Merged-Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven1

"Alright, everyone!" Yumi called out, clapping her hands together. When she managed, at last, to get everyone's attention, she pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket. Unfolding it, she tapped at the names on it with her finger. "This is where you guys will be sleeping."
Pointing to Verlyn, Yumi looked at the paper and called, "You're rooming with Jenny."
"What?" he cried. Jenny merely smiled.
Next, she gestured to Tommie and Dem. "You two will be taking the guest room."
"YES!" Tommie shouted, jumping up and punching the air with her fists.
"NOOOOOO!!!" Dem moaned, slumping forward and hitting his head against the coffee table. Glancing up, he caught Ilario's eye.
Ilario grinned and shook his head, refusing Dem's cry for help for his own enjoyment.
"C'mon," Dem mouthed, then signaled to himself and then to Ilario. "Vampires need to stick together."
"Yeah. You and her can stick together real nice," he mouthed back. Ilario then tapped his jaw. Speaking this time, he suggested, "Tommie could switch with Verlyn."
Yumi turned her heel so she was now facing her husband. Pointing at him with a frown, she said, "No. I made the plans. We stick with them."
"C'mon," Ilario pleaded. "I don't want a fifteen year old with my twelve year old daughter."
Verlyn's face brightened but slowly changed into one of horror when he realized who'd he be sleeping with. His eyes drifted over to Dem, who gave a sharp grin, cracking his knuckles.
Dem gave a slow nod.
"No," Yumi argued. "My rules."
Verlyn gave a sigh of relief and looked up to the sky, mouthing, "Thank you." Jenny looked over at him and beamed.
"Yeah, thank you," she said.
Yumi tapped on her list again, slightly impatient. "Okay, okay. Now, Acel's going to sleep in our room."
"WHAT?!" Ilario practically screamed.
His wife gave him a look. "He's going to be sleeping on the pull out couch."
"Oh. Well, that's fine then."
"But I swear," Ilario threatened, glaring over at Acel, "when she says get out, you better get out and close that door behind you."
Acel pulled off his glasses and wiped them slowly. His eyes looked at Ilario with a slightly pompous gaze. "Sir, I am a doctor; I would think that I am used to it." He broke the "professional" look by waving his hand, rolling his eyes. "Besides, do you think I would really care?"
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ilario's eyes narrowed.
Yumi slapped him upside the head. "It means that he wouldn't look!"
"Ewwwww!" Jenny cringed. "Dad, why would you even say something like that? He's… old!"
Acel looked to her. "Older than you think."
Dem clutched his sides from laughing so hard. Tommie looked up from her cat and said in a confused tone, "Wait, what?" Verlyn gave a long whine.
Yumi's face turned bright red. Then her hand whipped to Ilario's ear and she violently dragged him to their room. All they heard was Ilario's pained call of "Ow, ow, ow, ow…" and "That happens to be attached to my head, thank you!"
Door slam.
"What is your problem?!" Yumi seethed. "You're embarrassing yourself!!"
"No I'm not, I'm stating my opinion." Ilario objected.
"No, you're putting your two cents in where stupidity isn't needed at the moment!"
"C'mon, Yumi, do you really want our daughter to room with a fifteen year old?! Yumi, its common sense." he said.
"Well, if I want your help, I'll be sure to ask." Turning, she stopped mid-step, "Oh, I forgot one thing, close your eyes"
Ilario, smiling foolishly, did as he was asked. "Good," Leaning her hand back as far as possible, she swung her open palm at his face.
"YEEEOOOWWW!!!!" Ilario cried out in agony clasping his face with his hand. From behind the door they could hear howls of laughter nearly shaking the room.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?!" Ilario roared, holding in his vampiric urge to bite her head clean off.
"You want to make a fool out of yourself; well you can go out there with that mark on your face. Try explaining that to your cop buddies, 'Oh this, yeah, I saved the wife from a shark, I got it so mad it slapped me.'" Just more howls from outside the door.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, I won't interrupt your plans anymore. I promise…" He swore.
Walking out of the room, Ilario kept his head down expecting stifles of laughter, instead, he saw Acel reading a story, Tommie playing with her cat, Dem on the couch with his hat tilted in front of his face, and Jenny and Verlyn playing patty-cake.
"Oh yeah, Verlyn and Jenny playing patty-cake sure doesn't seem suspicious." Ilario pointed out.
The five looked up and grins alighted on all their faces. The mark across his face was a beacon that practically screamed: "LOOK! I'M AN IDIOT!" His hand went up to cover his cheek but it was too late.
Everyone was in hysterics, clutching at their sides. Jenny and Verlyn were gasping for breath, while the other three kept on laughing without any trouble. Even the ever so boring zombie was nearly laughing his head off… and also his hands.
Suddenly, the door slammed open. Damien's leg was still up from kicking the door open and he gently put it down.
Yumi screamed and nearly fainted from the gaping hole in the door. "Oh, yeah, that's so not noticeable!"
Damien gave an amiable grin. "Nice place you have here," he commented, nodding at the Japanese decorations adorning the walls as he walked in.
Next, Emil showed himself inside, looking at everything with obvious disdain. The moment he was in view, Dem, Verlyn, and Tommie felt chills down their backs. Almost together, their heads turned from him to Acel, then back again.
With a whine, Verlyn passed out.
"Um, is there something wrong with him?" Yumi asked. "Why does he act like a dog?"
There was no answer from Dem, who was stone-still, finger up, jaw wide open, face in a look of horror.
"Obviously, he's not going to answer…" Yumi looked over to Tommie.
"Uh… it was a bet!" she exclaimed a little too fast. "Yeah, Dem and Verlyn had a bet and Verlyn lost." Tommie's head nodded up and down too vigorously.
"Jenny, what are you doing?" Ilario questioned, watching as his daughter grabbed Verlyn's hands and started to drag him across the floor.
"Well, he's sleeping. And Mom said he would be sleeping in my room," she explained. Grinning at her father's look, she disappeared down the hall.
"Jen, your room's upstairs."
"Yeah."
"Don't you need any help?"
"Nope. I'm fine."
Thump-a, thump-a. The sound made Ilario wince.
"He's on his back, right?"
"Yeah, Dad!"
Tommie snapped her fingers in front of Dem's face. There was no response. "Dem… yoo-hoo." She suddenly grinned and leaned forward.
THWACK!
She fell off the couch, face-first. Dem glared down at her, "No, no."
"Are you ok?" Yumi took a half step forward.
"Yeah, I get used to it." Tommie sat up rubbing her head.
"Vell, Ilario, are you ready?" Emil questioned walking in and sitting next to Dem. Dem slowly turned to face him, Emil faced Dem and cocked an eyebrow, "Yes, can I help you? I vould much appreciate it if you vould turn your head in the other direction, thank you."
Dem jumped to his feet, "Ahh! He even talks like him!! What's with the accent?!"
Acel set down his book to face Emil, "Acel Cuyler, pleasure." Acel stuck out his hand in Emil's direction.
"Emil Dragos, the pleasure is all mine," he grinned. "German, I presume? I have studied many of the names and cultures…doctor, yes?" Emil referred to an old German book with an oil painting of a doctor with the name, Acel Cuyler, presumably the best doctor of his time.
"Yes, how did you know?" Acel's mouth curled into an interested smile, it was about time he found someone with the same intellect as his especially a zombie.
"A book, you can find a lot of things in books." Emil replied. "Children these days cannot grasp that concept, they refer to the 'internet' now a days, back in my time, we did not have any of these useful technologies, we found our entertainment in books, friends, and the outdoors."
"You see, Nicodemus, you never really… what are you doing?" Acel watched as Dem beat himself senseless by banging his head repeatedly against the wall shouting, "NO, NO, NO, NOT ANOTHER!!"
"…Okay…?" Tommie took a wary step back, not taking her eyes off him. "I think someone needs a hug." She opened her arms.
"Didn't we just have this talk?" He turned towards her, hands balled into fists.
"…No." Tommie lied.
"Ok…I want to speak now!" Damien stepped into the circle of people next to Yumi, "Hey, Damien Tortorelli, and you?"
"Hi, Damien, you broke my door." Yumi slowly turned towards Damien with a fake/creepy smile plastered on her face.
"Oh. Uh. Sorry about that. Sometimes my leg acts by itself." He coughed into his fist.
"Anyway, I'm Yumi, Ilario's wife."
"His vife?" Emil said, pausing his conversation with Acel. "Really now?"
Ilario made a cross over his throat, eyes flashing a warning. He was answered by an amused look. Emil rubbed his wrist and Ilario's sharp vision could see his hand started to detach.
"Uh, Yumi! I can hear Damien's stomach rumbling from over here. Why don't you go get him some food?"
"What do you mean, I'm-" Damien frowned at the glare Ilario sent him but didn't say anymore.
"Why would I want to give any food to the man who broke my door?"
"Because you're Japanese."
Yumi narrowed her eyes at him but stomped to the kitchen. There was the sound of a knife being drawn and everyone froze for a second but relaxed as the sound of chopping against a wooden board reassured their fears.
"Phew…don't even try it." Ilario warned Emil.
"Try vhat, I have absolutely no idea vhat you are talking about." Emil smiled wryly.
"I'm on to you, zombie…" Ilario pointed a rigid finger at Emil while letting a tooth show.
…
"Hey, you're up!" Verlyn woke up to Jenny leaning over him.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!?!" Verlyn shot straight up and felt all over him, nothing was harmed.
"OH HOLY JESUS!! WHAT'S WITH THE SHARP PAIN IN THE SPINE?!" Verlyn arched his back as if a cat and started crying, 'I'm old.' and 'Oh the pain!'
"How else do you suppose you got up here? Everyone was busy with Emil." Jenny grinned and rubbed his back, "Do you want me to get you some ice?"
Wiggling away Verlyn smacked away Jenny's hand, "No, no, no touchy touchy!!"
"Why not?"
"Because, I'm fifteen and you're only twelve."
Jenny tilted her head, "Did you say, fifteen?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I have a friend who's the same age as me and has a brother who's your age." Jenny explained. "I think it was…Monticello."
"Monti-what?" The name was somehow familiar.
"Yeah, Cole and Steven Monticello, you know, like the string thingy." Jenny motioned herself playing a cello.
"STEVEN?! I remember him!!" Verlyn smacked his forehead.
"You do, well; I can take you there, that is, if you want." Jenny offered.
"Sure, ok."
…
"Uh, I changed my mind. I don't want to go anymore," Verlyn said as Jenny dragged him down the street.
"Too bad. Do you know how hard it is to get out of a house full of vampires, zombies, and especially my mom?" Jenny stopped to look over her shoulder. "Very, very hard."
"Well, yeah, I was there."
She didn't answer and continued to drag him. She pointed to the house up ahead. "It's right there."
Verlyn swallowed. It had been three years since he'd last seen that house and three years since he'd last seen his best friend, Steven. Now they were in the front yard and he was getting dragged down to the door.
"Jenny, don't knock on that door. No, put your hand down! Don't curl it into a fist! Okay, good – DON'T TOUCH THE DOOR BELL!"
Her finger pressed the little white button. From inside came the annoying high-pitched ringing of the bell. There was scrambling of feet and the barking of a dog.
The door opened.
Verlyn covered his face with the hood of his sweatshirt. Too late.
"Verl?"
"Er, no. This is… Burl," came the answer in a throaty voice.
An ear-shattering scream filled the air from upstairs. "STEVEN! GET YOUR BUTT UP HERE NOW!"
Flinching, Steven gestured the two in. The house was messy, strewn with toys and prank objects along the floor. Everything seemed to be made out of something cheap and disposable or something that wouldn't break if it fell over. Steven kicked Barbie dolls and stuffed animals off the couch and gestured to it.
"I'll be right back." He walked off, but not before looking behind his shoulder at Verlyn, who pulled the hood even farther down in front of his face.
"What's with you?" Jenny asked.
"I don't know," he answered a little icily. "I haven't seen my best friend for three years and he probably thought I was dead, like everyone else I knew. Now I'm back as a freak of nature and can't even show myself to anyone normal or they'll spazz out and I'll be on my way to a life of sleeping in a cage and being called number six hundred ninety-two point oh!"
"Calm down," Jenny reassured. "I mean, you've been to other public places before, haven't you? And you didn't get figured out."
"Those people in there didn't think I was dead," he muttered but calmed down enough to slump into the couch. He shifted uncomfortably and then tried to get back up. Tried.
Jenny burst into laughter as she watched Verlyn pulling away from the couch. Three pieces of giant gum stuck him to the couch, making him give a doggish yip.
In answer, the barks they had heard earlier came again, down the hall. Paws thumped against the ground and then stopped as a large golden retriever stood in front of them..
"It's looking at me weird…" Verlyn said, pressing back against the couch. The dog leaped. "OH CRAP!"
The golden retriever pressed its paws on his chest, eagerly licking him. He tried pushing it off, making various whining and yipping noises.
"Zola! C'mere, girl!"
"Z-Zola?" Verlyn gasped. "That evil, demented dog that used to attack me every time I walked in here?"
Steven smirked. "Really? Because I don't remember inviting you in my house before, Burl."
"Oh… well…"
Jenny sighed and grabbed his hood, jerking it down.
Steven froze, and then leaned forward, peering close to stare at Verlyn's face. He drew back again, rubbing his eyes. "This can't be happening." He called over his shoulder, "Mom! I need some new meds!"
"AGAIN?!"
Verlyn looked down at his hands, stuffing the clawed one in his pocket. His tail shifted but he forced it to stay still, clenching every muscle in his body. He closed his eyes and opened the right one, shutting the other one tighter.
"J-Just tell me this," Steven sighed, shaking his head. "I'm not seeing dead people, am I?"
"Nope. He's perfectly alive," Jenny replied.
Nodding slowly, Steven stared at his old friend again. "So, what happened?" His voice trembled just a bit. "Three years ago, I heard you were dead, that you were never found. And now you're here in my house! Care to explain?"
Verlyn simply didn't answer. How was he? Tell about how he was attacked by a werewolf, almost killed, just to wake up as one of those creatures himself? Steven was already crazed enough. He didn't need stories like that to influence it.
"Fine. Don't answer." Steven picked up a football, holding it under his arm. "But it's nice seeing you again, buddy. Football?"
He stared at him. Then a look of relief flashed across his face. "But we never play with two people."
"Didn't say we were." Steven reached over and dialed a number on the phone attached to the wall. "Yeah, Josh? Football? Yeah. No, you should seriously come. You'll see."
"Woah, woah, there!" Verlyn tried jumping from his seat, managed to get the balls of his feet to the floor, before being slammed back into the couch. Resisting the urge to rip up the couch, he continued, "I mean, you're going to invite the rest of the guys? When they think I'm dead?"
"They deserve to know."
"Yeah, but still…!"
Jenny interrupted. "I'm sorry to push my way into your lovely conversation but do you happen to know where Cole is?"
"Uh, yeah, he's upstairs. I'll get him." Steven looked over his shoulder and yelled at the top of his lungs, "COLE! COME DOWN HERE!"
There were several thumps, a door opening, and Cole was running down the stairs, jumping from the third to last. "Yeah?"
"Friend." He jabbed a thumb over to Jenny.
"Oh, hey," Cole said. His eyes drifted over to Verlyn, who looked away. Cole's jaw dropped, closed, and dropped with no sound coming out. He swallowed then raised his hands. "I'll spare myself a migraine for today."
"Good boy," Steven said, patting his brother's head like he was a toddler. "Now go away with your little friend and leave the adults to talk." He stopped and pressed the phone to his shoulder with his cheek. "'Sup, Billy? Up for a game of football?"
After finishing up the calls, Steven gestured to the front door. "Let's wait for them out there."
"But I'd ra-" Verlyn's argument was ignored as his friend grabbed the collar of his sweatshirt and dragged him outside. "GAH! AIR, AIR, AIR!!"
Every time he tried covering up his face with his hood, Steven would violently jerk it down. Every time he tried going back in, Steven would pull him back and whack him in the head.
"What's with that chain?" Steven asked, gesturing to his neck.
Verlyn clutched at it, looking down. "Er… it's the new trend…?"
"Where? China?"
"I guess."
"Jeez, Verl!" Steven groaned, throwing the football at him, making Verlyn clutch his stomach and wheeze. "You're boring me! Where's Mr. Stupidity?"
He merely threw the ball back weakly. It bounced to Steven's foot.
"Hey, Steven!" a voice called.
"Yo, wassup?" another one greeted.
"What's with the random football game?" the third voice asked.
All of them were recognizable.
Eyes widening, Verlyn covered his head with his arms, wishing he could disappear. No luck.
"Who's that?" Ethan questioned.
Steven walked over and pulled Verlyn to his feet. "Verl."
Watching as his friends froze, he flinched. "H-Hey, guys."
Ethan managed to stammer out, "Buh, duh, wah?" before clamping his mouth shut and only staring. Billy turned pale, proceeding to rock back and forth on his heels, dangerously close to falling over each time. Josh sucked in a breath, drew it out raggedly, and finally clasped his hands together, hitting them softly against his head.
"C'mon," Steven said. "Let's go play some football."
After a moment, the three nodded and followed after. Verlyn could feel their incredulous gazes on the back of his head and he resisted the urge to whine. Steven opened the gate for the backyard and they sat in the grass.
"I'll go wait for Mark and James." Steven jogged back to the front yard.
Verlyn twisted his shoelace, looking for any excuse not to look at his old friends. They were still the same, except for some height differences and haircuts. Ethan still looked like he just woke up, Josh had his slightly crooked glasses, and Billy hadn't stopped spiking up his hair. So what about him? Was there anything the same about him from three years ago?
A rock hit him in the shoulder. Verlyn looked up. Billy picked up another one and was about to throw it when Verlyn cried, "What are you doing?"
"Seeing if you're a ghost or not." The rock hit him in the cheek.
"I'm not! Jeez!"
Putting down the rock, Billy stared at him, jaw clenched. It relaxed slightly to let him speak. "So you never died?"
"No…"
"Then why didn't you call us or something?" Josh asked. "God, Verl! You should've seen everyone when the police pronounced you dead! We couldn't even look at each other for a whole month because we were the last ones to see you."
Fortunately for him, Steven came back with Mark and James. The two had the same reactions as the rest of them, stock still, eyes about to bulge from their heads.
After everyone managed to calm down, the seven of them played a very odd game of football. After a while, Jenny and Cole came out to watch.
"You can't do that!" Mark called, skidding to a stop. "Ethan, you little cheat!"
"What are you talking about?" Ethan cried back. "You're just whining again!"
"What'd you say?"
"You heard what I said!"
The two lunged at each other. Even so, the game went on, the others avoiding the fight going on in the middle of the "field."
"Yo, Verl!" The football flew in the air. Verlyn jumped at it automatically and resisted the urge to run back to Josh after he caught it. Running to the other end of the yard, he didn't see the figure running at him until… BAM!
A surprised yip escaped his throat as he hit the ground with his shoulder, still clutching the football. Steven let out a triumphant cry, punching the air with his fist. Verlyn gave a deep growl as he got up, punching Steven hard in the gut. He was about to grab him again when the others gave out cries of shock and slight fear.
"What is that?!" James gasped, taking several steps back.
"It's a tail, man!" Billy choked. "Verl has a tail!"
His head slowly turned to look over his shoulder. His tail had snuck out from under his shirt when Steven tackled him.
"This is getting interesting," Jenny said, sipping at her coke.. She looked over to Cole, whose jaw was wide open again. She picked up a cookie and stuffed it into his mouth, laughing when he choked. "It's rude to look like an idiot."
"What the- Why aren't you surprised?! The dude has a tail!" he stammered, pointing wildly at the thing attached to Verlyn.
"Oh, really?" she gasped in mock surprise. "I thought he was my dog!" She got out of the chair, crouched down and started clapping her hands together, whistling. "C'mere, Verlyn! C'mere, boy!"
On some sort of internal instinct, Verlyn bounded over to her, not realizing it until he was sitting right in front of her, his tail wagging. His face flushed red but then he forgot all about his embarrassment when Jenny stuffed a cookie in his mouth.
"Good boy!"
"This cookie tastes like snot!"
"I got them from Cole's little sister…"
He spit it out. "BLECH!" Then he leaned forward and whispered, "Maybe we should get going?"
"Nah. This is getting too good."
Giving a low whine, he slowly turned around to meet the gazes of his six friends. They had clumped together now. "Guess I'll have to explain this to you?"
A synchronized nod.
"Well, can we at least do it inside? It's hot."2

Cans of coke were passed around to the nine lounging around in the living room. When everyone was settled, all eyes turned to Verlyn, who was sitting uncomfortably at one side of the couch.
Taking a sip of the coke and looking down at it, he started his story.3

"Hey, dudes! Guess what I am!" Josh stuck two straws under his upper lip. Clapping his hands together, he bobbed his head up and down.
Laughing, the group of friends used the straws for their own impersonations. Walruses, Asian people, aliens, and people who breathed with straws stuck up their noses made them high five each other, grinning.
"Yo, Verl!"
"Ye- OW!" A spitball hit him right smack in the cheek. Holding his face, Verlyn sucked soda through the straw, holding it in place in the tube. He pulled it out from his drink and set out a stream of cola at his friend.
"Augh! That is gross!" Billy laughed, looking down at the brown stain now on his shirt. "Totally sick, man!"
Soda flew through the air, drenching skin, clothes, and hair. By the time the manager of the restaurant came over, no one was left unsticky.
"Alright!" he roared, pointing a rigged finger at the door. "All of you: OUT!"
With snickers and exaggerated moans, the group went out the door. Phones were pulled out from pockets, and if they weren't, the ones who had none in handy signaled a borrowing motion to closest, who would answer with a nod while talking to their parents.
"You walking home?" Ethan called after passing his phone over to a friend's waiting hand.
"Yeah." Verlyn turned, walking backwards. "There's a shortcut through the park. See you guys later!"
Five voices chorused their farewells or if they were currently talking to their mothers, gave a nod or a distracted wave.
Spinning back around, Verlyn down the street, to the park right up ahead. He dug out his mp3 from his pocket, fumbling with his headphones as he tried untangling them.
The night was cool, with breezes ruffling his hair to the side. A bright disc of shining moon was aloft in the ocean of the sky, light pollution and clouds blocking the stars. Crickets chirped their annoying songs into the air and Verlyn's footsteps sounded against the pavement. And if one listened closely enough, the music playing from the headphones in his ears.
Turning the corner, he followed the winding path of the park sidewalk. There was no fear of hobos or serial killers here. It was always full of too many people, leaving way too many witnesses.
But there were no people there that night. Not even the random couple making out under a tree. The song his mp3 played distracted him from thinking too much about it. He walked off the path and to the pond. Keep going straight from there and he would get to his neighborhood and to his house.
It felt like someone's eyes were on him. Verlyn looked over his shoulder. Nothing. His fingers reached down and raised the volume.
The farther he went, the more the feeling of being followed increased. His walk became running, his breathing quickening. Looking over his shoulder every few seconds, he leap-frogged over a bench. Something let out a sharp bark.
Verlyn was too surprised to let out a cry as he was pushed down face first into the ground. The music from his mp3 stopped abruptly and his fingers grazed against the screen, which was cracked and broken. Something growled, right over his head.
He flipped onto his back and stared in horror.
Drool dripped from a wide open mouth filled with teeth that would make a great white pee itself. Dark fur rippled over powerful muscles, revealing the power that had knocked him down and almost given him a concussion. But the most terrible of all were the eyes.. Hungry, crazed eyes that glowed golden amber, the image of the full moon revealed in its pupil.
Verlyn started to scream. In answer, the monster howled and clamped its jaws around his arm. It teeth sunk into his flesh without any trouble and the points reached bone, sending even more fear as he actually felt its fangs on it. His scream grew more terrified, more wild.
The arm that wasn't clamped in the creature's jaws hit against its head, trying to make it let go. Giving a furious growl, the wolf monster jerked, pulling his arm from the socket. Its paws, armed with terrible, jagged claws, stomped on his other arm, holding it still.
Tears streamed from his eyes from the pain.. Oh, God! He was going to die! Only twelve years old and now he was going to get eaten by this huge wolf thing.
The beast seemed to lose interest in his arm now. It let go but he was too much in pain to give a sigh of relief. But then it dug its snout into his stomach, teeth ripping a hole into it.
His vision started to go black.. Pain erupted from where the thing was eating at his stomach and he could feel his life slipping away. Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he heard a yelp and then nothing.4

"The next thing I know, I wake up and see myself like this." Verlyn gestured to himself. By that time, he had pushed back his hair to reveal his other eye, showing how the monster's had looked like. He now showed his clawed hand and fang, and then let out a variety of barks, yips, and whines. Zola answered back.
After that, he continued. "I spent about a year on the streets and learned how to pick-pocket and stuff. Then this lady named Natami found me and told how she could help me if I would do a favor for her. I was digging through a garbage bin behind a McDonald's so I agreed. The favor was to work with a demented vampire and an incredibly boring zombie."
"Dude, a vampire and a zombie?" Mark gasped. "Awesome!"
"Not really.. Every day I wake up and have this incredibly powerful feeling that I'm going to die." Verlyn sipped at his coke again. "Some day I'm going to be right."
"You could work at the airport!" Steven said. "You know, like those dogs that search for drugs and stuff?"
"Yeah, Steve, I'm sure sniffing people's butts for weed is the perfect job for Verl," Ethan remarked, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, just saying!" He shrugged. "I would do it."
The ones nearest to him scooted away.
"What?"
"Well, the thought of you doing that really wouldn't surprise me." Cole smirked then jumped from his seat by Jenny and bounded up the stairs Steven not so far behind.
"I'm gonna shove your face so far in your head, you're going to need plastic surgery everyday for the rest of your life! You had better hope Jenny likes the ugly type!!" Steven screamed after his brother. There was a scream, the slamming of a door, then the pounding of a fist.
Jenny's face burned a bright crimson color to where it was almost as red as her hair which made the others, even Verlyn, laugh at her embarrassment. "Yeah, ha-ha. I don't like Cole."
"Then why did you want to know where he was earlier?" Verlyn stated, still laughing.
"I…was bored and I didn't want to play with their sister, she's only two."
"Yeah, sure." Ethan rubbed tears from his cheeks, "So, are you normal?" That one question caught Jenny off guard; she looked in Verlyn's direction her face pale. He just gave a mocking smile and shrugged as he sipped at his coke nonchalantly.
"Er…yeah, of course." Jenny twirled her hair between her fingers trying to act calm and cool hopping they couldn't see through her false attributes.. Looking down at her drink she watched as she swirled her ice-cubes in her glass, she could feel Verlyn's glare burning through to her soul.
"Verlyn, maybe we should go, my mom will wonder and you have those people you came with… won't they worry too?"
"Psh, as if, they more than likely don't even realize I'm gone, besides, I haven't seen my friends in three years, can't you spare me some time? I'm sure your mom won't mind."
"Oh, so Verlyn is staying at a girl's house, wow Verl, you have changed!" Billy laughed as he dodged a throw from Verlyn.
"Shut up, Billy. I'm not staying with her alone, I'm staying with her and the two I explained before, plus a another vampire."
"TWO VAMPIRES?! Whoa, can we come over Jenny?!" James faced Jenny who was now the center of attention of with five guys she didn't even know pleading.
"Whoa, what'd I miss?" Steven came in and studied his friends and Jenny practically backed into the corner. "Did all five of you fall for her? Verlyn what happened?" He looked at Verlyn who was smiling still in the chair.
"Well, I told them about the vampires and the zombies I was staying with and they all pleaded to come with us." Verlyn explained. "But first it started with Cole liking Jenny."
"Awe, the beautiful couple!" Steven teased. "But, can we come?"
"You guys were just making fun of me and now you want me to let you guys over!?" Jenny asked wide-eyed.
"Ah, yeah." Mark answered.
"That's the point." Josh nodded.
"Sure, I suppose." Jenny sighed and led the way out the door. As they walked down the street towards her home, all she heard was how the Johnsons moved and a new girl and her family moved in, the milkshakes in the diner was lowered to two dollars and twenty-five cents, and how Steven has a new sister, Daphne Marie Monticello.
"Daphne Marie Monticello, wow, your parents had a new kid?" Verlyn looked at his shoes as he walked.
"Yep, they named her after my Aunt Daphne and Grandma Marie." Steven had a look of pride in his features; a new addition means a new slave.
"Dude, can we switch conversations, this one's boring; no one cares about your new poop-factory. Besides, she's only like what, a year and a half old?" Josh noted.
"So, when time comes, my brother will have an assistant and I'll have a new lackey." Steven laughed as did the rest.
"You guys are cruel, who would do that to a little girl." Jenny piped in.
"Hey, stay out of this and talk to your future fiancé." Ethan ordered.
"Yeah, this is no conversation for people of your stature." Billy chuckled.
"Whatever, you do know I can lock you guys out and put you in a dog house, Verlyn." Jenny warned. "Considering my family is being nice to you and your friends and I know some people!"
After that they didn't say anything the rest of the way.
"We're here," Jenny opened the door to pure chaos. Tommie was being chased by Dem and Yumi was beating Ilario over the head with a spatula cursing in Japanese while Acel and Emil sat back and watched. Over in the corner, Damien had the door taken off the hinges and was desperately trying to fix the gigantic hole in the middle of it and if you looked closely you could see a bright crimson hand mark on his face.