Vintage Red [GL]

I rested my head against the mirror, contemplating my existence.

“Are you okay?” The German vampire asked from behind me.

“No, I’m clearly not okay, you idiot. You just ruined my life.” I snapped back at him.

“Fräulein, …” He continued but I quickly cut him off.

“And stop with that Fräulein bullshit already, it’s getting on my nerves… My name is Aurora.” I banged my head softly against the mirror again.

“Ok, Aurora… What happened was completely not my intention.”

“Not your intention?” I angrily turned around to face him again. “You bit my neck didn’t you? Isn’t that how vampires make other vampires?”

“Well yes, but no…”

I stared dumbfounded at his face before throwing my bat on my bed. “Whatever dude.” I sighed and turned back around to my mirror.

“Just let me explain, bitte. The youths these days, never let their elders speak.”

“Do whatever you want.”

“Anyway, as I was trying to say, the possibility of someone turning into a vampire because the vampire is feeding on them is astronomically small. Right now the conclave of our area counts 20 vampires, myself included. The last time a vampire was added to it, was 30 years ago.”

“So what? I’m just incredibly unlucky?”

“Ja, according to the world council’s research they hypothesise that one in a million of the general populace is not immune to vampirism.”

“One in a million…” I repeated his words that resounded in my head. One in a million and of course it was me who got enough bad luck to win that devilish lottery.

 

“But let me tell you, being a Vampire isn’t all that bad, Aurora.”

“Oh really now?” I turned back around to face him and started laughing maniacally. “If this is your attempt at making me feel better, you are failing miserably.”

“Nein, I’m completely serious.” He straightened up his tie and puffed up his chest.

“Getting vaporized when I walk in the sun, having to drink blood to survive, NO MORE GARLIC IN MY DIET. Super fun, really...”

The vampire sighed. “Goodness, Aurora, you are right that it would indeed suck if that were the case, but you shouldn’t believe everything that Holywood or Stoker tells you.”

“What, so none of this is true?”

“Not in the slightest.” He even looked a bit offended but not because of me. “I don’t know how that Stoker fella walked away with those ideas after having talked with my liege.”

“Your liege?”

“Ja, the vampire who turns you is called your liege, and you are their vasal. That means…”

I interrupted him instantly, “Yeah, no, I’m not going to be your lackey.”

“They are just terms left over from a time long past, you don’t actually have to do anything for me, however…” He paused for a second, thinking to himself?

“However?”

“Since I do feel responsible for turning you.”

“As you bloody should be.”

“Aurora, please.”

I rolled my eyes and motioned him to continue.

“As I do feel responsible for turning you, and technically being your liege, it falls onto me to teach you the way of the Vampir. So henceforth I, Viktor von Sachsen, will be your mentor.” He made a deep bow towards me.

I stared at him for a minute before opening my mouth again. “I’m not interested.” I turned my back towards him and stared back in the mirror, my eyes still glowing red. -I really can’t go to school like this, can I…- I sighed and thought back about his offer. “...Alright then, Viktor, explain, how do I stop my eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree.”

He enthusiastically clapped his hands. “Gut, Aurora. Try to relax your body.”

“How will that help?”

“Just do it, Aurora.”

I grunted but followed his advice, closing my eyes, slowing my breathing. When I opened them back up my eyes were back to being their usual hazelnut brown colour. “Phew. So why were they red in the first place?” I inspected my eyes from a bit closer in the mirror.

“Your body was in fight-modus.” Viktor explained. “Whenever a young Vampir uses their powers their eyes will turn red, and while your natural strength is already greatly enhanced by being turned, when you get into a fight a Vampir can strengthen their body even more.”

“I see.” I opened my mouth to look at my canine teeth again, they have noticeably shrunken, still clearly longer than those of regular humans, but not as obvious. “And this works the same way for my teeth?”

“Ja, that is correct.”

“And you made a distinction for young vampires?”

Viktor nodded. “Very perceptive young one.”

“Please don’t call me that.”

He coughed in his fist. “Once a vampire has matured, meaning they are fully in grasp with being a vampire, their eyes will change colour indefinitely.”

“Bye bye social life, huh?”

Viktor shook his head. “Have my eyes been red up until now?”

I looked over my shoulder to him, his eyes blue like the night’s sky. “Hmm, no, and now that I think about it, and they weren’t before you bit me either.”

He closed his eyes for a second and after opening them his pupils had turned a dark red. “You can learn how to camouflage them, but it is a constant drain on your powers. Useful not to freak out every human you encounter though.”

-So he was using his powers not to freak me out even more than I already was?- I thought to myself before continuing our conversation. “And what happens if you drain your powers?”

“You'll get very, very, thirsty.”

“Blood?”

He nodded. “While it won’t kill you if you don’t feed, the thirst will not go away.”

“And if I don’t use my powers?”

“It will take a bit longer, but you will still get thirsty.”

“Well, that sucks.” All this talk about thirst made me think back to the snacks I bought. “What about hunger?”

Viktor shrugged, “Haven't been hungry since 1930.”

“No more food either…”

“You can still eat, but it won’t satisfy you. I still eat my Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut and enjoy it, but it will not fill you like blood does.”

“What about gaining weight?”

“Don’t worry yourself about it.”

-Well, at least there’s that…- I put my hand on my neck and gently stretched it from left to right, luckily the headache had more or less subsided, although I did start to become a little thirsty. “And there’s absolutely nothing else I can drink besides blood?”

“Ja, there is one thing, but the relief is really temporary, meaning you need to drink it very often.”

“And that is?”

“Milch.”

My face contorted. -WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE MILK OF ALL THINGS-

“Goodness, is something wrong?!” Viktor had seen the distress on my face pretty much immediately.

“I really, really, really, really, really don’t like milk.”

“Lactose intolerant?”

I shook my head and put my hands in my hair. “The taste, I just can’t handle it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” 

 

And just when I was lamenting the fact that I’d have to drink milk I heard the bell tower of the church ring in the distance. “Wait, how late is it?” I frantically ran over to my bedside cabinet to look at my digital clock.

“7 in the morning I assume. You have been out for the entire night.” Viktor took a pocket watch from his vest but I was too busy confirming what he said on my clock.

“Oh no, I promised Ria I would pick her up.” I quickly put down my clock and hurried over to the door of my room.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to do that on the day you learned you are a Vampir?” Viktor protested.

“I promised Ria, and I’d rather die than break that promise.” I put my hand on the door handle but hesitated to open it. I looked back at Viktor. “You said the sun didn’t vaporize vampires right?”

He nodded, clearly he had given up already to persuade me to stay home for the day. “Ja, it should be fine...”

“Alright.” I opened the door and found Shima sleeping right next to it. “Awh, Shima. Sorry that the scary vampire man locked you out.” And softly petted her head.

“In my defence, I didn’t know what your policy was on having your cat in your bedroom.”

“Like the cat bed next to my bed wasn’t obvious enough?” I pointed to where it was placed without even looking back.

“Ah, right…”

“And did you feed her?”

“Ja, a tin of salmon, I’m not a monster.”

“Could you feed her again? I need to go to the grocery store to get milk.” My stomach was already revolting just at the thought of it.

“Ja, I will”

“Just give her a baggy of chicken with carrots, and refill her water too!” I fetched my school bag, which was lying around in the living room, and slung it over my shoulder. The paper bag from the snackbar also caught my eye when I ran past the kitchen, still holding it’s now cold contents. “And you are definitely going to pay me for this.”

Viktor who had followed me out of my bedroom just nodded. “I will definitely do so.”

Even though I wasn’t 100% sure if leaving a strange vampire guy in my home was a good idea or not, I decided to leave him behind anyway. While he did enter my house without permission and turned me into a vampiress, he did honestly look like he cared about me. Well, if anything happened to my house or Shima while I was away I could always put him to the stake. Maybe I should have asked him if that worked first....