ryan m. french

It was midnight by the time I parked my car in front of the towering manor. I checked my hair one more time in the mirror, then grabbed my briefcase, slid out and started toward the front door.

It was freezing cold, but I did my best to ignore my shivering. The path to the door was uneven, made of gravel and rocks that made walking in heels a nightmare. I was wishing I’d just worn sandals, but at home the high heels had seemed like the hotter choice. 

A clap of thunder sounded, and the night sky lit up. Now I could see the gravestones that lined the path. They continued all around the house, names and dates for at least a hundred lives lined up around this house like flowers in a depressing garden. Another flash of lighting, and I could make out the mausoleum about fifty feet away from me. It was made of white marble that was crumbling from years of neglect. It’s door was cracked open, leading into a dark void and God knows what hidden inside. 

The house itself had seen better days too. It was built of wood, and might have been painted green at one point, though it was hard to tell in the darkness. There were stone gargoyles on either side of the stairs leading to the front door. They watched the road ahead with empty, emotionless eyes. Creepy.

I knocked on the door, just as more thunder and lightning exploded across the sky and rain started to fall. I shivered again and wondered if I should grab my sweater from the car. At this point, though, it was already pouring and I didn’t want to sprint to the car and back in my heels. Instead I knocked again.

The homeowner was taking his sweet time coming to the front door. I had texted him earlier to let him know I was on my way. He hadn’t responded but that made sense for his kind of character. I just hoped I hadn’t misjudged and that he was really here.

Another minute passed. Just as I was raising my fist to knock one more time, the door swung open.

There was Dennis. Tall, pale, dressed in black. This was my first time seeing him in person, but he looked just how I pictured.

“You really came,” he said. His eyes flicked to the briefcase under my arm, then back to my eyes.

“I did,” was my reply.

He waved me in and began walking further into the house. I followed, ready to escape the storm and find some warmth.

It was darker inside than out. I followed his silhouette into some kind of living room area, where he gestured toward a chair. I sat down and he swept over to the other side of the room. A few seconds later, the entire house lit up brightly. He had started a fire. I could now see the room in its entirety. It was huge, with red carpet and ornate leather furniture. There were paintings of Dennis’ ancestors covering the walls, and guarding another passage deeper into he house there was even a stone sculpture of some kind of mythological creature. A griffin, maybe?

Dennis seated himself across from me on a dark purple leather couch. I crossed my legs, set the briefcase on a table in front of me, and took a deep breath.

“Surely you understand how curious I am right now,” he said. His voice was deep, and he voiced each consonant sharply and bitterly. “I do not get many visitors.”

“I’ll cut right to the chase then,” I answered. Time to execute my plan. I knew being direct and honest was the best way to get what I wanted.

“Please.”

“I know the truth. I know you are a vampire. That’s why I came.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off. “Don’t try to deny it. You live in an isolated manor, and you only leave at night. There are no records of anyone with your name being born in the last hundred years. You buy only raw meat with high blood content. I’ve been watching your house and I’ve seen the bats flying out of it each night. They sleep in the nearby caves during the day but they are drawn to this house specifically during the night.”

He made no attempt to deny my claims. “How long have you been stalking me?”

“A month.”

“Why? Are you trying to kill me?”

“Of course not, Dennis. I want to make a proposal.”

“Spit it out, then.”

“I have with me a briefcase full of cash. It totals to about twenty thousand dollars. I’ve been saving for a while. I will pay you to bite me and make me a vampire.”

Silence. Dennis stood and rubbed his eyes with his ghostly white hands.

“Well?”

He groaned. “You have no idea how stupid this idea is.”

“Why? Explain and see if I can’t respond.”

“Do you want to be immortal? Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“Well, let’s start with the obvious. If I bite you, then sure, you will live forever and never age. But you will be pale, like this, like your blood has been drained. You will lose your beauty and your energy in a few years, and become like an old woman trapped in the skin of someone much younger. It’s a facade. It fools no one. And you cannot leave the house during the day. You cannot even be awake during the day. You have to sleep.”

“I am aware of all these things.”

“Then it should be enough to convince you.”

“No. I already live nocturnally. I work from home too. And I can cover up the ghostly white skin with makeup. You know that.”

“Immortality is not as great as it sounds. Everyone you know and love will die, but you will persist. Forever. You will wish you could die. You will wish to see your family and friends again, but you can’t. You know how old I am? Two hundred and seventeen years old. I have watched my family tree wither and die, including my own children. This house used to be beautiful and full of life. Now it is worn to pieces, barely even recognizable. I long for death. Woman, I long for death.”

“I understand all of this. But I have no family or friends to lose. I am willing to bear the burdens that immortality comes with.”

“Why?” 

I stood up and began pacing around the room. The fire illuminated the dust covered drapes and wooden furniture. Once beautiful, now dilapidated. This was an immense decision. But I had weighed the options for years now. This was the best way. Sacrificing my existence for the good of the world.

“I know you don’t know much about me,” I began, stopping in front of him. “I just texted you out of the blue and asked if I could come over. But the truth is, the work I do is very important and I would like to continue it indefinitely.”

I took a step closer to Dennis, close enough to touch him. He was at least a foot taller than me.

“Go on.”

“I’m a medical researcher. I’ve been developing a treatment for brain cancer out of my own home. Because I have very little funding, it’s an extremely time consuming project, and I know I’m on my way to a breakthrough, but it will take years.”

“That’s ridiculous. You have a potential cure for brain cancer, but no one cares enough to fund it at all?”

“Well…it’s…it’s kind of…far fetched, if that makes sense. Most scientists who I’ve pitched it to think I’m insane. But they’re no closer to fixing the problem than I am.”

“I just don’t understand how this justifies me condemning you to an eternity of suffering.”

“I have chosen this path. If I succeed, and eventually I will, then countless lives will be saved. I am willing to face the consequences if I can make that happen.”

He didn’t answer for a while. Just stared down at me.

I braced myself as he opened his mouth. Would he do it? Could I make this dream a reality?

“Darling, there’s something you must understand.”

“What?”

“Every night I must exercise a certain discipline. When I leave to buy groceries, that raw, bloody meat, I do so because it is the only way to fight the temptation for other blood.”

“Other blood?”

“When I go out, I see men and women pass by me. Living men and women like you. And it makes me hungry. Starving, actually. I haven’t had the blood of a human in centuries, and just the thought of it makes my mouth water.”

He wasn’t lying. I could see drool forming at the corners of his mouth, though he was trying to hide it.

“I have been holding myself back for so long. And it’s hard. So hard. But it’s my vice. My temptation. And it’s something all vampires face. The temptation to snap and steal a human away. Just one. To have a little snack and have some relief. The animal blood just isn’t as good, you see, and no matter how hard I fight it and try to keep away from people, whenever I have to leave the house I fear for those around me. I am terrified that I will snap and they will become my victims. I am a monster. A monster. And you cannot let me turn you into one too.”

I surprised him by wrapping my arms around his waist. He drew in a sharp breath. His muscles tightened. I knew I was tempting him. That’s what I wanted.

“You think I don’t know all of this already,” I whispered. “But I do.”

“Then how—”

“I don’t have to leave my house. I am content to focus entirely on my research.”

“This is a bad idea.”

“I know you need the money,” I tried a different approach. “This house means so much to you. It’s where your children grew up. It’s where you father and his father and his father lived. And it’s falling apart. You can’t work because of your condition. But twenty thousand dollars will go a long way here. A long way.”

I backed away from him, slowly, and reached back. My fingers found the briefcase, and I picked it up and opened it. There it was. Cold, hard, bona fide cash. Maybe just as tantalizing as human blood to Dennis right now.

“Just bite me,” I smiled. “Taste my blood. I know you want to.”

He shook his head.

“Come on. Don’t be shy. There’s no strings attached here. I know the consequences. If something goes wrong, it’s my fault and not yours. Just do it.”

He grabbed me. I dropped the briefcase. As much as I’d tried to gear myself up for this moment, nothing could have prepared me for the sensation I was about to feel. He opened his mouth wide, revealing his canines, which were as sharp as knives.

I’d broken him.

He drove his teeth into my neck. I howled with pain as they sank in. I felt the blood flowing out. He licked it up ravenously. 

A chilling feeling flooded over me, and as my blood drained out I thought I could feel something else taking its place. Something thicker and colder. 

My conciseness faded.

***

I awoke outside, on the rock and gravel path. My neck throbbed with pain. Dennis was nowhere in sight.

I hissed, realizing that the sun was beginning to rise. I needed to take cover from the sunlight.

I ran for the front door and tried it. Locked. In a panic I turned toward the only other source of shelter: the mausoleum.

The door was still cracked open. I pushed my way inside, figuring I could wait here until the sun set again and I could return home.

Inside the mausoleum, it was boiling hot. It was also so dark I couldn’t see. My foot hit something soft on the floor and I fell. I fumbled around for my phone and found it turning it on and shining it around.

What I saw made me freeze, made my jaw drop in terror.

The floor of the mausoleum was covered in bodies. Men and women completely drained of blood. Their eyes wide in horror. And they were fresh too—killed in the last few days.

Dennis had done this. It had to be him.

I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t. Now I had to wait. I leaned against the wall and suddenly felt exhausted. How was I tired already? My eyelids were so heavy. What was going on?

***

I awoke when night fell. There was a body leaning against mine. I stood up, then remembered where I was. I turned on my phone flashlight again and looked at the person. This was someone new. A young woman, about my age, eyes and mouth open like she had died screaming. Did Dennis just add her? While I was in here?

I pushed open the mausoleum door. It was dark outside again. 

Standing in the path was Dennis. He turned to look at me.

“So that’s where you went,” he said. “I noticed your car was still here.”

“You liar!” I screamed. I stormed down the path and shoved past him. “How could you say you’ve been ‘fighting the temptation?’ No you haven’t! You’re a slave to it!”

“Why are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about. The mass grave in the mausoleum.”

“Mass grave? What the hell?”

He rushed to the mausoleum and peeked inside. He saw the bodies and dropped to his knees.

I was already in my car, starting it up and backing away when he came running back. 

“I was wrong!” He screamed. I didn’t want to listen, but I couldn’t help myself. “We don’t sleep during the day, don’t you understand? I realize it now…oh, how did I not know?”

I focused back on the road, leaving Dennis behind. He was a killer. A liar. He had fallen to his temptations. But I would not.

I made it home and locked all the doors. I drew all the blackout curtains I had installed, and opened up my fridge. It was filled with steaks I had purchased the other day—raw, bloody stakes. I took one out and devoured it. The blood tasted so good. I was licking my fingers by the end of it. Delicious.

I did a little work on the cancer treatment. I was having a hard time focusing because I kept looking in the mirror and seeing the change that had come over me. My skin had already turned white and my teeth had grown and sharpened.

Before too long, the sun was rising again. I climbed into bed and prepared to pass my second day as a vampire. Finally, I had the chance to do some real good in the world. I was out in minutes, excited for the next day and for what the coming years and decades would bring.

I could not have expected what I’d wake up to. 

There was blood dripping from the ceiling. Someone’s hair was caught in my fingernails. A single shoe that did not belong to me was on my bedroom floor. 

I flung myself out of bed and raced around the house, looking for answers. Had someone broken in? Had Dennis found me somehow?

Eventually, I found the answer in my closet. I opened the door, and a person fell out. His eyes and mouth were open, like the young woman from yesterday. His neck was bleeding. His clothes were torn. He was dead, drained of blood. 

I looked down and saw that my shirt was covered in blood. His blood.

This wasn’t Dennis’ work. It was mine. All mine.

I backed away from the body, thinking about what Dennis had said as I drove away: “We don’t sleep during the day.”

No. We don’t sleep, I realized. I wiped tears from my eyes and bit back a sob, staring at the corpse on the floor. I was just trying to help.

Vampires don’t sleep during the day. We lose control.