by Phil Wohl
likes any nuts,” Abe replied.
“Even cashews?” Lowery questioned.
“Nope.”
“How about pistachios?”
“Doesn’t like those either,” Ellison answered.
“Filberts?”
“Not sure what they are, but I’m sure those are out, too.”
“Walnuts? He has to like walnuts.”
Abe was losing patience with the aging Lowery.
“What part of ‘no nuts’ don’t you understand?”
“You’ve been getting testy with me lately,” Lowery shot back.
Ellison finally said what had to be said.
“If you haven’t noticed, we’ve been aging a lot more than we used to.”
While it was true that Lowery had put his mortality and the mortality of his protectors and hunters on hold, the artificial nature of the blockage was wreaking havoc on the unnatural order of things. Lowery was 30 years old when he was turned by Christopher Monroe while vacationing in San Diego, California. Monroe had since filled in his punch card of 100 deaths and then lasted another 10 years as a mortal before being trampled to death by a runaway horse and carriage.
Lowery now looked every bit of 45 to 50 in modern times, while Ellison progression had been significantly steeper, putting the seasoned protector well above the minimum age to become an AARP member.
“We only have one death left…” Ellison stated.
Lowery was bordering on over-confidence, if not the other side of that cocky fence already.
“They’ll have to get through thousands just to get a shot. And, who is going to take me out, Thomas Hartwell?”
Ellison could not argue with such logic, “You’ve got a point there. I don’t see him finishing the job in this lifetime.”
Hartwell’s wife Maggie had known him for lifetimes and could sense that her man was on the edge.
“What’s wrong, Thomas?”
There is no easy way to tell your wife that your very presence is endangering the whole family and, most importantly, a child still in the womb.
“We appear to have a major problem.”
Hartwell was usually less wordy and more precise with his communication.
Maggie looked at him with concerned eyes, at first, and then quickly changed the look to a “spit it out” countenance.
“My sire is back, he’s really pissed, and he’s coming after us,” Hartwell blurted.
“Why is he coming after us?”
“Maxwell, Kayla and Samuel, especially Samuel. Apparently, the breeding of vampire and hunter is a no-no in our community.”
“But, the kids are in love,” Maggie said like any protective great grandmother.
Hartwell closed his eyes and felt the energy surrounding Lowery. He opened his eyes and disclosed, “He is protected by many more are on the way.”
“Hundreds?” a concerned Maggie exclaimed. “At last count we had 18, plus a group of peaceniks and an unborn child.”
Samuel was now spreading his wings beyond his parents, as his abilities developed.
“Don’t worry great grandpa’, everything will be all right.”
“Are you sure?” Hartwell said internally to Samuel, but Maggie heard him.
“Sure about what? We are severely outnumbered,” she said out loud.
“Don’t worry great grandma’, everything will be all right,” Samuel said to Maggie.
“Are you sure?” Maggie said to Samuel internally, but Hartwell heard her.
“Sure about what?” Hartwell questioned before he finally caught on. “Is that kid talking to you, too?”
Maggie smiled, “Yeah, he’s something else, isn’t he.”
Hartwell nodded, “Yes he is.” He felt more assured, “Yes he is.”
SEVEN
The Winters’ family – Joe, Katherine, the twins – Bryce and Cheryl – and Valerie, who was Brandon Justice’s girlfriend – were living the good life on the West Coast until the distress signal came from Beach Haven, New York.
“Are those people fighting again?” a slightly-irritated Katherine asked her husband.
The family had completed their peace-seeking task and was now back in Portland, Oregon, or that was the original plan. They felt like outsiders in the house of Hartwell and were more comfortable at home in their Western surroundings.
Joe listened intently as Hartwell internally communicated the trouble that was coming their way.
“Okay, we’ll see you in a few days,” Joe said internally to Hartwell, which was heard by all of the family members.
Valerie was the real hot-head in this cool-thinking bunch, and she came storming in from the backyard, where she and Brandon were cultivating the soil for fall planting. She took off her muddy work gloves and places them on the white counter.
“What did I tell you about bringing that dirt into the house?” Katherine Winters said to her daughter.
Their quiet and peaceful world was shattered within a few seconds, and everyone was on edge.
Brandon was right behind Valerie and had luckily maintained much of the fastidiousness from his days as a vampire. He removed both of their shoes, and put both pairs of gloves on the porch, while he quickly swept the room clean to a sparkle.
Katherine was quite pleased, “That boy has some useful skills. I’m glad that his best vampire feature remained.”
“Stop cleaning up after me!” she said. Then she looked at her parents, “Does this mean that we can’t go to Stanford?”
The conversation was an exercise in futility for Brandon. He knew that if his family needed his help, he would be there right away. After all, Hartwell would never put him in harm’s way unless he had no other options.
Katherine Winters did not want to uproot her family again. The temporary nature of their sojourn from New York to Oregon started to feel a lot more permanent when the Big Apple was a good distance in the rear-view mirror.
“I don’t think that is any place for the children. They are not ‘special’ like these other kids that grow up in only two years,” Katherine stated to Joe.
“We’re not special?” Bryce said as he entered the room.
His twin sister Cheryl was close behind, as usual, and added, “You always told us you were special.”
Joe was under siege and knew that his permanent place was with his family, but he could not resist the call for help.
“This is all new information to me. The way Hartwell told me was that his sire was unhappy with Max and Kayla…” he looked over at the twins and chose his words carefully, “being together.” He looked at his wife and said, “She is pregnant with a baby boy named Samuel.”
Brandon instinctively started laughing in joy and clapping, but he was the sole elative being in the room. He was confused, “Why is this not great news?”
Katherine replied, “Vampires and hunters mixing has happened before, but…” she also looked at the little ones, “the production of another generation is frowned upon.”
Just then, Brandon got a flash download from Daniel, which depicted Alexander Lowery as Hartwell’s sire.
“Whoa!” Justice exclaimed as he went away for a few seconds to view the feed.
All of the tension in the room turned to concern for Brandon.
“Are you all right, Brandon?” Valerie asked in fear.
Brandon came out of it and needed another moment to collect himself.
“It’s Hartwell’s sire. His name is Lowery and he’s coming to get Samuel with an army of vampires and protectors.”
“How many?” Joe asked.
“It’s hard to say, but odds are we’ll be severely outnumbered,” Brandon replied.
Valerie always liked a good challenge, like the one she completed by extracted Brandon from his life as a vampire.
“I’m in,” she said simply.
It was obvious from the energy in the room that Joe, Valerie and Brandon would be headed back to New York, while Katherine and
the twins would be staying behind. While the separation would be painful for a tight-knit family that was rarely apart, it would go a long way to finally putting an end to the frantic bi-coastal lifestyle of a family with a peaceful duty. Katherine also hoped that her people would return in one peace, but it was the family’s nature to maintain a positive and upbeat outlook.
EIGHT
So Valerie and Joe Winters went with Brandon Justice back to Beach Haven to gear up for the fight of their lives. If they thought that taming a small group was a tough peace-keeping mission, then domesticating an entire hoard of angry vampires and protectors would be a long-shot at best.
“Welcome back, friends,” a chipper Belinda said to the trio as they walked through the front door of chez Hartwell.
“I would like to say that it’s good to be back, but…” Joe Winters started saying, as he was initially disappointed to leave his family and help fight someone else’s fight.
Brandon walked up and hugged Maggie, who he looked at as his mom, and then turned to re-focus Joe after his vampire alter-ego filled in some crucial information.
“It’s Lowery,” Justice simply stated.
“Who’s Lowery?” Joe asked.
“Hartwell’s sire. He’s coming after all of us, not just Kayla and Samuel. I can feel his heat.”
“Little bro’ is right,” Daniel said as he slipped undetected into the main room of the house, the sound of his voice preceding the visualization of his body.
He continued after he hugged Brandon and his Oregon posse, “We all have to be ready for the onslaught that is about to come our way.”
Daniel closed his eyes and silently summoned the rest of the group to the center of their living world. Hartwell and Maggie were first to glide into the room, primarily because their bedroom
