Elliott

by I D Johnson

  “I lock it every night when I go to bed.” That was the truth. Since his mother had told him about the possibility of Vampires living nearby, he’d been securing the house much better than he ever had before.

  She didn’t seem to think that was accurate either. “You are seriously frightening me, Elliott.” She walked over to the floor by the door and picked up her purse. Moving to the sofa, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes and her lighter, her hands shaking.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” he said, sitting down in a chair across the room. He knew she wouldn’t want him anywhere near her right now. “I’ll go get some particle board from the garage and mend the window for the night and get it replaced tomorrow. I’ll also clean up the glass and the… dirt.”

  “How are you going to do that without waking the boys?” she asked, blowing out a plume of smoke.

  “Carefully.” He had no other response. Clearly, he couldn’t use the vacuum sweeper tonight.

  She shook her head. “I was just coming home to change my outfit so Linda and I could go to the movies. It’s not even 9:00 yet. There’s no way I’m leaving this house again now, though, not tonight.”

  Elliott actually thought that was for the better. If there were more Vampires out there, and they were targeting him for some reason, it probably was best if Nancy stayed here where he could keep her safe. He knew he needed to call his mom soon and let her know what happened, but that would be hard with Nancy home. He had no idea what she and Linda usually did out until midnight or later on nights like these, but he had been surprised to see Nancy come back so quickly as well. Why she needed to change, he had no idea. She looked lovely as always, even if she was wearing slacks and flats instead of a dress and heels. Maybe that’s what the problem was. Maybe she wanted to look dressier to go to the cinema.

  She finished her cigarette and headed to the kitchen to pick up the phone. He wasn’t trying to listen, but the house seemed eerily silent, only the sound of the wind coming through the broken window every once in a while, flapping the curtains, broke the silence. “Hi. Something’s come up, and I’m not going to be able to go.” Nancy’s voice was quiet and more serious then he’d ever heard her speak on the phone to Linda before, which made sense considering she was clearly upset by the situation.

  “No. No, I told you, I’m sorry, but I can’t go. He isn’t… I can’t. Not tonight. Okay? Look, I can’t talk about it now. He’s…. Yes. Okay. Bye.”

  Something about the conversation seemed off to him. He tried to imagine what it might be Linda was insisting upon on the other end of the wire, but none of what he would’ve expected Nancy’s friend to say made sense with her responses. If he had to make up a conversation where a friend was telling another friend she couldn’t go to the movies, the reply he would’ve expected would’ve been along the lines of, “Oh, okay. Maybe some other time.” But that didn’t go with Nancy’s half of the discussion at all.

  “I thought you were going to clean this up!” Her tone was accusatory, and Elliott realized he’d been spending too much time analyzing the phone call for his own good.

  “I am,” he said, pulling himself up out of the chair. His legs were sore; he imagined leaping fences would do that. He started to head to the garage, but a thought entered his head. “Say, what movie were you two gals going to see anyhow?”

  Nancy had been fishing another cigarette out of her bag. “What do you care?”

  “I don’t know. I just wondered, that’s all.”

  “Uh, North by Northwest,” she replied, flipping open her lighter.

  “Oh, yeah. That looks like a good one.” He pulled the front door open and stepped outside.

  “Elliott,” Nancy called. He turned to look at her, eyebrows raised. “You can sleep on the sofa tonight. I don’t want someone who carries around a butcher knife sleeping in my bed.”

  He stared at her for a minute, watching her puff on her cigarette, and things began to click into place. “’Kay,” he said, heading to the garage for the board. Something told him, if he checked the newspaper after Nancy went to bed, he wouldn’t find a 9:00 showing of North by Northwest. If he headed over to Linda Smoot’s house, he’d probably see her in her pajamas, watching television or reading a book. Nancy hadn’t been at Linda’s, and she wasn’t going to watch a movie. The only question was, who was the fellow she’d been driving around in his car, and how long had this been going on?

  A few hours later, he lay on his back, couch springs poking into his spine, his long legs hanging off the end, a thin blanket covering him as he stared up at the ceiling. It should’ve come as no surprise that Nancy would go looking someplace else for romance. She had never loved him, and if he was honest, he’d never loved her either. They’d tried to force themselves into this marriage on the premise that having a child meant they should be together, but he realized now that was never a good idea. Of course, if they hadn’t married, Michael wouldn’t be here, and he couldn’t imagine his life without the little boy who brighten his every day. His sons were everything to him, so they were worth whatever torture Nancy put him through. But… any idea that he might be able to salvage some sort of romantic relationship with his wife was gone.

  He drifted off, thoughts of what he’d seen that night mingling with the realization that it was just a matter of time before his marriage completely crumbled, causing dreams of Nancy as a Vampire and a small amount of satisfaction that he’d ran a stake through her heart. A noise awoke him, and he opened his eyes to see a figure sitting in the chair across the room. Leaping up, Elliott took a defensive stance before he realized his eyesight was suddenly much better in the dark than he could remember it being before, and the woman sitting in the chair was familiar to him.

  It had been eight years since he’d last seen Janette Findley, but she looked exactly the same. She was dressed entirely in black from head to toe, her outfit similar to the one his mother had been wearing in some of the pictures from the photo album. Elliott relaxed a little bit, glad to see it was her and not another Vampire. He swiped his hand across his face as she stood and walked to the door. Of course, he followed, even though he was wearing his pajamas and no shoes.

  The spring air was a bit chilly, though Elliott didn’t notice it as he’d expected to, not even on his bare feet. She dropped to take a seat on the top step, and he sat down next to her, neither of them speaking for a moment. He had a million questions, and he hoped she had at least a million answers, but he was content to let her speak first.

  “Well, how do you feel?” she asked after at least five minutes of nothing.

  “Shitty,” was his initial response, and she turned her head to look at him. “I mean—my wife thinks I was going to stab my kids with a knife. Some mythological creature just tried to obliterate my family, and I have to buy a new window.”

  Janette began to chuckle, and he decided the last part was a little humorous. “I wouldn’t say Vampires are mythological, per se,” was her answer. “I know it’s a lot to take in. But how do you feel physically? Any pain?”

  “Physically?” he repeated. “No, I feel fine. I mean, my legs are a little sore. But I did leap over Mrs. Cooper’s fence a couple of times. And I didn’t know I could kick like that.”

  She laughed again. “You can do all sorts of things now you’re not used to.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean? I didn’t go through your ridiculous Transformation process, Mrs. Findley. I just protected what was mine.”

  She looked at him for a moment, her lips drawn into a thin line. “Oh, Elliott,” she finally said. “I know Peggy attempted to explain things to you last year, and you didn’t quite believe her. That’s okay. But, honey, I’m afraid you activated tonight. And now that it’s begun, well, there isn’t much we can do to stop it, only speed it along, if you want.”

  It was his turn to stare. “Can’t stop it? Janette, what are you talking about? Are you saying—because I killed those stupid bloodsuckers now I’m one of you crazy Guar
dian people?”

  “Well, technically, I’m a Hunter, but yes, dear. You are. Or you will be. Soon.”

  He shook his head. “Nope, nope, nope.” Elliott clambered to his feet, but she grabbed ahold of his arm and pulled him back down with enough force to get his attention. “Damn. You’re a lot stronger than you look.”

  “I know I am. And you will be, too. You’ve got to learn to control that. And your speed. You’ll need to explain things to Nancy. And then… when you’re ready, we’d love for you to come to Kansas City to work with us, Elliott. Jordan and I have discussed it, and we think you’d make a fabulous addition to our team. Not everyone is invited to work at headquarters, but you, you’re special.”

  “Me? Hell yeah, I’m special. The kind of special that lands you in a padded room wearing a tightly fitted white jacket. Are you shitting me? I mean, pardon my French, but no thank you. I don’t want to be part of your Vampire hunting team, ma’am. I don’t want to be a part of any of this.”

  Janette stared at him in disbelief for a long moment, clearly stunned. “Elliott, you just destroyed three Vampires in a couple of minutes that have been stalking the forests in this area for decades. We’ve had some of our best team members trying to hunt these bastards down off and on for years, and no one has gotten close. You ended them in less than five minutes.”

  “Yeah, but they came looking for me for some damn reason. I didn’t have to go looking for them, Janette. Why the hell did they show up here?”

  She sighed and looked down at the sidewalk leading away from the house for a moment “I told you, you’re special. Sometimes, they decide it’s better to get rid of people like you before the change starts. They probably intended to put your kids in a dangerous situation to make you act desperately and find a way to destroy you before the Transformation process began. It seems to me that your DNA kicked in pretty quickly, young man, and they never had a chance.”

  “What? DNA—what?” Elliott asked, dumbfounded.

  “Oh, DNA—deoxyribonucleic acid. It’s a substance in your body that has genetic coding written in it. It determines things like eye color, height, weight, and in our case, what sort of Hunter or Guardian we might be.”

  Having very little idea what she was talking about, Elliott merely shook his head. “I’ll take your word for it. All I know is, I don’t want any friends of those bastards showing back up here at my house. And I sure the hell am not going to tell Nancy what happened.”

  “Well, chances are they will leave you alone, now that they know what you are, and that it’s too late. But… you do need to speak to your wife. And, I really wish you’d reconsider my offer. We have an exceptional team of talented individuals who work with us. I can see you getting along quite well with them. You have a gift none of the rest of our personnel can currently offer. I’d like to hone it. I’m sure if we got you into training with some of our staff….”

  “What is this gift you keep talking about? You mean my lucky kung fu kicks or the fact that I jumped over that low, roughshod fence over there?”

  She chuckled. “No, neither of those things. I mean your ability to convince others that anything you say is the truth. You’ve always had that skill. I’ve seen the way your eyes glitter when you’re using it. I’m sure you’ve noticed it before. But now that you’ve Transformed, I’m certain you’ll be able to convince just about anyone of just about anything. It’s really quite fascinating, and while I’ve seen other people with the ability, no one I’ve ever met has had this skill to the degree you do.”

  Elliott looked into her eyes for a long moment, thinking, before he said, “So you’re saying I’m a damn good bullshit artist?”

  “Well, when you put it like that…” Janette laughed. “But yes. It would come in quite nicely when we need to convince the public that they did not see what they think they just saw. We call that ‘running interference.’ I can only imagine how much more important our ability to do that efficiently is going to become with the invention of television and other technology.”

  A multitude of ideas popped into his head for how he might be able to use such a skill, particularly since he had been using it all along. But if Janette said it was even stronger now, he imagined he’d be able to accomplish so much more in the used car business. Possibly in other areas, too. The opportunities seemed endless. Elliott thought for a moment before turning back to her. “Janette, I appreciate everything you did to move Jimmy and I out of the situation we were in before with our mom, but… I’m afraid I’m just not ready to move my family to Kansas City to join your team of wizards.”

  She must’ve picked up on his resolve because her face fell. “What about here? You could stay here and work this area.”

  He was shaking his head before she even finished the question. “I just want to take care of my kids and try to salvage my marriage. In a few years, Jimmy will be more than happy to run off with you guys and join your circus. He’s your man, not me.”

  “Jimmy is a wonderful boy and sure to be very talented,” Janette nodded. “But he does not have the skill set you do. You see, Jimmy has a different father than you, remember? While you are a descendent of a Guardian on your mother’s side, you also have some Hunter blood on your father’s. I think that’s one of the reasons you have the skills you do. It’s diluted and hasn’t been activated in centuries, but it’s there nonetheless.”

  While her whole statement was noted, it was only the part about his father he cared about. “You know my father?” Elliott had never even seen the man, as far as he knew. All he knew was his name.

  “No, but I know of him.” Janette’s voice slowed, and her tone shifted to one of sympathy, as if she imagined it would be hard for him to hear what she was about to say. “I know that he was a truck driver your mother met one night when she was looking for a little money to pay her bills and buy another bottle of booze. As far as I know, Michael Sanderson didn’t even know you existed until you were three or four, and then after that, he decided it was too late to try to get to know you. He died a few years back in a truck accident in Arkansas.”

  The news was disturbing. He’d always suspected his mom was making a little cash off of the men she dragged into the house, but he didn’t know for sure. To find out his dad was just a john and that he was dead now was a thought he’d have to save away for later. He didn’t dare ask how Arlene was doing right now for fear Janette knew the answer, and he’d had enough revelation for one night.

  “Jimmy’s a good kid,” Elliott muttered. “He’ll be great at whatever you need him to do. But I… not today.”

  Janette waited a few seconds before slapping her hands down on her thighs. “Well, if that’s the way you feel, then I guess I’ll have to accept that. Should you change your mind, you know how to get in touch with me.”

  “I do.”

  She rose, and Elliott did the same. “You know, Jordan’s gonna be angry at me. He wanted to come, but I insisted on doing this myself, thinking I’d be the one you’d listen to. I guess I should’ve let him try.”

  “Wouldn’t have made a hill of beans’ worth of difference,” Elliott assured her. “How’d you get here anyway?”

  “Oh, my bike’s around the corner. I didn’t want to wake up your kids.”

  He nodded. “Take care, Ms. Janette.”

  “You, too.” She offered her hand, and he took it.

  Janette headed off down the street, stopping to look back at him briefly before shooting off in a blur. Elliott hoped that was the last time he’d ever see the woman in black.

  Chapter 10

  Norman, Oklahoma, 1960

  “Four tickets to Vegas,” Elliott mumbled, a smile on his face as he slipped the envelope into his pocket. Another trip for the family, and this one should be even better than the last one since it included airfare. Taking the kids to Florida by car last spring had been torture. Still, he wasn’t going to complain about winning another salesman award. Now that he knew how to use his special talents,
his sales were off the charts, and his boss, Mr. Anderson, was considering opening up a brand new dealership in Oklahoma City where there promised to be an even larger market. Elliott would be his head salesman. While Nancy was adamantly against any move at all, Elliott thought this new trip might be enough to change her mind.

  Life hadn’t been altered too much since he’d killed the intruders in his house the year before. He preferred to think of them in that light, not as Vampires, since the whole story still seemed absolutely ridiculous to him. He was faster and stronger, but he’d managed to find ways to keep that part of his Transformation hidden from view. The only thing he ever used was his power of persuasion, which worked on just about everyone—except for Nancy. She could see through his bullshit 99 percent of the time, and the other one percent he thought maybe she actually did want to sleep with him anyhow.

  Janette’s people popped into his life a few times, nonchalantly, mostly just feeling him out, and he always dismissed them immediately. He was resolute in his decision not to join any team of crime fighters. His boys were getting older now, though they were still young, and he wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. It didn’t help that when Nancy got upset, she screamed that she’d caught him standing over his sons’ beds with a knife, and he wondered how long it might be before his children started to believe that story. If she ever left, he was certain she’d take Wally and Michael with her, and that was the last thing in the world he wanted, so he toed the line and did whatever she wanted, keeping the fact that she was obviously having an affair off of his radar so he didn’t have to think about it while he was completely loyal to a wife who seemed to detest him.

  The train whistle blew, and he checked the time. Every afternoon, the train passed through town about the time he was supposed to go home, and sure enough, it was almost 5:30. His mom had invited them over for dinner since she didn’t get to see the boys too much now that Nancy was hostile to his entire family, and he’d decided he’d drive them over while Nancy went to play cards with friends—or screw her boyfriend, whichever it really was. It would give him a chance to check in with Jimmy as well. He’d been concerned about his little brother since he discovered Elliott had Transformed, and Jimmy still wasn’t old enough to do so. He’d been acting strange, and their mom was more than a little concerned that he was being reckless, out searching for Vampires on his bicycle instead of doing the things normal teenage boys did. He had no friends, no interest in finding a job and buying a car, and the only time he ever left his room was to ride off down to the woods by the creek and do who knows what.