Rain Gently Tapping Against My Skin

“What are you doing here?” Kevin asks, as he seemed to have finally decided to come home. Scarlett, Jesse, and I were on his couch, watching TV.

“Alison’s gone to prom with Martin, leaving me in charge of Scarlett and Jesse. They wanted to see their uncle Kevin.” I say, rolling my eyes, watching Tom and Jerry. I’m sorry, but I still love this show! I mean, come on! A cat chasing a mouse while doing all this random crap is just pure entertainment.

“Ahuh, and you’re here why?”

“Didn’t know where else to go.”

“Ever try outside?”

“Yep. But I didn’t wanna have to carry them everywhere. They can’t walk yet, Kevin, they’re only two months old.”

“So, you just thought it was okay to break into my house and make yourself comfortable?”

“I didn’t break in. The door was unlocked,” I say, rolling my eyes. “And, yeah, pretty much.”

“Uncle Kevin!” Jesse’s silent voice rings in my head.

“Hey, Jesse. What’s up?” Kevin says, smiling at him. It was odd. Why? You may be wondering. Because Kevin hates Donovan with every ounce of his being. While he absolutely loves Jesse, who I sometimes think looks just like Donovan.

Oh, and here’s something interesting you should know about the two: They’re half-vampire. Yes, I’m aware that I just stated the obvious. But, what I mean is that they have fangs. Their skin only gets pale whenever their fangs are extended — just like their mom, when she was a vampire. They don’t need blood, though. Alison refuses to feed them it. While, of course, Donovan’s probably taking them hunting.

I seriously wish I could murder him. But, I’m pretty sure Jesse and Scarlett wouldn’t be happy if I did. We seriously do not need suicidal babies.

Jesse’s mind-voice pulls me out of my thoughts, as I hear him say, “Mommy looks pretty.”

“Really? What did she look like?” Kevin asks, obviously wondering just how worried he should be about that. An image of Alison in her dress and make-up pops up in my mind, making me roll my eyes.

“Mommy’s pretty,” Jesse’s mind-voice says, as he smiles at us. He looked like Alison right then.

Jesse has curly dark brown hair, about as tan as a two-month old can get, and is covered in baby-fat — which, of course, is adorable! His eyes, though … they’re truly unique. One is an extremely dark brown — just like Alison’s once were — with these golden specks that I’m not sure where they came from. His other eye is silver, with little specks of bronze in it.

Scarlett, on the other hand, is an adorable dirty-blonde. Don’t ask me how, though, seeing as how Alison and Donovan both have dark hair. Her eyes, much like Jesse’s, are two different colors. One is an extremely dark blue, with silver specks in it. The other is dark green, with golden specks in it.

“Yeah, Mommy’s pretty,” Kevin sighs, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch, next to Jesse. “Now whose idea was it to see me?”

“Mine!” Scarlett’s mind-voice sounded so weak compared to Jesse’s. Scarlett was always so much weaker. She was sick when she was born. We aren’t sure what was wrong, other than it kept Alison and Jesse in the hospital for over a week. We were all panicking. What if they found something odd? Like, I don’t know, vampire fangs! Or, even, wings. Oh, and what if they just suddenly started bending the elements to their will? But, luckily, her uncle John had hidden anything that could expose us. Alison says, though, “That the angels were with her.” I know, I hardly believed her when she said it.

“Scarlett, don’t do that. Remember?”

“But … I’m … fine.”

“Scarlett, stop. You’re gonna hurt yourself.” I say worriedly, glancing up at Kevin. Why? I have no clue. I think it’s ’cause he’s like five hundred years old. They say “with age comes wisdom” or something like that. “You don’t need to talk. Remember what I told you?”

“You’re not a dog,” Jesse’s sweet little mind-voice says, making me look at him. I glance at the window, and sure enough! There was a full-moon. Looks like Alison wasn’t held hostage for nothing, after all, I think, still disapproving that whole thing.

“What time is it?”

“Almost midnight,” Kevin says, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, crud!” — Alison forbids us to cuss around Jesse and Scarlett. — “She’s gonna kill me for this!”

“No, she won’t. C’mon, we just put them to bed now, and she’ll never know. They sleep a lot as it is,” Kevin says, picking up Jesse. I gently pick up Scarlett, scared of accidentally hurting her. I follow him through his house, finally coming to an end as we reach a room that looked unused. There was a nice black bed in the center of the room, a decent size, too. Kevin laid Jesse down on it, and Scarlett lies next to her brother, as gently as I possible could.

“So, what are we gonna do now? Wait for them to fall asleep?” I ask, skeptical about this.

“Nope. We let the music work its magic, and hope for the best,” Kevin says, as an ancient tune — that was already making me sleepy — comes on, the lights are turned off, and he pulls me out of the room by my arm.

♠ ♣ ♠

I lie awake in one of Kevin’s many spare bedrooms, running through the dream I had had last night. I wasn’t sure why I was so focused on this one dream, when it was obviously long out of reach.

I had just died. Fire erupted all along the clearing, as Alison’s furious screaming fill the air. All was still as the fire went around everyone, not burning anyone amazingly. She was soon kneeling down beside my limp figure, crying as she tried keeping my heart beating. Kevin was reading the sword. Then Alison had said, “Soulmates.”

But that was when I had woken up from that odd dream. Right then. I wasn’t sure why I was trying to remember. What could have been so important about it? It was just a dream, after all.

I sit up in bed, looking around at my surroundings, dangling my feet over the edge. The digital clock was blinking with its bright red light. The dawn’s light poured into the room from the window. The silky fabric of the bed was comfy, obviously trying to pull me back into sleep.

Jesse and Scarlett are probably still here, though. Knowing Alison, she probably stayed out all night with Martin. Knowing Martin, he made sure she didn’t do anything completely stupid. Knowing Donovan, he was stalking her all night.

I hop out of bed, trying to recall the date as I took a shower. Monday. Crap, I think, as I walk out of the bathroom, a towel tightly wrapped around myself. Donovan’s gonna be here to pick up Jesse and Scarlett, I think, as I rummage through one of the dressers. Kevin could get over himself, I’m borrowing his clothes.

I get dressed in some of his jeans and a t-shirt, which were obviously big for me. I seriously need to gain some pounds. I’m fairly sure that I’m unhealthy thin. Anyway, I change into his too-big clothes, walking out of the bedroom and down the hall, trying to remember where Jesse and Scarlett were. Alison would burn me to ashes if I lost them.

“Oh, hey, Melody? What are you doing with my clothes?”

“I took a shower, and I’m not just gonna wear those nasty clothes again,” I say, shrugging, walking past him. “Umm … where’s the room that we put Jesse and Scarlett in? Donovan’s gonna be here soon to pick them up …”

“What makes you think I’ll show you now?” He says, rolling his eyes.

“The fact that Alison’s granted him the right to see his children.”

“Why would she make such a stupid decision like that, anyway?”

“Because she can’t pass them off as Martin’s,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest in a Are we seriously gonna continue this? motion. “And she thinks that maybe he won’t act like such a bastard if he can spend time with his kids.”

“Yeah, and how’s that working out for her?”

“Pretty well, actually. Donovan’s been leaving her alone except when he takes Jesse and Scarlett,” I say, just as I find their room. I walk inside, staring at both innocent faces. Their fangs were slightly extended, just enough so we could see. They slept right next to each other, snuggling close to one another as if they were both teddy-bears, their quiet snoring easily heard.

“I wonder how they sleep like that?”

“Like what?”

“With their fangs like that. You’d think it’d be uncomfortable, or that they’d stab each other.”

“You don’t have a sensitive bone in your body, do you?” I ask, glaring at him, hands on hips. “That’s probably the sweetest, cutest little thing you’ve seen in your entire life! And all you can think about is ‘I wonder how they can sleep with their fangs out?’”

“Hey, I’ll admit that it’s adorable, alright?” He says, holding his hands up defensively. “But if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll have to kill you.”

“Nobody’d believe me if I told them,” I say, rolling my eyes, picking them up. Kevin takes Jesse from me, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t trust Donovan enough to let you just hand them over.”

“Maybe you do have a heart,” I say, walking out of the room. Scarlett snuggles closer to me, obviously still asleep.

He quickly guides me out of his house — which I had to stumble a lot because of his too big clothes. I took a moment to let my eyes adjust to the bright dawn sun, before I looked around for Alison.

She was nowhere to be seen, and Donovan would be here any minute. I start heading toward her house, Kevin right beside me. She really should start locking her door, I think, as we easily walk straight into her house. I look as closely as I dared, before finally deciding that she probably spent the night at Martin’s house.

I knew Kevin was reluctant about walking onto Thunder territory — even though we’ve been living with them for over five years, I think. But he sucked it up, and followed me to Martin’s house. I had to knock on the door — Martin’s smart enough to actually lock his doors.

He opened the door tiredly, rubbing his dark blue eyes as he asked, “What?”

“Is Alison with you?” I ask, slightly impatient.

“Umm, yeah. C’mon in. I’ll go wake her up …” he says tiredly, walking down a hallway, where we hear him yell, “Alison! Wake up! Melody and Kevin are here with Scarlett and Jesse!”

“I’m up! I’m up!” Alison’s classic grouchiness in the morning  never fails to amuse me. “What do y’all need?”

“It’s Monday.”

“Yeah, and tomorrow’s Tuesday.”

“Donovan.”

“What about him?”

“Oh, gosh,” I sigh, frustrated. “Donovan’s gonna be here to pick up Scarlett and Jesse.”

“Mhmm … why are you wearing Kevin’s clothes?”

“Not important. Just take your kids, and get ready to hand them over to the vampire.”

♠ ♣ ♠

“Alright, where are they?” Donovan asks angrily. “And why are you wearing Kevin’s clothes?”

“Well, Alison was at her prom last night. So, she’s really tired,” I say, rolling my eyes. “And ’cause I can.”

“Ahuh, suurrreeee,” he says sarcastically. “Where is she?”

“With Martin, sleeping. If you take another step toward them, Kevin’s gonna murder you!”

“Then tell her to hurry up!!”

“Hey, Donovan,” Alison yawns tiredly, walking over to us with Scarlett and Jesse. “Here you go. Remember, I need them this Wednesday. Momma wants to see them.”

“Right. Do you want them after school?”

“No. I’m ditching.”

“Alison,” I say disapprovingly.

“What? Momma has the entire day off!”

“You've been missing too many days of school, Al. You’re gonna be held back another year as it is!”

“Then it won’t matter if I miss another,” she says, rolling her raven-feather eyes. “Remember, they go to bed no later than nine, they can’t eat certain foods, and most importantly: no blood!”

“I know, I know! Jeez,” — apparently Alison’s threatened him, too. — “have a little trust in me!” he rolls his eyes at her. “See yah Wednesday, sweetheart.”

“He’s gonna take them hunting,” she sighs disapprovingly. “I’ll be sleeping with Martin.”

“Umm …”

“Not what you think!”

“Okay, then I’m approving it,” I say, rolling my eyes.