The Things We Fear

“Mr Kisembo, you cannot run off like that.”

Both Theo and Marcus chose to ignore the voice coming from behind them as they continued to cling to one another. Theo hated his surname for the same reasons Marcus had rejected to use Cassius’. Absent fathers and trauma bonding had been the first layer of their unshakable friendship. Finally ready to break away, their grips slowly started loosening, though they still sat with the circle their arms made.

“How are you feeling?” He had to ask.

The other looked paler than normal, but with tanned skin, it was difficult to tell. The other boy felt cooler to the touch, but not so much as to cause concern. It was the type of cool that would have his mom saying to put a sweater on, but nothing overly noticeable. Theo’s eyes looked darker. Deeper almost. But again, nothing outside the realm of human. They weren’t entirely black or blood red, as the movies liked to show. They held a depth to them, but that was more a sense than a physical change. You knew you were looking at someone who knew the world and would do whatever to achieve their goals. Other than the peek of fang hovering over his lips, Marcus would not have known the boy had died and reanimated himself.

“Okay. bit weird. Like when you’ve had flu and it’s not quite gone yet, but better than I was before.”

“And you do not desire to tear his throat out, despite how close you are sitting?” Some snooty voice enquired from down the hallway.

“Nah. I can, like, hear your heart and stuff,” he said directly to Marcus, rather than the person who had asked. “But you smell like - suppose I could only call it family, though I don’t know how that is supposed to smell.”

“Curious. And you two call yourself brothers. Have you ever done anything to officially cement this?”

The two looked at each other in confusion before turning to the elder with matching quizzical looks on their faces.

“Master Domm-”

“Gall,” he corrected again.

“Is a witch? Had you perhaps formed your own coven?”

“I didn’t even know any of this was real,” he sent a mock glare in Marcus’ direction.

Marcus shrugged unrepentantly. If he’d had his way, Theo would have never known and lived all the happier for it.

“Nope.”

“Formed a covenant, I mean an agreement, particularly any bound by blood?”

The two stared at each other again, both trying to recall any such memories. They must have stumbled upon it at the same time, as joint recognition occurred.

“But I thought?”

“It was.”

“But then?”

“I don’t know?”

“Care to share with the class?” the gruff voice came from the bedroom doorway.

“We did this obstacle course thing once. Band of brother’s style. We cut ourselves,” Marcus gestured to the small scar on the edge of his palm, “and…”

“And we made a joke about being too old for believing in the blood brother’s pact, whilst we were both had cuts on our hands and were doing an army-style assault course anyway,” Theo shrugged.

“We were just messing around. Slapped our hands together, said brother’s life and moved on to the next part of the course.”

“Though there was that weird static shock.”

“Which, now this has happened, makes me wonder if it was my magic taking our words literally?”

The two looked at each other again, great big grins spreading across their faces before launching into hugs once more, both shouting “Bro!” dramatically.

“So there have been multiple examples of your uncontrolled magic. Good to know, son.”

Marcus chose to ignore the man in favour of still smirking at his friend.

“Does it mean anything though, in general, or now in particular, because I’m a vampire?”

“It is an evolutionary defence to not find the blood of our own kin desirable. It sounds as though the accidental agreement you pair formed has ensured you do not desire to snack on the young Mr Domm’s neck.”

“Gall,” it was Theo who corrected him this time.

Marcus was almost resigned to the supernatural constituents, refusing to use his chosen name, but glad to see his friend still in his corner.

“So Theo won’t be wanting to sink his fangs in my neck anytime soon. What about others? Does this blood thing extend to Brody? Cassius is there. Does us being brothers affect how you desire his blood?”

Theo scrunched his nose up at the suggestion.

“Dude smells like lightning and death, which I don’t think has anything to do with us, but it’s unappetising regardless.”

Marcus didn’t know why Cassius smelling nasty made him feel better, but it gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. It was a mild shame it meant the man wasn’t likely to die by a rogue vampire, but at least it was something.

“I’m guessing it’s the same with wolf boy?” He gestured to James, still standing in the doorway and eyeing Theo as though he might attack at any moment.

“Dude smells like wet dog and what I can only assume is the moon, but that’s a total guess.”

Somewhere behind them, one of the other vampires confirmed this. Marcus was mildly curious to know what the moon apparently smelt like, but not enough to ask for the bite.

“You don’t smell too great yourself. Grave dirt and iron are not attractive,” James sneered.

Marcus suspected by the huff from Abigail and her little crew, that this was a recurring argument between the different factions. Theo flashed his fangs at the wolf, as James did his eyes. Sensing things were about to escalate, Marcus decided it was best to curb the conversation again.

“How will you handle school?”

Theo turned away from the wolf before his face grew paler once again. The boy quickly turned to the elder vampire.

“There is still a couple of weeks until school begins again, we will attempt to ensure you are able to control yourself before then, however, the clan do have several home school students getting their GED and we can discuss this with your parents if it becomes necessary.”

“Right, my parents,” he winced, “my mom is not going to like this.”

“Normally, Mr Kisembo, we hesitate to include any non-supernaturals in such matters, but as you are under eighteen and registered under the human element, we must make accommodations. Your mother, as your legal guardian, needs to know. I believe reverend Domm has already arranged for her to come over on Sunday and be brought in on the quote-unquote big secret,” there was a level of mocking in the elder vampire’s tone, which he could feel Theo starting to bristle at.

It would seem that his sunshine brother had a much shorter temper as a vampire.

“What can I do, to help him stay in control?”

“You mean by magic?” Cassius asked, coming forward.

“Err, in general, but sure, whatever it takes.”

He did not like the smile this put on his father’s face. A cold sensation crawled its way down his back. He immediately wanted to take the words back, but the elder vampire started speaking once more and drew his attention away from the man.

“Ensuring he is fed regularly is the main priority. For all he is a vampire now, his body will still remember being human and demand normal foods on top of the blood. This need will decrease with time, but it is said for the first few weeks the vampire will feel like a bottomless pit with how much he has to consume and how snappy this unquenchable hunger will make him.”

That probably explained the temper issue he’d already noticed.

“Aww man, mom already complains about the size of the food bill. Is there any way around this? I don’t want to be more of a financial burden.”

The elder seemed to bristle at this, as though somehow offended by Theo’s genuine concerns.

“You are now a member of our clan, Mr Kisembo. We provide for our own. There will be no worrying about measly food bills for our members.”

Marcus might have laughed at the weird pride shown by the elder if it weren’t for the relief he on Theo’s face.”

“Devil-de – err, I mean, Mr Domm, if you start by telling mom that on Sunday, she’ll probably be a lot more amenable.”

“Oh, I won’t be telling her anything, I’ll simply be there when you do,” Cassius said with such an air of amusement, Marcus wanted to punch him.

Theo looked as though someone had physically hurt him by those words. The elder vampire threw a displeased look at the man, showing he was not happy by his handling of the situation.

“Our clan will, of course, be there with you. And I supposed the young Mr D- Gall, will too.”

Ah, so all Marcus needed to do to be called by his chosen name was have them be miffed with his father. It shouldn’t be too difficult a goal. At least not everyone thought the sun shone out of his rear end.

“Definitely. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, best friends until the bitter end.”

“Thick and thin,” Theo continued.

“In sickness and health.”

“You wonder why people think you’re an item,” James muttered from the side.

“Wait, dude, we can’t say death part now, ’cause I’m already dead,” he said it with such serious fear Marcus almost wanted to burst out laughing.

“May we never part,” finished with, close enough to the original.

“Yeah, dude. May we never part.”

They slapped their hands together before doing a full bro hug.

“Okay, I love dick, but this is too gay for me,” Eyeliner guy said, before falling those who had already started leaving down the hallway.

Marcus and Theo just shrugged. Getting up from the floor and starting to follow them.

“Dude was right though, I’m already hungry.”

“Do you want blood?”

“Nah, but I could murder a burger. Wonder what it’s going to taste like now?”

Marcuse shrugged. “Only one way to find out. I steal Cassius’ card.”

“Dude, I forgot what a dick he could be. Definitely still going to call him devil dearest.”

“Right, and everyone’s convinced he’s such a great guy. There must be something in the water here or some weird spell making people lose all common sense.”

The pair snickered as they made their way downstairs. Marcus was semi-aware of James following but still wasn’t sure how to interact with the other. Theo wasn’t a bloodthirsty monster wanting to rip his throat out, which was a plus, but he was still Marcus’ top priority. They had just over two weeks before school started. He needed to do whatever he could to help the guy.

The happiness on Cassius’ face when he’d agreed to learn magic to help Theo was still making him uncomfortable. Technically, Marcus had already agreed to learn from the guy, so what was it about this situation in particular that had filled the man with such twisted delight? Were there vampire-specific magics? Or did the man simply revel in having more leverage over his wayward son? Whatever the reasons, Marcus doubted they were going to be pleasant for him.

As Marcus walked down the stairs, he kept both of his friends in his peripheral. He’d need them to act as a distraction as he lifted the card from his father. Shoving Theo playfully, he timed it so that when the other pushed back, he’d accidentally collide with Cassius. Marcus had planned on making it look like Theo had pushed him harder than he had, but apparently, they both forgot the boy had vampire strength as he careened into Cassius and sent both of them to the floor.

“Oh, dude, sorry. I didn’t realise my strength would be like that,” Theo rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, offering his other hand to Marcus.

“No worries, not like you knew,” replied before his father could make a scathing comment.

“You’ll need to work on it. It will all be part of your control training,” James said which seemed to appease Cassius for some reason.

Marcus did not like the idea of those two being chummy.

As the man walked away, he showed the prized credit card. A silent celebration between the two best friends as James stood there judging them.