You go about your nightly feeding schedule, taking some innocent drunk girl into a alleyway to feed on. As you start to lower you mouth to the victims neck you hear the click of a gun from behind you Step away from the girl, foul creature the voice sounding disgusted
I pause, listening carefully to the woman’s voice behind me. Surprisingly, I hadn’t detected her from neither a distance, nor the close-range she is at now.
“All right, you got me.”
I can still barely smell her now, with the scent of basil being the dominant base note… Basil, a familiar, beloved scent not something I associate with danger. But I can smell just enough to know that she intends to kill me after I let go of this girl. My force of presence clearly isn’t working on her, so, I have to think of something different to get out of this situation.
I slowly let the girl slump down unceremoniously into the alley… then, seize the girl by the shoulders and launch her into the air. I don’t like throwing my victims around, but my new acquaintance here will probably have her hands full trying to catch her as she falls out of the air.
As predicted, Luna drops her gun, leaping back to catch the girl as she falls from the sky. I dash behind a dumpster and make a break for it.
Luna barely manages to catch the girl mid-air, her shocked expression turning into relief as she holds the innocent close. She quickly turns around, eyes narrowing at you as you dash away from them. She’s fast for a mortal… but not nearly fast enough to keep up with your new vampire speed. She chases after you shouting profanities and threats, her anger fueling her determination to catch you.
By the time Luna runs out of the alley, I’m nowhere to be found. She pounds the brick wall next to her, gritting her teeth at the frustration of having lost me.
Luna prowls around the close city streets, trying to find any trace of my whereabouts. This time, I get the drop on her. Thick grey fur and bestial muscle crashes down on her as I pounce on her from behind, knocking her to the ground. The huntress now subdued, I shift from wolf to human, pinning her down.
“Hey, angel. You know where a guy can get a good meal at this hour? My favourite taco place is closed… This isn’t Chicago, they don’t have late-night carnitas here.”
“Hey! Get off me!” she growls and tries to fight you off
“I could kill you right now, freak!” She hisses in anger before calming down slightly “Look… I don’t want to hurt you…” Her voice trails off as her body language begins to soften.
No, I don’t take chances. Not skipping a beat, I shift my face into that of a wolf’s, mauling her hand in a fang-filled jaw. She’s not going to be able to use her gun hand for a while, not for holding a firearm, or really much of anything. Sweet, basil-tinted blood leaks through my teeth. She tastes good.
She glares at you, feeling the pain in her hand as your sharp teeth sink into her flesh. Her anger flares up again, but she forces it down. She takes a deep breath and tries to speak calmly through gritted teeth.
“Listen… I don’t want to hurt you either.” She hisses. “But I can’t let you continue hurting innocent people like this.” Her voice trails off, uncertainty creeping in.
Again, I don’t take chances. I maul her other hand in my maw—now she’s crippled in both hands, flesh badly injured. It’s not something I like to do, and I don’t try to cripple her permanently. She does taste good, though.
I return to my human form, completely.
“I can take you to the nearest hospital. And we can forget this ever happened, OK?”
Her eyes narrow at you as she tries to decide if you're playing her. “Very well…” She hisses through gritted teeth. “But I want your word that you won’t hurt anyone else.” Her voice is cold and calculating, but there’s a hint of curiosity in her expression.
She tentatively flexes to test her mangled hands, wincing in pain as she does so. “Take me to the hospital then…” She hisses through clenched teeth.
“I’m impressed. You have a high level of pain tolerance, angel. Most people would be screaming and crying by now.”
I blink, genuinely internally applauding Luna for her resilience. I take her coat, draping it over my shoulder, before actually helping her up off the ground. I don’t want her having access to any weapons right now, even if she can’t hold them.
“Give me your first and last name, and your date of birth.”
“It’s… it’s Luna. L-U-N-A.” She hesitates before giving you her last name, as if she doesn’t want to reveal too much of herself. “And I was born on the 21st of May…” Her voice trails off as she waits for you to help her up.
Finally, she gives in and tells you her date of birth. She trusts that this will at least prove that she’s not lying about being a vampire hunter.
“Ugh, whatever,” displeased by her reticence to give her last name. I seize her by the shoulder and rummage through her trouser pocket, pilfering her wallet.
“It’s not for me, the hospital’s going to want this. Photo ID. So they can make your medical record, and chart on you correctly.”
I hook my arm around one of hers, and start leading her down the street. It’s late at night. No buses are running, so we’ll have to make our way to the hospital by foot.
“So… You don’t want me to call an ambulance, to avoid the emergency transport fees, right?” I ask her. It’s a genuine question. Though she’s fashionably dressed for an anime convention, I have no idea if she has the liquid funds on hand for a $500 ambulance ride.
“No… I’ll be fine to walk.” She winces as she tries to move her injured hands, then grits her teeth and continues onward despite the pain. “I just need it to look good for the hospital when we get there.” Her voice sounds tight and strained, but she doesn’t complain further.
“And about earlier…” She hesitates before speaking again. “Look, I don’t want to harm you… Not if you can prove that you aren’t like the others.”
“Bitch I’m a vampire what do you think I eat?” I cock an eyebrow at her. “You are the stupidest fucking vampire I’ve ever heard of. What do you suggest I do, raid a blood bank? Deprive innocent people who need blood transfusions of blood? Isn’t that worse than drinking a little from some dumb drunk broad and not killing her? I wasn’t going to kill her, you know.”
I go on, clearly annoyed by the interruption in my night’s plans.
“I was gonna take her home, drink a little, then she was going to wake up thinking she drank WAY too much alcohol and that we did some kinky shit. That’s. All.”
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know…” She trails off, looking embarrassed and slightly ashamed. “It’s just that… the others, they don’t care who they hurt. They feed without mercy, leaving bodies in their wake.” She shudders at the memory of hunting vampires like animals through the night. “I thought maybe…” Her voice fades as she struggles to find the words.
“Maybe I could stop them,” she finally says, her voice barely above a whisper.
“That’s nice, angel. And now, because of you, that poor woman is lying in an alley and potentially open to being raped, or mugged. Great job there, protecting the innocent.”
I let the sarcasm drip from my voice.
“Anyway, after I take you to the emergency department, I’ll go make my way back to her, and take her somewhere safe. And you can just, let me be. Right?”
“Yeah… You should go back to her.” Luna says softly, feeling guilty about the whole situation. “I’ll just… find another target tonight.” She swallows thickly, not wanting to admit that she might have a change of heart after meeting you.
She glances at you sideways, studying your expression. “You aren’t like the others,” she finally says. It’s not a question; it’s a statement of fact. “And I think… maybe we could help each other.”
At this I swivel my head and turn to her, incredulous.
“I’m already taking you to the hospital, and now you’re going to what, ask me to help you murder people?!”
I’m exasperated.
“Lady, vampires have lives, too! Undead, unnaturally long ones, but! We pay taxes! I don’t kill people. Why don’t you become an actual cop or something?”
Luna looks at you with sad eyes. “I’m not like other vampires,” she says softly. “I don’t want to kill them… I just want to help them find a way to live together in peace.” She hesitates, feeling exposed by her confession. “Perhaps if there was somewhere safe, where they could be protected…”
Her voice trails off as she imagines the impossible. It’s clear that she’s desperate for a solution, any solution, to end the bloodshed between their kind.
“Is that why I couldn’t smell you—”
I let go of her arm, cursing. “Aww, shit.” I stamp around slightly, my dress shoes clicking in the empty city streets.
“Why do you taste good? Well, I don’t wanna ask—iughh,” I groan, disgusted. Most undead shouldn’t taste as good as this woman. I suddenly become very glad I didn’t try to feed on her as a consolation snack instead of the girl.
“I’ve… been trying to find a way.” Luna admits, feeling the sting of rejection but pressing on anyway. “There has to be some way for us all to coexist. We aren’t so different, vampires and mortals. If we could learn to understand each other…” Her voice trails off as she imagines a world where they didn’t have to live in constant fear of one another.
She glances at you sideways, her eyes filled with hope. “If there was somewhere… somewhere safe.”
“How many years have you been alive? Or, undead?”
I offer her a piece of information as an olive branch.
“I’ve been like this for 4 years. Sired by Lyza.”
“…I’ve been undead for two decades,” Luna says softly, her eyes never leaving yours. “It was my parents who started the hunting after their best friend’s daughter was killed by a vampire. They taught me everything I know… but I’ve always wondered if there had to be another way.”
She looks at you hopefully. “Do you think that could be possible? A place where vampires and mortals could live together?”
“Yeah it’s called Minneapolis. I gesture to the cityscape around us. Bitch… You know most of the murders here, are committed by mortals?”
I cock an eyebrow at her, again.
“Again, why don’t you become a real cop. The MPD could use more women in uniform.”
“I’ve… I’ve considered that,” Luna admits reluctantly. “But it’s always felt wrong to me. It’s like becoming part of the problem instead of trying to stop it.” She pauses, thinking over what you’ve said about Minneapolis.
“Perhaps there is something more we could do…”
Her voice trails off as she imagines a world where vampires and mortals could exist together peacefully.
She glances at her injured hand, then back up to meet your eyes.
“…You need to, go outside more. Touch grass, angel.”
I sigh. At this point, I want to get her to the hospital as soon as possible and get this over with. I didn’t want to spend my night with a dumb broad vampire, who’s somehow older than me, yet still this naïve. And, I’m hungry.
Luna nods, understanding your impatience. “Alright… I won’t keep you any longer.” She looks at her injured hands, still cradling them gingerly. “I appreciate your help getting me to the hospital.”
There’s a moment of silence between them as they walk in awkward silence. Finally, Luna asks tentatively, “Do you think… maybe there could be a way for us to work together? To find a peaceful solution?”
Her words hang in the air like a question mark, waiting for your response.
“What do you want me to do,” I intone in monotone, not actually interested in her response.
“I don’t know…” She says slowly. “Perhaps we could find a way to communicate with other vampires, show them that not all mortals are their enemies. Maybe together we could create a safe haven for both of our kinds.”
Her voice is hopeful, but uncertain.
“What do you think?”
She glances at you sideways, wondering if perhaps there’s some truth to your claim about being different from the other vampires she’s encountered.
“…”
I stare at her in silence. Then, I lay into her, making sure she realises she is the dumbest broad, I have ever met.
“There are already people like that. Lots of vampires, live like me. I’m friends with them. You don’t have any friends, do you? A normal person, with friends, doesn’t go out late at night looking to murder random people. You don’t have any friends, do you.”
Her face flushes with embarrassment at your words.
“I… I haven’t had many friends since…”
She trails off, unable to finish the thought. It’s true that she hasn’t made many connections outside of her hunting duties. Her entire life has been focused on killing vampires and protecting mortals.
But still, there’s something about your words that strike a chord deep inside her. Perhaps you're right; perhaps she could reach out to other vampires, show them another way. And maybe…
I sigh, frowning deeply, deeply unhappy. She’s not getting it. She’s not understanding, that I’m friends with multiple vampires, who don’t kill people.
“You want to reinvent the wheel from scratch. The world you’re dreaming of? Already exists. Most vampires don’t kill people. But you wouldn’t know that—because you have no friends.”
I plod down the city streets at a faster place. We’re three blocks away from the hospital, then I can be free from her.
Hurt and confused by your words, Luna falls silent as you lead her toward the hospital.
“I… I didn’t mean to imply that all vampires are like that,” she finally manages to say softly. “But there must be something more we can do. To make a difference.”
As the two of you walk, she glances over at you, trying to gauge your reaction. Maybe there is hope after all, if even one vampire would listen and consider her ideas. But first, she needs to get through this night with her sanity intact.
“HOW MANY VAMPIRES HAVE YOU KILLED!”
I scream at her, my patience having reached its limit.
“THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE IF YOU! HAD JUST! STOPPED! KILLING!”
Stunned by your outburst, Luna takes a step back, her eyes wide with shock and horror.
“I-I didn’t mean to…”
She stammers, tears welling up in her eyes.
“I thought I was doing the right thing!”
The weight of all those deaths settles heavily on her shoulders, making it difficult for her to breathe. She looks away, unable to meet your angry gaze any longer.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers softly. “I never meant for this…”
“Yeah, whatever, angel.”
I loop my arm around hers again, and almost make a run towards the hospital. It’s a brisk pace, but, I didn’t injure her legs. She can keep up.
I stay silent, and she does, too. I don’t want to talk to her anymore, and she, at the minimum, understands that. Instead of the front entrance of the hospital, I take her straight through the ambulance bay. I don’t have an access card, but I’m let in immediately by security, who recognise me. We go straight into the emergency department, with no wait. And luckily, it’s a quiet night at the hospital, with not too many patients.
Luna follows you silently through the ambulance bay and into the emergency department, feeling small and insignificant in comparison to your apparent importance here. The pain in her hands has faded into the background as she wrestles with guilt and shame over everything that’s happened tonight.
She winces when they finally reach a nurse, knowing what’s coming next.
“I-I was attacked by another vampire,” she says quietly, trying to avoid making eye contact. “They… they injured me.”
I wave off Luna’s remarks. “Dog bite. Hands, bilateral. Also, I think she might be high. Ignore her, if she talks about vampires.” I take out Luna’s wallet, and present her ID to the triage nurse. The triage nurse nods, taking it.
“Great, we can start charting on this.” She laughs, smiling cheerily at me. “How are you, Sei? It’s 3 AM. Isn’t it too late to buy tacos, now?”
“I-I’m sorry,” Luna stammers, looking down at her injured hands. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved with him.”
Her eyes flicker up to meet yours briefly before dropping away again, and she shivers slightly in the cool air of the emergency room.
As they begin to tend to her injuries, she tries not to think about the conversation that brought them here or the questions it raised about her own actions and beliefs.
I set down her coat on a chair and get up, making my way to leave. I click my lips, sighing, hungry, disappointed, annoyed… I don’t even look at Luna. For a vampire much older than me, she’s. …Really out of touch.
I take out my phone, make a call to Lyza. But she doesn’t pick up. She hasn’t seen me at all, for a year, since I last saw her… I wouldn’t normally bother her about every waif and wretch I meet—there have been fewer and fewer of those here and in the surrounding domains, from what the others have told me. But Luna has been killing other vampires—and assaulted another in Her Domain. Lyza may want to handle this a particular way.
As the nurse begins to clean and bandage her injuries, Luna feels an overwhelming sense of shame and guilt wash over her. She wonders what sort of future there could be for vampires and mortals if she can’t even stop herself from harming them. Her thoughts drift back to the conversation with Sei, and she finds herself wondering if perhaps he is right about the possibility of a peaceful coexistence.
I finally turn to Luna, after my failed phone call.
“I’m going. Don’t follow me. Don’t ever, follow me. I don’t want to see you again. You’re insane—”
I clip the last word, ending the conversation definitively. And hopefully, our acquaintanceship.
I start making to leave the examination room.
Luna looks up at you with an expression of misery and confusion, her eyes filling with tears.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I never meant for things to happen like this.”
She tries to find the words to explain herself, but they catch in her throat as she realizes that perhaps you're right; maybe there is a better way. As you turn to leave, she reaches out to grab your arm, her fingers trembling with emotion.
“Please, Sei,” she says urgently. “I need someone to understand…
“Go make friends—with someone else. Please.”
I look at her, almost feeling bad for her. She’s clearly insane, or at least, lost a few marbles from not knowing much about… her kind. Modern vampires. Are different. She…
“Oh my god.”
I blink, and step back.
“You’ve read too much fan-fiction. You genuinely believe all that vampire stuff you’ve read in pulp fiction books.”
I almost burst out laughing, but it’s too pathetic and ludicrous to grasp.
Her face flushes with embarrassment as she realizes how foolish she must have sounded.
“I-I’m sorry,” she stammers, trying to pull her arm back from your hand. “I didn’t mean… I just wanted someone to understand what it’s like for us.”
Her eyes dart around the room, searching for an escape or perhaps a sympathetic ear. But all she finds is silence and pity in the faces of the nurses and doctors surrounding them.
I very quickly make my way out of the room, but one of the nurses accosts me.
“5150?”
“No, don’t put her on a psych hold, that’ll only make things worse.”
We both stare at Luna. I offer further advice to the nurse.
“Uhhhhh, just treat her like a homeless woman. With a great sense of fashion. No psych hold, just, let her go. Ignore her vitals. And, I think she has insurance. Pretty sure I saw a Blue Cross card in her wallet.”
I smile, happy and gleaming at the nurse—all my former co-workers. The mood in here lightens, with everyone now in significantly better spirits except for Luna.
As Sei steps through the doorway, leaving her alone with the nurses and doctors, Luna feels an overwhelming sense of despair wash over her. She knows that everything she has believed in is wrong; vampires like Sei exist, and they are nothing like the monsters she has spent her life hunting. The weight of this realization presses down on her, making it difficult to breathe as tears trickle down her cheeks.
I make small talk and exchange jokes and stories with a few of the techs and nurses, and of course, my favourite ED physician, Dr. Norman, before waltzing out of the ambulance bay. The night is part way over, but there’s still time for me to get back, and get something to feed on. As soon as I’m out of range of the campus security cameras, I transform into a wolf again—sprinting at breakneck pace through the city to where I had left the drunk girl. Hopefully, she hadn’t gotten up yet… And hopefully, no one else had gotten to her, too.
As the hours tick by in the emergency room, Luna tries to piece together everything that’s happened tonight. She can’t deny the truth anymore; vampires like Sei exist and they are nothing like the monsters she’s always believed them to be. The revelation is both exhilarating and terrifying, leaving her feeling more alone than ever before.
With a heavy heart, she finally accepts that she can no longer continue on this path.
I avoid the more well lit streets; though it’s an ungodly hour at night, I don’t want people seeing a giant wolf sprinting through the Warehouse District and reporting things to animal control. As I near the street where I had left her, I catch her scent again. She’s still there. Probably, still unconscious. That girl had way too much absinthe. She’s going to have to go home with me, and she’s not going to be too happy about her ‘hangover’, but at least she’ll be safe. If, missing a little blood.
As the last vestiges of consciousness begin to fade, Luna finds herself dreaming of a world where vampires and mortals can live together in peace. She pictures Sei’s face, kind and understanding, and wonders if there’s any chance that they could find a way to make this dream a reality. Maybe, just maybe, there is hope for both of their kinds after all.
With a sigh, she surrenders to sleep, unaware that her life is about to take an unexpected turn.
A few months pass, and I don’t see Looney Luna again. My life has continued on, naturally, supernaturally, and I begin to mass a coterie of human followers (read: susceptible pretty single women) who are more than happy to spend the night with me. At times, I shake my head and sigh. If I had brought men, I could drink more blood, but I don’t exactly want to make a name for myself in the city’s gay scene.
As time goes by, Luna finds herself thinking more and more about her encounter with Sei. The memory of his kindness and understanding haunts her, a stark contrast to the monsters she has been trained to hunt. She begins to research vampires, seeking answers to the questions that have plagued her since that fateful night.
One evening, while patrolling near the outskirts of Uptown, she catches a glimpse of Sei and his followers through an alleyway.
What a gorgeous night. It’s not often I get to go to a bachelorette party. After a UKG rave, too—afterparty, beautiful women, lots of blood to go around? It’s perfect. I can take a little from each gal and they won’t know anything’s amiss! We take a limo, making our way to the hotel that the would-be-bride has booked… It’s a nice 5-star venue, the only such place in the city.
With her heart pounding in her chest, Luna follows at a discreet distance, unable to tear her eyes away from the scene unfolding before her. She watches as Sei moves gracefully through the crowd, his every move exuding confidence and charm. A part of her wishes she could be there with him, enjoying the night’s festivities instead of spying on him, and stalking his limo on a Lime scooter.
As the hours grow late, Luna finds herself growing more conflicted.
Up the elevator, surrounded by a gaggle of women, and into the VIP suite. The very large one, meant for gatherings such as these. The girls have decorated the suite with all sorts of phallic paraphernalia, as bachelorettes these days are wont to do. Penis-shaped balloons, penis cupcakes, cocksickles, male blow-up dolls… House music is turned on, and the vapes and blunts come out. I’m actually surprised they didn’t have any penis-shaped weed brownies, here. Lost opportunity for BBC jokes.
Luna’s heart races as she watches Sei move effortlessly through the crowd, surrounded by women who seem to adore him. A part of her wants nothing more than to join in the revelry and forget everything else, but another part can’t help but feel a sense of duty to continue spying on him. As the night wears on, she finds herself growing increasingly conflicted about her role in all of this.
As the afterparty parties on, the atmosphere starts to change—thanks to my doing. The women become more pliant and more adoring. They don’t mind having their necks bitten and sucked, especially after I give them untold penetrative ecstasy while doing so. And no, I don’t mean my teeth. This is a bachelorette party where I get a lot of sex.
The sight before her fills Luna with equal parts envy and confusion. She watches as Sei moves effortlessly through the crowd, his every touch leaving the women in a state of ecstatic bliss. The more she sees him like this, the harder it becomes to reconcile the man before her with the monster she’d been trained to hunt.
With a sigh, she leans against a nearby wall, unsure of what to do next.
After a few hours, I’ve drained every woman here, and every woman has drained me, too. One of the great advantages of vampiric charm is the ability to convince people to have unprotected sex. Luckily for everyone involved, my seed shouldn’t be viable. Nobody should get pregnant from this.
I almost want to stay, long after every woman has passed out in euphoric bliss, but it’s not for me to make myself too well known amongst a crowd like this. But mostly, I just feel bad for the groom. I don’t know if he’s ever going to satisfy his future wife after a night with me.
With every woman fast asleep, I make my way to leave the suite. I’m full up, I’ve had a great time at a music festival, participated in an all-woman orgy of sex, and I haven’t seen Looney Luna, at all. Unlife couldn’t be better for me.
As the memories of that night replay in her mind, Luna finds herself torn between two worlds. On one hand, she’s never experienced anything like what Sei showed her; on the other, she can’t shake the training and beliefs instilled in her since childhood. She knows that if she continues down this path, she risks losing everything she holds dear; but to abandon it means admitting defeat and surrendering to the monsters she has sworn to destroy.
I leave the hotel the way I came. I wonder how Lyza is doing. I almost envy her. As a female vampire, she has an easier time finding someone to feed on, than myself as a male. Women are more picky about the men they go home with. Guys, are not. And with her, she’ll need as many men as she can feed on…
The wind shifts, and carries a familiar scent of basil… …Not enough of it. I sigh. Luna must be around.
“Luna, if you’re out there. Either get the hell out of my sight, or come out and talk. Either way, let’s get this over with.”
“I’m sorry…” She whispers, her voice barely audible above the wind. “I don’t know what I want anymore.” Tears begin to stream down her cheeks as she takes a shaky step forward. “All my life, I’ve been taught that you were monsters… But seeing you tonight…” She trails off, struggling to find the words.
“Please,” she says at last, her voice trembling with emotion. “Teach me about your kind. Show me there’s another way.”
I stare dumbfoundedly at her as she emerges from the shadows.
“You saw me tonight? You saw me have sex with all those women?”
I burst out laughing.
“You want to learn how to have sex with people? Is that what you’re asking?”
“No!”
she cries, horrified at the misunderstanding.
“I don’t want to have sex with anyone! I mean… not like that…”
She pauses, trying to find the words again.
“I just want to understand you better. To know if there’s a way for us to live together without hurting each other.”
…I sigh, taking her by the shoulder. I bring her close, and mutter in pitying tones.
“Honey, you’re not gonna like this. The secret to peaceful coexistence between vampires and humans is sex.”
Internally, I’m laughing at her horror and embarrassment, but externally, I keep the sobering and grave tone up. Now that I know she’s a vampire, I wonder how hard she can blush. I look closely at her face, waiting to see when it’ll turn red.
She shudders visibly at his words, but doesn’t pull away. There’s something about the way he says it that leaves her feeling hopeful despite herself.
“How…?”
she whispers, barely audible over the wind.
“How is sex the answer?”
I take her now, visibly non-injured hand, in both of my own, caressing it tenderly.
“Come, child. Let’s walk.”
And so Looney Luna and I make our way to my apartment, out from the Four Seasons Hotel…
Actually, this is fairly awkward. I’m so used to sprinting back home late at night in my wolf form. And again, it’s too late for the buses to run.
“So do you… have vampire powers? Like, can you turn into bats? I know you can’t run fast, so…”
“I-I don’t…exactly,” she stammers, her cheeks flushing even deeper at his touch. “I mean, I can heal quickly and have enhanced strength, but not like in the movies.” She glances up at him nervously, still struggling to understand this new world he’s offering her.
“And what about you? How can you transform into a wolf?” she asks cautiously, remembering stories of vampires shape-shifting into wolves and bats.
“You are what you eat. I ate a wolf once.”
She blinks, staring at me.
“You don’t know that’s how you learn? Really?”
Luna shakes her head slowly, feeling more and more out of place with every passing moment.
“No… I never knew that,” she whispers, her eyes widening in realization. “So if I… if I drank your blood…” She trails off, unable to bring herself to say the words aloud.
“You would become like me?”
Sei finishes for her, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
I laugh, shaking my head.
“No, you don’t want to drink my blood. You’d get addicted. You’d become my thrall. You’d do anything for me…”
I pick up her chin, and lean uncomfortably close to her face, smiling warmly at her.
“You don’t want to become obsessed with me, do you? More than you already are.”
Her heart pounds in her chest as his words wash over her, leaving her feeling both confused and aroused. The thought of becoming his thrall, of sharing this strange connection… It’s intoxicating. But she knows better than to give in so easily. With a shaky breath, she pulls away from his gaze, looking down at the ground.
“I don’t know what I want,” she whispers. “But I need time to figure it out.”
I chuckle, letting her go. We continue walking through the night, making our way through towards Hennepin Ave Bridge.
“You asked about sex.”
I continue casually, strutting under the streetlights of Gateway Park. There’s no need for us to cross the street and walk by the fountain, but it’s always nice to see the little rainbow lights shining from under the water. Orange dances on my face, and blue, on hers.
“It’s simple. People are very willing to trade a little blood for sex. That’s all.” With an easy glance, I grin at her charmingly.
“No one has to die, everyone gets their rocks off. It’s very simple.”
She’s silent for a long moment, considering his words. On the surface, it seems so straightforward—a trade of blood for pleasure. But beneath that, there are implications she can’t ignore. The power dynamic between them shifts in ways she’s never experienced before. And yet… she finds herself drawn to the idea of being able to provide such pleasure, of giving someone else what they need without taking away from them.
“I don’t know if I could do that,” she finally says softly. “Not right now.”
I laugh at her, my voice echoing through the night, over the river.
“All right, stay a virgin. But you asked me how vampires and mortals could live together, and I gave you the answer.”
I give Luna a knowing smirk, squinting my eyes like a fox. So it looks like she can blush… My lips curl into a smile, and I speak softly to her. The bridge lights dance on her white hair, and the wind carries the scent of a city built on a river.
“You saw how good those women felt… Right? Were you jealous? Jealous of me, because I had so much to feed on, or jealous of them, because… of all, the pleasure, I gave them?”
The question hangs in the air between them, taunting her with memories of that night’s revelry and the desire she’d felt watching Sei move so confidently through the crowd. She bites her lip, trying to find the words to answer his question without revealing too much about herself.
“I… I don’t know,” she whispers at last.
“Maybe a little of both.”
“What do you eat, angel?”
I change the subject, attempting to be gracious to her, at least on the subject of sex.
“You clearly don’t feed on much. How do you sustain yourself, then? What do you do for sustenance?”
I look at her curiously, this vampire elder to me, yet so much weaker, so ignorant and even naïve to basic knowledge. I almost want to ask how she turned, but that’s probably too much of a personal question, for now. She’s already troubled enough as she is.
“I… I don’t know,” she admits with a shrug. “I just manage. I find ways to survive.”
The truth is, she hasn’t fed much since her family was killed; instead, she subsists on whatever blood she can scrape together from the odd donor or two. But she doesn’t want Sei to know that. It would only make her seem weaker in his eyes, and she refuses to be weak around him.
“I suppose I’m stronger when I have a purpose.”
I frown, unamused.
“Great non-answer. So what do you eat. Or, is this your way of avoiding telling me that you dumpster dive for used tampons?”
“I’m sorry,”
she says quickly, her cheeks flushing once more in the moonlight.
“It’s just… I don’t like to talk about it. It doesn’t make me feel very good.”
She pauses, debating whether or not to continue.
“But sometimes I find… other ways.”
Her voice trails off, and she looks down at her feet awkwardly.
“It’s not ideal,” she admits reluctantly. “But it works for now.”
I seize her in a vice-grip, forcing her to stop in her tracks. I’m so much stronger. Precisely, because I feed more. And…
I pierce her eyes with my own. My words are sharp, hard, and dangerously serious.
“I’m going to ask you again. How do you feed, Luna.”
I squeeze her shoulder almost too much. If I wanted to, I could throw her off this bridge, into the grand river below. Our kind don’t tend to do well with running water, especially of the hydroelectric dam variety.
She swallows hard, feeling the weight of his gaze pressing down on her like a physical thing.
“I… I find ways,” she manages to say, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m not proud of it, but I manage.”
The thought of revealing more makes her skin crawl; sharing this part of herself with Sei feels like giving him power over her.
“Please…” she whispers, looking up at him with wide, pleading eyes. “Don’t make me say anymore.”
I lift her up by the neck effortlessly, her weight nothing so much but a paperweight to me. I step forward, dangling her over the bridge railing, above the Mississippi below.
“Your blood. Where do you source it.”
I make it clear that I’m not going to ask again. I can, and will, drop her into the water, ending her, and probably saving the undying lives of any other vampire she would dare to 'hunt' in this city.
Tears stream down her cheeks as she looks up at him, helpless and terrified. She can’t fight back; he’s too strong. So instead, with a shuddering breath, she whispers the truth.
“I… I have a friend who helps me. He finds people for me.” Her voice trembles as she speaks, the admission almost physically painful. She swallows hard, her heart racing as she looks up at him with wide eyes. “He doesn’t know what it is,” she whispers, voice barely above a whisper. “He just… he helps me survive.”
The words taste like ash in her mouth, but she forces them out nonetheless.
“Please, you don’t have to hurt him,” she begs, tears streaming down her face. “I can find another way. I promise.”
“Do you pay them? Why do they let you feed on them?”
“I… I give him money,” she says quietly. “Not much, but enough to keep him going.” She pauses, wiping furiously at her tears before continuing. “And he doesn’t know what it is because I never tell him! He thinks it’s just blood, that’s all!”
“Please,” she whispers again, her voice shaking. “I can change. I can find another way.”
I furrow my brow at her, looking at her with disapproval and contempt. I step back from the bridge railing, lowering her back to solid ground.
“You just pay pennies to the desperate for their blood. I see.”
I let out a snort of disgust.
“You know, I was expecting better from you. But you really are just a wretch, aren’t you, Luna.”
Her shoulders slump in defeat as his words sink in. She knows he’s right; she’s ashamed of what she’s become. But it’s all she’s known since her family was taken away from her. The thought of changing terrifies her, and she isn’t sure if she can trust Sei enough to make that leap of faith.
“I… I don’t know how else to survive,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the wind.
“Get a real job. Have sex with people. Live with a guilt-free conscience and stop murdering people you don’t like,” I say dismissively, marching ahead of her. We still have a long ways to go before we cross the Mississippi. I’d have liked to have gotten home by now, but miss goody-two-shoes vampire hunter here doesn’t know how to change her form. We have to walk like mortals, at a time when Metro Transit isn’t running.
The words sting more than she expected them to, but she doesn’t respond. Instead, she follows behind Sei, her head downcast and her shoulders slumped. She knows he’s right; she has to change if she ever wants to find peace again. But the thought of facing the world without her weapons is terrifying, and she wonders if she can truly survive in this new life he’s offering her.
“I… I’ll think about it,”
she whispers, barely audible even to herself.
“You’ll think about it in my apartment. C’mon. I bet it’s been a while since you’ve had a ‘friend’ who wasn’t just using you for the pennies you can offer. …I’m right, aren’t I, Luna? Your ‘friend’ that you mentioned isn’t really your friend, you’re just a gig to him.”
I look over my shoulder to her, with more understanding. Her face is streaked with tears—not the first time I’ve seen her like this, and her white, curly hair covers her face from the streetlights. If she’s grown up with a life of using and being used, especially and including by mortals, no wonder she’s so out of touch and so socially awkward. She doesn’t know any other way of existing.
“…I can turn you into something else, if you want.” I offer, still walking ahead of her.
“But you’ll have to trust me. And up till now, you’ve been too scared to trust anyone, not even yourself.”
Her heart aches at his words, and yet there’s something about them that feels… right. Like she’s finally heard someone who understands her, even if it’s not what she wants to hear. She hesitates for a moment before speaking, her voice barely audible above the wind.
“I don’t know,” she whispers.
“It’s… It’s a lot to think about.”
Her eyes flicker up toward Sei, studying his profile as they walk.
“Fine. Have fun staying poor, lonely, and miserable, Luna.”
I huff, and continue walking in silence. From the bridge, we make a detour onto La Salle High School on Nicollet Island, hoping to cut through the island’s parks to make it to my apartment sooner.
“Tell me where you grew up. Where are you from?”
She hesitates before answering, considering his words carefully. Finally, she says softly,
“I grew up in the suburbs… Maple Grove. My family moved there when I was young.”
Her voice trails off as she thinks back on her childhood, remembering her parents and the happy times they’d shared before everything went wrong.
“My parents were vampire hunters,” she blurts out, surprising herself with the admission. “They tried to protect me from… this life.”
I swivel on my undead feet and shout into the air in disbelief.
“Oh my fucking God you’re from Maple Grove. No wonder you’re so, fucking, stupid!”
I bow my head, I cover my undying face with my hand,
“Fucking suburbanites… Oh don’t tell me. Your family was the religious type too, wasn’t it. Very Christian? Not allowed to watch Harry Potter movies?”
She stands frozen in place as his words wash over her like a cold wave. She hadn’t expected him to react this way; she’d thought he would understand where she was coming from. But instead, he seems to be mocking her and her family for their beliefs. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall.
“They were just trying to protect me,” she whispers, her voice shaking with emotion. “They didn’t understand what they were dealing with.”
“They didn’t understand, and look what happened. They ended up raising a murderer, and they were murderers themselves, Luna.”
I stare at her.
“Weren’t you people devout, God-fearing folks? What was the Sixth Commandment? Thou shalt not murder?”
Her face flames as his words hit home, and she’s suddenly ashamed of everything she’s ever believed in. She wanted to protect her family; she never meant to hurt anyone else. But now that it’s too late, all she can do is stand here and listen to Sei mock her for her choices.
“They were just trying to keep me safe,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the wind. “I… I didn’t know any better.”
“Bitch you’re older than me,” I complain.
“You’re like, twice my age, probably. …Grow the fuck up!”
I stamp off, not waiting for her to follow, and not particularly interested in if she continues to follow me, or not. My dress shoes click loudly on the old red brick pave of Nicollet Island; I step over the train tracks, onto the forest path. The birds here aren’t too loud; they neither have to compete with the sounds of traffic, nor Twins Games. Frogsong fills the air, and the crickets strive to add their chorus to the voices, too.
If only God’s Green Earth weren’t bespoiled by stupid broads like the one behind me.
Her fists clench at her sides as she listens to Sei insult her family and everything she’s ever known. She wants nothing more than to defend them, but knows that arguing with him will only make things worse. With a deep breath, she forces herself to keep walking after him, even though every step feels like a betrayal.
“I… I don’t know what you want me to say,”
she whispers, her voice shaking.
“I never meant for any of this to happen.”
I stare her down, my face flaring.
“I want you to say, ‘I’m a murderer, and I come from a family of murderers.’ I want you to admit it. I want you to own up to all the violent bloodshed you, and your entire family, have wrought upon society.”
She takes another deep breath, her chest heaving as she struggles to control her emotions.
“I… I am a murderer,”
she whispers, her voice barely audible even to herself.
“And my family was wrong. They should have found another way.”
Her eyes fill with tears once more as she continues walking after Sei, wondering if there really is another way out of the life she’s been forced to lead.
“…And that’s why you’re a virgin.”
I mutter, turning and resuming my steps on the gravel path. There aren’t any night-joggers here, which is good. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make Luna own up to her family’s sins, if there were passersby within earshot.
She flinches at his words, the hurt and anger burning through her like acid.
“It’s not that simple,” she whispers through gritted teeth. “I can’t just forget everything I’ve done.” Tears stream down her cheeks as she struggles to keep pace with Sei, wondering how she could ever hope to atone for the sins of her past.
“I… I want to change,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. "
“Did I ask you to forget? I literally told you to remember, not forget.”
I continue.
“You just don’t want to admit that your family, probably did more harm, to civilisation, than any good.” I swivel to look at her, but I keep moving.
“You know what tells me your family killed innocent vampires? It’s because they and you survived for so long. Anyone who was actually dangerous, who actually fed on enough people via complete exsanguination, would’ve killed you before they could’ve snapped their fingers. You saw what I was capable of, right? You remember the night we met? That I could’ve killed you?“
Her eyes widen as she remembers that night, the cold wind whipping around her as she faced off against Sei. He was stronger, faster than anything she’d ever encountered before. And yet here she was, still alive. She swallows hard, unable to deny his words. Perhaps there is some truth to what he’s saying.
“I… I never thought of it that way,” she whispers, looking down at her feet.
“All those vampires, were people like you, Luna. They’ve never killed anyone. They were probably just barely scraping by, offering what few pennies they had to the equally-desperate who could feed them.”
My face is stony, and I am unhappy at this truth. But at least, now, she knows what she’s been doing. She knows what her family has been doing.
She knows she was wrong.
“I… I never thought about it that way. All those people we killed… They could’ve been just like me. They didn’t deserve to die.”
“I… I don’t know what to do anymore. I want to change, but I don’t know how… I… I’m sorry,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the wind. “I never meant to hurt anyone.” Tears stream down her face as she struggles to come to terms with the truth of her actions. She wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to compose herself.
“What do I… What do I do now?” she asks hesitantly, looking up at Sei for guidance. “How can I make things right?”
“…Make things right. That’s interesting.”
I mull over her words in my head. I had never heard of someone wishing to make things right to a vampire before, so I don’t know what to think. …I might know someone who has heard this, though.
“…I’ll help you make things right. But you’ll have to listen to me.”
I echo the words she said to me the first night we ever met.
“You have to promise me that you’ll never hurt anyone again.”
She hesitates for a moment before nodding slowly.
“I… I promise,”
she whispers.
“I’ll never hurt anyone again.”
Her voice is shaky and her eyes are filled with tears, but there’s a determination in them that Sei can’t help but be impressed by. Maybe there’s hope for this girl after all.
“Thank you,”
she says softly.
“For giving me another chance.”
“…No problem, Angel.”
We continue our way through the forest, up to River Crossings Bridge. It’s a cute little wooden structure, crossing over the bisected body of the Mississippi, to the east side of the river. The rolling, friendly hills of B.F. Nelson Park slope up gently. I walk a familiar path up to the site of the old Railroad House; now a monument for sexual assault victims healing in the community.
“Have you ever been here? To this park, this art installation.”
I gesture to the large mosaic panels, and lead her into the centre of the circle. The monument is like a Stonehenge of art, with its inner circular field paved with overlapping concentric circles, to show how one healing drop in the world can send ripples outward to the rest.
She shakes her head, taking in the sight of the park and the art installation before them. It’s beautiful, yet somber at the same time. She wonders how many people have come here seeking solace and healing.
“No,” she whispers. “I haven’t.”
“It’s… peaceful,” she says finally, her voice barely audible over the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze. “And I think… I think this is where I need to be.”
I nod, and lead her through the panels. Each one tells a story. From hurt, and loneliness… To the friendly hand of a neighbour, reaching out… The pained ball of fear slowly stands up, assuming the form of a person, and they begin to reach out to others, too. The seasons and daytime pass in each panel, progressing from a lonesome Winter’s night, to the first hints of Spring with the sunrise, to verdant and green Summer, golden Autumn, with more and more people surrounding the former victim as she reaches out to her community. Some of the people surrounding her may be fellow victims, some may not; in any case, they are all neighbours, embracing each other throughout life.
“It’s difficult to see the sun anymore, with our condition. But, at least with these mosaic pieces. I can admire the sunlight again.”
She stands silently, taking in the beauty and symbolism of the art installation. Tears stream down her face as she imagines herself becoming part of this cycle of healing and growth. For the first time in years, she feels hope.
“Thank you,” she whispers, looking up at Sei. “For showing me this place.”
“What do I need to do?” she asks softly, her voice barely audible over the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.
“To make things right, and find peace…”
I don’t answer her question, not having an answer, myself. I quietly take her hand, and lead her through the rest of the park. We pass by flowers, fields of white and yellow sleeping buds that are curled up their blankets of petals at night. We walk down the red brick river promenade, with its murals of Hmong mermaids and naiads and lotuses adorning the steps that go down to the river. We stroll under the trees, and spot a hawk at the top of one of the knotted, curving pines—to my relief, Luna can at least see in the dark, though I’m not sure how well she can, considering how malnourished she is. We pass by Plymouth Ave Bridge, into the newly seeded Graco Park, past the River Hub community building, past the wooden benches and towering post structures that pay homage to the site’s former history as a riverside lumberyard. I can tell, from Luna’s wonder-filled expressions, that she’s never been here before. She’s never been to these parks.
“Lots of families come here, morning, afternoon, evening. Not many people come here after 3 in the morning, though.”
I explain with a smile. She’s startled by a muskrat running over the path, back to the river. I blink, concerned. Does Maple Grove not have muskrats anymore…? Or, was she so sheltered and isolated…
She follows Sei through the parks, marveling at everything she sees. It’s so different from her usual stomping grounds back home; here there’s a sense of peace and tranquility that she’s never experienced before. As they pass by the river, she gasps in surprise as a muskrat darts across their path, disappearing into the reeds with surprising agility.
“It’s… beautiful,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.
“Right. This is my home,” I explain.
“Well. The whole city’s my home.”
I grin, looking at her, my chest puffed up with pride. With the way I’m talking now, it would definitely be hard to believe that I’m one of those fiendish blood-sucking demons from whatever tales her parents told her.
“I’m from Minneapolis first, vampire second,” I continue explaining to her.
“Home is home. This is my home, my neighbourhood. …You must’ve not been close to your home. I can’t imagine you had a lot of good memories living with a very restrictive upbringing like that, and living poor, in affluent Maple Grove.”
As they continue to explore the city together, Luna finds herself growing more and more attached to this place. She never knew such beauty existed beyond her small, sheltered world.
“It’s… amazing,” she whispers, looking up at Sei with a mixture of wonder and gratitude in her eyes.
“Thank you for showing me all of this.”
Her heart aches as he speaks of his home, knowing that she can never truly return to hers. But maybe, just maybe, she could find a new home here with him.
We pass through more parks, more art installations. There’s the Sheridan War Memorial with its massive agglomerate of bossed shields, with monuments to the tribes that called, and still call, the Mississippi their home. We hug the Mississippi again, strolling past park benches, bike racks, and darkened streetlamps that have had their wires cut by the desperate copper-scavengers; I make a note of where these are, to report to the city for repairs. Emerging from the outlet of the park trail, we walk past one of my favourite breweries: a co-op that functions as an arcade, a tabletop gaming lounge, a Smash Bros. Tournament hang-out, and community meeting centre. It doesn’t take me too long to be glad that, actually, Luna can’t shapeshift or run very fast. I get to enjoy my city at a leisurely pace, and introduce it to her, too.
After we pass by the gaudy yet practical light sculpture that is Lowry Ave Bridge, we make it to my apartment building. Like the gleaming, steel white bridge near it, my apartment building is a newer structure, in stark contrast to many of the older, brick buildings in the area. I unlock the entrance, and we enter the lobby. I can tell Luna is impressed, and… that she grew up poor. Seems like this is the first time she’s ever seen a luxury apartment in-person.
As they enter his apartment building, Luna’s eyes widen with wonder. The lobby is decorated tastefully, with modern furniture and sleek lighting. She’d never seen such luxury before; back home, everything was utilitarian at best.
“It’s… beautiful,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the sound of soft music drifting through hidden speakers.
“I… I would have decorated it differently,”
I remark. We go into the elevator, which. Also seems to blow her mind. She is gawking at how big it is… I rub my neck, slightly embarrassed. I’m glad no one’s in here to see this.
She blushes, looking down at her hands as they travel up and down her arms nervously.
“I… I’ve never seen anything like this,” she whispers, meaning every word. Back home, everything was utilitarian and drab; even the nicest houses were nothing compared to what Sei is showing her now.
As the elevator stops at his floor, she hesitates before stepping out, taking in a deep breath to steady herself.
And to my misfortune the halls impress her, too. Jesus, how fucking poor was this woman?
We go to the fourth storey, and I unlock my apartment door. We step in—it’s one of the larger units, meant to house a family. My family. That is, my crew of vampire homies.
The apartment is even more impressive than the lobby and hallway. It’s spacious and well-lit, with comfortable furniture arranged around a large flat screen TV. There are pictures on the walls of Sei with other vampires, looking like they're having the time of their lives. She walks over to one of them, studying it carefully before asking softly,
“Are these… your friends?”
Her gaze drifts around the room again, taking in everything she can see.
A voice calls out from one of the rooms, unfamiliar.
“Yes, we are.”
It’s Ren. He steps out to greet me and Luna, giving me a bro-shake, then shaking Luna’s hand more conventionally and politely.
“How do you do. My name is Ren. And I see you’re undead.”
She flushes slightly at his words but forces herself to smile politely.
“Hello Ren. It’s nice to meet you.”
Her eyes dart around the room again, taking in everything about him, trying to gauge what kind of person he is. She tries not to seem too interested or curious, knowing that she shouldn’t pry into Sei’s, or anyone else’s unlife, too much.
“I… um…”
She hesitates for a moment before deciding to ask something else.
“What do you guys usually do here?”
Ren blinks.
“We live here. Don’t you live somewhere?”
Another voice pops up, and another unfamiliar face enters the room. It’s Coda—she’s apparently very young, and she acts like it: the bubbly way she bobs as she moves, and an ingenue smile almost perpetually plastered on her face. Yet, in actuality, she’s the oldest of the coterie here.
“Hi! I’m Coda!”
The seemingly young girl reaches to shake one of Luna’s hands with both of her own.
“Nice to meet you! How long have you been undead?”
“Oh… um…”
She’s taken aback by Coda’s exuberance and isn’t sure how to respond.
“I-I’ve been turned for two decades now.”
Her gaze drifts around the room again, unsure of what else to say or do in this situation.
“Hmmmmm? You don’t look like it,” Coda replies, with rising intonation. She bends nearer to Luna, sniffing the air near the younger vampire.
“You almost smell like you’re just a few months old! Two decades! Really!”
Coda brings both hands to her own face in wonder, mouth open in surprise. Sharp, predatory fangs are visible between her lips, but otherwise, there’s nothing to suggest that she ranks amongst the older undead, save for her lack of breathing. Her gasp is silent—the involuntary movement being long forgotten after centuries of non-breath, a habit commonly lost to time by the undead.
Ren interrupts the conversation.
“Loren’s out on the pool deck. He shouldn’t be, but you know how he is.”
I nod. “Well, he doesn’t show up on the security cameras, so…”
“No, but the ripples do.”
I shrug. Ren has a point, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Well. Nothing I feel like doing about it.
She blushes again, feeling even more self-conscious now.
“I… um… I’m sorry if I seem out of place. This is all very new to me.”
Her gaze drifts around the room once more, taking in the comfortable furniture and pictures on the walls. She wonders what it would be like to live here, with people who accepted her for who she was now.
“Your… home is really nice,” she finally manages to say.
“Thank you,”
Ren interjects once more.
“And what’s your name? I don’t think you introduced yourself.”
“Oh! I’m sorry, my name is Luna.”
She smiles shyly, trying to appear more approachable.
“It’s nice to meet all of you.”
She glances over at Ren, then back to Sei, wondering what kind of relationship they have with each other. From the way they interact, it seems like they're close friends or maybe even… more? She decides not to pry too much into their personal lives just yet.
“So, um…”
I sigh, shutting my eyes, my head facing the floor.
“This is Looney Luna. You know, the person who’s been killing all the fasting vampires.”
Ren and Coda go silent at that. All six eyes are on Luna, now, glittering and sharp, like silent daggers.
Her heart drops like a stone into the pit of her stomach as she realizes what Sei has just said. She opens her mouth to protest, to explain that it wasn’t like that, but no words come out. She looks around at the faces of these people, their faces unreadable, but sober, and much stonier than before.
Her gaze finally returns to Sei, and she swallows hard.
“I… I didn’t mean for it to happen like that,” she whispers.
“Luna’s here to learn about sex. She’s a virgin.”
I say aloud with a shit-eating smirk.
Her face burns red as she realizes what Sei has said. She glances around the room again, feeling even more exposed and embarrassed now.
“I… I didn’t mean for it to sound like that,” she mutters, trying to defend herself. “I just wanted… I wanted to know more about being with someone.”
She takes a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart.
“And I’m sorry for what happened to those vampires. It wasn’t my intention to hurt anyone. I was just trying to protect people…”
I cackle evilly at her discomfort in front of the others. Ren shoots me a disapproving glare, but I don’t care. Coda looks upon Luna with sympathy, reaching out, and laying a gentle, child-sized hand on her arm.
“Ohh, it’s OK. You don’t have to be a virgin forever,” she opines.
“You were turned at a good age! Someone like me… Well. …I can’t exactly do a Last Call, you know?”
She winks furtively. I think this freaks out Luna only more.
“I… I’m sorry,” she whispers, looking down at the small hand on her arm. “I didn’t mean to, upset, any…”
She glances around again, feeling even more out of place now. This was not how she had imagined this meeting going. She hadn’t expected them to be so… open about things like sex and relationships. And she certainly hadn’t thought they would know about her past as a hunter.
She takes a deep breath, trying to compose herself.
“Can we…”
“We don’t keep blood in the apartment,” I explain. “You’re going to have to feed, eventually. We could’ve gone for that muskrat, but… that felt mean. That would’ve hurt the muskrat.”
Coda nods sagely at my words. Ren simply stares at Luna, trying to figure out what we can do for the girl.
“It’s too late to feed on anyone decent, now… I suppose you’ll have to wait till tomorrow night.”
“I-I don’t want to hurt anyone…”
she whispers, her eyes darting around the room nervously.
“Is there… is there someplace I could go? Someone I could feed on that wouldn’t mind?”
She looks at them hopefully, willing one of them to have an answer for her.
The thought of hurting an innocent creature fills her with dread, but she can’t deny the hunger that has been growing inside her since she woke up this evening.
An idea flashes through my mind. Ren shoots it down immediately.
“Absolutely not.”
I smoothly step over to him, shrugging blasély.
“I haven’t even said anything. What do you think I was going to suggest?”
“We’re not going to let her sample our or your blood alone. We barely know this woman. And no, Sei, you do not need a slave,” Ren tells me. I let it slide off my back.
“I told her that she would end up my thrall if she fed from me. So don’t worry about it.”
My words, and smile, are too smooth. But they don’t work on Ren. Even so, I don’t care. It’s just fun to exercise my charisma.
She glances between Sei and Ren, feeling confused and a little hurt by the argument she can sense between them.
“I… I’m sorry,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the sound of her racing heart. “I didn’t mean to upset anyone.”
Her gaze drifts around the room again, taking in everything she can see one last time before looking back at Sei.
“If… if there isn’t anywhere else for me to go…” She trails off, her voice thin and uncertain. “I could…”
_Plan-astral-8.webp)
“Oh, just stay the morning,”
Ren, Coda, and I all intone at the same time. The response-in-unison blows away Luna, almost sending her to the floor.
She blinks, taken aback by their unanimous reply.
“You’d… you’d let me stay?” she whispers, her voice hardly audible over the thundering of her heart. She glances at each of them in turn, unsure if she should believe them or not.
“I could help around here,” she offers hesitantly. “Clean, cook… whatever you need.” Anything to stay close to these people, even if just for a little while longer.
I smile wrily; Coda weakly stifles a breathless laugh at Luna’s suggestion to ‘cook’ for us.
“We have four bedrooms,” Ren explains. “There are now five of us, including you. You should either sleep on the sofa, or in Sei’s bed.”
I immediately step forward and volunteer. “Luna will sleep in my bed.”
“Well that settles it. You’ll sleep in Sei’s bed until further notice.”
Coda massages Luna’s hand again. “Oh, my. Are you homeless, dear?”
She looks at each of them in turn, feeling the weight of their gazes upon her.
“No… I had my own place,” she whispers, not meeting anyone’s eyes as she says it. “But everything was destroyed when…” She trails off, unable to finish the thought. The memories are too painful, and they threaten to overwhelm her at any moment.
She takes a deep breath, forcing herself to focus on something else. Anything else.
“Thank you,” she whispers, her voice small but steady now. “I…”
“So you are homeless. Sei, why did you bring home a homeless faster.”
“She wants to learn how to have sex,” I carelessly defend.
“What are you talking about? Look at this woman’s age. She clearly knows how sex occurs, what are you…” Ren trails off, falling silent. He then looks at me knowingly, and nods. A shared understanding. He has no further questions for me.
The repeated display of our seemingly telepathic understanding confounds Luna even more. The young vampire begins to feel twinges of dread, again, kept in the dark about our plans for her.
She looks at each of them in turn, feeling more confused than ever before. The unspoken words and exchanged glances leave her reeling, unsure of what to make of it all.
“I… I’m sorry if I’ve overstayed my welcome,” she whispers, looking down at the floor once more. “I can go if you want me to.”
Her heart feels like it’s going to beat right out of her chest, and she can feel tears stinging the backs of her eyes.
“No, you’re going to stay,” Ren states with the weight of finality. “Sei will take care of you. Good luck.”
Ren returns to his room, presumably, to do more writing. Coda gives me and Luna a knowing look, the significance of which is lost entirely on the latter. She also returns to her room, presumably, to play casual video games like Bejeweled. I look at Luna without a word. I take her hand, and lead her to my room, feeling no resistance on her part. Whatever she has to do to survive, and to find a home, she’ll do it.
She follows Sei silently, feeling lost and confused in the wake of their conversation. The touch of his hand on hers is comforting to some extent, but it doesn’t take away the sense of unease that settles in her stomach. She wonders what sort of game they're playing with her, and if she'll ever find a way out of this mess.
As they walk through the hall, she looks around cautiously, taking in the furniture and personal belongings scattered around.
“Is there… something I should know about you? Or your friends?” She asks hesitantly, not wanting to offend him or make things worse than they already seem to be.
“Not in particular.”
I open my bedroom door, allowing her in, first, before I close it behind us. My furnishings are as what someone might expect of me. The linens are white and luxurious, with a black, ornate duvet declared with delicate gold stands on my bed. Several bookcases, some mounted to the wall, are filled with books on human physiology, history, and the social repercussions of modern technology. There is no TV. There is a wide desk that allows me to write, paint, and draft with ample space. Mounted light fixtures on the ceiling attest to the romantic and sensual ambience that I must set in my room when I have to feed at home. Golden wine racks are mounted to the wall, along with a good amount of decorative mirrors in various sizes—some, very obviously, to enhance sexual liaisons.
She takes another look around the room, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the opulence and elegance of it all.
“I… I’m sorry if my life is so different from yours,” she whispers, her voice barely above a whisper now. “It must be strange for you to have someone like me here.”
Her gaze finally returns to Sei, searching his face for some clue as to what he thinks of her, or what he expects from their time together.
I don’t really respond to that. It doesn’t matter to me. I gesture for her to take a seat on the loveseat in my room. After she does so, I lower myself into the arm chair facing it. My hands are clasped together, and I’m hunched over, looking directly into her face.
“Who sired you?”
She hesitates for a moment before answering, unsure if she should reveal this information to him. But she supposes it doesn’t really matter now.
“It was… umm…”
She swallows hard, still finding it difficult to believe that someone like her could have been turned into a vampire.
“…it was Lyza.”
Her eyes flick downwards, avoiding Sei’s gaze as she says this.
I blink, but otherwise, I don’t react to that. There must be something about her body, her potential, that would’ve led Lyza to decide to make Luna her childe. Or maybe it was the big tiddies.
“All right. And how did your family die?”
Her heart skips a beat as she thinks about her family. The memories flood back to her, and she feels tears prick the corners of her eyes.
“They… they were all killed when I was out hunting—hunting vampires one night,” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the sound of her own heartbeat.
“I came home to find them dead… their throats torn open…”
Her words trail off as she struggles not to break down completely.
“Ah.”
I can see why someone would want to kill her family. But I don’t say that out loud. I don’t need Luna to cry more, right now.
“And how did you meet Lyza? How did she sire you?”
“I… I don’t really remember,” she whispers, still staring down at her hands in her lap. “One night we were fighting and I was… I was about to lose…”
Her voice trails off as she thinks about that terrible night. She can still feel the cold steel of Lyza’s fangs piercing her skin, the rush of power that surged through her veins when she drank from the older vampire.
She shudders at the memory, but doesn’t meet Sei’s gaze.
I click my lips, leaning back into my chair, slightly frustrated, partially shuttering my eyes under knit brows.
“And she didn’t tell you anything? About why she wanted to make you into a vampire? About vampires, in general?”
“No… no one ever did,” she whispers, her voice barely above a whisper now.
“I never even knew what vampires actually were like until that night.”
Her eyes flick up to meet his for a moment before dropping back down again, and she shrugs helplessly.
“I guess I should have asked… but everything happened so fast…”
She trails off, feeling more lost and confused than ever before. Being a vampire was supposed to make things better, give her the power to protect those she cared about…
I cross my arms, thinking hard to myself. I can see her toying around with Luna. But mistakenly siring her? Not finishing off a witness?
“Doesn’t sound like her…” I mutter.
“Well. I don’t know who killed your family, and maybe we’ll never find out. But it probably wasn’t Lyza. She doesn’t leave bodies like that.”
I shift my eyes back up to Luna again. These are all the answers I’ll get from her, tonight, so I’m ready to continue.
“You know why your family was murdered, right?”
She swallows hard before answering, her voice barely audible above the sound of her own heartbeat.
“I… I think so.”
She glances down at her hands again, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.
“They were just innocent people… trying to live their lives…”
Her voice trails off as she struggles to contain the anger and hurt that threaten to overwhelm her.
She looks up at Sei, searching his face for any hint of understanding or sympathy.
“Right. Those weak fasters your folks were out murdering every night, were just innocent people. Trying to live their lives.”
My eyes bore into her. I don’t have any sympathy for her. I just need her to understand.
“They probably had loved ones. One of them probably got fed up with their oath of pacifism and took it upon themselves to end your reign of terror.”
I watch her face, careful to see what emotions register across it.
She stares at him, her eyes wide and filled with horror as she begins to realize the truth of his words.
“No… no, that can’t be…”
She whispers, shaking her head vehemently.
“They were just trying to protect us! They didn’t know what they were doing!”
Tears stream down her face now, and she covers her mouth with her hands, struggling not to make a sound as sobs rack through her body.
I continue as the woman in front of me breaks down.
“Did your family have their blood drained, or were their throats only torn open, Luna?”
I lean closer in my chair.
“Think. Was their blood actually drained?"
She shudders violently at his words, the truth of it hitting her like a physical blow. Of course their blood was drained… that’s what vampires did. They killed innocent people and took what they wanted from them.
“No…”
she whispers, barely able to speak through her sobs.
“I never thought about it… No, it wasn’t…”
Her hands fall limply to her lap as she stares at the floor, images of her family flashing through her mind. The little girl who used to love pink dresses and dolls…
I lean back into my chair, satisfied with her realisation.
“That’s right. The person who killed your family wasn’t a vampire. It was a human, a mortal. Just like them.”
Her sobs quiet down as she takes in his words, her heart feeling as if it’s been torn out of her chest and stomped into the ground. The realization hits her like a ton of bricks; she’s not only killed innocent people herself, but she’s also been working to protect those who did the same thing. It all feels so wrong, so twisted.
She wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand, taking a shaky breath as she tries to compose herself.
“So…”
I get up from my armchair, and walk over to Luna. I place the back of my hand over her forehead… It drifts down to settle around her neck, softly resting on her jugular. If I could have a deeper taste of her, I might be able to figure out why Lyza decided to sire her, of all people…
Luna stares up at me in tear-stained wonder. She’s probably never been this close to a proper vampire before, save for the night of her Embrace, and the night of our first meeting. Her hands clutch nothing atop her lap. I can see her grip is weak. From awe, from silent terror.
“You’re a wretch, a mistake by your sire, persona non grata amongst both the living and dead. You deny the strength of blood and the gift of communion; and now you’re here, barely able to hold your own against fellow guttersnipes gone feral for want of food. I would’ve ended you already, if you hadn’t asked how you could make amends for your transgressions.”
I stare down at the pale waif below me.
“As the childe of my sire, it is my duty to deal with my bastard sibling…”
She swallows hard, feeling his touch sending shivers down her spine despite herself.
“I… I don’t know what to say,”
she whispers, her voice barely above a whisper now.
“You make me feel like such a monster.”
Tears well up in her eyes once more, threatening to spill over.
She looks away from him, unable to meet his gaze any longer. Her hands clench into fists on her lap as she tries to control herself, to keep from breaking down completely again.
“…You have a surprising amount of self-control. Maybe she saw that in you… Not every Pacifist can fast, even if they want to.”
I lay a hand on top of her head.
“You’re shockingly stupid, but you were naïve and indoctrinated. If you were raised properly, you would probably be an exemplar within vampire society.”
I grin predaciously, my fangs showing in the lamplight.
Her eyes widen at his words, and she looks up at him with surprise etched into her features.
“I… I could?”
She whispers, doubt still clouding her voice.
“But I’ve done so much harm…”
Her voice trails off as she thinks about all the people she’s killed over the years.
She shakes her head slowly, tears streaming down her face once more.
“It’s too late for me… Isn’t it?”
“Two decades is a short time, and you have eternity before you.”
I look over her shuddering form. It shouldn’t be possible for a fledgling to fast, and retain their humanity. She should’ve gone into a blood-frenzy after starving immediately after turning undead, but she didn’t. Luna’s clearly special. So why would Lyza leave her wrapped up in ignorance—all alone in the night?
I return to my chair, thinking. From her descriptions, and her own frailty, there’s no doubt that the vampires that Luna had been hunting had not been disciplined Ascetics. Instead, they were roving wretches who didn’t know how to hunt, or lacked the stomach to seize the reins of their own destinies, until the terror of Death’s Final Embrace drove them mad, and reduced them to nothing but beasts. This waif, in front of me, seems weak—and of physical strength, she is. But her will… …As much as she whispers, and as much as her voice falters, she steels herself. She had done this for two decades, alone.
The clock in my wall ticks, filling the silence. Luna sits there, wondering what it is running through her mind, unable to comprehend my calculations.
She listens quietly as he speaks, surprised by his words and the way they make her feel. Could she really be someone special? Someone who could change vampire society for the better? The thought both terrifies and thrills her in equal measure.
As she reflects over her past life, Luna hesitates before voicing her thoughts.
“I… I didn’t know any better,” she whispers, looking down at her hands in her lap.
“I was raised to believe that vampires were monsters, the worst kind of evil… I just thought I was doing what was right.”
She pauses, taking a deep breath before continuing.
“But now I know better. And I want to make things right. To prove that not all vampires are like my parents said they were…”
Her voice trails off, and she looks up at Sei hopefully, searching his face for any sign of understanding or approval.
“How long can you go between feedings, Luna?”
My line of questioning doesn’t relent. It’s clear that she’s been searching for acceptance and love—for decades, now—but I’m not about to shower her with sweetness or affection until she’s earned it from me.
“I… I don’t know,”
she whispers, looking down at her hands again.
“A month? Maybe longer if I had to?”
Her voice trails off and she shrugs helplessly, not wanting to admit how little control she has over this part of herself.
The thought of feeding on someone terrifies her more than anything else in the world. Killing someone… Taking their life force from them… She’s done it before, but only because she believed they were monsters like her parents said.
I grip the armrest of my chair tightly, knuckles turning white as I stare at her in shock.
“Wait… Do you… Have you been eating the vampires you’ve killed, Luna?” A wave of repulsed surprise washes over me, as that possibility comes to the foreground.
“Have you mostly been devouring kin this whole time?”
She stares at him in horror, her eyes widening as the full implication of his words sink in.
“No… no, I wouldn’t…”
she whispers shakily, fighting back tears of anger and shame.
“I mean, sometimes they were already dead when I found them… but I never meant to kill anyone!”
Her hands clench into fists on her lap as she struggles to control herself, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She can’t believe what he’s suggesting—that she would do such a thing… but as the words leave her lips, she knows that deep down, that is the truth to a fellow vampire. She has killed so many vampires over the years… and sometimes they were already dead when she found them. The thought of feeding on their bodies, taking what little life force remained in them… It fills her with revulsion now that she truly understands what she’s been doing.
She looks up at Sei, her eyes filled with tears once more.
“I-I don’t know what to say…”
I cover my mouth, almost wanting to vomit. Not only has she been eating the vampires she’s hunted, she’s mostly been eating dead vampires who have starved to death. The girl I took for a beggar has actually been a vulture of the dead, and of thin, and dying blood, no less…
And I ate that? I bit into that? That night, when my wolf’s maw sunk into her flesh, and tasted sweet basil… That was the taste of rot? I had that in my mouth?
My stomach is churning—after the kind of life I had lived, I could never have thought I could feel this way. Nausea. And whilst undead, too… Part of me is laughing internally… The other part, completely consumed with revulsion and disgust. It’s actually going to take me a little while to regain my composure.
She shudders violently at his reaction, her stomach churning with revulsion as she realizes the truth of what she’s been doing.
“I-I didn’t know…” she whispers, tears streaming down her face unchecked. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Her hands shake as she wipes at her eyes and nose, trying to compose herself. She looks up at Sei, searching his face for some sign of understanding or forgiveness, but finds only disgust and horror written there.
“Somebody has to do it.”
The room fills with the smell of sweet basil. A familiar voice rings out behind me: the self-possessed, spirited peal filling the room like an unnatural light.
“Lyza…”
I swiftly stand to greet her—
—My Sire. Lyza, the Great Reformer, a vampiress formerly known for mass bloodshed, relentless in her conquest of power, and gleeful in her revelries of violence, which she called ‘vindication’ for the transgressions committed against her in mortal life. She drank so much blood in an ancient war that her eyes turned black, leaving her gaze with crescent-like irises peeking out from black sclera. Her accumulated radiance is to the point where it can counteract the Sun; she can step out in all hours, freely, without discomfort.
I bow down to her in obeisance, resting on one knee. Diminutive as she is, she wears her radiance like the Sun wears its rays, and I feel the creeping on my skin simply by being in her presence. I would not want to look up at her, even if propriety did not compel a bow.
“Welcome. What brings you to my abode, Sire? What can I do for you?”
I utter the words in genuine fealty, without having looked up at her once.
Luna’s breath stops as soon as she hears Lyza’s voice. Her sire… the one who turned her into a vampire all those years ago. She looks up at Lyza with wide eyes, hope and fear warring in her chest. But when she sees the way Sei reacts to her presence, it snuffs out any chance of happiness.
She swallows hard, feeling like she’s been punched in the gut.
“Lyza…” she whispers, hardly able to form the words. “I…”
Lyza waves a hand, instantly silencing Luna with supernatural will. She can no longer speak, nor open her mouth, unless granted permission to by her sire.
“With someone like Luna prowling the streets, the bodies of failed vampires are cleaned up. They’re practically like any other mortal corpse, now, and will decompose naturally.”
“Indeed, Sire.”
“Arise.”
Lyza gestures, and I naturally rise to my feet. Encouraged by her address, I am able to look upon her in her full, supernatural splendour. The vampiress who sired me in Los Angeles, four years ago, and who taught me the ways of the succubus and the incubus: physical, vital communion, an exchange of energies via sex. After three years of being under her wing, she Released me; and I have been a fully fledged vampire ever since.
As far as mundane appearances go, she has chosen not to change much from who she was from her mortal life: she is still not an inch over five feet tall, still has the voice of a young girl only just emerging out into the world, still with delicate, shapely breasts and hair that cannot be kept too short or will look like straw. Her hair has been dyed deep purple, and her nails are a glittering silver, and filed to a softened point so as to bring pleasure to the men whose backs they rake. A haughty smile forms the shape of her girlish lips, tinged with the slight madness that comes with a power-high.
Luna feels her body stiffen and freeze as Lyza’s voice fills the room, as if she were nothing more than a doll being manipulated by some unseen hand. She looks down from her sire with tears streaming down her face, fear and shame warring within her. When Sei obeys without question or hesitation, it only serves to confirm everything Luna has ever thought about vampires: they were monsters, beings who cared for nothing but their own power and amusement.
I sniff, annoyed as the smell of insolence fills the room from my sofa, and turn to Luna. I can smell the fear on her again.
“SHOW RESPECT TO YOUR SIRE!”
My voice booms louder than the girl expected, and my force of presence actually does something to the girl despite Lyza’s own preeminence weighing down on her and suppressing her freedom of motion. Luna shrivels up even more at my command, a wilting wallflower of fear in my sofa.
Even if Luna could open her mouth to apologise, she’d be unable to find the words to express how humiliated and betrayed she feels in this moment. Her eyes dart back and forth between the feet of Lyza and Sei, searching for some sign of understanding or compassion, but finding only cold disdain, and the details of the rug underneath their feet.
She wants nothing more than to disappear, to melt away into the shadows where nobody can see her shame.
I return to Lyza.
“So you did not leave her unattended for two decades?”
“No, I led her to find either only the wretches, the failures, or the careless who would compromise our world and be discovered. All weaklings and parasites, every one of them.”
Lyza strolls forward regally, her dark form settling into the armchair I had just sat upon. I swallow, excited that she would sit in my chair. I follow and take a seat next to Luna on the sofa, sitting respectfully in front of our sire. Lyza continues speaking.
“I made sure Liam was around to pass her my blood, when there was nothing for her to gorge on.”
I nod, relieved that everything was under control. But, of course it was. This was Lyza, and this was Lyza’s domain, after all.
Lyza waves her hand again, allowing Luna to speak.
“Sire… I-I’m so sorry.”
Luna whispers, her voice barely audible over the sound of her heart hammering in her chest.
“I never meant to bring shame upon you or our kind. I just wanted to protect people…”
She trails off, looking down at her hands once more.
Her entire life has been turned upside down in the span of a few short moments. Everything she’s ever believed about herself and vampires is being called into question, and she doesn’t know how to process it all.
“Are you kidding? you’ve been great!"
Lyza leans forward in her—my chair, eyes wide with glee and good cheer.
“Thanks to you, vampiric society has been saved! Saved from the inconvenience of having to deal with the most contrarian, of the ‘counterculturists’. That generation of vampires has always been a thorn in Our side! And, it allows us to dispose of undead dead bodies, too!”
She claps her hands in delight. I turn my attention away from Luna, back to my sire.
“Oh…?”
I smile, once the realisation dawns on me. Lyza claps her hands in pleasure, beaming and squinting her usual, bright vampiric smile.
“Yes, Sei-Sei and Lu-Lu, the bodies of the undead have always been a special hassle to deal with. There aren’t many places we can just do a day-burning, anymore. And even if we could just burn them in the Mall of America, that’s not very ethical. We are very serious about our air quality standards and air pollution in Minneapolis, after all. It is, after all, why we moved from L.A.”
She nods sagely, and I nod in agreement.
“Yes. Especially with the Canadian wildfires in recent years; we do not need to add to the smoke. That was an excellent plan of yours to maintain the Façade and the Air Quality Index, Sire.” I bow respectfully to her sagacity.
The shock of Lyza’s words leaves her speechless. She can hardly believe what she’s just heard: that her years of slaughtering innocents have actually been a service to vampire society. The realization hits her like a punch in the gut, and she feels sick all over again.
As Lyza continues speaking about air quality and pollution, Luna finally finds her voice.
“But… but I killed innocent people too…”
Her eyes fill with tears once more as she struggles to come to terms with what she’s done.
Lyza waves her hand dismissively.
“Ohhhhh no, they were losers from St. Paul.”
She grins at Luna, her smile a white brocade of shining teeth and fangs. She leans in close, yapping on conspiratorially in the way that only girls of her pep and effervescence can do.
“And did you really think they were going to last long? Mere bullets felled them! Bullets! Any vampire who dies from a gunshot wound instead of a wooden stake is on the verge of un-undeath, anyway.”
I laugh, joining in her merriment.
“Ah, yeah, that night I ran from Luna, Sire, I didn’t want the city to have to install a gunshot triangulation tower there, too—not in the North Loop. They can keep that shit in St. Paul!”
Luna tries to laugh along with them, but it comes out more like a strangled gasp. She can’t believe what she’s hearing; that her years of slaughtering innocents have been nothing more than a necessary evil. The thought sickens her, but at the same time, she can’t help but feel a twisted sense of pride in being part of something greater than herself.
Her gaze flickers between Lyza and Sei, studying them both intently.
Lyza rises from her chair, approaching Luna, and taking her hand. I stiffen (my hand) because I also want to be touched.
“Luna Al-Fulani. I release you from bondage. You are no longer a fledgling: but a full-fledged vampire.”
I immediately fall silent, becoming serious as I look on. So that’s how she did it… Even with two decades of no contact, the blood-bondage would persist, thanks to Liam giving her a steady supply of her sweet blood.
Luna’s heart races as Lyza speaks, her hand trembling in the older vampire’s grasp. She feels a thrill of power and freedom course through her veins, replacing the shame and guilt that have haunted her for so long. As she looks up at Lyza, the admiration and devotion in her eyes are unmistakable.
“Thank you, Sire.”
Luna whispers hoarsely, feeling a newfound sense of purpose and belonging welling up inside her.
I lend Luna a smile, for once. It might actually be the first time I’ve given her something on the level of a comrade, an equal. The air in the room changes. Everything feels lighter, better. And now I understand why Luna tasted so good…
The weight of the world seems to lift from her shoulders as Lyza releases her from bondage. She looks up at the Elder Vampire with an expression that is equal parts awe and gratitude. For the first time in years, she feels like she belongs to something more than just herself.
Her gaze shifts over to Sei, and she can’t help but feel a newfound respect for him as well. He was right all along; Luna looks up at Sei, her eyes meeting his. There’s a new understanding there, a recognition of the bond they share as vampires. For the first time, she feels like she can trust him, that he won’t judge her for everything she’s done in the past. A small smile tugs at the corner of her mouth.
“I… I thank you too, Sei.”
She swallows hard, still feeling a bit awkward around him despite their newfound closeness.
“You were right about so many things.”
“And I… I want to make it up to you.”
Her voice is soft and sincere, her gaze locked on his face.
“I don’t want to be the monster everyone thinks I am. I want to find a way for us all to live together, in peace.”
There’s a vulnerability in her words that she hasn’t shown anyone before.
She takes a deep breath, steeling herself for his reaction.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to prove myself to you… and to Lyza.”
Lyza nods, the seriousness of Luna’s commitment reflected in her gesture. She let some moments pass, taking in a deep breath just so she could sigh dramatically.
“Well. You’re a virgin. You ought to have your first time taken by someone meaningful to you, not by the one-night stand you’re going to feed on. Why not Sei?”
She turns to me, as I’m voluntold to take the ‘younger’ vampire’s virginity. “He’s a good fuck. He can make you cum. Don’t worry about it,” Lyza says, brushing off any concerns Luna may have about me pounding her.
Luna’s face flushes crimson at the mention of her virginity. She looks to Sei, trying to gauge his reaction. His expression is neutral, and she can’t help but wonder if he would consent to this. There’s a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes as she meets his gaze.
“I… I trust you, Sei.”
Her voice is barely above a whisper, her words laced with both fear and desire.
“If that’s what you want…”
I nod.
“Sure. You owe me, after all.”
I say the words easily, and glance at Lyza. She gives a small nod.
“I’ll do it on one condition. You drink from me, and become my thrall.”
I grin at Luna, my eyes and mouth hungry at the prospect. “I could use a slave.”
“Anything…”
Luna whispers, her voice trembling with need and desire. She stretches out her hand towards Sei, offering herself to him completely.
“I’ll do anything you ask.”
Her eyes meet his, filled with a newfound obedience and submission. She closes her fingers around his wrist, feeling the heat of his skin against her palm.
As she feels the newfound desire surge through her veins, Luna knows that this is only the beginning. From now on, she belongs to Sei.