Adopted Into the Supernatural

by Francheska Fifield

  "Wake up, it’s school time."

  "What?"

  She is not very perky this morning. Usually, we don’t see her until after her shower, when she bounces down the stairs for breakfast, ready to take on the day. Is this what she is like before that, or had we stayed up talking too late?

  "Alastair, Amber's not in her roo…."

  My door opens and I try to let go of Amber's hand, but she is still mostly asleep and clutching my hand tightly.

  "We fell asleep talking. She wanted to get over the awkwardness, so we talked. Nothing happened."

  Normally I wouldn’t justify myself and my parents wouldn’t make me because I am responsible and a straight arrow. Lately, things have been tense, awkward, different and just plain weird. So who knows what mom is really thinking?

  "Amber, get back to your room and get ready for breakfast. You two won't both have time to shower this morning, I'm afraid."

  "I can be done in six minutes."

  I seriously doubt she can at this speed. I have seen snails go further faster. Still, she gets up and the bedroom door closes. I could use vampire speed to change if she doesn’t get out in a timely fashion, so instead of putting on my school uniform, a new thing this year to promote unity, I go downstairs to eat.

  "Alastair, clean the scent of human off of you before going to school."

  Is it really possible that father has gotten more prejudice against humans than before we adopted Amber?

  "Amber's in the shower."

  "Getting your scent off her, I assume?"

  "We fell asleep talking. It happened a lot over the summer and we never got grief about it before."

  Mom is quietly sipping her blood, not getting involved. I am not sure which way she is going. She acts like she has no opinion on anything to do with Amber or me. Not on dad's accusations that we are an item, or how she would feel about it. Not on us falling asleep in my room, not on my healing Amber's neck via salvia. She is not talking about any of it. She didn’t dare after Amber fled the first few times she tried with her, and she hasn't even tried with me at all.

  "Mother, are you alright?"

  "I'm fine, why?"

  "You seem less enthusiastic than before."

  "I am the same as always."

  "You aren't, mom! Alastair is right, you never ask me anything about my friends or boys anymore, and you always did before."

  Amber comes bounding in, clean and dressed and in six minutes. Bright eyed and bushy tailed once again. How did she do that? I have studied human biology a lot in the last few days and it shouldn’t be physically possible.

  "Oh, well after the last few times…"

  "Oh, that was just my embarrassment. I wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Especially since Alastair and I hadn't talked it over and gotten over the weirdness yet. I felt it was only fair he and I clear the air before I talk to anyone else about it. I didn’t even tell my friends. Alastair, you should go shower. If you smell like me people are going to be all over me today, and I already have enough girls that ask me about you during the school year."

  That is news to me. "What do you say?"

  "Umm, something like 'pursue at your own risk, he's antisocial and thinks relationships are pointless'. Points I know you'd make if you had the patience and desire to do so."

  I can’t help the small chuckle that escapes as I ruffle her hair before going upstairs to shower and change.

  "You know, my hair looks bad enough as it is today since I don’t have time to work with it! Must you add to it?!"

  Amber:

  Once Alastair is gone, I quickly eat some toast - I won’t have time for much this morning - and looks at mom.

  "Why don’t we talk today, after school? I will skip practice, my body isn't up for training right now anyway, and we can do some yoga, meditate and have a mother-daughter talk. You can ask me anything and I promise not to run away."

  Fiona smiles, looking happy and cautious all in one.

  "Really?"

  I smile, hug her, kiss her forehead and put away my dishes.

  "Of course. Now to kick Alastair out so I can brush my teeth. What good is vampire speed if you don’t use it in an emergency like this?"

  Three minutes of pounding on the door later and I am brushing my teeth, grabbing my book bag and heading out the door.

  "I'm glad you got your license over the summer and a car. The parents would be late driving us today."

  Alastair doesn’t respond. He usually doesn’t while driving; he takes it overly serious for someone who has the reflexes to avoid all accidents.

  "Hey, mom will be okay, I'm going to have a girl's mediation day with her after school. Once she gets some girl talk in she will go back to normal. I just avoided talking to her about the whole saliva thing one too many times."

  "She didn’t even try to ask me."

  "Al, no one would think you would share even if asked, so of course she didn’t."

  He seems uncomfortable with that thought. Really, is Alastair getting the normal emotions that most things are born with? Only eighteen years into life before he got them, but hey, better late than never.

  "Do you want to talk to her about it?"

  "I don’t know."

  Amazingly honest for such an unsure answer. Usually, Alastair is never unsure, and when he is, he says nothing at all rather than admit it.

  "You can talk to me about it."

  "Wouldn’t that be weird, me talking to you as if I were talking about someone else?"

  "I'm mature, I can take it. But if you think it's too weird, talk to your mom. I can tell her our time will have to come after you've talked, or you can go second and I'll mention you need a therapy session as well."

  He says nothing so I turn on the radio, leaving it on his station so he will be in a better mood, and make no further attempt at conversation the rest of the trip.

  We arrive at school with minutes to spare. We rushed. He keeps pace with me instead of making me keep pace with him, and as we get to the classroom door, he stops looking at me.

  "I think you should go first. Or maybe I will. Tell mom and let her decide."

  He goes in, not giving me a chance to say anything, only to go in to take my seat next to him and wait for the homeroom teacher to call my name.

  The day flew by and driving home was a rather short affair.

  "Al, why would a potions teacher send students home with homework?"

  "You have a station to work with, why are you complaining?"

  "Not everyone has one."

  "If taking the advanced potions class, they should."

  I glare at him but it makes no difference. He is not watching and even if he does glance over, he will ignore it. He isn’t at all intimidated by me.

  "Not everyone has a cool mom and you to build them a totally awesome cabin for potions, and everyone definitely isn't as loaded as your parents."

  "Use the kitchen."

  He completely ignores my attempt to embarrass him. No fun at all.

  "Al, lighten up. Picking on you is no fun if you don’t get riled up and argue with me."

  Still, he ignores me. He has to be a changeling. Or maybe bionic.

  "So, anyway, I invited a healing witch over to use my cabin's kitchen for potions class. I can do my assignment anytime, but as I said before, not everyone can. Think mom and Fergus will mind?"

  "Not if it's for school."

  I let go of a breath I’d been holding since my afternoon potions class.

  "Good, because he is coming over tonight for dinner."

  The car brakes a little rough as he parks on the curb next to the house.

  "Al, what the heck was that! That was some human driving right there! Don’t pull that, I mean seriously, I am used to smooth stops now!"

  I get out, slamming the door and trudge to the house, pulling out the keys.

  "Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention."

  "That's a first. I don’t mind if you have human moments, just don’t
do it when I'm in the car with you. I hate cars enough as it is."

  I drop my bag inside the door next to the potted plant that I requested be put there; all the plants were requested by me to be honest, but hey, the air is cleaner so no one can complain.

  "Make sure you tell mom and dad right away that a guy is coming over. Likely someone will be with you two in the cabin."

  "Hello, I am trained in vampire self-defense. If a healer witch tries to take advantage of me, I can so take him."

  "The fact that you think of that first is the only reason they would let you be alone with a guy."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Sixteen-year-old humans are known for their hormone increase causing them to…"

  "Okay, Al, don’t take this wrong but stop right there. I know teens are horny etcetera. But O.M.G. must you talk about it? Didn’t we just go over human hormones and vampire salvia? I so don’t need a repeat."

  "You are such a prude."

  I can’t help it; I drop to the floor laughing. My legs won’t support me anymore. That is the best thing I have ever heard Al call me or anyone. It is the funniest thing he has ever said. Seeing someone so stoic and emotionless call me a prude is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen or heard. At least in the humor category.

  "I knew you'd react that way."

  "Ahh, the things you do to lighten the mood never cease to amaze me, Al."

  He holds out a hand, which I take. Once up, I wipe the tears from my eyes while walking to the fridge.

  "Juice or blood?"

  "Blood."

  I pour him a glass; I am used to it now, so it doesn’t bother me and get myself a juice box. Yes, it is for kids, but I am young at heart. For vampires, this family consists of health nuts. Likely it is more Fiona being worried about me dying young from junk, but honestly, even when I first moved in, their fridge was full of healthy things.

  "When do you think the parentals will be home?"

  "Soon. When is the guy supposed to show up?"

  "Ummm, like an hour… ish."

  "Mom should be home by then."

  I am glad of that. I am not sure how Fergus would react if he is the first one back. I do not expect a sex talk but I don’t expect he will be friendly either. Al seems to be having a hard time accepting that someone, not family or my sister is coming to the house. Fiona will be cool and keep the boys in line, so she really needs to get here before Marcus.

  "So who is the boy coming over?"

  "I told you, a potions witch. He is my lab partner when we do potions that require two people adding ingredients simultaneously. His name is Marcus."

  "I don’t know him. How do you know he is safe?"

  "Because he is a shy boy that barely speaks, and is on the potion path because his family owns a shop and as the oldest, he is destined to take it over. He has no say and yet he never complains. Not exactly a rebel. Besides, like I said he is my partner, he's nice. You'd like him if you liked people at all."

  I toss the empty box and decide to get some other homework done. I don’t need the cottage for my other classes, and this way I will be here when Marcus arrives to run interference with the nutters that make up my family.

  "You think everyone is nice."

  "I never once thought Adam was nice, Al, so please don't lie just because you are so overprotective. Heather says I won't even be able to leave for college without a bodyguard. She thinks you take overprotective brother to a level that is almost crazy. Of course, then she heard my life story and I think, sadly, she is heading to your side of things. Honestly, it’s the only time I enjoy Selene's company more. She at least thinks I can take care of myself a little."

  Alastair huffs and I sighs. I hadn't meant to insult him, but come on. It is like I have an incubus going into my cottage with me alone. Also, I am not five and helpless. Something he seems to always forget. After his accidental feeding on me, he has been even more worried, likely because he is now living proof that I am beyond fragile in this world of his.

  "Look, I am sorry if I upset you, but it would be nice to have you trust me a little. You are, after all, the one training me and Marcus isn't a battle witch nor is he a fighter of any kind. The kid's entire workout schedule consists of yoga and running. He is super-fast from what I have heard. Won some kind of medal and everything. The coach was trying to talk him into marathon and sprints. Like in a pro kind of way. But he doesn’t take any kind of classes with confrontation. He is in the botany class with me, he always does as he is told, never makes sarcastic remarks to anyone. He is a really good kid. So try not to intimidate him too much, ok?"

  Alistair nods and sits down to do his homework too. Somehow we got into the habit of both working in the living room, even when we take different classes. We have English and math together but nothing else is the same. Our life goals are very different, so our classes differ a lot. Then again, I am not sure what Alistair wants to be. Likely an enforcer. I kind of assumed high school was just so Fiona could make him socialize and get the core requirements before moving on to vamp college. I want to ask but I am not sure I should.

  Chapter Twelve

  An hour later mom walks through the door with a surprise.

  "Amber, there is a young man here who says he is here for some lab experiment. Apparently, I should already know about this…"

  "Hey mom, yeah, this is Marcus. I expected you home earlier so I could tell you before he got here."

  I put on my most adorable and innocent smile. Alastair snorts and shakes his head, but says nothing after I shoot him a glare.

  "Did you forget you have unlimited texting?"

  I pause. Huh, yeah, I kind of had forgotten that. "Will it be bad if I say yes...?"

  I can practically see Alastair rolling his eyes and nodding his head ‘yes’, despite not looking at him. Instead, I am smiling at my mom, hoping she won’t think me too stupid to put me through medical school.

  "Okay, well you kids be good. Marcus, would you like to stay for dinner?"

  He looks so terrified of having been asked to be a part of dinner at a vampire's house. But at the same time, I know he wants to be polite. Not to mention this is a project that will be a two-hour process. It is practical for him to eat here while our potions simmer.

  "Yeah, just make enough for him too. Don't worry Marcus; everything is not served up rare."

  I say it as a joke, hoping to get a laugh from him. Instead, it seems to make him more nervous. He blanches.

  "Amber, don't be mean to the little witch. He will pass out."

  Marcus jumps when Alastair speaks. Fiona is so sweet and understanding, even her stern face is more exasperated than scary, so sometimes outsiders can relax around her and forget what she is. A royal vampire. Alastair does not give you the opportunity to forget, even if you could get past the scary exterior.

  "Come on, Marcus. Don't bother taking off your shoes, we are going to my cottage. I have a special place to do my work."

  He follows me out the door as I shoot Alastair one last dirty look, promising retribution.

  Alastair:

  "Alastair, did you have to purposely scare him? You called him a little witch, and in a tone that suggested you ate something scarier for breakfast."

  I shrug. "I spoke normally."

  "Normally you have some tact."

  I don't think I was all that different. At home, I don’t bother with tact. Though normally no one is in the house that I am not comfortable with, so I don't have to hold back what I really want to say. Apparently, people I do not know should not be where I am comfortable.

  "Alastair, if you ever need to talk about what happened…"

  "Did Amber text you during school about me wanting to talk to you?"

  If she did and didn’t warn me, her next training session will reflect how I feel about that.

  "No… it's just… well, you have seemed a bit off. You are better since you and Amber talked, but you still seem… different."

  I have never
heard my mother stutter before. She is always the very articulate one that you can't argue with because she knows exactly what to say and when to say it.

  "I do want to. Talk I mean. But I don’t really know what about. Amber's reaction to my healing her was…."

  "She is super sensitive."

  I am not sure if it is a question or not. It seems to tread water rather than dive in. Great, the person I am asking advice from is as lost as I am.

  "Yes."

  My mother sighs and nods.

  "Alastair, we never really taught you straight on about sex and the feelings that come with desire and lust…"

  "I am old enough to know despite you not telling me. Also, I did research the other night." Amber had said no one wants to talk to their parents about sex, but really, who else do I talk to? Amber has as little experience as I... as far as I know.

  "Oh… umm… you watched… a dirty movie… or porn…"

  Why is that everyone's first thought? "No. I looked up medical websites."

  My mother lets go of a breath she had been holding and some of her extra color receded. Well, this is awkward. Now I understand what Amber was saying. Is it too late to get the hell out of here?

  "Oh. Well, that is one aspect of it, but honestly Alastair, it does not really prepare you for the feelings. I mean, books and research can only tell you so much. Experience is very different."

  "I know. I have read about humans being licked by vampires, but Amber's reaction was more than I expected."

  Now my mom looks uncomfortable with this talk. Sadly, I am invested now and I want my answers.

  "When I bit her. She smelled good."

  "The bloodlust would have hit you hard. She tried to explain the increase in sensitivity to us when you were unconscious."

  "No. I could smell her blood. Her perfume, everything was a separate scent, it didn’t blur together at all. I could smell female. Not just blood. It was… different. Amber said that I was reduced to basic instincts which are food, shelter, and sex. I had shelter and a human female would provide both of the other two, for a blood lusted vampire."