Darkness Falls (2 page)

Catching a glimpse of herself in the toaster, she scrunched up her nose and made a face at her reflection. Her brown hair was cropped close to her head, just like her father wore his hair. She also had his gray eyes, though his had seen so much more of life and were more shadowed because of it. He could look at his men and they would obey without anything needing to be said. Some day she was going to be able to do that, to command with a look.

Her father was the bravest, handsomest man she had ever known. He fought monsters and taught her how to do the same, though he kept her as far away from the action as he could. One day he would let her join him and she was going to prove to him that she was just as brave as he was, taking out just as many vampires as him. He was going to see how hard she had been practicing and he was going to smile down at her and maybe take her out for some ice cream to celebrate. But not until she was older and taller and perhaps a little braver and when the day came, she was going to make him proud.

Putting the final touches on her sandwich, she scampered back down from the chair with her treat. She would clean up the mess later because it was a beautiful day and she wanted to enjoy her food outside where she could watch the neighbors go about their lives, blissfully ignorant to the vampires that plagued the night. Grabbing a juice box from the fridge on the way out, she sat down on the front step and bit into her delicious concoction, enjoying the mixture of fruitiness and chocolate.

So far, this had been her favorite place to live because it had a yard and there were other children in the neighborhood even though she was not allowed to play with any of them. Her father told her it was too dangerous to mingle with the locals. They tended to be jittery when faced with vampire hunters, choosing to believe that vampires were simply myths and hunters were delusional. Still, Malorie enjoyed watching the other kids running around and shrieking with laughter while she imagined what it would be like to have someone her own age to play with.

The house that she loved above all the others was directly across the street. Four kids lived there with the most wonderful person of all, their mother. There were two boys and two girls and Malorie guessed their ages to be between nine and twelve and they all played together nearly every day. When her father was home she would watch from her bedroom window, smiling at their silly games. On days when he was gone, she would sit on the steps and simply absorb the way they played. She was never exactly sure what the rules were since the kids seemed to make them up as they went and the rules changed on random whims but she still enjoyed the show.

As the door to the house opened, she held her breath, curled her hands into fists and squished the sandwich between her fingers. Oblivious to the mess, she watched as the mother came out, laughing at the children’s antics. The woman was pretty, with long, dark blond, almost brown hair and a wide smile. Although Malorie didn’t know the color of her eyes, she liked to imagine they were a warm, chocolaty brown, twinkling with happiness and they would look at her with affection.

Sometimes, late at night when her father was out hunting vampires, she liked to imagine that she had a mother, someone like the woman across the street. Her mother would tuck her into bed at night and read her a bed time story and then kiss her on the forehead to say good night. But she didn’t have a mother, only a father, only Gus. She always felt a little guilty for wanting more when her father was everything to her.

That didn’t stop her from watching every move the woman made, the way her flowery dress fluttered around her legs or how she pretended to run away from her much smaller children as they pretended to be monsters. She played with them for a few minutes before she clapped her hands together, getting the kids’ attention, “Okay, my little monkeys, who’s hungry for some chicken nuggets and French fries?”

With a wistful sigh, Malorie simply stared at the laughing woman as a chorus of cheers went up and the kids made their way inside, chattering animatedly as they prepared to eat lunch. Malorie looked down at her smashed sandwich and frowned. She was going to have to finish it since there was nothing else to eat. With a shrug of her slender shoulders, she licked the sticky mess from her fingers and continued eating. It wasn’t as if the flavor changed when it was on her hands. Besides, she’d wash up afterwards before she cleaned up her mess in the kitchen. Her father was very strict when it came to cleaning up, never wanting to leave a trail for the vamps to follow.

Malorie thought the vampires had better things to do other than track down the daughter of the man who killed them but she didn’t argue. They didn’t have a lot of stuff to keep track of so cleaning up wasn’t really difficult. It also made it easy to move on when the time came, which was often. In fact, this was the third house that Malorie could remember clearly and she was sure there were at least three or four others.

“Hello!” a cheery voice called out, startling Malorie out of her thoughts, making her jump and drop the remains of her ruined sandwich. Looking up, she saw the pretty woman standing at the end of her driveway, waving her hand. Malorie froze, not knowing what to say. The woman seemed to take it as an invitation and walked up the short drive to join Malorie on the step. “I’ve seen you around but I haven’t had a chance to stop by and introduce myself. I’m Nadine. What’s your name, sweetie?”

Malorie simply stared at the woman, at Nadine, unable to speak at all. Nadine’s smile never faltered, even as she took in Malorie’s sticky hands and worn out clothes. “It seems to me that I owe you a lunch. Would you like to join us for nuggets and fries?”

Malorie had never wanted a thing so much in her life but her father would be furious if he discovered she had talked to the neighbors. Swallowing against the ache in her throat, she shook her head no, unable to say the word out loud. The lady stood up and Malorie wanted to cry. She could feel the tears burning in the back of her throat but she wasn’t going to let them fall. She wasn’t one to cry; she was strong like her father.

But the lady didn’t leave. Instead, Nadine held out her hand and smiled down at Malorie, her light brown eyes sparkling with laughter and sympathy. “Come along, little one, I refuse to take no for an answer. No child should be so alone.”

Malorie started to reach out her hand but then saw the chocolate and strawberry mess and quickly pulled it back, hiding the stained fingers behind her back as heat rose in her cheeks. The lady – Nadine – laughed and reached for the hand, ignoring the sticky mess and Malorie’s half-hearted protest.  “I have sons myself, sweetie. I’ve held much worse.”

Malorie’s heart thumped painfully in her chest because the woman thought she was a boy. But then her hand was enfolded by the lady’s smooth palm and she was being pulled to her feet. The scent of flowers drifted on the breeze and Malorie realized the sweet scent was coming from the woman. Almost as if in a trance, she let Nadine lead her across the street, into an unfamiliar world as her heart pounded furiously in her little chest.

Her eyes nearly swallowed her face as she entered the other house. It was full of light and lots of… stuff. Pictures hung on the wall, showing the progression of the children through the years, from infancy to the present. A scraggly plant basked in the golden sunlight and Malorie’s breath caught in her throat at the simple beauty. Shelves of books lined the walls and Malorie wanted to weep at all of the lovely words to be read. As much as she and her father loved books, they didn’t have any of their own. Instead, they spent whatever free time they had at the library and Malorie read whatever she could get her little hands on. Her father always made sure that wherever they lived there was a library because he read even more than she did.

“We’ll just get you cleaned up and then you can join the others at the table,” the woman – Nadine – said. Malorie looked up and saw the soft smile on the woman’s face. She never wanted this moment to end and obediently followed Nadine into the bathroom and let the pretty woman clean her hands and face.

“You are certainly a pretty little thing under all of this dirt,” Nadine crooned. With a half-smile, she met Malorie’s eyes in the mirror over the sink, “I mean handsome. My boys hate it when I call them pretty. Of course, when they were babies I thought them the most beautiful creatures in the universe. Will you tell me your name?”

Malorie licked her parched lips and when she spoke, she barely made a sound, “Mal.”

“What an interesting name,” Nadine exclaimed, brushing her fingers along Malorie’s thin cheek and looking at her kindly. “You have such remarkable eyes, Mal, such an old soul.”

Her words trailed off as she stared into Malorie’s eyes. A slight frown marred her forehead before her expression cleared and she smiled once again. Holding out her hand, Nadine murmured, “Come, let me introduce you to my kids and then feed you.”

Once again, Malorie slid her hand into the woman’s, enjoying the warmth that spread through her small body at the contact. If she had a mother, was this how it would feel to hold her hand? As much as she loved holding her father’s hand, it was so rough and so much larger than her own.

Then she was standing in the light-filled kitchen and four pairs of eyes were staring at her. She wanted to lean into Nadine but she held herself still, meeting the curious gazes straight on, as her father taught her. Vampires never expected humans to look them in the eyes and on occasion the boldness confused them enough to give hunters a brief advantage.

But the kids weren’t hostile vampires, they were simply curious children. Quietly, she climbed up into the chair and sat down as Nadine put a plate of food in front of her and the other kids started chattering. For a few moments, she observed the others, watching as they dipped their nuggets into the barbeque sauce and their French fries into ketchup. Her father never got chicken nuggets and French fries, preferring to eat meals that didn’t require an oven.

Cautiously, she dragged a chicken nugget through the barbeque sauce and took a bite, liking the flavor and enjoying how the food squished between her teeth. Without bothering to dip it again, she stuffed the rest of the nugget into her mouth and reached for another.

“After lunch, do you want to play with my trains?” one of the little boys asked, the one that was closest to her age. “I have a whole set and we can pretend to be conductors and stuff.”

Malorie looked to Nadine for permission and when the woman simply smiled and nodded her head in encouragement, Malorie nodded, “Okay.”

The boy beamed at her and continued chattering away as he ate. It was distracting and wonderful and Malorie wished she had a brother or sister, too. She ate the rest of the meal in silence and afterwards, took her plate to the sink and started to wash it. Nadine gently grabbed her hands and Malorie froze, looking up into the smiling face in confusion.

“You are a guest here, Mal,” Nadine told her, taking the plate from her hands. “You go play with Timmy and I’ll take care of the mess.”

For a moment, Malorie simply stood there and stared at the strange, fascinating woman but Nadine didn’t relent. Reluctantly, Malorie released the plate and turned away, following the sounds of laughter. When she reached the doorway leading to the rest of the house, she looked over her shoulder and saw the concern in Nadine’s eyes as the woman watched her. Catching Malorie’s eyes, her frown eased and she smiled, “Go on, Mal, play.”

Timmy and his older brother Ryan were already playing and Malorie sat on the floor near them and watched, wrapping her arms around her shins and resting her chin on her knees. They didn’t keep their trains on the track and at one point they were using them as guns, pointing them at one another and making the
bang
sound. It made Malorie smile and she simply watched their interaction.

After a few minutes, the two girls joined them with a pile of dolls and Malorie couldn’t look away. Glancing over her shoulder in an absurd attempt to see if her father was watching, she inched closer to the girls. Once, her father caught her admiring a doll in a store window as they went into town to pick up some supplies. He told her that girls shouldn’t play with dolls because there was no point when vampires were a constant threat and dolls offered no protection. Then he bought her a wooden sword to practice with, telling her that a sword was much more practical. Taking his words to heart, she never let him catch her coveting the frilly toy again.

But she sure did dream of owning one.

Slowly, she reached out a hand and lightly ran her finger over an older doll’s cloth face, holding her breath until her lungs hurt. It was her birthday so maybe her father wouldn’t mind if just this once she played with one. Just this once. Inching a little closer, she kept her eyes on the well-loved doll, never daring to play with one of the newer ones. Feeling eyes on her, she looked up and saw the older girls watching her with curious expressions and she froze, her hand hovering over the worn doll.

“It’s okay,” the oldest girl murmured. Her name was Marcy and she was almost thirteen. The other one was Lucy and she was ten. With an encouraging smile, she added, “Sometimes Timmy likes to play with my dolls, too.”

Taking that as permission, Malorie snagged the doll and brought it up to her chest and was finally able to breathe. With a slight smile, she turned her attention to the doll, with its missing eye and dirty face, and thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Brushing the matted hair away from its face, Malorie hummed in pure joy.

A doll.

“Oh my stars,” Nadine breathed as she came into the living area with a plate of cookies. Malorie’s head shot up and she caught the look of horror on the woman’s face. Thrusting the doll away from her, she scrambled to her feet as Nadine put the plate down and rushed to her side. Nadine dropped to her knees and took Malorie’s hands in her own. Her light brown eyes glistened with unshed tears as she let her gaze roam over Malorie’s face. “You’re a little girl.”

Malorie gasped, struggling out of the warm grasp and racing out of the house and back across the street to the safety of her own home. Regret and joy warred inside of her as she quickly cleaned up her earlier mess and then retreated to her bedroom.