Not Another Teenage Vampire Story

“What do you mean they’re missing I just talked to Gavin 20 minutes ago!” I shouted back in disbelief.

“Well I got back 5 minutes ago and the house is empty! It’s a house rule that one vampire be home at all times! You’re not a vampire if you haven’t noticed!” He held his hand up to his face and took a deep breath. A couple of seconds passed. “Come with me,” he said almost in a whisper.

“What?!” I needed to be at Ryan’s before the day was over. I couldn’t go with him.

“Come with me!!” He screamed at me, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me out to the hall. “You look nice by the way,” he mumbled as he dragged me down the stairs. I half smiled as I was whisked away to the city.

***

“Ugh!” he pressed his fists around the steering wheel, leaving dents. I brought my knees up to my chest and buried my head in them. What have I done? I shouldn’t have waited so long to go to Ryan. What if they were dead somewhere? No, they’re fine. A voice was speaking to me inside my head. I’ve officially lost my mind. 42nd and 3rd. Go now. “Caleb, if I told you to go somewhere right now would you listen to me?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Forty-second and Third Avenue. Don’t ask questions, just go.” I really have lost my mind, I told myself.

We got there surprisingly fast for NYC traffic and sure enough, Victoria and Gavin were walking franticly searching for something, or someone. Caleb pulled over and made a mad dash, almost tackling them. It took me a while to catch up, damn his vampire speed. By the time I approached them, Caleb was already caught up and laughing. I stood there waiting for someone to explain.

Gavin smiled and informed me. “Kat told us to meet her here, she said Caleb would be home any second to watch you, but she’s nowhere in sight. We were just about to head home.” Relief washed over me, that everyone was okay. I wasn’t too late, and I still had some time.

“We’re parked a few blocks over,” Victoria added, “We’ll meet you guys home.” With that they both turned around simultaneously. They were so in sync with each other, it was mind blowing. I watched with envy as they turned the corner hand in hand and looked up at Caleb.

He was looking in the window of the pub we were standing in front of. On The Boardwalk Pub, that was a catchy name, I guess. It was packed inside. I couldn’t figure out what had him so mesmerized by it but he suddenly turned to me.

“Have you eaten today?” He asked in an urgent tone.

Actually, I hadn’t eaten all day. I wasn’t hungry though, I had way too much on my mind to be hungry. “No… But we really should be getting-“

“Let’s go.” He cut me off and dragged me into the pub. He was doing a lot of dragging today.

I wondered if he was always this pushy and mysterious.

The inside of The Boardwalk was extremely congested but not in that claustrophobic way. The lights were dimmed everywhere except for the two foot stage off in the corner. Below the stage was an empty dance floor who only held two wasted girls attempting to dance to unrecognizable music. There were high set tables thrown in a random order around the floor and waitresses scattering in between them. The whole place gave off an Irish middle-aged vibe and smelled like alcohol. I loved it.

Caleb pulled me over to an empty table to the side of the stage. There was a man drunk out of his mind singing karaoke to some Dolly Patton song. The wasted girls were cheering him on. I laughed as I hopped up on the high chair.

As soon as I was comfortable, a frantic waitress threw her notepad down on our table. She had her dirty blonde hair in a messy bun, and was chewing gum a little too loudly to be taking orders. And when she did ask, her voice was almost too nasally to understand. “What can I getcha guys?” Before I could even glance at the menu, Caleb answered for me.

“She’ll take the Dublin Lawyer, and I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay, thank you.” She simply nodded and walked away. I had no idea what he had ordered for me but I honestly didn’t care. I wouldn’t be able to eat anyway. At least now I’d have some quality time with Caleb, whether he liked it or not.

“So…” I started shakily. We were surprisingly able to talk comfortably with the booming of the music. “Where’d you go today?” I almost didn’t want to know the answer.

He leaned back in his chair. He was so at ease and relaxed sitting across from me. I loved how comfortable everything felt. “Sanctusira,” he stated.

“Whoa, really?” I knew Sanctusira was a place and all but I guess it never seemed real to me. To hear about someone actually coming back from there shocked me a bit. “What’s it like?”

He smiled at this sighed. “It’s heavenly.” Leaning his elbows on the table and folding his arms he added, “It’s always enraptured in this light that makes it seem so unreal. The houses, oh, and the palace, don’t get me started. The palace makes the Taj Ma Hall seem like a rickety shed.” The waitress came with our food then, well my food. She might have said something but I honestly couldn’t tell you what it was. I was fixed on every word Caleb was saying. He continued. “Oh and the people there, everyone is just so nice. I guess we strive so much for peace that we’ve perfected the perfect peaceful society. There are no homeless, no hungry, no suffering. I guess we have a great King to thank for that. But I’m awful at explaining, you’ll see it all for yourself tomorrow. Everyone is expecting us.”

Oh yea, I thought to myself. I inwardly sighed. Everyone was expecting their long lost general to come home. I couldn’t let them down could I? The hours were getting thin and I still hadn’t come up with a decision. What a general I was.

“Melissa?” Caleb called my name in a way that insinuated he’d been calling it more than once. I looked up. “Would you like a sip of this?” He asked holding out his Chardonnay.

Why not?.......