I’m woken by the sound of my doorbell. I try to ignore it; all I want right now is sleep, but when it doesn’t stop, I clamber out of bed and throw open the door. “What do you want now, Zakin?” I lift an eyebrow when I realize that he’s carrying a very bloody man.

“He’s injured,” Zakin says. “Sorry, Shona. I couldn’t think of where else to take him, with injuries like these. The only reason he’s still alive is because he’s from the ShadowFang clan.”

“You know, you could just say that he’s a vampire. It’s not like there’s anyone here who doesn’t know.” In fact, we’re the only people at all for at least a mile. I have an excellent home; the apartments to all sides have been cleared out due to a reason unknown even to me. “All right, bring him in.”

Zakin manages to get the man into the house without running him into any walls. “I don’t know who he is. It looked like he was attacked by something, but by the time I got there, it was already dead. As you can see, though, it ripped him a pretty big hole.” He looks up and meets my eyes directly, a rare move. “Shona, as bad as this injury is, for him to not have already gone berserk, you know what that means. He’s at least as old as you are, and probably older. I’m going to run for supplies; be careful, okay?”

Startled by both his words and his audacity, I stare at him before nodding with a smirk. “Yeah. Got it. Go; I’ll be fine.” He leaves and I turn to my unexpected guest, studying him. The man is pale, more so than even a vampire should be. He’s lost a lot of blood, I should… no. I have to administer first aid before I try to feed him, or it won’t work, not with my blood at least. I start patching him up.

After a few minutes, he groans and tries to sit up. I push him back down and hand him a damp cloth. “You’re not healed yet, stay down. Here. Use this to clean off your face; you look like something out of a horror film right now.”

Just then, Zakin comes back in. “I’ve brought food, and more bandages. I know pain meds don’t work, but…” He trails off when he sees that the man is awake. “Ah, he woke up,” is his only comment.

I look around and curse under my breath in several languages. The two men stare at me. “He needs blood. His injury drained almost all of what he had. If he was a normal human, he’d be dead a long time ago.”

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Zakin sighs. “He can have mine, Shona, but I’ll need yours. There’s no one else around to replenish our supply, and you’re the only one present who can survive without.”

I groan but nod. He offers his wrist to the stranger, who hesitates. “Go on,” Zakin says. “I know you Ancients train yourselves to not need any, but you’ll die if you don’t. Just try not to kill me, okay? I do still value my life.” The man nods and bites.

I busy myself with cleaning up as the man heals himself with my friend’s blood. When he finally releases Zakin’s wrist, I have my arm in front of my friend’s pale lips before anyone else can even blink; he doesn’t even twitch before sinking his fangs into my ulnar artery. It doesn’t bother me much anymore - after all, we’ve been working together for millennia. I continue cleaning with one hand.

When he lets go, I send him out in the kitchen. “Zakin, will you make breakfast? I have something I want to discuss with this man.” I look the stranger in the eye. “Alone.”

Zakin nods. “Yeah, of course. Take as much time as you need. I’ll knock when breakfast is ready.” He leaves and I turn to the man.

Before I can speak, he cuts me off. “My name is Tylerin Shadowfang. I’m the CEO of Funny Shadows.”

I roll my eyes. “You own that toy store?”

“Ah, yeah?” He seems confused. “Yes, I own the multi-million-dollar toy store.” Now he’s acting offended.

I wave away his indignation. “Yeah, sure. My name is Shona. Do you need more blood? I still have plenty to spare, though it won’t help you as much as Zakin’s did.”

“Why?” He immediately shakes his head. “No, never mind. I’m good, thanks.” He looks up. “I suspect that’s not what you wanted to talk about, though. So what’s up?”

I lift an eyebrow as his casual speech, but answer anyway. “I’m going to tell you a little story. You don’t get to ask questions until the end. Just listen.” He places a hand over his mouth to say that he won’t speak. “Good.

“A long time ago, a young girl was walking home when an out-of-control vampire, not much older than she was, attacked and turned her. While she bore him no ill will or malice, she couldn’t find him to tell him so. This girl, despite being their princess, was abandoned by her clan for the sin of being a mixed-blood. The vampires likewise would not take her in. Despite this, she continued to survive, making a name for herself in the Hidden World. When she still could not find him, she decided to leave her position and live a quiet life in the human world, working various jobs. Then one day, he stumbled in on her, and she had to make a choice: help the man who changed her life, or leave him to die. She chose to save him, but he didn’t remember her. She tried to jog his memory with her story, but could not tell if it was working. Now, do you think the man figured out what she was trying to tell him?”