The parents' Smith returned at eight of the evening like usual. Elijah made dinner and installed it on the table as he always did. Margaret giggled happily as she saw her father and mother then she run to her mother hugging her legs. "You are late today. I was waiting for you."
"We had more work to do today. I am sorry for that," she didn't look at her daughter; she looked past her shoulder like expecting her dead son to emerge and smile at her. Her hands pushed Margaret slightly and she sat down next to her husband. "You cooked for us again, Elijah. You don't have to do that. Come and sit with us."
"It's norm-"
"Let the boy, Lisa. It's only normal for him to do things in our stead. We are already good to him."
"Honey, you don't have to be so harsh. He is good in his own way. At least, be appreciative," she turned to Elijah. "This is nice, Elijah! I think it's nice that you still do this. When you graduate, I know someone working in a restaurant. Your culinary skills can be put to use like that."
"And you can share your salary with us as well. You know how we suffer from low money. It's hard keeping rent at this speed."
"Papa. It's harsh!" Margaret said gently.
"I forgot. I think the rules will change again, Elijah. Don't put yourself in trouble, okay? It will be hard to get you out of jail this time."
Elijah listened to the whole conversation in silence. It was normal for him to hear them talking like this. He took out a cigarette, lit it and put it between his lips. Without a word, Margaret snatched it away and snubbed it in a glass of water sending grimaces to his face.
"I talked to your teacher, Margaret, and I am seriously concerned. She said you were slacking off. What does it mean?"
"Mom. I…"
"You don't have to explain yourself. We are working hard for you. You must show us that we aren't doing this in vain. I don't want your teacher to send me a letter again because of your attitude. Do you understand?"
Margaret looked at her mother for a while before nodding. It was the same; they would never ask her about anything. They thought that since she had food and water she would be fine. They would just tell her how much they worked hard and how much they spend energies shaping her future, that she owed them everything. It was the same for her. Yet, she smiled at her mother and acted as nothing happened then apologized. In the end, she promised she wouldn't do it again.
"My math teacher praised me; he said I was smart. Did I tell you that?" Margaret played with her fingers under the table's cover, keeping her nervousness in check.
"Being smart doesn't bring anything dear. It's better that you give up on that and work on real skills. You can't eat food with math."
"Then what about my art teacher; he said that I could work as an artist and paint portraits for the higher ranks. He said that I caught the moment like a young star, that I had a bright future ahead of me."
"The higher ranks don't care about paintings, Margaret. You just need to graduate and work on something useful, like a teacher. You can be a teacher. You don't need math for being a teacher or art."
"Elijah. Pass me the eggs," the father finally spoke but he asked for food. Elijah watched him being uncaring about what his daughter said and the mother scolding her for something she didn't want. Being a teacher was Simon's future plan. It wasn't Margaret. Margaret liked the arts.
Margaret glanced at her father and looked down at her plate. It was untouched. They didn't ask her why she wasn't eating. Her mother simply scolded and her father cared for food more. It was one of the reasons she hated talking about anything. Sierra made her feel good for a moment that she thought of talking to her parents. Her art teacher praised her for a week now and it was until this moment that she brought it up.
Elijah handed the eggs to Margaret's father and tilted them to the side making the eggs roll to his pants. The man was furious; he knew why Elijah was doing this. It was the same episode.
"Margaret was expecting support not scolding," he said. "Instead of just asking her what she was doing or how she felt at school today. You just scold her. Great!" he slammed his hands against the table. "It's perfectly great. You are doing the same mistakes all over again. Are you really this clueless?"
"Margaret didn't hire you to be a speaker and neither did I. She is perfectly capable of speaking for herself. If she wants something, she has a mouth to do the work for her. Margaret, do you feel like I wronged you?"
"I'm okay, papa. I am perfectly fine. I didn't mean to hinder you, papa. I was just sharing what I thought you should know. I thought you would be happy because a teacher praised me."
"Why would I be happy for something useless? Listen to your mother; she knows better than you do… And you Elijah. Keep your heroic moments in check. You are living under my roof and eating my food. Don't come and lecture me in my house."
They glared at each other till Elijah stood up and left, slamming the door behind him. Only Margaret bothered to follow him. "Where are you going? Do you want to go to jail again? It's late. Come back!"
He patted her head gently and turned away. "I won't be coming tonight. Can you bear it? I will stay overnight in my friend's house."
Lisa appeared behind her daughter, stared at Elijah's silhouette disappearing into the night then pulled Margaret inside. She wished he would never come back to her house. If it wasn't for the debt, they would have chased him out for a long time.
Elijah walked avoiding the usual patrol routes. His friend's house was in the first rank area. Surprisingly, he saw Sierra looking at some fireflies. He was shocked there was something like fireflies in the first rank area but he was more bewildered seeing her there. It wasn't supposed for her to be out this late at night and she was with a condemned.
"She talked to condemned? What a weird girl!"
He hid while keeping his eyes on her. As the rain started to pour down, Sierra jumped from her place and tried to catch the fireflies between her tiny hands. She looked beautiful as her messy hair moved around, hiding her face sometimes. She smiled each time she almost caught a firefly and curved her mouth down as it slipped away. As the rain killed them one by one, she turned desperate and her hands turned frantic trying to catch one until one slipped between her hands magically.
"Why is she trying to catch them?"
He thought she wanted to collect them since fireflies were a rare occurrence. He thought she wanted to sell it because a lot in Revampirina failed to see a firefly. Instead, she just wanted to save one and she failed. He observed her as she turned sad then angry because of the boy with her. She left him there until he decided to follow her.
Duncan caught glimpse of Elijah but still acted like he didn't see him. He didn't want to occupy his mind with irrelevant people. He was human and humans were weak. A simple wave from his hand and he would kill him. It wasn't worth dirtying his hands for her. Maybe he would be good to teach Sierra a lesson. A stray idea stroke his mind. 'What if she fell in love with him and then he died? She would be devastated and beg me to kill her," he licked his nail.
The simple thought of seeing her kneel and beg him to kill her turned his blood hot. It would be worth savoring her blood after that. Vampires were weird creatures; they liked it when their preys begged for death, especially when they were sober, not under any spell.
Elijah found his friend Aidan waiting for him like usual; he always quarrelled with his family when they were home for dinner. It was a normal occurrence that Aidan got used to it.
"You are late bud. Mother prepared a bed for you. It's like she is finally convinced you will live with us. I am sure she takes you as a way to raise us to the third rank. I don't know what turns in her brain?"
"Be thankful she is an idiot. Smart people don't live for too long."
They greeted each other with their special handshake and entered the small house. It had only a room with a part as the kitchen and a small toilet. It wasn't the ideal house to live in but he found there what he didn't find in his aunt's house.
"Tell me, would you talk to a condemned and act with them like they were normal people?"