The Vampire's Rival

When the best part of the past is its clarity

Scavengers.

It had been centuries since I'd thought about them. The Scavengers have existed from the very beginning. From before the Human Error.

The Human Error.

What a shit show.

Over two hundred and fifty years have gone by and I still remember it like it was yesterday. The world officially "ended" in 2047, but it had already been in a tailspin years before that. There was a reason why a group of scientists could succeed in carrying out a global scheme to launch a UV Shield without the knowledge of all governments and cooperations.

It all started after the pandemics of the 2020s.

October 2023

"Another 'Only Fans' victim?" I asked Trisca as I walked into our loft.

She'd kept this kill clean, which was nice. I'd complained last time. She might be my lover and roommate, but that didn't mean there were no boundaries. Blood stains on my vicuna throw blanket was my boundary, even though the blanket was a gift from her, and she did promptly replace the ruined one.

"Mine aren't the only lips dripping with human blood," she crooned, wiping a stray drop of blood from my cheek.

She kissed me. It was a slow, lazy kiss. Familiar.

It was home.

"I have two more downstairs," I said. "I thought you might be hungry."

"You're a glutton, Ruq," she said. She kissed me again before whispering the next words. "And I love it."

When we'd cleaned up the mess from our other two humans, Trisca and I prepared for bed.

"It's Halloween season," Trisca said. "Our favourite time of the year. I've already organised for the haunted house. I've spread the requisite rumours and made sure we've got enough conspiracy theories going around. I think my acting is getting better. Or maybe it's just been a lot easier to push weird stories with the new pandemic and vaccine stuff going around."

"I think you're right about the pandemic stuff," I replied, enjoying the rush of Venom through my veins. It always flared after a good feed, but it didn't do much more than that because I'd sated it with all the depraved gore it craved. I drew Trisca closer and kissed her forehead. "I know you prefer the online fame, but I still think it's too risky. I'm sure you're tired of me saying this, but dark web meetups are so much easier to take advantage of. There's much less of an easy-to-follow digital trail. We have to be careful."

"Dark web incels are a whole lot creepier!" Trisca said, faking a shiver. "My fans are so much less guarded and it's a lot easier to convince them that I'm just a naïve little, stupid girl ready to be ravaged. They trip over their feet to come over."

"Fair enough. If I'm being completely honest, these last two dark web humans were worse than most. True believers. They came armed to the teeth and kept talking about an underground group of scientists who are about to cause the end of the world this year. They completely believed it. Even said they were a part of it." I chuckled. "They only agreed to meet me because I convinced them I was one of the scientists they were talking about."

"The world is always ending for humans," Trisca said with a shrug. She rolled on top of me and lowered her head to kiss my neck.

"But these guys... they were a lot more intense than the usual despots I pick up." I tried to explain. "They had proof. Information on their devices about fungi and spores and detonation points... it was unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"Any theories about lizard overlords?" she asked as she trailed kisses down my neck, to my collar bone and lower.

"I'm telling you, Trisca," I insisted, shutting my eyes as she took my nipple into her mouth. "This felt different."