Mutual Aid for Magical Creatures

I'm Just A Waitress

Finding a hot guy in the dumpster was the most interesting thing to happen to Lori all day. Dumpster Man had long black hair that framed his strong jaw and piercing green eyes. He was scrunched up in between bags of leftover cowboy chili but Lori bet that when he stood up, Dumpster Man's body would be hot too. He hopped out of the dumpster, bringing his cooler with him, then grimaced. 

"Thanks for not telling them I was hiding in the trash.  And for not calling the cops. You're not going to call the cops, right?" Dumpster Man asked.

Lori tipped her regulation Howdy's headband, complete with tiny cowboy hat. "The cops?" she said. "We don't need no cops, I'm the sheriff!" 

All of the color drained from Dumpster Man's face. "Wait, really?" 

"LOL no," Lori said while picking a piece of shredded lettuce off Dumpster Man's shoulder. "I'm just a waitress. Now, who are you and why are you hiding in the dumpster?" 

"It's complicated."

"I like complicated things." She contemplated running her own hand through her hair in that seductive way that all those tiktok videos suggested, but then Lori remembered she was still holding the garbage and thought better. 

"Well, I don't think you'll like this one," Dumpster Man said. "Thanks again for your help, but I'm leaving now." 

Lori never met cute guys anymore. She hated the bars and refused to spend her time swiping on one more photo of a guy with a fish. Where did all of the men in the city even catch bass? The only creature alive in the Hudson was oysters from that nonprofit. 

There must be some reason Dumpster Man was hiding her her dumpsters of all dumpsters. It was a meet cute! Or at the very least, a sign. She had to try to to keep this connection going. 

"Can I come with you? I had a crappy day, no pun intended, and you're the most interesting thing that has happened all week." Lori said.

"I'm not taking you anywhere." Dumpster Man barked. 

"Ok then," Lori said. "I guess I'll just finish my shift and think about all the reasons you may have been hiding in that dumpster. Maybe I'll make a video about it? Or a podcast!"

Dumpster man dramatically sighed. "Fine, then you can tag along. But we need to leave right now. This blood is only going to last another hour without real refrigeration." Dumpster man turned around and started fast walking out of the alley way. 

"Blood?" Lori whispered to herself.

Catch up!"

                                                   *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*

Lori would have thought twice about asking to tag along if she knew it meant having to go all the way to Queens. At least the train ride gave her the opportunity to make small talk. Lori learned that Dumpster Man's real name was Max, that he lived with his brother Charlie, and that even though he was wearing scrubs he wasn't actually a nurse. In return, Lori introduced herself, shared that she lived with her roommate Ana and the best dog in the world Ted, and "even though I'm dressed as Annie Oakley, I'm not actually a cowgirl."

"I know," Max grinned. "You're the sheriff." 

After forty minutes, they finally got off the train and walked towards Max's apartment. He raced towards the building, not caring whether or not Lori could keep up. Max was the same height as Lori but somehow his legs were moving twice as fast as hers could even though he was still clutching that cooler. 

Lori ran behind Max as he turned the corner, opened the apartment building door, bounded up three flights of steps, and pushed open his apartment door. It was a typical boy's apartment with Yankee's posters on the walls stuck on with blue tape and a scuffed, overstuffed leather couch. Lori reminded herself to not wrinkle her nose at the dirty dishes cluttering the kitchen table, but it wouldn't have mattered since Max was already running through the living room to the back room.

"Charlie!" he yelled. "Charlie, I did it!"

No one answered. 

"Charlie? Charlie, where are you?"

"Maybe he went to the bodega?" Lori asked, stepping out of the way of a frantic Max.

"He couldn't have gone to the bodega! It's still light out! Don't just stand there. Help me find him!"

Still light out? Blood in the cooler? Lori thought back to her run in with that wannabe influencer this morning that bumped into her rambling about a vampire in Times Square. No way, there's no way that Max's brother could be a vampire. There's no way that vampires were even real! She shook her head to clear those thoughts. There must be a reasonable answer. She just needed to see this Charlie guy in the flesh.

"Charlie?" Lori called out too. 

They quickly tore through the three room apartment. Lori checked under the bed. No Charlie. Max checked behind the shower curtain. No Charlie. Lori looked in the closet. No Charlie. 

"This isn't funny. Where the F are you, Charlie?" Max yelled.

Lori ran back to the kitchen. There must be a some spot that her and Max were missing. How many places could a man (possibly a vampire but Lori was still pushing that thought away) hide in a tiny NYC apartment? 

"Charlie!" she yelled. 

A quiet thumping noise answered back. Lori froze, holding still so she could identify the source of the sound. Thump. Thump. Thump. It was coming from the cabinet under the sink. She squatted down and ripped the doors open, and Charlie tumbled out. 

"Max! I found him!"

Vampire or man, either way Charlie wasn't looking good. Max's brother was so skinny and pale that Lori could see his blue veins popping out of his twig arms. Charlie's eyes were sunken in, with under-eye circles so dark underneath his glazed pupils that it looked like he smudged himself with charcoal. Even though he was out of the cabinet, Charlie wouldn't sit up. Instead, he just laid on the floor clutching his knees. 

"It's too light outside." he whispered. "The cabinet is safe from the light." 

"What are you-"

Lori couldn't finish her sentence since Max pushed her out of the way. He reached into the cooler and pulled out a sealed bag of blood. The dark liquid squished around in the plastic bag. Max leaned over his brother and ripped open a kitchen drawer. He pulled out a metal boba straw, then plunged the tip of the straw into a bag like how a skilled fourth grader would open his own capri sun at lunch time. 

"Drink." Max commanded. 

Charlie tried to lift his head, but he was too weak. 

"Charlie, you need to drink this. Now." Max said again. 

He cradled his brother in one hand, pushing Charlie up to a sitting position, and held up the blood bag to drink with his other hand. With great effort, Charlie wrapped his cracked lips around the straw and took a sip. Charlie's eyes flashed as soon as one drop of blood touched his tongue. 

"That's the good stuff," Charlie whispered to himself. 

Lori gasped. A real vampire! In Long Island City! Both Charlie and Max ignored her as Charlie drunk the blood and she gaped like a fish at the brothers. Charlie looked entirely different after he took the last slurp on the blood bag. His skin was flush, his eyes were bright, and even his body looked less pale like the life force returned to him. Though that would be impossible, Lori thought, since Charlie wasn't actually alive. The brothers stood up and hugged each other, patting one another on the back.

"Good to have you back," Max said.

"Good to be back." Charlie replied. 

He  wiped the blood off from his mouth, flashing his long fangs from behind his hand, and finally looked at Lori. 

"Well I knew my brother went out to get me something to eat, but I didn't know he was also going to bring me a cute cowgirl." Charlie grinned. 

Lori forced herself to ignore her shaking legs as she stood up. "I'm not a cowgirl. I'm just a waitress." she said. 

Charlie grinned even bigger. This time he didn't bother to hide his fangs. "I'm not a cowgirl either. I'm just a vampire."