by W. J. May
“You thought Liam was protecting you.”
She shrugged. “Maybe they both are. Maybe neither of them are. I don’t really know what to believe right now. But they can’t both be bad, right? I mean, you’re a vampire and you’re not evil. You’ve never wanted to hurt me, or mom.”
“I would never intentionally hurt either of you, but it’s getting harder and harder to resist the anger boiling inside of me. It’s in my nature to kill. Every night is a horrible struggle. I have demons, Kallie. Don’t ever think I don’t battle them.”
An image of her science teacher popped into her head. He had tried to give up smoking at the start of the year, and inadvertently would mistake a piece of chalk for a cigarette. All the kids would snicker as he took the occasional drag. Kallie never laughed. She felt sorry for his struggle. Whatever sympathy she held for her teacher, she felt a thousand times worse for her dad. “Why’s life so complicated?”
“Easy makes people lazy,” he joked half-heartedly.
“By the way, I believe you have full control, Dad.” She winked and took another bite of her sandwich. “No worries.”
“I do worry. Always.” He frowned and stared at the clock on the wall. “Can you do me a favor? Lay low for a few days. Don’t go to school, at least not for a few days. Just stay home, chill.” The last word sounded awkward coming from his mouth. He was too old to talk like a kid.
“Ditch school?” The thought was both a relief and a worry. She had become the model student, it wasn’t like her to ditch. However, she needed the time to try to figure things out. She could try and do some research on her own. “What do we tell mom?”
“The truth.”
Kallie nodded. She felt better including her mother in on the plan, the last thing she wanted to worry about was weaving a complicated fabrication for her. “Okay, I’ll stay home.”
Her father looked relieved. “That conversation came out easier than I imagined.” He played with an invisible fleck on the table. “I’m so sorry that this is in your life now. It’s not the life I ever intended for you. I had hoped so much more for you—for us, as a family.”
“Dad, you’ve given me and mom a beautiful life and this is not the end. It’s… a bump in the road.”
Her dad raised his brow at her analogy.
She giggled. “Okay, perhaps bump in the road was the wrong choice.” Funny, she never thought she’d be able to turn their accident into a joke. It almost felt good to laugh at it. As if by laughing, they could take control of what actually went down that night. When the laughter died down, and the last crumb of her sandwich was gone, she eyed him skeptically. “Dad, have you always been honest with me?” She was pressing him by asking this, but between what Caleb and Liam had told her, she had a million questions.
“Of course,” he answered too quickly.
Kallie twitched her mouth in frustration, determined to know everything she could to find the answers she needed. “It’s just… the accident, those warlord-mafia vampires who abuse you every month, Caleb and Liam… it all seems too much like a grand plan. Like we were, I dunno… targeted, on purpose.”
Her father scratched his neck. “I can see how you would want to believe that. It makes the tragedy of what transpired have more meaning. Without meaning, it’s all rather unjust, isn’t it?”
“I don’t even think unjust fully encompasses how I feel about what happened the night of the accident.” She let out a sad whimper. “I don’t even know everything that happened.”
“You don’t have to know everything.”
He was skirting the question. “If we want to find the answer to why it happened, I think we need to know everything.”
Her father watched her for a long moment. “What do you know?” he finally asked with a furrowed brow.
Did she tell him what Liam had told her? What Caleb had said? Or just what she remembered? She forced air through her nose. “I’m not sure. It’s like my memories are puzzle pieces. The rain, and the road… you sleeping…” She shook her head.
“I’d been up for over forty hours.”
An image of someone sitting on the concrete pillar in the pouring rain popped into her mind. “Did you know Caleb was there? Have you met him before? Do you think I can trust him?” Her mouth started spouting questions and that’s when Kallie realized how desperately she wanted to trust Caleb. If he’s good, perhaps he could be an ally in whatever this is.
“We never met,” her father said with conviction. “As for trust, honey, I don’t think you should trust anyone who doesn’t live under our roof.”
Kallie felt his unease as he stared at her intently with his orange-red eyes.
“Maybe I’m being overprotective, or perhaps it’s just the fear of knowing how bad some vampires are… but you barely know either of these boys.” He shook his head. “Why would two vampire boys suddenly have their eyes on you?”
“Dad, I wouldn’t exactly clarify them as boys,” she tried to joke, but it came out sounding lame. It’s not like they were some pimply faced guys hanging around her locker in high school. They were… completely unexplainable.
“You and your mother are all I have left. You are my connection to the light. Without you, I’m alone in the darkness.” He tried to smile but it seemed too hard to do.
Hearing that was heartbreaking. Kallie couldn’t imagine a life where she would have to hide from the sun’s rays. The thought that her father existed this way was painful. Everything about his new life sucked. Everything. “I’m sorry, Dad.”
He stared at her a long time. “This isn’t your fault.”
She picked at the crumbs on her plate. If she hadn’t driven that night and just told him to wait till morning, everything would be different.
“Hey!” He leaned over the table and flicked her in the arm to get her attention. “I’d prefer if you keep company with humans, not vampires. Go find a nice boy,” he added with a grin.
Kallie rolled her eyes. “Trust me, I’m not planning on walking down the aisle with either Liam or Caleb.”
“Well, that’s reassuring.” He stood and feigned a stretch. “I think I need to turn in.”
Kallie smiled. It’s not like her dad actually needed to sleep, he was probably uncomfortable with the thought of Kallie walking down the aisle with anyone. He always did get a bit squeamish whenever she brought up guys. He walked over and kissed her on the top of her head. “Get some sleep, okay?”
“I will, I think I need one more sandwich though. I sleep better on a full stomach.”
Her father laughed. “Don’t we all, Kallie.” He walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to lie beside his wife for the rest of the evening. It wasn’t until he was gone that Kallie understood the irony of his words.
Chapter 2
Kallie skipped school for three days. Relieved when her friends didn’t question it, she answered their texts and calls asking where she was. Her response each time was simple; she had a bad stomach bug that had left her feeling weak. She figured they wouldn’t believe it forever, but the less she said, the better. So for now, it was a bad batch of sushi that had left her weak as a kitten. Her friends checked in via phone, paranoid to come by in case it was something contagious, and told her they missed her.
However, they weren’t the text messages she had been anticipating.
She wanted Liam or Caleb to contact her. She didn’t know who she wanted to hear from more. Both men, regardless of their intent, were dangerous. They were connected to other vampires and she had no clue where their true allegiance lay. For all she knew, they were linked to the same vampires who hurt her father each month—perhaps they were even somehow involved. Her dad didn’t seem to think they were, but in the dark when you’re being tortured, who knows which mouth is feeding on you?
She shuddered at the thought—especially when it came to Liam. Hadn’t his lips been on hers just days before? Thinking about his kiss made her knees weak and her head spin. She hated to admit how much she h
ad enjoyed that kiss. The detective felt strong, in control, and Kallie was completely under his spell. Had she been foolish thinking in that moment he had wanted just her? Not her father, not a connection to a mysterious car accident—just Kallie.
That’s all she had wanted. A guy to make her feel like she wasn’t someone to be pitied. Her friends never told her about how people in the town whispered about her family, but she knew. It had to be the reason why she didn’t have many dates. She was lucky her high school friends had stayed in touch, because no one was lining up to hang out with her…until Liam.
She had tricked herself into believing Liam had been interested in her. But, being a hot-shot detective, he just wanted to know the facts behind the accident. And now that she knew what Liam was… well, it looked like he was trying to find more than facts. Like he wanted to find a weakness. The whole thing made Kallie so sick, her fib about having a stomach bug wasn’t all that farfetched.
During school hours, Kallie hit her local library. She knew she was safe from Liam and Caleb because of the sun. She didn’t have to worry about her friends spotting her, because they were in class.
After the first morning, she decided if she didn’t get out of the house she’d go crazy. Sadly, the library was just a dead end. Any information on vampires was just fiction or myths from people that had died hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Most of it was witchcraft stuff. People believed they were under a spell and hungered for blood. Some of the “cures” were barbaric. Most agreed they had to remove all the teeth in order to rid the infected person of their blood desires. It made Kallie feel nauseous. She imagined her poor father being strapped to a chair, helpless and scared. His mouth oozing with blood as they ripped his teeth out.
Other legends related the numerous amount of deaths to vampires. People would turn cold and grey in their beds. Their bodies struck by some creature. Kallie reasoned the creature was probably something medieval like the plague and they had no other way of explaining it. None of the things listed sounded like the vampires she knew. And Kallie knew three.
It’s funny how fast one can accept the bizarre as the norm, she thought as she mulled over another book that led to nowhere. She knew the easiest way to find answers. All she had to do was call one of the two mystery vamps she knew. But that was not a solution to her problem. It only enhanced it. So for now, it would be the library, where she read about demon possession, the folklore of werewolves and even the Loch Ness monster. I bet he’s real too. Kallie sighed and continued looking through anything that might help.
At nearly noon, Kallie was convinced she should head home. Sometimes her best friends, Lisa and Jeanna, liked to leave campus to have lunch and she didn’t want to risk being spotted. She took the long way home because it avoided the place where the girls usually dined, but she could still stop at the coffee shop and grab an iced cappuccino for the way home.
While she walked she thought about all the legends she had read. She wondered if any of the people who had written those stories down, had ever actually come face to face with an immortal. Probably not, she decided. If they had they would describe the eye color, or how cold they were. They would know the look a vampire gives you when he’s starving, and the only thing that can quench his thirst is your blood. She recalled the look her father had given her when he had first changed. How he screamed for her to get away because he was terrified of hurting her, or worse—killing her.
Back then, Kallie would have chosen death. Seems a strange way to think, but it was true. If her blood could have given her father peace, well then she would have turned her neck and allowed him to take that bite. That’s why she became a blood donor for him. If that was one way she could help, then so be it.
An image popped into her head and froze her with fascination. She wondered what it would feel like if Liam, or Caleb, bit her and drank her blood. What would it feel like to have their lips touch her neck? To feel how cold their breath was against her skin before their fangs pierced her flesh and the warm flow of blood traveled from her body into theirs. Would she be afraid then? Would she cry, and struggle to break free? Or worse… would she submit to that fatal kiss?
It was all too much to take in and she was glad when she finally found her car and got in to drive home. She turned the radio loud, and sang, trying to drown her thoughts. She finally slowed as she approached her block. She needed to be alone and figure things out. Avoiding everyone was not how she could solve any problems. She feared though, that thinking about Liam and Caleb would somehow summon them, and although it was daylight, she was terrified they’d find a way to shield themselves against the rays of the sun to see her.
Caleb said he was her protector. Was he? Why would she need one? It was too much to contemplate and when she walked in the door, she was happy to see her mother making lunch in the kitchen. Her mom had become her connection to humanity and just being in her presence was soothing.
“I was hoping you’d be home soon. I’m making eggplant in garlic sauce with a side of brown rice for lunch. You’re going to love it.”
“Can I add chicken?” Kallie teased. Joking about eating animals was practically a sin to her vegetarian mother.
Her mother made a face. “You don’t even know what a chicken eats. Vegetables are natural. A chicken is pumped with junk. You know, I hear some chickens are fed other chickens!”
“Gross,” Kallie conceded.
“Yes, I could never imagine feeding off of my own species,” Kallie’s dad called up from the basement.
Kallie burst into laughter. If nothing else, her father had kept his strange sense of humor. She leaned down the stairwell. “If I close the shutters, you want to come up and have lunch with us?” He sometimes did that. Not very often but his humor put him in a good mood. It was worth asking.
“Thanks for the offer but I’ve got work to do down here.”
“Suit yourself. You’re missing mom’s eggplant.”
“I’ll pass,” he said and Kallie could hear his chuckle. “The garlic gives me indigestion.”
“For real, or ‘cause you’re a vamp?”
His laughter was his only response.
After lunch with her mother, Kallie grabbed her laptop and plopped onto her bed. Sitting cross-legged, she turned the notebook on and went straight to the Internet. She tried googling vampire, but only what she expected came up. Movies, books, and tons of cheesy pictures. She tried to narrow her search by countries, but that only showed her the same nonsense she had read in the library. She grew disheartened and then a thought dawned on her. Eye color.
Besides pale skin, which was a given because of lack of vitamin D, aka the sun, that was the only thing that really changed. Her father and Caleb had red eyes, but Liam had blue. She did a search and almost had a heart attack with what she saw. It was a group of vampires called the Watchmen. They had red eyes just like Caleb, and that’s not all she saw. There, amongst a group of them, was Caleb staring defiantly into the camera, just like he had in that photograph of her accident.
Watchmen? Oh Caleb, what are you?
A knock on the door caused her to jump. Instinctually, Kallie looked out the window. The sun was still shining, she was safe. Caleb and Liam couldn’t risk seeking her out.
“Come in,” she said, meeker than expected.
The door creaked open and her dad poked his head in. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
Kallie shrugged. “My father’s a vampire who allows himself to be beaten and fed on once a month. The detective I interviewed turned out to be a vampire linked to the Blues… the other guy my friend Jeanna tried to fix me up with is also a vampire, only he claims he wants to protect me and fight the original blue vampire who swore he was trying to help my father!” She crossed her eyes and took a breath. Then she relaxed her face and met her father’s gaze, becoming more serious this time. “I go to the library in hopes of unlocking helpful information and all I find is nonsense and fairytales. Then I search the Internet and I f
ind this.” Kallie turned the laptop so her father could see. When his eyes took in the image, a look of fear flashed across his face, but with his vampire reflexes, he quickly hid his expression with one of indifference. But Kallie knew what she had seen. Her father knew what this picture was about. Either the Watchmen were the ones who fed on him, or he had heard something about them before. Unlike Kallie, this was not new information to him.
“Dad…” Her voice was shaking. “Who’re the Watchmen?”
Her father shook his head and slipped his hands into his pockets. “I’ve no idea.”
“You’re lying!” She hadn’t meant to snap, but she was at her wits’ end. “Stop trying to protect me. If I don’t know what these… creatures are, how can I ever survive? How can Mom and I? You want to help us? Tell me the truth!”
Her father tentatively came into the room before finally sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. He put his arm around her but she shook him off. “Kallie—”
By now her eyes were filling with tears. She knew he was hiding something. She could feel it in her heart. “Just get out.”
“Now listen to me young lady—”
“No! You listen to me! I’m sick of everything being vague. These things are hurting you, and now I’m involved and in way over my head. I don’t care, but I need somewhere to begin to start looking for answers! You have to let us in. I can’t live like this. This not trusting… it’s too much. I want the truth.”
Her father stood up and looked at her, his red eyes heavy and sad. “You think that’s what you want, Kallie, but you may not be ready.”
Ready for what? So he was hiding something!
“You may not be ready to hear what I have to say.”
The sadness and tone of his voice made her feel sicker. “Please go. When you’re ready to tell me the truth, I’ll be more than willing to listen.” She turned, giving him her back. It was rude, but she didn’t care.
When the door closed, she began to cry again and only stopped when her cell phone rang. It was Jeanna. She sniffed back her tears, wiped her eyes, and took a deep breath before answering.