“Oh, a library, that’s fancy,” Cassie said. “I’m surprised to hear from you, I thought we said Sunday.”
Luis shrugged. “Yeah, but I was bored, had some time. They don’t wake up until six, so I figured…”
“Ah, right. The vampire schedule,” she was in her apartment on the couch. “Well, hey, how was your night then? Give me details!”
“We went to the bar, came home and played cards, nothing exciting,” Luis said.
“What? Not even a little making out?”
Luis rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you it’s not like that. We’refriends.”
“Right. Right, right, right,” she said. “Okay, well how’s it been being there, staying over?”
Luis bit his lip, but Cassie jumped on it at once, sitting forward, face serious. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing,” Luis said quickly. “It’s not–it’s just–you ever been around people who are so in love and their life is like… perfect?”
Cassie looked thoughtful, and then nodded. “I mean maybe not up close and personal, but yeah I get where you’re going.”
“It’s just weird being here, seeing it all. I know their lives aren’t perfect. But… I mean it’s all the stuff with Mom too.” He felt his throat spasm, and cleared it. “Like you’re going for your PhD and Julien and Karim have this whole life and their business, and I just… what do I have? What have I done? I’m already thirty and I just–I don’t know. I feel a little lost. Envious.”
Cassie was listening closely. “I think that makes a lot of sense,” she said. “You’re like, at this huge transition point. And maybe you’re seeing things you want and well, hey if you want to get a PhD it’s never too late,” she smiled for the joke, and Luis chuckled. “But seriously, you are doing something. Taking this job, making new friends, that’s been a huge step for you. What comes next, I don’t know, but sometimes we don’t know until we do. I think it’s okay to just sit in it, deal with it as it comes. It’s good you wantsomething, even if you don’t know yet exactly what.”
Her words soothed part of the snarl inside him. “I just–I feel the time ticking.”
Cassie’s brows furrowed. “How’s that going, with the bites?”
They’d only touched on that part of it a little. “Good, really good,” Luis said. “It’s easier, it heals faster, and–and because there’s no needle, I can do it more often. So, I’ve been able to keep my levels low.”
Cassie was nodding. “Good. I’ve actually been looking into what research there is for your condition and vampirism.”
That surprised him. “There’s research?”
“Not a lot. Your condition, especially at your age, is kinda rare, obviously,” Cassie said. “But yeah, there’s a few studies where vampirism has been used as a long-term treatment method. But there’s no data that it changes health outcomes with any statistical relevancy.”
“Oh.” Right, because why would it?
“But there’s always the Change,” Cassie said suddenly.
Luis had been staring at one of the bookshelves idly, and his eyes snapped back to the screen. “What?”
Cassie shrugged. “There’s only been one case with your condition, but the Change cured her. And obviously lengthened her lifespan.”
Luis remembered Karim bringing it up at the bar, asking if he’d ever considered it.
“I–I can’t–” He started. Panic swept through him. It was a solution, but a permanent one. He’d be–he’d be different, his whole life would be different.
But already Cassie was waving the words off. “Look, I know. That’s too much for right now. Sorry, I–we can talk about something else. Um, so what’re you guys doing tonight?”
It took Luis a moment to let the previous topic go. Still, he followed her lead because he couldn’t grapple with the idea of ending his human life right at that moment.
“I don’t know,” Luis said. “We didn’t really talk about it.”
Cassie sighed, clearly annoyed Luis wasn’t making this easier. “Okay, well. Then how about–want to hear about the lab fire Jess started?”
“Who’s Jess?” Luis asked, confused by the whiplash of this conversation.
“My arch nemesis, remember? Booking all the same lab times as me? Using my equipment?”
