#former creepy landlord found another way to try to contact me

[ante--meridiem]

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[headfullofstories]

Truly Monstrous Luck - part 5

I stand outside of the 6 story red brick apartment complex where Justin lives. Yvonne brought me to the bank earlier to get a new debit card so I could take the subway by myself, but I ended up asking her to come with, anyways. I didn’t want to be around all those people alone yet; I’m worried that the voices from yesterday will come back again.

“You gonna be okay?” Yvonne asks, resting her hand on my shoulder. “You don’t need to tell him anything you don’t want to.”

I nod, and hold onto her arm for a moment. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me.”

She glares at me, a playful glint in her eye. “I will worry as much as I want,” she ruffles my hair a little and softens her expression, “and you are absolutely someone worth worrying over.”

I nod grudgingly, and take a few deep breaths before letting go of her arm and starting towards the door. “I’ll try not to take long.”

“That’s fine baby, take all the time you need.” She responds, “I don’t have anywhere I need to be, I have a friend covering my sector of the city today.”

“Are you sure?” I stop in front of the door now, “I don’t want to leave you waiting out here.”

“I’ll be fine, Victor,” she insists, “this trip is about you. Now go talk to your brother!”

“O-okay.” I agree, reluctantly, and turn to head inside.

The stairwell is a little creepy as I head up to Justin’s apartment on the 3rd floor, the light on the second floor landing is out and there aren’t any windows, so it’s darker than normal. I grip the straps of my backpack tightly as I ascend, keeping my head down as I count the stairs between landings - 8 per flight, 2 flights per floor, for 2 full floors. I make sure I step on all 32, taking 3 steps on the landings. I settle into the familiarity of the numbers by the time I reach Justin’s floor, turning to the left as soon as I leave the stairwell and pulling out the key to his apartment. I knock on the door as I turn the key in the lock and push my way in.

Justin has a studio apartment, the same place he’s been living for 4 years now. I used to live here, but I moved out last year since living with others has never worked great for me, and it was a really good year while it lasted, but of fucking course something had to fuck it up, and now my former landlord thinks I take hardcore drugs because she didn’t bother to read the label on the vial.

When I walk in, Justin is on his bed typing something on his laptop. As I close the door behind me, he slams his laptop shut, slides it onto his mattress, and runs over to hug me. He’s taller than me by a couple inches - he can rest his head comfortably on top of mine if he’s standing up straight. He wraps me in an overly tight hug, which I reciprocate after a moment of stunned stillness.

“Oh my god, Vic, are you okay? What happened yesterday?” He asks, voice full of anxiety, and he pulls away to look me up and down. “How did you get even paler? Did you catch a cold in the rain yesterday? Where did you stay? Please don’t say you slept on the streets. Why didn’t you come over here?”

“I’m sorry for not coming over.” I mumble, “a, um, a pickpocket took my wallet, so didn’t have any money or a bus card to get over here…”

He looks at me for a moment after I start speaking, and something seems to click after I finish my statement, and he gasps a little. “Oh shit, was that too many questions at once?” I give a small shrug in response. “Fuck, I’m sorry Vic, i just… I got really worried about you last night.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry J.” I mutter, “I would’ve come over here, but…” fuck, I’m actually telling him. Why am I telling him? I don’t have anything prepared, I don’t know how to explain what the actual fuck even happened. Hey bro, I got bit by a vampire on 1st avenue? He’s never gonna believe me.

I take a deep breath and silently hope he’ll believe anything I’m saying. “When I was walking over here yesterday… I got attacked.”

“Attacked?!” He screeches, voice cracking. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

I hesitate for a moment, avoiding eye contact as much as I can. “I’m… I’m mostly fine, but… fuck, I’m gonna sound so fucking crazy.”

He shakes his head a little, “Whatever, maybe I will, but… tell me anyways.”

I look straight into his eyes now, give a little nod, and steel myself as I continue my explanation. “The person who attacked me… he was a vampire. Like, a real, blood-sucking vampire. He was stalking me for a couple blocks, and… he pulled me down an alley and… bit me.” I tug at the collar of my shirt and show him the small mark on my neck.

He looks at me, utterly stunned. “A… vampire bit you. Yesterday, in the middle of New York City.”

“I told you I sound fucking insane.” I grumble. “But I swear I’m not lying. I have the fucking fangs to prove it!” I open my mouth to show him my elongated canines and almost start crying.

The color drains from his face. “Holy. Fucking. Shit.” He whispers, and pulls me back in for an even tighter hug. “I’m so sorry, Vic. I… I’m your older brother, I should be able to keep you safe… god, I’ve never been able to keep you safe…”

“It’s not your fault, J.” I insist, “Bad things happen and sometimes no one can stop them from happening. I had shitty luck, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but… hey, at least I half died in the coolest way possible.”

He laughs a little at that. I like it when I can get him to laugh; it doesn’t happen very often, especially not recently, but it makes me feel amazing when I can manage it. It makes me feel like maybe I’m not as much of a burden as I tell myself I am.

“You… you’re gonna be okay though, right, Vic?” He asks cautiously as he pulls me back and looks me in the eyes, “have you had any… I don’t know, urges? If you killed someone, I’ll help you hide the body. I promise, whatever you need.”

I shake my head. “I’m fine. I had really bad urges right after, but… this really nice lady found me before I woke up, and gave me some… cow’s blood. She brought me to a… facility… that helps people like me.”

He lets out a sigh of relief before he responds. “Oh, thank god. Do you feel safe there? Are the people nice?”

“Yeah, the people are all super nice.” I confirm. “The lady who found me especially, and this vampire dude.”

“Is that where you stayed last night?”

“Yeah. They have a bunch of studio apartments where people live, and I have a room there right now.”

“That’s good, that’s good…” He mutters, and I can see the gears turning in his brain as he thinks of things to ask. “Be… be careful, okay? Try not to kill anyone; I’ll help you hide a body, but I’d really rather that didn’t come up.”

I chuckle a little at that. “Yeah, I’ll do my best.”

He pulls me back in for another hug, and just holds me for a little while.

“Do you need to leave soon?” He asks after a few minutes.

“Yeah,” I mutter, “the lady who found me came with me, I didn’t want to take the subway alone yet.”

He squeezes me tighter, and pulls back a little to knock our foreheads together. “Be safe; I can’t imagine vampires are terribly popular.”

I nod, and slowly back away from his touch. “I’ll call you when I get back, okay?”

He nods. “Love you, Vic.”

I give one last nod, and turn to leave. “Love you, J.”

As soon as I close the door behind me, tears start streaming down my face. That went so much better than I thought, but it took a lot out of me. Fuck, he actually believed me! That alone would be enough to make me start crying tears of pure euphoria, but combined with the emotional stress the tears come all that more easily. I stand there for a moment, do my best to stop crying, and head back down the stairs.

Yvonne is sitting on the front steps when I walk out, and as soon as I open the door she jumps to her feet and spins around to look at me. I just walk right up to her and give her a hug.

"You good, baby?" She asks cautiously; I nod and hold onto her tighter.

“I told him what happened,” I mutter, “and he believed me.”

“That’s good!” She exclaims, “Did he take it well?”

“I… I think so.”

“That’s really great, Victor.” She restates. “Do you want to head out?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

The sun is out today. It’s noon right now, and the subways are busy, mostly with big groups of high school kids. The city is so alive, and for the first time since I moved here, I feel a little out of place. The car we’re in is packed full of teens heading into Manhattan, and surprisingly they don’t take any notice of us.

“Hey, Yvonne?” I ask her after a few minutes, “I really don’t want to seem rude, but… why…"

"Why aren't people looking at me?” She finishes, and I nod a little.

“I’m really sorry if that’s rude.” I mumble, barely audible.

She smiles a little. “That’s fine, Victor, it’s good you asked me instead of accidentally offending a stranger. I have a minor glamour on, so I look a little more human to normal people.”

My eyes go wide at that. “Magic? Can I see? Please?”

She snorts at that. “You’re very easily excitable, huh?”

I nod vigorously. “Can I see it? I wanna see how you look to all of these people!”

She gives me a little nod, and her form begins to shift, like there’s a fog around her, and her features begin to change slightly. Her green skin changes to a shade of brown the color of grizzly bear fur, and her tusks disappear. Her eyes remain the same piercing silver, and her hair remains in midnight black dreads, but the ends are dyed green. My eyes go even wider with awe. She smiles a little wider as the glamour fades away once again.

“That is the coolest fucking thing I’ve seen in the past 24 hours.” I state.

“Kid, if that’s the coolest thing you’ve seen, you have a lot to learn.”

“I want to learn all of it.”

She laughs lightly at that, “Well, I guess that’s not a bad way to spend eternity.”

I smile back at her, and we sit in near silence for the rest of the ride.