Of the Blood | ✔️

Eight

"What's our new neighbor like?" Honor asks later that night. He hops into his bed and I tuck the covers around him, making sure they're good and tight. Same as Mama used to do.

My shoulders rise in a shrug. "He was just a man."

"But what kind of man?"

When I plop down next to him, the blankets pucker beneath my weight. I dip my chin and lower my voice, a devilish idea arching my eyebrows. "Do you really want to know?"

Honor gives a single nod, eyes wide, and scoots over to give me more room.

"Well...if you're sure," I tease. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

"I'm sure, I'm sure! Tell me."

I fold my legs under my nightgown, and bite back a grin. "He's as tall as a bear and covered in tangles of fur. His eyes are red and beady, and his teeth as sharp as knives. And when he opened his mouth, a stench like rotting meat nearly brought me to my knees. When he chased after me, he was so fast, but as soon as I ran into the forest he stopped, like he was afraid to go inside. It's what saved my life," I tell him, tickling him over the covers.

"That's not true!" Honor squirms, laughing, until he's coughing so hard he can barely catch his breath.

"Okay, okay. Calm down." I help him sit up, and offer a drink from the bedside table. He takes a long swallow, his eyes peering at me over the rim. "If you're not going to believe what I tell you then why did you bother to ask?"

When he's finished, Honor hands over the glass and settles back onto his elbows. A watery mustache lingers above his upper lip. "Because it's not every day a stranger moves to town. What was he really like?" he asks. "Please, tell me, Sissy."

The man is odd, I want to say. Creepy and rude. But I hold my opinion like a secret, and set the half-empty water glass back onto the table. "He was just a man, Honor. You see them all the time."

"Does he have kids?"

I grab the corner of the blanket and wipe his mouth. "I didn't see anyone but him." And whoever watched me from the upstairs window.

Honor pulls away, his teeth picking at the skin on his bottom lip. "Why does he need that great big mansion if he's all by himself?"

Wind pummels against the house, and howls between the cracks and crevices. The bedside lamp flickers. I stand up and readjust the covers. "I can't answer that." I drop a kiss onto the top of his head and crawl into my own bed across the room, the sheets freshly laundered and dried by the stove. "Now, it's time to get some sleep. Miss Perkins said we have a busy day tomorrow."

Honor yawns, and stretches. "But I'm not tired."

I can't hide my smile. "Oh, no? Better tell that to the Sandman." I reach for the gas lamp and snuff out the flame. After a lingering hiss, blackness swallows the room.