Under Chokehold

恋の予感 | Koi No Yokan

Koi No Yokan : the feeling upon first meeting someone that you will inevitably fall in love with them.

( read it carefully to avoid confusion, please. )
_____________

It all happened at once.

To Jennie, it felt like the takeover occurred in a moment, though in reality it took some months.

The existence of vampires had been all but a folktale. Humans talked about vampires like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus; something real if you believe in it. There were pop culture blogs about humans with a 'blood lust': a desire to drink blood and who participated in blood acts or rituals. In those circles, vampires were more like gods to be praised.

And of course, ever since the inception of Dracula, the entertainment business ran with the idea of such a creature, a creature that looks human, but is not human. This human-like creature lurks in the dark. Quiet. Hidden. Only known when it wants to be made known. People, women in particular, ate it up. Or perhaps, the vampire as a character was marketed to women. Jennie wasn't sure which was the answer. Regardless, vampires were a staple of pop culture and entertainment for decades before she was born.

Then sometime when she was a young child, the news began reporting sightings of real-life blood-suckers. Police cases of humans being sucked dry. No way an animal had done this. The panic was not immediate, for society was attracted to and comfortable with the idea of such a creature.

How exciting for humans to have a natural predator again.

Plus, there was a stark cognitive dissonance between the glamorous, brooding vampires they saw in the Twilight franchise and the terrifying creatures reported by the police and media. The vampires in movies were alluring and romanticized, their porcelain skin and smoldering eyes captivating audiences worldwide. In stark contrast, the so-called 'vampires' wreaking havoc in real life were described as monstrous and grotesque, far removed from the fictional elegance they were accustomed to.

Jennie's parents, too, scoffed. To them, vampires were nothing more than a figment of overactive imaginations, a staple of horror fiction with no place in reality. The 'vampires in real life' were dismissed as deranged individuals, lunatics donning fake blood and prosthetic fangs to feed their twisted fantasies. They were convinced these supposed sightings were nothing but elaborate hoaxes or the work of mentally unstable people seeking attention.

That lofty delusion calmed humans.

Until it became an actual pandemic.

A disaster that wiped out humans who couldn't handle the change in the air, and the change of the soil. This occurred before the surge of vampires came from the shadows. Jennie had lost neighbors, friends, teachers, classmates, and the sweet restaurant owner down the street. The once-bustling and lively neighborhood had turned into a complete ghost town. The vibrant community spirit that had defined her home was extinguished.

The government released notice after notice, each one more desperate than the last, trying to ease the growing panic among the public. They assured everyone that the vampire sightings were under control, that there was no cause for alarm. But as more and more people went missing, their words rang hollow. Fear gripped the populace, spreading like wildfire.

And then there wasn't a government anymore, well not one run by living beings that is.

And then came war. Obviously, the vampires with their superior strength and intellect won. They had swiftly dismantled the old order. They moved with calculated precision, taking over key institutions and silencing any resistance. The human leaders who once held power were now either dead or enslaved.