Not all monsters were real. Zombies and witches didn't exist. They were just imaginary concepts created by humans who were bored with their lives.

Vampires, on the other hand, were definitely real.

There were a lot of stereotypes about vampires. Some of the stereotypes were true. Like the idea that vampires drank blood was definitely true. They still ate fruits and vegetables like humans, and the ones who weren't vegetarians ate meat just like humans, however in addition to regular food vampires needed to consume blood. It didn't have to be human blood; they could sustain on animal blood too. The longest a vampire could survive without blood was one month, however most doctors specializing in vampirism recommend drinking an average of 0.875 ounces of blood twice a day in order to stay in primal health.

Some of the stereotypes were misconstrued, such as the idea that vampires would die if exposed to direct sunlight. Vampires only died in direct sunlight if they stayed in the sun for more than 36 hours, and that's only if the sunlight was continuously shining strong as a hot Summer afternoon. Since each day and night cycle only lasted 24 hours, and the average number of daylight hours was only 12, it would be very difficult for a vampire to stay out in the sun for long enough to die. It was true that vampires were sensitive to UV light, and they would start to feel weak if exposed to too much direct sunlight for too long, but as long as a vampire took breaks from being in the sun every couple of hours, and be sure to wear lots of black clothing, sunlight could not kill a vampire.

Some of the stereotypes were completely false, like the idea that when a vampire bites a human it would turn the human into a vampire. Vampirism was just something you were born with. It was impossible for a human to turn into a vampire. Also, the idea that vampires could turn into bats was completely false too. That's just silly.

Throughout history vampires had been feared and persecuted beyond belief. The few left in existence often had to pretend to be humans in fear of being killed. However, some parts of the world were starting to become more accepting of vampires. The United States offered more opportunities for them to be able to live in the open without having to hide who they were. Obviously vampirephobia still existed in the U.S, but the political climate in this country was relatively much safer for vampires to live in than many other parts of the world.

Ryou was a human. His twin brother Bakura was a vampire. While growing up in the northeast coast of the United States, people often asked them how they could possibly be twins when one was human and other one was a vampire. Whenever someone asked this stupid question, Bakura would tell them to shove it and get lost, and then Ryou would calmly explain that they were fraternal twins, not identical ones, and it was perfectly normal for siblings to be different from one another. It's like when a white person marries a black person, they would have some kids who looked white and some kids who looked black, and lots of different skin tones in between. Ryou and Bakura had a father who was a human and a mother who was a vampire. Why was it so difficult to grasp the concept that siblings weren't always born the same way?

Ryou and Bakura came from a relatively well-off family, which meant that Bakura could afford to get a blood donor dog if he applied for disability (similar to a seeing-eye dog for the blind, or a therapy dog for the mentally ill), but since their father was allergic to dogs this wasn't an option for him. As a result, Bakura often had to rely on Ryou for blood. Since they were very young children, Ryou donated blood to Bakura twice a day, every day. There was never a day that the two of them were apart. They were inseparable from birth.

Ryou and Bakura had always attended the same classes, the same schools, and sometimes the same afterschool clubs too. By the time they reached their third year of high school, it was time to start thinking about applying to colleges. They were going to apply to all the same colleges, and whichever college admitted them both was the one they were going to attend. At least, that had been the previous plan. But at some point in time while researching possible colleges, Bakura started to consider other options without Ryou's knowledge.

It was very common for high school students to visit college campuses before applying to them, so that's what Ryou and Bakura did, and as always they did it together. The sun was shining brightly on an early Spring afternoon as Ryou and Bakura went on a college tour. The tour guide walked around campus with a large group of high school students following her around, showing the applicants all the great opportunities that this college had to offer. Sometimes she showed them classrooms, sometimes she gave them a tour of the outside. Unfortunately, the tour involved a lot of walking outside, which meant a lot of exposure to direct sunlight. At one point in time she had everyone sit down in the grass somewhere outside where they could all enjoy the fresh air and she could give a long speech about the history of this college. There were no trees or nearby buildings to provide any shade. After a while, Bakura started to feel faint from being in the sun for too long.

Ryou immediately noticed. "Are you alright?" he said.

"A little dizzy," Bakura muttered, clutching his head.

"Let's go inside. I don't think this is important anyways," Ryou said.

The tour guide was still giving her speech, and everyone else in the group was too focused on her to notice the two of them leaving. Ryou and Bakura got up and went inside the nearest building, which happened to be a student dormitory. As soon as they were inside, Bakura plopped down on the nearest couch, exhausted.

Ryou sat on the edge of the same couch. He stretched out his arm, put his wrist directly in front of Bakura's face, and said, "Drink."

Bakura scowled and eyed Ryou with distain.

"You really need this right now," Ryou insisted. "Drink. Now."

Bakura wanted to say that this was a public area and it wouldn't be a good idea to do this with so many strangers around, but he was too tired to argue. He took Ryou's wrist and bit into it with his vampire fangs, and then drank.

Someone across the room shouted, "Parasite!"

Ryou stood up and shouted, "You mind your own business! Take that back!"

"Ryou! Stop moving so much!" Bakura said as he pulled Ryou's arm back towards himself and quickly sealed up the wound with vampire venom in order to stop the bleeding. "Sheesh, do you want to bleed to death? You idiot."

"He called you a parasite!" Ryou said angrily.

"I get called that all the time. I don't need you to fight all my battles for me. I can advocate for myself," Bakura said with a tinge of annoyance. He stood up, grabbed Ryou's hand, and started pulling Ryou out of the room. "Let's just leave."

Ryou gave the stranger across the room one last glare before being dragged away by Bakura. Once they were outside again, Ryou took another look at the campus and said, "I hate this place. There aren't enough trees and the buildings are too far apart to provide adequate shade. The cafeterias only serve cooked meat with no options for uncooked bloody meat. Also that tour guide could've done a better job at her job. She couldn't have chosen to give her speech in a shady area instead? This is definitely not the right college for us. We can do so much better than this."

Bakura didn't respond. He continued to drag Ryou across the campus until they reached the parking lot. Once they reached their car, Ryou took out his car keys to unlock the car, and they both got inside.

"When we get home, I have some plans for other universities we can consider," Ryou said, getting into the driver's seat. "There's this other place I know that has more trees for shade. It's on the other side of the country, but it'll be worth considering."

"Ryou…could you give it a rest already? I can't do this anymore," Bakura sighed. He stretched out his hand palm side up. "Can I see the keys for a second?"

Ryou was confused but did what he was asked; he gave Bakura the car keys. Bakura got himself seated in the car and shut the doors and windows, making sure they were alone with no chance of anyone listening. "Alright, listen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while," Bakura said. "I think we need to go our separate ways."

"What do you mean?" said Ryou.

"We need to apply to separate colleges. I don't want to attend the same college as you."

"What?" Ryou's face went from shocked to disbelief to heartbreak. "But…but why?"

"I'm so sick of always being in your shadow!" Bakura blurted out. Secretly he had been holding back these feelings for years, and now he was finally letting it all out. "I'm sick of always having to rely on someone else, as if I'm a liability, as if I'm a burden, as if I can't be independent. It's like my entire existence is tied to you. I'm not allowed to be my own person."

"I don't consider you to be a burden. You're my best friend."

"You're not listening to me! Stop making it be about yourself!"

Ryou shut his mouth.

"My entire existence's purpose is to lift up your social status. Everyone always refers to me as 'Ryou's brother' rather than by my own name. I'm your morality pet. I make you look like a human savior who is graciously allowing a vampire to suck your blood so that I can survive. It's never really about me. It's about how my destiny is tied to you."

"I don't understand," Ryou said, an edge of hurt in his voice. "Do you resent me?"

Bakura paused briefly before admitting, "…sometimes."

Ryou lowered his head.

"It's not really your fault. It's more of a matter of circumstance," Bakura sighed. "I can't rely on you forever. I need to become independent."

Ryou nodded. "Alright, if you think that's for the best then we'll go our separate ways. You sure you'll be okay without me?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. There are plenty of other ways for me to get my blood supply."

"Are you going to get a blood donor dog?"

Bakura shook his head, "No, that won't be necessary. Where I'm going, vampirism isn't treated like a disability. It's treated as normal. For the past couple of months, I've been doing my own research, and I found a college that only accepts vampires. There are no humans in that college at all. They have classes during the night and everyone sleeps during the day. The cafeterias serve both regular food and blood. I've visited it many times, and I feel like I fit in there. It's perfect. But the fact that they only accept vampires means you can't come."

"Oh! That makes sense. I didn't know such schools existed."

"Think about it this way. This is your chance to start pursuing your own dreams without always having to make accommodations for me. This will be good for both of us."

Ryou nodded. "Yes, I agree. Maybe this will be for the best. Y'know, I think it's really great you found a school like this! I'm happy for you, I really am. I'm glad you found somewhere you can feel like you can fit in, where you feel like you belong. But the thing is, I am going to miss you."

"Honestly, same."

"But we'll keep in touch, right? Call me every once in a while?"

"Yes, definitely."

Bakura gave the keys back so that Ryou could start the car and drive them home. On the way home they were completely silent while they thought about the future. This was going to be the first time in their lives they would spend a prolonged amount of time away from each other. It was a little bit frightening, but exciting at the same time. It was the start of something new.