Page 1 of Little Wing
25 years ago.
I waited until the sounds of footsteps against run-down stairs no longer deafened me. When they sounded distant, I inhaled sharply and tried to steady my trembling hands. Crawling to the window, I peered over the decaying frame for any sign of Luca, my once beloved brother. There—there he was with his short black hair already windblown and his clothes that had seen better days. I watched him walk away from the condemned building we were to call home, where he left me covered in my blood.
If he was going to stick to his routine of leaving after feeding from me, then I only had a few hours to get as far away from him as I could, until the only indicator of my connection to him would be the numbing pain in my chest, my tether to him. The eternal reminder that he was my creator, and I was nothing more than his spawn.
I ripped a piece of loose fabric from a shirt thrown onto the unmade bed and quickly wrapped it around my wrist, to prevent my ink-colored blood from dripping onto the creaky wood floors. Once secured, I dropped to my knees and pushed back a rug that concealed a loose floorboard. With a quick, hard yank, it lifted.
“Shit!” I hissed under my breath as another fingernail ripped unevenly, despite already being trimmed to the skin. I practiced this entire maneuver for weeks without believing I'd ever have the opportunity to use it. Suddenly, nerves erupted as I could almost taste my freedom. With no time to nurse my wounds, I reached down to pull out a tattered backpack that I found in a dumpster in the alley behind our building.
I quickly unzipped it and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with information about vampire-safe housing on the other side of the country that I kept as hope—hope that I would one day have the chance to run. I stuck the paper in my jacket pocket and rushed to the garbage bag full of clothes Luca had scavenged for me over the years. Hurriedly, I pulled out pants, dresses, and long-sleeve shirts that covered me modestly before stuffing them sloppily into my backpack. Though I had little time, I ran to the broken-down table where I kept my makeup: a few vials of mismatched foundation and other necessities that I accumulated over the years.
Through unsteady breaths, I knew this was it.
I had to go.
Without looking back, I zipped up my jacket, whipped my backpack onto my back, and ran.
The sun in downtown Charlotte had set. Shadows cascaded over buildings, allowing me to move swiftly without drawing attention to myself. With my hood pulled over my head, I rushed down empty streets further away from “home”; if that shithole could even qualify as one. After all these years, I had lost track of how many run-down places we hid in.
Leaving terrified me, but had I stayed, I didn’t know if I could take another moment being on the receiving end of my brother’s wrath. Whatever would come next, it would have to be better. Pulled towardshope, I reached into my bag and pulled out the digital camera I had claimed as my own. On it was a single recording of a TV screen from nearly seventy years ago. It was all I had that helped me endure. I believed that if I could hold on a little while longer, then I could finally be free.
The grainy recording illuminated my face, and despite the image being distorted and dated, I memorized every sound, every word.
The days of darkness are over! Vampires emerge from the shadows to rejoin civilization! Rejoice as the treaties are real! A new dawn has come; one that won’t burn!
The long-debated treaty allowing humans and vampires to coexist was signed, and for years, many believed it to be a trap that would make it easier for hunters to pick us off like vermin. But nearly a century into this “new dawn” and not a single vampire was hunted the way we had been for centuries. This treaty was real. We had the chance to walk among humans and have opportunities to live in their world once again.
Vampires could hold jobs, own land, and homes, and even have access to synthetic blood to keep bloodlust in check. It all sounded surreal, but as more vampires came out to rejoin society, I wanted to be included. I wanted this second chance after my first life was ripped from me, cruelly, at the hands of my brother.
The treaty's benefits were slow to spread as the world needed to figure out how it would all work. Once the United States embraced vampires into its population, the rest of the world was quick to follow.
As the announcement ended on my camera, I stuck it back in my pocket and walked down the streets that would eventually lead me to the train station. It took me months to learn the schedules, but I knew one of the trains at the station would take me to the other side of thecountry, from North Carolina to the town illustrated on the crumbled piece of paper I held onto. To Fairhaven in Washington.
If there was a place anywhere on the map that would allow me to push my past to the darkest corners, then that would have to be it. Fairhaven would be my second chance to live a life free of Luca’s clutches—free of the crimes that plagued the Everett family name.
“Now available in brand new flavors! Very Berry Blast Type O Negative! You’ll want to sink your fangs into this!”
The advertisement for yet another synthetic blood brand crooned loudly from the unit upstairs. Vampiric hearing wasn’t even required to feel as if the television set was in the same room as I was, instead of upstairs where my human neighbors were likely settling in for the evening. I stared at the popcorn ceiling a moment longer before finally throwing my plush floral comforter off my chilled body and moving to sit at the edge of my bed.
I ran my trimmed nails along my scalp before my slender fingers brushed through strands of jet-black hair that stuck to my freckled shoulders. Hearing the advertisement upstairs end, I stood and wandered to the record player I had in the corner of my bedroom. After putting on a record, I exhaled softly at the gentle sounds of “The Curse” by Agnes Obel.
Moments like this reminded me that I made it out of North Carolina. I could wake up in my own bed, go to my own job at a bookstore, and spend time with my friends without feeling cold sweat run down my neck. Yes, the transition once I moved to Fairhaven was difficult,but after years of figuring out who I wanted to be, I found comfort in a new routine. I found friends. I found normalcy.
Though the change of scenery could never erase my past, at least here, I could start anew, not as Lotus Everett but as Lotus Evans. Such a simple change, yet that alone made me feel reborn.
I still had a few hours before I had to walk to work at The Black Cat Scribes, so I took my time getting ready. I sat at my vanity and once the light bulbs flickered on, I stared back at the woman in the mirror. Though I was getting closer to three hundred years old, I didn’t look a day over twenty-six. Barely any fine lines could be found on my face, locking in my youth like an insect trapped in amber. I was forever ageless. This was the only glimpse back at the woman I once was when my heart rate fluttered, and my cheeks flushed a delicate pink. Now I was left with skin void of warmth and a heart that beat slowly and hummed my immortality only to those who could hear it.
For over a hundred years, I kept my routine the same. Though my brother wasn’t around to hover over me and dictate my existence, the behaviors he drilled into me remained a core part of who I was, at least on the outside. If I wanted to go out, I had to look like I could fit in. My skin was much too pale to not bring unwanted attention. My eyes were no longer a subtle amber, but red like rubies. Features that were all too striking now in my immortality. Features that had to be dulled in order to survive.
Though vampires were allowed to roam freely now, I still had things to hide—secrets to harbor that could cost me my life. So, as foolish as I felt painting over my freckled skin with foundation a shade or two off from my true complexion, I could hear Luca’s threatening voice telling me that only with this makeup on could I pass. Only with this makeup on would I be allowed to step out of wherever we were staying for the night.
In truth, I still believed that only with this makeup could I avoid being killed for his sins.
With each stroke of my brush against my freckled skin, I concealed the woman I once was, only to allow a dulled version to come forth. After painting my plump lips a neutral pink and putting in dark blue contacts, I stared back at the reflection of Lotus Evans. There I was—the free vampire who lived in Fairhaven and embraced her second chance.
I got up and moved back toward my nightstand to pick up my cell phone I left to charge over the morning hours. Glancing briefly at the time, I turned my attention to my closet where mid-length dresses, baggy sweaters, and thick cardigans hung neatly. Yet another behavior drilled into me by Luca. Dress modestly or they will find out what you are. I believed it for the longest time until I considered that maybe it was more for him not wanting me to reveal more of my body to anyone else. He certainly never let me forget the punishment he delivered only because I wished to be loved by another.
There was no avoiding the memory playing back in my head, but I moved forward, pulling a grey dress off a hanger that I quickly pulled on over my head. It hugged the delicate curves of my body while it reached high up my neck, concealing the two scarred slits on my collarbone. After I inspected my makeup for any gaps between my dress and my flesh, I laced up my black Doc Martens and threw on an indigo thick-knit cardigan.
