The Dorkiest Vampire

Mick’s POV

I couldn’t believe what Donny had done. Sure, I knew he had to make an entrance, but he didn’t have to do it like that. I was spending the night with Riley’s family and Donny had no doubt caught wind of it from my parents when he arrived, just before Mom left to take me over. After a night of scary movies, I awoke to hearing noises, similar to a woman crying. I grabbed a flashlight off of Ritchie’s bedside table, though I doubted I would really need it with my eyesight. However, I didn’t want to have to explain how I could see so well in the dark if anyone were to come upon me. I could hear noises of footsteps coming from the attic and I decided to investigate. I was getting close to opening up the attic when Riley seemed to just appear behind me.

“What you doing here?” she whispered, making me jump.

“You heard the noises too?” I replied, surprised. I thought my ears had only picked up on them because of their sensitivity.

“I heard the creaking floorboards from you walking around out here,” Riley replied.

“I heard noises,” I tried to explain. “It sounded like someone was walking around above me and crying… like there was someone in the attic…” I frowned, knowing I was sounding completely insane.

“Ritchie hasn’t been telling you all of the creepy stories about your house to scare you, has he?” Riley grimaced, making me blush.

“What stories?” I said, wondering how on earth she could think creepy footsteps and distant sobbing were normal nighttime sounds.

“People think our house is haunted,” Riley replied. I stiffened a little.

“Why?” I said, nervously.

“I’ll tell you in the morning. We need to get back to bed before we waking everyone else up…” Riley assured me. I knew it was probably the safest thing, but I couldn’t rest until I knew what was causing the noises.

“But I heard something,” I replied, not wanting her to think I was crazy or making it up. “I know it. It started in the attic and then went outside…”

“What are you talking about?” Riley said, sounding really annoyed.

“It sounded like someone was crying outside,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t laugh in my face.

“There is nothing going on, okay?” Riley insisted. Before she could make me return to bed, we both heard the shrill sobbing sound and even Riley looked a little worried. She headed downstairs and I panicked, wondering what sort of creature she might come across in the dark.

“Riley! You don’t know what’s out there! It could be anything!” I told her.

“It’s probably just someone having a laugh,” she shrugged. Her laissez-faire attitude didn’t comfort me in the least.

“What if it’s not something playing a joke?” I grimaced. “What if it’s a psycho killer or something?”

“Don’t worry,” Riley said laughingly as she lead us out the door, onto the porch, and into the backyard.

“I don’t like it out here,” I said to her worriedly.

“I don’t think I’ve shown you the creek before, “Riley began telling me. “It’s been dammed up pretty well and we usually don’t have to worry about flooding. Most of the water collects further down in the swamp, but we don’t head out there. There might be alligators. We had one come up in the yard when I was really little and Mom wouldn’t let me and Ritchie out to play until he swam back home.”

I directed the flashlight around, though it did more to impede my night vision than help it. Riley seemed to be staring off aimlessly toward the creek for some reason and I followed her gaze, through the deep forest and swamp that separated her family’s property from mine. She began heading toward the creek and I followed her slightly before I figure caught my eye. I grimaced as Donny, standing there in the midst of the swamp and smirking, waved at me. I couldn’t believe he was the one coming around, making all of these noises and trying to freak me out. I glared at him and noticed as his eyes ventured to Riley with curiosity. I knew how Donny could be and decided, for her own safety, I needed to get Riley inside before he attempted something stupid I would most likely get blamed for.

“We shouldn’t be out here,” I told her. “We should be getting inside.”

“There’s nothing out here, okay? I don’t know what you heard…” Riley began. “We probably shouldn’t have watched so many scary movies before going to bed, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s get inside.” Before she could respond, I yanked her inside. I wasn’t going to let Donny decide to make her another plaything. Rather than looking upon me as a savior, however, Riley just noticed my footy pajamas and I returned to bed, completely embarrassed.

Of course, it was even worse the next day when Riley and her mother went to take me home, where I knew Donny would be waiting with some sort of smartass comment for me. Riley was only allowed to stay for a little bit before her mother insisted they had home. Though part of me wanted her to stay so I would have someone to spend time with other than Donny, I knew there would be a certain element of danger to her and her mother staying in a house with Donny, of all people. He wasn’t known for his control or his ability to keep secrets.

Once they had left, my mother ushered me in to say hello to Donny, though neither one of us really wanted to have him hanging around the house. In truth, my father didn’t really seem to like Donny either but there was some old family connection, dating back even to the times across the ocean that bound us to be kind and hospitable to Donny. I was certain he was up to no good. It didn’t help that Donny’s visits always left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth and put the entire family on edge for a week or so after he left. I hoped he wouldn’t be staying long this time.

“By Saint Januarius, is that little Michael?” Donny preened as my mother forced me into the room. I looked at him irked. Donny always thought he was terribly witty, always invoking the name of Saint Januarius, the patron saint of blood banks.

“Hi,” I said, annoyed, not wanting to look at him. He smirked and then turned back to my father.

“You know, I’m rather surprised you and Louise cared enough to come back to this place,” Donny smirked. My ears perked up and I looked at my parents, both of whom seemed incredibly pained by his statement.

“Can I get you anything, Donny?” Mom offered him. “I know it must have been a long journey…”

“No, I’m terribly fine. Thank you,” Donny nodded. “I love what you’ve done with the place, Louise… It’s all so… modern…” I looked around at the antiques lining the walls and scoffed under my breath. I shouldn’t have made any noise, though, since it caused Donny to turn to me with curiosity. “Are you enjoying things here, Michael? Are you getting on at school alright?”

I hissed at Donny. He knew full well all of the troubles I had in school before and my situation seemed to provide him with endless amusement. He loved to point out how I had a hard time making friends or gaining approval from teachers. He seemed to absolutely relish in the fact that I was a completely anti-social loner while Donny himself was incredibly popular, having girlfriends and a massive entourage in almost every town his visited. My hissing was short lived by my mother, who gave me a subtle pinch, and my father, who gave me a not so subtle glare.

“Who was your friend?” Donny asked. I folded my arms over my chest, not wanting to acknowledge Donny’s existence any further.

“Her name is Aurelie,” Mom explained. “She and Michael are in school together…”

“She seems nice enough,” Donny smirked, an evil glint in his eyes.

“I have homework,” I lied to my mother. She simply nodded and my parents allowed me to be excused, far from Donny and the awkward conversation in the drawing room.

I managed to stay up in my room and avoid everyone until supper time. My mother forced me downstairs to eat with the rest of the family, reminding me that I couldn’t be rude with a guest in the house. I muttered under my breath the entire time until I found myself in the dining room. Mom and Dad had poured glasses of their special wine for themselves and for Donny while I was stuck with the plain old vitamin water. Donny seemed to smirk when my mother uncapped a bottle of it and set it beside my plate. Things only went downhill from there.

Donny spent the meal giving Mom and Dad updates about all of their friends back in New Orleans as well as in Europe, where he had just come from visiting. He blathered on about all of his friends and family and the general “business” of our little secret society. I just pushed my food around on my plate with my fork, not really interested in anything anyone had to say or eating in general. I liked it much better with Riley’s family. They were normal. They didn’t have any major secrets to conceal from anyone. They could go about their day-to-day lives without looking over their shoulder and worry that someone would find out the truth about them.

“Michael,” my mother said in her accent. “You shouldn’t play with your food.”

“Yes,” Donny grinned up at me maliciously. “It’s rather rude to play with your food…”

“I’m not very hungry,” I said. “Can I be excused?”

“Nonsense,” my father snorted. “You’re a growing boy. You need to eat.” I grimaced and looked back at my plate. My father’s word was law in our house and I knew I would have to eat sooner or later.

“Is there anything wrong with it, mon petit écureuil?” Mom said softly. “Is it too cooked? Is there anything you need?”

“I’m fine,” I frowned, glowering up at Donny who was snickering under his breath at how my parents babied me.

I slowly managed to eat the rest of my meal, avoiding Donny’s gaze the entire time. After that, my parents allowed me to head up to my room and read until bedtime while they stayed downstairs and conversed with Donny. I knew they would be up entertaining him for a while since Donny had always been sort of a night owl and never really got used to the idea of sleeping during the night and being awake during the day. I slowly put myself to sleep as the sun went down, but was again startled awake by another one of my night terrors. This one was more real than the others, with Ophélie’s eyes staring into mine until the life in them slowly dimmed.

When I was little and had bad dreams, my mother would make me hot cocoa and s’mores, let me eat them in bed, and then would tuck me in tightly, singing to me until I was lulled into a dreamless sleep. However, I was much too old for my mother to be babying me like that. Silently, I got out of bed and headed to the kitchen, fixing the traditional midnight snack for myself. I was eating them at the kitchen counter in the dark when a light was flipped on and a curious Donny stepped into the room. He looked at me curiously before walking over to the fridge, pulling out one the special juice bottles, and sitting down across the counter from me.

“What are you doing up?” Donny asked gruffly.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I shrugged.

“Bad dreams?” Donny suggested.

“How did you…” I gaped.

“When I can’t sleep, it’s usually because of a bad dream,” Donny replied.

“I guess,” I nodded.

We were silent for a while, not looking at each other. Donny always creeped me out and this was no exception. He seemed to have a way of staring through you when he wasn’t even looking at you at all. I had no idea why my parents always allowed a creepy guy like Donny into our home again and again. They didn’t seem to like him all that much either, yet, despite the fact that no one liked him Donny, could always come to stay with us whenever he wanted. I wanted to think of something to break the awkward silence, and as the wheels in my brain turned, there was only one thing I could think to ask him.

“Donny… you’ve known my parents… for a long time… right?” I asked him.

“Centuries,” Donny smirked.

“You knew my sister… didn’t you?” I asked him. Donny was oddly silent.

“I wouldn’t go asking questions about that,” Donny told me.

“Why not?” I asked.

“It’s just not something people like to talk about,” Donny replied.

“Why won’t anyone tell me what happened to her?” I said, frustrated.

“You know, this is where they lived,” Donny mentioned to me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“This is the house your parents lived in,” Donny said. “That Lia grew up in. This is where she died.”

“What?” I gaped. Donny downed the rest of his drink then pitched the plastic bottle in the trash can. He walked over, smirked, and ruffled my head.

“Sweet dreams, kid,” Donny laughed before waltzing out of the room. I shuddered as he left. I knew there was something no one was telling me but, for the first time, I started to doubt whether or not I wanted to figure it out.