Vampires Aren't Real

The morning sunshine came through the small gaps in my curtains, easily stirring me awake. The memories of last night felt like little more than a foggy haze for the first few moments as I looked at the clock to see what the time was: the dial read eight-thirty. Still fairly early for a day where I did not need to do anything. Then slowly I remembered meeting Rakesh.

My grandparents would be up by now, so I slowly got out of bed, showered and dressed without much fanfare. Of course, I wanted answers, but part of me felt utterly anxious about bringing up the subject. Slowly, I made my way into the kitchen where they were having a cup of coffee. They were a wonderful couple, being in their seventies but still spry enough to take care of themselves.

“Look what the cat dragged in honey,” came the fond taunting of my grandmother as she spotted me with a smile.

“We didn't expect to see you until late morning or midday,” my grandfather concurred with a nod of his head. He flipped a page of his newspaper and continued to read from it without so much as a glance at me.

I gave a light chuckle and shook my head at their teasing. It was true if I did not have to wake up early, I did enjoy lazing about in the morning. I moved into the kitchen and began to make myself a quick breakfast. I made some small talk at first, trying to build up my courage before I brought up the topic of my parents.

“I met an… interesting person last night,” I finally commented as we moved into the living room and relaxed on the couches. So far so good. “He said his name was Rakesh and-” I didn't finish the sentence as both my grandparents shot me a look before sharing a worried one between them.

They knew who he was. Or at least knew the name.

“Stay away from that one, he is nothing but trouble,” my grandfather said after a moment of awkward silence between the three of us. My grandmother nodded in agreement but was very quiet.

I nodded slowly to my grandfather but prodded with a question, “did he really know my parents?”

A sigh escaped both of my grandparents' mouths before my grandfather nodded slowly. “In a manner of speaking, you could say that,” he replied to me with a furrow of his brows. “He was the last one to see them years ago.”

“Then wouldn't he know what happened to them?” I questioned with my own small frown. I wasn't sure what the whole story was, but they had never mentioned Rakesh to me before and this was, what I gathered, to be important information. Right?

After another moment of awkward silence, my grandmother finally spoke and said to me, “he probably does, but he hasn't been seen for the same length of time. We've tried to track him down several times but Rakesh is a man who is not easy to track if he wishes to vanish. The fact that he's returned and made himself known to you, means he is up to nothing good. Again.”

“Who is he?” I asked, looking towards my grandparents with a further frown. I had many other questions too, of course, but I knew they'd have answers for most of them. Or I hoped.

“Who he is, is a tough question to answer…” my grandfather said slowly as though thinking about his reply. “He is a powerful creature that has a lot of sway, and is a royal pain to kill.”

“Dear!” My grandmother scolded before she let out a loud sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I'm not wrong,” my grandfather retorted with a snort.

I looked between them with confusion and a raised brow. My grandfather wasn't a violent person usually, but I knew he had been quite the fighter in his youth. My grandmother too. It was them who had taught me most of my defensive skills.

After a moment, my grandmother looked at me seriously and said, “he is a vampire, years older than even our records have been able to record.”

I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. They had warned me of the supernatural a lot as a child growing up, but as I grew older I stopped believing in such make-belief tales such as vampires. They knew this and had not brought up the subject in years, so of course, I found it amusing they would now of all times.

“I wish it was as funny as you think, Kayden,” my grandfather sighed out as he looked at me with an unimpressed look. “Back when the Hunters were still a big thing in our youth, Rakesh was one of those who many people wanted dead… but none have ever come as close to it as our family.”

I wasn't sure I had the energy for one of my grandparents' old myths and legends, but I cared for and loved them enough to try and listen to what they had to say. It was just that I had assumed they told me these stories just to give my child-self some sort of reason to not hate my parents for vanishing on me. I wasn't a child anymore, so what reason did they have to continue this story now?

“So… Rakesh is the reason my parents are missing?” I questioned, ignoring the vampire stuff for now, but not ignoring the main fact that was given to me.

My grandmother gave me a so-so gesture with her hand as she told me, “sort of? He had this huge plan for peace or something foolish and convinced your parents to go with him. We warned against it, of course, but they believed they could handle him.”

“Stay away from him,” my grandfather commented again with a deeper frown. Though it seemed he was done with the conversation for now.

I mulled over the information for a moment and then asked, “what if he knows where they are? Even if they're dead… I would like to know.”

An irritable sound escaped my grandfather's throat but he didn't argue. He probably felt the same way even if he disliked the idea of asking Rakesh for questions or help.