This was it. It was time for my training to act like a human. I threw on jeans, white t-shirt, and dark grey button shirt except I didn't button it up at all.
I had to look as human as possible. How can I look human? I possess immortal beautiness, which makes me too attractive to be mortal. My eyes are gold, not chocolate brown. My eyes don't blink, my skin was paler, and I don't need to breathe. Now I see how difficult this was going to be. Sarah, Rory, and Erica do this when they're around humans. Hope they can coach me good.
Grandma walked into the living room with a little plastic box in her hands.
"What is that, Grandma?" I asked her.
"Color contact lenses," she answered.
"Contact lenses? Grandma, I can see fine."
"Your eyes need to be human as well. Can you put them on?"
"I've never put on contacts in my life."
"Here I got it," said Erica.
Grandma handed it to the blonde vampire. Erica placed one of them on her index finger. "Open your eye," she said. I opened my eye wide enough for Erica to put the contact in. She carefully placed the lense right onto my eye.
Once she lets go, I blinked a few times to removed the bubble inside of my contact lense.
Erica placed the other contact onto my other eye. After that, she took a few steps back to Rory.
I blinked my eyes a few times. My vision wasn't so blurry but I couldn't focus that good.
"I know," said Sarah. "It's gonna be bothering you for the moment."
"These things won't last forever. The venom in your eyes will dissolve it in a few hours. If Samantha and Ross stay longer, excuse yourself and go to the bathroom. There are others in the cabinet." said Grandma. "Also, humans need bathroom breaks."
"Okay. He looks human." said Rory. "Now he has to act human."
"Ethan," said Sarah, "Hold your breath so you won't smell their scents. Also, move your chest slowly up and down so it looks like you're breathing."
Erica and Sarah demonstrated the breathing part. They both moved their chest up and down. They looked like they were breathing like humans.
I held my breath in. My chest and shoulders moved up and down very gently and slow.
"There you go," said Sarah.
"Blink your eyes three times a minute," said Rory.
I blinked and waited like eight seconds before I blinked again. "That's good." said Rory.
"Ethan, the main thing is not to sit too still or move too fast," said Erica. "For one thing, don't move so fast. And don't do something for a long time. Humans tend to get tired. If they seat down, you sit down too. So just relax and take a seat."
I stood up and looked back at the table near the kitchen table. I accidentally walked over to the chair and sat down on it in my vampire speed.
Benny jumped a little, while Rory and the girls just stood there.
"A little too fast there," smirked Benny.
"You think?" I said. "That was my fault there."
"Ethan, don't sit so straight." said Sarah. "Humans slouch."
I slouched on the chair. "Perfect." said Erica.
"This would've worked better if y'all had given him treats." said Benny.
"Do I look human enough?" I asked.
They all nodded.
"Move your hands, too. Pretend to scratch something." said Sarah. "And don't stare at something for too long."
"They're close by," said Rory.
Grandma, Erica, and Rory went to the door.
I sat on the couch and Sarah sat next to me.
"Everything's going to be fine," she said to me.
"You don't know that."
"Sarah, don't distract him," said Benny. "He needs to focus."
"Right. I need to focus." I sighed. "Focus. Focus. Fo—"
"Ethan." said Sarah.
"Sorry, Sarah."
The screeching tires of my dad's car pulled up to the driveway of Grandma's house.
"Crap! They're here." I mumbled.
"Calm down." said Benny. Benny stood up in front of us.
The car doors slam shut. Dad and Mom walked up to the front door. My dad knocked on the door with his knuckles.
Grandma answered the door. "Samantha, Ross, glad to see you again," said Grandma.
"Good to see you too, Grandma," said Dad.
"Come in."
Grandma shut the door behind them.
"Where's Ethan?" asked Mom.
"I'll show you," said Grandma. "But I'm just warning you. Ethan…has changed a lot. He's gonna look a lot different from the last time you saw him. Don't worry. He's still your son."
"As long as it's really our son," said Ross.
Grandma led them into the living room. Benny was blocking me and Sarah from my parents.
"Benny," said Samantha.
"You two are in for a big surprise," he said. He moved out of the way.
Both of my parents' eyes widen and their jaws dropped. I felt the beat of my mother's heart go faster and faster. My dad said under his breath, "Mary mother of God." To be honest, my mother looked the most scared out of both of them.
"Ethan?" said Mom.
"Hey, Mom, Dad," I said. I blinked my eyes and scratch my right knee a little.
"Wow," said Dad, "Ethan…i-is that you, Ethan?"
"Yes, Dad." I chuckled. "It's really me. Who did you think I was?"
"Nobody, sweetie." answered Mom. "Just that…you look so different. Are you alright?"
"Yes. Healthy as a horse."
"Why don't we give them some privacy?" said Sarah.
Before she could get up, I grabbed her by wrist. I gave her a look.
"We'll be in the hallway," she whispered. "If anything goes wrong, we'll be there."
"Okay," I said.
I let her go. She, Benny, and Grandma walked out of the room.
My parents sat down. Dad sat on the recliner and Mom sat next to me. I changed my sitting position and wiped my nose a bit. I looked down at my hands.
"Ethan," my dad said. I looked up at him and blinked my eyes. "What the hell happened to you? Don't you know how worried sick we were about you?"
"I ran away," I lied convincingly. "I dropped everything, took the plane to the U.S., and left."
"Why?" asked Mom.
"Sarah. Everything here reminded so much about her that I had to get away."
"Where were you?"
"New York. Sarah was living there. We found each other in Central Park."
"What happened then?" asked Dad.
"She confessed that she should've never left. It was a big mistake. Sarah finally knocked some sense into me and convinced me to come back home."
"Thank God for Sarah." mumbled Mom.
"I know it was a stupid mistake but I found her and I'm not gonna leave ever again."
"Is that the entire truth?" asked Dad.
"Yes, it is. Do you believe me?"
Dad nodded. Mom looked at the floor for a moment and looked back up at me. "No, Ethan. No, I-I don't believe any of the words coming out of your mouth."
"Mom—" I said.
"Ethan, I want to know the truth. Sarah left and now she's back. You went and left for a days, and you come back as this…completely different person. I don't even know who you are anymore."
"I'm still me, Mom. I'm still Ethan."
My mom stood up. I stood up with her. "Why do Ross and I have to hear the lies? What's wrong with the truth, Ethan?"
"If I tell you both the truth, then you're gonna loose me."
"Loose us?" asked Dad.
"Dad, you two have to accept what I'm satin in order to protect me, Sarah, Erica, and Rory."
"I don't know." sighed Dad. "Will it be the only lie we hear?"
"Here's one thing that's not a lie. I've may have changed a lot on the outside, but I'm still your son on the inside. And I still love you both."
My mom looked down at the floor and looked back up at me. "Okay," she murmured. "I'm just so happy to see you again and you're home now."
She embraced me into her arms. Her head was right under my nose. My mother's scent was more appetizing than the hiker's scent. I felt her heart beating and the blood run through her body. I ignored the scent and held my breath in.
My arms accidentally squished my mother a little tight. "Ouch," Mom mumbled.
Mom let go of me and looked up at me. "Wow, Ethan," she said. "You're a lot stronger than I remembered. How?"
"Just a bite changed it all." I answered.
"Ethan, are you gonna move back with us?" asked Dad.
"Of course," I answered. "I'm still in high school. But can I come back tomorrow?"
"Sure." said Mom.
After two more hours, Dad and Mom left.
I went to the bathroom and removed my contact lenses from my eyes.
"I'm glad we can still stay," I said.
"Very impressive," said Erica.
"He's amazing, right?" said Sarah. "I give him a ten."
"Ten." said Erica.
"Nine." said Rory.
"Why nine?" I asked.
"You blinked your eyes a little too much, you moved your chest funny, and you squeezed your mom a little hard when you hugged her."
"All right. Is there another challenge?"
"Just one more." said Benny.
"What is it about?"
"Strength. Arm-wrestling with the strongest member in the coven: Rory."
All of us went outside. Sarah brought two chairs for us. I was sitting one of them while we waited for Rory.
Rory came out of the woods with a giant log, which could possibly weigh more than a hundred pounds, in his arms.
"You can do this, Ethan," Sarah whispered in my ear.
Rory dropped the log in between me and him. He sat down on the chair and placed his arm on the log in an arm-wrestling position. I did so as well. We both gripped onto each other's hand.
Erica walked over and held onto our hands. "Okay, guys," she said. "The same rules as it always been. No using two arms and go when I say to. On your mark…get set…GO!" She releases our hands and we start.
Rory and I were mostly the same strength. Both of us clenched our teeth together and used all of our strength. With Rory, it felt like arm-wrestling someone made out of concrete.
Rory's arm was already pushing mine close to the log. The back of my hand was already inches away.
Suddenly, with the strength I had left, my hand started lifted Rory's hand up. Rory's face changed from certain to "He's gonna beat me!"
Before anything else, I said to Rory, "Here comes the boom."
I slammed Rory's arm onto the log. BOOM! Parts of the log broke off. I won. I let go of Rory's arm. He got up and looked at me surprised.
Grandma, Benny, Erica, and Sarah cheered for me. I stood up and smashed pieces of the log with fists. Bits and pieces just broke off once my fists hit it.
Once I stopped, I looked at Rory, who looked really depressed. Maybe he loved being the strongest of the coven. I held my hand towards him. He looks at me, then shakes my hand.
"That was a great wrestling match," said Grandma.
"Ethan, come with us." said Sarah.
I followed all of them to the middle of the forest.
"Ethan James Morgan, you have impressed all of us with your sense, speed, strength, agility, and control over your fledgling behavior," said Erica. "We always knew you could do this."
"Now kneel down on one knee before us." said Benny.
I kneeled on my left knee.
"Repeat after me." said Rory. "I, say your first and last name…"
"I, Ethan Morgan," I repeated.
"…will begin my new life as a vampire with the Whitechapel coven…"
"…will begin my new life as a vampire with the Whitechapel coven…" I repeated.
"I promise to stay with , care, love, and be with my new family until the day I die again."
"I promise to stay with , care, love, and be with my new family until the day I die again."
"And I vow to never betray my coven and never bite a human."
"And I vow to never betray my coven and never bite a human." I vowed.
"Ethan, before we poke your shoulders with a wooden stake," interrupted Erica, "we have a position in our coven for you."
"Position?" I asked.
"How would you liked to be titled as the leader of the Whitechapel coven?" asked Sarah.
"What? But—"
"It was originally Sarah," said Grandma. "But she wanted you to have it."
"Ethan, do you accept the position?" asked Rory.
"Yes, I accept it." I answered.
I leaned my head down. Rory touches the top of my shoulders with the wooden stake in his hands.
"Ethan James Morgan," Rory says aloud, "you are here by and forever officially the leader of the Whitechapel coven."
I stood up. Sarah ran over and hugged me so tight.
"I'm so proud of you," she said.
"Hold on," I said. "There's one thing I wanted to do."
"What's that?"
"You'd always carry me, but now it's my turn."
Sarah jumped onto my back. I then ran towards the forest.
"Children of the night," said Grandma, "what music they make!"
Sarah's arms gripped tightly on my neck. She said, "I never realized how fun it is when you're being carried!"
I leaped onto a tree. "Hold on tight, little spider monkey." I said to Sarah. She giggled. I ran up the tree and jumped onto all of them.