Ch. 13 Self-Control

Eddie swept her pale, blond hair back from her neck and breathed in the scent of her skin one last time in euphoria. Then he fed like he'd never fed before by sinking his razor sharp teeth into her tender flesh, attempting to drain her dry as quickly as a possible. But only a couple minutes passed before someone spoke, "Enough", and ripped him away. He moaned in disappointment.

"Claire, thank you very much. You may leave now."

Claire nodded like nothing had happened and strode out the room. Eddie tried to scramble after her like a lost puppy, but he was in an iron grip that refused to break.

"Eddie, remember yourself immediately before I'm tempted to stake you." a terse voice spoke.

Eddie snarled and latched his teeth onto the wrist of the person holding him back. If he wasn't allowed to drink from the human, then this irritant would have to do.

Someone bit him in the neck from behind in retaliation. He howled and finally let go, tumbling onto the floor. "What was that for?!" He rubbed at his rapidly healing neck and glared up at the older woman.

"Learn self-restraint and I won't have to do it for you." Mrs. Jeepers spat his blood out onto the floor. "This is why I claimed you would make a horrible vampire."

Eddie's memories of the last 24 hours finally came tumbling back into his brain. "Am I...?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes, you are." she breathed out. "You saved my life, avenged Liza's death, and completed your transition all in one fell swoop."

Eddie's eyes were as huge as saucers before he came to a sudden conclusion. "This may be an inappropriate reaction for you, but..." Eddie jumped up and pumped his fist into the air. "HELL YEAH!"

The "HELL YEAH" had faded by the time he graduated from high school. Because he would no longer age, he had to leave his human existence behind. They made his disappearance look reasonable. He was going to study abroad in a foreign country for college. Melody and Howie were still distant. The only one who knew the truth was his grandmother and she wept over it.

After the secret goodbyes to his grandmother and the long flight to Romania, Eddie set foot on the dusty path leading up to the home of his new clan. He hadn't seen the ancestral Hauntly castle since his third grade summer vacation with his friends. He dejectedly followed Mrs. Jeepers up to the door. She knocked loudly and the door creaked open with an ominous creaking sound.

A lady drenched in black appeared in the doorway. Black hair, black nails, and blacking clothing was like a giant dark hole for her glowing green eyes.

Madame Hauntly, head of the clan, spoke in heavily-accented English to him, "Welcome home, my son."

Epilogue:

Melody stepped out onto the back porch to breath in the evening air. Getting the kids into bed had been a chore. Howie had let them eat way too much sugar for dinner. He was too soft-hearted sometimes. Howie stepped out behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Sorry," he apologized sheepishly to her. Melody just rolled her eyes and hummed quietly in reply.

In the light of the full moon, two figures on a nearby rooftop watched them, speaking softly to each other in Romanian. One figure came to a decision and dropped down in the backyard, moving silently and swiftly towards the porch. The figure stopped moving when Melody and Howie spotted him.

Howie pulled Melody behind him protectively, "Who are you?"

"It's just me, Howie." spoke a strangely-accented voice.

The man stepped forward and Howie discovered it wasn't a man, but a lanky teenager with unruly red hair and green eyes.

"Eddie!" Howie gasped. "Are you a ghost?"

Melody peered over Howie's shoulder fearfully.

"No, I'm not a ghost, guys." Eddie smiled warmly. "And I come in peace." He did the Star Trek 'live long and prosper' Vulcan salute to them.
Melody had to laugh at that, which broke the tension a little.

"What are you doing here?" Howie asked. "You vanished when you went off to college and never came back."

"I came to see how you guys were doing."

Melody stepped out to get a better look at him, even though Howie grabbed her wrist in warning. "Where have you been? You sound a bit funny." Melody questioned curiously, the faded memories of their childhood passion suddenly rising to the surface of her mind after so many years.

"Full-immersion will do that to you." Eddie joked. "I haven't heard English in a long time."

"So I'm guessing you've been in Romania all this time..." Howie figured it all out quickly, "...with them?"

"Yeah..." Eddie confirmed.

"I just wanted to see that you guys were ok and to let you know that I'm ok. I hated not telling you what happened...I've been regretting it for years."

"Do you want to come inside?" Melody asked cautiously.

But Eddie's head tilted into the wind, as if listening to something. He shook his head sadly. "I better not. I just wanted to see you guys one last time."

And then Eddie was gone. He just vanished into the night without a trace.

Howie released the breath he had been holding and cajoled Melody inside to safety. Melody only glanced behind her once with longing.

"Eu sunt mulțumit" Eddie told his partner when he rejoined her on the rooftop.

Just to be clear, in case anyone got confused by that, she doesn't mean "my son" literally lol.

Hope you enjoyed this fic and sorry for taking so long to get the chapters out there! I probably won't be adding anything to this universe, so if someone wants to write a sequel, or a prequel, or an alternate universe, be my guest and send me a link! I'd love to read it!