In Love With a Vampire

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Are you freaking kidding me right now? Are you listening to yourself?”

Lory peeked from behind the loose strands of dirty blonde hair that were dangling over her forehead. She averted her gaze from her husband, the man who had vowed to love her for eternity, the man who was capable of loving her for eternity.

“Do you trust me?”

Pete let out a breathy sigh before leaning against their kitchen wall. It was an absurd question and Lory knew this. Lory was well aware that Pete was mad at her. She had used this same tactic to hide him from her brother just over an hour ago. Pete’s eyes had brimmed with fresh tears the moment he spotted Lory’s haggard frame and bruised face. Lory had seen the flicker of guilt and shame in her husband’s eyes.

“Is that something you want to ask me right now? Do you know what it took for me to stay up there? Unable to protect you, the woman I love, from that that monster? I mean look at what he did to you…”

Unconsciously, Lory brought her fingers to her face and allowed them to dance over the bruise. She flinched once her cold fingers made contact with the swollen, tender area. She shivered when she recalled how she had not been able to breathe for a few seconds. If Maria had not shown up…

“You? I trust you completely. Him? Not in a million f*****g years.”

Lory bobbed her head noncommittally. It was not as if she could build a case for her brother as far as trust is concerned. Andrew had botched his reputation over and over again, choosing evil over good every time. He had done this for as long as Lory could remember.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

Lory lifted her face and saw the anger and hurt in Pete’s eyes. Were they all meant for Andrew or was some of it hers?

“What do you mean?”

Lory shifted the weight of her left leg to her right and twiddled her thumbs. She was stalling, delaying the inevitable.

“You guys fought. I was not here to witness it but I could hear movements, you know, beast abilities? I mean, from what I heard it sounded…intense? Real? Not just an amateurish wrestling match. What don’t I know about you Lory?”

Lory blinked owlishly in an attempt to keep her tears at bay. She was exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Memories of her past threatened to break from their vault and float to the surface. She rapidly shook her head and returned her gaze to Pete.

“My father was the leader of the VA before Andrew and his father before him and his father before him…you get the gist?”

Pete’s expression did not betray his current feelings. He continued to lean against the wall unmoving, his face impassive. Lory swallowed.

“My father…he ummh, he introduced us to the unknown early enough…”

Pete pushed himself off the wall and started approaching Lory. She thought she saw a flicker of concern in his eyes.

“How do you mean?”

Lory shuffled her feet and bit her lower lip. She knew they did not have time for this but maybe, just maybe if he understood their past and what her family knew, he would yield to Andrew’s offer.

“When I was five my father brought Andrew and me to our basement. Suspended from the ceiling was a vampire, a teenage vampire. I remember thinking how hungry he must be, I remember thinking that his parents must be so sad.”

Pete sucked in air through his teeth before running a hand through his disheveled hair.

“My father went on to tell us that we should not feel sorry for the boy, that he was not one of us, that he was a creature who given the opportunity would kill us without blinking. I recall laughing at the absurdity of that statement. I recall Andrew joining me and saying that the boy was a boy like him. I recall him asking whether the boy and he could become friends. Do you know what my father did?”

Pete shook his head before stretching his arm to hold Lory who took it without hesitation. A memory escaped from its vault, Lory began to visibly shake.

“He waited until we were asleep that night and sent the vampire after us. He made sure that the teenage vampire was strong enough to attack us so he fed the boy his own blood. Back then Andrew and I used to sleep in the same room. I recall screaming until I couldn’t recognize my own voice. Andrew wet himself…that was how our training began.”

“My God Lory…I am so sorry, that is so so f****d up. I mean what kind of a father does that to their child?”

Lory saw herself as a five-year-old. She saw herself wailing at the edge of her bed, screaming for her father to help her. She saw the vampire gnash his teeth before directing them to her wrist. She had woken up to the sounds of her brother’s whimpers. Earlier that morning Pete had referred to himself as a monster, Lory had been raised by a real monster.

“Pete, I left that part of me behind when I ran away from home but Andrew stayed. He knows, he knows things that I do not know so yes, there is a possibility that he can help Donna recover...Please Pete, we have to save her, for our sake too.”

Lory bit her tongue as she watched her husband. Donna had been entrusted to them by Sebastian, an old, dangerous vampire, the leader of the tribe that lived beyond the wall. Lory could not imagine what would happen to them if Donna died. What she would lose and had she not lost enough?

“Pete, a war will break out if Donna dies and I…we have come so far, we are almost there, I can feel it. We save Donna, keep her safe and let Sebastian keep his end of the bargain. I can’t bear to go through loss again Pete, I just can’t.”

Pete looked at his wife and sighed. He had fought the bargain. He had begged his wife to try and forget but she had never been able to. Lory harbored a lot of pain and it was his job to help relieve some of it.

“What if this is a ruse? He is bound and on the floor with no means of summoning his goons. I think he said those words out of desperation…”

“Well, in the off chance that he didn’t, I say we take him up on his offer.”

“In exchange for what?”

Lory met her husband’s gaze before allowing a ghost of a smile to creep on her face.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”