Vampire Boys Of Summer (Completed!)

Episode 27: Vampires 101

My room was quiet. I had the music on low. I was streaming j-pop through my laptop. Currently playing was a song by Mr. Children called “Be Strong.” I don’t think that was the actual title, but they did say those words in choice points throughout the tune. I’m sure it had some cool sounding Japanese name, but I didn’t have time to look it up. I was too busy researching vampire lore. I had so many questions about these vampire boys that I didn’t know where to turn. Websites on Japanese folklore and legends weren’t much help. I even tried looking up Japanese history sites to find out if anything significant had happened in 1281. I didn’t think I’d find anything about vampires. The only thing I saw was something about the Mongols invading Japan and getting repelled. This was in the age of Shoguns and samurai clans. But nobody sucking blood and sleeping in coffins.

The sun had long sunk behind the mountains, but it was still warm in my room. We didn’t have central air. We had AC downstairs and in mom’s room, but not in mine. I had a ceiling fan over my bed. Set up in one corner was a standing fan that oscillated back and forth, but all it gave you was a momentary breeze before continuing on its cycle. My palms were getting sweaty from typing on my laptop’s keypad. I was contemplating taking off my shirt to lounge around in my bra, when I heard a whoosh sound close to my window. I looked over and saw Ryo sitting in the windowsill.

“You know,“ he said, his voice a soft baritone, “you can’t always believe what you read on the net. A lot of false information if you’re looking up politics, religion, or vampires.”

“Don’t you ever come into a girl’s room the normal way?”

“This is normal for me,“ he answered, with a teasing grin. I noticed he too was sweating in the heat. His shirt was half unbuttoned. I could see the perspiration on his throat and collarbone, and it was starting to stir my imagination. I must have blushed a little, because he climbed out of the window and sauntered towards me. His slow movements may have been intended to be sensual, but it reminded me more of a big cat stalking its prey.

“What do you want, Ryo?” I asked, getting nervous.

He stopped beside me and knelt down beside the chair. “I want to help you.”

“Help me with what?”

“Vampires 101.”

I leaned back in my chair and relaxed a little. “You’ll answer my vampire questions?”

“If I can.”

I nodded and got my first question ready. The one that bugged me the most. “Okay, how is it you guys can walk around in the day, no problem?”

“Well, personally I hate daylight. It can’t hurt me unless I haven’t fed in a while though. Oh my, I just let out one of my great secrets. Now you know that if you starve me you can kill me with the sun. I guess I’m just going to have to trust you.” He put his hand on my leg. I didn’t move it away.

“But the others? Haru? Chinatsu? Luhan?”

He raised an eyebrow, as if he were surprised I had figured them all to be vampires. He sighed. “They love the sun a little too much I’m afraid.”

“But it doesn’t hurt them.”

“Their bodies have had a long time to adjust. You know, humans have evolved over time. If you look back, what maybe just seventy years, you’ll see the women had smaller feet, were shorter, and…” He looked me up and down, his eyes lingering a little longer on my chest area than I liked. “…developed much slower.” He took his hand off my leg. “So, wouldn’t it seem likely vampires would change over time as well? We have been vampires for like over 800 years. That’s a long time to just stand still. The short answer to your question is we have learned to tolerate the sunlight. It is still very uncomfortable, but as long as you feed before spending a considerable amount of time in the daylight, you’ll be okay. I’ve only seen a few of us that have incinerated in the sun.”