Vampires are supposed to be immortal, awe-inspiring, grand and terrifying. That’s what the stories say. I can tell you with confidence, the stories lie.
These past few days have been, without exaggeration, the worst of my life. I died. Then lived again. I’ve been trying to find my way back home. The sweet smell of a squirrel made me follow the animal, lusting for their blood. I got caught in a spider web, but escaped in time, before the spider showed up. I was afraid of spiders before, now I’m terrified of them.
I finally reach my home, right in time before sunrise. I slumber beneath the deck now, together with my fellow vampires. Most of them aren’t sentient like me. They keep their form. I’ve turned back to human shape, but it already feels awkward. I should sleep the day away. I don’t want to. I know the nightmare will just repeat over and over. My eyes fall shut anyway.
I’m on the deck, my husband next to me. Twilight turns the sky into the most beautiful combination of colours. Several itchy pin pricks on my bare skin. The mosquitos are out in force today. I jump up and make my way inside. I say: “it’s not fair how they don’t want anything to do with you!” My voice sounds both petulant and ludicrous. “They completely eat me up. Definitely the worst thing about summer. Can’t even enjoy the sunset.”
The last thing I remember, is falling asleep on the couch. I wake up in a ditch.
Glitch.
I’m on the deck.
My eyes open. I’m under the deck. I can feel it, the transformation will start soon. Someone is walking above, the wood creaks. A voice. His voice.
“She’s been gone for weeks now, and still they haven’t found any clues. They don’t say it, but I know they believe she ran off and left me. She wouldn’t have done that, I know her!”
Weeks? Surely it had only been days? Oh my love, we’ll be reunited soon. My arms and legs change. Wings sprout out of my back. My skin feels weird as my body transforms completely. It’s time.
I command the other vampires to follow me. I didn’t even know I could do that. The more of us suck his blood, the more chance of infecting him. We all take off, squeezing through the boards. A jovial feeling consumes me. I land on my husbands neck. Like giving a kiss, I extend my mouth and pierce the skin, let out my venom and suck the blood. It tastes good. Pure bliss engulfs me. Soon he’ll join me.
I see the shadow too late. A large hand turns into darkness, followed by pain. My body is broken. He pinches me between thumb and forefinger, lifts me up to eye level. Squinting, he murmurs: “stupid mosquitoes”, before dropping me. I die before hitting the ground.
This time for good.
*************
This little story was written for ‘the horrible writing podcast support’ facebook group. There is a monthly writing challenge. The story can’t have than 500 words, and the other rules for this month’s challenge were: set in summer, show something of summer’s harshness (blood sucking insects are definitely on the top of my list for that), mention the words jovial, squirrel, ludicrous, use a different tense to your usual one (I mostly write in 3rd pov past tense, so chose 1st pov present tense for this one). Hope you enjoyed! OH! The best stories of each monthly challenge are chosen to be featured in a new podcast, The Stories We Tell Podcast. I’m pleased to say that mine have been chosen for all the months I’ve participated so far, yaay! The first episode of that podcast is scheduled to be released soon. Find it on Facebook, Twitter, and look for it on your favourite podcast-listening app.