by Hood, E. B.
The fight was short; it was like fighting a child. I was so much stronger, so much faster.
Breaking her arms and ribs was easy. In a matter of seconds, she was laying on the floor weeping. That’s when Michael came, flashing into the room.
He looked down at his sister, then up at me. I was wondering what he would say, I guess nothing because he just attacked me. I barely dodged to one side; he was bigger and, with those large muscular arms, I was guessing a lot stronger too.
My early dodge didn’t last. We were in close quarters, and there was nowhere to run. The only thing I could do to slow him down was run behind a couch; then he just threw the couch to the wall.
He was not like fighting Alice with all her speed and skill; he reminded me of the men in the cabin, trying to throw all his weight and power in straight line attacks; it didn’t take me long to figure out that I was a lot faster.
I punched and clawed him without a problem. At one point he grabbed my arm and twisted it around. Instead of fighting it, I threw my body into a flip; as I landed on my feet, I pulled him towards me. Then I punched him in the nose has hard as I could; that made him lose his grip on me.
He swung at me, but I had blinded him when I hit his nose. So I simply ducked under his swing; then landed a hard kick to his knee. He buckled and fell to the ground; before he could recover I was on his back.
I grabbed his one arm and locked it into mine, I took my free hand and dug my claws into his neck.
With all the authority I could manage, I said. “I will rip your throat out if you don’t stop. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I was amazed now that I was holding his arm that he didn’t feel a lot stronger than me. Larger, yes, and, like the men in the cabin, the extra weight was tricky to deal with in a tight fighting area.
Of course this had me wondering just how old and strong Alice was; she looked like a little girl, but she was so much stronger than Michael.
Before Michael could say anything, a laugh broke the silence in the room. It was the laugh of a child. “Oh good; you have all met. Mom didn’t think you would get along, but here you are playing in the living room together.”
I looked up to see Alice smiling away at me.
Michael said in a very angry voice. “You could stop touching me now… Melabeth.”
Did he take me for a fool? “How do I know you will stop?”
Michael’s voice changed; he said in an almost confused tone, “Alice is here. Don’t you think, this over now?”
Alice let out a small giggle. She passed by me and helped Lea off of the floor. Lea was still crying and I could see she was badly hurt.
Alice pouted, “Good job, Melabeth. I wanted all the girls to go shopping and now Lea is too broken to go.”
This family is so weird, I thought, as I let go of Michael. Michael had cuts all over his body; he looked bruised up. I was just now realizing he never even got a hit in, and, for the first time ever, my dress was fine.
I looked over at Alice and said, “She will heal in a few hours; we will still have time.”
Michael looked at me as if he had never seen me before, and then said, “It will take her days to heal from all those broken bones. Do you think if I broke your arm like that you would be ok in an hour?”
I held out my arm. “Twenty minutes, tops.”
Michael shook his head back and forth and looked over at Alice and said in an angry voice. “What is this game? Why did you tell us she was newborn?”
Alice’s voice changed; she suddenly sounded as if she had finally grown up. “Enough, Michael.”
Michael’s whole body stiffened. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to yell at you. The thing is, that Lea wouldn’t have picked a fight, if she would have understood… that’s all.”
Alice, in that same voice said. “Take Lea and care for her. I will explain later, but know this Michael; I didn’t lie.” Then, like a switch, her child voice came back on. “Isn’t Melabeth fun? I will take care of Melabeth. Come along sister.”
And without waiting for me to answer, she headed out of the room. Something told me that Lea’s remark about this not being a family, was really talking about Alice. I had thought she was a child, because she acted like one, but she was no child.
In fact, as I followed her, through the house. I was getting a bad feeling that maybe Ezra was not in charge, that this really was Alice’s coven. I remember Ezra telling me the first time we met that his real name was Ezra Bovine, and not White. When he introduced Alice, he said she had always been a White, and this is the house of Whites; great, I now have a crazy child as my new master.
We entered into a little study area, and there Alice took a seat on a small couch, and then patted the seat next to her. I sat down, and asked, “So you’re the master of this house?”
Alice’s face exploded into a smile; in fact, in this moment, she looked loveable. Then she said. “You’re smart; most take longer to figure it out. They always think Ezra’s in charge, and I turned Ezra myself. Ezra turned Charlotte and Michael, and I turned Lea, kind of a mistake on my part. How old do you think I am?”
“I don’t know?”
“That’s not a guess. You’re not even trying.” She demanded like a child.
“Two hundred,” I guessed.
“You’re half right.” She smiled in glee.
I was more than a little taken aback. In fact I wasn't even sure if I even believed her. “So you’re saying that you are 400 years old.”
She looked at me funny. “Over, actually; I was turned in 1587. And you know what is even more amazing than that?”
“No” I said hoping this wasn’t another guessing game.
“Well that settles it; nothing is more amazing. You don’t even believe me.” Alice said.
“How do you know I don’t believe you?” I asked.
Alice turned her head like an owl, and then said. “You have great power, with no knowledge. Yet your mind powers don’t match. In fact, I dare say you don’t have any. I left myself open to you; I didn’t block you at all. You should know if I am lying, and the blank look on your face says you have no idea what I am talking about.”
“Maybe I am too young for mind powers.”
“No,” Alice said quickly, then added, “You’re too young to fly. You’re too young to spirit walk, but you should have some signs of mind powers. Even Lea can control minds of lesser animals, like bats and rats. And, then again, I still do not know how you fought me in the field. How did you see through my spiders?”
Doesn’t she know that her mind tricks don’t affect the second sight? Wait, maybe I should not tell her about that power. So I lied and said, “I am not sure.”
A slow wicked smile spread across Alice’s face. “Do you think you can lie… to me?”
I just looked her back in the eye. I wasn’t about to let her bully me. “No, no, I don’t. I am just not ready to talk to you about that. Soon, I promise; tell me why you think I can fly?”
Alice smiled. “Nicely played, still you didn’t answer me, and showed no fear. Then even tried a subject change.” She let out a laugh. “Fine, we will play Melabeth’s game, but know this; you will tell me later, and dolly never forgets.”
“Where is your doll?”
“Sleeping silly, and to answer your question, the reason I said you could fly is because I saw you do it. After you fed on those drunken teens, you flew, not far, and then landed on a boulder. There you lay for at least an hour.”
I kind of remember that now. “You saw all that?”
“No, I entered your mind and you showed me.” Alice said with that wicked grin.
“Really!”
“Really, don’t worry too much about what you show me. You are… difficult to read.” As Alice said this, there was a look in her eyes. I knew this look. It was the look of someone who had a mystery in front of them, and they had to solve it.
Alice went on. "Go shopping with Charlotte. I need to talk with Michael and Lea."
"She is back and ready to go," Alice stated.
"Who?"
Alice looked at me as if I were slow. "Charlotte, time to shop until you drop."
"How do you know that?" I wondered.
Alice pointed to her head, and then said. "Don’t worry, I’ll teach you."
"Great, I will go join Charlotte." I got up and started heading out of the room.
Then Alice said, "Melabeth… one more thing. I love my family; control yourself, Lea is as close to me, as if she were my own child. Ok maybe not that close, but I do protect my family."
"Ok, I will."
As I left, I couldn’t help but think, Alice may have been a crazy child, but there was more. She loved her family, so just maybe, she is not all bad.
And, just maybe, they will help me find my way.
Chapter 10
A Happy Thought
Charlotte had been waiting for me.
On the way to the mall, she had a few small complaints about having to travel further. I soon found out her favorite mall was the Inland Mall, the same mall I killed those Order Members at, and it was obviously not a good idea for me to pop in any time soon.
Charlotte had this huge black, Chevrolet Blazer K5; it had oversized tires, with oversize steel bumpers front and back. It had big round spotlights on the top, and on the front bumper. Charlotte told me she had a great love of cars.
When I asked her why, she said, “I was turned in 1928, at the age of twenty. Ezra and I met at a speakeasy where I liked to dance as a flapper. Let’s just say I can remember my first car ride. Cars were all the rage in the twenties.”
We didn’t talk much on the ride to the mall, and, when we started shopping, we never stopped talking about clothes. Come to find out me and Charlotte had a lot in common when it came to dressing up.
We both liked dresses, and we both liked older styles. Of course I could barely pass for eighteen, and she didn’t even look twenty. She had a fake ID that said she was twenty five; she told me she needed to get a new one soon. I asked her how I could get one, but she dodged the question by pointing at a dress.
“Oh, my, look at this, you would look like you were on fire in this. Let’s try it on you; come on slow poke.” And off to the dressing rooms we went.
We shopped at a dizzying rate, and, before I knew it, we had more boxes than we could carry. We had to make more than a couple of trips to the Blazer.
At one point, Charlotte wanted to go to a bar to get a drink, and do a little hunting. I got into the Blazer, and we were on the way to the bar, when Charlotte said, “I need you to show some control. I know you can do it; NO killing.”
I felt so grateful toward Charlotte and the Whites for all they had done for me in such a short period of time. So, I said. “I will control myself, and if I haven’t said thank you for all these clothes, thank you for everything.”
“You have already thanked me ten times; that’s nine times more than you needed, ” Charlotte said with a big smile.
She never turned her head from the road. Then it went quiet. Without the clothes, me and Charlotte didn’t have a lot to say. I thought Carrie's constant talking was a bother, but now I can see its usefulness. If Carrie was in this car, there would be no awkward silence; then again, there would be no silence at all.
After a little while longer, Charlotte said, “I hope you know that I am going to be jealous of you.”
Caught off guard, I asked, “Why?”
A strange smile crossed her face, “because my husband can’t stop talking about you. Alice too, but I really don’t care what she goes on about.”
I was almost speechless but not completely. I wanted her to know how I felt, and fast. Speaking quickly, “Charlotte, I have no interest in your husband.”
“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked calmly. She wasn’t upset as she spoke.
“YES.” She wasn’t upset, but I didn’t like being second guessed.
Charlotte laughed. “You are a spirited one, but you should be careful to remember, that I am not Lea, and I was just teasing you, for the most part.”
I calmed down a little. “What do you mean… for the most part?”
Charlotte let out a deep breath before she continued. “I love my time with Ezra it is most important to me. When I say you have an interest in my husband, I didn’t say sexual. You wish to learn how to fight, and my husband wishes to teach you. So you see I am jealous because he will want to spend so much of his time with you. Don’t worry; I wouldn’t hate you, but some days I may not like you.”
I wasn’t sure what to think of that. I didn’t want to steal her husband away. “I will not train with him if you like.”
Charlotte laughed and then took a quick look at me before returning her eyes back to the road. “I love you. You didn’t even lie when you made that offer, but don’t worry about it. You need to learn how to fight, and I will help. You have blood and sand in your future… Do you like to dance?”
I don’t know what made me smile bigger, the fact she said she loved me or that she sounded as if she wanted to go dancing. I was going to ignore the ominous bloody future. I was sure the blood and sand was a reference to fighting in pits.
Trying to hold back my eagerness, I said, “I love to dance and sing. I haven’t been dancing in a long time.”
“Have you been dancing as a vampire?” Charlotte asked.
“Well, not at a club or anything. In the woods… not really.”
Charlotte made a turn, and then pointed at a sign in front of a building. “Well then you’ll love our hunting grounds tonight. This is a great dance club, and we will grab a bite while we’re there. Stay close to me; this is an adult club; if anyone who works there asks your age; I will do the talking. When they ask for your ID, just raise your empty hand in front of their face; I will do the rest.”
“What will they see?”
“An ID, silly girl; I can make them see things. Now I am no Alice, but then again these are just humans. It will take a strong mind to defy me. Let’s go.” With that, Charlotte parked the Blazer and hopped out. I jumped out and followed her into the club.
It was fun dancing with Charlotte. After a few songs, Charlotte found another partner. She passed him off to me; then she went and found another man. The man she left me to dance with was drunk, but I could also tell that she had messed with his mind.
He had no problem letting me take him into a dark corner of the dance club, and there I fed. I stopped before he passed out but barely. I helped him to an empty booth and then just left him there. Not long after I walked away, he passed out; not one person noticed or cared.
Charlotte did the same thing to another man; then she found two guys that were cruising for a good time. She brought them over to me and introduced them. Then we let them buy us drinks. We laughed at their jokes and over all pretended to like them. After some time Charlotte told the guys she would like to get out of here. Of course the guys thought this was a great idea probably because they thought they were going to get lucky.
Both these men were older, around their early forties. Once we had them out in the parking lot, where no one could see, we had our way with them. We both fed until the men passed out. We did put them into a car so that they wouldn’t get cold. They would wake up there in the morning, and then they both will try to remember what had happened the night before, and what doesn’t make sense they will blame on the booze.
My mind was still recalling all the new songs that I had heard at the club. When I looked over at the clock inside the truck, it wasn’t even that late. We had left the club around midnight. I still had a long night ahead of me; I was excited about learning from Ezra. I really hope that does not hurt my relationship with Charlotte, because I was really enjoying her company.
It was a strange thought, that I might have more friends now in death, than I did in life. I was feeling a
little drunk from the blood I had taken in. I laid my head against the window and watched the world go by. After a few minutes, Charlotte turned off of the main road and started heading down a dirt road.
I had to ask, "Where are we going?"
Charlotte laughed, and then said. "Running… after a big meal I like to run."
I picked my head off the window and started looking around. I could already feel that I was mostly sober now. I answered by saying. "That’s sounds like fun."
After ten minutes or so, Charlotte found a place to park under a few trees. There weren't very many trees; this was high desert. There were bushes of all shapes and sizes, but every once in a while there would be a couple of oak or pine trees bundled up together.
We got out of the vehicle and started to run; I left my shoes in the truck. I loved the feel of the ground against my bare feet. The sharp rocks and plants didn’t hurt for more than a second, if at all. The wind in my hair felt wonderful as the scenery flew by. It was amazing how fast me and Charlotte could run.
I was not sure but I would bet that I was running close to sixty miles per hour. In the open parts we would flash over great distances; we moved so fast it felt as if I were watching someone change a channel.
The best part about running is that it wasn’t like working out. I wasn't sweating, and my breathing wasn’t labored; in fact I didn’t even need to breathe. I took in air as we ran, just to bring in the smells that brought the world alive. I didn’t know all the different senses I was taking in, but each were wonderful in their own way.
Of course the best part of this was my sight. It may not have been day, but who cared when you could see the world as I did. The world was full of color and shadows, and not even the mice escaped my sharp eyes.
We worked our way up the side of the hill and toward the ridge. At this point we were jumping from boulder to boulder. The plants gave way to huge rocks, as we reached the crest of the hill. From here you could see everything; below was the valley floor with a river of lights. The crest of the hill ran upwards towards the mountains. I followed Charlotte as she jumped, ran and climbed up the rocks. She finally came to rest at the top of a large rock. This rock stood above everything except the distant mountains.