Charlotte After Dark

Chapter 18: Family Ties

"I assure you, I'm fine," I replied, his assertion that I couldn't take care of myself irritating me. I couldn't help but feel offended at Liam's insistence that I couldn't defend myself.

"You can barely walk without tripping yourself," Cormac said, his arms crossed against his chest.

"Maybe if I had a better teacher, I wouldn't be so terrible," I shot back, a little perturbed that he was siding with Liam. I had a few kinks to work out when I first arrived on Cormac's doorstep but I felt like I had overcome them quite successfully since then. Clumsy would not be a word I would use to describe myself, even as a human. The assertion that I could not even function without the education from someone else was infuriating.

The remark didn't seem to phase Cormac in the slightest. "I applaud your confidence, Charlotte, but no offense. You have never come up against what exists outside the doors of this apartment on your own and succeeded."

"And might I remark that the last time you came upon another vampire on your own he ended up killing you," Liam added.

Liam was capable and successful at making you want to punch him in the face. I rolled my eyes at his comment, the irritation growing with the mention of the event that put me in the position that we were now discussing. I tried to put the memory of that night so far back in my mind it would disappear for good, I hoped.

"Instead of debating about Charlotte's ability to defend herself, I think it might be more progressive if we discuss what circumstances might be responsible for Charlotte's predicament," Abel said, trying to redirect the conversation to something that wouldn't cause an argument again.

"Perhaps her family has had some trouble with the Blackwoods in the past," Liam suggested.

"I highly doubt that," was my confident reply. My family was about as regular, boring, and Mundane as you could get. Nothing in my mind struck me as abnormal as I combed my memory for anything that stuck me as odd. Instead, normal, uninteresting memories greeted me that didn't even suggest a semblance of abnormality.

"Why do you say that?" Abel asked, shocked at my dauntless response.

"My mother is college professor, very much alive, and very boring," I answered.

"What about your father?" Liam asked. He had placed two of his fingers on his chin in contemplation by now.

"Dead," was my short reply. The response came off so cold, I even surprised myself at the uncharacteristic comment.

"Well, aren't you extraordinarily common," Liam replied, unsatisfied with my answer.

"I hear that a l lot," I said.

Cormac remained quiet and kept to himself as Liam and Abel attempted to delve into my history but wouldn't keep his gaze off of me. I could see the slow gears in his mind moving. After a few moments he looked at me like he had discovered something so compelling all a sudden that it was taking over his entire being. As I talked to Liam and Abel his attention seemed to be intent on me, like he was studying me. For once, Cormac's gaze actually made me uncomfortable.

"Charlotte," he said, trailing off. "How long ago did you say your father died?"

I looked at him with suspicion. "I didn't."

In reality, I didn't want to think about it. I didn't even remember my mother telling me that he had died. More so, when I traced my memory for remnants of my father, it was more like he had simply ceased existing. We never talked about it but I knew my mother kept mementos somewhere. I had noticed a box labeled "Stellan" hiding in various places in the house when I was child, but I was never, under any circumstances, permitted to look at its contents.