Replacement

by Wojciech Cram

  "I'm not," she snapped quickly, and gave friendly waves to local shop owners they passed. It amazed Hannah how little effort it took to shift gears so abruptly. "I'm not suddenly

  separated, Hannah. You can't be separated when you never really apart of something." Her tone did not ask for sympathy nor reassurance, it merely stated cold facts.

  "We were your friends," she stated firmly and stepped in front of her to stop the tedious exercise. "How could you say that? Why would we even help you with this man if we

  weren't your friends."

  "Friends? Did you just say friends?" Maria glanced around and noticed common pedestrians soon became slow walking onlookers. Most likely Hannah's calm, sweet, and innocent

  aura had attracted the males. "We'll take this inside. And tell Kyros to stop staring down my shirt." Hannah looked above, but only saw a vanishing shadow, and followed her into

  the building they had conveniently rested in front of.

  With astonishing speed for a girl who formerly found the climb up a short flight of stairs draining, Maria was waiting in the living room when Hannah reached the door way.

  Carefully, she pushed aside the door that seemed to hang by a thread and settled on the love seat next to her.

  "About this friends business. The only people willing to talk to me were you, Poppy, and Maggie. And I have no inkling why you're helping me…are you expecting a fee?"

  "Obviously you could afford it," she teased and lifted a set of leather pants and matching jackets, black and white, as an example. For some reason or other, she squirmed

  uncomfortably and changed the subject.

  "This is all besides the point. Are you, well, I mean are one of your partners going to kill him?"

  "We can't do that right away, Maria. He may hold information about where the rest of the Night World is immigrating to, and which big wigs are holding secret meetings for petty

  retaliation. And, as far as I know, this Eldson man was connected to many head honchos."

  Maria snorted and fidgeted. "He isn't a man, at least in my definition. Valdis is a bigoted, self absorbed, finicky, and capricious bastard who isn't good enough to suffer in hell. He

  just needs to…to… I don't know, get sucked up in a black hole or something." Hannah stared at her old friend, her sharp mind piecing the vast jigsaw puzzle with the minor clues Maria inadvertently slipped out. But a few pieces were missing.

  "How could you have such hateful feelings for an assassin who you met for an hour or so? And why aren't you dead if he had that much time to kill you? And, if you hate him so much, why haven't you killed him already?"

  The bombardment of questions, like Valdis, drove into confusion, which usually resulted in anger.

  "What is this, twenty questions? Speaking of questions, why wouldn't I hate the man sent to kill me? I suppose you, oh kind Old Soul, would give him a drink and a good meal

  before he slit your throat like the wretched dog he is. Besides, Kyros must have told you what happened, and you know Kyros came before he could do anything."

  "He went to the Lincoln Tunnel and back, that's at least an hour from here. Something must have happened, Maria, I could feel it."

  "Valdis might have come just five minutes before Kyros interrupted. Ever think of that hot shot?"

  "First of all, you said 'might have' which means he didn't. Second of all, you're on a first name basis with a man you met a week ago and lastly, I don't think he would give you his

  business card for future purposes. How did you know his name, and his personality, and his hotel? Assassins don't mince words with their targets. How do you explain that, hot

  shot?"

  There was a pregnant pause in which both knew Hannah's decisive victory. Maria began to pace, hands on hips, and her eyebrows furrowed deep in thought. After ten minutes of

  wearing down the hard wood floor, Maria finally settled herself on a recliner in front of Hannah. Somehow, with hair sticking to her sweaty forehead and wrinkled clothes, she still managed to maintain the "Ice Queen" reputation from the mansion.

  "Fine, so I knew him from Carn's castle. I do not understand how our acquaintance interferes with the fact he tried to kill me. Do you not get the math here? Tries to kill me equals

  you guys kill him."

  For maybe the first time since they met, Maria saw Hannah give a sigh of exasperation. "I understand that equation. But I'm saying that he probably didn't come with the intent of

  killing you."

  "Go ahead Sherlock, solve the puzzle. I'm just dying to hear your explanation."

  "You," she said slowly, "and Valdis are…"

  The angry gleam in Maria's eyes grew to an intense golden glow. "Don't you dare say it, Hannah Snow. Don't. You. Dare." For a moment, she thought she would comply. Hannah

  closed her mouth and toyed with the tassels of a pillow. Satisfied, Maria rose to see her out the door when she heard Hannah speak behind her.

  "Soul mates."

  August 10, 2000

  California

  The gloom filled the apartment like a thick fog. A documentary on the Life Time Channel had touched upon a sensitive subject. Children.

  At first, all appeared normal and innocent. On the couch, Poppy watched the babies, cooed and doted on their lovable faces while James surfed the net on his laptop from a kitchen

  stool. Then she began to laugh over the misadventures involving toddlers and pre teenagers. And when the program interviewed celebrities raising young children, Poppy began to

  cry.

  "Poppy, Poppy, it's okay if they end up divorcing, the stars get joint custody," he said frantically, and hoped that was the cause of his the sudden water works. "Is it about the kid's

  dog dying? Listen, I'm sure he's over it by now, this show's about five years old. Stop crying, just stop crying, here's a tissue."

  Poppy began sobbing, and a few seconds later threw the tear soaked Kleenex back at him. "It's not about the stupid show! It's about us!" She yelled angrily and pushed him away.

  "Us? But Poppy, we don't have to worry about that junk. We don't have kids…er…wait a second. Are you pregnant?" The situation was highly unlikely considering she was made.

  "NO! NO, NO, NO! I'm not pregnant, does that make you happy?" Unfortunately, he gave the wrong answer by shrugging. "I'm not upset that I'm not pregnant and I'm not upset that

  you're happy. I'm upset that I can never be pregnant!"

  James' mouth made an "oh" shape. He began to understand, his father once told him in a rare confiding moment that all women entered a maternal stage.

  "A maternal stage! James, don't presume that this is a sentimental phase. If you do, I will kill you here and now." James bafflement changed to slight irritation.

  Being a witch and a vampire did wonders for Poppy's psychic abilities. At first, he was proud his soul mate was reputed to be one of the strongest psychic vampires in the United

  States. Then, he began to fear it. With the combination of the soul mate link, her witch heritage, and the vampire powers, James' shields were virtually useless. When they

  discovered this, Poppy solemnly promised not to read any thoughts that were not meant for other minds.

  "James, come here," she said, her voice still trembling, and sat on a stool. James cautiously sauntered to the one facing her, while she wiped her eyes. "God, how do I begin to

  explain this. See, you knew my parents, you know that they were great in raising me and Phil. Well, mom was great and dad was…fun. And she showed me in almost every aspect

  how to be a wonderful and sensible mother. I just…just…"

  "Want to put that knowledge to use," he guessed.

  "Yes, and when you…I…we found out about my cancer and the following events, I just sort of stopped thinking about it. But now, that I'm talking to my mom, and seeing what an

  amazing job she does with us, even when she found out we're witches and I'm a vampire… I just want to be like that. I wan
t to have a little girl or boy look up at me with a million

  questions so that I can answer every single one."

  In silence, both watched James wringing hands. He knew his lack of words disturbed her, but to say he was shocked would have been an understatement. Even humans at this age

  didn't have to think about family ways. James had never contemplated, and in complete truth, wanted a child. With a colorless tone of voice he only used pertaining to his parents,

  he said, "And you've known my parents. You know what a horrible job they've done."

  "You turned out okay," she said helpfully.

  "But I have no idea how to raise a kid, Poppy. There is nothing that I've learned from them except 'Don't turn baby sitters into ghouls.' If we ever get a kid, you would be like a

  single mother. You know everything, Poppy, what to say when they fall or what to do when they get in trouble in school. All I've had to help me out of those situations was myself."

  "You would have me, and Life Time documentaries." Then her hopeful face abruptly became crestfallen. "God, look at me; I'm trying to comfort you about being a father. You're

  never going to be a father and I'm never going to be a mother."

  "What are you talking about? There are adoption agencies that Thierry knows the numbers to."

  "Adopt?" Poppy said the word as if it was a part of new language. "But…but…"

  Many of their friends in Circle Daybreak were adopted, Keller for example. It was not unheard of, since many made vampires felt the family twinge once in their long life times. But

  Poppy had never thought of adopting a child herself. This caused another argument.

  "What's the matter with an adopted child?"

  "There's nothing wrong them, it's just that they wouldn't be mine. They wouldn't be ours, our blood, our…DNA…"

  "It's not the DNA that makes a kid your son or daughter, Poppy. I thought you would understand that."

  "What is that supposed to mean? Just because I laugh and smile all the time, I'm supposed to say yes to whatever you ask for?"

  "No, it means that because you had such an open mind to everything before. It's not the medical history that makes you family Poppy. And as cheesy as this may sound, it's the

  relationship, the love, or the bond that you build with the children. How can you get so technical as DNA?"

  "It's not technical, James!"

  "Then what is it? What's holding us back from adopting?"

  She didn't have an answer for that. And he had nothing else to say. In their topic, they switched their positions concerning children. Neither wanted to leave; it felt as if a sudden

  departure represented an apology. Silence, tensions, and sadness settled over their home as both pondered over the problem in their minds.

  August 20, 2000

  Southwestern Pennsylvania

  "Believe it or not, Ripley," Gillian said matteroffactly.

  "No way! Tu plaisantes!" Iliana returned, feeling as if she needed to show a bit of knowledge not that her distant cousin had dropped the huge bomb on her. Her mother once hired a

  French nanny, who believed in being bilingual was just as important as potty training. She hadn't lasted long.

  "Yup. You may have had the blue fire in your blood, but I met one of our dead cousin and solved a missing persons case. Who's the special Harman now?"

  "Puh lease. I am a Harman, you are a Lennox." It was some time between twilight and dawn. The two girls whispered in giggled in the dimness of Gillian's room.

  It was obvious that Daybreak was concerned about her safety. Beth knew that that was the reason why Kotori was sleeping over at Beth's house that night. Eliza was a good witch

  and would be able to protect Beth during a fight, but Kotori gave them added protection. Unlike Beth, she could change her shape in order to protect herself and others. Beth wanted

  to be angry at Daybreak's deception, but found that she couldn't. It was nice to hang around her friend. In the end, Beth forgot about the danger and the past few days and was able

  to just have fun hanging out with one of her friends.

  Somehow the subject of Nicolas was broached. Beth watched her friend's face closely when his name was mentioned. Her cheeks flushed pink and she looked a little ashamed of the

  subject. Shame was never something that Kotori had displayed before when Nick was around or mentioned. Beth arched an eyebrow, wondering at this new behavior.

  "He asked about you, you know," she told Kotori. Beth was laying on the carpet, her knees tucked under her chin. Kotori was above her on the bed, her feet hanging in the air as

  she reclined on her stomach, her long hair just barely broaching the cerulean carpet as she leaned over the edge of the bed. Her dark eyes were interested in the subject.

  "He did? When?"

  "The evening I was kidnapped. That was why he dropped me off second. He wanted to ask me how you felt about him. I didn't tell him, though. I told him he should ask you. It

  wasn't my place to say anything."

  Kotori tilted her head. "You didn't feel bad that I didn't tell you that I liked him earlier, did you?"

  She thought about the question earnestly. "No. Okay, at first I did. I mean, I am your best friend. I'll keep your secret tell the grave, Kotori. But… it was your secret to tell. Just

  because I'm your best friend doesn't mean that you have to tell me everything. Sometimes people need to keep secrets to themselves—for the safety of others." And didn't Bethany

  know all about that!

  She was staring at Beth appraisingly. Slowly a smile spread across her pretty face, hawklike with intensity. The smile made her face more becoming. Underneath it, however,

  there remained the same Kotori had seen earlier. Kotori, Beth realized, had become confused and selfconscious in the time that Beth had been gone. Something had happened that

  was making Kotori reassess her world. She had lost the composure and pride Beth had so greatly admired before. Oh, she still possessed it—it still made her stand with perfect

  posture and hold her chin proudly, baring her teeth at the world and daring it to do her best—but the tenderness Beth saw normally directed at her was suddenly more pronounced.

  "Something happened while you were gone. I'm not sure if it's something bad or something wonderful and miraculous. I'm a little ashamed to be telling you this, but… well, I went

  to go and visit Nick at the hospital when I found out what happened. They hit him pretty hard over the head with wood. He had a concussion, but you know vampires—they heal in

  no time when it's bashing damage, even if it is from wood.

  "He wouldn't let me take time off of school and help look for you. I wanted to circle the area and help, but… he told me no. So I disobeyed him and cut class for the first day to help

  them look. Nick was furious when he found out—started telling me that it was his responsibility because he was the leader of the team and he was supposed to watch out for us and

  that I was being reckless and he'd lose me too.

  "It got pretty vocal. I think we made Roger and Alicia uncomfortable. I started yelling back that I could take care of myself and I had to help protect you because you were my best

  friend. He threatened to disband me from the team if I couldn't stay rational."

  Beth allowed herself a small gasp. "He threatened to cut you?" Kotori nodded. Hugging her legs closer, Beth smiled cattily, enjoying the story. She wished she could have been

  there to see Nick's face when Kotori began yelling at him. "So what did you do?"

  She laughed. It was a rich sound, and a little playful in the way she remembered the incident fondly. "I think I was so mad I didn't know what to say. I turned and marched out and

  slammed the door behind me so hard that I popped the doorknob off the door. After awhile though, I started to feel guilty. I still think that Nick was out of line for being so harsh on me, but he was trying to be swe
et. He really was worried about losing me too. He felt like it was because he failed that you were kidnapped." She laughed, but there was a hint of

  bitterness to this one. "Just when I started hating him he had to go all noble on me. So I snuck out of the house and went to his place to apologize to him.

  "I ended up staying awhile and talking to him. You should have seen him, Beth. He looked like crap. He's normally so composed, it's difficult to think of him as ever getting ruffled.

  Joking around and acting like a normal teenager, well, that's one thing. Can you imagine him looking frazzled, though? Or ill kept? Alicia had ordered him to go home and rest and

  he was laying on the couch channel flipping aimlessly.

  "I apologized. He apologized for being the first one to start yelling. We ended up sitting on the floor in his living room, talking. I know that he asked you. He told me… eventually he

  told me, anyway. When he started telling me that he liked me, I think I could have skinned him alive. I felt mortified and just… just overwhelmed!"

  Her jaw dropped again. Beth hadn't expected Nick to take her advice so seriously. She had apparently underestimated his dedication and persevering work ethic. When Nick wanted

  something, he generally did everything in his power to get it. "He actually told you that he liked you?"

  "Actually, I think he said something more like 'I ardently and devotedly love you'. I think he was trying to be sincere and emotional and overestimated the effect of Jane Austen on my heart. I looked more ready to bolt than to swoon into his arms the way he had expected."

  "So what did you do?"

  Kotori pursed her lips. "Um…Well… to be honest… I think I tried to be evasive and called him a pedophile… as well as a few other choice phrases I should have been fired for using."

  Beth winced. Nick probably wouldn't have taken that very well. He no doubt had been insulted. Age had been, after all, one of the things he was worried about. He had poured his

  heart out to Kotori and she been able to pick out on one of the few things that would have shattered his heart right away.

  Suddenly the topic of conversation wasn't as fun anymore. Nick was a good guy. He always tried to do the right thing. If there was a way he could have avoided falling in love with