The End

Chapter Nine

“We’ll be going in on both sides and the back.” Helushka explained a few years later in the tipi to all the warriors including our son who was already grown thanks to Helushka’s vampire change. I was holding our newest daughter and Posala had our other two with her. Both of them were also grown but Shimasani and I were the only women allowed in the room. I turned my head from Ciqala but it wasn’t enough to hide the image of eagerness that was impounded in my brain so I walked out pretending that I needed to get something for Mika. I walked straight to Posala’s tipi and into it.

“Is it already over we were expecting it to take many more hours?” Catori, my oldest daughter, asked.

“No I just wanted to give you Mika so you could hold her. I don’t want her in there after all.” I shook my head.

“I’ll walk with you back to the tipi.” Posala automatically agreed and I was glad her husband wasn’t there to stop her because he would’ve. She had married a nice man that turned more evil with each child they lost.

“Thank you.” I whispered.

“It’s killing you to be in there isn’t it?” she asked.

“Something bad is going to happen during this war. I have a feeling.”

“Why haven’t you told Helushka?”

“I have he and Shimasani both say it’s just my over reactive visions after giving birth acting out since there’s going to be a war. He says it’s natural that I’m mixing vision with worries right now.”

“Are you though?” she whispered outside the tipi.

“I don’t think so.” I shook my head with a tear rolling down my cheek and then I walked into the tipi again. Helushka looked over at me an hour later and saw the tears.

“We’ll continue practice this afternoon after dinner.” Helushka told everybody knowing that it was all just too much for me to handle. “We leave day after tomorrow.” He dismissed everybody and I left first so that nobody would see that I had started crying during the meeting especially Ciqala. “Are you going to be okay?” Helushka whispered coming into the tipi a couple minutes later.

“It’s not my worries, Helushka.” I whispered, “Something horrible is going to happen if you go along with this battle. You can’t win against the whites.”

“They’re on our land. We have the right to defeat them.” He shook his head.

“You have the right to kill yourselves in the process!!!!!” I yelled knowing that the whole tribe would hear.

“Nobody will die.” He shook his head.

“Nobody human.” I whispered looking away and telling him the true reason I wanted the battle stopped, “The people you are trying to defeat are vampire hunters. In my vision you fail and…”

“I die.” I shook my head. “Who dies?” I shook my head again refusing to say the names. “If our children died in your vision I deserve to know!!!!!!” he yelled at me.

“Everybody in our family died but me in my vision!!!!!!” I screamed collapsing. “All because you had to point them in the direction of us!!!!! If you insist on having this stupid battle I’m leaving!!!!!!!!! I’m not going to sit around and watch all of you die… I can’t, Helushka… I just can’t…” I begged him as the tears started to drowned me.

“We both know now that I know they are going to come after my family I have to go and kill them.” He whispered holding me close. “I will not allow Hania to come, though. I will come back safely and then we’ll be able to be safe.” He promised, “Just please promise me you’ll stay.”

“You’ll be careful and you’ll do it in the dead of the night so that you only kill the vampire hunters?” I whispered.

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll stay.”

“Thank you.” He smiled kissing me softly and then the kiss went deeper and I just held onto him until he pulled away. “I’ll go talk to Hania.”

“I’ll go get the girls so we can fix dinner.” I nodded kissing him again and suddenly our plans changed as my dress came off and his hands ran over me. “Ummm…” I sighed as he kissed me once more before leaving the tent. I watched him stop by Posala’s and get the girls and I smiled realizing he’d wanted to save me the trip.

“Yes Shima?” Halona, my last child, asked.

“It’s time to start dinner.” I nodded.

“Is Nosh eating here?” Catori asked.

“Of course why wouldn’t he be?”

“When other families Nosh’s and Shima’s are fighting their Nosh doesn’t eat with them.” Ciqala explained.

“Your Shima and I aren’t fighting though.” Helushka explained.

“Sure sounded like it.” Halona mumbled.

“Watch your mouth.” Helushka and I both said at the same time.

“And as all the tribe knows we did argue but… even though you all three know I don’t condone talking about others in the tribe… we made up unlike some of your friends parents do so now we will all end this discussion and finish dinner and have a nice family meal.” I explained with Helushka’s arms around me.

“You heard her. Catori… Halona… come help your Shima with dinner. Hania, why don’t you take Mika for a little bit and play with her?” Helushka got them all moving. They might be adults in their mind and physically but sometimes they still had the attitudes we’d had as teenagers.

“Thank you.” I smiled up at him.

“Anything.” He promised, “Plus you’ll thank me later.” He smiled suggestively and I felt a cold chill of desire run down me. I tilted my head up and kissed his still bent lips to tell him just how much I wanted to. He turned me in his arms to hold me closer enjoying the kiss as much as I did.

“Gross!!” Our kids started to yell though and he pulled away remembering they were in the main tipi with us.

“One kiss is plenty.” Posala said coming in.

“Posala!!” I yelled running to her and hugging her.

“Wow you’re in a good mood.” She smiled, “You haven’t been this good since Helushka announced….” I frowned and suddenly the good mood disappeared.

“Shima?” Hania asked.

“Yes?”

“I just wanted to let you know I won’t be going with Nosh to help fight the vampire hunter I want to stay here and wait for the next battle. I want to stay and protect my family.” He assured me with a hug.

“Thank you, Ciqala.” I whispered.

“I can only stay out of so many battles. Why didn’t you just check to see if I’d be okay?” he asked and I realized that Helushka had been unable to tell him that if he went to this battle he and all his siblings would die.

“I just had your sister you know my visions are faulty. Your life is too much for me to bargain on.” I whispered but looked into Helushka’s guilty eyes to let him know I understood. Posala saw the exchange though and knew I’d had another vision and this one had been worse. I held onto my son harder and longer for another minute and for the first time in a year he just let me not worrying over whether any girl saw me or anything. He just wanted to comfort me and make me relax.

“I love you, Shima.” He promised when I finally let go.

“I love you too, Ciqala.” I whispered sitting at the fire.

“Since you do will you tell me the other part that Nosh apparently didn’t tell me. I know you saw something that made it where you were able to convince him to take me out. You don’t breakdown like that over worries. What did you see, Shima? I promise I can take it.” He asked. I looked beside me at Helushka and he nodded telling me that he deserved to know.

“You know you were supposed to fight vampire hunters.” I whispered, “Vampire hunters don’t know that you even exist though. They don’t know that people like you and your sisters are out there. You can act human or act vampire and that’s dangerous to them. In my vision…” I trailed off tears falling as I looked at all of my children the last being my baby.

“What Mika even?” Hania asked and his voice told me he was already connecting my vision together.

“Yes the vampire hunters even got Mika. I was the last…”

“She was the last one left in your family. She stood alone as a vampire.” Shimasani finished for me even the part I hadn’t told Helushka.

“That’s why you’ve been so sick off and on. You’re changing and only have Helushka.” Posala whispered refusing to even comment on the bad parts.

“That’s what we think.” I nodded.

“Also why they are growing up so fast.” Shimasani nodded.

“Are we not mentioning the fact that in her vision we were all dead?” Catori asked.

“No.” I shook my head, “Your nosh has it solved. Ciqala is staying here to help me protect you if anything goes wrong. You all know how to fight if you are attacked alone. I will always have Mika because I was the one left alive.”

“No.” Helushka shook his head, “I’ll have Mika. You need to be able to fight better whoever has her is unable to fight.”

“And I am the only one that doesn’t need to fight.”

“You’re the one that’s protecting the children tomorrow.”

“Helushka please I can’t have you defenseless.”

“I’m not letting you go defenseless.”

“I’ll take Mika.” Posala interrupted my begging. I hadn’t told anybody about my vision of her yet and I knew that I wasn’t supposed to keep visions to myself but it was obvious somebody was feeding information.