As The Blood Is Drained, It's Bad For Business
Sniffles and Secrets
It’s funeral day. Mom and Matthew are dressed up and ready to go, and I’m in a white tank top and my pj pants that I’ve had forever. Mom grabs the keys and is already out the door. Matthew stays behind for just a moment.
“Scarlett, are you sure you want to stay behind? I mean, it’s Dad’s fune-” He starts. I cut him off.
“No Matthew. I’m not going. Okay? I can’t. I’m sorry.” He nods his head and I hug him. Within seconds he’s out the door, just like Mom. As the door slams, I sigh to myself. I don’t exactly know why I’m not going to the funeral. All I know is that it’s an open casket, and I can’t bear to see Dad’s face without any spirit in it. Plus everyone will be mourning and wearing black, and that’s just depressing. I know that’s not what Dad would have wanted. If he had his way, he would probably be cremated, first of all. Secondly, I’m sure he wouldn’t want us moping around because he’s gone. He’d want us to celebrate the amazing times that we had while he was alive. That’s the kind of spirit Dad would have had. Unfortunately, that’s the kind of spirit that left this house the moment he died.
“Gotcha,” Daniel said triumphantly, grabbing his dog and yanking him off of me. I quickly got up, holding my neck and trying to wince. Daniel held the vampire dog by the collar as if it was no trouble at all.
“Sorry about that,” he waved his free hand, “we didn’t think you’d get better so soon. We’ve been blocking Killer, here, off from the living room so you wouldn’t have to deal with him.” I stared at the beastly creature.
“Killer,” I said dumbly. He looked at his dog and then back to me.
“Yes.” He nodded. I made a face, making sure he knew I was disgusted.
“It’s bad enough that you’re here…” I trailed off.
“It was an accident, okay?” he started, defending himself, “our friend Gregory bit him when he was a newbie. There was nothing we could do, so we kept the dog…” My interest had suddenly peaked.
“What about…um…Gregory?” I asked keenly. Daniel became quiet.
“You won’t tell me your secrets, so I won’t tell you mine,” he retorted. I rolled my eyes and moved swiftly past the bloodthirsty dog and continued to search for a cup. I didn’t realize that it would almost cost me my life to get a fucking glass of water. I sifted through more of their cabinets.
“You’re lucky I’m not fully recovered, or I would kill both you and your stupid dog,” I threatened. Daniel just laughed. What could I do to get through to this creep?
“Yea, it looked like you were totally handling the situation when my big fluffy animal pounced on you,” he mocked.
“Like I said, I’m not fully recovered,” I complained, turning around after finally finding a glass, “now shut up,” I added. I filled the glass with water and turned to him.
“Ooh, you’re sexy when you’re mad,” he teased, poking me in the side with his free arm. Killer growled. I used my free hand to catch his finger before he pulled away. I pulled it close, bending it backwards in an awkward attempt to make him wince, like siblings do when fighting over the remote.
“Oh really now?” Jackie entered the kitchen, crossing her arms. I smirked.
“I was teasing,” he pleaded. She looked at him skeptically but smiled. I downed the rest of my water and filled it up again.
“You vampires are so touchy,” I said, rolling my eyes once more. Jackie unintentionally pouted her lower lip.
“I was kidding, okay? I think you’re the one who’s got some perception problems,” she snapped. Oh, this was much different than the Jackie who had set a bowl of soup in front of me. I pointed from Daniel to Jackie.
“So you two are…together?” I asked. Why was I engaging them in conversation? I didn’t even care. Nonetheless, they both nodded. The dog sat, probably figuring it was not going to get the chance to bite me in the ass today.
“Yes, we are,” Daniel said proudly. He found a way to maneuver around his dog and get a tight grip on Jackie’s waist. I wrinkled my nose.
“Thank heavens you things can’t reproduce,” I remarked. Jackie’s face fell.
“That’s not very fair. I’ve wanted to have a baby ever since I was a little girl. We thought about adoption, but we’d have to give our names and information, and the process would take years, and-” I cut her off.
“And vampires would be horrible parents. Ew.” I poured the rest of my water out into the sink, set my glass down, and left the room. As I walked back to my couch [well, I assumed it was temporarily mine, seeing as no one had used it for at least two days] I heard the stifling of sniffles from the kitchen.
“Scarlett, are you sure you want to stay behind? I mean, it’s Dad’s fune-” He starts. I cut him off.
“No Matthew. I’m not going. Okay? I can’t. I’m sorry.” He nods his head and I hug him. Within seconds he’s out the door, just like Mom. As the door slams, I sigh to myself. I don’t exactly know why I’m not going to the funeral. All I know is that it’s an open casket, and I can’t bear to see Dad’s face without any spirit in it. Plus everyone will be mourning and wearing black, and that’s just depressing. I know that’s not what Dad would have wanted. If he had his way, he would probably be cremated, first of all. Secondly, I’m sure he wouldn’t want us moping around because he’s gone. He’d want us to celebrate the amazing times that we had while he was alive. That’s the kind of spirit Dad would have had. Unfortunately, that’s the kind of spirit that left this house the moment he died.
“Gotcha,” Daniel said triumphantly, grabbing his dog and yanking him off of me. I quickly got up, holding my neck and trying to wince. Daniel held the vampire dog by the collar as if it was no trouble at all.
“Sorry about that,” he waved his free hand, “we didn’t think you’d get better so soon. We’ve been blocking Killer, here, off from the living room so you wouldn’t have to deal with him.” I stared at the beastly creature.
“Killer,” I said dumbly. He looked at his dog and then back to me.
“Yes.” He nodded. I made a face, making sure he knew I was disgusted.
“It’s bad enough that you’re here…” I trailed off.
“It was an accident, okay?” he started, defending himself, “our friend Gregory bit him when he was a newbie. There was nothing we could do, so we kept the dog…” My interest had suddenly peaked.
“What about…um…Gregory?” I asked keenly. Daniel became quiet.
“You won’t tell me your secrets, so I won’t tell you mine,” he retorted. I rolled my eyes and moved swiftly past the bloodthirsty dog and continued to search for a cup. I didn’t realize that it would almost cost me my life to get a fucking glass of water. I sifted through more of their cabinets.
“You’re lucky I’m not fully recovered, or I would kill both you and your stupid dog,” I threatened. Daniel just laughed. What could I do to get through to this creep?
“Yea, it looked like you were totally handling the situation when my big fluffy animal pounced on you,” he mocked.
“Like I said, I’m not fully recovered,” I complained, turning around after finally finding a glass, “now shut up,” I added. I filled the glass with water and turned to him.
“Ooh, you’re sexy when you’re mad,” he teased, poking me in the side with his free arm. Killer growled. I used my free hand to catch his finger before he pulled away. I pulled it close, bending it backwards in an awkward attempt to make him wince, like siblings do when fighting over the remote.
“Oh really now?” Jackie entered the kitchen, crossing her arms. I smirked.
“I was teasing,” he pleaded. She looked at him skeptically but smiled. I downed the rest of my water and filled it up again.
“You vampires are so touchy,” I said, rolling my eyes once more. Jackie unintentionally pouted her lower lip.
“I was kidding, okay? I think you’re the one who’s got some perception problems,” she snapped. Oh, this was much different than the Jackie who had set a bowl of soup in front of me. I pointed from Daniel to Jackie.
“So you two are…together?” I asked. Why was I engaging them in conversation? I didn’t even care. Nonetheless, they both nodded. The dog sat, probably figuring it was not going to get the chance to bite me in the ass today.
“Yes, we are,” Daniel said proudly. He found a way to maneuver around his dog and get a tight grip on Jackie’s waist. I wrinkled my nose.
“Thank heavens you things can’t reproduce,” I remarked. Jackie’s face fell.
“That’s not very fair. I’ve wanted to have a baby ever since I was a little girl. We thought about adoption, but we’d have to give our names and information, and the process would take years, and-” I cut her off.
“And vampires would be horrible parents. Ew.” I poured the rest of my water out into the sink, set my glass down, and left the room. As I walked back to my couch [well, I assumed it was temporarily mine, seeing as no one had used it for at least two days] I heard the stifling of sniffles from the kitchen.