Ava follows me down the street in town like a baby chick. The sky is whisked with different colors of red, orange, and blue. The stress of the sun is not an issue at the moment, but I sense a long night ahead for my little human and me. Townspeople are walking up and down the walkways but are few in numbers. Occasionally, I see females exiting shops along the way with their spawn following close behind. Mostly men are seen coming in and out of a very rowdy bar standing beside a run-down, perhaps questionable garage shop.
For the most part, the town seems calm and peaceful, something straight out of a fairytale. Although, looks can be deceiving, including a place so seemingly peaceful as I walk and stalk their streets. This town is small and it is common for the residence here to know one another. If I find a human who knows Ava, they should know where her parents live. We come across a diner near an abandoned theater and I think to myself that this will be a good place to start. I study Ava’s appearance as she reaches aimlessly for my hand. I presume that she might be hungry and think it best to use this opportunity to satisfy her needs in the process of finding her home.
A couple teenage girls are laughing hysterically on their way out of a diner. As soon as they see me standing in front of the entrance, both girls halt with their mouths gaping open. I can tell by the rush of their pulse and the blushing of their cheeks that they were captivated by my looks. One of the girls smiles and attempts to say something to me, but I couldn’t care less.
Ava’s tiny little hands grab hold of my jeans before I point behind the girls, “You are blocking the entrance. It would be in your best interest to move.”
Both girls hurry out of my path, but as I open the screen door to enter, one of them say, “He’s the most gorgeous looking guy I’ve ever seen but he has a major attitude problem.”
Ava follows me inside the diner where a ‘Please Wait’ sign greets us. I look to Ava and roll my eyes, UGG, accommodating to human customs is boring and infuriating.
Another teenage girl with chocolate-cherry hair comes to us with a generic smile in an effort to be polite. Her generic smile transforms to a bashful smile full of wonder and shock. She just can’t pull her eyes away from mine and seems to be lost for words. It will be so easy for me to compel her and feed on her. She looks and smells extremely tasty, but I force myself to disregard her entirely.
“Welcome to Irene’s Diner. How many will there be?” The teen asks blankly as she grabs several menus.
I thought that maybe this was a trick question given that only the child and I stood before her. “Can you not count, young miss?”
She pales slightly but leads us over to a white and green booth along the sides of the wall. Ava jumps into the seat but has to lift herself up to scoot over to the wall. I sit beside her making sure she will stay in the seat and not run around.The teen sets two menus in front of us; Ava’s menu is on a white sheet of paper with crayons attached.
The young waitress pulls out a notepad, “My name is Lorre and I will be your waitress this evening. What can I get you to drink?”
I watch as her blood flows through her veins before answering,“The child will have...” I look at Ava’s menu at the selection, “Milk...and fetch me some black coffee.”
Lorre records my order far too slow, but her heart beats faster as she notices my gaze. She walks straight across toward a counter where several townspeople are watching us. I open the pack of four crayons for Ava and she giggles elatedly. She uses the red color to draw lines all over the paper. The cartoon images on the paper are now covered in red, making it look like a bloodbath; I stiffen a laugh at the irony.
Lorre returns to the table with my coffee and Ava’s milk. As soon as she sets my coffee down she asks, “Have you decided on your order yet?”
Lorre stands wide-eyed with bewilderment as I empty a sugar dispenser into my cup of coffee.“Would you like some more coffee with that pound of sugar?”
I snicker at Lorre, “So what? I like sugar.”
Lorre scratches her nose out of nervousness,“I uh, I like sugar too. No...I mean, I don’t mean...I meant to say that...damn it, what the hell am I saying?”
I smile warmly at her, “It is nice to meet a girl so honest with herself. I rather like that.”
Lorre smiles just as big as Ava while Ava scribbles on her kid’s menu,“Really? I get in trouble a lot for foul language. Nanny says that I should be more lady-like.”
“Rubbish, being a perfect lady is glorified and a thing of the past? You should be whomever you wish to be without people telling you otherwise. Isn’t that the beauty of being human?” I finish before taking a sip of coffee.
Lorre is stunned with my comment yet the softness of her eyes tells me that she is appreciative of me for my encouragement. It takes her a minute to get back to her original role of being a waitress. “Oh yeah, what did you want to order?”
I take the paper menu from a huffy Ava to answer Lorre’s question, “She will have chicken and steamed vegetables. Make sure that her chicken is grilled, not fried.”
I place the paper menu back in front of Ava who squeals in happiness. Lorre writes down the order and points to me with her pen, “What would you like to eat?”
I thought to myself, I would love to eat you. “Nothing for me, just keep the sugar and coffee coming.”
Lorre nods and walks behind the counter. She stops to talk with an older woman. Her hair is tinged with white, but she somehow pulls off wearing four-inch black heels. She chats happily with a married couple sitting at the counter. Her eyes are constantly wavering in my direction, but she smiles warmly when Lorre approaches her. I listen attentively to their conversation from where I sit.
The older woman asks, “Isn’t she Ava Frost, Tory and Reuben’s little girl?” Lorre answers, “Yeah I think so. Why do you ask, Nanny?”
The older woman looks in my direction again, “I feel something’s off about that boy.”
Lorre laughs to lighten the mood, “He seems very understanding; you should go over and talk with him. If he is nice enough to buy Ava food, then he might be her babysitter. He sure is dreamy, huh Nanny?”
I turn my attention back to Ava who is holding the back of her menu up in my face, “I draw Arrow.” She giggles.
I take the paper where a jumble of colors makes a face. It certainly does not look like me, but I crumble it up when I see that she has drawn a childish version of fangs. I stuff the crumbled-up menu into my jean pocket as Ava’s cheeks puff up and her eyes begin to swell. I feel an eye on us even before stuffing the drawing into my pocket. I pick her up and sit her on the table in front of me to keep her from wailing.
I look straight into her eyes but use my tone to calm her down,“Don’t cry.” She immediately stops herself from crying and her tears do not fully produce.
A second later we are both interrupted by Lorre’s nanny, “I had no idea Tory was able to hire a babysitter.” Her tone is polite but inquisitive.
I eye her cautiously, “I found the child wandering on my grounds earlier. Do you know this child?”
“I am Irene Spear, I own this diner and gave her mother a job here a long time ago. Tory got pregnant with Ava and then quit. Since then, I haven’t seen much of Tory.” She makes questionable looks at the way Ava is playing with the strings on my hoodie.
“I see.”
“You have an interesting accent. You must not be from around here.” Her statement sounds more like a question.
“I am indeed new to the town. I am originally from Finland, lived there for many years. I moved here in the States to live with distant relatives.” I did not exactly lie, but I did leave out the fact that my so-called relatives were vampires sired by me.
Her body language suggests that she does not fully accept my story but I am sure she is not all she says she is either. Irene takes extra interest in Ava’s wrist where I placed my mark. Unless Irene is more than she says she is, the mark will look like a scarred birthmark to her. Only vampires can smell my unique blood emanating from it. Just as Lorre brings Ava’s plate of food, an older man strolls over to Irene from the guest door. He wears thick-rimmed sunglasses and fashions a pointy grey beard. He uses a stick to move around the diner to keep from bumping into obstacles.
Blind as a bat.
He kisses Irene on the cheek and then greets me by resting his hand on my shoulder, “Well, hello young man. I see that Irene has been flirting with the young folk again.”
Irene chuckles and smacks the man with her purse, “Harrison!”
Harrison pulls his hand away from my shoulder quickly, as if he received an electrical shock from me. I size him up, studying his behavior, and the way Irene’s heart skips a beat as she witnesses Harrison’s reaction. I replace Ava back into her seat before Lorre sets her plate on the table. Ava nibbles at her chicken daintily while Lorre greets Harrison.
“Papa! How was the trip?”
I scowl while taking another sip of coffee, why must these idiots have such meaningless conversations in my presence.
Harrison eyes me behind his sunglasses even though he is blind, “I’ll tell you all about my trip during closing hours, Lorre. I am going to head upstairs.” He briefly kisses Irene again.
Irene yells at him as he stiff-legs his way toward a door in the back, “Call Holly and Dennis, we need to have an emergency meeting later. I’m sure your son would want to hear from you.”
Harrison waves his hand to signify he hears her and continues. Lorre smiles and takes my coffee cup to fill it, utterly oblivious to the way Irene and Harrison were acting. Ava picks up the last piece of chicken, overlooking her vegetables. As I monitor Ava, Irene pulls out a piece of notebook paper and writes down an address.
She sets the paper at the end of the table before leaving behind the counter, “This is an address to Ava’s home. It shouldn’t be too hard to find. Just take a left as you leave my diner and keep going past the high school. You will pass an old, abandoned villa and then her house is at the end of the dirt road.”
I leave the paper sitting on the edge until I decide to leave. I keep one eye on Irene but she too had her eyes on me. Ava chews and swallows her chicken but hadn’t touched her vegetables. I use her unused fork to stab a small piece of broccoli. I place my finger underneath her jaw and her mouth parts open. I shove the vegetable in her mouth but she scrunches in disgust.
“Suck it up and eat. Only eating greasy unhealthy chicken makes the blood run sour. My little human property will eat properly.” I pick up a few more vegetables and put them in her mouth again after she had swallowed the first bite. She squirms in her seat and whimpers once to voice her dissatisfaction before swallowing the rest of her vegetables.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Lorre drops by the table to hand me the check for the meal. “I hope to see you in school...oh crap, that was rude of me. I meant to ask if you are going to school or if you are home schooled but...if you are home schooled, then that is okay too. You know, just forget it all...please just forget about me.”
I lean my chin over my palms in amusement,“My dear Lorre, I shall find it difficult to forget you. Perhaps next time, then? When we shall meet again, we should get to know each other better.” I pull out a hundred-dollar bill from my wallet. I throw it on the table and thrust the paper with the address into my jean pocket. Lorre seems to be close to asking if she can come with me as I assist Ava out of the seat.
I run my finger along her left cheek where blood rushes to the surface,“Keep the change.”
Ava follows me out of the diner, leaving Lorre casting breathtaking stares. I make another note that Irene has been watching this whole time from the kitchen window.
I have a feeling that Irene is a member of that Phalanx Hunters. I shall be expecting to see them again very soon.
The evening air turns my body cool even after all the coffee I had. I hold Ava’s hand after she unremittingly insists that her hand be held. I follow the address out of town; I take a detour around the villa grounds to avoid watchful eyes from my sires. We come upon a narrow dirt road with the same street name that is on the paper. Only a few rundown houses and a long-forgotten park are down the road. I can smell the rust from the chains holding a broken swing together. A cool breeze rustles the branches of the towering pine trees. Ava grips my hand tighter from the sudden sounds of the creaking swing set. From what looks like a nervous habit, Ava sticks her free thumb into her mouth to sooth her anxieties. It does not take long for me to realize Ava’s fears are not coming from the darkness, but from two distinct voices down the road.
My ears decipher that a couple is arguing and throwing profanities at one another. I can hear Ava’s heart beat faster as we come closer to a dilapidated two-story house with bluish panels. Trash and trinkets are thrown out into the overgrown front yard where a broken-down mower lies in a ditch. Though the place looks wrecked and unkempt, it still has a fair amount of character left. The whole argument is barely visible by humans from the dimly lit hanging porch light, but I am able to see everything with detail.
“You left her on the side of the road? What the hell is wrong with you?” A light brunette woman screams at a man on the porch. Her nose is wrinkled with disgust toward the man and her eyes hold a mixture of sorrow, worry, and hatred. “I told ya damnit! I ran out of gas’n the old jeep. That little bitch must’ve crawled out when I got gas from Eddy’s...”
Tory gripes as he finishes his beer that he was holding, “''Cause you never pay any attention to any damn thing!”
Her insult pushes the man over the top as he throws his beer bottle at the woman who dodges it right before it bursts on the side of the house. A shard of glass flies out and cuts the woman on the upper arm, and the sweet smell of blood fills the surrounding area. The woman’s heart races, but I catch another small heartbeat coming from within her swelling stomach.
I pull out two cherry licorices and give one to Ava. I chew on the sweetness of the candy, imagining how delicious Ava’s mother would taste if I could only lick the air. However, for Ava’s sake, I will settle for her abusive father.
“I missed outta some big bucks today because of that stupid girl. I’ve told ja many times Tory that if I don’t sell the candy, we don’t pay the bills. Once I get my hands on that girl, she’s really gonna be sorry.” The man runs his hands through his chocolate-brown hair and sniffs way too many times.
“Reuben! Ava is a four-year-old and goin’ on five. She can’t be blamed just because you can’t do anything other than selling dope.” Tory states as if he should have already known, while holding her arm to stop the bleeding.
Reuben rubs his hand under his nose and sniffs two or three times before he slaps Tory to the floor with the backside of his hand. Ava sucks on her licorice and tears start forming as she watches her parents fighting. Reuben keeps punching and kicking Ava’s mother as if she were a punching bag. Tory’s pale face becomes more blotched with blood and bruises by the second.
Arrived just in time for the show, it seems, I thought as I start to become agitated, even if they are humans.
Ava screams out in anguish over her mother’s pain,“MMMMMommy!” Reuben stops to look out into the yard where Ava and I stand. Ava starts after her mother with her stubby legs, but I hold her back by blocking her path. Reuben steps down onto the dirt pathway below the porch steps.
He yells in pure rage, “Come here ya lil’ bitch! I’ll give ya somethin’ to really cry about.”
Ava hugs onto the calf of my leg, too scared to move. Tory shrieks from her agonizing curl from behind the wooden railings of the porch, “Don’t you dare hurt her again Reuben!”
Reuben ignores Tory, “AVA, GIT YOUR ASS OVER HERE!”
Ava’s little fingers grip my pant legs to reassure her own safety. I smirk devilishly at Reuben, “It appears she is more frightened of you than of me. How ironic.”
Reuben only just now realizes that I am standing here. “Who da hell are you?” His messy thin dark-brown hair sticks up as if he has never seen a bath. His goatee, bushy brown eyebrows, and wild eyes made him look demented.
The scent of humans bathed in holy water overpowers Tory’s sweet blood aroma. I recognize one of the scents well, from Irene’s diner, Lorre’s blood. I hear vehicles inching their way toward the house. From the sounds of things, they intend to sneak up on me when I’m not looking. My sense of smell determines that the overpowering smell of holy water is coming closer by the second.
It appears that old woman Irene is a part of the Phalanx Hunters after all. Huh...She sent hunters after me.
Reuben screeches so loudly that he loses control of his voice, “Answer me, damn-it!”
I lick at my licorice as a male’s voice calls from the forest, “Step back Reuben, this is the work of Phalanx Hunters.”
Two men emerge from behind the trees with carved stakes. They glare threateningly and wield their stakes at me. The man with medium well-groomed chocolate hair smells similar to Lorre who is hiding behind a parked blazer; I supposed he is Lorre’s father.
The other man circles away from Lorre’s father. He also has brown hair, but it twists with curls; he wears black-rimmed glasses and has somewhat sickly pale skin. I clearly see some white drug powder under his nose; he wipes it away before anyone notices, except for me of course. He wears a black shirt with a white clerical collar. A priest from the local church, I guess? Lorre’s mother with dark-cherry hair steps from behind Lorre with another stake. She still has her work clothing on with her name tag attached, which reads Holly Spear.
Reuben throws his hand up at the hunters, “This is family business. What da’ hell are you doin’ here, Dennis?”
Dennis, who apparently is Lorre’s father, warns in a loud whisper, “Reuben, that guy is a vampire. Don’t go any closer.”
Reuben perplexes his brows at me, and Tory lets out a despairing groan from the step as she holds herself up with the broken stair rail. I smirk at Reuben as I chew off the end of my licorice stick.
Dennis points the stake intimidatingly at me, “Let Ava go.”
I look down at Ava who is still holding on to me for dear life. “I think you should tell her that.”
Dennis scowls, “You must have her compelled. Release your compulsion immediately.”
Lorre tramples over to Dennis, “Nanny was firm in saying that Ava wasn’t compelled, Dad. Nanny said that Ava was marked by a pureblood.”
Dennis looks at Lorre and then back at me, “Why do you have a pureblood’s property? Did your master order you to kill Ava’s parents?”
“Not in the slightest. I merely found her wandering around on my grounds. I simply came to deliver her home safely. If you don’t believe me, then ask the lovely Lorre; she served us well at the diner. I’m sure she could vouch that I have no ill intentions toward the little human girl. That witchy Irene must have thought the worst of the situation. I assume that Irene is a witch, given that she saw my mark on Ava.”
The curly-haired priest has trouble handling his stake,“Yourrrrr.... You’re a PUREBLOOD?”
“You kill four of my vampire sires and don’t anticipate a visit from their master? I think the Phalanx Hunters are losing their touch.” I laugh momentarily as I notice the resemblance between Dennis and the priest,“What is this, a family of amateur vampire hunters of the Phalanx Hunters Guild? I’d bet millions that you have never even seen a pureblooded vampire.”
Reuben interrupts the confrontation, “Purebloods, vampires...what nonsense is all this? He just looks like a pretty rich boy. I’m gonna punch your lights out!”
Reuben charges at me and Ava screams. Tory shrieks her protest from the porch steps and cries frantically. In the mix of it all, I heard Lorre’s small voice, “No one will believe him if they attack.”
I hold my finger out like a sturdy pole and relax my eyes as Reuben’s forehead collides into my finger. I address the Phalanx hunters with a sinister tone, “Tame this drunken human, or I will.”
I open my eyes to see the priest waving his arms at Reuben to stop. I push Reuben off my finger and wipe his sweat on my jeans. Holly passes out from fright, but Lorre manages to catch her in mid-fall.
Tory begs from the porch, “AVA! Come to mommy.”
I look down at Ava who has her face planted in my jeans. Her petite body is stiff with fright and her breathing is strained, afraid of her own father and the screams around her. I unlock her fingers from my pant leg with ease and bend to her level.
My senses are still on alert with my back turned and crouched. “Ava.” I place my index finger under her chin. “Open your eyes.”
Dennis panics from behind, “Does anyone know how to stop that pureblood. He’s compelling the girl.”
Ava finally opens her terror-filled eyes, “I want you to go to your mother. She’s standing by the porch.”
Ava’s blue eyes hollow as she quavers toward the porch. Reuben makes a grab for Ava, but it is way too easy to grasp his wrist with my speed. I push his head backwards and hiss through my fangs, making him realize his demise. The full length of his throat is exposed for feeding as I bite crudely into his neck until my fangs graze his cervical vertebrate. I drink every ounce of blood so fast that the hunters don’t actually know what happened until Reuben falls dead on a bed of wild grass.
I lick at my lips while facing the hunters, satisfied with my kill. The priest flips his stake at my heart but I catch the stake as if I were playing ball. The stake has been steeped in holy water and sizzles my hand like boiling acid. I fling the stake back at him which shoots through the air with such speed that it impels into the priest’s neck. He gurgles on his own blood and falls face forward.
Dennis cries out in misery, “Jefferson!” He falls to his knees in front of the priest and touches the bloody end of the stake that is sticking out the other end of his neck. “Brother, why did you have to go and do that?”
Lorre covers her mouth with her hands as she stands in silence. Holly wakes only to scream at the loss of her brother-in-law. She glowers at me when she makes the connection that I am the one who killed him.
Well, no one seems to be troubled with Reuben’s death except for Jefferson, what a waste. I flick my eyes over at Ava who is in the cuddling arms of Tory. Tory shields Ava’s eyes from everything and holds her close.
Dennis stands back up, “You pureblooded monster!” He grits his teeth, but his eyes are heavy with grief. He starts to run at me, but I disappear from his view and attack from behind. The force of my punch dislocates his spine, causing him to bellow out. He stumbles, but his paralysis forces his legs to give out.
I did want to kill him but that would have been too kind. Paralyzed for life, this may be for the best.
Holly and Lorre both pull at their hair in disbelief. Holly spaces out as she looks into my red eyes, and then I turn my eyes to Lorre. I stride coolly over to Lorre and run my finger down her jawline, “It must be disappointing to discover that I’m a pureblooded vampire. Nevertheless, I had hoped our next meeting would not end up like this. Such a young age to witness such horrors. Perhaps you should have taken up a different hobby.”
Unlike Tory, Holly can’t do or say anything on the behalf of her own daughter. “Too frightened to come to the rescue of her own husband or child, how pitiful.”
I pull Lorre closer, smelling her blood as it races through her body. I mockingly place my fangs near Lorre’s throat, thinking that it will provoke a reaction from Holly. Lorre shivers violently in my hold, but Holly remains spaced and catatonic. Holly simply cannot pull away from my red glowing eyes. After I pull back my fangs, Lorre relaxes and watches me carefully.
I frown at Lorre, “Abandoned little Lorre has to fend for herself.”
Lorre looks back into my eyes as if she’s fighting fear itself, “You’re not really like this, right? You seemed so different in the diner and you even said nice things to me. If this is the real you, I...I can’t fight you. If you’re going to drink from me, all I can do is scream. Your mercy is all that I can ask for.”
I pull her arm up so that my fangs nearly graze her wrist. Something in Lorre’s eyes were remembering something like this terrifying affair. Her soul is strong within her and every part of her is desperate for recognition for her existence. I play it off as though her reaction bored me into yawning. “You are boring; maybe your Nanny will be more fun.” I caress her chocolaty-cherry hair before pulling away. I didn’t want to frighten her more than necessary. “I’ll be expecting your witchy Nanny soon. Tell her to drop by my villa anytime. I’m sure you or your nanny knows what villa I speak of. It’s not as abandoned as people may think. If that witch has the guts to face me...we will talk about a bit of magic.”
I leave Lorre standing alone with her good-for-nothing mother, devastated with the bloodshed before her. Before I leave, I walk casually over to Ava and her mother. Tory wraps Ava tighter to her and stands with Ava in her arms. She is badly injured from her abusive husband...no ex-husband, but still stood her ground. Tory’s motherly instincts would have driven her to die in place of her child if such a situation would happen. Tory obscures Ava’s face with her long curly hair. Though Tory does not say anything, her face tells me to stay away from her daughter.
I reach out to Ava’s hair but made eye contact with Tory, “I leave Ava’s safety to you until I return. I fear that I shall not return for a long time.”
I smile apologetically at Ava as her big blue eyes peek at me through Tory’s hair, “Be patient my little Ava.”