Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I glanced over to see who had the phone making the noise. Only, I saw a hand swipe and heard a muttered swear word.

“What did you just say?!” called a voice, loud enough for all of us to hear it.

“Yeah, uh… hi?”

Even I could tell the brief silence that followed wasn’t something good.

Will gestured with a hand off to the side and Jane brought herself and her phone up to the front of the camper.

“Speaker.”

Jane tapped her phone and set it up on a stand in the front of the camper, holding a hand to her forehead. It wasn’t hard to sense her distress.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Oh, good. The semi-reasonable child,” called a voice from the other end of the line. Even I could hear the joking in her tone.

“That’s not what you said when I ran off alone, just like Jane did.”

There was silence on the other end.

“Well nobody said Blackstones were smart, did they?”

I held a hand to my mouth, trying not to laugh at such an inappropriate moment. This was definitely not comedy session.

“What is it, Mom?” Jane interjected.

There was a long sigh. “I think you both need to explain what’s going on right now. Where are you?”

“Uh…”

Jane’s cheeks puffed out as she tried to find a way to avoid the question. Will’s lips shut tightly as he turned the camper, refusing to answer. The rest of us held out breath as a newfound tense moment slowly passed by.

“That’s not an answer, Jane.”

“Okay, so we’re going on a little trip.”

There was just a brief moment of silence from her mother. “And?”

“And…”

“Minnie asked us to come along,” Will finally interjected. “Everything is fine, Mom. We’re in a camper. We’ll stay together.”

“You will? No going off alone?”

It was then that the real issue came out. There was a slight tremble to the now softer voice on the other end. I met Lee’s eyes and we both gave a knowing nod to each other. This was just how their mother was. After everything that happened to her kids in the past year, it wasn’t a surprise.

“Right.” Jane nodded as she spoke, closing her eyes. “And I’ve been sharing my location with Kat.”

“Alright,” their mother said quietly. “Please, please, stay safe.”

“We will.”

And then they spoke for a while longer, their dad coming on the call as well. Family chatter. That’s what I called it, anyway. The necessary and ordinary hellos and well wishes. The stories that popped up, bringing a laugh or smile with them.

I looked at the two of them, sitting in the front seats, the phone between them, the tension fading away into nothing until the call ended.

Jane grabbed her silent phone. After a mile of silence, she broke the quiet that held us firmly.

“Well, that went better than expected.”

Will nodded his agreement. He smirked and glanced at her. “That’s true. I thought you’d get more of a scolding.”

“Excuse me?!” Jane cried, offended. “And you wouldn’t?!”

“Of course not. My fighting prowess is greater than yours.”

“Oh, please.” Jane rose from her seat with a tired look on her face. She started to move to the back again, where she’d been sitting before with Lee.

“Hey, the vehicle is moving,” Will called out. “Sit your butt down.”

“Gosh. Who put you in charge?”

“Me. I did. Driver makes the rules.”

Jane groaned aloud. “Lee, save me, he’s being obnoxious again.” She smacked his shoulder as he started shaking with effort to hold back, biting his lip. “Don’t you dare laugh!”

“Alright. Alright,” he told her, even as a few chuckles escaped him.

I patted Will’s shoulder.

“I’m gonna go back there.”

He nodded, giving me a smile that warmed my insides.

I made my way back to the toilet, only to see Jane turning her head as she looked between Will and I.

“Hey, how come you’re not getting on her case for walking while the vehicle is in motion?” Jane called out.

I closed the door behind me as they exchanged words. Laugher came from the other side. I leaned against the door for a moment, feeling nothing like mood in the camper. Nature called me quick enough and I sat down, feeling only a shred of relief that I should’ve felt.

My phone vibrated with a message and I pulled it from my pocket to look at who sent it.

Mom.

I sighed.

I’d told her before we left, had a whole long conversation about keeping in touch and being careful. Truthfully, I had been worried she might go berserk again if I didn’t, so I’d been texting her when we stopped, and updating her on what mile marker we just passed at random intervals.

How are things?

Still on the road. We’re a couple hours out from the campsite. I sent her a reply quickly before she could get worried enough to call.

Okay.

But none of this, not Will and Jane’s conversation with their mother, not my own mother’s worry, and not even my frequent anxious bathroom trips… were related to this feeling consuming me at the moment.

I kept replaying that moment at the gas station. How that man, a stranger, had pointed at us and left in a hurry. The look on his face said that he thought we were monsters. I just couldn’t get it out of my head.

He’d been speaking of something totally fictional, of vampires, which I knew didn’t exist. I knew. And yet, that feeling persisted, like a sort of doom in the pit of my stomach.

I thought of how we were fictional to ordinary humans, how nobody really knew of our existence. Would they… would such a thing be normal if they knew? If we weren’t a hidden species, would they all do that to us, just for existing? Even if we’d done nothing wrong?

My hand instinctively went up to my face, brushing at my cheek, only for my fingers to come away shiny and wet. Finishing nature’s call, I zipped up my pants and looked in the mirror as I washed my hands.

I sighed, hearing their laughter on the other side of the door.

There wasn’t a good reason why I was feeling so upset about this all. About someone who knew nothing about me.

But I felt sad for some reason.

That face kept appearing in my mind, more vicious and angrier than before. The finger, waving around in the air, grew larger, clearer.

“You’re one of them!” he cried.

It was then that I realized why nothing felt good about that. His every action pointed toward one thing, one truth that lived in his mind.

The deep sinking feeling…

Nobody wants to feel like a monster.