3

Through blurred eyes, Ruslana looked at the morning sun shining through her blue curtains. Wondering why she was so close to the edge of the bed, she rolled over to see that Pete had taken up most of the space. Her movement stirred him and he began thumping his tail against the bed, happy to see that she was awake. She smoothed her hand over his head and kissed him on the nose.

On her nightstand she saw the Fangtasia flyer sitting there, looking oddly ominous. Ruslana wondered how a mere piece of paper could be that way. She remembered the blonde vampire and how he so stealthily slipped it to her. Uncomfortable with the memory, she flipped it face down so that the curly red letters were no longer staring at her. She noticed something scrawled on the back of it. Lifting herself higher off the sheets, she could see a dash and then, "Eric," written in black ink. The writing was surprisingly neat, but Ruslana could tell that it was written quickly and with a vigorous hand.

"Eric," she said aloud, "Vampire Eric." She sat thinking for a while. In fact, she was thinking so deeply that her buzz of her alarm clock startled her. Annoyed, she slapped the "off" button.

She could see her hair from where she sat. It looked terrible. The strands were all separated and scrunched up. That was the last time she was going to bed with her hair wet. She pushed the covers off her legs and went into the bathroom to wet her hair. When walking over to her vanity, she noticed Pete sitting up. She plopped herself down on the chair and hoping to get her mind off of Eric the vampire, she turned her Ipod Touch onto shuffle.

The song "Blue Lips," by Regina Spektor began to play. Yes, Ruslana thought, something upbeat. As she began to comb the tangles out of her wet hair, she heard the line,

"Blue lips, blue veins, the color of our planet from far, far way."

"Of course! Nothing is ever that easy for me," she said aloud and pressed the 'next' button. She didn't quite care for what the next song would be, because she was quick to start the hairdryer.

By the time she was done drying her long hair, "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon, which happened to be in her Top 5 list of rock bands. Although, she did feel that God was messing with her because Ruslana had been thinking about what Caroline said about vampires being excellent in bed. Sex on fire…

"Goddamn Ipod," she said. Stripping off her t-shirt, she put on a pale pink bra and applied deodorant. She pulled on a pair of dark-washed jeans that were torn at the heels. She then pulled a punk pinstriped button down shirt over her pretty shoulders and fastened the buttons. She pulled her hair into a tight ponytail. The ponytail reached the middle of her back. Not bothering to put of makeup, she headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Eager to become distracted, Ruslana had a quick bowl of cereal before slipping on her sneakers and rushing out the door with Pete on his leash. Pete hopped around joyously, knowing he was headed to Pelican Stables for the day. It was a good fifteen minutes walk to the bus station down the road from her house. A few months ago she crashed her white 1999 Honda Civic and just never replaced it. She got some money from her insurance company but she was saving for a newer and better car. So for now her main form of transportation was the bus.

She was at the stables within the hour. No one else had arrived. Ruslana walked quickly into the office and put herself to work right away, trying her best to think of anything else but the vampire. She swept the inside of the stables, cleaned the bathrooms, and filed documents in the office. By the time she had finished, Charlotte the stable hand was out and about feeding all the horses.

Ruslana went to bid good morning to Totem. Her nose was buried in the hay and oats Charlotte had just set out for him. Ruslana got a tack bucket from the tack room and decided to groom him. She picked up a curry brush and began brushing Totem in circular motions. Her nose remained in the hay.

"You wouldn't fraternize with vampires either, would you?" Ruslana asked her. Totem's only response was a quick flick of her tail. Ruslana sighed. "I can't get that damn vampire out of my head!" She slid around the other side of Totem to brush her other side.

After grooming Totem thoroughly she went back to the tack room to get the saddle. Along the way she bumped into Charlotte carrying what was left of a bag of feed.

"Mornin'," Charlotte said cheerfully.

"Hey, Charlotte," Ruslana replied.

Setting the feed at her feet, she said, "You look a little distracted."

"Well, I am a little bit."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Oh, I don't know. I am not sure it would really interest you."

"Of course I will be interested! When am I not?" Charlotte asked.

She was right. Charlotte was always interested. "Come into the office with me, will you?"

"Sure!" she answered, setting the feed aside. A moment later they were both in the office of the stables. Ruslana was leaning back in the desk chair while Charlotte sat in one on the other side of the desk. "So what's the deal?" she asked.

"Well, I was curious to see what you knew about vampires." Ruslana said uneasily.

Charlotte's mouth grew into a sly smile and asked, "Vampires, huh?" She giggled, clearly interested in the topic, "What do you wanna know?"

"I guess just what you know," Ruslana answered.

"Well first and foremost, sex with a vampire is the best you're ever gonna have," Charlotte began.

Ruslana sighed, "I've heard."

"But that don't mean they ain't scary as hell. Man, can they be scary," Charlotte said, looking down.

"You ever been with one?" Ruslana asked, already knowing the answer.

"A couple times. Same one. It's the biting that I couldn't get used to. I guess I don't much like being treated like a meal."

"I don't blame you," Ruslana paused, "Do you think you would ever do it again. You know, with a vampire?"

Charlotte was silent for a moment, but soon answered, "Yeah. I mean, if its one that don't scare me as much. There are the friendlier kinds. I just never met one. But I'm only human, and humans need some physical attention. So when the day comes that I could really use somebody, I'll go looking."

"Do you ever get scared over that other vampire you were with?" Ruslana asked.

"Sometimes, but I figure I ain't special enough in this world to be the object of a vampire's desires." Charlotte said.

"Yeah right, Charlotte," Ruslana said. She always did admire her bone structure and curves. "You're plenty beautiful."

With a smile, Charlotte thanked her.

"What else do you know about them?" Ruslana implored.

"Well of course they can only survive at night. Even if they're protected from the sun during the day, if they don't rest then they could get weak."

"Hmm," Ruslana said as she pondered, "What about all that other shit about crosses, silver and garlic?"

"They're highly allergic to silver, but it won't necessarily kill them. I'm pretty sure the garlic is all just a bunch of bullshit. The crucifixes are definitely bullshit. They can set foot on holy ground whenever they like," Charlotte spouted. She paused, "Something very useful to know, though, is that they can't enter your home. That is, not unless you invite them in. And if you don't want them there anymore you can ask them to leave. For some reason, they have to leave."

"Wow. I daresay that is useful information," Ruslana replied. This was very interesting, indeed.

"Another more obvious thing about vampires is that they're stronger and faster than anything that walks this earth. At least, anything we know about," Charlotte said, looking disturbed by her own realization.

"Well that's a terrible thought," Ruslana said, "At this point it's hard to imagine anything scarier or more dangerous than a vampire."

"Damn," Charlotte said, "So why do you ask?"

Ruslana hesitated. "Um, I met one the other day at Jet when I was with my friend."

"Really? You thinking about going on a date?" Charlotte asked.

Ruslana laughed and asked, "A date?" doubted very much that vampires liked to exchange pleasantries over a dinner table that only one person would be eating at.

"You know what I mean!" Charlotte said. After a second her sly expression returned and she asked, "Was he hot?"

Exhaling loudly, "He was sweltering."

"Ooo! Tell me, tell me. What did he look like?" Charlotte asked excitedly.

"Really tall, big, blonde…beautiful,"

"Wait," Charlotte said, "Did he have a claw-thingy necklace?"

"How did you know that? Do you know him?" Ruslana asked.

"You met Eric?"

"Yeah, that's him. How –?" Ruslana began.

"He owns Fangtasia! He is likely the most man, well vampire, that walks this earth"

"That would explain a lot," Ruslana said, "He gave me a flyer for that place last night."

"You have to go," Charlotte said.

"What?"

"Liv, he invited you himself! Do you know how many women would want to be you right now?"

"I guess I don't.]

"Well, I want to be you right now, I can tell you that much. Come on, Liv. I will go with you if you want," Charlotte offered.

"I'm gonna have to think about it," Ruslana said, not willing to give up and go just like that.

"What's to think about?" Charlotte asked, "He's gorgeous and remember about the whole 'vampires are dynamite at sex' thing?"

"There is more to it than just that. There should be, at least." Ruslana said.

"Well, you get back to me on that," Charlotte said with a big smile, "I gotta go call some folks. They'll be so jealous of you!"

"Um, do you have to?" Ruslana asked, not really wanting the whole world to know that she is going to see a vampire at Fangtasia.

"Of course I do!" Charlotte replied, hopping out of the office and down the barn.

"God damn," Ruslana said after Charlotte had long gone. She thought about what Charlotte told her. Did every girl in Shreveport really wish Eric had an interest in her? People had to see something in vampires for them all to go crazy over them. Or maybe it was just about the sex. "That's just sad," she said aloud to herself.