I never told you what I do for a living.

The next day was a peaceful day. It was Sunday, the sun was shining and people were going to church. It was really warmer than usual for a day in October. He was not the kind of vampire to be discovered by standing in the sun or just exploding in sunlight, but still. You could see that Gerard was... different.

Gerard was really skinny. He didn’t want to kill too much people so he tried not to do it that much and that resulted in being underfed. His cheeks were sunken into his skull and he had really tired, hollow eyes. As this was also caused by the lack of food, it was also because of the addiction he had formed in the last hundred years. Gerard could look at you, and you would give him all he wanted just by thinking about it. He was already good with messing with people’s emotions when he was still a human. Now that he has been a vampire for a couple of decades, he was getting way better with that. Still, he preferred staying in the shade instead of the sun.

Sometimes when Gerard feels lonely, and that is a lot lately, he looks at Angelique’s locket and holds it close to his not-beating heart. It still hurts and the saying that time heals all wounds is merely a lie. It is a fucking lie. He missed her like it was the day of yesterday. He tried to commit suicide so many times, but it never worked. As a vampire, or just merely a monster as he liked to call himself, he was mostly too strong to take the effect of a bottle of pills or some lousy razorblades over his wrists. Even jumping off a bridge just made him come above water fast enough.

His frustration of all the failed attempts became bigger and bigger. It wasn’t like he knew any other vampires who were feeling the same as him. He was the only one –next to that awful Josephine- who was a vampire, as far as he knew.

For a long time, Gerard lived as a hermit. He didn’t want to face the outside world, scared to see his true face. He tried to consume as less blood as he got, but he got so incredibly hungry that he could smell a drop of blood from miles away. It was driving him absolutely mad. There was this one time that he went to an asylum far back in the woods. He murdered everybody that was present. He often tried to forget the incident, although it was very hard on him.

After Gerard had spent some time wandering through some remote areas in the suburbs of the city, it already became dark. He decided to go to the centre of town where everybody has been busy going out. He decided to walk into a less crowded bar and he walked to a barstool on the corner of the bar.

“One shot of whiskey please.” He asked. “Coming up.”

While he was waiting for his whiskey, he saw a strange figure walking into the bar. From the point where he was sitting, he could only see his silhouette. After drinking his whiskey like it was lemonade, he and the figure already made eye contact. He could now see that it was a man. A man with bloodshot eyes and dark coloured bags under his eyes. His hair was half long and black.

Gerard knew there was something strange about this particular man and he decided to go up and talk to him.

“Is there something on my face? Can you just stop looking at me?” the guy said as Gerard stopped at his table to talk to him.

“I’m sorry man, I won’t bother you anymore.” Gerard backed off a little.

The strange man smiled. “Nah dude, just kidding. You want something to drink?” Gerard inspected him more for a little bit. In a glimpse he saw what he thought were fangs. He decided to sit across the man.

“Well, yeah, since you’re offering it.” Gerard said.

The strange man went up to the bartender to order two more whiskeys. Gerard watched him as he walked up to the bar. He still thought the man had something strange, but he couldn’t quite bring home what.

Gerard recognized the look he had in his eyes, because he had the same look as Gerard. He didn’t know what to think about that. He found it suspicious.

The man returned with two little glasses in his hands. He put one of the glasses in front of Gerard.

“So, where are you from? My name is Frank, by the way.” he looked up to Gerard. That same look in his eyes again. Gerard was a bit startled. He had looked into his eyes but he turned his head away directly. For some reason, he could not get himself to look the man straight in the eyes yet. It just felt uncomfortable.

“My name is Gerard. I am not from around the neighbourhood.”

Gerard stared in the already empty glass in his hands.

“Well. Hi Gerard.” Frank said. He stared at him for a few moments.

“Well, I am going to a Halloween party tonight, you want to come? You look a bit thirsty.”

The moment Frank said that, Gerard froze. Thirsty? Could Frank see what he was? He tried to dodge eye contact with Frank.

“Wha-what are you talking about?” Gerard was starting to get very nervous.

“You look thirsty. Any one of our kind can see that you haven’t had proper food for a long time.”

Gerard looked up slowly, he still couldn’t believe he was sitting in front of another vampire. Maybe that were the strange vibes he got from him.

“Dude, I asked you a question. Do you want to come out to party with me tonight or not?”

“Yes, I will come with you. But, what are you planning on doing exactly?” Gerard asked hesitantly.

“Well, I was thinking about going there, meet up a couple of guys or girls and at the end of the night, drinking them. You aren’t used to this kind of regime aren’t you?”

Gerard still stared at Frank. He was just re-evaluating everything he told him and what was happening right now. Gerard decided to go with him.

“Okay, I’ll come and go with you.”

“Nice!” Frank said. “Okay then, let’s go!”

They got up from their seats and started to head to the party.

Notes

I have to be honest with you, I am not entirely sure which direction I will go with this story, but suggestions are more than welcome! <3