Mixed Feelings (Empathy in the PPNW Book 1) (12 page)

“Give me your hand,”
Mrs. Morris
ordered abruptly. I flinched, knowing the
emotions I was absorbing would only get more potent with physical contact. I
had scared her, though, and I wanted her to know I wasn’t there to hurt her or
Ashley. If she had a power like my sister’s that needed
contact
to work, I had to get over myself and let her touch
me.
Steeling myself, I put my hand in hers, wincing
as her emotions seemed to suck up through my skin to flood my psyche. I had to
take a deep breath and hold it for a moment. She watched me intently as I let
it out in a wavering sob.

“Repeat what you said, about
your power,” she said, softer this time.

“
I
’m an empath,” I said opening my eyes to meet hers. “I can feel what
other people are feeling.”

“
Marian?
” Mr. Morris asked. Mrs. Morris watched me for a
second before giving a slow nod.

“
She
’s telling the truth.” Then, to me, “
T
hat’s my power.”

“
Handy,
” I said. I can tell when people are lying too; it
really is a useful ability. She let go of my hand, a bit of tension slipping
from her.

“Ashley can start fires.
They’re small and she doesn’
t
—
I don
’t think she realizes she can do it. It’s never
anything big and they don’t last. When she gets scared or unhappy, something...
goes
wrong. U
sually your sleeve will start
to smoke and if we don’t distract her quickly enough, it’ll light up.”

“
She
’s very happy, though!” Duane insisted. Marian had calmed some, but he
was still unhappy, still didn’t trust me. I was guessing he didn’t have any
abilities of his own and that the idea of superpowers and fire-starting
pre-preschoolers still wasn’t one he’d come to grips with
. It made me wonder for a second how my parents had
dealt with all of us.
“It only started a few months ago. We didn’t know what was happening at
first, why we found some of her things melted, charred around the edges. She
doesn’t do it often.”

“
I
’m not judging,” I said, holding my hands up. “I just want to help.”

“Does that have something to
do with why she’
s gone?
” Marian asked. She had gone
still but her lip was quivering. The anguish was solidifying, the storm inside
her slowing. “Did someone take her because of what she could do?”

“
I don
’t know,” I said. Wondering how much I should give
away, I bit my lip. “
I
—when you were little,
do you remember… I mean, I was four when I got a visit from—”

Marian jerked
back and whispered, “The monsters.”

Even though I’d been fishing
for that exact response, I found myself briefly stunned that she’d dealt with them,
too. I was quiet for a moment as we shared the remembered terror and I wondered
if things in my life would have gone differently if I’d ever mentioned what I’d
seen to anyone. Cowardice had kept me silent for years, but maybe bravery would
have made me feel less alone.

“I guess we’re on the same
track
,
” I said finally.

“You think they took her? You
think the creatures that came to me—to us? You think they—”

“No! They don’t have her,” I
assured her.

Duane was looking between us.
“What? What monsters? What are you two talking about?”

“Kids like Marian and me,
like Ashley, who have powers
?
We get a visit from, uh.
..
” How the hell do you explain something like this?
Succinctly, I guessed. “Fairies. The monsters that came to me, that came to
Marian when we were Ashley’s age, they’re fairies. Not the little, pretty,
winged kind, but still fairies. They’ve come to me again, asking me to help
find these kids. They’re after whatever took—”

“These
kids
?
” Duane demanded, loud enough that a couple a few tables over glanced at
us. “Others are missing?”

“I thought you knew, I’
m sorry,
” I admitted, trying not to feel stupid for assuming. “Yes.
Three kids are missing and I’ve been… called on to help get them back. I’m
going to do my best to do just that. Mel’s going to help. He’s good at what he
does. We’ll bring your daughter home.”

Duane was a sticky, prickly
mess of emotions.
Outrage
pestered me with thorny fingers, doubt clung to me like slime, and worry for
his daughter rustled around us all like barbs. His proximity would have been
bad enough on a normal day, but after the attack I’d suffered it was like being
wrapped in a giant sheet of fly paper and thrown off a cliff.

Marian, though, just reached
out, took my hand, and leaned in. She was serious, intent, desperate for my
words to be the truth. I focused on her face, on the hope that had pushed
through a crack in the
stony
heartache that surrounded
her.

“
You s
wear you’ll bring her home safe?”

I nodded. “I swear.”

***

Marian and Duane left before
long. We went over what had happened when Ashley was taken once more, promised
to keep them apprised, and then it was just Mel and me. My insides felt wrung
dry when they left and I desperately wanted a nap.

“That went better than I
thought it would once you started babbling about having magical powers,” Mel
admitted. I shrugged, digging into the remainder of my cake. It made me feel
marginally better, at least.
Behold, t
he healing power of sugar.

“
I don
’t think it got us anywhere, though
,
”
I
muttered.

“We know Ashley’s a fire-starter,
we know her mother’s one of you. It’s more than we had.”

“So what’s the plan now?”
I took a
nother
bite.
“What gumshoe tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

“
Not gumshoe tricks,
” Mel said with a smile. “
Werewolf tricks.
”

“Get out,” I said, squinting
at him. “What’
re you gonna do?
”

“That’s for me to know.” He
leaned back, looking smug and arrogant again. I didn’t like it.

“Tell me more about vampires,”
I said. Mel
’s shoulders slumped. I
couldn’t feel it, but I could see the annoyance snap through him like a pair of
cartoon wind-up teeth. It made me giggle.

“I told you already that you
don’t want to know anything about them. I don’t know why you wo
n
’
t
listen.
”

“I tell you things all the
time and
you
never
listen.
”

“That’s because you tell me
things like, ‘
No, I don
’t want to have sex with you’
and ‘No, you don’t turn me on at all,’ when I know neither of those things
is true.
”

I jolted
, suddenly self-conscious. I really don’t want to have
sex with Mel, I swear. I mean, my brain doesn’
t.
Sometimes when I’m home alone, my hormones and my erogenous zones team
up and get liquor involved and everyone plays a big trick on my body while my
good sense is passed out in the corner. Okay, so sometimes I do wonder what he
looks like naked, but only once these tricks have been played. That’s
absolutely the only time. I swear.

“That doesn’t mean anything.
Shut up.”

He laughed but dropped the
subject; he didn’t even try to grope my knee under the table. It was like a
whole new Mel. Figuring his good behavior deserved some from me in return, I
finished my cake in silence, leaving him alone. We were quiet for awhile
before, to my surprise, he broke.

“
Vampir
es are
rare
. I
’ve
been all over the country, come across a number of other inhuman creatures
,
but I’ve only ever met one vampire. I’ve known Dirk
since we were
kids
, before he was turned. I’ve
actually given him blood a few times. He’d gotten a scholarship to U-Dub, but
got turned instead. He’s been sick ever since. You haven’t seen sick until you’
ve seen Dirk. He
was bone-skinny, wheezing
like a leaky balloon the last time I saw him. He doesn’t leave his house and
doesn’t usually let anyone in.”

“
And he
’
s normal? He
’
s
—all vampires are sick?”

“I think so. That’s what he
told me, anyway. They have entire no-humans-allowed hospitals where they go to
get treatment. Not just vampires, but anything—I could go if I had a
problem. That’s why Dirk’
s bald;
he
’s current
ly got leukemia
from a bad batch of blood and he’s been going
through
c
hemo at the hospital. They've
got support groups, even.”

“Vampire…
hospitals? Who
runs
something like that?”

“Fairies. It’s pretty much
all fairies, across the board. Upper fae with lots of property and the magic to
keep humans the hell away.”

I sat back, absorbing the
soul-crushing news that vampires were nothing like I had hoped. I was never
going to be able to read another paranormal romance without feeling a little
bad and wondering if the heroine swapping spit with her undead lover was going
to get him sick as a dog. I was going to have to tell my sister to stop buying
me books.

“This is…
wow. I still don
’
t
… So they don’t heal fast and lift cars and seduce virgins?”

“Oh, they’ll seduce virgins.”
He paused to elaborate. “On a good day.” Another thoughtful pause. “Which
probably means never, actually. Of all the people, virgins are their favorites,
though. Less chance of—um. Contamination. That sounds bad. I don’
t m
ean like—”

I waved him off. “I know what
you mean. Besides, you’re the
last
person I would expect to
hear complain about promiscuity.”

Mel chuckled, apparently
pleased that I understood, and continued. “As I was saying, there’s probably
nothing more annoying than a vampire with gonorrhea. They don’t heal very
well—I mean, not quickly—well, I mean.
.. it
’s hard to describe. They have all sorts of problems;
I can’t really go into it without keeping you here for awhile. Think of an
untreated case of AIDs and you have your typical vampire. Only they don’t die
from disease, they just heal really slowly. Technically, their bodies can
overcome anything, even beating the worst virus into submission. But it takes a
long time, sometimes years, and in the meantime, they’
re
overwhelmingly vulnerable to even the mildest disease. I’ve seen Dirk,
at one time alone, with a cold, cancer, athlete’s foot, and leprosy.”

“
Jeez.
” I shook my head. “How often
do you give him blood?
Does
he... uh...
”

“
Oh, it
’s only been two or three times
,
and I donated at one of the hospitals he frequents. They’re the only
ones with the right tools.” He tapped his inner elbow, but I didn’t know what
he was alluding to. “The only good side I can see is that
vampires can
’t get the same strain of a disease twice. They can
still get other strains, but I’m assuming if they live long enough, they could
be immune to everything. Sadly, Dirk’s not helping my theory in the state he’s
in now. You know, he had scurvy once.”

I wanted to laugh, though it
wasn’t at the image of a sickly vampire yelling out for oranges and
grapefruits; scurvy’s just a funny word.

“If they’re so frail, how did Dirk even get
turned?”

“I never actually asked. He was in such bad
shape it seemed uncouth to make him go into details. Maybe it was an accident.”

This time I couldn’t resist the laughter that
bubbled up through my lips. “Like he got sent the wrong thing in the mail? This
isn’t the pair of pants I ordered!” I mimed opening a box and reacting to
something shooting out and chewing on my face. Catching Mel’s disapproving
glare, I forced myself to sober up. A minute passed before I glanced up at
Mel’s expression and figured I still had a chance to get my questions answered
if I played it cool.

“Does sunlight kill them?” I
asked, thinking of Stoker.