The Dorkiest Vampire

Mick’s POV

I was terrified about telling my parents that Riley had found out our secret. My father was so busy in his office, he hadn’t noticed she had left and I hoped I could make some excuse to stave my mother off from questioning why Riley didn’t stay for supper like she had agreed to. However, I knew the subject would come up and it would be better for me to own up to it than let them find out through alternate means. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time, honestly. Donny had left the night before and both of my parents were still on edge from his presence. They had fought the night before on why my father allowed Donny access into the house and had gone to bed furious with each other.

I did my homework as best I could and then nervously anticipated supper. My mother came home from her book club and made mention that Riley had disappeared. I said something to the affect that she had returned home and then distracted my mother by suggesting I help her prepare dinner, something I almost never do. She was delighted and pushed aside whatever concerns she had about Riley being gone. About an hour later, we were assembled at the dinning table and my father made mention of the fact that he thought Riley would be staying for dinner. Nervously, I sat down my fork, knowing that I had to tell them as soon as possible.

“I have to tell you something,” I said to my parents worriedly.

“What is it, mon petit écureuil?” Mom asked, concerned. I flinched at the use of the nickname, but proceeded with what I had to do.

“Earlier today…” I said worriedly. “ when Riley and I were doing our homework… I went to prepare snacks and I had left my water out on the table… and, well, she got curious and tried some of it…” My parents both dropped their silverware with a noisy clatter, looking at me worriedly. “And she asked me why it tasted like blood…and…I…”

“You told her,” my father said accusingly.

“She guessed,” I protested. “She guessed… and I… I couldn’t lie to her… and…well, she knows…”

“Everything?” my father asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Mostly everything,” I admitted with a gulp.

“Que faisons-nous faire à ce sujet? What are we going to do?” my mother said worriedly. “C'est terrible! This is terrible!”

“I don’t want to move,” I begged them. “And Riley said she wouldn’t tell anyone. She said she didn’t think anyone would believe her, even if she did…”

“This is very serious, Michael,” my father said sternly. “Much more serious than you realize. There is no penalty for exposing yourself to a human, but if that human starts to expose our culture as a whole…”

“They’d put me in prison?” I asked worriedly.

“They would have some sort of punishment for you, yes,” my father said gravely, “but ultimately… they would…most likely take care of her…”

“What does that mean?” I asked. “That they would ‘take care’ of Riley?”

“They might have to kill her,” my father frowned.

“Oh, mon petit,” my mother said comfortingly, upon seeing my horrified face. “Don’t worry. Tout fonctionnera hors de la meilleure. Everything will work out for the best.”

“I’m… I’m not very hungry,” I said, the fact that I could have put Riley in jeopardy gnawing at my stomach. “I think I’m going to go up to bed…”

“Nonsense,” my mother frowned. “You’re a growing boy… you need to eat…”

“Let him go, Louise,” Dad shook his head. My mother pouted by relinquished me, allowing me to go up to my room and wallow for a while.

I was furious at myself. Of course something like this had to happen to me. I had never made a friend in my entire life and when I finally did manage to make one, I accidentally exposed her to a terrible secret that quite possibly put her life on the line. I was surprised my parents weren’t more furious with me, just upset that my one and only friendship was probably going to end abruptly, with us moving away and begging Riley to treat everything as if it was just a bad dream. I didn’t blame Riley for getting curious. In fact, I knew it would be a matter of time before she started asking questions about me, my family, and some of our particular habits. It was something I knew I would have to risk to make a friend outside of our culture, not that any other vampire kids really wanted to befriend me either.

The entire thing just left me bitter. I hated myself and what I was. I would do anything to be just like everyone else, to change, to become someone who blended it and never stuck out, someone ordinary. I hated everything about my life. I did the normal things teenage boys do when they’re angry. I tore up my room a little and attacked the pillow on my bed like it was every guy who had ever beaten me up rolled into one. Then I put on some angsty music and rocked out, bitterly thinking about how terrible my life was over and over again. After putting the music aside and reading one of my favorite graphic novels for a while, I heard a knock at the door and bade the knocker to come in. I wasn’t surprised that it was my mother since my father was pretty old-fashioned and wasn’t as touchy-feely when it came to situations like what I was currently in.

“Oh, Mon petit écureuil,” Mom sighed, sitting on the edge of my bed and running her fingers through my hair. “I’m terribly sorry about all of this…”

“We aren’t going to have to move again, are we?” I asked her hopefully. “I really like it here. For the first time, I’m actually getting along… I actually like it here…”

“I don’t want to leave either,” she admitted. “Your father is seeing what he can do… He thinks we should contact the administration and inform them a human has inferred our presence in order to counteract them finding out through alternate means. As long as they feel Riley is a safe person to have told, we will be able to stay.”

“How will they do that?” I asked worriedly.

“I’m not sure,” Mom said. “They will probably observe her in an non-invasive way. She probably won’t even know she’s being watched.”

“What about me? Am I in trouble?” I asked worriedly.

“Of course not,chéri, “ Mom smiled at me lovingly.

“I just don’t want to get Riley in trouble,” I frowned. “She hasn’t done anything wrong. I don’t think either of us did anything wrong.”

“I don’t think you did anything wrong, either,” my mother assured me.

“That’s why she left,” I told my mother. “She had a hard time believing me. I tried to explain everything as delicately as I could, but I think she was a little overwhelmed by it all. I hope she’ll still want to be my friend after this. I wouldn’t be surprised if she avoided me completely now, though. I mean, she probably thinks that I’m unhinged or something, that I’m making up the whole vampire thing just for attention or something…”

“Things will all work out for the best,” Mom assured me. “Riley is a more sensible girl than that anyway. I think she’ll come around to you…”

“How upset is Dad with me?” I asked concerned.

“He isn’t upset,” Mom assured me. I looked at her pointedly and she sighed. “He isn’t upset with you, though I don’t think he’s completely pleased with the situation at hand. However, I’m sure this sort of things happens much more than we care to admit.”

“I really am sorry,” I sighed.

“It is a risk we must take if we want to live out in the open, I suppose,” Mom said wistfully. “Now, I saved your supper for you downstairs in case you get hungry later.”

“Thanks,” I said. She pressed a kiss on to my forehead and, strangely, I didn’t even really mind that much.

“I’ve got to get to work on my next book for book club,” she told me. “I want you to at least eat something before you go to bed so you don’t go to bed hungry.”

“I will,” I promised.

After my mother left, I crept downstairs to the kitchen, doing my best to prevent my father hearing me sneaking past his office. I was terrified that he was going to be furious or, even worse, disappointed in me, for what had happened. I knew he had calls to make and was probably enduring a massive headache, doing whatever it took to make sure his only child didn’t get in any trouble with the big wig vampires on the Council. I smirked a little bit at the thought myself since I knew Itzal, one of the head vampires, actually did wear a toupee since he had started balding recently.

Of course, I knew Dad was probably calling in favors from my mother’s relatives. He probably made calls to Grandmérè Galienne and Grandpérè Gralam, my mother’s parents. Oncle Fiebras, my mother’s older brother, would probably be called as well as her younger sister, Tante Pernelle, who was married to Bernier Condors, one of the Council members. Needless to say, there would also be a call to Great-Great-Aunt Bérengère, the sister of my grandfather’s father and the resident matriarch of the Fouqueret coven. Mom’s family was very old, stretching back before the Roman Empire, and so they had a considerable amount of clout in the vampire world. I wondered, however, if it was enough to get me out of any trouble.

There were nine council members and, of the nine, I knew which ones I would have to worry about if things got too far. Being my uncle, Bernier would have no problem siding with me. Itzal, despite his humorous appearance, was a longtime friend of my father’s, as was Dídac Monserrat. The two female members of the council, Aysel Boroi and Bisera Kochanova were on good terms with my mother. Aysel and my mother had been close friends during their childhood and Bisera was a like a mentor to them both. Piran Crowle, likewise, was a friend of Uncle Bernier’s and would be happy to oblige him in voting for me. Of course, I had definite things to worry about as far as Nayden Golakov, the sternest member of the council, and Elingr Gudfridsønn, easily the most pugnacious member of the group. Of all of them, I was most afraid of was the oldest council member and the head of the council itself, Vibius Julius Caietanus, an ancient Roman vampire who despised how we had become “friendly” with humans in his terms and was all against change.

My mother had been pleased with the results of the last elections, which were about twenty years ago and five before I was born. She said it was good that there were three French vampire on the council as well as Aysel, Bisera, and Nayden who represented the old vampire world of Eastern Europe. My father was far more political than my mother most of the time, and he was often more intense and open with his hatred of certain council members, especially the council head whose ideas he thought were outmoded.

I tried not to think about my fate as I scoffed down the leftover supper my mother had packed up for me. I finished the meal as quickly and silently as I could before cleaning up my dishes. I was attempting to sneak back up to my room when the door to my father’s office opened and he appeared out. Like before, when he had randomly appeared in front of Riley and me with his coffee mug in hand, I was startled and jumped back a little. He looked extremely tired, his wrinkles starting to show, and an exasperated look across his face. I looked at my feet, unable to face him. My parents had struggled to have Lia and then they had lost her. They had then struggled for centuries to have me and I was a horrible disappointment to them, they only child they would ever see reach adulthood.

“It’s alright, son,” my father said sympathetically. “Your Oncle Bernier said you shouldn’t be in any trouble and that this sort of thing happens more often than you’d expect. In fact, he said if the council had to hear every case of a human accidentally sipping or eating something meant for us, they would do nothing else all day. And they can’t hold it against you if she was smart enough to guess on her own.”

“So, I’m not in trouble?” I asked nervously.

“No,” Dad sighed, “though your mother’s family is on us about visiting for Christmas again this year.”

“I don’t mind that,” I replied.

“They aren’t your in-laws,” Dad smirked, before resting a hand on my shoulder. “You should get on to bed now. And don’t worry about any of this. Everything’s been cleared up and I’ll deal with anything else if it comes up.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said to him. My father smiled at me before heading to the kitchen for his nightly drink of his own vitamin water and pills and I went in the opposite direction, heading to my bedroom.

I managed to get to sleep easily enough, though I was still sort of worried that I or my family might be in some sort of trouble from what had happened. It didn’t help that I was also terrified that Riley didn’t want to be my friend any more, meaning that my exposure of our secret and any subsequent trouble would be completely in vain. Somehow, after all the effort it probably took for my subconscious to squelch all of my troubling thoughts, I fell into a complete dream-free sleep.