Chapter Two
Dark had fallen as Soph trudged up the driveway of her cousin’s house. She’d missed her bus and had doubled back across the street - using a pedestrian crossing this time - to wait for the late train. The forty-five minute ride had been spent in disbelieving shock.
Adrenaline leached from her body, leaving her feeling clammy and weak. Sweat moistened her hand each time she recalled how close that truck had been to her and more than once - as she tried to make sense of her second chance at life - she wondered if, actually, the truck had hit her and she was now existing in a parallel universe.
Soph stared at the door for a long minute before finally knocking. Luie’s fox terrier, Hash, barked from within, and Soph watched the silhouette of her cousin hurrying up the hallway through the glass window.
“Where have you been?” Luie hissed as she opened the door. She pushed Hash back with her foot and made room for Soph to step inside. “You’re hours late!”
“Sorry, sorry!” Soph kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag on top of them. “I missed the bus too, but listen, something happened this afternoon and I need to tell you about it.”
“It better not be about Rhonda from work being a witch again.”
“I’m fairly certain Rhonda’s a witch, but that’s not it. Luie, listen!” She grabbed her cousin by the arm, stopping her before she could walk away. “A vampire saved me today.”
Luie stared, green eyes widening slightly, then they narrowed. “Why did you need saving?”
Heat crept to Soph’s cheeks. “I -”
“Luisella?” Someone called from the kitchen. “Has Sophia arrived?”
Soph’s stomach dropped, and she glared at Luie. “You invited Nona?”
“She invited herself.”
Soph followed Luie down the hallway to the kitchen. “You could have at least given me a heads up!”
“And you could just answer her calls sometimes so she doesn’t have to ambush you at dinner! Now play nice, Soph.”
The two women entered the kitchen and Soph plastered a smile to her face as she rounded the dining table to where Nona sat. The old bat should have died about ten years ago, by Soph’s reckoning. She was old as fuck.
“Sophia,” Nona greeted in a tone that was permanently reprimanding, even when Soph hadn’t done something to disappoint her. “Come stai?”
“Bene,” Soph leaned in, kissing each of her grandmother’s cheeks.
“Why don’t you answer my calls, Sophia?” Nona got straight into it as Soph took a seat beside her. With a sigh, Soph held up her phone.
“I broke it, sorry Nona. It’s hard to answer calls at the moment.” And indeed the phone was wrecked, the screen shattered. But she wasn’t about to tell Nona it had only happened hours ago when she’d dropped it on the road in front of a truck.
Nona tsked and waved a hand. Luie circled around the table with a glass of wine for Soph before taking her own seat opposite them.
“Have you met a boy yet? You need a nice Italian boy to settle down with.” Nona’s next question had Soph stifling an eye roll. This was the worst question. Well, second worse. The worst was still to come. But this one was high on the reasons why Soph avoided Nona’s calls like the plague.
“No boys, Nona. I haven’t even had time for dating lately,” just random hook ups, “I’ve been busy with work.”
That tsking noise again. It was like a whip cracking across her back sometimes. She might well have been a spinster in her grandmother’s eyes. Boys, marriage, babies. It had been like a mantra slapped across her face from the moment she’d left school and moved out of home. And it wasn’t like she was totally opposed to those things… Just Nona’s vision of them. A house in the suburbs, living on one wage so she could raise a fistful of ankle biters, cooking, cooking, cooking. It made her want to vomit.
“Maria has a son. Marco. She could introduce you to him. Ask her at your next gathering.”
And there it was. The number one worst topic Nona could bring up. Soph took a healthy gulp of wine.
“Nona,” she began slowly, sparing a glance at her cousin. Luie gave a warning shake of her head, but Soph didn’t know what else she could do. Nona would find out one way or another. “I won’t see Maria again because I quit the coven.”
Silence. Silence until there wasn’t.
Nona exploded up out of her chair with far more ferocity that a ninety-something year old had the right to have. Her wine glass tipped sideways, spraying red wine across the tabletop, causing Luie to jump back with a small cry of dismay. The room darkened, energy cracking in thin white streaks with the force of Nona’s fury. The amulet around Soph’s neck, a simple protection charm, flared hot against her skin as it reacted to the frenetic energy that filled the room.
“You quit the coven? Another coven? Are you a witch or not, Sophia? By the Founders’ Curse, you’re breaking my heart, just like your mother did!”
Nona continued to rant, seeming to recall every single thing Soph had done wrong in her life. And Soph sipped her wine, trying to remain unphased, though her stomach clenched tight with fear and her heart hurt just a little that she’d once again disappointed her grandmother.
Once again, because it was what she always seemed to do. She loved her grandmother and when she was in the good books; it was a complete switch. She would sing praises about Soph to anyone who would listen. But Founders, Nona’s ideal standards were a lofty goal to reach.
Once Nona had run herself weary, she demanded Luie bring her a smudge stick and crystals so she could cleanse the negative energy from around Soph, then she spent a good half an hour clutching crystals and muttering spells before they could even eat dinner.
Finally, hours later, Nona retired to bed and Soph and Luie headed to the living room with a fresh bottle of wine.
“You shouldn’t bait her like that,” Luie reprimanded gently as the two women stared at the mute TV, watching some late night game show. Hash trotted into the room and jumped up onto his owner’s lap, turning in a circle before settling down. “She’s an old woman, you know. You could give her a heart attack.”
Luie was too soft. Always had been. It was probably why she was Nona’s favourite grandchild. Soph sighed.
“Maybe if she stopped trying to get me to hang out with her thousand year old witch friends and hook me up with their musty sons, then she wouldn’t have to rant the way she does.”
“I get she’s old-fashioned with the boyfriend stuff,” Luie sipped her wine, “but would finding a coven be so bad?”
Soph shrugged. Truthfully, a coven would probably do her wonders. She was a loner witch with a fairly rudimentary understanding of the supernatural world, but the covens Nona pushed her towards were insufferable, and she’d left it too long to get in with a coven her own age. Despite Nona’s near-royal status as a light witch in the community, covens could be cliquey and Soph had never been good at playing those sorts of games.
“About what I was trying to tell you earlier,” she changed the topic, and Luie’s eyes narrowed once more.
“About your vampire?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but one minute I was standing in one spot, and the next I was somewhere else. I saw his face, felt his hands, but no-one else seemed to notice him.”
Luie tucked a dark lock of hair behind her ear and surveyed Soph thoughtfully. On the TV, the contestant had run out of attempts at the game and had been disqualified. A new contestant came out, and they smiled heartily at the camera.
“What do you know about vampire powers?” Luie said suddenly and Soph felt heat creeping up her neck. Of course, this was the sort of stuff she missed out on in covens. It wasn’t just about sisterhood and magic. There were histories to be passed down, warnings, lessons. Vampire powers were something Soph should know about, but didn’t.
“Ah, they’re fast and they drink blood?”
“Ha, ha.” Luie gave her a scathing look. “Only one type of vampire walks in daylight and they’re known as possessives.”
“Possessives.” Soph rolled the word around her mouth and Luie sighed.
“They can hypnotise humans, make them do their bidding. It’s subtle and dangerous. They could convince you to do all sorts of things just to please them. Soph,” she warned, “I know that look. Please don’t go looking for this vampire. You don’t know what he’ll do. Promise me!”
“Alright, alright,” Soph waved a hand in submission as she downed the last of her wine. “I won’t go looking for him.”
“Mm-hmm,” Luie didn’t seem convinced as she lifted Hash from her lap so she could stand and stretch. “Anyway, do you want to stay the night? I can make up a bed.”
“No, that’s okay,” Soph rose too. “I’ll head back into the city. I have an early morning tomorrow.”
And there was no way she was hanging around for another verbal beating from Nona over breakfast.
Luie walked her to the door to bid her farewell. “Same time next week?”
Soph gave her a brittle smile. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
She managed to get the last train of the night back into the city and as the urban glow shrouded her, casting flickers of yellow, red, green and gold across her skin, she thought about the vampire.
Luie had said he was dangerous, but why would he bother to save her - a human - if he wasn’t going to hang around afterwards and do dangerous vampire things?
She’d promised she wouldn’t look for him, and she wouldn’t, but she’d keep an eye out, nonetheless.