LEGIONS OF THE DARK (VAMPIRE NATIONS CHRONICLES) by Billie Sue Mosiman Page A
Authors: Billie Sue Mosiman
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it. That's how Mentor taught me how to move again.
Mentor had to go away.
"I know. That's why I'm here telling you stuff. Just concentrate on your toes, okay? Tell them they belong to you and you mean for them to work right again. You just can't get anywhere without toes."
She saws grin widen and knew he was trying for humor to urge her along in an easy way. Never mind that this was the most serious of endeavors. Never mind that it would determine whether or not she could ever return to the world again.
"Go ahead," he said, leaning over the bed to throw back the hem of her gown. He stared at her toes like a surgeon waiting to see if his operation had left her paralyzed or if she would recover feeling in her extremities. "Go on, move them. Think, Dell, put your spine into it. Think about moving your toes, then we'll get your feet moving. You've got to do this. It's the only way."
She knew he would not leave her alone unless she showed some sign of progress. She focused on her feet. She narrowed in on just the tips of her toes, imagining where they were, the dark copper nail polish she had used on them the day before, the way her second toe was longer than her big toe. There, she could visualize them now. Not bad feet, as feet went. Not too large, the skin smooth and tan from a summer swimming at the area pool.
She could move them if she wanted, that's what Eddie was saying. If she really wanted to move them, she could. It was all within reach. She had to exert her will for the first time in her life. She'd do it, she knew she could.
Move, she commanded.
She visualized first stretching and then clenching her toes. If they would move, she could consider herself on the road back to life. She must make them obey.
Move.
"That's it!" Eddie yelled, "it's working, you're doing it, I knew you could do it!"
MOVE.
Stretch. Clench.
MOVE!
Wriggle. She wanted them to wriggle, she wanted her toes to go crazy, she wanted them to dance like individual ballet stars. She wanted to do so well that Eddie would jump right out of his skin he'd be so happy for her.
She thought she could feel them moving now.
"Your ankles, concentrate, Dell. Twist your feet around from the ankle. You can do it. You have to do it, it's just a little more effort, a little more."
Dell saw her parents come into the room. They quietly approached the bed, and Eddie turned to them, grinning like a monkey. "She's coming back," he fairly shouted. "Dell's moving her feet."
Her mother brushed a hand across her cold brow. Dell could not yet blink, so she was able to see the fine lines in her mother's palm. It struck her now for the first time that her mother had borne both her children before the disease struck. Neither her mother nor her father had been a vampire yet. They'd taken an awful chance having children, knowing that later they might fall ill and both their offspring after them. How could her mother have had the courage to have a family? How had they ever made that decision?
Dell's father knelt beside the bed and took her lax hand into his own. "Come on, baby. Eddie's right. You have to move, or there will be marks on your skin where the blood has settled. They'll last a long time. You won't be able to go anywhere people can see you for a very long time. You have life. Now you have to animate the body before it's too late."
Dell tried, Lord have mercy, she was trying. She let go of all thoughts except those centered on her feet and legs. She visualized moving up her body, commanding it to respond, just as Eddie had told her to do. She felt her calves clench then relax. She felt her thighs tighten and loosen. She felt her stomach contract then expand, as if she'd taken a breath all the way down to her belly. She felt her chest walls push apart, and then her throat opened by only the will of her thought processes. Next she concentrated on her lips, her tongue, her vocal cords. Finally, her nose, ears, eyes, eyebrows. She could sense every individual
Mentor had to go away.
"I know. That's why I'm here telling you stuff. Just concentrate on your toes, okay? Tell them they belong to you and you mean for them to work right again. You just can't get anywhere without toes."
She saws grin widen and knew he was trying for humor to urge her along in an easy way. Never mind that this was the most serious of endeavors. Never mind that it would determine whether or not she could ever return to the world again.
"Go ahead," he said, leaning over the bed to throw back the hem of her gown. He stared at her toes like a surgeon waiting to see if his operation had left her paralyzed or if she would recover feeling in her extremities. "Go on, move them. Think, Dell, put your spine into it. Think about moving your toes, then we'll get your feet moving. You've got to do this. It's the only way."
She knew he would not leave her alone unless she showed some sign of progress. She focused on her feet. She narrowed in on just the tips of her toes, imagining where they were, the dark copper nail polish she had used on them the day before, the way her second toe was longer than her big toe. There, she could visualize them now. Not bad feet, as feet went. Not too large, the skin smooth and tan from a summer swimming at the area pool.
She could move them if she wanted, that's what Eddie was saying. If she really wanted to move them, she could. It was all within reach. She had to exert her will for the first time in her life. She'd do it, she knew she could.
Move, she commanded.
She visualized first stretching and then clenching her toes. If they would move, she could consider herself on the road back to life. She must make them obey.
Move.
"That's it!" Eddie yelled, "it's working, you're doing it, I knew you could do it!"
MOVE.
Stretch. Clench.
MOVE!
Wriggle. She wanted them to wriggle, she wanted her toes to go crazy, she wanted them to dance like individual ballet stars. She wanted to do so well that Eddie would jump right out of his skin he'd be so happy for her.
She thought she could feel them moving now.
"Your ankles, concentrate, Dell. Twist your feet around from the ankle. You can do it. You have to do it, it's just a little more effort, a little more."
Dell saw her parents come into the room. They quietly approached the bed, and Eddie turned to them, grinning like a monkey. "She's coming back," he fairly shouted. "Dell's moving her feet."
Her mother brushed a hand across her cold brow. Dell could not yet blink, so she was able to see the fine lines in her mother's palm. It struck her now for the first time that her mother had borne both her children before the disease struck. Neither her mother nor her father had been a vampire yet. They'd taken an awful chance having children, knowing that later they might fall ill and both their offspring after them. How could her mother have had the courage to have a family? How had they ever made that decision?
Dell's father knelt beside the bed and took her lax hand into his own. "Come on, baby. Eddie's right. You have to move, or there will be marks on your skin where the blood has settled. They'll last a long time. You won't be able to go anywhere people can see you for a very long time. You have life. Now you have to animate the body before it's too late."
Dell tried, Lord have mercy, she was trying. She let go of all thoughts except those centered on her feet and legs. She visualized moving up her body, commanding it to respond, just as Eddie had told her to do. She felt her calves clench then relax. She felt her thighs tighten and loosen. She felt her stomach contract then expand, as if she'd taken a breath all the way down to her belly. She felt her chest walls push apart, and then her throat opened by only the will of her thought processes. Next she concentrated on her lips, her tongue, her vocal cords. Finally, her nose, ears, eyes, eyebrows. She could sense every individual
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