Dhampir

by J. H. Hutchins

  “Can you even imagine?” Lincoln laughed. “Living under a tent? With trash covering your surroundings? Peasants, the whole lot of them.”

  “My life’s ruined,” Mallory sulked. The princess felt a pinch at the side of her neck. “Ow!”

  “Has my presence bothered you?” said Lincoln, fiercely staring at her. She turned her head away. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. “The only disaster here is you. You’ve made a mess that will not be easy to clean up, but I am here to save you.”

  “I don’t need saving . . .” Mallory muttered. Lincoln squeezed her chin. When she tried to protest, he slapped her arms away. He was so quick it seemed that he knew exactly how she’d move.

  “You ungrateful little—” Lincoln scowled. “You’re lucky I don’t give you a spanking — right here, right now. You surely deserve one.”

  Mallory was helpless.

  “You must understand how much I love you,” he continued. “I have risked too much to attain your love. I want to spend every second with you — even if it means vacationing in the Human World. It wouldn’t be my first choice, nor my last, but then again I’m not an idiot like the rest of you. Living amongst humans you’re forbidden from tasting is torture.”

  “You broke the ‘terms of invitation’ at least three times . . .” Mallory added, hoping it’d make Lincoln feel bad about his actions. Though Acorn sulked in the corner, Fang and Lincoln let out boastful laughs.

  “Such fancies mean nothing to a prince,” Lincoln bragged. “The Spirit Toll means nothing to me. Humans, even less. You are the only thing protecting this scum from becoming my prey.” Lincoln returned to massaging her cheek with the back of his glove. “But we can change that.”

  “No,” Mallory stood up. “Don’t you dare!”

  “I won’t. Trust me, love.”

  Mallory held a deep sigh. Her next move would be brave.

  “If you really cared about me you’d leave. Go back to the Realm and give me some space.”

  Lincoln looked around the room.

  “You heard her, you imbeciles,” he yelled. “Scatter!”

  “You, too!” Mallory hissed at Lincoln. He jumped up so fast Mallory barely had time to back up before he pinned her to the wall.

  “How could you say such a thing?” he said, shaking her. “Your father left you! Your mother has forgotten you to become a Vice! And now you whisk away the only person who loves you!? Have you gone mad!?” Lincoln wouldn’t allow Mallory to keep her head down. He grabbed her by her chin again. “Answer me!”

  “I’m sorry,” she lied. “I didn’t mean it. I’m just dealing with a lot and don’t know how to express my feelings.”

  Lincoln gave her a tight hug. Admittedly, it felt wonderful, but his affection always did.

  “See, dear? I can help you with that. This nonsense about us splitting apart will only dig you into a deeper hole. You are too broken to live on your own.”

  “Do you remember my struggle to win your heart?” he continued. “The countless men I had to defeat? The countless virgins I had to deny? The countless times I had to beg your heartless father to accept my proposal?”

  “And don’t forget how long he’s waited,” Fang added. “The lord’s known he’d be yours as soon as your birth was announced. I remember the spark in his eyes when he saw you in person for the first time. Your father walked the streets with you on his shoulders. You were just a tyke, then, but you were the only being to suck attention away from your father.” Mallory cringed. Lincoln shook his head.

  “Fang.”

  “Yes, Lord?”

  “Shut your mouth before you lose it.”

  “Sorry, Lord.”

  Lincoln also caught Acorn doing something quite strange. She was gazing at Mallory as if she were ready to pounce. Her eyes were glazed over, and he could’ve sworn she was even sweating. Acorn’s lust for Mallory’s flesh was overriding her better judgment.

  “Acorn!”

  “Yes, lord,” she said, breaking her trance.

  “Watch your eyes before you lose them!”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “Listen,” said Mallory, slinking through Lincoln’s arms. She stood on her bed to address the trio of newcomers. “We need to get you out of here.” Before Lincoln could rip her from the bed, she explained herself. “Not like that! I mean to say that I’ve told the owners of this residence that I’d invite no visitors without their knowledge. If they find out you’re here, I’m doomed.”

  “Who cares about the wishes of humans?” said Lincoln.

  “Here’s the plan,” she continued. “First, you’ll leave the way you came. Second, you’ll go off someplace and wait until the evening. Third, you’ll come back and ring the doorbell. I’ll introduce you all as my dear friends, and we’ll—”

  “Dear friends?” said Lincoln.

  “You know what I mean . . .” Mallory insisted. The stress made her wave her arms in the air.

  “No,” Lincoln pouted. “I don’t. Plus, I’d rather us just be truthful. I broke into your residence to retrieve my future wife, and if you have anything to say about it then I’ll split your head open and drink your blood.”

  Yeah, I’m sure that’ll work.

  “Lincoln. Do you care about me?”

  Lincoln walked over and hugged her at the waist.

  “More than anything the universe could ever conceive.”

  “Then do this. Please. For me.” Mallory set her arms on his broad shoulders and massaged them. He fell for her forced affection.

  “As you wish, my dear,” he smiled. “You’re getting pale, dear. I think you’re underestimating how fruitful it would be for us to kill this family and consume their souls. I’d give you all the spoils.”

  Mallory felt sick.

  “No!” she warned. “We cannot eat them! We must act like humans if we want to have a peaceful vacation. This means no talking about Sperns, magic, or the Realm, in general.”

  “Both The Governor and The Enterprise made that very clear,” he insisted. “However, what they don’t know won’t kill them. I hadn’t found out about your Bean problem until The Enterprise had already moved them. They traded your location in exchange for me ‘minding my own business,’ so I cannot save your Beans. This means we must look at alternatives if their rations are not enough.”

  “They will be,” she promised. “Just — follow me.”

  Mallory opened the door to the basement. She tried tip-toeing in her boots to make less noise, but Lincoln and Fang’s oxfords, along with Acorn’s high heels, made too much sound.

  “Pick up your—” Mallory began. She was interrupted by the Gothic trio following her. Lincoln, Acorn, and Fang were staring toward the couch. Both Jim and Abby were sitting there, shocked to see Mallory and her new posse.

  “Hi . . .” Mallory cringed.

  “Good morning,” Abby smiled. “Who are your friends?”

  “Mallory is too retarded to have friends,” her Ex announced. “I am Lincoln La Croix — her lover. And these are my flunkies. Their names are none of your concern.”

  “Fang and Acorn,” added Mallory. “I consider the two of them to be among my longest lasting friendships.” An awkward silence ensued after her statement. Lincoln made the Fletchers uneasy. His aura was intimidating. “So . . . what have you two been up to?”

  “We’re worried about Jayce,” Jim explained. “We’ve got a birthday party to throw and we don’t want him to scare away the visitors. Do you know what set him off last night?” Mallory could tell both Jim and Mrs. Abby already assumed it was Lincoln, Fang, and Acorn’s arrival that set Jayce off.

  “It wasn’t my friends,” Mallory assured them. “I believe it’s because I accidentally spilled blood all over him.”

  “Blood?” Jim and Lincoln asked in unison.

  “Yeah,” she admitted. “My nose began to bleed when we were getting to know each other.”

  “Getting to know each other?” Lincoln asked in disbeli
ef. Mallory set her hands to his chest, scared he might embarrass her in front of the Fletchers.

  “As friends, I swear,” she lied. “I’ll go see if he’s up and about. I think I can fix his mood.”

  “I’m coming, too,” said Lincoln.

  “Same for us,” Jim told Abby.

  “I must do this alone,” Mallory insisted. “Trust me, he is very fragile. This is what links us.” It didn’t take much of an argument to pass this test. However, she felt Lincoln grab her forearm.

  “Don’t take long,” he bent over to whisper in her ear. Mallory wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn’t dare. She left her disapproval of his controlling nature to her imagination.

  Uggh! Somebody save me!

  Mallory bumped into Uncle Todd in the kitchen. She stole food from his plate as they exchanged greetings. He didn’t mind, as she showed him how to flush away the pills Abby gave him to eat with his breakfast. Todd thanked her with a hug and ran off to his room to watch T.V.

  “Hey, boy,” he said while leaning over the staircase railing. “Want to join me at the shooting range tomorrow?”

  “Shooting range? Tomorrow?”

  “You heard me.”

  “I really hope I can,” she admitted. “I may busy though.”

  Todd walked away, grumbling about how “the boy” was scared.

  Mallory could hear Lincoln and the Fletchers talking downstairs, giving her more leeway in her scavenging. While grabbing handfuls and spoonfuls of bacon, eggs, cereal, and toast, Mallory noticed a plate left untouched. She counted the seats — one, two, three, four.

  Must be for Jayce.

  Upstairs, Mallory noticed a plate of food left outside of Jayce’s door. After knocking, she picked up the plate. It had two vegan burritos on it — made with scrambled tofu and homemade hash. Mallory wouldn’t have known, but that wasn’t the point.

  If this plate is his . . . then was the plate downstairs . . . for me? No. Stop being stupid.

  Before Mallory could steal a bite, the door opened. Jayce pulled her inside, shut the door, and grabbed the plate from her.

  “Why did they send you?” Jayce asked her.

  “Who?”

  “You know who. Are they on to me?”

  “Huh?”

  “Are they on to me!?”

  “Jayce, I—”

  Jayce began pacing around the room.

  “They sent you as bait. Your blood is some type of new tech the government uses for assassinations. I’m just surprised they didn’t use the heart-attack gun. I won’t be easy to kill.”

  “Jayce, I’m not part of The Enterprise. I promise.”

  “Then who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here? What was that blood?”

  Mallory threw her gloves up to avoid him asking any more questions before she gave answers. He began wolfing down a burrito as they spoke.

  “My name is Mallory Vice. I am from a land far, far away.”

  “Where?”

  “Hmm,” said Mallory, searching his room for answers. Jayce’s room was the exact opposite of Todd’s — neat, clean, and filled with pop culture propaganda. “Britane.”

  “Britain?” Jayce corrected.

  “Yes, that’s the one,” Mallory smiled. Jayce took another bite of his burrito and shook his head.

  “Cut to the chase,” he said after swallowing the bite. “What’s with the fake blood?”

  “I was born in a toxic area,” said Mallory. She didn’t consider herself to be lying, as Avalon was quite toxic — at least with their constant mental abuse. “My blood was poisoned, and now it does weird things.”

  “Like Chernobyl?” asked Jayce.

  “Exactly. That, and worse.”

  Mallory didn’t know what Chernobyl was, but when Jayce told her to,” Get out,” of his room, she changed her story.

  “I’m kidding,” she assured him. “It’s just flavored blood I got from a shop.”

  “Tell me the truth.”

  Mallory cringed. Jayce was intimidating her with his persistence.

  “Ehh—”

  Suddenly, Mallory felt a tinkle of energy breeze through her veins. It came from Jayce’s closet. She walked over to it and set her head against the closed door.

  “Don’t touch my stuff,” Jayce warned her.

  “I’m not,” said Mallory. “Something’s in here.”

  “No, there’s not.”

  “Yes, there is,” she promised. “And it’s powerful.”

  The word “power” sparked his interest. He put down the last half of his final burrito and wiped his hands with two tissues he pulled from beside his bed. He got up, brushed past her, and opened his closet door.

  “Where is it?” he asked her.

  Within seconds, Mallory’s senses sniffed out the object. It was a black box. Three sixes were sketched on its top.

  “I knew it,” said Jayce. “That thing’s given me weird vibes ever since Abby gave it to me.”

  “Did she tell you what it was?”

  “Not really. She was supposed to give to me on my tenth birthday, but she was six years late. The only reason I have it is because she thought it’d heal my depression — as if that’s even a possibility at this point.”

  “From the school thing?”

  Jim froze.

  “Mind your business,” he said. “Just tell me what’s in the box.”

  “Mrs. Abby never told you?”

  “No. She plays hardball every time I bring it up.”

  “A wand,” Mallory answered.

  “Interesting,” he smirked. “I’ve gotten a ton of dreams of cleansing the world with a magical wand. I think I started getting them after the box, too.”

  “I don’t know much about that,” she admitted. “However, it’s certainly powerful. Its power was leaking through the box. It’s weaker, now, so it must be shy.” Jayce didn’t like how she humanized the wand, but he blew it off and picked up the box. There was a keyhole on its side.

  “Abby says she lost the key,” Jayce told Mallory. “Selfish.”

  Without saying a word, Mallory reached into her pockets and pulled out the key she found under the side room’s lamp. Jayce allowed her to take the box from his hands when he saw it, and his eyes lightened up when they heard a, “Click!”

  Mallory could feel the box shaking. She decided against opening the box. She handed the items back to Jayce.

  “I’m not opening that with a den of dragons,” she said. “I’ve had enough bad luck for one lifetime.”

  Jayce went at it himself. No matter how many times he tried, the key would, “Click,” but never open.

  “Why won’t it just open?”

  “I have no clue,” Mallory lied. The princess knew exactly why it wouldn’t open. However, she didn’t stop Jayce from storming downstairs for answers.

  “Open it,” Jayce told Abby, tossing the wand box on the table beside her finished plate. He slammed the key beside it, causing utensils to clatter. The group had brought their discussion up to the kitchen, but Jayce ignored the new faces. Abby lowered her glasses toward her grandson. Mallory cringed as Jayce ramped up his disrespect. “Stop wasting my time and open it.”

  In response, Abby grabbed the key.

  “Have you been going through my stuff again?” she asked.

  “I didn’t find it,” Jayce admitted. “She did.” Jayce nodded toward Mallory. The princess received a scowl from Abby.

  Suddenly, Abby stashed the key away in her pajama pocket — the furthest one from Jayce.

  “What are you doing?” he questioned. She ignored him — grabbing The Great Gatsby from the table for her eighth read-through. Jayce stepped closer to her. “Give me the key,” he gnashed.

  “Watch it,” Jim warned.

  “Listen,” Jayce continued, “just open the box and you can keep the key.”

  “What good’s a key with nothing to open?” she asked him. Jayce was infuriated but he knew she was hiding something.

  “Wha
t do you know about the wand?” he asked her.

  “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “I got it from an author at a writing conference.”

  “No,” Jayce spat, “you didn’t! It’s not even yours! My parents gave it to you before they left!”

  “So it’s mine.”

  “They gave it to you for me. What don’t you understand?”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You’re the one that told me!”

  Abby cursed under her breath.

  “It doesn’t matter now,” Mrs. Fletcher admitted.

  “Why not?”

  “Your father warned me about this day.”

  “Warned you about what?”

  “Giving you the wand. You’re greedy, disrespectful, and easily one of the craziest people I’ve met in my life.”

  “Why would they warn you about me using some toy wand?”

  “Your parents were reckless, but you take the cake. And then you shove it down that disrespectful mouth of yours.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Exactly. Your parents told me to hide this away until you were mature. Come talk to me in a few years.”

  “It doesn’t matter what they think. They’re dead.”

  Jim, Todd, and Mallory gasped.

  “Ironic,” Abby smirked. “So is Lily. Doesn’t stop you from sulking about her all day long.”

  The room became so tense Mallory swore they’d all start brawling. Jayce looked at Abby as if he were about to strike, which is likely why Jim stood between them. Abby looked as if she dared him to try something so stupid.

  “The Death’s Dawn,” Mallory interrupted, picking up the wand box. She dropped the box as fast as she picked it up. There was a tiny trail of smoke coming from her gloves. “Bats! Its power is tremendous!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Lincoln smirked. “Magic isn’t real.” He picked up the case to prove it. Nothing happened. “See? Hogwash.”

  “Misery loves company,” Mallory giggled.

  “What was that?” he scowled at her.

  “Nothing.”

  “Take her words with a pinch of dust,” Lincoln advised Jayce. He tossed the box back on the table. “Suspend your dreams and wake up. It’s time to become a man.”

  “You still believe in fairy tales, boy?” Todd added.