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bathroom and his constant humming. She missed his long legs stretched out in the walkway and all the dog eared, half read books he left lying around. Those were all things she knew she'd have to learn to live without. As her mind continued to wander, she looked at the clock, 4:43 in the morning. When the phone rang, she jumped, "Hello?" She said into the receiver.
"Mom?" the voice said.
"No, it's Jessica. Zac?" she asked.
"Yeah, get Mom." He said hurriedly.
"She's asleep." She said.
"Jess, it's important—get Mom or Dad—it doesn't matter who."
She sighed loudly, and got off the sofa and walked over to her parents' bed, "Dad?" she said, softly shaking his shoulder.
His eyes opened abruptly and he sat up, "Tay?" he said.
"No, it's me, Jess." She said quietly.
"I must've been dreaming." He said, rubbing his hands over his face.
"Dad, Zac's on the phone." She said.
"Oh. Ok, thanks honey. What time is it?" he questioned, reaching for the phone next to the bed.
"It's a quarter to five." She said, walking back to the couch.
As she picked up the receiver to hang it up, she heard her brother's excited voice, "Dad! He's here! Ike was right, it was him!"
Immediately, the room was flooded with light as Walker flipped on the light on the table. "What!!? What do you mean—like, his body?" Tears had sprung to his eyes. Jessica held the phone to her ear and watched her father.
"No, Dad. I mean, he's here. He's…alive 'n stuff." Zac said, a little too calmly in her opinion. Her hand flew to her mouth and she nearly dropped the phone as tears and laughter took over her face.
Diana rolled over and looked at her husband, then at Jessica. "Who is it?" she asked sleepily.
"It's Zac, Mom." She said excitedly, "and he says Tay's alive! He's alive, Mom!!" she said, as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Diana jumped up from the bed and ran to the couch. Jessica handed her the phone, "Zac! What's going on?" she demanded.
"Mom…" he said, "Ike was right, it was him. He's here Mom—" his voice trailed off.
Walker had finally found his own voice, "Where are you?" "We're on our way back to Springfield." Isaac had taken the phone from his brother.
"Ike?" Diana asked.
"Yeah, Mom." He answered.
It was hard for her to speak, "How is he?"
"He's ok." He answered. She knew there was something they weren't telling her.
Walker spoke again, "I don't understand. How did—"
Isaac cut him off, "Dad, I gotta go, ok? We love you. Go to New York and we'll see you there, ok?"
"Let me talk to Taylor! Now." Walker demanded.
~~~~~
Isaac looked over at Zac and held the phone away from his mouth, "He wants to talk to Tay." He whispered.
Zac looked in the backseat. As Isaac steered the car around a bend in the road, Taylor's head hit the window with a thud and his eyes fluttered open for a moment. The soft light beginning to brighten the black sky seemed to be sucking the energy from his brother quickly. Zac looked back to Isaac and shook his head. "Dad, he doesn't feel good right now, ok? But we'll call as soon as we can. Bye, Dad." And he ended the call before hearing his father's anxious words.
Zac wiped the tears from his face and turned in his seat watching Taylor again, "What do you want us to do, Tay?" he asked. All he could see were the whites of his eyes as his blue irises rolled up into his head. "Tay!" he said louder.
"I dunno Zac" he mumbled, "I think the sun is messing me up." And his head fell forward onto his chest.
"Ike!" Zac shouted.
"What!? What do you want me to do?! I don't know any more about this than you do!" Isaac yelled back.
"Well, if the sun comes all the way up, is he gonna, like, blow up or something? Should we stick him in the trunk or somethin'? Really, that's probably a good idea, 'cause that way, if he wakes up hungry, then he won't be able to get to us, y'know?" Zac blurted out.
Isaac looked over at him. He was staring at Taylor as if he were a snake about to strike. A glance back at Taylor though, told him he had more in common with an oyster than a snake right now. He was slumped in his seat so completely, he seemed to be part of the car's upholstery. "Zac, we're gonna just get a hotel room and we'll just sleep and see what happens. He's not going to do anything to you. He woulda already done it if he was." Isaac reasoned.
Zac raised his eyebrows, "I saw those girls, Ike. Don't tell me he wouldn't hurt a fly."
"I didn't say that—I said, he won't hurt you." Isaac said, as his eyes searched for billboards advertising hotels. Zac didn't say anything for awhile, so they drove on, lost in their thoughts until Isaac spotted a Motel 6. "Hey, there's one." He pointed.
"Hurry, Ike. It's getting light out soon." Zac said, looking out the window. The clock read 5:56.
~~~~~
"So let me get this straight—" Sonya said, her hands on her hips, "he suddenly got this big burst of energy, even though he hadn't fed yet. He jumped up, overpowered and attacked both of you and he tried to kill Camille and then Isaac woke up and saved you from him. Is that what you're telling me?"
Melanie glared at her, "No, not exactly." She hissed.
"Well, that's what it sounded like. Melanie, this is very important. Depending on where he goes and what he does—we could really be in deep shit here. Now, tell me what really happened." Melanie looked away for a moment, then, with a sigh, she began to tell Sonya what had happened.
~~~~~
"Ike, watch out!!" Zac shouted as a car pulled out in front of their car. Isaac jammed his foot on the brake and the car came to a sudden halt, sending Taylor slamming into the back of Zac's seat.
Zac yelped and leaned forward as far as he could, "Oh God! Is he awake?!" he panicked.
"Dammit!" Isaac cursed looking into the back seat. Taylor was now in the floor in a heap, unharmed it appeared, his sleep uninterrupted. "Zac, why isn't he wearing a seatbelt? Go back there and get him back up—that's got to be uncomfortable."
"No way!" he exclaimed.
"Yes." Isaac said, pulling into the parking lot of the hotel, "I'll go get a room. Gimme all your cash. I don't think we'd better use credit cards." Zac still stared back at him. "Zac!" Isaac was getting irritated. The boy just shook his head. Isaac closed his eyes for a moment, then he looked over at Zac, "You know what? Yesterday, he was dead. We were planning his funeral. I kept thinking, can me and Zac get through a rendition of 'With You in Your Dreams' at Taylor's funeral? Or could we just play the recording of it? Would it just be too much for us to hear him sing that song at his own funeral?" Isaac's voice broke.
Zac looked back at Taylor, feeling guilty now for the fear he felt whenever he was near him, "I know, Ike. I know…it's just—I don't know, it's like, I get chills or somethin' every time I look at him or think about it."
Isaac sighed, "You think I don't?! God bless, those girls scare the shit out of me. And knowing he's like them—" He stopped, trying to regain his composure again. He took a deep breath and sat up straight—"Whatever I have to deal with, it's worth it to have him back. He might be one of them, but he's still Taylor too, and we need to help him deal with this."
Zac turned back to look again at Taylor. When Isaac had awakened him, telling him they were leaving, he'd been shocked to see Taylor looking fine. In fact, probably as good as he'd ever seen his slightly fragile looking brother. Especially after the last few weeks of Taylor looking pale and tired—the energy he exhibited earlier as he went from room to room, gathering things he thought they'd need for the trip, his cheeks flushed as he took the stairs two at a time—and then, they'd driven away, leaving the three scary girls behind them, only to have him be overcome with fatigue and then an exhaustion so great, he appeared dead. That was what scared Zac more than anything. Though his brother walked around, spoke, smiled—as soon as the sun began to lighten the sky the tiniest bit, he was dead again. And what would he do when the irresistible urge to feed came upon him once more?
~~~~~
Sonya stood up, then began to pace, "You do realize he's not only fed now, but he's fed from two vampires. And not just a few drops, either. There's no way either of you two are going to have any power over him now."
"God, I hate men." Melanie mumbled as she closed her eyes, giving in to the urge to sleep.
"Hmph!" Sonya snorted, "You're the one that caused it. You could have just given him a little, but you wanted a little excitement….well, you got it."
Melanie opened her eyes again and yawned, "Yeah, but it's not fair that men are so strong—"
"That's the way it is Mel—they're strong, we're smart." She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "usually, that is."
~~~~~
"Taylor, wake up! We're at the hotel!" Zac yelled in his brother's ear. At least, he thought it was his ear—he wasn't sure since he was just a pile of hair, arms and legs at the moment.
Isaac came out of the hotel's office to see Zac standing by the car, the back door open. The sun was now visible, peeking over the horizon, casting a pink hue over everything. "Zac, what are you doing?" he hissed, "You're gonna wake up everybody in the place."
"Yeah, well, now I know what they mean when they tell you you're loud enough to wake the dead." Zac replied, stepping back.
"He's not dead, stop saying that." Isaac scolded him. Reaching into the car, he gently patted Taylor's shoulder.
"Ike, give it up. We're gonna have to carry him and we'd better do it now—the sun's coming up fast." Zac said, looking up at the sky.
Isaac stood up and sighed, "Alright. Yeah, you're right. God, I hope nobody sees us." Isaac stooped down and grabbed Taylor's arm, tugging to get him in a position where they could pull him from the car. His body was so limp though, it was hard to maneuver. Finally, he got his arms around his brother's chest, "Zac, c'mere. You get the top half and I'll grab his feet."
"Why do I get the part with the teeth!!?" Zac exclaimed.
"Because that's the heaviest part and you're bigger than me!" Isaac retorted.
Zac wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. "Come on! I don't want the sun on him."
Isaac spat. "Ok, ok." Zac said and he took the top half of Taylor's body and Isaac grabbed his feet and then kicked the car door shut. Isaac looked behind him as they came to the little stairway. "What room number?" Zac asked, panting.
"209." Isaac replied.
"Upstairs?! Damn, is there an elevator or something?" Zac gasped.
"Oh, come on you big baby! You go first though, we don't want him all upside down like." Isaac said as he spun around so that Zac's back was to the stairs.
"Yeah, wouldn't want him to barf up all that blood…" Zac huffed, backing up the stairs, "Oh wait, he can't puke anyway, according to that Sonya person."
"That's not what she said," Isaac said, out of breath, "she said some could and some couldn't."
"Oh. Hmm. So, if he eats stuff, he'll feel sick, right?" Zac pondered.
"That's what she said." Isaac said, dropping Taylor's feet once they'd gotten to the top step.
Zac gently lay his brother back down on the concrete, careful not to let his head hit, "God, that would suck—can you imagine? No hamburgers, no fries, no pizza! Hey—do you think he can drink stuff? Like soft drinks or milk?"
Isaac looked down at Taylor. He appeared to breathe, just much slower than usual. He looked back up at Zac, "Hmm, I don't know. I guess we'll find out." He said as he slipped the key in the lock.
~~~~~
Sonya looked over at the two girls sleeping in Taylor's parents' bed. She'd grown fond of them, yet they were maddening to her. The Lady Beatriz was not going to be happy about this. She wasn't Queen of the Vampires, but she certainly was a high ranking Princess. At more than twice Sonya's age, her powers were great and her beauty legendary. And so, when she'd asked Sonya to find and watch the two girls, she'd been both afraid and honored. Whenever any one of their kind got sloppy or aroused suspicion where humans were concerned, they had to be dealt with immediately. Sonya had been sent to rein them in.
Camille, considered a baby really, at only three years, played cruel games with her victims, causing them to fall in love with her, or at the very least, make them so sexually attracted to her that it drove them mad. Melanie, on the other hand, left a trail of death in her wake, not thinking twice about killing two or three victims in one night, causing the local authorities to call out a manhunt in cities to find the killer in their midst. Then, she and Camille would go to some other city using the money they'd taken from their victims. And they had lived this way since 1998 when Melanie had turned Camille in the parking lot of a large arena in Nashville. She still claimed she didn't really know why she'd done it. Perhaps out of loneliness or sheer boredom. Together, they could be lethal. Sonya watched the sun inch it's way into the sky. With a sigh, she closed the blinds and reached for the cell phone in her backpack. Before dialing, she closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to locate Taylor's mind. The only thing she could pick up was a bit of light. He was obviously miles and miles away, though not so far that she could feel nothing. She hoped his brothers would be able to take care of him. She shook her head, then began to press numbers on the phone, praying for understanding from the Lady and her peers.
~~~~~
Once inside the room, Isaac and Zac laid Taylor down on the bed. "Geez, this reminds me of that time he got drunk at Wendy Peterson's graduation party, remember that?" Zac said, standing up and rubbing his back.
Isaac smiled, "Yeah, he was sick for like, nine hours the next morning. I don't think he weighed as much then as he does now though."
Zac put his hands on his hips, "Tomorrow, he's gonna walk. I am so not carrying his fat ass around again."
Isaac laughed, "You just called the guy Mom calls 'peanut butt' a fat ass." The smiles left their faces as the mention of their mother brought them back into their present situation.
"Ike, what if they come after him?" Zac asked quietly.
Isaac looked over at Taylor, "I don't know, man. Just pray, I guess."
~~~~~
Sonya swallowed nervously, "May I speak to Lady Beatriz, please? This is Sonya Linsworth." As she waited, Sonya tried to go over in her mind how to say what she needed to.
"Buenos dias, Sonya. Why do you call so early?" she heard a lovely voice with a Spanish accent.
"I'm very sorry, I just felt you needed to know—" Sonya started, but was cut off.
"I wondered how long it would take for you to call." Beatriz stated, "Would you like to tell me about the boy?" she asked.
"What do you need to know, my Lady?" she asked, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice.
"Sonya, call me Beatriz. I've seen the pictures on the internet. The fans of this group are very distraught. They have pictures of the body as it was brought out of the vehicle. Pictures of an upset family. They are not stupid. What happened?" she asked. Taking a deep breath, Sonya began to tell the story of the short life, death and afterlife so far, of Taylor Hanson.