"So, this is the person I have to stay with? Jeez, she's old. Old and outmoded. What would I possibly learn from her?" I whispered to the invisible GA beside me, watching the old lady amble around my new room, picking up the unnecessary items spread all around.
 
"Maybe, you could be more generous and help me, instead of underestimating my skills." She muttered with a smirk on her face. Damn, she surely had ears.
 
I gently nodded and tried to help her put away the crumbled papers in the paper-labeled bin. 
 
She had a wrinkled, elongated face, but surprisingly there was a lack of sagging skin. Her wispy hair was somewhere between brown, blonde, and grey, and she wore tattered jeans, a black shirt under an old aviator jacket.
" May I know where you are from?"
 
I parted my lips to say something but realized I had nothing to say, except I was from a village. And then she might just ask the name. I saw an old lamp faraway on a bedside table, and that reminded me of Aladdin.
 
"Ababwa. Village of Ababwa." I stuttured.
 
She analyzed my face for any trace of lies, before tapering off, "Oh Ababwa, what a pretty name! Aladdin girl."
 
"But let me tell you, if you have forgotten, my name is Ambrosia."
 
"That reminds me of stinky ambrosia beetles who ate my stinky eggs one night."
 
"Wait, seriously?"
 
"Why not? I'm an honest, modest person. That's why my ex-boss got fired for flirting with me constantly, with me rejecting because I already loved both my husbands."
 
"Two husbands? And you call that honesty?"
 
"As long as it is love and not stopgap magnetism."She cooed, glancing back momentarily.
 
With a small, wonder-filled smile I nodded my head. She was amusing, in one way or the other.
 
"Tell me more, what happens in Ababwa? Your home place?"She asked between bites, puffs of white sugar of the donut she started eating, billowing on each word.
 
My forehead creased, the events replaying in my mind. For one moment, it felt like I was there standing in front of my past.
 
"Good and bad things. But things are different than in humans- I mean in these modern cities. You know, culture, beliefs, teachings, and so on." I smiled shortly.
 
"Yeah I know, I know. Typical village stuff. Totally not my business." She scoffed, while I let out a sigh of relief.                    
 
"Well, that's alright. I'll do the rest. You can check out the house though. It's pretty cool."
 
I nodded slightly, before dropping all the filthy utensils on the floor. As I turned around to step out, I heard a shout, "Such an insolent child! Couldn't even help me with cleaning her own room! As if I am her servant!"
 
"Bu-but, you said it yourself! Tha-that I could leave..." I stuttered, worried about what I did wrong next.
 
"You could at least offer to help. I still am an elderly person; learn to show some courtesy."
 
"But why would I when you already told me to-"
 
"Oh lord. Nowadays kids! Just...just leave."
 
"Alright." I shrugged and left to take a look.  I mean, why are humans so weird and complicated? I thought they would be as straightforward as us vampires.
Speaking of which, it was really impressive to see my change as so powerful that I didn't even budge to not drink her blood. Besides, I didn't have my fangs with me. 
 
As for a change in feelings, I was feeling pretty uplifted; excited, and exhilaratingly inquisitive about what was in the future.
 
-
 
 The cream-colored couches surrounded the television, and the coffee table was scattered with day-old newspapers and a glass platter that was filled with colourful toffee. My eyes zeroed onto the framed pictures on the wall, where there were mostly the pictures of a freckled little boy sticking out his tongue, a girl smiling widely, and a baby in the hands of that old woman in whose house I was staying.
 
The house had arched windows in the hallway and polished marble floors under expensive-looking carpet. Almost every single thing my eyes laid on clearly showed how rich the owner was.
 
I sauntered down the small corridor, the heel of my shoes tapping against the marble floors. My nostrils flared as I smelled a cloud of smoke.
 
It lead me to what I figured was the kitchen. The fire was burning on a square-shaped designed box. My instincts led me to think about the fire-breathing box as one little behemoth. I mean, I remember the folktales my now-dead grandma used to tell me about fire-breathing dragons. I didn't know they were actually real!
 
Instinctively, I restlessly looked around and saw a stick. I then hurried to pick up that pole stick and went on to hit the stunted dragon with it. 
 
"You unruly piece of smellfungus! How dare you approach my house? I won't spare you! So what if I'm not a vampire anymore? I still have my freaking guts and rewarding bravery!" I threatened, beating the dragon with the stick. It banged on the surface, and I figured it was made of metal. Eccentric creature.
 
As I kept booting and thrashing it with the stick, I noticed fractures, as in metal scratches and it seemed like the size was shrinking; I had to study this dragon sooner or later.
 
"OMG, are you crazy?" I heard an adenoidal voice laughing. Looking back, I saw a short kid, chewing a pack of bubble gum and laughing after popping it. 
 
"Why? I'm saving your lives!"
 
"But from what? The fire didn't even start spreading."
 
"So? Oh lord, I didn't know you humans were so loosened up about a dragon attacking you all. I thought you were the ones to freak out the most!" I yelled at the same time I tried to beat up the dragon. At that, his laughter intensified. He split out the bubble gum and clutched onto his stomach while laughing.
 
"What's wrong? And what's so funny?"
 
"A dragon? Dude, how does it even look like a dragon? Oh lord, its a stove!" He said, between his laughs.
 
I widened my eyes at the realization of what he meant. The fingers loosened on the pole stick, and I stuttered, "A-a sto-stove? As in the apparatus you guys use for coo-cooking?"
 
"Duh. What do you think, idiot?" 
 
I drew a frowny face at him, feeling a mix of exasperation and embarrassment.
 
"S-so? I knew it was a sto-stove. I just told that to frighten you little kid."
 
He let out a chuckle, "Seriously? Then why were you hitting the poor stove?"
 
"Cause...cause...uh...there was a horrendous insect on the stove. So I had to hit it."
 
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, "You are gonna get so messed up."
 
"What do you-"
 
"GRANNY! GRAN, LOOK YOUR STOVE IS DESTROYED BY THE FEROCIOUS AUNTIE HERE!"
 
My eyes couldn't get any more wider. I dropped the pole stick and proceeded towards him, "Ssh, you little brat! How dare you? And why do you have to-"
 
"Ow, Granny! She's hitting me! Granny!"
 
I looked down on my hands and at him, "What the hell is wrong with you! I didn't even touch you!"
 
Before I could add more protection to my next doom, she had already arrived and dropped her jaw.
 
That stupid brat explained- by that, I mean- lied, to the owner about how I cursed him in arrival and then began to hit the stove, after which I hit him. What was his problem?
 
"I swear I did none of that. Except maybe the stove, but I didn't even see him before nor did I lay my finger on him."
 
"Then why would he lie?" She pressed her lips in a hard line.
 
"How do I know? He might just be a psychopath!"
 
"You are a psychopath! Which idiot destroys the whole stove, just because of a small insect? I'm braver than you, if being honest." That sociopath shrugged, as if he knew nothing.
 
"You hit the stove, because of-"
 
"It looked utterly disgusting!"
 
I gave a lopsided grin, as her jaw clenched.
 
"Oh c'mon, I swear it was deadly. Plus, I...uh..." I began to think of an excuse quickly, before my first impression ends up bad in the first day. I couldn't possibly risk ending up on the streets, being in a dreadful state of illeteracy about the human world.
 
"I have a pho-phobia! About this particular insect! " She cocked an eyebrow, "Its name is Si-silito...na...ru..phobia! That's all."
 
"What insect is that?"
 
"I fo-forgot the name."
 
-
 
My eyes flickered from the lamp in my hand to the kid, leaning on my door.
 
"You are ugly." 
 
"Don't make me conjure up a sewer rat." I smiled.
 
He smiled back at me, baring his pearly, sharp teeth. I still couldn't look at him without a bitter taste in my mouth. He appeared to be Granny Mary's grandson.
 
"Why are you here?"
 
I fixated my intense stare on him, "Why don't you ask your dear grandma?"
 
"I wouldn't have to ask you if I had asked her. By the way, you are a vampire, right? Or were you a vampire?"
 
My eyes got beady as my face got ashen, "Wha-what do you me-mean? I'm not a vampire! Not at all! I lived as a human for all my 116- I mean 16 years of my life! Get it? An-and-"
 
"But you said it yourself. You said, 'So what if I'm not a vampire anymore? I still have my freaking guts and rewarding bravery!'" He began mimicking me in a more high-pitched voice, "And you also called us humans!"
 
"Aargh! What is your problem, you brat?"
 
"You. And I know you are a vampire! I have it in my guts, my sixth sense. And before I turn 9, I will prove that." He stuck out his tongue, while I extended my middle finger towards him.
 
My light blue eyes shone brighter with annoyance, my mind creating murderous thoughts for that kid. Call me ruthless or heartless, but I had a bad- really, really bad feeling about staying with this two sociopaths.
-