Leilani

by LM DeWalt

  “Oh, Leilani,” Jose Luis cried into his sister’s hair. “I can’t believe you are finally here.”

  Leilani buried her face in the crook between his shoulder and neck and cried, wrapping her tan arms around her brother’s neck. He held her just as tightly as she held him and closed his eyes, trying to fight back his own tears. Seeing blood all over his face would scare his sister more and he wanted to be strong for her. After a few moments, Aloysius and Christian relaxed, taking steps away from the embracing siblings. Christian came to my side and wrapped an arm around my waist. All three of us kept our eyes on the emotional reunion. The living room door opened with a bang against the wall and the three of us tensed again.

  “What’s happening? What was all the screaming?” Giovanni asked as he walked into the kitchen, Mateo on his heels.

  “We got Leilani back,” I answered him, smiling toward the two who loosened their grip and stared into each other’s eyes. Jose Luis wiped Leilani’s tears away with the bottom of his tee-shirt.

  “What happened to you?” Leilani asked and sniffled. I grabbed a napkin from the counter and handed it to her. She wiped her nose and thanked me with a smile.

  Jose Luis looked at Christian before answering. “Tell her the truth,” Christian told him. “She will understand.”

  “Come on,” Jose Luis took his sister’s hand. “Let’s go sit in the living room. I will tell you everything.”

  While Jose Luis led Leilani to the living room, the rest of us stayed behind, allowing them some time alone. Though Jose Luis was only fifteen years old, we all felt he was mature enough to handle talking to her and convincing her to accept his choice.

  “The police called while you were gone,” Giovanni said as he took a seat at the counter.

  “What did they want?” I asked.

  “They wanted to know if we knew anything else about Jose Luis or if we heard from him. I told him we thought he was back with the people he was living with before he came to us. I didn’t know what else to say.”

  “That should do for now. If they still want to talk to him, they will have to look there. It’s best they don’t know he is here with us. They may want to come here and question him and that would create more problems. They don’t need to see him this way,” Mateo explained. “As long as they know he’s safe and sound, they should stop searching for him.”

  “We will need to leave Peru soon. We can’t risk anyone noticing the changes in Jose Luis. He’s a regular in this area and knows too many people,” I said. I turned to Mateo who was pouring himself a glass of juice. “What about you? What are your plans?”

  He set the glass on the counter and looked at Fiore who had entered so quietly I hadn’t noticed her leaning against the wall. “Fiore is going to finish the process tonight. I want to make sure I am strong enough to fight if it turns to that.”

  “Trust me, you are already strong. I’m turning you because it’s what you want,” Fiore explained and turned to me. “Jose Luis and Leilani are sitting on the sofa talking. I overheard a little when I walked in. She’s asking what is going to happen to her.”

  “What happens to her will be totally her choice,” I answered. Surprised eyes turned my way. I held up my hand. “No, wait. I said it will be her choice, but not until she is at least eighteen. I will not turn a child unless absolutely necessary.” That was a decision I hoped Aaron could respect.

  “So what do we do now that we have Leilani?” Fiore asked.

  “Yeah, I want to know. Do we leave with them and go back to the States, or do we wait and see what happens?” Mateo asked.

  Aloysius stepped into the middle of the group. “I think our outcome will be the same either way. If we leave, they will come after us. If we stay, they will come after us even sooner. They want your children and they will do whatever is necessary to get them. Besides, I don’t think they are done with their revenge against you, Lily.”

  “So what are you saying? That we stay and wait for them to attack? We can’t let them attack us here. Too many innocent people would get hurt.” I said. Either option suggested the same ending, death and losses for both sides.

  “What if we go somewhere completely new, somewhere we’ve never been before, minimizing their chances of finding us?” Christian asked.

  “Is that how you want to spend the rest of your existence, running and hiding? The children need more than that. They need somewhat normal lives, an education, friends, and whatever you can offer. Leilani will need it more than anyone since she’s going to remain human.” Aloysius folded his arms across his chest.

  “You’re right, but that means we fight them all while still trying to protect the humans,” I said. The thought of fighting while three innocent human children were in our care infuriated me.

  “We won’t have much of a choice. They will not stop until they get what they want. It will not matter how far away we go. They will find us. I am very sure of that,” Aloysius asserted, pausing to look at Giovanni. “Maybe we can send the humans away for a bit, keep them out of the way.”

  “That is a good idea, but they will still need protection. Some of us will have to go with them and that leaves lower numbers for those who stay to fight,” Giovanni explained.

  “That is not necessarily true,” Aaron said as he and Kalia walked into the kitchen.

  I shook my head in disbelief. “No, Aaron. I can’t let your friends fight for us again. This doesn’t even concern them.”

  “Lily, honey,” Kalia said walking toward me. “Do you honestly think that matters to them? They are family, just like you, Christian, and your children. We protect family. Besides, do you really think they will ever let us live it down if they find out about this and know we didn’t include them?”

  We all laughed at that comment and the tension in the room eased a bit. “I guess that’s that then. We also need to get documents for everyone who will be traveling once we figure out where they are going. Regardless, Jose Luis and Leilani will need passports and visas to travel to the United States,” I said thinking about all we needed to do before we sent the humans away.

  “Let me handle the travel documents for the children. I know a guy,” Aloysius said as Christian and I laughed.

  “I think it would be best if we sent Margarita and Giovanni with them since they’ve spent the most time with them. They seem comfortable with them,” Christian suggested.

  “Agreed,” Aloysius said and looked at me. “Any ideas where we can send them for safety?”

  “What about the cabin?” I suggested.

  Everyone except Giovanni and Mateo shook their heads.

  “They know all about the cabin. Besides, so does Maia and the less she knows the better right now,” Kalia said.

  Kalia’s answer shocked me. She was finally realizing Maia was on the wrong side and had been all along. I never thought that day would come but instead of making me feel relief like I expected it to, I felt sadness. Kalia and Aaron loved her, vowed to protect her and take care of her for the rest of eternity. Maia had changed all that. She had given them no choice though they had tried to hang onto their love and trust for her. I couldn’t imagine losing Jose Luis that way. Seeing Kalia’s disappointed eyes broke all of our hearts. It was obvious by the silence in the room and by the eyes averting hers. Aaron went to her side and wrapped an arm around her.

  “I’m ok, Aaron. I should have seen the signs way before any of this happened. I was blind to her lies and deceit because I love her. I will not allow her to hurt anyone else.” Kalia looked up at Aaron and he leaned down and kissed her forehead. He understood exactly how she felt and she knew it. “Well, I guess I’m going to go make some phone calls,” she said and took Aaron’s hand to lead him out of the room.

  “We’re going to go talk to Jose Luis and Leilani,” I said taking Christian’s hand. “Aloysius, since you know the globe better than any of us, maybe you can figure out where to send them?” I said with a smile. He smiled back and shrugged.

 
; As Christian and I walked out the kitchen door, one of the guards came our way and stopped us. “This came for Kalia and Aaron Benjamin. It was left down in the lobby,” he said and handed me a brown wrapped package about the size of a shoe box.

  “Thank you.” I turned to Christian. He shrugged.

  Kalia stood in the corner of the living room and was ending her first call when she spotted the box in my hands. Jose Luis and Leilani stared at us with curiosity.

  “What is it?” Kalia asked as Aaron also hung up his cell phone and came to stand in front of us.

  “I don’t know. It just arrived and it’s addressed to you and Aaron.” I handed her the box.

  She looked at Aaron. “Besides Beth and Pierce, who else knows we’re here?”

  “No one that I know of,” Aaron said and held his hand out to receive the package. “There is no return address on it. Actually…” He turned the box around in his hands. “There’s no postage. This box wasn’t mailed, it was personally delivered.”

  “Open it, please,” I said trying not to sound as anxious as I felt as my stomach did a few turns.

  Aaron set the package on the end table and ripped the brown paper off to reveal a plain white box. Taking the lid off the box with trembling hands, he pushed the crumpled paper used for padding aside and pulled out a small black object.

  “What is it?” Kalia asked trying to get a better look at the object as Aaron flipped it in his hand.

  “It’s Maia’s cell phone,” he said and handed it to Kalia.

  “How do you know it’s hers? It could be anybody’s,” I suggested.

  “This is her sticker,” Aaron pointed to the sticker of a butterfly she had placed in the top corner of the back of the phone. He reached into the box and pulled out all the paper. A flat red object fell to the floor. Kalia reached for it before we could stop her. Her face turned whiter than her usual pale complexion and her knees gave out as Christian grabbed her under her arms and stopped her from hitting the floor.

  “It’s Maia’s wallet, her ID.” She gripped the wallet in her clenched hand and turned to Aaron. “What does this mean? Is she…?”

  Regardless of what Maia did to us in the past, regardless of how much pain she’d caused, nobody, including me, wanted Maia dead. I realized then that, somehow, I had hope for her, hope that she would come to her senses, realize what she was doing was wrong. But now, that would never happen.

  THIRTY-NINE

  “Christian, why don’t you take Leilani on a tour of the apartment?” I suggested as Leilani stared up at us with wide eyes.

  “Good idea,” Christian said and went to stand next to her, offering her his hand. Relief washed over me when she only hesitated a moment and then took it, jumping to her feet and grabbing Jose Luis’s hand with her free one. Now that they were together again, she wasn’t letting him out of her sight even for a moment. They disappeared up the spiral stairs.

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions, Kalia,” Aaron said as he led his wife to the sofa and pulled her down with him.

  “Yeah, Aaron is right,” I said following them and sitting on the coffee table across from them. “It’s not the first time they’ve set some kind of trap for us. I’m almost positive they’re just baiting us.”

  “But they have her things,” Kalia sniffled. “How else would they have gotten them? They are either holding her or they already killed her.”

  I pulled a tissue from the box next to me and handed it to her. “Or, and I hate to say this but, she is with them willingly. She has worked with them before.”

  “I know that. Don’t you think I know what she’s been up to by now?” Kalia’s anger surprised both of us. Aaron placed his hand on hers in an attempt to calm her but it didn’t faze her. “I know she’s on the wrong side. I know how much hate she has in her heart and it’s all because of her jealousy. She’s jealous of everyone. She doesn’t seem to realize that everyone worked for what they have, even their relationships. For some reason, she thinks everything should just be handed to her.”

  “I know, Kalia. But, despite everything she’s done, I still care about her. She’s young. She has a lot to learn yet. We will get to the bottom of this. That’s a promise,” I told her, not sure if she believed me or even if I believed myself.

  She looked at me with wet eyes and a smile pulled at the corner of her lips. “I know, Lily. No matter what, I can’t stop caring about her either. We’ve been through so much together.”

  “I totally understand. After everything Ian did to me and to everyone I love, I couldn’t make myself stop caring about him either,” I explained. “After his death, it still took me a while to accept him for the monster he truly was.”

  “I know what you mean. Maia broke our hearts, quite a few times, yet we still love her,” she said looking at Aaron. She wiped her tears away again as Aloysius, Mateo, Giovanni, and Fiore walked out of the kitchen.

  “I am going upstairs to take photographs of Tomas’s family. Fiore is taking pictures of Jose Luis and Leilani. They all need passports. Are they upstairs?” Giovanni asked.

  “Yes. Christian is showing Leilani around. Where are they going?” I asked but Giovanni was already at the front door and Fiore was halfway up the stairs. I turned to Aloysius.

  “We are sending Tomas and his family to Ecuador with Margarita. That should be far enough away for them. Jose Luis and Leilani are going to Argentina with Giovanni.”

  “Is Tomas able to travel?” I asked. He had just gotten out of the hospital and I knew he was still weak and tired.

  “The doctors told Lucia he is medically out of danger. He just needs rest and he can get that in Ecuador. His memory is returning slowly and he is pretty traumatized. We are setting them up in a nice hotel,” Aloysius explained before looking at Kalia and Aaron. “Any word on your friends?”

  “Yes. Beth and Pierce will be arriving tomorrow afternoon and Riley and Raul in the evening. Riley is closing her club for a bit and her bouncers, the three vampires, are coming with them,” Aaron explained.

  “That’s great. We need all the help we can get. It’s time to end this once and for all,” I said feeling some relief for the first time in a while. I turned to Mateo. “What about you, Mateo? When are you completing the change?”

  “First of all, you can call me Matt. Mateo just doesn’t sound right coming out of your mouth,” he said with a laugh.

  “Okay then, Matt. When is it happening?”

  “We are leaving in a few minutes. Aloysius rented a room for us across town,” He looked at Fiore as she walked back into the room, camera in hand, and she smiled at him. “We thought it would be best if Leilani wasn’t around while it happens. She needs some time to rest and heal.”

  “That is probably true. I haven’t even had a chance to talk to her yet but she seems to be doing better. She seems to have accepted her brother’s choice, I hope. How long do you think this will take?” I asked looking at Fiore.

  “Considering he’s half way there already, it shouldn’t take as long as usual. We should be back by the time Beth and Pierce arrive tomorrow afternoon,” she explained. She kissed Aloysius and wrapped her arms around his neck while she looked into his eyes in silence. He smiled and nodded at her, kissing her forehead before she stepped away. Whatever passed between them, the rest of us did not hear it.

  Fiore and Matt walked out the door without another word just as Christian, Jose Luis, and Leilani reached the bottom of the staircase. “Everything okay?” Christian asked.

  “Everything is fine,” I answered and looked at Leilani who still held her brother’s hand. “Are you hungry?”

  She looked at Jose Luis. He nodded and smiled at her, reassuring her. “Yes,” she answered in English.

  I reached a hand out to her and, to my surprise, she dropped her brother’s hand and took it. “You are learning English. That is great.”

  “Cachi says you not cook good,” she said as I led her to the kitchen. Jose Luis, Christian, and Aloysius burst in
to laughter behind us.

  “Thanks, guys,” I said to them and as I entered the kitchen with Leilani. “I can use a microwave with no problem. Carmela, the housekeeper, left some food in the freezer. I can heat something up for you.”

  Opening the freezer while Leilani stood at my side, I pulled a few containers out. “What looks good to you?”

  Leilani took a container out of my hands, lifting the corner of the cover to inspect its contents. She did the same with the other two containers before handing one back to me. “This is my favorite.”

  “That one it is then,” I placed the others back in the freezer and put her choice into the microwave, setting the timer for four minutes. “Let’s sit down.”

  She pulled a chair from the table and sat down, her feet dangling just above the floor. Her sneakers looked too small and were ripped and stained at the heels and toes. Upon closer inspection, her clothing didn’t look much better.

  “We need to take you shopping,” I suggested as the microwave hummed behind us.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Because you need some things. Your sneakers look a little worn, and too small. Is that Scotch tape? Never mind… You need shirts, pants, pajamas, things like that,” I explained. The microwave beeped and I got up to check the temperature. Half of the container was still cold so I stirred the contents and put it back in, setting the timer again, before sitting back at the table.

  “No,” she said. “I mean, why do you care about me? Why are you doing this for my brother and me? We don’t live with you.”

  So Jose Luis had not gotten that far in his explanation to his sister. She had no idea Jose Luis was with us permanently. Stalling a bit, I stopped the microwave and took her meal out. I grabbed a fork from the drawer and handed her the container. I then pulled a bottle of milk out of the refrigerator and poured her a glass. She sat and stared at me, not touching her food, and waiting for an answer.

  “I know your mother and father passed away years ago. I also know you have been living with those…people…since you and Jose Luis were separated. Jose Luis does not want to go back with them. He was not happy there, and I think you feel the same,” I stopped to give her a chance to answer. Instead, she took a forkful and blew it before placing it in her mouth. “Jose Luis wants to stay with us and we want the same thing. He is family now and we would like you to be family, too.”