I'll Be Here All Life | ✓ | ONC 2021

[6] Coming Out to My Parents... as a Vampire

The rest of the week, I eagerly answer messages from Neil, and he responds back seemingly enthusiastically. It never fails to bring a smile to my face either.

That said, my body quivers with more changes every passing day. The bags under my eyes are darkening, and I don't believe it's from my general depression-insomnia combo I had prior to becoming a vampire. It looks permanent, and no amount of cover-up helps. My fangs also have noticeably grown longer, if that is even possible. It's hard to hide them behind my lips, and I wonder how other vamps do it. I make a mental note to ask Abby that as I finger-comb through my dark brown hair in the mirror.

Abby...

My fingers falter, sticking above a knot. I wince, trying to pull through it, but damn. Abby left pretty quickly a few days ago. Sure, she's texted me since then, but I can't help but wonder: what happened to Abby's family and friends after she got turned? Why won't she let me know?

Then, I decide to do something stupid. After tearing my finger through my hair-knot, I pick up my phone. There is a LINGR notification, but for once I ignore it. I go to the dial pad page, hesitating. I can't—

I grit my teeth. No, Vick. Do it.

Dialing that number comes to me more easily than it should. The telltale contact name pops up. My thumb hovers over the green call button, but then I press it.

Another moment where I believe if my heart could thump, it would. Sadly, it stays still, but my mind whirs, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The incessant ringing—

"Hello?"

My eyes widen. It's her.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Her voice sounds the same, but I feel I can define its tone more clearly now: notes of a warm cello ringing through the room, the beep of the oven timer, and—

"This isn't funny. Don't call again!"

"W-wait!" I shriek. I gulp: am I really going to do this?

Too late now: she gasps. "W-who is this?! What joke are you playing on me?"

"M-Mom... it's me. Vick."

There is a silence punctuated by one sharp sob on her end. "Whoever this is, this is so cruel to play such a trick on us. How do you know us? How do you know our loss?"

I bite my lip, and my fang pierces it. I ignore the blood pooling at the site of the wound and press forward. "No, Mom. It's really me. It's Vick. I... I never died."

A loud clunk fills my ears, but before I can even ask if she's still there, I hear her sobbing out my father's name, followed by footsteps. Someone picks up the phone and places it to their ear, breathing out one slow breath. "Vick?" he says, his voice gruff and tight. When he sounds like this, I know he's on the verge of crying too. "Vick—how—"

"I'm sorry," I whisper. It is all I have within me not to cry, if I even can anymore, but there is a hollowness in my chest as I listen to them. "I'm sorry. I didn't... didn't know how to tell you—"

"Why would you keep this from us?" my mother says, and I know they've put me on speakerphone now. "This... we never even got your body back, so we assumed the worst—"

The blood from my lip has slipped into my mouth. Its metallic taste makes me hungrier, but I ignore the growl pawing at my throat and swallow it down. "Mom, Dad, I... I need to tell you something."