Vampire Boys Of Summer (Completed!)

Episode 41: Dad & Haru

My father let out a heavy sigh, looked at me, then at Haru. He waited for the orderly to walk away and give us our last minutes. “Haru, I don’t know you son, but you’re friends with Nora, so I trust you. Please get out of Chelsea Valley. They are going to take it over. They’ll start with the children first because they believe. Please get my daughter out of there.”

Haru lowered his voice. “Who was the guy in the grocery? Do you know his name? The one you had the altercation with.”

“The courtroom is all a haze. I was medicated. But I remember in the store his name tag read, Bram.”

“Bram? As in Stoker? The Dracula author?”

“Yes. I think he thought of it as a joke.”

“But you don’t remember his real name.” He turned to me. “Were you in court, Nora? Did you catch his name?”

I shook my head. “Mom wouldn’t let me go.”

Dad reached out and grabbed Haru’s wrist. For a moment, they both froze. Then Dad jerked his hand back. “Damn son, you’re freezing.”

Haru put his hand in his lap. “Yes, it’s a little cold in here, I think.” He looked at me. “We should get going.”

My father was still looking at his hand, as if it were infected with frostbite. He looked at my friend with a suspicious cock of the head. “I’m counting on you to protect, Nora,” he said. “Are you capable of that? It means putting your life on the line with the most vile, despicable creatures.”

The comment didn’t seem to bother Haru. “You have my word.”

“Shake on it.”

I wasn’t stupid. I knew my dad. He was trying to find a way to touch Haru again, to see if the cold, clamminess of his skin was his imagination or not. He’d been warm to me the other day, but now I was fearing that perhaps in his hunger, Haru was losing his warmth. I hadn’t noticed anything when he’d held my hand minutes ago, so I reached for him and touched the hand in his lap. While moments ago it had been comforting and warm, now it was like picking up a chunk of ice. Startled, I looked to him for reassurance.

Haru wasn’t looking at me, however. He was eyeing my father like he knew what he was up to. He reached across the table and shook his hand. “She has nothing to fear when she’s with me, sir.”

Dad realized something was off. You could see it in his face. He knew Haru was different. It wasn’t just the growing clamminess of his skin; it was something about the eyes, too. I noticed it a little too late, but the color was starting to change. The deep, darkness of his iris was turning a rich shade of crimson, as if his eyes were filling up with blood from within. I didn’t know what was happening, but I had to get Haru out of there.

Dad attempted to withdraw his hand, but couldn’t. Haru was gripping it tighter.

“The vampire army will not be built,“ he said in a firm voice. “We’ll take care of that.”

“We’ll? What do you mean by that?”

I interrupted their exchange before it got worse. “He means Haru and I will warn others.”

Haru gave me a look before returning his attention to dad. He let his hand go. “No, it means I won’t allow this. I’ll get Nora out of Chelsea Valley.”

It was too late. Dad wasn’t buying it. He rubbed his hand. “You’re not leaving the valley. I know who you are now. I know what you are. If I had my crucifix….”

“Wouldn’t do any good,” Haru interjected. “It may work with Western vampires, but it doesn’t work with..”

I slid my chair out and jumped up. “Haru, stop it! Dad, stop it! What’s gotten into you both? Turn the testosterone down, damn it!”

My father looked up at me. His face was sad. “Your new boyfriend is a vampire, Nora. He’s here to silence me.”

“Dad, please stop it.”

The orderly must have noticed the disturbance on our side of the room. “Visitation is now over, “ he said, as he came up alongside dad’s chair.

Still looking at me, I saw my father’s eyes were welling with tears. “Nora, I hope you know what you’re doing. You can’t trust….” He looked up at the orderly, and knew he couldn’t say what he wanted to in front of him. “boys.”

“He’s not like that, Dad. Haru is one of the good guys.” When I said it, I found myself hoping I was right in that.

The orderly stepped back as Dad slid his chair out and got to his feet, looking a bit defeated. Haru stood as well.

“I’m not here to silence you, sir,” he said. “There is bad in every group of people, but I’m not one of those. I have Nora’s best interests at heart and I will protect her. The things you speak of will not come to pass, I promise.”

Dad was being ushered away, and we walked with them. “Dad, I love you. And I miss you.”

“I love you too, baby girl. I miss you very much. And I do miss your mom. We just can’t be like we once were. We both are changed, please try to understand.”

“But if you could just come home…”

“I can’t.”

We reached the doors, and soon my father would be separated from me again. “Dad, please…”

He turned his eyes from me and looked at Haru. “You really are, aren’t you? I mean, I’m not that crazy, right?”

Haru nodded. “Yes I am,” and then Dad was through the doors.

Back at the car, Haru looked at me, a worried look on his face. He opened my door and let me climb in. “I’m sorry, Nora.”

“Sorry for what?”

“How things went with your dad. I know it’s not what either of us expected.”

He walked around to the drivers side and got in. Leaning across, he buckled me in, and like before, it was sexy as hell, the way his hands pulled the strap across my chest and snapped the buckle in place. His fingers brushed my lap and I felt butterflies invade my stomach again.

“I’ll try to drive us, but you may have to take over. I should have fed last night.”

“I don’t have my license yet,” I said. “I don’t get it until next month. Normally I  would have it already, but there was a mix up with my birthday, so I still  have my learners.”

“I’ll try my best to get us home, then.” He pulled down the visor to block the sun from his eyes. Lucky for him, the day was overcast, and the clouds prevented much of the sunshine from reaching us. He was getting weaker, and I didn’t know what that would mean for him if he was out in the daylight too long without feeding.

“I just wanted to be with you as long as I could last night. Watching you sleep is..beautiful.” He smiled. “All this is my own fault, and I’m afraid it made me a little testy with your Dad, too. I’m sorry. When he started about the crucifix, I got a little snippy. I guess I knew he was figuring me out and it made me a little confrontational. I don’t always get along with adults.”

Part of me wanted to laugh at that. I mean, come on, he’s nearly a thousand years old, and yet still thinking like a teenager. I touched his leg. “It’s okay, Haru. There was no harm done. I just didn’t want you guys to argue too much. It was drawing attention.”

“Yeah, I know. Again, I’m sorry.” He started the car and we pulled off, leaving the sanitarium behind. I looked back, hoping I would see my father looking out the window and waving goodbye. All I saw was a dark, lonely building.