This Is Where I Want To Be

6. To Strangers

Juliet

After saying goodbye to Charlene and Carl at the bridge, I quickly ran the rest of the way home. I didn’t have my speed ability yet and could move around like a human person. It had made life easier, pretending to be a normal kid in school. I could participate in sports and not worry about joking with regular friends. Hurriedly, I walked into our yard and headed for the back door. I wanted to ask my mom why someone could touch me when I was invisible. It kinda made sense why I would be able to, but not the other way around. Although I was going to have to make up some story. “Mom!? Mom!?” I yelled as I closed the door behind me. I got no reply. Where were they? “Dad! Dad…! Where are you?” Still no reply.

I scanned the house and heard them in the lounge. It was strange that they would be there at all. Slowly, I walked over, hearing an unfamiliar voice. I peeked around the corner. They had all heard me and were looking my way, waiting. My gaze met the unknown face as I came out of hiding. It had been a long time since we had company of any kind. My dad hurried over, took me by the hand, and pulled me down the few steps separating the lounge from the rest of the house. I was making my way too slowly for him… But there was an actual person in our home. I was trying not to stare. His strong jawline and prominent chin caught my attention. I glanced over the rest of him; he was dressed to perfection in a dark grey sweater that complemented his eyes. His hair was styled, and every strand was in place. I had a high standard for guys when it came to looks, but this stranger pushed them through the roof. I quickly made a decision. Attractive… No… Very attractive! He also seemed much older than me but much younger than my parents. Who was he? “This is our new neighbor,” my mom said, answering my quizzical brow.

I smiled immediately, “Wow, really! That’s exciting.”

“Yes, he’s moving in on Saturday and came to introduce himself.”

I bobbed my head, turned to the guy, and stretched out my arm, “Nice to meet you. My name is Juliet Farrow.”

He smiled, and the corners of his mouth seemed to reach his ears. He had a big, luscious mouth, prominent lips, and light, icy blue eyes… Made him mysterious. He had my attention. Didn’t you just say you were in love with your teacher? I chastised myself. That was an hour ago! I answered myself. The guy had stretched out his hand and clasped mine. He kept smiling; two large dimples formed on his cheeks. I was fixated, “My name is Louis Du Pont.”

I snorted in surprise, coming back to reality, “That’s very generic… I don’t think that’s your real name?”

He chuckled, “Yeah… Unfortunately, it’s very dull. But it’s real… on my mother’s side.” I was skeptical and assessing. Vigilant. I had not yet let go of his hand and also didn’t notice while we were talking. He saw that I didn’t believe him, “Really, you can ask your parents. They checked with the registry.”

“You’re a vampire?” My gaze traveled to my mom. She acknowledged by closing her eyes.

“Well then, welcome, Louis. You don’t know how happy I am to see a fellow vampire in our home. You’re the first one in… forever.”

Surprised, Louis’s eyes darted to my dad, “Really? Why?”

My dad shrugged, “We had issues at the compound. Whenever there are so many vampires together, it brings about other problems.”

“Mm-hmm, I can understand that. Especially with the young ones,” Louis said. I rolled my eyes at his jab.

My dad gestured for Louis to sit, “Yes, but we also had some other issues.”

I wondered why Louis wasn’t moving… I caught a glimpse of our hands and realized I was still holding his. I quickly let go; sheesh, Juliet! Overeager much. It didn’t seem to bother him, and he sat on a wingback chair across from my dad. He could’ve laughed at me. It was as if nothing had happened. My mom wiggled her eyebrows at me… My lips were in an upside-down smile, expressing my embarrassment. My mom shook her head and pulled me in for a hug. We went to sit on the couch opposite them. I leaned over and whispered, “Something happened at school today.”

My mom’s eyes widened, leaving her face worried, “Is it serious?”

“I… don’t know? Someone touched me when I was in my vanished state.”

The men stopped talking. The buzz they had created moments ago made the silence very loud. My head turned in their direction. Both seemed worried. “What?” I asked my dad. “What’s the matter?” I asked again when he didn’t say anything. Guess I’m not going to find out what their theories are.

“Did anyone see you?” My dad asked.

“No,” I lied. Chris saw me and touched me; he told me I should go see him— and soon. And there was someone else there. So, ‘yes’, I think.

“What happened? You’ve never displayed your abilities before. Did you need to? Were you in danger?” my dad asked hurriedly, sitting forward in his chair.

“No, no!” I exclaimed, waving my hands in front of me. “It just happened out of nowhere,” I lied again. The one thing I was good at was faking or at least diverting.

“How do you know? That someone could touch you?” my mom asked.

“Well…” my gaze traveled between the three adults in the room, “I was walking to the bathroom to try and reappear… to see if I could control myself. Usually, I go into a stall behind a door. The person moved past me. We bumped into each other.”

My parents seemed relieved. Louis, on the other hand, was staring at me, letting me know I couldn’t park there, calling me on my BS. I might have met my match. “That doesn’t explain why you disappeared in the first place,” Louis ventured.

Really, till a minute ago, you didn’t know I had an ability. I shrugged, “It had been a rough day.”

“And then?” Dad asked.

I was going to have to lie better in the future. “The person was shocked. He looked up from his phone… all around, to see what he had hit. He touched his shoulder, and I definitely felt it. Luckily, he shook it off… kept walking as if nothing had happened.”

Telling my parents about Chris wasn’t an option. They would pack me up, and we would move. I didn’t want to. I had friends there... I liked my life… Carl and Charlene were the ‘best of friends’ I could’ve asked for; losing them would be like the loss of a family member.

The events of the parking lot flickered through my mind. Carl stood up for me. He loved me. Maybe not in that way, but he would protect me. Charlene was so angry at Jerry when she heard what had happened that night. Louis’s gaze was still fixed on me. What was the guy thinking about? I smiled at him, waiting for him to say something. He didn’t, so I played with a button on the couch cushion and kept thinking about my earlier altercation with Jerry. My parents were throwing ideas around but nothing interesting. Charlene said some nasty things to Jerry when he called me a whore. Louis choked on the sip of tea he had taken. He placed his cup on the coffee table between us, putting a fist in front of his mouth, and kept coughing. I got up and moved over to slap him on the back a few times. The gesture made him laugh lightly, “Can I get you a glass of water?”

“Thank you. Water would be great.”

I left, walking towards the kitchen. “Louis, why don’t you go with her,” my mom suggested.

I stopped. Louis’s eyes went from my mom to me, wondering whether it would be okay, “Need to stretch your legs? I don’t mind. You’re halfway family already… You might as well make yourself at home.”

Louis seemed eager and followed me, “So, do you hail from France?” I asked as we walked.

“Oui!” he joked.

I turned and gave him a small laugh, “Funny. I’m glad to see you have a sense of humor.”

He frowned, “Are all vampires supposed to be brooding and serious?”

“No, just the French,” I quipped.

He smiled, “Clever!”

“The Vampires I’ve met are far worse,” I whispered under my breath, turning to take a glass out of the cupboard above my head. “It’s just you seem much older than me, and trivial things must be boring to you by now… How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” I said it all quickly, hoping he wouldn’t ask about my experiences at the compound; thinking about it made my stomach churn. After filling a glass with water from the fridge, I turned and handed it to him. His eyes were still fixed on me, staring and not saying anything, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I was just wondering if I should tell you I’m tw—” He didn’t finish speaking, but the sound was there. He was checking nervously if his age would bother me, his teeth fidgeting with his bottom lip. That garnered my full attention. He made it worse by suggestively smiling. Shaking myself, I turned around quickly, trying to give my mind a better chance to concentrate. Louis was… too enticing… too everything. Twenty went through my mind, but he was way older than that, “Two hundred years old?” I asked, turning back at him.

He nodded with raised eyebrows, “Two hundred and twenty to be exact. That’s not weird for you?” he asked quickly.

I was taken aback and shook my head, “No, why would it?” Louis relaxed and smiled. “To be honest, my first thought was how cool that would be. Living in the 1800’s.” He leaned back onto the counter, half sitting against it. “Making it there is insane! Even for us.” Louis continued to slowly sip at his water, listening. “We have so many things against our race. And anyway, what has age got to do with good relationships?” I had talked so much that his glass was almost empty.

“Your parents have it really good in that regard, being as old as they are— still together.”

I thought about my parents. How happy they were and how well they got along, “No… what they have… is beyond good or even lucky.”

Louis fiddled with the glass and then lifted his eyes slowly, piercing me with his blue eyes, “Love?” Louis offered. Even if his eyes were as blue as the Mediterranean, those dark blue circles around his irises were enchanting—questioning—trying to find out what I thought about the subject. Love? Yes, it would be much easier to love another vampire. For a moment, our gazes were locked until my dad came around the corner.

“Louis, we were thinking, would you like to stay for dinner?”

Louis’s eyes darted to my dad, only to come back to mine, “Yeah… What do you think?” I can’t think if you look at me like that.

Even if we could manage human food and liquids, vampires needed blood to survive. At least once a month, or we would start to deteriorate and then die. That was for sustaining vampires. Young ones like me needed to eat every week, and my father obviously decided that it should be that night. It wasn’t like it was my call or anything. Why did he want me to agree? Tilting my head to the side, I thought about it; hunting was a stressful situation, and not having my abilities yet put a lot of pressure on my parents. We’ve had some close calls. It would be great if he could join us. I looked at my dad and wondered why they trusted this specific vampire/stranger so much. I sighed; no one told me anything anyway, which irritated me so much. It was the hierarchy of the vampire world. Children were supposed to follow their parents’ ways and listen to them. It was also culture not to ask too many questions. Both waited for me to answer. They were being weird. I indulged them, “I think it’s a really good idea… having someone else there,” my dad responded by slamming his hands together in a demonstrative way.

“The only reason I wanted you to agree is because having a stranger seeing you kill someone is different than your parents helping,” Louis said.

I was thankful for his clarification, but it made me think of Chris. If it was weird with a strange vampire, it would be almost crazy to want Chris to accept it. Will he be okay with me killing people to survive, even if he never had to watch me do it? I had to concede that his reaction could go either way. And if he didn’t like it—what then? Realizing how stupid I was, putting him in danger like that. I wanted him, but dragging him into a world he knew nothing about. I was foolish for thinking Chris would ever go hunting with me—anyway. Worried and spacing out again, Louis took the last sip of his water and handed me the empty glass, bringing me back to the present. I took it into the scullery, putting it down in the sink.

The doorbell rang, “I’ll get it.” Louis and my dad were still discussing the organization of the hunt and stuff that I knew nothing about, so I left to get the door. A scrawny-looking kid was waiting on the other side of the gate with his hands in his pockets, jittery and wired, looking over his shoulder. He saw me, “Sup, Jules?” I smiled, happy to see him. I could smell the drugs on him. I stepped back to take the key off the hook behind the door and was met with Louis’s hand covering the key. My back collided with his chest, “What’s wrong?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.

“Nothing, just checking what you’re doing.”

I frowned and made a low snort sound, “Okay?” I looked at Jerome, staring at Louis through the bars.

“This your guy, Jules?”

I snorted again, but louder this time, “Just hand me the package!” I snapped, not wanting to give Jerome too much attention or Louis might kill him. He passed the envelope through one of the openings between the bars.

Louis jolted past me and grabbed the envelope from him, “Get lost!” He barked.

Jerome was intrigued by the new guy and answered by chewing on his gum harder than before. A smile played at the corner of his mouth. His jaw moved nonstop, “Money in the same place?” I smiled. Jerome waved as he backtracked and left. I turned, closing the door.

Louis was looking down at me, suddenly tall and imposing. I stared him down, “If you can’t handle me taking a package from another kid through the gate at my house… you should probably not come with later.” Louis ignored me and leaned past my person to shut the door. “Sheesh,” I contested. His eyes bore into my soul. All I could think about was how good he smelled. While opening the envelope, he kept my eyes prisoner. I didn’t mind. Louis’s eyes alone could make me do anything. His big lips were tempting, constantly begging. He smirked, took out the sheet of paper, and scanned it. I relaxed and breathed. Mysterious and… I couldn’t find another word for him yet. Didn’t know him well enough. I’ve had enough experience with vampires, knowing that some of them could get paranoid as they grew older while others went entirely off the rails. Louis seemed grounded. Had to trust my parents.

I was shocked when he handed me the paper. For the first time in my life, I was allowed to read what the sheet said. There was a photo of a woman. A mug shot. Hair a mess, bloodshot red eyes. I read on. Jenny McMullen. Nineteen years old. I frowned and grimaced. Jenny was as old as I was, living in a city a few hours’ drive from there. Hours in the car again. I wasn’t looking forward to the trip; it always made me crazy to sit so long in anticipation. Louis’s eyes stayed on me. He had not moved and was strangely patient. Jenny lived on the streets in a homeless community on the south side of the valley—obviously our target for the evening—it would be easy then. There was nothing else on the paper. I lifted it, revealing some photos attached on the back. I took them off, removing the paperclip. It was plain to see Jenny was a loner. In one, she was being beaten up by a guy. The same clothes she had on in the mug shot. A partner or even a regular for a prostitute had caused problems in the past. They reported them missing. The risk was worth taking.

Holding out his hand, Louis asked for the paper and photos. Chris’s face flashed before me when he handed me the quotation I had yet to discuss with my father. I didn’t need to reach far; Louis was still standing really close to me, just like we had been hand in hand earlier. He felt familiar, and it didn’t bother me as our fingers brushed. Not at all how I tried not to touch Chris earlier. There was no comparison to how I felt when Chris’s hand ran down my arm. I was invisible, but the look on Chris’s face was something I wanted to see again.

Louis flicked me on the forehead, “Ouch! What was that for?”

“You need to be more careful when you open the door. You don’t have your strength yet. How will you fight off someone, even as small as Jerome?”

I sighed, rubbing the spot where his finger had landed, “My parents take me for self-defense classes. I’ve become stronger and would be able to take on Jerome,” I hoped I could, “I can take care of myself.”

He flicked me again, “Ouch! What the hell, Louis! Are you, my brother? I said to make yourself at home, not take over.”

He wanted to flick me again. I was ready that time and too quick, slapping his hand away. He glared at me, “Do I look like your brother?” he said with intensity, closing the small distance between us.

I had to tilt my chin a little higher. Mysterious and intense; add that to my Louis list. “Mom, did you have another child somewhere?!” Louis’s eyes lit up and crinkled in the corners. He wanted to flick me again. I slapped his hand away so hard his arm flung sideways. Ticked off, I brushed past him, ramming him with my shoulder, “Stop treating me like your sister.”

He grabbed my wrist. I gasped in mock outrage. “I need to see how far I can push you. How long before you manifest?”

I didn’t say anything at first but then sighed and smiled, utterly diverted. “You don’t want to see that. Trust me. It’s not pretty.”

“Do you think I look good when I manifest?”

I gave a burst of laughter. Louis smiled from ear to ear. I took him in for another silent moment, “You have a really easy smile,” his big smile turned from amusement into a smirk, “Oh, don’t get full of yourself.”

“Okay! Children,” my mom said from the couch where I left earlier, “Let’s get ready and be in the car in ten.”

Louis let go of my wrist. I jumped into the air, clapping my hands. Stunned, Louis took a step back, “What was that?”

“She’s going to get into her hunting outfit,” My mom said, shaking her head.

I was already gone and closing my room door when I heard their voices drumming again. If I had tried, I could’ve listened to what they were saying, but I was too focused on getting ready. All black again. Black jeans. Black stretchy top. Black leather jacket and proper old-school Doc Martins. Combing my fingers through my hair, I ruffled it in front of the mirror, teasing it a bit. While putting on lip gloss, I grabbed my bag and tossed the stick back onto my bed, trying to do everything at once. Would I get the reaction I had hoped for from Louis? I gloated a few moments later when Louis’s eyes drifted to every body part, “Don’t get too full of yourself,” he said, smiling, giving me two thumbs up. I had to admit he was fun. So mysterious, intense, and fun.

The drive there was tedious, as always. My nerves were shot, and thinking about the girl made me jittery. No, not a random girl, Jenny. I felt like Jerome, too amped-up to calm down. I realized why my parents never wanted to include me; knowing the victim’s information made it all too real. Having such good human friends, how could it not bother my conscience? If any of my friends were to discover who and what I was—what would happen? Charlene wasn’t really a strong person.

My arm was resting by my side, halfway on my lap. My other arm and hand held my head on the door as I spaced out into the passing scenery. I felt a soft tap on my arm and glanced over to Louis, “Do you want to challenge me?” He waved his phone in the air. I shook my head, gazing from him back out the window. For some reason… that night… my whole world was tumbling down around me—growing up sucked. Before I completely lost my mind, I felt the warmth of a hand slide in under mine. I didn’t even react or flinch away; I needed the touch. My fingers curled around his so fast, and I took a tight hold of him. Louis squeezed in response. It felt like I was holding onto a lifeline. He was a two-hundred-year-old vampire and had to understand how difficult it all was.

For the first time in a long time, I was not okay with being a vampire. Stuck in a world not ideal for humans and us to cohabit. Louis being one was reassuring, and for some reason, I hoped he would never go away. It’s been years since we left the compound, thrust into the human world. I was lonely in this one aspect of my life. I took a moment to fantasize about another future.

Guiltily, I glanced at him. Louis’s eyes were closed, and his head leaned against the headrest. Was I only using him? Why did his touch feel so different from Chris’s or Marcus’s? I gazed down at our hands and back at his face, his lips taunting me to kiss him. The darkness of the car and the music playing all seemed to work with my baser instincts. I was painfully aware of how easy it would be. His eyes slowly opened and dreamily rested on my mouth—as if he would welcome it. As soon as he lifted his eyes from my lips, I looked away. I couldn’t hold his desirous eye contact; I was a wuss when it came to men and knew what I wanted but had no idea how to get it. I felt stupid; why would Louis like me anyway? He was just being reassuring, like he knew it was different to have someone else there except your parents and all the other things going on in my head.

My father’s gaze in the rear-view mirror caught my attention—he chuckled. “Would this be a good time to ask everyone to forgive me because I’m only human?”

My dad smiled and kept his eyes on the road, “Who am I to judge?” he said softly. Louis squeezed my hand. Mine responded naturally. It had been a long time since a boy just wanted to hold my hand—comfort me and show he cared in a small way. “We understand, honey,” my dad said, “Even now, after so much time. It never gets easier. It might seem we have it all together, but we don’t.”