Some Protector

Damien followed after Jamie. He realized that she must really be in shape, since “home”, which was supposedly “close by”, was about half an hour from the airport, and he was significantly out of breath, or at least made a good show of pretending to be. “Are we.... There?” He gasped.

“Yup! Welcome home!” She said, looking back at him. “Oh! Sorry!”

“For... What?” He asked, though he knew perfectly well what she was concerned about.

“You look so tired! I’m sorry!” She said.

“No worries,” He said with a smile. He made a show that he was starting to feel better. Except I’m not tired, just hungry. I’ll have to wait until later and find a small animal. “You don’t have cats, do you? I’m allergic to cats,” He asked. Please say no...

“No, but I do have a turtle! His name’s Frank! Max named him, not me,” Jamie said with a laugh. He laughed with her. Thank goodness. That makes this easier. He followed her inside. It was an average looking house. He would have to learn to use the items in it, since he wasn’t used to these strange things. He followed Jamie up to her room and saw her pull out her jersey, throw it on and walk back downstairs. As they reached the bottom, they heard her parents arrive home. “Dad! Will you drop us off at the arena on the way out?” She asked.

“Of course, dear!” He said.

“Thanks! Should we leave now?” She asked.

“Let us get ready, and then we’ll leave,” Her mom said, speaking for the first time Damien had heard.

“Okay! Let’s go watch T.V while we wait!” She said, pulling him after her. T.V? What on earth is T.V? He thought. He thought for a moment and figured it out. Ah, so that’s what it looks like? But how does it work? He watched Jamie as she picked up the remote and turned the television on. Ah ha! So you use that to control it? How strange... He could feel the hunger gnawing at him. So hungry... I hope I don’t pass out... He looked around.

“Would you mind if I took a walk alone? I’d like to take some time to get to know the area,” He said.

“Okay! But hurry back or we’ll be late for the game!” She said.

“I will,” He said. He was beginning to feel lightheaded. He needed blood. He went into the park he had seen when they were running and found woods behind them. I wonder what’s in there...? He walked in and looked around. He spotted a weak looking rabbit. When he got close to it, it tried to run but couldn’t. It sat back and stared up at it. “Don’t worry, little rabbit, I’ll put you out of your misery,” He whispered. Slipping the jersey off and hanging it on a tree, he lifted the rabbit up until his mouth was near its neck. He opened his mouth and allowed his fangs to become visible. He bit into the rabbit’s neck and began to drink from it. Ah... blood. Sweet, sweet blood. My savior. He thought. Once the rabbit was empty of blood, he buried it in the ground, wiped his mouth, put his jersey back on and quickly made his way back home. He walked in and went to Jamie.

“There you are! I was getting worried!” She said.

“Sorry, I got a little lost on the way back,” He lied with a sheepish smile.

“Oh, well, I guess that’s kind of easy to do when you’ve just gotten here, huh?” She said.

“Yeah, I guess so,” He agreed. By this time, the awkward situation slipped away as Jamie’s parents were ready to go.

“Come on! You’ll be late to the game!” Her mother said.

“We’re coming!” She said, and they followed them outside. They got into the car and drove off down the street.