The Lost Boy

Monica freezes up, her eyes growing wide.
“Vampire?” She squeaks in surprise. Harry suddenly seems worn out again, placing a hand on his forehead.
“I’m so dizzy.” He murmurs almost too low for Monica to hear.
“Wait, wait, go back to the part where you’re a vampire.” She says, raising her voice.
“Please speak quieter, I have a massive headache.”
“B- but what about all the ‘I want to die’ talk?” She questions, quieter now.
“Well, it’s not like I was lying.” Harry glances up at Monica. “Living is pointless. Immortality really sucks and I’ve only recently realized that.” Monica places her head in her hands.
“Oh my god. I can’t believe this. Immortality? Vampires? I’m going crazy.” She says the last part in a whisper, her hair in her fists. She glances up at Harry who had been silent only to realize what a goofy look he’s giving her.
“Honey, you’re not crazy.”
“What do you mean by ‘living’? Aren’t vampires, like, undead?” Monica says quickly, changing the subject. Harry makes a disgusted sound.
“Do I look dead to you?” Monica gives him a blank look, causing Harry to sigh dramatically. “A vampire’s mortal body will only die if they don’t drink human blood before the… ‘trial period’ is over.” He explains.
“Trial… period?”
“It’s a certain amount of time a vampire has before their mortal body dies unless they drink from a human. It’s different for each vampire.”
“But if your mortal body dies during this trial period… that means you will still live since you are a vampire… right?”
“Well, no. If they’re a fledgling they’ll die before drinking from a human then they actually die.” He runs a hand through his hair, sighing.” Plus I can’t sleep since I was bitten, which as I was saying before, really sucks.” He pauses. “I’m not really considered a full vampire… but not quite a fledgling either.”
“Wait.” Monica says, puzzled. “Have you drank from a human yet?” He looks away.
“No.” His voice is hard.
“How long have you been a vampire?” Monica changes the subject. Harry peers back over at her.
“About two years now, I think.” He rubs his neck. “Time moves quickly.” Monica’s eyes bug out.
“How have you been surviving that long without human blood?” He shrugs.
“I’ve been getting around it. Animal blood, blood substitute, stuff like that. It doesn’t taste very good and I continue to get weaker.” He says quietly.
“Are there others like you?” Monica asks curiously. He thinks for a moment.
“I know other vampires but…”
“But?” She urges.
“Pushy.” Harry huffs. “There’s a vampire court that all of the nearby vampires are a part of. Like- like a family of sorts, but a whole lot crueler.” He pauses long enough for Monica to ask a question.
“Crueler how?”
“They make sure everyone is in line and if not-” Harry smacks the table, startling Monica. “You’re done for.”
“Like-”
“Dead.” He interrupts. He tilts his head to the side, thinking. “Or kicked out. Depends on the situation.”
“Woah.” Monica breathes. “Well, what happened to you?” Harry almost appears offended as he folds his arms across his chest.
“Why do you assume something happened to me?”
“Well, you’re not dead. What did you do?” He grits his teeth, looking away. “That bad?” She sympathizes.
“They all treated me like-” He takes a shaky breath, his eyes fiery. He tries again. “They were awful to me because I refused to drink human blood.”
“Good for you for abstaining!” Monica grins, popping a cold French fry in her mouth.
“Don’t treat this as a joke!” Harry suddenly explodes. He stands up and begins to pace angrily. “My life isn’t a joke! I could still die!” A fire lights in his eyes but he quickly looks away from her. Monica sits back in shock.
“I-I’m sorry.” She says quietly. After a few minutes of silence Harry takes a deep breath.
“Like I said, I’ve been… killing and drinking from animals to control my thirst but… it’s nothing compared to human blood. Animal blood doesn’t have enough of the same nutrients that human blood has. That’s why I am so weak.”
“You make it sound like you’ve had human blood before.” Monica laughs nervously.
“I have.” Harry responds almost dreamily. That shuts her up right away. “It was a bag some of the others got from their guy at a hospital. They let me have some so I got the taste and hopefully craved it enough to go for the source but-” Harry stops and shakes his head. “It’s hard enough going after animals. They always sound like they’re in so much pain. So I just end their suffering… I tell myself it’s better that way.” By then, Monica has gone pale.
“You don’t kill humans, though… do you?”
“No. The others just knock them out. Too messy and complicated to kill them, you know?” He sips his coffee casually as if they were talking about that morning’s weather. Monica parts her lips to say something but her mouth hangs open as if she had forgotten what to say.
“Why are you telling me this?” She sounds scared now. Harry sets the mug down and looks her in the eyes.
“Because your eyes… they’re trusting and kind.” He shakes his head, chuckling slightly. “Sorry that sounded really cheesy.” She smiles weakly, her lips trembling.
“Weirdly enough, I’ve been told that before.” He raises his eyebrows at that but she then blurts out a question which she soon regrets. “Are you going to suck my blood?” She quickly covers her mouth. “I’m so sorry.” She whispers, her eyes crazed. Harry just laughs but then frowns. For a while he just watches her. He hadn’t really thought about drinking from her. But… He’s extremely thirsty and desperate and she… looks so tasty.
God, she smells amazing. So sweet.
“If you would allow me to… will you?” Thinking for a few moments, she replies.
“I don’t know.” She bites her lip.
“I would only drink from you if you gave me consent.”
“What a gentleman.” She jokes weakly. Harry chooses to ignore that comment. He’s too busy worrying about the possibility of sucking her dry because of how thirsty he is. But if he doesn’t drink soon he could actually die for real.
“I’ll only drink a little.” He promises. “Enough so I can regain enough strength to hunt for animals again.” Monica appears really unsure, biting her lip. “I promise.” He adds.
“Okay.” She says slowly.
“And- wait did you say yes?”
“I said yes, okay? But not a lot. I have a job to do tomorrow.” She gestures around her. Harry smiles giddily.
“Yes, of course!” He promises excitedly. He stands and moves to her side of the booth. He kneels because when kneeling he only has to lean up a little to reach the soft spot on her neck.
“Okay.” Monica breathes, squeezing her eyes closed. “How do we do this? Neck, wrist, what’s going on?”
“Neck.” He decides quickly. The two then blush. “I- I mean that I can disguise the bite marks with a hickey.” Monica looks surprised at him but doesn’t say anything. She only continues blushing. “You can tell your friend you got some action last night.” Harry smirks, which only makes Monica more embarrassed.
“Just do it, get it over with.” She snaps, looking away, her face still hot. More than happy to oblige, Harry leans in closer to the point where his lips are just about to brush her neck when he bolt backwards.
“Oh my god! Are you trying to kill me?” Harry shouts. Monica is confused until she remembers what she was eating.
“Oh my god. I am so sorry.” She covers her mouth. Harry didn’t eat the fries she served him earlier because the diner’s famous garlic seasoning was on that. “I totally forgot.” Monica says, apologizing once again.
“I’ll just wait until tomorrow.” He grumbles, folding his arms.
“Hey, I just thought of something! You’re not staying anywhere right?”
“No… unless you consider the subway ‘anywhere’.”
“I don’t. So that’s why you should come stay with me!” Monica says excitedly. Harry eyes her suspiciously.
“Who else lives with you?”
“That’s the great thing about it!” She cries. “I live alone!” After thinking it over for a while he agrees to it.
To celebrate, Monica pours Harry some cold coffee and then cleans up so they can leave. Harry watches her wordlessly as he sips his coffee. After clearing and disinfecting the table, Monica pops back with her coat and purse. Harry chuckles.
“What?” Monica frowns.
“Your coat is so poofy. It looks really big on you.” A genuine smile appears on his lips.
“It’s cozy.” She grumbles, adjusting her purse strap. Jingling her keys in her hand, she cocks her head to the side. “Don’t you have a coat? It’s pretty cold out there.” Harry shakes his head and tugs on the long sleeves of his shirt.
“I’ll be fine.” Monica smiles.
“It’s only around the corner anyway.” She ushers Harry out the door and then locks it behind her.
“How long have you been working here, then?” Harry asks suddenly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“Um, about three years now I think? I started senior year of high school.” She nods to herself, as if agreeing that the information she relayed was correct. “Can I ask you about your life before you became a vampire?” She peers up at Harry, who furrows his brow.
“I don’t want to talk about that yet. I did just spill all my vampire history.”
“That was all of it?” She challenges. He shrugs.
“Maybe. Can you ask me something else instead?” Monica opens her mouth but only white wisps escape against the dark sky.
“Does it hurt… when you drink from someone?” Harry is silent for a while before answering.
“Well, it doesn’t hurt the vampire who is drinking if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I mean the human. Does it hurt them?” She rephrases. Harry takes a moment to think that over.
“The other vampires mostly knocked the people that they were going to drink from out. But I suppose it would ache afterwards.” Monica frowns. “Are you rethinking your decision?” Harry questions.
“Sort of, yeah.”
“Hear me out, okay? There was this guy who I was close to in the vampire court who when we went out to hunt would flirt with girls-”
“You’re going to flirt with me?” Monica interrupts.
“Let me finish.” Harry waves his arms around. “Anyway, he would get close enough to them so when they started kissing he would suck on their necks and boom. Blood for him, nasty looking hickey for her.”
“And they didn’t sound like they were pain?” She bites her lip, still unsure.
“Strangely enough, no. They were always so immersed in being… pleasured.” He looks away, appearing embarrassed from bringing up the memory.
“Okay, we’ll do that then.” Monica says, appearing all business. Harry opens his mouth but he’s so surprised by her reaction that he changes the subject.
“Uh, I actually have to get something to drink because I’m still really weak. The coffee really helped, though, so, uh, thanks for that.”
“Aren’t you staying at my apartment?” She asks, looking worried.
“I’ll figure out which one it is.” He sends her a weak grin before taking off to the shadows. As soon as he’s out of sight, Monica curses under her breath for scaring him off.
Really, Monica, ‘Okay, we’ll do that then’? No wonder he ran away from you.
Groaning quietly, she climbs the stairs to her second floor apartment.
I can’t believe I scared him away right in front of my apartment. I’m such an idiot.
She glances back from the balcony into the shadows but nothing stirs.

Notes