Chapter Nine:
Six months later
"Is this seat taken?"
Mackenzie blinked as she gazed up from her book, in her own little world. She found an elderly woman with a purse half her size smiling warmly down at her while motioning to the empty seat to her left.
"No, go head." Mackenzie returned the smile, shifting her bag over and returning back to the pages of her latest novel. She had discovered it in a second hand bookstore near school and hadn't been able to resist. She never could resist every and any vampire novel she could get her hands on. She just found them fascinating, considering she lived with real life vampires. It was amusing, to say the least, to see where people got it wrong.
Oh and they certainly got it wrong.
She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips, rolling her eyes at how ridiculous some of the literature myths were.
"A good read?" the elderly woman wondered kindly.
Mackenzie's cheeks flushed, remembering she wasn't tucked safely in her dorm room or the library, and instead was sitting in the middle of a very busy airport. "Very."
The woman reminded Mackenzie of what a grandmother would have been like, very warm and kind. Not that she had her own grandmother, but she had seen plenty of her friends and their grandparents. It used to put her down, to see the family dynamics of the other children as a kid, but as she really truly thought about it, she wouldn't trade her family for the world.
Even if they were vampires.
"Oh my, I wonder what's going on there?" the woman mused curiously.
With a raised eyebrow, Mackenzie glanced over to where the woman was gazing and was surprised to find growing crowds around the mounted flat screen TV's littering the terminal walls. She couldn't tell what was being shown, the crowd just too dense, but she had a sinking feeling it couldn't have been good.
"Go on, sweetheart." The woman sensed Mackenzie's curiosity and waved her towards one of the TV's. "Go on and see what the big commotion is, I'll watch your things."
She shouldn't have just left her things with a stranger, especially in an airport of all places, but this was a little old woman who looked like she could barely hurt a fly. Shooting the woman an appreciative grin, Mackenzie folded the page corner and set it down before pushing herself out of her seat. Hearing a collective gasp and whispers, she hurried her pace, having to push through one of the throngs of people as politely as she could just to catch a glimpse of what was going on.
And when she did, she was at a loss for words.
"My name is Nan Flanagan, and I am a vampire."
"Bogus!" a teenaged boy with tattoos littering his body rolled his eyes.
"That's ridiculous."
"They only exist in movies."
"What is this, Twilight?"
"Is Harry Potter going to be real next?"
Disbelief was the general consensus amongst the travellers, most not believing the telecast for a minute, despite the Breaking News report. Others around Mackenzie whispered their suspicions and conspiracies, while there were a few just as silently surprised as Mackenzie was.
How could this be, Mackenzie thought to herself.
She couldn't think straight.
She couldn't move a muscle. She couldn't even blink. She was just frozen in time, staring at the news report as a blonde haired woman let her fangs drop to the entire world watching. Gasps grew louder, a few whimpers and screams sounding as well.
Her thoughts were swirling as she felt herself being pushed to the side, others trying to get a good look at the supposed vampire revealing an entire race to the world. She had never imagined vampires to ever reveal themselves. She may have only known of their existence for three years, but she already knew they were a very secretive race. It's how they had survived for so long, living in the shadows, taking only what they needed. So why would they suddenly out themselves to the entire world? To the judgmental human race?
And why now?
"What the…" Mackenzie lost her balance as someone shoved passed her hard, nearly tumbling to the ground. Thankfully someone kindly steadied her before she was thrown back into what was slowly progressing into a riot.
"They're abominations!"
"Monsters!"
"This can't be real!"
Mackenzie's heart started to race as she safely pushed her way out of the chaos, only to find hoards more coming straight towards her. Even the kind, elderly woman was standing with a frown on her face. She tried her best to ignore it all as she grabbed her things and moved as far away from all the ruckus as she could. Finding a corner someone had abandoned, she dug out her phone and quickly called the familiar number.
"Where are you?" Eric's voice rang in her ear, not even a hello in greeting.
"Eric what the hell is going on?" She risked a glance back over at all the televisions, shouts growing louder the more people started to panic over this new revelation.
"Where are you?" he growled lowly.
"I'm at the airport." She wrapped her arms around herself.
She didn't know what to feel. Elated that finally, the secret she had been keeping for the past three and a half years was finally out in the open? Or terrified because she knew this wasn't going to go over well. She knew humans well, being a human herself, and change was the hardest thing to accept. Mackenzie knew that personally. But this just wasn't a change of address; this was so much bigger than that. Vampires were just supposed to be a work of fiction, something we went to the movies to see. They weren't supposed to be real. Blood sucking monsters weren't supposed to be real.
"Eric, what's going on? Why is this happening? I don't understand…"
"I need you to get out of there. Go to a hotel or somewhere safe. Just get the hell out of a public place" he ordered.
Mackenzie frowned. "But my plane is supposed to take off in half an hour."
"You're not getting on that plane, Mackenzie."
"Why not? I'm coming home." She insisted, her stomach dropping. She had a sinking feeling all her fears were about to come true. "Eric, I'm coming home. You promised me…"
"I know what I promised." He hissed. "It isn't safe. Go to a hotel. You have my credit card. Charge it to the account. We'll figure something out once everything calms down. Just do not get on that plane."
"But you promised!" She didn't even bother to keep her voice down. Everyone was so focused on the newscast that they barely sent her a second glance. "Eric you can't just break your promise. You said if I went to this school that I could come home on holidays. Well surprise, it's friggin summer!"
"You can't come home right now, I'm sorry. This is the way it has to be."
Mackenzie grit her teeth as she fell into the nearest chair. She couldn't believe this was happening. Forget about the fact that vampires had just revealed themselves to the entire god damn world. This was all of her fears, all of her worries and concerns crashing down around her. She knew in hear heart, in her bones, that the moment she left Louisiana, she was never going to return. The moment she was out of his hair, Eric was going to do everything possible to keep her from coming home, to make sure she wasn't a part of his life any longer. He had to endure ten years of dealing with her, why would a thousand year old vampire want to waste any longer?
"Please Eric?" she fought with the tears threatening to spill. "Please let me come home. You promised me."
"You have a friend in New York, don't you? Go spend the summer with them."
"But you said…"
"It's too dangerous!" He cut her off. "This is for your own well being, Mackenzie. Louisiana has been a hot spot for vampires long before this day ever came. It's also the home of very idiotic redneck humans that won't hesitate to try and start a war over this. I can't have you here in the middle. Once it calms down…"
"But it won't matter, will it?" Mackenzie sniffed, her hands curling into fists. Why did everyone always leave her in the end? She thought Eric would always be there for her. He may have swayed in the past, but he always came back for her. And then Godric left, and he and Pam were all she had left.
But they too, were abandoning her.
She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.
She just wanted a family.
Her family.
Eric sighed, and she could imagine the vampire rubbing the bridge of his nose like he always did when he was frustrated. Usually with her. "Mackenzie, I'm sorry, I am. I know what I promised. But I didn't think this day would come so soon, at least not in your lifetime. But this is happening, and I can't do anything to stop it. I can, however, make sure you're safe and far away from all of this."
"Do you really think New York is going to be any safer?" Mackenzie pointed out. "It's New York!"
"The north has been far more progressive than the South has ever been. You're safer there. If anyone were to know you're relation to me, you'd be a target. And I will not let that happen. This is for your safety. You can hate me all you want. You can yell and scream, but damn it Mackenzie, I'm doing all of this for you. I've always been doing all of this for you."
She didn't know what to say. She didn't trust herself to speak. She was too emotional. Her thoughts were swirling, the wheels in her head spinning a mile a minute. Everything was just happening so fast. Vampires were revealing themselves to human, and her nightmares were becoming a reality. She couldn't handle this. She just couldn't. She was only fifteen. Life wasn't supposed to be this complicated. All she wanted was to curl up in her own bed with her family surrounding her. But she couldn't even have that.
"Just get out of there, Mackenzie. If it's anything how I predict the reaction is, you do not want to stick around." She could have sworn he almost sounded as if he were begging. "Please, Mackenzie. Just go to a hotel, go to a friends house, I don't even care. Just get out of there and get to a safe place."
Mackenzie gazed across the gate to where the panic level had rose significantly. Security guards and personnel were trying to calm everyone down, but it wasn't working. She couldn't exactly blame them, remembering her own reaction when her family had revealed their true selves. They were just scared, and rightfully so. Maybe Eric and Godric and Pam were some of the good ones, but there were thousands, if not millions of vampires out there. They weren't all the type to raise a human child. Humans had a reason to be afraid.
"Please Mackenzie."
Sighing, she knew at least in part, Eric was right. She couldn't stay there. Maybe she could get on her plane safely, but who was to say there wouldn't be a panic oriented riot in the air? She was safer away from large populated areas.
"Mackenzie?"
"I'm leaving." She muttered, grabbing her bag and searching for the easiest way out of the terminal.
Eric sighed in relief on the other end. "Thank you."
"This conversation isn't over." She grumbled. "You made me a promise, Eric."
"We'll figure it out."
"You've told me that before. It's starting to feel like one massive lie." She replied honestly, quickly crossing through the terminal, avoiding the growing groups of panic attacks.
Mackenzie didn't bother to wait for a response as she hung up on Eric. She knew he wouldn't like that, and he even tried to call her back. But she simply pressed ignored and instead called a new number, her heart weighing heavily in her chest.
"Why hello Bestie! Are you in the air yet?" a cheerful sing song voice greeted her.
"Change of plans. You haven't left for Wisconsin yet, have you?"
"Leaving in the early AM, why?"
Mackenzie put her on hold as she discovered an exit, pushing throw a pair of glass doors and into the humid Northern night.
"Mack?"
"Is your offer still available?"
"Always, bestie. But what's up, Mack? What happened? I thought you were going home?" Her friends questioned in concern.
"Looks like I'm going to Wisconsin instead."
"How did she take it?" Pam sat across from Eric, her legs crossed as her calculating gaze pierced right through her maker.
"How do you think she took it?" Eric sighed, running a hand down his exhausted face, and it was only an hour after sunset.
"Terrible, then." She assumed, flicking her long locks over her shoulder. "You can't keep doing this to her, Eric."
"It's not safe for her here, you and I both know that." Eric defended his decision. He hated disappointing Mackenzie. He hated it even more than he knew she was heartbroken once again, and it was all his doing. But this was not the time to let his emotions get the best of him. He needed to protect her, and keeping her as far away as possible was the only way to do so.
"This is only going to fuel her family's fire, you know that right? They knew it's always been vampires. They're going to go on a crusade against them in a heartbeat now that we're 'out of the coffin'." Pam frowned. "Who's fucked up decision was this, anyways?"
"The Authority."
"They're a bunch of idiots." Pam rolled her eyes. "Don't they realize it's going to be an all out war in only a matter of days?"
"They're young and ignorant. They haven't been around as long as some of us have and yet think they know what's best for us." Eric scowled.
"Humans and vampires co-existing? It's never going to work. We feed off of humans, do you really think they're just going to accept that now that they know we exist?" Pam shook her head. She thought The Authority were a bunch of buffoons trying to run the entire vampire community with their hidden, and idiotic, agenda. Mainstreaming was never going to work. It was only going to cause more problems. "What are we going to do about her family now?"
"I don't know." Eric admitted, running his fingers through his hair. He had no idea what to do about Mackenzie's biological family. It had taken every little resource, every little string he could pull to keep as much about Mackenzie hidden as possible. But nothing he had done had stopped her family, not like it had ten years ago. They were more aggressive this time, and with this new revelation, they were never going to stop until they proved vampires had killed Mackenzie's parents and had taken her.
It was just another reason why Mackenzie couldn't come home.
"Maybe we should tell her the truth." Pam thought out loud.
"No." Eric immediately nixed the idea with a shake of his head. "Not going to happen."
"Eventually they're going to start looking elsewhere. Once the leads die in Louisiana, they'll turn to Texas or Mississippi. What happens if they start searching nation wide? What happens to Mackenzie then? Maybe if she knew the threat…"
"Enough." He growled, his eyes narrowing. "Mackenzie will never know the details of that night. You were there. You know how horrific it was."
"I still have nightmares over it, and you know I've never exactly been a fan of teacup humans." Pam crossed her arms. Trying to reason with her maker was like trying to reason with a brick was impossible and he wasn't about to budge anytime soon. But that didn't mean she was about to give up. "We don't have to tell her everything, just that these people are psychotic and looking for her. She's our Mackenzie, she'll believe us."
"She's a fifteen year old girl that's too smart for her own good and has lived with us for the past ten years. The moment you give her a hint of information, she'll push for more." Eric refused. "It's not going to happen. I can protect her better this way."
"With her being across the country?" Pam raised an eyebrow. "How can you protect her with her so far away? If anything happened, we would never know, at least not until it's too late."
"She'd be in danger if she came home." Eric hissed. "End of discussion."
"You're being unreasonable."
"And you're being delusional!" His hands curled into fists on the top of his desk. "Don't be so blind, Pamela, I didn't teach to be so naïve."
Pam pursed her lips together in annoyance. "You don't need to take your frustration out on me, I'm only trying to help."
"By throwing her into even more danger!"
"At least if she was here, she wouldn't think we were trying to push her out of this family." Pam was on her feet in a blink of an eye, her hands planted firmly on her hips. "I may not have approved of having the little teacup around at first, in fact, I may have absolutely hated her and the idea. But it's been ten years, and we're a family, Eric. Don't fuck this up."
Eric glared as Pam twisted on her heel and stormed from the room. He wanted to yell after her, to defend himself, but they both knew he would be lying.
Because he was fucking this up royally.
One month later
"I'm bored."
"You're always bored." Mackenzie rolled her eyes.
"I don't know how you can't be bored." Cassie Blake snorted with a pout. "We've been in the middle of nowhere for a month now."
"It's peaceful." Mackenzie countered.
"It's boring."
"You're too much of a city girl." Mackenzie snickered with a shake of her head, lifting her gaze off of her book and to her closest friend. They had met the first day she had moved into the dorms of their upper New York state boarding school. They just happened to be sharing a room, and despite their contrasting personalities, turned into the closest of friends in a heartbeat.
"We're stuck at school for 10 months of the year, I think I deserve excitement when I'm finally free." Cassie shrugged, her wild red curls flying in the breeze. She eyed Mackenzie's book, the fifth since they had arrived just over a month ago. She was starting to believe there wouldn't be a book left in existence that her friend hadn't read the way Mackenzie was going. "You really need to get a life outside of those books."
"I like my books, thank you very much." Mackenzie stuck her tongue out. "Books can't disappoint you."
"Well technically…"
"Oh shut up." Mackenzie ripped a handful of grass from the ground beneath her and threw it at the red head. "Maybe you should try cracking a book open one of these days."
"I'd rather learn my knowledge through experience." Cassie's eyes caught sight of one of the stable boys that worked on her grandparent's farm. "Now that is an experience I want. I'd like to climb him like a tree."
"Cassie!" Mackenzie slapped her with her book, her cheeks growing red at the suggestion.
"What?" Cassie shot her a wicked smirk. "He's gorgeous!"
"Were fifteen!"
"So?"
Mackenzie just shook her head in disbelief, though her long blonde hair hid a smile from view. It still amazed her how they had even become friends. They were polar opposites. Cassie was outgoing, and a complete wild child. Mackenzie on the other hand, would rather curl up in a corner and read the day away instead of interacting with their peers. She was labeled a bookworm and a geek because of it, but Mackenzie didn't care. Books were the one thing that never disappointed her, never left her feeling alone and unloved. They were a secret world she could dive into and forget all of her problems. They kept her company when her supposed family didn't give a crap about her.
Her books were all she had left.
"How old do you suppose he is?" Cassie wondered, tapping her chin as she licked her lips. "He has a really fine…"
"Alright, change of subject." Mackenzie stopped her before she could say anything else. She bookmarked her page before setting it down on the grass, leaning back against the tree they were settled around. "We could go into town if you're so bored."
"We've gone into town a thousand times already." Cassie's nose scrunched up. "There's nothing in town, anyways."
"We could take a walk by the river."
"Been there, done that."
Mackenzie rolled her eyes. "We could go ride the horses."
"How many times have we done that already?" Cassie shook her head before suddenly stopping, her head tilting to the side as her eyes brightened. "On second thought, McHottie is in the stables…"
"Are you going to pretend like you don't know how to ride…again?"
Cassie smirked, winking at her blonde friend. "Maybe."
Mackenzie shook her head, but pushed herself to her feet anyways, snatching up her book as she did so. "Alright, lets go."
Cassie grinned as she linked her arm through Mackenzie's, the teens crossing the farm to where the large stable barn sat. Both were silent, Cassie quietly thinking over her plan of attack with the cute stable boy, while Mackenzie played with the locket around her neck.
"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying, Mack?" Cassie raised an eyebrow, pulling the pair to a stop.
Mackenzie, not even realizing Cassie had started talking, blinked a handful of times before she sent her friend a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
"You're always in your own little word." Cassie rolled her eyes before her orbs zeroed in on the necklace around her neck. She had rarely seen Mackenzie without the personalized locket. "What's the story with that thing, anyways?"
"Hm?" Mackenzie frowned before realizing where her fingers had been. Sighing, she let her hand drop back down to her side. She hadn't even realized she had been playing with the locket. "Oh it's nothing."
"It's obviously not nothing." Cassie pressed. "You always have the damn thing on. Hell, half the time in class when you're not making the world's longest notes, you're always playing with it."
Mackenzie looked away, trying not to let her thoughts steer in the direction of Godric. She had done a pretty good job of trying to avoid thinking about the vampire in the last six months. She thought angrily ranting at him would help ease the pain of his abandonment. But it only seemed to hurt her even more. She had tried so hard to part with the necklace, going as far as hiding the broken thing where she couldn't find it. But only minutes before they were due to leave to the airport, Mackenzie had torn apart her room just to find it. It was all she had left of Godric, all she had left to remind her of the family she once had. The chain may not have been the same, but the picture that was safely tucked inside of the locket she rarely open was still as she remembered.
"Does it have to do with your family?" Cassie guessed.
Biting her bottom lip, Mackenzie nodded ever so slightly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Cassie knew family was a sore subject for Mackenzie. She didn't know much about them, just that she had been adopted as a kid and her family wasn't exactly normal. Other than that, Mackenzie tried not to talk about them. Even on the long drive here to Wisconsin, Mackenzie hadn't uttered a word about the family that suddenly hadn't wanted her to return home. She had tried to get her to talk about it, but Mackenzie was more stubborn than she was when she wanted to be.
"It was just a gift from a…family friend." Mackenzie swallowed back the emotions threatening to rise. "That's it."
Cassie nodded and let the subject drop. She did, however, notice Mackenzie playing with the locket the rest of the afternoon.
