Chapter Seventeen
1
Ivan, Latianna, Christina and Miss Yancy, who now told the children to call her Gracey, ate their dinner in silence. Ivan did not eat anything. Latianna could not get enough to eat. And it was like pulling teeth to get Christina to even come to the table. Christina had not spoken a word since they told her about the death of her parents. She sat there at the table holding her stuffed bunny in her arms tightly. Her nose was runny and her hair was a matted mess from kicking and screaming into a couch pillow while crying. She had momentarily stopped crying. Her eyes hurt from crying and her nose was driving her crazy because it was so stuffed up that she could not breathe out of it.
“Your parents are in a happy place, Christina. They are looking down upon you now. They see you and are always watching over you,” Gracey said, running her hands down Christina’s back in a motherly way. Christina turned to face Gracey.
“Did they go away because I was bad? Did they leave me because Ivan and I argue too much? Did they get mad and decide to leave?” she asked.
“No!” Gracey said, her heart lurching out to the child.
“If I promise to always brush my teeth will they come back?” she asked.
“Oh, Christina! It's not your fault, sweetheart,” Latianna wailed, bursting into tears again.
“What if I promised to eat all my vegetables and never whine about going to bed? Would they come back then?”
“Christina, honey, your parents aren't coming back. And it's not because you did something wrong, it's horrible and sad, Christina. I wish there was something I could do. Your parents still love you and are always going to watch you from heaven,” Gracey said, trying her best to give the child a comforting smile. There was a long pause of silence.
“Am I going to stay with you now, Gracey?” Christina asked. Gracey, who was taken aback by this question, looked at Ivan and Latianna who were nodding their heads vigorously. She too sensed that if she said yes it would make Christina feel a lot better.
“Yes, if you want to stay with us,” Gracey soothingly. Christina leaned over and wrapped her arms around Gracey in a loving way.
“I do!” she said. “I know my mommy would really love it if I could,” Christina said, and everybody at that table knew she was right.
2
“She is all tucked in bed asleep, the poor thing,” Gracey said as she walked down the stairs to where Ivan and Latianna sat. They were sitting on the couch, drinking their warm drinks and talking about what to do about the odd and tragic predicament they found themselves in. It was only four in the afternoon, but it felt much later to both Latianna and Ivan.
“Miss Yancy—er, Gracey,” Ivan said, looking down at the floor.
“What is it, Ivan?” Gracey asked, sitting down in the chair across from the loveseat that Ivan and Latianna sat in.
“We are in a quandary about what to do next. We cannot just leave Christina here, and we cannot take her with us and be the only ones to take care of her. She needs a mother and a father figure in her life that Latianna and I cannot be. But we also cannot stay in this town, we have to get out. There are too many memories here of stuff that is long gone. We have to leave and soon.”
“I see where you are coming from Ivan, and I think I have a solution. You see, I am in a quandary too,” Gracey said.
“What is your conundrum, Gracey?” Latianna asked politely.
“Well, Mr. White is going to be released from the hospital. I am going to pick him up at six, which means I'll have to leave now, by the way. I'll be back at eight. I cannot let him stay in this town and be called a crazy lunatic for the rest of his life. But yet, we have nowhere to go, and no one to go with.”
“We have nowhere to go either, Gracey,” Ivan said, sympathetically.
“So, seeing that I already told Christina I would be her new mommy, and she needs a mother and father figure in her life, I think we should all go find our new destiny together,” Gracey suggested.
“Oh, but that is a lot to ask of you and Mr. White, Gracey,” Latianna said, biting her bottom lip.
“Nonsense, we have nothing better to do. We need this, and you need it too. Let us come with you. We will depart tonight, just as soon as I get back when there is nobody here who can possibly stop us. We will go wherever the road leads us. We can start a new life, in a new town, with new people and friends, and absolutely, positively, no vampires!” Gracey said with a slight chuckle. That at least got smiles from Ivan and Latianna.
“Thank you, Gracey. You have no idea how much this means to me, and will mean to my little sister. You truly are an angel,” Ivan said, giving Gracey a huge hug to show his appreciation.
“I am happy to do it, Ivan,” she replied. “Now, you two should really be getting some sleep. At least try to sleep from now until when I return. I'll wake you up and we'll leave, you can continue sleeping in the car. I'll be back around ten.”
“See you then,” Latianna agreed.
3
Mr. White was grateful to finally be released from the hospital that night. He was never so happy to see the shining face of his fiancé.
“Hello!” she exclaimed, kissing him.
“Gracey! You have no idea how happy I am to see you,” he said. He could not remember the last time he had smiled so much. “I was so afraid of losing you because you thought I was crazy. I do not have the slightest clue of what came over me that night… one too many Stephen King books I suppose. Redrum! Murder! Vampires! They are all nonsensical stuff indeed. I must have really sounded like a fanatical person!” Mr. White said. He still believed in vampires and that the Dyebukos were indeed vampires, but he was not about to let Gracey, who already put up with one bout of craziness, and the rest of the mental hospital know that he still believed it. People could call him crazy, but they could not call him stupid. Mr. White knew exactly what to do in a situation like that one.
On the way home, Gracey explained everything to Mr. White. He found himself extremely relieved to know that vampires were real, and to know that he didn’t actually go crazy. He questioned himself in the hospital, but everything seemed so real and it all pointed to vampirism. One can only imagine the relief, yet sadness, that Mr. White felt when Gracey started explaining the truth to him.
Although Mr. White was timid to embark on this journey that he was about to take with two kids he only knew from seeing at the library a couple times a week and a girl who used to be a half vampire, he was excited. And very much looking forward to starting a new life with nothing whatsoever to do with vampires.
Mr. White sat talking to Ivan and Latianna in the living room at precisely eight-thirty that night. They were making plans for later. They were going to head north, toward Maine. Latianna had been there one time and said it was her favorite place that she ever visited before. She also said that she had no knowledge of there being any other vampires living there.
“Ivan?” Mr. White asked, pulling him off to the side.
“Yes?”
“You took care of all the vampires?”
“Yep, I burned them, just like I said.”
“Okay. Good.”