We're Not So Different

This is another short story I wrote. I'm not really sure how I feel about it and everyone I've read it to has fallen asleep on me. Please don't let that discourage you. I couldn really use some suggestions. :)

The room was dark, filled with the night air. Small desk lamps light up parts the newspaper office. It smelt like old paper, ink and stress. The stress radiated from all parts of the room, like there was a presence stuck there pacing. A young man in his 20’s sat at one of the desks, the lamp next to him making the paper he was writing on blindingly white. His brow was furrowed in concentration and anxiety. His fear dripped from his pores with his sweat. His breathing was ragged and his heart was racing like he had just run a marathon.

“Why’re you so nervous?”

“Oh my god!” he cried throwing his paper and pen into the air, “Are you crazy?! Don’t do that!”

“I’m sorry,” I breathed, “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m so used to people hearing me coming.”

“People? Are you sure that’s the right word?” he sneered.

“That’s pretty cocky coming from a guy who could die so easily,” I snapped.

“True,” he whispered while leaning over to get his paper and pen. When he sat back up to look at me, I knew I had really been rather rude.

“I am sorry. I really didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said while digging through his desk.

“So how did you get nominated to stay late and deal with the vampire? You are rather young.”

“I’m new, so I’m not considered an asset.”

“Well if it makes you feel any better,” I said easing into the chair in front of his desk slowly, “I’m not going to kill you. Not only do I not drink human blood, but it would be stupid for me to do so. Everyone here knows I was coming to see you and well, they would be pegged for assisting a murder.”

“In a way,” he said pausing to think for a moment, “That really doesn’t help or make it worse. It’s kind of a neutral.”

“Ah,” I breathed out.

His cologne smelt good. I hadn’t been around a man that smelt like that before. He was different, he wasn’t telling me something.

“What are you,” I said pursing my lips.

“What?”

“What are you,” I repeated again.

“How,” he breathed, confusion taking over his face.

“I can smell it,” I sighed, “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. Sometimes my mouth has a mind of its own.”

“Oh,” he trailed off.

“Are you going to tell me?”

“Not until I get my story,” he smirked.

“Hmm, confident and resourceful. I respect that,” I said smiling.

He grabbed a tape recorder that had been sitting next to his monitor. He opened it sliding a new tape into it and then turned it on before looking at me.

“Well,” he said.

“What do you want to know?”

“Why don’t you just start where you think you should and I’ll ask questions where I need to,” he said sternly.

“Alright,” I sighed, “But if you want to know about my life, it’s not exactly happy.”

“That’s alright.”

I nodded. I didn’t really know where to start. How could you explain so much to someone in such a small amount of time? What was important? I guess I should just let my mouth start and I’ll go from there. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, the next thing I knew words were coming out.

“I never understood why people are so fascinated with vampires. It’s not like we are anything special. All we are is a little different. Does it really matter that we prefer the darkness of night to the warm light of day? So, we prefer blood or raw meat to what people consider to be normal food. To us blood and raw meat is like eating the most decadent food. The type of food that you can feel throughout your entire body it’s so tantalizing and succulent. We can still drink liquids like any other being. Most of them don’t taste very well, besides blood of course. It has something to do with the chemical makeup of the body after the disease has finished its course. We’re just like humans how they become ill. It’s sort of like getting the common cold. Afterwards, your body is immune to that particular strand of it. However, for us it is a little different. We are no longer able to become ill or be killed as easily. There are quite a lot of people who get cutaneous porphyrias vampyra. Not many people survive it though. There are many mysterious deaths in hospitals that are never figured out. The autopsy reports are usually thrown into a filing cabinet until they are moved to a permanent warehouse. No one really goes back for them or looks at them. They’re just considered a medical mystery. Some of them have been studied in medical schools and of course many theories have been made. No one has figured us out yet, at least no human has.

I’ve always wondered where some of these theories about us came from. Some of them are pretty easy to understand, but some of them are just ridicules. Many of the theories that are made have us wrong. We aren’t dangerous creatures of the night. The reason we like the night is because of our neurotransmitters. Everything is too bright for us. It’s sort of like nystagmus. Are eyes pull in too much light and we do sort of have rapid eye movement. It explains our reflexes in a way. Since our eyes move so quickly, we take in quite a lot of our surroundings and that makes it so we can react faster. We see things most people don’t. As for our pale skin and burning up in the sun, it’s because of the disease. It changes the pigment of our skin, it sort of bleaches it. That is why when we go into the sun we burn so easily. The pain is explained by the reminiscing nerve disorder, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), we end up with. No one ever understood how we got it because it is only supposed to show during trauma. The best we could come up with is that our body was so traumatized by the disease that we ended up with it. CRPS can be extremely painful. Our pain tolerance is high because of the disease, but when the light touches us it becomes extremely unbearable. Mostly we die of pain if we’re in the sun to long and our bodies end up charged because of our pigment changed. We burn very easily, much like an albino. As for being killed with a stake, yes it is true that we are able to be killed that way. Then again, what human wouldn’t die from being stabbed in the heart with a stake? One of the theories I find interesting is the pain that silver inflicts. It does hurt quite a lot and our skin can bleed from it. The best our medical professionals can come up with is that for some reason the disease made us develop a silver allergy. It explains all the issues we have with it, it is just severe. The absolutely most mysterious thing about us is how quickly we heal. No has been able to figure it out yet. There have even been blood tests to understand us more and the only thing that was really apparent is the lack of oxygen. That is still the most mysterious.

We all have different forms of depression. That’s why we come across so brooding. We were all rejected at some point in our lives because of how we changed. We were different, strange and believed to be very dangerous. There were quite a lot of people who wouldn’t even try to get to know us. We were considered to be contagious freaks that should not be alive. Contagious, I hate that word. People associate contagious with air born diseases. It’s more like aids. We can bite people and transfer their blood to our bodies, but the only way for them to contract it is if they drink our blood. It makes them suffer through it and become immune if they can live through it. It’s more painful than anyone can possibly imagine. In some cases doctors have been able to put people in a chemical induced coma. That way they wouldn’t have to suffer as much. I wasn’t one of the lucky ones, like most of us. I am glad I didn’t though, because the ones that do tend to be unable to handle as much pain, which kills most of them. If I had been that way, I would be dead by now.”

He didn’t move a first. He just stared at me in an almost confused way. He finally shifted, taking in a deep breath.

“So,” he paused, “Vampirism is a disease like getting sick.”

“No, it is the aftermath of a disease. It is what your immune system becomes after being affected by it. Sort of like zombies.”

“Wait, don’t tell me zombies don’t exist,” he groaned.

“I could tell you they don’t, but that would be a lie. They are just as real as me. All mythical creatures are.”

“Are you telling me that mummies, werewolves, mermaids, angels, and even Greek mythology is real?!”

Everything about him screamed for it not to be true. It was like I had just shattered his entire perception of the world. I had just changed everything. It was one thing to hear about people saying they were vampires, but it was a whole other thing to meet a real one who tells you all those fantasies were real. I didn’t want to be the person to do that, but it looked like it was to late.

“Yes.”

“Witches and wizards?”

“Yes.”

“Unicorns and griffins too?”

“Yes.”

“Shit! How can all of this stuff exist without anyone knowing about it!” he growled.

“We work very hard to keep everything secret. We don’t want any extra attention drawn to us. We already have enough issues,” I said trailing off.

He sighed and his face turned to one of sorrow.

“Look, I didn’t mean.”

“It’s alright,” I said cutting him off, “Trust me. It’s not a big deal.”

“What about the myth about fangs,” he blurted.

“What about it?”

“Is it true? How do they come out? Does medicine explain that?”

“Ah. The infamous fangs. Yes, they are real. However, it’s not exactly how people think. They are an extension of the canine. The disease causes the gums to recede right above them making them appear longer. Though, they do grow during it as well. There is calcification in the jaw that pushes the tooth down to make room. It’s sort of confusing.”

“Can I see yours?”

“What?” I snapped completely taken back. No one had ever asked me that before.

“Can I see them,” he stated.

“I guess,” I breathed.

I leaned forwards into the light of his desk lamp. It was strange, how was I supposed to show him. Just open my mouth? Should I smile? I decided on smiling. Well I did so, I heard his sharp intake of breath. At the point I felt like I shouldn’t have. It was a bad idea. I quickly retreated back to the dark, to safety.

“Wow,” he breathed, “They’re beautiful. They’re not scary at all like I thought they would.”

“Is that bad?”

“No,” he laughed, “That’s good.”

He studied me for a minute, though I knew he couldn’t see me very well. When he moved it made me jump. I didn’t like this. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I shouldn’t have shown him my fangs. That had been a horrible idea.

“Can I see you again? You don’t have to show me your fangs again. I just want to see you better.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I said fidgeting in my chair.

“You know,” he laughed,”For someone who is supposed to be fearless and no longer human. You have quite a lot of human qualities. You even have the mannerisms and the awkwardness. How old are you?”

“Didn’t anyone teach you never to ask a woman how old she was?” I hissed.

“Yeah I did, but I figured you would have prepared yourself for that question already. I would think it’s pretty normal and valid,” he smirked.

He was getting cocky again. Why did he feel he could be so cocky?

“Like I’ve been trying to tell you I am not much different from a normal human. I don’t see why you don’t seem to get that. In regards to your question I am 104 years old. We don’t age like humans do because of the amount of oxygen in our blood. At least that is what we believe anyways,” I sneered.

It wasn’t like I was some animal. I have feelings just like any human.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” he sighed.

“Whatever,” I said frowning.

“Would you feel better if I told you what I was?” he said leaning smugly onto his desk.

He was staring me right in the eye, but I didn’t understand how he could. It was rather dark in here.

“Maybe.”

“I’m telekinetic,” he stated without skipping a beat, “I can move things with my mind.”

“Prove it,” I snapped.

The expression that appeared on his face was rather comical. He wasn’t surprised or confused. It was an expression I didn’t recognize. I didn’t like that. He then looked very intently at the lamp sitting on his desk. Not long after he started it slowly began to rise off the table as if on strings. He moved it quickly all of a sudden, right toward my face bathing it in light. I winced as the light pierced my eyes. I hadn’t been expecting that, I figured he had been lying.

“You know, you’re very beautiful. Even when you wince in pain,” he laughed.

“You sir, are an ass hole,” I stated mater of factly.

Who in their right mind would thrust a bright light into a vampires face? That was just idiotic and well, rude.

“So, did the disease give you your dark hair and green eyes, or was that genetic?”

“Genetic. Can you please get that stupid thing out of my face!”

“Sure,” he said moving the lamp from its suspended place in the air back to its place on the desk, “You’re not surprised?”

“Not really.”

“You’ve met someone like me before?” he asked, the expression on his face almost looked excited.

“Not exactly. I’ve run into a mind reader before, so it’s doesn’t really surprise me. It explains some stuff though.”

“Like what?”

“You might want to rerecord over that last bit or don’t let people listen to it.”

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“Because then people will know what you are and nothing will ever be normal for you ever again,” I sighed.

“I’m guessing you have personally experienced that?”

“Yes.”

“Want to elaborate?”

“No.”

“Right,” he said.

“Do you have any other questions for me?”

“I don’t think so, there might be more I think of later though. I would like to hear your story sometime.”

“I don’t tell anyone my story,” I stated.

“There’s always a first you know.”

“Not when it comes to that.”

He yawned them. It was wide and long, nothing like those fake yawns people do. It was a real one. He was tired, though I couldn’t blame him. It was 2:00 am. It was probably way past his bed time.

“You should go home. Sleep. You’re tired.”

“Ha,” he laughed, “You’re worried about me being tired. Interesting.”

“I am just looking out for your well being, if you prefer to sit here and bicker so be it,” I said frowning.

He smiled at me, “I’ll be fine, but speaking of sleep. Do you sleep? Like in coffins and stuff?”

“No,” I sighed, “I actually own a bed. I do tend to sleep during the day, but that is because I stay up all night. It’s less painful being out at night then during the day.”

“What kind of bed?”

“How is that relevant?”

“I’m the interviewer, so answer my question.”

“Fine,” I growled, “it’s a temper pedic. I liked the commercial and wanted one. Happy now?”

“Yes, very.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“I might be, but I’m growing on you,” he smirked.

“If anything you are becoming more and more annoying.”

“You’re only saying that because you enjoy my company,” he laughed.

“The interview is over,” I stated rising from my chair.

“Come on, don’t be like that. I was just teasing you.”

“If you think of anything, call. You have my number.”

“Are you asking me to call,” he smirked.

“Good bye!” I snapped walking for the door.

That man was insufferable. How could he think that I enjoyed his presence? If anything he was a pain in the ass. I was only doing this because I had been asked to. I will not stand to be with him one more moment. I had fulfilled more than my talking quota for the night. When I walked out the door and started down the stairs, I heard him yell after me.

“Ok, I’ll call you then! We can get together and maybe we can fang!” he yelled.

That made me laugh. I couldn’t help it. It was the cheesiest thing I had ever heard. How could someone so annoying make me laugh? As I walked down the four flights of stairs to the ground floor, I couldn’t help but wonder when he would call and if he would make me laugh again. I wanted him to make me laugh again.