Being Human (10 page)

Footsteps thumped into his room. “Hey, brought dinner.”

An irritated sigh. “Not more fast food. I'm so sick of that crap. When is this stint gonna be over?”

“Stop your complaining,” the first voice sighed. “We're seven days into this and already you’re whining like a child.”

“I'm sick of sitting in this room, pretending to be some deluded kid. Did you see the interview tape? I've never seen that much denial. That kid's lucky to be alive,” the second voice said.

“I know. Why the parasite didn't kill him is beyond me. What was it thinking?”

“It's a vampire. It was probably playing a sick game of cat and mouse, torture the boy, then kill him.” The second voice grew more and more irritated.

“True, those monsters are ruthless. Want to grab a beer when your shift ends?”

“Sure. Hey, thanks for the food.”

“No problem.”

I slid down the roof, slipping into the shadows. Each night I made a trip to the house, checking to see if Vampire Forces was still there. I hid in the shadows, hoping they'd mention where my brother had been taken. They never did. Afterwards, I'd go to my home, the house where I murdered my parents. I wasn't sure why, I just did.

After, I’d resume my search for my brother. I roamed the highways around the city, venturing into nearby towns. I kept my nose open. He knew I'd be looking for him, knew I'd be able to smell him. He had to know leaving his scent would lead me to him.

Tonight, though, I had to pause my search to hunt.

It took most of the night, but I found a human. He was breaking into a home, face covered in black. When he was dead, I dragged him to the curb and set him next to a trash can. Taking out the trash. I laughed at my own joke.

My cheer faded as gray and pink tinged the sky. There was no time left to search the next town before the sun rose. A bit disheartened, I headed to the cabin.

Rhythms beat inside the wooden walls. I wandered around the building, eyes narrowing. Had the Vampire Forces sent humans here? I knew my brother wouldn't tell them about the cabin, so how did Vampire Forces find out? Maybe my aunt and uncle told them. Would my brother still be mad if I killed them?

Yes, I decided and headed up the steps. My brother's scent was absent and that told me it wasn’t Vampire Forces waiting for me.

There were ten of them, huddled into a group. One stood apart from the group, well-muscled arms folded across his broad chest and a smile on his face. “Look at that, he wasn’t kidding.”

“Justin, are you sure this is a good idea?” a human girl whimpered.

“Don't worry, babe, there's more of us than it,” he said confidently. He looked at me, smirking. “I told Danny I'd find you. Offered to let him come, but he didn't want to. He thinks you're still his brother. His freaky twin. Did you know that? Out of the two, you were always freaky, creeped the girls out. It's no surprise you're a leech now.”

The humans behind him chuckled nervously.

I flashed my gaze to each one, watching them look away in fear. I looked back at him. “Justin.”

“Am I supposed to be afraid of my name?”

“You are afraid,” I replied. “I can smell it. It smells good.”

“Is the big bad vampire is trying to frighten me?” Justin laughed. The others laughed as if on cue. He looked back at me, still smiling. “Danny kept insisting he wasn't afraid of you. He said and I quote,
He's my brother, he'd never hurt me
.”

I snarled. “My brother does not sound like that.”

“Oh, you called him your brother too, isn't that cute.” His laughter was cut off as I grabbed him around the throat and slammed him against the wall. He choked, clawing at my hand as his eyes bulged. The fear he had worked so hard to hide rushed to the surface.

I grazed my lips against the pulse pounding in his neck. “You want to know why you're not dead yet?” I whispered in his ear. “Because the human you put down, mocked and hurt doesn't want me to.”

Justin gasped, the air whooshing out of his lungs as I slammed him against the wall again. The girl screamed when I appeared in front of her. I pinched her chin, brushing my lips against hers. “Let's see what the humans at school will think of you now,” I whispered and disappeared.

I watched from the roof as the humans flew from the cabin, feet thudding as they ran to their cars. The one I kissed sobbed as she was half-carried, half-dragged to the cars. Justin appeared last, grumbling as he climbed into a car.

“Gonna come back when the sun's up with shovels and chains, dig it up and watch it burn to ash.”

“You wish,” I quietly hissed as the cars drove away.

Another home tainted.

****

Bright lights illuminated the streets in a sun-like glow. Where the lights didn't reach, darkness gathered like pools. A group of humans ventured down the streets, staying in the light. Their voices echoed, bouncing loudly off the brick walls. Their strides were slow and casual – in no hurry.

“Hey, I got an idea,” one blurted out, his greasy hair hanging over his thin, pimple-covered face, obscuring his eyes. “Why don't we break into the principal's office? I bet he has all the confiscated drugs and porno mags stashed in there.”

“No,” the one in the middle sighed. “I don't want to get in trouble with my aunt and uncle.”

A tall and thin human gave the one in the middle a shove, propelling himself backwards in the process. “Come on, Dan, you're always using that excuse. Be adventurous for once.”

“It's the truth, Aunt Dee will crap kittens if I get in trouble again.”

“Again?” a short, stocky human asked.

He seemed uneasy, shifting at the attention that hadn't bothered him before, eyes quickly looking around for a distraction. “We should do something, though.”

The thin human stretched his limbs and yawned. “No, you're right. I need to get home before Mom throws a hissy fit. She needs to chill.”

“I should probably head home too,” the pimple-covered human sighed, wiping the hair out of his eyes.

“Yeah,” the short, stocky human agreed in a sad voice. He looked over, pausing. “Whatcha staring at, Dan?”

He didn’t answer and all eyes followed his, their whispers filling the air.

“Dude, is that a?”

“No, it can't be.”

“It's gotta be a costume.”

“It's not.”

Their eyes turned back to him. He smiled, a knowing look in his eyes.

It had taken two months of searching, fanning out and scouring the nearby towns. Each night I searched, putting off hunting as long as possible. I even procrastinated finding a safe place to rest, opting to bury myself wherever when the sun rose. I knew that one night I'd find him or he'd find me.

I smiled back.

“It's smiling,” the short, stocky human whispered.

“Dude, it's gonna kill us,” the thin human replied.

“I doubt that,” my brother snorted and their eyes turned back to him.

“Is it just me or does it look–” the pimple-covered human started.

“It's gone!” The thin human pointed to the spot I had been standing.

“I can't believe it, a real vampire! What’s it doing here? People know to stay inside after dark,” the short, stocky human gasped.

The pimple-covered human cast a nervous glance at the others. “Except us. I don’t know about you guys, but I forgot my torch at home.”

“You guys are paranoid, vampires don’t attack crowds.” My brother stretched and yawned as he walked away from my hiding spot. I felt his relief as he left me, mirroring my own. Like a whisper in the back of my mind, I swore I heard his voice,
It's about time
.

I silently agreed.

My brother held out the brown bottle, his arm wavering. “Take a drink.”

I shook my head, lips pressed together.

“Come on, take a drink.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to know if you can,” he sighed.

I leaned away from the bottle. The odor rising from it reminded me of a homeless human. “I don’t care if I can.”

“It's not like it can kill you,” he insisted and started laughing. “Can't have liver failure,” he continued, laughing more. “Or die from alcohol poisoning.” He was roaring with laughter now.

I scowled at him. “You've been drinking this stuff, haven't you? You reek like it.”

He stopped laughing, giving me a serious look. “Yes, before you showed up I was in the next dorm having a few beers with my classmates. Is that so wrong?”

“I don't know, is it?”

“Only because I'm under twenty-one,” he idly replied and took a drink. He held the bottle back out. “Don't make me force you with your name.”

I eyed the bottle, then him. We no longer looked identical. His hair had grown and his body was no longer lanky.
Filled out
was the term he used, flexing a few muscles as he grinned at the mirror. His voice was richer and deeper. He did something I'd never do.

He aged.

Three years had passed. Three years since I had been turned and murdered our parents. Three years since our aunt and uncle tried to separate us.

As far as they knew, they succeeded.

Now he attended college, living in the dorms and only calling our aunt and uncle once a week to let him know he was okay or going to visit. There was still a song and dance he had to play, but it was less restricted.

I was less restricted too. The dorms were open to me. I could enter any I pleased; no one needed to welcome me. My brother thought it was because the dorms were public buildings, and with so many humans coming and going, whatever kept vampires out was broken.

The human students knew I was there. In the first week, while my brother was asleep and I explored the campus, finding routes to and from my resting place, I stumbled across a human. She snapped a picture, then ran off while I blinked at the spot in my vision. The next day he said a girl approached him, asking why he was dressing like a vampire and scaring people. I don't know if I made things worse for him or not, but I found the human again and told her I wasn't the human she thought I was.

A fist pounded on the door and I was out the window in a heartbeat. “Yo, Danny,” a voice called. “There's a party in Street Hall, tons of beer and girls. You coming?”

“Just a sec,” my brother replied. He leaned out the window with an amused look. “I gotta go, but I'll be back before the sun rises.” He set the bottle on the window ledge. “Have a drink on me. Peace.”

Then he was gone, happily chatting with the human.

I sighed and crawled back through the window. He had been doing that more and more as the weeks passed. Leaving me to be with other humans. What was so great about the humans at college? If they found out he was my brother, they'd shun him. Like the humans back home had.

I grabbed the beer bottle, bringing it to my mouth. The taste was horrid, bitter and fizzy. I coughed as I swallowed. How had he drunk this?

Time ticked by as I sat on the inside of the window, watching and waiting. Below, the human students were out in force. They roamed the sidewalks, yelling at each other, even close up. Too many for my taste, I waited for a lull, and then slid out the window. I dropped into the shadows and headed to the only spot on campus void of humans at night.

The big, empty field stretched out before me, surrounded by rows of seats. My brother explained they played football games here. He said it'd fill with humans, all cheering for a touchdown. He tried explaining the rules of the game, but as usual, I didn't get the point. How would throwing a ball help one survive?

“It does, trust me,” he had replied.

“Ah, if it isn't a dark brother.”

I whirled around, startled at the three humans lounging on the lower rows of seats. The one that spoke watched me with mournful eyes lined in black. An equally pale and black-clad human puffed on a cigarette, his face unconcerned. The last human had draped herself across a few seats, arms lifted towards the stars.

“I would have thought vampires would be more aware of their surroundings,” the first one noted.

“Maybe he was lost in solitude, drifting peacefully,” the one lounging on the seats replied.

“What?” I asked.

“What a shame, he has no idea,” the male said.

“I never understand how a human thinks. You make no sense to me whatsoever. This place.” I motioned to the arena. “I can't even begin to understand why it's important.”

“That's where you're wrong,” the lounging female replied dreamily. “We don't understand the fascination either. It's back and forth, back and forth, get knocked down, get back up and repeat.”

“Ignore her,” the first one said, giving the other female a sideways look. “She's smoked too much tonight.” She slid closer, holding her hand out. “I'm Fallen. He's Risen and she's Settled. I've heard vampires don't like using real names, so it’s what I came up with on the fly. I've always loved the idea of fallen angels.”