Harsh Light of Day

by Jaye A. Jones

CHAPTER 12

  Henry and Mary stood stiffly in Will’s apartment, and looked very out of place there. Will was on the floor in the bathroom. I could hear his heart racing beyond the door. There was no smell of human blood, but I didn’t know why I expected there to be. Henry and Mary weren’t allowed to drink from a human, and they didn’t know he knew what we were, unless Annabelle somehow got to them and told. But spilling blood would be a bad idea if they wanted to play by the rules.

  And Henry and Mary definitely played by the rules.

  I scanned my memory, hoping there was a window in the bathroom or some other way he could escape, but knew there wasn’t. He was stuck.

  What have I done?

  As my eyes took in the sight of Henry and Mary, I realized they looked somewhat different than I remembered. Not like Declan, but in a frightening way. I never realized before how gruesome they looked.

  Not gruesome, that wasn’t the word. But it was all that came to mind. The cold, pale blue of their eyes were not like mine and Declan’s. I saw now but never had before. It wasn’t the golden ring he and I shared, it was a depth absent in their glare.

  Their hair and skin were different too, just different enough to be noticeable. Their thick, brown hair was cut short, almost in the same cut as Colin, and had no body to it like Declan and mine had. Their skin was pasty whereas Declan’s looked…velvety.

  And they had no expression. Completely blank faces hardly moved even when they spoke. Their eyebrows didn’t raise, their eyes stayed locked on their target.

  It was disturbing.

  Or maybe I’d been around humans too long.

  Annabelle’s eyes looked different still, and Lennox of course also. The inconsistencies suddenly seemed so obvious now. Though in passing we all seemed to look alike, there were subtle differences I’d never noticed.

  Maybe that was normal?

  I was always under the impression families looked alike. Almost exactly alike. Like Colin and Viola, Henry and Mary, who looked nearly identical but for obvious masculine and feminine qualities.

  But what did I know? I’d never met a family other than my own.

  Will whimpered beyond the bathroom door and only then did I realize they had hurt him.

  But I had to be careful. The more these ghouls knew, the more in danger Will would be.

  “What did you do to that human?” Declan asked before I could think of what to say. His disdainful use of the term human would arouse no suspicion. I probably would have used Will’s name and given myself away.

  Henry tilted his head and I felt my eyes narrow. Surely he wasn’t choosing now to suddenly become clever.

  “Only bruises,” Henry replied. He wouldn’t look at me, of course. And Mary’s eyes were vacant and cast to the floor, silent and behind her partner’s left shoulder, as usual. “The human locked himself in that little room. Is that not humorous? As if flimsy wood and a primitive lock could keep us at bay.”

  If Henry were capable of having a tone or an expression, he’d be utterly cheery.

  “Colin allowed you to walk along the highway among the humans?” Declan asked, keeping an even tone with only a hint of contempt.

  I was glad he was taking the reins on this, because my thoughts were all over the place with questions.

  “Do not be absurd,” Henry replied, with his very Colin-esque, condescending tone.

  “How did you get here so quickly then?” Declan asked a half second before the words came out of my mouth. I felt like Mary, huddled behind my sire, pathetically dependent.

  “It is quite simple,” Henry said coldly, challenging Declan to take a guess. When he said nothing, Henry reached into his jacket and pulled out a very large, rectangular, wireless telephone. “This strange contraption told me where you were.”

  Henry didn’t include his partner. As far as he was concerned, she wasn’t even her own person.

  And then my brain filled in the rest, finding the key to their speed. Once, while trying to disappear in Colin’s Castle, I found the answer but didn’t know what it meant at the time. I hadn’t thought of that day for years.

  “They drove a car,” I said, forcing my voice not to come out as a meek little whisper. The boldness of my tone must have been what set Henry off.

  I only saw him move because I was paying attention to his feet. Bracing myself as he ripped through the air in one leap, I couldn’t say I was surprised. Colin probably gave him the okay to do anything to me he wanted upon any sign of disrespect or further insubordination.

  I could practically hear his arrogant voice in my head, giving the order.

  But before Henry made contact—apparently he was aiming to land directly on my face—before I could even process what was happening, Declan threw him against the wall.

  The room rattled and plaster crumbled under Henry’s weight. It took me longer than it should have to decide how I felt about it. Henry had no right to attack me. And he definitely would have done some damage. Not that that filled me with the sense of fear I’m sure he wished it would.

  But I was not a damsel in distress. Sure, I needed some saving, so to speak, in the past few hours, but that didn’t mean I was helpless. If there was punishment to be dealt out, I could take it.

  “You will never touch her,” Declan growled, standing very still in the same place he had been before Henry hit the wall.

  Furious, I stepped up to Mary, closer than we ever got since Henry was usually in front of her, and said, “Hit me.”

  I figured Henry and Mary were in all intents and purposes the same. That was how Henry saw it. So this would satisfy him, if only Mary would oblige.

  Declan made the subtlest of movements towards us, but I wasn’t going to allow it this time.

  “Don’t you dare,” I snarled and was pleased with the intensity of it. He stopped.

  Turning my attention back to Mary, who hadn’t moved even a little, I kept the snarl in my voice as I whispered, “I said hit me.”

  She looked down at me, then tried to move to look at her consort who was still on the floor, but I stood in her way and wouldn’t let her.

  Quit being so passive, you sniveling, insipid little waif.

  Wrong tactic.

  “I’ve been insubordinate. I’ve defied our Master and risked exposing all of us. Colin and Henry would be proud of you,” and the clincher, “Viola would not hesitate.”

  Living with only seven other beings for twenty years had its benefits. Particularly, I knew how to push everyone’s buttons. Every weakness, every insecurity and admiration was apparent. Our true feelings couldn’t be hidden from one another, especially since we didn’t have much else to occupy our attention.

  In that second, I realized why I should have known Annabelle would think I hated Declan.

  I knew Mary’s reverence of Viola. They looked the most alike of all of us, both with the same short haircut which would definitely not be the custom when they were turned. They were both freakishly thin and tall. Annabelle and I were closer in height, and the tops of our heads came to their chins.

  Mary was slow with her movements, inexperienced despite her hundred or so years. Unlike Declan, who I hadn’t seen move at all, I watched impatiently as she gathered her strength.

  Since I was letting her do this, I stood and waited. But it felt so weird. My fighting instinct wanted to retaliate, and I could feel Declan squirming behind me. To his credit, he did as I asked and didn’t move to interfere this time. But it was as hard for him not to stop Mary as it was for me.

  Though her movements were slow, she was strong. And effective. I crashed through the farthest window from where we stood nearly the second her hands touched me.

  Shards of glass and wood pierced my skin. If I hadn’t hit the window as hard as I had, the glass wouldn’t have been able to get through my flesh. But I hit that window really hard.

  When I finally hit the ground—boy was
I glad Will lived on the first floor—I was twenty feet from the apartment building. My hands and legs involuntarily reached out to brace my fall, even though I wish they hadn’t. As my hands hit the ground, aptly keeping the rest of my body from making contact, glass shards were forced deeper into them.

  I pulled a six inch piece of wooden window pane from my neck as I scrambled to my feet, gingerly using my hands. They hurt the most. Not hurt. No, there was still no pain. Just discomfort.

  One. Two. Three steps from where I hit the ground, I had most of the big glass pieces removed from my palms.

  I needed to get back to the apartment. Will was even less safe now, with three unfriendly vampires to do who knows what to him.

  But the moment I looked up, Henry was in front of me.

  In the next second, something smashed into the side of my head, the most vulnerable spot.

  The world disappeared.