Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 10: Old and Wise

"It's been quite a while since Elliot and I have gotten to spend the day with you grandkids," Elizabeth said, as the four of them sat down to eat dinner. 

"Yes, I've enjoyed it." Elliott added. "I remember when Elaine and Elias were your age..."

Amelia interrupted before her grandfather could go off on yet another half-hour-long story. "I always have fun spending time with you, grandma and grandpa," she smiled. 

"Yeah, I especially enjoy beating you at card games and chess!" Alexander exclaimed. "Even old people aren't smart enough to beat me!"

Elliott and Elizabeth looked at each other and chuckled. 

"By the way, Amelia..." Elizabeth began. "there's something I need to talk to you about."

Suddenly, all eyes were on Amelia, and she looked cautiously over at her grandmother. 'Oh no,' she thought. 'What have I done this time?'

"I came up to your room to check on you last night. Alexander was sound asleep, but..." Elizabeth paused. "You were nowhere to be found. Where were you?"

Amelia hung her head in shame, and a deep panic set in. "Um.. I was... uh..." her voice trailed off.

'Busted!' Alexander thought.

"You're sneaking out, aren't you, Amelia?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. 

"Y-yes, ma'am," Amelia admitted. "I've been sneaking out."

"To do what?" her grandmother asked. 

Amelia didn't answer, and Alexander knew to keep his mouth shut, too.

Elliott sighed. "Amelia, you can tell us whatever it is. Your grandma's just worried about you. It's dangerous to go off by yourself at night."

"I-I'm not by myself." Amelia said, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"I know." Elizabeth said. "You can't fool me, dear. You're sneaking out to see that boy, aren't you? The one your mother is so upset about? Onyx, was it?"

Amelia froze. 

"...That's what I thought." Elizabeth said, giving a concerned glance to Elliott.

Amelia knew she'd been caught, so her only hope was to throw on her best sad puppy dog eyes and try to explain. "I know what mom says about him, but... he's not bad, I swear!" she exclaimed. "He's getting bullied at school, and he doesn't have any friends, and..."

Elliott and Elizabeth remained silent, listening to their granddaughter's explanation.

"I just want to be his friend. He doesn't have anybody else but his mom, and... he doesn't get to see her that much, 'cause she works... and he doesn't have a dad..."

Elizabeth smiled softly. "You have a big heart, Amelia. I truly believe you're doing the right thing."

"...What? Really?" Amelia looked up at her grandmother in shock.

"Of course. I think it's wonderful that you're befriending someone who's having a hard time." Elizabeth replied, and looked to her husband. "What do you think, Elliott?"

Elliott smiled. "I agree. Sure, the kid has sharp teeth... what's wrong with that?" He laughed. 

"Let me tell you something, Amelia," Elizabeth began. "The older you get, the wiser you get. There's a whole lot of lessons to learn in this world. And one of them is that we're all people that deserve to be treated with respect, and sharp teeth don't change that."

Amelia and Alexander smiled at each other.

"I'll tell you what. Since we're the only ones home... why don't you go and tell Onyx he can come over for dinner? Your mother won't have to know." Elizabeth winked at her granddaughter.

Amelia was in disbelief. "You really mean it!?"

Elizabeth grinned. "Of course! If that's alright with you, Elliott?"

"Why not? These sandwiches aren't going to eat themselves, right?" Elliott replied. "Go on, Amelia, bring him over! I'd love to meet him!"

Amelia was elated. She got up out of her chair, and took off running across the street. 

She pounded on the door, barely able to contain her excitement. "Onyx! Open up!"

Onyx cautiously walked outside. "Amelia, what are you doing here? We'll get caught." he said nervously.

"My grandparents said you could come over for dinner!" She exclaimed.

"...What?" Onyx asked. "They did...?"

"Yeah, grandma caught me sneaking out but she's fine with it and so is grandpa! They wanna meet you!" Amelia was beaming. "Come on! Hurry up!" She grabbed his hand and started running back towards her house.

Onyx ran after her, trying to avoid being dragged. "Slow down, Amelia, I can't keep up!" he laughed. 

"Then run faster!"

Amelia and Onyx entered the house, and made their way to the dining room.

"Grandma...  grandpa..." Amelia began, "This is Onyx. Onyx, this is my grandma and grandpa and... well, you know Alexander already," she smiled sheepishly.

Alexander shot her a glance. 'Did she just tell on me!?' he thought.

"Hello," Onyx said shyly. "It's, um, nice to meet you... Mr. and Mrs... um..."

"Emmons." Elliot said with a smile. "Come on and sit down! Grab yourself something to eat."

Onyx and Amelia sat down at the table, and everyone grabbed a sandwich. Onyx glanced at Amelia nervously, and she smiled reassuringly.

"So, Onyx," Elliott began, "tell us a little bit about yourself. You and your mother just moved here, right? Where are you from?"

"We moved here from Forgotten Hollow," Onyx said. "It's um... a place where vampires live. But mom thought I'd have a better life if I could go to school... and there's no schools in Forgotten Hollow. You only learn vampire stuff there."

"You didn't have to go to school!?" Amelia gasped. "No way! I wanna go to Forgotten Hollow!"

Elliott laughed. "An education is important. Your mother was right."

Elizabeth chimed in. "What do you want to do when you grow up, Onyx?"

"Um..." Onyx paused. "There's not really a lot of people who will hire vampires, mom says, so..."

"Maybe by the time you're older, things will be different." Elizabeth said. "Don't let people crush your dreams. There has to be something you'd want to do with your life. Think about it. What do you think would make your life happy?"

Onyx thought deeply about her question. "Well... now that I think about it, maybe what I want to do when I grow up isn't technically a job."

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked. 

"When I grow up..." Onyx paused for a moment. "I want to have a big family, where we all love each other and are really happy!"

Elliott and Elizabeth looked at each other with a soft, yet sad, expression. "You keep dreaming about that, son," Elliott said. "Someday, I bet you'll have a big, happy family, just like you want. You're a good kid."

"You know what, Onyx? I think that sounds nice!" Amelia added. "I'm so used to having a big family, with my grandparents, and parents, and uncle, and brother... I'd probably want that, too, when I grow up."

"Ewww, you mean like marriage and babies and stuff?" Alexander gagged. "Gross!"

"Without marriage and babies, you wouldn't be here!" Elliott laughed. "Alright, since everyone's finished with their food, I'll go on and clean up the dishes." He stood up. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Onyx." Elliott gathered the dishes and walked into the kitchen. 

Elizabeth looked over at the children with a frown. "Amelia, your parents and uncle will be home any minute now..." she sighed. "Onyx should head home."

"Already?" Amelia frowned. "Okay..."

Onyx nodded and stood up from his chair. "Um... thank you for dinner, Mrs. Emmons," he said.

"Oh, I didn't cook it. Elliott did. I couldn't even cook a grilled cheese sandwich if I tried!" Elizabeth laughed. 

Onyx laughed. "Oh... sorry!"

Onyx and Amelia walked through the kitchen, where Onyx quickly thanked Elliott for the meal, and into the foyer leading to the back door. 

"So, I guess this is goodbye for now," Amelia sighed. "I'll see you later?"

Onyx nodded. "Yeah, I'll come by later tonight!"

Amelia smiled. "I'll be waiting."

The two friends hugged each other and parted ways. Although Onyx knew he had to leave, he almost felt as though he could stay forever... and so did Amelia.