Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Vampire Summer ❯ Blood ( Chapter 18 )

 

 

Kenneth Brown was a handsome man. He was a Smythe on his mother's side, and a distant cousin to Cara and Betty, which meant he was also a distant cousin to me. He had warm brown eyes and curly hair and he laughed a lot.

 

We sat in the bar area of the restaurant listening to a lone guitar-player as he strummed ballads in the background. I had my usual glass of wine, and Kenny drank a beer. Cara and Betty were with us, talking quietly to each other, rather obviously leaving the floor open for Kenny to monopolize me. The trouble was, I didn't mind.

 

We talked about my childhood, about Crystal, about the lake—everything except my failed marriage and impending divorce. I felt a little guilty. Here I was, going out on a date, even if it was with two chaperones, when I was still married to Sam. But it felt good. Kenny was interested in me.

 

I had warned Johnny when I left this time. “Don't take off again. Crystal needs to be in bed by nine. You know where I'll be. You don't need to follow me.”

 

Johnny had smiled. “Why would I do that?” he asked. “Go. Crystal and I have our own plans.”

 

He wouldn't tell me what those plans were, except that they weren't dangerous and he would make sure Crystal was in bed at the appointed time.

 

I had brought back the bundle of papers that Betty had given me so that I could pass them along to Cara. Amelia had been her grandmother, too. I wasn't sure how much of the truth Betty knew, but I was fairly certain that Cara had no idea. Now was not the time to discuss it, however, with Kenny at the table. So I simply handed Cara the entire package. “Here are the letters we talked about last time,” I told her. “You can give them back to Betty when you are done.” I thought that was sufficiently vague.

 

But Cara rummaged around in her oversized pocketbook and pulled out a bundle of her own which she passed to me. “I spent the whole week going through stuff my mother had left me,” she confessed with a smile. “There are some letters there that belonged to her mother. I didn't read through all of it, so I'm not sure if there is anything about your grandfather in there. I'm still looking. My uncle inherited my grandparent's house, and his son lives there now with his family. I invited myself over for dinner tomorrow, so I could snoop around.”

 

Kenny looked with interest at us. “What's this all about?” he asked.

 

I tried to downplay it. “The ladies have been helping me try to find information on my grandfather,” I said. “Old letters, things like that. We haven't found too much yet, other than that my grandfather originally came from here.”

 

Kenny was too polite to pry. “Well, I hope you find what you're looking for,” he said. “I can sympathize. My own uncle moved away before I was born and the family lost touch with him. I've always wondered what happened to him. I'm glad your grandfather decided to come back.” He smiled and patted my hand. “Maybe we can persuade you to stay.”

 

I chuckled nervously, and ate my salad. When we got up to leave, Kenny walked me to my car. “I'd like to see you again,” he said to me, and my heart did little flip-flops. It was too soon for me to know whether I was attracted to him or not, but I definitely was flattered by all the attention. Luckily, the ladies came to my rescue.

 

“Lisa, why don't you come to my house next week, and bring Crystal with you?” Betty suggested. “I'll make it a family picnic and invite some of the relatives I think you'd enjoy meeting.”

 

“I'll bring my grandkids,” Cara said, warming to the idea. “My Ellie is close to Crystal's age. You won't have to get a babysitter, either.”

 

“All right,” I agreed, wondering already what I was going to do to make Johnny stay home that day. “What's your address?”

 

Betty told me, and I wrote it down quickly on the back of an old receipt I had in my purse. They really were very nice people, and Kenny was especially nice. My cheeks pinked at that thought.

 

The cottage was lit up like a Christmas tree when I got back. Johnny sat on the couch watching TV and Crystal really was asleep in her bed—with the light on. I switched it off and switched off the kitchen light for good measure. Then I kicked off my heels and flopped into the chair next to Johnny. I held the packet of papers Cara had given me in my hand.

 

“Thank you for keeping your word,” I said to Johnny. His eyes flicked to me, then back to the TV screen. I began sorting through the pile of papers. Cara hadn't been kidding when she said she had not bothered looking through them. There were bills and receipts and even a birth certificate in among the letters. I looked at it curiously. It was Cara's mother's birth certificate. She had been born in 1932. There were some pictures in the packet of papers, too. They fell out when I was shuffling through.

 

Johnny reached down and picked up the pictures which had fallen to the floor. He didn't hand them back to me. Instead, he stared at them for so long that I started to worry. “Where did you get these?” he asked at last.

 

“Cara,” I replied. “She's Amelia's granddaughter—other granddaughter,” I added unnecessarily. “She hunted through her mother's house for more information and brought me these things.” I indicated the pile of papers haphazardly strewn across my lap.

 

Johnny held out his hand for them.

 

“But I didn't even get a chance to read them yet,” I protested. Johnny's hand did not waver. With an audible sigh, I gathered the papers into some semblance of order and handed them over. He would get his way eventually anyway. “I'm going to take a shower,” I said sullenly.

 

When I came back, all clean and semi-dry from my shower, Johnny was still reading through the papers, a look of intense concentration on his face. “What is it?” I asked. “Did you find out anything more about my grandfather?”

 

Johnny looked up as if he were surprised to see me sitting there across from him again. “No,” he said, and he stood up, leaving the papers all over the couch. “I have to go.”

 

“Where?” I asked, but I knew he wouldn't answer. He never did. The door opened and closed, briefly stirring the papers to life. I gathered them all up again. At least he had left them behind this time. I had been worried he would take them and I would never get to read them. “He didn't even ask me about my evening,” I muttered under my breath. I shuffled through the papers twice before I realized that all the photos were missing.

 

I woke up bleary-eyed the next morning, and I couldn't even blame the vampire for it. I had stayed up half the night reading through the papers Cara had given me. It was fascinating stuff. Cara's mother had been the unofficial family caretaker. She was the one who remembered everyone's birthdays, sent out cards and reminders, organized gatherings, and generally kept track of everybody. If it weren't for Anna Lovall-Smythe, many of the family members would have lost touch with each other years ago.

 

There was a folder with names and addresses. My grandfather's name was among them, along with his old address in the Midwest. There was a Robert Brown on the list, with a Boston address. I wondered if he was the uncle Kenny had spoken of. There was also a whole slew of people who lived in various parts of Rhode Island who had similar names to the families in this town. I knew they all couldn't have stayed in Lockwood. No Price. I didn't expect there would be. Johnny had said he virtually disappeared sixty years ago.

 

Amelia had kept some of the letters from her cousin, Betty's grandmother, Elizabeth Crew. They showed the other half of the picture I'd only glimpsed by reading Amelia's letters from Boston. “'W' came around looking for you last week,” Elizabeth wrote. “I don't know what you ever saw in him. He scares me. Luckily he didn't see me and he went away again before I had to tell him you weren't coming back.”

 

I couldn't help but wonder if `W' had been Johnny. “I thought your father would kill `X,' she wrote in another letter. “He and his brother took the sensible path and left for parts unknown. He doesn't know why you left, either. He thinks it is because your mother caught the two of you together. It's all very hush-hush. Do you think I should tell `X'?”

 

The next letter was several months later. “I can't wait to see you again,” Elizabeth wrote. “Your very devoted suitor, you know who he is, can barely contain himself. You're sure there's no sign of the --?” She used dashes in her letter, instead of spelling out the word `baby.' “'Y' would take you back even if he knew about it, but this way is better.”

 

The last letter contained Grandpa's address. “Here is Philip's information, as requested. Are you sure it's wise to tell him after the fact? Please think about the consequences before you tell him about -- .” She used the dashes again. “What good will come of it?”

 

Here was proof that Amelia's baby had been Philip's child as well—my father. I don't think even Elizabeth Crew knew that the baby had survived, if the tone of her letters was any indication. But Amelia must have somehow contacted Grandpa, and Grandpa had come for his son. No wonder he never went back to the town until years later.

 

`Y' was probably Charles Lovall. He must never have known about the baby, but Amelia at some point had confided in her eldest daughter, who had kept in touch with her cousin, my Grandpa, and his son, her half-brother, my father.

 

Fine. So I finally knew who I was, but what did any of this have to do with the blood and Johnny and vampires? Apparently, the blood that Johnny treasured got passed down from generation to generation. Maybe it got stronger if there were strains on both the mother's side and the father's side? I would have to take a closer look at the genealogy charts again. I wished Johnny would talk to me. I'd like to know what he saw in the papers and especially in the photos which he kept.

 

I yawned and put on a pot of coffee.

 

Suddenly Crystal screamed. I rushed into our bedroom and she sat, wild-eyed and frightened, in the middle of the bed. “Johnny,” she whispered, her voice catching. “Johnny!” She screamed and jumped out of bed, hysterical, and began pulling on her clothes. “We have to go, Mommy, now!”

 

“Shh,” I soothed her. “It was just a bad dream. Johnny's fine.” Crystal usually never slept this late. Was she sick? I had a terrible thought. Had Johnny broken his word and taken Crystal's blood last night? Was that why she had been fast asleep when I got home?

 

I made her stand still while I checked her neck, the crook of her arms, and the backs of her legs for telltale marks. “What did you and Johnny do last night while I was at dinner?” I asked.

 

Crystal whimpered and tried to pull away from me. “We have to go now, Mommy,” she insisted, batting away my hands. “Right now!” She put on her shoes and ran to find my keys and pocketbook. “Come on!”

 

She was so upset that I went along with her. I threw a beach robe over my nightgown and slipped on my sandals. “I don't know where you want me to go,” I said. It was mid-morning. Johnny should be fast asleep in some hidey-hole by now.

 

“That way!” Crystal pointed towards the main road which led to the cemetery, and I turned my car in that direction. We passed the cemetery and passed Aunt Beth's eerily empty house, and followed the main road to town. Why would Johnny be in town?

 

“Crystal, honey,” I said, already formulating a game plan. Once we got to town, I would take her to the burger place for an early lunch. She'd like that. “Did Johnny bring you to town last night? You can tell Mommy.”

 

“No, Mommy,” she said, as tears began to course down her cheeks. “Hurry, please, you have to hurry. That way.” She pointed to a road I never even knew was there, and I turned left. It was a country lane with one big farmhouse at the beginning, then nothing for a good two miles. Crystal stopped crying, but her hands gripped the front dash, in the very place where Johnny had cracked it. “We just walked around the lake, and he told me stories,” she said sadly. “Did you know the lake gets ice on it in the winter?”

 

That's right. We had only ever been to the lake in the summer. Crystal had never seen the frozen lake. It was very different at that time of year. Desolate. Few families remained at the lake year-round. The dirt roads were nearly impassable. I had come up once with my father when I was little. There had been a storm, and we went to check out the cottage for damage. “Yes,” I answered Crystal's question. “That's all? You went for a walk and he told you stories about the lake in the winter?”

 

“Yeah.” Crystal leaned forward. “Here, Mommy. Stop here.” As soon as I had pulled off to the side of the road, Crystal scrambled out of the car and ran into the field across from us. I followed behind her, not knowing what to expect.

 

She ran through tall yellow grass for a good quarter-mile with me right behind her. I was afraid if she got too far ahead I would lose sight of her. I kept my eye out for `No Trespassing' signs and hoped that whoever owned this field hadn't put up wire fences to keep the cows in, or the trespassers out. I glanced down to watch where I put my feet in case this field really was used for cows, and I almost tripped over Crystal where she huddled on the ground, now sobbing openly.

 

A black mound lay on the grass in front of Crystal. At first I thought it was a dog or some other animal with dark fur, but then I gasped and involuntarily took a step back. The black was blood and the shape on the ground was Johnny. Was he dead? Really dead? I edged closer. He was curled into a tight ball and his clothes were soaked with blood, so much blood. Crystal and I tried to turn him over. We got him on his back so that his face was exposed to the harsh light of the sun. I gasped again when I saw his eyes move. They were the only indication that he was not dead. They were black with need as they tracked my movements.

 

“Help me get his shirt off,” I said to Crystal, tugging at his t-shirt which was crusted black and stiff. There were gaping bloodless wounds in his stomach, and I saw similar wounds on his neck and upper arms. All the blood had drained out of him. I had to do something. I couldn't just let him die. I pushed up my sleeve and held my wrist near his mouth.

 

“No, Mommy, no!” Crystal pushed against me until I fell backwards away from Johnny. “You can't. We have to get him to the lake.”

 

“What?” Crystal was probably right. Even if Johnny could drink my blood, and I was beginning to doubt he was even capable of doing so right at the moment, he had lost too much. He might not be able to stop, and in saving his life, I might lose my own, or worse, lose Crystal's as well.

 

Crystal tried to grab one of Johnny's shoes and pull him, but he didn't budge. “We have to move him,” she said urgently.

 

I tried lifting him up. He was considerably lighter than I thought, possibly from the loss of all that blood. Even so, I couldn't carry him far, and I was worried he might come to while I was carrying him and attack us. “I have an idea,” I said, taking off my beach robe and laying it on the grass. Together we rolled Johnny onto the robe and then picked up the ends and dragged him through the field to my car.

 

I felt like a murderer as we stuffed Johnny into my trunk and closed the lid. I slid behind the wheel, extremely self-conscious in my nightgown, and hoped no one would stop me. I had to get him into the cottage before anyone noticed.

 

Crystal had other ideas. “No, Mommy!” she screamed, as I went to turn up the road by the cottage. “You have to go to the lake!” She had me drive around to the other side of the lake, past the bridge, to a wooded area with no cottages nearby.

 

By this time, I realized that either Johnny had told Crystal a lot more about being a vampire than he had told me, or she could somehow sense what he needed because of her blood connection with him. In either case, I didn't argue with her. We hauled Johnny's limp form out of the trunk, and I prayed that nobody would drive by and witness me dumping a body into the lake. Because that's what Crystal insisted we do. “Put him in the water, Mommy!” she ordered me.

 

I did it. I waded into the mucky water and sank down almost immediately to my waist. I let him go and he slowly sank underneath the dark water. The last thing I saw was his eyes, open and staring accusingly at me. I choked back a sob. Was this how it had to end?

 

Reaction set in, and I began to shake. Johnny was gone. No more vampire, no more threat to me or my daughter. Then why did I feel so terrible? I waded back out of the murky water and started crying. My nightgown stuck to my legs, transparent now that it was wet. I didn't care. Johnny was gone, and I had done it.

 

A small hand rubbed my back. “It's all right, Mom,” Crystal said, finally calm after it was all over. “We can go home now.” She took me by the hand and led me to the car. I was soaking wet, muddy, and miserable. Johnny was gone, and I couldn't even tell anybody. Crystal sat solemnly in the passenger seat as we slowly drove back to the cottage. It was barely noon. How quickly life changes in the blink of an eye.