Short Story III

~~READ AUTHOR'S NOTES FIRST!!~~1

I saw him first thing that night [How could I have missed her?] sitting in the darkest corner, [Up on the table, dancing]  white as a ghost, with that long black hair [olive skin glowing in the lamplight, honey-gold locks] pulled back in a tail. [cascading over slim shoulders.]  He was as tempting, inviting as sin or the devil himself! [She was pure perfection, beauty incarnate.]  He waved me over, [She swayed toward me] and I just couldn’ help myself! [and I could not resist.]  He spoke, [she smiled,] and just like that, up the stairs, [and into bed…]2

Who woulda thought? [Who could have known?] It shou’dn’ta happened, [It should not have been possible,] but it did, [but it was,] so there ’s a kid. [and a creature was born.]  I tried to abort, [I tried to strangle it,] but it didn’t work.  [but it wouldn’t die.]  So we kept ‘im.  [I decided to amuse myself for a time.]  Good thing for the both of us, I say.  [If there were gods, I might thank them.]3

* * * * *4

Some might say I had a bad upbringing.  Some might call it bad breeding.  Some would say six of one, half a dozen of the other.  I would say I was both blessed and cursed.  I have seen what no other mortal will—and perhaps shouldn’t have to.  And the question still remains:  /am/ I mortal?5

My mother was—and is—the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.  Some look down on her profession, but she loves her work, and I love her.  How could I hate her for being happy doing what she’s good at, and enjoys besides?6

My father…some would call his breed evil, perhaps even nonexistent, many things--but who would ever have thought he’d make a wonderful father?7

One thing that I find as amusing as anything else throughout the centuries is the amazing amount of similarities between the two--vampires and humans, the mixture that runs in my veins (so to speak).  They both think of themselves as so superior, but ultimately, they’re the same.  Perhaps that’s why crossbreeding is so unusual.  Or it may be because the resulting offspring, should it survive, would be indestructible and uncontrollable.  8

If you haven’t caught on yet--which would make you exceptionally dull, even for a human--my ma’s a whore, my da’s a vamp, and we’re all one big happy family.  My mommy beds ‘em, my daddy eats ‘em, and I…I might do both, or neither, depending on the decade. I go back and forth--mood swings, y’know?9

Vamps aren’t s’posed to be able to (or want to) have sex.  It used to happen occasionally, but the result was always nasty. So the higher-ups on the bloodsucker side decided to play god, do the selecting for Mother Nature, and managed to breed the libido right out of most of us.  The orgasm comes in the kill, now.  Serial killers are like that too, a lot of the time.  And if you look far enough back, most of them either have vampires lurking somewhere in their family tree.  10

You mix bloodsuckers and humans, you usually get a freak with an uncontrollable bloodlust that ends up self-destructing within the first few months.  Most humans don’t even survive the mating, much less the birth, and get killed and eaten by the kid even if they get that far.  11

My mom got past all three, somehow.  Perhaps my father’s interest helped.  He decided he wanted a son, something to pass the time and all that.  12

It’s been about 300 years now.  I look like any normal late-teen-aged boy.  Black hair in a pixie cut, alert green eyes, sensual lips, delicate brows and high cheekbones.  I spend enough time looking in the mirror that I’ve memorized every possible facial expression I can make. I guess I do it to irritate my da as much as to learn. Both my parents look around their late 30’s.  Guess a little of Da’s immortality rubbed off on Mum.  We’re nomads of a sort, I suppose.  Stay in one spot too long, and people start to wonder why we don’t seem to age a day.13

I’m what you might call a daywalker, but in truth, I walk at all times.  Not because I can’t sleep, but because I choose not to.  Sleep brings the dreams--nightmares in which I’m both hunted and hunter, and I destroy myself.  It’s the heritage, I’m sure.  I figure one reason I made it this far is as a baby, I was always awake, with mum during daytime, da at night, so I never got a chance to eat myself.14

I do like the taste of blood—turns me on, really—but I eat normal, human food.  Except cooked meat.  Or vegetables.  Okay, normal teen food—junk food. 15

I go to school when I feel like it.  It’s fun to fuck with the kids sometimes.  I usually go goth--after all, I have the perfect build, coloring, etc.  Besides, isn’t it normal for the little gothy emo kids to be obsessed with death?  I am, if for different reasons.  See, we don’t really know if I will die--if I even can die. It’s something that’s been bugging me for centuries now.  It’s one of the only unknowns in my life, and I have human curiosity.16

Actually, I think I may be killing myself.  Vampires are seriously allergic to caffeine--as in, they take even a sip, they explode.  I can stand it, obviously.  I not only survived that little suicide attempt, I became addicted to it.  I go through about eight liters a day, and am more than hard pressed to keep it at that.17

Now, I’ve done just about every drug out there.  Shrooms, weed, alcohol, X--that one nearly turned a rave into a bloodbath--and while they’re alright, caffeine…shit, that’s beyond ecstasy.  Water for the thirsty, food for the starving, sex for a man who’s been forced into celibacy for several years.  Cherry Coke is the nectar of the gods; I worship that shit.  18

Anyway, where was I?  Ah, school.  Sometimes I make friends.  Sometimes I ace the tests, sometimes flunk, sometimes maintain a perfect C average.  Done some interesting things, lived some interesting lives.  Been gay.  Had an affair with a teacher who thought she was twenty years older than me, and a priest who thought he was fifty years older than me.  Worked just about every job.  Been through college several times.  But what’s the point? 19

For humans and vamps, it’s about the same, and simple--self-gratification.  Humans have so little time, it’s get what you can, while you can, as often as you can.  Bloodsuckers have so /much/ time that amusement is all they crave, whatever form it comes in.  Me?  I have thought a lot about this one.  The only thing I’ve found that really holds my attention at all is my search for another like me.  20

Sometimes I think I’ve found one, or I’ll see one out of the corner of my eye, but it usually turns out to be either an imp, a lower demon, or just a seriously disturbed human. Those fucked up people are the only friends I ever have, because sometimes they come close to understanding me.  I even had a girlfriend once.  Man, she was great.  I even thought I’d found another like me.  But she grew old.  I told my secret, and stayed with her until she died. Would’ve stayed with her through old age, but--curse human frailty!!--she died in a car accident.  So much for that idea.  She’s been gone about fifty years now, and it feels like yesterday sometimes.  It hurts.  And I suppose that’s what I really want--someone who’ll still be crying over me fifty, a hundred, a thousand years after I die, if I die.  Is that honestly too much to ask??21