Chapter Nine

"Sam, Casey, don't start this again." Mom said. Star walked out.

"You're the secret that David was protecting." She said to Max. Max looked at her, and nodded.

"Mm-hm." He said.

"Who's this?" Mom asked, looking at Star.

"But you passed the test." Alan said, as he and Edgar walked in. Max looked at him.

"Don't ever invite a vampire into your house, you silly boy. It renders you powerless." He said. Sam looked at Edgar, who was standing next to me.

"Did you know that?"

"Of course." Edgar said. "Everyone knows that."

Mom was looking at all of us, frantically. "Has everyone gone crazy here? What's the matter with all of you?"

"It was you I was after all along, Lucy." Max explained.

"What?" Mom asked.

"I knew that if I could get Sam, Michael, and Casey into the family, there's no way you could say no."

"Where's Michael?" Mom demanded.

"It was all going to be so perfect Lucy. Just like one big happy family. Your kids, and my boys." Max looked over at David's body.

"Great." Edgar said. "The bloodsucking Brady Bunch."

"But I still want you, Lucy." Max turned, in vamp mode. Everyone screamed. Star gasped. "I haven't changed my mind about that."

Michael walked out. "I didn't invite you this time, Max." he spat.

"Michael." Mom breathed, in shock. Michael was in vampire mode. And boy, was he pissed. Max turned, and laughed as Michael went to attack him. "Michael, no!" Max threw Michael up to the second floor, making Mom scream. I buried my face into Edgar's shoulder, and heard the breaking of the wood. "Michael!" I looked up, and saw Star pick something up, and run to attack Max, but Max knocked her down. Mom stopped where she was going. Edgar and Alan ran up towards Max, who had the weapon that Star had, and knocked them down, leaving only me, Sam, and Mom. Max broke the weapon on his knee.

"Don't you touch my mother!" Sam yelled. He ran towards Max.

"Sam, don't!" Mom yelled. Sam got caught in a head-lock. I screamed, and ran towards Max, but was thrown to the ground. My hands automatically went to my head.

"Oh, fuck." I muttered, rolling around.

"Damn it." Mom muttered. Max held his hand out to her.

"Don't fight, Lucy." He said. "It's so much better if you don't fight."

"Mom! Mom, don't!" Sam yelled. "Mom. Don't do it, Mom. Mom, don't do it."

"Sam—" Mom said, taking Max's hand.

"Mom, no!" both Sam and I yelled. I sat up, just as Mom was pulled in by Max.

"Mom, no! Mom!" Sam and I yelled again. Mom yelled our names before Max went to bite her neck, but then we all heard La Cucaracha off-key. Grandpa drove his truck into the house, and Michael jumped down. His pushed Mom and Sam out of the way just as he pushed Max forward, and into the wooden beam that staked him. I quickly made my way to the other side of the room before Max was thrown into the fireplace. Edgar and Alan put on some goggles to cover their eyes as I buried my face in Edgar's chest. Everyone else covered their faces and ducked down. As Max's body neared the fireplace, he exploded, and almost brought down the damn house.

"Jesus." Edgar said, between coughs, when it was over. The two brothers took off their goggles. I looked up.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. Yeah." Edgar said.

"Yeah, right." Alan said.

"Yeah. We kicked their ass, man."

I looked at Edgar for a moment before he looked at me. For a second, we just stared at each other, and then he kissed me, our tongues meeting in that split second. This is one side that I knew Edgar had, but just wouldn't show anyone. Except me. We broke away. I saw Alan staring at a hole in the floor, and gave him a small peck. We pulled away, and he blushed. But then, I crawled back to Edgar, and placed my arms around his neck.

Michael and Star looked up as Grandpa got off of his truck.

"It's over." Star said. Michael held her. There was running on the stairs.

"Star! Star!" yelled Laddie.

"Laddie!" Star said, standing up. She ran to the little boy, and picked him up. Nanook barked a couple of times.

"Is everybody okay?" Michael asked.

"Oh, Michael." Mom said, as she and Sam crawled over to him. I tore myself, reluctantly, away from Edgar, and joined the family hug. "Oh, Michael. Oh, my kids."

"How much do you think we should charge them for this?" Edgar asked Alan. Grandpa walked into the kitchen.

"Dad." Mom said, as she tore away from our hug. But, us being the three green apples in a basket full of red ones, didn't as we followed Mom towards the kitchen. "Dad?" Grandpa opened the fridge door, and took out a root beer. He drank from it. "Dad, are you alright?"

"One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach:" said Grandpa. "All the damn vampires."

He closed the fridge door, leaving the four of us just standing there in the dark, wondering how he knew all this time.