Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)

[andmker]

Part 1. Chapters 8 to 11


Chapter Eight


Nearly four days had passed since Christmas, and Oscar was in the bathroom. He pulled out two pieces of tissue paper that had been stuffed up his nose and put them down into the toilet. They were bloody but not saturated, and he watched the paper expand with the colour of the blood slowly defuse. After a few moments and ensuring that his nose had stopped bleeding, he pulled on the chain and flushed twice. Conducting a final inspection to ensure that he hadn’t dripped anywhere, he proceeded to look at himself in the mirror. His nostrils felt stuffed up and Oscar was careful to breathe so as not to dislodge the clot. It had been a long time since he had a nosebleed. He used to think they were caused by stress and worry as they used to happen most frequently back in school, but here it was again. This was his second bleed in as many days, he had even taken to keeping tissues in his pockets just in case one happened in front of Eli. When they came on, they came on fast.
Still looking in the mirror he was glad that his blonde hair was back and the accidental red had fully grown out. It was fun for a week or so, but Eli’s eyes kept drifting upward almost every time they talked. Not to forget that stupid nickname from Edvard. His hair was looking pretty untidy and tangled, most likely from always wearing a hat in public, so he spent the next minutes trying to comb out the mess.
When satisfied that he looked more respectable, he took a bottle of Cola out from the fridge before sitting down at the living room table. Oscar told himself that he wasn’t going to read it again, but he couldn’t help himself. He was concerned about it. A few nights ago he was cleaning up after his Christmas dinner. Some leftover food was put in the fridge for the next day while everything else went into a double-lined bin bag. When he took the rubbish out, he found the remains of an old newspaper lying on the ground that someone else had thrown out. It grabbed his attention when his eyes spotted a name he recognised.
That name was Edvard Pedersen. That was the shopkeeper, the man who kept asking questions. His name and a somewhat old photograph of him were looking back at Oscar. He took the remains indoors and dried them over the radiator to try and save the print. It had mostly worked and Oscar reread the surviving text for about the tenth time in case he had missed something.

‘Local Businessman Dead: Authorities confirm the body found on Tuesday has been identified as Edvard Pedersen (55) reported missing late last week. Mr Pedersen who owned the ‘Grand Store’ for nearly ten years was found by two dog walkers.’

It continued that while the cause of his death was still undetermined, a source had revealed he had suffered a ‘catastrophic’ neck injury. Those investigating initially believed they were looking at a homicide due to his injuries, but had since attributed these to have arisen from a bad fall or from the actions of wild animals. Some of the text was unreadable but it seemed to conclude that police were simply seeking assistance in tracing his next of kin or family members.
Oscar felt his stomach sink in a strange way. Not because Edvard was dead, he was just a weirdo who had taken an interest in him for whatever reason. He was feeling this way because the first time he read it and every time since, he thought of Eli. There was every chance Edvard had fallen and broken his neck or something. There was every chance he had went undiscovered for a while, and maybe foxes or whatever you get around here had been picking at him. His injuries could be explained, but try as he may, Oscar couldn’t shake the idea that he or more likely Eli was responsible. He had spoken about Edvard and his store a number of times, he had mentioned what the man looked like and the things he would say and ask. Eli had always been very attentive during those conversations.
While that alone did not mean Eli went out and killed him, the more he thought about it the more it seemed like an inescapable conclusion. She had been out for most of last Tuesday night, and from that point forward the shop had been closed. Oscar remembered clearly as when she had returned, Eli went straight into the bathroom and remained there for a rather long time. When she finally came out, she had changed her clothes and looked sad but healthy.
Oscar couldn’t understand why she would have done this, and that is why he was worried. Eli had not looked hungry and said nothing to suggest otherwise. Even if she had came across the shopkeeper by accident and lost control, driven by the thing inside of her that always wants to feed, why would she not just have came back and explained? He liked to think they could talk to each other about anything. Oscar convinced himself that he was over thinking things and decided the best thing to do was to simply ask her. That is what he was planning tonight, remaining seated and waiting patiently for Eli to return.
“It’s best just to ask. She’ll explain,’ he said to himself yawning strongly.

An hour, maybe two passed rather slowly. The side of his face was sore so he rubbed it with the back of his hand before resuming what it was he was doing. Oscar was posting leaflets through every single door, but for some reason most people had sealed their letterboxes firmly from the inside. He was weary and wanted to go home. He was cold and sore from trying to distribute his heavy nearly endless bag. Eventually he decided that it was time to give up. Nobody wanted these leaflets anyway, so why was he wasting his time and energy. He could be home watching his programs or reading his comics right now. After thinking about it, he came up with a better solution than going from door to door. Oscar walked into the nearby woods and looked around.
“Yeah the trees will do better,” he announced.
Instead of trying to get the leaflets through people’s letterboxes, he would affix them all to the trees. That way every time someone came into the woods they would see the posters, there would be no way of avoiding them. For some time that task is what he tackled and finally he finished. It wasn’t until then that Oscar wondered what was on the leaflets anyway, he was so tired that he had forgotten to look. He went up to the closest tree and examined the contents. The poster along with every other one was an advertisement for swimming lessons. For some bizarre reason, there was a photograph of Oscar treading water back in the good old Blackeberg days. He didn’t understand what he was looking at. Was he the one offering to give people swimming lessons, or was his photo being used because he was a good swimmer? Both seemed equally unlikely. It was however him, and it was the Blackeberg swimming pool.
“Oscar?” asked a voice from behind.
He turned to look, the mystery of the leaflets could wait as he knew the voice, and it was Eli. Oscar was surprised to see her as she was walking towards him completely naked. He didn’t know how she had managed to speak as a black, fizzy and foamy liquid was streaming out of her mouth and down her chest like a waterfall. As she walked towards where Oscar was stood, she rotated around in a complete circle, almost as if to prove it was really her. It was a pointless gesture as the black stuff coming from her in impossible quantities was sticking to her skin like a bubbling tar. Oscar was rooted to the ground like the tree behind him, something was very wrong here. Her nudity didn’t really bother him, he had seen her naked before and that was classic Eli. Whatever the familiar black stuff was also didn’t seem important to either of them.
Then he realised in shocking horror what was bothering him. This was daytime! The sun was brightly up high in the sky and it was a hot summer’s day. Oscar went to shout out to warn her but there was no need. Eli wasn’t burning, she wasn’t on fire nor did she even look uncomfortable in anyway, she just kept walking towards him. Then Oscar noticed it was him. He was the one starting to burn and cook under the sun. His body was growing hotter and hotter with every second that passed, and he was finding it increasingly difficult to breath. Oscar tried to call out without avail. Eli was still walking towards him but seemed indifferent to his suffering, and no matter how many steps were taken the distance between them remained the same. Oscar was melting like a candle, and then as he felt what he could only presume was his melting flesh running into his eyes,
“Leaflets!” he shouted loudly waking up soaked with sweat.
Oscar looked around alarmed. He was still sitting at the table, the side of his face numb from being in contact with the wood for so long. He pulled off a thick wool blanket that had been drenched over him nearly encompassing his entire upper body and head. After reminding himself where he was, he finished what was left in the bottle of cola and folded the blanket up. He stood up and stretched.
“Hey Eli, you’re back.”
“Yes, a few hours ago. I was trying to be quiet. Were you having a strange dream?”
Oscar thought about his dream which was already starting to evaporate. He felt himself blush slightly remembering Eli naked which he felt was a stupid reaction. Still trying to fully wake-up, he looked over and saw that Eli was on the floor tackling one of her puzzles.
“Sorry, I thought you would get cold,” she explained pointing at the blanket.
He nodded and watched her assembling geometric shapes from a vast number of small pieces. Oscar had seen this puzzle before when they had first moved in, it looked easy but he had discovered to his frustration one night after wasting hours trying that it was not. The shapes were weird, non-symmetrical and unusual. Eli had said one of them was a truncated cube but he didn’t want to admit he had believed a cube was a cube. The difficulty came because every piece was designed in such a way that there were dozens of ways to connect them together. You would get so far through assembling the shapes, realise you had done it wrong and have to take them all apart and start again.
Still feeling lightheaded and warm with his t-shirt stuck to his back, he went over and crashed down on the sofa, very glad that no one was on fire, melting, spewing out litres of cola or naked.
“Good night?” he asked.
“Yes. I went through all the fields near the bridge. Then climbed up onto a roof when I could see some of the capital all lit up.”
It was then that Oscar remembered why he had been trying to stay awake to begin with and what it was he wanted to talk about.
“The shopkeeper died,” he dropped casually.
“Did he?”
“Yeah, he was found dead. His head was...around the wrong way.”
Eli didn’t say anything but Oscar could tell from her much slower actions with the puzzle that he had got her attention.
“I don’t suppose you happened to see anything when...”
“Oscar,” she interrupted. Eli sat upright on the floor and turned around to face him. “I killed him.


Chapter Nine


Oscar heard what he initially thought was a knock at the front door. It took him a few moments to refocus and realise that it had been Eli. She was lightly banging the puzzle against the floor to separate the pieces after incorrectly building one side. Her frowning face was almost screaming with frustration as her hours of work had been wasted.
Aware that his legs were still stiff and sore from sleeping awkwardly, he moved slowly onto the arm of the sofa digesting what Eli had said just moments ago. He had no real issue with her killing to survive, it wasn’t her fault. To feed when it was necessary and when there was no other option. Yet, they both held an unspoken agreement to try and find a better way. That is why they had engineered a way to get blood from that ambulance. That is why Oscar was still trying to think of a way to give her some of his. Eli had been clear from the first day that she didn’t want him to have to go down a more sinister path for her sake. She was the one who needed blood to live. Oscar was still confused to why she had killed Edvard, but he supposed it was at least good that Eli trusted him to admit it so freely, albeit a bit casually.
“You killed him?” asked Oscar seeking confirmation and wanting to break the increasingly long silence in the room.
“Yes,” she replied before briefly looking at Oscar’s face to judge his reaction.
“Why? Were you...hungry?”
“Oscar, he was a bad man,” she answered screwing up her face in an unusual way that he hadn’t really seen before.
He fought back the notion to laugh at what she had said. There were loads of ‘bad men’ around, but he had never known her to have a superhero complex. Before he had a chance to response, she spoke again.
“The man was following you. Following you here to try and find me.”
“Edvard?” questioned Oscar surprised.
Eli didn’t reply. He thought about the now dead shopkeeper, he thought about everything he had been asked by him. Edvard had asked about Oscar’s parents, about where he was living and what he was doing here. The questions at times had been strange and even repetitive but nothing said or done had suggested anything suspicious. He had definitely said nothing to suggest he knew about Eli.
“You had an idea you were being followed didn’t you?”
Oscar had felt that a few times, never when he was away into the capital or somewhere else. It had only happened when he was near home or Edvard’s shop. He had dismissed the feelings as his imagination each time because he could never see anyone.
“Do you feel safe with me?” asked Eli looking down at the puzzle which she was starting again from the beginning.
“Yes.” Oscar replied instantly as to him the answer was obvious.
“You are not. Not completely, not always. People know about me, I always need to be careful.”
Oscar was confused at her defensive stance and at her tone of voice, very soft and flat like the voice she would use over the telephone to sound older and professional.
“Then, we’ll go somewhere different. Where no one knows you like Spain or the North Pole!” He proclaimed feeling his voice raise. He wanted to enforce to Eli that he would always be with her, willing to go anywhere and do anything. There was a hint of a smile on her face at his passion and loyalty.
“They will always find me, they always follow.”
Oscar felt a need to comfort Eli, to get down on the floor to reassure his friend, but part of him was resistant to do so, she was being cold and didn’t seem like herself.
“Why was he following me? Who is looking for you?”
“I don’t know,” said Eli rather too quickly for Oscar’s liking.
He exhaled loudly remembering how difficult it used to be, and still seemed to be, at times to get any information out of her. Eli’s usual response would be along the lines of “I don’t know” or “that’s just the way it is.” He used to envisage that was her default answer because after two centuries she must have gotten sick of answering the same questions. Explaining the same things over and over again. He had also learnt that she genuinely didn’t know everything, it was just hard to tell which was which. Rather than get annoyed, he took off his shoe and playfully threw it towards Eli who instead of catching it, allowed it to bounce off her left shoulder.
“Oscar, I can’t remember everything or everyone. Can you recall what you were doing six months or six years ago? Imagine what it’s like for me.”
“Then, how do you know these ‘bad people’ were following me or trying to find you?”
“I just know. It is part of what I am. It’s easy for me to spot people acting abnormally. I guess it comes with the territory, being a hunter,” she responded cryptically expecting him to understand.
“A hunter? You’re not, I mean you’re just...Eli. What happened to you, how you became like this wasn’t your fault.”
“It’s who I am.”
Oscar sighed loudly once again, becoming aggravated at both the lack of information she was disclosing and her apparent disinterest in his questions. This really wasn’t like her.
“Fine, don’t explain. I’m heading out,” he said standing up.
“Oscar it is pitch black out there. You need to stay here, I need to protect you.”
He heard her voice increase in volume with those last few words and he felt irritated at her comment. At her presumption that he needed her to protect him, telling him that he needed to stay here without giving a proper reason or explanation.
“So, I have to stay here because some bad men are trying to find you but...”
“Yes, that’s the way it has to be,” she interrupted.
Oscar felt angry with Eli for the first time since Blackeberg, when he found out what she really was and that she had been lying to him. It had resulted in them fight wrestling rather gracelessly but carefully. Right now he was weary, hungry, annoyed and with his anger building which is not something he wanted, Oscar decided it would be best to get some fresh air. To have a walk or something and clear his head before coming back and trying again with Eli. Maybe she would be more normal after making some progress with her puzzle.
“I’m heading out. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
Before he even had a chance to turn around, he saw Eli spring to her feet and turn towards him.
“You need to STAY here,” she enforced powerfully sending a shiver down Oscar’s spine.
The two of them looked directly at each other, whatever anger Oscar had started to feel was now replaced with uncertainly. Her unblinking leer melted through him sharply, she was being serious and he couldn’t work out what was happening. All this because of Edvard’s death?
“Tell me why and I will,” Oscar told her crossing his arms tightly across his chest. He was trying to project strength and hide his vulnerability, but from her complete lack of response and movement knew she wasn’t buying into his show.
Oscar quickly turned to look towards the front door and then back at Eli who had taken the chance to move slightly closer to him.
“I’m going out,” he said once again defiantly.
With that, he turned around and took a step forward towards the door which seemed much further away than it actually was. As he expected with his back turned, Eli lunged forward without even making the floorboards squeak, and placed herself between him and the exit. Oscar leaned forward believing that she would move back as he did, however she remained static, simply looking at him.
“I want to go out,” he tried again putting his arms on his hips. The change of stance achieved nothing as Eli’s continuing leer was making him feel weaker and weaker.
“Oscar.”
“Well? Will you let me?”
Eli thought about her answer for a rather long time, chewing her lips for most of it.
“No.”
“I am going out. I am going out that door,” said Oscar while accidently, or maybe instinctively, taking a small step backwards in the wrong direction.
“It would be best not to.”
“I’ll fight you,” he said as it was the only thing left in his head that he hadn’t tried.
“You will lose,” she told him not boastfully but sadly glancing down at her feet.
“I know, but I’ll try my best and you will have to stop me with force.”
“Yes, I will.”
Oscar saw Eli’s fists closely close and her body tense up, ready to brace for his attack or perhaps to launch one.
“Eli, I’m going to count to three and then I’m leaving.”
Concluding that he wouldn’t be held prisoner and that he wouldn’t stand for Eli’s behaviour tonight Oscar counted slowly out loud.
“One, two...three.”
On his final number, before he had a chance to flinch, Eli’s hands came towards him.


Chapter Ten


“Bravo Oscar.”
He blinked hard and looked into her face, he had not been able to take a single step or move a single muscle. Eli had grabbed him by the sides of his arms, pushing them against his body. Her grip was neither sore nor uncomfortable but was effective in keeping his locked in place.
“Bravo,” she said once again.
Oscar looked bewildered at her smiling face as she slowly released him and took a decent sized step back.
“I can go out?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes. Of course you can, if you want.”
Eli strolled back to where she had been sitting and once again resumed her work building the tricky puzzle.
“Help me, it’s easier with two people,” she called over.
Still confused and clueless at what was happening, he did the only thing he could and sat down opposite Eli on the floor.
“What was all that about Eli?”
“Take this side, every piece I attach do exactly the same but opposite. Like it is being reflected in a mirror.”
Oscar nodded despite not fully understanding but he attempted to mirror and match the delicate movements.
“I needed to know if you would stand up to me, if you would get angry.”
“Well, I did. I was about to punch you in your fat nose,” he replied feeling his hands still shaking slightly.
“Sorry, but I needed...”
“Yeah you said, but why?”
“Oscar, anger is a good thing. It keeps you sharp, it strengthens you. It makes you faster and smarter.”
He was so focused on trying to replicate Eli’s side of the puzzle that at first he didn’t notice she was sliding closer towards him.
“It was also needed for this to work, a heightened emotional state,” she whispered.
With yet another cryptic remark, Eli climbed on top of Oscar’s lap. As they faced each other she put her hands on the side of his face.
“Oscar, be me. See what I once saw. Understand it. Be me.”
With those words, all he could see was Eli’s colourfully deep eyes peering into him. Everything else around her had become blurred and meaningless. He could no longer feel her on top of him, he could no longer feel the draft from the window on his bare arms. It was almost as if he was stood a few inches in front of a poster, one so large that it wrapped itself around his field of vision. Oscar felt a shiver in his core, her eyes had become impossibly wide and he was looking at his own reflection in the blueness. Oscar began to feel like he was dreaming, like he was floating in space totally weightless.
“Be a small part of me, just for a few minutes.”
Her voice echoed around him as if she was speaking through the stereo speakers. As she pushed a little harder against his face, he saw everything around him distort and bend, new shapes, colours then finally images were coming into focus.

There was someone dead on a damp wooden floor. Their neck had been ripped out from the side but there was almost no blood. Oscar looked down at his hands but they were Eli’s hands. This had happened before, reliving one of her memories as if it was one of his own. Viewing the event through her eyes, it was still difficult to grasp. Like a film being played in your head, but you’re watching from the perspective of one of the characters, unable to change anything said or done. That didn't really do the experience justice as it was more than just seeing. Oscar could smell the dampness, taste the blood, and even feel a chunk of the man’s skin stuck between his teeth. He hadn’t meant to be so vicious, he was just hungry.
His hands were dirty but that was not the point. He was trying to distract himself from both the reprieve and the guilt of feeding on and killing the unknown man. Oscar or rather Eli looked around the nearly empty room which smelt incredibly bad with obvious signs of rat infestation. On the other hand, prior to being here, he had spent the last two months sleeping under a canoe in the boat house so this was still an improvement. There was a topless model calendar on the wall, he couldn’t remember the month but that was normal. Months would bleed together and pass so quickly, the years were easier to keep track off and this memory was from Nineteen Sixty Two.
Oscar’s ears were sore and ringing but again that was typical, at least he thought it was typical for someone like him. He had discovered in the opening years of being like this that it happened if you drank blood too quickly. Any air swallowed comes out wherever it can and it does. Someone entered the room carrying a used body bag. He knew the person and knew that he didn’t like them very much. Simply put the man was his protector, or familiar as he would describe himself. Someone who found blood for Eli, or who would clean up her mess when she did it herself. He was called Robbie, a man in the wrong side of his forties who still dressed like he was a teenager. Besides, he was far too interested in other things, so their arrangements were only temporary and born out of necessity.
“He wants to meet you tomorrow night,” said Robbie flatly as he started to roll the recently departed man into the bag for disposal.
Oscar-Eli nodded, he wasn’t looking forward to this meeting but Robbie had been pressing him to agree for so long that he had finally gave up. It was time to meet his fan.
“You need a bath, try and make yourself look half human at least,” Robbie continued.
A few moments later, Oscar felt dizzy and his vision blurred from colours to darkness. He expected to be back in his flat, face to face with Eli but he wasn’t. It took him a short time to register that he was now sitting in an office, a very grand office. He was sitting at a large oak desk next to Robbie and another man, his fan, was sitting opposite in a brown leather chair. Oscar-Eli looked over to his right and saw two security officers who looked nervous and uneasy.
They were all having a meeting, the subject of that meeting was Eli himself. Everyone in the room looked unsure, worried even. Everyone apart from the man sitting opposite, he looked calm and collected reading through a stack of paperwork only raising his eyes now and again to look at Eli. At the time she didn’t fully appreciate who the man was but it was clear what he wanted. Oscar himself who was still reliving this memory from within Eli’s head felt the opposite. He didn’t know why he was there or what the man behind the desk wanted. He had strange, small bead-like eyes which were almost rat like and somehow Oscar recognised him. How that was possible distracted him from the memory, and as everyone in the room started to talk, he felt himself being pulled back to reality.
Still a bit spaced out from what he had decided would be best to call a ‘mind-meld’ Oscar only knew he was back from the flash of greenness being emitted from the sofa to his right. Eli removed her hands and shuffled back on the floor to give him some space.
“The meeting was about me, I mean you? What did he want?” asked Oscar reminding himself that despite now having the memory in his head as his own, they were her memories. It had happened to Eli back in the sixties. Another memory in his head from before he was born.
“He wanted me. He wanted me to make him the same as me,” she said with a hint of regret on her voice. “Because of...something that happened before.”
Oscar didn’t respond at first, he still had the image of the man sitting at the desk reading paperwork in his head. He felt strongly that he had seen him before and was trying to recall how and who he was.
“He wanted you to turn him into a vam...”
“Yes,” interrupted Eli very quickly.
Oscar had forgotten that she didn’t like the “V” word. She had explained the word didn’t really fit what she was. His head was still a bit scrambled and was now trying to recall their conversation about that very word. Eli had said all that stuff was just stories and myths, rubbish about garlic and coffins. Oscar had pointed out that technically since she couldn’t go out in the sun and needed blood that it wasn’t all rubbish. That response had not gone down well and shortly after he had been convinced that Eli was just well...Eli. Appointing her such a broad label like a vampire would be like someone calling Oscar an abominable snowman, just because he was pale with blonde hair.
“All that paperwork was about you?” he asked her.
“I dictated and Robbie wrote it all down. I told the truth about what it was like to be me. I hoped he would understand it is more bad than good.”
Having seen the memory through Eli’s eyes and felt what she had felt, he began to understand more. The man they had met with, her ‘fan’ only had one priority and that was to live forever. No other consequences or cost mattered to him.
“The man who wanted that, who was reading about you, I recognised him.”
“I suppose a lot of people would,” she shrugged unhelpfully.
Oscar stood up, he was incredibly tired and needed to sleep. Feeling beseeched for the familiarity of his warm safe bed, he patted Eli on her head and turned in for the night.


Chapter Eleven


The New Year had come and gone with just over one week passing since Oscar had watched a few faint fireworks explode in the distance. Eli had found a crawlspace under the stairs on the first floor landing and somehow inserted herself face first. Oscar smiled at the idea of someone passing her and seeing a random pair of bare feet sticking out. She had wanted to hide from the noise and nowhere in the flat was suitable. Oscar didn’t mind celebrating the coming of another year by himself.
Influenced by his recent experience, he had decided to make and commit to a resolution or two. Eat less junk food, cut down on sugar, try and get more fresh air and try to get fit again. Back in Blackeberg he was a lot more active. Always running, swimming and even going to strength training classes. Since arriving in Denmark, his time dedicated to physical fitness had obviously dwindled. This was to be expected, it would have been unwise for Oscar to go to the local swimming pool, if there was one, or to sign up for the gym.
He had become somewhat complacent being with Eli. Very few people could be considered a threat while he was in her company. Oscar had almost forgotten that while she slept he was vulnerable, he was responsible for both of them, and now he knew that someone was trying to find her. Eli had described him as her fan owing to him having spent some decades looking for her and hiring others to track her down. For the majority of that time, Eli had managed to stay off their radar but they were relentless in effort. This is what had given Oscar a kick, which is why he was now out jogging around the blocks every morning. He had also filled two empty plastic bottles with water and was using them as dumbbell weights, usually as the commercials were on.
“But you’ve lost weight since coming here,” complained Eli when being told about his new commitment to fitness and diet.
It was rather ironic that eating the way he did, and living off high fat foods like pizza had resulted in weight loss. Still, he assured her that muscle weights more than fat so given a few weeks he would look normal again. Oscar wanted to get ready for anything. It had taken him days to remember who the man in Eli’s memory was. He had seen him before, physically met him, back in Sweden, he was just older now.
His face was one of those faces that were hard to forget. Rat like eyes that looked a bit too small and just a bit too far apart, a nose that had started to cave in on one side and such a fat neck it looked like he was having a severe allergic reaction. The last time Oscar had seen him was about three years ago when he was at school. He had come into the classroom as a guest speaker. Too much time had passed to remember why, or what his presentation was about, and he had been more focused on reading a book on the flu epidemic. He had remembered the man as he had appeared determined to look at and examine every single face in the room. Almost as if he was looking for someone he would recognise. When the man had noticed Oscar was looking down into a book, he had coughed to get his attention. It had made a few of his classmates uncomfortable and even his teacher found the guests behaviour strange. Oscar had met him before meeting Eli, it felt strange knowing that three years ago he was in the company of someone who knew about and was searching for her.
Of course he had seen the man on television once or twice since that day. Despite this, he had still not decided if knowing who was looking for Eli was a good or bad thing. At least he knew the man’s name, face and apparent profession, but either one of them had any clue what to do with that information.
It was because of these events that they decided to beef up security in their flat. The first thing Oscar did was to get a fake nameplate made for the front door. The name on it was Mrs B. Keaton, the name Eli had used in the past and when arranging the tenancy with the landlady. The idea was that it wouldn’t look out of place should the property owner ever come around. Oscar thought a more common Danish or even Swedish name may appear more normal, but after thinking about it, agreed the neighbours would be less eager to engage with western people.
Eli had also explained that she liked the name ‘B Keaton.’ It reminded her of the very first movie she watched in the twenties, ‘The General’ by Buster Keaton. Oscar had cried from laughing so hard when Eli told him that it took her seven attempts to get through the entire movie.
“Oscar, it was scary!” she clarified.
The idea of her, with all her strengths, skills and abilities, everything she had seen and done, repeatedly running out of the cinema, afraid of a black and white movie, was priceless.
“The screen was moving, there were giant people on it who were there but not really there. It was loud and confusing, I had never seen anything like it before.” She tried to explain but doing so had just pushed Oscar deeper into hysterics.
“But why...why did it keep making you run out of the cinema?” he asked laughing, trying to joke if someone kept inviting her in then uninviting her but being unable to muster it.
“I told you, it was scary. Watching a person up there then BOOM, a giant train or something else pops out of nowhere.”
As he continued to affix the name plate to the door, Oscar recalled having to cross his legs and bury his face in the sofa cushion. He couldn’t look at Eli that night without picturing and laughing at the concept. How pissed off the Usher must have been when she kept asking “please can I come again?” Not that he was sure that would have been necessary once she had an invite, he didn’t really understand when an invite was needed and when it was not. He should really ask Eli to explain it in full at some point. Just thinking about the conversation now, he started to laugh as he finished screwing the plate into the wood.
More than just the name plate, they agreed to quickly knock out their name in Morse-code on the door before entering. They would do it if one of them was at home and the other was returning. It would be a quiet knock for the dots and a louder knock for the dashes. To make things easier they had shortened their names in code. Eli would knock “E” and “I” to make a quiet-quiet-loud-quiet-quiet rhythm. Oscar would knock out an “O” and an “R” to make a loud-loud-loud-quiet-loud-quiet sequence. If either of them ever entered without doing so, it would signal to the other that something was wrong or someone was with them.

It was a wet and windy Friday and the late afternoon was beginning to turn into early evening. Oscar was returning to the flat with some food shopping. He had gotten used to travelling further afield, but did feel out of place buying health stuff and vegetables. Some of them he didn’t know what they were called, yet alone how to cook them. Eli had appeared concerned a few times at the smells coming from the kitchen during Oscar’s experiments. He never would have guessed that trying to grill asparagus could result in such an odour disaster.
Oscar did his special Morse-knock and entered carrying the shopping bag in his free hand. To his surprise Eli was up and waiting for him in the hall looking apprehensive.
“There was a strange noise and everything went out.”
“Ah ok, don’t worry it might just be a fuse,” he said closing the door behind him.
Both the television and the radio had been left on at Eli’s request. Sometimes she preferred some background noise during the day, especially when Oscar went out. It made her feel like there was someone still in the flat when she arose.
“Yes, it might just be a fuse.” She quickly replied as if she knew already that was the problem. In reality she couldn’t really grasp the dynamics of electricity but that was okay.
Going over to the mains box, which was high up on the wall, Oscar saw that all the switches were in their correct position and nothing had tripped. He walked into the bedroom to look out his uncovered bedroom window. Eli following but stopped short at the entrance to avoid the fading but still deadly sunlight.
“Did the noise wake you?” asked Oscar looking outside and seeing no evidence of electricity outside. The security light near the entrance of another building which was always on was now off. There were no lights or streetlamps on anywhere. “It must be a power cut,” he concluded.
Eli looked a bit tired so they both went into the darker sitting room, and Oscar put his shopping away. Once completed, he joined her on the sofa and they sat in relative silence until she had fully woken up.
“How long do power cuts last?” Eli asked adopting a more normal and relaxed posture.
“Not usually very long, but that’s in Sweden. Not really sure for here.”
Surprisingly Oscar was growing concerned at their complete lack of portable light sources. They had no candles, torches, or even a lighter or a match, it had never occurred to him before. His worry did quickly pass when he reminded himself that Eli’s eyes were born for the dark, should the power remain off all night she could be his torch.
“Should we play a game or something?” he asked bored looking at the blank television.
“Yes, ok.”
Oscar started to try and think of a suitable game as the daylight was on the retreat. The idea of a board game, puzzle or anything on paper like ‘hangman’ didn’t seem worthwhile when he couldn’t guarantee how long he would be able to see.
“Truth or dare?” he suggested animated as soon as the idea popped into his head.
“Is that...is that not rude?” Eli asked raising her eyebrows with sarcasm in a successful attempt to wind him up.
“What? No, I mean it doesn’t have to be,” he reacted feeling his face redden at suggesting the game so eagerly.
Besides what would they do? She couldn’t eat, so it’s not like he could dare her to take a bite out of the mouldy cheese that he kept meaning to throw out.
“What about just doing the truths? We ask each other questions and we have to answer them truthfully,” thought Oscar out loud.
“We do that anyway, don’t we?”
“Yeah, yeah, I suppose we do.”
Oscar looked around the room to try and find inspiration disappointed at his previous ideas.
“What about hide and seek? Do you know how to play that?”
“Yes, I believe that I do,” she smiled not having the heart to tell him that game has been around longer than herself.
In agreement the pair decided it could be fun and one of the few options available to pass the powerless time. The game started normally enough, Oscar counted first in the bathroom then began the hunt. He walked into the hall which was pretty empty but looked up at the ceiling and behind him just in case she was balancing on top of the door frame. He entered the sitting room spending more than a few minutes scanning trying to find her without luck. The same thing happened in the bedroom and kitchen with him checking every cupboard twice. Oscar couldn’t find her anywhere.
“You win, come out!” he shouted becoming annoyed after looking for a lot longer than should be necessary in a one bedroom flat. He had even checked inside the washing machine, under the bed and out on the window ledge.
Eli jumped down with a soft thud from the top of the wardrobe with a mischievous smirk, giving Oscar a fright and simply saying “hi” to his confused face.
“I looked up there! Or, I thought I did.”
It was now Oscar’s turn to hide and after making sure Eli wasn’t peaking, he closed the bathroom door. For the first half of their game, this pattern repeated itself. Oscar only managed to find Eli once out of four attempts, and he suspected she had let him find her on that occasion. She seemed to be able to blend into the contours of the furniture, to go unnoticed and she had the fading light on her side. Eli managed to find Oscar each and every time with little effort, even when he had hid inside of the fridge.
“Are you food now? Staying fresh for me?” she asked looking inside the fridge at him sitting on top of his recent shopping.
At that point Oscar became determined to level the playing field. He told her to wait in the kitchen and he rushed into the bedroom to find a few items.
“Put these on, or you’ll find me every time,” he said re-entering the kitchen and handing Eli a Star Wars scarf and a clothes peg.
“Is...Is that not the point of the game?” she asked with sarcasm.
“You’re too good! I need to make it more difficult for you.”
Oscar blindfolded a somewhat apprehensive Eli using the scarf and graciously put the peg on her nose.
“I can’t see you.”
“Here come the headphones,” he announced before pulling them over her head tucking some of her hair behind her ears in the process. The headphones weren’t connected to anything, there purpose was to try and mute her hearing a bit.
He looked at Eli standing with Darth Vader covering her eyes, a pink plastic peg on her nose, and a pair of loose headphones. Oscar wished he owned a camera.
“So you can’t see or smell me now,” he said walking away backwards into the sitting room. Remarkably even as he did so, Eli’s head still followed as if she could see through the thick fabric. Determined to win, at least once, Oscar slipped off his shoes so he could creep around on his tip-toes.
“Really?” she asked with her head turning left and right having lost Oscar.
“What? Can’t the hunter find her prey?” he mocked. “Not used to having to work for it?”
He regretted having spoken as it allowed Eli to pick up his rough location in the room and she started to walk towards him with her arms stretched out. This is how their game continued, with both of them at a disadvantage. Oscar, who was struggling to see in the ever growing darkness, kept tripping over furniture resulting in Eli’s head snapping to his location. Eli, who knew where everything in the flat was down to the last inch, now had to operate by memory and a little bit of hearing. It was great fun for both of them. Oscar had forgotten what it was like to laugh like this, just enjoying a simple game. Even Eli had laughed and smiled more than in the previous month. As they continued, almost forgetting about the power cut, she seemed to adapt to her muted senses a lot easier than Oscar could. Every time he hid and she tried to find him, she got quicker. Like she had a map in her head and had mentally scored-off everything he couldn’t hide.
“Can you hear my heart beat or something?”
“No. But I can hear you snickering.”
It was still possible for Oscar to get the upper hand once or twice, being able to sneak around her undetected. Once he tapped her on the ankle as he leopard crawled past making her jump a few feet in the air. They were both disappointed when without warning the power returned and the lights, along with everything else turned back on.
With the game over, Oscar collapsed down into the sofa. It was then he figured out how Eli was starting to find him more easily. He was sweating and was out of breath from dashing around so much, but it was all part of the fun. Eli rubbed her nose which had gone a bit white with the pressure of the peg, and looked strangely at the masked man on the scarf. She sat down next to him on the sofa.
“Thank you,” she whispered without looking at him.
She was grateful that Oscar trusted her so completely to be so...normal with her. He held no fear or worry, no holding back, no concerns over what she was or what she could do. Eli had known even back in Blackeberg that he was absolutely accepting of her and loved him for that. Any remaining grains of pain that were holding her back dissolved.
Oscar felt warmth radiating inside him. For however a short time, he had allowed his friend to be normal, to do something that didn’t involve her unique abilities. He appreciated how Eli trusted him so completely. She allowed herself to be bound with her senses disabled. He doubted there had been many times over the last two centuries where she could really let her guard down. He fell asleep a short time later forgetting to go to bed, switch off the TV or light. He felt the back of Eli’s hand stroking the side of his face, or maybe he was imagining it.

[andmker]

Part 1. Chapters 12 to 16

Chapter Twelfth

Back in Oscar’s home country, a man was examining his face using a small, old mirror. It was the kind of mirror that someone might take with them on holiday to facilitate hygiene requirements such as shaving. This mirror had been given to the man by his father just days before his death and its only value was sentimental. He studied the deepening wrinkles on his forehead, the ever loosening skin under his chin and the continuing discolouration of the whites in his eyes. This man had taken over a chain of businesses from his father worth nearly a million, and was once the definition of success. A practical and keen business mind and a skill to seek out untapped markets had made him popular in Sweden. At one point, he even had political ambitions and if he had fully committed, he might have ascended high into the ranks of government. Yet other things got in the way.
This man was called Albin Matty, or if you prefer his long standing school nickname ‘Ratty,’ a simple play on his name and his rat like appearance even as a child. For most of his life, Albin had what a lot of people could only dream of. Money, popularity and favourable treatment from others who wanted to get on his families good side. It wasn’t unusual for him to get requests from schools, universities, and some other companies to come and give inspirational talks and advice on how to make it in the world of business.
However his life was a half life and Albin was a very unhappy man. He could never accept that his father died because he never agreed with the conclusion of the official investigation. After his death he would do what was required in business to keep things ticking over just enough. Personally he became lonely and isolated, corrupted by his obsession to discover the truth, and then by his need to become part of that truth.
As he looked at himself in the mirror, looking older with each passing day, his mind turned to the past. His father had been attacked late one night and left dead on the cold ground. The police never found the culprit and only one witness, a homeless man who was sheltering in a nearby skip, had come forward. Officially the police concluded that it was a “mugging gone wrong.” Whoever had done it must have threatened him with something like a barbeque fork, there must have been a struggle as he was stabbed in the neck. The culprit had stolen his wallet but forgotten to take his expensive watch. They speculated that while the puncture marks on his neck were not deep, they must have damaged an artery. By the time help arrived, there was little if any blood left in his body.
The witness, who no one took seriously due to his mental health history, told a rather different version of events.
“This person looked like a teenager or...a midget. Couldn’t tell even if they were male or female, went up to him. They were small and very scruffy looking, worse clothes than mine. They held out their hands like they were begging for something. The smart looking guy put his hand in his pocket, maybe to hand over some loose change.”
To Albin Matty, that part of the statement was perfectly believable. His father would always help those in need, and in this part of the country there were plenty of homeless young and old. It was because of what was said next that everything was dismissed and not investigated further.
“They just grabbed him. Grabbed him with one hand by what I think was his neck and pulled him down to the ground, but like flipping him in the air first. Then seemed to, well, hold him and kiss him.”
The police had asked the witness to clarify and explain exactly what he meant. All the homeless man could say is when the man hit the ground, the ‘mugger’ buried his or her face into the man’s neck. Then hugged him briefly before standing up, straightening the man’s clothes, and running away.
Albin knew the statement didn’t make sense. His father was one of the strongest and fittest men you could meet. His early years had been spent doing long hours of manual labour. Even when he started his own business, he seemed to be able to retain his strength. There was absolutely no way he could have been overpowered and pulled down to the ground so easily by someone so small. In his mind his father was murdered and it was unacceptable in this modern age for such an act to remain unsolved. The police were useless and gave no explanation or answers to either his father’s death or what the witness saw. Nothing more than a mugging gone wrong. With determination Albin had taken it upon himself to discover the truth, no matter what the cost and no matter who he had to enlist in his mission to do so.
Back in reality as Albin was washing his face, he heard his telephone ring. He was never keen to answer these days, it was usually business related and usually bad news. Allowing the answer machine to kick in, he actually heard something to lift his mood, something that made him immensely happy. The voice on the other end was recognized straightaway, it was one of his employees. They were speaking in English as his Swedish, while reasonable to an extent, suffered because of his accent.
“Found her south of the capital, know exactly what building she is in. Your hunch was correct, she is still with that boy from Blackeberg. He is still, well, what I mean is he isn’t like her yet. Will send more information when I can.”
Albin went over to his desk and pulled out an old folder wrapped in string. He carefully unbound it and began to read dozens upon dozens of mostly handwritten pages. There were also a few photographs, sketches and newspaper cuttings. The most recent covered the incident at Blackeberg swimming pool.
“Glad to see you haven’t changed, see you soon Eli.”

Meanwhile back in the apartment flat in Denmark, things had quietened down after Edvard’s death, but neither Eli nor Oscar had any idea that their location had been discovered. A week had passed since they beefed up their security and since then Oscar no longer felt like he was being watched. No more strange blue car parked near the local closed store, no more looking behind him thinking someone was there. Eli was still going out most night, sometimes for a few hours and sometimes for longer. She would normally stay within a few kilometres, unless feeling the need for real exercise. In that case she would run through the endless fields or spend her time scaling up and down the sides of buildings or jumping between rooftops. A few times Oscar had looked out of the bedroom window at the ground below. Her footprints often tended to be the only prints in the fresh snow, often in large circles and random patterns, sometimes with hand prints thrown in.
Tonight Oscar was taking advantage of having the place to himself by playing a repeating trick on Eli. The first time he done it was by complete mistake, he had moved something and forgotten when asked about it.
“You are sure that’s where the sofa always was?” she had asked scratching her head after spending about ten minutes in the sitting room wondering what was different.
“Yeah, I didn’t move it.”
Eli’s eyes had dashed rapidly around the room, challenging themselves to triangulate exactly where the sofa had been in relative position to the TV, the table behind them, the stereo and everything else. The more Oscar had insisted that he hadn’t moved anything, the more Eli insisted that he had. In the end, she had contorted her face, flopped her arms about and convinced that she was correct, swore that she would get Oscar back.
Indeed, he had noticed in the following days strange occurrences. Just little things like his toothbrush mysteriously disappearing from the bathroom and reappearing on top of the television. Or that one of the posters he had put up on the window was now upside down, resulting in Oscar wondering if it had always been like that. He supposed that one day he should replace the magazines with newspapers as it didn’t matter quite as much if they were upside down, and they would be easier to manage because the sheets were larger. The best and less subtle occurrence happened when he had been boiling an egg for a late night snack. He had opened the fridge to get a drink of milk, when he went back to the cooker, the water was still simmering but the egg in the pot had disappeared.
“Nope, I didn’t move it,” was Eli’s natural response when asked. Her smirk said otherwise.
Since then, this had been their back and forth, each of them moving something then denying it. A playfully sneaky game that both were determined to somehow win. This time Oscar was moving everything in the sitting room just a few inches in random directions. Eli returned just before midnight, knocking lightly on the door to signal that it was her and all was well. Oscar was still awake and had been listening to a few of his records. He always liked to try and stay up to welcome her back and most nights he managed it, even contending with late night television.
“Hey, good night?” he asked looking at some dried mud on her feet. She had also acquired a think black jacket with a broken zip, most likely from a clothes bin.
“Hi, yes it was. I saw another giant thing flying in the sky. They are getting more frequent.”
Oscar grinned.
“An aeroplane,” he corrected proud that she was no longer calling them “metal birds.”
“Yeah, an air-low-plain.” Eli looked around the room obviously noticing things had been moved around. She said nothing, instead was already planning how to retaliate.
The pair spent a short time discussing nothing of real importance. Oscar suggested plans for the weekend which Eli seemed pleased about. Shortly after that he decided to call it a night. He left the bedroom door half open, knowing that sometimes Eli liked to sneak in and lie beside him until sunrise. He didn’t mind that she did it, but saved her the embarrassment of asking her the reason why.
Despite the rain outside determined to keep Oscar awake by smashing against the window, he actually fell asleep rather easily owning to the late hour. He was disappointed when the rough beeping of his alarm clock woke him up at nine. Ideally more sleep would have been a dream, all these late nights were tiresome, but he was still committing to those New Year’s resolutions. Forcing himself to get out of bed, he checked that Eli was safely tucked up in the tub before making some breakfast. Oscar had thrown away his ‘Healthy Choice Breakfast Waffles’ after discovering they taste and smelt like cardboard. Instead he made a stack of low-fat pancakes with a drizzle of honey accompanied by a few squashed bananas. His plans for today involved very little other than his morning jog which was slowly becoming an afternoon jog.
In the midst of his thinking, he heard mail being posted through the door. Naturally they never got much, pretty much just junk, advertisements and bills. Heading to the door to collect the rubbish, he saw what initially looked like a Christmas card or something in the same sort of envelope. Picking it up from the ground, he was both shocked and surprised at what was written on the front.
To: Eli and Oscar.


Chapter Thirteen


For a brief moment, Oscar believed that Eli was playing a trick or starting another game, but those moments passed. He knew her handwriting, it was not Eli’s and there was no stamp or postmark. Oscar had checked when he got up that Eli was in the tub and she was, completely dead to the world. Someone had just posted this through the door.
Standing staring at the envelope his imagination kicked in. Maybe there was a poisonous powder inside, maybe a small explosive device, or perhaps the ink on the outside was deadly and he had already touched it. Looking towards the closed bathroom door, Oscar even considered there might be blood inside. Designed and delivered to either harm Eli or make her go into a feeding frenzy.
Oscar remained in stunned silence until the rational part of his brain tried to offer an explanation. This could just be a late arriving Christmas card. Possibly it was from Edvard, it could have been found in his store by whoever was cleaning it out. The only problem was Edvard shouldn’t have known this was their flat and since Oscar had never mentioned Eli, he shouldn’t have known her name.
Deciding to proceed with caution, he took the envelope into the kitchen and placed it down on the cooker. Oscar washed his hands, and then pulled on a pair of pink rubber gloves, protection for anything that might be inside. Taking a deep breath, he opened it and carefully pulled out a piece of paper that had been folded twice nearly to fit. It was a handwritten letter, and the top line stated it was for both him and Eli to read. It contained three short paragraphs written incredibly neatly with a very bold blue pen. Oscar didn’t get a chance to read the contents, not completely, as one short sentence jumped out from the page. He felt lightheaded and weak looking up from the letter. Oscar ran into the bedroom, grabbed his knife and proceeded to run out of the flat.
Knife in one hand, letter in the other, he didn’t care that he was still only in his underwear having not bothered to dress yet. Forgetting to close the front door behind him, he took three steps at a time down to the front entrance of the building. He couldn’t believe that he had been so stupid, wasted so much time, this is what he should have done the moment he saw the letter. Open the door and confront whoever was on the other side. He doubted the person was still nearby but was determined to run outside on the off chance. That sentence had pierced through him as it repeated on a loop in his head.
“Oscar, do you not want to know what happened to your mother?”

Albin Matty leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. He was aware that he had to find a way to convince Eli to make him like her, a vampire. They had met only once in person and to arrange that had taken months. He had tried to convince Eli back then, even paying her ‘carer’ ten thousand krona for him to try and convince her as well. Asking Eli had not succeeded, paying them had also failed. Trying to use force had been pointless. This time around something different was needed. If Eli ran again, it was unlikely Albin could find her again before he got too old. He thought about the boy she had met and befriended. The statement from Oscar’s mother saying she moved next door to them, that they started to spend a lot of time together. She had said that she would watch them from out the window and that “they had become good friends by the looks of it.” Albin wondered if Eli cared for Oscar and not just as her latest familiar. What he was reading strongly suggested that this was the case.
“Maybe if I left her with no other choice,” he asked himself. With that thought, he picked up a pen and a sheet of paper. “She...they both will have to believe me, or they will never come.”
Before starting to write anything, Albin relived their first meeting back in the sixties. He had waited every day before that meeting with growing anticipation. When it finally happened, and Eli along with Robbie had walked (and been invited) into his office, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
She looked helpless, so small and helpless. He looked in wonder at Eli. Just a walking, talking miracle of nature. This person that had defied everything he knew, having lived for hundreds of years and who must have seen and done so much. Whatever he felt about his father’s death, about Eli having killed him, no longer mattered in the slightest. Albin knew that more than anything else in the world he had to, no – he would become like her.
He took his time in composing the letter, being careful to maintain its tone and context. He wanted it to sound convincing but more importantly irresistible to both Eli and Oscar, doubting one would come without the other. He wanted them to both come believing that he would provide them with everything they needed. In reality, he was going to get what he wanted one way or another. When pleased with what he had written, Albin posted it to his man in Denmark with instructions to put the letter in a fresh envelope so it can’t be traced back to him.

With his hands and feet like ice, Oscar went back into the warmth of their flat having been unable to locate anyone in, out or around the building. It was to be expected, he doubted whoever had delivered it would hang around. They were a coward, using the safety of daylight then running away. Returning, he read the letter again and again, hoping that he could extract more information from it. Sadly, it was something that would need Eli to explain fully. He considered trying to wake her early, but that was never the safest idea even for him. The ‘thing’ inside her would object to put it lightly. To be honest, there was nothing she could do right now anyway, nothing either of them could do. Instead Oscar tried to occupy his mind as much as possible throughout the day.
He decided not to go for his daily jog, just to be safe, and alternatively spent time lifting his homemade weights as many times in as many combinations he could think of. Afterwards he tried to watch television but his eyes kept being drawn back to the letter on the table. He tried to listen to music but his mind wasn’t interested. Eventually by the middle of the afternoon and growing increasingly restless, Oscar decided that he had to do something. He knew what that was, what would calm his nerves. It might be a mistake but he doubted that anyone would expect him to do it. Grabbing his jacket on the way out the door, he began to walk briskly to the nearest payphone about ten minutes away.
Months had passed since they left Blackeberg and Oscar had so far managed to avoid phoning home. Doing so would have been dangerous, but today that letter had forced his hand. He reached the somewhat damaged phone box, briefly distracted by the graffiti on the glass and looked up the area code for Sweden. Oscar slowly dialled what was once his home not knowing what to expect.
“Pick-up,” he shouted on the third ring with his ear getting cold from being pressed so hard against the receiver.
Oscar’s sense of dread and panic increased with every passing ring but finally,
“Hello?” asked a voice.
It was his mother.
“Hello?” she asked again a bit louder.
Oscar swallowed hard then hung-up without speaking. At least he knew his mother was alive and sounded alright. He felt himself swelling up at hearing her voice, almost wishing that he had said something. That feeling was brushed off, he had made his choice and that was Eli. Still, he was comforted knowing that she hadn’t moved away to get a fresh start or anything like that. In any case, he could head back to his new home and focus on the letter’s contents.
He passed the hours on the sofa, waiting for Eli to stir and eventually shortly after darkness arriving she awoke. As Eli entered the room, Oscar stood up and pointed over at the table having briefly lost his voice.
“We got a letter,” he said managing to clear his throat.
“A letter?” she asked not sure if she had misheard.
“It’s on the table.”
Eli casually went over, picked up the piece of paper and started to read.
“We have to move,” she announced before finishing the page.
“Wait, what?”
“He’s found us, we have to move.”
Oscar wondered if she had read a different letter to the one he had. He was surprised that was her first and only reaction to it.
“Eli, did you read what he is offering?”
“He won’t take no for an answer, he is...” she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.
“Yes, yes I know. He is a bad man, but read what he’s offering.”
Eli looked displeased at Oscar’s interruption but regardless she put down the letter and calmly walked over to him.
“I don’t believe what he has written. Albin only wants one thing.”
“But what if he’s being truthful?”
Eli shook her head dismissing the idea.
“I killed his father. First he wanted revenge, and then when he found out what I am, he wanted me to make him the same.”
Oscar thought about the contents of the letter. His gut was telling him they should meet regardless of Albin’s agenda, even if just to tell him to back-off or else.
“Fine, if he wants to be like you then what’s the harm? It gives you blood doesn’t it?” suggested Oscar thinking about the idea of having someone so willing to allow her to feed from them.
“If he becomes like me, how many will he kill? I feed as infrequently as possible, but I could if I wanted to feed much, much more often.”
“You could just kill him,” replied Oscar a bit too casually for both his and Eli’s liking.
“I kill to survive. Only when I need to and it can’t be helped. That’s the way it has to be.”
Oscar took stock of what he had just said. He didn’t like suggesting something that could have caused a person to die, but liked the idea of someone threatening or getting to Eli even less.
“So the options are to meet him or run away?” he asked.
“Yes. He is getting old, he won’t be a problem for much longer.”
That seemed to be Eli’s preferred choice to deal with her fan. Keep running and hiding until Mother Nature did her job. Personally Oscar felt that meeting him was worth the risk, even know he felt anger at him trying to use his mother against him. He might be telling the truth and Eli could be rid of her pest. He also understood her concerns. If Albin was this desperate and dangerous in life, willing to do all this, then what would he be like as a creature needing and wanting blood to survive?
“You never know, he might be better being like you. Then you could start a club,” he joked wanting to defuse the hint of tension in the room. He was glad to see Eli smile.
“What would we call it? We the infected?” she asked sarcastically.


Chapter Fourteen


The letter sent to our pair from Albin had been read endlessly by Oscar and briefly once by Eli. For the previous three days it had been a subject of conversation and borderline arguments between them. Oscar was sat once again, reading it to himself in his head to try and detect any hidden scheme but to also to try and understand Eli’s stance.

‘Hello Eli and Oscar. Are you enjoying Denmark? I hope you are finding enough to eat. Is Oscar helping you get blood? We have not spoken for many years, and I apologise for tracking you down once again. I am getting rather old, and in my old age, I feel the need to make amends for my past actions. I would like to meet you one last time, both of you, if you would consider it? I understand why you didn’t want to make me like you. I’ve had a long time to think about it. I just want the gift of meeting you again.’

‘I want to say sorry face to face and to help. I can help you both disappear forever; I can arrange it so you are given new identities. Are you doing alright for money? Does Oscar have enough to eat and to stay warm? I can easily help in that aspect as well. I will be in Denmark soon. I’ll let you know where I am. If you choose to meet me, it will just be us. I hope you will come as well Oscar; I’m not sure how much Eli has told you about me. Maybe meeting will be good for us both Eli, I can give you forgiveness for killing my father. I know it wasn’t personal, you just needed to feed. I understand from what you wrote. I had a man who works for me find you and I’ve told him there is no need to watch you any longer. I’ll get him to post a note to you when I know where and when I’ll be.’

‘I hope you both will come and see me, I really can help. If you meet me one last time, I promise you will never hear from me again. If you choose not to meet, I’ll go back to Sweden the next day. But please let me help you both. Oscar, do you not want to know what happened to your mother?’

Every time Oscar read it, he became more convinced that this man genuinely wanted to help. As far as he was concerned Albin was in love with the idea of what Eli was. He glamorised her without grasping the hard reality, and that is what made Eli uncomfortable. Oscar wasn’t keen on having to move again, after all what country could they go to next? If it came down to them having no other choice, he would still do it without a second glance back. He just hoped that Eli would warm to the idea of meeting her fan one last time, even if it’s just for peace of mind. Surely it would be better to do it and leave with nothing, than not do it and always wonder what would have happened.
Outside a wet and wild storm was battering against the windows, almost as if it was trying to break inside. The forecast had been for moderate rain, but this was definitely well beyond anything they had predicted. Just the noise of the howling wind and the impact of the raindrops, like tiny bullets, was enough to make Eli stay indoors tonight. Safely away from what she described as “that.”
Both the lights and the television had been flickering for the last hour, the electricity itself fighting against the storm. Oscar had no problem admitting that normally he would have been a little scared. This type of weather usually made him hide under the covers with music playing loudly. Eli’s first reaction would usually have been similar, to find somewhere to hide until it past. Tonight both of them were together on the sofa, lying side by side, trying to watching television just to focus on something else. Neither one of them felt that scared by what was happening outside, other things seemed more important right now. They hadn’t spoken for a while, and it was Oscar who decided to break the silence by asking something that had been on his mind all week. A random question that had become lodged in his head.
“Do you remember all of them? Everyone you...feed on?”
It took a solid five seconds for Eli to respond.
“No,” was her simple and straightforward answer.
Oscar was not sure if she was telling the truth or not, maybe that answer was easier for both of them. Almost without meaning to, he began to try and calculate how many people she had been forced to kill in order to survive. Either personally or indirectly by getting others to do it for her. He didn’t get very far into the sum, forcing himself to drop it. It wasn’t her fault, she didn’t enjoy it, and she didn’t ask to be like this. He was happy to leave it at that, but then Eli took a breath before saying more.
“Some of them I do. Often the thirst takes over, the longer I feed on someone the more it takes over. That is very important. The longer I feed the more I lose myself. The more I want to lose myself. Then they are dead.”
Oscar nodded although he did not know why. He had nothing to compare it to after all. If he was eating a grilled pizza, like his dad used to make, he didn’t forget he was eating it the further into it he got. After another pause Eli resumed her attempt to explain in a way he would understand.
“When I’m finished feeding, I sort of remember but a part of me doesn’t let me. Like starting a puzzle, and finishing it before you know it. You remember starting, you now see the end result but you don’t remember the middle part. It’s difficult to explain.”
Oscar appreciated her honesty and efforts to convey what it was like. Having seen what she is capable off he could understand even if not fully. When the thing inside her came out, fully came out and was in control, it was her...but not her.
“Maybe that’s the best way. If you recall every detail that would be very painful,” he offered in an attempt to reassure. “I don’t remember every meal I’ve ever eaten.” He screwed up his face and bit his tongue. Knowing he had just compared mass murder for survival to him eating dinner every night.
“It was different at first. Maybe it is different for each of us? I used to remember a lot more about them. Every last look on their face and every last breath,” she turned to look at Oscar as if to judge if he understood.
“What changed?”
“It could be the number of people over the years. My mind forgets because it needs to,” answered Eli suddenly feeling alone. “What I don’t understand, is why it changed after I tried to die,” she continued.
“Tried to die?” Oscar asked worried and a bit surprised at the sudden revelation. “Like you tried to kill yourself?”
A strange thing happened next, he only noticed because they were lying side by side, but it was like Eli’s body straightened and stiffened for a few seconds, like a corpse.
“Not as such. The thing inside makes me go on. It compels and given the chance it directs you to keep feeding, to keep living. It doesn’t let you give up, ever.”
Eli took Oscar’s hand and pressed it against her chest, over her heart which beat infrequently.
“It would fight me if I tried anything more. Even now just thinking about it...gets its attention. I just tried to give up, not to feed and not even to move but it wouldn’t let me,” she explained.
Oscar felt a single heartbeat from within the depths of her chest, almost like the thing inside knew it was being talked about.
“You don’t, I mean you still don’t want to die do you?” he asked as delicately as he knew how.
Eli slowly shook her head dislodging the cushion she had been using.
“Not while I’m with you. You make me feel alive.”
Oscar felt more appreciated than ever before, but at the same time a streak of sadness knowing compared to Eli, he would be short lived. Like a dog to its master.
“In the future, when I’m old, if I asked would you make me like you? So we can stay together?”
His question had been prompted by seeing how reluctant Eli was, and had been for years, to give Albin what he wanted. No doubt others had asked her to do the same to them. While she didn’t answer directly, Oscar could see her head nod slightly a few times. This is all he needed and he took comfort at the concept, even if that hypothetical day was many, many years into the future.
“Oscar? If for whatever reason we couldn’t be together, or if something bad was to happen and I wanted to...die. Would you help me with that?”
Eli was still looking at the screen when she asked, and Oscar though about the gravity as well as the total seriousness of the question. Asking her to ‘maybe’ make him a vampire decades from now was one thing. What she wanted to know was if she ever asked, would he help her die.
“If anything was to happen to me, you could just, move on,” he finally answered trying to avoid the painful notion at hand.
Eli objected to his response, turning around to look at him in protest.
“No. I could not just move on, I won’t wait another two centuries on the off chance another Oscar comes along.”
The rain suddenly stopped which distracted them both.
“Oscar, you are as special to me as I am to you. If there is no one else after you, I can live with, or rather die with that,” she continued seriously.
He regretted that she was now facing him as he could see the emotion on her face which was now starting to pour over to him. On the verge of beginning to tremble, he answered quickly as Eli’s eyes pieced deeper into him awaiting an answer.
“Yes. If that day ever comes, many years from now, and there is no other choice and no other way, yes.”
Eli nodded in acknowledgement and sighed relieved that should that day ever come, Oscar would help her. While Oscar wasn’t sure if he could ever do such a thing for any reason, for the moment the agreement kept them both content.
“We can meet with Albin. Get what we need from him,” she said finally agreeing that what he was offering was worth the risk of meeting him. Her final act of the night was to bury herself in towards Oscar, cuddling him like a life-sized teddy bear. “Cover me up please,” she muttered.
Oscar looked and reached behind him with his free arm, pulling a blanket off the back of the sofa and used it to cover them both up. As night failed, Eli went into her daytime slumber attached around him and hidden from the world.


Chapter Fifteen


The difficulty in sleeping for too long is the inherent perplexity it brings when you finally force yourself to get up. That is what Oscar was discovering now, standing at the window looking out at the empty roads and ground below. He had been awoken late morning by a large bang. Initially it almost sounded like a gunshot, but after the confusion, realized it was just the neighbours below slamming a door. Prior to falling asleep at some point on the sofa, there had been a storm raging but to look now you would never have believed it. The sun was shining and shimmering so brightly that it was making his eyes sore.
Oscar looked back at the sofa wondering when Eli had withdrawn to her regular resting place. Since the imprint of her body on the old cushions was still there, he concluded it must have been rather recent. He had slept on the sofa before, but never imagined he could sleep so well in such an interconnected position. Oscar looked downwards at himself, what happened automatically every single morning had happened this morning. Maybe that was why Eli had left. He hoped that he hadn’t embarrassed her, but felt it was more likely she sneaked away so that he didn’t feel embarrassed.
After washing his face, pits and bits in the kitchen sink, he decided to take advantage of the weather outside which could change at any time. He would head into the capital, not that he needed anything but just to get some sun. From a young age, that was imprinted on to him. It was a Swedish thing about making the most of sunlight when you could, to make sure you got your ‘Vitamin D’. Oscar still had no idea what Vitamin D actually was or why it was needed. He had kept meaning to ask someone. Oscar went to check on Eli before leaving, but she had locked the bathroom door from the inside. There was nothing unusual about that, sometimes she did and sometimes she didn’t. He had presumed it had something to do with how deeply she needed to sleep or perhaps how hungry she was. Oscar had also meant to ask her that at some point but it didn’t seem important. The only annoying thing about the locked door was that Oscar needed to use the kitchen sink for when he needed to go and everything else. Eli had long forgotten about those bodily functions.

Albin Matty had just landed in Denmark and was waiting for his employee to pick him up from the airport. Just knowing that he was within miles of Eli after years of searching nearly overwhelmed him with excitement. Like Oscar was about to do, he was standing outside appreciating the sunlight, believing soon he will never be able to do so again. His employee had secured accommodation in an old hotel that was reasonably close to Eli and Oscar. They would have to get a tram or the subway, but it was an easy commute and the quiet, slightly remote hotel was exactly what he needed. From what he had been told the pair were still living in their apartment flat, which suggested to him they were both interested in his offer. All Albin had to do was prepare and wait for them to arrive having already set things in motion. Albin had studied the information gathered over the years countless times. He was mostly interested in what Eli had dictated to Robbie about what it was like to be her. She had given a very useful firsthand account that would come in extremely handy.
“Do you need any assistance with your bag?”
“No, no thank-you,” he replied firmly to the overly eager airport attendant.
Albin had to make one stop before the hotel to pick something up. The item in question was a bit harder to arrange than a hotel, and it was also something he would normally never dream of owning or using. Nonetheless it was essential to his plans and a great insurance policy. He knew that Eli had been in Denmark before, she had left quite a trail of death at the time but that had been near the beginning of the century. Like her, Albin had been here before, in his case he was a child at the time and came here with his late father. The capital had changed a lot in the decades, it felt strange to be back.
One thing that did peak his curiosity was why Eli and Oscar had picked to stay where they had. Naturally, living almost in the middle of nowhere had advantages as there were far less people around. At the same time this was how he had managed to track them down. His employee had driven a truck into the electrical substation for the area. Once power was restored he had simply watched which lights turned on. That way he could tell which flats were occupied and which ones were not. After that, just a case of watching the narrowed down selection until one of them was spotted. Albin did feel the best place to hide would be in plain sight. That was his plan for when Eli turned him into an immortal creature. He would find the busiest city and embed himself in the population. One vampire among millions, no one would ever be able to find him and he welcomed anyone who dare try.
Believing that this trip from Sweden to Denmark would be a one-way journey, at least for a while, Albin had put his affairs in order back home. Everything was packed up ready for collection. He wasn’t sure how long the transformation would take and how long it would be before he could return to Sweden. That part seemed to be missing from Robbie’s report.

Oscar had spent a good few hours roaming around the crowded streets. It appeared many others had also decided to take advantage of the rare sun. It didn’t bother him, he liked it busy like this as it was easy to blend in. He had done some window shopping, browsed the market stalls, and got confused at a few of the street signs meaning he briefly got lost. He blamed whatever idiot decided to place ‘Ojohot Road,’ and ‘Ojoknot Road’ so close to each other. Now, Oscar was sitting in a cafe looking to order a late lunch.
He had picked it at random but it looked good. Small and cosy, clean and tidy with a large poster sized menu plastered in the window ensnaring him in. The metal seats weren’t the most comfortable but he supposed that he couldn’t have everything. Reading the ‘welcome’ page in the menu explained that this was a family owned and family run cafe that had been here for twenty years. Try as he may, he couldn’t envision himself, his mother and father running any business for that long. It would be hard enough getting his parents to stay in the same room for twenty minutes. Just as he was thinking how funny it might be to try, one of the two waitresses came over to him.
“Ready to order?”
Oscar was not. He had only sat down a few minutes ago and was annoyed they hadn’t given him any time to choose. He decided it would be best just to order a soda and then ask the waitress to come back but when he looked up, Oscar somehow managed to forget how to speak.
She was a bit older than him, maybe a year or so, no doubt working part-time in the family business. What had dumbstruck Oscar was that he wasn’t prepared to look at someone so pretty. She looked as if she had been freshly plucked from a perfect painting and made three-dimensional just for him. Taller by nearly a foot with long blonde hair that was almost milky and full of life. The waitress had a strangest hypnotic shade of pale green eyes, and every part of her face from forehead to chin was just perfect. Even in her working dress, with a black long sleeve shirt and red apron around her waist, Oscar couldn’t prevent his eyes from looking down at her figure with his imagination jumping to top gear.
He blinked hard a few times hoping to jerk his voice back into action, but when that failed Oscar simply pointed at ‘cola’ in the menu, knowing his face was the same shade as her apron. The waitress smiled and nodded taking note of his initial order as well as his reaction to her, which was impossible for her or others to miss.
“I’ll give you some extra ice. You look pretty hot, it will help you cool down.”
She walked off, not embarrassed or annoyed but somehow flattered. All Oscar could do was grunt like a caveman and cover his face with the menu, hoping no one else in the cafe noticed. He went to take off his lightweight jacket but had forgotten he had taken it off when he first came in. Instead he took a few deep breaths, and then moved the salt and pepper shakers around on the table to distract himself. The waitress returned after a few minutes carrying his drink on a tray.
“One cola with extra ice. I’m Amelia Roe-Silka by the way,” she smiled looking down at Oscar who seemed to be sinking deeper down into the seat.
“Thanks. I’m...err...Oz...Oz,” he replied.
“Good to meet you Oz-Oz, give me a shout when you know what you want,” she winked before walking away.
Oscar downed most of his drink in a single gulp. “What the bloody hell was that about?” he asked himself. He turned around and saw Amelia standing behind the counter looking back amused at him. As fast as a flash of lightning he turned himself back to the table and pretended to study the menu further. It was then he heard a few others in the cafe quietly having a laugh at what they had witnessed. He was sure a few of the older customers had called him “adorable.”
Unable to shake his embarrassment and not wanting to fuel the amusement of others when Amelia came to get his food order, he decided to finish his drink quickly and leave when she was attending to another customer. He took out a pen and wrote on the napkin.

‘Amelia, it was good to meet you too. Thanks for the cold drink. Oscar’

He almost left an ‘X’ for a kiss, but thankfully managed to stop his hand before it happened. Leaving the money and a rather nice tip with the napkin under the empty glass, Oscar snuck out. Feeling rather goofy, he told himself he’ll go back to the cafe at some point and try to be more normal.
“You’d think I’ve never seen someone of the opposite sex before. Well done Tarzan,” he spoke putting his hands in his pockets and walking down the street with his head down.
After that awkward encounter, Oscar figured it would be best to return to the safety of his flat and to Eli. He managed to catch the tram back just seconds before it pulled away from the station. It was starting to get cold and he was thankful he didn’t have to stand waiting for the next one. Oscar had all the back seats to himself, very few people seemed to go where he was going. He took a strange sense of pleasure thinking about how Eli and now Amelia had seemed to take a liking to him, granted for different reasons. Maybe he was as adorable as his mother used to say he was. Next time he went to the cafe hopefully he’ll be better prepared for a conversation.
When Oscar finally arrived at the closest stop to his place, he nearly tripped over his feet getting off the tram with his mind still elsewhere. He jogged back the rest of the distance, not that he was in a hurry but just because he could. Taking the stairs two at a time, he reached the top landing and saw a small piece of paper had been left at the door. He picked it up curiously and read it.

‘Hope to see you on January 21st at the Connelly Hotel. I’ve booked a suite on the 4th floor. I will wait from 9pm until sunrise.’

It was unsigned but clearly from Albin Matty, written with the same bold blue pen. He wanted to meet them both in two days time. Oscar was glad this issue between them would soon be resolved. Maybe things were going to work out after all.


Chapter Sixteen


As Oscar lay on top of his bed looking upwards at nothing, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the upcoming meeting with Albin. It all seemed suddenly much more real. He was annoyed at the man’s failure to accept Eli’s answer of “no,” and his decade-spanning efforts to keep tracking her down to ask. Yet, he felt that there was a genuine feeling to his letter, and didn’t blame Albin for being fascinated with Eli. She was after all absolutely brilliant, not just because of what she was but who she was. His offer to help them disappear with new identities and money, if true, would open up so many options for them. Oscar could get a job, learn to drive, have a normal life during the day to be able to provide for them both and then have a unique life at night with her. Obviously from listening to Eli and her previous dealings with him, it was still important to be careful come Saturday.
Oscar got off his bed and walked over to his wardrobe, picking a random t-shirt off its hanger and pulled it over his head. Since the last bout of stormy weather, a small crack had appeared in the window frame. This was letting cold air in and Oscar kept forgetting to buy something to seal it with. He imagined that should he report it to the landlady, she would want to come out, or send someone to have a look at it. Therefore the best practice would be to try some home repair himself, Eli could always fit it from the outside. Heading back towards the bed, he started to climb under the covers to warm up and hopefully sleep. Before managing to do either, he heard Eli’s voice which made him jump in fright.
“You’re still up?” she asked.
“God, I’m going to put a freaking bell around your neck.”
Eli was stood in the open door way, he wasn’t sure how long she had been standing in the darkness, all he could make out at this distance was her eyes glowing ever so slightly.
“Yeah, I was just thinking about Saturday,” he finally answered resuming his efforts to get into bed. “There was a good movie on TV last night, you would have liked it.”
Eli shrugged.
“Can I join you?” she asked.
Oscar held the covers up in the air, a signal for her to jump in and she did so without a moment’s hesitation. Oscar had been hoping to warm-up, but shivered strongly feeling the coldness of her body against his.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
He spent the next few minutes stretching over both sides of them tucking in the covers.
“Are you worried about seeing Albin again?”
“It is bringing up memories, none of them good,” she replied so quietly that Oscar had struggled to hear her.
“It will be a brief meeting. We will listen, we will smile, we’ll take his offer and then we will never have to see him again,” spoke Oscar trying to reassure.
Part of him felt like Eli should have killed Albin years ago, be rid of her pest. She was however not cruel like that. She kills to survive and when she is in danger, not just because someone annoys her. Plus he knew she didn’t want to risk infecting him and making him like her. Albin would not be so kind. Oscar had gotten used to having an exclusive friendship with Eli, it was strange to think that someone from her past, who potentially knew more about her than he did would be in the same room.
“Oscar, when we go take your knife with you.”
Personally he doubted it would be necessary, surely anyone who knew what Eli was capable of wouldn’t be stupid enough to try anything. He suspected that she was looking out for him but it would also be the smart thing to do. He agreed and eventually after warming up, he fell asleep.

The next day, time seemed to have accelerated, and before either one of them knew it they were leaving to make the journey towards the Connelly Hotel. The last time Oscar had been on the trams, he noted the maps showing all the stops. It was reasonably easy to get where they needed to go. One change to a different tramline heading in a different direction, somewhere neither of them had been before, but he wasn’t really worried about getting lost. After all they were heading to a hotel and not some secret hidden location in the middle of nowhere. Sitting side by side, he couldn’t help smirk remembering the last time they were both on the tram. Thankfully the ride this time was a lot smoother and Eli had learned to hold onto the seat.
The tram arrived with plenty of time to spare and they allowed everyone else to disembark and disperse in different directions. At that moment, Oscar felt a strange mix of anticipation, excitement and nervousness. Eli looked like she always did, pretty carefree and humming a long since lost tune. Oscar guessed that she had done this sort of thing before, meeting with people for different reasons. Still, he believed that beneath her small pale face that gave nothing away, she would be glad when this was over.
The Connelly Hotel was straightforward to find even at night as it was the tallest building they could see close to them. From the outside it looked unattractive and under maintained. Someone had tried to paint the outside to give it a facelift, but that paint had slowly chipped away resulting in patches where the fading stonework was showing. There were a few pale and damp lights that illuminated the entrance, and Oscar couldn’t help notice that the car park was completely empty, despite not even being nine o’clock. Eli pointed to a man standing inside just behind the door waving at them.
“Is that him?” asked Oscar.
“No, that must be one of his workers.”
They walked towards the hotel and were greeted by an English man with a poor but understandable accent. He practically hid behind the reinforced glass as he held it open for them both.
“You can come in. Mr Matty is in the suite on the fourth floor, you can’t miss it.”
They entered and gave the man a mean look ensuring that he stayed behind the door.
“I didn’t think you needed an invite to a public place?” whispered Oscar as they walked through the carpeted lobby.
“Generally I don’t. I could have come in without an invite,” she replied shrugging believing that Albin should have known that.
Eli softly grabbed Oscar’s wrist as he reached out for the elevator button.
“Can we take the stairs?”
Oscar saw that her eyes were fixed on the doors as she spoke. He hadn’t considered that she might be a bit uneasy inside a small, moving and noisy metal box.
“Sure,” he replied as they headed off towards the staircase instead.
“This place is empty. Where are the people?”
It was true that for a hotel, things seemed incredibly quiet. There wasn’t even anyone at the reception desk. Oscar dismissed the concern, after all it was pretty late, maybe everyone was out, or maybe it was just the off season.
Finally reaching the fourth floor, they discovered a number of rooms all grouped together with a corridor wrapping around them. There was only one room labelled as a suite. Rather than going straight in, they took time to explore around the floor and look back down the stairwell, just in case Albin had been planning some sort of ambush. There was nothing abnormal so far, even Eli who spent a few minutes sniffing around and listening carefully couldn’t detect anything out of place.
“There is no one else up here. It’s just the three of us,” she concluded with certainty.
Both reassured they went back over to Albin’s suite and knocked. Even Oscar could hear the man within jump up in excitement and rush over to welcome them. The door to the hotel room opened and through the threshold Albin looked at both of his guests with a peculiar wide grin. Oscar was surprised at his ugly, almost disfigured appearance. He had been tempted to ask what was wrong with his nose, but decided at the last second it wouldn’t be the best way to start. Eli stood casually, her arms down by her side looking more at the door frame than at Albin.
Once her fan had finished his visual inspection of Eli’s exterior, almost like he was double checking it was really her, he walked backwards without breaking eye contact.
“You can come in, you can enter.”
Oscar made a mental note that Eli needed to be invited into the room. Perhaps because Albin had slept there or maybe because it was not a public place. He should be writing all this down for future reference. They were the kind of things he kept meaning to ask Eli, but when he was with her they all seemed to go out of his head, or at least didn’t matter at the time.
Eli and Oscar glanced at each other before stepping forward, nearly at the exact same time, into the hotel suite. As they did, he took stock at the rather unremarkable and dated room. It had been a long time since he had been in a hotel. Still it was smaller and less exciting than he expected for a suite. There was a writing desk with a dusty lamp, a queen sized bed which Oscar thought was funny for a man to sleep in, an old fashioned sofa, a small nest of tables, and opposite where they were standing was a good sized window, a very good sized window in fact. Naturally the centrepiece of the room and what Oscar was most interested in was the television that he looked at twice.
He closed the door ensuring the lock engaged, and they kept their distance from Albin who had continued to walk backwards himself to maintain that gap. When everyone was happy with where they were standing, Oscar put his arms on his hips in such a way to reveal his knife tucked into his trouser waistband. He then nodded towards Eli, basically indicating not to try anything as they were both ready for it.
“He’s not afraid,” whispered Eli out the side of her mouth just loud enough for him to hear.
Instead Albin was completely uninterested in Oscar’s warning and simply took a sip out of his drink that had been on the side table.
“You haven’t changed a bit, still can’t get used to that,” he said smiling at her from across the room.
Eli looked at him properly for the first time and shrugged rather unsure how she was meant to respond.
“So you’re still going by Eli these days and not Elias? I’m glad, it suits you better. Robbie did say you’ve more or less got the body and butt of a girl anyway. What do you think Oscar?”
Eli growled and Oscar grabbed her arm to hold her back. It was enough to make Albin flinch and take a further step backwards.
“Just trying to work out the nature of your relationship. Didn’t mean to get personal or offend,” he continued taking another drink and looking over his glass.
“We’re friends, best friends,” spoke Oscar proudly.
Albin’s eyes narrowed like he didn’t believe such a thing was possible. In his mind it would be like a farmer being best friends with a pig. A hungry farmer that loved pork and who often had nothing else to eat.
“So you and Robbie didn’t spend much time together,” said Albin recomposing himself.
“He went home...to his family,” Eli added after a few seconds trying to recall.
“Ah, is that what happened to him? Interesting.”
Oscar took a small step closer towards Albin as his voice had become somewhat more serious in the last thirty seconds. For the most part Oscar was being ignored, and he was unsure why this man, in a locked room with Eli was so unafraid. Even Eli had started to frown trying to work things out.
“I take it you are both interested in my offer?” he finally asked.
“That’s why we’re here, the only reason why we’re here.”
Albin nodded at the confirmation. He was still more focused on what Oscar had said about them being best friends. They really did care about each other and that is exactly what he wanted, no, exactly what he needed. He pulled out a stuffed envelope from the desk drawer and put it down on the table top next to his drink.
“There is enough money in there to last, well let’s just say it’s more than your mother has made in the last three years.”
Oscar felt his insides tighten at listening to him talk about his mother. He hadn’t forgotten that Albin had attempted to bait him here in the first place by suggesting something was wrong with her.
“What about the new identities you said you could give us?”
“They can be delivered through your door very easily, but there is something I want in return first.”
“Exactly what would that be?” asked Eli but she and Oscar already suspected the answer.
“Simple, make me like you and you can both live a very safe and comfortable life together,” he said raising his arms up to shoulder height as if he expected Eli to leap into him and do what he requested.
“That’s not what you wrote, that’s not what you offered. You said that you want to apologise and that...”
Oscar was interrupted by Albin.
“I will, and I will keep my word and give you what I promised after she makes me like her.”
“I won’t, you know I won’t,” spoke Eli tiredly no doubt having said that to him many times.
Oscar was surprised at Albin’s attitude and reactions, very confident and he was still standing perfectly calm and composed somehow still sure that tonight he would get what he wanted.
“Hmm...Actually, I think you will,” his voice rising slightly more with each spoken word.
Eli adopted a cheeky look on her face which amused Oscar. He was beginning to think this man was crazy if he thought he could force Eli into doing anything.
“Oh, you think so? We are taking the money and leaving. If you try anything, if you try to stop us or find us again, I will show you exactly what I am capable off.”
Albin laughed loudly at Eli’s warning.
“This guy is nuts!” shouted Oscar confused but also disturbed at how things were going.
“You know I could easily kill you and take what I want, I’m giving you a chance,” added Eli taking control and trying to defuse the situation.
Oscar wasn’t completely sure at that moment if Eli was bluffing or not. Yes, what she said was true but he suspected her preference would be to simply leave. Still, she was almost radiating with confidence and strength, it was safe to say that every one of them knew she could end Albin in seconds. Her restraint and inaction was for Oscar’s benefit. Partly looking out for his safety, but also desiring to secure that money for him.
“Actually, no you couldn’t,” said Albin still calm despite having an increasingly pissed off vampire some ten feet in front of him.
At this point Eli had enough of his arrogance and attitude towards them. As far as she was concerned this meeting was over. They would take the cash that was on the table and leave. She stepped forward with a focused look that Oscar instantly recognised. Eli was moving into get what she wanted, Albin would not get what he wanted – again.
However the moment she took that step, he spoke once more very fast.
“Eli you are no longer invited. You are not welcome here.”
His words made her stop on the spot as if gravity had tripled. Her eyes widening with surprise, and even a bit of disappointment with herself. She had dictated everything, especially the bad, about what it was like to be her. She should have known this was a possibility. Eli’s natural reaction was to look behind her at the locked door but she couldn’t get out. It wasn’t allowed by her nature, she had no invitation so could not leave until instructed to or invited again. She could do very little in fact. In the corner of her eye before she turned back, she saw Albin pull something out from inside his suit jacket pocket. He had pulled out a gun and was pointing it at Oscar.
“I understand from Robbie’s notes, that you were so kind to provide, that being somewhere without an invite is a very bad idea. I believe you compared it to sinking deeper and deeper in an ocean. Being crushed from the inside out, very colourful.”
Oscar managing to shake off his shock at what he had just heard went to try and grab Eli to pull her out the room, but Albin moved a step closer waving his gun forebodingly. Oscar was sure from his behaviour that Albin would shoot him and or Eli if he tried anything. He turned to look at her, not knowing what to do. He had seen this once before in Blackeberg when Eli had entered his apartment without an invite to prove what she really was. Like before, her ears, eyes, and nose had already started to bleed. She was trembling, made helpless by a few words. The insult that she had provided the information to render her helpless.
“I’ll make this simple,” said Albin. “Make me like you right now, or your boyfriend dies. I’ll shoot him in the legs and you can both bleed out together on the floor. When you’re dead or whatever, I will fill his skull with metal.”

[andmker]

Part 1. Chapters 17 to 19


Chapter Seventeen

It is said that during a near death experience, you life can flash before your eyes. Oscar had just experienced that exact occurrence, except in his case it was only the last ten months. Nearly a year since he had first met Eli back in Blackeberg. The strange looking and weird acting girl next door who smelt funny and who had forgotten how to feel the cold. They had quickly become friends and their bond had grown closer, well beyond what either of them had thought possible and regardless of what she was.
As he thought about the lat ten months, he considered in the blink of an eye what his life would have been like if they never crossed paths. Oscar would have continued to live with his mother, sometimes with his father providing he didn’t otherwise have company. He would have continued to sit at home watching his television programs, continued to be bullied and harassed until something no doubt catastrophic happened. Eventually the years would pass and Oscar would grow older, probably continue to live with his mother longer than any man should. His future would no doubt have involved working in the supermarket or maybe at the swimming pool. At best a truck driver or something else that enabled his solo existence. He would have grown up to be a quiet, strange and lonely man who likely still stabbed trees and got nose bleeds. He thought about all of that and it was very undesirable. They had crossed paths by complete luck, but it was as if fate had brought them together. His time with Eli had been by far the happiest in his life. If he was given the choice, Oscar would not change a thing.
This sudden period of assessment and reflection was prompted because a crazy and obsessed man was pointing a gun at him. Albin Matty had tried different methods over decades to convince Eli to make him like her. She had refused at every chance, knowing that he would not only kill on an incalculable scale, but not doubt turn others as well. Now the older man, fuelled by a desire to live forever and not to grow any older, had exploited one of Eli’s few weaknesses. In a room on the fourth floor of an old hotel south-west of Copenhagen, Oscar was being held hostage while Eli, with her invitation removed, was trapped, growing weaker with every passing second.
“You idiot stop! She can’t...you’ve uninvited her, she can’t bite you, she doesn’t have the strength. She can’t do anything,” shouted Oscar with despair and horror in his voice.
He couldn’t believe what was happening, how could Albin do this?
“Believe me Oscar, she can and she will. All she needs to do is break my skin with her teeth then I’ll undo what I’ve done. She won’t be able to resist feeding in her weakened state and the rest will be history.”
“Eli, get out of here!” bellowed Oscar, his hand ready to grab his knife and dive at Albin the very second he moved the gun, even just a little bit.
“She won’t leave, she can’t. Even if she could, she wouldn’t leave you.”
Oscar felt sick with rage and answer, Albin was using their love for each other against them. He looked over at Eli, her pain increasing, he could see droplets of blood forming from her pours and running down her body. She was sweating blood. It was incredibly painful for him to watch, torrents of blood streaming out from her ears and nose. He could only imagine what it must feel like for her. Oscar didn’t know what to say or to do, he could feel her pain. Eli limped to a small desk to her left, leaning against it to try and get some support. Despite this Albin didn’t flinch. He, like Oscar, knew she was not stuck in the room, unable to leave, unable to do pretty much anything until the occupant restored her invite. She needed those words “you can come in.”
Eli glanced at Oscar, he didn’t know if she could even see him, then she looked in Albin’s general location. She managed to mutter an “O” and a “K” signalling that she agreed to do what she had no other choice to do. The armed man’s face erupted with a massive smile, knowing he had succeeded finally.
“Eli walk towards me and I’ll walk towards you. No tricks! I know how you need to do this, I know when you need to stop feeding. I know it all. If you feed a second longer, if you try anything, then I’ll empty this gun into Oscar.”
She nodded in agreement, but instead of walking towards him, she slowly bent down onto one knee. The whites of her eyes were read, her clothes dark with the squeezed out blood beneath, and she was kneeling in a pool of increasingly large blood. Oscar didn’t know how much longer she could last, and with panic building he was about to try and wrestle Albin to the ground. Sadly he suspected that even if he could avoid being shot, it would take too long to subdue the man if he could do so at all. His only choice was to wait and hope Eli could do something. That she would think of something. As the horror of the situation was about to make him explode, being forced to watch his best friend liquefy, he heard a sound.
He almost missed it at first, as it was faint, but he could definitely hear Morse-Code. It was very fast with a few mistakes but still undeniable. Eli was frantically tapping out a message on the thin carpet. Just two words repeating over and over again. “Push” followed by “me.”
Oscar’s eyes lit up, he knew what she meant, he knew what to do.
“Go,” he coughed out straightaway as it was quicker than trying to tap a reply.
Albin looked at him strangely but only for a second, as Eli then stood up slowly and shuffled forward. It suggested that she was about to come and bite him, so Albin still keeping his gun fixed on Oscar also moved forward a step.
Using what was her last ounce of strength, Eli lunged forward in what could only be described as a bunny-hop between Oscar and Albin, placing herself between them. Still convinced that this was it and this was really about to happen after all these years, Albin opened his arms ready for her, unaware that Oscar was now charging into Eli’s back.
He grabbed her by the wrist, picking her up into the air, holding her like a human shield, and then ran full force at Albin. Before her fan had a chance to react, the impact of Eli-Oscar smacking into him, sent him staggering backwards. Eli even managed to use her elbow to almost dislodge his gun, and his grip on the firearm was loosened. Naturally the impact also sent the pair backwards in the opposite direction towards the door. Oscar’s hands wet with blood slipped and he couldn’t help letting go of Eli. Somehow Oscar remained balanced enough not to collapse down, but Eli who was too weak to support herself fell to the carpet with a dull thud. Completely exhausted and nearly unconscious.
Her plan had worked and they both heard the glass in the window smash loudly and the cold air rush in. A slightly tipsy Albin was being ejected from the room and was about to fall to his death. Knowing that he had failed again and that he wouldn’t survive the fall, his final act having been able to retain his weapon, was to loosely aim and fire twice into the room. He smiled victoriously as he fell, believing that if this was the end for him, he would take Oscar and Eli with him. That thought comforted him as he plummeted down to the ground below.
After hearing the two bangs echo around the room and still in a confused state, Oscar looked down at Eli. He was blissfully relieved to see that Albin had missed her, as he didn’t know what a bullet would do to her in this state. Eli looked upwards just about able to see him through her bloodied eyes. He was stood over her like a guardian angel. For a few seconds that seemed to last a lifetime, they both believed that Albin had missed twice. Then as Oscar took a breath, a pain ripped through him. He slowly fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground. The first shot hit the wall taking a chunk out of the damp plaster, the second shot had hit him in the chest.


Chapter Eighteen


Oscar’s entire field of vision was consumed by Eli’s blue eyes. It was all he could see and to be honest all he wanted to see. Eli was blinking like a butterfly, using the rapid movements of her lids to clear the blood like windscreen wipers. He had felt her roll on top of him moments after he fell and use her sleeve to cover his wound. He wished that she hadn’t, it was difficult to breathe with her arm across him, but at least it seemed to help a bit with the pain.
“This is what it’s like to be shot?” he asked himself in his head being unable to say it out loud.
It was not what he had expected it would feel like. It had happened so quickly, not like in the movies. He forced himself to stop thinking about it as there was something more important than the bullet inside of him.
“Eli, you need to get out of here. He uninvited you.”
“He is gone, this is no longer his residence. I don’t need an invite anymore, let me help you.”
Oscar heard that her voice was quiet and weak, she had obviously been hurt by what had happened here tonight. Hurt badly. However he took great pleasure in knowing that Albin was “gone.”
“Eli, that guy was nuts. So, what are we doing tomorrow?”
She didn’t answer. Oscar could feel her arm trembling against his chest. A wave of worry filled him, with her being so close to his blood. Then he remembered she would need blood to restore her strength and heal.
“Wait, you can...my blood. It will help,” he stopped speaking being unable to finish his sentence.
She leaned in closer and wiped a speck of blood off his lips.
“You’ve smelt like food since the night I met you. I haven’t eaten you yet, and I don’t intend to start now.”
Oscar tried to laugh but the pain and pressure that was still being applied prevented it. He tried to think of something funny to say but couldn’t. Lying on the carpet he tried to recall what exactly you were meant to do if someone was shot. In reality he didn’t even know if you were meant to leave the bullet in or take it out. All he could think about was Eli, and how ghastly unwell she looked right now.
Eli concluded that they couldn’t just stay on the floor, she had to do something. Sitting up, she struggled to pick Oscar up from the ground. Eventually trembling with weakness she draped his body over her shoulders. She curled her toes and bit hard into her lip. Being able to feel Oscar’s heartbeat against her back and his blood slowly soaking into her equally blood soaked shirt was worrying and distracting. Regardless of what she had said, she knew the thing inside her was getting drunk on just the smell and sight of the red stuff. Eli was injured, very thirsty and focusing hard on suppressing her hunger, suppressing her other side. Holding Oscar onto her, she went over to the window and looked out. Albin was lying on his back lifeless, and in the distance his English employee was running away as fast as he could. Eli knew this was going to be a problem.
They were so high up it was unlikely that either of them, especially Oscar, would survive a jump to the ground in this condition. By herself Eli could easily scale down the building by digging her fingers and toes into the stone itself, but not while also carrying Oscar. There was no way she could hold him with one hand and have the strength with the other to safely scale down to the ground.
She turned back around and carefully dumped him down into the chair. Oscar looked spaced and vague, so Eli slapped his face harder than intended but successfully waking him up.
“Oscar, you need to wrap your arms around me and hold on as tight as you can.”
“I...can’t.”
“You need to hold on to me!”
Oscar simply shook his head.
“I’ve got pins and needles in my arms, I can’t really move them.”
“Guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.”
Eli lifted him down on the floor, took a hold of his feet and started dragging him behind her, along the carpet and out of the room.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to get close to your blood again,” she explained.
What she didn’t tell him was how good he smelt, like a roast dinner. That dream like cocktail of natural painkillers and adrenaline. Normally Eli could resist and control herself but these were not normal circumstances.
Oscar was dragged out the room, along the corridor and towards the elevator. She scanned for the call button and the doors opened. Eli practically rolled him into the lift like he was an old carpet.
“What button?”
“Err, the one that says ‘0’ or ‘G,’ the one at the bottom,” he replied having to think about it himself. Oscar lifted his head as he saw her step out. “Where are you going?”
“I can’t,” she explained pointing to his chest that was still bleeding. “I would have killed you by the time we reached the bottom.”
“No you won’t, I trust you,” he replied trying but failing to give her a thumbs up.
“Oscar, I’ll meet you at the bottom.”
The doors closed and the journey down was a slow one as the old lift seemed to be struggling to move. He gazed up at the flickering white light thinking how annoying it is and wondering why no one had fixed it. Still shocked at recent events, things started to replay in his head. Everything had been going alright until Eli had been uninvited. Oscar was annoyed at himself for not having done something different or acting quicker. He had seen the firearm being withdrawn, Albin had done it at such a casual speed, but had been so focused on Eli that it didn’t fully register until it was too late. They had gone into that meeting believing the worst outcome would be leaving with nothing or having to move, not this. He swallowed and felt his eyes swell up at the hard-hitting reality that he could die. This could be it, his life ends in a hotel with no one here knowing who he is and no one back home ever knowing what happened to him.
However, one thing pleased him in a weird way on the journey down. He took the bullet instead of Eli. Even it was dumb luck and Albin’s poor aiming, it made him feel heroic, and it made him feel he had taken a bullet for her, to protect her. Oscar reached the ground floor finally and the doors opened with a ping. He managed to lift his head to see a pale Eli waiting for him. She was trembling and he couldn’t help notice that her hands, that were previously soaked with both of their blood, were licked clean. Oscar decided firmly that he had to be strong for her and tried to think of something funny to say like “do I taste good?” but he didn’t have the energy.
“Hi,” he said instead.
She didn’t respond, simply picked him up by the feet and resumed dragging him out of the hotel.
“I can get you to the hospital, they will fix you.”
At that moment Oscar heard how weak and shaky her voice had become in the last few minutes. Possibly from rushing down the stairs so quickly, he didn’t know. He was also being dragged rather slowly compared to the speed she had removed him from the room. Eli was struggling like a child being forced to drag a bag of potatoes heavier than themselves up a hill. Oscar wanted to help, to get up and walk or something, but it was too painful to move anything other than his head. His energy was just gone, the left side of his chest was getting heavier so he was trying to breathe deeper on his uninjured side to compensate but it wasn’t really working.
He felt a bump as he was dragged over the front entrance and out of the hotel. As the cold air hit his face, the reality of the situation raised its ugly head again. The hotel was empty, even if it wasn’t they couldn’t go room to room trying to find someone. No one knew Eli and Oscar were here and neither of them had a clue where the hospital was. Oscar didn’t like the idea of Eli going off to try and find help and he didn’t want her to leave him. He had stopped being able to feel his legs at some point, and a coldness unlike anything felt before was beginning to fill him. His heart was either beating really fast or really slow he couldn’t even tell. As stupid as it sounds, what bothered him the most physically, was that the back of his head was damp. Being dragged through his own blood.
“I don’t have any shampoo left to wash my hair,” his brain reminded him as if it was a pressing matter.
Eli had stopped with them both no more than ten feet away from the entrance.
“It's so dark out here, is this the way we came in?” he asked her.
Once again she didn’t answer and he started to think about her and the state she was in. Even hardly been able to see her, it was crystal clear she was tired, in pain, she looked...well, the only thing Oscar could compare it too was an old balloon that had started to deflate and go all wrinkly and weird.
“You’re weak, you need blood,” he told her firmly.
“Yes,” she groaned hesitantly. “I do.”
A few seconds past before she knelt down and without looking at Oscar, pulled the knife out of his trouser waistband before giving him an instruction.
“Wait here. I need to do something.”
Oscar screwed up his face, as if he was likely to jump up and go for a swim or head to the cinema.
Eli ran over to Albin’s heaped body which had landed around the corner to the right. As soon as reaching him she bent down and sunk her teeth into his neck. His blood was luckily still lukewarm, but as his heart wasn’t beating, she struggled to suck any decent volume from his collapsed arteries. It tasted vile, almost like salt water, and wasn’t ideal by any standards but the core component she needed from the blood helped, even if it would only be temporary. Soon, very soon she would need better. While drinking from him, she bit into her own lip so that some of her blood mixed with his. Eli was trying to turn Albin into a creature like her. She didn’t know if it would work, it was doubtful as he had recently died, but she knew how potent the infection was, and she was determined to give him what he wanted. Just not exactly how he envisioned it.
After taking just enough and giving a little back, she pulled away with his tasteless blood dripping messily down her mouth. The thing inside her screaming and demanding to know “what the fuck are you feeding me?” She looked at his strange facial expression. Another man who had wasted his life. Eli had given him so many chances over the years to leave her alone, to move on, for him to just go and live his life, but he wasn’t capable of that. Now he had really crossed the line, trying to kill her was one thing but Oscar? No! Eli who hated unnecessary violence and cruelty, who only fed and killed to survive, would make him pay.
“Enjoy being like me,” she whispered into his ear before making sure that if he did turn, if the infection did work a miracle, he would spent the rest of his existence in a living hell.
After taking a breath, Eli quickly inserted both of her thumbs into his partly opened eyes, twisting them around until she felt them rupture. Then using one hand to pull his tongue out of his mouth, she used the other which was holding Oscar’s knife to slice most of his tongue off, throwing the severed flesh over head. Her next rage fuelled step, was to use the tip of the knife to penetrate the man’s ears, ensuring he would be deaf and imagining how painful it would be every time he heard sound. Eli’s final act of revenge, feel sick but justified, was to stab him repeatedly in the groin. Hopefully enough times to render anything down there completely useless.
Thirst partly quenched and desire for retribution fulfilled, Albin’s body was kicked so hard in the face, she was sure it broke his jaw and cheekbone. Eli quickly ran back over to her injured friend. When she reached his side, she intended to pick him up off the ground now she had the strength to do so, but he spoke first.
“Eli, stop.”
“Oscar, I’m fine now. It’s your turn to be alright,” she spoke holding his hand hoping he could feel it.
“No, let’s just stay here. Just lie next to me,” he answered.
Oscar saw an expression on her face that he had never seen before. There was a moment of strange silence between them, then he realised.
“I’ve never seen you cry before.”
“Well you see, we vampires are only allowed to cry once a century,” she said light-heartedly putting on a funny voice.
“Eli? You just said the V-word.”
Oscar turned his head back and looked up into the night sky. Eli in a state of desperate consideration and contemplation scanned up and down his body.
“Oscar, I can save you.”


Chapter Nineteen: Part 1

What is a promise worth?
It was a question that Eli had asked herself many times over the years. It was a question that she was wrestling with now. What if you once made a promise to someone a long time ago, but sticking to it now would destroy you and cause the death of another? The last time Eli turned someone, on purpose, was just over fifty years ago. She had been alone for some time, years in fact, when a young artist befriended her. At that period, her existence involved little other than spending many hours walking through the streets of Orebro. She would look for someone to feed on, find somewhere to shelter before sunrise, and wait alone until she needed to feed again. It had been months since she had even spoken to anyone. When a street artist flagged her down and gestured for her to come over to him, Eli thought he would be her next meal. Then something unexpected happened.
“You’re very pretty. Have a seat, I’ll draw your portrait.”
She was struck by the sincerity on his face and in his voice. Eli felt a lot of things but pretty was not one of them. She hadn’t bathed in months, maybe a few years, it didn’t seem important to keep track. Her face was black from dirt and grime after resting and sleeping on the ground, and her clothes were so encrusted with filth that they had started to unify and attach to the skin underneath. Everyone who saw her thought the same thing, just another random homeless kid who would soon be dead. Pretty? The meaning of that word took some time to process.
“I don’t have any money for it,” she finally answered after coughing to clear her throat.
The artist smiled and said that her eyes meant that he would pay for the privilege to capture his likeness. With that comment, Eli sat down opposite the artist somewhat confused.
“Just turn slightly and smile.”
Eli turned her head just a tad as requested but did not smile, she had forgotten how. The man setup a fresh canvas and sharpened his pencils before beginning.
“Are you not cold?” he asked a few minutes after starting her portrait.
“I don’t feel it.”
He nodded as if he understood and his eyes took a fleeting look down to Eli’s bare feet. He couldn’t help notice a few of her toes looked broken and most nails were damaged or missing.
“You’re lucky, the coldness wakes me up most nights. Causes a lot of pain in my fingers. It’s sort of an occupational hazard.”
He wanted to ask her more questions but her answers had been non-existent or vague, so instead the artist did what he promised and continued to draw. Eli sat like a statue, she was good at that, but allowed her eyes to scan over previous works which were perched against the wall. Every drawing looked great, everyone looked so happy. Her stomach grumbled loudly, almost as if the thing inside her was demanding to know what she was playing at. She should simply have fed on and killed the man by now as far as it was concerned. Not be sitting still for him posing like a French hooker. Eli overruled her hunger knowing there was still plenty of time and there were plenty of others around.
“Do you have a family?” she asked him, the question prompted by his existing examples of art. He seemed to draw mostly families with special attention given to the younger members.
“My wife died in childbirth. Our baby the following week, so just me now.”
Eli supposed that she was meant to say something back, or make some sort of gesture that expressed sympathy. She did not, they were dead now and that’s the way it was.
A short time later the artist had finished the portrait and nodded pleased at what was on the canvas. He turned it to show Eli and she almost smiled at what she saw. It was a detailed and attractive pencil rendering of her from the shoulders up. He had made her look, almost human, almost what she looked like back when she was a boy. The artist who finally introduced himself as Hugo, seemed pleased at the hint of emotion on her face.
“Listen, I’m pretty much done for the night. Do you have somewhere to go, or do you want to come back to my place? It’s not far.”
“Why?” asked Eli suspiciously practically demanding to know.
“Somewhere warm and safe. It’s getting late. The spare room locks from the inside if that...helps.”
She looked again at the portrait the artist had drawn, and despite not being completely sure of his intentions agreed to return with him.
“Do you have any family?” asked Hugo as he packed everything up.
“No. It’s just me now.”

Meanwhile, back outside the Connelly Hotel, Oscar was running out of time and promise or not, Eli had no other choice. There would be consequences for them both regardless of the outcome. The difficulty was that Oscar had already lost a lot of blood and while alive was pretty unresponsive. Eli, who normally made a point of ensuring she didn’t turn anyone wasn’t sure what the best way to proceed was. She wasn’t even sure if she could save him, the injury to his chest may never heal, but Eli had to try, she couldn’t lose him.
As she bit into Oscar’s neck, penetrating his skin like butter, she wondered if this would save him or just prolong his suffering. Putting the dynamics of the process to one side, there was something else that Eli would have to deal with. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure that Oscar would want to become like her. He had never seemed keen on the idea and she didn’t blame him. His once spoken words “I want to be with you, but not like you,” echoed in a never ending loop in her head as she started to drink.
It was one of the most difficult things she had ever attempted. With the blood he had already lost, trying to drink and mix at the same time meant his blood vessels kept contracting shut. It was tricky to tell how much she needed to take as there was a ‘tipping-point’ between the volume of his blood and the volume of her own. It was necessary to ensure the infection could take. Her thirst and desire was compelling Eli to keep going, to keep feeding until there was nothing left. It was an urge so strong that she had to use her fingers to dislodge her mouth from his neck when she believed the balance was correct. Oscar’s blood was astounding in taste, completely succulent and sweet, so much so that Eli felt guilty part of her was enjoying it, but that part was not her. It was those extra platelets in his blood released as his body tried to stop the bleeding, and the adrenaline excreted as a painkiller that was making the perfect concoction.
She licked the wound on his neck that had a few tiny droplets of blood on the surface, feeling guilty that she had bitten into him harder than she should have. It was more than just chemical however, as Eli knew that the blood of someone you cared about always tasted better. She never really understood it, but it was almost like it was taboo for her to have friends or to care about another. If the thing inside her had its way, it would be ‘it’ and Eli and no one else forever. She looked down in despair at her friend, knowing that she hadn’t finished yet.
After doing what she could with her teeth inside his neck, Eli tilted his head back to open his mouth. She took a deep breath, and then using Oscar’s knife, sliced across the palm of her hand. As blood began to trickle down her now closed hand, she acted quickly before healing by allowing the stream to flow down his throat. Lastly to try and help the infection take hold as quickly and as successfully as possible, was to cut across Oscar’s left palm like she had just done to herself. She took and held his hand, so their bleeding palms were in contact, and squeezed repeatedly like a beating heart to try and help their blood mix. Eli drenched her mind to try and think of something else to help but this was not something she often did.
“Oscar, I’m sorry but this part might hurt,” she whispered in his ear unsure, if he could hear her or not.
Still on the ground, she used the tip of his knife and her fingers to carefully fish out the bullet that was embedded in his chest. It took a few minutes but she was able to find it, feeling the difference between the hard metal and the soft tissue around it. Eli looked at the small thing and examined it closely. It had always interested her, in a sort of outlandish way, how something like this could do so much damage just because it was propelled really fast. Eli sucked the bullet clean before putting it in to her trouser pocket. She imagined that should Oscar be alright, then he would appreciate a souvenir. Maybe he would think it was cool. She removed his shoes and socks, using one of the latter to bind the bite mark on his neck and the other sock she pushed against the oozing hole in his chest.
Eli picked up her fallen friend, and carrying him on her back she started to walk back to their flat. It didn’t matter how far it was, it didn’t matter how long it took, and she would return Oscar to safety. No one and nothing would stand in her way. As she started on the journey, her thoughts turned again to Hugo who had invited her so readily into his home.

“Are you hungry, fancy a bite?” was the very first question he asked when they arrived.
Eli almost laughed at what he had said, Hugo had no idea what she was and no idea what his suggestion could mean. His home above a Bar was sparsely furnished, looking around she saw an old bed that had collapsed to the floor, and the few things he owned looked older than Eli herself. Hugo pointed to the spare room that he had mentioned.
“There is a bit of bedding, not much but be better than the ground outside or wherever you’ve been sleeping. I was planning on staying up for a while if you feel like a conversation.”
For some reason that is exactly what Eli did, sitting opposite him over at the window side table. She didn’t say anything, just listened to him talk. Eli had no idea that before sunrise, she would be feeding on him with every intension of making him like her. That decision would have tragic consequences.


Chapter Nineteen: Part 2


Oscar’s eyes sprung open like a jack-in-the-box. He had not expected to ever open them again. The last thing he remembered was lying on the ground asking Eli to stay with him, and then...just darkness. Now he appeared to be wrapped up tightly in his bed with the sunlight shining onto him through the window.
To say that he was mystified would be an understatement. He lay paralysed by confusion and weakness wondering how and when he got home. His memory was, well he just couldn’t remember. He knew they had gone to the hotel to meet Albin, and then Oscar had been shot. From his own recollection he was then outside on the ground, but he couldn’t remembered how he got down there. Nor could he remember getting up and coming back to the flat. Oscar tried to call out for Eli but no sound emerged from him. He had never felt so weak and exhausted in his life, his entire body just refused to do anything. All he managed was to turn his head to the side which in itself was difficult. There he saw a glass of water, a stack of chocolate bars and a note with Eli’s handwriting. Despite his hunger, the energy to reach over was nonexistent. A strange feeling, but he let himself drift back to sleep hoping that he would wake again.

Eli had spent more than four hours listening to Hugo talk. He seemed like a friendly and desperately lonely man who was joyful that she was here. For most of the time all he did was speak constantly in a single unbroken way without a chance for her to inject responses or interrupt. A few times he asked about her, but before any answer could be given, he had changed the conversation and continued to hammer on like a train. Hugo spoke about himself, his life, his family, where they had been and where they had wanted to go. Pretty early into the conversation, he apologized a few times for the state of the home. He explained the lack of provisions by saying that over the last year people no longer seemed interested in art.
“I was going to home school her. I thought that would be the best thing to do. I could teach her how to read and write. I could borrow books from people or the library if they let me in. I don’t understand a lot of stuff myself but...err, I was sure I could understand enough to make her understand. Do you know what I mean?”
Eli nodded quickly trying to keep up with what he was saying. He was talking so fast it was taking all her attention not to miss something. She did appreciate the sentiment and truth he was displaying. His intentions were good, he wanted to give his daughter the best he could. Hugo’s voice was trembling the entire time as was his hands. This was likely the first real conversation he had with anyone for a long time.
He mentioned that he had named his daughter ‘Deezy’ which Eli thought was brilliantly unusual. It almost sounded like ‘dizzy’ which would be such a fun name to have. Hugo was a rather typical example of how difficulty random and ill fated life could be. Some people had luck and some people did not. He was definitely in the unlucky category. Having lost his wife and child, as well as living in poverty with nothing to show for it. Eli looked at him and couldn’t help wonder how much life he had left in him. If she still had a fully beating heart, she imagined it would be breaking slightly, knowing what he had been through and that things were very unlikely to improve.
“You have her eyes,” he announced getting up and pouring a glass of slightly murky coloured water from a jug. “That’s why I noticed you.”
Eli frowned not knowing how her eyes could resemble that of a baby or an older woman, but she summarised that he was seeing what he wanted to see. The conversation continued with Hugo throwing an innocent compliment now and again towards her. As the hours passed, he eventually fell asleep at the table exhausted. It was then Eli decided that this good man deserved a chance to be more , to start again, for him to know there was more than just this.
Seconds after the clock struck five in the morning, Hugo was fast asleep. Eli snuck over to the other side of the table. It probably wasn’t required as he was snoring loudly but she didn’t want to disturb him. Being as gentle as she knew how to be in such an act, her small fangs bit down into him. He was so tired that it didn’t even wake him. Eli never enjoyed watching people turn as it always brought back memories of her own experience. The confusion, the fear and the total disbelieve. Not just being made what she is now, but also what had been done to her prior to that. For those reasons, and already knowing roughly how long it would take, she chose to leave and return in a few days after doing what was necessary.

By the time Oscar woke up again, the sun was gone and the bedroom was pitch black. The only reason he was awake was because his body was screaming to be fed and watered. It took sometime but he managed to find the switch for the bedside lamp. Screwing his eyes shut because of the sudden change in light, he used his memory to feel for a bar of chocolate and the glass of now warm water, scoffing them down in seconds. Catching his breath and fighting the temptation to return to sleep, he reached over for the note. His eyes were still struggling with the bright bulb but eventually they adapted and he read the note out loud.
“Please do not be angry with me. I had to do it. Please stay in bed, you need rest. Try not to play with it. Your friend, Eli.”
After reading the brief note, reality seemed to catch up with Oscar’s mind and he swallowed hard. He had almost forgotten, his hunger and tiredness had taken priority. It was only now he put his hand down his shirt to feel his wound. It was exactly where he expected it to be, on the left side of his chest above his nipple. Still a very fresh injury but with no signs of bleeding, so Oscar pushed the tip of his finger inside. It was painful to do so, but that was the point. He needed, no, he wanted to feel the pain right now. When he withdrew his finger, he noticed the bullet hole and surrounding area was sticky with what felt like saliva. Almost like a dog had been licking at his injury.
With his free hand, Oscar scrunched up Eli’s note and threw it to the ground. For a few moments he was afraid, but he needed to check, he needed confirmation one way or another. He ran his fingers over the side of his neck and felt two small and mildly painful holes where Eli had bitten into him.

“You’re...real?” asked a shocked Hugo, when Eli turned up at his door a few nights later.
He had convinced himself that his current strange assortment of symptoms and fever was a result of some illness caught from being outside so much. With no evidence to suggest otherwise he had believed ‘Eli’ had been a strange dream. It would not have been the first time he had dreamed about his deceased daughter being grown up alive and well. Hugo just stood with his hand still on the door handle looking at her face on the opposite side of the door for far longer than it was polite to do. Finally after touching his neck, which he thought were rat bites, he spoke.
“I suppose you should come in and explain what you’ve done to me.”
Eli frowned.
“You need to say that I can come in. I’ve been gone longer than a day.”
Hugo was too dazed to argue and he did what she instructed. Tonight, it was Eli’s turn to talk and for hours she explained and then explained again what she had done and why. She explained what he was becoming and what it means. She laid clear the reality of their nature and what they had to do to survive. The whole time Eli spoke, Hugo sat in silence horrified. She did try to sell it to him in the most positive way, but that was the problem. It was not possible to put a spin on what she had done, why, and what it now meant for Hugo. The artist was traumatized and revolted by everything he had heard, not at Eli herself but just at the actuality of what she and he now was. Nothing she could say could change his mind.
“I wanted to be back with my wife. Back with my child. How could you do this to me?”
The fact that Eli just shrugged didn’t help matters. She was both unable and unwilling to explain that really, she had done it because she was alone and in pain. Hugo wasn’t really angry, just upset at what he was transforming into and what would be required for him to continue to exist. Eli reckoned that he was in some kind of shock, and she chose to stay with him that night believing that Hugo would accept his new reality. After all, that was now the way it was.
That was not the case. Everything was too much for Hugo to accept. He had listened to all Eli had told him, even asked some questions, and then rejected the package. As the sun started to rise, Eli climbed under the table to ensure shelter, but Hugo began to prey for God to forgive and save them. He didn’t really blame Eli, how could he? Instead he assured her this wasn’t her fault. What happened next would remain with her forever.
“This is not for me,” he stated calmly. “Just promise me you won’t curse anyone like this again. Just promise you’ll never do this to someone else.”
It was clear what Hugo was planning to do, and feeling guilty that she had robbed him of whatever life he had left, she apologised and promised.
“Say hello to your wife...and Deezy for me,” she said.
Hugo smiled and without a second thought, he opened the front door and nonchalantly strolled outside into the sun. Before the door had fully closed itself, Eli saw flashes of flames and heard his screams. At that moment, Eli actually considered doing the same. Just following him knowing the sun would end her suffering. She never could, she wasn’t as strong or as brave as Hugo. Eli remained under the table looking at her portrait. Dreaming that one day she would meet someone who wanted to be with her, who would accept her and be her friend.

[andmker]

Part 1. Chapters 20 to 22

Chapter Twenty

There are countless schools of thought when it comes to death, most of them rather simplistic. Usually along the lines of one day you are born and one day you die, the bit in-between those two points is just filler. Things are rarely as simple as they seem, and the definition of alive and dead are much greyer than people realise. In Oscar’s case, he knew that technically he should be dead, but he was not.
His friend was more than two hundred years old and still looked to be roughly twelfth. Exactly how this was possible was a difficult concept for either one of them to grasp or explain. It was just the way things were. Recent events however, meant that Oscar was now between worlds and awaiting the outcome. Eli could not let him die, in her mind there was no other choice, no other option. She chose to make Oscar like her and truly hoped things would work out.
Oscar had not really been on speaking terms with her for the last few days. It was kind of stupid but he just felt violated and scared at what had happened and what was going to happen. Over the previous day and night, she had repeatedly snuck into his room unnoticed, leaving food and water by his side. Eli knew he was highly annoyed but that her time to explain would come. Oscar had also discerned that he would need to speak to her...and soon. He was beginning to feel a limited amount of strength and energy returning to him. With that, he didn’t understand why. Surely if he was really turning into something the same as Eli, then he shouldn’t still be eating normal food and still be able to bare the sun. He felt trapped between who he was and scared at the idea of what he would become and when. It was not until the following night that the silence between them was broken.
Despite still lacking in energy and almost incapacitated by pain, Oscar forced himself to get out of bed. He didn’t make it far, collapsing into the sofa as if he had just run a marathon. Eli was sat at the table and watched him discretely without saying anything. Resisting the temptation to take a deep breath, as doing so could open his wound, he asked what was on his mind.
“Well, how long will this take?”
Eli was looking down at the table, almost ashamed to look at him.
“Oscar, I couldn’t just...”
“How long?” he asked again raising his voice.
“Another two days. Three at the most since you were badly hurt.”
He felt like he had just been told that he only had a few days to live, but that wasn’t really the case.
“Will my wound heal?”
“I don’t know,” she replied still avoiding eye contact.
Her hesitation in answering and tone suggested that she did know, and the answer was no.
“Will the pain stop?”
Again she hesitated before answering but her response was the same.
“You must know! What about your scar, does that still hurt?” demanded Oscar.
“That was different. When that happened the wound was...fixed. It was after that, or rather before that...” she was unable to finish her sentence as he leaned towards her and repeated his question.
“Does it still hurt, yes or no?”
“I still have feeling down there and yes, sometimes it does.”
Oscar looked down and shook his head. The idea that this hole in his chest would not heal and always be sore was disturbing on top of everything else he had to deal with.
“It doesn’t change you in here, you will still be the same Oscar,” said Eli pointing to her head and finally looking at him.
He didn’t respond to her attempt to comfort him. How on earth could he be the same if he was becoming like her? Eli was his best friend and more, he didn’t want to upset her, but his anger was stemming from the fact that he hadn’t asked her to do this. Oscar knew why she had done it, maybe he should be grateful as otherwise he would be dead. But how much time and effort did she put into getting him help, or to getting him to the hospital before deciding on this action. He tried not to forget that he had wanted to meet Albin, he pushed for the meeting. He was kind of prepared to maybe become like her one day, but never expected it would be so soon. Oscar had been looking forward to growing up fully, becoming a man, maybe growing a beard.
What annoyed him the most, and he didn’t really know why, was that Eli looked so attractive right now. The healthiest he had seen her in a long time, possibly for as long as he had known her. Her skin was smooth, soft and clear, her hair bouncy full of life and body, and her eyes beautifully bright with fire behind them. Naturally it was because she had recently fed, twice. On Albin and himself. He was the main reason for her current appearance and magnetism.
Oscar remained on the sofa, not really having any other choice and tried to watch television to pass the rest of the night. Eli retreated to the bathroom concluding that for the moment he wanted to be left alone.
The following day came and passed quickly with him moving as little as possible. He was beginning to feel like his normal self again, but was unsure if that was a good or a bad thing. Drifting in and out of sleep for a few hours at a time, he allowed his mind to drift and explore what was happening. The thoughts that entered his head were strange.
“We’re going to need another bathtub,” he whispered to himself as if it was a pressing priority. Maybe they could share, or maybe he would still be able to sleep in his bed.
Maybe being like Eli wouldn’t be so bad. She would help him, once he had gotten used to things, they would be able to do so much more together for a lot longer than others. Oscar knew that while he was gaining in some aspects, he was also losing a lot. No more ‘real’ food, no more chocolate or crisps. No more sunlight or heading out during the day. It was strange to think that gaining immortality, strength, speed and everything else Eli has, was overruled by the idea of no more chocolate or sweets...ever!
He was avoiding the elephant in the room. The truth of knowing that soon he would have to kill to survive, to do what Eli had done for countless years. Keeping her fed was difficult enough and now he would have to worry about sustaining himself as well. After hours of thinking, he was comforted by the notion he would never have to worry about losing his hair, getting wrinkles or growing old. During his day of contemplation and consideration, balancing the pros and cons of what he would become, he lost track of time. Before he knew it, Eli had awaked and re-entered the room.
“Oscar, stop playing with it!”
Eli had caught him scratching his wound.
“It’s itchy and sore,” he protested annoyed and tired.
“You will make it worse.”
“Well, you should have left the bullet in. That way it might have healed.”
She shook her head slowly for too many seconds.
“If I did, every time I moved you, it could have gone deeper and done more damage.”
Oscar started to feel his anger return, he wasn’t sure where it was coming from but put it down to Eli’s dismissive attitude and calmness which was annoying him.
“Whatever. Now I have a hole inside me that might never heal. Well, I suppose it’s only fitting, at least one of us should have a hole,” Oscar sneered throwing a mean look towards her.
“Oscar, that was uncalled for.”
The combination of anger, pain and fear within him finally exploded and he launched himself at Eli, head butting her in the stomach and grabbing her around the waist. She didn’t resist and allowed Oscar to pull her to the ground. He landed on top of Eli with a thud that echoed. He put one hand around her neck as if attempting to strangle her, just to provoke a reaction, while trying to hold her down with the other. Eli simply raised her eyebrows as if to ask “what exactly are you trying to achieve?” which further enraged Oscar. Keeping one hand on her throat, he used the other to punch her in the stomach. She barely flinched and it likely hurt Oscar’s fist more.
“Fight me! Just kill me!” he shouted with his face inches from her own, but Eli remained patient and calm.
“Oscar, this is normal. It will pass.”
Just as she finished her sentence, he forced the side of his wrist into her mouth and pushed up hard on her chin.
“Finish what you started,” he commanded trying to get Eli to bite down into him.
Eli decided that she had been patient enough and with his refusal to calm down or listen, there was only one solution. She kneed Oscar in the groin with enough strength that it sent him flying over her head. He landed shoddily in a heap with his eyes watering from the unexpected impact. Oscar on all fours with his eyes closed, reached down for his knife which was tucked down his sock. Just as his fingers brushed against the handle, he was kicked in the stomach. The force of Eli’s kick lifted him off the ground and sent him crashing into the television. The dull crack of his back smashing the glass made such a sound they both paused in shock for a few seconds. It was Oscar who moved next, trying to grab one of Eli’s ankles, but she stood on top of his hand to prevent him from doing so. His eyes watering and body sore, he was determined to keep fighting.
Using his free hand, Oscar grabbed a piece of broken glass and swiped randomly. On his first attempt he managed to scratch the side of her leg, breaking her skin and no more. Even that was enough to make her take a few steps back which freed Oscar. He then tried to both stand up and throw himself at her in a single motion but doing so in such a clumsy manner, allowed Eli to grab him while in mid-air.
Holding him by his belt and shirt collar, she swung him around a few times as if he was a ragdoll before throwing him down onto the sofa. Somehow Oscar managed to grab onto Eli as she let go of him and pulled her down with him. The pair rolled off and onto the floor trying to subdue the other. Oscar could tell that Eli was holding back, a lot, and was frustrated that she could block every attempt he made to strike her, as if she knew in advance what he would try.
Finally with them both still rolling around on the ground, Oscar faked a watery scream to try and be less predictable, and in a moment of hesitation from Eli, he took the opportunity to pickup his knife which was now in reach. Naturally she noticed and grabbed his wrist tightly. Unexpectedly rather than push his hand away or disarm him, she slowly guided the blade up towards her chest and over her heart.
“Go on. Do it,” she said loosening her grip on the handle just enough to give Oscar control and the choice.
Oscar felt like a bucket of ice cold water had just been dumped on him and froze in every way imaginable. He looked down at Eli who tilted her head and smiled back up at him. He couldn’t believe what he had done here tonight. He couldn’t believe how he had behaved and treated her.
“You are still my Oscar, and I am still your Eli.”
He decreed himself to relax and as Eli let go of his wrist, he threw the knife away completely ashamed of his actions. He went to speak, he wanted to apologise but no words came out.
“Do you feel better now?” she asked before comically adding “I think we broke the TV.”
Oscar collapsed on to the floor and started to cry tremendously. Eli took his hand and they looked up at the ceiling. He would still be Oscar, and they would still be friends regardless of anything in the world.


Chapter Twenty-One
Oscar’s Last Day

When Eli was a small boy many, many years ago, there were so many things in the world that he, as well as everyone else did not understand. People couldn’t grasp the basics, or even worse had the complete wrong idea about things considered so simple today. Those who got caught doing ill-deeds often claimed the devil “made them do it,” and often the excuse would result in them escaping punishment. After all who would dare invoke the devil’s name in such a manner?
He was born in an age where if someone sneezed, someone else absolutely must say “bless-you,” otherwise the unlucky persons soul ejected from their body through nasal expulsion. At one point in his childhood, Eli caught a rather nasty cold. He became convinced that the snot running from his nose was his soul. Every time he leaked or some escaped of its own accord, he would run around to try and find someone to bless it back into him. Although in hindsight his behaviour could have been caused by fever. Or possibly it was the delirium induced by being force fed onion-tea three times a day by his mother in an effort to cure his cold and of course to ward off the devil.
Eli was always an outdoor sort of person, often wanting to explore by walking off in random directions to see what he could find. His mother used to tell him stories about the animals in the woods which fuelled his desire to get out and explore more. As a result his mother switched to mythological creatures explaining that Eli would have to travel to the other side of the world to find them. Then there was the sun or “God” as he was told one day by the local priest.
“Do you see that big warm thing up in the sky? That is God looking down on us all. The warmth is his love.”
Being a child, Eli believed it and every morning for about a year, he would try to look up at the yellow dot and wave his hand to greet him. He would never have thought for one second that one day he would never be able to go out in the sun again. While Eli had some pleasant memories about what she could remember from childhood, being now unable to go out and wave at the sun still sometimes made her sad. For years after being made what she is now, part of Eli honestly believed that she had offended “God.” His now deadly and burning warmth, should she dare venture out when he is up in the sky, was His attempt to send her to hell. Out of everything she often missed the sun the most.
That was why Eli was currently in the process of kicking Oscar out of the flat, just after seven in the morning much to his dismay.
“It's too early,” he yawned in protest as she guided him out.
“Get some sun while you can,” she insisted with a gentle push, throwing his jacket to him.
Oscar looked at his watch which he had put on upside down. It had been a long time since he had been out of bed this early. Most likely when he was still delivering leaflets back in Blackeberg. His mother used to push him out the door sometimes, and like he had told Eli, he would often object it was too early.
“Some advance warning would have been nice,” he muttered walking down the stairs.
After licking his hand and using it to try and sort-out his bed hair, he put his hands in his jacket pockets and felt that they both contained something. The left pocket had something loosely wrapped in Clingfilm, it was Eli’s attempt to make him a sandwich. Tomato and cheese, on brown bread but with the butter on the outside of the bread instead. It was squashed flat, almost like she had accidently sat on it at some point. Or maybe she had compacted it down with her hand when making it because she thought that’s how it was meant to be. The right pocket of his jacket had a neatly folded stack of ten one-hundred Krone banknotes, and a small piece of paper. It was from Eli and was instructing him to have fun. He grinned, pulled his hood up to protect himself from the light rain outside, started eating his sandwich, and set about enjoying what could be his last daytime venture.
Forming a rough list in his head of where to go and what to do, returning to the cafe where he had been before and embarrassed himself was near the top. Hoping that Amelia, the waitress would be working and remember him. After getting off the tram, he decided firstly to do some shopping on the high street first. Oscar looked at his jacket, like him it had seen better days. The brown leather had begun to crack at the elbows and the colour on the back was starting to look more like orange. He smelt it and beneath the dampness, he thought that he could detect the faintest trace of Eli, not that he minded. Oscar liked to imagine that it was his vampire super sense of smell kicking in. As much as he liked his old jacket, when Oscar saw a very groovy multicoloured bomber jacket in one of the windows he passed, he couldn’t resist buying it as a treat to himself.
It felt good to have a brand new jacket and it was a very rare thing. He kindly asked the shopkeeper to dispose of his old one. He also purchased a new thinner hat, a new pair of dark brown boots and some new pairs of underwear. Not that he really needed the last item, but envisioned how embarrassing it would be to have to buy them in the future only being able to do so at night. On reflection that wouldn’t be as bad as previously doing clothes shopping with his mother.
“Oscar, these pants have ducks on them, do you like them?”
“Mum, I’m twelfth not two. Ducks are stupid and don’t call them pants.”
As he replayed that memory in his head, Oscar felt...ashamed. His mother was enthusiastic about being out shopping with him, while Oscar was embarrassed. Actually he really liked ducks, just not on his underwear, he got bullied enough at school without them seeing what he had dubbed ‘duckware.’
Shopping complete he entered the cafe carrying a few bags and saw Amelia who smiled ever so slightly when she saw him enter. Feeling hungry, Oscar took a seat nearest the window that was being bathed by the sunlight. It felt good to sit down and he took the chance to catch his breath, pressing against on his wound as he did to prevent exasperating his injury.
“Hi,” said Amelia warmly, ignoring another customer who had been waiting longer.
“Hey,” he replied gripping down into the menu to control his nerves.
She looked as pretty as he remembered. That long blonde hair that had grown nearly an inch, those pale green eyes that looked like she had stolen them from a painting. He made of point of looking directly at her face and not repeating his previous obvious behaviour.
“You want a cola?”
“Actually, I’m pretty hungry. Fancy something hot, what would you suggest?”
Amelia looked both surprised and impressed, for some reason it was not the answer she was expecting. She leaned down closer to Oscar in order to point at the menu, her long hair brushed against the side of Oscar’s neck and he felt himself tingle.
“We’re still doing breakfast. Our eggs are great and come with rye bread. I like the stewed squash granola and yoghurt. Plus our flaky pastry with cinnamon and crushed sugar is popular.”
Despite haven eaten his sandwich and hour ago, he was still hungry and knowing he would soon not be able to eat food fuelled his decision.
“Sounds great, I’ll have it all and a large milkshake please.”
Amelia nodded again impressed, muttered something about being glad he knew what he wanted and walked off. The other customer moaned loudly when she walked past, ignoring him for the second time. That is how Oscar spent his morning. Eating food, making sure to enjoy every bite. He hadn’t eaten much since being shot, not counting chocolate, having been mostly bedridden and he was absolutely making up for it now. Amelia had been correct about their eggs, they really were great.
“You eating for two or something?” she joked when making an excuse to come over to offer a refill on his milkshake.
Oscar was glad the cafe was quiet this morning. It meant he could keep finding reasons to talk to the waitress, and she seemed as eager as him to engage in conversation. Completely stuffed with food, to the point of being ready to explode, he asked for the bill. Sadly Amelia had disappeared by that point, maybe on a break or maybe finished for the day. To his delight however, she had written her telephone number on the back of his bill.
He didn’t make it very far after leaving the cafe and was thankful to sit down on a park bench just a few hundred yards away. From there Oscar spent a good hour letting his feast digest. Just watching everyone go about their business completely unaware of what Oscar was soon to become. It felt strange that he knew something that most people did not. Part of him felt like shouting it out from the top of his voice, but he knew that no one would take him seriously. If he called “my best friend is a vampire and I’ll be one soon,” chances are he would be arrested for drugs or committed for mental illness. He felt a moment of sadness and fear, but was also comforted knowing that Eli would be with him every step of the way. True some parts of his life were ending but he would gain and that was alright.
In the afternoon, he walked around for what seemed like miles, a lot of the time in circles just to get the exercise and to soak up more of the weakening sun. He didn’t really know what exactly what you were meant to do during the day that you couldn’t do at night. It was not something he had really thought about. Shrugging to himself, Oscar went into another shop and purchased a large bag of junk food, many of the sweets and chocolate bars he hadn't ever tried before.
“Last day on Earth, and I buy clothes and food.”
Content that enough was enough, Oscar began to make his way back home, trying to carry everything with one hand on his uninjured side. It was still remarkable to think that just a few days ago, he had been shot. The way he was walking around now, someone would simply think he had pulled a muscle. One plus to being “infected” he guessed. He took his time getting back to the flat, having a final exploration of the area where they lived. His intention was to make a point to look at and examine everything, paying attention to how things liked during the daytime, how the sun cast shadows. Eventually he knew that he needed to get indoors. Oscar was becoming increasingly sore, with his new found energy starting to leave him like the sun sinking below the horizon. Reaching their front door, he automatically tapped out his name on the wood. He doubted there was any real need for it anymore, especially with Albin out of the picture, but still wanted to do so.
Oscar quietly entered, taking everything into the bedroom, unpacked then got into bed. The bullet wound on his chest was pulsing with pain, but he knew it was a miracle that he was still walking around like normal. Oscar toyed with the idea that maybe he should try gluing it shut, but suspected because of the void space the bullet, and Eli’s finger, had curved into him that anything like glue or stitches would be fruitless. Oscar spent his time in bed rereading a few magazines purchased from the local shop before Eli had killed Edvard. That felt like such a long time ago.
Despite still being stuffed from his breakfast-lunch, he tucked into his stockpile of junk and committed himself to reading. Just as he was finishing off the third magazine called 80’s Hits So Far, he heard Eli’s voice.
“How are you?” she asked looking happy to see him up, if not about.
“Hi,” replied Oscar pleased to see her.
He often felt lonely during the day when Eli slept, and would always look forward to the sun setting. At least that would be another good point, he told himself. After he became like her, they would be on the same sleep schedule.
“How was your day?” Eli queried noting that he had not answered her first question.
“Yeah good, it was good. Got a new jacket and some other stuff.”
“I’m pleased,” she replied looking around at all the wrappers of sweets and chocolate bars surrounding him.
Eli licked her lips and wiped her mouth very noticeably a number of times. Eventually Oscar realised that she was signalling for him to do the same, as around his mouth was caked with chocolate. They both laughed, but for Oscar it was short lived as his wound made itself known once again.
“Did you do everything you wanted to do?” asked Eli.
“Yeah, err...yeah.”
She took a step closer with her concern rising, noticing that he had turned away.
“What is it?”
Oscar took as much of a deep breath as he could manage.
“When it happens, when I become like you, will it hurt?”
Eli walked over to his bedside and crouched down on the floor.
“The first thing that happens is your wings pop out of your back, so yes that does hurt rather a lot.”
“Wings? Wings?” asked Oscar horrified sitting upright in bed at the idea of it.
“Yes, first your wings. Then...your fingernails fall off, but don’t worry they grow back very quickly.”
“You’re taking the piss?” asked Oscar finally recognising the look on her face.
“Yes, I am. Trying to anyway. I can honestly say that it does not hurt. Just like waking up, a bit of confusion and you feel like you’re still dreaming for a while. It just happens and it doesn’t change who you are inside your head.”
Oscar slouched back down in bed.
“But, it makes me want to kill?”
“No, it makes you need to feed. You’ll understand when it happens.”
He nodded, it didn’t sound that bad but wasn’t sure if Eli was sugar coating it for his benefit. Still, he was glad that he would not go through it alone, and he suspected that she would stay close to him tonight. They both felt that the time was close. It was then, he asked a question that suddenly popped into his head from nowhere. It seemed like a good question to ask before he asked it.
“After it happens, will I be able to...I mean, if I want to that is, will I be able to...” he trailed off having lost his train of thought.
“To what?” asked a confused Eli.
Oscar took another careful breath to try and recompose himself. They were the best of friends but never talked about this sort of stuff. It was awkward and he felt guilty for asking knowing that she couldn’t do it, even if she wanted to. At least not in the conventional sense as far as he knew.
“You know...it,” he added pointing downwards.
Eli’s cheeks filled with air and she managed to hold back an explosive laugh which made Oscar cringe at his own question. She couldn’t help it, she hadn’t expected that out of the hundreds of things he might have asked, that he would ask this.
“Well,” she spoke slowly. For once she was actually lost for words while Oscar was quickly trying to think of something else to say to change the conversation. “Well. I don’t see why not, I have sometimes done...”
“Alright, alright. Thanks,” he inserted as quickly as possible to stop her going into more details.
Eli was attractive in her own way, but Oscar didn’t want to think of his friend doing that stuff. He felt stupid that such a thing was on his mind right now, but blamed the image of Amelia that had seemed to stick with him all day.
After that awkwardness, they both spent some time talking about non-important things. Eli told him a few stories about her life, focusing on what has become easier and what has become more difficult. She gave reading and writing as an example of the former. How words are simpler and no longer form an endless giant sentence without spaces. For the other, she talked about how many more smells are in the world now.
“The air, different metals, chemicals, food and even heat, that smells different. Its artificial now and it never used to be. Keeping up and learning what is what can be tricky.”
Even when Oscar had fallen asleep, she continued to speak. Hoping her voice would help him through the night. She remained on the floor next to him until the last possible minute. The sun was starting to rise, and the curtains even closed weren’t blocking everything out. As she snaked through the shadows of the bedroom, returning to her own resting place, she raised her gaze to the window and waved at the daylight.


Chapter Twenty-Two

Amelia Roe-Silka was feeling both disappointed and a bit saddened. On one hand she had some time off from her parent’s cafe as business had been quieter. On the other, it had been a while since she had left Oscar her phone number. It didn’t really matter how many days as there had been nothing. No calls and no reappearance of the tasty looking blonde, who had been so nervous it was cute. She had been very friendly, dropping hints, and Oscar had seemed interested, so what was the problem?
While Amelia had spent most of the day lazing around by herself, just catching up with lots of small stupid things that sneak up on you. In reality, she should have been doing something more practical, as a stack of homework and cleaning jobs were begging for her attention. She would also be looking after her granddad tomorrow night, which was necessary but happening a bit too frequently. Despite all of this, Oscar was taking priority in her mind. She felt that maybe she had scared him off, maybe came on a bit too strong. It was stupid but part of her wanted to go into work, just in the off chance he came back to the cafe looking for her. Maybe Oscar was too shy to call her?
“Next time ask for his number as well you dummy,” she ordered herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a noise from above, a slow dripping, there was water coming in through the ceiling.
“Maybe best he doesn’t call or come around. This place is a dump.”
Amelia exhaled noisily wondering if this would be her life. Work, eat, sleep and repeat. Growing older while waiting for Oscar, or the next Oscar, to come through the cafe door, hoping that next time he would be more than just a passing customer. Everyone had to make sacrifices to survive, and she had to do her part for her family, granddad and the cafe. Still, it would be nice to get to know someone her own age. Not just how they liked their eggs.

That same day during the early evening, Eli forced herself to awaken a few hours before normal. She hated doing it, just an hour early made her feel like a zombie, so tired that it felt like she hadn’t slept at all. Her intensions were to check on Oscar, then to try and get more rest. First she had to break away from her own reflection in the bathroom mirror which in itself was proving difficult. She didn’t recognize herself at first. Thankfully, there had been no consequences from feeding on Albin’s ‘dead’ blood. It was lucky she had fed so soon afterwards on Oscar, the last time she fed on recently deceased blood she was ill for nearly a month. It dehydrated her, so the only way she could starve it off was to drink more blood. She still didn’t like to think about that month. Eli shivered suddenly thinking about how Oscar’s blood, how epic it had been in taste, how much she had wanted to drink more. Thankfully Eli had been able to control her thirst, but she still felt ashamed.
Finally, dragging her feet behind her, she shuffled through the hall and into the sitting room before reminding herself where the adjoining bedroom was. Oscar’s bed was empty, she doubted he would have gone out, but blinking to wake up her eyes, she finally stopped him stood next to the still closed curtains..
“Oscar?” she whispered
“Yeah?”
He turned and they looked at each other from across the room. Eli knew, and she felt every emotion she had ever felt at once. While she reminded herself the person in front of her was still Oscar, she felt that this was her fault, that he was now like her because of her. At that moment Eli committed that he would not suffer like she had.
“You look better,” she told him, just because he appeared to be waiting for her to say something.
That first night was very surreal for both of them, each giving the other a bit of distance because they both thought that is what the other wanted. They didn’t really know what to say to each other for their own reasons. It continued like this until just after one in the morning, then Oscar decided that he wanted to go outside. Eli strongly advised him to stay at home, often having to repeat herself, explaining that he needed time to adapt and to get used to things.
“Your body and mind are a bit disconnected from each other right now. This still feels like a dream doesn’t it?” she asked him.
“It’s all cool, I feel fine.”
“This is the fourth time you’ve said you want to go out,” she reminded him patiently.
“Is it? Sorry.”
Oscar felt like he was on autopilot, that he had inherited some sort of automatic ability that was silently instructing him.
“Stay out of the sun, get blood, no sunlight, wait for night, get blood.”
He couldn’t quite understand how he knew what it wanted. The thing inside him didn’t use words or speak to him. It just seemed to be able to communicate what it desired, when it wanted without words. He wasn’t even sure if he was the one itching to go outside, or if it was the thing that wanted it. While it wasn’t like he was going to come across people in this area at this time, he surrendered to Eli’s wisdom.
After the first few nights, he began to get annoyed at this silent but persistent thing within him. Oscar would go out when HE wanted, and get blood when HE wanted, not when the thing inside of him decided. It did chill him knowing that he thought about getting blood so casually, almost forgetting where the stuff came from. Thankfully for the moment his hunger was pretty mute and totally manageable. Eli had compared “the thing” to a new born baby, that as it grows over time, it will quiet down. That it will stop crying for stuff and stop demanding blood...as long as he didn’t deprive it of attention and blood for too long.
She had been correct about what she said before his change, he still felt like Oscar, but things were different. He was no longer just Oscar but more, there was more inside of him. He guessed that Eli had been “this” for so much longer that maybe she couldn’t really remember what it was like before. That was understandable.
What had surprised Eli was that he had taken to this so easily and so readily so far. Both Oscar’s mind and body just let it happen, and when the moment came offered no resistance. Eli on the other hand hadn’t. She recalled practically going off her head with madness and denial, but in hindsight she didn’t know at the time what was happening to her.
“You’ve coped well,” she told him feeling proud.
Oscar agreed but had held back and hidden a few things from her. What he had felt like and what he had thought about things. The first few nights were unpleasant to say the least. His body had been determined to get rid of everything inside of him that was no longer needed. All bodily fluids seemed in a hurry to exit from his front, his rear, and in the case of his stomach acid, out through his mouth and nose. Vomiting for some two hours an acidic mixture of his stomach lining and bile was nasty, and he regretted having eaten so much chocolate before as it really didn’t help the colour of things.
He was thankful that Eli had been tired and spent more time elsewhere, both in the bathroom and also circling around the nearby blocks to try and tire herself out. She still remained pretty close to ensure that he didn’t sneak out. Perhaps Eli knew this would happen, he guessed the same must have happened to her, and that it would be easier for him if she was out of the way. As close as they were to each other, that is not the kind of thing you want to see. Everything that came out of Oscar went into a bucket that nearly overflowed, and was thrown out of the bedroom window to the ground below. Eli never tended to go around to that side of the building, so he hoped some snow or rain would come and bury it. The fowl mixture that was too thick to go down the drains smelt like death, and looked like a madman’s version of beef stew and dumplings. Just a lot more lumpy and colourful. Who knows what a person would think if they came across the wet, smelly and lumpy heap.
The following night, things had settled down, but when the time came Oscar couldn’t sleep nor settle. His bed hadn’t felt right since his change and had progressively gotten much worse with each passing day. It was uncomfortable and too soft. It almost felt like try to sleep in the middle of a busy public place completely exposed, with everyone walking past looking at him. Not just looking at him but blasting air horns and throwing things at him. No combination of duvets or blankets could resolve this, so Oscar went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was still filled with food that he had forgotten about, most of it from his attempts to eat and live more healthily. Those efforts now seemed rather fruitless. All of it was quickly bagged up and was also thrown out the window to the ground. For some reason watching the bag explode violently was fun and did cheer him up a bit. It was like an organic nuclear explosion with the orange juice almost making a mushroom cloud. When the fridge was emptied, he climbed inside leaving the door just open a tiny crack. The confined space and lack of stimulus was much more pleasant, so he tried to rest curled up into a ball.
Eli had warned him about one thing a few times.
“Do not try and drink your own blood whatever happens. It doesn’t work.”
Initially he didn’t really understand as he had no desire to do it, the thought hadn’t even entered his mind. That had started to change. He could smell one thing while in the fridge, the tiny but unmistakable suggestion of blood from the wound on his chest. It was a unique and temping aroma that he did his best to ignore, and he hoped was down to being in such a compact area. Time passed with him semi awake, but his rest felt more like minutes than hours. Before Oscar knew it, the sun had set and Eli had opened the fridge door. She looked at him in a lovingly amused way.
“I thought my tub was unusual, but a fridge...are you trying to be cool?”
Oscar felt disorientated as the kitchen was pitch black. His eyes still penetrated through the dullness and fixed onto Eli, seeing her as if she was stood in some sort of light that he and only he could see.
“You will learn to sleep. It just takes a bit of time,” she continued.
Oscar not having the energy to think about it started to yawn. He looked at Eli confused when realising what he was doing.
“That was stop as well. It’s just a reflex you’ll forget.”
It felt strange that a lot of things he had never had to learn in life, things that just happened by themselves would stop. As Eli helped him out of the fridge and to his feet, he began to wonder how long it would take for him to learn how to sleep and how to feed. He was really not looking forward to getting blood for the first time. A few moments later, Oscar put his hands in his pockets and felt a small piece of paper that he had forgotten about. It was then a possibility occurred to him.
“Eli, I have an idea.”

[andmker]

Part 2 coming next weekend

[andmker]

Part 2
Chapters 1 to 4


Chapter One

The Connelly Hotel had always been a strange and unlucky place. Its origins date back nearly a decade ago when private developers attempted to give the old disused building a makeover. Those were the same developers who tried to spearhead the regeneration of the area and failed. Like the cinema-mall combo, like the three new blocks of modern flats, and the idea to erect a new statue of one of Denmark’s many historical heroes, it hadn’t worked. The mentality of “build it and they will come,” had failed to consider why people would want to stay here. It was an area featuring little else other than cold-concrete buildings and damp decaying fields of abandoned grain. Very little could be done to temp anyone from the much more magical towns and cities of Denmark and at some point everyone gave up on trying. As a result, the hotel had been neglected and suffered both inside and out. Those who stayed around here tended to have nowhere else to go. Poor people priced out of the market, old people with nowhere else, stupid people who had convinced themselves “it’s not that bad,” and not to forget Oscar and Eli. The two local vampires, but don’t use that word around Eli, who lived nearby.
There was of course one attractive element encompassing these areas like a dirty fingerprint on a map. The local Police force was small and rather dim-witted. Even the “City Police,” as they were dubbed by locals, didn’t like coming down here and did everything to avoid doing so. While criminals had very little reason to operate in the area, with low-income homes and a lack of businesses, it was somewhere ideal to hide or lay low for a while. Nothing had really worked here and The Connelly Hotel, while clinging on to life, was surrounded by hotspots of crime and accidents.
Now, just as the spring was attempting to beat back the winter, Police Detective Kevil Dually was investigating the most recent and disturbing occurrence. In his fourteen years of experience, nine of them having been spent here, what took place at the hotel was definitely rather unusual and unlikely. All things considered, if he had not been personally assigned, he would have believed someone was playing a sick joke or a hoax. Little did he know at the time, the case would turn out to be far stranger than he could ever have imagined.
Last Wednesday, the hotel’s night manager returned from a three-hour smoke and dinner break to discover blood everywhere. In the fourth-floor suite, the window had been violently broken from the inside, with two pools of blood almost side by side on the carpet. One pool was small and the other considerably larger. One of those pools would test as normal human blood, the other would not. The abnormal sample was strange. It was still human, type AB technically, but heavily clotted and much richer in haemoglobin than should be possible. More worrying however was evidence suggesting an injured and bleeding person being removed out of the suite, to the elevator then dragged out through the hotel’s lobby. The second discovery was a trail of small bloody footprints from the top floor that went down to meet the lift, covering the stairs in the previously mentioned unusual blood. Finally, and almost missed, out on the ground beneath the broken window, a third person’s blood. Almost missed as it had been diluted by the rainfall, but was also very little in volume for someone having fallen from such a height.
There had been no new hospital admissions, no reports of missing or injured people, no witnesses and no bodies recovered. All of this blood and no bodies? Just blood all over the hotel. What had surprised and shocked Detective Kevil the most, was when a match for one of the samples came back. It matched DNA taken from clothes at another crime in Sweden. A missing and presumed dead student called Oscar, last seen at the swimming pool massacre of Blackeberg. That remained an even more unusual and unsolved case, with speak of supernatural creatures, avenging angels, cover ups and government conspiracies. Now another strange case, another possible murder scene, and the mysterious reappearance of Oscar, or rather some of his blood.
“That’s my main suspect eliminated,” complained Dually to himself as he poured some coffee from his thermal flask.
As he swirled the dark liquid around the cup, he began to wonder why all police consumed the caffeinated stuff like it was essential to life. His wonder was soon replaced by depression. He had purchased the flask arriving here just one month into his placement. Back then, Kevil thought it would only be a short assignment, the flask was only meant to last until he got something better elsewhere. He had kept it all these years to remind himself that he wouldn’t be here forever.
Getting his mind back to the task at hand, his only suspect had been the night manager himself. An old German man who smelt like wood shavings, and who when interviewed said he didn’t mind working nights as he “was awake anyway.” The simple answer would have been some sort of stunt to try and attract morbid tourists to the failing hotel. Only last month a local newspaper had described the place as “an ashtray mixed with a skip.” That was his thinking until one of the blood samples had matched and raised the stakes.
He looked at his own reflection in the flask. His narrow face, thin lips, and very short salt and pepper-like hair looking back at him. Kevil speculated if he would still look older than his years if he had chosen a different career. His wrinkles would definitely be less profound. The long and difficult part of his investigation was just beginning. Waiting for the Swedish police to decide if, when and by how much they would cooperate in sharing information about Blackeberg.

Oscar was by tradition and habit not an idea person by any definition. In the past, even in the rare case when he had an idea, he often kept quiet. Over the previous months he had however learnt a lot. The chance meeting with Eli, and becoming the best of friends well beyond anything he could have previously imagined. Everything that had happened since their first encounter, she had saved his life twice now. The second time, Eli had saved him the only way she could. After being shot by Albin Matty, he was now like her – the same as her. It was something they were both coming to terms with, and very early days (or nights). For the moment however, a shared problem had a potential solution as an idea had started to formulate in his mind.
“I think there is someone who could help,” he explained to a bewildered Eli who was standing opposite him in the kitchen.
“We don’t know anyone here…do we?”
Oscar smiled and looked at the piece of paper from his pocket. It was Amelia’s telephone number.
“She might be willing to help for a price. If we go about it the right way. I think she fancies me.”
Eli frowned and looked curiously into his eyes thinking how to respond.
“We have to be carefully cautious,” she finally said in a serious whisper to remind him of the consequences should they be discovered. “Look at what happened last time.”
Despite her concerns, Oscar believed that what he had in mind could be a brilliant solution. It could be risky and would take some time to arrange, but he was sure it could work. If they could pull it off it could mean their tragic, high-risk and deadly method of surviving may no longer be needed, at least not as frequently.
“How else will we get enough…you know, without…”
Oscar was unable to fully compose and finish the question. The reality of what Eli had done for countless years and what he might soon have to do himself sent an icy shiver down his spine.
Eli shrugged slowly but her gesture was not to portray the absence of an answer, but instead to buy time to respond.
“Some who live deserve to die, and some who die deserved to live.”
The side of her mouth unintentionally pulled up almost into a smile.
While Oscar didn’t fully understand what she was implying, he knew from her facial expression and tone that she was confident. Apparently confident that they could and would find enough blood to sustain them both. Despite this, Oscar felt committed to finding another way for them to survive. Granted that Eli had searched for decades to find an alternative, but Oscar’s advantage was that he was much more connected with the modern world.
That night Eli remained indoors, not wanting to leave Oscar by himself. It was not really necessary as he lacked both the will and the energy to escape the four walls. Eventually, he became annoyed – just sitting on the sofa with Eli. Trying to relax, have a conversation and watch television wasn’t possible. For the first time since moving in, he could hear the neighbours below them walking around. He could hear a pigeon tapping lightly on the glass of the bedroom window, and he could smell the drainpipe outside.
“How do you focus with all this noise?”
“It gets worse before it gets better,” replied Eli who stood up and closed the bedroom door. “Just wait until you hear a train for the first time.”
“No surprise you were so good at hide and seek!” he announced with sarcasm, flinching sharply with a flash of pain in his chest.
“Still sore?”
“It’s fine.”
Shortly afterwards, Oscar decided to try and get more rest, well before the sun was due to come up. It was easier said than done and he felt like he had effectively forgotten how to sleep. Eli, on the surface at least, made it look so simple. At the end of every night, she would climb into the bathtub, curl into a ball under several layers, then sleep-rest-hibernate, Oscar wasn’t sure which word best described it. He was longing for his soft, warm bed which had previously been acceptable for the first nights but now failed to provide any relief. Trying to rest in the fridge, on the sofa, under the table or anywhere else didn’t feel like a bed. It was a strange and annoying problem that appealed to Eli’s sense of humour.
“Maybe try to fit in the washing machine,” she smirked holding back a laugh.
Oscar responded with a jibe about her fat nose and went to playfully tackle her, but Eli sidestepped his attempt. Thankfully she was kind enough to grab him so he didn’t fall flat on his face. Oscar was a tiny bit disappointed that she was still faster than him.
Everything felt strange and was not what he expected. Part of him thought that Eli would, or maybe should, be spending every waking moment teaching him. Imparting him with her two centuries of experience. Instead she had taken a step back and seemed content to allow him to discover and work things out for himself. Maybe that was best, maybe that was her way, or maybe that’s how things had worked for her.
Oscar managed to get a half rest standing on his feet wedged between the wardrobe and the wall. His journey was just beginning, but at least Eli was here with him. That was feasibly the only silver lining.


Chapter Two

Hope.
A simple and common word, but one that holds a different meaning depending on the person. A student studying may hope for high grades in upcoming exams. A poor person working endless hours may hope for a promotion, or for a new job entirely. In Amelia’s case, she held hope that one day her life would be different. She painfully longed to meet someone, to connect with anyone, to share her life with and to love and be loved in return.
Sadly for nearly the last three years, all Amelia had done were the same three things over and over again. Those long back breaking hours working in the Café, trying to study to keep up her education, and looking after her Granddad. The family couldn’t afford the two-thousand Danish Krone monthly fees for his full time care. Therefore it fell on Amelia to keep him company and tend to his needs for a weekend or two each month. All she wanted was a (very) close friend, and a bit less time wiping tables or spending hours searching for metaphors in some random book.
Then came Oscar, twice. Both times he had entered the café were on days that she had been asked to cover someone else’s shift. Almost as if their meetings were predestined. Amelia thought about him almost constantly, which was kind of insane but kind of fun, believing they would go well together. Like chocolate powder being added to hot water, two separate bland and boring compounds mixing into a delicious drink. Part of her had given up, honestly believing she had scared him off, but alas on Tuesday night that was about to change.
Amelia was standing on top of a dining room chair regretting wearing slippers. She was attempting to reach the top of the wall, to repair a leaking crack with toothpaste and sticky tape. Both of her parents were working tonight and should be home about eight providing they didn’t stop for a drink or three.
“Why would Jim be writing to me? I don’t know anyone called Jim. I used to know a Dave.”
It was her Granddad speaking. Tonight was the final night she was looking after him, tomorrow he would be back in the care home.
“Don’t worry about it,” she repeated focusing more on not slipping off the chair.
It was her fault. She had opened his mail and read it to him, he couldn’t do it himself. The mistake was informing him that he was being offered a “free two-week trial to a gym.” It was a funny concept. A wheelchair bound man in his seventies with major memory problems being offered a Gym membership. Unfortunately, all he had registered was the word gym and despite Amelia’s best efforts had spent the last half hour protesting about not knowing any Jim’s. She was relieved when the telephone rang and jumped down eagerly almost slipping.
“Hey, it’s Oscar,” a voice announced before she had a chance to speak.
“Who?”
“Err… it’s Oz-Oz,” he answered after an awkward pause.
Amelia felt her stomach drop and she tightened her grip on the handset. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she shouted silently at herself having forgotten his voice. At least this time Oscar had not forgotten his own name. She smiled recalling his embarrassment at their first meeting, then suddenly remembered that he was on the opposite end of the phone.
“Hi, hello,” she squeaked resulting in another short pause.
“How are you?”
“Not bad, good thanks. Just working a lot, the usual.”
Both of them engaged in a pleasant enough but somewhat disjointed conversation, interrupted briefly by her Granddad. Amelia was being held back by her surprise and delight at the phone call. Oscar, by his historical inexperience in speaking to the opposite sex.
“I haven’t seen you back in the café for a while. I’ve been looking out for you,” she questioned hoping to clarify if anything was wrong.
“No, I’ve not been out much during the day…recently.”
Amelia wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, it didn’t matter as what he asked next captured her attention more than anything else.
“Do you want to meet up somewhere, or…go out somewhere?”
“Yeah! Great. Totally, that be great,” replied Amelia trying to play it cool but regretting how loud and quickly her answer came out. “Do you want to come to the café for lunch?” again feeling it was somehow a stupid question.
“Lunch is a bit early for me. How about meeting in that park that’s downhill?”
“Efill Park? No problem. This Friday, after I finish, so about eight?”
Amelia felt his answers were a bit – strange. Perhaps it was completely innocent, perhaps he was just nervous again. It could be he was avoiding coming into the café as he wanted to spend some time alone with her. Somewhere that was public and away from the gaze of all the other customers. She didn’t blame him. Besides Efill Park was still pretty central and not far from her workplace.
“This Friday at eight o’clock would be brilliant” spoke Oscar warmly sounding happy.
“Great, I’ll meet you at the fountain. Feel free to pop in for lunch before then. It’s on me.”
Hope, it’s a simple word, but despite the person it can do one thing. It can blind you to what is really going on. Amelia had no way to know that tragic and drastic events had been set in motion. As the telephone call ended her mood had been lifted much higher. Oscar, making sure Eli wasn’t watching, carefully itched his bullet wound.
Some minutes or maybe hours passed with Oscar stood looking out the window at nothing other than the stillness. He didn’t expect to see anything nor did he care that his eyes had become unfocused. It was just nice to stand doing very little. Now and again, random thoughts would pass through him. Meeting Amelia, what happened with Albin, how good it was to be with Eli, when he would become desperate for blood and why his toes had become longer, thicker and stronger.
“Are you ready?” asked Eli entering the room.
“God!” jerked Oscar. “You can still sneak up on me,” he laughed.
“I’m pleased,” she smirked proudly.
Oscar looked around the room, avoiding making eye contact with his bed or the sideboard which he knew still contained several bars of chocolate and a bag of Jelly Babies. It had been his secret stash, less than a month old, all purchased when he was normal, all before meeting Albin. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Eli reach out with her hand for encouragement. This would be the first time since ‘it happened’ that Oscar left their flat, and she was determined to lure him out tonight.
“We’ll just go for a short run,” dropped Eli casually as Oscar took her hand. “If you can keep up with me that is.”
Oscar didn’t reply as he didn’t know if he could or not.
It was some point past midnight, a light fine rain had started, and a dark fog had decided to blanket the area. If anyone looked out their windows, all they would see is a descended grey soup with a few pale orange lights failing to do their job. No one would see Eli or Oscar as they ran through the open fields below. That is exactly what they wanted. The fog presented little difficulty to their glowing cat-like eyes. In terms of visibility, Oscar would compare it to wearing sunglasses during the day, dim but not dark.
Oscar’s mind had not yet adjusted to the reality of his new abilities and existence. It was a rather disconcerting feeling, knowing it was pitch black but being able to see regardless. Being able to run much further and faster, but still slower than Eli. He had elected to wear his trainers while she as always, was content to do most things barefooted.
“It’s easier without them,” she had insisted as they turned the corner and jumped over a short stone wall.
Try as he may, Oscar couldn’t listen to the advice. Could not imagine being outside, let alone running cross country, in such a manner. Too worried about standing on something sharp or in something nasty. As he followed about ten feet behind, he allowed himself to relax and enjoy the experience. Oscar understood then exactly why Eli would go out most nights. Not to simply stroll and stretch, but to run wildly across the terrain. To throw herself about, like she was chasing a wheel of cheese down a steep hill. It was almost effortless in execution, but feeling the sharp, soft wind bend around you and watching the landscape fly past your field of vision was – very relaxing. Two centuries and she still enjoyed the simple things. Trainers or no trainers, he could now enjoy it with her. Eli turned her head and started to bite at the air laughing. Oscar did the same thing back.
In retrospect, these simple things were at times frustrating for him. While what he had been told by Eli was true “the thing inside him” would keep him right, it was rather selective. He no longer felt the cold, but still automatically grabbed his jacket and hat when heading out. He no longer consumed normal food, but would still sometimes open the fridge expecting to grab a snack. That ‘thing’ was more single minded. It didn’t have a voice but kept him up to date with how hungry it/he was. A constant reminder, like an alarm clock slowly getting louder and harder to ignore with each passing day.
Blood. Pure and simple – that’s what it wanted, that’s what Oscar needed.
While Eli’s hunger was still suppressed, he could not really say the same. Oscar hadn’t drunk any of the red stuff yet, and his stomach was beginning to hurt. The last two days especially had taken their toll. He knew that Eli was aware, and that push come to shove she would be willing and able to help. Oscar did not want to ask, he wanted to tackle the hunger himself, somehow. To hold out until Amelia could be convinced to help, but potentially that could take a lot of time.
In the past, Eli had told him the same answer to different questions and now he understood “…that’s just the way it is.” He couldn’t explain anything more or better about being this way than she had. Part of him expected that some things would make more sense, but they didn’t. Instead, Oscar just accepted what he knew and what he didn’t, that was the best way. As the pair double backed, around a burnt out old car, they began to run back towards their apartment. Maybe being like this was not the worst thing in the world. As long as he could get blood to feed on and soon.


Chapter Three


“I have no idea whatsoever,” repeated Detective Dually for the fourth time in as many minutes.
He was half listening to a Swedish Police officer on the other end of the telephone who was being less than helpful. Flip-flopping between reading witness statements that had already been read, and asking stupid questions that Kevil couldn’t answer.
“How could Oscar suddenly reappear in a Danish hotel?” queried the other officer.
Kevil held his breath and muttered non-verbally to himself “maybe because he’s only missing from Blackeberg, maybe because we found his blood in the hotel and blood doesn’t lie.” He drank the last drops of coffee in his cup before starting to chew on his tongue to savour the flavour. Allowing the idiot on the other end to rant around in confused circles was often the best and only solution. All Dually wanted was to request any information on Oscar and the swimming pool deaths that hadn’t been made public or otherwise included.
“We can send you photographs of Oscar, the girl or the victims if that would help?”
Dually shook his head, misbelieving for a few moments that the other officer could see his gesture. He put the coffee cup down on a stack of papers lazily piled on his desk. Naturally Dually had already secured plenty of pictures of Oscar, after all he had been all over the Swedish media. As there was no reason to believe there could be any connection between those killed last year in Sweden, and what had happened recently at the Connelly Hotel, he declined. Not unless the blood of the dead mysteriously turns up in Denmark as well. Just as Kevil was about to ‘thank’ him for his help and hang up, he was struck by what had been said moments ago.
“Girl? What girl?” he asked loudly.
After a surprised pause, the other officer answered as if it was the dumbest question he had heard all year.
“The unknown girl who moved next door to Oscar and his mother. She moved in with Hakan who… well I’m sure you know who he is.”
“So, how does she connect to the murders at the swimming pool? Or to Oscar for that matter?”
“She was identified by Tommy, you know the only survivor from the pool. She’s linked to two previous murders prior to that. A man called Locke and another woman.”
Dually started to race through his pile of notes, holding the telephone against his ear with his shoulder.
“Are you saying this ‘girl’ is your prime suspect? That she did those things, tearing those guys apart I mean?”
“Well, that’s one of our working…theories.”
Then on page thirty in his notes, a few extracts referencing Tommy’s statement. It explained that his account was unlikely to be true due to severe shock and trauma. That is why Dually had missed it. The entire statement had been retracted and not included in the information shared. Disappointed that once again the Swedish Police had been selective on what they included, he requested the aforementioned statement be sent to him.

Oscar woke up early. Too early. Partly because he couldn’t settle during the hours of daylight, but mostly because he felt very sick. His eyes opened and he looked around to remind himself where he was, on the bedroom floor. Looking up at the clock on the bedside table confirmed the time was five minutes past two in the afternoon. If he had any other choice, the floor would be where he remained. His stomach had other ideas. Oscar jumped to his feet and began to run to the bathroom before they hit the ground. Through the living room, darting around the furniture, he felt an incredibly painful burning sensation on the back of his head and neck.
“Not now sun!” he shouted in defiance towards the window where a piece of newspaper had fallen down.
Reaching the bathroom, Oscar dived head-first into the toilet bowl, managing to catch himself on the rim. His stomach felt like it was inflated to four times its normal size, so large that it was pushing against the surrounding organs, pushing them out of place. His insides twisted and turned in protest, objecting to his hunger, objecting to him not having consumed blood yet. Minutes passed and despite the urge to vomit nothing happened. There was nothing in his stomach. Finally, as the pain reached unbearable levels, he did the only thing he could think of. Oscar began to punch himself in the stomach as hard as he could crouch over. Punch, by punch, followed by both of his hands trying to pull his stomach through the abdominal wall. Eventually his stomach surrendered with a final moan.
It took a few moments but once everything had returned to normal and the pain was more manageable, he slowly stood up and tip-toed over to the bathtub. Oscar carefully pulled back the layers of sheets that covered Eli. She was still sound asleep and dead to the world. He smiled strangely when noticing that she was still wearing the same clothes that they had gone out running with. A short pale yellow t-shirt, it was old but new for her. Most likely recovered from a nearby clothes bank or a skip. A pair of black and grey checked leggings that almost looked like chef trousers just much tighter. They still had splashes of mud, now dried, up both of her legs.
She was classic Eli. She was his Eli, and he was her Oscar. He recalled how back in Blackeberg, things like her clothes, her hygiene, and even her smell bothered him. None of that seemed remotely important anymore and he even felt a shiver of guilt having been so shallow. She or he…whatever, was just Eli. Oscar covered her back up and then looked at himself in the mirror. A ghost looked back at him.
Except it was not, it was his own reflection.
The hunger he felt within was now showing on the outside, and Oscar was beginning to feel like margarine spread too thinly across a slice of toast. His face was pale, not a chalk white but a sickly white. His cheekbones were so close to the surface they looked like they were ready to break through the skin. He looked dehydrated and at least five years older. At that moment his resolve hardened. Oscar knew, soon – very soon, he would have no choice but to get blood from whoever he could.
Firstly however, it was still day and he needed to rest, so he crawled up into a ball on the sofa. That is where he spent the remainder of the afternoon, listening to music to try and drown out any pain. He tuned into a channel playing classic American Rock, but even know many of the tunes had been heard before many times, they now sounded different. Deeper, heavier and slower to the point Oscar was beginning to believe there was something wrong with the radio. But it was him.
“God, even music sounds wrong,” he spoke to himself in frustration.
It almost felt like his head and ears were underwater, and he really hoped this change was also down to his hunger. After all, Eli still seemed to enjoy the music he played, some of it at least.
Oscar pulled his feet closer to his chest as tight as he could. He hadn’t fixed the window yet and a narrow beam of light was sneaking through the gap.
“Stupid sun,” he cursed as if it was somehow determined to hunt down and burn him like a kebab.
The thing inside him was ordering a retreat but Oscar was refusing to listen. Too worried about moving and suffering from that gut-wrenching pain again. For a few moments, the notion to bite down into his own arm was impossible to resist. Bite down and drink his own blood. Surely that would alight his hunger, surely that would work. Then he heard a voice.
“You’re up?” asked Eli confused, concerned and looking restless herself.
“Yeah, I suppose. Sorry did I wake you?”
He pushed his fringe away and out of his eyes before sitting up on the sofa to better engage. Before being able to speak again, his stomach rumbled roughly like thunder in a cave. The pain was almost enough to make him yelp.
“Why are you up so early?” he asked looking to distract her.
Eli didn’t reply but instead raised her eyebrows with a curious yet obvious look. They both knew she was checking up on him. Seconds later and despite the physical distance between them, their eyes locked together in a peculiar way. It was a strange and sudden experience. Her eyes were the same as always but also looked different. As impossible as it sounds, he almost felt like he was looking at himself, at his own eyes. Like Eli had somehow momentary allowed him to see through her eyes, to see himself how she sees him.
Whatever it was, and however it happened, it somehow subsided the hunger within Oscar, at least for the time being. While her gaze gave him strength and restored hope, he knew it would be shorted lived. Friday night was still two nights away and something had to be done before it arrived. Otherwise, he would be so frail that Amelia wouldn’t be able to recognise him.
“I don’t suppose we could try and get blood from another ambulance?”
Eli shook her head.
“Too soon to try the same trick twice. Besides you need it…fresher.”
Oscar expected that answer. He knew it was a long shot but felt it was a necessary suggestion to try and prevent what came next. The only solution was to feed. Finally giving up in his attempt to match wits with the offensive sunlight, he moved to withdraw into the bedroom. Eli followed in his shadow, directing him to climb into the wardrobe. She helped him get comfortable by bending and folding his arms and legs into a balanced standing squat.
“Rest Oscar, rest. When you awake, I’ll have what you need.”
As he slowly drifted off into not sleep, but whatever you would call the strange semi-death like slumber that was what it was, he felt a soft pat on the top of his head. Eli departed but instead of heading back to the tub for a few more hours rest, she shuffled into the kitchen. Looking around she collected two items. The first was an empty plastic three litre bottle, and the second was a filter funnel from under the sink. A silent sigh of both happiness and sadness followed. Eli knew that once darkness came again, someone would die to keep them alive.
With his hunger temporarily muted and finally having a place and position to rest, Oscar tried to clear his head. Recent events prevented him from doing so. Eli, The Connelly Hotel and even Albin were swimming around his mind. He recalled what she had said, that he “…will still be Oscar,” and for the most part it was true. Obviously there were physical differences, and his physical needs had taken a hard turn. Still, for the most part and in his own mind he felt like the person he was before. He felt that Eli was being more careful and cautious now, since his transformation, which didn’t make sense. She wasn’t even keen on the idea of him leaving their flat by himself “just in case.” She was still friendly and talkative, caring and compassionate, the same Eli as ever, but just a bit more distant and concerned about everything.
What happened at the Connelly Hotel was both of their faults but also neither of their faults. Who could have guessed Albin would have been so dangerous? It’s not like Eli could have known he would do something so desperate. It wasn’t planned, they couldn’t have known. Yet at times he could see a look of guilt on her face, or at least what he thought was guilt, it wasn’t always easy to tell with her. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that Eli wasn’t responsible in any way whatsoever. After all, he would be dead if she didn’t fight like she did to save him.
Several hours passed and at the very onset of darkness, Eli slowly and carefully left through the front door committing five minutes to the act of opening and closing it. Still half asleep and almost on auto-pilot, she tried to act as normal as possible. Both while climbing down the stairs, gripping tightly onto the banister, and out the shared entrance. Being out at this hour was never the best idea. Too many people coming and going to and from work, even in this sparsely populated area. Strange noises on the ground floor made her jump slightly. The neighbours were home doing…something. Whatever neighbours did at this time.
“Don’t get lazy,” she whispered to herself glancing at their blistered red painted door.
If Eli targeted anyone so close to home, they would be discovered without a doubt. She had made that mistake more than once before in the past. Instead she opted to take a long stroll over to an old stone bridge a few kilometres north. Assuring herself you can almost always find someone sleeping under or walking near bridges. They drew people like moths to a flame. It felt strange to be out so soon after sunset. Strange to be walking across the grass, carrying a funnel and a plastic bottle, knowing what she was setting out to do. Never easy, never pleasant, no matter how many times she had done it before.
Part of her much preferred previous arrangements. When she had other people to do this for her, to go out and get blood for her. Like Hakan, like Robbie, and so many others whose names were long forgotten, but using someone like them always caused different problems. At times Eli had wondered who would be judged more guilty and perverse by society. The men she procured to get her blood, those who’d kill for her, but would want something in return. Or her, for enlisting the men in the first place to do such malevolent deeds.
“Take out the lights,” she reminded herself picking up the pace.
They were a pain, they were everywhere these days. That was the modern trend, to light every street, corner and underpass. Of course she didn’t need darkness. Eli could simply lie on the ground and wait. Simply wait motionless until someone came running up to help. Kindness really did kill.


Chapter Four

Detective Kevil Dually had finally received the omitted witness statement. As he sat alone at his desk, surrounded by empty coffee cups and stacks of paperwork, he understood why it had been discounted. Talk of an angel with teeth like a lion, almost suggesting it was flying about vengefully to rescue Oscar.
It was crazy. So crazy that a tiny part of him wondered if at least some of it could be true. Not that he believed in angels or anything like that, there was always and would be a logical explanation. It could be drugs or a gas leak at the pool, maybe some sort of stunt gone wrong? When you looked at everything that had happened in Blackeberg and the surrounding areas in the months leading up to the swimming pool deaths, it could only be described as incredibly bizarre. There were multiple unsolved murders, reports of disappearances, and accidents that may not have been accidents due to their similarities. It all somehow seemed to lead up to, and apparently end, with the Swimming pool and the disappearance of Oscar. So much unrelated yet somehow connected. Just one thing that may link it all and at this time, the only possible avenue to explore. That mysterious girl who kept reappearing. No name, no address, just a roughly produced sketch based on half-a-dozen, some questionable, accounts. It was strange that her appearance had changed so little over several years. That was however just another piece of this puzzle.

It seemed like only a matter of minutes had passed from first going into the wardrobe to night falling and waking again. Despite the total internal darkness, Oscar could tell that the sun was completely gone from the sky. He rolled out onto the bedroom floor, still somewhat weak but also surprisingly rested. Feeling drawn to the window, and the coldness of the glass, he walked over and opened it as fully as possible. Oscar looked outside at both the ground below and as far left and right as he could muster. There was nothing and no one. Even the air smelt empty. He wondered what everyone else around them was doing right now. Why they were all too shy to face the darkness. Perhaps they knew, on some level, that he and Eli were here behind these walls and this glass. Maybe they could somehow tell in the back of their minds. Such a thing was impossible of course. When Oscar first met Eli, she came across as a little weird but nothing else. Still, it was somewhat amusing to believe people knew about them and because of this no one would dare come close.
Oscar was so lost in the idea that he jumped in surprise when hearing the front door open in the distance. He had incorrectly assumed that Eli was still sleeping, being unaware she had been out already.
“Hey. Where did you go so early?” he asked as they met half way in the hall.
They both froze on the faded blue carpet, and Oscar felt the thing inside of him jump to attention. It somehow seemed to notice before he did. There was blood under Eli’s bottom lip and a few spots of the stuff on her t-shirt. It was blood that was not her own.
Before he could ask, before he could react, she held up with her arm outstretched the bottle that was being carried by her side.
Outside, the wind was increasing, bending the raindrops into a sideway fall. That was one of the problems with Denmark, it was just as cold as Sweden but with less snow and more rain. Oscar never enjoyed being soaked right through back when he was normal. No problem with the thickest of blizzards, no problem struggling to step through snow so deep it was up to his kneecaps, but rain…no thank-you. Back in Sweden, when he was delivering leaflets, his mother always used to know that if the rain started he would be home late. Oscar would be somewhere, under a tree or stood inside one of the apartment blocks sheltering as if it was acid rain. These days he was the same, not that he had been out much. Could no longer feel the cold but still hated being wet. Especially wet hair, that was horrible. Even when you got somewhere dry, you had to contend with water running down your forehead into your eyes and down the back of your neck. He wondered about Eli, what she thought about snow or rain. Maybe he should ask her, maybe she felt different now compared to when she was still Elias.
Eli was lightly slapping the sides of his face.
Oscar hadn’t really noticed, he felt like he was floating, as if gravity had suddenly been turned off. Somehow his mind had detached from his body and was drifting upwards out through the ceiling, through the top of the building, and then up into the clouds. He couldn’t recall the previous few minutes and felt like his mind had been somewhere else. He squinted with his cheeks tingling and tried to rebuild what had happened. He had heard Eli coming home, he had seen her in the hall, seen blood, thought about the wind outside and about getting wet. Then this…floating feeling. He had missed something, forgotten something. It almost didn’t matter but then it happened again, a burning sensation on both his cheeks. Something was pulling him back to reality.
“Better?”
With difficulty, he opened his heavy eyes and after focusing them, was able to remember where he was. The room seemed brighter than it should be, and he could make-out a blurry Eli sat in front of him. She was holding his head up. On the floor in the corner of his eyes, Oscar could see the empty plastic bottle, torn open and licked clean.
“Did I?” he asked glancing at the mangled plastic, which looked like it had been used as a chew toy by a bored dog.
“Don’t worry about it. You won’t remember the first few times. It takes over…completely.”
“But, what about yourself?”
“I had my share,” Eli replied honestly but not boastfully pointing towards her mouth.
Feeling a bit lightheaded and with ears ringing, Oscar struggled to his feet. Taking a breath they both slowly walked together into the sitting room and to the table. He wasn’t sure if he should thank Eli or not, even know he was eternally grateful for her actions tonight. His hunger was gone, the thing inside him silent, and he was already feeling better. There was only the faintest taste of blood in his mouth, but it had tasted good. The last time Oscar had felt so satisfied was on Christmas when he had been treated to that feast. He took a silent moment to remind himself that the blood had come from a living person. Not to lose sight of the fact someone had died tonight, no had been killed by Eli to keep them both alive.
“How are you?” he asked as they sat opposite one and other.
It was a somewhat stupid question to ask. She had found and killed someone, he knew how she was feeling, and the effect such an act had on her. Eli just shrugged slightly and smiled an empty smile.
“How, I mean…who was he?” Oscar questioned in both genuine curiosity and wanting to cover up his previous dumb question. He watched her briefly glance to the covered window.
“Homeless I think.”
Oscar heard Eli tighten her grip on the chair that she was holding on to. If he was still like what he was before, not like her, he wouldn’t have heard it. Oscar nodded and pretended to wipe a stain off the wooden table’s surface. The blood consumed tonight was still warming his stomach in the best way imaginable – but the cost was clear.
He pictured a homeless man lying, most likely somewhere damp and dirty, most likely hidden away. He couldn’t help wonder how long his body would remain before being found. If anyone even knew him, would miss him or care. The reality of what he was, and what they would need to keep doing to survive sank in a little deeper. Then, as he looked across at Eli, her black hair and wide brown eyes full of life, he began to feel somewhat different. A feeling of astonishment and admiration replaced the concern and guilt. She had survived all this time, done all that was necessary and remained true to who she was.
“Eli, are we ok?”
“Yes, Oscar. We are cool.”
Despite trying to get it correct, her final word still sounded strange. Like listening to your Grandmother attempting to catch up with modern terminology. Oscar smiled and felt the dried blood on his lips crack.

Friday night finally arrived and Oscar opened his wardrobe, looking almost disgruntled at what he saw. His clothes were “okay” but since he no longer felt the cold, he didn’t need layers and fluffy things anymore. He wished he had something really cool to wear for tonight. Like a black leather jacket that a biker would wear. Even if Oscar couldn’t ride a push bike, he was sure he could pull off a jacket like that. Maybe add a few patches from his favourite rock band, if that was something that people who wore leather jackets and rode motorcycles did. At the very least they would be a conversation starter should he get stuck.
In the capital, Amelia was mopping the café’s laminate floor for the third time in a row. Her commitment was not for the sake of cleanliness, but instead to try and pass time. In less than twenty minutes, she was set to meet Oscar in the nearby Efill Park. Ideally she would have preferred to have returned home, to shower and change into something less work-like. However very little in her life could be considered ideal and for her that was the norm. As she switched off the lights that were stupidly seated behind the counter, the next task was to tip-toe across the wet floor without slipping or leaving footprints. Both tasks were somehow achieved and she departed, zipping up her long jacket that perfectly concealed the coffee stained uniform underneath.
The air outside was hugging freezing, colder than it should be for this time of year. A western wind was determined to scoop up small particles of dirt and dust, to deposit on the car windscreens lining the street. Amelia walked, making speed even know she didn’t need to towards the park. Truthfully she felt a bit silly at being nervous, but there was something pleasantly different about Oscar. He was...cool. He seemed...fun. Coming into view in the near distance downhill was Efill Park. Its characteristic cobbled winding paths circled around the large and non-functional geometric fountain. This was their meeting point. Amelia looked at her watch which was just about readable in the pale light. Her timing was perfect. She would have about five minutes to catch her breath and to roughly plan out topics of conversation.
Seconds later she began to feel strange, as if something had caught her eyes but failed to register within. It was a feeling impossible to dismiss and the impact was making her slow down, stop, and now walk backwards. Back a good dozen steps around the corner she had just come from. Then she saw it.
On the building’s bare brick exterior wall was a single poster that looked freshly applied. She leered at it twice, and then once more, before carefully removing it to look even closer under the pale street lamps. The poster was folded into her jacket pocket, then Amelia turned around to make her way home at an even faster pace.

Eli rushed from the sitting room table out to the hall when hearing the front door being opened.
“Hi, sorry it’s only me,” said Oscar apologetically. He knew that she wasn’t expecting him back so soon.
It was a rare and special thing to see surprise on her face. Maybe he should have knocked out his name on the door, but their security had fallen to the wayside since The Connelly Hotel.
“What happened?” she quizzed as they continued into the sitting room.
Oscar saw a few of Eli’s puzzles on the table that she had been occupying her night with. He sat down on the sofa and she joined him waiting patiently for an explanation.
“I was there, at the fountain, but Amelia didn’t turn up. I waited a while, walked up to the café but nothing.”
Eli shuffled in closer, taking his hand to both comfort him and to be comforted. She was a bit saddened that his idea may have come apart before it had even started.
“Maybe you could send her a message…a letter?”
“Yeah, I’ll phone her tomorrow.”
Oscar felt better just being close to Eli. As far as he knew Amelia could have simply forgotten, or something could have come up at the last minute.
“Do you really think she will help us?” asked Eli, who had reservations about trusting her, despite having never met her. Previous personal experience had taught that being truthful about their true nature was rarely a good idea. Look at what happened with Hugo.
“If we show her, if we explain, I mean we can’t keep trying to steal blood, but that other option…maybe. She needs money so that might help,” rationalised Oscar.
He was worried about what would, or could happen should they both ever become too weak to act on their hunger. Worried about Eli relying on her normal methods, even worried about the safety of their seldom heard and never seen neighbours.
The rest of their night was spent in near silence. Both of them were focused on a rather captivating documentary about the solar system and space travel.
“Never know, one day…or night, we might be going to the moon for a holiday,” injected Oscar as the program ended, hopefully believing it could happen. He then gave Eli a small sideways shove.
“Vampires on the moon? Sounds like a bad movie, or maybe one of Keaton’s works.” She rolled her eyes, mocked holding her breath before slowly waving her arms through the air. She returned his shove a little bit harder.
“Eli, how many of us do you think there are? On this planet of course.”
“Well,” she thought. “How many people are on this planet?”
“Roughly…about six and a half billion give a take.”
“Really?” she responded surprised with eyes widening and eyebrows rising.
Amazed at the fact there was a known answer to her question, and also the population had exploded so violently. Eli’s head started to bob around as if looking for all the aforementioned people.
“Then, I would say about six and a half billion of us. Or maybe it’s just you and me,” she continued.

[andmker]

Part 2: Chapters 5 to 7

Chapter Five
Valentines Nights: Part 1

The telephone had rung four times since last night and at all times Amelia opted not to answer, almost as if the handset had been poisoned. It was clear that it was Oscar who was phoning, as no one else really bothered. While part of her wanted to answer and ask for an explanation, knowing where to start escaped reasoning. Instead, Amelia sat on the floor to examine every detail in the poster once more. The bold block capital headline simply read missing and immediately underneath were two monochromatic images side by side. The first was a photograph of Oscar, the other was a rough but professional sketch of an unknown girl. She looked a year or two younger and rather unhappy even rendered in pencil. Below the images was a short paragraph.

‘Persons of interest. Last seen in Blackeberg (Sweden), now believed to be in Copenhagen or the surrounding area. Maybe in danger or being held against their will – should not be approached. Please report any sightings or any information directly to Detective K. Dually on the telephone number below.’

Included also was a description of the pair’s physical characteristics, but it seemed somewhat pointless considering the portraits above. Besides Oscar had been engraved onto Amelia’s memory so vividly that it was simply overlooked. They didn’t include his deep blue eyes or that he smelt of coconut shampoo. Still, she struggled to comprehend, or to even guess, how and why Oscar could be considered as either missing or a person of interest. The last time she saw him, his only concerns appeared to be cooling down with a glass of juice and eating pancakes.

Oscar, completely unaware of the posters, was on the number 3A tram into the city centre. Once again the carriage was near empty as few people had reason to travel at this time of night. Those who were on board were giving him a wide berth. Even the ticket inspector simply walked past him, not making eye contact and ignoring the fact he had his feet up on the seats.
Eli was having a few nights indoors to herself. It was a requirement after killing to come to terms with the act, and to deal with the guilt and remorse. It was not something she wanted to talk about, she would work it out through the puzzles she played with endlessly. Oscar’s plan for the night was simple, enjoy the fun of having his feet on the seats (something he wouldn’t have done previously), and to find an open store. He was the first person to depart the tram when it arrived. As such he endured a few suspicious glances from the other passengers and those on the platform.
It was still strange being back in Copenhagen. This was only the second time since he had gotten shot and things changed. He appreciated how beautiful the city looked at night, he had never really taken the time to look before. All that could wait however as he had another priority on his mind. After randomly walking down the various streets for fifteen minutes or so, Oscar found an open mini-market. Its blue ‘24’ neon sign flickered so brightly that it made him cover his eyes on approach. When he reached the open door and threshold there was a problem and a disappointment.
“Seriously?” he whispered sharply into the air.
The glass door was wide open but inches before, the thing inside of him screamed and slammed on what felt like some sort of emergency break. It wouldn’t let him enter without an invite. At least not without a very loud protest. The disappointment came from the lack of anything physical. He had expected to find a hot wall of heat, some sort of barrier that only he, Eli and others like them could see and feel, instead it was just the thing making him stop dead in motion. An overwhelming feeling to go no further unless he was invited. Oscar shook his head frustrated with this ‘quirk.’ Eli had needed an invite into the swimming pool and to the hospital, but not into a hotel. Oscar didn’t need to be invited into the park, on to a tram or to the station itself, but appeared to need an invite to a stupid shop.
“Should write a bloody manual.”
While in theory he could just walk inside without an invite, to hell with what the thing inside of him felt about it, but having seen the consequences for Eli twice, that held zero appeal.
“Excuse me, can I come in?”
The shopkeeper, who looked like a much older and much more depressed Robin Williams, briefly looked over at him and muttered a weak “yes.” It was not enough, it was not a proper invite.
“Can I come in, are you still open?”
The man rather disinterested shouted a bit louder but again it was a “yes.” Oscar decided to try once more. If it didn’t work this time he would find somewhere else, as being stood at the entrance of a store repeatedly asking if they were open would look very strange.
“Sorry, my Danish isn’t perfect. Can you say that I can come in?” he improvised hopefully.
“Yes, yes, you can come in,” answered the man without giving a second thought to why Oscar didn’t just walk in. His store was clearly open.
Success nonetheless, the thing inside of him stood down, and he stepped over the threshold quickly to avoid suspicion. The shopkeeper took a seat behind the counter and resumed reading a horror comic. Oscar readjusted his senses to the new environment. Some very old music was playing from a single speaker mounted above the door. The kind of music you would hear in a World War Two movie. The entire place was caked with dust, and even at a distance Oscar could smell aromas of urine being projected from the man whose name badge read Boris.
“Where are your cards?”
Boris gestured roughly to the top far left wall and Oscar made his way over to them. Typically they were located opposite the aisle with all the sweets and chocolate. Oscar felt his eyes light up, but then he remembered, don’t even think about it, don’t even try he told himself. He refocused and scanned across six rows of well stocked cards. Most of them belonged to the same category reflecting the time of year.
“Excuse me, do you have any cards with mermaids?”
“Mermaids?” repeated Boris as if he had misheard or something had been lost in translation. “A Valentine’s card with a mermaid?” he slowly shuffled forward in his slippers towards Oscar still trying to comprehend his question.
Oscar took a few steps back as Boris grew closer, having noticed an abnormal number of plasters on his hands and forearms. He hoped the ‘other’ smell would obscure any fresh wounds or blood. He wasn’t here for that.
“Best I can do is a birthday card…with a mermaid. Top right I think.”
Oscar thanked him, and after a few moments of searching he found the card. It was indeed a birthday card with ‘The Little Mermaid’ statue in cartoon form. It would be perfect once carefully cut out and glued on top of another card. He took it, alongside another more conventional valentines card to the check-out, paid the shopkeeper forty Krone and departed.

After much consideration, Amelia resolved that ignoring Oscar’s calls was unfair. She had to give him a chance to explain, and to help if she could. Therefore, when he called back the following night she answered. Oscar was told about the poster, and after a short pause reacted calmly stating that he “hoped it was a good photo.” He promised Amelia that he would explain everything, but that would be much easier to do so in person, Oscar extended an invitation for tomorrow night on February the fourteenth, and Amelia agreed to come to their apartment flat.
Oscar spent the rest of that night doing his very best to clean everything and everywhere so things were sparkling. Recent hunger pains and other events had pushed the basics to the back of his mind. It was somewhat shocking to discover how quickly dust and grime settled into every nook and cranny. He even unplugged the empty fridge, being sick of the constant mechanical moans and cleaned underneath. Tomorrow, much closer to Amelia’s arrival, he would take down the newspapers covering the windows. He didn’t want the place to look weird.
“You want me to be here?” asked Eli briskly with confusion in her voice.
“Yeah, be better if she meets us both. You’ll be better than me at explaining.”
Eli took a double look at the back of Oscar’s head as he jumped up onto the sofa simply to shake off a few cushions. She went to speak but couldn’t find the words to address the presumption that she would be able to explain them better. In the past, she had performed tricks like some sort of circus freak. Usually either for money or to secure blood as a payment. Sometimes other kinds of ‘tricks’ were requested. Usually all rather degrading but necessary to survive. This however was a bit different. Amelia had no idea what they were. Eli had no idea how she would react to a demonstration or the truth. Nonetheless, if it was true about the posters, they could really do with a friend right now.
“Oscar…relax” she instructed watching him use one of his socks to buff up the mirror.
Eli threw him a bright yellow duster as the smell of vinegar defused through the air. Oscar looked at her quizzical expression and laughed before mouthing a silent “sorry.” If only his mother could see him now, cleaning without remonstration, she would wonder what had happened to her Oscar.
Feeling satisfied and oddly proud at the spotless flat, he collapsed down into the sofa. It was just shy of four in the morning, and Eli had escaped to the safety of her tub nearly thirty minutes ago. She fiercely denied him permission to clean the bathtub, quoting firstly that she “didn’t want to sleep swimming around cleaning chemicals.” Then asking “how likely is it that Amelia would want to have a bath?” just to enforce her case.
Oscar set about using his remaining time before sunrise to make, or rather fix, the card for Eli, pulling them both from under the sofa cushions. The first part was easy, cutting out the mermaid from one and glueing it over the teddy bear on the other. The next part was a bit more difficult as the inside of the card read,

‘Roses are red, violets are blue. You’re the perfect girl and I just want to be with you.’

Obviously it was too cheesy for Oscar’s liking and he had an issue with one of the words. After practising on some scrap paper, spending almost as much time chewing on the top of the pen, he improvised a new poem.

‘Roses are red, violets are blue. When all is said – you’re one of the few…and we’ll keep each other fed.’

Admittedly he was a poor poet, nevertheless he laughed to himself reading it back and affixing it in. even more so after drawing a little vampire figure above his poem. The final decision was who to address it to, be it Eli or Elias. He thought this issue had been overcome but didn’t want the card to look or sound weird. Part of him felt embarrassed giving a valentines card to a ‘boy’, part of him felt ashamed thinking that. Eli was both and neither, depending on how you looked at it, but she was happy with whatever. He finally decided on Eli, remembering a previous comment that she had been ‘that’ for much, much longer. Before returning to his wardrobe-bed, he snuck into the bathroom and placed the card carefully on top of Eli’s face.

So far, Detective Dually had received no helpful information from his posters. It was an expected outcome. Very few people tended to care about two missing persons from a different country. He had wasted a week trying to track down who had booked the hotel suite in the first place. Then he was annoying told by a much more junior officer that the name used (Angus A. Trickery) was an anagram for ‘try again sucker’. If it had happened to someone else he would have found it funny. Whoever booked the hotel room took measures to remain hidden. The room was paid for in full before arrival via cash sent through the post. The hotel had requested that the room be paid for by card, however it was claimed the occupant was currently travelling. The few cameras in the hotel were all long out of order due to lack of care. Kevil’s next and possibly last avenue to explore was a dreadfully boring one. He had to go through the CCTV footage of the buses and trams near the Hotel. Maybe one of them spotted something.


Chapter Six
Valentines Nights: Part 2


“What is it?” asked a freshly awoken Eli as she shuffled into the sitting room.
Her eyes were fixed to the front of the card like a cat trying to decide if the reflection in the mirror was another cat or not. Oscar had risen himself only minutes ago. He was currently using his hand to wipe away the fine layer of dust that had secretly settled stealthily on the TV top since last night.
“It’s a Valentine’s Day…err, night card. Today is the fourteenth.”
Eli looked at him blankly as if he was speaking a different language.
“You know? Saint Valentine’s Day? Every February the fourteenth you give a card to your…well someone that you…” Oscar trailed off midsentence not knowing how to finish what he had started.
If he was capable of blushing he would look like a ripe cherry. He had presumed that someone at some point would have given Eli such a card. At least once in two centuries, but alas no.
“Is it something you give to your girlfriend?” she asked taking a shot in the dark while reading and grinning at the poem.
“Or boyfriend,” replied Oscar a bit too eagerly and loudly. “Or your best friend,” he quickly corrected.
Oscar faked a cough to break the silence in the room.
“Do you like the mermaid?” he asked.
“Yes. Yes I do. It’s my mermaid.”
Oscar still held a wonder of disbelief at the origins of that statue in the capital. It was because of Eli it was there in the first place. Her fondness of the mythological creature so many years ago, had led to its construction. Since then the statue had inspired and attracted countless people and stories. None of them had any clue as to its true beginnings.
“I…didn’t get you anything.”
“Don’t worry, you’ve given me enough.”
One of Eli’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly, trying to understand Oscar’s response but the moment passed.
“Is the cartoon guy meant to be me or you?” she asked amused before carefully placing the card upright in the middle of the table.
Oscar laughed at the truth that he was as good an artist that he was a poet. In the middle of that thought, Eli walked over to him. The pair exchanged a clumsy hug, clumsy as Oscar had been expecting a high-five, which he was determined to help her master. While they waited for Amelia to arrive, Oscar took a banknote out of the money stashed behind the bathroom mirror. By that point she was already climbing up towards their flat. Then Amelia knocked in a slightly strange manner, almost a knock of a person who didn’t know how they were meant to knock.
“Ready?” asked Oscar, directing his question at Eli, who was stood at the opposite end of the hall.
She nodded twice then walked backwards into the sitting room. Oscar gripped the door handle.
“Hey,” he spoke before the door had fully opened.
“Hi.”
The pair stood on opposite sides of the door frame some three feet apart. Oscar smiled, and then Amelia smiled. In her case, she pulled back the friendly act before unintentionally taking half a step back. He looked different…somehow, from what she remembered. He was thinner but more muscular, paler but somehow healthier looking, the same Oscar but more. Some seconds later, Oscar realised that they were just looking at each other and that he hadn’t invited her in yet.
“Come in. Come in.”
Amelia enlightened inside and as the door closed behind, she started to remove her jacket. Oscar took it from her, and then regretted doing so as he had nowhere to hang it up. His own new and rarely worn jacket, along with Eli’s which was even more rarely worn took up both pegs. They were as useful as stripes on a zebra and just for the sake of appearing normal when out in the cold.
“How are you?” he asked as they walked slowly into the sitting room.
“Good, good, I suppose. More or less, good,” she answered nervously. “My Granddad is in hospital getting his gallbladder removed, but he should be out by…” she trailed off mid-sentence reaching the middle of the room.
Eli was standing by the table but Amelia had somehow failed to notice her when entering the room.
“Hello,” she spoke surprised.
Eli didn’t answer but instead glanced over to Oscar who was carefully wrapping the jacket over the back of their sofa. They both sat down while Eli remained standing motionless.
“You solved your Rubik’s Cube, that’s…neat,” announced Amelia looking back over at the table feeling somewhat uncomfortable at Eli’s continuing blank leer.
“Did you find us without any problems?” asked Oscar.
“Yeah, I did. Like you said, tram, another tram, walk down, turn left, keep going, over the bridge, and then find your building number.” Amelia turned back to Oscar to answer. “Is she your sister?”
“No” they both replied in perfect unison.
“Oh! The poster,” Amelia proclaimed suddenly having nearly forgotten in distraction.
She leaned over to retrieve it from her pocket inside the jacket. Oscar couldn’t help notice her tight jeans, he didn’t mean to, but this was the first time he had seen her in anything other than the café’s working dress. He didn’t have to look at Eli to tell she rolled her eyes in a comically obvious but non-judgemental way.
Amelia unfolded and handed the piece of paper to Oscar. While his facial expressions and lack of response were impossible for her to decipher, she watched him read the poster several times thoroughly and timely. Once he had done so, Oscar stood up and passed it over to Eli who seemed slightly disinterested, but casually dropped that they “got her hair wrong.” Before sitting back down to Amelia, he waved at Eli to try and encourage her to join them. She took a single step, exactly fourteen inches, forward.
“So, I can’t help notice that you’re not…missing,” Amelia asked as it had been a pressing issue on her mind.
“Well, technically I did leave Sweden without anyone knowing but it was needed. But more important is that the last time you saw me, I was normal…now err, I’m less so,” he tried to explain with his voice quiet.
She quickly scanned over him as if expected. Maybe his eyes had changed colour or maybe he had mysteriously grown extra fingers. There was nothing to suggest anything out of place, at least on the surface. Amelia waited patiently for an explanation from Oscar who went to answer after a deep breath, but before one came…
“How is he going to pee?”
The pair on the sofa looked blankly at Eli with combined confusion. Then recalling what Amelia had mentioned upon entering a few minutes ago, Oscar understood.
“Pee? Not that bladder, Eli.”
He kindly pointed to roughly where a person’s gallbladder is located. When the penny had dropped, Eli mouthed an over emphasised “oh” and raised her arms up in dismay. All three of them laughed and seemed to relax a bit more than before. Oscar wasn’t sure if she was rather uneducated and ignorant of biology, or if she was successfully attempting to defuse any tension. Whatever the truth, it seemed to help everyone in the room and perhaps made Amelia more receptive to what was about to come.
Oscar who had forgotten to ask until now, got up to get their guest a glass of water, regretting that they didn’t have anything better to offer. Even the water was plain and boring, no ice, no lemon. Even so, it was accepted with a kind smile. Amelia thought it was funny that someone was serving her for a change.
“What I meant,” Oscar tried to continue, hoping that Eli would jump in to help but she did not. “Well, do you believe in vampires?”
He could feel Eli’s eyes lock on to him in disapproval at that word. Oscar felt nervous and awkward, as if he was trying to ask Amelia out on a date or something. After his unexpected question, she looked at him blankly before blinking a number of times in quick succession. She was of course waiting for the punch line to the joke.
“As in blood sucking, coffin sleeping, sunlight and garlic hating creatures of the night with long fingernails?”
“More or less, yes,” replied Oscar who heard Eli whisper “less” from behind just loud enough for him to hear.
Amelia didn’t know how to respond, she hadn’t expected him to ask such a silly question with such a serious face.
“To be honest I’ve never really thought about it. Why?”
Oscar who truthfully didn’t know what to say or do next without adding to the confusion, turned sideways to look at Eli. She exhaled noisily before walking over to the sofa and kneeling down on the floor in front of Amelia. Eli rolled her tongue around within its home, pushed her jaw forward slightly, and then appeared to yawn with a closed mouth. Finally, her mouth opened impossibly wide and Eli leaned in closer.
“Are those…are those two rows of front teeth?” she enquired, confused at the sight of Eli’s slightly discoloured fans protruding out of the top of her gums. Amelia was so focused on those teeth that she missed how long Eli’s tongue was at that point.
“Yeah, you see her baby teeth never fell out,” joked Oscar.
“Wh…what?”
Eli snapped her mouth shut before Amelia got too close for comfort. She stood up, took a step back and pointed to Oscar who started to unbutton his shirt.
“Don’t tell me you have teeth growing out of your chest or something?” said Amelia having no idea what to expect now.
Then she saw it.
“What the bloody hell is that?” she asked sharply. It was not that she intended to sound rude, but how else do you react to an open chest wound?
“I got shot,” shrugged Oscar as if it was an everyday occurrence like having a shower.
“What? How, when and by who?”
“It’s a bit complicated. All this might take some time to explain.”
“But it’s a hole in your chest? Why isn’t it bandaged or stitched, why hasn’t it healed? Does it hurt?” bombarded Amelia in a single breath.
She automatically moved closer to him. On some level, part of her wanted to verify that the marble sized cavity an inch above his left nipple was real. There was no need as it clearly was. Even at this distance she could see the depth of the wound that the bullet had curved into him. It reminded her of pumpkin carving many years ago, when she was still a child and her granddad could remember what a pumpkin was.
“It hurts sometimes, less if I leave it uncovered and I don’t play with it,” spoke Oscar bravely.
Amelia felt a shiver down her spine. Eli had moved away at some point without her noticing, and out of the corner of her eye she located her. Eli was in the corner halfway up the wall. She was completely unsupported and unattached to, or by anything, and oh yes, she was upside down. Attached to the wall only by the grip of her fingers and long toes against the plasterboard. Somehow managing to hold herself against the flat surfaces the wrong way around, with her head and hair hanging freely down. Amelia’s mind flipped, refusing to accept what it was seeing.
“That shouldn’t be possible,” her brain repeated on a loop. “People can’t just attach themselves upside down halfway up the corner of two walls like…Spiderman.”
Eli smiled as she slid to the ground. Amelia looked around the room then down at her own feet, looking for some clue that she was dreaming or that this wasn’t really real. She glanced suspiciously at the glass of water before dismissing the thought that it had been tampered with. Besides she had only drunk a few sips.
“That’s not normal, this isn’t normal,” she spoke out loud with the colour draining from her face.
Amelia was on the verge of panicking, her mind strongly suggesting she leave this place and quickly. That instinct however, was being overruled by the want, no, the need to piece everything together, to reach that inescapable conclusion. He had stopped coming to the café during the day, he had only wanted to meet at nights. There were pages of magazines and newspapers on the table. Sellotaped together so they could block out the windows, to block out the daylight. That sketch of Eli, it was old, an old picture, but she was stood in the same room and her appearance was unchanged. Those teeth, they were fangs, actual real pointy and sharp fangs. The question “do you believe in vampires?” they were asking because…they were vampires. Amelia’s mind stopped its monologue. They were vampires. She didn’t know what to do, what to say next.
“Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you. I promise.” Oscar spoke softly, almost sponge like and very slowly shuffled further away on the sofa to give her some space.
Amelia looked up at him. He was stood in front of her so casually doing up his shirt. She was sitting in a room with two vampires, and despite what she had seen, a spanner was still stuck in her mind.
“This isn’t a trick, or a joke is it? You both really are…”
“It’s easier to think of us as people who need blood to live,” contributed Eli thinking it would help somehow. It did not.
“And how exactly do you get blood?” Amelia asked almost frightened to do so.
Neither Eli nor Oscar replied to her question, and she felt goosebumps rushing to the surface of her skin. Amelia looked over to the sitting room door that had half closed in the draft. There was no chance of making it should she choose to try and run.
“You can leave if you want, whenever you want. We just wanted you to know and to talk,” reassured Oscar having noticed her glance to the door.
Amelia actually felt better at that, and after a few short seconds she believed him. Believed that he and Eli, whose attention was shifting more to the television program, would not hurt her. There was just no threat in the air, they both looked like normal harmless people.
“Talk about what?”
“It might be best to wait until next time. We need your help with something but it’s… rather complicated,” explained Oscar. “I understand how strange this seems. I only found out about this stuff myself last year.”
He pulled something out of his trouser pocket, holding it outstretched at arm’s length to Amelia. It was a five hundred krone note.
“Please, take some time to process this. We can meet again whenever you want, maybe somewhere more public. I’ll explain everything.”
Amelia didn’t take the note.
“What if I don’t want to meet you again?”
“Then, you’ll never see us again,” answered Oscar honestly.
“The tram only costs seventy.”
“Keep the rest, or treat yourself to a taxi.”
Amelia was somewhat stunned, her family would never indulge in such a luxury. Even at the suggestion, she could hear her father’s voice speaking one of his many money saving quotes. In this case it would be “there’s nothing you can do in a taxi that you can’t do with your feet.” She carefully leaned forward like she was standing at the edge of a cliff and took the banknote.
“Thanks, I’ll err…give you a call in a few days. Or next week.”
Then Oscar handed her the jacket from the back of the sofa, and they both, with Eli following behind, walked to the front door. Without speaking and feeling confused, Amelia walked out and down the stairs.
“Will it hurt her?” whispered Oscar as he closed the door.
“Somewhat,” shrugged Eli in a vague answer. “But she’ll be well compensated, and you know what the alternative is.”


Chapter Seven

In the fresh and frosty darkness, a man with his characteristic short greyish-brownish hair was walking down the street. Kevil knew his destination and was looking forward to reaching it, but for the moment other things were on his mind.
“Strange day again,” he commented to the air around him.
The stupid case revolving around the Connelly Hotel and Oscar was taking up the majority of his time. It was all just so…weird. There had however been a number of strange events in the recent months that seemed to have one common link between them and that was blood. That was how it started for Detective Dually, the blood at that hotel. Then the unsolved case of Edvard Pederson whose blood had mysteriously ‘disappeared.’ Today the detective had spent his time following up on another report from two paramedics.
“All he took was blood?” he had asked when visiting the hospital to speak to them.
“Yeah, he trashed the back of the ambulance but only took blood,” reinforced Alfred.
The description given matched Oscar exactly. The other ‘girl’ who they had seen, escaped description or to quote Frederic it looked like “…a fucking elf.” Needless to say, it was not unreasonable to presume her identity. It was clear that the pair, for some reason, were after blood.
Kevil stopped to kick off some dried mud caked to his shoes. There was no real need to do so, other than he felt it was impolite to drag the stuff into someone’s place of business. He didn’t mind being unshaven or a bit scruffy looking as long as his shoes were clean, that was a must. He entered and was greeted by a sparsely populated and sweaty smelling environment. Country music was playing (again) and the detective shook his head in disapproval. He took his usual place at the bar on his usual stool. It had taken years of practice to find the ideal space. Somewhere with privacy but not so isolated that he couldn’t get a drink on demand. Somewhere that he could see the wall mounted television without the onslaught of people constantly walking in front.
“Evening detective,” shouted the barman louder than necessary as he approached with his free bowl of mixed nuts.
At that moment a number of customers decided that the frost outside wasn’t really that bad and slid away. Kevil didn’t notice.
“Hello Yester, got coffee yet?”
The barman muttered something under his breath and then poured Kevil a glass of Absinth.
“You’re bad for business.”
The detective looked around before answering.
“No, your beer is what’s bad. Either that or it’s your amazingly poor customer service skills. Or maybe the shitty music?”
“Feeling grumpy tonight?”
“Just a case I’m on.”
“I saw one of your posters yesterday. Do we not have enough unsolved crimes in this country? Need to do the dirty work for those Swedes?” questioned Yester in annoyance as he wiped the bar top clear of spillage.
Kevil tilted his glass for a refill before continuing.
“Please,” he proclaimed. “Most exciting case I had before this one was the mystery of who cut down Mr Noodle’s apple tree. He still phones once a month every month to check on our progress.”
“You think you’ll solve it then?”
“If I do, then I’ll never have to come back to this dump,” laughed Kevil with a wide sadistic smile.
Yester refilled his glass for the third time.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Well, maybe,” exhaled Kevil, “It’s a weird one, people stealing and maybe even killing for blood. Maybe some sort of satanic cult but…that doesn’t really feel right.”
The barman looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching before leaning in closer.
“Or…perhaps it’s the Chinese?”
Kevil swirled his glass to release the pleasant aroma, he knew where the conversation was now heading.
“They’re everywhere these days, they eat everything. Wouldn’t surprise me if they were using it in their cooking. Like cats.”
This was the problem with Yester. He honestly believed that everything criminal that happened was always, directly or indirectly, the fault of the Chinese.
“Yester,” he interrupted. “It’s more likely to be vampires.”
The pair laughed at the notion. While Kevil hadn’t planned on sitting all night, drinking with his barman, he did. After his fifth drink, he was cemented to the bar stool anyway. As the music around him started to sound…pretty damn good, he recalled the old saying “Absinth makes the heart forget.”

It was Oscar’s turn but the game was going equally as bad for them both.
“How about a pineapple or an orange?”
“Oscar, pineapples were not around when I was growing up. Not many countries had them and for a long time people thought they were inedible…like pinecones,” she illuminated.
He was too embarrassed to confess that he once tried to eat a pinecone, but understood her point. This was one of the difficulties playing games like ‘what do you prefer’ or ‘would you rather’ with Eli. Their previous life experiences, what they had eaten and done prior to their respective ‘V-Day’ was radically different from one and another.
“All right, how about a bumblebee or a butterfly?” he asked.
“Bumblebee? Do you not mean a Dumbledor?” smirked Eli.
Oscar threw a tennis ball upwards in frustration. It hit the ceiling and came back down with much more momentum, almost as if it was insulted by his actions of throwing it. They had given each other six questions and each of them had failed five times to successfully answer.
“An Enquake or a Purpose?” asked Eli suddenly with enthusiasm.
Oscar paused confused and looked over at her with a blank expression.
“You know, they’re…horse carriages. So you can transport stuff,” she explained with her voice trotting.
“Horse carriages? Horse carriages?” Oscar attempted to neigh enthusiastically but the sound he produced was much closer to a cat purring. “How on earth do you even know that?” he continued.
“I’ve been on a horse. They were everywhere back then.”
“Unlike pineapples,” joked Oscar.
Eli smiled.
“Have you ever been on a horse since…well, obviously at night I mean,” he followed.
“No,” spoke Eli looking slightly sad for a few moments. “They are scared of us…like cats. They will run for the hills if we get too close to them. Might be something to watch out for.”
Very soon after they decided to abandon the game. It was Oscar’s idea to try something else to pass the night. He was unwilling to force Eli to dig up her past for the sake of entertainment. They had so much in common but at times radical differences between them. Oscar figured they would learn more about each other than they already had, but it would take time. The one thing they seemed to have an almost endless supply of.
“What about chess?” he asked remembering the set that had been left behind by the previous tenants.
“I’ve never played.”
“That’s all right, I’ll teach you,” spoke Oscar eagerly.
He retrieved the set from the top of the kitchen cupboard. The outside was saturated with dampness and the combined smells of countless meals being cooked around it. He took the game into the sitting room and over to Eli who was half-sitting, half-laying on the floor. Thankfully the contents were in a much fairer condition than the box, and Oscar set everything up under Eli’s attentive eyes.
“What figures are mine?”
“All the black pieces.”
Eli nodded, pleased that she was learning a new game, one that could pass many hours. It was a rare and special event, someone in her company taking the time and effort to teach her something. She watched Oscar secretly with loving fascination.
He began his lesson by pointing to and naming each piece in turn.
“This is the king,” followed by the queen which he called “Mrs King.” Then the Knight or “the horse-dude.” The Bishop was introduced as “slit-face,” resulting in Eli tilting her head in confused wonder. His favourite piece the Rook or “LEGO tower,” owing to the brick-like structure. Finally, never being able to think of a better alternative name, the Pawn reserved its right to retain its proper title.
“Porn,” repeated Eli.
“Po…wait, what?”
“You said that one is called the Porn.”
“Not Porn, it’s called a Pawn,” laughed Oscar.
“Yes, that’s what I said…Porn,” insisted Eli annoyed.
Oscar’s laughter amplified as she raised her arms to shoulder height, and held them fully up in the air. As his head became heavy, it dropped forward and Eli punched him softly on his crown. Her retaliation for his laughter which broke her committed concentration to learning the game.
“Okay, okay,” surrendered Oscar taking a deep breath but refusing to lift his head to meet her serious expression. “Think of a Prawn, and then take out the ‘r’ sound.”
Eli attempted one final time and cracked the word perfectly. She was of course insistent that it was absolutely what she had been saying all along. Oscar resumed his teaching with a very patient and attentive Eli. All things considered, they were both feeling rather cheerful. They had for the moment at least, committed themselves to remaining indoors unless otherwise essential. Oscar trying to sneak out at seven o’clock last night to go and buy some new reading material was not. Eli had caught him in the act before the front door was even half open. His excuse that his bullet wound was “sore and itchy,” fell flat. Remaining inside while those ‘missing’ posters were doing their rounds was still a sensible precaution. They should be worried that the named detective was trying to find them, or be concerned that Amelia would never come back. They were not.
“Eli? What happened to Albin’s body?”
She stopped with her queen in mid-air, her eyes snapped to attention.
“In what aspect are you meaning?”
“Well…I know he’s dead, unless he can fly. But surely it would have looked weird. The way he fell out the window. It’s still your move by the way.”
Eli’s eyes widened and she placed her queen down on a random square.
“Indeed. He fell from a great height. Is that what you mean?”
“Yeah, I suppose. I thought that he would have been in the newspaper or something when they found his body. It must have been a mess.”
The side of Eli’s mouth pulled up almost into a smile. Oscar didn’t really need to know that she had made him pay for what he did to them. It was however a bit strange. His body being found after her actions, it should have been big news.
They spent the remainder of the night in lessons and games. Before dawn broke, Eli had picked up the principals nicely. While she hadn’t managed to win a game yet, she was giving him a good run for his money. Not bad for someone who knew nothing about Chess six hours ago.
“Oscar. We’ll need to feed again soon.”

[andmker]

Part 2: chapters 8 to10

Chapter Eight

   In a small café near the Danish capital, the lunchtime rush was coming to an end and a random regular customer was complaining in the politest way.

              “Sorry Emily, I ordered the grilled cheese decker, not a blood pudding with dark sauce. Also, I think this is a fresh cranberry juice instead of…you know what, it’s all right. I’ll just eat it, saves waste.”

              The customer prodded the bun with her fork. Amelia twitched a smile and threw in a nod before walking back behind the counter and slumping down on its cold surface. She was too distracted to really care about the mistake, or that the woman had gotten her name wrong once again. She was going to let the customer know that she had a large oak tree leaf stuck in her hair, but it didn’t seem important.

              Three nights ago, Amelia discovered that vampires were real and that she had been in the company of two of them. It still felt like a strange dream, with her mind questioning if what happened actually happened. In some aspects, it would have been easier to accept that the Earth was flat or the moon was made of cheese. Oscar and Eli had trusted her with this secret knowledge, they were introducing her to their world. She looked over at the woman enjoying the blood-pudding and shivered. Amelia couldn’t help remember what Eli had said. “Think of us as people who need blood to live.” That notion filtered through her, maybe she was set to be their next meal.

              “No,” she spoke out loud to herself. “That doesn’t make sense. I mean they could have…when I was there. If they wanted to, they would have done it.”

              Most of her shift that day was concerned with thinking about what was until very recently mythological matters. Amelia looked much closer at each and every customer with suspicion, just in case. Especially the one’s wearing big thick jackets, hats and gloves in this mild weather. Especially if there was any suggestion that they might have sharp and long fangs behind their lips. Sometimes not knowing everything was worse than knowing nothing. A few days to adjust and get used to the new reality wasn’t enough when she was working every day. Next week she would contact Oscar once more to try and find out more, and of course to see him again.

              Until then, she would work, study, and look after her Granddad. Maybe at some point listen to a bit of music. Something easy on the ears like, well, Amelia couldn’t think of anything off hand. It was pointless as she knew it was more likely that any spare time would be spent sleeping. Maybe she would wake up from this dream.

              Almost at the exact same time Amelia was seeing vampires everywhere, Police Detective Kevil Dually was treating himself to a special coffee. The blend itself was brought back from Rio nearly a decade ago when he was on his last international holiday. It was dark, delicious and smoky smelling like bliss. The bag was still half full as it was only used when Kevil wanted to reward himself. Today was one of those days.

              Everything had proceeded perfectly normally up until the early afternoon. Another officer had slipped on the wet floor, twisting his ankle and walked home early in pain. Kevil’s own feet were always swollen and sore, but complaining about minor matters was against his nature. Besides he had finally made a breakthrough in what was now commonly known as the ‘bloody hotel case.’ All the coffee in Brazil couldn’t temp him away from his desk this afternoon.

              “Un-bloody-believable,” he had exploded with a cheerful grin.

              He had spent a week chasing down and making copies of a dozen or so CCTV videotapes every one which he could get his hands on from the buses, trains and trams that had a stop anywhere near the Connelly Hotel. It had been a long shot to be honest. Some of the cameras didn’t work and some of the tapes had already been recorded over. There was also the real possibility that they used other modes of transport such as a private vehicle, or even simply walked to get there.

              Then on one of the last tapes, and after countless hours of fast-forwarding, a bit of success. Captured by a camera overlooking the tram’s doors were Oscar and the unknown girl embarking at a station roughly south and disembarking at the stop nearest the hotel. Having established a rough although large area of where they might be living had been the first step, presuming they didn’t take multiple trams to throw him off. Then taking into account the death of the local shopkeeper Edvard, and where those paramedics attended to their ‘Oscar’ casualty and the ‘elf’ narrowed that area down somewhat. The proud feeling detective hoped he was getting closer to knowing their whereabouts. After all, there weren’t exactly a huge number of buildings down there. It was mostly fields.

           “Mushrooms?” blinked Oscar trying to contemplate such a bizarre hobby.
    It had been Eli who had started the conversation. Oscar had been content to sit in silence, to wait for the sun to fully set. He knew their intentions for tonight and felt that such a sinister act warranted some sort of resolve. Naturally, Eli could tell he was apprehensive. All she had to do was look at him.
  “Why mushrooms?” he eventually asked.
              Eli straightened her back and stretched her neck from side to side. Like Oscar, she knew what the night ahead of them held. This was a first for her as well, but he needed it as much as she did. More importantly he needed to learn.
              “I thought they were awesome. With all their different shapes, sizes and shades of colour.”
              “You just picked them?”
              “Indeed. Climbed out of my window each morning when there was enough light. Ran over to the edge of the forest and looked for the best ones.”
              For some reason the concept entertained him. His friend used to collect mushrooms as a hobby. Oscar’s own childhood activity, collecting empty soda cans, now seemed somewhat less silly. At one point he had about fifty, all different brands and designs, some even from different counties. That was until his mother binned them outside one day when he was at school. She was worried he would cut himself and get tetanus or something.
              “That’s pretty cool and…cute,” Oscar replied after vividly picturing a young Elias scanning the forest floor in the half light.
              He could feel her eyes burning into the side of his head.
              “Cute?” she questioned with withering surprise.
              “Yeah, kind of. It sounds fun. You don’t often speak about those days.”
              “No, I don’t remember that much. It was a very different world.”
              A world that had gone from mushrooms, castles and horses to concrete buildings, metal flying birds in the sky and spaceships. But Oscar knew Eli better than that and knew there was a bit more. The truth was that she often preferred not to remember. He didn’t blame her, and tried to imagine how he would feel two hundred years from now. When everyone he ever knew, his parents and few friends, had long died and turned to dust. When the world was filled with talking cats, teleporters, and meals that came in gas form.   
              The two of them glanced at each other. It was time. In silence they departed the flat and walked down the flight of steep stairs much slower than normal. There was plenty of time to catch the number nine tram.

 
Chapter Nine: Part 1
 
The air outside smelt sweaty with the clouds above dark and angry looking. You noticed things like that when you were Oscar. He had always been that way, too many hours on too many days spent outside while his mother was at work, with nothing to look at or to do. His imagination wasn’t letting him forget all that time ‘cloud-watching.’ Then again perhaps he was just trying to distract himself from what was happening right now.

A drunken man, nearing the age of fifty but appearing much older, was struggling to return home. He was finding the task of walking in a straight line along the pavement deadly difficult. Instead, his main focus was singing very badly. It was some sort of English tune that Oscar did not recognize.

“Show me the way to go home, the way to go…” he burped then staggered a few steps in every direction. “I’m tired and I want to go to bed.”

The merry man was completely unaware that Eli and Oscar were following behind, ghost-like in his footsteps. At a respectable yet menacing distance.

“I had a little drink, a big drink, about an hour ago.” One of his shadows moved in a few steps closer. “And I can’t mind what I said,” the man continued.

He approached the corner, and stopped to catch his breath, before turning off to a side path. A short distance in the foreground were six steep wooden steps that presented a problem. Dmiral had nearly fallen down them countless times, everyone who came this way tended to shuffle down the grass banks to either side. They were because of this nothing less than muddy ski slopes. Dmiral had fallen flat on his back countless times and slid down the mud. It was always a difficult decision even when sober. Take the steps that you might fall down but really hurt yourself if you do so, or take the grass bank to almost definitely fall down, mess your clothes up but only get a few bruises.

“Nearly home,” he spoke warmly remembering that a half bottle of wine was waiting for him. It was red wine and his nightcap, the stuff always made him sleepy.

Unfortunately, before he had even considered taking another step, something jumped on to his back. It wrapped around him like a giant cobra. The man tried to call out, but his mouth was tightly closed. Seconds later and still in a state of confused shock, Dmiral lost his balance and tumbled down the steps. The thing that had jumped him flexed and squirmed as he fell, ensuring that he landed hard on his head. The sound of bone on stone echoed in the most displeasing way, forcing the sleepy crows in the nearby trees to flee.

Eli exhaled a slow remorseful breath, which she repressed out of necessity. She looked around to ensure that no one else had seen the act.

“Oscar,” she whispered into the darkness before dragging an unresponsive Dmiral into a rhododendron bush.

He approached rather reluctantly feeling very conflicted. Oscar was dressed like a common burglar. Black jogger bottom, a thin black jumper, and a faded black hat which was failing to completely conceal his scruffy blonde hair.

“Is he…dead?”

“No. not yet,” answered Eli.

Oscar had somewhat lost his taste for this. It was true that he and Eli needed to feed, true that he didn’t want this sinister requirement to be only her responsibility. All that was good and nice to think about, but being here now was making it very…real. As she sat huddled on the ground next to the man’s heaped body, Eli beckoned for him to come closer.

“But do we have to kill him?”

“Oscar!” snapped Eli sharply.

He quickly joined her on the ground faster than he thought was possible. Eli took a moment to recompose herself before continuing.

“No, we don’t,” she spoke. “We could take two or three pints from him. He would likely live…but we would have to repeat this every week or so. More could die that way, and if we took too much, we would have to kill them to ensure they didn’t become like us.”

Oscar looked at the drunk man, who was breathing shallow breaths, with a doubtful expression. His personal nature was fighting against the thing inside of him.

“I can wait longer. It’s not as bad as last time,” he commented in reference to his hunger.

Eli looked up at him strong-eyed and determined.

“You need to do this with me now, or you won’t be able to restrain yourself with Amelia.”

Oscar still hesitated, and then saw a flash of anger encompass every part of his friend’s face.

“This is what we are, this is what we need to do to survive,” she shouted standing up and looking down at him. Oscar couldn’t help but think how much taller she looked at that moment.

“Do you think I enjoy this?” she grabbed him by his arms and pulled-pushed him closer as Dmiral let out a faint moan. “If you can’t do this, you won’t last six months. If you won’t do this, then I’ll…I’ll tie you up and feed you blood. I’ll even stick it in a bottle of cola if it helps.”

Oscar stopped to gather his thoughts, while he lacked the resolve to do this there was no choice. Eli hated this, but had managed to do it countless times.

“How do I live with doing this to someone?”

Eli appeared to melt back to her normal self, contemplating his question.

“You do it as seldom as you can manage. Whoever or however you pick, you make it fast. Don’t make them suffer.”

Her tone and pace almost hypnotized him. There was no other way and even what they had planned with Amelia may not be enough.

Oscar curled his toes, cracked his neck and licked his lips.

“Do I just bite and…suck?” he stuttered in hesitation.

Eli pointed towards the centre of his chest holding back a smirk.

“Let it guide you, it will keep you right.”

He attempted to swallow the reality of his new biology, but it got stuck in his throat. Still, it was time. Oscar took a deep breath. The grass was damp and smelt faintly of weed killer. In the deep distance, he could hear a truck passing, or maybe it was one of the older trams. “This is it,” he said to himself. “I’m sorry whoever you are,” he thought as hard as he could, hoping that somehow the man could read his mind.

Eli pulled Dmiral’s neck straight, then undone the top few buttons on his faded beer-stained shirt.

“It’s just like biting into a soft apple,” she said attempting to reassure that there was nothing to it.

Then, at almost the same moment, they both bit into opposite sides of his neck. It was like they were sharing a freaky large blood-flavoured milkshake with a skin. The man gave no indication of awareness of his grim fate.

With their faces inches apart, Oscar could hear Eli lapping and sucking with eager but not enjoyable resolve. He on the other hand did nothing. His teeth were lodged into Dmiral’s neck for appearance’s sake only. The thing inside of him that commanded its (and his) need for blood, felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. It knew how very close it was to getting what it desired the most.

“Blood, blood, blood,” it screamed almost in perfect rhythm to the man’s wavering heartbeat.

While Oscar was battling to remain in control, not to give into the thirst and to try and fake the act, Eli noticed. She reached over and pinched his nose shut with two fingers. Oscar automatically swallowed and the blood began to flow.

It tasted different from the last time he drank. Fresher and warmer compared to the blood Eli had brought him back in the plastic bottle. It wasn’t as enjoyable as someone might believe. Undertones of digested alcohol and something else that reminded him of cherry cough medicine. After a few mouthfuls, Oscar lost himself. The thing took over completely, dissolving him into what can only be described as a waking sleep.

Time passed, maybe seconds or maybe minutes, with his body acting independently from his mind. The next thing Oscar knew was when he was standing about a metre back. He could feel dribbled blood caking onto his chin, and his gums were pulsing as if they wanted to escape his mouth. The way his body was reacting to feeding was extraordinary, the last time he felt anything close to this was when he was still at school. Tommy had forced him to drink a cup of concentrated lemon juice, to which he had added salt, pepper and vinegar to. The two situations didn’t really compare to each other, yet they had one thing in common. The knowledge of what had just been drunk.

Dmiral was dead at their hands. The top of his shirt was blood splattered, both sides of his neck chewed on, and his eyes half opened-half closed. They contained not a look of horror but a look of confusion. Oscar looked down at him and felt a sense of guilt unlike anything previously experienced. He wanted to hug the man, or at least try to revive him, even knowing there was zero chance with every drop of blood now in his and Eli’s stomach. Oscar wanted to wipe his chin but didn’t dare. Then he looked at Eli.

“What are you doing?”

She didn’t answer as her attention was elsewhere. Then Oscar heard some coins rattling around in the man’s pockets, Eli was robbing him. Two gold rings, both old and battered looking, and three banknotes totalling three hundred krone. He had forgotten this happened. Forgotten that this was one of her ways to get money. Oscar’s guilt grew, thinking that everything in their flat, all the food he used to eat, and even the very boots on his feet came from the money of the dead. Eli had done this for years, as well as her previous acquaintances like Haken, robbing their victims. This or a more…disturbing way. Everyone needed money, or to be more precise money had helped her get blood in the past. Oscar shivered, contemplating if he would ever need to do what Eli had previously done to survive. It was a miracle that she was still so normal.

No, this was too much, too real. He had become accustomed to this life all too easily. Eli had been shielding him from the truth, from THIS. Drip feeding him parts and pieces over the previous weeks. He had thought she wasn’t teaching him anything, or taking time to explain anything. The truth was that Eli had been slowly adjusting him to things since day one. Trying to break everything down into more palatable chunks. There was no way to break down this basic requirement. What he was and what he would need to do. Oscar’s idea, should Amelia be willing, really had to work. It really had to be enough, it really had to stop this from happening.

He spent an unknown duration of time looking at Dmiral, never wanting to forget his face. Then with his heart in his throat, he felt the need to be somewhere else right now. Oscar jumped over the dead man and a still crouched down Eli who was doing up his shirt and started to run. Oscar didn’t know it, but what she was doing was part of her apology to both her victim and those who would find them. It had been something that she had committed to doing nearly a century ago. When societies attitude had changed from discarding the dead like empty carcasses, to actually respecting the departed person’s body. 

“Always leave them looking respectable.”

Oscar ran as fast as he could, aiming for the woods in the distance, just because they were there. Eli could have easily caught him but conversely chose not to. He leapt through the air like a springbok with his feet barely touching the soft ground. Eli finished turning Dmiral’s pockets back the correct way around and closed his eyes. She was content that her usual habit, except for what she did to Albin’s body, was complete. Despite the physical injuries resulting from feeding, as well as her actions to ensure no chance of accidentally turning someone, they could keep their dignity.

Oscar entered into the collation of trees. It was much darker, not that it mattered to his eyes, but his nose was suffering with the smells. Sickly pine, tree bark, sap and the decay rising from the ground from three inches of fallen leaves. The aroma of mushrooms, which previously he didn’t know had a smell at all, reminded him of Eli’s childhood hobby. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. Oscar ran in a clumsy manner, distracted in his attempts to remove his clothing while in motion. His black hat was thrown against a tree to his left. The thin jumper was removed over his head skilfully with one arm while the other kept his balance, was thrown into the branches. Oscar threw himself into the air, trying to untie his bootlaces but failing. He landed with his back taking the brunt of the impact against a thick tree root. The thud echoed around him but it didn’t matter.

He yelled out in frustration being unable to undo a simple knot. Instead, he twisted and turned his ankles forcefully and unnaturally until he could slide his feet out. They both cracked in objection, popping out of their respective sockets. Finally, putting the pain to one side, his boots were off. His black jogger bottoms followed, and along with his socks, were kicked high into the air scaring away a grey squirrel.

Oscar attempted to stand but fell forward landing face-first on his forehead. He felt a warm and wet sensation trickling down his face. With bewildered ignorance, he reached down having forgotten that both of his ankles were dislocated. Oscar discovered that night that trying to straighten and pop them back into position by yourself was difficult and painful. He kept trying, after all he endured worse from being bullied, he was used to some pain. Even so, by the time he managed, he was trembling and sucking his own blood from his lower lip which he had bitten into. His ankles had swollen so much that they now looked like small melons. If they weren’t so sore, it would have been funny.

Amazingly and with determination, he made it back onto his feet and resumed running deeper into the woods. More like hobbling eccentrically. As the density of the trees increased, Oscar was unable to avoid the sharp bare branches. They started to scrape and cut open his skin with anger, but he kept going as fast and as far as he could.


Chapter Nine: Part 2

A set of three candles flickered softly in the draft caused by the badly fitting window glass. The atmosphere in the room was damp, unnaturally damp. The kind of dampness that attached itself to every surface it could find. There were two people, both of whom were wrapped up like they were on a polar expedition.

“Then she lifted herself up onto the rock. It was difficult at first, but slowly as her skin dried in the sun, her tail turned into a pair of legs.”

The winter’s night had been long and cold, and Elias was hungry having eaten only a bowl of nettle soup with an ear-sized piece of pork today. She had however been looking forward to this and the woman continued to speak.

“The mermaid watched the passing ships. It was both amazing and saddening, as they were all sailing across the world while our mermaid was stuck.”

“Did she wave at those on board the ships?” interrupted Elias. She dared not move when asking her question. Knowing to do so would let cold air enter his bed.

“Yes Elias. She waved as hard as she could at all those on board. The passengers, the crew, the stowaways, even the rats waved back.”

Elias laughed at the idea, just briefly so as not to disturb her sore stomach. Her mother resumed the story like so many other nights previously. That mermaid had so many adventures, but sadly Elias couldn’t remember most of them. She had once upon a time, planned to write them all down, but things always got in the way. No one he knew at the time could write so no one could teach her. Paper and ink was expensive, and by the time all that changed a lot of years had passed and the stories told were forgotten.

While Eli waited for Oscar to return, her mind focused even more on trying for about the thousandth time to force her memory to recall more. Maybe one day they would come back to her. Eli had considered making up her own stories about that mermaid, but it felt disrespectful to her mother. Besides she could never do it justice.

 
After spending the last hour fighting with the trees, Oscar was walking back to their flat wearing only his underwear. What did it matter? It’s not like he felt the cold, it’s not like anyone else was around. The cuts and scrapes over his body had already healed, his ankles improving with every careful step. He carried his clothes, minus his socks which even his eyes couldn’t find, entirely under his left arm. Wrapped up like a messy fabric basketball. There was no blood on them, not even a single drop, but they smelt of blood…the man’s blood. Oscar wanted to throw them away, into the river, or into any bin but couldn’t. He felt somehow that doing so would be an insult to the man who had just died. No, not died, who they had just killed to keep them alive. Oscar would keep the clothes that he had worn tonight forever, not even wash them. They would go in a bag so he would never forget. These were the clothes he opted to wear the first time he took a life.

The walk was long, longer than it should have been. His main focus was on ignoring the thing inside of him which was purring pleased at the blood swimming around it. He walked past Edvard’s old shop which was still boarded up. He walked past the one home that had been painted a pale shade of blue. Then the random blocks of flats, like his and Eli’s, that were dotted around. When he first came here he noticed all the details. The faded white pressed concrete blocks, the style of architecture. The details no longer seemed important, they hadn’t since his change. He no longer looked. All those windows, most of them never illuminated, maybe even one less now if Dmiral was local.

Finally, as he drew closer to home, he knew that he was no longer alone. Eli was sitting on the step outside the communal entrance, she was sitting with her legs crossed and her fingers interlaced together. She didn’t look annoyed or angry, just her normal self, waiting for his return. He sat down next to her and exhaled so much that he felt as if he was shrinking.

“Not what you expected?”

“No, not at all, kind of like Star Wars,” answered Oscar.

Eli tilted her head back and looked up at the star filled sky rather confused.

“I meant…never mind. It’s a…movie.”

The pair looked out to the landscape, it was deadly silent. Nothing and no one, not even a bird above. Eventually, Eli took his hand and he felt the softness of her skin on his.

“Does it ever get easier?”

“No.”

It wasn’t the answer he had hoped for, but Oscar had guessed that was going to be the case.

“Maybe it’s better not to feed like that. Just let the thing inside me take over, at least that would mean it wasn’t really me doing it, like as if…”

Eli suddenly squeezed his hand much harder.

“That’s not better, that’s never better,” she announced sharply. “The thing inside you won’t distinguish, won’t give a second thought to how and who it gets blood from. It doesn’t care who it feeds on. That is worse.”

Oscar lacked the energy to respond. He knew what she was meaning, and that she was likely perfectly correct. His mind however refused to entertain anything else to do with the idea of having to feed again. He wanted to change the subject to something different, anything different, and something else to focus on. Oscar looked at Eli’s leggings. They were not quite long enough and her ankles and a little more were exposed. Her skin was splattered randomly with flecks of mud, it was very artistic. Almost like someone had shot her with a paint gun. Then he asked something that he had never asked before.

“Eli, why did the person who made you a Vam…I mean, like you are now, why did they do what they did to you?”

Oscar was referring to when Eli was still a boy, when she was Elias. The question of gender had long since passed, it didn’t matter to him. Eli was his best friend, what was or wasn’t between her legs wasn’t important. What he couldn’t understand was why someone would do that to him in the first place. Eli was such a caring, compassionate, loving and fun person it angered him when he thought about someone mutilating someone in such a manner. It seemed to be an insult on top of an insult. Not enough to make Elias a vampire, but to choose to do ‘that’ to him as well, to remove their gender.

Eli looked at him unsure how to respond, she hadn’t been exactly sure what he was asking. It wasn’t until Oscar’s eyes gestured downwards that she was sure.

“Oh,” she spoke. On any other day, Eli would have tried to make a joke. Perhaps along the lines of “Why Oscar? Thinking of becoming Olivia?” Tonight owing to their actions, she decided not to.

Oscar waited, knowing or at least expecting, that her answer would most likely be along the lines of “because he did, and that’s just the way it is.” He would have been happy with such a response. He would have achieved his objective, to think and focus on something different. After staring vaguely ahead at the path Oscar had just walked up for a short time, Eli continued.

“I guess. He thought it would be funny. I guess I’ll never know.”

Oscar frowned trying to comprehend what he had just heard. He could almost accept that her maker removed Elias’s sex organs to enforce how cruel or evil he was. But to do it to be funny or because he thought it would be funny?

“You saw what happened. I showed you before.”

He felt his heart sink and his entire body become weak. Eli had shown him the memory, shared the experience. He had physically seen and felt what it was like from behind her own eyes. It was a ‘trick’ that she thankfully didn’t practice too often. Be it her memories of meeting with Albin, or how Elias became Eli, it was always very confusing. To have someone else’s memory from more than two centuries ago in your head. Oscar closed his heavy eyelids. Almost automatically he began to relive what had happened to Eli. Since Blackeberg it had been pushed to the back of his mind. Now, he couldn’t help it.

He, Eli…Elias, was being forcibly held face down on a wooden table. It was night, just, and everyone was out in a grass field near a river. His mouth had been bound with a length of rope, his arms tied to the underside of said table with more rope. Oscar-Elias or for simplicity ‘Oscar inside Elias’s head’ was naked. Two men were standing by him. One had a wig and who was the one who had selected Elias out of all others. The other one looked funny or at least a man who thought he was funny. It was cold and something felt strange. There was a hole roughly in the middle of the table and his genitals were dangling down. The fat funny looking man had a small bowl in one hand and a knife which he was warming in the fire, in the other. Oscar struggled without avail, tried to free himself, tried to call out but couldn’t. Then the man disappeared under the table. Then came the pain.

A few years ago, while hunting for awesome looking mushrooms and long before ever setting eyes on this castle he had been in today, Oscar had slipped breaking his wrist and forearm. It had been the most painful thing he had ever experienced until now. What was happening now, under the table made that feel like breaking a nail in comparison. Red hot burning and slicing cutting into his groin, pain beyond any comprehension. Pain that paralysed every fibre of his being, making every part of him scream out independently. It radiated throughout him, it felt like the blade of the knife was gutting him like a fish. If it wasn’t for being bound, he would be screaming so loudly it would wake the country. It seemed to never end. Then, out of the corners of his eyes, which were water falling, he saw the fat man come out from under the table. The bowl was being carried carefully, there was something inside it. A small volume of blood could be seen swirling around, and something was bobbing around in the bowl making a splashing sound. It was given to the man in the wig who raised it to his mouth with a pleased look and then…

Oscar practically jumped on Eli wrapping his arms around her. He didn’t want to let her go having managed to pull himself out of her memory. He buried his face into her black hair. Oscar reminded himself that what he had seen and felt really had happened to Eli and not him. It was her memory but knowing that didn’t really help. At least now he understood more if not completely what she had meant. The man who did it to her, to him, was ‘funny looking’ and honestly believed the vile act would be funny. He had enjoyed doing it to Elias. Making her a vampire, knowing that Eli would spend the rest of her existence physically and emotionally mutilated by every possible definition of the word. That man took everything from Elias. No doubt hoping to make him as evil and as dead inside as himself. He had failed to achieve his goal.

“I’m sorry Eli.”

Oscar felt worse, yet better about what had happened. About what they had done tonight. He put it down to the thing inside of him retreating in intensity. Or maybe just because he was so tired.

“You’re going to keep the clothes? To remember I mean.”

Oscar turned in surprise.

“You knew I was going to?”

“Yes.”

“Is that weird?” asked Oscar. “Keeping the clothes but not wearing them again?”

She didn’t answer. Just resumed looking into the distance. Oscar could tell she had a smile. Eli knew him, she really did. Perhaps her disconnect with fashion and the randomness of what she wore, had more to it than he thought. They both knew that the sun would start to rise soon. It was like a bad smell, like rotted meat being carried in the air. So bad it made you want to run away and they would soon.

“How do you manage to…keep going? To keep doing this after so much time?”

Eli nodded at the question then looked at him magnificently. She put her hand in her left shirt pocket and pulled out a small neatly folded napkin. Oscar had seen it a few times before, always in her possession, but never given it much thought.

“Hold out your hand,” she instructed.

It dropped down from the napkin into his palm. Eli slowly closed his fingers around it.


Chapter Ten

It was the night of the twenty-fifth and so far a currently uneventful Sunday. However, if you asked Amelia, she would struggle to recall the month or even the year right now. She had other things on her mind. Under her arm, folded neatly inside a brown paper bag was the Danish flag. Amelia was standing outside the entrance to Oscar’s and Eli’s apartment building looking upwards at the exterior. Even if she hadn’t been here before, it was rather obvious which compartment was their home. A double window coated with more layers of newspaper than you would find icing on a rich cake. That was their sitting room, which was where they sat, watched television and did whatever else vampires did. Climbed up walls for...fun or something like that. To the right and along the wall was a small rectangular window which would be the bathroom. It wasn’t covered as such, but was made of frosted glass. Amelia guessed it was fitted high enough and was thick enough to block out the sunlight, but honestly she didn’t know. It did seem somewhat strange. To have frosted glass on a window three stories up on a building that faced nothing but…still. While Amelia hadn’t seen the bedroom yet, she speculated the window that was facing out round the side of the block was also well covered.

That was her reason for bringing them the flag. A gift that would make the windows look less suspicious, especially their front-facing glass. No one would have reason to question the country’s flag being proudly displayed, and no one would know it still had layers of newspaper hidden behind it. From what Oscar had told her, they couldn’t risk any exposure to daylight. She smiled slightly bringing to mind how Oscar had described the sun and daylight, his words were almost poetic even if they were used to describe something deadly.   

As Amelia’s feet grew colder from standing still for so long, she took a deep breath and ran her free hand nervously through her hair. Gifting a flag wasn’t the main or only reason for her visit. That was mostly a necessary distraction. She was here to give them something much more precious. Before entering the block, Amelia recalled the only piece of advice given to her by Oscar.

“She says it will help. Having a good meal a few hours before coming. Eli knows from previous experience I guess. Get a Burger King or something, you can tell me how good it is.”

In hindsight, Amelia with a mostly empty stomach wished she had stopped to heed what was said. The situation was absolutely astonishing, she wanted to help and she knew the consequences if she had refused. Granted the idea of saying ‘no’ didn’t really occur at any time.  What Oscar and Eli were offering in return for her help was merely a bonus. Amelia was not that sort of person. She would help anyone with anything. More so a person she cared for. Like Oscar.

The previous week…

Oscar was sitting at the dining room table on the chair facing the door out to the hall. Since waking from the wardrobe, his time had been spent attempting to beat his ‘swinging’ record. The challenge, in theory, was easy. One hand on the tabletop, one hand on his forehead, and then only one chair leg on the ground. You had to swing, pivot and balance the other three legs in the air without falling off, or letting another leg touch the ground. His previous record, achieved back in Blackeberg, was an impressive three minutes and fifty seconds. Tonight, after half a dozen attempts, two of which had resulted in him completely losing his balance and falling to the floor, he hadn’t even come close to that. His vampire reflexes counted for nothing when he was so distracted. He would of course insist to any onlookers that his failures were down to the chair leg, which was creaking and cracking having to support his entire weight by itself.

“I can’t focus, I keep thinking it’s going to break.”

That would have been a lie. Three things were on his mind demanding his attention. Last night he and Eli had fed on Dmiral, and Oscar was suffering with the guilt. It was why, most likely, she was still in her bathtub, wrapped up and hidden away from the world. Eli would get up eventually, smile and be brave about it. She had done this many, many times before. On one hand, she had made peace with the act of killing as there was no other way, and as she had informed him, Eli had methods of trying to minimise the guilt and deal with it. At the same time, she hated having to do it.

That was the second thing on his mind. Finding a better way of surviving. Meeting Amelia again, who had phoned less than an hour ago and asked Oscar to come and see her tomorrow night. The timing was sort of ironic as both he and Eli had fulfilled their respective hungers. At least Amelia would be safe from any potential takeover from a starved Oscar. At least he would have the drive, focus and determination to explain things to her as completely and as honestly as possible. Try to make the next ’Dmiral’ as far into the future as was possible.

The final thing on his mind was what Eli had given him yesterday. What she had dropped into his hand like it was a sweet. It was on the table in front of him right now. It was the bullet that he had been shot with.

Small, shiny and stupid. The thing that had nearly taken his life, the thing that would have taken his life if it was not for Eli. When Albin’s final living act was to loosely fire his gun into the air, Oscar had gotten in the way of the bullet. Since that day, Eli had kept it.

“I thought you would find it…cool,” she explained while they were sitting out on the doorstep.

Oscar did agree, more or less. He felt humbled that she had saved it for him, even more humbled that she had kept it on her, near to her heart since.

“So, this keeps you going?” he questioned. “Things like this?”

Eli had looked at him with a bit of surprise and a bit of sadness. He had failed to appreciate the significance of what she had dropped into his hand. She simply smiled and reluctantly allowed him to keep it, for a short time, as they withdrew from the approaching sunlight. Eventually he would understand. Eli kept going because of him. He made her existence worthwhile. Before Oscar, she held no joy, no happiness, only surviving and no more. He had thought her how to be a person again, not just a creature that killed. She kept going because a tiny part of her always believed that one day she would meet someone like him. That tiny part that helped her remain true to who she was, in spite of everything she had done and seen. Once, back in the sixties, Robbie had said something to her.

“You’re a boy girl freak who’s nothing and only good for killing.”

Ironically, despite his hurtful comment, he was interested in something else with her. Most of them were. To Robbie, she was an oddity and he liked…experimenting. Robbie, Albin, Hakan, dozens of others whose names were lost to time. One common theme with them all, one thing they all wanted from her, and they would often do anything including killing for her to try and get her. Then she met Oscar. He was one of a kind who didn’t judge her, who didn’t have a hidden agenda. The only person who had truly accepted and loved her. The world was very rarely fair, but to her, the two of them coming together was the universe finally throwing her a bone.

Giving up on his swinging, Oscar held the bullet up to his eye to examine it in as much detail as possible. Part of him felt it would be appropriate to have it engraved, with his name or the date that he was shot. Granted it would likely be far too small.

“Can I have it back?” asked Eli entering the room.

She walked towards him slowly with her arm outstretched and her hand opened. Oscar grinned, this was the third time Eli had asked for it back. Firstly out on the doorstep, then before they both went to rest, and now minutes after arising tonight.

“Why? It hit me, it was inside me.”

Eli refused to provide an answer, her eyebrows rising slightly and her head tilting a few degrees to the left. Oscar leaned back on the chair, stuck his chest out and moaned mockingly holding the bullet up near the entry wound. Again, Eli didn’t respond but then took an unnaturally large step closer to him.

“If you want it that badly, I could always push it back in,” spoke Eli darkly leaning into his face.

Oscar tried unsuccessfully to beat back her leer, then surrendered feeling himself leaning further and further back on the chair. The souvenir was returned to a happy Eli who wrapped it back up in the napkin before putting it back into her shirt pocket. She walked away smirking victoriously, not before intentionally standing on his foot.


The entire place was dark, dusty and smelly. They had been quick enough to lock the doors and board up the windows, but conveniently forgotten about the fresh produce within. Kevil held a torch in one hand, and used the other to cover his nose. Surely, there was nothing worse than the combined aromas of sour milk, mouldy bread and rotten fruit. It showed a complete lack of forethought. Whoever, if anyone for that matter, purchased and took over this shop after months of decay, would struggle to successfully air the place out.

The detective was inching over the store and looking through stacks of paperwork with his flashlight. He was looking for anything to narrow down the location of Oscar and his friend. In a dream world something that would also link them to Edvard’s death, but he would settle for something with their name and address on it. Unlikely he would find a newspaper set out for delivery that said ‘Oscar and friend: Apartment 5, Building 12’ but anything at all would have been welcome.

So far, all Kevil had found were a secret stack of the dead man’s dodgy magazines and some handwritten notes. They were about some young lad called Rusty. It detailed his red rock star style hair and his favourite sweets. Highly questionable yes, but hardly a priority right now.

[andmker]

Part 2: Chapters 11 to 14

Chapter Eleven

Amelia Roe-Silka had picked the location. One might say that she had chosen the busy, well-lit and very open Ristma Waterfront to ensure her safety. After all, who would want to meet a real-life vampire somewhere remote and barren? Even when you had already been in the company of said Vampire a number of times before. In reality, the truth was less cautious. She trusted Oscar, and more, she thought it would be nice to go for a stroll with him. Somewhere that was open and as she had told him…nice.
It was a still and fresh night with only the lightest salt breeze coming off the sea. Its taste was akin to freshly cooked chips from your favourite chippy. Lightly browned and lightly seasoned, now just a memory to Oscar but a fond one. On the waterfront people were out shopping, eating, jogging and taking their dogs out for walks. None of them had reason to give Oscar a second glance as he walked down the central path with Amelia. The ‘missing’ posters put up on the order of Detective Dually weeks ago had either blown away or had otherwise been forgotten about. Only pets that night gave indications that there was something amiss about Oscar. They all insisted on pulling their owner’s in the opposite direction when getting too close.
“Come along Terrance, it’s not time to go home yet.”
Oscar overheard a middle-aged man with glasses speaking to a small dark-haired bulldog.
“Another ten minutes then you can have some biscuits.”
The reality that even dogs as well as cats and horses were afraid of him because of what he was, saddened him. Oscar had always wanted a dog. He had never owned one before as his mother said it wouldn’t have been fair. She was always working so much, he was always at school or out delivering leaflets to earn money. Now it was too late. Maybe one day he and Eli could get a hamster or a goldfish. Maybe they wouldn’t fear their kind. Might be fun to have a goldfish, he imagined that Eli would want to name it Bubbles or something. He wondered if any pet shops were open all night.
“I’ve given blood before at blood banks. I suppose this would be the same sort of thing. Just cutting out the middleman,” said Amelia who had spent the last ten minutes trying to rationalise the last conversation in her head.
Oscar blinked hard and shook himself back to the here and now. He and Amelia had just discussed in detail his idea and so far while concerned, she hadn’t freaked out.
“I’d like to think my blood could help save someone’s life. This way, I guess I’ll know for certain it will. You and Eli won’t have to do…something else.”
He had spared her the unpleasant details of how Eli and recently himself as well would normally obtain blood. While Oscar didn’t want to lie, he also didn’t want to scare her off. Besides, he had started to try and explain but Amelia had stopped him.
“So you find a person, bite them and…how much blood do you take exactly?” she had asked, but before Oscar had thought how to answer, Amelia spoke again.
“I don’t think it’s your fault. You didn’t ask to be made like this. The guy who shot you sounds like a dick. Glad you both bounced him out of a window.”
Oscar had told her everything. From how he and Eli met in Blackeberg, to what had happened at the swimming pool and that she saved his life. He explained that was why they had come to Denmark. Then he went on to bring her up to date with everything that had occurred since coming here. Including exactly how he became like Eli. At one point Amelia, in awe, had assured him that it would all make a great movie, or a best-selling novel. It was kind of a nice feeling for Oscar to be able to unload everything. Even if it had taken more than an hour of him talking, and her listening carefully, as they walked around and around on the waterfront. It was in the last ten minutes of his epic that he had gotten to the point, and asked her to effectively be their blood bank. To come around now and again so they could feed on her. Amelia appeared to be receptive to his idea.
“It would mean you wouldn’t have to take it by force? You wouldn’t have to hurt people?” she said to Oscar.
It was an admirable and selfless question to which Oscar had nodded. He didn’t know how often they would have to invite her around for a snack. He didn’t know how much they could safely take from her each time. He trusted Eli with all the technical details.
Amelia was truly eager to help for a multitude of her own understandable reasons. It was obvious that her agreement would keep others safe, while she didn’t like thinking of Oscar or Eli as killers, she wasn’t stupid. Amelia, like everyone else, had seen the movies and had read the books. Oscar had explained the truth tonight dispelling the folklore about coffins, garlic and other myths. But the fact remained, Vampires, even if that word wasn’t completely accurate, needed blood to survive. One way or another they would get it. Still, she believed what he had said and what she had seen. They wanted to find a better way to live.
“Why not just try and get some from somewhere?” was her knee-jerk reaction.
“Like from an ambulance? Or from an actual blood bank?” answered Oscar remembering his previous adventure with Eli. “It’s better if it’s well…fresher,” he followed hesitantly not wanting to quote one of Eli’s lessons.
They were offering to pay Amelia five hundred krone each time for her help. She was almost excited by the idea that if she could do it for them each week, that would be an eye-watering two thousand a month. Depending on how much they needed from her each visit, not to mention if that was actually physically possible. Still, potentially the notion was very freeing. That would mean less time working in the café, less time looking after Granddad. He could stay in care for the entire month, it would be less disruptive and confusing for him, and Amelia would have time and money to do whatever she wanted. Plus it would mean spending a lot more time with Oscar. She doubted that he was only interested in what was inside her veins. For everyone this seemed like a win-win.
There was another more private reason that was exciting and emotionally stirring her insides. A reason she would never freely admit to anyone including Oscar. It was something that had been building in her mind since first discovering what he was. The thought of being bitten by him, letting him suck her blood out of her, was strangely arousing, strangely erotic. An act she never imagined was possible in this world. Amelia wasn’t having fantasies of becoming a Vampire, it held little temptation, nor did she idealize the idea of dying. Yet she liked the idea of Oscar’s mouth and hands all over her. She would feed them, sustain them, it sounded…amazing. Since Eli looked a bit like a boy as well, that would be ok, for both of them to use her at the same time. Amelia had a number of reasons to agree. It’s doubtful that even she could honestly say which reason was her main driving force. To stop strangers being attacked or killed by their need to feed, to help Oscar in any way she could, to spend time with him. For the money, to help herself, her family and Granddad. Or for the experience, the fascination and the fantasy.
Amelia fastened the top button on her duffel coat as they turned the corner once more. In less than twelfth hours she would need to be at work, but it didn’t seem very important. The need for sleep could wait as talking to Oscar took president. Even as Amelia’s mind grew ever more tired trying to process everything it had heard tonight, she needed to find out more.
“So it’s safe? I won’t you know suddenly sprout teeth and a dislike for daylight?”
“I don’t think it works like that. You have to be near death then our blood has to mix or something. Eli will explain better when you…when we…”
“When you drink my blood,” she interrupted attempting to pull off a stereotypical Transylvanian accent.
Oscar sniggered and Amelia deliberately bumped into his side as they walked.
“You’re really happy to try this?” he asked.
“Sure. I mean you haven’t told me exactly how we’ll do it, how much you’ll need to take and stuff like that. But yeah, I’ll do it for you. And Eli.”
Oscar felt relieved that this was going to happen. That she was willing to donate her blood to them. For the time being at least, they wouldn’t have to do what they did to that man again. As long as Amelia kept them ‘topped-up,’ no one else would have to suffer to keep them alive. Eli had known for a while that this was his idea. She seemed hopeful that it would work. He imagined how relieved she would be when he returned home with his mission accomplished. Now all she had to do was work out how they could do it safely and often. Oscar wasn’t worried and held every confidence in her. After all, he knew she had done it before with Tommy. Taken a few pints from him in that Blackeberg basement. Taken a few pints from him and he had been okay afterwards. Eli would never want to make anyone like her, never wanted people to suffer for her. Oscar was the exception because of Albin’s actions. He stopped and hugged Amelia. It was the only way he could think to thank her right now.
“What’s next?” questioned Amelia. “Will you just call me when you…get thirsty?”
“Or this weekend if you’re free?” he replied remembering Eli saying that this would be best to do before the thing gets too hungry.
While the thought of doing this so soon made it suddenly much more real, it didn’t distract from Amelia’s eagerness. Eventually after a few more questions and half-answers, they departed each other’s company. With the date set and everything in place, they walked in opposite directions. Oscar went back to Copenhagen Central to catch the tram to his apartment and Eli, while Amelia walked the two kilometres home.
It had been a long night for both of them, and Oscar was looking forward to catching up with Eli on all things, including preparing for the weekend. Typically he missed the tram by a matter of seconds. In theory he could of course run after the carriage as it pulled out of the station, catch up and jump on board, but he had managed to remain unnoticed since those missing posters. It was best not to draw attention to himself now by practising his impression of The Flash.
Instead Oscar explored the station to kill time until the next tram was due. It had been a while since he had done such a simple act. To just wander around aimlessly without a care. He missed Eli, but knowing that they wouldn’t have to worry about going out to feed again was a pleasant feeling. He window shopped through the various storefronts, most of which were closed. He held his nose and averted his eyes as he passed a food stall that was clearing up for the night. Then Oscar purchased an evening newspaper and a key ring. He didn’t bother to look at the paper until sitting down on the tram. He had been more focused on the key ring which was a small Rubix Cube. It wasn’t functional, just for decoration, but it looked cool and reminded him of simpler times. Sadly, the paper’s headline wasn’t as cool.

‘Three Murders In Three Days: Victims Robbed of Blood.’

Oscar glared at the large text in confusion and worry. Robbed of their blood? Like drained or drank? Like a Vampire would do? This had happened in Chisteble, a town not exactly close to their apartment, but also not on the other side of the country. It was south, past The Connelly Hotel, past the old industrial estate. A small town that he knew very little about. Clearly neither he nor Eli was responsible, but Oscar couldn’t help notice striking similarities to how they do it. The article described severe injuries to each man’s neck, and that they were all attacked late at night. It continued to report that the attacks were vicious in nature and that none of the victims were robbed. Not of any personal belongings that is. Only their blood that had been drained by “unknown methods.”
Oscar’s concern increased with every word he read. There was no way others like them could be so close. Eli had only encountered people like her twice before. Twice in two centuries. The one who made her, and another random woman. There was of course Hugo, but Eli was always very careful. There had to be another explanation. It had to be a coincidence.


Chapter Twelfth

Eli crouched fascinated at the sight below her. A woman with the greenest of green hair was out walking. Hair that seemed to glow, allowing Eli to spot it from afar. She had come out tonight for some exercise and to kill time until Oscar returned from meeting Amelia. Since noting the woman however, Eli had followed her, mostly from above. Crawling over and jumping between roofs, scaling up and down walls. Walking in the shadows when there was no other option. Every minute venturing slightly closer to get a better look.
“It’s like a field of long grass growing out of her head,” spoke Eli to herself trying to work it out.
If she could speak to his younger self and tell him about the fascinating things that would happen in the future, that would be one of them. Those giant flying metal birds, movies and television, then finally what people do to their hair now. In Eli’s younger days, hair was to keep your head warm, and to stop you from cracking your skull open should you fall. If you had styled it, cut it fancy or tried to change the colour, people would think you were a victim of fever, or otherwise a bit fruity. Standing out from the crowds was never a good idea. Still, Eli was tempted to shout down and ask,
“How did you make it so green?”
If Oscar had been with her, she might have been brave enough to do it. Unfortunately he was not, she wasn’t well dressed for a long conversation, and Eli was starting to feel some hunger pains. Since meeting and spending time with Oscar, this modern age was a lot more enjoyable. After an additional period of ‘hair-watching,’ Eli made her way back to their apartment. She wanted to be there waiting for when Oscar returned.
Oscar himself was in the process of doing just that. His focus on the rocky tram was rereading the evening newspaper. He was hoping that it would say something about the murders actually being carried out in broad daylight, or that they knew exactly who had carried them out, but it did not. He knew that Eli and he were not responsible, he knew the chance of others like them being so close was ridiculous. It didn’t matter how many times he told himself this, it didn’t help.
The journey home took half the normal amount of time, mostly because Oscar walked from the tram station at double speed. Along the paths, over the dirt, down the streets and finally through the common entrance and up those flights of stairs.
Eli almost slid across the hall carpet in her socks, eager to greet as he entered through the front door.
“Hey,” they said at the same time to each other.
“Bad news?” she asked in a disappointed tone looking at his drooping face.
“No, no. the opposite,” replied Oscar. “Amelia said she’ll do it. She seemed very happy to help. Actually, she’s going to come around this weekend.”
“That’s great…isn’t it?” asked Eli confused by his lack of enthusiasm.
Oscar nodded in response, as they continued into the living room he handed her the newspaper, which she briefly scanned.
“Did you know them?”
“What? No, did you read how they died?”
“Yes.”
As they sat down on the sofa Eli spoke again.
“Oscar, people die. All of the time.”
Her intention was not to sound cold or uncaring, instead Eli wanted to strongly enforce that he can’t start blaming himself for deaths. Especially the ones he, and she, were not responsible for.
“Yeah? But drained of their blood?”
“Being stabbed would do that.” Eli sighed and fluttered her fingers through the empty air. “I used to do...think the same thing as you Oscar. Every time I heard about someone, somewhere, being attacked and losing a lot of blood.”
Oscar laughed unintentionally, reassured that it wasn’t just him and that he wasn’t losing his mind. He had, on reflection, started to overthink, and almost panic at the possibility of others like them being so close.
“That could be, I mean it was a possibility wasn’t it?” he asked seeking reassurance at his own stupid imagination. He felt strangely humbled that Eli had ‘got him’ so quickly. Known as soon as he handed her the newspaper, that this notion would be his first reaction. That he would start to imagine Vampires all of the place.
“Yes, it was a possibility. However very unlikely,” replied Eli eventually after giving Oscar’s question some thought.
Oscar felt his heart sink at the truth. Knowing there would be so few others like them in the world. It was pleasing but also lonely. He knew most turned wouldn’t survive long. They would die from the confusion or the hunger that followed. They would accidentally walk out into the sun if they could. They would kill themselves in disgust and horror at what they had become. They wouldn’t be able to stomach what was necessary for their survival. Failing all that, they would be killed by others. Killed for…well, that was obvious, not that some people needed a good reason to kill. If it hadn’t been for Eli, then Oscar would have died several times over by now. First in Blackeberg, then being shot by Albin, then likely from hunger. Or maybe loneliness and fear if she hadn’t been here.
A long time ago, he and Eli had a conversation on this very sofa. It was not long after moving here. Eli had joined him, rather secretly at first. Then they spoke about their future and what could happen. Oscar had agreed in principle that he would be open to the idea of becoming like Eli. Far into the future of course, when he was much older and had lived his life. So that he could stay with her, so they could stay together. Eli agreed, again in principle, should that day come, that she would grant his wish. Her condition was that should the opposite happen, should something mean they couldn’t stay together. He would help her…die. It still shook him that she couldn’t see a future for herself beyond Oscar, beyond him. Things here hadn’t exactly worked out exactly how they envisioned, but at least now they could be together forever. Every cloud had a silver lining.
Oscar looked down at the laminate floor. It needed to be cleaned, it always seemed to be needing a clean. He couldn’t blame Eli, it was his boots that kept scuffing the floor. When they originally moved in here, all the floors were covered in laminate. It wasn’t practical as Eli’s tendency to go about her business outdoors barefooted, meant that the hallway floor kept getting muddy. That’s why he had put the carpet down. It came from the bedroom wardrobe and was a perfect fit. Obviously it was the original carpet left behind and forgotten about. It was worn but didn’t show the muck so otherwise ideal. He would clean the apartment before Amelia arrived on Saturday. Oscar felt strange, knowing that soon she would come here of her own free will, for them to feed on her. Oscar and Eli would drink some of her blood. She would be on this sofa or the floor or…maybe even on his bed. It would be the most comfortable place, and it wasn’t like Oscar used it anymore. It was made with fresh bedding and sat there both for appearance’s sake and also because the room would look bare without it. You can’t have a bedroom without a bed, even if the occupant slept in the wardrobe. Yes, thought Oscar, the bed would be the best place for it. In case Amelia needed to rest afterwards or if she was dizzy. He had never given blood before himself, so had no reference on how it would feel or its impact.
Oscar wondered how they were actually going to do it. Surely they wouldn’t both just bite down into opposite sides of her neck like they had done with the drunk man. Surely that would be painful and scary for Amelia. The two of them biting and chewing into her neck. At best such a thing would be unsightly. They couldn’t expect Amelia to walk around with puncture marks for all to see. Especially if they were set to do it more than once. At worst he and Eli could do real damage. Permanent damage. Especially if the thing inside them was left to its own devices. It would happily rip open her neck, happily bite deeper and harder to get more blood no matter the cost. It only cared about blood, not Amelia. It would compel him to keep drinking from her until there was nothing left to drink. Could Oscar stop himself mid-act? Stop when he needed to, and when Eli and he had only taken what was safe. He couldn’t help think…
“Ouch!” he shouted in surprise feeling a fist hit the side of his head.
“I did say your name. Twice. You looked like you were miles away.”
“Sorry,” replied Oscar somewhat high-pitched after blinking rapidly to refocus his eyes.
“Thinking about Amelia? About…you know.”
Oscar nodded silently. He felt almost ashamed recalling his thoughts over the last few minutes. Almost scaring himself questioning if they, if he, was right to use her like this. Like a walking, talking, living blood bank. Oscar was beginning to feel like he didn’t have the right to do this. He trusted Eli and knew she wouldn’t want to delicately inflict pain or harm. She never did. What she usually did, she did because there had been no other way. No doubt however Eli would know a way for them to feed on some of her blood. A safe way, that wouldn’t do much damage or cause pain, and would never make her like them. Eli had done this before, usually as a last resort or when she was weak, like with Tommy in Blackeberg. Just not often, she couldn’t normally trust people or risk exposing herself. Now, she had Oscar and hopefully another way to survive.
“It’s a good idea. Your idea I mean,” she injected noticing that his mind was beginning to drift once more.
“It feels like I’m…we’re taking advantage of her.”
“She’ll be safe. She’ll be compensated, and you said she was happy to help.”
Again Oscar nodded silently.
“Not to forget, it means we won’t have to…” Eli paused. “We won’t have to do what I normally do.”
Oscar frowned a bit before asking,
“Will it be enough? The two of us taking some of her blood say once a week? Will it be enough to beat back the hunger?”
He sensed the muscles in Eli’s face tightening.
“I don’t know,” she replied hesitantly. “Let’s just try and see how it goes.”


Chapter Thirteen

“It’s just for a week,” said Yester not appreciating why his customer was annoyed.
“Ten days.”
“Ten days paid?”
“Well, yeah. But that’s not the point,” insisted Kevil who was finishing off his fifth Absinth of the last half hour.
Yester sniggered to himself as he polished the same glass over and over again. He didn’t know many people who would complain about being forced to take some annual leave.
“It’s your fault Kevil, you’ve had all year to use these days, you’re only complaining now because…”
“Cause I was making progress.”
Yester sniggered again.
“The case is dead, it makes no sense. How many officers in Sweden have looked at it and got nowhere? Just dead ends and wasted time.”
“They're not here, they haven’t seen what’s happening,” replied Kevil with more than an ounce of frustration in his voice.
“What? Someone stealing blood and a shopkeeper that fell and died?”
“Much, much more. Not to forget all with their…”
“Yeah, you’ve said,” interrupted Yester. “With their blood drained.”
Kevil had been sitting patiently waiting for him to start suggesting that the Chinese were responsible again. Last time he was here, Yester had spoken at length about how the Chinese must be responsible for the three deaths last month.
“Just annoying that no one else is giving this case the time of day. No one else thinks there is a link between it all.”Kevil sniffed his latest glass of Absinth and the aromas of aniseed filled his nose. Yester looked at him intensely.
“You really do? I mean you think all these things, first in Sweden and now here are all connected?”
“I do, abso…absolutely. Felt like it was all starting to fall into place. Like I was getting close to something.” Kevil Dually whispered secretly leaning in closer to his barman.
Yester himself looked around the bar. He was hoping that another customer would need his attention. Sadly the night was early and the Police Detective was his only customer who actually wanted something. He was, for the moment, stuck in the same conversation that they had already had numerous times before.
“You said about that guy’s shop, did you find anything useful?”
“Hmm. A few questionable adult magazines and some rotten food, but otherwise no. I wanted to start going door to door. To those who lived near the place, to ask if anyone knew anything.”
“Wouldn’t that take weeks by yourself? Did you take any of those magazines for…evidence?” probed Yester suddenly taking more interest.
“You’ve obviously never been down that way,” he mumbled. “Not that many people, maybe a dozen apartment blocks, a few homes.”
“So, you go door to door and hope that you just stumble across what? That missing Swedish lad? That girl you spoke about? Or…the vampire wannabe’s draining everyone’s blood?”
“You never know. You never know.”
“Well, you’ll have to wait until you’re back at work.”
“Ten days,” fantasised Kevil thinking about all the free coffee he’ll get once back.

Everything was set. More or less. Eli assured Oscar that they didn’t “need much” to prepare for Amelia’s arrival and for what they were planning. Truthfully, Oscar had been hoping for a little more on the upcoming event, just to settle his own nerves.
“Don’t worry,” she smiled softly. “I’ll explain when she arrives. It saves me having to repeat it all again.”
Oscar guessed that this might happen and that was totally fine. Perhaps that was the best way to go about this. Eli didn’t want to add to his worries so would spare him the details until the last minute. The timing was ideal, nearly perfect in fact, as a while had passed since they both fed on the unknown drunk man, sharing his blood. Their respective hungers for blood were on the rise. The thing inside of them beginning to stir more and more.
“Tonight is best,” thought Oscar looking at the pigeon pecking on the pavement.
He was in the capital having not long arrived by tram. The night was young, and his aim was to buy something before Amelia arrived at their apartment. Any time after ten o’clock was agreed as Amelia said she had a few things to do first. Oscar was somewhat out of his element, in unchartered and unimagined territories. What do you buy someone who was about to donate their blood to you? Let you feed on them. Flowers or chocolate were his first idea, but neither felt right. While Amelia was being compensated, being paid by them both, it didn’t feel like enough. Even if she did have her own reasons for helping them, to which Oscar was ignorant to most of.
He browsed through the various shop windows as he walked up one of the streets awaiting inspiration. Tonight really would be best, he couldn’t avoid it. Any longer and the thing may want, no demand, more blood from her. A lot more blood than what was safe to take. To drink and drink. He liked to think that tonight would be a top-up for them both, so they didn’t have to do something a lot more disturbing in the coming week or so.
Suddenly Oscar stopped walking and stood statue still. He felt strange, with a strong feeling that he was being watched filling him. It was unusual to feel such a thing as the street was pretty busy with people coming and going in every direction. Nobody was giving him a second glance, he was just another person in the crowd. Yet, as he looked around, he couldn’t help feel almost afraid. The feeling that someone, somewhere was watching him, and had followed him up the street. It was strange because it was almost as if the thing inside him had silently alerted him to it. Like it had noticed and he had not.
It felt like a person he knew, but surely that would be impossible. Whatever the feeling and reason, Oscar didn’t like it, so he picked up his pace and darted down one of the side streets. He moved in such a way that his chest wound pulsated with pain. He ignored it and continued to zigzag randomly, covering no less than half a mile until he completely shook that strange feeling and the thing inside him relaxed. Looking around Oscar now found himself in a place more familiar than most of the capital, he was in Unoons Street. It was narrow, cobbled, mix matched with old and new buildings, all of which looked unnaturally high and cramped. More importantly however, he was near the cafe, just a few minutes away. It seemed natural to head in that direction since he was so close.
Oscar had been preoccupied. First with Amelia’s upcoming visit in a matter of hours, then by that weird being watched or someone he knew feeling. It wasn’t until it had started to melt on the back of his neck that he noticed a light snow was falling. Light, fine and soft, the kind of snow that floated down so slowly from the sky, not noticing it immediately could be forgiven. It felt nice, a welcome change from the rain of recent weeks. He never took time to appreciate snow in Sweden, never thought he would miss it. Oscar swallowed hard. That life, his old life seemed so long ago. Living with his mother, going to school, where he was bullied constantly, his nickname ‘Piggy,’ delivering endless stacks of leaflets. Mostly bad memories, but he still missed some aspects. His parents, sledging with his dad, the simplicity of life, but Oscar took stock of what he had now. Eli was worth it, no mistake, and it was great not to have to worry about the next day or lose sleep thinking about going to school in the morning.
Soon after, Oscar was stood outside the cafe on the other side of the street. Far enough to blend into the darkness, but close enough for his eyes to see Amelia. The cafe would be closed soon but it remained pretty busy. Mostly elderly people sitting alone, drinking tea or another cupped beverage. Some customers looked to be long since finished their orders but were determined to remain at the table, staring vaguely into nothingness. Amelia was busy cleaning tables and taking payments. She looked eager to clear the mess, eager to finish and come down to Eli and Oscar’s place.
“She really is painting beautiful,” he blurted out admiring her from afar.
Then it came to him, the obvious answer. Oscar took another look at her and then shuffled off. He needed to get her some snacks and refreshments for tonight. It had been a while since he had eaten real food that he almost forgot others needed it. Chocolate, crisps, juice, anything that would give her an energy boost after they fed on her. He looked forward to buying junk food again, even if he couldn’t eat it himself. With that, he set out to purchase Amelia’s body weight in snacks.

Tonight Eli was spending longer than normal lying in her bathtub. She had heard Oscar going out minutes after sunset, he had inched open the bathroom door to check if she was awake.
“Back soon,” he had said.
Eli gave him a wave of sorts, she knew why he was heading into the capital, and they had already spoken about it. She thought it was a nice gesture, and that was Oscar. If she was being honest, Eli was feeling nervous, well almost nervous, about what was soon to come. As hard as she tried while looking up at the bathroom ceiling, she couldn’t recall doing something like this before. Sure, she had went out and paid people for the privilege of drinking some of their blood. Sure, that some of her previous companions had deliberately brought people back to her to feed on, until they dropped dead. Couldn’t risk them talking about the experience. But this? A friend, a trusted friend, who knew what they were and was still entirely willing to help. To keep them fed, it was almost unbelievable. Someone who may not totally understand but wanted to help nonetheless. In the past, it had taken a lot more effort on Eli’s part. Normally she would have to lie and deceive. Along the lines of “please, I have an illness. I need blood, your blood.” Then a hundred questions would follow. Luckily money helped and often those questions dissolved when banknotes came out. Eli hated having to be dishonest about anything, that’s not the way he was raised.
Hope was not something she felt often, but if tonight worked then for a little while at least, they wouldn’t have to do worse to survive. Eli took a long breath and bit hard into her lip drawing blood. She licked her wound before regretting the action as it fuelled the growing hunger inside of her. She should have known better. The last time they both fed on that drunk man, Eli had allowed Oscar to take the larger share of his blood.


Chapter Fourteen

Amelia arrived at two minutes to ten, knocking five knocks on the front door. She paused briefly looking at the nameplate on the door which read Mrs B. Keaton, and she made a mental note to ask them about it at some point. Her Sunday shift in the cafe had finished promptly, and between there and here she had stopped to buy the Danish flag. It was a gift but also a distraction and a conversation starter should she get stuck.
Since entering Amelia had been sitting at the dining room table by the window and on the table, set out with painstaking attention, was a buffet of snacks. Everything from finger foods like pastries, to chocolate and sweets, platefuls of sandwiches and tubs of dip, then more chocolate. Also on a small wooden tray were a freshly prepared hot chocolate, a bottle of water, and a large bottle of some strange Russian brand energy drink. She knew that the Swedish loved their Fika, which she understood to be their very enthusiastic coffee and cake breaks woven throughout the day, but this was something else.
Under normal circumstances, she would eagerly be tucking into everything graciously provided. Her nerves however, were overriding any hunger and she kind of felt like an animal being fed, or fattened, for slaughter. Still, she appreciated the trouble they had gone to.
As Oscar opened her gift and unravelled the flag, Amelia preoccupied herself by eating some onion rings. Maybe not the best thing on an empty stomach but they tasted so good.
“That’s a really good idea,” thought Oscar out loud.
Amelia had nervously explained within seconds of coming inside what was in the bag and why.
“We are natives now,” grinned Eli.
The trio sat for a short time making small talk. Everything from tonight’s snow shower to how disturbing those recent murders over in Chisteble were. Eventually, they took turns talking about their day, it just seemed to happen automatically. Amelia spoke first, starving the need to yawn, not out of boredom but genuine tiredness. Her morning had started with tending to her granddad, who had spent an hour looking for his car keys. He hadn’t driven in nearly four years but still insisted that he was driving to the park.
“Got to feed the ducks.”
Then she began a nine hour shift in the cafe. It should have only been six hours, but both of her parents were hung over from the night before. They decided that Amelia could handle things and finished early. Oscar couldn’t help feeling impressed in a shocked and surprised sort of way when listening to how much her parents tended to drink.
“I thought our Swedish parents liked vodka, but...wow,” he added. A slight warmth sparked inside him when he recalled drinking Glogg.
As he began to speak, he didn’t mention that he had seen her working away in the cafe. Nor did he mention that at one point he felt someone was watching him. Both points felt almost unnecessary and potentially, in his opinion, distract or derail the reason they were all here tonight. Instead he told Amelia and Eli about forgetting to put socks on when heading out. Eli responded by whispering “don’t need them.” The first time she saw socks, she believed they were to stop your feet making your shoes dirty. Lastly, Oscar spoke about the guy’s face in the mini-market. The look he had gotten when buying all the food.
Eli discussed her ‘day’ by pointing at the clock. For her it was still early, and other than waiting around, she hadn’t done anything yet.
“So, how do we start? Do you just, well, bite into me?” asked Amelia in a state of not quite anticipation but not far from it.
“Yes, we could bite into you. Arms are usually best,” answered Eli.
They both joined Amelia at the table. Eli sat down, while Oscar leaned with his back turned to the food.
“Arms?” she questioned after a short silence. “Not my neck like they do in all the movies?”
“Normally it would be, but our teeth would do...damage. They go deep and there are a lot of important things in your neck. Arms take longer but are safer. The neck would be all right if we were trying to make you like us, it would heal quickly.”
“Why would it heal quickly?” she asked as it almost sounded like a contradiction. Suggesting that the more damage is done, the quicker the injury would heal.
“It’s just the way it is, the way it works.”
Amelia nodded and Eli pulled her chair closer to hers, scrapping it along the ground.
“We don’t have to bite. We can use a razor blade to cut across the inside of your elbow. Collect the blood as it flows if you prefer?”
“Which one is err...best?” she asked looking briefly up at Oscar who appeared to be learning as much as she was.
“Biting leaves smaller marks and is much quicker. We’ll feed faster, it’s more natural,” replied Eli screwing up her face somewhat as she struggled to find the best words to describe it. Then she added “but it can be more painful, the force and sharpness.”
Again there was a short silence in the room before Oscar spoke.
“She won’t become like us whatever way?”
Eli shook her head firmly.
“We would have to take a lot more blood and give her some of ours. Even if we accidentally bite into our own lip, what we’ll do is not enough for the infection. It would not happen, it is too greatly outnumbered.”
“Infection?” asked Amelia confused.
“It's just what I’ve always thought of it as. It is often easier to think about it and explain it as a medical condition.”
Amelia took a deep breath reassured. The word infection hadn’t sounded very vampire-like. Oscar felt relieved, now knowing that a few drops of his blood wouldn’t infect someone else, wouldn’t make them like him. He understood now that Eli had to always ensure in the past that someone she had fed on was dead. She had taken most if not all of their blood, it would have allowed the infection, even accidentally, to take a hold of them.
“Ok, biting it is. That does sound more normal,” smirked Amelia having thought about it and not liking the idea of being cut by a razor blade. “How much will you take?”
Eli hesitated for a moment before answering with confidence.
“A few pints.”
“A few pints?” asked Amelia seeking confirmation. The pitch of her voice raising a few degrees and almost vibrating around the room.
“One or two, one to two. Is that all right?”
“I...suppose. Is it? All right I mean?”
Oscar, who due to his little experience in feeding had remained rather silent in this conversation was beginning to worry. The talk of damage, the fact he would have to control his hunger and stop. Only taking a few pints between them both? He recalled the night Eli brought blood home in a plastic bottle. The night she killed a homeless man and collected his blood, somehow squeezing it all out like he was a lemon. That night he had torn open the plastic bottle and licked it clean. He did not want to tear open Amelia, he did not know what the thing inside him would feel about it. Amelia was trusting them both, and Oscar was trusting Eli to keep him in check. At least he was not as hungry now as he was back then when she brought him that takeaway. Oscar had become lost in his own thoughts and tuned himself back into the ongoing conversation which had continued.
“You’ll feel tired afterwards. A bit pale and a bit weak. Some people vomit but not everyone. After a few days you’ll feel like your normal self again and you...”
“So we could do it every week? Or even twice a week?” interrupted Amelia with her eyes widening.
Eli’s mouth opened to respond but no words came out.
“Let’s take it as it comes, and see how it goes,” smiled Oscar hoping to be helpful.
After everything was said and asked, Eli pulled a small plastic tub over from the windowsill. She emptied the contents onto the table. A few small bandages, some assorted plasters and a couple chunks of cotton wool.

In the darkness outside and nowhere near the apartment flat, a man currently unknown to Kevil Dually and forgotten about by Eli and Oscar, had covered no less than five miles on foot. Mostly cross country, in random directions back and forth without any real pattern. Through woods and fields all covered lightly by virgin snow that no one else would walk upon. He would continue tonight for as long as he could. Continue searching for any trace of Eli or Oscar. For many nights now this behaviour had repeated itself and it was his own fault. He couldn’t remember where they lived, not really. He had been there a few times, secretly of course, he had stood outside their apartment block. Yet, his mind refused to allow him to recall the details. Kind of like knowing the Efill Tower was in France but not knowing the way to Paris. It was almost like it was forbidden knowledge, or at least forgotten knowledge. He should have paid more attention to the world the first time around. There had been moments where he had almost believed they had moved on again. Maybe even back to Sweden, it’s what he would have done if he didn’t have other priorities.
Then, against the odds, he had spotted Oscar casually walking about in the capital. He had started to follow him but lost sight through the side streets. If Oscar was here then without a doubt Eli was still here. Albin had underestimated them. All his reports and information useless, might as well have thrown them out the window with him. Besides, Albin had gone about it the wrong way. A sheep does not threaten a lion with a stick. He however was not Albin, he understood Eli a lot more than Albin ever could. This time around, this man felt the advantage would be his, and he would make them pay with their lives.

The trio had finished their questions and answers session, and Amelia had gotten herself comfortable on the sofa. She was laying on her back with her head supported by cushions and had already rolled up the sleeves on her woollen jumper. Time and recent conversation escaped Oscar. When had they all moved over here from the table? Why had they decided not to use the bed? He didn’t know. The thing inside him knew the time was coming and the very thought of blood being so close, made everything else dissolve. He didn’t know what had been said after glancing at Eli’s first-aid kit. He didn’t know what he was feeling other than growing hunger, and the desire to quench it, even if it was fuelled by the knowledge he would soon feed.
Oscar was kneeling on the floor next to Amelia. He was holding her arm in both of his hands, her skin was warm and soft. Eli was leaning over the top of the sofa, holding her other arm. A flood of emotions were starting to rush through Amelia’s mind. She was nervous but eager, scared but calm, and almost proud knowing that she was helping them. Knowing that her actions would save some stranger’s life.
Oscar looked up and into Eli’s eyes which were widely waving back at him. They spoke for themselves, she was waiting for him to bite first, to make sure that he actually did it. He nodded slightly not knowing why, she nodded back, and then Oscar bit into the inside of Amelia’s arm.
She yelped softly and flinched instinctively as his teeth went deep into her flesh. Seconds later, the same reaction as Eli bit down in her other arm. Oscar felt a guilty shame. Doing this to someone he knew almost felt more terrible that doing worse to someone he didn’t. As soon as her blood started to flow, almost desperate to get inside Oscar’s mouth, he pretty much forgot he knew her.
It wasn’t exactly what Amelia had been expecting. To say it was just like giving blood, would be like saying hill-walking was just like skydiving. Both were physical outdoor activities but that’s about it. Being bitten into was strange. In some ways not as bad as one might expect, in others worse. It was painful, intensely painful, but in a way that was difficult to describe. As stupid as it sounded, it actually felt like teeth biting into you. Totally different from say an injection needle or a cut on the surface of your skin. Her flesh offered no resistance to their vice-like bite.
Oscar had bitten into her arm faster and harder than Eli, who had done it slower and more gentle. Amelia couldn’t say which approach was ‘best’ as her physical reaction was blocking her ability to think clearly. She was quickly beginning to understand why offering her neck to them was not a good idea. She could feel Oscar chewing into her arm, his teeth moving and tearing as they did, while Eli seemed to be able to keep herself stationary. Honestly, up until the point her skin was penetrated, a part of her believed they would both shout “just kidding.” Then came the pain followed by the feeding and the sucking of her blood.
As they both continued to feed, the intensity of that pain steadily increased, but more because of the suction. Both of her arms were beginning to feel heavy and cold, paralysed and numb. All Amelia could feel was the suction. It was like having a freaky kind of high-powered vacuum cleaner hooked up directly to her circulatory system, hoovering out her blood. Amelia tried to speak, to say what she didn’t know, but no words came out. Instead she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes and repeated to herself “it’s worth it,” over and over again.
It wasn’t what Oscar had expected either. He knew it as soon as he tasted Amelia’s blood. It was different to his previous experiences. It was...nicer. Eli had neglected to mention, and for good reason, that this would always have been the case. She didn’t want to put him off. It was an insult to injury, having to survive by feeding on others. If you knew the person, if you cared about the person, their blood for whatever reason always tasted better.
He, rather the thing inside him, commanded Oscar to squeeze Amelia’s arm rhythmically. Its priority was to encourage as much of that beautiful red stuff out of her and into him. Oscar with his teeth and mouth still locked on to Amelia, drank her blood by the mouthful. It was almost blissful.
“Oscar,” he heard followed by a pat on the top of his head.
He ignored it and continued to drink. A few seconds later his name was spoken again, this time more forcibly, it was Eli’s voice. She squeezed the sides of his neck stopping him from feeding. Oscar was himself again. He looked down at her arm. It was swollen and bruised, with several deep looking cuts, as well as puncture marks and the imprint of his other front teeth which had also broken her skin. He felt his stomach sink, while he hadn’t torn open her arm like he had done the plastic bottle, he had still injured her more than simply the two holes that he had been expecting. Despite the cuts and everything else, there was only the tinniest suggestion of blood on the surface. Eli was already cleaning and bandaging the area, and reassured him it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
“Are you all right?” he asked Amelia with genuine concern. He didn’t look at her when he asked. He couldn’t. Maybe so he would avoid the desire to bite back down. Maybe because he felt ashamed.
“Yeah,” answered Amelia clearing her throat and looking around the room a bit dazed and confused. “I have the mother of all pins and needles in my arms but...yeah.”
Mostly what she said was true. She was ultimately fine but lacked the energy to detail that she felt cold, tired, out of breath and that her arms felt like they had been turned inside out. Or put through a mincer. She turned to Eli.
“That was a pint or two?”
“Yes.”
“How can you tell?”
“Practice,” smiled Eli. “The speed of the blood flow says it all.”
Feeling both guilty and energized, Oscar pulled the dining room table with all its contents over to the sofa.
“Are you thirsty?” he asked pouring her a glass of fizzy Moscow-Mightade. Then noticing the goosebumps on her arms, he went to grab a blanket. “Sorry, we don’t feel the cold.”
Amelia, lacking the strength to do much else, remained on the sofa for the next couple of hours resting. Both Oscar and Eli kept her company for the duration, and they spent time in casual conversation between some random late night television programs.

[andmker]

Part 2: Chapter 15 to 17

Chapter Fifteen

The mysterious man was not used to this lifestyle. He was definitely not an outdoor sort of person, and had never even spent a night camping. Now, most days were being spent in abandoned buildings, sheds, once even in a large cardboard box. Today it had been an old and rusty shipping container. Never would he choose that option again if he could help it, the metal tomb amplified every single sound outside. At one point a few buzzing insects landing on the roof sounded like someone trying to cut through with a chainsaw. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, at least he didn’t think it was, given what he had read. While he could put more thought and effort into his accommodations, his options were truly limited. He had nothing and no other option, Eli had seen to that. The man had nothing, but actually didn’t need much, so he was fortunate really. All his efforts, since Albin was no longer in the picture, were being focused on finding Eli and Oscar. After he did, after he took care of things, everything else would fall into place.
It was only a matter of time and searching. He was getting closer, but stupid things were slowing him down. Hiding from the public, hiding from daylight and staying fed, he always felt hungry. On his travels the man had found a ‘missing’ poster featuring the two people he was seeking. When he telephoned to offer his...assistance, the police detective Kevil Dually, was on annual leave. At least that’s what he gathered. He had never committed to mastering Swedish and was struggling even more with Danish. They were similar, but the bloody Danes spoke much faster.

After Amelia departed the apartment in the early hours, both Oscar and Eli slept soundly. Her donated blood was a welcome snack and for the time being it eliminated any anxiety they had about having to go out and take it by force. Oscar was of course pleased to say the least that it didn’t go wrong, he didn’t hold Eli’s confidence and experience. They were also both thankful for what Amelia had given them.
As the hours of the day passed, and the recently risen sun sank again, Oscar exited the wardrobe sharply almost in a forward roll feeling nourished. There was more snow tonight but again the ground refused to let it lie. Oscar stretched before sticking his head out of the bedroom window to feel some flakes land in his hair. He shook his head from side to side before pulling himself back in. His first intention tonight was to check on Eli, but decided to let her rest knowing she’d be up soon. He didn’t know why she always seemed to sleep a bit longer than him, perhaps it came with age, but he always seemed to awake automatically moments after sunset. So instead, he decided to head out and telephone Amelia.
Tonight he didn’t mind walking to the phone box and even noticed that the local authority had replaced several blown bulbs near their apartment that seem to have been broken forever. After dialling her home phone number twice, thinking it was something of an achievement since this was the first time in his life he had known a girl’s number off by heart, she didn’t answer. But Oscar wasn’t that worried. She had gotten away safely last night a few hours before sunrise. He had walked her, not at the fastest pace, to the tram stop and stayed with her until her carriage arrived. Amelia had said that she wasn’t working today, that was why she had chosen to come around last night in the first place.
“She’ll be sleeping or shopping. Maybe she had to go into the cafe after all,” he imagined as he started to walk back home.
When back indoors, Oscar began to clear the table of food as it had been the first thing he smelt when walking in. Amelia had taken some of it home with her in the same bag the flag had been in. Oscar really enjoyed the idea of her tucking into the contents for her breakfast this morning. Or perhaps she was hungry before that and stuffed her mouth on the tram, a pie in one hand and five hundred krone in her pocket. Oscar began to hum loudly to distract himself while still clearing the table. He so missed real food.
Eventually his task was completed. He squashed the rubbish bag and its contents down, compacting it into the perfect size and shape to throw out the window. It was the quickest and funniest way to get the food out of the flat, but he acknowledged that he should probably stop throwing things out the window, even if it was fun. Oscar couldn’t understand how Eli had been able to sit at the table last Christmas. Sit there with masses of food under her nose and watch him eat without intense uncontrollable drooling. Oscar supposed that for her, pretending to be part of the experience and sharing in it, was rewarding enough so she could ignore the onslaught of the food itself. Or maybe Oscar had simply enjoyed food more. He tried to imagine what Eli’s diet pre-blood more than two centuries ago would have been.
Soups, stews, joints of meat and potatoes, lots of potatoes. Not to forget some of those awesome mushrooms she used to collect. Oscar imagined how different his evening meal would have been. Everything in one pot. Nettles, potatoes, some unidentified meat that may or may not have been chicken at some point. Some of those mushrooms, most likely forcefully taken from an unwilling Elias by his parent.
“Mother, they’re my mushrooms!” he would have protested but secretly his best ones were safely hidden away elsewhere.
Oscar closed the window and walked into the sitting room aiming to put the flag up. It sounded simple but between not being straight and repeatedly falling down on one side, it took a dozen annoying attempts. He did manage in the end, even if he had used all of the sellotape and even if he wasn’t sure the flag was up the right way around. It did, on first inspection, look considerably more natural than layers of newspaper and magazines going up and coming down all the time. They would still go up for more protection against any sunlight filtering through the flag’s thin fabric, but no one looking in from the outside would know that.
“Damn,” said Oscar noticing his footprints all over the tabletop.
He had been so occupied with the flag, that he had spoiled his recent cleaning job by climbing all over the place. After polishing the dark oak surface again, he felt like tonight was going to be a fun night. Oscar turned on the hi-fi, tuning it through the stations until finding something he would describe as “catchy but chilled.” He had been intending on laying on the sofa, but was in a mischievous mood. Looking around the room he was struck by an idea. He rolled up his sleeves and laughed softly on the spot. It was time to wind up Eli, who appeared to be sleeping in tonight.

Amelia was sitting sunken deeply into her bedroom chair, and with the exception of blinking and breathing, had hardly moved for the last few hours. She sat bare-breasted wearing only her jeans, which would have been removed as well if any energy had been forthcoming. Her body was flushing randomly between hot and cold like a malfunctioning mixer tap. Ideally her exhausted self would be asleep in the bed, but any attempt at movement would result in her being face down on the floor. A sort of fog flooded through her mind, even making the action of glancing towards the insides of her elbows difficult.
“That had to be more than two pints,” she thought looking at the lightly blood stained plasters.
It was still too painful to make a fist, still too painful to raise her arms, especially her right arm which Oscar had used. The first indications of bruising with its vivid purples, reds and greens, were becoming evident. Spreading across her arms like watercolours. Her extremities were cold and her mouth dry. Amelia wasn’t expecting to feel so incredibly tired and sore, she didn’t at first. It hit her like a tram a few hours after leaving their place. As if in a daze, she thought about what Eli had said when they spoke afterwards.
“We’ll do it once a week if you’d like?” and that once Amelia had gotten used to it, they would “take a little more.”
She laughed both enthusiastically and depressingly at the idea. Five hundred krone a week to donate some blood was a huge incentive. In all seriousness knowing that keeping them topped up would save someone else’s life made it seem worthwhile. While she doubted that she would get used to it like Eli said, part of her had actually enjoyed last night. There was something thrilling about the whole experience, even if she was paying for it now in her own way.

“Really?” asked Eli mockingly spinning around in a complete circle “really?”
Oscar, who was stood near the sofa, was struggling to maintain his composure, so he knelt down and pretended to tie his shoelace.
“What? I’m just listening to music, do you like it?”
Eli, who had only been in the room for about ten seconds, sighed deeply before putting her arms on her hips.
“Your lace is already tied. You always tie it in a double knot.”
She walked much closer to him, and he could feel her eyes burning into the top of his head. Then Eli exhaled noisily.
“Out of breath?” he asked smirking while looking at his shoe.
“Oscar?”
“Yea...yeah,” he stuttered.
“You’ve moved things around again,” said Eli seriously, with her eyes widening and the sternest of looks on her face.
“I can honestly say that I’ve never now, or before ever moved anything around just to annoy you.”
She glanced around briefly to confirm what she already knew. The television had been pushed back flush against the wall, the sofa was two feet closer to the back wall that adjoined onto the bedroom. He had turned the table so it was now at an angle, and some of Eli’s puzzles were now in random places. He had made it obvious.
Oscar who was still playing with his tied lace finally lost control watching her and burst out laughing.
“I knew you had!” she erupted. “I knew it!”
Eli dropped down on the floor opposite him, put the palm of her hand on his forehead and pushed. Oscar rolled backwards landing like an upturned turtle. She pounced on top of him holding his arms down and pressing her knees into his stomach.
“Are you trying to trick Elias? Then Elias will make you pay.”
Oscar was slightly stunned, both by being completely pinned under her, but also because she had referred to herself as Elias. That was the only time in his memory he could recall her doing so. Sure, it had been a topic of conversation more than once, at times others had referred to her as a boy, or neither, or both, but this was different. Eli had called himself Elias, directly and by choice. It had not been prompted or provoked by a question or situation around her.
Oscar looked up at her face which was mere inches from his own. Her eyes were wide and bright as the sun, just much less deadly. Her nostrils were flared and while her mouth was straight, her breath still faintly smelt of blood. Eli looked healthy again, full of life and energy, with a good complexion with perfect colour and skin. The normal physical perfection that typically followed feeding, but this time she looked happier after doing so.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked. “Move more stuff around? Try something else to try and be funny or...cool?”
“I am funny and I am cowl,” he replied mocking the way she had said the word.
Oscar tried to push her off, but her hands were pressing down on his biceps. No matter how hard he squirmed, any strength and movement he made was easily countered by her.
“Still weaker than me Oz,” she taunted.
He laughed remembering when he very briefly called himself “Oz.” By mistake when first meeting Amelia, then after he had became like Eli. He was slightly disappointed the name hadn’t stuck, but Oscar was who he was. As he went to speak, Eli leaned in closer and gently bit the tip of his nose making him almost snort in surprise. Then she kissed him quickly on the lips, grinning widely immediately afterwards.
Oscar’s face froze automatically because of her gesture. He said nothing and didn’t react, just froze, much to Eli’s dismay. The kiss had been nothing. Just a friendly peck, an expression of joyful affection and a bit of fun in the moment. It had just been unexpected by Oscar, but Eli fearing it had been a mistake loosened her grip and rolled over onto her back.
“Sorry,” she whispered remorsefully as they both lay side by side looking up at the ceiling.
“It’s fine, really. I’m sorry,” he turned his head to face her. “It's just...”
“What?”
“Just the last time, and only time, we REALLY did that. Was in Blackeberg the day before we left Sweden. When that guy found you and he was going to hurt you.”
Eli’s face began to make all manner of complicated movements. She looked away thinking hard about that night. She remembered it, but for her it was perhaps less significant in comparison to her long life. What she recalled more vividly were Oscar’s actions.
“But he didn’t hurt me. Because of you.”
“Me? I just shouted.”
“Yes. You shouted to wake me, you made him turn his back to me.”
Eli was framing him as the hero but Oscar didn’t agree. He should never have let the guy get so close to her in the first place. It had happened during the day when she was asleep in the bathroom. Where was Oscar when the drunk angry man armed with a knife broke in? Hiding scared under the kitchen table, gripping his own knife so tightly that the handle was breaking his skin. When the intruder found Eli and was hovering above her, Oscar somehow forced himself to move and sneak up behind.
Knife in hand and Eli in danger, he knew that he had to act, he had to strike. He couldn’t. All he managed was to shout “no,” loud enough to distract the guy and alert Eli to danger. She was the one who did what was needed. She killed him while Oscar closed over the bathroom door, walked away and literally pissed himself. After Eli had finished taking care of it, she had emerged, put her arms around his stomach in a motion of silent thanks. Then they shared a bloody kiss. At that point in time, neither one of them thought they could stay together, they thought that was goodbye. Eli left but returned shortly afterwards and the rest as they say is history.
“Eli?” he asked with curiosity in his voice looking down at his feet. “Why did my toes get bigger?”
She lifted her head off the ground and looked down at her own bare feet and toes as if she had never noticed. Truthfully if you lived as long as she has, you kind of stop looking at your feet.
“Well, I believe it is because everything gets bigger...sometimes. Does it not?”
Oscar sniggered followed by Eli moments later.
“A joke?”
“It was meant to be, yes.”
“Wow. This really is a night for firsts.”
They both burst out laughing hard.
“Why are you in such a good mood tonight?” he asked.
Eli sat upright.
“Because of Amelia,” she answered eagerly. “If we can keep doing this every week, then I won’t have to worry about going out to find it. For the first time I would not have to worry about feeding and how to get it.”
Oscar nodded. He had been worried over the previous months, he hated having to do what was needed and Eli had been doing it for a tremendous time longer.
“Amelia seemed happy to help us, I hope we can keep doing it. But we’d eventually run out of money paying her every week wouldn’t we?”
“Oscar, she isn’t doing this for the money. Trust me.”


Chapter Sixteen

The cafe was nice and quiet for this time of day on a Tuesday. Only three customers, none of which had wanted food, and all had been served their beverages. The sky outside was dark and overcast, threatening to unleash biblical volumes of rain but Amelia hadn’t noticed. In the background the radio was delivering the day’s news and the customers, but not Amelia were listening intently.

‘Police refused to comment on the suggestion that the death yesterday, which is being treated as murder, could be linked. The young male who is yet to be identified, was found with the same manner of injuries as others in recent months.’

Amelia was flicking back and forward through the pages of the catalogue thinking hard. From a practical point of view, she knew that the money should be put to good use. It could contribute towards her granddad’s care, towards the leaking roof, or it could be simply saved. But she had already committed herself to being a weekly donor. Therefore just for this week and this week only, she would treat herself to something nice. The radio, inaudible to Amelia, continued its report while she gazed in wonder at all the gorgeous necklaces on offer.

‘...the increasing list of brutal murders appears to be more concentrated south of the capital. Police, who are increasing patrols once again, have advised any persons walking through woodlands, fields or poorly lit areas to take care.’

Eventually, Amelia found something that caught her attention. It was a thin daisy chain gold necklace with a love heart pendant that was also crafted from gold. It looked very nice and at just under four hundred, it left some money for whatever else. Amelia, who was set to return to Oscar and Eli’s place on Saturday, hoped it would arrive before then. She also hoped it would grab Oscar’s attention, especially paired with the low-cut top she had already picked out. Amelia scratched her arms carefully. They were still a bit itchy and sore from time to time, and while some bruising was still evident, they were healing quickly. She had been honest with the few people who had bothered to ask what happened to them.
“I donated blood.”
All things considered, she felt much better than she did at the weekend. Her mind, while still struggling a bit to comprehend vampires and that she was fed on, was more focused on the multitude of opportunities this would open up. Her family would never believe it in a million years, but that was all right, they didn’t have to know. Amelia filled in the order form for her chosen item and selected express delivery, smiling while thinking what her father’s reaction would be. No doubt it would be something along the lines of “express delivery is for people who want to go bankrupt expressly fast.”

Eli had never been prone to paranoia. Quite the opposite in fact. Her personality was naturally naive, accepting of what was around her and somewhat carefree. She tended to live in the moment, but that came with living a very long life. Most of the time nothing worried her, other than the never ending cycle of feeding and then waiting to feed again.
Tonight she was being cautious, and for the last hour she had been circling their apartment block, focusing completely on anyone or anything out of place or strange. This had been prompted by both herself and Oscar having heard a voice in the distance. They had gone for a walk first thing tonight to get a bit of air and a bit of exercise. That had turned into a long stroll, with them having a proper conversational catch-up. Oscar felt his attention had been focused so much on Amelia over the last few weeks that he had neglected his friend. Eli on the other hand didn’t mind, and hadn’t really noticed. She had spent so much time before Oscar alone, or with guys who she could barely stand. Just being in the same building with a friend who completely accepted her was comforting.
At one point they found themselves somewhere that Oscar knew. It was the trash area where he had laid in wait last year for an ambulance to pick him up. He pointed out the exact spot to Eli who looked impressed. It had been their perfectly executed plan to steal blood for Eli. It was somewhat humbling to look back. Potentially if things with Albin hadn't happened the way they did, that is what they would still be doing today. He would be stealing blood for her, or having to kill for it.
It was shortly after this that they both heard it. The faintest suggestion of footsteps near or behind a building, and a voice in English saying...something. Both Oscar and Eli disagreed on exactly what they heard. To Eli, who was wiping her nose at the time, it sounded like “found it nearly.” To Oscar however it had said, “found you Eli.”
They had discussed it at length on their way home, with Oscar insisting on stopping now and again to look and listen. Each time he did so, there had been nothing and no one.
“Oscar, it would be incredibly difficult for any person to see us, let alone follow us in this darkness. If we can’t see them, they can’t see us.”
She made a valid point and after some thought he agreed. Eli did however remain outdoors when they first got home. Patrolling like a cat guarding its territory. She put every effort into her actions, stealthily and silently checking everything and everywhere. While they differed on what the unseen voice had said, she was a bit concerned that it had sounded almost familiar. A voice she had heard somewhere before, but in hindsight most English voices sounded the same to her ears. That was except for the Scottish. She had only been to Scotland once, and that was by mistake more than one hundred years ago. Eli had boarded a random ship seeking shelter, fleeing a small mob that had discovered her. Not that they knew what she was, just that she had killed a few locals. She couldn’t risk staying when she was another day longer. That ship had taken her to a city in the west coast of Scotland, where she found little else other than docks and slums. It took Eli nearly a fortnight to try and work out where she was, the assents were strange and she hadn’t heard the Scottish before.
“See anything?” asked Oscar when she finally called it a night and came inside.
Eli shook her head confidently.
“Rats, a few autos in the distance and a woman leaving another apartment block.”
“Cars,” smiled Oscar.
“Yes, autocar's.”
Eli, who had gotten muddy dragging herself through the damp fields, took off her dirty clothes which Oscar put straight in the washing machine. She put on a faded pale blue t-shirt and settled down on the sofa with Oscar.

At the same time that Eli and Oscar were doing their ordinary things, two men were having a conversation over the telephone. One, who was using a payphone had uneven and very untidy brown hair. He was pale, short and had arms so hairy they could be used to scrub pots. He was an Englishman called Gareth. The other man was Detective Dually, he had been recalled from leave early because of the most recent murder. Kevil was on duty in his office working a night shift. Like most other recent horrible events, he believed they somehow linked to his bloody hotel case. After a few hours of once again unsuccessfully trying to connect events, this English man had phoned.
“May I ask again why you can’t come into the station to discuss this?”
“I...well, to be honest, I’m a bit scared. All these murders are scary,” lied Gareth.
He wasn’t sure if he could enter a police station to begin with even if he wanted to. Besides HE was the one who had committed the murders and didn’t want to risk such a bold act. After searching for so long, Gareth had found Eli and Oscar. The surprise was such that he couldn’t help blurting out that he had found her when setting eyes on the pair. Unfortunately for him, he had not been able to follow them to their exact building and apartment. Gareth did not want to blow it now by getting too close, and had lost sight of them.
“But you think you know where they are?” asked the detective.
“Yes. Roughly,” answered Gareth hoping he could use the police to his advantage.
The detective rubbed his forehead and swallowed an impossibly large mouthful of coffee. This was the first creditable tipoff and he didn’t want to lose it just because of the frustration he felt with the man’s accent. They had been in conversation for a while, and it was clear that Gareth knew what he was talking about in relation to Oscar and the mysterious girl. That girl who he now knew was called Eli and that she would sometimes go by Elias, a boy’s name, for some reason that didn’t seem important right now.
Gareth himself was doing his best to keep any and all answers simple. He wanted to avoid suspicion and questions like “can you head in a few blocks and try to narrow it down?” That worried him, not being sure if he could without an invitation. To be honest, Gareth hadn’t spent much time working out the rules. Avoid the sun, get blood, and find Eli was all that mattered. He was responsible for all the murders of late since his change. Try as he may, he couldn’t quench his thirst. It was a thirst that seemed to be much more overwhelming than Eli’s. He was killing once, twice a week. It was just another thing about being like this that he didn’t understand. Perhaps it was down to how he was made. Honestly however, none of that stuff mattered to him. It didn’t matter how many people had to die so he could get to Eli.
“All right,” said Dually after giving it some thought. “Keep your distance if you see them again. l'll follow a few things up and meet you when we discussed.”
“At night,” insisted Gareth strongly.
As the call between them ended, Kevil nodded hopefully. Maybe this would crack the case wide-open. Maybe he would finally find Oscar and that girl. A promotion would surely follow. The informant was strange, but that didn’t matter to Kevil.
Gareth felt almost joyful with anticipation, he was so close and he knew it. All that mattered to him was finding Eli and destroying her. He would do anything, use anything to achieve that. Oscar, as well as anyone else in her company would share the same fate. Eli was responsible for him being this way. Albin was dead, there had been no reason for her to do what she did. Gareth really hoped he would find Oscar again before he found Eli. He would rip him apart, and take his severed head to Eli. Still, it was unlikely he would randomly cross paths with him again. Oscar could go out during the day, and use sunlight as his shield. Gareth was a vampire and Oscar was not, as far as he knew.


Chapter Seventeen: Part 1

The remainder of the week passed uneventfully for most people, even if the weather couldn’t make up its mind what season it was in. Amelia had been feeling rested, healed, and ready for this since Wednesday morning. Some might say that desperately seeking the weekend’s arrival because donating blood was the highlight of your week was a bit sad. Amelia however would disagree and would say “you’ve not met Oscar,” and “try what I’m doing, you might like it.” It was now Saturday and she arrived at their place very early in the night, as eager as a fish waiting to be returned to the water. Oscar had opened the front door explosively, knowing that Amelia had been caught unprepared on her way here by a very heavy rain shower. He and Eli had watched it from the window, it had been so violent they both could hear its assault on the tarmac outside through the glass.
Indeed, Amelia's thin grey fleece-lined jacket had surrendered to the downpour all too easily. When Oscar had first greeted her, he couldn’t help think she had jumped in a lake or something. Soaked through by every definition imaginable and shivering with clattering teeth, but still happy to be here, Amelia was using their shower to warm up. It wasn’t really a proper shower, but one of those Y-shaped hose things that you attached to the bath taps. You stuck it to the wall with suction pads and used it as a shower. She didn’t mind as it was doing the job. That was after she had taken a duvet, three sheets and a small pillow out of the tub.
Her jacket, socks, jumper, jeans and t-shirt top were spinning away in the dryer, while Oscar stuffed her shoes with newspaper and put them upside down on the sitting room radiator to dry. Amelia had been offered a change of clothes, but they were Eli’s clothes which were a bit random and a few sizes too small. The shower felt great, the water pressure was higher than her ‘proper’ shower back home and she spent a lot of the time just standing under it. Amelia took her time as usually she had to rush in the mornings to get ready, and hot water was at a premium in a shared household. With the exception of her feet which were sore from standing so much in the cafe, Amelia felt nicely refreshed. She then heard a light knock on the bathroom door.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve got your dried clothes. Shoes will be longer. Do you want your...other things put in the dryer as well?” asked Oscar.
Amelia turned off the taps to hear better and looked down to the bathroom floor where her underwear and bra lay.
“Err, no it’s all right. They’re not that damp.”
While his offer was born out of genuine concern and worry that she would catch a cold, especially if her clothes were still wet after leaving, they were both rather relieved at that answer. Oscar was a bit embarrassed at the thought of handling her underwear, and Amelia also didn’t quite feel ready for that. Even if both of them, just for a few fleeting moments, were secretly hoping one of them would ask, or say it was all right for him to come in and get them. Come in with Amelia standing just a few feet away from him completely naked. He wouldn’t have objected if she had asked him to bring the clothes to her. She wouldn’t have said no if he had offered himself “want me to come in with them?” Amelia felt like she had made her feelings clear, but wasn’t exactly sure what Oscar felt, nor was she sure the exact nature of his and Eli’s relationship. The moment passed and the door between them remained closed.
Oscar returned to the sitting room while Amelia dried and dressed. He laughed when noticing that Eli was sniffing the air. The heating had been switched on when Amelia arrived to warm the place up and dry her shoes. The heating rarely got used these days, often only by mistake when Oscar accidentally automatically turned it on each morning.
“I like it,” he told Eli referring to the smell of warm dust circulating from the radiator.
Eli went to describe how it smelt to her but abandoned the attempt, giving him a strange look instead. She had never gotten used to modern heating systems. Its artificial smoke free smells and its rumbling random noises were all strange. Not something she had ever used of course but something she tolerated for the sake of her human companions. She turned the television off and switched on the hi-fi accepting the first channel she found.
“We’re good to go. Is the sofa ok again?” she asked
Oscar nodded, he still felt somewhat guilty about doing this to Amelia. Even if she had said it this week and last that she was happy to do it again and again. Eli had also kindly reminded him what the alternative was and put things into perspective. Amelia had been amazing with all of this since day one. She had even insisted there was no need for them to put out a buffet of food just for her benefit.
A short time later Amelia entered the room wearing her tumbled dried clothes which were still warm. As she had hoped, Oscar’s attention was drawn to her necklace pendant, and her slightly too tight, slightly too low top.
“Nice,” said Oscar. “Err...the pendant,” he continued before pointing to it intending to reinforce that it was the only thing he had looked at and meant.
“Thanks. It’s new and real gold.”
“Cool,” replied Oscar after she had walked closer to him so he could get a better look at the heart-shaped pendant.
“The bite marks healed faster than I thought they would,” added Amelia, showing them both the insides of her elbows, which were still slightly discoloured but it was hardly noticeable.
“Our saliva helps. Helps it heal...somehow,” said Eli briefly looking at her arms.
While neither of them said it, both Amelia and Oscar thought that was pretty cool. Faster and stronger, not feeling the cold, being able to jump and climb much better and magical saliva that healed some wounds. That was not a bad brag sheet to be honest.
“So...if I accidentally cut myself, should I lick the wound?” asked Oscar moments later.
“No,” replied Eli. “If you do that, you taste blood and the chances are it will want more. You will end up biting your injury.”
Still standing next to Amelia and being nearly unable to stop himself from staring at her top again, Oscar faked a cough and left the room. He used the time to go into the now free bathroom and take five hundred from their hidey-hole behind the mirror. It was still stuffed full, both from the money they had brought with them from Sweden and exchanged from krona to krone in their first weeks here. Also from what Eli had taken from Albin at that ill-fated meeting. At least some of his dirty money was going to a worthwhile cause thought Oscar as he put the mirror back in place.
While Oscar was out of the room, Amelia attempted to strike up a conversation with a still slightly shy-looking Eli who was sitting on the table. They had spoken before, but Oscar had said a lot more than Eli on each occasion. Unless it was related to feeding and blood, that was unquestionably more Eli’s expertise.
“So you’re really more than two hundred years old? That’s crazy to think about.”
“I’m twelfth. More or less.”
Amelia nodded impressed, even know she had no clue how she could possibly be both. Her tone, while polite, did suggest that maybe her age was a sensitive subject.
“I suppose it’s kind of lucky in a way. Almost a silver lining,” said Amelia thinking about their situation and recent events. “Now that Oscar is like you, I know it wasn’t planned. But at least he won’t keep getting older while you stay the same.”
“Yes. It is kind of lucky in a way,” replied Eli almost inaudibly.
“He’s great, isn’t he? You two just friends or?”
“Yes,” answered Eli.
Again Amelia was confused. Was Eli saying that “yes, they are just good friends,” or “yes, they are more than friends.” She took a deep breath and looked around seeking conversational inspiration. Personally Eli was thriving on torturing her in such a manner. While she greatly appreciated why Amelia was here and what she was about to do again, it was good to have a bit of fun with her. Especially knowing how she felt about Oscar. Eli had been tempted to wind her up even more, but then Amelia spotted something in the room and asked about that instead.
“Oscar said you both became friends because of his Rubix Cube. How did the cube lead to that?”
Eli’s mouth pulled up into a grin looking at the puzzle next to the television. It was a critically good memory for her.
“I met him and told him we could not be friends.”
“In Blackeberg? You moved next door to him?” asked Amelia trying to recall the long conversation she had with Oscar when walking around Ristma Waterfront.
“He wasn’t...happy, when I told him,” Eli recalled. “The next night I went out to feed and found him again. He was sitting on a climbing frame trying to solve the cube.”
Amelia shivered just a tiny bit, unintentionally picturing Eli sneaking out under the cover of darkness to find blood. Someone she would kill for it.
“You were going to...feed on Oscar?” she asked.
Eli looked at her intently as if deciding how, and indeed if to answer.
“He was the first person I found. I didn’t know him then. I needed blood,” said Eli to rationalize her past intentions. The idea of hurting Oscar now and since that day was truly disturbing.
“But you didn’t? Feed on him or worse?”
“No, because of that puzzle,” replied Eli who continued in more detail. “I had never seen a Rub-x-Cube before. It was new and looked interesting. Oscar couldn’t solve it, so he offered it to me, kindly and freely.”
“Did you solve it?”
“Easily,” boasted Eli recalling how quickly she had done it. After working out all the possible twists and turns. “I just twisted it.”
Amelia carefully picked up the cube from the television stand, walked over to Eli and joined her at the table.
“Can you show me? I’ve never been good at them.”
After a pause, Eli took the cube spending time mixing up all the sides then began her tutorial.
“Hold this bottom tier, start at the corner and twist it to one side. Then turn it around the other way and do the middle. No, wait, you need to do this side first.”
The colourful demonstration was helpful and fascinating to watch, her hands were moving so fast. Gradually Amelia’s attention started to focus more on Eli herself. Two hundred years old was impossible to get to grips with. Despite this, to Amelia she seemed relatively normal. Just like any other twelfth year old. She was someone from the past living in this crazy and very different modern world. Someone who had no doubt done unspeakable things to survive all this time, but who still had a heart. That night, for a short time in a top floor apartment, a waitress and a Vampire bonded over a Rubix Cube.


Chapter Seventeen: Part 2

Gareth concluded pretty quickly that he couldn’t risk going apartment block to apartment block, and door to door searching for Eli. He had narrowed down her possible location nicely but there were still a number of buildings should could be inside. He couldn’t make a mistake now. The chances are that no one would invite him in any way. His strange accent, strange questions and arriving at people’s doors late at night, would without a doubt draw unwanted attention. It might even alert Eli that he was nearby. For all he knew anyone around here could be a lookout or someone she paid to feed on. Gareth could just about recall Albin casually saying something like that at some point in the past.
“Eli once paid a guy to drink his blood. People would do anything for money these days.” Albin had said out loud reading his amassed “a history of Eli.”
Gareth didn’t know if he had even been speaking to him, but he had heard it nonetheless and it was a real possibility. How else had Eli managed to remain so well hidden for centuries without leaving a plague amount of bodies in her wake? Maybe he should be doing something different himself. Not just leaving bodies drained of blood laying around to be found. That was suspicious and pretty stupid. Maybe he should dispose of them somehow, or at the very least try and make their deaths look accidental.
Even now as Gareth stood silently under a bike shed to shelter from the rain, he could feel a part of him asking again for more blood. It was crazy, it was never happy, but hopefully it would settle down. He had fed on and killed five or six people. It was difficult to keep track when pretty much all he thought about was finding and ending Eli, Oscar and anyone else who stood in his way. It shouldn’t have taken this long but he had wasted time. The first month after his change he spent in disbelief and despair, hiding in the darkness as much as the daylight. This life really was a dammed one, why anyone would choose to become like this was beyond reasoning. All this was happening because he, being a good guy, had tried to help Albin. It filled him with rage, anger and a thirst for revenge so strong that it surpassed even his thirst for blood.
Then, as the rain was becoming so loud, smacking on the shed’s plastic roof it was hurting his ears, something or rather someone caught his attention. A person in the near distance was walking past at speed. They were getting drenched in the process but seemed determined to wade through it regardless. Whoever it was had very pale green eyes that stood out even in this semi-darkness, and was wearing a thin grey jacket. This was not a night Gareth expected to come across anyone, and couldn’t help but wonder where she was going in such a hurry.

Back inside a now nice and warm apartment flat, Amelia was laying on the sofa. Both Oscar and Eli were attached to each of her arms respectively, and had already started to feed. About an hour had passed since Amelia had gotten out of the shower, and like last weekend, they had discussed how they would “do it” this time. There were fewer questions, and since everything went fine last time, it was agreed they would do it the same way.
Amelia was less nervous compared to her first donating experience. Even if her mind was still somewhat perplexed, and hadn’t gotten used to the entire concept of the two of them feeding on her blood, she had a better idea of what to expect this time around. Even know it was obviously uncomfortable, strange and sore, she still kind of enjoyed it. Although it was unlikely she would ever tell them that, it seemed like a bizarre thing to like.
Oscar had bitten into her arm rather hard once again, completely unintentionally of course, but she did her best not to react. Tonight they were going to take “a bit more” and Amelia was happy for them to try. They were still feeding from her, and she didn’t care that her heartbeat was steadily increasing, almost as if it was trying to play pat-a-cake in her chest. She didn’t care it felt like her veins were being stretched and sucked dry. She knew the good this was doing. For Oscar and Eli, for the strangers they would otherwise have to feed on, for Amelia’s family and her Granddad. It felt good both physically and mentally, even if some of that feeling was being caused by adrenaline and endorphins or whatnot.
Amelia blinked hard several times in quick succession. Her limbs were becoming cold and numb, with her chest starting to hurt with each breath in. Just as she was thinking about trying to muster a word or a sound, to remind them they were still feeding from her, in case they had forgotten, they both stopped. Slightly dazed, the feeling in her arms started to return as Eli again bandaged her up.
“Are you alright?” asked Oscar.
“Yeah, yeah,” answered Amelia. “Now I know what an orange that’s just been juiced feels like,” she joked.
“That is the most we would ever take,” said Eli both for Oscar’s benefit and for Amelia’s reassurance.
Amelia understood, she could trust them to stop when it was too dangerous to continue. It was good to know that if she was going to do this every week, this was as ‘bad’ as it got. Oscar also felt relieved. He could stop himself, stop the thing inside of him when he needed to. Providing of course he kept on top of his thirst. A snack every week prevented a feast every month.
“You need to rest,” insisted or rather ordered Eli draping a blanket over her.
Amelia felt all right, but she didn’t feel the full impact of her donation until much later last time. It made perfect sense to remain on the sofa to rehydrate on water and chill with Oscar and Eli, for a few hours or so.

Detective Dually was working nights again, but completely by choice. His head wasn’t big enough nor his coffee cup deep enough to work out Oscar and the bloody hotel case, as well as the recent murders. For such a long time he had been convinced it all had to be connected, somehow, even if others didn’t think so. People being killed or having strange accidents, all suffering horrid injuries which mysteriously always seemed to result in what they were dubbing “total blood loss.” Things had progressed over months from a dead shopkeeper and stolen bags of blood, to victims being found with TBL weekly.
“Maybe Yester was right, maybe it is the Chinese,” he spoke sadly leaning back on his chair looking into empty space.
Kevil couldn’t understand how all of this could be related to a missing Swedish boy. This Eli or Elias character also seemed out of place with it all. Yet he couldn’t ignore the evidence such as the CCTV tapes of Oscar and her getting off a tram near the hotel. It started with blood everywhere, strange blood and some of Oscar’s blood, and escalated madly. He was no less than pissed that he hadn’t been able to find either one of them, not a trace. It was like they were never going out during the day, ever. Never going to the supermarket or never going to school, nothing. If his upcoming meeting with that English guy turned out to be fruitless, Kevil would hand over the case. Go back to looking for Mr Noodle’s apple tree. He reckoned that might be a case he could solve.

It was nearly three o’clock in the morning, and Amelia was enjoying the feel of fresh air on her face. The temperature was improving and while it was still dark and damp, she had a feeling it was going to be a nice day.
“Sure you don’t want me to walk you to the tram again?” asked Oscar feeling full of energy and life. Almost desperate for the chance, simply so he could run back to the apartment. Right now he could probably outrun the sunrise.
They were both stood outside the apartment block. Amelia was feeling proud that she had succeeded again in donating to them, and had enjoyed her time there. While it was tempting to remain resting on the sofa for the rest of the night, the luxury of time was not on her side. Her shift in the cafe was set to start at midday, and ideally she liked to get at least some sleep.
“No, no. It’s not that far. I’ll be fine,” she answered. “A brisk walk will help.”
Oscar looked a bit concerned, but owing to tonight’s repeat success and that she looked fine, he agreed to let her go alone. He thanked her again and arranged to phone in a night or two to check how she was doing. On the verge of departing each other’s company, Amelia quickly kissed him on his cheek.
“Hello,” he said randomly in response.
“Goodbye Oscar.”
Amelia began the walk up to the tram station. Even considering getting a taxi home to save time, after all she could now easily afford it. As she walked a tad slower than her normal pace, Amelia felt no better but more importantly no worse than last weekend. Hopefully she wouldn’t be hit by the impact of the blood loss later. That was not a pleasant after experience. It would be even less pleasant if it happened when she was serving someone a drink or carrying their order over. Still, Eli was the expert and she did seem to suggest that she would get more used to it over time. The physical blood loss maybe, but the sensations of being bitten into and vacuumed out, Amelia doubted it.
On reflection she wondered if they had really taken more than last time, even know it had taken them longer to feed. She laughed out loud at the idea popping into her head, the idea of weighing herself before and after her donation next week. Or perhaps counting every one of her red blood cells wondering which method would give a good indication of what she had lost. To describe her night as fun would be a bit strange, but it really had been. She was feeling a bit lightheaded and what she could only describe as foggy but that was fine considering.
After walking for less than ten minutes, Amelia stopped, leaning against a lamp post to catch her breath. The tram station was now in sight in the distance and she was looking forward to sitting down. In no time she’d be home in bed. Rest, sleep or whatever, then half a day’s work in the cafe. After that she would likely treat her family to a...
“Excuse me?” asked someone who had approached her from behind with perfect stealth.
Amelia turned around and was grabbed by her neck, easily being lifted off the ground. The English man could kill her instantly if he wanted to, but for the moment Gareth had questions.
“That building you left, have you just been with Eli? If you answer it will save your life.”
Amelia was shocked and stunned, she was being choked tightly, she had no idea what was happening and why. She didn’t know who this man was, all she knew was that she was suddenly off the ground and her neck was being crushed as if in a vice.
“Well?" asked Gareth impatiently.
Amelia with her eyes starting to water managed to make a very rough “yeah” sound.
“Why?”
She couldn’t breathe but somehow managed to point to the inside of her elbow.
“You were...feeding her?” asked Gareth loosening his grip slightly so she could answer.
“Both.”
“Both? What do you mean both?”
With her face turning red and nearly at the point of passing out, she spoke a single word. That word was Oscar. Then Gareth understood, he hadn’t even considered it but now knew that Oscar was like Eli, like him. Thanks to following Amelia tonight, he knew what building they were in, and clearly the apartment with a big flag in the window. This made it easier, he wouldn’t have to contend with Oscar being on guard during the day while Eli slept. Gareth, hearing Amelia continuing to choke, looked at her. The look of fear on her face, the pain in her eyes and the life draining out of her. He loved this part secretly, mostly because it would send a message to Eli and vampire Oscar. Their blood bank would not be returning to them. Amelia unfocused tried to look to the horizon, almost expecting to see Oscar and Eli running to save her.
“Thank you for being so helpful,” said Gareth feeling brilliant that he had found them just by hiding from the rain tonight. Just for taking the time to wonder why a random stranger was out venturing in the first place.
He squeezed tighter and tighter savouring the moment. Then, a series of cracks and crunches signalled her skull being separated internally from her spine. Amelia’s head flopped backwards unsupported and with her body twitching slightly, Gareth bit into her neck draining what blood remained inside her. When he was done, Amelia’s lifeless body was dropped to the ground like a rag doll. Gareth looked down proud, but also somewhat concerned. He couldn’t leave her here like this as it was too close to Eli’s and Oscar’s place. After a short time, he knew what to do. Gareth dragged Amelia along the ground and the remaining distance up to the tram station. He dragged her onto the tracks and left.