When I opened that door, there were many things I could have expected to happen. Of course, I couldn’t be sure what would come to pass — I was no psychic. The only thing of which I was certain was that it would not be good. On either side.
It wasn’t like I didn’t want to spend time with my father. But what was I thinking when I said a year? However, the deal had been done and I couldn’t undo a deal with my father. He never lets anybody out of one of his pacts. He’s the devil after all.
I just wished it could have been easier.
I opened the door and Wub Wub jumped off the couch, running to greet me, as if I had been out there for ages. The dog stopped and watched the visitors behind me with caution.
“Oh look, a Cerberus pup!” my mom exclaimed, smiling at Wub Wub. She always loved animals, dogs especially. Dante prefered cats, but he couldn’t put manticores in hell. He didn’t want to have to put up with the smell of fried manticore after all.
I looked at the couch where Vinyl lay, already sleeping. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
“So, who’s that? This is the one you said is already on my list?” My father asked looking at Vinyl skeptically. “What is the purpose of the blue hair? So she can be seen from Italy?” he mocked and I let out a giggle.
“Vinyl isn’t exactly the most reticent person in the world, dad.” I sat on the couch and shook Vinyl. She mumbled something I didn’t understand, but didn’t wake up. I sighed. “Okay, you really want me to do this the hard way, don’t you?”
I went to the kitchen, grabbed a glass of water and took it to the couch. I stroked Vinyl’s cheek and then threw the water in her face.
She woke up with a jump and took a few moments to realize what had happened. She opened her mouth, but closed it immediately without saying anything. Vinyl looked at me and then my parents. She scratched her head and blinked. “Okay, how long was I asleep? Is it already Nightmare Night and nobody told me?”
“Vinyl!” I snapped.
“What? I’m talking about those two people.” Vinyl stood up and stretched. After a few seconds her eyes widened. “Wait a minute… who are they?!” Vinyl asked, flopping down on the couch again.
I looked at my parents and they gestured for me to continue. “Vinyl, I know it’s been a long time coming, but I want you to meet…” I stood up and pointed to them. “… my parents.”
“Cool, Tavi. I was…” Vinyl stopped for a moment and her eyes widened once again. “Oh damn, Faust! So you two are… Oh!” She stood up and hugged my father. “Don’t worry, your clothes aren’t weird or anything, sir. I was just joking.” She gave a very nervous smile to my father. “And you’re a beautiful lady of course…” Vinyl looked at my mother. “Okay, now I know where Octavia got her looks. Geez.”
“Oh, you flatterer! I’m already an old lady,” Eisheth said, blushing, and my father looked at Vinyl strangely.
“Vinyl!” I tapped her shoulder.
“What? It’s true!”
My father coughed, “We were at a gala at our friends’ mansion. Sorry we’re dressed so strangely, Miss Scratch, it was for the gala.”
“Yes, for the gala!” My mom nodded with a smile.
“We’re happy to finally get to meet you. I’m Dante, and this is my wife…”
“Kate!” I interrupted my father. He looked at me, a little confused, and I mouthed “later” to him.
Dante looked at my mother for a moment. “Kate. My daughter has told us so much about you… you’re a DJ, right?” I don’t know how he knew that; maybe he had that kind of information on all the people on his list.
“Yep. Almost every night.”
My parents sat on the couch. My father seemed mildly interested in Vinyl. My mother called Wub Wub to her lap and began to stroke the dog. “Octavia finally invited us to… spend some time with her. And we really wanted to get to know you. So…” Dante leaned in towards Vinyl, his face mere inches from hers. “Have you been treating my Octavia right?” At that moment I wanted to be an ostrich and stick my face down a hole and never come out again.
I could hear Vinyl’s gulp. Since when had she been worried about anything? “Of course! She needs to be treated like a… princess. Yes, a princess. Hehe.”
“Umm… good.” My father smiled at her and laughed. “As I was saying, we have good news for you: Octavia invited us to stay here for a year! Isn’t that exciting?!” he said in a tone that almost scared me. It was almost as if he had things planned. Bad things.
“Oh… that’s…” Vinyl looked at me. “… freaking awesome! I… err… I just need to talk with Tavi for a second… in the kitchen!”
I looked at her, confused. I hardly ever saw her looking so serious, but she was.
I stood up and followed her to the kitchen. Once we got there, Vinyl shut the door and stood in front of me, crossing her arms. “You don’t like them?” I asked.
“Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I? But me liking my in-laws and receiving them into my home without even knowing they were coming, that’s one thing. Letting them stay here not just for a day, or a week, but a whole fucking year? That’s another! We’re letting them stay here for a year? You know how long that is, right Octavia?” Vinyl asked me with a frown. Whenever she called me ‘Octavia’ I knew it must be serious.
“Vinyl, you’ve never met my parents, and after years I introduce them to you. Why can’t we just let them stay here?” I asked. I knew that if she sent them away then I’d have to go too. This might have been the worst idea I’d ever had, but it was the only solution I’d been able to think of at the time.
Vinyl looked at me for a moment.
“Vinyl, you’re an idiot. And that’s why I love you, but it’s also why you should let them stay. You’re the crazy one in our relationship, remember? You’re Vinyl Scratch and you can take anything life throws at you.” I ran my hand over her body to make sure she was paying attention. “So why would some in-laws be too much for you?”
“Okay, Octopussy, you win. I’ll take it, because it’ll protect my ego.”
“That’s it, idiot.” I approached her and gave a quick kiss on her mouth. “Let’s go — I don’t want to keep them waiting.”
I grinned at my parents. “Vinyl is really happy with the arrangements. But she needs to go now because… she needs to buy some things for me.”
“Wait, you said…”
“I know what I said, Vinyl. You remember… the things…” I said with a frown.
She sighed. “Oh, yeah, the things. How could I forget the things? I need to go! Bye!” In the blink of an eye she was out of there.
My mother looked at my father and me. “Kate?! Really? Do I look like a drama queen or something like that? That name is for rich and spoiled girls!”
“Mom, it was just the first thing that popped into my mind. What would you have preferred? Something more classy?” I said, sitting on the couch while rubbing my temples. “You can’t tell her, okay? Keep this a secret until I can tell her the truth.”
“It isn’t like I was going to tell Vinyl anyway.” Dante stopped and looked at the TV for a moment. “Oh! Look, that’s impressive! I’ve never actually seen one of these boxes when I’ve come to this world.”
“What do you do here?”
“You know… just take some air. You know how home can be… really hot. But I don’t have time to go exploring here,” my father explained.
“And this isn’t a box. It’s called a TV.”
“Wow!” my father and my mother exclaimed together.
I laughed. “You two have so many things to learn about this place.” I sat quietly for a moment. “You two will have to sleep here. On the couch. We don’t have a giant house like our castle back home.”
“It’s very comfortable, my dear, so that’s no problem.”
I smiled at them. “Don’t get too comfortable just yet. We have to go shopping later. You two can’t stay like that.” I gestured at their outfits.
“Why not?”
“Because you look like a king and queen from the dark ages. People will think you’re weird if you walk in the streets wearing a fancy black dress like that, and your elaborate suit,” I explained and thought for a moment. “You two will need to change big time if you’re going to stay here. You will have to look and act like people from this world.”
My father lay on the couch and smiled, putting his feet on the small coffee table. “Nah, that’ll be easy for us!” My mom nodded, agreeing.
We will see, my dear father… I thought for a moment. My thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell and I got up. “Wait here.”
I opened the door and my eyes popped open. “Neon what are you doing here like… that?”