9 8

"Dwight D. Mallory," Darius's father held out a hand, to which Klara promptly shook. She gave him a dry smile back and introduced herself.

"My name is Klara Bruno, I go to Darius's school," she said. Her eyes focused on the shiny brooch on his suit jacket.

Mr. Mallory nodded, "I see," he eyed her up and down, "Werewolf, eh?"

"And you're a vampire," she said as an answer.

He waggled his eyebrows before turning to his son, "D, why on earth would you make such a lovely woman wait outside in the sun with you?"

"This lovely woman makes for great company when your father is ten minutes late," he joked. Mr. Mallory just laughed and turned back to Klara

"What are you majoring in, my dear?" he asked her.

"Business," she shrugged, "Same as him."

"Wonderful, a woman who likes money, eh?" He nodded with a smiled, "Klara, was it? I like you, Klara, I think you're a wonderful gal. I'm very happy my son has found a gal like you."

Klara didn't want to point out that Darius didn't 'find' a 'gal like' her, he just randomly appeared and wouldn't stop appearing.

"She's just a friend, dad," Darius laughed, "I actually just met Klara at school."

"I see," he turned to Klara again.

Klara just looked at him back. It was odd that such an esteemed vampire would speak so highly of her. Especially because he seemed to be a very traditional vampire.

Another odd thing about him was his brooch. It was a silver, eight-pointed star. Underneath it had words in another language that Klara didn't care to understand or decipher.

"It was really nice meeting you, Mr. Mallory," Klara said, hoping to wrap this awkward conversation up with a bow and be on her way.

"Oh you can call me Dwight, young lady," he said with a nod, "Would you like to come inside? I could get you a great internship here, you know. By the time you graduate, you could be at the head of one of my departments."

"Ah, that's a generous offer... Dwight" she replied, awkwardly, "But I'll have to decline for today."

"You seem like a wonderful friend for my boy, Klara. Stern, not fragile, perfect for Dragon. We'll be in touch," he said with a wink before turning to his son "Jesus, son, you look terrible. When's the last time you came by?"

"Too long ago," Darius answered. He was holding his stomach now and Klara had a feeling that if she didn't want to see one of those vomiting fits, then she should dip quick.

"Well, I'm gonna go get the boy his medicine," Mr. Mallory said, patting his son's shoulder, "Have a nice day, Klara." he nodded.

She nodded back, "Likewise."

***

The woman sat on her couch tensely. She breathed in and out, counting to ten in her mind. Her dark brown bangs covered her face, but she mainly used them to shield her eyes from her husband's terrified face.

She exhaled on the evens and inhaled on the odds. Her number counting was interrupted once again by her husband.

The blonde man paced in front of her, his brown eyes riddled with worry and frustration. "We gotta get out, Bridgette," he said lowly, then again with more vigor, "We gotta get out!"

"What did you do, Michael?" the woman asked, hands shaking, "I'm scared."

"You should be," he nodded, "Listen, I can't tell you what I did," he stopped, sitting next to her.

"Why not? You're scaring me, Michael!" she pleaded, tears stinging her eyes, "You got laid off from the greatest job in the world two weeks ago and, since then, we've been getting death threats nonstop! I want to know what happened right now, Michael! Before they bring Silver home!"

"Alright, alright. I- I saw something, okay?" He said with a sigh, "I saw something... that I shouldn't have seen. Someone that they didn't want me to see."

"I don't understand why they're trying to kill us, Michael," Bridgette shook her head. To calm her, he placed his pale hand on hers.

"Listen, it's-it's not really my fault!" he jumped up, "It was those damn bloodsuckers! They came in and they just... contaminated everything! My boss... ex-boss doesn't seem to mind one bit!"

"You're not making any sense," she sighed throwing her head back in exhaustion, finally letting the tears flow, "I just don't understand why we have to leave our home, Michael. Is this really that serious? What did you do?"

"I told you, Bridgette!" he boomed, "I saw something that I shouldn't have! And now... now they're after me! They're after all of us, even Silver!"

"Why?" she croaked through her tears, "What did you see?"

"If I tell you, that'd make it all worse," he shook his head, "they're after us because they think that I can't keep my mouth shut in the first place."

"Then you might as well tell me if they're gonna kill us anyway!" she stood up and faced him.

They looked at each other, both breathing heavily. Bridgette could see the fear in her husband's eyes that he tried to mask with anger. She desperately searched them for answers, any sign of breakage that meant he would give in and just tell her everything. But there was none there.

Finally, Michael broke the eye contact to walk over to the wall and punch a hole clean through it.

"Michael Chase! What has gotten into you!" She sobbed, "You put more into that damn diary than you put into your own family!"

"The journal!" his eyes widened as he turned back to his wife, "Oh my god, the journal! I have to hide it! If I let those vampires find it-"

He turned his eyes on her once again. They were now golden with slit-like pupils, and sharp fangs could be seen from behind his top lip.

"It's those vampires!" he shouted, "If Mallory hadn't let those vampires into the company, we wouldn't be in this mess! I just... I don't understand any of this anymore."

"You can't keep saying things and yelling for no reason, Michae.l" Bridgette shook her head, "We have a child! We have a family! You cannot keep secrets from your family!"

"Oh yeah?" he shot back at her, "You think I don't realize I have a son? Why do you think I named him Silver in the first place?"

"What are you talking about?" she threw her hands up in exasperation

He pointed a finger at her, "Those vampires are the reason I named our boy Silver!" he growled, "Hopefully, he'll act as a real piece of Silver and repel every no-good vampire that comes his way."

And that's when Silver woke up.