4. Liam
Chapter 4
Liam
T he shovel digs into the soft earth, and I sweat under the moonlit sky. It’s not the first time I’ve had to bury one of our own, but it never gets easier. Mia, once a fierce brown wolf, now lies transformed back into the form of a girl. The guilt gnaws at me as I cover her lifeless body with dirt. She deserved better.
I stand over the makeshift grave, staring at the mound, lost in thought. The pack—her family—will want answers. They’ll want revenge. But reporting this to the council? That’s a whole different kind of mess. The elders will demand the vampire’s head on a platter, no questions asked.
As the Protector, it’s my duty to uphold the safety of all beings. But this situation is complicated. The vampire said she was defending herself. I can’t share what I know yet. The elders might rush into a decision that could lead to more bloodshed. No, I need to investigate this before making any moves.
The night is quiet, only the distant howls of other wolves echoing through the air. I decide to head back to the place where Mia’s body had lain, and follow the trail of blood that leads away from the scene. The scent is strong and unmistakable. The black-haired vampire, the one who took Mia’s life.
I drive slowly, tracking the scent and her car. It took me quite some time to bury Mia, but the scent is no match for my wolf abilities. Eventually, the scent leads me to an older apartment building. I park my car and watch. Then I spot her car, and there she is, still sitting behind the wheel.
She remains in the parked car for another ten minutes before she finally emerges and staggers to the building’s entrance. She seems to be struggling to stay upright.
She must be hurt.
Then I watch her disappear into the building.
I decide to get comfortable and wait, sitting in my car watching.
Minutes turn to hours, and I start to wonder if I should just give up for the night.
That’s when I spot her, the black-haired vampire, coming out of the building.
But she’s not alone.
Another girl, this one with brown hair, is helping to support her as she walks.
They exchange a few words in hushed whispers. The vampire looks even paler than before. She’s injured, clutching her side as they hobble toward a beat-up Honda Civic.
Who is the brown-haired girl? And how could a vampire be this injured? It’s been hours. Maybe she was telling me the truth about Mia?
My phone buzzes, jolting me from my thoughts. It’s 4:30 am.
Who would be texting me at this hour?
Nobody; just spam. Geez!
I slump down in the seat and wait for them to leave before deciding to follow them.
They drive down the city streets, empty at this late hour. I trail far behind, headlights off. They pull up to the hospital, and I watch from a distance as they enter.
I park in a dark area of the lot and walk toward the entrance. I lean against a nearby pillar just inside the door, trying to blend in with the stragglers. The hospital smells of antiseptic, and its harsh lighting is flickering overhead. I keep my distance but stay close enough to overhear snippets of conversation.
The brown-haired girl—Annie—speaks in hushed tones with the intake receptionist, explaining that the black-haired girl—Selene—was involved in an attempted robbery gone wrong. My eyes narrow. Attempted robbery? Yeah right!
They take the vampire, Selene, back to a room as Annie fills out paperwork. At this late (early?) hour, I know it will be difficult to get past security to where the patients’ rooms are, so I wait until someone exits and casually slip past when the guard is distracted by another patient. The hallways are bustling with nurses, doctors, and orderlies, and I pass by several rooms before I find Selene. She lies there, looking helpless in the stark, sterile space. The vampire looks different now, vulnerable and fragile.
I feel justified in my earlier decision to hold off on involving the council. I need to find out more.
Taking advantage of the hospital staff’s distraction, I slip into an empty room near the nurses’ station and wait, eavesdropping on their conversations. It doesn’t take long for me to learn that Selene is being treated for injuries sustained during a robbery attempt. I manage to catch a snippet of the nurses discussing the severity of her wounds.
Selene’s current state is a stark contrast to the image I had of her from last night. She looks nothing like the savage predator I saw. Now, she’s weak and clutching her side. It doesn’t make sense.
And what is the connection between Selene and the brown-haired girl, Annie? It’s unlikely that a vampire and a human would be friends. The human probably doesn’t know.
But whatever the situation, she is not dumb enough to attack anyone in the hospital. Half the staff here are working with the council. Or are one of us . It helps to have people right here so we can deal with any troublemakers straight away. If Selene did try anything, she would be taken down immediately.
I am curious what exactly she will say to explain her injuries. That stupid excuse might work on a human, but no wolf will believe it. What was she thinking, allowing her friend to bring her here?
Just then, my phone vibrates with an incoming message.
It’s from Gray.
The message makes me smile.
I swipe on the text quickly, reading it: Bro, the food here is terrible. I miss your pasta! I am texting from the counselor’s office. I had to sneak in before school starts to get ahold of my phone. Long story. Don’t ask and don’t text back. I miss you! Say hey to Mom and Dad.
The fact that he’s risking more trouble to send me a text says a lot about our relationship.
I feel my chest cave with tenderness. I miss my brother and can’t wait to see him.
Since waiting around in a hospital with no plan in place is just foolish, I decide it’s time to go. I have to get home and shower, so I am ready to open Mariya’s. Maybe the time between now and then will help me sort out the jumbled mess in my head.
I need to decide whether to tell the council or, at least, my mother about what happened tonight.
Keeping this secret is dangerous, especially if Mia’s pack decides to talk.
This is the first vampire sighting in years, and it had to be her?
Fucking hell!
I drag a hand over my brown hair, flinching when I realize it is now caked with sweat and dirt. I need that shower… now!
On my way back home, I wish that I could call Mariya and ask her advice. She is the only other person outside my family I would trust with this secret.
Then again, my deep hatred for vampires stems from an attack that she and I were involved in. I really doubt she would have anything positive to say about it anyway.
By the moon, I miss her!
The memory of that day comes to mind. I was so young, so my father always assumed that I wouldn’t remember exactly what went down that day. But I remember every waking moment, in vivid detail.
I had been half asleep in my room. Mariya had just read me a bedtime story when we heard a commotion downstairs.
“Stay in here, buddy. I’ll make sure everything is okay, and then I will come get you. Okay?” she had said.
I nodded as I watched her tiptoe across my room. My full powers had not yet kicked in, but my hearing was pretty good. However, after a day of playing and painting, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.
Where was my father?
Where was Jade?
I was just slipping into dreamland when I heard a loud crash.
“Mariya,” I called out.
I was scared. Something was terribly wrong. I was not sure what, but something had gone wrong.
Then my door had creaked open, and my nanny walked back in.
“Shhh, baby, you have to be quiet!” she whispered.
“Are you okay?” I asked because even then, I could see the clear worry on her face.
“I’m fine. Everything is fine.”
Then she had pulled a small bottle from her pocket. Her eyes were wild as she whispered something in a language I did not understand.
Then she leaned over me.
“I have something for you, Liam.”
I clapped my hands excitedly, but she had wrapped both of them in her right hand. “I need you to be quiet, baby. Now, I want us to play a game.”
I loved all her games.
Now, as an adult, I recognize that her “game” was just an attempt to keep me calm in a crisis. Unbeknownst to me, there were people in our house. We were under attack.
“Okay,” I said.
Then she had uncapped the bottle and asked me to open my mouth. “This is a small juice I am giving you. It will make you feel sleepy, and when you wake up, it will be morning, and we can go to the park.”
I could tell she was lying, but I did not want to upset her.
So, I let the cool liquid slip down my throat. It tasted vaguely of cinnamon, and I hated every second of it.
I opened my mouth to tell her I had swallowed it, but something was wrong.
Everything was all hazy.
“Mariya,” I tried to call out, but my tongue was too heavy.
My hands and legs were so tired.
I wanted to sleep.
My eyes drifted shut, and I was out.
When I woke up, Mariya was cradling me in her arms.
The house was a mess, and I could tell something bad had happened.
I wanted to remind her of her promise to take me to the park, but she looked tired and hurt. I was confused and very afraid.
And then my father had come home with Jade and told me that everything was going to be okay. The bad people were gone, and that Jade was moving in with us.
It had all turned out alright, but I found out later that the night had been horrific for my whole family. If Mariya had not cast a protection spell, we would have all been murdered.
She had saved all our lives, and she had risked her own in the process.
In the end, Dad and Jade (with Mariya’s help) defeated the vampires and evil council members who had been involved in the attack. All we had to live with were thoughts of what almost happened.
Soon after, Jade became head of the council, and she and Dad got married and had my sister and brothers.
But me. I had lived through a vampire attack at four years old, and although I slept through most of it, I remembered the fear and relief on the faces of my family. Not to mention the child’s view of surviving something awful.
And now, vampires were back in town.
A shudder runs through me. This time, we don’t have Mariya to look out for us.
This time, it's all on me.