by Audra Hart
“I am the one that should be sorry Ma’am. I am the one who is a monster, not you. And it’s been ten days, Ma’am,” Damian replies unsteadily.
“Damian, it’s just a fact of your existence now. It’s just biology. But I admire you for striving to rise above the hold your biology has on you, and I will do anything I can to help. Do you understand, Son?” Morna asks quietly.
“Yes Ma’am, thank you,” he says, his voice thick with genuine gratitude.
“Luca, ten days is too long for one struggling with control, don’t you think? Can you take him hunting tonight?” Morna asks.
“Of course, we will go after you and Mac go to sleep tonight.” agrees Luca.
“Good enough. Thank you Darling. I will finish up in Mike’s office and we can go. What do think about ordering pizzas for the girls at The Bridge? Damian, does Mac like pizza?”
“She loves hamburger pizza Ma’am.” supplies Damian.
Luca shrugs, “Obviously I am happy with anything you choose to feed the humans,” he chuckles.
Morna laughs, “DUH. I am a total goof sometimes.” She walks through the door to the back rooms, heading for the office.
Luca turns to Damian and says, “She honestly just forgets what kind of monster that I am. She just sees me as her mate. She believes in me completely. And she will support you completely Damian. Don’t ever, ever let her down. Do you understand me?”
“Yes sir, I do. And I will strive to never disappoint her. And not because of the very real threat that you pose, but because she’s amazing. I have watched her with those girls over there at that house, with my sister. That lady is full of love and eagerly shares it with anyone who needs it. I may be teenaged monster from a screwed up family, but I can tell a real lady when I meet one,” Damian tells Luca sincerely.
Morna is just finishing up with the last of the paperwork and bills when Monica comes into open the bar. Morna had to chuckle to herself when she saw the check stub where Luca had paid the delivery driver. If she didn’t know better she would have sworn she had written the check out and filled in the register herself. Luca has always been able to copy her handwriting perfectly over the lifetimes, no matter that her handwriting changed with every incarnation.
Morna calls Monica into the office. “Monica, I think I may have found a young man to help you around here. But I need to check a few more things out before I hire him. Are you okay with just the part time waitress coming in to help while Mike is in this latest round of chemo? Jake is still coming in to act as bouncer, right?”
“Yeah, Jake is great. He keeps everyone cool around here.” Monica assures her. “Mrs. Montfort, I will do whatever you need for me to do.”
“I know that Monica, and I want to express my appreciation. You are going to get a raise in your next paycheck. Carlisle will see to it. You are doing a great job and have earned a raise.”
Monica hugs Morna, “Mrs. Montfort, you don’t have to do that. I am just so grateful for all you have done for me. You are like a Mom to me.”
Morna’s eyes tear up, “Monica, I would proud to have you for a daughter. You are an amazing young woman.” Morna hugs the girl back and asks, “How are your classes going? Do you have enough money to cover all of your expenses?”
“My classes are going well. I am learning a lot. And grants covered most of it this semester, but next semester I may have to get a student loan,” admits Monica.
“No way, kiddo. I struggled for years to pay off my loans. I don’t want you in that boat. Let me know what the grants don’t cover and we will work it out. Okay?” Admonishes Morna. She takes a business card out of her purse and writes a note on the back of it and hands it to Monica. Look, kiddo, I am going to be going to see a doctor in Chicago soon. Call my attorney, Carlisle, if you need anything. I mean anything. If you need money for school, or need to reach me… whatever, he manages my affairs for me and can help you out anytime you might need it.” Monica takes the card and looks at it in amazement. “By the way Monica, please call me Morna instead of Mrs. Montfort.”
“Morna?” Monica asks confused.
“It’s Luca’s nickname for me. Don’t laugh, but the name means ’beloved’ in Gaelic. I prefer it to Deidra,” Morna admits with a smile.
“You two have gotten pretty serious in a very short time haven’t you?” Monica asks with a huge grin on her face.
Morna laughs, and says, “You have no idea!” And then laughs even harder at Monica‘s surprised expression. “We have to scoot, sweetie. Call me if you need me.”
Morna walks out the door and goes to the Camry where Luca is waiting for her. He grins at her and says, “Monica probably thinks you have lost your mind, my darling.”
“Maybe I have, maybe I have. But I am really enjoying the ride,” she giggles like a girl. Luca smiles at the sound, he has always loved it on the rare occasions that she giggles like that. “Let’s go get some dinner for those girls. I want to talk to Mac and see what we can do about getting her and Damian settled in early tonight. Hey, what you are thinking about for those two? Housing arrangements, I mean. I am thinking downstairs at your place. That way we are around most of the time to offer support. Sorry, I should ask before I make plans for your home.”
Luca takes her face into his hands. “It’s not my home alone, you know that, baby. Besides, I was thinking exactly the same thing. We should hang on to your place here in town though, they might be able to settle in there before too long.”
“That’s good thinking. Yeah, I like that idea, a lot,” Morna admits. “Will you be able to get the documents so Damian can work here at the bar? It’s the best job I can think of right now for a teenage vampire. But I am open to any suggestions you might have though.”
Luca kisses her quickly, starts the car and heads out to the local pizza place. “I have already called Carlisle about the documents for Damian. But it will be a week or two before we can get them. I think working at the bar is the best solution available to us right now. We probably should think about helping him get an education so he can support himself and Mac without our help though.”
“I have been thinking about helping him get a GED and so he can start taking classes of some sort too. But I guess all of that would be hold until we can get his identity established. But he’s so young, would we have to make up a new identity for him or could he use his own?” Morna wonders.
“Morna, I asked him about his life before he became a vampire, he had a criminal record for theft and assault, most of the offenses were related to protecting Mac. But it would hold him back in building a new life for his sister. It’s really a good thing that we don’t have fingerprints after the change. It makes it much easier to walk away from our old lives.
“Well, let’s go by the little house here in town. I have a packet of workbooks and stuff to prep for the GED. Maybe I can get him started on it this weekend before we go to Chicago. By the way, when are we going to Chicago?”
“Our plane leaves at 9:00 pm Sunday night. We will go straight from the airport to our hotel room. That will give us a little private time before you see Brigid. She has cleared her appointments for Monday, so she can concentrate on you. And I am pretty sure after we see her you will be busy getting reacquainted with … er, her and others from Airendell.”
Luca quickly changes the subject before she can think to ask any more questions about what he had just nearly let slip. “I will drop you here at the pizza place, you can place your order. I will go to the grocery store and get pops, cups, ice and paper plates. That way, no one has any major clean up tonight. How does that sound?”
Morna chuckles and then leans over and kisses him. “Pops? You sound like an Okie.” She smiles when he just shrugs. She knows he’s really good at blending into his environment. Picking up the local vernacular and using it is just part of it. “For someone who doesn’t eat, you are amazing considerate of those of us who do.” She laughs and gets out of the car, dragging “monster purse” behind her. As she’s
watching him drive out of the lot she laughs out loud. “Silly man, he really thinks he sidetracked me that easily. I wonder which others from Airendell will be in Chicago, and will I remember any of them?” She shakes her head and walks inside to order the pizzas.
Morna calls her attorney while she is waiting for the pizzas and tells him about Monica. She gives him her number, home and work address, and says, “Look, she’s a good kid with tons of potential. I want her to have a real chance at a good life. If you don’t hear from her soon, please call her. That car of hers is death trap; see about getting another one for her. Sorry, I guess not many of your clients ask you to do the things that I do.”
Morna chuckles when he says it’s a rare privilege to work for her. “I like helping people who are trying to help themselves.” He chuckles again and says, “Mrs. Montfort, I specialize and doing for my clients things that other attorney’s wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.”
Morna laughs and says, “Carlisle, you are a good friend. I am glad Luca found you for me.” Morna laughs again says, “Yes, we have finally hooked up.” Morna is quiet as she listens to Carlisle for several seconds. “What do you know about Airendell?”… “Really, you are Marla’s son? I only remember Marla as a ten year old girl. Well Luca is back to pick me up. I better go. Yes, we are going to see Brigid. ”… “Who is Aideen?” … “Oh, okay. Yes, yes get your other line.” Morna hangs up and wonders what that was all about. Why did Carlisle get so nervous when I asked who Aideen is?
The evening with the girls at the halfway house goes well. The pizza is a big hit and when Damian shows up Mac is so happy and animated to see her brother. She eagerly jumps at the chance to stay with Morna, Luca and her brother. She starts packing immediately.
Morna looks over at Luca, “I guess she can sleep on the couch tonight?”
“That won’t be necessary. There are two bedroom sets in the storage building behind the house. Damian and I can clear out one of the offices downstairs and set up a room for her in no time flat,” says Luca.
Another concern occurs to Morna, she looks to Damian and asks, “Will she be alright downstairs by herself when you and Luca go hunting?”
“She probably won’t sleep tonight anyway. She has trouble in a new place. Most likely she will sit and draw until I get back. Luca, do you have a desk and a good lamp she can use?” asks Damian.
“Sure Damian, that’s not a problem. Tomorrow we can set up her room anyway that suits her. We can also set up one the spare rooms down there for you, so that you can have some private space,” Luca assures him.
Morna gets up and says, “Well, Damian would you like to help Mac get ready to go home?”
Damian rushes over to hug Morna, and then takes a deep breath before backing away, looking frantic. “Sorry, I forgot! Wow, I must not do that!” Damian shakes his head to clear it and takes a deep breath. “Seriously though, I can’t thank you two enough. My little sister deserves a real family, and it feels like she is finally getting one. And I am really grateful for that.”
Morna smiles at Damian. “You are wrong, Damian. She has always had a real family. She has had you for a brother. When someone loves you and does their best to look out for you, that is as real as family gets.”
Mac packs her few personal possessions in record time. Her eagerness to live with the Shining Man and her brother make her impatient to leave The Bridge. Amanda and the other girls are sad to see her go, but happy she will be with friends who care about her.
Luca drives to Deidra’s little place where Morna runs in and grabs some toiletries, few clothing items, puzzles, art supplies, and the GED kit. She goes into the bedroom to get her favorite pillow and breathes deeply and smiles. She can still smell traces of her and Luca making love in here today. “Man, my sense of smell is sensitive!”
Luca has come up behind her wraps his arms around her as he nuzzles her neck. “It always has been, for a human.” He chuckles at that and her physical reaction his nearness before takes some of the bags and the pillow from her. She follows him out of the bedroom on the way out of the house. She looks around the little house before shutting off the light and wonders how she never noticed how dismal the little house really looks. She makes a mental note to fix it up before she lets ‘the kids’ move in.
Mac is so excited that she stims for the entire ride to the house near Chatsfield Corner. She resumes rocking at the waist as she had done when she first met Luca, but now instead of covering her ears, she is flapping her hands she is repeating a line from her favorite movie, ‘There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home’.
Morna can’t help but recall her life as Natalie. She recalls how banging her head against any hard surface while she covered her ears and hummed would calm the ‘vibrations’ in her body that tormented her. She wonders if Mac experiences something similar and that is what is prompting her stimming. She makes another note in her planner to do more research on autism.
Once they get to the house, Mac is eager to help Morna set up the downstairs main bathroom for her use. She is so proud and excited to have a bathroom for her very own use. Luca assures her that no one else will use it, but her. Luca is delighted when she asks him if it would be okay to paint the bathroom and the bedroom purple. “Mac, we can paint them any color you want, these rooms are yours,” he assures her.
Luca and Damian have Mac’s bedroom set up in record time. The finished room is furnished with a twin bed, a small dresser, a bedside table and lamp. As well as a small version of a drafting table, and chair. There is also a powerful work lamp that clamps onto the table and can be positioned anywhere over the work surface of the table. Morna helps Mac unpack her clothing. Morna decides she should give Mac some space to settle in, Mac is hard at work sketching at the drafting table. Morna wonders how many reams of plain white paper Mac uses in a month.
Mac doesn’t even look up when Morna tells her good night. Morna isn’t sure if that’s a good sign or not. She remembers the puzzles, books, and art supplies that she gathered from the other little house and gets the keys from Luca to go retrieve them from the trunk of her car.
CHAPTER 12 - JUST LIKE OLD TIMES
Morna is taking her time gathering up items she needs from the trunk when the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she tenses. She sniffs the air and hisses fiercely. She turns sharply and comes face to face with an unknown vampire. “Ah, what a nice plump snack,” the scraggly blonde man drawls.
“You are biting off more than you can chew, mutt,” Morna says quietly. “I have no quarrel with you personally. You should walk away, while you still can.”
A second vampire drops out the tree about five feet to Morna’s left and says, “Now why would we do that, tasty treat? You smell pretty yummy and your squeeze isn‘t here to protect his little pet.”
“Because you really don’t want to die tonight.” Morna smiles. Lightning fast, she grabs the tire iron from the trunk with her left hand and impales the nearest blood sucker through the throat with it and screams for Luca. The vampire with the tire iron in his throat falls backwards from the momentum of the blow, he’s screaming and grasping at the tire iron in his throat. Morna knows he’s only temporarily incapacitated but she uses the time to focus on the other vampire.
Morna tries to avoid the second attacker. She doesn’t have another weapon and knows she will fare badly pinned against her car. But he’s much faster than her, and quickly has her body pinned against the trunk of the car, holding her left hand in an iron grip. “Be still bitch! I prefer my food still kickin‘. I would hate to have to break your fat neck before I feed,” the vampire hisses.
“Screw you, parasite! “ Morna growls as she brings her knee up, viciously smashing into the attacker’s groin. She shoves hard into her enemy to throw him off balance, just as she yanks her hand down and frees her left hand from the vampire’s iron hard grip. She brings her right hand up and delivers a solid blow into his nose with the heel of her hand. If her attacker had
been human, he would have been completely incapacitated. She hears Luca roar in rage, and suddenly, the frenzied fiend is gone. Morna hears the sound of rending stone and is splattered with something cold, wet and sticky. Her attacker’s blood.
Morna turns towards the sound of grinding stone, Luca has torn her attacker’s head off, tossing him aside like trash. And has picked the first vampire up and is holding him by the front of his grimy shirt. “Why are you here?” He demands. “What do you want with my mate?”
“Go to hell!” the writhing creature screams. Lighting fast, Luca slams the vampire into the trunk of Morna’s car and grabs the tire iron sticking out of his throat before he pushes hard, causing the vamp’s neck to begin to crack. The corresponding sound of granite splitting is drowned out by the vampire’s gurgling scream. “We followed the punk here. Larry doesn’t like the kid. He was wanting to kill his friends and then kill him. He said the punk had gone pussy and wouldn‘t hunt humans anymore,” the impaled vampire says hoarsely.
“Who is Larry?” Luca demands.
“You just ripped his head off.” The weakened vampire hisses weakly.
“Are there more with you?” Luca demands.
“No, were nomads. We just hooked up today in Tulsa,” comes the low whisper. By now the vampire is severely weakened and Morna can barely hear him. Luca rips the last vampire’s head off and scoops Morna up into his arms before the body hits the ground.
“Baby, are you okay?” He breathes as examines her face and body.
“I am fine love. Let’s get these taken care of before someone else wanders down this road.”
He looks into his mate’s eyes to verify her assurances that she is well and nods, contented with what he sees. He kisses her gently and picks up both bodies by the back of their jeans and carries them behind their house. “There’s a good place to burn them in the back yard.” Morna picks up the heads by their filthy, lank hair and follows him. They pile the bodies together and Luca quickly weaves a fire spell. He finally turns and takes her into his arms and says, “Are you really okay, Morna? I was terrified when I heard you call out to me like that. I have never heard you scream for me like that.”
