unvamped

by Elizabeth Stevens

  He managed to eat the human food that Mary and Arthur gave him, and put on enough of a pretence that they were both back at work. He had only thrown up once in the past couple of days and he felt as though his body was settling. He was not really sure that he liked that idea, but it was at least more comfortable than writhing in his own bodily fluids and pain.

  He had offered to do some work around the house for Mary and she had happily – although with much proffered surprise – given him a list of things he could do for her and that he needed to do in the next few weeks before school went back.

  He looked at the list; mowing the lawn seemed like the least painful and easiest item on the list. He had seen the neighbour do it just the other day.

  He stepped out the back door and winced, growling as the sun flashed in his eyes. The sensitivity of his eyes was a lot like when he was a vampire. He blinked rapidly, until his eyes adjusted, and looked outside. He saw for miles and he groaned. Obviously, his body was still only partly adjusting.

  Looking around, he saw a shed at the back of the garden. He wandered out to it and rummaged around for a while until he found the lawn mower. Wheeling it out and looking it over, he had no idea how to start the damned thing. This was the closest he had ever been to one in his many years and he could not remember a time when he had seen one started, except on the television.

  He searched for the little toggle thing that the people on television shows pulled to start it. He tried pulling on a few different toggle-looking things and then stepped back in frustration, stamping his feet and waving his arms around.

  Laughter came from behind him and turned around.

  “Do you want some help?” Ethel asked him.

  “Um... Do you know how to start one of these?” Charles asked as she climbed over the fence. His vision fluctuated between her true purple-haired image and her blonde-haired glamoured imaged and he blinked, looking away from her and hoping he wasn’t going to vomit again.

  “Oh, sorry,” she said. “There, is that better?”

  He looked up at her and all he saw was the young woman with purple hair. He nodded, swallowing the bile that had risen in his throat. She walked over to the lawn mower and pulled a toggle, starting the mower on the first pull.

  “How did you do that?” Charles asked, laughing.

  Ethel smiled at him. “Even a witch has use for gardening equipment.”

  “Why is it you’re always around when I need help?”

  “Your confusion is fairly loud, Charles,” Ethel replied, tapping her head. “I’d be fairly surprised if even Mary and Arthur didn’t recognise it.”

  “Will it all just go away eventually?”

  “I can’t answer that,” Ethel said to Charles. “You might be able to hasten the process if you concentrate really hard on the senses of your human side.”

  “Mu-um!” a voice called out from across the fence.

  “Just a minute, Morg!” Ethel called back. “I’ve got to go, Charles. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  “Sure, thanks again.” He nodded towards the idling mower.

  “No worries,” she said and hopped back over the fence.

  Charles flipped the switch on the handle of the lawn mower and proceeded to wander slowly up and down the back lawn. He found himself humming as he went and a sense of satisfaction settled over him. As his hearing fluctuated, the roar of the lawn mower rose and fell.

  He took Ethel’s advice and tried to think of something to concentrate on. He picked his footsteps and, as he pushed the mower, he counted his steps and tried to regulate his breathing and heartbeat.

  At first, he thought it was working. The roar of the mower stayed at a constant normal human level. Except, then the sound rose again and did not fall. He jerked away from the mower and clapped his hands over his ears. While trying simultaneously to keep his hands on his ears, he looked for the button he thought would turn off the darned machine.

  He could not find it and nothing he pressed made any difference. In anger, he kicked the mower and it flew across the lawn and smashed through the fence into Ethel’s backyard. Charles swore and threw his hands in the air.

  He watched as a man came out of the house. Just as Ethel had, he shifted in Charles’ vision between a middle-aged man with greying-brown hair and a younger man with flame-orange hair. He came running up to the broken lawn mower, to which Charles made his way over.

  “I am so sorry!” Charles said, holding his hands up.

  “Charles!” the man said. “What on Earth happened?”

  “Do you all know me?”

  “You could say that. What happened here?”

  “I don’t know. My vampire hearing would not shut off and then I could not turn off the lawn mower, so I kicked it and... Well, I guess my vampire strength kicked in...” Charles finished, feeling rather lame.

  “You’re not hurt?” The man looked at him. There was not the same concern Charles thought he would see on Ethel’s face. This man was not scared to show that he did not like Charles, but he obviously had a sense of common decency.

  More than I’ve been known to have in my life, Charles thought regretfully.

  “No, I am fine. Sore ears and, well I shall be honest, looking at you gives me a headache... But I am fine.”

  “Ah, my glamour...”

  Charles blinked and the flame-orange version of the man slowly came into focus and stayed there. “Thanks,” he said.

  “We’d better get this cleaned up before your parents get home.”

  “They are not-” Charles stopped himself at the look on the man’s face. “How can we tidy this up?” he coughed.

  “Like this.” The man said some words Charles did not understand, but he knew they were old, very old, and waved his hand at the fence.

  The pickets of the fence flew back together and lined themselves back up on the fence. The man repeated the gesture and the words, pointing at the lawn mower. The mower straightened itself out and, in moments, looked brand new.

  “Thank you,” Charles said.

  “You would do well to be thankful for Mary and Arthur, Charles. They’re good people and have wanted a child for as long as I’ve known them. They deserve a son who will treat them properly. I expect you to pull yourself together and be that son.”

  Charles nodded. “I... I will do my best.” It was not a hardship to promise such a thing; and he knew he had very little choice anyway.

  “You’d better.” The man walked back into his house and left Charles with the lawn mower.

  Charles decided that it was probably better not to try any more chores for the day.

  ****

  Weak sunshine filtered through the vertical blinds. Ellie sat in the bed, shuffling peas around on her plate. She’d sat there for five days, after she’d slept for eleven.

  She couldn’t remember a time when she’d been more bored, even the time she’d broken her leg ten years ago and been in bed for three weeks! Of course, her parents, sister and friends had come to visit her, but they could only be there for so many hours of the day. It was times like these that Ellie wished she was into gaming; at least it would have passed the time.

  Ellie sighed.

  “What’s up, Pet?”

  Ellie looked up and smiled as her big sister, Morganna, walked in. She bit her tongue about being called Pet in public. It was one thing for your family to have a nickname for you in private. But another altogether when they used that nickname in public. At least they didn’t use it when she had her friends around!

  “Not much,” Ellie replied, sitting up higher in the bed. “What have you been up to?”

  “Just busy at school.” Morganna flipped her purple hair over her shoulder and sat down on the bed next to Ellie.

  Ellie’s sister would definitely not be mistaken for normal by anyone’s standards. Her eyes were the same vivid shade of purple as her hair. Though this was unheard of in humans, it
wasn’t an uncommon phenomenon among witches. Morganna just didn’t feel the need to glamour her appearance and she got away with it fabulously.

  She was studying her Masters in Lore at the Witchcraft Academy. She’d taken almost a century off before she’d started her Masters, and spent the time before Ellie was born travelling around both the human and supernatural world.

  The Witchcraft Academy was where all good witches went after they finished their human schooling. It was hidden behind the facade of the Greater Academical University. Instead of heading off to a normal, human university after school, Ellie would tell all her friends she would attend the Greater Academical University – at which they would laugh mercilessly at its ridiculous name – and study a variety of subjects related to her supernatural heritage. Once she finished her undergraduate work, she could decide to pursue further study like her sister had, or find a job in the human world, which usually fronted a job in the supernatural world.

  She sighed again as she remembered how her life was all planned out for her.

  “What’s the matter, Pet?” Morganna asked.

  “Just anticipating the exciting adventure that will be university.” She smiled her most sarcastic smile; Ellie’s wish to lead a normal human life was no secret to her sister.

  “Oh, Pet! It’s honestly not that bad!” Morganna playfully jostled her.

  “Says you! You get to use the portal in and out so you can come and go as you please. I’ll be stuck there all semester, only being able to come home for holidays ‘cos the trip won’t be worth it otherwise!” Ellie huffed.

  Morganna just laughed. “It was like that for my undergrad too. At least you have mobile phones now! A century ago, I could only communicate with my human friends by letter, and that took forever! Besides, you’ll make new friends and Aubrey will be there too.”

  Ellie nodded. Aubrey was her best non-human friend. She was home-schooled for her human schooling, but lived nearby so they got to spend lots of time together. Ellie had been a bit worried her human friends would shun Aubrey because she was home-schooled, but they took to her quickly and now there was rarely a time when the five of them weren’t together. Of course, her human friends couldn’t see Aubrey’s wings…

  “Oh, I brought you a book to read!” Morganna said, rifling through her enormous bag. She pulled a book out and passed it to Ellie.

  “Gee, thanks Morg...” Ellie said, taking the heavy, leather-bound book from her sister.

  “I found it at the library and thought you’d like to have a look at it. It’s all about curses. Thought it might better help you understand what you did.” Morganna smiled at her and

  Ellie couldn’t help but smile back. Her sister had actually given her something useful this time. Not like the time Morganna had brought her a one-thousand page manuscript on magical beetles because she thought her little sister might like some light reading.

  “Thanks, Morg. I’ll have a look at it.” She put the book on the table next to the hospital bed. “Any idea when I’ll be getting out of here?”

  “Hopefully a couple of days, if you keep getting stronger.”

  Ellie groaned.

  “I know, Pet. It sucks, but you did almost die.”

  “Yeah, I know, I know,” Ellie sighed, snuggling down in the bed. “Stupid magic.”

  “Oh come on, Pet. Don’t be like that! Being a witch is awesome and you know it.” Morg sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Being a witch makes us freaks, Morg, nothing more.”

  “Hmph.” Morg stood up again. “If you’re going to be like that, then I’ll go home. I don’t need you dragging me down.”

  “I do plan to be like that. So, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ellie grumbled.

  “Okay, fine. I love you,” Morg grumbled back.

  “I love you too,” Ellie muttered, trying not to smile.

  Her sister kissed her on the head, squeezed her hand and left her in peace. Ellie looked over at the book on curses. She felt like she should read it, but she honestly couldn’t be bothered. She was angry with magic at the moment, and she didn’t want to study or even think about it if she could avoid it.

  She rolled over in the stupid, narrow hospital bed and tried to relax. Sleep always made her feel better. Sleeping had a way of passing the time without her having to think about the things she didn’t want to. If she was really lucky, then she wouldn’t remember her dreams.

  ****

  Ellie was walking down an alleyway again. She was annoyed with herself. Why would she would walk down another alley so soon after being attacked?

  She’d never realised how much vampires liked witches’ blood before, or at least never believed the stories. Now, she was more wary, even a little frightened of them.

  As she came further down the alleyway, she saw two figures up ahead.

  Don’t they have anywhere better to hang out? she wondered.

  As she approached them, she saw the Red vampire biting one of the other ones… It was Charlie…

  She looked on in confusion, not quite sure what she was seeing. Charlie was human, but he used to be a vampire… Surely the other vampires wouldn’t want to feed off him?

  She continued walking towards them and they didn’t seem to notice her. As she watched, Red pulled away from Charlie, bit his wrist, and held it up to Charlie’s mouth. As Charlie drank, Red spoke. It was hard for Ellie to hear at first, but then it became clearer.

  “…can’t guarantee that this will work,” Red was saying. “I don’t know anyone who’s been turned twice.”

  Charlie pulled away and wiped his mouth. “Well, it can’t hurt trying, can it?” He sounded angry. “Nothing else will work, and I cannot go on living as a human. I am weak and hungry and I miss my old life. I miss the blood.”

  “Charlie-boy, I understand all that. Have you asked the witch to turn you back?” Red put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

  Charlie nodded glumly. “She will not.”

  “Why not?”

  “She did almost die, Red.”

  “What does that matter to you?”

  “I… Well, I cannot very well persuade her when her life is in danger can I? Witches! They’re all about self-preservation.”

  “Well, yeah, I suppose so…” Red said, not sounding at all convinced.

  Ellie stood, transfixed.

  Charlie looked utterly wretched.

  A slight pang went through her, but she shook it off.

  It’s what he deserves for trying to kill me, she thought. There is absolutely no reason to feel sorry for him!

  As she looked at his handsome face, with his brown hair falling over his eyes, she had trouble remembering how scared and angry she was when he attacked her, and when she was lying there after, waiting to die. All she saw now was a sad, vulnerable young man.

  Suddenly, Charlie looked straight at her, with open desire burned into his green eyes, and she jumped, feeling a responding twinge in her heart.

  Ellie sat up in bed.

  So much for not remembering my dreams, she thought as she remembered those piercing green eyes staring straight at her.

  “Pet, you okay?” her mum asked, coming into the room.

  “Yeah… Yeah, just a dream. Why are you here?”

  “Am I not allowed to be here?”

  “No, it’s just that you were here this morning…” Ellie petered off as she saw the look on her mum’s face.

  “No, Pet. You’ve been asleep for a couple of days now.” Her mum looked calm, just confused by Ellie’s reaction. “The doctor said it was a nice healing sleep and there was no need to be worried. Now that you’re awake, he wants to check you over and, if all’s well, send you home.”

  “I can go home?” Ellie smiled.

  “Most likely, Pet, yes.” Her mum smiled. “Let me just go and get the doctor.”

  ****

  Charles had decided to vacuum the carpet. It went a lot better than the attempt
at lawn mowing. When Mary got home, she was absolutely thrilled. It seemed to Charles that whatever Charles they remembered was nothing like the one he was. But, neither did they seem inclined to question him.

  They sat down to dinner together and Charles listened with rapture to the stories of their day; Mary’s stories of the children in her summer classes, and the story of Arthur’s escaped lab mouse.

  “Have you got all your books ready for school?” Mary asked as he helped her wash the dishes after dinner.

  He nodded as he thought of the pile of books sitting on his floor. He did not know how they found their way there, but it was before he became the human him…or, was not the vampire him. It was all too confusing…

  “Yeah, they’re all in my room,” he said, slipping into the appropriate vernacular.

  “Does your blazer need dry cleaning or anything?”

  Charles could not even remember seeing a blazer in the wardrobe. “Um, I don’t think so. I’ll check tonight.”

  “Okay, thanks. Let me know in the morning.” Mary smiled at him. She put her arm around his shoulder and he hugged her back with his left arm, wondering why it all felt so natural yet so foreign.

  “I guess I’ll go and tidy up my room,” Charles said, letting go of her.

  “Okay then. I’ll come past on my way to bed.” She ruffled his hair.

  Charles ran up to his room and shuffled around what he was starting to think of as his belongings. A part of him wanted to go to bed, but he felt as though he should stay up until Mary came past on her way to bed.

  What the flame-haired man had said to him the day before resonated in him, and he was determined to try harder than his best to be a good son. He was finding it a lot easier than he thought to want to please Mary and Arthur; they genuinely cared about him and, once he had come to know them, he found they were not as dull as he remembered human adults to be.

  That something inexplicable was pushing him to do right by them, to live this life, to do his best. And, he found it difficult to fight it. It had truly started overriding his natural behaviour and thought patterns as though he really was some human teenage boy.