My Surprise Vampire

Faint of Heart

Rebecca’s Point of View

“You’re giving me my powers back?”

“Yes, you were never meant to lose them in the first place. As the kids say nowadays, it wasn’t in the cards. I cannot give make you a vampire again, I can only restore your powers that you were born into. If you want to be a vampire again, that is of course your business, but you will have to be turned again.”

“I understand,” I turned to Bastien and smiled at him, I knew that was a conversation for another time. “May I ask, why now? Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m so grateful to be given this gift, not once but twice, but why now? Is something going to happen that my powers will be useful for?”

“I would ask that same question if I were you, however you understand as well as I do that there are rules. I can’t answer that without breaking those rules. But as I said before, I have turned toeing that line into an art form. I may not be able to stop or make certain things happen, but I can lightly blow the sails in a general direction” the mysterious man smiled a little. “I’m giving you a new power, it’s a gift from me to you. I must warn you; it is as much as a gift as it is a curse. I am giving you the gift to be able to see things and people for what they are, not what they are presenting.”

“That is one of the rarest gifts to possess” Bastien was stunned, so was I. To say the least.

“Yes, it is and for good reason. For me personally, it has broken my heart more times than I care to count. Being able to see people’s true identities and intentions. It is not for the faint of heart. But you are a wise, thoughtful woman and I know you will bear the brunt of the worst that this gift brings with it with grace and wise decisions. If there is nothing else, we should begin.”

Bastien felt how nervous I was and pulled me closer to him, “I know this is scary but it’s also wonderful. No one anywhere is more deserving of this, and I will be right here next to you every step of the way, until forever has come and gone I will be next to you. I love you Rebecca, more than I can say. I hope with your new gift you will see how deep my love is for you and it always has been.”

“Your husband is a good man; I’ll save you the suspense. He is exactly who and what he says he is. As is the rest of your family.” I did feel better having heard that, I was not prepared to see that the people that I loved were not what they presented. The man stepped close to me as Bastien stepped away, the man put his hands on my head and began chanting in a tongue so ancient I didn’t recognize it much less understand any of it. I began to spin, so much so that I instinctively fought him until he broke through my defenses. The spinning got stronger as every nerve in my body felt as if it caught fire, if I hadn’t known better, I would’ve believed I was turning vampire again. At some point I lost consciousness of the world I was in as I spun through what I can only describe as a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors all around me, each set of colors becoming easier to process. I realized the colors were my powers and the stronger I became the easier it became.

Bastien was holding me in his arms when I awoke, “there’s those beautiful eyes I love so much. Welcome back my love, how do you feel?”

I looked around, the sun was much lower in the sky than it was when we started, “how long was I out?”

“A few hours” Bastien looked so handsome.

“A FEW HOURS!!?? We have to go; I don’t want the kids to worry.”

“I’m happy to see the most beautiful part about you didn’t change, my love.”

Rowan’s Point of View

“I can’t believe that at the ripe old age of six months we’re already letting our son watch mindless tv” I said to Dylan as we sat on the couch with Jones between us having the time of his life watching some children’s show since he woke up from his afternoon snooze.

“It’s not mindless tv, don’t hate on Sesame Street! It’s what taught me how to read and count!”

“We, his parents can teach him how to read and count” I countered.

“Don’t be that parent Rowan” she looked sharply at me.

“What parent?”

“The pretentious ‘I’m too good of a parent to let my kid watch a show that makes them happy’ dickhead parent. It’s a nice timeout for kids while sneaking in important things. Look at him, he’s been bopping his head and giggling so hard he’s got the hiccups.”

“WOOOW, a pretentious dickhead, those there be fighting words, girl” I tickled her side, she was right, Jones was thrilled with the furry little guys and the songs they were singing about counting.

“I said what I said” she smiled defiantly at me. Suddenly her body went rigid, and she fell off the couch at the same time Jones fell over backwards, thankfully onto the couch. His tiny body was also rigid, neither of them making a sound.

I grabbed Jones and gently shook him, “Jonesy, look at Daddy! Please look at Daddy!” I didn’t know what was happening, or what to do. Panic set in as I held my unresponsive son while my unresponsive wife laid on the floor. “Dylan, beloved… Talk to me! Please!!” I turned her over on her back and knelt beside her, cradling Jones in one arm and Dylan in the other. They were both still breathing but they weren’t there, somehow in my panic and despair I managed to call Bastien’s phone, but it went straight to voicemail. I called Laa, the only other person I thought could help, my heart sank even lower when Suke answered with the same desperate panic I was feeling.

“Rowan, I… I don’t know what’s happening! One minute she was making tea the next she was on the kitchen floor. Her eyes are open but they’re vacant. I can’t get her to respond to me at all!”

“The same thing happened to Dylan and the baby! How long ago did Laa fall?”

“A few minutes ago, but it seems like an eternity!”

“Suke, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do!” I began to cry and shake, Suke’s vamp hearing allowed him hear how violently I was uncontrollably shaking, and he managed to find the foresight to tell me to put the baby down.

“Rowan, put Jones down, now! I know you’re not meaning to shake him so hard, but he cannot withstand that. PUT HIM DOWN!”

I did what I was told and even managed to Facetime Suke, so we could see what the other was seeing.

“I should call Lucky; he’ll know what to do” I desperately cried as I looked at my family on the floor next to me and Laa in the same condition on the phone.

“My boy, I don’t think Lucky can help this time. This isn’t a medical condition” he looked hopelessly at Laa. I put my hands on Jones’s chest, too afraid to hold him because I didn’t trust my strength and that I would unwittingly hurt him. I was sobbing so hard over my son and wife that I didn’t hear Rebecca and Bastien when they came in the house.

Bastien’s Point of View

“ROWAN!!!” Rebecca screamed as she rushed to where the three of them were on the floor.

“They’re gone, they’re gone! One minute everything was fine and then they were gone! Laa is gone! Everyone is gone!” Rowan was inconsolable.

“Rowan, they’re not gone! I promise they aren’t” she tried to calm him down, but it wasn’t possible.

“Let me see them!” I grabbed Jones off the floor and pulled Dylan’s face to the side, ‘this is exactly what you did” I said to Rebecca. “Suke, let me see Laa’s face” Suke held the phone over her vacant face. “Rowan, look at me son, how long ago did this happen?”

He was half catatonic himself, “I… I don’t know” he mumbled almost incoherently.

“It’s been about a half hour now” Suke answered for him, not fairing much better than Rowan was. Rebecca and I quickly explained what happened at the waterfall, I took them through the details of every step that happened when Rebecca lost consciousness.

“What does this mean? Why is this happening to them?” Rowan cried while Rebecca rocked him, like she did when he was small.

“I’m sorry Rowan, I didn’t realize they would be affected like this. It all happened so fast” Rebecca tried in vain to soothe him.

“So, this is your fault!” Rowan roared and shoved her away from him, sending Raffa to hide.

“ROWAN!” I roared back.

“Bastien, it’s okay. He has every right to feel what he’s feeling, you would be beside yourself and probably would’ve burned something to the ground by now if the roles were reversed” she stood between us and stopped us from attacking each other. She was right, I knew what was happening when she lost consciousness. If I had been caught off guard like he was, there’s no telling who would’ve paid the price. I looked down at Jones, and felt what Rowan was feeling looking at his unresponsive baby boy that was so full of life and light before he suddenly wasn’t.

“You did this! You fix it!” he demanded Rebecca.

“I can’t but I don’t think it’ll be much longer” she tried to reassure him, it didn’t work, and it wouldn’t have worked for me either.

“I might have hurt Jonesy; I didn’t mean to; I didn’t mean to hurt him.” Suke jumped in and explained what Rowan was talking about.

“You didn’t hurt him Rowan, I’m sure of it. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but he’s just fine” I walked over to where he was to show him which was a mistake because as soon as he saw him again, he started sobbing, again. “You and Rebecca watch over Dylan and I’ll stay with Jones” I took Jones with me outside to find Raffa and to call Lucky. I found him hiding behind a tree and called him nicely over to where I was, he slowly came out when I sat on the ground and told him I was sorry he heard us carrying on like we were, Raffa had never heard any of us yell, much less roar. He looked as upset as Rowan when he got a good look at the baby in the state he was in. I called Lucky and counted the rings, willing him to answer.

“What’s shakin old man?” Lucky listened quietly while I told him about the waterfall and the scene we walked into when we got back.

“I’m on my way, we’re in Japan now so it won’t take me too long to get there. This is exactly what happened the night she turned. He just looses his s**t when Dylan isn’t where he can reach her, I cannot imagine how he is handling Dylan and Jones at the same time.”

“He’s afraid he hurt Jones” I told him what Suke said and what I told Rowan.

“You’re right, Jones is probably fine, babies are pretty tough. If I’m being honest, I’m more concerned about the powers that it sounds like he’s getting and what that means. He’s still so little, he’s half the size of babies his age. I think we’ll all feel better once I give him the once or ten times over. I’ll call Scarlett, she’s in the Faye world right now, with any luck Helena can tell me how to get there using the portals and I’ll be there before you know it.”

“Thank you Lucky, I’m sure he’ll feel better just knowing you’re on your way. I know I do” I hung up the phone and looked down at Jones and Raffa. “Uncle Lucky will be here soon guys.”