“Ji-Hye is that you, honey?”

“Were you expecting someone else?” I extracted my key from the door, closing it behind me.

“You never know who might knock on the door. It could be a famous painter.”

“Why would a famous painter knock on your door at this hour of the night?”

“Who knows? Anything could happen out there. Flat tire, cell phone battery went dead, you know how these things are.”

Right…

Nicole spent a lot of time painting. She did all right but wasn’t good an artist. I went to the kitchen for a drink of water and surprised by what met my eyes. She filled the sink with dirty dishes.

“What happened in here?”

“Sorry, honey. I haven’t got to the dishes.”

I shook my head, not bothering to respond to her. While I cleaned the kitchen, I allowed my mind to roam. Humans weren’t different from vampires. They both had desires and things they fear and love. Humans just go about getting what they wanted in a different manner. What can I say? We adapt to our environment and vampires adapt to theirs.

After I completed the task at hand, I grabbed a bottle of iced tea and headed to the sitting room, where the smell of paint occupied every corner. Nicole stood bare feet in front her canvas, ash-bronze hair the same as it often looked when she’s working—half up, half down. She wore a crisp white button-down shirt with paint marks and scarlet red tights—what I called her uniform. Nicole looked a mess, and I mean always. She wasn’t usually like this. Since father left, she let herself go… her attempt to push away any man who might find her interesting. She did that for me. Put her love life on hold. It scared Nicole that someone might harm me, and I guess she didn’t want to go through something awful again. Understandable. However, I wanted her to enjoy life. She was too good to not have happiness. Too kind not to feel the warmth and affection of a man that will love her to the very end.

I narrowed my eyes at her and put my hand over my nose. “Ma. You had to do this now? Couldn’t you wait until tomorrow?”

“The more I practice, the better I will get.”

Flapping down on the couch across from Nicole, I sat the iced tea on the table before picking up the television remote and skipped through channels… hoping to find something worth my time. When I looked, Nicole was staring at me. Her paintbrush inches away from the board.

“What?” I raised an eyebrow. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re seeing something you don’t want to see.”

I looked as she approached me after placing her paintbrush aside. Nicole was a rather young-looking woman with a fit, thin build. She was physically active in her school days and took part in many clubs since she couldn’t settle for one. She often held a calm, almost sad expression that pained me.

“Are you feeling all right?” She sat next to me and took my hands.

“I’m fine.”

"You look anxious and shifty, like you’ve something to hide.”

It took a lot of effort to not spill my guts out to her then, but not about the infected vampires. Not that she would believe me, but about other personal stuff.

“Truly, I’m fine.” I needed a change of subject before she asked questions I didn’t wish to answer. "How is your painting coming along?”

“You’re not interested, but thanks for asking. I know you believe I’m foolish for spending so much time on something that’ll never go in a gallery. But I have to do this for us.”

“For us? I thought your painting is about you… proving yourself.”

“It is. It’s also about providing a good life for you. You have college soon. Since I don’t want you on scholarship, I need to make sure everything is ready when the time comes.”

“I don’t mind scholarship.”

“Really? If you are, you must work harder in your classes.”

That sounded like a headache just waiting to happen.

“I don’t want you to stress over the matter.”

“I’m the mother; it’s my job.”

“Still… I don’t like when you do, besides you’re bad at it.”

“I am, aren’t I?” Nicole touched my cheek. Her fingers were soft and warm and her eyes tender… gloomy. “You what to know something?”

“What?”

“You are my miracle child. You were given to me when all seemed lost. You are bright and beautiful and precious.”

“Did I scare you, as a child, I mean? When you realised for the first time that I am different. Sorry if I did.”

“I knew you would be different. I felt it. But no matter your difference—I will protect you. No one else has access to the world you carry around within you, Ji-Hye. You’re its protector.”

“I don’t know about that. I can’t protect us from life.”

Nicole sighed, sliding her arms around me and pulling me close. “The fact is—most people don’t know how to act when they encounter something… different, it scares them. Like it did your father.”

“I don’t want to be different. I am just…”

“Unique?”

“Yeah, sure.” I chuckled. “Something like that.”

“If I could change things, I would undo that incident.”

She sounded as miserable as I felt.

“I’m glad you can’t.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I think some things should happen… a grand design we don’t understand but must occur… even if it hurt people we love.”

She smiled with a release of breath. “Sometimes you amaze me with how deep you can get.”

“Must feel disappointed that it doesn’t happen enough.”

“Then it wouldn’t be so rare, sweetheart.” Her hand brushed my hair. “Rare is far more precious. Everybody wants something rare for themselves, but only a select few ever get it.”

I let that settled in for a moment.

Nicole rubbed my head like I’m a scared little child. “Go wash up.”

When I think of father and how he ruined Nicole’s life, I wondered. Had mankind always been so cruel?