Vampire 01 - Daughter of Darkness

I said.
    “Oh,” she said, sitting back with a look of disappointment. “Is that what this is about?”
    “No, no,” I said quickly. “I’m not here to complain about her. I can handle Marla myself.”
    She smiled at that. “So, what is it?”
    “She claimed Ava told her things, things about you.”
    “Did she?” She twisted her lips and then nodded. “Ava can be spiteful. She was like that with Brianna, too. None of you is perfect or as perfect as I would like.”
    “She said you were Daddy’s sister.”
    She stared at me a moment and then nodded. “Your father has been moving you along a little faster than the others, so your learning what Ava learned when she was older than you is appropriate.”
    I held my breath. I had been waiting for this so long. How much would she tell me?
    “Yes,” she began. “I am your father’s sister, but I am considerably older than he is.”
    “What are your ages?” I asked in a low, meek whisper.
    She smiled at me, and it was one of the few times I had ever seen a warm, truly humorous smile on her face. It made her look younger, too. “You know what, Lorelei? We’ve lived so long that after a while, we lose track. Time isn’t the same for us, anyway. We don’t look for it on watches and on calendars. It doesn’t move in increments. It all seems to stream, flow. It’s like trying to find a single drop of water in a stream. Just know we’veboth been around a very long time. You’ll understand someday.”
    It was going so well, I thought I would continue. “Ava knows who her mother was. She’s angry about her. I’d almost say she hates the thought of her, blames her for dying. Is that true? Was her dying her own fault somehow?”
    “No,” Mrs. Fennel said. “A man like your father can have children with an ordinary woman, but she will always die in childbirth. He knew this. I don’t want you talking to Ava about this anymore. Understand me?”
    “Yes.”
    “Good. That’s enough for now. Thank you for helping. Now, put all this away for now. You have a ways to travel yet before you can handle what more there is to learn and to do,” she said.
    I didn’t get up immediately. I was trembling. My legs felt weak. Then I heard the door open and close and turned to see Daddy standing there.
    “Why are you sitting by yourself in the dining room, Lorelei?”
    “I…”
    “She helped me with the cleanup, and then we had an important conversation,” Mrs. Fennel said. I supposed I should be thinking of her as Aunt Razi, I thought, but I wouldn’t, nor would I call her that until she told me it was okay to do so.
    “Oh? That’s good,” Daddy said. I thought he looked tired. His shoulders sagged, and his face was darker. “We’ll talk more tomorrow,” he added, and headed upstairs. I looked quickly at Mrs. Fennel.
    “Tend to your own duties now,” she said, and returned to the kitchen.
    I rose and went to my room. I heard Marla watching television in hers and started toward it but stopped. I really didn’t feel like talking to her. I certainly didn’t want her to ask me about any conversation I might have had with Mrs. Fennel. Instead, I went to my room and started my homework. I fell asleep once while I was reading and decided just to go to bed. There were so many different thoughts troubling me, but I did doze off.
    The sound of a car door slamming woke me. I sat up to listen and, hearing nothing, went to my window. There was a strange car in the driveway. I saw no one near it, however, and went to my bedroom door. What surprised me was the sound of Ava’s voice. She wasn’t pleading so much as complaining. Her voice began to sound more strident. I stepped into the hallway and looked toward the entryway.
    The young man Ava was with was obviously stoned. He was trying to get her to go right down on the floor with him. At one point, he simply sat at her feet and pulled on her arm to get her to join him. He was that out of it.
    “I’m not climbing no stairway,” he said. “This rug’s about as soft as my bed.”
    “Stop it!” she cried.
    He laughed, and then he paused as Daddy stepped forward. I hadn’t heard him come down the stairway, either.
    “What is this?” Daddy asked.
    “Huh?” the man said. “Who’s this?” He blinked his eyes and wiped his face.
    “Is he on drugs? You brought me someone stoned?”
    “I couldn’t help it, Daddy,” Ava said, sounding years younger. “He took something on the way up here. I didn’t