“Hey Michael, can you pass the Simmons contract over?” I rubbed my eyes.

  These vampires with their early mornings are going to kill me.

  No response from the other side of the desk. I leaned over to look around my computer screen.

  Michael was sitting very still in his chair, just staring at his screen with a blank expression on his face. He looked like he was holding his breath. Like if he moved, the spell would break, and who knows what would happen next.

  Poor guy, he thought he was only going over to get answers this morning, not more questions.

  I stood up and walked over to his side of the desk. His palm was on the contract I needed but he was so distracted that he didn’t notice me walk up.

  I tapped him on the arm, “Hey, you okay man?”

  Michael startled in his seat at my “sudden” appearance next to him. He rubbed his eyes with a hand and relaxed.

  “You’ve been in your own world for a bit now. Why don’t we have an early lunch, huh?” I suggested.

  As his trainer, it was my duty to make sure he learned and performed his tasks to an acceptable degree. That’s why I was suggesting leaving the desk for a bit.

  “Hey Drew. Sorry I’ve been so distracted today. Meeting up with Antun gave me a ton of answers. I understand my own body much better now.” He frowned, his brows knitting together. “I just can’t get it out of my head? Why me? Why at all? It just doesn’t make sense. I should’ve seen whoever it was that turned me when I woke up, right? Guh, my head.” He rubbed at his temple, “Feel like I’m cursed, or being punished for something I didn’t do.”

  I thought for a moment. “Unless it took you a while to wake up. I mean, you were dying after all.” I tried to offer at least a little assurance.

  Right behind us, Trevor’s voice piped, “Who’s dying?”

  My spine locked. For a split second, I thought he’d heard something he shouldn’t have. Both Michael and I whirled, coming face to face with our overly nosey floor manager.

  “Trev! Hey! You surprised me man, don’t do that,” Michael chuckled in reply, a hand splayed on his chest. He winced and rubbed his temple.

  “Did Drew say something about you dying? She’s not working you too hard, is she?” Trevor’s tone was playful but he gave me an assessing look.

  “Oh, no no, nothing like that. I was just telling Drew, uh, about a game I tried out the other day. My avatar in the game was dying, that’s what she was talking about.”

  Trevor looked between me and Michael, his eyes still skeptical.

  “Drew,” he started slowly, his eyes turning to me, “Are you finally coming out of your shell a little? You never talk to anyone about random stuff of your own volition, this is awesome!”

  Michael was still rubbing his head. “Trevor, really, I was just talking Drew’s ear off. She was probably just being polite by trying to talk about my game. We were just headed to lunch, we both needed an earlier break than usual today.” Michael told him, trying to get rid of him.

  That finally seemed to satisfy him as he nodded and stepped back. “Well then, don’t let me stop you. See you both after lunch.” He gave a casual salute, still oblivious.

  I released the breath I held. “If I didn’t know better,” I muttered under my breath, “I’d think he’s a vampire for how much he seems to sneak up on me.” Michael snorted his agreement, or at least acknowledgement.

  As we walked on, he seemed to go back into his mind.

  “Hey,” I said, trying to keep him present. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”

  “We? Are you sure you want to still be a part of this?”

  The concern on his face was touching… but, unnecessary, I began to realize.

  The permanent smile lines around his eyes only accentuated his pleasant face. I couldn’t help but notice how green those eyes were, like an evergreen, deep and earthy.

  It’d be easy to get distracted by those eyes…

  “Drew?”

  Dammit, I did get distracted! I cannot keep doing that around such a dangerous being.

  “Sorry, yeah uh,” I fumbled for something, anything to say. “Yeah, I’m pretty invested at this point, you know? And you have to keep an eye on me since I know your secret. So I think I’ll be sticking around while you figure this out.”

  I wanted to believe that I could help in some way. The thought of him facing all of this alone felt wrong.

  A hopeful smile bloomed on his face, bringing back his signature sunshine.

  “Alright then,” he stood, much more chipper than he previously was. “Let’s go to lunch. Shall we?” He bent at the waist slightly with his arm extended, sketching a bow.

  I chuckled at his ridiculousness as I walked next to him on our way to lunch.

  ? ?? ?

  I got home from work, plopping down onto the couch with zero grace. Husker jumped up, walking across the cushion to settle on my lap. He purred as I stroked his fur. Another very long day, but Michael was doing better all the time at work, and his other issue…

  A knock sounded at the door.

  My body froze. I wasn’t expecting anybody, who could that possibly be? I committed the sin of removing a sleeping cat from my lap, my hands trembling, so I could go to the peephole. I crept over as quietly as I could, not wanting anyone to know I was home. I did not have the energy to talk to anybody – I had used up all I’d had at work today.

  I lifted the cover of the peephole as carefully as I could, conscious of any light that might shine out through the other side, before squinting to look through.

  Mom, Dad?

  I quickly unlocked the door to greet my parents. “Hey! What’re you guys doing here?” I asked as I hugged them both.

  “I came to check your fridge and stock it with proper food. Your dad came as company.” Mom pushed inside with bags of groceries and meals.

  Dad threw a thumb over his shoulder, his other thumb hooked on a belt loop. “Anything need fixing up while I’m here? I’ve got my tools in the back of the truck–”

  “Dad, just sit down a minute, would you? Would either of you like a coffee? Or tea? I got some peppermint tea that has crystals of honey in it, it’s delicious.”

  They both opted for the tea so I got the kettle going.

  Mom was in a perfect deep squat in front of the fridge, shaking her head at the emptiness of it. She huffed, “Bah,” and kept unloading dish after dish into the fridge.

  I finished making the tea, leaving Mom’s on the counter and took the other to my dad, whom Husker had deemed had a suitable lap for napping.

  Dad knew the rules of sleeping cats and just stroked the feline with his swollen, calloused hands.

  “Dad, you really need to take better care of your hands.” I grabbed a tin of soothing salve I kept around for his visits, scooping a dollop with the back of a nail. I began rubbing the salve into his free hand after he set down the tea, commenting that the flavor was as I had described.

  “Why would I do that when you do such a good job of it for me?” He winced as I rubbed over arthritic knuckles and stiff wrists.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I began to exercise the hand just a little to help loosen the muscles. I remembered a physical therapist once telling me “motion is lotion,” so I tried to move Dad’s fingers and wrist around to help him with his mobility.

  “Because I don’t live with you guys. I haven’t for years now, you need to come up with a better excuse Dad.”

  “Bah,” was his only reply.

  It’s so funny how some couples pick up on each other’s habits like that.

  I smiled at my dad.

  “Have you already had dinner, Hun?” Mom asked from the kitchen.

  “No, I haven’t. Would you guys like to stay and have dinner here with me?”

  My mom unwrapped a steaming warm casserole. I hadn’t noticed she had already set the table as well.

  I sighed with contentment. I hadn’t lived with my parents since moving out for college after a gap year, but every so often they would come by my apartment like this, my mom grousing over my fridge and worrying over my health and my dad wanting to do something helpful for his girl. I really was lucky, I got parents that loved me in their own way and kept showing their love even after I didn’t live with them anymore.

  “Well duh, honey, we’re your parents! We’re always going to want what is best for you, and what is best for you right now is for you to eat a vegetable. Now sit down before the food gets cold,” she had said one time when I had commented on how they’d come around to help even though I’m an adult.

  I smiled at the memory as we sat down once again for a similar dinner.

  ? ?? ?

  I finally had a weekend to sleep in, and it was glorious. Or at least it would have been had Husker not been pawing at my face and meowing at the top of his little lungs at 6:00 AM for his breakfast.

  I reluctantly dragged myself out of my bed, groaning at the stiffness throughout my body. I stumbled to the kitchen, yawning wide-mouthed. I opened a can of food for him to the sound of his, ahem, music before turning on some music of my own, letting the sound surround me.

  My eclectic collection had everything from classic rock to punk to jazz to rap. I liked songs from all kinds of backgrounds. I didn’t know what made a song good; I just knew when a song hit right and I let that carry me along.

  I pulled my hair up into a bun on the top of my head, needing to keep everything out of my face as I went to work cleaning my apartment. There wasn’t a whole lot to clean honestly, but getting my space in order had always helped me to feel more grounded and steady.

  And let me tell you, if you want motivation to clean a bathroom, you just need the right song to get started. Luckily, it only took a few skips to find the perfect song to get started with.

  I had just flushed the cleaner down the toilet, singing along to the Spice Girls, when I heard a knock at the door. Curious, I quickly washed my hands and paused my music. I checked the peephole to see…

  “Michael? What’re you doing here? Are you okay?” I was instantly worried.

  Please be okay, I’m starting to not mind you at work so much.

  His voice was shaky. “I think I need to come inside, Drew.”

  Surprised, I stepped back to indicate for him to walk past me.

  He stepped forward. BAM! I jumped at the noise.

  Michael took several steps back, hands flying to his nose in pain. “Okay, ow! What the hell?” His voice was muffled under the hand holding his nose. He put his other hand forward, meeting an invisible barrier. It seemed to cover the entire door.

  “Wait,” I slipped my phone out of my pocket. “I was texting with Antun earlier – he texts really well for a 500-year-old, by the way – and we were talking more about hospitality laws that vampires must follow. There was one that he mentioned about needing to be explicit when inviting a vampire into your home. I guess my stepping back wasn’t explicit enough?”

  “No, no it was not.” His voice was pinched and he blinked rapidly, his eyes still watering from the pain.

  I also remembered Antun’s caution to always call a vampire a guest before inviting them in, to invoke protection as the host. I swept back my arm again. “As my guest, I invite you into my home.”

  Michael took a tentative step forward, his free hand outstretched, and met with nothing. Relieved, he walked right past me to my newly cleaned bathroom to inspect his nose.

  Oh please don’t let vampires be bleeders themselves, I don’t want to have to re-clean the bathroom.

  Luckily, he did not have a bloody nose, just an extremely tender one. He checked in the mirror for damage.

  “Would you like a bag of peas?” I asked him.

  He paused his gentle prodding, turning his head to look at me, confused.

  “... Pardon?”

  I pointed to my face, then his.

  “For your nose, to use like an ice pack. I don’t have any real ice packs, but I remember growing up using a bag of frozen peas whenever we needed one. It might help with any swelling? I don’t know if vampires can swell from pain. I don’t know if they even bleed, but a bag of peas might help your nose feel better.” I shrugged, just wanting to be helpful.

  Michael stared at me a moment longer before he guffawed a laugh followed by a muffled curse of pain. “Sure, I’ll take you up on that. Thanks, Drew.”

  He followed me to the kitchen where I retrieved the peas from the freezer, presenting them with my own wince of sympathy.

  Lifting his eyebrows in thanks before wincing again, he took it and walked back to the couch.

  I grabbed one of my dining chairs for myself to sit on, setting it across from him like I had that first night he’d come to the apartment.

  “So what brings you to my home on the weekend? And I repeat my earlier question, are you okay?” I looked intently at him, trying to discern for myself if he had any other external injuries.

  “I think I’m okay? You know, besides the obvious,” he gestured with the peas, revealing a reddened nose. “But uh, I think I may have a new power? I was in line to get my coffee this morning when I swear I heard the guy behind me talking but he wasn’t. Then I thought I heard somebody else but their mouth wasn’t moving. Did Antun say how his mind reading power came about? I’m kinda scrambling because I keep hearing random voices in my head. I’m either hearing other peoples’ thoughts or I'm becoming schizophrenic.”

  I tilted my head as if to say well… it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.

  “Ah come on.” Michael’s nose sounded stuffy under the peas. “What do you remember Antun saying about his experience? To be honest, I’m a little fuzzy on what all he talked about because of how badly my mind spun afterward. Can you help me remember?”

  With that sincere look in his eye, he really did look like a giant beaten puppy.

  I nodded, “Of course I’ll help you.”

  I sat up straighter before continuing, “I remember he talked about how he was hearing many voices at once and it took him a long time to master the skill so that he only heard one voice at a time. Are you sure you identified the specific people who had those thoughts?”

  Unless he could also tell what direction a thought came from, there was no way of knowing whose specific voices he heard, right? My fingers drummed on my chin in contemplation.

  “About as sure as I am that at least one of them thought and I quote “Why the hell is that dumbass jock looking at me” as I was actively looking at him.”

  My fingers stopped. Pretty damning.

  “Okay, so that sounds pretty concrete actually.” I lowered my hand and cleared my throat, “Uh… so why did you come here instead of texting Antun?”

  “I was so shaky I feared I would drop my phone, and your apartment building was, like, one street over. I must seem like such an idiot to you.”

  I mean, a little… but I don’t know that I’d be handling his situation any better than he is.

  “You don’t seem like an idiot. You seem shaken, and for good reason it sounds like. If you are developing mind reading powers, we should probably loop Antun in on this. Would you like me to text him for you?”

  He nodded, handing me his phone, hands still shaking.

  I typed that I was the one using Michael’s phone and that we needed to talk to him as soon as possible. After sending it, I set Michael’s phone down in front of him.

  “I’m going to get a glass of water, you want one?”

  He nodded and I headed to the kitchen.

  At the counter, I felt something wrap around my legs as I grabbed a couple glasses from the cupboard. I looked down to see Husker with his golden eyes staring up at me.

  “Well hey buddy, what are you doing out here? Feeling brave? Feeling adventurous?”

  He meowed in response, bringing a grin to my face. He followed on my heels, sitting underneath my chair and staring at Michael like he was the predator and not eleven pounds of fluff.

  “Aw, Husker, you trying to protect me from the scary vampire?” I cooed at him.

  Michael seemed to ignore the light jab and stared right back at Husker with curiosity. “Hi Husker, how are you today, buddy?” Michael tried to ask.

  Husker growled, actually growled, in response before stalking off to the bedroom. My heart stuttered as I watched him go, wondering about animal instincts.

  “I am so sorry, I have no idea what’s going on with him! That is completely unlike him, he almost always hides when anyone else is over here. Maybe animals react differently around vampires?”

  Maybe Husker was just reacting to a primal instinct. Or maybe I was ignoring something. My blood rushed in my ears. Was there something I didn’t know?

  Michael said nothing and, curious, I looked back at him. His entire countenance looked so depressed that my heart squeezed as if someone actually held it.

  “Hey, it's not anything to do with you, Michael. If he could see past the vampire to the man who is there, I think he’d come to like you very quickly. I don’t have many visitors, so Husker has only been exposed to a limited number of people. You’re one out of the three total visitors I’ve had in the past month, and the only vampire.”

  “But I am a predator now, aren’t I?”

  He looked completely dejected, his shoulders slumped forward and a furrow in his brow.

  “A monster: mostly dead but not really alive anymore. I have to feed off of living blood now, possibly going as far as maybe hurting people again.” He looked up at me, “I don’t want to, Drew.” His eyes were glossy with emotion as he looked into mine. He clutched the bag of peas like a lifeline.

  I couldn’t handle this. This was supposed to be sunshiny Michael, not whatever this was. And as wary as I was of him, I was no longer scared. What did scare me was how much I wanted to make it better.

  “Michael,” I leveled a look at him, “You are a man grieving his lost life and all of the opportunities you didn’t get to have. You are not a monster. There are plenty in the world for you to compare against and you’re not even close.”

  He stared up at me as if he wanted to believe me but was just shy of it. I tried to think of anything I could to lighten the mood, unable to stand the look in his eyes any longer.

  “Besides, you’ll get to keep going on for who knows how long, it could be centuries just like Antun. Imagine the possibilities! You might be the first vampire to go to space.”

  That earned a stifled chuckle, but a chuckle, nonetheless.

  “There’s a piece of sunshine, even if it is just a fartsworth,” I said.

  That got a hearty laugh of surprise. “What the hell is a fartsworth?” he managed to chuckle out.

  I shrugged, pinching my fingers close together. “You know, a very miniscule amount, because a fart can’t fill very much space.”

  Michael’s laugh was now a boom. “I beg to differ – have you ever been in an enclosed space with someone’s particularly bad gas?” His laughter built to nearly a bellow, holding his sides as he rocked back and forth.

  I couldn’t help but join in, his newfound humor contagious.

  We continued on that way until someone banged against the wall. We shushed each other like naughty children, giggling. At least now Michael was smiling again, and that brought me some relief.

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