A Vampire Story C - 1
Chapter 1
People walked past her and she could feel that nothing would change if she sat here in this moment and contemplated death. So she did so often in times she sat alone while people passed unbothered by her lean form. No one stopped to gawk at her face as she held not the usual smile that was easy and fun and attracted a lot of her friends throughout the years.
Ayer was depressed and this depression was something she had ignored for days, weeks, and months just allowing each day to pass filled with things to do and people to take care of. Her brother Brandon wasn't the only thing that helped keep her sane and completely distracted but he was a large part of her time and daily effort. Finally on this bench in the middle of a not-so-busy park she felt the full weight of what was once a soft but constant nagging in the back of her mind. It screamed at her, this depression, and it was not the kind of scream that was terror. This was the howl of sorrow and anguish at being twenty one and taking care of a (barely) teenager with no mother to help her because she was dead.
Her mother was dead and she would never take another breath to tell her she was doing a good job, or even a bad one and Ayer would take either of those right now as the stress of college exams and bills settled around her. Her absentee father was hardly any help. He paid the rent and that was nice because he too had things stored in their dwelling however the lights and water stayed on simply with the sweat of Ayers back. She paid two cell phone bills, a car note and insurance as well as the groceries they ate and it was not extreme at her age to be in this situation however it was not one she chose to take.
It would have been better she felt if the world she lived in was her creation and she'd been a teen mom who lived a reckless lifestyle however she was a responsible woman her Entire life. Hadn't she done all the right things? Hadn't she paid her respects?! The howl of sorrow that escaped her lips echoed in her eardrums and she stood abruptly walking swiftly from that spot for fear someone would trace the source back to her and they would all finally See her pain.
She retreated to her moderately priced sedan and closed the world out once again as hot fat tears rolled down prominent cheekbones. A beautiful bone structure, that's what they said. That beauty was also her curse. Everyone always assumed to be beautiful meant to be happy and this was an outright lie. To be beautiful was to be the envy of everyone even so called friends and they all treated her with a care she knew would fade as soon as her youth did.
More tears, faster now and this time she bellowed freely in the confines of the steel and padded seats. She balled up her fist and punched her steering wheel with a force she would regret later once it bruised over yet she struck it not once but three times before the stinging was too much. One bruised hand sat in her lap as she drove home. Another Saturday in the park. Another moment to be forgotten as her weeks stretched on.
Monday morning came with the sounds of drums loud and furious banging her out of her sleep and she realized too late that buying Brandon a drum set for Juneteenth was probably a very bad idea. Nevertheless she was not one to thwart his passion.
"Well good morning to you too," her voice was made of gravel before the morning coffee.
"Morning sis! I'm sorry I couldn't get this beat out of my head. The band wants to audition in the talent show next weekend so I'm trying to come up with something new," Brandon was an early riser by nature. He woke with the sun and howled at the moon with little sleep in-between.
Ah to be thirteen without a job again.
"Is'all good. I should probably be heading out early anyway. There's a new teammate I need to show around the campus. Team captains aren't allowed to sleep," she smiled in his general direction before turning to gulp down the hot black lava in her cup.
It was going to be a long day and Ayer was definitely Not a morning person.
The drop off for highschoolers went something like this: Drive to the furthest edge of the school property. Allow said high school student to exit car. Drive off into the sunset trusting your loved one will do the right thing and make it into first period.
Ayer's drop off is more like a tour of the campus as her brother had not been trustworthy in the past and the teachers were tired of calling her for complaints. She had to walk him across the entire campus to his first period and then make sure the teacher was also there before leaving for her own classes.
On early days like today she got the fortunate task of depositing him in the front office leaving him to the wonderful staff to do her bidding. This involved a trade of coffee as the campus had a strict no tackling rule ( although Ayer had insisted she did not mind) and one of the unlucky ladies in the office would have to deal with him in their personal office and then walk in business heels across a campus honestly bordering on obsessive when it comes to size.
Oh the wonders of raising a teenager.
That aside Brandon was a great kid albeit rambunctious. He did his schoolwork he just didn't like to sit in school to do his work. Ayer pondered setting him up for online classes however the idea of him sitting in that lonely house for hours on end mostly alone drove her far away from that idea.
He needed community even if the community sucked ass.