“Alright. Thanks,” I smiled at him. He nodded, then left me alone in the room.
I went over to the closet to look for clothes. It was mostly bare since I hadn’t packed that much for my ten-day stay. As soon as we’d gotten here, Mae insisted on putting my things away and doing my laundry.
I would’ve been fine with living out of a suitcase, but Mae wouldn’t stand for it. With Daisy around, her maternal instinct seemed to be in overdrive. Really, I wasn’t sure how Peter tolerated it.
After Mae had gone against Ezra’s wishes and turned her great-granddaughter into a vampire, he’d given her three days to get out. They’d left in two. Peter chartered a private plane, and he, Mae, and Daisy had escaped to the Australian outback.
Even though they were gone, Mae still kept in contact with us, particularly with Milo. She’d been sad we spent the holidays apart, and after Christmas, she began plotting to see us.
Milo started school next week, so he decided now would be the best time to visit. Jack didn’t think it’d be good for him to come with because he didn’t really want to see Mae or Peter. He didn’t even want me to go, but he didn’t try to stop me.
It was just my younger brother Milo, his human boyfriend Bobby, and me spending a week and a half with Mae, her child vampire Daisy, and Peter. With a broken air conditioner.
Milo told me that January was summertime here, but if I had understood exactly how hot that could be, I might’ve put off visiting until July.
Peter bought a huge farmhouse about an hour away from Alice Springs in Australia. From what I’m told, it’s a nice town, and Sydney’s supposed to be divine, not that I’ve seen much of either of them. Sydney’s a four-hour flight away, but that’s not what stopped us from going. Daisy can’t go out in public. She’s only five and has almost no control over her bloodlust.
Milo’d tried to spin this as a trip in celebration of my eighteenth birthday last week, and in a way, it kinda was. Mae threw a little party for me, with a cake that only Bobby could eat. She gave me a lovely dress, and Daisy made me a card.
I got in the shower, and the cold water did wonders for me, but I couldn’t shake the trepidation. Something was off, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.
I thought about calling Jack back in the States, but I hardly ever got any reception. Besides, I didn’t want to alarm him. He’d been convinced that this trip was a horrible idea, but it hadn’t been that bad. A little dull, maybe. Jack’s real fear, of course, was Peter.
When I got out of the shower, I went over to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer. Amongst my bras and underwear, I’d hidden Peter’s present to me. A beautiful diamond encrusted heart-shaped locket. I loved it, but I had no idea how to explain it to Jack.
Nothing was overtly wrong with Peter giving it to me, but Jack wouldn’t approve. For my birthday, Jack had a Muppet specially made to look like me and taken me scuba diving with the sharks at the aquarium. They were pretty awesome gifts and I loved them, but they weren’t the same caliber as expensive jewelry.
Then again, Jack had also given me immortality, so he kinda had Peter beat.
“Is it cooler in here?” Milo opened my bedroom without knocking, and I dropped the necklace in the drawer and slammed it shut.
“Um, I don’t know,” I said, taking a step away from the dresser.
“I think it’s hotter in here,” Milo groaned but walked into my room anyway. Like Peter, he had decided that shirtless was the way to go. “It’s got to be at least a hundred degrees here!”
“Have you tried the pool?” I asked.
“Yeah, right.” Milo wrinkled his nose and flopped back on my bed. “The sun’s still out, and even if it wasn’t, you’ve seen the pool.”
Something was wrong with the filtration system, so skeavy green moss covered the pool. There seemed to be something wrong with everything in the house. Apparently, it had been even more rundown when they bought it, but Peter and Mae were fixing it up. But the pool didn’t work, the air went out, the wrap-around porch sagged, and the roof needed replacing.
I went over and pulled back the heavy curtains, looking outside. The sun stung my eyes, and I stared out at the emptiness. They didn’t have a neighbor for miles, and everything looked dry and faded. I slid open the window and a hot breeze wafted in, but at least it was better than nothing.
“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea,” Milo said wearily.
“It’s not that bad. I mean, other than the heat.” I sat on the bed next to him. Beads of sweat stood out on his chest, and he looked up at me, his big brown eyes dejected. “You’ve had fun seeing Mae, right?”
“Kinda,” he shrugged and looked away.
Milo had been the baby, the one that had garnered all of Mae’s attention until Daisy came along, and she required a lot more than he did. He wasn’t a real jealous person, but this struck a nerve with him. Being ignored by our real mother had been bad enough, let alone her replacement.