Authors: Alexandra Hope
“You killed me!”
“You look alive to me,” said Erika. “You look good.”
His phone once again rang before he could counter. He wiped the blood from his mouth and pulled the phone from his pocket. “Hello?”
Olivia and Erika listened in.
Hey Troy, how are you?
“Good dad, what's up?”
I wanted to bring you some food and stuff. I've got movies too.
“Oh, y-you don't....need to,” he stammered as he eyed the two girls. “I'm fine.”
But I'm right around the corner....actually, I'm turning on your street now...
He dropped his phone as a bright light came into view and turned into the driveway. He closed his eyes and mentally cursed at himself then jogged toward his dad but not before turning back and waving Olivia and Erika away. Erika had whispered that she would take care of it and he was happy to leave the supernatural stuff in her hands, hoping that she could whip up some kind of manipulation. His father kicked the door closed, two grocery bags in one hand and an aluminum wrapped plate in the other. “Hey! You hung up on...”
David blinked several times and his eyes widened.
“What happened Troy?!”
Troy nervously raised his arm in the air and dropped it to his neck, rubbing it. When he pulled his hand away, there was no blood, not even dry blood and there wasn't a wound. He couldn't taste any blood at his mouth and wondered what his father was referring to since he had hoped Erika did something. He then followed his eyes to blood stains on his shirt. “Oh, this? It's nothing.”
“No, the blood on your neck!”
“Huh?” asked Troy. He put his hands back to his neck and once again pulled away nothing.
Erika was peeking through the window while Olivia leaned against the wall.
“Dammit, I put the manipulation on Troy instead of his dad.” She turned to Olivia. “You messed up my concentration!”
“Why don't you bring him in the house and make him forget?”
“Let me try to make this clear, so even you can understand. He was, technically is, married to the most powerful
kitsune
ever, so she taught him how to resist a manipulation to forget.”
David was still yelling at Troy when they came into the house. Erika stood up and turned to them, immediately locking eyes with him. She threw a hand up and gave a friendly wave. “Sup David?”
He shut his eyes and ran a hand through his hair and then opened them and spoke. “I didn't want my son to be caught up in this kind of mess.”
“You came to me when your wife disappeared, not the other way around.”
“And when I saw that Troy wasn't getting powers, I asked you to leave it alone. To leave him alone.”
Troy was quiet as he took their words in. He recalled their first meeting the day after Alexa was attacked, and didn't remember any mentioning of them being former co-conspirators in some plot to keep his supernatural side away. He suddenly felt all too sick at everything that was going on but instead of lying down and resting, he shouted at them. “What are you talking about?”
“Troy,” his father began, “you have to understand. I always had your best interest in mind.”
He shrugged his shoulders, irritated. “Just tell me what you're talking about. Have you known her all my life? Have you always known my mom was still alive?”
“Yes.”
Troy ran both hands through his hair, tugging at his strands, frustrated. He clenched his fist and turned to the wall, forcing a huge dent into it. When he pulled his fist back, his knuckles were covered in a white powder and bruised a deep red. He turned back to his father.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“How could I begin to explain to you as a four year old, what you are and that your mother wasn't dead.”
“How about when I was thirteen, or fifteen, or now? Was the truth just too much for me?”
“You're different from Alexa and her sister,” he took a quick glance at Olivia who was still propped up against the wall, quietly half listening. “They grew up knowing supernatural creatures exists but you, in the human world, it was easier to pretend that it didn't exist. And when you got older, I just thought you'd live a normal human life.”
Olivia gave them their privacy, wandering down the hall and found herself in the room that she had been sleeping in. It briefly allowed thoughts of her sister to invade her mind despite her best efforts. Erika had gotten David up to speed on everything and after realizing the severity of the situation he tried to convince Troy to learn how to manipulate and wield fire, to be a
kitsune
. He didn't want his son to live a supernatural life but if it was to be a part of his future he at least wanted him to be prepared. She heard Troy faintly say yes but waited until he had went to bed before entering the living room.
David was kind but formal when he acknowledged Olivia. “Hello.”
“Hi.”
“I'm going to ask you to do one thing for me,” he said. “Take care of my son.”
Erika's eyes were on David and then they wandered from him to Olivia. She didn't move an inch as she quietly stared at him.
“If you can't do that, just remember he's all I have left.”
The words registered with her as she thought of her mother and noted that she was all she had left now that Alexa was dead. “Yes, I can do that.”
Fourteen
Olivia groaned as Erika pushed down on her neck with her hand. “Get down,” she said in a hushed voice.
Olivia lowered her head further behind the bushes as she was commanded. They watched as people threw scraps of magazines and newspapers over the heads and made a dash to get out of the rain. If she weren't watching them she wouldn't have known it was raining. It was odd not feeling the cool water that ran down her skin but at least she could say that she would never catch a cold again. They saw a young woman shivering, a thin jacket clinging to her skin but providing no warmth against the evening wind and shower. She had stepped onto the curve to peer out onto the street and when she saw no one that she recognized she pulled back and continued to stand underneath the glowing awning that read Port Culligan Hospital.
There was a squeaking sound every time the glass doors slid open behind the woman, and men and women dressed in scrubs escorted people to their rides. A nurse placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, gesturing her inside but she politely declined. Olivia wondered why they were even out there but when she turned to ask Erika she just slapped her hand over her mouth. She thought she had an idea of what they were doing since it mimicked what they had down the last few nights: stalk people from the hospital and try to feed and manipulate them to forget. Olivia managed the feeding but when it came time to manipulate she had lost all talent for it and suffered the next hours with no blood for failing. Troy had at least gotten some satisfaction in seeing her unable to be the monster that she was but the lack of blood had been draining her of energy. Even now, she couldn't concentrate on the comings and goings of the humans before her.
“That one,” said Erika, pointing. Olivia's eyes followed her fingers and she saw the woman hugging a man in a business suit who had just shown up. She then slapped his arm and he cheerfully laughed it away.
“The guy?”
“Yep.”
“Why him?”
“Do you really want to question the complex algorithm that is my mind?”
Olivia stood up making Erika fall to the side. She looked down at her and then was suddenly looking up at her when Erika rose, nearly a foot taller than her. She glared at Olivia but said nothing as she wiped away the dirt from the arm of her body suit.
“Shall we go after them?” asked Olivia.
“We could but I've decided to change the lesson plan,” she said and then was out in the open. She placed a hand on the man's shoulders. “You don't mind if I steal your girlfriend for a minute, do you?”
He shook his head. “Not at all.”
“Great. Thanks,” she said cheerfully. She covered the woman's mouth and with Olivia following behind her, took her to a quiet park. When she pulled her hand away, the woman looked around terrified, “Who are you? Why did you take me?”
“I thought it was the guy...”
“Yeah, I changed my mind again. Have to keep you on your toes for my lessons to be successful!” she said and then turned to the woman who was tearing up. “Don't cry...this girl's a vampire and she's going to eat you. You shouldn't be crying but you probably should be screaming.”
The woman's eyes bulged and high pitched yells escaped her mouth as she looked at Olivia. Her chest fell up and down as she sniffled and paused her yells only to gear herself up for more. Another wave of frightened shrills came out of her mouth as she shook. “Please don't eat me! Please don't!”
“What am I supposed to do with her?”
“Manipulate now. Get her to stop,” she said simply.
“And how will I do that?” asked Olivia, annoyed.
Erika sat back on a bench, the same one that the couple sat on when she and Felicity ravished the town but she didn't want to think about it at all, especially not when a woman was screaming bloody murder and all Olivia could think to do was tear her throat out.
“Just look into her eyes and tell her whatever you want.”
Olivia yanked her around and gripping both sides of her jacket collar she forced the girl to look into her eyes. She said the sentence several times in her head until it sounded right and then said to her, “I am not a vampire and I do not want to eat you.”
The girl's screams forced Olivia backwards. “Please don't eat me!”
Erika stood up from the bench and walked over to them soundlessly. She pushed Olivia away and grabbing the girl by her neck, she forced her to look into her eyes. After saying a few words the girl looked content as she scampered away with a bright smile.
She grabbed Olivia's shirt from the back of the neck and began dragging her. Olivia tried to fight but Erika's grip was too tight leaving her to writhe and wrestle unsuccessfully.
“You failed,” she announced. “No blood for you.”
****
Neon lights illuminated the dark room and sweat drenched bodies moved along to the music. It wasn't the kind of place Troy would have been but his friends insisted. His black dress shirt was tucked into his black slacks and he couldn't help but feel overdressed for the occasion which he wasn't even sure what it was. They texted him nothing more than an address and the words: Look good. He had hoped they weren't insensitive enough to try to set him up on a date just over a week after Alexa's death.
When he stepped inside the first person he met was Devin who gave him a big hug and showed him off to the rest of his old friends just before the club was filled with party-goers who couldn't care less about Troy. It felt good when the club crowd invaded the space because it allowed him to not be the center of attention. He also couldn't help the good feeling of being away from Olivia and Erika who had been mentally stressing him out with all the training. She went on and on about how she was preparing them for an evil so great it couldn't be described in words but never said what that evil was.
He tilted his head back and with his lips pursed around the opening, he sucked the beer bottle dry. His friend had been buying him sympathy drinks to which Troy tried to decline but eventually the bitterness had taken over him and he needed something to wash it away. He thought he would just drink one, rid himself of bad feelings before he went home and faced the bane of his existence but there he was on his third when a man of about twenty two years old slid into the chair next to him.
“I thought you weren't gonna come out tonight,” he said.
“Yeah, well I have nothing else to do...”
“I know you're going through a tough time but don't mope.”
The guy motioned the bartender for two beers as Troy knocked back another one. He thought it was his fourth or fifth one but he wasn't quite feeling the effects. He graciously took the beer from the man and tilted inward in thanks.
“Oh, I'm way beyond moping,” said Troy. “I just have a lot of crap to deal with at home.”
“Your dad?”
Troy shook his head. “My sister's girlfriend.”
The guy's eyes widened.
“I mean my girlfriend's sister,” he shouted over the music that had gotten louder.
His eyes still remained wide. Devin had come up behind the two and placed a hand on Troy's shoulder, “What is this drunken nonsense you're talking about?”
Troy was finally buzzed but he was nowhere near drunk as he turned to her and spoke coherently. “Alexa's sister is living with me.”
“Alexa doesn't have a sister!” Devin yelled despite being right behind him. She turned to the DJ who was eyeing them with distaste. Sure they were being loud but in this tiny space that looked like it was carved out of someone's basement and called a club, did it really matter? She shook her head at him and turned back to Troy.
“You thought so too, huh?” he asked.
Devin prodded for answers but Troy didn't feel like giving up anymore. When she noticed that he was unwilling to divulge any information she went back to the dance floor. Troy had gotten up from his seat with a final beer in hand and waved them a goodbye with that hand. As he made it to the exit, it was pushed open by two kids, a girl and a boy no more than seventeen. They were giggling as they snuck in and bumped past Troy. The girl had gone further into the crowd but the boy turned back in surprise.