With heavy eyelids, Sheriff Zeddman and each of his deputies nodded to Alobard as they lowered their weapons. Under a deep trance, the Sheriff’s Department left Vampyr Manor, convinced they found nothing and saw no one.
Chapter 12
A few hours later, a half dozen deputies from the raid were standing outside the school during the new policing routine. They acted perfectly normal, nodding to parents and surveying the school grounds as if the day had gone as typical as any other.
Kids were leaving by bike, walking, or being picked up by parents. Mason and Alex headed to the bike docking area, unchained their bikes, and headed off together. They were roughly a mile away from the school, biking down the road when a green Oldsmobile swerved by them.
“Maniac!” Mason yelled.
“Watch where you’re driving!” Alex followed.
The car stopped in front of them. Out walked Harry Fletch and Jason Richly. Harry’s hand was still bandaged from the stab wound.
“Oh shit,” Alex said nervously.
“Just a little head’s-up,” Harry spat toward their feet. “We’re coming for you.”
“All of you,” Jason added. “The nigger. The trailer trash. The fat one. The queer. And your high school friend for liking a pack of losers.”
Harry used his uninjured hand to reach into his back pocket. He pulled out a new silver pocketknife. Mason and Alex both flinched.
“No need to flinch now,” Harry sneered. “I’m saving this for later. I’m gonna go nice ‘n slow. I’m going to enjoy slicing you up. Not now. But your time will come. You won’t know when and you won’t know where. But I’m coming.”
“We’ll be waiting,” Jason said as they got back into their Oldsmobile and sped off down the long winding road.
“You… you think they’re serious?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re just bullshitting,” Mason said hesitantly.
“I’m scared, Mace. For real, I’m scared.”
“They’re just trying to scare us, that’s all. If they were going to do anything, they would have done it just now. Right?” Mason said, looking for assurance.
“Yeah, I hope you’re right. I really hope so,” Alex grumbled.
Before they took off on their bikes, Mason sent a group message to warn their other friends.
Later in the evening, Mason was at home, still thinking about Harry and Jason, but thinking more about the vampire he’d discovered in his sister’s room. As if one problem wasn’t enough. At this rate, he wasn’t sure whom he should be more worried about. But either way, he knew he was safe as long as he stayed inside.
He thought about telling an adult. Not about the vampires – no, his mom would think he was insane if he told her that he broke her chair leg in order to make a stake to stab a vampire that could turn into a bat and a whirling ball of mist. And said vampire was in Hailey’s room, likely seducing her with his Transylvanian-like charm. No, no adult in his or her right mind would believe that. Not without proof, and he had none.
It was regarding Harry and Jason that he thought about telling someone. But it wasn’t like they’d ever really made a difference before. It was time to face his own battles. Mom already thought he was going nuts. He didn’t have much choice. As if brandishing knives and threatening younger boys wasn’t irredeemable enough. Forget them. If they were serious, they’d have done something already. I called their bluff.
“Dinner’s ready!” Mel called from downstairs.
Mason tossed the various thoughts out of his head – mentally filing them away as he hopped down the old staircase and made his way into the kitchen. Hailey, who was already sitting at the table, joined him. Mom laid out macaroni and cheese plus chicken across three plates, doling out one to Mason, one to Hailey, and placing one in front of her own seat at the head of the table.
“So how was school?” Mel asked.
Mason shook his head up and down. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Eh,” Hailey said, taking a bite of chicken. “Just the usual. Eh.”
“Well, that sounds like work today. Tips were kinda bland, but you never expect much in Corpus,” Mel said. “At least the Sheriff messaged me this evening. He sounded really good. Said he felt less burdensome after work today, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Hmm.”
“That must be a nice feeling mom, I’m not sure I’ll ever know that one,” Mason said grimly.
“Why? What do you mean, Mason? Is something bothering you?” Mel asked.
“No, it’s nothing. Nothing at all.”
“I feel… melancholy,” Hailey said, twirling her fork in macaroni.
“Well damn, why’s everyone so down today?” Mel asked.
“Oh, well there is some good news,” Mason half smiled.
“And what’s that?” Mel inquired.
“Hailey’s got a boyfriend!” Mason laughed.
“Wait, what? Is that true, Hailey? Why haven’t you mentioned it to me?”
“Oh my God, Mason. Shut up! Mom, don’t listen to him. I met this guy, yeah. Do I like him, sure? Will it work out? I have no idea.”
“Oh God, you like him!” Mason howled.
“Mason! Your sister can like whoever she wants.”
“Are you sure about that, Mom?” Mason asked. “Like really, really sure? But hey, there’s actually something really great about him. He doesn’t enter a house unless he’s invited! Isn’t that hilariously amazing?”
Mason was cracking up in laughter as Hailey shot him a series of mean, contemptuous looks.
“Nothing wrong with that. A gentleman who only enters after he’s invited. Sounds nice to me,” Mel said, still eating.
“Oh, that’s not all!” Mason laughed. “I hear he’s got undying loyalty! Isn’t that right, Hailes?”
“Mason, I am so done with you,” Hailey sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Why? Because you’ve got a boyfriend who’s to die for!” Mason roared with laughter.
“Like, for real, can you just stop?” Hailey snapped at him. “You’re so stupid and immature.”
“I’m just having a little fun, Hailey. That’s all. We know things can get a little bleak around here. Might as well enjoy the moment and crack a few jokes. Heck, we could all be dead by tomorrow, right?”
“Mason!” his mom gasped. “What has gotten into you? Why are you being so morbid? Did you just say we could all die tomorrow? What on earth are you talking about?”
“These are mad times, Mom. Mad times,” Mason said before chewing another bite of chicken.
***
That evening Sebastian wished his mother well as she headed off to work. She was an evening and nightshift janitor at the hospital, depending on the day, and rarely saw her son. Sebastian went to school during the day while his mother went to work during the evening. This gave them little time together.
By night, his father was asleep. Unconscious after the usual – a few bottles of beer and a sports game.
Sebastian lay on his bed, his bedroom door shut and locked. He stared at the ceiling, lingering on what Mason warned him about – Harry and Jason. Sure, they hated Mason and Alex and Ben and Matthew. But it was him who they wanted most.
Because of Sebastian, Harry had a hole in his hand and Jason likely suffered a concussion. Mason may have thought they were only trying to intimidate but Sebastian knew better. They weren’t going to forgive the injuries they blamed him for.
If he knew anything, it was that these were the type of boys who’d never give up. But he had a protector. A friend who was stronger and more thoughtful and loving than any human had ever been to him, including his parents.
Gregorious is what he looked forward to. The dreams, the visits, the stimulating conversations that made Sebastian feel as if he were truly important. He thought of what Gregorious would say to that claim. “It’s not merely a feeling, my young friend. It is a pure and complete understanding of your importance.” Yep, that’s exactly what Gregory
would say to him.
He realized he wasn’t just thinking about Gregorious. He was constantly thinking of what Gregorious would say and how he would say it. No one had ever made him feel so paramount to existence, and he knew it was unlikely that anyone else would.
Was Gregorious stroking his ego? Feeding him fallacies? But why? Why pretend an eighth-grade boy was so important? There was only one true conclusion. That Gregorious believed and knew every word he spoke.
His thoughts were consumed by the vampire. And not a moment too soon did he hear his window rising. So confident was Sebastian that he’d not moved an inch upon hearing the movement of the window. He continued lying in his bed, still staring at his ceiling, taping his feet.
“Been waiting for you,” Sebastian smiled, still staring at the ceiling.
“Are my visits so frequent – are my interruptions so expected that you will not move an inch upon my arrival?” Gregorious asked, bowing with a smirk.
Grinning, Sebastian turned on his side, propping his head on his hand, his elbow on the bed. “It’s nothing like that. Have you ever thought perhaps your arrival is what I was waiting for? That each night you don’t show up is the only disappointment I can’t bear.”
“Food for thought?” Gregorious asked, smugly.
“Or… blood for thought,” Sebastian smirked.
“Good one. I bet you took all night to come up with that.”
“Nah, only thought of it just now,” Sebastian yawned. “You don’t usually bore me,” Sebastian said spritely.
“Bore you? Is that what I’m doing. I hear your father snoring in the living room. I guess he’s better company than me. Perhaps I ought to leave then.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Sebastian gasped with a smile.
“Wouldn’t I?” Gregorious asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You care too much about me,” said Sebastian jovially.
“Or maybe it’s just your blood I’m after,” Gregorious said sarcastically, bowing curtly.
“I knew it! You were only using me.”
“I’m afraid not, young Sebastian. Your usefulness has come to an end,” Gregorious joked.
“Then I guess I’ll just go back to bed!” Sebastian plopped down on his bed, returning his gaze to the ceiling.
“On a more serious note, my young counterpart, I have planned for us to journey a short distance tonight.”
“Away from this house?” Sebastian asked as he bounced out of bed. “Count me in!” Already in pants and shirt, he placed on a pair of shoes and grabbed a light jacket. “Kinda cool out, y’know, for humans.”
“It’s almost as if you were expecting me to sweep you away tonight,” Gregorious beamed.
“You don’t have to enter my head to know that,” Sebastian said, placing on his jacket.
“There are other ways,” Gregorious winked.
“Alright! What are we waiting for!” Sebastian sneered playfully.
“You first,” Gregorious outstretched his arm, pointing to the window.
“A pleasure as always,” Sebastian mimicked his bow before hopping out the window without a moment’s hesitation.
It was dark, cool, and misty outside. Stars twinkled from the sky but it was the luminous waxing gibbous moon that provided most of the light to those on the ground. Gregorious swooped out of the window to join him as they stood in the dewy unmanicured lawn right next to Sebastian’s room.
“Are you not going to ask where we’re headed tonight?” Gregorious asked him.
“Tonight? No. I’d rather you surprise me.”
“Then you shall surely be in for a surprise tonight. Let us take flight.”
Sebastian positioned his back to Gregorious, who grabbed him by the waist with one arm and held Sebastian’s hand with his other. They lifted off the ground and headed into the air. Up and up they want, far higher than the last time they took flight.
“It’s freezing up here,” Sebastian said, his teeth chatter – his body shivering.
“I hate this for you,” Gregorious said as they flew through the dark of night. Taking into account the darkness, they were so far in the air that no one would have spotted a boy and a vampire swooshing through the sky near midnight. “But I’m afraid we’re doing what we can to avoid suspicion, given recent circumstances.”
“What circumstances?” Sebastian asked as they flew over houses and trees, through parks and across streets.
“A group of individuals located our sanctuary. But fear not, all is now well. We can be particularly… persuasive.”
“You mean your powers of hypnosis?” Sebastian asked as he gripped the vampire’s arm tightly in the air. They were now flying over a small church.
“Potentially,” Gregorious admitted without elaborating. Before Sebastian could question him further, they were descending upon the ground, not more than a half mile from the small church. They lowered upon a foggy area formed of moss-covered trees.
Sebastian looked around and saw gravestones among soil as far as the eye could see.
“We’re in a graveyard,” Sebastian assessed.
“I hope that doesn’t bother you. I enjoy it immensely. It is undoubtedly the most serene location one can travel. Such a pity how humans view the grave as a thing of bleakness. So afraid are they of that which will never harm them. Namely, the dead. Not my kind of dead, of course. The other kind of dead. The permanent kind.”
“I’m just happy to be on the ground. It was freezing up there,” Sebastian laughed nervously.
“Let us journey among the tombstones,” Gregorious said softly as he pressed forward. Sebastian peered at him, stiff for a moment, before hurriedly catching up to his older partner.
“I guess it is… quiet,” Sebastian suggested.
“The ultimate quiet. The final peace,” Gregorious said thoughtfully.
“Do you come here often?”
“More than you know, Sebastian.”
“I know this may sound like a strange question, but have you ever visited the tombstones of your family members?”
“My family was buried 400 years ago in Eastern Europe.”
“So I guess not,” Sebastian said shyly, walking side by side with his vampire companion. Their pace crawled to a slow stroll.
“My last visit to their burial site was roughly seventy years ago. Did I care for my family? Yes. But I cannot deny that the priority of their memories has taken a backseat to other precedencies in my life.”
“I can’t help but feel that 400 years from now, I’ll just be one of those fleeting memories. While you live on, gathering new friends.”
“It does not do, Sebastian, to dwell on what may come in the unforeseeable future. If there is one thing I have learned in over 400 years, it is that eternity is an awfully long time. It is better to live for each moment, regardless if each moment is infinite or not. This, I think, is ubiquitous to human and vampire-kind.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with you, Gregorious. But I love the way you talk. Each word has so much meaning. Even when I don’t understand it.”
A period of silence rolled over them, like thunder across an immense valley. The dark of night chilled the air as they continued a slow and deliberate tour of the cemetery. Finally, Gregorious stopped in his tracks and faced Sebastian, placing a hand upon his shoulder.
“You called me Gregorious,” he said emotionless.
“Yes, that’s your name,” Sebastian said without a second’s thought.
“But you were gracious enough to call me Gregorious. As opposed to Gregory.”
“Gregorious is… noble. Esteemed. It fits you,” Sebastian answered after pausing for a moment.
“And Gregory is…?”
“It’s become obvious to me,” Sebastian answered. “That Gregory is the boy in black. The teenager that you look like. But Gregorious… He is a 400-year-old vampire with wisdom and compassion and warmth. No matter how cold you feel.”
“Can I admit something to you, Sebastian?�
�
“Yes, anything.”
“That is, perhaps, the most authentic thing anyone has ever suggested of me. In all of my several centuries, even.”
“No way,” Sebastian chuckled. His laughter subsided as he watched Gregorious’s eyes flare a certain hue of scarlet.
“Just as I refer to you as Sebastian and not as Seb. So too, I feel about you. Behind the façade of Seb lies the devotion of Sebastian.”
Gregorious gently removed his hand from Sebastian’s shoulder. He pointed to a tombstone with a single outstretched finger. Sebastian turned to face the grave.
“Take a look at that headstone. It is no more special than any other. The moonlight cascades equally upon each of them. Beneath the soil rests the remains of all who came before you. And some who came before me. To think that humans will spend most of their time, not among the living, but among the dead. Humans shall rest beneath the soil for tens of thousands of years. While vampires shall rest upon it for equally as long.”
“Like you told me, Gregorious. Forever is an awfully long time.”
“Have you ever thought about…” he asked Sebastian. “What it must feel like?”
Sebastian thought for a moment, unsure of what he was being asked. Then the realization hit him. “To live forever? I can’t claim it’s something I ever thought of before you entered my life. But now that you’re here… I can’t help but wonder what it must be like.”
“There is a reason we call it the blessing and the curse of the vampire.”
“I can barely imagine what it means to live forever. I feel like the worst part would be… not feeling purpose,” Sebastian said.
“Let us continue our journey among the tombstones,” Gregorious told him. Together they pressed forward, admiring the sights of those who rest permanently. “You are right. When you are endless and eternal, you think much less about purpose. Purpose is meant for destinations. It is meant for short-lived lives that can accomplish only so much within their finite window. But to be eternal means to have no destination. To be on an endless journey.”
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