Supporting Chrctr #1 WVW

    Father was home. It was my sixteenth birthday. These two things did not match up. Father was never home and had never come to one of my birth dates before. Despite my young age, I was highly suspicious.

    Mother smiled at me as I came down from my bedroom. “Happy birthday, my dear Caleb.” She embraced me and kissed my cheek affectionately. My pale skin reddened slightly. I felt rejuvenated and excited, my thoughts racing in anticipation for the day ahead of me.

    “Thank you, Mother, I appreciate it. May I call Sierra?” Contrary to what I expected, her face fell. That was odd, I figured. She normally didn’t mind Sierra being my best friend. Especially since Sierra was a wizard.  “What is it Mother?”

    She looked around me before replying. “Your father… he would not like this.” I smirked a little and rolled my eyes.

    “Father is not present at the moment, is he?”

    Mother nodded. “Yes, but that’s not all.” She sighed and hugged me again. “I know you had plan for the day. You, Sierra, Navira, and others were going to travel to the mountain and snow board…. But your Father is here and… well, he insisted on other plans.”

    My mood sank. “What… plans exactly?” Mother opened her mouth to speak when she was interrupted.

    “Good morning, son,” my father said from behind me. I turned around carefully, wishing with all my might that he were not here to ruin this day for me.

    My father was a tall, black haired vampire with glowing red eyes. We had very similar facial structures expect that mine was slightly more rounded like Mother’s. I had his height and his stubborn mind. The only thing we really lacked was a heart. I had one. He didn’t. It made me wonder how my mother had ever married him.

    “Good morning, Father. Did you sleep well?” I asked, my voice hard and strained as I pushed the polite words through my teeth. It was for Mother’s sake and no other’s that I behaved.

    Father nodded but skipped the pleasantries. “I’m sorry about your little… get-together, you have more pressing demands at your hand. The council wants you to call on them this afternoon.”

    “This afternoon?!” I shouted in defiance. “Narcisseus is half a day away. We’d have to leave right now to make it! Are you insane?”

Father’s disapproving look made me want to scoff. “The council has spoken.”

    “No, you have spoken. It’s not the same.”

It was a low blow for my father. He sneered at me. “If you want your future place on the council to be a reality, then you–”   

    “But I don’t want to be on the council!”

Father pressed his mouth together and sent a look to my mother that made me want to take him by the collar and shake the life outta him. “Marissa, you would have done well to teach our son some respect to his father.”

    Instead of arguing, though, I clenched my fists. I felt heated, angry, and raw, something that hadn’t coursed through me in some time. Never had I defied my Father so quickly and loudly, and never had he returned the heat. The smell of blood on the counter being left out didn’t help much. I realized that I was hungry, too. And I couldn’t let Sierra see me like this.

    “I do not wish to be a part of the High Council, Father, and I am sorry I yelled at you.” I added the apology at the end to satisfy my mother, whom I knew would have requested an apology later anyway.

    Father’s harsh glare softened at my tone and my words. He considered it for a moment before finally saying, “Very well, son. We shall gloomily let this opportunity pass – for now.” He looked over at Mother. “I will be leaving shortly. I must discuss something with you in private before I go.”

    I wanted to tell Mother not to agree, but I kept my opinion to myself. Even if I saw my father for the monster he really was, my mother never would.