All of her life, Maria Alvarez has been sure of three things.
1.) The Lord God will protect and guide her thought all of the trials of life.
2.) Vampires are soulless husks of their former selves, little more than animated bodies feedi...
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The first person she recognized was Father David. It was strange, seeing him like this. Looking at her like she was the problem for once, shouting her name. It sounded garbled and distorted, like a record played too slow. Did he always sound like that?
There were other people she recognized as well. There were girls from the compound, trembling fearfully in the crowd, holding their signs over their faces. There were ladies from the church, who she had helped make pies and cook casseroles. There were the pastors and the deacons and the choir directors and the ushers.
There was Mitzi.
There was her mother.
Time seemed to stop, and to speed up all at once. It was dizzying. It made her sweat and shake and feel nauseous. Thoughts rushed through her head at the speed of light, but she couldn't hardly register a single one. It was all a vicious blur.
Something suddenly pulled her out of it.
"Get out of here, you stupid dyke parasite!"
Maria blinked. It was Spencer Blake. He was yelling at Carmen.
Carmen was walking towards them.
Maria's legs came to life, and she stumbled after her girlfriend.
Carmen's face was that of a woman on a mission, a woman with a purpose. It was the face of hurt and of hate and of justice and of rage. It was terrifying and exciting, all at once.
"Have fun burning in hell, leech!" Spencer Blake yelled as she got closer.
But Carmen wasn't walking towards him. Her eyes weren't on him. They were on someone else.
"Hello, Mitzi." She said evenly, arms crossed tightly.
The blonde woman didn't meet her eyes, instead turning away. She had a toddler in her arms, probably one of her own, that obscured most of her face.
"I hope you're fucking happy with what you did to me! You're a goddam coward, you know that?!" Carmen said. It was loud, but her tone was surprisingly even.
Father David quickly stepped in.
"Leave her alone." He said. His voice was a warning.
"Fuck you." Carmen said, eyeing him up and down like he wasn't much of a threat. "You leave us alone first!"
"You've gotten into Maria's mind. You're making her believe all kinds of garbage." Father David said. "You're the one who should ask yourself if you're happy with what you've done."
"I'm more than happy. I'm proud." Carmen said. "I've done her more good than any of you ever could."
"Really? Because to me it looks like you've been leeching off the poor girl!"
