Page 2 of Little Wing
It was still quite early for me to head to work, but I figured with the sun almost fully set, I could enjoy at least the remnants of its warmth. While the full sun in Fairhaven didn’t pose too much danger, it still wasn’t ideal for any vampire to venture out in it. If there was one thing that I missed since my transition to an immortal existence, it was the feel of the sun's warm rays on my skin. When I was sure I was readyfor my evening shift, I walked to my window and gently pulled back the black curtains that blocked out all light. As I suspected, dusk had settled and it was time for vampires to venture out to their jobs, to schools, and to simply… live.
Fairhaven embraced vampires even better than I had imagined. All those years that I spent staring at the crumpled flyer I kept hidden beneath floorboards, I never thought that such a reality could exist. Vampires roamed the streets freely and truly coexisted with humans. When they smiled, they made no attempts to hide their pointed canines. I kept mine concealed behind tight-lipped smiles. Though I did not have to hide, I chose not to flaunt my identity. I preferred to exist in peace, blending in with the general population as much as I could.
In every action and decision that I could finally make for myself, the rotten thoughts of my brother never failed to slither in. All I wanted was peace. All I wanted was a chance to live without the memory of his vile actions plaguing me. Yet the decisions he made with his own existence would now be eternally tied to me. Simply because of who he was to me—my brother, my maker. Yes, my brother dictated much of my life since my turning. It was only after he dragged our family name through the dirt in a fit of murderous rage against two innocent human women that I fought to distance myself from him.
It was because of him that I ran. It was because of him that I had to change who I was in order not to be recognized by name. I fled Charlotte and yet I still felt him like a shadow I could never truly get rid of. Each day before I laid down to rest, I searched our family name with keywords like “murder” and “monster” in fear that I would find him closer to me than I wanted. I treasured my life in Fairhaven, yet I always kept one foot out the door.
Luca’s crimes were not my own, yet those who only read headlines and speculated saw no difference between us. Because my blood wastied to his, I was guilty by association. The connection that many vampires cherished between them and their maker felt more like a noose around my neck than a guiding hand.
Just for good measure before I approached the bookstore, I pulled out my phone and refreshed my search for my brother’s whereabouts. As I hoped—nothing new but the dated article that detailed the murder of Ophelia and Naomi Wells remained at the top. A mother and daughter who were loved and respected in their community. The article called it a love feud gone wrong. Luca pleaded that it was an accident. Whether it was true or not, I recalled what my brother considered “accidents”. Sadly, the manner in which the two human women were discovered pointed to anything but an accident. Luca halted their lives by his own hand and had done so at the most crucial moment—when the human-vampire treaties were being debated.
His actions were punishable by death—a promise the Vampiric government made to the humans who threatened to back out of the treaty.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket and sighed in relief that I could continue my walk to work.
Despite feeling my tether to my brother like a phantom limb wrapped around my throat, I allowed myself to enjoy the freedom of another day living in Fairhaven.
Chilled crimson swirled around the rocks glass as I watched my brother throw his drink back, practically inhaling the synthetic blood. While I sat comfortably, still dressed in my grey blazer I kept on from work, Mateo was on another level. His plaid work shirt was unbuttoned, and his tie was hanging loose around his neck. Celebrations were in order; we finally got our business license and loan basically secured, yet I couldn’t help feeling the nagging tug in my chest.
Our dreams were going to come true.
And yet these dreams were only ever dreamt because our siblings were dead.
“Hey, are you drinking, or babying that crimson?” Mateo asked, leaning over the table. The smell of synthetic blood was heavy on his tongue. He was younger than me in looks with his boyish grin and sun-kissed blond hair, but his true age surpassed mine. While I worried and calculated our next move since arriving in Fairhaven, he celebrated every win, no matter how small.
“Here,” I said, sliding the glass across the table, watching his slender fingers wrap around the glass. The crimson liquid disappeared without so much as a deep inhalefrom him.
While Mateo waved down the scantily dressed server to order another round, I buried my fingers in my shaggy brown curls, lingering on the trimmed undercut. All of this felt so fucking heavy, but I just had to keep in mind that this was going to help so many people, vampires especially. Having a place like Little Wing would change lives for the better and prevent needless deaths.
There were benefits to this treaty—vampires could finally roam free without hiding like rats. But when new vampires were created without having guidance for survival—it was like tossing us straight onto a wooden stake. What was the point?
I continued to ask myself that question even years after Elias introduced us to our new siblings. All four of them were new, thirsty, and clueless, and they were all abandoned the moment the treaties were signed.
All four of them were destined for death.
Even now I continued to see their faces when I closed my eyes, but Mateo was right. This was supposed to be a celebration because while our siblings were lost, we had the opportunity to make a difference. Fairhaven would be a start.
Mateo and I left London after Elias allowed his own madness to overcome him. He offered to take whoever would be willing to follow him blindly. With the way he began to act after his mate died, I assumed we’d be walking straight into the sun. But we weren’t ready to give up and die. After witnessing his deterioration as a vampire, and above all—a maker, creator, and father—we made the decision to take what we learned from our nest and turn it into something that could truly help young vampires.
Like Elias and Camille once did.
“You think Camille would be proud of us for doing this?” Mateo suddenly asked, his fair cheeks taking on a hint of color. He was clearly buzzed, but even as immortals, this liquor beckoned the truth.
“Maybe,” I sighed, finally reaching for a glass of the liquor brought by the server. “I’d imagine she’d be happier not having to pretend to be something she wasn’t.”
“Maybe they wouldn’t have killed her then," he said bluntly.
With those words in the air and the sound of booming house music around us, there was nothing else I could have said. Instead, I raised my glass to him and tipped my chin in cheers.
“To Mom and the fallen.”
“Hear-hear,” he crooned.
Since moving to the other side of the world, Mateo and I embraced the benefits of the treaty between humans and vampires. Elias and Camille taught us how to blend in and survive long before a treaty was even up for discussion. We knew how to fit in and how to keep our thirst under control. Before the treaties, we dabbled in animal and human blood. Now we had choices—synthetic, wild animal, and even donor blood from those who were willing to provide. Whichever option we decided to partake in, it was always done the right way. Elias and Camille made sure we always walked that path—never straying from doing the right thing. Maybe that’s why it was so easy to walk away from Elias towards the end. After losing Camille, his moral compass failed to show a True North.
Once we settled, Mateo and I found jobs, secured a place to live, and began brainstorming what would come next for us. What value couldwe, as vampires, bring to Fairhaven quickly became evident at the sight of young vampires in and outside of town. Before long, Mateo brought his wife, Quinn, into the equation. From that moment our daydreams of Little Wing became more than just fleeting thoughts. We put our heads together and worked to make this a reality not only for us, but for Quinn, and for every other vampire that was tossed aside or abused.
We knew that we wouldn’t put an end to all the awful circumstances that vampires could find themselves in, but at least we could make an olive branch available, to extend a helping hand to those willing to grasp it.
