His brown eyes, the color dull as cemetery dirt, bored into mine.

  “Oh, Ms. Nelson. You really have been more trouble than you’re worth.”

  Then he bit my chest, but no light appeared. I began to bleed out. Nikola lifted his head, showing me a mouth full of blood stained teeth in a vicious grin. I screamed…

  “Drew! Drew, wake up!”

  Someone was shaking my arm. Nikola was gone. I was at home. The nausea came as my dream played through my mind.

  You’re more trouble than you’re worth. The awful phrase repeated like a fading echo.

  I looked up into Michael’s worried face. “Drew, are you awake now? You were having another nightmare.” I sat up. “Nikola?” I nodded shakily, and he swore under his breath. “He won’t come after you anymore after tonight. He probably thinks you’re dead, and you have no more energy to give him.”

  I looked around my room, grounding myself. Home, I was home. Nikola was nowhere around. I was in my bed, in my room, and Michael was here. “Do you need help going back to sleep?”

  “I’m wide awake now.” I threw the covers off and swung my legs over, sitting on the edge of the bed. I sat up straighter, my face slackening. “Wow. Like, really awake. After having so little energy for so long, now I feel like I could go on forever.”

  Michael gave a cautious smile. “Pretty great, right? Just a few hours and then you have all that extra time to do whatever you want before heading out for the day.” I gave a pained smile, knowing that he was still trying to make up for what he did yesterday. If the roles were reversed, I can’t say I would’ve done differently. But still…

  I got up, heading toward my closet. “Did we set up a time to meet up with Antun and Syla this morning?” My phone vibrated.

  “Never mind. Antun says he’ll grab donuts and coffee on the way over. I suppose since we’re up, I may as well tell him to come over now.” I typed into my phone.

  Drew: Sounds like everyone is awake now, why don’t you go ahead and head this way?

  Antun: Will do.

  There was a little bubble with dots inside, showing he was typing something. He was typing for a while before he finally sent:

  Antun: Last night was a lot. If you need someone not Michael to talk to, you have me.

  I smiled at my friend’s care.

  Drew: I know, thanks Antun *heart emoji*

  I changed my clothes, throwing the dirty ones in the hamper. I donned a lightweight black tee shirt and a pair of form fitting grey moto jeans. They weren’t my usual style but they had been too comfy to pass up.

  Besides, I thought, I just turned into a vampire. If I want to dress to look a little badass, I can.

  I came out of my room and Michael was putting away the air mattress so we could set the room to rights before our guests arrived. I helped push the couch and the coffee table back to the center of the room, freeing the front door. It didn’t take very long at all to get everything ready, and we stood there in awkward silence.

  Michael started, “About last night…”

  “I’m not ready to talk about it yet.” I interrupted.

  He nodded his head. “Alright. I’m ready to talk about it whenever you are.”

  I wasn’t sure when I’d feel ready to talk about it, if I ever would. Tears welled in my eyes and I blinked them back, swallowing my emotion down.

  The knock on the door helped ground me. I answered it, invoking host protection out of habit, and invited Syla and Antun in. I took the box of donuts from Syla, setting them on the coffee table. Antun held a drink carrier full of coffees and handed them to each person in turn.

  “Mocha for Drew, latte for Michael, frappe for Syla, and another latte for me.” He tossed the carrier into the recycling bin by my front door.

  “Alright, now,” he clapped his hands together, “let’s figure out getting some more blood for Drew. There was that one slaughterhouse we haven’t visited yet, perhaps we could go to that one and get a few pints for you?” He made the last part a question, directed at me.

  I felt uncomfortable. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s been less than twenty-four hours since I turned, and while I have been studying lore with you guys for months, putting things into practice is a little different. For starters, I don’t have any powers–”

  “Oh, I have a theory for that actually!” Antun interrupted. “It didn’t take all that long for my powers to come in, but for Michael it took most of a year. I had access to fresh mana all the time while he was restricting himself to only feeding once a month, so he was working with a lot less mana than I had. I’m thinking, if we can stay on top of feeding you mana consistently and frequently, your powers might come in faster like mine did.”

  It made a little bit of sense, and I wouldn’t turn down more of that delicious, scrumptious mana. “Alright, let’s go to that place then.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I won’t be able to go with you. Syla?” he asked, “Would you like to stay with Drew and Michael for today, help her get settled into her new self?” Syla nodded and Antun stood.

  “Are you leaving already?” I asked. “You just barely got here.”

  “Ah, yes. I do have things I need to prepare for today’s reels and posts. It’s a lot of sitting around while I work on my phone, but I prefer to prep in silence anyway.” He walked toward the door, turning around as he reached it. “Oh! And Drew?” I looked at him. “You’ve got this, Love.”

  I smiled, though I didn’t quite feel it. It must’ve been good enough for him because he opened the door and left without another word.

  We sat in uncomfortable silence, sipping our coffees and eating the donuts. I didn’t have a lot of appetite for food right then, but the coffee was definitely a godsend. I savored the chocolatey richness of my mocha, trying to focus more on it than the awkward silence.

  “What time does the slaughterhouse open?” I asked abruptly.

  Michael answered, “We can go as early as 6:00 I think, why?” He checked his phone for the time.

  “I’m just ready to go, that’s all.”

  Stuck in hurry-up-and-wait mode, awesome. I really should move the TV to the living room, a little background noise would be nice to break the silence.

  Husker meowed as he looked around the doorframe of my bedroom at the three vampires in the apartment. He gave a low growl as he slunk to the kitchen to eat. I tried not to let it hurt, that my boy hated me now, but the ache panged in my chest. “You have a cat,” Syla perked up. “What’s his name?”

  “Husker,” I said. He meowed at the mention of his name from the other room. He still liked my voice well enough, it seemed, but what good was that?

  Syla noticed the pain in my voice and countenance. “He’s a beautiful creature. I had a cat, back in the late 1800s, Brutus. He was an orange cat with longer fur, and he loved to be brushed. I’d sit there with him for a good hour just brushing him before he’d grow tired of it and hop down. He was a good boy. Had him for fourteen years, ever since he was a kitten.

  “When I first got him, I was afraid that I’d have to return him because he wouldn’t come anywhere near me and would hiss and spit at me. But I was patient with the brute, hence his name,” she chuckled, “And eventually he began to grow accustomed to me. It felt amazing when he let me pet him and he didn’t run away. Oh, just talking about him makes me miss him, he was a great companion.”

  Her story gave me hope. I had also had Husker since he was a kitten and he knew me well. Maybe he’d come around after he had a chance to get used to it, the change. I really hoped so, I didn’t want to have to give him away.

  “Thank you, Syla, that helps a lot. I’ve had Husker for ages and I can’t imagine life without him. You really think he’ll come around?” Syla nodded, a gentle smile on her face.

  Michael had been arranging a car for us while Syla and I had talked. By the time we were done with our coffees, the car was ready to be picked up.

  We walked to the rental store, the wind chilly. It was going to be Thanksgiving soon, then Christmas. How did time fly so fast? It felt like yesterday it was summer and I ran into all of this. He had reserved a four door sedan, blue, plenty of room for the three of us. We headed to the slaughterhouse.

  ? ?? ?

  I cringed, the difference was stark. “You’re right, Michael. Human blood tastes way better than animal blood.” I swallowed. It wasn’t that it was awful, it just wasn’t nearly as good. We had the foresight beforehand to bring a cup with a straw so I could drink more easily on the go.

  I took a drink of water after, washing down the metallic taste left over. Oddly, I didn’t grimace at the taste of blood itself, but at the fact that I was drinking it at all. It felt surreal to be drinking a cup of blood like a soda, and I wasn’t sure whether or not to be disgusted with myself.

  I had attacked a man and bit him. A total stranger. Sure, he was following us and Antun said he didn’t have good intentions, but I still did it. Worse than that, I liked it.

  The car ride was becoming too quiet. I spoke up. “Syla, I love your name.” She gave a surprised laugh at my non sequitur. “Let me finish. Your name is interesting, and I’m sure there has to be a story behind it.”

  She smiled, “Oh, there’s a story alright. My parents, my father especially, had wanted a son, to pass down the family name or whatever. They had decided on the name Sylas, as it was my father’s middle name and he wanted a son named after him. When I came out, he was so angry he refused to hold me. They had already filled out the birth certificate with the name Sylas, so my mother blotted out the last s, making my name Syla.

  “The friends I used to hang out with, the ones at the speakeasy, they called me Sy. And honestly, I like both. Syla or Sy, I think they fit me.”

  “At least your mother changed your name. I’m stuck with Andrew.”

  “Drew is not your given name?” Syla asked, confused.

  “No, my parents named me Andrew. My mother loved the name, regardless of whether I was born a boy or a girl, and so I’m stuck with it. I asked others to call me Drew at school, so the nickname stuck.”

  “I guess some people just shouldn’t be allowed to name babies,” Syla commented, a smile on her face as she shook her head, sighing. I laughed, agreeing with her statement.

  Michael drove in silence, a quiet chauffeur. Fine by me. I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.

  I drank my cup of blood, the mana flowing through my teeth and into my body. It really did feel weird as Michael had mentioned. It was as if a straw ran from my teeth into the roof of my mouth before I couldn’t feel the flow anymore. Mana was warm, and it seemed to warm my body from my head down. I was plenty fine with that, it was cold outside.

  He dropped off Syla at Antun’s before we headed back to drop off the car. Michael offered to drop me off and I thanked him. He drove off as I went into the building.

  As I unlocked the door, I heard Husker bolt under my bed and saw his eyes wide with fear. That’s when I broke; the grief finally found an exit. I didn’t even notice when Michael came in.

  “Hey,” he cooed, kneeling and gathering me into his arms. I let him hold me as I cried. I don’t know how long we sat there on the floor, him holding me and me crying. My shirt was soaked from my tears. My head ached from constant sniffling. I rubbed my eyes, grateful I didn’t have any makeup on.

  “Are you feeling better now?” he asked gently. I nodded but I didn’t move. He continued to hold me until I finally uncurled myself and got off his lap on my own. We sat there, silent, on the floor.

  “Thank you,” I said, still facing the floor.

  Michael’s voice was quiet. “For what?”

  “For saving me.”

  The silence stretched. I swallowed, steadying myself. “I remember the light fading. I think I was… gone. And you brought me back. You made a call because you had to.”

  I looked at him, “So yes, thank you.”

  His shoulders sagged, eyes wet. “Thank you for forgiving me.”

  “I didn’t say that,” my brow furrowed. “I’m grateful to be alive… or undead, whatever this is. But I’m still really angry. I didn’t get to choose this.”

  My hand floated to my heart, still as a stone in my chest. “It doesn’t beat anymore. My parents will age and die, go to some kind of afterlife. But not me. I’ll stay like this, forever…” my voice cracked, “I don’t know if there’s an afterlife for people like us.”

  I looked away from him, unable to stand the look in Michael’s eyes, a mix of sadness and grief with a desire to do something about it blazing behind them.

  “So no, I haven’t forgiven you. But I understand why you did it.”

  I stood up, needing space, some air. “You’re welcome to stay since Nikola’s still on the loose. But I need time, and I need you to give it to me.”

  Michael nodded from where he sat on the ground. I couldn’t stand the whole situation, being around Michael, but he took it graciously, likely feeling guilty that he had had to make such a life-altering decision without consulting me, changing my life… no, my existence forever.

  I walked to my room, closing the door behind me and leaning my head back against it, closing my eyes. I rubbed a hand down my face, pulling on the skin under my eyes as it passed over, and sighed.

  Nothing I can do about it now. I’ve said my piece to Michael, whatever it is that I’m feeling toward him right now.

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