The Vampire Underground
Page 22
She shook her head. “Not very well.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that.” Tessa looked more confused than elated by Brin’s sentimental behavior. She turned around. “Did you have breakfast yet? I was about to make healthy pancakes.”
“Healthy pancakes?” Brin said.
“Yeah. They’re made with oats, cottage cheese, and egg whites.”
“You know,” Brin said, “on any other morning, I’d say… ewww. But you could make me a snail sandwich right now. I’m starving.”
“Yeah? Great.” Tessa looked her over one more time. “Now… can you please go take a shower?”
“Sure thing, Mom.”
Tessa started walking down the hallway. She was almost around the corner.
“Uhh, Mom?”
Tessa turned around. “Yes?”
Brin opened the front door all the way, revealing Paul, pale as ever, and sporting a fake, obnoxious smile on his face.
Tessa’s eyes grew wide. She looked at her daughter in bewilderment.
Brin grinned back at her. “There’s someone I want you to meet,” she said, before turning to Paul. “Well? Are you coming?”
He stood completely still, then shook his head. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?” Brin said. “Why not?”
“You have to invite me in, first.”
Brin smiled. He’s a vampire all right. Through and through.
Chapter Forty-Five
Six hours passed, and now Brin had not one but two large meals inside her stomach. She took a swig of water—she had been downing gallons of it ever since arriving home—and stepped out onto the slick pavement.
The weather was acting up again, but with a warmer temperature, allowing the falling snow to melt into a soft rain by the time it struck her face. The sun had disappeared over the mountains in the distance, creating a serene magic hour. With the multitude of clouds covering the sky and the unusually fresh rain falling to the ground floor, Grisly had never looked so beautiful.
Brin slammed her car door at the exact moment Paul slammed his on the passenger side. “Is this it?” he said.
“This is it,” Brin said. She smiled at him. “Are you OK to be outside now? With the sun setting?”
“No problem at all.”
“Good.”
“Did you want me to come with you?”
Brin nodded. “Yeah. Some company would be nice.”
“Why didn’t you tell your mom you were coming here?”
She shrugged. “I’ll tell her eventually. But right now… I’m doing this for me.”
Brin took Paul by the hand—the act felt natural by now—and the two started walking across the parking lot toward Grisly Cemetery. They had to cover nearly three-quarters of the grass and tombstones before they reached their intended destination.
Brin stopped and let go of Paul. “Stay here,” she said.
He nodded. “OK.”
Paul leaned up against a tree as Brin took ten more steps forward and kneeled down in front of her father’s grave.
She leaned her head down and surprised even herself when her eyes instantly welled up with tears. She tried to control them. She had tried to control her emotions all weekend. But she couldn’t anymore. She had to let the tears come.
“Uhh… hi Dad,” she said. “It’s Brin. I wanted to apologize for missing the service yesterday with mom and grandma and grandpa. I was doing something I thought at the time was important, but what I realize now…” She looked back at Paul, who was now seated on the grass and picking small yellow flowers. “…was inevitable.”
Brin wiped a tear from her cheek and scooted forward.
“You wouldn’t believe what happened to me this weekend, Dad. If a writer wrote it, if a director filmed it, everyone would call it fiction. But I was there. I witnessed it first-hand. And I want to tell you now… I want to tell you the truth.” Brin leaned forward, as if she was afraid another cemetery visitor nearby would hear her, and whispered, “Vampires are real.”
She looked back again at Paul, who waved at her. Brin waved back. She didn’t know yet how important a part Paul was going to play in her life over the next few months. She had no idea what he was going to mean to her.
Brin turned back to the tombstone. “Dad, I really…” She closed her mouth for a moment. Another tear fell down her cheek, and she didn’t wipe this one away. “I really miss you, Dad. I love Mom, of course I do. But I really miss you. This past year… it’s been so hard.” She was trembling. She struggled getting more words out. Finally she said, “I’m here to tell you… that I love you, Dad. I love you so very much.”
Brin leaned her head down and pressed her hands against the wet grass. More tears came streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to stop crying.
“I love you, too, Brin,” a voice whispered from below.
She brought her head back up and furrowed her brow. She couldn’t have heard what she thought she heard.
Nice imagination, Brin, she thought. First, vampires. What next? My dead father erupting from his grave and—
Brin screamed as a hand burst through the soil and latched onto her neck.
TO BE CONTINUED…
# # #
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brian Rowe is a writing fiend, book devotee, film fanatic, and constant dreamer. He's written nine novels, dozens of short stories, five feature-length screenplays, and hundreds of film articles and essays. He is one half of the blog Story Carnivores, where he reviews the latest in books and film. He is currently pursuing his MA in English at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is hard at work on his next novel.
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