unvamped

by Elizabeth Stevens

  “It is okay, it is over now,” Charlie said.

  “I’ll be inside,” Ellie said and ran up to her room.

  She stood in front of her mirror, looking for whatever it was that had made him look at her like that. She couldn’t see anything. To her, she looked just the same as she had always looked, a bit more dishevelled maybe, but otherwise no different. Why then did he not just look at her like food, as he had once done in an alleyway? Why did he look at her like something…else?

  ****

  Charles and Ethel were sitting on the front lawn of his house the next day and were hard at it again. Charles closed his eyes again and he tried to work out what his senses thought they were doing.

  “Oh, hi Mike,” he heard Ethel say, and he opened his eyes to see a young man walking up the path.

  “Hi, Ms Cooper,” the young man replied, smiling at her.

  “Mike, this is Charles.”

  “Oh, yeah, the guy from next door? I’ve seen you round school.”

  Charles nodded, not pleased that everyone knew him when he did not know anyone. It was not the first time he wished that Pet would have given him memories; anything to work with.

  “Ellie inside?” Mike asked. Ethel nodded and he kept walking.

  “Pet’s boyfriend…” Ethel said slowly and Charles was sure she was trying to convey a message to him.

  “Not supernatural, then?” Charles asked, ignoring the question on her face.

  “Not supernatural.” Ethel nodded. “Fluctuations?”

  Charles shook his head. “No, I am stuck in human mode.”

  Ethel nodded again. “All right.” She pinched the bridge of her nose.

  “Will we call it a day, then?”

  “Would you like that?”

  “I guess... I am getting a bit of a headache.”

  “All right. Will I see you tomorrow?” Ethel asked, standing up.

  “Sure.” He took her outstretched hands and let her pull him up.

  “You should come to dinner tomorrow with your parents.”

  “I will ask them,” Charles promised.

  ****

  Ellie was surprisingly happy when she woke up on this particular morning. Her boyfriend, Mike, was finally coming to see her. He’d been calling and messaging her since she got home, but hadn’t been able to come over.

  She wriggled happily in her bed. He’d be here soon. She’d slept badly the night before, but made sure she put her alarm on for an hour before Mike said he’d be over.

  She jumped into the shower, then dried and straightened her hair, found something nice to put on and ran downstairs. Charlie and her mum were out on the front lawn today. Ellie sat on the couch and watched out the window. She was watching for Mike, but her eyes kept slipping towards her mum and Charlie. They didn’t look like they were doing much – they never did – but there was an awful lot of frustration going out there, that much Ellie could tell.

  Ellie sat there for three hours, waiting for Mike and watching the two outside. She checked her phone at least every five minutes and messaged Mike six times. He never replied and she kept waiting.

  Mike finally showed up. By now, Ellie was less excited and more annoyed than before.

  She watched as Mike stopped to say hello to her mum and then continued up the path. As Ellie hugged him before he came inside, she saw Charlie go home.

  “What took you so long?” Ellie snapped uncharacteristically. She usually played the part of a delicate wallflower with Mike, not wanting there to be any chance of her heritage to slip out.

  “Sorry, babe, the boys needed me. I can’t stay either; I just wanted to say hi. We’ve got football practice this afternoon,” he said. He kissed her quickly and she had to stop herself from yelling at him.

  “Oh, that’s okay. Will I see you later?” she asked, gripping the wallflower image tightly.

  “Of course, I’ll see you at school next Monday, if not before…”

  Ellie looked at him in total disbelief. Her mind yelled at him, and she heaped on the glamour so no blue sparks would be seen. She said pleasantly, “okay then. Good luck with your practice and I’ll see you at school Monday week, if not before.”

  He smiled at her. “Thanks, babe. Knew you’d understand.” He kissed her again and lumbered off down the path.

  Ellie couldn’t see her mum out the front, so she closed the door and screamed. Blue energy flew around the room and rattled the pictures on the walls.

  “Petronella! What in the blazes in wrong with you?” Dad asked.

  “Boy troubles,” Morganna sniggered. She’d apparently been sitting on the couch the whole damned time.

  “Thanks for that,” Ellie shot back at her.

  Morganna stuck out her tongue at Ellie.

  “Oh for pity’s sake. Morganna, you are over a hundred years old… Act your age,” their dad said as Ellie stomped up the stairs. She heard her sister reply, but was too far away to make out the words.

  “Boys…” Ellie mumbled to herself as she kicked the carpet.

  She pulled off her jeans and the nice shirt she had specially picked to wear. Pyjamas were a much better idea, except she didn’t want to look like that girl. So, she pulled on some track pant shorts and a t-shirt. Now, she looked slightly less sorry for herself.

  Her phone buzzed and she looked at it.

  It was Aubrey.

  Aubrey: Boys suck.

  Me: Don’t I know it!

  She replied and shoved her phone in her pocket. She refused to allow herself to feel saddened that it wasn’t Mike.

  She picked up the curse book, wandered downstairs. A bit of time sitting outside would do her good; she’d been cooped up inside for almost three weeks now. She pulled the lawn chair into the middle of the back lawn and lay down, putting the book down beside her.

  ****

  She must have fallen asleep, because she sat up some time later and heard Charlie behind the fence, cursing at some weeds. At least, she assumed by what he was saying, that he was cursing at some weeds.

  “Mad vampire,” she mumbled to herself, and picked up the curse book.

  Chapter Six

  S

  he came downstairs one morning and found two werewolves in the front passage with her mum and dad.

  Morganna must be at school, Ellie thought to herself.

  She looked over the two wolves. They were likely mother and son, based on the little she knew about wolves. The son looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite work out where from.

  “Ellie, you know Lee Fletcher from school. And this is his mother, Wilda,” Mum said, holding a plate of biscuits.

  Ellie vaguely wondered if they had any biscuits left after all the visitors they’d had recently.

  “Lee, of course. Hi. I didn’t recognise you, sorry,” she said, smiling.

  And, it was true. Now she was reminded, she knew exactly who this wolf was. He was her age and was in most, if not all, her classes last year. They were sort of friends in junior school, but it had been a while since they’d properly spoken. She felt a bit embarrassed she hadn’t recognised him straight away.

  “No worries, we haven’t really talked in a while,” he said as though he’d read her mind.

  “We were actually just about to go, dear. I’ve got to go and get Rolf ready for Wolf Camp.” Ellie noticed Lee roll his eyes. “How are you feeling?” Wilda asked.

  “Much better, thank you.” She smiled back at the wolf.

  “Oh, I’m so glad to hear it. Well, we had better get going. The full moon waits for no wolf!” she giggled.

  “Good to see you’re better,” Lee said. “I’ll see you at school, then.”

  “Yeah, see you at school.”

  Ellie and her parents said goodbye as the two wolves walked out, and Ellie saw Charlie plodding up the path. He skirted around them, stepping off the path to allow them to continue along it.

  “Charles! Are your parents comin
g to dinner?” Ellie’s mum called as he walked up the path.

  “Yes, and they said to thank you for the invitation,” he replied. He nodded to Ellie, smiling.

  “Fluctuations today?” Ethel asked.

  “Between my front door and half-way up your path, yes. Now, no. It has settled on my vampire senses. I can see through your glamour and the house. I can always see through Pet’s, though.” She stiffened when he said her name. She hated that he called her Pet, but telling him to call her Ellie would just be giving him permission to use her name or talk to her.

  “Really?” Ellie’s mum looked at her. “Even when you can’t see through the house’s or mine?” Charlie nodded.

  Ellie shrugged, feeling a slight anger build up inside her. “Side effect of drinking my blood?” She wanted to scream at him, but took deep breaths.

  “Maybe...” her mum answered, but Ellie knew her mum well enough to know she didn’t think that at all.

  Ellie merely shrugged again and wandered to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. She put the kettle on and sat in the living room while it boiled. She sat down with her tea at the other end of the room, not wanting to disturb her mum and Charlie. She let the sparks play about her fingertips, watching how the magic jumped in and out of her skin. She sometimes felt that if she stared at it long enough, she would unravel the greater mysteries of magic.

  “No, nothing,” she heard Charlie say.

  “He’s here again?” Morganna yelled and Ellie looked up at her. She hadn’t seen or heard her sister come in. Morgana’s hair was sparking fiercely and her face looked like thunder. “You’ve let him in the house, Mother?”

  “Morganna, calm down,” Mum sighed.

  “No, I will not calm down! I have put up with you having him around almost all week. How much more of this does Pet have to put up with? He almost killed her!”

  Ellie looked to Charlie, who was just staring between Morganna and his hands, and looking very uncomfortable. She got that annoying twinge in her stomach again as she looked at him. For someone so old, he looked so young and Ellie couldn’t stop herself from feeling his pain, even though it was the last thing she wanted.

  Ellie’s mum stood up. “Morganna Cooper. You watch your manners.”

  “He’s a vampire, Mum!”

  “No, he’s not. I made sure of that,” Ellie bristled. She knew her sister wouldn’t understand her sticking up for him, her mum probably wouldn’t either, Charlie wouldn’t, and she certainly didn’t. There was something deep inside her that wanted to stop her sister from attacking the poor boy.

  Ellie knew her hair would be sparking just as much as her mum’s and sister’s were. She felt the heat of the sparks play over her body and could hear it running through her hair.

  “Pet...” Morganna begged in her big sister voice. “Pet, don’t do this to yourself.”

  “I’m not doing anything to myself, Morg. Can’t you feel his pain?” She pointed at Charlie. She hadn’t wanted to mention she felt it, but she had to make Morganna understand somehow. “Whatever he did to me, he is paying the price.” Until she said it, she hadn’t known for sure that that was how she felt. Now that it was out, she realised that was exactly how she felt.

  “But, Pet-”

  “But, nothing, Morg! Look at me. I’m alive and healthy and he’s suffering as a teenage boy, and gods know what else I may have done to him with this stupid magic!”

  Ellie felt close to tears, but refused to let them show in front of Charlie. She felt hopeless in the face of all her magic and what she had done, what it had done to her and what she could do if she put her mind to it. It scared her to no end.

  “Pet...” her mum started.

  Ellie held a hand up to stop her. “No, don’t! I’m fine. Just see if you can help him, Mum. Just stop it, Morg,” Ellie said before her sister said any more. Ellie walked out quickly and felt her sister follow.

  Morganna grabbed Ellie’s arm at the top of the stairs. “What is the matter with you?”

  “What’s the matter with you?” Ellie growled. Morganna looked taken aback. “How can you be so rude?”

  “Rude? He nearly killed you, Pet!”

  “Thank you, Morganna, I forgot. I am so very glad that everyone keeps reminding me of that fact!” Ellie hissed.

  “How can you forgive him?”

  “I haven’t forgiven him, Morg, and I doubt I ever will, but there is no reason to be rude, for gods’ sake!” Ellie felt herself shaking and knew she was sparking again. Morganna was sparking slightly less than before, but purple still flickered around her head. “I wasn’t lying when I said I think he’s paying the price. You would need to be absolutely numb not to feel his pain and confusion.” She lowered her voice so there was no chance that Charlie would hear her. “He nearly killed me, but his life is a living hell now. I can think of no better punishment. Death would be too good for him.”

  Morganna let go of her and stepped back. “Pet…”

  Ellie felt very tired. “Just let it be, Morg. You don’t have to like him I certainly don’t, but just don’t be so rude to him. Please.” Ellie walked off to her room, leaving Morganna at the top of the stairs.

  ****

  Lee followed his mother around to visit Ethel and Al. She’d talked about going ever since he’d remembered Ellie’s attack. She spent a week putting together a hamper for them, filled to the brim with casseroles and snacks and anything else she thought the family might need.

  “It’s good we’re going today, Lee. Otherwise, we’d have to wait until after the full moon. That’s too long to have waited,” she chattered as he struggled to keep up with her brisk pace. Even carrying the huge hamper, she was fast.

  “I suppose so,” he answered.

  When they came to the house, Lee stopped for a moment. It was different to all the other houses on the block. It was covered in roses and flowers that had grown all the way up to the roof. There was a strip of herbs at the base of the house. At least, Lee assumed they were herbs; some he thought he recognised as herbs, but others he’d never seen before and he didn’t think he’d be able to name any of them. Lee hoped they had a glamour on the house, because it was just a little bit conspicuous… It sort of screamed witch. At least, the neighbours would have been screaming witch a couple of centuries ago.

  Lee held the gate open for his mum and shut it behind them.

  “Do you want me to carry that?” Lee asked for the sixth time.

  “I’ve told you already, I’m fine. Thank you for asking, though,” she said as he knocked on the door.

  “Wilda?” a young, purple-haired woman asked.

  “Ethel!” His mum smiled. “We were so sorry to hear about Ellie that we just had to come and make sure everyone was all right.” She handed the woman the hamper.

  Ethel struggled a little under its weight. “Thank you so much.” She smiled. “Would you like to come in?”

  “Thank you.” Lee’s mum ushered him inside. “You haven’t met Lee, our youngest.”

  “Hello,” he said, smiling awkwardly.

  “Nice to meet you,” Ethel replied. “I would shake your hand, but…” She nodded at the hamper and he smiled more fully. “Have you just got the two now, then?” Ethel asked his mum as they followed her into a lounge room.

  “No, we’ve got three now. Chuck’s our middle. He’s just a bit older than Lee. He finished human schooling last year.” His mum sat down at Ethel’s invitation. “How about you?”

  “Just the two still. We thought about another when Ellie was younger, but we decided we could wait a century or two and decide if it was what we really wanted.” Ethel smiled as a man with very bright orange hair came in.

  “Wilda? Wilda Fletcher! It’s been a long time,” he cried, shaking her hand enthusiastically. “How are you?”

  “Al, it’s wonderful to see you again. I’m good thanks. How are you after everything?”

  “Oh, you know, we’re copin
g pretty well. Ellie’s made a fantastic recovery. It was touch and go for a while, but she’s a trooper. And, who is this strapping young wolf? That’s certainly not Dwight!”

  “No, this is Lee. He’s our youngest. He’s at school with Ellie.”

  “It’s lovely to meet you, Lee. Thanks for coming.”

  “You too. To meet you, I mean.” Lee couldn’t help but smile at the man’s enthusiasm.

  Al looked at his wife. “Shall I make some tea?”

  “That sounds good, thanks dear.”

  He walked out, humming, and they all sat down again. Lee sat in silence as his mother and Ethel talked about the last time they saw each other. He didn’t know any of the people they were talking about, except the one or two mentions of Dwight.

  He tuned out and looked around the room, there were pictures of the family on the walls and mantelpiece, also with other people who he assumed were family or friends. Most of them had the vivid, coloured hair of witches but there were a few with what Lee considered normal hair colour. He wondered how they glamoured the inside of the house, or maybe everyone who came in knew about them.

  He studied the pictures until Al came back in with four cups of tea and a plate of biscuits on a tray.

  “What are your plans for after human schooling, Lee?” Al asked, sitting down.

  “Um…not quite sure yet. I might go to university-”

  “Oh! You’ll be going to university with Ellie then!”

  “Ah, no… I was thinking a human university first…” Lee said quietly.

  “Really? Interesting.” Al smiled as though he really believed it would be interesting, and Lee appreciated a supernatural that didn’t look down on his decision. “What do you want to study?”

  “I was thinking about something science-y,” Lee replied.

  “Hmm… I never was one for human science really. I mean, it’s not all that different to magic in some respects I guess, but still, biology was really the only thing I understood. Plants were my thing.”