"I know you are having a bad day," He told her. "This should help. You can have another one when we get home. Just don't let either of them know." He gestured toward the bathroom. Susan took long drink of the beer, not sure if she was supposed to finish it before the rest of her family returned to the table.
"Thanks, dad," she said. He was becoming her knew best friend, she thought. Or at least her drinking buddy. She wasn't sure how much longer that would last.
"Have you given any more thought about coming to work for me?" Nick asked, watching the hallway to the restroom.
"A little," Susan replied. "But I'm just not sure what I should do right now. When do I need to decide?"
Nick leaned forward to speak softly, "Why don't you start working for me part time this week. If you like it, you can accept the job full time. If not, then you can go to college in the fall. How does that sound?"
Susan smiled. She had never imagined that it would ever be her father coming to her rescue in her time of serious need. "I think that sounds good, dad. Thanks."
Chelsea and Jenny returned to their seats just as Susan accepted the part time offer. Chelsea asked, "What sounds good?"
Susan and Nick exchanged intense looks before her father finally answered, "I asked Susan to do some part time office work for me this summer before she goes to college. It will help me out a lot, and give her something to do."
Chelsea didn't know what to think of it. Office work couldn't be too dangerous. Susan was going to have plenty of spare time before the college classes started up in late August. It would be good for something to keep her occupied, especially now that she was not friends with Tish Hawkins. With studying and cheer leading Susan never had much time for a job before. To have her work for her father would be more serious work than most summer jobs. It would even look good on her resume down the road. It sounded like a good idea to her, too. She ordered a second margarita to celebrate the announcement.
"Are you sure your department will be okay with that?" Chelsea asked her husband, as an afterthought.
"Sure," Nick replied. "She won't have to handle anything too sensitive. Just some paperwork and maybe a little internet research when I need it." He gave Susan a smile and was happy to see her return it. "And she'll make a little spending money, too."
"Can I work for you too daddy?" Jenny asked. "I get out of school in a couple weeks, too."
"I wish you could, sweetheart," Nick responded affectionately. "Maybe when you are older like your sister. Or after she goes to college you can take over some of her work."
Susan's day got a little brighter. She finished her beer in front of her mother without her none the wiser. And she looked forward to having a second one at home. Maybe working for her father would be a good thing after all. She could find out all the secrets that Tish had been keeping from her. Then maybe find that girl and tell her what she really thought of her. Only she wasn't sure what she thought, anymore.
32 - Blindness
Tish was blind. She felt her eyes with her fingers just to make sure her eyes were open. She may have been deaf as well, because she heard no sounds. Then she snapped her fingers to eliminate that notion. She raised herself up to a sitting position slowly. Beneath her was some loose dirt on solid rock. She had been laying on the ground. How had she gotten here?
Tish remembered sitting on the back patio of her home. She had just made her announcement to work for her parents' company, obviously disappointing everybody. Then went outside to talk to them. When her parents went back inside they left her at the patio table by herself. Then something grabbed her at such great force, she could feel a soreness in her ribs. She was probably bruised. Hopefully nothing was broken. She would have a lot of trouble finding her way home if she had broken ribs. Of course, the blindness wasn't going to help much either.
It must have been a vampire, she thought. Or, she should say, a Kamilian in Sanguillen form, now that she knew what they were. She did not know which vampire, but the asshole banged her up pretty good. She must have hit her head hard enough to blind her. She felt her eyes again. They were not sore. Come to think of it, her head didn't hurt much either. But her neck was very stiff. Can you go blind from a stiff neck? She didn't think so. Maybe it was just pitch black dark where she was. First order of business then was to find light, if she could. Even if she was blind, she thought, she could probably tell the difference between light and dark.
She crawled slowly for a couple minutes until reaching a rock wall. She was either blind crawling around outside, or in a cave. Someone had said the rogues were hiding out in caves. That gave her some hope. She followed the wall to the right, but it ended in another wall a few feet later. She turned and followed that wall the other way. After a few minutes she was able to see a faint gray line in the distance. It was going up and down, but crooked. As she approached it became brighter. Then Tish was able to tell that there was a bend in the cave tunnel. Faint light from outside was barely illuminating the wall creating the vertical line viewed from her angle.
Tish followed the tunnel for another thirty feet until it opened up to the outside. The entrance was about five feet wide, but it was still dark outside. On the horizon it looked like the sun was either about to come up or just went down. Her bet was it being morning, the sun would be coming up. Hopefully, she had not slept through an entire day. If she started walking she would probably be able to see what was around her fairly soon. It would be treacherous until the daylight lit the area.
What she thought was the sound of insects started getting louder, like a horde of crickets coming at her. It stunned her long enough to keep her still as she listened, realizing too late that it was the sound of Sanguillen communication. Multiple vampires were approaching.
Tish want to run away before they could find her, but that would no doubt cause injury in the blackness around her. Maybe she should return to the cave and search for another way out. Thought immobilized her too long. Two vampires appeared before her out of nothingness. She screamed. They both hunched over to fit into the cave entrance, but one of them reached forward to touch her. She pulled back and screamed again.
A third vampire then appeared between the other two with such force that it completely knocked the one that was trying to touch her into the rocky entrance. The pushed beast hissed loudly like it had a puncture causing air to leak. As she stared in the hissing vampire's direction the beast that did the pushing blurred and shrunk to human size and form. It was Aaron.
Tish was relieved for an instant and took a deep breath before remembering that she had been abducted. This was not a romantic reunion. She reached out to slap Aaron's face. He braced for impact, but did not attempt to block the blow. Her hand stopped suddenly inches from his cheek as the remaining vampire grabbed her wrist with a firm bony grip. While still holding her arm with amazing strength that vampire also blurred into human form. It was Vicki Voh, Aaron's mom. She continued to hold Tish's wrist until Tish realized she now had the ability to pull free. She checked her wrist for injury as she pulled her arm to her chest, but it was too dark to tell.
"I'm sorry about that, Tish," Aaron said. "Actually, I'm sorry about everything." Another five or six Sanguillens gathered around them but none changed form. She was beginning to be able to tolerate their presence. She knew that it was from her knowledge that these were her people, Kamilians. Despite what form they took, they were practically family. Kamilians typically looked out for each other. Rogues, however, tended to only look out for themselves.
"Why did you kidnap me?" She snapped at him.
"I wasn't planning on it. I just wanted to be there when you made your announcement." Aaron squatted down before her like he was suddenly tired. His mother joined him there, so she decided to do the same, right there in the dirt in the dark. The vampires closed in around them remaining as towers of bones and gray flesh, wrapped in black cloth. "I wanted to hear it for myself, and to see you again, too. I was just going to report back to the coven what you a
nnounced. Everyone here was so sure that you would choose fame. But not me. I told the others I should find out for sure and report back."
"Yeah, well, they were not the only ones surprised, I can tell you that," Tish said.
"I know," Aaron responded. "I could hear everyone's reactions from where I was in the back yard. Then your parents came outside and started arguing, so I stayed to watch. It wasn't until they went back inside that I decided to take you with me."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because of Charlie, your dad. Thomas was coming outside when he sensed me there. It was harder for him in human form, plus all the other Kamilians around. I was surprised he could even do that, but eventually he did. I guess that's why he's the best rogue killer there is. That's what they say. Anyway, Thomas was going to attack me. I didn't have back up nearby, so I was going to have to run. But Charlie stopped him at the door, and told him to let me be. I was pretty sure that Charlie knew I was there, too. But he left you outside anyway, and sent your supposed protector and rescuer away."
"You're lying," Tish shouted. "Why are you lying to me?"
Both Aaron and Vicki immediately bowed their heads, and most of the vampires went to one knee in an awkward bow like dropped puppets caught just before it hit the ground. Tish had seen this happen before, at her home when she yelled for them to stop. She did not know why it happened, but apparently her anger caused them to be subservient. She would have to remember that.
"I'm sorry, but no. I'm not lying." Aaron brought his eyes back up to stare into hers. "I figured he must have been so upset about your decision that he figured he would be better off if you were dead. Isn't that what he's been telling you? That we were trying to kill you?"
Tish believed him. She thought she could tell when he was lying, and he appeared to be quite sincere. Her father wanted her dead? Could that be true? "What about my mother? She would never allow that."
"No," Vicki interjected. "You mother is a good woman. I have always liked her. I don't know why she choose to marry that scoundrel, but she would not approve of this. I'm sure that if it was in her power she would have stopped Charlie from letting you go. Chances are she didn't even know. I wish your mother no distress, so I would not have taken you if I had been there. But your father? You have a right to know that he is not a good person. He will kill his own kind to get ahead in the ratings. He has done it many times before."
Tish took a few moments to weigh Aaron's mother's comments. She knew it was possibly true. There was no reason to deny it. It all made too much sense. "So, what now? Are you going to kill me?"
"No," Aaron said immediately. Tish had anticipated that would be the answer, but she wasn't sure why. "We would all want to protect you, even if you weren't my girlfriend. But the fact of the matter is, I would die protecting you even if our leader wanted you dead. I love you too much to let you come to harm."
"Oh yeah? Then why am I so bruised up?" Tish asked, diverting from the confession of love in front of strangers.
"I apologize about that. We Sanguillens have difficulty..."
"Yeah, yeah, so I've heard. You don't know your own strength. Then maybe you should stop touching people, you think?" Tish was getting comfortable expressing her thoughts to these people.
Another round of quick bows, then Aaron answered, "Yes, you are right. We will try. Again, I'm sorry."
Nobody had anything else to say about the matter. They appeared to be waiting for her to say something. "Why don't they all change back to human form?"
Aaron looked around at the vampire faces above him, but Vicki answered, "We change as little as possible. Well, most of us do. Kamilians live for hundreds of human years. Some even longer. But every time we change form we damage the health of our Kamilian bodies. Do it enough times and morphing into another form could be painful. Each time we do it takes a month or two off our lives."
"Then why did you change now?"
"To make you more comfortable, dear," Vicki responded. She always reminded Tish of her own mother. She seemed as caring and always spoke nicely to her.
"Is your husband here?"
One of the vampires then bowed lower. "Yes," Vicki said, gesturing to the bowed Sanguillen. "This is Stan. He has had to change forms many times in the last couple months. I told him not to change now. We may have to change back quickly if your father or Thomas come after us. Sweetheart, why don't you rest? We will be back with some food for you. Then you can tell us what you want us to do. Okay?"
Tish was surprised. "You'll listen to what I have to say?"
"Of course," Vicki replied. "This is not a kidnapping. We would love the opportunity to be your protectors, and to keep you with us. My son loves you very much. We would prefer that you get to know us a little better, too. We are not the bad people that your father makes us out to be. Please, stay long enough to rest and eat some food."
Tish did. She rested there around the cave all day, talking with the rogues. She was even able to understand most of what the Sanguillens tried to tell her. Three meals later she was getting sleepy as the sun started to set. Tish felt safe remaining with the rogues, so she curled up next to Aaron on a blanket on the cave floor to fall asleep. For the first time in several months her dreams were peaceful. She awoke the next day after sunrise feeling well.
33 - Changing Sides
"Why would I even go back?" Tish asked, not sure that she really wanted a response.
Aaron shuffled beside her. She was thankful that he remained in human form the entire time that she had been with the coven. His olive skin was much more appealing than the pale gray ash exterior of the Sanguillens. His messy brown hair so much easier to look at than the slick, cropped look of the vampire hair. "Your mother?" Aaron said. He did not want to discourage her from returning, but had hoped she would remain with him the rest of their days on earth.
"I do love my mother," Tish responded. "Is there a way of letting her know I'm safe without me having to go back? I know she is worrying about me. Is there cell phone service here?"
"Oh my God!" Aaron jumped, causing Tish to visibly retreat. "Please tell me you don't have your cell phone."
"No, I don't," she replied defensively. "There are no pockets in this dress, which is now ruined by the way."
Aaron relaxed and sat down beside her, placing his hand on her back. "Sorry about the dress," he said. "And about over reacting just then. Cell phones are the biggest mistake that rogues make, I'm told. We have to take the battery out and stash them. We can only use them for very short periods of time and we have to be far away from the cave. Most of our coven have destroyed their phones and use the disposable kind only. I held onto mine in hopes of communicating with you. But the only time you called almost got me killed. Remember?"
"Oh yeah! I remember," she answered. Visions of that traumatic experience replayed through her mind. "That's when you all made me piss my pants. And it was the first time I saw my parents naked. Thanks for that, by the way. That's something I can't undo."
Aaron laughed and pulled her to him, wrapping one arm around her and kissing her head through her blond hair. He was delighted at how relaxed she had become in their association. Most of them remained in Sanguillen form the entire time, but she appeared to have no problem looking them in the eye when they spoke. His hopes that she would run away with him and his parents was gaining ground.
"We can get a message to your mom, if you want. We can text her using a disposable. What do you want the message to say?" Maybe if she could reduce her mother's concern for her Aaron could convince her to stay. He hoped.
Tish thought it over for a minute. "Tish is fine, unharmed and healthy. She says she loves you and will return soon. She wants you not to worry." Tish gave Aaron the cell number and it was done. Aaron wanted desperately to ask if she really intended to return, or was that just to put her mother at ease. Two minutes later a reply came.
Pam said, "Thank you. Please return her before someone gets hurt. And tell her I love her so much.
Can't wait to work with her. All will be well."
Aaron's hope plummeted. If Tish would be received well by her mother, and have the prospect of working alongside her, he believed there was a good chance she would leave him. After the message was read aloud Aaron got up to walk around by himself. He struggled with his options as he paced through the woods.
His first option was to persuade Tish to stay with him. He will likely have to do it again many times to keep her. And he could not offer her a very good life on the run. They would have to find some far corner of the world, steal some money to live on, and always be looking over their shoulder. The more you stole from humans the more likely you were to get caught, so moving around a lot was pretty much required.
Option two would be to encourage her to return home to her mother. That might earn him some points with her and her family, looking out for her happiness. It really was his primary concern, but human emotions were so difficult to control. If Tish returned maybe he could also. He was not sure if he would be pardoned like Tish claimed, but it would still mean leaving behind his parents. They would continue to encourage him to run off with them, so that puts him back at square one. He could not risk more attacks like that night at the lodge.
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