Aren’t we forgetting something?

“like what?”

The only thing that’s keeping us from freaking out right now. I stopped just before opening the door and looked at the kitchen counter. A small brown bottle caught my eye and I let out an annoyed grunt. I walked over and picked it up; Oxazepam, the little capsules responsible for keeping me semi-functional. Without them, I was prone to panic attacks that rendered me almost catatonic. Combined with my asthma, and there was a small chance I could die since it caused my lungs to freeze up.

Hooray for my family’s history of mental disorders and chronic asthma.

I twisted the cap off and dumped one of the small red capsules in my hand. I tossed it into my mouth, swallowing it down without water like a champion, then I twisted the cap back on and returned the bottle countertop.

I opened the drawer and pulled out a small Ziploc bag. I opened it and tossed the bottle inside and shoved both into my pants pocket. I wasn’t supposed to take them very often, but I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be out of the apartment and couldn’t risk going without them.

Are we forgetting anything else?

“No, I think that’s it.”

Awesome. I guess that means were good to go.

“Seems like it.”

I remained standing in my kitchen, staring at the door that led to the stairwell.

You don’t want to go either?

“I’m just really not looking forward to walking that far.”

Yeah, I hear you… Want to grab a cab?

“With what money? Last I checked, we only had a hundred dollars in our checking account and about ten bucks in our wallet.”

I was hoping you’d have more money than that.

“Nope, still broke as shit. There may be some differences between us, but that ain’t one of them.”

I let out an annoyed sigh and left the apartment.

Stepping out into the stairwell, I immediately noticed a difference. Yesterday, the stairwell had been a very depressing shade of gray. Today, it was a very depressing shade of blue.

I wonder why this is different?

“Who the hell knows. Maybe you really are in an alternate universe?”

It’s as good an explanation as any. So, did I time travel, jump ship into another universe, or both?

“Dude, why the fuck are you asking me? I’m just as stupid as you are, remember? You want an answer to that question, we’re gonna have to swing by the college and ask one of those geniuses.”

Right, I can see how that plays out. We’re gonna be in a straitjacket before lunch.

“I’m having a full-blown conversation with myself; some would say I should already be in a straitjacket.”

I thought I was the one having a conversation with myself.

“Does it fucking matter? Either way, you’re talking to me- I’m talking to you- if we tell anybody we’re going to be locked up in the loony bin, and rightly so.” I turned the corner and began walking down the steps. I had three flights of stairs to descend before I could step outside, that’s eighty-eight steps if you count the landings in between the individual floors.

I hated every one of them.

Surprisingly, I stepped out the front door and I wasn’t even breathing hard. I distinctly remembered being so out of breath yesterday, that I had to sit on the front steps of the building for several minutes in order to catch my breath.

Today, it was like I hadn’t just descended four flights of stairs.

Weird. Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if that Claire chick gave us superpowers when she shot us?

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Is that more ridiculous than me universe hopping?

I hesitated at that realization. Would it be so ridiculous? I mean, I was already living through an absurd situation… Would adding superpowers onto that make it any worse?

“I’m not saying I agree with you— but what kind of superpowers are you thinking about?”

I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping for the ability to shoot laser beams out of my eyes.

“I somehow doubt…” I sighed. “Fine, how do we test for that?”

No idea.

“You’re so fucking helpful.”

Hey, I don’t see you offering any bright ideas.

“I’m not the one who thinks we can shoot freaking laser beams out of our eyes.”

Fine, let’s table the laser beams for later.

“Fine.”

“Hey, buddy, can you get the hell out of the way?”

I froze at the strange voice. Looking to my left, I saw a pair of burly men attempting to carry a couch into the apartment. The only problem was, I’d been standing on the steps for the last five minutes having an internal argument with myself.

“Sorry.” I told the man, quickly moving to get out of their way.

“Damn bums. Always getting in the way.” I heard the second man muttered under his breath.

My ears burned from embarrassment and I looked down at myself; I didn’t think I was dressed like a bum. Sure, the sweatshirt was a little ratty, but it was still nice… I turned around and started walking. The sooner I got to the library and figured this shit out the better.

Though, after only a few minutes of walking. I was beginning to grow impatient.

“I have half a mind just to run.”

And kill over on the way? No thank you.

“Come on, you were the one who suggested we had superpowers, don’t you want to test that theory?”

But I don’t like running.

“Neither do I, but it’s something we can easily test without looking like a psychopath.”

But- it’s running.

“We’re running, and that’s the end of it. You don’t like it; you can wait back at the apartment.”

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Oh, ha ha, very funny. With jokes like that you should be a comedian.

“Nah, we get stage fright.” I bent over, placed my hands on the sidewalk and prepared to sprint.

Shouldn’t we stretch or something? This seems like a good way to hurt ourselves.

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

We could get shot again.

I stood up straight and looked around. I realize then that I’d been getting odd looks and stares from the passersby. I felt my cheeks heat up from embarrassment and I coughed to clear my throat.

“Maybe we’ll start out slow, after all.”

Good idea.

I pushed off with my right foot and broke into a slow jog, moving barely faster than your average walking speed. After a few minutes of maintaining this pace, I realized that I wasn’t getting tired.

Are you sure were doing it right? It seems like we should be getting tired by now.

“No, I’m not sure, I’ve run just as much as you have.”

Well, maybe we should speed up?

So, I did. I picked up the pace until I was jogging at a nice, even pace. I was still going slower than most of the joggers I saw whenever I went to Central Park, but for me this was a marked improvement. If I had to guess, I’d say I was jogging at about five or six mph?

At this pace, I felt a slow drain on my stamina. It wasn’t enough to make me want to stop but I could definitely tell that I was getting tired.

Well, I guess we can mark super endurance off the list.

“That’s a damn shame.” I dropped back to my previous pace and maintained it for the rest of the trip. I still thought it was weird that even though I was ‘jogging’, I felt none of the obvious signs of exhaustion. Sure, I was moving slower than a power walker, but considering yesterday I had to sit down after walking down four flights of stairs, I figured I would’ve been sitting on the ground ready to die by now.

Yet there I was, only three blocks from the library and I wasn’t even sweating. And if I’d been smart, I would’ve kept jogging, instead of looking down that alleyway.

I stumbled to a stop at the sound of a young woman screaming. All of the sweat that should’ve been pouring down my face from the jog over, came in a rush that soaked through my sweatshirt. I pulled out my inhaler and took two puffs, then took a few steps back and looked down the alley.

The buildings surrounding the alley were positioned in such a way that most of the sunlight was kept at bay, casting dark shadows into the alley. However, through the darkness I see a humanoid shape thrashing around on the ground near the rear of the alley. From the sound of it, it was a woman and she needed help.

I felt my heart pounded my chest and my lungs constrict, I fought to breathe normally as I took a step towards her. She didn’t seem to notice me, obviously too caught up in whatever horrific thing was being done to her. I grabbed my pants legs to stop my hands from shaking and marched forward.

If there was a way, I could help her, I would. If nothing else, I could find out what was wrong with her and call the paramedics.

I came within a dozen feet of her and immediately spotted the problem. I couldn’t see it from the mouth of the alley because the shadows made it difficult see more than an outline. But from this distance, I could see two silver spikes; each about a foot long, jammed into the woman’s shoulders; pinning her to the ground.

Shit! I ran to her side and knelt beside her— and was almost smacked across the face. She thrashed harder at my sudden arrival.

That was when I got my first good look at her, and I realized that Nancy had nothing on this girl.

She was gorgeous, if she’d walk fully clothed into our Victoria’s Secret fashion show, I had a feeling that most eyes would’ve been on her. She was that beautiful. Had she been standing up, I guessed she would have been about 5’9” and looked like she’d just left a cosplay contest where the idea was to look like Kate Beckinsale from the movie underworld; She wore a skintight black bodysuit beneath an overly large black trench coat with a hood. As if that weren’t enough, from the brief flashes I’d seen of her eyes, she had oddly bright blue eyes that seemed to glow within the shadows of the alley. I could see raven hair pooling around her head and spilling out from beneath her hood every time she moved.

She must’ve been too delirious to speak because all I could hear were hisses and growls.

“I’m going to help you, okay?” I pulled out my cell phone and dialed 911. The operator came on and I quickly rattled off where I thought we were. I ended the call and set my phone down on the ground next to me. “It’s okay, the paramedics are on their way. Just, I don’t know, stay with me, I guess?”

The woman’s eyes stopped darting long enough to meet my eyes, and I saw fear in them.

“Hey, do you hear that?”

No, all I hear is her screaming. Why, what are you hearing?

“Hissing.”

Well, yeah, she’s been doing that for a while now.

“No, this isn’t coming from her. It’s like the smell of burning meat. I think it’s coming from her chest.” I peered down at the silver spikes and saw that it was true, the flesh and blood around the silver was bubbling, almost like it was being cooked from the inside out.

“What do you think we should do?”

I don’t know, if we pulled them out, it could kill her.

“I think she’s going to die if we leave them in.”

So, either we let her die from the silver cooking her from the inside out or we pull them out, and she bleeds to death.

“Yes, those are our choices.”

Fuck it, I say we pull them out.

“Agreed.”

I reached out and grabbed the spike in her left shoulder. I apologize to the woman under my breath, then put my knee on her arm and pulled. The sound the spike made as it left her body is something that will forever haunt my dreams.

I tossed the spike aside and quickly moved to do the same to the other. I pulled it free, just as I had the first, then tossed it to the side. The moment the second spike came free, the woman stilled, as if someone had just flipped a switch and her entire body froze.

“Are you okay—” the woman’s eyes shot open, icy blue eyes locked onto mine for just a moment, then darkness bled into them. There wasn’t a trace of color within her eyes, and before I knew it, I was standing with my back against the wall, the woman’s hand wrapped around my throat.

I shoved my arm forward, aiming to hit her in the throat or push her back at the very least. Instead, the woman’s mouth opened to reveal dagger like teeth. She sunk those teeth into my arm, easily piercing through the fabric of my sweatshirt.

It felt like someone had just hit my arm with a sledgehammer.

The woman’s body shivered, and my body echoed the reaction a moment later, though for an entirely different reason. I could feel shock setting in, as a large amount of my blood sucked out of my body.

As quickly as it started, the woman pulled away from my arm and stumbled back. She was still hissing and growling, pawing at her chest, but seemingly unable to grab whatever was there. Peering closely, I noticed small sliver of silver still embedded within her chest.

I reached out with my good arm, and the woman’s body froze. I reached inside the open wound and grabbed the loan silver shard. I pulled it free… And then nothing.

“Do you remember anything after that?” I stared up at the ceiling of my apartment. I had no memory of how I’d gotten home after that. According to my clock, four hours had passed since I’d left the apartment. And I had no idea what I’d been doing for the last three of those hours.

I remember the woman saying something, but it’s foggy, almost like it was from a dream.

“That’s more than I remember.”

I looked at my clock again, as if I were expecting the three lost hours to just suddenly reappear.

Well, we better start getting ready. Our shift starts at eight and without a car, that’s going to be one hell of a walk.

“Fuck that.” I reached for my phone, only to realize that I didn’t have it. I checked my pants, my nightstand, the kitchen table, I even looked up and down the stairwell.

No phone.

I returned to my apartment, grumbling all the while about how much it would cost me replace that damn phone, then I picked up the landline and dialed the GoodMart number.

“Thanks for calling GoodMart, this is Daniela speaking. How may help you?”

“My name is Luca Ardnt, I’m scheduled to come in at eight tonight. Could you tell whoever the manager on duty is that I won’t make it; horrible case of food poisoning, you see.”

“Sure, I’ll let David know. I hope you feel better.”

“Thanks, bye.” I ended the call and dropped the landline onto the counter.

David’s going to be pissed.

“It’s not like he can hate us anymore than he already does.”

Doesn’t mean he won’t try.

“I’m 85% sure we were just bitten by a vampire; David is the least of our worries right now.”

Good point… You know, I guess I really did jump into another universe.

“What makes you say that?”

Vampires aren’t real.

“Tell that to the bitch who ruined my favorite shirt. Besides, how the hell do you know if they existed or not? Just because you never met one, doesn’t mean they didn’t exist.”

I think we would’ve known if vampires were real.

“Why? I had no idea they existed until tonight, so why would you?”

I had no response to that.

I stepped into the living room and fell backwards onto my couch.

I winced as I felt a spring poke into my side. I rolled over, grabbing a pillow and putting it beneath me to protect my stomach and sides from the loose springs. Then I grabbed the remote and turned on my 38-inch brick of a TV.

“Tonight on kitchen nightmares!” The announcer said, his words were accompanied by ominous music as a recap of the last episode played on the screen.

I let out another sigh as I settled in to watch one of my favorite shows. It’s funny, Nancy always hated the show, to the point she forbade me from watching it whenever she was home.

I have it on good authority that she would not be returning home tonight. So why not ease the aches and pains of the day by listening to my favorite blonde chef cursed out some poor sap.

You know we’re going to have to deal with Nancy sooner or later, right? Things can’t keep going on like this.

“I’m well aware. But I don’t have neither the time nor the energy to think about that right now.”

Should we mention it to Roman tomorrow?

“And get punched in the face again? No thanks, that’s one thing I have no desire to repeat.”

We were silent for a while, just watching the episodes opening minutes.

What kind of a half-brother sleeps with his brother’s girlfriend?

“Fucking Roman.”

I grabbed a glass that been sitting on my coffee table for the last two days and hurled it across the room, smashing it against the far wall.

Fucking Roman.