It started with Lucy moaning in her sleep and then not waking up when the sunset. In place of her waking up and telling me what was wrong, she started screaming. I tried waking her in every way I could, not even the boot to the head trick would work. After an hour I just collapsed onto her and wept.

I don’t know how long I was weeping before the I heard the noises downstairs. The scrapping noise, like something was digging into wood and then slipping back. Sliding down. I got up and went into the hall where they were louder, but I didn’t see the source until I got to the top of the stairs. There Henry was, or what was once Henry. His body covered in blood, caked into his clothing so much that I couldn’t even tell what they once were. He was at the base of the stairs, laying on the first few, trying to get up them. All his limbs but one leg were twisted in directions they were not meant to, but the noise. The fucking noise was coming from the stump of one hand that kept being lifted onto the next step, dug in, trying to lift him up but then sliding back off it again. Every time more flesh and blood were lost.

I didn’t know what to do. Lucy’s screams still flying out of the upstairs bedroom door like hammers hitting my head, and Henry below me, a perfect representation of everything I never wanted. I collapsed onto the floor, my back against the railing, numb, or confused, or angry. I still don’t know. I know that looking back I wish I would of been able to rush down those stairs and help him, that I wouldn’t of been so fucking human, but I was.

It was Julian that had to be the hero here. I don’t know when he arrived, I don’t know how he dealt with getting Henry into the basement and getting him to stop trying to get up the stairs. I don’t know if he stopped Lucy from screaming or if she just couldn’t take it anymore and her vocal ability left her. I know that he smacked me awake and told me I was a pussy.

“You pussy,” he said.

“fuck you” I replied.”get the fuck out.”

“What and miss this horror show you have going on here? No way pussy girl.” His black suit, his shiny shoes, his long coat in the middle of summer, all of him pissed me off but I had no shits left. I was stupid to try to deal with things beyond my ken. I didn’t reply.

He smiled, “You are so human. So breakable. I thought you’d be more than this with all the nonsense about you.” He bent down and grabbed my face with his gloved hand. The leather somehow cool even in the heat.

“I’m not, so fuck off.”

“I will, fuck off, count on that, but first I thought you might like to know that your library is burning. Probably burnt by now.”

“Isabelle?”

“Oh no, I came straight here to tell you after I lit the match.” My eyes started to focus again, guess I wasn’t really pissed before, because I certainly was now. He continued but he noticed my refocusing and smiled. “I put Henry in the basement. I wouldn’t open that door without some food for him, he was broken pretty bad by Mr. .. Oh you call him on your little journal ‘The Vampire’.”

“what are you talking about you shit fuck?”

“Your ‘vampire’, he was at Isabelle’s little house tearing up the place, making Isabelle watch him kill off all her children. I think he had been at it since last night, that monster has some stamina. I showed up about the time he started breaking Henry into bits, but the fire distracted him. Lucky for me he didn’t care enough about the fire or myself to follow. I’m sure he is pissed that Henry escaped.”

“Henry came here to warn me?”

“Most likely. I’ve seen some broken little blood gods in my time and only love can make them try to something stupid like use a bone sticking out from their arm to try to crawl up stairs.” He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “Anyways here’s her current address. Thought you might want to go watch your heritage burn. I know you know nothing about what you are, and now no one will ever know. Live a good life, Alex” He patted me on the head like a child and threw the address onto my lap. As he got to the bottom of the stairs he yelled up, “stop being a pussy.”

Have I mentioned how vampires remind me of teenagers? Completely random and annoying at all times of the day.

At least those last words rolled around in my head enough that I stood up. Checked on Lucy, who was still asleep in our bed, but no longer screaming. Then I changed cloths and left her a note about what I was doing.

Before leaving the house I listened at the basement door. Nothing. I didn’t dare open it, Julian was most likely right. I whispered, “Sorry” and lingered a bit there before heading out the door to the address on the piece of paper. As I passed the blood that Henry tracked in I wondered how much a maid service cost.