The Vampire He Is (Vinnie Hacker)

Vinnie

  "You could become human," he said, eyes ahead.

"Ask her out already, you wuss," Dylan begged, teasing me in the process. 

  While the boys and I went to get pizza to celebrate with movies, later on, I had told Louis, Dylan and Klaus about my feelings for Sarah and our romantic moments together. Huge mistake. They kept calling me a 'scared little wuss' since I hadn't asked her out yet. 

  I knew exactly why I hadn't, though. 

  We wouldn't work out. She was a human, I was a vampire. 

  I couldn't spend my life without her, and I didn't want to be selfish enough to turn into one. Both Dylan and Louis suggested ways to ask her out without getting rejected, and all the while, I listened mindlessly. 

  Klaus still hadn't uttered a word, so when he did finally speak, I was surprised. 

  "You could become human," he said, eyes ahead. 

  I froze in my tracks, not noticing that Dylan and Louis had stopped talking too. 

  "How?" It was all I managed to sputter out in my complete state of shock. Become human? That possibility hadn't even crossed my mind. Wasnt it impossible. 

  "Dad's research led me to find a cure that Sheila had hidden should her plan to become a hybrid fail that could turn any supernatural being back into a human. I didn't tell you this before because I wanted it for myself," Klaus admitted. 

  I still had no idea how to respond, so I nodded slightly, motioning him to continue. 

  "I found a guy who comes into the woods sometimes to shoot, and I fell in love with him. Thought if I took the cure, I could be with him," he continued. "When I told him how I felt, he got weirded out and stopped showing up. I found out he had a girlfriend." 

  All this information about Klaus that I had found out was too much to handle. I forgot why we were on the way to the pizzeria and stopped. "You're gay?" I asked. 

  He nodded, a look of disappointment in his eyes. 

  I had never done this in my whole life, but before I realised what I was doing, I stepped toward him and enveloped him in a hug, patting his back. "I'm proud of you," I said against his neck. 

  I could tell he was not expecting that because he took a while before returning the gesture. It was the safest I had ever felt with  Klaus and the only time I had felt genuine happiness for him. 

  We pulled away, smiling. I noticed then just how much he looked like our father, but instead of feeling grief, I felt closure. I felt complete. Justice was finally served to my parents. 

  "I think I'll take that cure, brother." 

  Klaus and I sent Louis and Dylan to get the pizza while I followed Klaus back to our old house to get the cure. My heart was pounding against my chest. What if this wasn't what Sarah wanted? 

  What if this wasn't what I wanted? 

  "Are you sure you want to become mortal for some girl?" Klaus asked. 

  That stung, but I knew why. He had his hopes raised by a guy he barely knew and was about to change his life forever for him, only to get disheartened. 

  "Sarah isn't 'some girl'," I responded. "She understands me in ways I didn't think I could be understood. She heals me, emotionally. She made me realise what true love is. In her, I see my future and my heart's desires." 

  Damn, I didn't realise how real it sounded until I said it out loud. 

  Klaus' face softened and he nodded approvingly. He went into the house and came out moments later with a tiny vial of liquid. It looked like blood. 

  "Here's the cure," he said, handing it over. "I'm proud of you too, brother."