2014 Copyright © A. M. Forest

All Rights Reserved

"We have a new member joining us, boys." Miss Macy announced, getting all the boys' attention. Behind the older woman stood a little girl with wild, red hair that reached her bottom. She was dressed in hand-me-down clothes that made her small form smaller. "Her name is Magnolia. You all be nice to her, you hear?"

"Yes, Miss Macy," came the monotone reply of the boys. It echoed in the large room that had been turned into a cafeteria.

"Now, go along, Magnolia, they ain't gonna bite." Miss Macy's southern accent rang throughout the room as she pushed the little girl along. When she was in full view of the boys, Miss Macy turned around and left the room, closing the doors behind her.

Magnolia looked around the room with scared eyes until they landed on Joseph and Leon. She stared at the pair for a long time before turning away and moved to a secluded corner where the rest of the boys forgot about her, the only girl of the orphanage.

It wasn't until a couple days later when Joseph decided to approach Magnolia who kept to herself the entire week, scaring off any boy who approached her.

It was there outside for play time that she met her first friend as she sat under a shady tree, her eyes closed as she listened to the chaos around her.

Joseph had spotted her and nudged Leon before walking in her direction.

"My name is Austin, but I go by Joseph." Was the first thing out of his mouth as he stretched out his hand to greet her.

She had her hair up today, her ponytail high and out of her face. She peeked up at him through one eye and sighed before closing it again. "The blonde from the first day-I know who you are." She leaned over to look at the much smaller boy hiding behind him. "I know the runt, too." She gestured with her hand to Leon.

Joseph patted Leon's curly head in comfort before sitting down. "How old are you?"

"Nine. And you?"

"Eleven. Leon is five." He offered as he gestured for Leon to sit as well.

The toddler sat cross legged in front of her and nodded. "I'll be six in five months." He held up four fingers before adjusting it to five after a quick count.

"Ah, the golden age," Magnolia said with wonder, looking at the treetops as if in a memory. "I wish I could go back."

~~~

Magnolia was running; running from what, she had no idea.

She had no weapon, no strength, and no courage. Only fear. Fear of whatever she was running from.

She looked back and saw nothing, but her instincts told her to keep running. When Magnolia turned back to face forward, she ran straight into a rock solid chest.

She looked up and saw the man from the bar. His smile was wicked and his eyes showed no mercy.

"Goodnight, Magnolia." He said before attacking.

She woke up with panic flowing through her veins. Magnolia quickly grabbed the gun under her pillow and aimed at the dresser right next to the bedroom door. After a quick sweep of the room, she looked towards the window and saw it was morning.

She took a deep breath as she lowered the gun and sighed. Closing her eyes, Magnolia slowly wiped one hand down her face. She was never good with dreams, let alone nightmares.

Magnolia sniffed the air from her hand and her eyes flew open. Clicking the safety off on the pistol, she got up, her black lace nightgown falling against her thighs.

As she advanced towards the kitchen, Magnolia analyzed the cabin for any possible intruders. When her eyes landed on the folded blankets on the couch, her confusion skyrocketed.

Magnolia peeked around the corner and to her surprise-and utter confusion-Joseph was standing in front of the stove dancing to some tune he had in his head.

When she looked closer, she saw the sling over one arm, making the memories of the night before come in fast; the club, the vampire, and injured Joseph. She sighed, clicked the safety back on, and laid the gun on the counter; the noise startling the injured twit.

As he turns to face her with a surprise look, she got a good look of the black and blue cheekbone. She winced, "He sure did give you a nice one, Agent." Magnolia's attention was drawn to the pink apron he had around his waist.

She raised an eyebrow.

His face turn four shades darker, "I decided to make you something since you've been nothing but helpful to me, even though you made it quite clear you weren't going to tolerate it."

A grin broke out onto her face. "Well, what did you make with just one hand?" She asked, jumping on top of the counter next to where she sat the gun.

He rolled his eyes, "You'd be surprised at what I can do with one hand." He said cocky, sending her a flirtatious look-which made Magnolia laugh hard-before he smiled brightly at her. Joseph then turned to the masterpiece he had conducted in her small kitchen. "I have made the basics; eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, sausage, and chocolate chip waffles." He said proudly as he started to move the food from the stove to the table in the middle of the kitchen.

She stared hungrily at the delicious looking food. "I had no idea you could cook." Magnolia stated moving swiftly to sit in front of one of the empty plates he sat on the two mats on the table.

Immediately, she started to stack her plate with the variety of foods, and when she was done, she waited for Joseph to sit down and do the same.

When he did, he answered her statement. "Yeah, an acquaintance of mine showed me how to cook when I was younger." He said trying to use his useless arm to cut the pancake on his plate. She sighed and took the plate from him, cutting everything on his plate to bite size pieces before sliding it back to him. He smiled gratefully and ate his food.

They sat in silence as they ate until something he said caught her attention. "You said acquaintance." She stated as she wiped her mouth with a napkin.

He looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"When you said who taught you to cook. Instead of saying 'friend' or 'colleague' you said 'acquaintance.'"

He nodded, "Why yes, I did. Most of my information comes from, as you said, acquaintances. Friends are dangerous in this line of work."

She nodded in agreement and once again continued to eat in silence. When they finished, Magnolia grabbed the plates and put them in the dishwasher-another thing that she asked for personally-and turned back to the extra food. "Why did you make so much food?"

He shrugged, "I thought you might have wanted to save some for later, since you don't seem to cook all that often."

She grabbed the plates of food and put them all on one plate before putting it in the refrigerator; stuffing the others in the dishwasher as well. Another thing came to mind. "Did you clear the mess from last night?"

A sly smile grew on his face as he brushed it off. "It was no biggie."

She couldn't help it felt good to consider him a friend.

After taking Joseph home and making him promise he'll call her if he decided to go anywhere, Magnolia decided it was time to finally get familiar with the regulars.

Walking down the sidewalk, she began to glance around at the shops and stores casually, as if she were a tourist enjoying a day on the town. Occasionally, she'd stop and look in the window of a store as if window shopping-when, in reality, Magnolia was just using the reflection of the window to look across the street.

Magnolia learned a long time ago that if she did this, she wouldn't look suspicious to anyone who might have been paying attention to her. Eventually, her strategy turned out successful as she caught a familiar face from across the street. It looked like the mystery guy from the club, the one who wouldn't tell her his name.

Stopping in front of a clothing store in an act to make sure it was who she thought it was, and she sighed in relief; he was out in daylight, so that meant he wasn't a Nightwalker.

Curiosity got the best of her, though, and she followed him as he continued to walk down the street. Magnolia stayed a couple paces behind him, still on the other side of street.

He looked back repeatedly, occasionally looking across the street as well. When he did that, Magnolia would quickly find something interesting to look at in the windows of the passing shops so that he wouldn't notice her.

When she reached a boutique, she touched the flowers on display but watched the man from behind the sale's lady as he disappeared into a local bar.

Her eyes narrowed as she argued internally whether she should go in or not.

Taking her chances, Magnolia walked across the street and into the bar. Upon entering, everyone inside all turned to stare at her in creepy silence, and she tightened her tan trench coat around herself.

Magnolia glared at them and snapped out, "Can I help you?"

They quickly averted their gaze then and went back to whatever they'd been doing.

She did a quick scan of the crowd for the mop of curly brown hair she saw walk in. Unable to spot it, Magnolia sighed frustratedly and moved swiftly towards the bar, sitting on one of the tall stools.

"Vodka; neat," Magnolia said smoothly.

"Are you from around here?" The bartender asked as he got the glass.

She read his nametag, "No, John, I'm not from around here. Now, my drink?"

He nodded before he sat it down in front of her and immediately, before Magnolia could grab it, it was snatched up by a large hand.

"A little early for a drink, don't you think?" said a deep, familiar voice.

****

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