Slyonia rummaged through the cabinets of the bathroom looking for the first aid kit. They walk back into Benji's room sitting in his chair. He extends his hand out to them. They take a moment to examine his cut before grabbing a wet washcloth to clean the cut.
"God Depuk, you have to be more careful." Slyonia lets out a sigh while cleaning the wound on his hand.
"I know," Benji replies quietly while staring at his hand.
"Listen," Slyonia starts sighing, "I get that you like to explore these weird places, but if you're not gonna be careful, I'm gonna have to tell Auntie." Benji takes in a sharp breath lifting his head up quickly.
"No! You can NOT tell Mom!" Benji hurriedly says back. "She'll make me stop going on these adventures." He watches as Slyonia turns and grabs some antibacterial cream to put on his cut.
"I don't want to have to tell her, but I will if it means you stay safe." Slyonia finishes bandaging Benji's wound and looks up at him. "You're all she has, Benji. She'd be devastated if anything was to happen to you."
"I know." He says letting out a small breath. "I guess, I could take a break from exploring for a while." Slyonia gives him a soft smile before standing and heading to the bedroom door.
"Thank you." Slyonia closes the door as they leave the room.
Benji falls back onto his bed thinking about everything that had happened. He hates having to take breaks from exploring, but he knows it gives Slyonia and his mother some relief.
He rolls over pulling the blanket over his body and turning out his nightstand light. He closes his eyes and allows himself to be overcome by sleep.
Slyonia, on the other hand, puts all of the medical supplies back into the bathroom where they had found them. They make their way to their room and sit down in the chair by their bed.
Slyonia, being a half-elf, isn't new to the supernatural, but they have never encountered a vampire before. They've heard the stories about them, but they never would have thought they would run into one. Vampires went almost extinct decades ago.
Slyonia spends most of the night thinking. Thinking about the vampire. Thinking about Benji. Thinking about who those people were down in the tunnels. Werewolves? Curious humans? Witches? Or worse hunters.
"Fuck," they curse to themself under their breath. They thought they had left this stuff behind. Ever since Benji's mom took them in, after their parents were murdered, they stayed out of everything that had to do with the supernatural. It's how they stay under the raider and hunters don't come looking for them.
They can only hope that no one got a good look at either of their faces while they were down there. They can only hope that the vampire doesn't change her mind and come back after them.
Slyonia's mind races with all the possibilities that could very well happen. The worst they can think of is Benji being pulled into all this. He's innocent and doesn't even realize the supernatural exists.
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Benji awoke early the next morning. He tended to do this to prepare breakfast for his mother and to give himself time to clean the house before going to his job at the library.
He rolled out of bed and headed into the kitchen. He started brewing some coffee and made his way over to the cabinets. He decided to make pancakes for breakfast.
"Good morning, honey." He hears from behind. His mother had entered the room and was making a cup of coffee for herself.
"Good morning, mom!" He replied cheerily. "Breakfast will be ready soon."
"Alright dear." Mrs. Cattus moved around the kitchen opening the fridge and pulling out lunch meat and snacks.
"I can do that for you, mom."
"Oh it's no big deal, honey. Just finish breakfast. I can handle making lunches for me and your sister."
Benji nodded, going back to flipping the pancake he had cooking in the pan. He stacked each one of them onto a plate and sat it in the middle of the kitchen table along with some eggs and bacon.
"I smell bacon!" Benji hears someone yell from down the hall. Yana, his little sister, emerged quickly jumping into her seat at the table. She was still in her pajamas and he could tell she had probably just woken up.
"Eat up!" Benji said, passing by her and patting her on the head. "I'm going to wake Slyonia up."
"Okay, honey."
Benji turned and walked down the hall leaving his mother and little sister to enjoy their breakfast in peace.
He approached Slyonia's door knocking softly and waiting. He waited a few seconds before knocking louder hoping they were already awake. After a minute of debating and waiting, Benji had decided that the only thing he could do was enter their room and wake them up. He twisted the door handle and gently pushed the door open peeking his head inside.
"Slyonia?" Benji said quietly as he stepped into the room.
His eyes scanned the room and stopped on the slumped body that was doubled over in their chair leaning on their desk. He sighed knowing they probably didn't pass out until late that night. He quietly made his way over to them and picked them up, moving them to their bed.
He covered them with a blanket and walked back out their bedroom door. He quickly glanced over his shoulder looking back at them one last time before silently closing the door and heading back to the kitchen.
Benji made Slyonia a plate and placed it in the fridge so they would have something to eat when they woke up. He plopped down into a chair at the table and started to eat his own breakfast with a coffee that had started to go cold now. His mother had gotten into a habit of making his coffees in the morning for him. There almost always cold by the time he gets around to drinking them, but he doesn't mind.
He listens as his mother and sister rush around the house scrambling to get themselves and their things ready for the day.
Benji himself had graduated high school almost two years ago, but he opted to stay living with his mother to help around the house and with his little sister.
He finished up his breakfast and began to clean off the table.
"Yana, you're going to miss the bus sweetie." He hears his mother yell across the house. Footsteps follow and his sister emerges from the hallway.
"Bye!" Yana yells as she quickly throws her shoes on and rushes out the door. Benji gives a wave and smiles at his sister as she leaves. Not even a minute later, his mother comes barreling into the kitchen.
"I'm off too, honey. Are you gonna be home for dinner?" Mrs. Cattus asks as she smiles at him and heads to the door.
"Probably not. I'm working the late shift." He replies while waving to his mother. She simply nods and gives one final wave before she's out the door and gone for the day.
This has become their routine over the years. His sister goes to school then directly home. His mother goes to work early and comes home to make dinner for them all. Benji works late and tends to not get home until around midnight.
He lets out a sigh and heads out of the kitchen to finish his daily task of cleaning the house.