Blood Donor
Chapter 7
I had a pretty normal childhood. Well, as normal as you can get in Jersey anyway. Never allowed to go outside. Made up stories all the time. My little brother Mikey became my best friend. Ironically, most of the stories I made up involved vampires. People called me one due to my dark hair and pale complexion, so I started wanting that life. Wish I could go back and tell the younger me that he’s crazy.
I remember when the truth hit home. Vampires were real. Who would have ever seen that one coming? Stories were meant to stay stories, not jump into reality. Mom was really skeptical at first. She started out thinking that it was all an elaborate hoax. Made Mikey and I walk to school every day no matter how hard we begged. And then they got my grandma.
Elena was really the sweetest grandma in the world. The one who baked cookies for you on a rainy day just to make you feel better about not being able to play outside. The one who would stay up late telling you scary stories even though your mom strictly told her not too. Yeah, she was that grandma. And I guess that sweetness found its way into her blood, because they found her drained on the street one day.
“Wait,” Frank interrupts me, “So, do different people have different flavors?”
I nod, “Yeah.”
“What do I taste like?”
I have to think hard on that one. I know he tastes amazing, but that’s not really a flavor. What would describe the flavor of Frank Iero? “I guess kinda tangy? But with a sorta sweet aftertaste. And a kick that I can’t really put my finger on.”
He nods, “Alright, continue.”
After that, Mom took all the precautions. She drove us to school and wouldn’t let us go back for a full week if a kid from our class got killed. It didn’t happen often, though. They were still few in number. A couple of rogues who decided they were tired of hiding in the shadows. The government wasn’t doing anything about it yet. They just thought some serial killer was on the loose. It was to be expected. The big guys never really pull their heads out of their asses.
Anyway, it progressively got worse and worse. Soon people were boarding up houses and buying as many crucifixes as they could get their hands on. Being the expert that I was, I advised Mom in all the tricks I knew. I didn’t know about any of the myths, so I just threw everything out there. Silver, garlic, crosses, wooden stakes. Everything. And our house seemed to be safe for a while. Years, even.
But we still had to go outside. People can’t survive without food. Plus, Mikey and I were still growing and needed clothes often. In order to pay for these things, Mom and Dad still had to work. I always made sure they had pockets full of garlic. Mikey, too. God, I was dumb. That shit never worked. It was sheer luck that any of us survived as long as we did. The attack was inevitable. I should have known that, instead of being so sure of my wards.
I was just starting my third year of college when it happened. I was in a painting class. Uh, it was an art school, as a side note. I received a text from Mikey with just one letter: V. I didn’t really have to wonder what it stood for. Nobody would have. I just stood up and ran out of the room. I had no idea where he was, and that scared the shit out of me. I drove around the neighborhood for almost an hour before I found him.
One of the vamps had just finished feeding. Mikey was so pale, but I could tell that he was conscious, barely. I ran my car into the disgusting thing that was holding him. It hissed at me before running away. I wasted no time in getting out of my car and trying to bring Mikey into it. He stopped me though. Told me he knew he didn’t have much time left and that the hospital couldn’t help.
Then he made a really heavy request of me. He made me, made me promise him that…Should I get taken down and turned into a vampire…I wouldn’t kill. I made a promise to suppress my instincts as a beast. And then he died in my arms. That was the day I stopped using the term “vampire.” It’s just downplays how horrible they are. We are. They took my baby brother from me.
I can’t help myself then. I break down in sobs. Sobs with no tears because of what a monster I am. I feel Frank put an arm around me, and I lean into his touch. He makes small shushing sounds until I calm down. Then he just lets me sit for a bit.
“That sounds terrible,” he says after a while, “I can’t even imagine it.”
“You don’t want to,” I say plainly. It still takes a while before I can go on.
I went on a mourning streak. I holed myself up in my mom’s basement. That was where my room was as a kid. I stayed there for two years wallowing in my own sadness and self-pity. Mom was fine with it. She had been hounding me to move back in, and we all kind of needed to be around someone after losing Mikey. Eventually, though, when I was twenty-three, I decided it was time to finish art school. Move on with my life.
And I did. I got my degree when I was twenty four and started a job with Cartoon Network. I couldn’t believe it at the time. Why would they want someone as crappy as me? But they did. I had to move to New York, against my mom’s wishes. And now I think that was the worst decision I ever made. Even after what happened with Mikey, I still thought I was above the vampires. I thought they could never hurt me because I was too smart.
And I did stay safe for a whole year. I only travelled on sunny days. I stayed indoors at night. I carried silver dust in my pocket. I had made it myself out of a ring I had gotten when I was younger. And they stayed away. Problem is, I took up drinking. I got too drunk for my own good sometimes. The fact that I didn’t die sooner is a miracle. I somehow always had someone there to keep me out of trouble.
One night I got careless. Plastered is more like it. And I went out into the streets, just like you did that one night. I wasn’t lucky enough to have a friendly stranger find me. Malicious is a more proper term. She was a beautiful temptress. Introduced herself all proper. Lindsey was her name. I should have known something was up. Beautiful women didn’t talk to me. They just didn’t. But I believed her when she said I was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. She invited me to a hotel room. And I followed.
I guess I should give her some credit. It wasn’t really all a ruse. She did have sex with me. I can’t say I enjoyed it though. She was way too rough. When it all was over, she cuddled up into my side and made me an offer. She wanted to spend eternity with me. Promised that she would be right there when the transformation was done. I told her to fuck off. I lost my brother to leeches. No way was I losing my life, too.
She didn’t like that. She attacked me and bit into my neck. Thus proving that those stories where blood sucking is pleasurable are complete bullshit. She drank deeply and I knew she wasn’t going to stop. I could feel my life slipping away, but she stopped with just a little bit of fight left in me. She used her teeth to dig into her own wrist and held it to my mouth. She commanded me to drink, and my body moved on its own.
I had to have drunk several pints, even though it tasted awful and smelled worse. I could feel the venom taking effect almost immediately. It lit up my adrenaline, and I ran. I ran to my car and drove as fast as I could toward home. I made it to the outskirts of Jersey before it became too much. I had to get out of my car. It was too dangerous to drive. I stumbled to a nearby alleyway and collapsed. It was painful, burning agony, and it eventually became too much.
I passed out and woke up later with no idea how much time had passed. I decided to stay there as a way to keep my promise to Mikey. And you know the rest from there.
“No I don’t,” he says.
I smile, “I stayed hidden until that day you walked by. The second time I saw you I started walking around outside without actually doing anything. That’s it.”
He shakes his head, “I mean you said ‘I should have let Mikey change her.’ I don’t understand what you meant.
“Oh, that. I didn’t plan on that. You see, the guy who drained Mikey came back after I was gone and changed him. Now he’s a bloodthirsty beast that I don’t even recognize anymore.”
“But you’re still keeping your promise to him?”
I smile, “It was really more of a promise to myself. Besides, I kind of think of you as a friend now. A strange, masochistic friend.”
His face lights up at that, “Really? I’m glad.”
I remember when the truth hit home. Vampires were real. Who would have ever seen that one coming? Stories were meant to stay stories, not jump into reality. Mom was really skeptical at first. She started out thinking that it was all an elaborate hoax. Made Mikey and I walk to school every day no matter how hard we begged. And then they got my grandma.
Elena was really the sweetest grandma in the world. The one who baked cookies for you on a rainy day just to make you feel better about not being able to play outside. The one who would stay up late telling you scary stories even though your mom strictly told her not too. Yeah, she was that grandma. And I guess that sweetness found its way into her blood, because they found her drained on the street one day.
“Wait,” Frank interrupts me, “So, do different people have different flavors?”
I nod, “Yeah.”
“What do I taste like?”
I have to think hard on that one. I know he tastes amazing, but that’s not really a flavor. What would describe the flavor of Frank Iero? “I guess kinda tangy? But with a sorta sweet aftertaste. And a kick that I can’t really put my finger on.”
He nods, “Alright, continue.”
After that, Mom took all the precautions. She drove us to school and wouldn’t let us go back for a full week if a kid from our class got killed. It didn’t happen often, though. They were still few in number. A couple of rogues who decided they were tired of hiding in the shadows. The government wasn’t doing anything about it yet. They just thought some serial killer was on the loose. It was to be expected. The big guys never really pull their heads out of their asses.
Anyway, it progressively got worse and worse. Soon people were boarding up houses and buying as many crucifixes as they could get their hands on. Being the expert that I was, I advised Mom in all the tricks I knew. I didn’t know about any of the myths, so I just threw everything out there. Silver, garlic, crosses, wooden stakes. Everything. And our house seemed to be safe for a while. Years, even.
But we still had to go outside. People can’t survive without food. Plus, Mikey and I were still growing and needed clothes often. In order to pay for these things, Mom and Dad still had to work. I always made sure they had pockets full of garlic. Mikey, too. God, I was dumb. That shit never worked. It was sheer luck that any of us survived as long as we did. The attack was inevitable. I should have known that, instead of being so sure of my wards.
I was just starting my third year of college when it happened. I was in a painting class. Uh, it was an art school, as a side note. I received a text from Mikey with just one letter: V. I didn’t really have to wonder what it stood for. Nobody would have. I just stood up and ran out of the room. I had no idea where he was, and that scared the shit out of me. I drove around the neighborhood for almost an hour before I found him.
One of the vamps had just finished feeding. Mikey was so pale, but I could tell that he was conscious, barely. I ran my car into the disgusting thing that was holding him. It hissed at me before running away. I wasted no time in getting out of my car and trying to bring Mikey into it. He stopped me though. Told me he knew he didn’t have much time left and that the hospital couldn’t help.
Then he made a really heavy request of me. He made me, made me promise him that…Should I get taken down and turned into a vampire…I wouldn’t kill. I made a promise to suppress my instincts as a beast. And then he died in my arms. That was the day I stopped using the term “vampire.” It’s just downplays how horrible they are. We are. They took my baby brother from me.
I can’t help myself then. I break down in sobs. Sobs with no tears because of what a monster I am. I feel Frank put an arm around me, and I lean into his touch. He makes small shushing sounds until I calm down. Then he just lets me sit for a bit.
“That sounds terrible,” he says after a while, “I can’t even imagine it.”
“You don’t want to,” I say plainly. It still takes a while before I can go on.
I went on a mourning streak. I holed myself up in my mom’s basement. That was where my room was as a kid. I stayed there for two years wallowing in my own sadness and self-pity. Mom was fine with it. She had been hounding me to move back in, and we all kind of needed to be around someone after losing Mikey. Eventually, though, when I was twenty-three, I decided it was time to finish art school. Move on with my life.
And I did. I got my degree when I was twenty four and started a job with Cartoon Network. I couldn’t believe it at the time. Why would they want someone as crappy as me? But they did. I had to move to New York, against my mom’s wishes. And now I think that was the worst decision I ever made. Even after what happened with Mikey, I still thought I was above the vampires. I thought they could never hurt me because I was too smart.
And I did stay safe for a whole year. I only travelled on sunny days. I stayed indoors at night. I carried silver dust in my pocket. I had made it myself out of a ring I had gotten when I was younger. And they stayed away. Problem is, I took up drinking. I got too drunk for my own good sometimes. The fact that I didn’t die sooner is a miracle. I somehow always had someone there to keep me out of trouble.
One night I got careless. Plastered is more like it. And I went out into the streets, just like you did that one night. I wasn’t lucky enough to have a friendly stranger find me. Malicious is a more proper term. She was a beautiful temptress. Introduced herself all proper. Lindsey was her name. I should have known something was up. Beautiful women didn’t talk to me. They just didn’t. But I believed her when she said I was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. She invited me to a hotel room. And I followed.
I guess I should give her some credit. It wasn’t really all a ruse. She did have sex with me. I can’t say I enjoyed it though. She was way too rough. When it all was over, she cuddled up into my side and made me an offer. She wanted to spend eternity with me. Promised that she would be right there when the transformation was done. I told her to fuck off. I lost my brother to leeches. No way was I losing my life, too.
She didn’t like that. She attacked me and bit into my neck. Thus proving that those stories where blood sucking is pleasurable are complete bullshit. She drank deeply and I knew she wasn’t going to stop. I could feel my life slipping away, but she stopped with just a little bit of fight left in me. She used her teeth to dig into her own wrist and held it to my mouth. She commanded me to drink, and my body moved on its own.
I had to have drunk several pints, even though it tasted awful and smelled worse. I could feel the venom taking effect almost immediately. It lit up my adrenaline, and I ran. I ran to my car and drove as fast as I could toward home. I made it to the outskirts of Jersey before it became too much. I had to get out of my car. It was too dangerous to drive. I stumbled to a nearby alleyway and collapsed. It was painful, burning agony, and it eventually became too much.
I passed out and woke up later with no idea how much time had passed. I decided to stay there as a way to keep my promise to Mikey. And you know the rest from there.
“No I don’t,” he says.
I smile, “I stayed hidden until that day you walked by. The second time I saw you I started walking around outside without actually doing anything. That’s it.”
He shakes his head, “I mean you said ‘I should have let Mikey change her.’ I don’t understand what you meant.
“Oh, that. I didn’t plan on that. You see, the guy who drained Mikey came back after I was gone and changed him. Now he’s a bloodthirsty beast that I don’t even recognize anymore.”
“But you’re still keeping your promise to him?”
I smile, “It was really more of a promise to myself. Besides, I kind of think of you as a friend now. A strange, masochistic friend.”
His face lights up at that, “Really? I’m glad.”
@MayMayChan
Oh its fine! Sorry it took 6 months for me to reply, this website is messing up for me so much.
4/1/17