Wednesday
The entire morning was spent dealing with my fretting mother. Because, apparently, having eleven full years of waking up and getting myself ready for school wasn't enough, she had felt compelled to it for every day of the two weeks I had already been in school. I woke up to her yanking back the curtains, my blankets, and then her scrambling around in my closet.
After convincing her that I did, in fact, know how to dress myself, she scurried downstairs to make me breakfast… something else I could easily manage. When I took my shower, I was not-so nicely reminded that I had a new gash on my forehead and sighed, knowing my blonde hair couldn't cover it up even if I tried to style it that way. I dried off and dressed before making my way downstairs where I could smell… well, something burning, to be frank. As great of a cook as my mom was, she just couldn't get used to the Scottish stoves, which meant, everything generally ended up burnt.
I waved off the burnt eggs, grabbing a few pieces of semi-charred toast, insisting we were going to be late, which, unfortunately, was a bad move, considering it sent my mother into another flurry of worry.
"Come on, come on, honey, we're going to be late. Do you have everything?" She asked as she literally flew to the car, watching in dismay as I lagged behind her. When I finally reached the ugly silver thing I was regrettably forced to call a car, she ushered me in, ducking my head for me, saying, "Come on, jump in. Put your seatbelt on."
As if I didn't already know that. What I didn't know was why my parents insisted that I be driven to school even though I was fully capable of driving myself; we had two cars, and dad commuted to work, so why I couldn't I drive? I sighed as she got in, nearly flooring it in reverse and hitting our trashcans trying to get out of the driveway. "You missed the mailbox," I muttered darkly, glaring out the window.
I wasn't sure if she hadn't heard me or chose to ignore it, but she didn't reply and turned onto the main road. In about five or so minutes, we were passing a large castle-looking building and a construction site.
My mom grinned, pointing towards a billboard. "Hey, wave hi to dad and Lord McAshton."
I looked to see my dad, construction plans in hand standing next to a dark brown horse. Upon the thing sat a man decked in all tan; they both waved a hello as we passed by, but I simply stared at them, in no mood to return the pleasant gesture.
Seeing that and my gaze travel back to the road ahead of us, my mom sighed. This was never a good thing; if she ever sighed in one of those light and airy tones, she would always attempt small talk. I wasn't in the mood for small talk. However, a few moments later, she asked, "Scotland is beautiful, isn't it?"
"If you like having your life ruined or if you like passing out and dreaming about freaking vampires…" I muttered, half glaring at her; after all, it wasn't her fault that we had moved here.
"And you know we really don't, right? A dream isn't real." Clearly, she was opting for taking the route that didn't involve my uprooting and trans-Atlantic move.
"I know what a dream is, mom." What was I, four? I turned back to face the road, now full out glaring out the window.
"Okay, I'm just asking. But you know, there are no such thing as vampires, right—"
I squinted through my glasses— my eyes had been hurting and I didn't feel like dealing with my contacts— something red was slowly taking shape. Shit! Was that a tractor? "Mom, you're on the wrong side of the road!"
Confusion flashed across her face before she turned back to the road, her eyes wide. "Woah!" She turned hard, narrowly avoiding the tractor and the man driving it. He was now shouting profanities in Gaelic, shaking his fist at us. "What did he say?"
I knew what he said… or at least bits and pieces of it, but that was only because I had already been called a good portion of them, and I wasn't about to tell my mother what the tractor man had said. "I don't know… everybody talks weird here."
She shrugged it off, glancing over towards me. "And don't worry honey, things are going to get better, you're gonna meet some new friends here soon."
I shot her a skeptical look.
Ha. If only she knew.
His fist hit my stomach hard. I had only time to groan before hands shoved me roughly to the ground. "This is fer bein' a li'le creep!" Above me, loomed my attacker, glaring down at me with his malice-filled green eyes. His fair red hair was spiked today, and he ran his hand through it coolly before he stepped over me, letting his foot kick the side of my head on the way. Nigel McAshton then took the liberty to dump everything in my backpack out all over the school lawn while his brother, Flint, kicked it. "An' this is fer comin' here in th' firs' place."
I felt like dying. It wasn't like it was my idea to move to this god-forsaken place; it wasn't like I enjoyed leaving my perfect life to come live in a place where everybody hated me. Pressing my hand to face, I sat up, hearing the warning bell ring. No one would really care if I didn't bother showing up, I reasoned. But some how, I knew my dad would be madder than hell if I skipped school and he found out about it.
Half-heartedly, I picked up my belongings and trudged into the school building.
By the time I was entering my science room, the bell rang again, signaling my tardiness.
My teacher, who was already busy writing today's lesson on the board, glanced up at my arrival, before returning his steadfast gaze to the board. "Ah, I see yer late again, Mr. Thompson."
No thanks to my bi-weekly beatings, I wanted to say. But instead, I muttered a small apology and made my way to my seat, which was oh-so conveniently located in front of the god damned McAshton brothers. I was seriously starting to ponder my life; was this some epic karma payback for something I did when I was younger?
"Right," Mr. O'Brien began, setting the piece of chalk down and brushing his hands together. "Normally, we'd be discussing Chapter Two today, but in light of events to come, we'll be talking about something else." He tapped the back of his hand against the board; on it was a picture of the moon and a comet close to eclipsing it. "Next Saturday nigh' we'll be able t' see Comet Forse in conjunction with th' moon fer the firs' time in three hundre' years. And then—"
You know those moments where you say something softly, but the classroom conveniently gets quiet so whatever you say is really loud? Yeah. It happens to me all the time. "And then a beam of light comes from the moon…" I mumbled absent-mindedly, drawing circles across the page of notes I had turned to.
The teacher, as did everyone else, looked at me. "Wha' was tha', Mr. Thompson?"
Immediately blushing for the sudden attention that I had accidentally commanded, I looked up, muttering a soft, "Nothing."
"Oh, come now. Yeh must've had somethin' t' say."
I shook my head. "No, really, it was nothi—"
However, the kid sitting next to me, raised his hand and blurted out "I heard wha' he said! He said 'And then a beam of light comes from the moon'!"
Turning to glare at the guy, I heard Mr. O'Brien say, "As usual, our American friend is full of stories. Wha' makes yeh say tha'?"
"I didn't mean it seriously…" Turning back to the front of the class, I looked up innocently at the teacher, hoping to God he would just let this go. "I just had a dream about it that's all."
Behind me, I heard, "Stupid Yank."
"Ah, and wha' else was in this dream of yours, Tony?"
"N-Nothing…"
Again, the guy next to me, shot his hand into the hair, grabbing the sheet of paper I had opened up to. Up in the air for everyone to see was my notes— or rather my short statements about what I should have been taking notes on and my detailed doodles of the vampire nightmare that had haunted me for the past month. "I think it's about vampires and amulets and vampire hunters!"
The class broke into laughter, everyone except for Mr. O'Brien. This hadn't been my first sheet of notes with doodled pictures of vampires on it. "Not again, Tony…"
I could feel myself getting redder and that was when I turned, snatching my notes back before roughly shoving the kid next to me.
"All righ', tha's it. Yeh've earned yerself a chair in th' hall." The teacher glared at me as I got to my feet— as if this entire class outburst was my fault; I was the one who wanted to drop it.
As I grabbed my stuff, another comment from the McAshton Peanut Gallery came my way. "Fly away ba' t' California, creep."
I turned, at this point, just so annoyed with the entire situation, and kicked the desk they were sitting at over, onto them. "I would if I could, asshole."
Except, now, Mr. O'Brien was yelling at me to go to the Headmaster's office. Oh yes, I could tell… this was going to be one hell of a day.
When I at last made it to the safety of my house, I stormed upstairs and locked myself in my room. I was going to do nothing but homework until I had managed to vent most of my frustration. It was when I was taking notes out of my English book I felt it was safe enough to unlock the door. Good thing too, because about ten minutes later, someone opened the door, and I heard the sound of a golf ball rolling across the floor.
It hit my foot and I looked up to see my dad standing in my doorway. "Look what I have."
"My golf club!" A smile was instantly on my face; oh, I had missed golf so much! I hadn't had the chance to play the entire summer.
Then, my dad smiled, grabbing something in the hallway that I couldn't see. "Yeah, your entire set of golf clubs." And then he pulled out the most beautiful thing I had seen in weeks. My semi-worn bag of golf clubs I had used to win countless high school tournaments and all of the trophies sitting on my shelves.
"I thought they were still packed! When did you get them out?"
He set the bag down against my desk, handed me the nine iron and stepped back, looking at the bag rather than me. "About half an hour ago. You looked pretty down today and I thought they'd cheer you up."
"Thanks," I started, but my face immediately fell. "But there's no one to play with…"
My dad let out a short laugh. "You know better than any one, Tony— that's the beauty of golf! You don't need any one to play with."
I frowned. "But I want some one to play with."
"Then let's try to play some time this week."
"You never have time," I shot back, now watching him frown. It was then that the beauty of having my golf clubs back faded and I noticed my dad wearing his dress clothes, and some sort of hideous plaid cummerbund.
"Ah, look, Tony, I'm trying here…"
Neither of us had time to say anything more before my mom came bustling in, carrying dad's dress jacket in hand. "There you are. The babysitter's downstairs."
"Oh, good."
My jaw dropped, as did my club. "What? What do you mean babysitter? Mom! Are you freaking kidding me? I'm seventeen! The last time you hired a babysitter, I was eight!"
She helped him slip into the jacket before straightening his tie. Looking at me while fixing her earring, she shrugged. "Sorry, Tony, I know you're responsible and everything… but it's your first time being alone here, and I wanted some one here just in case you needed anything."
Bending over to pick up the dropped club, I sighed, looking at my parents blankly. "When are you going to be back?" I asked, shoving the club into the bag.
"Not too late."
"It's business," my dad chimed in, suddenly looking much more cheerful. He always started looking this way whenever his work was brought up; you would think he was talking about his sex life rather than his job by the way he looked. "Lord McAshton invited us, all the investors are going to be there…"
My mom was peering over my shoulder now. "What are you working on? English? Hey, look at those…" She said, scanning her fingers over the edges of my notes. "These are great; I didn't know you could draw so well."
All right. So, I was kind of busted. Instead of taking English notes like I was supposed to be doing, I was sketching vampires and everything I could remember about this nightmare. The amulet was still only partially done, but that, and the Stoic Man, were what I was most proud of. They had been what I had been working on for the past hour and a half.
Staring down at my pages of doodles, my father picked one up, scrutinizing it before looking imploringly at my mom before setting it back on my desk. "Right. Great. You know," he continued, heading out of the room. "If you want to do something really cool, draw me a picture of Tiger Woods."
I sighed, staring at my mom. Every ounce of that stare, I wanted to be saying, "He just needs more sleep? Yeah, okay."
But I felt the bitterness leave as she hugged my shoulders and kissed my cheek. "Good night, hun. Try to get to bed by eleven, and try not to do any fainting. It'll scare the babysitter." She gave me a playful nudge before ruffling my hair. "Be a good boy."
I nodded my consent hearing her heels 'click-clack' out of the room. Turning my attention back to the half-done amulet, I grabbed my pencil, trying to focus on the gem itself.
By the time I was actually done, I glanced at the clock— it had already been an hour, it was only eight forty five. Well, so much for my English notes; oh well, they weren't due until next week anyways. I wasn't sure what to do with the rest of my free time, until an idea hit me. If I kept having these stupid fainting spells revolving around vampires, why not watch Dracula?
I headed to the corner of my room where my yet to be unpacked pile of boxes sat; I rooted around in them until I had managed to find the one with all of the movies in them. Switching the T.V. on and shoving the movie into the VCR, I turned back to my bed, grabbing a blanket so I could more comfortably curl up on the soft, small, blue love seat that was adjacent to my bed.
The movie had managed to captivate my attention so much so, that I didn't notice when the babysitter came in. There was a scream in the movie, which made her scream and made me jump.
"Ah! Tony! Wha' a frigh' yeh gave me!" She screeched, putting a hand to her chest. "I didn' see yeh sittin' there, babe." The lady, who was probably in her late forties, walked over to my bed and turned over the sheets, now overpowering the sound of Dracula with only her voice. "Oh, you've stopped my hear', that's wha' yeh did and i's near enough stopped as i' is, and that's the truth of i' and yeh wouldn' wan' t' do tha' t' Ms. Laudman, now would yeh, eh? Now listen, yer parents will be ba' in a li'le bi', bu' in th' meantime brush yer teeth an' away t' bed."
As soon as she had come, she had gone, and it left me sitting there, staring where she had been standing. What had just happened? I shook my head, ignoring the thought and turned my attention back to the movie.
I let out a laugh when the movie was over; it was only closely similar to my fainting dream… I wondered what the townspeople would have done with themselves if there were as many as there were in the dream. Getting out of the chair with the blanket wrapped around me I headed towards my desk so I could turn off the lamp. But before I did, the moon caught my eye. As stupid as I felt, I spread the blanket by holding my arms out, like a cape. From there, I held my head high, pretending to be Mr. Stoic. "Ovovo intoto—" I couldn't do it any more. I felt way too ridiculous. How could he keep such a serious face when he was reciting that line? I plopped myself down on my bed, my blanket once more encasing me.
A screech of a bat made me look up and around; that wasn't good. I got up to go close the window I had opened while doing homework, but as I headed towards it, a noise behind me caught my attention and I turned, just in time to see a bat fly into my fireplace and a white light temporarily illuminate it.
By now, my only semi-comprehendible thought was, 'SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT— THERE'S A FUCKING VAMPIRE IN MY FIRE PLACE."
But then I heard the sound of heavy breathing. Was whatever in my fireplace all right? I didn't want to know… but I did. Slowly, I crept towards it, and, after my stomach lurched, I realized what I was staring at was, indeed, a full-grown vampire.
He stared out at me with dark ruby eyes, his voice quavering with every breath. "What… what cl-clan… are you from… brother? The light's gone…"
My jaw dropped. I had seen him in my dream. He had been standing close to the Stoic Man… and here he was in the same clothes I had seem him wearing in the dream; velvet maroon colored pants, a shade or so lighter colored silk-looking shirt, and the strangest Victorian-aged jacket I had ever seen. His dark hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes stood out against the stark-whiteness of his face.
"Ahh… ah… who are you?"
God. Out of all the things I should have been saying like 'Please don't eat me', or 'Why the hell are you in my house', or even 'Oh my god, you're a vampire' …I said 'Who are you'? Oh, yes. Brilliant. So he would let me know… and then eat me. Dandy.
He took a long, hard look at me before his eyes narrowed and a hiss escaped his mouth. "You are not a brother," he realized, his gaze now smoldering.
"Well, I'm not a sister." At this point, I mentally smashed my face against a wall. Leave it to my uncontrollable mouth to convey the sarcastic obviousness.
"You're a human… you're full of blood."
I gasped. "We're gonna keep it that way, dude!" I said as I tried to run towards my door.
However, without even the chance to blink, he had beat me to it. He stood in front of it, looking menacing as he loomed down at me; I wished so badly I was taller than five seven… he must have been a good half foot taller than me.
As a last, desperate attempt at living, I turned the other way, rushing to put my desk between him and I. Yet, as I looked back at my assailant, I watched as he seemingly crumbled to the floor, sprawled out, whispering "I'm too weak," into the silence.
Gathering up every scrap of courage I could muster, I slowly walked towards the vampire, taking long, deep breaths, repeating 'Not afraid, not afraid, not afraid' in my mind. Staring down at the vampire, some one who had to be only a few years older than me— well, physical appearance-wise— I felt a pang of sympathy; he had obviously flown into my room by mistake, being weak, and full well thinking I was another vampire. He didn't come here with the intentions to kill me, I reasoned, he had needed somewhere safe. "Do you need help?" I asked tentatively, kneeling down beside him.
He turned his head slowly, his hiss allowing me another closer look at his white, dangerously long teeth. But as his dark eyes appraised me, his menacing look softened. "What twisted kind of mortal are you?"
I couldn't help but smile a little as I rubbed the back of my neck. Well, that answer could probably be saved for another time. "I know you," I informed him, figuring that this would probably sound more ridiculous than anything else, but relatively distracting. "I saw you in my dream."
"Must've been a nightmare."
I nodded, pointing to the newly acquired gash on my forehead. "It was."
Then, a ghost of a smile flickered across his face, before it was overcome by weakness and exhaustion. "I must leave," he murmured, looking away from me.
"But you can't even walk—"
"Who needs to walk…" He started to sit up, attempting to stand. I grabbed his arm, trying to help, but he shoved me away, finishing, "When I can fly!" Suddenly, the vampire took off towards my open window, preparing to launch himself off of the balcony.
I felt my stomach drop. "What the hell are you doing? We're on the second floor!"
But my warning came too late, as he struggled to maintain flight, I watched in horror as the shape of the older boy began falling from the sky.
Following his path, and not so gracefully climbing out the window, I reached the edge of the balcony and felt my breath escape me. On the grass below lay, what I assumed to be, a dying vampire— I had to do something to help. Turning back inside, I all but flew down the stairs, only to remember I had a babysitter waiting in the living room.
"Tony?" She called out in her high voice. "Is everythin' all righ'?"
"Ummm… yeah…" I lied, now changing my course of direction. Instead of heading out the front door, I'd have to take the door through the kitchen. "I'm just getting a drink of water."
I heard her hummed approval, but at the moment, it didn't seem quite so important. As soon as I managed to quietly shut the door behind me, I turned and ran as fast as I could towards the fallen vampire; the rocks and gravel crunched under my bare feet, each step surprisingly painful. But when I fell to my knees next to his side, asking, "Are you okay?" the ghost of a smile he gave again was mildly calming.
"Well, don't I look it…?" He asked sarcastically.
However, whirring and beeping filled the air and suddenly a beam of light was flashed through the gates of our driveway. Immediately the dark haired boy shied away from it, hoarsely crying "Rookery!" before crawling back towards the bushes. I protectively put my hand on his back, trying my best to block the light with my body.
When we were sure the truck-thing was gone, he sat up, leaning heavily against me. "Do… do you know… where I can get a cow…?" He panted, a hand grasping at my shirt.
I felt myself shiver— his body was terrifyingly freezing. "A cow?" I repeated, looking skeptical. "If you want a glass of milk—"
He shook his head, his grip on my shirt tightening. "No, not milk… a cow…" His breathing became heavier. "H-… Hurry…"
"Let me go get my shoes…" As I snuck back inside, I remembered there was a farm about a mile or so from where our house was… but how was going to get this much larger person over there? When I had come back outside, I stood looking a him before I bit my lip for a split second before grabbing his wrist. "I'll… I'll have to carry you. Is that okay?"
It was a moment before he nodded, his head now drooping against my chest.
Steadying my resolve, I carefully maneuvered around him, so he was now on my back. Standing up, however, wasn't quite as easy. I staggered under his almost-unconscious weight and found that keeping his legs wrapped between my arms and his arms over my shoulders was nearly impossible. Several times on that excruciating mile-long walk, the soft flutter of a breath I felt against my neck stopped; was that supposed to happen? Could vampires live without breathing? Unsure, squeezed the underside of his thigh, trying to shake him a little. "Hey, are you okay?"
Each time I asked, he managed to moan his affirmation, the shallow trace of his breath returning, much to my relief.
At last, after a good thirty minutes or so, we had reached the barn, and for the first time in that half an hour the vampire at last showed some sign of life. He slid off my back, staggering inside. After he almost fell, I came behind him, wrapping my arms around his torso.
While staring into the eyes of the cow, he held up his hand, making very small, tight circles. "Your eyes are getting heavy… you are falling into a deep sleep." And, much like he said, the cow's eyes closed and its breathing evened out. Upon seeing this, he staggered away from me, clutching the cow for support; but after a hungry hiss, the entire barn was filled with the squelching sound of blood being drawn.
I thought I was going to hurl. My stomach gave an involuntary lurch and I had to make my way outside to get some fresh air. I stretched as I looked around; my back, legs and arms we still killing me from carrying the vampire, but the night was so peaceful and serene, it almost made the pain worth it. But as I walked further away from the barn, a red glow caught my eye; curious to see what it was, I trekked out onto the street, now catching a faint ping-ing noise. I squinted into the darkness, and at last, I could see that there was a truck-like monstrosity sitting before me. Had it been the same one that had passed by my house earlier? "What the hell…?"
Suddenly a spotlight shone into my face, blinding me for a good minute; I tried to block the light with my hand, but it seemed useless. Everything around me became steadily brighter and then, the roar of the truck's engine tore through the silent night; shit. It was coming towards me. Unable to see where I was going, I only managed to step backwards a few times, screaming when the truck floored it; I was going to die.
"Shut your eyes, mortal!"
Arms were suddenly around me and I quickly did as I was told; the shouts of a swearing man and the truck's mechanical belching became softer as the moments lagged on. Where was I? What was going on? Had I died? Had the truck run me over? Well, damn…
Some one squeezed my arm, warm breaths caressing my cool face. "You can open your eyes now…"
Unsure, I opened an eye, relieved to find I wasn't in heaven— or hell, for that matter— but closer to the sky, away from the lights. "Wow…" I breathed, turning to look at my savior. I was surprised to see how close his face was to mine, but he was smiling again, his dangerously long canines glinting in the moonlight.
"Enjoying the view…?"
I felt heat flood into my cheeks as I nodded, momentarily looking away; I couldn't help but notice how close he had positioned himself next to me. An arm was angled behind him, but directly behind me, legs folded Indian-style, and a slight lean on the extended arm. "Yeah and thanks, dude. You saved my life…" I whispered.
He tilted his head, a kohl colored eyebrow arching upwards towards his hairline. "You keep calling me 'dude'. My name's Rudolf."
Laughing a little I smiled; of course he wouldn't know what 'dude' was…he was from the Victorian age… "Dude is slang," I started. "Now it's like what you call a friend."
"A friend?"
"Well, we saved each other's lives, didn't we?"
Rudolf hesitated, his ruby eyes once more scanning my face. "Yes…" He finally said, smiling. "We did. Friends."
I smiled back. "My name is Tony."
Suddenly, he leaned in, his face only centimeters from my own. "Then tell me this, Tony," He began, staring into my eyes. He moved his arms, somehow resituating himself so he was sitting directly in front of me, pulling off my glasses. "Why do you wear these? They make the blue in your eyes dull."
All right. There was no denying it now, I was full-out blushing, staring back into the crimson eyes, a sliver of my mind wondering why I was acting the way I was. "Um… because I'm not wearing my contacts…"
"Contacts?" Rudolf repeated, looking curious.
I slowly nodded. "They're like what those would be… but smaller… and I put them directly into my eyes… um…" I scooted away from the vampire, trying to slow my heartbeat. "W-Why do you care about my eyes…?"
Looking a little embarrassed, he leaned away, looking down at his lap as he twisted my glasses around in his hands. "I apologize… I… it's just been a while since I've seen another eye color other than red… it was so captivating." Offering an apologetic smile, he looked up, holding out my glasses.
"Oh." It seemed logical enough. How long had it actually been since Rudolph had last been around humans? I took my glasses, sliding them back on. As I did so, I glanced at my watch. Crap, my parents would be home in less than a half hour. "Um… how are we going to get down?" I asked, looking back to him.
"We'll fly." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I shot him a skeptical look. "Don't you have to turn into a bat to do that?"
Rudolf rolled his eyes, a smirk tugging at the sides of his mouth. "I got you up here, didn't I? I don't recall being a bat then…"
"I wouldn't actually know, you told me to shut my eyes, remember?"
"Then trust me again," the makings of the smile expanded into a full blown grin. "Friend."
Something about the way he said the word 'friend' made me shiver, but it was a pleasant shiver. I continued to eye my pale friend, I noticed how creamy his skin looked in the moonlight. It didn't look weird or clammy, it was just like my skin… only paler. There was a freckle just above his left eyebrow and one on his right cheekbone. And when he smiled, oddly flattering, boyish dimples showed up, giving his face a sincerely friendly look. Another thing that I could have possibly hugged him for was his voice; his melodious, deep tenor voice wasn't tainted by the Scottish accent I had come to despise. It sounded English if anything, muddled only by the occasional Victorian way of speech.
He stood up with a gentle sigh, saying "All right, let's fly." He held out his hand, nodding for me to take it. "As long as I'm holding on to you, you're fine. Trust me."
Hesitantly, I reached up, entirely trusting myself in this single connection of our hands. The moment I did so, I felt myself being lifted off the ground, my entire being surrounded by absolutely nothing. "I'm flying…" I gasped, only to turn to look at Rudolph, who had laughed.
"It's unlike anything." He stated, a fondness shining in his eyes.
I had to agree with him; the experience of nothingness and weightlessness— it was absolutely incredible.
"Wow, it must be great to be a vampire… if you don't have to be a bat all the time."
Rudolph shrugged. "Membership does have it's privileges."
We soared over an expansive estate, its windows alight and the faint sound of music wafting up towards us. With my free hand I pointed to it. "Look, my mom and dad went to a party there…"
"Really? What are your parents like?"
Now, it was my turn to shrug. "They're okay, I guess. When we used to live back in California, they used to be—"
"California? Where's that? I've never heard of it…"
My eyebrows shot upwards as my jaw fell a little. Oh right, I reminded myself, he probably wouldn't know what any of the other states would be either. "It's in America… across the Atlantic Ocean."
His eyes lit up. "Really?" He asked again, looking at me. "You lived all the way in America? How did you end up here, then?"
"Well, my dad is a golf course designer… and Lord McAshton hired him, so we had to move here…" I said blandly, not exactly thrilled. "That house was his. And the blimp we were just on, that was my dad's…" I felt my hand being squeezed— not roughly, but rather a comforting gesture.
"You wish you were still in…" He hesitated a moment, "California, don't you?"
I nodded.
Silence fell over us for a few minutes as we soared over the small village houses. I relished the thought of being so high above my problems, thankful to the vampire on my left; he was so different now than he had been while he had still been at my house, weak and threatening to eat me. I looked back at Rudolph, "You know, vampires are different than I thought they'd be."
"My father's seen to that; we're family… not fiends. That's why we only try to drink cow's blood."
That, however, struck me as odd. I had never heard of vampires drinking cows' blood, but then again, I had witnessed it only minutes ago. "But I thought vampires drank human blood."
One of his pearl white canines raked over his lower lip, as if he was mulling over his answer. "We do." The vampire said slowly, once again shrugging. "I know it sounds strange, but we got to make do with cows."
"Why?"
"Because we've been hunted for centuries; we always have to hide. We want to become humans… not kill them."
How noble of them, I thought, feeling myself smile. But the smile vanished the moment I looked back towards the ground, we were almost back to my house, but there was a pair of car headlights shining through the dark… turning onto my driveway. "Shit! My parents; if I'm not there when they get in, my dad'll kill me!"
"Don't worry. I wouldn't let that happen…"
Again I felt his fingers tighten around my hand, as we suddenly shot forward, zipping towards my house and somehow, miraculously flying through the still open window. The moment he let go of my hand, I stumbled forward, tossing my glasses on the couch before diving into my bed, yanking the blankets up to my chin.
The voices of my parents and the babysitter grew louder and louder as three pairs of feet stormed up the stairs. However, the moment they threw my door open, they all fell silent.
"I saw wha' I saw, and I saw wha' I didn' see and- and I- I didn' see—" The babysitter— sadly, I still hadn't managed to figure out her name— rambled on. Had she realized I had left?
Suddenly all three of them began sniffing. "What's that?" My dad asked, sounding almost alarmed.
"I smell two…" My mom answered.
I winced, inwardly praying that they wouldn't find Rudolph… wherever he was hiding.
Much to my relief, my prayers were answered; I heard my dad's flat, heavy dress shoes head towards the window, and my mom's heels 'click'ed towards my bed. The window shut and suddenly her lips were against my forehead, her hand tenderly brushing away some of the hair on my face. Their shoes then moved away from my bed, back towards the door.
Where was Rudolph? I slowly opened my eyes, and much to my surprise, he had spread himself out in the upper corner of my wall, his index finger traveling to his lips before he smiled so stunningly, I think my heart might have stopped. I quickly shut my eyes; only a few moments later, the door shut.
I waited about ten seconds before flinging back the covers and hopping out of bed. I had started yanking off my shoes when Rudolph jumped off the ceiling rafter.
"So, those are your parents? They look nice."
"And tasty?" I asked, grinning.
Rudolph scoffed, shaking his head. "No, nice. As in very nice…"
Shrugging, I balled my socks up and tossed them into a corner. "Like I said, they have their moments."
He looked towards the window, sighing. "I suppose I must take my leave."
With that he turned and I frowned; I didn't know why I felt suddenly so depressed, but a large part of me wished he would stay. I watched on, my eyes never leaving his proud form, and my heart lurched as he turned back towards me.
A smile once more graced his lips as he eyed me. "But I haven't had this much fun with a boy my own age since I really was nineteen… thanks… dude." He waved, about to leave, but he hesitated again, a frown replacing the smile. At first, I wondered why, but then I heard the whirring of the strange truck that tried to kill me earlier.
"You can stay if you want," I heard myself blurt out.
The smile was back; my heart leapt with joy. "Maybe I should…"
I glanced around the room; where could he stay? I didn't exactly have a spare coffin laying around. "Do vampires really sleep in coffins? Because that's going to be a problem…"
"Just as long as the sun can't find me." The crimson eyes scanned my room, coming to rest on an old battered, long, red trunk I had settled between the television and the sofa, so far I had been using it as a footrest. "This would be excellent." He walked over to it, unlatching the lid.
I sighed, seeing all of the tokens of my childhood inside. "We'll have to take out all of this junk…" Grabbing an empty box, I began grabbing handfuls of action figures, pokemon cards, and some old trophies, and tossed them inside.
Rudolph looked particularly flabbergasted. "Junk?" He asked, picking up my old, yellow Game Boy. "It's a treasure chest."
Laughing a little, I bent down grabbing more of my memorabilia. "Did you really just call it a treasure chest?"
Looking a little guarded, he nodded. "Yes, I did. Treasure… it's all the things I've never actually had… I used to hide in trees and watch mortals play this game." He said, pushing some of the buttons of the Game Boy. "What is it?"
"It's Nintendo, duh."
"Nintendo-duh…" He flipped on the on switch and the familiar Nintendo jingle came on. His face suddenly developed a very boyish smile as he looked up me, wide-eyed. "Can I play with this Nintendo-duh?"
I laughed. "No, it's called a Nintendo. Duh's just a word people say when some one asks a dumb question."
"Duh…?"
"More like duh!"
"Duuuhh…"
"Duh." I tried again, gathering out the last of the junk.
He leaned against the trunk, setting the Game Boy down, now looking like he was honestly trying. "Duuuh!"
A snort of laughter somehow escaped me; I hadn't meant to laugh, but the look on his face was so intense, and he was so intent on learning how to properly 'duh'… it had just slipped out. "Anyways, I'll teach you how to play Nintendo tomorrow."
"I know… you must sleep now. It's late for mortals."
Grabbing a pillow off of my bed, I stuffed it down in the trunk, watching as he gracefully stepped inside it, his long body miraculously fitting inside. He stared up at me with thankful red eyes. "I never got the chance to tell you how grateful I am to for you saving my life…"
I blushed a little, grabbing the lid. "You don't have to be; you saved my life, so we're even…" I mumbled.
A chuckle came from the back of his throat as he nodded. "Until the night…"
I lowered the lid, mumbling back my "Good night" before tapping the trunk twice. Climbing over towards my own bed, I pulled off my shirt and took off my pants leaving me in just my white undershirt and boxers. About to lay down, I stole a glance at the trunk, suddenly opting for sleeping on the couch; I grabbed my bedding and pillow and made myself a blanket nest on the cushions. After another handful of glances towards the trunk, I finally asked, "So you're like a thousand years old or something, right?"
A muffled chuckle came from inside. "I've just been nineteen for over three hundred years."
"How old really?"
There was a pause. "I'll be three hundred sixty nine pretty soon."
My eyes widened as I snuggled up to one of my cushier pillows. "Wow… I guess that means you've had plenty of girlfriends, then."
An awkward pause filled the air before I heard Rudolph cough uncomfortably. "I-… I guess one might say that. But what about you, Tony? Did you have a girl… friend," I could hear the questioning tone of the new phrase, "Back in America?"
I nodded, thinking back on her. "Her name is Emily, who I had met my sophomore year in high school; she's a short little blonde, just like me, but was one of the fiercest tennis players I have ever seen. While I can't say we've ever told each other 'I love you,' we had shared a deep friendship and we're—" Or had been, I scowled, "Very close. When I told her I was leaving for Scotland, she became very quiet and didn't say much to me afterwards… I haven't heard from her since."
"Oh… um… I'm sorry." Rudolph muttered.
Shrugging, I sighed. "Whatever, it's just life, right?"
"Right."
