too. Sarah sat on the sofa - holding Bea - and Megan climbed up next to her. Alice went in the kitchen to make some tea.
Daniel came in and sat in an armchair across from her and Sarah looked up at him. He was watching her hugging her children with loving eyes. And he looked so gorgeous, so sexy. She couldn’t believe he was interested in her at all.
‘What have you been up to kiddies?’ Sarah asked them, turning her attention away from Daniel.
‘Painting.’
‘Bricks.’
‘Writing.’
‘Trains.’
‘Running.’
They bombarded her, and Sarah laughed, glad to be back in their lively presence. She was happy she was ok, she had come very close to dying, to losing them. The thought of it made her heart hurt.
She hugged them both again, looking up and meeting Daniel’s eyes, smiling.
Alice bustled in with two cups of tea, passing one to Daniel before coming back to Sarah. Sarah released her kids and took the tea to please her Mom. Alice surprised her by kissing her hard on the forehead, ‘Don’t you disappear like that again. You have no idea how worried I was, your father too.’
Sarah saw Alice had tears in her eyes.
‘I really am sorry,’ she said, feeling her own eyes well up. She wanted to tell her Mom the whole story - how Daniel was a vampire, how another vampire called Sebastian had turned Daniel, and then turned Jo. How Daniel had killed Jo to save her, then Daniel had killed Sebastian. But it all sounded crazy - she couldn’t say anything. There was no way her parents would believe her, they’d think her crazy and call the doctor in. She also couldn’t let her family know that she and Daniel were together - she would have to watch how she behaved around him. But maybe she could elaborate a little about where she had been…
‘It was so cold Mom,’ Sarah said. ‘We were in the woods for a long time - I thought I was going to get hypothermia. Fortunately I was dressed very warmly.’
‘What about food? You must be starving.’ Her Mom said, looking very concerned.
Keith was looking on - leaning against the door frame - listening in.
‘Yeah - I am pretty hungry now you mention it.’ Sarah said.
Her Mom got up instantly and hurried into the kitchen.
Keith rolled his eyes and took her seat.
‘Any news from the police?’ Daniel asked.
‘No, he said other people have gone missing too. It’s very unusual and worrying.’ Keith shot a glance at Sarah - trying to judge how she was holding up.
Sarah took a deep breath. It was strange - she seemed to be dealing ok with the situation, with Jo’s death. She wondered if she was in denial. She felt upset, yes, but she didn’t feel devastated, or unable to function. Of course, her parents didn’t know that Jo was dead, or that she knew anything about it.
Alice came back with poached eggs on toast for Daniel and Sarah.
‘Thank you so much Mom,’ Sarah said. ‘And thank you both for looking after Megan and Bea all this time.’
‘Really - don’t worry about it. You’ve got a lot going on, we’re perfectly willing to help out as much as we can until it’s all sorted out,’ said Keith.
Sarah noticed her father didn’t mention Jo’s name again.
‘Where’s Daddy?’ asked Megan. ‘I miss him too Mommy.’
Sarah pulled her back to her side and kissed her on the head, in between mouthfuls of food. She was incredibly hungry, what with all that had been going on she’d hardly realized. It wasn’t long before she’d finished and Daniel slipped her the rest of his. It was hard to resist kissing him right there, in front of her parents, she only just managed not to.
Sarah decided the best policy for her children would be honesty. ‘I don’t know where Daddy is sweetheart - I’m sorry. He might not be coming back.’ She said as she hugged her tightly.
Megan didn’t say anything else. She looked a bit sad, but not too bad. Sarah guessed Megan didn’t yet understand the seriousness of the situation, her mind too young to grasp it.
Daniel looked around at her family and spoke, ‘I think its best that you all stay in as much as possible now. You shouldn’t go out alone, certainly not at night. Not when we don’t know what’s going on, and other people are missing too.’
‘You’re probably right Daniel - I’m not going to argue with that,’ said her father.
Sarah leant back in relief - she’d