Page 55 of The Vampire
“About time you got here,” Elias said from the living room where he sat in a recliner playing a video game.
“That stuff will rot your brain,” Marlon said, and ruffled his hair like he would a small boy, making Elias show his teeth and hiss before chuckling and going back to his game.
“What have you and Grandpa been up to?” I asked as I walked past him to our room.
“We’ve spent some time together since I arrived here. I will never tire of listening to his stories. He really is a treasure,” Elias said. While we’d grown more relaxed, he seemed to mature more. Even though he enjoyed video games and silly movies, it was more obvious now than it had been before just how old he was.
“How was he doing? I know he’s hired someone to help him with the house since my parents moved,” I said.
“Yes, and I think he’s told her about the vampires that he’s friends with, but she doesn’t believe him,” Elias said. “That old man still loves telling stories.”
“He always told the best stories,” I said, and the memory of him telling me Marlon’s story made me smile.
“Has anyone heard from Josiah or Mark?” Marlon asked.
“Josiah called Joe last week and said they’d be here. They’ve been somewhere in South America so he said they might not make it until tomorrow or the next day,” Elias said.
Josiah and Mark had lived a life of adventure. Never staying in one place too long before moving along to the next and always doing it in style. Josiah didn’t want Mark to long for anything, so he always made sure wherever they traveled they had a safe place to stay during the day, and lots of adventures planned for the nights.
“Didn’t they stay in Iceland this winter?” I asked.
“Yes, they were there when the sun is only out one hour of the day and even then, it’s not very bright so they were able to stay out all day. Josiah wanted Mark to be able to remember what it was like when he could go out anytime he wanted,” Elias said. He was closer to Mark than Josiah, but we all were different to most vampires who chose to lead solitary lives or with only their mate.
“Any news about witches using vampire blood?” I asked and sat on the couch.
“There were rumors about a coven in Europe that were hunting vampires, but I checked it out myself and it wasn’t true. It was a group of goth twenty-somethings that were shocked to find out a vampire could be the size of a child,” Elias said and met my eyes.
“You didn’t.” Marlon and I had not fed on humans since we’d left Occident. There was such an abundance of wildlife where we lived there wasn’t a need. I’d asked him if he missed it, but he said it was a relief to not worry about who he was feeding from. Elias had never enjoyed feeding from humans. His ability to read some humans’ thoughts made it too unpleasant for him, and he really did prefer not being around many people. Grandpa was the exception.
“Are you kidding? I scared them and made sure they all knew what a bad idea it was,” Elias said. “I doubt they’ll ever think hunting vampires is a good idea again now they know we’re real. I did play it up a little though,” he said and chuckled.
“I don’t even want to know,” I said.
“I do,” Marlon hurried to say.
Elias immediately went into greater detail how he’d waited until the group was in an isolated area they thought would be good for whatever ceremony they had planned.
The door burst open and Mark pulled me in for a big hug. “Hey, we weren’t expecting you for another day or two,” I said and patted his shoulder.
“I really wanted to see everyone, and Josiah was getting tired of the jungle,” he said as Josiah stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist.
“We’ve seen pyramids in the jungle. I never in my life dreamed of seeing something like that. Hell, when I was born, I doubt there was much word they even existed,” he said. After so many years I couldn’t imagine him hurting anyone. His demons were dead and gone.
“You’re going to have some great stories for Gramps,” I said.
“Pictures too,” Mark said.
Thefive of us settled in and caught up on what we’d all been doing since we’d been together last. Which had been a few years, but even with that much time we were all close, and I was happy knowing we’d found a way to live that seemed to work.
“It’ll be dusk soon,” Marlon said, and stood with his hand out for me. “Ready to go see Joe?”
“So ready,” I said as everyone else joined us outside in the shadow of the house as the last dying rays of the sun disappeared into the horizon.
The End!
