Chapter Sixteen: The Rest of the World
The Salt Shaker Bar, Chicago - January 30th
Erica Caravelli loved the blood of twenty-something blonde men with blue eyes. She made a habit of cruising the nightclubs for her preferred victims, and tried the methods taught to her by an overly pushy third party contractor who had no business dictating how she behaved. Yet she had to admit, the thrill of hunting without leaving a trail of bodies was very appealing.
This night was different, there was a vibe in the air, the scent of sex was almost overpowering in The Salt Shaker, the nightclub owned by Erica's maker and master of the Chicago coven, Michael Caravelli. He was ancient, at least as far as Erica was aware, rumors circulated that he was as old as Aro, Caius or Marcus, but no one could confirm it.
Not that Erica cared, she was far too interested in the scents surrounding her. A couple on the upper level leaning in towards each other to give into their passions. Two men, locked in that small bathroom submitting to their raging hormones. It was everywhere, and it was intoxicating to experience.
She wasn't sure which would be better, only one of each pair suited her desires. She picked the more discrete option after mulling it over for a few seconds. The bathroom lock was flimsy, and she got it open without making a sound. The couple were so oblivious that they didn't even hear her slip into the room. Their stall door was even easier to open, and that's when they noticed her. The first guy smiled, but he wasn't her type. The other one though, he looked disgusted at her presence but he was so pretty.
She smiled at them, a soft seductive smile and their resolve melted. Her gift pushing towards them, pressing them into compliance. "This way my lovelies." Her voice tickled their eardrums, enhancing the effect she was already creating. She turned and led them out of the club, down a block and into a waiting limo. She turned to the dark haired one and beckoned him over with a finger. He crawled over to her without hesitation, and she immediately tapped him on the head hard enough to knock him unconscious, letting his body drop to the floor without a second thought. Her mesmerism broke, and the other man screamed. Terror filling his eyes as he tried desparately to unlock the doors.
"No escape love." She said in a singsong voice, no longer bothering to press her gift upon him. His fear and adrenaline would only make him taste better. Then she was on him, pressing him into the back seat and pinning his shoulders. "Thank you." She leaned into his neck and sunk her teeth into his flesh. Careful not to release her venom, she began to drink the blood that overflowed.
She shivered at the taste, reveling in the sheer joy of the vitae flowing down her throat extinguishing her thirst, and let out a soft moan of pleasure. Then she pulled back before taking too much and pressed a prepared bandage to his neck. "Take your friend and go."
He stared at her in confusion, and then flinched when the doors audibly unlocked. "Go!" She said a bit louder, and he started towards the door. She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look at her. "No, take him with you." He nodded with a terrified shudder and picked up his friend, shaking him awake. They stumbled out into the night and she began to cackle as they pulled away.
The partition began to lower. "Miss Caravelli, must I remind you that living witnesses are a real danger." Manuel, one of the guards and her personal driver asked with his usual droll tone of voice.
Erica sighed, "that's why I called the contractor, she is around the corner ready to erase their memories."
"I thought you hated her." He asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"I do, but she is a useful tool." Erica said with a sigh, she hated the new rules.
"One of these days she'll do the same to you." Manuel smirked, the idea of the contractor making the spoiled brat think she was a turnip gave him a rise of satisfaction, however fleeting the thought.
"Hardly, my father would eliminate her." She said with utter confidence. Manuel wasn't so sure, he had seen the contractor fight, and he wasn't sure even he could best her.
He frowned, "it's probably best not to test that theory, even without her gift that woman is terrifying."
"I thought nothing frightened you." Erica glanced at him with genuine curiosity.
"I've seen a child of the moon tear through a village, I've seen the Volturi guard descend on a coven and annihilate them. I've even seen two newborn armies tear into each other. Yet none of them scare me, she is a different kind of threat." Her fighting abilities aside, to have such mastery over a mind to erase memories was unlike even Aro or Edward Cullen's vaunted telepathy.
"I believe that's the most I've heard you say about anything. All about a little vampire no older than a century." She taunted, but he just shrugged, "to each their own I suppose. Stop by the tunnel, there has to be a street rat I can snack on."
"Yes ma'am." He almost argued, but nodded and pressed the up control on the partition screen.
They drove for a while before pulling into a sheltered spot a block from a pedestrian tunnel that was often used for illicit activities. It was one of Erica's favorite hunting spots, even though the cops would frequently patrol the area. This hunt wasn't going to be a release, she had done her good deed for the day and needed a kill. She had changed into less ostentatious clothes, and stepped out onto an empty street. Her soft soled shoes barely made a sound as she walked, and as she approached the tunnel she smiled, spotting her prey immediately. He was even her type, tall with blonde hair and… red eyes.
"Fuck." She muttered under her breath, and quickly slipped into a nearby doorway hoping he hadn't noticed her.
He looked around for a few minutes, and then moved into the tunnel and out of sight. Probably on the hunt just like her. She let out a breath she had been holding and quickly retreated back towards the limo. She climbed in and sat down feeling silly for getting scared, she was Erica Caravelli. Her family was one of the largest and most powerful covens in the world, she had nothing to be afraid of.
Then the doors locked.
"Manuel, why did you lock me in?" She asked. There was no answer at first, and then the partition slid open all the way, revealing the grinning face of a woman she had never met before.
"Who are you, where's Manuel?" Erica couldn't keep the panic from her voice.
"He went away, to the same place you are going." Erica knew it was a threat.
"You want to let me go." She tried pushing her gift of persuasion, but the vampire's eyes just widened.
"You're right, I do want to let you go." The strange woman smiled and the doors unlocked. Erica nodded once and scrambled out of the limo.
A block away and three stories up a couple just settling down for the night thought they heard a woman scream, but chalked it up to the sounds of the city.
Oak Park, Chicago (10 years ago)
"Are you sure about this?" Charlie asked with a worried expression.
"If you ask me that again, I might have to knock your teeth in." Angela snapped back at him, directing her mind towards the small house.
"Right, well now or never." Charlie tried to push, but Angela shook her head.
"No, they are dug in. There are five terrified minds in that house, we go in now and they will all die." She felt their terror, and was close to giving in and attempting remotely controlling one of the vampires holding the humans hostage, but at a block away the control would be tenuous at best.
"There's nothing about this that I like." Charlie grimaced, looking at his adopted daughter with worry. Her hard expression and determination always made him anxious.
"What's new?" She gave him a side eye, and the right side of her mouth curled up into a smile. Charlie began to grumble a little, until Angela exited the car suddenly. She threw him a couple of hand signals to circle around the back of the house and head through the basement.
"Eeny Meeny Miney Mo, I smell the blood of a big fat ho. Ha! That rhymed." One of the vampires taunted the family cowering in the middle of their kitchen, their hands over their heads, all believing this was a robbery. Until the one that spoke picked up the oldest woman as if she weighed nothing and sunk his teeth into her neck, draining her in seconds before dropping her to the floor like a discarded bag of trash.
"Any good?" His partner asked, looking at the other three with glee.
"Nope, her cholesterol was too high. Tasted like sour cream or something." The first vampire said, wiping his mouth and belching loudly.
"Gross. I'm thinking this little football player will do nicely." The second vampire dropped his hands hard on the teenage boy, who had been thinking of trying to fight back until he saw his mother killed in front of him. His eyes still locked on hers, unblinking and dead. He barely even flinched when the vampire pulled him up and was about to sink his teeth into his throat when his father threw himself at the vampire's feet.
"Please no, don't hurt my son!" The older man groveled, tears actively streaming down his face. His heart was racing dangerously. "Take me instead. Please, I beg you!"
"Okay." The vampire nodded, dropping the boy whose legs collapsed beneath him. He reached down and picked up the man who was starting to shake with terror. "I'll kill you first so you don't have to watch your child die."
"First?" The father said with utter and abject terror, realizing that his entire family was about to die. His only hope was they wouldn't find his youngest daughter. He had managed to tuck her into the back of his closet, buried under a mass of clothes and blankets. Then he felt the vampire bite into his neck, and then the strength quickly faded from his body. A few seconds later he lost consciousness, as his heart sputtered to a stop.
The two remaining teenagers were sobbing uncontrollably, and neither vampire had the patience to taunt them anymore. One of them pulled out a quarter, and held it up. "Call it, and you get the choice."
"Heads." The other vampire called while the coin was in the air, and watched as it fell to the ground rolling to a stop head side up. "I pick…" He started as his mind froze in mid thought. His body stopped obeying his will, and he couldn't even focus on what he was just doing.
"You picked the wrong city, Nomad." Angela appeared in front of him, and got right up into his face. "I'm gonna share something before I take your head. That man's last moments before you ripped him away from his family."
She sent all the fear and pain the vampire's last victim had endured. He felt the weight of it, the inhumanity of his actions for the first time in almost two hundred years. He had to stand as still as a statue as the images and emotions swirled in his mind, then it was over and for an instant he felt relief. But just as his thirst returned, and his mind rejected the guilt, everything went black as his head was removed from his shoulders.
"I'll kill you for that." The other vampire said, despite the fact he was still frozen in place.
"Alright, give it your best shot." Angela released him, and stepped back. She expected him to have some form of combat ability, she knew he had some training as a soldier in the Gulf War. The rest of his hundred and ten years was spent hunting humans for sport. He lunged at her, expecting an easy mark. She sidestepped him without effort.
"Sloppy, you'll have to do better than that." She taunted with a sneer of disgust on her face.
He then threw a series of punches and grapple attempts at her, his lack of style was laughable as he kept trying to use the same types of attacks. She dodged him again and again, tripped him and threw him to the floor. Holding onto one arm and pinning him by the neck.
"Now you die." She said coldly.
"In front of kids?" He said with a laugh, hoping to distract her long enough to get the upper hand.
"What kids?" She said maliciously. He looked around and found the room empty except for the body of his companion and the two people they had killed. Then his world went to black as she removed his head with a smooth motion.
"I'll get the one upstairs." She said loud enough for Charlie to hear, rushing up the steps and then moving to the closet. She had gleaned all of their names from the mother who was reciting them as she died, praying for the rest of her family to survive. "Zoey, it's okay, you're safe now."
The little eight year old poked her head out of the bundle of laundry. Her eyes wide with terror. Angela knelt down, her expression soft. "It's okay, you can… stay there. I'll be right back."
She tilted her head, motioning for the girl to get back under the pile. She could hear Charlie shouting at her in his mind, the Caravelli's had come. The two older kids, one seventeen and the other sixteen were just old enough to convert. The thugs were giving Charlie a choice. Angela closed her eyes, knowing what was about to happen. Two more members of the coven, two more children turned into vampires.
She stood and moved out of the house, tempted to turn away the Caravelli enforcers. Instead she simply created a place of peace in each of the kid's minds. Enough to carry them through the transition, as Charlie bit them both just enough to inject his venom. Trevor Marconi, the lead enforcer nodded at Charlie.
"Good choice, and hey it's your partner. So, you two are not supposed to intercept shit like this, and this is your third strike. We gotta take you to see Michael." Charlie nodded, and motioned towards the kids writhing on the pavement below him. Trevor nodded. "We'll take care of these two, I promise no one will hurt them."
"I have some business first." Angela said, controlling Trevor's mind and directing him to believe this was a perfectly reasonable request, given the situation. He immediately began to nod emphatically.
"Do what you gotta do, but be at the compound by sunrise, and Charlie here is coming with us now." She was tempted to alter him further, but didn't want to risk revealing her gift to him.
"I'll be there." She promised and quickly swept towards the back of the property. She implanted the sensory memories that she kept going, but instead moved back into the house.
She quickly moved into the bedroom and opened the closest door again. Muffled sobs could be heard under the mass of clothes. "Zoey, I'm back."
The girl poked her head out again, and tentatively stood up. "Where's my mommom?"
"She's gone sweetie." Angela said with a soft smile, not sure what she could say to explain.
"I want my mommom!" Angela flinched, cursing herself for not moving fast enough. For hesitating when she could've just locked them down. Instead she played it safe, and this girl's entire family was taken. She could let the cops come, and put her into a system that would neglect her. Or she could take her home, and try to give her a life. If that were possible. She wasn't sure she had enough left in her heart to even make the attempt, but she had to try. She owed that much to this stranger's child.
"She… she's dead. So is your father." Angela wasn't going to start off with a lie, the girl's life was going to be strange enough without building a foundation of trust.
"No! What about Ryan and Melanie, I'll stay with them!?" The girl shouted with a slightly petulant question combined with a demand.
"They were taken somewhere else. Someday you will see them again, I promise." Angela wasn't sure that would be a promise she could keep, but she hoped they might accept their human sister. The girl was looking down at a stuffed rabbit she had hugged tightly to her chest and began to cry. Her tears drove a spike of pain into Angela's chest and she motioned for the girl. "Come to me, please."
Zoey got to her feet and moved over towards Angela, stopping a few feet away. "Your eyes are weird."
"Yes, I'm a vampire." Angela said without hesitation.
"Like Reynolds?" At first Angela was confused, then she remembered it was a character from a popular show she had watched once with Charlie.
"Yes, like Reynolds. Did your sister like that show?" Angela asked, hoping to make some kind of connection.
Zoey nodded, "Mommom too. They didn't want me to watch it, but I listened through the vent over here." She pointed towards an AC vent on the floor towards the back of the closet, wiping her eyes and sniffling a few times trying to calm herself.
"Did you hear what happened downstairs?" Angela was worried that she heard her parents die. The girl nodded her head.
"Can I be a vampire too? I don't want to be afraid." She said, looking down at her rabbit again.
"Maybe, but let's wait until you're a grown up and then we can decide together. Okay?" Angela hated the idea, but she couldn't begrudge her the choice. The girl was already living on borrowed time to begin with, eventually she would have to go into hiding somewhere safe. Or she would need to be turned. Hopefully not until she was old enough to make the choice on her own. She held out her arms for the girl, and Zoey threw herself into a hug. Her tears flowed easily again and Angela waited patiently for the girl to calm down.
Angela envied the girl, but at the same time she felt something warm and pure reawaken deep inside. After a century of pain, she felt a glimmer of something more. After a while the girl was silent, and her breathing had changed. Angela picked her up and began the journey back home, thinking about what this new feeling meant. By the time they arrived on the balcony of their high-rise building she understood. By making the choice, she had effectively adopted this girl. That promise, that vow was suddenly more than just protection. She would have to be a mother to her.
Angela looked down to find that Zoey was awake and staring at her. She set her down and took her hand. "Was that frightening?" Referring to the trip across rooftops and short journey on the roof of an elevated train.
Zoey shook her head, an excited smile on her face, "you're like a superhero."
"No I'm not sweetie, but you are safe with me and Charlie. We'll take care of you from now on, we'll figure out how to make this work, but there is one rule for now. You have to stay inside until we figure out how to give you a new identity." Angela said with a touch of sadness, she didn't want to imprison the child, but she didn't see much of a choice.
"I don't understand." Zoey said, looking up at Angela with a child's confusion. For a second Angela was pulled back to memories of her human family and could see in Zoey's eyes something distant and painful. A life torn from her cruelly, mirroring her own personal tragedy. She paused and let go of the girl's hand, crouching down to her height.
"Things will be different, and I cannot promise to always be nice. But I will never lie to you, and I will always be there for you." Angela kept the mild fear and apprehension out of her voice and expression, wondering if the meeting with the vampire mafia she had to go to might make her a liar.
"What's your name?" Zoey asked with curiosity, making Angela smile in spite of herself.
"You can call me Angela. Someday, I will tell everything about me, but that is a tale for an older you." Angela bopped her on the nose, making Zoey giggle.
She picked her up and took her to the guest bedroom, looking around it wasn't really suited for a child, but would do for tonight. "It's time to sleep." Angela said, placing Zoey down on the bed and pulling back the covers. She helped her with her shoes, and tucked her in gently. Then she reluctantly pushed a command into the girl's mind to stay asleep until she returned. Her little eyes fluttered closed, and soon she was deeply asleep.
Angela leaned down and kissed the top of her head gently. "I will never do that again, I promise."
Then Angela took off towards the Caravelli compound. A multi-million dollar estate that was almost too ostentatious in her view. At the gate she pressed the call button and waited. A few seconds later a staticky voice came through the ancient analog intercom.
"About fucking time. Get your ass up here now." It was Trevor's voice, she was sure of it. A second later the gate opened and she walked in without any fear. Four Caravelli thugs were waiting for her as she entered the main house. Two were quite large, a third was muscled and the smallest guy had a smugness to him that screamed gifted. She would have to see them in action to be sure how to take them down. Although measuring them by their movements as they led her deeper into the house, they probably relied on their vampire strength more than any real skill.
Towards the back of the house, past the primary living areas was a large office. The walls were lined with bookcases full of first editions. Objects from all over the world decorated the empty spaces, mostly relics dating back centuries. She was impressed with the collection, which alone could pay for the expensive house and then some.
A handsome vampire with chalk white skin and dark red eyes was sitting behind the desk. The desk was flanked by two long couches, on the right couch was Charlie, looking a little bored. On the other were two beautiful women, one with dark hair, in an elegant red dress, done up in makeup to make her look severe. She gave Angela a dark look full of irritation. The other had light hair, pulled up into an intricate braid, and wore expensive but somewhat casual clothes, complete with impossibly long heels.
"She's been making us wait for hours." The darker woman said, her thick Scandinavian accent accentuated her appearance and left Angela with more curiosity than distaste.
"Trevor agreed before dawn, and I'm here well before that." Angela said, giving her a playful fake smile.
"This one should be silenced, have one of the men remove her tongue." The dark woman said with a sneer.
Michael just glared at her, "please forgive Irina, she tends to be impatient. Please sit."
Angela nodded and took a seat next to Charlie, "so what law did we break?"
"Not exactly a law. We own Chicago. The human politicians, the police, even the human criminal organizations are ours. We do not like anyone working in our territory without paying their dues, or contracting with us directly." Michael made it sound utterly legitimate, as if this were just a business meeting.
"We have no interest in joining your coven." Angela said coldly, her voice resolute.
"I made no offer, but good to know." Michael's mouth twitched slightly, and he got up from his desk and circled around it, leaning up against the front edge. "There is quite a long vetting period before we would consider membership of an outsider into our ranks. However, much like the Volturi we have several positions open for capable individuals such as yourself. I must ask first before we nail down the finer details, what do you and your companion here have to offer." He was directing this towards Angela, and she moved her teeth together as she mulled over the options.
"I would rather not go into specifics, but suffice it to say we have an investigator's license for a reason." Angela caged, keeping her gift a secret as long as possible, but she knew from the tenor of his thoughts, even without reading them directly that he was determined to find out their gifts.
Michael let out a soft sigh, raising his eyebrows, "yes, well I understand your hesitation, but I must insist. What can you do?"
Angela's fake smile fell, and she let her naturally stone cold exterior show through. Then she stood and looked at Irina, "pull out your tongue."
"I can do that party trick." The blond woman said with a small laugh. "It won't work on my mother." She said with a sneer, looking over at Irina with confidence. Until the dark haired woman stuck out her tongue and took a hold of it with three fingers and began to pull.
"Stop." Angela said with a small smile, "that is but a taste. Erica."
The blonde woman looked at Angela with fury and fear, "how do you know my name?"
"You are Erica Caravelli, your reputation precedes you." Charlie said with a small smirk. He stood and picked up one of the objects from a nearby pedestal, a pocket watch with a beautiful acid etched cover.
"Put that down." Michael said with a frown of irritation.
Charlie set it back down and gave him a look. "Elijah Tomas spent three weeks building that watch, the etching was taken from one of his favorite views of the commercial center of Florence where he lived all his life. It was the last timepiece he made before dying of a stroke at the age of forty-three. His son sold it to you reluctantly because his tiny shop was in financial trouble. You kept that watch in your pocket for centuries. A stretch of time measured in bloodshed and violence, as you rose to power in city after city. Finally settling here in the nineteen-twenties. You backed Al Capone's rise to power, and also helped to take him down. Mikeal, your power is waning… you…" Charlie shut his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth, his head tilting almost involuntarily as he pushed away the vision, because the flashes of the future caused intense physical pain.
"How does my power wane?" Michael asked with a touch of impatience and fear.
Charlie shook his head, "I don't know. I see the past easily, but I can only glimpse fragments of the future. Image without context or description. All I could see was this house on fire."
Michael looked down at the pocket watch for a few seconds, and then turned and walked around to his desk chair and sat down heavily. He pulled out a folder from one of the drawers, which Angela noted was a file started on the two of them.
"I want the two of you on retainer, you can keep your investigation business. But if I call, I need you to do as I ask." Michael wasn't looking at either of them as he spoke, instead he started taking notes on a legal notepad. The financial offer he was considering was larger than any of his other contractors, but he had a feeling this was a special arrangement. He pushed the offer across the desk, and Angela took a step forward and glanced down.
"That would be suitable for us." Angela said with a touch of emotion. "There is something else. We now have a human ward, no harm will come to her, ever."
"Human, you are living with a human?" Irina spit out with an indignant sneer, having recovered from her momentary loss of control. The hatred in her eyes was almost physically palpable.
"Yes, and I consider her family. It is non-negotiable." Angela leveled a dark glare at Irina, and then turned back towards Michael who examined her for a moment.
"Alright, no harm will come to her." He glanced at his sister for a second and made a note on the pad.
"Alright, let's get down to details." Charlie said with a gregarious smile, clapping his hands and drawing attention away from the staring match between Irina and Angela.
Shiba Park, Tokyo - January 30th
"Naku-son." Kira's growl echoed down along the path as she lifted the head of a man she had liked. A good and honorable soldier of the coven, and a personal friend to both her and Mei.
"Not many could take him in single combat." Mei said coldly.
"Felix, the Witch Twins, or the Assassin." Kira offered, but Mei immediately shook her head.
"The Volturi have no cause to come here, not without declaring war and the Assassin would never disrespect a body like this. This is something else." Mei tucked the head into her bag and turned towards her lover. "What do you sense?"
Kira closed her eyes and began to reach out her senses, constructing a mental picture from the lingering scent traces. "At least five, maybe six others. They surrounded him, overpowered him. It was fast."
"I don't understand, Naku wasn't even a good target… unless." Mei's face hardened and her eyes widened slightly. Then she took off towards home as fast as she dared in Tokyo. She closed to a block away from the home of her coven. They owned Tsuchinoko Tower entirely, but only occupied the top few floors of the modest high-rise. The full rooftop garden was gorgeous and meticulously maintained. The life surrounding the place gave it a warm feeling, despite cold creatures that lived there.
Yet when Mei and Kira arrived, there was a stillness to the neighborhood that gave them both pause. Nothing moved at first, until a small crowd began to gather in front of the building. They were loud and excited about something, hooting and hollering obscenities at the building with a bravado that was almost taunting the entire coven. On any other day they would've been met with swift and final retribution.
"Newborns." Kira said with a low growl.
"Yes, but why?" Mei answered feeling dread begin to ball in the pit of her atrophied stomach.
"I don't…" Kira started as the top five floors of the building they had both called home erupted in a spectacular explosion. Mei fell to her knees in shock, her body shaking in pain. Kira quickly wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close. That's when the first of the newborns, who were now practically screaming in joy, noticed the two of them.
"Mei, they noticed us." Kira whispered, looking at the chaos of the newborns all starting to turn and run towards the two of them without bothering to hide their preternatural nature. Mei pulled away from Kira, and stood clenching her fists.
"Then they die." Mei muttered, pulling a mask from a pouch hidden near her belt. Kira shrugged and smiled, shifting easily into her full tiger form as they both launched themselves towards their new enemy.
Dearborn Tower, Chicago - January 30th
"How did the babysitting go?" Charlie called over to Angela as she shut the door with a heavy sigh.
"Same as always, Erica had to terrify the guy. It took a while to just calm him down enough to alter his memories. It was a messy patch job, he'll have nightmares the rest of his life." She cracked her neck, wishing she had the option of ending the spoiled brat's existence instead of mopping up after her cruel proclivities.
"We need their patronage." Charlie stated a truth that even Angela had to accept. Yet after a decade of working for vampire crime family, she found the work had become very tedious.
"Angela?" Charlie asked after a few seconds without a response.
"Right, right. We need to play nice for a while longer. Although, why can't we just move to LA or something. Better yet, Seattle. It's been long enough and Zoey is graduating in a few months. She's going to demand that I turn her, and it'll be much easier to live in a town that rains most of the year." Angela crossed her arms over her chest, feeling the weight of that eventuality. She couldn't deny the desire to have her child with her for the rest of her existence, but at what cost? It was times like these she wished her heart was whole, then she might find the words that could convince her daughter to live.
"Are you really ready to move back there?" Charlie asked with a conflicted expression, memories of his own painful history tortured him for the briefest of moments before he gave her a curious look.
"I don't know, I haven't thought about that place in a long time." Angela lied, and Charlie quietly ignored the deceit. In a lot of ways she had never left. Her internal screams echoing forever in the hollow halls of that empty building where her first love was slaughtered in front of her. Her face remained impassive, despite the shock of momentarily reliving the past.
"Is Zoey in her room?" She asked after a second, there was no point in further conversation on the subject.
"Yeah, she needs your help with Calculus." Charlie said with a small grin, getting up and heading towards his office.
"And why can't you help her?" Angela said, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"I actively try to forget math." Charlie's grin widened as he sat down at his office chair.
"Liar." She said playfully, letting out a small chuckle.
"Maybe. I'm gonna catch the game, ask her if she wants pizza." Charlie said a touch louder as the distance between them increased.
"I'll order her sushi." She said over her shoulder as she closed in towards Zoey's room.
"I still don't get raw fish." He grumbled as he moved around in his office, the sounds of a baseball game starting a few seconds later.
Angela knocked on Zoey's door, "it's open." A slightly annoyed voice answered. Angela opened the door and had to stifle a gasp, Zoey had dyed her long hair again, this time a bright neon shade of blue.
"Interesting choice." Angela said with heavy sarcasm, her eyes wide and an amused smile turning up her usual frown.
"Yeah, it's too bright. I'm gonna go down to Sebastian's tomorrow and see if he can do something with it." Zoey looked up towards her forehead, her nose scrunching and her brow furrowing then blew up towards her hair making a loose lock flutter and fall at her temple.
"He'll figure out something. I hope you don't have to lose length." Angela gave her a sympathetic look, she knew that Zoey preferred longer hair like her own. With her preparations to become a vampire she had intentionally let it grow for the last three years.
"Me neither, but it isn't fried and it seems pretty soft so hopefully. I am not gonna be stuck with a shit hairstyle forever." Zoey pulled her ponytail over her shoulder and inspected the ends.
Angela smiled widely and laughed, "try managing ass length hair for a century, you might be happy to lose a few inches before it is practically impossible to cut."
"I love your hair." Zoey looked at Angela and sighed, her head shaking slightly. "It's so soon why couldn't we just do it now?"
Angela looked down, "I heard you need help with Calc."
Zoey let out a deeper sigh, "a little, there's a few things I can't work through."
"You know the method, you don't need my help." Angela said with a gentle encouraging voice.
Zoey looked up and her shoulder rose slowly as a warm smile spread her lips slightly, "maybe, but I want your help."
"Hmm, that is different." Angela moved into the room and sat on the edge of the bed and immediately pushed the hair out of Zoey's face in a familiar gesture.
"You're gone too much, I miss you." Zoey's voice was sad but not petulant or angry. Angela pressed her forehead against Zoey's and closed her eyes tightly.
"Mhm, I know love. When I'm out there, I wish here instead." Angela's voice was just as sad, but she pulled back and met her daughter's eyes. "I do have some news, Melanie wants to see you." Zoey frowned and closed her book in frustration shaking her head and sitting back against the headboard of her bed.
"No, not after last time." There was a disgust on her face that saddened Angela to no end. Zoey's relationship with Melanie and Ryan was strained, because of Ryan's total embrace of the traditional vampiric lifestyle. He was cold and cruel and treated his little sister like a stranger. Melanie on the other hand was timid and terrified of her own thirst, but she kept a distance from Zoey for reasons she wouldn't explain.
"Just Melanie, she wants to come alone." The clarification made Zoey sigh again, and she couldn't quite look up. Angela used a finger to lift Zoey's chin.
"I can't forgive them for what they did." Zoey said giving Angela a disappointed look.
"You're right." Angela said with a nod causing Zoey's expression to soften, "Melanie approached me this afternoon, and finally asked to come here and talk to you. I didn't say yes, but perhaps it's been long enough."
"She just stood there while Ryan broke my arm and nearly bit me." Tears began to form in Zoey's eyes, and she quickly wiped them away in shame, wishing she were a vampire so she couldn't cry anymore.
"It isn't an excuse but I know she's afraid of him, and in a lot of ways she is just a sweet kid who misses her sister." Angela's voice was soothing, calm in a way that gave Zoey an anchor to lean on. "I've told you about Joshua and Isaac right?"
"Yeah, your little brothers." Zoey smiled and sat back again, crossing her arms over her chest.
"After I was changed I couldn't go back home, but I kept track of them through a private investigator. They mourned me, but that isn't the point. Joshua died in his early thirties from complications during surgery. I was in Europe when I found out. Isaac lived until he was eighty, but that was almost fifteen years ago. When I think about them, on one hand I'm happy they had a normal life, and never had to experience the violence of mine. On the other hand, I wish they were still here so that I could've gotten to know them as men." Angela's voice was distant and wistful, still grieving the life that had been ripped from her in the most painful way imaginable. Zoey sniffed and wiped her tears away again and started to nod, but thought the better of it and started to shake her head.
"I know you want me to be happy, maybe to have a normal life. But how can I when I know what's out there? When I'm out there alone, with a husband or wife, maybe a couple of kids, I'll stay awake every night worrying that some monster is going to come and take everything away from me."
"I'll always be nearby." Angela said quickly, shaking her head as if Zoey's worries were no concern at all.
Zoey's heart fell into her stomach, as she leaned forward shaking her head violently, "I can't be that kind of burden. Not just protecting me for decades, but watching me die slowly. I can't put you through that."
"I'm your mother, and you shouldn't worry about my feelings. I respect your choice, and I will honor it no matter how you decide. But I don't want you to make a choice based on how it might affect my life. You will always be my first priority, no matter what happens." Angela tried to explain, but again she felt inadequate to the task. Her emotional depth atrophied from the better part of a century filled with seething hate.
"Maybe not, but I've been thinking about this, like we talked about, for a lot of years. I've come at it from every angle, and the truth is I will never have a normal life. That was taken from me when I was eight. But you gave me something else, maybe something more." Zoey sounded resolute, and she was sure it was her choice no matter what the little voice in the back of her mind kept whispering. Knowing her mother's gift she wasn't even sure it was her own voice, despite the promise imprinted on her memory that Angela made to her that first night.
"Alright, on your birthday if that is your choice we'll make it happen." Angela pushed the hair out of Zoey's face again, and traced the line of one of her tears down to her chin.
"So I still have to do my calc homework?" Zoey said with an excited look, breaking the somberness of the moment.
"Yes, you still have to do your homework." Angela pulled Zoey into a hug, and they lingered in the embrace for a while. Until Angela's phone began to ring.
"Sorry sweetie." She pulled it out and checked the caller ID. "I need to take this."
Angela got up and moved out of Zoey's room, closing the door behind her and then answering the call; "Michael, what's going on?"
"Where's Erica?" The ancient sounded angry, but also worried.
"I don't know, the last time I saw her she was pulling off with Manuel." Angela's intuition went off, for Michael to be worried something must be wrong.
"They haven't checked in, and neither of them are answering my calls. You know where she hunts, can you two check it out." Michael was making it a request instead of an order, his voice almost pleading.
"Of course, there are a few places." Angela responded with a confidence she didn't feel.
"Thank you Angela. I'll make sure to double your monthly stipend." Michael said in an uncharacteristic show of generosity.
"As always, I'll report if we find anything." The line clicked and she closed her phone. Charlie was behind her and she turned towards him.
"Erica hasn't reported in." Angela wasn't saying anything Charlie hadn't overheard but it still made him frown.
"Wonderful. Chasing a spoiled brat all over the city. She's probably just breaking the rules." Charlie sounded irritated but Angela knew better even without touching his mind, he was just as worried as she was.
"Wouldn't be the first time. She's already been to the Salt Shaker, I know of a few more clubs she likes to hit. Even a couple she doesn't want me to know about. Then we'll check the docks" Angela said knowing that treating it like any other investigation was probably the best approach.
"Right, well slow and thorough works." Charlie rolled his eyes and blew out a hard blast of air.
"Zoey, sweetie." Angela called, and she heard the teenager hop off her bed.
"Yeah mom?" Zoey said opening up the door.
"We're going out for the rest of the night. I'm gonna order you some food, but I don't want you going out with your friends." Angela pulled out her phone and made an express order for food.
"I know, I have a mountain of homework anyway, and I need to figure out my topic for my final paper." Zoey frowned and Angela gave her a sympathetic smile.
"We'll be back as soon as we can." Angela said with her usual melancholy when she had to leave Zoey alone.
"Be careful out there." Zoey said with real concern, hating the fact that they were always putting themselves in danger.
"We always are." Charlie said with a grin, pulling Zoey into a light hug.
Forks - January 30th
"This is stupid Hailey, it's never going to work." Madison said, staring down at the tiny hand written text in the book of witchcraft sitting in her lap.
"It is either all real or none of it is." Hailey said with a frown, plopping down in front of Madison
"That's a line from something, right?" Madison said incredulously.
"Um, maybe." Hailey shrugged and held out her hand for the book. "So it's written in this really obscure language which was just cracked a few years ago. I've been translating it for days, and I've gotten maybe a quarter of the book so far. This passage is all about revealing the truth about someone. I was thinking we should try it on our new friend."
"Eliza?" Madison asked scrunching her nose up with a note of disgust. She didn't like the idea very much.
"Yeah, I mean what's the harm. I doubt she's actually a Russian spy or the daughter of a big gangster or something." Hailey made it sound harmless, but Madison wasn't convinced.
"Maybe, but what if it's something else?" Madison shook her head, as she realized there was something Eliza was hiding but she had no idea what it was.
"Like what? Forks is like the armpit of the entire country, nothing voluntarily comes here." Hailey didn't want to belittle Madison's concerns, but she had to do something and this felt relatively benign compared to most of the rest of the spells described in the book. Conjuring, transmutation, alteration and summoning elemental energies were terrifying and utterly enticing if real.
"Unless they want to hide." Madison said trying to argue, but could already feel herself losing the argument.
"Maddy, don't be skittish, you were all on board with this a week ago." Hailey had a point, but Madison shook her head again.
"Well, we didn't have a cool new friend a week ago." It was her last ditch effort, but she could see Hailey already winding up with a rebuttal.
"True, but wouldn't you like to make sure she's on the level?" Hailey said with a scared look, and that cemented it for Madison. Hailey needed to do this, no matter the consequences. Her issues with trust were deep and there was nothing Madison could do except be the one Hailey could trust implicitly.
"Fine. What do I need to do?" Madison relented with a small frown, but Hailey immediately pulled her into a hug and then kissed her softly.
"Thank you." Hailey whispered breathlessly as she pulled away from the kiss. She took a moment to compose herself and then sorted the gathered spell components in front of her. "The book says it is better to have a third to act as an anchor, but basically we burn some stuff and say some words focusing on Eliza and then something is supposed to happen."
"That's nice and vague." Madison smirked.
"Well, I couldn't translate everything." Hailey didn't want to say everything, the translation was full of warnings that she was ignoring.
"What if it turns her into a toad or something." Madison said with a chuckle, and Hailey gave her a look of mild irritation.
"I'm pretty sure that's not what this does." Madison sighed but nodded. Hailey picked up the bowl she had gathered the ingredients in, and held it at eye level then began to speak. The ancient words began normally, Madison almost laughed at how they sounded. Then something changed, an echo began to weave through Hailey's speech. Then something moved through them both, and the words began to flow as if Hailey were fluent in this dead language.
The room started to spin for both of them and they collapsed forward, their heads coming to rest on each other's shoulders. On the other side of town, Eliza was rinsing her hair again to get the mud out when she felt something weird bounce off her.
"What the fuck?" She muttered looking out through the glass door of her shower, feeling as if someone was watching her. Then the magical wave slammed back into the slumbering duo, waking them up instantly.
"What just happened?" Hailey said with a strangled laugh of confusion.
"I don't know, but did you feel that?" Madison said at a whisper.
"Eliza Irutlova is a vampire." Hailey said with wide eyes, as she felt something settle deep inside her body. Once it nested in what felt like her stomach it began to send waves of pain to the tips of her fingers and toes.
"Yeah, and so is her mother." Madison said as she lifted her hands to look at them, as the same sensation settled into the core of her being.
"What the hell do we do now?" Hailey said feeling a deep confusion as her concept of the world shattered. Yet for the first time in her life she felt powerful.
Author's Note:
So some of you might be scratching your head. Okay most of you are probably scratching your head. This is a wild chapter, although there is nothing new (everything that happens technically happened off screen in the original) none of it was explicitly shown. We hear about Zoey's rescue and Mei's coven dying and there were hints of Hailey and Madison doing something off screen. Except none of that was shown, partially because Kathryn didn't want to distract from the main story, and partially because it wasn't entirely needed at those late points in the story. This time things are different, there is a metric fuckton of story still to unpack, and these events happen here chronologically. I know, I know... we will absolutely be getting to Alice and Isabella soon. In fact... you will see some actual Bella and Alice interaction in the next chapter.
Edit: So yeah, I realize that there were no hints about Hailey and Madison in the original. That came from a discussion about those two characters between me an Kathryn a very long time ago and I conflated the memories with content. Oops. Suffice it to say, it was our intention of using those two characters for that purpose but we never got around to it in the original.
Next Chapter: In A Galaxy Far, Far Away