The Vampire's Pet.

Harriet's POV. "The vampires are soon taking over the only hospital that is run by the humans. According to them, incompetent workers will be sacked by 12 noon tomorrow to be replaced by the vampires. It is soon becoming a hassle living amongst........" That was all that the news carried around lately. The vampires taken over everything. A lot of people including my father had lost their jobs causing the cost of living to get higher. My parents had come home one day looking detached and distraught. I soon got the most heartbreaking news that our house was up for sale and we needed to move into a smaller one. My hatred for the blood sucking creatures began that day. Sinda's city was the only city that had not fully be taken over by the vampires. It was rumored to be the poorest city which was the truth, it was why they hadn't fully taken over. I had lost all my friends several years back when the vampires began invading us. Everyone had disappeared to find greener pastures. There weren't any, except you were a vampire, you didn't live right, you wouldn't live well. I hardly saw the vampires, the little I saw resembled so much like humans, except for their pale skin, and the expensive clothes they wore or the fanciest cars they rode, they could easily have passed for humans. They weren't much in Sinda's city but when they did come, it was obvious to everyone. I wouldn't deny that I loved watching them, though I repulsed them for causing so much heartache to me and my family and my other friends, I loved watching them, they looked fascinating and like an entire different being which they indeed were. It was difficult to grasp the fact that people like them were immortal and had so much power. It seemed unfair to me. We humans were given the most unfortunate card, we died easily and were weak to defend ourselves while they lived longer if not forever and were bestowed with so much power to go against us. We had long became their slaves, it was just a matter of time before they would actually start using us to do their bidding. "Harriet come down for dinner" my mother called. I sighed before tapping the thigh of my six year old brother by my side. Yes we shared the same bedroom. This had been the only reasonable house that we could get for a low price, despite the ceiling having so many holes that made the ground flood when rain fell, or the broken window that was soon replaced with filthy carton making Harvey always wake up with cold. The creaking of every wood in the house, or the rats that we had to complete with. It was fairly good. At least we had a roof over our head. Harvey yawned beside me, his small face having bed marks on them. We had slept hungry, seeing as they weren't any food since morning. My parents had gone out several hours ago in search for food and it seemed as though there was progress if we were being called down. "Are mom and dad back?" Harvey asked me, his words mixing up because of his tongue. I smiled warmly at him, my heart breaking everytime I saw him. He wasn't having a nice childhood like I did. He was hardly eating and you could see the scrawny way he looked most times. Mine was better because I had a body that could easily retain some fat so I didn't look too sick and skinny. It was why I normally gave my food over to him, knowing fully well that after today, we might not see another food till two days time. Harvey and I walked down the creaking stairs hand in hand. The little furniture in our sitting room was the first thing we could see as we made our way to the dining. My mother was sat dressing the table and fixing plates for the remaining three chairs. Harvey released his tight but tiny hold on my hand and ran into my mum's body. He was the most affectionate of the two of us. Despite being just six, he knew to say words of love and affirmation, he was a hugger and he did it very well. My mother received him as usual before lifting him up in her arms. I glanced around in search for my father, not seeing him anywhere, I turned to my mother who had taken Harvey into her lap. "Where's dad?" "He's making some calls" she replied smiling tightly at me before going back to what she was doing. I nodded finding the look on her face odd but not saying anything about it, not like they would tell me anyway. "Are we waiting for him?" I asked now sitting opposite my mother. I was hungry and it seemed as if my father wasn't going to come anytime soon. "Of course we are waiting for your father." My mother scolded. She was a firm believer of eating together, not that we had food everytime anyways. "He'll be here soon" As if on cue, my father strolled in, ruffling his messy hair from the rain before meeting our eyes. "Sorry for keeping you waiting" he said. He sat down at the head of the table, placing his phone upside down before moving to eat. "Everything okay?" My mother asked, a belying tone in her voice. I glanced at my father, he didn't stare up at her, still dishing food into his place. "Of course" he muttered. It didn't take a deaf person to know he was lying, but that was what he was known for. He hardly told us anything, especially my mother. He had lost his job for three months but he refused to say anything. He was leaving the house but wasn't going to work, instead he was going to get drunk. It wasn't until my mother had sent me to take food to him seeing as he didn't eat the previous night that I found out that he hadn't been coming to work because he lost his job. Despite it being the Vampire's fault, he still kept it from us. I felt disappointed but I knew my mother was going to loose it. I didn't know if to tell her or not but I didn't want to be like him. My mother deserved to know so I told her. I remembered how she cried for several days even after confronting him. She was never a crier but I know she felt betrayed that my father had lied to her. He had promised not to do it again but we all know it was empty promises. My mother simply stared long and hard at him but she also refused to say nothing. We soon dived straight first into our measly dinner. At least it was tasty. As usual, I gave some of my portion to my younger brother Harvey, a grateful smile spreading across his face. I could see my parents staring at me but I didn't bother to look at them. I didn't need them feeling sorry or guilty, it wasn't their fault. I was grateful for my big body that I got from my mother so I didn't look scrawny or thin compared to Harvey. I said my thanks to my parents and stood up to leave but my father's voice stopped me. "Everything is going to change soon" My mother and I exchanged eye contact, a discombobulated look on both of our faces before staring back at my father. "What do you mean?" My mother asked turning her chair so she could stare at my father warily. My father simply grinned, lacing his fingers together as he pushed his now empty plate away. "I made some deal with some people" I could see my mother swallow from the side of my eye and it got me extremely worried. We were both thinking the same thing. What if my father made a drunken deal and sold us away. He was usually drunk, all day everyday, he wasn't mean or violent drunk, more like a silent one. He mostly drank to sleep. I hated seeing him like that but there was nothing I could do. We had being extremely close when I was growing up, even closer than I was to my mother, but then everything went to s**t three years ago. Ever since the vampires invaded our cities. "I know what you both are thinking." My father eyed us guiltily. It was a useless emotion in my opinion, because he would still go back to drink. "I promise I was completely sober when I made it and it would really change our lives" My mother adjusted Harvey on her thigh and breathed out a heavy sigh. "Who did you make this deal with and what does it entail?" I eyed her again, the look on her face was making me think she knew the answer to the question, maybe I did too. My father swallowed at my mother's penetrating gaze. He had always cowered before her presence. My mother was quite intimidating, she was big and slightly taller than my father so she was bound to command attention sometimes, each time my father was in a pickle, either at work or someplace else, he usually called my mother and everyone would tremble before her. "Just some people-" "Who Justin?" my mother harrumphed. My father rolled his eyes at her, something he would only do when he was drunk. It was only then he was usually bold to do anything to defy my mother. My mother noticed too and she sighed heavily, fully expecting what was to follow. "I'm the man of the house Laurette. I don't have to tell you everything and show you anything, especially when I am trying to bring out our family from this state of abject poverty. I don't need to tell you who I made a deal with or what it entails, I did what was reasonable and what was the only easy way out. You don't get to----" I stopped listening, prying Harvey from my mother's thigh together with his food. My mother didn't even look fazed that my father was bemoaning or shouting at the top of his lungs, it was something we were all used to, especially when he had so much to drink. Yes he was mostly a quiet drunk but he always got angry easily especially when you questioned him. Harvey and I walked back to our room hand in hand and i sat him down to feed him. "Will daddy and mummy be okay?" Harvey asked the same question he always did when he witnessed my father flare up. I smiled giving him the same answer I normally did. "Of course Harvey. Mummy has everything figured out" Harvey nodded before we continued eating. I didn't hear the sound of my father yelling it my mother scraping the under of the pot in order to silence him anymore. It soon occurred to me that they had gone to bed. I couldn't sleep so I tried reading. I never got the opportunity to go to college so I normally just read whatever I could find from the shops I visited for my mother. If I had gotten the opportunity, I wanted to study psychology. My mother had always told me how good I was at reading people so I figured it would have been the best to study. However I knew it was only a dream, when our schools had been taken over by vampires, I knew there was nothing I could ever do to get into college. So I picked whatever book I could find on psychology lying around, and I read, teaching myself to understand whatever I read. It was what was helping me not loose it in the midst of this chaos. I didn't have friends, I didn't even have a good phone so the only thing that could help me and stop me from loosing my mind was books. It also didn't help that I was having a bad sleeping habits. I hardly slept except when I had read to hard to the point of passing out on my table, my head deep in books. I continued reading all I could, ignoring the ones I couldn't understand. The thunder rowled so loud making Harvey jerk up behind me and let out a tiny cry. I ran quickly to him hoping to put him back to sleep. He was both a heavy and sleeper, heavy when he didn't eat well and light when he ate well because he is always waking up to release himself. The thunder rowled loudly again and I embraced him tighter to cover his ears from the scary noises. Harvey had soon fallen asleep in my arms again and I laid him back down, about to go back to my table, my door pried open, the creaking sound being too pronounced to miss. My mother's head poked in through the door and she glanced at me and then back to Harvey. She gave me the signal to follow her out, a worried look in her eyes. I followed her out, shutting the door behind me and following her downstairs. Her shoulders were tensed and she looked as though she was worried. "Mum are you okay?" I asked after we had gotten to the sitting room. My mother whisked her head to me, a frantic look in her eyes. A look I had never seen on my mother in all my 21 years. She was now scaring me, if she could look like this then there must be a big problem. "We have a guest" she said her voice trembling. "What?" I asked, we never had guest, not even before the invasion. My parents never had friends and I never brought my friends to the house we were living in previously. So this cane as a shock to me. "We have guests Harriet" my mother reiterated more frenetic now. "Okay and?" I asked. "You are not to come down of your room until I tell you to." My mother replied, her voice shaky but firm. I furrowed my brows to her, disappointed that they were leaving me in the dark again but fully expecting it. "Is the person someone serious?" I asked hoping that she would give me something, anything to quench my curious mind. My mother simply shook her head like she couldn't believe I was asking that. "Just go up into your room and stay there. Lock the door behind you. I and your father would handle it" she said, before I could ask anything further she walked away. I huffed, my heart beating frantically in worry. I had never seen my mother look this scared, my father yes, but never my mother. It increased the depth of my curiosity and the constant question that kept ringing in my mind. Who was this guest?