Chapter 3

Shortly after our conversation, I provided Sara with my cell phone in order to call her parents. Unfortunately, Sara found herself unable to reach her parents which forced her to leave a voicemail. We continued to chat about various information in regards to the vampire world. I also found out more in regards to Sara’s life. Some of the information she provided regarding her day to day activity including the relationship with her parents disconcerted me in general. However, I knew very little about the societal norms between a parent and a child in the human society that raged around me. I simply stayed absent of the human world as much as possible. however on occasion such as this, I took the opportunity to learn more. As time passed I began to question whether or not her parents would get the information that she had provided in the voicemail. We found that the information was received but not prioritized . Within about an hour my phone rang with a number that I recognized.

I slid my finger across the screen to indicate that I wish to answer the call. “Hello, my name is Charles. Is this Sara’s parents?” I simply started the conversation with.

“Yes we have a daughter by the name of Sara. We received a message that she had been in an accident and to call this number. May we ask who is speaking and where our daughter is?”, came the frank but polite question.

“As I said, my name is Charles. Your daughter is here with me both safe and unharmed. We encountered each other during an accident last night. I will let her explain the circumstances. If you will hold on one moment, I will hand the phone to her.”, I responded with equally polite tones. As I looked over at Sara, I noticed that she exhibited a pallor already as white as a vampire. I could sense the fear and apprehension rolling across the room. With an outstretched hand, I proffered the phone.

With a shaking hand, she took the phone from me. “Hello Father”, escaped from her lips. Even though she held the phone to her ear I could very easily hear the conversation.

“Sara, the man on the phone told me that you were in an accident. Is this true?” came a terse set of words from the receiver.

“Yes Father”, came a scared voice from Sara.

“What happened Sara?” the father asked very tersely with mild aggression.

“I was driving down the road last night and I looked at my cell phone for just a moment. When I looked back up there was a man standing on the side of the road. I lost control of the car and ended up going through a barbed wire fence. He was kind enough to provide me with shelter for the night.”, Sara said very softly and meekly.

“Where is the car? Is a damaged? Why did you just not drive it home?”, came a rapid sequence of questions from her father.

“The car was broken and I couldn’t drive it home. It is right up the road from where I am now. I am so sorry father.”, she said almost in tears.

By this time I expected very little from the father in way of concern for his daughter’s wellbeing. However, I will admit that surprise caught me with the next statements.

“I can’t believe that you wrecked the car. That will cost us a fortune to fix. Have this Charles person send me the address of where the car is and I will have it towed back to the repair shop. I am very very disappointed in you because you knew that it is dangerous to drive at night but more importantly that the car you drove was priceless. Obviously you’re going to be grounded when you get home. As for you getting back home, you put yourself into this mess and now you must figure out a way to get out. I will not come to get you so don’t ask.”, came a very short and angry response.

“But?”, came a confused voice from Sara as the line disconnected.

Sara silently handed back my phone. She was visibly upset. I found myself a little bit distraught as well. Though I had limited interaction with humans and even less interaction with human parents, I found the situation difficult to comprehend. Sara’s parents came across more concerned in regards to the vehicle than their offspring. But from the reaction of Sara, this seemed to be normal within her life. She did not shed a tear.

“Sara? Before you explain, keep in mind that I could hear both sides of the conversation. Vampire hearing does have its advantages. I am not well versed in human society or customs however this does seem to be a little bit odd to me. Please do not worry about getting home. I will be more than happy to take you to your residence.”, I said with what I hoped to be kindness and understanding. I knew at this point that she would not be receiving that from her parental units so I tried to provide as much as possible.

“They are not due back till tomorrow anyway. They have no idea when I come and go most of the time. Most of my day is spent at the house with the staff. In some ways they’re more like family then my parents. As for his reaction, I was actually expecting much worse. I think the only reason he did not yell more and call me names was simply because he knew that you were here.” she said.

I pondered for a moment the next best options for Sara. “Well if your parents will not return until tomorrow, I do not see the point in rushing to get you back to an empty house. You are perfectly safe here and no harm will befall you. Let us continue your education in regards to my world. I know you still have a million questions”, I said with a slight smile. Sara smiled back and seemed to feel better at the prospect of learning more about a world she did not even know existed twenty-four hours ago.

She indeed had more than a million questions to ask. I took her downstairs and introduced her to some of the humans within the coven. She immediately bonded to one of the older females. I had a feeling that the reason stemmed from the almost motherly attention Darla provided. Darla instantly took charge of Sara and provided for all of the needs that the child had. After about an hour, Sara returned to the room in which she slept the night before. She found me sitting in the chair starting into the distance. Sara had showered and wore clean clothing. The clothing from the previous night lay folded neatly on the bed both clean and pressed.