Lonely Monsters

twenty-one

  Daniel had went to get something to eat, Mimi had been nice enough to leave bread in a kitchen in plastic bags for them. She had left other things, canned fruit that was in tupper ware, and even some little cakes wrapped in plastic. Twinkies they said on the wrappers. As he was making his way from the kitchen back to the bedroom with the foods for his younger brother and sleeping mother, Mimi's friends came home.

Two large men that were having coffee, smelling of car exhaust and cigarette smoke. One sat at the table, the other had the fridge open. In his large fingers was a bit of scrap paper.

"You Danny?" he asked. Daniel looked up at the man, swallowed, then nodded his head quickly. He took a step back and pointed into the small fridge. Daniel took a tentative step forward and spotted paper bags with names on them.

He grabbed a bag that said in bold letters, "Danny" and "Vince". He took a step back, eyeing them both, waiting for something to happen. When they didn't make a move, he moved back to the room. His mother was curled into a ball, back against the wall and snoring softly. Vince was awake, playing with one of the stuffed animals from the box.

"Come eat," Daniel said, sitting down on the nest of blankets. Vince crawled over and sat in front of his big brother. Daniel tore open the packages, and scanned everything. Ham and cheese sandwiches, peeled oranges, yogurt sticks, hostess cakes, and water bottles. Equal amounts of food. Before, he had seen what she did and didn't have.

Vincent snatched up the peeled orange and put it to his nose. "It smells so good!" he whispered, excited. "It's smells really sweet!"

Daniel pulled the plastic off his sandwich and brought it to his mouth. It had been a long time he had good food. That he had bread that wasn't moldy or stale, meat that wasn't rancid and just general edible. Vincent pulled the orange wedges apart, sniffing the juice that dampened his hands as he ate. Daniel watched his brother as he took slow even bites of his sandwich.

Daniel looked around the room, at the boxes stacked in one corner, and the blankets and clothes just piled in the other. He pulled the long sleeve of the sweater he wore to his nose, sniffing it tentatively. It smelled like the woman, Mimi, and orange wedges and sweet bread. The room smelled like sunshine and fresh soap, the blankets had drier sheets tucked between the folds of some of them.

Daniel was brought back to the ground when Vincent tugged at his other sleeve.

"What," he asked his brother, looking him over.

Vincent hugged a stuffed turtle to his chest. "Do you think... that weird lady is awake?"

Daniel frowned, "Meela," he said firmly.

Vincent nodded. Daniel rubbed his upper arms. "...But there's other people in the house.... Two big guys."

"...Wolves?" Vincent's composure changed. His relaxed composure changed and he was on edge once more. Daniel shook his head, and his younger brother went wide eyed.

There was a knock, then the door opened a crack. Meela opened the door a bit and looked down at them. "Ah... Good you've eaten." she said softly. "....I was going to ask if you wanted something like pancakes... but this is good."

Daniel turned his full attention to the woman. She wore a thick, fluffy looking sweater that ended mid thigh and under neath she wore shorts that were just a bit longer than the hem. Her hair was tied on the top of her head in a messy bun.

There was a cough and everyone turned to see Winona waking up. Her eyes stared daggers at Meela and a low growl started in her chest. Daniel looked to see Vincent hug the stuffed animal closer, all ready on edge.

"...Sorry to wake you." Meela's voice went lower, almost a whisper. "I was just checking to see if you were awake... I was going to make something, and was wondering if you and the boys wanted some--"

"We're fine." Winona said, her voice a scratchy growl. "Thank you."

Daniel turned to see Meela tilt her head, then close the door softly. The older boy picked up what was left of his bag and went into the corner with his mom. Winona reached out, sniffing his hair, neck and ears. She silently counted to herself, feeling every finger and toe to make sure he was all there.

He reached in the bag and held out the large orange to her. She looked at it, then accepted and went to work peeling it. Vincent stood up, reaching for the door knob to leave.

"What are you doing?" Winona hissed, her grip tightening on the orange, juice dripping down her fingers onto the thighs of her pajama pants.

"...I need to pee." Vincent danced from foot to foot.

Winona looked around the room, taking in the setting and slowly remembering where they were. She slowly pulled herself up to her feet, padding across the floor to get to the door. She cracked it open an inch, then a bit more. She sniffed the air, then gently nudged her son forward.

Daniel brought up the rear, Winona growling the entire time. Meela was down the hall, Daniel smelled the sweet smell of honey and fruit scents. He peaked around the corner, the divider of the hall and the small kitchen, making eye contact as Meela looked up.

"What's up?" her voice was cheerful.

There was the sound of a door slamming, Daniel saw Meela flinch.

"....Bathroom." Daniel said quietly. He saw the stack of french toast on the counter, next to a jar of strawberry jam and a glass bottle of maple syrup. "Um...."

"....The Jeralds... The Alphas from last night? They dropped off some stuff for you and your brother." she said, turning her attention back to the pan. "Lots of clothes, and shoes. There was a box of toys too."

"...How come?" Daniel asked from his spot in the doorway. Meela reached out, finger tips lightly touching the stack of bread. She pulled a paper towel and picked up a thick slice. She held it out to Daniel.

"Because they had little boys on their land, and now they're grown up so they don't need so many pairs of pants." she looked at him. Daniel slowly crept up, and accepted the food from her hands. He took a big bite and the taste of delicious crispy-eggs and tender bread filled his mouth. He looked at the jam and the bottle, then the table.

"How many slices do you think you and Vince can eat?" she asked.

Daniel was about to answer when the cat Alex came padding in. He trilled and whined, rubbing against Meela's leg lovingly.

"You don't eat egg, you dumb cat." She gently pushed the animal away. Daniel's gaze went to the cat, Meela's leg, then her feet. They were clawed and looked like a vicious beast's talons.

"....You okay there, champ?" she asked. Daniel coughed and went back to eating the bread in his hand.

"How come you're being so nice to us?" he asked quietly. "You're supposed to be... a monster."

"Werewolves are monsters." Meela turned off the stove, and picked up the large stack of french toast from the counter.

She grabbed the bottle of maple syrup, then motioned to the jar fro Daniel to grab. He finished the last of his toast and followed after Meela with the jar. He sat at the table, waiting for Vincent and his mother.

"But you.... hum.... You got claws and fangs..."

Meela shrugged. "...You're different from the wolves last night... And I bet those wolves are different from any of the others you've met."

She went about setting the table with silver ware, and medium sized plates for everyone. "And I'm very different from anything you've ever met." she let out a little laugh. "We're unique, yeah?"

Daniel opened his mouth, wanting to disagree with her on some point but she was too weird to. He waited, and watched as Meela drunk a dark liquid from a mug. It didn't look like coffee, and it was so thick it clung to the sides of the ceramic. It smelled sour in his nose and he made a face.

Winona hovered in the doorway, sunk in eyes looking haunted and nervous as she looked from Meela to Daniel. Meela motioned to the table then moved to stand farthest from it. Vincent took a whiff of the air and bee-lined to sit down in front of the stack of food. Winona cast a look at Meela, then went to sit with her sons. Meela leaned against the counter, drinking what was in her mug.

".....So you're a vampire." Winona spoke, using her fingers to tear the toast and dip it in syrup and jam on her plate.

"Of sorts." Meela said over the rim of her mug.

"You let wolves mingle with your coven?" Winona asked, licking her fingers, casting a hostile look at Meela.

"...I don't have a coven." Meela said, tilting the mug back to finish whatever was left. "They won't bother you if that's what you're afraid of. They're just a couple of friends of mine."

Winona narrowed her eyes at Meela. Daniel looked away from his mother to his brother who in a few moments was already a mess of jam and bread.

A large glob of strawberry fell from his fingers to land and make a dark spot on the turtle he had been toting around. He looked horrified, first at the turtle, then Meela who had been watching them.

"....Jam comes right out. It's okay." Meela smiled. "I'm going to be in my room, doing.... paper work. So you guys have free reign of the house. Shower, baths, sleep, eat, whatever just.... don't make too big a mess."

She put her mug in the sink, then began back to her bedroom. Daniel noticed as she walked, she had a slight limp. Vincent stared at the turtle he had smudged with sticky syrup. Daniel spotted a box in what could have been the living room, if there was furniture in the room. He saw folded denim, and sweatshirts with cartoon trucks and cars. On the side of the box was written in big bold letters, "For pups."