Page 22 of Crimson Born

“Josiah, listen to me,” I said. “Your parentswillget over the shock—mine too. It’s painful now because it’s all so new. And there are bound to be some advantages to this situation, right? Aren’t vampires supposed to be really strong? Imagine how much more you’ll be able to do around the farm.”

“We can’t go out in daylight.”

“So you’ll work at night. And now you’ll be able to watch over your parents all their lives, make sure they’re taken care of.”

“What about the church? We’ll be shunned.”

“Other churches have accepted vampires—I’ve heard people complain about it. Ours could change too. They just need to understand. The people in this village have known us all our lives. They’ll see we’re not so different now and learn to accept what they didn’t have any reason to accept before.”

His tone turned a shade darker. “What about eating?”

My belly growled at the mere mention of food. And then it flipped in revulsion.Foodwasn’t what it wanted.

“We’ll figure it out.”

How did other vampires get nutrition? The ones who lived and worked with humans every day. I knew they drank blood, but could they also eat food?

The revulsion grew more pronounced, some new instinct answering the unspoken question.

“Maybe we can drink from animals or something,” I said. “There are certainly plenty around here.”

Suddenly remembering Kannon said he’d be staying at a motel in town, I said, “There’s someone I can ask. I’ll go see him. How thirsty are you? Can you wait a little longer?”

Josiah’s hand passed over his stomach, then his fingertips clenched his pants leg. “I don’t know. I don’t think my stomach has ever felt so empty in my whole life. I might try the animal thing when I go out to milk the cows for the last time tonight.”

I nodded eagerly, pleased to see him at least willing to search for solutions. “Okay, you can let me know how that goes. I’ll go into town and talk to the vampire I met there. I’ll be back before daylight.”

I climbed through the window onto the tree branch, but Josiah’s voice stopped me from going farther.

“Abigail?”

“Yes?”

“Maybe you should just... go. Leave me and this place behind. You’ve always wanted to leave—here’s your chance.” The sorrow in his voice matched the misery on his face.

“No. I’ll be back—soon. I’ve been sleeping in your barn. If you find you can’t tolerate staying in the house with your parents, go and wait for me there.”

He nodded woodenly and gave me a weak, “Okay,” before I left.

8

Where You Belong

Kannon answered the door before I knocked.

Either the walls of the cheap motel were so thin he heard me coming or he smelled me. I could certainly smell him.

While all the humans I’d passed on my way here had smelled mostly like blood, Kannon smelled normal—like fresh air and soap and denim.

Sure enough, when the door swung inward, he stood there in a pair of new-looking jeans and a t-shirt spotted with water droplets from his wet hair.

“Abigail.” He gave me a wide smile. “I’m so glad you changed your mind. Come in while I put on some shoes, and we’ll get going.”

“Oh. No. I’m sorry—that’s not why I’m here. I just need to ask you some questions.”

“Well, training newbies isn’t really my job. At the Bastion, they’ll—”

“I told you, I’m not going there. I’m staying in my community. There’s a boy there who’s turned too. I can’t leave him.”

---