Oliver 1

Hoooooly shit just WHO is the crazy lady in his apartment drinking is blood?! Is she OK? Mentally and physically? She just drank his blood! Shouldn’t she be vomiting right now! She did drink it right? Oliver opened his eyes as best as he could and looked at her. Blood dribbled down her chin and on to her white blouse. Well, she seems to have drank most of it. Great, now she was licking her mouth and fingers. Well, shit.

Oliver took a few deeps breaths and focused on making the world not spin. The creepy lady wandered around his apartment, touching this and that, sniffing around. He watched her, as best as he could, between the heavy blinks and bouts of nausea. She seemed curious about the weirdest things. The TV remote, the pipe under the sink, the toilet, though she didn’t seem to know what it was?

Oliver dragged himself to the couch. The bright side was that, it didn’t seem she would hurt him further. On the other hand, she didn’t seem like she intended to leave either. “Shouldn’t humans have recovered by now? What’s taking so long? I’m so thirsty…”

Oliver looked at her, horrified. Thirsty? She seemed fine… Wait, did she want to drink his blood again!? He tried to willfully ignore what she probably meant. “If you’re thirsty then go drink some water, and bring me some too, while you’re at it.”

The woman tilted her head. “Water? Humans drink water? Fascinating. What else do humans drink? I knew they didn’t drink blood like us vampires but we were never taught what you eat and drink.”

Hold on! Vampires!? Oliver looked her over again. Extremely pale, check. Drinking blood, check. Appeared at night, check. This can’t be happening. Earth didn’t have any vampires. That was fiction. Fiction! Why was there one right in front of him? How did she even get here? “Who are you?” He finally asked. “If you’re sticking around, the least you could tell me is your name.”

“Ethel. And since you shall be my pet, I shall dub thee, Matthew.”

Um. What? “My name is Oliver, not Matthew.”

“Matt for short, then.”

“Absolutely not. And I’m not your pet”

“Now then, Matthew, where is this water? I didn’t see any wells on our way in the building. But then again, I wasn’t paying too much attention to my surroundings since you smelled so good.”

“There’s water in the fridge. And stop calling me Matthew!”

Ethel tilted her head. “What’s a fridge?”

Oliver sighed. Please, oh please be a dream. This was too much. Unfortunately for him, the blood still dripping out of his neck and the dull pain that came from it proved to be an effective reality check. He groaned as he got up, and dragged his feet into the kitchen area. He could feel her… vampire eyes… following his every move. He had bottled water for emergencies, and this constituted as an emergency in his mind. After chugging down half a bottle, he got some paper towels to cover his neck, since he was already up, and grabbed some cookies for a snack. That’s what he always saw in those blood drives, so that must help somehow.

“Hmm… How long does it take for a human to recover from bleeding?”

“If it’s just a little scratch then no time at all, but if you’re drinking gallons of it, then months.”

Ethel gasped and look on her face fell into despair. “Months!? But that would take ages! I’d die by then!”

“Then go find someone else to fulfill your fantasies. No one asked you to stay.”

“Aw, but you taste so good, Matthew.”

“Oliver.”

“Who?”

“My name is Oliver.”

Ethel frowned. “That’s not how this works. I’m the one who claimed you, therefore, I am the one who gets to name you. You shouldn’t even have a name, actually. Has someone else claimed you? Who is this person? I will fight them for you.” The longer she talked the closer she got, until she was inches from his face. Blood lust written all over her face. It was honestly quite scary and he subconsciously shrank back.

Oliver couldn’t help but take a few steps back at her intensity. Wait, why was he already acting like vampires exist and there were more than Ethel? “Look, you’re a vampire right? I don’t know where you came from, but here on earth, vampires don’t exist! My mother game be my name, not some other vampire.”

Ethel tilted her head, though she didn’t say anything yet. Then she looked around, as if she was seeing the apartment for the first time. “I see. No wonder I thought this human farm looked different from the kind I’m used to seeing.” Wait—human farm? Did he need to call the police!? “Where is your mother? I do not smell anyone like you close by.”

“I don’t know how far you think ‘close by’ is, but my mother is in another city. Don’t worry about her.” Finally feeling a bit better after snacking, Oliver decided to put away his groceries that he got earlier.

“What bag is that? I’ve never seen one that made so much noise.” Ethel stared at the plastic grocery bags and poked them a bit.

“It’s plastic. Do you not have them from wherever you’re from?”

Ethel shook her head. “This world seems much more technologically advanced. Small metal rooms that move between floors, lights brighter than the sun yet does not burn me, now these plastic bags that make fun noises? It’s all so… fascinating.” Hmm, so she wasn’t from a weird future if she never heard of electric lights or elevators. “You must be quite the lord of the area if you live in such a fancy place, all by yourself. Where are your servants? They’re supposed to put your food away, aren’t they?” Ethel added.

Oliver sighed. Her understanding of this world will surely be the death of him. “I’m not a lord, I’m just a human trying to survive in the city. Only this room, the bedroom, and the bathroom are mine. This building holds many other apartments with their own people in it that I have never met before.”

Ethel watched where he pointed, then sniffed the air. “There is only one scent in this immediate area. The hallway has multiple scents, and I hear other heartbeats between the walls. Are you sure they’re not your servants?”

“I’ve only met about a dozen out of the many, many residents in this apartment building. They do not serve me. They each have their own lives.” Oliver put the rest of his food away as Ethel watched. She had fun with the light in the fridge, on and off, open and closed.

Then she moved to the balcony window. Oliver didn’t have any sort of amazing view of the city or anything, nor did he live on a busy street. Past the glass were rows of brick buildings with the occasional lights on visible from the window, and cars parked on the streets. Some basic trees and streetlamps sat along the sidewalk as well. There was also a corner shop barely visible from the window with only the bright neon lights on. Since it was so late at night there was not a single soul outside.

“I’m really not home anymore. I hear more heartbeats than I’ve ever heard before. So many humans…” Ethel seemed less cheery when she said this. Maybe her brain finally caught up to her. He couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her. She has probably lost everything she had ever known. Oliver decided to open the door to the balcony. “Whooaaa!” Immediately, she ran out and sniffed the air. She tucked her hair behind her ears and cupped them to hear clearly. Her ears were pointing, but not so pointy like an elf, but just enough that if someone saw they would comment on it or make a few jokes.

“What do you hear?”

“There are a number of humans having sex on this street alone. And I hear overlapping voices of the same person in multiple different apartments. How strange.”

“That must be the TV. Maybe they’re watching some late night news.” Oliver left the balcony to turn it on. If he was correct, this would be Ethel’s first experience with one. And he was right. The moment it turned on, she ran in front of it. There was nothing interesting going on with the news at this time of the night though.

“That’s it! That’s the voice I heard! What is it?” Ethel began touching the TV.

“Hey! Wash yours hands! Don’t be touching my TV with your nasty bloody hands! Go wash them!” Oliver pointed to the bathroom. He was sure she wouldn’t know what to do, but she went in there anyways. He could see the confusion radiating off her body, and a few moment later she shouted from the other room.

“HOW???” She asked. Oliver sighed and showed her how to work the faucet. She ended up opening and closing the faucet multiple times before she was satisfied. Eventually she wandered back to the TV. “So how can multiple people listen to the same people in different apartments?”

“It’s called a television, TV for short. It broadcasts audio and picture over the sky. I don’t really know how it works but everyone can see the same ones on their own TV.”

“How fascinating! This world is full of wonderful mysteries.” Ethel suddenly turned back to him. “You much teach me the ways of this world!” If she was part of his comics, she would have had sparkles in her eyes and all around her head. It was hard to deny her. And it he might even end up dead if he refused her. So he nodded.

“Fine. I supposed that if I do this, then I’ll stay alive longer.”

Ethel enthusiastically nodded. “Uh-huh! Plus, with your scent and taste, how could I get rid of you?” She giggled in a way that she first did in the elevator. A surefire way to strike fear in his heart.

“Aaaanyways, I’m going to sleep. Here’s the remote. Press this button to change the channel.” Ethel took the remote and stared at it. After a moment, she began to press random buttons. Whatever. Oliver was dead tired after this mess. He was sure the blood loss was also affecting him.