Ms. Cannon did not look like the type of person one was trifle with. She had a scowl on her face, and yet, as soon as Brandon stopped talking, her expression changed. “Oh, yes, of course!” she exclaimed. “Brandon! How are you?”
“I’m good,” he replied, smiling. “I’m so glad you made it home safely, what with all the rain.”
“Oh, my goodness!” she said, crossing her arms. “It was pouring! But, yes, I’m home now. I’m so glad you all happened by. I bet that was terrifying, Julia, hearing that glass break.”
“It was really scary, Mama,” Julia agreed.
Aaron was done with the door now and he entered the living room. “Hello, Ms. Cannon,” he said smiling. “Sorry about your door, but that should hold until you get someone out to replace the glass.”
“Thank you so much for patching it up for us!” she replied. “We’re so lucky to have such great neighbors.”
“No problem,” Aaron said, nonchalantly. “If you have a broom handy, I can sweep up this glass for you.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay,” she assured him. “You have done enough. We’ll wait until the electricity comes back on and that way we’ll make sure we get it all. For now, we should get to bed. I’m sure you guys want to get home, too.”
“Well, it is really late,” Cadence agreed.
“I am pretty tired,” Brandon added.
“All right then,” Aaron nodded, as the other two made their way over to the door, patting Julia on the arm and telling her goodbye as they did so.
Ms. Cannon stepped around the glass and followed them to the door. “Thanks again for all of your help,” she said as she opened the door to let them out into the mist. “If there’s ever anything we can do to help you out, just holler.”
“Will do!” Cadence assured her. “Have a good night!”
“You, too,” she said, closing the door.
As they made their way down off the porch, they heard Ms. Cannon say, “Hmm, why is the closet door open?”
Increasing their speed, they hustled to the SUV Aaron had parked under the trees near the driveway, hopeful that Julia wouldn’t remember why the closet door was open and that Brandon’s spells were as long-lasting as his father’s.
“We definitely need to send a local in to check on her tomorrow,” Aaron said as he swung the SUV out onto the road.
“For sure,” Cadence agreed. “She could potentially be scarred for life.”
“Does that mean you think my lying to be subpar?” Brandon asked, defensively, from the back seat. “Because I thought I did a pretty damn good job for my first attempt--on the fly.”
“You did a great job,” Cadence assured him, turning to look at him. “Chances are, she’ll be fine. But I’d hate to see anything happen to that sweet girl.”
Brandon didn’t look completely convinced, but he didn’t continue the argument. After a moment he finally said, “Well, all I can say is, you’ve made a believer out of me. Holy hell! What was that thing?”
“Uh… a Vampire,” Cadence said sarcastically. “Just like we’ve been telling you.”
“Okay,” Brandon replied.
“Just like I said all the way there. You’re going to see a Vampire. A real Vampire.”
“I get it.”
“Try to refrain from breaking out into tears or shrieks of terror….”
“I remember!” Brandon exclaimed. “I just .... didn’t believe you.”
“Well, you should have. ‘Cause I was telling the truth.”
“Clearly,” he acquiesced. “But… did that thing used to be human? How did it get so messed up?”
“Yes, he was a human just a few weeks ago,” Aaron confirmed looking at him briefly in the rearview mirror. “But he was bitten by another Rogue Vampire--that’s one that consistently breaks the rules--and he never came in to be trained or tagged. Once he began to prey on Innocents, like those two kids and the truck driver, he was marked as Rogue as well, which means he had to be destroyed. As for his appearance, well, most Vampires are not quite as attractive in real-life as they are in the movies.”
“They’re nasty,” Cadence confirmed. “Almost every single one of them. And they can contort themselves to be even more frightening.”
Brandon was shaking his head in disbelief again. “Well, I may have some nightmares myself tonight. That was unbelievable.”
“Just remember,” Aaron cautioned, “you cannot tell anyone what you just saw. Not even your mom.”
“Don’t worry; she wouldn’t remember anyway,” Brandon muttered.
“What was that?” Cadence asked, wrinkling her brow.
“Nothing,” Brandon replied. “Secret’s safe with me.”
“Good,” Aaron replied. “So, do you have any questions?”
After another moment of contemplation, Brandon admitted, “More than I can even articulate. I don’t know. I mean, how does this Transformation thing work again?”
Cadence and Aaron exchanged glances, and he nodded at her as if to say go ahead and answer, so she said, “Well, it can happen one of two ways. Back before we had Transformation Serum, Guardians and Hunters were activated to Transform through stressful situations, like confronting a Vampire. You may have actually started the process yourself, although since you were never in any danger, you’re probably your same ol’ loveable self.”
Brandon snickered. “I feel pretty normal,” he assured her.
“The other way is through the Transformation Serum. It basically puts you in a trance-like state and activates the coding in your DNA while you take a nap. When you wake up, you’re all done, and you’ll be a Guardian. Or, in my case, a Hunter.”
“So, it’s just like a shot or something?”
“Yes,” Cadence confirmed.
“Does it hurt?” Brandon asked.
Cadence looked at Aaron, waiting to see if he wanted to answer since her response might be biased. He didn’t, so she finally said, “It can be painful. It isn’t for most people. It was for me.”
“Did you cry like a little wussy schoolgirl?” he asked, smiling.
“No,” she replied, wishing he was close enough to reach back and smack him. “I cried like a full-grown man passing a kidney stone. It hurt, man. Badly.” Aaron cleared his voice beside her, getting her back on track, and so she clarified, “But for most people it’s really not a big deal. I’m just … special.”
“You got that right,” Brandon mumbled just loud enough for her to hear him.
“Hey!” Cadence yelled shooting him daggers again. “You don’t have to be so mean. I just kicked that Vampire’s ass. I can kick yours too, you know?”
“Is that normal?” Brandon asked, crossing his arms. “Is that how y’all typically operate? Break through the window, rip the sucker’s head off?”
“No,” Aaron replied. “Most Hunters would have shot him through the window. Cadence isn’t most Hunters. She likes to get up close and personal.”
“Well, your way looks like more fun,” Brandon admitted.
“It is,” Cadence agreed. “Honestly, Brandon, I’ve been doing this for almost a year, and there’s so many things I didn’t know at first. There are still things that I find out almost every day that surprise me. There’s a lot to know. The only way you ever start to figure it out is to just do it. I think you’d be great, but at the same time, the more I think about it, I was worried with you out there. I definitely don’t want anything to happen to you. So, if you don’t want to do it, or you’re not ready, that’s cool. You’ve got another three years to make up your mind.”