So here is the second to last chapter. Like I said, it's a short story and part of me really wishes it could just go on forever (I mean, they're vampires after all) but I know it can't. So enjoy! I'll probably post the last chapter later in the week.
Three years had gone by and I watched David and John closely from the comfort of my bedroom in Oregon. Now that John was a vampire, I could watch his every move and I ended up watching him more often than I watched David. John had taken after me in the aspect of not wanting to take human life after the essential first kill that would make him a full fledged vampire and I couldn't help but feel proud. Of course this meant that David had to work twice as hard at providing for John. David would feed nightly and then find some poor animal to kill to stock up on blood for the boy.
David was taking good care of John, though, and he never once tried to convince the boy that killing his own prey would be a better idea.
They were close. As close as brothers or even like a father and son and it made me happy to see that they had each other. They took care of each other and they certainly didn't need me around anymore. That didn't mean they didn't talk about me though. Every once in a while the topic of what I might be doing would come up and that was usually when I stopped watching. Now I was the one who was all alone and it made me too sad to sit and listen to them talk about me.
I was genuinely happy with the way David was handling things and I began to believe that everything would be able to stay as it was. That was a foolish notion.
John would often mention a person named Lily, and David, knowing that I was likely watching would always reply that they would talk about it later. It was never a good time to talk about Lily. I found myself wondering who Lily was. Was she someone David knew? A woman he intended to turn? A lover? The possibilities were endless but I never in a million years would have guessed who Lily was or what significance she held for John and David.
Then one night out of the blue, David had another child in his care. A much younger child than John had been... Lily was a five year old little girl. She was John's half sister, apparently, and she had been too young to take along when John ran away from his abusive step father so he had left her behind but from the moment he met David, they'd had every intention of going back for her when the time was right.
I had no problem with David taking care of another child and I really did want John to be able to have his sister in his life but something in my gut told me that David had more plans for the girl than just taking care of her.
Reluctant to return, I headed back to Santa Carla and straight for David who was now staying with the children in Max's house. I let myself in and looked around for them, finding them all sitting at the kitchen table eating what appeared to be breakfast. My eyes flew instantly to the contents of Lily's glass which was a red fluid and the smell of blood was in the air. I turned my gaze to David furiously. "David!"
"Relax." David said, wiping his hands on a napkin as he stood to approach me. "She has a bladder infection thanks to her father's shitty care. It's just cranberry juice to help clear it up."
The tension I felt melted away at David's explanation, but only slightly. I glanced at the children who were watching us from the table before I reached out to tug on David's sleeve. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Privately?"
"Sure." David turned his gaze to John and Lily to give them a quick smile. "You kids go ahead and eat, okay?" He then turned from them and placed his hand on the small of my back to lead me through the dining room into the living room. "You got here quick this time."
"What is going on, David?" I whispered harshly.
"You're the all-seer. You tell me." David said with a shrug and a chuckle.
"Don't play games with me, David. That little girl... why do you have her?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"It's Johnny's sister." David replied, shrugging again. "You know how his step-dad was. I couldn't leave an innocent little girl in that situation even if he is her real father. The poor kid is barely potty trained and her hygiene was terrible. You should've seen her when I first picked her up!"
"I did see her." I muttered, thinking back on the image. Although I hadn't seen David in the act of retrieving the girl I had seen what she looked like when he first brought her home. Her blonde curls looked like a rat's nest and she appeared to be filthy. The child was also very thin and frail looking and it was clear her father hadn't been taking very good care of her. Even still... "Still, that doesn't give you the right to just take her and bring her here. You can't possibly take care of a human child."
"I'm doing fine so far." David said haughtily. "A lot better than that man you could hardly call her father."
"Look at me, David." I said, trying my hardest to remain calm. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't intend to turn her and I'll leave without so much as another word."
David was hesitant to answer me and a small smile cracked on his face. This was all a joke to him. A big game he was playing. "Come on, Tawny. You don't expect Johnny to live without his little sister for the rest of eternity, do you?"
He knew he could get to me by playing on my affection for John. I had grown very attached to the boy in those months when I was trying to keep him from being turned and David knew that. He knew he could manipulate my feelings for John in hopes of getting what he wanted but I wasn't going to let it happen. "David, I don't want John to have to experience pain any more than you do but dealing with loss is a fact of life that we all have to accept."
"No we don't, Tawny, and you know that." David said with a shake of his head. "You and I both know that death is optional. Johnny could live forever and never have to experience his sister's death. And he should never have to. Don't you think he's been through enough with his father and his mother and then living on the streets?"
"John's life wasn't great until after he met you, I'll admit." I replied. "But that doesn't mean you can be cavalier with the lives of humans! That little girl is far too young to be making any kind of decision on whether or not she wants to be a vampire. She's too young."
"Well obviously I was going to let her grow up a bit first." David said with a scoff as he crossed his arms. "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Yes. That's exactly what I think you are." I answered. "What are the neighbors going to think when they see these kids and realize that they only come out at night? And wow, they miraculously never seem to age! Don't you think that's going to cause some concerns? A young single guy raising two kids that only come out to play at night and never seem to get any older... that doesn't scream bizarre to you?"
"It's not ideal." David admitted, mumbling it more to himself than to me. "But I'm working with what I'm given and I'm doing the best I can. The least you could do is make it easier on me."
"Easier on you?" I asked with a snort and a roll of my eyes. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"
"You said it yourself, a young single guy raising two kids is pretty bizarre." David shrugged and smiled at me in a way that told me he already knew my response and he found it humorous. "You ever think about being a mom, Tawny?"
My face paled, which is certainly saying something of a vampire and I took a step back from David, almost too flabbergasted to believe his words. "You're fucking joking."
David chuckled but shook his head and smiled widely at me. "I'm not. Shit, you've always been motherly, nagging me about this and that. Besides, Johnny boy misses you. He talks about you all the time; asking when we can go visit and wondering if I've heard from you lately. He'd like it if you were around and I could definitely use a woman's touch where Lily is involved. You have to admit it, Tawny, it only makes sense."
I did have to admit that for what David was wanting, the idea made sense. David wanted to raise these kids and attract as little attention as possible. A young man who was physically frozen at eighteen would raise a few questions when it came to rearing two children. I myself hadn't aged a day since I was nineteen and I definitely showed it in the way I dressed and styled my hair. Technically speaking though, we were twenty-seven and twenty-five, respectively. Our current birth certificates and driver's licenses showed this and the more years that passed by, the more believable it would be that we could be the parents of these children. So yes, David's idea made a whole lot of sense. There was only one problem.
"You're out of your goddamned mind." I said, shaking my head vigorously at him. "I am not going to play house with you! I came here to stop you from turning that little girl into a vampire, not help you do it."
"Tawny, listen..." David started, reaching out to place his hands on my shoulders but I pulled from his reach.
"No. You listen!" I shouted. "Nine years. Nine years I have known you and in that time I have watched you deteriorate from a respectable, decent young man into an exact replica if the monster that ended up tearing us apart. You may not want to see it, David, but you really are becoming just like Max."
David snickered and shook his head at my words. "Here we go again. Are you really sure you want to do this all over again, Tawn? Think about it, really. Do you want to start this fight all over?"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about! The thinly veiled threats and that cocky, pompous attitude. It's not like you, David." I said with a scoff turning back toward the kitchen to gather the children but David stopped me.
He grabbed my wrist and yanked me back, pulling me close against him. "You say that as though you even know who I am. The truth is, you have no clue who I am or what I'm like anymore. And maybe if you'd stayed around instead of running away like a coward, you'd have a better idea just exactly what I'm like. Whether you choose to accept it or not, this is who I am."
"It may be who you are now but it's not who you used to be!" I said with a scowl. "The David I knew was a good guy who looked out for people and you may not have always been the nicest guy but you never threatened anybody!"
"I threatened people all the time! Zach, Dwayne, Paul, anyone who dared mess with you. You may have been oblivious to it but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. I looked out for you the same way I'm looking out for these kids and just like I did with you, I'll threaten anyone who stands in my way of taking care of them." David released his hold on me and the angry expression on his face fell away. "Shit, Tawny... you think I wanted this? You think I wanted to be at war with you all the time? Living forever with you hating me for doing what I have to do? I never wanted any of that."
I looked up at him, a twinge of sadness tugging at me. He seemed to be so sincere, loathful of the idea that we were enemies rather than friends. Of course, sincerity from a vampire was something I had learned to distrust. Max had always put up a caring front and Zach... Zach had been the most convincing of all. There was a point where I actually believed that Zach loved me, though that's a tale for another time.
I inhaled sharply and looked up at David with regret. "I didn't want this either, but this is what we get. Now, I'm going in there and getting those kids to take them away from here and if you want to stop me, David, you're going to have to kill me."
And David, to his eternal credit, didn't try to stop me. In fact, he explained to the kids that he had some business he needed to take care of and that they would have to stay with me, though he insisted it would only be for a few days. Unbeknownst to him, however, I didn't intend to stay in Santa Carla with the children. I took them to my mother's house for that first night but as soon as the sun went down the next day, John and I flew with Lily back to my grandparent's house in Oregon.
There was a spare bedroom there and my grandmother was more than happy to have children in the house. She didn't ask many questions about them after I told her they were orphans. With my grandparent's help, I got Lily enrolled in school so that she could live a normal life . They took her to and from school while John and I slept all day and during the evening after the sunset, we would all go on family outings to the park or to the movies.
My grandparents never questioned anything and for that, I was grateful. I didn't know how to tell them just exactly what I'd become.
David was furious. I had been watching him, waiting to see what would happen when he came to collect the kids and found that they weren't where he expected them to be. Weeks passed by that he was searching for us and he was growing angrier and angrier. His attacks on his victims grew more brutal and gruesome. It got to the point that he would often shout at me when he was alone, knowing that I was likely watching him. It was always threats. Petty threats.
Three more years passed by and Lily was an eight year old girl with lots of friends and a higher intelligence than her stunted early development allowed. I was so proud of her. So was John. She had such promise and John and I had discussed at length about his sister and how she should be allowed to have a normal life. Despite being stuck in the body of a twelve year old, John was mentally eighteen and he had matured quite a bit over the years. He agreed that Lily should be left to a normal progression of life and if she decided later to become a vampire, it should be only her choice.
Unfortunately, one night changed all that.
John, Lily and I were at the park. My grandparents had decided to stay home for the evening so it was just the three of us. The children were playing tag and enjoying the last bit of Autumn weather before it got too cold to play outside at night. It was starting to get late and Lily had school the next morning so we started our walk home, hand in hand. Everything happened so fast, even with my quick reflexes, I wasn't able to stop it. We were struck by a drunk driver while crossing the street.
John and I absorbed most of the impact and of course we were fine. Lily was not so lucky. She lay in the street bleeding profusely and in terrible pain. She was crying and clinging to my hand and I was petrified. I didn't know what to do.
The driver was out of his car and approaching us and mumbling something incoherent as he clutched his keys in his hand. Without a second thought, I ripped the keys from his hand and stabbed myself in the wrist with one. I had seen David do something similar when the time came to turn John so I had an idea of what I was doing. I kept cutting myself with the dull, jagged key to let myself bleed into Lily's mouth until she'd had enough. There was a slight change in her eyes but I knew it would all be for nothing if she didn't feed.
I stood swiftly and grabbed the man who had struck us, forcing him to kneel down so that Lily didn't need to move much. John helped his sister sit up, the man blubbering in confusion the entire time. In a split second, it was over. Lily fed on the man as her brother instructed and just that quickly, she was a vampire like the rest of us.
I felt myself overwhelmed with guilt.
Not just that I had turned Lily and robbed her of any sense of normal for the rest of eternity, but because I had been so wretched to David about turning people he cared about into vampires. He'd done it to Marko and I bitched at him. He'd done it to me and I bitched at him. He'd done it to John and before he had, I bitched at him for that too. Yet there I was doing the exact same thing because I couldn't bear the thought of losing somebody I cared for.
John and Lily had become family to me and I was the biggest hypocrite in the world because of that.
The very next night, the kids said goodbye to my grandparents and we headed back to Santa Carla. I had kept John and Lily away from David for too long. Lily had a vague memory of David at best but John had been eager to see his father figure again. David had moved back into the cavern so that was where I left the two. John was pleading with me to stay but I knew if I did, things between David and I wouldn't go well. He was still furious with me after three years of being away and I knew we'd only end up getting into a screaming match which nobody needed.
I did watch their reunion from the comfort of my mother's home, however. It made me truly happy to see the look of relief and joy on David's face when he saw John and Lily. There were lots of hugs and plenty of laughter and a piece of me wanted desperately to be a part of it but I had resolved to just watch from afar. All the bad blood between David and I... it wasn't going to just go away. He was angry at me and I was angry at him and neither one of us really knew what we were angry about. We were just angry.
Though, despite all the anger and the betrayal and the bickering, I awoke the next night to find a bouquet of flowers on the kitchen counter with a little note attached to it. I unfolded the note and read it out loud to myself with a chuckle. "Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright." Lyrics from an old Cheap Trick song I'd heard David blast a little too loudly on occasion back when we were still human. I allowed myself to smile at his chicken scratch handwriting before folding the note back up. On the back I noticed more writing, this bit written in red ink. "The good stuff is in the freezer. Take care of yourself."