing, that’s fine.   Just do it for yourself, most of you will find it therapeutic.  Who cares if no one but you reads it, you aren’t doing it for readers, you are doing it for yourself.   If you go public with it, it’s also a great way to get awareness out about your child’s medical issue.  Even if you go public, you don’t have to use names, or locations.  Give your family a cute nickname, call each of your kids something else.  Information you share is up to you.   And there are places of support for bloggers for Unique Families.   It’s always nice to be able to talk to other families who understand a little, or a lot, on what you and your family might be going through.

            Most of all, take time to capture memories with your children.  Photos, mementos, maybe even start a scrapbook.  It’s amazing how fast they grow up, how much they change, and it’s wonderful to sit back some nights and just take a walk down memory lane.

            Our children are everything to us.  It’s amazing how, once they are born, it’s not about us anymore, it’s all about them.