The Dorkiest Vampire

My parents extended a hearty invitation to the Vespasien’s to join us for Thanksgiving dinner since we knew they had no relatives in the immediate area to spend the holiday with. Mick told me the whole of his family lived back in Europe. He told me most “Old World vampires,” like the majority of his family, though visiting the “New World,” as they still called it, was terribly beneath them. He said they never came to visit and a few of them would not even meet with his family when they returned to Europe to visit, not wanting to dignify expatriates of their family. The Vespasien’s agreed to join us for a meal, though Mick said his mother still wasn’t very keen on American holidays, preferring to stick to her old French roots. We had everything pretty much in place when, the Tuesday before the holiday, Mrs. Vespasien arrived to our house before school with Mick in tow.

Normally, I left for school with Ritchie each day and had gotten into the habit of hitching a ride home with either my mother or Mick’s so we could do homework together after school. I found it strange that Mrs. Vespasien was now here before school. My mother invited her into the house and told Mick to feel free to help himself to any bits of the bountiful breakfast on our kitchen table. Even though Mick insisted he had already eaten and would be fine, my mother reminded him she had a growing teenage boy in her house and knew what they could eat. Just like I was sure Ritchie would have done had roles been reversed, Mick helped himself to three pieces of bacon and an egg over easy just to show how un-hungry he was that morning.

Shortly after Mick arrived, Ritchie went up to his room to finish up his homework. My brother was a terrible procrastinator and usually did his homework before leaving for school in the morning, during homeroom, or sometimes in the class period before the work was due. However, I was glad my brother put things off until the last minute since it gave time for Mick and I to be alone. I knew something was bothering him and his mother and I deduced whatever they were upset about had something to do with why they had come over so early on Tuesday morning, the last day of school before our five-day holiday.

“So, what’s going on?” I asked. “It’s not every day you and your mom stop by this early in the morning for a visit…”

“My mom had to ask if it was okay if we brought an extra guess to Thanksgiving,” Mick grimaced.

“Who?” I asked, wondering if it would be any of Mick’s vampiric relatives.

“Donny,” Mick said with acid in his voice. “He invited himself over late last night and… well… we couldn’t turn him down?”

“Because he’s a friend of the family?” I asked.

“More or less,” Mick grunted.

“Mick is Donny…” I began to ask. Mick froze completely, obviously not wanting to answer the question, “… is he a vampire?”

“Yes,” Mick said quietly.

“So, what you told me about him being a college student…” I began.

“No, he likes to pose as a college student and he really is taking classes,” Mick replied with a disgusted air to his voice. “He has a thing for… seducing humans… so he likes to mingle among them…”

“So, he’s a little older than you?” I asked.

“Well, if you consider being three hundred and thirty six a little older than fifteen, I guess he’s only a little older than me,” Mick shrugged.

“He’s over three hundred years old?” I said.

“I told you vampires age slowly,” Mick shrugged. “Anyway, he knows he’s going to have to give up the college act soon. He’s still able to pass as a grad student, but in a couple decades, he’ll have to start pretending to be a professor or something.”

“Why did he invite himself over?” I asked.

“He likes to… keep tabs on our family…” Mick explained delicately.

The way he phrase it sent shivers down my spine, terrible, frightening shivers. I thought back to the prayer of Saint Michael from the old Latin scrawl I had discovered. I had memorized the entire prayer now in both Latin and English. In any other situation, I knew Father Brian would be proud of me for accomplishing such a feat. I squirmed a little more, thinking back to how the day I had discovered the hidden prayer against blood-drinkers was on the same day Donny had made his first unexpected visit to Mick’s family in their new home. At least, it was the first unexpected visit I had heard about.

“Does Donny come around often?” I asked.

“Depends,” Mick said. “Sometimes he’ll come every other week. Sometimes, we won’t see him for years. When I was really little, he actually lived with us for a period. He and some of my parents other friends too… It was sort of like living in a court rather than a family…”

“A court?” I asked.

“The proper name for a community of vampires living together,” Mick said.

“I thought that was a coven,” I frowned.

“No,” Mick shook his head. “Covens are for your made up witchy-people who dance around naked in the park. The real name of a vampire community is a court. They just use coven because more people understand what that means. Sort of how like people call it a ‘flock of ravens’ when the real name for is a ‘murder of ravens,’ you know?”

“I guess,” I frowned. “Do you know why Donny is coming in this time?”

“Haven’t the foggiest, but I really don’t want him to stay,” Mick frowned. He looked at me awkwardly. “You can’t let on to Donny you know about us, okay? I mean, I know it’s okay with the council and all, but Donny likes to run his mouth and likes to get people into trouble. And you should try to stay away from him as much as possible when he’s around. I… I don’t trust him. And I’d feel terrible if he did something to you that I could have prevented…”

“What could he do to me?” I frowned. “I thought you said that it’s illegal for vampires to hurt humans…”

“Donny is… connected,” Mick said. “His family is even older than my mother’s. And like her, he’s related to quite a few council members in various ways. Actually, he’s the great-nephew of the council head. Basically, he’s used to getting what he wants…”

“What would he want with me?” I asked, puzzled.

“I don’t care to find out,” Mick shrugged. “I’d rather not take risks with Donny. I just hope he’s on good behavior this time.”

“I do, too,” I nodded. Mick and I finished our breakfast in a tense silence before his mother and mine returned to the room, smiles on both of their faces.

“Riley, Louise has offered to take you and Mick to school today since she is already over here,” Mom said.

“Alright,” I said happily. “I’m glad I won’t have to listen to Ritchie’s bad music.”

“Riley? Are you forgetting something?” my mother asked pointedly.

“Thank you, Mrs. Vespasien,” I replied, giving my mother a “See? I’m not rude” look.

“Aurelie is such a sweet girl,” Mrs. Vespasien said to my mother warmly. My skin tingled as her perfect French accent fluttered over my name.

There wasn’t much to do at school that day. Being that it was a day before the holiday, we turned in a few papers and projects and then watched movies, making the whole school day somewhat of a waste for everyone involved. Since we spent the majority of the afternoon watching movies in our classes, Mick and I sat in the back and just talked. He carefully steered away from anything that would bring us near the topic of Thanksgiving and Donny’s visit, preferring to keep the conversation on video games and the new graphic novel series he was reading. That afternoon, we had agreed to hang out at my house and my grandmother made all three of us milkshakes after Ritchie drove us home.

Wednesday passed uneventfully but Thursday I woke up early to help the rest of my family prepare our Thanksgiving meal for the day. Ritchie, my grandfather, and my father began with setting up the table and taking care of the turkeys while I helped my mother and grandmother with the cooking. Soon, Uncle Joe and Aunt Melanie came over with my little cousins Brianne and Jenna. Uncle Joe actually helped with the cooking and setting up, though I couldn’t say the same for the rest of his family. Aunt Melanie relaxed in the living room and complained about how stressful the holidays were while she allowed her daughters free run of the house. The two girls were running back and forth due to the extra sugar in their systems from the cookies their mother had allowed them before the meal.

By eleven-thirty, Ritchie and I had been given the task of corralling our wild younger cousins while my mother, grandmother, and father worked rapidly to finish the meal. Grandpa had taken charge of the turkey and Uncle Joe had been designated to set the table since Ritchie and I were otherwise occupied with his tempestuous daughters. It was to this scene the Vespasiens arrived with Mrs. Vespasien’s homemade chocolate and pumpkin pies in tow. Mick stood behind his parents in his usual position: head down, glancing nervously up through his hair into the room. Donny was beside him, his teeth shinning brightly through what was a half-smile, half-sneer. I noticed his canines were pointer and protruded more than the average human and he closed his moth, as if he had noticed me noticing him.

Ritchie led Mick’s parents and Donny into the kitchen for greetings and to deposit the pies. Thankfully, Brianne and Jenna were clinging to Ritchie still, demanding attention and various sweets from him as he dragged them along. Mick stood next to me once the crowd had left, a bemused smirk on his face as he watched my petulant cousins shrieking and whining while my brother tried to remain hospitable and polite in front of our guests. Mick had never met my cousins before, but I knew he now understood why I had described them as shrill little hellions.

“So… that was Brianne and Jenna?” Mick asked. “Where is your aunt and uncle?”

“Uncle Joe is helping set up the meal. Aunt Melanie is across the hall, complaining about how hard here life is and how everyone makes her do everything,” I shrugged. “When did Donny get in?”

“Yesterday,” Mick shivered. “I tried to stay in my room, but my parents made me spend three hours with him so I wouldn’t seem rude. He’s the most ungrateful, annoying…”

“So, Michael,” a velvety voice echoed from the halls. “how about you introduce me to your little friend?”

“Riley this is Donny Boucher. Donny, this is Riley Marrioneaux. This is her house,” Mick said to him tersely before turning back to me. “Do we have enough time to play a game or something before dinner starts?”

“You have a lovely home,” Donny cut in, rapidly approaching me. I noticed he had dark black eyes similar to Mick’s, but unlike Mick, everything about Donny’s presence set me on edge.

“Thank you,” I whispered, terrified.

“How come you didn’t introduce me to your lovely friend the last time I was over?” Donny asked Mick, slowly approaching me in a way that made me frightfully uncomfortable. Mick’s mouth seemed to run dry and he opened it for some sort of retort, but we were called in to the dining room for the meal before he could say anything. Donny disappeared quickly and I wondered where he had gone.

The meal was made slightly awkward by Donny’s presence. I sat next to Mick and at the left of my grandfather at the table and, even though Donny was squished near the bottom of the table between Mick’s parents, his cold gaze and constant smirk put me at ease the entire time. No one else seemed to notice his strange behavior but Mick, who seemed to have taken it upon himself to block Donny’s gazes in my direction. My family went on asking Donny about his students and his “graduate work,” not knowing his true nature. I shivered every time he gave a craftily false answer, a confident smirk always aimed in my direction. I didn’t know what this over three-hundred-year-old vampire’s interest was in a fourteen-year-old girl and I honestly didn’t care to find out.

After the meal, Mrs. Vespasien willingly accompanied my mother and grandmother into the kitchen to help with clean up from the meal while Mr. Vespasien and Donny went with my father, grandfather, Ritchie, and Uncle Joe to watch the game following the meal. Aunt Melanie retired to the guest bedroom for a “much needed” nap due to her “exhaustion” and my two cousins went outside to play. Since neither of us were interested in what everyone else was doing, Mick and I headed up to my room to chat since the family room was occupied by football hysteria.

“Sorry about Donny,” Mick said as soon as the door was closed behind the two of us. “He likes to creep people out. Girls especially. It’s sort of his thing.”

“Your parents don’t seem to like him very much,” I pointed out.

“Mom tolerates him because Dad does,” Mick shrugged. “And Dad tolerates him because he has to…”

“Because he’s the son of a friend?” I asked curiously.

“I think there’s more to it than that, but that’s the excuse my parents have always given me, that Donny’s a friend of the family and deserves respect,” Mick shrugged. “I’ve never really understood why my parents bend over backwards for him when everyone in the family seems to hate him. Of course, I guess families just work that way…”

“That’s sort of how we are with Aunt Melanie,” I nodded. “It’s like no one ever liked her, but Uncle Joe married her and now we’re sort of stuck, you know?”

“Anyway, he’s supposed to be gone by Saturday,” Mick sighed. “I was hoping we could find someway to hang out away from my house tomorrow so I didn’t have to see him…”

“I was going Black Friday shopping with my mom at the mall in Morgan City,” I replied. “We’re waking up really early, so I don’t know if I’ll be up to doing much that afternoon.”

“Okay,” Mick frowned.

“I’m sure you could come if you want. You could bring your mother along too…” I began.

“Shopping at three in the morning with my mother?” Mick snorted. “No thanks. I’d rather sit in a nest of vipers.”

“Well, the offer still stands,” I shrugged. Mick gave me a disgusted look and then with both burst out into laughter.