Vampire 01 - Daughter of Darkness

until Marla had gotten out to go into the building. She looked more serious now, more her old self, her eyes filled with warning and threat.
    “From now on, you have to be even more cautious than before,” she began. “I know what you’ve beenthrough up until now. I know what it was like for you to remain so aloof, be such a loner, with no apparent interest in making close friends, joining anything. Even though you were somewhat attractive, boys gave up on you, right?”
    “Yes,” I said, although I wasn’t convinced they had entirely given up on me. Some still smiled and said hello occasionally. A few even tried to start conversations, but I knew where those conversations would lead, so I discouraged them.
    “That doesn’t mean you weren’t in their fantasies, Lorelei, and now you’re going to be in them even more. It’s because of the gift, this glow that’s around you.”
    “I don’t understand, Ava. Where did it suddenly come from? Just going out with you?”
    “No, it started before that. Neither Daddy nor I wanted to mention it until you had gone out with me, been tested in the field, so to speak. You don’t quite realize it all yet, but you’re like a race horse that, if not kept under control, would gallop so hard and fast it would burn itself out.
Control
is now the key word. When I told Marla you had laid a path to their libidos, I left out that yours is eager to charge forward, too. Remember how I’ve been constantly warning you about your urges, how I teased you about having a crush on a boy or giving away your virginity too quickly? Well, I was preparing you for this,” she said. “This is what Daddy saw coming.”
    “The gift?”
    “Exactly. It’s the reason you are so special, why we are all so special.”
    “I don’t understand why I am special, Ava. I’ve never understood that.”
    She nodded. “You will.”
    “Why do you keep saying
you will, you will
? Why can’t you just tell me?”
    She was silent a moment and just stared ahead at the school building. “You’re going to be late,” she said.
    “No. Answer me,” I said, taking a sharper tone than I had ever taken with her. “Why can’t you just tell me things and not have me go around guessing and wondering?”
    “Don’t start regressing on me and acting like a child. No tantrums, now, Lorelei.”
    “I’m not having a tantrum. You say I have this special gift, that I’m older. Well, treat me that way. Why can’t you just tell me?”
    Her eyes grew smaller, not hateful and not even angry. They were more full of mystery than rage. She looked as if she could see something in me that I couldn’t. I felt as if I were under an X-ray. I actually sat back.
    “Why?” I repeated more forcefully.
    “For the same reason Mrs. Fennel or Brianna couldn’t come right out and tell you what Daddy needed. Remember how shocking it was for you?”
    I just stared at her, my heart suddenly thumping. “I still don’t understand. Are you saying I’m going to be shocked about myself? Is this what you meant that day when you said you saw fear in me, fear of myself?”
    “Oh, Lorelei,” she said with an air of exhaustion. “You’ve always been at the questions far more than any of us.”
    “Didn’t you have this sort of curiosity about everything, Ava?”
    “No. I understood I had to be patient. Forget about it for now, Lorelei. I’ve already said too much. Just remember my warnings, and don’t do anything stupid. Go on,” she urged. “I’ll be here at the end of the day.”
    I heard the first warning bell.
    “This is what you meant that day you said you saw fear in me, fear of myself,” I insisted. “You still see it in me, glow, gift, power, or not, right? Right?”
    “Go to school, Lorelei,” she ordered. “Beware of pushing too hard and moving too quickly. Remember the myth of Icarus, the one Daddy likes to tell us. He flew too high when he was warned not to, and his wax wings melted. For now, stay on the ground, Lorelei. You’ll have plenty of time to fly later. Go on. Go to class. Go!”
    I got out and watched her back up and drive off. I had been so happy when I rose that morning, so full of energy and eager to start the day, even in school, where I felt so alone and under attack daily. If Ava’s intent was to slow me down, to lower the flame burning inside me, she had succeeded. Suddenly overcome with a dark depression, I entered the building and moved so slowly toward my homeroom that I was a