Vengeance in Blood (Book 2): Tribulations Read online

The dogs suddenly froze and spun around. They jumped away from Besseta and Kenneth with Bonnie standing in front of Besseta and Clyde in front of Kenneth, and they started growling and barking at Tiffany. The hair on their backs was standing up as they viscously barked at her, even darting forward then bouncing back, trying to scare the predator they smelled away.

  This was the barking Tiffany always heard as she looked at the two dogs with tears running down her face with a longing that really hit Kenneth in the gut. He jumped up. “Bonnie, Clyde, that’s enough!” he snapped. The dogs ignored him and kept barking. Besseta got up and reached for Bonnie, but Kenneth stopped her. “Don’t,” he said. “They think Tiffany’s here to hurt us.”

  Besseta looked at the door and saw the tears and longing on Tiffany’s face. “She won’t hurt us,” Besseta said.

  “I know that, baby, but they are dogs, not people,” Kenneth told her. “Let me handle this, and you follow my lead. If you pick them up, you are taking away their means of attack and ability to run.” He looked at Besseta to make sure she understood, and she finally nodded. “BONNIE, CLYDE!” Kenneth bellowed, stomping his foot. The dogs jumped, shutting up, and even Besseta jumped back. Tiffany never moved, looking at the two dogs.

  Walking in front of the dogs, Kenneth put his hands on his hips and looked down at them. “Be nice!” he snapped, and they looked up at him in what Kenneth took to be shock. The dogs smelled danger, but Daddy wanted them to be nice. “Sit,” Kenneth snapped, and both dogs sat down, giving off low growls. “I’m not kidding!” Kenneth shouted, and the growling stopped, but the hair on their backs was still standing up.

  “Besseta,” Kenneth said in a low voice. “Go over and kneel beside Tiffany, and put your arm over her shoulder, then I’ll do the same on the other side.”

  Smiling, Besseta walked over to Tiffany, and the dogs jumped up, growling. “Sit!” Kenneth barked, and they both slowly sat as Momma kneeled beside the predator. When Besseta put her arm over Tiffany, both dogs jumped up, growling, ready to defend Momma. “Easy,” Kenneth told them in a low, calm voice.

  Bonnie and Clyde both calmed down, not understanding why the predator wasn’t attacking Momma. Together, they both sat back down, not looking away from Besseta. “Good boy, good girl,” Kenneth said, bending down to give both some love. As he rubbed them, Kenneth could feel their muscles were tensed and hard as a rock. “Stay,” he said, standing up, and slowly walked toward Tiffany and Besseta.

  The dogs started to vibrate on the floor, growling as Daddy walked over to the predator. When Kenneth kneeled on the other side of Tiffany and put his arm around her, the dogs jumped up and growled again. “Be nice,” Kenneth snapped, and they stopped growling but didn’t sit down. Through all of this, Tiffany just looked at the dogs with tears pouring down her face. She barely registered Kenneth and Besseta beside her.

  “Besseta, slowly put your head on Tiffany’s shoulder,” Kenneth told her. “They need to see we aren’t afraid of her and trust her.” Slowly, Besseta laid her head on Tiffany’s shoulder, and both dogs cocked their heads to the side, almost making Kenneth laugh.

  “Tiffany,” Kenneth said, and she didn’t acknowledge him. “Tiffany,” he sang out louder, smiling at the dogs.

  “Yes.” She shook her head, and the dogs started growling, uncocking their heads. Kenneth just watched the dogs, impressed they knew what Tiffany was.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but the dogs think you’re going to hurt us, so Besseta and I are going to slowly love on you. Don’t make sudden moves,” Kenneth told her.

  “I won’t. I promise,” she said, blinking tears out of her eyes. “Will they let me touch them?”

  Kenneth chuckled. “Yes, when they see you aren’t a threat to us and are a friend.”

  “I can chop one of my hands off if that will help,” she offered, and Kenneth jumped, making both dogs growl again.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Kenneth assured her. “Besseta, I’m going to lay my head on Tiffany’s head, and you need to sweet talk them.”

  As Kenneth lowered his head, resting his cheek on Tiffany’s head, Besseta smiled at the dogs. “This is Momma’s friend, babies. You have to be nice so she can love on you so much,” she almost sang out. The growling stopped as the dogs watched and were clearly confused.

  “Tiffany, slowly put your arms around us, and Besseta and I are going to love on you,” Kenneth said in a low voice, slowly turning to Tiffany. The dogs jerked upon seeing Tiffany’s arms move. “Don’t!” Kenneth snapped at them.

  Bonnie and Clyde curled their lips, growling as Kenneth and Besseta hugged Tiffany. “You had to do this for Besseta?” Tiffany asked, still looking at the dogs with tears running down her face.

  “No,” Kenneth said, wrapping his arms around her with his hands on Besseta. He hugged them both to him tight. “I think they knew she loved me, and I loved her at first sight,” Kenneth admitted, and Besseta giggled.

  “Boy are they smart,” she said, wrapping her arms around Tiffany’s waist. “See, don’t you two want some love?” she sang out, looking at the dogs. The snarls left Bonnie and Clyde’s faces as they watched.

  Raising one arm, Kenneth started stroking Tiffany’s head. “Tiffany, they will be coming over soon. Don’t move toward them, or we have to start over, and it will take longer,” Kenneth instructed.

  “I won’t; I promise,” Tiffany said with a longing. “I can wait forever.”

  “Well I can’t,” Kenneth told her. “I have to pee,” he said, making them both chuckle.

  Hearing that, Bonnie and Clyde both relaxed and cocked their heads again. With trepidation, Bonnie eased forward, sniffing the air, and Clyde moved beside her. Kenneth could tell they were both ready to bite or run but wanted to check this weird predator out that Momma and Daddy loved.

  It took almost ten minutes, but they both eased up close, sniffing Tiffany’s dress. Clyde was the first to touch Tiffany with his nose, and Tiffany started to sob, and tears hit the floor as she looked down at him. Clyde jumped back, thinking he hurt this dangerous predator. Clyde looked at Bonnie, and Bonnie looked at him, neither understanding. Bonnie moved closer and looked up at Tiffany.

  Bonnie hung out her tongue and started panting at Tiffany, and Tiffany’s body shook more as she cried, fighting not to reach out. Kenneth unwrapped his arms from around the two girls. “I guess you two want some love?” he asked, looking down. Bonnie and Clyde both barked happily and bounced around and moved over, rubbing their heads on Tiffany’s thighs.

  Besseta reached down, loving on them. “Can Tiffany pet them now?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Kenneth said. “Let me go, Tiffany, and very slowly reach down with the hand around me and just hold it out. Don’t let go of Besseta though.”

  “Why shouldn’t she let go of me?” Besseta asked in a calm voice, rubbing the dogs as Tiffany slowly moved her arm from around Kenneth.

  “They love you and see you as the alpha female to be protected,” he said, watching Tiffany slowly hold out her hand. Bonnie moved over and Tiffany stopped holding out her hand. Sniffing Tiffany’s fingertips, Bonnie moved her head up to the palm. The sobs stayed with Tiffany but were now sobs of a long-held joy as she slowly caressed Bonnie.

  Seeing this, Clyde couldn’t take it and ran over, pushing Bonnie out of the way to get some love. “You can let Besseta go now and pet both of them,” Kenneth said, standing up. Besseta sat down, crossing her legs, and Tiffany followed suit as the dogs climbed up in her lap. Besseta smiled, reaching over to love on the dogs with Tiffany. Smiling, Kenneth turned and headed to the closest bathroom.

  “I’ve wanted this for almost four thousand years,” Tiffany sobbed, and Kenneth and Besseta froze.

  “What did you say?” Besseta asked with wide eyes.

  “I’ve tried hundreds of times, but no dog would ever come to me,” Tiffany said as her sobs slowly left, but tears of joy were still in her eyes. “I’ve paid other humans to try this, and it never worked.”<
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  “How long?” Besseta asked.

  “Almost four thousand years,” Tiffany said as Bonnie laid down on her lap and rolled over, exposing her belly. Tiffany slowly caressed her belly, and Clyde followed, just lying on the floor, rolling on his back.

  “Ahm,” Kenneth cleared his throat. “Ah Tiffany,” he said. “You mean to tell me you were around in the Bronze Age?”

  “That is what modern scientists call it, but there was more than bronze,” Tiffany said, smiling down at the dogs.

  Kenneth turned to Besseta. “I thought the oldest you met was only two thousand years old?”

  “I never asked Tiffany,” Besseta said, looking at Tiffany with wide eyes.

  For the first time, Tiffany took her eyes off the dogs as she looked up to Kenneth with a splotchy face. “I don’t know why, but Besseta never asked, and I never told her. I didn’t think she wanted to know, and I didn’t want to bore her.” She smiled and looked back down at the dogs.

  Feeling lightheaded, Kenneth just sank to his knees and dropped to his butt. “Whoa,” he mumbled.

  Tiffany looked up at Besseta. “Thank you for this more than you will ever know,” she smiled.

  “He did it. I didn’t.” Besseta smiled but was still in shock.

  “Did the dogs really just come up to you?” Tiffany asked, looking back down and loving on the dogs.

  “Pretty much,” Besseta admitted. “I was really worried about them. I could tell Kenneth really trusted and loved them. I didn’t know how I was going to get close to him, but Bonnie came over, and the rest is history. They never even barked at me.”

  Kenneth scoffed. “That was a first for them for anyone, much less a hot, sexy vampire,” he chuckled.

  “You loved Kenneth the first time you saw him, didn’t you?” Tiffany asked, picking up Bonnie and hugging her. Bonnie turned and licked the tears off Tiffany’s face.

  “Yes I did. I saw him weeks before he saw me, and I just didn’t admit it to myself,” Besseta answered, making Kenneth blush. Besseta saw it and asked, “Would you have let me stay with you if the dogs didn’t like me?” she asked.

  “Ah, truthfully,” he cringed, “no.”

  Besseta smiled. “I figured.”

  “Hey, that’s why I didn’t date much. Bonnie and Clyde didn’t like any women,” Kenneth said, getting up.

  Besseta moved closer to Tiffany and loved on the dogs. “They knew who their momma was, didn’t they?” she said, and the dogs lunged at her, licking her face. Kenneth laughed and trotted to the bathroom before he wet the floor.

  “Come on; let’s go to the kitchen and make sure they have some food,” Besseta said, getting up and holding out her hand for Tiffany. Reluctantly, Tiffany stood, grasped Besseta’s hand, and held it, following her into the kitchen.

  “I smell a human in your basement,” Tiffany said, walking into the kitchen.

  Besseta saw the empty dog bowls. “Aw, Momma’s babies ate all their food,” Besseta said and pointed over at the dog food. “Fill their bowls for them, Tiffany,” she said, letting her hand go. “Kenneth told me that was the fastest way to get the dogs to listen to me.”

  “Really?” Tiffany walked over to the dog food as Bonnie and Clyde bounced around her.

  “Yes.” Besseta smiled, seeing the joy on Tiffany’s face. “Yes, I have a guest downstairs. We’ve been getting information from him. Kenneth has been talking to him after I did.”

  Filling the bowls, Tiffany pointed out, “You don’t need to talk to them.”

  “True, but I can’t get them to think about what I want to know unless I ask,” Besseta said, walking to the refrigerator to fix some food for Kenneth. “Kenneth is very good at getting information and asking questions. With what we’ve learned from this one, I’m really worried about this group Manu Fortis.”

  Tiffany put the bag of dog food back and sat down on the floor with the dogs petting them as they ate. “Has Kenneth asked you yet?” Tiffany asked in a low voice.

  Stopping her work, Besseta turned around. “No, he doesn’t want to try.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” Besseta nodded, still hearing Kenneth in the bathroom. “He said he will wait on me but doesn’t want to become a vampire; he’s very adamant about it.”

  Looking back down to the dogs, Tiffany said, “He is a very remarkable person.”

  “Yes he is,” Besseta replied, hearing Kenneth leave the bathroom, as she started working on his food. Then she glanced over at Tiffany and the dogs and sighed.

  As he walked in the kitchen, Kenneth smiled, seeing Besseta talking to the dogs and Tiffany sitting beside the dog bowls. “Bonnie, your name starts with a ‘B,’ not a ‘C,’” she said, pointing at the bowls.

  “Dogs can learn the alphabet?” Tiffany asked in wonder.

  “They know their names, so they should know the difference in spelling,” Besseta reasoned, but Tiffany didn’t look convinced. “They are very smart,” Besseta pointed out.

  “Oh yes, pugs are a very smart, loyal breed. I like the modern version much more than the original pugs brought over from China,” Tiffany said, petting the dogs.

  “You know where pugs came from?” Besseta asked, shocked, as Kenneth walked over and put his arm around her.

  “I know all the breeds,” Tiffany said, not looking up. “I had a dog—it was just a dog, what today would be called a mutt—when I was little. The one who turned me killed it,” she said with tears again running down her face.

  Kenneth pulled Besseta close as Tiffany kept petting the dogs and continued in a soft voice. “I lived near Babylon in a small village. My best guess is I was about nineteen, and I can only narrow it down to 1978 B.C. to 1990 B.C. Calendars then only cared for seasons, not the number of years. My family was killed when I was around twelve by raiders. I escaped with my dog and lived in the wilderness. That area of the world then was lush and green. It looks nothing like it does now.”

  Besseta wrapped her arms around Kenneth, hugging him tight as Tiffany continued. “Hakka was my dog’s name. He was a great dog, protecting me, helping me hunt, and comforting me until the day he showed up at the cave we were living in. Hakka tried to protect me, but as you know, it was in vain. When the man killed Hakka, I lunged at him with a small knife. It was the only thing I was able to take from my house. The man laughed at me while he fed, and I knew he was edimmu. He then threw me down as I continued to curse him.”

  She looked up with sorrow and hate in her eyes. “He stood over me and said, ‘So, little one, you think you are a warrior. Let’s see if you really are.”

  Looking back down at the dogs, Bonnie and Clyde stopped eating as Tiffany continued to stroke them. “He bit his wrist and forced the blood in my mouth. I tried not to drink but was lightheaded. After a few minutes, he hit me on the side of the face. ‘If you are a warrior, I will see you again,’ he told me as he walked out of the cave. I don’t know how many days it took for the change, but it was a long time. I’m just guessing, but I think it was two weeks. I had drunk all my water in the cave, and Hakka was rotten when I finally was able to make it out of the cave to get some more water.” Tiffany stopped and wiped her face.

  “I buried Hakka’s remains then went looking for the man,” she continued. “It was several months later that I found out I could move things just by willing them to move.”

  Kenneth and Besseta just held each other as Tiffany petted the dogs, stopping her tale. Unable to take the suspense, Besseta asked, “Did you ever find the man?”

  “Oh yes,” she nodded. “His name was Idilu. I caught up with him in Egypt several hundred years later. I kept him alive for almost a decade,” she said with a hollow, evil grin. “It didn’t bring back Hakka, but he was avenged.”

  “What about the raiders who killed your parents?” Besseta asked.

  Shrugging, Tiffany said, “They were just raiders. It would’ve been like looking for one rock in a rock quarry.” Besseta took a breath to ask more but stopped, watching Ti
ffany with the dogs.

  “I tried so hard to get another dog,” she sobbed. “But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get one to come near me. I even tried wolves, but they were more vicious towards me.”

  Besseta looked up at Kenneth. “Well, I guess you can be their aunt, and they can be your babies as well,” she said, and Kenneth smiled.

  Looking up sharply, Tiffany gasped, “Really?”

  “Like I said, you have been the only friend I had,” Besseta told her. “But Kenneth is mine. I’ll share the babies but not the daddy.”

  Kenneth busted out laughing, picking Besseta up. “You’re the one I’ve waited on, Besseta,” he said, hugging her.

  “Just wanted to clarify,” Besseta said with her face buried in his neck.

  Tiffany jumped up and hugged both, picking up Kenneth, thereby picking up Besseta. “Thank you so much,” she sighed.

  “Tiffany, air,” Kenneth gasped, and Besseta lifted her head up to see Kenneth’s face turning blue.

  Tiffany put them down, and Kenneth almost dropped Besseta as he leaned back on the bar. “Damn, you women are strong,” he panted.

  “Sorry,” Tiffany said.

  “Ah, don’t worry about it,” Kenneth said, shaking it off. “Just don’t hug the dogs like that because they won’t understand,” he warned.

  “I will never hurt them and will only be gentle,” she assured him.

  “I know,” Kenneth said, standing up. “I’m going to take our guest some food,” he said and walked to the refrigerator.

  “I’ll have something ready when you get back,” Besseta told him as he walked out. Kenneth saw Tiffany’s bags in the doorway and set the food down and struggled to pull them inside. Grabbing the food, Kenneth closed the front door.

  Sitting back down by the dogs, Tiffany smiled. “You’ve done really well getting him.”

  “Yeah,” Besseta giggled, “I’m just glad the dogs liked me.”

  “Me too,” Tiffany agreed. The two sat and talked, then Besseta pulled out clothes for the dogs.

  They were playing with the dogs when Besseta noticed the sun was setting. She looked around the kitchen and saw the food still sitting on the bar. “What’s Kenneth doing still talking to that man?” she asked, getting up. She could only hear mumbling below her; it was several feet of rock under the basement and several feet of dirt under that before the dungeon started.