“Taylor seems to have
come into his own.” She said,
smiling.
“Now then, here’s how it’s going to work.”
She took a drink of water, then turned to face the man standing next to
her. “Robert is the person to go
to if you have an issue with someone that cannot be solved any other way.
If you prefer, you may go to Sonya.
Different perspectives entirely, so think about what it is you’re
tattling on someone for. If all
else fails, I will, of course, still listen.
Just remember, some of you I’d rather cut your head off than be in the
same room with you. So, I
wouldn’t advise you to bring me into it unless you’re willing to risk not
getting what you want out of it. In
short, it would be best if you could work out silly squabbles amongst
yourselves.”
Robert smirked, knowing she was telling the truth.
“Is there anything you want to ask me about this?”
No one said anything, and she shrugged.
“Very well.” She said.
“Moving on to the next subject, this is a new beginning for us all.”
She looked slowly around the room, taking her time and watching for
discomfort from some of them. “While
I feel that those of you who were working for the Elders, and therefore against
the rest of us, deserve some sort of punishment…”
She paused, almost rolling her eyes, but not quite, “it seems that
Taylor feels differently. He
convinced me that what you did in the past has nothing to do with today.
And so, all past sins are forgiven, all past crimes are
pardoned, blah blah blah. I’m
sure he could put it nicely, but he is not here.
So, there you have it.” She
swung her leg around and stood up on the bar looking down at them.
“If for any reason, you cannot accept the fact that the
Elders got what they deserved, you are invited to leave this city.
We won’t stop you.
However, if you decide to stay, then you will need to give
respect to those who paid their dues in this thing.
Those of you who showed your loyalty to Taylor and I will be
offered living quarters in the building across from Central Park.
If you do not want that, that is fine.
The rest of you may continue living where you are, or in time, we will be
building something new in a lovely old neighborhood you are probably already
familiar with.
You are not to take anything from the people who live there.
We want to be good neighbors. Luckily
for us, no one believes it when poor people tell them that vampires are living
down the street from them. Understood?”
She placed a hand on her hip.
Again, no one said anything.
“Some things haven’t changed, and they never will.
Humans do not ever need to know that we exist.
Ever. If you
become a risk to the survival of the rest of us, you will still be eliminated.
Taylor will remove your head even quicker than me, just to warn you.
Do not think that you can get by with anything because he is nice.”
She smiled again, this time almost laughing, “Piss him off and your
head may explode. I’m not
exaggerating.” She paused again
and the smile faded. “He paid
quite the price for your freedom, do not take that lightly.”
She pulled the silver pendant from her blouse.
“We have a new addition to this clan of ours.
You will value his life as you do your own.
He is Taylor’s brother and is, of course, dear to him.
An act against him would be taken as an act against Taylor and myself and
will not be tolerated. Teach him
what you know, help him if he needs it, but do not hesitate to let us know
anything that we need to know. He
is one of you, just as much as he is one of us.
His name is Zachary. He is
young and may not know our ways for a while.
After all, it took his brother a while, did it not?”
She said, looking down at Robert.
“It did, Lady.” He said
back. He held his hand up and she
took it and jumped soundlessly down off the bar.
“I’m
going to leave you now.” She
said. “If you have questions,
you’ll have to ask Robert or Sonya. You
had your chance.” She drank the
rest of her water and sat the glass on the bar.
She glanced longingly at the sugar, then licked her finger and dipped it
in the bowl, “Mmmm…” She
said, sucking it off. “I’ll be
around.”
She said, and the door opened with a click as she waved her
hand toward it. “Be good.”
She smiled and left, leaving them to all discuss what they’d heard.
~~~~~
Zac stretched his arms over his head, and opened his eyes.
He found himself in a large room with dim lighting, but he recognized it
immediately. He turned his head to
the side to see Taylor looking back at him, a smile on his face.
“It’s about time.” He
said, softly.
“How do you feel?”
Zac didn’t say anything, but just looked around the room again, then
back to his brother. “Um, pretty
good, actually.” He said back.
“What am I doing here?” He
asked.
“Well,” Taylor started,
then he paused, “Let me ask you something first.”
He said softly. “Do you
remember what happened at home? You
and Avie were there alone…”
Zac furrowed his brow, thinking back.
He was actually finding it hard to concentrate.
Everything looked odd to him. He
found himself staring at Taylor’s face, noticing the green specks in his blue
eyes and the tiny whiskers on his chin. “Uh…lemme
think.” He said, shutting his
eyes for a moment. “We were
watching a movie. They left us
‘cause we both felt like we were coming down with something…”
“Yeah?” Taylor urged him
on. “Then what?”
Zac felt like he was wearing headphones, the sound of Taylor’s voice
was so clear and distinct. “Then…uh,
then…I don’t know. What’s
going on?”
Taylor took a breath before speaking, “Avery says someone knocked on
the door, and you answered it.” He
stopped, seeing if it would jog the boy’s memory.
His eyes locked onto Zac’s, “They kidnapped both of you.
She says you fought back, but there were two of them and they
hurt you.”
“Is she okay?” Zac
asked, sitting up.
Taylor smiled at him, “She’s fine.
She’s in the other room.”
“Thank God.” Zac
breathed out a sigh of relief. He
looked around the room again, “Why does everything look so weird—like, when
a tornado’s coming? You know?
That weird…clarity in the air?”
“Welcome to my world.” Taylor
said. Zac watched his eyes get
glassy. “You would’ve died,
Zac.” He whispered.
“What?” Zac asked.
“They hurt you really bad. You
were going to die.” Taylor said.
Silence lay between them for what seemed an eternity as Zac’s mind
finally grasped what he was being told.
“Did you do it?” He
asked.
Taylor shook his head. “I
was afraid. I didn’t want to hurt
you anymore. I don’t know how it
works.” Silence engulfed them
again for a while, then Taylor spoke again, “I’m so sorry, Zac.
I swear, I would’ve died myself to keep something like this from
happening.”
“It’s not your fault, it sounds like.”
Zac said. He felt strangely
calm, though he knew he should be screaming.
“Now what? I mean, what
happens now?
“Mom and Dad and the kids are
here. You want me to bring ‘em in
here? Or do you think you can make
it out there?” Before Zac could
answer, Taylor spoke again, “No, I think I’ll just send Mom in first.”
He said, standing and heading for the door.
He turned back, “Um,
you’re not feeling hungry are you?” He
asked.
“No, I don’t think so. Would
I know it if I was?” Zac asked.
“Oh yeah, you’ll know. Why
don’t you drink some water?” Taylor
said, pouring him a glass from the bottle on the table.
“I’ll be right back, with Mom.”
“Okay.” Zac answered,
tipping the glass up. His mouth was
dry and the water felt wonderful as it ran down his throat.
He continued to drink as he looked at the windows and the drapes in the
room. This room was very similar to
Taylor’s and he assumed it was probably located right next to it.
The last of the water slid down his throat as the door opened
slowly.
Diana
stepped in and her hands went to her face.
He could only see her eyes over her hands, and tears had begun to fall
already.
“Zac?” She
said, wiping her tears away. “Are
you okay, baby?” She asked,
stepping over to the bed.
“I
guess so.” He looked at Taylor,
standing behind her, “I mean, I’m not dead anyway.”
“How’s
your head?” She said, placing her
hand on his neck and stroking it.
“It’s
felt better.” He answered.
“I’m
sure it has. But,”
She said, leaning over and looking at him closer, “it looks better than
it did a few days ago.” Now she
looked at Taylor as well. “Taylor
says you’ll feel really good soon.”
He
twisted his neck and it popped, causing her to flinch.
“Be careful, honey. You
were messed up pretty badly there.” She
said, again wiping tears from her eyes.
“What’s
gonna happen, Mom?” He asked.
“I don’t wanna be like that. And
Taylor can’t stay with us—“
Taylor
stepped closer, “Zac, it’s…well, it’s easier to live here.
But, no one is going to tell us that we can’t see Mom and Dad and
everybody anymore. We can go to
Tulsa whenever we want. And they
can come here whenever they want.” He
stopped and looked at his mother, “I mean, I want to just chill for a while,
just to make sure that all the crap is over.
But Beatriz says it is, and I trust her.
As long as we feel it’s safe, we can see everybody.”
“So,
I’m gonna have to live here, in New York?”
Zac asked, looking from Taylor to his mother.
Diana
nodded, “Yeah. We all think
that’s best, at least right now.” She
said, taking his hand in hers. “My
gosh, his hands are like ice…” She
looked at Taylor.
“Well,
until he feeds, he’ll feel like that. You know how it works.”
Taylor reasoned.
Zac
shuddered at the word “feed”. It
meant he wouldn’t be going to Burger King or having his mother’s meat loaf
ever again. Or seeing sunlight.
He didn’t seem to be waking up, so obviously he wasn’t dreaming; he
really had been turned into something inhuman.
He looked up at his brother. Taylor
didn’t look that different, and generally, he didn’t act that different than
he did before. There were just
those few scary times…He closed his eyes and shook those thoughts away.
When he opened them, he looked at his mother again.
He could see tiny lines in her face that either hadn’t been there
before, or that his eyes hadn’t been able to see.
Possibly, a little bit of both. Having
a second son taken from you and turned into a vampire would age any sane person,
he thought. And his mother had
always seemed sane, at least to a point. “When
do I have to do that?” He asked,
looking back at Taylor. He swung
his legs around to hang off the side of the bed and noticed he was wearing a
pair of soft pajama pants. He
looked down to see a crisp, clean white t-shirt as well.
“You’re clothes were pretty
messy.” He heard his
brother’s voice in his mind.
“Whenever
you’re ready.” Taylor answered.
“You should probably do it soon though—you’ll feel
better so fast once you do that—“ He
stopped, knowing it probably wasn’t something they should talk about in front
of Diana.
Everyone
looked up as the door opened again. This
time, Isaac stuck his head in, “Can we come in?
Avery’s gonna freak if she doesn’t get to see him soon.”
“Sure,
come on in.” Zac said.
“I want to see her, too.”
Isaac
stepped in, followed by Avery. Taylor
smiled at her, noticing she’d found clothes in Camille’s closet to fit her.
“Hey,
man.” Isaac said, smiling.
“How ya feelin’?”
Avery stepped past him to sit next to her mother.
“Good,
all things considered, I guess.” Zac
answered softly. He looked at his
sister, “Hey, Ave. Are you
alright?
I heard we had a little adventure together, huh?”
“Yeah.”
She answered, slipping closer to him.
She leaned over to look more closely at him, “Sorry about
your hair.” She said.
He
furrowed his brow and placed his hand to the back of his head, “What the
hell?!”
he gasped.
“I
guess I was lucky they just took my blanket.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Really,
they coulda just took your shirt or something.
They just did it to be mean.” She
looked at Taylor, “They paid though.”
“Yes,
they did.” Taylor said.
Zac looked up at him, “They’re
all dead. You don’t have to worry
about them now.” He heard his
brother’s voice, but his lips never moved.
Isaac
looked over at Taylor. He’d heard
it too, which meant Taylor had wanted him
to hear it. “Know what?”
Taylor said, “We’ll just get Melanie in here with her
trusty scissors and she’ll fix it. We
won’t let her do you like she did me, though…”
He smiled, “Time for a change anyway.”
Diana
looked at her three boys, not certain what had just gone down.
“I’ll go get her.” She
said. “If you’re feeling up to
it.” She said, touching his
cheek.
Zac
sighed, “May as well.” He said.
They all watched her get up and leave the room, pulling the door shut
behind her.
“I’m
staying.” Isaac stated.
Taylor
crossed his arms over his chest, “You don’t have to.
You know that, right?” He
said.
“Mr.
Jones thinks it’s a good idea.” Isaac
answered.
Avery
got up on the bed, behind Zac and began to pull her fingers through his hair.
“You’re not gonna be blonde anymore.”
She mused. “That’ll
be weird.”
For
a moment, silence took over the room, then Isaac spoke again, “I heard you
tell Beatriz you want Lij and Izzy to stay here.
Who’s gonna watch them in the daytime?”
“Do
you really think Beatriz can’t afford a nanny?”
Taylor asked.
Zac
looked at Taylor, “We’re keeping them here?
With us?”
“Yes.”
Taylor answered. “They’re
mine, why shouldn’t they be here with me?”
“They
should.” Zac answered softly.
“I just didn’t know if you’d want them living with you.
‘Cause you’re…you know.”
“Yeah,
and so are you now. What’s your
point?” Taylor asked.
“Don’t
act like you don’t know all the issues involved here, Taylor.
Look what happened to Zac and Avie.
Plus, we could’ve afforded a nanny for Zoe too, but we didn’t.
It’s just not the way children should be raised.”
“I
know that.” Taylor said.
“And it’s not that I don’t want you to stay.”
His face softened as he looked at his older brother.
“I just don’t want you to do it because you think you need to.
I know you don’t really approve of this whole thing—“
Isaac
shook his head, “It’s not for me to approve
anything! You don’t have a choice
and neither does Zac now! I just
feel like, you two need somebody looking after you and I know
Elijah and Isabella do! You
know as well as I do, these folks don’t always act like the rest of us.
Mr. Jones has too much on his plate now what with all this
craziness. I just don’t want
anything slipping past, you know?” He
took in a breath and let it out again, “Besides, it’s time I moved out.
If it doesn’t work out, I’ll leave. I’ll go back home.”
Taylor
almost laughed at the thought of Isaac taking care of him, but then he
remembered that with the sunrise, the powers that had killed numerous humans and
vampires four nights ago disappeared and he became as helpless as an infant.
“Have you told Mom and Dad?” He
asked.
“Yeah.”
Isaac answered. “They
said I need to do what I need to do. Whatever
that means.”
Taylor
chuckled, “That means, they’d rather you didn’t, but they aren’t going
to stop you.” He sighed.
“Well, I love the thought of you being here, but if for any reason it
seems like…it’s dangerous or anything, I’ll send you home in a box.
Sort of like how you guys did me.”
He said, narrowing his eyes at his brothers.
“Dude!”
Zac said. “We
didn’t have anything to do with that!”
“Fine.
I believe you.” Taylor
said, looking over at the door as it opened.
“Here she comes.” He
said, as Melanie walked in, followed by everyone else.
“Wow, it looks like you’ve got quite an audience.”
Taylor said.
At once, Zac found himself surrounded by the rest of his
family, including the ones not actually related to him by blood.
Well, he thought, not by birth anyway.
He looked at them now, wondering which one had done the deed.
“Finally,
I get to cut that mop!” She
crowed.
“Just
do it.” Taylor growled.
“And it doesn’t have to be real short.
It’s not like you have to try hard to disguise him or
anything.”
Melanie
knelt up on the bed, and got next to Avery.
“Well, it’s long in the front still, sort of.
But back here, it’s pretty short, where they just whacked off that
ponytail…” She said.
“Alright, put your head down for me.”
She instructed. And she
began to cut the last of the long blonde hair that had been associated with them
for years as his family looked on, grateful to have him still with them, even
changed as he was.
Fin
