Page 33 of The Awakening
“May I ask why you took the test?” Haruka asks. “What prompted you?”
“A lot of humans do it for fun, right?” I ask, not wanting him to feel pressured again. Jae runs his fingers into the back of his dark golden wavy hair and takes a deep breath.
“We do, but… the reason why I did it wasn’t necessarily for laughs. But… you’ll think I’m mad as a bag of ferrets if I tell you.”
I frown, blinking. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Crazy,” Haruka answers.
Nino draws back. “How do you knowthat, but I had to explain ‘banging’ as a euphemism to you the other day?”
Haruka shrugs. “I lived in England for several years, and my realm leader there possessed a very colorful vocabulary.”
I flick my eyes over to Nino, smirking. “Why were you explaining ‘banging’ as a euphemism, Nino?”
“Don’t worry about it, Junichi.” He raises his coppery eyebrow and sits back in his chair, smug.
“Jae?” Haruka says, re-centering the conversation. “Rest assured, we will not think poorly of you. Please explain if you’re comfortable.”
“Well… alright, I…” Jae takes another deep breath. “Growing up, I thought… I thought my mum was a vampire—but she clearly wasn’t, considering she’s gone now. She died at forty. At first it was in that way where you’re a daft kid, and you think there’s a monster under your bed or that the old chap next door is a serial killer.”
Haruka turns to Nino, blinking in confusion. “Is this a normal assumption in human culture?” Nino shrugs and takes another sip of his wine.
Jae laughs. “Probably not. But when I was thirteen or fourteen, I started researching vampires. I saw pictures of what they looked like when they were very ill—gray, skin drying out and emaciated. That’s how my mum looked in the end. Like she’d just dried up. She was sickly off and on her whole life, but things got worse and worse as she grew older.
“After she died, I told my dad that I thought Mum was a vampire. I’ll never forget his response. He said, ‘Why do you think that?’ Not, ‘Shut it, you idiot,’ or ‘Are you stark raving mad?’ His face was totally straight, and he wasn’t shocked by my question at all. When I told him my rationale, he just nodded. He didn’t say anything else, and we never talked about it again. I had the test done when I was sixteen.”
I swallow hard. We’re all completely silent, listening to him. I don’t know how to take this information, but I definitely don’t think he’s crazy.
“Have you ever wanted blood?” Haruka asks, his gaze focused. “Or been hungry for something you couldn’t discern?”
Jae draws back. “Me?No.Of course not. Never. I’m totally, absolutely human.”
“How does being around us make you feel?” Haruka asks. He’s going in hard now, and he’s the only one talking. Nino and I are watching it all unfold.
“Well, if I’m honest… I’m alright.” Jae shrugs. “But I’m definitely nervous. Like my insides feel all twisty and weird. Anxiety.”
“Does that always happen when you’re nervous? Or is this a recent development?”
“Ah… maybe recent? Since I moved to Japan it seems to have gotten worse. It’s a new country and new environment for me. I’m still adjusting to everything.”
Haruka nods. “Of course. Jae, have you ever been sick? Perhaps a cold or the flu?”
Jae laughs, and I’m relieved. Haruka’s questioning feels intense, but I also see what he’s driving at. “I don’t think so,” Jae answers. “Lucky, I guess? Haruka, I amnota vampire. I don’t drink blood and I’ve never wanted to. I’m just… weird. And…”
“Yes?” Haruka encourages.
“I… I’ve had lower-level vamps bite me before. They say I’m pretty disgusting. Bluntly, actually. If I were a vampire, I’m certain that wouldn’t be the case.”
At this, Haruka sits back and picks up his wine glass, bringing it to his lips. This last bit of information… It says something. Significant. Haruka recognizes as much and has clearly come to a decision. He raises his eyebrow before he takes a long sip. “Not necessarily.”
The rest of dinner is much less tense. Whatever Haruka was digging for, he’s satisfied with the result. Afterward, when I’m standing outside the stone walls of the estate with Jae, I exhale a sigh.
“Well, my apologies for our host tonight. He’s usually much more laid-back than that. I didn’t think we were walking into an interrogation.”
Jae shakes his head, smiling. “No, no. It’s okay. It was… interesting to talk about those things. I’ve had the thing with my mother bobbing around in my head for years, so it was nice to hash it out, actually.” Jae runs his fingers through the back of his hair and laughs. “And Haruka is quite… compelling? It almost feels like Ihaveto answer him. He’s like vampire royalty.”
I narrow my eyes at this. His word choice, coupled with the tense discussion of whether or not Jae could be a vampire, raises a flag in me. “Do you feel compelled to answer him? In some innate way?” I ask. Haruka is young, but his bloodline is very old, which deeply impacts all ranked vampires he encounters. Whether they want it or not. We’re all very fortunate that he’s more of a levelheaded introvert than a power-hungry egomaniac.
