My Neighbor the Vampire

October 1st Harker Bellencourt—”Harry, please,” he would say—stopped before a grocery store display of pumpkin spice items. Coffee, of course. That was a given. But there were muffins, bagels, puddings, cookies, pasta. Well, he lost count, really. “What nonsense,” a lady said with a snort as she came to stand next to him. He knew the old bat—er, woman—from the days when she lived in an apartment just down from his at the Haydon Cliff Manor Apartments. What a load of bull that was. “Mrs. Draper,” Harry greeted her politely. “I suppose you’re the sort who goes for this shameless marketing.” “Hmm. Some of it. Nice to see you after all this time.” It was not. She’d been a nosey neighbor and her goal seemed to have been to get most everyone else to move. Harry had, of course, but not to her dictates. His fortunes had changed, and he could afford to rent a small house. Nowhere near the beach, of course. That had been in the apartment’s favor. “Where are you living now, Bellencourt? Haven’t seen you around.” “Moved out of the apartment.” Mrs. Draper sniffed. “Obviously. Thought you’d left Haydon Cliff.” “No. I teach fifth grade at Haydon Cliff Middle School.” “A teacher.” Naturally, she said it with as much derision as was possible. “Where then? Not the Pinetree Apartments, I hope. I’ve heard they have problems with roaches.” As if Harry were one, she took a step back. He wouldn’t complain. “No. I’m renting a house now.” “Oh. Well. That’s not quite the same as owning one, though, is it?” Harry smiled. “Nope. But it’s a step.” He scooped up packages of pumpkin spice coffee, muffins, and cookies and put them in his cart. “Where is this house?” “Erie Lane.” She made a rather humph sort of sound, then turned and moved her cart on to another aisle in the store. After a few more stops to choose more items to purchase, Harry checked out and wheeled his cart to his sensible silver sedan. He had just popped the trunk when he heard the distant sound of rolling thunder. Harry glanced at the dark threatening clouds. When he’d gone into the grocery store, there had been some clouds on the edges of the sky, but apparently they’d decided to gather. “Bad storm coming, you think, Mr. Bellencourt?” Harry turned to see one of the store’s young employees gathering the shopping carts. He’d stopped next to Harry’s car. After a few seconds, Harry recognized him as the older brother of one of Harry’s students from a few years ago. “Hello, Aaron. How are you and how’s that brother of yours?” “Dan’s doing well. Starting high school this year.” Harry smiled and looked at the clouds again. Thunder rolled from somewhere far from the Cliff. “Maybe so, as far as the storm. I didn’t see anything about it on the weather report. Sure looks like it could, though.” “It does. Have a good day, Mr. Bellencourt.” And Aaron moved away, wheeling the carts with him. After unloading his bags in his trunk, Harry got into the car and drove away. * * * * Despite the somewhat dreary name, Erie Lane was actually in a very beautiful neighborhood in Haydon Cliff. The rental agent Harry had dealt with when choosing his home had told him that Joseph Erie was an early resident of the Cliff who had some prominence in the town before it obtained cityhood. The house at 725 Erie Lane, where Harry lived, was a one-story home in what was known as ranch-style, and included three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Originally there had been only two small bedrooms and a rather tiny bathroom, but years ago, an owner had converted the garage into a large master bedroom and bathroom. Harry hadn’t minded not having a garage in which to park his car, because in the back, a carport had been put in, so he parked there. The front yard was enclosed in a rather ubiquitous white picket fence. The grass in the front was somewhat a mixture of green and brown grass and there were flower beds in front of the windows, currently containing still-blooming sunflowers. Harry had to stop his car at the driveway and get out to open the driveway gate, so he did so, with a quick glance to make sure no one would be blocked temporarily by his car. He jogged up and unlatched it and slid it back, then got back in his car and pulled into the driveway. At the moment, he would leave his car there while he took in the groceries, then he’d move it to the carport. As he got out, the first big fat drops of rain hit his forehead and cheeks. Guess the storm was definitely happening, Harry thought, as he moved to the trunk. His gaze strayed to the house next door. Unlike his, that one had two stories and looked like it was badly in need of a paint job. “Oh, that house,” his agent had said as she showed Harry the one he ended up renting. “It’s a bit run down and has been vacant for a few years after the Hendersons died in it.” “Died in it?” Harry had asked. “You mean murdered or something?” “Oh, heavens no. I don’t think so. They were both quite old and I’ve never heard anything but natural causes. Anyway, it’s been sold now. I expect someone will start doing renovations or something on it.” But that had been a month ago at least when Harry had moved in. And no renovations had taken place that he could see. But this past weekend, he had noticed curtains in the upper floor windows that hadn’t been there before, and once or twice they’d fluttered in place as though someone had been peering through them down at him. Just now, he was sure that he saw a hand clutching a curtain in the second bedroom on the top floor. Harry got a chill up his spine and he could swear that someone from up there stared at him. The hand didn’t move away, and the curtain didn’t flutter back into place. Harry frowned. “Harker.” Harry jumped at least a foot and whirled around, his heart beating hard. “f**k. You scared the crap out of me. And stop calling me that.” The man who stood in his driveway on the side of his car gave him a wicked grin. “It’s your name, Harker.” “I don’t use it and you know it. What the hell are you doing here, Kel?” Abraham Kelsing came around the other side of the car to stand beside Harry. He glanced up at the house. “Lurking at the neighbors?” “They’re lurking at me. Or were. There was just a hand there but now it’s gone.” “Uh-huh. You’re always seeing strange things, Harker.” He narrowed his eyes at his recent ex. And damn, Kel looked good. Dark windswept hair, brown eyes so dark they looked nearly black, and a neatly trimmed beard. He wore big purple horn-rimmed glasses at the moment, which gave him a rather absent-professor look—appropriate considering Kel had tenure at a nearby university—jeans, and a plush pullover sweater also in purple. Kel liked to match, Harry guessed. “This the new house?” “Obviously. And it’s not that new. Lived here for more than a month now.” Kel smiled. “It’s cute. Like you.” “What do you want?” Harry reached into the trunk for his grocery bags. He hadn’t seen Kel since they broke up. Not that they’d really had any sort of relationship. It had been s*x a few times. And then Harry found out Kel had f****d some other guy and that was that. As far as he was concerned anyway. There had been some talk of “we didn’t say we were exclusive” and “blah blah blah.” It hadn’t mattered to Harry. “Want to let me in and give me a tour? It’s starting to rain, and I’d rather not get too soaked out here.” Kel added a note of hopefulness Harry didn’t miss. But he was also not fooled. “I guess if you have to.” He shrugged. And he waved away Kel’s attempts to take his groceries out of his hands as he made his way to the front door. Harry fished his key out of his front pocket and once more glanced toward the house next door. The curtain fluttered closed as though once more someone had been watching. Kel followed his gaze. “So who lives there?” “I have no idea. Haven’t ever seen them. And when I see them peeking at me, it’s after the sun goes down or is starting to. Not that you could tell today with these skies.” Harry opened the door and gestured for Kel to go in first, which he did. Harry followed, then closed the door and locked it.