The Atham Manor (Slow Updates)

Kiss and Go

I sat down in front of Calvin, knee to knee, as he rubbed his wet hair with a towel. He was just a sporting a loose grey-green shirt and black joggers and it was doing wonders for his body.

I wasn't even denying thinking they were attractive - it was their attraction to me that caused my hesitance.

It was sort of quiet. I didn't know how to start this much needed conversation about boundaries and where we stood. He looked equally embarrassed as I felt, as if his earlier actions were now dawning on him.

He pulled the towel off of his head and left it on his shoulders, giving me an awkward smile. "You look much better than yesterday."

Gee, thanks.

I assumed he was talking about my four days of no food and glanced at my pudgy stomach. Now that I was eating again, my body was storing it as fat rather than fuel. I knew it would go away as long as I kept eating like a normal person.  But... I've been eating a lot more than a normal person.

"Thanks... if you think this is good." I pushed the extra flab with my finger.

"I do," Calvin cleared his throat. "You look healthy. Healthy is always good."

I nodded slowly.

This was so awkward.

"Okay." I slapped both my thighs, causing Calvin to jerk a bit. "You tried to kiss me."

"Yeeeep." He popped the 'p'.

"Well, now it's awkward. Fix it."

"How am I supposed to fix it?" Calvin looked at me incredulously.

"Say you regret it or go all the way!"

Calvin blinked owlishly before repeating, "Go... all the way?"

I flushed although it wasn't visible. "Not... not, all the way, all the way - just, if you're gonna kiss me, do it!"

Calvin shrugged. "Come here, then."

"No!"

Calvin laid back on his bed with a long sigh. "I'm confused."

I crossed my arms. "Me too. Probably a little more confused than you. Literally days ago, I figured out I'm living with vampires and that my family abandoned me. There are big, freaky monsters that want to kill people and my blood is literally dinner for three different guys."

"That makes it sound really bad."

"Cuz it is," I slumped against the back of the comfy chair.

"What would make you feel better? I really don't know what else to do." Calvin rubbed his face. "I tried food and movies and more food, it didn't work. You want to go ice skating? Bowling? Laser tag? You want a cake? A car? A huge stack of money?"

"Yes, all of that would be lovely."

Calvin perked up. "Seriously?"

"No."

Again, he fell on his back. "I don't know what else I can give you."

"I want my family," I started, staring at his face. "But I know nothing will be the same. I want answers cuz I feel like I'm still left out. I want to know what those monsters are. And why everyone in this house so lonesome? And the school - are they all vampires? Is there anything else I should be worried about?"

Calvin nodded his head and sat up. "Those are valid questions. The monsters are what we call strigoi. They don't have a tie to their mentality anymore and they will take blood from anything. They're brutal, and to be honest we don't know why they keep popping up. Or why there's such an increase lately. Only purebreeds can make them, and it's not any purebreeds we know.  That's why we kill them on sight." Calvin looked at me for a minute. "Do you understand? We ourselves don't know much about them, they're a recently developing problem. That's why we have a... business meeting of sorts coming up so we can talk about these things. To answer your last question, vampires are pretty lonely creatures so companionship is craved yet never really comforting. It's strange."