I was always amazed at how many times I would notice the way so many kids looked like their parents, and each other. More than once I had asked Mom if I was adopted, because I look so different to the other members of my family. She always laughs and tells me that she was there when I was born, so she knows I’m hers.
I let the boys in and called to Mom, just as she was coming out of the kitchen with Bess right behind her to see who was at the door.
“Isaiah, Samuel so nice to see you both again. How are you doing today?” she asked them.
“We’re fine, thank you so much for asking. It’s very nice to see you again. I hope you are well,” Isaiah said with a smile. “What time would you like me to have them home?”
“Oh, I guess no later than nine. That is, if you all are planning on eating out. If you would like, you can come back here for dinner around five,” Mom replied. That shocked me, because Mom usually didn’t invite people over until she had been around them for a while. I guess Isaiah made her feel like she had known him forever, too.
Isaiah glanced at me. “Would you like to eat dinner out, or here at home?” His left eyebrow was raised slightly as he looked at me.
For some reason, him offering me the choice surprised me. “It doesn’t matter to me. Whatever makes you more comfortable.”
“I think we would love to have dinner with your family.” He turned to my mother, and said, “If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble.”
“Wonderful, I will expect you at five, and Isaiah, it’s no trouble at all. I love to cook just ask Elizabeth,” she said, smiling at him.
“Again, thank you very much for inviting us. We will see you at five. Is there anything you would like us to stop and pick up?” Isaiah asked her.
“Oh, I can’t think of anything that I need. Please drive carefully, and have a nice time at the library,” Mom said as we were walking out the door.
When we got outside, I was surprised to see a four-door Mustang in the driveway. It was baby blue with a white top, and very sporty looking. I looked like what my Dad called a muscle car. I turned towards Isaiah, who was smiling at me. “You didn’t think we could all fit in the sports car, did you?”
He opened the door for Stacy, Samuel and I. “I figured we needed something a little bigger, so I borrowed my sister’s car,” he said, before I could ask whose car it was.
Isaiah and I didn’t talk much as we were driving to the library, since Stacy and Samuel were talking enough for all four of us.
Every so often I would look over at him—his profile was perfect. I noticed he was getting a beautiful tan from the pool, even though we’d spent so much time in the shade, and his hair had lightened to a honey blond color. Even while concentrating on driving, he had a soft smile on his face.
It seemed like not much time went by and we were pulling into the library parking lot. Isaiah got out, and walked around to open my door. He took my hand and helped me out of the car, and then flipped the seat back up for Samuel and Stacy. I think I can get used to this. I blushed as I noticed his eyes gazing at my mouth.
I picked up my bag, and we headed into the library, holding hands. I noticed that Samuel and Stacy were also holding hands.
“Did you bring all the information with you?” he asked me just as we got to the library door.
“Yes, I did. Do you want to help me, or do you have some stuff you want to look at?” I was hoping that he was going to help me, but I wanted to give him the choice.
“I thought I would help you, if you don’t mind? It seems to me that you’re really interested in the subject, so I want to help you find as much as we can this trip.”
I smiled at him. “Great!”
We headed over to the non-fiction section of the library. “The history books will be over here.”
Isaiah looked at me, raising his right eyebrow again. “Are we starting in this section?” he asked.
“Of course. I want to look up more information on Tucker Hill first. Then I want to see if we can find any research about vampires.” I glanced over at him to see if he really wanted to help me, or if he thought I was crazy. He was smiling down at me. “What?” I asked, blushing yet again.
“I just love how excited you are about this. You really are hoping to find something, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. You think I’m crazy now, don’t you?” I was so hoping that he wouldn’t say yes.
“No. I think that you’re passionate,” he said, moving in a little closer to me. “I’ll start looking up vampires for you.” He walked down a row of books and started looking, as I headed over to the next aisle to start looking up the history of Hyattsville.
It took three books before I found out that Tucker Hill was built around 1840 by Robert Clark, an Englishman who was seeking space and quiet from the crowded city he lived in, just as the author of my book had written. According to the book, the house sat on a hilltop and was two stories tall with foot-thick brick walls, and had a porch with massive pillars on three sides. Of course, there was no mention of any vampires. I jotted down notes so I could come back later to reference the book if I needed to. Just as I was putting the book back on the shelf, Isaiah came around the corner.
“I found something, Elizabeth,” he said, his face flushed. He had a couple of large books in his hands. He placed the books on a table side by side.
“What did you find?” I hurried over feeling my pulse quicken at the fact that he had found something so quickly.
“I not only found some information on vampires, but look here at this entry.” He turned the book towards me and pointed at a paragraph in the middle of the page. “It says here that, according to some legends, a vampire may engage in sex with his former wife, which often led to pregnancy. The resulting child was called a gloglave or vampirdzii, and considered a hero, who had powers to slay a vampire.” He quickly moved to the next book. “This one says some folktales say a vampire can marry, move somewhere to live among humans, and take a job. It goes on to say that they usually take jobs such as butchers, barbers and tailors—butchers, based on the analogy that butchers are descendants of the Sacrificer.” He turned towards me, smiling. “Is this along the lines of what you are looking for?”
I felt my excitement growing. “Yes, this is exciting Isaiah! Let me take some notes from these two here,” I said grabbing my notebook and starting to write.
“Okay I’ll go look for some more.” He walked off quickly, back down the row of books.
I was still jotting down information when he came around the corner with another book. “Look what I found here. It says that vampires do not turn into bats, they don’t sleep, the coffin thing is not true, and they’re not afraid of garlic—their noses are just sensitive, and they don’t like the smell. It also says the cross and holy water thing is a myth, too.”
“This is really good, Isaiah. How are you finding this stuff so quickly? I can’t believe that they have this much on vampires.”
“I found an entire section on vampires, Elizabeth. I never knew there was so much written about them either. Want to see?” he asked, his eyes dancing with passion.
After I jotted down the information from the book, Isaiah took me over to the section that he had found. I couldn’t believe that there were actually so many books related to vampires and werewolves. We located another interesting volume.
“Look, it says here that, in modern fiction, the vampire tends to be depicted as a suave, charismatic villain. Despite the general disbelief in vampiric entities, occasional sightings of vampires are reported. Vampire hunting societies still exist, although they are largely formed for social reasons. There have been rumors that a vampire haunted Highgate Cemetery in London. Several books have been written about the case and the existence of the ‘Highgate Vampire.’ The author said it was believed that a King Vampire of the Undead, a medieval nobleman who had practiced black magic in medieval Wallachia, had been brought to England in a coffin in the early eighteenth century, by follower
s who bought a house for him in the West End,” Isaiah read from the book.
“Wow, this is really some interesting information!” I couldn’t believe how much we had found already. “Vampires and England, England and Hyattsville.” I sat down on the floor and started jotting notes so quickly that I had to force myself to slow down, afraid that I wouldn’t be able to read my handwriting. Isaiah sat patiently, watching me. I blushed when I looked up and caught him gazing at my mouth again. He realized I had seen him looking, raised one of his eyebrows and shrugged. The corners of his mouth curled up a little. I was really starting to like that smile. I bent my head to finish what I was writing and to hide the little smile that was finding its way to my mouth as well.
“Elizabeth, I hate to tell you this, but if we don’t get going we are going to be late for dinner.”
The sound of his voice startled me. “What? It can’t be that late already. It seems like we just got here,” I said, reluctant to give up my search already. I closed the book, stood up, and reluctantly placed it back on the shelf. “Have you seen Stacy and Samuel?” I asked as I stretched and tried to work out some of the kinks in my legs and back from sitting still for so long.
“Yes, they are sitting over in the corner by the novels, talking. I don’t think they have moved much since we got here.”
“Thanks for helping me with this.” I smiled at him with what I hoped was my prettiest smile. He returned it in kind.
I made a mental note to tell Bess about all the information we had found. The next time we came, I was hoping she could come along. Maybe she would even find some books on faeries.
Driving home, Isaiah reached over and took my hand. Glancing over at me with a frown, he asked, “Are you cold, Elizabeth? I can roll up the window.”
“No, I’m fine.” In fact, I couldn’t think of any other time I had felt this fine. His hand felt warm. I leaned my head back on the seat, and smiled, contentedly. I didn’t even care that we were getting ready to have dinner with my family. Nothing was going to spoil this day.
When we walked into the dining room, I the table was set with our good dishes. It must have been Bess who had done this.
I glanced at her, and smiled. She had managed to sit beside Samuel, and was already having a conversation with him. Mom was making the boys feel right at home, Dad was actually behaving himself, and so were my sisters. Mom must have bribed them with something really good. I smiled at her and mouthed, “Thanks, Mom.” She smiled back, and nodded her head.
My sisters all took turns talking to the boys and asking them questions. They seemed to really like both of the boys and I was amazed at how easily Isaiah and Samuel were talking to everyone. It was like they had been a part of the family for months.
After the dishes were cleaned up and put away, Samuel excused himself, saying that he was going to go see Stacy. I saw Bess smile, but her eyes were sad. She walked him to the door and watched as he headed across the road. I knew I was going to have to talk with her later. I felt so bad, but maybe telling her about everything we found today would take her mind off Samuel for a bit.
Isaiah and I headed to the back porch. He sat down next to me on the swing, and put his hand in mine. “I had a wonderful time today. It was really fun helping you look up all that information.”
“I had a great time, too.” I leaned back and looked up at him. “I still can’t believe that you picked me at the pool that day.”
“Why would you say that? As soon as I saw you, I was drawn to you. It was almost like I was compelled to come to you. I have never felt like that before.” He looked at me strangely, like he couldn’t believe it didn’t happen to me all the time. “I’m sure that you have many boys wanting to be with you.”
I looked at him like he was out of his mind. In what universe is he living? “Isaiah, I can promise you, this type of thing never happens to me. Boys don’t pay much attention to me at all.” I watched his face to see what his response would be; waiting for him to laugh at the joke he was playing on me. Certainly he had to realize that he was much more attractive than any boy I had ever even thought I would be able to date.
Isaiah looked at me like I was talking Greek. “I find that really hard to believe. How could anyone look at you and not be drawn to you? Your eyes are so alive; you have the most beautiful skin I have ever seen. Your smile is like the smile of an angel.”
“I’m glad that you see me that way, Isaiah. The funny thing is, that is how I perceive you,” I said reaching up to touch his face gently.
“Elizabeth,” he sighed, “You are so funny.” He closed his eyes and leaned closer, placing his forehead against mine. He breathed in my scent and sighed again. “I hate to be apart from you for even a minute. Do you know how agonizingly long the hours are that I am away from you?”
I watched him intently, hearing what he was saying and marveling at how lucky I was that he felt that way about me. I closed my eyes and sat very still, afraid the magic would end if I moved or spoke.
I don’t know how long we sat like this, but suddenly he sat back and the spell seemed to be broken. “I have to get home. I don’t want to give my parents any reason to not allow me to come back again. Do you want to walk with me to Stacy’s to get Samuel?”
“Of course I do. Let me tell my mom where we are going.” I walked to the back door. “Mom!”
“Yes Elizabeth?” she replied sticking her head out of the kitchen door.
“I’m going to walk over to Stacy’s with Isaiah to get Samuel. They have to get going.”
“That’s fine, honey. Goodnight, Isaiah, I look forward to seeing you again.” She waved at him.
“Thank you Ms. Emma, and thank you again for dinner it was very good. I hope to see you very soon.” As we walked around the side of the house we saw Stacy and Samuel coming across the street holding hands.
As Stacy and I waved goodbye to them, I felt so happy and content. I couldn’t believe this was my life. I knew that I would sleep very well tonight.
I turned toward Stacy and saw she had the same look of contentment on her face. “We sure are lucky,” I said to her. All she could do was smile and nod her head, yes.
5
The weekend was here and our moms were excited about taking us to the drive-in. The movie Dad had told her about was “A Hard Days Night”. We all loved the Beatles and couldn’t wait to go.
Bess and I helped load everything into Ms. Peggy’s station wagon. Stacy and I put the blanket over the cooler of drinks and bag of popcorn. We all climbed in and waved goodbye to our dads.
The weather was perfect for a night at the drive-in. Mom and Peggy told us older four that we could go sit in the seats by the concession stand. We hurried wanting to get our favorite ones before anyone else claimed them.
The movie was great with a lot of their music. Stacy thought Ringo was the cutest one of the four. I told her I thought Paul was. Bess liked John. We laughed until our sides hurt at some of the antics from the four Beatles.
Too soon the movie was over and it was time to load back into the car and head home. Our moms were laughing and discussing parts of the movie they thought were funny. Dad had done it again.
The summer seemed to fly by with trips to the pool, and quiet lazy nights on the back porch with Isaiah a few times a week. We made a few more trips to the library to do more research, and Bess came with us a couple times. She was excited when she found some books about faeries. On one of our trips, I noticed she had a notebook, and was jotting down information.
One day on the way back from one of our library trips, Isaiah asked, “Do you want to go to Hyattsville and see Tucker Hill? I looked it up on the map, and we should have no trouble finding it.”
“That would be great! If you don’t mind, we could go see my grandmother as well. That way we wouldn’t have to tell anyone why we’re really going.” I waited to see his reaction about meeting my grandmother. Here he is meeting my family, and I haven’t met anyone from his except Samuel. It made
me feel like maybe I wasn’t good enough for him to take home. That made me really sad.
“I would like that very much.” He looked over at me. “Elizabeth, I was going to ask you something. Would you like to come over and meet my parents sometime? I asked my mother, and she said she would love to meet you.”
Again, it was like he had read my mind. “I would like that very much.” I smiled back at him, and he seemed to relax.
“Good, we’ll ask your mother if you can come for dinner next Sunday, and this Saturday we can go visit your grandmother.” He winked at me and reached for my hand.
“Sounds like a plan to me!”
I called my grandmother when we got back to my house, and of course she said she would love a visit from us on Saturday, and asked if we would like to stay for dinner. “I’ll talk to Mom and let you know, Grandmother. Thanks for inviting us; you will really like Isaiah.”
Of course, when I asked Mom she said it was fine to go see Grandmother. Isaiah and I started making our plans, figuring out how much time we would need for the detour to Tucker Hill. I called Grandmother back and confirmed the visit time. Plans were set, and I couldn’t wait.
I felt myself starting to become very anxious about going to see this house. My pulse quickened and my palms became sweaty. I felt my body start trembling. I don’t understand why I feel like this. All we are going to do is drive past a house. I sat down on my bed, closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to try to steady myself. Either way Saturday could not come quick enough for me.
The next week went by quickly. On Saturday, I found myself worried about what to wear, and how to fix my hair. I stopped for a second, wondering why I was feeling like this. It wasn’t because I was seeing Isaiah again, and it certainly wasn’t because we were going to see my grandmother. I tried to shake the feeling off, and went back to looking through my clothes, finally settling on one of my sundresses.
As I looked in the mirror, I was amazed at how creamy and pale my skin still looked after a summer of being outside. Thinking for a moment, it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t had single sunburn all summer; that in itself was a miracle. I guess I spent more time in the shade than usual, talking to Isaiah.
Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances Page 177