***
Nathaniel suddenly sprung from his rudimentary bed of straw and old musty blankets, sitting up. The words reverberated within his mind as he shook himself free from the memory. It had been so clear, almost as if he were reliving it all over again. He shook his head once again. This was Vincent’s fault, he knew. He had thought the past all dead and rotting, nay, even bones, but evidently not. And he knew why. It was because of its father. Not the poor, feeble shell of a man who had fathered him back in Cimpulung, but the one who had “unmade” what he was and turned him into the vile and monstrous thing that he was. He had thought himself free of him many years ago, but now Nathaniel could see otherwise. He knew that he would never be free of him until one of them was free of this world.
8:34 p.m.
It was past 8:30 and Michael was still not home. Barbara frowned as she considered this fact. It was this time of day when she really looked forward to the company of adults. It wasn’t as if she never had the opportunity to have coffee with Vanessa or speak on the phone with some of the ladies from church… or even occasionally have one or two of them drop by for some fellowship. But sitting at the end of the evening with her husband, with the kids all put to bed, was, to her, rather like having a fine dessert at the end of a good meal, or perhaps an espresso. In any event, she was alone now.
She found herself wandering through the house for no reason at all. She went back to the master bathroom, but realized that she didn’t need to visit. Turning around, she headed back through the house toward the kitchen, but was not hungry, not even a little bit. She realized that she was bored. The television was on and although God knew they had 250 channels of programming, she just did not feel in the mood. She grabbed a plastic cup from the counter and walked it over to the refrigerator to get some water from the dispenser in the door. It was not that she wanted water, but it gave her a moment to consider what it was that she really wanted to do with the remainder of her day.
It was then that she thought of Tiffany Rosen again.
Barbara glanced over her shoulder to peek through her kitchen window into the Rosen’s kitchen to see whether there might be any signs of life to be found there. Light was present, but that was currently all. It seemed to be coming from the living room. Perhaps Tiffany was sitting up watching some television before bed. But was she alone? That was the question. Barbara glanced at the red digital clock display on the microwave behind her. It was about a quarter to nine. She had meant to check in on the girl earlier but had not yet done so. Even now, with the kids all tucked in and no Michael as of yet, taking a moment to drop by was not exactly the most optimal of circumstances. It was bad enough with just Jerod to think about, but now there were two babies to abandon, even though only momentarily.
8:45 p.m.
Vincent was unusually hungry tonight.
Though the old man’s blood still coated his stomach and he could have waited a while before really needing that next meal, he felt famished. It wasn’t his stomach that drove it, however. It was the power. Finding Nathaniel after all of these years and now immersing himself in the game made him insatiable. He planned to feed and feed often, to build up his considerable strength even more, and to keep it up until Nathaniel was his possession once again.
Will tonight be the night? he thought as he walked northward along 10th Avenue, brazenly down the middle of the public sidewalk, automobiles going past him in both directions. He paid them no mind. Who could stop him? He was the great vampire. Were there other vampires? Yes, considerably. But just like these humans about him, once they got wind of what they were dealing with they made haste to make way for him.
Before him the avenue met another road. It was still quite a ways off but he could easily read the sign from this distance: Roosevelt Street. Long before reaching it, the vampire had decided that he would take it and see where it might lead. Or rather who it might lead him to.
There was that little matter of his hunger that needed appeasing.
8:55 p.m.
Barbara Lopez opened her front door as quietly as she could and, double-checking that she had in fact brought her house keys with her, equally as quietly closed the door behind her. Sometimes using a door quickly was the best course of action, but she went ahead with the silent and meticulous method. Now that she was outside, she acted fast. There was no path between their houses, so, not wanting to accidentally squash one of the many frogs that frequented the neighborhood, she headed down the driveway toward the sidewalk. That wasn’t the only thing. In her haste, she failed to think whether she might need warmer clothing. Although summer was nearly here, the light breeze in the air caused her to shiver slightly. For her warm-blooded husband, 78 degrees was ideal; for her, it was downright chilly.
Behind her, heading her direction on the same side of the street, was someone out for a late stroll. Whether man or woman she was unsure because of the distance and the briefest of glances. It was the police detective’s wife in her again, doing her job. She ignored the figure and simply continued on her way.
The outside porch light was on, Barbara noted, as she approached the front door. She listened a moment before knocking, but finding nothing out of the ordinary, went ahead and knocked on the door. It took a few moments and one more series of knocks before she heard the footfalls on the other side of the door, followed by the turning of the locks.
“Hello,” Barbara announced as the door opened to her. Tiffany was there, dressed in a pair of cute pink shorts and a black My Chemical Romance 2007 concert t-shirt. There was no bra beneath, she also noted.
“Hi, Mrs. Lopez,” Tiffany smiled, at least seemingly pleased to have a visitor. “How’s it goin’?”
“Pretty good. How about you? I saw your mom and dad taking off this afternoon and thought I’d drop by and make sure that everything was okay.”
During the afternoon, Barbara had spent some time considering what it was that she might say to Tiffany, were she able to check in on her after all. She had considered using a ruse, and that had seemed the correct tactic; however, in the end, when suddenly finding herself face to face with her, the truth seemed best of all.
“Yeah, they went to our house in Morro Bay. One of our neighbors there called because something happened with some sidewalk the city is putting in. I was going to skip some days this week and go to the coast with them, but I’ve got some stupid test to take in French, as well as an extra credit report in English Lit that I really need if I’m going to get rid of that ‘C’ I’ve got there.”
“Oh, really. What kind of report?” She folded her arms tightly together in order to keep warm. It never really took much to give her a chill.
“It’s on Animal Farm.”
“Animal Farm?” Barbara questioned with a puzzled look. “Jerod’s reading that this year, too.”
“He is?” Tiffany laughed, clapping her hands together. “Oh-my-God! That’s too funny. How much does he charge to write a paper?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Barbara found herself laughing, too, as well as playing along. “Tomorrow morning I’ll have to ask him that while he’s eating his Lucky Charms. I’d wake him right now and send him over, but I don’t think your parents would appreciate you having any boys!”
Tiffany clapped her hands again and threw her head back in further laughter, sending her long blonde hair behind her. When she was still it reached to the middle of her back.
“Did you want to come in?” she asked, still giggling. “You look cold.”
She glanced past Barbara briefly and then came back to her, ignoring whatever it was that had momentarily distracted her. Remembering the person out for a walk, Barbara glanced back just in time to catch the person moving past them. It was a man, after all. He was obviously not out for a jog, wearing Levi’s and a long leather jacket. He b
riefly glanced in their direction, but continued on his way. Barbara noted that his hair was longer than Tiffany’s.
Barbara turned back to the girl and smiled warmly. Everything was fine here.
“No. Thanks. I’ve got to get back to the kids before they wake up and find mommy missing.”
“Okay,” Tiffany said.
“How long will your parents be gone?” she asked before turning to go.
“I don’t know. My dad said that they were going to do a few things for the summer since they were going to be there. Maybe a couple of days.”
There hadn’t been much to say after that. Everything was okay and in order tonight, apparently, but what of tomorrow? She sighed as she headed down the driveway and then turned for home. She had her three to supervise and now a forth one next door. Something caused Barbara to take a look and see whether that late stroller was gone; evidently so because he was nowhere to be seen. What she did see, though, was the fact that Michael’s car was still not where it needed to be at this late hour. Once again, she found herself not knowing what to do with herself. Taking her keys from her pants pocket, she let herself inside and locked the door behind her.
She then retraced her steps through the house, this time stopping and checking in on her sleeping children. She dallied a moment at Jerod’s door, pausing to consider how little time she had before he would be Tiffany’s age. Would she be leaving him alone? Probably not.
Not if he’s anything like his father! she thought to herself with a naughty grin.