Because I was in the city center it meant that I was probably miles away from the damn club. With nothing better to do, I put in my air buds, started my Troye Sivan playlist and set out to do some window-shopping. There was enough sunlight to burn until I could see Jay again. Of course, I de-activated my location services. Even if my parents did not care much for me, I was still sure that they could find my phone if they wanted to.
While I looked at some mannequins at a clothing store, many of the brands looked like the word “Genesis” at first glance. After a few times it did not even phase me. By the sixth or seventh occurrence it was obvious this was somehow Jay’s doing. Surely, Genesis was the name of the club.
Later that day my feet took me to our oceanfront amusement park. There were some good memories associated with the place. The time Emmy won a teddy at the shooting gallery shortly after my coming out or my birthday where mom bought me all the junk I thought I could eat. That night was the only night my mother slept in my bed, staying with me. My little stomach hurt all night long, no matter how many warm bottles or tummy rubs I received.
A small smile played on my lips, as I looked down at my phone checking the time. It only took one second of carelessness for me to run into a group of people that I actually hated. Our school’s soccer team had a rather fierce rivalry with another private school, and for some reason their team took offense with us wearing rainbow sweatbands as a sign of solidarity because I came out to the team that week. As much as I thought it was dumb to do it, Emmy pressured me to do it. She assured me that the guys were probably all cool with me being me; it prevented a few misunderstandings down the line.
“Looking at a picture of your boyfriend?”
The group cackled as if Nicola, the Russian born team captain, made the funniest joke in the universe.
Somehow their team found out we wore bands for my sake. I was against it from the beginning, but the overzealous school counselor thought it was a great show of solidarity, team spirit and how progressive our school was.
I just simply rolled my eyes. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of not walking away.
“Yep, your dad just messaged me. Your mom broke her strap-on and he wants me to come over to fuck him.”
Before I could react, Nicola smacked the phone right out of my hand. Luckily, it landed in a way that the screen does not crack. To add insult to injury, their defender swiftly kicked the iPhone off the boardwalk.
“Not so funny now, pansy.” Nicola gave me one last shove with his shoulder as they walked away, laughing like a pack of demented hyenas.
I just stood there dumbfounded, muttering various curses to myself. As I looked down the railing, where I thought my phone made a splash, I realized it was long gone. The inky blackness of the sea swiftly swallowed it.
A stunning ginger boy stepped closer, casually leaning over the railing. The boy was close enough that I could smell something akin to buttery popcorn coming from him.
“Those guys have been causing trouble ever since the sun went down,” he said.
After taking a closer look, he could not have been older than fourteen. He was definitely a bit shorter than I was.
“A bunch of jerks from a rival school”, I sighed and shook my head. Now I had no way to find out where the club was located.
The boy looked up at me, smiling in a sympathetic manner. “Was the phone expensive?”
I just sighed again and nodded. Dad was going to be so pissed when I went home in a few days. “The newest iPhone that came out a few weeks ago. Maybe I can convince my parents to get me another one. When I turn 21 and will not be grounded anymore.”
My new ginger acquaintance giggled at me. “Your parents got money,” he said wistfully. “So why did you run away?”
The question hit me like a brick to the forehead. Apparently, the look on my face was super funny to him.
“I’ve seen one too many runaways with their backpacks around here.”
Relief washed over me, and I let out a quiet breath. What were the chances of another vampire approaching me?
Now that I took a closer look at him, the ginger boy looked super cute. A stark contrast to the cocky confidence Jay had about him. Around the boy’s nose was a splatter of freckles that gave him a >>boy next door<< vibe. Everybody knows the type of kid that wants to hang out with the older boys in the neighborhood, desperately trying to fit in.
“You didn’t answer me. Rich kids don’t run away from home. It’s either the poor or the gays with hateful parents.”
“Oh really? You know a lot of both?” If possible, I wanted to steer the conversation away from my own situation.
“There are more of either group in this city than you might imagine.”
I scoffed at him and before I could stop myself, I blurted simply blurted out: “And which group do you belong to?”
Fortunately, the ginger did not seem to mind the rather invasive question. “Second one. Technically, not runaway. Say…” his voice became sickly sweet. “Do you want to spend some time together? You got nothing better to do, right?”
Every other day I would not have let the opportunity to hang with another gay boy that was clearly interested in me slip through my hands, but my thoughts jumped back to Jay and the club. I started to stammer like an idiot while blushing beet red.
“I can take your mind of prior engagements.”
His voice dropped low, picking up a seductive tone. My mind registered a flash of yellow coming from his eyes prior to me suddenly finding him the most irresistible person on the planet. The freckles and unruly orange hair were so damn attractive it confused my brain.
“Yes…” I mumbled in a foggy state of mind. “Let us spend the night together.”
Smiling like a child on Christmas morning, he grabbed my hand, casually intertwining our fingers. This, in turn, made me grin like a dork.
“Believe me Simon; this is for your own good.”
I just nodded along, too focused on the fact I was holding hands with a cute boy while out in public. Immediately, it felt like I was out on a date. Nobody around us seemed to care. To everyone else, we were just two guys, probably experiencing love for the first time.
While I kept smiling, my new friend held on to my hand, leading me to a giant office building about fifteen minutes away from the beach.
Without a single word of acknowledgement, he led us past the security desk to the back, right up to the elevators.
Instead of going up, I saw the boy hold a blank keycard to the close button before hitting floor five. The elevator started moving downstairs to a basement not shown on the elevator panel. We kept holding hands the whole time right until the doors opened again. That is when my mind figured out something was wrong.
Finally, I was able to think clearly again. Almost as if the condensation was wiped from a pair of glasses. I took a step backwards, pulling back my hand.
“You were thinking such nice things about me at the pier. No need to get scared.”
I started to speak up, but halfway through he finished the sentence for me.
“What ha-“
“-ve you done to me” he says at the same time as me.
A cold sweat ran down my back. This time my brain caught on faster.
What surprised me was the genuine look of concern on the mysterious boy’s face. “Please just give me five minutes to explain.”
If he wanted me dead, he could have easily killed me just like Jay the day before.
“My god, please stop thinking about him.” The boy left the elevator, stepping into a giant foyer type seating area.
The whole room looked straight up like an old British mansion built under an inconspicuous office tower. Despite the very old feeling of the place, it felt somewhat cozy to me. So, I followed, a bit surprised to see the guy plonk down on one of the sofas.
“Right. You are wondering who I am. The name is Lionel Dupont. I brought you here to warn you about the boy you met yesterday.”
My remaining doubts cleared. I crossed my arms in a desperate show of defiance. “And how would you two know each other?”
Instead of a proper answer, Lionel returned a question to me. “You weren’t surprised how you got into one of the more exclusive clubs in the city? Nobody cared about the whole underage drinking?” Lionel looked so much older with his legs crossed over and hands folded on top of his knees.
“Come on. Everyone there was a vampire. The bouncer knows Jay. The owner probably does too.”
“What about all the blood bags they put in their cute flower van? What kind of people unload that at the docks and let a bunch of halflives in their club?”
“I don’t know, how the fuck should I know what you people think.” Again, no sooner than me spitting vitriol at Lionel I felt bad. He has been nice to me so far.
Lionel sighed, visibly disappointed. Almost as if he expected me to piece it all together myself.
“Your friend is part of a very old family running a lot of vampire related businesses. Their patriarch comes all the way from Sicily.”
“Why should I care? That’s none of my business. He offered-“, I started to have a go at the ginger, my voice getting louder before he cut me off.
“A life in total darkness! You never grow old or hear the laughter of your own children. You will have to KILL innocent people. Come on, boy. I have read your thoughts.”
The more agitated Lionel got, the stronger his French accent came through. “Let me tell you how this goes:”
Just like that, I was in the most non-descript bedroom ever, almost as if it came out of a furniture catalogue. Through the haze that was over everything, I could still hear Lionel’s voice clearly.
I saw Jay and myself make out on the bed before he suddenly bites down on my neck. “After he drains you of all your blood, takes your life, your body will go cold. If you are lucky, you won’t feel much of the excruciating changes your body goes through.”
The other ‘me’ was convulsing; his face scrunched in pain. In one second, the scene changed.
“After a month or two you wake up, feeling like a million dollars. Until your own blood supply runs out. That is when the hunger sets in. You might think that animal blood or blood packs can sustain you.”
We were back in the club; I drank from a blood pack like it was a Capri-Sun.
“But that is just a stop gap. It works, yes. For a week, maybe a week and a half. If you do not hunt, drink fresh HUMAN blood you are going to experience pain unlike anything before. Can you imagine being skinned alive? A searing hot knife tearing through your insides?”
My doppelgänger was hunched over with a very concerned Jay by his side. I could almost feel what Lionel was showing me.
“If you actually fight it off long enough nature simply kicks in.”
The next scene he presented was a bloodbath.
All around me were faceless people, bloody and mutilated. Even if I did not see it happen, I knew deep down that Jay was the first one I tore into. Security and some kind of vampire law enforcement put an end to the rampage. The last thing I saw was the original me looking down at my cut off head.
Slowly I came back and I found myself kneeling on the ground, hyperventilating. “What’s…your alternative?”
Lionel threw up his arms. “You’ve got so many choices! Do what your father wants you to do. Become a lawyer. Open your own business. Grow up and then you can work for us. Our family always has use for human lawyers. Not to mention builders, liaisons or many other things.”
Obviously, my mind went to the more obvious answer.
The adorable ginger smiled and rolled his eyes at me. “Definitely not >>livestock<<. Ultimately, if you still do not want to go back home, I can help you disappear. Fake your death and start a new life somewhere else. Just stay alive and in the sun, I will support you.”
Nothing about the proposal made sense to me. Why would Lionel do all that for me?
“Oh that’s very simple. I do not want to see you throw away your life on a whim. There are many reasons to cross over. Some wish for eternal youth or health. A few seek wisdom beyond a single lifetime. Many wish for power. YOU are just bored. To be honest I cannot accept that.”
With that, the little frenchie lost me. Who the fuck did he think he was to decide if my reasons for leaving life behind were valid.
“Let me out of here”, I growled, picking myself up from the ground. Even if I did not know where to, I had to get out of the place. In that moment I did not trust either Lionel or Jay. At least Jay did not manipulate me to follow him. He had threatened my life, so I was not sure which of the two boys was worse.
For the second time, Lionel sighed. He pointed behind me at the elevator. “You can go back to the lobby without a keycard. If you still want my help, come back and ask for me at the reception after the sun sets.”
I stormed over and smashed the call button multiple times. Of course, Lionel stayed in his seat. He had no need to follow me. Just before the elevator doors closed completely, I saw something on Lionel’s face I did not expect. There was sadness in his eyes that made me want to hug and hold him tight.