Edith - 1918
Today should have been my wedding day. Instead, I intended to die.
The heels of my white shoes sank into the unstable sand of the riverbank as I inched closer to the water. The muck pulled at my wedding dress, but dirt was the last thing I cared about at the moment. I needed to keep moving. If I kept walking, I’d soon join Daniel. We could be together forever as planned rather thanseparated by war, and now, death.
“I’m coming, Daniel,” I whispered. “I’m coming.”
I waded waist high into the water. The rocks stuffed in my pockets shifted, weighing me down. I found it difficult to move, each step an effort. Still, I pressed forward. I was neck deep, the cold water lapping at my pinned black hair, when I heard him.
Not Daniel—oh, how I wish I could hear his voice one last time!—but Mr. Heartsong.
“I would not take one step further if I were you, Miss Dorset.”
I turned my head toward the sound of his voice. He was standing on the riverbank, where just before, there was no one. It did not surprise me. Vampires could outrun an automobile if they felt the need. Which begged the question: Why did he feel the need to come here?
Mr. Heartsong and I had met at a VHA (Vampire Human Alliance) meeting back in 1914. We campaigned for Vampire Rights, including the vote. He saw me as a schoolteacher who wished to do good outside the classroom. For me, he was like the father I never had considering my own had passed before I was born. I’d heard rumors my whole soon-to-be-over life that Mother invented a father for me to avoid the stain of illegitimacy, but I never pressed. Mother never answered what Mother did not wish to.
“Do not take another step, Miss Dorset,” Mr. Heartsong repeated when I dragged my right foot forward.
“Why?” Water lapped into my mouth. I spat it out before continuing. “I want to join Daniel. This is the only way.”
He clucked his tongue. His clothes were tattered a little around the knees and elbows, like something out of theworkhouse in a Dickens novel. Had he been alive that long? Or longer?
“Daniel would want you to be happy, my dear.” His voice held a hypnotic lilt. I recognized it as a glamour. He was trying to get me to do what he wanted instead of what I wanted.
“Goodbye, Mr. Heartsong.” I took a deep breath out of habit before disappearing under the water.
* * *
Present Day, 2018
The place between wake and sleep was where memories of Daniel always hid. For just a second, right before I opened my eyes, I saw him. It was like he hadn’t passed, and I never became what I am today. ‘Vampire’ was a dirty word nowadays. It was a pity they still regarded us as second-class citizens or worse—monsters—after how much we fought for Vampire Rights with the
VHA in the early 1900s and later in the 1960s.
I sat up in bed, listening to the commotion in the kitchen of our small two-bedroom apartment away from the Institute grounds. Most clan members lived in the dorms, but I wanted my adopted daughters, Hope and Angel, to live as normal a life as possible. So, that meant mixing with humans and the best way to achieve that was to not live on campus. We had our own rooms there for recruitment weekends and visits, but our main residence was our little apartment on 6th Street four blocks away from the rest
of the clan.
“Back off, Hope! It’s my turn to mix the tea. Mama E lets me do it every weekend.”
“I’d rather stake myself than drink any of that watered-down garbage you call tea!” Hope snapped.
“Fine by me,” Angel retorted. “I’ll find you something sharp. Here, use my knife.”
I smiled. Despite being named after such a gentle creature, Angel stuck up for herself with the fire of a devil. Her fiery determination helped her survive a Khmer Rouge labor camp. Yes, she and Hope
were both close to death, but that’s where I came in. Mr. Heartsong said, after being turned, “We vampires always know who needs us most.” Just like he knew I needed him to show me the good I could do if given near infinite time, I did the same for two young sisters caught in the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in Cambodia. Their names in their native language were Sangkhum and Tevta. Once we moved back to America, we anglicized their names to Angel and Hope. Yet I still sometimes used their Khmer names so they wouldn’t forget their past, but even the girls preferred fitting in with ‘American names.’ It only took a single
bite, along with a yes, to turn someone. I preferred to think of this life as a chance to help. Though not all vampire clans had such altruistic goals.
I dressed in a style, many now called ‘vintage,’ before joining Angel and Hope in the kitchen. They made my favorite Earl Grey
tea with three spoonfuls of government subsidized blood added for taste with no one staking anyone again. Some mornings were more volatile than others. Despite that, in the end, my morning cup of tea always got made and usually with a hefty dose of sisterly cooperation that I had come to expect from the girls. Thankfully, we could share (mostly) quiet family moments like these without worrying about where our main sustenance was coming from. The Red Cross Blood Assistance Program of 1936 made it so much easier for a vampire to live a quality life.
“We put up fliers all around school yesterday for the recruitment fair.” Hope nibbled on a piece of wheat toast spread with blood. I still liked to pretend it was strawberry jam. My imagination allowed me to hold on to a piece of my former humanity. “I bet we’re gonna get a big crowd come Saturday.”
“Don’t call it a recruitment fair.” Angel smacked her sister’s arm. “It’s a live action role play or LARP convention.”
“Yeah, that we could find future vamps at,” Hope countered.
I half-listened to their bickering. Even though child vampires aged till they’re 18, the girls sometimes still behaved like the eight and ten-year-old children I first knew them as. I don’t help in that
matter. We’ve lived together for over forty years, but I still thought of them as little girls.
“Mama E? What’s wrong?” Hope asked, she was the first to notice my quiet mood.
I shook my head. “Nothing. Only thinking. It’s the anniversary of when Mr. Heartsong turned me. I’m always a little … quiet … when
thinking back, that’s all.”
“Why doesn’t Mr. Heartsong come around much anymore?” Angel asked before she drank straight from the blood bank bag, like a
toddler sucking apple sauce from a pouch.
I needed to be careful when choosing my words. The real reason my vampire sire didn’t come around much was because he didn’t agree with my unwillingness to turn humans. I’d recruit and teach about vampire life, but I needed a good reason to turn someone. We only had seven offerings. When recruits accepted those offerings—once we turned seven humans—we died. I’d only offered this life to two people in my hundred years as a vampire. They were both sitting across the table from me. Numbers were
dwindling since the hunters’ had declared their plan to eradicate all vampires, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hurry through my offerings. Mr. Heartsong didn’t agree with me. It was the first time in over one hundred years we hadn’t seen eye-to-eye on recruitment matters.
“Mr. Heartsong is far too busy with recruitment events to stop by as much as he used to,” I lied. “Perhaps you’ll see him
today.”
The girls perked up at the thought of seeing their grandsire at the LARP convention. We’d set up a booth at every convention we
could find over the last five years. We called the supposed role play ‘Vampires versus Humans.’ If participants signed up under the vampire category, we knew they were interested in this life and invited them to the Vampire Institute. After experiencing and learning our way of life, which they thought wasjust the LARP in action, we gave all participants an offer. We glamoured those who did not accept, sending them home with altered memories of a fun, immersive weekend with no real vampires in sight. We didn’t need those who did not accept the offering leading the Hunters right to our front door.
After finishing breakfast, we took the subway to the convention center. I preferred living in a city with good public transport. I had originated from an age when ladies did not drive automobiles and I never learned how.
Parker Morgan, a young Heartsong clan vampire who
attended the girls’ school, was already setting up our booth when we arrived. His sire had turned him in the 1950s, so he still retained most of the ‘clean cut good looks’ that were popular with young men back then. Except his love for sweater vests, button-down shirts, and slacks got him teased at school.
“Parker!” Hope bounced up and down on her toes and
waved when she caught sight of him. “He’s so dreamy, don’t you think?” she whispered to Angel.
“Yeah, as in he’ll only go out with you in your dreams,” Angel said. “Some rumors are true, you know.”
Hope scowled. “Says who?”
Angel rolled her eyes. “Says everyone, duh.”
Parker smiled and waved back at us as he unfurled the ‘Vampires vs Humans’ banner to attract potential recruits. “Good morning,
ladies. Who’s ready to LARP?”
Hope giggled as if Parker had said the most fascinating thing ever uttered. I remembered when I used to giggle the same way around Daniel. I hoped she did not experience the same level of heartache I did in the end.
Both girls’ attention shifted from Parker to a new
young man with mocha colored skin and brown hair with dyed blonde tips. He sat down at our booth as if he belonged among us vampires. I could tell from the strong pulse point in his neck that his heart still very much beat. What were the girls up to?
“Angel? Hope? A moment, please.” I motioned for them
to follow me away from the growing crowd to a quiet spot next to a wall.
“What is it, Mama E?” Hope’s eyes were wide and
oh-so innocent.
I sighed. She didn’t know what she had done or why
it could pose a problem. “Did you invite the human boy to help recruit? Do you even realize how dangerous that is? As far as anyone knows, we’re ‘role playing’ vampires. We need to keep it that way. The Hunters …” I shook my head to scatter thoughts of what I’d seen vampire hunters do to our kind. “Hunters are relentless in murdering all vampires. You know that. We’ve discussed it at length. Why is that human boy at the recruitment table?”
“His name is Caden.” Angel’s eyes kept watching the boy instead of looking at me. “We go to school with him, Mama E. He’s the
president of the teen VHA. You can’t have a Vampire Human Alliance without vampires, so …”
This was worse than I thought. “You revealed your true nature to him?”
Hope rolled her eyes. “Why is that a problem, Mama E? You were in the VHA.”
“Yes, but that was long before Mr. Heartsong turned me,” I reminded them. “Saying ‘I’m a vampire’ in a public group, in this day and age, is practically an invitation to the Hunters. Are you trying to get yourselves staked?”
“But we can trust Caden,” Angel said.
“He’s never given us a reason not to,” Hope added.
“Do you trust him with your lives?” I pressed. “That’s the level you must commit to when you reveal your true nature to a human. Do you trust him with your lives, girls?”
Both girls crossed the area of their chest where their hearts used to beat. “With our lives,” they said in unison.
I observed Caden and Parker’s interactions at the booth. They were at ease—friendly even—with each other. The youngergeneration never appeared to have the same cares and worries we did. If the girls trusted him, perhaps I should too. At the very least, I should give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Does Parker know you told him?” I asked.
“Uh, Parker revealed himself too.” Hope admitted.
“Look at it this way, Mama E … Caden knew there would be at least three vampires at the convention and came to help anyway. He trusts us, so why can’t we trust him?”
“Very well,” I sighed. “He needs to earn my trust, but I will try since you two think so highly of him.”
“We do.” Angel tip toed to kiss my cheek. “You’ll see, Mama E. You’ll like him as much as we do!”
The girls skipped back to the booth. I followed at a slower pace. When I had joined the VHA in 1916, there was much less civil unrest between humans and vampires. It was safe to claim you were a vampire in public. Vampires wanted the right to vote and be treated with kindness and understanding. It drew me to their cause. I needed a purpose beyond the life my mother had planned out for me. I found that purpose in the VHA and—later—with this near immortality. I said a silent prayer that Hope and Angel would find the same purpose in the VHA as I did.
“You okay, Mama E?” Hope asked after noticing my reflective mood.
I smiled. “Just thinking, Sangkhum. Just thinking.”
* * *
Our morning had seen a handful of people sign up for the human side. We had yet to gain our first potential vampire player. Thatwas, until a young man, who was Parker’s physical age, stopped in front of our booth in the late afternoon. He grinned before sweeping his blonde curly hair away from his eyes. He wore ripped jeans and a t-shirt depicting a band I’d never heard of. At least I think it’s a band. Hope and Angel always complained that I knew nothing about music from anything newer than a phonograph record. Caden approached him and they exchanged some strange handshake.
“Dan the man! You made it,” Caden exclaimed.
He smiled, brushing his hair away from his eyes again. “Sorry I’m late. Hope I didn’t miss the good stuff.”
“Nah, we’re still taking sign-ups.”
The young man Caden had called Dan looked toward the girls and gave them a brief wave. His attention lingered longeron Parker, who busied himself arranging our remaining brochures into neat rows.
“Vampires versus Humans,” Dan read our booth sign. “So, uh, do you reenact the Vampire Human War or is it more casual?”
“Day-to-day can be just as engrossing as pretending to fight a war.” I slid a brochure across the table tomake us look authentic. “What side are you interested in? Human or Vampire?”
Another glance at Parker. “Oh, totally vampire,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in, you know? It would be nice to, uh, be someone different for a while.”
“We understand.” Angel held out the sign-up clipboard. “You could be our first vampire recruit of the day, Dan.”
“Sounds cool, right, Dan?” Hope added. “We get to spend the whole weekend together at the Institute.”
“As long as you have permission from a parent or guardian, you’d join us at the Institute for the weekend,” I corrected. “We provide transportation to and from the convention center to the Institute. It’s quite the immersive weekend. We have been running the LARP for five years with great success.”
Before Dan responded to my sales pitch, he pulled a cellular phone from his pocket and tapped the screen a fewtimes.
“Yeah, the whole permission thing is not a problem,” he mumbled in response. “What are you playing this weekend, Parker?”
Parker looked up and smiled. I didn’t recall seeing him quite this shy during events before. “Vampire. We could be roommates if you sign up for our side.”
Dan scribbled his name on the first line under the ‘Vampire’ heading. “Number one. Do I win a prize or something?”
“Of course. You get to hang with us the whole weekend,” Hope exclaimed. “What more of a prize do you need?”
I smiled at the girls’ recruitment efforts before I glanced down at the sign-up sheet to check our young recruit’s full name. Dan Paxton.
I gasped. The words blurred and the room tipped as I struggled to stay standing. Dan Paxton. He had the same name as my Daniel.
