1996

Reidsville, North Carolina

1996

For the third time in as many minutes, Mary found herself staring wistfully at the lake. Ross Lake was the place to be seen if you were a teenager in the small town. Dozens of kids played in the water. The girls hung together in small groups while the boys dared each other to swim out to the pontoon, where the bottom was so deep, not even the bravest dared touch it. Their parents sat on the sandy beach, the moms gossiping, the dads talking about work or sports.

That’s what she imagined, anyway. She had no idea what really went on down there.

What would it be like to be a normal girl, with normal friends, and normal parents? May as well ask what it was like to live on the moon.

“Stop lollygagging, goddammit! You’ve got three more reps before you can take a break. Get to it, girl.”

She would never know. Her dad was a broken wreck of a man. Her mom died when she was little. That’s what he said, at any rate. She knew better. Mary found the divorce papers in his desk. Josephine Perkins got tired of his shit and left in 1989.

Mary could remember the night she left, if she tried hard enough. She was six, maybe seven years old at the time. Daddy went out to Las Vegas on a hunting trip, he called it, the year before. He came back in a wheelchair. Mama didn’t believe him. What was there to hunt in Vegas? Hookers? Casinos?

She didn’t know what those words meant back then, just that Mama hurled them at Daddy like the throwing knives tucked away in her belt. They fought almost every night for a year after Daddy broke his back. And then, Mama was gone.

Daddy said she got in a car crash. Mary didn’t know any better at the time. She knew better now. Looking back, she couldn't blame him for lying. He never pretended Santa was real. May as well pretend Mama didn't leave his ass. 

“I need…a break…” she gasped, chest heaving.

It wasn’t quite lunch time yet, but it was already scorching hot, and humid to boot. Sweat slicked her hair, stuck her clothes to her body like fly paper. Hill sprints were bad enough without boiling in the soup that passed for air in a North Carolina summer.

Everything hurt. Her knees hurt. Her chest hurt. Her throat was so dry, it felt like it might actually crack. Her head throbbed like an exposed nerve, and her skin was red and raw where the straps of the pack bit into her shoulders.

“If you stop now, we’re adding two more reps. Or, knock your last three out and you can go swimming. It’s your call.”

Mary screwed her eyes shut and imagined the cool water of the lake washing away her aches and pains.

A Perkins doesn't quit. Wasn’t that what Daddy always said? He didn’t quit when that vampire bitch broke his back. Grandpa didn't roll over and die when that vampire biddy came for him. She wasn’t about to wuss out now, not when she was so close to the finish line.

Mary hitched her pack up one last time and ran down the hill as fast as she dared. It was steep, and covered with rocks and roots that made the footing treacherous. One little slip, and she’d be in a wheelchair just like Daddy. Maybe he’d build her a four-wheeler to match his own. Shift lever on the handlebars, straps to hold her legs and a raised seat back for a racing harness. He got around just fine these days, even if the sheriff warned him not to drive it on the road. Not that that ever stopped him.

She found herself giggling in spite of the pain. The idea of riding through the woods with her dad and not a care in the world was just so damn funny. Especially since she knew it would never happen.

Other girls got to think about boys and grades and where they were going to college. Mary got to sprint up this goddamn hill all morning.

At least she was nearly finished.

The last leg was always the hardest. Knowing she was almost free made the crest of the hill seem that much further away. She felt like she was running through molasses. Breathing it, too.

By the time she got to the top, stars filled her vision. Her ears rang like she’d just fired Daddy’s 1911 without ear plugs. The whole world spun around her. She fell to her knees and retched. Only, there was nothing in her stomach to puke. She never ate breakfast on training days. There wasn’t any point. It would all come back up anyway.

Something thumped into the grass by her hand. It was cold.

“Drink,” Daddy ordered.

Mary fumbled at the bottle, her fingers leaden and uncooperative. Finally, she gave up and clenched the cap between her teeth. Water? No, Sun Drop. Bill Ross always sneaked a bottle into the bag for her when Daddy went shopping. The old man was a notorious grouch, always chomping on a cigar and scowling. He was always kind to her, though. Someone had to be.

The tangy soda tasted like the nectar of the gods. Mary had to force herself not to chug the whole bottle. Long experience told her it would come right back up if she did, and it wouldn’t taste nearly as good the second time. The sugar hit her system like a tidal wave. She almost felt human again.

Almost.

“You know why you’re running this hill?”

Because you’re a mean son of a bitch and you hate me.

The words never crossed her lips, but Mary still felt ashamed. She knew her Daddy loved her. He wouldn’t be here much longer. The cancer that ate his lungs wasn’t the vampire’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, except for maybe the tobacco company’s.

“So I don’t…end up like you,” she gasped.

“So you don’t end up like me,” he said. “You’re damn right, Mary. I know this don’t make a whole lot of sense now, but it will someday. That vamp that killed my daddy and broke my back, she’s still out there somewhere. She could be hurting a sweet little girl like you right now. There ain’t no one who can save her. No one except for you.”

Never mind that it was the middle of the day. Vampires could move around during the day, sure. So long as they dressed right and wore heavy sunscreen, they wouldn’t just burst into flames like they did in the movies. That only happened if you got some silver in them, or the blood of something innocent. They couldn’t hunt, though. Not while the sun was up.

“What if I don’t want to hunt vampires?”

The words were past her lips before she had a chance to stop them. She really was exhausted.

Mary braced herself for the inevitable scolding.

Instead, Daddy just sighed. When she looked up, he seemed older, somehow, more tired. In her mind, he was a massive bear of a man, even in a wheelchair. Now, body ravaged by cancer, he looked more like a corpse who hadn’t yet realized it was dead.

“Mary,” he began, and sighed again. “I love you. You know that, right?”

Did she? It wasn't worth arguing. She was sure he did, even if it didn't feel like it right this second.

“I know that, Daddy.”

“I know it don’t seem like it sometimes. I’m hard on you, harder than any dad ever should, because I have to be. Once you know what’s out there, you can never go back to pretending it ain’t. I won’t be here to protect you much longer. When I'm gone, it’s just you and your wits and your muscles against creatures that treat our kind like we do sheep. All that stands between them and your friends down there on the beach is us.”

“There has to be someone else,” Mary replied.

“Could be there is. I met a hunter or two in my time. Haven’t heard from ‘em since I broke my back. Maybe they’re dead. Maybe the think I am. Who knows?”

“Okay, what about the government?”

There was so much bitterness in his laugh that Mary instinctively flinched.

“Who do you think had your grandpa killed? Vamps control Washington, sweetheart. They got their fangs in everyone from the President on down. Your grandpa killed a mess of bloodsuckers back in the War, and to thank him for his service, they sent one to do him in to keep the secret hidden. All that mess about garlic and crosses, it’s bullshit. There’s one thing that works on vampires that you can shoot from a gun.”

“Silver.”

“Damn straight. Except silver don’t mean a damn thing if you can’t get close enough to use it. My Pa, he did right by me in a lot of ways, but he didn’t prepare me for this. I got my damn fool back broken trying to play the hero. I won’t let that happen to you, sweetheart. When it’s your turn to take up your grandpa’s gun, you’ll be ready.”

He tapped the butt of the pistol in his chest holster. Mary had spent countless hours pouring over the gun, learning every scratch and scrape until she committed them to memory.

It was hardly the same 1911 her grandpa brought back home from the war. Daddy installed a new trigger and hammer, changed out the springs and barrel bushing, and when the barrel wore out, replaced it with a hand fitted match grade one. He cut the rails off the frame and rewelded them, and hand-lapped the slide into the new channels for a precise fit. No longer did it rattle like a windmill in a hurricane when he shook it. No longer did it struggle to hit a dinner plate at a hundred paces. It was a precision instrument, crafted lovingly for a single purpose.

Mary loved that gun. Every time she was allowed to touch it, she felt the spirit of her grandpa watching over her. Would she feel Daddy’s spirit when he passed?

It was comforting and terrifying all at once. It was a legacy she never asked for, a legacy she didn’t want, but she couldn’t just turn her back.

Even if she wanted to.

“I’m scared, Daddy. I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Look down that hill and tell me what you see, Mary.”

“I see…people. Kids I know playing in the water, parents working on their tans. They’re just people.”

“You know what a vampire sees? Food. That’s all we are to them, and there’s no one else who can disabuse them of that notion but you and me. Soon enough, it’ll just be you. I wish I could tell you it’ll all be okay, but that would be a damn lie. I’ve lied to you enough, girl. No more. You’re old enough to see the world for what it really is.”

Mary bit her lip to hold back the tears. She hated this. She hated that this burden had to fall on her shoulders. That didn’t change anything. This was her cross to bear. No one could take it from her.

She glanced back out over the beach.

“That’s enough training for one day. You can go swimming if you want, sweetheart. That bathing suit Miss Betty picked out for you is in the van.”

She closed her eyes, imagining the cool water of the lake washing away her fatigue. It was a lovely thought. She held onto it for a few heartbeats longer, and let it fade.

“If it’s okay, sir, I’d like to get a few more reps in.”