A/N: so this is the final draft of my english class short story! A huge thank you to everyone who read it and gave advice! I am a lot more happy with this draft. I changed the ending and the whole thing has about 300 more words of detail.
tagging some people who either helped with the story or read the last draft (you don’t have to read this but I thought I’d tag just in case!) @fiery-feyre @highladyfxyre @queen-archeron @dreamilyzealousbird @justasimplereader @darlingfireheart @lyannablackbeak @aelin-and-feyre @a-canadian-fae @wingsofanillyrian @tntwme @eternally-reading
“Hey,” Nora called as she pushed open the front door, “is anyone home?” The house was quiet, but that didn’t mean much with her family, who usually shut themselves in their rooms as soon as they got home. The foyer was a mess of scattered shoes and abandoned bags, and Nora added her own shoes to the pile before draping her coat over the stair railing.
“I’m in my room!” Marci, Nora’s younger sister by two years, called from her corner of the house on the top floor.
The rest of the house, which was three floors and a basement, was about as messy as the foyer. Ten residents’ worth of clutter filled every surface, and while it appeared to outsiders that the house was dirty or out of order, there was a method to the madness. Everything had a place and could be found easily, if only you knew where to look. For example, Nora knew she could find her middle school yearbook in a box under a pile of DVDs in the living room, not that she would ever need it.
But the cluttered house wasn’t the only thing that was unconventional about Nora’s family. The Lancasters were a family of vampire hunters, famous in the small Canadian town of Loralie. The house was a sort of headquarters; it was where the extended family lived and worked. At the moment, ten Lancasters were living in the house, but they all came and went.
Closing the door to her bedroom, Nora set up to do her homework at her desk. Pre calculus homework was the last thing she wanted to be doing, but it had to be done. Just as she was getting lost in her train of thought, the bedroom door burst open, revealing a grinning Marci.
“I figured it out,” she said with a wide smile, “Danny is a Vampire.”
“Danny… who?”
“My bus driver, of course! What other Danny is there?”
“Well, there’s Danny from your–”
“Never mind him! Didn’t you hear me?” She entered the room fully and sat down on the bed. “Danny–the bus driver–is a vampire!”
“Vampires don’t usually become school bus drivers, Marci. It just doesn’t make sense. There’s no way for him to avoid the sunlight, and even if there were, why would he put so much effort into becoming a bus driver? How does it benefit him?”
Marci’s brown eyes were wild; there was a certain glint in them that was only there when she explained one of her crazy theories. Just last week, she had gone on a rant about how one of her teachers was actually a Russian spy. Nora had a feeling she was in for one of those rants now as Marci sat forward on the bed.
“Well, he only ever shows up on dark, rainy days. Any time it’s sunny outside, a different bus driver comes. Luckily for the gloomy weather in Loralie, it’s rarely sunny and he is able to find a way come outside. He probably uses special clothes that protect him, as I’m sure is something that’s been invented in the vampire community, what with today’s technological advancements. So that takes care of the sunlight problem. Now, I know you’re going to tell me that that’s hardly enough proof, and I agree that I have to run a few more tests, but I just have this… feeling. There’s just something about him that doesn’t seem right, you know?”
Nora sighed. Marci’s sense of things not being right was usually reliable, and her reasoning seemed plausible. It was becoming harder and harder to discover vampires in this ever-changing technological world, and all the old signs of someone being a vampire were useless. And Marci was right about the special sun-blocking clothing– Nora had seen some online just the other day.
“Find some real evidence, Marci, and I’ll talk to Mom and Dad about us taking care of it ourselves. It’s about time we did another job together.”
The next day at school, a new student arrived in Nora’s English class. This struck Nora as odd, as there was only a month left of school, but even more odd was that he was staring right at her. He wasn’t even subtle about it, stalking over to the empty desk next to her and folding into the chair. His appearance, while not unpleasant, was also odd. His pale skin was a stark contrast to his raven-dark hair, so different from the tan skin and brown hair Nora was used to seeing in Loralie. Her own brown hair felt dull in comparison.
He was still staring, though the lesson had begun. And now he was leaning over to her.
“Are you one of those vampire hunters?” he whispered.
Of course. Word of the vampire-hunting family had spread far and wide, and sometimes Nora forgot just how many people knew about her and the rest of her family. It made her uncomfortable sometimes– the idea that strangers knew more about her than some of the kids she went to school with did. But anonymity was a luxury she and her family did not have.
The new boy–whose name she must have missed–was looking at her expectantly, and she realized she hadn’t answered his question. “Yeah, I’m Nora Lancaster.”
“Of the vampire-hunting Lancasters,” he said with an amused smile.
If Nora wasn’t uncomfortable before, she was now. “Since you seem to know me, can I ask who you are?”
“I’m Kieran.”
“Just Kieran?”
“Yeah, just Kieran,” he said with another smile.
Nora was about to ask him where he came from when her phone buzzed with a text from Marci. She angled the phone away from Kieran and read the message.
I got proof. Do we have the go ahead from Mom and Dad?
Perfect. They could get started on the mission right after school. Making sure the teacher wasn’t looking her way, Nora began to type a reply to her sister.
What did you do? And yes, we just need to keep them updated. And try not to get into too much trouble.
Marci’s reply came a few moments later.
I brought a silver-lined mirror with me on the bus. He had no reflection.
“Texting in class, are we?”
Startled, Nora dropped the phone on her desk and shot a glare at Kieran. “Shush, you’re going to get me in trouble!”
“It must be important then, to risk punishment,” he said, again with that amused smile. Was he this amused by everything? He leaned in closer, “is it about a target?”
“That’s not really something I can share,” Nora replied, pointedly returning to her work.
After a few beats of silence, Kieran whispered, “I want to help.”
Setting down her pen, Nora turned to Kieran. “No. There’s nothing you can do to help.”
“Then just let me tag along. Please?” He gave her a wide, pleading smile.
And maybe it was the lack of sleep that came along with being a student, maybe it was to make him stop talking to her, maybe it was the smile. But Nora said yes.
Marci was a little more reluctant to let Kieran come on the mission, but Nora convinced her eventually. They had located Danny’s home and constructed a plan, and were now parked down the block from his house.
“So we all know what to do?” Marci asked for the third time since they left the Lancaster residence. “Should we go over the plan again?”
“We’re ready, Marci, relax,” Nora assured, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the car door. Kieran followed, and after a moment, so did Marci. The sun had just about disappeared on the horizon, casting the foggy streets of Loralie in an eerie dim light. The air was damp and rather cool for late Spring, and Nora couldn’t help shivering a little as she began to walk in the direction of Danny’s house.
“So this is what you guys do with your free time,” Kieran said to Nora as he fell into step beside her. “Doesn’t anyone find it strange that two teenagers are killing vampires as a hobby?”
“It’s not exactly a hobby, more of a job. A duty. But yes, Mom and Dad get a lot of letters questioning their parenting skills. I never really thought it was strange though. I grew up seeing this as a service to the greater good of humanity, and I still choose to believe that I’m a sort of hero, in a way. If we don’t kill vampires, they’ll just kill more humans, right?”
“Guys, come on, stop talking! Do you want to give us away to Danny?” Marci hissed. She had good reason to interrupt, as they were just in front of Danny’s house now. Nora hadn’t even noticed how close they were. She silently cursed herself for being so easily distracted by Kieran, for letting him come along at all. He was only going to make the job more risky.
The group rounded to the back of the old, victorian-style house to climb in the basement window. Marci handed the supplies she was carrying to Nora and eased the window open. According to the plan, Kieran would stay out here and guard the exit. They didn’t really need him to do that, but Marci wanted to make sure he stayed out of the way. Marci climbed through the window, and Nora followed, sparing a final glance at Kieran.
This was where the fun began.
The sisters made their way up the stairs, their steps near-silent on the wood floors. The sound of the television in the living room told them that that’s where Danny was most likely to be. Swiftly but carefully, they entered the room and took out their wooden stakes. This was Marci’s preferred weapon, though Nora found them cumbersome. But she agreed to use them in return for Marci allowing Kieran to come along. Nora hoped the bargain was worth the trouble.
Danny was sitting in a recliner, his back to the sisters. All Nora could see of him was his black hair over the top of the chair. Luckily there was no vampire-hunting code against stabbing vampires in the back, so this looked like it would be an easy job. Nora nodded to Marci, and her sister went up behind him, her wooden stake raised.
Something moved out of the corner of Nora’s eye, and before she could warn Marci, her sister was being tackled to the floor. The stake flew out of Marci’s hand and landed a few feet away.
Nora was instantly there, trying to pull the attacker off her sister. But it wasn’t just any attacker, Nora realized, it was Keiran. The sickening feeling of betrayal washed over her. What was he doing?
Danny stood up from his chair, but didn’t move any closer. “Well done, son,”
Son? Nora thought as she pulled Kieran off Marci. Of course he was Danny’s son. She would have seen it if she hadn’t let herself become so distracted by a pretty boy. She should have seen it. Nora pinned Kieran to the floor and pushed the stake against his chest. He struggled for a moment then gave in, relaxing his grip on her wrists.
“Marci, you take care of Danny,” Nora instructed, not taking her eyes off Kieran.
“Pretty swift, huh? You never even suspected anything,” he said, meeting her gaze.
Nora ignored him and instead addressed her sister. “Marci, do you have him?”
“Just a minute,” Marci grunted, “it’s not like I’m trying to take down a grown man or anything.”
After a few moments, a loud thump sounded and Marci shouted victoriously. Nora was always impressed by Marci’s ability to take down people three times her size, a talent that came in handy almost too often for comfort. An ‘occupational hazard’, her family called it.
“Finish the job, Marci,” Nora instructed. Then she lowered her voice so only Kieran would hear, “You know, Kieran, I was beginning to think we could have been friends.”
“You don’t have to kill me,” he whispered. Something like fear shone in his dark eyes.
“I wish I didn’t,” Nora whispered back.
She closed her eyes as she plunged the stake into his heart.
foxboylucien 