Being Human

by Patricia Lynne

  Dan threw her a frown, but it was gone when he looked back at me. “You just rest, lil’ bro. Mackenzie, come on, your uncle needs to rest and we have to talk.”

  I didn’t even nod, already drifting away.

  The day flew by quickly and when the sun set, the energy that surged through me was a relief. I made my way up to the living room, pausing in the doorway. Dan and Rissa were on the couch, watching TV. He met my gaze, then glanced up the stairs. I continued my climb until I reached my niece’s room. Desire stirred at her scent hanging in the air. I pushed it back, readied myself and knocked. The door creaked open, my niece peering around it, worry filling her face. There was only one word I knew that would let her know everything was all right.

  “Acrobat.”

  ****

  My niece sat before the large mirror in her room. Make-up was spread before her as she debated which ones to use. She selected a thin, black pencil and began applying it around her eyes. “You should go back.”

  I perched on her bed, half afraid she was going to poke her eye out. “Why?”

  She rolled her eyes. “In case Jamie comes back – when she comes back.”

  I dropped my gaze to the floor. “She won't come back, she's afraid of me.”

  My niece nudged my chin up, making me meet her smiling gaze. “How can you be so sure?”

  I hated the answer. “Because she doesn't remember how I saved her.” I fiddled with a tube of makeup, switching the subject. “Do you have to go?”

  She accepted the change of subject, but the smile lingered on her lips. Plucking the makeup from me, she applied the red to her lips. “No, but it's fun. Too bad you can't come.”

  “I don't know how to dance.”

  “Half the people who go to dances can't dance. Now let me finish getting ready.” She ushered me out the door, pausing for once last request. “Go back, Uncle, she might surprise you.”

  I headed downstairs and took a seat next to Dan. He raised an eyebrow at my seated figure, then turned his attention back to the TV. A sitcom wound down, one last joke squeezed in as the end credits rolled. I used to ask what the jokes meant, trying to get a grasp on humor. Eventually I grew tired of never understanding and gave up.

  Once the last credit disappeared, the news started. “Our top story tonight: Vampire Forces captured and destroyed five vampires. Footage of the torching to come. Brian has this weekend's forecast of sunny, but cool weather and Andy has the late–” A commercial replaced the newscaster, a happy and cheerful tune playing.

  “Don't!” I cried. “Put it back.”

  Dan flipped the channel back. “Why?”

  I leaned in, staring at the screen. “I have to see if I know any of them.”

  “You know other vampires?”

  “There's not many of us left. We banded together, keeping our eyes open for others.”

  Dan lifted an eyebrow at me. “A band of vampires?”

  “Shh, it's on.”

  The newscaster shuffled some papers and gazed at the camera. It felt like he was speaking to me, this story meant only for me. “Our top story, Vampire Forces captured and destroyed five vampires. Nine years ago, Vampire Forces was granted unprecedented power by Congress and the Senate to exterminate the vampire threat. With captures and torchings at an all-time low, it is believed vampires are nearly extinct. Please be warned, the video we are about to show is graphic.”

  The screen changed to show five figures spaced across a platform, gagged and tied to posts. The crowd watched as five Vampire Forces officers ascended the platform with torches in hand. They touched the flames to the vampires and fire leapt to life. Muffled wails crackled through the speakers as four of the vampires struggled against the flames crawling over them. The fifth one remained silent, eyes staring defiantly as the fire crawled up her legs.

  She was looking at me.

  My throat felt tight, an invisible hand gripping it as sorrow welled inside me. I wanted to yell at the TV, “That's my friend; you could at least show a little remorse.”

  But it was pointless. Even if they heard me, they wouldn't care.

  “Tommy.” Dan’s voice was sympathetic, knowing how I felt.

  “She was my friend.” My voice felt strangled, choked by emotions. “She wanted humans to understand us, to see we aren't soulless monsters and none of us wanted to murder our families. She said she always envied me for being strong enough not to kill you, but she was wrong. She was the strong one. She gathered us, kept us together and made sure we didn’t kill each other. She didn’t even have to do it to survive. Now she’s gone.”

  “I'm sorry, lil’ bro.”

  “It’s not fair,” I snapped. “Why can’t the humans see there’s more to vampires? I try to be more human, I rarely kill now, try to understand and do the right thing, but none of that matters, does it?” I pulled in a breath of air for the sake of it. “Why are the only people who see past the vampire are my family?”

  All my vampire life Dan had been there for me, answering my countless questions the best he could. Most the time I didn’t understand and when I did, it was barely. Now I needed an answer more than ever, but he didn't speak. Instead, he placed an arm around my neck and hugged me.

  “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but trust me, it will be all right,” he finally said.

  I wanted – needed – to believe him, but I wasn’t sure I could.

  A car horn blasted through the silence and my niece jumped. “That’s Mandy.” She rushed to me and planted a kiss on my cheek. “I’m sorry about your friend, Uncle. Bye Mom, bye Dad.” Then she was out the door, joining the human world.

  I stood. “I'm going to rest in my cellar today.”

  Dan looked like he wanted to argue, but instead gave me his cell phone. “If you need anything, press one and hit call.”

  I nodded, then headed out the door and away from the human world.

  Despite the night being young, I headed for my cellar. Amy's death filled my thoughts. I never told her my real name and I didn't know her real name either. The one time I asked, she shrugged and said, “Maybe Amy is my real name.”

  I stopped at the edge of the clearing, Amy’s death pushed from my mind. The door to my cellar was lifted, a rope tied around the base of a tree, disappearing through the hole. Nearby, a bike leaned against a tree.

  Someone had found my resting spot!

  I took a cautious step forward, drawing a deep breath. Shock jolted through me, my mind filling with questions. What was she doing here? Why wasn't she at the dance with the other humans?

  I jumped down, landing with a silent puff of dust. A voice gasped in fear and a bright light washed over me. I threw my arm up, instinctively shying from the warmth. “Can you turn that off? I don't like the heat.”

  She lowered the light with trembling hands. Black covered her, making her almost invisible against the wall except for the ivory skin of her face. Her voice was timid, a whisper as she stammered. “I-I-I'm sorry. You scared me. I-I didn't expect you to appear like that.” She looked away, red staining her cheeks and fumbling with the light.

  I moved closer, taking extra slow steps. I wanted to reach out and touch her, see how the red in her cheeks felt. But I remembered the way she shied from my touch, terrified of me. “You scared me.”

  Her eyes darted nervously to me, quickly looking away. “I-I-I…”

  “You came back.”

  “Yeah,” she breathed. “I thought that… I wanted to… I mean, you said…”

  My grin grew by the second, happiness filling every inch. “My niece was right.”

  “Ma-Mackenzie, right?” she asked. “That was her dad that took me home the other morning. And she always talked about her uncle, said he was the coolest in the world.”

  “I don't like heat.”

  Her wide eyes looked up, locking with mine. She quickly looked away, more red coloring her cheeks. “Um, I don't think that's what she meant.”

  “Oh.” I brushed my confusion
aside. I carefully placed my hands on her red cheeks, lifting her face to look at me. “You're here now and I won't ever let anyone hurt you. You don't have to be afraid anymore.”

  ****

  She was here! Every time I looked at her, heard her speak, I realized it was true. I felt like I couldn't believe it, like it was a daydream. But I didn't waste time on daydreaming.

  The blanket, from the last time she was here, was wrapped around her shoulders. A chilled wind blew above us, cold swirling in the cellar. She pulled the blanket closer, her teeth softly chattering as a shiver racked her body.

  “I can get you another,” I suggested.

  Red stained her cheeks. “This is fine, thank you.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, but wondered if I should insist. That meant leaving her. What if she left before I returned? The rope she brought to get down still dangled against the cellar wall. Maybe I should take it down so she couldn't leave.

  No, I scolded myself. I couldn't keep her against her will. If I wanted her to stay, I had to leave the rope so she didn't feel imprisoned.

  Silence filled the space between us as I watched her, unable to tear my gaze away. Her eyes constantly slid up to look at me, quickly looking away when she saw me watching. Red repeatedly stained her cheeks, sometimes lightly, other times filling her whole face.

  “Why do humans blush?” I asked, wanting to listen to her voice. It was pretty and musical, like the chiming bells of the clock in the living room at home. It made me realize why humans liked music. It was pleasant.

  Red colored her cheeks even brighter. “Well, sometimes when someone says something nice to you – gives you a compliment – it makes you happy and you blush.”

  “But how?” I asked, inching closer. “How does being happy make you blush? How does it turn your face red?”

  She hesitated before answering, her voice a timid whisper and fear filled her scent. “It’s umm… blood. Blood pools under the surface and turns your cheeks red.”

  “Blood?” I was next to her now. The red drained from her cheeks. Her body tensed and she pulled the blanket tighter around her trembling body. She stilled when I touched her cheeks to feel the blood and life pulse underneath her skin. “I don’t have blood so I can’t blush.”

  “Oh,” she whispered.

  I pressed my hands to her cheeks, noticing how still she was. Something had frightened her and I wanted to ease her fear. “You feel warm and I like it.”

  Heat flared under my fingers, red instantly rising in her cheeks.

  “Did I make you happy?”

  She pulled her head from my hands. “Maybe. Sometimes people blush because they are embarrassed by something someone says too.”

  I frowned. “I don’t understand. How can you blush for happiness and embarrassment?”

  “It’s not something I can control,” she replied. “It just happens, like blinking.”

  “My brother says I blink weird.”

  “You do blink slowly,” she said in a small voice.

  “Do you feel better now?” I asked. “Something scared you and I could smell it, but now you don’t smell afraid.”

  “I thought maybe I shouldn’t mention blood,” she replied. “I didn’t want to make you hungry.”

  “Why would the word blood make me hungry?”

  She shrugged and her gaze dropped to the floor. “I thought since you're a-a-a vampire I shouldn't say that word.”

  “You can talk about blood, I don't mind,” I assured her. “Humans are wrong about us, we aren’t bloodthirsty monsters. We’re just trying to survive and to do that we need blood. But you can talk about it. Blood, blood, blood. See, it doesn’t bother me.”

  A tiny smile lifted her lips and I felt a bubble of happiness burst in my chest. I had made her smile.

  Her smile disappeared and she lifted her gaze to me. “Can I ask you something?”

  I nodded.

  “Ten years ago when he…” Tears pooled in her eyes and she gulped down a breath of air. “Why did you rescue me?”

  I moved closer, wanting to touch and console her, but afraid she’d shy away. I settled with her blanket-covered body pressed against my side. “What the monster did scared my family. My brother and his wife were terrified my niece would be taken. Every night I’d watch them and smelled their fear. I didn’t want to see them like that and I wanted to help protect my niece, so I hunted the monster. I found your scent and followed. When I opened the door in the wall, I saw my niece, scared, and I finally understood why my family was afraid.”

  “But you took me with you,” she whispered. “I remember now. The wind blowing through my hair, being invited in and you giving me a sandwich. I remember feeling safe with you.”

  “You are safe with me; I won’t let any monsters get you again.”

  Her voice was hushed, like she was afraid to speak any louder. “I know.”

  “Why didn't you go to the dance at the school?” I asked. “My niece told me about it, she said most humans that go can’t dance. Why go if you can’t dance?”

  She shrugged and some of her weight disappeared from me as she leaned away. “I don’t have any friends to go to dances with.”

  “My niece said after I rescued you that you were different. She said you looked like you were afraid of letting the other humans close.”

  Her gaze snapped to me and anger filled her face. “Mackenzie doesn’t know me and I don’t need her or anyone else’s pity!” As quickly as the anger flared, it disappeared. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s frustrating. Everyone knows what happened and they stare like I’m a freak. I wish they’d forget. I want to forget.”

  “If you forgot what happened, then you’d forget me. I don’t want that.” I touched her cheek and turned her face back to me. “Please don’t be sad, I don’t like it.”

  Warmth filled my chest as she smiled and leaned against my hand. Happiness shone in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She freed one hand from the blanket and curled her fingers around mine. Red filled her cheeks again. “I… It’s kinda hard to talk to you when I don’t know your name.”

  I hesitated.

  “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she said quickly. “I understand if it’s hard for you to trust humans.”

  I met her gaze, curious. “Humans?”

  Her gaze turned curious as well. “What about humans?”

  “Most humans refer to each other as people. That’s odd to me that you don’t.”

  Shame filled her face and she looked away.

  I didn’t like the look so I swallowed my nerves. “My name is Tommy.”

  “Tommy.”

  The sound of her saying my name sent an unusual bolt of happiness through me. I wanted her to say my name again and again.

  She looked down, staring at her hands. “Tommy, can we go for a walk?”

  I glanced at the moonlight shining through the cellar door. It caused heat to prickle against my skin, the light a reflection from the sun and trying to drain me of my energy despite the night. It was something I avoided when possible. “Of course.”

  A thrill jolted through me when she placed her arms around my neck. In a few quick moves, we were above, a startled shriek muffled into my shoulder. She clung to me for a second longer before carefully sliding off my back. Her cheeks turned red and I knew I'd never tire of the action.

  “Where do you want to walk?” I asked while wondering why she wanted to walk. I knew humans liked to walk and sometimes I understood it. Like when it was for exercise and the human wanted to be healthy to survive. But when it was for pleasure, I couldn't wrap my head around it.

  “Can we walk along the road?”

  “Yes.”

  Her smile glowed as she took my hand, leading me down the road.

  I stared at our connected hands as we walked. “Why are we holding hands?”

  She dropped my hand, clasping her own together. “Sorry, I thought you wouldn't mind.”

&nbs
p; I took her hand back, curling my fingers around hers. “I don't, I just wanted to know why.”

  A relieved smile filled her face. “Haven't you ever done something for the sake of doing it?”

  “No.” I paused, thinking. “Yes.”

  She covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed. I pulled it away, wanting to see her smile. She swung our intertwined hands as her smile grew. “Which one is it?”

  “Yes,” I informed her. “But I never understood why.” I tilted my head, forgetting there was a ruse I should keep up. “Why do you do something just to do it?”

  Her smile turned shy and her cheeks redder. “Because it makes me happy. Sometimes I stare at the stars and imagine I have wings and can fly.”

  I couldn’t imagine where her wings would be. “And you do that just to do it?”

  She nodded. “I can spend hours daydreaming, it makes the real world easier to deal with when I can escape.”

  I frowned. “I don't understand.”

  The shame was back, quickly replacing her cheer. She dropped my hand, wrapping her arms around herself and hurried ahead of me. Her scent turned bitter as she put distance between us.

  I quickly caught up and grabbed her hand. “Don’t be mad, I’m trying to understand what you mean.”

  Her bottom lip trembled as pain filled her eyes. She sniffed loudly and wiped at the tears that were falling. Panic filled me and my hands fumbled uselessly in the air as I tried to console her.

  “Please don’t do that, don’t cry. I’m sorry.”

  To my surprise, she turned to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. Her crying increased as she clung to me and her heart vibrated against my chest, racking me with her rhythm. Carefully, I wrapped my arms around her, uncertain if I was doing the right thing.

  Moments passed as she cried, her tears dampening my shirt. Slowly, her trembling body stilled and her breathing evened out. She continued to cling to my neck until the tears completely stopped. She wiped at her eyes as she pulled away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break down on you like that. Your tone… well, there wasn’t a tone and I thought you were mocking me.”