A Vampire's Guide to Surviving Holidays by Matthew S Cox

Author:Matthew S Cox [Cox, Matthew S]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950738205
Publisher: Division Zero Press
Published: 2019-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

13

Every Family Has Secrets

My good mood crashes and burns soon after we finish cleaning up the kitchen.

Mom, Mrs. Carter, and Ashley head back to the living room, likely expecting me to be right behind them. An inexplicable sense of sorrow comes out of nowhere and I find myself standing alone in the kitchen, staring down at my toes. The din of voices coming from the living room all of a sudden sounds foreign, like I’d barged into some other family’s house where I don’t belong.

On autopilot, I wander out onto the deck behind the house and sit on the first step, hugging my knees to my chest. The sadness didn’t come from a momentary out-of-body experience or anything. No, I understood exactly what that feeling meant. Not a stranger’s house. I don’t belong in that house, with the Wright family anymore. It’s only going to cause problems for everyone.

A few minutes of solitary quiet later, the sliding glass door squeaks open. No need for me to look back since I recognize Mom’s scent. She pads over and sits on the step beside me.

“I’m guessing you’re not okay. Want to talk about it? I didn’t see anything happen.”

I pull my hair off my face, holding it down against the wind. “Nothing happened. Just worrying about everyone seeing me… and some other stuff.”

“Why?”

“You know… I’m not going to get older. Guess it wouldn’t really have worked for you guys to lie to them and say I didn’t survive Scott’s attack when we had people over. Not so bad now, or maybe for a couple years, but they’re eventually going to notice my appearance isn’t changing.”

She pulls me into a one-armed hug. “We’re doing fine. It’s not pleasant to think about, but your grandparents aren’t going to be around long enough for your age to matter. Nothing we can’t explain away with ‘good genes and some cosmetics.’”

“Wow, that’s so wrong.” I cover my face in both hands to muffle a sad chuckle.

“It is.” Mom sighs. “But it’s how the world works. I don’t want to lose my parents, but the day is going to come… The only thing we can do is make every minute count as much as possible… except for Hank.”

I burst out laughing.

“And wow. Sam in a dress.” Mom whistles.

“Yeah.”

My mother cracks a grin. “It’s cute on him.”

“It is.” I chuckle. “Daryl and Jordan would tease him about it, but he wouldn’t care. He’s protective of his sisters. Even ran at a vampire trying to get him off me.”

Mom shivers. “Please let them grow up before you start another vampire war.”

“That wasn’t my fault. Honestly. I didn’t do anything to cause that other than be Dalton’s, uhh, offspring.”

She squeezes me. “If that man didn’t save your life, I’d ream him out for putting Sam—and you—in danger.”

“I don’t think he expected things to go as they did. Bad luck.”

“All right. But, don’t be glum, okay? Tonight has got to be the best Thanksgiving I can remember for a long time.”

“I found Hank’s mute button.

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