Fangs

Chapter 2

         I kicked open the door, snow falling off of my boots.  

        “I’m home!” I yelled, dropping my bag on the floor next to me.  

        “Mom said to go upstairs when you got home.”  That was my older brother, Gabe.  Although I couldn’t see him, I could tell he was on the couch, listening to his music on full blast through headphones.  That’s what he was doing everyday I got home after him.  

        “What? Why?”  I asked as I pulled off my shoes and put them next to the furnace.  I threw my jacket onto the coat rack and rubbed my arms.

        “I dunno, but she sounded mad.”  That wasn’t normal.  Mom didn’t usually get mad at me.  I wondered if she knew about my encounter.  Would she tell me not to talk to strangers?  Did she know it was a vampire?  Has she ever met a vampire?  

I slowly walked up the stairs, scared of what I might face.  I walked into my mom’s room.  She was sitting on her bed, her face bright red.  She looked up when I walked towards her.  

        “Liliana Grace, do you have anything to say for yourself?  Why on Earth are you home so late?”  Right, I wasn’t thinking about that.  

        “Sorry, I,”  it suddenly occurred to me that I should probably lie, the truth was too absurd. “I was with Sophie.”  I hoped she didn’t hear the falter in my voice.

        “Why didn’t you call?  I was worried sick.  I thought something happened.”  She was still mad, but at least she somewhat accepted the excuse.  Luckily, the lying came easier then.  

        “Sorry, I guess I just lost track of time.”  That did it.  I spent almost a year lying about where I went after school after my parents got divorced.  I was only 10 at the time, and the playground at my old preschool seemed to be a good place to get away to.  I would spend nearly an hour just sitting on the swings, crying after school.  My mom thought I was studying in the library.  I studied my mom’s face.  It was red, but cooling down.  I decided I could leave and left to go into my room.  I sat on my bed and let the flow of questions come.  

Could I possibly trust a vampire?  

Does he have a normal job?  

How was he turned?  

Do any vampires drink human blood? 

How old are the others in his pack?

I shook my head, trying to not think about Aaron.  I pulled out my homework, hoping it would distract me.  

        “2+2= Blood-sucking vampire.”  Ok, so that’s not exactly how it happened, but thats what it seemed like.  Every single thing in my house related to vampires.  After about an hour trying to do my homework and failing, I finally gave in.  I reached into my pocket and grabbed the crumpled piece of paper.  In shaky handwriting it said “222-3333.”  Darn it, he forgot the area code.  I pulled out my computer and started researching Indiana area codes.

        After a bit, my mom came into my room.

        “Hey, Hon.  It’s time for dinner.”  She looked towards me, hunched over my computer.  “What you doing?”

        “Nothing”

        “Have you done your homework?”

        “Yes.  I’ll be down in a sec, just let me finish this.”

        “K.”  She left the room and I heard her footsteps go down the stairs in the the kitchen.  I made a mental note to do my homework in the morning as I shut off my computer and went downstairs.  I passed Gabe still lying on the couch.  That was usually me at this late in time.  I yelled at him to get up and help me set the table.  He groaned but he got up.  Mission Accomplished.  I peered into the pot of mac n’ cheese on the stove as I walked by.  Great, I thought sarcastically.  It’s not that I didn’t like mac n’ cheese, it’s just that we seemed to have it way too much, since Mom didn’t like to cook.  I set the table and plopped myself down in one of the chairs.  After a minute or two, Gabe and my Mom joined me.  

        We sat in silence as we ate.  That also ended up happening way to much.  Dad would always start off our meals with an anecdote from his day at work.  He was a lawyer and was always talking about the stupid cases he was working on or the annoying people he was working with.  Although he tried to make them somewhat funny, I vowed never to become a lawyer after most of them.  They weren’t always great, but they were something.  Without him, our table was missing a piece and everyone could sense it, so we sat in silence.  And at that point, I would have given anything to have him back.

        Later that night, I found Aaron’s number and called him.  

        “Hello.”

        “The girl from the street!”  He sounded excited, like he didn't know whether or not I would call.

        “You can call me Lily.”

        “Hi Lily.  What brought on this call?”  I realized as soon as he said that all of my questions would be kind of stupid to ask, so I said,

        “Where are you?” 

        “Downtown Wrightsville, I guess.”

        “So you haven’t found a way back to Indiana?”

        “Correct.”

        “How about we look at the scene of the crime,” I made my voice sound a bit mysterious for that line.  “Tomorrow, same time?”

        “Sounds good.”  I hung up after a few seconds of quiet.