Chapter 9
Meeting the Loughrans
The car pulled up to the home about midnight. Katie headed down the street to her home, as she and Jonathan would catch up later. The remaining three went towards the door.
Mavis was nervous, but Jonathan was even more so. Even though it was a cool night, sweat was dripping from his brow. "Don't be scared, Mavy," he whispered to Mavis. She saw the look on his face, and knew he needed the support, so she grabbed his hand as they reached the door.
To Jonathan's surprise, everyone was awake, even Troy, his four year old nephew. All of his brothers came up to him, and asked him about his trip. Mavis and Jenna were still standing behind Jonathan until their sister-in-law, Samantha saw them. "So this must be Mavis," Sam said in a pleased tone. "I have to say, it is really nice to finally get to meet you." Mavis went up to her to shake her hand, but Sam wouldn't allow it. "We're family, or I hope we will be. We don't shake hands; we hug!" The two hugged for a moment, but Mavis made sure to keep her mouth narrow.
After they separated Mavis began stuttering before Jonathan finally face-palmed, and said, "Where are my manners. Everyone, this is Mavis, my," everyone expected him to say girlfriend, but he stuttered out something else, "umm fiancée." Everyone but Jenna was speechless. After a minute, Jonathan grabbed Mavis's left hand showing the ring on her finger.
"Congrats, bro," Jonathan's older brother Kent said. "I can't believe you found your bride before I found mine."
Troy then walked up to Mavis. He looked a little shy, but had a smile on his face. He mumbled something as he walked up, but then tentatively said, "Hi. I'm Troy." Mavis smiled back and waved at him, which made Troy smile wider. He looked closer at Mavis's mouth and let out a small gasp.
Sam went to her son, picking him up. "They'll be plenty of time for you to spend with your new aunt, but it's past time for you to go to bed." Troy started to protest, but yawned shortly after he started. He went up to the room he was using, but didn't fall asleep right away.
The three women surrounded Mavis. Both Sam and Linda hugged Mavis, congratulated her as well. Jenna didn't act surprised like the rest, since Jonathan had told her after it had happened. After the other two women went to Johnny, Jenna came up to Mavis, hugging her and whispered, "I know, and I don't care. I like you, Mavis, like a sister."
Mavis was stunned, and a terrified looked came over her face. She accidentally exposed her fangs for a second.
Jenna smiled at her, and again calmly whispered, "It doesn't matter."
Jonathan was still surrounded by his family, but he saw the look on Mavis's face. He went over to her mouthing the words, "What's wrong?"
Mavis whispered, "We have to talk. Now!" She said the final word almost above a whisper.
Johnny feigned a yawn. "Must be jet lag. I think we're gonna go to bed." He nodded to Mavis, and she also yawned.
"Ok, Johnny," his mother said slightly disappointed. "We can catch up in the morning."
Mavis and Jonathan headed for his bedroom, in which his parents had added an extra bed to for Mavis not expecting that they would be engaged. While still walking down the hall, Jonathan said concerned, "What's wrong, Mavy?"
"She knows," Mavis answered with the panic still evident in her voice. "Jenna knows that I'm a vampire."
The look on Jonathan's face now almost matched hers. "How is that even possible? I mean, I didn't tell her." Johnny thought back to sending her the picture, and he looked at it again. He zoomed in as far as he could, and still couldn't see her fangs or anything else. Then he thought to the picture with the ring. He again zoomed in, still nothing. "How can this be?"
That's when Mavis remembered what Jenna and she had talked about on the ride back. Jenna had met Martha in a dream. "It must have been my mother!" She shouted putting the pieces together.
Johnny was almost more surprised by this revelation as he was asleep on the ride from the airport. "But your mom's been dead for more than 100 years, hasn't she?" The fear still evident in his voice.
"I thought so, but how else could she have known?" Mavis thought for a second before asking Jonathan for his phone. She texted Jenna asking her to come to their room. Jenna arrived about five minutes later, knocking first.
"Hi, sis," Jenna said to Mavis which made her smile wide enough to expose her fangs. When Jenna saw them, she just smiled. "I know, and it doesn't bother me." She thought for a moment before adding, "It's just the reverse of Twilight," while she was chuckling.
Johnny's mouth still showed the shock he felt, so it would be Mavis who would inquire more. "But, how did you know?"
Jenna was torn about how much to reveal, but knew she probably should tell them everything she knew. "Your mom told me everything. I saw her in a dream the same night you," she said pointing to Jonathan, "sent me the picture. I saw her again this afternoon." Jenna went up to Mavis and hugged her again. "She said that if I gave you a chance, we could be like sisters. I hope she was right, because I really like you Mavis."
Mavis was in tears. She never thought that revealing herself would be so easy, but Jenna now knew while Troy suspected something, and neither of them acted scared at all. She thought that it might be easier that she had feared it would be. Mavis finally was able to speak, "I really like you too, Jenna."
"So, can I ask you some questions about your powers?" Jenna was now completely ignoring that Johnny was in the room and was only talking to Mavis.
"I guess," she said still a little confused about everything.
"What's it like to fly?"
"I can't even describe it. It just feels so freeing, like nothing can stop you."
"So you can turn into a bat?"
"Yes," Mavis said as she closed her eyes and began to concentrate. "It's actually pretty easy after you learn." She thought back to her father's lesson, "You just bend your legs and push off." Mavis transformed in a blue mist and was replaced by a black bat which flew around the room before landing and turning back into her vampire form, once again engulfed in blue mist.
"That's so cool!" Jenna shouted. "What about hypnotizing people?"
"Only me," Johnny interjected.
Mavis smiled at Johnny before saying, "It's an advanced vampire move. I don't even think my dad learned it until he was like 200."
Jenna was surprised by the fact her dad was that old. "How old are you?"
"118."
"So you're like immortal and will never age?"
"No, we age, it's just very slowly."
"Is the sun really bad for you?"
"Yeah, but if I use an umbrella and a hat I can go out. And this guy here," she said pointing to Johnny while she smiled at him, "found out that sunblock works to protect me, too."
"What happens if you go out without them?" Jenna asked almost afraid to hear the answer. "Can it kill you?"
"Maybe, but it really only burns us. My dad was out in it for almost an hour to get him," once again pointing to Johnny as she spoke, "but we heal quickly."
Jenna turned to Johnny with a scowl on her face. "What did you do?" She demanded.
"It's a long story," he answered chuckling. "We'll tell you later.
Jenna relaxed a little. "You guys are gonna be here for a week, right?"
"Yep," Johnny said, "We don't leave for New York on Tuesday, so almost."
"You're planning on telling everyone, right?"
"Eventually, but we want to make sure everyone likes me first," Mavis said still a little nervous about it.
"Well, you don't need to worry about me. And I think Troy already likes you. He just stared at you when he first saw you like he did." The two women hugged again. "So are you gonna try and be up during the day?"
"I'm going to try, but I'm so used to being nocturnal that it might be difficult."
"OK, then. I'll see you tomorrow morning, hopefully, but if not then I'll see you after school." Jenna hugged her brother before she left, leaving the two of them alone.
"That couldn't have gone better!" Mavis shouted. "And I really like her."
"That's great Mavy. But if you're gonna try and get up before she leaves for school, we better try and get some sleep."
"Ok, Johnny."
Troy couldn't sleep right away. There was something about his new aunt that wasn't quite normal, even though he was sure that she was very nice. He thought about it for a few minutes, but eventually fell asleep.
Mavis woke up the next day when the sun was already high in the sky, noticing that Johnny wasn't in the bed. She dressed and went downstairs to the main level of the home, where she found Linda who was finishing dishes from breakfast. Linda heard Mavis come down the stairs and as she entered the kitchen with a smile on her face said, "Good morning." She looked at one of the clocks and corrected herself, "I guess I should say afternoon." The clock said 12:15.
"Hello, ma'am," Mavis replied with a narrow smile on her face.
Linda corrected her, "You can call me Linda, mom, or anything else you would like to, but please don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel old."
"Ok, Mom," it felt weird to call her that, but she went with it. "So where is everyone?"
"Well, Mike and Brett are at work. Johnny and Kent went out for a little, but they should be back soon. And Sam went to the grocery store for me. I needed a few things for dinner tonight; I hope you like meatloaf."
"I love meatloaf," Mavis answered despite the fact she had no idea what it was. "But what about Jenna and Troy?"
"Troy should be home soon, and Jenna is at school." Mavis frowned. She had really hoped to be able to spend more time with Jenna before she left. Linda noticed her reaction and added, "She gets home about three. You really like her, don't you?"
"Yeah," she said excitedly with a smile returning to her face that briefly exposed her fangs even though Linda didn't notice. "I hope we can be like sisters."
Linda smiled widely at the way she phrased it. "I'd like that too. She isn't that close with Sam, but she does love Troy." Linda blushed for a second before asking, "Where are my manners? I didn't ask if you were hungry." Mavis nodded at the question. "Well, I wasn't planning on doing anything for lunch, but there are cold cuts in the fridge," Linda said while pointing at the refrigerator. "Feel free to help yourself."
"Thanks, Mom." Mavis said happily as she moved towards the box. She couldn't believe all the choices inside. She grabbed packages of ham, turkey, and bologna, placing a lot of the sliced meats between two slices of bread. As she sat down to eat, the door opened.
A young voice permeated the home. "Hi, Gamma!"
"Hello my little monster," Linda shouted back. Mavis giggled as she heard the nickname. "How was your day?"
"Good. It was gym day, so we got to play." Mavis was finishing her sandwich when Troy finally walked into the kitchen. He saw Mavis finishing her sandwich, and asked her, "Do you wanna play with me?"
Mavis smiled at the boy and said, "Sure!" She didn't realize that she had just revealed her fangs to him again. "What do you want to play?"
Troy thought for a second before he dragged her into the TV room. He put on a movie and they watched it together. About 20 minutes into it, Sam came home. She looked at her son with Mavis asking, "So he found someone else to watch TV with, huh?"
Mavis simply grinned at the question while she nodded. She noticed it was overcast, so she asked if Sam would like any help.
"That would be great. Thanks." The two women unloaded the groceries and brought them in. Sam accidentally started to drop a carton of eggs, but Mavis was nearby and was able to catch them before they hit the ground. "Nice reflexes!"
Mavis turned a little red as she almost exposed herself. After a few seconds, she said, "Thanks." Mavis thought of how to explain it away. "Yeah, I played a lot of football when I was younger."
"That'll do it." Sam assumed Mavis meant soccer, since she was from Europe.
Troy had seen the whole thing. Mavis moved too fast for even the best of athletes. He suspected there was something different about her from the moment he met her, but couldn't put his finger on it. He ran up to his room, leaving the TV on to look at a book his grandpa had given him for his last birthday about all sorts of legendary and mythological creatures. He flipped thru it, thinking of all the things he noticed about Mavis; fast reflexes, no reflection in mirrors and windows, and the kicker was that she looked to have two larger teeth in her mouth.
As he read thru, there was only one creature that fit all of those traits. "She can't be a vampire!" He shouted quietly. "She's way too nice." He read thru the description of how they acted, and none of them seemed to fit Mavis. Troy kept hoping that he was wrong, but he would have to ask her later about it.
Johnny, Kent, and Jenna all got home about the same time. The boys had gone to see a movie. "Sorry, Mavy. I didn't know if you'd wanna go, and I didn't wanna wake you."
"It's ok. What'd you guys see."
"The new Transformers movie," Kent said. "It was epic cool!"
Johnny pulled his phone and played the trailer for it. Mavis didn't understand anything that she was seeing. "Yeah, that's what Sam thought when she went to the last one," Johnny said.
Jenna just shook her head at the two. She had more to tell Mavis, but couldn't at the time. It was almost 3:30, and her brother and father would be home soon. She had plenty of time to tell her everything.
Dinner was served about an hour later. It was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and biscuits. It tasted ok to Mavis, but the meatloaf was a little salty for her liking. She was polite and tried everything. The biscuit was by far her favorite; so soft on the inside. She whispered to Johnny, "This would be great with some scream cheese." Jonathan chuckled at what she had said.
As they were eating Mike said, "Jenna, would you be willing to babysit on Saturday?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I thought that your mom and I would celebrate our anniversary. Your brother is DJ'ing a couple's dance at the bar, so I thought all of us would go."
"Sure," Jenna said, "You guys have a great time."
"Sounds like fun," Mavis added. Everyone else agreed with her.
After dinner Johnny and Mavis went to their room. Mavis was concerned about going out in public. She was pacing on the ceiling. "What if everyone there finds out?"
"Mavy, don't worry about it. We'll find a way to deal with it if it does." Johnny went out the room for a minute. Mavis was horrified when the door opened, but it wasn't Johnny.
"What are you doing?" A young boy's voice asked timidly.
Mavis couldn't speak as she jumped down. When she landed she noticed it was Troy. "I was just thinking about" but Mavis mumbled off after that.
"Can I ask you something?" Troy asked scared, but Mavis nodded giving him a little courage. "What's it like to fly?"
Mavis couldn't say anything. She couldn't believe that the first one besides Jenna to know, would be her four year old nephew. "I can't fly," she said so unconvincingly that even Troy knew she was lying.
"Please don't be mad, but I know you're a vampire."
Author's Note: Please review, even if you didn't like it. I find those are the most helpful, but please be constructive in your criticisms. Also, any plot ideas are also appreciated.
