* slurppppp* *sloooossshh* *nommmm nommmm*
My precious baby boy, who I affectionately nicknamed Danny, was enjoying one of his many late night feedings. “Danny, sweetie, slow down. Your ba-ba isn’t going anywhere!” I giggled, admiring my son. He wasn’t even a year old yet, but he was already developing distinct features, and a cute little personality.
Suddenly my phone rang. I ran over to my nightstand, juggling Danny (who was still sucking away at his bottle) in one hand and answering my phone with the other. There was only one person who would be up at 3 in the morning…
“Shellie!” I gasped, plopping down on the bed. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for months now!”
“Look, I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to…I’ve been busy with Carie.” Something about the way Shellie answered let me know that there was more to the story.
“How is Carie?” I asked, realizing that Carie must have been her newborn, my son’s half-sister.
“She’s doing…good. I can’t stay on the phone very long, but why don’t you come by tomorrow and bring your boy?”
“We’ll be there!” I hung up the phone not even noticing that she knew about Daniel, even though I hadn’t spoken to her since his birth.
The next morning, me and Danny headed over to Shellie’s house. The neighborhood she lived in was the complete opposite of mine. But I guess not everyone’s dad is a famous magician. I walked up the rickety stairs to her apartment. Her building looked very run down and, from what I heard, there was a bit of gang activity going on her area. If Mom knew that I was bringing Danny here, she would never forgive me. I lifted my hand to ring the doorbell, but before my finger reached the button, Shellie appeared at the door.
“Come in,” she said, refusing to step out of the darkness. I smiled and walked past her. “I hope you don’t mind,” she continued, following behind me, “But I’ve taken the liberty of buying Daniel a swing to sit in while you visit.
“How do you know his…” I began, but she lifted her hand to silence me.
“Madison, I’m a vampire. I don’t sleep. Most of the time I’m checking up on you at night, so I’ve overheard a few things. But if you wouldn’t mind putting Daniel in his swing and meeting me on the balcony.”
I complied not knowing what she could possibly have to say to me out there, that she couldn’t say to me in the house. As I walked over to the swing, I took a quick look around the apartment. Every window was covered with a metal like curtain.
“Titanium. To repel the sun’s rays” Shellie said, as if hearing my thoughts. I smiled, placed Danny in the swing and moved to follow her outside, but Danny started crying so I decided to bring him with me.
“You brought the boy” Shellie noted, not even turning to face us.
“I’m sorry, he wouldn’t stop crying. Sometimes holding him is the only way to calm him down.” Shellie’s eerie behavior was starting to scare me.
“Carie is the same way. Except I’m too busy to hold her all day,” she said emotionless.
“Busy with?” I questioned.
“Madison I’m going to be straight with you. I wasn’t just checking up on you at night. I had a bad feeling about someone trying to harm you, so I would often go to your house at night to make sure everything was ok. Don’t worry, I left Carie with a neighbor” she added, before I could ask.
“But wait,” I said, processing what she had just said, “Who would try to hurt me?
“I should have tore his throat out! I should have ripped him from limb to limb!” Shellie screamed, backing me into a corner. Fear overcame me and I instinctively put my hand out in self defense. “But I couldn’t. I just….couldn’t” she continued sadness somehow showing through her emotionless eyes.
“Shellie, please calm down. Who are you talking about? What are you talking about?” I pleaded with her.
“Victor!” she growled and it was at that moment, as if almost on cue, that Carie started to cry.
I decided to get Carie myself and walked inside, leaving Shellie with her thoughts. I put Danny in the swing and went over to Carie. I peered over the edge of the crib staring at the wailing bundle of blankets for a moment before sticking my hands in to gently lift her out. “Are you hungry little one?” I said sticking my knuckle in her mouth to see if she reacted with a sucking action (something my mom taught me to do with Danny). She responded by clamping down hard on my finger. “Ouch!” I wailed quickly taking my finger out of her mouth. “I’ll take that as a yes…”
I brought into the living room, where I motioned for Shellie to come inside. While I was waiting, I took the opportunity to bond with the little cutie. She was after all my son’s sister and no doubt would be a part of my life forever. I lightly tossed her up and down and tickled her tummy, her high pitched squeals bringing joy to my heart.
“You’re really good with her” Shellie said, walking in. “I was watching you outside. Carie seems to love you already.”
I smiled nuzzling Carie with my cheek, “well that feeling is definitely mutual. By the way, I’m pretty sure she’s hungry. Where do you keep the formula?”
Shellie froze before sputtering, “I don’t have any formula…I have to….t-to hunt.”
My eyes widened as what she had said just sunk in, “Carie’s a vampire as well?”
“Part vampire, a miracle child really. You see, while equally risky, it’s much easier for a male vampire to impregnate a female human than it is for a female vampire to be impregnated by a male human. What’s worse is, the chances of the child living for more than a month after birth are pretty low. That’s why you haven’t seen me in so long. I have been staying with the Cepi Corpus vamps since shortly after we first met. They took care of me until Carie was born and took care of her while I hunted for the first few months.”
“Wait you left Carie after you gave birth to her?!?” I asked shocked.
“I had to. The thirst a vamp feels after giving birth is the highest kind of thirst one can feel. Mother vamps have been known to feed on their babies almost to the point of death if no one intervenes because they just can’t help it. And Carie is part human so her blood would be favorable if I were ever thirsty. I did it for her.”
I looked down, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have judged you so fast. I guess I just can’t picture leaving Danny for more than a day, let alone months.”
Shellie smiled, “and that’s why you will be an amazing mom Madison. You already are! Daniel’s lucky to have you as a mom.”
“You’re an amazing mom to Carie as well Shellie. I mean, to go through months of separation. Only true love can allow something like that.
At that moment Shellie’s phone began to ring. She took a quick look at the screen and moved off to a corner to answer it. “Alo? Da, eu sunt cu ea. Ați găsit Victor? Ok, stai acolo. Eu vin chiar acum!”
Perhaps it was the puzzled look on my face, but as Shellie hung up the phone she said, “Sorry, that was the Cepi Corpus. They found Victor prowling again. We’re going to go…talk…talk to him tonight. I need to drop Carie at my neighbor’s house. But, can we come over in a couple nights?”
“Yea for sure! You could even sleep over. You know, if it gets too lonely over here.” I gave her a quick hug, got Danny and headed home.
By the time I got home, it was well past Danny’s bed time and he had no problem letting me know. I rushed upstairs to get him settled in his crib so fast that I didn’t even notice the seemingly strange girl in my room. It wasn’t until she called my name that I noticed her presence and that she was actually my sister Aubree! “Aub, oh my gosh I am so sorry I missed your birthday! I was with…”
“Yea I know,” she half-smiled, “You took Danny over for a play date with his sister. I get it. You know Mads, at first I was jealous when Danny came into the picture, but now I see that he is a blessing and I am so proud of you for overcoming all you’ve gone through.”
I took a closer look at my youngest sister. It seemed like just yesterday she was being a snobby brat to me. Now, she was mature, understanding, compassionate. It made me admire her. “Aub, you have truly grown into a beautiful young lady. I know your teenage years will be confusing and I just want you to know that no matter what I will always be here for you, ok?”
She simply responded with a hug as I fought my tears from escaping my eyelids. My sister was now a teenager and as much I wanted to be happy for her, I was truly worried for her. My teenage years were plagued with some awful times and I did not want the same reality for my baby sister.
