The False Vampire

A cold sweat broke over me as someone grabbed my arms, shaking me. Bolting up in the bed, I screamed. This time, my limbs moved, my voice worked. A high-pitched scream that made my throat burn and my temple throb felt long over due, but as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw a figure standing the opposite side of the room.

I was ready to scream again, ready to fight. Without breaking eye contact with the silhouette, I grabbed the closest thing my arm could reach, coming up with my chemistry textbook.

The appearance of the book made me blink. I had left that in my bag. I looked down upon the bed, seeing the scattering of papers. Chemistry papers. I hadn’t started chemistry. In the distance, I could hear the old grandfather clock chiming, signalling that it was quarter past one in the morning. My eyebrows furrowed.

I thought I had been raped. I knew I was. I felt sore and achy all over, but could that have just been from running, running from Elisa and the Purswell house? It was only then that I remembered the figure in the corner of my bedroom. Upon a closer look, it revealed to be Jae Purswell. I shrunk back into my bed, whimpering slightly.

Jae shook his head, marching across the room. Like the figure in my dream, he grabbed my arms. A short scream erupted from my mouth, before Jae dropped my arms like they were on fire. He gave me a perplexed look, though his mouth was set in a grim line.

“You stupid, stupid little girl!” his perplexed look was gone, set instead with anger, causing me to scoot further back into my pillows. “Do you know the state you left Lis in? She’s been crying ever since you left! Not to mention, of all the nights you go running off, it had to be tonight. Think Adrienne!” his English deteriorated into a language I’ve never heard, consisting of light clucks and tinkling, almost like a bell, though in my mind it was more likely to be high pitched wavering tones. The abnormity of seeing it come out of his mouth almost made me giggle, though it did make it hard to keep a straight face.

“What language is that?” I bit my lip gently, trying to suppress the giggle that was about to bubble out of my mouth, knowing from experience that he wouldn’t take kindly to it.

“Faerie” he shot me a smouldering look, on of his infamous ‘do not dare’ ones. My mouth curled involuntarily as his expression darkened.

“You’re a faerie?”

“Yes. A sun faerie” He was a sun faerie? There were different divisions. If there were, what did a sun faerie do?

“What does a sun faerie do then?” He gave me this long, calculating look, as if debating what to tell me, and what to leave out.

“A sun faerie is a type that is like a precursor to a light faerie. Except they’re more common, ‘cause, you know, there’s more sun than anything really” he paused, giving me a look before continuing, “From what I can understand, sun faeries emit a weak pulse of sunlight from their skin-“

“That’s why I’m always burnt around you!” Jae smiled, I liked to think that he was ignoring the fact that I interrupted his little speech.

“Yes, that’s why I always burn you. Anyways, like all faeries, we have two forms, a three-inch form, our debated true form, and well, a regular human sized form. All I can pretty much do is manipulate light. Natural light. I’m practically hopeless at night” he shrugged. Almost as if he were apologizing.

“What do you mean you’re hopeless at night? And what did you mean by, ‘as far as I understand’?”

“Well, obviously dimwit there’s no sunlight at night time. The only powers I have are from the sunlight stored inside of me, which is only a fairly small amount. It’s the same for all faeries. And as far as I know, being that I’ve never met another sun faerie, or really, many faeries at all.”

“What do you mean? You’re a sun faerie, wouldn’t you at least know your parents?”

“No. That’s not the way things are within the Folk. After the battle between the Folk and the Hunters, we had to form some kind of treaty. To keep us safe, all Folk are to be separated from kin and kind. I don’t know who my parents are, besides Anita and John. They’re our guardians. Neither Samuel, Elisa nor I are actually related by blood. But they’re still my family”

“That’s a little depressing. I think they’re stupid rules”

“Maybe, but you can’t miss what you don’t have, and anyways, it is for the better. In our world, you’re judged for who your parents are. Mother a raging psycho? Well then you’re screwed, because it’s in the ‘genes’.” Jae laughed silently to himself.

“The Folk are stupid” a yawn swallowed my thoughts.

“Come on Adrienne, it’s time to go back to sleep. I’ll pick you up in the morning, yeah?” Jae crossed the room to stand at the window ledge.

“Alright, I’ll see you in the morning” I fussed with the sheets and slipped under the blankets, my mind caught on the many possibilities and questions that had unfolded in my mind. I was too wired to go to sleep, but pretended for Jae sake.

Long minutes passed, and yet, I didn’t hear the creaking of my window. Light footsteps shuffled closer to me. The warmth from Jae’s body radiated onto my face as he stood by my bed. Before long, I could hear the rustling of his clothing as he lowered himself to his knees. His warm breath fanned my face, and his roughened hands trailed my cheek for a few lingering moments. Warm lips kissed my forehead, he whispered softly to me, first in his tinkling language, and then in English.

“Good night, my anamchara”

It was only after these whispered words that I felt him leave, the window snapping shut behind him gently. I cracked my eyes open, only enough to see him. His back faced the window. As I watched, his body began vibrating, and then, releasing a small glow around him that became stronger and brighter. Sunlight, my mind whispered to me. It was sunlight.

The sunlight pulsed so strongly that my eyes began watering, and then, suddenly, it was only a speck. As Jae said, his faerie form was only three inches tall, and rapidly decreasing as he flew in the direction that I presumed to be home.

I glanced over at my phone, sitting beside my bed on the nightstand. Its numbers glowed saying four o’clock. I knew that I wouldn’t get anymore sleep before school started, so, I rose out of bed, gathering the necessities.

In the bathroom, the white lights seemed harsh against my pale skin. I was getting paler, if it were possible. My eyes were sunk deep with large, black bags outlining them. Everything about me seemed wrong. My hair was limp, almost dry. My scar stuck out from my pale skin, a pale pink that curved around me temple and jaw.

My teeth worried my lip again. My lips, even they too were dry and slightly cracked. Under the harsh light, I began stripping, stepping under the warm mist of the shower. My head titled back, resting on the tiles. I thought back on my dream, no, my nightmare. Everything seemed fine, it seemed like a horrible, horrible dream... until I checked the insides of my thighs, where tiny speckles of bruises remained.