The Vampire and the Alpha's Son

Help Wanted

Early the next morning, the first glimpse of the sun sparkled over the treetops from the east on my left. The tree I sat in faced the village from the north. I was surrounded by the pleasing sound of birdsong as I descended onto the ground. I hurried back to the highway before entering the town, as it would seem strange to anyone who might see if I were to arrive from the woods. It was early enough yet that I was able to run at my normal speed to get there quickly. I ran in the ditch beside the highway anyway, as there were a few vehicles about. Across the fields, steam rose as the chilly dew was warmed by the rising sun.

I wandered down what passed for a main street in the paltry, piteous town. There was a post office, hardware and farming supply store, a few gas stations and chain restaurants, an auto shop, a coffee shop, a bank, a used books store, and three fudge shops. What is it with small towns and fudge shops? I thought to myself off-handedly. It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for: a small diner called Janet’s Diner with a ‘help wanted’ sign in the window. A bell dinged as I entered. How quaint. 

“Welcome,” said a sleepy woman who was pouring coffee for a balding, middle-aged man who was reading a newspaper. “Take a seat, dear, and I’ll be right with you.”

“Actually,” I said as I walked up to the counter and turned to her, “I’m here about your ‘help wanted’ sign in the window.”

“Oh, excellent, dear. Give me just one minute,” she replied happily, then turned back to the man, “Anything else I can get you, sugar?”

“That’ll be all for me, miss Janet,” he answered with a warm smile. 

By the name he called her, I assumed her to be the sole proprietor of the place. No wonder she needed help, if she was also the waitress. I could see a single cook through the small window that led to the steaming kitchen. He was middle aged as well, tall, wide, and balding. I waited patiently at the counter in front of the register while she came around and replaced the coffee pot in the coffee maker, then came back to stand across the counter from me.

“So you lookin’ for work, sweetheart?” she asked with an almost southern drawl. This whole place had that small town vibe, which was fitting I guess, since we were in a small town.

“Yeah, I saw your sign in the window,” I started, pointing to the window behind me. "And I-"

“You’re hired,” she said simply before I could finish.

I was shocked. If my hearing wasn’t already perfect, I would have thought I had misheard her. I had already prepared myself mentally for the potentially lengthy process. Getting jobs had been easier before background checks had become a thing, back in the nineties. In coven life, there was always someone who took care of those kinds of things. These days I mostly relied on Jasper to help me out with stuff like that. I had shot him a text during the night to give him a heads up.

“Wait, what?” I asked, confused. “You’re not going to interview me or do a background check or anything?”

“Hun, I ain’t got time for that,” she replied with a short laugh, “Don’tcha know there’s a labor shortage? Kids these days just don’t wanna work no more, and I am dead tired of running this joint by myself.”

“That’s fair, I guess,” I said, trying to hide my relief at avoiding the uncomfortable questions of an interview. I had plenty of cooked up stories I could choose from, of course, but flat out lying never sat well with me, unless absolutely necessary. “What if I’m some kind of weirdo or murderer though?”

She looked me up and down. “You look alright to me, dear. When can you start?”

“Right now?” I answered unsure, hoping my eagerness wouldn’t be too off-putting.

“Great!” she replied, her eyes alight. “Let me go get you an apron, then I’ll give ya a run down of what you’ll be doin’. We’ll go over the paperwork later. What's your name, dear?”

"Midnight," I answered instinctively, then winced. Old habits died hard. "No wait, call me Liz."

"Whatever you like, sweet."

It wasn’t hard work. I waited tables, something I had done many times before. It was even easier, being that the town was so small. The patrons were mostly the same everyday, and after only a few days I knew all their names and they all knew mine. Everyone was so nice and friendly, which I found oddly refreshing. I’d been in small towns before, but never long enough to get to know anyone. With my lifestyle what it was, I usually made a point not to get too attached to any humans. Their lives were so fleeting compared to mine, like how humans get attached to their pets just to watch them die a few years later. I guess I never realized how comforting and therapeutic these simple, yet wholesome interactions could be.

Besides Jasper, I had never really made any emotional connections to anyone, either human or vampire. Even with Jasper, our relationship was mostly functional. During the first few days and weeks at Janet’s Diner, the regulars became almost like friends to me, though they felt a little more like the trinkets humans collect to bring them a small semblance of happiness and contentedness. Like the toys and stuffed animals a child owns, they brought me solace, even though there was little we could offer each other. I engaged in small talk with them, asking about their jobs and farms, their wives and children, the weather and the economy. It was bittersweet. I felt like I knew them, knowing they would never truly know me. They would all die a few short years from now, and I would remain the same. It was different with Janet, however.

We were having a slow afternoon one day, about a week and a half after I started. Like always, it was just Janet and me, along with the cook. There was a different cook working from the one who was here on my first day. He was tall and thin, with short pale hair and pale skin. He wore glasses and looked to be somewhere in his twenties. He didn’t talk to me much, but when he did he mostly talked about Minecraft and anime. I always tried to stay up-to-date on pop culture, but I had nothing to say on these topics. Today he was alone in the kitchen, slumped over his phone, since we had nothing to do. Janet and I were sitting at a table, sipping on coffee.

“So, dear, you haven’t told me much about yerself yet,” she started amiably, her voice light as though she were merely mentioning the weather. “Would you rather I call you Liz or Midnight?”

“Liz is fine. Midnight was my name while I was part of a different world.”

“What kind of world?” she asked with open curiosity.

I hesitated before answering, debating just how much or how little I should tell her. She was a very endearing and nurturing woman, but I still didn’t know if I could trust her. I didn't plan to be here much longer anyway. “I’m not sure how best to describe it…” I said with uncertainty.

“Sounds almost like a stripper name, no offense,” she stated quietly. I could tell by her face that she really didn’t mean any offense by it. Not that I minded either way. I wasn’t one to judge how others made a living. 

“No, no, nothing like that,” I assured her quickly. I had personally never done such a thing, so I didn’t want her getting the wrong idea.

“Not that I would have judged you for it, dear,” she said with a smile, placing her hand briefly on my wrist.

“Thanks,” I replied, then smiled apologetically, “But my past life isn’t really something I can talk about.”

“Say no more, then. I understand, dear. We all have our secrets.” Usually when someone is so quick to accept someone else’s secrets, it’s because they have secrets of their own. I was mildly curious, but I wouldn’t press it. She looked at me over her coffee mug as she continued, “So what brought you to our humble little neck of the woods?”

“I do a lot of traveling these days,” I answered truthfully with a shrug, “I happened to be passing through here when I found myself low on funds.”

“Which brought you in here to me,” she concluded, then added with a genuine smile, “How lucky am I.”

Lucky to have a blood-sucking monster work for you? I thought humorlessly. But I smiled back at her instead. Though I hadn’t known her long, I was shocked to find that I cared for her, more than I did the other humans. It was similar to how I had felt about my human mother, whom I barely remembered. She had died back in the 1800's.

“So I noticed there’s a casino just outside of town,” I stated, nonchalantly changing the subject. 

“Oh, yeah, that place,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “It’s been there as long as I can remember, but the townspeople don’t go there much, ‘cept for some poker now and again.”

“I wonder where they get most of their business then,” I mused, mostly to myself.

“Probably from Laurel,” she answered with a shrug.

“Laurel?” I asked with a tilt of my head.

“Yeah, it’s a much bigger town to the east of here,” she explained, her voice disinterested. “Anyway, I’ve heard that the casino is owned by this super secretive family that lives in an equally secretive community somewhere north of here. Isn’t that interesting?”

“Very,” I replied simply, taking a sip of my coffee and trying to appear only mildly interested. A secretive family in a secret community? This was very concerning to me, as it could possibly be a coven. Ever since I left mine, I tried to avoid covens at all costs. They tended not to like vagabonds like me. They would either try to recruit me, or kill me to protect their hunting ground. I hadn’t seen any lost person posters, however, which was a good sign. Still, I would have to be on guard when I returned to the casino, and it would be in my best interest to hurry and get my money and get back on the road again.