Jerry's POV


There was so much stuff in that basement. Amber must have thought I was an extreme hoarder. I felt embarrassed the whole time. The things I had down there weren't even useful; they were only knick-knacks I had collected during the course of my long life. I valued them, but I rarely looked at them. The cluttered junk somehow comforted me when I slept, as if they kept me company. But Amber didn't seem to mind.

We moved them upstairs to an empty(ish) room on the second floor. I chose that room because I knew it would be exhausting for Amber to haul all of that heavy stuff up the stairs. I was hoping that she'd get too tired after the first trip and forget about clearing out the basement. But to my surprise, she didn't give up. She didn't even complain about the hard work, not once. She eventually got tired and began to sweat a little bit, but she kept on carrying the junk upstairs without taking a break.

She was exceptionally strong for a woman of her size. I was amazed at how much weight she could hold at once. She was almost able to carry as much as I could!

We didn't talk much, besides the instructions I occasionally gave her: Put those in a box, put this on top of that, etc. She was nearly silent, mainly because she was always moving around. I marveled at her persistence. Indeed, she was a hard worker.

It took much less time for the basement to be cleared out than I had previously thought, only a couple of hours. I could tell that she was worn out, once she was done. She was almost panting.

"I think I should head home," said Amber. "I'm exhausted."

"Wait," I said. "Don't leave yet. I'll be right back." I went into the kitchen and grabbed a few dollar bills, then walked back to where I left Amber. "Here. I've got some money. Let me take you to the gas station, and I'll get you a drink. You must be parched."

Amber smiled. "I am, but that's okay. I can just get some water when I get home."

I shook my head. "Amber, I must insist. How many times do I have to offer a drink to you and be turned down? Come on, live it up a little."

She laughed. "Getting a drink at the gas station is not what I'd call 'living it up'. But I gotta admit, it sounds really refreshing right now…"

"Exactly. So let's go!" I held out my arm for her to take it.

She hesitated. "Oh, alright. If you insist," Amber said. She eyed my arm, which was still hanging there awkwardly. "But you don't need to 'escort' me." She giggled.

I dropped my arm to my side and shrugged. "Suit yourself."

We headed out the door together.


I arrived back home shortly after I had treated Amber to a root beer. She greatly appreciated the drink. She had gulped it all down in less than two minutes.

I opened the front door and found Billy there, sitting on the living room couch, reading a book.

"Hey Jer," Billy nodded at me in greeting.

"Hey," I said, but I glared at him. "We need to talk, Billy."

He closed the book and laid it face-down on his lap. "What is it?"

I approached him. I saw the newspaper, which was still lying on the armrest where Amber had left it. "Did you see this?"

"I saw it, but didn't read it. I didn't know we were subscribed to it."

"We're not. Amber left it here."

"Oh, right. Amber. So how come you haven't drained her yet? You must be hungry by now."

He was right; I was hungry. But I limited my feeding to once a week, which I was addressing right now.

I ignored his statement about Amber. "Listen to this," I grabbed the paper off the armrest and read the headlines aloud. "'Another Woman's Body Found in Becker County; Fifth Murder Victim in One Week.' That sounds pretty suspicious, don't you think, Billy?"

Billy scratched his head. "I suppose… But why do you bring that up?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Cut the innocent act, will you? You killed those other girls."

"Well, well, that's quite an accusation there."

"The body count is towering. You don't need to go and gorge yourself on more people than you need. We have a deal, and you know it. Yet, you're violating what we agreed on."

"Jer, blood-drained flesh just isn't satisfying for me anymore. It has less nourishment without the blood, and it's also nearly tasteless. It may enough to curb my cravings for a day, but not for the whole week."

"Five people. In one week. Since when did you need five a week to survive?"

Billy shrugged. "I don't know. I just keep getting hungrier and hungrier."

"Well, you need to toughen up and deal with your hunger, not give into it." I sighed. "The whole point of this partnership we have, is to lay low. To be able to feed without anyone finding out, and without getting the police involved. You have done the opposite! You didn't lay low, someone found out about it, and the police are now involved. Not only the local police, but professional murder investigators!"

"You mean, like detectives?" asked Billy.

"Yes Billy, like detectives." I rubbed my forehead in frustration. "This is a small town. They can narrow the suspects down to the two of us in the blink of an eye. You really screwed up. I mean, wow, how reckless can one guy be?!"

"Chill. I'll take care of it."

"No, Billy, you won't. Once you've started, you can't stop. It'll just keep getting worse and worse."

"You think I don't have the willpower to resist the hunger?"

"Nope. You've pretty much proven that you don't, and that you're beyond helping."

"So what are we going to do about it then?"

I thought about it for a minute. I took a deep breath.

"I want you to leave. Our partnership obviously means nothing to you, so there's no need for you to stay here any longer," I said.

"Wait… What?! You can't be serious."

"I'm deadly serious."

Billy got up from the couch to face me. "You can't do this to me! You won't! We've been doing this for years and years."

"And now you'll be free, no longer restricted by my rules and requirements. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

"This isn't happening…"

"Oh, it's happening. I can't keep covering your tracks every time you slip up like this. Our deal is over."

Billy suddenly swung a punch at me, hitting my cheek. I punched him back in the stomach. He coughed, the air knocked out of him from the blow. I pushed him against the wall, pinned him, and then grabbed him by the throat, squeezing it hard.

Anger surged through me. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to bite the hand that feeds you?" I sneered through clenched teeth. "You deserve to die. In fact, I'll kill you right now, no problem. I could rip you apart, piece by piece. "

Billy choked loudly. "Please," he forced out. "I- I'm s-sorry!" He squirmed, desperate to break free. His eyes pleaded with me to let him go, to spare him.

I can't explain why I didn't kill him that day. Perhaps it was just the look in his eyes, eyes that shone with fear, fear of dying. I never knew what it felt like to fear, or anticipate, death. As strange as it may sound, I admired his mortality. I just couldn't bring myself to kill him.

Billy choked loudly, starved for air. I leaned my head in slowly, and nearly laughed at how he struggled and squealed, thinking I was going to bite him. I whispered menacingly into his ear. "Get out."

I released him from my grip. He hungrily sucked in air, his chest heaving. He lingered as he tried to catch his breath. "Get out," I repeated.

Billy stumbled to the door. He opened the door, but before he went out, he turned to me and glared. "This isn't over," he sneered.

"Out! NOW!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. He hastily made his exit.

I turned away from the door, and listened to the sound of his car engine starting outside.

Although I was very angry with Billy, a small part of me regretted sending him away. I had met Billy about twenty years before. He was murdered in a past life, but was resurrected for reasons I never knew about. He was back in his body, and he was alive. But there's an order to things, both dead and alive. When something disrupts that order, such as a member of the undead, there's always a price to pay. For me, being a vampire, the price was having to feed on blood. Billy also had a price: feeding on human flesh. Consuming it kept him young, healthy, strong and most importantly to him, alive.

Anyways, when I first met Billy, he was confused and scared. Unlike me, he remembered his past life, and his afterlife (as a ghost, I guess?). Once I talked to him, and he revealed what he was, I got the idea that being around him may prove to be helpful to me. Sure, he wasn't a vampire; he had a heartbeat. But, I knew both of us had the same problems, considering we were both parasitical monsters and whatnot. And he also needed help.

So I took him in and we made a partnership. The deal was that I would drain the blood from the people I killed, and he would get the rest. This way, less people would have to die, and it made it easier to lay low. For Billy, the other benefit besides him getting flesh without getting his hands dirty, was having a place to stay, with me. I benefited from him when he acted as my garbage disposal, cleaning up my messes for me. And it also helped that he could walk around in daylight. It proved to be useful for certain things.

But lately, Billy had gotten a lot sloppier. I wouldn't have been surprised of the police showed up on my doorstep. I couldn't put up with him making such a childish mistake. I wouldn't stand for it.

But now, I was alone again. Now I had no one who shared my problems, who knew how I felt and truly understood me. I knew that I'd be fine on my own, because I was alone far before I met Billy, and I fared well. Unfortunately, now I had lost the only being in the world whom I could call a friend.

I felt the uncomfortable pang of hunger in my stomach. I knew I had to feed, and soon. But I did not feel like eating, despite the hunger. I decided to just sit on the couch all night doing absolutely nothing, alone with only my thoughts to keep me company.


So, looks like Billy is a zombie. I always wondered what Billy was every time I watched Fright Night. I never figured it out, so I assumed he was a zombie of some sort. You will soon learn how he came to be in his flesh-eating state. I have some major plans for him. *rubs hands together in anticipation* :D

I felt bad for Jerry at the end of this chapter, as I was writing it. He's alone and friendless now.

Or is he?

I'm also gonna let you all know that I added author's notes to the end of Chapters 1-4, and I also updated the author's note on the top of the Prologue. You might want to look back and check them out; they may give you answers to any questions you may have regarding the story's setting, characters, and time period. Thanks! :)