Victor Vladikis: Vampire With A Human Life

Chapter 2: Getting To Know Each Other

Soon after the last period ended, Jenny went home to talk with her grandfather about what had happened at school that day. 

"What do you want to talk about, my child?" He asked. "Grandpa, do you know a boy named Victor Vladikis?" Jenny said.  "Hmmm.............No.  Can't say that I do. Why, Jenny?"  "Because I met him today at school, and when I told him my name was Harker, he asked if I was related to a man named Jonathan Harker."  "Hmm.  Strange.  What does this boy look like?"  "Well, he has black hair, kinda pale skin, he wears dark clothes, and he has red eyes."  When Jenny mentioned the red eyes, Jonathan almost jumped. 

"Red eyes?!"  he exclaimed.  He looked very serious at Jenny.  "What else do you know about him?" "Well, he doesn't seem to like the sunlight. He says he has a skin disorder, which doesn't allow him to be in the sun. He also has a bottle of red liquid, which he says is medicine for a stomach disorder he has. And he says he lived in a castle in Europe, near Romania."

Jonathan became very worried. "Th-They found me. I don't know how but they found me," he frantically muttered. "Who found you, Grandpa?" asked Jenny. Jonathan looked at his granddaughter with a worried look. Jonathan suddenly calmed down. "Oh, no one, Jenny. You don't need to worry about a thing. They are probably just here by chance. We're perfectly safe," he said with a nervous chuckle. Jenny left the room, not quite convinced that there was nothing wrong.

The next day went on much like the day before. Jenny and I found each other at lunch, and we had the chance to talk, and get to know each other.

"All my life, I have gone through each and every day exactly the same way. Wake up, go to school, come home, go to bed. Just over and over. Nothing interesting ever happens in this city," Jenny told me. "Well, if you crave strange, then you are lucky you met me," I replied. She looked at me. "What do you mean?" Oops. I went wide-eyed, and looked away. "Uhh, nothing." And we then both sat in silence for a while.

"So.... tell me a bit about yourself, Victor," Jenny said to me. I looked at her. I sighed. "Well, I suffer from those..... medical conditions every single day of my life. I can never see or feel the warmth of the sun. I am forced to take some of this....." I said, holding up the Gatorade bottle. ".... every few hours, and..... this may sound ridiculous, but, I have....... scopophobia." Jenny looked confused. "Scopophobia, what is that?" "Scopophobia is 'Fear of having your picture taken'," I replied.

"Why would you be afraid of having your picture taken?" Jenny asked. "I.... don't know. It just creeps me out," I replied. "Oh. My little brother likes to creep me out all the time," said Jenny. "Your little brother?" I said. "Yeah. Steven is 14 years old, and he drives me nuts!" "How many family members do you have?" "It's my dad, my mom, Steven, and my grandfather," "Hmm. Quite the family." "Yeah. Tell me about your family." "Hmm? Oh. It's just my father since my mother died a long time ago." "Oh. I'm sorry." "It's okay."

We both sat in silence for a second, then Jenny asked, "What was your mother's name?" I hesitated, then said, "Elisabeta." "Elisabeta. That's a beautiful name." "Yeah. She was beautiful." Another moment of silence. "And so are you," I mumbled. Jenny looked up. "What?" I blushed, and quickly looked away. "Nothing!" I kept my gaze on the floor, not wanting Jenny to see me blushing, but I could tell she was still staring at me.

"So tell me about your a dad," Jenny finally said. I looked at her unsteadily. "My dad? Oh, umm..... well..... what can I say? He certainly..... drinks a lot," I said nervously. Jenny went wide-eyed. "Oh! Sorry. I didn't know he was a drunk. If I had known that, I wouldn't have brought him up." I was confused. "A drunk?" But I went along with it. "Oh, yeah. He is definitely a drunk." I chuckled. Another moment of silence.

"No offense, Victor, but if your dad is a drunk, how were you able to afford to come to America from Europe?" Jenny asked me. "Oh. I have my ways. One of which stowing away on a lifeboat." I said. Jenny went wide-eyed again. "You ran away?!" "Mmm... Maybe." "Why?" "Mainly because of my father. Not just because he's a drunk, but everyone in town hates us because of him. For one thing he's a murderer." Jenny was suddenly horrified. I looked at her and saw the terrible expression on her face. "Oh! Not that you have anything to worry about. My dad isn't in America with me. I came here alone. Heck! He doesn't even know where I am. He doesn't even know that I'm even in America."

Jenny's expression softened a little. I decided to change the subject before this got ugly. "So, tell me about your parents." "My parents? My dad is a realtor like my grandpa used to be, and my mom is a florist." "Interesting," I said. "Do you have any interest in what to be when you are an adult?" I asked her. "Well, I want to be...... an archeologist," she replied.

"An archeologist? What is that?" I asked. "Someone who travels and collects ancient artifacts for museums," she said. "Really! Well, if you're interested in finding ancient artifacts, Europe is filled with them," I said. "Thanks for the tip," Jenny said with a smile. "Anytime," I replied.

"What about you?" Jenny asked. "What?" I said. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" she asked. I thought for a moment, then said, "I've...... never really thought about it," I said. "I guess that I just don't want to grow up to be like my father. I don't want to be a vicious murderer like he is," I added. "Is he really that bad?" Jenny asked. "Well, you might say he's.......... demonic," I replied. Jenny grew fearful again. "Oh! W-Well, I'm glad you don't want to be like him," she stammered. "So am I," I said.