The Art of Being a Vampire, page 4
“There’s
nothing
so dumb
as young
love.”
I didn’t like this.
It reminded me too much
of Grams.
Saying how
Mama loved
my Daddy
stupid.
But before
I could
think on that
further, Tallie
linked
her arm
through mine.
Pulled me into
the dark sitting room.
“Alrighty,
then.
Might as
well make
it official
while your
feet are hot.”
“Wait. Now?”
Brandt asked,
trailing behind us.
She ignored him.
Shoved me into
a threadbare chair.
She continued,
“Right then,
here it is
straight out.
We gotta
nice system
going on
with the
local junkies
round here.
See,
Sid and I got
unusual hungers.
And, junkies, well
they got hungers
of their own.
So tit for tat,
we help ones
like ’em
keep well satisfied.
Making sure they
get their high
nice
and
safe
and
clean.
Meanwhile they
give us
a little of what
we need
when we
need it.”
I worried I’d
stumbled into
some sorta
human
trafficking
type of thing.
I looked
to Brandt.
Wanting
him to
tell me
it was
gonna be
okay.
“What is this?”
I asked.
Biting his lip,
he turned
to Tallie.
“Stop being
mean.
You know
she doesn’t
understand,”
Brandt said.
“You gotta
show her,
and then
let her
decide.”
Tallie scoffed.
“Let her decide?
That part’s
all done with.
She
made
her
choice.
All that’s left
now
is to
make
her.”
“Make Me What?”
I asked.
Anger
now mixing
with the fear.
My stomach twisted.
Cold spread all
up and down
my spine.
Tallie picked
up a bell sitting
on the table
beside her.
She rang it
ruthlessly.
Almost
immediately,
three junkies
came running in.
A woman,
maybe 20,
went right to Sid.
Rolled up the
sleeve on her
right arm.
Stuck it
under Sid’s nose.
A slow smile
creased his face.
His smile was
an awful thing.
Sharp
yellow
teeth.
His eyes came alive
with something
that had not even
a tiny bit of
pretty
or good
or kind
in it.
Sid smiled ugly.
Evil.
And it scared me
straight down
to my
toes.
I’d Seen Videos of Snakes
So still and unmoving
until a meal
presented
itself.
And then—
they
STRUCK.
Sid was like that.
His teeth—
no, his
fangs—
sank into
the crook
of the
junkie’s arm.
The woman
jerked when
he struck
but then
went still
as he began
to . . .
suck.
There was
nothing
else he
could’ve
been doing
other than
drinking the
blood straight
outta her.
I could see
his throat
working.
Swallowing.
His eyes
had closed.
The look on his face . . .
Well, I knew
that look.
I’d seen it
on Mama.
It was peace.
It was coming home
to the only place
where she’d
ever truly been happy.
It was getting
high.
I’ll Never Forget After
How Tallie laughed
with her
red-stained lips.
While blood
dripped
from her chin.
“You should
see the look on
yer face.”
I’d been
so focused
on Sid.
I hadn’t even noticed that she’d—
— That she’d
— That she’d
— That she’d —
I didn’t know
what to name it.
The thing
Sid and Tallie
were doing.
Or I did
know,
but wanted
to play dumb.
Because
naming would
make it real.
And I wanted this
to be
a bad
b dream.
I’d already seen
enough in this
world
to know
it was full of
living nightmares.
And this
was surely
one of ’em.
In that dark room,
Sid and Tallie
drank
fed
feasted
on the blood
of another person.
Their teeth
like needles
finding the vein.
Taking instead of delivering.
For her and Sid,
the junkies were the drug,
and they were the addicts.
“Help.”
I croaked
out the
word.
Or maybe
it was
a prayer.
A plea.
I stood and
my legs
wobbled
beneath me.
My head swam.
“Help,”
I said again.
This time looking to
Brandt. He stood,
coming toward me.
Arms outstretched.
I fell
into them.
And then
everything
went white
before
finally
falling
away.
I Dreamt
I was in the
darkroom at school,
carefully developing photos.
For some reason,
I couldn’t
remember
what I’d
photographed.
And no matter
how I tried,
the pictures
remained
blank.
I must have
exposed
the film.
Ruining them,
turning what mighta
been beautiful
into a
nothing—
a blank.
Later, I Woke
An awful
metallic taste
in my mouth.
I was lying
on a bed.
My clothes
damp with
sweat.
For several
long moments,
I couldn’t
recall
anything.
Not even
my own
name.
I was
as blank
as the film
in my
dream.
But
too soon,
images
from the
previous
night
rushed in.
One after
another.
Overlapping
one horror
over the
next.
More than
anything,
I wanted
to be told
there’d been
a gas leak.
Or I’d been
poisoned—
something,
anything,
to explain
away
what I’d seen.
My hand
lifted,
touching
my neck.
It came
away
bloody.
I Stood Carefully
Afraid of
fainting
again.
But my legs
stayed solid
beneath me.
With my
hand pressed
to my neck,
I took a
few steps
to the mirror
over the
old dresser.
A gasp
escaped me
when I saw the
chunk of flesh
missing from
my neck.
My horrified
face
stared back
at me.
Ghostly pale.
Even my lips
had gone
white.
All the
blood that
should’ve
been coloring
my face
instead stained
the front of
my shirt.
And more blood
was still
coming out
of me.
How was
I still alive?
Or . . .
maybe I wasn’t.
“Wakey, Wakey.”
The door
swung open.
Tallie barged in.
“Oh good,
yer up,”
she said and then
plunked
a mug down
on the dresser
in front of me.
“Here you are—
the drink of life,”
she said.
“Drink up.”
The mug held
not coffee
or milk,
but blood.
Red and thick.
Like a bottle of
cough syrup.
It shoulda
made me
gag.
Instead,
my stomach
growled
and my mouth
watered.
Right then,
I coulda fought it.
Coulda thrown that mug
in Tallie’s grinning face.
But I didn’t.
Instead I clasped
the mug
with two hands
brought it to my lips
and drank it down
to the
last
d
r
o
p.
I’m Not a Saint
I never
wanted
to be
like
Mama.
At the same time,
there was some . . .
curiosity.
Which is to say,
there were
a few times
I flirted
with substance
abuse.
At seven,
I drank the
clear liquid
at the bottom
of a bottle.
Puked it all up.
At 10,
Mama’s boyfriend Jakey
moved in for a bit.
He’d pass me
his vape pen
and I’d take it.
And last year,
there were
pills left
behind on the
kitchen table
after a party.
I was bored.
And lonely.
I took two.
Lost that day
and the next.
The days were just . . .
gone.
All those times,
I think what I really wanted
was to understand
what it was that Mama
loved so much.
Loved more than me.
Now though,
with a belly
full of blood,
I finally
got it.
Mama didn’t
choose
the drug.
It chose her.
It owned her.
It called her
like them
sirens from
Greek myths.
It only took
one sip
to understand
everything.
I used to
belong
to myself.
But not anymore.
Now . . .
the blood
owned me.
The V Word
Brandt visited me
that first day
when I was
still reeling.
Right after Tallie
had given me
my first feeding.
After a cautious
tap at my door,
he came right in.
Sat at the end of
my bed,
where I was
already curled
up into a
miserable ball.
“They did it
to me, too,”
he said by way
of greeting.
“Why?”
I asked,
trying to understand.
“I wanted them to do it,”
he said.
Both a smile and sneer
twisted his lips.
“Practically
begged them.
About a year
and a half ago,
my father hit me.
Knocked a tooth
right outta my head.”
He paused.
“That’s when
I decided
that I’d had
enough of it.
I wanted
to be
stronger.
I wanted
to be
bigger.
Better
than he
could ever be.”
I nodded.
I understood this.
“How’d you
know about them?
Sid and Tallie.
And what
they are . . .”
“My cousin, Finn,
was into drugs.
He found
Sid and Tallie—”
I interrupted,
“What are they
anyway?
The only thing
I keep thinking
is—”
Brandt’s hand
covered my mouth.
Gently.
Leaning in,
he warned,
“Never use
the V word.
Something
about it
triggers Sid.
He goes
plain crazy.
Tearing up and into
anything
in his way.”
I don’t doubt
that Sid is capable
of destruction
and terror.
“Don’t try
any Transylvanian
accents, either.”
Leaning in
even closer,
he whispered,
“I vant to dreenk
your blud.”
I giggled.
Surprised
to hear
the sound
come out of
me.
That I could
laugh at this
seemed so wrong.
And yet also . . .
it was a relief.
“Okay,”
I answered,
my lips
brushing against
the inside of
his palm.
Air gusted out
of him.
Brandt’s fingers
stroked my cheek
before he pulled
his hand away.
“You’re warm,”
he observed.
“It’s always
that way after
you drink.
It warms
you from
the inside out.
Then you
start going cold.
Then colder still
with every hour
that passes.”
“And then?”
I whispered the question.
Again that twist of his lips.
“Then you drink again.”
He stood.
I was tempted
to pull at his hand.
Instead, I asked,
“But then what are we?”
Brandt sighed.
“We’re immortal.
We’re strong.
We need blood.”
So far, none of that
sounded too bad.
“What about daylight?
Will it burn us?”
I asked.
“Nah,” Brandt said,
“it’s just sorta hard on
your eyes sometimes.”
“So what’s the downside?”
I asked.
Brandt frowned.
“The hunger.
You don’t know,
not yet, but you will.
From now on, you don’t
belong anywhere—except here.”
I didn’t understand.
“You’ll see,”
Brandt said.
“You’ll see, and then
you’ll wish I’d never
brought
you
here.”
And with that
he left.
Over the Next Few Days
I was like
a baby
again.
