Nightwatch Ch. 02: Suburban Bliss

"Hi!" He chirped.

"Hey Lu. Come sit with us. We were discussing maybe hosting Thanksgiving in the future."

He curled up next to Suzie, dripping water on her. She shook out his wet hair, air drying it without a care.

"Do you think we could pull it off?" I asked him.

"Yeah, sure. I think it's hard to roast a turkey... but we can do it!" He exclaimed.

"All right then."

"Can we read a little bit of the Prisoner of Azkaban?" He asked.

"Sure!" I pushed Suzie off me gently, then went to the library to retrieve the book. After settling in again, I picked up where we'd left off.

""Ron and Hermione only left Harry's bedside at night. But nothing anyone said or did could make Harry feel any better, because they only knew half of what was troubling him.

He hadn't told anyone about the Grim, not even Ron and Hermione. Because he knew Ron would panic, and Hermione would scoff. The fact remained, however, that it had now appeared twice: and both appearances had been followed by near-fatal accidents. The first time, he had nearly been run over by the Knight Bus, the second, fallen fifty feet from his broomstick. Was the Grim going to haunt him until he actually died? Was he going to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder for the beast?'"

Luca was dozing in Suzie's arms while I read when a rustle outside made me jolt. It might have been an animal, but it was loud.

"Er--"

Luca hummed sleepily.

Suzie craned her head to look at me worriedly.

"Feck," muttered the rough voice.

We heard the quiet expletive along with another rustle.

I extricated myself from my family once again, then took my rapier off the wall.

Suzie furrowed her brows at me as she tracked my movements. "Be careful." She mouthed.

I nodded. "Keep everything locked."

She nodded once.

"What--" Luca was awake now. "Mor? What are you doing?"

"Stay here, Lu. Listen to mom."

He tried to run after me, but Suzie held him tight, murmuring placating expressions at him.

"Mor!" He shouted after me.

I stepped through the opposite door from where I heard the noise come from, then locked up behind me. I stalked through the grounds, listening for a heartbeat. I finally heard it from outside the window closest to the parlor. He must have seen the light shine through the curtains of the room.

I slithered behind the same ragged man I'd seen the day after Halloween, then lifted the sharp edge of my blade to his neck.

It touched his Adam's apple, making him jolt.

"Feckin' 'ell!"

"Who are you? Tell me now, or I'll deprive you of your head."

"Oim Declan! I's is jus suppose ter watch!"

"Watch us? What for?" I moved the point of the blade to rotate him to look at me, stabbing lightly at his shoulder to guide him.

His dusky green eyes focused on me. His smile was even more vile than I remembered, yellowed, and blackened in some parts with decay.

"Youse intrasting is wot."

"Who sent you?"

"Some migh-ee foine peopole." He smiled sardonically.

I transferred the blade back to the front of his throat. He gulped, then raised his chin.

"I won't ask again. What. Do. You. Want?"

"Ye won't sleep no mo', will ya? In yer grand castle." He sneered. "Youse think youse bettah than us? Yer not. Youse animals. We's business peopole."

I could see I wasn't about to get a straight answer. I contemplated trussing him up and torturing the truth out of him; the thought of Luca both encouraged this avenue and discouraged it. I despaired for his safety, not our own, but I was also desperate to be a clean person for his sake. If I lowered my morals for this piece of shit, I would be doing Luca a disservice as his parent, in a way.

I clenched my jaw.

"Mor. Let him go." Suzie's voice made my decision for me. I heard Luca's questions as well and there was no choice anymore.

I poured all my power into my next command. "Leave this place and never come back. If your masters ask you about us, you will lie and say you never found us."

His eyes went cross-eyed and he opened his mouth stupidly. I frowned.

"Orright..." then he guffawed even against the pinch of my blade. "I don' feel those magicks ye feckin' bat!" He laughed.

I pursed my lips as he started singing a ditty loudly.

"Mor!" Suzie's panicked voice hit my ears just as something stabbed into my back.

As I collapsed in pain, I heard Declan shout out.

"Oi! She coulda stuck me!"

"Shut yer trap. She woulda killed ya. Let's go. We'll tell Mad Mercky they's weak lil bats."

Declan giggled madly.

They rustled off as I bled into the grass. Fuck.

"Mor?"

I groaned, unable to speak.

----

I came to in our bed, bleary-eyed and sore.

Luca was gripping my hand as hard as he could. Suzie was bustling with something off the side of the bed.

"Mor! Mom! She's awake!"

"Moriah!" Suzie sounded relieved.

My mouth and throat were dry. "What--"

"He said his name was Declan." Suzie said as she gripped my shoulder.

"Declan?" Luca asked.

"You remember him?" Suzie asked.

"Yeah. He and Pincher were the stupid guys. They used to beat people up."

"But why am I here?" I asked foggily.

"They shot you in the back with a silver bullet. I took it out, but you were out for a while." Suzie explained.

"Oh." That would explain why my body was still weak. The silver did a number on me. "They're gone?"

"Yes. I heard them run off, and I haven't heard anything since. We pulled the shutters close right after."

I sighed. "We need to run."

"What?" Luca asked.

I looked in his eyes. "You're not safe, Lu. We'll go somewhere safe."

He frowned. I assumed he wanted to stay in the area out of nostalgia.

"Lu, I know you like it here, but it's not worth--"

"No. It's not that. It would be okay. But... they would still find us."

It was my turn to frown.

"They can find you." He whispered.

I looked at Suzie. Her eyes were wide, then she spoke.

"Lu, I don't think they can do that..."

"No! They can," he said confidently. "I've seen it. When they really want to, we would travel there, anywhere."

I pursed my mouth, thinking. "I think it's still worth a try trying to run."

"They have magic." Luca whispered.

"How does it work?" I asked.

He bit his lip. "They know things. When we would pack up, a big blue circle would open up, then we went through it. Then we were somewhere else."

I looked off to the candelabra, pondering. "How do they know about silver bullets?"

"They had a lotta stuff. Guns, crossbows, stakes. I was never sent out but I saw when they brought -- things -- back."

"Things..." I repeated.

"I'm sorry!" He started to cry, then he rubbed at his eyes roughly.

"Oh, Lu... it's okay. I'm okay." I dragged him to me though it hurt my sore chest. "Suzie and I are pretty tough, you know?" Suzie sat next to us and rubbed at his back with a sad pout on her face.

"It's my fault!" He sobbed as he clutched at my shirt.

"It's okay. We would rather you be here safe than anywhere else. We want you to be part of our family, love. No matter what." I shook him a little and he sputtered shakily. "Okay? You're our son, no matter what."

His sobbing took a different tone, then Suzie drew closer to hug us. "We love you, Luca. Everything will be okay." Her soft voice broke him further.

Luca cried himself out and knocked out eventually. Suzie and I strained to hear every single sound in the surrounding grounds around our home.

We spent all weekend indoors with the shutters up. It was depressing, but gave us a sense of security we wouldn't have otherwise.

We tried to get more out of Luca about our new acquaintances, but he immediately became distressed so we dropped it as quickly as we could.

I called my father to update him, and he roared in anger, promising to bring hellfire to my enemies. It actually made me chuckle a bit after I hung up. We needed to do something, but I didn't know what. How do we attack an enemy that we can't find? Luca was no help, and I'd already tried and failed to squirrel them out. I felt useless.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas was the longest span of my immortal life, waiting nervously until the solid presence of my father got there. There was nothing more I could do.