I walk closer to the table and flick off the switch to the lamp. As soon as the room turns dark, a hand grips itself around the base of my ankle.
My pulse runs cold as the grip tightens, but I resist the urge to fight back knowing the circumstances. I slowly lower my head to my feet and make out the outline of small hand firmly squeezing not too far above my achilles. “…Hello? What are you doing down there?” I ask, still slightly freaked out. Kids are creepy. Ask any of them to tell you about their ‘imaginary friends’ if you ever want to lose sleep. “Were you thirsty? I can fix you something to drink. Would you like that?” An awkward silence ensues but then the tiny fingers around my ankle retract and the head of a little boy emerges from the shadows. I reach for the light on the table, turn it on, and squat down to reach his level. “Did I scare you?” I say softly as I lock eyes with the small boy. “I didn’t mean to.” The child brushes his hand over one of his eyes but doesn’t say a word. He squints a bit, so I put the lamp beside me on the floor. “You don’t have to be afraid of me.” If I had to guess, he’s no older than six. Seven would be a stretch.
The little boy tilts his head in confusion, and I catch the reflection from his dark eyes staring into my own. I tuck a stray lock behind my ear and rub the top of the boy’s black hair in a calming manner. The sky roars, but the child doesn’t make a sound. Instead, his gaze lingers on me, at a loss for words.
“…You’re pretty, but you’re not my mom.”
“Thanks…but no…I’m not. I am a friend of hers though. What’s your name? My name is Sailor. Are you okay? Why are you hiding under the table, buddy? The storm can’t hurt you. It’s outside.”
“Nathan? Nathan, what are you doing?” The lights to the kitchen turn on and I quickly rise to my feet. Nathan cowers under the table. “Nathan get out from under there! What are you doing with our guest?” Helen’s husband comes up beside me, clearly annoyed. “You know what happens when you’re up past your bedtime,” Frank says sternly. There’s a brief pause between the three of us until Nathan crawls out from beneath the furniture and presses his body close to me, wrapping his arms around the base of my thigh.
“He wasn’t a problem,” I say calmly while I stroke his hair just like how my mom used to do to me when I was upset. “I think he was just trying to get something to drink but got scared when he heard me coming down the stairs. It’s pretty late—he hasn’t seen me before,” I say to his father. “Is that what you wanted, Nathan? Water?” Nathan looks up at me and nods bashfully. I slowly comb through the top of his head, his hair still intertwined between my fingers.
“…I’m sorry,” Frank says, the scowl on his face fading from view. “I…overreacted.” Frank sighs and walks over to the cupboard and pulls out a glass. “A few weeks ago we had an incident. Nathan had an accident when he snuck downstairs one night. He broke some plates, but that wasn’t the issue. He hurt his head.”
“Oh.” I ease up on rubbing his crown.
“Don’t worry. It wasn’t anything too serious, but we’ve just been trying to be more careful. Too be honest, I’ve been putting off getting a couple of night-lights plugged in around the house. Nathan has bouts of hyperactivity. He doesn’t like to keep still. Even tried to fly the coop a couple of times when we weren’t paying attention.” I watch Frank as he fills the small glass with filtered tap water from the kitchen sink. “He’s quiet,” Frank announces, “but he has quite the imagination on him when he gets revved up. He’s too young to be a night owl. Leave that up to the old farts, eh?” He chuckles and extends the glass towards his son. Nathan reaches out for it with one hand, the other still bound to my thigh. Before the glass graces his fingertips, Frank pulls away. “Now if I give this to you, you’ll behave right?” Frank asks with an authoritative look on his face. A noticeable stalemate ensues between the two until eventually Nathan caves and clutches the glass. Looking at their Father-Son relationship makes me cringe for some reason, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. Amidst my confusion, Nathan sips from the glass and his father picks him up by the waist. “Okay, off to bed you go, little fella.” Together, they head for the stairs while I lag behind them, Nathan’s lamp dangling in my hand. When we get to his room, Frank tucks him in. “I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight… That goes for you, too,” he says to me once Nathan is settled beneath his sheets decorated with racecars and checkered flags. “Breakfast’ll be ready at about eight.” He smiles.
“Thanks. I’ll be looking forward to it.” I inch closer to Nathan’s bedside and place the lamp on the multicolored play-desk near his bed. “If you ever get scared again, just turn on the light, okay?” Nathan nods at me, his hands gripping the covers. “I’ll see you when you wake up, friend.” I glance back at Frank while he walks towards the hall. He stops at the door frame and rests his hand on the knob to his son’s room. Clearly, the man is tired and had his fill of dealing with the irrational fears of the young and innocent. I don’t know how I feel about that. He’s just a kid. Emotions aside, I smile at Nathan and wave goodbye to him as I leave the room. Once I’m in the clear, his father closes the door. “Night,” I say briskly before we go our separate ways. I hear his door close as I walk back to my room. Moments later, I find myself back in my own. I sneak into my side of the bed, but just as I thought I was in the clear, Valerie begins to stir. “Go back to sleep,” I whisper. “You didn’t miss anything.”
“You were gone?” she asks groggily while she nuzzles her pillow.
“Yup. I met their son, Nathan. He’s like, five or six. He went downstairs for some reason. I think he was thinking that lighting only strikes the highest point or something. You know how kids are. I found him hiding under a table.”
“Aww. He must have been so cute,” Valerie says, slightly more awake.
“Terrified is a more accurate description,” I respond with slanted eyes, “…but he was a little cutie.” I laugh. “He had cute little cheeks. Ugh…my mothering instincts just kicked right in. It was horrifying.” I shudder.
“So I go and take a nap, and you run off and catch baby fever?” Val chuckles groggily. “Am I dreaming?”
“No, seriously. Like, I don’t know what came over me. It was like I was transfixed by his cuteness… Valerie, it took everything I had in me not to pinch his cheeks,” I tease. “You’ll see when you see him tomorrow. Straight-up adorable. My heart almost exploded two times over.”
“You’re too much. I give up. Go to sleep. It’s too late to joke.”
I snicker at Valerie while she turns her head away from me, satisfied by her response as well as my victory. I definitely don’t have baby fever. I don’t want a kid for the next five years, minimum. They can wait. I’m not ready for one anytime soon. “Night.”
“Mhmmm.”
I submerge myself deeper into the covers, a smile plastered across my face as I relax my body, pleasantly awaiting a good night’s sleep.
Chapter 6: Whisked Away
My body jolts by a sudden rumble, shoving me at an accelerated pace to my side. My head spins and my mind does flips, turning over in random intervals just like my body. The sound of metal ripping and screeching floods my ear drums, further disorienting me as my senses fumble. Suddenly, I stop and my eyes grow heavy, painting the already shadowy portrait pitch black. I hear the beat of my heart pulsing against my chest, exacerbated by my ringing ears and the sensation of blood rushing to my head. As my vision dims, I feel my strength rapidly leaving my body, intoxicated by the weight of my eyelids.
After God knows how long, a thump registers beside me and my eyes spring open.
“Sailor, wake up, hunny. We have to move. Sailor? Sailor!” My vision is hazy, but I blink a few times, and it slowly returns to its former glory.
“…Dad?”
“That’s right baby girl. Stay with me.” I don’t remember what happened beforehand, but I can clearly see that we’re not in the best situation. I’m upside down, strapped in my seat by my seatbelt. Beyond my hanging hair, I
see a pool of blood beginning to form, my blood, on the inner roof of the car. “We need to get you down from there.”
“What happened?” I ask groggily.
“A wreck,” my dad responds. “They T-boned us. Baby, I need you to focus, okay?” He grunts as he raises his bloodied arm to my side. “I’m going to undo your belt, then we have to move. They’re coming for us.”
“Who?”
“The vamps.” The click of my seatbelt unlocking registers in my ears and gravity takes hold. I brace my impact with my forearms, allowing my jacket to act as a buffer between my face and the shards of glass from the shattered windows. Before I can regain my constitution, I watch my father as he repeatedly kicks through the remaining glass of the window on the driver’s side, desperate for an escape. “Crawl out on this side or make your own way out. Whichever’s easier,” he says to me, his hairline leaking streams of blood. I grab my gun from the rubble and make my own exit in the same manner as my dad. A gunshot echoes from outside, and I hear a screech almost immediately after. “Come on, baby. We have to get out of here,” my dad proclaims, fire lining his words. I remember now. It’s still a bit hazy, but things are starting to come back into focus. We were on the run. We went to take out a stronghold where a few vamps were holding out, and things went south, quick. We did what we could, but realized that we had overstayed our visit. This was just the aftermath of a failed attempt at a getaway. We killed some of their own, and now, they’re pissed.
I lift my arm over the top of the flipped car and fire off a slew of bullets from behind cover, aiding my dad as he retreats to my side. “Where do we go now?” I ask as my hand recoils back. A vampire screeches in the distance from my shells finding their mark, implanting themselves into the running vampire’s chest. He stumbles and falls, but I don’t care to see what happens next. Instead, I squat behind the flipped vehicle and reload my gun.
“I don’t know, sweetie. Anywhere but here.” He limps past me, but his staggered strut quickly evolves into a run. “Let’s move,” he says, his words trailing behind him as he passes me.
I follow my dad at a reasonable distance, but an unusual sensation strikes me in my gut, slightly slowing my pace. It lingers for a second—a growing uneasiness about the situation at hand. Something isn’t right. I can’t place my finger on it, but everything feels familiar on a level I can’t explain. I think it’s de—
My father turns around and fires a bullet my way, silencing my internal dialog. By instinct, I duck and shift away from his line of sight while still following behind him. “What the hell, dad?” I yell.
“Vampire,” he screams as he continues to run through the empty streets. I glance behind me and look at the slumped body of the vampire that my father had apparently shot in the head. His fangs were elongated as if he were ready to pounce—I would have known if something was that close out in the open. There’s no way I could have been that dense. I return my gaze in front of me and see my dad climbing over the guardrail on the street, leading off into a patch of woods beside the road. I follow suit and catch up to him once he stops against the base of a tree. “They’re tracking us through our blood,” he proclaims, his chest rapidly rising and falling as he peeks out from behind a tree. My father averts his eyes from the street and takes a moment to reload his gun. “That car wreck really did us in. They can probably smell us for miles.”
“I don’t think we should be here. There isn’t much visibility. It’s dark, and the trees can get in the way of our shots. Plus they can see a whole lot better than us at night… The trees give them another dimension to attack from, too.” My dad looks at me, a snarl apparent on his face.
A dull pain shoots across my right forearm, causing me to me to buckle against the tree I’m using for cover.
“Well, what the fuck do you have in mind?” he asks angrily. I flinch, taken aback by his language towards me.
“…We should stay out in the open. Clear lines of sight. We steal a car and make a break for it when we can.” My father suddenly bobs his head and a vampire sinks his fangs into the bark of the tree. He then plunges a dagger into the back of the vampire’s skull, killing it with little effort. The vamp falls to the ground face first. A puddle of blood slowly forms around the circumference of his head, covering the grass with a deep red hue. Oddly enough, I didn’t see that one coming either.
“No, don’t be stupid. That won’t work. It’ll only draw more attention.” My forearm throbs again and I wince. “You’re too hurt. We need to find a place to patch up and hold out till they back off or we kill the rest of them in the process. They can smell our blood, but the woods are filled with other shit too. It might buy us some time. Just stay focused and follow me.” I nod, compliant with my father’s request and follow him deeper into the woods, my feet shuffling behind his while the vampires continue on our trail. I don’t know how many are after us. I barely remember the car crash, let alone what happened before it. Above us, the branches dance in the night, tickled by the wind, their leaves swaying as if they’re eager to see which side will prevail. Hopefully, it’s us. I don’t like being in the forest one bit. The vamps can traverse the tree tops with ease. They know we’re here and they have the high ground. I don’t know why he would choose a place like this for a final stand. “I think I see a cabin. We’ll hole up there.” My dad shifts his direction a bit to the left and slightly picks up his pace. He’s hurt, but it seems to barely slow him down. I, on the other hand, feel like shit.
I cut through the trees and notice the natural flow of the leaves above us ruffle sporadically. I hone in on the canopy and catch a figure in the darkness stalking us from above.
They’re watching us.
I pull my gun out and fire into the air, ignoring the pain that stems from my arm. My dad turns around mid-run and does the same, backing me up from a distance. The vampire falls from the sky not too far in front of me and hits the ground with a thud. Dead. This one’s a female that looks vaguely familiar. I’m able to catch a glimpse of her as I run past her. Red hair and blue eyes with a shocked expression on her face. I know her from somewhere, but I can’t quite put my finger on where.
“Sailor, cover me,” my dad whispers as he approaches the door to the cabin, snapping me from my lingering memory. I slow my pace while I scan the wildness for intruders. By the time he’s through picking the lock, I’m at the door beside him just in time for him to open it for us to slip in. “We’ve got to be quick about this,” he says as he browses over the contents of the cabin. “Seal up the front door and as many exits as you can. If we haven’t scared them off by now, they’ll be coming for us.”
“Right.” My dad grunts while he hobbles over towards the center of the cabin and sets his sights on what seems to be an antique piece of furniture; a couch. He attempts to move it by himself but fails, pain apparent on his face.
“A little help?” I quickly come to his side and lower my shoulder into the furniture. Together, we drive the couch across the wooden floor, parking it in front of the door. “Shit,” he rasps. “That wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.” He clutches his side and walks over to the counter. He’s right. I knew I was hurt from the crash, but I didn’t realize how banged up my dad was until now. We’re both in a tight spot… We’re both sitting ducks.
We shouldn’t have come here. It was a mistake. A mistake my father would have never made. There’s two dead vamps outside and a trail of blood leading up to this cabin. We don’t even know their numbers. I…can’t remember them.
“Ah…” My forearm pulses again and I quiet my yelp as quickly as I can. The dull pain travels down the length of my arm and then into my chest, leaving a burning sensation.
My balance unsteadies and my sight begins to shift. I throw my weight against the wall closest to me and close my eyes in an effort to outlast my loss of vertigo. “Something isn’t right,” I mumble. “This isn’t right.”
“You’re damn right it isn’t. I told you not to come with me, but you
just had to come, didn’t you?” My eyes shoot open, shocked by my dad’s words. “Now look at us. You weren’t ready for this. You never were.” The bitter sting of disapproval hurts far worse than any of my injuries. “I should have never taught you how to hunt. There’s too much at stake.” My eyes grow moist with tears, but I refuse to let them fall.
“…Dad, wh—”
The sound of a glass object breaking outside resonates in my ear. Then another, and another, all on different sides of the small cabin. Dad scowls and begins to reload his pistol. “Vamps.” A loud thud registers on the cabin roof, and my dad shakes his head remorsefully. It’s faint, but I can hear the sound of traveling feet over our heads. “I’m going upstairs... I’ll handle it. Stay put.” I do what my dad says and wait, my body still pressed against the cabin wall. The sound of his footsteps slowly elevate as he travels to the stairs of the cabin; blood from his wounded leg saturating his pants. The old floorboards give way to his weight, creaking and bending with every step. There’s no use hiding it. They’re here, and they’re beyond pissed. The only way out is to fight but on our own terms. In the silence that ensues, I reload my gun as quietly as I can and try my best to steady my breathing. I inhale a wisp of oxygen through my nose and notice the smoky accent twisting the quality of the air near the front door. Fire.
They’re going to burn us alive.
We have to leave. We need to stick together. It’s the only way.
“You want me? Well, come and get me!”
Dad, no.
The sound of glass shattering echoes through the cabin followed by a series of sharp pops and a heavy slam.
“Dad?!” I rush to the top of my stairs where I find him pinned against the wall, bleeding and at the entity’s mercy.
“Sailor, ru—ah!” The man who holds my dad’s life in his hands squeezes his windpipe, silencing him. I catch the vision of hopelessness in his eyes as he struggles to reach for his dagger. The man in question effortlessly tosses my dad out the window, sending him from the second story onto the ground—and then, he turns to me.
Sailor Ray and the Beautiful Lie (The Pact Book 3) Page 6