Chapter 172
Christian hurried in the darkness to change his clothing and wash up. Despite the idea that he wasn’t sure about those others who were watching his home to keep them safe, he knew he’d feel better once he was snuggled in bed with Abigail. She always wrapped her arm around him and comforted him. Five years older than him, at thirteen, she was only a few years shy of being able to Transform should she want to. The topic rarely came up. Peter didn’t want to discuss it, and Abigail did her best to stay out of her father’s line of sight when possible.
Every shadow seemed sinister as Christian changed clothes and set his soiled clothing where his mother would find it but his father wouldn’t notice it. Then, he scurried up the ladder to the loft, only finding solace when he slid beneath the covers next to his sister.
“How was it?” she whispered. “Did you see one?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice soft with fear. “Two.”
“Goodness!” Her exclamation was still a whisper, not that anything would wake Grandmother from her sleep, except, perhaps, a Vampire. “Were you frightened?”
Torn between sounding brave and deterring his sister from ever putting herself in the position he found himself in only a short time ago, Christian wasn’t sure how to answer. He had enough of his father in him not to want to sound weak and enough of his mother in him to want to be honest. “I was frightened,” he finally admitted. “But I am safe now.”
“I’m glad that Father doesn't seem to want me to become a Guardian,” she said, rolling over onto her back. The ceiling was only a few feet above their faces, but Christian didn’t turn with her. He didn’t want to avert his gaze from his sister’s form, one of the few places he felt it was safe to look. “I do not think it is the path for me.”
Christian thought she might feel that way. “Do you not long for the safety of knowing they cannot destroy you, though?” he asked. He wished he were the one almost old enough to Transform. Whether or not he wanted to hunt Vampires, he knew he didn’t want to be one. Only becoming a Guardian could guarantee that wouldn’t happen.
She shook her head. “No. I believe Mother and Father will keep me safe. But I do not fear dying, Christian. I do not want to be like them, to hunt humans and drink their blood, but I do not believe I should like to live forever either.”
He hadn’t given much thought to what it might be like to live on and on for hundreds of years. His mother was one hundred twenty-seven when he was born. His father wasn’t nearly as old at fifty-eight, but then Hunters didn’t live forever like Guardians. Eventually, they would die of old age, if a Vampire didn’t kill them. The only way for a Guardian to die was through the hand of a Hunter.
“I do not think I should like to live forever either,” he said as Abigail turned her head to look at him. “Perhaps I might… if I met a woman and had a family. If she were also able to live forever. We could be… happy.”
“Do you think there is such a thing?” Abigail asked. “Mother and Father are not happy.”
She didn’t need to tell him that. He already knew. “I might be different.”
“You might be the same.” She looked away, and for the first time, it occurred to him that she didn’t like the way their father treated their mother. Christian didn’t care for it either, but he had accepted it. That was simply the way it was. The Bible said so. The man was the ruler of the family. The wife and children were to submit.
But Abigail was right in another sense. He didn’t want a wife he felt the need to order around. He wanted a partner in life, someone who looked at him as if he hung the stars; someone who made his heart flutter whenever he looked at her. He’d seen pairings like that in the little village nearby, where they’d go to get supplies from time to time, and he wished he’d have a similar arrangement once he reached his age of maturity. But girls were a mystery to him. Even seeing the ones his age out with their mothers, he didn’t know how to speak to them. At Sunday service, he couldn’t get past a greeting. His mother would insist he’d say more, and the most idiotic phrases would come to mind. “Your bonnet is white,” he’d said once, stating the obvious. “My name is Christian Henry.” She knew that…. She’d known him her whole life. He didn’t know how to speak to them. He only knew he liked them.
Thinking about finding a wife someday, of falling in love and having a happy marriage, a happy life, with children, perhaps a larger cabin than this one, eased the terror he’d been experiencing since he’d seen the Vampires. Fear of rejection, of ending up spending thousands of years wandering the earth alone, looking for the one woman that could make him happy, was also frightening, but not in the same way the bloody Vampires had been. He found himself nodding off. When Abigail settled her arm around him, he felt at peace. The sound of his parents coming in a few hours later hardly registered. He’d been subconsciously listening for both of their voices, though. He needed to know they were both safe. While it was certain Peter wouldn’t let the insubordination Elizabeth had committed in front of the rest of the team go, at least they had both returned, and Christian could fall into a deep slumber knowing he was safe. His parents would never let anything happen to him.
The idea that his parents had almost let him get eaten by a Vampire that very night niggled in the back of his mind, but he refused to give it wings. He was safe now. He could sleep.
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