Chapter 63
“Is everything all right, Marjorie?” James asked, quietly, not daring to step into the room yet.
It took her a moment to register his voice. Without turning to look at him, she said in almost a whisper, “They’re never going to let us.”
Puzzled, James took a hesitant step in her direction. “What is that, now?” he asked. “Who’s not going to let us what?”
“Mother and father,” she replied, her corn silk blue eyes darting to his face. “They’re never going to let us go through with it.”
“Go through with what?”
She let out a long sigh, one of exasperation. “Transforming,” she said, as if he should be able to read her mind. “They don’t want us to.”
“I don’t know what that is….”
“I’ve heard them talking. In their room. At night. I’ve heard them say they hope that we never do, that they’ll do what they can to prevent us.”
James knew the walls in this house, despite its size, were paper thin. But he didn’t know what that word meant. “I’m sorry, Marjorie. You’ll have to tell me what you’re talking about.” He slowly walked over and took a seat next to her on the sofa, expecting her to leap up and push him away at any instant; but she didn’t.
“You know, Jamie. Uncle Culpepper’s group. The Guardians. Once you turn seventeen, you can Transform. And… last he was here, a summer ago, I told him I wanted to. He said it was up to Mother and Father, that they’d have to approve.”
The information was disjointed, but the more she spoke, the more he seemed to recall what she was talking about, not from Uncle Culpepper’s most recent visit, as he had been so busy then with his studies, he’d hardly seen his uncle, but from many years ago, when he was only a boy. Then, not only had Uncle Culpepper professed to a most unbelievable life full of the paranormal and sinister, even his own parents had confirmed that Uncle Culpepper had dedicated his life to protecting Vampire Hunters, and someday, Marjorie and himself would have to decide if they also chose that path. At the time, James remembered being so frightened of Vampires, he couldn’t wait to make the change—he didn’t remember that particular word, Transform—so that he could keep himself and his family safe. Since then, however, his boyish scares had given way to much more grown up concerns, like saving lives. He hadn’t thought about Uncle Culpepper’s secret group for years.
“What makes you think they will never let you if you can’t do it straight away?” he asked, cautiously.
Marjorie turned, her eyes daggers. “I told you. I heard them. They aren’t going to let either one of us. If they don’t let me now, why would they ever?”
“Mother said you needed to wait for Uncle Culpepper….”
“That’s just an excuse. Besides, I’m quite certain they can contact him if they wish.”
James didn’t know what else to say. It all seemed so childish now, secret groups of people fighting boogeymen in the dark. But if it meant so much to his sister, he wanted to say something to comfort her. “I’m sorry, Marjorie.”
“You want to do it, too, don’t you, Jamie?” she asked, looking at him intently. “Live forever, save lives, help people who otherwise would die a terrible death? You want to do it, too, just like me, don’t you?”
Both of James’s eyebrows shot up. “I… I wasn’t aware that was part of what they did.”
“Oh, yes. It’s quite fulfilling. Much more so than just being a regular old physician.”
He wasn’t sure if the shot was at him or their father, and though he suspected just the latter, it still made him angry. “I’m going to make a wonderful physician someday. Someday soon. I saved a boy’s life today.”
She looked at him as if she didn’t believe him, but then, after a shrug, she said, “If you become a Guardian, you’ll save all sorts of lives every day.”
“I will as a physician, as well,” he reminded her.
“Perhaps,” Marjorie said, reverting her stare back to the wall in front of her. “Perhaps it’s just as well you don’t want to. It’s a tough life. You have to be more than just smart to be a Guardian.”
“I am tough.” He was growing more and more agitated by the moment now.
Once again, Marjorie looked at him as if he’d just told her he was President Hayes. “It’s all right, Jamie. I don’t blame you for not wanting to. Stay here with Mother and Father where it’s safe. I’ll protect you.”
His sister truly was beginning to make him furious, and he was just about to tell her where she could stuff it when his mother walked into the parlor. “James, did your father say when he might be home?”
Taking a deep breath, James explained, “He was closing on a patient. He should be home soon.”
“Very well, then. Dinner is ready. We shall eat as soon as he arrives. James, would you like to come into the kitchen to tell me how your day was?”
His mother must have heard her children nearing the eruption point. Looking at Marjorie sternly one more time, James rose and followed his mother into the kitchen. As excited as he had been to tell her all that he had done that day, now the thoughts seemed to sour inside, as if they weren’t even that important. How could he let Marjorie steal his joy? One thing was for certain, as he accepted the glass of milk Sadie extended to him, no matter what sort of doctor he might be, or what he might achieve in his life, he was never, ever going to become a Guardian. Let Marjorie do as she wished; he would be the most successful doctor he could be and show her how wrong she truly was.
