3.19 How to Bait an IF

Caleb woke with a start to the sound of frantic screams coming over the baby monitor. Groaning he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "I'll see what's wrong" he said as Drew stirred beside him. Hurrying up the stairs Caleb opened the door to his son's room "hey little man what's wrong?"

"Daddy" Andrew cried lifting his arms up to him as giant tears spilled from his eyes. "Peanut Butter Boy is coming to get me."

"No he's not," Caleb said comforting the boy. He didn't bother to tell him Peanut Butter Boy wasn't real. He wasn't sure of that fact anymore not after the things Drew hold him about IFs. It had given him chills listening to her. "I'll protect you little man." He felt his son snuggle into him as if he wanted to meld with him. "It's ok. Nothing's going to hurt you. I'm right here."

Andrew wrapped his fingers into his dad's t-shirt clinging to him whimpering. Holding his little boy Caleb walked to the couch and lay down hoping that Andrew would become exhausted from lack of sleep and crying.

***

Early the following morning Drew rolled over expecting to find Caleb next to her. Opening her eyes as her hand found only emptiness. Frowning she stumbled from the room and up the stairs. Yawning she smiled at the sight of her husband lying asleep with their son on the couch. Bending she lifted Andrew careful to not disturb either him or Caleb from their sleep.

Coming back she found Caleb looking around with a startled expression on his face. "Where's Andrew?" he asked sitting up rubbing his eyes.

"I put him to bed," Drew told him "you look exhausted."

"I feel it too" he agreed rubbing his neck.

"Here let me," she offered kneading his stiff neck "I'm not hurting you am I?" she asked when he flinched from her touch.

"No" he denied "my neck is just sore from sleeping on this old couch." He grimaced as he tried to move "I feel like someone tried to tie me into knots."

"You move like it too. What you need is a good hot soothing bath to loosen up all those stiff muscles."

"That sounds like heaven," he gave her a lopsided grin as he tried to turn his neck and stopped halfway "ouch that hurts."

"Oh hush you big baby" Drew teased massaging his neck and shoulders.

Standing Caleb grabbed Drew's hands and pulled her to him. "Join me" he suggested "I need someone to keep me from falling asleep in the tub."

"Right," she nodded knowing the look in his eyes that he had more on his mind than relaxing in the tub "I don't see how me being in their with you will help you relax."

"You have your ways and I have mine" he said with mischievous smirk.

"Don't blame me if you come out even more stiff and sore than when you went in" Drew told him as she moved towards the stairs. 

"Don't worry I won't" he took her hand pulled her close to him bringing his mouth down to hers.

***

A few days later Drew was making pancakes for breakfast. "Honey you need any help?" Caleb asked coming into the kitchen. Walking up behind her he wrapped his arms around her nuzzling her neck. 

"Hmm you keep that up and I'll need a fireman to put out the kitchen" she complained as she extricated herself from his arms to throw away the half charred pancake smoking in the pan.

Giving her a kiss he said "it'll give you an excuse to remodel then." He laughed as she glared at him.

"I like the kitchen just the way it is," she said turning her attention to the stove preparing another pancake. "Leave me alone so that we have a chance to eat before the hungry hoards descend upon us." 

"Too late," Caleb told her pushing himself up to sit on the counter as the first musical notes filled the room from the xylophone. "Our musical protege is up and giving us music to work by." Despite his joking manner he was quite pleased that Indira had inherited his love for music and talent. He couldn't wait to see what she accomplished as she became older. There were all kinds of things he couldn't wait to teach her.

The musical interlude was abruptly interrupted by unhappy screams "no no no it's mine" Indira cried.

Caleb hopped down from the counter and walked around the corner where he found Andrew trying to take the xylophone stick from his sisters hands.

"No no no more music," he cried prying the stick from her.

"Andrew Levi Gray" Caleb said standing over them.

Andrew stared up at defiantly under his dads look of displeasure demanding "no music. I don't like it."

"Andrew give the stick to your sister and say your sorry" Caleb demanded his tone leaving no doubt that this was not a request that could be ignored.

Crossing his arms Andrew shook his head just as adamant "no her music hurts my ears."

"Andrew say your sorry to your sister now," Caleb's voice deepened as his frustration grew. His son was becoming increasingly more difficult to deal with since they had refused to give Peanut Butter Boy back to him. PBB was still locked up safe inside the shed along with the doll Indira had received. They didn't want to risk another unnatural attachment being formed. Caleb wondered why one child was more prone to attaching to the damn things versus another. A crashing sound occurred as Andrew threw the xylophone stick across the room bringing Caleb's attention back to the present. "That is quite enough young man," he frowned down at the boy.

Andrew's eyes darted from this sister's crying face to his dad's angry displeased face then to the floor mumbling "I'm sorry."

"It's a little too late for that now," Caleb told him as he took the little boy by the hand "it's time out for you."

"No please daddy no," he protested struggling in his dad's firm but gentle grip. "I'm sorry I won't do it again."

Looking down at his son Caleb knelt in front of him "why did you do it?"

Shrugging Andrew looked down at his feet "I don't know."

"That's not a reason," Caleb told him "I want you to stand here and think about what you did. When I come back I want to know why you did it?"

Andrew nodded as tears streamed down his cheeks. "Please daddy don't leave me."

The plea weighed heavily on Caleb and for a moment he almost relented "are you ready to tell me why?" he watched his son consider the request before turning to face the wall pouting. Sighing Caleb stood up and walked back to the kitchen. "Drew when is your Uncle coming to collect those dolls?" he asked.

"He'll be here tomorrow," she glanced over her shoulder at him "you don't think this has anything to do with Peanut Butter Boy do you?"

"I don't know," he ran his fingers through his pink hair "all I know for sure is Andrew is acting out and it's getting worse the longer he knows Peanut Butter Boy is locked up in the shed." he grunted when Drew poked his side "I'll feel better knowing those dolls are gone for good." Kissing her forehead he smiled "I better go check on his orneriness."

***

The next evening around eight o'clock Caleb answered the door. To his dismay a man with glowing unnatural looking eyes stood in front of him. "Who...who are you?" he stammered.

"Uncle Adam" Drew said coming up behind Caleb and throwing herself at the man. "Cousin Keenan it's good to see." After hugging her cousin she said "come in, come in."

"I'm sorry for coming so late," Adam apologized as he sat down on the couch.

"It's alright if you can get rid of those horrid dolls for us" Caleb grumbled a little uneasy in the presence of this man and his son. As Adam spoke he thought he caught glimpses of sharp pointy fangs and his teenage son seemed to have the same.

"Caleb honey it's not polite to stare," Drew whispered in his ear.

"Err" he choked as he felt Adam and his son turn and stare at him.

"Don't worry about it" Adam told him dismissing it "a vampires eyes are disconcerting if you've never seen them before."

"Vampire sir?" Caleb asked struggling with the new information.

"Yeah we're vampires" the teenager said somewhat defensively "and you're human..."

"Keenan" Adam's voice contained a note of warning in it.

"Sorry dad" the boy settled down eyeing Caleb suspiciously "our eyes might glow but its no stranger than pink or purple hair."

Snorting Caleb nodded "you're right I stand corrected I apologize."

"Apology accepted" Keenan smiled "it's my first time being in a human only town. I'm sorry if I came across as rude."

Caleb found himself liking the boy more now that they weren't judging each other by the way they looked. "You're welcome to come here any time you like."

"Dad?" the boy turned to Adam "can I please?"

"If it's alright with them I don't see why not. You do need experience dealing with humans."

"Thank you" Keenan said encompassing everyone in the room.

"We'll set something up" Drew smiled at him "but you'll have to be patient with us since we don't know anything about vampires."

"We'll learn together" Keenan said his anticipation and excitement growing at the prospect. "Dad'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Son why don't you go up and keep an eye on the kids while Drew and Caleb show me the IF's." Adam suggested.

Sighing Keenan nodded "you just want to get rid of me don't you?" He nodded at the exasperated look his dad gave him "I'm going I'm going." Standing he laughed a little self-consciously "where exactly am I going?"

"Take the stairs all the way to the top. The kids' rooms are up there. They shouldn't be awake but Andrew has been having nightmares so he might wake up."

"No problem" Keenan said smiling as he left the adults to talk.

Caleb watched the kid go "you don't look old enough to have a teenager sir."

Nodding Adam said "I'm a lot older than I look. Vampires age slower then humans. I'm actually fifty-three. My oldest son is thirty-four. I have a granddaughter who just turned twenty. It's a long story involving time bubbles." He waved their questions away by saying "this IF you call Peanut Butter Boy concerns me for several reasons. When I became ruler over Moonlight Falls and Midnight Hollow the IF's were to stop their practice of rendering their more aggressive citizens who had hurt other IF's back into dolls. These rendered IF's are more unstable then the norm and should never be given to children. However the IF prime directive was to get the children to bond with them so they want to make them real. Then the IF, once they are real turns against their life giver and destroys them. It probably felt like a win win situation to them. That was all abolished when I took over. However some violent IF's had already been rendered and sent out to be distributed to children. I have a team working on recovering those dolls. It's a large task and we've been focusing on the most dangerous. The most dangerous is the doll with my ex-fiance's essence in it. If my suspicions are correct this Peanut Butter Boy may be Windy. She's very good at manipulating impressionable children."

"What if it is Windy? How will you be able to tell?" Caleb asked.

"She's still my IF. I brought her to life she'll have to react to my presence." Adam explained.

Rubbing her chin Drew looked at him thoughtfully "but wouldn't her memories of you be gone if she had been rendered back into doll form? Why would she react to you at all? She shouldn't even know you."

"Normally that would be true" Adam stood up pacing restlessly around the room "I've been advised that Windy paid off someone in the rendering process to keep her memories intact. She was put into doll form but not rendered at all. She contains all her memories and the ability to transform into her human form."

"So she really could be threatening our son and capable of hurting him and our daughter." Caleb said wishing he hadn't dismissed his son's fears so readily.

"Very much so I'm afraid," Adam ran his fingers through his short hair "the doll being so aggressive and your family tie to me makes it that more likely that this doll is Windy."

"How are you going to prove it?" Drew asked standing to face her Uncle.

Shrugging Adam looked at her steadily as he said a single word "bait."

Looking from one to the other Caleb had a feeling he had missed something. The fear that was in 

Drew's eyes and the fierce determination in Adam's had Caleb positive he wasn't going to like what was going to happen next. "Bait? You don't mean you, do you?" He stood up facing him "I can't let you go in there alone not if she'll attack you."

"We don't have any other choice" Adam shook his head "I've known this may be a trap all along."

"I'm coming with you" Caleb told him.

"Thank you son but no," Adam nodded towards Drew "you need to protect your family in case I fail."

"You won't" Drew told him "you're a vampire..."

"Not a fully transformed one though," Adam saw their baffled looks as he continued "I've never drank blood so I'm not as strong or invincible as most other vampires. You can say I'm unique."

"How can an IF over power you though?" Caleb asked "aren't they human once they become real?"

"Yes and no" Adam thought a moment "they live longer since they don't age. They have the ability to procreate with any sex. They are stronger then humans too not to mention the shape shifting. So their is a very real possibility she is more than a match for me."

What do you want us to do?" Caleb asked putting an arm around Drew.

"If something happens to me take care of my son," Adam requested.

"We'll see he gets home alright sir," Caleb assured him.

"No I brought him with me to get him out of Moonlight Falls." Adam shook his head "he's too young to take over as heir and someone can easily manipulate him since he's not a full grown vampire yet." Running a hand through his hair "I know this is a lot to ask but if I don't survive this please raise him until he's old enough to take over. He's the heir but he'll only be strong enough to rule if he lives long enough to reach his full powers at the age of twenty-one. Until then he'll be much too vulnerable. Only one person knows he'll be here with you and he'll come to you when Keenan is old enough."

"Alright we'll protect the boy for you but what do we need to know about raising a vampire?" Caleb asked.

"You already know everything you need to know. Just guide him in becoming a good person the rest will fall into place. He won't be any different then any other teenager." Adam walked towards the door "if you need help call my son Heath and only him. He'll know what to do. He'll also be the one to come for him on his 21st birthday."

"What do we tell him when he asks why he can't go home?" Drew asked.

"He knows. I already told him. I've never kept secrets from my kids. The cold hard truth is better then any fuzzy white lie any day." With that he walked out the door followed closely by Caleb.

"I can't let you go alone sir" he said walking beside him.

"I appreciate the thought but you'll only get in the way" Adam told him stopping in front of the shed door. Putting a hand on his shoulder Adam shook him " the best thing you can do is guard the door after I go in and don't let my son go in after me. He'll pull the 'I'm a vampire' card on you but he's no stronger than any other fifteen year old." Sighing he reached for the door knob "whether or not I come out alive burn the doll. It's the only way to destroy it forever."

"Alright" Caleb nodded "thank you."

"That's what family does for each other," Adam smiled briefly before going inside,closing and locking the door behind him as he heard Keenan calling his name.