God, why are there so many voices talking? I go to feel where the bullet hit me and feel no hole in my skin just my shirt. I must be dead right. I felt my body going weak. I know that this is my end. "Why the fuck was it pink Damian. Pink soul dust means that you both l-o- v-e each other. Why the fuck did it have to be pink!" Clarissa is pretty much yelling. The night starts to replay in my head and by instinct, my body goes upright. My eyes are a little blurry but I still see the blood that stains my clothes. I see the blood all over the table and look around the room at the people who are just sitting there looking at me. They walk towards me and I slide off on the other side to get away from them. "What the fuck?" I hear me yelling at them. My body starts to tremble and they keep trying to talk to me but I can't hear them over the ringing of my ears. Ezikel tries to move close to me and I put a hand up to stop him. My head just keeps shaking back and forth. I am supposed to be dead right now. I am supposed to be a spirit and I am not supposed to be alive right now. Who the fuck are these people? Why the fuck did they do that? They messed with life. They messed with my life. They are playing God. I'm pacing back and forth when Damian finally yells at me, "Nubia, you were going to die I had to save you. It was the only way." "What the fuck are... you know what I need time. Just stay the fuck away from me. Please, just let me breathe. Let me just... fucking comprehend what just happened." It comes out as a whispering and pleading. I start to walk towards the door when in a flash wind pushes my hair forward and Faye is at the door. She tries to touch me and o flinch because now it all makes sense. Her touch makes me feel things and right now I don't want that. I just want to feel whatever this is. "Let her go," Ezikel demands Faye. Damian starts to yell something but I just can't. I need to walk away from this. I need some time. I just, I just need my dad.
When I get back to my door Candy is out. I go shower, get dressed, and throw the bloody clothes in a bag. I text my dad and let him know that I have booked a flight out to him sooner the fall break and will be there at ten something and need to be picked up at the airport. He sent me five text messages and called me about ten times. I don't respond. I pack a pair of clothes for a week, my laptop and all my books for class. I emailed my instructors and let them know that I would be gone for a week from classes due to a family emergency and I am needed back home immediately. Which isn't much of a lie. As I'm about to head out I decide to leave Candy a note. I don't know if she is what the others are, but on a slim chance she may be just a human. I get an Uber and sneak out of my dorm making sure none of them are lurking behind a corner or something.
The Uber driver drops me off in the nick of time for me to go through TSA at LAX. My legs keep shaking and I keep trying to take deep breaths. I have my hood pulled over my head with my headphones in. I'm trying to hide as best as possible in the corner of my gate. I honestly don't know how well TSA does with something supernatural but I'm not taking any chances. My phone starts to buzz and buzz. When I look at the screen it's an unknown number and I just can't at that moment I turn my phone off because one way or another I'm getting the truth from everyone. Starting with my dad and then from the others when I get back.
They start loading the plan when out of the corner of my eye I see Damian walking towards my gate. I hand the lady my ticket as fast as possible and run onto the plane. This is where not getting close to people pays off. They don't know where I'm going. For all he knows is that I'm going to Vegas. Once on the plane I sit by the window and close the flap. They might have superseeing powers and knowing that I'm thinking about it they could know where I'm going. My chest starts to tighten and it feels like the air is leaving my body. My brain tries to take control by reminding myself to take deep breaths, count to ten and what can I feel in this moment. I start to feel better when the plane door closes and none of them are her, not Damian, Ezikel, Faye, Valentine, Clarissa, and not even Candy. I am alone on this plane and I am all alone, on my way home.
    My dad is waiting by the baggage claim and he looks pissed but before he can say anything I run into his arms. My body just gives in and gives up trying to hold it together. The tears flow and they just keep flowing all the way home. My dad lets me walk into the house well he grabs my stuff. He doesn't say anything as I walk down the hall into my bedroom and even when I close my door and lean against it and just keep crying. I felt guilty for the way I treated them, maybe I should have said thank you because if it wasn't for whatever they did I would never see my dad. He would have gotten a call letting them know his only daughter died at a party. The trembles are back and I can't help but just keep crying. I cry until the tears finally stop and my soul becomes numb.   It's at this moment that I know it's time to get answers. The door creaks as it opens and my dad is already waiting for me in the living room. "Nubia you know how scared I was that you didn't answer my calls or text. What happened? Why are you home and what about your classes?" He is straining his voice so he won't break me. "Dad, what did Mom do to me before she left?" I'm trying so hard not to yell at him but I want the truth. His face goes from calm to wide-eyed because he knows that I am no longer a little kid and I know the truth. "Look Nubia I don't think you need to discuss this so late at night. "Right now is a great time because I'm pretty sure I saw her the other night and she doesn't look like a normal human being. I'm also having nightmares every night of her face and her eyes they were fucking yellow!" When I'm about to slip about being shot I decide I keep that to myself and wait for his response. His face is pale and his eyes are wide. He looks as if he might throw up but he takes a deep breath and tries to relax before he begins, "Your mother started working at a new law firm when you were six. She really enjoyed it there but then it went under new management and something was off. She had to stay up late at night on a murder case that started to redefine how she approached life. Well, it made her want to take revenge on the people who were doing such horrible things to innocent little girls. It got so bad that she started sleeping at the firm. She was barely eating, but one day she showed up back home. It was a little after your tenth birthday. She seemed happy or so I thought. Until you were working on a project for school, you accidentally cut your fingers with the scissors and your mother was in the kitchen. Umm, and her face. Her face changed. Her eyes went yellow and fangs came out of her mouth. She was gone in a blink of an eye. I ran to go get you but she was already there with you. She was about to bite your neck. When I yelled that she loved you and you were her daughter! She turned and looked at me like she was going to hurt me but instead, she looked you deep in your eyes and made you forget that she was a monster. That she was a vampire. It was the last time I saw her, but she did leave you a note." He walks out of the room and comes back I the living room with a letter that isn't anything like the other one. It didn't have the same handwriting either. Now I get that my dad was trying to make up for lost time. He didn't want to make it seem like she was going to leave me forever. He wanted her to be a part of my life and maybe deep down he was hoping she would have come to my 21st birthday. I fell for my dad and everything he had gone through to protect me.
    I turn the letter over and over in my hand as I'm sitting in the dining room. My dad went to bed hours ago and I'm sure he cried himself to sleep. I finally say fuck it and open the letter.
Dear Nubia,
    I promised this life to you, the life that I could never have. I wish I could rewind the time and capture all the beautiful moments you were going to have. I wish I could tell that hearing your first breath was what saved me and made me want to be better for you. For your father. I wish so much that I could be there with you through it all. I know that me walking out on you was the most selfish thing I could have ever done to you. I am sorry that I will never get to fully know you growing up but I will never be far from you. I will always be there, even if you can't see me. I'm there keeping my distance. I'm so so sorry I couldn't keep all the promises I made on all your toes and fingers. I wish I was a better mother. I wish I could be there but I can't not yet. Maybe when I'm stronger. When I can find the willpower I will be able to face you and show you who I am. I love you so much, Nubia. My beautiful treasure. You are mine to protect and love. And I will not let anyone or anything harm you in any way.
Love,
Maddy (mom)
     The tears just keep flowing again. Why am I crying so much? What the fuck is wrong with me. I fold the letter back up and go into my room. I open my closet and pull out my purple box. I place the letter inside and sill it. My purple box has always been my memories of my mother or things I would want to tell her. I put it back in the closet and lay down. My head starts to pound from all the crying I have done today. My eyes close to dream of a mouth that glows and almost dying.
      The smell of bacon fills my nose. The sound of my dad singing booms down the hallways. I had reached over for my phone and my hand its a bottle of pills. My eyes open and I see ibuprofen and a glass of water on the nightstand. I sit up and place for of those suckers in my mouth and drink the whole glass of water. Who would have known crying for some many hours makes your head hurt? The house is still hot in September so that means my hair is going up and I'm walking out in a tank top and shorts. My dad looks over at me and says, "How did you sleep?" He doesn't ask what's in the letter, he doesn't even mention anything about it. My dad isn't a person who will ask a million questions. He simply waits for you to come to him. I nod my head up and down and drink the coffee he has made for me. He starts to dance as he makes me a plate and dances to the table. I start to dig in when there is a knock at the door. I'm laughing at my dad when I stumble over to open it. As I open the door my dad starts to sing his favorite part and when my head spins to see who I have opened the door for there are four people at my door that I want nothing to do with.