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The clouds parted and my eyes were attracted to a slight shine coming from Uma’s stomach wound. My brain slowly adjusted to accept what I was seeing. I carefully reached out to take hold of a metal object that had been embedded in her organs. I winced, removing it while silently apologizing to her for the action.
I was holding an ornate bar with a notch in the middle. Noir wasn’t aware of my actions. He was too busy going into another villain speech I wasn’t paying attention to. I felt sick reaching over to Mauhus to dig around in his wound to find another bar that looked like the first one. When they had said being able to summon their ancestor was inside of them, I didn’t think it would be literally inside them.
Noir finally saw what was in my hands. If the color could drain from his face, it would have. His mouth dropped open, fear clear on his face. He started an order, but I was faster. I pressed together the pieces of metal to make a cross. I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t have any other options.
The world around me froze. I felt a pressure appear all around and the air felt thicker than honey. A rumbling shook the ground as the sky turned a deep shade of red. Crashes of sound came from all around. Each burst getting closer and closer. My chest tightened in a primal fear that overtook my body. Another sound came and I was too scared to realize it was that of my teeth chattering.
Blue lightning came down leaving a formless shape of white behind. My body almost couldn’t handle being so close to so much pure magic in the air. Slowly the power pulled together into a vague outline of a person. White glowing bat wings stretched out into the sky. The wings slowly shrank down, tucking themselves tightly against the ancestor’s back.
He wore flowing white fabric that moved on its own. Long pure white hair that touched the ground covered half of his face, but I wasn’t able to see what he looked like. For a moment a bat-like face showed, and then it blurred. Countless faces shifted within seconds. My mind couldn’t keep up or comprehend what this monster truly was.
The Younger Son held so much power he stopped the world around him and transformed it into something else entirely. I wasn’t on the same level to see his true form, just the vaguely human-shaped one. If he was like this then what was his father like? I couldn’t even fathom it.
I felt unseen eyes land on me. My body shut down for a second. My vision turned grey, and everything hurt. And yet I fought through it all to say a single word.
“Help.”
He would at the very least heal the twins. They were family after all. But what about the other two I cared about? I felt a wave of magic in my direction so heavy it made my lungs stop. When I recovered, I saw the twins were perfectly fine but Summer and Hunter still were frozen in time wounded.
I opened my mouth to beg this force of nature to save them as well. To my sheer horror, The Younger Son was in front of me. He placed a single finger on my forehead. I started to fall into the ground. Back to the past and to the worst day of my life.
I was no longer facing a mind-bending powerful monster. I was walking down the street scrolling through my phone with my sister and best friend Rudy next to me. I wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying. I missed out on their last words because I was too focused on texting a girl I thought was cute at the time. I heard the car but didn’t see it. I didn’t realize we had been hit until I woke up in the middle of the road, blood covering the side of my face and my leg twisted. The pain didn’t hit for a few seconds. My first thought was how I wouldn’t be able to stay on any of my sports teams. My second thought was about my sister.
I saw Rudy first. With his head turned around at an impossible angle. I knew right away he was gone. When I saw my sister twitch, I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t bring myself to move. I sat as the pain overtook everything else. The sound came of the crashed car straining against the road barrier and finally dropping off the bridge.
The driver had a heart attack. He had been having chest pains and decided he was well enough to drive himself to the hospital. He was dead before his car hit us.
I closed my eyes and opened them again staring at my phone. I was trapped inside my body playing out the motions of that day. I knew I just wasn’t mentally there. This monster literally brought me back to that moment in time. I knew what was coming and yet I couldn’t stop it. I strained to hear what my sister and Rudy were saying. I’ve always regretted not hearing his last words.
I was in the hospital for Rudy’s funeral. I could have attended but deep down it felt like if I went to his service then that was it. He was dead. His parents didn’t force me. They didn’t blame me for not going.
Again, walking down the street. My two loved ones were next to me until the car hit us. I knew it was just useless, but I fought against my body trying to change the outcome. I should have traded places with my sister. Why did I let her walk so close to the road?
The wife of the man who caused the accident came to the hospital. She apologized for what happened, face full of grief. She lost someone she cared about in the same accident. And yet I did something I’ve always regretted. I snapped at her saying she should be sorry because her husband killed Rudy and might as well killed my sister. She accepted my anger and left the room. I heard she died a few months later of breast cancer.
Why was this monster making me relive all of this over and over again? I lost track of how many times the car hit us. How many times I saw Rudy’s body? How many times I saw my sister bloody and alone on the road? I could have crawled over to her, but I didn’t. I left her and just focused on my pain even though I came away with the least amount of injuries.
Again, I felt the car hit us.
She’s still alive. The accident caused brain damage. She is now on the same level as a five-year-old. She won’t ever get to finish high school, go to college, get married, and have kids. I saw her a handful of times after the accident. My parents can’t retire because they used all their savings for her medical costs. But they love her. They love her so damn much. I was nothing but a burden on them. I told my father to focus all their attention on her. I would send whatever money I could, but I wasn’t ready to be her brother.
I ran.
I’ve been running for years.
Again, I sat in the middle of the road. Leg twisted, my best friend gone and my sister alone. Something inside snapped.
I started to scream until my lungs gave out. I vented all the pain, anger, and shame from my past actions. I’ve never hated myself more than in that moment.
“I should have been there for her! I should have listened to what they were saying! I should have been the brother she needed after the accident! Instead, all I’ve done is blame others and run from my mistake!” I screamed; my throat raw.
I gasped deep painful gulps of air. Tears stung my eyes. The pain in my leg faded and I saw I wasn’t in the middle of the road but sitting in the grass near my RV. The Younger Son stood over Summer and Hunter, his clawed hands reaching down to take them. I choked on fear and then noticed the glint of the silver dagger in the grass.
He was going to kill them. A force of nature I had no chance against was going to take away more people from my life. Slowly I got to my feet again, and I ran.
My hand landed on the silver dagger. I picked it up not breaking my pace. I ran towards that monster to put everything I had into plunging the blade deep into his back. I felt something snap, then I fell forward.
I forced myself to sit back up looking around trying to find the threat. He appeared sitting next to me, knees up to his chin and with a stable human face.
“What a human reaction.” His voice sounded like a soft breeze.
It oddly calmed me. Along with the smile that made him look almost like a child. I don’t know why he put me through the mental trauma he just did, but if he wasn’t a threat now I didn’t care for the reason.
“Please help these two. I’ll give you anything…” I asked, my voice cracking.
“You think your life is worthless. You have nothing to offer me.” He pointed out.
I searched through my mind trying to think of anything to give him in exchange for his help. He wouldn’t want money, or anything I owned. The cross that summoned him sat in the grass. We both looked at it and he shook his head.
“That has always belonged to me. I’ll take it back in due time.”
Then what? I rubbed the blood off my face and then stopped. Was my blood worth anything? Suddenly time around Hunter and Summer unfroze. They both started breathing. Summer was slowly dying again causing my mind to go into a panic. Could I give Summer some of my blood? No, she would use up all her energy healing her wounds and die anyway. If there was a chance, she would live, I needed to take it. I cut open my palm using my teeth then forced her mouth open. For some reason, The Younger Son placed a finger in her palm. I saw some white light I now understood to be magic pass into her. After a minute he spoke.
“That’s enough.”
I pulled away relieved to see Summer’s wounds finally closed. Her eyes didn’t open but I knew she was going to make it.
“Why did you help?” I asked knowing if he didn’t give up some of his power, she would have healed herself to death.
“I only raised my finger. The amount of magic I gave up was so minuscule I don’t even consider I used any.”
This person was so strong that Summer’s entire life force wasn’t even an observable amount to him. We did the same for Hunter, but he only needed two drops of blood and a brief touch to pass on the needed magic. They both needed some rest. I couldn’t rely on some help for the next problem. Once the world unfroze, I still needed to deal with Noir.
“I don’t suppose you want to lift another finger for me.” I pressed my luck.
The Younger Son gave a smile that made him look a little bit like a happy frog. He admired my courage for asking but refused the request. His hand reached over to pick up the cross to signal he was leaving soon, and I would be on my own.
“Bitten vampires have control over other vampires they’ve turned. However, your heart is still beating, is it not?” He hinted.
My mouth dropped open a little. I’ve never considered that Noir didn’t have full control over me because I wasn’t fully a vampire. Had I really fought hard enough against his control? Or did I just accept it because I didn’t know better?
“Thank you.” I said as I stood up, dagger in hand ready for a fight.
“I did nothing. You were able to solve your problems on your own. You just needed a moment to clear your mind.” The other vampire corrected.
That may be the case, but I still wanted to thank him. Because of him, I stopped running. With a blink of an eye, the world turned back to normal. Noir was confused as hell. The ones he nearly killed were healed aside from myself. Slowly he started to laugh at the outcome.
“That’s it? You summoned The Younger Son, and nothing happened? What a failure you are!”
He kept talking but I wasn’t listening. I stared towards him determined to finish what I needed to do.
“Do us all a favor and put that dagger through your own heart!” He ordered in a rage.
My hand twitched as I felt the words hit me.
Fuck him.
I kept walking. Fear replaced the expression on his face. He shouted another order. My body wanted to stop but I pressed on. He became frantic with his words, not understanding why they weren’t working. When I reached him. I kicked the middle of his chest causing him to fall hard on his back.
I fell on him, my sheer rage over how much he hurt Summer took over. He knocked the dagger from my hand, but I switched to my fists instead. He tried to shield his face, but it became clear he had never been in a fight before. His wounds healed almost as fast as I could make them. He started to beg me to just leave, and he would never bother us again.
Ignored his promises. My hand found the dagger and I brought it down over and over again,
My chest ached from the effort, and I stopped when my arms refused to move. Noir was reduced to nothing but a bloody mess in the grass. It was over too soon. I wanted to hurt him more. I needed to kill him again.
Someone grabbed me from behind to lift me to my feet. My vision turned red as I lashed out trying to kill whoever dared touch me. Within seconds I found myself wrapped inside a large jacket unable to struggle free. When I calmed down, I realized Hunter had his arms around me, pinning mine under his coat. If he hadn’t done so, I could have hurt the people I wanted to protect.
“No homo.” He said entirely seriously when he knew I regained my senses.
“It’s a little homo.” I told him.
“Not on my end.”
When I kicked at his legs he released me. I wasted no time to see if Summer was alright. She was the one he needed a hug the most out of all of us. She told me that Noir hadn’t hurt her while he held her captive, which made me feel much better. The twins couldn’t help themselves. They also got in on the hug, both on the verge of tears over how all of us made it out alive. Soon Hunter joined in, but I think he was trying to be funny.
That’s how the Agents found us. Two Living vampires, two Born Vampires, and one Hunter huddled in a group hug surrounded by bodies of dead vampires. I was so embarrassed I wanted to die.
“Late as always.” Hunter muttered seeing backup had arrived.
Soon the place was crawling with men wearing suits and a clean-up crew. By the morning there wouldn’t be much of a trace of what happened that night. We needed to be interviewed about what happened. Summer and the twins went first leaving Hunter and me sitting on the curb by a local gas station. A blonde younger Agent offered to buy us a drink and snacks after a long night. When I saw him pull out a wallet with cute frogs printed over it, I wondered what kind of people this agency hired.
We got our soda and waited until the others were done. At that time, I filled in Hunter about what happened with The Younger Son. I didn’t leave out anything. He listened to how I needed to face the accident so many times and about how The Younger Son acted.
“He was right. He didn’t do anything aside from mentally tormenting you and then got you to thank him for it.” Hunter said after I finished speaking.
“Maybe I needed to face some facts.” I replied defensively.
“You’re new to all this so you wouldn’t understand how frightening these monsters are. They twist words and wear a kind face to gain favor. You would have faced your problems when you were ready. There was no need for him to force you through all that.”
I bit back a reply. It felt odd to have someone looking out for me after I had pushed everyone away. Damnit, I think me and Hunter were friends.
“Was it wrong I let him take back that cross?” I asked.
“No. We can’t control those beasts. I bet the cross was just an illusion of control. Monsters with that much power do what they want whenever they want because they’re desperate for some entertainment.” He spoke as if he knew from personal experience.
I realized I didn’t know much about Hunter. Not his real name, or if he really only watched bad vampire movies. I didn’t tell him, but I hoped that I could learn just a little bit more in the future.
After a very long mess of a night, I was put up in a hotel until my RV was repaired. The Corporation acted fast. Any traces were cleaned up and my life was arranged to deal with my new nocturnal schedule. I switched to the overnight shift at the call center. I was put in touch with who I could buy blood from. And I was told if I drank a lot of good blood, I could stay awake all day if needed.
Summer quickly got a night job at a nearby gas station. She also started night classes to become a vet. I knew she was smart and hard-working enough to accomplish her goals.
I needed to do one last thing. I asked my parents if I could come over. We hadn’t seen each other in two years. They looked far too old and frail to be taking care of my sister. And yet they weren’t unhappy. I told them I wanted to be more involved in Annie’s life. I understood if it was too late. I had refused to see her all this time.
“We wanted you to be ready for this. And we understood if you would never be ready. If you think you are, then we’ll be glad to be a family again. But you need to be certain. Annie needs a brother. Not one that’s going to be in and out of her life.” My father told me.
I hadn’t cried in front of my parents since I was a child. Not even after the accident I let myself shed tears around them. I let myself cry then.
“I want to be her brother again.” I said between heavy sobs.
I expected Annie to hate me. Or to not know who I was. I wasn’t expecting her to act as if I never left her behind. I’ll never think I deserve her love. But that wasn’t going to stop me from being with her again. I loved her laugh. I loved how much she wanted to make others laugh with her. She was obsessed with fish and anything orange. She wasn’t how I remembered her. A lot had changed but that didn’t mean she wasn’t my sister. I was going to cherish every single moment I could get with her from now on.
Because I wasn’t fully human, I couldn’t spend as many days awake as I would like. I often pushed myself too hard and didn’t get enough sleep figuring blood would fix it. I didn’t have a shift at work after one day I spent with my sister. I decided to take it easy that night and to sleep as soon as I got home.
My plans were derailed when I found someone else in my RV.
Hunter had a bad habit of showing up. He claimed he was just checking to make sure I hadn’t turned into a feral monster. But I think he was lying and just used my place as a safe place to crash. The twins no longer needed him. Others heard that The Younger Son had been summoned and everyone assumed they knew how. No one corrected the rumors so now they were safe from anyone trying to mess with them.
But now I was stuck with a monster hunter taking naps with his shoes on in my bed. I learned the hard way not to try and drag him out. I nearly died the last time. He should at least not track so much dirt on my sheets. I made another mistake of trying to take off his shoes while he slept. Soon I was hauling him out of the RV as my broken jaw healed. I tossed him on the grass and then tried to rub away the dirty bootprint from my face.
“Just checking to see if you’re still acting human.” He lied.
“Bullshit.” I hissed.
If this kept up, I was going to charge him an Airbnb fee. I expected him to leave but he spotted something in the grass near the woods. I’ve learned in the past few months that he liked animals as much as Summer does. He turned into a different person around cats. Without a hint of shame, he baby-talked a stray cat out of the woods. He even got on his back so the flea-covered thing could sit on his chest and rub against his face.
“Have you given your future any thought?” He asked with his normal voice still petting the cat.
That was a topic I wasn’t ready for. I knew I was going to outlive my family. Living Vampires don’t die of old age. I was offered a job hunting monsters, but I refused. I didn’t want to risk my life. I wanted to make up for lost time with my sisters.
“I’m fine with how things are. How about you?” I shot his question back at him.
“For now, I’m going to get this widdle baby into a vet. Then I’ll keep fighting monsters until something kills me.”
I hated how fast he could switch to the baby talk and then back to being completely serious.
“Haven’t you ever considered something else?” I offered.
“I was born into a Hunter family. A real Hunter family. They breed down special abilities making us only useful for killing supernatural creatures.”
I’ve never even considered anything like that. I didn’t know how to feel about what he said. It wasn’t my place to correct his family’s ways if I knew nothing about it.
“You know, Hunter’s from these sort of families tend to have the fear of supernatural creatures removed from them. You can’t fight something you fear. We devote everything to just killing these monsters. I think it backfires sometimes. If you’re lacking hatred of something, then what do you fill that space with?”
I had no idea what he was talking about. I shrugged. He stood up carefully holding his new cat in his arms.
“Love. I don’t do this job because I hate monsters. I do it because I love the good ones. Killing the bad ones saves nice supernatural creatures just as much as humans. So, I really don’t mind what I do.”
I gave him a very long hard stare trying to spot the lie.
“Are you fucking with me right now?”
He smiled in a way that made me think I would never be able to figure him out. He left, cat in hand, and with a promise to come back to check on me.
I was tired from a full day out, but I stayed up a bit longer. I sat on the steps of my RV, soda in hand watching the sunset. I didn’t remember sunsets being this beautiful. I wondered if it was because of my new senses, or because I never just stopped to look at one before.
I did need to think about the future. But for right now I was happy just watching the days fade away into night.