Inkling

10.6 Daisy Takes No Shit

11:17 P.M.

Daisy sat on the bed next to Max. Nobody said a thing for several minutes, Max was too busy having a mental argument with Sophia. Which is to say: they made faces at each other and talked without words. Daisy was okay with that, she used his distracted state to try to figure out what the hell had happened to him. There were normal bruises and scrapes, a nose that was, more likely than not, broken. But there were other things too, something that had the look but not the color of dried blood.

Daisy stood up, looking for a basin of water and a rag. Max and Sophia had begun talking in hushed voices, but she was not listening to the words. Daisy dunked a cloth in the basin, rung it out, and walked over to Max and Sophia. She stood directly in front of Sophia, facing Max, and spoke.

"Clean yourself up, you look like an ass." Max looked at her in surprise, she was certain she had never taken such a tone with him before. But he did was she said, he wiped at the blood and the not blood and did not saying anything for quite some time. Max Wayde was not loud, persay, but he certainly liked to talk and Daisy had never seen him quiet for such a length of time.

Sophia was pacing. Max was eyeing a bucket across the room like he would very much like to vomit in it.

"Oh yes, I am fine, thank you for asking! I did just watch my home burn to the ground and my parents are nowhere to be found! I am great." Daisy had never heard such venom in her voice and she sat down hard on the chair in the corner. Sophia looked at her sharply, but in a way which said: I am very scared for you and do not know what to say. Sophia was like that, sometimes she didn't know what to say. She closed the space between them and pulled Daisy into a tight hug and whispered into her hair: "I am sorry I never came back for you."

It's important to note that the chair Daisy was sitting in was directly behind the door to Lane's room and, when it flew open with slight force, it smacked Daisy and Sophia right off the chair and onto the ground. This caused Max to (attempt to) leap out of the bed, but he did not get far at all, while Lane and Adam stood open mouthed in the doorway.

"Well," Lane's voice was exhausted, "I think we could all use some sleep."

Except no one went to sleep. No one explained anything either, but Daisy was riding the high of being included, and she did not ask again.

Lane carried a canvas bag and she dumped the contents onto the bed while Max readjusted himself and grumbled. If Daisy did not know better, she would think him dying. Except, she realized, she did not know better and the thought did not go away, it sat in the back of her mind and festered.

"What is this?" Max asked hoarsely, rubbing his throat as if surprised at his weak voice.

"Things from the vampires, we are quite good at medicine making." Lane seemed to realize Daisy was not privy to this information and turned to her quickly, clearly expecting some sort of panic. Daisy did not give it to her, only widened her eyes in amazement and nodded her head a little.

"Okay," Daisy said slowly. "She is a vampire, Mr. Wayde may or may not be dying, Sophia can do magic things, and Mr. Wink has someone else's blood on his trousers. Okay."

Daisy did not expect everyone to turn to Adam so quickly, but they did and they all began speaking at once.

"Who's blood?" Max tried to get up again but it was marginally less successful than his last attempt.

"What happened?" Sophia was, at least, still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, though she still appeared rather uneasy around him. Max and Lane had obviously spent more time with him than Sophia had.

"This is not important right now," Lane said loudly, startling Max more so than Sophia, as Lane's head was right next to his ear as she tried to get him to just sit down. Lane turned to Daisy and she had the overwhelming urge to back away. "I am a vampire, though now I am a semi-permanent ghost. I am also a magician, as is Sophia and Max. Mr. Wink simply wishes to retrieve his brother from a madman, and I would appreciate you all sitting down and quieting. I am trying to help Max, not kill him and your talk would push me inadvertently toward the latter, am I clear?"

Lane did not sound like the women she appeared to be and Daisy racked her brain for all of the knowledge she had ever acquired on vampires. If she was truly immortal, how old was she?

She did not voice this concern, as Lane had taken on a voice that very much resembled Daisy's mother's, when she was particularly annoyed. The voice had the same effect on everyone, as Sophia sat down in the chair behind the door and Adam lingered by the doorway, as though he wanted to run. Except he did not run and Daisy wished she could take back what she had said. He looked sad and finally Daisy saw what Sophia had meant when she had said the same thing.