The False Vampire

As the car approached further up the long driveway, I could make out the figure in the front seat more clearly. Her hair was twisted into a bun, and she was wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans.

Her face was stretched out into a massive grin. The smiling action of her face displayed her laugh lines proudly, one of the few signs of her true age.

She pulled the car to a stop in front of me, allowing me to hop into the car. As soon as I sat on the seat, buckled my seatbelt and had closed the door, she began to blab my ear off.

“Hi honey, have you had a good day? You look awfully sunburnt, you’ll have to wear more sunscreen in the morning, perhaps take a small bottle with you. That would be helpful, don’t you think so? I think so. Did you make any friends? Any enemies? I hope you made some friends, I can’t bare the thought of you making no friends, I think it would break my heart!”

This was all managed to be said in seconds. I raised an eyebrow at her, almost as if I had to question her sanity.

“Mum, for one, yes, I did make a friend. Her name is Elisa”

“Well that is excellent dear” her smile became warmer, her expressions posing a more relaxed state. She allowed herself to take a deep breath and her shoulders to relax.

The drive to home was long, filled with silence. My head rested on the cool glass of the window, watching the outside world. Lamps lit the street, casting a soft glow across the dim street. Houses blurred by, windows were illuminated, silhouettes of the people burned into their curtains, allowing the world to see them.

A light mist clung to the ground, dense enough to see it but not so much that you could not see the road. It seemed to be as though winter was desperately trying to stay around.

The longer I stayed with my face lightly pressed against the glass, the more the image from the outside world disappeared.

We were only a street away from our house; I almost had it in my sights. Rubbing at my eyes, I tried to repress a yawn.

When the car pulled up in the driveway, I just sat there. I could feel that my limbs did not want to move, and for the time being, I knew I did not want to either.

Trying in vain to smother another yawn, I pulled my bag onto my lap. Opening the door with reluctant movements, a gust of cool air hit my face. Shivers violently wracked my body.

It was much much colder here than it had been at school. The thought brought a smile to my face. School. I go to school now.

A laughed bubbled up from my throat. I went to school today. Met the weirdest of people. One blind boy, two blonde haired siblings and someone who is frequently mentioned but seems to be trying to avoid me and it wasn't as if I had ever seen his face even...that I know of.

Here I was, the most sunburnt I had ever been, my eyes aching, a headache pounding, shivering but still I found some reason to be happy. I think, this has been the most optimistic I had ever been.

Rolling my eyes at my own behaviour, I quickly vaulted out of the car, renewed with a different energy.

Inside the house I could here the clattering of every day life. Mum was cooking dinner, and by the smell in the house, it was chicken-themed meal. It smelled as if she had been using the slow cooker. My stomach rumbled in anticipation.

Running upstairs, I quickly dumped my bag onto my bed, the contents spilling out. This was quite pitiful at best, a handful of papers and nothing more – besides the stray pen that was
scattered about here and there.

I staked my papers into a neat pile and placed them on my desk. Quickly, I ran downstairs, hearing my mum calling to me that dinner is ready.

As we sat around circular dinner table, I studied my parents. They were quiet, eating their meals and not looking at one another. This was not normal.

Obviously, something had happened to them during the day, perhaps while I was up in my room. If that was the case, they were going to great lengths to conceal it.

I stared down at my own meal, scooping a little bit into my mouth. The spices in the chicken tantalized my taste buds, slightly spicy, but not overwhelmingly so, the rice in its bland flavour complementing it beautifully, fluffy in texture.

“Adrienne. I don’t want you going to school” My fathers’ voice was stern, thinking that if he used that tone on me, he would bat every whim I had out of me.

“Why?”

“They obviously are not equipped to taking care of you there. Look how sunburnt you are!”

“Dad, that’s my own fault. I forgot the sunscreen and the parasol”

“I still don’t like the idea that you are out there all day in the sunlight” he spat the word at me as if it was like acid in his mouth.

“Father, you are acting childish about this”

His only reply was a huff, silently admitting defeat. I knew this game of his. He was waiting for me to break. I cave in and say I would never go to that place again. Well two could play at this game.

After finishing my meal, I excused myself, running up towards my bedroom. Quickly, I combed through my hair, before hopping in the shower.

The heat seared my sunburnt skin, and despite the pain, felt good. I tipped my head back, feeling the water rush down my scalp.

The water continued to beat down on my skin, almost like a long lost lover caressing my very flesh with his words.

My eyes snapped open as I heard the pipes groan.

What the…?

My unspoken question was answered as the hot water cut out, spraying me with freezing water. A squeal ripped from the throat as I hastily tried to cut off the hot water.
Once it was accomplished, I stood in the shower, water dripping off me and a towel wrapped around me. If I strained to listen, I could hear my fathers booming laughter.

He was back to normal, at least from what I could tell. He loved to turn the hot water on downstairs if he was convinced that I was taking too long in the shower. I glared at the wall, as if it could do something.

He was so going to pay.