Location: My Dorm, Living Room

Time: 11:31 PM, 11/11/2103

There are times when you’re presented with an impossible dilemma. Sometimes every choice is wrong, but you still have to convince yourself that one of them is better than the other. That one of your options is actually right. That’s the easy part.

The hard part is convincing everyone else that it was right as well. They don’t care that you were forced to pick between impossibilities, outsiders will just look at the result and assume it was your first choice.

And if you hadn’t realized why I brought this abstract topic up, I managed to find myself in one of those situations. More importantly though, I just don’t want anyone judging me too harshly.

The two jays were lying on the couch, asleep. Since becoming a vampire I’d noticed my movements had become lighter, like I was constantly in sneak mode. Even as I paced around the living room they showed no signs of waking up.

Why was I pacing? Hunger. Yes, that ever obvious problem associated with vampires. It didn’t take long for my desire for some of that sweet human juice to dominate my thoughts.

It’s not like I wasn’t prepared for that though. Actually, it was the opposite. From the beginning, I had a plan in mind to handle it. It’s just, you know, it was a bust.

I figured my part time job cleaning up after hours at a butcher shop would give me plenty of easy access to blood. And it did, just not the right kind. The results of my test run drinking cow’s blood returned less than stellar results. Pig’s blood was no different. Honestly, my reaction to drinking them was pretty much the same as I’d imagine it would be for a human. It was absolutely disgusting. I couldn’t keep it down for even a second.

I considered trying all of the different varieties of barnyard bloods, but in the end, I’m neither that optimistic nor masochistic.

Despite no one making any promises, I felt like I’d been lied to. Apparently, only the real deal would do. Whose terrible idea was that?

Only human blood will work? What kind of terrible feature is that? I’m definitely going to complain to the devs and hope for a new balance update.

Jokes aside, it was an unfortunate situation.

I don’t want anyone misunderstanding my plight though. My decision wasn’t whether or not to eat. I was definitely going to do that from the beginning. This isn’t a moment of reflection on the act itself. Sorry to disappoint, but I had absolutely no hang-ups on the idea of drinking straight from the tap. I’m not sure if that was a result of becoming a vampire, or if my personality is just naturally accepting.

The decision I couldn’t make, but had to, was who to drink from.

On one hand, Josh was my roommate. My best friend, the only friend I couldn’t push away. He was a nice guy. He’d always do pretty much anything to help me out. I was sure he’d have no problem participating in this impromptu blood donation.

On the other, slightly more troublesome hand, was Jess. Certainly not a friend, and arguably, the person who disliked me the most. She’d actively avoid doing anything that would help me out. She’d probably drink it herself before giving me a drop of blood.

So then, it had to be Josh, right?

Based on that you’d think my choice would be obvious, but that’s overlooking the most important factor.

I didn’t want to bite another man on the neck!

I get that I’d be doing it for necessary reasons, and in theory, it’s completely separate from anything sexual, but you know, when your mouth is inches away from their neck, things don’t seem that way. It might have been possible if I could have bitten my unlucky juice box somewhere else. That wasn’t something I could compromise on though. I don’t care what Elodie was going on about. Vampires bite on the neck. Everyone knows that.

So then, my choice had to be Jess, right?

If only it was that simple. As I said, the act itself didn’t need to be inherently sexual, but the fact that I saw it that way made things difficult. If I wasn’t willing to do it to a guy, didn’t that make it something I shouldn’t be allowed to do to my best friend's girlfriend? Besides, it felt like using her would be a crime.

I mean, it was definitely a crime either way, but biting her neck felt like a more serious one. The kind that would get me put on a list.

So then my choice definitely had to be Josh, right?

No. It’s not that simple.

Actually, it was that simple. I just didn’t want to bite another man on the neck! There’s no deeper meaning here, just an unavoidable truth. That’s what made things so difficult. There wasn’t any kind of complex argument that could change my basic feelings.

Still, I had to pick one. And either way, I’d be driving my character in a strange direction. I’m not prepared for things to develop into one of those stories.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

But it had to be done. To overcome an impossible hurdle this early on I needed to find my resolve. And fortunately, I did.

The resolve to hide the truth.

Being the narrator has its advantages.

Having found my resolve, I approached my meal, who will forever remain anonymous. I opened my mouth and closed in on their neck.

Thank you genderless pronouns!

“What are you doing to that guy’s neck?”

“Don’t ruin my resolve so quickly! My target was supposed to be a secret.”

A disinterested sounding voice interrupted my dinner. I suppose I could have taken a quick drink with her watching, but I didn’t feel like putting on a free show.

Elodie. Age unknown, vampire, and according to her, my master. What happened to vampires not entering uninvited?

“I mean, I get that you were probably trying to eat, but what’s with your fetish for necks?”

“It’s not a fetish! Vampires bite on the neck.” I was trying to raise my voice while also keeping quiet enough to not wake up the two jays.

“No, we really don’t.”

“Agree to disagree. What are you here for anyway? I wasn’t expecting a visit from you so soon.” And I didn’t have the heart to bring it up, but where did that table and chair come from? Elodie was sitting at a small circular table that I’d never seen before in my life. She managed to smuggle furniture in here as well? How naturally stealthy were we?

“Ah, well, I was planning on just letting you be.”

Take some responsibility!

“But then I remembered you’d probably get hungry. I needed to explain how to handle that.”

“Thanks, but I figured it out. A quick bite on the neck will solve that problem.”

“No, that’s wrong for too many reasons. Most importantly, you can’t drink blood from a human.”

“What? Why not?”

“It’s illegal.”

“A surprisingly reasonable response coming from a bike vandal! Then what am I supposed to drink? And don’t say cow or pig, I already gave them a try.”

“You already. . . No, never mind. Just drink this.”

Elodie tossed me a small packet. Overall it had the feeling of a water balloon. I didn’t need to ask about what the liquid inside was.

“Um, how do I get it out?” I was inspecting the packet, but I couldn’t find any opening or slot to push a straw through.

“Just bite into it.”

“Ah, like a neck?”

“Seriously, why?”

Pretending it was a neck, I bit down and quickly drank the liquid inside.

“Hmm. Honestly, it was okay, but not as good as I was expecting. Three stars.”

“I wasn’t looking for your review.”

“Have any better flavors?”

“I’m definitely not looking for your complaints! That’s just how low quality artificial blood tastes.”

Her stoic act was starting to crack again, revealing her true personality. Why does she even bother with the act?

“Artificial? So it wasn’t even the real thing?”

“You think I’d waste real blood on you, someone who doesn’t even work for me? No, I bought the cheapest stuff I could find.”

“I can respect that kind of frugal nature, but I’m still a little annoyed with how you phrased it.”

Wait, the cheapest stuff she could find?

“You have to buy this?” I feel like I learned an all important truth too late into the game.

“Of course. You thought it just came for free? Consider the first one a gift, but I’m not getting you anymore.”

Once again, I’d been tricked! Completely mislead. If I knew I had to pay for that kind of stuff I never would have become a vampire in the first place. What happened to not having to pay for food?

“How much?”

“For?”

“The cheapest stuff on the market. And how much will I need to drink per day?”

“It really depends on the vampire, but I’d say around two liters a day is average.”

I quickly scanned over the empty packet in my hands. Thirty-two ounces. So I’d need to buy two of them every day.

“And for the price, some of them can get expensive, especially if you start buying real blood, but that brand I got you was only 75 Imperial Credits.”

“Seventy-five? For how many?” For 75 credits I could eat for a week.

“How many? Just the one.”

I felt lightheaded as I staggered backward. Seventy-five credits for one packet. That meant I’d need to spend 150 credits a day. Even if every month was February that would be over 4,000 credits a month.

I should have held out hope for a necromancer.

“Impossible. That’s more than most people pay for their mortgage. I’m going to starve, guaranteed.”

“Then I suppose I could help.”

Elodie offered an extension of support. How timely. Despite her attempt to keep her voice sounding even and disinterested, it wasn’t hard to see what she was after. The blood, the price, even my reaction; her whole visit was planned out.

I should have known the moment I realized she was trying to keep up her fake personality. She was still viewing me as someone that needed to be tricked. She was still trying to play at politics.

“I may be a girl with no power who was chased from her home, an unfortunate soul that can’t even use her own last name.”

She couldn’t use her own name? For the first time I started to feel some comradery with her. I guess problems like that crop up more often than you’d think.

“But I still have enough influence, in this city at least, to make sure you’ll never lack fresh blood.”

There it was. Earlier she made sure I understood that nothing comes free. She wasn’t interested in charity. Not that I’m any different. We all need something someone else has.

“All you need to do is become one of my pieces.”

“I can’t imagine I’d be a very useful one.”

“You’re wrong. I’ll have you serve me directly. I’ve never seen someone transform into an aberration so smoothly. Honestly, I don’t understand it myself. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before your body adapts to my augmentation even more effectively than my own. From what I heard, even surviving after being infected by my augmentation is incredibly unlikely, let alone being able to control it so well.”

“I’m pretty sure I just heard something that should have come up last night.”

“That’s why I want you.” Was she ignoring my complaint? “I might not seem like it now, but eventually I’m going to become a person that no one can ignore. I’m going to make everyone back at the capital regret sending me away just because my augmentation is a little more, intense, than most.”

“But I can’t do that alone. I’ll need supporters. I need to build a power base that puts me on the same playing field as my siblings. That’s why I need people like you. Work for me, and I’ll make sure you’re adequately rewarded.”