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The first few years were a nightmare for the living.
I was too young to feel the impact, but looking back, it's not hard to see that we all suffered in our own ways.
The doubters pulled their kids from school, and a curfew was set in an attempt to save lives. Mom lost her job at the school where she taught almost immediately, and Dad, a doctor, ended up having to take a big pay cut. It didn't take long for things to get bad for us, and they both joined the donors list just to keep food on the table.
Once every three weeks, a collector would show up with a briefcase, and I was sent to my bedroom during their visit. When the person left, my parents would have bandages on their arms; Mom slept a lot on those days.
My family was one of the lucky few. We got to keep our house, and we didn't starve, but I had friends at school who lost everything.
Our world fell into a depression.
Suicide was at an all-time high because some people refused to conform to the new normal. After losing everything, they refused to give their blood to the ones who had taken everything from them. For them, it was easier to take yourself out of the equation than live with yourself.
While we all suffered in our own ways, the vampires thrived.
Things finally started to turn around when our first woman president was elected. President Renee Swan fought tooth and nail during the election and made history in a lot of ways.
Her compassion, determination, and promises for the future won votes and the hearts of enough skeptics, and she was sworn in as not only the first female chief of state, but the first immortal one.
President Swan saw the struggle, and the second she took her oath, things started changing, and they were all for the better. She worked endlessly, not resting—not that she needed it—until her promises came to fruition.
Rules were set in order to turn the country back to a free one.
All people, both mortals and immortals, were to be treated equally.
Jobs and humanity were eventually restored to better the nation. Programs were set up to help those who lost everything get back on their feet.
Here we are, nineteen years later, and President Swan still runs the oval office because no person, human or bloodsucking, has been willing to go up against her come election time. Why mess with perfection?