Unraveling Soren by Marisa Maichel (books under 200 pages txt) 📕

I wiped her tears away with a tissue; she thanked me and took it. I kissed her hair. We’d worked it out with the school. The other cheer captain would take over Sarah’s duties; the study group would be fine without her.

A short, white-haired woman with a bun and glasses wearing a prairie dress was waiting at our private airport along with a taller grey-haired man with glasses. Sarah walked to them and they threw their arms around her.

“Our baby girl,” said the woman in a thick French accent. “What has been going on? What is this baby I heard about? You weren’t pregnant, were you?”

“I was,” she said. “It’s a long story. I brought the baby with me. His name is Cirino. Oh, and this is Reese, my boyfriend.”

The man and woman both glared at me, even though I smiled politely and offered my hand, which they ignored. My smile wavered and I dropped my hand.

“Reese is not the father of Cirino,” Sarah quickly explained. They both lightened up and smiled at me, and Mr. Cresley took my hand in his. “He actually saved my life a few times.”

“And she’s saved mine once or twice,” I said.

“Bullhockey,” she said. “He’s being modest.”

“He’s a vampire,” whispered Mrs. Cresley. We all turned to look at her. She was still glaring at me.

“A vampire?” said Mr. Cresley. He looked at me.

“Look at his eyes. And his smell. I can smell the blood in his stomach.”

Sarah looked at me. She looked shocked, and she’d gone pale.

“My back is hurting,” she said. “Let’s go get the car.”

“Your back? How long has your back been hurting?” Mrs. Cresley asked.

“A while now. It comes and goes. Where did you park the car, Papa?”

Alexander finally approached with the suitcases, his signature frown on his face.

“Hello,” he said. “I am Reese’s stepfather, Ambrogio Nicolai.”

Mrs. Cresley’s hand went to her heart, and her eyes widened even more. “How many of you are there?” she asked.

“My wife is coming with the baby and Sabine,” he said. “And I heard what you said about vampires. I don’t know how you knew, but yes, I am one too, and so is my wife. Reese’s mother.”

“How long have you been dating a leech?” Mrs. Cresley demanded of Sarah.

“A couple of years, now, but they’ve never hurt me.”

“Not on purpose,” I said. “We all love her. That’s why we’re here. My parents want to ask something of you.”

“What, exactly?”

“Papa, let’s go get the car,” Sarah repeated, and they went off to find the car.

“My wife and I would like to adopt the girls,” Alexander said. Mrs. Cresley turned bright red.

“Absolutely not! My granddaughters will not live with ticks!”

Mother came along, then, carrying the baby and Sabine behind her.

“Toby and Chris are coming,” she said. “They’re flying in as soon as they can. Spencer was most reluctant to let Toby go without him, but Spencer needs to stay to watch the guys.”

Mrs. Cresley frowned.

It was a few minutes later when we were heading toward the farm. It wasn’t long before I smelled the stink of the animals. I plugged my nose and looked around. I saw cows, about fifty. I saw sheep, about a hundred. And a llama or three. I pulled in the driveway. A woman with reddish-blond hair was smiling, waving at us. She stopped smiling when she saw the look on Mrs. Cresley’s face.

They spoke in French, and Mrs. Cresley pointed to me. The woman’s hands flew up to her mouth in shock. Several dogs greeted me as I got out of the car. I was being jumped on and licked furiously by the canines, until Mr. Cresley said something in French, and the dogs all sat where they were. I saw even more dogs guarding the chicken coop and the cows and sheep.

I saw a pen full of pigs and goats.

“Do you milk the goats?” I asked.

“Oui, we do,” Mr. Cresley replied. “You’ll see tons of animals around, including dogs and cats.”

I had not yet seen a cat, but as I was getting my suitcase out, I noticed a skinny orange tom sitting on the fence. I gave him a fake salute, and he glared at me with his yellow eyes. I remembered a few movies and books I’d read about farm cats. Milo and Otis, Nero the Cat. Like any good cat lover, I was sensitive to animal movies and felt more for them than for my own kind. Did you know that humans feel more empathy for dogs than they do for other humans?

Sarah came out and smiled at the tom. “Is George still around?”

“Poor thing passed away last winter,” said the woman with the reddish-blond hair.

“Hello, Aunt Beatrice,” Sarah said. “That’s too bad about George. How old was he?”

“He lived to be twenty-three years old, dear soul. But how are you? And how did you come to have a baby? And who is he?” She pointed at me.

“Aunt Beatrice, this is my fiancé, Reese,” Sarah explained. “And the baby is a long story.”

“Fiancé?” I whispered to her.

“It’s just easier than saying boyfriend,” she said. “My aunts and uncles are very old-fashioned.”

“How old-fashioned?”

“My Aunt Juniper would think Toby was a predator if he was here with us.”

“She would not trust him because he’s black?”

“Yes, she would not trust him simply because he’s black.”

I took the bags into a spare room filled with green diamond wallpaper and a plaid quilt. Sarah immediately sat upon the bed and pulled out a book.

“Are you bedding together?” asked Mrs. Cresley.

“Yes. Is that all right?” Sarah replied.

“No, it is bloody not all right, but I can’t stop you,” she said. “Dinner is in two hours. We’re having onion soup.”

“Will I be required to attend?” I asked. Sarah flashed me a warning look.

“Oh, no, you need not attend. I must ask, though, that you don’t eat any of our animals or neighbors,” Mrs. Cresley said.

“I think I can control myself.”

“Do that.” Mrs. Cresley left with a flourish.

I went to dinner anyway, my stomach growling, throat burning. I gulped some water, then took Sarah’s hand as Mr. Cresley led the house in prayer before the meal. In addition to the reddish-blond woman, who I came to realize was Aunt Juniper, there was also Aunt Caitlin and Uncle Brody. Mrs. Cresley’s first name was Birdie, and Mr. Cresley’s first name was also Becket. There were also several cousins, but they were at college or friends’ houses.

I ate the soup slowly, swallowing quickly to avoid tasting the onion. Halfway through the quiet dinner, a redheaded figure appeared in a leotard and tutu and combat boots.

“Really, Grandma?”

“Francine, sit down and eat dinner,” Mrs. Cresley snapped.

“Who are all these people?” Francine asked rudely.

“Francine, this is my boyfriend, Reese,” Sarah said. She blushed and ducked her head.

“Your boyfriend is a goth? How interesting,” Francine crooned. She sat down at the table after pulling up a chair.

“Nice to meet you,” I said. She nodded to me, then looked at my mother and stepfather. I heard dogs barking, and the doorbell rang. Mrs. Cresley went to answer it.

“Oh, no, thank you, we’re not interested,” she said.

“Mrs. Cresley, I’m Toby McCree. Reese’s bodyguard,” he explained.

“Well, come in, then. Take your shoes off. And keep your hands away from my granddaughters.”

“Ma’am, I’m taken. And gay.”

“A gay black man?”

Toby came in moments later. All of Sarah’s family stared at him.

“Hello, my name is Toby McCree, and like I told Mrs. Cresley, I am Reese’s bodyguard. I will mostly stay in the background and won’t interfere, unless I feel that someone’s going to be hurt, or someone’s life is in danger. Ignore me for now.”

They continued to stare at him.

“Will you come eat with us?” Mr. Cresley asked.

“No, thank you. I already ate.”

“Are you a vampire, too?”

“Yes, but I don’t kill humans. I drink donated blood.” His lie was smooth, but they still didn’t believe him. They were giving him apprehensive looks. I wondered if it was because he was a vampire or because of his race. I’d seen him be treated differently because of the color of his skin. I’d heard him insulted before because of the color of his skin. Mostly, though, I’ve heard comments about his hair, mostly that he needs a haircut.

With his waist-length straight black hair and slender figure, he could almost appear feminine from the back.

Dinner was finished, and I helped wash the dishes along with Mother, Alexander, and Toby.

“I could hire some people to help out with the farm,” I offered. Mrs. Cresley frowned as she scrubbed a pot.

“It would make life easier,” Alexander said. “My wife and I would be glad to pay.”

This is not going to be an easy week, I thought.

Sometime that night, I was woken up by singing. Male singing. I was in bed with my Sarah, and she was muttering in her sleep.

“Daddy…” she muttered. She opened her eyes. “Daddy?” Her eyes met mine. “Reese, what happened?”

“You were talking to yourself,” I said.

“I heard singing.”

“I was trying to calm you down.”

“I didn’t know you liked country music….”

“Can’t stand it. But I know that Becket liked country music when he was alive, so I chose to sing Ronnie Milsap.”

“Don’t lie to me, Reese Mordecai.”

“Okay, yes, I lied. It wasn’t me. I don’t know who it was. Sarah, I have something to tell you.” I tightened my hold on her. “I keep seeing Becket everywhere. I see his shadow, his ghost, his aura, his...something. I know it might seem impossible that he’s still alive, but I really think he might be. He came back for you and Sabine.”

“Reese, why are you saying this?” Her eyes filled with tears. “It isn’t funny.”

“Hon, I’m not making fun of you. I swear. It’s the truth. I’m sorry that I hurt you. I didn’t mean to.” And then I did something I later hated myself for. I used hypnosis to lull her to sleep. I’d never done it before, but I’d seen Father and Uncle Soren do it, and I’d had it done on me by Father whenever he wanted me to calm down or when I was restless.

“You will fall asleep. You will have a deep, dreamless sleep. You will fall asleep now.”

Her eyes fluttered shut, her long eyelashes touching her cheeks. I kissed her, then went to sleep myself, but my sleep was plagued with nightmares.

When I woke up, she was purring like a cat. She was still asleep, but was stirring. Her eyes opened and she yawned, then turned to face me. “Good morning.”

“Morning, beautiful.”

“A guy called me gorgeous on Facebook. I told him not to call me gorgeous again, and he called me a bitch.”

“Did you know him?”

“Yeah, it was my ex, Caden.”

“I will kill him.”

“Reese!”

“I’m serious. No one is allowed to call you a bitch, not even your sister or my sister. Turner will probably take Caden’s side, though, when I pummel him to pulp at school.”

“Reese Emerson Nicolai, that is not funny.”

“Nicolai?”

She grimaced. “Alexander told us that he would like to adopt Sabine. He would adopt me, too, but I’m already eighteen. He’s already formally adopted Cirino. So now his last name is Nicolai, and Sabine’s will be, too.”

“That is remarkable coming from him. I’m proud of him.”

“He’s like a second father to me. If Becket wasn’t my father, I would like to have Alexander as one.”

“I’m sure that would make him happy to hear you say that.”

“Alexander also said that technically, Emerson isn’t your last name. It’s Nicolai. He and Eilief are cousins through brothers.”

“He’s right, Nicolai should actually be my surname. I don’t know why my Grandfather chose Emerson as a last name.”

She leaned into my chest, then retracted. “Spider!”

I turned around and smashed it, then went to the bathroom to wash my hands and get ready for the day. I was welcomed by the hot water washing down me, then went back into the room to find her texting on her phone.

“Caden says he’s sorry. I told him where he could stuff it.” She