B007Q4JDEM EBOK (6 page)

“I find that hard to believe,
” I laughed. “You
’ve
always been a
great enough
uncle.”

“It's much more difficult than you could
know
, Alexis,
” Paul sighed heavily, “I take it Janet didn't explain much
,
huh
?”

“She didn't really give me much more than 'Paul's your dad!'” It felt wrong lying to Paul about some of the details, but by the way Salem reacted to even entering the building I felt he didn't want Paul knowing he was involved.

He smirked. “That sounds about right for her. This isn't easy for me to tell you...”

“What isn't?” I was getting impatient; someone needed to give me a straight answer soon before I went insane!

“You are going to think I'm crazy, and you are probably going to want to run awa
y,” h
e stared a
t me, watching my expression, “b
ut don't. I
promise you, there's nothin’
to run from.”

“Get on with it, Paul,
” I couldn't take any more
of these
vague answers.

“The Waldron
family is
different from ordinary people,” h
e was choosing his words carefully. I barely caught that he said 'Waldron' and not 'Hobbs'. “We are...vampire hunters.”

I
burst into laughter
, but there was little humor behind
what he said
. “
Vampire
hunters?” I shook my head, about to get up and leave. “
I knew it, it’s all a joke. You and Salem are both going to get it for this crap
.
I-”

“Salem
!
?” His eyes went from gentle to fierce, almost
fearful
, “p
lease tell me it isn't Salem Young.”

I opened my mouth to confirm his assumption, but stopped myself. “
You’re the one who set him up to it aren’t you? You’re obviously both in on it. Is there a problem?
”

“More than just a problem,
” Paul growled. “Salem Young isn't safe.”

“He seems perf
ectly safe, and friendly, to me,” I objected, “a
side from this whole birthday prank nonsense.”

“
Alexis this is not a damned prank!”
I somehow knew by the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes that everything I had been told was indeed true. “Salem…he’s one of them!”

“One
of...them?” I gulped. “As in a ‘vampire’
?”

Paul nodded slowly. “
He’s one of the ones that
live
around these parts that I haven’t been able to kill yet.
”

“You kill people!” I gasped.

“They aren't
p
eople
, Alexis. They're monsters!
”

“I don't believe in monsters.”

“Please, you
have to
listen to me,” h
e pleaded, reaching across the table to touch my hand. I pulled away.

“Why did Janet and Desmond pretend for so long, how are they involved?”

“They don't know the full truth,” he said quietly,
“I put you in foster care after your mother passed away, hoping someone would find you and give you a better life than I could ever offer
here on my own
. But, I insisted they let me be a part of your life. So, I played the
role
of your uncle. You can't imagine how hard it was, pretending al
l of this time to be your uncle,” h
e explained
with grief
, “b
ut, I told Janet that by the time you were old enough, I wanted you to know the truth
about where you came from
. I guess eighteen is old enough to understand
in her book
.
All she knew
,
though
,
is that I was your dad, and that your real mom passed away.
”

“Why did it have to wait until now?”

“I had to protect you from them, if they knew I had a young daughter...” he sho
ok his head, “there's no tellin’
what they might have done to you. It was for the best. But now you're older, stronger,
and more
able to help rid the world of their evil.”

“I refuse to believe this, Paul! You and Salem are just playing some sort of stupid birthday
joke
on me but I'm sick of it. It's not funny anymore, I'm out of here!”
I didn’t know what to think, my head was spinning. They both seemed so adamant about all of this, and I admit it w
as an awfully elaborate prank - i
f it was one
. It had to be one
. Why would they do this
,
though? It wasn’t funny at all, it was downright infuriating.

I got up from my chair, ignoring his pleading calls and left the room. Tears streamed down my cheek, from frustration and confusion. Then I looked out the window to see Salem in my car, staring back at me. I walked slowly out of the auto shop and grasped the handle to my door. I was afraid to open it, afraid that Paul hadn't been joking...but the welcoming smile on Salem's flawless face made me change my mind. I collapsed onto my seat and glanced over at him cautiously.

I thought over everything that I had read in vampire novels – noting the fact that he was out here, in the sunlight, not burning to a crisp. However, he
was
breathtakingly beautiful and he did have a pallid comple
xion, but he seemed harmless -
aside from
the bizarre episode about his ‘special abilities’
that he went on about
.

Salem opened his mouth to speak, but I put my hand up to stop him as I remembered what Paul had said. “
There’s more about you
than you let on last night isn’t there? You’re not just some far off offspring of a witch, are you?
”

He lowered his eyes. “Perhaps there is.
”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“I was afraid of how you would react.”

“But if you are what Paul says you are, and you try to avoid this place, why would you want to bring me here?”

Salem sighed. “I promised Janet I would.”

“How is Janet involved in this?”

“She knows my secret,” he spoke quietly, “a
ll thanks to Mark.”

“Mark? As in h
er boyfriend?”

He nodded. “He is one of us.”

“
What!? Oh my god
,
is she in danger!?
” I asked,
beyond
alarmed.
Regardless if she w
as my biological mom or not, I still l
oved her
.

“Of cour
se she isn’t,” h
e smiled reassuringly.

“This is all some sort of trick, right?” My voice was filled with panic as I stared at him with pleading eyes. “Tell me this isn't real. Tell me my mom is at home waiting for me,
and
that she's secretly planning a surprise party and is just using you guys to distract me.”

“I wish I could,
” Salem replied.

“
I don’t know what to think
.
This is all impossible,” I said, shaking my head,
“
Okay
,
I’ll play along Mr. Vampire, but I have one question.
”

“Anything.”

“Why, if my father is your enemy, are you willing to be around me? Don't you fear that it is in my blood to be like him?
Or even that he would kill you?
”

He smiled, “I told you before. I find you
intriguing;
in more ways than I can even explain. And, you haven't been taught in the ways of hunting, therefore I have nothing to fear from you.
As
far as Paul goes, I have nothing to worry about.
”

“
Okay
,
I have another one for you then
. If you’re a vampire how are you out
here in the sun?
Shouldn't you have shriveled up and died by now?
Or burst into
flame
?
”

He grimaced. “This is reality, Alexis, not a story. Everything you have read about vampires – most of
it is false and inaccurate. We a
re not beautiful, we don't turn into bats, we don't shrivel up in the sunlight and we are most definitely not afraid of something as fickle as
garlic
.”

“That's not entirely true,
” I whispered bashfully.

“What isn't?” He arched an eyebrow.

“The beautiful part,
” I averted my eyes.

“Consider me an exception in that
aspect, then,” h
e laughed.

“So
,
then it is all true?” I paused for a moment, “are you going to kill me
?” I really wished I wouldn't blurt out what I was thinking.

He put his finger on my chin and turned my face toward him. I flinched at his touch, trembling. “I have no interest in hurting you, or anyone else for that matter.”

“Paul said
you’re
a monster and that I shouldn't trust you.”

“Paul,” he said through gritted teeth, “is the monster. A lot of us haven't done anything wrong, not in several centuries. The hunters are the monsters!”

“But you used to be monsters?” I asked.

“Some of us, yes. Some stil
l are, but I'm not amongst those
.
These hunters
such as
Paul
do not
understand that many of us are different. They only judge us by what we are, not who we are.
”

I stared into his pale blue eyes, wondering if he was telling the truth. “If your kind is nothing to be afraid of, why do hunters even exist?”

“I said a lot of us, not all of us. There are some vampires that are still a definite threat to society, and that is why the Waldron lineage exists. Your
ancestors are
natural born hunters of our kind. It would overwhelm you to know just how many vampires exist in the world, how many exist in just this little town. That is why hunters exist.”

I gulped at his words, trying to avoid wondering just how many vampires were roaming around in what I thought to be a peaceful little town. Sure, Willowshire wasn't perfect – we had
criminals
just as any town did, but thinking that there were undead monsters roaming through the city sounded far more sinister than your everyday
crook
. “Are your special abilities a part of being...what you are?”

“No
,” h
e said quietly, “I have always assumed it was something to do with my mother's heritage.”

“Your last name
is somewhat contradictory, too,
” I said, speaking my thoughts again. “That is, assuming that part of vampire lore is
true
– and that you have been a vampire for a long time...” I was prepared to ramble, but he stopped me.

He smirked. “I suppose you are right. However, how did you know that I'm not as young as you are?”

“The way you speak, your love for classical music
and literature
, and
maybe a li
ttle that you can’t drive a car,
” I chuckled.

“Those are a
ll very valid rea
sons,” he replied. “o
f course, how ancient must
you
be to love classical music as well?”

“Ha! That has nothing to do with
how old I am
.”

We laughed for a couple of minutes, but I stopped abruptly and glanced at him. “How old are you?”

“I was born in 188
5,” h
e replied, bracing himself in assumption that I would freak out.

“You're 126?” I gaped at him
, quickly doing the math in my head
.

“More or less,” he shrugged, “i
t's hard to keep track
after all of this time
.”

I glanced up toward the auto shop window and saw Paul glaring out at us. I wondered if he
could see Salem despite the glare on my windshield
.

“We had better leave...” I muttered and Salem followed my gaze.

“Let's go to your house,” h
e said quickly.