their peace of mind, either. They had been happy to see us off.
The Burns were moving the last of the small stuff, it appeared, and would be finished shortly. We were only known to James Ray himself, and though some of the older generations, James Ray's brothers and sisters, knew that they served an eccentric, strange family, they did not know just how strange or eccentric. They certainly did not know we were Vampires. So even though we could pass as human, our perpetual youth would be impossible to explain. So we waited. We only appeared to the one who was chosen and never any other.
“There's Johnnie.” Sonafi said. James Ray's drug using son. To outward appearances he seemed normal. He was well dressed, poised and confident appearing. To my discerning eye however, I saw him for the arrogant, spoiled fop tha t he was. He wasn’t doing much of the work. He seemed to think he was supervising.
“A father's love has blinded him, I'm afraid.” I said, seeing all of Johnnie ’s failings at a glance.
“I don't think that is it, exactly.” Sonafi disagreed. Just then the wind blew in a gust and Sonafi had to shake her hair out of her face before she went on. “I don't think James Ray knew what to do with him. The two personality traits within the same bloodline, but in the end, so different and he simply didn't know how to deal with Johnnie’s energy and seeming oddity. He wasn't built to be able to cope with it.”
“I suppose.” I said, watching the recalcitrant Johnnie avoid all the work. I watched as James Ray turned to Johnnie to say something, but t hen thought better of it. He’d probably gotten tired of saying things long years ago and now mostly accepted the situation for what it was. It wasn’t a new story and emphasized a certain similarity to our and humanities present circumstances. We had turned a blind eye for too long and now it might be too late. It was certainly too late in Jonnies case.
“Recessive genes.” Sonafi said. I had heard of that term but didn't really know what it meant. A throwback, I guess, like the Neanderthal or Cro Magnan features I could sometimes recognize clearly in what were otherwise very modern Humans. Or like the Native Americans. Mixed into the general population but far from gone. They would always be there, just not as they once were. The De La Font line carried two dominant traits like that. How something like that occurred I could not say. At some point a woman had carried the male traits of her line into the De La Font line, I supposed. It didn't matter. It was what it was. That was all that mattered. It was what it was.
The night was a dark one. The sky was cloudy, the stars and moon hidden from view. The features of the workers were nearly indistinguishable except when they moved in and out of the light above the door. One of those new LED lights that were so bright and efficient and that I did not particularly like, but you couldn't even get the old style anymore these days. Too inefficient, they said. They were all concerned with saving their world, but for who was the question.
“The Others probably implanted the idea.” I said, and felt as Sonafi looked into my mind to see what I was babbling about.
“Maybe if we destroyed the planet they would go away.” Sonafi suggested. Other than her thermal image, all I could see were her white teeth, formed into a malicious smile.
“If only it could be that simple.” I said.
“The Others are going to be furious if Brid’s plan works.” Sonafi said, changing the subject. It was something I had been thinking about myself. We had never done more than run, hide and cower in our holes. This was a thing entirely new, and a thing the Others may not be able to take. There was just no guessing what we might be precipitating. The only thing we could be sure of was that it wouldn't be good.
“They may decide
The Burns were moving the last of the small stuff, it appeared, and would be finished shortly. We were only known to James Ray himself, and though some of the older generations, James Ray's brothers and sisters, knew that they served an eccentric, strange family, they did not know just how strange or eccentric. They certainly did not know we were Vampires. So even though we could pass as human, our perpetual youth would be impossible to explain. So we waited. We only appeared to the one who was chosen and never any other.
“There's Johnnie.” Sonafi said. James Ray's drug using son. To outward appearances he seemed normal. He was well dressed, poised and confident appearing. To my discerning eye however, I saw him for the arrogant, spoiled fop tha t he was. He wasn’t doing much of the work. He seemed to think he was supervising.
“A father's love has blinded him, I'm afraid.” I said, seeing all of Johnnie ’s failings at a glance.
“I don't think that is it, exactly.” Sonafi disagreed. Just then the wind blew in a gust and Sonafi had to shake her hair out of her face before she went on. “I don't think James Ray knew what to do with him. The two personality traits within the same bloodline, but in the end, so different and he simply didn't know how to deal with Johnnie’s energy and seeming oddity. He wasn't built to be able to cope with it.”
“I suppose.” I said, watching the recalcitrant Johnnie avoid all the work. I watched as James Ray turned to Johnnie to say something, but t hen thought better of it. He’d probably gotten tired of saying things long years ago and now mostly accepted the situation for what it was. It wasn’t a new story and emphasized a certain similarity to our and humanities present circumstances. We had turned a blind eye for too long and now it might be too late. It was certainly too late in Jonnies case.
“Recessive genes.” Sonafi said. I had heard of that term but didn't really know what it meant. A throwback, I guess, like the Neanderthal or Cro Magnan features I could sometimes recognize clearly in what were otherwise very modern Humans. Or like the Native Americans. Mixed into the general population but far from gone. They would always be there, just not as they once were. The De La Font line carried two dominant traits like that. How something like that occurred I could not say. At some point a woman had carried the male traits of her line into the De La Font line, I supposed. It didn't matter. It was what it was. That was all that mattered. It was what it was.
The night was a dark one. The sky was cloudy, the stars and moon hidden from view. The features of the workers were nearly indistinguishable except when they moved in and out of the light above the door. One of those new LED lights that were so bright and efficient and that I did not particularly like, but you couldn't even get the old style anymore these days. Too inefficient, they said. They were all concerned with saving their world, but for who was the question.
“The Others probably implanted the idea.” I said, and felt as Sonafi looked into my mind to see what I was babbling about.
“Maybe if we destroyed the planet they would go away.” Sonafi suggested. Other than her thermal image, all I could see were her white teeth, formed into a malicious smile.
“If only it could be that simple.” I said.
“The Others are going to be furious if Brid’s plan works.” Sonafi said, changing the subject. It was something I had been thinking about myself. We had never done more than run, hide and cower in our holes. This was a thing entirely new, and a thing the Others may not be able to take. There was just no guessing what we might be precipitating. The only thing we could be sure of was that it wouldn't be good.
“They may decide
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