Home Safe

The rain was starting to let up by the time Rohit left work. “How many more Friday nights do I have?” he wondered to himself on the way out, as he pulled out his phone. He opened the calendar application and saw that he had two more until he was able to quit for good at the end of the month. It was something Rohit planned at the beginning of the summer, and he generously let his manager know that the seventh month of July was going to be his last. It was just so he could focus on finishing his semesters and also get his writing career on track, since he had some fairly decent gigs going on remotely. The company had been pretty lenient and understanding of his goals, so giving them a month and a half’s notice was very generous of the young man. Since they treated him well, he returned the favor with hard work and consideration in his waning days.

Rohit looked over his shoulder in the light rainfall, hoping his coworker wasn’t following him out of habit, and let out a sigh of relief upon noticing no one there. He entered his car and saw Ingrid laying across the trash bag, fast asleep.

Her skin and lips were showing a healthier color, as her blonde hair combed over her head to the other side, while she slept on it. She looked like a normal, young woman. No one would ever think she was a vampire.

Rohit was reluctant to wake her up, but decided to gently call out to her, because he needed to know if there was a place he could take her to, and needed to know what other information she was going to disclose to him.

She slowly blinked and sat up, before instinctively crawling to the passenger seat.

Rohit didn’t say anything at first, letting her settle herself in, while he started the car and placed his backpack in the back seat. Her clothes appeared to be dry enough, but were still damp, so he wasn’t too worried anymore.

“How was work?” she asked, rubbing her eyes, and extending her fingers to stretch them out.

“Uh, good,” he replied awkwardly, before bluntly asking, “So is there like a place you need to go to hide out? Or some kind of forest to mask your trail?” from his assumptions about vampires he’s seen in popular culture.

She grinned, but shook her head. “That’s not how it works,” she clarified. “But there are ways for me to get to the vampire realm…”

Rohit’s eyebrows shot up upon hearing that, and queried what she was referring to, just as he was beginning to drive out.

“Just a parallel world for us to inhabit…” Ingrid vaguely expressed, before pursing her lips.

When Rohit glanced over at her after her voice trailed off, he noticed she didn’t want to talk more about it for some reason. He then boldly addressed the elephant in the room. “… So I guess you’ll be staying with me then…?”

Ingrid flinched, then nodded, while keeping her gaze cast down to the car mat like she was shameful of the fact, and apologized. “There’s nowhere for me to go right now…” she muttered. “So thank you for this, Rohit...”

The young man flexed his cheeks and agreed to make accommodations for her, but there’d have to be some ground rules in place.

“Of course!” Ingrid quickly agreed. “I’ll offer to help around the house if it means I’ll be able to pay back my debt somehow.”

Rohit stepped on the brakes abruptly at the red light when she said that, and looked over at her with uncertainty, as he frowned.

“Is there a problem?” she wondered during the silence.

The young man sighed and explained his home situation. He still lived with his parents and brother, and if he were to bring Ingrid around, that’d certainly raise some concerns, so he planned to keep her a secret. “I can’t bring just anybody home and have a place for them to lodge in the long run,” he explained. “You’d literally have to be living out of sight…” Rohit flexed his cheeks, thinking, ‘Damn, I hadn’t even thought of that. How am I gonna explain someone coming over to the house like that? Especially a vampire!’ The light turned green, and Rohit eased his foot off the brake, and slowly let his car go. He actually lived a few blocks down the street from Royal Hens Convenience Store, but was intentionally taking his time to drive back, while he figured everything out from Ingrid. Fortunately there were no cars on the road, so Rohit could drive as modest as he wanted to. Even when he returned home, he was most likely going to circle around the block until a compromise was reached.

‘Mom should be taking dad to dialysis right now,’ he continued thinking, ‘so this buys me about fifteen minutes...’

“I promise I won’t be a bother,” Ingrid chimed him out of his thoughts. “I’ll do what you say and lay low.” She then reached for Rohit’s free right hand resting on the gearshift, as his left continued to steer the car.

The warmth of her hand made him flinch, as she applied some pressure to his.

It was partially this gesture that encouraged Rohit to make an ultimatum that would change his life forever. Another part of him had already taken the initiative to see what he could do to help Ingrid out.

The vampire heiress was delighted to know that she’ll be able to stay with Rohit, and thanked him for it. “I promise I won’t be a burden.”

The young man still had his doubts, but let it be for the time being. Right now, the most important thing was getting back home and staying out of sight.

They soon pulled up, and Rohit noticed his mom’s car wasn’t there. The only cars in his driveway were his, another car that he and his brother shared, and his dad’s work van. He exhaled with relief and instructed the young woman shat she had to follow his every move.

She nodded. “Got it, I’ll be as quiet as a mouse,” she replied, enthusiastically.

‘Rajesh should be sleeping downstairs still,’ he recalled his brother living in the basement, ‘so I won’t have to worry about him coming up this early on a Saturday morning.’

They hurriedly made their way inside through the back door, leading into the kitchen.

She followed Rohit’s typical procedure upon returning home, consisting of washing his hands, and removing his shoes. Ingrid followed suit, and proceeded to unlace her boots, but he told her she could just walk in it for now.

She didn’t argue, as to not hold the pair up, and followed the young man’s exact steps into the slightly dark living room, and eventually through a narrow corridor, where his bedroom, his parents’ bedroom, and a bathroom made up that side of the ranch-style home.

They entered Rohit’s small room in between the other two, and shut the door behind them. For now, they were safe.