by Tate Jackson
“It was an emergency. I was really hungry. It’s your fault. You’re the one who has me on a 6:00 dinner schedule. I waited as long as I could to call you,” he replied, stuffing another piece of pizza into his mouth.
“You called at 6:03.”
“That was as long as I could wait,” he said with his mouth full.
“You could have cooked something.”
“I don’t know how to cook.”
“Do you know how to make a sandwich?”
She heard the rumble of thunder close by and jumped a little. Great, thunderstorm.
“I did make a sandwich.”
Lightning lit up the sky. Beck and Bev both jumped up and ran into the house.
“Where’s the breaker box?!” Bev yelled.
Beck answered quickly. “In the kitchen.”
Bev ran into the kitchen and shut down the power to the house. Thunder rocked the house, followed by several bright burst of lightning. She could feel the electrical current running through her body. Damn it! She hadn’t been around lightning since the night Leso had killed that vampyre in Durham. She could tell that this storm was going to be much worse.
Bev ran out the front door. “Shit! The generators are still running! Somebody go shut the generators to the house down. Now!”
“Why?” Leso asked.
Bev screamed. “NOW!” and went back into the living room. “How are you holding up?” she asked Beck.
“Not good.” She could feel the current build inside her body.
“Remember to breath.”
Coming into the living room, Richard asked, “Don’t you want to come watch the lightning storm?”
“Have you lost your mind?!” Bev yelled. “She is a lightning rod, and you want her to go outside?!”
“Beck, are you alright?” he asked, rushing into the room.
“Don’t touch her!” Bev told him…too late. He’d reached out to touch her face. POW! The static shock hit him like a gunshot. “I told you not to touch her.”
“What the hell was that?!” he gasped.
Beck apologized, “I’m sorry! It’s the lightning. It causes me to charge with static electricity.”
“That shock would have put a human on the floor,” Bev giggled. “Trust me, I know. I bet it still hurt though, didn’t it?”
“My hands are still tingling. Would it do it if I touched you again?”
“Yep, it won’t stop until the storm passes.”
Richard smiled, “Oh, okay.” Then he yelled, “Potter! Come here!”
“That’s not nice,” Bev scolded.
Richard said softly, “Don’t tell him.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Bev whispered, smiling ear to ear.
Richard ran across the room to stand next to Bev. “What’s up?” Potter asked, coming into the room, soaking wet from the rain.
“Touch Beck,” Richard coaxed.
“Why?”
Bev encouraged, “Just do it.”
Potter shrugged, walked across the room, and grabbed her arm. POW! He flew back about four feet and hit the floor. Not thinking, Beck jumped up and grabbed his arm to help him up. POW!
“Stop touching me, woman!” he yelled.
“Sorry, I’m sorry,” she told him.
Richard and Bev were laughing so hard that they couldn’t breathe.
“What the hell?” Potter asked.
“I’m sorry. It’s the lightning. They made me do it,” Beck explained, pointing at Richard and Bev.
“Very funny, you assholes. I was wet! You know water is conductive. Damn that hurt!” He thought for a second, and then yelled, “Damon!”
“What are you doing?” Bev asked.
“Damon’s wet, too. Might as well share the love,” Potter said, laughing.
***
It was the wedding day, and he was on the porch of the house a half hour before the ceremony was supposed to begin. It was a beautiful day for a wedding. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and there was just enough breeze to keep the heat from being overwhelming. It was a shame he was going to miss the nuptials.
He wished he could be there, but he had a job to do. Beck would understand. He hoped. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but this had to be done. Five minutes later, the front door opened, and a man and woman attempted to step outside. He shoved them back into the house, stepped in behind them, and closed the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Get out of my house immediately!” Charles Stockdale yelled.
“I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you, so, sit down and shut up.”
Lisa Stockdale reached for the phone. “I’m calling the police.”
“You can try, but I cut your phone lines an hour ago.”
Charles dove across the room and grabbed a gun out of the end table.
“Get out of my house,” he yelled again, pointing the gun at the intruder’s chest.
“A gun? Really? I’ve never been shot before. Well, go ahead then, shoot me,” he said, raising his hands above his head.
Charles pulled the trigger and shot him. He felt the bullet strike his chest. It hurt a little, but only for a second.
“Do you feel better?” he asked, and then streaked across the room and snatched the gun from Charles’s hand. “I bet you’ve never seen anyone move that fast before, have you?” Charles looked shocked. “I bet you’ve never seen this either,” he stated as he crushed the gun in his hand. “Now sit down!”
He picked Charles up by the back of his neck and tossed him onto the couch.
“What do you want?” Lisa asked, crying.
“I want to be at a wedding, but I’m here because you two don’t seem to realize what ‘unwelcome’ means.”
Charles asked, “Our daughters’ weddings?”
“Yep.”
“Who are you?” a sniffling Lisa asked.
“Me? I’m Potter Harris.”
“How do you know our daughters?” Charles demanded.
“That is none of your business, and if you raise your voice to me again, I’ll crush your fucking head.”
Lisa asked quietly, “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m doing this because your daughters can’t stand you, and you damn well know it,” Potter snapped. “You knew you weren’t invited to their weddings, and you were going to go anyway. What’s wrong with you people? Haven’t you messed up my sister’s life enough?”
“Your sister?” Lisa asked in confusion.
“My sister Beck.”
Charles pointed his finger at Potter. “Beck is not your sister!”
It was the wrong thing for Charles to say. Potter reached out and snapped Charles’ finger, causing him to scream. “Life lesson number one: Never put your fingers in somebody’s face, they might get broken. Keep running your mouth, and I’ll break all of your bones one by one. It won’t bother me a bit.”
“Shut up, lady,” Potter said.
Lisa sobbed, “You’re going to kill us.”
“No, as much as I want to, I’m not going to do it.” He would like to kill them, but they were Beck and Bev’s parents. As much as they hated them, him killing them might make them a little mad.
“What are you?” Charles asked, looking at the crushed gun on the floor.
“What I am is no concern of yours,” he said, sitting down on the coffee table.
Charles cradled his injured hand. “I know your name. I’m calling the police when you leave.”
“You can call the Pope for all I fucking care, but you won’t call anyone. What would you tell the police? That the boogie man held you hostage to keep you from going to your daughter’s weddings? They would put you in a rubber room,” he smiled.
He would love to see them explain this visit to the police.
“Let me explain something to you. Beck and Bev have a new family. One that, unlike you, actually loves and cares about them. They don’t want anything to do with you two, ever. I would suggest you leave them alone. You
see, there’s thirty-two more boogie men where I come from, and they’re not all as nice as I am.”
Charles mumbled, “It figures that Beck would end up with freaks like her.”
“You’re just as dumb as a rock, aren’t you?” he said, shaking his head. He reached out and crushed Charles’ wrist, sending him into another scream. “Life lesson number two; don’t piss off the boogie man. Now, we’re going to sit here and enjoy each other’s company for the next hour or so, and then I’ll leave, and you can go to the hospital. After that, if you’re lucky, you’ll never see me again.”
He would’ve rather have been at the wedding, but scaring the hell out of these people was fun, too. If he had to be here, he might as well enjoy himself.
***
“Lugh told me that I’m supposed to give you away,” Damon told Beck, sticking his head into the antechamber off of the main hall of the church.
“What? He’s supposed to give me away! Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He said he had something to do, and he would talk to you about it later.”
She was hurt. “He’s not coming to the wedding?”
“I guess not,” Damon answered meekly.
“I’m going to kill him,” Jenny said icily.
“What could he have to do that’s more important than being here?” Beck asked.
Heidi shrugged. “I don’t know, but that explains why he gave Isiah a camcorder to tape the wedding.”
“I am going to kill him,” Jenny said again.
Beck asked, “Saphira, go ask Richard if he knows where Potter is.”
“It’s too late,” Saphira said. “They’re ready for us.”
A second later, the music started, and it was time to go. The bridesmaids walked down the aisle first, followed by Daryl and Bev. When she and Damon started down the aisle, Richard looked at Damon with confusion. She could tell he didn’t know where Potter was, either. She looked around the church and felt relief to see that her parents weren’t there.
She forgot about Potter when she got to Richard. It was a beautiful wedding. Richard’s best man was Harley, and Leso’s was Bruce.
Everything went perfectly. When the ceremony was over, everyone applauded and threw birdseed on them as they left the church.
“Where the hell was Potter?” Richard asked as they walked to the car.
“I have no idea. I can’t believe he wasn’t here.”
“I know where he is,” Jeff said.
“Why haven’t you said anything?” Richard asked impatiently.
“Lugh told me not to tell you until the wedding was over. He went to Beck’s parent’s house to keep them from coming to the wedding. He said it was his wedding gift to you.”
“My parent’s house?” Beck repeated, startled.
“Yes. Lugh said that you didn’t really want them here, so he went to make sure that they didn’t come anyway.”
“You don’t think he’d kill them, do you?” she asked Richard.
He opened the car door for her. “Probably not, but we should go get him anyway.”
Beck smiled a little. “I hate to admit it, but Potter did give me and Bev the perfect wedding gift.”
“We talked about how much you didn’t want your parents to be here, but I didn’t know he was going to do this.”
They pulled up in front of her childhood home a few minutes later.
“I haven’t been here since I left for college,” she said, getting out of the car.
She walked up the steps, onto the porch, and into the house. Her mother was crying, her father was holding his right hand to his stomach, and Potter was flipping through an old family photo album.
“Hey, Beck!” Potter said, looking up from the album. “Is the wedding over already?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry I missed it.”
“Me too,” Beck said.
Charles yelled, “This man broke into our house and assaulted me!”
“What did I say about raising your voice?” Potter asked calmly, and Charles’ mouth snapped shut.
“What happened to him?” she asked, pointing at her father’s arm.
“Life lessons,” Potter said.
“You hit him?”
“He shot me first.”
“He broke my finger!” Charles wailed.
“You shouldn’t point at people,” Potter said. “It’s rude.”
“He broke your father’s arm,” Lisa sobbed.
“Don’t be such a drama queen, it was only his wrist,” he said before turning to Beck. “Look at this picture of you when you were two. You were so cute. We need to start our own photo album. I’ve never had one before.”
“Rebecca, this ‘thing’ is not human,” Lisa said, looking at Potter.
“I know exactly what he is, and he is more human than you ever were. He is kind, decent, loving, and would die for anyone in his family. This ‘thing’ happens to be my brother.”
Charles snapped at her. “This monster is not your brother!”
“Boy, you just don’t learn, do you?” Potter said and squeezed Charles’ broken wrist.
Lisa jumped to her feet and slapped Potter across the face.
“Don’t you hit him!” Beck screamed, pulling her mother back.
Lisa spun and punched Beck in the mouth. It didn’t hurt, but it stunned her.
“You ungrateful little bitch! We should have killed you when you were little! You have caused nothing but embarrassment and misery since the day you were born! I wish you would just die!”
Before she knew what she was doing, she’d slapped her mother. She’d never struck one of her parents before.
“How dare you hit your mother!” Charles yelled.
He raised his uninjured fist to punch her just as the door behind her flew off its hinges. The blow never fell.
Richard had Charles pinned against the far wall before she could even blink.
“Uh-oh,” Potter sighed. “I told you most of the other boogie men weren’t as nice as me.”
“You will never touch my wife again!” Richard growled and threw her father to the floor. “I have watched you physically and emotionally abuse her since she was a toddler. I’ve wanted to kill you for twenty-six years. You’re only alive now because I have allowed it. Don’t make me change my mind today.”
“That’s impossible,” Lisa said in disbelief. “You can’t be more than Beck’s age.”
“I am 204 years old.”
“Really?” Potter asked. “That’s all?”
“Yes. Why?”
Potter laughed. “Because, I’m 287 years old, and I look much better than you.”
Lisa looked toward Beck, shocked.
Beck shrugged. “What can I say? I like older men.” She turned to Richard. “Let’s go. I’ve spent enough time in this house to last me a lifetime.”
“As you wish,” Richard nodded, walking back to her and leading her out of the house.
Chapter Seventeen
It was the first night of their honeymoon in Hawaii, and she was dreaming. She was walking around the side of the house. Her skin was burning, and the hunters were running toward her. She had the deepest, heaviest sense of foreboding. She called out to the hunters, wanting to know what was wrong. They neither stopped nor answered her.
The feeling of fear was overwhelming, and she clawed her way back to consciousness. She sat up in the bed and looked around the room. Everything was fine. Richard was snoring softly beside her. She lay back down and thought about the dream. What did it mean? There was not enough information in the dream to give her a clue what it was about. Eventually, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
***
The next day found her lying on the beach, reading a magazine. “Aren’t you going to come in the water?” Richard asked, flopping, soaking wet onto the blanket beside her.
“Um, no. Not never.”
“Why not?”
“We keep the sharks in there,” she said.
/> Amused, he asked, “You’re afraid of sharks?”
“Not at all. I have no reason to be afraid of them, because I’m not going in there.”
“You know you can’t be hurt by a shark now.”
“Yeah, right. With my luck, I’d get bit by a shark with silver fillings. No thanks.”
“Come on, Beck. Look at that beautiful ocean,” he said, waving his hand towards the water.
She looked up from her magazine. “Yes, it’s lovely. I can see it from here.”
“So, we’re in Hawaii for a week, and you’re not even going to swim?”
“That’s not true. There’s a nice pool at the hotel that I’ll be more than happy to jump into.”
He pointed out into the water where Bev and Leso were swimming. “Bev’s still human, and she’s swimming.”
“Good for her. I’m still not going in there.”
“Leso says Bev’s not warming to the idea of becoming a hunter.”
“I know. I asked her about that. She said it’s not worth the risk of death.”
“I agree with her.”
“You didn’t mind when I turned you into a hunter.”
“It wasn’t such a big risk for me. Technically, I was already dead. I’m surprised you haven’t just snuck up on Bev and stuck her.”
Offended, she said, “I would never do that to her.”
“You did it to me,” he smiled.
“That was different. You hated being a vampyre. Bev doesn’t hate being human. It has to be her choice. Maybe Leso will just bite her one day.”
“He’d never do that.”
“You said you would have bitten me.”
“And I would have, but Leso feels the same you do. He believes that it should be her decision.”
“I take it that you don’t agree with him?”
“I just don’t understand it. If I could have turned, I would have. There’s nothing wrong with Bev’s blood, and Leso still won’t bite her.”
“Are you implying that something is wrong with my blood?” she asked, raising her eyebrow at him.
He laughed. “Wrong with it? No. Besides being poisonous, it’s perfect.”
“I was hoping the poison smell would go away when I became a hunter.”
“I’m glad you didn’t lose your scent. I love your Fruit Loopy smell. I don’t even notice the poison scent anymore,” he said, and kissed her shoulder.