The Vampire's Apprentice

Now that he could relate to. He knew the first sentence was a lie, but he could let it go for now. Now was definitely not the time.
"Um..."
"Yes, Norville?" Clancy sighed.
"If they weren't going to see me, why am I on the floor?"
"Because I cannot hypnotize half the town into believing they cannot see you," Clancy pointed out. "You can sit up when we reach the interstate and make yourself a spot in the seat."
"Thank you, sir," Norville mumbled and hunkered down again.
Clancy glanced at Kitty. "I imagine he is feeling much the same and I will have to speak to both of you about these topics, but not tonight," he said softly to her. "For now... please just keep each other from going off the deep end. And don't leave him alone. He's in shock and might do some things we'd all later regret."
 
Kitty nodded, gaze flicking back to outside the window. For a long while, that was how she remained, not daring to do anything else for fear she would upset the silence that had settled over the vehicle's interior.
 
Clancy murmured to Norville when he could sit up, and Norville moved the stuff off a seat so he could sit and buckle up properly. He closed his eyes, apparently falling asleep, but Clancy could hear from his heart rate he was still awake. He turned onto the interstate and let the silence reign as he drove.
 
"Are we there yet?" Kitty asked after perhaps an hour or two of this silence—more to make sound than as a real question. The lack of noise was starting to bother her slightly.
 
"Are you ready to stop for the night?" Clancy asked. "I can stop at the next town with an inn. Which is in..." he spotted a sign. "Looks like ten miles."
 
Kitty glanced to the glove compartment, hesitating. She decided against it for the moment and instead wished she had a book with her.
 
"Um..."
"Yes, Norville?" Clancy asked.
"I don't... have anything..." he said softly.
Clancy glanced back at the miserable teen. "Ah. I suppose there was not much time for packing, was there? Very well, we shall find the first town big enough to have a Wal-Mart and stop there. Kitty, you can help him shop while I find a dog-friendly motel."
 
She nodded. "Yeah. That sounds fine."

Secretly, Kitty's hopes were raised at the prospect of finding books there. That would be good. The girl chewed boredly on her cheek and reconsidered music.
 
Last edited:
"Thank you, sir, but I don't have any money," Norville said in a small voice.
Clancy glanced at Kitty. "Kitty, would you please explain to him what it entails to be my Familiar?"
 
Oh, yes. This again. At least it was something to take her mind off... everything else. So Kitty set about explaining it in a way only Kitty could.

"Hey, Norville. You remember that book?" She asked. "The one you signed? This is different from the book. Instead of simply serving, consider it a job you get allowance for. Every month we get paid for our work, and we can spend it how we please. This is one of our entitlements as familiars.

"Being his familiar also entitles us to a certain level of protection. You know, the 'no vampire is allowed to harm you but your Master,' thing? It's the same, though far as I can tell," Kitty looked briefly towards Clancy, "he's also protects us from people that intend to hurt us.

"Beyond that," she yawned, "there's trust and punishment. We've been over that a million times and I still find it so difficult.... OK, trust: usually what this means is that he trusts us not to talk to anyone about the mythological being real—or generally don't talk about his being a vampire or us, familliars, to anyone—and more than that, we're meant to protect his identity. Occasionally that involves lying... or, rather, twisting the truth, as you've seen him do before. Allergy to sunlight and all that." The distaste was mildly apparent in her voice, but not too noticeable.

"He also trusts us not to turn on him, and generally stay out of trouble involving police business and the like. The point is to remain under the radar, not in the spotlight. In turn, we trust him... I guess not to eat us, I dunno." Kitty shrugged. "I've never really thought about it.

"As for punishment..." The girl sighed slightly, "there are some rules that are meant to be paid for with our lives, others... I'm not certain of. One such rule that hangs over my head on many occasions is the not telling people one. Technically, I should be dead for saying anything and you, dead for knowing, but we've been over that many times before. I'd just be repeating myself.

"Also, trying to leave his service... the only way out is by death. Can't have a human with knowledge of vampires running around, now, can we?" Kitty scratched at her scalp before continuing. "There are other common-sense rules, like don't be bringing home garlic, et cetera, which that should be readily obvious, but I'll say it anyways.

"If he asks you a question, the point is to answer honestly, as he can, and I have proven this myself, tell if you're lying or giving half-truths. When it comes to something he wants to know, he will have an answer," ah, touchy topic, how she missed you, "and refusing to give one often ends badly. Very, very badly. I can give a few examples later, but for now you get the gist.

"How'd I do?" Kitty asked.
 
Last edited:
"You did very well," Clancy replied. "Although I will add that these 'entitlements' as you called them are not entitlements so much as privileges, and this is under my service only. Many vampires may care for their familiars and ensure their basic needs are met, but I stress the word basic. Any other vampire who would happen to see how well you are treated would find it silly how much I spoil my Familiars.
"Other than that, you covered the 'gist' perfectly. And it was interesting to see things from your point of view. For example, how disdainful you are of my need to present facts in a different light in order to avoid people either calling me insane or discovering the truth of my existence." He probably shouldn't have gone there, but he was a bit stung by that and the bit about trust.
 
Kitty waved it off. She could care less what he thought of that opinion in the moment, as her distain had been mentioned to him previously at least once or twice. Besides, her mood wasn't cheerily fragile as it normally was. It was more along the line of subtly irritated and quite bored, when she chose to be either.
 
Clancy sighed and shook his head. "Any questions, Norville?"
"Um. No, I don't think so. I'll be alright," he said softly. "Thank you for saving me, sir."
"You're welcome."
 
Kitty went back to looking out the window, watching things whoosh past. She started counting how many signs they came across, but lost track somewhere around 53 when her eyes accidentally closed and she was too tired to open them again.
 
Clancy stayed quiet as they drove. It seemed like no time at all even though two hours had passed. He pulled off the interstate and guided the car through the large town. It took him a bit of time to find what he was looking for, but after about twenty minutes of driving and guessing his way along the main road, he found a Wal-Mart and pulled into the nearly empty parking lot.

He turned off the car and turned to Kitty, touching her shoulder. "Miss Kitty?"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top