Chapter 41 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
One night Jeffrey, Wendy, the children, and even the cat all fell sound asleep, something their neighbor Octavius had warned them never to do.
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The first thing Jeffrey saw when he woke up in the morning was Wendy, lying on the ground in a stupor. He checked her neck, and when he saw the two clotting holes, he was furious.
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He stormed next door and chewed out Vincent. "You promised us you'd keep Octavius away from our house! Octavius promised us he'd stay away! But now Wendy...Wendy..." Distraught, he went back inside.
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Jeffrey sat down at his word processor and began furiously to type. People needed to know they were in danger. People needed to know that vampires had arrived in San Myshuno. And he was the one who would tell them.
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Meanwhile, Wendy went out to the hall to confront Octavius. "It wasn't me," he assured her. "But I'm not the only vampire around. "Let me see those marks." He held a piece of paper to her neck and made two small lines where the marks where. Then he held the paper up to his mouth. "I'm pretty sure my fangs are wider apart than the ones that marked your neck. What do you think?"
Wendy had to agree that Octavius couldn't have been the vampire who bit her. She went back into the apartment to tell Jeffrey, but he was getting dressed to go out. "I got a call from Dad," he said. "Pop...Gunther...he just died. I've got to go over there."
"Wait a minute," said Wendy. "I've just seen Octavius. He's not the vampire who bit me. He proved it -- his fangs are too far apart."
"I can't deal with that now," said Jeffrey. "And besides, I just sent my article off to the website. Dad sounded pretty disoriented, so I've got to go."
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When Jeffrey reached the house, he didn't find anyone home except Coco the dog. Coco needed a bath and looked sick, too. Even after a bath, she still looked in bad shape. Jeffrey scooped up Gunther's urn, left a note for Elliott, and took Coco to the vet.
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Once she'd been given her shot, Jeffrey set out looking for Elliott. Finally he found him sleeping on a park bench.
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"He's gone," said Elliott. "And it's my fault. I did a terrible thing."
"It's not your fault," said Jeffrey. "Popgun was old. He died of old age. Come on, have something to eat and then we'll take you home."
"It's not home with Gunther gone," Elliott objected.
"Well then, we'll take his urn and set it up outside the museum he started. He'd like that, I think."
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Elliott agreed to the plan, but -- "It's the only grave there," he said. "Don't you think he'll get lonely?"
"We'll put your grave there, and mine and Wendy's and the children's," said Jeffrey. "Pretty soon The Roadstead Cemetery will be full. And he'll like being next to the museum and all the collections that he started in there."
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Back at the house, Elliott was still sad. Coco whined for attention, but he just ignored her. Jeffrey was pretty sure it was only a matter of time before he'd have to take Coco to the vet again. "Why don't you move in with us?" he asked. "The kids would love to have you around more, and Wendy would welcome some adult company."
Elliott sighed. "I don't know. I should tell you about the terrible thing I did, and then you might not want me."
"Dad, I don't need to hear this," said Jeffrey.
"I was unfaithful," Elliott continued. "Not in my heart, never in my heart, but I slept with a woman just because she said she wanted a child with my red hair. We made love in a coffin, and at the time I thought she was the most fascinating creature I'd ever met, but...It was like I was under some kind of spell, but that's no excuse."
"Sounds like she was a vampire," said Jeffrey. "Did you tell Popgun about this?"
"Yes," said Elliott, "and he thought she was a vampire, too. But even though he said it was okay, I'm afraid..."
"I really don't think you killed him," said Jeffrey. "So come on."
"But will there be enough room?" asked Elliott.
"In the apartment, no," said Jeffrey, "but we were planning on moving anyway."
"How do you like the new house?" Jeffrey asked Wendy a little while later.
"It's huge," she said, "but that's okay. I can use the exercise walking around."
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"And now that Robin's growing up, it's great that she and Grunt can both have their own rooms."
"He's going back to Gunther," Jeffrey told her, "in honor of his grandfather. Which is a relief because I was going to throttle him if he grunted one more time after I used his name."
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"I don't think he's happy here, though," said Wendy. "Of course, he's still sad about his grandfather, but I think he's also missing his old school."
"He'd only just started school," said Jeffrey. "He'll make new friends."
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"And both the kids were looking forward to snow, which we probably won't get much of here in Oasis Springs. I took them outside the other morning when it was cold and we were having snow flurries, but they saw only one flake." (Flake is to the right of and slightly above Coco.)
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"All in all, though, I think we'll do fine," said Wendy. "Coco and Whisper seem to be accepting each other..."
Dogs drool, cats rule, Whisper reminded the interloper.
You can sleep under the bed if you want, but don't try to join me on top. [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
"...Robin is delighted that we have enough room for her to have a dollhouse. And I like our neighbors. The Bibblers seem like nice people -- so nice that they invited a refugee family to move in with them."
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"And I can go talk to Dr. Harvey across the street when I feel bad instead of trying to tell my problems to the toilet. I'm sorry, Jeffrey, but a machine just doesn't have what it takes to make me feel better. In fact, trying to use that FLAP program makes me feel worse."
"Then don't try to use it," said Jeffrey. "The number one thing is that we're safe here -- no vampires in the neighborhood -- and the number two thing is that everyone is as happy as possible. If you and the children are okay --"
"Which we are," Wendy said firmly.
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"And Dad's okay, which he will be once his grief diminishes,
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"...then I'm ecstatic," Jeffrey finished.
Another member joins the family in
Chapter 51.
