“Right,” Margo mumbled before returning her attention to the dark road ahead.
They rode in silence until they were safely on their family’s land. Enola drove past the multi-vehicle garage and pulled directly in front of the house. Before she could place the car in park, Ruby tore out of the house and ran down the stairs. Margo hurried from the front seat and flew into her mother’s arms. Ruby held one arm out for Enola, urging her to join them. She approached slowly. Her fear had subsided enough to allow her the realization that she and Margo had just been attacked by something that could not possibly have been human.
Once at arm’s length, she reached out for her aunt. Even though Ruby initiated the embrace, Enola noticed the brief glint of fear in her eyes. But it disappeared as quickly as it came when Ruby pulled Enola close.
“I’m so glad that y’all okay,” Ruby breathed.
Margo had never touched her phone, so Enola was confused as to how Ruby knew that they’d been attacked.
As if reading Enola’s mind, Margo asked, “Mamma, how do know about what happened?”
“Mamma told me. Come on in the house. She’s waiting for you.”
Ruby turned and walked towards the house. Enola and Margo shared a questioning glance before following her inside. They entered the foyer, and for the first time, Enola realized that she’d lost her purse. She was grateful that she didn’t have a set of keys to her grandmother’s house in her purse. However, she did have her driver’s license in her bag. She could only pray that the monsters wouldn’t travel all the way to Chicago to finish her off.
“That won’t be a problem,” her grandmother said from the parlor.
Enola narrowed her eyes at her Aunt Ruby and hurried into the parlor, where her grandmother was sitting in her favorite chair. She was wearing a golden nightgown with a matching robe. Although her face was etched with concern, she had the air of regality.
Enola walked towards her grandmother.
“Don’t worry about your driver’s license,chér. You won’t be returning to Chicago.”
“Wait…what? Grandma, are you read—”
Enola, frozen by her grandmother’s declaration, looked at her aunt and cousin for some sort of confirmation that her grandmother had somehow gotten into her head. Ruby said nothing, and Margo simply shrugged and muttered, “She does it to me all the time.”
“Does what?” Enola asked, turning to her grandmother. “Are you reading my thoughts?”
“Yes, Enola. I’m reading your thoughts.”
Enola recoiled as if she’d been smacked. “How are you doing that?”
Weird things began to happen the moment Enola had arrived at her grandmother’s house—things that couldn’t be explained. Things that no one would believe even if Enola dare tried to explain them.
“Sit down,chér. You may ask your questions, and I will answer them. Then I will attempt to explain, but you mustn't interrupt.”
Enola sat down in a chair facing her grandmother. Ruby and Margo sat on the sofa. Eager for an explanation, Enola fired away.
“How did you know that we were attacked?”
“I’m a seer.”
“A seer?”
“I see things that most don’t. Things that happen in the past, the present, and sometimes the future.”
“What was that…that thing that attacked us?”
“Come now, Nola. What do you think it was?”
Refusing to believe her own eyes, Enola frantically shook her head. If she hadn’t been so sure that vampires didn’t exist, she would have sworn she had just gone up against one.
“They do exist,chérie. And you did just go up against one. An ally defeated the other.”
“An ally?”
Marie nodded, and then it registered.
