by VJ Erickson
***
Joseph trudged up the path towards the dorms at Harris Hall with his brother slung over his shoulder, unconscious. Though he could easily escape the attention of humans, Joseph knew that any glamours he cast on themselves would only draw more attention if they encountered vampires, so they kept to the shadows. Under normal circumstances, vampire encounters were no cause for concern, but the circumstances of the evening were far from normal.
Joseph jammed his thumb into his brother’s mouth and pulled the corner of his top lip back to reveal a row of perfectly normal teeth. Joseph had checked several times on the short trip back to the dorms to see if anything had changed. He was disappointed each time to find that his brother still appeared to be normal. Human.
Only a few hours earlier, Eric had the trademark fangs of a vampire. The brothers had even planned to go out feeding that evening, and Joseph wistfully wondered how different his evening would be if they had simply stuck to plan.
Instead, Eric had pursued an inadvisable obsession with a girl he had just met, and now Joseph found himself lugging the unconscious consequences back to their dorm.
Joseph tried to piece together what had happened with his brother, but he really didn’t know what to make of it. He knew that Taylor Bain was trouble. The first and most important rule of feeding was to not get caught. He had warned Eric that this was why he shouldn’t feed on his neighbors and especially not if those neighbors seemed to be immune to his efforts to control them.
He knew Taylor was trouble, and he had cautioned Eric strongly to avoid her, but Eric was used to being able to cheat his way out of trouble. With each inspection of his brother, Joseph became more convinced that Taylor was even more trouble than he could have imagined.
Somehow, impossibly, attempting to feed on Taylor’s blood had triggered a relapse that Joseph had not realized was even possible. The brothers had thought that turning vampire was a one-way trip, but Eric was a heavy lump of proof otherwise.
Joseph approached the dormitory and peered through the windows into the entrance lobby. A student sat at the front desk, staring intently at a computer monitor. He would be no trouble, Joseph thought, but there were two other figures in the lobby with their backs turned towards him. He didn’t recognize either of them and decided that he didn’t want to chance a possible awkward encounter with vampires.
Instead, he repositioned Eric on his shoulder with a grunt and carried him towards the fire escape at the opposite end of the building. Eric had blood on his face, and the scent of it hung heavily in the air around them. As he always did when he smelled blood, Joseph felt the tips of his fangs extend and his heartbeat speed up. Between the allure of the scent and the curiosity about Taylor, he was tempted to taste, but his brother’s lifeless body proved deterrent enough. However enticing the smell, Joseph decided that he was not willing to risk sharing his brother’s fate.
They approached the base of the fire escape. He wished there was some way to glamour Eric to the top, but unfortunately, illusions offered no substitute for upper body strength. He took a step onto the stairs and felt the weight of his brother shift on his shoulders. Eric had started gently snoring and was blissfully unaware of the exertions of his brother. Joseph took another step, and the stairs creaked under their weight.
Joseph closed his eyes and imagined that the area around them was muffled in silence. Satisfied that his glamour would cover the racket, he again began slowly trudging up the stairs.
There were only three flights to scale, and Joseph took comfort that though each step required effort, his increased rate of healing repaired any damage to his muscles and kept the climb from becoming unbearable. Still, he could feel an ache in his arms as he reached the third landing. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, leaning against the side of the building with his brother still in his arms.
Joseph looked through the glass pane in the door leading inside. Though the hall was empty, there were several dorm-room doors open, and he knew that probably meant that there were students inside. Joseph noted that the RA’s door was closed, but that was a minor comfort. Joseph hadn’t met all of his neighbors yet, but he knew that the RA, at least, wasn't a vampire.
Joseph considered leaving Eric outside while he went inside to scope out the hallway, but decided that he didn’t feel comfortable with Eric’s chances of being discovered left out in the open. Joseph took a deep breath, adjusted his grip, and pushed the door open with his back.
“Eric?”
The voice of Tom the RA came from behind Joseph. Joseph spun around abruptly, smacking Eric’s face against the door handle as he did. Tom winced, but Joseph barely noticed.
“Joseph? Is everything okay?" Tom asked.
“What? Oh yeah, everything’s, uh... fine. We’re just... uh, we’re just headed in for the night.”
Tom gave him a skeptical look, but didn’t respond for a moment, so Joseph made a step towards their room.
“Do you need a hand with him?” Tom asked.
Joseph was anxious enough to unload Eric that he considered accepting the offer for a moment but decided against involving Tom.
“No, I’ve got him. He’s fine, just needs to get some rest.”
“Yeah, he looks real tired,” Tom said, leaning in to get a closer look at Eric.
Joseph felt himself tense up as Tom came closer. He realized that he hadn’t thought of what to say if they were caught and that he had no real explanation for Eric’s condition. He hoped that Tom did not ask.
“So is he... sleeping?” Tom asked.
Eric, as if on cue, let out a gentle snore.
“And was he in a fight before he passed out?” Tom asked.
Joseph realized that Tom was referring to the dried blood caked on Eric’s chin and immediately wished he had used a glamour to hide the evidence of Eric’s encounter with Taylor earlier. He chided himself for being so careless.
“Yeah,” Joseph replied, trying to sound nonchalant. “Some people just can’t handle their liquor!”
Joseph immediately regretted not coming up with a better explanation. He was trying to avoid drawing attention to Eric, not get him into more trouble. Besides, because of their inherent ability to heal, he had never met a vampire who “couldn’t handle their liquor”.
Tom stared at Joseph for a moment with a befuddled expression.
“Uh... right. Might want to take it a little easier the first week. You've got a long semester ahead at this rate,” said Tom.
“I know. That’s my brother for you.”
“Okay, well he looks drunk, so you might want to keep him on the down-low,” Tom said, leaning in a little to inspect Eric’s face.
“We're headed straight for bed,” Joseph replied, pulling away slightly.
“Right... I mean obviously. Well... take it easy then.”
“Yeah, you too,” Joseph said and then hurried to their room without looking back.