Night World : Secret Vampire Chapter 16

You prevail got to be kidding, Poppy state.Phil just gaped.No. Im perfectly serious. Youre witches of thesecond winning. c solely in what I told you?There are the kind of witches that know theirheritage and score trained-and the kind that dont.Who just have powers. And humans call that kind-Psychics pack chorused with her. Telepaths.Clairvoyants, he went on alone. There was something in his voice between laughing and crying.Poppy, thats what youare. Thats wherefore you picked up on telepathy so quickly. Thats why you had clair voyant dreams.And thats why Phil h headd me, Poppy said.Oh, no, Phil said. non me. Come on.Phil, youre twins, jam 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 back in his seat. No,he said again, but more weakly. barely whose side do we get it from? Poppy wondered.Dads. Of course. The voice from the backseatwas very faint.Well, that would seemlogical, but-Its the truth. D ont you remember how Dad wasalways talking active visual perception weird things? Havingdreams some things before they happened? And,Poppy, he heard you yell in yourdream. When you were calling for pack. pile heard it, and I heardit, and Dad heard it, too. indeed that settles it. Oh, and it explains otherthings about all of us-all those times weve had feelingsabout things-hunches, whatever. Even youhave hunches, Phil.I had one that mob was creepy, and I wasright.PhillAnd mayhap a a couple of(prenominal) others, Phil said fatalistically.I knew it was James driving up this afternoon. I vista I just had a fine ear for car engines.Poppy was shivering with delight and astonishment, but she couldnt quite understand James.James was utterly beaming. Filled with unbelieving elation that she could feel a bid(p) streamers andfireworks in the air. What, James?Poppy, dont you see? James actually poundedthe steering wheel in joy. It convey that even beforeyou became a vampire, youwere a Night Person.Asecret witch. You have all right to know about the Night World. You belong on that point.The world saturnine upside down and Poppy couldnt breathe. At last she whispered. Oh . . .And webelong together. Nobody can enjoin us.We dont have to hide.OhPoppy whispered again. Then she said,James, pull the car over. I indispensableness to kiss you.When they were in motion once more, Phil said, merely where are you dickens going to go now? Poppycant dress home.I know, Poppy said softly. She had accept 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 slightly from place toplace, Phil said, doggedly persistent.We wont, Poppy said calmly. Well go to Dad.It was perfect. Poppy could feel James hold, 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 powersacted up.Hed give them a place to stay, and that was all they needed, really. That and each other. The unhurt Night World would be open to them, whe neer theywanted to explore it. Maybe they could come backand visit Thea sometime. Maybe they could dance atone of Thierrys parties.If we can findDad, that is, Poppy said, stricken by sudden alarm.You can, Phil said. He flew out last night, buthe left an address. For the first-year time.Maybe somehow he knew, James said.They rode for a while, and then(prenominal) Phil clear-cut his throat and said, You know, I just had a thought. I dont want all 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 vam pires, but it occurs to me that maybetheyre non as completely bad as they seem. I mean,vampires dont treat their food any worse 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 personality, and Nature just is what it is. Its not always pretty, but well, its Nature, and there it is. He harm 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 croupe her look. 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 expect it. Like animals. I mean, i sthere any reason their rakehell 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 must be somepeople whod bewilling donors. Thea was a donor for me. We could communicate 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 close. Hey, maybe even werewolves on weekendsId rather burn down a possum, James said.Poppy socked him in the arm. The point is, maybewe dont have to be terrible bloodsucking monsters.Maybe we can be decentbloodsucking monsters.Maybe, James said quietly, most 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 road to smile at her. Andthere was nothing w istful about his gaze. Nothingcool or mysterious 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 shot her out of the car. Oh, James-do youthink?Im certain. The only thing that makes exchanging blood so peculiar(a) 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, being sweptinto Jamess mind, feeling him surrender histhoughts to hers. encounter 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 through his teeth.Youre the ones whore yelling .Were not yelling. Youre snooping.Both of you give it a rest, Poppy said. But she felt warm and desirous 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 shipload 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 psychological disorder than a shadow, not disturbing either of the sleepers. She stopped by her mothersstill form.She stood tone down, and then she spoke withher mind.I know you think this is a dream, Mom. I know youd ont believe in spirits. But I had to tell you that Im allright. Im all right, and Im happy, and even if you dontunderstand, please 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 stack 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(prenominal) shaky. Take care of her. . . and of yourself. He stepped back, blinking.Poppy blew him a kiss. Then she and James droveoff together into the night.