In the Face of Darkness

by Sarah Dell

  ***

  The sound of a shotgun made me jump. Matthias had driven for the rest of the day to get to Lake Charles. “Maybe you should wait in the car” Matthias told me.

  “It’s not like a gun can hurt me” I said.

  “Just wait in the car” Matthias said.

  “No” I said. I was done taking orders. All I had done for ten years was take orders from Endora.

  “Matthias!” a young pretty woman in her mid-twenties came running from the house. She wrapped her arms around Matthias’s neck.

  “It’s good to see you too Megan” Matthias hugged the woman back.

  “Are you…?” the woman trailed off. I wondered who this woman was to him. I hadn’t seen Matthias in ten years. I realized then that he could have a girlfriend or even a wife or kids. Why would he have kissed me if he had a wife?, I thought, but then he wouldn’t be the first husband to kiss another woman.

  “I can only stay the night” Matthias told her. I guessed that he knew what she was asking without her saying it. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was feeling jealous of this woman that Matthias was clearly close to. I shouldn’t feel this way. Matthias had not been mine for ten years. I shouldn’t care who she was to Matthias, but I did anyway.

  “Megan, this is Lily” Matthias said. “Megan is married to my cousin Bryce” Matthias told me as if he had read my mind.

  “She’s a vampire” Megan said.

  “She is also a water witch” Matthias said as that would make a difference, but the look on Megan's face said that it didn't.

  “Gran is not going to like this” Megan said.

  “I know, but I didn’t have a choice” Matthias said.

  “Well, come on in” Megan said with a too sweet southern accent as she turned to walk in to the small, run down house behind Matthias. Matthias nodded at me as if to say it was safe, and I sent him a questioning look that he only smiled at. I realized how mistrustful I had become since becoming a vampire. The house looked run down and ignored from the outside, but the inside was warm and inviting.

  “Where are Bryce and Lucas?” Matthias asked Megan.

  “They went hunting” she gave Matthias a look, and he gave her a look back, like they had some kind of understanding they didn’t want me to know about. “Gran is in back” she said. There was another gun shot. “Shooting” she said.

  “That sounds like Gran” Matthias said.

  “Gran, Matthias is here and he brought a guest” Megan said as she leaned out of the back door.

  “Guest? What guest?” An elderly woman walked into the kitchen through the back door. Matthias hugged her the moment he saw her. The top of her head only came to his shoulders and was covered in curly powder blue hair. She wore a dark blue dress and the lenses of her glasses were tinted light blue.

  “Gran, this is Lily” Matthias said. “Lily, this is Nola, my grandmother” Matthias said.

  “She’s a vampire” the old woman said as she glared at me.

  “She’ll behave herself. I'm taking her to the Island” Matthias said. I saw a small smile cross her lips before it disappeared into the lines in her face.

  “I don’t like this” she said.

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to see you. We can go” Matthias said.

  “Has she fed?” she asked, and Matthias looked at me as if he was remembering what I was. To be truthful, I think I had forgotten that I needed to feed. It had been three nights since I had fed. I could maybe go one more night, but then the urge was going to become too powerful to control.

  “No, but we will take care of that soon” Matthias said.

  “Take her into town, feed her, and then you can stay here. I’m tired. I’m going up to bed” Nola said. “She stays down here” she motioned towards me.

  “I’ll help you Gran” Megan said as she took Nola’s arm and helped her up the stairs.

  “What aren’t you telling me about the Brotherhood?” I asked Matthias when Nola and Megan had disappeared up the stairs.

  “I told you that the Brotherhood is a secret society that protects the world against those that would harm it, but what I didn’t tell you is they believe that all supernaturals want to harm the world. They have hunted down witches, werewolves, and more, almost to extinction” he said.

  “If they are so bad then why did you join?” I asked.

  “I was born into it” Matthias told me. “My mother left the Island when she was a teenager in search of a better life. She found my father. They were married and I was born soon after. My mother’s father was one of the founding members of the Brotherhood. He swore an oath that bound not only him, but every male in his bloodline to the Brotherhood. When I turned eighteen the bound in my blood was activated. They found me and took me to the Island. Once you are in the Brotherhood you can’t leave” he said. “The only time I’ve left the Island since then is when they send me out on missions. I’ve been on a lot of missions, and every time I try to visit Gran if only for a night. She is the only family I have left” he said.

  “I thought I’d make some tea” Megan said as she carried a tray with a kettle, tea cups, and frosted sugar cookies from the kitchen. I hadn’t heard her come down, but then again I hadn’t been paying attention.

  “Thank you Megan” Matthias smiled fondly at Megan. The tea was hot and had the soothing smell of chamomile. I took a cup out of politeness even though Matthias and Megan knew I would not drink it. Megan seemed to be one of those southern women who were polite to a fault. She smiled at me like she didn’t know I was a vampire, and it was nice to forget that I was different from everyone else; that I was a monster. I smiled back at Megan.

  “Ya’ll must be tired after driving so far” Megan said. “Matthias, you can have your usual room and Lily you can…” Megan broke off.

  “It’s ok, I don’t sleep so I’ll be fine down here” I said.

  “Come on, I’ll take you to town. You can feed there” Matthias asked after touching my arm. If I had enough blood in my system I would have blushed. Just when I was feeling normal Matthias had to remind me that I was a vampire.

  “I should go to bed” Megan said, and I realized that talk of me feeding made her uncomfortable. I couldn’t blame her, if I was a human I wouldn’t want to be in the same room as a hungry vampire.

  “You should sleep too. You don’t have to come with me” I told Matthias.

  “You need to feed; I’m going with you” he said.

  “Don’t you trust me?” I asked.

  “You don’t know the area, I can help you” he said.

  “I don’t want you to see me feeding” I told him.

  “Then I won’t look, but I’m coming with you” he said.

  “But, you really need to sleep” I said.

  “Then you should hurry” he said.

  CHAPTER 8