Previously: Flashback, years ago. When Aleigha and his half-siblings were young, they were taken away from their mother, Childhood who participated in the Uprising back in 1969.
The car has been driving itself for the longest. I bang the dashboard. How do I stop this? I shake Thankful awake, "Get up." I say softly. She moans, lifting her head from the window. "Are we still driving?"
"Yeah, we're out of Cabo San Lucas."
"Usnere," she utters. The car slows down before coming to a complete stop. "Where are we?" she asks. Who is she asking? "California?"
"Good enough," she turns to me. Thankful leans to the side to take her phone from the back pocket. "Abuela, where are we?"
"You have a spirit in your phone?"
"I do." She says. A brittle worn voice sounds, "San Diego, mi amor. The nearest motel is 55 miles from where you are."
"Can I have the directions?"
"Por supuesto,"
I grin a bit, it must be nice having your grandma close. Considering your brothers—where the fuck is Pelayo? I would ask Thankful but I'd rather not. We left one ordeal; it can wait.
The phone chimes, "Ok, it's the lowest priced motel. You got money?"
My eyes narrow, is she going to ask me if I got insurance next? Because the answer is no to both. I'm thinking how all my shit is back in Maine and I just traveled 64 fucking hours to somewhere I have no business being.
No, I don't have money. I don't even have my fucking sanity.
I open the glove compartment, check the back seats. "Seamus!" I holler. "Dude, I have a credit card!"
"Great—"
"That's fucking expired. But! I have an idea!"
Again, I almost threw my phone. "Here is an idea," he snickers. "If I can possess a phone—"
"He can possess a body!" exclaims Thankful. "We need to kill someone!"
"Why are you excited to commit murder?"
"I'm not—It's a great idea. You fuck with spirits. You know about the in between."
"No?" If my brother were here, he would. "Thankful, I'm... stupid. If that wasn't obvious enough. I got a bad background." Of being eaten by a cannibal with dark ass skin enough to bleed in the dark. I continue, "So, I have a brother and he's a vampire however, I'm albino and that's not a good thing. He told me I was drugged, and I ran from home. Also, I have no memory. It's a lot of shit behind me."
Her face softens, "You were a orphan, huh? You wouldn't perhaps be Virginian?"
"I guess..." I've never been to Virginia, but I have so I can't say that. My birth certificate is back home, it says I was born in Maine on April 9th. Now I'm expecting my brother to appear and tell me that's a fucking lie. My last name is Omehia, maybe. "That's sad. You don't know your heritage. You do know that you're black? Though, you could be mixed."
"My father was German and native."
"And your mother?"
A nigga, as far as am concerned. "Black, that's what my brother says." He's a walking clue to that. "Yo! Girls!"
"It's only one girl here." I speak. "Well, it sounds like you're tearing up, boy." Mocks Seamus. I will break this fucking phone. "Another idea is that I possess you!"
No. No. No.
"No."
"Ah, come on, I need something to possess. I mean, Thankful doesn't look bad, I trust you. You, I'm not 100% about but—I think you might be lonely and just need a friend."
"I am not lonely!" I seethe. "Do you talk to dead people a lot or is this your first time? Also, my father was a cool dude. He never touched me; your dad sounds major fucking sus—"
"My dad never molested me!"
"I never went to college. Didn't want to, I'm not married, I have a niece named Greg."
"What?"
"I have a niece named Gregory Alice—My brother-in-law is a pian in the fucking ass. Something about wanting his daughter to stand out or some bullshit. So, anyway, she's fucking gay and been to prison—"
"Slow the fuck down!" What was that last part? "Oh, I mean like Beyond Scared Straight. My niece ate a girl's pussy, told me she was a vampire. Some real fuck shit—"
Seamus goes on and on. Thankful and I both start clapping to interrupt him. "Seamus, what was that last part?"
"Last part? Oh, I thought my dick fell off. I was at this fair in Texas and this dude was selling this weed cotton candy. Good shit. But then I felt numb, and I thought my dick had disappeared—"
"Oh god, Seamus shut the fuck up!" I will never have peace. "You said your niece ate a girl that was a vampire?"
"Yeah, some real fine-tuned lesbian. That's how my niece describes her."
Thankful shakes her head with disappointment, "Where is your niece?"
"Why?" questions Seamus. Thankful tosses her eyes, she picks up my phone on the dashboard. "Seamus we just escaped a house of Praisers. Worshippers." She says. "Do you know what that is?"
"Never heard of it."
"Worshippers love the fuck out of vampires. So much that sometimes they drink the blood of a vamp to honor what it means to truly be alive."
"sounds spooky!"
"If your niece had vampire blood that means she's either drunk or a vampire herself." Thankful states. "Damn, I can see you guys are in California?" My phone flashes his words rapidly. I squint my eyes, "Seamus, you don't wanna talk about your niece?"
"I just don't know what you guys want with her!" he blurts. "I don't know you guys. I'm dead, you fucking robbed the store!" he stutters. "I don't even know why I'm telling you anything about her."
"That means her name isn't Greg then..." I look at Thankful, "He's hiding something..." she whispers.
"Hiding!" Seamus makes the phone vibrate. The light changes from clear to red. "Listen, I have a niece, her name isn't Greg. That's stupid. I'm trying to help you guys out, I don't what happened specifically but if you need a hand I would totally let you use my card—"
"Abuela!" Thankful shouts. "He's lying and I need to know the truth. We don't have time for this."
"Asesino, mi amor." Thankful's grandmother declares. "Plain and simple."
"Asesino?"
"He's a killer!" she elaborates. "Seamus did you kill your niece!"
"No!" Seamus defends. "I would never even—how could you. I was trying to help you and you accuse me of being a murderer?" I pick up my phone and slam it against the dashboard then throw it at the window. "What the fuck!" he yells. "Seamus, fuss up!" I grip my phone and shake it wildly. "Did you kill her?"
"It's not important"
Considering it's close to what we got away from. I disagree. "Tomas wanted to drain me. I'm a vampire!"
Thankful chimes in, raising her voice. "Tomas and Paleyo are worshippers, Seamus and sounds like your niece is one too."
"Is that what you call them...?" his voice is low, "My niece was, or, is Freya. I was visiting Texas to see my sister; my niece is my favorite person of all time."
"What happened Seamus," Thankful tries to comfort him. There's silence, an inhale, then, "I killed my niece."
"Why?" questions Thankful.
"She... she turned black. Her skin peeled off; her eyes changed—the dude in the store had the same eyes as her. What is that?"
"She was Drunk Seamus. Vampires that feed on other vamps are called Drunks." Thankful rolls her eyes. "You said she ate her girlfriend."
"Oral..." I justify.
"Yeah... she's just sixteen and a half." Seamus sniffles. "What's a Praiser?"