darkness falls: leaving here I went through my dresser-drawers, trying to decide what I wanted to bring. If I had my way, I would never see anything left in this room again, so I had to choose carefully. I would need plenty of clothes, since I probably wouldn't be able to afford new ones once I was gone. I decided that one backpack and one duffel bag wouldn't be enough. I remembered that there was an old suitcase in the big closet downstairs. I quietly went down the stairs, trying to avoid making any sound that would wake anyone up. The closet was as big and dark as it had seemed when I was a little kid, playing hide-and-seek with my friends. I felt around in the darkness, brushing against jackets and shoes and things I couldn't identify in the dark, searching. I almost tripped over the suitcase. I dragged it out of the closet, carrying it up the stairs and trying to be as quiet as I had been coming down. I went to my closet, reaching into a crack that had formed in the wall in the far corner. I had made sure my parents never found it, even when they searched my room for incriminating evidence. I smiled as my fingers found the computer disk I had hidden there. It was my diary. I had stopped writing in paper diaries years ago, finding them too easy for others to snoop into. Now I used a text file, saved on a disk marked with the words "X-FILES". I took the disk to the suitcase, unzipping one of the small compartments designed for credit cards and papers. As I stuffed the disk inside, my fingers brushed a piece of paper. I pulled it out. It was a rather ordinary piece of white paper, folded in half, and really didn't look like much. My curiousity took over, of course, so I unfolded it and read it. At the top of the paper were the words "CERTIFICATE OF ADOPTION". My heart accelerated. I knew it. So who were my real parents? I looked at the part on the form that said "BIRTH PARENTS". It read "MOTHER: Sarah Applecreek" and "FATHER: Daniel Molloy". I thought, for a brief moment, "Applecreek, what a pretty name" before the implications of this hit me. Daniel Molloy. My father was a vampire. My mind tried to rationalize this, of course. ::Oh, it can't be that Daniel Molloy. I'm sure it's a rather common name.:: But it explained so much. I had known vampires were real the moment I read Interview with the Vampire. That first time I saw the book in a bookstore I got the shivers. I knew I had to read it. Was it my father's blood, that half of me calling? Had he drunk Armand's blood before I was conceived, did I have vampire blood in my veins? And look at my eyes! I had my father's eyes. It had to be him. Now I really had to go, to find my father. I had to see him, to let him know that he had a living mortal daughter. I finished packing, wishing I could take my guitar with me. I would miss it. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and picked up the suitcase, which was surprisingly light. Very good, since I might have to live in the streets, sleep in parked cars, anything to survive to find my immortal family. I stopped in the bathroom quickly to grab Mom's sleeping pills, taking extra care to be silent as I went down the stairs again. I went to the kitchen, where Mom's purse hung invitingly from one of the chairs around the dinner table. I silently took her wallet out, taking the bankcard and the little piece of paper where she had written the password. Then I opened the refrigerator, dumping the remaining 13 pills in the bottle into the orange juice, like I had told Alix I would. It was done. I could leave now. And I wondered for a moment, would I miss them? These people who had treated me as a daughter, which wasn't always good, for seventeen years? No, I decided, I wouldn't. I had been alienated and singled out for my differences too, just as I was taken care of. I would come back someday, if I could, to see Alix, but I would not weep for the loss of my adopted parents. They had tried, I guess, but I wished my mother could have kept me somehow. I wondered if Daniel would remember her, obviously one of the "nameless beauties" he took in Armand's place. I would find out for myself. I would ask him when I found him. When I found him. I turned off all the lights, opened the front door, and stepped out into the waiting night. (http://blood.less.as/darkness.html) ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
