The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 104

Sunday morning, I woke up excited. Last night had gone great. Sure, there were a lot of guys wanting to dance with my date, but she stayed with me.

For a while, I was actually worried she might be into me. At the end of the night, she gave me a brief hug and told me how much she valued our friendship. Then, she thanked me for not trying anything with her.

If I were any other guy, I might have. She was beautiful, smart, and interesting. I had admired her since we were kids. She was always something of a rival for me.

When we were at the restaurant her neighbor owns, she ordered a few different things so we could share. It made me a little nervous when people there stared at us. It was to be expected though, I was a geek and she was a prom princess. Not the couple you would imagine.

I got out of bed and dressed before having breakfast and doing my chores. My mom and dad were excited that I was going out with Rosario again today. They seemed to already consider her my girlfriend. It actually made me feel worse that I wasn't out to them. My parents were loving, kind, and understanding. I was sure that they would accept me if I told them I was gay, but I didn't want to risk it. I knew some people who had parents that seemed cool, until they found out.

Around eleven, my dad called me into his workshop. I'd been in there a few times, but mostly to grab things for him. Dad saw his workshop as his escape from everything. I understood. He had a busy work life and liked being on his own. "What do you need, dad?" I asked.

"Have a seat, Sean. I want to talk to you about some things." He said and waved me over to the little stool in the corner.

"Okay." I said slowly and sat on the stool.

He leaned against the work bench and looked at me. I started feeling a little nervous. I didn't think I had done anything wrong. Did he figure out that I was lying about being accidentally marked absent at school?

"I wanted to talk to you and, well, I probably should have done it earlier. You're a grown man now, and I want to be sure you treat your girlfriend right." Dad started.

"Oh, no." I sighed.

"I know, you're eighteen and you don't think you need this talk. You've never told us about any other girls who weren't just friends, so I don't know how experienced you are. There are things you have to know and this could end up being an uncomfortable talk, that's why we're not talking with your mother in the room."

"Dad, I really don't think I need this talk." I replied.

"So, you have been with a girl then?" He asked.

There was nothing I could really say. If I lied and he asked me questions, I was sure I would be found out. I still wasn't ready to come out to them. "No, sir." I said.

"Good to know. Now, I got you some condoms, do you know how to use them?"

"They showed us in health class. You really don't have to do this. Rosario is a friend, not my girlfriend. We're not going to sleep together." I insisted.

"Look, you don't get to be my age without seeing some things, and that girl is totally in love with you. You may think you're just friends, but she's probably thinking you're more than that." Dad smiled tightly. "If you give in, it's fine. She's a beautiful girl. I think you should give her a chance."

I could practically hear him thinking this was my only chance at a girl like her. I groaned inwardly. This was terrible.

"Dad, she doesn't like me like that. You're wrong. She's just relieved to have a male friend who doesn't think of ways to get in her pants. That's all." I told him.

"So, you're not into her. What's wrong with her? She seems like she's perfect." He said.

She's a she, I thought. I shook my head.

"Look, I value my friendship with her. If it ever comes to a physical relationship, I'll deal with it." I took the box of condoms he was holding out.

"Keep one in your wallet. Just in case, son. You don't want to have to try and find something if that situation arises while you're out." Dad winked.

The doorbell rang and I was relieved. Dad sat there and raised an eyebrow at me. I sighed and made a show of putting a condom in my wallet. He took the box back.

"You go get the door. I'll put these in your room after you've gone." He said.

I got up and rushed from the workshop. I couldn't believe I had to sit through that. I loved my parents, but, sometimes, they were a little too much.

Rosario was standing in the doorway. My mom had gotten there before me. I smiled at her.

She was about my height, 5'11", with black hair and warm brown skin. Next to my mom, she looked like a supermodel. I was betting she could go to New York and be a model with no issue.

"Hey, Sean. Ready to go?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah. Thanks for getting the door, mom." I said.

"Why don't you two stay for lunch?" Mom asked.

"We're going out for lunch, mom. I'll be back around dinner time. Love you!" I waved and pulled Rosario out of the house.

Luckily, Rosario could keep up with my quick pace as we hurried to her car. I didn't talk until I was buckled and we were pulling away from the house. I shook my head.

"Wow. I didn't realize you were ashamed of me." Rosario snickered.

"I'm ashamed of them. I told them you aren't my girlfriend, but they don't listen." I sighed.

"There's nothing wrong with letting them think that for a while. We're friends. Friends help each other. If this will get them off your back about going out and dating, then I'm fine with it. I'll even bat my eyelashes at you." She laughed. I laughed, too. "No. They just have to learn to be disappointed in me."

"My dad could give them lessons in how to be disappointed in your kid. Nothing I do is ever good enough for him." She said softly.

"Then he's an idiot." I replied, looking straight ahead. "Because you're awesome."

"You only think that because you're my friend." Rosario chuckled.

"I'm only friends with awesome people. That's why I don't have many." I winked at her.

There was something about Rosario that made me really comfortable around her. Like I was with Echo. I was always tense with my friends. Only ever relaxing during game nights. With Echo and Rosario, I felt like that all the time. Maybe it was the way they treated me. I didn't know why, but I wanted to be around them. It was what led to my decision to talk to Rosario about Gray and Echo. I trusted her like I trusted Echo. She couldn't be a hunter. We pulled up at the restaurant and went in. The host smiled tightly and led us to a booth in a corner. He handed us the menus.

"No one should bother you here, Rosario. Don't dawdle though." He warned and left.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"He's just being weird. Don't mind him." She smiled.

I shrugged and looked over the menu. They had some of the strangest food combinations I'd ever seen and some really normal stuff. They even had things bordering on bland.

"This menu is so weird. What do you recommend today?" I questioned.

"I think light sandwiches should work for the day. If you'll trust me, I'll order." Rosario offered.

"You were right last night, I bet you'll be right today." I grinned.

"Smooth boy." She snorted.

When our waitress came up, she stared at us for a moment before taking our order. She went and talked to someone behind the counter and he stared too. This place was odd, but had good food.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." I said seriously.

"You're not about to profess your undying love and desire for me to carry your babies, are you?" Rosario laughed.

"Gross, no." I chuckled.

"Alright, so what is it?" She asked.

"I've talked to you a lot about my game. There are monster hunters in my game, you know?" I said.

"Right." Rosario eyed me cautiously.

"I just found out a few things from my games are real, including hunters."

She went still and looked over at the counter slightly. I turned to look and it seemed like the man behind the counter was watching us closely. His eyes almost looked red from a distance. Like not crying red, actually blood red. "And what are you planning to do with that information?" She asked quietly.

"You don't seem surprised. I'm guessing that's why Gray didn't confirm if you were a supernatural or not." I replied.

"What did Gray tell you exactly? What started that conversation? What exactly are you getting at?" Rosario whispered.

"I just need to talk to someone. He doesn't want me telling Echo that I know. You're the only one I trust enough to talk to. I don't know why I trust you so much, I just do."

Rosario smiled a little at that. "So, you found out Gray is a werewolf and Echo is a dhampyr and you want to work through your feelings about it?"

"Pretty much. But now I know you're something else too. Is it okay to talk to you or will you hate me for not immediately accepting everything?" I sighed.

"I won't judge you for needing more information. You're learning. How else will we get more humans on our side, if we don't talk to them?" She winked. "What are you?" I asked.

"I'd rather talk about Gray and Echo." Rosario chuckled.

Our food and drinks were delivered and we ate quietly for a while. I wondered why she didn't want to tell me what she was. Was it something really bad?

"Sorry about that. You just startled me. I'd rather show you than tell you. When we get to the range, okay?" She smiled again.

"I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I actually think all of this is pretty cool. It kind of sucks that I'm not something cool, too. Just a boring human." I sighed.

"You're anything but boring. You seem to attract special people to you."

"No, that's all Echo. She decided she would be my friend and that all of her friends would be friends with me too." I laughed, shaking my head.

"It can't all be Echo. Something about you drew her to you. She didn't have to talk to you or try to be your friend. She didn't do that with any of the other people who sat around her. I saw her on that first day. She seemed all innocent and shy. You were the reason she broke out of her shell. Don't sell yourself short. I don't like it, and Echo doesn't like it." Rosario insisted.

I blushed a little. It didn't feel like she was really talking about me. I never thought I was anything special to begin with. Yeah, I was smart, but not a genius or anything.

"What did you want to know, Sean?"

"Everything. I want to know all of it. The world is so different from the way I thought it was. I don't even know everything that's really out there." I said.

"That's a lot to cover at lunch." She laughed.

"Am I in danger from Gray or Echo?" I asked. "Is she going to feed on me? Has she fed on you?" I questioned.

"The answer to all of that is no. You're only in danger from Gray if you hurt her, and I'd be more afraid of the Master of the territory than I would be of Gray. Echo eats blood foods made with bagged human blood, but she can eat human food too. She's healing from a very bad situation and needs the extra nutrition. Echo has never bitten me and will probably never bite me. I'm pretty sure she's the type that needs permission before doing something like that." Rosario answered. "I want to trust her. I just don't know." I sighed.

"Trust her until she gives you a reason not to. I know that girl is strange, but she's not malicious and she has been very sweet the whole time I've known her."

I nodded. "Alright. That's a good plan. Thank you, Rosario. I wasn't really thinking straight about all that."

"Are you ready to go?" She asked.

I nodded, finished with my food. We got up and I told her I'd pay my half. Rosario insisted that I didn't have to, but I wanted to. I pulled out my wallet and the condom popped out with my money.

My eyes widened and met hers. She started laughing as she pulled out her wallet to cover her half.

"Don't get the wrong idea! I'm not planning anything like that!" I told her, mortified.

"My mom makes me carry one in my wallet too. Just don't keep it with your bills and that won't happen." Rosario laughingly advised me.

I put the condom away and made sure to leave a nice tip for the server. I just wanted to get out of there.

-

It didn't take long to get to the archery range. It was an indoor range, so weather wouldn't cause any issues with people coming. We parked around back and she grabbed a large bag from the trunk before we headed in. Rosario turned on all the lights and led me to the area where the targets could be set up. She set her bag down on a table and went around the counter for the targets.

"Here are some wrist guards. I have a right hand bow, so put yours on your left wrist." She said and jogged off to set up targets.

I did what she said and looked around after I was done. The place was very utilitarian, there were safety posters all over the walls and warning signs with rules. Nothing distracting. I was curious about what exactly we were going to do. "Let me make sure you have that on right." Rosario stated and reached for my arm.

She made some adjustments and put on her own guard before going to the bag and opening it. She pulled out a really nice bow. It was one like you would see on the cover of a hunting magazine. I was eager to try it.

"Now, I'm going to shoot a couple arrows. I want you to watch my stance and movements. Then, we'll start with having you hold the bow." She said.

"Wait, you were going to show me what you are." I reminded her.

"Look. I'd really rather not. I understand that you're still learning about us, but I don't want you getting strange ideas about why I decided to be your friend." Rosario replied with a wince.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Are you going to keep bugging me, or do archery?" She sighed.

"I think... both. What are you?" I pressed.

"You know, I think I'm growing to hate you a little." Rosario chuckled.

"Fine...." She groaned. "I'm a wood elf."