Dear Beatrice,
Please understand. Please get the message.
Please remember the game.
I want you to find me.
I can’t do this alone.
Dad
Dear Beatrice,
I haven’t written in a while. I think I may understand why Lorenzo wants this. But it doesn’t make sense. Not really. There’s something I’m not seeing. For the first time since I was turned thirteen years ago, I don’t feel smart enough to handle this.
I need more information, but I don’t know who to trust. Everyone has an agenda.
Remember that.
Love,
Dad
Why does anyone live in El Paso? It’s so hot. I don’t even sweat anymore, and it still feels hot.
I’m so tempted to go see your grandma. She’s so close.
Is she okay? I heard about Grandpa a couple of years ago. I hope she’s not lonely. She and Dad…they had that kind of love you always read about, you know?
Is that what you’ve found with this immortal?
Is it even possible?
You’re twenty-five now. I’ve missed so much of your life. Even the hints I get now, the reports and the notes, they’re not enough. I just need to be sure he can be trusted.
I have to be sure.
Love,
Dad
Dear Beatrice,
Okay, game played. Did you follow the clues? Can you find me?
Please find me.
I’ll wait for you.
I’ve found some new avenues for research. I finally understand the basics of this manuscript, but the alchemy is still beyond me. There’s just not enough research done on vampire biology. I may contact that doctor in Dublin if I can. Maybe he would be able to make better sense of this.
I just know that there’s a piece I’m missing. Something doesn’t quite fit. It seems like it should work, but if it does, then why does he want it? The more I learn, the less sense it makes.
Back to my books.
Love,
Dad
Dear Beatrice,
This is the last time I’ll write in these journals. I was stupid to depend on a game we played when you were a child. It wasn’t fair of me.
I’m leaving Brazil, but in case you ever find this place, I’ll leave my journals here. Where I am going, it’s best not to bring them anyway.
There is an elder I need to see. I don’t trust him personally, but I think I can trust him with the manuscript. I think, from what I’ve learned, he may be my best chance to keep the book safe from Lorenzo, and to help me make sense of all this.
I’m leaving tomorrow. August 8, 2008.
I’m going West to the East. You know me; I like to be in my element.
Find me, Mariposa.
Love,
Dad
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Hunter is the author and independent publisher of the
She is a graduate of the University of Houston Honors College in the Department of English (Linguistics) and a former English teacher.
A native of Central California, she now lives in Southern California with her husband, son, and an assortment of dogs. She enjoys reading, writing, travel, and bowling (despite the fact that she’s not very good at it.)
Learn more about her writing at her author website, elizabethhunterwrites.com or contact her by e-mail at [email protected]
