David turned to look at the Rover beforefocusing on the family again. “Thank you,” he said to the boy.
“Why don’t you go play, Kip,” the woman saidand ruffled her son’s blond hair.
Kip nodded and darted away. He ran aroundthe Rover, rising on his toes to peer into the windows beforerunning around to the back of it again. With a giggle, Kip racedpast them to where his sister stood by the fence. The boy scrambledthrough the rails of the fence and the children both ran in and outof the horse’s legs as they raced to the other side.
“We heard about the fire in town,” the womansaid. “There was talk of a daughter, but no one knew what hadhappened to her or if she had perished in the fire, and for somereason, her remains were never uncovered. It’s kind of a localmystery and ghost tale around here.”
Mia had gone into town a few times as a teenwith her parents to see a movie or to do some shopping. Her parentshadn’t been turned into vampires until they were in their thirties,and though they looked young to have a teenage daughter, theydidn’t seem out of place with her. They hadn’t moved into theirhouse until Mia was twelve, so to the people in town she was agingnormally, and her parents were aging really well.
After a few more years of living there, theywould have had to move in order to avoid suspicion about their lackof aging, but no one had paid them much attention back then. Theyhadn’t ventured into town often, and not until Mia was old enoughto control herself around humans, but she’d been seen around thereby a fair amount of people.
Back then, the town had been smaller thanthe one they’d just driven through, and she’d heard the small-towngossip even during her limited time there. She’d bet there had beena lot of speculation about the fire and what had happened to herafterward. Some may have even whispered that she’d been the one tostart it.
“I wasn’t home when it started.” Mia had noidea why she was lying to this couple when they would erase theirmemories of her and David before leaving. The humans in town maynot have known what she and her parents really were, but it wasbest if no oneeverknew what had become of her. “By thetime I got home, there was nothing I could do to help my parents. Idon’t know what started the fire, and I just wanted to get as farfrom here as possible afterward.”
“It was electrical,” the man said. “Itstarted in the wall of the master bedroom and spread through theattic.”
“It spread so fast.” Mia closed her eyes asshe recalled all the dark wood beams and the musty smelling attic.Recalled the way her parents hadn’t been able to escape. Her fathermay have already been dead by the time Mia heard her mother’sscreams. “It was an old home,” she murmured as her mother’s criesresonated in her ears.
Mia’s grasp on his hand had becomebone-crushing, but David didn’t try to get her to ease it. Davidgripped her hand within both of his, drawing her closer as herheart raced in her chest. When she opened them again, tears swam inher eyes as she gazed at the pretty farmhouse.
For a minute, Mia became so entrenched inthe past that all she saw before her was a cheery yellow colonial,with red begonias lining the slate walkway. She could hear hermother’s laughter as her father picked her up from where she’d beenhanging laundry on the line. He spun her around before setting heron her feet and kissing her.
Mia had been petrified that the onlymemories she’d experience here were those of the flames consumingher home and her family. Instead, only the happy ones driftedthrough her mind. The warmth of her parents’ love enveloped heronce more as tears slid down her cheeks. She wiped them away beforethe brisk air could freeze them on her face.
“Would you like to come in for some coffee?”the woman offered.
“No,” Mia said. “Thank you. I’ve seen enoughhere.” She turned to David. “I’m ready to go home now.”
David gazed at her for a minute, knowingthat she meant she was ready to let go of her past for a futurewith him. He pulled her against his chest and held her close as hekissed the top of her head. “I will take care of their memories,”he murmured.
Mia stepped away when he released her tospeak with the couple. The woman grasped the man’s hand as Davidtook hold of their minds and asked them to call their childrenforward. The couple turned away to do as he commanded. When thechildren had joined them, David removed from their minds thememories of the two of them ever having been there.
When he was done with the family, Davidpulled Mia against his side and they walked back to his Rover. Heopened the passenger side door for her, and she slid inside.Hurrying around the front, he climbed into the driver’s side,started the vehicle, and turned it around before driving away fromthe house.
“Are you okay?” he inquired.
Mia contemplated his question. She hadn’tknown how she would feel after coming back. It took her a minute torealize she feltgood. She’d faced her demons, and a weighthad been lifted from her shoulders. The grief for her parents wasstill there, it always would be, but for the first time, sheknewshe would be able to live with it.
“Yes. Better than okay, actually,” she said.“It was time to really face what happened here and to say good-bye.Time to move on.” She slid closer to him and rested her head on hisshoulder. “With you.”
Turning his face into her hair, he kissedher head as they headed back through the town. “Maybe we should geta room somewhere for the night,” she suggested as they pulled ontothe highway. “It’s a long drive back, and I think we could both usea break from the road.”
“That sounds like a plan to me.”
***
Mia fiddled with the brochures in the racknear the door as she waited for David to pay for their room. Therewas white-water rafting in the next town over, a tour of some oldvillage, a woodshop and lumberjack tournament, and numerous storesto shop for antiques. Most of the attractions were closed now andwould reopen in the spring. The winter months were not an excitingtime of year in this part of rural New Hampshire, somethingevidenced by the fact there were only three other cars in theparking lot outside.
“Thank you,” David said, taking the key fromthe clerk behind the counter.
Mia bit on her bottom lip when she saw itwas an actualkey. She’d spent her fair share of time insome pay-by-the-hour places over the years, and most ofthemhadn’t even used a real key anymore. David pocketed the key,grabbed the backpack she’d packed in case they did decide to stopon their way home, and swung it over his shoulder.
He turned to her and slid his arm throughhers before pushing the door open so they could step into theblustery night together. The wind whipped her hair away from herface and stung her cheeks as they walked down the road past thesmall cottages facing the parking lot. The few lights that stillworked in the lanterns illuminating the way flickered with everygusting breeze.
The motel may have been a little outdated,but the cottages were adorable. Each of them was painted a brightyellow and had tiny red shutters and doors. It reminded her of avillage where hobbits might reside as the doors on each cottagewere smaller than normal, and so were the haphazard, squarewindows. It had been her idea to turn around and spend the nightthere after they’d already driven by it. The place enchantedher.
David pulled the key from his pocket as theywalked toward the cottage they’d been given for the night. A flashof headlights in the lot drew her attention as a car pulled in. Itparked near the front door of the main office, more than a couplehundred feet away from them. The flickering lights outside theoffice briefly illuminated the gaunt, bearded man who stepped outfrom behind the wheel of the car. Someone sat in the passengerseat, but she could only see their outline through the heavilytinted windows.
