A Vampire's Christmas Carol by Karen McCullough Read Free Book Online Page A

Amen.”
    There was such sadness in Pop’s voice, even
after all these years, it felt like something tearing inside
him.
    “Who is Michael?” one of the children
asked.
    “He was your uncle, your father’s brother,”
Pop said. “He disappeared on Christmas Eve fifteen years ago and we
don’t know what ever happened to him. No one has heard from
him.”
    “Wow! You think he might have decided to run
away or something?”
    Pop shook his head. “He was planning to ask
his young lady to marry him. We know he left his boarding house to
go to her home that evening. But he never arrived. We can only
guess he was set on by robbers and they hid his…hid him somewhere.
I suppose we’ll never know now.”
    “Cool. A mystery!”
    Pop smiled sadly and Michael could almost
read his thoughts. The children had never known him, so they had no
particular interest in or feeling for him. Why should they? They
barely understood death and tragedy yet, and that was as it should
be.
    “We’ll grow up to be detectives,” the boy
promised. “And we’ll solve the mystery of what became of him.”
    “Yeah,” one of the others chimed in. “Like in
those stories you read to us about Sherlock Holmes.”
    * * * * *
    “They didn’t, of course,” Michael said. “They
forgot all about it and went on with their lives. I’ve kept half an
eye on them and their descendants all these years. Some of them
still live in the old family place.”
    He sighed and shook his head. The motion
continued as a nasty shaking that spread through him and lasted a
couple of minutes before he got control of it.
    “I couldn’t stand to think Mom and Pop would
die not knowing anything about me. One night, shortly before Pop
died, I snuck into the house and into his bedroom. My mother was
there with him, sitting beside the bed. I stayed in the shadows in
the room and they thought I was a ghost. I told them I was okay,
that I’d been attacked that night in Atlanta and killed. I let them
think I was a spirit, come to ease Pop’s last hours. I couldn’t
bear for them to know the truth. They’d be horrified. Fortunately,
because I can move so quickly, I was able to come and go without
them realizing I just ran in and out. I didn’t stay long. I don’t
even know if it made them feel better or worse.”
    His lips curled in a wry twist. “I’m sure
they’re in heaven, so I guess they know the truth now. I wonder
what they think.”
    The clock tolled three o’clock.
    Michael shrugged then, and a wry, sad smile
spread across his face. “I guess I’ll find out shortly. Just a few
more hours to dawn.” Another series of tremors shook him, and
flashes of red showed in his eyes. It took him longer to get
control again. He shut his eyes in concentration and kept as still
as he could manage for several long minutes. Finally he drew in a
long breath and opened his eyes again. “I’ve talked enough about
myself and probably depressed you half to death.”
    His deep blue eyes held a world of shadows
and trouble when he looked at her, but no hints of red for the
moment. “Help me make it through the rest of this.” His voice shook
just a little. “Distract me. Tell me about your family. Your most
memorable Christmas.”
    Carol stared at him for a moment, wondering
if she should go lock herself in the room upstairs. But he wanted
her help. Needed it. She couldn’t find it in her to refuse.
    When he asked about memorable Christmases,
one came immediately to mind. She laughed as she recalled it.
“Well, the one I remember best wasn’t exactly your postcard pretty
sort of Christmas. In fact, we call it ‘The Year Christmas Fell
Apart’. “
    His lips quirked in a grin. “Did it actually
fall apart? Literally?”
    “Pretty much. You have to understand that my
family isn’t your picture postcard sort of family to begin with.
I’m the middle one of three kids. I have a flaky older sister, an
annoyingly brainy younger brother and a pair of eccentric