+ 1.11 A Friend in Need

“And it’s you!” The young man replied, pulling Azaria into a great big hug. Neither of them seemed to want to let go but eventually she broke away and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

“I can’t believe it’s you! You look so different I barely recognised you.” Azaria couldn’t pull her eyes away from him. He looked much cleaner than she had ever remembered him but he kept his signature shaggy mop.

“I haven’t changed that much, you know!” He shot her a warm smile, a chuckle escaping from between his lips.  

“What are you doing here? What have you been up to all these years? You dog. You never called.” She shot a whole lot of questions at him.

“Relax. Let’s get some drinks and we’ll catch up.” He said and moved closer to the bar. They ordered a couple of drinks and got chatting about their lives after high school in one of the booths.

Jared Copley was an aspiring director and an old friend of Azaria’s. He attended an all boys’ school not far from Azaria’s all girls’ school. They often met at socials and had hit it off the first time. He was from Twinbrook but the distance between their hometowns hadn’t stopped them from meeting up during school holidays. He was one of the misfits her parents disapproved of; a hooligan who wouldn’t amount to anything. But that didn’t stop her from becoming great friends with him.

After high school they had lost contact. He had gone off on a world tour with his school mates and she had enrolled at a local college to do a course in Journalism – before ending up in Bridgeport. Her latest memories were of a boy with unkempt hair, stubbly facial hair and baggy clothing. Looking at him now he had cleaned up pretty good.

“So basically I’m just here until tomorrow.” Jared had explained that he was in Bridgeport to film a scene for an upcoming movie. He was only the director’s assistant but at least he was getting some experience. “The film industry back home isn’t the same as it is here. But I prefer it that way. In big cities like this you get all these big-headed stars who think the world of themselves. And Twinbrook’s doing okay for itself.” He shrugged. Jared wasn’t the type to live it big in the city, despite the misconceptions people had about him. Azaria nodded enthusiastically. She was proud of him for chasing after what he wanted. He seemed happy - he deserved it after having everything that had happened to him. “Anyway I’ve been so selfish sitting here talking about me myself and I. What have you been up to?” 

Silence suddenly filled the space between them even though music was blaring loudly. She didn’t want to tell him. She was too ashamed. He had known her as the girl who knew where she wanted to go and would let nothing stand in her way to attaining her goals. But now... now she was a prisoner in a mansion having never even sniffed the inside of a newsroom. And to top it all off a mother! She started to think about her messed up life once more: she felt the hot flush of resentment, regret, self-pity and helplessness wash over her.  

Before she knew it, before she could stop it, she had relayed everything about her life over the past year. It just flowed out freely like word vomit. Jared felt guilty for staring at her with great big saucers in his eyes but he couldn’t help it. Her story was the stuff of movies and he couldn’t believe that something like this had happened to someone he knew. Azaria sensed the awe hanging over him and eventually stopped – ironically on how she ended up here tonight.  

“Oh god. What have I done? I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have just dumped everything on you like that. You must think I’m a nutcase.” She buried her face in her hands and wished the sofa would just open up and suck her in.
“Don’t be. It’s a good thing you’ve gotten all of that off your chest.” Jared’s voice was a low whisper but comforting and sincere. She looked at him, feeling stupid but relieved. She didn’t care if he didn’t believe her. She had finally spoken to someone about it and that’s all she realised that she needed at that moment.  

“I’m glad you told me. I want to help you.” He put his arm around her. She didn’t resist. She wondered how this ordinary being would be able to save her from that wicked vampire whose full power she knew little of.

“You can’t. You can’t get involved because you don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Well I’m already involved because you’ve just told me everything.” He said stubbornly.
“And I shouldn’t have. If he finds out we’re both dead.” Azaria sobbed into his shoulder, feeling like a total idiot for being so weak.  

“Do you trust me?” He asked.

She nodded in reply. He whispered something in her ear.  

Azaria shot up calling out all kinds of profanities.

"That's just crazy!"