OffGun One-Shots

OffGun - The Old Family Tale

"It's been three years, we haven't seen each other, talked to each other or walked past each other. Not as we should or couldn't. But we didn't anyway. I know you received all the letters, I now know you don't read any of them, which explains why you never replied.
But anyway, I realized that it was not worth spending so much time searching for my words and making sure I don't make a mistake.

I just want you to know, whenever you are ready, in this life, the next one or in a thousand years, I'll be there, waiting."

Hell on earth, how did I find that in my grandpa's grand grand grandpa's stuffs.

This one, and like a billion other ones! Whoever was this person, they haven't sent anything after this letter, it's the latest there is, according to the dates.

I don't know, somehow I feel hurt by the words, I don't even have the context of it and all, but the words, their meaning, and three years of hope thrown like nothing.

I went back to my mother, as she was going through grandpa's bureau, and I showed her the huge box containing all those letters.

"Oh bloody hell he actually had those?? And here I thought it was only some fairy tales to get me and my sisters to sleep!" she said, surprised.

"what's the story mom?" I asked, even I felt I already knew it.

"Well Off, you may never believe what books tell you, how vampires or werewolves exist and how they can be hurt by love too. But proof might be, our ancestors would have met a vampire a long long time ago, and love them truly. Until the family found out and separated them forcefully." she paused a second, probably observing how I react.

"Our ancestor, supposedly called Town, was told the vampire never looked for him and targeted someone else. But, years after crying of heartbreak and regret, Town found all the letters his parents hid from him, and he died looking for the vampire the rest of his life." she concluded.

But how I was listening, I'd see a different picture.

This Town ancestor of mine, he fought all his might against his parents and ran away for love, but they found him before he could meet again with this handsome vampire of which the face was blur and the aura magnified. He was dragged into a room and locked inside, they made a hole in the door to give him food and water, but he had nothing. Only books and paper, he wrote books about vampire-human love. Most of them were burnt when his father entered the room unexpectedly a year after.
Town was beaten every day, they wanted to force him into giving up this horrible envy he had. Had he known, two years after their separation, he would have brought himself to a ceiling, all hopes lost. The letters were found by his onky daughter, this little girl he had from an arranged marriage five years before.
She ended up being the one to find the letters, and created the whole legend around it, to be passed on to the next generation.

But Off never heard of it. His mother then explained why. His father would surely have passed down the tale, had he not die in the Irak war two years after Off was born.

But Off felt it, something was not right. He couldn't believe the legend would include vampires just to be extraordinary, there had to be some other explanations.

Off ended up checking absolutely all the letters, tears often showing up as he would read memories the author had written down.

And he finally found what he wanted, the latest place the author mentioned in the letters. A castle built above the gold mines in old Louisiana, when it was still french-owned land in North America.

Somehow, Off could imagine it. But in the end, it just looked up on the internet. Only one of the old time castles was still up and lived in. So he decided to go.

A 31 year-old Thailand man then flew right to Louisiana and rushed to this huge but a little scary castle. And knocked.

"Hello? I am not expecting any delivery today, which company are you from?" said a man, probably mid twenties, speaking elegantly with a voice dreams couldn't even make up.

"Hi, uhm, sorry for the inconvenience and all, but, I was wondering..." Off was nervous, if he was wrong and his brain just hallucinated every feeling, he would look so disrespectful and stupid...

"Would you forgive Town for never replying?" he finally said, then being instantly anxious.

And the man opened the door three seconds later, his eyes were opened wide, he couldn't believe it. "How did that random guy in front of his door know?" was probably the main question burning his lips.

Their eyes met, Off understood, either he was also a descendent and a tale was also born in his family, or he was Attaphan, old thailand vampire hunted by the humans of his original country, forced to run away to the new world almost three years after him and Town had been pulled away.

"You can't be..." the younger looking started.

"I'm not Town, sir. I'm not sure if you are human too, or a vampire for real or anything, I don't even care. All I want when I look at you is apologize."

"Just call me Gun...." the castle owner said, and he pulled Off towards him into a hug.

They both felt calmer, like their souls had understood something their minds couldn't put a word on.

Gun invited Off to get some coffee or at least a drink. And they talked, and talked. Off ended up spending a whole month in Louisiana, until his family was so worried they forced him to go back.

Had they known, the legend was true, Gun Atthapan existed, was a real living vampire, and was in love with the reincarnation of Town he met three hundreds years after they were broken off.

But this time, Off's parents were more surprised than afraid. This vampire had been so positively described in the family history they were actually fine.

They finally had a second chance, and history would not repeat itself.