Dusk
The moon is extraordinarily glowing tonight. It's all over me as if she wants to converse with me. I rarely looked at this thing before. I only look at it now, and it just happens that thick fog spreads outside. I was inside a library when I saw these strange occurrences. That's why I immediately cloaked in the dark to find the perpetrator of the fog.
I guessed right with this artificial fog that enveloped the entire Meadow Ville. It gradually disappeared as I got closer and immediately turned my eyes around. From the old-school wall designs to the smell of the whole place, it makes my veins throb and my hands clench. I think he overdid it by being an old-fashioned vampire.
"Dusk, my brother! It is an honor to be my guest tonight." A man's voice howled around the house then a raven turned into a human form. Renwick can do shapeshifting, while I can read people's minds and hear even the tiniest sound. "Nice suit, by the way. You can easily lure a warm-blooded human in that outfit. Anyway, do you like the fog?"
"It's uncool, and the suit is Armani." I saw that Ren frowned. I have known this man all my life here in the human world. "What do you need from me?" I'm trying to calm myself, but the blood keeps testing me.
"Vladimir asked me to entertain you because you're bored, as per him."
"Aren't we all feeling the same thing?" Or maybe it's just me? These past few days, I've been feeling bored, so I've been looking for something to distract me.
"Not me," he said, and I know the reason behind Renwick's answer.
He has a restaurant bar in the middle of this chaotic place. He loves to party, break the rules and haunt discreetly. We're all living in secret, not until now. In Renwick's case, his prey always throws themselves at him. He has an endangered charisma that we all have, but he is beyond measure. If the creature he preys on in one night is weak, his blood collection will surely increase.
That slime I smell that makes my nerves tense is from there. I tried to control myself, stopping the urges that it's like a trap set by my brother. I know that Vladimir wants to prove something to them. They want to force something into my mind that I will never be normal no matter what I try.
That's when I cloaked to escape and found myself on top of Renwick's villa.
"You can't give up what you are, Dusk. You get weaker without human blood in your system!" I clenched my fists even more after hearing what Renwick said. "Don't stop yourself."
I didn't say anything, but I rushed at him and choked him while we were both floating in the air. Renwick didn't flinch but just laughed even though I held his neck tightly. I am faster and more robust than anyone in my clan, even if I don't consume human blood.
Annoyed by Renwick, I threw him down the villa, but my brother quickly disappeared before his body hit the ground.
"Stay away from me, Ren."
"How can you say that to your favorite brother?"
I don't have a favorite because they're both just annoying. I didn't answer him, and I just thought about disappearing. I was at home when I went down to Renwick's villa. I took off my coat and just threw it on the couch. I was about to approach the bar but stopped when I felt I was not alone in the house.
"Morana." Seriously, why does Vlad call all of our siblings? "Did Vlad send you to entertain me?"
"Oh... no. I'm here to give you a book to read."
"You into boring kinds of stuff now?"
Morana laughed, then sat on my couch.
"Sometimes, boring is good, Dusk."
She offered the book as she approached me, which I immediately accepted. Then, Morana disappeared like dust into thin air. I read the title and couldn't help but take a deep breath afterward.
***
I never thought I would be obsessed with something that was boring to me before. This is where I proved how bored I am; even everyday work makes me lazy. I am in bed all day, reading the book that Morana gave me. It's not because I'm afraid of sunlight. I have protection, so I don't get sunburnt.
I'm almost done with the book and am impressed with how the author described the vampire characters. From the abilities down to the urges I felt last night because of my asshole brother, she explained it all well as if she knew a vampire in real life.
I slowly got up from lying down and immediately saw Renwick sitting in my favorite chair.
"Why are you here again, Ren?" I asked and ultimately left the bed.
"Come with me tonight,"
"Ask Morana instead."
"She's not into clubbing -" I looked at him evilly. "I tried, but she almost burned me when I disturbed her reading session."
I shook my head and let go of the book I was holding, and Renwick immediately took it. His face showed complete surprise because Morana is the only one who likes to read. I have many siblings, and if I list them, I might get bored.
Vladimir is the eldest and leader of our clan. I'm on his right hand, but not be performing my duties well the past few days. Renwick sits on his left side, but our asshole brother loves to play with the humans. He is also not performing his job well. None of us can help Vladimir maintain the balance.
"I hope he just burned you to death,"
To not have a noisy and naughty creature like him by my side. I have to work, and that is as a history professor at a nearby university at Meadow Ville. As a history professor, I am into books related to my job, not the one I'm currently reading just before Renwick bugged me.
"Do you have to work?"
"To avoid all the suspicious' eyes, yes, I have to, Renwick."
"Then, give me one of your students. I will love to bring her to heaven even if I don't know what it feels like to be in that holy place."
I didn't answer, but I left him and went to the bathroom. With my head in the shower, I was thinking about what I had read all night—the vampire in that book experiences love and be loved. Curiosity led me to wish I could experience that type of feeling. But there's only one question inside my head.
Will it be possible for an immortal like to fall in love with a mortal being?
That's impossible, and what am I thinking? Mixing feelings with mortals can lead to another disaster. A disaster that my family has been avoiding for a decade now.
I turned off the shower and looked at my reflection. I remembered what Renwick said last night. The urges are in me, and I can't just stop them. I am one of those dreaded creatures when it gets dark. The smell of slimy blood still had a strange pull that I couldn't deny.
I've lived in a human world for over a hundred years. I have seen everything written in the book. I cannot deny what I am to my entire clan. An identity that's beyond the mortal's naked eye.
This is me.
And I am a vampire.
***
I'm on an animal diet. Rabbit, chicken, wild goose, and my personal favorite, a deer. A diet that neither Renwick nor any of my siblings could understand. For them, I hold back from being my true intent. I don't hold myself back. I don't want people to think we're here again to sow terror after terror throughout Meadow Ville.
Someone else is responsible for that, but they are still silent. Their silence has to do with the phenomenon we are all waiting for.
The trifecta of lunar occurrences.
"Oh? I'm sorry," said the soft voice that belonged to the woman who bumped into me. I hold her shoulders to prevent her from falling.
"It's okay. No harm done here, miss." I smiled, and she did too. I have seen her before; I can't remember where exactly. Her face was familiar, or it would be more accurate to say there was no difference from the woman I had met. "I'm sorry. I know starring is illegal."
The woman smiled with her eyes, parted her hair, and tucked it behind her ear.
"You're new here?" I looked around before looking at her again.
"You can say that. It's my first time here in this... kind of place."
"Fiction corner." I saw that she had taken a book and handed it to me. She is not my student; I am sure she also just moved here to The Book House near Meadow Ville University. "That book is one of my best. Read, and you'll regret nothing in the end."
"Thank you for your recommendation. I'm looking for something to read to kill boredom." She looked at me as if she couldn't believe what I said. "Why? Do I not have an aura of fiction suckers?"
"You're more like a man behind a broadsheet and think academic books, honestly,"
"What are you?"
"I'm a human. And you?"
"I'm a vampire." Our eyes met, and it was the first time since I met someone who resisted my compulsion. I couldn't even read her mind. She smells something I hate, and it's all over her body. I was woken up by her loud laughter, which made me blink a few times.
"That's a great joke. It almost got me, and you're good at it." She continued to laugh until she looked around and saw that everyone was looking at us.
It's an open opportunity for me to leave her alone without asking her name. I wish I were joking. I want everything to be just a product of someone's imagination.
But it's not.
As I look at the moon, I tap my finger on my steering wheel. It was as round as last night and still very bright. Even though the whole city is silent, I can still hear others' agony beyond the mortal's ability.
I'm in front of the Meadow Ville cemetery now, waiting for a creature walking through the thick fog to approach. As her hips sway in the air, the temptation builds more vital inside me. I heard every sound of her heels kissing the concrete road, and it got closer and closer until I saw her hand clinging to the hood of my car.
I lowered the driver's side window, and a lady in red lipstick peeked out.
"Do you want to play with me, Daddy?"