The Little Vampire That Could Not

“What?!”

“If I come back with a familiar, then grandfather will have to accept me!” She folded her arms and nodded her head over and over again. “Yes, that’s it!”

“You’re crazy, aren’t you?” Sunata turned on his heels and started walking away. “I’m not going to be your familiar. Just keep it down.”

As he left, Yukari leaped forward, grabbing onto his arm. “Pretty please!”

“Hey! Let go you weirdo!”

“Pretty please with garlic on top!”

“Can’t vampire not eat garlic?”

“It smells nice!”

And then, Yukari sunk her teeth into Sunata’s arm.

“OW! My teeth!” Yukari released Sunata and plopped down on her beet. She rubbed her mouth as her eyes watered. “It hurts~”

Sunata’s felt the pounding his head from earlier return. “What kind of vampire are you?”

With a flick of her cape, Yukari stood up, smiling proudly. “The number one vampire!”

“You’re the number one something, alright.” Sunata got ready to leave again, only for Yukari to once again grab his arm. “What now?”

“Please help me!” She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “At least help me scare people!”

“That’s not going to work on me. All it does is make me think you’re an even bigger weirdo.” Sunata tried to shake her off, but she held firm. If he tried a bit harder he was sure he could’ve knocked her off again, but as irritated as he was, he didn’t actually want to hurt the girl or anything.

“If you don’t help me, then I’ll make even more noise! I’ll do it for the whole night and dawn! I’ll do it tomorrow too! And the day after! And the day after that!”

Sunata’s eyes twitched at Yukari’s threat. The thought of her continuing her incessant wailing for days to come…What an absolute nightmare.

“Alright, fine!” Sunata finally gave in with a loud groan. “Just get off of me already.”

Yukari released his arm and threw her hands up in the air. “Yay!”

The night sky had gotten darker and the moon was coming out from behind the thick clouds. Sunata sighed as he watched the moon. He should be in his room finishing his homework or resting right now. Time to get this done quick.

“Alright,” Sunata said. “If we’re going to do this, we need to try and make you as scary as possible.”

“Fudge and brownies!” Yukari shouted before holding cape over her mouth. “I’m already as scary as can be! I’m the ultimate vampire!”

“Okay, Ms. Ultimate Vampire.” Sunata leaned down and stared at her. “Then, why do you keep failing.”

“This town ‘tis a tough one.”

Sunata chopped Yukari lightly on the head and she quivered in response. “Quit talking like that.”

“Meanie…”

“Weirdo.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. Then, he grabbed the cat ears on her head and yanked them off. “First order of business. Get rid of these. They’re not helping your case at all!”

“But they’re my favorite!” Yukari jumped and reached up fro the cat ears while Sunata held them high above his head.

“If you want to scare anybody, then they need to go.”

“Fine…” Yukari sulked as she pulled out a bag from inside her cape.

“What’s in that bag?” Sunata asked.

“Just some things I got from the people in the neighborhood I tried to scare.”

“Man, everyone could tell how bad you were, huh?”

“Shush!”

Yukari dug through her bag and pulled out several pieces of candy, some coins, wristbands, a can of tomato juice, and a few different masks. She took a sip of the tomato juice and sighed in delight, letting the juice slip down her mouth like drool.

“Mmm. Yummy!”

“Could you focus please?”

“I was thirsty!” Yukari yelled back, gripping the can tightly to her chest.

“Alright, what have you got here?” Sunata took a look at everything and picked up one of the masks. A black scaly mask with two horns on the side and a sharp jaw. “A dragon mask, huh? This might work.”

Sunata handed Yukari the mask. “Here. Put it on.”

Yukari took the mask and wrapped it around her face. “Hehehe. I am now the vampire dragon, Dragula!”

“Okay, give it back.”

“No! I don’t wanna!” Yukari quickly turned away, clutching the mask tightly.

“Then quit being an idiot.” Sunata sighed. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

“Okay!” Yukari trotted behind him as they started walking.

Sunata heard shuffling sounds behind him. He turned around to see that Yukari had pulled out another set of cat ears from her bag. “Seriously?! How many of those do you have?!”

With a beaming smile, Yukari replied, “A bunch!”

The two of them soon made their way over to one of the houses in the neighborhood. It was decorated with a punch of pumpkins and bats on the windows. A jack-o-lantern with glowing eyes sat on top of a toy horse at the front of the porch.

The house belonged to an old lady in the neighborhood, Ms. Horika. She and Sunata’s mom got along really well before she passed away. Ms. Horika used to always come and visit them, but she stopped a little while after her death.

Sunata was sure that his grandfather had something to do with it, so he didn’t hold anything against her. In fact, he even now, he had a bit of a soft spot for her. He remembered she was pretty easily scared though, so this could be a good chance for Yukari.

“You remember the plan?” Sunata asked Yukari.

She smirked, holding two fingers in front of her eyes. “You bet I do!”

“Alright…”

Sunata rang the doorbell and ran over to go hide behind a tree while Yukari hurried over to the corner of the house.

The door opened as an elderly woman walked out. She had gray hair neatly tied into a bun and glasses hanging around her neck. “I’ve still got plenty of candy left. Would you like some?” She looked down, realizing nobody was there. She put a hand over her forehead and searched her surroundings.

“Hm? Hello? Anybody there?” She picked up her glasses dabbing them with her shirt before putting them on. “Huh? Well, isn’t that strange.”

“BOO!” Yukari leaped out from around the corner. “Beware!”

Ms. Horika stepped back a bit. Then, she started to giggle. “Aw, well, aren’t you just the cutest little dragon ever.” She patted Yukari on the head.

“I’m not cute! I’m a vampire dragon!”

“Vampire dragon?” Ms. Horika put a finger to her lips as she studied Yukari’s costume. Then, she pointed at the top of her head. “But you have cat ears, Dear.”

“I like the cat ears!”

Ms. Horika laughed again and handed Yukari a handful of candy. “Well, it’s definitely a first for me. I think your costume is very lovely.”

Yukari took off her mask and immediately stuffed the candy into her mouth. “Thanks Miss!”

Waving goodbye, Ms. Horika closed her door as Yukari skipped over to Sunata. She beamed at him, her lips covered in chocolate. “I did it!”

“Like hell you did!”

Yukari titled her head. “What was I supposed to do again?”

Slapping her his hand against his face, Sunata let out a loud groan. “This is going to be a long night.” He took one of the candies from her bag and threw into his mouth.

“Hey, don’t eat that! It’s mine!”

“I’m taking my payment,” Sunata said as he walked off. Yukari quickly followed behind him.

The next house they stopped by belonged to Sunata’s childhood friend, Mimi. Mimi, like Ms. Horika was also pretty easily scared. But unlike Ms. Horika, it was so bad for her that she actively avoided Halloween, horror movies, or anything else of the like. There wasn’t a bigger scaredy cat than Mimi.

“Remember, just act as natural as possible. And then drop the hammer on her. And this time, I’m staying with you.” Sunata finished going over the new plan with Yukari as he handed her a different mask.

This mask was of a screaming ghost and even made Sunata bit uncomfortable. Surely, this should work. It was kind of a cheap tactic, but stuff like this always worked on Mimi in spades.

Yukari nodded and held the mask behind her back. Sunata rung the doorbell.

Mimi opened the door and smiled brightly as she saw Sunata. She had long glossy black hair past her shoulders and kind blue eyes. “Oh, Sunata? What are you doing out? I thought you hated Halloween?”

“I do, but I’m helping my little…friend…here.” Sunata sighed. “Are your parents home? They’re still giving out candy, right?”

“Yeah. They’re just resting on the couch,” Mimi said.

“Can you go them for us?”

“Sure!” Mimi turned around and just as she did that, Yukari put on the mask.

“Sticky Feet!” Yukari shouted holding out her bag.

Turning back around, Mimi stared down at Yukari. She jumped back, clasping her hands over her mouth. “Oh my gosh!”

“It’s trick or treat, you idiot!” Sunata scolded Yukari.

“That cape is so neat!” Mimi ran her fingers across the fabric, completely enamored with it. “Did you make it yourself.”

“Hehehe.” Placing her hands on her hips, Yukari thrust out her chest. Then, she flashed her bandaged hand in front of her face. “This is the insignia of a master.”

“It’s the insignia of a moron.” Sunata rolled his eyes.

“You’ll have to make one for me, sometime.” Mimi said, taking Yukari’s hands in hers. “What’s your name again?”

“I’m Yukari, the number one vampire!”

“Nice to meet you, Yukari. I’m Mimi.” Mimi kept shaking her hands with a smile. “I have to go back inside now, but I can’t wait to talk to you again!”

“Thanks, Mimi!”