3
Thelma stood talking to Mr. Dyebuko in the living room. They were both drinking cocktails as the aroma of slow-roasted chicken sneaked out through under the kitchen doors.
“I have met your daughter... Latianna? She has such an... interesting name. Wherever did you come up with it?”
“We made it up ourselves, we believe that names should be original,” Mr. Dyebuko replied, sipping his cocktail.
“Oh, well isn't that nice,” Thelma said, smiling with that nice fake smile that Mr. Dyebuko had seen too many times. “I wasn’t that original with my childrens' names. My eldest is Dorothy, she’s here I believe, somewhere…” Thelma trailed off looking around for her daughter.
“I heard that your son Kurt is missing,” Mr. Dyebuko said, finishing off his cocktail, trying to make eye-contact with Thelma. “Has there been any word recently?” he asked with a false sense of concern.
“No, but I have faith that he is exactly where he’s supposed to be. He’ll be home soon enough. Don’t ask me how I know, but I do... Mother's intuition I suppose,” Thelma said, finishing her cocktail as well and smiling at Mr. Dyebuko as thoughts of Kurt filled her head.
“So, I hear that you are very involved in the Riverwolf Pass Elementary,” Mr. Dyebuko stated.
“As well as the high school,” Thelma replied with a smile and a nod.
“That's great. We taught our little Latianna by ourselves, but now she's all graduated and working on becoming a novelist.”
“How nice... I never believed in homeschooling myself, but I suppose it's right for some people,” Thelma lied. She thought about how horrible it would be for anybody to school their kids at home. After all, how would they learn to function in the real world? Always being sheltered like that!
She thought about what an outcast she'd been in school. At times, she'd wished she was home schooled. But being in school taught her how to handle the world. It taught her how to be in control of things. She loved being in control. That's why she loved to gossip. She was the first to tell people stuff. It gave her a sense of control. She knew something other people didn't. She smiled as she thought about telling Preacher Nelsen all about the dinner party.
“Would you like a refill, Mrs. Garder?” Mr. Dyebuko asked. Thelma looked at her glass and noticed it was empty.
“Oh please, call me Thelma, we need not be on a last name basis,” she said with a smile as she noticed Mr. Billy Johnson going down into the root cellar with Mrs. Dyebuko.
“Okay, Thelma, can I get you a refill?” Mr. Dyebuko asked once more.
“Oh yes, thank you,” she replied as she handed her glass to Mr. Dyebuko, following him into the kitchen.
4
Ivan made his way around the room, looking for Latianna whom he had lost track of when he entered the jam-packed room of people. He could barely hear himself think over the loud chattering of voices. Ivan wondered how many people were there. He imprudently tried to count, out of pure curiosity, but soon got lost. He stumbled around, muttering excuse mes and sorrys and quick hellos. He just wanted to find Latianna! But, he wasn't sure if she even existed in this vast ocean of people.
“Ivan, what are you doing here?” he heard a sharp voice from behind him. He knew it in an instant. It was the voice of his mother.
“Sorry I'm late mother, I had a little trouble with the lock on one of the doors.” A wry smile crawled across his face. He knew that his mother would dare not cause a scene here in front of everyone, she had a certain image to keep.
“Well, I hope you’re not asking too many questions. I know you are curious, but I am not going to condone prying inquisitiveness. You best not embarrass our family name, do you understand me Ivan Joshua Harvey?”
“Yes mother,” Ivan said, wondering why his mother had to act that way. Why couldn’t she just be like a normal mother he read about or saw on TV? A good mother is what he desperately wanted her to be. He wanted her to believe everything he said, was that too much to ask? He did not want her to embarrass him like that or treat him as if he does not know how to behave properly at a formal dinner party. Just because he'd never actually attended a formal party of any sort before, did not mean that he did not have the slightest idea of how to behave properly, keep up a conversation, and remember his manners. Shoot, he was probably more polite than his mother was! After all, he would never dream of locking his son in a basement. But would she ever know that? No. The simple, and yet honest, answer was no.
“Very well, now leave. You’re disturbing mine and Miss Yancey’s conversation.”
“Of course, mother,” Ivan said, smiling at his schoolteacher, praying to God she didn't tell his mother about him skipping class.
“Hi Ivan,” she said with a small little wave of the hand. Ivan smiled at her and felt certain that she wouldn't tell.
“Hi,” he muttered back before going off to try to find Latianna again.
“Ivan? Ivan Harvey?” There was a gruff and worn voice calling his name. It was so loud with the buzzing of conversations between people that, although Ivan could hear the voice calling his name, he could not rightfully tell who it was or where it was coming from. He stopped in his tracks and met the voice soon enough. He hardly recognized him… an old friend from elementary school. He was four years older than Ivan and acquired a bad reputation all throughout high school. Ivan hadn’t heard what became of him after he graduated. That made Ivan question whether he might be a vampire...
“Guess who?” he asked, arms spread out in a question.
“Bobby!” Ivan exclaimed, surprised and suspicious of vampire activity.
“My homeys, they just call me Bob now,” he said.
“Where have you been?” Ivan asked, studying him for any signs of vampirism.
“Oh here and there, in jail a few times, but my pops always bails me out, you know. I got it good. Livin’ with my folks now, you know. Free food, home, and I can still do what I want… just can’t be thrown in jail again, you know. It’s just life, well you know ‘bout that, right? You’re what, seventeen? Eighteen now?” Bob asked, his head rocked back and forth as he waited for Ivan to answer.
“Seventeen. I’ll be eighteen on Halloween night.”
“Don’t you mean tomorrow?” Bob asked with a slight chuckle, his feet wavering now. How much had he had to drink already?
“Halloween is tomorrow?” Ivan questioned, not believing it. When he thought about it, he knew that Bobby was right. Ivan was lost in time for the past three or four days. Come to think of it, ever since he met Latianna, the dates, times, and all that, didn’t mean one, single thing to Ivan Harvey. All that mattered was getting to know this mysterious girl and then trying to protect everybody from being turned into vicious man-eating beasts.
“Yeah huh,” Bob said with a slight slur. Ivan could easily tell he had been drinking a lot. As if the wobbly step, cocky aura and slightly slurred words were not enough evidence, Ivan could smell the liquor on Bobby’s breath, and they were not even standing that close together.
“Hey, well it was great catching up with you, but I gotta find this girl, Latianna,” Ivan said and started to walk away.
“A girl? Whatsssup with that? You got a girlfriend? Smooth move, Ivan.” Yep, Bobby was drunk, and did not want to leave Ivan alone.
“She's not my girlfriend,” Ivan lied, not wanting the word about him and Latianna to get out... not here... not now.
“Do you like her?” Bobby asked.
“Kinda, but I’ve seen better looking girls.” It was almost killing Ivan to lie about that, but he knew that heaven with her was not too far away. Instantly the Warrant song, Heaven came to his mind. They just had to make it through this and they would be in heaven together, hopefully not in a literal sense. Ivan shook the thought from his head and continued to look at Bobby... er, Bob.
“Did you nail her?” Bobby asked with a cocky half smile and a sudden chuckle. What was it with people asking him that lately? Iv
an knew it was only the second time, but seriously, what kind of person did people think he was? He hardly had bad boy looks, much less traits. Nail a girl... please! He would never do that. There was no denying he was a guy and thought about sexual stuff a lot, but nailing a girl was hardly the correct way to phrase what he longed to do with Latianna.
“No. Now will you please let me on my way, Bobby? I’m sure there is a pretty girl here you would rather be talking to.”
“Good point, good point indeed,” Bobby said. Finally, Ivan was free to go find Latianna, singing Heaven by Warrant under his breath. Heaven isn't too far away... closer to it every day. No matter what your friends might say, we'll find our way! And we will find our way, Ivan thought to himself, no matter what, we'll find it.
5
Latianna slaved away in the kitchen, adding a few last minute touches to the food before everybody sat down to eat. Her thoughts were on Ivan and the song Heaven by 80's hair rock band, Warrant. She sang the lyrics to it while she tended to the food. She wondered what became of Ivan Harvey. She'd asked him to follow her into the kitchen when they entered the house, but they lost track of each other in the mob of people running their mouths in the living room.
“Heaven isn’t too far away,” she sang as she iced the three layer chocolate cake.
“Closer to it every day,” Ivan sang the next line as he entered the kitchen. Latianna whipped around, she jumped and her hands tensed around the icing tube and it squirted everywhere.
“You know that song too?” she asked, smiling like a goon and slightly blushing when she saw Ivan standing, leaning casually against the kitchen door, in her house.
“No matter what your parents might say, we’ll find our way,” Ivan said with a wink, twisting the words just a bit.
Latianna smiled even more and the love that shown in her eyes was gleaming and bounding with joy.
“Ivan, I am so scared,” Latianna said after a minute, after the buzz of the sweet moment wore off. She began to notice the icing all over the counter and floor and proceeded to clean it up.
“I have a plan, babe. I promise I will not let anything happen to you,” Ivan said, walking over to her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gently helped her to stand up and stop cleaning the icing up off of the floor. She wrapped her arms around him, enjoying his sweet embrace.
“I’m not worried about me. I am worried about you. I don't know what I would do without you, Ivan. I know it sounds crazy because we’ve only known each other for a number of days, but you're the first person who has ever cared about me and believed every word that I spoke,” Latianna said, chewing the nail on her thumb.
“I feel the same way. No one has ever cared about me the way you do. And in return, I have never cared about anyone like I care about you, my sweet, sweet Latianna,” Ivan said, pressing two fingers against the bottom of her chin. Their lips met in a kiss. And perhaps the sentimental moment they shared would have gone on longer if Mr. and Mrs. Dyebuko had not stepped into the kitchen just then to make sure that the food was coming along in a timely fashion. But, they did, so therefore the sentimental moment came to a sudden halt.
“Latianna!” her mother exclaimed. Latianna could tell that she was earnestly astonished at her daughter's atrocious behavior. Her father did not speak a word, he only let out a gasp, and that's when she knew it was bad. Ivan jumped ten feet in the air and then five feet away from her. How scared was he? And if he was scared by this, would he be able to kill her father later that evening? The question rang in Latianna's ears, causing her to feel very uneasy.
“Mother, father, the uh, cake is coming along nicely,” Latianna said, looking down at the floor, the nail of her thumb rising to her teeth again.
“I can see that,” her mother replied, placing her hands on her hips.
“May we have a word with you in the study?” Mr. Dyebuko asked, lips pressed together tightly. Latianna could tell that he was doing his very best to keep his cool and not scream or cause a scene. “Alone?” he added, glaring at Ivan. Ivan backed away a few more steps and nodded.
Mrs. Dyebuko grabbed her daughter’s arm and pulled on it, dragging her away from Ivan Harvey and into the study.
“Latianna Annabel Dyebuko!” her father roared once they were in the soundproof study room.
“I am sorry, father, I know it is wrong of me but I couldn’t help it. He is so sweet. Ivan Harvey cares about me, daddy. Not one person ever cared about me, not even you. All you ever cared about was that I killed or changed someone and drank their blood so I could be a vampire and be your little girl forever. Your little girl that you could take advantage of whenever you felt the urge!” Latianna almost screamed. She always wanted to please her parents and be the good little girl, although, she wondered why sometimes. However, she could never bring herself to kill someone and drink their blood to become a full vampire, or sink her teeth into them to change them to become a full vampire herself. And what her father did to her made her hate him, despite the longing feeling she had inside to feel loved by him.
“We discussed this, Latianna,” her mother said, trying to calm things down. “You are to kill or change Ivan Harvey and drink his blood. If you really think he cares about you, change him, then we will see how much he really cares about you.”
“I care about him too much to change him. You and I both know that if I were to change him, he would never be the same.”
“That is a myth, Latianna and you know it,” Mrs. Dyebuko said, straightening her dress.
“You forget how to love when you are changed. You think about blood, it's all you want. You can tune out emotions and you never feel the same as a human,” Latianna said, in tears now. She'd wanted to tell this to her parents since she was five years old. She'd practiced many times in front of the mirror, but couldn't find the time to actually tell it to them.
“You do not know that to be true, Latianna,” Mr. Dyebuko said, handing his daughter a tissue.
“But you know it to be true; you just don’t want to tell me. You will even lie to me about such things. You have done it before, and do not say you haven’t, because I know better, mother, father, I know better than that,” Latianna said, trying to compose herself the best she could. She wanted this to get through to her parents, but she knew the likeliness of this was slim to none.
“Latianna, you are to kill this boy Ivan by the end of the night, or so help me God, I will kill him later and find someone else to be your first kill.”
“But father!” Latianna protested, but soon stopped herself from screaming more. She knew nothing would get through anyways.
“The choice is up to you, Latianna. We will not bother you any more at this dinner party. In fact, once we leave this room, we will no longer speak a word to you until you have become a full vampire. Do we make ourselves clear?” Mr. Dyebuko asked.
“Yes father,” Latianna said and hung her head in shame and sadness.
“Good, you may be excused from the conversation and this room,” Mr. Dyebuko said, glaring down upon his daughter. She nodded and left the room.
She found Ivan Harvey waiting for her outside the study room.
“Oh, Ivan,” she said, bursting into tears. Ivan shushed her and stroked her long golden colored hair gently. She looked up at him. He was taller than she was by at least six inches. If they wanted to kiss while standing up, she would have had to stand on her tippy-toes. She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and she abruptly turned. Her mother spoke not a word to her, but looked into her eyes and Latianna started to follow her.
6
There was a cold hand on Ivan's shoulder, he jumped and then shuddered inside when he saw Mr. Dyebuko standing behind him. He looked over at his hand and forgot how to breath at the sight of the long nails.
“Come, into my office,” Mr. Dyebuko motioned toward the room with the door that was flush with the wall, the room that Latianna had just walked out of. Latianna! Where
did she go? Ivan looked around frantically, but couldn't spot her.
“Where is she?”
“Do not be worried, Ivan, she is in good hands. Feel calm and follow me.” Ivan, compelled to follow, walked right into the soundproof room. He took a seat and Mr. Dyebuko sat directly across from him.
“Tell me about this plan of yours,” Mr. Dyebuko calmly suggested. Ivan told all about his plan to kill him during the dinner party. He couldn't think for himself and he mindlessly did whatever Mr. Dyebuko asked of him. When Ivan was finished, Mr. Dyebuko sat there for a minute, before looking into Ivan's eyes.
“You will not think of the danger that your parents are in anymore at this dinner party. You will forget that you ever had a plan to kill me during the party. And once you step out of this room, you will forget we ever had this encounter. Do you understand me?” Mr. Dyebuko asked Ivan.
“Yessir,” Ivan said.
“You may leave now, Mr. Harvey,” Mr. Dyebuko permitted and watched as the boy walked out of his room.
“Why didn't you compel him to forget completely about killing you and to no longer be in love with Latianna?” Judd asked, stepping out of the darkened corner.
“Because I cannot compel anyone to fall out of love in the first place, and he promised to kill me out of pure love for my daughter. I cannot make him forget he wants to kill me, I can only prolong his plan. I cannot tamper with true love, if I could, I would, believe me. Now fetch me a glass of my finest blood, compelling people always makes me feel rather drained and hungry... you make life so much easier, I'm glad you decided to kill after my wife changed you and that other mover.”
“Yes, Mr. Dyebuko,” Judd said, walking out of the room.
“Oh and Judd?”
“Yes?”
“Ask the Mrs. to come in here, I want to make sure she constituted the right memories into Latianna so her and Ivan are on the same page.”
“Yes, Mr. Dyebuko.”