darkness falls: a wind in the door I leaned against the door, waiting, listening for the sounds that all mortals make as they pass through space, the voices of my family below. I waited. I was so tempted to turn on the radio and lose myself in the music, but I wouldn't let myself. It could wait. This was too important. I heard them talking, arguing, praying finally, praying to the Lord to give their daughter the strength to see His love. I laughed. If there is a God, I thought, screw him. If there's a Devil, screw him too. I serve no one. I don't want love if slavery is the price. I heard a knock. I was about to tell whoever it was to go away, but then I heard my little brother Alix's voice through the door. "Talik? Are you okay? I brought some food." I had almost forgotten, in my intense concentration, how hungry I was. I hadn't had dinner, or lunch, or even breakfast, actually. The parents had more than enough money to buy food, but they hadn't gone shopping in a while. They didn't have time; they had to help with a big Church picnic last weekend. There was almost no food in the house, and I was starving. I turned and unlocked the door. "Come in." Alix was my youngest brother, a startlingly precocious seven-year-old. He was the only one of my four younger siblings who ever defended me when I faught with the others. He reminded me of Charles Wallace, Meg's brilliant little brother from A Wrinkle in Time. I knew he was taking a big risk coming to help me. He and the twins, Sandi and Patti, who were ten years old, had a very strict bedtime of 8:00, and I knew he would be in a lot of trouble if our parents caught him out of bed, sneaking to his sister's room. He stepped into the room, trying not to let his footsteps make any noise. Our parents were still in the living room downstairs. "Here, I brought you some crackers and cheese. I snuck it from the kitchen when Mommy wasn't looking." "Thanks." I hugged him. "Alix, can you keep a secret?" "Yes..." "I'm leaving tomorrow." "I know." "I mean I'm really leaving. I'm not going to that boarding school." "I know." "How?" "You tell me. Everything about you tells me." I smiled. Alix read A Wrinkle in Time when he was six, and he knows how I think of him as Charles Wallace. I call him C.W. sometimes. "I love you, C.W. I need you to not tell anyone about me leaving, okay? You know nothing." "Where are you going?" "New Orleans. I'm going to get Mom's bankcard and get enough money for a plane ticket." "Why New Orleans?" I looked away. Much as I love Alix, he might not understand. "I always wanted to go there." "It's the vampires, isn't it?" he asked softly. Alix had never read any of the Vampire Chronicles, which had been my favorite books since I was twelve, but I told him things about the characters, compared situations to those in the books, little things like that. He knew I believed in them, even though I never came right out and told him. After all, everything about me told him. "Yes. I need to know, I need to find them..." "I understand." I hugged him again. Really, he and those books, and the stories written by the fans on the Internet, were the only things that helped me deal with this life. "I'll miss you a lot, C.W. Remember, don't tell anyone. I'm gonna make it look like I got kidnapped." "How? It would look pretty strange if you just happened to be kidnapped the day you were supposed to go to boarding school." "Geez, you're smart. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to put Mom's sleeping pills in the orange juice in the fridge, make it look like the whole family was drugged, so remember not to drink any. Tell Mom you're not thirsty at breakfast tomorrow." "Will do. Are you going to do anything else?" "I don't know." And I didn't. I didn't know what I would do if I never found them, if the money ran out before I could get a job, if it turned out that the vampires really were fiction. I was throwing myself into this blindly. I hoped I would land safely. "Alix, you better go to bed now. Mom and Dad might catch you." "Will you come back to see me someday?" His voice was barely a whisper. "If I can." I hugged him one last time. "I'll miss you a lot, Alix." He was trying not to cry, I could tell. "Goodnight, Talik." "Goodnight, Alix." I was going to cry soon, too. "I'll be okay. You'll see." And he left, and I was alone. I listened for the living-room sounds: there were none. I got out my back-pack and a duffel-bag under my bed. I needed to pack. (http://blood.less.as/darkness.html) ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
