As Evan awoke, his body felt as though a mere few minutes had passed compared to the hours he’d laid there. The clock at his bedside read 12:24, signalling it was well after lunch and certainly too late for breakfast. He’d almost vaulted off the bed, in full belief that he’d missed the majority of a school day until a memory switch flipped on, reminding him it was the first day of his winter break, not to mention, a Saturday. That’s right. The next few weeks were to be spent in peace and…quiet. Was he forgetting something?
Making his way to the bathroom to freshen up after sweating in his sleep, he slipped off his shirt to be greeted by a blood-curdling sight. A purplish-blue blemish imprinted on his shoulder in the shape of a hand much larger than his own. Only one person had gripped onto that area hard enough for such a mark to appear. So it wasn’t a dream or his imagination. He’d almost been sold into a trafficking ring but was saved by two vampire siblings. The whole thing seemed almost too
fantastical but the bruise itself showed just how true it was.
A knock on his bedroom door was heard from within the bathroom, no doubt being one of his parents checking upon him.
“Evan? Are you okay in there? We haven’t seen you since last night so we’re a bit worried.” The soft, caring voice of his mother, Melinda, came through the walls, concern evident in her words.
“I’m fine…give me a second. I’ll meet you guys downstairs in a second.” No other words were exchanged leaving him to assume she’d heard and left. He had to tell them. He told his parents everything, especially when something broke his routine. How would they react? Would they even believe him?
Finding it best to just get it over with, he unlocked the bathroom, no shirt on, and headed down to the kitchen where his parents sat, whispering to each other in frantic, low voices. Their conversation, however, was cut short, having noticed the ghastly sight of a bruised handprint on their son.
“EVAN!” Chris, his father stood tall, all but running to hold his son, inspecting him for more bruises.
“Who did this to you? Someone at school? Is this why you came home so late? Which one of those bastards laid their hands on my child?” It seemed his mother had gone into her protective mode, one you’d mostly see in a maternal animal. His normally gentle mother was now without a smile, ready to pounce the minute he put a name and or face to his attacker.
“It wasn’t someone from school.” This caught their attention further, realizing that their son was harassed on his way home. “A man pulled me into that alley down by the shops. He said his ‘Boss’ was looking for younger guys like me and was going to take me until-...”
“Until what, Evan? Where is he now?”
“I’m not sure if you’ll…two people were there when he tried to leave the alley. They were these platinum blonde siblings. I heard them call each other ‘Mark’ and ‘Dizzy’ so I guess those are their names. The guy made a phone call while the lady stood and asked me a few questions. The guy holding me slipped up with his lies so she got pretty suspicious. I thought we were all gonna die until her brother said something about getting clearance and the lady just…” He paused.
“It was unreal. She lunged at him like some kind of animal. Once my eyes had adjusted, the guy was dead under her and her eyes had changed from blue to crimson. It was the most terrifying thing I’d ever experienced. Her teeth had become long like what you see on those vampires on tv. After that, my body shut down and refused to move at all so they brought me back home.”
His parents shared a glance at each other, looking back at their son before them. Evan wasn’t the kind of boy to lie, especially to them, his parents. They’d raised him better, shown him that no matter the truth, they’d always love him. Sure he was anxious and tended to wander off in his mind but he’d never make up a story like this.
“And you said their names were Mark and… Tizzy?”
“Dizzy, yeah. Do you guys believe me? I swear I'm not ly-”
“We believe you, sweetheart. It’s just, that it’s quite a lot to take in. No one would have thought that vampires existed but you’re not the type to lie to us. Can you take us to where this all happened? The body might still be there. Should we tell someone? The police? Would they even believe us?” Melinda marched up and down the kitchen floor, questions like spitfire, one after the next.
“Before we involve the authorities, dear, let’s go take a look at the alley as you suggested. Oh! Only if you’re alright with going back there, Ev. I know it’s not exactly something to look forward to, having to go back to the scene of a traumatic experience. We don’t mind going and letting you rest here.” That idea both calmed and terrified him. Of course, there was the pro of being able to relax at home but there were also the blaring warning signals that told him his parents would be in danger.
“Maybe another day, okay? I’d rather stay with you guys if you’re going back to that place.” The two agreed, finally moving away to get the medical supplies for the seemingly forgotten injury. A heating pad was placed on the bruise as his mother laid his head across her lap on the living room couch. This was fine. He felt safe knowing his parents were here. They believed him.
The quiet, however, was ruined by a loud knock from the front door. Evan jumped slightly, in full belief that his attacker’s friends had come for his family. He voiced this concern to his father, who now walked with a pistol to the front door. Taking a deep breath as he held onto the handle, he threw the door open to reveal two familiar faces with platinum blonde hair, neither having flinched at the abrupt answer of the door.
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“We’re here to see Evan. I take it he’s explained yesterday’s events?” Mark spoke with a soft voice, glancing around the room until his eyes landed on the smaller male. A soft smile rested on his lips with a short nod, speaking to his sister in the same strange language. She looked at him as well, also sending him a smile.
“You two must be the siblings from his story, correct? Please, come in.” Chris stepped aside, allowing the two to cross the threshold into the house. The two took seats that faced Evan and Melinda, Chris standing behind his wife and son.
“It’s lovely to see you again dearie. I see now where you got such a pretty face.” Dizzy laughed lightly earning a bashful smile from the older woman. “We’re here, yes to see you Evan, but also to discuss a few things with you and your parents.”
“Yes. The three of you now know of our existence meaning you’ve become a bit of a liability. To answer the question that I’m sure has been burning your curiosity, yes, we are indeed vampires.”
“What do you mean by us being a ‘liability’? Is something wrong?” The siblings looked at each other, almost like they shared a telepathic conversation, which couldn’t be put past them. Mark sighed before continuing.
“You see, us vampires aren’t led by a sole head as said by the stories you’ve probably heard. There are 5 main leaders of 5 factions across the globe and all vampires are under at least one of those five. Of course, with separate leaders, there are bound to be miscommunications and disagreements which more often than not lead to wars. Currently, our faction, Central, is at war with that of the North. The fact that we’ve allowed ourselves to be seen by humans is only added fuel to the fire.”
“Have you come to kill us!?” Melinda cried out in sheer panic, clutching her son closer to her body as any sort of means of protection, Chris looking just as ready to pull the trigger of his pistol still at hand.
“No no nothing like that, honest! We try our best to not harm humans in this day and age. Luckily we’re from Central and not East or West. They
have no care for human lives once found out. However, we do have a bit of an offer for you.” Evan and his parents waited for them to continue.
“We are willing to allow you access to the faction’s main base, Ethereal. There, you, as well as the other humans who have agreed to this proposal, will be allowed to live in good health and peace, under the protection of several vampires who mean you no harm. We are well aware of your occupations and will be more than able to get you to and from them. You will be under our constant surveillance to not only ensure your safety, but that of our secret and, by extension, the safety of our kind.”
This offer wasn’t something that seemed bad so to say. One would gain constant protection in exchange for keeping a secret. The only problem was that this was a new location. Ever since birth, Evan had lived in this house, in this city with his parents. He knew how many shops there were, the estimated number of inhabitants, how many parks, where each road went, all of it. He’d never done well with new experiences after his 5th birthday.
It was an important day. After all, he would be starting kindergarten in the coming September. His parents had invited their entire family as it had been a long time since he’d seen quite a few of them. Among them were his grandparents on his father’s side, Eveline and George Daniels. The two adored their grandson, to a point where it seemed almost obsessive. Despite this, however, no one truly paid attention to it as most grandparents tended to drown their grandchildren in affection.
“Evan sweetheart. Go say hi to a few of your aunts and uncles while we go get your cake, alright?” The young five-year-old nodded eagerly before skipping away to pull his unsuspecting family members into nothing but random chatter. It wasn’t until it was his grandparents’ turn to receive the treatment did things start going downhill.
“Evan darling. Would you like to go with grandpa and me on an adventure?” Of course, being a five-year-old, the word adventure did wonders to his imagination. He agreed without hesitation and was almost instantly placed into the backseat of their vehicle. He’d never really left his neighbourhood before, much less his house so this was something new and exciting.
“We’re going on a journey to our house where you’ll have lots of toys to play with whenever you want. Does that sound fun.” He was handed a stuffed bear which he latched on to, engaging in playful scenarios with it. No part of him remembered his parents' strict words of ‘Don’t wander off without them’. After all, they were his grandparents. If he could trust anyone, it would be them, right?
The car pulled off, the journey ahead was to be a long one, almost an hour. A quick left onto the highway, the road filled with the traffic of other cars racing to reach their destinations. After a few minutes, Eveline turned to see him circling the bear in the air as though it were an aeroplane.
“Is the bear flying, dear?”
“Yeah! I named him Stuffie and he’s a pilot flying all around the world in his plane.” George turned quickly to see what his wife and grandchild were discussing, not noticing an impatient truck driver backing up into their vehicle. Evan, however, did notice and cried out to his unsuspecting grandparents with a loud shriek. The two turned and next came an impact then darkness.
Upon regaining consciousness, he quickly noticed that his body hung upside down from his seatbelt. His memory slowly came back. An adventure with his grandparents, the truck coming towards them. He’d been in an accident then. Where was his- he looked ahead to see a gruesome sight. The mangled, unrecognizable faces of his grandparents lay burnt and scarred in their seats. Eveline’s right arm seemingly severed from her body now sat on the floor at her feet, head tossed to the side in an almost unnatural way. George’s legs lay crushed under the front of the vehicle, a piece of metal from the truck embedded in his stomach.
The sight was too much for him to handle as a child, resulting in tears and nausea. The sound of loud voices and blaring sirens, footsteps approaching hurriedly. Within minutes, he was within someone’s arms before being placed on a stretcher and into an ambulance. The last thing he saw before the doors closed was the vehicle that ruined his life.
Ever since then, he’d never been fond of new experiences, steering clear of anything that wasn’t routine. Now here these two people, no, vampires were, telling him he and his family would have to live in a completely new city, in a ‘new house surrounded by new people? You can see how this wasn’t the ideal situation.
“Evan, sweetheart. We know, better than anyone, how much big changes like this affect you. But, we gotta do this or else we can get in big trouble with a species of people we’d thought were just urban legends and fairytales.” Solely for the safety of his parents, Evan finally, though reluctantly, agreed and so they were to be moved to the place known as Ethereal.