I sighed as I stared at the clock that sat on the mantle, not so much out of any dislike for the instrument itself - to be honest, I found clocks to be quite fascinating - but out of my irritation at how well it illustrated the predicament I currently found myself in. It was still only two pm, and as such, I was still subject to my voluntary seclusion for at least another two hours. Whilst I did not regret the life I lived – in fact, I found my life to be most fulfilling – I did regret the things that my current state of existence required, such as upholding the charade that I was as human as anyone else. Not only did daylight and I not get along so well, but the fact that I alone amongst all the people here had no need for sleep, yet I had to be seen to do so, tended to make me stay inside during the day. Although it seemed like a wasted twelve hours, I just had to endure it. At least it gave me plenty of time for my other hobbies. It's just… when you've had said hobbies for the past four hundred years, they tend not to be as fun as they used to be.
I felt my face twitch as the minute hand on the clock finally moved one tiny step forward, my body almost exploding from the frustration it created. Since returning home from work at three am - 39 600 seconds ago, not that I'm counting - time has insisted on dragging at an almost interminable rate for me to bear. You would think that by now, I would be used to the drag of the clock. I have been alive (if alive is the right word for it) for over 400 years now - you would think that the individual seconds that had piled up during my nearly countless existence would become meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but they don't. They continued to have the same impact that they have had ever since my real life ended, almost four hundred years ago now.
That was one of the flaws of being a vampire - admittedly, a minor flaw, but a irritating flaw nonetheless. The burn of transformation may have taken many things away from me - a heartbeat and the ability to age, if I were to name but two - but at the same time it had insisted on giving me so much more. Immeasurable speed, strength, intelligence, and, the bane of this exact moment, absolutely acute attention. A second seemed like a long period of time to us. Not only was a second long enough for me to take everything in in a particular situation - sight, sound, smell, texture - but I was capable of doing so much, and it made all those seconds that passed feel wasted. In a second, I could run 100m, scale a 2 storey building, complete a complex math problem, or, if I was to do what I was intended to do with this skill, end a life…
I was surprised just then when my phone began to ring. Although I had initially hated that particular addition to my home - even though I loathed my ability to hear people's thoughts, it was rather disconcerting when they were absent - right now I was delighted that it existed, desperate for anything to disrupt the melancholy reverie overcoming me. I raced over and picked it up.
"Hello, Oliver Monroe speaking," I answered formally.
"Oliver, it's Ruth. I hope I haven't woken you – I know you've still got a few hours till your shift, but we just received the best news and I thought you'd like to know."
I chuckled, "It's ok, Ruth. I was awake. Tell me what the news is."
"We've received an application for the intern position, isn't that great? I can't believe that someone finally wants to come out here of all places, but still, this is going to take a whole heap off you and Greg's shoulders…"
"That's great, Ruth," I interrupted, knowing that she would keep babbling for as long as I let her, "So who's the applicant?"
"Her name is Kaia Snow. Turns out she's some sort of child prodigy like you, top of her class…What is it with you kids and remote locations anyway?"
"I'm not that young, Ruth," I chuckled at the understatement of the century, "So are you going to offer her the position?"
"Of course we are! These opportunities are so rare that we can't afford to refuse. And she sounds so promising! I just hope that she likes it here and is able to adjust…"
I just smiled and let her banter. This could go on for awhile.
That was not the last time I heard of Kaia Snow. In fact, barely a day went by when I didn't hear about our upcoming arrival at least once. Seeming I only ever worked night shifts at the hospital, that was saying something. But then again, the whole of Keyes tended to get excited when a new brand of soap was stocked at the grocers, so maybe it wasn't so surprising.
Although I was interested in the newcomer to town, I was not as obsessed as everyone else was. I had seen people come and go from Keyes a thousand times since I moved here - in fact, I've seen hundreds of people be born and die since I arrived here. Our latest and brief guest would just be another face to the many I have seen over the centuries, but she was to be a passing concept. No one here was as eternal as I was, and I doubted I would remember Kaia Snow any better than I did any other human I've met – human life was always so fleeting.
It was finally the night when we could expect our new arrival. The whole town was abuzz. Truly, tonight was the one night I would have preferred my self-imposed seclusion. It would have made the inside of my head far more peaceful. The constant hum of human thought, too much to actually hear any of it clearly, was mixed with the other signals their brains conducted. I could smell the adrenaline permeating the air. I just wished they'd calm down a bit – all their neural activity was beginning to give me a headache. It's only a girl, for goodness sakes. She was going to be here for a year, there was no need for all this excitement tonight.
Maybe I should have told Ruth I was not coming to the barbeque tonight. I should have told her I had a headache. But no, our beloved DON would not have accepted that. I was a doctor here in Keyes, one of only two (well, now three), so I had to be here to welcome Dr Snow. It was my duty. Besides, Ruth Cox was more than capable of giving me a headache worse than this assembled crowd was. You did not cross that woman unless you really had to.
Just then, I heard something amongst the buzz, and my head spun to find the source. My eyes fell on Graham Logan, a miner. There was something not quite right amongst his synapses. He was feeling…dizzy. Ah – his vestibular apparatus. I could fix that.
"Graham," I said as I walked over to him, "What's that?"
"What's what, Dr Monroe?" he asked, confused.
"That, between your legs," I said, pointing to my invisible object.
Graham lent forwards, sticking his head between his knees.
"I don't see anything, Doc," his voice was muffled.
"Maybe it's on the left there. I definitely see something."
Graham spun his head to the left, and I smiled as the confusing synapses finally ceased. Evidently the calcifications had settled. He lifted his head up suddenly, pulling his hand to his face and turning to stare at me.
I shrugged at him, "Maybe it was just a trick of the light. Sorry, Graham," and I turned and left.
Jesus Christ, me head is better! How the fuck did that happen?
I smiled. Three hundred years of medical training and one not-so superfluous talent, that's how. I wasn't going to tell him, though.
I walked over to the bonfire and sat myself down, knowing that I was probably going to have to shake Dr Snow's hand when she got here and I wanted them to be a vaguely more normal temperature. Newcomers were always a hassle – you had to be perfect with the charade while they were around. After you get to know people, you can let some things slip through the cracks because they've already decided you're human, but not when you first meet them. I sighed – newcomers were always so aware I was something beyond the normal, and as such, tended to focus on me for at least the first week. I was sure this girl was going to be no different.
I started to hear yet another four-wheel drive approach, except for this one I knew the passengers.
"And if you have any problems with the washing machine, just give me a shout and I'll get Hardy to come over and take a look for you. That old thing is always stuffing up, but we can't afford a new one. Budget deficit, you see…"
Our DON, and by extension, our new intern, were finally going to make an appearance.
Just then Ruth's 4WD finally pulled in to view, and the rest of the townsfolk finally noticed their proximity.
"Hey, it's Ruth and the new girl!"
I looked over, to see a girl disembark from the car. Well, I guess a woman would be more accurate. She had blonde curls that she had pulled in to a ponytail, which stuck out from the back of her neck like a pom pom. She was pale, with brown eyes that even in the darkness I could see clearly. Her nose had a slight bulb on the end, but it suited her face. She wasn't skinny, but she wasn't fat. She had curves that fell away in a neat hour glass that her clothing hugged. I felt sorry for her – the locals were going to be all over her like a rash.
And, judging by the instantaneous increase in neural activity, I had been right. I couldn't help but smile a little – poor Kaia Snow.
"Hey Oliver, aren't you going to come meet the new girl?"
I turned and smiled at Doug, the sole police officer for Keyes and the surrounding areas. He stood next to the girl, who was looking a little overwhelmed by the entire situation.
"I thought maybe she would like to be buried alive under one less body," I called out to him, "I am going to see her at work, you know."
"Yeah, but tonight's her night, Oliver," Doug said, swinging his arm around her shoulder, "After this, she's going to be too buried with work to enjoy herself. Join the party."
The look of awkwardness that sprang to the poor girl's face made me feel sorry for her. She evidently did not know what to do about the proximity of our local law enforcement officer - her thoughts were completely blank.
"How bout you come help me with these sausages, Doug," I asked, giving her an out, "I seem to remember something about this being a barbeque. I'm sure you'd like to get fed at some point."
With that, Doug relinquished his hold on the new girl and came to help me cook dinner for everyone. Even though I was not going to eat anything that I prepared, it was a useful cover story. People assumed those who cooked the meal would snack while doing so, so they didn't notice when I didn't. It was easier than when I actually had to swallow what they called food in front of them, which I would just have to choke back up later.
Well ain't she a prime piece of ass. Sure, a little young for me, but aren't girls these days after the more mature man…Maybe…
"Doug," I said, interrupting him from his reverie, "How bout you go get some more sausages from the cooler."
"Oh…yeah…sure Doc," he said, before launching on his sausage finding mission.
I sighed, pretty sure that every eligible bachelor, and some that weren't so eligible, were having the same thoughts tonight. I wondered how Kaia Snow was coping, so I let my mind wander out to find her voice amongst the clamour. I couldn't find it. My brows furrowed – she couldn't have possibly left yet, it was so early. I turned to where she had been standing, and found her talking to Greg Young, the other doctor here in Keyes.
It is amazing how much this girl knows about the treatment of hydrofluoric acid burns. I wonder which journal articles she's read…
If she was talking about burn management, then she must be thinking. Why couldn't I hear her? I shook my head to clear it. I was probably just loosing her voice amongst the crowd. Although I had never had any problems isolating an individual's thoughts before, it was a larger crowd than I was used to tonight. The whole of Keyes seemed to be here…
Just then, Doug arrived back with the sausages, offering me a beer. I reached over and took it – not that I was going to drink that swill. Even when I was human, it had never been to my taste.
"So what do you think of the new girl, doc?" Doug probed.
I shrugged at him – honestly, I didn't know what to think.
"Come on, you have to have an opinion! She's pretty good looking, don't you think? And about your age…"
I chuckled, "Doug, you're not really trying to play matchmaker, are you?"
"Come on, doc. I don't know why you're letting a good catch like yourself go to waste. You're intelligent, good looking, have an accent…all the chicks dig you. Why not have some fun?" Let me live vicariously. She's way out of my league but she'd go for you… He elbowed me in the ribs.
"Because I'm a gentleman, Doug. It's not appropriate." Let alone unwise. I very much doubted any relationships between vampires and humans could end well… at least for the human. Not that I had ever had to make those sort of considerations - I had always been a solitary being, quite comfortable with just myself. I had never felt the need to make any attachments, nor felt any sort of attraction towards anyone to make me want to do so.
"You Poms are so uptight! Live a little!"
The smell of pheromones emanating from Doug just now was overwhelming.
Just then, the wind changed direction. I sighed in relief, before taking a deep breath in, hoping to wipe Doug's pungent odour from my memory…
In that moment, as my diaphragm contracted, pulling fresh air into my lungs, the universe changed. The air that rushed past my olfactory centre contained something more than oxygen and dust, something far sweeter… far sweeter than anything I had ever smelt in my entire existence. I felt every muscle in my body tighten in response, felt the venom well up in my mouth as my body prepared itself instinctively for the hunt it knew should be coming. That scent! What an odious concoction, reminiscent of honey and sunlight and a damp spring day. I had never been so tempted by the scent of a human before… I had never known it was possible for anything to be so perfect. My throat burned, almost enough to make me gasp in pain, as my mind screamed at me to find the origin of the siren's call. It was only the fact that I had nearly four hundred years of practice at controlling my natural urges that kept me seated where I was just then. I shut my eyes and clenched my jaw shut, trying to suppress these urges that I had long since claimed victory over, that only now reappeared once temptation had come knocking on my door.
All this only took a heartbeat for me to process, as I opened my eyes once more and allowed my body turn rigidly in the direction the wind had come from, afraid that if I relaxed for even a moment, I would lose my carefully constructed control. I inhaled again, and once more the fire ripped through my chest and my stomach contorted painfully with need and desire. I could hear the throbbing of a heartbeat, as my eyes finally fell upon where the scent had originated. A pair of brown eyes stared back at me, widening in terror as she sensed the fierceness in mine, as I realised it was only ever going to of been her.
Kaia Snow, our new intern… and my first ever human victim.
No.
Even as I struggled with the hunger, the need that burned within me stronger than the fires of hell, a far quieter part of me screamed in the horror of what I wanted to do. I had never taken a life… well, at least a human life before. How could I let four hundred years of denial and sacrifice go to waste in this one moment? How could I let myself be so tempted by a scent that I was willing to give up everything I had worked so hard for? Would I really allow myself to be so controlled by my monstrous urges that I would sacrifice the human shadow I had cloaked myself in, something that I desired more than anything else?
But that scent!
I watched as the unfortunate focus of my attention blinked once, her eyelashes fluttering as they pressed against their counterparts and her lips started to part from the shock of the realisation of the monster within me. I let my eyes drop from her face, only to land upon her neck, where I watched the rhythmic pulsation of her carotid under her too smooth skin, so soft and inviting… It called to me almost as powerfully as her scent did.
I was losing this battle with my wills. That scent, the hypnotising rhythm of her carotid, the wet thumping of her heartbeat… The fact that I was surrounded by nearly one hundred people, most of whom held me in high regard, could not stop me from feeling tempted to rush across the space between me and this girl and sink my teeth into her carotid, to be greeted with the warm, delicious fluid that flowed within. I could almost taste it already. I could almost feel its warmth running down my throat…
I have to leave. I wouldn't - I couldn't let myself be conquered by my inner demons. But how? How could I possibly deny myself what I wanted most dear? The sound, the sight, the scent… any one of these was enough to undo any other of my kind that had not abstained as I had insisted upon up till this night. How was I meant to resist all three?
But I didn't have to resist all three, the last sensible part of my mind called. Sight, easy, just look away. I didn't need to see her pulse beating in her neck. I didn't have to see the gentle rise and fall of her skin. I just had to look away, just for a moment. Sound, a harder task, but not impossible. There were enough people around that that particular sound should have been drowned out anyway. I just had to reduce my focus on this girl/child. I could do that. And scent…
Even though it was against my instincts - and my desire in that particular moment - I forced myself to stop breathing. It was uncomfortable, and the relief was incomplete, as her scent still played heavily on my mind, but it was enough. Distracted from her perfection, I sprang to my feet, refusing to look back towards her, refusing to walk at human speed as I fled the scene. My resistance was too weak for me to bother keeping up my human charade. In under a second, I had crossed the oval and was in my car, key already turning in the ignition as the engine roared to life, as I put it into gear and sped away.
I didn't stop until I had reached my house, opening the windows as I gasped for air, allowing the clear night breeze to wash away the poison from my thoughts. I felt my body relax as sanity slowly returned to me. I was starting to feel like me again. What had just happened? Even though I had been a vampire for nearly four hundred years, even though I had lived surrounded by thousands of humans in that time, even though I had had their blood on me and around me for three hundred years now as part of my work, I had never smelt anything that came close to Kaia Snow. She was the wine that connoisseurs sought out their entire profession – the perfect bouquet. Every undertone in that scent called to me as though it would complete me. I had needed her blood as much as humans needed the air they breathed. In that moment, there was nothing else.
This was not good, this was really not good. I had come to grips centuries ago that I was a monster, that some part of me would always be attracted to the scent of humans, but I had thought that I had developed some sort of immunity to it in the intervening centuries. I had practiced so long and so hard that I did not notice normal human blood anymore. It held nothing for me. I had even come to appreciate animal blood to some degree, but all that had paled in comparison to how Kaia Snow's blood had called to me. It was though I had never known how perfect blood could be. Did others of my kind feel this way? Was that why they could not control their thirsts? No – that could not be it. Kaia Snow was just different, she was one of a kind. No one else could smell as good as she did to me. She was an aberration. An aberration that I now had to deal with at work.
This was going to be fun…