Vicki sat at the breakfast table, staring at her food goop and taking a spoonful, spitting it out.

“Honey, you have to eat to keep your strength up.” Jack said softly.

“I can’t hold it down. I need real food.”

“Unfortunately you can’t, this isn’t easy, but it’s necessary."

" I just need some alone time.” She said taking her goop to go and leaving abruptly. “I’m going to the arcade where it’s quiet, bringing a book.” She added.

The doors opened and Vicki strolled in, feeling strange about what happened but trying to ignore the smell of lemon cleaner and…oddly, garlic. There was a faint aroma of bread and meat in the air. The followed the sizzle of a skillet and noticed a rather shirtless Vinn with headphones on.

“Vinn?” she asked, nearly sending him jumping out of his skin.

“Holy piss, Vicki. I thought you were my wife. I almost had a heart attack. This is not what it looks like.” He said, hiding the skillet under the counter in the oven tray, she turned her eyes to the fridge, which she could just feel in her body had been opened.

“Vinn have you been…” she said, remembering the blood she had been hiding."

“Okay, I know it’s weird. But it’s so addictive.” He said, looking guilty, hiding the milk bottle.

“What did you take from the fridge?” she asked.

“Look, I can’t stop, I’m craving it I can’t get away from it because it’s walking around the house in front of me just…out there. So I’m thinking about it, and I tried to make it less weird, I added spices and put it on some bread, oh my god it’s so much better with garlic bread. You just soak that up. Make a sandwich. I have a problem."

“Vinn, that’s my only stash. You have to get your own source. Why are you…having cravings?” she asked.

“I assume the damn vaccine. I brought my own stash. You’re doing it too, right? You’re sneaking down here for a fix!”

“You can’t tell Jack."

“You can’t tell Nicole, so that’s a fair trade. But won’t it kill you, drinking something that's not Gizzy approved and hermetically sealed from contamination?"

“I don’t know, but I feel like it might kill me if I don’t. You can’t understand.”

“I mean, I kinda do. I don’t have cancer or anything, but I’ve got the cravings and if this is what they’re like with a regular side effect, and you’re on a turbo dose and not eating anything but goop…damn bro. How could you not? I feel for ya. I won’t recommend it, but I can empathize. Like, who else is secretly feeding the fix? Is it just us? Is it like half the house?”

“We can’t ask, it sounds insane. We’d be locked up if it’s just us.”

“I know! Well, maybe not literally.” Vinn shrugged, “But it’s weird and fucked up. You feel guilty, too.”

“You said you see it walking around the house…who are you talking about?”

“Wh-?! Melody. Are you not just like…salivating constantly around her?”

“Well…” she sighed. “Dee is looking rather…tempting.”

“I can see that but like…compared to Melody?”

“Okay we need to stop being detailed, it’s weirding me out, but you’d never act on it, right?” She asked.

“Neooow. Gross. Not a million years. You wouldn’t either, right?” he asked.

“No, of course, that’s barbaric.”

“Exactly. Okay, so we’re both just talking hypothetical and satisfying it with the stuff here. It’s gonna go away with time and then the next dose will be less strong, so we just…don’t tell anyone, don’t make it weird…er.” Vinn stammered.

“And nobody else knows.”

“Right. So I’ll just use the mini-fridge in the ski ball snack bar, and you can use this one, and we just…like plan our…snacks at different times. We’ll just use a code phrase like: using the pool table.”

“Are you done…using the pool table?” she asked.

“Give me 5 minutes.” He said.

She waited in the hall reading her book as the door opened and Vinn nodded her in.

“I’m done. You can play a round now.” He winked.

“Thank you.” She said, passing him and locking the door behind her. She walked to the fridge and opened it, moving the beverages that hid the Styrofoam cooler behind it. She pulled it out and opened the lid, looking ashamed of herself. She could remember it vividly, the way she mopped and drained the puddle of dead human after her kill. The way she stared at the bucket as she started to pour it down the drain, and the inability to do so. She remembered staring at the bucket and dipping a finger in, tasting it, and the strange urge to drink it, or bottle it. Rather than pour it out, she unscrewed the cap of the milk jug, tinted pink with the contents of human blood. She took a sip, which became a swig and eventually tilted in a full chug for a good 4 seconds until she restrained herself.

It wasn’t fresh or clean. The hint of mop cleaner tainting it, but it was still hitting the spot. She took another few chugs and felt better, returning it to its hiding place.

Vinn stood in the hallway of the tunnels, pausing and looking both directions to confirm he was alone. He discreetly took out the bottle of heavy creamer and chugged the entire thing.

“God, that hits the spot.” He gasped, wiping his white mustache away.

Hyde sat in the weight room, blinking and trying to focus, he noticed Vinn and Vicki both entering together. An unusual combination.

“Hey bro. What’s up buddy?” smiled Vinn, as Vicki stood silently grinning.

“That’s not suspicious as hell. What do you two want with me?” Hyde asked.

“You know some…sketchy people, right?”

“Vinn I AM sketchy people. What is this, some kind of shakedown?” he asked, grabbing a small mint tin and opening it up, taking a hefty sniff and shaking his head.

“Are…are you just snorting cocaine in the weight room?” Vicki asked.

“Yea… I’m Delmarian. It’s totally legal, I just have to stay awake somehow, so I got the good shit in a bigger supply. I’m going through it like crazy.”

“That! That is exactly what I’m talking about.” Vinn noted.

“You guys want cocaine…just order it online.” He shrugged.

“No we uh, want something, kinda different, but you got a guy, right? A guy who can get things you can’t get online?”

“You must want some weird shit, I don’t even wanna know what you’re up to. Keep me out of the details. Just take this card. Go to the green room at the nightclub and ask for Mike. The guy can get anything you want. When he asks you who told you, just say the high tide washed you in.”

“Oh cuz…the Kraken, and he gets you high.”

“I said no details. Just go."

Nicole stood in the bathroom looking at the mirror and running her hand over the faint fuzz on her cheek.

“Hey honey, I got something to do, I’m gonna be gone for a while. Are you…growing a beard?” Vinn asked.

“Side effect of the medication. I assume it’s not gonna weird you out to see me all…hairy?”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Honey, I’m fully covered in fur like my entire species. You stopped shaving your legs when you married me. A little fuzz is not a big deal. But I have to go to the nightclub.”

“I don’t wanna go out, I’m pretty unsure about this look.” She admitted.

“Well, that’s actually preferable because I’m just babysitting Vicki. She needs a night out and someone to watch her, and I can carry her back pretty easy if she gets tired.”

“That’s smart. I’ll see you later.” She said, looking worried at her own reflection.

“Why don’t you want me going?” Jack asked Vicki.

“I just think it’s good to rotate our friends and I don’t wanna go alone. Vinn can carry me back if I get tired, he’s very protective, but he gives me space, and I need a little space after what happened.” She insisted.

“I know you’re embarrassed and freaked out by it, but you had no choice.”

“Neither did Vinn. I just…no offense, but you’re too comfortable with killing. I’m not used to it. Vinn isn’t either. It’s just something we both don’t wanna get used to. Just let me deal with it my way. I don’t want you, a professional killer, telling me every 5 seconds that it’s totally normal and natural when you probably don’t even remember what it felt like to be scared after.”

“That’s a little harsh, but you do need some fresh air and I do not want you going alone again. Vinn could handle anything down there. I trust him. I don’t understand what you’re feeling exactly, but I support you. Go have fun. Try at least.”

A bald man at a bar counter diligently wiped down the countertop as a pair of misfits strolled in.

“Bar’s closed till 10PM.”

“Uh, what if we wanted to talk to Mike?” Vinn asked.

“I’m Mike. The bar is still closed. The place down the hall opens early, but they water down the booze.”

“What if the high tide washed us down here, and we were thirsty for…something not on the menu?” Vinn gulped uncomfortably. “Kinda literally.”

“Oh you just washed up on the beach and need a little uh, back shelf beverage, hu?” he said motioning them to the back room. He unlocked a set of padlocks and opened a refrigerator door, stepping inside into another room entirely.

“We got anything you need, friends of the high tide and all. That doesn’t mean we got it cheap, it just means we got it. We got a stocked menu, we do special orders. We got a sale right now on Reptilian percoset, molly, We got genuine snoot, synthetic by the barrel that’s almost as good, you guys need black-hole, we got it in spray cans."

“Yea, I don’t know what most of that is, I mostly just do weed and coffee, but I need something…kinda weird." He said. Vicki approached a man with sunglasses on indoors, and a notepad.

“Hey Dorian, help the lady. This guy needs a discreet order." He said, as they both went behind the shelves for privacy. “So how weird? No cryptic shit. What do you need and how much.”

“I need milk. I’ve been getting into cheese making and various culinary experiments with cheese and dairy based stuff.

“Dude, I don’t know what that’s code for. Liquid Heroin?”

“No, like actual milk.”

“You can order that online at regular savemart for 12 bucks a gallon. I’m a drug dealer. Not a retail store.”

“I want exotic milk. Can you get like…Eridani? Human?”

“Oh, I get it. You need a kink fix, not a drug fix. I mean it’s not our usual shit, but we can get it, you need gallons or drums of it?”

“Gallons. Personal use, I’m not dealing or anything.”

“No shit you’re not dealing, it’s milk, dumbass. It’s totally legal, it’s just embarrassing and freaky. Honestly they have kink bars for that but if you need gallons, hell, I’ll sell you gallons, we’ll work a price. I don’t give a shit what I’m selling as long as I make money, and if you’re happy with the product, I’ll sell. You want anyone specific?”

“The what now?”

“Like, are we trying to get a celebrity’s breast milk, or just anyone?”

“Just…verity. I’m just making cheese, but you know…I’m Delmarian.”

“Dude, it’s not that weird, just give me specifics and money.”

“So what does the lady desire?” asked Dorian.

“Human blood, by the gallon.” She said.

“Well, that is new to me. We can get it, it’s just interesting to see a lovely lady with something different to order.”

“I’m flattered but spoken for, how much can you get and how quickly. And if possible…humanely sourced?” she said, looking sad.

“Donated blood, way more expensive but still doable.” He said. She held up an Iridium card.

“I can pay, when can you deliver?” she said coldly.

“How about we call you, and you can pick up what you want.”

Gentle elevator music played as Vicki and Vinn sat in a lobby with a pair of coolers and refused to make eye contact. The hospital staff walked past them without any notice as they waited impatiently.

“I hate this.” Vinn whispered.

“I know…why can’t they just deliver it and charge us more? We gotta go to a hospital and sit in the lobby with medical coolers?”

“Like it’s bad enough knowing what it is, without knowing where they get it and store it. I just feel gross. We know it's people juice, stop reminding us.” He shrugged.

“Well…technically this is medicinal. We’re on experimental drugs and having side effects to no fault of our own, and picking up medicine to help the side effects. Nothing wrong about it. We’re picking up medicine. We’re basically going to the pharmacy.”

“Except it’s borderline illegal or actually illegal or not, and it feels very illegal, and I am ashamed of myself.” He admitted.

“I know right, why are we so ashamed of this? It’s not our fault.”

“It’s actually pretty natural…for other species, we’re just crossing a line someone made up and said THIS is the weird border for civilized species. Like, who makes up the rules? We’re not hurting anyone. It’s all consensually donated.”

“Let’s stop talking about it.” Vicki sighed.

“Good idea.” Vinn nodded as a nurse with sunglasses approached them.

“Mister and Miss Smith, we have your medication ready. We would like to thank you for your generous donations to the hospital, and here is your thank-you gift. As ordered.

“Oh neat, they gave us custom coolers. We didn’t have to bring these Styrofoam ones.” Vinn smiled.

“For our customers, the finest services.” She smiled. “You have a fantastic day.” She added, making her leave with a bow.

The coolers rolled behind Vinn as they made their way to the arcade to store it.

“I feel good about this.” Vinn blurted.

“I really still don’t.” Vicki sighed.

“Yea me neither I was just being supportive. So here we are. And I guess we just…do this again when we need more. Hopefully this is enough, I got a lot.” He said rolling his cooler to his room and turning his lock combo to the default and totally not ominous 666 so he could set his own one. He opened the lid and looked confused.

“What the hell?” Vicki yelled. “We got conned!”

“No shit, and we paid a lot of money for it. What do we do?” he asked, rushing in and looking into Vicki’s cooler. “Wait, no that’s right, why is mine filled with blood bags?” he asked.

“What is this weird white liquid?”

“Milk…" he blurted. "...are we not on the same page after all? Did you not just buy milk?” he asked.

“Did you not just buy blood?” she asked.

“Did we just mix up our coolers, and we got entirely different things?”

“You bought milk? Vinn you can get this on CostMarket dot com. It’s cheap. You bought black market MILK!?” she asked looking shocked.

“You can get blood at the Delmarian slaughterhouses in jugs. They got chicken blood for soups for like 3 bucks a gallon.

“It’s human blood, Vinn you can't buy this at the store.”

“Well…some of that is human milk, and you also can’t just get that at the store.” He admitted. “Right? Like you can’t just do that? I assume you can't buy human milk at the store, I'm gonna feel really stupid here.”

“Well, no. but it’s…Vinn I’m vampirically drinking human blood.”

“Okay, it’s kinda weird that it’s human blood, but Delmarian babies drink chicken blood till they’re old enough for meat. We eat raw bloody stuff all the time. Yea, it’s weird that it’s human on human, but otherwise it’s just blood. Why are you guys so hung up on that? It’s liquid meat. It’s meat juice.”

“That’s just milk. People put that in coffee.”

“Not Delmarians. We’re not mammals, we don’t make that shit. It’s a thick white substance secreted from the glands in alien tits. It’s kinda messed up, and…well, I got a weird verity pack. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

“Wait, so you were drooling over Melody because her tits are getting even more ridiculously big? You were that freaked out because you like tits now?” she pondered.

“Wait, so you were thinking about like going Dracula on Dee and draining her blood?”

“No…a little.” she admitted.

“Okay you win, that’s weirder than my thing but not by that much if you think about the…whole dairy process.”

“So this whole time you just had a tit fetish and started trying the half-and-half in the fridge?” Vicki said, almost disappointed.

“Yea…I kept smelling it in the fridge like a craving. Wait...how did you find out about the human blood thing? That seems like a weirder accidental discovery" 

“I killed a guy the other day.” She said, fighting back tears.

“Mkay, you’re definitely pulling ahead of me on the weirdness. So, like…you just went apeshit on a hobo or what?”

“No!" she blurted, "He was trying to drug and rape me. I met a guy at the club, he cornered me in here, and I killed him in self-defense trying to get away" she explained.

“Oh well, that’s just basic self-preservation. Damn, I’m just glad you ended up on the winning side. Shit, you never killed anyone before, hu? Oh, that first one is rough. I get it. Oh, you poor human. And then you…just drank his blood. That’s not very relatable for me, but dude I’ve had to kill in self-defense and I had prep time and everything. And mine came back. I live with the guy. His skull is in my closet. What happened to your dead guy?”

“Jack took care of it. But he doesn’t know I’m…a vampire?” she pondered.

“I mean. I wouldn’t necessarily put a hard label on it, but now you got donated sources so that’s cool. That’s guilt free. That’s something.”

“He doesn’t understand, he’s been killing people professionally since he was 16. Jack is a calculated killing machine. I love him, and he works for the right side, but I don’t know how he does it so casually. Sometimes it scares me. And now I’m just like it, but I don’t want to be.”

“I get it. Killing someone sucks. You think they might kill you, you don’t know who’s gonna win, you just run on adrenaline and go ferrule and next thing you know there’s a head on the ground, and you’re like…shit, I did that.”

“Right!?” she half laugh, half cried. “I’ve had nightmares for 2 days.”

“Weeks, nightmares for weeks, little ladybro. At least your guy stayed dead and didn’t start fucking Jack’s clone.”

“Ugh, I am so sorry.” she realized.

“So…you need a hug or something?"

“No, I don’t really do hugs much. I kinda just want a drink.” She sighed.

“I know like 3 Delmarian chicken blood soups my mom made when I was a baby. I could totally hook you up with the recipes.”

“I know a lot of good ice cream flavors.”

“Did we just become food besties?”He squinted.

“I don’t know, but it’s kind of a therapeutic.” Vicki said.

“This lockdown is really getting strange, they better get this bug bullshit fixed soon or people are gonna start losing their minds entirely. This whole moon is going insane.”

“What exactly was SANE anyway?” she sighed.

“Fair point. Please tell me you have an ice cream maker.”

“They’re like 40 bucks online, with next day shipping.

“Yep. We’re food besties. It’s happening. You know someone is gonna think we’re screwin eventually. Us sneaking down here together.” Vinn sighed.

“Probably. Everyone else actually is, so would they even care at this point? This is almost weirder news than if we were just screwing.”

“Good point. We’re not even betraying anyone. We’re the good guys.”

“Let’s not go that far, we’ve both murdered people, and we’re hiding in a secret tunnel with gallons of medical grade bodily fluids.”

“No no…expensive forbidden food ingredients. We’re just misunderstood cooks trying to survive.” He explained.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I get why Nicole married you now. You have a really good way of positively framing some really weird shit.”

“I know…it’s a disorder, apparently.” he grinned.