Just An Average Vampire

Super Speed

Getting the coffin into my apartment had been quite the ordeal back then. I remember trying to find a big enough box to fit it in so I could somewhat discreetly carry it up to my floor. However, explaining to the landlady what was inside was another thing. I told her it was a ridiculously large stuffed animal and for some reason she believed me. Looking back at it I realized I could have just mind controlled her and make her believe I was some stuffed animal enthusiast. Still, I managed without it, so I guess everything worked out for the better. 

The whole coffin thing didn’t bother me either. The only thing that really bothered me about being a vampire was the fact that I could no longer go out in sunlight. I didn’t leave the indoors much anyways, but I could really go for a trip to the beach. Drinking blood was no real hassle since I didn’t need to kill people to feed and turning a vampire required more than just biting someone. I would usually just pull someone off the street, feed, and then make them forget about the whole thing. It was usually the weird guy in front of the corner store. Life was pretty simple, considering my circumstances. 

My alarm clock went off, and even though I had my coffin shut tight with some added padding I could still hear the damn thing. I groaned and popped the lid off, grabbing at the alarm clock. After shutting it off I closed the lid again, rolling over to get some more sleep. There was nothing I could do, though, so I grumbled and kicked the lid off once more, getting up. I climbed out of the coffin and hissed as my bare feet hit the cold hardwood floor. I shivered and grabbed the blanket from my coffin, wrapping myself up. I made my way to the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush. Although I no longer had to use the toilet, brushing my teeth was another matter. There was no way in hell I was ever going to stop with dental hygiene - or hygiene in general. 

I squirted some toothpaste on my toothbrush and went to town. Left, right, up, down, etcetera. After brushing my teeth I rinsed my mouth with water and washed my face. I smiled at myself in the mirror, admiring my little pointy incisors. It was funny, I had always thought vampires had no reflections. Thank goodness that wasn’t true, because I really liked doing my makeup. 

I hopped in the shower and washed away yesterday’s grime. Water wasn’t much of a problem for vampires, other than the whole not being able to cross naturally running water. Why? I’m not entirely sure, but I know that I don’t ever want to find out why. All I knew was that vampires can drown and die in water, and they stay dead unless removed. I didn’t like the idea of drowning and opted to steer clear of all forms of running water. My mentor made it explicitly clear to me what all the dangers of being a vampire were. 

Speaking of my mentor just where had he gone? One day he was here and the next he was gone. He just disappeared. Poof, gone. It was like he had never existed in the first place. Sometimes I would think I had imagined the whole thing and maybe I was just irrationally scared of the sun. Then, the hunger kicks in and it all becomes real again, reminding me that this isn’t a game. My life was permanently changed and there was no cure of my condition. 

After I showered, I dried myself off and went on to taming my thick, black, coarse hair. I ran the comb through, tugging the knots out and drying it at the same time. After my hair was done I ran some oil through it to get rid of the frizz. I left my hair down for the day, since winter was coming soon and it was getting chilly. 

After getting my uniform on and gathering all my things for work, I carefully checked outside. I pulled the curtain aside and peaked out, seeing the last remnants of daylight disappearing under the horizon. Nights were getting longer. That meant more time for me to be outside again. Too bad I hate the cold. 

I really did miss being able to walk in sunlight. That was the only real big thing that pissed me off about being a vampire. I went to the beach like my life depended on it. Growing up in Farbe I spent the majority of my summers at Lake Erie hanging out with friends and family. Swimming and fishing were my hobby and now that I was a member of the undead the most I could do was swim in indoor pools. Farbe, of course, didn’t have any. 

I walked out of my apartment and locked the door behind me. I had about a half hour left before I had to be at work, but seeing as though I had nothing better to do I decided to head there a little early. As I walked down the stairs to the ground floor I felt a pang of hunger shoot through me. I sucked in a sharp breath and doubled over. The pain brought tears to my eyes and I had to hold my breath to calm myself down. s**t, I was overdue for a feeding. 

I grit my teeth and held my breath until the pain subsided. Well, that was pretty shitty of my body. How long had it been since I last fed? Two weeks? Damn, I really needed to schedule times for feeding because I kept forgetting. I should have fed last night after work, but with it being cold and everything I hadn’t really felt like staying outside long enough to catch a meal. 

I walked out to my car and got in, turning it on. I blasted the heat and waited for it to warm up before going off to work. I was going to have to hunt tonight after work. 

Marley, as usual, was sitting at the counter on the computer, probably looking up what we needed in terms of inventory. He was the only place in town that stayed open twenty-four seven so he liked to stay up to date on things. He was also the only place that sold bouncy balls. 

Marley was a man in his late forties who spent most of his life here at his shop. He was single, no kids, with all the gray hair to show for it. He wasn’t particularly invested in any other lifestyle other than his shop, and his only friends were his employees. It was strange, because he was a handsome, older gentleman and made sure to treat every person right, within reason. He had gray hair at the temples but otherwise a flawless body of black tresses. He had dark brown skin that worked well with his hazel eyes. He was tall and firmly built. I pity the day someone picks a fight with him. If I were twenty years older and not a vampire I would have considered dating him. Then again, it would probably be weird since I work for him. 

After I walked in he looked up, giving me a small smile. “Hey, you ready?” 

I laughed and walked behind the counter, putting my stuff in the locker. “I don’t have anything better to do, so I guess.” 

“Alright, well I’ve gotten most of the cleaning done and I did the bathroom. I’m ordering inventory now so there’s no need to log it tonight. All that needs to be done is getting the money ready to put in the registers for tonight. Make sure to tell Floyd that before he leaves he needs to clean the store again. I found some wet toilet paper on the ceiling of the bathroom today and I was not happy scrapping that stuff off.” 

“Ok, got it.” I saluted him and he snorted. 

“Good, let me know if anything comes up.” 

“Will do, sir!” He got up from the stool and I sat down, taking over. He gathered his things and pulled his jacket on. 

“Is it cold out?” He asked. 

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s really cold and I hate it.” 

“Well, winter is coming, so make sure to bundle up when you go out.” 

I smirked, “Good thing I never go out.” 

Marley headed out and I was alone in the store. I worked from nine a.m. to five. Floyd always came in around three and rode the night out until eight. I always wondered how he could do it. He attended classes all day and then came in to work pretty much all night. It was a strange shift to work, and he had other job opportunities, so why stay here with the weird vampire? 

Oh, yeah, I forgot that he had a strange fascination with vampires. 

That was what made Floyd likeable, though. I knew he didn’t really have very many friends, and the ones he did have were as nerdy as him. He was the extremely smart, philosophical guy in class who was generally really awkward. He was socially inept when it came to meeting new people, but when he got to know someone he was a real sweetheart. 

I had a thing for Floyd, and as a my best friend he knew the most about me. He knew about the elephant that no one else could know about. I was able to talk freely with him and vent all of my issues to him. We weren’t romantically involved, but I liked to hope that maybe that could be possible one day. I wasn’t too hopeful though. Being a vampire meant that any relationship with a human would mean that someday I would have to watch them die. I tried to not think about that when I was around my family and I sure as hell didn’t think about it around Floyd. I liked my simple little life, and as such, I never wanted it to end. Still, being trapped in a body that never aged and watching people grow old without you was someday going to drive me out of town. Everyone was already suspicious because it had been two years since I graduated and I never bothered with college. I wasn’t too keen on going in the first place since I had a lot of personal issues with the education system, but people still expected me to attend school anyway, and I couldn’t deliver on that. 

Sometimes I wish I could turn it all around. What if I hadn’t become a vampire? There wasn’t some epic story about me almost dying and becoming a vampire was my only way out. No, I could have kept on living a normal life, but my mentor had chosen me, and with my permission, turned me into one of the undead. I should have turned back and forgotten about him, but rather I tempted fate and did something stupid, all because I wanted something different. 

“Hey, Andy, you got any plain chocolate bars?” 

I zoned back into reality and blinked, taking the time to process what the customer had said. He was a chubby man and I recognized him immediately. 

“Sure, Roy, they’re right here.” I reached over the counter and pulled a chocolate bar from the top shelf of candy. 

I handed him the bar and he took it, laughing nervously. “Yeah, sorry, I must have looked right over it.”

I gave him a warm smile and waved it off. “Nah, it’s cool. How’ve you been?” 

He shrugged and started counting out his change. “School, work, school again. Same old, same old.” He gathered the right coins and handed them to me. “What about you?” 

I took the change and printed out his receipt. “Oh, you know, just work.” 

“Hey, you never really told me why you don’t go to school. I thought you had a partial scholarship to Farbe Uni.” He took his receipt  and waited for my answer. 

I shrugged and leaned back on my stool. “I’m not really ready yet. I have no idea what I want to do right now, so I’m waiting.” 

He nodded. “Ah, ok, well, if you ever need any help getting into class then let me know. I’ll be more than willing to help you out.” I gave a small wave and he headed out. I smiled at him and when he left, I sighed. School was for nerds. 

The rest of the night was really slow. Out of the six hours before Floyd arrived I had maybe five people come in. Marley’s store was only really popular with the occasional student and truck driver. People didn’t come here to go grocery shopping and they definitely didn’t come in to gossip. That was reserved for Farbe’s Marketplace, the only grocery store in town. Still, everyone has been in Marley’s at least once and they all know me by name. 

The door dinged and Floyd walked in, half awake as usual. I could tell he just got out of class because he was carrying his huge book bag. His red hair was in disarray and it looked like he could have used a nap. 

“Hey, sunshine, ready to work?” I teased. 

“Shuddup,” he mumbled, making his way behind the counter. He dropped his bag in the locker and plopped down in a stool next to me. “I feel like shit.” He sounded a little congested, like he had a cold. 

“Are you sick?” I asked. 

He nodded. “Yeah.” He pulled a wad of tissues out of his bag and proceeded to blow his nose.

“If you want, I can stay until seven, but not much longer because-” 

“- Of the sun, I know, I know.” He tossed the tissues in the wastebasket and sniffled. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll be fine.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I’m good.” 

“Ok, well, I’ll go ahead and do what needs to be done for the night.” I got up and was about to start on Floyd’s duties before he grabbed my arm. 

“I told you, I’ll be fine. You don’t have to go on babying me and shit.” He yawned and then sneezed. 

I looked down at him and smiled. “I got this. Just make sure no one comes in.” In a flash of super speed I turned off all the lights. In about five seconds I counted the money that needed to be put in the registers and cleaned the store. I flipped the lights back on and I was standing in front of Floyd again, who looked astonished. 

“Was that? How did? What?” He bumbled out, looking around at the clean store and the brick of money on the counter, ready to be put in the register. 

I sat down next to him and clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Super speed, remember?” 

“Holy s**t!” He pulled out his phone and started typing frantically. “I didn’t realize how fast you could go until now.” 

I laughed and gave him a playful tap on the shoulder. He kept on raving about my dramatic display and although I would never admit it to him, I was a little proud of my own abilities. It was times like these that I was happy to be a vampire, and that maybe it wasn’t so bad. 

The store bell dinged, and the man who always hung out in front of the store walked in, eyes droopy and obviously high. “Ya’ll got any milk?”