After Sarah's overload of information and your run-in with drainers, you fell asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow. Knowing all these secrets was exhausting. It was hard enough just being new to town. Now you were new to the supernatural world, too. Meeting all kinds of vampires.

When a nightmare wakes you up, it's 5 am, just before sunrise. You were thankful your sleep schedule started to straighten out. You'd need it too if you wanted to work for Pam and Eric. They probably wouldn't fire you, but you'd still worry about it.

Bleary-eyed, you walk into the bathroom, looking at yourself in the mirror. The bags under your eyes are darker than normal, and your face has thinned. You turn the faucet on, leaning down to splash your face with water. Standing upright, you lean over and pat a towel against your face, drying the water.

You look back into the mirror, where Eric stands menacingly behind you. His fangs are on full display and he's smirking. There's blood on his chin and neck. He doesn't say a word.

"What did you do?" You cover your mouth and back into the sink, horrified, frozen in fear. He laughs at you cruelly, opening the door to the bathroom behind you.

"See for yourself." Another evil villain laugh.

Your legs move, surprisingly, and you make your way out of the bathroom. Now you notice the trail of blood leading into the living room, where Sarah sits on the couch. "Sarah?" You call out tentatively, ambling towards her.

You put a hand on her shoulder, lightly shaking it. Her head rolls limply to the side, and her eyes are wide open. A scream leaves your lips and you sob as you round the couch, kneeling in front of her. Her throat has been ripped out, and blood is covering her entire body. Eric has followed you out of the bathroom. He stands behind the couch. A smile is on his face.

You back away, head bumping into the coffee table. He uses his vampire speed to stand in front of you, kneeling to grab your chin. He pinches it, forcing you to look into his eyes. "You're going to die." He says matter-of-factly.

His fangs extend, and you fight against him. He doesn't have to do much to keep you still. You try anyway. This doesn't phase Eric. He leans down, piercing your neck with his sharp teeth. You let out a sharp scream. The pain is like nothing you'd ever felt before. It burns like fire.

You wake up for real this time, drenched in sweat. It's so hot in your room, despite the cold outside. Why did you keep having these nightmares? They started as soon as you met Pam. She was the star of them first, then Eric came along. First, they were both in your dreams and now Eric was the star. It unnerved you. If you had a nightmare every time you met a vampire, you would probably go insane. At least you didn't have one about the vampire you met last night. You didn't know what you'd do if you started having nightmares about Dracula.

You look at the clock on the table next to you, 4 am. Well, at least it isn't 5. Eric won't be waiting for you in the bathroom with Sarah's blood in his stomach. It was time for work. You left Sarah a note, a detailed one this time, about the vampire you met last night. And about the woman who was stealing his blood. You made a note to ask her about the importance of vampire blood. It wouldn't be polite to ask a vampire about that. They'd be suspicious of you, too. That wasn't what you needed right now.

After brushing your teeth and hair, you left. You wanted to be there fast, so you could see Eric and Pam before they went to sleep, or whatever vampires did. You still didn't know. I'll ask Sarah about that too, you think, pulling into the parking lot of the Blockbuster. The vampire-owned Blockbuster. That was still a little hard to get used to. You didn't think your heart would stop racing around any of them. Maybe it was human nature to be afraid of them. Like bears and lions. They're on the top of the food chain. They could probably destroy the planet if they wanted to.

If they did, you wouldn't mind. The planet got worse every year. Stupid presidents, stupid cops, stupid rednecks. It was never-ending. You open your car door and step out onto the pavement. Eric's car is parked next to yours, a little dusty. He hasn't left in a while.

The bell jingles as you walk in, alerting Pam to your presence. Her legs are on the counter, a magazine propped up in her lap. She drops it onto the counter, eyeing you and your outfit. Your pajamas, Smurf pants, and a band tee. You shrugged, not like there's a dress code.

"If you're gonna be working here, can you dress better?" You look up from your clothes at Pam. She's standing now, in front of the counter. You had to admit, she had great taste.

"Pam, this is a blockbuster, not a runway." You want to roll your eyes but don't. Instead, you make your way over to her. Trying not to wince at the feeling of your backpack on your shoulder. After you got stabbed yesterday and the adrenaline wore off, you practically passed out when you reached Sarah.

She patched you up with a first-aid kit that she kept in her car. She asked you questions while she did this. Who did this to you? What did they look like? Where did they go? Stuff like that. Like she was a cop or something. You didn't know how deep the wound was, but you were glad the needle didn't go in far enough.

You drop your backpack under the counter, Pam sniffs the air, turning around slowly, "You're hurt." She observes, speeding over to you. She gently turns you around with your uninjured shoulder. Astute observation, here's your Nobel Prize. You don't say anything and allow her to pull your shirt down a little.

Just as she says this, Eric exits the office, sniffing the air. He's standing in front of you, next to Pam, making you jump. How would you ever get used to that? "Who did this?" He traces the hole in your shoulder, making you wince. It was still painful and sore. You don't answer, not yet anyway. Eric looks at Pam expectantly. She rolls her eyes and mutters angrily under her breath. He pretends not to hear her.

She brings her finger to her lips, dropping her fangs. You watch in shock as she slices into her thumb, bringing it up to your lips. You open your mouth tentatively, allowing her to feed you her blood. I should've just asked Dracula to do this for me yesterday. Her blood is like nothing you've ever tasted before, and you've tasted blood. Your own, of course, as a child. It tastes sweet and coppery, but mostly sweet. You suck on her thumb, eyes falling onto Eric, who watches intensely. You look away quickly. His gaze always made a shiver run down your spine.

"There," she says, sounding mildly disgusted, pulling her thumb out of your mouth. You notice yourself leaning towards her, and you stop. What the fuck am I doing? You couldn't have more, not if it made you feel like that. It made you feel stronger than usual. Like you had more energy. Faster reflexes. And you were a little horny, for some reason.

You blink a few times, taking a step back, "Uh thank you, Pam." She nods, speeding away into the office. You clear your throat and look at Eric awkwardly.

Eric pulls your shirt down again, looking at your skin, free of wounds. "Who did this?" He asks or demands. You wonder why he cares, probably because you're his employee. Wouldn't want me walking around the store smelling so tasty. Not with all the vampires around.

"I don't know. She had a mask on. She was taking this vampire's blood, so I stopped her." You shrug, taking in his expression carefully. It doesn't change. He still looks a little angry. Maybe a little is an understatement.

He takes his hand away from your shirt, "Pam left to eat when she smelled your blood," He ignores your statement, reaching out to rest two fingers on your neck, feeling your pulse, "You're nervous."

You scoff, knocking his hand away from your neck. His eyebrows raise as he watches you curiously, "I just drank vampire blood and you're in my personal space." You cross your arms angrily over your chest, staring up at him.

"Fair enough," He says, making his way over to the basement door. "We'll find whoever did this to you." He promises, disappearing behind the door and into the darkness. You believe him, but it still makes you nervous.

You knew they would find her, but what if she found you before they found her? That's all you could think about during your shift. Every time someone came into the store, all you could think was, this time, it's going to be her. But it never was. It was always just normal people.

The bell jingles and your head shoots up. You realize it's Deb, the server from yesterday. Your head falls forward and you sigh, relieved. She doesn't notice you at first, browsing through the shelves. She's in the vampire section, starting up at the movies.

"Hey, Deb!" You greet her, snapping her out of her trance. She turns around, and a warm smile graces her features. She seems happy to see you.

She heads over to you, leaning against the counter, "Well hey, I didn't know you worked here." You know that's not true. Sarah told her you worked here yesterday. How could she forget about it in one day? Is this girl okay?

You shrug, dismissing your thoughts. "Yeah, I started about a week ago. What'd you need?" You didn't want to be rude, but you needed to cut this short. You didn't want to get distracted at work. Especially if your bosses are demanding, terrifying vampires. Or demanding hot vampires.

She tells you she wants Fright Night, a vampire movie. She didn't see it while she was staring at the section. You hold a hand out in the direction of the vampire movies. This is Sarah's friend?

You wondered how much she and Sarah had in common. Not the vampire thing. As far as you knew, Sarah didn't watch those movies. Deb returned to you with the movie in her hand, sliding it onto the counter. You ring her up, and she passes you money.

"Late fees." You say as she's walking out the door, she'd know what you meant. And if she didn't, you'd personally come to her house. You already thought she was weird and maybe she was stupid. She brought that onto herself as far as you could tell. You didn't know where your hostility was coming from, but it was instinctual. So you would listen to your gut and hate Deb. Even if Sarah seemed to like her. You wouldn't be friends with Deb, but you'd be polite whenever you saw her. Your grandma taught you that.

A little after 12 pm, the basement door opens and you look up. You look up to find Elvis standing at the door, "Hi, I'm Bubba." He waves, holding a hat in one of his hands, and you pass out. The famous vampire catches you before you hit your head on the counter. Thank God for vampire reflexes. Thank God for the fact that there were no windows in the store.

Eric is in front of the two of you, having heard the noise from downstairs. He kneels, scooping you up into his arms, "Get the door." He instructs Bubba, who opens the basement door for Eric. Eric takes you downstairs, followed by Bubba. He takes you past the pornos and farther into the basement, where his coffin is.

"Thank you, Bubba. I'll get you more kittens tomorrow." He promises, looking up at him for a moment. Bubba nods and speeds away to his coffin, ready to sleep for the day.

You're still out cold, sleeping peacefully. Eric sets you down gently on the couch near his coffin. His coffin is large and black, with red velvet on the inside. It fit two people, but he knew you'd be uncomfortable if you woke up next to him. After throwing a blanket over you, he climbs into his coffin and rests.