by Aidan Wayne
“I don’t think that will work very well,” Vlad said, running a finger down a textbook page.
“Why not? I mean, you did just fine with me. Look at you, all hanging out with me. You’re already halfway to hanging out with more people!”
“I don’t want to hang out with more people,” Vlad said mulishly.
“That is blatantly untrue.” It was pretty clear Vlad was lonely, cooping himself up in Tabitha’s house all day, asking to hang out with Darren even with how they’d met. And it was just luck that the two of them had met at all. “You said it was a vampire thing, right? C’mon. What’s really going on?”
Vlad hesitated. Eventually he said, “How I was—turned. It… I just can’t tolerate people right now.” He looked away. “I was told it would get better eventually.”
Darren blinked at him. That sounded like it could be seriously heavy stuff. And not his business. Maybe. Yet? “But you tolerate me. I think. I mean, you asked me to come over today, so I’m gonna take a stab in the dark and say you don’t totally dread my presence.”
Vlad still wouldn’t look at him but now had his arms crossed, and he was fiddling with the ends of his short sleeves. “Uh, yes.”
“Yes, you do dread my presence, or yes, you don’t dread my presence?”
“I don’t dread your presence,” Vlad said, along with a huffy sigh.
“Okay, but why?” Darren held up his hands. “Not fishing for compliments or anything. I know I’m delightful. I’m just asking. You tolerate me fine. I mean, like, even after you didn’t have to, you kept talking to me that first day. How come?”
Another sigh, but this one sounded way less put-upon. “You smelled interesting,” Vlad admitted after a long silence. He was very much not looking at Darren.
“Smelled interesting? What the—interesting how? Like—‘want to bite me’ interesting? Because biting is definitely a no.”
Vlad scowled at the table. “I have no intention of biting you.”
“Well, uh, good. As long as that’s clear.” Darren thought about this. “Wait, you hang out with me because I smell like food?”
“Because you don’t make me want to be sick,” Vlad said, voice bitter.
That threw Darren for a loop. “What the—Vlad, when we first met, you said I smelled like rotting blood. Which, okay, was true, point to your vampire sense, but that sounds like the opposite of appetizing.”
“I thought you were dying! I thought you had a festering wound!”
“Festering. Good vocab word. You get an A.” Vlad glared at him. But at least he looked less like he wanted to crawl in a hole and die now. “Jeez, sorry, okay, you thought I was dying. I am still not hearing words that explain how that smells tasty.”
Vlad sighed again, heavily, so he was about to explain something he was kind of embarrassed about. Darren was getting pretty good at interpreting this stuff. “As I said already, I didn’t want to eat you. It was more… protective? I think.”
“You think,” Darren said, trying not to sound too incredulous. From the look Vlad shot him, he had failed spectacularly.
“I don’t know how all of this works,” Vlad told the table. “Often I just feel how I feel. When I am around most people now, the first thing I… the first thing I notice is that they have blood in them. That it’s there. The idea is—” He swallowed. “—unpleasant. But when we first met, I noticed the bad bleeding first.” He frowned. “I think I wanted to fix it.”
“Vampires are supposed to have minor healing powers,” Darren said thoughtfully. Then, to Vlad’s raised eyebrow, he responded, “What? Trish filled me in on some stuff. I figured I should maybe know it. Hey! Is that why you kept almost touching me? You were gonna try to heal me or something?”
“I don’t—” Vlad’s eyes skittered away again. “I don’t know how. I haven’t learned yet.”
“It’s cool,” Darren said easily. “I know how that goes. I don’t know like half the stuff a full fae is supposed to by my age. But what about now? Do I smell like food?”
“You smell like you,” Vlad said after a moment. “I think that getting to know you calmed down my, um, vampire senses. The same thing happened with Tabitha. I am hoping that once everything is less new, they will calm down completely, with everyone.” He laced his fingers together. “I am stuck in hunting mode, I think.”
Darren winced. “Damn, that really sucks. No pun intended, even.”
“Thanks.”
He kicked his legs out. “So wait. If you’re stuck in hunting mode, is that why you—”
“Could we please talk about something else?” Vlad interrupted.
“Sure,” Darren said quickly. “Yeah, no problem.” He had plenty to think over as it was. “What do you want to talk about?”
Vlad glanced back down at the textbooks again, and for one horrified moment Darren thought that he was about to be asked to demonstrate his knowledge of American government or something. Then Vlad looked back up at him, a thoughtful expression on his face, and Darren got even more worried.
“You asked some personal questions, just now,” Vlad said slowly.
“Uh. Yeah?”
“May I do the same?”
And there it was. “Okay, shoot, but I’m not promising to answer anything. Depending on the question. I still, like, barely know you.”
“Fair,” Vlad said. “You were… very mad at me, when we first met.”
“Uh. Yes? I was in major pain? That wasn’t a question.”
Vlad rolled his eyes. “Why were you so mad?” he said, carefully enunciating the words.
“Pain. Of epic proportions. I just said this.” Darren waved his hands in the air. “Think, like, someone reached into the pit of your stomach and started twisting things around, and maybe stepping on them, but also you kind of want to throw up, and on top of that your—”
“You don’t have to describe it,” Vlad said, looking alarmed.
“You asked!”
“No, I—” Vlad stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me try again. When you told me you were menstruating, you yelled at me like I should have already known.”
“Oh. Oooooh. I thought you thought I was a girl.”
“Why would I have thought that?” Vlad asked, confused.
“Because you’re a vampire,” Darren said. “No, hang on, there’s an explanation. I’m half-fae, yeah?”
“Yes,” Vlad said drily. “You’ve mentioned it several times.”
“Shut up, your face is dumb. Anyway, half-fae, weird potluck of powers. I kinda said this before.”
“Okay?”
“So.” Darren waved at himself. “I can glamour. That’s uh, that’s why I look the way I do.” He gestured at his face then down at his chest. “But only to certain people.” He tipped his seat back, balancing on the back legs. “I’m not good at glamour. I don’t have the power for it. Luckily I don’t have a lot of changes to make. I take after my dad looks-wise. I’ve got my mom’s hair and complexion.” He pointed at his light brown hair. “But I’m fae-build pretty much through and through, and even if it’s the wrong build, they’re not exactly a diverse species. Tall, thinnish, yeah? I don’t care about being like, big and muscle-y ’cause I know it’s not in my genes anyway. Mostly I glamour a flatter chest, deeper voice, my face with some different angles, little stuff like that. But other supernaturals who can glamour tend to see through it, unless they’re not strong, or they’ve got their own weird power-problems or something. So if a fae, or, say, a vampire, hint hint, looks at me, they see, well, me, I guess. A slightly differently shaped me.”
“I see,” Vlad said after a minute.
“Well, actually, you don’t,” Darren said. “That’s the point. I figured that you’d seen right through my glamour, thought I was a girl, and was sniffing out my period anyway. Which, I will remind you, was super rude. Seriously, never do that again. And I was grumpy and hurting. Hence the getting mad at you.” He made a little ta-da wave. “That answer your ques
tion?”
“Yes. Thank you for telling me.”
Darren shrugged and dropped his chair back onto all four legs. “It’s cool, I guess. ’S’not like I didn’t just pry into your personal life. Get a little, give a little.”
“I’m glad,” Vlad said out of the blue.
“Glad about what now?”
“That I can’t see through your glamour,” he said. “I haven’t learned how to glamour, so I think that may be why. But I’d rather see the real you anyway.”
“Oh, uh, cool.” That was… that was really nice. Darren was sort of learning that Vlad could be really nice. “Thanks.”
Vlad tilted his head. “What do you do with other people who can glamour? Fellow students, adults?”
“Ah well.” Darren shrugged. “The explanations get old, believe me, but it’s been a few years since, you know. I realized I wasn’t a girl when I was twelve. Four years is enough time for most people to get used to the idea, especially when you grow up with them and they grow up with you. Most of the people around here who can glamour adjust their senses.”
“Most?”
Darren shrugged again and sent dark thoughts toward Levy Bittleberry. Worst camp counselor ever. “There are always gonna be jerks.”
“Hm.” Vlad looked back down at the textbook in front of him. “Can you explain a little bit about American government? This textbook does not match with some of the things I read online.”
Nope. Darren shot to his feet. “I have a better idea. How about instead of spending a beautiful Friday afternoon staring at my homework, we go outside?” At Vlad’s face, Darren added, “Please? I’ve been stuck at school all day, and you’ve been here. We don’t have to go into town or anything, but I’ve been inside forever. Fresh air? Sunshine? Sunshine that you totally promised won’t make you go poof?”
“I thought you said that your friend filled you in on your vampire history,” Vlad said, lips quirking just a little.
Darren huffed. “We only had like ten minutes since I don’t live all that far from school. Also, you’re stalling.”
“A little,” Vlad admitted. “I, ah, haven’t been out of the house much. I’ve sat on the porch a few times, trying to get used to things, and I’ve gone to the backyard, but that is all.”
“You’ve been here for almost a month and a half and you’ve never left Tabby’s yard? And going to town ‘once or twice’ doesn’t count!” Darren was appalled. He got that Vlad was a little anxious around people right now, but that was taking things too far. “You’re going to turn into a ball of dust and die.” Not waiting for Vlad to reply, Darren grabbed his hand and tugged. “Okay, no, that’s it. Come on, you are leaving this house.” Vlad didn’t budge even a little bit. “Your vampire butt is irritatingly immovable.”
“I was strong even before I was turned into a vampire,” Vlad said. He sounded smug.
“Good, yeah, that’s great. And I’m sure you have a lot of time to keep up with your exercise program since you never leave this house.” Darren huffed out a breath. “I mean, look, no pressure, I’m not gonna, like, steamroll you into leaving if you don’t want to. But holing yourself up in here and never leaving probably isn’t going to help you eventually deal with leaving. You’re going to turn into a crazy vampire hermit. And trust me, I remember that part of my vampire history lesson.”
Vlad’s face abruptly closed off. Uh-oh. Apparently crazy vampire hermits were another do-not-touch thing. Fine, then.
“Hey hey, I’m sorry.” Darren tried to let go of Vlad’s hand, but Vlad didn’t let him. Well, okay. If he wanted hand-holding, then hand-holding it would be. “Look, what I said still stands. You’re gonna go crazy cooped up in here. It’s not healthy. Like I said, we don’t have to go into town or anything but—how about the woods?” Tabitha, being a witch, had chosen a house fairly close to a small wood. It wasn’t the forest Bethany lived near, but it was still pretty good. “It’s only like a block or two away. My dad and I visit it all the time. If we’re quick, we probably won’t run into anyone. We could run it! You’re probably fast.”
Vlad hesitated, but he looked like he was considering the idea.
“I’ll show you a cool thing I can do,” Darren added. “Very much magic. Total fae stuff.”
“I suppose I could try it.”
“Awesome! Let’s go.” Darren figured moving faster was better; it gave Vlad less time to change his mind.
Once they actually reached the front door, though, Darren stopped, hand on the knob. True to the month of April, it was a nice, sunny afternoon.
“You absolutely promise you’re not going to go poof in the sun?” he asked.
Vlad rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of a smile too. “We have been over this, Darren. I am not going to go poof.”
“Good. I just don’t want Tabby mad at me ’cause I accidentally sun-murdered her cousin.”
Vlad shouldered Darren aside and opened the door himself, stepping onto the porch. Darren grinned at his back and hurried to take the lead, since it wasn’t like Vlad knew which way to go.
They didn’t run, but Darren walked quickly, to give Vlad less time to get all self-conscious-y about being outside and start hunching up his shoulders every time a car drove by. They were lucky and only one person was actively out and about: Mrs. Peterson, walking her little three-headed puppy. Darren waved to her but hurried along quickly before she could do more than give him a smile and Vlad a curious look.
Darren stopped when they got to the fence that blocked off the little woods and held out his hands. “Ta-da! We’re here. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” He turned to head inside before Vlad could answer. “Now c’mon. It’s way better actually inside the woods. There’s this great little clearing over this way.”
Once they were past the outer ring of trees and into the more heavily wooded area, Darren took a deep breath, letting the feeling of nature, plants, animals, alive wash over him. He wasn’t as affiliated with this stuff as his dad was, but it was still really calming. A couple of minutes later and he led Vlad into the small clearing, pointing out the moss it was carpeted with, the perfect ring of mushrooms surrounding it.
“Those are my dad’s doing,” Darren said at Vlad’s questioning expression. “A lot of different people use these woods for different things, and the supernaturals each kinda gravitate to their own spaces. This keeps our little area more private, I guess you could say. Free of beer bottles, anyway. And it dampens sound too, and even blocks magic to a point, so I can practice bigger things without causing much of a disturbance.”
“Disturbance?” Vlad asked, following Darren’s lead and carefully sitting down on the moss.
“Well, it was more a problem when I was a kid,” Darren said, shrugging. “When no one really knew what I could do or what abilities I had. We’d try to practice plant magic in our own backyard and our neighbor’s petunias would explode. I can practice at home just fine now, mostly. But it’s nice out here, and way bigger than our garden. It’s better when it rains, though,” he added, a little forlornly. “Anyway!” He grinned and rubbed his hands together. “I promised to show you a thing I can do.”
“You did,” Vlad said carefully.
“Yeah. So, okay, I’m not nearly as good as my dad—but I’m still pretty decent. Check it!” Darren closed his eyes and tilted his head back, holding out both hands palm-up. Vlad watched him, bemused. Then the forest exploded with animal activity.
Birds flew down, landing in Darren’s open hands and settling in his hair. Two squirrels ran down from the tree Darren was sitting against and nestled happily in his lap. A fox slunk out of the woods and rested its head on Darren’s leg. To complete the picture, a bunch of butterflies and moths and bumblebees started to fly in happy circles around him.
Vlad was staring; Darren could feel it. He cautiously opened one eye, then the other, then carefully lifted his head to look at Vlad. “What’d I tell you?” he said, voice soft, so as not to spook the animals. “Pretty c
ool, right?”
Vlad grinned like he couldn’t help himself. “You look like a Disney princess. Or prince,” he amended quickly. He reached out a hand, almost touching the fox before pulling it back. “How did you do that?”
The birds in Darren’s hands moved to sit on his shoulders, and Darren started to pet the squirrels in his lap. “It took a lot of practice. I can’t summon, like, deer or wolves yet, but my dad thinks I probably have the ability to. I just need to work on it more. I can’t really explain how I do it, since it’s fae stuff, but it’s like… I’m really nature affiliated, and I tap into that, kinda.” The fox started worrying at Darren’s pant leg. He shifted, giving it a look. “I’m way better at outside magic than doing stuff that affects me personally, dunno why.”
“Like with your glamour?”
Darren nodded. “Yeah. And I can’t fly at all.”
“Oh. I’m sorry?”
Darren shrugged carefully, mindful of the birds on his shoulders. “It’s cool. I mean, it’d be real neat if I could, but I can’t miss what I never had, you know? In that regard anyway.” In truth, he was more than a little bummed about it. Flight seemed so cool. But fae had to shrink to do it, their bodies needing the smaller size to allow their magic to make them buoyant. And Darren just didn’t have the stuff in him to shrink. No point telling Vlad that, though. He was down enough already. Darren didn’t need to add to the pile by telling him his own problems.
“I suppose,” Vlad said, frowning.
“Hey, you wanna pet her?” Darren motioned to the fox. “You can, if you want.”
“I don’t know if I should,” Vlad said. “I’m not you.”
“It’s fine. She’s really relaxed right now. And if she doesn’t want you to do anything, she’ll make that clear before you get close. Just back off if she bares her teeth at you.”
“Okay….” Vlad leaned forward and slowly reached out a hand, giving the fox a lot of time. She looked at him lazily but didn’t seem that inclined to stop him.
“That’s great,” Darren said, trying for encouraging. “Now just stroke gently behind her neck.”