Daughter of the Night

The light on the train was uncomfortable, even if it was dim and the sky outside was dark. I had at this point sunk into an irritable mood and was in no condition to uphold pleasant conversation with Aaron, so once we found our seats on the train I turned my back to him and sunk into the vampire almost-sleep, trusting him to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

The small church rang with the sounds of people on the holy Sunday. Although small, the white interior and stained glass windows lit the interior with warm yellow light.

The pastor at the head of the congregation smiled warmly at all those present and gestured vivaciously to the fixation of the cross on the wall before delving into his sermon.

Sitting in the front rows of the pews, his daughter gazed fondly up at him while her left hand was clasped in the hand of her fiancé, who had a slightly less enthralled expression on his face but nevertheless looked content.

As the girl stood to recite prayer with the rest of the congregation, a glittering silver rosary caught the light around her neck, supported by a delicate chain.

I awoke with a start, my hand flying to the burn mark on the back of my neck. It was several seconds before I remembered where I was, surrounded by sleepy humans. The familiar hunger pulled at me, but as usual I ignored it. I instinctively knew it to be around three thirty in the morning.

My gaze was drawn to the dark scenery flashing outside the window. Even with my nocturnal vision, it was difficult to make out the landscape with the glare of the train lights on the window’s glass.

I turned to apologize to Aaron for my unexplained silence, but he was asleep, his head back against the seat and his mouth slightly open. His breathing was gentle, almost unnoticeable. At first I felt a flash of annoyance; if something had happened, neither of us would have been alert. As I studied his features, however, my emotions softened. There were deep shadows under his eyes, and his mouth twitched occasionally. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t the only one with a traumatic background.

Almost accidentally, I realized that my fondness for Aaron was growing. Still, that did nothing to allay my suspicions. Who was this boy? I didn’t know enough about him, and if my decades of darkness had taught me anything, it was that people who weren’t scared of vampires usually had an excellent reason for not being scared.

Why wasn’t he afraid of me? How did he breach into the werewolf headquarters, anyway? I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it, and he had glossed over it as if it had been a trivial piece of information. And then there was the fact that I had never really seen him fight. Normally that wouldn’t be important, but I had evidence that he could fight. His fighting style could tell me a lot.

I thought harder. How had he gotten me out of all of those chains? I doubted he had broken them, yet the only solution was to have unlocked them, and how could have accomplished that?

I recalled what I did know about him. He was a junior at NYU and an underage bartender. Very charismatic, intelligent (at choice moments), and severely lacking in the self-preservation department. At least, that was what I knew about his personality. I had never seen anything to confirm his education at NYU, and I didn’t understand how he could be a bartender.

Then there were those eyes. So green… I had never seen eyes so green, piercing my own…

“Are you done staring?” Aaron asked, amusement coloring his voice. “I know I’m ridiculously handsome, but…”

If I could have blushed, I would have. It was one of the rare moments that I was grateful for my natural lack of expressions. I also felt bad for him. It was never pleasant to wake up to a vampire staring you in the face, I knew that from experience.

Still, I had to maintain my dignity, so I brushed off his remark with a shrug of my shoulders.

“You should consider getting more sleep,” I said.

His eyebrow quirked and a corner of his mouth pulled up. “Thanks, Mom.”

I sniffed. “Suit yourself, but don’t expect me to lift a finger when you pass out from exhaustion.”

His mouth spread into a wide grin. “I was counting on it, actually, since you seem overly fond of saving my hide.”

My eyebrows came down. That was certainly true. I had to admit, I was drawn to him for some reason. Before now, I had simply attributed it to the fact that he was the first person I had held a conversation with in over sixty years who didn’t try to kill me immediately afterward. I recalled the day he had tracked me down in the library. How had he done that? I didn’t believe in coincidence, and that was far too choice a meeting for it to simply have happened on accident.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became at myself for not piecing this together sooner. If I could have listed my top five personality traits, a lack of trust would have definitely been up there. How had I never thought to question the origins of this boy in front of me?

Unless… My eyes narrowed even more. It take some effort to prove that theory, since… But it fit, because we were going to D.C. because of my judgment… Right?

Still, Aaron was, if nothing else, my traveling companion, so I had to be civil. And there was always the possibility that he was nothing more than he really claimed to be, and if that was the case, I shouldn’t scare him. And more importantly, I shouldn’t give any hints that I was on to him. I should act as I normally would.

“I only saved you that once, and everything else was a guilty conscience. And as I’ve said before, playing hero is an expendable hobby.”

“So you’ve said,” Aaron agreed, knitting his fingers behind his head. “But your actions prove otherwise.”

“My actions,” I growled, “prove that I have way too much free time on my hands and absolutely no social life to speak of whatsoever. That’s all they prove.”

Aaron laughed, a not unpleasant sound. “Touché.”

My eyes were pulled to the window again. Although it was still dark, I could feel the air getting lighter. The sun was on its way. After my… incident, I was even more sensitive to the sun’s light.

“How long until we get to the station?” I asked Aaron.

He checked his watch. “Forty-five minutes, if we’re on time.”

“Oh, we’d better be on time,” I muttered.

Sure enough, it was only minutes later when the conductor came onto the loudspeaker and announced that we were arriving at our destination and to make sure that we left no personal belongings or garbage in our seats, etcetera. I assumed that we had maybe another forty minutes before the sun came up. I told Aaron so and then added that I’d have to book it to get to shelter before the sun came up.

“Now that we’re here, I’m not really sure what you plan on doing, but here’s to a nice hotel room with no bar fights or werewolves lurking around the corner,” I said, handing him my knapsack with the remainder of my money.

His eyes widened. “I can’t accept this-“ he began, but I cut him off.

“I don’t need it. If you weren’t here, I would just get rid of it.”

He frowned thoughtfully. “I suppose, but I have a credit card.”

I waved him off. “If you’re not going to spend it, fine, but I’d prefer if you had something in reserve. And anyway, I’m not sure if I’ll see you again, at least for a while.”

“What?”

I tilted my head, appraising his reactions closely. “I haven’t done anything salutary for your life at all. It is indisputable that if you hadn’t met me and hadn’t become a bartender illegally, your life would be infinitely less difficult. At any rate, this is an excellent time for us to part ways. Vampires are solitary by nature. I don’t want your company, and you’re much better off without mine.”

His hand clenched angrily on the knapsack I gave him. “So you’re ditching me? After everything we’ve been through? Even if you don’t need me, I still need you!”

“No you don’t,” I said. “You’re a college student at NYU who already has to lie low for the summer because of dealings with a vampire, remember?”

The doors to the train came open, and I turned to exit. Aaron tried to grab my wrist, but I dissolved my form enough so that his outstretched hand passed through me.

“Cross!”

As soon as I was out the door, I continued to soften my form until I was little more than smoke. As I dissolved into the crowd, I could feel those green eyes searching after me. As I turned around to look at Aaron one last time, I frustration in his eyes, and disappointment. But as far as I could tell, he wasn’t hurt. Part of my suspicions was confirmed.

I wafted into the air, eager to explore the American capital and to find a safety zone for myself. Knowing Aaron, I’d probably see him again.