The One That Got Away

A vampire's latest would-be-victim has anemia, which stops the vampire in her tracks. However, her intentions change from malicious to caring as they continue to interact(NO ROMANCE).

vamp567: hey

shannabanana: Who is this?

vamp567: u kno who dis is

shannabanana: First of all, never use text speak again, you

said you were centuries old. Second of all, how

did you find me on here?

vamp567: I have my methods.

shannabanana: Whatever. Leave me alone.

vamp567: Why?

shannabanana: WHY!? You tried to USE ME

AS A FOOD SOURCE!!!

vamp567: Perhaps...but that was before I knew

of your...condition. Speaking of which, I’ve scheduled

a doctor’s appointment for you

at 1 PM tomorrow.

shannabanana: Oh, what, and now you’re helping me?

I’m not stupid.

vamp567: ….

vamp567: You are inherently rude, Shannon.

shannabanana: Go back to your hole

in the ground.

vamp567: That doesn’t sound like an

apology to me.

shannabanana: Bite me.

vamp567: I’m tempted to.

shannabanana: Haha.

~~~

Shannon leaned back in her desk chair and sighed, running her fingers through her dirty blonde hair. Recently, her life had become a veritable roller coaster of good news and extremely-not-good news. The bad news? She had gotten anemia at the age of 23 and had been living with it for 7 months. The good news? Having anemia had saved her skin last night. The other bad news? Now she was basically being stalked by some bloodsucker who swore up and down that she would “help” her. This...creature’s true intentions were painfully obvious. In the midst of her contemplating how on Earth she would go about returning her life to moderate normality, the sound of the doorbell nearly made her fall out of her chair. She buried her face in her hands.

“Gee, I wonder who that could be,” she said to herself, voice dripping with sarcasm. She peeled herself from her seat and made her way to the front door before peering through the peephole. Sure enough, there stood a shadowy, yet familiar figure. Screaming internally, she forced herself to open the door and confront her tormentor. She was greeted with the pale form she vividly remembered from the night before, same dark reddish-brown hair, same black buttoned-up winter coat, same black leggings beneath laced-up boots. The only differences were the shades that now hid her eyes and the gigantic umbrella grasped in her pale hand.

“Hello there, Shannon,” she said pleasantly, flashing a fanged grin.

“Where did you get my address?”

The smile instantly faded. “Well, that’s a fine how-do-you-do.” She then seemed to remember that she was supposed to be cheerful. Shaking her head and smiling again, she added, “Can I come in?”

Shannon put a finger to her chin and tilted her head in mock confusion. “I don’t know, Charlotte, can you?”

Charlotte stared for a moment before taking off her shades and glaring hard at Shannon with eyes so dark they were almost black. “Listen you, I’m"” She was cut short when she somehow managed to drop the shades. “Well...aren’t I clumsy.” She seemed to be holding back a smirk. Shannon gave her an odd look.

“Let me...get that for you,” she said slowly. She crouched and picked up the glasses, not once taking her eyes off of Charlotte.

“Thank you,” Charlotte said as Shannon handed her the shades.

“You’re welcome,” she said flatly. It was only when Charlotte smiled that Shannon realized what she had just done. “I DON’T THINK SO!” she yelled as she slammed the door in Charlotte’s face, locking it at record speed. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned around only to see Charlotte calmly closing her umbrella and propping it up against the wall.

“It’ll take a lot more than that to keep me out.”

“I’m gonna kill you.”

Charlotte looked up and grinned. “Darling, I’m already dead.”

Shannon put a hand to her face. “Well, if you’re already in, I suppose there’s no getting rid of you.”

Charlotte’s voice sounded from the kitchen. “You’ve got that right.” Shannon rushed in to see Charlotte untying a plastic bag, although she could not remember her holding one before.

“Would you stop doing that? You’re freaking me out.”

Charlotte laughed. “Oh, I’m afraid you’ll be ‘freaked out’, as you say it, regardless.” She began to remove the contents of the bag, which were boxes upon boxes of iron supplements and various medications, and place them on the counter. Shannon stared blankly as the vampire continued her task. Finally finishing, she pulled a large, red, hardcover book from within the bag and handed it to Shannon. “I got you this. It should prove to be helpful.” Shannon looked at the cover to see the words “Recipes For Delicious Blood”, but the word “delicious” had been crossed out with a sharpie, and “healthy” was written next to it. You’ve got to be kidding, she thought. She looked up and saw that Charlotte was standing at the front door, fiddling with her umbrella. “Well, I’d better be going.”

“Yeah….”

Charlotte opened the door, stepped out, opened her umbrella, and called, “Remember to take your supplements!”

“I...will.”

Charlotte smiled and the door swung shut on it’s own.

~~~

vamp567: Why aren’t you at your appointment?

****

vamp567: I know you read that.

shannabanana: Leave. Me. Alone.

vamp567: Have you been taking your

supplements?

vamp567: ANSWER ME SHANNON.

vamp567: ANSWER.

vamp567: ME.

shannabanana: Are you trying to control me

through the computer?

vamp567: ….

shannabanana: You are, aren’t you?

vamp567: ...the sun doesn’t shine forever.

shannabanana: Oh, shut up. I’m disgusting

to you, and you and I both know it.

~~~

A couple of days after Charlotte’s visit, Shannon was heading down the sidewalk back home from the inevitable occurrence of a doctor’s appointment, which was the only way to delay the constant messages and unsubtle hints from Charlotte. However, if she were to be honest with herself, there had been a noticeable change in Charlotte’s messages. She seemed less foreboding, more protective. She was almost starting to feel touched by them. As she passed an alleyway, a familiar voice nearly made her drop her phone.

“I see you’ve taken my advice for once.” She whirled to see Charlotte standing in the alley, umbrella, shades and all, a smirk on her face.

“Yeah, well...gotta get better at some point.”

Charlotte’s smirk faded. “There’s a milestone.”

“What?”

“I was expecting some sort of of sarcastic retort.” Shannon sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“To be honest, I don’t really have the energy to be angry right now.”

Charlotte seemed to deflate. “I see.” After a moment of silence, she added, “Mind if I walk with you?”

“Wouldn’t hurt anything.” They continued down the walkway for a while, side-by-side. Finally, Charlotte broke the silence.

“Shannon?” Shannon looked over, expecting her face to be as it usually was, tinged with some sort of hint of malicious intent. However, she was met with a face totally different---one that seemed sincere, almost sad.

“...yes?”

“This may sound...strange, but---” She was cut off by the sound of someone yelling from behind them.

“Hey! You! Who’s funeral are you going to?” Both women turned to see a boy who looked to be about 17 calling to them, smirking and laughing.

Shannon noticed Charlotte begin to fume. She grabbed her arm and, ignoring how freezingly cold it was, mumbled, “Just ignore him, he’s just an idiot kid.” Charlotte looked at her for a moment, then looked away and nodded. They continued walking for a moment, but then the sneering voice called out again, this time right behind them.

“I’m talking to you, you goth freak!”

Charlotte immediately turned and snapped, “Is it a favorite pastime of yours to yell vile things at people you don’t know?”

The kid snickered. “What are you gonna do, weirdo?”

“I’m going to make you regret ever speaking to me.”

“Oh, you wanna fight?” he jeered. Suddenly grabbing Charlotte’s umbrella, he said, “Then you’re gonna have to put this down.” He then wrenched it from her hand and tossed it aside. Charlotte inhaled sharply as steam began to hiss from her skin. Without uttering a sound, she collapsed, Shannon catching her before she hit the ground and quickly dragging her into the shadow of a building. The boy’s eyes widened and he ran off. Shannon took one look at Charlotte and gasped. Her hands had turned slightly red and blistered, along with one side of her face. Shannon shook her, trying to wake her up.

“Charlotte? Charlotte, can you hear me!?” She looked from the pale woman in her arms to the umbrella lying on the sidewalk. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she mumbled to herself. Carefully laying Charlotte down on the pavement, she went and retrieved the umbrella. Then, she hoisted her up into her arms, finding that she was surprisingly light. Grasping the umbrella in one hand and taking care to make sure that it completely covered the vampire, she carried Charlotte the rest of the way back to her home.

~~~

Charlotte awoke to a feeling of soothing cold on her arms and face. Her eyes fluttered open to see that she was lying on Shannon’s couch, her coat and boots removed. Turning her head, she saw Shannon slathering her arm in some sort of blue gel. She tried to sit up, but Shannon gently pushed her back down.

“Don’t try to get up. You’ll need to lie down for a while to heal.”

“How did I get here? And what on God’s green earth are you doing?”

“To answer your first question, I carried you. Secondly, helping you. Anything else?”

“Yes. What happened?”

“That kid from before snatched your umbrella and you got exposed to sunlight.”

“Alright, there’s an addition to my list.”

“What?”

“Nothing. What, exactly, are you covering me in?”

“Aloe. It should help with the burns.”

“...why are you helping me?” Shannon stopped and looked up at her. She had a look of utmost confusion and ambivalence on her face.

“Because you’re helping me.”

“You thought I was going to kill you.”

“Maybe.”

Charlotte looked away. “I was going to kill you. At first.” Shannon looked at her for a moment.

“What were you going to say to me?”

“What?”

“Before that kid yelled at us. You were going to say something.” Charlotte took a deep breath.

“...I’m concerned about you. Really, I am. I wasn’t at first. I didn’t care at all. But I’ve started to take a liking to you. I know the only reason you’ve been so bitter is because of the way you thought of me. Now that I see this...you helping me even though I was a threat...I was proved right.” They sat in silence for what felt like hours, but what could have only been minutes.

“Me too.” Charlotte’s head snapped to look at her again.

“What?”

“I was starting to feel like someone actually cared about me. Everyone I talk to doesn’t take the anemia seriously. When we met, I could tell you didn’t really mean anything. I’d seen too much. You were going to take me out. But I noticed you changing. You weren’t  threatening anymore. I was proved right, too.” She gave a small smile. Charlotte smiled back.

“Thank you.”

~~~

Charlotte was startled awake by the sound of a mug being set down on the table next to her. “Sorry,” Shannon said softly.

“It’s alright.” Shannon sat on the other couch and sipped from her own mug.

“Are you feeling any better?” Shannon inquired.

“Quite a bit, actually,” Charlotte replied. “Can I sit up now?”

“You should be able to.” Slowly, she eased herself up, her arms stinging slightly from the effort. After propping herself up, she grabbed the mug that was set next to her and peered into it. It was filled halfway up with a light brown, cloudy liquid.

“What is this?” she asked, simultaneously intrigued and repulsed.

“Coffee.” Shannon answered. “Can you drink anything besides...you know….”

“There’s no reason to, but it wouldn’t hurt….” She lifted the mug and took a small sip. Almost immediately, she clapped the mug back down on the table and recoiled. “It tastes like sludge,” she said, trying immensely hard not to gag.

“Yep,” Shannon said, taking a sip. “But it’s caffeinated sludge.” Charlotte shook her head.

“I will never understand you people.”

~~~

2 WEEKS LATER

“I’m back!” Shannon called out as she shut the door behind her. Charlotte’s head popped out from the kitchen doorway.

“What did he say?”

Shannon smiled. “It should be perfectly normal within a week!”

Charlotte beamed. “That’s wonderful!” The sound of hissing steam came from within the kitchen. Charlotte quickly ducked back in, Shannon following. Looking towards the stove, she saw Charlotte standing over the stovetop with a familiar cookbook propped up on the counter. “Of course it is,” Charlotte said without turning around.

“What?”

Charlotte turned slightly. “You were about to ask if this book is legitimate. Of course it is. I wouldn’t be using it otherwise.” Shannon laughed slightly. After the day of the “sun fiasco”, as they called it, the two had quickly become best friends. After Shannon learned that Charlotte had practically been living on the streets, she just about begged her to move in, which she of course agreed to do. Now and then they’d have people at the door asking nosey questions about Shannon’s housemate, to which the response would be an accusation of insanity and a door in the face, but otherwise, all was going well. There had been a time when Shannon’s life had been nothing more than a melting pot of problems. Now, it seemed that those problems had resolved themselves---even if it wasn’t in the way one would expect.

Author's Note

I got the idea for this from something I saw on Pinterest. If there are any errors in idents of paragraph breaks or anything like that, it's the result of copy-pasting it from Google Docs. Also, it's listed as Humor because there wasn't really another genre that it fits into, and it's slightly humorous.