The Masquerade

The Vampire

"I am going to the high school here, but I'm not really anxious to meet anyone yet. How about we go to the shopping district?" He suggested. Mackenzie nodded.

"We don't really have far to go," She said. They started walking, Julian following her lead as she made her way out of the yard and onto the path. Her street was one of the smallest in the neighborhood; there were only five houses on each side of it. As soon as it ended, the factories began.

"So it must not be particularily fun living so close to these factories," Julian stated as they approached the next street over.

"It's not too bad," Mackenzie said, "My dad doesn't have to commute far to get to work. And whenever we need to get something from the store we have to travel a lot less than plenty of other people in town."

"Your dad works in one of the factories?" He asked. Mackenzie nodded and he kept the questions coming "What does your mom do?"

"She's a dentist," Mackenzie said, then added, "But she's on vacation right now."

"That's pretty cool," Julian said. Mackenzie took a deep breath, and prepared to bait the vampire out of his little cave of lies.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you staying with Mrs, Addison?" She inquired. He hesitated.

"My mother got a job offer over seas she couldn't refuse. My sister and I didn't really want to go with her so our grandmother offered to take us in," He responded. Mackenzie nodded, feigning interest. She though maybe he'd have thought of a better cover story.

"So what grade are you going in to this year?" She asked.

"I'm going to be a senior."

"Oh, me too," Mackenzie smiled. Julian put his hands in his pockets as he walked with his hands in his pockets.

"So any tips or warnings for me?" Julian asked.

Mackenzie sighed, thinking his question over. She figured it wouldn't hurt to have a normal conversation with him. He didn't seem terribly evil. "Well this town is filled to the brim with culturally impaired people, if that means anything to you."

"That's dissapointing. How's the book store situation here?" Julian asked with genuine concern. Mackenzie almost cringed, thinking of how the owner of it was probably researching him as they spoke.

"My mom's friend Tony runs the only book store in town. It's well stocked," Mackenzie said.

"Any movie theaters?"

"Yes, but it only shows three movies at a time."

"God bless the internet," Julian said. Mackenzie laughed genuinely, almost eased out of her previous nerves. He acted like a teenager, even carried himself like one, unlike what she'd seen of his sister.

"I agree. I'd probably die in a melodramatic teenage-girl type way if it weren't for the interwebs," Mackenzie said. Julian made a noise like a snort and Mackenzie smiled to herself. He's not just a long lost Salvatore, he's a snorting Salvatore brother, she thought. Part of her was still wondering how he was out there during the day time with her. The sky was cloudy, but it looked like the sun could peek through at some points. Mackenzie waited to see what would happen then.

Of course, maybe this kind of vampire could stay out in the sun. She'd never finished the passage, and it could be possible that they didn't burn, or sparkle, or need a magic ring. Dracula had been able to walk in the sun, his powers we just weakened by it.

So maybe Julian was a vampire like Dracula. Mackenzie would have to add that to the list of fucking crazy shit she had thought of in the past three days.