Chapter Summary: Thatch goes home and it's not at all what Casper expects. From the location to the house and to Thatch's mother, Casper is left in stunned silence as he tries to figure it out.

The boat creaked and moaned with every gust of wind that helped it sail through the air. Casper kept hidden, too scared to come out and admit to Thatch that once again- he had followed the vampire without permission. So, the ghost boy could do nothing but stay hidden and follow the violet-eyed vampire.

The double eyepatch-wearing pirate waddled along the deck with his peg leg, heading over to the wheel. His parrot grumpily watched Thatch distrustingly as if expecting Thatch to start insulting them the whole way, but the vampire did not. He silently sat on the wooden bench, tucking his legs up to his chest.

"So kid, where are we going?" Cappy asked. "I know you live in the underworld-"

"The human world." Thatch interrupted, not even lifting his gaze from his picture. "I live in the human world..."

"Your records say Underworld..."

"That's our second house, for when... when... Just take me to the human world. Drop me off in the normal town, I'll get home myself." Thatch sighed softly, for some reason not picking a fight with the pirate.

"I'm not sure if that's in the rules little child."

"You're job is to control the ship and take me to my destination. Take me to the human town and leave me there... now leave me alone." The vampire murmured, turning so he was no longer facing the pirate at all. He instead opted to gaze out, watching as the ship started to sail away into the open air. He seemed to be in an irritable mood, but that was always the case. Perhaps it was odd because he wasn't as aggressive as he normally was. He was awfully snippy, but he wasn't threatening the pirate.

The trip was terribly silent and awkward. Cappy kept opening his mouth to speak, but then would silently shut it and say nothing. His parrot seemed equally as speechless, for once. So they sailed in silence.

Thatch refused to speak any more to the pirate anyways, just gazing out into nothing. As they went through the junction, always the anonymous purple swirling portal of doom it seemed. As the bright sunlight hit Thatch he flinched back, just because it hurt his eyes at first. He rubbed them, blinking rapidly as he slowly adjusted to the awful sunlight and blue skies. A hiss escaped him out of pure annoyance to the sunlight. Their last trip to the human world was at least 3 weeks ago, leaving the vampire far too use to the dark and gloomy Underworld.

As the ship lowered, parking in its favored spot in town the vampire got up, hiding the picture back into his cloak, nice and safe. He walked towards the ramp, dragging his feet on the wooden deck.

"Now remember here laddie, I'll be back Monday morning 7am, sharp! That gives you the rest of this here Saturday and Sunday back home." He reminded.

"Yeah yeah, I won't be late you greasy old man." He snapped harshly. Cappy puffed his chest out, grumbling angrily as he turned away from the awful student. He much preferred taxiing Casper around. That ghost was always a pleasure to have!

"Well get going!" He snapped as he walked back to the wheel instead of letting the ramp down. "You can fly, you don't need no ramp." Seems Thatch had hit a soft spot with the old pirate, oh well.

The irritable vampire changed into a small black bat, quickly spreading his wings and took off flying into the air, but ever so close to the ground. Seems Thatch didn't like flying high up. Casper, of course, followed- unseen as ever.

~~~

They flew for a while, leaving the small town and passing at least a few others before Thatch flew into a dark forest, weaving between the trees easily. Casper made his life easier and just went through them to keep up with the nimble bat. Then- deep in the forest Casper saw what could only be described as some sort of magical wall. He barely noticed it honestly.

He could only tell because it looked like an entire part of the forest was just being eaten into the dark shadows. As the ghost boy and bat went through it he understood why it was there. Behind the wall was a large, towering castle. It was old with towering stone towers that overlooked the forest, daring anyone to just try to enter.

It even had a moat with a drawbridge- but it looked like it hadn't been used since- ever. The chains were rusted over and gears coated in dirt. Thatch flew over the moat and walls before ducking down and landing on the beautiful stone path right behind the drawbridge.

The stone path went up to the castle stairs while making a large circle as if they were expecting carriage after carriage to pull up- but it was all empty. The trees dead and rotting, flower beds empty.

The fountain in the center of the stone road was cracked and filled with nothing but dust and dead leaves. The place looked abandoned. It almost reminded Casper of Whipstaff Manor, abandon, cold, and empty.

This is where Thatch lived?

Casper nervously watched and followed, his feet just floating off the ground. It was so eerie here, so dead and empty. Thatch's footsteps echoed loudly, filling the courtyard like alarm bells warning of an intruder.

The violet-eyed vampire contently went up to the huge wooden doors, having to reach up to pull back the large iron knocker, letting it bang on the door 3 times. He then stepped back, staring up at the doors. But nobody answered. Thatch stood and waited, every 5 minutes or so he would knock again, and just as before moving back.

After about 30 minutes of this, the vampire heavily sighed and left the door, instead of taking an overgrown path around the building to what looked like a servant door. He moved some pots yo fund the spare key underneath and unlocked the much smaller wooden door. He stepped in and shut it behind himself, relocking it.

The halls were grand, a red carpet draped over the stone floors. Honestly, in its prime, it would have been like a fairy tale- but now all the fairies were dead and the princess lost hope it seemed. None of this seemed to bother the vampire.

"Mom! I'm home!" He yelled, his voice echoing all the way down the long, empty hallways. He calmly started to walk, all too familiar with the hallways. On the wall were old paintings, but each of them was covered with a tarp, hiding what they were. All the curtains in the manor were shut, blocking out the sunlight. Perfectly understandable if this was a home to a vampire.

Thatch called out repeatedly as he went down the halls, finding his way to several rooms. The living room, library, kitchen, the main office which was attached to the library, the side office, the greenhouse in the back, and then with a heavy heart he started to drag his feet up some spiraling stairs that lead up into one of the tall towers. "Mom!" He yelled up the stairs, and he didn't even seem fazed that there was no reply at all. He continued his ascend, and at the top of the tower was a large lab of sorts. Desks with tons of papers, a large chalkboard with some designs in the corner. On one of the walls was a portrait of a man with white hair and a gentle smile. Around his shoulder was the cloak Thatch wore, only uncut and fitted to him. Thatch nervously fiddled with the bat clasp around his neck, then spotted her.

His mother was by the french doors that lead out onto the balcony. They were covered of course- to keep all sunlight out. Her hands were resting on the handles as if she was debating whether to step out or not.

"Not yet, mom." He spoke up gently. "You'll get burned."

"Thatch...?" She turned around, her faded violet eyes landing upon her son. "Oh... I didn't know you were coming home this year..."

"I come home every year." He smiled gently and walked over, raising his arms up to her. She kneeled down in an instant and pulled her son into her welcoming arms. Thatch nuzzled close happily, hiding his face into his mother's blouse. "You know being up here isn't good for you..."

"Perhaps..." She spoke softly as her eyes drifted around the room. "But it brings me great comfort after all these years... I can still hear him murmuring about his projects, how we will walk in the sunlight once more..." She stopped herself. Thatch's mother lifted him up with great ease despite her weak-looking state. Thatch, at first annoyed, accepted it for his mother's sake.

"Aren't I a bit old for this?" He muttered.

"You'll be too old for this when I can no longer lift you."

"... We're vampires, you'll always be able to lift me!"

"That's the point." She actually smiled, letting a soft laugh fill the circular room. Thatch shifted in his mother's arms, angrily crossing his arms over his chest. The prideful vampire allowed himself to be held, purely for his mother's sake.

"Tonight, when the sun sets let's go for a stroll."

"Oh Thatch... You know I can't bear to leave this place."

"Mom, it has been years!" He tried to reason. "Please, just a walk in the garden. You use to love it."

"And from my windows, I can see all the plants I loved have died and withered away." She sighed. "There is no reason to go outside. Let's just... rest, and mourn." She carried the vampire calmly, walking over to the portrait of her husband, Thatch's father. "He wanted us to keep hidden and safe..."

"We are safe. No human can get here, mom we are safe." He tried to reason. "The magical wall is strong as ever, I almost flew right by this place myself. Please, mom? Won't you at least walk in the gardens with me tonight? Fresh air is good..."

"I wish to stay close to your father..." She set Thatch down and sighed, pressing her gown down to get rid of the wrinkles. The younger vampire looked upset, following his mother almost like a lost puppy. "You're doing well in school, right? You're popular and loved right my little bat?"

"C-course mom." He weakly smiled. "I have tons of friends."

"Are you lying?" She smiled. "The tips of your ears turn pink when you lie."

Thatch swiftly reached up and covered his pointed ears. "Mom!" He whined. "Don't say that."

"Oh you know you can't lie to me, young man... Now, I suppose I should help you settle into your old room." She decided simply. She turned and started to head back to the spiral staircase. Her long, beautiful flowing dress dragged the floor behind her as she walked. Her black hair was no longer tied up in its tight bun, instead, loose and flowing all the way down her back. "Keep close, I don't want you getting lost."

"Mom, I haven't gotten lost since I was what, 105?" Thatch groaned and followed.

"Oh, those numbers make no sense, use your vampire age." She reminded.

Thatch groaned, quickly doing the math in his head. Every 15 human years a single year for time, an aging vampire. "7 for vampire age." He corrected himself.

"Very good." She praised. Casper could see she looked no different from the photo, other than being skinner. She never aged but Thatch did. "And let's see... You're now... 171, which puts you right around... 11 and a half." She smiled gently. "My little boy is growing up so fast."

"I'm not little!" He defended, even if he had to move his little legs a bit faster to keep up with the adult. "At least I'm no mummy! Their life spans are so dumb."

"Really now? I never met a mummy."

"They're jerks- I mean... They're odd and full of themselves... there's this kid at school, his name is Ra. I think he's what, 2,500?" Thatch could tell that age only confused his mother, so he corrected himself. "To mummies ever 200 years is 1 year. So he's right around 12 and a half."

"Oh, so he's a good bit older than you." She calmly noted. "And why don't you like this Ra mummy? I thought you promised me to make new friends."

"I did, I did... um... We just... It doesn't matter." He grumbled softly. As they reached the bottom of the stairs the vampire child relaxed, seeming a bit out of breath. They didn't have these many stairs back at Scare School. There was no time to rest as his mother kept walking and Thatch hurried along to keep pace.

"A pity... I really wish for you to make friends." She sadly spoke, and Thatch whimpered weakly.

"I'll make friends, don't worry! I already have some great ones! I have um... I have Slither... and... Dummy Girl?" He paused, then perked back up. "Oh, and Mosshead!"

"Thatch, you know those three aren't friends. The Headmasters sent me a letter... You keep getting into such trouble with them, they're a bad influence. You use to be such an angel before you left for that awful school..."

"Mom!" Thatch groaned. "We're monsters! We're supposed to get in trouble and-"

"We are not monsters! They may be Thatch, but we are not... We are civilized. I don't care what Kibosh says, we will not bother the humans unless we must feed." She deeply frowned. "Scaring the humans... tormenting them... it's cruel." She turned away. They both paused in front of a wooden door. On the door was a golden plaque on the door. Thatch Manora.

She opened the door carefully, weakly smiling. "I left it untouched for you," she spoke softly. The vampire happily rushed into his old room. It was really different than one would think. There was no coffin, no bats hanging from the ceiling like the other students guessed.

No, he had a human bed with soft covers and feathered pillows. He had large windows- currently covered with red curtains that matched the carpet that covered the castle's stone floor. He also had a large bookshelf, filled with so many books of old.

On his desk rested a dried out inkwell and a dusty quill- along with some forgotten and aged parchment. The vampire ran right to his bed, leaping onto the soft mattress and melting right into his old bed, clearly missing it far more than he would ever admit.

His mother smiled gently as she watched, content to see him settle right back into his proper spot. "Are you staying for the whole weekend?"

"Yeah!" He sat up and smiled brightly. "I talked the headmasters into it. They're a bit of a stick in the mud, but I got them some potion so whatever." He claimed proudly, puffing out his chest.

"...Potion? Thatch you didn't do anything bad right?"

"Nah, they just said one of the professors forgot to hand over some potion, so I went into the classroom and got it for them." He waved the thought off easily. His mother seemed concerned, but she said nothing. "Mom... won't you walk the gardens with me?" He asked once more. "Once the sunset, it can just be a small walk? The breeze was so nice when I was flying here."

"...Not tonight." She sighed. "Now, settle in. I'll go make you some dinner." His mother instructed before walking away, disappearing into the dark castle, heading off for the kitchens.

Thatch watched her go before he sighed heavily and flopped down on his bed, stretched all the way out- something he could never do inside his coffin. He was just about to close his eyes and rest when he had the feeling someone was watching him... when he opened then, a pair of blue eyes were staring right back at him.

"MOM!" He screamed, scrambling and falling right off of his bed amidst his panic.

"Wait wait, no Thatch it's me!" Casper quickly yelled, holding up his hands as if he was surrendering. The ghost quickly moved, floating back in front of Thatch to block the exit, not wishing for the vampire to flee before he had a chance to explain. "It's ok!"

"Why are you in my ROOM!?"