Page 27 of Little Doll

“I mean that I’m here confined to this secret life now that nobody can know about, constantly having it hammered into my mind that Draven cannot know. The servants cannot know. Outsiders cannot know. And dear Astrid, her life is even more secret than my own. So… Why are you allowed to know about us?”

His shoulders slumped and sadness crossed his face. He took my hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it. “There are reasons, Nova,” he whispered. “And someday I will share it all with you. But not this night.”

The sadness in his eyes broke my heart. I loved seeing new sides of my brother, but I could barely stand the sadness.

Discovering the existence of Astrid quieted the little voice in my dreams, calling my name. As for the obnoxious scratching sound, however, it intensified tenfold without Astrid’s voice concealing it.

The scratching plagued my sleep. My waking hours too. I asked everyone I saw if they could hear the infernal scratching. I convinced Father to check for rodents, certain an infestation of some sort had taken over the walls of Blackmoth House. But no one else heard. No such infestation was discovered. My family began secreting concerned glances at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. Cleo traveled to the libraries of London to research discreetly whether this was some symptom of a vampire in her infancy that no one was aware of.

By the time the night of the circus arrived, Astrid was over the moon, and I was exhausted. I hardly wanted to venture out anymore, but I wouldn’t dream of disappointing my sister. So, Fane packed us into the carriage late that night, and away we went.

The circus was on the outskirts of London, and we reached it before ever having to venture into the city. It was barely visible in the fog except for the flickering gas lamps along the perimeter and the pointed tops of the grungy striped tents. The carriage let us out at the entrance, and we watched for a moment as it rolled away into a misty field to await our return. Sounds of music, laughter, and shouting drifted out from the arched entrance and the swirling mist.

Astrid jumped up and down and clapped. Fane and I laughed, took her hands, and led her to the ticket master and into the circus.

A clown on stilts stood juggling and making jokes to the crowd inside. There were a surprising lot of people milling about and spectating. My skin tingled with the familiar sense of something magic nearby when I caught a glimpse of a handsome man under a tree smirking at us. A vampire. I gave him a small smile and a nod.

I crouched down before Astrid and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Now listen to me, Astrid,” I said. “You can move very, very fast; too fast for humans to see. And then you simply slip your teeth in, don’t bite hard! If you bite too hard, they might notice. I’m going to show you. Watch carefully.”

She nodded solemnly.

I straightened back to standing and peered around at all the finely dressed circus goers. I spotted a woman nearby who wasn’t wearing an overcoat and whose soft bosom showed above the low-cut neckline of her gown. I smiled down at Astrid and gave her a wink. I flew to the woman and took a tiny nip of her flesh. I was back by Astrid’s side in a heartbeat.

Astrid jumped up and down and clapped.

“Did you do it already?” Fane asked, giving me a wide eyed stare.

I nodded and gave a dramatic curtsy.

“Amazing, I didn’t even see anything!”

“Neither did she,” I said, laughing. He made me point out the one I’d drank from and the woman was still chatting to her date.

“I’m going to do it again, Astrid. Watch,” I said.

I zipped to a man who was handing out circus program booklets. I took a drink from his wrist and swiped a booklet, and he was none the wiser when I returned to my siblings.

“It’s amazing,” Astrid murmured, her eyes sparkling devilishly.

“Did you do itagain?” Fane asked. Astrid and I both laughed.

I crouched before her again and put my hands on her shoulders. “It’s very easy, darling,” I told her. “But it’s also easy to get carried away. Can you be careful?”

She nodded, looking me in the eye.

“Because if you’re not careful, it could be a bit of a mess.”

“I understand, Nova,” she agreed.

“You’ll have to find children, since you’re so short,” I added, patting her on the head. She stuck her tongue out at me and batted my hand away. Then she darted out to slip her teeth into the fat cheek of a toddler.

Fane and I ambled on hand in hand while Astrid flitted about, taking little bites of people. The few vampires in the crowd looked upon uswith great interest and some suspicion. I wondered what the history was on child vampires. Was Astrid the only one? Would our fellow creatures be impressed by her care and control? And what did they think of our being escorted by a human? Frankly, I hoped they’d keep their distance. I didn’t care to answer any questions.

A man caught my eye, dressed in a handsome suit with a fancy black waistcoat and tails. He had a shock of brown hair swept back from his face, with a vibrant streak of white shooting out from his right temple. He was juggling butcher knives and staring at me with a wide grin and hooded eyes.

I smiled back as we passed, mesmerized by the glint of his knives and the way they wished as they circled through the air.

Astrid spotted a tent with a sign above the entrance that said “Marionette.” She jumped up and down and begged us to take her in.

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