Chapter 3: Misunderstanding Cleared

One hour later...

David felt tired, but struggled to wake up as his eyes felt heavy. A hand rested on his shoulder and he managed to fully wake up, seeing a skeleton face looking down at him. Freezing as he realized with horror that he had no means of defense against this monster, the twelve-year-old actually began trembling.

To his surprise, the skeleton's face softened. "Shh, easy now, young one," he soothed before picking up a glass of water from the table and bringing it to the boy, who looked at it and leaned back a bit more. "It's alright. It's only water. I thought you might be thirsty when you woke up."

While he was thirsty, he wasn't sure about the water, something the skeleton seemed to notice. "There's nothing in it to hurt you, I assure you," he said, smiling gently. "Believe me, if the Hauntleys had wanted to hurt you, they would have done so long before now."

That didn't completely put the boy at ease. "How do I know this isn't a trick?" He asked.

"How do we know that you won't blab out our secret to everyone?" Remy countered gently.

David blinked before seeing the skeleton had a point. They didn't know if they could trust him and he didn't know if he could trust them, but...if they had wanted to hurt him, they would have done so already, as the skeleton had pointed out. A gentle poke to his stomach made him jump and look to see the skeleton was smirking at him as he gently poked him again. "Now, why don't you drink this water and I'll see about getting you something to eat? You surely must be hungry after all that."

Swallowing hard but deciding to take a chance, David took the water glass from the chef and went to sit up, something the skeleton helped with. He took a small sip of the water before eagerly drinking it down, not realizing how thirsty he had really been and the water tasted wonderful. Remy smiled as he saw this.

The boy looked up at him. "I don't understand," he admitted. "You're a monster. Why...Why would you be so nice to me?"

The skeleton looked amused. "Perhaps because I'm not a mean monster and neither are my employers," he said. "You needn't fear."

The twelve-year-old looked so confused before feeling Remy take his arm gently and guide him to the kitchen, leading him to the table and having him sit down. "What is your name, boy?" He asked.

The boy swallowed a bit. "David," he said.

"David, I am Chef Remy Bones, the resident chef of the Scare B&B," the skeleton said. "I was about to start on lunch. Grilled cheese with pickles and homemade fries with cherry cobbler for desert."

David blinked, noting how those sounded like human dishes. "You...uh...You cook human foods?" He asked.

"Why yes," Remy said with a smile. "As a chef, it's good for me to know how to cook both human and monster foods, especially where we have both humans and monsters that come to spend the night."

The twelve-year-old didn't know what to say and felt the skeleton ruffle his hair in a playful manner before going to start on lunch. David just sat there, but jumped when he saw Oxana, Boris, Vampirina, Poppy, and Bridget come in. He noticed that the two human girls didn't look afraid, nor did they have bite marks on their necks. "How are you feeling?" He heard Oxana asked him.

"Um...confused, honestly," he admitted.

To his surprise, they smiled in amusement and understanding. "You think we're evil monsters," Boris said, but it sounded more like a gentle statement than an accusatory remark.

"Um...yes?" David said softly.

Oxana sat down while her husband stood behind her and the girls sat down too. Edgar came in and joined them too. "Not many people know our secret," the red-haired vampiress said gently.

"Cause not everyone understands that we don't want to hurt anyone," Vampirina said softly. "We just want to be friends with humans."

David blinked. "But...you're vampires," he said. "You need blood to survive and...well, humans have the blood you need."

"True, but we vampires have another source that we use in place of human blood," Boris said. "And it's better too."

Edgar nodded. "I used to think they were evil too, until they showed me they weren't," he said. "The Hauntleys really are cool and so are the other monsters here, like Chef Remy, Gregoria, and Demi."

The twelve-year-old suddenly felt something nuzzle his shoulder and he turned to find himself looking at a plant that looked like a large, Venus flytrap plant. "Whoa!" He cried out, falling out of his chair and scooting backwards.

"Wait! It's okay," Vampirina said.

Bridget went up to the plant. "Penelope's really nice," she said, giggling when she felt the plant playfully nuzzle her neck. David watched in surprise, but he noticed how the plant seemed gentle. He saw Boris come closer and offer him a hand, which he took gratefully, and the male vampire helped him up.

Poppy smiled. "See? They might look scary at first, but everyone here is really nice," she said, giggling as Demi gently tugged her short ponytail.

Chef Remy smiled. "Lunch is ready," he said as he came bearing the plates of food. David was surprised and watched as everyone sat together, humans and monsters alike, and ate happily. Deciding that it would be rude to leave the table before lunch ended, he tried the food and was surprised again.

Wow, he can cook, he thought to himself.

He was beginning to think the information he had looked up was wrong. Poppy, Bridget, and Edgar, along with their parents, didn't seem to be under any spells or acting like thralls. He wasn't too sure what to think.

After lunch, introductions were made and everyone gathered in the living room. "So, vampires don't use thralls anymore?" David asked.

"Not for hundreds of years," Gregoria said. "My great-grandpa said that a peace treaty was made between the humans and monsters after the monsters settled in Transylvania, but it was uneasy for the first few years."

"The information you read actually branches out from the darkest parts of monster history," Boris explained. "We are ashamed of that, to be honest."

"A terrible time, it was," Remy said sadly.

Demi nodded. "It's much better to be friends with humans instead," he said.

Edna nodded and looked at David. "Believe me, I was scared too and put garlic around my home when I first learned my neighbors were vampires," she said. "But...Chef Remy and King Pepi proved that I didn't have to be afraid."

"King Pepi?" The boy asked.

"He's the mummy from the museum," Edgar supplied helpfully. "He healed my arm one time when I got hurt."

The more he listened to what they said, the more he began to believe they were telling the truth. "So, how many do know of your secret?" He asked.

"Just us few," Poppy said. "And we help keep their secret as not everyone would understand."

Boris looked at David. "Can we trust you to keep our secret too, David?" He asked.

The twelve-year-old looked thoughtful before nodding. "You guys have proven that you're nothing like the nightmares I used to have as a kid about monsters," he admitted. "I swear I won't tell another person about your secret."

"Thank you," Oxana said.

Vampirina noticed the time. "Hey! It's almost time for trick-or-treating and the party!" She said before looking at David. "You're welcome to join us."

He smiled. "I think I will," he said.

As trick-or-treaters came to the door and the party got going, David smiled, seeing that the Hauntleys and the monsters were really cool, just as Edgar had said.

He now felt lucky to be one of the few humans to know about them and to be allowed to keep their secret.

Looks like the Hauntleys have a new ally. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418