It was all Cadence could do to keep from flinging herself through the door. Aaron pulled her back. “Calm down, Cadence. We don’t want to scare him,” he said quietly.
She nodded and took a deep breath before opening the door. Mrs. Carminati was sitting behind her desk, her mouth open, ready to introduce the visitor, but Cadence didn’t give her a chance. “Hi,” she said doing her best to contain her enthusiasm.
The young man in the chair looked up at her with familiar dark eyes, his curly brown hair askew. He was tall and lanky, but other than that, he was the spitting image of someone very familiar. He hesitated before responding, looking precariously at the outstretched hand of the chipper brunette. “Uh, hi,” he finally said, slowly shaking her hand. “I’m sorry to, uh, barge in on you, but I was hoping someone here might be able to help me.”
Cadence didn’t let go of his hand until Aaron nudged her. “Oh, right. I’m sorry. I’m Cadence Findley. This is Aaron McReynolds. This is his office, not mine. Well, it might be mine, too, in a few weeks, but we’re not sure…”
“Cadence,” Aaron steadied her.
“Right! Sorry. And you are?”
He still looked alarmed, but he managed to say, “My name is Brandon Keen. I was hoping you might be able to give me some information about my dad.”
Cadence was no longer able to speak, her suspicions confirmed. She closed her eyes tightly, squeezing back the tears, and let her much calmer, debonair fiancé take over. “It’s nice to meet you, Brandon,” Aaron was saying. “Why don’t you step into my—our—office, and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.”
Cadence opened her eyes as Aaron was pulling her into the office, indicating that Brandon should take a seat across from his desk. For some reason, Aaron took the seat next to Brandon, leaving her to sit behind his desk, which also made her smile. As she sat down in his plush leather chair, he winked at her, and she suddenly felt like the luckiest girl alive. “What can we do for you, Brandon?” she asked, a sincere smile on her face.
He was still obviously very nervous, but he also seemed determined. “Well, I’m not exactly sure where to start,” he admitted. “A few days ago, my mom asked me to help her with her computer. She was having some trouble getting a program to close. So, I took a look at it, no big deal. And while I was working on it, I stumbled upon this email. I didn’t mean to read it, but it caught my attention. It was from this guy named Elliott, and the first thing it said was something about how he knew he hadn’t seen her since 1997, but that he had been thinking of her.” He paused to run a hand through his curly hair. “Now, I’m no genius, but I can do math. I was born in 1998, and my mom always said my dad was dead. But when I saw this email, I had to ask her about it. She admitted that she had lied to me for all of those years, that my dad was actually alive, and that he had worked here—until recently. She said he died a few weeks ago. I just… I wanted to come and see if that was true, and see if anyone here could tell me about my dad. I know this place is under tight security, and I didn’t think I’d even be able to get in, but as soon as I gave my name to the guard, he let me in and told me to come to this building, to ask for you,” he said, indicating Aaron, “and so I thought maybe I was on to something. I don’t know. I guess, do you know this guy? This Elliott Sanderson guy?”
“Yes, we knew Elliott,” Aaron replied his voice as calm as ever. “And your mom was being honest when she said he passed away a few weeks ago.”
“Oh, wow,” Brandon said, sighing and leaning back further in his chair.
“I’m so sorry,” Cadence offered. “It must be very difficult to realize you’ve finally found your dad just to hear that he’s no longer with us.”
“Yeah, it sucks,” Brandon admitted, staring at the floor.
“We can tell you all about your dad, though,” Aaron explained. “He was my best friend for over forty years. And he was like a brother to Cadence.”
Brandon looked up, meeting Cadence’s eyes, before looking at Aaron. “Forty years?” he repeated, clearly thinking about the math again. He pushed that question aside and asked, “What happened to him?”
Aaron sighed. “How old are you then, Brandon? Seventeen?”
“Yes, sir,” he replied.
Aaron looked at Cadence who nodded in agreement before he continued. “Your father had a pretty unique occupation. In fact, it is both so rare and secretive, you’re probably not going to believe me when I tell you what he did for a living.”
Brandon’s eyes widened. “Try me,” he suggested.
“Your father helped protect Vampire Hunters,” Aaron replied.
“Say what?” Brandon asked, chuckling. “Did you say Vampire Hunters?”
“Yes,” Cadence assured him. “I’m a Vampire Hunter.”
“Okay…” Brandon said slowly. “Clearly, I have stumbled upon a home for the mentally deranged,” he added, beginning to pull himself out of the chair.
Cadence gestured for him to sit back down. “Brandon, just wait. We can prove it to you. I know, I was a skeptic, too, when I first heard about all of this. But the thing is, you can be a Guardian, too, and protect Vampire Hunters from Vampires, if you choose to.”
“I can?” he asked, the cynicism evident in his voice. “Alrighty then,” he muttered. “Well, I don’t want to keep y’all from your afternoon meds…”
“Look,” Cadence said, utilizing the wristband she wore to pull up video of Elliott in combat. She chose to use the footage from her own IAC taken in Indiana, rather than the Sierraville Incident. “That’s your dad, right there. See?” she asked, using a laser tool to point at the projection.
“How are you projecting that onto nothing?” Brandon asked, apparently missing the point.
“Focus, kid,” Cadence replied. “Do you see how much he looks like you?”
“I guess so,” Brandon admitted. “And you’re saying that guy he’s fighting is a Vampire?”
“Yes,” she explained. “And this is where I blow his head off,” she continued, as she did so in the footage. With a poof of ash, the Vampire was gone, and Elliott was giving her a high-five, congratulating her on the kill.
“Wow, nice special effects,” Brandon said.
“I know it’s hard to believe,” Aaron finally spoke up. “And we don’t expect you to absorb all of it in one day. But, you had questions about your dad, and we are here to answer them for you. He died protecting a Hunter during battle.”
“He died a hero,” Cadence reiterated.
Brandon nodded, obviously not sure what to think. After a moment, he said, “That’s good. That’s good to hear.”
“He had no idea you even existed,” Cadence assured him. “If he had, I’m sure he would have wanted to meet you.”
Again, Brandon nodded, considering her words before shrugging and saying, “My mom said she thought he didn’t want kids, that he just didn’t have time. That’s why she never told him about me. She said he had another family at one point that he had abandoned, and she just thought he didn’t want to have anything to do with me either.”
“That’s not true, not exactly,” Aaron informed him. “He did have another family. And once he came to work for LIGHTS, he didn’t have a lot of time to spend with them. He did his best to see his kids, though, at least until they were adults. And then they didn’t want to see him anymore. His divorce was bitter and ugly, and his kids had spent enough time with their mom at that point, they never got to know their dad. But I assure you, he loved his kids.”
“He loved my sister, too,” Cadence added, showing him a picture from last Christmas. “This is one of my favorite pictures of your dad.”
Brandon had been listening to Aaron’s explanation, a look of skepticism still on his face, but when he looked at the picture Cadence pulled up, his countenance changed. “That’s my dad?” he clarified. “And you? And who else?”
“My little sister, Cassidy,” Cadence replied. “We surprised her for Christmas. She absolutely loved your dad. She was happier to see him than me, I think,” she laughed. “She made him wear that Santa hat all day, and he didn’t mind. He would’ve done anything for Cass.”
Brandon nodded. “And she’s a Vampire Hunter, too?” he asked.
“Not yet,” Cadence replied. “But she will be. She’s not old enough to become one yet. But she can’t wait to join the team.”
