When The Night Comes (What We Do In The Shadows)

1. The Deal

It's been five months now.

Five long months in which I did nothing but wait, wait and wait. Patiently wait in anticipation of something: a promise someone made to me on an ordinary night.

I met Vladislav at the Boogie Wonderland, the club I’ve been working at as a waitress for a few weeks, trying to earn enough to pay the rent for my small apartment in downtown Wellington. It's a tiny flat on Egmont Street, really nice but needs some small restoration work, so I took the first job I was offered without a second thought. I'd moved here a few months before, hadn't had time to make any friends yet also 'cause of my working schedule: worked at night and slept during the day. Certainly not the healthiest way of life, but they paid me well and anyway I was never interested in taking a tan. I’ve always been a night person, actually.

Well, I remember that night like it was yesterday. His entry into the club didn't go unnoticed, with that top hat on the head and a white blouse with those puffed lace sleeves. He was straight out of some old school vampire movie. Vlad sat down in a table in the darkest corner and, when he noticed that I was watching him, beckoned me to approach. I thought he was the last customer of the evening, the place was almost empty and then I'd finally go home to rest, probably falling asleep on the couch with a glass of red wine in my hands (yeah, happens often). With a smile I took my little notebook and a pen, walking towards him. No one ever chooses this table.

"Hi, would you like something to drink?" I asked him kindly, smiling and trying to hide the agitation that was taking over me. I can't explain it, just remember feeling this strange energy, some kind of connection between me and that mysterious man sitting alone in the darkest corner.

"I know what you want."

They were his first words. Without thinking, without saying anything, I sat in front of him. His eyes blazed inside mine and all I could do was just look in his, waiting for him to tell me what he had to say. He smiled and I felt like...hypnotized.

"You want more than this. You don't want to spend the rest of your life here in this nightclub, serving drinks to this bunch of horny men who would love nothing more than to slip into your panties, no no...you are ambitious, you are smart. You want something more...and I can give it to you."

Slowly he stood up and then dangerously approached me, his hands were on my shoulders and his mouth so close to my ear.

"You smell so good, look delicious." he said, moving my hair to one side and uncovering my neck.

"Wha...what?"

"I've been watching you for a long time. You are really beautiful, you know that? It would be a real shame to see you grow old and die."

I couldn't understand what he was saying, what he was talking about. My head started to turn slightly and it became lighter while his fingers held my flesh.

"Wouldn't you like to keep this youth forever? To stay young, to stay beautiful. The most wonderful nocturnal creature?"

His grip got even tighter and from my lips came out only a sigh.

"You deserve more. Just say yes and I can make all your dreams come true."

He was right. That wasn't the life I wanted. How could it get worse, anyway? I really wanted to spend the rest of my life doing this job, in this place where nothing ever happens, with no prospects and no future? What if it was all true? What if I was finally chosen to be part of something bigger, something that could finally shake up my boring and tiring life? What if that was my destiny? My having always been fascinated by the world of darkness made me respond without even thinking. Like I was under a spell. Like a fool.

"Yes."

Vladislav's smile reminded me of that of the Cheshire Cat: slow and sly. Satisfied. Almost evil. But there was also something reassuring about him, something I can’t explain.

"I knew you would. But before that, you have to do some things for me."

Now...it's been five months since that night. Five fucking months I've done nothing but serve him like a slave. Our deal? Still nothing concrete. I'm still tremendously, inexorably and undoubtedly human. Vladislav and I meet in the same bar once a week and he tells me what he needs: it could be shopping or...taking his bloody clothes to the laundry, sometimes he asks me to do little chores in his garden...things like that. I never demanded anything and never asked him many questions, satisfying almost every wish in exchange for some anecdote about his..."lifestyle", if you can call it that. Sometimes he stays out of the club, waiting for me to finish. He puts an arm around my hips and we walk almost until sunrise as I listen to the stories about his travels and his battles, that he tells with so much passion that I could listen to him forever. I'm so fascinated by his world.

"The last girl you brought us, Y/N... was not up to the task. She had a strange aftertaste, someting like...I don't know, like stale."

"Stale?" I ask him incredolous "she was like 25!"

"Well, maybe she wasn't a virgin like you said..."

"I'm sorry Vladislav, unfortunately girls don't go around with a tag on the chest with the word 'deflowered' " I answer him in a slightly annoyed tone, then I take a deep breath "...I'm just trying to do my best."

He caresses my head and looks at me smiling softly, as you do with a puppy who has finally learned a new trick.

"I know, little Y/N. You're doing great."

"Vladislav..." I say to him in a shaky voice "...I've always done everything you've asked and it's been a long time now, so uh... I was wondering if..."

"Wondering?"

"Yes, well...maybe we could talk about...the deal..."

"The deal? What deal?"

"Vlad..."

"Just bear with me, princess. Don't be impatient."

I look down, sighing. I was probably a fool. How could I think my life would change because of this blood-sucking lunatic? I just wasted my time. He'll never make me one of them.

"You'll never keep your word, will you?"

In my voice there's only a lot of discouragement and disappointment as I say it. I'm not angry, aware that was all my fault. Vladislav looks at me silently for a few seconds, then sighs in turn.

"Come to my house tomorrow night. I'll introduce you to the others and if they like you, too, then I'll consider the thing. Oh, bring a bucket and a mop, there's been a little accident in the bathroom, you know...it's a bit of a mess."