“Yeah, but isn’t it nice not having to hide? We did the community a favor. Without us, you would still be struggling to stay alive. Now you can be out in the open. You can access all the blood you want, and you can be normal. If anything, you guys—Bloodborns—continuing to be gatekeepers are the bigger issue.”
“How did you do it?” I asked, not interested in hearing the ‘what we did was good’ speech again. Many of the evil souls I’ve collected over the years have had the same thing to say. In their opinion, outing the vampire race to the humans was a good thing. I don’t necessarily agree. He raised an eyebrow at me, and I rolled my eyes, asking again how he turned himself into a vampire. “How did you kill yourself?”
“Nothing fancy. Me and the boys jumped in front of a train.”
“You and the boys? How many were there?”
He straightened, proud of himself. “Six of us took the plunge. We weren’t afraid.” He grinned, and I shook my head in disgust.
In this new age where death by suicide was a mark of bravery, the more horrific the way, the more you were respected if you changed.IF.
“And how many changed?” I asked. That was the thing. You only changed into a vampire if you had the gene in your blood. Or DNA, whatever. I wasn’t too familiar with the science. I hadn’t the need nor desire to learn how these people did it. It was disgusting to me. The Bloodshed Vampire’s smile fell, as did his gaze. He stared hard at the ground for a moment before answering.
“Just me.”
My lips pressed together in a solid line as my hands gripped the edge of his desk until all the blood left them. Six humans killed themselves with the hopes that they’d all turn into vampires. Only one survived.
“Five people died, and you were given a second chance? A chance you squandered by preying on young girls who didn’t know any better.”
“They were all consenting!” He yelled, tugging at his ropes harder, but I knew he would not get free. This wasn’t my first time.
“What is consent nowadays? The red ribbon isn’t permission to attack. To murder them for your own pleasure.”
“They want it,” he argued. “If you’re wearing a red choker around your neck, you’re telling us that you want to be fed on. Everyone knows that!”
I shook my head and reached for my cards. “No, I don’t believe that. Just because they are willing doesn’t mean they are willing to do it with you.”
“Oh, that’s just nitpicking. They were all nobodies. No one missed them. They all knew better than to be out past curfew. I wasn’t even charged.”
“Just because human police didn’t seem to care doesn’t mean the vampire world will ignore it.” Standing with my deck spread out in my hands. I walked toward him and leaned down, offering him the cards. “Pick a card.”
“Fuck you,” he snarled, trying to kick me.
I remained in position, calmly offering him a card. “Are you sure you don’t want to pick one?”
He spat on me. I straightened, blinking. The red spit was splattered on my black button-up shirt. Rage began building in me, but I took a step back, taking my cards back.
“I’m not playing Go Fish with some stupid edge lord vamp who won’t even reveal who he is. If I’m dying tonight, tell me your name. Or better yet, show me your eyes, you fucking coward.”
I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. I shouldn't have been phased by his words, but the blood from his mouth was damp on my chest, and the feeling was unnerving.
“My name is Desiderio Amato.” I said as calmly as I could. I turned back to him and watched his eyes glaze over as he tried to figure out where he had heard the name from. “Now, since you didn’t pick a card, I’ll be picking one for you.”
I gave him a large, tooth-baring smile as I shuffled the deck haphazardly in my hands and then pulled the top card. “Ten of Swords,” I told him. I turned it around and showed him. The card had a body lying face down with ten long swords pierced through his back. “Ouch.”
He stared at the card for a long moment. I held it out until his mouth fell open, and his eyes went wide with fear. There it was. The recognition. Stuffing the rest of the deck in my duster, I brought my empty hand to my face and removed the glasses, revealing one blue eye, one green.
“Jesus Christ, you’rereal,” he gasped.
I laughed and took a step back, straightening. “I love that. I’m real. Was I some mythological creature or something? Oh, I guess I am,” I mused, walking around his chair. He tried to follow me by rolling his head. I decided to keep the glasses off, slipping them into my breast pocket. “So, my name precedes me.”
“You’re one of the Seven Sins. Of course, it does.”
“I wasn’t the one to come up with that nickname, but I do rather like it,” I laughed. He didn’t.
“Come on, man, you’re really coming out of your hole to kill me? Some small-time woman biter? I’m nobody. I don’t hurt anyone of our race. I’m actually in charge of many things that better the community. I helped raise funds for the blood banks.”
“Are you familiar with tarot Victor? I’ve been practicing since before I died.”
