Page 93 of A Bond with the Dark

“Oh, she makes jewelry, some gift boxes, bookish stuff, things like that.” His green eyes retrace back to mine.

In our conversations, since I learned he was a vampire, he told me his mom runs an online witch shop selling spells, trinkets, and tarot cards.

I had mentioned to him earlier that I hoped nobody would bring up anything witch or Wiccan.

My dad and Lydia aren’t too keen on my witchy ways. My dad’s not a churchgoer, and neither is Lydia. Still, I know they believe in the same god the Christians do, and my dad has mentioned me not believing in the same god with contempt before. It’s not something that I want to get into today.

“And what is it thatyoudo?” interjects my dad, sipping a beer in the archway to the kitchen. His tone is brutal and indifferent—per usual for Dad.

“I am a data analyst for a software engineering company,” Dom replies, turning to face my dad better. “Basically, I translate numbers into plain English for everyday businessmen. My job is to take data and use it to help my company make better business decisions.”

“Interesting,” Lydia replies, slicing the tomatoes.

Hamburger sizzling in the pan, I join Dom, Hilda, and Maggie at the table, getting out of Lydia’s way. My dad wanders into the living room to watch golf.

As Lydia dices, she turns and says, “Have any children, Dom?” her penetrating gaze probing Dom.

He lowers his eyes to the table slightly. “I don’t have any kids, no.” His voice is controlled again, reliable, and the sober smile on his face still reflects a tinge of pain in his eyes. “Maybe one day,” he adds, acting out a normal human conversation, winking at me. I give him a smile. “Where are you all from, originally?”

“Oh, we all grew up in Pennsylvania,” Maggie answers, doing something on her phone. “We moved to New Jersey when we were all teens, and then Hilda and I lived in the same house we grew up in until about five years ago when we moved to Washington state.”

“And there were five of you, yes?”

“Yes. Now there are three,” Maggie says solemnly, setting her phone on the table.

“Speaking of sisters,” Lydia asks nonchalantly, peeking her head toward the living room to ensure my dad doesn’t hear her. “Sayah, you haven’t heard anything from Laureya, have you?”

Being caught off guard by the question, I linger on my stepmom for a few seconds, wondering why she’s bringing her up.

Did she see her at the celebration, too?

“I called her to tell her mom died,” I reply, putting my hand on Dom’s lap. “She hung up on me. You haven’t either, I’m assuming.”

“No, but that’s what’s weird,” she replies, adjusting the glasses on her face. “She usually comes around occasionally to get money from your dad. We haven’t heard from her in over a year.”

“Huh,” I say, wondering if I should mention that I swear I saw her earlier. “Must be way into the meth now, then.”

Lydia looks at me and squints at my snide indifference toward my sister.

When she returns her attention to the sizzling pan, I retrieve my phone and unlock it, pulling up the message thread that’s just messages to her from me.

All unanswered.

Hey, were you at the celebration today? I swear I saw you.

Hitting send, I return my attention to the group, setting my phone on the table.

“So, Sayah tells me that the house you lived in as girls was haunted,” Dominic says to the aunts, changing the subject.

“It was,” Maggie replies, eyeing him demurely.

“What sort of stuff happened?” Dom asks, intrigued. He leans closer to the table. “I had a house once that was haunted, too. I love ghost stories.”

“Oh, we would see lights on the hill thinking it was my dad coming home, and it wasn’t,” Hilda says seriously. She’s the best at telling ghost stories. Her face is always so grim when she tells them; her brows draw into a tense line, and her expression doesn’t waiver.

“They lived in an old house on the grounds of this park,” I explain. “My grandpa was the caretaker. Since they lived on the grounds, Grandpa would walk to work and back.”

“Oh, wow. That’s cool,” Dom says, propping his head on hand. “What else would happen?”

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