He swayed, his body going semi-boneless. Jack and Aaron propped him against the now-closed door and raised his wrists to their mouths.
“Perfect,” I murmured, feeling the fangs at the edges of my lips, identifying the pulsing vein at his neck. I tipped the kid’s chin up and bit. Hot, fresh blood surged against my tongue. Bliss.
I only had a few swallows. Three, four. Not really a meal, but enough to keep me going. That was what this was about. I drew away because I had to, because we could only live like this if we didn’t leave dead bodies lying around like cardboard boxes. I licked the wound so that it would heal. It wouldn’t even leave a mark.
The others did the same at his wrists. They might have taken a few more sips than they really should have. It was always hard to stop, but they knew the drill and pulled away before anybody needed to call 911.
We set the kid on the floor while I knelt beside him, slapping his cheek lightly.
“Hey, kid, you okay? You must have fainted. You had a little bit of a fall there.”
Blinking dazedly, he woke up, looked around at us staring down at him with nothing but concern.
“You okay?” I asked again.
“Yeah… uh, I don’t know what happened… must have fainted…”
“That’s it exactly, you must have fainted.” He blinked into my gaze, and understanding slowly filled him. “You want us to call a ambulance?” I sounded truly worried.
“No, no that’s okay. I’m fine.” He propped himself against the door and struggled to his feet. “Just a little woozy.”
“Hey, get him some water—”
Aaron was already there with a bottle. That was the routine.
“You going to be okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine… I just… I’m really sorry about that.”
I gave him a kind smile. “Not at all. Just as long as you’re okay. Here’s your money.”
He took the cash and water, wandered out. Aaron and I watched to make sure he made it back to his car okay. We saved the pizza for a homeless shelter a couple of blocks down the street.
The delivery guy drank half the water bottle before reaching his car. He’d never remember what really happened to him. We gave him a really big tip. We always did.
EATING AS A vampire wasn’t even really like eating. It was… energizing. More like getting a good night’s sleep. Or falling in love.
An hour before dawn, there was no point in starting another game, and Aaron hadn’t gone back to his room, which left us all crashed out on the sofa, digesting.
Jack said, “So I was leaving the club tonight…”
“With Jenn?”
“Just walking her home. Honest.”
“Right. And?”
“Something kind of weird happened.”
That meant weirder than being turned into a vampire in a rogue vampire rampage and then going to clubs to hit on girls by acting like the hero of a vampire romance. Even Jack had some idea of the actual weirdness of it all. I raised an eyebrow, indicating he should continue.
In reply, he handed me a plain business card. Aaron read over my shoulder.
Clarissa Carter
Freelance Journalist
“This for real? What’d she want?”