by Brandon Hale
“We’re getting nowhere,” Darren said. “We said all this last night.”
“Darren, please. To my sister, the entire war is just something she reads about in the paper. It doesn’t exist down there. Lily could have a life. A normal life.”
“Lily is eighteen years old,” Darren said. “I think she deserves to have a say in this. You keep talking about our family. Well, maybe this should be a family decision. I say we wait until she gets outta bed and have a family discussion about this.”
“That’s not fair,” Beth said. “You know she’ll side with you. Hell, she thinks the town should send a group into the woods to hunt those things down.”
“The idea’s got merit,” Darren said.
“Don’t look so smug,” Beth said.
Darren smiled. “Can’t help that the girl looks up to her daddy.”
“Of course you can help it,” Beth said. “Most parents buy their kids a fishing pole when they’re twelve. You bought Lily her first crossbow.”
“The day those things crawled outta the shadows, everything changed,” Darren said. “Besides, I showed her how to fish too. It’s an important survival skill.”
“Well, I know your heart’s in the right place,” Beth said, “but I can’t help but worry that it’ll get her killed one day.”
“That’s a mean thing to say,” Darren said.
“She’s over-confident,” Beth said. “She has no fear of the night.”
“Good,” Darren said with cold eyes. “Those things don’t own the night. The world needs more people like Lily. If we just roll over and give in to our fear, they’ll win this war. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think a cow has a very good life, and I sure as hell don’t plan to become one. Not teaching her what I’ve taught her would’ve been a death sentence. Or worse.”
Beth got up, walked to the coffee pot, and began to fill her cup. She looked out the kitchen window at the old road running into the woods. In the early morning light, she could see the road and the edge of the woods, but nothing beyond the initial tree line. The morning fog still lingered over the ground and between the trees.
“I used to love those woods in the morning,” Beth said. “The road just disappears into the woods, swallowed up by the fog. I used to think it was beautiful.”
“Seems to me,” Darren said, “you’d think it’s even more beautiful now. It’s signaling the end of the night.”
“No,” Beth said. “Now, when I look at that road and those woods, I just wonder what kind of monster is hiding in there. I wonder if it’s planning to hit our house next. Is it going to crawl up the side of the house and pull Lily from her bedroom? Am I going to wake up to find some horror movie monster standing over our bed?” She turned and looked at her husband. “I can’t take it here, anymore, Darren. I’m sorry. I just can’t.” She looked back out the window.
Darren sighed. “Okay,” he said.
“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it,” Beth said, still looking out the window.
“I’m not agreeing to move to Florida,” Darren said. “But we can talk about it. As a family.”
Beth just shook her head in frustration.
“I’m serious, Beth,” Darren said. “When Lily gets up, we’ll talk about it. We won’t argue and we won’t let her be the tie-breaker. We’ll seriously talk about it as a family. You tell her what you just told me. We’ll put our heads together and we’ll come up with a solution. I promise, babe. We’ll come up with something.”
“Holy God,” Beth whispered, staring at something outside the window.
The fear in her voice caused a chill to dance its way down Darren’s spine. “What is it?”
She didn’t answer.
“Beth,” Darren said, standing up. “What’s out there?”
“Our daughter,” Beth said. “Lily is out there. With that Rosenberg kid. And Darren… they’re carrying heads.”
Darren didn’t bother to look out the window. He ran straight to the kitchen door and darted outside.
***
Lily and Leo walked down the center of the road, toward town. Leo carried the severed heads of two of the vampires. Lily carried the heads of the other vampire and the werewolf.
“All I’m saying,” Leo said, “is that we’re not equal. Purely from a scientific standpoint, we’re not equal.”
“And all I’m saying,” Lily said, “is you’re a damn sexist.”
“I’m not,” Leo said. “You said it yourself. Men and women are equal in every way.”
“They are,” Lily said.
“Except men are physically stronger.”
“So what?” Lily said. “That has very little meaning in this day and age.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Leo said. “I’m not talking about the value of being stronger. I’m saying if men and women are equal in every way but one, and in that one way men are better, then that means men are actually superior to women. It’s irrelevant if you put no value in the one way we’re better.”
“Complete bullshit.”
“How so?” Leo said. “Look at it this way. Let’s say aliens came to earth looking for slaves. They would choose men, because men and women are equal in every way, but men are stronger. They’d choose the men because they would know that men are superior animals.”
“If you ask me,” Lily said, “your example means women are superior. We wouldn’t get chosen by your slavers.”
“No,” Leo said. “That’s dumb. You’re saying women are superior because they’re inferior.”
“We can make babies.”
“Not without us,” Leo said with a smirk. “Just admit it. From a purely objective point of view, men are superior to women. And I’m not talking about individuals. I’m sure there are women stronger than most men. But overall, men are stronger. And since we’re equal in every other way, that means we’re superior.”
“Sexist,” Lily said. “I swear, the only reason I stay friends with you is because I find your shooting skills useful.”
Leo laughed. “Now who’s full of it,” he said. “Look, I’m not talking about social equality. Of course we’re equal socially. In today’s world, there’s nothing a man can do that a woman can’t. I’m just saying –”
“Women are smarter,” Lily said.
Leo laughed again. “There’s absolutely no evidence of that.”
“Really?” Lily said. “Has a woman ever gotten mad at you because you didn’t read her mind and guess what she wanted?”
“That’s not intelligence,” Leo said. “It’s the opposite, actually.”
“Nope,” Lily said. “It’s because women are far more observant creatures. We’re better at nonverbal communication. That’s why we get angry when you can’t figure out what we want unless we spell it out to you. We’re constantly overestimating men’s ability to pick up on the more subtle forms of communication. Body language and such. And I think the four severed heads we’re carrying pretty much proves that intelligence is the better trait to have.”
“Well,” Leo said, “there’s no reason to continue this debate. I’m using proven scientific information and you’re just making stuff up.”
“Your face is making stuff up,” Lily said.
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Your face doesn’t make sense.”
Leo tried to suppress a smile, but couldn’t. “I give up.”
“Thank God,” Lily said.
They walked silently for a few seconds, then Leo said, “You know, our pal Phillip might pose a problem.”
Lily looked down at the head in her right hand. “What do you mean?”
“It just looks like a man’s head,” Leo said. “People might not believe he was a werewolf.”
“I’m pretty sure they’ll believe us,” Lily said. “We are, after all, judged by the company we keep. This dude was bossing around three vampires.
”
“True,” Leo conceded.
“See?” Lily said. “Intelligence.”
“There’s your house,” Leo said. “I wonder if your folks are up yet. Looks like the kitchen light is on.”
At that moment, the kitchen door flew open and Darren darted out, sprinting toward them.
“Yeah,” Lily said. “I think they’re up.”
“I guess we’re about to find out if we’re heroes or in deep trouble,” Leo said.
“Either way,” Lily said, “nothing to do now but embrace it.” She grinned and waved at her father. “Hi, Daddy!”
“Don’t,” Darren said through gasping breaths as he caught up to them, “give me that Daddy shit.”
“Gross,” Lily said.
“I don’t know where to start, Lily,” Darren said. “I really don’t.”
“Good job killing those vampires?” Leo offered.
Darren pointed at him. “Back off, Leonard. I won’t hit my own daughter, so you’re in very real danger of getting my emotional leakage here.”
“Huh?”
“Shut up,” Darren explained, “or I’ll kick your ass.”
“Oh,” Leo said.
Darren turned back to Lily. “You two have broken so many laws the sheriff could throw you in prison for ten years.”
“Daddy—”
“No!” Darren yelled. “Just being out after dark could land you thirty days in jail. But actively seeking out and engaging members of the Legion? Holy hell, girl.”
“Well,” Leo said, “this isn’t the homecoming I expected.”
“What the hell did you expect, Leonard?” Darren asked.
“Daddy!” Lily yelled. “Shut up for one second, forget that I’m your daughter, and think about what you’re seeing here!” She held up both severed heads. “This is a vampire and a werewolf.”
Darren stared at the heads. He then looked at the heads in Leo’s hands. “How?”
“Careful planning,” Lily said, “and a little bit of luck. But how isn’t nearly as important as what. Sheriff Gifford was wrong. Vamps were living in these woods, Daddy. And we guessed right. It was three of them.”
“And a werewolf,” Darren said, awed.
“I don’t think so,” Lily said. “I think he was just in the area and they called him. It was luck that he was there and good preparation that Leo had loaded up some silver bullets.”
“The important thing, Darren,” Leo added, “is that Iveyton is safe again. We got em, sir.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Darren said.
Lily grinned. “You’re pissed off. I get that. But admit it. A little piece of you is pretty damn proud right now.”
“The only thing I’ll admit,” Darren said, “is that your mother is going to lose her mind over this. She won’t let this one go, kid. I’m going to be catching hell because of this for… well, forever.”
Leo pointed toward town and said, “Good job with the screaming at each other, guys. Looks like half the town is coming out to see what’s going on.”
Several people – most of them still wearing nightgowns and pajamas – were standing on their porches.
“I guess it’s show time,” Lily said.
***
Most of the town gathered in front of the police station. Sheriff Billy Gifford stared down at the four heads on the street. “What have you kids done,” he said.
“What you wouldn’t do, Sheriff,” Lily said. “We took care of a problem you wouldn’t even admit exists.”
Gifford shook his head. “You broke some important laws, Lily. Laws that exist for some important reasons. Civilians cannot be doing things like this, girl.”
“If you’d been doing your job,” Leo said, “we wouldn’t have to.” Several onlookers nodded in agreement.
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, kid,” Gifford said. “I was doing my job.”
“By refusing to accept the facts?” Lily asked defiantly. “Billy, we had a vampire problem. Every person in town knew it, except you. Somebody had to take action.”
“Of course I knew it!” Gifford said. “And I did take action. The regulations on this kind of thing are very clear. First, we make sure the town doesn’t go into a damn panic. Then we contact the Day Offices to report it. Which I did, two days ago. An investigator is supposed to be here today.”
“Two days?” Leo said. “They sure take their time getting here.”
“They get hundreds of reports a day,” Gifford said. “Considering the fact that we’re at war, I’d say two days is pretty good.”
“And enough time for these things to kill more of our people,” Lily said. “You should’ve told us, Billy.”
Gifford shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, how many people would have gotten killed if I’d admitted my suspicions? How many of you would’ve gone off half-cocked and gotten yourself eaten?”
“We fought back,” Lily said, “and we’re still here. How many lives would have been saved if we’d done this last week?”
“Yes,” Gifford said, “you fought back. And now I have to arrest you both.”
“You’re not serious,” Lily said.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Gifford said. “The damn investigator will be here this evening. When I tell him we don’t need him now, he’ll want to know why.”
“This is absurd!”
To Lily’s surprise, the words had come from her mother.
Beth stepped from the crowd. “William Gifford, you are not arresting these kids!”
“Ma’am, I don’t see that I have a choice,” Gifford said.
“Of course you have a choice,” Beth said. “Those kids saved lives last night. You know it and I know it. Hell, for all we know, they might have saved our entire town! I’d say those things will think twice before they come to Iveyton again. Sure, they broke some laws. But these kids are not criminals. They’re heroes!” A few people on the street actually cheered.
Shocked, Lily looked at her father. He just shrugged and mouthed, “Wow.”
“I can’t lie to them, Beth,” Gifford said. “These are the men in charge of the war. If I lie to them, they won’t return if we ever need their help again.”
“Then don’t lie to them,” Lily said. “I think we should stick these heads on spikes and stand em at the edge of town. We should show any other wandering monsters that Iveyton is not a town that will take their shit.”
“Language, honey,” Beth said with a wink.
“Sorry, Mom,” Lily said.
“And when the Day Soldiers come,” Leo added, “explain it was an emergency. Which is the truth.”
“It won’t be Day Soldiers,” Gifford said. “Just an investigator.”
“Give him my name,” Lily said. “I’m not ashamed of what I’ve done.”
“No decent person,” Beth said, “will punish her for saving our town. Lily wasn’t half-cocked and she wasn’t untrained. Neither was Leo. Matter of fact, Billy, I suggest you consider deputizing these two.”
Darren placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. When she looked at him, he said, “Our town?”
Beth smiled. “When I saw her walking from those woods, something happened to me. I looked at the things in her hands and I felt… I felt proud, Darren. Right then, I realized I had two choices. I could run or I could stop being afraid. While you were out there yelling at her, I made my decision. I’m tired of being afraid of the night. You and Lily aren’t runners, and I’m not going to change that, no matter how hard I try.”
“That’s all nice and touching,” Gifford said, “but we still have to deal with the fact that these kids broke the law. Just being out after dark is supposed to land you in jail for—”
“Thirty days,” Lily said. “We know. And if you arrest us for that, you’ll have to arrest every damn teenager in the town. You know as well as I do that
they’re sneaking out all the time to screw each other. At least we were doing something productive.”
Gifford sighed. “Go home, Lily. Get some sleep. I’ll just lay it all out to the investigator. Technically, you’re in my jurisdiction, so maybe he’ll let me decide how to proceed.”
Lily smiled. “Thanks, Billy. You’re not nearly as stupid as my dad says.”
“She’s kidding,” Darren said.
“Whatever,” Gifford said. “You folks go home. You kids get some rest. I’m sure the investigator will have questions for you when he gets here. I’ll figure out what to do with these damn heads.” He touched one of the vampires with his boot. “Disgusting.”
“We brought them to you to be impaled,” Lily said.
“This ain’t the damn Dark Ages,” Gifford said. “Now go on home.”
Lily began to walk toward her house when Gifford yelled, “Hey, kids!”
Lily and Leo stopped and turned around.
“I’m not going to say you did good. You didn’t. What you did was stupid and reckless and you’re lucky you’re not dead.”
“You made that opinion clear already,” Leo said.
“But I will say this,” Gifford added. “You probably saved some lives tonight. Maybe a lot of lives. Now go home, both of you.”
***
Leo walked with Lily to her front door. “You know,” he said, “I think that qualifies as a hero’s welcome.”
Lily smiled. “I think so, too. I couldn’t believe it when my mom stepped up like that.”
“That was awesome,” Leo said. “You gonna be able to sleep at all?”
“Doubt it,” Lily said, “but I probably should try.” She looked at Leo for a few long seconds, then added, “You did good. Your shooting saved my life.”
“Your planning saved this town,” Leo retorted.
“So we make a good team,” Lily said.
Leo smiled. “Sleep well, vampire killer.”
“You too, werewolf killer,” Lily said.
Lily watched Leo walk to his house down the street, then she turned around and went inside her own house. She went upstairs, used the bathroom, went into her bedroom, put on a T-shirt, and slipped off her pants.
She reached under her bed and pulled out the old cardboard box that held her photo albums and scrapbooks. She sat in the floor and dug through the box until she found the scrapbook she was looking for. It was a large black book, with the words “Protect the Day” on the cover. She had made the cover from an ad for the Day Soldiers. “Protect the Day” was their slogan.