Families

by Katrina Kahler

  Well, this pretty much confirms Wayne is the mimic” I thought to Adra. I kind of enjoyed this thinking communication.

  Well duh, Adra thought back to me. But now he has my powers which will make him harder to catch.

  I sniffed the air. Not really, just follow the scent of cinnamon!

  Adra sniffed the air and grinned. Good nose!

  I am part tiger!

  We followed the scent of cinnamon all the way down the hall towards the exit doors.

  “Oh no, if he went outside, he’s going to be hard to find!” Adra said.

  I pointed to my nose. “Nah, not with this nose.”

  We ran outside, I sniffed the air and could still smell the cinnamon.

  “Are we going to handle this alone?” Adra asked me.

  “We still have passes...the rest of the team don’t,” I said.

  “Just you and me against a mimic,” Adra said. She smiled. “I like our chances!”

  “I do too!” I told her.

  “Hey, you aren’t leaving us out of this again!” Jimmy appeared behind us, sounding upset.

  “We’re coming too!” Ruby insisted.

  Adra and I looked at each other. She winked, and then we streaked down the street following the strong scent of cinnamon and leaving our friends behind. In a way, it felt good having another vampire my age by my side. Now I saw Adra as a partner and friend, not as competition. Hopefully, she thought of me in the same way.

  The scent led us to a very average looking brown house, maybe a block from the school. The yard in front of the house was very plain and ordinary. No trees, no flowers, just grass. The house had a door flanked by two windows, and that was it. There was no porch leading to the front door, just a wooden staircase.

  Stopping at the bottom of the staircase, I asked Adra, “What do we do now?”

  Adra jumped up the stairs and simply kicked the door open.

  “Oh okay, we’re NOT using the subtle approach,” I said, walking into the house with her.

  The inside of the house had a large screen television on the wall but nothing else.

  “I guess if you’re a mimic, you don’t need furniture,” I said.

  “Do you think he or she or it left?” Adra asked.

  Sniffing the air, I noticed the room had a very strong scent of cinnamon in it. “No…he’s still here!” I said.

  “Actually, we are here!” a voice said from the floor.

  Three blobs of white goo popped up from the floor. They took the shapes of Wayne and an older looking man and woman.

  “Why do you come into our home?” the woman asked.

  “Somebody has been impersonating us, trying to get us into fights,” I said.

  The woman looked at Wayne. “I told you to be careful.”

  “I was tired of being small and useless,” Wayne sighed. “I figured I could borrow their powers and then force them to fight; maybe drive them both out of town. Then I could rule the school. I don’t like being thought of as little!”

  “Well, now they know about us,” the older looking man said. “We can’t let vamps know about us; they’re hunters.”

  “Look, we don’t have to tell anybody about you,” I said.

  “Yeah, just stop pretending to be us and then we’ll be cool,” Adra said.

  The two older looking people smiled. “I do see what you mean, young one. Their power, I can feel it,” the older woman said.

  “Yes, we can mimic that power!” the older male said.

  “Is that okay with you?” the older woman asked us.

  I turned to Adra. I actually wanted to talk to her about this. I mean, I didn’t love the idea of a mimic mimicking our powers or our looks. But I figured we could talk our way out of a fight.

  Adra stomped and showed her teeth. “No, of course it’s not okay!”

  The three shapeshifters changed; two of them into Adra and one of them into me. “We have you outnumbered!” they all said to us.

  “Yeah, but we really know how to use our powers and abilities well!” I said.

  They blurred at us. One more changed to look like me. “Yes, but you can’t be certain which of us is a mimic and which of us is you!” the mimic blurted out.

  The entire place reeked of cinnamon. Identifying the mimics by smelling them was impossible.

  I blurred at the one that just spoke. Lifting ‘her’ off the ground, I declared. “Well, I know when you aren't me!”

  The fake me played it coy. “Adra help me!” she pleaded. “This monster is trying to trick you!”

  “Ask me a question that you can use to tell us apart!” I told Adra.

  Adra shrugged. “Girl, I barely know you.”

  “What’s your favorite color?” Ruby yelled. Adra and I turned our heads to see that Ruby and Jimmy had caught up with us. Aunt Mika stood behind them.

  “Green!” One of the fakes shouted.

  “Yellow!” another said.

  “I don’t have a favorite color!” I said.

  “Take out those two!” Ruby pointed. “The proper answer is no favorite color!”

  The real Adra and the fake Adra blurred towards us.

  I dove at the first Adra and took her to the ground. I pinned her down and said, “Gotcha!”

  “How do you know I’m not the real Adra?” she asked.

  “You moved too fast! You knew which of us was the real me before I answered Ruby’s question. I head-butted her in the head. Her face went blank, and she became a clay blob.

  Adra lifted the other two mimics off the floor. She clanked them together and let them drop. They morphed into two Adras and stood up.

  “Ha! Now, how are you going to tell us apart?” one of them asked.

  Jimmy took an ink pen out of his bag, pulled the tip off and threw it at the one who just spoke. The pen exploded, covering her in red ink.

  “What do you expect that to do?” the fake Adra laughed.

  I blurred behind her, giving her a karate chop to the neck. “It lets us easily identify you!” I said.

  The fake Adra’s head jerked back, out of place. “You know that’s not really my neck!” she laughed.

  I exhaled on her with vampire breath. She groaned, held her throat and then passed out on the floor.

  “Man, vampire breath is so nasty!” Jimmy said.

  Not sure how I felt about the boy I liked thinking my breath was nasty. But I did like the idea of stopping another mimic cold.

  “Of course, in this case, nasty is a good thing!” Jimmy said, quickly covering up his choice of words.

  Adra and the last mimic stood by each other. They both pointed to each other, saying, “She’s the mimic! Take her out!”

  “No, she’s the mimic!” they both said.

  “You’ve got to believe me, it’s her!” they both repeated.

  Wow, this mimic was good! She seemed to be able to sense what Adra was going to say. The two Adras held onto each other...making sure neither of them could blur away.

  I thought about this. I didn’t know Adra well at all. We had only just met. I still knew nothing about her. Luckily, I did know something about mimics.

  “Say orange!” I ordered.

  “Orange!” one of the Adras said.

  “Oh no!” the other one cried.

  I blurred toward the mimic and hit her with an elbow to the head. I knew that punch alone wouldn't stop her so I grabbed her and drove her down to the floor.

  She hit the floor with me on top of her and turned back into a blob of clay.

  “Good job, guys!” I said, turning to Ruby, Jimmy and Aunty Mika. “How did you get here?”

  “Your Aunt Mika gave us a pass. We are on a special dance assignment now,” Jimmy said.

  “How did you find us?” I asked.

  Jimmy pointed to his nose. “Being part vampire hunter, I just knew where you guys were. It’s weird.”

  I hugged him. “Yeah, it is but in a good way.” Looking around, I noticed Frank wasn’t there. “Why didn’t
Frank come?”

  “He said he didn’t feel right about skipping school. And because we had Wayne so outnumbered, he didn’t think he’d be needed.”

  “And he wasn’t!” Adra said.

  Yeah, I felt bad for Frank. I knew he liked Wayne and learning that Wayne was a mimic who wanted to cause problems for Adra and me, had to be hard on Frank. He’s a real trusting guy.

  “Now, what do we do with these three mimics?” I asked.

  Surprisingly, Ms. Elena answered. “I’ve got this!”

  I turned to see that Ms. Elena, Jimmy’s mom, and about 20 other men and women in red uniforms had arrived.

  “How did you find us?” Jimmy asked.

  “Dear, I tracked your phone,” Jimmy’s mom told him.

  Nina Note: I felt good that we had taken out the mimics. I didn’t like them posing as me and trying to cause trouble. I had the feeling that if they couldn't get Adra’s family and my family to feud, they would have tried getting the police or the public after me. We couldn’t let them roam free. But gee, I’m not sure I wanted Ms. Elena and her scientists to have them either.

  Chapter 15: A New Home

  “Don’t worry,” Ms. Elena assured me. “My lab and my people are the best places for these mimics."

  “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with mimics!” I told Ms. Elena.

  “Well, we didn't, not until these three fell into our hands. Now I believe we can train them. Make them useful members of society.”

  “Face it; we have the facilities to hold and educate them,” Jimmy’s mom said. She looked me in the eyes. “Trust me; they will have a good life with us. They can be themselves; it won’t be necessary for them to hide.”

  One mimic changed back into Wayne’s form. He looked at me. “I’m sorry I tried setting you up for a fight, Nina. You’ve always been nice to me. But the thought of driving you and Adra out of town seemed like a good idea. I was afraid that with two vampire families in town, you would figure out we were mimics. I guess I let your power go to my head. It’s really hard having to pretend you’re somebody else. Even though I liked being Wayne.”

  Another mimic took the shape of Wayne’s mom. “Yes, maybe we will be better off going with these people.”

  Ms. Elena walked forward. “I guarantee you will be well treated and taken care of.” She noticed the lone TV in the house. “Our labs have access to all the TV networks.”

  “Even the expensive pay per view ones?” Wayne asked.

  Ms. Elena smiled and nodded. “Yes, even those.”

  “Can we download movies on demand?” Wayne’s mom asked.

  “Yes!” Ms. Elena said.

  “Can I visit them to make sure they’re okay?” I asked.

  Wayne’s dad gave me a puzzled look. “We mimicked you. We wanted to drive you and the other vampire out of town. Yet you want to visit us?”

  “I want to make sure you’re alright. I understand you were just trying to protect yourselves,” I told him.

  I realized that if the mimics hadn’t started anything, we might never have learned of their existence. But I guess they panicked. I turned back to Ms. Elena, “So, can I visit them?”

  “Our labs are top secret!” Jimmy’s mom said.

  “Yeah, but I have no reason to expose you,” I said.

  “True, cause if you did we would certainly tell the world that you are a vampire. You and your family would be hunted relentlessly.”

  “Or they might be given their own reality TV show,” Ruby said. “You never know with people.”

  I smiled. “I think being a reality TV star would be worse than being hunted.”

  “Then I guess we have a deal,” Ms. Elena said. “You may visit once a month.”

  Wayne raised his hand. “Can I tell my friends goodbye?”

  “I’ll go with him,” I said.

  “So will I,” Adra said.

  “So will I,” Ruby said.

  “Me too,” Jimmy added.

  “Sure,” Ms. Elena grinned. “You can tell them you’ve been accepted to a very fancy private school. They are geeks; they will understand that.”

  “Cool!” Wayne said. “Can I visit them…maybe spend some time with them during the summer?”

  “Sure,” I said, answering for Ms. Elena. “We have a big house. There will always be room for you.”

  “Who am I to argue with Nina?” Ms. Elena smiled. “You may visit during the summer. Though to be safe and have full disclosure, we will tag you so we know where you are. There are others out there who may want to use your powers for themselves.”

  “Fair enough,” Wayne said clapping. “I knew some good would come out of posing as the super cool Nina and Adra,” he beamed.

  I liked the idea of being called super cool. It almost made up for the fact that Wayne had pretended to be me. Ah, I guess I couldn’t blame him. I am a pretty cool person. At least I like to think I am.

  “Come on, Wayne,” I said. “Let’s go say goodbye to your friends.”

  Nina Note: All in all, I have to say that worked out about as well as it could have. Adra and I stopped the mimics and found them a good home. At least, I felt like it would be a good home for them. And I do love the fact that Ruby and Jimmy showed up to back us up.

  Chapter 16: The Introduction

  We walked Wayne back to school, and he said a fond goodbye to his gang. He promised them he would come and visit as much as possible. Timmy and Chris seemed sad about Wayne going...but happy that he would have such a good life. I hoped it was true. Yes, I would make sure it came true. Sure, Wayne had tried to make me look bad, but he did it in self-defense. Well, sort of. I wanted to show to him that I had no hard feelings. I wanted to set a positive example; show him he could trust vampires. At least, that he could trust me.

  As I walked out of the school, Adra called out to Frank, Jimmy and I. She ran up to us at normal speed.

  “It was great working with you today,” I told her.

  Adra nodded. “Yes, I had fun!”

  A long black limo drove up the driveway in front of the school.

  “Uh oh,” Adra gulped.

  A tall, dignified looking man opened the rear door and got out. He walked towards us. He had a very stern look on his face. “Adra!” he said firmly. “What are you doing?”

  Adra took a deep breath. “Just talking with my friends, Dad.”

  The tall man looked me in the eyes. “Hello, Nina,” he said.

  “Hello, Doctor Anagal,” I replied politely.

  “Please, both of your parents are doctors, no need to be so formal. You may call me Mr. Anagal.”

  “Thank you, sir,” I said.

  Mr. Anagal turned to Frank. “Hello, Franklin.”

  “You know who I am?” Frank sounded amazed.

  “Of course, I read your father’s publication about you on the supernatural web. You are truly amazing.”

  “Thank you, sir!” Frank said. He gushed, “I’m amazing!”

  Mr. Anagal turned to Ruby. “Hello to you also, Ms. Ruby.”

  “Wait, you know me too?” Ruby asked.

  “Yes, of course. You have great potential as an inventor. I respect that. Even in a normal human.”

  “Thanks!” Ruby smiled.

  Jimmy offered a hand to Mr. Anagal. “My name is…”

  “I know who you are, boy!” Mr. Anagal spat. He showed Jimmy his teeth. “I do not want my daughter associating with any vampire hunters!”

  “Sir, I may have the blood of a vampire hunter, but I’m not a vampire hunter. I believe vampires are good.”

  Mr. Anagal shook his head. “You just want to get close to us so you can harm us.”

  Mr. Anagal took Adra by the hand. “Come, daughter, I will not have you associate with this boy…such riff-raff.” Mr. Anagal pulled Adra towards the car.

  “Sorry, I can’t go against the will of my father,” Adra said as she climbed into the back of the limo.

  Mr. Anagal pointed at Jimmy. “If you talk
to my daughter again, I will NOT be happy. You will not like me when I am not happy.” He stormed away and joined Adra in the limo.

  The car pulled away.

  “He seems nice,” Frank smiled.

  “Are you joking?” Ruby frowned.

  “Well, not to Jimmy, but three out of four is a good batting average. I bet once he gets to know Jimbo, he’ll see that Jimbo is a great guy, right?”

  I hoped that Frank’s rosy outlook was right.

  The end, for now.

  BONUS SECTION

  Very Dad Jokes

  Some more Very Dad Jokes from my dad - the brilliant scientist

  Why is seven the scariest number?

  Because seven eight nine.

  How do computer programmers change a light bulb?

  They don’t…that’s a hardware problem.

  What do you say to a shy turtle?

  You’ve gotta come out of your shell.

  What do you do with a rooster who won’t lay eggs?

  Nothing, roosters don’t lay eggs.

  What do cows love to drink?

  Moolk.

  How many months have 27 days in them?

  All of them!

  Words of wisdom from my little bro, Frank

  I always trust people until they give me a good reason not to trust them. But even then, I always give them a second chance.

  Sometimes you may think people you don’t know are pains, but they are just good people having bad days.

  When in doubt check it out.

  I stand up to bullies because bullying isn't nice at all. Still, I try to remember that bullies are people too. I try to figure out why they are being bullies and work to fix the problem, if possible. Of course, every once in a while you just run into a person who is a twit. Usually, if you can't out-muscle a bully, you can out-think them.

  Spiders are our friends. They eat mosquitos.

  I believe in eating at least three meals a day. Food is fuel.