(yes, ginger doesn't exist. even though I love her character a lot.)

After watching your first vampire movie with Sarah, From Dusk Till Dawn, you both have some ideas you want to share with Eric and Pam, "A bar?" Pam doesn't sound convinced in the slightest, she's crossing her arms and looking at both of you like you're stupid. She was good at making you feel stupid with just one look. You were surprised, but you enjoyed the movie. Maybe because their depiction of vampires isn't realistic, maybe it was George Clooney. You didn't know.

"Pam, you guys would make a lot more money," Sarah tries, and Pam still looks unimpressed. Sarah sighs and starts over, "Think about it, you can buy out all the businesses in the shopping center, knock down all the walls and extend the place. You can put a big stage in the corner of the room, where you and Eric will sit. Something everyone wants, but can't have. You can put some poles over there, and a bar with blood for the vampire customers." You're impressed by this, and Pam looks like she's coming around to the idea.

But then Pam looks dejected, "We can't do that if vampires aren't out of the coffin," and then her eyes narrow and a mischievous smirk graces her lips, "unless it's a private bar." Sarah claps a little and grins at you. The bar was her idea, you just helped her build on it. She always seemed to have these elaborate ideas, one of the things you loved about her.

"I'll tell Eric, but only if you let me tell him it's my idea," Pam says, grinning victoriously. Sarah's face drops and she sighs, exasperated. But she agrees, and they nod at each other instead of shaking hands. Henry was telling you a few weeks ago that vampires didn't do that. Maybe it was something to do with their strength, you didn't know. Or maybe they couldn't touch humans without being tempted to bite them. You hoped it wasn't the latter. But that would make sense to you too.

Pam runs out the front door, closing it behind her, likely to go tell Eric her idea, "Let's celebrate!" Sarah jogs into her kitchen to grab a bottle of wine and two glasses. You didn't know why you guys were celebrating but it felt good after the mess yesterday. Speaking of mess, your house still was, so you and Sarah were shacked up in a hotel near the video store. Eric was paying for it, so Sarah got a lot of room service. You guessed that was who she was on the phone with last night. It exhausted you just thinking about it, but y'all would have to find the woman tonight. And go back to Sarah's house to get Henry, who's probably sleeping right now.

When you fell asleep in the car, Sarah ran back inside to grab her cat. Who was unharmed, surprisingly.

"Why are we celebrating? We're being followed by drug dealers." You scoff, sitting down on the couch. The TV's on, some random channel, but you're not watching it. It was hard to be positive during something like this, but if Sarah could do it, you could try. Wait, what happened to Sarah's therapy? You almost completely forgot about that. She mentioned not needing it anymore, so she could've just stopped going.

Sarah walks into the room, holding a bottle of wine in a bucket of ice, and two wine glasses in her other hand. Out of politeness, you stand and grab the glasses so she isn't holding so much. You sigh and place them on the table, she smiles at you and puts the bucket next to them. She sits down on the couch beside you, pulling the bottle out of the ice. Water drips from the bottom as she uncorks it, landing on the carpeted floor. She pours the wine into yours first, and then hers.

"So, are you finally down to kill this lady?" Sarah asks, putting the bottle of wine down. After the break-in at Sarah's house, you think you're ready to accept her fate. You consider it for a moment, just to keep her on her toes. She rolls her eyes and takes a sip of wine. You look at the bottle, you don't recognize it. But you know it's fancy.

"Yeah," you shrug, taking a sip as well, "after what happened at your house, I'm pissed. I was settling in pretty good." And you are pissed, mostly on Sarah's behalf. If you two had been there, there's no telling what could've happened. Sarah would change into a lion or you would both end up like Jenna. Who you still wanted to ask her about, you wanted to ask Eric for his help too.

The vampire drainers are after him, Pam, Henry, and every vampire they encounter. And Henry, a 300-year-old vampire, didn't stand a chance. You didn't know how much money vampire blood could cost, and you didn't want to. Especially after meeting one of the drug dealers.

Sarah looks like she isn't too sad about her house, she looked irritated by it more than anything, "Don't worry, I'll pay to get everything fixed." She says, tucking her legs underneath her.

"I didn't go inside, what else was broken?" You ask, setting your wine glass down. It was only 7, and you would be busy tonight. You assumed that they would've been looking for any identification and clues on your whereabouts.

Your friend leans back against the couch and swirls her wine around in the glass, "The flower pots were broken, and pictures on the walls with my eyes and yours scratched out. There was a hole in the TV," you look over at her in disbelief, "really, a hole, like somebody just punched it."

"But everything in your room was broken, or thrown on the floor. They got my room too, but yours was the worst." She takes a long drink. You freeze, what if they took something of yours? Sarah notices and gives you a once-over.

"What's up?" She inquires, setting her wine glass down on the coffee table.

You wave her off, shaking your head, "Don't worry about it, it just freaks me out." You didn't know if she believed you, but that was half true. So it would pass for the moment. She leans forward, sniffing the air.

She grimaces, "You stink, go take a shower." You pretend to be offended, but you know she's right. But before you go into the bathroom, you remember your lack of clothing. Sarah notices and points at a large bag in the corner of the room.

"I keep a bag under the floorboards for emergencies," She notices the weird look you give her and rolls her eyes, "You needed it didn't you?" You nod and head toward it, unzipping it eagerly. The clothes are at the top, so you grab them. You eye the other contents, a lot of knives, 2 first-aid kits, 2 guns, and some water bottles. The bottom of the bag also had more clothes, you weren't picky though. You'd take the ones on the top. The clothes are black, cargo pants and a plain T-shirt. At least they're not khakis.

You zip the bag and ball the clothes up, turning around to look at your friend, "Thank you, Sarah, for everything." You say, smiling at her. She smiles back at you, not saying anything.

After a few minutes of figuring out the shower, you're inside, lathering up some shampoo in your hands. You're thinking about tonight, what would happen if you found the woman, what if you killed her, would you be able to? You pushed that thought aside, you wouldn't get a chance to kill her. Henry deserved to kill her, she attacked him in the forest. You're glad you saved him too, he'll probably prove to be useful. And even if he didn't, you'd still be friends with him. Hopefully, you guys would be able to go home soon and maybe buy a new TV. You rinse the shampoo out, closing your eyes tight. The shampoo in the showers isn't tiny like it is in other hotels. It makes you wonder how rich Eric is. If you had glamour, you'd probably rob a couple of banks. If you were powerful enough, it wouldn't be too hard. Kneeling a little, you grab the conditioner and rub it together in your hands.

You finish after rinsing out your conditioner and using the body wash, turning the shower off. The towels are nice, fluffy. You grab one and wrap it around yourself, you can hear Sarah talking to someone outside. It doesn't matter to you that much, you dry yourself off and rub your hair with the towel. After a few minutes of sporadic rubbing, you're dry. You yawn and start getting dressed, putting the cargo pants on first. They're baggy near the bottom and tight at the waist, good for movement. You pull the shirt over your head, it's slightly baggy, and the sleeves are a little long. You look at yourself in the mirror, it's a little steamy but nothing a towel wouldn't fix. You look like you're a spy or a kid coming out of Hot Topic. Embarrassing. But with some knives attached to your pants, you would look cool.

You try to dry your hair some more and run a brush through it. It's pretty wet, but not dripping everywhere like it was before. After brushing your hair, you hang your towel up and gather your clothes off the floor. You didn't have any clean underwear, and Sarah didn't put any in the emergency bag. You'd have to ask her to do that when you got the chance. With a deep breath, you exit the bathroom, clothes bundled up in your hands. You felt kind of nervous, even though you knew you'd know whoever Sarah was talking to. It reminded you of the time Henry was calling for help in the forest, and when you first met Eric and Pam.

Eric and Pam are sitting down across from Sarah, who poured herself more wine. Eric looks up at you from his spot on the couch, "You're certainly dressed for tonight." He remarks, taking a sip of a red liquid you don't think is wine. Pam seems to approve of your outfit. Sarah does too, they're her clothes. You toss your dirty clothes in front of you, kicking them behind the couch.

"Pays to be prepared, doesn't it?" You shrug, walking in front of the group to grab the emergency bag and set it on the table. You're in between them, sitting by the coffee table on the floor. Unzipping the bag, you reach in and grab both of the guns. You set them on the table, gently, one in front of Sarah and the other in front of Eric and Pam. Sarah grins at you, grabbing the gun off the table and turning the safety off. Of course, she knows how to use a gun. Sarah was more badass than you thought. You admired her for that, you wanted to be that way too.

You grab two knives for yourself and slide one into the waistband of your pants, pulling your shirt over to hide it. You tuck the other one in your shoe, concealing it with your pants. You were ready if they came close to you, at least. But you would stay by Sarah or the vampires if you needed a gun. It would be great if you knew how to use one, maybe Sarah would teach you after all this. That would be beneficial for all of you, and maybe you had a talent for that sort of thing. You didn't know. Luckily, there isn't a knife shortage. There are so many of them in that bag.

"Pam, get Henry and then we'll leave," Eric orders, he glances at you, "When we get to the diner, you'll show us where you and Sarah went," finally, he looks at your friend, "And you will track her. And if you can't pick up a scent, we'll go back to your house and find one there." He tells all of you the plan, clasping his hands together on his lap. He's stretched out, casually, lazily, his long legs taking up a lot of space. Pam nods and speeds out the front door, closing it behind her. You didn't know how she ran and did that at the same time, but it probably took practice. You wanted to know what it felt like to be in her arms while she did that or any vampire's arms. Not just hers. It would probably make you sick anyway, going that fast.

With your knives sheathed and strapped to you, you sit down next to Sarah, across from Eric. You eye your nearly finished glass of wine, you didn't want to get drunk or anything but out of politeness, you grab the glass and down the wine. You like it, it's sweet and the taste reminds you of mangos. Eric is watching you when you put the glass down. He's wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and black slacks, seems you're all dressed for the part.

"Do you like it?" He asks, putting his glass down as well. You look inside for a moment, it's not the same color as the wine. You knew he was drinking blood, and you wondered if it tasted different depending on who it came from. His asking confused you a little, why did he care? You didn't know. But you decided to at least be honest with him.

"Yeah, it's nice." That's all you say. You don't know what else to say. It almost felt natural to add a "thanks" to the end of the sentence and you didn't know why.

He smirks a little, it's barely discernible. Just a slight tug in the corner of his lips. But it's there, "I asked the front desk to send it specifically. I thought you two would like it." He explains, and you try to stop yourself from feeling disappointed. About him including Sarah in the "gift". You're a little disgusted with yourself, why are you even a little jealous? Eric eats people. He almost ate you when he met you. But his bone structure was too good to resist. You're attracted to him, quietly, but still attracted to him. You wouldn't ever tell him that, though. Too embarrassing. You're getting second-hand embarrassment just thinking about it, you cringe to yourself and hope nobody notices.

"Yeah, thanks Eric," Sarah says, offering a polite smile. You follow suit, saying a quick thanks and pouring some more wine for yourself. It tasted nice, you would need courage. You wouldn't drink enough to feel it, you promise yourself. Eric nods, and it feels a little awkward. Not his nod, the silence that follows.

After a long silent moment, and you pretending not to study Eric, Pam returns with Henry by her side. He looks normal, uninjured. You didn't know what you expected but it wasn't that. His hair is loose from his ponytail, flowing down his back. He's dressed up like a pirate, except for an eye patch and a parrot. Maybe he was a pirate. It explained his lack of manners and constant state of boredom. He reminded you of an angsty teenager. Except he's dead and drinks blood. If you were a vampire you would— well you didn't know how you would act. But probably not like that. Becoming a vampire was popping up in your mind more and more every day. If you ever did turn into one, at least you could prepare yourself by thinking about all the possible scenarios. And you would have to watch everyone you love die, something you knew would hurt you. You promised yourself, if I ever become one, I'll never look back. You wouldn't see any of your human friends again. It would hurt too bad to see them go.

Sarah leans down and scratches her cat behind the ears, "Alright, let's do this." She says, groaning as she stands, like an old woman. You stand too, grinning at her. She starts undressing, and when she's naked she turns into a dog, a bloodhound this time. Better for smelling. Hunting dogs. You look over at Henry and Pam, Pam is staring openly at Sarah, a hungry look on her face. Henry isn't looking at her, but he's not looking away. He doesn't care, again. Eric can't be bothered either, he called her a wet dog when they were together last, and he's still lounging on the couch. Drinking blood.

Suddenly he's in front of you, "Do you trust me?" He asks, rolling up his sleeves. You furrow your eyebrows, confused, but nod anyway. He lifts you, holding you tightly to his chest. You press your ear against it, vampires don't have hearts. It made sense, they are dead after all. He's not warm, but he's not cold either. If you took his temperature he'd be cold enough to be dead, for sure. Sarah runs out the door, snarling as she goes. Pam and Henry are gone, that just leaves you and Eric.

Speaking of, he's running now. It wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. It was like one of those carnival rides, where it spins and spins and it's hard to move. After not even 5 minutes, you're in the parking lot of Sarah's grandpa's diner. Eric drops you gently, staring at you for a moment. You don't notice, straightening out your hair instead. It's tangled from the wind turbine you just went through. Pam and Henry arrive soon after, and Sarah's a little behind. But still faster than a car.

You lead the group over to the spot where you found Henry, and he points Sarah over to where you found him. She sniffs around that area and looks up at you, barking.