Samson

by Barton, Kathi S

  “I’ve contacted Morgan. He’s going to be looking for Kenny. He said that he’s not where the girls are.” Nodding, he heard back from his brothers that they were en route to the building. “Hanna, I want you to stay together. All right? We’re nearly there. So are Sampson’s brothers. Do you see any of them yet?”

  “Are they big fucking tigers?” Sampson heard Melissa tell Hanna to watch her mouth, to which Allie replied that they were big fucking tigers. “There are three of them here with us. And they are big. Black too.”

  “That’s them. They won’t let anything come near you.” Hanna said that she was worried about becoming dinner. “No worries on that. They don’t eat little girls. They like to eat bad men so that they stop looking for little girls.”

  “You’re not very funny. When this is over, I’m going to find you a funny book.” Hanna spoke to someone else, and then she laughed. “Your dad is here. He said that he’s going to translate for us. I can understand you pretty well. Is that what he means?”

  “I think he means my brothers. They can talk to him because they—” The scream startled fifty years off his life, and Allie was screaming at someone to tell her what had happened. “Damn it, someone tell me what the hell is going on there.”

  “A man came out of the shadows and scared us. I don’t think he’ll be doing that again.” Allie asked Hanna if she knew who he was. “Yeah. Grandpa Buck said that it was all right, that his name is Kenny. He’s been beaten up pretty good. Another man, a vampire, took him away after finding out that we were all right.”

  “That’s good. We’re pulling in right now. All right.” Hanna broke down crying when Sampson told her they were coming. “It’s all right, honey. We’re going to take care of you as soon as we get you to our home. It’ll be fine now. I promise you. No one will ever harm you again.”

  Allie hugged all three of the girls and looked at Lynette’s head. There was a gash there that he’d bet would need stitches, and there was some bruising on both of the others. Sampson was about to go and find the bastard when Morgan brought someone into the building with them.

  “Here he is. This monster has been terrorizing these children for days now.” With a hard shake, Morgan dropped the man to the floor. Before anyone could react, Lynette moved over to the man and kicked him in the head. “Good for you, young miss. You were a little easier on him than I would have been.”

  “He frightened us. For weeks he’d hide in dark corners and jump out at us. When we had food, he’d make us give it to him, or he’d hit us more.” Sampson asked Lynette if the man had hit them often. “If I had a gun, I’d show you how many times he hit us. I’d shoot him full of holes.”

  “I’ll take care of him. I know his master.” Sampson asked if the man would be dealt with quickly. “No, I’d say not. Not by his master nor the kiss he was supposed to be with. I’d say that he’s well on his way to meeting his death.”

  Sampson watched the three girls, wondering what they’d say about the man who had hurt them so much. Would they not want him to die? Would they say it wasn’t that bad? But Melissa spit on the man and glared before speaking to Morgan.

  “My sisters and I had to go hungry for a week when you took our only food. Our blankets were peed on so badly that we had to toss them out. You scared us when we came back to sleep here. You even locked us out of here, where we’d been for a while when it poured down rain. If your master, or whatever he is, was here now, I’d tell him to make you pay us back.” A man, a tall man, dressed in bright colors, appeared in the room. Melissa didn’t miss a beat but scolded him too. “How can you let this animal—that’s what he is, too—come around and hurt little kids? You should be ashamed of yourself. Why, if I were a vampire, I’d kick you out of the club or whatever it is you’re in. He made us so afraid that I’d like to hurt him again.”

  “Do you know what I am?” Melissa nodded, then crossed her arms over her chest as if to dare him to question her about this. “I see. You’re much braver than I thought you to be for a mere human. But, I would like to say that I am sorry for his actions. He will pay you back in the form of his reserves. He will no longer have any use for it when I am finished with him.”

  “You should know something else. There are several dead bodies buried in this building.” No one moved. The vampire knelt down to Melissa’s level when the other vampire disappeared. He told her his name and then asked her if she knew who had put them there. “Sure, I do. I’m not stupid. I saw that other person kill them. On some of the nights that it was my turn to keep watch, I’d see him come in here and kill them. Then he’d laugh while he buried them in the ground.”

  Winston, the elder vampire, looked at Sampson before looking back at Melissa. “You are much more brave than even I could have imagined. Do you know what he would have done had he seen you watching him? He would have murdered you. And your sisters. No matter what you would have done to protect yourself.” Melissa looked at him. Sampson put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her sisters close to him. “This is a good man. Lord Prince and his mate, they are good people. They will protect you better than any army, better than any magic that I know of. They are older than even I, who has been around longer than most. If you are a smart girl, which I see no reason to doubt you are, staying with them, allowing them to take you in, will mean that you will never be harmed by anyone ever again.”

  “They want us to live with them.” Lynette stepped forward when she spoke to Winston. “I was afraid, after seeing them today, that they’d not come when we needed them. It’s hard to know who to trust nowadays.”

  “Yes, that is true.” Winston stood up and smiled at him. “You could do no better, my lord, than to make this little one your second. She will defend you better than any cat or other creature that I have encountered.”

  “I think you might be right.” Sampson put out his hand. “I should like for you to be welcome here in our area as well. So long as there is no more trouble around our town. Another vampire and his mate are currently staying here but will return to their own home soon. Also, I wanted to thank you for making sure that justice was served for these little ones.”

  “I shall make it right. Of that, you should have no fear.” Winston looked down at the three of them. This time his smile was nice, without the horror that had been on his face when he first appeared. “I have a gift for the three of you. The gift I have for you will be the ability to see what every creature is. Not only their true forms, but what is in their hearts as well. In addition to that, if you were to allow me to have a small taste of your blood, I will be there for you, should you ever need me. I will be able to find you no matter where you have been hidden, and come to you when you’re afraid or in need.”

  “Thank you.” Melissa smiled back at Winston before offering her hand to him. “You hurt me or anyone in my family, and you will wish that the other man had killed us. Do you understand me?”

  Winston looked at Sampson again and then threw back his head in genuine laughter. He laughed hard as he took Melissa’s hand into his. To Sampson, it sounded like Winston wasn’t used to smiling, much less laughing so unrestrained. He could understand his humor, however. It wasn’t often that a small human could make someone as large as them shake in their boots. Sampson had no doubt that she’d do just what she said she would.

  Gathering up whatever was there that belonged to them, Sampson had to hold onto his laughter several times as his family tried to help and were shoved aside. The only person that seemed to be getting anywhere with the girls was his dad. And it was probably a good hour after they got home that Dad came over to talk to him. He’d only just then realized that they were already calling him Grandpa Buck.

  “Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” Sampson told his dad that it did at that. “I heard from Allie that you were going to adopt the three of them if they’ll allow you to. I have to tell you, son, they are sure pretty little things. A
nd scary too. Even your mom, she said she’d not tangle with any of them, but would love them to pieces.”

  “Allie made sure they liked their rooms, then introduced them to Shin. He and the rest of the workers have taken a shine to them as well.” Dad said he didn’t think that they’d have any trouble with them. “No, they’re good girls. Allie is already in love with them. Her and Mom go and see their grandmother tomorrow. I’m worried about that.”

  “She won’t be able to hurt them none. Sara will watch over Allie too.” Sampson told his dad that wasn’t who he was worried about. “Oh. Well, I guess I’d say that woman is in for some lecturing too. If she’s lucky. You going with them?”

  “No. I have to meet Winston at the bank tomorrow to set up the girls’ accounts. I haven’t any idea how much their payment is, but I’m betting that it’s a fair amount. It’ll help them pay for college or buy them a car if they want one. I’m not going to dictate over that money at all. Allie and I agreed that they earned it on their own, and should be able to decide what happens to it.” Dad asked him about the other bodies. “There were sixteen men and women buried there and around the building. Winston is making sure that their families are taken care of, and he’s decided to pay for their burials.”

  “That was decent of him.” Sampson said he thought so too.

  Both he and his dad stood up when the four women in his life entered the room. It was dad who spoke first. Sampson’s tongue was all tied up on the roof of his mouth when he saw them cleaned up and dressed in fitting clothing.

  “Good lordy have mercy. You’re about the most beautiful group of women I’ve ever done seen. And if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were all related by blood. My goodness, Sampson, you’re going to have to hire you an army when these girls start dating. Or a few guns.”

  Melissa laughed and turned her face into Hanna, who was standing beside her. Never would he have thought that that little one would be embarrassed. Lynette came to stand in front of him, and he noticed something that he’d not before. She had one blue eye and one green.

  “I’m sorry for all the trouble that we caused you.” Sampson started to tell her it was all right, but he saw the small shake of Allie’s head. “You were only trying to help us, and I was a mean person. I’m sorry. But you have to admit, had we gone home with you, that guy would have been out there terrorizing others like us.”

  “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” She nodded. “I want you to know that we’re going to adopt you so that if you ever need something, we can be the parents that are necessary to have say so in your lives. We’ll have rules, but I’m happy to have you as a part of my family.”

  “We are too. And we talked it over.” The other two came to stand with their sister as she continued. “We’d like to go and see our grandma tomorrow with you guys. There are a few things that I’d...we would all like to say to her. Then after that, we don’t ever want to see her again. Is that all right with you guys?”

  “It is. But it’s not going to be pretty, just so you know.” Each of them nodded. “All right. If you think you won’t mind my wife and mom taking your grandma to task, then I’m allowing you to go. But, and this is important. I don’t want to hear later how we made you go and listen to her getting her comeuppance. Deal?”

  “Yes.” Lynette looked at Allie, and he wondered what it was she was going to say to her. “We heard about your brother, Allie. We’re all sorry for your loss. I know that he wasn’t a nice person, but it still must have hurt you badly.”

  “It did. And I thank you so very much.” Allie smiled at them. “I do hope you like your rooms. If they’re not right, you know that Shin can change whatever you wish in there. Also, the clothing thing. Please don’t tell anyone that you can do that. Nor about anything else that happens in this house. I don’t want anything to happen to you guys, and if people were to find out about your magic, I fear they would come and snatch you away from us just for that.”

  “We won’t. We promise.”

  When they went upstairs, Sampson pulled Allie into his arms. It had been a long and stressful day, and they still had to figure out tomorrow. He had a feeling it was going to feel longer than today had.

  ~~~

  Hanna felt pretty today. She didn’t normally go for something so girly, but she had something to prove. All three of them did. Grandma had told them that they were ugly and would never amount to a hill of beans. Well, they had, and they were going to have a long life of proving her wrong. Glancing at her sisters, she was happy that after seeing her in a dress, they’d both worn one as well.

  Hers was a pretty summer dress that she’d seen in a magazine once. There was a purse to go with it, as well as a summery hat that she decided she was going to wear for the rest of the warm weather. Even her shoes were sparkly, and she could hear them tink tink tink when she walked on the hard surface of her grandma’s stone walk.

  Allie knocked on the door, then turned and winked at them. She was a lot nicer than any of them had thought that she’d be. Even Sampson, big as he was, had sat down with them this morning and fixed their toast for them, as well as handed them large glasses of orange juice. Hanna had never tasted anything better in her life.

  When Grandma opened the door, she was nicer than she’d ever seen her be to someone. Hanna was confused until Lynette said that Grandma was showing off for the strangers. She didn’t even know them when Allie asked if they could come into her home.

  “Oh, sure, sure. But I have to warn you, I’ve been without help for some time now. I had me some help for a little while, but they turned on me the moment that I asked them to do one thing for me.” Allie asked her if she needed help now. “I’ll get along. Grandchildren. They sure don’t have respect for their elders like they used to. You have you some pretty daughters there, ma’am. And so well behaved. Why, I wish I had such grandchildren.”

  “They are. Your grandchildren, I mean.” Grandma looked at them, squinting like she did when she had to study something hard. “This is Lynette, Hanna, and Melissa. They’ve come to live with us.”

  “That can’t be right. Those girls were heathens. Why, that oldest one had a mouth on her that made me have to put her back in her place every day.” Allie asked Grandma if she’d hit them. “Of course, I did. This isn’t right. They weren’t this pretty when I had them.”

  “Well, a few good meals, a bath, and some pretty clothing made all the difference. Also, not having to live on the streets like animals helped them a great deal.” Allie smiled, but Hanna wasn’t fooled by it. Neither was Grandma, apparently. “You screwed up when you tossed them aside, Madilyn. You should have kept an eye on them as you were asked to do so that they could have helped you in your golden years. Well, more of your golden years, anyway. I think you should be arrested for what you did to these children.”

  “I never wanted the child I had. Just look how he turned out. Dead along the side of the road with that whore of his.” Allie looked at them, and Hanna nodded. It wasn’t the first time they’d heard this from their grandma. Lynette stood up, and that made her and Melissa stand as well. “What the hell do you want now? I know you, girl. You stand up just like your stupid momma did. What do you think you’re going to say to me that’ll make a plum bit of difference?”

  “You knew they were dead?” Grandma nodded and said that Roger had called her for help when they crashed. “You didn’t help him? You let our parents die? Why? Why would you do that to us?”

  “He wasn’t worth anything, any more than that woman of his was. And he begat three mongrels that aren’t worth the effort it took him to make you.” Allie stood up, but Grandma didn’t seem to notice. “What the hell did he expect me to do anyway? Drive out there with you three and pull him out of the ditch with my bare hands? I couldn’t even get you three to chop wood, much less help me pull him out. Christ, you’re lucky I didn’t smother you in your—”

  “T
hat’s enough.” Allie said that so softly, but there was no doubt in Hanna’s mind that she was angry. “You’ve said quite enough, I think. Sara, I think it’s time you called the police. I believe Madilyn just admitted to two counts of murder.”

  “You really think that anyone is going to believe a word out of your whore mouth? I know people like you. You’re going to be selling off these girls the moment you can get someone to take them off your hands. At least I didn’t do that.”

  Grandma stood up, but before she could speak more of her same crap, Grandma Sara stood up as well. The punch to Grandma’s face had her falling back on the couch. She nearly flipped over the back of it, too, but Allie saved her. When Allie pulled out her cell phone and asked them to have a seat until the police arrived, they did so without hesitation. Grandma Sara had cold-cocked their grandma.

  The police arrived just as they were getting drinks. Grandma always had the best drinks. Tea that tasted so delicious. Not that they had ever gotten any without sneaking a bit here and there. Like the cookies that she made every day. Her making the girls give them to the neighborhood kids had killed them, because they had to smile and hand them out like nothing was going on at the house.

  Grandma came around about the time an ambulance was called. Before the police could figure out what had happened, Sampson and Grandpa Buck showed up. They had a lawyer with them, and he showed the police something from a file.

  “Mrs. Margaret Shipley, you have no idea how much pleasure it brings me to arrest you on the suspicion of two counts of murder, abuse of three minors, and a list I have back at the office on you. This is going to be a hell of a day for every citizen around here.”

  While Hanna didn’t know how it was going to work, what with everyone happy Grandma was going to jail, she was just happy that no one was going to make them go back and live with her. Ever again.