Chapter 58: The Dark Night Part 1

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"I think this is far enough." Obie said.

They were several blocks down from the empty house the group was staying in for the night. Several blocks might not appear as much, but these blocks were long. So long it made your knees ache by merely looking out the window, peering upon the stretch of concrete that was broken by every crosswalk. If Obie stuck her body out the window, she could finally view the farmlands that gathered around the unoccupied houses. The farmlands were defined by its flat green pasture and the waves of small hills behind like an moving ocean of grass.

Unfortunately, she couldn't see the main house. The distance made the group disappear before she could park the car.

Logan did give her a walkie talkie.

They were in touch somehow.

"We go." The vampire prompted to continue. His hoodie was entirely over his head, his sunglasses were big enough to defeat Steve Urkel's prescriptions and his hands were completely in his pockets. "Not safe."

Before Obie answered, she pulled down the window curtains. She twisted her body, reaching over him, reaching over to the backseats, and settling forward as she closed her side lastly. She had to tug on some because the shields were getting jumbled up. "I don't hear anything too crazy around here."

To be honest, she had some quiet time. The commercial part of the town was also deserted. On the other hand, it wasn't the same as the house. The energy was dissimilar as were the sounds. The growling vibrations were distant as they were distant from the residential areas. All they had to worry about were untamed animals.

Other than that, her mind was very clear. Her head was not pulsating with the sounds of people.

"Different. Dangerous." He murmured, releasing his pile of blonde hair out of the heavy fabric. Then, he removed his gloves, his sweater and wrapped the clothes in a roll above the glove compartment. His long sleeve athletic blue shirt sculpted his toned form as she noticed he looked leaner than a few days ago. Boyishly, Mister Vampire brushed his bangs over his eyes and held a handful within his hand in deep concentration.

Interesting.

"Around here?" Obie tore her eyes from him, scratching her own head.

The vampire's blue eyes speculated the floor. "No."

The vampire pointed downwards, stiffening his strong jaw in seriousness as his cheekbones became more pronounced under his bronze skin.

"Basements?" She tried to help him out.

"No." The vampire grabbed Obie's finger, pointed their digits to outside and then downwards. "Down. Down."

As he let go, Obie's fingers curled into her palm. "Underground, but not here."

The vampire sighed, finally appreciating her comprehension of his broken English.

"Maybe that's why no one is here. They are probably in the sewers, right?" Obie tried to devise an explanation about the vampires' presences.

"Sewers?"

"When the sun goes down, they'll come out." She said with slight worry. She couldn't imagine how many vampires could be underground if they were able to produce vibrations beneath the superficial surface. The vampire was right. This was dangerous; however, they had a clear path of escape. The group didn't. Logan, the one with her parents' address didn't. "How can we warn them without making us suspicious? They are going to question how do we know."

"Don't. You safe with me. They die." The vampire shrugged, digging through his bag of books. "I color."

She frowned, shaking her head with disapproval. "It's not so simple, mister."

For a second, he was entranced with another fantasy novel and abandoned the idea of coloring. Once he realized the conversation wasn't finished, he turned towards her and asked, "Why?"

"Logan has information I need. He's the only one who knows where we're going. He dies, no truth. I said this before" She spoke, reminding him for the millionth time. "We gotta protect Logan."

"Ew." He glared.

She gave him a look.

"All die except Logan." He probed in curiosity. "Piper die?"

"I-I don't know." Obie said genuinely. "Maybe. Yeah. Piper lives."

"Percy?" The vampire said with a hopeful tone of death.

"He can get fucked by a corpse for all I care." Obie shrugged and paused. "How bad do you think it will get?"

The vampire thought. "I...I...hear them."

"Other vampires?" She asked.

He nodded. "Mhmm."

"You can read their minds...like you read mine when we first met." She deduced.

He held up one finger. "Once. No more."

"I wonder why that is." She thought. "You didn't even drink any of my blood or vice versa."

"But..." he hesitated. "Don't hear them down."

"You can't connect to the vampires underground?" She clarified.

He nodded.

Shit. That sounded bad. Really bad.

Obie gripped the wheel and squeezed. "Maybe we should leave. Take Logan. Maybe take Piper with us. We can kidnap them and drive off."

"I do it." He offered, ready for anything.

Obie disagreed with her own plan. "But Logan would lose his family. Cian. Assuming they got the same grandma. Losing your man and family member back-to-back would kill him. He would just kill himself."

"Jump jump." The vampire motioned his fingers as they crawled onto the back of his hand and jumped off the edge of his palm. He was referring to the people he watched on the bridge commit suicide.

"More like shoot shoot." She gestured a gun to her head.

He grinned.

"Sociopath." Obie shook her head. "So we should stay?"

"I protect regular Obie and disgusting Burrito."

"Comforting." Obie said sarcastically but meant it. "I feel like we would be making a mistake if we leave. If we stay, I hope the VBV is enough."

"We stay?" He said reluctantly.

"There's also you." They won't attack if he was around. His scent was strong as hell. It was hard not to miss a strange creature when one had the sense of a dog.

Obie took another look at his lean body. "I actually think you and Little Monster should go feed tonight."

He threw his head back and forth like a child. "Can't leave you."

"There has to be some vampires hiding around. I'm sure you can find some during the daytime. Then, at night, take Little Monster out to go feed."

"He kill group."

"You're right. That's stupid. Little Monster would probably go kill them. Maybe..." Obie whispered the last part, forgetting he could hear the footsteps of an ant. "I can get him blood."

"You can?"

"Yeah." Obie had an idea. An idea she wouldn't dare say out loud, because it would freak out the vampire. It also disgusted herself. "I don't want him to kill anyone else, but I also don't want him to starve to death. He's probably still sick."

He nodded.

"Let me go check on him." She began to turn around.

"No!"

"What you mean no? I can pull out the cushion from the backseat and peak through, so he won't get burned up. Or we can drape the curtain over the trunk while we open it?"

"No."

"Why no?"

"He fine." The vampire waved her off and pretended to read his new book.

Obie traced the movement in his eyes, wondering where was the motion for each line he was apparently reading. She narrowed her brown eyes. "What did you do?"

"He fine." He said quickly.

"You're really starting to become a regular if you're trying to master lying." She said. "Tell me the truth."

"Truth?" he whispered.

"I won't get mad."

"Mad? No mad?" He asked nervously.

"Nope."

He blurted,"Left Little Monster at store."

"What!" Her heart jumped out of her chest as she shouted. "Are you insane!? Why would you do that?!"

He cringed. "You mad? You lie."

"Yes. I lied. Like you." She said in anger. "How could you leave him there?"

He looked away, shrinking from her anger.

Obie sucked her teeth. "So fucking ridiculous."

"Don't want him."

"Why?"

"Dangerous..."

"You're dangerous too and neither of you hurt me." Obie's brows furrowed in irritation. "...Intentionally."

He looked towards her coyly. "Me, you and disgusting Burrito."

"You got to be kidding me." Obie scoffed. "That's so immature! Why can't you follow any directions!"

"Don't care!" The vampire threw his hands up.

"You have the temperament of a child!" She hit her wheel. "Damn it."

He flinched again.

"You know what?" It was a long fucking day and a long fucking drive. She did not have time to feed into his bullshit and her anger.

Obie reclined her seat, laid down and faced the window. Burrito was tucked into her stomach, not prepared to go to sleep but she didn't take no for an answer from the opossum. "Space. I need space."

"Space?" He sounded torn.

"Yes." Obie said, setting an alarm on her watch. "I'm going to take a nap. Just keep a look out. Don't leave the car. Wake me if anyone tries to approach. Try not to go against those directions and get me killed. Okay?"

The vampire frowned, nevertheless he was silent in regret.

Time went by faster than she was counting down till nightfall. The shades were no longer required unless to avoid a peeping Tom or dangerously a vampire who lost his smell and depended on his vision. If she thought about it seriously, she should keep the shades down.

Obie removed her slender fingers from the window shields.

Her fingers clumsily bent one of the plastic lines covering the clear, dust touched window.

As the little space opened, she paused and wondered if it was her mind deceiving her. She hooked her index finger on top of the same plastic layer and let her weight carry it down until the clarity of the glass was disclosed.

There.

On top of Stop and Shop, across the street was her parents. Her father was wrapped under her mother's embrace as they circled each other aimlessly like adoring lions who took comfort in touch. Her mother's cheek would press upon her father's head as he scooped under her neck. Her father would respond by teasingly nibbling on her fingers as she roughly caressed his face as heavy handed as a child.

Their human traits couldn't be ignored. The same love they had for each other before the vaccine, still connected the couple beyond the animalistic efforts of their new biology. There was no explanation for that unless a psychologist wanted to explain how it was purely psychological. But isn't love just a warping insult or compliment to the human reproductive system, characterized by its wild, boundaryless control on reality; a manipulative trick, yet honest emotion of the brain. In other words, complicated.

They curled into each other's arms, then their eyes found hers. Of course, they were sharp, conniving, ravenous, relentless, and unwavering in its direction. Although, their demeanor was faintly unalike to their usual.

They waited for her.

They followed her.

They wanted her.

Yet, it was the strength in their conviction she questioned. Those white eyes shined in deprivation, but tortured by confusion. She had a feeling that it was due to the presence of the vampire. Nonetheless, another feeling overcame the first logic.

Their confusion was directly towards her and only her.

She was altering.

They were deciding whether that change was still good for them to hunt.

Shouldn't it?

Obie shut the two out and tucked her face into her arm, irately.

They kept trying to change her. Fortunately, they succeeded. The two should be angrier that their work might be undone. For heaven sake's, look what her father possibly did to this country. She was the only person left in their lives to latch onto because they prepared her as the daughter they wanted her to be. Not necessarily who she genuinely was.

All her life, Obie managed to honor their change subconsciously as she embraced herself as the persona she developed over years. But she was the result of their creation. Now, she was fighting to remember her true self with the expectation of losing parts of who her parents built.

Trust and believe, Obie loved who she was. She took pride in her independent nature and knowing shit the average person didn't. Unfortunately, the pride was mistaken on her part.

Perhaps, that's why the situation with Little Monster made her furious. Little Monster used to be a pest to her. Still was. Therefore, Mister vampire trapping the little vampire in a book store shouldn't upset her. But the child vampire could be proof of another change.

Little Monster showed signs of humanity in his vampire state. Maybe her father wasn't totally unforgiveable. Who knew if he could become more than what he was? Look at Mister vampire.

He was stubborn, driven by curiosities, learning, and applying every day. Learning fast wasn't a problem. It's easy to mimic and adapt but understanding on a deeper level was the problem.

Little Monster could have been who she was on a miniature scale. If developing human traits was a possibility for Mister vampire and the baby vampire, it could mean many things for society.

For her parents.

For her.

Maybe one day she can revert to her human traits.

Maybe one day her parents could too.

She sucked her teeth.

The vampire had to be super stubborn.

He's been staring into the back of her head from the time the argument started. She tried to ignore his pry through wondering aimlessly. She wondered why no one stopped to check if they drove off, especially Logan. She wondered what dangers would swallow the group as the moon glowed prominently, surrounded by darkness and specks of stars. She wondered what her choice would be if she had to confront these threats to save the group or abandon these people and find another way to her parents' second house. But these wonders were forced like the others.

Sometimes Obie was as blank as a new page. She wasn't completely positive as to why her unstable emotions grasped onto her state of mind like a snake around a prey. Then, it released its hold and she felt nothing. Not even for Burrito.

She wished she was angry at the vampire, but she wasn't completely.

She would disappear into a black canvas of empty concentrations.

"Touch." He whispered behind her.

"No." Obie muffled.

Painfully, he asked again. "Touch?"

"No." Obie said, "It's getting dark. We need to be focused. Anything could happen."

"No one drink regular Obie." He said quietly. "Disgusting Burrito too."

"I'm sure I'm not that appetizing anymore anyway." She sighed, thinking about her parents.

"Angry about Little Monster?" He probed, unhappily.

"I can't believe you did that to him." She admitted with a hint of scorn. "You know he's almost like you. Besides being a killer, he's got brains. That's rare. He liked me too. Definitely rare."

"No matter." He argued.

"It does." She argued back. "Little Monster is different. He was different enough to be taken, poisoned, and released. Every action has a purpose. No one is doing shit just because they are bored these days. I stopped believing in coincidences the moment you showed up. I'm trying to piece things together. You're not helping by going against what I say, because you're jealous."

"Not jealous."

Obie disagreed in silence.

"Not just just jealous." The vampire repeated. "Safe regular Obie. Safe."

"He's not perfect, but neither are you. If he wanted to kill me, he would. Just like you."

"No." He said.

"You're walking proof."

The vampire asked, "Evidant?"

"Evidence." Obie rectified. "Yes. Proof means evidence. A material, a claim, an action or an event that can support someone's accusation"

He paused. "I am proof."

"Exactly-"

"No." He stopped her. "Regular Obie, I am proof."

"I don't understand."

"Little Monster. I was..." He said shakily. "I was small. I hurt. No mean to, but I hurt."

Obie fought to turn, but she held her body against the car seat.

"Hurt things. Hurt things like disgusting Burrito."

She asked cautiously, "Did you want to?"

He didn't answer for a very long time. "Don't know. They want me to."

"Who wanted you to?"

He shrunk. She could hear it in his words. "They not like you. Not like regular Obie."

Obie said. "What did they wear?"

She felt the car sway uneasily.

"White. White." He answered unsteadily.

Obie thought for a second. Pushing it would be too much. But would it be too much for her? "White is a color I remembered a lot too. My father mainly wore it in his lab. They call it a lab coat. But my mother...she wore all sorts of clothes and colors..."

Obie breathed out, attempting to recall. "I was young when I first hurt an animal like Burrito, but smaller, colorful and beautiful. They are called butterflies,"

"Butterflies?"

"Flying insects with these beautiful colorful wings." She tied her thumbs together and flapped her four fingers.

"Rainbow?"

"Almost. They were mix colored like they were meant to surprise the world when they evolved. Sometimes they were brown and black. Sometimes blue. Maybe all three."

"Want one." He said fascination.

"I did too, but I wanted it in a different way."

"Play?"

"Yeah. I guess it was play."

"How you play?"

"The wrong way."

"You hurt butterfly."

"I did."

"Did not mean to?" She can picture him shaking his head.

"That's the point. I did mean to or I didn't care to. What's the difference? I just did what I wanted." Obie opened her thoughts. "I'm sure I didn't stop there. It got bigger than butterflies, which is why I feel like my parents hurt me."

"The shock?"

He remembered? "Yes, the shock. It was horrible, but I remember never minding it. I just wanted it to be over to go back to what I was doing."

"Regular Obie's doing?"

She paused. "Bad things. Bad things I have done to animals like Burrito."

"You kill."

Obie gulped, whispering. "Not always. Not at first."

"I-I" He stopped. "I don't know."

"You don't know what I'm trying to say but you know exactly what I'm talking about." Obie sighed. "They transformed me. I'm not like that anymore. I forgot how to be that way. I know some people bring out the worst or the best in us. The problem is we need to figure out who those people are to bring out anything out of us. That is dangerous to not know. We got to find out and remember who they were to find out why. Maybe, then, we can figure out who we want to be."

"Regular Obie smart." He admired.

"I guess so." She said uncomfortably.

After a couple awkward moments later, he said. "White coats hurt me. Mean to. Nurse Jackie. Never mean to."

She abruptly turned towards him. Their eyes finally meeting as if they haven't caught of their dissimilar colored orbs in years. Two great sighs touched their shoulders, relieved by the strain. "Nurse Jackie?"

He held on to her eyes for dear life, happy she was facing him "My nurse Jackie."

Obie said, trying to remember who she was. "She took care of you."

"Took her away." His face reddened.

"Who? How?"

He began to shake his head vigorously and uncontrollably.

Burrito scrambled to the backseat in fear as

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