"Does tomato juice count?"
"Is that code for something? Like a new pre-workout?"
Charlie grabbed the pull-up bar mounted in Brent's doorway and did a pull-up so forcefully that the bar bent into a V-shape.
"Oh come on!" Brent rushed over to examine it. "That was a hundred-dollar bar! How did you—wait, this is amazing. The grip strength alone!"
"Because I'm a vampire!"
"Method acting to the extreme, bro. I respect it." Brent was filming now with his phone. "My followers are going to lose their minds when they see this."
Charlie stared at the phone screen, seeing himself clearly displayed doing inhuman feats. "I show up on camera."
"Yeah? Why wouldn't you?"
"Vampires aren't supposed to show up on camera. But then, I show up in the mirror too." Charlie slumped. "I can't even do that right."
"Maybe you're a different kind of vampire?" Brent suggested helpfully. "Like in that movie where they could see themselves but only in digital cameras?"
"This isn't a movie!"
"I know, it's a lifestyle. A commitment. And honestly?" Brent deleted the video. "I respect that you want to keep the mystique.No social media evidence. Though I don't think that'll help your acting career."
Acting career…
He wasnotan actor.
And he would prove it once and for all.
Charlie grabbed Brent's couch. His fingers sank into the fabric as he got a good grip. The muscles in his arms tensed, and the couch lifted off the ground.
"Whoa!" Brent said.
"Get on it," Charlie demanded.
"What?"
"Sit on the couch. I'll prove it."
"Okay, but if you drop me, you're paying for my sushi next time we go." Brent climbed onto the couch, still laughing. "This is insane."
Charlie adjusted his grip and lifted the couch higher. It rose—Brent and all. Charlie's arms straightened, pushing the furniture overhead.
"VAMPIRE!" Charlie shouted triumphantly.
And that's when his body gave up.
It wasn't gradual. One second he was holding several hundred pounds over his head, and the next his arms just... stopped working. Like someone had turned off whatever power fueled him.
The couch dropped.
Charlie's survival instincts kicked in just enough to make him stumble backward, shoving the falling furniture away from his head. The couch tilted as it fell, spilling Brent sideways with a yelp. It crashed down where Charlie had been standing, one leg splintering against the floor with a crack like a gunshot.
Brent landed on his yoga mat with a heavy thud. Charlie hit the wall behind him, sliding down to sit on the floor.
"Ow," Brent said from his position on the ground. "What happened?"
Charlie stared at his trembling hands. "I don't... I don't know."
