The Grateful Boys

by Françoise DuMaurier

  “No, no,” Mr Snow continued. “I think the gov-ment is working on something wicked. Perhaps they’ve unleashed demons from another dimension – y’know… the space between spaces. Now these monsters’r feastin’ on people ’n’ animals in Corpus. So stay in your house and lock your doors. ’Cause gov-ment experiments have gotten totally out of control. It’s Hellboy sorta stuff, if ya were ‘ta ask me. We’ve gotta do all we can to keep filth from invading our town and our heritage. Whether they’re from another dimension or from the north.”

  “Okay, I’m done here,” Hailey said. “This conversation is making me totally uncomfortable. It’s the weirdest stuff I’ve ever heard.”

  “And the part about the Sheriff. It’s got a tinge of racism to it,” Madison said.

  “Just a tinge?” Hailey rolled her eyes.

  “What?” Tara asked. “There was a murder here?”

  “Yeah,” Madison answered. “But it’d be nicer to focus on something else. Trust me, I wish I hadn’t asked Hailey to keep the channel on WKP-26. The theories are ridiculous. I thought maybe they had something worthwhile to say. And a little less racist.”

  Madison changed the radio station to the Top 40 Billboard Pop Chart. This was more like it.

  The girls arrived at the swimwear store shortly thereafter. Hailey even found herself getting along with Tara as they went through racks of bikinis, making suggestions to each other. This girl wasn’t so bad after all, Hailey thought. Insecurity, to be sure, had frightened her the moment she laid eyes on Tara. Though she considered herself pretty, Hailey wasn’t a leggy blonde from California. And now she was no longer the newest girl in school. Someone else would now take her place.

  Hailey would never have admitted it, but she felt threatened back at the parking lot. Now, she was somewhat enjoying the company of this new girl. Perhaps they’d get along just fine.

  Each of the girls finally decided on a two-piece bikini. Lime green for Hailey. Pink for Madison – everything was always pink for Madison. And red for Tara. “Nothing makes me look more smashing than red,” she claimed, with compliments from both Hailey and Madison.

  They stopped to eat at a fast food restaurant, the kind they didn’t have in Corpus. While eating, Hailey took the opportunity to text her mother. She explained that she was out with friends and would be home soon.

  Her mom texted back a quick reply. “Have fun, see you soon. Mason and his friends are all coming over anyway. You dodged a bullet haha.”

  They spent time just hanging out together at their table in the restaurant. Hailey had once read that in France, it’s normal for people to hang around for hours, just socializing at restaurants even after they’ve finished their meals. In America you just ate and you left. But the European way always seemed nicer to her.

  Madison told Tara all about the girl cliques that existed on campus. Tara told her that she knew all about cliques. The Mean Girl groups existed in abundance back in Santa Clara. She even admitted to having been a member of a few of them herself. This came as no surprise to Hailey, recalling her initial instincts. So Hailey, in a friendly tone, referred to Tara being a mean girl as a “no duh” moment.

  “I so totally was,” Tara laughed, recalling past experienced that she swore to never repeat. “Oh, I believe you,” Hailey sniggered.

  Over an hour later, the girls arrived back in Corpus. On their way to Hailey’s house, Hailey decided to call her mom.

  “Hey mom,” Hailey said over the phone. “I know you said Mace is having all his little friends over. The house turning into a boy club isn’t really my thing. So, I was wondering if you’d be okay with me staying with Madison. Just a little girl gathering.”

  “Sure,” her mom answered. “I understand. I was hoping you’d stay for dinner but if I were you, I’d do the same thing. Noisy boys, I know. I get it. But I always tell them to keep it in the basement.”

  “Totally, thanks mom. You’re the best,” Hailey said before making a puckered kissing sound and ending the call.

  “Well look at that,” Madison said. “You got what you wanted without even lying! Isn’t that a new one for you, Hailey?”

  “Oh shut up,” Hailey laughed as Madison took an abrupt turn.

  Of course, Hailey hadn’t necessarily lied. But nor had she been forthright. She made no mention of a pool party. And she certainly made no mention of it being hosted by boys – or vampires for that matter, but no one needed to know that little detail. Instead she only told her mom she was going to a girl gathering. The pool party was a gathering and girls would be there. So it wasn’t really a lie, she told herself. Right?

  Tara called her grandmother – or Nan, as she always said – and asked if she could stay over with a new friend. Her grandmother was apprehensive. Tara had just arrived in Corpus over the weekend. Her nan asked how she managed to make new friends so quickly. Tara put on the saddest voice she could muster, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears. She told her grandmother how badly she felt homesick. And how her two new friends reminded her of being back in Santa Clara.

  Finally her grandmother relented and told her, “Okay, okay. Just don’t stay too late. Love you, deary. I’ll be headin’ to the PTO meetin’ tonight. I’ll be sure to let yer know how it goes.” Her grandmother had this weird southern way of speaking which made it sound like she was whistling as she spoke.

  “Oh, you are good,” Hailey told her. “I’m already taking pointers.” Hailey pretended to write in her left palm using her right index finger and thumb pressed together.

  “The key,” Madison told her, “is to make it sad, believable, and truthful. I never lie. I only stretch the truth, so to speak.”

  “I’m so glad I found you. You’re going to be our new BFF,” Madison told her. “Isn’t that right, Hailey? Now let’s all head to my place before the party starts.”

  Hailey merely smirked. The girls arrived at Madison’s small one-story house. If the houses, in comparison to the beachfront property of California, underwhelmed Tara she surely didn’t mention it. So the girls made their way into Madison’s place, waved to her parents, and went back to Madison’s room.

  They spent the next hour painting their nails and doing one another’s hair. Tara gave each of her new friends a double French braid hairstyle.

  “Oh my god, I love it,” Madison exclaimed, with Hailey in full agreement. “It’s gorgeous,” Hailey smiled. Then Tara gave her platinum blonde hair the same style of braid. Perhaps it was all she knew, Hailey laughed to herself.

  They changed into their bikinis, wearing them under their jeans and shirts, then headed out around 7:30. It was now dark out. Nightfall had descended and the party would soon begin. Mostly, there was no way they’d arrive at this pool party and not be the prettiest girls in tow.

  ***

  “Alright boys, I’m leaving for the PTO meeting,” Mel shouted as she opened her front door.

  Mason came running after her. “Mom, you know you don’t really have to go to that dumb meeting. You can stay here if you like. And I’m sure it’s much safer. Here in the house where no one can… y’know, get you. As long as they haven’t been invited in.”

  “Mason, are you back onto that nonsense again? I hope you and your friends aren’t going to be watching horror movies tonight.”

  “No, mom. I promise. No horror movies tonight. And that’s the God to honest truth.”

  “Okay, well have fun. I’m not some big PTO member but Sheriff Antwan is going to be there.”

  “You mean, Zeddman? Ew. I forgot you liked him. But hey, you’re an adult so I guess you can do as you please. I give you my blessing.”

  “As if I need it,” his mom laughed. “Bye honey.” She kissed him and walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

  Mason rushed back down to his cozy furnished basement where he was joined by Matthew, Sebastian, Alex, and Ben. They sat around a table with Matthew at the far end. He held up the Encyclopedia of Vampires.

  “The mother of all vam
pire knowledge,” he said. Each of the boys leaned in, Sebastian withstanding.

  “First up is the Brahmaparusha,” Matthew read.

  “The what!?” Alex and Mason asked together.

  Matthew sounded it out. “The Bra… ma…. par…usha. A vampire originating in India that has been known to slaughter human beings and wear their intestines as a crown. They drink blood, not from the neck, but directly from the top of the human head.”

  “Whoa, that’s sick,” Alex exclaimed.

  “Next is the Eretica. A Russian vampire whose name derives from the word heretic. This legend states that Russian vampires are people who traded their eternal souls in heaven for an immortal life on earth. An Eretica is also considered a woman who has sold her soul through means of sorcery. During the day they are gruesome and old looking. At night they become beautiful and perform vampiric rituals.”

  “Eh,” Mason shook his head. “I’m not sure either of those are what we’ve got here in Corpus.

  “Keep going,” Sebastian said. “Because all this sounds pretty silly.”

  “Alright. The next one is called the lobishomen. According to legend, the lobishomen vampire are native to Brazil and refer only to female vampires. They are known for draining everyone they come in contact with. They are also nymphomaniacs.”

  “What’s that mean?” Ben asked.

  “It means a woman who’s obsessed with sex,” Alex answered.

  “Cool,” Ben laughed. “That sounds like a cool vampire chick.”

  “No, dude. Not cool,” Matthew snapped. “According to the Encyclopedia, they’re all old hairy hunchbacks. Furthermore, they hate wolf’s bane, onions, and garlic. It’s the only way to stop them from turning you into a dead prune.”

  “God, that sounds awful. I’d rather just die,” Alex said, revolted.

  “Keep going, there’s gotta be something more useful in that book,” Mason said, leaning in closer at the table.

  “Here’s another,” Matthew said before burying his head back into the book and rattling from the pages. “The Jiang shi is a vampire of Chinese origin. If you don’t bury dead family members, they can transform into vampires who survive on blood. They typically have glowing red eyes and are covered in green fuzz and mold. Jiang shi vampires are said to be allergic to sticky rice. You can also try holding your breath to defend against them.”

  “What the hell is sticky rice and how’s it different from normal rice?” Ben asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Oh this sucks!” Mason called out. “None of this describes what I saw. None of it describes what we saw back in that cave under the house! It was a cave with a waterfall, a bunch of coffins, and a man hanging upside down! Where’s that stuff inside the Encyclopedia?”

  “It looks like every culture has their own set of beliefs regarding vampires,” Matthew answered. “Obviously some are way different than others.”

  “Mason’s right,” Sebastian finally spoke up. “This is all nonsense. Stuff about evil vampires with fuzzy green skin. Ancient demons who are allergic to garlic and onions. It’s crazy talk, really. We’re sitting here reading out of some fictional encyclopedia about stuff that’s obviously made up.”

  “I mean,” Mason continued. “This stuff just doesn’t describe what I saw. I saw a freakin’ whirl of mist turn into a vampire and fly out of my sister’s room. And we all saw a man hanging upside down in the cave.”

  “What if that guy wasn’t a vampire?” Ben suggested.

  “What are you suggesting?” Mason gasped incredulously.

  “What if he was just some guy exercising in his mancave. I’ve seen people hang upside down before. Doesn’t mean they were all vampires. I used to do it on the jungle gym bars when I was young.”

  “Oh, I dunno, Ben,” Mason laughed in nonbelief. “A kid swinging upside down on the jungle gym bars is a little different from some guy hanging upside down in a cave lined with goddamn coffins!”

  “Maybe he was just a mortician,” Matthew shrugged.

  “So, you guys are telling me that a mortician with coffins in his cave basement was hanging upside down as some form of exercise, like he was Batman,” Mason scoffed.

  “Since you mention Batman,” Alex added. “He’s got a cave in his basement too. But Bruce Wayne isn’t a vampire.”

  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing! Are we really doing this?” Mason asked as he stood from his chair. “Bunch of traitors! All of you! Denying what your physically witnessed. Okay, let’s say the guy hanging upside down in a cave riddled with coffins was all a coincidence. Just some mortician who takes his job very serious. Okay… then how the hell do you explain the vampire flying out of my sister’s room?”

  “None of us really saw that. I’m just saying,” Ben raised his hands in the air in a posture that read ‘back off’.

  “You guy are unbelievable, you know that. Every last one of you. Well… how do you feel, Alex?” Mason asked.

  “I don’t know,” Alex added. “I think you’re on to something. Could it be a vampire? Sure. But could we be wrong. That’s possible too. I don’t want to jump the gun either way.”

  Sebastian felt a light ringing in his head. He clenched his teeth and stood from the table as the other boys continued arguing over the existence of vampires.

  “Personally, I think maybe we should shelve the idea for now and just play some video games,” Ben shrugged. “Let’s get back to the real reason we put together a club in the first place.”

  “That might not be a bad idea,” Matthew said and Alex nodded.

  “No way! I’m here for a vampire discussion, dammit!” Mason demanded. “You guys aren’t gonna chicken out on me now! Gimme that encyclopedia!”

  Meanwhile, Sebastian was blocking out their conversation. “Come to me” Sebastian heard a gentle voice whisper within him. The connection was growing. Immediately he pulled out his phone and pretended to be texting.

  “Guys,” Sebastian said softly as they continued arguing. “Guys!” he said louder to capture their attention. “My dad just messaged me. My mom’s sick. I gotta bike home. Hope you guys don’t mind. I gotta go.”

  “No problem, Seb,” Mason told him. “It’s not like we’re getting anything done or anyone really cares. I’ll walk you out.”

  “No, I got it,” Sebastian insisted. “I know my way out. I’ll lock the door behind me.”

  “Okay then,” Mason said. Ben and Alex followed up with “Bye” while Matthew told him, “See you tomorrow, buddy! Hope your mom’s okay.”

  Sebastian smiled faintly and left the basement. He made his way through Mason’s hallway and out the front door. He got onto his bike and knew exactly where he was headed. Vampyr Manor.

  ***

  It was shortly before eight and Sheriff Zeddman was inside the gym of Corpus Middle & High. It had been turned into an assembly room by the Parent Teacher Organization. Zeddman was standing off to the side as the principal stood in front of the podium. Parents were still arriving as Principal Dawkins began speaking. He hit all his talking points, with mentions of keeping the school and the environment safe.

  The Principal rattled on and on for felt like, at least, a half hour. Even Sheriff Zeddman was checking his watch every few minutes, thinking of more productive things he could be doing at this time. Instead he’d committed himself to a PTO function to address parental concerns. Coleman wasn’t wrong when he said the sheriff would need to do everything he could in order to be elected to another term.

  Interestingly enough, Principal Dawkins fielded no questions. He read off his prewritten speech and came to a conclusion by adding, “Now Sheriff Zeddman will deliver a few words followed by a question and answer session.”

  The Principal stepped away from his podium and wafted the sheriff to step up. Tired, and for once feeling his age of fifty, Sheriff Zeddman pulled himself out of his chair and headed to the podium. He looked out into the audience and saw a sea of parents and folks in presidential red caps. He hadn’t spoken to
a crowd this large since the last election year.

  “Just tell ’em what they want to hear,” the principal whispered to the sheriff.

  He knew the faster he got this over with, the better.

  “Go Sheriff!” someone in the crowd yelled.

  “Thank you,” Sheriff Zeddman chuckled. It was followed by a booing that he ignored. “Now I was asked to speak tonight by Principal Dawkins, who is quite a fine principal. We’re lucky to have him in our county’s only middle and high school. As of late, things have probably seemed a little unusual. I understand we’re not all used to the sort of activity that has been reported recently in the papers and talked about on the local radio station. After all, our city motto is A Quaint Town with Country Charm. And I’m not here to change that.”

  “You sure?!” someone yelled out.

  Zeddman looked around in order to gauge the reaction of the audience. Some were nodding their heads from left to right. Others were nodding up and down. Tough crowd. Perhaps they were disapproving of the incidents he was referring to. Or perhaps they were disapproving of his job as Sheriff.

  “So, what are you gonna do!” someone yelled out.

  “There’s been a murder in our town! That ain’t right in Corpus!” another voice called out.

  “It’s not right anywhere,” Sheriff Zeddman reminded the audience. “But I agree it is especially terrible to have something like that occur in our small town. We pride ourselves on being Georgia’s most well-kept secret. We get to live a safe and secure life of simplicity out here without the noise that comes with bigger cities. And that includes big city crimes.”