Valerian Vervain Tells It All: Part 1

Hello dear readers,

My name is Valeria (actually it's Valerian, but I've come to drop the 'n' a lot), and when I was young (I'm 18 now) I had certain adventures of a strange kind.  My friends and family encouraged me to write them all down.  So I finally did.  The three different stories form a kind of book, I guess, that might be of interest to some readers.  Both kids and adults, I guess, depending on how weird you are.  When these adventures happened I was in junior high, age 12-13.  Since then (thankfully) things have normalized a bit for me, as much as my life can ever be truly normal.  I am currently here at university studying English Literature and Creative Writing, so I might get some credit for this blog, too.  My dad insists I also take some science courses, too, so I am taking a minor in Biochemistry.  He says it's a real important field for me to know about.  You'll see why as you read my stories.  And I was accepted into the university band, 1st trombone!

 

Here is my first adventure, written (and rewritten) recently, but these things actually happened about 5 or 6 years ago.  I have a pretty clear memory of them, so I'm certain I've got my facts right.  Hope you enjoy reading it!

 

 

Valeria The Vegetarian Vampire 

 

CHAPTER ONE : "An Afternoon With Gertrude"

    Val trudged home from her bus stop. It had been a long, hard week of doing school work. Her backpack was now crammed with more books than she cared to think about, and her arm was aching from carrying her trombone in its heavy, black case. Why was seventh grade so different from sixth? Everything seemed more complicated this year. The school was bigger, the teachers gave more work, textbooks were heavier (and there were more of them) and even the mood of her friends had become serious.
    At least she could go home to a normal house and normal bedroom and forget about school for a whole weekend. As she turned off Main Street she could see it in the distance, at the very end of Loopy Lane. It was seven stories high and leaned slightly northeast. That was because the tall house leaned against and around Gertrude, the giant talking oak tree that was now over four hundred years old and more than eighty feet high. Val knew how old it was because her father had been the one to plant the acorn that eventually grew into Gertrude. Gertrude leaned northeast because the strongest wind always blew in from the southwest.
    “Mighty strong wind,” Gertrude had commented. “Can’t fight Mother Nature, so might as well lean along with her.”
    Of course the house itself was much younger. Dad hadn’t built it until Gertrude reached 150 years of age, saying he had waited until the tree had fully grown up so as not to put a strain on her. It wasn’t really a tree house, though it would have fallen down without Gertrude holding on to it, but Val’s bedroom on the fifth floor gave easy access onto one of the larger limbs. She had placed furniture out there and even slept out on warm, still nights when it was too hot inside. Her best friend, Sarah, loved sleeping over, saying she had the coolest bedroom in the whole universe.
    Valeria (everybody called her Val) was twelve years old, had medium-length straight, shiny brown hair and enchanting hazel brown eyes. Her parents had raised her since birth as a vegetarian (a vegan, to be exact), and so she usually had a very healthy glow to her pale skin. She was quite slender and almost five feet tall. She was known for her sense of humour, but also her down-to-earth personality. Only her closest friends knew that she and her family were a bit different than other folks hereabouts, and could trace their ancestry back nearly one thousand years.
    She always wore something black, explaining that her mother had said that traditions and appearances must count for something and should be maintained. She included high collars whenever possible, which also served to cover the small birthmark on her neck.
    “Hi Mom, I’m home!”
    “Hello, Sweetie. I’m upstairs at my computer.”
    “Be right up, as soon as I grab a snack!”
    Val placed her heavy backpack and school trombone case down in the entrance and climbed up a flight of stairs to the kitchen. She grabbed a handful of cookies and a glass of juice and climbed another staircase, this one twisting around Gertrude’s trunk. The third floor was the most spacious, containing the main living area and on warm days like today the octagonal room was completely open on five sides to the elements of nature. A warm breeze blew across the cozy space. Val’s mother stood up from her computer station and received a big hug and a kiss from her daughter.
    Mrs. Vervain was a tall woman, with a head of very dark, long and wavy hair. She had a face that seemed to be always smiling, except when Val got herself into trouble of one sort or another. Then her expression changed to one of concern, and the dark eyes would penetrate right into Val’s head until her mom knew what was the matter. There wasn’t much Val could hide from her.
    “How was your day, Sweetheart?”
    “Boring,” answered Val. “How was yours?”
    Val’s mother was a witch. Not a mean and nasty witch like those make-believe ones in fairy tales, but more like a “witch-doctor”, or white witch. She sold helpful herbs and natural medicines over the internet, keeping up with the times after having built up a very good business clientele over the past 250 years. It was she who had invented the skin cream that the family used so that they could tolerate direct sunlight. You see, the entire Vervain family were Vampires....
    “Today was quite productive, actually. I finally sold off the rest of the grindelia we picked last summer. Remember? Your brother hypnotized that poor black bear?”
    “I remember,” sighed Valeria. She could never forget she had a six year old brother. “Where is Mr. Beastie?”
    “Oh, he’s at a birthday party. We’ll have to pick him up around six o’clock. Don’t let me forget. By the way, it was your Aunt Marcella that bought the last of it--the grindelia plants. Poor Uncle Harry has had his cough return. That’s six times in the last hundred years. I don’t think they’re using my medicine properly.”
    “Is Daddy coming home this weekend?”
    “Yes, he’ll be back Sunday afternoon. We should have him home for dinner.”
    “I wish he wasn’t away so much,” pined Val.
    “Me too, Sweetie, but he is a very important person at these conferences. Everyone wants him as a speaker whenever there is a botany convention. Especially those rose people. I’m sure he’d rather be home with us, too.”
    “I’ll be in my room for a while,” said Val as she headed up more stairs. The fifth floor was the smallest of all, but Val’s favourite. There was a hallway, bathroom with shower, a linen closet and her bedroom, with its own clothes closet.  Her large bedroom was shaped like a pentagram, one of the reasons she felt so safe up here. The shape of it protected her from bad vibrations, according to her mother.  Her bed was queen-size and four-posted with a canopy and optional summertime mosquito netting. She had a sliding glass door that led onto Gertrude’s limb, and a window that overlooked the village more than fifty feet below and a few blocks away.  Val flung open her sliding door and headed out on the limb with her cookies and juice. She walked over to the trunk, putting her ear to the tree.
    “Hello, Gertude. How are you this afternoon?”
    Gertrude had really developed a personality since Valeria had been born, and the two of them had quickly become fast friends. By the time Val could talk they simply couldn’t be separated, and when Val had reached school age, the old tree had talked far more than it had in its previous 400 years of growth.  Mr. Vervain had known that he had planted a talking oak, but it hadn’t even hiccupped before Valeria came along. He had been mighty pleased when his daughter had got the old thing chatting.
    “Are you back already?” asked Gertrude. “Seems like you just left.”
    “And to me it seems like I’ve been gone far too long,” answered Val. She sat down on the branch with her back to the trunk, munching her cookies.
    “Did you think of a science project yet for the science fair?” asked Gertrude.
    “Well, not exactly,” said Val. “I mean, there’s a lot I could choose from.  I could do healing herbs, or how to cultivate a blood red rose, couldn’t I? But Mom and Dad say that would be giving away trade secrets. So I’ve got to think of something original.”
    “What about something on birds?” suggested Gertrude. “I’ve got over two dozen nests on me, you know.”
    “Thanks, Gertrude. I’ll keep it in mind.”
    “Did you run into the Bologna Bullies today?”
    “No, not today. I think when you dropped all those acorns on them last
time they decided to leave me alone for awhile.”
    “Ah, good then. No room around here for bullies picking on my best friend. Lucky for them I didn’t drop a big branch.”
    “Oh, don’t hurt yourself on my account,” blurted Valeria. “I can take care of myself.”
    “Nonsense,” said Gertrude. “Besides, I would have used a dead branch.  I’ve got ‘em by the ton and feels good to shed them, especially for a worthy cause.”
    “I’ll be glad when Daddy’s home,” said Val. “I miss him.”
    “Me too,” said Gertrude.
    “You do?” asked Val.
    “Sure I do. After all, he’s my Daddy too, you know. He’s known me since I was a little acorn.”
    Val giggled, trying to picture the humongous tree as a tiny acorn.  She decided just to sit out here for a while and enjoy the late September breeze.

 

CHAPTER TWO: "A Visit With Ferdinand" 

    The Bologna Bullies had always been a thorn in Valeria’s side. Ever since third grade when they had discovered she was a vegetarian, she had been one of their main targets. Being chased home by boys trying to force feed you bologna or bits of pepperoni was not, to her mind, amusing. It hadn’t been amusing to her mother, either, who had called the school as well as spoken to the boys’ parents. The bologna bullying had stopped until fourth grade, but by telling on them she had made the boys dislike her even more.
    By seventh grade, when all the older kids from her small community were bused to the county’s big town to attend junior high, the bullies had been reduced by one, as Mark Metcalf had moved away. So with Val’s two best friends and her standing tall together, things were now even at three against three. The most recent incident had the bullies following Val home one night after getting off the school bus, chanting “Meat meat, it’s really neat!” over and over. She had walked home pretending to ignore them, but they had come right into her yard. Her dad had been away and her mom had gone to pick up Mr. Beastie at his primary school. Val had gone inside and straight up to her bedroom. She had still heard the annoying chanting, so she went outside on her tree limb to scream at them. As soon as she did, a ton of acorns had suddenly been let loose from Gertrude, raining down on the three boys. She heard them yowling as they were struck many times on their heads, running away from her yard as fast as they could. Since then they had looked at her suspiciously at school, but hadn’t bothered her much.
    As Val struck out for the mailbox on Main Street that Saturday morning to mail some small packages for her mother, she could see Robert Sandler standing on the main downtown corner. He was one of the bully gang, though probably the least offensive of them. When by himself, Robert had actually said hi to Val a few times in the hallway and cafeteria at school. When with his two cohorts, however, he could be a real loser.
    As she got nearer to Main Street, she saw Robert notice her. He immediately stood up straighter and she saw him take off his ball cap and fix his hair before putting his hat back on. She wasn’t afraid if it was just Robert, but what if Brad Wilcox and Danny Wilson were hiding around the corner? Should she turn around and go back home? She continued walking, but remained on high alert.
    “Hi Val,” called out Robert as she neared the corner. He sounded just a bit too cheerful.
    “Hello Robert.”
    “Whatcha doin’?”
    “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m mailing some packages for my mom,” replied Val. She was now alongside Robert, and she didn’t even look at him as she passed by, turning the corner and heading for the mailbox at the general store. Robert turned and began walking with her.
    “Can I ask you something?” asked Robert.
    “Sure, I guess,” said Val.
    “Well, there’s a dance next Friday, and I was wondering if...”
    Val cut him off. “I won’t be going, so no use asking me.”
    “Oh,” was all the boy said, but he sounded so disappointed that Val
stopped walking and turned to him.
    “Robert Sandler! Is it your idea to tease a girl to death and then turn around and ask her to go with you to a dance? I mean, don’t you realize how ridiculous that is?”
    Robert looked sheepish and embarrassed. He didn’t look right at her. “I just thought I’d ask, that’s all. I knew you’d say no.”
    Val suddenly felt sorry for him. “Well of course I’d say no! Look,” she said softly and, she hoped, kindly “maybe if you treated me with a bit more respect I would go with you some other time. You and your friends really get on my nerves some days.”
    “Sorry, Val. When I’m with my friends I always act stupid. I’m not really a bad person, you know.”
    “Maybe that’s true, but I haven’t seen much proof.”
    “Ya, I guess you haven’t. Sorry I asked you, Val. I guess I shouldn’t have.”
    “Actually, Robert, I’m glad you did.”
    “You are?” asked Robert, finally looking up at her.
    “Yes. Maybe now we can start being friends for a change.”
    After her errand Val returned home and went out on her tree limb to practice trombone. She’d only had a few classes in music, but so far really liked the sound and the feel of her instrument. This was her second time bringing it home, but as it had rained last weekend she had practiced indoors. Gertrude had said she liked the sound, too, saying she could feel it right down to her roots.  After about twenty minutes, Val heard her mother calling her from below.  She stopped playing and answered.
    “It’s Mrs. Beeline, our neighbour,” said her mother. “She phoned to say that your trombone practice is disturbing Ferdinand.”  Val was surprised to hear this. Ferdinand lived on the farm next door. He was a gigantic black bull, but was so gentle that Val was allowed to pet him over the fence.
    “How?” asked Val. “What’s he doing?”
    “I guess he’s bucking and kicking and trying to get over here by charging through the fence. Maybe you could take a break for now?”  Both Val and Gertrude were a bit disappointed, but neither of them wanted to upset Ferdinand. 

    “I wonder what I was saying to him?” asked Val out loud.
    “Maybe you were asking him to marry you or something,” joked Gertrude.
    Later that afternoon Val’s mother asked her to play outside for a little while with Mr. Beastie. “He needs to go out and get some exercise,” she had explained.
    Mr. Beastie--his real name was Burdock, but only his teachers sometimes called him that--was Mr. and Mrs. Vervain’s second experiment in child rearing, and the experiment hadn’t been going quite according to plan. Mr. Beastie (usually called Mr. B for short) had proven to be quite a challenge to raise. He had spent an entire year, when he was two, acting like a wild beast of the jungle, only listening to someone when he was called Mr. Beastie. Since then the name had stuck, though frequently shortened now.
    When he was four he had decided to become a dinosaur, but was only allowed to be a brontosaurus, as they were strictly vegetarian. He had eaten more greens at the dinner table that year than ever before. Now that he was six, things had taken another big turn when he had suddenly stopped talking.  For the first while it had been a relief not to hear him bellowing like a giant monster, demanding lettuce leaves and other lush green foods for his dinner, but after a few weeks Mr. and Mrs. Vervain had at last got to the bottom of why he was so quiet. Apparently he had taken up telepathy as his sole means of communication.  He would sit by the hour and try to talk to the fish in their aquarium, or the three pet mice in their cage, simply by sending out thought waves. He would also do this to a family member if they were nearby.  No one seemed able to get him to talk.
    Mrs. Vervain had gotten pretty good at guessing some of the thoughts he was sending, but Val had yet to crack the code. Although she loved her little brother, she found him, at times, somewhat strange.  She led him outside, and suggested they go over to the property fence and see if Ferdinand was still out. The little boy liked this idea, and even Val could guess why. He would likely try to silently talk to the animal. As they neared the fence the bull saw them approach, playfully running over to see them.
    “Hi Ferdinand,” called out Val. “I hear you didn’t much care for my music today.” The huge bull came right up and put his massive head against the fence, and both children obliged him by scratching and roughing him between his eyes.
    “That’s what animals really like, you know,” she said to her little brother. “A good scratching session and some low-voiced talking. Will you say something to him, Mr. B? He’d really like it if you did.”  The boy continued to stare fixedly at the bull.
    “I’m sure he can feel your thoughts,” assured Val, “but he’d much rather hear your voice for a bit.” No response. “Tell you what,” she began. “I’ll make you a deal. If you start talking again, I’ll help you learn telepathy. Dad’s got a book on it, and it’s got exercises we can do. I’d like to learn it too. You don’t have to talk a lot, just a little bit, like at school when you want to answer a question, or when you want to tell mom or dad something. What do you say?  Deal?” The little boy looked up at his big sister.

    “Deal,” he said. 

 

 

Chapter Three : "Dark Mood and Dark Sky" 

 

    Val was sitting in her afternoon music class, feeling quite out of sorts. She
had not been having a great start to her week. In fact her weekend had not
ended that well, either. Her father had not made it home at the promised time,
returning only long after Val’s bedtime. As a result he had still been sleeping
when she got up for school Monday morning, and Mrs. Vervain would not allow
her to wake him. If that hadn’t been enough, Mr. B had bugged her all day
Sunday to practice ESP and telepathy with her. The problem was that the book
she needed was locked in Mr. Vervain’s study. Even though she had a perfectly
good excuse for not helping him, Mr. B had not seen it that way and blamed her
for going back on her promise. Val had left for school Monday morning in a
grouchy mood.
    Of course at lunch she had to look up just as Brad Wilcox was chewing on
a turkey leg, smiling at her and rubbing his stomach. Her best friend Sarah had
jumped in front of her to block any further visual intrusion. Sarah had known that
Val was in a bad mood, and she thought she knew why.
    “It’s your time of the month, isn’t it?” she asked.
Val was wearing one of her veggie tee shirts. This one was green and
brown and said “Give Peas a Chance”.
    “What do you mean?” asked Val.
    “The full moon is coming up, isn’t it? I’ll bet your fangs are growing. Open
your mouth.”  Val opened. “Yup,” confirmed Sarah in a whispered voice, “Gettin’ huge.”
    Sarah was in seventh grade also, but not in all of Val’s classes. They
shared History, Music and Gym (and of course lunch period), but were separated
for the rest of the day. Sarah had long and curly brown hair, deep brown eyes
that seemed to be always smiling, and a laugh that was infectious and usually
got other people laughing too. She could also be quite sarcastic. They had met
in kindergarten, had a fight halfway through the year, then become best friends in
grade one, remaining true to each other since.
Sarah was only one of two friends that knew Valeria was an actual
vampire, and what she had to go through each month to remain vegetarian and
harmless to other people. The other one was ”Rowdy”. His real name was Nick,
short for Nicodemus, but everyone called him Rowdy because he wanted to be a
real cowboy when he grew up. He worshipped an old tv show called “Rawhide”,
and whenever the girls went over to his house, they always had to watch at least
an excerpt from his DVD collection of the complete series.
    He had been best friends with Val and Sarah since kindergarten, too. In
fact, the reason the girls had fought in kindergarten was over Rowdy, when he
had shared a snack with one but not the other. Ever since the girls had made up,
the three had remained loyal friends, always sharing their snacks evenly.
    “So what’s next, then,” said Rowdy. “When do you get your special
medicine?”
    “On the full moon,” answered Val. “It doesn’t have to be then, but my
parents decided that since we have to take it once a month it would be easier to
remember to do it on the full moon. The problem is, my dad’s been away so
much this month I’m not sure he’s even prepared it for this time around.” She
sounded as if she was about to break down and cry.
    “I know you miss your dad a lot,” comforted Sarah. “And I’m sure he’d
rather be home with you guys. It’s too bad, I guess, that he’s so important and
famous.”
    “Ya,” said Rowdy. “But if he wasn’t so smart he wouldn’t have figured out
a way for vampires to stop drinking blood.”
    “Shhh,” hissed Sarah. “Not so loud, goofus. Want everyone to know?”
    “Sorry,” whispered Rowdy.
Music class wasn’t going too well, either. Val’s mouth hurt when she tried
to play her trombone because her incisors were getting longer. Until she took
her special blood-red rose juice formula that her father had devised, the two teeth
would continue to grow, bothering her more each and every day. The music
teacher was understanding, however, and allowed Val to follow along just doing
the positions without blowing on the mouthpiece. He said something about
remembering when his wisdom teeth had come in. Music class wasn’t much fun,
though. Not the same as actually tooting along with her classmates.
After school Val felt a bit better, knowing that she would finally see her
father when she got home. He had been gone for a whole week! She had so
wanted to play her trombone for him yesterday. Now she couldn’t borrow it again
until Friday. By then her teeth would have grown too long to play it. She was
looking forward to the full moon on Saturday, when the family would go up to the
lab and take their medicine. Her teeth would be almost back to normal by
Monday, at least for another month. Sometimes she was even able to forget for
a time that she was a vampire, with a very long and illustrious family history. But
never near a full moon!
    Val walked as quickly as she could from the bus stop at the centre of her
village to her house. Her mother’s car was there, but not her father’s. Where
had he got to now?
    “Mom, where’s Daddy?” she hollered as she entered the lower floor of her
house.
    “Hello to you, too, sweetheart,” her mother called back gently. Val kicked off her shoes and ran upstairs. Her mother was in the kitchen.
    “Sorry, Mom,” said Val as she kissed her mother on the cheek. “But
where is he? He knows I have to see him.”
    “Well, I thought he’d pick you up at school and drive home with you. He
had to go to town to get some things, and he said he’d try to be done in time to
get you at school.” Val groaned. Had she missed him parked outside the school as she had gone to her bus? 

    “I didn’t see him,” she pouted.
    “Then he’ll be home soon. Don’t worry, dear. Go get started on your
homework so when he does get back you’ll have some time together.” Val opened the fridge, poured herself a glass of chocolate soy milk and
headed upstairs to her room to sulk. She had way too much homework, but
didn’t feel like even thinking about it, let alone doing it. She headed straight out
her open sliding door and onto the leafy branch. She could hear thunder in the
distance as she flopped down, her back against Gertrude’s massive trunk.
    “Back so soon?” asked Gertrude. “It seems like you just lef...”
    “Don’t start, Gertrude, please. It’s been a very long day.”
    “Long? It’s barely...”
    “Please, Gertie. I need to think.” Gertrude remained silent, despite her
uneasiness at the incoming weather. Lightning bothered her, as it did any large
and wise tree. Despite Mr. Vervain’s installation of several nearby lightning rods
to protect her, there had been some frightening moments in the past four
centuries. Admittedly she had never been struck directly, proving that the rods
worked perfectly, but it didn’t stop her from being nervous.
    The scowling sky and angry roll of approaching thunder matched Val’s
darkening mood. Why hadn’t her father been home yesterday afternoon when
he said he would? And if he had been to town, why hadn’t he picked her up after
school? She wanted to tell him that her teeth were growing long again. They
seemed to get bigger each month. What if the formula stopped working? Would
she have to stop being vegetarian and drink blood some day? Yuk! The
thought disgusted her so much that she knew she would starve to death rather
than do any such thing.
    A nearby flash of lightning and a sharp, staccato crackle of thunder
brought Val out of her reverie. She picked herself up and headed into her room.
    “Goodbye, Val,” said Gertrude, sounding somewhat forlorn.
    “See you later,” said Val. The rain hit only seconds later. Her mother called frantically from below.
    “Val, come down quickly and help me close up! It’s pouring rain.” The young girl bounded down the twisting staircase, barely protected from
the downpour by the roof above the otherwise open stairs. She checked the
windows on the fourth floor, which held her parents’ bedroom, and Burdock’s,
finding several of them wide open, before heading down one more level to the
main room. By the time she arrived downstairs she was already soaked. Her
mother was just closing the final section of shutters in the living room. A strong
wind had suddenly come up and things had got blown around in the main room.
    “What a day,” thought Val to herself as she helped her mother pick up. “What else could possibly go wrong?”
    The electricity flickered, then a blinding flash of lightning and a nearly
simultaneous crash of thunder occurred, causing Val to scream involuntarily. Just afterwards she heard Gertrude cry out.
    “Help! I’ve been hit by lightning!" 

 

Chapter Four: "The Adventure of the Ten Keys"

    Val wanted to rush outside right away, but it was raining so hard that her mother wouldn’t let her. As soon as it stopped, she went out on the living room balcony, where several large limbs swooped across the shady outdoor family sitting area.

    “Gertrude! Are you all right?” shouted Val.

    “I.... I think so,” replied the frightened but otherwise unharmed tree. “I felt it go right through my roots. I thought my time had finally come.” Val was relieved but not surprised. Getrude the Oak Tree was a bit of a baby, despite her age. Frequently in the past she had said she was sick, either dying from insects or drought or flood or heat or cold or sun or clouds. Val’s father had said she was a hypochondriac. Of course nothing had ever been wrong and the family tree had only succeeded in scaring everyone for awhile.

    It had been a bad storm, and Val knew Gertrude hated them, so she stayed with her outside for a bit until she knew the tree was quite calm and photosynthesizing normally once again.

    Back inside she told her mother it had been another false alarm--the tree     was fine and the storm didn’t do any damage in the yard.

    “Where’s Daddy, by the way?” she asked.

    “He probably waited out the storm somewhere. He’ll be home soon,” said Mrs. Vervain. But he wasn’t. The children and their mother ate dinner alone, and Mrs. Vervain appeared to be getting worried. She had tried his cell number, but there had been no answer.

    Finally, about 8 o’clock in the evening the phone rang. Val was in her room trying to concentrate on her homework. She opened her door and called downstairs. “Is that Daddy?” There was no answer so she headed down. The stairs were still wet from the storm so she walked carefully. Her mother was in the midst of one of those quiet and serious telephone conversations that adults sometimes have. She knew not to interrupt. Finally her mother turned to her. 

     “Here, it’s your father. He wants to speak with you.” She held out the phone to Val.

     “Daddy? Where are you?” Pause. “Serious business? How serious?” Pause. “If I can, sure. Just a minute.” Val reached out for a piece of notepaper and a pencil. “Okay Daddy, go ahead with the instructions.” Val scribbled as she listened.

      “And that’s the key to your lab? No? Oh, I see. Garage...red toolbox...got it. And that’s the key? No? Oh. Your bedroom. Yes. I’ll find it. Is that the key? Oh. The kitchen, okay. Another one? The laundry room? Okay. That’s not it either, I’ll bet.” Pause. “I thought so. The fireplace. Yes, I see the broom. Remember it for later? Okay. Only one more key now? In my room? You’ve hidden one in my room too? And that’s the one for the lab? Finally! Phew!

     “Okay, suppose I’m in the lab, now what?” Pause. “Yes, I know your desk. Locked? More hidden keys? Daddy! This is getting really silly.” Pause. “Sorry. Yes, I’m writing this down. Okay. Yep. I think so. Uh huh. Right. Got it. When am I going to see you?” Pause. “Not till then? Daddy, that’s not fair!” Pause. “Okay, okay. I know. Goodbye. Love you lots, too. I will. Yes, she’s right here.” Val handed the phone back to her mother.

    After the conversation was over, Mrs. Vervain asked Val what all the scribbling and messages were about.

    “Daddy wants me to make up the family formula by myself for Saturday night’s full moon ceremony. He won’t be home till then.”

    “That’s a big responsibility, Val. I know you’ve helped him in the past. Do you think you can do it all by yourself?”

    “Can’t you help me?” Val asked.

    “You must remember I have a really bad allergy to the special lights he uses on his plants. I got really sick when I once went up there. Next time could be even worse. No, I’m afraid I won’t be helping you. Besides, you’re old enough now. If your father thinks you can do it, then I’m sure you can. But what’s with all these notes you wrote down?”

    “Daddy sure has a funny way of keeping his lab locked. I need six keys just to get into it! “

    “Well then, you’d best get started. Have you finished your homework?”

    “Mostly,” said Val, crossing her fingers behind her back. “Just some reading left and I can do it later in bed.”

    “Make sure you do. School work comes first.”

    As Val described it later to Sarah and Rowdy, it was “The Adventure of the Ten Keys”. That was how many keys Val needed to finally get inside her dad’s laboratory and desk drawers. The secret lab was one flight up from Val’s room, and she was only allowed in there when she was with her father. Until tonight. Mr. B. was not old enough to be allowed in, and Mrs. Vervain was allergic to the special grow lights.

    She clutched the hastily written note in her hand as she criss-crossed the house in search of the next key. The first one had been easy. It was taped to the inside of the lid of Mr. Vervain’s big red toolbox that he kept in the garage. Except, of course, there were no tools in it. It was filled with rocks he had collected over the centuries from various places in the world.

    With the first key in her hand she had proceeded up to the fourth floor and into her parents' bedroom. She went over to the lamp on the table on her mother’s side of the big bed. Taped underneath was the second key. Because her mother was so sensitive to light, she had a special light bulb in it that didn’t burn her like normal ones did. Being vampires, the entire family was extremely sensitive to sunlight, but Mrs. Vervain had concocted a secret skin cream using certain plants that they all needed to apply to their skin whenever they were in bright sunlight for more than a few minutes. It looked just like a sunblock, but only it blocked everything. As a result the family skin tone was quite pale.

    Clutching two keys, Val exited the room. She consulted her notepaper then headed down to the kitchen. The phone rang just as she opened the freezer. It was Sarah.

    “Hi Val, just thought I’d call and see how you’re feeling.”

    “Thanks, Sarah. I’m fine now.”

    “Teeth bothering you?”

    “Nah. I’m used to it now.”

    “What would happen if you didn’t take your formula?” asked her friend. “Would you have to bite somebody or something?”

    “Yuck. I’m a vegetarian, remember? No, I’d probably just get real sick. Hey, guess what?”

    “What?” asked Sarah.

    “My dad had to leave again. I never even saw him.”

    “That really sucks,” said Sarah.

    “Don’t use that expression, Sarah. You know I hate it, and you know why.”

    “Sorry Val, I forgot. You were really looking forward to seeing your dad.”

    “I know,” replied Val.

    “So what happened? Where’d he go?”  Val cupped her hand over the phone and spoke very softly. 

    “I don’t really know, but something big is going on, and I don’t think it’s a good thing. I heard a bit when Mom was talking to him. I think he’s in trouble or something. Sounds like he’s going to hide out for awhile.”

    “Wow,” said Sarah. “Do you think he bit someone?”

    “Sarah! Stop it with the biting, will you?”

    “Sor-ree. You guys are vampires, after all. And I’m your best friend, so you can tell me.”

    “No biting. Honest. I think it has something to do with some scientific discovery he made.”

    “Maybe somebody’s after him for it, like real James Bond stuff,” said Sarah, sounding interested.

    “Ya, maybe. But guess what? Because he’s not going to be home, I have to make up the formula for Saturday night by myself. I’m just trying to get into my dad’s lab now. You wouldn’t believe it.”

    “That reminds me. That’s why I called. Can you come over to my house tomorrow night? We really need to work on our school science fair project.”

    “And I was going to ask you to come over and help me make the formula,” said Val.

    “Hey, that’d be cool. I’ve never been up to your father’s lab. If I came, maybe we could work on a science project, too.”

    “Okay, ask your mom if you can come home with me tomorrow after school. You’ll need special permission to take the bus with me.”

    “I get sick on the bus. No, you walk home with me after school, then we’ll get my mom to drive us to your house. Can your mom drive me home later?”

    “Sure. I’ll ask, but I know she will,” said Val.

    “Okay then, see ya tomorrow,” said Sarah.

    “Bye,” said Val. 

 

 

Chapter Five: "Veggie Lasagna"

 

“Is it my imagination, or has Robert Sandler being paying you more attention lately?” Sarah asked the question over lunch at the school cafeteria. Rowdy had not yet arrived.

    “I hadn’t really noticed,” said Val, trying to act uninterested.

    “Well, you’re going to notice now, because he’s heading over here with his food tray,” said Sarah.

    “Omigod!” said Val. “Help! Get me outta here!”

    “Hi Val; hi Sarah. Mind if I join you for lunch?” asked Robert. Sarah nearly choked on her salad but recovered quickly. 

    “We most certainly do,” she spoke out indignantly. “We’re having a private converstation.” Val giggled and Robert smiled. “I meant conservation--I mean conversation! There, I finally said it.” Then even Sarah grinned.

     “Sure, sit down, Robert,” invited Val. “What brings you over to this side of the cafeteria?”

    “Just thought I’d join you for lunch. Different people, different con-ver-sa-tion.” He said the word slowly, desperately wanting to get it right. “You know.” Robert was a very cute boy, with sandy blond hair and blue-green eyes. He was on the tall side, but slim. He could be very serious at times, though his ability to get into trouble was quite well-known. So far he had managed to get himself removed from class only once this term, for laughing too loud when the teacher was talking. Val had noticed the improvement in his manners, and was somewhat impressed.

    She was even more surprised when she looked over at his food tray. He had selected the vegetarian lasagna and salad instead of his usual pepperoni pizza or burger.

    “So where was the third key?” asked Sarah. Val had been telling her the Adventure of the Keys before they had noticed Robert heading their way. 

    “I’ll finish telling you later. It was in the freezer, taped to the bottom of a very old banana loaf.” Val turned to Robert. “The lasagna is really good. It’s got lots of garlic.”

    “Garlic?” queried Sarah. “Val, you can’t eat garlic, you’re a vamp....” Both girls suddenly stopped eating and looked at each other. “I mean, you know that garlic makes you real sick.”

    “It’s okay, Sarah. I love garlic, and I can eat all I want.”

    “Even this time of the month?” pushed Sarah.

    “Even then. Say, Robert, you’re not eating yours. Why not?”

    “Not very hungry, I guess,” said the boy.  Just then Brad Wilcox shouted to him from another table. 

    “Hey Sandler, hurry up, your burger’s gettin’ cold!” Val looked at Robert.     “Your burger? Robert Sandler, did you just take this veggie lunch to impress me? Is your real lunch over there with Brad and Danny?”  Robert looked hurt and crestfallen. 

    “No, Val, honest. I wanted to try this stuff. It’s just that once I got it I didn’t feel much like eating. I wanted to ask you something and I’m sorta nervous.”

    “What?” asked Val, rather sharply. “Is there another dance you want to ask me about?” 

    “Kinda,” said Robert.

   “Kinda?” repeated Val. “Is there a dance or isn’t there?”

    “Well,” began Robert, but he was interrupted once again by his friend a few tables away.

    “Hey Rob, are ya gonna kiss her soon? We can’t wait all day!”

    “How rude!” said Sarah, turning around and glaring at Brad.

    “I think I better go now,” said Robert, “before Danny really says something dumb. Sorry to bother you girls. See ya later, Val.” He stood up as if to leave.

    “Robert Sandler, you sit down this minute” ordered Valeria, “and ask me what you were going to ask. Don’t pay any attention to Danny. He’s a creep.”

    “Okay, okay,” said Robert, sitting back down. “Well, you know how tomorrow in gym class we’re starting partner dancing?”

    “Yes,” said Val. “Ballroom dancing is first, I believe.”

    “Well, I wondered if you’d be my partner, that’s all. I know you won’t, so don’t get mad at me for asking.”

    “I’m not getting mad. I think it’s sweet that you would ask me. And I won’t necessarily say no.”

    “You won’t?” asked Robert.

    “You won’t?” asked Sarah.

    “No, I won’t,” replied Val. “But here’s the thing. You have a whole tray of perfectly good food in front of you that is not going to get wasted. So you sit here and eat it all and I’ll be your dance partner.”

    “You will?” asked Robert.

    “You will?” asked Sarah.

    “Yes, I will,” replied Val.

    “Actually,” said Robert with a huge grin, “I’m really hungry all of a sudden!”

    “Val, sometimes I think you are the craziest person in the whole world. Letting Robert Sandler dance with you in gym tomorrow? That’s just wrong.” The girls were walking to Sarah’s house after school. She lived close enough to the school that she could sleep almost an hour longer every morning than Val, who had a long ride on the bus.

    “Maybe so, but I do like Robert. I think we can win him away from those so-called friends of his. Sarah, imagine if he was on our side!”

    “So you’re building an army now?” asked Sarah.

    “I just think he’d make a good friend, that’s all.”

    “And I think it’ll backfire, then he’ll be even meaner to you.”

    “Maybe, but I think it’s worth a try.”

  "I’m sorry I almost called you a vampire in front of him. Probably not something he should know about on your first date.”

    “It’s not a date. It’s gym class. And it’s okay--I don’t think he understood what we were talking about.”

    “Still, he asked if he could eat lunch with you again tomorrow.” Val smiled.      “The veggie entree is eggplant parmesan, with non-dairy cheese! Let’s see how he does with that.”

    “You’re trying to make Robert a vegetarian?” asked Sarah, astounded.

    “Saving the planet one person at a time,” laughed Val.

    “Okay,” said Sarah, summarizing. The girls were now at Val’s house, having been driven there by Sarah’s mom. “The first key was in an old toolbox in the garage.” 

    “Correct,” affirmed Val.

    “And the second was under your mom’s bedside lamp?”

    “Correct again.”

    “And, hmm, let’s see....the third was in the freezer, in a freezer bag with some wacky tabacky.”

    “Sarah, it was a special herbed banana loaf my Mom uses for one of her medicines. It’s NOT marijuana. Jeez!”

    “Okie dokie. Key #4 was outside in the garden, if I’m not mistaken.”

    “Well you are. That was #5, under the gnome in the begonia bed. That was the hardest one to find. There are so many gnomes out there, mostly overgrown now.”

    “Was that one of the real Gnomes that got turned to stone a long time ago by an evil forest fairy?”

    “The very same,” answered Val. “Dad found them and kept them, hoping someday to reverse the spell and free them.”

    “Freaky. Where was key #4 then?” asked Sarah.

    “Inside an almost-empty shampoo bottle in the bathroom closet. It was a brand no one used anymore, so it was a pretty safe place.”

    “Right. No one ever throws out nearly-empty shampoo bottles. And the last key was in your room, wasn’t it?”

    “Can you imagine? My own father going into my bedroom and hiding a key there? It was in my favourite stuffed animal, my turtle! Sewn just inside one of his paws. I didn’t even know my dad could sew!”

    “Well,” commented Sarah, “he was a bachelor for at least a hundred years.”

   The girls had now made their way up to the sixth floor of the Vervain house, and stood outside the door of their father’s laboratory. They were staring at one of the most complicated locking mechanisms they could have ever imagined. Instead of just an old-fashioned keyhole like the other locks in the house, this door had a padlock built into it just below the ancient handle. The padlock had six holes in it, obviously for the six keys Val now had in her hands. All the keys looked alike, and much to the girls’ initial delight, each one fit snugly into any of the holes.

    It didn’t take long to realize, however, that opening the door wasn’t going to be as simple as placing any old key into any old hole. No sir. Val’s father wasn’t going to let something that uncomplicated happen. Val groaned as she realized the enormity of her task. They would have to figure out which key combination would be the one to open the lock.

    “Well,” said Sarah hopefully. “He explained it to you in a certain order, so perhaps the order he made you find them is the correct one.”

    “Undoubtedly,” said Val in a droopy voice. “Only I’ve mixed them all up, and can’t remember which one is which.”

Chapter Six: "The Crimson Star" 

    The ballroom dancing gym class was not going well, and Valeria was growing impatient and short-tempered. Robert, despite his best intentions and efforts, was proving to be less than a natural talent when it came to fancy footwork. Val had been kicked and stepped on more times than she wished to remember.

    Sarah and Rowdy, meanwhile, were dancing up a storm, as were many other classmates. Robert had been shown the steps by the teacher several times. When following the steps slowly, he seemed to be getting it. However, as soon as Val stepped up to dance with him, he just lost it! She had asked him if he was nervous.

“No,” had been the reply. “Not especially. Well, maybe a little bit.”

    Robert was good at sports, so Val just couldn’t make sense of it. Nor had she and Sarah made sense of that lock with the six keyholes last evening at her house. The two girls had wasted their entire time together trying to unlock Mr. Vervain’s laboratory door. No matter which way they arranged the keys, nothing seemed to work.

    They had written down a plan to try every possible combination of keys into keyholes, but somehow had managed to miss the one combination that would unlock the door. It had been so frustrating! They hadn’t even managed to start on their science fair project, the deadline of which was fast approaching. Val had been so upset by the time Sarah had to leave that she had not been able to get to sleep that night until nearly 5:00 am. Getting up in the morning for her 7:30 am school bus had not improved her mood much.

    Why had her father made things so complicated? And why hadn’t he told her in which order to insert the keys? Or at least numbered the keys for her, since she had known the order, but had realized it only too late after mixing them all up in her pocket. She knew that she had to get into the lab this next night, or else she wouldn’t be ready for Saturday’s full moon. It took three days to make the formula.

    Her lengthening teeth ached and her brain felt numb as she tried for the hundredth time to teach Robert the six steps to the Jive. The Tango had been a hopeless mess. She could try to nap at home after school so she could have some energy later. Robert knew the steps perfectly when they went through them slowly, but as soon as she tried to get him to move to the music his mind went blank. She told him she was ready to give up.

    “I don’t blame you, Val,” said Robert. “You know, it’s really weird, but it’s as if someone else is controlling my legs. I try to get them to move, but I feel like a puppet. Watch my feet. I keep doing it the same way each time. My steps are there, but all out of order. It’s freaking me out!”  Robert demonstrated. 

    You’re taking the third step first,” said Val. “Then one and two. Do it again. Three, one, two, four, six, five. Three-one-two, four-six-five” she said, in rhythm to the dance. “Totally bizarre, Robert. Let’s take a break for a few minutes. I don’t feel so good and I’d like to sit down.”

    They went over to a bench and sat, watching the mostly graceful moves of the other students. They sat in silence, Robert feeling embarrassed and Val just plain tired. The instructor came over to see them, not surprised Val had had enough. The teacher had never seen anyone quite so un-dancey as Robert.

    The rest of Val’s school day was mostly a struggle to stay awake, and she finally lost the battle on the bus ride home. All of a sudden she was awakened by the bus driver shaking her by the shoulders. 

    “End of the line, sweetie”, said Mrs. Beetroot. “Time to rise and shine, poor thing. You shouldn’t stay up all night watching television, you know.”  Val stumbled home, barely aware of where she was.

When she awoke in her own bed from her after-school nap, it was already getting dark outside. She looked at her clock. She had slept over four hours! She headed downstairs. Her mother was at the computer, typing away. “Hi Val. How are you feeling?”

    “I thought I asked you to wake me in an hour,” said Val, irritably. “It’s after seven!”

    “I know, dear. But you looked so tired, and when I went into your room you were sleeping so soundly. I just felt that I couldn’t wake you, so I let you sleep.”

    “But I have to work on the formula!”

    “Yes, but you wouldn’t get far without some sleep. There’s some borscht soup in the fridge. Perfect for this time of month. Of course I’ve added a few special supplements to help keep us balanced. Heat some up, then let’s have a good think together about how to get that lock open.”

    Val was sullen but feeling too foggy to argue any longer. She headed down to the kitchen.

    “So you don’t remember any dreams or anything like that?” Mrs. Vervain was trying to coax information out of Valeria. “Sometimes we solve our problems during sleep, another reason I let you go longer.”

    “No. I don’t remember any dreams. I slept like a log.” Val was thinking a little clearer after eating her red beet soup.

    “Hmm. Did anything unusual happen at school today? Anything with the number six, perchance? Maybe in Math class?”

    “No. Nothing with number si....hey, wait a minute!” She excitedly told her mother about the dance class, and how Robert had kept repeating a bizarre series of footsteps. “Look at the bruises on my feet!” she exclaimed. “Do you think that had anything to do with it?”

    “I don’t see how it could,” said her mother. “But you never know. Your father works in mysterious ways. Do you remember the order of Robert’s steps?” Val repeated the order, surprised she could even remember. “Three-one-two, four-six-five.”

    “There you go!” said her mother triumphantly. “Put a key in hole number three first, then two and so on. You’ll be in the lab in no time.”

    Valeria hugged her mother and bolted for the stairs, making a mental note to thank Robert tomorrow for his clumsy dancing. She nearly knocked over Mr. B, who was just coming down. “Hey Val, what about my ESP practice?”

    “If I get into Dad’s lab, we’ll do some tonight, I promise. I told you, that’s where that book is. I’m going to try again right now. I think I’ve got the secret code to open that door at last!” Needless to say, it worked like a charm! In the end it didn’t matter which key was used, but they had to be placed in the two rows of keyholes in that specific order. Val was overjoyed to finally get into the lab. She hadn’t been up here in quite some time, so she spent a few moments looking around.

    From the outside, the lab looked like a rectangular room, measuring twelve feet by twenty feet. Inside, however, was a different story. For inside the room it was a very large multi-sided affair, a polygon, with nearly triple the volume of the original room. Her father had got the idea from an old science fiction television show called “The
Doctor”, or something like that.

    “Why didn’t I think of this decades ago?” he had exclaimed to Mrs. Vervain back in 1963, when the show had first aired. He and Uncle Aloysius had soon devised a means of stretching out a room on the inside, but from the outside everything still looked the same. “Perfect solution to eliminate clutter,” he had announced triumphantly when it was done. The last extension had been several years ago, and by the look of the place today, it was ready for another one.

    Upon entering the lab, her father’s desk could be seen to the left, buried beneath papers, magazines and journals. Unlike most scientists, Mr. Vervain actually read everything he acquired. He could read a large book in an hour, having perfected the art late in the 15th Century, after studying from very learned men at various monasteries. Reading was one pastime of which her father never tired.

    To the right of the desk was the first of numerous bookshelves that lined the many walls. On her right were her father’s plants, growing beneath scientifically designed lights in specially nurtured soils. The table of roses was her main concern, and she walked over to see them up close. Before ever having seen her father’s superb creations, Val had thought she had had a good understanding of the colour red. When she was ten years old, her father had first admitted her to the lab. When, after a brief tour of the room, he had led her to his table of red roses, she had gasped in disbelief at their appearance. Even today, after having seen the roses many times since, she was still left breathless by their beauty and rich red colour. They seemed to glow from within, and the more one looked into the center of the flower, the redder it got! She had never seen anything so red until one cold and very dark winter night, when Mr. Vervain had led her up to the seventh and final floor of the house. The professor had an observatory up there with a sliding domed roof that housed a 6” bronze refracting telescope, a gift from a grateful nobleman back in 1877.

    After Mr. Vervain had shown her the majestic Great Orion Nebula through the grand and flawless instrument, he had lowered the big telescope to beneath the Hunter’s feet, where the constellation Lepus the Hare was located. He had searched the heavens at the eyepiece for a few minutes before finally exclaiming “Aha, there it is! What a beauty! Val, come and see Hind’s Crimson Star, so red it has been described as a drop of blood.”

    Val had peered through the eyepiece, and for a few seconds saw nothing unusual. Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, she could see the star, a deeper red than anything she had ever seen before. It had left her amazed and enthralled, speechless in fact. Later, she had written several poems about that unique star’s unusual beauty, and had lain awake on many a winter’s night, thinking about it up there in the heavens. Her father had said that when he had first seen it back in the 1870s and through that same telescope (then housed in a European nobleman’s observatory), he had known at that very moment what he had to do.

    He had begun his serious studies of Botany and Biology immediately, and after great amounts of research and much trial and error, had begun to develop the blood-red roses that would one day lead to his great breakthrough, allowing vampires who were willing and strong enough of heart to escape their curse and be cured of its evil ritual forever. In fact the nutrients in the plant proved to be so good for you that flesh and blood of any kind was no longer required as food. Vampire after vampire had tried Mr. Vervain’s cure and some had soon become not only vegetarian, but very healthy too!

    Of course there had been setbacks, including the great vampire rebellions of 1903 and 1972, not to mention the lesser uprisings in 1926 and 1954. Entire families did not want to be cured, saying there was nothing wrong with biting people and sucking their blood in the first place. Who was this mad upstart scientist anyway, they would say, thinking he could upset such a great and noble tradition? Val had heard all the gross details from her mom and dad. As a result, there were still a good number of vampires left in the world who lived the old-fashioned yucky way, even a few of her own relatives. To think that she even had a boy cousin her own age in this very country who lived like that! She hoped she never had to meet him.

    After assuring herself that the roses were in perfect condition, Val turned and walked over to the desk. Her father kept his notebook in a secret compartment in the top centre drawer. She yanked on the drawer, but it wouldn’t open. She yanked again. It was locked! 

 

to be continued....