Sour blood poured down her throat as disgust warped her face. Vampires always drank fresh blood, to not do it fresh wasn’t even considered. Blood taken straight from the source was indescribable. It was a whole body experience which never lost its appeal, and left vampires in constant craving. Well, that’s what she’d heard from Mel. She’d never had fresh blood herself, all she got was blood tainted with chemicals.

        Aqua sat in a public bathroom, down the hall from the blood clinic’s lobby. She played with the empty blood bag as she thought about how she’d gotten to this point. It had started during a sleepover with Mel where they had the bright idea to do some cooking. Her friend had cut herself and, without thinking, Aqua pulled Mel’s finger into her mouth. In her defense she was really tired, and that reaction had become ingrained in her after many similar incidents. Mel had really freaked out. Aqua thought she was offended at first, but it turned out that becoming a vampire was as simple as drinking said vampire’s blood. She also found out she’d been having a sleepover with a being that drank human blood.

        Aqua had actually fainted; the shock and the transformation being too much for her. Mel had taken care of her through the whole process, which mostly consisted of Aqua getting feverish. The problems really started when Mel explained what being a vampire was about. She blushed as she remembered how Mel had placed her mouth on her neck to show her where to drink from. It was a death sentence. There was nothing that could possibly make Aqua do… that! With the purest intentions at heart, Mel told her how she went about drinking blood. That was when Aqua realized that being a vampire was the antithesis to her very being. During sex, while dancing with someone, or any other intimate moment that let Mel bite someone’s neck were the examples provided. The fear must’ve shown on her face, since Mel quickly explained how nothing could compare to drinking blood. The ‘better than sex comparison’ falling flat with Aqua. Compared to Mel’s extravagant vampire life, Aqua’s just felt like a bad joke.

        Leaving the bathroom, Aqua almost felt like laughing. To think her life would be flipped upside down from such a careless mistake. It was times like these where Aqua really hated herself. She couldn’t even be a proper vampire. Back in the lobby she noticed everyone had left for the cafeteria, leaving her all alone. She passed the time by imagining what fresh blood would taste like. Would it be sweet or savory? Was the texture the same as bagged blood? She could almost imagine the warm blood shooting into her mouth. The smell would be overwhelming, even stronger than the sad excuse she got from the clinic. Taking a deep breath that left her feeling heady, she wished she’d get a chance to drink fresh one day.

“Hello… Uh, excuse me? Miss?”

With a squeak, Aqua shot up from her seat. There was a man with a worried expression staring at her. Before she could say anything she caught the smell coming from him. Her eyes unfocused as she took a deep breath, the scent in the air leaving her dizzy. She’d never smelled something so strong. Usually she could vaguely smell peoples blood but never this mu-

        “Ma’am? Are you okay?”

        “Huh? Oh! Um, did you need something?”

        “Yeah… I came to donate blood.”

        “I can help with that!”

        After pushing some forms his way, Aqua took him deeper into the clinic. Every breath that entered her burning face brought with it his intoxicating aroma. She made sure to walk in front, trying desperately to hide the frenzied blush around her wide eyes. When they reached an empty room, Aqua was almost delirious. “Okay, uh…” Glancing at the papers she looked for his name. “...Anon? J-just wait here.  I’ll be back in a bit…’ She fiddled with the blood bag next to him as she mumbled something about magazines. Finally finished, she scampered out of the room. Hiding just outside the door, Aqua came up with a very simple plan that she felt very confident about.

Peeking into the room, she saw Ahno immersed in his magazine as the tube in his arm turned dark red. She took a deep breath, and dropped down on her stomach. Like a lizard, she crawled into his room. Through divine intervention she managed to slip under the cot, unnoticed. Her hand darted out, grabbing the extra tube hanging from the blood bag. Her face glistened as she worked off the plug, almost dropping the tube as she did. The smell almost knocked her out. Her mouth watered, and static ran up and down her spine. Without wasting any more time she popped the tube into her mouth. Pure ecstasy. Aqua had found liquid euphoria, and she couldn’t get enough. Drinking mouthful after mouthful, her mind trembled. A joy so intense it hurt. Tears poured down her face as her mouth pulled back into a painful smile. Envy erupted in her mind as she realized Mel felt this regularly.

The cage of pleasure around her mind cracked as the bed shook over her. She opened her eyes just as Ahno’s limp body dropped in front of her. She froze, managing one more gulp of blood. Did she kill him? Now that she thought about it, she might’ve gone a little crazy for a second there. She crawled out, bringing her ear to his mouth, listening for his breathing. A soft groan slipped out of him. She shot up, ran for bandages, and dropped next to his body wrapping his elbow with bandages. Grabbing his shoulders, she lifted… She placed a pillow under his head and threw a blanket over him. All she could do now was wait.

Ahno’s eyes fluttered open, pale and weak. The cold floor left him a shivering mess. Aqua threw away the bag she had been sucking on, and ran to his side. She almost cried again when she saw how weak he was. She helped him sit up and offered him a cookie. He waved it away, mumbling about food in his backpack. Aqua didn’t even realize he had a backpack, but there it was right next to his bed. She brought it over to him, watching as he fumbled with the zipper. His hand finally came out holding an…  onion? He was holding a whole raw onion. He wasn’t actually gonna eat it right? He did! He looked happy too, as if it was the only thing he needed to feel better. Catching Aqua’s incredulous stare he explained himself. “When I was younger, my parents left me by myself a lot. I didn’t know how to cook so whenever I got hungry I’d just eat an onion. Now it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure.” He chuckled, and kept eating his onion.

That made no sense! Even if he was hungry, who in their right mind would try to eat an onion? “Okay… uhm, how do you feel?”

His pallid face turned to her. “Better now. What happened?”

Thankfully, she'd thought about this while he slept. “The bag leaked s-some blood. S-sorry.”

“Some?”

“...A Lot.”

“Should I be worried? I mean, I passed out. Isn’t that pretty bad?”

        It was really bad. “N-no, you’re fine!” she said, wringing her hands. “Maybe have a big meal and some rest?”

        “If you say so...” He finished his onion and tried to stand up. “A little help?” Even though Aqua did help him he still had to do most of the work. She hovered around him as he made his way to the exit, hugging herself and cringing every time he stumbled. Aqua watched him stagger down the street, she hoped he made it back okay. She went home shortly after he left. Her shift wouldn’t end for a while, but this whole event had left her exhausted.

        Back home, Aqua sat in her room clutching a piece of paper. It was the form Ahno had filled with his phone number. He really wasn’t that special. He seemed pretty weird actually, but his blood was the best thing Aqua had ever experienced. Bagged blood really didn’t compare to the real deal. Mel had tried to explain but now Aqua understood that it really wasn’t something you could just put into words. Aqua wasn’t used to listening to Mel’s advice since it usually involved going out and getting into situations she’d rather avoid. But now she wasn’t so sure, besides today wasn’t so bad. Pulling out her phone, she tried to remember how Anon’s blood tasted.

        Mel always answered the phone pretty fast. “Hey Aqua! Did you need something?”

        “Hey, could I ask something?”

        “Always!”

        “Okay, so… at work some guy came in and his blood smelled really strong?”

        “Ah, yeah I-”

        “And I drank fresh blood!”

        “Really! His?”

        “Yeah!”

        “Was he cute~?”

        “Huh? Ah.. I-I don’t know? But his blood tasted really good, I think, and I wasn’t sure if his smell was related.”

        “I’ve heard about the smell thing. That’s just their diet affecting their scent.”

        “Oh, well he was eating an onion like an apple. Maybe that’s why.”

        “An onion? Could be. But I do know that the taste of blood doesn’t change, so what you felt is just what drinking blood is like.”

        “Really?” She paused, so that was how everyone tasted? “Hey, a-about those… techniques… that you told me about. M-maybe I could try one of them?”

        “The sex thing? If that’s wha-”

        “No! T-the c-club thing.”

        “Finally! We could go together! Yay!”

        Mel explained how the club thing worked, reassuring Aqua when she mentioned how people were so drunk they never noticed anything weird. After moving on to lighter topics, they ended the call with some encouraging words from Mel. Aqua felt her stomach churning. She couldn’t believe she’d asked that. She already dreaded having to go out and being around so many people. She didn’t even know how to dance! But Mel was being really nice about it, and at this point it would be worse to back down after getting Mel all excited.

Licking her lips, she sat on her bed, wondering if she was being too reckless. It should all work out fine right? She guessed this was probably why Mel always looked really happy. Taking comfort in that, Aqua felt some of her worries mellow out. She threw Ahno’s number in the trash, there was no reason to keep it since his blood wasn’t even special like she’d thought. She hoped he was okay though. Getting ready to sleep, Aqua felt slightly hopeful. Maybe this vampire thing, and some help from Mel, could help her open up more.