Dhampir

by J. H. Hutchins

  The driver introduced himself as Jim Fletcher. He was a bulky man — deep voice, black tank-top, and muscles the size of basketballs. His minivan was clean and smelled of crisp polyester and air freshener. One thing Mallory noticed was Jim’s constant glancing into the rear-view mirror. Though he was a bit persistent with peppering his new passenger with questions, he maintained an air of hospitality around Mallory.

  “Seatbelt,” Jim reminded her.

  “Oh, right,” she said. “I’ve seen these things in the movies.” She struggled to put it on, but Jim’s help solved the problem. He was curious as to why someone her age — at least fourteen — wouldn’t know how to put on a seatbelt. He kept the question to himself.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, why would you want to go to a place like Tent City?”

  “I live there.”

  Jim took a second to study Mallory.

  “Why?”

  “It’s free.”

  “Lots of things are free — it doesn’t make them safe.”

  Mallory’s silence caused Jim to take another look at her. She was glaring in his direction.

  “Forget it. What’s your name?”

  “Mallory.”

  “Mallory, huh? Beautiful name.”

  “That’s a first.”

  “You don’t like it?”

  “Nobody likes it. I got the name because my parents hated me. They wanted a boy.”

  Jim studied Mallory again, feeling his heart clench watching her stare out the window — the passing buildings soaking in the pain of her past.

  “Well, I do,” Jim nodded. There was another moment of silence. “Am I bothering you?”

  “Hardly.”

  “Then what’s the matter?”

  “I’m having a panic attack.”

  “Huh?”

  “I made a terrible mistake.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “I wish.”

  Jim shook his head. The more she backed away, the more he wanted answers.

  “What school do you go to?”

  “Haven’t been to school in a while. I had a tutor once.”

  “You didn’t like him?”

  “He’s—”

  A sudden Thud! on the passenger’s side door caught Jim’s attention. Mallory had slapped her arm against the door panel. She was clutching it, eyes widened. Jim’s natural reaction was to reach over and pat her arm.

  “You okay?”

  Mallory pulled her arm away. It was so quick, and passionate, that she nearly broke the seat belt twisting her body to face Mr. Fletcher. She was breathing heavily, scaring Jim into tossing his free arm up in surrender. He didn’t know what to do, but at that moment he needed her to feel safe.

  “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  It took a red light, where Jim threw both of his hands up, for Mallory to come back to her senses. A wry smile flashed across her face.

  “Bloody Mary. Pardon me.”

  She returned to her position and patted her nose. No blood. Good.

  The drive to Tent City commenced. It was silent for several minutes, but Jim’s glances toward his mysterious passenger only made him more curious. Why did she live in Tent City? Was she homeless? If so, how did she afford her vibrant costume? Where were her parents? Why didn’t they make her go to school? Why was she alone in a place like the West Side of Gatsby?

  And so on, and so forth. The questions were endless, but Jim didn’t want to push her away. He wanted to pull her closer.

  “Gatsby’s a strange place,” he said, breaking the ice. “Do you know what a gangster is?”

  Mallory didn’t break her gaze of the Midtown Museum, but assured Jim she was listening with a few nods.

  “Well, Gatsby’s full of them. The West Side’s filled with gangsters in bandanas, the East Side’s filled with gangsters in overalls, Uptown’s filled with gangsters in sweatpants, and the rest of the city is full of gangsters in suits. Add that to the perverts and the disdain for our police force, and you can imagine the dangers.”

  “What is that thing?” Mallory pointed out the window. Jim slowed down to take a look.

  “The ice cream?”

  “No. The thing with wheels.”

  “The skateboard.”

  “Ah! Yes. Skateboard.”

  Jim scrunched his eyebrows and scratched his head.

  “You’ve never seen a skateboard before?”

  “I’ve seen them in films.”

  “In what world—” Jim stopped himself. “Where are you from?”

  Mallory looked towards Jim and sucked her lips in. He nearly got lost in a trance staring at her large, chestnut eyes.

  “I, uhh—” Jim said, catching his mistake. “Your accent sounds British.” Mallory covered her mouth and giggled.

  “My dear friend, Rebecca, gets that a lot.”

  Jim pulled out his phone. He took a moment sitting in Midtown Gatsby’s heavy traffic to visit Google.

  “There we go. It’s called Received Pronunciation. It’s seen as an accent of prestige.”

  “Prestige? I suppose I’d rather not have it then.”

  “Why not? It makes you rare.”

  The immediate silence made Jim look toward Mallory again. Her head was down and she was playing with her gloves. She caught him looking, causing Jim to nearly break his neck focusing on the road.

  “Why were you there?” she abruptly asked.

  “I was on my way back from doing something.”

  “Doing what?”

  Mallory shifted in her seat to face Jim.

  “Just keeping an eye on someone. You don’t know them, so it doesn’t matter.”

  “I know them,” Mallory giggled. “Very well, in fact.”

  “The Enterprise?”

  “Yup.”

  “Really?”

  “We had a meeting right before you found me.”

  “At the warehouse?”

  Mallory nodded. “Nasty critters, aren’t they?”

  “What were you talking about?”

  Mallory covered her mouth before speaking again.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” she insisted. “Why were you there?”

  “I told you. I was keeping an eye on them.”

  “Why?”

  Jim was trapped. He nervously glanced at Mallory a couple times, knowing he couldn’t answer that question. She was giggling.

  “Maybe it’s best we keep our secrets to ourselves,” she concluded.

  “Agreed,” Jim conceded. “You hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  “Want me to stop by a drive-thru and get something?”

  Mallory shifted in her seat again, this time startling Jim by grabbing his arm with both hands.

  “You would?”

  “Sure. There are a few places around here, but there’s a McDonald’s closer to Tent City. Makes sense to go there, I guess.”

  Mallory closed her eyes and tried to remember the restaurant where she dropped the Beans.

  “No!”

  “Huh?”

  “Absolutely not. Look, turn!”

  Mallory pointed out a Burger King. Car horns blared as Jim slid his way through a few of them to reach the restaurant. He was pressured by constant slaps to his chest by Mallory insisting he, “Go! Step on it! Move! Move!”

  The line was long enough to drag out so far that Jim couldn’t see the menu. Mallory noticed an even longer line inside the restaurant.

  “Let’s go inside,” she urged.

  “Not enough time,” was Jim’s answer. “I’ve got to stop by a few places after I drop you off.”

  “Please?” she begged, looking Jim square in the eyes. Maybe it wasn’t her accent, but the way she pleaded that made it impossible for him to look at her — but even more impossible to say, “No.”

  After parking the car, Jim knew he made a mistake. One closer look inside was enough for him to shake his head. Mallory tried to cheer him up by locking her arm wi
th his and walking in with a bit of pep in her step. Her happiness was the only reason he didn’t turn around and finish his errands.

  Inside, Mallory surprised Jim even more. After being so quiet within the minivan, she captivated the others waiting in line with a bubbly personality he had yet to see of her. And when she ordered, she attracted even more of an audience by pointing and yelling, “I’d like that, please. And that! And that! And that!” And as Jim was scrambling through his wallet for cash, Mallory was busy persuading a little boy to stop crying after his parents told him he couldn’t get anything but a drink because they didn’t have the money. She bent down, wiped his face, set her hands on her knees, and asked what he wanted. It didn’t end with the boy, as many took advantage of her kindness. Jim spent nearly eighty dollars trying to accommodate Mallory’s wishes. And at least a third of it was spent on the food she wanted for herself.

  So, when they were done transferring food from the counter to their table, Jim was punching digits into his phone — giving his mother excuses as to why he wasn’t back with the groceries yet. Then came another surprise. Mallory’s femininity was likely the strongest he’d seen in his life, but it didn’t stop her from eating like a behemoth. He swore she would choke, which caused him to ask her to, “Slow down,” a few times. She’d stop and stare at him with her big, brown eyes, causing him to turn away and sigh. Immediately afterward, she’d return to gobbling down burgers, fries, and chicken nuggets — washing it down with cups of multiple variants, as she filled her cups with each flavor or brand of drink the restaurant had to offer. It was easy to forget that she lived in Tent City, which practically meant she was homeless — or on the verge. Jim remembered this, forcing him to hold his tongue when advising her to take it slow with her food. He didn’t even protest when she ate his food, believing that to be for her, too.

  Jim was beginning to get depressed watching her eat. When Mallory suddenly jumped up mid-meal to check out the playground, a smile streaked across his face. She spent the rest of her meal running back and forth between the playground, the bathroom, and their table. She wouldn’t answer back when he asked why she went to the bathroom so much, but he decided to respect her privacy and shut up about it.

  After nearly an hour, Jim knew it was far past time to go. Mallory had hosted such an amazing game of hide-and-seek that there was a crowd of teenagers and younger children begging her to stay. Their parents were glad Jim cut the game short. How many more children hiding under their tables, and bumping into their legs, could they take before losing it?

  The kids were really disappointed when they found out that Mallory had neither a phone number to call nor any type of social media. However, she wanted to leave them with something. She gathered them around for a speech and pushed all of the wrappers, trays, and cups to the floor. Jim was livid, but not as mad as he’d have been had any of those cups not been empty.

  “Today brought excellence,” she began, “and tomorrow . . . brings . . . excellence, too.”

  A quote seemed like the perfect gift until she actually began to speak. She was waving her arms in the air during the pauses, making her speech even more awkward.

  “Good day!”

  4

  The City of Tents

  “We forgot dessert! We mustn’t leave without dessert!”

  “Don’t worry,” Jim sighed. “We’ll get some later.”

  “How? We’ll be parting ways.”

  Jim nearly forgot Mallory wasn’t his daughter or niece — but rather a stranger he’d just met.

  “I’ll find a way,” he assured her.

  “Promise?” she asked, locking her arms around one of his.

  Jim nodded.

  The long journey to Tent City was coming to an end. Within only a few minutes, Jim would be forced to give this girl to the streets. How could I? he thought.

  “Mallory?”

  “Yes?”

  “What would you say if I invited you to a real home?”

  “Nothing, really. I wouldn’t believe it.”

  “You should,” Jim continued. “You’re beautiful. Unique. You don’t belong in a place like that.”

  “Does anyone belong in a place like that?”

  Mallory had a point. Jim began to feel selfish, playing God in deciding who deserved to live where. But he was too sober to allow anyone other than her to tag along.

  “When we get there, grab your stuff and come with me. I want you to live with us.”

  “Aww,” she said, locking her arms around his arm and placing her bushy, brown curls on his shoulder. “How charming.”

  “Deal?”

  Mallory squeezed his arm tighter.

  “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

  “Huh?”

  “It’s a wonderful offer, really. I’ve never lived with a family. I’d really love for you to be my father, too — but, I mustn’t.”

  “Why not? It’s big, clean, and in a safe suburb on the East Side.”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I want to speak with your father when we get there.”

  “Ehh—”

  “I can’t believe he’d let his little girl live in a dump like that. The thieves, the violence — the perverts!” Jim paused to shake his head in disgust. “Matter of fact, where is he!?”

  Mallory let go of Jim and pinned her back to the door panel. She covered her lips.

  “Does he even know where you are?”

  Mallory stayed silent.

  “Does he even know you exist!?” Jim continued. “Give me some answers, Mallory.”

  “Yikes,” the princess cringed. It was the only thing she could think to say.

  A silence that marked the awkward tension within the minivan lasted the rest of the trip. Jim couldn’t think of anything else to say without hurting Mallory’s feelings. And Mallory couldn’t think of anything else to say that would please Jim. She was happy to arrive at Tent City, even though her journey with Jim was the most fun she’d had since her Gothic runaway.

  “Good day!” Mallory shouted. She quickly opened the door — forgot she had her seat belt on before attempting to get out — and then tripped.

  Jim shook his head non-stop. He couldn’t believe he was leaving her here. The trash. The peddling. The arguing. The stench!

  “I’ll be here for a bit, in case you need me,” Jim hollered above the noisy crowd.

  “Thank you!” Mallory waved.

  Jim wasn’t sure if she heard him, but he was certain something was telling him to stay. The errands could wait.

  Mallory showed up to the big blue tent with nothing but her clothes and fear. Shaded from the drama and sunlight surrounding them, Nina was lying on Malik’s bare chest. She was playing with his hand while keeping up with their deep conversation. Mallory couldn’t wait to enter the tent.

  “Finally,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief as she entered the shade.

  “Mal!” Malik exclaimed. He extended his arm toward her to give her a fistbump. “What took you so long?”

  “The weather.”

  “Yeah,” Nina joined in, “the sun must be killing you.”

  “I’m only a halfling, so it’s nowhere near as bad.”

  “Guess being a halfling isn’t a curse, after all,” Malik laughed. Nina shifted a bit to send him a glare.

  “Miss Rebecca should be fine,” Mallory continued. “But I worry about Vee.”

  “She just left not too long ago.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” Malik added. “She isn’t lying, but we got here first.”

  “And the others?”

  “Gone. Only my boy, Loo, came back. The others aren’t about that action.”

  “Where’d they go?”

  “They spread like roaches. I told them we should’ve stood our ground, but only Loo decided to listen. Well, sort of. He tried to talk to them, but he had to slap a few of them up since they just wanted to take us somewhere. It was funny seeing them run.” The st
ory had Mallory on edge. She was looking around cautiously, hoping The Enterprise wouldn’t find another reason to return.

  “Wait a minute. You said Vee and Master Loo had come back.”

  “They did. Garth, too. Vee was basically dying, so Garth threw her under the shade. Loo gave her the last of his Beans and she healed up.”

  “They went looking for you,” Nina added. She grabbed Mallory’s glove. “Don’t worry, they should be back before moonrise.”

  “You know how strong Garth and Loo is?”

  “Are — honey,” Nina corrected Malik.

  “Bottom line — your sister’s fine. Lycan’s promise.” Malik waved his free arm, throwing up finger codes that’d look like gang signs to a normal human. They were foreign to Mallory, too, but she smiled anyway.

  The princess squeezed Nina’s palm. It felt so good to finally have friends.

  “What’s your story?” Malik grinned.

  “Huh?” Mallory gulped.

  Oh no!

  “We beat up four or five of them — left them begging for mercy.”

  Yikes, Mallory thought. I guess I should start begging too?

  “I ran and ran and ran,” Mallory admitted, “so hard that my legs felt like salami sticks.”

  “And?”

  “And then I noticed that I was lost. A nice fellow gave me a ride and drove me here. It was wonderful, really.”

  “Humans don’t do that for just anybody,” Nina smiled.

  “I suppose he’s my new father.” Mallory giggled. Nina joined her in laughing it out.

  But not Malik. Malik’s eyebrows furrowed. He tapped Nina’s stomach to let him up.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked him. Mallory’s eyes widened.

  After standing, Malik walked past Mallory and surveyed the area. He then went back into the tent and began patting Mallory. She froze.

  “Where is it?” Malik finally asked.

  Mallory covered her mouth. Nina stood and placed her hand on Malik’s shoulder.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  “The bucket. Where is it?”

  Nina turned to Mallory. In the short time they’d known each other, she could already read the princess like a book. She fixed her long, black hair and stood between Malik and Mallory.

  “Where’s the bucket, Mal!?” Malik burst out. The yell was so loud that a crowd began to form outside their tent. Mallory didn’t move.