Page 29 of Daring Her Vampires
“What about your mom?” Sally asks.
“Mom was sweet. Too sweet. She loved us but couldn’t protect us. Dad hid his abuse of her. He wasn’t a great father, but I didn’t know how bad he was until Allie admitted what was happening.” I clear my throat, uncomfortable explaining the dark cloud of our life. “I blame myself for not seeing what was going on.”
“Fuck that,” Luca growls, and I cup his shoulder.
“Luca will have his side of the story to tell.” I drop my hand. “Allie started to leave the house when Dad was passed out. She had friends that I didn’t like, and she was sneaky. One night, I caught her, and she talked me into letting her go. She was very good at talking me into things. I thought she had very little joy in her life; she deserved to have some fun. I deeply regret my choice.” I clench my jaw and look at my wrists. “She met a boy, or what she thought was a boy. She was in love, and I demanded to meet him. For weeks, she put me off. One night, I followed her. I don’t remember anything about the night. I woke up the next day and was confused. I remember deciding to follow Allie, but then, nothing.
“I brushed it off and waited for her to come home. She never did. Mom was distraught, but Dad assured her and told her not to worry.” I close my eyes. “I went to look for her, and Luca came with me. We searched the town without any luck. It was like she disappeared.” I meet Sally’s eyes. “We came home not knowing what to do, but hoping she came home.”
“Oh, no,” Sally whispers.
“She did. She came home with her boyfriend. Fredrick was no boy. He was a vampire and turned Allie. He wasn’t a good maker. He didn’t teach her about her new reality, and he didn’t care. Allie was thirsty and drunk on her new powers. She wantedto scare Dad, but drained all his blood. He was dead when we got there. Allie was gone,” I say softly, remembering the destruction left behind.
“Your mom?” Sally asks.
“Fredrick killed her. She was lying in the grass in the behind the house. I think she tried to run. Allie didn’t know Fredrick would kill her, but she was too overwhelmed to understand what he did. Of course, we didn’t know anything about vampires at the time, or that Allie was the one who did the killing. We thought someone had broken in or Dad had gotten into a fight with his friends, and they had taken revenge. We went to our neighbor, who helped us deal with the destruction. We buried our parents, and since I was seventeen, they put me in charge of Luca. The neighbor offered to look in on us and make sure we were doing all right.
“A week later, Allie came home. She was panicked. I could tell she was different, but I had no idea she would tell us a story about vampires. We didn’t believe her until she showed us her fangs. She admitted everything. Fredrick left her on her own. She didn’t know how to control her urges or her power. But she knew how he turned her into a vampire. She saw the evil things Fredrick liked to do, and it scared her.” I trace the scars, smiling softly. “We loved her as brothers should. She was our sister, but we were friends. We shared everything when we were younger. Our dreams and our nightmares. She didn’t want to be alone, and we didn’t want to lose the last person in our family.” I look at Sally. “We decided to be like her. Allie changed me first. We didn’t know if it worked, so she did both wrists. She couldn’t control herself and went deeper than needed. Luckily, she found the strength to pull away.
“The hours after were filled with the worst pain I have ever felt. I don’t know why the wounds didn’t heal. When Allie sees them, her guilt comes back. She blames herself, and it makes hersad. I wear the cuffs to help her forget. It has become a part of me, and I will never go without them. I love my sister and don’t like it when she’s sad, even though she made me into the thing I hated once I knew what a vampire did to my mom. It was easier to turn Luca; she learned from her mistakes with me.” I run my thumb over the scars. “They remind me of my mistakes, so it’s easier to ignore them.”
“It’s not on you,” Luca whispers. “None of us could have known what would happen. Allie was trying to escape our lives when Dad was alive. We all did in our own ways.”
“How did you escape?” Sally asks him.
“I’m not ready,” he grits out.
“We have time,” she says, looking at him tenderly. “What happened with Fredrick?”
“I think turning Allie was a game. He certainly didn’t love her. Marcus was with him when they met, and she told us about him. She refused when Fredrick suggested she be with both of them. They disappeared after that, and we tried to learn our new bodies and powers. It was difficult.” I roll my shoulders and lean back on the couch. “We planned to go after Fredrick, and take revenge for Allie and our mom. Our new urges took over our lives. All we could think about was blood. This incurable thirst plagued us all day and night. Who could we ask? So we stayed together, protected each other, and didn’t judge when one of us killed someone. The power was intoxicating. After a while, I forgot how much I hated vampires. I had to accept my new reality. When I realized that I liked being a vampire, I killed several people. Their deaths were another stain on my soul. I thought I deserved it,” I say gruffly. “Allie hides her shame behind her humor and fuck-it attitude. She is the life of the party, but I know she feels responsible for the pain we have suffered.”
“I understand,” Sally mumbles. I see some of the same qualities in her as my sister.
“We learned how to control our urges. Blood became a task instead of something enjoyable. We made it pleasurable for the humans we drank from until blood bags became accessible. Building a life for ourselves became a priority. Once we gained control, we started to track him.” I roll my neck.
“When did you find him?” she asks.
“Years ago,” I answer. “The world is a big place, and just when we thought we found his scent, he disappeared. When Shade gave us the job, it was easier to track him through his resources. We continued to cover the death and destruction he caused, yet we couldn’t catch him. The first time we got close, he must have scented her and found a way to message her. He loved it, rubbing in our mistakes.”
“Why does he care?”
“He feels we challenged him. When he turned Allie, he treated it like a game. He had plenty of humans he’s changed, but once he does, he doesn’t care about them. It’s the thrill of the chase and the process of changing someone. He likes the rush of feelings, as if he is all-powerful. Now, when he turns people without permission, he uses them to kill. His own personal army. I didn’t know him when he was human, but I’m sure he had this darkness in him. Becoming a vampire doesn’t turn you into a killer. The desire has to be there before. We are still tracking him,” I growl.
“I’ll kill him for Allie and for our mom. It pisses me off that we can’t pinpoint his location. We’ve always been able to get who we go after.” Luca believes Fredrick is winning, and it annoys him. “We came here to get help, and at this point, I don’t care how we accomplish his death, just that we do.”
“Allie doesn’t want you to get hurt,” Sally guesses, looking between us.
“Yes. She’s tried to protect us, and she doesn’t need to,” Luca says.
“She loves you.”
“We love her,” I say.
“You’re good brothers,” she says. “But it’s time to kill him. His obsession with her will keep growing.”
“We know,” Luca says. “He’s a slippery fucker.”
“Do you know how old he is?” she asks.
