by E. J. King
“I was attacked by a robber one night on my way home from working at the bank. I knew better than to be out after dark, but we were doing inventory and I had to stay late.” She closed her eyes, remembering. “But then your father stepped in and saved me. He stabbed the man in the chest and then his body started decomposing right there. It was very unsettling.”
“I’m sure it was,” I said, my head spinning.
“Well, after that I couldn’t just send him on his way. I invited him over for dinner and asked him to bring the whole family.” When her eyes opened again they were sad. “My own children have been grown for decades and they moved away from Normal. It was nice to have young ones around the house again.”
I could almost remember it- the smell of a home cooked meal and the sounds of us gathered around the dinner table. “You were kind to us.”
“I felt very sorry for you. Your father explained about the monsters and your destiny to hunt them. It seemed like a terrible way to raise a child, but I could tell that your parents were doing their best to keep you safe.” Her head shook sadly. “That’s why it was so terrible when you went missing that night.”
“Went missing? How?” This must have been when Benton had gotten ahold of me.
“My little Pomeranian, Chichi, got out of the house. You were so sweet, worried about him, and you offered to go get him. He never went farther than the next house, so I thought it would be safe.” Her eyes got teary. “We didn’t realize anything was wrong until Chichi came back a few minutes later and you weren’t with him.”
This I did remember. Three Souls had come at once, leaving me with no possibility of escape. They had pressed a rag over my mouth that had been soaked in something. I lost consciousness almost immediately.
“Your family was frantic with worry. They took off to look for you and I never saw any of you again.” She took my hand. “I never knew what happened to you, but I prayed for you every night. I knew that even if they had found you and you were safe, the life you were raised in would continue to put you in danger. It’s very wonderful to see you all grown up.”
I knew without a doubt that Benton had been responsible for all of the death back then. He had used it to draw my family to town, used it to get to me. And now he had done it all over again.
“Kaylie, I just talked to Chase.” Rafe said. He and Ethan approached, looking relieved. “All Undead have been eliminated.”
“That’s good,” I said half-heartedly. It didn’t really matter how many Souls or Undead we killed until we killed Benton. He would just keep sending more of them at us.
Rafe and Ethan began to discuss the cleanup process. Undead bodies mostly took care of themselves once they were killed. By the time anyone thought to take a closer look, all that would be left was a disintegrated pile of goo.
“They are nice young men,” the old lady observed. “Very good-looking. Are either of them your young man?”
“Hm?” I hadn’t been fully listening. “Oh, yeah. The tall one on the right.”
Rafe looked over just then and smiled.
“He has a nice smile,” she said, nodding her approval. “I’m sure your parents are glad you found someone to protect you. How are they doing?”
“They died. A few years ago.” It still hurt to talk about it, so I kept it short. “Some monsters got to them.”
“I’m very sorry.” She looked like she was going to cry again. “They were very sweet people. They deserved better than that.”
Grandma meant well, but she was making me angry. Of course they had been sweet people that didn’t deserve to die in such a cruel way. But the last time I checked, life didn’t care about what someone deserved. “I need to go. It was nice seeing you again.”
“Of course, dear.” She let go of my hand. “You take care of yourself. I’ll keep praying for you.”
I nodded absently, thinking that it would take a lot more than a few prayers to protect me from the danger I faced.
We stayed in the gym for another hour, helping the wounded and moving the dead into a makeshift mortuary. A town this small was going to need help dealing with the casualties. Once the humans had been taken care of, we piled what remained of the Souls into a large mound in the square and set it on fire.
“I wish I had some marshmallows,” Ethan joked as we watched the flames engulf the remains. The stench was overpowering.
“I wish I had a shower,” I said, touching the back of my head where the hair had been matted with blood.
“I wish I had a stiff drink,” Chase said.
We all nodded at that.
Rafe helped me back to the motel while the others headed to the bar. As good as a drink sounded, I really couldn’t wait to wash away the blood and put some ice on my swollen knee.
“Need any help?” Rafe asked from the doorway to the bathroom.
I said, “Nice try.”
“What? I’m trying to be nice.” He exaggerated an innocent look.
“We both know that if you get in that shower with me, I’m going to end up even more injured than I already am.” I pushed him out of the doorway and half-shut the door. He reluctantly took the hint.
It took a while to comb my fingers through the tangled hair and congealed blood. By the time the water ran clean, I could hardly put any weight on my bad leg. After wrapping myself in a towel, I hobbled to the bed.
Rafe handed me an icepack and went to the bathroom to get the first aid kit so he could check my head wound. The pain had weakened to a dull throb and I was pretty sure it was no longer bleeding.
“Um… Kaylie?”
I looked up, expecting him to be holding some gauze and antiseptic. I did not expect him to be holding a small white stick.
“Oh.” I had completely forgotten about the test. “That.”
“Were you planning to tell me about this?” he asked, looking shockingly pale. His hand was even shaking.
“It’s not a big deal. I only took it to prove Hope wrong. She thought because of how I’ve been feeling sick lately that maybe… Well anyway, I just wanted her to shut up about it so I took it and-”
Rafe sank down heavily onto the bed. “How?”
“How? It’s not that hard. Aim, shoot…” I laughed uncomfortably.
“Not that. How did this happen? We’re always careful.”
“I’m not pregnant, Rafe.” I hadn’t seen the test yet, but I was certain that it was true. “You can stop the panic attack now.”
Rafe handed me the stick. “Did you even look at this?”
“No, but-” I snatched it from him. “See? One line means no baby.”
“Wait… what?” He looked at me in confusion. “Really?”
“Plus sign means panic attack. One line means you can relax.” I tossed the stick into the trash. “Sorry to freak you out like that.”
He sat for a long time without moving, staring at the wall. I chalked it up to shock and made myself more comfortable on the bed.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked finally, nudging him with my toe.
“I wasn’t panicking, Kaylie.” He turned to me. “Really. I was…”
“What?” I had to admit that he was freaking me out now.
He looked away, embarrassed. “I was happy.”
“Oh.” I had not expected that. “Happy? Really?”
“You know I love you, Kaylie. Maybe it’s a little sudden for something like this, but I know without a doubt that I want to have a family with you some day.” He leaned over, elbows on his knees and eyes staring at the ground.
I had never seen him like this. “How can you say that? You’ve lived this life, James. It’s not a life to raise a kid in. It would be selfish to bring a child into this world.”
“Guess it is good we don’t have to worry about that.” He started to move away, but I grabbed his arm.
“Hey. Look at me.” I waited several seconds until his eyes landed on mine. “I love you, too, James. I’m sorry if we disagree on this, but it’s h
ow I feel.”
His jaw clenched tightly and after a pause, he said, “I don’t do this, Kaylie. This isn’t me. This whole, telling you how I feel and talking about our future. But when I’m with you, I want to do those things. I want us to have a future. You’ll have to forgive me if it kills me to know that you don’t feel the same way.”
“That’s not what I said, James.” I reeled back as if I’d been slapped. “I think about our future all the time. I would love for us to have a normal relationship and someday have 2.5 kids and a white picket fence around our house, but that’s never going to happen. Our life together is never going to be normal.”
“We could build that life, if you really wanted to. I’ve already told you that I would give up all this supernatural crap for you. All you have to do is say yes and we can run away from this crazy life.” He grabbed my hand in both of his. “Just say the word, Kaylie. I’ll give you that life, I promise.”
“You’re in denial,” I said quietly. “No matter how far we go or how quickly we run, we can’t escape this life. Benton won’t let us. And even if we kill him, there will just be some other evil that wants us dead. That’s how this life works. That’s why my parents are dead.”
Rafe stared at me long and hard, making up his mind about something. When he was done, the gentle longing was gone from his eyes. “You should let me check your head. It looks like you hit it pretty hard.”
“James-” I reached for him, not wanting us to end things this way.
He brushed me away. “Not now, Kaylie. Just… not now.”
The room was silent as he checked and cleaned my wound. I could hear water dripping from the bathroom sink. When he was done, he announced that he was going to join the others for a drink. With my busted knee, I was in no shape to tag along.
His hand was on the door when I said, “I’m sorry, James. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
He yanked the door open and stepped outside. As the door swung shut, he said, “I know. But you did hurt me.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I lay awake all night. Rafe was gone for a few hours and he came back reeking of cigarette smoke and alcohol. He didn’t say a word to me as he collapsed on top of the sheets, keeping as much distance from me as possible. Despite the late night, we were both up early the next morning.
With the Immortui temporarily defeated, we needed to get back on the road. I still had questions about my biological parents, and I knew exactly who might hold the answers.
I couldn’t face more awkward silence in the room, so I left Rafe while he was still in the shower and walked down the street to the closest diner. After getting a coffee to-go, I crossed the street to the small playground in the corner of the square. Normal was mostly quiet this morning, with people still recovering from the trauma of the previous night. But one mother had brought her three kids to the playground to take their minds off the horror.
I sat on the bench next to her and watched the kids laugh and play. Despite the horrible things they had seen, they were able to move on.
“They’re more resilient than me,” the mom said, watching them with joy in her eyes. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night after we got home, but the kids were fine. They saw you kill the monsters and now they just keep talking about the superheroes that saved us.”
“I’m not a superhero,” I said quietly. “But it’s no surprise they recovered quickly. Children have pure souls.”
She eyed me carefully. “They do. They are the only pure light in this world.”
“Do you regret having them, now that you’ve seen the evil in this world?” I asked bluntly.
“I worry for them,” she said, lost in thought. “I worry that the world is too dark for their light. But I don’t regret having them. They are the greatest gift that I could give to this world. Who knows, maybe one of them will grow up to be a superhero, too. Maybe they will save lives one day.”
I smiled at that. She might be right. “Maybe.”
When I stood to leave, she said, “You’ll understand one day, when you have kids of your own.”
I looked at her in surprise, marveling at the coincidence of this conversation. Could she tell from the look on my face what I had been thinking?
“Maybe,” I said again, adding, “I hope you’re right.”
By the time I got back to the motel, everyone was waiting at the car. The bags had been packed away in the trunk and they were discussing seating arrangements.
“You drive,” Rafe said, handing Ethan the keys.
Ethan wasn’t the only one that looked surprised. Rafe almost always drove, unless he was injured or too tired to keep his eyes open. But right now he was perfectly healthy and wide awake.
“You’re kidding, right?” Ethan said. He quickly caught himself and grabbed the keys. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
He climbed in the driver’s seat and Rafe filed in behind him. I hesitated before picking a door. It had been pretty clear last night that Rafe had wanted space from me. But I didn’t see how I could sit in the front without the others commenting on it.
“Kaylie, what’s the hold up?” Rafe reached over and pushed open the door. “Come on.”
I sighed in relief. Problem solved.
“You missed your chance to say goodbye to Chase,” Ethan said once we were all situated. “I’m sure you’re a mess about it.”
“Right.” I leaned my head against the cool glass.
For a few miles, it was quiet as we wound our way along the country road. Ethan and Hope were talking quietly about something that had happened at the bar the previous night. Rafe kept his eyes out his window and I did the same.
“You too are awfully quiet,” Hope said, catching my eye in the side mirror. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” I replied automatically, wondering if it would ever be true again. Had I ruined everything with Rafe?
Something light brushed over my hand and I glanced down in surprise. Rafe’s fingers threaded through mine, squeezing gently. My throat tightened as I looked at him.
“Better than fine,” he said, answering Hope but looking at me. Quieter, he said, “Right?”
I nodded, blinking back tears. Maybe we hadn’t solved all of our problems, and maybe we would never agree on some things. But right then we had each other, and that was enough.
Eight hours later, we pulled onto a dirt road that seemed to lead nowhere. Rafe had dozed off an hour earlier with his head on my shoulder. I nudged him awake.
“I think we’re here,” I said, staring hard out the window for a sign that we were in the right place. It had been hard to track down this address, and even now I wasn’t sure that it was the right one.
“Are you sure about this?” Ethan asked doubtfully. He slowed the car to a crawl. “This place looks like it’s been abandoned for years.”
“That’s the whole point,” I said confidently. “This is just the kind of place where Uncle Mark would live.”
I spotted a camera in the overgrown brush and smiled. We were definitely in the right place. Mark had always been paranoid.
The house was mostly hidden in overgrown brush, but I saw several more cameras guarding the front door. I wouldn’t be surprised if the house was also booby trapped.
“Keep your eyes open,” I said when Ethan parked the car. “Uncle Mark might be a little nuts. He’s the shoot first, ask questions later type.”
“Swell,” Ethan muttered. “We’ll let you go first.”
I took a moment to study the ground and make sure we weren’t about to step on a land mine. With Mark, you could never be too careful. Once I felt confident we weren’t going to be blown to pieces, I stepped onto the rickety porch and pounded on the door.
It was thrown open from inside and I was greeted with a snarl and a bark. “What? What do you want?”
The man behind the bark was in his mid-forties, but he looked ten years older. He hadn’t shaved in weeks and it had been even longer since he’d had a hai
rcut. His flannel shirt was faded and worn and he smelled like stale beer. Nevertheless, it was wonderful to see him.
“Hey, Uncle Mark.” I couldn’t keep a smile from my face.
His eyes narrowed and he looked me up and down. A softness passed over his face and his voice was thick with emotion when he said, “Kaylie? Is that you, my dear?”
“It’s me.” I felt myself getting choked up as well.
Mark Grimm had been my father’s best friend. We had grown up with him in our lives, attending birthday parties and holidays. He had given me my first bike and taught me how to ride it. Even though he wasn’t really my uncle, I still regarded him as family.
“Well, then. Get over here and give me a hug.” His arms opened wide and I rushed into them. He sighed contentedly and patted my back. “I was afraid I would never see you again.”
“Are you kidding? You can’t get rid of me that easily.” I gave him a tight squeeze and then stepped back. “You look like crap.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” he joked with a chuckle. “You look wonderful, dear. All grown up.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” I said. “How are you? Doing well?”
He nodded. “As well as can be expected. Were you planning to introduce me to the people staring at us?”
“Those are my friends,” I explained quickly, having completely forgotten that they were there. “This is Hope, Ethan, and Rafe.”
“Rafe?” Mark’s eyebrow shot up suspiciously. “What kind of a name is that?”
“James Rafferty, sir,” Rafe said, holding out his hand.
Mark shook it and asked, “Are you Tom Rafferty’s boy?”
“Yes.” Rafe’s expression was unreadable. “Tom was my father.”
“He was a good man,” Mark said, nodding his head in satisfaction. “Why don’t you all come inside?”
The inside of the house was more welcoming than the outside. Though it was cluttered with books, furniture, and computers, it was cleaner than most motels we had stayed in. Mark also had just put on a pot of chili and had a stash of good beer.
“I know you’re not old enough to drink, Kaylie,” he said with a serious look as he handed me the beer. “But seeing as how you risk your life killing vampires, I’ll let it slide.”