Shutting the door behind myself, I followed Sam down the hall, and passed Miriam’s desk. She was busy with paperwork of some sort, and didn’t even glance up as we left the Lodge. Walking down the steps, Sam left me to go fetch another hunter that would be joining us, and I was left to think. I hated leaving things like that with Logan, I really did.
I figured we’d have to finish our conversation when I came back, but I was happy to put it off for as long as possible. I knew that we were at a point where we couldn’t be leaving things like that unsaid, however I just wished we didn’t have to face them now. I wanted to wait until I was at a better place, emotionally.
I glanced across the yard and saw Sam point me towards a sleek, black Sedan, before heading into the barn. The barn located off the side of the Lodge had been rented by the hunters, and they were using it as a base point. It was the preparation and meeting room, along with being the area most of the research into Micah’s whereabouts was done. I’d been inside it a couple of times, and it was full of busy hunters and computers and sheets and files they were using. It was a mad house.
I trudged over to the car, and lent against the back door, figuring I’d be sitting in the back while the hunters sat up front. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about what I was about to do. This was the first time the hunters had personally informed any of the covenant’s families. Most of the vampires who were killed were from all over the States and once they had been identified, the hunters had relied on their associates from those states and area’s to inform their family members.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear Sam walk over until he was standing in front of me. I opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of my skin.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” he said.
I shook my head, clearing it and taking the time to regather my thoughts. “That’s alright. I was in another world.”
He nodded and looked down at the manila envelope he held in his hand. He held it out to me. “I think you knew her,” he mumbled.

Hesitantly, I took the envelope from his outstretched hand and peered inside. A lump formed in my throat as I glanced down at the smiling photograph of Sally McDonnell. It was an older photo of her, perhaps taken a few years before and in it she was happy and smiling. Well, she sure isn’t now, I thought, shutting the envelope and holding it out to Sam. He took it and I watched as he lent through the open window of the Sedan and placed it on the driver’s seat.
“What is it that you want from me?” I asked. “And what exactly are you going to tell Sally’s family?”
He shrugged. “We have a plan,” he answered, reaching into his suit pocket and taking out a black slip. He flicked it open and flashed me a golden badge.
I raised my eyebrows. “You’re going to tell them you’re cops?” I asked, incredulous.
He nodded slowly, pocketing his, no doubt fake, badge. “Unfortunately, we do it all the time,” he told me. “Logan’s never mentioned that before?”
I shook my head, wondering what else Logan hadn’t mentioned. How much else has he been keeping from me?
“We do a lot of things we don’t want to,” he mumbled, walking around and standing against the car next to me. He looked across at me, studying me in the same way Logan often did. His red hair swayed in the wind and this close to him I could make out the freckles dappled across his nose and cheeks. “As hunters we follow orders, even when we don’t agree with them,” he said. “Sometimes they blur the line between right and wrong, but still we follow them.”
I stared at him, confused and unsure as to what he was getting at. “Sam, I..... I’m sorry I don’t understand what you mean,” I whispered. “I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”
He looked at me for a moment, not saying anything and I could see sadness in his cloudy eyes. And regret. They were filled with regret. This confused me more, but I soon pushed the thought away as I heard the gravel crunch and I looked up to see another hunter approaching. Sam regarded him seriously and moved to get in the driver’s seat.

The second hunter was in his middle to late thirties with scruffy brown hair and a beard. He looked at me with cold eyes and I knew instantly that he didn’t like me. Many hunters still had massive problem with me due to my being a vampire and I tried to ignore them as best I could. However it was extremely hard to ignore people when they were giving you death stares and you could practically hear the dark thoughts they were thinking about you.
With the second hunter already in the front seat next to Sam, I slid into the back, realising that it was going to be a hard ride. Sally’s family lived just outside the city limits so it wasn’t a very a very long ride.
Eventually, we were pulling up in front of the one story house, and I couldn’t help feeling sick. I hated the thought of having to help tell the McDonnell family that they’d lost their loved one. Following the hunters up the stone path, I tried to compose myself. I hoped that I was strong enough to handle this. I really did.
Reaching the front door, Sam stepped up and knocked on the front door. We waited patiently for someone to answer. Eventually a middle aged lady with black hair, and oddly, the same eyes as Sally had once had, opened the door. It was Sally’s mother.
“Hello, how may I help you?” she asked sweeping over us all with her eyes.
“I’m Detective Samuel Wallace,” Sam told her, holding up his badge. “May we come in?”
I watched the woman’s face become dark as she nodded, worry etched across her face. She stood back and held the door out for us and we followed her through. Here goes, I thought. Now we have to tell her that her daughter is dead. I hated this, I really did!


*************

Almost having an hour later we were still sitting in the McDonnell’s lounge room. Mrs. McDonnell had been the only one home so we’d only had to tell her. Sam sat on one of the couches, facing her, with a wooden coffee table separating them. The other hunter, who I’d been introduced to during the car ride over as Tyler Symons, stood near the entrance into the room and I hovered near the small fire place. I was trying not to be too conspicuous as I gazed at the many photos’ that lined the shelf above it. Many were of Sally as she grew up and I felt a sadness inside me that was growing the longer I was inside her family’s home.
Mrs. McDonnell sniffled and I looked at her as she wiped her red eyes with a tissue. “How did it happen? I mean other than by a fire? Was it an accident?”
I saw Sam glancing over his shoulder at Tyler, who nodded, before answering. “No, she was murdered.”
Mrs. McDonnell made a choking noise and my heart leapt for her. We were both grieving for the people we’d lost, all the same way. “And it was a mass murder? More than one person was killed?”
“Yes,” Tyler spoke up from behind Sam. “There were multiple deaths. Everyone inside the house perished.”
Mrs. McDonnell glanced up and met my eyes as she wiped her nose this time. “And you.... you knew my daughter?”
I gulped and forced myself to hold her gaze. I nodded slowly. “Yes, not extremely well, but I did know her. She was a good person,” I told her. “I’m helping the police with their investigation,” I added, in case she was wondering as to my involvement in things.
She smiled, her eyes distant, rising to her feet and walking over to where I stood. “Yes, Sally was a wonderful person,” she told me, picking up one of the framed photographs. “She wanted to be a nurse. She wanted to help people.”
My mind flashed to that night when I’d been sick. Sally had known what she’s been talking about, and she’s helped take care of me.

“When was the last time you’d seen your daughter Mrs. McDonnell?” Sam asked gently.
A sad smile settled on Mrs. McDonnell's lips. “Almost four years ago, but I knew my daughter,” she said, placing the photo back on the shelf and glancing at Sam. “She was a good girl.”
I had turned my back on them, looking back at the photos, but I felt her move towards me again. She sighed, “At least she’s with God now,” she said.
I pursed my lips and turned to the side so that I could look at her. “Do you really believe that?” I asked her, surprised that she wasn’t angry. I was angry with God. Or was I?
“Of course,” she sniffled, regarded me carefully. “I believe my daughter earned her place in heaven and I think that’s where she is.”
I could hear the soft pats of both Sam’s and Tyler’s footsteps as they left the room, leaving me alone with Mrs. McDonnell. “Whatever God’s plan for Sally was, she’s with him now and she is at peace,” she continued.
“You sound like my priest,” I told her.
The corners or her lips tugged up and she smiled slightly. “He sounds like a smart man.”
I brought my attention away from the photos so that my focus was solely on her. “Aren’t you angry with God for taking her from you?” I asked, seriously and a tad surprised.
She looked back at me with careful eyes and shook her head. When she spoke it was slowly and thoughtfully. “Tell me. Who should I be angry with? God, the person who gave me my daughter to begin with? The one who gave me many happy years with her?” she whispered gently. “Or, the person who killed her, who took her life?”
I stared back at her, understanding what she was saying and seeing the truth behind it.
“The person who set the fire, it is they who are at fault and are to blame,” Mrs. McDonnell continued. “They are the one I hold responsible.”
With one last look and a small pat on my back, she moved away from me in search of the hunters, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Closing my eyes, I replayed everything she’d said. Was I wrong to doubt my faith? After all it wasn’t God who’d killed the covenant, was it? It was Micah, and he alone. It was his actions and his cruelty that took their lives. He was to blame, not some higher being.

Leaving the room I saw Mrs. McDonnell opening the door for us to leave. I noticed that Sam was talking mutedly on his cell phone. Passing through the open front door, Tyler offered his condolences once more and I gave Mrs. McDonnell a tiny smile as I slid through.
“I’m so sorry,” I told her.
“Thank-You,” she said sadly.
Walking out into the front yard of the house Sam waited until the door was shut before turning to look at me. “Roxi,” he said. “Did Claudia have fangs?”
I flinched, surprised, but I answered automatically. “Yes, she did”
“Yes,” Sam relayed into the phone, as I realised why he would be asking.
Oh my god! They’d found Claudia. I didn’t even realise I was gripping the side of the porch rail until I realised my fingers were going numb. My breathing was heavily and my eyes stung as I fought to breath. No, no, no... I thought.
“It’s alright,” Sam said, stepping up behind me and uncurling my fingers. “The vampire they found didn’t have fangs, it wasn’t her.”
“Are you sure,” I asked, through clenched teeth, praying he was right.
“Yes, there are still areas that have to be searched and many bodies are still yet to be identified, but they haven’t found her,” he told her firmly, “Yet,” he added.
I let out a breath, feeling my heart sting. I knew I needed to be ready for that moment when she was identified, but I wasn’t ready to face it now. Not here and not alone. I closed my eyes. I needed Logan. He was right, I wasn’t coping and I needed him to help me. A couple of days ago, the thought of Claudia being identified would have broken me then and there but not now, I was slightly stronger now. I was getting there, I could feel it. I just wasn’t quite there yet and if I wanted to get there, I’d have to accept the things that Logan had told me.
“Let’s go back to the Lodge,” Sam said, starting towards the car, which Tyler already sat in.
Walking back towards the car, it was still early daylight hours; however the sky was filled with dark, grey clouds that promised a storm. Reaching the car, I couldn’t help but turn back and allow myself one last glimpse of the McDonnell residence, capturing it in my memory. Framed by the dark sky, the house stood a lone figure, smoke billowing out the chimney. It was sad, and yet fitting, sight. I really did hope the McDonnell family would find peace.

Hopping into the back seat of the Sedan, I pulled my seat belt across as Sam started the engine. Sitting, my mind in its usual thoughtful haze, I ran my tongue along my own teeth, feeling the edges of my canine teeth. Despite their unusual sharpness, they weren’t fangs. Not all vampires had fangs and I was one of them.
Like most things that went along with being a vampire, our bodies altered to help our survival. Vampires who drank blood straight from the source, a person, required sharper, more pointed teeth to pierce the skin. Over time the teeth shifted, becoming fangs and making it easier to feed. Having never drank from a person, only from a glass, or more recently, a thermos, my teeth hadn’t needed to alter themselves. All vampires acquired a natural sharpness to their teeth, whether they ended up with fangs or not. I remembered I’d once told Logan that he hadn’t known anything about me, other than the fact that I had fangs. That had just been a generalisation, I hadn’t meant it literally.
I sighed, thinking about Logan. Why was it that he was always right about things? Sometimes I really just didn’t want to hear to, but I couldn’t deny that the majority of the time lately he knew what I felt and what I needed better than I did myself.
Eventually we pulled up around the side of the Lodge and the two hunters and I got out. Tyler left immediately, not even bothering to acknowledge me. Sam on the other hand, gave me a slight nod of his head, before moving off towards the bard, most likely to inform Frank of how things went.
Turning in the other direction, I walked up the steps of the Lodge and through the door, feeling more at home than I should. Miriam was still seated behind her desk and she flashed me a smile as I past, her too red lipstick standing out. I nodded, my lips a flat line. I was nervous about having this discussion with Logan and I was trying to sike myself up. Pausing just outside the door to our room, I took a breath before I turned the handle, feeling ready to face things.