12. Blood and Bubble Baths

TWELVE

blood and bubble baths

While the trio of death moves toward the rest of the immortal children, I move to my friends tied up on stage. Ripping their blindfolds and bindings loose, I help them to their feet. "If you two want to shift, now is the perfect time."

"My pleasure," Luna says, wiping her stained cheeks. Seconds later, she transforms into a beautiful blonde wolf, while Fynn transforms into a giant brown wolf.

"Don't hurt Alexander or the two girls helping him," I warn. "Everyone else is free game." The lycan nod, moving toward the fight in front of them. The three immortal children have already killed four of their siblings. They're working as a team and watching them is terrifying.

"My children!" Patrice screams from the back of the stage. "What have you done? "

The door to the church bursts open, revealing three more wolves and Thorne. "Don't hurt Alexander or the girls helping him," I send to Thorne through our connection.

"You bitch!" Patrice says, moving in front of me. "This is all your doing." She jumps through the air, landing on the corner of the ceiling. "Stop them!"

"They can't live," I warn her. "Turning a child into a vampire is cruel and sadistic."

"They're my children, my babies," she cries from the rafters.

"Your children have to die," Amelia says, standing in the middle of the chaos shifted into human form.

"You!" Patrice sniffs the air. "You're the hybrid."

"In the flesh. Seems my reputation precedes me." She bows dramatically.

Patrice lands in front of Amelia, staring into her eyes. "I've heard of you."

"Then you should know that you aren't going to survive this." Amelia stands her ground as Patrice recesses to the rafters once more.

I look around the room at the carnage that remains. Blood is spattered throughout the room, covering what's left of the wooden pews. Alexander and his sisters are surrounding the last remaining immortal child who doesn't look any older than four or five. He's wearing a pair of pajamas with Bugs Bunny printed all over them. Silver chains are still tied around his wrists, but he's managed to pull his hands far enough apart that he's using the chains as a weapon for his benefit. The lycan are standing behind the vampire trio, allowing them to take the lead.

"Walter, we won't hurt you," Autumn says as they continue circling the young boy.

Walter growls in response. The sound sends chills down my spine. He swings his chain, striking Everly in the face. The silver from the metal burns into her skin, exposing her skull through the flesh.

"Walter. You're not being a very nice boy," she scolds, wiping her cheek with her hand. "That almost hurt."

The boy growls once more before swinging the chain again. This time, Alexander catches it in mid-air. "That's not nice, Walter. It's time to stop playing now."

Patrice takes advantage of the distraction and leaps to the trio's side. "Mother is very angry with you," she warns. "It's time to go." She grabs Alexander's wrist, forcing him to drop Walter's chain.

"We're not going with you, Mother," Autumn answers. "We're going to live with Mommy at the beach, watch television, and drink goat's blood."

Patrice looks at me with hatred in her eyes. Sensing what's about to happen, Amelia and Thorne flank either side of me, along with the three lycan. We stand as a team, awaiting whatever Patrice is about to deliver.

She releases Alexander and lands in front of me with her teeth bared and her face contorted. "You will die," she warns. " You murdered my children. "

"Your children were nothing more than monsters," Amelia spews. "You murdered them the day you turned them into this."

"I saved them," she retorts. "Without me, they would have died."

"I wouldn't have died, Mother," Alexander is standing next to the woman who transformed him years ago. "I was at the circus with my family. You took me from them. You did this to me." His perfect clothes are covered in blood, along with his face and hair.

"I was on my way to school," Autumn joins. Her perfect curls are messy and caked with dark blood. "You forced me into your car. You gave me…you gave me to the men before you turned me. They're the ones who nearly killed me. Not my family."

"Me, too," Everly adds. "I was visiting the zoo with my grandmother. Something we did every summer. I was happy being human." She looks at the other two children. " You did this to us. You don't deserve to live."

"Enough!" Patrice shouts. "How dare you speak to me in that tone." She makes eye contact with all three of them. "You will be punished."

"No, Mother. You will be punished." Alexander transforms into the monster she made.

Patrice matches his energy, transforming into an equally terrifying creature. "Don't flatter yourself, Alexander. I made you. That means you cannot defeat me."

"He's an immortal child, Patrice," Amelia says. "That means he's stronger than you'll ever be."

In a flurry of movement, Patrice moves behind Everly and Autumn, sweeping them into her arms and jumping through the large stained-glass window behind the stage.

"No!" Alexander screams as she disappears with the girls in tow. Amelia wraps her arms around his chest, holding him in place before he runs after them. "Let me go!"

The lycan exit seconds after Patrice, following the psychopath vampire. "They'll find her," I reassure the immortal child vampire.

"No, they won't. She's faster than they are."

"I'll go," Thorne says, following the wolves through the window.

"My sisters," Alexander cries. "She'll kill them." He fights against Amelia, who's barely able to hold him.

"Alexander, stop! You won't be able to fight her alone."

"My sisters!" he continues.

I move in front of him, looking him in the eyes. "Alexander, look at me." His eyes are searching every area of the broken window, staring past me. "Look at me," I repeat, calmly. He slowly turns toward me, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"We'll find them," I whisper.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep, Elsie!" He pulls out of Amelia's grip, moving toward the window .

In a moment straight from a superhero movie, something overtakes my body. Emotion mixed with anger flows to the surface, and I move between Alexander and the window, reaching the spot before he does. Wrapping my arms around him, I pull him to the ground with ease and hold his hands above his head.

"Let me go!" he screams, not able to move against my grip.

"No," I repeat my words from earlier. "I will not let her kill you."

The moment the fight leaves from his eyes, his face returns to the innocent boy from before, and he cries the kind of cry that's reserved for pillows. He cries years' worth of tears, screaming in anger, hurt, and pain.

Watching his pain breaks something deep inside me. I release my hold, pull him to my chest, and wrap my arms around him. "I'm sorry this happened to you, Alexander." Instinct kicks in, and I begin rocking him like I would do my siblings when they were hurt or scared.

Amelia stands guard as I hold him like the child he is. I don't know how much time passes before his sobs begin to soften and his body relaxes in my arms. I gently rub my hands through his hair, offering the love he never received from Patrice.

"The lycan are returning, and I'm continuing to follow her." Thorne pauses. "If you can hear me, Alexander, I won't let them out of sight. "

Alexander sits up, wiping his tear-stained face. "Does he mean it?"

I nod. "Thorne followed me for three hundred years. He will do everything he can not to lose them."

On cue, the lycan walk through the broken glass. "Topher says they weren't able to keep up with her without being seen by humans. Thorne is still following her," Amelia translates their silent conversation.

Alexander stands and straightens his suit. He bows to the lycan. "Thank you for trying." He runs his fingers through his hair and clears his throat. "I'm ready to go home, Elsie." I don't know when the change came from him calling me Mommy to calling me by my name, but I'm not angry about it.

"I'll come with you," Amelia says, moving to our side. Without explanation, I know she's coming in case Alexander decides to lose his shit. "The lycan will stay behind and clean up." She looks around the room at the destruction. "These poor…" she stops her words, looking at the immortal child next to me. "I'm so sorry, Alexander."

"Thank you," he whispers. "They're better off now." His words sound much wiser than he appears.

The three of us exit the building, running toward the beach house. We arrive minutes later at the empty home. Alexander moves straight to the television, turning it on and allowing the ambient light to fill the room. He sits on the edge of the couch, staring mindlessly at the screen.

"I asked Topher to stop and grab some clothes for him on their way back," Amelia says, standing next to me in the kitchen. The two of us are staring at the immortal child, not sure what to do or how to help him.

"Elsie?" I look up at my name. "May I have some goat's blood?"

"Of course." I grab one from the cooler and take it to him. "Would you like to clean up a little?"

He empties the bottle in one gulp. "I'd like that very much." He turns toward Amelia. "When will the Alpha be here with my clothes?"

I share a look with Amelia. "They'll be at the church for a while," she answers. "I'm sure we can find something around here for you to wear until your clothes arrive."

Alexander stands. "That will be fine." He turns toward me. "Will you help me, Elsie?"

"Yes." I follow him upstairs, directing him to mine and Thorne's bedroom. "There's a shower and supplies inside."

"I'd rather take a bath."

"Ok. Let me get your water going." Moving into the bathroom, I set the water to the perfect temperature, not that it matters for a vampire, but it's something I need to do. The sister in me wants to provide this boy the love he's missed.

Alexander walks into the bathroom. "Will you stay with me? "

His behavior feels off, but taking into account that he just murdered his siblings and watched his mother take his sisters, he has the right to be a little off. "I'll come back in once you're in the water."

"Thank you." He nods. "Are there bubbles?"

"I'll find some." I leave the boy in the bathroom, moving through several bathrooms on the same floor and finding bubbles not far away.

"I'm in," he says through my mind seconds later.

"I found bubbles," I announce, coming back into the room. Pouring the bubbles into the running water, the tub fills with white foam almost instantly.

Alexander's tiny body is covered in scars. Some look like bite marks. Others look like burns. I close my eyes at the realization that in order for these to remain scars, they were inflicted before he was turned.

"Mother did them," he answers my unasked question after reading my mind. "After she took me, she used me to entertain humans. Some of them liked to bite."

"Oh, Alexander. I'm so sorry," I apologize, fighting the tears from forming in my eyes.

"Why? It's not your fault."

"No, it's not my fault, but I'm sorry for the pain she put you through." I pull the hem of my shirt up, exposing my stomach. "Do you see this?" I point at a long scar on my abdomen. He nods. "The man who took me did it. He stabbed me because he was angry that I was starving." I take a breath, hoping not to fall too deeply into a memory. "He let me bleed for hours."

Alexander looks into my eyes. "Why did he take you?"

"I don't know," I answer truthfully. "We have several theories, but mostly I think he took me because he could."

"Is he still alive?"

"Aye."

"Are you from Scotland?" he asks, noticing my brogue.

"I was. A very long time ago."

"Thank you, Elsie."

"For what?"

He wraps thin arms around his legs. "For being kind to me. It's been a long time since someone has been kind to me."

I've never related to someone more in my life. "You deserve kindness, Alexander. You realize that, don't you?"

"I don't know," he whispers. "I've done…"

"No," I interrupt. "Today is a new day. What you did, you did to survive. You didn't have a choice. That was the person you were. You're not that person anymore, Alex."

He looks up at the shortened version of his name. "My mother used to call me that."

"Would you prefer me to call you Alexander? "

He shakes his head. "My real mother called me Alex."

"You remember her?"

"I do." He wipes a tear. "She was beautiful."

"Where did you live?"

"Chicago," he answers. "I'd like to visit their graves one day." His voice is barely audible.

"When you're ready, we'll go," I promise. "For now, let's get you cleaned up. Maybe one of my T-shirts won't swallow you completely."

"You smell like the lady," Alex says, blowing bubbles off his hand. Chill bumps immediately cover my skin.

"What do you mean?"

The small boy shrugs. "Like fire, I guess."

I slide closer to the edge of the bathtub. "Alex, what did the lady look like?"

Deep blue eyes turn in my direction. "She had hair like yours. I only saw her once and from very far away. Mother kept my sisters and me away from her. She didn't want her to know we were special."

My mind is a whirlwind of emotion. Dark hair and smelled like fire doesn't exactly narrow down the search. "Was her name Marnie?"

"I don't know. I never heard her name." He sinks below the water, adding a soft pink color to the bubbles. My mind races as my heart aches for this child. His intelligence and ability are the only things separating him from the children in chains. I build an imaginary wall around my thoughts and play through the nightmare he's lived. Watching him blow bubbles toward the tile wall, I silently vow to protect him with my life.