Awakening

by A.C. Deen

  I got up from my seat and padded over to the kitchen. Minou trailed after me slowly. I opened the cupboard door above the sink and fished out a long silver tin of sardines. I lifted the pull tab and peeled back the lid. Inside the can laid a row of six shiny sardines. I placed the can on the floor.

  Minou walked over to the can and started sniffing. I carefully lowered my body down onto the floor beside her and leaned my back against the cupboard. She wouldn’t eat. Her body was wasting away but she wouldn’t eat.

  She looked up from the sardines and walked over to me. She climbed onto my lap and began to paw at my talisman and rub her head against it. She started to purr. She laid down. She was so frail that I could barely feel her body on my legs. She couldn’t have weighed more than a couple of pounds. I ran my fingers gently over her fur as she purred with gratitude. We stayed that way for quite some time and then the purring stopped. I listened closely for her heartbeat. It wasn’t there. Minou had died.

  I carried her body out to the flower garden where she used to lay down and enjoy the warm sun. I carefully dug a hole in between the peonies. I placed her body gently into the hole and then covered it with earth. My chest felt heavy with sadness. I had not known a life without little Minou. I hoped that she would find grandma, so that they could be together again.

  Chapter 22

  Months passed and my belly grew and grew. It was December. I had been a vampire for over one year now. I was in the bathroom drawing a bath to have some relaxation time. I climbed into the claw-foot tub and leaned back against the side. The water was warm and silky. I concentrated and listened for the baby. I could hear the heartbeat echoing through the water around me.

  Suddenly, like a tidal wave, I began to experience the most excruciating pain rise up from my stomach and reverberate through my whole body. The baby was coming and it was coming fast. I called for Jonah and he came rushing into the room and grabbed my hand. He insisted that we call for an ambulance, but I assured him that there would not be enough time for that. I started to push, the contractions were very close together. The bath water began to blush from the plumes of blood emanating from my body. I could feel the baby’s tiny body stretch and tear its way out of my body. With one final push, it was over.

  Jonah grabbed a towel and wrapped up the baby. He told me that it was a girl. He handed her to me. She was beautiful. It was love at first sight. We had decided that if we had a girl that we would name her Olivia.

  Epilogue

  That night I sat in the rocking chair in the nursery holding Olivia. I stared into her eyes and she looked back at me. Her eyes were so familiar, drawing me in and consuming me. Her angelic face and flaxen hair were the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

  I didn’t know yet what secrets she had to tell me, but I looked forward to the day when I would find out.