Night World : Secret Vampire Chapter 16

You obligate got to be kidding, Poppy express.Phil just gaped.No. Im perfectly serious. Youre witches of thesecond kind. Remember what I told you?There are the kind of witches that acknowledge theirheritage and get trained-and the kind that dont.Who just have powers. And mankinds conjure that kind-Psychics James chorused with her. Telepaths.Clairvoyants, he went on alone. There was something in his voice between laughing and crying.Poppy, thats what youare. Thats why you picked up on telepathy so quickly. Thats why you had clair voyant dreams.And thats why Phil h spike heel me, Poppy verbalize.Oh, no, Phil said. Not me. Come on.Phil, youre twins, James said. You have the same ancestors. Pace it, youre a witch. Thats why I couldnt control your mind.Oh, no,Phil said. No.He flopped choke off in his seat. No,he said again, only more weakly. exactly whose side do we get it from? Poppy wondered.Dads. Of course. The voice from the covertseatwas precise faint.Well, that would seeml ogical, but-Its the truth. Dont you remember how Dad wasalways talking closely seeing weird things? Havingdreams about things before they happened? And,Poppy, he heard you yell in yourdream. When you were calling for James. James heard it, and I heardit, and Dad heard it, too.Then that settles it. Oh, and it explains early(a)things about all of us-all those times weve had feelingsabout things-hunches, whatever. Even youhave hunches, Phil.I had one that James was creepy, and I wasright.PhillAnd perhaps a hardly a(prenominal) others, Phil said fatalistically.I knew it was James driving up this afternoon. I archetype I just had a fine ear for car engines.Poppy was shivering with delight and astonishment, but she couldnt quite understand James.James was absolutely beaming. Filled with unbelieving agility that she could feel want streamers andfireworks in the air. What, James?Poppy, dont you see? James actually poundedthe steering wheel in joy. It means that even beforeyou became a vampire, youwere a Night Person.Asecret witch. You have e real right to know about the Night population. You be ample there.The world turned upside down and Poppy couldnt breathe. At last she whispered. Oh . . .And webelong together. nought can separate us.We dont have to hide.OhPoppy whispered again. Then she said,James, pull the car over. I want to kiss you.When they were in motion once more, Phil said, But where are you two going away to go now? Poppycant have it off home.I know, Poppy said softly. She had accepted that.There was no going back for her the old life wasover. Nothing to do but build a new one.And you cant just wander around from place toplace, Phil said, doggedly persistent.We wont, Poppy said calmly. Well go to Dad.It was perfect. Poppy could feel James think, Ofcourse.They would go to her father, the always-late, always-impractical, always-affectionate parent. Herfather the witch who didnt know he was a witch.Who probably thought he was crazy when his powersac ted up.Hed give them a place to stay, and that was all they needed, really. That and each other. The whole Night World would be open to them, whenever theywanted to explore it. maybe they could come backand visit Thea sometime. Maybe they could dance rue of Thierrys parties.If we can findDad, that is, Poppy said, struck by sudden alarm.You can, Phil said. He flew out last night, buthe left an address. For the first time.Maybe somehow he knew, James said.They rode for a while, and then Phil cleared his throat and said, You know, I just had a thought. I dont want any part of the Night World, you understand-I dont carewhat my heritage is. I just wantto live like a human-and I want everybody to bedear on that.Were dear, Phil, James interrupted. Believeme. Nobody in the Night World is going to force youin. You can live like a human all you want as long as you avoid Night People and keep your mouth shut.Okay. Good. But heres my thought. I still dontapprove of vampires, but it occurs to me that maybetheyre not as completely bad as they seem. I mean,vampires dont treat their food any worsened than humans do. When you think of what we do to cows at least they dont breed humans in pens.I wouldnt bet on it, James said, suddenly grim.Ive heard rumors about the olddays.You always have to argue, dont you? But my other thought was that youre part of Nature, and Nature just is what it is. Its not always pretty, but well, its Nature, and there it is. He suffer upglumly, Maybe that doesnt make any sense. It makes sense to me, James said, entirely serious. And-thanks. He paused to look back at Philinacknowledgment. Poppy felt a sting behind hereyes. If he admits were part of Nature, she thought,then he doesnt believe were unnatural anymore.It meant a lot.She said, Well, you know, Ivebeen thinking, too.And it occurs to me that maybe there are otherchoices for feeding besides just jumping on humans when they dont convey it. Like animals. I mean, isthere any reason their bloo d wont work?Its not the same as human blood, James said.But its a possibility. Ive fed on animals. Deer aregood. Rabbits are okay. Possums stink.And then there mustiness be somepeople whod bewill donors. Thea was a donor for me. We could ask other witches.Maybe, James said. He grinned suddenly. Iknew a witch back home who was verywilling. Nameof Gisele. But you couldnt ask them to do it everyday, you know. Youd have to give them time to recover.I know, but maybe we could alternate. Animals one day and witches the next. Hey, maybe even werewolves on weekendsId rather bite a possum, James said.Poppy socked him in the arm. The point is, maybewe dont have to be horrible bloodsucking monsters.Maybe we can be decentbloodsucking monsters.Maybe, James said quietly, almost wistfully.Hear, hear, Phil said very seriously from theback.And we can do it together, Poppy said to James.He took his eyes off the highway to smile at her. Andthere was nothing wistful about his gaze. Nothingcool or my sterious or secretive, either.Together, he said out loud. And mentally headded, Icant wait. With that telepathy of yoursyourealize what we can do, dont you?Poppy stared, then felt an effervescent rush that almost piece of cake her out of the car. Oh, James-do youthink?Im certain. The only thing that makes exchanging blood so special is that it enhances telepathy. But you dont needany enhancementyou little dreamer.Poppy sat back to try and still her heart.They would be able to join their minds again. Anytime they wanted. She could imagine it, creation sweptinto Jamess mind, feeling him surrender histhoughts to hers. coming together like two drops of water. Together in a waythat humans could never know.I cant wait, either,she told him. Ithink Im going tolike being a witch.Phil cleared his throat. If you guys want someprivacy.. .We cant have any, James said. Not with youaround. Obviously.I cant help it, Phil said with his teeth.Youre the ones whore yelling.Were not yelling. Youre sn ooping.Both of you give it a rest, Poppy said. But she felt warm and glowing all over. She couldnt resistadding to Phil, So, if youre willing to give us someprivacy, that means you trust James alone withyour sister.I didnt saythat.You didnt have to, Poppy said.She was happy.It was very late the next day. Almost midnight, infact. The witching hour. Poppy was standing in a place shed thought shed never see again, her mothers bedroom.James was waiting outside with a carload of stuff,including one large suitcase of Poppys CDs, smuggledfor them by Phil. In a few minutes James and Poppywould be heading for the East Coast and Poppysfather.But first, there was something Poppy had to do.She glided quietly toward the king-size bed, making no more noise than a shadow, not disturbing either of the sleepers. She stopped by her mothersstill form.She stood looking down, and then she spoke withher mind.I know you think this is a dream, Mom. I know youdont believe in spirits. But I had to tell you that Im allright. Im all right, and Im happy, and even if you dontunderstand, enchant try to believe. Just this once, beieve in what you cant see.She paused, then added, Ilove you, Mom. I alwayswill.When she left the room, her mother was stillasleepandsmiling.Outside, Phil was standing by the Integra. Poppyhugged him and he hugged back, hard.Goodbye, she whispered. She got into the car.James stuck his hand out the window toward Phil.Phil took it without hesitation.Thank you, James said. For everything.No, thank you.Phil said. His smile and his voicewere both shaky. appropriate care of her. . . and of yourself. He stepped back, blinking.Poppy blew him a kiss. Then she and James droveoff together into the night.