Killian opened his eyes as the alarm was going off. He hit the button. "Shut up!" He turned over with his eyes closed.
"You are going to be late if you don't get up." Creed walked in and opened the very dusty curtains and hissed at the sun. "The sun is out!" He turned away and moved to the shadows.
"It's supposed to rain later." Killian slowly sat up.
"Good. I need to hunt." Creed smiled. "I love to hunt!"
"Okay. I need to shower. Wish me luck!" Killian wasn't sure how the plumbing was.
"Maybe I should take a night class and become a plumber or a carpenter!" Creed smiled and walked out. He was getting the coffee started for Killian. He was trying to be supportive. Since the incident, he vowed to never be distracted by a woman again. His brother was his life and he made that promise to his parents.
He still loved the smell of coffee but couldn't drink it.
The doorbell rang. "Who in the hell could that be?" Creed walked to the front door and opened it. A couple was there.
"Good morning!" She smiled. She was very perky for early morning. "We just wanted to welcome you to town. It's not every day that someone moves into The Caster House." She smiled and studied Creed.
He was very good looking. Dark hair and pretty blue eyes. Wow, all men should look like him. He had a t-shirt and jeans on and no shoes or socks. He looked comfortable.
"Right. The Caster House?" Creed had to ask as he glared at them.
"That is the name of this house. It's haunted, you know!" She whispered it.
"Right. I don't really believe in ghosts. I think I'll be fine. You are?" Creed stared at the couple. They were wearing matching jogging suits.
"Where are my manners! I am Linnett Ballast and this is my husband, Wes Ballast. We both grew up here." Janice smiled.
"Right." Creed was staring at them.
"Who's at the door?" Killian walked up. "Creed?"
"Linnett and Wes Ballast." Creed stared and backed up. Killian took over. "Morning. Sorry about him, he isn't much of a morning person or a people person...a person in general. Hi. I'm Killian Moonridge. I'm the new high school science teacher." He smiled.
Wes exchanged looks with Linnett. This man was hot too. He had dark hair that was nicely trimmed and he was wearing a nice suit. He had pretty blue eyes too.
"Oh! Well, it's great to have a couple such as you in town!" She smiled and Wes nodded. They exchanged looks again. "There are a few same sex couple and I have a sister who is lesbian! They've been married for a while now .. five years or so!!" She was going to continue but Killian interrupted.
"What? A couple!" Killian almost laughed. "No! Creed is my brother! We're not a couple. He isn't my type. I would kill him after the first date!" He chuckled. "We're just brothers."
Linnett blushed. "I'm so sorry for assuming! How embarrassing!"
Wes took over. "Well, what brings you to our lovely town?"
"Peace and quiet," Killian stated and realized that could be taken wrong. "I just mean we're looking for some quiet. A nice safe place to settle. This seemed perfect. It's gorgeous here!"
Perfect for his vampire brother, lots of overcast and very cloudy days. "I hate to but I have to eat and get to school. You have children?"
"Not yet." Linnett smiled. "Maybe someday!" She smiled. Wes didn't ever want children so they wouldn't. It was a sensitive subject and Killian saw that.
"Well, thanks for the welcome. I hope you have a great day and we will see you later. Sorry to cut this short." Killian smiled and shook their hands. He closed the door as Linnett and Wes were jogging off.
"Are they going to be jogging past here all the time!" Creed didn't need humans walking around while he was being a vampire and hunting.
"I don't know. You don't have to be rude to everyone, Creed." Killian ate his toast. "Thanks for making breakfast."
"Welcome, and I enjoy being rude." Creed smiled.
Creed had changed when he was turned. That was what they were calling it. He was rude now and more serious. Angry. He lost his fun side when he was turned. He used to joke around and enjoy things.
Girls and guys and soccer mostly but still. He was the life of the party. Now, he didn't have fun. He was very serious and he actively avoided people.
He used to be a people person. Killian is always worried about him and now he was rude and didn't mind offending people.
"I know." Killian finished his eggs and was taking his coffee to go. "Thanks and I hope to be back by four. I have my phone. Behave!" He was out the door.
"Right." Creed looked around. "What is there to do here?" He spent the day dusting and cleaning. He ran out of supplies and cursed. He would have to go to the store. He got the entryway and the living room cleaned. He was working on the kitchen too. That's when he ran out of supplies.
Maybe tomorrow. He hated humans and avoided them. He was going for a run. He was out the door and into the woods and prayed the sun would behave for him. Stay nice and cloudy.
Direct sunlight was painful both on his skin and his eyes. He was very sensitive. He wasn't sure why but he didn't need a lot of light to see. It was never too dark for him. He kept his room pitch black and he could still see just fine. He was comfortable there.
Killian called Creed on his lunch. They kept burner phones and always changed the number. Creed only talked to Killian and they never gave out a phone number. "Creed. Where are you?" He heard rushing water.
"On a gorgeous rock overlooking a pretty waterfall, where are you?" He smiled.
"I am in the breakroom." Killian answered but smiled as he listened to Creed. At least he was outside.
"Oh. I ran out of cleaning supplies so I went on a hunt. I won't have to eat for three days. I found a moose! I have never seen a moose before! Talk about a clumsy animal. I'm having a great time." Creed smiled. "No humans for miles."
"Okay...I can pick up supplies on the way home, just be careful." Killian was worried.
"I am. Not dead yet!" Creed joked. "Well, you know what I mean." Creed chuckled. "It's so great out here!"
"I'm glad you like it. See you when I get home." Killian hung up.
One Day Down
Killian stormed into the house. "I forgot the damn supplies!" He had an armload of papers. "I have a lot of homework to grade and two days to get it back!" He set it on the table.
Creed saw the pile of papers. "That looks bad!" Creed sat a pot on the table. He always cooked and he actually loved cooking. He always liked to cook. Their mom taught him. He promised his parents at the funeral that he would take care of Killian.
"Smells good?" Killian looked at the meat.
"Moose!" Creed smiled then laughed at Killian's expression. "Kidding. It's just pot roast."
"You are in a good mood." He stared at his brother and piled on the meat.
"I know. I went for a run without having to worry about people and I ate a ton. I love it here! I was outside for four hours with no sun in sight. It was nice. It didn't smell like humans out there. It smelled clean. I don't know how to describe it. It was heaven." Creed smiled.
"Good. I was hoping you would like it here. No ghost sightings?" Killian smiled.
"Nope. I searched high and low. We are alone in this house." Creed sighed. He wasn't sure why he was disappointed. Maybe he didn't want to be the only freak.
"The house looks nice."
"I didn't get to the upstairs and you're in charge of your own room." Creed looked around. "This will be a nice house. I was looking up how to change out pipes and get rid of lead paint. I can do that one day while you are gone. Did you know there is a wine cellar! It still has wine in it."
"I didn't. Will you help me with this stack of papers tonight?" Killian was tired.
Creed sighed. "I guess. I don't want to but I will. It will give me something to do."
"Thanks."
They didn't talk much while they graded papers until Creed laughed. "This kid is stupid!" Creed smiled. "I mean stupid. Football player, if I had to guess! He keeps putting football terms in for answers!" He stared at Killian. "It's multiple choice!" He turned the paper over.
"Bad, huh?" Killian smiled.
"Yes. I don't know much about science but I know an idiot when I read his paper." Creed smiled. He picked up another one. "This kid has potential."
"Who?"
"A Chris Stanton. Very sarcastic for...which grade?" Creed had to ask.
"Ninth."
"Good. This kid is going places. Listen to this. Question: Recycling of chemical elements throughout an ecosystem is:
Energy
Trophic level
Phosphorus cycle
Biogeochemical cycle.
He wrote E. Responsible." Creed laughed. "I think you should pass this kid!"
"I remember that kid. He reminds me of you in school. Someone will kill him before he turns twenty-five!" Killian was grouchy. "I can't handle smart asses in my class. Flunk him!"
"Really! I love this kid. I'm giving him a C!" He wrote a C on his paper.
"I am going to fire you," Killian warned.
"Oh no! What will I do with my life!" Creed glared. On to the next paper. They finished the whole stack and it was late for Killian.
"I am off to bed. Night." Killian crawled to his room.
Time passed for them like this. Killian taught and Creed hid in the house for a few months while he fixed it up, nothing changed. Creed would make his list and Killian would get supplies. Killian helped on the weekends and he claimed the den as his study. Creed was fine with that. He liked this arrangement.
Creed was fixing pipes and changing some leaking ones out. This was becoming a task. He was thinking he should just grab and rip at this point. Some of these pipes had been here since indoor plumbing was invented.
He was working on the cellar also. He finished dusting the first room. This was someone's baby. There were three rooms. Creed had never seen anything like it and started wondering about wine. He needed to research more.
Killian had wood delivered to the house for Creed. He was trying to fix the porch first so that Killian didn't die walking inside, that was important.
He hummed as he pulled wood planks. He measured and cut new boards. He actually liked this. He spent the day working on the porch and sanding freshly replaced boards. He would stain them at night and give them time to dry.
The porch was a lot steadier when Killian walked in from work. He even waved at the Ballast's who jogged past. He saw them once in the morning and once at night, rain or shine.
"How was your day?" Killian asked as he walked to the kitchen. It was a nice kitchen. They usually sat at the island and talked. Creed was usually in the kitchen when Killian got home and today was no different.
"It was nice. I fixed the front porch. I'm staining it tonight." Creed pulled biscuits from the oven. Killian laughed because Creed never used oven mitts. He didn't feel heat or burns like that. Fire didn't seem to bother him and neither did the intense temperature, hot or cold.
They experimented a little when they were getting this all figured out. They watched a lot of vampire movies and read a lot of books. Any and all books. There was a lot of random bullcrap out there and they found things that were true. Creed was surprised. People still didn't have everything right in any book and most of the movies were wrong.
Creed had to drink blood but he could live off animals. He could still enjoy wine. Mirrors were not good, that was in a lot of movies and books but he had a reflection, however, it was the vampire reflection.
Crucifixions were bad to touch but they discovered that out first thing. Holy water was bad, along with the sun and a plant called wolfsbane. It was an herb but not garlic. Garlic did not affect a vampire.
They tried all kinds of herbs. Wolfsbane gave him hives in a small dose. Killian took his blood and mixed it with dried wolfsbane and it bubbled. They didn't test it any farther. Killian wasn't willing to try it and kill Creed. Wolfsbane was also poisonous to humans so Killian wasn't keeping it around. It was related to buttercups, which had no effects. They checked. Killian wanted to be thorough.
He couldn't change into a bat or a wolf and that upset him. He was hoping for that one. He was fast though and he had strength too. They still hadn't found anything that was too heavy for him to lift or carry. He picked up the car once just out of curiosity. Killian was worried that Creed would break the car.
They knew that wood wouldn't pierce the skin but a silver knife could. Creed was upset when Killian stabbed his hand with their antique silver steak knife. Creed sold it to get it out of the house. No silver anything. Killian always had some hidden to be safe.
*******************************************************
I hope you're enjoying their banter. They make me laugh! Thanks for reading.