Written In Stone

twice, sold to Mr. Akins. Congratulations, sir." Everyone nodded and applauded. "Now," said the judge, "do I hear an opening bid of one hundred pounds for the boy?"
    Young boys usually went for the higher amounts, though Gavin couldn't understand any of it.
    "One hundred."
    "Two hundred."
    "Three hundred."
    "Four hundred."
    "Four-fifty."
    "Five hundred." The bidding continued.
    Gavin couldn't believe his ears. They bid on the little boy who, Gavin guessed, couldn't be more than six or seven, as if he were a prize colt. The bidding continued until Mr. Lotson bid fifteen hundred pounds, winning the bid. Gavin felt sick to his stomach but this was what he had been waiting for. Slipping the cape off his shoulders, he inhaled deeply. Then, stepping around the corner, he blew a great gust of wind, extinguishing every candle in the place. All the men stood and began mumbling to one another, wondering what had happened.
    Gavin could see perfectly as his blue eyes became incandescent. His canine teeth extended and his senses grew so acute now he could hear even the slightest sound. He moved with such speed, the human eye could not see him. Grabbing the nearest person, he ripped the man's throat out with one swipe of his hand, then another and another, until all lay dead except the two who bought the children, Judge Grossman, Charles, and Randolf. None could see the threat, but they heard the other men screaming, trying to get to the door Gavin braced from the outside. There was no escaping.
    Grabbing the man who bought the little boy, Gavin sank his fangs into the man's throat, draining him dry before dropping him dead on the floor. He did the same to the man who had bid on the girl, and finally he turned on Randolf and Charles. The judge, he saved for last. With a flick of his wrist, he lit a candle and stood staring at him with glowing eyes, blood dripping from his mouth. His shirt covered in bright red.
    "I thought you were an honorable man, Judge," Gavin said calmly.
    "I-I-I…" the judge stuttered.
    "Yeah," Gavin snorted and sank his teeth into the judge's throat, then broke his neck. Walking through the room, he broke the necks of each of the dead men. He knew they couldn't become like him without drinking his blood immediately upon waking, but he wasn't taking chances. They didn't deserve a second chance, he reasoned. They got exactly what they deserved — killed like the monsters they were.
    Gavin stood, peering around the room. Both children had fainted from the shock and so hadn't seen him or what he did. He was grateful for that. Pulling a cloth from his pocket, he wiped his mouth then held his hands over the flame of the candle, watching the blood burn off. Pulling his cape around him to cover his shirt, he picked up both sleeping children. Then he kicked the candle to the floor, watching it flicker, sputter, and take on new life, igniting the shirt of a dead man. He kicked an oil lamp off a table and watched the contents run across the floor, meeting the flame. Satisfied the fire would burn hot, he put a boot to the door and left the building with the children safe in his arms.
    ~ * ~
    Gavin kept to the shadows, running as quickly as he could to get the children out of the city. When he was a safe enough distance from the condominiums, he hailed a coach and loaded the children into it, climbing in beside them. Instructing the coachman to drive to Melbourne Street, Gavin settled back and closed his eyes for the duration of the short ride.
    Once at the inn, Madison Hawklin, his friend and confidant, and the only one outside of his family who knew about his peculiar abilities, would take charge of the children and care for them. When they had slept, eaten, and were properly dressed, Madison would escort them out of Breckenridge, to an undisclosed location where Gavin had constructed, and supported, a boarding school for children just like these.

Chapter Four
Children In Mind
     
    "Good evening, Mrs. Elliott," Gavin said with an amused smile.
    " Mr. Stone! What…" Angela was startled, caught in such a compromising position.
    "I wasn't spying on you, I assure you," he replied with a chuckle. "But what on earth are you doing?"
    "Well, I was… well, now." She seemed at a total loss for words as she looked around. It seemed she just realized what a predicament she had gotten herself into and looked at him with a crooked grin as her cheeks flamed.
    "It looks to me as if you were about to land on your, well, land on