I stared at the ground while we walked side by side. The lake was less than a mile away. I kicked a pebble and twisted a loose lock of hair. By the time we’d gone a few blocks, Dennis was ardently watching me. I gave him a‘what do you want’look but said nothing.
“I want you to act normal again. You’re ruining my mood.”
“I’msosorry, Dennis. I didn’t realize this is affecting you so much. Let me just go back to my birth and un-bipolar myself, and then maybe you’ll be happier with me? Would that help?”
He laughed and half smiled.“Maybe.”
“Screw you.” I laced my fingers through my hair and tugged. “How are you even out right now? It’s daytime.”
“It’s overcast. Either way, the sun doesn’t kill us. It makes us feel sick and weak, but we’d survive.”
“Since you’re making me hang out with you, I think you should tell me about yourself.”
“What do you wanna know?” He was watching me differently now, if not a little suspiciously.
I shrugged and stopped twisting my hair to think. My mood lifted a little when I noticed we were nearing the park. Maybe he was right; Craven Lake might actually cheer me up.
My thoughts drifted through different vampire lore until we reached the crowded lake. Most of the people were playing in thewater, sitting on benches, or lounging in the grass. There were a few kids running around playing games, which was the worst part. I headed in the direction furthest from the children.
“What’s your real age?” I finally asked. “Tell me about being in sunlight and garlic and dying from crucifixes and all that stuff. And how you drink blood. Do you wither away without it or turn into a zombie or something? Or disintegrate? Do you turn into dust if it’s too bright? Are you slowly melting right now?”
“Too many dumb questions. Pick a normal one and I might answer.”
“You’re such a dick,” I grumbled. “Fine. What kills you? You said I’d have to know how to kill a vampire to do it.” I sat on a bench and waited.
“I’m not telling you that. Try again.” He sat beside me and pulled out the lighter.
“Okay. Sunlight. It’s super cloudy, but still. How are you out here?” I asked, peering at the sky. It seemed like daytime in general should’ve caused some melting by now.
“I don’t melt, obviously.” He ignored the sour look I gave for eavesdropping on my thoughts.“We can’t do direct sunlight. Cloudy days are okay if the sun is fully covered, but of course evenings and night are best. Direct sunlight makes us weaker the longer we’re in it. Weaker like you, I guess. Not actually as weak as a human but it makes us slower. Pathetic. Like prey waiting to be killed—”
“I get it,” I snapped.“So, do you eat normal food? Wait, yeah you do. You finished my milkshake last night,” I remembered as I said it. That was a stupid question.
“All your questions are stupid. But to answer what you should’ve asked, I usually drink blood every couple days. We don’t need normal food, but we can eat it. A full meal will make us feel sluggish for a while, but it still tastes good.”
“Is there a vampire handbook or something? Or like instructions from that political thing you were talking about?”
He smiled and flicked on the ever-present lighter.“Something like that.”
“How old are you, really?”
“Three hundred and seventy-nine. I’ve been twenty-three for a while.”
I gaped at him in horror. I’d been lusting over an old man this entire time?“Why didn’t you tell me you’re dying of old age? Ew! I’ve been flirting with a grandpa?” I grimaced as I recounted every interaction we’d had so far, but my disgust turned to relief, then slight annoyance, when I realized he was joking.
“I’m twenty-three,” he said, barely suppressing a grin. “I was seventeen six years ago like any normal person. I’m a relatively new vampire. Same with Sean and Mateo.”
“You’re not funny. So you don’t melt and you drink every couple days.” I pulled my hair from its ponytail to run my fingers through it. “What about holy water? Does that make your skin fall off or something?”
“Not me, but it would affect a Christian or Catholic. If you have the slightest belief in Jesus or his teachings, a cross might burn you. If you’re Jewish, one of their stars would make you weaker. If you’re Buddhist whatever symbol they believe in will affect you. It’s not generic, it has to be whatever’s real for you.”
“Interesting.” I pulled my hair into a neater version of its previous ponytail.“Well I’m an atheist. So if someone showed me a picture of… I don’t know, science? Would I melt and die?”
“What’s your obsession with melting? If you love melting things so much, why’d you freak out when I tried to melt your bed?”
“Because that’s different. That was my favorite comforter and you ruined it. Vampires melting is a lot more interesting than poor innocent cartoon comforters being murdered in their own home—” My rant cut short when a soccer ball collided with my leg.
“That’s mine!” A boy who looked about six came running up.“That’s my ball.”
