by Aidan Wayne
Darren opened his mouth, but Vlad got there first. “Darren is male,” he said mildly, and not sounding even a little bit terrified. Good for him. “He is a good friend to me. He is here because he has been helping me learn myself, and he is good with questions.”
“I see,” Charlie said with a faint smile. “How interesting.” He took a longer, more thorough look at Darren. Darren bit his tongue down on the rude much? This guy was important to Vlad and Darren was gonna be polite.
“Uh,” said Darren. He fought the urge to shiver; something was buzzing under his skin again, but it didn’t feel like the usual springtime craziness he’d been getting acquainted with recently. “Hi?”
“Good to meet you too, Darren,” Charlie said with a nod. “Fae blood, is it?”
“Uh, part fae, yeah.”
“Ah, that explains it.” He turned back to Vlad. “Why don’t we all take a seat? We have a lot to talk about.”
Vlad shot Darren a look. Is this okay?
Darren shrugged. He didn’t see why not. They sat next to each other on Tabitha’s couch, holding their notebooks in their laps—Darren’s idea, to bring them—Charlie settling into an armchair that faced them.
“So, Vlad,” he said, “Tabitha gave me a few details, but in order to give you the best tutelage I can, I’m going to ask some questions. Is that all right?”
“That is fine,” Vlad said, darting another look at Darren.
Charlie smiled. “Great. Now, I was told you were turned fairly recently?”
“About nine months ago, yes,” said Vlad.
“And did you have any training before me?”
“Not, um, not very much,” Vlad said. “Some. I don’t—” He frowned at the floor, and Darren fought the urge to reach over and squeeze his hand. “I don’t really know what constitutes as training.”
“That’s fine,” Charlie said easily. “Why don’t you just tell me what you did learn, then? We can go from there.”
Vlad swallowed but nodded. “I spent a long time learning how to eat,” he said. “I know I’m carnivorous. Though I don’t know if some things are better than others. I can, um, I can exert power to, uh, to scare smaller animals. And I can thrall a little bit. I’ve been practicing how to with Darren. That is all.”
“All right,” Charlie said with a nod. “That’s not bad. I’m surprised you started on thrall, though. That’s not usually an easy thing to learn.”
Vlad shrugged. He and Darren had started with it because Darren could summon small woodland creatures to practice on, and Vlad wanted to get control over that particular power sooner rather than later, to make sure he could control it. “It’s just what I thought to try first,” he said. “I’m happy to learn whatever you teach me.”
“Okay, how about this?” Charlie said. “Why don’t you show me what you can do? It’ll be a good way for me to test your power and skill level. I’ll show you a proper thrall, and then you see if you can copy it, and we’ll move on from there.”
“I can do that,” Vlad said. “Um. We will need something to thrall, though.”
“How about it, Darren?” Charlie asked, turning to him and reaching out a hand. “Would you like to volunteer? Since you’re here, and all.”
Darren blanched. “Uh—”
Vlad out-and-out hissed, eyes flashing gold, before he immediately clapped a hand over his mouth. “I am very sorry!” he said, sounding horrified.
Darren backed up against the couch, giving Vlad room. His eyes were still more gold than green. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” Vlad said, voice small from behind his fingers. His words were a little slurred. “I just—I do not know what happened.”
“It’s okay, Vlad,” Charlie said calmly. “We can figure this out. Did your fangs drop?”
Vlad nodded, eyes downcast. “I can’t make them go back in,” he lisped miserably.
“Interesting,” Charlie said. “Okay, Vlad, I want you to close your eyes, please.” Vlad darted another glance at Darren before letting his eyes slide shut. “Now I want you to concentrate on centering yourself. You are in control of your own power here. You are safe, and there is no threat. I am not a threat to you. Think of something calming and focus on that.”
“Okay,” Vlad mumbled.
“Do you have something?” Charlie asked. Vlad nodded. “Good. Now focus on your fangs, on drawing them back in. Open your eyes when you’re ready.”
Minutes passed. Vlad eventually let out a deep breath and carefully opened his eyes. They were back to green. “I am sorry,” he said again, sans lisp.
“It’s all right, Vlad,” Charlie said. “Sometimes new vampires react this way when they aren’t socialized properly. I’m another vampire in your territory, so you viewed me as a threat. You probably got triggered when I suggested putting your friend under thrall.”
“Vlad’s mostly been practicing on smaller animals,” Darren volunteered. “He’s gotten really good at it. Maybe we could—you know, get an animal from outside?” Vlad shot him a grateful look.
“That would be fine,” Charlie said, getting to his feet. “Vlad?”
Vlad stood up and moved to lead Charlie to the backyard, Darren following.
Charlie had Vlad thrall a squirrel to come close, and then a bird to fly to their feet, then in circles. Darren watched it all, proud of Vlad for being able to do everything Charlie wanted. Though being outside exacerbated the weird feeling that something was off. He kept having to rub at his arms, the skin buzzing.
When Charlie was satisfied, they all trooped back inside and settled in the living room again, Charlie smiling wide.
“You did very well,” he said. “You’ve got quite a lot of power. Whoever turned you must have seen a lot in you.”
Vlad stiffened but managed to mumble a thank-you.
“So what kinds of stuff is he going to learn?” Darren rushed to ask. “We weren’t really sure what was and wasn’t true, so there was a whole bunch of stuff we held off on trying. No point in trying to practice something you can’t actually do, right?”
“Right,” Charlie said. “We’ll be starting with the basics. I don’t think I need to teach you how to thrall, Vlad, since you seem to have it. You just need more practice. But we will want to work on glamour, transformation, and dematerialization, to start.”
“Transformation?” Darren asked. “We thought the bat thing was fake.”
“Oh, it is,” Charlie assured them. “I meant transforming into his hunting form.”
“Hunting form?” Vlad asked, voice nervous.
Charlie nodded. “We call it the shift. In the modern age, you obviously won’t have much use for it, but you do need to learn to control the shift.” He threw Vlad a meaningful look. “You don’t want to get triggered and then be unable to shift back.”
“Yes,” Vlad said, sitting up straighter. “I understand. Of course.”
“But we won’t begin on any of that today,” Charlie said. “This was purely a first-time meeting. I can exhaust you next time. For now I’m sure you have questions?”
“How old are you?” Vlad asked immediately.
Darren looked at him, surprised. That was not a question he figured was high on Vlad’s priority list.
“I’ll be fifty-two this year,” Charlie said. “I was turned when I was seventeen.” He smiled at Vlad. “You want to know how aging works, right?”
Vlad nodded.
“It’s about one year in ten. Give or take. The years do add up eventually, but since our cells heal and regenerate along with aging slowly, our systems don’t degenerate in the same way human systems do. For instance when I was turned, my body continued to grow, albeit at a much slower rate.” He gestured at himself. “This is actually what I look like naturally. If I live somewhere for a long time and want to blend in, I’ll glamour myself to age as necessary. Many of the elder vampires do the same thing; some just pick an age they like and wear that glamour all the time.”
&n
bsp; “So I won’t be a teenager forever,” Vlad said, sounding relieved.
Charlie laughed. “Oh no, of course not. Granted, you’ll look like one for probably longer than you will want to, but you can always glamour yourself a few years older if need be. And don’t worry about puberty,” he added. “For some reason, that’s one thing that passes surprisingly quickly. It doesn’t drag on for much longer than it does for natural humans.”
“That is very nice to know,” Vlad said with a sigh.
Charlie chuckled. “Almost every vampire I’ve met who was turned as a teenager had those same concerns,” he said. “Now, any others?”
“I’ve got one,” Darren said after looking to Vlad for permission. He hovered his pen over his notebook. “What, exactly, can and can’t a vampire eat?”
WHEN CHARLIE left several hours later, Tabitha magically emerged from the back room.
“So what did you think of Charlie?” she asked tentatively. “Do you think he’ll work out?”
“He seemed nice,” Vlad said after a moment. “And knowledgeable.”
“He’s gonna teach Vlad how to fly,” Darren said, eyes shining. “Or… turn into mist.” He squinted down at the notebook he’d covered in scribbles. “That can also fly. I’m not too clear on the details yet.”
“You are sure he’s safe?” Vlad asked. He hunched over. “I know it is a bit late to ask again. He knows where I live.”
“Vlad, honey.” Tabitha sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t’ve let him get within fifty yards of you if I didn’t think he was safe. I went through some very trusted channels to find him. He hasn’t even left the Americas in decades.”
“All right,” said Vlad.
“It’s perfectly reasonable for you to worry,” Tabitha said, and Darren felt like maybe he shouldn’t be present for this conversation. “But she isn’t going to find you. We won’t let her.”
Vlad swallowed and sat up again. “Thank you for finding me a tutor. I am looking forward to… learning about myself. And learning control.”
“Of course,” Tabitha said. For a minute it looked like she was going to go in for a hug, but in the end she just squeezed Vlad’s shoulder before standing again. “Darren, are you staying for dinner?”
Darren was about to say no thank you and excuse himself, when Vlad shot him a pleading look. Okay, he could certainly get why Vlad might want company right now. “Let me call my parents,” he said instead, rubbing at his arms.
Chapter Six
DARREN WOKE up the next morning feeling like his insides were trying to eat a hole through his outsides. Damn it. He was early. He should’ve known wanting tiger lilies and chocolate oatmeal was a tip-off. And somehow they were always worse when they came early.
He curled up into a miserable ball of agony and debated actually calling his mom on the phone instead of trying to get out of bed when a parent knocked on his door.
“Darren?” Oh good, Dad. “You up yet?”
“Nnrg,” Darren groaned intelligently. “Dad, I think I gotta call sick day.”
His father opened the door and poked his head inside, looking concerned. “What’s wrong? Spring fever?”
“That might be making things worse,” Darren said through clenched teeth. “But no, not quite. Period came a few days early. Fffffow god I hate this.”
“I’ll get you a hot-water bottle,” he said. “And I’ll call Tabitha, see if I can’t swing by before work.”
“Hot-water bottle, yes, please,” Darren gritted out.
His father left, presumably to get a hot-water bottle, which would hopefully provide at least some relief, but it was his mom who returned with it.
“Heard you weren’t feeling well, sweetie,” she said, coming to sit down next to him on the bed. She was wearing her suit, all ready for work. “Do you need me to stay home today?”
Darren shook his head. “Nah, it’s cool, I’m fine, I’m just. You know. Ugh. I feel like someone’s pulling my guts out. I wish I could just pop a Vicodin or something, stupid fae genes.”
His mother ran a gentle hand through his hair. “If you’re sure. I called Tabitha’s cell phone, and she’s out, but she said she’d be home within the hour to get your herbals ready. I can stay until then, if you want.”
Darren flapped a hand. “No, no, it’s okay. Go to work. Go do your awesome math thing. Make money saving money.” He hissed. “God why are you still here? I can’t swear when you’re here.”
“I’ll call you in a few hours to check in, so keep your phone close, okay?”
Darren mumbled something unintelligible and retreated back under his covers. It was only after his mom left that he realized an early period meant bleeding without protection, and that he was probably currently lying in a puddle of blood.
“Shit,” he said with feeling, leaping out of bed only to double over a moment later. “Ow, ow. Okay, body, fine, I’m going slow, ow.” He hobbled to the bathroom first since he needed to use it anyway, shucking his boxers once he made it and grimacing at the fact that he’d ruined yet another pair. He took care of business, cup in, hands and face washed, swallowed some water, and then it was back to his bedroom to survey the damage.
He stared forlornly down at his sheets. He’d bled through his boxers and he had to decide whether he cared enough to try to change the sheets, or just throw a towel over everything and crawl back into bed.
Feeling slightly less disgusting won by a slim margin, so Darren painfully stripped his bed, dumping the dirty sheet on the floor, because he didn’t care that much at the moment, then threw the top sheet over his mattress and cocooned himself under his blanket, planning to spend the rest of the day wishing for death.
He’d actually managed to doze a little when someone knocked on his door, startling him awake. He blinked, confused. Both his parents were at work. He thought. He was pretty sure they’d both left. Did one of them come back?
Another set of knocks. “Darren?” That was Vlad’s voice, doing that hesitant thing. “Um, are you awake? Tabitha sent me over with your medicine. May I come in?”
Darren managed to poke his head out from under the blanket, wincing at the brightness. “How did you get in my house?” he asked.
Vlad cautiously opened the door, hovering just inside the room. He looked worried. “Your, um, your mother left it open for me. I locked it when I came in.” He held up a plastic bag. “I have your herbs?”
Darren uncurled just enough to stick a hand outside his cocoon and make grabby hands for it. Vlad walked over to him to hand him the bag. He paused for just a second and glanced in the direction of the discarded sheet, but then he was looking back at Darren, all focus.
“Tabitha told me to put the rest into your refrigerator,” Vlad said as Darren pulled out the bundle of herb mix and unwrapped the wet paper towel. “And, ah, that I could make tea? She sent a tea that might help also.”
Darren groaned as he shoved the herbs in his mouth. “What, tea too? My mom must’ve thought I was dying.”
“I don’t think that can happen,” Vlad said, but he didn’t look so sure.
“Nah, just, the only tea that works to actually help this kind of pain is crazy strong. And not for underagers. The only other time I ever got it was when I broke my arm when I was twelve.” He winced. “Not gonna complain, though. The herbs won’t even kick in for like twenty minutes. I am so cool with tea. Like you have no idea.”
Vlad put out a hand before Darren could try to leverage himself into sitting up. “Why don’t I just make it,” he said quickly. “Tabitha told me what to do. And I know where everything in your kitchen is.”
“Sure,” Darren said, relieved he wouldn’t have to go downstairs. Because ugh stairs. “Go crazy. I’mma just stay here, then.”
Vlad cast him one more worried look before taking back the bag and, presumably, heading to the kitchen. Darren rolled around on his bed in misery trying to will the herbs to work faster. On top of the cramps, his skin fe
lt like it was buzzing again, an energy he didn’t know what to do with, especially not right now. He tried to pour some of it into his window box gardens, but the flowers didn’t even twitch. It just made the whole room like ozone.
“Great,” he muttered, burying his face in his pillow and trying not to throw up.
He stayed like that until Vlad knocked on his door again, coming in a moment later holding out a steaming mug.
“You probably need to sit up now,” Vlad said apologetically.
“’M gonna just wait until it cools,” Darren said, voice muffled from his covers. “Can’t drink it boiling hot anyway.”
“All right,” Vlad said. “Would you… like me to just leave it here, then?”
“This is so stupid,” Darren moaned. “This is the worst. I had a test today. Was supposed to… math. I studied,” he added pitifully.
There was a gentle hand on his back. Vlad was patting him on the back. “I know you studied,” he said. “You’ve been working very hard.”
“Need to try for a B average,” Darren mumbled. “All the nonmagic classes are bringing my grades down. I want to throw up.” The hand on his back froze.
“I can help you get to the bathroom,” Vlad said, sounding nervous.
Darren shook his head. “Not gonna, just want to. Helps with nausea sometimes. Is the tea cool yet?”
“I think so,” Vlad said. “If it’s not, I can put cold water in it.”
Darren swallowed and managed to sit up. “No, lemme—” Vlad handed him the mug. It wasn’t lava hot, which was good enough for Darren. He gulped it down until he’d emptied the mug, gasping a little when he was finished. Too much liquid too fast. His stomach was not happy with him. He curled back in on himself.
“Just leave me here to die,” he moaned. “Tell Tabitha thanks for the tea.”
“Are you sure you should be alone?” Vlad asked.
Darren shrugged and tried to become one with his bed. “Do whatever, I do not care. At this point it’s cool if you murder me. Mercy killing.”