#01: How (not) to realize that you are a vampire


September 5th-8th, 1999.


The first symptom, if you could call it that, was an extreme sensitivity to sounds. It went unperceived, of course, because Lucy had gotten drunk the night before at her friend Tarou's party and woke up back on her sofa with a terrible hangover. It was expected for the lights to feel too flashy and for noises to be too loud. And if it took her almost a whole day to finally feel normal again, it must have been because she hadn't drunk like that in months.

The second symptom was a vulnerability to garlic. Now, even though she liked Italian food, Lucy wasn't someone who bought something other than pizza often ―mostly because her favorite restaurant was expensive―, but her roommate had been in the mood for some pasta and so they ordered take-out.

A bite of garlic bread was all it took for red spots to start blooming on her skin and for Aqua to call an ambulance. As far as Lucy had known, she didn't have any food allergies, still, she knew there was a possibility to develop them as an adult.

The third symptom was a lack of reflection.

Lucy had made plans with Tarou to go to their first Buffy convention. It was sort of a small event as it would be expected from a city like Magnolia, yet the two of them were incapable of sleeping from all the excitement. He had brought his Polaroid JobPro along, but upon taking the first picture they were confused to discover that Lucy's figure appeared blurry. It wouldn't change no matter how many times he cleaned the lens.

However, Natsu, a person she met at the convention —with funky pink hair and the coolest fang prosthetics she had ever seen— also looked blurry, so they assumed that it must have been a focusing problem.

The final symptom she felt and the one she could not make sense of for days was a constant craving. She would eat an enormous cheeseburger with an order of fries and onion rings, yet an emptiness prevailed in her stomach. It was Friday 9th, and she was already short on money for food.

She took a walk around downtown to take her mind off of the hunger, she hadn't realized it was almost midnight until she passed a closed restaurant. Lucy started walking back to campus when she spotted the same person she had met at the convention arguing with an annoyed black-haired guy.

"Dammit, gum head! I told you to be careful with the money!"

"How was I supposed to know my pocket had a hole!" Lucy pondered whether to approach them or not, but didn't have much time to do so before the pink-head caught her watching. "Hey, I know you! Luigi, right?" They ran towards her, the guy following close with an irritated expression.

"Actually, it's Lucy."

"Yeah, right. How have you been? Can you lend us three hundred Jewels?" She blinked twice.

"Excuse me?"

"Hello," the unknown, very pale man extended a hand. "I'm Gray. Sorry for my partner's rudeness, we were supposed to be buying some food, but they are a dumbass and lost the money."

"It was an accident!" Natsu interrupted and went back to asking her for money. "We'll pay you back. Please, from one vamp to another."

She didn't understand the expression, yet she agreed to help. They grabbed the bills, hugging her with gratitude before pulling Gray along into a butchery.

What kind of butcher is open at midnight?

She stayed there, waiting ―though she wasn't sure why― until the pair exited with several plastic bags full of containers rather than meat.

"You're still here!" They said, pleasantly surprised. "Would dinner make it up to you?" Gray looked at Natsu as if they had just lost their mind.

Normally, Lucy would have refused. Normally, Lucy didn't follow strangers after just meeting them. However, Lucy's hunger is not normal and the simple fact of mentioning food —free nonetheless— had made her stomach toss and turn inside her.

She followed the pair to a four-story building that at first sight seemed uninhabited; the clay bricks looked old and a bit wore down, the small plots of what could be considered a garden were unkempt, and every window was tinted so no one could see through. Common sense started catching up to her and Lucy started to remember movements from the karate lessons she used to take as a kid, just in case things went south.

She was taken aback, however, when Gray opened the door and they were welcomed into an entrance hall enclosed by mahogany doors with colorful stained-glass.

After that, it was as if they had entered an alternate dimension. They walked her through the parlor, which had a wall-length bookshelf like the one Lucy had always dreamed of and two painted portraits decorating a wall; one of Natsu in a vintage-looking skirt and one of an armored woman with crimson hair and olive skin.

Next, they went into a large living room which, instead of a couch, had a couple of mattresses on the floor covered with many pillows and blankets, positioned right in front of an old television. A woman, the same one from the painting, was laying down and intensely frowning at the TV's static but turned to them when she heard them.

Her eyebrows went up at the sight of Lucy "...You brought a person? Didn't I give you money?"

"This dumbass lost it and she paid for it, we brought her as a guest." The redhead stood at a surprising speed and flattened the creases on her pants.

"We bought a portable phone for a reason, Gray. Why didn't you call first? I would have had time to get presentable."

"You know I don't know how to use it."

The redhead ignored Gray's complaints and introduced herself as Erza. She guided Lucy to the dining room, where the two of them and Natsu would make some small talk and wait for him to prepare their meal.

"So tell us about you, Lucy."

"Ehh, well, I'm studying for a Classic Literature degree." The redhead perked up a bit.

"Ohh, does that include Greek literature?"

"Yes. Greek, Roman―" Erza made a sound that reminded her of an angry cat.

Natsu put a hand on her forearm to appease her and explained, "Erza doesn't like it when someone says the "R" word. She has unfinished business with them."

"...Unfinished business?...With the Romans?" The woman planted a fist on the table, shaking the vase with dahlias placed in the middle.

"I would have defeated those fuckers if my generals hadn't been cowards," Erza started. Natsu sighed and rolled their eyes. The redhead kept going on a tangent about strategies and criticism of Ancient Greece that the blonde could not understand at all.

"Hey, you know the rules." Gray interrupted, bringing a bowl of pasta. "No shit-talking the Romans at dinner."

"I was just telling our guest that if Sparta―"

"If you keep talking about this, I'm not giving you dessert." Erza shut her mouth and pouted slightly. Gray moved the floral centerpiece and put down the bowl, beginning to serve Lucy a dish.

"Sorry, did you put garlic on it? Because―"

"No. I wasn't sure what your tolerance level was." He then passed her a salt shaker with garlic powder and a saucer brimming with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Lucy took the first forkful of spaghetti and the second the sauce touched her tongue she felt a current of warmth enveloping her body. She took another bite, and another one until she was desperately stuffing her mouth with the greatest meal she'd had all week.

The trio stopped whatever conversation they were having to stare concerned as she lapped until the last drop of sauce. When she looked up, Lucy wanted to feel embarrassed by her actions but instead, she extended the plate and asked for more.

Erza, who was the closest to the bowl, served her a second time. "How long has it been since your last feeding?"

"I had a sandwich for lunch," she slurped a noodle and licked the leftover sauce from her lips. What had he put on that sauce? It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted.

"No, when was the last time you drank blood?" That statement finally pulled her away from her food-induced trance.

"Are you joking?" She looked between each of her hosts, waiting for them to break into laughter, but their faces remained serious. Then something clicked in. "Did you...did you put blood in the food?"

"Yeah," Gray said as if it were something to be expected. Lucy was horrified; she glanced at the dark red cream covering the spaghetti and she wanted to feel sick, yet there wasn't an ounce of disgust in her.

In fact, she was feeling a bit...satiated.

"Lucy," Natsu called for her attention, "did you...not know that you are a vampire?"

A vampire. Are these people so obsessed with a tv show that they would―

Lucy looks down at her hands, her pale brown skin has a sick tone to it as if she hadn't seen the sun in months. There are stains on her fingers and the sight of red causes a violent resurgence of appetite within her.

Erza tries to take the almost forgotten plate but Lucy stops her. A sound reverberates somewhere in her throat, she recognizes it as the same sound the redhead had made moments before.

"Help me," she pleads. Because this makes no sense, this should never make sense. Yet there is a sensation now ingrained in her; in her skin, in her muscles, in her bones, assuring her such outlandish idea is nothing but true.

She isn't sure how, but she is taken to the sofa in the parlor. Erza is uncertainly drawing circles on Lucy's back with her thumb and Natsu is bringing her a cup of chamomile tea.

"Do you remember when you started to feel weird?" Gray asks softly. Not wanting to cause her more distress but deeply concerned about someone whom he met merely two hours ago.

She shakes her head, then remembers that morning —the one that now feels like it was ages ago—. She remembers scratching an itch on her neck amidst the pain of her hangover.

"What am I going to do?" She whispers before taking a sip of the soothing drink. It washes down her throat that sweet flavor that remained from her previous meal.

"We have extra rooms, you can become part of our flock," Natsu suggests with a small smile, hoping it will ease the blonde's worries. Her frown at the unknown term —there are too many new words that she'll have to learn— prompts them to explain. "We live in groups of up to twelve people, a flock. It's safer and easier to survive that way."

The word survive made her anxious, but Erza's firm hand grabbing her shoulder took her mind away from tragic thoughts.

"Listen, we understand that this is not something easy to process, but you shouldn't have to do it alone. It's fine if you don't want to stay here, we will still help in any way we can."

It baffled her the kindness and care in Erza's voice, the one reflected in the other ones' gaze. Were all vampires like this?

"I'll think about it," was the last thing Lucy said before insisting on returning home.

They thought she didn't notice, but she could hear Natsu's quiet footsteps following her from afar. Making sure she arrived safely.