The Ups and Downs of Being Immortal (Completed Short Story)

The Ups and Downs of Being Immortal

It all started when a car make-out session got steamy and my date bit me in the neck - no, this isn't one of those vampire romance stories with moody dark-haired love interests and gothic overtones. In fact, the guy was named Winston (apparently his mother called him Winnie) and was as ruddy and redheaded as a fellow could get, and definitely not anywhere near tall, thin, and dark. But he was kind of hot, and he played good music on his car radio while we drove to the restaurant, so all-in-all, a decent first date. He paid for dinner, which was Thai, and then somehow we ended up back in the car, in the parking lot of the restaurant, with his mouth all over my face and my hands up his shirt.

It was all extremely acceptable, in my opinion, even as his kisses descended down my neck toward my collarbone, but when he bit me, I backed off a little - I'm not into that at all, vampire or otherwise. I was about to tell him to return to my face, please, when he bit me again, in the same place, and stayed there. It was definitely not a romantic nip, but it wasn't a full on rabid dog attack either. Anyway, I decided to move his head back towards my mouth, but when I  tried,  he suddenly jumped back into his seat and wiped his mouth frantically. I felt my neck stinging a little bit and when I brushed my hand along it, it came away bloody. 

"Wait, I'm bleeding," I murmured.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I got carried away."

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning. "Why'd you jump so suddenly?"

Winston squinted at the steering wheel disappointedly, and for a moment I thought he had expected me to be into it, which was messed up. He turned the key in the ignition, and sighed as the car revved up, and then he turned to me.

"Um, Zara?" he said, still looking at the steering wheel. "I'm sorry. I just messed up big time. I've got to tell you something."

Those words are not words that you want to hear on a first date, no matter how great that date went otherwise. And I was still confused about what had just happened. But I just said, "Yeah?"

"I'm a vampire," he said.

I'd like to say that I believed him from the beginning, because now I entirely understand how difficult it is to make that kind of a confession. But instead, I just said, "Yeah, right, that's just your excuse for biting me in the neck."

"I know it's hard to believe," he said, "And I usually don't just tell people. But I thought you deserved an explanation after -" He waved his hand vaguely at my neck. "That."

"Look, I don't know how you think that you claiming you are a vampire will explain whatever went wrong there," I said.

"I swear," Winston groaned. "I didn't mean to. It's just I forgot to have some blood this morning and couldn't hold out."

I leaned back in the seat and sighed, exasperated. "Just take me home."

+

YOU IDIOT, I texted Winston the next morning, WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME

Hungry for blood? He wrote back.

Yes!!! What the hell do i do? I replied. You got me into this insane vampire mess help me now!!!

Calm down i've got you covered, he said. You've got to go talk to Jensen at the lawyer office Hwang and Associates. He'll help get you hooked up with the right people.

Who the hell is jensen? I'm not just going up to some random guy at the lawyer's and talking about vampires.

I paused a moment while he typed, then frantically added and im starving - I had some blood from the raw beef from the fridge but it wasn't enough and the dog next door is looking scarily tempting HELP