Parallel World

Chapter 8

"Elisa, do you ever sleep?" Jack asked as he was coming out of his bedroom.

"I do, usually between five and ten am."

It was twelve pm and a new day had started in our flat. Jack was rarely to be seen awake before eleven am whereas I didn't need much sleep. I was like Martin Eden in his prime - I had so much to do and life was so exciting that spending more than a few hours asleep felt like a waste of time.

Jack proceeded to the bathroom where he'd spend a good hour showering, styling his hair and trying to pick perfume of the day. Long done were the days when the sight of his muscled, half-naked body made my blood run faster. Jack felt the same towards me and that was one of the reasons why we didn't bother about our appearance at home. For instance, I was wearing a pair of grey joggers and an oversized white T-shirt. I'd never wear that kind of clothes if I were still in a relationship with him. Before we split up Jack, too, didn't have any lounge wear.

By the way, another perk of being a vampire was the reduced need for grooming. We couldn't sweat and our skin and hair remained clean for much longer. In theory a vampire could only shower a few times a year. In practice... of course, we did it more often.

When we did leave the house both Jack and I were always immaculately dressed. You could put photos of us straight on a fashion magazine cover. We had a great taste in clothes and, paired with our appearance, it created a stunning result. Jack had a beautiful face, dark brown hair and blue eyes. He didn't like his pale skin so I created a self-tan lotion for him. He looked like a care-free Californian surfer who's somehow ended up in New York. The only thing that suggested this incredibly handsome man was not human was his slightly lowered body temperature - though his skin was warmer than mine - and razor sharp fangs.

Me, I was perfectly happy with my rosy skin that hadn't been affected by the transformation. Even my moles were still there. It looked nice and, as an additional bonus, my skin was less sensitive to sunlight. Perhaps it had something to do with my "radioactive" blood? My rosy skin went well together with my light brown hair and blue eyes. I didn't look like your average vampire but I didn't look human either. I was a stunning creature out of this world.

At the moment I was sitting on an armchair in our living room, reading today's papers. It was part of my morning ritual. Between ten and twelve I read the latest press and checked my email. After that I had various meetings scheduled until four pm. At some time between four and five I arrived at Glory & Shame. Jack, too, was usually there by five. The club opened at eight pm and we stayed there until close at four am.

Glory & Shame didn't differ much from other night clubs. It was dark, spacious and we played the same music as human night clubs. Once a year we changed the interior completely. At the moment we had lots of neon and the place looked like a giant cave. The dance floor had lots of tubes hanging from the ceiling that had Slood flowing through them. A narrow staircase led to the second floor where you could see the entire place from above and find your lost mates/dates on the dance floor. It was also where our office was, a big room with lots of TVs so we could see what was going on outside. Jack had installed dozens of hidden cameras monitoring the club entrance, rooftops and surrounding streets. Both of us had a desk, filing cabinets, a PC and a laptop, and several mobile phones. Despite being underground we had good reception here.

I didn't know a single vampire who would work for money. Everyone was working because they wanted to. All staff at Glory & Shame were either our friends or acquaintances. The doormen ensured that no human would ever set foot at the club and charged the entrance fee - $15. Bartenders sold Slood and came up with literally hundreds of ways how to pour drinks. We also had a few resident DJs but would sometimes DJ ourselves.

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Tonight the club was absolutely packed. I spotted Randy and Mike who were sitting at a table sipping Slood. They had some large folded up banners around them.

"Hi, guys! What have you been up to?"

"Hi, Elisa!" Randy greeted me. "We're straight from demos. First we protested against nuclear power and then went to an anti-GMO rally."

"Nuclear power I could understand but what do vampires have to do with GMO?"

"Oh, it's very simple: you see, human blood has become rather horribly tasting in recent years and that is a major reason why more and more vampires switch to synthetic blood. If humans start eating better food their blood will taste nice again," Michael said as he sipped more Slood. "So, you see, I have a very important reason to care for human health."

"You sound like an owner of a rabbit farm," I said.

They both laughed.

"Well, anyway, since we joined the rallies we have learnt so much new... Some of it is mind blowing, really. Did you know that nuclear waste has to be stored for one hundred thousand years but there is no technology for safe storage? Even in Germany with all its technological progress they just bury the metal drums underground and cover them in salt. I've seen photos. It's shocking! I've also seen drums being stored in caves where groundwater can flow through. Imagine what would happen if the drums would start to corrode? There are around two hundred and fifty thousand tons of nuclear waste in the world - and it's only gonna get worse!" Michael exclaimed.

These two were part of a rapidly growing movement of vampire environmentalists. There was nothing surprising about that - unlike humans who often had a laissez-faire attitude towards our planet, best summed up by Louis XV in his immortal phrase "Après moi, le déluge", vampires would roam the Earth forever and were genuinely interested in ecology and conservation. They went to demos, campaigned and donated money to various environmental causes.

"Besides," Randy added, "nuclear power itself is not safe. No-one can guarantee that a nuclear power plant will operate without accidents. The Baltic Sea region is the worst - it's the most radioactive sea in the world but nuclear waste is still transported across it! That's why I'm protesting now and will protest in the future! In, let's say, a thousand years time I don't want to suffer just because some long dead but once greedy human screwed things up! I want to live in a clean environment and enjoy the natural world!"

His words made me think of the beautiful, unspoilt landscapes in parts of Norway, Sweden and Alaska.

"Cheers, guys. I'll be able to sleep in the morning better now."

Randy noticed the slight irony in my voice.

"Aren't you concerned about the pollution?"

"Of course I am. I can't understand how humans can treat planet Earth like this. You don't shit in your backyard, do you? Also, why is hunger still a problem? It's the twenty-first century! Why is there food waste in one part of the world and not enough in another? What is going on?"

"Bravo!"

"By the way, Elisa, why don't you come with us some day? I'm sure Jack could manage without you for one day," Michael suggested.

"Jack manages without me just fine on a regular basis, I'm not here all the time, you know," I said. "Yeah, why not? Fighting for a good cause, I like that."