so i’m at the doctor’s again and i see a notecard on the reception desk that asks in bright red ink, Do you want to live forever?
finally, i think, finally i’m at the start of a vampire novel. i don’t actually want to live forever, but i’m not about to turn down a call to adventure like that. i try to flip the card over as inconspicuously as possible.
the other side contains a bible verse about keeping jesus in your heart.
i hate living in the south.
ah yes the age-old struggle of “is this vampires or jesus”
It had been innocent enough when you first started writing them. A friend had suggested you write letters to yourself, to try and work through and understand your own feelings. Only, writing to yourself had felt stupid.
With a dry smile, you had decided to write a letter as if you were writing to Dracula himself. The idea was amusing enough, and surprisingly, you were able to be genuine with your letter, though you still didn’t express too much of how you felt.
The next day, feeling a touch of childish whimsy, you took it with you on your walk, and put it in the mailbox in town. it had no address or return address, but you thought it amusing all the same. Until a reply showed up at your doorstep a few days later.
It unnerved you at first, that someone had not only replied, but somehow known where to reply too. They seemed to have taken great care to make it realistic too, the paper of both the envelope and letter itself, feeling expensive and thick, and the writing done in elegant cursive.
After a few days, you decided that the correspondence couldn’t hurt, and so you replied to the curious letter, explaining the reason for your first, and apologising. It took only two days for a reply to come, after you had mailed yours, the same way you had before. There was acceptance there, and a tentative offer for you to continue. And continue you did.
Before you knew it, you had been writing to your stranger for over a year. Your letters with the stranger (call me Vlad, my dear) had become more personal, the two of you sharing things that you hadn’t really been able to voice before. It was nice to pretend that Vlad was real, and genuine with his stories and emotions. They chased away some of the darkness in your mind, and made you feel like you belonged, like you weren’t so lonely and detached from the world.
Not all good things could last however. Your home life was only getting worse, and despite being an adult and having a job, you knew there was few options for you, if you left.
You started to lag in your responses with Vlad, your comments becoming darker and shorter. Eventually he questioned you about it, and you admitted that things were getting worse, and that your mind was taking you to increasingly dark and dangerous places. You honestly weren’t sure how much longer you could hold on like this.
By the time his next reply came, you didn’t have it in you to check. You knew it was all a lie, something funny and amusing to pass two peoples time, but it had felt like more than that for a long time, and your foolish heart apparently didn’t know the difference either. Your replies had become prompt with each other over time, never taking more than two days to send to the other, but your mind and heart were too clouded, and your motivation had died. A few weeks passed, and the letter sat unopened still, as did two more that had arrived.
You were in the midst of a loud shouting match, or rather being shouted at, when there was a knock at the door. They cursed at you and stomped over to it, going to see who it was, while you stared blankly at the wall, tucking all the emotions away. You flinched as your name was shouted, and hesitantly made your way to the front door, wondering who the hell would be looking for you of all people.
Standing there, an umbrella held overhead to block the rain, was an incredibly tall and broad shouldered man. His pale skin stood out starkly against his expensive black suit and long black hair. Pulling his sunglasses down off his face, you found your eyes locking with the dark hellfire seeming to burn within his own. His expression softened slightly from the cold intimidating look he had held, and he gave you a small smile.
You felt your stomach sink as you stepped outside your apartment complex. Bats, there were bats everywhere. They hung from everything possible, clung to walls, to trees, to plants. Bats of so many different shapes and sizes. They watched you, tiny heads turning as you walked. They were all strangely silent, ignoring all the people gawking and taking videos, oblivious to the target of their true focus.
It wasn’t that you hated bats, you loved them actually. But this was the fourth time. Four completely different places that you had moved to, and each time, they would show up a few weeks later, watching your every move. There were thousands upon thousands of them, and they would take up every available position in the city or town that you had moved to, just so that, at least one of them, was always watching.
No one had picked up on the fact that you were the reason though, as too many people would flee upon their mass arrival anyway. It was easy to hide amongst the masses when there was such a panic. Its the only way you got away from the bats for a while each time.
You weren’t even sure why they were following you, or… perhaps you had an idea at least. You just didn’t understand why they were making such a fuss. With a sigh, you pulled out your phone, dialling a number you hadn’t called in quite some time.
“….Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard with all this?”
“Good morning to you too,micuţo,” tittered an amused voice on the other end of the call.”I see you finally decided to look at the skyline for once in your busy little college life.”
You groaned internally at the painfully obvious smirk creeping into his tone.
“Can it,Vlad,” you replied,shouldering your bag as you made your way down the sidewalk,the piercing gazes of the bats still burning your back.”This is becoming pretty ridiculous,even for you.”
“What ever do you mean,iubită?”
“You do realize it’s garnering the attention of the uh,normal folks,right?”
Vlad simply laughed,and if the circumstances had been different,you would have chuckled along with him.But it wasn’t and with how many times it’s happened,you were becoming nervous,needless to say.
“But iubită,” he said,his voice giving away to a tone comparable to a child pouting.”I’m only trying to keep tabs on you,as we are half the world away.You have your college,and I have a castle to run.Surely you understand.”
“Uh huh.” You weren’t impressed.
“And besides,humans are too gullible to actually realize who’s behind it all.”
“Right.”
“I mean,it’s true that there are humans who can use magic and technology,like your witch cousin,but they’re one out of a million.They will never know it’s me.”
You didn’t reply,waiting in silence as he tried to sway you with excuse after excuse.The bats continued to watch as you kept walking,the sounds of their wings flapping overpowering the urban ambiance around you.A few people who you passed by were looking up at the winged creatures with amazement; a child was struggling to climb on a parked car to reach for the closest one,exclaiming her desire to be Bat Girl while her mother called for her in dismay,pleading for her to come down before she got herself hurt.
Slowly,the suaveness of his words grew less and less,until finally,he stopped sounding like an impossible flirt.
“I missed you,” he admitted bashfully.”Things haven’t been the same since you left Romania and went back to America.I know I have my subjects and my chamberlain Cosima as company but….the castle is cold without you.I’m lonely without you.”
As you listened to his genuine explanation,you had finally reached your destination,which was the central plaza where every shop was situated.A smile formed on your face as your rather vampiric significant other listed off the times he began to think about you while he was out doing his duties as the sole ruler of Transylvania’s magical community.
It made you feel guilty as well,though; Vlad was only doing what he thought was right in his book,as outdated as it was.With how isolated his castle was from everything else and with how rare he chanced an interaction with humans(save yourself and your cousin),it was understandable that he probably had no clue when it came down to communicating with each other from a long distance.And it had slipped your mind that he was missing you while you had been busy burying yourself in thesis papers and notes.
Really,who could blame him?
“Vlad,it’s okay,” you reassured him.At this point,you’d already gotten food from one of the shops and were now currently lounging on your seat as you ate.”I think I get where you’re coming from.”
“You do?” You could almost envision him perking up as you said it.The thought made you chuckle a bit.
“Yeah.” You took a bite of Tim Hortons,your eyes glancing towards the bats,who were still watching you from the distance.Of course.You swallowed your food before continuing: “And frankly,I’m at fault,too.I was so focused in my studies that I didn’t realize you needed me.I’ve been a neglectful partner,and I’m sorry you had to go through that.You don’t deserve this kind of treatment.”
It took probably around a minute or so before Vlad regained his composure.When he spoke,his voice was cracking up a little.
“Oh iubită,” he murmured soothingly.”I don’t blame you,either.I guess we both have our moments.You’re forgiven.”
You laughed.”Likewise.”
The both of you devolved into a small fit of giggles,though in your case,you had to tone it down unless you wanted people to think you were a complete loon.’I mean,I’m already dating Vlad Dracul himself so it’s not like they’d be wrong’.You rolled your eyes at the thought; it wasn’t weird to you,of course,but to most who would,it was like marrying yourself to an eternity of pain and torment.They’d be wrong,obviously.Vlad was a changed man.
Although….
“Vlad?” You risked a question.
“Yes,dragostea mea?”
“You could have just sent me a letter through a carrier bird,you know.The fully armed battalion of shapeshifting vampires was unnecessary.”
“Ack,I’ll never understand this generation’s idea of courtship.”
Oh~! I’m always weak for this kind of thing.
This is absolutely amazing Darling! I love it so much. Thank you for sharing it with us all.
Fun Vampire Fact; the reason that Vampires traditionally cannot see their reflections in a mirror is because mirrors used to be backed with a reflective layer of silver — which, as the metal of purity, would not ‘interact’ with Vampires, who are the Devil’s work.
However, modern mirrors have used aluminum as their reflective backing for many years now — and aluminum is not a ‘picky’ metal at all. So Vampires are able to see their reflections in modern mirrors.
All I can think about is a vampire used to not seeing their reflection in mirrors for centuries, and one day they are just walking along and unknowingly pass a mirror backed with aluminum and THEY NEARLY SHIT THEMSELVES.
TheOriginalGodsGirlRachel 