But Butler, what is your story even about?

Glad you should ask! The story starts following the FMC, Drew, as her world gets thrown into chaos. She preferred life simple and quiet, not caring for anything that would disrupt that. Then, out of nowhere, at work she is expected to train a golden retriever of a man named Michael on her job duties. Frustrated but unable to do anything about it, she reluctantly sets out on her task.

However, Michael is hiding secrets of his own, the fang-filled kind. How does Drew react to this shocking turn of events? And how does this knowledge change how she views the world? More importantly, how does the world itself change as she learns more about vampires? Find out for yourself by reading Living Blood, available on Substack, Royal Road, Minkly, and Patreon.

I walked up to my room, suddenly feeling really awkward about my sweat-sticky body. “How do you want to do this?”

Michael began to look a little sheepish. “Excellent question. I’ve… never actually given a massage before. Maybe I should watch some YouTube videos first.”

We sat on the couch in the space just outside the guest room, the same one that folded out into a bed for Michael. He typed “How to give a massage at home” into the search bar, scrolling through the videos, trying to find the ones that looked most reliable. I couldn’t help but notice that all the people on the massage tables were naked, covered only by a sheet. A blush crept up my neck. I was so in my own thoughts about it that I didn’t even notice Michael put the phone away.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

I startled at his voice, blush deepening. “No!” I cleared my throat. “Sorry, don’t know why I yelled. No, nothing wrong at all.”

He gave a knowing look at me. “If this is about your skin beneath my hands—”

“Michael!” I reprimanded, earning a chuckle when I slapped his arm.

“I love surprising you,” he said, winking at me.

“You’re incorrigible,” I complained.

He merely bowed his head, accepting the adjective as his own. “I can give you a massage over your shirt if that would be more comfortable for you, or I can schedule you a proper massage instead.” I knew he’d do it, too.

And that was why I said, “I’ll be fine, just give me a few minutes to get ready.” I stood and walked to the bedroom, not giving myself time to debate whether this was a good idea. Closing the door, I then folded over the quilt, leaving the top sheet undisturbed. I quickly stripped down and climbed under the sheet.

Someone knocked about a minute later.

“Come in,” I said, hoping he didn’t hear the tremor in my voice. I heard the door open behind me, but those weren’t Michael’s steps. “Syla?”

“I trained as a masseuse just before Nikola tricked me. And just what do you think you’re doing, young lady?” she asked, a twinkle in her eye.

“Nothing! God Syla, you’re embarrassing me!” I hid my head under the pillow, hearing her muffled laughter.

She lifted the pillow. “I know it, I know it, just teasing you. Michael looked just as nervous as you, watching videos of massages and looking at his hands as if they were completely foreign to him. I saved you both, you’re welcome.”

I was positive my blush couldn’t get any worse. “Sylaaaaa.”

“Oh, just calm down.” She went over to her nightstand, grabbing a bottle of lotion. “Let’s get you taken care of, shall we? Then you can clean up and come back downstairs. I think Antun is picking a movie.”

❖ 🩸 ❖

It was the next evening. Throughout the day at the office – when my enhanced senses would pick up the undertones of passing perfume or hear someone’s heartbeat as loud as if I was using a stethoscope – I thought about how different I was now. Beyond the super senses, mind-reading had become more manageable as well. I could filter voices out and pick and choose who I heard, if anyone. The advanced healing was automatic, and it seemed to be working just fine as long as I kept up with my mana intake.

I hadn’t had an opportunity to sit down and test hypnosis. Unfortunately, I needed to be around a person for at least an hour before our minds would tether and I could trance someone. At least, that’s how it was for Michael – Nikola could hypnotize without even meeting a person. But in any case, there was no one at home viable to test it on – we were all vampires, and hypnosis only worked on mortals as far as we knew.

All that left was flight, the one power I knew for certain had not come in yet. How did I know, you ask? If falling from the sky after being dropped by a vampire god didn’t make it kick in, what would? For as patient as I was, this was one power that I wanted to get on top of quickly. Michael had said that he wasn’t very graceful when he first flew and that he had to practice to get to the point where he could fly smoothly, and I did not want an audience for my first flight.

Regardless, everyone had gathered in the living room and were now discussing my powers. It had only been days ago since the Sirens of Spring, and Antun insisted I needed to train my powers.

“I have a theory that flight depends on mana circulation, not just raw supply. Michael’s flight came in at a normal time interval, so it seems to me that beyond just having lots of mana, it’s about how you circulate it in your body.” Antun shifted his body on the chair. “Imagine it like a second circulatory system. No matter the mana volume it’ll keep flowing.”

I could kind of picture what he was talking about. It sounded fanciful, but then again, I was a vampire, and less than a year ago I didn’t even believe in them, so it stood to reason that Antun’s theory had a shot at being right.

“Don’t overdo it, Love, but keep supplying that system and the rest will catch up.”

“So you’re saying that I have to hurry up and wait?” I asked tiredly.

“Essentially,” Antun answered with a sympathetic grin. “But it’s only a theory. Anyone else have any ideas?”

Michael lifted a finger to answer. “I have no idea about mana circulation, but for me it just happened one day. I was walking home from work one night and out of nowhere, a dog started chasing me. I booked it as fast as I could but after a few long strides, my feet stopped hitting the ground. I was running in the air as I floated up and up.

“I somehow managed to dive into an alley, the dog running past too fast and losing my scent. Clinging to a fire escape, still floating, I remembered trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Out of nowhere, the levitation stopped and I dropped onto the fire escape, metal clanging beneath me.” He shook his head. “That was probably the most surprising power that manifested. At least the most surprising way.”

“That actually makes me wonder if it is tied to emotion or adrenaline, something primal that forces the instincts to surface,” Syla said, finger tapping her chin as she thought. “I know the whole fight was full of adrenaline, but maybe it just hasn’t come in yet. We could see if emotions have anything to do with them instead of adrenaline, too.”

“I’m just imagining an angry Drew flying around all crazy,” Michael said with a grin. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you truly angry.”

“I mask it well. I get plenty angry at work… frequently… I suppose irritated-to-an-excessive-degree would be more fitting than angry…” Ugh, I’m drifting off topic. We all are. I tried to stay patient, but I could feel the gap widening between theory and progress.

Antun must’ve felt the gap too. “Why don’t we go outside and see if we can’t coax it out of you, Love? Maybe it just needs the right encouragement.” I looked out the window – dusk was falling, and soon it would be completely dark out. I nodded agreement, standing up and heading for the stairs.

Down the stairs and out the back door, we walked out into the fresh air, a slight breeze prickling my skin with goosebumps. The back of Antun’s property was open to the forest beyond, leaves rustling in the wind as I walked out onto the grass, the others close behind. Part of me wondered if I could will the gift forward. I supposed it was worth a try. At least as much of a try as Syla’s emotions theory and Antun’s circulatory system theory would get. I tried to see if I could sense the mana within me, but it was like telling me to sense my own blood flow. Wait, without a pumping heart, how do vampires bleed? I supposed it was another question to add to the unending list.

Jumping was as good a place to start as any. I grabbed a chair from the patio table, setting it out in the grass. I stepped up onto the metal seat, remembering games of jumping off chairs as a kid, pretending I could fly. I felt silly doing essentially the same thing as an adult with the expectation of actually flying. I counted down in my head, jumping as high as I could… and landed on the grass. A part of me was sincerely disappointed that it didn’t work, but maybe I just had to try again.

I got back up onto the chair, jumped, and landed. Again and again, I tried, feeling stupider the longer I went on. I changed strategies, stretching my body up and out as far as I could before falling off the chair. I continuously landed stumbling on my feet as I barely caught myself.

Michael tried to staunch his laughter but couldn’t hide the smile in his eyes as he watched me jump off the chair over and over again like a child.

I stretched my head and neck out, fingers flexing at my sides as I leaned out into open air, hoping to… have something happen, not land over and over again. I nearly toppled all the way down that time, having to catch myself with my hands as well.

Antun, trying to mask his own amusement, said, “Keep trying. The old adage “If at first you don’t succeed” has merit to it, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now. Maybe try that particular method on the ground so you can practice your breakfalls on the ones that don’t work. It might help it feel less pointless. I see that look in your eyes – you think these attempts are pointless. Well, it’s more pointless to do nothing, isn’t it?”

He had me with that. So, continue I did, but with every failure, embarrassment tightened in my chest.

Syla had been silent the whole time, her arms crossed as she watched every attempt intently. “Drew, it might be a bit daft but maybe add your arms?” She demonstrated by waving her arms up and down like wings. “Darling, don’t look at me like that, I’m being serious.”

I couldn’t help but look incredulously at my friend. She really thought that could possibly help at all? I just shook my head, wiggling my arms as I thought This is just getting more and more ridiculous. I swear to God, if this actually works, I’m going to be pissed.

I got back up onto the chair. Now I’ve really lost it. The only thing worse would be jumping from a greater height. I let out a breath, disbelieving of myself. I took a deep breath, lifted my arms as I squatted, then leapt into the air as I flapped my arms. I looked just as foolish as you might imagine.

Michael snorted and couldn’t hide the chuckle behind his hand. I glared at him and he just shrugged in reply, making a little heart shape with his hands, brows shrugging as much as his shoulders had. That made me snort, helping to relax at least part of the embarrassment from my shoulders.

Antun finally said, “That’s enough for tonight, I think.”

I gratefully picked up the chair, panting from all the jumping I’d done, and deposited it back in its place.

Antun gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Maybe it’ll come when you stop trying to make it perform.”

A part of me found comfort in the statement, knowing that it wasn’t my fault. But the rest of me thought it was maddening, proverbially pulling out my hair and gnashing my teeth in frustration and impatience.

I sighed heavily, still catching my breath. “Fine. Guess I’ll take the bus like a normal undead citizen.”

Laughter ruptured around me, the tension breaking fully. Michael came over and pecked a kiss to the top of my head before wrapping me in a side hug. “My girlfriend is funny,” he chuckled out.

“Thanks, I try,” I said with a feigned hair-flip, making Michael laugh again.

He tilted my chin up and kissed me, totally uncaring about an audience. He looked like he wanted to say something more but decided not to, opting for a smile instead. Poking me in the side and making me squeak was a favorite pastime of his and now was no exception. I slapped at the hand that poked me, hitting only air and making Michael laugh even harder.

His laugh was infectious, and soon enough we were all laughing as we walked back inside. I told them all I’d be back and went to the guestroom that Syla and I were sharing, needing a little space. I closed the door and sat in the stuffed armchair in the corner of the room, letting out a long breath until my lungs were empty. Tilting my head back, I closed my eyes, counting my breaths in and out, pausing to hold for just a moment between each breath.

Eyes opening, they landed on the picture that Antun had commissioned for my Christmas gift – Selene’s terrace balcony, covered in dark red roses as she stood in a flowing gown, face lifted toward the moon. I wondered when I’d see Selene again. She said that it wasn’t the last time, but when was the next time?

I took another breath. Just another time I got left behind. That’s what was so upsetting tonight – it wasn’t the flying that upset me, it was the feeling of being left behind. I felt half-mortal still while the others were completely supernatural, effortlessly so. I’d never effortlessly done anything before. For me, progress had always come only after struggle, and that truth stung more than I cared to admit.

I continued to breathe slowly and steadily, coming to a sort of acceptance within myself. Perhaps tonight had been a flop, and maybe flight was going to take a long time to come in. But I wasn’t a quitter. I wouldn’t be flapping my arms and jumping off chairs again like that, but maybe I could be patient this time too.

“Good evening everyone. I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend,” Ravena started the class.

It took all my willpower not to look at everyone else and pretend that nothing at all had happened. Definitely not an event where a crazed deity planned on world domination. And I was definitely just fine, why would I ever have internal injuries?

But lying to myself wasn’t going to make this class any easier.

“Let’s get right into it. Wasters and positions,” she said matter-of-factly.

We all grabbed our practice swords and took up positions far enough away from each other that we could do the movements without hinderance.

“Vom Tag, Oberhau, Alber, Pflug, Vom Tag. Go.”

My blade started angled slightly back, my body coiled tight like a spring. Then I cut diagonally downward. Recovered to a low guard, point forward, the blade angled toward the ground. Advanced and extended a thrust at the midline, then brought my sword back up by my shoulder, raised high like at the start.

“Again.”

We repeated the exercise several times before changing the sequence. We kept it up until I thought my arms might fall off, my back screaming at the constantly contracted muscles in my core. What I wouldn’t give for a massage. But despite all my wishing, no masseuse was to be found. Finally, Ravena called for a break after countless sword drills.

“You know what I always tell you – fight is fight. Well, even though I’m technically your sword instructor, I’m a warrior at heart first and foremost. So, I’m going to teach you to be warriors. You’re less likely to have a sword in the real world – a warrior should be a weapon as much as wield one. Today, you begin hand-to-hand combat training along with your sword training.” She pointed at the rack full of practice swords. “Wasters away. All you need is you for this next part.”

I put the sword away, halfway grateful, halfway curious about what was coming. Hand-to-hand? Was she planning on turning us into sword-wielding MMA fighters or something? I returned to my spot, Ravena standing with her hands on her hips as she waited.

Despite my extremely sore body, a part of me was excited. I’d always been interested in self-defense but had never gone to any classes before. That said, I worried how much I’d be able to do with just how sore I was.

As everyone returned, she began. “Breakfalls, or falling safely, is key to fighting. If you don’t know how to safely fall, you shouldn’t be fighting at all. I’m going to show you a couple of basic falls and how to recover from them in a fight.”

Without another word, she tipped backwards, chin tucked, her arm and hand slamming on the mat as she came down. She let momentum carry her leg and swung it forward. She locked the opposite arm in place, swinging the other leg and threading it through the gap until she was standing once more. It wasn’t until she was standing again, dusting her hands on her pants that I realized it was on purpose – a demonstration.

“Like that, for example,” she said, not even winded. “Don’t worry, I’ll slow everything down and take it beat by beat. If you do any part of this wrong, you could very easily hurt yourself.”

She began to explain how to safely fall backwards, rolling off the shoulder instead of landing flat on your back. She had us practice from a sitting position first to understand where exactly on your body was supposed to meet the floor.

Trusting gravity was nearly impossible for me. Gravity equaled pain, ergo I did all in my power to not fall. But I tried, my entire self screaming on the inside, as the natural pull took my body to the floor. Landing in a rolling position on my shoulder instead of my back was a lot less painful than I expected, though my tender body still balked at the sudden, hard stop.

We practiced falls for about a minute or so, before Ravena called out for a break out of nowhere.

Strange, we’ve barely even started with this, I thought.

She walked up to me, concern in her eyes. “Drew, are you alright?”

Shit. Is it that obvious? I considered lying about the whole thing, and I looked at everyone else. All looked uncomfortable, but Antun regained his composure first. “You know that fight we told you about?” he said, making Ravena turn to him. “The one we hired you to train us for? Well, it happened this weekend.”

He didn’t go further, making Ravena pursue after a moment. “And? What happened?”

“We won.” He smiled as if he was talking about a game and not a battle.

Ravena looked at each of us, scanning as if she could see the wounds inflicted on each of us, and finding the others lacking. “And why is Drew the only one acting like she participated in a fight at all?”

The words hit the others harder than she meant. But she couldn’t have known why. They’d been compelled to freeze in place, completely unable to do anything but watch as Nikola taunted me, always dancing just out of reach and making me wear myself down. Having to watch as I was taken away, unable to do anything to stop it; unable to do anything at all until Nikola was dead.

But we couldn’t tell Ravena all that. Clearing his throat, Antun said, “We all got separated in the chaos but found each other in the end. We couldn’t help her with her fight.”

Ravena narrowed her eyes, as if she could detect the half-truths and was trying to decide whether or not it was worth pushing further. After a moment, she looked at me. “Even when you’re bruised and hurting, you fight. That’s why we practice even when we’re broken – but I do have my limits. Drew, do you feel like you can safely keep up with tonight’s drills?”

My inner wimp quailed. No, don’t make me, it hurts! But I straightened my back, nodding at Ravena and simply said, “Yes. I promise to tell you if I need a break.”

She gave the tiniest grin before her face went stoic again. “Right then, reps of falls and recoveries, then we move on to striking.” She had us do five repetitions on each side for each type of fall, ending those with repetitions of getting back to our feet as if we were in a fight.

As sore as I was, I was able to keep up. The forward fall was the most difficult for me, as my knees kept wanting to bend and my hands wanted to come forward to brace my fall. But Ravena warned the dangers of catching a fall with only hands, the x-rays of broken wrists a step too-much proof, leaving me queasy. But as nauseous as I was, I didn’t let my hands creep forward again, palms slamming the mat as I landed with my arms.

Ravena nodded, satisfied that I had learned my lesson. She turned to everyone. “A combination before water. Sideways breakfall, roll, technical stand-up. Five reps each side. Ready? Go.”

Trust and surrender – to gravity, to this training – felt alien after Nikola. What he did to me, both before and after he took my reincarnation energy, made it hard to want to even trust myself at times. Whenever an intrusive thought came up, I wondered first whether it was actually my own thought or someone trying to force theirs onto me.

I rolled my shoulders to relax before checking my stance, knees slightly bent as I waited for Ravena’s tap – the signal that we’d been “hit.” I let gravity take me, tucking my chin into my chest to keep from getting whiplash. I impacted the mat with my hip at a forty-five degree angle, exhaling in a short, sharp breath. My fingers stayed together as my hand hit the floor with a flat whap.

As momentum carried me backward, I drew a knee to my chest and crossed the opposite arm over it, the other arm braced on the mat. I felt like a spring as I lined up for a shoulder roll. The shoulder Ravena had pushed met the mat, and the weight shifted diagonally from that shoulder across my spine to the other hip. My back foot gave a small push to help the roll continue, my eyes following the line of the roll. Free arm sweeping in front of me like an oar, I finished the roll sitting on my hip, a hand behind me for support. The forward arm bent into a guard as my legs formed a staggered L-shape – front knee up, rear leg bent.

I inhaled as I planted my back hand flat behind me, fingers angled out. With my sole on the mat, I lifted my hips and swung my rear leg underneath me, threading it through the gap between the foot on the mat and the hand anchored behind. As that leg landed, I shifted my weight onto it and rose straight up.

I reset into a guarded stance, my knees soft, torso angled sideways to my imaginary opponent. The former anchor hand came up to guard, the other still near centerline. With a slight pivot of my lead foot, I finished the recovery. No sooner had I gotten up when Ravena tapped the opposite shoulder for the next set, having deemed the first one good enough.

I continued, finishing the sets, my body screaming at me the entire time. We broke for water and I did my best not to limp, my entire body feeling tenderized. I sipped, trying to avoid cramping as much as possible.

“Hey,” Michael asked quietly, “are you okay? If you need to sit out the rest of the lesson, I’m sure Ravena would understand.”

“Really? That’s a nice thought,” I sighed dreamily. Then I sniffed my nose, straightening my spine with a look of determination. “Well, let’s finish this lesson strong. Shall we?”

Michael smiled. “That’s my girl. I’ll give you a massage after this.”

I melted inside, my face splitting into a wide grin. “Promise?”

“Promise.” He winked at me.

I couldn’t help the small, happy laugh, wincing at all the movement it caused. “Ooh, this is uncomfortable,” I emphasized. “I’m going to hold you to that promise, you know.”

“I’m counting on it,” he said, his eyes going a little predatory.

I blamed my blush on a pretend heart rate.

“Moving on,” Ravena said as Michael and I walked back to our places. “The palm strike is the safest way to hit without injuring your knuckles or wrists.” She motioned for me to come forward for a demonstration. Grabbing my hand and extending my arm, she had me hold my hand open, my fingers curling slightly.

“Power comes from your hips, not your arm. Here,” she pointed to the heel of my palm, directly under the thumb pad, “is where you strike.” She demonstrated with her own body now. Putting one hand up to guard and stepping forward on the same side as her striking hand, she drove the strike through her hips, keeping her elbow close. As her palm met the invisible target, she exhaled in a short, controlled burst.

“Don’t shove – drive. Your hips throw the strike, your arm just delivers it.” She had me go back to my place. “We’ll practice this until you won’t hurt yourselves doing it.”

On my first attempt, I overextended my arm. Ravena tapped my elbow lightly, saying, “Keep it soft – locked joints break bones too.” I didn’t want to see any more x-rays, so I did my best to adjust, keeping my joints loose so my strength could flow right through without stopping.

Around rep fourteen, she nodded. “Alright, you’ve got the basis of that down. Onto the jab.” She demonstrated a quick, straight punch, her fist closed. “We’ll test distance, precision, and posture control.” She walked over to Syla, pulling her arms into the right positions as she described what she was doing. “To setup, you’ll want your hands up in guard, elbows tucked in. Lead foot forward, weight balanced between your feet equally. Chin slightly down, eyes forward, and you’re ready to jab.”

Ravena stood next to Syla and demonstrated once more, going quickly at first, then stepping beside Syla and helping her body replicate the moves slower. “Snap your lead fist straight out and back, rotating the wrist so your palm is facing down when you’re fully extended. Your shoulder rises to guard your jaw. At extension, exhale short and sharp. Don’t linger in an extended position, you’ll be wide open to attacks that way. The quick retraction is just as important as the punch. Speed, not strength. A jab is a question – the cross is the answer, though we’ll go over that one another day.”

She had us do jabs over and over, coming to each of us to correct it. For as simple a punch as it was, I still needed help. My wrist kept sitting out of line. Ravena adjusted it, saying, “Straight line from knuckles to elbow.” She drew a line down my arm to show the alignment. “Put your wrist how it was before.” I did, and she drew another line, this one much more crooked. “You’ll punch yourself out of the story if you hit like this. Keep your alignment.”

More broken bones? Is it even worth it to try hand-to-hand combat when one little mistake can lead to weeks out of commission?... Well, maybe not weeks as a vampire, but still.

I slowed down my jabs to keep my wrist straight, gradually speeding up as my wrist got used to the alignment. The whooshing of air and soft grunts were all we heard for the next few minutes as we practiced jabs over and over.

Ravena stopped us. “Now you have two strikes in your arsenal with only one night of practice. What we talk about next is important not only for what you’ve already learned, but for what is coming up in future lessons. Posture and base – the foundation for balance and power. Without it, your strikes won’t land nearly hard enough and you’ll hurt yourself more than your opponent.”

Pointing down at herself to demonstrate, she said, “Feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent – not crouched, just… alive, not locked like a doll. Your weight should be centered in the balls of your feet, not your heels. Your hips should be facing your target but your shoulders are angled – it presents a smaller profile. Everyone adjust your posture accordingly. Try to keep in mind: if someone pushed you right now, would you fall? If so, adjust your stance.”

Everyone shuffled into position. I shifted my weight until my balance felt alive – light enough to move, heavy enough to stay. I couldn’t help the smile that started, though I kept it small.

“Last thing: breath control. I’ve told you a couple of times where it’s best to exhale, let me expand on that. It’s all about timing your exhale with your exertion to prevent tension and maintain stamina. Michael, throw a jab but instead of exhaling, inhale.” He did, the throw much weaker than when he exhaled on the next demonstration. “Proper breath also lends power to your movements. You exhale with every strike or exertion, inhaling naturally between combinations. Never hold your breath – it stiffens your motion and telegraphs effort. Your breath is your rhythm. If you stop breathing, you stop thinking. Let’s do one more drill and we’ll call it a night. I want you to do a palm strike and jab then recover, focusing on your breathing.”

Ravena did the exercise with us, helping us hear the rhythm as we began. I set my stance. Inhale. Short exhale with palm strike. Again, exhale with jab. Inhale the reset. I went again, repeating it until the breathing rhythm became automatic.

“Well done tonight, everyone. Now, I suppose the question is, do I keep teaching you or will you drop this now that your battle is won?” Ravena asked.

I looked around at the others. I wanted to keep taking classes. I had no idea what was coming up now that Nikola was gone, and I knew I’d rather be prepared. The others seemed to have a similar thought, with Antun giving the look that said, it’s up to all of you.

“I for one want to keep going. You said earlier that fight is fight. Well, I don’t know what kind of fights we’re going to be facing, if there are even going to be any more fights, but I’d rather be ready,” I said, hoping that I had read everyone else’s faces right.

“A pragmatic view,” Ravena replied with a grin. “Same schedule work for everyone?” A round of nodding heads and verifying faces. “Excellent. Let’s do our cooldown, then we’ll really call it a night.”

We went through the cooldown routine, stretching our bodies until I felt like a sore, limp noodle. Oh, I am definitely going to hold Michael to that promise of a massage. My blush deepened at the memory of the promise in his eyes. Ravena left, and the air became even more comfortable as it was just the four of us.

“How are you holding up, darling?” Syla asked me.

I gave a weak chuckle, “Whatever you’re feeling, times ten. That’s what I’ve got.”

“I’m going to get some tea started for everyone. Drew, you may want to draw an Epsom salt bath for yourself—”

“I promised I’d give her a massage after practice,” Michael interjected.

“Oh, are you offering, sir?” Antun joked.

“Go find your own masseur,” Michael laughed. “That was a Drew-exclusive offer.”

“Rude,” Antun whined sarcastically, making me laugh and cringe, holding my cramping sides.

“Okay, I think I’ll take that massage sooner than later,” I managed to say.

Michael gave a sympathetic smile and sketched a bow. “After you.”

Next Chapter

Some people go bowling to bond. We apparently go for psychological warfare. We had cleared the floor of the living room, couches pushed to the perimeter, leaving the center of the room cleared. The low hum of Edison bulbs in the lamps matched the soft yellow light they threw out.

Antun stood in front of Syla, Michael, and I, his presence weightier than usual. He’d been out feeding all day, consuming more mana than he ever had at one time before. Standing in front of him now, the air seemed almost heavy. It was like a too-thick blanket around us, both pressing and pushing. Antun’s face was practically glowing.

“Not going to lie,” he said, “I’m feeling pretty great right now. I can see how Nikola became obsessed with it, addicted to the feeling of raw power that it gives.” At Syla’s concerned look, he assured, “Don’t worry, I’m not headed in that direction. I’m only ever planning on gorging like this when we’re doing tests like tonight. That said though; man, I feel good.” His arms went limp as if his whole body wanted to relax, like a food coma but with mana instead.

The incident at the Sirens of Spring had only happened yesterday morning, and I was almost all healed thanks to vampires’ advanced healing. I’d need more mana soon to replenish what my body had used to heal me, but that made me even more perfect for Antun’s test.

“We’ll start simple,” Antun said, as if he were describing a dinner menu. “Syla, would you mind being the recorder for testing tonight? We’ll focus on Michael and Drew since they’re both younger vampires, closer in ‘age’ to Nikola’s brood. Just in case that has any bearing on how this goes.” Syla nodded, grabbing a notebook and pencil, holding them at the ready.

“I’m going to give you a command. Your task is to fight the compulsion when it hits.” He gave both Michael and I a serious look. “We’ve all experienced Nikola’s compulsion, and I know it’s left scars. But we need to conduct this test to see if there’s any chance of contacting the other vampires this way.”

His head dipping slightly, voice dropping to a commanding tone, Antun ordered, “Bow.”

It was as if someone had tried to fold me in half. Like a hand was on the back of my head, forcing it lower. My abdominals flexed as I fought the compulsion, stuck at a forty-five degree angle. In my periphery, I could see Michael straining just as hard, yet standing closer to upright than me. The tendons and veins in his neck had popped out like ropes under his skin, sweat beading on his brow. In my mind, his order repeated, scraping like static, like Antun had said it again and again.

Suddenly, the compulsion let go, and I snapped my back upright, nearly falling backwards from the momentum. I knew that it would be difficult, but it was way more so than I’d thought it’d be. I panted, the effort of fighting as strenuous as a workout. And I knew I could make it through a workout. I could make it through this too.

Syla’s pencil scratched her observations, eyes intently focused. I could imagine her in a lab coat and goggles just then, a scientist trying to understand the undead condition. It fit her, and I couldn’t help the smile that ticked the corner of my mouth.

“That wasn’t bad, “Antun commented. “But it wasn’t good either. At least now we can confirm that a huge increase in mana makes one powerful enough to compel. Now, to see if there’s any way to use this to communicate instead of just force action. And to train against it.”

“I want to try again,” Michael panted. “But this time, you should try to talk mind to mind like Nikola did. See if you can project your voice through the same power.”

Antun nodded, shuffling his feet into a wider stance. “Ready?” he asked us. With our nods, he closed his eyes, brows furrowed in concentration. I kept my mental ears open, but I heard nothing.

“Maybe it needs to have a command attached to it. Nikola was calling all those vampires to the Sirens of Spring with an order. Maybe try mentally projecting an order,” I suggested.

I wondered if he didn’t hear me at first, but then my feet began to shuffle without me. They wanted to walk, to move somewhere… the kitchen. No, body. Stay. Don’t listen. But like a marionette, my foot lifted and stepped. My entire body trembled with the effort of staying still.

In my mind, I heard Antun’s voice in bits and pieces, like it was a broken-up radio signal. “Walk… kitchen…” The main point got across even if all the words didn’t. And my body strained to obey. I was already tired from healing all day, and my strength began to fail. I yielded another step.

“Fight it, Drew,” Syla urged under her breath, clutching her notebook, pencil gripped so tight the wood began to crack.

Come on, body. Fight back!

A flash. The white room. Nikola’s voice ordering me to walk back to the chair and sit like some obedient pet.

Focus, Drew. Don’t let your legs move. Yet the memory persisted as the compulsion held.

I managed to stay in place, barely. Michael also fought back, not even shifting his feet. I gritted my teeth until Antun let the compulsion go, and my whole body went limp. I stayed standing but my legs wobbled beneath me with the sudden freedom. Syla wrote her observations, looking up when she was done.

“How did it feel?” Antun asked us. Syla held her pencil at the ready.

“It was like trying to listen through water. The intent of the compulsion was there, but the actual words were difficult to hear at all,” Michael said.

“I was going to say like static instead of water,” I replied. “I wonder if it was easier to resist because you were trying to mentally communicate to both of us at the same time. The compulsion – the intent – came through, but the words were in and out.”

“So, it sounds like more than willpower, you were able to resist because of the cost on my end,” Antun said. He walked over to the couch at the far side of the room and sat down, as if the act of compelling had worn him out.

“Antun, are you alright?” I asked with concern.

He glanced at me. “It took more mental energy than I was expecting.” He rubbed at his temple like a headache was forming. “I can imagine how things felt on your end,” he nodded at Michael, “but I hadn’t expected how much energy it would require on my end. There’s no way Nikola could have done what he did as a normal vampire. His godhood, however temporary, must have given him the ability to broadcast the way he did. Trying to move just you two at the same time was hard enough, and there were well over a hundred vampires at the Sirens of Spring.”

So, using compulsion to communicate wouldn’t work. And I definitely wasn’t immune to compulsion. I had just been lucky with Nikola since he’d been using my reincarnation energy to power it. At least, that’s what I suspected was the reason.

All of us stood there silent for a long minute, each of us trying to figure out the next step now that compulsion was probably a no-go.

Syla set down the notebook, asking, “Would now be a good time for a tea break?”

Antun nodded, and she turned to go to the kitchen. I followed her, needing to move under my own power after those tests. I watched as she filled and started the kettle, and as she opened a jar of tea leaves – lavender, by the smell of it – scooping some into a steeping ball. She got out a tea pot, pouring the boiling water into it before placing the ball inside, dangling by a long chain that hung off the side of the pot.

As the tea steeped, Syla turned to me. “Are you alright after that, darling? You may have been a willing participant but I’m sure it couldn’t have been easy.”

“Has anyone ever bothered telling you you’re rather perceptive?” I said dubiously.

A small smile curled the corner of her mouth before it was replaced by concern once more. “Watching it happen… it reminded me of when I’d watch Nikola compelling others, of when he ordered you.”

I nodded, letting her know I had remembered the same thing.

Her mouth thinned to a line. “Understanding is important, but not at the cost of your mind. If you think it’s starting to become too much, stop the test. Say… say “potato” when it’s too much if you can’t say more than a word.”

I snorted, “Potato? My safe word is potato?”

“Did you have something better in mind?” she asked.

I paused, still internally laughing. “Alright, ‘potato’ it is. If I ever need help out, I’ll say ‘potato.’ Deal?”

Syla shook my outstretched hand with a grin. “Deal.” She looked at the kettle, bobbed the steeping ball, and began filling mugs. I helped prep mine and Michael’s, taking those two to the living room while Syla carried hers and Anutn’s. We sat on the couch and chairs that were shoved off to the side. I tucked my feet under me and blew on my tea before taking a test sip. Steaming hot, floral with a hint of honey. I let the warmth seep into me as I took a deep breath, leaning against Michael, who tipped his head to rest on top of mine.

This. This right here. This is why we fought. This is why I…

My mind caught on a thought and my cheer guttered. Right, I had killed someone. Someone evil, but still, I had killed. I was a murderer. Did I deserve the happiness that the others were displaying? I took another drink, closing my eyes as I willed the feelings down, down until they were little more than echoes in the dark. I’d deal with this, my new reality, but not right now.

“Ready to try again?” Antun asked.

I nodded, then a thought came to me. “I have an idea. What if the action you pick to compel is more passive? Like, ‘Stop and listen to me,’ or something?”

Antun put a hand on his chin, “Good idea. I’m also thinking I should do one at a time to avoid that monstrous headache induced from trying to communicate to and compel multiple people. Who wants to go first?”

Michael hurried to put a finger to his nose in a “Not it” gesture.

“Turd,” I grumbled, setting my tea down and walking back to the center of the room.

Michael chuckled behind me at my choice of word and merely sipped his tea.

Standing in front of me, Antun looked into my eyes. “Ready?”

I nodded and took a steadying breath.

At first, there was nothing. Then, like a crappy radio signal, I heard Antun in my head say, “Stop, listen, then itch your nose.” I didn’t realize I had itched my nose until the words rang through.

“Well, that was a little more successful, but I still think what I thought before. If we’re only able to reach one vampire at a time with this method, there’s no way we’ll be able to find them all like that.” Antun exhaled slowly, brows drawn in. “I hate to say it, but I think communication is out. We’d have to find them the old-fashioned way, but in a city as big and busy as Seattle, that’d be next to impossible.”

“What’s the old-fashioned way?” I asked.

Antun pointed at his chest. “Listening for missing heartbeats. But there are thousands of citizens. I think…” He screwed his mouth to the side, grinding his teeth. “I think we’re going to have to accept that Seattle has a lot more vampires now. Some things are going to have to change, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

He looked at Syla, “Have you ever hunted animals before in your 300 years?”

Her eyes lit up. “I haven’t been hunting since before Nikola. I used to love it. Are you suggesting we go?” She was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Not tonight,” Antun said, “but soon. With more vampires, we need more sources of mana. I don’t know how many of them will be using animals instead of humans. Hell, if any of them even know they can do that, or to go to the slaughterhouse for blood.”

He turned to me. “I don’t typically kill when I hunt animals, not unless I’ve gone and gotten the hunting license to do it properly, but I really hate field-dressing. It’s all humane, catch and release if you think about it. So, get that worried look off your face, Drew.”

I sat back at the order, not realizing that my thoughts were again on my face. Yes, I had been worried about killing so many animals, and I felt much better now that I knew we wouldn’t be. I didn’t want any more death, especially not by my own hands.

“Before we do that, Antun,” Michael said, “I’m wondering if we’d benefit from some normalcy first?” He hadn’t implied me at all, but I still felt like he said it for my sake. I was about to tell him I was fine, when he got a silly grin on his face. “This coming weekend is the Ren Faire – perfect opportunity for normalcy for us strange folk. How about we try hunting after that? Maybe the next night? Or whatever time of day hunting happens, I don’t know. Is it like fishing, where people wake up at all hours of the night to go to the supposed perfect spot?”

“A bit, but in a lot of ways not at all. It’ll make more sense when we go. Alright, after Ren Faire then. I can tell Michael’s excited for it,” Antun began before Michael’s grin split wide. “How about you, ladies? Do you think a trip to the Faire will help?”

Syla tried to hide the tenseness in her body, but I saw the way her shoulders locked. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in crowds. Nikola kept me confined to wherever his latest victim was for the most part, except when he’d occasionally let me out to go feed, but I’d always stay to the back streets…”

She seemed to be going into her thoughts when she shook her head and sighed. “I think it’s just what I need to get Nikola out of my head,” she said.

I smiled at her. I knew that decision couldn’t have been easy for her to make, but she did it. God, I couldn’t wait until Syla was fully unlocked and herself again. She was already a blast, but she’d be amazing as her full, authentic self.

Then a thought dumped on me like a bucket of ice water.

Michael noticed the change in me. “What’s the matter?” he asked, concern and curiosity in equal measure.

“We have Ravena’s training tomorrow.” My body seemed to ache more as the thought settled in. God, I hope I’m feeling better by tomorrow.

Michael surveyed my body. “At least you don’t look like you’ve been in a fight to the death,” he quipped.

“No, just feel like pulp mushed into a person suit is all,” I responded somewhat flat. “This is gonna suck.”

Next Chapter

Butler, the author, here. I am so glad that you made it through the first volume of my series, Living Blood. I’m faced with a decision at the moment: to post or not to post volume 2, Living Blood: Learning the Dark.

I currently don’t have very many readers and, unfortunately, little engagement on my story. I’ve been posting it over on Royal Road, so there are more chapters available now if you head over there (Living Blood on Royal Road). However, that doesn’t answer the question of whether or not to continue posting the story on here.

If you’ve enjoyed the story and would like to continue following Drew and the crew, please leave a comment or like this article to let me know. If there is enough interest, I will continue to post more chapters for you here.

Again, thank you so much for sticking through with the story to the very end. It means a lot to me to have anyone read my work.

Sincerely,
R.L. Butler

I’m so thirsty! Why isn’t anything working?

The woman stumbled into a wall, feeling dizzy. “Whoa, hey, you alright, lady?” He was young, on the cusp of adulthood.

She looked up, her vision blurry, trying to see who was talking to her. A thundering thump-thump sounded in her ears and her head tilted sharply as if listening.

The young man was getting nervous by the woman, his heart rate was increasing. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.

Her eyes sharpened on the vein in his neck, pulsing like a drumbeat. She didn’t remember stepping forward. She just remembered the heat, the sound, the snap of teeth meeting skin.

❖ 🩸 ❖

“If you were in the area of the Sirens of Spring this afternoon, you may have seen a strange gathering. Many were frightened and ran away, claiming that they saw people being sanguinarians, or “vampires.”

“The SPD have detained several of those who were seen biting other citizens, though we have no other details in this ongoing investigation. We want to assure our city…”

Some official was making an announcement about what went down, getting absolutely everything wrong besides the location. I swallowed the pain meds, hoping they worked for vampires too, before sitting down next to Michael.

After the day’s events, we decided that staying together as a group might be safest for the time being. As Antun’s house had already become a home base more or less, it was easy to choose his home to house all of us.

Antun had bought a new couch, one that could fold out into a bed, so that Michael would have better arrangements this time around. “I’m going to need to make another guest room somehow,” Antun muttered under his breath at one point.

Almost all of us had showered and Syla was helping to bandage my body after I had cleaned up. I was pretty sure that if they weren’t broken, my ribs were definitely pulled out of place. The bruising was impressive.

“Be glad for the quick healing. It’ll still hurt, just not as long.”

I winced as she applied ointment on some of my cuts and scrapes. I was tempted to ask someone to go down to a dispensary for a blunt or a brownie to help with the pain.

“Looking a little better,” Antun commented as Syla and I came out of the guest room.

“Feeling a little bit better.” A shower could do wonders for a person’s mood, even when they are covered in wounds. I eased my way onto the couch, trying not to bend or twist my back at all.

“Syla, would you mind refreshing this ice pack for me?”

“Of course, darling.” Her English accent made the term of endearment that much more adorable. She took the ice bag to the kitchen to refresh the ice inside.

Antun leaned forward as she walked out of earshot. “Now that our sensitive Syla is gone, how are you really?”

I smiled at him. “In all honesty, I have no idea. His face still flashes in my head when I close my eyes. And I know he deserved it, but… still. God, I wish I had a therapist.”

Antun pulled his phone out, “You know you need only say the word and I will get you the best.”

I shook my head, rolling my eyes and grinning. “If I start to go off the rails, hook me up, alright?”

He nodded, putting his phone down. “So, you and Michael…” He drew it out, making it a question. He raised his eyebrows and gave an impish grin.

I blushed and stuttered, “W-well, we haven’t talked o-or anything yet…”

Antun’s grin turned into a warm smile. “You’re so cute.”

“Quit it!”

“Why are you antagonizing her, Antun? She just saved your arse.” Syla came around the corner with a fresh ice pack, handing it to me before sitting down.

“Because I love her,” he beamed, as if that made everything better.

Syla rolled her eyes and slapped the air in his general direction as if she could reach him that way.

I smiled, grateful for my friends. Michael was the last to get a shower so we were all waiting for him as we chatted.

After the fight and beheading, Michael threw Nikola’s head into a black grocery bag, deciding we’d burn it at Antun’s. Not like building a pyre would fly in Seattle proper anyway. We burned it in a hole in the ground so we could bury it after, a fitting end for the villain.

Earlier, at the Sirens of Spring, Antun had wiped the sword and dagger on Nikola’s clothes, trying to get the black ichor off. He ended up briefly washing them at the edge of the water to get the last of it off, flicking them dry at the end.

I yawned, the inflating of my ribs painful as they protested. Nothing, except maybe this pain, could keep me from sleeping. The adrenaline had long since worn off and I was crashing.

Michael came down the stairs and Antun showed him how the new couch-bed worked. I laid down on it as a joke…

OH MY GOD THAT WAS DUMB!

I felt and heard the crack in my back – fire lancing through my spine and ribcage.

“Maybe I should just go to bed for real. Gah, Thank God tomorrow is Sunday, no work.”

Michael nodded his appreciation of that, also happy it would be the weekend a little longer. I went to the guest room, carefully laying down on my side of the queen mattress, the aches and pains of the day becoming more obvious to me as I stayed still.

I slept like the dead, waking near dusk with most of my cuts faded to pink and my ribs only spoke their protest instead of screaming it.

“Look who decided to join the world of the living. Kinda,” Michael teased as he helped chop vegetables in the kitchen. He and Antun were making a soup to combat the chilly weather.

“Anything I can do to help?” I asked, wanting to be helpful in some way.

“Not really, we’ve gotten everything prepped. It’s all just time at this point.”

Antun sauteed garlic and onions in oil on the stove, then he added the carrots and celery, wanting to soften them a little too. He made a rue of the vegetables with some flour and a little butter, stirring it around for a few minutes before adding broth.

It already smelled amazing, but it wasn’t even ready yet. He added cooked ground sausage, then potatoes and spinach last, wanting them to cook in the broth.

I couldn’t wait to try this out, it looked so good. “I call it Lazy Zuppa Toscana.”

The soup came out creamy and thick, perfect for a night with such awful weather. We ate at the table next to a huge window wall. An electric fireplace was blowing warm air into the room.

With the soup warming me from the inside and the fireplace warming me from the outside, I wondered if I could achieve a normal body temperature, even if only shortly. The thought amused me and a smile crossed my face.

“What is it?” Michael asked, noting the smile.

I widened my smile as I said, “Just thinking funny vampire things. I was wondering if between the soup and the fireplace I could reach a regular body temperature again. Just for kicks.”

Michael took it as a personal challenge, asking Antun to locate a thermometer.

Antun came back from his bathroom a few minutes later. “You’re lucky this first aid kit happened to have one, vampires don’t really need thermometers.”

“Usually,” Michael waggled his brows.

“You’re all a little mad, you are aware of that, right?” Syla threw out.

“Indubitably,” Antun replied, pushing the button on the thermometer to see if it worked.

As I warmed up, they had me stick the thermometer under my armpit, as my mouth would be too warm from the soup and mess with the results. I managed to get up to nearly 95º Fahrenheit and Michael cheered, calling it good enough. I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, the joy wanting to burst out of me.

Between the warm soup and the warm atmosphere, I began to be very drowsy. “I think I need to call it. I’m falling asleep in my seat.” I yawned, emphasizing my point.

Everyone agreed that it was time to sleep and began their respective journeys to their beds, Syla and I walking together. I laid down gingerly, my ribs screaming at every shift of my body. Thank goodness this would heal soon.

❖ 🩸 ❖

By morning, the pain had dulled to a whisper, and I was nearly whole again.

I munched on a piece of toast, the others also eating their respective breakfasts: Antun had made himself a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats, Syla had grabbed a muffin, and Michael had made himself scrambled eggs.

“How’d everyone sleep?” I asked, crunching into buttery goodness.

“Good, like the dead,” Antun replied. “Those kinds of sleeps always feel the most restful to me.” The others had also slept well and deeply, saying as much. Then there was silence again except for the sounds of eating.

Syla cleared her throat. “I hate to be the one to ruin the morning already, but I think we’re all wondering anyway. What are we going to do with all these new vampires? Some might be good people but did you see the way they attacked the populace?”

Syla was right. We were all thinking about the new problem.

“Damn Nikola. Wherever his soul is, I hope he burns,” Michael uttered. “Leaving such a mess behind, it’s a bit overwhelming.”

“A bit?” I sighed, “If it weren’t for my injuries healing all night and making me sleep, I probably would’ve been stewing on this instead.”

We sat there, the mood growing sullen as we tried and failed to think of anything that could work. “Maybe at night, see if we can maybe come upon someone?”

Antun said. “We’re talking about Seattle, the biggest city in the state. And there’s a good chance they’ve already spread past the city limits.”

I shook my head. “How likely do you think they’ll spread when there are so many people congregated in this city? Seattle is perfect for vampires. The grey skies, the population, the shadowed alleys. Why spread when they have everything they need right here?”

Antun made a good point face and shrugged.

Syla broke the silence, her voice hesitant but firm. “They all followed Nikola’s voice. Is there some way we could maybe mentally project our voices?”

“Perhaps,” Michael’s fingers drummed on his chin. “He was powerful enough to compel you before he became a god. Do you know how he did that?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. I always figured that he had drunk enough mana to overcome my own will or something. We could try to test that theory? Have one of us mana-up and see if they can compel any of us.”

We sat with the idea, letting it roll around in our minds.

“We don’t have anything else to try, may as well see if we can do it.” Antun looked around the group. “Which one of us is going to “mana-up” as Syla put it?”

We all shifted, wondering who would be best to try this with. “I’m the oldest, I’ve been around longer than any of you. Do you think that would make any difference?”

I shrugged, truly at a loss. “You can certainly try. Do you have the time in your schedule to feed that much, though?”

Antun thought for a moment then said, fingers snapping, “You know what? Influencers take breaks. I’ll tell my followers that I’m going on a media fast for my mental health or something.” That took care of that.

“So, how are we going to do this?” Michael began, “Syla, he basically starved you of mana, that might’ve also had something to do with it. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather not go without mana to test this out.”

“If we want it to work at all anyway, we need to be taking in a regular amount of mana just like the other vampires. Otherwise the testing is pointless,” I remarked.

“Eh, I wouldn’t say pointless,” Antun said, “But I understand what you mean. It wouldn’t help with our current problem.” He stood, stretching. “Well, if we’re going to do this, I better get going. I’ll meet you guys back here at 11:00, nice and late. That way I’ll have been out literally all day getting mana gorged and we can do a test tonight, see if it works at all.”

We nodded, not because it was a good plan, but because it was the only one we had.

Antun pulled out his phone, “Looks like footage of the attack has now made its way to the local news stations. No one can agree on what happened, so right now there’s just a lot of scared people talking about seeing people biting others.”

He sighed, “Maybe I shouldn’t take a break from social media just yet. It’ll be easier to keep my ear to the ground if I’m doing my thing every day, easier to dispel any rumors that come onto my channel. Syla, would you mind brewing some espresso while I go get my computer? I’m going to want all my brain power on this one.”

They both left the room, leaving just Michael and I. “How are you doing? Truly?” He asked, his eyes clouding with concern once more.

I smiled gently, “I’m fine, I promise. I’m pretty sure I’m more or less healed at this point. You don’t need to worry about me. We’ve got plenty else to worry about.” I failed that attempt at sarcasm, worry creasing deeper into his face.

“Drew,” he swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “We’ve been calling each other best friends, but… for a while now I think we’ve crossed over that boundary. I don’t know what your thoughts are on labels, but how would it sound, after everything we’ve been through, to be mine?”

I cut him off with a kiss, my heart wishing it could pound with my excitement. I smiled on his lips as I said, “I think I’d like that.”

❖ 🩸 ❖

The woman felt much better after that young man had helped out. She felt a little bad for knocking him out.

I wonder if he just passed out or if he died… I hope he’s okay.

She passed Pike Place Market, the air fishy but tolerable.

So many people… So much blood…

She fought to slow her spiraling breath, but the scent of blood wrapped around her like silk.

I want it, all of it! So good, so delicious…

Ever since Nikola had turned her, it was like there was a thirst that could not be quenched. Sure, she was fine. For now.

She saw an alley up ahead and went in, whether to calm down or to wait for a victim to pass by she hadn’t quite decided. She went further in, using the shadow of the buildings to help conceal her behind a stack of crates.

She could hear someone coming down the alley. Then they stopped and turned around, then they did it again. The person was pacing, in obvious distress.

She peeked out of her hiding spot and the man ahead froze like a statue, a stillness that wasn’t quite natural. She noticed.

“You’re one too, aren’t you. One of the people Nikola changed.” She spoke low, not wanting her voice to leave the alley. She stepped toward him, he just stared at her.

He wasn’t scared, it looked more like he was assessing her.

She continued closer until she was only a few feet away.

He said nothing, just staring.

“Can you talk?”

“Of course I can talk,” he huffed, his brow furrowing in irritation.

“Well, are you one of Nikola’s children?” She wasn’t going to drop it. She needed to know. Despite there having been so many vampires gathered, they had scattered and she had seen no one else. She was starting to feel a little alone and she wanted an ally, someone to watch her back. “What’s your name?”

He seemed to contemplate whether or not to share the information before speaking. “Jared. Who are you.” It wasn’t a question.

“Danielle, uh Dani. Good to meet you, Jared.”

He stared.

She sighed, “Look, this isn’t going to be a very productive conversation if I’m the only one talking.”

He stared, so she stared. And stared. Two strangers standing in an alley, staring at each other.

She thought she was about to burst until he said, “You wanna team up?”

She was startled but spoke up quickly. “Why don’t we try getting to know each other first. Wouldn’t it be awful if you ended up hating me but you were stuck with me?”

His eyes narrowed, but he replied, “Okay,” and began walking down the narrow alley.

Dani ran to catch up to him, walking just behind him once she caught up to him. She still had that same thirst. But now, she wasn’t alone. For now, trust would have to wait. But survival? That they could do together.

Together, they disappeared into the shadows. Seattle had no idea what was coming.

Next Volume - Learning the Dark

Leave a comment

Antun and Syla rushed up to us waiting on the corner near Pier 70. Antun had created sheaths for the blades and had a small sack of yew bombs slung over one shoulder.

Syla looked at me. “You really don’t hear him?”

I shook my head, feeling unnerved.

“Once we were within probably ten miles, we both could hear him calling to gather at the Sirens of Spring.”

“I had to look that up, but it’s just up the path if we take the Elliot Bay Trail,” Michael added, pointing to the start of the trail just behind us.

Antun nodded and began to hand me the sword. “Drew, you take the blades. If Selene was right about it needing to be you to kill him, then you need to have the weapons.”

We divvied up the yew bombs, however, so we all had some kind of weapon on hand should we need it. We started on the trail, seeing quite a few people around and passing us.

Every passing face was a question – civilian or predator?

I kept my eyes forward, not wanting to be distracted, and I prayed to the Universe that when I saw Nikola again, I would not freeze.

We continued on the trail with the growing crowd. We looked at each other, trying to make sure we stayed together.

As we passed a small beach, we could see a huge crowd ahead, milling around. Some people looked genuinely confused, as if they had no idea why they were here. Others stared out at the water as if expecting something.

There had to be at least a couple hundred people here in total. I looked around for Nikola, wondering where he would be amidst this sea of people.

Would he try to blend in, or would he try to stand out? No, he’s a peacock, he’s going to do something dramatic soon.

No sooner had I thought that, then I saw a figure lifting out of the crowd into the air nearest to the beach.

There you are.

I took a step towards him but a hand landed on my shoulder.

Michael said, “Hold on, we need to stay together.”

I nodded and stepped back, staying with the group as people continued to flow faster around us. Some people were beginning to point or get their cameras out.

What are you planning, Nikola?

In answer, his melodic voice called out above the din of the crowd. “People of Seattle, I am Nikola, your new god.”

As if that were a code, the other vampires in the crowd turned on the civilians around us, attacking innocent people as Nikola floated above and watched, his smile gleaming.

It was pure chaos. People were running around and screaming, trying to get away. Mothers were trying to flee with their children. The elderly never stood a chance. We were the only point of stillness in the craziness.

Nikola spotted us, grinning like the villain that he is, and floated down to us. The area around us cleared as he landed.

“Ms. Nelson,” he crooned, “How serendipitous that you are here.”

Syla pulled me behind her and the men stepped in front of us.

“It must be fate, really. In all that research that you did, did you ever come across the story of Dracula and Selene? Of course you have, but the tales were twisted, her name lost to history. But it didn’t used to be. I remember the old stories.” He stepped forward. “Allow me to tell you the true story of Dracula and Selene.

“Dracula loved Selene, and she, him. She was a human that he nearly feasted upon, until her beauty struck him dumb. She loved him, thought he was the one meant to be hers. But he never revealed his true nature.

“He was tired of living a lie, wished to be recognized and revered, and told Selene who he was and what he dreamed. She offered up her neck for him, telling him she loved him. But in his passion he bit right above her heart. Brilliant light shone, and then Selene lay limp in his arms. He knew he had changed, but he could not celebrate just yet.

“Desperate, he turned her. But he didn’t stop there. Glory called louder than love.

He inspected his nails. “You, Ms. Nelson, are my Selene. You survived my taking your energy, and you’ve come back stronger. I do wonder though, what you are all doing here?”

In answer, Michael and Antun sprung at him, their speed remarkable as they wove around Nikola’s arms and tried to land blows while remaining out of reach.

“While we could keep doing this, I do want to move on.”

Nikola snapped his fingers and Michael, Antun, and Syla all snapped up to attention like dolls.

Their motion made me startle and I jumped back.

Nikola raised a brow. “Now that is interesting.” He walked toward me as I continued to walk backward, holding the sword out in front of me. “It seems I cannot compel you, my Selene.”

He noticed the blade, his face showing amusement. “Yew wood. You did do your research.”

I lunged, slashed, ran through every movement Ravena drilled into us. But nothing landed. He danced just out of reach, infuriatingly untouched.

I was already getting tired. When had I last fed? I looked at my friends, their bodies still as statues but their faces twisted as they tried to get free.

“Hmm, you don’t seem to be affected by my influence at all. You must be immune to my power because it was your energy I took. Is it because you’re my Selene? ”

I stepped back as he lunged for me, keeping the blade between us. “Why are you doing this? I’m not your Selene–”

“Think about it. For over half a millennia, I’ve had to live in the shadows. You’ve heard this voice!” Nikola pointed to his throat. “It’s meant to be heard and recognized by all! What was I doing? Radio spots and announcements for this grand city of Seattle? Who cares! No one at all! But now I’m a god. Now they’ll have to listen, all of them! It’s just Seattle for now, but who knows how far I could go!”

This guy was full-on delusional! I had to play this carefully.

I can’t outfight him, he’s beating me at every turn.

I backed up and set the sword down.

“What’re you doing?!” Antun yelled. The others tried to look but were stuck.

Nikola’s eyes gleamed with sick interest.

“If you let my friends go, I will go with you of my own free will.” I held my hands away from my body as evidence that I was defenseless.

“Drew, NO!” Syla screamed. “You don’t know what you’re doing!” She was right, I had no clue at all. I just knew that I needed to try something different.

Michael cried out, “Drew, don’t do this! You can fight him!”

I stepped forward anyway.

Nikola approached me slowly, clearly interested. “Would you be my Selene?”

I somehow knew he meant in all ways, and I recoiled inside. Dracula loved Selene and she him. Did this man really expect me to come to love him in time? Or just to service his needs?

I schooled my face into calm. I can get out of this, I’ve gotten away from him twice before, and I can do it again. “Fine.”

My friends’ faces turned to masks of agony, Michael’s eyes the most pained. “Drew, please! Don’t do this!” he cried, unable to move an inch.

Nikola continued his march toward me.

I stayed in place.

I’m not frozen, I’m choosing to be still. I can do this, come on!

“You know, Dracula supposedly left a mark when he took Selene’s energy.” The back of his fingers brushed the skin beneath my collarbone.

I wanted to vomit but I had to stay strong.

“Right about here, wasn’t it?” He pointed to my chest where my still heart lay. “Why don’t I mark you as well?” His fangs extended and plunged into my chest.

I grabbed the knife I had in the back waistband of my pants and struck. Or tried to.

Nikola caught my wrist mid-strike. He looked up at me in plain annoyance.

“Really?”

He grabbed the knife out of my hand, examining it. My heart pounded as he handled the blade. “Nice try, but you already got me with that once.” He pointed with the dagger at his gut, where I had stabbed him with the fork. He waved the knife back and forth as if it were an extended finger, tsking at me.

The blade was at my throat then, faster than I could blink. Nikola went behind me, wrapping an arm tightly around my waist.

“Michael! Antun, Syla!” I cried out.

He groaned and rolled his eyes. Before I could say another word, Nikola had shot us up into the air. My voice died in my throat as I tried not to let my fear overtake me, not now.

I heard Michael call my name. All of them did, as if saying my name might bring me back.

My hands fumbled around, trying to find purchase somewhere. I remembered and reached into my pocket, extracting one of the yew bombs. I had to try.

Hopefully he doesn’t slice my throat when I do this.

I held my breath, closed my eyes, and broke the sphere in my hands right in front of Nikola’s face. Coughing and swearing, he immediately dropped me and the blade went flying.

I never learned how to fly!

Now would be a great time for my super flying power to kick in. Any second now. Please? I knew that I wouldn’t die, but I knew I’d wish I could with how much pain there’d be.

I tried to spread my body out to slow my landing, maybe give my body a chance to fly on its own. Something hit me from the side before I reached the trees and my trajectory changed. I impacted the ground, rolling over several times, before I came to a stop.

My vision was fuzzy as I tried to regain focus. In front of me lay the sword – or were there two – and beyond that, Nikola. He glared viciously at me as he grasped his throat. The yew dust must’ve done its job.

I lunged for the sword at the same time he did, fighting and scrambling for control. The blade skittered aside and I tried to jump for it but a hand grabbed me by the back of the neck.

Nikola lifted me, the decompressing sensation in my spine awful as he did. I kicked and thrashed, landing a blow to his groin. He growled and threw me.

I flew through the air, landing flat on my back in the gravel, knocking the wind out of me.

I can’t breathe. I can’t move!

“Ms. Nelson,” Nikola drawled out, clearly over the entire ordeal. He approached me, the sword hanging loosely from his hand. It was obvious by the way he held it that he was familiar with blades.

“You know, Selene betrayed Dracula, stabbing him with yew when he had come home to her. He cursed her with his dying breath, to live in their palace, alone. Forever.”

“You really are my Selene, aren’t you, down to the part where you keep trying to ruin everything!” He was yelling by this point, his voice hoarse. “I’ve given you an opportunity to be by my side as I conquer, but no, you go and bust something in my face. What the hell was in that?”

He coughed again, unable to clear his lungs fully. “You have become a thorn in my side and I am tired of it. I’ll have already avoided Dracula’s fate if I kill you first!” He swung down but I rolled out of the way, the blade missing my arm by a hair’s width.

“The dagger, where’s the dagger!” All of my friends were urging me to find a weapon to defend with. I had to keep dodging blows from Nikola as I searched.

Nikola coughed on his next swing, making it go wide. I ducked and ran, trying to get far enough away to catch a breath. There, in the gravel! That was either driftwood or…

We lunged at the same time – him for me, me for the dagger. Nikola’s swing missed but his random grab nearly caught my ankle, making me twist in the air. I sprawled out on the gravel, my hands clawing at the pebbles to get out of the way so I could reach…

Nikola lifted the sword as my hand wrapped around a polished handle. I turned around to see the sword raised in the air as he ran at me. I had only the smallest second to do something before he reached me.

I didn’t think. I just moved. The puncturing sensation of a blade tearing through flesh and scraping bone vibrated through the handle of the yew dagger as I stabbed between his ribs – I’d hurt him.

Nikola shoved me down and raised the blade again, intent on killing me – then doubled over, coughing violently.

Black spittle flew from his mouth as ichor drained from the wound. The sword fell, clattering to the ground. He tried to maintain his feet but couldn’t, falling on his hands and knees.

I scrambled in the gravel to get away from him. He coughed, more ichor leaking from his mouth. His eyes began shifting erratically, as if he were spinning and couldn’t keep his eyes focused. His limbs shook with the effort of holding him up.

The yew toxins continued to spread through his system. Nikola fell, lying shaking on the ground. His eyes glared even as his dizziness continued. His eyes found me, narrowing to slits as he tried to keep focus.

His mouth moved; he seemed to be trying to say something, but no words came out. I picked up the sword and walked to him, looking down on the man who had caused me so much pain and fear. I stood beside him, pushing the tip of the sword to his chest, right above his heart. I took a breath, gripped the sword with both hands, then sunk the blade into Nikola’s undead heart.

His eyes widened as I did so, as if surprised that he was defeated after all. He gave a rasping, shuddering breath, then he was gone.

As soon as he died, my friends were released from his hold. They ran to me, Michael wrapping me in his arms before pulling back and inspecting me. “Are you hurt anywhere? He didn’t cut you did he?”

I looked at the various scrapes and bruises, but no slices from blades. “Nah, perfectly dandy.”

He released a laugh and wrapped me in his arms again. He only let me go when Syla tugged on me to get a hug.

Antun knelt next to the corpse, pulling the blade from his chest. He got up and walked over to Nikola’s head, swinging the blade down with force on his neck. It took a few tries, but eventually Nikola’s head was separated from his shoulders. “I know it doesn’t say anywhere to do this with vampire gods to make sure they stay dead, but to be fair there’s not a whole lot out there on the subject. I’d rather play it safe.”

No one disagreed.

Syla crossed her arms. “What about the others? Nikola turned hundreds.”

Michael nodded grimly. “Without him… some might go rogue.” He brought up a good point. What could we do?

Next Chatper

Leave a comment

The time was here. Nikola looked at the assembled brood, all buzzing inside the warehouse.

“My children.”

They collectively turned to him, attentive.

“It is time. Go out, behave as you normally would, and listen for my voice. We shall gather at the Sirens of Spring, and there you may feast.”

The crowd murmured, many of them nearly delirious from mana thirst. They exited the building, a few at a time to avoid suspicion, until all were gone but Nikola.

He paced the walkway, his hand on the rail. The expansive, empty room echoed his footsteps as he came down the stairs, heading toward the exit.

❖ 🩸 ❖

While Nikola was unfolding his plan, in another part of the city, we were continuing to build up our strength.

“Good work today, everyone! You’re all improving nicely,” Ravena beamed at her students.

We had just finished another class with her, each of us taking turns sparring her instead of each other.

The rest of us watched on as our fellow sparred with the instructor, then there would be instruction before another would take a turn.

For fun, at the end of class today, she had us try to attack her all at once. We failed spectacularly, getting in each other’s way constantly and making it easy for Ravena to go on the offense. She laughed at us, and we laughed at ourselves, knowing we must’ve looked like complete idiots to her.

“Next class, we’ll begin working as teams of two. Eventually, I want you all to be able to take me on and have a good fight.”

I tried not to balk; this lady was world renowned for her skill and she wanted us to be able to take her on?

Were we mortals, it likely would’ve taken us weeks longer for our bodies to strengthen enough to even get to using swords. But with faster healing, we were always refreshed and ready by the next class for whatever grueling workout she’d give us.

I tried not to gulp my water, sweat running down my temples. “She’s got more confidence than I.” I panted, completely wiped out just like every other class. I did have to admit though, I was getting stronger and better at holding and using a sword.

I straightened, twisting to pop my back. “See you next class,” I shouted to Ravena as the door was closing behind her.

I tried to wipe away my sweat with my arm, which was also sweaty. I ended up just smearing it around, feeling very gross and ready for a shower. A towel popped up beside me, and my eyes followed the arm to see Michael at the other end.

“Thanks.” I grabbed the towel, wiping the sweat off my brow. That already felt better, even if just a little.

Michael nodded back the way Ravena had left. “You don’t think we can take her on?” He looked sincere in his question, and disbelieving of me.

“I think it would take much longer than we have time for to get that good. I mean, she’s been doing this for decades and isn’t slowing down. We’re like three, four months into this. How quickly does she expect us to take her on?”

“I think you misunderstand something,” Antun commented as he came up to us. “I think Ravena is not asking us to win against her, just to be able to hold our own.”

Michael nodded his agreement.

Syla was wiping away her own sweat as she joined with her own nod.

I shrugged, still not completely convinced, but too tired to care. “Is it bedtime now?” I groused.

Syla gave a breathy laugh of agreement and nodded, pointing. “What she said.”

Antun offered for us to come over to his place to spend the night, but we declined, just wanting to get home, shower, and sleep. Our ride home was quiet, both of us too worn out to talk.

We trudged from the elevator to the apartment, trying not to fumble the keys as I unlocked the door.

“You wanna go first?” I gestured to the bathroom as we walked in.

Michael, usually a gentleman who goes by ladies first, nodded his thanks, going over to his bag to get clean clothes.

Defeated in my plan to have the first shower, I went to the kitchen, wondering if my mom had brought Gatorade powder at some point. I couldn’t find any so I just drank my water as it was, figuring I needed to at least hydrate a little.

Maybe we should hunt before we go to sleep… nah, after sleep.

I knew that more mana would help us to recover the fastest, but I was just so tired and I really, really didn’t want to have to go find mana.

Too bad there isn’t a shelf-stable mana of some kind, that would be game changing.

Michael didn’t take long, and soon enough I was in the shower. For the first few minutes I just stood under the stream, the hot water divine. Eventually I forced my limbs to move. I didn’t take terribly long – I wanted to sleep more than I wanted to soak – so I soon shut off the water and got out, drying myself off.

I dressed and grabbed a brush, needing to detangle my hair. I walked out of the bathroom as I brushed my hair, focusing on the ends first.

“Do you want me to brush your hair?” Michael offered.

I nodded, not caring about touch at the moment and grateful to let my arms have a break.

I sat on the floor and he on the couch as he brushed my long hair. It felt so nice, having someone else brush my hair, that I didn’t realize I was falling asleep until I nearly hit the floor.

My hands caught me, barely, and I looked up.

Michael’s face wore an expression of amusement, his mouth quirking at the corners as if he were fighting a smile. “Tomorrow’s the weekend, we’ve got the day off. Wanna do something fun for once? It feels like we’re always on the go.”

My voice was dull as I said, “I wanna do absolutely nothing at all. Just call me Bruno Mars.”

Michael laughed, “Right now, that sounds like an excellent plan. How about this: we sleep, then we decide.”

I gave him a weary thumbs up, my head resting against his knee.

“Want me to braid your hair so you don’t have to blow dry it?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you are a saint?”

He laughed and told me to turn around.

I did so, curious, but he only told me to look down. I did, and he began to section my hair at the nape of my neck.

“What are you doing?”

“Braiding your hair,” he replied simply.

“Um,” I was thoroughly confused. “Don’t people usually braid with their heads up?”

“Trust me,” was his only reply. I decided to hell with it and let him braid my hair upside down. When he was done, I looked like I had two long antennae coming off my head.

“Trust me? What the hell is this?” I giggled, twirling them around like propellers.

Michael laughed at my antics and replied, “Really, trust me! In the morning when you take them out, your hair will be really evenly wavy, it’ll be really pretty.”

I must’ve still looked confused because he explained, “High school Ren Faire friends, remember? The girls taught us guys all kinds of stuff about braiding, including this trick. They’d use it to make their hair really pretty for the Faire sometimes.”

I whipped at him with my braids.

“You’ll see,” he chuckled as he swiped them away.

❖ 🩸 ❖

To my astonishment, my hair did turn out quite pretty as Michael had predicted. I parted my hair off center, creating some volume.

Huh, I quite like that!

I smiled broadly as I left the bathroom, satisfied with my hair for the first time in a long while.

“Ooh,” Michael crooned as I came out, “Who looks so pretty? Told you the Renaissance nerds knew what they were doing.”

I twirled and curtsied, my arms out as if holding out the fabric of a gown, and I laughed with pure joy.

Michael looked stunned but continued to smile, his eyes softening an imperceptible amount.

I bounced on my toes. My smile felt permanent, it was so wide. “I feel silly for liking my hair this much, but I really do like it a lot!”

I practically bounced over to Michael. I motioned for him to bend closer and I kissed him on the cheek.

He looked dazed and I laughed again, my mood exceptionally high. “Thank you, Michael. It turned out amazing.”

I skipped over to the kitchen to make some coffee, the only thing that could make this morning better.

Michael trailed after me to the kitchen, still looking a little dazed.

“What’s the matter with you?” I grinned. “Too pretty to handle?”

“Yeah.”

The single syllable took me off guard, my bouncing calming down. I looked back at him.

He stood there in shock.

I tried to tease, “Did your own masterpiece woo you?”

He walked up to me and looked down, his eyes glowing in the morning light. He brushed a finger over my cheek, at the corner of my smile.

“Seeing you so full and happy… I’ve never seen someone more beautiful than you right now.”

His words blew me away. I wasn’t even sure I was still smiling.

His fingers curled around my ear, tucking my hair back. I closed my eyes, savoring the sensation of his touch. His eyes roamed over my face as if he couldn’t get enough of it, until they landed on my lips.

I knew what he wanted, I wanted it too. We closed the distance, me wrapping my arms around his shoulders as he bent, his lips finding mine, demanding, and I reciprocated in kind.

His arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly against him. Then he lifted me by the waist, my legs wrapping around him as he carried me toward my bedroom, his arms snaking under my shirt to brush against my bare back.

He began to pull away and I bit his bottom lip, keeping him in place. He laughed and resumed the kiss, deep and passionate. Michael’s hand came up, his thumb stroking my jaw as I panted.

He did nothing else as I caught my breath, although the fire in his eyes suggested he’d have liked to go on.

I likely blushed, but with all the other sensations going on in my body, it was hard to tell.

He backed away, sitting up, and put out his hand. I took it and sat up, staring at him. He brushed my hair gently with his hand, calming the wild strands. “Beautiful,” was all he said, all he could say at the moment.

I gazed back at him, thinking the same thing. He was gorgeous with his golden brown hair all mussed up, his deep evergreen eyes roaming over me, his lips red from kissing. Oh, those lips…

We lay in each other’s arms for a few more minutes, breath slowly returning. Then Michael sat up and reached for my hand.

“We better get going. If you want to sightsee like a tourist, we better head out.”

I slowly came out of my daze, the heady rush calming down.

Right, sightseeing.

We had decided to spend the day that way, seeing the sights as if we were tourists. I had never been to the Space Needle, so we decided to start there…

After going to the very first Starbucks. It was quite popular but we got our drinks in hand and started on our way to the giant, oddly shaped building… monument… thing. Whatever it was, I’d figure it out when I got there.

We hadn’t gotten very far down the street when Michael steps slowly stopped.

I turned to him, “What’s is it?”

He swayed slightly, eyes unfocused.

“Michael?”

He turned to me, face pale. “I hear Nikola. He’s calling. You don’t hear that?”

I tried to focus but I heard nothing.

He took out his phone, and I could vaguely hear Antun on the other end. “You need to bring the yew things here. I think Nikola is beginning his plan.”

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

Ravena Gustafsson was world renowned for her mastery of the sword, but she was extremely down to Earth. I didn’t know how we lucked out. Then our first practice began. She was a brutal taskmaster, making us practice lunges repeatedly until I thought my knees would explode.

“It not only works on strengthening your core and buttocks, but also your balance.”

At that moment, my knee gave out and I slumped to the floor, my legs feeling like jelly.

She pointed back at me without even looking. “Case in point. Before any of you get to handle practice weapons, you have to show me that you’re ready to handle them.”

I wondered if she did this to all her students, or just the really lucky ones.

She offered me a hand.

I grabbed it and she hauled me up, my legs protesting at having to bear my weight again.

“Now, time for pushups.”

Michael did unfairly well, but Antun beat us all out.

“You don’t get to be 500 by not taking care of your body,” he had whispered as an excuse.

“Bull shit,” I called him out under my breath so Ravena wouldn’t hear us.

“Are you so sure about that?”

I was about to rebuttal but his smug look and my own exhaustion made me grunt in frustration instead.

He laughed in victory, rubbing it in my face.

Before long, our time with Ravena was up for the evening.

“That was intense,” Michael spoke up at the end of class. “Awesome, just, phew, intense. I knew repetitions would start hurting but it’s one thing to know it and another thing to experience it.” He rubbed at his legs, a pinched look of pain on his face.

Ravena called out from the opposite side of the room, “I’ll see you all again in two days. Rehydrate, replace your electrolytes, and in thirty minutes I want you to walk for five minutes to keep your legs from cramping. You’ll hate yourselves if you don’t, trust me.” And she closed the door behind her.

“Antun,” I panted, “Are you sure you didn’t just hire some sick sadist?”

He patted my head and walked toward the kitchen. “I’m going to make dinner tonight, something with lots of salts to get you guys pepped back up and keep me pepped up.”

“Using a phrase I’ve heard before, you suck, Antun,” Syla was as in pain as I was, grabbing her side as she lay on the ground.

Since she had been Nikola’s prisoner, she hadn’t walked very much at all. “The most I’d walk,” she had said before, “was when he’d let me out to hunt. If it weren’t for our quick healing, my legs would have been in so much pain I’d be unable to return. Glad I never had to find out what he’d have done.”

She had changed the subject shortly after, and I was happy to leave talk of Nikola behind. So she was more out of shape than I was, even if she’d been a vampire longer.

Michael got up and limped to the kitchen. I heard a sharp crack and a very unmanly yelp followed by Antun’s laugh. Antun had snapped a damp dish towel at Michael’s ass, making the giant man jump.

“Why the hell’d you do that?” Michael couldn’t keep his voice straight and soon devolved into laughter alongside Antun.

He must’ve gotten his own towel because I heard a quick, “Oh shit!” before someone else’s high-pitched screech sounded out.

Syla and I looked at each other, rolling our eyes.

“Men, honestly.”

I started to laugh along with her, but then we both winced at our sore abdominals. “That,” she panted, still catching her breath, “Was very intense,” Syla remarked regarding our first class.

“Uh huh,” was my intelligent response. Oh, this is so much worse than leg day…

❖ 🩸 ❖

While we trained until our arms burned, far across the city, Nikola watched his plan unfold. He paced along the railing at the warehouse, watching his amassing army mill about mindlessly.

He kept them tethered with compulsion, their minds foggy enough to follow orders, sharp enough to pass for normal.

He pounded a fist to the front of his head, bored out of his mind with keeping these newly turned vampires compelled. It was ever so dull.

What if I let these brand new vampires be turned loose on Seattle right now?

He smiled, fangs prominent. While the terror would be epic, he needed to keep low until it was time to strike in order to unleash the best kind of hell on this stinking city. Then, he’d continue on to the surrounding cities and suburbs, turning everyone he could.

Well, not everyone. They’d need to feed, after all…

❖ 🩸 ❖

Weeks passed and we neither saw nor heard anything of Nikola. We had no choice but to continue on as normal, going to work every day like there was nothing wrong in the world. But we were all vigilant, keeping an eye out for Nikola or anything remarkably suspicious.

We continued meeting with Ravena every other day, training in some way to strengthen our muscles or our balance. Our bodies screamed one day, cried and rested the next, then screamed again the following day, going on and on.

She finally deemed us ready for practice swords after what felt like an eternity.

We took up our practice swords, wooden ones as requested so that we could know what we could expect fighting with the yew sword. We stood poised and ready, waiting for Ravena’s mark.

She gave it, and I thought we did pretty well for our first round with swords. Her critique shot that confidence, showing that we were still far away from being able to even think about using the yew sword.

I had accepted the opportunity to become a floor manager, taking over Mona’s place as she was promoted to being a manager over several floors.

Michael moved up to my floor after training his replacement, Marissa, so we were back on the same floor again. Were it not for the sense of impending doom that lurked over my head, I’d say things were looking up.

I hadn’t realized I had carried the mood into tonight’s sword class because suddenly Ravena was in front of my face, her sword at my throat. I backed up.

“Being distracted in battle will kill you. I suggest you approach this class the same way if you want any chance at all in what you’re facing.” She began to walk away. “I don’t care what you’re fighting. You won’t die on my watch. Now,” She whirled on Syla, making the woman flinch. “Fight me.”

Syla’s face flashed with legitimate fear for a moment before she lifted her blade against Ravena’s.

“En garde, and… Allez!”

The instructor went easy on Syla before knocking the blade out of her hands. “And you’re dead.”

Syla’s head hung low.

“Hey now, that’s why you are learning with me, so that doesn’t happen. Let’s try again.”

She motioned for me to come over to take her place as Syla’s partner.

We all sparred until our arms felt leaden, spent from keeping the swords raised at the ready all night between spars. I grinned through the burn, loving the fact that I was stronger. Faster. I felt better than I ever had before.

❖ 🩸 ❖

Weeks bled together. Muscles hardened. The calendar flipped to February.

Valentine’s day was approaching. The streets were filled with hearts and arrows and little fat naked babies depicting Cupid. One shop window displayed several kinds of stuffed animals – bears, dogs, cats, birds, and so on – holding hearts with sayings like “Be Mine” or “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

We walked through the wet streets, our steps trailing water behind us as Michael and I walked back to the apartment after another day at the office.

“Cute,” he said, pointing to a stuffed piggy holding a heart in front of itself.

I looked at him. “Do you like Valentine’s Day?”

“What’s not to like? But honestly, I overlook it most years. It never has held sway over me like Thanksgiving or Christmas does. While those holidays are commercialized, Valentine’s Day takes it to a whole other level. Everything is more expensive on Valentine’s Day for no reason other than lots of people deciding to profess love on a certain day year after year.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

I’d never admit that I actually hated the holiday for how lonely it made me feel. I couldn’t care less about romance, but when the only people you celebrate things with are your parents, celebrating Valentine’s Day feels just silly.

Just another reminder that I’ll die alone… scratch that, already dead.

I sniffled, the cold February air chilling to the bone, making it easy to hide my watery eyes.

We entered the apartment, and Husker welcomed us with a very low meow, just this side of a growl. He had stopped shaking a while back, and while he wasn’t leaping to sit on my lap or anything like that just yet, he no longer ran away from me.

I hadn’t tried petting him, as he hadn’t come close to rubbing against me or showing that he wanted it, but my fingers itched to stroke his feather soft fur from head to tail.

“Hey Husk, who’s my good boy?”

I went to the kitchen, preparing his dinner before going to change out of my work outfit. In much comfier clothes, I padded out of my bedroom, getting our food ready while Michael got changed.

I flipped on the TV, a news station coming up. The lady was covering how locals have been going missing at night and suggested traveling in groups or only during the day. I watched as I waited for Michael, getting the latest scoop on Seattle’s goings-on. There were a lot of Valentine’s promotions and the anchors reminded everyone to mark their calendars for the coming holiday.

I switched to Netflix, scrolling through the movies. Michael finished tugging on a shirt as he came out of the bathroom, flashing his toned front to me.

Not that I noticed.

“We should watch one of the films Ravena’s helped on.”

I brightened. “That’s a great idea.”

We googled her, checking to see what movies she had helped on. There was a medieval adventure that happened to be on Netflix, so we chose that one. It had Robin Hood vibes: forbidden love and epic fight scenes, complete with monks and everything you’d expect from such a movie. We paused it before it could get started too far, both of us needing to eat.

We ate at the table in companionable silence, the both of us tired from the work day but content enough. We cleared our dishes and returned to the couch, starting the movie.

The main character was a nobody who was suddenly thrown on an epic quest to save a kingdom. The main character had a training montage with his sidekick at one point.

I saw familiar moves and pointed them out to Michael at the same time he was pointing them out to me. Yep, Ravena definitely worked on this movie.

“Why can’t we have a training montage? Actually doing it is grueling,” I groaned.

Michael grunted in agreement, adding, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could fast forward past the fight with Nikola and skip to the happily ever after?”

My mood shifted, darkening. I looked down, then away. “Do you think there is a happily ever after?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, setting down the remote.

“I mean,” I tried to piece my thoughts together as I turned to face him. “After Nikola, do you think there is a happy ending?”

Michael’s face held contemplation, as if he were seriously thinking about the question. “If there’s not, then what’s the point? I have to tell myself that we’ll make it out the other side of this, all of us, and everything will be alright in the end. If I don’t… well, what would be the point in training if I didn’t think we might have a chance with it?”

I wanted to be as hopeful as him, but every time I had seen Nikola, I had frozen. Could training really help me get past that paralyzing kind of fear?

“Hey.”

I was lost in my own thoughts.

His hand covered mine, drawing my attention to it. He picked up my hand, tracing the lines on my palm with his thumb.

“You are freaking amazing. You are training in combat to beat a vampire god because you know that the world he’d bring would be destruction. Who else can say that?”

“You? Antun and Syla?”

“Smartass.”

I smiled and his face softened.

“The four of us are doing something no one else in the world can claim right now. I’d say that is pretty epic.”

I nodded, conceding, but… My voice was quiet as I said, “What if we go through all of this, just for everything to have been a waste?”

Michael shifted, holding my face in his hands. “The only waste is in not doing anything. If you fight, then your effort will not be wasted.” I searched his eyes, looking at his confidence and wishing I had more for myself. “You are one of the bravest people I know. You were going to deck me when you first saw me drinking Kelsey’s blood.”

I laughed at the memory.

“And she was a complete stranger. You had no need to rescue her but you faced me anyway. All five feet of you.” He patted my head and laughed as I swatted at his hand, then he ducked away to avoid a punch.

“See! You’re using stuff from class on me already. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to do this in front of anyone, including Nikola.”

I knew he saw the fear flash again because he grabbed my hands.

“You’re fighting him, every damn day. That’s brave.”

I searched his eyes for any sign of doubt. There was none. I brought my focus back and looked at his face.

Intent, like he truly believed every word he had said. His green eyes locked onto mine, steady and certain. Maybe I was starting to believe him.

I took one of his hands into my own, the other still on my face, and kissed the back of his knuckles. “Thank you.” I couldn’t lift my gaze to meet his again, it was too much.

But he cupped his hand from my cheek under my chin, lifting my face until my eyes had no choice but to look.

Those eyes were going to swallow me whole, but instead of fear, I felt… a thrill. My heart surely would’ve pounded with anticipation had it still been beating, as his eyes looked down to my mouth. He looked back at my eyes, his lashes hooding his gaze.

I wanted this, wanted him.

I nodded, and he brought his face to mine, kissing my lips softly. Then the kiss deepened.

He pressed his tongue to my lips, asking, and I opened. The taste of him filled my mouth. I was going to go wild from this.

My hands dove into his hair as he unclipped mine, letting it flow over my shoulders. His hand went behind my neck, cupping the back of my head at the nape. My head fell back into his hand, exposing my neck to him.

He licked a trail up the side to my ear, nibbling on the lobe before he bit the soft spot beneath it. I moaned in pleasure and he growled, the sound rumbling through me, melting me.

My back met the cushion as his mouth traced another line down my neck, over my collar bone.

His hand crept up underneath my shirt, skirting the plane of my stomach. I arched into his touch and he pressed into me, kissing me somehow deeper.

He pulled back panting. His eyes searched mine, although I was sure all he could see was dumb pleasure.

I felt floaty, as if I could fly away if he let me go.

He didn’t.

I slowly came down from that high, my gaze focusing onto his. “Why’d you stop?” My voice was breathless and I sucked in lungfuls of air.

His eyes had a blaze behind them. “Because if I didn’t, I knew that soon I wouldn’t be able to.” He was also out of breath, but he looked at my lips again for the smallest moment before meeting my eyes again. I understood what he meant. If we had continued going, we might’ve…

I blushed, throwing a hurried, “Be right back,” behind me as I closed the bathroom door, turning my back to it and sinking to the floor.

Did I want to take things that far? Ever? I stood up, facing the mirror. My blush had crept down my chest. I looked like a human tomato, and knowing that didn’t help make it go away. I took deep breaths and splashed cold water on my face, trying to bring my heart rate down.

When I looked up, I saw a wet human tomato.

I waved my hands in front of my face as if that would help. It didn’t.

Ultimately, I came out anyway, my face only slightly less red.

Michael was playing on his phone, or seemed to be. When I sat down, he merely asked. “Should we watch more of the movie?”

I nodded, but I only paid partial attention the rest of the time. My mind was still awhirl when the movie ended.

Michael said he was going to go out and would be back later, and he left without any more explanation.

I sat on the couch, stupefied. What even was my life anymore?

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

Nikola growled in frustration.

I am a fucking god! I shouldn’t have to hide anymore! This voice shouldn’t have to hide!

But he knew that patience would pay off in the end, it always did. He stalked through Seattle, draining unlucky souls before they could blink. The city was his feast, its people too slow to even glimpse him.

Soon, soon I will raise up an army. But first I need a facility to hold them all.

He googled ‘warehouses for rent’, just to see what came up. Shockingly, several large spaces were available to be rented immediately. He smiled widely, his fangs shining in the streetlights. He could be as picky as he wanted, how lovely. He continued to scroll through the listings as he walked.

A little boy ran past him, bumping into him in his haste. “Mrs. Nelson!” He was waving to an older woman, maybe a teacher or a neighbor. But what caught him was the name. Nelson.

He sighed. It really was too bad that she had to die. She could’ve been my Selene if she were more amenable. Just as well she didn’t become a Selene. I don’t need a woman coming around and mucking things up like…

He didn’t like thinking about his mother. If she had stayed then maybe he wouldn’t have been constantly beaten. Patricide was only one of his many accomplishments, his latest having been taking that girl’s energy, just what he needed to fuel his ascension.

Hmm, Ms. Nelson. She had been quite pretty. He hummed in appreciation at the memory. She was soft too, her skin like silk under his crushing hands.

He would’ve liked being able to take his time with her, make her really frightened. Fear makes the blood pump faster, which means the mana too would pump quicker through the body.

Her blood was exquisite – richer, more vibrant than most. Perhaps it was that stubborn streak that gave her mana its extra spark.

Or perhaps he was becoming obsessed. He shook his head. But having control of her felt good. Having such obsessive control gave him a sense of superiority, as if all were his to command.

Nick reminisced about when he found his mother a year after his turning. Her blood had tasted old. Seeing her after all that time, killing her, had not been as satisfying as he’d hoped, so he went after the family she had made. Her little girl, his teenage half-sister – her blood had tasted sweet, helped satisfy his craving.

He clicked on a listing for a warehouse by the harbor. Perfect. He filled out an application and sent an email voicing his interest to the property management. Things were finally coming together.

❖ 🩸 ❖

I kept dreaming about Selene, but in a way I could tell I was dreaming and things were not real at all. Like watching Selene on a swing, the sunshine behind her illuminating her. Or dreaming of seeing Selene in common places like work or the grocery store. It was frustrating, as I wanted to go back to the terrace and see her, ask her questions.

I felt so in the dark about everything. I didn’t even know how to figure out what Nikola’s plans were. All I knew was that he was a sick freak with too much power who needed to be taken out.

Michael and I bumped into each other as we passed people on our way to work. I kept my head down, the snow falling very heavy and fast. I looked up to see where I was headed. My heart would’ve stopped beating if it wasn’t already still. Not ten yards in front of us was Nikola. I ducked my head, hoping he didn’t see me.

Michael turned around at my stopping. His voice was worried. “What’s up?”

I pointed in front of us and said, “Nikola!”

His head whipped up, but he was already gone.

I partly wondered if I had imagined him. I wouldn’t put it past my brain to do that to me. I shook my head, “Maybe I imagined it, sorry.”

He gave me a worried look but said nothing. As we continued walking, we saw a man pass out, falling to the ground, the snow already starting to collect on his body. Michael rushed to the man, flipping him onto his back and listening for breathing.

I called 911 as he began trying to wake the man up.

“He has a pulse and he’s breathing, he’s just not waking up!” He began looking for signs of trauma on the man, doubting someone could collapse out of nowhere and be fine.

We stayed with the man until paramedics arrived to take him to the hospital. By that time there was a small crowd of spectators, and I felt very awkward being near the center of everyone’s attention like that.

I looked up to ask one of the medics if there was anything else they needed from us. From the back of the crowd I saw Nikola, and I caught his eye. He just stared at me, no expression on his face.

It was as if everything around me blurred but him, my ears hearing nothing. A group of people walked in front of him, blocking my view, but by the time they had passed by, he was gone. I looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he went.

I searched for Michael, grabbing him by the arm when I found him.

“Michael! I saw Nikola.”

He immediately broke his attention away from the medic and they left – I assume after getting everything they needed – leaving the two of us to speak alone.

If my heart had been beating I’d be worrying about a heart attack by now with how stressed I was. “He saw me,” I breathed.

Michael paled. “Are you sure?”

I nodded, trembling. “Surprise is gone.” My heart sank with the realization.

Michael tried his best not to look sick, but he said, “Let’s get to the office first. We’re already going to be late. And I’d rather speak in private.”

We got to the office in short order, luckily, riding the elevator, which we happened to catch by ourselves.

The thought of the face that haunted my nightmares for weeks and weeks made bile rise in my throat. I swallowed it back, hating the bitter acidity I tasted.

I am not going to puke in this elevator in front of Michael.

“He was probably shocked to see you alive.” Michael ran a hand through his hair, heaving a sigh. He was unaware of the nausea I was fighting right in front of him. “There’s nothing we can do about it right now. I’ll text Antun when I get to the desk and we’ll go to his place tonight to talk about it.”

Michael got off on his floor and I continued on to mine. But by myself in the elevator…. The walls were closing in, the ceiling pressing down. The walls started to look wavy, like that awful foam in the white room. My eyes darted around. My ears thundered as if I still had a heartbeat.

When the doors opened I leapt out, not able to get out fast enough, taking big, gulping breaths. Mora saw me and asked with concern, “Is everything alright, Drew?”

“Yeah!” I stood up and brushed my pants. “Just really didn’t want to be late is all.” I tried to give a smile but it came out strained.

Mora nodded, her face screwed into a look of puzzlement, but she walked away regardless.

I went to my desk, setting up everything by mere force of habit. My brain was entirely elsewhere.

He saw me!

I felt exposed, like a bug under a microscope. I couldn’t help but keep looking around, my paranoia heightened.

Lunch finally came and I rode down to my old floor, glad I wasn’t alone this time, and began looking for Michael. “Drew!”

I jumped. Trevor had spotted me before I could look toward the desk. “Trevor, don’t. Do. That!”

He ignored my tone, continuing as if we were old buddies. “Long time, no see! How’s Mora treating you?”

You know what, Trevor? Whatever, I don’t have energy for you.

“Have you seen Michael?”

“I think I saw him head for the break ro–”

Before Trevor had finished I was speed-walking past him toward the break room. I opened the door, seeing Michael with a coffee pot in hand. “Lunch?” I asked, winded, my eyes a little crazier than I intended.

He set down the pot, rushing over to me. “Are you alright?”

I shrugged, my eyes still a little too wide, “I might be after lunch. I’m hoping food and talking will help my brain with all of this… this awful development.”

He nodded, understanding the need to talk.

We rode down to the main floor and out the doors, facing the weather once more. I had been hoping to talk with Michael over lunch, but that idea was squashed. We had picked someplace close to our building, and it appeared that most of our coworkers had the same idea. But neither of us wanted to walk any further for food, so we stayed. We picked a small back corner table to sit at, hoping for at least a little privacy.

I took a drink of my soda and asked, “Were you able to get anything done as far as work?”

Michael picked up his wrap, “Not much, to be entirely honest. Nikola is on my brain.”

“Same. I’m so unnerved by the entire thing and I don’t know what to do about it. What do you think we should do?” I took a bite, grimacing as I chewed because of my mood. Salad is not comfort food.

I should’ve gone for the soup.

“Besides loop in Antun and Syla? I’m not too sure. Hopefully the sword will be finished soon.” He thought for a moment. “Do you know how to use a sword?”

“Do I strike you as a sword expert?” I deadpanned, raising a brow.

He shot back an angry look. “Don’t be pissy just because you’re scared. I am too.”

Hearing him admit he was scared brought me up short. I sunk a little in my seat, guilty over my actions. “I’m sorry.” I meant it, and he nodded his acceptance. We continued eating in silence, both of us wondering what the next steps needed to be.

❖ 🩸 ❖

The second half of the work day was long. I tried getting my work done, but I sent back quite a lot less than I usually did in a day. I waited for Michael on the main floor after I had closed up my workspace.

He spotted me and gave a nod.

I went over to him and we walked out together. It had stopped snowing but it had become thick on the ground. The streets were full of grey slush, and crossings felt a bit perilous for how slick the ground was. Up the street, a left, then a right, then across the street.

We got home and quickly changed, wanting to head straight to Antun’s. Even if he wasn’t at home, Syla would be. We knocked on the black door as we arrived. Syla opened it, smiling, “Hi! I didn’t know you were coming today.” Then she noticed the looks on our faces. Her brows creased in worry and her hand lifted to nervously fiddle with the necklace she wore.

I rushed into it. “A bit of an emergency. Long story short, I saw Nikola and he saw me.” I swallowed, my own brows knit together.

Syla’s face paled and she grabbed my arms. “Are you alright?”

I knew she meant more than physically. I shook my head, and my body began to tremble.

No, no I will not cry, dammit!

Syla pulled me into her arms. “You’re safe right now. You’re with us.”

The tears threatened to overflow.

She squeezed. “It’s alright, you can cry here.”

As if I had only needed permission, I let my emotions go. I nearly sank to the ground, but Syla held me, picking me up and carrying me inside after my legs had given out. I was so grateful for her, for all of them, and the tears kept coming.

All of my emotions that had been bottled up seemed to be trying to come out: fear of Nikola, anger at Nikola, loneliness that had plagued me for years, disappointment about so many different things, happiness at finally having friends who love and care about me. All of the feelings, negative or not, came out in a rush. I cried, then wailed, my body wracking with sobs. I began to hiccup as the tears kept coming.

I was hardly aware of Michael speaking gently or of Syla’s gentle shushing.

We sat down. I had been curled into the fetal position as I wept.

Michael sat down next to us, a silent but steadying presence.

Syla held me through it all.

When at last I was spent, my hands sat limp in my lap and my head rested against Syla’s shoulder. Eventually I was just a hiccupping, snotty mess.

Michael passed me a box of tissues. He had even brought over a cute little garbage can for the used ones.

I thanked him with a weak smile.

Syla rose. “I’ll make some tea.” She left us alone.

“Are you okay?” He spoke into my hair.

I choked out a laugh, “No.”

He huffed a small chuckle as well. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to deal, huh.”

“Not much of a choice.” I sniffled and wiped my nose. I knew I must have looked an absolute mess, but Michael only looked at me with loving concern, his eyes looking into mine. His hand brushed over my hair, and he tucked a stray strand behind my ear. The touch of his finger on my skin was ticklish and it made me duck my head. He lifted my chin, a look of indecision on his face.

I gazed back at him, “What are you thinking about?”

“You,” he said with an absoluteness that made me go still. “I’m thinking about you. All the time. I want you to be happy, and I don’t know how to make that happen. All of this shit with Nikola… I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. It’s unfair that it happened to you at all, but here we are.” He sighed and looked away, a hand rubbing his tired face. He looked out, as if he could find the answer out in the ether if he looked hard enough.

I put a hand on his cheek. He looked at me, surprised by the contact. “You make me happy.” His eyes softened and he looked at my lips, licking his. His eyes met mine again and–

Syla came in with a tea tray, ready to serve her guests the way she was taught so very long ago as a young lady in England. I drew my hand back quickly, extremely self-conscious.

“I thought chamomile and lavender would be relaxing. There’s honey, sugar, and cream. Would you like me to prepare it for you?”

I nodded, the fancy tea set making it feel as if I were visiting nobility. I didn’t know what to do, so I just sat there as she poured the tea. She prepared one with cream and sugar and passed it to me.

I held the mug in both of my hands, the warmth spreading through my cold fingers.

We all sat and sipped, no one spoke.

I spoke up finally when I had nearly finished my cup. “Where’s Antun?”

Syla straightened, her eyes bright. She set down her tea, “He’s with his woodworking friend, they decided to work on the sword some more today.”

“They?” Michael asked.

“Today?” was my question.

“Antun’s not making it or anything,” she clarified, “He just wanted to see the process.”

We heard the sound of a door opening and closing, and a few moments later, Antun appeared with a long, wrapped item in his hands.

“Oh, you’re all already here. Excellent!”

He set his parcel on the table in front of us before taking off his coat. I stared at the wrapped object, hoping it was what I thought it was. Antun saw that we had tea out and made a mug for himself, humming in appreciation at the flavor. He looked up, noticing my puffy eyes and my red nose. His brows came together as he asked, “Are you alright, Drew?”

I nodded, “I’m fine now.”

“Uh, Antun?” Michael got his attention. “When are you going to show us what you brought back?” He nodded toward the wrappings on the table.

“Oh!” Antun exclaimed as if he had actually forgotten for a moment. He set down his mug and picked the parcel up, beginning to unwrap it. “Prepare to be impressed,” Antun said with a wink.

He pulled out a short sword, about two feet long, made entirely of yew wood. The handle had grooves carved into it for grip, and nearer to the guard the blade widened, making a stronger base for the blade. Antun held out the sword, handle end, to me.

I grabbed it with a shaking hand, my nerves completely frayed by now. I held it up, admiring the orange-brown lines and burgundy streak down the middle. It was exquisite. I looked at the edge, wondering how sharp they were able to make it.

“We should get a scabbard for it,” someone said. I didn’t care. I was too transfixed on the sword to notice Antun take out a wood dagger as well. It was straight and short, maybe six inches of blade, also made from yew, the golden honey and various browns making beautiful swirls all over the piece.

I finally looked at Antun and the others as I let the sword fall to hang by my side.

Syla passed me the dagger. It was double edged, almost like a mini sword. It was an impressive piece, but it had nothing on that gorgeous sword.

We passed the weapons around in reverent silence, each of us visibly impressed.

“I really hate to do this, but we have to talk about Nikola.” I wanted to get down to business. “He saw me earlier, locked eyes with me, and disappeared. What do we do now?”

Antun scratched the back of his head and shrugged, “We don’t even have a real plan yet. We have the weapons – oh, including these babies!” He dug through the wrapping and grabbed a small ball. “This is a prototype of a sawdust bomb we could try to use. But, it’s toxic to everyone, not just him, so this would be, like, very last resort.”

We carefully passed the bomb around, looking at it. It almost looked like a lacquered bath bomb.

“What’s this shell?” I asked him, rubbing my thumb over it.

“Wood shavings and something like sucrose, attached together around the middle with wood glue. If we’d used wood glue as the bonding agent for the whole thing, the bombs would never break apart and they’d be useless.”

It was a fascinating idea, if it’d work. Everything was just theory at this point. Hell, I didn’t even know the first thing about wielding a sword and that was the weapon I chose!

“Um, Antun, do you happen to know any swordsmen who could teach me, teach us,” I corrected, “About how to use these things so they don’t end up killing us instead?”

He gave me a blank look, blinking. “You know what, I hadn’t even thought about people not knowing how to wield a sword. I learned some time ago but I’m due for a refresher anyway. Let me see who I can find.”

“So you don’t have a sword guy?” Michael asked, grinning with sarcasm.

“Believe it or not, I do not have a ‘guy’ for everything. Nearly,” he winked at me, “But not quite. But I do know how to find us the best teachers at the fastest availability.”

“You said ‘refresher’. Do you already know how to use a sword?” Syla inquired.

“Learned back in the 1700s when the British were occupying the Caribbean islands. Knew some pirates back then, some soldiers too, and we’d spar from time to time and they’d teach me when there was time for it. Today was the first time I’ve held a sword in centuries, so like I said, I’m probably going to need a refresher course.”

I made an impressed face. What hadn’t Antun tried by now? 500 years was a long time to try stuff out, after all.

“Ah ha, I think I’ve got it. This one has over twenty years of experience teaching the art of the sword and even consulted on some famous movies for their fight scenes. What do you guys think?”

“Uh, they sound freaking amazing but how are you going to get someone like that to teach us? Are they even in the area?” I was getting concerned about this plan already.

Antun waved his hand, “Ah, details. Don’t worry, Love, I’ve got everything well in hand.” He sure seemed confident. I really hoped this wouldn’t come to bite us in the ass.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

“That’s assuming he hasn’t been keeping tabs on the rest of us,” Antun pointed out when we came over hours later. We all looked at Syla. “You’re the one who knows him best, what do you think he’s done?”

She looked contemplative, then shook her head and answered, “He’s too proud to keep an eye on peasants like us now that he’s become a god. The narcissist probably thinks he’s even more superior to others than he did before. If anything, he probably doesn’t consider us worth his time anymore. I mean, the bond broke – I felt it. Like scissors cutting a taut thread. I’m no longer someone he needs, obviously. And he probably doesn’t consider either of you strong enough to worry about. If there was a Dracula, then maybe–”

Michael interrupted, “Wait, what do you mean by a Dracula? He was real?”

“Oh, yes,” Syla nodded solemnly. “Some suspect that he was the one who became a vampire god in the past and was defeated. Some say that he’s worse than what Hollywood could ever depict.” She shivered. “Either way, he’s long gone and good riddance.”

Antun asked, “So what you’re saying is Nikola has probably ignored us?”

Syla nodded, “He’s too self-centered.”

“Okay, let’s focus. We need to come up with a plan.” Antun pulled out a laptop, connecting it to his projector.

I tried not to compare Nikola to Dracula, fearful of what I’d discover.

“We’ve bounced some ideas around regarding our yew weapon. My friend has the yew, and it is a long enough piece if we want to make a sword out of it, or a few daggers. The sooner we decide, the sooner we’re armed.”

“If we go with a sword, I’d say to make it a short sword–” Michael started.

“Oh ha ha, mister funny man,” I interrupted.

“It’s not a short joke,” he countered. “A short sword is a thing. I know you were more impressed by the claymores but let’s be realistic. A claymore would be bigger than you! You need something that will fit your size.”

Now that he mentioned it, I vaguely remembered something about short swords from one of the shows we had watched. But I wasn’t gonna admit that, not in a million years. I was already blushing from my outburst.

Like mother, like daughter I suppose.

“Plus, that way we can make the sword thick enough that the wood won’t snap. If we tried to make a rapier out of yew? It’d be a giant poisonous toothpick and about as dangerous as a normal toothpick against a godly being.”

That made sense, I had to concede it.

“Thoughts?” Antun looked around then said, pointing, “I like the short sword idea. We might be able to get a dagger too. Should we try both?”

Everyone gave their various approvals.

“Okay then. Wanna look at short swords and get some ideas for our woodworking friend?”

We pulled up Pinterest, projected for all of us to look at the same thing. We scrolled through a blur of blade styles – big guards, narrow hilts, straight or gently curved edges – pinning anything that seemed functional… and cool.

I personally kinda liked the gladius, where the width of the blade almost matched the width of the guard. I’d make the guard just the tiniest bit bigger but other than that, I thought it would hold up well as a wooden weapon.

We had to break for sleep, and Michael and I opted to accept Antun’s offer to stay the night. Syla and I were to share the bed, as there was only one guest room and she had been occupying it. That was fine, there was plenty of room for the both of us.

Michael got the couch again but didn’t seem to mind in the least, setting his bed up as if this was what he did every night… Well, it kinda had been every night, since he had been staying at my place.

When was the last time this guy slept on a real mattress?

I suddenly felt guilty for having him stay at my home for so long. Maybe I should’ve gotten him a proper mattress for the floor at least–

“Drew?” Syla was trying to get my attention.

I blinked my surprise, shaking my head “Sorry, lost in thought.”

“That seems to happen quite a bit,” she remarked. “Have you ever been tested for ADHD?”

“What? No, I’m not hyperactive. I more resemble a sloth if we had to pick an animal, or a very lazy cat.”

Syla laughed. “I read recently that it’s a common misconception and that a large percentage of people who have ADHD have the “inattentive” type, or the kind where the hyperactivity is more in your head than through your limbs. And there are quite a few people out there who have no idea because ADHD is ‘just for hyperactive little kids’.”

I was taken aback. And I knew ADHD could be hereditary, and Dad had ADHD… “Huh, that’s really interesting. Do you mind sending me that article?”

With a smile, she asked, “You mind teaching me how to do that first?” I taught her what her search history was and how to access it and share links, figuring she was plenty smart enough to figure out the rest if she was finding articles on the internet without aid, or if she wasn’t, she was confident in asking for help. She sent me the article and I bookmarked it to read later.

“It might be worth looking into,” she said. “You seem to spend a lot of time inside your own head.”

Right now, she wanted to braid my hair and have girl time. I only had one hair tie, but that was enough for a simple French braid. I don’t know what she did, but it was not a simple French braid, although she did manage to tie it off with one hair tie. It was almost as if she had basket weaved the back of my head.

She was so dexterous and quick, I was genuinely surprised when she took a picture for me to see. My hands flew to the back of my head, feeling the weave-like pattern. I could not stop touching it.

Syla laughed at me, “You’re acting as if no one has braided your hair before.” Besides my mother when I was young and that one time Michael braided my crown, no one had ever braided my hair, or really played with it. I relished the touch I felt when I’d go to get my hair done, but I thought it was just from the feeling of being pampered when they wash your hair and massage your scalp. It was yet another indicator of how touch deprived I had been without even realizing it.

Maybe it wasn’t just the vampire thing that had changed me. Maybe it was this – learning how to let people in. Letting myself feel closeness – trust. I hadn’t known how much I’d needed it.

I hugged Syla, and she hugged me back. Whatever her reasons for wanting girl time, I was selfishly having a great time.

But we did need to sleep. We shut off the lights and stopped talking, having turned in opposite directions to go to sleep.

“Oh, how I missed having a friend,” she sighed contentedly.

It had to have been so lonely for the past 100 years with Nikola. And with how social she was now, I could only imagine the kind of butterfly she was before. No wonder she had been caught at a speakeasy; she seemed like the kind of girl who wouldn’t mind going out for drinks and dancing. I know I certainly planned on getting drinks with everyone once everything was over. As long as we all make it…

No, stop that! You need to sleep and you can’t do that if you’re depressed as hell.

I shifted, trying to get comfortable in an unfamiliar bed. I tried to relax my muscles and slow my breathing, trying to trick my body into resting…

I just could not fall asleep. I checked my phone for the time. I’d been laying there for over an hour. Not wanting to disturb Syla, I quietly snuck off of the bed and out of the room. I thought I had closed the door behind me quietly, but Michael lifted his head and looked at me as I shut it.

“Hey,” he whispered in a sleepy voice. That low, rumbling voice did things to my knees but I pretended I needed to go to the restroom to cover the shaking.

Really, body? Way to call me out. Of course, hearing a low, sleep-graveled voice saying ‘hey’ was bound to do that. But why did it have to be so obvious and awkward?

I spent extra time in the bathroom to give Michael a chance to fall back asleep, but when I came out, he was sitting up, his arms stretching behind his head and a blanket across his lap.

So much for subtle.

“Hey,” I said as a very belated response to his earlier greeting. “Can’t sleep either?”

“Nah, just not the night for it, I guess.” He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, then patted the seat beside him, still covered in a blanket. “If you’re up anyway, you may as well have some company, right?”

I could not deny the logic in his words, so I walked over and sat down, angling my body towards him as I did. He leaned his head back on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling.

I looked up, “Anything interesting up there?” I asked him.

He turned to me then grinned, “Nah, just thinking.” I gave him an inquiring look. “I used to crash on Cara’s couch all the time. So couch surfing is down to a science for me.”

I grinned, “Are you trying to ease my conscience or guilt trip me?”

He laughed quietly. “Midnight snack?” he suggested.

I nodded and we headed to the kitchen. He grabbed an ice cream out of the freezer, offering one to me. I opted for a banana and a small glass of chocolate milk instead; I was cold enough without adding frozen food to my system.

I shivered, a chill rolling through my body in an unpleasant wave. Michael suggested we turn on the electric fireplace. It was set up across from the couch, moving the other couch out of the way to provide warmth for the room during the colder months. We sat down, snacks in hand.

He pointed to my hair, mussed but still intricate. “Cool braid.”

I smiled, “Syla did it, said that she took up braiding as a hobby sometime in the early 1800s. You might need to up your braiding game even more.”

He jabbed my side, making me squeak in surprise.

“Shh, Drew, you’ll wake up everybody. So rude…”

I punched his arm and he rubbed at it, jutting out his bottom lip in a fake pout. I grinned and a small laugh escaped me.

“You didn’t cover your smile,” he said softly. “It lights up your whole face.”

My stomach fluttered, and I tried to change the subject. “Night sure seems to last forever in the winter.”

“I’m sure a smart lady like you already knows why,” Michael decided to play along.

“Something to do with the tilt of the Earth and its rotation around the sun. I don’t recall all of the specifics.” Michael nodded along as if he remembered that particular science lesson too. “Do you like the winter?” I asked him.

“I’m more of a summer guy, that’s when Ren Faire season is – peak me.” He winked and my stomach fluttered. “What about you?”

I gave it a quick thought. “I like autumn. The smells, the holidays, the colors in the trees. The only thing that sucks is here in Seattle, the persistent rain makes autumn particularly wet. But, I get to break out my favorite scarf after it’s been packed since late spring.” I added at the end.

He glanced at my throat, then asked with a somewhat sleepy smile, “Should we try to get some more sleep?” His voice was gentle. Too gentle.

“Voice of reason? No fun.” I stuck my tongue out at him, trying to lighten the mood. “Just as well, I suck at keeping my volume down.”

I stood but he held my hand, making me stop. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to stay here until I fall asleep.” I smiled, knowing he’d done exactly that for me before. Even though we were both quite awake, he moved where he was laying down so I could sit with his head in my lap.

He laid down, and I threaded my fingers through his hair. He purred, a low rumble in my lap. I tried to ignore what that sound did to my insides and kept stroking his hair. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at me, soft as ever. “Thanks.”

I brushed his hair gently. “Any time.” He drifted off quickly beneath my hand.

We’ll need more than charm and braids if we want to face Nikola. He’s still out there, sharpening his teeth. But for now, we have each other.

The repetitive motion soothed me too, and before I could get up, I fell asleep as well, Michael’s head in my lap and my hand in his hair.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

The holidays flew by, and before long it was a brand new year. Mora called me into her office one afternoon. “Please, sit down.”

I certainly felt a lot more comfortable around Mora than around Trevor, but sometimes I missed my old, rowdy floor – it didn’t seem so bad in hindsight. This floor was more subdued. Maybe an older crowd, or just fewer bros.

“I know you were promised a promotion of some kind when you trained your replacement. This probably doesn’t feel much like one, does it?”

I tried not to sound ungrateful. I felt nervous as I admitted, “Well… no. I’m doing the same thing for the same pay.”

Mora nodded her head. “I understand. And there is an opportunity for you to advance, if you’re interested.”

“I’m definitely interested,” I readily said, sitting up a little straighter. My ego flared that she’d think me ready for a promotion.

Mora smiled at my reaction. “Good. What do you know about the position of floor manager?”

“Like you or Trevor are?” I asked to clarify. She nodded. “Not a whole lot. I know that they keep the floor running as a whole unit by making sure everyone is doing their part.”

“That’s a succinct way to put it. There is an opening coming up for floor manager if you’re interested in interviewing for it. I can help you prepare.”

It would be a big change from what I was currently doing. I’d be going from working mostly alone to being in charge of a whole floor. “I’m going to need to think about it.”

I don’t know how I said it with a steady tone. Inside, I was quaking at the thought of taking on that kind of role.

“Of course. You let me know soon what you decide.”

I walked back to my desk, my mind trying to wrap around the idea of possibly becoming a manager. For an introvert, it sounded like hell. But the pay was better.

Michael would make a great manager, but he’s new to QCE – he’s not likely to go for it.

I sat down, wiggling my mouse to wake up my computer screen.

Okay, time to focus.

I opened up a document, trying to concentrate.

Hours later, I closed my laptop and shut down the desktop. I packed my laptop to take home, not knowing if I’d need it for something. I pulled on my coat, slung my bag over one shoulder, and headed to the elevators.

Riding down, I thought back on my conversation with Mora. My hands started shaking – I shoved them into my pockets.

On the main floor, I saw Michael walking up ahead. I ran to catch up to him.

“How was your day?” I asked conversationally.

Michael seemed to always have some kind of work story – ridiculous, hilarious, scandalous – and a talent for telling it.

“A little long. Keenan and Gilbert do not know how to format to save their lives…” He told me how these particular two had been giving him trouble since the beginning. “Like, how do they even keep their jobs? The only reason their work ever goes out is because I’ve had to fix almost everything.”

“Damn, that sucks. I remember their work and I do not miss it. There’s this one guy on my floor though who, no matter what I do, cannot understand the concept of double spacing. It’s one little click and ta-da, but no. I don’t know what to do with him.”

We crossed the street, snow falling lightly around us. It crunched under foot in places where it hadn’t already been stepped on, and in some places the walkway was slick from how compacted the snow had gotten. I walked carefully but at a normal pace, watching my feet as much as I was looking ahead.

In due time we got back home.

I unlocked the door and Husker scurried under the bed. The Christmas miracle seemed to have been a one off, but it gave me hope.

Entering, I turned on the light and dropped my keys onto the small entry table. The two of us shrugged out of our coats, hanging them up to dry.

“What should we do for dinner?” he asked.

“An excellent question, my friend. Let me see what’s in the fridge.”

I started walking that way and there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” Michael said over one shoulder.

I was looking through the fridge when I heard my mother’s voice piercing the air. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my daughter’s home?!”

I ran to the front door. “Mom! Stop! This is a friend! He was invited here.”

Unlike you.

“What are you doing here, Mom?”

“What else, to make sure you’re not starving!” Her voice was still elevated, as she had yet to calm all the way down.

“Mom, why don’t you come inside, alright?”

She glared at Michael as she stepped inside and walked past him. She went straight to the kitchen with her oversized bags.

“Just so you know, you always come right before my day off. My fridge is usually fine.”

She threw a, “Bah,” over one shoulder as she began to unload her giant cooler bags into the fridge. “I’ll bet you haven’t even had dinner yet, huh,” she directed at me.

“Believe it or not, that’s what we were discussing just before you showed up, Mom.”

She made a dismissive noise, continuing her task until the bags were empty and my fridge and freezer were very full. “You need to eat, you’re too small!”

Not this again.

“Ma, I’m within a healthy weight range for my height. You don’t have to worry.”

Ever since my eating disorder that started my first year at college, it felt like my mom became obsessive about making sure I eat. But it had been years since I showed any anorexic patterns, she didn’t need to keep doing this.

She protested, “I’m your mother, it’s my job and my right to worry after you.”

I threw my hands up in an I give up gesture and turned to Michael.

“Looks like we have plenty of options now. My mom comes by every so often to do this: bemoan the state of my fridge and feed me. It’s always very random.”

I yelled over one shoulder, “She does have a phone, she just never bothers to call or text before she comes.”

I heard a, “Bah,” in response.

I shrugged, “Why don’t you go ahead and get changed, I’ll stay out here with her.”

Michael nodded and walked to his bag to get clothes before going to the bathroom.

I went over to my mom after the door was closed. “What the hell, Mom? Why were you shouting at him right out the gate? You didn’t even know if I had invited him or not, and you were extremely rude to him!”

She threw out another, “Bah,” choosing to ignore her poor actions.

“Don’t you bah me about this, Mom. I’m serious, I feel offended on his behalf! I want you to apologize to him after he’s out of the bathroom.”

She looked up at me like I’d grown a third eye.

“Mom, you made a mistake, but you still have to apologize.”

She grumbled something about me being an ungrateful girl and how she doesn’t want to apologize to the big brute.

“Apologize,” I said in a firm, no-nonsense tone.

She locked eyes with me as if seeing if I would back down. I stared right back. She eventually broke it off when we heard the bathroom door open.

Michael paused in the doorway, seeing my mom and me facing off.

I raised my brow and quirked my head toward Michael.

Go and apologize, Mom.

She walked toward him, her eyes still on me for another moment before she faced him.

“I am sorry for yelling in your face. I am a mother who is very protective, as you can see, and instinct took over.” She held a hand out in offering, albeit grudgingly.

Michael shook it, saying, “Mrs. Nelson, I’ll never hurt your daughter. She’s my best friend in all of Seattle, and I promise to look after her.”

She looked skeptical but gave a nod and released his hand. She sent him one last death glare before turning back to me.

“Andrew Marie Nelson, I am your mother. I will always go full mama bear if I think you’re in danger, you know that. Tonight was just an example of that furious love.”

I nodded and then gave her a hug. “I know, Mom.” I pulled back, “But he is my best friend and I want you to treat him kindly.”

My mother squeezed me once before releasing me.

“Hmm.” Mom looked between us, her eyes narrowed. “Well, I can see all is well and now you have a full fridge. My errand is done, I’ll let you get back to your guest. You said he’s your best friend?” she asked, like it was the first time she’d really heard it.

I nodded.

She glowered at Michael once more. I’ll be watching you, her eyes said. She swept out like a storm cloud – no goodbye – leaving behind silence, and a full fridge.

Michael broke it gently, “Your mom seems to love you very much.”

I blushed in embarrassment. “She is very overprotective but yes, she does. She was probably embarrassed about how she reacted when you opened the door, hence her very quick getaway.”

He gave an understanding nod.

“So,” I needed to change the subject, “You want something to eat? There’s plenty of options now.” We both chuckled. I explained as I looked in the fridge, “My mom comes over randomly to check in and see how I’m doing. She claims she can’t tell how I am over the phone or a video chat and she has to come see me. I think it’s just an excuse.”

I debated whether or not to tell him, but I decided I would. “I struggled with an eating disorder years ago. Even though I’m completely fine now, Mom still makes me food and brings it over to make sure I’m eating something.”

I looked up from the dish I was holding. Michael’s eyes held several emotions, but the most prevalent were pain and affection.

“I’m glad you got better and still have a support system. My sister had a friend who ended up in the hospital from malnourishment. She said her friend could count her ribs from space, she was so thin.”

He took the dish from me, setting it down and opening it. He continued, “I’ve never dealt with it personally, but I care – and I’m really glad you’re doing better.”

He scooped some chicken fried rice onto a plate, placing it in the microwave and starting it, then he prepared another plate.

My heart was full in a way I’d never experienced before. This was what it was like to have a best friend. My eyes started to tear up and I looked down as if inspecting a hangnail to try to hide it. I didn’t fool anyone.

Michael enveloped me in his arms, “What’s wrong?”

I cry-laughed, then tried to sniffle back my tears again, shaking my head. I wiped my tears with my sleeve, then let out a quick, hard breath.

“Why do you do that?” His eyes were tender and wanting to understand.

I was confused. “Do what?” I croaked through my broken voice.

He pulled back, concern on his face as he looked at me. “Refuse to cry. It’s not good for you.”

I scoffed and stepped out of his arms, “Oh, so you’re a doctor now?”

He was insistent. “I mean it, there’s studies. But beyond that, we are programmed to cry at different times, and it’s better for you to let the emotion pass through your body and get it out instead of holding everything in.”

“I don’t hold everything in,” I grumbled, my arms crossed in front of me.

“Oh, yes you do, Drew! No wonder you’re short, all those bottled-up emotions stunted your growth.”

I let out a burst of sound, something between mock offense and a laugh of surprise. I went to punch him in the arm but he caught me by the wrist.

“Wait! Drew, you gave me a brilliant idea just now with that punch. We should totally go to the gym together. There’s a self-defense class by one of the trainers at my gym, you should totally go. Maybe by having some self-defense tools you’ll be more prepared for Nikola!”

All humor in me vanished at the mention of his name.

“Right. Just saving the world from a vampire god. No big deal.”

The microwave beeped a reminder, the food having been ready for over a minute. I stepped around Michael and grabbed the plate, putting the other plate in its place and starting the microwave.

Michael rubbed a hand over his face, then ran that hand through his hair, resting the hand on the back of his neck, squeezing. “I didn’t mean to bring down the mood–”

“No, no it’s just… Sometimes, life feels really, really normal and I forget that I’m even a vampire. Then I realize I can’t feel my heart beating in my chest. Or I get thirsty for mana, or coffee tastes wrong. Something always ends up reminding me that I’m no longer alive.”

I looked into Michael’s eyes. “I wasn’t ready to die, but he didn’t care, and then you gave me a second chance. But I’m still dead, and my parents have no idea that their only child was murdered and then turned into… this. My murderer is out there and…”

I froze.

Nikola thinks I’m buried. Forgotten. But I’m still here, sharpening into something dangerous. I’m not going to be his victim anymore. I’m going to be a threat he doesn’t see coming.

Michael realized the same thing I had. “You are the element of surprise!”

No big deal, right? Just my undead revenge arc beginning.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

Jared stormed away from the club. Why the fuck would they fire me, I’m their best bouncer! So what if some people got roughed up a little bit more than was absolutely necessary? Made for better insurance that they wouldn’t come back and cause more trouble, that’s what he thought.

He turned between buildings, his glowering stare scaring all. All but one, that is.

His face met the pavement with a sudden crack, someone holding him there by the neck. He was so disoriented that he couldn’t defend himself nor stop the stranger from trapping his hands behind his back.

What the hell?! He has to be huge if he’s taking away my hands that easily. I can’t shake him off!

His head was yanked up and to the side, making him groan in pain. “You’re a big one. You’ll do nicely.” A stabbing sensation, like giant needles in his neck, made him want to thrash, but he couldn’t. The other man wasn’t even holding him anymore, Jared was completely incapacitated as his vision grew flatter and darker…

❖ 🩸 ❖

We gathered on Christmas Eve, wanting to leave the day itself open for the two young vampires who had living families. Antun and Syla had decided that they’d celebrate together by watching Christmas movies and baking.

“What’re you guys going to make?” I asked.

Syla supplied, “I wanted to try cookies, all kinds. But we’re going to start with chocolate chip, then move on to others after that.”

“A classic choice,” Michael intoned, giving a nod of approval. “I definitely approve. Do you need a recipe? I’ve always loved my mom’s cookies; I could ask her for the recipe tomorrow morning.”

“That’s so sweet of you Michael. But you needn’t worry, we’ve got one already. I feel like everyone has tried those Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies except for me, so we’re going to follow that recipe.”

“Ooh, that one always tastes better from scratch,” I supplied.

“Good to know. Now I won’t need to go out and get a tube of it just to be on the safe side,” Antun joked. Syla slapped his arm, but I could tell it was all in good fun.

“Come on, I wanna open presents!” Michael practically bounced like a kid on Christmas. I handed out my gifts first. Everyone opened them all at once.

Syla swooned over her scarf, looping it around her neck.

Antun laughed at his shirt, turning it to Syla when she asked what it said, making her laugh as well.

Michael opened his box: a pair of cognac-colored leather gloves. He flexed his fingers inside them. “They’re a perfect fit. Thanks Drew.” His smile made my insides melt.

Syla had gifted me a sweater just like the one she was wearing. “Then we can match!” She was adorable. I obliged her and went to the other room to put it on, coming back out to model it.

Antun’s gift was a painting. “I had someone try to recreate Selene’s terrace based on how you described it.”

Selene was standing by the railing, the dark stones of the floor and railing painted a mix of browns and greys. Dark roses climbed one side, cascading over the top of the painting. The color was perfect, capturing the depth of those roses.

Her black gown was long sleeved and fitted through the top, then came out in an elegant A-line. She faced the moon, her skin fair in the light, her ebony hair long and straight down her back. She had one hand on the terrace, and although the artist creatively avoided painting a distinct face with her angles, the scene was a fairly accurate representation of my dream.

I could imagine her turning around and saying my name as I gazed at it.

“Wow, Antun, this is so beautiful! I love it, thank you.” I blew him a kiss and he acted as if it knocked him over. This time I joined Syla in rolling her eyes at him but I smiled the whole time.

Michael said he left his gift for me back at the apartment by accident, and Antun booed him. I didn’t mind, I could just open it when we got back. We stayed until the early morning hours; being able to run on little sleep really had its advantages.

As we got into our ride, he admitted that he left his gift for me behind on purpose. Now I was even more curious.

We hurried into the building, snow starting to build up in areas that weren’t salted. I stomped my feet, trying to shake the worst of the snow off at the front entrance so I wouldn’t track water through the building as badly. We used the elevator. Wet shoes plus stairs? Bad things all around.

I unlocked the door, but something felt… different. I opened the door, cautious. Then I realized, I didn’t hear the scratching of scrambling cat feet when I unlocked the door. I walked slowly to the kitchen, peering around the wall. Michael stayed by the front door, having recognized that something special was happening.

Husker was crouched by his bowl, he gave a low growl.

“Hey, buddy,” I drew out. “Look at you, so brave.” I kept my voice calm. “Will you let me come in? I’ll get you your favorite, beef bits in gravy.”

He didn’t move, just kept his eyes locked on me as I slowly moved around him.

I opened the can of cat food, scooping it out into his bowl before very carefully setting the bowl down next to him. He kept his eyes on me as I slowly backed out of the kitchen. As soon as my foot had left that threshold, he attacked his meal with gusto.

I started to cry, so happy about this leap in progress. Christmas miracles are so cliche – until they happen to you.

I was still sniffling from joy over Husker’s progress when Michael stepped behind me with something hidden in his hand. I hadn’t expected my heart to pivot so quickly.

“Damn it, Husker, way to outplay me man,” Michael muttered under his breath.

I frowned and pulled back, “What was that?”

Michael sighed and chuckled, “I thought I could win Christmas but he had to go and win before I could even play.”

What? “What’re you talking about, winning, playing? You’re being silly.”

He lowered his gaze, then met mine again, “Close your eyes, Drew.”

I scrunched my brows, skeptical.

“Indulge me.”

I sighed but obeyed anyway.

“Hold out your hand.”

I did so, holding it out in front of me. I felt something cool and light touch my hand, then a barely heavier feeling as something dropped onto my palm.

“Open your eyes.”

I did. In my hand was a silver chain necklace with a cross on it, wrapped in flowers. Tiny blue flowers. “I thought you’d enjoy the irony of a vampire wearing a cross. But more than that… I wanted you to have something that can ground you, remind you of yourself. I picked this one because it reminded me of the crown you picked at the Ren Faire, with the little blue flowers.”

“Forget-me-nots.” My voice was stunned.

He looked perplexed. “Pardon?”

I touched the tiny flowers and smiled. “Those little blue flowers, they’re called forget-me-nots. They’re one of my favorites.”

He hooked a finger under my chin, lifting my eyes to meet his gaze. “There’s nothing forgettable about you.”

He stepped behind me, necklace in hand. He swept my hair to one side, and the skin that he touched trailed with goosebumps. He attached the necklace around my neck, pulling my hair out of the chain.

He came around to the front. “Beautiful,” he uttered, but his eyes weren’t on my necklace.

I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, stood on my tiptoes, and kissed him.

His arms wrapped around me, one hand going to cradle the back of my head as he returned the kiss, the other hand pressing me to him.

I opened my mouth and his tongue explored mine, twining, hot and eager. God, this was good.

As his grip loosened, I wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted me and my legs wrapped around him of their own accord, holding me in place.

He walked until my spine touched the wall – firm and cool. Pinned between the wall and him, my chest burned like I’d forgotten what oxygen was for. His mouth released mine and he bit my neck, just under my ear, sucking and licking. My eyes rolled back in my head – the ecstasy of this. My skin burned in the most pleasurable way as he touched me.

I gasped, and he caught my mouth again, hungrily. He pulled back and held me to the wall with his hips, his arms removing his shirt. His hand dove up the back of my shirt and the touch of his skin against mine drove me wild as he walked.

Then the bed was under me, and he let me go.

“Drew.” My name sounded like a plea and I searched his face. “Drew, you’re amazing, I…” It was as if he couldn’t say what he wanted to. He scanned me as if to take me all in. Then his eyes searched mine, looking for an answer to his silent question.

Heat rose to my face. As much as I wanted more, I wasn’t quite ready. And he knew that. I touched a hand to his cheek and he leaned into it, closing his eyes. I brushed my thumb along his swelling bottom lip. I put my hand under his chin, lifting his eyes to mine.

“Will you stay until I fall asleep?” I asked quietly, not wanting to break the spell.

As if I had released him from a stressor, he took a breath and exhaled, “Yes.”

I kicked him out of the room temporarily, donning flannel shorts and an oversized tee shirt.

By the time I had returned from the bathroom after, he had turned down the covers for me. I crawled in and tucked the blankets to my chin, the necklace cool against my collarbone.

“You can lay down, if you’d like.” He did so on top of the covers, resting on his elbow, his head in his hand. He looked down at me, brushing a hair away from my face. We shared no words. I wasn’t sure whether I was scared to break the spell or if I genuinely didn’t know what to say, but the quiet between us said everything. Fingering the tiny gems that made the flowers, I held the cross as I fell asleep.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

Christmas was already upon us. I had more people to give things to this year, and I felt rather excited at the prospect.

I’d probably get something for the kitchen for my mom since that is her space. Seriously, she is territorial of her kitchen, so cooking gadgets were always a go with her.

For Dad, I knew he wouldn’t stop his hobbies and crafts, no matter how sore his hands got, so I got him a set of tools with wider handles that would be easier for him to hold.

That left my three new friends. What does one give to a friend? What was too much or too little? I really wanted to get it right.

For Syla, I got her a scarf very similar to my favorite, softest one – a cushiony infinity loop in burgundy red.

Antun had everything he could possibly need, so his gift took a little more thought. I ended up getting him a custom shirt that said ‘Not a Vampire’ because I knew it would make him laugh.

And for Michael… I didn’t know what to give him at all. No matter how long I thought on it, I was out of ideas. I wanted to get it right. Something that said I see you, not just here’s a gift.

My apartment didn’t have much room for decor, so in previous years I had opted to just help decorate my parents’ home instead. When talking with Michael about the holiday, he suggested we could get a poinsettia for color.

“Would have to be fake, they’re toxic to pets. I’m surprised you didn’t know that, Mr. I-Took-A-Botany-Class-In-College,” I winked at him. I was feeling braver around him, more ready to push his buttons. I had forgiven him by now, needing my best friend more than I needed my anger.

At first his brows had raised in surprise at the factoid, but then his eyes narrowed. He stuck his tongue out at me. “Do you want to get a tree instead?”

“With Husker? Normally I’d say let’s go for it and hope for the best, but with how nervous he still is around me, I’m wondering if changing his environment that much would freak him out.”

Michael shrugged, “He’s your cat, you’d know what’s best.”

We thought about it and decided to split the difference and got a tiny tree for the kitchen table that had battery operated LED lights. He made an origami star for the top of it, sticking it on the treetop with a toothpick and twist tie. We took a selfie with the tree, sending it to Antun.

Antun: Should I decorate my house? I don’t really have neighbors

Michael: Up to you

Drew: What I’m hearing is that you need our excellent expertise on holiday decor.

Syla: I want to decorate for Christmas!!!

Antun: LOL

Antun: Do you guys wanna decorate with us?

Michael: We’re in

Later, at Antun’s house with faux greenery and other decorations scattered everywhere, the four of us set out to decorate the house interior for the holidays.

“What do you usually do for Christmas? As an influencer I’d have thought you’d have done something like this before.” I was curious that we had had to buy so much decor, that he didn’t already have some for that big house of his.

“There are some very ingenious backgrounds that look fairly flawless from a small phone screen. I’d usually pick a holiday themed room and green screen myself.”

“That almost sounds harder than just decorating for the holiday. And then you get to enjoy seeing it too,” Syla remarked.

This was her first real Christmas in over a century and she was very excited for it. She had on a headband with two candy canes on springs, looking like festive antennae, and a sweater that had several small reindeer in a seemingly random pattern all over it.

Antun had picked a classical holiday music playlist, and Frank Sinatra was currently singing in the background.

Michael had a green garland wrapped around his neck like a scarf as he decorated the tree that Antun had delivered to his home.

I felt very content at that moment, and then I was hit with worry.

This is the lull before the storm, isn’t it, I thought, ruining my good mood.

Syla noticed my mood shift. “Drew, are you okay?”

Snap out of it, you’re supposed to be having fun right now.

I tried to cover up with, “Yeah, just overthinking and stressing myself out.”

“Well stop that,” she retorted. “It’s Christmas time! A time for coming together and celebrating the life that endures even in the harshest of winters.”

I had never thought about Christmas that way. Celebrating life that endures… I grew up with the typical Santa Claus and baby Jesus type of Christmas, so thinking of the holiday completely outside of those terms, although new, felt oddly warm and comforting.

I picked up an ornament. I looked at Michael, comparing his eyes with the color of the tree. His eyes were nearly the same color as the gorgeous, full evergreen.

Even then, his eyes are still prettier…

“Drew?” Michael asked, a brow raised in question as to why I was looking at him like that.

Shit! Caught staring. I gave myself a mental slap to the forehead.

“Just wandering thoughts, sorry.”

Antun said without stopping his task of filling in a wreath with floral picks, “Want to share with the class, love? We might be able to help.”

I thought about it. “Not right now. Right now,” I put a headband on my head similar to Syla’s, with Santa heads instead of candy canes, “It’s Christmas, and I don’t know about you guys, but a cocoa or coffee break sounds nice.”

Everyone uttered their agreement and we congregated in the kitchen as some fancy machine of Antun’s made shots of espresso to go into our cocoa. In ironically perfect timing, we all clanked our mugs together and said, “Cheers!”

❖ 🩸 ❖

“He said that he can help with the sourcing and the crafting, we just need to decide what we’re making.” Antun’s woodworking friend had gotten back to him a few days before Christmas. Antun and Syla had called us as soon as they heard.

“Fantastic!” I said. “But what’s this going to cost, Antun?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it covered.” I could almost see him inspecting his nails nonchalantly.

“That’s not what I asked, Antun.” I struggled to believe that this was going to be anything but costly.

“My friend has been interested in working on a yew piece for years, he just never had any projects interesting enough to risk the toxicity of the sawdust that’s bound to be produced at some point during crafting. So while it is a little on the expensive side, I can more than cover it.”

I decided to trust him on it. “Alright. I guess now is when we start brainstorming weapon ideas for our crafty friend to make real. Anyone wanna go first?”

Michael spoke up immediately. “I really liked that sword from the museum. Something like that might be just what we need.”

“Certainly stabby enough,” I agreed. “Or a dagger, or set of daggers maybe? Smaller, easier to conceal and travel around with.”

We continued discussing for several minutes, bandying around various ideas.

A thought occurred to me. “What if we have our friend collect the yew shavings and sawdust, maybe we can make powder bombs, get it into his respiratory system?”

Everyone gave various words of approval to that idea.

Antun said he’d take the ideas to his friend and get his input as the craftsman and an estimated time of completion.

At home, Michael suggested we watch that one show we had found on Netflix about weaponry and see if there was anything else similar to watch. I agreed and we sat on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table. I tucked one knee up, hugging it loosely. He pushed play, and before long I had ideas for different styles of swords and daggers floating in my head.

I yawned, realizing I was starting to get sleepy. I wanted to stay up a little longer, so I turned to Michael. “Hey, I need some caffeine, you want some?”

He shook his head, paused and tilted it, then, “Maybe a small cup.”

We queued up the next show, another blade doc. Since this seemed the most likely route at the moment, we pressed play.

It began. Interesting content, dry narration. Even with the coffee, I found myself drifting off and snapping back awake, just for it to happen again a moment later. My head dipped once… then again… I don’t know when it happened, but at some point I fell asleep, letting the darkness envelope me.

❖ 🩸 ❖

Drew’s breathing was steady. If that weren’t indication enough, her body had tipped over, her head resting on Michael’s arm. He readjusted her, not wanting his arm to fall asleep. He shifted, sitting a little more diagonally on the couch so it was more comfortable to hold her.

She had shifted and he had worried that he had woken her, only for her hand to end up on his chest. He really couldn’t move now, not when she was so tired. There was a crease between her brows, as if she were deep in thought even in her sleep.

She just can’t give herself a break, he thought to himself as he continued watching the documentary. Definitely the documentary. Not her. Not the way her lashes swept lightly above her cheekbones, or how her lips were turned down in a slight frown. Not how her right hand was placed right next to his left hand within easy holding distance…

He covered the hand on his chest with his free hand, a gesture so natural he didn’t think twice about it. He continued to definitely watch the show as his own eyes began to drift closed.

❖ 🩸 ❖

I awoke a little before 3:00 AM, my back a little sore but definitely worth it for this citrus-musk scent I’d come to–.

Wait. Am I smelling him?

Without moving, I opened my eyes, seeing a chest. There was a hand covering mine I knew before I looked up that Michael was still asleep, his breathing slow and steady.

I carefully sat up, extracting my hand from his.

Wait, that’s it!

I knew what I was going to get him for Christmas.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

It was a long day. As I was adding a new position on the floor, that meant that everyone else’s projects were to be referred directly to me instead of the general system. I spent a lot of time talking to people and teaching them how to send their work to me so I could work my magic.

Repeatedly.

It was probably the most I’ve talked in a day in a very long time. Michael and I walked back to the apartment in silence, my voice and my brain needing a rest. I unlocked the apartment and Husker shot under the bed, but his shaking had gotten less and less as the days went on.

I went to the kitchen to prepare his food before getting out of my work clothes. Michael went to his bag to grab a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom. Husker heard the pop of the can opening and meowed, knowing that I was getting out the good stuff. I scooped it into his bowl, scraping every last bit of juices and gravy out of the can on top of the cubed pieces of meat.

I set it down and Husker meowed louder as if asking me to move out of the way faster so he could eat. As soon as I was away from the kitchen, he dashed to his dish, hungrily chowing down.

“Little fatty. Mama loves you,” I said. I felt that my talking to Husker regularly was helping him to adjust to our new life.

I went into my bedroom and straight to the closet to change. Michael came out of the bathroom a minute later in sweats, pulling a tee over his head. I wasn’t sure what his hurry was, but it gave me a glimpse of his bare chest and abdomen. No one just happens to have abs like that unless they’re secretly training for a superhero role.

The shirt covered them up before I could gawk further. I looked away quickly, pretending the remote in my hand was fascinating.

“How was the new floor?” he asked conversationally before sitting down.

“It’s fine. A little quieter than the old floor, actually. I didn’t get very much done though since everyone needed basic training on how to send their documents to me directly.”

Michael nodded his understanding, his mouth quirking up at the corner with a sympathetic grin. He knew that talking to a lot of people was draining for me.

“I’m sorry you had to do all that. Hopefully tomorrow is better.”

I gave him a small smile and nodded, not all that confident that it would be. There were a couple of people who, no matter what I said or did, just could not wrap their brains around the simple process.

I wanted to get the work day out of my head. “You want some mana?” I asked, our more polite way of saying that we’d go out and hunt for creeps.

He looked at me with surprised curiosity. “Wanting to get all your powers in or something?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I’ve got my mind reading down. The senses thing is what it is, seems to be growing a little stronger. No flying yet. There hasn’t been a reason for quick healing yet, and I haven’t tried hypnosis on anyone yet. I had a question on that one, actually.”

“Shoot. Don’t know how helpful I’ll be, but go ahead.” Michael crossed his arms, giving me his full attention.

“When I first saw you using hypnosis, you said that you needed to be around a person for a period of time. Nikola managed to hypnotize me without having met me at all. Is it a power thing? Like if you have more mana or energy or something? What do you think?”

A hand went to his chin, rubbing his face. “I think that’s a question for our older vampires. I haven’t used it in a while, maybe I can test it out tonight? See if I can hypnotize people faster.”

With that plan in mind, we grabbed our coats and put on our shoes before heading out the door, locking it behind us.

Seattle evenings were a lot less busy, but much darker and easier to hide. We decided to split up for a bit, knowing that being a small person by myself made me an easier target. That way, I could lure my dinner to me while Michael went somewhere to practice hypnosis.

I walked, pausing to check my phone under a street lamp. 10:27 PM. No one had followed me for several minutes. But for whatever reason, my small, feminine stature usually made the awful people come out of the woodwork.

Tonight was no exception. I read the minds of those around me briefly, just long enough to see if anyone had targeted me. A man walking in my direction had a sudden change of thought as he saw me.

“Eh, that one looks easy,” I heard in my head. “She’s small, probably lightweight. Plus she’s got long hair. Mmm, I love playing with long hair while…”

Ew, found one.

I pretended not to notice him as I continued to walk and pretend to mess around on my phone. I turned down a side street, needing him to follow me to a less populated area. And wouldn’t you know it, he did. I texted Michael to tell him I had one almost ready and asked him if he had any luck yet.

I turned into an alley with an overfilled recycle receptacle and hid behind it, waiting for him to go past. As he turned the corner and saw me gone, he walked a little faster, as if he’d catch up to me that way. He passed my position, then I stepped out behind him, sneaking up. I jumped onto his back, that being my preferred method of attack, and bit where his artery scrawled up the side of his neck.

At least disgusting people like this finally had some use this way. They deserved worse, especially men like this one. But I wouldn’t stoop to their level of filth to kill them, as much as I wanted to.

I could be like a vampiric avenging angel, going around Seattle and getting rid of the molesters and rapists.

But could I actually go through with it, killing someone? I’d need to be if I was going to stop Nikola. But not this man. This man would wake up, dazed and confused, but probably wouldn’t even remember me. And if he did, he’d just remember that I got away.

I left his body on the damp ground. Maybe he’d catch something nasty. He deserved worse, but it was something. I checked to see if Michael had responded to my message yet.

Michael: No luck hypnotizing people faster. Going to get more mana and try again.

Drew: Where are you? Want company?

Michael: I’ve been sitting in a cafe with other people, hoping I could tether someone faster being stationary. Gonna head to a different cafe and hunt on the way.

Drew: Let me know where you end up, I’ll meet up with you.

I looked up and all of me froze. Not ten yards in front of me, Nikola walked past the side street, not noticing me in the shadows. At least I was in the dark; he couldn’t see my face even if he had looked in my direction. I didn’t move for another minute or so, frozen in place. I could almost hear his voice again, melodic and venomous, curling into my skull like smoke.

When I finally snapped out of it, I looked out of the alley and down the sidewalk in the direction he had gone. No sign of him. I got on the sidewalk and ran the other direction as fast as I could. I stopped under the pavilion of a store, catching my breath. I pulled out my phone:

Drew: Just saw Nikola. He did not see me. I did not follow.

Michael: WHAT! Get back to the apartment, now. I’m on my way there too.

I ran home, my legs pumping underneath me, propelling me forward. I had a stitch in my side but I couldn’t stop. I got to my building and slammed the elevator button, waiting for the slow thing, then deciding to take the stairs. I kept going until I got to my floor, bursting out of the stairwell door and bolting for home.

My keys shook in my hands as I tried to unlock the door. A presence came up behind me and I froze, waiting to hear that awful voice.

“Drew, what are you doing? Get inside!” Michael grabbed the keys out of my shaking hands and unlocked the door, swinging it open. He ushered me inside, closing and locking the door before bothering to take off anything or turn on the light. In my own home, my legs buckled and gave out. I sank to the floor, holding myself up with my hands. Michael rushed to me. “Are you alright? Hey, hey,”

He grabbed my face, my eyes were frantic. Nikola was here! He was going to get me again!

“Hey, focus on me. Breathe. One, two, three…” He began counting and on reflex I tried to steady my breathing with the count. We did three rounds of breaths, calming my terrible shaking to a slight tremor. “You’re at home, you are safe. I am here with you, you are not alone.” Those statements were so obvious but they comforted me all the same and brought my mind more fully to the present.

“Nikola passed by on the sidewalk perpendicular to the side street I was on. He didn’t notice me, just kept walking on by. He’s still here in Seattle.” None of our group had any idea where he had gone after stealing my energy. His plans were a complete mystery, but knowing him, it wouldn’t be sunshine and daisies.

“Okay, that’s one mystery solved, at least. We know he’s still here. Why is he being so quiet… It’s unsettling.”

No kidding, really?! God, sometimes he’s just so obvious.

“We have to figure out his plan so we know how to stop him. And the only clue Selene gave was that yew is the only thing that will kill him now. Where can we even get yew wood from?” I asked. “It’s probably not sold at home improvement stores if it’s as toxic as you say.”

“Yeah, no. Definitely not. Let me see what I can find.” He pulled out his phone, typing something into the search bar. Scrolling, he started, “Looks like people sell it for crafters.” He looked from his phone. “I’ll need to do a little more research, see if we can find any yew, and maybe if we’re lucky, somebody who knows anything about woodcraft who’s willing to work with it.”

He went to his bag, pulling out his laptop and charger. He plugged it in and started it up at the kitchen table.

I went to the kitchen for a snack, knowing this might take a while. I grabbed a few different things to munch on – salty, sweet, savory, – as we looked up what we could. As I was setting up my laptop, a thought came to mind. “Hey, we should see if Antun knows any woodworkers. He seems to know all kinds of people, I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew someone, or knows someone who knows someone.”

Michael nodded, “Text him. Also, ask him if he knows the best place to get yew wood. If we don’t need to spend hours doing research, that’d be awesome.” I did, and we waited for a reply. When it came in, we were half lucky; Antun did know a wood craftsman but he did not know where to get yew wood. He texted that he’d message his friend in the morning to ask him if he’d be willing to help with a project and if he knew where to get yew wood.

Michael and I were left with two options: research anyway just in case, or try to relax and not think about Nikola and all that shit. While we could have been responsible adults, we tried to make a third option: Netflix and research at the same time.

I got the remote and gave it to Michael. “You pick tonight.” I got my laptop booted up while Michael looked through the myriad of choices for entertainment. He decided on a show about weaponry of various kinds and all kinds of details, from origins of different weapons to how they are used and even made.

I’ll admit that I got sucked into the show pretty quickly, laptop and research forgotten.

Nikola was close. We were running out of time. But for the first time, we might actually have a way to stop him.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

I woke to stiffness, confusion, and someone had tucked me in.

Wait – when did I get a blanket?

Shaking my head, I stretched, my back popping as I did so. My legs were stiff as well so I needed to stretch basically everything. When I finally felt somewhat human… Was I still human?

Ugh, more questions.

I looked for my phone. I searched the cushions, the floor, even the kitchen. Nothing. My phone had vanished. Where was it? I needed to tell Michael about this, then Antun and Syla. No way was I hero-ing this thing by myself! She said to use resources, so I would.

After I’ve found my phone.

I searched my coat pockets and clothes again – nothing. Finally I dumped out my bag in frustration. There was all kinds of stuff in there beyond my wallet: my pepper spray, of course, then gum and tissues, some feminine products and medicines. But no phone.

I heard a sound at the door and my head shot up. Michael came in, seeing everything spread out. I shoved it all in my bag without organizing, trying not to blush at the scattered tampons. Right now I had to tell him about my dream.

“Michael! Come in, sit down,” I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to the couch, the cushions having been returned before I started feeling frantic about my phone. “I just had this crazy dream. Did I tell you about that dream with the pretty lady? Anyway, she said her name was Selene and that I have to stop Nikola and I need to use my resour–”

“Slow down, Drew! What pretty lady dream? What are you going on about?”

“Selene’s was the voice in my dreams! I kept having these dreams over and over where her voice would ask if I wanted to live, I’d say yes, then she’d say hold on? Anyway, she took me to this beautiful dream place and told me that I have to stop Nikola using yew somehow. I’m not a heroine, what even is my life?!” I was feeling rather hysterical, starting to hyperventilate from how quickly I was talking.

“Drew, Drew! You need to breathe, slow down. Want to breathe with me?”

“What am I, a child?” I yelled, indignant.

“No, you’re freaked out, and you need to calm down. I’m going to count, it’s up to you if you want to breathe along to it or not. One, two, three…” He continued on to ten, then a five-count to hold, then backwards from ten to one. Then he repeated.

Despite my outburst, I did need to calm down and a more rational part of me knew that. I focused on Michael’s voice as he counted, breathing slowly. I became dizzy as I started coming down from being so elevated. My face tingled with sensation as I replenished my air.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked about a minute later.

I muttered, “Debatable.”

My sarcastic tone made him smile. “Now, I’m going to sum up what I understood. Correct me at the end if needed.” He cleared his throat. “So, you’ve been hearing a voice in your dreams – like I did with Nikola – but you don’t know who she is. Then last night you met her, Selene. She said you need to stop Nikola. Then something about yew trees?”

“The only clue she said she was able to give was that it has something to do with yew; y-e-w yew, not y-o-u you. But otherwise, yeah you caught all of it.”

I was impressed, I didn’t know how coherent I had been earlier.

“Have you looped Antun and Syla in on this?”

“No, I can’t find my phone! That’s what all that mess was about when you came in.”

He opened his mouth in a silent ah of understanding. “Want me to call it?”

“Good idea, thanks.”

He called it but there was silence in the apartment. “It went to voicemail. Do you think you left it at the office?”

“No, but I can’t think of where else it could possibly be. Maybe I had it on silent? Could you help me look?” He nodded and we began searching the apartment, less frantically than I had been before.

About three minutes later, “Hey Drew,” Michael called from the kitchen, “I’m trying to think of something funny or clever to say but I’ve got nothing. Why would your phone be in the refrigerator?”

“What?” I came into the kitchen and, sure enough, next to all the Thanksgiving leftovers, was my very cold phone. It had turned off from the cold, so it made sense that we couldn’t hear it. It was weird but I was more concerned with talking to the others than I was about my cold phone. “Thanks for finding it. But we need to get in touch with them sooner rather than later.” He agreed and we texted on his phone instead.

Michael: Hey, it’s Michael and Drew. She has something to share with the class.

Antun: Ooh, tea?

Michael: What?

Antun: smh nvm

Michael: Good time to meet up?

Antun: Early-early morning is basically the only time I have completely to myself, so yes!

Michael: Might be hard to Uber at this time of night

Antun: We’ll come to you. See you soon.

❖ 🩸 ❖

Neither Antun nor Syla had any ideas or helpful questions to raise after I had related the dream to them as well. We eventually had to break to get ready for work and we saw Antun and Syla off.

Now at the office, I tried not to let my wandering mind affect my work. I was already three coffees in for the day when Trevor made an appearance at the desk.

“Michael, Drew, good to see things going well over here. Drew, can I talk to you in my office for a minute?” I looked at Michael as if he’d know why but he just shrugged with one shoulder. I followed after Trevor, closing the door behind me, my hands a tad shaky from all the caffeine.

“What’s up?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Trevor sat at his desk. “Please, sit down first at least.”

Warily, I sat down, unsure of where this conversation was going to go.

“Our floor currently has two very competent QCEs, and while I want to keep both of you exactly where you are, upper management has other ideas. They want to transfer you to another level to do the same thing on their floor. It worked well here on our floor and they want to know if they can improve all the writing floors this way.”

All meaning two. But still, I would be moving. I’d leave the desk. I wouldn’t work across from Michael anymore, wouldn’t have him randomly sticking his head around his computer just to make funny faces at me to try to get me to crack. My heart clenched, tight and sharp.

But I smiled like a good employee. “I am honored for the opportunity to help our sister floor. Thank you.”

He nodded, apparently fine with leaving the conversation at that. He didn’t bother dismissing me as I stood up and left his office.

“What did Trevor need?” Michael asked as I got back to the desk.

It was like a knife in my heart as I said, “He is satisfied with your training, so I will be moving to a different floor, to do the same thing.”

His brows shot to his hairline in surprise. “You’re leaving?”

I nodded, not having anything else to add. I didn’t have belongings on my desk, so I merely needed to go to a different floor at the start of the day tomorrow. The remainder of the day passed in relative silence, both of us doing our work. Michael didn’t ask questions anymore, he knew enough to get by and was good at the work.

I tried not to let that sting. It shouldn’t sting, I did my job well, but I didn’t want to work alone anymore. I had come to enjoy having a desk partner. Michael would grab me coffee anytime he went for his own refill, I had someone else to commiserate with when we received poorly formatted docs…

I realized that I had been lonely at work before training Michael. He had ruined my solitude, and instead of hating him for breaking the silence, my heart ached because I knew I would be going back to that. Unless I changed something. But change has always been a frightening thing. All these thoughts swirled through my head as I tried to focus on work, only partially successful.

At lunch, we walked together to the restaurants downstairs and nearby for lunch. Across the street, a burger place. Maybe I could stomach fries, but I didn’t have much of an appetite. I got my fries and soda, sitting down at one of the tables. Michael came over with his order, a large burger meal. I munched on my fries, sipping on my drink from time to time.

“Hello, Earth to Drew?” Michael was waving his hand as if to get my attention.

I blinked as I came back to the present. “Sorry, what?”

“I was saying maybe we can try to research this Selene person? Or maybe the place you were together talking? Thoughts?”

I sat there, my brain still a bit scattered, as I tried to think. “I’m pretty sure the place was only kinda real. Ugh, I wish I had a better way to explain…” I searched my memories of the balcony-like terrace. “It was pretty enough to be unreal, but the smells and sounds and sensations on my skin… that all felt pretty real at the time.

“And Selene, she seemed… content because she had to be, if that makes any sense. Like, I got the sense that she wanted to go elsewhere but couldn’t, so she just decided to live her lot the best she could.”

We sat there, him eating his burger and me occasionally sipping my soda, my appetite still practically nonexistent. I kept thinking of Selene. She was captivating; something about her drew me in, wanting to know more about her. But I had only seen her twice, when I had been lucky enough to visit her in my dreams. How would I contact her again? Just hope for it to happen?

Back at the desk after lunch, I still struggled to focus on my work. If ever there was a day when audio for the procedures and reports and contracts was needed, it was today. I slogged through though, feeling like I was barely making a dent in my daily work load. Finally, the never-ending workday had finished and I could go home and try to figure more of this stuff out.

❖ 🩸 ❖

The next day, I went to a different floor when getting off the elevator. It felt strange, not getting off the elevator with Michael. I didn’t know anyone on this floor.

A woman around the same age as my mother came up to me. “Hi, Drew. I’m Mora, the manager for this floor. We have your space right over here.” She walked me to a plain desk with a desktop computer already set up. I nodded my thanks as she left me to get started with my day.

It was strange having a desk to myself again. I kept looking up and around my computer screen, expecting to see him across from me, but there was nothing there. I shook my head, trying to clear it and focus.

Just me and a blinking cursor. No Michael making faces. No second coffee that wasn’t mine. Just a new floor, a new desk, and the hum of unfamiliar heartbeats.

Focus Drew. Don’t fall apart – not here.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

“Goodnight, Seattle,” Nick signed off. He took off the headphones and stood from his seat. He put his jacket on as he said “Bye, Patty.” She gave a polite wave from behind the desk and went back to her crossword.

He stepped out into the Seattle rain, his hood up, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

Sure, I’m a god, but I can’t let down my fans. He chuckled to himself.

Ah, that Nelson girl. Drew. She was such a headache. How dare she run away and hide from me! Of course I was going to find her again, the dumb bitch. The really annoying thing was Syla. Thought that after a century under my thumb she could just leave? Ha! Dampening the bond to lower their guard was the perfect move. Just as well that I cut her off, I feel so much lighter without that weight.

He hummed as he remembered the taste of that energy. It was simply delectable. I knew that her stubborn streak would make the taste marvelous. The flavor was rich, deep, strong, and perfect for godhood. He knew that he’d still have to play things smart, lay low while Ms. Nelson’s friends continued to poke their noses where they didn’t belong.

He thought of someone else with a stubborn streak who tasted delicious. His half-sister, who he never bothered learning the name of – oh how she had fought him. He smiled at the memory, another victory.

It won’t be long now; soon enough, those disgraces of vampires will be under my control. It really was a shame that Ms. Nelson had to die. If she had become a vampire, she’d have been a force to be reckoned with.

❖ 🩸 ❖

I stood up, wiping my mouth. I hated how good human blood tasted. The man at my feet had been following me for over a block. I had ducked into an alley with a large dumpster, the light almost nonexistent. He had turned onto the dead-end alley like it was just part of his walk.

Ambushing him was satisfying. I jumped onto his back, biting his neck from behind. He dropped quickly with little fuss, sprawling on the ground when I let go. Sometimes, I felt bad enough to make sure they were at least face up or sitting up before I left, but this guy? I heard his intentions loud and clear in my mind, and I was not going to be his victim.

Thank goodness that came in fast. I thought about my powers. Antun had been right, both about the increase in mana and about mind-reading being a bit of a doozy, but it did come in handy at times like this.

No flying yet, although my senses were beginning to enhance. And if I thought I was a coffee snob before, I was sorely mistaken; no amount of cream or sugar or even sorcery could fix the coffee at the office, even though it was the same beans that we had always gotten.

And my favorite scarf, the green infinity scarf, somehow felt even softer to me after, when I would’ve expected the opposite. Smells and sounds were amplified, and my vision was better than 20/20. It was crazy watching a moth’s wings flap; it was almost as if it was in slow motion, but it was still somehow in real time.

I walked away from the sleaze, leaving him lying face down on the ground, a puddle under his shirt. He’d be soaked when he woke up, but he deserved it. Coming out of the alley, I turned left, heading home, mana needs met.

I turned the key in the lock and heard the scratching of cat feet on linoleum before I had even opened the door. Once I had come inside and taken off my coat and shoes, I padded quietly over to the couch. Husker was shaking under the bed, looking at me, his eyes wide and scared.

“You’re a good boy, Husker. Mama loves you still, even if you don’t recognize her anymore. I’ll keep on loving you no matter what, my sweet boy.”

He continued to quake, but I hoped maybe not as harshly.

Tonight, Michael had wanted to spend more time studying the journal after work, so he wasn’t around. I decided that it would be a perfect night to relax with a show.

After Thanksgiving, Michael had helped move the TV to the living room. Finally; I had wanted to do it myself, but wall-mounting solo wasn’t happening. I turned it on, scrolling through Netflix until I found a mystery show that seemed alright. Before I started it, I went to the kitchen to get mine and Husker’s food ready.

I made myself a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers and put it in the microwave. While that went, I got out Husker’s kibble, putting a beef gravy topping over it before setting it on the floor. Once my food was ready, I turned to go to the table to eat. Husker’s head was sticking out of the bedroom door before I had left the kitchen. That was improvement!

“Good boy, Husker. Such a good boy.” I tried to keep my volume and excitement down, barely managing to do it.

His head stayed out and he watched my every move, from me setting down my dinner to me sitting. As soon as I sat, he fled to the kitchen, crunching on the topping and kibble quite loudly. I laughed inside at him, proud that he had made some progress towards maybe loving me again.

The show proved to be quite engaging, the plot following a female from the late 1800s who solved crimes, including murders. After eating and clearing my dishes, I ended up laying on my side on the couch to watch it. Before the next episode had started though, I was yawning.

I’ll need to go to bed soon, I thought as I clicked ‘Next Episode’ anyway, my interest in the show higher than my interest in sleeping. I’m not sure how many more episodes I made it through, but before long I was asleep on the couch, my short legs scrunched up to fit on the loveseat, one arm under my head.

❖ 🩸 ❖

Michael went to unlock the door, grateful that Drew had a spare key for him to use. His night at the library was moderately productive…ish… Okay, it was a slog but he felt like he had learned all there was from what was available to all of them.

What he really wanted to do was look for Nikola and kill him. He wished Antun had stolen the yew sword from the exhibit, too. From what they could find, yew wood was the only type that was specified as harmful to vampires.

Inside, the apartment was still. He noticed the ‘Are You Still Watching’ on the screen and walked in as quietly as possible. Husker was under the bed, glaring at him, Michael was sure. He peered over the couch and saw Drew curled up on the two cushion wide seat.

He fought over what to do before nodding in decision. He knelt down intending to wake her, but upon seeing her face, he paused, suddenly unsure. She looked peaceful. She hadn’t looked peaceful while sleeping in a long time, but there she was. No crease between her brows, no racing eyes under her eyelids. Truly calm.

He debated whether or not to carry her to bed. With how scary her world had been, he realized that leaving her on the couch was indeed better this time so she wouldn’t wake up confused. He used the throw blanket to cover her, tucking it under her chin.

He kissed his first two fingers and pressed them to her temple. Not wanting to disrupt her further, he decided that missing his few hours of sleep would be fine. He left the apartment, locking the door, and headed to a 24-hour cafe, knowing that caffeine would be needed.

❖ 🩸 ❖

I was back on the terrace with the dark, climbing roses, the moon full and heavy in the water, reflecting so much light it may as well have been morning.

“Drew.”

I spun around. The beautiful woman was there again, looking exactly as she had before, complete with her gentle smile.

I had to ask. “Who are you?” I prayed I’d get a real answer.

“Selene.”

I was so taken aback by it that I stood there like an idiot for way too long. I finally asked, “Where are we?”

“Where do you think we are?”

That was cryptic. “Uh, um… I have no idea. This place is gorgeous; it’s like it’s straight out of a fairytale! If this terrace weren’t on a cliff, I’d say it’d be perfect for that famous Romeo and Juliet balcony scene.”

Her smile grew wider, whether in recognition of the reference or for another reason, I had no clue.

“And look at these roses, they’re unreal!” I walked over to them, my hand gently holding one. “This color is so dark but you can still tell that it’s red, it’s one of the prettiest colors I have ever seen.”

I looked out at the sea, steps carrying me to the railing. “This view, it’s a masterpiece on its own. I have no idea where we are, where in the world a view like this could exist. I feel like I must be dreaming.”

“You are, Drew.” I looked back at her.

If this place wasn’t real…

“I never said this place isn’t real.”

I jumped back, nearly screaming.

“I’m sorry for startling you,” she said with a small laugh. It was a delicate sound, soft and mesmerizing. But not as mesmerizing as her eyes. Silver like the reflections from the moon mixed with darker shades of grey, melting into deep pools of black…

“Drew?”

“You’re beautiful,” I blurted out. I slapped my hands to my mouth, but her smile somehow became even gentler.

“Thank you, Drew. I know I tend to have that effect on people, but I can tell you mean it honestly. My eyes,” she gestured with her hands, “Tend to immediately entrance people into saying their true thoughts.” What else could this woman do? I still had so many questions.

“Selene? You said that I’m dreaming. Is this place even real?”

“It depends on your definition, I suppose.” Selene lifted and smelled a rose nearest to her, “It seems pretty real to me.”

“Wait, are you even real? I’m so confused.” My mind was so fuddled.

“I apologize, I don’t mean to confuse you. I mean to guide you.”

Guide me?

Her features turned grave. “A thief has taken something that is not theirs to have. You must stop his terrible plan before it is set into motion. He is laying low for now, biding his time for the perfect opportunity to unleash his power.”

What?!

I was instantly confused and scared. “But, I’m not some heroine! I’m a girl who works a desk job nine-to-five and, until recently, had no social life. A terrible plan? Who is this thief?”

“You already know who he is, and what he has taken. This should feel very personal to you, considering he stole something very precious.”

My energy!

“Nikola,” I spat his name with venom.

“The same,” Selene replied, her brows turned down. “You must stop him.”

My mind was spun out; this couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real!

“Calm yourself, Drew. You think I would send you out unprepared?” Her brows were creased in pain. “I am sorry that you believe such of me.” She sighed, a sad sound. Then her voice strengthened. “Even so, I will aid you. You need a way to stop Nikola. You already know how.”

I went through my catalogue of what little we knew about vampire gods. “There’s only been one vampire god before Nikola, right?” She nodded. “The legends say that somehow, yew was used to defeat him, but they vary on the method.”

“You have the resources. Utilize them.” She began to retreat into the room beyond the terrace.

I knew that if I lost sight of her, I wouldn’t be able to find her again. “Wait!” She paused, turning so elegantly her dress looked fluid as it swished. “Selene, are you one of my resources?”

She smiled, but her eyes looked sad. “I’m glad you’re clever, it’ll serve you well in defeating him. But I have aided you as much as I am able. I will see you again,” she said, answering my next question before I could ask. “But it is time for you to go now.” She turned heading into the dark room beyond.

I wanted to follow her but somehow knew I couldn’t. As she retreated, my own vision began to fade, as if I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Her urgent words followed me as I began to drift.

You must stop him.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

On our walk home after work, I thought about Antun and his 500 years on this planet. Would I live to be 500 someday, too? What all would change in the world from where it is now? Would there be flying cars and contacting alien life by then? What other things have I never imagined would I be able to see now that I was basically immortal? The thought filled me with trepidation and a little excitement. Would Michael be there too, five centuries from now, seeing the same things I saw?

Why does that matter?

That’s right, I was still upset at him.

We crossed the street and I saw a couple about the same age as my parents, getting out of a car. I thought of my parents. My aging parents, who would be gone within the next forty years. What would they think, when they’re all wrinkled and grey and I haven’t aged a day over 28? But worse, what will I do without them? I loved them with my whole heart, and while they were flawed, they were my parents. A near-accident with a splashing puddle reminded me of where I was right then, walking home next to my ex-best friend.

He noticed me looking at him. “Penny for your thoughts?”

I gave a wry response. “Please. My thoughts are worth at least a nickel.” He gave me a laugh, and I smiled faintly. He did have a great laugh.

We walked into our apartment building and I unlocked my door. Husker again ran under the bed. “Oh, buddy,” I intoned, but he merely hissed at me. I swallowed back the lump and took off my jacket, hanging it up and taking off my shoes.

I went to the kitchen and filled his food bowl with a can of beef with gravy, his favorite. I set it down and went to the living room, watching Husker as he watched me. When I sat down, he zoomed out from under the bed, sliding past his food bowl from the momentum and having to backtrack to eat.

Michael noticed my attention. “Hey, Syla told you about her cat. I’m sure Husker will come around. Maybe he’ll even like me one day.” I knew he was trying to get me to laugh, but at that moment the depression was winning. At my silence, he tried, “Maybe there’s someone who could take Husker for a bit, while you get adjusted to your new normal?”

And I broke. I ended up in Michael’s arms again at some point, clenching my fists and sobbing. It wasn’t fair, none of it was fair! When I followed Michael that one night, how was I to know that I’d discover that vampires exist? And ever since then, I had been kidnapped, escaped, and then was kidnapped again, then to top it off, I got killed by a psychopath and came back, undead. Now, I might live nearly forever, and I’ll lose the people I love and likely end up alone.

Even my beloved cat hated me now. He scurried from the kitchen back under the bed, his eyes wide the entire time. I noticed Husker watching, but I was unsure if that was judgement or fear in those eyes.

Michael held me until I began to try pulling away. I was still sniffling. He grabbed the whole box of tissues next to the door, holding them out to me. A laugh burst out from me, sounding almost like a sob, and I grabbed a couple, my nose leaking like a sieve.

“You wanna talk about it?” I knew that whatever I decided would be okay by him, whether that meant I’d spill my soul or say nothing at all or anything in between.

I walked to the couch, sitting. “It’s just hard, all of it. I mean, learning about vampires in the first place was intense, but getting kidnapped by one, more than once, and after that my cat, who’s practically an emotional support animal without paperwork, ends up hating me because of something that I didn’t get to decide. I already figured I’d outlive my parents, but now I probably won’t ever see them again after they die, in whatever afterlife there is after this.”

I sniffled, wiping my nose with a new tissue, my head hanging. “Now, we have a vampire god out there doing who knows what, and because I’m one of the few who even knows, it’s my responsibility to do something about it even though I am so very far from equipped to handle anything of that scope.”

I looked up at him, my eyes red and my nose swollen. “This was never in my ten-year plan.”

Michael had sat down next to me as I was talking. He chuckled as he clarified, “Are you talking about those things they made us do in school where they ask where you think you’ll be in the next ten years and all that?”

I gave a small laugh, “Yeah, those dumb things. I mean, up until now life’s been mostly textbook. And then I got swept off my feet into all of this and nothing is as it seems anymore. What else is real that I thought was a fairytale? Werewolves? Witches? Or is it just vampires? Even then, just vampires feels like such a weird thing to say.”

“I understand what you mean. Life was completely normal until I was turned, until Cara died. It all happened so fast, there was absolutely nothing I could do. We had been talking about where she might end up after she’s done with med school, which hospitals she most wanted to work at.

“The oncoming lights seemed normal to me until they suddenly crossed into our lane. There was no time to do anything with how quick they swerved. And then she was gone, and I was immortal. The unfairness of it still rankles me, but there is literally nothing I can do about it. Cara is gone, and I am not. And if I do die, will I end up where she is? Who’s to say.”

He sat up then, looking very seriously at me. “I’m not trying to take away from your experience by sharing mine. I’m trying to show you that I really do understand…”

I nodded at him. “You don’t have to explain it to me. My dad has ADHD and it’s how he communicates too.” I looked at him. “Do you have ADHD?”

“And autism,” he added. “You don’t get this awesome without a little something, you know?” His sarcasm made me laugh. He laughed alongside me, grateful that I understood him and was even talking to him at all.

“In all seriousness, Drew,” he said after we had gotten a hold of ourselves, “You can always come to me. I can’t necessarily promise that I’ll always understand, but I promise to always try.”

I looked at his strong jaw and golden brown hair, his evergreen eyes, his full mouth. I nodded, somehow believing him with my whole heart. He seemed to study me, as if not sure what to think of me.

“What is it?” I asked, feeling a little self-conscious.

He brushed my hair away from my face. His finger brushed the shell of my ear, then my jaw. My eyes couldn’t help but look at his lips as he did so. I looked up to meet his eyes. He looked to my lips, then slowly met my eyes again.

I leaned forward, I couldn’t help it. It was as if I were being pulled toward him. He matched me and our lips met, gently at first.

I bit his bottom lip gently and a quiet rumble, like a growl, escaped him as he deepened the kiss. I moaned, the sound escaping me before I could think to stop it. My arms went around his neck, pulling him closer.

One of his hands went to my lower back as he laid me down on the couch, using his other hand for leverage. Michael broke the kiss, both of us panting for breath. He started to kiss along my jawline, down my neck to my collarbone, leaving small bruises.

I needed to stop this, but I didn’t want to.

❖ 🩸 ❖

I hadn’t expected to want it. That was the worst part – I did. My hand slid under his shirt, until something clenched in my chest.

No. Not yet.

“Michael,” I finally said, hating to break the spell. “If you keep doing that I won’t be able to show my face at work, you know.”

“Don’t you remember, you’re a vampire now. Accelerated healing is part of the deal.”

I pushed him off, meeting a pouting face. “I’m serious, we need to stop.” Michael sat up the rest of the way, his brow furrowed in question. “I still have… so much to sort through, before I can let another person into my life like what I think you’re wanting.”

Yeah, no kidding I have so much to sort through. What the hell was that?! And the flirting, what is wrong with me? I’m still deciding whether or not I can forgive him and I just go suck on his face hole? Get it together, Drew!

“And just what is it you think I want?” He asked, slight annoyance in his voice.

“Well, from me? I think you might be interested in me as more than a friend, and I think you want to maybe… date, me? It’s just, I don’t think I can give myself over to a relationship like that until I’m more used to… well, everything.”

I sat up straighter, edging away. “I’m not all right in the head yet after everything that has happened. And it wouldn’t be fair to you if I jumped in without being able to fully contribute. And besides that, I still haven’t completely forgiven you.”

“Contribute? You make it sound like a collaboration instead of dating.” It was as if he didn’t hear that I hadn’t forgiven him yet.

Wasn’t it, in a way? Two people coming together to decide things as a team?

I grabbed the throw blanket, it having been disturbed. Michael stood up so I could toss it over the back of the couch, draping it for convenience.

He must’ve seen my confusion because Michael let out a heavy breath. “Let me rephrase: you’re making dating sound like it’s only a collaboration. Dating’s not just a partnership, you know. It’s also joy, spontaneity. Messy, imperfect stuff.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I had such little experience in dating, and the little I did date failed miserably. “Maybe there’s something wrong with me then.”

I stood, retreating to the kitchen for water. Any positive feelings I had been experiencing were gone.

“Drew, come on, there’s nothing wrong with you.” He had followed me to the kitchen, pausing in the entry. “Drew. Drew.” He wouldn’t stop until I looked at him. “Dating can be an amazing experience, an experience I want to share with you, but only if you want it too.”

What did I want? I wasn’t sure if forgiveness was the right word. I didn’t trust him completely – not yet – but maybe I was starting to believe in him again.

I put the water pitcher away in the fridge, leaning against the counter, my arms crossed. “Michael, you just turned me, like, a day ago. I’m going to need time to get used to things.”

“Huh, it has been only a day.” He nodded slowly, as if only now realizing how fresh everything still was.

I needed some space, this kitchen was too damn small. I walked over to the corner between the sink and the cooktop, the furthest point from the kitchen doorway.

He backed away from the entry, heading back into the living room.

I took a few minutes to gather myself, feeling more than flustered, before I followed him, pausing in the kitchen entry as he sat back down on the couch.

He looked up from where he sat on the couch. “Drew, if you’re not ready now, are you saying you might be later?”

I thought about it. “Maybe?” I sighed. “I don’t know. I’m very used to being alone, no one has ever wanted to hang around me just because. Hell, the reason you were living here in the first place was for my safety, not for anything else.” I looked down at the floor, toeing the line between where the living room carpet stopped and the kitchen linoleum started.

“I’m still raw. I don’t know who I am like this, and it wouldn’t be fair to either of us to pretend I do.” I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. “I don’t want you to start dating me if you’re likely to end up gone. You’re hard to read sometimes. Or maybe I’m just bad at this. I don’t want to ruin our friendship by doing or saying something wrong.”

Michael stood again, walking to me and stopping just in front of me. I looked at his chest, then to his face. “I highly doubt there is anything you would say that would make our friendship fail.” He held my hand. “You went to the Ren Faire with me when you hate crowds just to help me find Antun. Then you helped me study Davor’s journal and other vampire lore who knows how many times now. You never turned me in to anybody for being a vampire.”

I shrugged and sniffled, looking at the glass in my hand. “Didn’t want to end up in the mental ward.”

Michael gave a laugh, loud and strong. “See, you’re funny! You’re smart, you’re empathetic–”

I gave him a look that said really?

“Empathetic toward those you care about. You’re self-aware,” I snorted but he continued, “You’re independent and capable.” His hand went to my cheek. “You’re beautiful. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get to know you better?”

Beautiful? Even when I dated other guys, they never called me beautiful. Maybe pretty, like, one time, but beautiful? I struggled to believe him on the last point, but it did feel nice to have all those things said about me.

I raised my hand to his, taking it off my cheek and holding it in both of my hands. I looked at them instead of at him. “Michael, would you wait for me?” I lifted my head. “For my brain to try and sort itself out? So I can truly forgive you?”

Using his free hand, he tilted my chin and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m not going anywhere. However long it takes, I’ll wait.”

Husker waited under the bed, his body tense, still not used to the vampires in his home. I wasn’t sure if I could trust myself yet either. Maybe Husker wasn’t wrong to be wary.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

Eventually, the numbness gave way to something more ordinary: discomfort, urgency…

Then a different realization dawned on me.

Shit, I still need to use the bathroom to finish getting ready.

I didn’t want to go back out; I had said everything I had planned to say and worried that if I was forced to speak again, I might say something hurtful or cruel. My bladder reminded me that there was nothing to be done about it.

I groaned before opening the door. Michael was in the bathroom, changing. I crossed my arms and leaned against the threshold of the kitchen, waiting my turn. He finally opened the door, brushing his teeth as he did so. He leaned over and spit into the sink, rinsing away the extra toothpaste that had stuck to the corners of his mouth. I caught a glimpse of him watching me through the bathroom mirror – quiet, hesitant. That look, the same one from before… He put his toothbrush down and stepped out.

I stepped forward, accidentally starting the who’s-going-to-move-which-way game. We did that awkward hallway waltz – left, right, stop.

I bumped into him as I tried to walk around. His hands automatically held my arms to keep me from stumbling. I looked up, our faces closer than they’ve been since…

Those eyes. Those deep pools of evergreen with striations of forest green, and around his irises were amber, subtle and golden. They were so beautiful, I couldn’t look away. Michael and I were coming closer together, like magnets held in different hands being pulled toward each other. My eyes dipped to his mouth, pink with that little birthmark on his bottom lip.

Hold on, Drew. You said yourself that you haven’t forgiven him. Damn it body, not now…

I broke the spell, blinking hard. I scooted him to the side like a chair that was too close. I looked in the mirror, noting the beginnings of a blush. I lingered after getting ready, hoping that Michael was otherwise occupied, then slid out as quietly and quickly as I could, avoiding his gaze as I went straight to my bedroom.

“Now that you’re… better,” Michael said anyway, stopping me, “You can go back to work, too, right? I mean you don’t have to go back right away. Unless… you want to?”

I hadn’t thought of that. I messaged Trevor, letting him know that ‘my health had improved significantly’ and that I could start working again. He responded immediately. To say that he was excited for my return would be an understatement.

I worried whether or not it was a good idea for me to go to work just yet. Up until now I’d only had contact with one normal person, and I sucked his blood. My track record wasn’t starting off great.

We went through our morning routine. Since I showered in the evenings, I would get dressed and let Michael take over the bathroom to get ready. I’d eat my breakfast while Michael got ready, and he’d eat while I finished getting ready, putting on light makeup and fixing my hair.

“Ready to go?” Michael called toward the bathroom.

I walked out, “Ready.” We walked, not bothering with excuses. It was getting too tiresome to try to arrive at different times when we were always ready to go at the same time.

We had been walking for about five minutes when it started drizzling. Typical Seattle. I had my usual warm raincoat and hood, no umbrella needed. Michael had chosen one however, his jacket having a collar but no hood. He had added a scarf around his neck to help stave off the chill. Luckily, it didn’t take us much longer to get to the office, Michael shaking the rain off his umbrella and leaving it in the rack by the door to dry.

Trevor was waiting by the elevator when we arrived at our floor. He exclaimed, his arms stretched wide, “Drew! Oh my god, I was worried – I mean, you were just gone! That health scare really came out of nowhere.”

He stood a little straighter, noticing Michael. “And Michael did an admirable job in your absence, no fires to speak of.”

“Do you really need me back then?” I joked, though inside I was uneasy. How would I fare among a ton of live people? People full of living blood? What if someone gets a papercut, or a bloody nose again?

Trevor paled a shade. “I don’t want to imagine our floor without you. Come,” he beckoned for us to go on into the office space. We headed toward the desk, and after depositing his jacket and scarf on the back of the chair, Michael headed for the breakroom.

I peeled off my coat like armor and dropped into my chair, trying to steady my breathing around all this warm blood. Even though I hadn’t developed any powers yet, it felt like I could hear the heartbeats of everyone around me, like timpani drumming a war beat behind my ears.

Breathe, just breathe. There’s no exposed blood, everyone here is safe, including me. Phew, I’m okay, I’m okay…

While my senses might not have been enhanced yet, they sure felt like it right now. The smell of warm bodies, all that blood…

Come on Drew, you need to focus…

Michael returned with two mugs in hand, setting one on my side of the desk. He started his desktop, checking emails – just like I taught him. We both got to work on triage, separating out what needed to be seen to first. I sipped at my coffee as I looked at my inbox, clicking on the first document and reading, trying to focus on work, only partially succeeding.

“Achoo!”

I nearly leapt out of my seat. Sarah was walking by, some folders in hand, when a sneezing fit took hold. She sneezed three times in a row, each one snapping through the air like a whip. My nerves frayed with each sneeze.

I put a hand on my heart as if to calm it, but it was already the calmest it would ever be. As Sarah sneezed, her throat kept tensing. I swallowed, aware of exactly where the vein was. I took a gulp of coffee, nearly burning my own throat in the process. Michael was right: pain does make for a good distraction.

Sarah gathered herself, sniffling and straightening her hair, before walking on.

I turned to my computer, staring at the screen. I went through the motions, trying to find my rhythm again. This desk used to feel like mine. Now it feels like I’m wearing someone else’s coat, and I’m not sure it’ll ever fit again.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment

His brown eyes, the color dull as cemetery dirt, bored into mine.

“Oh, Ms. Nelson. You really have been more trouble than you’re worth.”

Then he bit my chest, but no light appeared. I began to bleed out. Nikola lifted his head, showing me a mouth full of blood stained teeth in a vicious grin. I screamed…

“Drew! Drew, wake up!”

Someone was shaking my arm. Nikola was gone. I was at home. The nausea came as my dream played through my mind.

You’re more trouble than you’re worth. The awful phrase repeated like a fading echo.

I looked up into Michael’s worried face. “Drew, are you awake now? You were having another nightmare.” I sat up. “Nikola?” I nodded shakily, and he swore under his breath. “He won’t come after you anymore after tonight. He probably thinks you’re dead, and you have no more energy to give him.”

I looked around my room, grounding myself. Home, I was home. Nikola was nowhere around. I was in my bed, in my room, and Michael was here. “Do you need help going back to sleep?”

“I’m wide awake now.” I threw the covers off and swung my legs over, sitting on the edge of the bed. I sat up straighter, my face slackening. “Wow. Like, really awake. After having so little energy for so long, now I feel like I could go on forever.”

Michael gave a cautious smile. “Pretty great, right? Just a few hours and then you have all that extra time to do whatever you want before heading out for the day.” I gave a pained smile, knowing that he was still trying to make up for what he did yesterday. If the roles were reversed, I can’t say I would’ve done differently. But still…

I got up, heading toward my closet. “Did we set up a time to meet up with Antun and Syla this morning?” My phone vibrated.

“Never mind. Antun says he’ll grab donuts and coffee on the way over. I suppose since we’re up, I may as well tell him to come over now.” I typed into my phone.

Drew: Sounds like everyone is awake now, why don’t you go ahead and head this way?

Antun: Will do.

There was a little bubble with dots inside, showing he was typing something. He was typing for a while before he finally sent:

Antun: Last night was a lot. If you need someone not Michael to talk to, you have me.

I smiled at my friend’s care.

Drew: I know, thanks Antun *heart emoji*

I changed my clothes, throwing the dirty ones in the hamper. I donned a lightweight black tee shirt and a pair of form fitting grey moto jeans. They weren’t my usual style but they had been too comfy to pass up.

Besides, I thought, I just turned into a vampire. If I want to dress to look a little badass, I can.

I came out of my room and Michael was putting away the air mattress so we could set the room to rights before our guests arrived. I helped push the couch and the coffee table back to the center of the room, freeing the front door. It didn’t take very long at all to get everything ready, and we stood there in awkward silence.

Michael started, “About last night…”

“I’m not ready to talk about it yet.” I interrupted.

He nodded his head. “Alright. I’m ready to talk about it whenever you are.”

I wasn’t sure when I’d feel ready to talk about it, if I ever would. Tears welled in my eyes and I blinked them back, swallowing my emotion down.

The knock on the door helped ground me. I answered it, invoking host protection out of habit, and invited Syla and Antun in. I took the box of donuts from Syla, setting them on the coffee table. Antun held a drink carrier full of coffees and handed them to each person in turn.

“Mocha for Drew, latte for Michael, frappe for Syla, and another latte for me.” He tossed the carrier into the recycling bin by my front door.

“Alright, now,” he clapped his hands together, “let’s figure out getting some more blood for Drew. There was that one slaughterhouse we haven’t visited yet, perhaps we could go to that one and get a few pints for you?” He made the last part a question, directed at me.

I felt uncomfortable. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s been less than twenty-four hours since I turned, and while I have been studying lore with you guys for months, putting things into practice is a little different. For starters, I don’t have any powers–”

“Oh, I have a theory for that actually!” Antun interrupted. “It didn’t take all that long for my powers to come in, but for Michael it took most of a year. I had access to fresh mana all the time while he was restricting himself to only feeding once a month, so he was working with a lot less mana than I had. I’m thinking, if we can stay on top of feeding you mana consistently and frequently, your powers might come in faster like mine did.”

It made a little bit of sense, and I wouldn’t turn down more of that delicious, scrumptious mana. “Alright, let’s go to that place then.”

“I won’t be able to go with you. Syla?” he asked, “Would you like to stay with Drew and Michael for today, help her get settled into her new self?” Syla nodded and Antun stood.

“Are you leaving already?” I asked. “You just barely got here.”

“Ah, yes. I do have things I need to prepare for today’s reels and posts. It’s a lot of sitting around while I work on my phone, but I prefer to prep in silence anyway.” He walked toward the door, turning around as he reached it. “Oh! And Drew?” I looked at him. “You’ve got this, Love.”

I smiled, though I didn’t quite feel it. It must’ve been good enough for him because he opened the door and left without another word.

We sat in uncomfortable silence, sipping our coffees and eating the donuts. I didn’t have a lot of appetite for food right then, but the coffee was definitely a godsend. I savored the chocolatey richness of my mocha, trying to focus more on it than the awkward silence.

“What time does the slaughterhouse open?” I asked abruptly.

Michael answered, “We can go as early as 6:00 I think, why?” He checked his phone for the time.

“I’m just ready to go, that’s all.”

Stuck in hurry-up-and-wait mode, awesome. I really should move the TV to the living room, a little background noise would be nice to break the silence.

Husker meowed as he looked around the doorframe of my bedroom at the three vampires in the apartment. He gave a low growl as he slunk to the kitchen to eat. I tried not to let it hurt, that my boy hated me now, but the ache panged in my chest. “You have a cat,” Syla perked up. “What’s his name?”

“Husker,” I said. He meowed at the mention of his name from the other room. He still liked my voice well enough, it seemed, but what good was that?

Syla noticed the pain in my voice and countenance. “He’s a beautiful creature. I had a cat, back in the late 1800s, Brutus. He was an orange cat with longer fur, and he loved to be brushed. I’d sit there with him for a good hour just brushing him before he’d grow tired of it and hop down. He was a good boy. Had him for fourteen years, ever since he was a kitten.

“When I first got him, I was afraid that I’d have to return him because he wouldn’t come anywhere near me and would hiss and spit at me. But I was patient with the brute, hence his name,” she chuckled, “And eventually he began to grow accustomed to me. It felt amazing when he let me pet him and he didn’t run away. Oh, just talking about him makes me miss him, he was a great companion.”

Her story gave me hope. I had also had Husker since he was a kitten and he knew me well. Maybe he’d come around after he had a chance to get used to it, the change. I really hoped so, I didn’t want to have to give him away.

“Thank you, Syla, that helps a lot. I’ve had Husker for ages and I can’t imagine life without him. You really think he’ll come around?” Syla nodded, a gentle smile on her face.

Michael had been arranging a car for us while Syla and I had talked. By the time we were done with our coffees, the car was ready to be picked up.

We walked to the rental store, the wind chilly. It was going to be Thanksgiving soon, then Christmas. How did time fly so fast? It felt like yesterday it was summer and I ran into all of this. He had reserved a four door sedan, blue, plenty of room for the three of us. We headed to the slaughterhouse.

❖ 🩸 ❖

I cringed, the difference was stark. “You’re right, Michael. Human blood tastes way better than animal blood.” I swallowed. It wasn’t that it was awful, it just wasn’t nearly as good. We had the foresight beforehand to bring a cup with a straw so I could drink more easily on the go.

I took a drink of water after, washing down the metallic taste left over. Oddly, I didn’t grimace at the taste of blood itself, but at the fact that I was drinking it at all. It felt surreal to be drinking a cup of blood like a soda, and I wasn’t sure whether or not to be disgusted with myself.

I had attacked a man and bit him. A total stranger. Sure, he was following us and Antun said he didn’t have good intentions, but I still did it. Worse than that, I liked it.

The car ride was becoming too quiet. I spoke up. “Syla, I love your name.” She gave a surprised laugh at my non sequitur. “Let me finish. Your name is interesting, and I’m sure there has to be a story behind it.”

She smiled, “Oh, there’s a story alright. My parents, my father especially, had wanted a son, to pass down the family name or whatever. They had decided on the name Sylas, as it was my father’s middle name and he wanted a son named after him. When I came out, he was so angry he refused to hold me. They had already filled out the birth certificate with the name Sylas, so my mother blotted out the last s, making my name Syla.

“The friends I used to hang out with, the ones at the speakeasy, they called me Sy. And honestly, I like both. Syla or Sy, I think they fit me.”

“At least your mother changed your name. I’m stuck with Andrew.”

“Drew is not your given name?” Syla asked, confused.

“No, my parents named me Andrew. My mother loved the name, regardless of whether I was born a boy or a girl, and so I’m stuck with it. I asked others to call me Drew at school, so the nickname stuck.”

“I guess some people just shouldn’t be allowed to name babies,” Syla commented, a smile on her face as she shook her head, sighing. I laughed, agreeing with her statement.

Michael drove in silence, a quiet chauffeur. Fine by me. I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.

I drank my cup of blood, the mana flowing through my teeth and into my body. It really did feel weird as Michael had mentioned. It was as if a straw ran from my teeth into the roof of my mouth before I couldn’t feel the flow anymore. Mana was warm, and it seemed to warm my body from my head down. I was plenty fine with that, it was cold outside.

He dropped off Syla at Antun’s before we headed back to drop off the car. Michael offered to drop me off and I thanked him. He drove off as I went into the building.

As I unlocked the door, I heard Husker bolt under my bed and saw his eyes wide with fear. That’s when I broke; the grief finally found an exit. I didn’t even notice when Michael came in.

“Hey,” he cooed, kneeling and gathering me into his arms. I let him hold me as I cried. I don’t know how long we sat there on the floor, him holding me and me crying. My shirt was soaked from my tears. My head ached from constant sniffling. I rubbed my eyes, grateful I didn’t have any makeup on.

“Are you feeling better now?” he asked gently. I nodded but I didn’t move. He continued to hold me until I finally uncurled myself and got off his lap on my own. We sat there, silent, on the floor.

“Thank you,” I said, still facing the floor.

Michael’s voice was quiet. “For what?”

“For saving me.”

The silence stretched. I swallowed, steadying myself. “I remember the light fading. I think I was… gone. And you brought me back. You made a call because you had to.”

I looked at him, “So yes, thank you.”

His shoulders sagged, eyes wet. “Thank you for forgiving me.”

“I didn’t say that,” my brow furrowed. “I’m grateful to be alive… or undead, whatever this is. But I’m still really angry. I didn’t get to choose this.”

My hand floated to my heart, still as a stone in my chest. “It doesn’t beat anymore. My parents will age and die, go to some kind of afterlife. But not me. I’ll stay like this, forever…” my voice cracked, “I don’t know if there’s an afterlife for people like us.”

I looked away from him, unable to stand the look in Michael’s eyes, a mix of sadness and grief with a desire to do something about it blazing behind them.

“So no, I haven’t forgiven you. But I understand why you did it.”

I stood up, needing space, some air. “You’re welcome to stay since Nikola’s still on the loose. But I need time, and I need you to give it to me.”

Michael nodded from where he sat on the ground. I couldn’t stand the whole situation, being around Michael, but he took it graciously, likely feeling guilty that he had had to make such a life-altering decision without consulting me, changing my life… no, my existence forever.

I walked to my room, closing the door behind me and leaning my head back against it, closing my eyes. I rubbed a hand down my face, pulling on the skin under my eyes as it passed over, and sighed.

Nothing I can do about it now. I’ve said my piece to Michael, whatever it is that I’m feeling toward him right now.

Next Chapter

Leave a comment