Daisy’s fight picked back up, and she reached out for Ezra, trying to claw at him.
She snarled and almost lunged from Mae’s arms, but Mae held fast to her. In response, Daisy sunk her teeth into Mae’s shoulders.
“Daisy, I love you.” Mae whispered.
She kissed the top of her head, stroked her hair, and then as she held Daisy in her arms, Mae reached up and twisted her neck sharply. The cracking sound that her neck made as it snapped was barely audible, but I jumped when I heard it.
For a moment - barely even long enough to take a breath - everything was so eerily silent, it didn’t seem real.
Then Mae began to wail, and it was a sound unlike any I had ever heard before.
Rocking the dead child in her arms, Mae wept with everything in her. Ezra tried to put his arm around her, and at first she pushed him off, screaming at him that she hated him, but finally she relented, letting him cradle her.
Milo had lost enough blood where he was on the brink of blacking out, so Jack ran to get him blood. I sat next to him, holding the blanket on his neck, and watched Mae fall apart. Milo drank quickly, and then Jack carried him upstairs so he could rest.
My own wounds had already healed, but dried blood covered my skin and clothes. I should’ve went upstairs to change or hide out, but I sat on the steps off the living room, listening to Mae.
For a while, I didn’t think she would ever stop crying, but eventually, she began to lose her voice. She made small croaked sobs and sniffles. I heard Ezra murmuring things to her, but she never responded.
“Alice?” Peter asked, and I looked up. I’d had my head resting on the wall, leaning and listening. He stood in front of me at the bottom of the steps, his green eyes moist.
“Hi,” I said softly. I didn’t want to disturb Ezra and Mae, even though they were both far enough away and so lost in their own pain that they would never notice me.
“What are you doing?” Peter asked, and I shook my head.
I had no good answer for what I was doing. I just… I felt like I should hear. Like this was my fault somehow, and it hurt listening to Mae cry like that, so I should listen. As some kind of punishment.
“Mind if I join you?” Peter asked taking a step up towards me.
“No, of course not.” I gestured to the empty space on the stair next to me, and he sat down. “How are you doing?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head, but his eyes were still wet and red. Daisy had gotten under his skin, and he hadn’t want to see anything bad happen to her. “I knew it would end this way, but…”
“I’m sorry.” I put my hand on his back, leaving tacky bloodstains on his shirt, but I doubted he’d mind. “I know you liked her.”
“It is better this way,” he said thickly and looked down at his hands. “Her life would’ve been torture. She was going to keep hurting people, killing them, but I think Mae would’ve stomached that. It was just… she was in so much pain.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He nodded and swallowed. “Daisy would wake up at night, screaming in pain. The hunger is too intense for something that small. They can’t…” His mouth twisted as he fought of tears.
“I’m still sorry this happened,” I said.
“Me too.” Tears streamed down his cheek, and I put my arm around him, pulling close to me.
Peter cried softly in my arms, and I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for the shaking of his body as he held back sobs. I ached for him, and I wanted to take away his pain.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled when he got himself under control a bit.
“Don’t be sorry.” I pushed the hair back from his face, and he sat up more but still remained close to me.
When he looked at me, his green eyes meeting mine, I’d never seen him look more wounded. With my hand still on his face, I leaned in kissed his cheek, meaning to kiss his tears away. His skin warmed under my lips, sending a familiar thrill racing through me, and I leaned back.
I wiped my thumb along the spot I’d kissed him, erasing it, and his eyes held me the way the once had. Captivating and entrancing, for a moment, I didn’t breathe. I didn’t want to. I just wanted to lose myself in Peter, and forget about everything else that hurt so much lately.
But I did remember, and I exhaled deeply, knowing this moment had to end.
“You’ll be okay, won’t you?” I asked, dropping my hand back to my lap.
“I always am.” Peter attempted a small smile, and his effort made me smile.
“I do love you, you know?” I asked him, and he nodded.
“You just love him more.”
“But that doesn’t change the way I feel about you.” I reached over and took his hand in mine. “Nothing can. And I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“You’re worried I’m going to do something stupid?” Peter arched his eyebrow, and his smile widened.
“You tend to do that when you’re hurting,” I said.
“Don’t worry, Alice. I know that you’ll always come chasing me down, and I won’t do anything to risk your safety again.”
“So…” Jack interrupted, and I looked up to see him standing at the top of the steps, staring down at me sidled up next to Peter, holding his hand. “I just thought I’d let you know that Milo was doing good.”
“Thanks, Jack.” I let go of Peter’s hand and stood up, but I didn’t rush. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and I had nothing to hide. “I should go get cleaned up.”
“Yeah. Do what you want.” Jack walked down the stairs, brushing past me and Peter.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Out,” he said without looking back. “And I’m leaving on a business trip tonight, so don’t wait up.”
“Jack!” I called after him, but he didn’t answer.
Ezra buried Daisy in the backyard, under the willow tree. After that, he decided that we’d had enough of it here and put the house up for sale.
The next few days, Mae was inconsolable. She moved like a zombie, and Ezra had to physically prompt to her do anything. She was pale and listless, and I’m not sure that even Ezra was convinced that she would ever get better. But no matter, he would stand by her through this.
Milo decided that we needed to visit our mom and that Leif needed to come with us.
I was against it, but Milo eventually wore me down. She was our mother, and she had loved us the best she could. She didn’t deserve to be alone, abandoned by everyone she loved, without knowing why.
More than that, maybe she didn’t need to be abandoned anymore. Milo wanted to come clean with her in hopes that we wouldn’t have to hide from her.
Before Leif came in, Milo and I sat with her alone in our old apartment, and Milo told her the whole truth. About where we’d been and that we were vampires.