by Gayla Twist
This was so different from the last time I’d visited. Mom was obviously in a more agitated state. I wondered how much of it had to do with the fact that I’d grown a set of fangs.
“So, why the surprise visit, Haley?” Mom asked. “Not that I’m not always delighted to see you, but I get the feeling that something is on your mind.”
“Well…” This was it; I had to tell her. “Remember when you made that joke about my father being a vampire?”
Before I could say more, there was the sound of someone tapping on window.
Chapter 27
Haley
The window opened a little wider. “Is it safe for us to come in?” Elaina asked, poking her head into the room. She said it so cheerfully, like a friendly roommate checking to see if everybody was fully dressed.
Mom gave me a tight smile. “You brought friends?”
“Kind of…” I wouldn’t exactly call Elaina and Paolo friends. “They’re some people that I know.” I could gauge that my mother wasn’t pleased by the expression on her face, so I quickly added, “And my maker. He wanted to meet you.”
“Show them in then,” Mom said, quickly smoothing down her hair. “We can’t leave them hovering out in the cold.” Then she directed her attention toward Elaina. “Come in, come in.” Hurrying over to the window, she pushed it open all the way. “How many are you? I feel like we’re having a party and I haven’t prepared a thing.”
“Please don’t put yourself out,” Elaina said as she alighted in the room, good manners magically appearing out of nowhere. “I apologize for dropping in on you, unannounced.”
“Thank you for welcoming us,” Paolo added. He apparently hadn’t sensed that he could have easily entered anytime he wanted. Or maybe he had and he was just being polite.
Dorian entered as well, his handsome face looking both embarrassed and concerned.
“Haley?” Mom turned to me. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”
“Mom…” I began, then I stopped. “Meredith Scott, this is Elaina and Paolo,” I told her. I couldn’t remember Elaina’s last name and I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard Paolo’s.
“Delighted to meet you,” Paolo said, stepping forward and taking my mother’s hand. I think he would have bowed and kissed it, if I hadn’t intervened.
“That’s enough, Paolo,” I told him, patting him on the shoulder, although I didn’t know him in the slightest. “And Mom, this is Dorian Vanderlind, my maker.”
“Ms. Scott,” Dorian said, stepping forward while subtly nudging Paolo out of the way. “I’m very happy to finally meet you. You have a wonderful daughter, and I know a lot of the credit goes to you.”
“So, you’re my little girl’s maker,” Mom said with a warm smile. Then, in a not so quiet aside to me, she whispered, “I can see why you’re so crazy about him; he’s a hunk.”
I seriously wanted to crawl into the closet and never come out.
“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” my mother asked. She was suddenly speaking as formally as all the undead in the room. “Not that I’m not always thrilled to see my Haley, but it does seem rather unusual that all of you decided to drop by.”
“Well…” I said, biting my lip.
“Ms. Scott,” Paolo said, stepping forward again.
“Please, let’s be a little more modern,” my mother told him. “You may call me Meredith.”
Paolo raised his eyebrows slightly, as if deciding whether he approved of this lack of formality. “Thank you, Meredith. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions about your…” He trailed off, then cleared his throat, unsure of how to refer to the man who’d knocked her up and then never bothered to show his face again. “I’d like to ask you a few questions about Haley’s father.”
It was my mother’s turn to raise her eyebrows in surprise. “Him? What do you want to know about him for?”
Everyone looked at me. “Uh… Mom,” I stammered. “It’s just… you know…” I didn’t know how to explain it to her. My mom could be very in-tune to other people’s emotions. If she sensed that Elaina and Paolo desperately wanted my father to be a vampire, then she might admit that he was, just to please them. If she liked them, of course, and I couldn’t get a read on how that was going.
“Ms. Scott,” Paolo said. Then he took her hand. “Meredith. It’s just a few simple questions.” I could tell by the intensity building in his eyes that he was exerting his influence over her. “What can you tell us about Haley’s father?”
Mom blinked at him. “I’m still not sure how that is any of your business.”
“I’m sorry, but this is important. You need to just tell me.”
“I’m sorry, but you need to just mind your own business.” My mother wasn’t mincing her words.
Oh, great. For whatever peculiar reason, Mr. Word’s-Best-Influencer wasn’t getting through to her.
“I thought you said you could control any mortal,” Elaina hissed at her male counterpart.
“Mom, please,” I said, exasperated. “This is really important.”
She gave me a sharp look. “My private life is my private life,” she insisted. “I don’t see why I have to share anything I don’t want to share, especially with complete strangers.”
“Meredith,” Paolo said, commanding her attention again. He fixed her with an unwavering stare. “You must tell me about Haley’s father.”
“Oh, alright.” Mom shrugged. “What do you want to know?”
A small smirk flittered across Paolo’s face. “Was Haley’s father a member of the undead?”
“That’s a very intriguing question,” Mom said. “He passed away, if that’s what you mean. But I’m not sure if he’s ever been un-anything.”
I couldn’t believe she was doing this. My mother was literally making me nuts. My whole life she’d been cagey about my dad. Even now, with our lives literally on the line, I had no idea if my father was actually alive or dead.
And that’s when I was struck with the reason. Oh, God, the rumors were true; my father was a vampire. I was going to be hunted and hounded for the rest of eternity. My mother was going to be tortured and tormented. Even if I could somehow protect her, the undead would constantly stalk her. They would never leave her alone. Her mental health couldn’t handle that. It would push her over the edge.
“Enough of this bullshit!” Elaina said in a sudden outburst. She shoved Paolo to one side with such vigor that he staggered and then collided with a chair. “Meredith,” she hissed, her eyes blazing like two torches. “I need you to look at me. I need you to concentrate. Tell me about the father of your child. Was he a member of the undead; was he a vampire?”
There was a loud knock at the door. Everyone froze. There was the sound of jingling keys and then the door swung open. Crenshaw stuck his head in. “What’s going on in here?” he demanded. “Who are all these people? How did they get in here?”
Even though I was desperate to get the orderly out of the room as quickly as possible, I could also feel my stomach growl. There was nothing I would have liked better than to rip his throat open and suck all the blood from his body. And then it occurred to me that most of the other people in the room probably felt the exact same way.
“I’m so sorry, Chief Orderly Crenshaw,” my mother began. “This was totally unexpected.”
“Don’t give me any of your Chief-Orderly-Crenshaw crap,” he barked. “You can’t have a party in here. You can’t sneak people in after hours. It’s the middle of the night. I’m going to have to call security.”
“We’re sorry to cause a problem,” Elaina said, smiling at the man. “Why don’t you come in and we’ll talk about it.”
The man fell silent, staring at her, dumbly.
Things were about to go bad in a hurry; I could feel it in the air. This idiot orderly was about to be ripped to shreds and he literally had no idea. Time just hung there for a moment and I tried to figure out if I’d be able to restrain
myself from joining in the slaughter, once the red started to flow.
Dorian stepped forward, putting his body between Elaina and the orderly. “Don’t come in,” he said in a firm voice, staring steadily at the man. “And don’t call any other security.”
The man stared back, his lips moving slightly, but no sound was coming out of his mouth.
“You need to go back and report that there was nothing wrong. One of the residents was simply having a bad dream. And then you are not to come back here tonight, no matter what you hear. Do you understand?”
Chief Orderly Crenshaw nodded his head.
“Good.” Dorian patted him on the arm. “You should go now.”
The man nodded again, then turned to do as he was told.
“Oh, and Crenshaw,” Dorian called after him. “From now on, you will always be very considerate to all the residents here, but especially to Meredith Scott.”
“I will,” the man muttered as he shuffled off. I could feel the tension in the room deflate a little as Dorian closed the door.
Elaina turned to Paolo. “That’s how you influence someone,” she snarled, biffing him on the arm. Rounding on Dorian, she said, “You make her talk.” She jabbed a pointy finger in my mother’s direction. “You make her tell us everything.”
“If you’re going to get so upset like this, then more people are going to come up here,” my mother pointed out. “Plus, there are other people receiving care at this facility. And some of them are trying to sleep.”
“Mom,” I said through clenched teeth. Elaina was acting like a woman on the verge of something ugly. I was willing to fight to protect my mom, but it was easy to see how things could quickly get out of control. My mother needed to not provoke the problem by suddenly becoming Miss Manners.
“Meredith,” Dorian said, ignoring me. “I’m just so happy to meet you. But I do realize this is an awkward time for us to visit.”
Mom shrugged. “When else could you visit? Besides, I don’t care about the hour. It’s just so wonderful to finally meet you.”
Elaina made a small grunting noise to show her impatience.
“Meredith,” Dorian said, and I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was exerting his influence. “I want you to tell me about Haley’s father. Is he still with us?”
“Yes,” Mom said, nodding her head decisively.
“So he’s alive?” Dorian raised both eyebrows. He really should have made his first question clearer.
Mom squinted a moment. “I think so. I’m not sure, actually. My memory is...” She thought it over. “Flexible.”
“Get to the point,” Elaina hissed.
“When is the last time you saw him?” Dorian asked, ignoring the vampiress.
“Meredith!” Elaina said, elbowing my maker out of the way. “Look at me.” Her eyes were blazing like two bonfires. She grabbed my mother by the shoulders. I was about to intervene but Dorian caught my eye and shook his head. As long as Elaina wasn’t hurting her, we had to let this play out.
“Yes?” Mom’s eyes went a little glassy after a moment.
“Is the father of your child a member of the undead?” Elaina demanded.
“Member?” Mom looked puzzled, as if she was trying to recall if my father had renewed his membership at the gym.
“Is Haley’s father a vampire?”
Mom gave a funny little smile. “No. Why would you think that?”
“You have to tell me the truth. You know that, don’t you?” Elaina was squeezing my mother’s shoulders rather tightly. It surprised me that Mom didn’t complain.
“Yes.” Mom nodded, staring deeply into the vampiress’ eyes. “I know that everyone thinks I’m crazy, but I can tell the difference between someone who is alive and someone who is dead.”
“You’re lying!” Elaina shouted. She was just inches away from my mother’s face, her fangs fully visible.
“No. I wouldn’t lie to you.” Mom slowly shook her head, apparently unfazed by an angry vampire shouting at her. “I wouldn’t lie.”
There was a kind of flash in Elaina’s eyes, like a spark of flint against steel. That couldn’t be good. I inched around to stand behind Elaina, while casually trying to pull a stake out of my bag. If Elaina lost control and tried to feed off my mother, or punish her in some way for not having slept with a vampire, then I was going to stake her where she stood.
“But…” Elaina gasped. “But… it has to be true. I need a baby. I need a little one to hold in my arms and call her my own.”
“Oh, you poor dear.” Mom seemed to be able to focus a little better. “You want a child so very desperately. Don’t you?”
Elaina’s hands fell to her sides and, I swear she was battling tears.
“I don’t blame you,” Mom said. “My daughter is the greatest joy in my life.” And then my mother actually wrapped her arms around Elaina and gave her a hug. “I’m just so sorry, but Haley’s father isn’t a vampire.”
Then, slyly, over Elaina’s shoulder, where no one else could see, Mom flashed me a wink.
Chapter 28
Dorian
I couldn’t believe that Elaina started crying after Meredith told her that Haley’s father wasn’t a vampire. Not just a few glistening tears on her cheek, but giant, heaving sobs. After struggling against her emotions for a few minutes, she collapsed into a big puddle on the floor and was practically making more noise than when Haley and her mom had been battling. It was so painfully sad, even after everything that Elaina had tried to do to my darling. Haley’s mother ended up rubbing Elaina’s back and comforting her. It was really the most surprising turn of events that I could have imagined from the situation.
And then there was Meredith Scott. People always assume that the mentally ill are emotionally weak and easily manipulated, but that obviously wasn’t the case. I always knew Haley to be incredibly strong willed. But I’ve come to realize that she got that trait from her mother, not because of her mother.
I had to admit that I was impressed; Ms. Scott had held out against Paolo’s influence and it’d taken an extreme amount effort on Elaina’s part to get to the truth.
A part of me was disappointed that Haley and I would never have a child, but it was probably for the best. I couldn’t imagine what being able to procreate would do to the undead portion of civilization. And subsequently, the mortal world.
Once Elaina had cried for several minutes, she dealt with her grief, pulling herself together. Rising to her feet she said, “Ms. Scott, I am so sorry that we intruded on your privacy. I can’t thank you enough for being honest with us about this very private event in your life.”
“I’m sorry I had to disappoint you,” Meredith said while walking her to the window. “And, although it pains me to admit it, I now consider Sterngrove my home.”
Elaina looked at her. “I understand.”
Haley’s mother nodded. “I rescind my invitation. For you, and Paolo, and you too, Dorian,” she told me. This surprised me a little; I was Haley’s maker. I would never do anything to hurt someone my progeny loved. Then Meredith added, “I hope you understand; I just can’t have vampires waltzing in here at all hours of the night.”
“Thank you for having us,” Paolo said with a deep bow. I think he was considering kissing her hand again, — I could tell he’d thought about it when we first arrived — but with the invitation rescinded, he had little choice but to head for the window instead. He stepped onto the sill, following Elaina into the night.
“It was a pleasure meeting you,” I told Ms. Scott. “I hope we meet again.”
“I’m sure we will,” she said, giving me a friendly pat on the shoulder. “I won’t live forever, but I think I still have a few good years left.” She tapped her head. ”God willing.” As I stepped onto the sill she added, “Make sure you take care of my little girl.”
“I will,” I assured her.
“Give us a few minutes,” Haley said, catching my eye. “I’ll catch up with you.”
Elaina glided up beside me. “I’m very sorry about persecuting your progeny,” she said, sounding as casual, as if she’d accidentally taken my parking spot.
I nodded, not too eager to engage her in conversation after her behavior, but there were still some details that had to be hammered out. “I need to know how you intend to call off your agents, and update anyone else out there who has put a bounty on my progeny’s head.”
“Don’t worry; I’ll take care of it,” she assured me.
I gave her a hard look. “Elaina…”
“I will,” she insisted. “I’ll make sure there isn’t a single member of the undead community who doesn’t know it was all just a bunch of lies.”
“It’s the least you can do after causing so much trouble,” I told her.
“I know,” she said, in a half whisper. “I was being foolish, but… It’s just… I’ve always wanted a baby; even before I died. Having a child would have added so much meaning to eternity.”
I nodded again, willing myself not to think too much about how badly I wanted to have a child with Haley.
It was then that Haley exited the window, looking a bit tearful. “Is everything alright?” I asked, immediately rushing to her side.
She nodded. “She’s a bit crazy, but she’s my mom and I love her,” she said. “I know I probably won’t see her for a while.”
“We’d better get going,” Elaina said, inserting herself into the conversation. “It’s going to be dawn in a couple of hours.” She paused for a moment before adding, “We’ll need to figure out a place to stay.”
I had to give Elaina credit, she didn’t let decorum keep her from going after what she wanted. But that didn’t mean I had to extend her the hospitality of the Vanderlind Castle. “There is a safe house in Columbus,” I told her. “You should have plenty of time to get there.”
She made a face.
“There’s always the graveyard,” I pointed out. Columbus has an old one with lots of mausoleums.