Chapter 10

Sunday, December 22nd, 1985

Hill Valley, California

12: 06 P. M.

Doc was sleeping peacefully when he felt the hand shake him. "Leave me be," he mumbled, turning over.

"Doc, wake up. We need to talk."

Doc drowsily opened his eyes and looked at his waker. "George? George, I'm very tired. I want to sleep. Come back tonight." He shut his eyes and buried his head into the pillow.

"I'm sorry, but this can't wait. You've been acting very odd lately. I want to know why. Is it over being buried?"

But Doc was already gone, back in deep sleep. George sighed. "I guess I'll have to wait until nightfall," he grumbled.

He happened to glance over at Doc's mini-fridge, still stocked with a number of bottles. Feeling thirsty, he opened it, unscrewed the top of a bottle, and took a gulp of what he thought was V-8 or some other vegetable juice.

Doc was jolted awake by George yanking him to his feet. "In the den! NOW!" he roared.

Groggy and upset, Doc pushed away an impulse to fling George out of the room. "I was up all night. I want to sleep. Whatever it is, it can wait."

"There will be no sleeping until I get an explanation," George snapped.

"I'm not one of your children, George," Doc snapped back, his eyes glowing ever so slightly.

"My house, my rules. You are obviously not well. In the den," George ordered. "And I'm calling Mysteria too, to see what light she can shed."

"George must be very upset," Doc thought, confused. "George, what's wrong?" he mumbled, wishing he would shut the shade. He was practically asleep on his feet.

"This is what's wrong," George growled, shoving the bottle at him. Doc quickly deduced the situation and stumbled towards the den in the basement. George rounded up the rest of the family, including Dave and the visiting Jennifer. He also went and picked up Mysteria when he couldn't reach her by phone. She protested sleepily all the way, but George was too upset to care.

Once everyone was in the den and Doc was woken up again, George stood in front of the entire group with the bottle. "Okay, Doc, what's the deal with the blood in your mini-fridge?"

"I knew it!" Linda screeched. "Being buried alive drove him off the deep end! What the hell were you doing to my brother last night?"

"What's all this about blood in Doc's mini-fridge?" Lorraine demanded.

"Why am I always the last one to know about these things?" Dave complained. "He's living in my old room!"

"One question at a time!" Doc yelled. Everyone quieted down. "George, there's a rational explanation for all this."

"No, there is not," George snapped. "People do not store blood in their refrigerators, especially not strangely uncoagulated blood. At least, normal people don't. And your habits as of late are too strange to ignore. You sleep all day and stay up all night. You refuse to eat. You vanish at odd times in the DeLorean, and when you come back, you tend to be a bit fidgety. Last night Linda saw you forcing Marty to taste your blood. Now I find blood in your mini-fridge. What's going on?"

Doc looked at him helplessly. He was torn between 2 responses: "George, could I see you in private for a moment?" and "You want the truth? I'm a vampire." Which should he choose?

Mysteria leaned close to him. "Linda saw you?" she whispered. "Emmett, you have to keep up a constant scan of your surroundings."

"We got caught up in the moment," Doc fired back. "I was more concerned with Marty's health than with getting caught."

"You can't let the bond blind you, Emmett." Mysteria smiled suddenly. "But then, who am I to talk? I'm 331, and I nearly got caught by Robert myself."

"What are you 2 talking about?" George demanded. "I want an answer to my question!"

Doc looked at Mystie, Marty, and Jennifer. Jennifer shrugged. Mystie whispered, "We've really got nothing to lose. If they don't believe you or believe you're good, we're all set. And if they believe you're evil, you can always hypnotize it out of them."

Doc glanced at Marty again. "Go for it, Doc. It'll make everything a lot easier."

Doc made up his mind. "I'm a vampire," he said succintly.

There was an uncomfortable pause. "You mean you're a blood fetishist, right?" Linda finally said.

"I mean vampire. Mysteria is a vampire too. That's why I'm acting contrary to normal human habits."

There was another awkward silence. Then George smiled condescendingly, making Doc worried. "Okay, Doc. I think we should call Dr. Robinson back," he said, too kindly to be real. "Mystie, do you think you're a vampire?"

"I don't think, I know," Mystie said, sticking with her fiance. "George, please don't commit us. We'll go crazy if we're locked up."

"I'm not committing you. I just want you to talk to someone, that's all." He started up the stairs.

"George." Doc stopped him with his voice, getting up. This was a tough decision, but it had to be done. "Can a psychosis explain this?"

With that, he vamped out.

George froze on the steps, eyes locked onto Doc's face. Lorraine gave a little shriek of terror. Dave and Linda's eyes almost fell out of their heads. Only Marty and Jennifer remained calm. "Here we go," Marty thought. "The whole 9 yards. The DeLorean's still gonna be our secret though, right?"

"Exactly. I won't tell them unless I'm forced to. They'll have enough trouble accepting me as a vampire." Doc returned to his normal appearance. "Well, George? Still want to call Dr. Robinson?"

George gaped at him a moment more, still trying to comprehend what he had just seen. Finally, he stammered, "You- you're- you're vampires."

"Precisely. Mysteria and myself are carriers of the vampire disease. I'm fairly new, which explains my total exhaustion right now."

"And- and you've been drinking that blood I found."

"Every other night," Doc yawned, wishing George would hurry with his questioning. Being awake in daylight was sapping his energy. "I simply can't eat other food now. It makes me sick."

George's gaze abruptly shifted to Marty. "You knew. You knew they were vampires, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Jennifer and me both. But how was I supposed to tell you, Dad?" Marty asked. "Do I just say, 'Hey, Mom, Dad, my best friend's a vampire now'?"

George looked at him, then at Lorraine, then at the sleepy vampires. "Well- uh- considering you're vampires, I suppose I should let you sleep. But we're going to have a full discussion about this tonight," he said. "Just one last thing- why were you forcing Marty to drink your blood?"

"I wasn't forcing him to do anything. We were creating a blood-link." Doc yawned again. The den's couch looked very inviting.

"Yes you were," Linda snapped, although she was leaning away from him as far as she could. "You were holding his hands and pushing his face into the cut."

"He was holding my hands because they were cold, and he was rubbing my neck," Marty told her. "I was drinking that blood on my own."

"Why?" George leaned over the rail of the stairs, almost casually.

"It was the only way I could save his life without making him a vampire." Doc smiled at Marty warmly. "He's going to live now."

"Doc, don't joke about that," Lorraine said angrily, fighting tears. "I don't care if you are a- a vampire, that's cruel."

"I'm not joking. Do you think I would joke about something like that, Lorraine?"

Lorraine looked at him a moment, then at Marty. Marty smiled at her and nodded. "You mean, he's telling the truth? His being a vampire saved your life?" Marty nodded again. Tears welled up in her eyes. She got up and threw her arms around Doc. "Oh, Doc, thank you!"

"Thank me tonight, when I'll be able to talk," Doc joked. His eyelids started to sag. "I promise, I'll explain everything tonight. And you have my word I won't harm any of you."

"I believe you. Would you mind sticking around yourself, Mysteria? I want to hear your side of the story too." George looked very excited. "I don't believe it! We've got vampires!"

Doc looked at Mysteria, who looked back. "George, you've got to promise not to tell anyone," Mystie warned. "We don't want the whole town in on our secret."

"Scout's honor," George promised. "This is just so cool. Vampires in my own house."

"Your father's insane," Doc informed Marty.

"Nah, he's just still a geek at heart. He believes in aliens, remember?"

"Oh, yes," Doc chuckled. "Listen, we'll make you forget if you tell anyone else." he told George, completely serious.

George's face crumpled. "Not even a story?"

Mysteria sighed and giggled. "Okay, a story. But not the whole truth."

"Good. I'll let you too sleep now." He bounded up the stairs, humming joyfully.

"We should call Dr. Robinson on him, Ma," Dave said, looking cautiously at Doc as he passed. "I gotta go," he added, checking his watch. "Lucy's meeting me at that new club, Future Fest."

"Have fun," Lorraine told him as her oldest disappeared. She looked back at Doc and Mysteria, who were settling down on the couch. "I still don't know if this is all real. Well, sorry to wake you. Good- good day." She left.

"Linda, I'm sorry about scaring you like that," Doc apologized, getting comfortable.

"It's okay." She shook her head. "I should have known being friends with you would make my life weird." She shrugged. "I gotta call Craig. See you tonight." She went up, pausing once more at the door to look at them and shake her head.

Marty and Jennifer gave their vampire friends quick hugs. "Did you mean that about explaining, or will Dad forget all about this?" Marty asked.

"I think we'll explain," Doc said, his eyes starting to close. "But if any problems arise, I will erase your family's memories."

"I guess my Dad won't be told," Jennifer shrugged.

"The fewer humans who know, the better," Mystie yawned. "I'm sure your father will be waiting to pester you with questions, Marty."

"That's my dad," Marty sighed. "Have a nice sleep, you two."

"Thanks." As the 2 teens went back upstairs, Doc and Mysteria went back to sleep.