Mermaids and Vampires

40: Ocean View

~~~DYLAN~~~

It's a strange feeling waking up in an unfamiliar place. I had fallen asleep on the beach, but now, I open my eyes to find myself inside a house, on a couch by a window. The sky outside is dark. I'm alone in the room and not sure what to do with myself.

Fortunately I don't have to wait long before someone greets me.

"You're awake!" A familiar looking pale-faced girl remarks.

I squint my eyes, trying to figure out where I remember her from. High school obviously, but was she in one of my classes? No, I know! She was the one who ate lunch near me, under the trees outside. I remember those rectangle framed glasses.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

She sits down in a chair next to the sofa. "This is my house" She says, smirking at the stupidity of my question. "We found you on the beach, thought you'd drowned or something. Water?" She asks, offering me a glass.

I sit up, take it and sip.

"Your parents must be worried. Wanna call them?" She asks.

I shake my head. "My dad was killed."

Her eyes go wide. "By vampires?" She asks in a whisper.

I'm taken aback. How does she know?

Before I have time to answer, a woman enters the room, obviously the girls mother.

"I thought I heard talking in here. Oh, thank goodness you're all right. How are you feeling darling?"

"Fine thank you." I respond.

"Would you like something to eat? Crackers?"

"That would be great."

"I'll be right back." She heads off to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, that was a little forward. You don't believe in ghost stories, do you?"

"I'm starting to. What do you know about vampires?" I whisper.

She bites her lip, holding back a smile. "My dad hunts them." She says proudly. "Leads the hunt, actually."

"Here we are, lots to snack on. Dinner should be ready in a few minutes." Her mother comes in, lays a tray of fresh fruits, cheese and crackers on the coffee table and leaves again.

I grab a slice of apple.

"What about your mom?" The girl asks.

"Never had one." I state. "She died giving birth to me."

"So you're alone?" She asks.

"I guess."

"My name's Ella, by the way."

I smile. "I'm Dylan."

"Well, I should help my mom set the table."

"I'll help." I say, staring to get up.

"Stay." She commands. "Read a book," she picks one off of the shelf behind the couch, "this one's good." She tosses it to me and disappears into the kitchen.

I turn it over and read the title written on the cover: Table Manners. Opening it reveals pages of illustration depicting various weaponry, mostly stabbing implements and their correct usage against a particularly evil looking opponent who remained constant throughout all images. The quintessential vampire, it appeared. It's strange. There're pages and pages of detailed instruction too, which I just barely skim as I flip through.

Is this a hint?

I shut the book and slide it onto the shelf roughly where it had come from.

I get up off the couch and cross to the window, looking out on the view of the ocean against a dark, grey sky.

The weather changes so fast around here.

"Dylan, dinner's ready." Ella murmurs from the entrance to the living room.

"Thanks." I nod, walking towards her.

We amble into the dining room, shoulder to shoulder.

On the table a large meal is layed out; chicken, vegetables, mashed potatoes, and all the fixings.

We eat and soon enough Ella's mother is offering for me to stay the night. I appreciate her generosity but don't want to stay any longer than I have to. I refuse at first, but as her offers persist I begin to realize how comfortable it would be to stay in a nice house with other people. I also remember that there is no other home to go back to. My dad's place had bodies in the basement which wouldn't bode well for a good nights sleep. Or relative safety. 

As dinner ends Ella's mom asks again and I agreed to stay.

Ella's dad, I'm told, is out late working.

I wonder if his work is really that, or if it has something to do with the vampire hunting that Ella had told me about. She never brought up vampires in front of her mother so I took that as a cue and followed suit.