Turning Point

by K M Smith

  “You know nuthin’ like I know Drew and Eliza aren’t fuckin’.” Jake used the crass imagery to rattle his partner into talking.

  Leo snorted and leaned back in his chair, his posture more relaxed. “It’s nuthin’, really. I mean, it’s probably nuthin’ anyway.”

  “Christ’s sake, Leo, spit it out!”

  “No, just, the water, it got me thinkin’ like, where’d it come from?”

  “That’s what we’ve all been thinking, Leo. Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “Nuthin’. That’s it.” Leo shut down at the first sign of Jake’s intolerance.

  “Shit, Leo. Seriously, you’ve got something on your mind. I want to know what it is. If you figure this out for Drew, think of what he’ll do for you.” Jake sat forward on the sofa and leaned his forearms on his thighs.

  Leo shook his head noncommittally but spoke up. “It’s just, think about it, where does water come from? Like, where can it come from? Outside?”

  “The river? The rain?”

  Leo snapped his eyes over at his friend. “Yeah, but think colder.”

  “Ice? Snow?”

  “I think so.”

  “You think what? Leo? What? I’m not making the connection!”

  “Alice is somewhere where there’s water, or where there’s the potential for water.”

  “Antarctica?”

  “Now who’s the idiot?” Leo mused. “No, dumbass, she went home. She got pissed off at all of us, said fuck it, and went home.”

  “You got all that from a puddle of water?”

  “No, I got all that from watching her writhe in pain while Drew and Captain Stormfront argued about her. And from the puddle of water.”

  “I don’t know, man. That’s sketchy.”

  “Okay, then maybe she’s floating in the East River? What the fuck do I know?”

  Jake stood and looked at his friend. Leo had his reasons for thinking Alice would’ve gone home, and though Jake could see the logic in those reasons, none of what Leo said made any sort of scientific sense. “Okay, let’s say you’re right. How did she get there? You’ve been undead longer than me, have you ever seen anything like this happen?”

  “Vampirically speaking, I’m a biscuit older than you, but no, I ain’t seen nuthin’ like this before.”

  Jake walked to the window and looked out on the street. The first glimmer of dawn peeked through the UV-blocking tint on the windows. “Can you still talk to her? Telepathically, I mean?”

  Leo shrugged, “Dunno. I haven’t tried, if that’s that what you’re asking.”

  “Can you try now?”

  “Sure, but don’t stare at me, you make me uncomfortable.”

  Jake smiled and nodded, and left the room to give his pal some space.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Leo

  ‘Hey, doll, you still with us?’ Leo projected the thought, and aimed toward Albion, hoping to connect with Alice. It was quiet for several seconds. He sat very still and focused all his energy in her direction—whichever direction that may be. He hoped she was alright, but he also hoped Drew would reward him for finding her. Jake was hanging out in his own room, pretending not to be listening in. Leo did his best to ignore his nosy partner and carried on sending his feelers out, stretching as far as his energies would go.

  “I got nuthin’,” Leo hollered after a few minutes of silence.

  Jake appeared in front of him in a split second, like a dog wanting to be praised by his master.

  “Geez!” Leo jumped back in the seat and shoved at Jake, “Give somebody a head’s up if you’re gonna do that, wouldja?”

  Jake fell back on his rear and then got up to stare out the window. “We don’t have long, Leo. Try again.”

  “All right, all right. Gimme a sec. I don’t have infinite telepathic energies!”

  “But your vocabulary’s improving, so there’s something!” Jake laughed in Leo’s general direction. Leo gave his friend a look of reproach and grunted.

  “I’m kidding,” Jake said. “I’m kidding. Your vocabulary is prodigious—for a 1920s mobster. Now, please, try again.”

  “Prodigious. I’ll show you prodigious,” Leo muttered as he settled back in his seat to reach out to Alice again.

  ‘Doll! Precious human! C’mon, it’s your favorite always-present vampire. Talk to me! You know you want to!’ Leo threw the thoughts out again, this time blocking every other thought while focusing on opening his mind to receive any connection from Alice.

  ‘I’m not in the mood, Leo.’

  “Holy shit! I got ’er!”

  Jake whipped around to kneel in front of his friend. Leo pushed him away and held his hands out, imploring Jake to be patient. Leo knew these next few exchanges could determine whether or not they would get her back, and ultimately what Leo’s future might look like.

  ‘Ah, Doll-face, you’re always in the mood for me.’ Leo chose sarcastic humor as the best method of communication. He knew she’d been angry with him for kidnapping her, but he also knew he wasn’t the vampire she was truly angry at. He hoped that by appealing to her sense of humor he’d be able to get through.

  ‘I’m not getting into this with you again, Leo. I left. Deal with it.’

  ‘Yeah, you left us with your superhero – thanks for that.’

  ‘He’s not my superhero.’

  ‘Whatever you say.’

  ‘He’s not. I’m done with all of you.’

  ‘Aw, you’re hurtin’ my feelin’s, doll.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘Keep twistin’ that knife, babe. It hurts so good!’ There was a pause in the conversation, and Leo wondered if he’d gone too far with the masochistic rhetoric. He opened his eyes and said aloud, “She sounds like her usual self: pissed off and sharp-tongued. But I don’t know where she is yet.”

  “Well, find out soon. It’ll be forced nap time in a few minutes!” Jake called as he pulled the curtain back from the window.

  ‘You still there, doll?’ Leo asked, his mental voice tentative and hopeful and his knuckles white as he gripped the arms of the chair.

  ‘I’m ignoring you.’ Alice replied.

  Leo sighed out loud, relief obvious as some color returned to his fingers. ‘Ugh, alright. But, uh, seriously though, you all right?’

  ‘Would I be chatting to you if I weren’t?’

  ‘I don’t know. I can’t see you, so I don’t know what’s happening to you. Maybe you’ve been strapped into a fiery hot pit in the depths of hell with Satan himself and he’s forcing you to talk nice to the man in your head.’

  ‘What the hell, Leo!’ Alice said, her mental tone up a full octave.

  ‘That got your attention. Good. Where are you?’

  ‘Why should I tell you? So you can come take me away again?’

  ‘I ain’t goin’ back to that shithole of a town of yours again, sweetheart. Not for nuthin’.’ Leo smirked as he replied, hoping his gamble would pay off.

  ‘Hey! Albion’s not a—Wait! How did you know I was home?’

  ‘I wasn’t in the mob for nuthin’, doll!’ Leo laughed. He pumped his fist and said aloud to Jake, “Found her!”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Alice

  Alice groaned aloud when she realized what she had done. She couldn’t believe she let Leo trick her so easily. He knew, she thought. He just wanted my confirmation. Damn. She wouldn’t be able to stay at her mother’s now. They would come for her—and she couldn’t be here when they did.

  “Alice, honey,” Sarah began. “What just happened? One minute we were laughing, the next….” her voice trailed off.

  The concern in her mother’s voice struck Alice in the heart. Not only was Sarah her best friend, she had always been the protector, the one with the healing hugs and kisses. If anything bad happened to her, the fault would be squarely on Alice’s shoulders. She wouldn’t let that happen. Alice owed her mother an explanation, but how to explain telepathy to someone who still didn’t ent
irely believe in vampires? She rubbed her hands over her eyes. When she opened them, she was nose to nose with Sarah who was inspecting every detail of Alice’s face. She gave her mom a small smile.

  “Mom, it’s okay,” Alice said. Her mother’s tension radiated the space between them and Alice reached out to calm her. Breathing slowly, she hoped the physical connection would encourage her mother to mimic her actions. “I was communicating telepathically.” Prompted by her mother’s blank stare, Alice refined her explanation. “No one’s here with us, it’s just you and me. They can’t hear what’s going on inside the room, only what’s going on inside my head, and only if I let them.”

  Sarah inched from the edge of the cushion to practically sitting on Alice’s lap. Could this night get any weirder? Sarah’s private thought floated into Alice’s mind and Alice flashed an understanding smile. Scooting back, Sarah cleared her throat before replying out loud, “Oh, um, of course. Right.”

  Her mother’s face contorted as she came to grips with all of this. Alice hated that her mother was so stressed out. Sarah was the even keel, the one to take care of everything with a cool head. It’s why Alice remained so cool in a crisis—usually, anyway.

  “It’s okay, Mom. I’m confused, too,” Alice said and put her other hand on top of her mother’s. Again no overwhelming sensory input or sparks when their hands touched. Maybe I’m starting to get the hang of this.

  Sarah nodded, then said, “So, what’s with the groan? What were you talking about? Who were you talking to?”

  “I was talking to Leo,” Alice said. Sarah nodded. Alice sighed then continued, “He just knows exactly how to get under my skin!”

  “He sounds like a jerk,” Sarah said. She fidgeted in her seat. She was trying to appear comfortable, but she clearly was not. Sarah tucked her fist under her chin while she wrapped her other arm around her middle. Next, she sat back and let her arm droop over the arm of the chair while crossing her ankles. Alice had a hard time watching her mother squirm, but she appreciated that her mom was cool enough to roll with these new experiences. Like they were normal when they were anything but.

  Alice smiled. “Well, he is. He totally is, but honestly, there are worse vampires out there.” She paused, “Like Adam.” The anger from the woods came rushing back to her and flushed her cheeks. “He makes you think he’s a good guy, but really, he’s just a manipulative, controlling jerk.”

  Sarah nodded stiffly. Alice noted the hesitation in her mother’s movements and wondered what she knew or didn’t know about Adam. Surely, her mother didn’t think he was one of the good guys?

  “Anyway,” Alice continued, “I think we’ve got a problem.”

  “It’s okay, honey, we can deal with whatever it is, don’t worry.” Sarah patted her daughter’s hand.

  “We’re going to need to leave here. As soon as possible. At least, you are. I don’t want you here when they show up.”

  Sarah’s eyes grew wide at this announcement. “What do you mean? When who shows up? Leo and Adam? Why would they come here?”

  “And Drew, Jake, and Eliza, probably.” Alice stood up. The air rushed by her face as she rose, and she had to stand still to orient herself before moving again. God, am I ever going to get used to this? She inched over to the big picture window. A futile search of her immediate surroundings offered nothing but a dead and dried wintry scene when she pulled back the curtains. She squinted and brought her hand up to cover her eyes as a beam of soft yellow light from the early morning sun pierced the room.

  “Ha!” she laughed aloud and turned to face her mother. “We’ve got time!” she said, light returning to her eyes.

  Sarah remained seated on the overstuffed chair but the confusion in her eyes mingled with excitement. “Time?”

  “Yes! Vampires have to sleep during the day. That’s why it took us so long to travel from here to New York. We had to stop so they could find somewhere safe to sleep while the sun was out.”

  Sarah shook her head slowly as she listened to Alice. “Honey, I—”

  “Mom! We’ve gotta go. You’ve gotta go. Pack a bag or two and drive. As far as you can, away from here and away from New York, drive until just before sunset. Then find somewhere to stop, and don’t call me. I don’t want to know where you are. If I know where you are, they’ll be able to find out, and I don’t want them coming after you.”

  “Honey, you—”

  “Mom! Please! Trust me! You’ve got to go. Now. While you can still get a jump on them.” Alice fixated on how to protect her mother from the influx of vampires and forgot entirely about her difficulties with moving too quickly and the nausea that was sure to follow. She rapidly turned from the window and rushed across to her mother to urge her to go upstairs and pack.

  “Alice!” Sarah jumped back, grabbing at her chest and stumbling. Alice stopped abruptly while her mother struggled to catch her breath. Alice didn’t understand. She stepped forward to help and Sarah held her hand up to stop her.

  “Alice! How did you—? What are you do—? Stop! Alice, what’s going on? Slow down!” Sarah frantically backed away from her daughter, toward the staircase. Alice stood slack-jawed as her mother appeared to flee from something that wasn’t there.

  Sarah blinked rapidly and fumbled for the banister, shaking and not able to grab hold of anything. She tripped backward up the first few stairs but kept her eyes on Alice the entire time. Her whole body shook. Her hands finally gained purchase on the banister with her fingernails gouging the shiny wooden surface.

  Alice couldn’t figure out what was terrifying her mother. She moved toward the stairs to help her. And then, time slowed down.

  Alice stopped. Absolutely motionless. Her eyes were open, but not seeing, not moving, not even to blink. Her breaths were shallow, so shallow that to anyone else she wouldn’t appear to be breathing at all. The air around her crackled and sparks appeared, emanating from her skin before winking into oblivion. Her hair lifted on invisible currents, and her irises switched from warm hazel to pure black, the stark monochrome coloring of her eyes the first physical sign that Alice was no longer her mother’s little girl.

  The change was rapid. From the outside, Alice appeared to stand still as her newly forming powers roared to life. On the inside, she had retreated to a safe corner where there were no sparks and no monochrome eyes and no winds of change. Surrounded by frightening physical transformations and unable to have an effect on any of them, she cowered inwardly like a scared animal. Walls of thought loomed large like a dark cave surrounding her mind and trapping her there, helpless and alone.

  Though unable to move she could see her mother’s reaction: tears running down a face twisted by fear and confusion. Alice squeezed her black eyes shut and projected her thoughts toward her mother. ‘It’s okay, Mom.’ Her mother showed no reaction and when a mental wall shot up, Alice knew the message didn’t make it through. This was a different kind of wall from the one she experienced when Leo shut down her conversations with Adam earlier. This one came from within her. As though whatever was happening to her physically demanded that she stay within and not make any external connections. She wanted to cry, but she was unable to. She wanted to reach out to her mother, but her body would not obey. She was trapped inside her own mind and body. A prisoner of some new creation.

  ◆◆◆

  The whirlwind whipped in a frenzy around Alice and through the room before making a swift exit. The air seemed to fall, like gravity had been reinstated. All the life and energy had been sucked out on the wind with only emptiness remaining.

  She looked around with new eyes. Even though her vision had already improved since her reappearance, now, everything glowed. Every object had a halo or an aura of its own. The slightest movement caught Alice’s attention—even solid objects appeared to be vibrating. The light broke apart and washed the space in a fractured rainbow. Not daring to move any muscles aside from her eyes, she scanned the room until she spotted her mother cowering in a corner on the la
nding. A pit formed in Alice’s stomach as her mother shook with terror. What have I done? Alice only had her mother’s reaction to go by, she hadn’t seen herself. Have I taken on a new form? Do I look like a monster? It didn’t make sense to her that she could see so clearly yet not move or speak or even project her thoughts. Wasn’t that a new thing she could do now?

  After what seemed an eternity of hiding away and viewing her own change through her mother’s reactions, Alice spoke.

  “Mom!” Her booming voice filled the room and she cringed. She cleared her throat and attempted to adjust her volume, “Mom, are you okay?” In her mind, it had been a whisper, but Sarah covered her ears as though Alice had used a megaphone and screamed at the top of her lungs. Pain sliced through Alice as she realized she’d never reach her mother, not like this.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Sarah

  Huddled on the downstairs landing, Sarah brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them protectively. Tears streamed down her face, and her cheeks looked wind-burned. Breathing slowly, she pulled herself back from the edge of losing consciousness. Life as she had known it was over for her, and she would have to deal with that. Now. Pictures flashed through her mind of earlier, happier days when Alice was a baby and a young vibrant girl who loved to laugh, read, and run. Those days would never return for her, or her daughter. More tears fell down her face as she mourned her child’s innocence. Alice’s body remained, but Sarah didn’t think her sweet baby girl was in there anymore.

  The corner of the landing provided Sarah with a modicum of comfort and control. Walls to her back allowed her to focus on the creature that used to be Alice. A thunderous sound erupted from the creature’s mouth, but the voice didn’t sound like it belonged to Alice. Scrutinizing the situation, Sarah stayed put. The creature that looked like Alice didn’t appear to want to harm her so she didn’t try to flee.