Wisdom: Updated Edition, page 24
“I told you to call me,” he said. “But from what I understand, you ran away from Milo and Olivia and Violet. You had plenty of back up with you, but you insisted on going it alone.”
I finally faced him. “It was something that I had to do myself.”
“And?”
“And what?” I asked.
“How did it go?” Ezra pressed
“I killed him.” The words tasted bitter in my mouth, and I gulped them down. I wanted to throw up or cry or laugh, but deep in my heart, I knew I had done the right thing by ridding the world of a dangerous monster like Jonathan.
“I’m well aware of that,” Ezra replied flatly. “Olivia called me after she cleaned up your mess. You owe her a debt of gratitude for that.”
“I’ll thank her tomorrow,” I assured him. I did owe her, and I felt bad for leaving her with all that. But I didn’t have the strength for apologies right now.
“Olivia mentioned there was a dead girl in the room with him,” Ezra said. “I presume he bled her dry before you confronted him?”
I nodded. “If I’d had entered the room even a few moments earlier, maybe I...” I shook my head and trailed off.
Ezra stood up and came over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t listen to me, but you handled yourself well. You’ve shown great strength and maturity, more than many other vampire hunters I’ve known. I’m proud of you, Alice.”
I wanted to thank him or apologize or just say something, but I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears. So I could only nod, and Ezra wrapped an arm around me, hugging me to him.
After he left, I went to bed, and thankfully, sleep came quickly for me. In the comforting darkness of my slumber, a glowing warmth spread through me, and I opened my eyes to find Jack sitting on the bed beside me.
“Good morning,” I said. I had no idea what he was doing, or even how long he’d been there.
“Hi. Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I just…” He licked his lips. “I don’t wanna be broken up anymore.”
“I don’t know what to tell you.” I pushed myself up so I was sitting. “I don’t even understand why you broke up with me.”
“I thought that was the best thing for you,” he said quietly. “I felt like it was what you wanted.”
I shook my head. “How could I want that? You know how much I love you, and how I’ve fought to be with you.”
“And what you’ve given up.” He sighed. “You gave up way too much.”
“I didn’t give up anything,” I said. Unless he meant Peter, but I hoped we weren’t going down that road again.
“You gave up being human,” he said. “For me, it never seemed like that big of a deal. But for you, I think giving up death really messed with you.”
“I didn’t give it up. I can still die,” I reminded him, but maybe he did have a point.
“And you’re so young,” he went on. “Compared to me, you don’t seem that young, but you are. You didn’t know what you wanted to do with your life, and that was okay when you were seventeen and had college to figure it out. But when you had immortality foisted on you, you suddenly had endless time, and you have no idea what to do with that. It’s too much.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But that just means that I have to figure it out. I can’t undo becoming a vampire, and I don’t want to die. So I’ve been trying to find something I’m passionate about, besides you. Something to fill my time with.”
“No, I understand that. I got afraid that I was holding you back.” He looked over at me. “This whole thing with Jane, when you were tracking down her killer, that was the most excited I’ve seen you about anything in a long time.”
“It wasn’t exciting,” I corrected him. A knot in my stomach twisted when I remembered killing Jonathan. “Murder isn’t fun. But it was something that I needed to do.”
“No, no, I know that,” he said gently. He studied me for a moment, then went on, “I know you were motivated by revenge. But it was more than that. You had this drive for justice, for trying to save others from ending up like Jane.”
I thought about it, trying to separate my feelings of grief over Jane to the actual act of searching for a killer. “I did like the pursuit, the puzzle of trying to solve it, and I really like feeling like I was doing something that mattered. Jonathan was killing people, and I stopped him, so he can’t ever hurt anybody else again.”
“Milo told me that you killed him.” Jack reached over and squeezed my hand. “I’m very, very proud of you. Do you know that?”
I shook my head in confusion. “No, I don’t. I thought you’d be mad, actually.”
“You stopped a serial killer.” He turned on the bed so he faced me and moved closer to me. “You are kind of a badass, and you don’t need to hide that from me, okay? I mean, if this is who you are… Good. I support you, one hundred percent.”
“I don’t think that I’m gonna go all Clarice Starling and start hunting serial killers,” I said. “It was a onetime fluke. But how come you’ve changed your mind?”
“I was never upset about you pursuing this or even going after Jonathan, not in principle at least,” he said. “I only wanted you to be safe and to be honest with me. I don’t want secrets anymore.
“As long as you are happy and safe, I will support anything you want to do with your life,” he went on. “I love you so much, Alice. All I ever want for you is health and happiness. If you’ll have me, and if you’ll be truthful with me, I still want to spend forever with you.”
I smiled at him but I didn’t get a chance to respond. Peter knocked on the open bedroom door. Hanging onto the wall, he leaned into the bedroom.
“Sorry to interrupt, but Mae is freaking out,” Peter said, but the smirk at the edge of his mouth led me to believe he wasn’t truly apologetic. “She says she can’t find some sheets her mother gave her or something, and since Alice has been taking care of the laundry, Mae really wants to see you.”
“Alice!” Mae shouted from downstairs, emphasizing his point.
“Tell her I’ll be down in a minute.” I sighed and got out of bed.
Peter lingered in the doorway for a moment as I grabbed a pair of jeans off the bedroom floor. I’d only worn a tank top and underwear to bed, but they were full-on panties that covered everything.
“Peter, why don’t you go let Mae know?” Jack suggested, not unkindly, and Peter took the cue and disappeared downstairs.
“Sorry,” I told Jack after his brother had gone. “I mean, that we didn’t get to talk properly.”
“No, it’s no big deal.” He waved it off. “We’ve got time, right?”
I smiled. “Yeah. Of course.”
By the time I made it downstairs, Mae had completely torn through the linen closet in the hall. She’d gone over to Olivia’s to get everything straightened out with Rebekah, and afterwards, she came over here with Daisy and Peter to get packing.
They were leaving tomorrow for Greenland, but they’d left most of their belongings in Australia because they’d been forced to vacate in such a hurry. Mae had gone on several shopping trips lately, but she still had things she wanted to get from our house before she left.
“Alice!” Mae yelled again, tearing an old quilt from the closet.
“I’m right here, Mae,” I said as I walked up to her.
“Oh. Sorry, love.” She pushed a curl back from her face and forced a smile. “I’ve just been so frazzled with all of this.”
“It’s okay. What did you need?”
“The blanket my mother gave me. It had roses on it.” She held up the quilt, which did not have any flowers on it. “Have you seen it?”
“No, I don’t think so,” I said. “Didn’t you take it with you to Australia?”
“No. I thought for sure it was here.” She shrugged helplessly, staring into the closet.
I left her to finish sorting through what few undisturbed linens we had in the house and went to the living room. Milo had set up a game of Candyland on the floor, and he sat across from Daisy.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
Milo shrugged. “Great.”
“Where’s Bobby?” I asked.
“I sent him away.” Milo motioned to Daisy, who seemed more interested in making the colored pawns dance with each other than playing the game. “Ezra and Peter are in the den right now transferring funds for the big move.”
“How does Ezra feel about them leaving?” I lowered my voice, and Milo only shrugged again.
“These dolls aren’t as much fun as my real dolls.” Daisy spun around the blue pawn and stuck out her bottom lip. “I wish Mae would let me take them out.”
“You’re getting ready for a new adventure,” Milo said, doing his best to sound cheerful. “Remember, Daisy? Mae talked to you about all the fun you’ll have when you get to Greenland, but you have to leave most of your toys put away until you move.”
“I’m sick of moving.” Daisy spun the pawn harder, and it went flying under a nearby chair. Her face crumpled, like she might start sobbing any moment.
“I got it. Don’t worry,” Milo rushed to appease her. He crawled over to the chair and reached underneath it, feeling around for the pawn.
“He’ll get it, Daisy,” I assured her, and her lip quivered. “It’s okay.”
“Is she getting cranky?” Mae asked from the hall. “It’s been a few hours since she ate.”
With his arm still stuffed under the chair, Milo shot a look at me at the mention of “a few hours.” Daisy was crabby because it’d been mere hours since she’d eaten. How much blood was she devouring in a single day?
“Ouch!” Milo winced and yanked his hand back from under the chair.
Before I saw his injury, I could smell it. A shard of glass left over from the picture frame that broke a few days ago had been forgotten under the chair. In feeling around, Milo had managed to impale it in his forearm. Some blood seeped around the edges, already smelling sweet and strong, but when he pulled the glass out, he bled faster and harder. The air filled with the scent.
Daisy was on him before either of us could react. Her mouth clamped onto his arm, and Milo grabbed onto the back of her head by her hair. He yanked her back, but she took a chunk of his flesh with her, which only made her more ravenous.
I bolted over and grabbed her by the waist, but she wriggled free. She was so small and powerful, and she launched herself at him. This time she went for his neck, and Milo couldn’t even push her off without her ripping out his throat.
“Get her… off me,” he said, his words garbled from Daisy chomping onto his trachea.
Mae ran in, yelling her name, but I wouldn’t let her near them. I didn’t trust her to do everything she needed to do to save Milo.
I used the same trick Jack had used on me when I wouldn’t stop drinking from Bobby. I wrapped my hand around Daisy’s throat, squeezing as tight as I could so she couldn’t swallow. Not that I could tell if she was even swallowing. Her bites seemed to be random attacks that had less to do with drinking blood than they did uncontrolled rage.
Daisy did stop biting him long enough to turn around and immediately latched her mouth on my hand. I moved back, dragging her with me so I could get her away from Milo. The wound in his neck poured all over the floor, and he pressed his hands to it, trying to stop the blood.
I wrapped my arms around Daisy, pinning her to me in hopes she would calm down, but she only seemed to get angrier with bloodlust. She screamed and growled as she clawed at my arms. Her little fingernails were like steel and raked through my skin, and she bit me anywhere her mouth could reach.
“Daisy, honey, calm down!” Mae begged her.
“Do something about that child now!” Ezra boomed, standing at the side of the room. “Or I will.”
“Alice, let me have her!” Mae held her hands out to me.
Daisy bit my arm so hard, she hit my bone. I winced, but I looked uncertainly at Ezra. I wasn’t doing a great job of restraining her, but at least when she was biting me, I knew she wasn’t hurting anyone else.
Then Daisy reached up and sliced the underside of my chin open with her fingernails. She tried to wiggle up, so she could get to the blood, and that’s when I let her go.
“Daisy!” Mae yelled, but Daisy ran past her.
Ezra and Peter blocked the doorway, and I stood on the other side of the room, so the little vampire had nowhere to go. She ran to the corner, as if hiding from us.
While I’d been trying to contain Daisy, Jack had come into the living room, and he sat crouched over Milo, holding a blanket to his neck. The scratches and bites that covered my upper body stung and tingled as they began to heal.
“Daisy, love.” Mae held her arms out and walked slowly towards her. “You need to calm down, sweetie. Everything will be all right.”
“No!” Daisy snarled, with blood dripping from her mouth. “No! It won’t! I’m hungry! I’m so hungry!”
“I can feed you, love,” Mae told her softly.
She reached out for her, and Daisy swiped at her. The little girl had begun to wail, but her bloodlust hadn’t relented. Mae grabbed her, wrapping her arms around her tightly, but Daisy fought her mercilessly, biting and kicking and clawing.
“Daisy, love, be still.” Mae stroked her hair, and Daisy nearly bit off one of Mae’s fingers. “Daisy!”
“I’m hungry!” Daisy wailed as tears mixed with blood staining her cheeks. “It hurts! It hurts!”
She threw her head back and began to scream. This wasn’t the scream of a cranky toddler having a tantrum. This was a child in incredible, intense pain from a relentless hunger, and she could do nothing to satiate it.
“Mae.” Ezra walked over to her, watching as she struggled to control Daisy, and he crouched down next to them.
“She’s not usually like this,” Mae insisted, looking at him with tears in her eyes. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen her, but…”
“Mae,” Peter said gently. “That’s not true. She’s like this all the time now.”
“It hurts!” Daisy cried, but she seemed to be tiring out. She had stopped biting Mae, but she kept kicking and wriggling.
“Mae, she’s in pain,” Ezra told her quietly.
“If I feed her…” Mae trailed off.
“When was the last time she ate?” Ezra asked.
“Three hours ago.” Mae swallowed hard and looked down at the sobbing child in her arms. She screamed and thrashed because of how much pain she was in, and even if Mae fed her now, it would only dampen the ache for an ever-decreasing window.
Nobody understood how it felt exactly for a child to be a vampire. By the way Daisy acted, I suspected she felt pain even worse than I did when I was starving. It had to be more than a lack of control that made her react like that. She was clearly in agony.
“Daisy.” Mae held her close to her, hugging her more than restraining her. “Daisy, love, please…” She squeezed her eyes tightly as tears slid out.
Daisy’s fight picked back up, and she reached out for Ezra, trying to claw at him. She snarled and almost lunged from Mae’s arms, but Mae held fast. In response, Daisy sunk her teeth into Mae’s shoulders.
“Daisy, I love you.” Mae whispered.
She kissed the top of her head, stroked her hair, and then as she held Daisy in her arms, Mae reached up and twisted her neck sharply. The cracking sound that her neck made as it snapped was barely audible, but I jumped when I heard it. Mae had decapitated the child vampire.
For a moment – barely even long enough to take a breath – everything was so eerily silent, it didn’t seem real.
Then Mae began to wail, and it was a sound unlike any I had ever heard before. Rocking the dead child in her arms, Mae wept with everything in her. Ezra tried to put his arm around her, and at first she pushed him off, screaming at him, but finally she relented, letting him cradle her.
Milo had lost enough blood where he was on the brink of blacking out, so Jack ran to get him a bag from the kitchen. I knelt next to my brother, holding the blanket on his neck, and watched Mae fall apart. Milo drank quickly, and then Jack carried him upstairs so he could rest.
My own wounds had already healed, but dried blood covered my skin and clothes. I should’ve went upstairs to change or hide out, but I sat on the steps off the living room, listening to Mae.
For a while, I didn’t think she would ever stop crying, but eventually, she began to lose her voice. She made small, croaked sobs and sniffles. I heard Ezra murmuring things to her, but she never responded.
“Alice?” Peter asked, and I glanced up. I’d had my head resting on the wall, leaning and listening. He stood in front of me at the bottom of the steps, his green eyes moist.
“Hi,” I said softly. I didn’t want to disturb Ezra and Mae, even though they were both far enough away and so lost in their own pain that they would never notice me.
“What are you doing?” Peter asked.
I had no good answer for what I was doing. I just… I felt like I should hear. Like this was my fault somehow, and it hurt listening to Mae cry like that, so I should listen. As some kind of punishment, so I could find absolution for a sin I couldn’t even define.
“Mind if I join you?” Peter asked taking a step up towards me.
“No, of course not.” I gestured to the empty space on the stair next to me, and he sat down. “How are you doing?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head, but his eyes were still wet and red. Daisy had gotten under his skin, and he had never wanted anything bad to happen to her. “Deep down, I knew it would end this way, but…”
“I’m sorry.” I put my hand on his back, leaving tacky bloodstains on his shirt, but I doubted he’d mind. “I know how you cared for her.”
“It is better this way,” he said thickly. “Her life would’ve been torture. She was going to keep hurting people, killing random living things any chance she got, and I think Mae would’ve stomached that. It was just… she was in so much pain.”
He exhaled roughly. “Daisy would wake up at night, screaming in pain. The hunger is too intense for something that small. They can’t…” His mouth twisted as he fought off tears.
