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"I will," I promise. I open my cupboard and grab my spoon and head back to the table. I dig in, discovering that it tastes just as good as it smells. I don't know who taught Bernie to cook, but it's good.
Bernie heads to the fridge and pulls out a sealed container.
I don't need to ask to know what's inside it. I've lived with her long enough to be able to recognise the blood pouches she needs to consume in order to survive.
"Oh, I didn't think to check, you're okay eating vegetarian, right?" she asks, clearly trying to put off opening the blood.
I nod. "It won't sit well with me if I eat it while I'm shifted, but I can eat vegetarian when I'm in my human form and it won't cause me any problems. And it's tasty to have sometimes too. But are you really adding blood to vegetarian food?"
She wrinkles her nose. "I was vegetarian before I was turned," she admits.
My eyebrows shoot up. "I didn't realise you were a turned vampire."
"You had no reason to," she assures me. "It doesn't really make much difference at this point in my life. Only later down the line."
Ah. Right. Turned vampires are technically dead and can't reproduce as a result. I've heard rumours that there are scientists working on it, but I'm not sure how close they are to finding a solution.
"Is that why you don't like drinking blood now?" I ask.
"I don't know," she admits. "I never really liked the taste of meat, so I guess it makes sense that I don't like the taste of blood. That's why I try to add it to food, but that doesn't really work either."
"Have you ever asked another vampire about it?" I take another bite of my pasta, feeling a little better now I'm getting food in my system.
"Actually, no. I didn't want to come across as a bad vampire."
"I don't think you're a bad vampire. You drink the blood anyway."
Bernie grimaces. "Yes. But only because I fear the consequences if I don't." With that, she rips the seal off the blood and stares at it. "I really don't want to ruin the pasta by adding it."
"You could drink it down really fast and then eat to get rid of the taste?" I suggest.
Bernie sighs. "I'm going to have to. Do you mind?"
"Of course not Be my guest." I don't want to make her feel any more uncomfortable about her blood consumption than she has to, especially when she's been kind enough to share her meal with me.
She takes a deep breath and gulps it down, barely stopping once she's gotten started. She scrunches up the empty packet and throws it towards the bin. She covers her hand with her mouth and doesn't say anything while breathing in and out rapidly. Her pale skin grows even paler still, and I start to wonder about whether I need to call for medical attention.
"That was disgusting," she mutters.
"I'm sorry you have to do that."
"It's not your fault. Unless you're trying to tell me that you're secretly the old man who turned me."
"Not last time I checked," I attempt to joke, but really I'm just feeling a little sad for her.
She loads up her plate and comes to join me. "Thank you for being with me when I drank," she says. "It actually helps to have someone around."
"I didn't really do anything."
"I know. But I guess it just feels like moral support." She piles up her spoon with pasta and a more blissful expression crosses her face once the taste hits her tongue.
"If you ever need more of it, you can come find me," I promise. "But maybe you should think about asking one of the other vampires for some advice. Maybe someone else who has been turned will be able to help you?" I hope I'm not overstepping by suggesting it. I'm not as close to her as Essie is, but I feel like we're good enough friends for me to say it.
She offers me a genuine smile. "I think I'm going to. Every time I have to drink blood, I try to convince myself that it's not that bad and I need to get past it. But I can't do this for the rest of my life."
"Are there no blood substitutes available?"
"There's a rumour that there was someone making synthetic stuff while there was that blood drought in the City of Blood a couple of years ago, but it doesn't seem to have hit the main market yet."
