31

31
LINDA'S POV

The tunnel we were walking through resembled somebody’s really messy dead cockroaches everywhere, basement who forgot to pay its electric bill. It all was shadowy and drippy, with spider webs in the corners and statues of sour-looking people who probably should have smiled more.

“Mommy,” I said, clutching her hand busy with pinching the t-shirt and my dangling tooth, “why do monsters live in yucky houses?” Don't they know about windows?"

My mommy squeezed my hand, and I knew that she was trying not to smile even though we were in a scary place. "Vampires don't like sunlight, sweetheart. It hurts them."

"Oh. That's sad. Maybe they’ll feel better if they ever try going out a little bit, and be less mean.”

Daddy was walking beside me on my other side, and every time I glanced at him I got all warm and happy inside, as if you had just found one of your best toys that you thought was thrown away. He and I have the same gold eyes so it made me feel all special and related to him despite just having met.

“You are being so brave, Linda,” he murmured. I'm proud of you."

My heart felt like it was going to burst with happiness. Daddy was proud of me! I wanted to talk to him about everything – my drawings, how I had friends at school, and that I could do twelve cartwheels in a row — but Mommy whispered the quiet signal. So instead, I squeezed his hand.

We passed a statue of some really grumpy looking guy with a huge nose. “That is Mr. Grumpy Face,” I declared, pointing. “So we know where we’re coming from.”

“Nice one.” And not a distant lover making false reassurances, I could hear in his voice that my daddy was genuinely impressed.

A few minutes later we passed through a room with so many spider webs it was as if they were Halloween decorations — except these held real spiders. “The Spider Web Room,” I announced. "After Mr. Grumpy Face."

Mummy and Daddy kept looking at each other over the top of my head, having those silent grown-up conversations with their eyes. I was becoming quite the expert at reading those looks. This one seemed to be saying “our daughter is amazing” while at the same time “we need to talk about stuff later.”

“Mommy,” I said after we’d been walking for quite a long time, “how come you and Daddy don’t live together but other people’s families do?”
Mommy made a sound like she’d taken a drink the wrong way, and Daddy’s hand gripped mine a little harder.

“It’s a little complicated, darling,” Mommy said in her delicate voice.

“Grown-ups just say things are complicated when they don’t know how to explain it. Miss Sarah told me that."

Daddy made a sound that could have been laughter. "Your teacher is very wise."

"So why don't you?" I asked again, because I really did want to know. "You both love me, right?"

"So much," Mommy said immediately.

"More than anything," Daddy agreed.

"Then you absolutely have to give friendship a shot. That’s something we do at school when we want someone to play with us. We tell them we want to be friends, and then share toys and take turns on the swings.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than—” Mommy began, and then she saw the Look I was giving her. "You're right. Let’s be friends first for once.”

I was so proud of myself for finding a solution to such a daunting problem. Perhaps, when I grew up, I was going to be one of those people on TV who solve problems and get families to talk.

It was then I heard something strange— voices up ahead, feet away from me, speaking a series of guttural hisses peppered with words. I had better ears than any kids, that’s why I heard them before Mommy and Daddy did.

“Bad people coming,” I whispered, nodding toward the tunnel. "Four of them. They sound cranky."

Mommy and Daddy turned surprise-faces on me.

"How many?" Daddy asked.

I strained my ears, but kept track of the number of voices. "Four. No, wait. Five. One of them is really quite, like they are trying to sneak.”

"That's... that’s amazing hearing,” Daddy said, glancing over at Mommy. "Even for a werewolf child."

“Special ain’t just what makes her, she’s always been special,” Mommy told him, and I could hear the pride and worry clashing in her voice.

The guards who had returned as vampires turned the corner, and their eyes widened when they saw us. They were all thin and pale, and dressed in black as if on their way to an extremely grim party.

“Well, well,” said one in a voice like cold oatmeal. “The tiny prize and her parents. How convenient."

Something inside of me became very angry when he referred to me as a prize, like I was an object and not a person. My hands were hot, and there was something powerful coursing beneath my skin, like when you shake a can of soda before cracking it open.

"I'm not a prize," I declared as I stepped in front of Mommy and Daddy. “I’m Linda and that’s very rude what you’re doing.”

The vampires chuckled, but it was not a pleasant sound. "Such a brave little wolf. The queen will relish breaking that spirit.”

“Nobody’s breaking anything,” I said in my best Mommy voice. “You better let us go right now, or you’re gonna be sorry!”

"Will we now?" The vampire in the front took a step forward. “And what can a little baby do to hurt our feelings?

I never had any idea what I was going to do until I did it. My hands were suddenly a hot feeling that coursed through my whole body and I felt strong, really fucking strong. I seized his hand when he leaped up to get me and gave it a wrench, jerked it backward so that he flew and crashed against his comrades.

Mommy gasped. "Linda!"

“Sorry, Mommy,” I said, staring at my hands in disbelief. “I didn’t even know that I could do something like that.”

A sound came out of Daddy that was half-laugh, part-gasp. “She just tossed a vampire halfway across the house. A five-year-old threw a vampire."

The other vampires appeared to be scared, which made me feel a little bad. I didn’t want to harm people, but they were cruel and trying to turn us into slaves.

“We just want to go back home,” I told them. “If you let us through, I won’t have to do the throwing thing again.”

They eyed each other, puzzled, wondering how to handle a kindergartener who could chuck them like dolls.

Then I heard it—a voice that wasn't the vampires or Mommy and Daddy. It was emanating from somewhere deep in the bowels of the tunnels, somewhere far off and yet somehow directly next to my ear.

“Linda,” the voice whispered in not a strained manner, and it was an old sound, older than anything I had ever heard. “Linda, child of two alphas, bridge between worlds. Come to me."

It wasn’t just me that heard it either, as every single vampire there froze and looked paler than normal.

"What is that?" one of them whispered.

“The Ancient One,” another answered, his voice trembling. "It's waking up."

The voice returned, even louder, and it seemed to ripple down the tunnels like thunder formed from words. "Linda. Come to me. "We've been expecting you."

I stared up at Mommy and Daddy, no longer feeling as brave as I did a minute ago. "What's the Ancient One? And how does it know my name?”