Old Vampires Die Hard

by J A Campbell

  Kevin laughed. “I think you might do better than some of my friends’ parents. At least you hired help when you needed it. Some of my classmates have to make their own lunches and never get their homework done.” He shrugged.

  “If you ever have a hungry classmate, make sure you tell Mary to pack enough so you can share.”

  “Yeah, I will. I think everyone eats; it’s just not always as good as what I get. You’re a good cook for someone who can’t eat.” He grinned, teasing me.

  “And you’re a good kid for a nine-year-old.” I winked at him. “Let’s go help your sister finish getting ready.”

  “We have hours.” Kevin rolled his eyes.

  “She wants it to be perfect, and you’re better at doing hair than I am.” I tugged on my untamable mass of wavy red hair. “No practice.”

  “Okay.” He groaned dramatically and got up.

  I climbed to my feet and followed him to Jin’s room. She sat on her bed, kicking her feet and staring at her shoes.

  “I can’t do it,” she said when we came in.

  “Can’t do what, honey?” I mentally took a calming breath, since she would notice if I actually did it.

  “I can’t sing.”

  “Honey, you sing beautifully.” I glanced at Kevin who shrugged.

  “Yeah, you sing all the time and it’s nice,” Kevin added.

  “But all those people will be watching.” She twisted her hands.

  “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Jin, but you did promise.”

  “I did?”

  “Yeah, by signing up for the play, silly,” Kevin said.

  “Oh.” She frowned and stuck out her lower lip in a pout. “Okay, I guess.”

  “Besides, I’m going with or without you, and it would be nice to see you actually at the play.”

  “Okay.” She smiled and jumped off the bed, handing Kevin a hair brush.

  Whatever internal crisis she’d been having seemed to have been averted; I sighed in relief.

  There was another problem with going to Jin and Kevin’s school play that I hadn’t thought of until it was staring me in the face. One of Jin’s best friends was a witch’s daughter. I could tell she had inherited her mother’s magical abilities by her scent, but she was only six and hadn’t come into her powers yet. Her mother, on the other hand, was the leader of the local coven, and while I had known this, I hadn’t thought about it in the context of both of us being at the school play together. I was good at hiding myself, but I wasn’t sure how witches detected vampires, and I was pretty sure, however it was, that I wasn’t prepared for by the wide-eyed look on her face.

  Sylvia pulled her mother over when she saw me and Jin. I had talked to Arlette on the phone a few times, but I had never met her in person before. It turned out that she was a tall Black woman who kept her tight curls short. She wore tasteful makeup and moved with the grace of a dancer.

  Jin frowned and glanced at Arlette, then back at me, and her eyes widened, too. She was smart, for a six-year-old. She knew that Arlette was a witch and that she might know what I was, which was why we never invited her over, just Sylvia. Jin put her arm around my waist and smiled.

  “Hi Mrs. Hayes, you remember my mom, Kat, right?” She gave the most innocent smile, and I wanted to high five her, but that would have ruined the effect.

  “Well, that explains why we never see you,” she said and spun on her heels, dragging Sylvia with her.

  Fortunately, very few people were paying attention, though we did get a few curious looks as Arlette stormed off.

  “That went well,” I said softly.

  “She won’t say anything to anyone, will she?” Jin whispered.

  “I sincerely hope not, but she could make things difficult in other ways if she really wanted to.”

  “She likes me,” Jin said hopefully.

  I ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry about it, honey. Sing your heart out, okay?”

  “Sure. I gotta go find Kevin and get ready.”

  “I’ll be right here.” I found a seat in the audience on the edge toward the back.

  Arlette sat off to my left in the very last row and I was pretty sure she stared daggers at me during the entire performance. Oh well.

  The play went off about as well as any elementary school play ever did. Jin remembered her song, Kevin remembered his lines, and I was finally there to see it. I’d managed some of their events last winter, as well, but it was hard most of the year, though sometimes I could show up late.

  Kevin and Jin came and found me once they were done, and we headed out to the parking lot.

  I saw Sylvia and her mom across the parking lot, and I kept a little attention on them, but it seemed like Arlette was ignoring me now. Jin waved and Sylvia waved back and then we got in the Firebird and headed home.

  For a few days I thought maybe Arlette decided to ignore that I was a vampire, but then on Wednesday—which was the day Sylvia normally came over to our house, while Jin went to theirs on Thursdays—Jin came home alone.

  Kevin had practice after school, so Mary would pick him up later.

  “What’s wrong, honey?” I asked when Mary dropped off Jin.

  “Sylvia isn’t allowed to play with me anymore,” she said, avoiding my eyes.

  “Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” I hugged her and she hugged me back. “I can call Arlette and see if she will reconsider.”

  “No, I don’t think she will. Sylvia would barely even talk to me. She’s sad too, but said she had to do what her mom said.”

  “Okay, let me know if you change your mind. I can try.”

  Jin smiled. “You’ll just have to have a tea party with me instead.”

  I returned her smile. “I think I can handle that.”

  “Do you think I can still give Sylvia her birthday present?” Jin twisted her hands together.

  “Sure, just take it to school tomorrow. You did a very nice job and it would be a shame if she didn’t have it.”

  “Okay.” Jin brightened again and led me up to her room so we could play tea party.

  “You’re lucky I don’t call social services on you,” Arlette said when I picked up the phone.

  “That would be practically useless.” I clenched the phone, carefully so as not to crush it. Maybe I would get a chance to talk her into letting Jin and Sylvia play, but I doubted it.

  “I know,” she hissed. “Which is why I haven’t done it. Who did you have to kill to get your hands on children? Though what I can’t figure out is why? You almost appear to be raising them normally. Or as normally as you can manage, anyway.” The last was almost thoughtful.

  “What do you want, Arlette?”

  “You tell Jin to stop trying to talk to Sylvia. Giving her a birthday present after I explicitly forbade Sylvia to have anything to do with Jin is inconsiderate, at the least.”

  “No, what is inconsiderate is that you’re trying to break up a friendship of almost a year over something that doesn’t even affect you. Jin worked hard on that bracelet. She made it herself. You don’t want Sylvia coming over here after she’s been doing it for months, fine. You don’t want Jin over at your place, okay, whatever, but telling them not to interact at school? That’s a level of ridiculous I can’t even comprehend and I’ve seen a lot of weird shit in my life. They’re kids, Arlette. I knew you were a witch, but I didn’t forbid Jin from playing with your daughter.”

  She didn’t reply for a moment and I hoped she was changing her mind.

  “Look, if you don’t want Sylvia coming over, that’s fine, but maybe you should swing by and see for yourself. It’s a pretty normal place, and Jin and Sylvia enjoy hanging out with each other.”

  “I want you and your so-called daughter to stay away from me and mine. Be grateful I don’t take other actions.”

  I sighed. “Arlette...”

  “No. Stay away.” The line went dead.

  Groaning, I leaned back in the office chair and spun around. Jin would be home soon, and I su
spected she would be upset. Hopefully, she didn’t know that Arlette was angry about the present.

  While I waited for Mary to bring Jin home, I tried to figure out how to tell her to stay away from Sylvia. It wasn’t the right answer, but I didn’t know what else to do.

  Jin spent the next week moping around, listless at dinner, and half-heartedly reading with me before bed.

  I did what I could, but she just wasn’t interested in anything. Kevin and I had finally talked Jin into playing her favorite board game down in the common room as we didn’t have any guests in the bed and breakfast.

  It was her move, but she hesitated and stared at the door. I felt Arlette’s energy a moment later. We all heard car brakes squeal and moments later the witch stomped up the steps to our piazza and pounded on the door.

  We all shared a look before Jin and I both stood.

  “I’ll get it,” I said softly and touched Jin on the arm to keep her from opening the door. I doubted Arlette was here for a social call.

  Getting ready to duck, I opened the door and stepped to the side.

  Arlette stood there with her hands out, but she didn’t try to blast me with magic or anything. I wasn’t actually sure what witches were capable of. I’d had plenty of dealings with mages, but not nearly as many with witches.

  “Where is she?” Arlette shouted.

  All three of us stared, uncomprehending.

  She stormed past me when I didn’t answer. We watched her silently as she looked around the main room then went into the kitchen.

  Moments later she stormed back into the common room and up the stairs to the part of the residence we kept private for us.

  Jin and Kevin scrambled after and I made sure I was up the stairs before Arlette. They were used to me occasionally using my vampire powers, so it didn’t faze them. She stopped short, startled when I appeared in front of her.

  “Arlette, what is going on?” I demanded

  “Where is Sylvia?”

  “How the hell should we know? You won’t let her play with her best friend, so we haven’t seen her in weeks,” I snarled.

  “She’s missing.”

  “You’re free to look around, Arlette, but she’s not here.” I moved out of her way and gestured toward our rooms.

  Arlette did look around, but she seemed satisfied Sylvia wasn’t here. She had probably known the moment she walked in the door, but sometimes you had to look with your own eyes, too.

  She finally followed us back toward the common room, glancing at the board game before heading for the door.

  “Arlette, what happened?” I asked.

  “Sylvia is gone.”

  “We figured that part out. What happened?”

  “I don’t know. She got mad at me. When I went to tuck her in for bed, she was gone. I thought maybe she had come here.”

  “No. Jin, did Sylvia say anything to you that might make you think she would run away, or come here?” I asked my daughter.

  “No, Mom. She didn’t. I promise.” Jin stared at the door. “Where would she have gone?”

  I shrugged. “Arlette, can’t you scry for her?”

  “I did. And it should have worked. Sylvia doesn’t know how to block scrying. It’s fairly advanced magic.”

  “Do you have any enemies who might have taken her?”

  Arlette shrugged. “Maybe, but we’re a coven of witches, not vampires,” she spat. “We mostly do small spells and earth magic. Nothing harmful.”

  I was about ready to offer to help, but after that, I held back. She would have to ask. It didn’t mean I wasn’t going to go looking, she just wouldn’t know.

  Arlette headed for the door before turning and giving me a desperate look. “What if she tried to come here and something got her?”

  I sighed. “It’s possible.”

  “Are you really that heartless?”

  Tilting my head, I narrowed my eyes. “Heartless? I’m not the one who started all of this, Arlette. I was simply agreeing with you that there are a lot of dangerous things for a six-year-old in this city. Our houses aren’t exactly close.”

  She walked out on the piazza and slammed the door.

  Jin ran over to me and grabbed my hand. “You’re going to look for her, right?”

  I nodded. “Of course. Kevin, give Mary a call and ask her if she can come by. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

  “Okay, Kat.” He ran over to the phone and dialed her number.

  Arlette, who hadn’t left the piazza, came back inside, took a deep breath and stared at the floor.

  “Kat, do you have any resources that might help me find my daughter?”

  That was probably as close to her asking for my help as I was going to get. “Yeah, I’ll head out and look for her. Give me a minute.” I went upstairs while Kevin talked to Mary.

  If I were going hunting for anything that might have snatched up a little girl, I wanted my guns. Just in case. I was basically a living weapon, but it never hurt to have extras. I spun the dial on the safe, pulled out my .45s and their shoulder holster, strapped a few silver alloy knives to various parts of my body, and headed back downstairs, jacket in hand.

  Arlette stared at me when I returned. The kids had seen me armed before, so it wasn’t anything new to them. I even took them shooting several times a month. It possibly hadn’t occurred to Arlette that I might know how to use a gun.

  I threw on my old jeans jacket and cocked an eyebrow. “Ready?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  Gesturing for her to precede me out the door, I quickly hugged Jin and Kevin. “You two call me if Mary isn’t here in ten minutes, okay?”

  “Yeah. She said she would be here in five, but we’ll call. Do you have your phone?” Kevin smiled innocently.

  I patted my pocket, swore, and glanced around the room. Kevin pointed to the stand by the door.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’ll learn eventually. See ya later, Kat.”

  “Find Sylvia for me, Mom.” Jin hugged me.

  I grabbed the cell phone on the way out while Arlette continued to stare. Ignoring her, I headed for her car.

  “Come on,” I prompted.

  The witch hurried after me and unlocked her car. “Take me back to your place. You know she could just be hiding, right?”

  “I couldn’t find her with scrying.”

  “You’re upset, maybe you made a mistake.” I buckled my seatbelt, though I really wanted to leave it off in case I needed to make a hasty exit out of the older model sedan.

  Arlette drove off the curb she’d gotten one wheel on when parking and headed back toward her house.

  This time of night the trip wouldn’t take long.

  “The entire coven tried.”

  “Hmm, that is troublesome.”

  She glared at me.

  I leaned back and kept my senses alert for Sylvia. Fortunately, I knew her well enough that I thought I’d be able to pick her out fairly easily, if she were nearby.

  Arlette lived in a nice part of one of the suburbs of Charleston. Her house was ranch style, and lots of children lived in the neighborhood. I had driven through when Jin had started hanging out with Sylvia.

  Several extra cars were parked out in front of her house, and I suspected the entire coven was here. Great.

  She parked in the driveway, and I followed her to the house. Sure enough, when she led me inside, five other women glared at me. I glanced quickly, but none of them looked like they were going to try anything I wouldn’t appreciate. Arlette was one of three Black women, two were white, and one was Latina.

  Arlette seemed like she was about to say something, but I ignored them all, senses alert, trying to see if Sylvia were still in the house somehow. The only humans were the six women in the room with me. A cat lurked off to my left, but that was it.

  I stalked further into the house and the women hurried after.

  “Her room is off to the...”

  I opened the door before Arlette could tell me
which one it was. My nose told me where to go.

  She wasn’t in here, so I went over to the window. It was unlocked and no screen blocked the night.

  “You are sure she didn’t go out of the house through one of the doors.”

  “Pretty sure,” Arlette said.

  “Okay.”

  I slid the window open the rest of the way and hopped out. It was a short drop to the ground, since it was a ranch style house. Sniffing, I found what I thought was a trail, though it was hard to tell for sure, because Sylvia’s scent was everywhere.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Tracking her,” I muttered just loud enough for a human to hear as I followed what seemed to be the freshest scent. It led straight to the back gate.

  “Kat,” Arlette called as I pushed open the gate.

  “What?”

  “What do you want us to do?”

  “Stay here. Call the house if she shows up and have Jin or Kevin call me.”

  “Okay.”

  I headed out into the night, hoping I could find her before the local wildlife, or worse, did.

  Sylvia’s track did lead back toward our place, but partway there I smelled a couple of werewolves and Sylvia’s track vanished.

  Shit.

  “Well, that sucks.”

  I jumped and spun around, reaching for one of my .45s. “Hawk?”

  “I said that correctly, didn’t I? That sucks?” He strolled over toward me, as if randomly meeting up on a dark sidewalk in a neighborhood neither of us were ever in was normal.

  “You’d have to ask Kevin, but I think you got it right. What are you doing here?”

  “Jin called me. Her best friend is missing and she hoped I would help you.”

  “And Jin has you wrapped around her finger, so you said yes.” I smiled at him.

  “It’s not as if I had anything pressing going on, regardless, and it seems as if this little girl has been taken by weres.”

  “Yes. The witches couldn’t scry her, for whatever reason.” I shrugged.

  “You’re sure this isn’t a setup to try to get rid of you?”

  I hadn’t considered that, but it seemed a little extreme. “Um, reasonably sure.”