An Angel Among Vampires by M. Cheykota

identification. I am serious about my security. No one knows about my basement. That is the most closely guarded secret I keep, besides what I truly am.
    Adding a sheet of steel with a high silver content along all four walls of the basement first, I decide to fortify my basement even more by hiring illegal workers to add another foot of cement walls inside my basement to give myself an extra layer of protection. Then, I take the time to wire all the electricity myself, along with motion sensors throughout the basement to a special computer built for any and all my needs. The computer is located in the forefront and middle of the basement. The basement also holds all of my weapons and emergency supplies. In the back of the basement, I have setup a small living area, with all of the modern necessities in case I have to lock myself downstairs for some time.
    In the far right corner of the basement, I had the illegal workers install a small bathroom. It is large enough to house the sink, toilet, shower stall, and a vertical washer and dryer unit. The back wall has two full-sized refrigerators, counters, cabinets and a small oven and stove. One refrigerator I will use for bagged blood when I can find a way to steal some from the blood bank. The other refrigerator I use for food. Since I don’t feel in any danger right now, it is full of sports drinks and water. I use my refrigerator upstairs for all my food. All of the cabinets in the basement are full of non-perishable items in case of an emergency.
    Unlike vampires, I do have to eat. My angel side requires me to eat food as much as my vampire side requires me to drink blood. I may be truly immortal, but my body requires some maintenance to survive.
    On the left of the kitchen area, I setup a cozy living room with a couch, chair, coffee table, and TV. The bed I put down here is separate from the living room by two short walls, less than half the height of the ten-foot ceiling on either side of the bed. I have a large dresser at the foot of the bed.
    The entire wall on the same side as my bed is for my weapons. The wall has a backlight that illuminates the swords, daggers, rifles, and shotguns hanging from the white Plexiglas wall unit. The clear and white Plexiglas drawers illuminate when the drawer opens. A sensor at the back of the drawer allows this to happen. The drawers hold my ammo, handguns, knives, and smaller automatic weapons. I also use the drawers for my belts, holsters, and knife sheaths. I haven’t found the need to keep grenades or explosives in my basement yet so I usually purchase those specialty items on an as-needed basis.
    With my blood thirst finally under control, Austin dead, a new profession, and with the modifications on my house complete, I begin to settle in to some sense of normalcy in my life. I focus my attention on finding a way to get bagged blood so I will no longer need to feed on living donors.
    I scout out a few blood banks over a couple of weeks, plotting a way to steal some blood.
    I am watching the American Heart Blood Bank closely for at least a week before I finally decide to break in for blood. There security seems to be the weakest of all the blood banks I have scouted.
    Right before I move to break down the back door, a tall, strange looking young man with curly, red hair opens the back door. He has dark freckles all over his face. His big blue eyes are abnormally too large for his long slender face. His equally large hooked nose is distracting, positioned above his small mouth with thin lips.
    The young man calls out into the dark alley. “You have been out here every night for a week. What do you want?”
    Surprised by his boldness, I walk out of the shadows and notice him move aside to allow me entry. Once inside, he gestures towards a chair at a small desk. When I sit down, I notice a small TV on the desk displaying the alley. Realizing he has been watching me with a hidden camera, I take the offered seat. We get comfortable