Dad’s eyes suddenly glow as he drives. He snaps his fingers and I understand what that means. He is connecting his mind to mum’s. Like, they are conversing.
“You can make use of a phone. Mind link is not proper at the moment.” I suggest and to my surprise, dad’s eyes become normal again.
“I can listen to my pet for a moment.” He mumbles but I hear it. I glare at him which makes him chuckle.
He picks up his phone and dials mum’s number. She takes the call at the third ring.
Though he doesn’t put the speaker on but I can hear mum well.
“Are you safe, was that successful?”
“Yeah. Sure. It was.” Dad replies.
“Are you on your way home already?” Mum asks from her end.
Dad quips, “where else would I be?”
I grasp the phone from dad at once, pressing it to my ears to avoid his hands reaching out to grab it.
“What’s wrong? Give the phone back to me!” He demands but I refuse.
“Make some cookies for us, mum. We’d be right home.” I clip and hang up on her though there are a few words she mentions which I don’t hear.
“That wasn’t proper enough.” Dad sighs, forcefully grabbing the phone from me. “You could try better.”
“I guess you could try best to make things more proper than you think they are.” I retort. He shakes his head and accelerates the car down the street.
“You can highlight a few things we don’t do the proper way.” Dad mentions.
“You mean like a vampire walking down the streets in daylight?” I retort.
“Nope!”
“You could mean it, yes? Vampires who do that aren’t doing the proper thing.” I add.
“Except for a daylighter.” He clips as the tires screech, bringing the car to a stop. The seat belt holds me tighter as I almost collide with my head beside the gear.
“Really? A Day Lighter? Can you let me in on that?” I ask, as we both remain in the car still.
“It’s not proper to know about them now.”
“When then is it proper?”
“When you’re eighteen!” He raises his voice slightly. “OK?”
“Here comes the statement I do not like to hear.” I say. I grab his arm as he wants to alight. “Where you going? Remember, make things proper. Tell me more about vampires.”
“Okay. I’ll tell you. What about when we get in?” Dad shakily breathes.
“We were not too stressed. If we want to point at a stressed-out person…” I mention, making my voice thicker than normal. “…you should point at me. Mum doesn’t know we are here yet. So, tell me, your eyes glowed – does it mean you’re a vampire too? Or you have the blood in you?”
Dad scoffs, “what do you know about vampires, little girl?”
“I would be next to bite you, take my word.” I promise, trying to alight but he grabs hold of my arms.”
“A Day ligher is a vampire that has been renewed by demons or witches to have some exceptional features. Like, being able to walk under the sun freely without being hurt by it.” Dad explains. I recline my back on the chair.
“Mum is one. Yes or yes?” I ask, looking straight into his eyes for an answer.
He heaves a deep sigh of stress, “Yeah.”
“That solves it.” He finally says as he budges the door open. I get down immediately he does, and walks towards him.
“One more thing.” I request. “Can my eyes glow that same way yours did?”
“It will, when you are eighteen years already.”
“No!” I grab his shirt. “I want it now.”
“Gosh. Going out on a date with Sophia is damn stressful. Would you leave me now?” He chuckles amidst his frustrated words.
“Not until you answer my question.”
“If I tell you that your eyes glowed when you transformed into a wolf, will you believe it?”
I look into his eyes, scanning them to know if he is telling the truth.
“Know what, Sophia? It represents mind link and yours can’t be active yet. OK?”
“I choose to believe you.” Then I release his shirt, staring straight down.
“You’re home, Kiddo.” Mum winks at me and approaches us. “How did it go, curious kid?”
“I should strangle you right there. Do you know?” I playfully tell her as she pulls me in for a hug.
“It went a bit fine, a bit bad.” I remark. “A bit fine because I didn’t bite Dad anyway.”
“That’s a good wolf you’ve got. Wolves don’t bite anyways. They…” She says, displaying the way werewolves pounce on their victims.
“But vampires do.” I clip.
“Save the topic for another time.”
I shrug my shoulders. None of them ever wants to hear or answer questions about vampires.
I get inside the living room after waiting a century for Dad and mum to adjourn their talk. Everywhere is still arranged same way we left it. Except a thing. There’s a different wallpaper at the left corner. I sight it and can see it clearly, though it is far away and looks small. I gather some long stools together to climb them and reach out to the small diagram on the cardboard. As I climb the stools, the lower one shakes and falls, making others fall as well. I shriek and when I fall, I fall into mum’s hands. As I am conscious to see myself in her arms, I get off her quickly. How the hell does a person move so fast? It’s creepy to me.
“What did you want to do?” Dad asks as he stoops low to check my well being.
“I’m good. I just wanted to…” I respond but mum cuts in.
“…take down the cardboard and summon the diagram on it. I am aware.” She completes. I heave sighs and shrug, ascending the stairs to return to my room.
I descend the stairs almost immediately, as my feet thud loudly. As I get to the living room again, I try my wolf’s strength. I jump to reach the cardboard and I strangely clog onto it. I retrieve the cardboard from where it is suspended. I know mum must have put it there.
“Why won’t you release me now?” I furiously ask, still stuck to the wall.
“I didn’t send you up there. Just lift the tip of your shirt.” Mum instructs and I decide to obey.
I land to the ground once I do – it’s only a thing restricting me from getting down.
“Your curiosity about the paranormal world will add more problems to the current ones, in this house.” Mum asserts.
She fumes, “hand that diagram over to me.”
I place my hands more firmly on the cardboard, behind me, and walk towards her, “I won’t give it to you.”
“She wants to try summoning the creature inside the diagram.” Mum reports to Dad.
“is that even possible?” I quip.
“Hold on, Isabelle.” Dad intervenes. “If she can cast a spell to carve out the creature, then we will not hide any secret about vampires from you anymore.”
Without taking one for two, I scratch the cardboard from top to bottom. I shake my head in little discouragement as I hurry to the kitchen to grab a pocket knife. I do not let mum see it until I slice her palm with it. it doesn’t hurt her. It only surprises her – first, why would I do it? Second – how did I know that was the step I needed to take to get the creature out of the diagram?
I allow a few drops of her blood on the cardboard. She snarls at the same second her blood touches the diagram. My eyes shut and open wide immediately, when the cardboard releases itself from my hands, and I faintly see a creature speed out of here – it looks more like a bat.
“You promised me something, remember?” I excitedly speak.
Mum walks out in fury, “Dylan did, I never did.”
Dad pulls me in for a hug, “you’re going to be a very special wolf. We hide secrets from you because we don’t want you to be fed to demons or ripped by strange wolves, vampires or werepires. But you have my word, I’ll show you what a pack house looks like, someday. And tomorrow? We’d get you registered at Evergreen.”
He turns off the switch as we both ascend the stairs to prepare for the tasks tomorrow.