by Aidan Wayne
It was still bucketing when Darren finally felt like he might be able to resume life as normal without needing to jump back underneath the downpour. He walked, dripping, back onto the porch and sat down next to Vlad, not yet ready to go inside.
“Isn’t it amazing?” he breathed, eyes fixed on the weather. “Best thing about the season change. I mean, yeah, the plants are great too, but this.” He gestured at the storm. “This, Vlad. This is what it’s all about.”
“You really love this,” Vlad said, watching Darren watch the storm.
Darren leaned back on his hands. “Yeah,” he said, staring up at the sky. “Yeah, I do. It’s—right.” They drifted back into silence, watching the rain come down together, commenting on the occasional flashes of lightning.
“Thank you for sharing this with me,” Vlad said after a time, eyes flickering back to Darren.
Darren chuckled softly. “Like I gave you a choice,” he said. “But sure. My dad likes rain, but he thinks thunderstorms are too violent. So it’s, you know, it’s nice to share it with someone. Even if you don’t get it like I do.”
“It is very nice,” Vlad said. “I mean it.” He turned back to Darren. “Even if I do not understand it the way you do, I like watching you enjoy it. I can understand that much.” He nodded at the pounding rain. “It’s beautiful.”
“Oh.” Darren pulled at his shirt, the damp material sticking to skin. “Well, uh sure. You’re welcome, then. And, you know”—he glanced at Vlad quickly before turning back to the storm—“anytime.”
Chapter Seven
AS IF to make up for the lack up until now, the thunderstorms continued off and on for the rest of the week. Darren was in ecstasy. The buzzing under his skin hadn’t stopped, exactly, but it had been replaced with a happy thrum of power that sparked up again whenever the world was about to get wet. Toadstools started to pop up wherever he walked and he couldn’t get it to turn off, but he couldn’t make himself care. The smell of ozone and fresh breezes followed him everywhere and that, coupled with the end of pretesting and the start of study week on the horizon, well, he was pretty much over the moon. He’d even managed a B-plus on the physics makeup test, and with his new magic weather-energy, was performing really well in all his hands-on classes—even though he was working twice as hard, his teachers all trying to figure this latest change out.
Charlie was due to visit Vlad again that Friday afternoon, and Vlad called Darren after school in a panic, apologizing but asking if he wouldn’t please come over again for the lesson. Darren was just as happy to not spend more time staring at his lit notes and promised to be right over.
Tabitha let Darren in and pointed him toward to the living room before making herself scarce. Darren wasn’t sure if she was doing that to try to make Vlad feel more comfortable with having vampire lessons or what, but he was almost positive she was eavesdropping on the whole thing anyway.
Vlad smiled when he saw him, though his eyes darted around and he kept drumming his fingers on his knee. There was clearly still an edge of panic.
“Thank you for coming,” he said as Darren sat down. “I—I thought I could see him on my own this time, but I….” He looked at the floor. “Sorry.”
“No way,” Darren said easily. “This is super interesting! And when else am I going to witness real-life vampire lessons with real life vampires?”
“Why do you find this so interesting, but if it is written down, you don’t?” Vlad asked.
Darren made a face. “I don’t have to read this, I just have to listen. You know I’m way better at hands-on.” He wiggled his fingers. “I’ve got magic hands.”
“If you say so,” Vlad said. “Do you want something to drink?”
“No thanks,” Darren said. “I’m good. When’s he getting here?” The doorbell rang. “Oh, well, guess that answers that.”
Vlad got up to let Charlie in, and Darren rubbed at his arms, the odd but familiar itch back again. He wished he could figure out what it was for. Fae puberty was so dumb.
“Hello again, Darren,” Charlie said, nodding to him as he sat down in the armchair again. “Back again for moral support?”
Vlad looked back down at the floor, so Darren slung an arm around his shoulders. “You know it,” he said easily. He gave Vlad a squeeze before letting go to grab at a notebook. “Also, I’m in charge of note-taking duty.”
Charlie chuckled. “All right. Let’s not waste any time, then.”
“I was wondering if I could learn to heal,” Vlad said suddenly. Charlie looked surprised and Vlad hurried to add, “I did it once before, but I don’t know how or why it worked. And I don’t know if I could do it again.”
“What did you do?” Charlie asked.
Vlad explained about the time in the woods, how Darren had gotten scratched up, and what Vlad had done to fix it. When he was done, Charlie smiled.
“I see what you mean, Vlad. And I have both good and bad news. The good news is, vampire saliva does actually have minor healing properties. It causes a mild painkiller effect, as well as accelerated healing on small areas.”
“Oh,” Vlad said. “For… hunting purposes, I assume.”
Charlie nodded. “Right. Much easier to bite someone or something if the bite doesn’t hurt. And with another lick, the holes are all sealed up no trouble. So if you ever wanted to help out with minor cuts, it will work every time. You don’t even need to think about it.”
Darren furiously scribbled this all down.
“What’s the bad news?” Vlad asked.
“Well, vampires do have the ability to heal bigger things, but it’s much, much more advanced magic. It’s essentially a life-energy transfer, and so only works with older, more powerful vampires. I can’t teach you that yet. You’re too young.”
“Oh,” Vlad said again, sounding disappointed. “All right.”
“What brought on this question?” Charlie asked, tilting his head.
Vlad glanced at Darren before his eyes skittered back to Charlie. “No real reason,” he said. “I was just thinking about how I had healed Darren before and was wondering. That’s all.”
“Okay. Well, then, why don’t we get to work on something you’ll actually be able to do, hm?”
Vlad nodded.
“Excellent.” Charlie clapped his hands together. “Let’s get started.”
Charlie ran Vlad through thralling (Vlad had been practicing and was able to make the rabbit Darren had summoned roll over and hop in circles); basic mysticism and glamour (Vlad managed to make himself fade around the edges, but he was so tired afterward, shaky and panting, that Charlie spent the next hour on theory and vampire history and current events); and the rudimentary version of the shift. The latter was the hardest for Vlad; he couldn’t even make his fangs drop on command.
By the time Charlie left three hours later, Vlad was exhausted, but he had a bunch of new things to practice over the next week.
“This is great!” Darren said, flopping down on Vlad’s bed as Vlad sorted out his workload at his desk. “You’ve got so much you can work on now.”
Vlad shot him a look.
“I suppose,” he said, not sounding too excited. He tapped the side of his face with his pencil. “Do you think you could help me glamour, sometime?”
“Sure, no problem,” Darren said. “I can bring you over my old notes if you want. I’m pretty sure I can dig that stuff up. And if I can’t, I know my dad has files of all his reference materials. We’ll make you a glamour expert! And hey—” He sat up. “I bet Beth could offer some pointers on the shifting stuff. She’s got a hunting form too.”
“No!” Vlad burst out. “I mean, no, that is okay. I’d… prefer to work on the shifting on my own. I think it would be better if I wasn’t around others when I practiced it.”
“Oh,” Darren said. “Uh, yeah, okay.”
“But help with glamour would be very appreciated,” Vlad said quickly, before looking back down at his notes.
Darren nod
ded. “Sure thing.” He caught himself staring at Vlad’s back and redirected his attention to the plant on Vlad’s windowsill, fingering the waxy leaves. Vlad’d gotten it a while ago, and by how healthy it was looking, was dutifully watering it every week, per Darren’s instructions.
“I have a question,” Vlad said out of the blue, pushing away from the desk and spinning his chair to face Darren.
“Yeah? Shoot.”
“You might not… like it.”
Darren gave Vlad a funny look. They’d talked about so much personal stuff at this point, what the heck kinda question did Vlad have? “Okay? Is this about glamouring?”
Vlad shook his head. “I was just… wondering how you got your name. I am guessing it… isn’t your birth name?”
“Oh.” Darren flopped back on the bed. “You had me worried for a second there. Nah, it was easy. My parents didn’t know what I was gonna be, so they had a bunch of names picked out, and then this fae ritual wherein the baby chooses its own name or something? Out of the choices the parents give it. It’s all very destiny and much magic. Darren was my mom’s first pick for a boy. So I went with that. It was kinda like they’d named me all along, that way.”
“That sounds nice.”
“Yeah. And it’s a way better story than what actually happened for the naming ceremony.”
“What happened?” Vlad asked, looking down at him, curiosity obviously piqued. He was so easy sometimes.
“I didn’t have enough fae in me to do the ritual properly. I tried to eat one of the flowers instead. It had a bee on it. The ritual ended with me in baby ER.”
Vlad hissed in sympathy. “Yeah. That was also apparently how my parents found out that I didn’t react well to modern medicine. It was a great day! And one I’m so glad I can’t remember.” Darren propped himself up on his elbows. “What brought on the question? I mean, I’m cool with it, but from vampire magic to name stuff is a pretty big leap.”
Vlad shrugged. “I was just… I had wondered about it. About if… if you had involved your parents.” He looked wistful. “Charlie is a good teacher, and Tabitha is wonderful, but….”
Darren winced. “You miss ’em,” he said.
Vlad picked at his jeans. “I—it’s better, that I’m here,” he said after the silence started to press. “My parents are good people but… it is hard for them to accept differences.” His eyes flicked to meet Darren’s before he looked away. “My being turned would have only hurt them more. It’s….” His shoulders hunched. “It’s better that they think I’m dead.”
“Bullshit,” Darren growled, suddenly just—furious. “Vlad, you are amazing. I’m freaking lucky to know you and count you as a friend, and—it sucks what happened to you, but you’re dealing and you get stronger dealing with it every freaking day. Your parents were lucky to have you, and if—if you think they’d rather have a dead son than a vampire one, then… then screw them.” He reached out and pulled the chair closer, Vlad rolling along with it, and leaned into Vlad’s space. “You are here and alive and awesome. You got that?”
Vlad was staring at him, eyes wide. Darren repeated the question. “You got that?” Vlad swallowed and looked away, but he jerkily nodded. Darren breathed out.
“Good. Sorry. I didn’t mean to get—intense. It’s just. That’s not a good kind of talk. Ever. I—Okay?”
“Okay,” Vlad said.
Darren rubbed the back of his neck. “Vlad? Can I… can I hug you? Is that okay?” He opened his arms in invitation. Vlad looked at him for a long moment and then surged forward, out of the computer chair, holding on tight.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” Darren said, wishing it were more.
“I know,” Vlad said, voice quiet. “Thank you.”
WHEN JUNE hit and testing started, Darren was so relieved to finally be done with studying that he almost looked forward to the tests each day, if only to get them over with. And they weren’t so bad. There was the same usual panic of going to class knowing a final awaited, but once it was done, he was blessedly free for the rest of the afternoon.
The only dampener was that Vlad had been a little edgy lately. Darren was worried that it was because of the moment they’d had, about Vlad’s parents.
“It’s just—what else was I supposed to say?” Darren asked Bethany as they were getting ready to leave after their history final. “And now he hates me!”
“He doesn’t hate you,” Bethany drawled. “Obviously. You’re going over to his house today.”
“To help him work on his glamour,” Darren said. “Which I am happy to help with! But he keeps not looking at me. Or getting nervous. And he won’t talk to me about his other vampire study stuff at all.”
Bethany sighed. Darren should really have gone to Trisha, but she was still in testing. “Look,” she said. “He’s probably just reevaluating where he stands. He made himself vulnerable, now he’s got to fix it.”
“Uh. You do remember the part where he’s a vampire and not actually a werewolf, right?”
Bethany rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking about his powers. He’s a teenage boy. And if you don’t want my advice, just go ask him what’s wrong.”
“He wouldn’t tell me,” Darren muttered. “’Cause he hates me now.”
“Ugh, boys. You’re hopeless.”
Darren couldn’t even bristle properly, just moped as they made their way to Beth’s car.
“Maybe you should just drop me off at home,” Darren said as they approached his street. “I’ll cancel today. Give him some space, you know?”
Bethany snorted and drove right past Darren’s house. “Hey!”
She stopped in front of Tabitha’s and raised an eyebrow in the face of Darren’s indignation. “Get out of my car,” she said, showing her teeth.
“You’re the worst best friend ever,” Darren said, shoving open the door.
“Hi, Vlad!” Bethany said, waving to someone behind Darren. Darren twitched and looked up. Vlad had come outside to meet them.
“Good afternoon, Bethany,” Vlad said with a smile. “Hi, Darren.”
Darren wiggled his fingers in a wave. “Hey.”
“He does smell kind of upset,” Beth murmured quietly. “Looks. Whatever.”
“Oh my god, shut up,” Darren hissed, grabbing his backpack and closing the door. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“And you can call me tonight,” Bethany said with a significant look. “Bye, Vlad!” She drove off without another word.
Darren squashed the urge to shake his fist, turning to face Vlad instead.
“Hey!” he said, shouldering his backpack. Maybe things wouldn’t be weird today. “How’s it going?”
Vlad smiled at him, but then his eyes skittered to look over Darren’s shoulder. “I am okay,” he said, sounding tense. “How was your test today?”
“Uh, good! Good. At least I hope so? Don’t know how well I did on the essay questions. I think I might’ve wandered from the topic a couple times. But hey, speaking of studying.” He tried for a smile. “I was thinking we could maybe go to the clearing today?”
Vlad froze but then nodded. “Sure. I’ll… I’ll just let Tabitha know.” He ran back inside the house without another word. Darren sagged. Still weird, then. He wished he knew what he’d done.
Vlad came out again a moment later, carrying a water bottle in one hand. He smiled at Darren, but the expression looked brittle, somehow. Darren tried to ignore it as they made their way over to the woods. It was Vlad’s business, and he was upset. Darren didn’t want to push. Even if it was kinda his business too, since the problem seemed to be with him. Whatever. They could work on glamour. That was a pretty safe subject.
Except not really. Vlad kept alternating between skittish and frustrated, and when Darren, frustrated himself, finally suggested that he drop his own glamour and put it back on again so Vlad could pay attention to how he did it, Vlad actually reared back so hard he smacked his head into a tree.
“Nothing,” Vlad muttered, rubbing at his head.
“Are you kidding me right now? You’ve been acting shifty for days. Did I do something wrong?”
“Of course not,” Vlad said, crossing his arms and looking away.
Darren narrowed his eyes. Now Vlad was lying to his face about it?
“Is this because I yelled about your parents?”
Vlad glared. “No!”
“Then tell me what’s going on!”
“I can smell you,” Vlad snapped.
Darren paused. “Uh. What? No, seriously, what? That’s what this is all about? That’s not a big deal.”
“Yes it is.”
“Why?” Darren demanded. “What’s the problem?”
“That—you—ugh!” Vlad actually threw up his hands, which was about as expressive as he’d ever gotten while angry. Normally he closed off. This, while stupid and not at all Darren’s fault, was kinda interesting. “The problem is that it’s been making me want to bite you! Do you now see how that is a problem?”
“We established that I was off-biting-limits ages ago! And you said eating people made you sick!”
“I don’t want to eat you!”
“Then what’s the whole deal about the biting!”
Vlad let out a defeated breath and sat down on the ground, back against the tree. “I don’t know,” he moaned. Darren’s hackles cooled like, immediately. “Ever since I started learning about glamour, I’ve just—you were not on my radar, and now you are again, and—” He gritted his teeth. “I can control myself but I don’t know why I need to, and it’s been driving me crazy.”