Vaguely Vampire

Twelve hours after we escaped a bunch of angry vampire protesters, we drove over bumps on a winding country road onto an overgrown driveway and stopped in front of a dilapidated building.

“What the hell…” My sister Rose’s jaw dropped and she stared in disbelief.

No one else spoke. I guess they were in shock at the sight of the place.

I’d travelled to Royston, a small English seaside town with Rose, Halstrom and Stanley in the dead of night. Rose is my test-tube twin and Halstrom is my walking vampire blood bag. Yes, you heard me correctly; I need vampire blood to survive. And Stanley, my father, and scientist, was the reason we were on the run again.

“So melodramatic, Rose.” Stanley clambered from the car and leaned against her open door. “Believe me, I’ve seen worse. Let’s work our magic.” With a wink, and seemingly not a care in the world, he strode towards the cottage.

I stared out of the car window at the neglected home and shuddered. This was our sixth nest in a year. The protests were aimed at Stanley for his illegal use of vampire fluids. But It was me the protestors used as their pin-up girl—a scientific experiment gone wrong—a freak! It was frustrating. Each time local vampires realised what I was, we were forced to pack up and leave a place at a moment’s notice. Not all our kind are as progressive as Stanley.

I know I pissed off the whole nest. As soon as the local vampires realised I was a poor excuse for a vampire, we had to move again. A vampire’s nest is only as strong as its weakest link—which was me.

“If only you could keep your trap shut,” Rose hissed at me, her eyes flashed ebony and her fangs extended. “Always spout words without a single thought for anyone else.”

“Yeah, well, at least I’ve got something going on in my head.”

“Piss off, ugly duckling.”

“Is that all you’ve got, vampire Barbie?” I’d spat at her back as she flung the door open and followed the others from the car.

Stanley grabbed Rose’s elbow, dragged her from the car and tempered her anger. I couldn’t hear their conversation, which infuriated me because if I was a complete vampire I’d hear every word.

I’m a cheap replica of the vampires I know, but I did’t give a rat’s arse. I hated the voice in my head and believed she was really a sadistic fairy who loved to see me suffer. Anything was possible when you were unnaturally made. And worst of all, shutting her up was a full-time job, so I just censored her aggressive attitude.

I left the car and paced the drive. This place looked rundown, like other vampire hideaways. This was deliberate, to stop humans from taking over properties, or curiosity getting the better of them. I could see part of the roof had collapsed and the structure of the cottage leaned to the left. It was definitely a job for Stanley, Rose, and Halstrom. With each using their vampire strength, the house wasviable within minutes.

A wooden plaque hung from a rusted hook and read ‘Mermaid’s Rest.’ It swung back and forth, announcing the name of our new home. Great, not only had we returned to the seaside town that most of the nest hated because of its multitude of supernatural creatures, but someone named the house after mermaids; not a popular species in a vampire’s world.

I unhooked the plaque and slipped it inside my backpack. I’d change the house’s name for the better. The NightWalker’s, that’s the perfect fit.

Halstrom stared at me, waiting for a response or a small acknowledgement that I’d sensed him and needed him. I stared back, appreciating his handsome face and muscular body.

“Once it’s liveable,” he gestured to our ramshackle of a home. “You can take all you need from me.” He winked, pushed up his shirt sleeves and strutted off whistling.

His innuendo was not lost on me, but it was his blood I felt a thirst for now. Although, as I watched him walk away, I couldn’t take my eyes from his taut arse and my mind wandered to other things I’d like to take.

We shared intense feelings when I fed. With each taste, emotions flooded me; his and mine mingled, connected. His blood kept me alive and gave me a passionate desire. But that sadistic fairy had me questioning the reality of my feelings. Perhaps it was a fabrication because of what I needed from him rather than genuine desire.

“Lily,” Rose blew hair from her face and pushed her back against a side wall. “Move your lazy tush! Cases inside!”

I smirked and gave her the finger. Call it sisterly love.

I reluctantly made a start on emptying the car. It was pathetic to be powerless to help reconstruct the property. The curse I suffered as a vampire was obvious. The powers other vampires had naturally laid dormant inside my body. I am stronger than humans, but too weak to be an actual vampire.

Bags on the doorstep, I went back for my cat, Talisman, who’d rested in her travel carrier. Thank goddess for Tali, she’s a tabby with hypnotic green eyes, and more common sense than anyone else in my life.

The rooms were neat and clean compared to the illusion of the outer building. Once I distributed the luggage, I hunted for my journal, and settled on my bed, jotting down a list of all the traits I had to practise to achieve full-fledged vampire status. Before starting, there was one being I had to consult to ensure I’d covered all bases. No, it wasn’t any of the Vampires busy outside. They would laugh at how pathetic my lists were and think I should naturally know the key attributes to practise to persuade others I am a monster.

Talisman curled on a woollen blanket I’d knitted for her at our last home. She laid with her back towards me for most of the journey because, like all of us, she was upset with having to move, and this time she sided with the nesters and placed the complete blame on me and my big mouth. It’s fickle, I know, but I felt betrayed by my only buddy with no hidden agenda, and her silence was driving me crazy.

“Tali?” I stared at her for any response to the whisper of her name and noted a slight twitch of her ear.

“I refuse to apologise anymore. What’s done is done.” I opened my journal, picked up my pen, and addressed her back. “So, I’m thinking of the most important vampire traits to work on. First, glamour, if I—”

“Glamour, are you crazy?” Talisman lifted her head and pierced me with her emerald eyes. “If you are asking for my advice, the least you can do is open this travelling prison cell!”

I did as she asked. Talisman arched and stretched her legs, jaw opened in a bored yawn.

“If not glamour, what do you suggest?”

The cat ran, sat up in an elegant pose, and rubbed her nose with her paw before preening her long white whiskers. “You and I both know you are a pathetic sample of a Vampling—whatever that may be? So, make a logical list. What can you change without having to train?”

I sat and waited because, knowing Talisman, the question was rhetorical.

“Think, Lily, your clock. You should be fitting in with your species by sleeping during the day and waking at night. Make that number one.”

The thought of missing the sunlight hours was depressing. I’m sure I’m a victim of S.A.D. in the winter months, and to never feel the sun on my skin is horrendous. It wasn’t that vampire’s can’t go out in the daylight, they don’t burst into flames or anything sinister. They lose their energy to the sun rays and their vigour too, so nighttime is more favourable to the living dead.

I often wondered why I’d carried this curse of partial Vampiric traits. I’m neither human nor supernatural. Where do I fit in on this Earth, and how the hell will I pull off being a vampire in front of relatives who have lived for thousands of years?

A soft tap on the bedroom door interrupted my thoughts and Talisman’s vocal reasoning.

“Lily, it is time for you to eat me. I’m coming in.”

Before I could protest, Halstrom flung the door open and worked his shirt buttons to expose himself.