THE VAMPIRE UNDERGROUND

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ash sat cross-legged at the edge of his bed, sorting through his DVDs, which were out of alphabetical order again. He noticed that Jagged Edge was mysteriously in the “G” section, as was Jurassic Park. Making him angrier, one of his favorite classic films Sunset Boulevard was in the “B” section and not the “S.”

“How did this happen?” he said melodramatically, as if he had just screwed up a brain tumor operation.

His DVD shelf took up a quarter of his bedroom. It was jam-packed with titles, so many that when he had to move houses two years ago he needed eight boxes to pack just the DVDs (he needed two more for his Blu Rays and one extra for the DVD player).  He was also a freak about keeping things organized, especially when it came to his precious movies.

It was 10 P.M. on Saturday night, and he was bored out of his mind. He had been calling Brin for hours, but she wasn’t picking up the phone, which to him meant that she was ignoring him—obviously she would’ve been back from Bodie Ghost Town by now. He had a hundred or more DVDs he was thinking of putting on, but because he had so many choices, he couldn’t bring himself to pick anything. So, as had happened many times before, he found himself organizing his collection for most of the evening.

He finished the “L” section, then took a deep breath and set his head back against his bed frame. He sighed and looked up at the clock. 10:01.

“I’m so bored!” he shouted. He shook his head and looked at his phone again. “Where the hell are you, Brin?”

Ash sat up when he heard a knock at his door.

“Ash?” A pudgy man with a goatee and a shaved head opened the door.

“Hey Dad.”

“Everything OK in here?”

“It’s fine,” Ash said. “I’m worried about Brin. She’s not answering her phone.”

“Don’t you call her every day?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. So?”

“Maybe? Well, honey, it’s possible she wants some space.”

“She wouldn’t ignore me, though. We’re friends. She would at least text me. Confirm with me she’s alive and not dead in a muddy ditch somewhere.”

Ash’s dad pursed his lips. “Or maybe she left her phone off.”

Ash shook his head. He was disappointed by the fatherly advice. “I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right. This isn’t like her.”

His dad pointed at his movie collection. “You gonna watch something?”

“Nah,” Ash said. “Just organizing.”

“I see. You know, honey, if you sold some of your DVDs, you could make a huge profit on eBay, or at our garage sale next weekend!”

“No way in hell,” Ash said.

His dad stepped forward and perused the right side of his shelf. “You have I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. You can’t give up I Still Know What You Did Last Summer?”

“No.” Ash held the DVD close. “It’s too important to me.”

His dad shook his head and walked back to the hallway. “We’re gonna watch Green Lantern in the living room if you want to join us.”

“No way,” Ash said. “That got terrible reviews. Why would you watch that?”

“We don’t care about the reviews. We care about the star.”

“Ryan Reynolds?”

“Exactly.” His dad looked up at the ceiling and sighed, happily.

“Ugh… dad… gross.”

“Have a good night,” he said. “And don’t worry about your friend. She’ll turn up sooner or later.”

“I know,” Ash said. “But what if she doesn’t?”

His dad didn’t respond. He had already shut the door.

But then another knock on the door followed.

“Yeah?”

Ash’s other dad opened the door. “Hey honey. Everything OK in here?”

“I’m not having the same conversation with you, Dad.”

“Why not? I don’t want to be out of the loop.” This dad was tall and more handsome than the first one, with smoldering dark eyes and a full head of brown hair.

“Dad, please. I need to get back to work.”

“Work? It’s Saturday night! And you’re sixteen! Go get into some trouble for God’s sake.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Anything!”

“Go cruise for girls?” Ash said with a smile.

He shook his head. “Anything but that.”

“Dad! I like girls!”

The man frowned. “I know you do.”

“And you’re gonna have to get used to it.”

The father stared at his son for a moment, before crossing his arms. “So if that’s the case, what’s the story with you and Brin?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you ever gonna come to your senses and ask that girl out on a date? Like… a real date?”

Ash stood up and kicked his DVDs against the bottom shelf. “Dad, don’t be gross. We’ve known each other since we were six. We’re friends. We’ll always be just friends.”

“You’re telling me the thought has never crossed your mind?”

Ash shook his head and walked toward the hallway. His father stopped him by sticking his arm out.

“Whoa, hey,” his dad said, “where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m gonna take a little drive. I want to get into some trouble,” Ash said, and then he sported an exaggerated smile. “Per your suggestion.”

“Let me guess,” he said. “You want to find Brin.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Maybe. Just… please. Can you move?”

Dad number two moved to the side, but not before he leaned down and hugged his son with his large, muscular arms.

“Dad, you don’t have to hug me every day.”

“Why not?”

“Cuz I’m sixteen. I’m not a kid anymore.”

His dad shook his head and patted him on the back. “You’ll always be my special little guy.”

“Even when I’m fifty?”

“Even when you’re ninety.”

Ash stared at his dad with a perplexed expression. “I don’t think you’re gonna be alive when I’m ninety.”

“Stranger things have happened,” his dad said. “Now scat.”

Ash ran through the house as fast as he could so he didn’t have to suffer any more pep talks or hug marathons. He sped past his younger brother in the kitchen, kicked open the side door, and found his car at the edge of the driveway. By the time he was in his Volkswagon Beetle and speeding down the one-lane road, he felt like he was finally safe from torment. He loved his dads—he always would. But they still treated him like a child, and he was now anything but.

“All right, Brin,” he said to himself, glancing down at his phone, “let’s see if you’ve made it home.”