The Tradition

If there was anything in the world that Liam Watcher hated more than small town football, it was being the star of small town football. 

Well that, and vampires. 

As his alarm blared loudly by the side of his bed for a six in the morning wake up call for his football game, he slammed his hand on the alarm clock. He sighed angrily, then sat up and rubbed his eyes. After a long night of playing games and hanging out with his friends, he felt exhausted. How was he supposed to go to bed early for the game when his friends needed him in Call of Duty? Now, however, he wished he had gone to bed earlier. His eyes were bloodshot and crunchy from the lack of sleep. 

He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He stretched and yawned extremely loudly. When he got up, he touched his toes and tried to get his muscles warmed up. Today wasn’t just any football game, after all. It was the traditional football game that celebrated the day his ancestors “expelled the vampires” from his town. Frankly, Liam thought it was a bunch of baloney, but apparently it was a big deal to the council of the town. That’s why, every year, they hosted the homecoming game with vampire decor and more. The cheerleaders of the high school team he was on were all wearing fake blood and vampire teeth, the same as they did every year. The football helmet that Liam was supposed to wear later had bats on the side instead of his usual tiger mascot. 

Normally, the games wouldn’t start until much later in the evening, which would let Liam sleep in later than normal. However, today there were festivities. There was the parade, and the ice cream, and more and more and just ugh. Liam didn’t want anything to do with it. However, as the star quarterback, he had to be the star of the show. For some reason his father was very much into the festivities as well, and Liam knew he would be watching to make sure that his son was enjoying himself. 

Liam went down for breakfast with a loud stretch again. When his mother heard it this time, she laughed. 

“Morning, Mr. Football!” She cheered from downstairs, where she was making what smelled like yummy pancakes. 

Liam smiled and made his way toward the kitchen table. His mother had already set out a plate of pancakes and a cup of milk already. Liam started digging in before his mother even set down the bottle of syrup, and she began to laugh. 

“Oh, Liam. You are so your father’s son.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Liam asked, mouth full of pancake. 

“He always ate like an animal, and frankly, he still does,” Liam’s mother chuckled. 

Liam rolled his eyes and smiled. 

“I just wish I was in bed still,” Liam admitted. “I stayed up late.” 

“Come on, honey,” Liam’s mother tried. “You know this day means so much to your father. Just please humor him, okay?” 

“Why does it mean so much to him, anyway?” Liam asked. A piece of chocolate chip flew out of his mouth and onto the counter. 

He took one of the paper napkins and wiped it up absentmindedly before his mother could say anything about it or even see it. Instead he was smiling and waiting for his mother to answer. 

“Well, you know the legends, don’t you honey?”

Liam felt as if he was physically about to barf. He had heard the legends since the day he was born. The legends of the vampires who used to run this town and hunt the children and mothers and fathers at night, and the legends of the vampire hunters who rose to fight them. The legends were told every year at the parade, each time by the town’s mayor. The town’s mayor was always conveniently somehow connected to the legend somehow. They were always some kind of descendant of one of the legendary vampire hunters, or at least somewhat related. The town always voted people in that were connected to the legends somehow. 

Liam always found that weird. 

“Yes I know the legends, Ma,” Liam rolled his eyes. “What does that have to do with Dad?” 

“Well, since his grandfather was the last vampire hunter, then it makes sense why he cares so much don’t you think?” 

Liam nearly spit out his pancakes again. His eyes widened, and he dropped his fork. He was completely in the dark about this, and had no idea. He never knew anything about his father being connected to a vampire hunter. That of course meant, by ancestry, he was connected to the hunter as well. 

“We’re related to a vampire hunter!?” Liam cried. 

Liam’s mother looked shocked. “You didn’t know?”

“Yes, this is the face of someone in the know!” Liam sassed. 

Liam’s mother laughed. She reached for a bowl from the cupboard and poured some granola in, absentmindedly humming. She reached for her chopped up berries in the fridge before turning toward her son and smiling. 

“Honey, I’m surprised you didn’t know. Theodore Watcher was one of the bravest and best vampire hunters according to legend.”

“Then how come I’ve never heard of him in the legends!?” Liam scoffed. “Hell, it would have been pretty nice to know where I came from!” 

“Well, you came from me,” his mother snickered. “I remember that vividly. It was quite a day.” 

Liam rolled his eyes again as his mother added the berries to her granola. She stirred them in, chuckling the entire time. 

“Honey, I don’t see why you’re making this such a big deal. It’s just a silly legend, after all.” 

“Well see, now I have a reason to care,” Liam snickered. “I used to hate these traditions, but now, it’s like I’m honoring my great...great...great…” Liam started counting off on his fingers, trying to figure out how far down the line the legends went. 

His mother started laughing. “I’m pretty sure he’d be your great grandfather times two?” 

Liam shrugged. “Well, what matters is that he was obviously important to the town. I’m just surprised that we’ve never been elected as governor or something.” 

Liam’s mother raised an eyebrow. “What? Why?” 

“Well, you know, since all of the descendants always get elected, I just figured that we would get elected too, ya know?” Liam shrugged. 

Liam’s mother held her coffee to her lips but didn’t take a sip. It was kind of obvious to Liam that his mother had just now realized the pattern that Liam had noticed years ago. Her brows were furrowed and she seemed to be in seriously deep thought. She tilted her head to the side after a few more moments of silence and raised her eyebrow at her son. 

“Really? All the descendants are elected?” 

Liam nodded, mouth full of the final bite of pancakes. “Yeah! Or, at least, it seems that way. I could be wrong, but I just noticed that. I didn’t think it would interest you this much, Ma. What’s up?”

Liam’s mother shook her head and said nothing. Wordlessly, she made her way to the room she shared with Liam’s father. Liam found this weird, but he didn’t say anything. His mother had always been a little loopy at times, and maybe she needed to lie down. He finished his pancakes and placed his plate in the sink, rinsing it and rolling his neck again. He must have slept wrong, because he felt a crick in it. He rotated his shoulders and did a few quick stretches in the space of his kitchen for a moment before his doorbell rang. He beamed and ran to the door. 

There, in front of him, was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. 

She had thick blonde hair and long eyelashes. Her perfectly pink lips brought out the blue in her eyes as she smiled brilliantly up at Liam. Liam, who felt honored just to be in her gaze, smiled back at her. She was wearing her usual peach shirt and white cardigan with jeans and flats. She smiled and did the little bounce she always did when she saw Liam, which of course, made Liam’s entire world glow a little brighter. 

“Lily,” He whispered. 

She jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. The cloth of her cardigan wrapped around his tanned and toned skin, since Liam was shirtless after all. He pulled her close to him, smelling the apple shampoo of her hair. He felt the warmth of her skin and squeezed her tighter. God, he loved her. So much. So much, in fact, that she would never know what she meant to him. 

Liam and Lily had been a thing since freshman year of high school. They had always been friends, and then one day, after a crazy game of spin the bottle, they realized they could be more than friends. After that night, Liam asked Lily out, and they had been going steady since. Lily was Liam’s everything. He loved the way she moved, like a dancer. The way she spoke, softly but with a sternness that let everyone know she wasn’t to be looked over. Her kindness, which led Liam to help her post fliers for homeless shelter volunteer opportunities or help her host bake sales. Lily wasn’t a cheerleader, but she was everything Liam wanted. She was smart, kind, and best of all, she loved him too. Despite his occasional dumbassery, she somehow found him adorable. Liam wasn’t going to question her judgement. 

He knew he was going to propose to her their senior year. He couldn’t imagine going off to college without her as his wife. He knew they were young, but he was so head over heels for her that he knew there was no one else. He smiled softly as she pulled back, remembering the ring in the drawer of his room that he had saved all summer for. It was sitting snuggly next to his boxers of all things, which may have been weird, but it was the only place his mother or father wouldn’t look. 

“You ready for the big game, quarterback?” Lily giggled, swinging her arms. 

Liam laughed, letting her come inside. “Of course I’m ready. You know how much I love the parade and the speech and the this and the that, and the blah blah blah,” Liam snickered. 

Lily laughed as well, her voice sounding like clinking bells. She walked into the kitchen, fixing herself a plate of Liam’s mother’s pancakes. This kitchen was practically her second kitchen with how often she had been over all of these years. She knew where everything was and what to do as she cut into her pancakes. 

“Oh, Liam,” Lily shook her head. “Think of it this way. It’s your last year that you absolutely have to do this. After all, we’re seniors now. We might as well enjoy it, because this time, we’re going to be kicking our feet up in Auburn U, huh?” 

Liam inadvertently flinched. He knew that Lily had always dreamed of going to Auburn, and she had the grades to get in with ease. However, Liam didn’t. He tried his best, but he knew he couldn’t get in with his SAT scores. He didn’t want her to worry, but he still hadn’t heard from Auburn. He guessed that he could still go to a community college nearby or something to make sure that he could still get in later, but the idea of Lily going somewhere that he wasn’t scared him. He knew it wasn’t healthy, but he didn’t really care. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Was all Liam was able to muster as he forced a smile. 

Lily took a bite of her pancake and made an audible sound of enjoyment. “Mm! Your mom outdid herself. Where is she, anyway?”

“She went to her room after I pointed out that the descendants of the legends are always elected as mayor,” Liam shrugged. “She seemed to just now realize it. Oh, guess what!?”

Lily raised her eyebrows at Liam’s sudden excitement. “What?”

“I found out that my great great grandfather was a vampire hunter too!” 

Lily’s jaw dropped. Luckily, it wasn’t full of mushy pancake. “No way!” 

“I know!” Liam laughed. “I didn’t believe it at first, but it’s true. He was a descendant, which means dad was one too. So when I pointed that out, and then the whole ‘descendants get elected’ thing, mom seemed to get a little upset.” 

Lily tilted her head in thought. “Huh...that is a little weird. Is there a chance that she wanted your father to be elected or something? Maybe she’s upset.” 

Liam shrugged for what felt like the hundredth time today. “Well, I guess so. I just never thought of her and dad to be interested in politics.” 

Lily laughed. “Oh sweetie, it’s not about politics, it’s about power.”

Liam felt uneasy. He knew Lily was right, but he didn’t like that. The idea that his mother was upset that she wasn’t getting the ‘power’ she deserved just felt...odd. Like she was some kind of James Bond villain. Instead, he checked the clock on the microwave. 

“Ah, damn! Hold on honey, I’m going to get changed and we’ll go!” 

Lily looked to the microwave as well and cursed. They had about fifteen minutes to get to school. As Liam raced up the stairs, Lily stuffed her face with the pancakes. Liam threw on his black shirt and his jersey shirt over it, then some jeans instead of sweats. He sprayed some cologne for Lily’s benefit and applied deodorant before rushing down the stairs to see Lily swinging her keys and winking. 

They jumped in her car without a moment to spare. She sped down the road, not once going over the speed limit because that wasn’t at all like her. When they pulled up, Liam slapped a sloppy kiss on her cheek before running as fast as he could to where the football players were lining up. He heard Lily laugh and call after him, “Go get em, honey!” 

He couldn’t fight his smile as he joined his fellow players in the line. 

They were all standing next to the podium, at attention like soldiers. The chairs in front of them were slowly filling up with people from the town who came to hear the speech from the mayor of the town, who was a descendant of the ‘first vampire hunter’ or something. Now knowing what Liam knew, he put a pin in that name and decided to research it when he got the chance. He wouldn’t have an ounce of free time to do that today, so he could probably get away with doing it this weekend. 

He spotted Lily in the second row, sitting next to her friends. She was giggling and smiling, and Liam smiled as well. Her happiness was his happiness, after all. Her friends were shooting Liam silly glances and faces in an attempt to make him break character, which all the football players had to do. They had to be still as stone and polite, of course. They couldn’t act as if they were laughing at their girlfriend and her friends. However, Liam did have to fight a couple snickers. 

The cheerleaders who stood to the left of the mayor were all in black uniforms and their normal vampire garb. The jerseys that the players were wearing were their usual red color, but with the black underneath, it looked as if they were simply the vampire hunting colors. The ensemble looked rather intimidating to the onlooker who had no idea what was going on, which of course, Liam found hilarious. 

Then, the Mayor walked up to the podium. As he tapped the microphone, Liam was suddenly hit with a wave of pure terror. For some reason, he thought that he and everyone here was in grave danger. His breathing increased, and he refused to take his eyes off Lily. He was sweating like a madman as he tried to calm himself down. Lily immediately knew something was off from the way he was looking at her. She mouthed “are you okay?” to him, and all he could do was shrug. He didn’t want her to freak out if it was a simple panic attack. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Liam spotted his father. He was dressed in red and black as well, but he, too, looked horrified. In fact, he was ushering Liam’s mother to the car. Liam’s legs felt wobbly. He couldn’t hear a word that the Mayor was saying as the crowd began to listen in to the speech about the legends of the vampires. For a moment, Liam’s fear subsided as the glistening rays of the sun hit his skin. The warmth was welcoming, and he felt his breathing calm for a moment. 

Then the clouds came. 

The second the sun was hiding behind the clouds, the loudest shriek Liam had ever heard in his life erupted from behind him. He turned, but he was too slow. A figure in a black cloak had grabbed him and lifted him a solid foot from the ground. It’s hands were cold, clammy, and strong. Liam struggled to breathe, crying out in pain. He could feel his neck being crushed under the weight of this...creature’s...strength, and he kicked and struggled as hard as he could. Liam could hear the sounds of the townsfolk fleeing, knocking over chairs and each other to get away from the cloaked figure. Liam took a second to look into it’s eyes, determined to see who was attacking him. 

When all he saw were red irises, he felt his blood go cold. 

“No,” he croaked.