Vampire 01 - Daughter of Darkness

closed. She looked even more terrified than I felt.
    I started to cry. Mrs. Fennel ignored that, as usual, and slammed me onto my bed. It was always hard for me to believe that anyone who was as slim as she was had such strength in her arms, but I often caught her lifting heavy things, things I imagined most men would have trouble lifting.
    “Stop that crying instantly.”
    “I didn’t mean to fall out the window. It just happened. What… who is that man? Why is Daddy carrying him on the stairway? Daddy looked so big and angry.”
    She stared down at me for a long moment. There was something about her look, her posture, the way her anger subsided, that told me she wasn’t just going to leave me wondering about it. I quickly caught my breath, flicked the tears off my cheeks, and sat up a bit, folding my hands in my lap.
    “You must never tell anyone about that young man or any young man who is brought here,” she began.
    I was afraid to ask why not, afraid she would simply turn and walk out, but how could I tell anyone anything anyway? I had no friends.
    “I can’t tell anyone. I don’t know anyone,” I said.
    Very rarely did I see her smile, especially at somethingI had done or said, but she smiled that time. “You’re very intelligent for your age, Lorelei,” she continued. “Obviously more intelligent than your older sister, maybe both older sisters.”
    That took my breath away. A compliment from Mrs. Fennel? And now, when it seemed I had done something terrible? I wasn’t sure how to react or what to say.
    “I expect you will be able to understand a little more at an age younger than your sisters were able to understand, so I’ll tell you more.” She then did something she never had done. She sat on my bed and took my hand into hers. “You’re all very special, because you and your sisters can keep your daddy strong, healthy, and alive. You want to do that very much, don’t you?”
    I nodded, still afraid to speak, to utter a sound that might stop her.
    “From time to time, your Daddy needs something young men have. For him, it’s only young men, virile young men. What that means exactly is something I’ll explain to you when you are a little bit older, but for now, you must understand that your sisters will bring him what he needs, and someday you will, too. Your daddy will love you even more than he loves you now. That would make you very happy, wouldn’t it?”
    I nodded.
    “When you go to school, you must never tell anyone about this. You must never talk about us at all, in fact. Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll remind you.”
    “I wouldn’t tell,” I said.
    “Good. That will be enough for now. Let’s get you back to sleep.”
    She rose, and I crawled back under my blanket. She leaned over to tuck me in, which, again, was something she rarely had done.
    “Is Daddy angry at me?” I asked. Despite what she had told me, whether Daddy was angry at me now was still the most important thing to know as far as I was concerned.
    “No, not you,” she said. “Tomorrow, he will be sleeping most of the day, so don’t disturb him.”
    “Why does he have to sleep so much tomorrow?” I asked, and that was when she told me, “Digestion.”
    I wondered if the commotion had awakened Ava and if she would be asking me questions tomorrow. I also wondered why Mrs. Fennel and apparently Daddy would be so angry with Brianna. What had she done? It wasn’t her fault that I fell out of the window. It would be a while before I would learn and understand all of it, of course, but I was able to pick up something more when I heard Brianna talking to Mrs. Fennel about it the following day.
    They didn’t know I was listening. It was morning, and I was working on the math problems that Brianna had given me to do. Mrs. Fennel came in, and the two of them looked at me and then stepped into the hallway just outside the living room. I moved closer to the door. I knew they were going to talk about something very important. Whenever they looked at me first and then moved farther away from me, I knew some secret was possible to pluck from the tree of secrets that grew at the center of our lives.
    “How could you bring someone like that to your father, Brianna? A married man?”
    “He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, and he came on to me so fast and furious that I thought he was an easy catch. I don’t see why Daddy’s blaming me for not knowing he was married.”
    “If he was married, he must have