The Vampiric Housewife (7 page)

    
John threw one last spiral to his father. “Let’s call it a night, son.” He tossed the ball back. “Grab the trash cans for your old man?”

    
“Mom, I’m going to my room,” Amelia said putting the last dish away and hanging up the dish towel.

    
“Okay, dear.” Valerie wiped her hands on her apron then began the locking down of the house. She closed the blinds and curtains in the kitchen then went room to room making sure no light could possibly find its way between the blinds and fabric. The doors, however, she did not lock. There was no need, not in a safe little town like Sangre Valley.

    
When she came back into the family room, Charlie was in his chair, his feet in his slippers and the black and white television on. John was on the floor with his English homework in front of him. The local news was just finishing up. It was the same old news. New medical breakthrough at St. Vladimir. The boys’ basketball team was undefeated. Mrs. Highland’s night blooming orchids won the annual garden contest for the third year running. Valerie picked up her needlepoint.

    
“Aims! Harry!
I Love Lucy
is coming on!” Charlie yelled.

    
Both children came a bit grudgingly down the hall. Harry sat on the floor next to his brother. Out of the corner of her eye, Valerie saw him sneaking glances into the kitchen. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow night was over and the human was gone. She did not particularly enjoy feeling like a prison guard over her own son. Amelia sat on the other end of the couch with her sketch book. She did not really like television shows, but she did like the family time together.

    
It was an episode they had all seen before. The red-headed Lucy and best friend Ethel had purchased a walk-in freezer so they could buy humans in bulk then freeze them. But their order to the butcher got mixed up and seventy human were delivered instead of seven. Now the two vampires had to hide the swaying, sedated humans from Ricky and Fred. Of course, Lucy managed to lock herself in the freezer, and Ethel had to distract Ricky from all the on-goings. But when Lucy emerged with icicles from her nose, Charlie and the boys laughed. The scene got them every time. Valerie smiled for appearances. Amelia was oblivious, her nose in her sketches.

    
Suddenly Valerie heard a noise. She looked around. One moment Harry had been on the floor laughing with his brother and now he was no where to be seen. She immediately went to the kitchen, and there he was, trying to pick the lock on the pantry door. She opened her mouth, but it was Charlie’s voice that she heard come out.

    
“What do you think you’re doing!” His voice boomed. Harry was so startled he dropped the lock and took two steps away.

    
“N-nothing,” he said in a small, boyish voice.

    
Charlie suddenly had the boy by the arm. “There’s a reason there’s a lock on this door! And it’s not about keeping you out—even though I agree with your mother about your punishment for skipping school. It’s about keeping them inside!” With a firm grip on his son’s arm, he flung the pantry door open. Valerie felt her other two children come up behind her. “You see him? He’s dangerous. He may not look it. But humans are wild creatures. Raised on farms or not. They’re animals. One moment they’re docile. The next they’re driving a stake through your heart. Burning your house down with your family inside. Take a good look, Harry. What if you opened that door, got your taste, then forgot to lock the door? How would you feel if that human got loose and killed your brother and sister? What if he killed your mother?” Charlie turned him so he could look at his family in the doorway. “How would you feel then?” Valerie could see the tears bubbling in her son’s eyes. “You can’t let your thirst dominate you. You can’t ever let it take precedent over your life or your family’s life. Go apologize to them.”

   
 
“I’m-I’m sorry. Mommy, I’m sorry.” Tears streamed down the boy’s face.

    
“I know, baby. I forgive you,” she whispered.

    
“Go to your room. You’re not to come out until night.” Soon as he released his grip on the boy, Harry darted to his room. John and Amelia quietly retreated. For a moment Charlie and Valerie just stared at one another. When Charlie couldn’t handle the judgment in her violet eyes a moment longer, he went to the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of blood.

    
“Was that really necessary, Charlie? Scaring the boy like that?” she asked.

    
He took a long drink, gulping it down. It was hardly satisfying. “Yes. You were right about this thirst of his. It’s dangerous. He’s not a little boy anymore. It’s not cute when he sneaks bites. He needs to learn control and he needs to learn respect. I’m his father. It’s my responsibility to teach him those things.”

    
“I agree. But to make him think he was going to kill his family—“

    
“Val—“ He stopped himself from saying something he shouldn’t. Something he wasn’t allowed to. “I’ve seen things you haven’t. I’ve seen what humans are capable of. The whole world isn’t like Sangre Valley.”

    
She touched his arm. “Burning down the house with the family . . . is that what happened to your parents? I know you don’t like to talk about them. Is that why? Did humans . . .”

    
“Valerie,” he cupped her face in his hands, “I can’t. Please don’t make me.”

    
“I won’t, sweetheart. I won’t.”

    
He kissed her lips—briefly. She pulled back. “Maybe we should ask Dr. Venjamin about Harry’s unusual thirst for human blood tomorrow night. Maybe he’ll know what we should do.”

    
He smiled weakly. “That’s a good idea. Dr. Venjamin will know.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    
Harry was lying in his coffin, his face buried in his pillow. He never wanted anything bad to happen to his family. He didn’t really think that humans could hurt anybody. Humans were so weak compared to them. So stupid. So tasty. He would never forget to lock the pantry door.

    
John had been lying in his coffin reading a comic about SuperVamp who rescued the world from the evil vampire Lex Luther and wore the disguise of a Clark Kent, journalist. John had out grown them long ago. He had given most of them to Harry, but he wanted to give his brother some privacy even though they shared a room. He didn’t understand why Dad reacted so strongly. He had always laughed off Harry’s love of blood. True, Harry was getting a little old for the pranks. And John didn’t really understand the obsession with human blood. Sure, it tasted better. But blood was blood. He knew Charlie had his reasons though. It was rare for their dad to discipline them, especially so voraciously.

    
There was a discreet knock on the door and Amelia slipped in silently shutting it behind her. She wore her nightgown and a retainer in her mouth. “They’re in bed,” she said in a low voice. In her hand she carried a glass of warmed blood. Taking a seat on the edge of Harry’s coffin, she gently rubbed his back. “I have something for you.”

    
He flipped over. “It’s not human.”

    
“No. I’m not about to go against Mom and Dad’s punishment. But it’s fresh animal blood.”

    
John tossed his comic book to the floor. “What is it with you and human blood?”

    
“Shut up!” Harry snarled at his brother taking the glass from his sister. There was a reason why Amelia had always been his favorite.

    
“Shh!” Amelia hissed. “You’ll wake them up then all three of us will be in trouble.”

 
   
“Sorry,” Harry mumbled and gulped down half the blood.

    
“I know you would never do anything to endanger us,” she told him.

    
“I wouldn’t! I would have locked the pantry door.”

    
“You really don’t get it!” John said. “It’s not about forgetting to lock the door. What if the human overpowered you? What if he got by you? You shouldn’t have been getting into the pantry without permission in the first place!”

    
“As if a human could get by me. If they would just let me have it, I wouldn’t have to sneak.”

    
John looked at his sister. “Maybe you can make him understand. I’m done.” And he laid down in his coffin turning his back to them.

    
“Do you understand why we don’t have whole humans often?” she asked her baby brother.

    
He rolled his eyes at her. “They’re expensive. They can be dangerous. They’re for special occasions—Christmas, Easter, Dr. Venjamin. I know it’s wrong. But . . . it calls to me. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

    
“Then you have to learn to resist the calling. Because it’s like Dad said, if you don’t, there will be consequences. Try to think of the consequences when the blood starts calling to you.” She suddenly smiled at him. “Think about the consequences themselves and not how to get around them.”

    
He smiled too. Amelia knew how his mind worked. “Thanks for the blood, Aims.”

    
“You’re welcome. Now go to bed.” She hugged him.

    
“Good morning.” He hugged her back. He could hear her pulse. He thought about consequences.

Chapter Seven

Father Knows Best

    
A kiss on the cheek and a push out the door. That was how Charlie started his day. Valerie had a ton of work to get done before tonight’s dinner—clean the house top to bottom, scrub the human and prepare him for consumption, get Harry dressed, help Amelia get ready for her date . . . the list went on and on. She needed her husband out of the house so he wouldn’t be under foot, not even for a second. Plus, she didn’t want him to be late for his meeting with Dr. Venjamin about his promotion. Val was unbelievably excited and supportive. She was always good at that. She was, after all, the perfect little housewife. He, however, was not the perfect husband, and he was not excited about this opportunity. In fact he dreaded it.

    
The homely human receptionist greeted him as always, and he rode the elevator down. Rhett greeted him in the hall with a slap on the back and a handshake. “Congratulations! I heard you’re being taken on to the new project. Big deal. What time is dinner at your place?”

    
“Right after work. Thank you,” he said trying to get away from his friend as fast as possible. But the second he put his lab coat on and sat down, Dr. Venjamin’s secretary entered his office. Any employee that was not directly involved with the subjects of St. Vladimir’s projects was human though Ms. Pines fulfilled that description in title only. Ms. Pines was a middle age human with faded blonde hair always in a twist on the back of her head, a rigid, erect stance fit for a solider, and no emotions except for her unwavering loyalty to Dr. Venjamin. Charlie knew he had cold blood, but Ms. Pines was truly cold-blooded. She made Charlie nervous.

    
“Dr. Venjamin is waiting for you in the lab,” she announced in a condescending voice, turned, and left.

    
The lab was actually located above ground on the very top floor of St. Vladimir. It was lit by harsh florescent lights that hurt Charlie’s eyes. A two way mirror extended across an entire wall that separated the doctors from the subjects. The subject section housed empty beds with stirrups attached, carts and trays full of medical instruments that Charlie didn’t understand, monitors, and a sonogram machine. Charlie and Dr. Venjamin stood on the other side of the mirror, in the doctor’s section which was full of machinery to spin blood or hold frozen embryos or perform other sci-fi procedures that Charlie was equally clueless about. They weren’t alone in the lab. Other doctors conversed with one another, looked through microscopes or played with the contents of Petri dishes. Charlie’s work had always been with the subjects and far removed from the medical part. He felt in over his head.