In a similar fashion to the dream I had had the other day, church bells had chimed for hours on the afternoon that my father was laid to rest. Not for fourteen years had I thought of that day, and the memory resurfaced as if summoned by some unknown spirit. Or maybe it was the fact that I was sat across from a dark haired youth who looked half dead himself.
My father had been placed in the old cemetery on the outskirts of town. I remembered the slanted rain falling, dampening the newly dug earth as I clutched my mother's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. Of course, the sound of my mother's wailing sobs had been partially drowned out by the extensive road works being carried out on the other side of the church fence. They had been making the quiet country lane into a dual-carriage way. Rest in peace, my arse.
I dreaded to think what my poor old dad would have thought of me meeting my long lost estranged grandson, who was apparently Pennsylvanian or something. He had been a rather conservative old soul, and would have definitely disapproved of a pregnancy without a proposal. Saying that, he probably would of taken quite a shine to this young lad, because when I looked closely I could definitely see an echo of my old man sitting comfortably upon his features.
His eyes were wide and bright, but trailed a pair of dark circles the likes of which I had never seen! He was pale too; ghostly pale. Not a sickly, week-looking pale, but the kind that would look more at home in a graveyard... or in one of the zombie movies I watched on the sly on a Sunday night.
The one part of him that did look alive was his mouth. Dark red lips and perfectly white teeth smiled warmly as he watched his mother fussing over Georgina's coat. Then his eyes flicked to me and an obvious look of unease washed over him.
The expression on my face was probably far from accommodating. I could feel it on my face. It was the kind look I had worn trying to get a good offer in the co-op. Yes, the ciabattas may of been two for one, but I had had an uneasy feeling that I had seen them cheaper somewhere else, and that purchasing them would bring a lot of tumbling regret into my life!
I looked across to see Sally looking anxiously between the boy and I. Georgina had sat down next to her new brother and was just grinning at them all, perfectly content with the situation.
'Mum, Vlad...' Sally had started without know where she was going, and the table seemed deadly silent before she exclaimed, 'I really am so happy you agreed to meet each other!'
Vlad smiled at her, and then at me, but his eyes remained uneasy..
'It's nice to meet you, ma'am,' Vlad said politely.
'Don't be silly Vlad, call her Nana,' said George. 'That's what I call her. That's ok isn't it Nana?'
I looked back to Vlad, but instead of looking embarrassed, as I definitely felt, he was looking at me in disbelief.
'I've met you before! You're the woman who's door the police knocked on by mistake when they caught me...' Too late he realised what he had let slip and looked sideways at Sally sheepishly.
'What!?' his mother cried. 'You weren't arrested were you? Oh Vlad...'
Georgina looked confused. 'But why didn't you just hypnotise them to make them forget about arresting you?'
Their words were tumbling over me so fast I could barely think! Vlad had been the one the police brought to my house? And hypnotise? Was this boy a magician?
'It's not what you think mum! Jonno was gloating about how much better his aim was than mine, and I couldn't let that slayer get away with that, so I grabbed Jonno's stake and…'
'You staked a police man!' Sally almost screamed into the wine list she was holding.
'Mum!' the boy hissed through gritted teeth, looking around apprehensively. 'I ddm't stake a police man! They just happened to come around the corner as I threw a stake… And it might of hit a jewellery shop window…'
'Oh Glad…'
Just as I was beginning to think my daughter had brought a half-dead hooligan into the family our table was approached by a rather flustered looking man wearing a chef's hat and carrying four menus. He passed them out, and speaking in a thick Italian accent said, 'ladies and gentleman, I would just like to apologise for that disagreement outside that you witnessed earlier. Here at Leonardo's we don't normally...' but his voice faultered as he looked past them and out of the window. The man from the Mexican was peering in at him with a snidey look on his face. He then held up the sign reading 'Leonardo's Italian Family Cooking' and began to pinching it repeatedly. The chef beside us made a bolt for the door, and with a face seething with fury he began to chase the sign vandal up the street.
Vlad scanned the menu listing and rolled his eyes, looking annoyed. 'Now I can see why Jonno recommended this place. There isn't a dish that doesn't have garlic in it!'
'Oh no! I didn't think...' Sally began, but I didn't let her finish.
It had hit me like a double-decker bus at full speed.
'You!' I said, pointing at the alarmed boy across from me. 'You're the Vampire boy from the supermarket!'
Vlad's eyes widened, and Sally let out a gasp.
'I don't know what you mean... vampire?' Vlad said, and tried to laugh nonchalantly.
'I saw you with another boy in an aisle in the co-op! You were talking about being a vampire...'
'Oh Nana!' said Georgina, trying to sound light-hearted. 'Don't be silly!
I was now feeling very suspicious. All the pieces were fitting together like a jigsaw in a jam pot. Snug and sticky.
'I remember it all now! I bought four crates of garlic because I overheard you talking about being a vampire! The lad who helped bag the shopping at the tills quit that very day because of it!'
There was that suspicious instance, and then the garlic avoiding now. The red lips and sharp white teeth, as well as th fact that the boy would of definitely looked more at home in a coffin.
'Mum! Don't be silly! You've always been stupidly superstitious. There's no such thing as vampires!' said Sally, nodding furiously at Vlad, trying to make him agree. The boy in question just looked too scared to move.
'What do you mean mum?' and I looked across at Georgina, who suddenly had a very cheeky look about her. 'Of course Vlad is a vampire!'
The rest of the table turned to her, eyes wide.
'We were going to tell you straight away Nana,' she said, half laughing. 'Vlad the Vamp here is the best bloodsucker in town! He turns into a bat, wears a cape, and once he even lived in a castle!'
I narrowed my eyes at her. Georgina wasn't normally one for sarcasm, but this time she'd really pulled the boat out.
'He's the son of Count Dracula as well, did you know?' my granddaughter continued with a look of undiluted hilarity.
All of a sudden I couldn't take any more of it! I didn't mind a small joke here and there, but Georgina plainly making fun of me was another matter! I stood up and grabbed my coat from the back of the chair.
'I'm not having any more of this nonsense. It was lovely to meet you Vlad, but I really have to go,' I said, and before Sally could say a word I had rushed out and was walking faster then the speed of light past a satisfied looking Italian chef, who was smoking a victory cigarette as he sat a top a twitching heap of Mexican restaurant flyers.
Cheers for reading this far, please review and let me know what you think!
And if you still haven't got enough of you Vlad fix then check out my other stories ;) Vamp Camps is one I'm currently working on. X
