A Beginner's Guide to Fangs

by Matthew S. Cox

  Ronan’s eyes flutter and he faints into my arms.

  “What happened to my brother?” Hunter rushes over, and plucks him away from me.

  “He’s tired.”

  Hunter gives me a flat look.

  “Put him to bed and I’ll explain.” I smile. “Really, he’s fine.”

  “All right.” Hunter picks Ronan up and carries him out.

  Mr. Lawrence wobbles upright. He looks around at the room with an expression like he doesn’t understand where he is. When he spots me, he recoils in fear, and staggers into the hall. A moment later, he tromps heavily down the stairs. The front door slams.

  I glance around at the empty room and flop seated on the end of Hunter’s bed, staring at the hole in the wall.

  “Well, that’s not exactly how I expected the night to go.”

  Attachments

  9

  Minutes pass in awkward silence. A chill seeps into my butt from the hood of Hunter’s car.

  He’s leaning on it next to me, both of us staring down at the ground. I fidget at my bra, stuffed in the front pocket of my hoodie. This is probably it, the moment he’s either going to accept what I’ve become or I have to make him forget ever knowing me. I don’t want to tell him what I am. The longer I keep the truth away from him, the more time I get to spend with him. What if he freaks out?

  I mean, really… it could never work. He’ll grow old, and I won’t.

  But I don’t want him to go away. I don’t want him to believe I never existed either.

  “You weren’t kidding about complicated,” says Hunter.

  “Yeah,” I mutter.

  “So… Ronan thinks I beat Dad up.”

  “Yeah,” I mutter.

  “Are you gonna tell me why my kid brother thinks that?”

  “Maybe.”

  Hunter slips his hand through my arm. “Cool. But I can’t stand up to him. I know I shouldn’t be afraid of him. I’m basically an adult now, but whenever I look at him…”

  I glance at his hand gripping the inside of my right elbow. He initiated contact! He’s not gonna run screaming. The crying butterfly in my stomach blows its nose and starts flying around again. “He’s your dad. You’ll always be a little afraid of him. Heck, I’m scared of mine when he gets angry and he’s a geek.”

  “Maybe you’re right.”

  “I am.” I pull my hand out of my pocket and grasp his. “In your head, you’re still a little boy looking up at him. But you’re not a little boy anymore.”

  Hunter emits a sad chuckle. “You should be a psychiatrist.”

  There’s a thought. A vampire therapist. I wonder if anyone has done that. Maybe a bad idea because it would attract too much attention. I’m afraid to look up at him, dreading he’ll shrink away from me, but I force myself to. At seeing his usual crooked smile and disheveled mop of hair, I can’t help but grin.

  While I’m gazing into his eyes, I implant a mild compulsion. He’s no longer afraid of his old man. If I do it right, he won’t even notice anything unless that man comes back to start trouble. I’m not going to think of him as ‘Hunter’s father,’ since the guy doesn’t deserve that title.

  “So, about this complication,” says Hunter. “Ronan’s in bed, and he seems okay.”

  “He’s fine. Sometimes, people pass out if I whammy them too hard with a mental tweak.”

  Hunter rubs his thumb back and forth over my hand. “So, you’re like a psychic? For real?”

  “Something like that. Look, I’m sorry you had to grow up with a man like that in the house. I can’t even imagine what that must’ve been like.”

  “Hey, it’s not your fault. Don’t feel all guilty about having a great dad and a perfect house. I’m not at all jealous or anything. I really just kinda feel out of my league.”

  “Well, don’t. I’m not perfect.” My gaze falls to the ground. “Far from it.”

  “You probably can’t see it from the inside, but I think you are. I mean, compared to me…”

  I lean against him. “Stop putting yourself down. And I’m a lot more messed up than I look. Something… happened when Scott stabbed me.”

  “What, you had like a near-death experience and woke up with super powers?”

  “Yeah, basically.”

  “That’s pretty awesome, if not a little hard to believe.” A sudden breeze throws my hair in his face. He sputters, cringing back. “You have weather control, too?”

  “No.” I laugh, then try to mimic the old wise teacher voice from Dad’s Kung Fu movies. “Sometimes, the wind is just the wind.”

  “Right.” He clasps his hands in front of himself and bows. “I understand.”

  I sigh. “Sorry for ruining the mood.”

  “Oh, my old man did that. Totally not your fault.”

  Blush creeps over my face. At least he barged in before my underpants came off. “Look, I get that he’s your father. If you want, I can go find him and undo that making him not want to be here thing.”

  “No, you’re right. It’s better he stays away. Mom doesn’t want him around, but she’s too afraid of him to kick him out again.”

  I nod. Guess we both got bad spins on the Wheel of Life. He gets an abusive shithead for a father, and I get murdered half a month after my eighteenth birthday. Though, I admit this vampire stuff is growing on me.

  “He gave Ronan a black eye when he was only three.” Hunter scowls off to the right. “Didn’t lay a hand on me ’til I was like eleven or so. Guess that didn’t bother Mom enough. She finally called the cops after he knocked Ro out.”

  “What?” I gawk at him. “He knocked a three-year-old out? I should’ve broken more than his jaw.”

  “Yeah. We took him to the hospital. Dad actually sat in jail for almost eight months over that. They got divorced. Took him about two years to come back. Promised not to hit us anymore, and she believed him, so she never called the police.”

  “And it started up again…”

  “After a while, yeah. Mom doesn’t make a lot of money teaching, so she put up with getting knocked around for the extra income. As long as he left Ro alone, she didn’t care what he did to her.”

  Crap. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about money. Sending him away―”

  “It’s cool. He didn’t pay much anyway. Every now and then, he’d take care of a bill, but the child support, taxes on the house, all that stuff, he ignored.”

  Ways I could use my abilities to help him swirl around in my head. I could compel his mother’s boss to give her a raise. Or Hunter’s boss. Granted, both of those are a little more extreme than convincing people to buy a box of Girl Scout cookies. If I start doing stuff like that, Kendricks and Han will most likely pay me a visit. Not that I’m terribly worried about them―they are still humans after all. Realistically, I should probably be more concerned about what the other vampires think of me. Ticking them off would be bad. Really, I only want to keep my head down and be as normal as possible.

  But sometimes, a dude needs to have his head put through a wall.

  “So… about the complicated. You got stabbed and developed superpowers?”

  Here it is. That moment. Guess he didn’t catch it when I said ‘murdered.’ I make the mistake of eye contact, and wind up crying.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m scared.”

  He puts an arm around my back, pulling me close. “Of what?”

  “My butt freezing to your car.” I giggle-sniffle.

  Hunter laughs. “I could try to warm it up?”

  “I’d like that, but I don’t think tonight’s a good idea. The mood’s a bit trashed.”

  He nods.

  “No, I’m scared you’ll freak out.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Yeah, easy to say. If I tell you the truth, you might flip out and then I’d have to make you forget you ever knew me.”

  He stares for a long few minutes. When he speaks, his voice is barely over a whisper. “You can do that?”


  “I dunno. Never tried to erase anything that deep before, and I think I’m kinda deep in your head.”

  “You have no idea.” He blushes a little. “I’ve thought about you every day since that time I couldn’t talk to you.”

  “Heh. You know that sounds creepy as hell, right?” I rest my head against his shoulder. “But you’re so, like, I dunno… honest, it’s romantic.”

  “Umm, thanks?”

  “I’m afraid to tell you because I like being with you. And I know it sounds crazy. We’ve only been on two dates and we like barely know each other and you probably are worried that you’re a Band Aid on the Scott wound and it won’t last long.”

  He tenses. “I didn’t think that.”

  “Well, good. I’m a mess inside, but you’re not like a rebound hook up or anything. I… guess I just saw how you really feel and it blew me away. And now, I don’t wanna tell you the truth because I’m afraid you’ll think I’m a monster.”

  “You don’t like have tentacles hidden down there or anything, do you?”

  “No.”

  “Teeth?”

  I push him away enough to stare at him in disgusted horror. “I do not have teeth down there. Where did you even come up with that?”

  “Umm. There’s some really freaky movies out there.”

  A shudder runs down my back. “Promise me you will never trick me into watching that one.”

  “Swear.”

  “Okay.” I fidget at the bra hidden in my hoodie pocket. “Now or never, right? It wouldn’t be fair to take us much farther unless you knew. And I’m sorry, but if you can’t handle it, I have to make you forget.”

  “Some kinda superhero secret society thing?” he asks.

  “That’s a way to put it.” I take a deep breath. “You know Scott stabbed me when I broke up with him for cheating. But, he didn’t just cut me. He killed me.”

  “People technically die all the time and come back.”

  I squeeze Hunter’s hand. “It’s a little more than that.” After a look around to make sure no one’s watching, I half-whisper the story of what happened. He listens with an unreadable expression until I finish up with a brief explanation of how as an ‘Innocent,’ I’m basically perfectly lifelike.

  “Wow. Seriously?” he asks.

  “Yeah.” I open my mouth and extend my fangs.

  “Whoa.” Hunter reaches up and touches a finger to one. His blank expression twists into a silly little smile. “Those fangs are so cute.”

  I stare at him, jaw still wide, in disbelief. “Cute?”

  “Yeah. There’s just something about you that got into my head.”

  “I’m not charming you.”

  “You charmed me already, four years ago.”

  “I was normal then.”

  “No, you were perfect then.” He kisses me, and licks my fang. “And you’re still perfect.”

  My eyes widen. Okay, that felt odd. Hunter pulls back from the kiss, his eyes welling with tears. Right, that’s what I expected. My heart turns into a block of lead as I brace for the flip-out. “I had to tell you before you got too attached. If this is too much―”

  He puts a hand lightly over my mouth. “I’m already attached.” He shoves off the car and pulls me up into a standing embrace. And… I think he’s crying. “I’m so sorry…”

  “Umm.”

  “For not speaking up sooner. I should’ve said something so you wouldn’t have wound up with Scott. I shouldn’t have let him kill you.”

  I embrace him back. “It’s not your fault. I could also say I should’ve left him when I saw how big a jerk he really was.”

  “Dude had some anger issues. Big time.”

  “Yeah,” I say. “He could really lose his head sometimes.”

  Hunter lets go and holds me out to arm’s length with a hand on each shoulder. “I guess it’s a bit late, but I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  I stare at him, certain the words ‘holy shit, you’re not leaving’ scrolls across my forehead in giant, blinking letters.

  “Guess I need to keep this secret.”

  Mute, I nod.

  “No problem. Not like anyone would believe me anyway. Everyone thinks I’m the ‘weird kid.’”

  “Well, you are a little weird, but normal sucks.”

  He laughs.

  “So, umm, yeah… I’m not gonna get old.”

  “I don’t see that as a problem.” He brushes my hair off my face and leans in for a quick kiss. “Assuming you can tolerate my wrinkly old ass.”

  “That’s gonna get a bit awkward after a while. People will think I’m your daughter.”

  He shrugs one shoulder. “It doesn’t matter as long as I’m with you.”

  “Wow. Did you really just say that?” I half giggle. “That’s like so…”

  “Romantic?” He raises an eyebrow.

  I tickle his stomach with one finger. “I was going to say ‘cheesy,’ but let’s go with romantic.”

  “I’ll take it.”

  “It’s getting late,” I say. “You should probably go to bed.”

  “You’re invited in.” He nods toward the house.

  I laugh. “That doesn’t actually do anything… and besides. You have windows. I have a weird relationship with the sun.”

  “Poof?”

  “Not exactly. If it’s strong enough, yeah. Poof. But I can handle a bit of daylight in trade for being a weaksauce vampire.”

  “Weaksauce?” He chuckles. “You threw my father around like a baby.”

  I wag my eyebrows at him, and lift the front of his Buick off the ground with one hand.

  “Holy shit,” whispers Hunter. “That’s weak?”

  “Apparently.” I wipe grit and rust off my hand before grabbing him by the shirt. “So I’m told.”

  He grins.

  “Wow. You seem to be taking this well. I thought you were gonna freak out on me. Hell, I’m still not even sure I believe this.”

  “Learning that vampires are real is a pretty mild shock compared to the big one I already got.”

  “Big one?”

  He stoops to touch foreheads with me. “That the girl of my dreams is actually here in my arms.”

  Taken by the emotion blaring off him, I lean up into a deep kiss. Three seconds later, he jumps back, one hand clamped over his mouth.

  “Ow!” He looks down at his hand, blood dripping from his lip.

  “Oops.” I make an innocent face and retract my fangs. “Sorry. Forgot they were out. Hey, c’mere, I can fix it.”

  “Fickth it?” He tilts his head.

  I draw close, speaking with my lips brushing his cheek. “Yeah. I just need to umm, lick the wound.”

  “Ith my tongue,” he mumbles.

  “That’s the point.” I move my mouth over his. “That’s entirely the point.”

  Super Powers

  10

  So, yeah. I’m having another super-lazy night―or at least a super-lazy two hours.

  No studying or summer course work for this girl. Nope. Not yet anyway. Normal people veg for a couple days when they get sick. I think death cuts me some slack. I’m not going to feel guilty about it either since it is summer and I’m registered to start college classes in the fall.

  It’s like two-thirty in the morning and the only sound in the house is my headphones rumbling with explosions and gunfire. Call of Duty never really captivated me before, mostly because the only reason I have it on my PlayStation is because Scott hung out in my room a lot. Even less reason for me to like it. As soon as I got home from Hunter’s place, I needed to find an outlet for my anger at his father, and, well, the game happened to be right there.

  I totally think we would’ve gone all the way if we hadn’t been interrupted. Maybe it’s a good thing his father barged in, since sex on the second date is not who I am. Or should I say ‘who I was?’ Does it make me a bad person for dwelling more on wondering what’s wrong with me than on Hunter having a piece of sh
it father? Ugh. He must’ve gone through hell growing up.

  A whole bunch of digital soldiers bear the brunt of my frustration. I don’t hold back either. This isn’t about challenge, so I’m not above using my inhuman reflexes and reaction time. Never paying attention to Scott playing this game has left me clueless about any objective beyond killing the other team. Some of the voices on team chat scream about capturing points and stuff, but I just roam around venting my frustrations on the enemy players.

  After two hours of that, I think I’ve been called a cheater in five different languages. I don’t bother saying anything back to them. The crowd at this hour is astoundingly short on females. I’d like to think it’s because girls have better things to do at like three in the morning than play video games online. I don’t count myself because I’m normally awake at this hour, being a vampire and all. There’s probably plenty of women who play these games. Being the only girl among thirty players had to be luck.

  Except for a couple times when some flying thing I don’t see instant-kills me, playing a game that’s basically running in slow motion makes me immortal.

  Hah.

  It’s also kinda boring once I’ve worked out my frustrations. The endless stream of complaining from the other side―apparently, anyone who gets like fifty kills and two deaths in a match must be cheating―starts to involve language so foul I half expect my parents to walk in and yell at me. That one guy, sheesh. If his accent’s any indication, he’s probably from New Jersey or something. What was that show with the orange people from a couple years ago? Like everyone had super-fake spray tan? Yeah, he sounds like one of those guys.

  Though, to be fair, I guess I am cheating with supernatural reflexes.

  Anyway, I’ve absorbed two years’ worth of F-bombs in one hour, plus the game’s gotten boring. The complaining was amusing at first. When I played that fighting game with Sierra, I actually cared that my advantage made her feel bad. Since the amusement in listening to these guys flame out in angry rants has worn off, I bail out when the match ends.