Chapter 15
Killarney, Ireland, 1847
The pain shooting through Aaron’s body was agonizing. Though it tended to radiate through his limbs most of the time, there were moments when his stomach muscles contracted so tightly, he thought he might pass out from the pain. Likewise, he’d had a throbbing headache for the last several weeks, and each time he moved he felt like his cranium might split in half.
The Transformation process had begun nearly three months ago, and though it had started off with just the uncomfortable shooting pains in his limbs and soreness in his muscles, with each passing day it grew more unbearable to the point that he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it.
Despite the anguish, he had work to do, and so he pushed through the pain each day from sunup to sundown, getting us much work done on the farm as he could, though he knew he would’ve managed so much more if he’d only been pain free.
Kian was also in severe pain, though it didn’t seem to Aaron that he was suffering quite as much. Early on, his complaints were minimal. Then, a month or more in, he’d spent a few days in bed, much to Shannon’s chagrin. Now, his aches seemed to be lessening, though Aaron was not experiencing that himself. His friend’s symptoms tapering off gave him hope that this would get better for him soon, as well, if he just managed to make it through the worst of it.
Aislyn had no idea what was happening. On the way back from their discussion with Ward, Aaron and Kian had decided not to tell their wives. Since neither of them could Transform, they didn’t see the point. Shannon was likely to make fun of them and blabber all over the village about her husband’s and his friend’s crazy ideas. And if they couldn’t tell Shannon, they couldn’t tell Aislyn because that both seemed unfair and they couldn’t trust Aislyn not to tell Shannon. The pair had become quite close since they were fairly isolated now without a lot of other women to talk to.
Each evening when Aaron came in from the field, Aislyn would have a warm bath drawn for him, which helped with the aches in his muscles. She urged him to go into the village and see a physician or a midwife, but he played it off as if he was just sore and tired from moving too many heavy boulders and digging in the rocky ground. While he could see the concern in her eyes, she let it be. She did her best to take care of him and it was her love that got him through the roughest part.
Finally, nearly four months after he and Kian had destroyed the Vampires, the pain started to subside, and Aaron began to feel like his old self again.
Except for he knew he was not his old self. He was much stronger, much faster. He could run great distances quickly without tiring. Often, he realized he was moving so quickly, he had to consciously slow himself so that Aislyn and others wouldn’t realize something was different. His mind also seemed to work differently. He noticed greater detail in his surroundings. Animals sounded different. He could see further and more clearly. No, he definitely was not the Aaron McReynolds he used to be, but what to do with these newfound skills eluded him. For now, he chose to continue to farm his land, check on his mother and granddad, and love his wife. If he was meant for anything more than that, fate would have to intervene.
The little girls were now part of the gang of Vampires that struck the village each night, and whenever Aaron traveled into town, he heard stories of their merciless slaughters. Their mother had been right to fear them; they returned that very night for her, but rather than claim her as their own, they were greedy and took too much. A neighbor discovered her body the next morning.
Ward’s trip was taking longer than Aaron anticipated. He had several questions now he wished to ask the other Guardian, but without his presence, he wasn’t sure where to turn for assistance. He’d mentioned there were others who might be able to help, but Aaron didn’t know who they were, and if they were truly aware of his existence the way Ward had alluded to, then they should be approaching him—but they weren’t. Nor were they doing anything to destroy the girls.
Kian was also more distant. They often traveled to town together and spoke briefly while working in their plots, but the secret they held had strained their relationship, and while he still considered Kian his best friend in the world—next to Aislyn—things had certainly changed. Anytime he mentioned to Kian his concern over the children, he quickly changed the subject. Clearly, he still did not want to consider hunting them down. Aaron felt that, since Kian was the Hunter, he should be the one to initiate such activity, and he would go along to keep him safe. He wasn’t sure why he felt that way, but it seemed to be part of this new intuition he had, and so he was willing to accept it.
For the last few weeks, Kian had mentioned that Shannon was not feeling well, that she was acting odd. The two of them still were not getting along all that well, and Aaron dismissed much of what he said, assuming it was just Kian deciding his wife was sick instead of angry. However, when he showed up one fall afternoon saying that she was so ill she couldn’t get out of bed, Aaron became genuinely concerned, and Kian called for the midwife.
Aaron knew that not all people who were taken changed over night; sometimes it took weeks or months for them to indicate to family members that something wasn’t right. Sometimes they even managed to fool those they lived with for a time before their new disturbing nature revealed itself. While Aaron feared that Shannon may have been infected, Kian nursed her, and Aaron kept a close eye on Aislyn, hoping she had not spent much time with Shannon recently.
