"There are what?" shrieked Tori from one of the other motel rooms. I sat bolt upright in bed, and Derek was already walking out the door. Kayla stirred, but didn't wake up. I smiled at her then followed Derek out the door.
"Simon are you sure?" asked Kit seriously.
"What kind of joke would I be playing if I am kidding- which I'm not." Simon snapped. Tori gasped, her breath coming quickly.
"What the hell is going on?" I said loudly, stopping the arguing throughout the room. Simon looked nervously from me to Kit. Kit nodded, as if telling him I have to know.
"T-there are Vampires here, Chloe." Simon whispered quietly. My heart stopped. Vampires? From what I learned in movies and books, Vampire's are blood sucking, ice cold, pale monsters. Men, women, and children even are capable of draining a body of every last drop of blood. When I was still in high school, and someone had told me there were Vampires I would have laughed in their face. But now I'm standing in a room with two Sorcerers, one Werewolf, and one Witch. Not to mention I have an adopted nine year old daughter who's a Necromancer.
"Where is this Vampire?" I asked coldly. Simon looked at his feet.
"It's not just one… there's a clan here, close to this motel." Simon said, barely audible. The world stopped. There was a Vampire clan near this motel? I blood started to boil. I turned towards Kit and Aunt Lauren.
"Why wouldn't you tell us there were Vampires? I'm sure the Edison group had dealt with a few. I mean they even studied Werewolves!" I gestured towards Derek. Kit shook his head.
"Chloe I have only dealt with one or two-" I cut him off nastily.
"THEN WHY WOULDN'T YOU WARN US? IF YOU HAD ANY IDEA THEY EVEN EXISTED, HOW COME I DON'T KNOW? WHY DOESN'T SIMON KNOW? DEREK? TORI?" I screamed in his face. He just look at me with tired eyes.
"Chloe I swear, if I thought they had been a danger I would've told you-" God, I didn't have time for this crap.
"So you don't think blood sucking monsters, are a danger? I spat angrily. Kit just rubbed his head, and shook his head in regret.
"Simon, how did you find out about the Vampires?" I asked. He turned around and grabbed something off the table. A newspaper. I grabbed it and looked at the cover story. My heart sank.
Police officials have been investigating a horrifying murder that occurred at a local family's home late last night. A well known husband and wife, and their three children under the age of ten, were killed brutally in the hours of the night. The Morning Sun newest reporter, Kathy Williams, got interesting details about the case from head police chief, Rocco Mendez.
"This was one of the saddest cases I've dealt with in a long time. The husband and wife were found in their bedroom with bites and tears all over their bodies. Same went for the children. The scariest part was, the bodies had been drained of blood. Not a drop left. There is a bloody message that was written on the wall, with what we think is the victims' blood. It read: "We aren't finished yet…."
To continue this story, turn to page 8.
My stomach turned. These weren't scared, timid, let's be careful Vampires. They were blood thirsty. And they were here. Near, the motel. Near, my baby. The Vampires last night weren't afraid to kill children. They had no fucking soul. I threw the newspaper down making everyone jump.
"Why the hell did the Edison Group stop studying them? Why were they mysteriously forgotten? Left to kill whoever the fucking wanted to!" I screamed. No one answered.
"LOOK AT WHAT THESE BEASTS HAVE DONE. KILLED AN ENTIRE FAMILY. A HUSBAND AND WIFE WHO HAD BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF TEN!" I exploded. Kit took a deep breath.
"We had to stop studying them they were killing our staff." Kit said quietly. I turned to him.
"So because your little colleagues got what they deserved by testing them, poking them with your needles and tools, you just let them go? Why the fuck wouldn't you just kill them right there? Look at what they have done, because you just let them go and forgot about them." I said through gritted teeth. No one spoke. I grabbed the vans keys off of the rickety bedside table. I would walk through Hell's fire if it meant saving Kayla. I wasn't about to let some piece of scum come and rip my daughters throat out.
"I'm leaving." I stated. As I walked by Aunt Lauren to get through the door, she slipped her back card in my back pocket.
"I love you." I whispered as she hugged me. As I walked through the door I saw a crappy calendar hanging beside the mini fridge. Great. It's my birthday. I walked into the hotel room where Kayla was. She was watching cartoons again, and her eyes were wide when I walked in. I began packing what we had between the two of us. A few outfits, toothbrushes….
"Kayla where's Cody?" I hadn't seen a lot of her puppy lately- he was to busy sleeping. Kayla rolled off the bed and looked underneath it.
"Cody's sleeping like a baby." She giggled at her comment. I smiled, despite what we were about to do. Then I reached underneath the bed where Cody was and brought him out. Then I wrapped him in a blanket I had found in one of the old dressers, and put him in Kayla's backpack. Kayla turned off the television, and came towards me.
"Mommy what are you doing?" she asked, watching me pack away some towels.
"We're moving, sweetie. Away. We're going to get our own little house." I hadn't thought about where we were going to go. All I knew is that we're not staying at this place anymore. She nodded then went to put her shoes on. Derek walked through the door and relief flooded me.
"Thank you for coming with us Derek." I sighed happily. I knew he would. He accepted Kayla was a part of me now, a part of us. He didn't say anything. I looked up. His face was hard.
"I'm not coming with you." He said. My jaw dropped.
"Wha-what? Why?" I gasped, running my fingers through my hair.
"I'm not coming to live like a little happy family. We aren't normal and never will be. You're only fifteen, you can't be a mother!" He yelled in my face.
"I turned 16 today actually." My voice rising.
"Chloe what happened to you? You used to always kiss me, be happy, and now that she's come along you never want to do anything with me! You love her more than me! You found her 2 days ago for God's sake and she's already calling you Mommy! There's no way in hell I'm going to be a father to her!" He barked. Kayla burst into tears, hiding behind me. My inside's turned into fire.
"You inconsiderate bastard!" I shrieked, slapping him as hard as I could. His cheek became splotchy red. I grabbed Kayla's backpack and the one suitcase I packed.
"I'm glad I didn't have sex with a dog." I hissed, slamming the door behind me. I held Kayla's hand as we went down the fire escape. She was still crying.
"Kayla, never mind him. Don't think about what he said it's not true. Except the part about how I love you more than him." I squeezed her hand, and her sniffling quieted. As we neared the van, I heard footsteps behind me. I sighed in relief. It was Tori- with her duffel bag packed tight. I smiled at her and gave her a quick hug.
"You're Aunt Lauren told me to tell you she had to stay to help Kit with Derek and Simon." Tori said. I nodded. Tori helped Kayla into the car, as I packed up our belongings in the trunk. As I climbed into the drivers seat and turned on the engine. Tori was already in the passenger seat. I pulled out Aunt Lauren's bank card and put it in the glove box. I swerved out of the parking lot, saying goodbye to what I thought I'd have forever. Luckily, Tori started to discuss dolls and teacups with Kayla. It gave me time to think. With Aunt Lauren's bank card, and my extra cash I had taken from the bank, it would be more than enough to get a decent apartment. Plus I knew Kit and Aunt Lauren would come to check on us and make sure where we live is adequate. The first thing I wanted to do was find an apartment. About 45 minutes have passed, an I was started to see proof that we were heading into a big town. Perfect.
"Okay guys can you help me look for red signs that say FOR RENT?" I asked. Tori and Kayla nodded, then turned to look out the window. After about 10 minutes, Tori piped up that she saw one. We pulled into a parking lot, which had a pretty shabby outside look to it. Tori hopped out of the car and jogged to the entrance. She came back only moments later, with a look of disgust on her face making me laugh.
"Ugh, that was so unsanitary!" She squeaked, making Kayla burst into a fit of giggles. We pulled out of the parking lot, the three of us laughing now. After a couple of minutes Kayla screamed that she saw a FOR RENT sign. I looked to where she was pointing, and saw not an apartment building, but an amazing little cottage type house. It was made of brick with a nice black shingled roof. The garden was kept beautifully, with a perfectly paved walkway towards the front door. I pulled into the newly paved driveway, noticing a perfect sized garage for the van. I unbuckled Kayla's rusty belt buckle, and held her hand as we walked towards the front door, Tori on my other side. I looked at the FOR RENT sign in the front window and my heart leaped. It was under the budget I had set in my mind. Tori rang the doorbell. A petite old woman grinned at us as she opened the front door.
"My name is Sylvia. Thank you so much for coming. I didn't want to leave the house unattended until the right people came to get it." She said in a sweet voice. Tori nodded and smiled. The house was completely empty, ready to move in. I knew where we could get furniture; Aunt Lauren's old house. After we discussed the price and other home buying conversations, we went on a tour. It had a cozy living room, spacious kitchen, a good sized office we could use for a den/computer room, 3 small bedrooms for the each of us, and two bathrooms one with a shower. The last room we looked at was perfect for a playroom for Kayla. Tori and I discussed what we thought about the house and almost instantly agreed this was going to be our new home. Kayla loved it, and was walking around debating on where to position her bed. Tori and I did all of the paperwork, and agreed that we would pay Sylvia directly by check. I remember I had seen a checkbook with Aunt Lauren's name on it. As I handed the freshly written check to Sylvia, she grabbed her purse, gave us the key and headed out. I found a phonebook that was left in one of the kitchen cupboards. I dialed a moving van company and told them to meet us at Aunt Lauren's house tomorrow afternoon. It was only noon, and they had already found an amazing place to live. I told Tori and Kayla I had to run to a furniture store to get things Aunt Lauren didn't have like three beds, three other dresser's, groceries, children's toys, and clothes for three girls. In the end we all left together checking items off the list as we bought them. We rented a trailer that we could hook up to the back of the van. I was surprised nobody had asked us our age. The finest part was shopping for clothes and shoes of course, and Kayla had Tori and I laughing into hysterics when she tried to wear high heels and be a super star. When we finally got home and unpacked everything, we began making this home our home. I folded Kayla's new clothes and put them in her dresser, hanging other clothes and shoes in her closet. Thankfully, the furniture store had a sale where if you bought a bed, you get free pillows, sheets, pillowcases, and comforters. Kayla chose a flower theme, and I made her bed carefully. Next I hung up her matching flower curtains up on the window, and then pulled them closed. It was past midnight already. I turned on the lamp, on her bedside table, and called Kayla into her room. She was in sparkly PJs, and had little bunny slippers on. She gasped when she saw her room.
"Thanks Mommy!" Kayla cried hugging me tightly.
"You welcome." I smiled back and tucked her into bed.
"Love you sweetie." I whispered.
"Love you too." She whispered, letting me kiss her forehead. Kayla rolled over and her breathing slowed. She was fast asleep. I turned off her bedside lamp, and turned on her princess nightlight. Then I tiptoed out of the room. Tori was asleep on the futon in the office. I smiled and closed the door. I walked into the kitchen and began unpacking dishes. I was incredibly happy, we had gotten this house. Glad I was away from Derek….