The False Vampire

The ride to the doctors was silent, awkward. Elisa had taken the car after dropping Samuel and Jae at home. She was slouched back into the seat, one hand supporting her head and the other laying on the steering wheel.

Though she said she had forgiven me, and I had no doubt that she had, she was still weary. It almost was as if she were expecting me to scream bloody murder, to leave the car crying and screaming about the monster who sat inside.

“What are you?” I studied her, blonde hair, blue eyes. I had assumed that the Purswell’s were siblings, their looks being so similar. However, now that I studied her, I could see no resemblance to them. Her eyes were large and round, her chin slightly pointed with high, defined cheekbones. Her build was slim, like Jae’s, but with a mid length torso, and extremely long legs. I couldn’t place her. Her eyes darted to my face, searching.

“I’m a mermaid” the words were mumbled and quiet, and yet still managed to reach my ears in the silence of the car.

I glanced over at her, watching the way that she tensed her jaw. It was easy to tell that she was worried, and I felt hopeless, like I couldn't do anything about it. Guilt unfurled in my stomach. I knew why I felt guilty, and it was because I was the one to put that look of guilt on her face.

I licked my lips in the dry heat of the car. Outside, the temperatures were just starting to cool again, and I knew instinctively that the first of the snow would be ready to fall in the next few weeks.

"So, if you're a mermaid, why haven't I ever seen you with a tail?"

"It's because I've lived on land my whole life, and I assume that my biological parents were similar. I can control it, if I'm well hydrated and have frequent swims." Elisa's lips twitched upwards at the corners, and I knew from experience that she was remembering a funny moment in her life. One that at this stage, I wasn't privy to.

"Elisa, when Samuel said he was my mate, what does he mean?" My fingers knotted on my lap, clencing and unclencing in nerves.

"Don't worry about that. It's not the same as in novels." Without looking at me, she shifted her hands so that she could pat my knee gently in comfort, and then rearranged them to once again be resting her head.

"What do you mean?" though the words were meant to be comforting, I found no comfort as such in them, knowing that I didn't know what they meant.

"Well, for starters, a mate has a completely different concept within the Folk. It doesn't mean that you're his soul mate, but at the same time, you two are connected. In ways that you cannot fathom. Mate more or less means companion to us, and for the werewolves, it's one step deeper. It more so means guardian." she turned the car, into a road that was almost concealed by trees. I looked around at them for a second, wondering where we were going. I had to tell myself to trust Elisa, and I did trust her.

"The guardian thing a big deal?"

"Yes. He will never leave your side now. Not because of the curse"

"What do you mean Lis? A curse" she glanced at me again, her shoulders going slightly tense before she exhaled, shaking her head slightly to herself.

"The curse was placed on the werewolves centuries ago. The original story is lost, but the common one is that a witch and werewolf was paired as mates, companions. However, one day he found his soul mate, and left her. The witch, who had grown feelings for her mate became jealous of the pair. One day she was attacked, and as she was laying there to die, she remembered her mate and her feelings of abandonment. She placed a curse on him with all the magic in her body as she died. It was so strong that it attached itself to every werewolf though, and not just him. Anyways, as a result, the werewolves became the guardians of their mates, because now, if they die, the werewolves experience their mates final moments of death every night for the rest of their lives, amplified tenfold. I've seen a wolf, one in a few territories over lose his mate. He lost his mind from the pain and ended up killing his soulmate thinking she was trying to kill him. The next morning when the pain lifted, he saw what he had done and killed himself" Elisa sighed, long forgotten memories rising to the surface of her mind, their reflections twinkling in her eyes, radiating pain.

"It's not like the fairytales at all is it?"

"No. Some parts of the fairytales are true. Most fairytales originate from the humans who remember. They remember meeting them, or were part of the original wars, or were gifted. They write to create hope that both kinds will one day reunite in peace. And as normal, you have two sides of the story. The others write the fairytales where everyone has a happy ending. The darker stories were written by hunters. Take this for example, you know the Little Mermaid, the original story?"

"Yes, I used to watch the Disney video when I was younger"

"Well, forget the Disney version. Hans Christian Andersen, the author of the story was a hunter. An unfortunate hunter, in his perspective really. One day he went sailing and his ship wrecked. A meraid, named Ariel did save him. Except she did more than that, she gifted him. And he, the arrogant ass he was, turned her away."

"Wait, gifted him?"

"Yeah, I'll explain that a bit later. Anyways, Anderson left Ariel on the beach and he returned to his fiancé, a woman who he referred to as his princess. Anderson broke Ariel's heart, even after she had gifted him with her voice, something he had never had. He wrote that she tried to kill him, and unable to complete the task returned to the ocean as mist. In reality, he killed her so that she wouldn't have the opportunity to rescind the gift. He was so selfish!" During Elisa's speech, the trees had grown denser, until finally, a small medical clinic came into site. It was nothing more than a house, homely, with a wide wrap around porch.

Elisa stopped the car, pulling into one of the designated parking spots in the small parking lot only big enough for five cars at most. She led me inside, into a sterile white room where there were a few plush chairs scattered around, and a receptionist on the far side of the room. With a start, I noticed she had horns. Two, thick ivory horns that began on either side of her forehead, and grew backwards in a curling manner. Other than that, she was a normal woman, though I noticed that what I had thought was chocolate skin was instead a fine coat of chocolate fur. It struck me that she was someone who wouldn't be able to be seen in public; there was just no way to hide who she was. We approached her, and I wasn't afraid to admit that the receptionist intimidated me, to the extent that I cowered slightly behind Elisa.

"Hello, welcome to Apollo Clinic, what can I help you with? Is it a binding spell gone wrong? Poor dear, what did you do to get stuck with a human!" The lady shot me a look of contempt.

"No Veronica" Elisa pulled her hair back, baring her shoulders. "We wish to see Madam Treacle" Elisa stared the receptionist straight in the eyes. After a moment, her head bowed in defeat.

“Alright then, it’ll be about five minutes, she’s just finishing with an Abasy” Veronica licked her lips, looking at me before returning back to her computer, thankfully ignoring us. Elisa and I curled up in a lounge that seemed to be the closest to the door.

“So what does gifted mean?” I murmured the words in a hushed voice, unwilling to let anyone else overhear our conversation, but knowing at the same time that it was inevitable.

“Gifted. Well, there’s like, two strains. One type is the ‘naturally’ occurring, either when you have a hybrid way back in the family tree, and the abilities still manifest in you, but you have so little a trace of Folk blood that you’re declared and recognized as human, which by the way, is really rare. There’s only one for every million of people or so. Don’t expect to run into any of them. And then there’s the other type, were a Folk would trade something with you. Like, Ariel traded her voice for Anderson, so she could no longer speak, but he could. Get it? Except those ones can be taken back, but it’s not done lightly. Hunters used to torture Folk into gifting them, but there are different degrees of gifted. I don’t know much about it though.” Elisa shrugged.

“Miss human?” The old lady looked at the file in her hand, before sending a questioning look to Veronica. I assumed that the lady was Dr. Treacle. Veronica in reply to her unspoken question smirked, before raising a furry hand and pointing it in my direction. The look that Treacle sent Veronica wasn’t missed by me, and in response, I could feel the urge to laugh. Dr Treacle beckoned Elisa and me, and without hesitation, Elisa followed, leaving me to scramble behind her.

As we walked through the hallways, I noticed that they seemed to be never ending, though on the outside it was only a small house. In my mind, I likened it to the Tardis on Doctor Who. Doorways were open, letting all sorts of sounds enter the hallways. I heard the tinkling laughter that seemed so alike Jae’s language that it made me hesitate, while I also heard the unmistakable sounds of a woman in labour. I wondered what type of medical practice Elisa had taken me to.

Dr Treacle led us into an open door, showing a room that was filled with papers and books that were stacked upon each other, everywhere. Amulets that looked a lot like the ones on charmed where hung off hooks screwed into the ceiling. Walking into the room made my hairs stand on edge and seemed to take my breath away momentarily. Dr Treacle circled the room three times in each direction, plucking bits of papers as she went. She stopped in front of me, before pressing a metal disc to my forehead. The metal grew warm, to the point of being uncomfortable. Seconds passed before she had taken the warm disc off my forehead. I bit my lip, uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

“Hello Adrienne. There’s no need to be uncomfortable, I’ve seen worst cases then yours” she paused briefly, smiling at me. She seemed as though she was an old grandma, with enough comfort stored in that smile to be my own, if I had ever known her “I would like you to please hop up on the table, would you mind taking off your jeans and raising your shirt? I’m so sorry dear I do need to look”.

I swallowed heavily, before doing as instructed. Watching as she walked around the room again, I noticed she had picked up three discs again, as well as a pair of old fashioned glasses with thick lenses and golden frames. She placed the discs across my lower stomach in a line. They too grew warm, but unlike the other, these seemed to pulse, almost like they had a heartbeat. Alternating between hot and cold, they caused my stomach to itch and tingle. In the glasses, Dr Treacle’s eyes were magnified, humorously so. With quick, light fingers she had finished the inspection in a total of five minutes that seemed as though were stretched into hours. She tapped my stomach, asking me to wriggle into my pants once more.

“Well dear, it looks as though there’s no damage. No need to worry dear!” she smiled at me brightly, and relief washed through my body. She whistled loudly for a second, the sound echoing in my ears. A black dog ran into the room and sat at the door, staring at the three of us. “Now girls, if you would just follow Wadee here, he’ll show you back to the exit. Go on Adrienne! Grab the leash!” She laughed lightly. I followed her instructions. As soon as my hand clenched around the silken fabric, Wadee took off running. It took all my concentration to follow him and not stagger, but I did so. Soon, he had led me past Veronica who spat at me as I left, and out to the car. I leaned heavily against the automobile, panting lightly, my hand resting on Wadee’s head.

He jumped onto his back paws, licked my arm and then trotted off, turning into a young man as he walked. His black hair was long, reaching just above his elbows and straight, his built and colour made me think that he was Indian in decent, maybe native. My eyes trailed down his figure before noticing that he was naked. My eyes widened and I whipped my head around, staring into the car window.

I didn’t have to wait long until I heard Elisa exit the centre, her bubbly voice yelling good bye to Veronicia. I hated Veronica.