Discovery of Death by A P Fuchs

know I had nothing to do with what happened.”
    “ Nothing?”
    He glanced to the floor. “Not . . . nothing.” He met her eyes. “But I didn’t k-kill her.”
    “ Dad, I swear, if you so much as laid a finger on her, I’ll—” She didn’t know what she’d do. Call the cops, that’s for sure. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.
    “ What are you doing?”
    “ What does it look like I’m doing?” She began dialing 9-1-1, but only managed the first two digits before her father snatched the phone out of her hand. The way he moved was like lightning.
    “ You can’t.”
    “ Give me that!” She reached over and he shoved her arm away.
    “ Listen to me!” he snapped.
    The sound of his voice made her jump.
    Softly, he said, “Please listen to me.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Your mother and I love you very much, Rose. We’d do anything for you. In fact, it’s because of you that we have this house.”
    “ This is—”
    “ Let me finish.”
    “ Oh, Dad . . .” she breathed.
    “ This house is ours. We kept it a secret from you for your own protection until you were old enough. Then we were going to tell you what this is.”
    Was he crazy? Were her parents lunatics? Worse . . . murderers?
    He beeped her cell phone off and put it in his own pocket. “Your mother and I,” he said, “we . . . how should I say this?” He sighed. “We kill vampires.”
    She arched an eyebrow. You’re crazy.
    “ We have since before you were born. My father did it. So did his father. So did even his father. We are called ‘slayers,’ in that we slay vampires. I know I sound crazy, but just hear me out. They’re real and not just the things of stories. We did it to not only help other people, but also to try and make this city a safer place for you. All those late nights, those meetings with ‘clients,’ the times your mother and I had to run out of the house at a moment’s notice—it was all because of this.”
    Rose’s mind was blank. She didn’t know what to think. How was she supposed to react to this? Her mom . . . . She glanced at the table by the wall of swords again.
    “ Your mother died tonight because she was out there doing what she thought was right. In a way, she died protecting you, even protecting me. I swear to you I’m telling the truth. I’ve never lied to you. The only thing I’ve kept secret is what your mother and I did when we weren’t working. Honest. We needed to wait until you were older, until you were mature enough to process all this.”
    Rose took a deep breath. “I . . . I don’t know what to say. I’m having a hard time believing you.”
    “ I know.”
    “ You sound like you’re drunk and are trying to hide what really happened tonight.”
    “ I know.”
    “ Mom would never go along with whatever it is you’re saying. Mom hated even killing a spider never mind some fake monster.”
    “ I know.”
    “ Will you quit it? I’m trying to talk here.”
    “ I’m sorry.”
    “ You should be, Dad.” She needed to get out of here so she moved for the stairs.
    He blocked her path. “Where are you going?”
    “ Away.”
    “ You can’t.”
    “ Don’t even try and keep me here.”
    “ I don’t want to, but I will. You have to understand this is a delicate matter.”
    “ You think?”
    “ What I mean is your mother and I planned for this day. We had hoped to tell you together, and we even talked about it earlier this afternoon, but your mom wanted to hold off a bit until you were over Zach.”
    The mere mention of his name pierced her heart. “Don’t go there with me.”
    “ I’m sorry. All I meant was we had wanted to tell you together, but we also talked about what we’d do if we couldn’t. The only thing we could come up with was when one of us passed due to this . . . job . . . we’d tell you right away, bring you here and let you come to terms with things.”
    “ You lie.”
    “ Come on, Rose, look around. Do you think I’m lying?