Chapter Text
It was early Monday morning when the Casper high freshmen had gym class. Wes was currently sitting on one bleachers with his twin brother Kyle as they waited for coach Tetslaff to announce what they were going to be doing today.
Wes hoped they’d be playing basketball today; it was his favorite sport after all. And Wes spent all of summer wearing his dad down to let him try out for the team. He relented right before school started and Wes made it onto the team with ease.
Despite joining a sports team Wes hadn’t made any friends yet, he blamed the fact that he and Kyle had been homeschooled for their entire life. Wes didn’t have bad social skills or anything, at least he didn’t think he did. But most people at Casper High attended one of the nearby middle schools so they already knew people when August came around.
At first it didn’t bother Wes that he was an outsider. He kept telling himself that in time he’d find other teens to hang out with, but that time hadn’t come yet, and he was starting to worry it never would. At least he wasn’t alone in his misery. Kyle didn’t have any friends either, but Kyle didn’t care about that. He was content to play video games on his laptop without a care in the world. Couldn’t be Wes though.
“Man, what’s taking Ms. Teslaff so long anyways?” His brother asked while he leaned back, clearly bored out of his mind. “I don’t even like P.E but even I’d rather be doing something than sitting here staring up at the ceiling." Wes completely agreed he was just as bored as his fraternal twin was. "Doesn’t help that we can’t bring our phones to gym, cause now there’s nothing to entertain me.”
“I don’t know.” Wes replied. He looked to where Ms. Teslaff was standing. She was busy talking to a school administrator. “I’m gonna listen in to their conversation, see what’s going on.”
“Dude eavesdropping is not cool.” Kyle said.
“Shut it.” Wes said before he strained to listen in to their conversation. “Looks like a student was hospitalized recently and they just came back today. Ms. Teslaff is trying to figure out if he’s well enough to participate in P.E.”
“Hospitalized? What for?” Kyle asked vaguely interested.
“I don’t know.” Was said. But he wanted to find out. He wasn’t noisy or anything. Okay so maybe he was. But he was bored out of his mind and needed entertainment so cut him some slack.
Wes took a glance at the newly returned student. He saw him before they had the same English teacher, but he never caught his name. Anyways, the boy was pale, really pale like he was severely anemic or something. And there were dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept in days. His eyes themselves were frightening to look at, they were wide and constantly scanning around the gym in fear, as if some assailant was going to come after him. Whatever happened it must have been traumatic for him.
He wasn't standing alone though, next to him were two other kids from their English class. A goth girl and a tech geek that Wes also didn't know the names of. From the snippets of conversation that he could hear the friends named Sam and Tucker (apparently) were trying to reassure Danny (apparently) that he’d be okay and that no one would find out about the lingering effects of his accident.
Lingering effects? If this kid ended up with a disability, Wes thought he should disclose that, so he doesn’t end up getting hurt playing sports. There’s no shame in trying to avoid further injuries.
“Alright kids listen up.” Teslaff called out as she blew on her whistle. Wes and Kyle immediately covered their ears with their hands earning them a few glances from some nearby students. “Today we’ll be playing dodgeball. Now line up so I can split the room into two.” Wes sprung up from his spot on the bleachers, happy to finally be doing something. Kyle followed after him a lot less enthusiastic.
Wes took his place in line as Teslaff started numbering everyone off. He watched as Danny joined the line with his friends. And Wes couldn’t help but staring at Danny, that kid should not be playing sports he looked like he should be six feet under.
Wes kind of hoped Danny would be on his team so he could protect him from the jocks that would likely take advantage of his weakened state but, he was on the opposite team.
When Teslaff blew the whistle for everyone to race for the balls. Wes’s hand hovered over one, but he was distracted by Danny who stayed at the back of the gym swaying on his feet. No one seemed to pay Danny any mind except his friends who kept giving him concerned glances. Dash Baxter, who was on his team managed to snag the ball that Wes wanted. “Get it together, loser the other team almost got the ball.”
That snapped Wes out of staring. “Right, sorry.” Wes said before he caught a ball that Kwan threw at him, forcing Kwan out.
Dash blinked at him. “What? I’ve got a good arm.” He told Dash, before moved to find another ball.
Several minutes passed and all of the non-athletic kids were out of the game, except for Danny. Danny who looked like he hadn’t slept in a weak was somehow still in the game.
That was his first working thought, which he quickly dismissed when he thought about Dash. Dash exclusively went after the nerds in the beginning getting both Mikey and Tucker out in less than thirty seconds into the game. So why would he spare Danny of all people?
Unless Danny was faking it? Was he actually athletic? He didn’t look like it to Wes. He had virtually no muscle whatsoever. And he was caught swaying on his feet ten minutes ago from what seemed to be malady. Unless that was some nervous tick or a ploy to gain sympathy. But then Wes thought back to that conversation he overheard about him being in the hospital and having lingering effects from some accident. There had to be an explanation somewhere he just needed to keep digging.
And then another thought popped into his head to try to explain why Danny was still in the game. The possibility Danny using steroids. Performance enchanting drugs were a reason for someone to end up in the hospital, right? And that would explain the lingering effects Sam and Tucker conversed about, and why they wouldn't want anyone to know.
But if Danny was on drugs the school board wouldn’t let him return. Unless his parents were rich and made a wealthy donation to the school or bribed some doctors into falsifying his test results.
But Danny didn’t look or act like a rich kid. The rich kids at school, minus him and Kyle were always A-listers. And Danny only ever hanged out with Sam and Tucker. So that couldn’t be it.
Suddenly Wes, watched in horror as Danny’s remaining teammates were taken out by Dash Baxter. He was faking it. He wasn’t sickly at all. Sure, he might have gone to the hospital for an accident and might have had lingering effects. But lingering effects could mean anything. For all Wes knew Danny could’ve lost some of his hearing or ended up with some nasty scars. And maybe he was awaying on his feet because he was bored or distracted. Or.... Wes was seriously overthinking things. Why did any of this matter? And yet...
And yet.....Wes wanted to prove himself right.
Or wrong.
He’d be fine with being wrong, because that would allow him to come up with other possibilities, that would eventually lead to the correct answer.
He just wanted to know how some scrawny freshmen managed to last this long against him and Dash. Well granted Wes hadn’t thrown a ball at Danny this entire game. He didn’t want to accidentally hurt a kid who just came home from the hospital. He wasn’t a monster. Well....maybe to some he’d be. That didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was Wes getting his answers.
But before he had the chance Dash threw a dodgeball right at Danny, and Danny side stepped it with ease.
Well that answered things. Dash had one of the best arms in the school, if Danny wasn’t a top-notch athlete he would have been out. And that angered Wes because Danny was pretending to be injured to gain sympathy so Wes would go easy on him. Despicable.
Dash picked up two more dodgeballs throwing both of them at Danny at the same time. And Danny managed to dodge both of them. Dash was taken back. He clearly didn’t expect Danny to be good, which was strange because Dash would know if someone was good at sports or not. He was the coach's pet. He helped them scout out potential students who would be good at sports. Dash was determined to keep on going, continuing to fire more balls at Danny.
Eventually it went on for far too long got Wes’s likening and he knew he had to end things. There was no way Dash could get Danny out his reflexes were too quick for him. Wes grabbed a dodgeball on the ground and threw it at Danny, in a way that would make it impossible for him to dodge.
Finally, the game was over, Danny was out-
Danny caught the ball.
He caught the ball.
He just caught the ball that Wes threw at him.
He caught a ball that was impossible to catch, because Wes threw it in a way that made it impossible to dodge, impossible to catch.
Wes stood on the basketball court shellshocked, as Danny managed to catch a ball that Dash threw, winning the game. Cheers erupted from Danny’s team as several classmates went to congratulate him on his impossible victory. Yes, impossible was the right word because there was no way he could win.
Once Wes snapped back into reality he stormed off the court to find his brother Kyle by the bleachers. “Wes? You’re looking a little red are you okay?”
“Danny....he...He won. He caught the ball I threw.”
“It’s just a game.” Kyle said. “Sometimes you win them, sometimes you lose them.”
“No, Kyle you don’t understand. Danny shouldn’t have been able to catch that ball. It wouldn’t be possible for him to do so.”
“Why not?” Kyle asked.
Wes lowered his voice. “You know why.”
“Uh....”
“There’s something off with that kid, Kyle. Really off.”
“I mean he did get back from the hospital and he does look a little out of it. And he’s really pale looking.” Kyle said.
Really pale looking? Suddenly gaining enhanced reflexes. Lingering effects. His supposed sleepiness.
It all clicked together.
“Kyle that’s it!” Wes exclaimed.
“What’s it? We aren’t playing tag y’know.”
Wes shook his head. Why did Kyle have to be like this when something serious was afoot. “Kyle you how Danny is behaving really sluggish right now in the morning?”
“Yeah.”
“And how he’s super pale, with new reflexes he didn’t have, and lingering effects from an accident?”
“Yeah, yeah and yeah.” Kyle said.
“I think he’s.....I think he might be, Wes leaned in close to whisper to Kyle. “A vampire.”
Things were silent for a solid minute. Both of the boys taking the time to reflect on what Wes just concluded.
And then Kyle broke the silence by speaking up.
“Dude vampires don’t exist.”
Did Wes have cotton stuffed into his ear? What did Kyle just say to him? “W...what?” He asked looking at Kyle deadly serious.
“Vampires don’t exist. They’re made up.”
Wes was flabbergasted. “Excuse me?” Then he turned looking behind him to see if anyone was around who could potentially eavesdrop, but no one was there. His expression turned sour. “Kyle what the hell are you talking about?” He hissed. “You know vampires exist.”
“Nuh uh.” Kyle said nonchalantly.
“Kyle we’re vampires!” Wes exclaimed. What was happening here? Did someone spike his breakfast this morning? Sure, it was only a banana, but people could tamper with unpeeled bananas right? Then Wes sighed. “Well, Dhampirs actually, but-“
“Well which is it, Wes?” Kyle asked with a shit eating grin. “Are we vampires or Dhampirs? Because those sound like two completely unrelated things.” Wes’s left eye twitched. “So, if you’re gonna start spewing nonsense about the undead you better get your story straight.”
Wes pulled his brother to his face by the scruff of his shirt before his eyes flowed red and four sharp fangs extended from his mouth. “I am not playing around Kyle Octavius Weston.”
Kyle was flippant like always. “Woah dude nice contacts. And the plastic fangs are a great touch. Nice to see you getting into the spirit with Halloween right around the corner.” Wes’s right eye twitched this time, and he released his brother.
“Enough with this bullshit. I’m being serious Kyle, he’s as pale as we are. And he dodged my ball when I used my powers, you know humans can’t do that shit. I seriously think Danny might be one of us.”
“You mean a ginger? He has a sister; I've seen her around. She's a read head so he could be too. Maybe he died his hair.”
That was the last straw. Wes couldn’t deal with this right now.
“You.are.beyond.help.” Wes said before walking away. If Kyle wasn’t going to take this seriously, he was going to end up taking matters into his own hands.